THE MAGICAL PHANTOM

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE PHANTOM SIBLINGS

Danny grumbled to himself angrily as he made his way to a seat by Hermione and Ron at today's Quidditch game, which was Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. He'd wanted to go with Daphne, since he went with Hermione and Ron last time, but she wasn't interested in today's game because "Slytherin wasn't playing", according to the blonde herself.

But that wasn't why Danny was grumbling to himself. He had much better reasoning than that. Just as he had requested yesterday, Clockwork had sent him another of his glowing letters. But it didn't answer any of the halfas questions! If anything, it raised more. Danny glared at nothing as he remembered the letter word-for-word.

"Hello, young Phantom

It has been quite a while since I contacted you last, hasn't it? But alas, I'm very busy. The time-stream can't watch itself, you know. As for what item Fluffy is guarding? Well, all in due time, Daniel. All in due time.

If I'm not answering your cry for answers (it was most certainly a cry, not a request, don't even bother), why write you, you may ask? I only wanted to tell you to watch out for your sister and take good care of her. She can be quite the handful at times, as I'm sure you know better than anyone.

Timeless Fortune,

Charles Work

P.S., The time-lapse in your clothing change was because your mind couldn't conclude what you would rather wear. Once you subconsciously made up your mind, your powers made it a reality."

Now, Danny was never good at deciphering the Time Masters riddles, but at least most of them were relevant. This, however, seemed to come out of nowhere! What in the 'Zone did Clockwork mean 'sister'? He didn't have a sister. Anymore, at least. And he knew Clockwork knew that; the stopwatch knew everything, after all.

"The least he could do is give me something useful to go on if he's going to play 'Riddler'. Seriously? 'Take care of your sister'? That's not even clever!" Danny complained to the cat at his heels. Shade meowed quickly.

"Think he's funny, do you? Wait until something like this happens to you." Danny shot back as he found Hermione and Ron in the crowd.

"'Till something happens to who?" Ron asked, confused, as Danny sat down. Danny shook his head.

"Nothing, just Shade getting kicks from- er, my guardian. He sent me a letter, answering none of my questions about what Fluffy's guarding and telling me to watch over my sister." He grumbled.

"I thought your sister was… you know. Gone?" Hermione inquired carefully. Danny shrugged.

"She is, just like the rest of my family. I don't know what the ol' cookoo clock is going on about. But then again, what else is new?" The halfa replied sarcastically.

They sat in silence for a little while as they watched the game, Ron and Hermione's full attention on Harry and the Quidditch field. But Danny, however, had his eyes elsewhere.

"Guys. Is that… Professor Dumbledore over there?" Danny questioned. Hermione nodded.

"Don't you ever listen to anything during the morning feasts?" She teased him. "He told us this morning he would be attending."

"Guess I wasn't there for that part." Danny said with a shrug. Ron elbowed him.

"You were sittin' right there, mate. Right next to Hermione." He tried to remind the halfa, to no avail. Danny simply shrugged.

"I only remember rolling out of bed, Daphne stealing half my breakfast and almost pushing Draco down some stairs." Danny recited his train of thought from that morning.

"If only they hadn't moved." Ron cursed the moving stairs. Danny and Hermione snickered.

"Well, he said he'd be here. If you had paid more attention you'd have known." Hermione finished. Danny sighed exasperatedly, ready to speak another quip, but instead, something else came out. Something he hadn't experienced in quite a while.

His Ghost Sense went off. And not like it did around Sir Nicholas and the other house ghosts; that was usually a weakened sense. This was like back in Amity Park, when the real dangerous ghosts showed up, not Peeves with some firecrackers.

Instinctively, his eyes flashed green as he looked around the Quidditch field, searching for any sign of the familiar sight of a ghost flying overhead. Unfortunately, Hermione and Ron also noticed his change in behavior.

"Danny? Are you all right? You look a little… troubled." Hermione pointed out, with Ron nodding. Danny quickly turned to them.

"That's my Ghost Sense. It tells me when another ghost is in the area." Danny explained quietly, still on full alert looking for the offending specter. Ron growled.

"Better not be Peeves trying to ruin the match." He grumbled. Danny scoffed.

"This is bigger than Peeves, it's another muggle ghost." Danny said. "I can tell because my Ghost Sense also picks up on how powerful they are, and this one is much more powerful than Peeves." He explained further at their confused looks.

They seemed to pale, not wanting to imagine something worse than Peeves, when Danny's Ghost Sense went off again, indicating that the ghost's proximity was increasing. Not two seconds later Danny heard something familiar, that he hadn't expected to hear again for quite a while. Ghost weaponry going off.

Then something black and white fell straight down into the center of the Quidditch field, causing Dumbledore to stand straight up and all the players on broomsticks to fly down to the ground. There, on the floor, was a girl- but she looked exactly like Danny Phantom.

Danny recognized her before she even hit the ground and had already ducked under a seat to make his transformation, ignoring Hermione and Ron's questions for now and shot out into the center of the field, kneeling by Danielle.

She had seen better days, but she wasn't hurt too badly; there was just a nasty bruise on the side of her stomach. Nonetheless, Danny was angry with that. He turned quickly to the sky to see the attacker moving in. His radioactive green eyes narrowed.

"Skulker." Phantom growled, floating away from Danielle's side and into the air. He immediately drew the hunters' attention.

"Ah, Whelp!" Skulker cheered. "It's been far too long, hasn't it? Imagine running into you here, I was just trying to hunt myself a prize but then, my current prize leads me to my number one prize? Small world." Skulker grinned evilly.

"You. Won't. Touch. Her." Phantom announced, his hands already glowing with green energy. Skulker looked confused.

"You know this girl, Whelp?" Skulker asked, pointing at Danielle with a rocket. Bad move. Phantom reacted fast and shot one Ecto-blast at the rocket, exploding it and sending Skulker skidding backwards.

But Skulker didn't have time for a counter as Phantom charged him, kicking him upwards with much more force than necessary. Skulker wasn't giving in that easy as he dropped motion-activated bombs from his belt, but Phantom wasn't having it and simply surrounded himself in a dome to plow through them all before ramming into the robot ghost himself.

Not to be outdone, Skulker extracted a net cannon from his arm and fired at Phantom, still in the dome, and scored a hit. Only, Phantom merely expanded the dome so much the net snapped with it, dispelling both containment fields as he fired another Ecto-blast, this one white hot. There wasn't any time for Skulker to dodge so he tried to counter by holding his rocket launcher in front of him in a fruitless effort to stay safe.

Needless to say, it crumbled beneath the sheer force Phantom had put into the attack. Rapidly, Phantom launched punches and kicks from ten feet away sending waves of Ecto-energy at the hunter, sending him staggering back. He recovered as quickly as he could, but it wasn't quick enough as Phantom was in front of him in a moment and gripped his suit by the shoulder.

"Stay away from her!" Phantom demanded, firing an Ecto-beam from the hand that was in contact with Skulker before the hunter had a chance to reply, sending him sailing through the air once more.

Skulker floated himself steady, shaking his head in the process. He knew he crossed a line. Even he didn't want to go up against an angry Phantom; rumors say last person that did was out of commission for weeks. Who? Plasmius.

"Okay, Whelp! I won't go near her again, I swear!" Skulker announced, holding his hands up in surrender. Phantom shot another Ecto-beam, although weaker than the last.

"Ever! Hunters honor!" Skulker continued. Phantom fired again, but it missed. Skulker sighed, until he felt Phantom grab him by the shoulders and squeeze with enough force to dent them, cancelling out any weaponry within.

"Come after me all you want, but my sister is off limits! If you ever, and I mean ever, try and hunt her again, our positions in this 'hunt' of yours will be reversed." Phantom said coldly.

Skulker nodded vigorously. For the first time, he was actually scared of Phantom. He'd always know the boy was powerful, but he'd always played it off so well, so carefree and witty. But now, Skulker knew the line that couldn't be crossed anymore; targeting the family. And he understood why, so he'd back off. On the others, at least. Phantom was still fair game.

"Until next time, Whelp-. Phantom." Skulker corrected himself. 'Just this once.' The hunter told himself.

Phantom did nothing but glare as he got a firm grip on the hunters arm, spun himself in a circle a bunch of times and flung his most consistent enemy as far as he could with all the extra ghostly strength he could muster up at the moment before he calmly floated back down to see Danielle. Only, she was standing up just fine.

"What are you doing? You're hurt." Phantom asked as he approached the Ghost Girl, who smiled.

"Just a bruise. You've had worse and done more, don't even think about getting me into some bed for a week. I'm fine." She said playfully, and Danny knew it was true. Then she smiled again. "I stood up literally four seconds after you left me there, but you'd know that if you didn't go into protective mode." She said the last words in a singsong voice.

Danny grumbled.

"Excuse me if I was worried about my…" Danny paused, thinking back to Clockwork's letter and his cry to Skulker, 'my sister is off limits!', he had said. He smiled at Dani, who looked sheepish. "Sister."

Dani grinned and tackled Danny in a hug, ignoring all of the noise from the Phans in the background. Once Danny set Dani back down, he noticed she looked… different.

She, like Danny, had also changed her outfit since the last time they saw each other. She wore a snow-white tank top with a black collar that ended in a point half-way down both the front and back with the DP emblem in white in the center of the collar on the front and black fingerless gloves. Her midriff was still exposed, although she wore snow-white sweat pants with a black stripe down both pant legs and black combat boots rather than HAZMAT pants.

The biggest difference, however, was that she looked like she was ten years old.

"What happened to you? You look two years younger than you did last year!" Danny questioned, but Dani shrugged.

"That makes two of us, then." Dani commented, looking him in the eye. Danny blanched, about to reply, until he heard a familiar voice calling out.

"Mr. Phantom!" Dumbledore called out as he bustled onto the Quidditch field, through the landed players, with Snape and McGonagall at his sides. "What in Merlin's name was that all about?" He bellowed.

"Um, Professor Dumbledore, sir? Could we talk about this somewhere, I don't know, more private?" Danny requested.

"I suppose I owe you that much for stopping that- creature." Dumbledore sighed out. Danny gave a smile. "Severus, Minerva, would you join Phantom and I in my office?" They nodded. "And Phantom? Bring your friend."

Danny and Dani shared a look.


"Phantom. Care to explain? About," Dumbledore paused. "Anything?"

Danny sighed, appreciating the old wizards patience. Although, it was obvious Snape didn't have the same amount as he was shooting hostile glares at the two halfas from the other side of the table.

"Where do you want me to start?" Danny asked, unsure. Hopefully, he could get out of this without giving too much away.

"Oh, I don't know. Your accomplice, your fight, who you fought with, anything vaguely relating to why you were called here in the first place?" Snape suggested rhetorically.

"In order? Danielle, 'slaughter' is the more accurate word, Skulker." Danny answered anyway. Snape's temper flared as Dani, sitting next to her brother, giggled.

"Phantom, please. Take this seriously. This is the first time an entity has entered Hogwarts grounds in a very, very long time without anyone being aware of it, yet you seemed perfectly ready." McGonagall instructed. Danny nodded.

"That's because the entity was a muggle ghost, like myself, and one of my powers is being able to sense them. I knew I'd go back to fighting them one day, that's why I kept up with my training, but I never thought it would be this soon." Danny told her. She nodded, and Snape spoke again.

"You talked earlier with this 'muggle ghost' as if you knew him. And you speak very casually about others. Why?" He demanded.

"That was Skulker, the self-proclaimed 'Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter'. He hunts anything he deems rare and valuable, and we've been constant enemies for a pretty long time. As for the others, we've gotten to know each other reasonably well after so long too." Danny explained further.

"I see. And your guest?" McGonagall questioned again, her eyes drifting towards Dani. Dani smiled nervously back.

"That's my sister Danielle. See the family resemblance?" Danny joked, as he and Dani smiled in unison without looking at each other. McGonagall cracked a smile, while Snape scoffed.

"More useful information would be what she's doing here." Snape said sourly, glaring at the girl still. Surprising him, she glared back and made her eyes flash a brighter green.

"I was trying to find Danny. Why, is none of your business." She snapped back. Danny held in a chuckle as he looked at Snape's stunned reaction at being talked back to by someone who wasn't him. Well, the other him.

Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape all turned to him after, though, as if expecting something. With a sigh, he complied.

"What'd you come here for, Danielle?" He asked her. She seemed satisfied.

"One day I just woke up and I was two years younger than I was when I went to sleep. I didn't know what was going on, and you're the only person I know of that could have possibly known what happened, so I tried to find you. But I guess Skulker had the same idea, because he found me before I could find you." Dani said.

"Wait a moment, Ms. Phantom. How did you manage to find your way to my school? We are expertly hidden from the muggle world." Dumbledore inquired. Dani shrugged.

"Let's just say it involved a pirate ship, an extraterrestrial mercenary, a nursery rhyme, the number forty-two and the President of the United States but I won't go into details because it's a weird story by even our standards." Dani said, motioning to herself and Danny.

"Why did I expect something else from you? Like, an actual answer?" Danny asked no one. Dani smiled.

"Completely ignoring that," McGonagall started. "I assume you'll be sending her back to your family now, Phantom? Surely you wouldn't allow her to stay here during such dangerous times."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that." Danny began. "What danger? I've thought about this a lot but all I've heard is rumors with nothing but fear to back them up. Do you even believe the rumors are true?"

"Answer the question, Phantom. Will you be sending your sibling home?" Snape dodged the question. Danny glared, but replied this time.

"No." He said with a sigh. "We don't have any other family."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Mr. Phantom, but then what will you do with the girl?" Dumbledore said, not sounding very sorry.

"Why can't I just stay with you?" Dani asked, looking to Danny again.

"I'm working on something you don't know about." Danny said, stressing 'don't know' hoping Dani got the hint that the others didn't know his secret. She nodded.

"Well, would it be possible for her to stay here? Where are you even staying? I haven't seen you retreat anywhere for the night." Snape asked Danny, who coughed nervously.

"Around." He answered vaguely. Snape glared.

"You don't have family to send her home too, you don't want her to stay here with you but you don't like any of our suggestions?" Snape spat angrily. Dani glared.

"What likeable suggestions have you given?" She shot back.

Danny, again, held back a laugh. He did want Dani to stay, but he couldn't let them know she'd be staying or they would either expect her to help him, which meant barely showing up. Which was okay, except his human form was enrolled in the school. Hers was not. She would have to be invisible all the time, wasting power, or hide in his room all day, which she definitely couldn't do. Besides, one of his roommates would notice her there eventually.

"I'm sorry, but if Mr. Phantom doesn't want to tell us where he stays and why you can't stay there, then I'm afraid you'll have to leave the school." Dumbledore decided. Snape nodded hardly, and McGonagall a bit hesitantly.

Dani's eyes widened. She knew Danny wouldn't let that happen to her, but they didn't have a plan yet!

Danny, meanwhile, was thinking. They'd let her stay at Hogwarts if he said so, but he couldn't say so or she'd have to sit in his room all day, a physically impossible feat for her to do, but if he didn't they'd send her away. Right now, he only saw one way she would be able to stay and still be allowed outside in human form. So, he took a deep breath, steeled his resolve and spoke up.

"I think I have an idea. But first, you should know I haven't been completely honest with you." Danny admitted.

Snape's eyes shot open, a victorious look on his face. He was about to speak up, but Dumbledore's hand silenced him and his other hand gave Danny a 'continue' gesture. Danny nodded.

"I'm not a common muggle ghost." Danny started, ignoring Dani's looks and gestures to stop. "The other ghosts call me a halfa."

"A what?" Dumbledore questioned.

"A halfa. A half-ghost, half-human. A form for each, traits of both." Danny explained as simply as he could. Dumbledore's eyes widened, along with the other teachers.

"Do we," McGonagall started. "Do we know your human form?" She asked. Danny nodded, before the familiar ring of light again appeared around his waist.

They were shocked, even more, when Dani did the same. Both rings separated at the same time, leaving a human Danny and Danielle Fenton in their wake. They stayed quiet after for a while, but Snape was the first to speak up.

"Oh, great. There are two of them. Fantastic." Snape said sarcastically. Danny smiled, and Dani guessed what it was about. However, nobody acknowledged his statement.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you in the first place but I'm pretty used to keeping this a secret." Danny admitted.

"Why?" McGonagall dared to ask, despite the hard look on the halfas face. Danny flashed his eyes green.

"These powers. They weren't a gift. They were just shoved at me out of nowhere, and it was either learn how to survive with them or I wouldn't have lasted two more months. Basically, it was die fighting, or die lying down. There isn't one shred of evidence powerful enough to make me publicize myself, because it's not worth it. I've seen what happens, and it's not pretty. I have a secret people would die of, have died of, and I have to live with it. You tell me why."

"You think you're a big shot because you've got powers? Guess what Fenton we all have powers. Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and I have all been through thrice what you have-" Snape started to lecture, but Dani cut him off.

"Don't you talk to Danny about 'being through' things because I can guarantee you what you just said isn't true! You don't know anything about what he's- what we've been through! Just because you can flick your wrist and cast some spells and have been around longer doesn't mean you've had it worse, you got it!" She exploded, her eyes flashing green too in the defense of her brother. Danny sighed.

"Dani, take it easy. Professor Snape was just-" He started, but she interrupted again.

"Being a huge jerk!" She finished for him. "He doesn't know anything about what he's saying!" She cried again. She looked ready to launch into another tirade, but Danny put a hand on her shoulder.

"Just fueling his own ego and dismissing me because of my age, which is only going to come back to bite him on the arse later. There's no reason to get angry over an argument like this one. There won't be any winners yet." Danny explained as calmly as he could. Dani huffed, but nodded and sat back.

"Yet, but when you see how outclassed you are-" Snape started, glaring but Danny broke in.

"I'll get better. I'll learn, I'll grow and I'll get stronger, just like I always have. You should be focusing on the more current matters, not outclassing an eleven year old in a fight." He said evenly. Snape huffed too.

Dumbledore had seen all he needed to. He had his doubts since the transformation, but Danny had already proven himself, unknowingly, which was even more impressive. He had been able to remain calm and be the bigger man, stepping down in the face of an argument that, if Danielle was telling the truth, would've been a no-contest win for him. But instead, he opted for saving Snape some humiliation, and saving them all time to deal with the matter at hand. So, Dumbledore nodded to himself.

"Fenton or Phantom? How would you like to be addressed as?" Dumbledore asked, to the shock of Snape. Danny shrugged.

"In public, I'd appreciate it if you referred to me keeping with my form. But in private, it doesn't matter. I'm both anyway."

Dumbledore nodded, before turning to Dani.

"And you, young lady?" He questioned. Danny smiled. That was all the clues he needed to know to know she would be allowed to stay for a few days.

"Dani, with an 'I', please." She said cutely, her personality doing a complete 180 from just moments ago.

"So, now that you know who I am," Danny started. "Could you do me a favor and not tell anyone? And I mean anyone. Not your brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, best friends, journals, records. Nobody but yourselves."

"That can be done." McGonagall agreed for them all with a nod. Danny nodded in reply. "As long as you don't expect special treatment in class." She bargained.

"Not until something important comes up and I have to, once again, clean up other peoples messes." He shot back. She contemplated a moment before she nodded.

"Wait, where am I staying then?" Dani butted in, confused.

"You'll be staying in the dormitory with the other first year Slytherin girls for a few days, I guess. Until we find somewhere more permanent without sending you back to Amity Park." Danny suggested.

"As long as she accompanies you to classes. She isn't to be left unsupervised." Snape said, looking at he suspiciously. Danny unconsciously put his arm between Dani and Snape.

"If that's okay with her, you mean." Danny added. Snape glared, but relented quickly for now.

"Of course." He conceded.

"Good, then. Danny, thank you for being honest with us. That was a very admirable thing you did; putting everything on the line for your sister here. I wonder why you ended up in the Slytherin house, young man." Dumbledore thought to himself out loud. Danny shrugged. He was not eager to start up another conversation right now.

"Danielle, could you wait outside for a minute?" McGonagall requested. She looked hesitantly at Danny, but he nodded and she reluctantly left, leaving Danny standing before the three.

"Now then. Fenton, I'll need your word that you'll keep an eye on Danielle while she's here and keep up on your schoolwork. Like I said, you're not getting special treatment." She said. "Yet, anyway." She added, remembering Danny's part of the deal. Danny nodded.

"Of course, and I take full responsibility for her while she's here. I won't let her do anything too bad, aside from terrorizing Peeves anyway." Danny replied. McGonagall smiled a bit.

"Good." She said. "You may go."

Danny nodded his thanks and turned to leave, but Dumbledore called after him.

"One more thing, if you may?" He requested. Danny's look told him to go on. "Is there anyone else that is aware of your… powers?" He asked, looking into Danny's eyes. Danny felt him trying to get into his head again and heightened his defenses.

"Uh…."


"What do you mean you bloody lied!" Ron cried as he kicked the wall. Danny shrugged.

"If I told them you knew they'd be paying even more attention to us and we'd never get anywhere in our little… project." Danny tried to justify. Harry shook his head.

"They'll be looking this way anyway, you're with us all the time. You should've come clean about everything." Harry told him. There was an objection. However, it didn't come from Danny.

"I disagree. If Danny hadn't lied we would be under watch almost instantly the second we tried to continue what we're doing, since they know that we know what Danny can do and wouldn't hesitate to do it. But, if they think we don't know, they'd never suspect Danny using his powers to help us, see? Especially not after he explained why it had to be kept a secret. It actually works out in our favor, quite marginally, I might add." Hermione reasoned.

The boys started at her incredulously. Was she… supporting lying to the schools headmaster and two of the professors?

"I am SO lost over here." Dani cried as she slumped down in her seat. Danny chuckled.

"There's a Cerberus, like Pandora has, in some corridor inside the building and the only warning we were given was to 'stay away', with no indication as to why. We may have stumbled on it and came to the conclusion that it was guarding something." Danny summed up.

"Naturally, that's the logical conclusion." Dani said with a roll of her eyes.

"So we poked around a bit and we were told that whatever is going on involves someone named 'Nicolas Flamel', so that's what we've been trying to follow up on ever since." Hermione added, closing another book. "No luck, still."

Danny sighed as he picked up the book and levitated it back to the top shelf with his Ecto-energy, before moving another one to drop it right on the table in front of Hermione again as he searched the isles for his own book to read.

"Thanks." She said, opening the book immediately.

"Alright, if you say so. Send me a book." Dani said to Danny. "I don't have telekinesis yet, it's not my fault you learned it after I-" She started but cut herself off. Luckily Danny swooped in before it got awkward.

"Left home, yeah I know. Not my problem, though, is it?" He continued swiftly, winking at her. She smiled back.

"Left home? Where'd you go?" Ron asked curiously. Dani shrugged.

"All over, really. I left to travel the world, see different places, and try new things, you know?" She explained, reminiscing fondly.

"Your parents let you do that and they didn't know about your powers?" Hermione asked, confused. Danny and Dani shared a glance.

"I let her go. I told you, the folks weren't too attentive with us, as much as they wanted to be. They tried not to put work first but they couldn't help it. So Jazz, Dani and I pretty much relied on each other for a while before-. Well, for a while." Danny explained. "I let her go around the world because I knew she could handle herself fine and if anything ever were to happen I could be there within hours. Jazz and I told our parents she got accepted into a boarding school a few states down."

Despite the long explanation around it, nobody missed his hesitation at the word 'before', but still nobody said anything. Instead, they nodded and returned to skim their books once more. Dani caught Danny's eyes one more time, but this time she winked at him and he smiled before levitating her a book of her own to look through.


"Whaddaya mean I have to be eleven to start here? I'm twelve, remember?" Dani complained to Danny as they walked from the library to the Slytherin common room.

"I remember, but nobody else does. We have to keep that a secret, Dani. They can't know that either of us is that much older than we look. I look eleven now but the last time you saw me I was almost fifteen. That's because Clockwork told me that for this to work, I had to start here as a First Year." Danny explained.

"When was that?" Dani asked him. He shrugged.

"About four months ago, I guess. Right before school started so sometime in early September." He told her. She gasped.

"That's around when I woke up ten, too. I guess I was changed when you were." She concluded.

"Looks like it, but why? Clockwork would've had to have a good reason. Especially to not tell you anything and let you go on a four month long hunt for me." He replied. Dani sighed.

"I don't care, I really wanna go here now. Magic seems so awesome!" She cried. Danny shook his head.

"You're a half-ghost half-human hybrid who was manipulated for weeks straight from birth, changed sides, smacked down a fruit-loop, flew off dramatically into the sunset then came back, got me on the good side of a ghost hunter, the even worse side of a fruit-loop, smacked down said fruit-loop again and then flew off dramatically again but this stick that shoots little colorful sparks," Danny said, pulling out his duel-wooded wand for emphasis and letting it set off green sparks. "Is awesome?"

Dani looked down, embarrassed a bit.

"Yes." She said shyly. Danny rolled his eyes.

"Here, use mine to practice a few basic spells while you're here." Danny said with a sigh, passing Dani his own wand.

"I thought wands were designed for a specific person?" Dani recited what she'd learned from Hermione, carefully waving her brother's wand. She was pleasantly surprised it worked the same way, and the wand let off green sparks.

"Typically, but I've heard of people utilizing other people's wands, just not to their full potential. Besides, we're close enough." He replied. She smiled at his inside joke.

"Alright, here we are. The Slytherin common room." Danny introduced as they approached the already open passageway. Guess someone left recently.

"Feels eerie in here." Dani said, looking around. "Kind of like the Ghost Zone. But, nowhere near as scary."

"That's what I said. Once you've been stuck on Skulker's Island, this is nothing." Danny agreed, sitting down on the couch once more. He was pleasantly surprised when Shade hopped up onto his lap and purred a hello.

"Oh, right. Dani, this is Shade. Shade, that's my sister Danielle." Danny said, pointing Shade at Dani. Shade lightly purred again, causing both Phantom's to smile.

"What'd he say this time? Apparently, he's a pretty sassy cat." Daphne's voice asked as the blonde herself entered the common room from her dorm. Danny laughed.

"He just thinks it's nice to meet my sister and he hopes she's nicer than I am." He said, lightly flicking Shade, who hissed.

"You have a sister?" Daphne asked, flopping down on the sofa once again. As usual, she used Danny as a footstool as he used the actual table and Shade scurried out of the way.

"Dani this is my friend Daphne. Daphne, that's my sister Danielle." Danny said, not bothering to push Daphne's feet off him any longer. Dani smiled and waved as she looked down at Shade, who rubbed against her ankles.

"He's so cute." She said, petting him. Danny huffed.

"Wait until you've known him for a few days, then all he says is he wants to eat." He joked. Shade hissed. Daphne rolled her eyes.

"Your brother and his cat banter more than Potter and Draco." Daphne said. "Although, your brother banters with Draco more than Potter does, Draco just hates Potter more." She added as an afterthought.

"He probably knows Danny could punch him into next week." Dani supplied with a small laugh.

"Not like I haven't tried. Almost pushed him down some stairs earlier today." Danny told her.

"If only they hadn't moved." Daphne cured the moving stairs, much like Ron had earlier that morning.

Dani only knew of Draco, she hadn't met him yet, but Danny had told her a bit about everyone when they were alone. He made sure she understood that no matter how friendly he was with other people, Hermione, Harry and Ron were the only students who knew his secret. Neville didn't know, Daphne didn't know, none of the other professors knew and all ghosts knew.

Shade hissed again, and Dani laughed.

"Shade thinks you should try again." She translated unnecessarily, as Danny understood too. But Daphne let out a long sigh.

"Can everyone but me know what he's saying? How can she understand him! She's only ten!" Daphne said in mock anger.

"Must run in the family." Danny said with a shrug.

"And I'll have you know my birthday is coming up." Dani said indignantly. Danny rolled his eyes.

"It's still three months away, don't get too excited." He chided. Dani stuck her tongue out at him.

"Two months and thirteen days, for your information." She insisted to him. Danny rolled his eyes but Daphne was counting in her head.

"Valentine's Day? Your birthday is on Valentine's Day? That must be weird." Daphne commented, but Dani didn't know what she meant.

"What's-" She started to ask, but she saw Danny shaking his head and she knew he'd explain later and that to ask now would look weird, so she settled for a "Yep."

"Hey, Daph?" Danny started. She hummed in acknowledgement. "Can Danny stay in your dorm for the next couple of days? She doesn't have any other place to sleep."

"Sure, it'll be nice to have another girl around. Stick with me kid, I'll set you straight." Daphne agreed, pointing at Dani, who smiled.

"Please, she'd be better off on her own than under your care." Danny said with a huff. "I let you watch Shade for a day and you sent him to Hermione to get him back to me."

"He couldn't stop clawing at things and hissing, and I couldn't tell what was wrong. Sorry I don't speak wizard cat, Danny!" Daphne justified herself. Danny rolled his eyes. "Anyway, your sister can talk, so this'll be easier."

Danny rolled his eyes.

'Sure it would be,' he thought to himself. 'That's what they all say.'

Aaand scene!

So, how was that? Unexpectedly awesome? Yeah, I thought so.

Yes, Dani will be hanging around for a few chapters but she won't be starting at Hogwarts quite yet (hint, hint) and will basically serve to aggravate Snape further, some comfort to Danny that not everything he loved is gone, and well… I love Danielle, okay?

Sorry if the reveal scene is a little OOC for, well, everybody. But it's the only think I can picture in my head with keeping them close to their respective characters. If anybody has any suggestions on a better one, I'd be glad to hear it, really, because I'm a little nervous about this one.

So was I right? Was this chapter more exciting than the last? I like to think so, it was more fun to write too, but I want your opinions. What did you guys think? Review!

That's all for now. I wouldn't expect another update too soon, but it'll happen. I updated today for all the people, again, spending Valentine's sitting at home eating a lot and watching NETFLIX, much like myself.

Anyway, TheIceRaven has left the building! Until next time!