Chapter 10: Wawels and Wendigos
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Clawed paws the size of his torso slammed into the earth where Danny was just floating. A hot flash of sickly green fire swept over his head as another ill-tempered roar rattled its way through the craggy bluffs.
'I so don't need this,' Danny muttered to himself as he floated out of range, ' I've got double American History of Magic tomorrow morning. I cannot be caught sleeping again.'
The wawel dragon didn't hold any sympathies for him, lunging forward to try and gore him with one of her oversized horns, eyes wild with anger. Danny rolled his own eyes as he zipped further back, tiredly pointing at a gaudy amulet wrapped around a long scaly neck, 'Just give it up! If you get back in the portal peacefully I won't have to kick your butt all the way to the other side of the ghost zone.'
He dodged another flurry of claws but missed the leathery tail that rounded behind him. The thick tail rammed into his back, catapulting Danny right into the pathway of the weakly flickering portal that hovered over the cliff's edge.
'Oh, come on!' Danny whined, thrusting his hands out in front of him to let loose a sonic wave of ectoplasm, barely catching himself before he went tumbling into the abyss. The portal looked set to collapse at any moment – he'd have to make this fast before it disappeared completely, leaving a grouchy, overgrown lizard stuck on the wrong side, 'Why are you trying to hit me? You're brother is the one who said you couldn't go to the ball!'
The amulet shone brighter in response, the dragon's eyes looking near manic as it huffed another fiery breath at him.
'You know, Dora,' Danny sneered, 'There are some really good breathing exercises you should look up – good for calming the mind. Especially when you need to cool off!'
He flung an arm out, an ectoblast careening out of his palm to hit the draconic form of Dora in the shoulder following up with a short blast of ice, encasing one of her wings and making her screech indignantly. A hot breath of fire was returned in kind, only missing Danny as he turned intangible, sinking into the earth. Sliding past silt and rock, he pushed himself forward through the dark earth, letting the vibrations of Dora's ginormous weight direct him through the pitch black. When he sensed the earth shift, he thrust himself out of the ground, snatching the amulet from her neck and, with a sharp shove, sent the great dragon animus tumbling through the portal, the giant scaly body quickly shrinking down to that of a young forlorn woman, who wailed pathetically.
'No, it's not fair!' Dora cried as she found her balance floating in the green ethos, the portal's edges quavering with the influx of ectoplasm and it quickly began to shrink, 'He shouldn't be allowed to tell me whether I can attend the ball! I want to dance!'
Her forlorn cries disappeared with a sharp crack as the portal snapped shut. Danny sighed into the deafened Scottish air. The worst part of being an animus formed from the reflection of a real person, wizard or not, was that they were often stranded mentally at a particular point in time. The stronger the emotions the worse off they were.
Dora and her equally hot-tempered brother, by consequence, were forever trapped in the Middle Ages, bound by useless tradition and a long-dead culture – no matter how many times Danny had tried to explain that times had changed.
Barely glancing down at the gaudy emerald-encrusted amulet, Danny tucked it down the front of his suit before floating over to the cliff's edge that he'd just been tossed off. Despite the minor setback with Dora, he had to admit that his first night watch over the Scottish highlands wasn't half bad. The skies were clearer than in Amity Park, the half-moon shimmering across the long grasses that coated the craggy cliffsides. Seating at the lip of an extra steep drop, his legs dangling off the three-hundred-foot chasm, Danny dragged his fingertips across the dew-coated grass, eyes lazily scanning the craggy scenery – no living creatures dared the bluffs at night. Even the most adventurous no-maj's had deemed the highlands too dangerous at this time of year. A sense of peace Danny hadn't felt since he first arrived at Hogwarts just four days before rushed over him, the constant pressure in his head drifting away with the wind whipping past his ears.
The sun would be rising in a few hours, and Danny stared forlornly at the night sky where the Sirius constellation was battling with the waning moon's light to wink down at him. He didn't want this feeling to end. No classes, no tournament, no Ministry of Magic breathing down his neck – just himself with his thoughts in the quiet.
A loud squawk echoed through the night, making him freeze. Eyes glowing in the dark, his head swivelled down as another screech cut through the air followed by what sounded like a muffled swear. Squinting suspiciously, the grass barely shifted as Danny hurled his body off the edge of the cliff, letting gravity take over as he plummeted towards the ground in the direction of the sound, scanning the craggy rocks with flashing green eyes in his rapid descent.
He nearly missed the cave. Hidden by a cluster of boulders and shadows was a small nook east of the cliffside. Weightless, he landed outside the mouth of the cave to peer into the dark – skeletons of wild hares and martens littered the entrance. A shrill chirrup echoed back at him, making him jump. Carefully, he stepped into the cave, raising a glowing hand in front of him like a beacon. A disgruntled shriek met him, and Danny was shocked to see a giant eagle with the hind legs of a horse seated regally at the end of the shallow cave, golden eyes glaring blearily at him, its massive fore-talons pawing at the ground.
'Wow,' Danny whispered to himself, lowering his hand to let the sickly green glow dim in place of his natural luminescence, 'I've never seen a real hippogriff before.'
He leapt back when the hippogriff snapped angrily at him – the last thing he wanted to explain to his contact Kingsley was how he got mauled by a wild hippogriff. What was a hippogriff even doing all the way out here? He thought they preferred the arid temperatures of deserts, not the soggy and miserable countryside.
Careful to maintain eye contact, he took another step back, only for something under his foot to crinkle. With a quick glance down he discovered a newspaper wedged underneath his foot. Weird.
The hippogriff made to stand, fully awake and staring unblinkingly. Danny, resolutely staring back, bent at the waist to grapple for the newspaper – he didn't want it to get the jump on him. Slowly he shifted his weight to the balls of his feet. The cave was as narrow as it was deep, with only one exit that Danny was acutely aware he was blocking. If the hippogriff decided to charge, he'd have to be quick to escape.
But it turned out he didn't have to worry; the hippogriff continued to stare at him before it lowered its grand head into a mimicry of a shallow bow. Danny watched in amazement as it raised itself back up and cocked its head curiously at him.
Danny stumbled back to his feet, hands gripping the newspaper tightly in wonder as the hippogriff padded forward, letting out a soft trill to stop in front of him.
'Huh,' Danny muttered as he slowly rose to full height. He looked tiny in stature compared to the hippogriff, towering over him at almost eighteen hands high, 'Maybe you're not as scary as you seem. What are you doing all the way out here anyway?'
Cautiously, Danny raised a hand towards the hippogriff who resolutely stretched its neck to meet him halfway. The feathers on its neck were soft but densely packed, a mottled mix of brown and tawney that Danny happily scratched. Appeased that he was no longer a threat, the hippogriff gave a horse-like whinny and retreated back into the depths of the cave, settling down with a heavy thud to rest its head on the ground and stare drowsily at him.
Danny released the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding, 'Man, Sam is going to be so jealous when she hears this.' He turned his attention back on the newspaper in his hand, it was a copy of the Daily Prophet. Danny had caught most of the Hogwarts students reading it during breakfast – the twins had labelled the paper as hogwash, but that didn't stop the pair of them from reading over Lee's shoulder each morning. This newspaper was from the day before. Emblazoned on the cover was a tightly cropped picture of Harry Potter looking rather uncomfortable with the bold title Harry Potter, Tetrawizard Champion, tells all! followed by an uncomfortably sappy recounting of his life.
"I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now… Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it… I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me…"
Danny snorted tiredly, he'd had more than enough experience with the press as Phantom to recognise fact from fiction. He couldn't think of a single teenage boy that would ever speak like Harry apparently had – and he'd hoped that the kid would have been smart enough not to tell the press any of his opinions to begin with. The article barely mentioned anything about the other champions, misspelling most of their names, although he was surprised to find a small paragraph about himself, also misspelt, tucked away at the end of page seven.
'Danial Fenton, the dashingly handsome—' Danny shivered, he could still feel the clawed hands of Rita Skeeter gripping greedily to his arm as she shifted him for yet another photograph '—seventh year from Casper Magical Seminary, is the first muggle-born to have entered the competition in all its long history. While many are excited at the prospect of someone without inherent magic entering such a renowned competition, others have concerns over the shift in traditions, mainly the introduction of a new school to the previously titled Triwizard Tournament. Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, labelled her own concerns stating, "We must consider the sanctity of the Tournament's long-set traditions, if we do not act fastidiously in our choices of who we let join, we are set to eradicate hundreds of years of history!"'
Tossing the newspaper onto the ground Danny rolled his eyes in disgust. He could read the poison behind those carefully chosen words, 'The sanctity? How about trying the sanctity of my—'
The hippogriff gave out a shrill squawk.
It wasn't until he was eating breakfast in the Great Hall the next morning that he considered how strange it was for a hippogriff to have a newspaper.
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American History of Magic was the only class in which all of Casper Magical Seminary took part. It was also the only class that Vice-Principle Lancer taught, making it one of the most boring classes. Not that British History of Magic sounded much better considering it was taught by a ghost so old that most students don't think he'd even realised that he was dead. He didn't even know any of the students' names – Fred and George were interchangeably Mr Axford and Mr Wellburoughs.
Danny was still envious of them as Professor Lancer drawled obliviously about the Nimerigar peace treaties in the Colorados from the front of the classroom, staring intently at his textbook as whispers surrounded him. He could feel his ears getting hot as students threw glances in his direction before giggling to themselves, barely bothering to hide their mouths with their hands. Danny fiddled anxiously with the amulet under his sweater vest distractedly – he didn't quite know what to do with it now he had it. Not comfortable enough to leave it unguarded in his rooms, he now wore it tucked under the collar of his uniform.
A hand was thrust into the air making Lancer pause in his monotonous droning, 'Yes, Mr Baxter? You have a question about the treaties?'
Danny suspected that Dash hadn't heard a single word about the treaties judging by the way the blond boy was sneering at him, 'Actually sir, I was wondering if you could tell us more about how the Tetrawizard cup selects a champion. Obviously, it made a mistake.'
The class giggled in response, some murmuring in agreement, causing Danny to drop his head lower from where he was seated in the back of the class. Sam looked murderous from next to him.
'Oh, like you thought you actually had a chance, Dash? Last I remembered you got a Dreadful in your Transfiguration OWLs, and I'm not even going to mention that Troll you got in Defence Against the Dark Arts?'
Dash's whole head turned an interesting shade of purple, 'Tch! It's not like Fentina has got better grades than me — at least I'm not some low-born wannabe wizard that's gotta hide behind his girlfriend any time someone confronts him. He obviously rigged it.'
'Yeah!' shouted Kwan from beside him, grinning stupidly. Paulina and Star laughed haughtily, the other students following along staring longingly at the pair.
'He's not my boyfriend!' Sam squeaked out at the same time Danny mumbled, 'She's not my girlfriend!'
Danny huffed, 'I wasn't even going to enter this stupid competition if you hadn't shoved me. I mean, if you think about it, you're the reason I even became the Casper champion.'
'Why you—!' Dash leapt out of his seat, causing Danny to do the same, his chair tumbling to the ground.
'Boys! I would recommend that you return to your seats if you don't want an extra six inches added to your papers on the Wendigo wars.' Lancer eyed the pair sharply, 'As to your initial question Mr Baxter, no I do not have oversight as to who and how the cup selects a champion, however, my suspicions lie on it being of randomised selection. Now, class dismissed. I want four inches on the Wendigo wars by next Monday from all of you.'
Danny rolled his eyes as he straightened his chair, stuffing his textbook angrily into his bag. Dash, despite having sat on the opposite side of the classroom, strode past Danny and knocked him over the head with his top-of-the-line satchel, causing his books to scatter across the floor.
'Sir! Look what Fenton did to my bag!' Dash whined.
Lancer barely glanced up, pinching the bridge of his nose, 'Fenton, I warned you. That's a total of ten inches I expect by Monday.'
'What? But I didn't do anything!' Danny argued, outraged.
'Then why are all of Mr Baxter's things on the floor? Pick them up, then move out. I have meetings to attend to.' Lancer said shortly, 'No, don't even think of helping, Ms Manson. Hurry up and get to your next class.'
Sam hesitated, looking affronted for Danny before storming out, sending a sharp look at Star who giggled as she passed. Dash didn't move from his spot next to Danny, high-fiving Kwan once Lancer's back was turned.
'Yeah, Fenton, you better hurry up with my stuff. If I'm late for Herbology because of you, I'll make sure you're black and blue in time for your big tournament.'
Danny angrily crouched down, shoving Dash's books and parchment into his stupid expensive satchel. In spite, when Dash and his friends were distracted, he thrust a handful of brightly wrapped pieces of Weasley-curated candy into the pocket where his inkwell lived. Tugging the pocket closed, he shoved the bag at Dash.
'Happy now?'
Dash sneered at him, snatching up the strap of his bag and slinging it over his shoulder with a quickly muttered, 'Squib-skirter.'
He rammed his shoulder into Danny's as he walked past, causing him to stumble into his desk before he swept out of the room with his cronies. Biting down hard on his tongue, Danny snatched up his own bag to hurry out of the room. Dash had made him late for Defence Against the Dark Arts – one of the only classes he was looking forward to, especially since it was being taught by Mad-Eye Moody. Danny hadn't had a chance to talk to him since he arrived, having skipped his first lesson at Dumbledore's behest to meet with the British Ministry's Aurors.
As he headed out of the classroom there was a cough to his left. Glancing over, he saw Valerie Gray standing primly to the side, awkwardly tucking a curl behind her ear, 'Hey.'
'Oh,' Danny mumbles out, feeling off-kilter, 'Hey, er… how's it going?'
'Good, yeah… it's going good.' Valerie stutters back.
Danny nodded uncomfortably as the silence stretched on between them. This was the first time in two years that his ex-girlfriend – if he could even call the weird month-long stint of awkward flirting as dating – had spoken to him. Not that he could blame her, speaking to Danny in the first place had caused her to be a social pariah. She'd only just made it back into the popular crowd's good books last year. He wasn't even touching on how he'd caused her dad to lose a major contract with the Macusa as Phantom while chasing a rogue dog-like animus through their complex security wards and destroying them — not that she knew that part.
'So… I'm just gonna go now.' Danny said, jutting a thumb out to the wider corridor that was starting to empty out.
'Wait!' Valerie said, gripping the sleeve of Danny's uniform. He could feel his cheeks turning red, not from embarrassment this time. 'I just wanted to say that… I don't think you getting picked for champion was a mistake. And I know you aren't the strongest compared to the guys on the Quidditch team, or the smartest, you know, considering you got a Dreadful in Arithmancy last year…'
'Gee, thanks.' Danny said sarcastically.
'But you're definitely the most determined, and that's something I always admired about you. No matter what's thrown at you, you always take it on head-first. And when my dad was going through all that drama with the Aurors the other year—' Danny cringed, '—you were one of the few people there for me while my name was being dragged through the mud. You treated me like a normal person, and… it was really nice.'
Danny blinked at her, his chest feeling hot as he stuttered out a much more sincere, 'Thanks.'
Valerie smiled softly at him, and the heat rose to his face before she bent down, snatching up a brightly wrapped piece of candy that had obviously fallen out of his pocket in his rush to get to Defence Against the Dark Arts.
'You mind?' she asks, already unwrapping the wax paper.
'Oh! Er...' Danny whipped an arm out, his hand gripping hers firmly as he muttered, 'You might not want to eat that.'
Valerie looked taken aback as she stared down at his hand holding hers. His whole face felt like it was on fire now, but Valerie simply smiled warmly, if not a bit confusedly, at him.
The harsh sound of someone clearing their throat made Danny jump away, hands curtly tucked behind his back. Sam was staring at the pair of them unimpressed, sending a cool glare at Valerie. 'Gray.'
Valerie didn't back down, 'Manson.' she said simply before turning to Danny, proffering the piece of candy to him with a small grin. 'Catch you later, Danny.'
Feeling put out, he shoved it in his pocket and smiled in return as she slipped off down the corridor without another word.
Sam's glare turned to Danny who blinked, 'What?'
'What do you mean 'what'?' Sam snarked, crossing her arms in front of her, 'I was waiting to make sure Dash didn't stick you to the ceiling again, but instead, I see you chatting up your ex! What are you doing even talking to her? Didn't she snub you like the rest of the popular crowd?'
'Aw, come on, Sam. Val's cool. Sure, it's not like we're best buds or anything, but she's never been outright mean.'
Sam rolled her eyes, 'You really need to raise your standards, Danny.'
'I was just talking to her!' Danny snapped, 'Am I not allowed to be friends with anyone that doesn't meet your theoretical requirements? Should I go tell Fred, George and Lee that you don't give me permission to hang out with them? Or that I shouldn't talk to Cedric in Potions anymore?'
'Don't put words in my mouth!'
'Well then stop telling me what to do!' Danny snarled, 'Ever since I've got here I've been ordered around left and right by elitist professors and government dead-weights! I don't want my friends to be bossing me around too!'
Sam stomped her heavy combat boots, the sound making a thud against the pavers, 'Fine. You don't have to worry about being bossed about. Talk to me when you get over yourself.'
Her book-laden bag slammed painfully into Danny's hip as she spun on her heel, and she stormed off in the direction of Defence Against the Dark Arts.
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He had every intention of attending his Defence Against the Dark Arts class, but both Valerie and Sam had left him in such a flurry of confusion that Danny thought it better to try and get a head-start on his stupid Wendigo project. He'd apologise to Mad-Eye Moody the next time he had class.
He wasn't keen on heading back to his dormitory. Other than Sir Cadogan guarding his doorway against all intruders – including Danny – he always seemed to gain a particularly nasty headache each time he passed a particularly grotesque painting of an old man teaching trolls how to pirouette on his way back to the tower. It was much easier to find solitude elsewhere.
The Great Hall had been his first stop, not even bothering to sit down at the Gryffindor table as he snatched a ham and cheese sandwich off a nearby platter. Combined with his exhausting night of mandated Sirius-searching along with the somewhat one-sided fight with Sam, his emotions were in turmoil as he angrily stuffed a neatly cut triangle in his mouth as he made his way to the one place he knew nobody would find him — the library. Danny could count on one hand the amount of times he'd voluntarily gone to a library, much to his sister's disappointment.
The Casper library was a far cry from the grandeur of Hogwarts' own. Books floated to their allocated spaces throughout three-story high mahogany bookshelves, and large stained-glass windows shone down on rows of polished tables where students from all the schools were scattered about.
Most of the room was crowded with Hogwarts students, with most sporting glowing red badges that read 'Support Cedric Diggory — the real Hogwarts champion!', and the Beauxbatons were perched neatly in their seats, their uniforms pressed to perfection as they spoke in loud, rapid-fire French, ignoring the scalding glares from the librarian. Even the ever-moody Krum was here, a gaggle of girls poking their heads out of the stacks to giggle excitedly at each other every time he looked up. Danny decided to leave him be, reluctantly searching the stacks for information about Wendigos. There was a surprisingly large selection in the deeper recesses of the stacks, and he quickly started to pull books from the shelves. He'd eyed a particular cosy-looking spot in the far corner of the library with a collection of overstuffed armchairs and ottomans scattered about that he hoped to claim as his own.
His arms full of books that looked like they'd vaguely hold the answers he needed, he scurried over to the corner, plopping his satchel and books onto a nearby table before settling himself into a deep blue armchair that sat soaking in the weak autumn sunshine, creaking open the first of many dry and boring books.
He couldn't remember dozing off, but he woke to a small finger jabbing at his shoulder. Blearily, he stared at a girl surrounded by a halo of brown bushy hair.
'Oh, Hermione, right?' Danny mumbled, wiping at his face to check for drool.
Hermione, who had looked rather timid at first, seemed to stand up straighter with a beaming straight-toothed smile.
'You've been asleep since I got here… I didn't want you missing all of lunch.'
With a groan he stretched his arms over his head, his copy of The Entire Encyclopedia of North American Monsters and Magical Beasts which had been resting on his chest fell to the ground with a dull thud. Hermione picked it up with a curious look.
'American History of Magic,' Danny supplied. 'Got an extra long project on the Wendigo wars.'
'Oh, Professor Binns only teaches European magical history here. I've not had a chance to learn anything about North America.' Hermione said excitedly offering the thick and rather dull tome back to him.
'Yeah, well you and me both.' Danny said, guessing her confused expression, 'I'm a magi-born. I haven't exactly grown up around a lot of this stuff.'
'Oh! Yes, the Daily Prophet said you were. Honestly, it's nice to have someone to relate to — my friend, Ron, can't seem to understand half of what I'm talking about, and Harry didn't exactly have the most normal upbringing.'
'Go figure.' Danny offered her a rakish grin, 'Well we magi-borns have gotta stick together then.'
Hermione's face turned bright red and she hurriedly propped herself onto the edge of a nearby ottoman, 'I-I've got some of my own reading to finish up on – if you don't mind the company, of course!'
'Sure, let me just get rid of some of these books,' Danny grabbed half the stack from the table, not even bothering to check the names as he wandered back into the shelves. He could hear giggling as he passed a nearby row. Curious, he poked his head around the corner.
At least five sixth and seventh-year girls were whispering excitedly to each other from where Victor Krum was wedged between the neighbouring rows, staring intensely at the remaining collection of books he'd left on the table beside Hermione.
'Er, you okay there, Krum?' Danny called out. 'Feel free to grab anything you need. I've read most of those.'
Krum's eyes slanted over to him, and with a soft grunt he turned on his heel and stalked right out of the library.
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