Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Danny Phantom.
A cold, inhuman, pitiless voice spoke.
"Kill the spare."
There was a flash of green light and then Cedric's body was sprawled before him, eagle spread, blank eyes staring at nothing-
"Wake up!" Something shook him.
Harry's world went dark and he was lying within some soft warm thing. Someone was shaking him and calling out to him.
"Harry, you okay mate?" asked Ron's voice.
Harry groaned and poked his head out of the covers. Warm yellow sunlight filtered in through the window, at angle and color that, for some reason, bothered Harry.
Right, the angle and color indicated the time and the time was much to early for Harry's taste.
He made some incoherent sleepy annoyed noises and glared at his red haired best friend.
"Sorry, but you sounded like you were having a nightmare," the youngest Weasley boy told the orphan. "You were saying something about Cedric."
"I was having a nightmare," Harry replied. "Cedric came back as a ghost and invited us all to his deathday party. I couldn't think of an excuse to get out of it-"
"What's with you and all the jokes?" Ron asked, clearly not buying what Harry was saying.
"Oh, like you wouldn't scream after what happened with Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party?" Harry asked. He briefly thought about going back to sleep, but decided that it wouldn't work. He threw off the covers and got up.
"Look, Harry, you know I'm always here if you need to talk-" Ron began. But Harry interrupted him.
"I'll be sure to avail myself of your services for a nickel," Harry said. "And another nickel if you provide lemonade."
"Is that another joke?"
"I'm surprised you caught that," Harry admitted. "And you also caught the thing between Sam and Danny... is it possible? Are you becoming more perceptive?"
"Up yours!" Ron responded angrily, flushing a bit. "By Merlin's beard you're cranky in the morning. Breakfast's in three-fourths of an hour."
"Thanks," Harry said. He yawned. "Sorry, I might be a cross in the mornings. Just let me sleep in a bit more."
"By the way, where were you last night?" Ron asked.
"Practicing an advanced blasting curse," Harry answered. "Also spent some time talking with Phantom."
"Did he tell you anything?" Ron asked excitedly.
"Only that he's going to be staying here more," Harry informed the other boy. "He says it's because the war's heating up and Dumbledore wants him on hand."
"And you don't believe that?"
"I'm just saying that it's one explanation among many," Harry said. "Ugh. I well like it'll take till breakfast to get ready."
"I'll see if they're making any tea downstairs."
"Thanks," Harry muttered. He then turned his squinting, sleepy gaze towards the wardrobe that contained his clothes. He groaned. Teenagers did not like mornings.
"So you starting getting closer to closer to Harry like Dumbledore ordered?" Jazz asked. She, her brother, his best friend Tucker, and his - Jazz mentally snickered- friend Sam, where sitting around in the empty lab, gossiping among themselves. Jack and Maddie Fenton were out getting supplies, so they had a bit of time where they didn't have to keep watch.
"Actually, I sort of forgot about that," Danny replied. "I was just passing through the room and curious about what he was up to. And Dumbledore only asked me to keep an eye on him, not to become his friend or anything."
He shifted a bit, accidently brushing against Sam who was standing next to him. The halfa flinched back as if he had been burned, red spreading through his cheeks. Sam evidently didn't notice
"He also wanted to train with me," Danny continued. "So he can practice against inhuman movements. I think he's also looking for spells that would make it so he can do some heavier practice."
"Be careful with him," Jazz warned. "From what I've heard and seen he's got some issues. He seems to be using humor as a coping mechanism, but taken too far, or carried on for too long, it could end up being unhealthy. See if you can try and steer him to me, so I can try to help."
"I might think about that," Danny responded. "But if the bloke's- ugh, I'm starting to go native- handling things fine right now, then I don't really see the need."
"Just think about it, okay?" Jazz crossed her legs, one knee over the opposite leg, and leaned forward, clasping her hands on the top of the upraised knee. "Next we need to start planning for Hogwarts. The start of the school year isn't that far off."
"We've still got plenty of time!" Tucker protested. "There's no need to start worrying yet."
"Yeah!" Danny added.
Sam gritted her teeth.
"You two always do this!" She growled. "Well this isn't just some stupid assignment! This is a war and we need to do everything we can as soon as we can. Now let's start planning for how we'll deal with the school year!"
"Yes ma'am!" Danny and Tucker said in unison, both cowed.
"Good," Sam said with a smile. "Now what problems will we have to deal with?"
"Communication," Jazz began the brainstorming. "Owl's can be intercepted and they're slow. Most mundane methods of long distance communication don't work because of all the magic in the castle, and most magical forms of communication are stopped by the wards."
"Yes, but we've got the Fenton Phones!" Tucker told her. "They route their signals through the Ghost Zone and I'm pretty sure that Hogwarts doesn't stop people from opening portals to the Ghost Zone."
"Right, because no one knew how to do that until Mr. and Mrs. Fenton!" Sam pounded the bottom of her fist into her upturned palm. "Excellent! But we've never used them to talk from as far apart as we're going to be. Do they reach that far?"
"Maybe not," Tucker answered. "But if they don't we can always just have Danny place some relays in the Ghost Zone once the new portal is working."
"That's a good idea," Danny said.
"That's a great idea," Jazz corrected. "And Danny, next time you're at one of those meetings, bring up the possibility of using our access to the Ghost Zone more in the war."
"I don't know how safe that would be," her brother responded. "I mean I can take care of myself okay in their, but everyone else would be in danger. Plus we can't open portals to the real world from the Ghost Zone yet."
"So we can't use it to get past Voldemort's defenses," Tucker continued for his friend. "But that's besides the point. The other problem with the start of the school is that it'll be harder to have Phantom at headquarters."
"I don't think that's going to be an issue," Danny told him. "He wants me to keep an eye on Harry, remember? He'll probably have me move to school when the term starts."
"Good point," Jazz sucked her lower lip in and thought for a moment. "You're going to have to run the equipment we're building back and forth between here and school, Tucker and I can't enchant it without you or Sam. We should also decide whether or not we're going to hide the fact that we'll be communicating with each other-"
"Don't hide it," Danny said quickly. "I don't know how many more secrets I can deal with."
"Danny..." Sam's voice was tender. She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Danny sighed, unconsciously putting his hand over hers. "I'm just a bit tired. It should be better now that I don't have to guard Harry."
"Alright. Good to hear." Sam turned back to the conversation, forgetting to remove her hand from Danny's shoulder.
Jazz and Tucker rolled their eyes, internally gagging.
"One final thing Headmaster," Snape said, standing before the desk of Dumbledore. "The boy has asked me to teach him Occulmency. Seeing as I will be spending more time at the mutt's place, I believe I have time to give him an adequate grounding in the subject. Is that alright with you?"
"He asked something of you and you didn't dismiss him out of hand?" Dumbledore beamed at the Potion Master. "Could it be that you're starting to see past Jame's shadow-"
"Don't go about getting any ideas," Snape warned. "He merely showed some minor signs of maturity and, considering his usual behavior and situation, I decided that it would not be too harmful to-"
"He looked you right in the eye didn't he?"
"Yes headmaster, he did."
Tears welled up in Dumbledore's eyes.
"So, even after all this time-"
"Yes you sentimental old goat," Snape snapped. "So is it acceptable that I teach the boy Occulmency?"
"Yes Severus," Albus told his employee and friend. "But I would ask you to keep the pressure as low as you can. I know your philosophy but if you push him too hard it would be counterproductive. He even might break."
"I have taught the boy for four years," Severus responded. "He won't break from a little pressure."
"Still Severus, just be careful," the old wizard said. "Humor a worried old man, won't you?"
"Fine," Snape replied, rolling his dark eyes. "Now if you excuse me, I have to go play with pure ectoplasm. You might want to start looking for my replacement, in case I return in a matchbox."
"Well here it is!" Maddie Fenton announced, carrying a sealed metal container. She looked around the room. "What happened in here?"
It was the room Harry had been practicing in last night. The walls were dented and torn. In some places the material had been torn away, revealing the framework of the room.
"Just a little late night practice," Harry informed her. "Nothing to worry about."
"It seems to be a little... messy," Maddie commented.
"Nothing that one wave of a wand can't clean up, if I knew the spell that is," Harry said. "At least for a few weeks until I begin on disruption curses..."
"What was that?" The red haired ghost hunting mother asked.
"Nothing," Harry replied.
"So that's the ectoplasm?" Hermione asked, almost twitching with anticipation as she stared at the container. There were blinking electronics on the top and a keypad. Harry wondered if they actually did anything or simply made the thing look more sciencey.
"Yep," Maddie told her proudly. "Gathered, not synthesized. Always a pleasure to aid scientific research. Well, magical research in this case, but my point stands."
"So when we going to start?" Ron asked, snacking on a bit of beef jerky. "Shouldn't we be drawing up the wards or something?"
"No!" Hermione rounded on him. "Not until Professor Snape is here to supervise this! This could be incredibly dangerous and we need someone qualified to supervise everything. Professor Snape is the only person at Hogwarts who's been certified to deal with Class EX substances like pure ectoplasm."
"Well there must be something you can do. Maybe start working on the translations for the wards?" Mrs. Fenton suggested.
"The wards will be in English," Hermione told the woman. "We're not trying to obscure their function and construction, so there's no need to use a language we're not familiar with."
"Is that the reason they're always in old languages?" Maddie asked, tapping her chin as she thought. "I thought there would be more to it."
"There's a little more to it," Hermione explained. "Cultures deal with different concepts in different ways, something that is reflected in their languages. Some languages are better for certain types of functions. And then there's the culture's relationship with the reagents used to power the spells, the structures of their alphabets, and how well you understand the language. Older languages had to deal with magic more often than languages that developed after the International Statue of Secrecy, so it's usually more elegant to use them for complex spells."
"Oh," was all Maddie had to say.
They were silent for a bit while they waited for Snape to get to the building.
Phantom phased through the floor after a couple of minutes.
"What's up?" the halfa asked the room.
"Nothing much," Maddie replied. "Oh, we were just talking about some modifications we made to the Fenton Thermoses that you seem so fond of. Maybe you could take a look inside and see how you like them?"
"Ha, ha," Phantom said dryly. "But then again, I guess the only way for you to actually catch me would be for me simply to fly into one of those things. Or would that be the only way for you to catch any ghost?"
"Funny. I wonder if you'll be able to make jokes after we take you apart molecule by molecule." She drew out the last part of the phrase like her husband.
"You'd have to catch me first, so I'm sure everyone will be putting up with my jokes for a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, long time."
"I would hope that you could spend some of that time improving your humor," Maddie shot back. "I'm told some time alone helps with the creative process. Maybe we could put you in a thermos and bury you somewhere. You shouldn't be bothered for a couple millennia. Maybe you'll have some half decent material by the time they dig you up."
"If we're trusting in your shoddy construction then I'd be free in a couple of minutes," Phantom returned. He frowned as he glanced around the room. "Harry, why do you have a notepad out? What are you writing down?"
"No reason," Harry lied, putting the notepad filled with notes about the jokes in a pocket. "Just making sure I have it in case I see something interesting during the experiments."
Everybody in the room gave him strange and worried looks. Harry just shrugged.
It was then that Snape arrived. Black cloak billowing him behind him like bat wings, the hook nosed man took stock of the room.
"What was this room used for? Did Mr. Potter decide to practice brewing potions in this room? It seems consistent with his usual lack of results." The Potion Master finished in a drawl with a sneer.
"Advanced blasting curses actually," Harry answered. "I decided to get a jump on my DADA work."
"I don't think advanced blasting curses have been anywhere in the Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum " Snape replied. "Despite the variety and... quality of the teachers, no one has thought it necessary to give students the ability to create an even larger mess than they were already capable of doing."
Harry fought back a sarcastic response. He needed to stay within Snape's relatively good graces for Occulmency lessons.
"But I suppose it is refreshing to see you take even a minuscule interest in your studies for once," Snape continued. "I take it from your presence here that you will be participating in the experiments?"
"Yes sir," Harry replied.
"And respect as well! Will the wonders never cease? But enough of this, let us get down to business " Snape turned to Hermione. "You have the procedures written down I presume Ms. Granger?"
"Err, I thought we'd start with Gropp's Standard Tests for Medium Masses," the bushy haired girl replied nervously. "But, ah, I thought you'd be coming up with the experiments Professor."
"Silly girl," Snape chided her angrily. "I do not have time to come up with the hypotheses, nor the tests, nor analyze the data. I can only supervise the actual running of the experiments. It is up to you to do the rest."
"O-okay," Hermione answered. "Should we begin drawing up the wards then?"
"That would be prudent," Snape hissed.
Phantom watched curiously as Hermione moved the vat to the middle of the room. She then took out a bottle of ink and a brush. Snape conjured up a white cloth. The witch put the vat on the cloth and began to write in a circle around the vat, large enough for two people to stand in without discomfort.
Danny looked over her shoulder to see what she was writing. She wrote the same phrase over and over again, leaving space between each repetition. The phrase was: By the scales of dragons, let no harmful energy cross this boundary.
When she was done writing she took out a couple of dragon scales from a box she had placed in the corner of the room. She placed one in each space. Then she re-inked her brush and took a step back.
She began to write a different phrase: By the hairs of unicorns, let no harmful effect cross this boundary. This time she put silver hairs between each piece of writing.
Hermione repeated the process a third time, with the phrase: By the blood of trolls, no energy shall pass through this boundary. This time she took out a bottle of a strange looking liquid, troll blood, and dabbed some of it between each sentence.
"The wards are ready Professor," the girl said to the cloaked man.
"Not quite," Snape told her. "The brush please Ms. Granger." She handed it to him. The Potion's Master then began to write a fourth set of words: Let nothing pass but that which the bearer of this blood wills. When he was finished he took a silver knife out of his robes and cut his arm. He then dripped blood in the appropriate places.
"Sir, do you really think that's needed for Gropp's Standard Tests?" Hermione asked as he handed the brush back to her.
"It is standard procedure for dealing with EX ranked controlled substances," Snape told her. He took out his wand, waved it, and healed his cut.
"What's so special about the last one?" Phantom asked.
"When activated, it will be powered with my own living blood," Snape informed the spirit. "It will be under my direct control and will draw power from my life. If, say, an explosion occurs, it will drain my life to contain the blast. If the ward breaks, I will die. But it is merely a standard precaution for dealing with substances like this. If there are any problems, the first three wards should be enough to contain them. Now, Ms. Granger, please enter the test area so I can activate the wards."
Hermione nodded and stepped into the inner most circle. Snape then took his wand and put it over the outermost circle. He tapped his wand in the air right above the blood. There was a glow, and then a thread of orange light attached itself to his wand. The Hogwarts teacher then threaded the light into the words. He repeated the process for each circle.
"You may now begin."
"Harry?" Ron asked as they cleaned one of the guest rooms while Snape and Hermione cleaned up. The war against the house was proceeding smoothly. Most of the more dangerous pests had been routed during the Cleaning of the Third Story Fireplace, most of the dark objects had been crushed during the tumultuous Emptying of the Attic, and the house elf heads had been removed during the running engagement of Cleaning the Stairs. They were all victories paid for in sweat, blood, and Harry's cleaning fire spell.
Harry admitted to himself that maybe he had enjoyed himself a little too much with that spell. The laughter may have been a bit over the top.
But cleansing the world- sorry, house- with fire was fun!
"What?" he responded to Ron.
"Did you understand anything we learned from the experiments?" The red haired boy asked the black haired boy.
"A bit," Harry answered. "Mostly how the ectoplasm's different from things like dragon's blood. But I don't know what that means. Hermione's going to be working on it. Make sure she goes to sleep, won't you?"
"Uh, sure," Ron was a bit hesitant in his reply. He probably remembered the last time the two of them had tried to get their female friend to remember to sleep when she was engrossed in work. It had not been a very pleasant experience.
"Ven Flatus," Harry said calmly, with a gentle swish of his wand. A gentle breeze blew across the surface he was supposed to be dusting.
"I'm really starting to get the hang of this spell," Harry commented. "A bit more practice and I can move on to other things."
Ron groaned.
"Why are you studying over the summer as well?" The youngest brother asked the orphan. "Isn't it bad enough that Hermione does it."
"Hey, unlike you, I happen to have a subject I like," Harry told Ron. "Besides, you heard what Snape said. It's not like they'll ever test us on this stuff."
"I don't know if that makes it better or worse."
After Snape had finished cleaning up the experiment he took Harry back into the room. He glared at the marks on the walls and waved his wand once. In a blatant violation of the laws of thermodynamics the walls repaired themselves.
"Now, Mr. Potter, do you know what Legilimency is?" The Potion's Master asked the boy-who-was-about-to-learn.
"That it's sort of like mind reading," Harry answered. "At least enough like it to get information out of my skull."
"Legilmency is nothing like the mind reading that muggles talk about, as if the mind was a book to be opened," Snape sneered back. "Though, given some of the Fenton's inventions, that may be changing soon."
"Sir, what exactly is the difference?" The dark haired boy asked the dark haired man.
"The term mind reading naively assumes one can simply eavesdrop on the thoughts running through a human's head," Snape explained. "Legilmency is the art of moving through the many layered thing that is the human mind, navigating the complex organ that is the human brain. Thoughts are not read like a script, they must be interpreted by the Legilimenist. The greatest practitioners can influence the minds they are trespassing upon. The Dark Lord has been known to torture his victims in that manner sometimes."
Harry clenched his fist angrily. Voldemort couldn't be satisfied with torture and murder, huh? He had to violate the last sanctuary available to a human, their mind.
"If the thought of him doing that to you upsets you, then I suggest-" Severus Snape began, but Harry Potter cut him off.
"I don't mind him doing that to me so much," Harry replied. "We've sort of been doing it to each other all my life. It's doing it to other people. He's taking the last thing some of them have from them. Isn't everything else enough?" Harry shook his head. "He doesn't deserve to even be called a human."
Snape was silent for a moment before continuing with the lesson.
"Now time and space matter in magic, eye contact is often essential for Legilmency to work. But skilled practitioners are able to circumvent some of the requirements, and thus all the concern about you being a security risk."
"And, just possibly, a pre-existing connection could aid practitioners? Like say the one between Voldemort and I?" Harry asked, his voice turning slightly bitter. "That's it isn't it. Voldemort can-"
"He is unaware of the depth of your connection Mr. Potter," Snape said curtly. "And thus has not yet started making use of it. If you learn Occlumency he may never make effective use of it. Now-" Snape drew his wand "-take out your wand Mr. Potter. We'll start simple, you may use your wand to disarm me or defend yourself in anyway you think is necessary."
Harry nodded and complied.
"I will attempt to break into your mind now. For now try to throw me out in the same manner that you would fight the Imperius Curse. Brace yourself- Legilimens!"
"Pro-" Harry's practice paid off, he was nearly able to cast the shield spell before Snape's spell struck. However, nearly wasn't enough. The room swam before his eyes and memories started to race through his mind.
"Expel-" Harry croaked out, treating the intrusion like the Imperious curse, "Expelliarmus!"
Snape calmly deflected Harry's signature skill with a casual wave of his hand. But he let up on his own spell.
"Not as bad as an attempt as I feared," Snape said. "You managed to keep some awareness and self control, but you wasted effort by failing halfway your spell. I will admit to being surprised by your attempt at defense, maybe there is a small slimmer of hope for you yet. We'll try again. This time try to repel me with your brain alone. Empty yourself of your emotions and prepare your will."
Harry nodded and took a deep breath.
"Now, once more, Legilimens!"
Once more Snape cast the spell. This time Harry grit his teeth and braced himself like he was expecting a tidal wave. This time the memories were hazy and slow. Harry could feel the intrusion in his mind being forced to 'crawl' through him. He tried to redouble his efforts, but unfortunately teenagers tend to be very emotional beings. He grew angry and that gave Snape an opening.
Harry yelled something incoherent and then found himself on his knees. He looked up at Snape.
"Did you mean to mean to use the Reducto Curse?" Snape asked, gesturing with a hand holding a trapped ball of light.
"No sir," Harry answered, panting.
"Once again you wasted effort, but you managed to at least resist me this time," Snape told his student. He closed his hand, extinguishing the trapped curse. "By the way," Snape asked, his lips curling, who was that boy, the one who looked like a pig. The one beating you with a stick."
"My cousin sir," Harry replied, growing angry with the Potion's Master. No wonder he agreed to do this, Snape would get to go through all of his bad memories.
"Empty your mind Potter," Snape said. "And again, Legilimens!"
Harry didn't even bother throwing up a defense. He threw all of his effort into casting the spell.
"Ven Flatus!" This time he found himself on all fours, panting again. He looked up. Snape stood there, a wedge shaped shield of blue light emitting from his wand.
"So that's what you were practicing," Snape guessed, lowering his wand. "I see you have begun to explore the possibilities of elemental magic. I would like you to avoid using that during these sessions, it seems to be rather dangerous, but given your poor control I doubt that the request is feasible."
"Wow," Harry blinked. "It looks like I got that down already. After only one night."
"What would be more amazing would be for you to apply the effort you apparently put into learning that spell into your schoolwork," Snape drawled. "But I guess that would be too much for a celerity like yourself."
"I'd just like to point out that I'm a slightly above average student, sir," Harry said, standing back up.
"And, despite all of his faults," Snape returned, "your father got excellent marks in his classes."
"Well, it would've been nice for him or mum to be here to help," Harry's reply was a bit heated. He bit his lip to stop himself from saying anymore. He then took a deep breath. "Sorry sir, I'm not good with the emotional control yet."
"That is plain to see," the teacher remarked. "But at least you are trying to compensate. Expelliarmus! Legilimens!"
Snape's surprise attack nearly knocked Harry back over. His wand flew out of his hand, sailing through the air only to be caught by Snape's hand.
"With your brain alone this time, Potter!" The professor shouted, his voice reaching the boy through the haze of memories. Harry focused, struggling against the intrusion. He was able to slow down the invasion a noticeable amount, but he couldn't stop it or throw it out of his head.
He began to lose control of his emotions, losing his ability to fight the invasion. So he ran with it. He showed Snape the memory of his fantasy about the greasy haired teacher being chased by the three headed giant dog, Fluffy.
When Snape tried to move on, Harry showed him the fantasy about him being petrified. He thought he heard Snape chuckle in the real world, but he couldn't be sure.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted on instinct, reaching out with his hand. Not expecting the wandless magic, Snape failed to secure Harry's wand. It flew into the boy's outstretched hand.
"Stupify!" A jet of red light shot out, only to be grabbed by Snape and crushed.
"With your brain alone Potter!" He cried out, deflecting another jinx from Harry as he spoke. The room became even less distinct and the memories started to flash faster than ever.
So Harry ran up and tried to headbutt Snape.
"A novel interpretation of my instructions," Snape said as he calmly sidestepped the boy, "but not what the exercise is about."
So Harry was forced to use his last resort; the memory of the one time he had seen his uncle stepping out of the shower.
Snape gagged and the invasion halted, then vanished.
"A much better method of driving someone out of your head," Snape said, looking a little sick. "One that I would love to see you use on the Dark Lord at some point. But for the sake of your sanity and mine, I would advise you to get someone to Oblivate that memory."
"I'll think about that sir," Harry answered.
"Well, your performance today was not as horrible as I expected," Snape admitted. "Now I want you to practice emptying your mind between sessions."
"Yes sir," Harry answered, wobbling a bit on his feet.
"Good. You are dismissed."
"Do you ever have to worry about mind reading?" Harry asked the spirit boy, flicking his wand at the same time.
"Not really," Phantom replied, stopping in midair to let the shower of red sparks pass in front of him. "I mean there are some weird ghost powers out there, and some spirits can use overshadowing to do something similar, but it's never been a big thing." He flicked a small bit of green light at Harry. The wizard jumped out of the way. "I take it that this is about your lessons with Snape?"
"Pretty much," Harry responded. He began to rapidly shot out streams of sparks, looking like he was wielding three wands at once. Phantom simply conjured a shield.
"I'm curious about something," the ghost said from behind his defense. "Do you think you could break this? It's a hasty shield, it doesn't have too much power to it."
"I can give it a try," Harry pointed his wand directly at the shield. "Confringo! Expelliarmus! Reducto!" Flames rushed over the shield, a jet of red light attempted to wrest it out of Phantom's control, and then the regular blasting curse impacted the center. The thing shattered and then vanished. Phantom, however was untouched.
"You know, I think it would be alright for you to use minor spells instead of just sparks," the half told the boy. "I could uses the experience in dealing with the different types."
"Sure thing," Harry replied. "Do you mind if I practice some of the new spells I'm looking into?"
"I guess," Phantom answered hesitantly.
"Good. I'll start with the bodily fluid blasting curses-"
"What!?"
"Just kidding. Aquas Flatus!" A ball of water hit Phantom in the face. Harry frowned. "That was supposed to be more like a bullet. Oh well, I've got time to practice."
"Why do I feel like I signed up to be a ghost punching bag?" Danny Phantom asked.
"No idea. Aquas Flatus!" Another ball of water, faster and more compact this time flew towards the ghost. Phantom froze and caught it.
"So, why are you worried about mind reading anyway?" The spirit boy used his ice powers again to turn the ice ball into a snow ball. He hurled the mushy ball at the dark haired boy.
"Ack! Cold!" Harry brushed the snow off of his face. "Mainly so I can start helping more."
"Uh..."
"Yes I know, none of the adults want me to fight," Harry responded with a bit more heat than he meant to. "Aquas Flatus! Ven Flatus!" He caught the water in the whirlwind blast. Phantom froze it on instinct and was pelted by a spiraling barrage of ice pellets. "But I want to help in some way."
"I thought you were still working on that wind thing," Phantom commented, flicking little bits of green light everywhere.
"Got it down earlier today," Harry answered. "Incarcerous! Aguamenti! Glacius!" Ropes wrapped around Phantom's limbs, were soaked with water, which was then frozen.
"You're attempting to use frozen ropes on a guy with ice powers?" Phantom asked, raising one eyebrow. "That's stone cold stupid."
"I just need you still for a second. Petrificus Totalus!"
Phantom causally snapped the icy ropes and used them as a shield.
"You forgot about the super strength," the ghost commented.
"Wouldn't intangibility have worked better there?" Harry asked. Phantom slapped his own forehead.
"Right, I always forget that one." The spirit said. He then let out a yawn. "It's getting late. I'm calling it a night. Talk to you later."
"Kay," Harry replied. "I'm going to practice with the water blasting spell some more."
"Night then."
"Night."
Severus Snape groggily blinked. The double agent had a very busy schedule, he had to perform duties for both sides, as well as prepare for the upcoming school year. Such things meant that the Potion's Master greatly valued his sleep.
Then why would he be waking up in the wee hours of the morning?
The fact that the map he had tied to certain sensing enchantments. It was glowing.
Snape forced himself to full awareness. It was time for the next action in the war.
AN: Finally a chapter that meets my minimum preferred length.