Author's Note:

UPDATE: This chapter has been betaed by dragondancer123. Hooray for her! =3 She's my official beta person from now on, so things might run a little more smoothly. She's excellent with wording. If you want you can feel free to read the chapter over again, but nothing big has been changed. The only real difference is the bit at the end; Harry is in the mall rather than outside of IHOP. XD She figured it would make more sense to have the trio mall-crawling and getting food.

Welcome to the third installment of Collisions! Please buckle your seat-belt and keep your arms and legs inside the fanfiction at all times.

Disclaimer; See those things I own over there? -points- Those are mine. All those things over there that I obviously don't own? -points other direction- Those aren't mine. =3

So it was official; Americans were insane.

Harry blinked in the sudden light as he stepped off the bus with his bag clutched in one hand. The street wasn't all that busy, but the few people that did pass by didn't spare the man a second glance. It seemed his change into the basic t-shirt - sporting some team logo on its front; he had no idea who they were - and blue jeans paid off. As his ride pulled away, he settled himself onto the bus stop's bench, tugging a map from his pocket and glancing over it.

First sign of insanity, he thought as he stifled a yawn. Their time zones…Merlin, it should be eleven now…The six hour difference was already apparent. Granted, he never went to sleep before midnight, but all of the work he usually did around this time were reports he could hardly stay awake for. Here it was only five and everyone appeared to be driving home. All Harry really wanted to do was collapse into some bed.

Second sign of insanity…their stores. The wizard's first glimpse into American culture hadn't exactly been a great one. Wal-Mart itself was bad enough, or so the information booth had informed him. At four in the morning, however, things were just bizarre. He had nearly hexed a man who ran up to him screaming about the wheelbarrows in aisle nine, had a very one-sided conversation with some woman that insisted on informing him about how the world would one day implode in on itself and he needed to buy a whole supply of tinned cat food as soon as possible…And that was just in the parking lot. The inside of the store wasn't too frightening; Ginny had taken him shopping in one back home before, so he knew the general concepts. The people, however, identifying him as a foreigner, had gone to every length to convince him that he needed everything from a set of car tires to every grape they had in stock. A janitor had shouted at him for a good five minutes when Harry had stepped on a recently mopped floor tile and the woman managing the clothing department seemed to see him as a perfect chance to try out every fashion imaginable.

In short, it had ended up taking two and a half hours to get a few pairs of jeans and new shirts. The man was rather proud of himself when he got the payment correct. The bills weren't all that difficult to figure out, but he was wondering the entire time what kind of country would make all their money green.

His breakfast was short and very uneventful. The early-morning restaurant a cashier had pointed out named IHOP (he really couldn't understand their naming logic; he would have guessed the place sold pogo sticks or something similar) was empty when he was there and the staff seemed tired enough to abandon any attempts at conversation. He was content to linger, however, as the information desk didn't open until eight. The witch there was pleasant enough, if not extremely social. She looked up the location of Amity Park and found the nearest grate attached to the Floo Network, a small Congress office in Chicago. Harry arrived in the city at 7:30 (blasted time zones again…) and it took the officials there a while to be convinced that he really did want to find a way to the small town.

"Amity Park is strange, Mr. Potter," one clerk informed him, "even for you. We used to get calls all the time to sort out some rampaging technology, but there was no trace of magic at all when the crew arrived. Things just go weird there, but there are no registered wizards in the area. Plenty here, mind you, but further south…" He shook his head in a bemused way. "I dunno what's going on, but I certainly wouldn't go encouraging people to vacation there." Harry finally managed to get the man to look into transportation, only to find that the only way was by bus. Apparently, due to the lack of magic population, there were no set Apparating areas, and nowhere the Congress would risk sending a Portkey. The town wasn't known well enough to figure out less-traveled paths that would insure privacy from Muggle eyes. The two-and-a-half hour drive was extremely uneventful and utterly boring, but at least it got him there.

Third sign of insanity…their ghost-obsessed towns. Harry sighed slightly as he pushed himself to his feet and began striding down the sidewalk. It seemed like a fairly ordinary place; one billboard went so far as to advertise that it was 'A nice place to live!' It showed a few details that hinted otherwise, however. There was road construction at one corner, apparently repairing a small crater in the asphalt. A building to the left had cracks radiating from a point about twenty feet up as if something had been thrown into it.

Wand work, the Auror thought to himself with a frown. There's nothing else that could cause that much damage…or hit that far up, for that matter. It was obvious there were some wizards here, whether they were registered or not. They were obviously of age if the Trace didn't pick them up…but why would there be no signs of magic use when the inspectors came?

With another yawn he pointedly decided that all investigations would wait until tomorrow. It wasn't like the town would vanish into another dimension overnight.

His bag once again hoisted onto his shoulders, Harry asked for directions to the nearest hotel (something he was sure Ginny would be proud of), and though his distinct accent insured odd looks the young man was soon leaning wearily on the counter of a rather cheap place that proudly advertised indoor heating on its sign.

"You're not from here, are ya?" the woman behind the desk inquired as she filled in what little information he could give. "That accent sounds more…I dunno, French or something." Green eyes barely restrained themselves from rolling at that comment and he shook his head.

"London, actually. I'm just visiting for a while. Taking some time off work."

"Odd place for a vacation, this." The cashier stared dully at the computer screen as it registered his room. "Most people try and vacation from it, really."

"Why would that be?" Just because he was exhausted didn't mean he couldn't get some information. The woman blinked once before looking up, one eyebrow raised.

"What, you didn't hear about it coming here? This is the most haunted town in the country. Ghosts just love it here, for whatever reason. Most of the time they don't do much besides some property damage, but there've been full-out invasions on occasion." Harry glanced out the window with a slight frown.

"I don't believe in ghosts myself, really," he told her after a pause. "I'm sure I'll be fine." She simply snorted, handing the visitor his room key.

"Right, that's what most of the people say. Just don't complain when it happens, I warned ya." He gave a short wave as she vanished through the door behind the desk once more and strode down the single hallway to the door labeled 125. It wasn't anything particularly impressive, but it had a bed and running water. His bag falling to the floor, the wizard managed to pull his shoes off before falling back onto the mattress. His head was pounding slightly, he had barely eaten lunch (if a squashed gas-station sandwich could count as a lunch) and it was definitely too late to try getting a hold of Ginny.

"This place better be about to implode," he muttered as he placed his glasses on the bedside table. "Otherwise Percy's going to pay for every expense when I get home…"

It ended up being the sun that woke Harry in the morning. His room's window faced east and once the morning cleared the taller buildings, it allowed in the very unwelcome streams of bright light. With a muttered curse he rolled over, in an attempt to get back to sleep only to find it rather useless. The man glanced at the clock to his right and grimaced; 7:45. It was almost two back in London, then. Merlin, he hadn't slept that late since school…With a sigh he pushed himself up, quickly pulling on a clean outfit and making a futile attempt to get his hair to lie flat. Shoving his wand in his pocket and 'official papers' in the front of his bag, he trudged back into the main lobby.

"You checking out then?" It took a moment for Harry to register that the voice was addressing him. Blinking once, he turned back to the front desk and attempted a slight grin.

"Not sure, really. I'll be paying for a night at a time, probably. No telling when I plan on leaving." The cashier simply shrugged, still buried behind her newspaper.

"Suit yourself." She glanced up once as the man was just reaching the door and added "A word of advice, though; if you hear screaming and explosions, run the other way. We got too many idiots running right into the middle of aerial dog fights and then complaining when they're in the line of fire." Harry raised one eyebrow at this before his still-tired brain insisted he not question the woman.

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you…"

Amity Park didn't seem to be an exceedingly busy town. There were more people walking around now than there had been when he first arrived, but given that it was a Saturday, that made sense. The road construction was still going strong, and it seemed they were nearly finished. Impressive, really…the Muggles in London take ages to fix much of anything. He leaned against the streetlight on the corner, waving vaguely to one of the workers as they passed. He might as well get started now if he wanted to get home quick.

"Morning, sir," the wizard greeted as his current subject of questioning approached. "Hope I'm not interrupting you…"

"Ah, nah, I'm on break." As if to prove it, he pulled the yellow construction hat off and tucked it under one arm, holding out the other hand to shake. "Robert Harvey," he introduced. "I only tell you that because you're obviously not from here, right?" Harry chuckled slightly as he returned the handshake, eyes rolling briefly.

"Is it that obvious?" Harvey simply laughed, shrugging.

"Well, I keep expecting to see the Queen with that accent…besides, no one likes the Giants over here."

"Giants?" Were there giants this far west?

"Your shirt?" the worker gestured at the logo on Harry's chest with a rather playful grimace. "Giants are New York, we're all about the Bears. Or…well, most of us are. You got those few crazies like the mayor who obsesses over Packers." Harry blinked a few times before nodding rather warily.

"Of course…" Harvey chuckled almost apologetically.

"Yeah, but don't get me started on football. I can go on for hours. Did you need something?"

"Just a bit of information." Fourth sign of insanity…football. "I was curious when I saw the damage here." He nodded at the asphalt, which still sported a few large cracks. "What could've caused that? It seems a bit too…large to be considered normal."

"Ah, well…" The previous laughter had fallen off the man's face as he glanced over his shoulder. "Trust me, this is nothing. These things can get up to five feet across. And the wall up there?" He pointed at the radiating cracks in the building that Harry had noticed the night before. "We're lucky it's not a hole. The fights can get rather destructive sometimes."

"Fights?"

"Right, foreigner, sorry…" Harvey seemed to grimace as he glanced back at the work once more. "Most of the country thinks this place is insane. I thought so too, until I moved out here." He looked back at Harry, his expression now rather wary. "You believe in ghosts, Mr…?"

"Potter. And honestly I'm not all that sure anymore." Ghosts, yes. Ghosts that can do this? They're insane. "We have ghost stories of course, but I've only ever heard of those that just…float around and scare people. Somehow it seems rather far-fetched to have one cause this sort of damage."

"Yeah, well…" the worker muttered. "That's what I thought too. Ghosts, you know, floating bed sheets that pop out and yell 'boo'. Trust me though, this town will turn a skeptic within a few days. It's rare to have a calm week. A ghost will show up, shout a bit, Phantom comes and fights them and people go about their lives."

"Wait, Phantom?" Harry stood suddenly straighter, Percy's letter ringing in his mind. 'One person he asked about it insisted that Phantom was almost never seen without another ghost present, and that they were always fighting for one reason or another.' "Who's he?" Harvey waved one hand rather dismissively.

"Ah, he's the town's main ghost. Only one who doesn't seem to leave. Others come and go kinda randomly, but Phantom is always around. He's-"

"Bob!" The sudden voice caused both to jump, turning quickly to a tall man leaning against his shovel. "You gonna stand there all day chatting or come pour this gravel?" With a weary grin, Harvey slapped his hat back on quickly.

"Can it Al, I'm comin'!" Turning back to the visitor he gave a quick salute. "Duty calls, unfortunately. Good luck then, Mr. Potter, and for the sake of your sanity I hope you see no reason to believe in ghosts." He spun around, striding back to the construction and attempting to shout at the others over the sound of the equipment. Harry blinked once, watching the men carefully fill the hole before he shook his head and continued his trek down the street.

"Now what?" the wizard muttered to himself, dodging a group of kids who came barreling down the sidewalk on bikes. "They seem willing enough to talk about it, but it's not like I'm learning much listening to a bunch of ghost stories." He sighed once, one hand running over his face. There wasn't really a set plan of action. He was just supposed to find out what caused this mass delusion and put a stop to it. They just all seemed so sure of everything…

The man's stomach growled loudly, reminding him of the fact that he hadn't actually eaten a full meal since Chicago. Well…who said plans of action had to be long term? Breakfast first (even though it would be lunch in London) and then he would figure out his next step. It was always far too hard to concentrate on an empty stomach. At least he knew how to use the money now.

Granted, a hamburger store in the mall's food court didn't really match up to Kolsi's cooking…but it was certainly better than nothing, and he could trust their food to be edible. The place wasn't that crowded and no one was paying him any attention other than the woman who refilled his coffee. A group of teenagers had taken the table next to him, two of them complaining that it was still far to early to be awake.

"It's a Saturday, Sam," one boy groaned, his head falling onto the table with a thump. Black hair stuck up everywhere, reminding Harry of his own. The girl he was addressing sat down across from him and sighed, violet eyes rolling.

"Quit whining, you would've slept in until noon if I hadn't gotten you up."

"That's kinda the point…" The second boy sat himself next the first, taking off his glasses quickly and rubbing his eyes. "Saturdays are meant for sleeping. You know as well as we do how few chances we get to sleep in."

"Or sleep at all, for that matter," the black-haired teen put in, his voice muffled. "There must've been a dozen on Thursday, I didn't even manage to get Lancer's assignment done and it was the shortest I had." Sam reached across the table and punched him lightly on one arm with a scoff.

"Oh stop with the complaining. I told you to take the night off, but you insisted on going out. And there were only five, Danny, I counted."

As the waitress appeared at Harry's table with his order the man turned away from the group with a slight grin. There was no telling what exactly they were talking about, but the trio reminded him extraordinarily of himself Ron and Hermione. Granted, Ron wasn't African-American, but he did seem to enjoy eating as much as the boy with the beret seemed to.

His own meal went rather quickly. The teenagers were still chatting about something or other when a rather bored worker came to collect his tray.

"Anything else I can get you then, sir?" the waitress inquired, carefully stacking the plates on one hand and grabbing his payment with the other. The wizard paused a moment before mentally shrugging. It couldn't hurt to ask, at least.

"Actually, you may know the answer…I'm interested in looking into the alleged ghost attacks of the city, is there anywhere that would have most of the information?" Silence fell suddenly at the other table and he could feel three pairs of eyes turn to him incredulously.

"Alleged?" Danny whispered, just loud enough for the man to catch, glancing at his friends with a raised eyebrow. Sam seemed to shrug, replying in a quick mutter.

"Tourist…"

"The information center has a section on them," the server informed him with a slightly weary smile. He could tell she had also heard the hushed voices behind her. "I think the city is planning on building some museum, but it's still under consideration. Things usually happen too quickly for people to get a whole lot of information, but people at the center can tell you the best ways to stay safe if something does happen." Harry nodded, shooting a quick glance at the three as they seemed to be attempting to restrain laughs.

"I'll give it a look, thank you." He stood, stretching briefly as the woman walked away and then peered down at the trio with the hint of a smirk. "And yes, I am a tourist. What, was it the accent that gave it away?" The man gave a quick mock salute, now grinning as they looked up at him almost dumbstruck before he began striding back toward the main entrance.

The mall was quiet, most of its usual visitors still sleeping in. He blinked once in the bright sunlight that filtered through the skylight before finding the nearest bench and falling onto it with a sigh. Breakfast was out of the way…so now what? Apparently everyone was convinced of the 'ghost' attacks here. Perhaps if he found someone who didn't believe in them…

A sudden flash of green light erupted from a store across the spacious hall and the silence was disrupted by screams as people flooding out into the open entrance area. The Auror was on his feet in an instant, hand clenched around the wand in his pocket. There weren't that many curses that had such an identifiable green color…but who would attempt a Killing Curse in the middle of the day with all the Muggles around to see it?

Someone who knows there aren't supposed to be wizards here, he concluded grimly, sprinting quickly to the edge of the crowd and attempting to see over heads. The entire store seemed to be glowing now…some electronic store, apparently. Impressive effects, he had to admit. The Muggle's attentions were certainly caught. Everyone jumped as a sudden loud laugh emitted from the building, seemingly from the electronics themselves. It was far from menacing, however, as Riddle's had been. This one just seemed…annoying.

"At last!" The voice was loud and rather nasally. Harry had the strangest desire to laugh as he heard it, trying to picture what Dark wizard would have a voice like that. "After I absorb the energy from these machines I will once again be able to-"

"To what, rampage with a few toaster ovens?" The new voice was just as loud and seemed to be a mixture of amusement and annoyance. Everyone automatically looked up and Harry followed their gaze, green eyes widening as he spotted the source. A young boy, seventeen at the oldest, was levitating some ten feet above them. He wore a black body-suit trimmed with white and a large white D splashed across his chest. There was something rather impressive about him, to be honest…The boy was 'standing', arms crossed in a posture that exuded confidence and his bright green eyes seemed to be nearly glowing with excitement. But why did his voice seem familiar…?

"Nonsense, boy!" The nasally voice was back, though Harry didn't look away from the newcomer as he tried to figure out the spell being used to hold himself up like that. He didn't seem to have a wand…"You cannot defeat me this time, for I am Technus! Master of-"

"Master of 'I never shut up', I mean really!" The kid laughed, drifting to the front of the store rather nonchalantly. "Do you ever get tired of screaming everything to the sky?" Blinking a few times, Harry turned to the nearest observer, a young girl who couldn't have been older than seven.

"Who is that?" he asked quietly, and she looked up at him like he was mad.

"Who's that?" she squeaked, arms crossing in indignation. "Duh! That's Danny Phantom, he's like…the coolest!" Green eyes blinked once more as he looked back at the boy with the snow-white hair.

Well, he had found Phantom at least…

:3 Viola! No, don't worry, Technus isn't the 'big bad guy' of the plot…I honestly don't know who is yet, still working on those details. XDD Tell me if you have any preferences or ideas! Sorry this one's short!

Welcome to Amity Park then, Harry. You certainly won't be a skeptic for long. (He is going to be stubborn though. After all, there is no way ghosts can do anything but float around and haunt buildings. He's assuming both Technus and Danny are wizards at the moment. =3)

The beginning of this one is a little rushed, I admit, but I wanted to get him here without having to go through every detail…and I actually would love to write a one-shot about Harry's trip to Wal-Mart. XD It would be fun.

Hope ya liked it! Shoot me reviews! (Don't actually shoot them! -ducks-) Until next time!

~Waggy