Happy New Year to one and all! I once again thank all of my readers and reviewers, and the new people who put this fic on your favorite and alert lists, and ME on your favorite author and alert lists. This is a bright way to begin 2009!

Several chapters ago (Chapter 16), CatalystOfTheSoul gave a long and detailed treatise (she called it a rant) in a review, describing her thoughts and observations on overshadowing in Danny Phantom's world. I took that into consideration for part of the chapter. It is always good to give credit where credit is due. Thank you kindly for the inspiration for that part of the chapter.

(I DO read every review, and well-thought out reviews often give me ideas. Not every good idea gets used, but they always make me think. Also, I respond to all signed reviews. Unsigned reviews, I answer at my own discretion. I truly appreciate them just the same, but sometimes fighting with the search engine ((and sometimes failing)) to find the author's name makes trying to respond more trouble than it's worth. But signed or unsigned, a good question that catches my attention will be addressed. I just thought you should know.)

Disclaimer: I do not own either Danny Phantom or Harry Potter.

Chapter 22

Danny sat in Professor Snape's office, waiting for him to return. He couldn't believe what Vlad almost did to him, or made him do! Well… that's not really true. Vlad's been anxious to turn him into an evil minion since the day he discovered Danny was a half-ghost. Why did he think he could trust Vlad? On the day they went to Diagon Alley, Vlad thanked Danny for choosing to be with him. As Danny saw it, it wasn't as much a choice as a lack of options.

A knock on the door alerted Danny to Professor Snape's arrival. Danny turned to see the professor with Vlad. Danny stood from his chair, turned ghost, and took a defensive stance.

Vlad began, "Daniel…"

Danny quickly assessed spatial relations, considering his distance from Vlad and any escape route necessary. Satisfied for the nonce, Danny crossed his arms and spat, "What do you want, Plasmius?"

Vlad recoiled as if struck. Danny hadn't called him that since long before July. He only used that name to assert that Vlad was a full-blown enemy. This would take serious work.

Professor Snape, unfamiliar with that name, asked, "Why did you call him that?"

Danny answered, "That's the name of his ghost identity. Plasmius. Vlad Plasmius. I've only used that name when I know exactly where we stand." Vlad looked down.

A thought occurred to Danny. "Oh, no. Unless Sir Nicholas told Professor Dumbledore that name, you are the only human alive who knows." He gulped. "Be careful. He knows you are my friend and ally. In order to force me to do what he wants, he might infect you with a deadly disease or trap us both in a human-ghost shield." Danny stood protectively in front of his professor and eyed the office more cautiously, looking for anything of Vlad's tell-tale silver and red technology.

The professor looked between the two half-ghosts. What had this man done to this boy, or his friends? Vlad looked pained and shut his eyes. He knew exactly what Daniel referred to, and the boy had a point.

Vlad opened his eyes and tried again. "Daniel, I… never actually apologized for all the hurt that I've caused you. The emotional damage has been considerable. If I began to list all of my sins against you (both known and unknown to you), we would be here until Saturday of next week. But I will mention the three most painful, as I would imagine them to be, and pray that you can find it within you to forgive me." Danny's eyes widened. This penitent tone was one he never remembered hearing from Vlad before.

"After the resurfacing of my Ecto-Acne, I never should have infected your friends with it. Even as you hated me, I should have remembered your personality: you save whomever needs saving. It's what you do; it's what you've always done. You would have helped me if all I did was ask." He paused and shook his head. "You did find the cure, for which I thank you. I don't remember if I did at the time, but I certainly do now. At this point, I am truly sorry for hurting your friends to try to force your hand."

Vlad sighed. "The second incident is when I indeed put you and your sister Jasmine under the human-ghost shield over my football field turned gladiatorial arena. I just… your sister…" He sighed again. "I was so surprised and shocked that either you or your sister actually renounced your father and chose to live with me instead (or seemed to, anyway), I thought it was too good to be true. When your sister showed up on my doorstep, I was confused and overjoyed. And then she recognized you in your ghost form.

"I have no good excuse for what I did. At the time, I told you both that I needed to test her loyalty to me. Now this sounds foolish, even to my ears." He cringed before he said his next words. "The absolute cruelty of pitting a brother and sister against each other in a gladiatorial arena… I've come up with some bizarre schemes, but I don't know what I was thinking at the time." An awkward smile crept across his face. "Football is known to be a blood sport, but there was nothing sporting about what I did or expected you both to do. It was spiteful, painful beyond reason, and I apologize for my behavior to you and your sister that day."

Closing his eyes and taking a breath, Vlad was ready to continue. "The third is perhaps the most grievous, because of the conditions surrounding it. While the circumstances were by no means my fault, this time, you have graced me with the fruition of my fondest wish: you chose me to be your guardian, even though both the good professor and I came up with quite a few other options you could have chosen instead. The only thing that could make this even better would be if one day you allowed me to properly adopt you and have you truly as my son – not as a renunciation of your parents, but only because your parents are no longer alive. But I digress.

"Since July, despite our… differences and my crimes against you in the past, we have been working on developing a relationship. I truly meant it to only be mutually beneficial and satisfactory to both of us, but" he closed his eyes as he winced, opened them and continued, "old habits die hard. I wanted what I wanted, and when you didn't give me what I wanted when I wanted it, I tried to make you give it to me by force."

Drawing a ragged breath, Vlad met Danny's eyes. "Until this point, on your part, you have been nothing but respectful and compliant, something I have taken for granted, though I had no right to. You have built a trust in me, for which I am truly grateful, until I shattered it by violating that trust in the most painful way possible. I not only attacked you once and threatened to again, but I did this while trying to make you violate your code of morals, which you've known for over a year and a half is far higher than mine.

"And what makes all of this worse (as if this wasn't bad enough) is that I did all this after you reminded me – in Diagon Alley, in our private moment in the Leaky Cauldron – that your mother would not approve of my… for lack of a better word, ethics, if I had you follow them. I agreed, and as good as promised that I would not make you break your moral code. Tonight, I violated this trust and implied promise, and can only beg your forgiveness.

"You asked me what I wanted. What I would like is a second chance. I admit I've done nothing to deserve it, but nonetheless, what I want more than anything is the opportunity to properly once again serve as your guardian. While my dearest wish is for you to agree to be my son, I could easily store it as a dream in my heart regardless of its fulfillment. But until that happy day arrives, I would be truly honored if you could find it within yourself to call me 'Uncle Vlad' once more."

Silence fell in the office as Vlad's words hung in the air. This was quite an admission, and both professor and student had a lot to absorb. It took a lot out of Vlad to say all that he did. He stood in silence, waiting for a reaction.

Professor Snape was horrified to hear the depravities this man stooped to commit. The report Daniel gave of this man in no way prepared him to hear this. Sending bounty hunters after Daniel's ghost half was bad enough, but the boy mentioned that there was an ugly past between the two. Daniel did not explain WHAT Masters had done. The idea that a man would purposely infect children with a deadly disease was beyond Snape's imagination. The fact that the boy before him warned him against a repeat performance, and then protectively stood in front of him before he thought to move to protect the boy… And this man somehow forced Daniel and his sister to fight as gladiators. The siblings were trapped in a human-ghost shield? That means that neither the living nor the dead could get past this shield.

Sweet Merlin! What was this man capable of? And yet – with some honest reflection, he concluded it was not worse than some of what he committed as a Death Eater. Regardless, the abuse Daniel suffered at this man's hands defied description. And these were only three of the many crimes perpetrated against this boy by this man.

Danny stood in shock. Vlad just apologized to him. This was very new to his experience. Vlad pretty much covered the bases. Further, Vlad was good at that psychology thing. The events he apologized for were indeed the most painful. He wondered what Jazz would have said about this.

Right now, he wasn't exactly sure what to do. Danny thought about what his mother would have said. Everything Vlad said right now was absolutely true. And even though he threatened to act like the hated enemy he knew Vlad to be, Vlad was also right about the relationship building.

He had options besides Vlad? This was news to him. The fact that both Vlad and Professor Snape figured it out meant that it had to be true. A bolt of anger shot through him. Vlad knew he had other options but gladly let him think he was stuck!

Danny still didn't know what those options were, but at least – in theory – he was being given a choice.

Then Danny thought about why they were here. Both Danny and Vlad were here in Britain, in Hogwarts, in the Wizarding World because Voldemort and his cohorts destroyed his town and everyone he loved in it. Vlad, an international businessman, chose to hide with him in a school far away from his businesses just to be with and protect him. Vlad has always wanted to teach him to use his powers more effectively, and until this whole overshadowing thing, Vlad was always patient and encouraging. And Vlad said he missed Danny's family, too.

Danny studied Vlad searchingly and suddenly remembered a time and a place Vlad looked so broken: in his alternate future time line. What was it he said? "Maybe that's all anybody needs: a second chance." Now he knew what to do.

"Vlad," Danny began. It was more than Vlad could hope for than to expect the 'uncle', but at least the boy didn't call him 'Plasmius' again. "You have given me a lot to think about. I don't think I'm ready to think of you as an uncle again. You hurt me pretty badly, and I'm not sure I trust you enough for that. But I do know what sacrifices you've made to be here with me, and that makes it worth giving you a second chance." Vlad released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Still, the whole school thinks of us as uncle and nephew, so around them I'll call you 'Uncle Vlad.' It will take a while for my feelings to catch up to that."

"I would imagine so," Vlad murmured. "Thank you, Daniel. I won't let you down again."

Professor Snape could not believe what transpired in front of him. "Are you sure about this, Daniel?"

Danny nodded. "Yes, I'm sure." Clockwork's words echoed through his mind. 'You've given everyone else in your life a second chance. Why not you?' This was as much for Danny as it was for Vlad. He was doing the right thing. Danny turned human, showing the men present that he was standing down.

Professor Snape allowed himself a brief stare of disbelief before he turned back to business. "Then there is the project to discuss."

Danny stiffened. Oh, no. Vlad was going to… but he promised not to. He shivered and took a step away from Vlad.

The older half-ghost sighed. He had won half the battle, but he had a LOT of work to do to get back to where they'd been. "Right. I understand your objections to the next part of this overshadowing project." Danny's eyes grew wide. Vlad was discussing this in front of Professor Snape. What did this mean? "I explained to Professor Snape that – besides the revenge schemes I mentioned before – I did mean for the idea of overshadowing a wizard to use his magic as a larger lesson in defense. You have been studying all kinds of things about magic for a while now. The idea occurred to me that if magical means were made available to a person who is known to be a Muggle, a dangerous wizard would be seriously thrown off-guard."

Danny shook his head. Discussed calmly, it sounded a lot more rational than it did before. Danny also knew that Vlad had a silver tongue, and he wasn't ready to trust Vlad yet. "I don't know. What do you think, Professor?"

Professor Snape chose his words carefully. "I agree with both of your assessments of this issue. In general, this overshadowing business to force a wizard to use his magic is, as Daniel said, a violation of the wizard's very essence – if it can, in fact, be done. However, all is fair when it comes to war. The Dark Lord and his Death Eaters have never been about fair play. If it came down to it, I think it would be valuable to have this tool in your arsenal, if such a thing could be used against them. In any event, I am rather curious to know whether you would have the ability to perform magic while using a wizard's body.

"But I would leave it up to you. If you would choose not to do this, I would support you completely. If you do choose to do this, I believe I can arrange for a week-long lesson plan, filling your Powers Training time slot, providing a student wizard for the purpose."

Danny's eyes went wide. "But…"

Professor Snape said, "Think about it. That is all we are asking you to do. I would suggest you sleep on it. Meet me here tomorrow night and you will tell us your decision." Danny looked at Professor Snape, then at Vlad, then at the floor and nodded.

Vlad said gently, "I think we've had quite enough excitement for one night. We can meet again tomorrow. Alright?" Vlad looked at Danny, almost hopefully.

Danny nodded. "Okay." Danny left the office and went back to his dorm.

Professor Snape stared at Vlad. "You have got to be the luckiest man in the world. If you've described a mere fraction of what you've done…"

"I know. I… I know. And I won't waste this blessed chance I've been given. I won't let him down again."

When Danny got back to his Common Room, Draco looked up. "Danny, you're back early!" He stopped short when he saw the haunted, ashen face of his raven-haired friend. "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it. I'm just going to do my homework and go to bed. Or, maybe I'll skip the homework." He continued to mutter to himself as he disappeared into the bedroom.

Draco looked at Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle. "That can't be good."

At breakfast, Danny kept that weird expression. He paid attention to the conversations around him, but said nothing. He studiously avoided looking at the Head table, where Vlad tried futilely to catch his eye. Danny left breakfast early.

Pansy asked, "What happened?"

Draco looked worried. "I don't know. He wouldn't talk all night. Maybe… Maybe I better to talk to Professor Snape about him. I know he's moody, and has a weird relationship with his uncle, but… this goes beyond that. I'm a little afraid for him."

Pansy looked at him. "Draco, I know he's your pet project, but why do you care so much?"

The blond boy was at a loss. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "There's just something about him that inspires loyalty. He doesn't look for it. He certainly doesn't ask for it. I just get the idea that his friends back home were lucky to have him, if he was actually open with them."

Goyle piped up, "The fact that he's the most mysterious student in the school doesn't hurt, either."

Crabbe thought for a second. "Professors don't give him a hard time, even though he's a Slytherin."

Draco looked at them, more than a little surprised. He never knew them to be that observant. "You noticed that, too? I don't know. But let's not be late to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Masters won't appreciate that. Especially if Danny's in a bad mood."

In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Vlad continued his unit on hags. Danny handed in his homework but did not raise his hand for the entire class. Professor Masters was as engaging as ever, but he looked worried when he looked at Danny. Danny was far more absorbed in the notes he took than anything else around him. Draco decided that Professor Snape was going to hear about this.

As soon as Transfigurations let out, he ran to Professor Snape's office in time to watch Danny leave. He was surprised, but Danny made no eye contact. Draco entered the open office door. "Professor?"

A resigned look crossed the professor's face. "Draco? How can I help you?"

"It's about Danny…"

Snape sighed. "I'm glad you are so concerned for your friend. He's recently had a particularly traumatic experience. He may be out of it for a while. Don't try to get him to talk about it – that will only upset him further. Just…be there for him." He shook his head. "If he's as strong and brave as I've heard, he will get over this, but it will take a while. He's only human." He realized what he just said and chuckled quietly.

"Sir?"

"Never mind. Was there anything else?"

When Danny got to Professor Snape's office, he said his first words all morning. "Good morning, Professor."

"Good morning, Daniel. Please have a seat."

Danny sat. "On Monday, Draco told me about a curse called Levicorpus. What is that?"

Professor Snape grinned. "Actually, that is a curse I invented, myself. It rather caught on in the halls of school in my Fifth Year. The curse grabs the victim by the ankle and suspends him in the air upside down. Nothing can move the victim again until the counter-curse is recited: Liberacorpus."

Danny stared. "You invented it?"

A wry smile crossed the professor's face. "When I was younger, I spent a lot of time learning and dabbling in the Dark Arts. I created a few Dark spells that eventually became favorites of the Death Eaters. That was one of the more harmless ones. I was not always the fine, upstanding wizard you see before you." He creased his eyebrows. "Once upon a time, I used to perform acts evil enough to give Professor Masters a run for his money. But that is firmly in the past."

Danny grew quiet. This was quite an admission. He looked into the professor's eyes, who asked, "Daniel, would you like to talk about last night?"

Looking down, Danny nodded. "I guess. I just wouldn't know where to begin."

"May I ask you a few questions?"

Danny shrugged. "Okay."

"Of all the options available to you, why did you select Professor Masters to be your guardian?"

Danny frowned. "Until Vlad mentioned it last night, I didn't know there were other options for me. He said that both of you knew about them, but I couldn't guess what they would be."

Professor Snape looked a little surprised at Danny's lack of knowledge, but he quickly recovered. "For one thing, there are the parents of your closer friends, your Aunt Alicia in Arkansas, other authorities who look to take care of orphans. Why didn't you consider these choices?"

Danny furrowed his brows. "For one thing, Sam's parents never liked me very much. They were never happy about her hanging out with me. They were very unhappy about it because of the weirdness of my parents' interest in ghosts." He blushed. "My parents were very excited about their work, even when no one else believed them. Once people realized that ghosts were not only real, but malevolent ones posed a real threat, they had no choice but to acknowledge my parents' work. I can tell you that my parents were great inventors, even if they never knew why all their inventions zeroed in on me." The professor chuckled.

"Once, Sam's parents decided that I was a bad influence on her, and they took out a restraining order against me. I'm not sure that they would be interested in taking me in. I went to Sam's funeral. They were kind of surprised that I came with Vlad." He scrunched his face. "They were curious about how someone as 'normal' as Vlad ended up with someone like me. They had no clue, and I wasn't about to tell them."

He sighed. "Tucker's parents liked me well enough, but it never occurred to me to ask them. Valerie, my only friend who made it out of this alive, is a good friend. Still, she has it in for my ghost half." Catching Snape's puzzled look, he said, "About a year ago, her father lost his job because a ghost dog destroyed Axion Labs, a place her father installed a security system. The dog ran rampant and I tried to catch the dog to stop it. From that day until this, she not only holds me responsible for her father losing his job, she's pretty sure that I'm the cause of most of the ills, if not of the world, certainly of Amity Park." He shuddered. "I'm just glad she didn't blame the Death Eater attack on me, too." He shook his head bitterly. "As much as I like her, it would be weird to find a place with them."

He thought for a minute. "Also, since Mr. Grey lost his job, they've been struggling to make ends meet. I couldn't ask them to take on the burden of adopting me. Even if Mr. Grey got a major promotion since Vlad took over the company and merged it with one of his own.

"Aunt Alicia doesn't seem to like kids. Actually, she doesn't seem to like people in general. She had a major celebration marking her tenth anniversary of her divorce. Dad always called her 'a bitter old bat.' I'm not sure if she would appreciate the imposition.

"On the first day Vlad discovered I was a half-ghost, he was excited to know me, and wanted to teach and mentor me. But he wanted me to renounce my father. That was never going to happen.

"Still, there were other times he told me that he cheerfully wanted me as a son. He pointed out all kinds of ways how we were alike, which was never something I wanted to be, 'cause he is an evil Froot-Loop. Just the same, whenever I did something he considered strategically good or logical, he told me how proud he was.

"No matter how much I resented everything about him, he was always interested in adopting me. Even the first time I defeated his plan and forced him into a truce."

Snape perked up. "Oh? Please tell me about that."

Danny smirked. "Well, he overshadowed my father, as I told you before. I forced him out of my father, and he (as Plasmius) grabbed my mother. After a bit of an aerial fight, he was going to drop her (not part of his plan, but he had other things to deal with), so I overshadowed my father to catch her. Once I put her someplace safe, I told Vlad (as Plasmius) that if he didn't leave my family alone, I would walk out of my father and expose both of our secrets. My parents would accept me, but my mother would hate him for what he tried to do to my father. Vlad said that I had learned something from him, by using my opponent's weakness against him."

Professor Snape smiled and thought, 'There is no doubt that he is sweet, but he is ALL Slytherin!' "I would be proud of you, too."

Danny shook his head. "Huh?"

"That was quick thinking in a tight spot. Exploiting an opponent's weakness is very effective."

"Yeah, I guess so." Danny thought again. "Mr. Lancer, one teacher from Casper High who took an interest in me, especially when my grades weren't so good, told me that being a teacher isn't the easiest job out there." Professor Snape blinked. This seemed to be a non sequitur, so he refocused on Danny. "He said it was thankless, as students are usually a captive audience who would rather be somewhere else, doing something else.

"Vlad is a billionaire. He is a captain of industry, heading and owning all kinds of businesses and corporations. He's brilliant, and probably invented most of the technology his companies mass-produce. He's even found ways to improve stuff he's stolen from my parents' lab. Now, at home, I'm not at all sure what he does, exactly. But he is a high-profile, powerful man who has practically infinite resources at his fingertips.

"When Professor Dumbledore came to Wisconsin to explain what happened with the Death Eaters, and Voldemort, and the Wizarding World, Vlad decided to go underground and hide here in Hogwarts with me. He didn't actually give up the things he owns and controls, but he put his active control of them on hold just so he could be here with me, to help protect me. He temporarily stepped away from his other business to be a teacher here. He's made a lot of sacrifices just so he could be here with me.

"Who am I? I'm just a kid who manages to attract all kinds of trouble. Maybe it's because I'm the only other half-ghost in existence, but for whatever reason, Vlad seems to find me interesting enough to put everything on hold just for me. I may not like him very much right now, but he does seem to care. Kind of.

"I don't get him. He confuses me. But with all he's done for me, I guess it's only fair for me to give him a second chance.

"Besides – other authorities who deal with orphans can turn out good or bad. You never know what to expect. Nameless, faceless people who know nothing about me working to decide my fate, or a guy who only let me know he's wanted to adopt me since the day he met me: who would you choose?"

Professor Snape was in shock and awe at how complicated the relationship between Daniel Fenton and Vlad Masters truly was. Last night, the professor was sure that Masters had no business being anywhere near children, Daniel in particular. And yet, Daniel eloquently explained why he thought Masters was the best, if not the only man for the job of guardianship for him. Vlad was his most hated enemy, yet the only man who truly understood and desperately wanted him. He could understand why Daniel was so conflicted with his feelings for the man.

"Daniel, I would only do so if you grant me permission, so I am asking your permission. May I tell Professor Dumbledore of your very complicated relationship with Vlad?"

Danny wasn't sure where Professor Snape was heading with this. "Why?"

The look of concern on Professor Snape's face was almost reason enough. "Last night, when I spoke to… your uncle before the three of us met in my office, I told Vlad that if he ever abused you or threatened to harm you again, I would act to have him removed as your guardian. You have expressed why no human in the Muggle World (with the possible exception of your friend Tucker's parents) would be as fitting. If such a need arose, it occurs to me that a family in the Wizarding World would be more suited to your needs." He looked up in thought. "Perhaps the Weasleys. They are Order Members…" Focusing back on Danny, he continued. "If such a thing should be necessary, Professor Dumbledore should know the details of your situation, as he could make the arrangements. But it is your secret. I will only tell him if you permit me."

Danny thought about this. He was giving Vlad a second chance, but Professor Snape was offering him another option, 'if such a thing became necessary.' The idea that the first family the professor thought of was the Weasleys amused him. He wondered what Ron would have to say about that. But more importantly, the fact that other options existed was comforting to know. "Yeah. I think that telling Professor Dumbledore would be a good idea. But I meant it about giving Vlad a second chance."

"I know you did. You and Vlad have a lot of emotions invested in each other. He does not intend to let you go quite so easily."

Danny rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "No, he wouldn't, now would he?" Professor Snape realized that the sarcastic, defiant tone was not aimed at him. This was probably as close to normal as Danny was going to be for a while.

The professor smiled. "Alright. Have you thought more about the project we discussed last night?"

Danny frowned and uncrossed his arms. "Yeah. I don't know about it yet."

Snape nodded. "That's fine. But I'm curious. What does it feel like to be overshadowed?"

Danny cocked his head. "Professor? What are you asking me?" He watched as Professor Snape considered, seeming to weigh and balance something within his own mind. He came to a conclusion he seemed to be satisfied with and turned to Danny.

"Daniel, I wonder if you might… overshadow me for a little while."

Danny shook his head. "Okay. Is there anything you want me to do in particular?"

"I'm not thinking about anything special. Be creative. I just want to have the experience."

"If you say so, Professor." Danny put his hand on Professor Snape's chest and entered him. He looked around and got his bearings, and then he walked around the room. Be creative… he flew around the room a few times and explored the ceiling of the office before landing in front of Snape's desk and exited the professor.

"Fascinating," Snape breathed, feeling slightly winded. "I remember every minute of it. It was rather exhilarating!"

Danny nodded. "I'm glad you think so. But I figured you would remember it, since you not only expected it, you requested it, and knew what was going on. Tucker always knew, and always remembered it. He said he hated when I did it. (It wasn't too often, but if he didn't like it, even that was too much.) Dash never seemed to notice. He said he felt something weird happened, but couldn't figure out what it was.

"I remember when Walker and his goons overshadowed the people of my town. The humans looked in pain at the entry. Other ghosts… I don't know. Sometimes the humans involved looked in pain upon entry of a ghost. Sometimes they don't react at all. Most people overshadowed don't remember what happened, especially if it was short, and the ghost didn't make the human do something too horribly out of their general inclination. But then again, there don't seem to be any hard, fast rules about this.

"My dad fought Vlad every inch of the way, and firmly resented the fact that it happened, swearing revenge against 'the Wisconsin ghost'. I overshadowed my dad a couple of times, and he gave no resistance and had no memory of the incidents whatsoever."

"This is truly interesting to me. You say that the general reaction is a loss of memory of the 'overshadowed moment', correct?"

"Mostly. That's what it seems to be to me."

"Perfect."

Danny looked at him. "Perfect for what, Professor?"

Snape smiled at Danny. "If you choose to participate in this project, the student I have in mind is enthusiastic enough to help, but isn't bright enough to notice if an hour has gone missing in his day."

Danny peaked his eyebrows. "Who did you have in mind?"

"Gregory Goyle. If you choose to accept this mission, I will ask him to 'help me with a project in Defense Against the Dark Arts.' He will probably warm to the idea because it is widely known that I have sought the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for many years, and he would feel that his helping me might improve my chances for getting the position next year."

"Oh." Danny thought for a moment. "Oh! That's why you didn't like Vlad when you first met him."

Snape smiled. "That is only one of many reasons, but you are correct – that was one of my first reasons. Also, there's something about him that made me feel he was not to be trusted."

"He said the same thing about you."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Did he?" He shook his head. The fact that he shared so many similarities with Vlad both disturbed and amused him.

Danny was still concerned. "Sir, even if he doesn't remember, is it right to take advantage of Goyle that way?"

Avoiding a direct answer, Snape said, "I would make it worth his while. He would know that he is responsible for an astronomic rise in House points for Slytherin." Noticing a hurt look on Danny's face, he said, "I would easily give you any number of points for choosing to participate, but I get the impression that you don't care about points, one way or the other. You have far more important matters on your mind."

Danny gave a half-smile. "That's true. But I'm not sure about it yet."

Snape smiled back. "You have until after dinner to think about it. If you choose not to do it, there is no penalty. If you choose to do it, you may find it interesting, to say the least." He gave a knowing smile. He had a few plans in mind.

"Okay."

"I'll see you in Potions this afternoon."

When Danny left, Draco came into the office. This choice would occupy Danny for the rest of the day.

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