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Chapter Text

Danny had grown up with insanity. Hell, he went to wizarding school in Britain most of the time. He was trans. He didn't think it could *get* weirder. But it *did*. He went exploring in his parents' lab with his friends and payed the consequence of HALF FUCKING DYING. And then so much shit happened it felt like his head would explode. The world ended due to a freak. Amity got destroyed ten years in the future because of him. He got cloned. Found out that his parents' old college friend was also half dead. Not in that order, but still! Going to school would be normal compared to that. All he had to do was convince Libra, his stark white cobra, to come out. She hissed at him.
{I'm not coming out for you fool}
{Don't be salty with me!}. Oh yeah. He could also talk to snakes. The Hufflepuffs had been baffled he'd gotten sorted into their house with that ability. The snake familiar didn't help. They only let him bring her instead of an owl, cat or toad because they been together since he was able to walk. And other people had other pets too. That Ron kid had a rat for a couple years.
{Fine. I'll come with you on one condition. I get two mice on the train ride}
{I always give you that!}
{Then it should be simple} He groaned and she slithered out.
"Danny! Hurry up! We don't wanna be late!" Jazz called. His first year his parents had come with them, but now he and Jazz used the Floo powder by themselves. He ran downstairs.
"Be good kids! We'll miss you so much!" Maddie grabbed them and kissed their foreheads. Danny groaned and pulled away
{Stupid woman}
{That's my mother!}
"What did she say Danno?" Jack looked at him.
"Nothing special. She wants mice during the train ride," They waved and used the Floo to get to Diagon Alley.

Once situated with new robes, he left Madame Malkin's and a blonde girl ran up to him. Her friend noticed Jazz and they started chatting.
"Danny! You're here!"
"Of course I'm here Fiona. What did you expect?" (Casually cheats the system to get my deadname's hatred away by naming a character it) He chuckled. They'd started the Pride club at Hogwarts last year.
"So you just gotta get the rest of your supplies and then to the train, right?"
"Of course! My wand has been funky lately, so I gotta get a new one," they walked towards Ollivander's. His wand had stopped working for him after he got his powers.
"Weird. You always took such good care of it. Is Libra with you?"
{Who beckons me?}
"Yup. And she's as salty as ever," they laughed.

Ollivander's was the same as ever. The man who ran it ran over to them.
"Ah, Daniel Fenton. Cedar, dragon heartstring, 13 inches. Fiona Flaggerly. Pine, pheonix tail feather, 11 inches. What brings you back? Ah, let me guess. You need a new wand?" He pointed to Danny.
"Yeah. This one isn't working for me anymore,"
"Hmm. Oddly, I feel as though none of my regular wands will. But I have been experimenting with threstral hairs," He hummed and wandered off. "Ah yes. Here it is. Black oak, threstral hair, 10 inches," Danny tooked the wand and gave it a wave. It immediately shot out black and white sparks.
"Woah,"
"Wonderful!" They payed and left the shop.
"Aren't threstrals those black horse things only people who have seen death can see?" Fiona asked. Danny's throat tightened.
{I guess you'll be seeing new things this year}
{What's that supposed to mean?}
{Isn't it obvious? The carriages are drawn by them}
{Okay, but I've only seen myself die. I'm sure that doesn't count!}
{Perhaps it does} Libra took her place in Danny's sleeve again.
"More mice talk?"
"Yup!" Danny said quickly. Someone walked up behind him and tapped on his shoulder. He whirled around to Harry Potter.
"I could help but hear you talking to a snake. But there aren't any here," He crossed his arms. Harry was a well known parseltounge.
{Now that's just rude!} Libra stuck her head out. Harry jumped.
{Be nice Libra!}
{I get to be salty to the one who killed the Basilisk. She was controlled you heathen}
"How does she know about that?"
{I can still understand you}
"She's smart,"
"I didn't know there were any other parseltounges in school. And aren't you in Hufflepuff?"
"Abilities don't determine the house. It's personality," Harry looked confused by that. "I thought you knew that?"
"I guess I did. But I guess I forgot that speaking to snakes doesn't automatically make you Slytherin,"
"Says the Gryfindor parseltounge," Fiona snapped.
"That's fair," Harry conceded.
"Harry!" someone called.
"Go join your friends special guy," Danny said. Harry pissed him off sometimes. He didn't mind the guy, but he was kinda arrogant. Thought he was the best Seeker in the world. Danny was trying out for the Hufflepuff team this year though. They might win this time. Not that Danny thought he could make the team win, he just knew that Hufflepuff was getting a flush, so they might win with a fresh start.

Chapter Text

Danny and Fiona used Floo to get to King's Cross. Harry didn't usually go to Diagon Alley so late, but they didn't bother dwelling on it. Jazz and her friend Luna joined them in the train compartment. 
"Hey! It's Luny Lovegood!" Someone yelled. Jazz tightened her grip on Luna's shoulder. 
"You don't need to worry about me," Luna said quietly. Jazz was three years older than her. But she had taken Luna under her wing after she'd found a few kids bullying her last year. They were both in Ravenclaw after all. 
"Don't be silly. You don't deserve to get bullied like that," Jazz tutted. Jazz was weird like that, but she was formidable to people who hurt those she cared about. So what if she had a bad aim? 
"Yeah Luna. Just cause you're different doesn't mean that you deserve that," Danny said. 
"Thanks guys. Maybe this year I can make up the courage to ask Ginny out!" Luna had had the biggest crush on Ginny Weasley since last year. But none of them knew how Ginny felt about that stuff. 
"That's the spirit!" Fiona said. "If it works out, she can come to the Pride club with you!" 
"Yeah. That'd be cool. In other news, Cedric is staring at us," Danny pointed through the door. "Hi Cedric!" 
"Oh, uh. Hi Danny, Fiona, Luna and Jazz. Uh, Jazz, can I talk to you privately?" He blushed. 
"Ooooh!" Danny and Fiona said. 
"Danny, shut your trap. Of course Cedric," They stepped outside. Danny put a finger to his lips and sent Libra to listen in. 
{It's just normal teenager stuff. He's asking her out} she hissed.
"Details. What'd she say?"
"Obviously yes. Cedric is a nice guy and he's had a crush on her for a while. She reciprocates said crush. The answer is obvious," Fiona said. 
"It's gonna be weird having our prefect dating my sister," Danny groaned.
"You'll get over it. Hey Luna, since Cedric built up his courage, wanna go do yours?" Fiona giggled. 
"Are you sure? What if she says no?"
"I'm sure she'll say yes. C'mon!" Fiona pushed her out and Danny trailed behind them. Jazz glanced at him. He shrugged. 
"Girls!" He shouted and ran after them. They were now standing outside Ginny's compartment. 

Fiona opened the door and pushed Luna in.
"C'mon! You can do it!" 
"Uh, hi Ginny!" Luna stuttered. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny looked at them. 
"Hi Luna! How're you?" Ginny smiled.
"Ginny, who's this?" Hermione asked. "And I'm not talking about those two," She narrowed her eyes. 
"Take your biphobia elsewhere Hermione," Fiona retorted. Both she and Danny broke into giggles. 
"You came here. And I have no clue what you're talking about,"
"Get it, cause we're both bi? You know what, never mind. Come on Luna," She urged. 
"Uh, uh. Ginny, will you go out with me!" She said quickly. Ginny looked baffled. 
"You sure you don't mean Ron or Harry?" 
"Of course I don't mean Ron or Harry. Listen Ginny. I've liked you for awhile now. And..." 
"No," Ginny said. Luna looked crestfallen. "That's so weird and disgusting. Why would you even suggest that I'm like that?!" 
"I'll handle Luna. You can chew her out," Danny said and steered a crying Luna away from the jerks. He heard Fiona going off on Ginny for saying what she did. 
"Am I disgusting Danny?" Luna asked quietly when they got back. Jazz was off somewhere.
"Of course not. Am I disgusting?"
"Yes. You are the most disgusting person I know. You scratch your butt all the time!"
"I do not! And that's not what I meant. Listen Luna. You are not disgusting because you're gay. Just like I'm not disgusting because I'm bi or trans. It doesn't matter what anyone else says. You should love who you are,"
"Thanks Danny. But I still feel awful,"
"I know. But Ginny wasn't worth it if she was actually like that. You shouldn't feel bad,"
"I know," She pulled Danny into a hug. Fiona came back. 
"That little twit. Anyways, sorry about making you do that Luna,"
"No, she would've always said that. I'm glad it's over with,"
"Good. Now, we gotta change. I think the washroom's open Danny,"
"Thanks!" He ran off. They always changed before the sweet cart for good measure. 

They got their sweets as usual. Extra for Luna to cheer her up. Jazz scolded them on eating too many sweets, but she had just as many herself, so her point didn't carry. No one except Luna, Fiona and Jazz knew he was trans here, and when Cedric came back, they thought it was for Jazz. It wasn't.
"Hey guys! So, Danny, some people have been spreading rumours saying that your actually a girl, and I wanted to double check it,"
"I'm not a girl," He growled. 
"You aren't a girl Danny. It's okay," Jazz hugged him. 
"I'm confused,"
"Danny is by all accounts male Cedric. Where did this ridiculous notion even come from?"
"Malfoy," He gulped.
"And you believed Malfoy of all people?" Jazz inquired.
"I had to investigate,"
"Listen. We've had enough identities getting invalidated for one day. Go away Cedric," Fiona said. Cedric turned on his heal and walked out.

Soon it was time for them to leave. The usual "please leave your luggage here" announcement went off. Danny walked up to the carriages. He stared at the threstrals. 
"Danny? Is everything okay?" Jazz whispered.
"Stupid things showed up. You were right Libra," he muttered.
{Of course I was}
"What are you talking about?"
"Threstrals," He muttered. Jazz sucked in breath of understanding. They climbed onto the carriage. But when they got to the castle, the weirdest thing happened. A large carriage with pegasi flew down from the sky and a looming ship rose from the water of the lake. He and Jazz looked baffled. 
"Oh right. You're American. Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard tournament for the first time in 300 years! That's the seniors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang," Fiona said patiently. He and Jazz nodded slowly. This was gonna be a weird year. 

Chapter Text

As they walked into the school, Danny and Jazz kept exchanging looks. They'd never heard of the Triwizard Tournament. But if it hadn't been around for 300 years, maybe that made sense. As he sat down, the girls from Beauxbatons (that was what the school was called, right?) sat down at the Ravenclaw table. Jazz was sitting next to a girl with long platinum blonde hair and pretty features. Both Danny and Fiona caught themselves staring. She started talking to Jazz. In a moment, she was staring at Danny. Why did he keep staring at her? He rubbed his eyes. 
"She must have Veela blood. If there was a guy Veela here, we'd both be going nuts looking back and forth," Fiona chuckled. Danny raised an eyebrow. 
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Veela have magic that make those attracted to their gender infatuated with them," She said matter of factly. 
"Poor Luna is directly across from her. And I really don't like being forced to like someone like that,"
"No one does. Luna will be fine. Have fun with raging hormones!"
"I hate my hormones,"He thunked his head on the table. Fiona laughed.
"At least that doesn't sound inherently trans,"
"How doesn't it sound trans?" 
"All teenagers hate their hormones. And I think Jazz is looking at her too,"
"You and I both know Jazz is pan. This isn't news. Plus, she's sitting next to her,"
"Wonder what her name is," Fiona swooned. Danny slapped her and they laughed. They heard someone walk up behind them 
"Hi Danny! This is Fleur, I was telling her about you guys," Jazz giggled. 
"'e is so coot!" Fleur said. Danny blushed but mentally slapped himself. 
"Uh, hi, Fleur. You didn't tell her about anything I don't want people knowing, right?"
"Of course not. What did you take me for?"
"Someone who just recently learned to aim. Thermoses aren't fun to be inside," He quipped. Jazz snickered.
"Careful,"
"Whatever. What did you guys need?"
"Jazz vas telling me all about 'ow you were planning on signing up for Quidditch zis year. I don't know much about Quidditch, so I was vondering if you could tell me about it!" Fleur said. 
"Cool! We're both signing up for try outs this year. We can tell you anything you want to know," Fiona butted in. Danny slapped her. "Whoops,"
"It's quite alright. I understand that me being part Veela causes some people to act oddly. I've never 'ad it 'appen with a girl zough,"
"She's a raging bisexual. And Jazz is pan," Danny said quickly. 
"Like you aren't!" Fiona crooned.
"I'm not denying that statement," He replied. 
"Hmmm. Perhaps you can explain this to me later. We 'ave to take our seats again! Ta ta," They walked off. Danny and Fiona exchanged lovesick grins before shaking their heads and straightening out their thoughts. 
{You two are ridiculous}
{Thanks for your input Libra}
{You're welcome. Are you giving me anything?}
{The feast hasn't started yet}
{I'm going back to sleep then} Danny giggled. 

Soon the first years shuffled in. Hufflepuff got three new members. That might not seem like alot, but Hufflepuff was used to it. A little girl with wide eyes and large circular glasses that took up her entire face sat down next to Danny. 
"Is it alright if I sit here?" She asked.
"Of course. Welcome to Hufflepuff!" Danny scooted over. The girl smiled. Her black hair was braided into pigtails on either side of her head. Her magnified eyes were a bright gold. They shifted to a purple when she sat down. 
"You're a metamorphmagus!" Fiona noticed. 
"Yeah. Mommy says that if I control it, I can get a really special job!" She grinned. 
"What's your name?" Danny grinned. Metamorphmagi were rare. 
"Morgan Britchworth,"
"Danny Fenton at your service, Lady Britchworth," He did a bow. Morgan giggled. 
"You're silly. I'm not royalty,"
"Maybe not, but you're still really cool," Fiona giggled.
"Really! All the kids at my old school said I was weird and that they didn't like me," Morgan looked sad. 
"Hey, don't listen to them. You're special, not weird. That's why we're at Hogworts, cause we're special,"
"Awesome! Mommy said that she was so happy when I first used magic. Mommy's a witch, just like me. But I never met my dad. Mommy says he got really mad when he found out about her," A half-blood then. He was from a half-blood family, but both his parents were magical. Dumbledore stood up. 
"Welcome back student! I have a few words to say! (four random words here)," And the food showed up. Danny and Fiona had random conversations until it was time for the real announcements. Soon the food was gone. Dumbledore stood back up. He explained that the Triwizard Tournament was back for the first time in centuries with new rules. Only those over seventeen could join as a safety precaution. The trials would also be much less dangerous than previous years. Danny wasn't planning on joining anyways, but even if he did, he would've been the safest out of anyone. He found out the hard way that he couldn't die in normal human ways. Let's just put it as his heart stopped for ten minutes, but he restarted by himself. It was really weird. And he could go without breathing for three hours. Impossible stuff. He really didn't want to know how long he could go without food and water though. His heart also stopped due to him not breathing for three hours. But that was nothing important. He didn't want to join anyways. Dumbledore pulled out the Goblet of Fire and explained it. He then explained the presence of the two guys standing next to him. Then he introduced Alastor Moody, ex-Auror as the new DADA teacher. Danny's Vibe Check was going nuts when he spoke, despite the other students going on and on about how great his reputation was. So great that he got pulled out of retirement to help with some cases. What the hell?

No time to dwell on it, as they went to the dorms and settled down. Danny changed out of his binder quickly before any of the other guys saw him. He was pulling on his NASA pajama pants when they finally came in. His roommates rolled their eyes and went on talking. He shook his head and went to the common room. Cedric walked up to him.
"Uh, hi Cedric," He stuttered. 
"Danny, you gotta tell me what kind of stuff Jazz likes for presents. I think I made her mad somehow,"
"And you wanna make it up to her with a gift?"
"Yeah. Was it that easy to tell?"
"Yup. She likes books. Psychology and scifi fantasy are her forte,"
"Thanks! Nice pajamas," 
"Got something against NASA? Just cause I'm a wizard doesn't completely destroy my chances," but being half dead might. 
"No, seriously, I like them. I was wondering why she got so mad when I suggested you were a girl though,"
"Cedric, you're a cool guy, but if I'm gonna say this, we're gonna have to go somewhere more private than the common room,"
"Okay. Cryptic it is. We can use my dorm. The guys are out pranking someone with Fred and George Weasley," He lead them to his dorm. 
"This'll work," 
"Okay, what is it?"
"I'm trans. Known since I was five. Work really hard to pass. So no one but Jazz, Luna and Fiona know,"
{Don't forget about me} Libra poked her head out. 
{Of course not} "Oh, and Libra. But we've been together since before I could walk, so she knows everything," Cedric looked baffled. 
"So you were born a girl?"
"No, I was assigned female at birth. I rejected it,"
"Okay then. Aren't you worried someone will notice?"
"Who? The guys in my dorm? They hardly give me a second glance. Was that all you needed?"
"Yup. Thanks Danny,"
"No prob Ced," He walked out of the dorm and sat in one of the comfy chair of the common room. Fiona sat down on top of him.
"Careful, or the chair will eat you,"
"Like you sitting on me will help,"
"It was worth a shot," Someone knocked on the portrait. He and Fiona exchanged a look. They both got up. 

Fiona opened the portait hole while Danny brushed his shirt down to make his chest seem more flat. He frowned at it. It wasn't working very well in his opinion, but Fiona gave him a thumbs up. 
"Ah! You answered. I vas vorried you vouldn't. 'ello Danny," Fleur waved. 
"Hi, Fleur. Are you allowed to be down here?" Danny waved back. He mentally slapped himself out of the Veela charm. 
"I don't know. But it can't 'urt. You can tell me about Quidditch now,"
"Fleur, you're cool and all, but we need our sleep. We can talk more in the morning," Fiona yawned. Fleur nodded. 
"I suppose so. See you tomorrow," She waved again and left.
"I feel like she's latched onto us. I mean, it's cool that an older woman likes us and all..." She went talking, but Danny paled at that. Last time he'd said that, she died. He clamped his hands together. "Are you okay dude? You look like you've seen a ghost. Not counting the Friar,"
"Heh heh. I'm fine. We should get to bed," He turned around and walked back to his dorm. Once there, he flopped down on his bed. That didn't happen Danny. It's never going to happen. Lancer only made you do that test during the summer for stupid reasons. You didn't actually cheat. And then he stared spiraling. Fell asleep spiraling. There were going to be so many nightmares that night.

Chapter Text

Danny woke up in a cold sweat and checked his watch to find it was 3 in the morning. He found himself as Dan three times that night, and the world actually became a circus in between. There was one where his parents were dissecting him, but it was nothing compared to the others. He was too late. He didn't stop Dan in time. Clockwork didn't help. Everything happened again. Everyone died. It was his fault. 

Danny shook his head. That didn't happen. He was safe. Dan was in the thermos at Clockwork's. He was in Hogwarts. Everything was fine. There was no point in going back to sleep, so he walked out into the common room and started the fire again. He stared at the glowing embers. That made him think of Ember. He smiled. She was going to teach him to play guitar when he went back home. They'd started out a bit rocky, and they still rough housed sometimes, but it was all in good fun. Ember had become one of his best ghost friends. They vented to each other when things got tough. She told him about how she'd died. He'd returned the favour. It was a sign of true friendship among ghosts when they did that. At least normal ghosts. The school ghosts loved to rant about their deaths. His ghost sense went off. The Fat Friar was standing behind him.
"Speak of the devil," He muttered. 
"You're up quite early. This makes it easier to say what I was going to,"
"What?"
"It's not difficult for a ghost to find another one. You're strange though. How did you die?"
"Right. You guys don't follow taboo at all. That's incredibly disrespectful to ask,"
"It's not here,"
"Yeah, it's not. Sir Nicholas sings his cause of death to the Gryffindors. Myrtle cries hers to anyone who'll listen. You guys have no self respect," The Friar looked taken aback. "'Sides, I'm only half dead. Guess you guys haven't heard about halfas,"
"I feel like I have heard that word before. But you mustn't blame us. We haven't been to the Zone in centuries. In Britain, a dark wizard cursed the land to make ghosts be different than we would've been,"
"No, that's not what happened. You're mostly sentient, yeah, but you aren't ghosts. Ghosts can eat. Ghosts aren't stuck in a routine or in one specific place. You're what we call echoes. You aren't really there. Always intangible. That was a story someone told you to justify your existence as ghosts. That's not how it works," The Friar frowned.
"But Peeves-"
"Is still an echo. He's more developed. You guys would become ghosts if you had access to ectoplasm. The only reason I can still be here is because I sustain myself in human ways," The Friar kept frowning and flew off. Whatever. It wasn't like he cared. 

He was so bored. Maybe he could take a page out of Fred and George's book and prank a teacher. Or maybe not a teacher, but a student. Not Jazz. Jazz didn't deserve that. But there was a little bitch who did. He grinned and transformed. Time to prank Ginny Weasley. 

Step one was grabbing some of the Twins' stuff. It'd be easy to play off at least part of as them. He slid into Gryffindor Tower soundlessly. It took him three tries to find Fred and George. They were alseep. Good. Now he just had to use all this to prank Ginny. Once he found her, he put a message above her bed and set it off. He watched invisibly. The fireworks went off and the girls screamed. 
"FRED AND GEORGE!" She looked up. The message glared at her in bright green.
"Don't blame the Twins' for this act of payback. Certain ghosts don't like homophobic little bitches. Watch your step," 
"P-Peeves?" She stuttered.
"N̶͓͍̮̈́͐͊̊̒̚ỡ̶̧̪͉̺̪̫̼̟̪̖̿̇̉͐̚̚t̷̫̪͆̋́̔̊ ̵̨̨̜̗͈̻͈̙̥̃̚͝Ṗ̶͔͔̆͐͗͑̄̾̒̌̎e̵̢̪͈̪͔̋͗̅͝è̷̡̛͙͓̙̣̠͖̒͊̈̇̿̉̅̚v̶̧̧̫͖͔̬͖̤̍͂͐̎̂̊͒͜͝ͅe̷̡̩̖̟͕͔͝s̷̢̢̳͕̗̯̄̅̚ͅͅ.̷̟̐ ̸͇͔̻͓̔͐̈͝H̶̹͍̹̪̬̜͓̺̞̓̋̂̇̕͘͘ͅͅȇ̵̞̫̮̜̤͇̍̔̂͑͛͐̌̒̒ ̷̢̛̖̙̫̟̮͊̾̈́̌ͅw̸̨̨̠͈͙͚̥̣̼̋̿̄̾͆͂͊͜o̶̠̰͎̙̜͇̎͂͗̂̌͒̈́́̚u̷͔͇͌̑͋̉͘l̴̖͉͌̂͊͐̒̊̄̃̚͝͝d̵̝̓͋͛̄̊n̸̨̜̪̟͔͎̪̼̙͌̂̍͐̆̄͜͝͝'̶̧̨̟̣̖͚̯̟̍̍̾̚ͅt̶̥̻̭̭̱̂͐͗́̉̿͌͝ ̵̢͚̖̱͖̩͐͂k̶̙̘͍͇̰̳̽̃̓͌̈́ņ̷͎̩͕̝̣̮͈͈̠̈́̈̈́͘͝ͅǫ̸̳̗̦͚̟͉̥́̋̀͒̿͆̕͜͜w̶̨̭̳̲͗̋͐̌ ̴̧͙̪̘̼̙̍̅̂ͅͅȃ̸̡̧̩̹̜̝̥̥̙̝̟̈́̓̀͋̔͒͘b̶̗͖̪̯̲̘̑́̓̒͝o̷̢̮̮̯̟̬̫̱̠̔̍̍͋̐͝u̵͍̳̫̫͉̇̈́̏͌ͅť̵̞̂͂͛͛͌̚ ̴̡̡̮̜̮̰̈́̽̓ţ̷͕̣͉̘̙̙̬̞̎̈͂͂̃̄͊͒̀h̸̟͈̏i̸̛͕͓̗̞͖͇͚̘̻͛͌̐̉͐́̚̕̕s̷̗̆̇͌̐͒̏̑̈͠,̵͈͂̀̄͂͘̕͠ͅ ̵͕͕͉̓̔̉̈̐͋̋͘͝n̴̢̩̯̟͚̪̯̹̬̄́̂̚͠ǫ̵̫̙̓͂ẘ̶̫͙͌͗͗̌͘̚ ̶̥͛w̴̛̲͔͇̯̐̍̎̂͝͝ơ̷͙͚̲̰̊̾̂̉́ů̷̻͔͖̱̯̾̎͜l̵̨̗͙̺̪͚̩͂͜͜͝d̶̩̝͖̖͚̘̳̊̊̌̈́͘͝ ̴̢͕͓͕̠̩͍͑̈́̌̂͠h̶̰̞͙͗̈͗̑͑̈́͗̃͒͘͘e̴̢̧̢̘̠͙̺̺̺̖̽͛͊͜?̷̢̧̛̦͙̥̦̫͔̖̱̩̒̾͒̚͠͝͝"Danny growled in his ghost voice. The girls screamed. He quickly altered his features to make himself unrecognizable. 
"Who are you?" Ginny asked slowly.  
"Ǫ̶̛̯̥̯̰̆͐̚͝ͅh̷̨̡̡̪̠̫̦̩̣͆͋̆,̸̢̗̪̆͂ ̵͕̖̠͍̝̉̉̍̈̾̅̕̚̚͜ͅj̶̗̰̭̫̦͈̙͉̾̓͜ủ̵̧̡̗̲̓̑̒́̾s̸͖̯̱͊ţ̴̙̦̞͍͍̭̖̔͗̈́̊̎̿̀̚͝ ̶̧̘̣͚͂̽̈̃̇͝͝ä̶̲̈́͆̂ ̵̺̳̻̟̼̾̀̔̂͠͠p̶̡̡͇̻͎̼̠͚͔͛̂̋͒̊̐̅͆h̵̛̦̘̟̫̱̏͊̉͌͆̂̚͠å̵̡͈͚̺͔̙̇͘̚ṉ̸̨͓̫͚̤̮͒̋̉̉̌͋͆̚ẗ̴̛̹̗̙̰̮̻̫̗͇́̈́̾͑o̴̪͉̼̺̜̜͕̔̈͗̾̅m̸͈͚̌̔͋͐͛̑̑̉̕.̶̨̻̗͉̅͂͠ ̸̩̦͖͇͈̫͈̾̅̌̅͘͠Ẅ̵̱̤͔͔̦͙̳̖̩̱̓͘̕ḧ̴̡̧̹̳̣̱́̆̔͒͗́ỵ̸̼̲̗̍ͅ ̷͜ẘ̶̡̧̨̛̰͖̜̞̯̫̊̐̿̾̚͠ͅö̸̞̞͍̭́͊̔̕ů̶͍̙̣̋͗͗͊̓̎͜͜l̸͍̄̽d̸̟̭̙̊̅͊͒̇̎͝ ̷̙̩̻̱̀̔̈́y̴̢̛̠̼͕̮͗̄͗͛̐̆͛͗͜ŏ̶̢̪̖̲̳͖̼̄͗͒̌͘͝ứ̶̬̔̂͗̈́̈́̑̔ ̷̭̦͙̼̞͎͉̅̅̓͝͝c̸̡̧͔͓̥̖̺̜̑͗̓͝͠ä̷̝̓͆̈̉͝l̵̨̡̲̥͇̒̈́l̴͕̫̻͈̈́͐̔̊̈̎̿͂̓͜͜ ̵͉̘̹̬̈́͛̾̾̿͆̈́̊̑͝p̵̧̛͕͔̦̝̣͍̔o̷̧̰͇̔̈́̈́͘͠o̴̟͕̾̒̎̌̋́̑̂̒r̴͙͚͓̫̠̝̮̤̹̺͑̊̑͒͝ ̸̛̛͈͕̝͔̿̒͋͝L̷̦̍̇̂̏ư̸̧͔̜̮͈̩͕̳̻̓͘͝n̸̢͈̻̭̑̅̉â̶̯͈̬̺͉̍́̃̊ ̴͙̹̜̝͎̗͈̬̅̓̀͊͗͂͋̌d̷̢̛̖̝͙̭̳͌̑͋͛͗̆͛͐̚ḯ̷̧̬̦̗̊̆͌̾̈̓͜ͅš̵͆͗͐̈́́̈́̉̽͑͜g̴̻̪̰̦͓͙͊̾̍u̴̟͈̫̪̳̔̌̽͆͝ͅś̶̡̺̝̭̙̦͉̰̫t̷̰͕̂̂̓͋̎i̴̧̲͈͙̊͝ñ̴̡̪͈̭͔̥̙́̊̃͝g̸̐̅̍͑͒͒̉͐̆̊͜?̵̝̤͓͕̜̹̰̯̫̫̃́ ̸̪͍̳́͐͌̉̓̈́̒̽Ḯ̴̧̼̝̫̗̼͚̘̝̗͊̽ ̴̡̮̲̗̯͙̱̮̋̆͒ṱ̴̰̥͇̘̾̇̿̇̋͆̄̕͝h̶̨͚͍̤̫̣͎̮͇͇͌̓̏̐͝ö̵̧͇͍͙͈̤̦̟́̿͋̚û̶̞̗̟̏̃̓̕͜g̸̨̹͇̭̒̏h̵̢̬͙̝̖̻̽̊ţ̶͇̻̫͓̝̈́̓̍͒̆͒̋̀̚͠ͅ ̴̢̨͍͚͚͉̑̐̈́̈́͊̽́y̴̢̪̜̰̫̗̜̼̙͒ͅö̴̘̌̈̈́̐͝͠ů̸̗̰͇̬͉̰ ̸͉̯͎̽͌̔͘͜Ļ̵̨̢͕̦̫͕̪̞̓̉͗̿͛̓̚͘̚Ȉ̴̡̛̫̗̩̯͎̆̏Ķ̶͚̜̻̰̗̪̱̿̄́̏͘Ȇ̴͕̳̳̈́͜Ḑ̵͖͙͔̲̅̓̈ ̸̪͙͎̎̈h̷̖͙͐ê̷̛̺͕̳͗́̈̾͘ŗ̵̹̰̿̃̔͆̃̒?̷̧̳̟̟̍͊̏̏̆͜"Ginny backed away slowly. "N̵͔̥̪͉͔̄́ô̵̢̩͓̥͎̲̼͛ẘ̶̨̤ ̶̙̟̪͇̬̍î̸̬̜̳͚͉m̷̙̱͔͈̽͊ã̸̳͎̖̯͔͗̋g̴̩͎͕̫̻̓͂̅ȉ̵͕̳̯̰̹͇̥͒͛n̷̦̱̪̘̜̥̒̎̂̋͂ę̷̱̘͙̲̞̖̒̂̋̃̕ ̷͚̯͎̲̰̃͂͊͆̆͆̈͊ì̵̺͒̓̀̃͛̇͐f̷̼͙̲͋ ̸͙̠̪̬͎̹̳͋̔̈́̈́̈̕͠t̵̜́͛̽̈́͐h̵̠̖͙͕̼̝̓́͗̐̿͐̕ä̷̛̦͎͓̪̩͖͖́t̶͕̠̐̐͂̐̓̓͘̕ ̵̛͇̖͕̖͈͍͔̈̑̒̚͜͝w̸͓̖͈̱̟͎̘͒a̴͖̺̱͍̩̹̾͗̓̓́s̵͕̻̺̲̗̽͋̑̊̆̇͂̕ ̷̡̙̙͎̥̣͓͌̽͑̿̽a̴̦̼̗̭͗͆̀͑͛̕ ̷͈͐̊̈͝b̸̩̣̻̟̈́͠ọ̵͖̲̘̠̽̾̅̏̅̀̈́y̵̩͕̣͚̬͊͛͂̋̃̓ ̴̢̝̖͚̯̫͖̭̾̄̍̈̈́̇͊͠s̶̖͍̎͗̏̐̄͝ẩ̴̱̦̮̼̹̺͍̒͒̾y̷̱͖͍͍̿̔̈́̃͗͝i̴̤̞̇̄̇͗̈́͘n̵̺͇̮̍̿̏͂̅͝g̶̼̻̦̀͒ ̶̮̥͖͉͎̭̠̃t̷̯͕͚͙͚̦̽͑̐ḩ̶̰̰̒͒̓͠a̶͚͔͇̒̈́̐̈̀͛͋͘t̴͉͚̩̻̪̠͔̜̆̀̈̿̚̕͝ ̷̛̬̝͇͔̼t̸̛͕̱͚̹̮̀̾̇̄̾o̷̩̗̳̿̆͆̓̈́͠ ̴̡̘̙̥̙̜̟̃ẏ̶͕̙̈́̐̏̓̕͘ͅǒ̷̩̹͎̠̇͜ū̵̫̹͋͌?̸̫͑̑͗̏̉͛̚ ̶͖̠͍̘̗͕̭̉͜A̴͔̅ ̶̻̓̓̔͛̕b̵̟̦͗̈́͐̾̇ŏ̷̡̧̺̼̺́̎y̷̻̥̐̊ ̷̨̪̥̣͎̗͔̃̇̿̈̕y̴̨͉̼͉̪͎͛̍̾̉̑̂ͅȏ̴̥ų̵̭̲̪̣͇͔͂̃̂̓̾͜ ̴̱̟̲̮̙̾̃͛̌̍͒ļ̸̛͓͚̙͍̫̝̋̃̌̈͊̈́̂i̴̡̞͉̰͊ḱ̴̳̳͚̖̺̦͎̘̔̃e̵̼̣̜̅d̷̢̢̡͍̗͇͗̑̃.̴̙̦͓̥̯̘́̈̔̚ ̶̰͓̜̟͖̦̙͛͌̅̓͑̚J̵̨̡̱̥̝͓̔̅͗̔͘̕͝u̸̬̥͌̊̑̃̊͝s̸̬͙̊͛̃t̶̘̞́̽̅̾͜ ̵̖̱̯͓̆̃̎͝b̸̧͈̠͚̮̆e̵̞̓̕c̶͔͕̜̦͎̓a̸̱̎͊u̸̡̼̒̔͊̂͜͠͝͠s̵̢̫̯̪̩̰͍̏͒͑e̷̠̩̠͙̦̭̝̟͒ ̶̧͎̗̱̲̝̤͋̄̍͊̈͂͑̕y̵̺̹̝͔̝͈̏ȏ̸̗̼̈̊̀̿̚͠u̵̡̠̲̅̌ ̵̛̤͐͂̓̀̒̉f̴̧̜͋̈͠͝i̸̤͋̈́n̸͒͑̇̕͠ͅa̷̧̜̘̼͓̎̉͜l̶̝̱̱̔ļ̸͔̺͈̩̙͕̥̽̌̐y̷̙̫̯̓̅̇͑ ̶̢̨͇͙̪̞̖͒̐ͅw̶̨͖̗̝̺̺̄̀́́̉͌͘͜ȍ̸̡̭͍̘͈̤̖͂͜r̴̙̃̉̎͋̚k̶̼̕e̴̩̔́̿̿̓̒͆͝ḏ̶̾̅̾̑ͅ ̷̱̝͛̋̒̎͜͝u̵̥̘̖̭̅̍͛̍̋̂p̸̢̘̂͆̑̈́͘͝ ̶̳̯̻͒̈́̊͋͂͑̓̕t̷͙̦̩̞̎̎h̴̝̦̦͗̐ĕ̸̳̙ ̵̲̮͆͋͜c̸͍̎̓̀͊o̴̤̖͔͉͕͌̅̌u̴͈̫̫̟͖̭͗r̸̜̤̾̌̊̚a̷̡̎͑̏̃ḡ̴̙͆͌e̵̗̐̋͒ ̷̛̥̾̋t̶̰̹̤͊ő̴̩̽ ̵̨̖͈̂̆̀̕ͅs̴͚̽̽̐̉̕ͅa̴̧̗̦͇͔͈̩͂̅̄̆́̊͋̕y̸̳̳̲̯̬͎̫̌́͛͑̓́͆ͅ ̸̺̤͋̆͋͋̂̊́͠s̵̥̥͎̬͙̙̐͝ͅo̶̘̞͍͙͍͕̽̊̊̌m̷̭̌̉͝ę̷̜̜̓͗͐͒̑̓͝ẗ̴͚̘̘̞̜̝͑̐͌̐̐̅͝h̷̨̛̲͎͈̝̣̱̓̅̎̔̇͒͝ī̸̱n̵͉̣͎̗̳͆͌̉͝ḡ̵̼̩̜̫̪̌̈́̑̚͘͠.̴̲̗͚̣̥̻̖̓̌" Ginny whimpered. 
"I understand. Please don't hurt me," She cried. He laughed. A sick, horrible laugh. 
"W̶̨̭̤͔̩͓̼̿̌͘͝͝ḣ̷̨̺̆ͅy̸̧̤̮͕̖͕̓͜ ̵̡̠̱͇͓̳͆w̸̢̱̗̾͜͝ȍ̶͉́̃̂͆̍͗̕u̶̗͚͊̊l̸̩̲̝̠̝̰͉̈́̒́͐̐̌̚̕͜d̸̡̛̲̮̈́͜ ̸̡͒͘Ỉ̵̡̼ͅ ̶̞͛̏͛d̶̙̣̝̣̪̻̟̾͑̒ė̵̟̠̰͕̻̙̘͎͑s̷̟̟̃̈́̔t̷͇̳̞̠̣̳̩͗̆͜͝r̵̛͖̆̒͒̑ô̵̧͈̮̬͐͊͌̿̏͝y̴̟͔͖̗̫̩̳͠ ̶̢͎̩̗͚̰̪̑̈́̋͝m̵̤̳̔͌͌͂̍̍̽ÿ̸̬̯̝̱̹̈́́̕ ̴̯̮̰͖͍͔̪̘̏̅̊̄͒̃̆͝m̷͙̭͉̠̱̮̻̽͗͌͆͛͗̾ͅo̷̡̮͉̫͍͒̏͝r̸̪̤̩͚͎͕͛̅̈́̏̌͗ă̵̛̙̗̐̈̎̒l̸̛̰͇̭̪͔̮̠̈́͊̅̆̿͜s̶̢̛̙͎̤̳̟̈͊̂͂͒͠ ̷͍͉̦̗̰̂̓̊̇̀̑f̴̪͉̃̿̏̎͜͠ǫ̸̞̬̤̰͕͐̐ŗ̷̻̰̦̑͂͆͂̀͌̂́͜ͅ ̷̧̟̘̞̗̩̗͆̊͝͝s̴̰̉̈́̓͒͒͋͝o̴̙͌̓̕͝m̸̦̄̈́ȩ̵̩̳̻̦͕̗̿̄̈̈́ŏ̸̱̠n̵̝̫̯̫͚̻̒̓̂̋̚ͅȇ̸͎̽͛͋͌͠ ̵̩͇͍̱̜͂̈́̄̈́̑̓̃͜͝ạ̵͚̠̦̝͈̚s̸̡̨̛̹̑͛̆̇͒͠ ̸̨̙̼̻̹͚̝̿p̷͕͍̤͇̰̩̃̾͜a̸͕̙̱̯̍̓̉̏̆̑̈́̽ṯ̸̭̗̟͈̠̌̇̾͒̏h̵̨̺̩̗̔͛͌͝e̸̖̮̺̜̭̦͛̈́̆̍̇̐̆̂ţ̷̨̢̜̻͈̿̓̾͂̋͛͂i̷͉͇̽͋̄̽͋͗̔͜͝c̴̠̋͝ ̷̡̟͎̏ḁ̵̢͇̭̻̰̓̃̔s̶̘̗̭͔̤̆ ̶̧̤̝̫̮̮̮̃̐̋͛̈́͘͜y̷̡͉͍̍̍͐̄̂̈́̈͜o̴̡̧̭̝̖͝u̵͕̯͔̝̐̇͗͛̚ͅ?̴̨͈̺͇̙͑̄̔̌̓̇͘" He growled and teleported away. He quickly shuffled his features back to their recognizable state. He giggled. Yeah, maybe it was a little mean. But it wasn't like anyone was going to recognize him. He saw something out of the corner of his eye and went invisible. He'd been smart and changed his colour scheme too, but he couldn't risk getting recognized as that. It was Ginny. She was running towards McGonagall's office. He grinned and followed her. 

McGonagall came to the door quickly. 
"Ms. Weasley? It's four in the morning," 
"Professor, there's a dangerous creature loose in the school!" She cried. Danny held back a snicker. He was no more dangerous than a squirrel. 
"What happened?" McGonagall said slowly. 
"It might be easier if I show you," They walked back towards the dorm. Danny followed silently. McGonagall looked amused at the prank display.
"Quite the ruckus your brother's stirred up this time,"
"It wasn't them. Or Peeves. Look at the writing," McGonagall read his writing. 
"Can you describe the creature you saw?"
"Uh, it was about 5' 9, flaming red hair. Green skin. Sharp teeth and purple eyes. It was wearing tattered black clothing," She stuttered.
"And what did it say?" Ginny froze. Danny flipped upside down and accidentally let out a giggle. Ginny and McGonagall looked around scared. 
"It talked about how I rejected Luna on the train today. Do you think it snuck on that way?"
"What did you say to Ms. Lovegood,"
"I, uh, I called her disgusting for thinking I felt that way about girls," She said quietly. Danny giggled again.
"Alright, who's there?" McGonagall snapped. 
"Nobody special," He came into view. He had his features blurry so that he couldn't be connected to Fenton. He grinned. 
"What are you doing here?"
"Teaching someone a lesson. That display earlier might not have been me, but that projection was well done," He giggled childishly. 
"Projection?" 
"Of course! You can't tell when someone's used projection magic? It's everything those genius pranksters use. Who else would it be?" 
"I'll go tell them off,"
"But maybe it wasn't them. How would they know about that horrible thing you said to poor Luna? She was crushed. And not because you rejected her. No, it wasn't that. It was because she hated being called disgusting," He grinned, letting his fangs show. 
"Who else could it have been then?" Ginny snapped. 
"Oh, I know, but I can't give away those secrets,"
"How do we know it wasn't you?" McGonagall asked. "You haven't given us any solid proof that it wasn't,"
"Rude. Besides, why would a ghost care about pranking Ginny Weasley?"
"You aren't a ghost. I've seen the ghosts here. You're nothing like them," Ginny scowled. 
"The echoes? They aren't ghosts. Proper ghost follow taboo. These ones are treacherous. Yelling their deaths to anyone who'll listen," He scowled. 
"Taboo?" McGonagall ventured.
"Ah right. Anyone sensible can tell you that ghost hate remembering how they died. If you knew, than you were a true friend,"
"How did you die?" Ginny asked.
"Didn't you listen?!" He snapped, his features coming into view for a split second. McGonagall must've seen. Fuck.
"You look suspiciously like Daniel Fenton. If I didn't know better, I would say you were the same person," 
"He's okay. But I'm not him. Where would you get that idea?" He quickly surmised. He hated how good he was at lying about this. 
"Hmm. Alright then. Can you tell us your name at least?" 
"Phantom," He grinned.
"That other creature said it was a phantom too," Ginny screamed.
"No, no, you're confused. I'm not a phantom, my name is Phantom. At least my last name is,"
"What's your first name then?"
"My name's Danielle!" Someone said behind him.
"Dani?! When did you get here?" He faltered. 
"Uh, just now. The Fruit loop is coming. I came to warn you,"
"You've gotta be kidding me. We can continue our chat later," He waved and quickly beat up Plasmius. He yanked the thermos off his belt and sucked him in. "I'd love to chat and all, and being in the thermos sucks, but there was no way around it," 
"Good one," Dani said.
"Okay, you gotta go,"
"Awwwww. But I wanna stay and check out the Wizard school,"
"I know you do, but I'd prefer not to get yelled at because you showed up. If someone sees us together, and you say my name, someone'll put two and two together,"
"They haven't yet,"
"Correction, Amity hasn't yet. But they're all stupid. Take Vlad with you. Kick him into the Zone for a few days,"
"Yes sir!" She saluted and waved bye. Danny zipped back to the tower.

McGonagall and Ginny looked baffled. Shit, I'm gonna have to wipe their memories. Okay, just.... He slipped into their brains and quickly removed their memories of Phantom and switched up the prank before sending McGonagall back to her room. Now Ginny and everyone else would think that the Twins had pranked her because Danny Fenton mentioned her being rude to Luna. Danny got back to his dorm and collapsed into bed to catch a half hour of quick shut eye. 

At breakfast, Fiona looked at him like he was nuts.
"I can't believe you told the Twins about what happened,"
"It was genius, right? They know where she sleeps, and they are prankster geniuses. So worth it,"
"Brilliant," He chuckled. Jazz marched over to him. 
"We need to talk," 
"So what if I told them about what happened on the train? She deserved it,"
"I know," Then quieter so that only he could hear. "I know it was you. You aren't fooling me. But thanks for doing that," She walked off. Danny grinned. Fleur quickly gave them cheeks kisses as she walked past them to deposit her name in the Goblet. 
"Why does she keep doing that?" He grumbled.
"I think it's sweet. It's kinda obvious she wants to be friends with Jazz, so she's cuddling up to us," Fiona stated.
"Good point. I feel like she's exploiting the Veela thing though,"
"Part Veelas can't control it. And it often gets incorporated into their personality. She isn't doing it on purpose,"
"Okay," Everyone cheered as Fleur stepped over the age line and deposited her name into the Goblet. She smiled and walked back to her spot. Cedric sat down beside them.
"'Sup Cedric. Gonna put your name in the Goblet?" Danny said.
"Yeah, but I wanted to know if your sister had these books first," He pulled out a few books. Fiona raised an eyebrow.
"Nah, she doesn't have those ones. Wait, is that a box of chocolates?"
"Yeah?"
"I have to check these for love potions real quick. No offense to you, but last year a guy used one her, so now I always gotta check," He used the check for enchantments spell. It was clear except for a small message one. 
"Am I good?"
"Yeah. Knock 'em dead," Cedric nervously walked up to Jazz. She beamed when the message popped up. Cedric glanced at him. Danny gave him a thumbs up. Jazz ran over to him. 
"Danny! Cedric is amazing. I can't believe he knew I wanted these. And the message enchantment. He's wonderful Danny,"
"Woah there big sis. You sure there wasn't a love potion in there?"
"What? Of course not. I learned to check from last year. It didn't give off that kind of smell," She grinned and plopped down next to him. 
"He's putting his name in the Goblet now," Danny pointed. Jazz grinned and waved at Cedric. Cedric blushed and waved back. 
"Dorks," Fiona whispered in his ear. They burst into giggles. 
"What's so funny?"
"You guys were made for each other," Danny grinned and wiped the tears from his eyes. Jazz chuckled and hugged him.
"It's so obvious he asked you for help. Thanks for helping him,"
"Hey, don't thank me. Thank the guy who was smart enough to know that I would be able to give him the best ideas,"
"Now you sound arrogant," Fiona told him.
"Gasp! How could you think such a thing of me?"
"Gasp? Seriously?" Fiona giggled. 
"I think it's sweet. You checked for potions, didn't you?"
"Of course. You're so weird when you're under a love potion. You aren't Jazz like that," He frowned.
"Thanks Danny,"
"Oh, and I explained it to him," Jazz raised an eyebrow. "The girl thing," She nodded. 

Once they finished breakfast, it was time for DADA with the Gryffindors. Ugh. Vibe Check nutso and Harry Potter in one class. Danny had made up his mind to explain the ghost thing to Fiona, so he quietly muttered it under his breath to her on the way there. Then he explained that his Vibe Check was going nuts around Moody. 
"Wait, have you ever tried using it on someone who's using the polyjuice potion?"
"That might be it. It's probably telling me not to trust a person who pretends to be someone else. Or maybe this guy is untrustworthy,"
"Hmm. I don't think so. Now that I think about it, he gives off a completely different vibe then Mad-Eye normally does. We can investigate at lunch," He nodded and they got to class. The possible imposter kept giving Gryffindor points for Harry. Yuck. At least it was an interesting class. Once they got out into the hall, Peeves was standing there. He was about to dump a bucket of water on their heads. Danny quickly caught it.
"Peeves!"
"Awwwwwww, you caught it!"
"Peeves, get out of here," He growled. Peeves eyes went wide and he did a clumsy salute before zipping away. 
"He listened to you!" Hermione said. 
"Weird. He's never done that before," Danny muttered. But Hermione was now staring at his wand, which he had used to stop the bucket.
"When did you get a new wand? I swear yours was cedar," She walked up to him. 
"I got it this year," He snapped it away.
"Black oak, right? Ollivander doesn't normally use that. You get it from someone else?"
"Nah. Ollivander tried it out on me because he's experimenting with Thestral hairs as a core. It worked really well for some reason," The best thing to do with Hermione is get her talking then run. 
"Thestral? Never heard of it,"
"I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in Hogwarts: a History. That's what the carriages are drawn by," Hermione's face twisted up and she ran in the direction of the library. 
"How would you know that?" Fiona asked. 
"How do you think? I saw them,"
"How does that work?"
"You can only see them if you've experienced death," He muttered. Fiona's eyes went wide. 
{Someone hast summoned me!} Libra said indignantly.
{No one said anything about you}
{Dang it. I'm hanging out anyways}
{Cool} The bright white snake hung her head out of sleeve before slithering up to his neck. She nuzzled him. She'd been in the portal with him, so she got some things other definitely didn't. She was always with him and her transformation made her midnight black. She'd used it for some reason. 
"That's so weird. Why is she black,"
"Racist!"
"No, not like that!"
"I was joking! She was with me. So she's a ghost snake now," Fiona scoffed and they walked into the Charms classroom. 

Nothing turned up during lunch.

They were now walking down to potions with the Gryffindors. Danny groaned. Usually, they had it with the Ravenclaws and Gryffindor was with Slytherin. He was actually good at potions. His mom had a PhD in chemistry, and she also loved potions when she was in school. He'd picked that up from her. Maddie had always said that Hogwarts really needed to get a better potions area. The dungeons were a disgrace. And Snape decided to give them a test on the first day by making them brew the Draught of The Living Dead. Fiona made a joke about him making that. And as his luck would have it, he was stuck with Harry as a lab partner. When it became time to 'cut' the beans and he crushed them, Harry looked at him confused. 
"Mom taught me how to make it. Crushing gets the juice out way better. I have no clue why the recipe calls for cutting. These textbooks are ancient and outdated,"
"I think you should just use the recipe the way it's written. Snape might yell at us,"
"Potter, Fenton, why are you chatting instead of working?" Snape hovered over them at his name's mention. 
"I'm working. Potter keeps telling me I'm doing it wrong. I've been making this since I was five. Crushing works way better than cutting,"
"Excellent Mr. Fenton. Ten points to Hufflepuff. Ten points from Gryffindor for doubting Mr. Fenton, Potter,"
"You little twit. There goes all the points I got from Moody,"
"You got 15 points, and you got favourited. Sorry that you're an arrogant idiot," Danny continued following the recipe from memory.
"Why did your mom make this anyways?"
"I was diagnosed with insomnia, so she made it so I could sleep," He snapped. He still had some with him, but he only used it in dire situations. Like going for a week without sleeping. It would be nice to refill his supply. Harry scoffed beside him, but Danny had made the potion perfectly. When it was time to present them, even Hermione couldn't hold a candle to his. 
"Very good Mr. Fenton. You never fail to impress me with your ability to curate even the most difficult potions," Class still had another fifteen. Harry pulled a prank on him at the same time Skulker showed up. And so Danny lost five of the twenty points he'd gotten because he was late to herbology. 

Snape walked in about halfway through herbology. He spoke with Professor Sprout quickly. She walked up to Danny later. 
"Daniel, Professor Snape wishes to speak with you," He nodded and pulled his gloves off. He'd never like gardening much, so he just barely scraped by in herbology. 
"Daniel. I've noticed your inherent ability in potion making for awhile now. I normally only offer this position to sixth years, but I've been unable to find a competent one this year. Would you like to be my teacher's assistant during Potions classes. You'd have to remove a subject from your timetable of course,"
"I'd love to Professor. Would it be possible to remove herbology," Snape raised an eyebrow. 
"Why would you choose to remove the class of your head of house?"
"I've never been great in herbology. And maybe some people would think Potions leans towards Slytherin, but being good at potion making has nothing to do with personality," Danny grinned.
{Of course not. Don't treat the man like and idiot}
{I don't think he's an idiot. I was just explaining my motivations} Snape's eyebrows both flew up.
"You're a parseltongue as well?"
"Yeah. This is Libra. She likes you,"
{He's wonderful. He doesn't act all haughty}
"She was just reiterating that point," Snape didn't smile per se, but he did make a face of approval. 
"Alright then. I'll see you next period for the first year Slytherins and Ravenclaws," He walked away. Danny slipped back into herbology grinning.

Chapter Text

So Danny explained the situation to Professor Sprout. She looked just a little betrayed. He didn't dwell on it.

So when the rest of the Hufflepuffs went to transfiguration, he went to the dungeons. He knocked on the door. 
"Daniel. Good thing you're here. Let's get going," Danny walked up to the front of the room and stood there awkwardly as the students shuffled in. Snape did his "intimidation" speech that was really just explaining how difficult potions could be. Students almost never seemed to take it seriously. "Mr. Fenton will be showing you what happens when you put the quills in before you take it off the burner,"
"Aww. I just regrew my eyebrows from Seamus' last mess up," He grumbled but obliged and quickly stepped back. The potion exploded. The students gasped. 
"Excellent demonstration. Now you understand why you need to follow the book to the letter," Snape whisked around and started brewing another potion. Danny walked around the class and grabbed the hands of three students before they turned their hair pink, grew their nose or turned their eyes into moustaches. The more mundane of the screw ups that could happen. He then explained what to do in an light tone. Kids responded well to positive reinforcement. All the students understood how to brew a Boil Removing Salve by the end of class. One kid even had one good enough that he brought it to Madame Pomfrey in the infirmary. She tutted when she saw the bags under his eyes.
"Dear, I can't let you leave with giving you something to help with insomnia,"
"I've got it under control. My mom sends me with Draught of The Living Dead,"
"That's an extreme way to deal with it. Take these. They'll help," She handed him a bottle of pills. "Off you go. Snape will be needing you," He nodded and put the bottle in his bag. He quickly learned that the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were much more explosive. And generally didn't like Snape. One kid spat in his face. Snape had furiously removed 30 points from Gryffindor. Ouch. 
"Ugh, he's so unfair," The kid moaned.
"To be fair, you spat in his face. That wasn't very nice of you. You're going to blow up the classroom if you put the quills in now," He levitated the quills away from the kid. The kid spat on him. Danny found that he had a general dislike for Gryffindors. The Hufflepuffs were much nicer. Morgan was in this class. Her hair was bright yellow today. He goofily bowed to her when he caught her adding the roots before the beans and fixed it. There were no usable salves this time around. 
"Daniel, you should get working on your transfiguration work," Snape said. Danny nodded. Snape walked towards the spitting kid. 
"Careful! He didn't learn his lesson!" Danny shouted as another ball of spit hit Snape's face. Idiotic kid. 
{What a little twit}
{I know!} He hissed back and got to work. He set up the mirror that let him view McGonagall's class. It quickly spewed out the notes he would need. This was a great system. He didn't have to take any notes! But he did pay attention because transfiguration was fun. He turned a rabbit into a squirrel in no time. He smiled to himself as he took notes and thought about how long it would be until his animagus ritual would be done. McGonagall turned to the mirror and saw him changing the squirrel back into a rabbit. He had always had an inherent talent in transfiguration. Other than that and potions, he sucked at school. Divination was his worst subject. But he had a feeling he would do amazingly this year. After all, he did have the Master of All Time as his guardian. He could just get Clockwork to check over his homework. 
"Daniel! I need you to help me again," Snape called. Danny waved to the mirror and it took more detailed notes. Libra decided to remain on his shoulders. More than one student jumped when she hissed insults at them. She only complimented Morgan. 
"Here Professor," He walked up to Snape.
"Pets in class?"
"She has attachment issues. Don't worry, she won't get in the way. She's always in class with me,"
{So what if I have attachment issues?}
{It's okay} Snape shrugged. They explained the process behind the bezoars' capability of being an antidote for almost anything. 

Harry walked up behind him. 
"Xavier said he lost 60 points because Snape was targeting him. And you were there,"
"Well, Xavier should know not to spit on people. Maybe you should teach him that, Boy-Who-Lived?" Danny took another bite of chicken.
"Why would you accuse a Gryffindor of-"
"Cause only a Gryffindor would have the guts to do something so blatantly stupid," Danny cut him off. Fiona choked as she held back a laugh beside him. Harry scowled but walked back to his table. 
"THAT WAS HILARIOUS!" Fiona yelled. 
"Hey, Snape doesn't deserve to get spat on. And he was asking for it,"
"You are truly a Hufflepuff. Your loyalty to those you care about knows no bounds," He punched her in the shoulder. She giggled. The girls from Beauxbatons were staring at him. 
"Do you often fight amongst yourselves 'ere?" One girl asked. 
"Were you talking about the punch? Cause that was just a joke," Danny said sheepishly. 
"No, no, I was speaking of the remark you gave to 'arry Potter,"
"Oh, that. Nah, that's not common. But he was being a jerk. So I gave a remark. Words won't kill him,"
"Very crafty, 'e is," another girl laughed. Danny blushed. He'd never gotten called crafty before. 
"Yes, but zat was 'arry Potter. Very misplaced if you ask me," The first girl said.
"Perhaps, but 'arry Potter vas standing up for a boy that spat on a teacher," The second girl replied. 
"'e was?! Such a disgrace. You are right. 'e is quite crafty. What is your name, crafty boy?" The first one said. 
"Danny,"
"A such a coot name! I am Amelie and zis is Symphony. It is a pleasure to meet you," the first girl said. The girls bowed. 
"Uhh, thanks for the bow?"
"Oh, I suppose you don't know. At Beauxbatons, we bow when introducing ourselves. I am certain that is not a custom 'ere," Symphony said. 
"Yeah. It was very nice to meet you guys!"
"It was nice to meet you too Danny!" The girls waved and left the Great Hall. 
"Tucker is gonna be so jealous," He grinned. Fiona laughed. 

Danny was working with the older classes the next day. Those pills Madame Pomfrey gave him helped a lot though. As Snape introduced him, a few people snickered. Danny wanted to scowl, but kept a straight face. They were only a year older than them. 
"I see it is hilarious that I have the assistance of one of my best students to keep you in check. If I hear anymore mockery of Mr. Fenton, points will be removed," That shut them up. Libra poked her head out and curled around his shoulders in support. A few people jumped. Libra hurled insults at them. Luckily he was the only one who understood. He once again stopped many explosions. The Slytherins scowled at him a few times, and the Ravenclaws disregarded his suggestions. 
{Who cares about them? If they blow up, so be it}
{You and I both know I have to stay here and help} One guy stared at him. 
"Parseltongue," He whispered. 
"Yeah, what the big deal?" Danny said and fixed his sprouts. "Not yet. You've gotta put the gillyweed extract in first," He tutted and did so. That was the only student with a presentable potion. Snape was disappointed. 
"Thank you for trying Daniel. I understand that some students have the arrogance to believe that someone younger than them cannot possibly know better than them. Even if that person has been brewing these potions for years," Snape said more to the students than to him. After the fifth year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs came through (they were much more respectful), it was time for sixth years Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. Jazz was in that class. 
"Danny? What're you doing here?" She asked. 
"I thought I told you yesterday. I'm Snape's teaching assistant,"
"But you're two years younger than us,"
"And I've also been brewing these potions with mom since I was five," He retorted. "And the ones I haven't I catch on quickly,"
"Ugh, fine," She sat down beside a tall Ravenclaw boy with brown hair and grey eyes. 

Snape quickly explained that he would be the teaching assistant and that they needed to be respectful and trust his opinion. There were a few groans. The point removal threat came up once again. 
"Jazz, you've got to grind it, not mince it," Danny said as he walked past her. 
"That's not what the... Oh. Sorry," Her cheeks flushed and she adjusted. 
"Crush the beans, don't cut them. I know what the book says, it's outdated. The professor is getting new ones soon. The author is Doctor Madeline Fenton. Yes that's my mother. She wrote it when she found out that Hogwarts was still using the 1700s textbooks. The recipes are much more conventional and efficient. No, the school does not need to use the archaic methods. I know the wizarding community moves slower than the Muggle community, but we can't stay stuck in the 1700s anymore," Were many of his responses. It was mostly about bean crushing and how they were getting new textbooks in a few weeks that had better methods of potion making. His mother was by no means a potions master, but she did know how to adjust a recipe to make it work better for the user. She was better at using it for potions than food though. Snape told him to get to Charms until he called him back over. The mirror was still taking notes. They were currently learning the summoning charm. 
"Accio Snape," He said as a joke. But it worked. Snape whipped across the classroom to him. 
"Daniel? Was there something you needed?"
"No professor. You were just the first thing I thought to summon," He blushed. Snape shook his head and went back to teaching. Danny summoned his sister's textbook instead.
"Accio Jazz's textbook," The book whipped over her head. She wasn't using that one anyways. She turned around and he waved. She summoned her textbook back to her. He was really good at this for some reason. Then he remembered getting summoned by that weird cult that one time. That's why. Ghost shit again. 
"Mr. Fenton, could you please summon your quill?" Professor Flitwick said to the mirror. Danny obliged. 
"Accio quill," He said. It worked quickly. 
"That is the fastest you have mastered any charm in my class. Good job Mr. Fenton,"
"Thanks," He muttered. Flitwick went on to explain the origins of the summoning charm and it's many uses. Danny zoned out and Snape called him back to class. At least he wasn't helping the seventh years. He had second years after lunch. He groaned when he realized he would also be doing his class. 

Chapter Text

Danny was sitting at the table during dinner trying to tune out the world when Dumbledore stood up. Right, they were announcing the Triwizard Champions today. The first plucked from the Goblet was Fleur Delacour. She gave him and Fiona quick cheek kisses as she walked up. They gave her thumbs ups. They grown to like her after the few weeks they'd been together. Next up was the Durmstrang champion. Some guy named Viktor Krum got it. Danny didn't recognize him, but everyone erupted into cheers. 
"Sports fans," Fiona grumbled. Danny ignored her. Cedric became the Hogwarts champion. Danny got the weirdest feeling that something bad was going to happen. The odd slowing of time that suggested Clockwork was watching didn't help. They were about to go back to talking when the Goblet spat another name out.
"Harry Potter," Dumbledore said. Danny scoffed.
"You've gotta be kidding me. Of course that twit got in somehow. And now he can't get out because he's in a magically binding contract. Harry nervously walked up to the front. Danny glared at him. He would normally go in and eavesdrop, but he couldn't believe that Harry Potter of all people cheated his way into being the fourth Triwizard champion. Danny accidentally let an inhuman growl slip loose. 
{That little bastard! How dare he think he's that special}
{Should've just settled with being the chosen one}
{Agreed} Clockwork had mentioned a truthful prophecy to Danny about Harry having to defeat the Dark Lord, but it didn't make Danny any less pissed. 
"Time Out," Clockwork's voice rang through the room. Only Danny kept moving though. 
"Hi Grandfather," Danny said nonchalantly. 
"Ah, I see you've decided to call me that now,"
"You said you liked it. It makes you familial to me. Win win," Danny leaned back. "What do you need?"
{Yeah, what do you need old man?}
"He can understand you Libra,"
{Wait, he can? Dammit}
"It's quite alright. I know that she is merely being protective of you,"
{You bet your staff I am!} Danny chuckled.
"But I am here for a reason. I need you to support Harry while he does this. Make sure he doesn't meet his untimely end,"
"You want me to make sure he doesn't die during the tournament,"
"Yes Daniel,"
"I hate him though! And he doesn't do much more than think he's better than everyone,"
"I know that Daniel. But it is your duty,"
"Sounds like your duty,"
"That is a duty of the King of All Ghosts, not the Master of Time,"
"Oh, no, you do not get to drop that bombshell on me and then leave. CLOCKWORK!" He screamed as time came back. Fiona stared at him. 
"You good?"
"As good as I can be when I just found out I have protect Harry fucking Potter and that I'm the King of Ghosts,"
"Umm, what?"
"Master of Time is my guardian, remember?"
"Right. And he just left you with that bombshell?"
"Yeah. He likes to do that," He groaned and dropped his head on the table. 
"Guess you aren't eavesdropping then?"
"No," He closed his eyes. Now he had to invisibly follow Potter around during the trials. Ugh. 

He was helping out in Potions when Malfoy whispered to him.
"Listen, I want you to help me prank Potter," Danny raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Okay. Meet me in the dungeons at 7. We can have a temporary truce," Which was why he was helping Draco Malfoy make pins that said "Cedric Diggory is the true Hogwarts Champion" and switched to "Potter Stinks". Malfoy grumbled under his breath. He was having a bit of a hard time.
"I know you're in the same house as Diggory, and you hate Potter. So we can have a truce if you help me make pins to get my point across," He'd said. Danny frowned at Draco's struggling.
"Here, I can do the rest if you want," He quickly did Draco's pile.
"Okay, I take it back. We are having a permanent truce if you make all of them,"
"No problem," Soon they had over a hundred pins. And they were going to give them out to their houses. 

Jazz looked at him belligerently when he handed her one.
"Danny, I know you don't like Harry, but is this really necessary?"
"Oh come on. I made a permanent truce with Malfoy over these. You gotta support me,"
"Wait, actually? I'll definitely take one then," She picked it up and fastened it to her robe. Danny stuck his on over his trans flag pin. It was much bigger and flashier than his tiny flag shaped pin. Now to go to class. 

Ooooooh. Harry was pissed. It was beautiful watching his face turn red at the pins. And Ron didn't even help him out. Danny was in potions now, explaining something to Harry, but all he was doing was staring at the pin. 
"Why are you wearing one of those?"
"Cedric's dating my sister. Made a truce with Malfoy. Nothing you would understand,"
"Does this have something to do with my family being dead?"
"Nope. Just that you're an arrogant child who hardly gets the repercussions of death," Harry stood up and put his wand to Danny's throat.
"What do you know about death?" Harry hissed.
"More than you will ever know," Danny hissed back. 
{One who doesn't know the experience of dying and being brought painfully back to life could never understand} Harry stared at them and lowered his wand. 
"One thing you need to know about me Potter. I understand death more than anyone who has experienced it normally ever will," Danny said and walked off to explain something to Hermione and get into a debate with her over the outdated textbook. Once it's time for them to leave, he stands by the door. 
"What do you mean he said some really weird things about death that make no sense? Are you sure you weren't imagining it Harry?" Hermione said.
"Oh, he wasn't imagining it smarty pants. I said everything he thought I did," He said, leaning against the doorframe. 
"Why would you say that? Do you want people to think you're crazy?" She said quietly. 
"Oh, they don't have to think I'm crazy. Cause I am. That's what happens when you see the world get turned into a circus and learn that you become the worst thing ever in the future. People can think what they want," He grinned at her. She grabbed Harry and ran. Danny smirked. Malfoy walked into the classroom. 
"What'd you say to Potter and the Mudblood to get them to run so fast?"
"I don't call people names because of their bloodline, and just some stuff about death,"
"They're scared of death? That's stupid,"
"Ÿ̴̨̙́͋o̴̬̪̰̝͂̈u̷̧̳͉̗͠ ̶̜͉̓̑̏̚a̶̹̿r̴̨͈͚̞̟͑̎̆̿͝ě̴̮̀̇̈͝n̷̹̙͑̑̇̃̍͠'̴̰͕͕̻͉̉t̴̛̜̓̌ ̷̍̅̓ͅM̷̖̬͚̋͂̀̉̆a̸̤̞͕͖̫̍͂ľ̵̳̰̲̱̝̽͘͝ͅf̴̡̣͔͉̖͓̌̈́̾o̷̟͔̎͘͝y̶̖̮̙͚̩̯̓̓̄̊͐?̷̙͗̓̎͂̉̓ ̵̰̱̍̍̄̇͝B̵̛̟̞̀e̶̱͈̙͖̟̋̃͒͆͜c̶̻̗͓̓̿ã̵̡͐́̚͠u̴̡̧̥̞̪͊̓̆͗ŝ̷͙̻̮͍̠e̷̞̙̒͌̈́̌ ̴̦̘̩̪̻̬͋̑̉͐͘y̷̖͖̳͌̾̈́̅̚o̵̺̪̯u̴͔͆̀̇͋͘͜ ̵̙̞̤͛̐͝ṣ̴͇̗̽́͝͝h̵͓̑̂̋̃̏̀o̶͓̩̘͐̕͝ū̵͔̬̣͌͛͑͜l̶̺̠͖̼̺̅d̵͓͙̠̿͊ ̶͎̓̂̄̈́͊̄b̴͕͙͈͓̾e̵̳̽̎," He said quietly. But to Malfoy, it would be deafening. 
"Was that you?"
"Was what me?"
"Ugh, nevermind," He shook his head and walked to his seat. Danny grinned. He didn't know why, but he was having fun becoming the local cryptid. The giant squid had nothing on him. 

The first trial was simple. Get the golden egg from the dragon. Harry did get the Norwegian Ridgeback, but he seemed to be handling it fine. Another piece of rubble feel through his intangible form. He'd only but in if Harry was about to die. So what if he got severely injured? Not his job. And like hell he was going to help him win. No, that win would be going to Cedric. Besides, the guy had been crafty enough to summon his Firebolt. Danny was content with watching from the sidelines. And occasionally whispering insult in his ears in parseltongue. No biggie. Harry finally got the stupid egg. No grave injuries. Boring. Don't judge his morbid sense of humour. You die and see how your sense of humour suffers. 

He was standing in the darkness of Snape's office, he forgot why, but it felt cool. So he was doing it. He recalled a conversation he'd had with Snape.
"Listen, I don't like Potter much either, but you really gotta stop targeting him,"
"I suppose that I am letting my grudge against his father get to me,"
"What'd James do?"
"He and his friends bullied me incessantly. And he stole Lily from me,"
"I get the bullying thing, but the wife stealing thing isn't cool,"
"I don't understand,"
"I know this really creepy guy who insists my dad stole my mom from him, and he's tried to kill my dad on multiple occasions. I like you, like a lot, and I don't really want you to get caught up on a high school crush,"
"Daniel, that's very wise of you,"
"Meh, been through my fair share of shit in life. But really, you're a cool guy, and maybe most people don't recognize it, but I do. But you really gotta stop targeting Harry. It's not his fault. I'd say duel his father, but that's out of the question,"
"Thank you Daniel. It makes me glad to know someone appreciates me in life,"
"No problemo. But to be honest, I was just talking to you like you're human. Nothing special," Snape had nodded and they went back to brewing the liquid luck potion they'd been working on. Danny was smiling when he heard someone come in. An invisibility cloak came off of Harry Potter's head. He looked left and right and grabbed something. 
"Theft isn't something I thought I could add to your list of crimes. Oh well,"
"Fenton?! When'd you get here?"
"Been here the whole time. Not my fault you didn't look," 
{Can we turn him in to Snape and make Gryffindor lose fifty points?}
"That does seem tempting Libra, but I don't know. Maybe if he gives us a reason why he feels inclined to steal from our dear Potions Professor, we can negotiate,"
"Ugh, fine. I need it for the trial. It's gillyweed, and we're going underwater,"
"Gillyweed? Didn't take you as someone who could think of that. But then again, I don't really care about breathing underwater when I can hold my breath for three hours and restart my heart at the end of that,"
{I didn't enjoy that very much. I'd appreciate if you didn't do that again}
"Neville came up with the idea,"
"Neville? Smarter than he lets on. Or than he thinks. Poor guy could really use a confidence boost. And he helped you even after you paralyzed the poor guy in first year? Loyalty you'd expect more from a Hufflepuff. And never mind his ability in Herbology," 
"What do you want to let me go free, Fenton?"
"Oh, I don't want anything. But I do want you to know that I wouldn't be giving this to you if I didn't have to keep you alive,"
"What?"
"Tsk tsk. I can't tell you that. Just know that I more or less made a deal with the devil the day I half died. Have fun with your gillyweed. I'll keep Snape off your tail. Ta ta," Harry looked terrified. "Or don't leave and never get to use that gillyweed,"
"How are you not a Slytherin. You scheme, you're a parseltongue, you like potion making, hell, you've got a pet snake. Why are you Hufflepuff,"
"I don't scheme. If this is a scheme, then I'm not Daniel James Fenton. Parseltongue hasn't got anything to do with personality, neither does potion making and she's my familiar. Would you call Hedwig a pet,"
"Yes,"
"Ah, that's right. You haven't had Hedwig as your best friend your whole life. The one who's there with you as every nerve in your body goes through nirvana. You wouldn't get it. Leave before Snape gets back," He pointed to the door. Harry grabbed his cloak and ran. Snape walked in a few minutes later. 
"Daniel, do you know what happened to my gillyweed?"
"Harry Potter stole it,"
"And you didn't stop him,"
"I can't allow him to die in the Tournament, so I let him take it and keep his life. Didn't say I wouldn't tell you though," 
{You kinda did though}
{Promises are made to be broken}
{Like that one you made not to turn into that}
{That has nothing to do with this}
"Hmm, true. He can keep it, but I am taking 50 points from Gryffindor for theft. Come Daniel, we need to have a chat with Minerva," 

He followed Snape quickly. Libra hissed at anyone who looked at them weirdly. Not talking hisses, just hisses. Snape quickly muttered the password and walked into the office. 
"Sereverus, what is it this time,"
"You need to learn to keep your students in check. Daniel found Harry Potter stealing from my personal office,"
"Hmm. Well, seeing as you seem to have taken Daniel under your wing, you should probably know that Hermione Granger has told me of strange behavior he's been having,"
"Strange how,"
"Speaking of death as though he'd experienced it. A strange thing to say,"
"I'm not going to speak on students strange conversational humour. We're here to talk about Potter's blatant disrespect,"
"Why didn't Daniel stop him then,"
"He said it was for the Tournament. Can't condone letting a student die on campus," Danny said. Libra grinned at her. 
"The snake is not helping. Get it out of here,"
"Rude. She saw it too,"
{Of course I did!}
{I know!} McGonagall looked shaken. 
"I was not aware you were a parseltongue," 
"No one seems to be. I've been talking to Libra in front of you guys for years,"
"Fine. What punishment do you see fit Severus?"
"Fifty points, perhaps 75, from Gryffindor,"
"Alright," She flicked a switch and red and gold beads went through a pipe behind her. "Was that all,"
"Quite," Snape grabbed Danny and they left. Danny waved at her. 

Chapter Text

Danny, Jazz, Fiona and Luna sat in a janitor's closet. 
"Okay, so I saw Weasley with this weird map. It basically shows the whole school and where everyone in it is," Danny was saying. 
"And your point?" Fiona said.
"Imma borrow it," He grinned. 
"And by borrow you mean temporarily steal," Jazz said.
"Oh come on. The opening and closing phrases are basically begging me to take it,"
"What are they?" Fiona grunted. 
"'I solemnly swear I am up to no good' and 'mischief managed'. Imagine the pranks I could play with that thing!"
"Okay, just don't get caught," Fiona relented. Jazz and Luna exchanged a look but shrugged. Danny grinned and transformed. 

As his luck would have it, Harry and Ron were using it. 
"Who the heck is 'Danny Phantom'?" Harry said. 
"I have no clue. But no one's there. Maybe it's broken?"
"Probably. And Fenton is gone, so that means we can't prank him. Seriously, that guy deserves it. He's so weird,"
"What'd he say to you again?"
"Something along the lines of 'I sold my soul to the devil the day I half died'," Rude. It was very obviously deal making, not soul selling. 
"Freak. It baffles me how that guy is Hufflepuff, not Slytherin. He's got the whole creep aethstetic going on," Ron scoffed. 
"Maybe he just has a morbid sense of humour? Mischief managed," Harry got up and put the map in his beside table. Fair enough. He thought. Once Ron and Harry were preoccupied, he stuck his hand through the drawer and grabbed it. Package acquired. He dashed back to the closet. Jazz jumped when he suddenly became visible. 
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," He sat down. 
"Oh, cool. We need to prank Know-It-All Granger first. She said I was stupid for hanging out with you. You are so not stupid,"
"Neither are you, bae. Les go," Danny smiled and grabbed her arm after transforming. He made them invisible and walked to where the map said Hermione was. Danny and Fiona tended to use pet names in a completely platonic way often. It was part of their friendship. 

Hermione was pacing along a hallway. 
"I need answers. Why does he act that way? And he keeps hinting at things he shouldn't know. What if he's not actually Fenton and some sort of dangerous creature? And we let it in?" She was muttering. Suddenly a door formed in the wall. "It worked!" Hermione grinned and walked in. Danny dragged Fiona in quickly. He would recognize where they were any day. Oh no, if they were here and Hermione was looking for answers... He jumped on her and covered her eyes with his hand. 
"Don't look!" He heard his screams erupt from the fake portal. Fiona was staring at it in awe. He felt a wave of nausea come on. He had not been planning on experiencing his death again today. He covered his mouth with his free hand. "Bucket," He whispered. Fiona found one and handed it to him. Once he was finished puking, he dragged Hermione out of the room. Once they were out, Hermione peeled his hand off her face. 
"I don't need you to protect me!" She yelled. 
"I wasn't protecting you. I was letting you keep any innocence you might've had left by not making you watch me die," He spat. Hermione went pale. 
"What?"
"Ugh, whatever. Just don't tell anyone but your stupid friends. Git," He waved her away from the floor. Hermione ran. Fiona helped him up. 
"You okay?"
"Never better!" He gave her an obviously fake grin and swayed in his spot. He felt another wave of nausea come on. "But I might need a washroom!" He ran to the closest one. 

When was finished, he noticed the lack of urinals. Oh no. Please don't-
"What are you doing here? This is the girls' washroom," Myrtle whined. Danny groaned. Just his luck. Then he noticed something on the tap. 
"Puking my guts out after reliving my death. Not that you would understand, echo,"
"Reliving death isn't something bad. And I'm not offended by that,"
"Of course you aren't. You aren't a true ghost. True ghosts have the semblance to know that death isn't a joke. You echoes have no respect. You flaunt your deaths as a way to remind yourselves of who you used to be. You regail the tale to anyone who'll listen. You constantly break taboo as a joke," He growled. Hmm, the thing on the sink looked to be engraved. Something written in parseltongue?
"Uh. I-" Myrtle looked stunned. She gave a shaky salute. "Yes your majesty," And disappeared. Ugh, still wasn't used to that. 
{Open?} He read the word. 
{What're you- Oh, we can avenge the basilisk now!} Libra said. Danny gave her a look as a door opened from the sink. He was never going to get used to this kind of magic. He shook his head and walked in. 
{Hello? Anyone here?} He spoke in parseltongue instinctively. He'd spoken parseltongue months before he uttered a word in english. And Libra had been with him before then. He saw signs of a recent cave in. However, the rest of the place looked sturdy. He saw a hall lined with many doors. There were words in parseltongue outside them. He turned to the first one. {Open}The door creaked open and he went inside. {Hello? Anyone?}
{A Speaker? Over here!} A voice called. 
{Where are you?}
{In the portrait! Over here} He turned to a portrait of the Slytherin founder, Salazar Slytherin. 
{Professor Slytherin?}
{Ah, a student then. It's been a long time since anyone has been down here}
{Those brats were done here two years ago. They slayed the poor basilisk} Libra hissed indignantly. 
{Yes, but they didn't bother opening any of the doors}
{Someone slayed Sciath? My poor child}
{Was that her name? I'm very sorry for your loss} Danny said.
{Can you tell me why anyone would do that? She was a gentle creature}
{She went on a rampage and paralyzed a student}
{Oh dear. Why would she ever do that?}
{I have a feeling she was under someone's control. I heard her talking, and it didn't sound like the speech of a present creature}
{Oh dear. She wasn't even allowed to die in her own mind. My poor child}
{I am very sorry. I know how I would feel if someone killed Libra}
{Is she your familiar? It's nice to see people still hold on the tradition of befriending animals}
{Sadly, it's not as common as it used to be. I'm probably the only person you'll meet now who has a familiar. I've only met people with pets}
{Ah, a sad thing to hear. What is your name young man?}
{Danny Fenton} He smiled. 
"I swear, someone's gotta be down here. I saw the Chamber door close," He heard Hermione say. 
{Oh bother} He sighed. The stupid Golden Trio. 
"You were right Hermione. Someone's talking parseltongue. I can't tell if it's a snake or not though," Harry said. 
{Of course not. Only a true Speaker can recognize the tones of a snake} Danny stepped into the hallways. 
"Seriously? You again? Why are you still talking parseltongue though?" Ron said.
"Because personally I find it easier. I was Speaking months before I uttered a single word in english. I was three months old, and I was five months old before I spoke english,"
"Okay, dude, that's freaky. And who were you talking to? Unless it was the snake of yours," Harry said. 
"She has a name, and the portrait of Salazar Slytherin," He jutted his thumb towards the door. 
"The founder who became obsessed with the idea that only purebloods should come to this school?" Hermione said. 
{Those were lies and rumours} Libra hissed. 
"What she said," Hermione and Ron gave him a blank look. "Oh right. She said that those were nothing but lies and rumours,"
"But-" Hermione started. 
"Most of those text were written by unreliable sources. The reliable ones were written by people who were less known. The authors of the popular ones were proven to be frauds and liars, not unlike a certain Gilderoy Lockhart. But by the time they were found out, the damage had already been done. And the reliable ones made their way to America, where they were burned during the Salem Witch Trials. The only ones that survived were written in parseltongue. I did my research and found them," Danny cut her off. 
"Alright then, what about the basilisk?" Ron said. 
"Her name is Sciath. She was Professor Slytherin's familiar. Someone was controlling her through dark magic," Danny said. He saw their awestruck faces. He scoffed and walked past them with a swish of his robes. 

Stupid Gryffindors. Always thinking they were all high and mighty. Well, Neville was good. And Fred and George were okay. So was Lavender. Okay, maybe he just hated the Golden Trio. And that Xavier kid was annoying too. But the Golden Trio got so blatantly favoured by the teachers it hurt. Even- no, especially Dumbledore. And then they had the audacity to complain about the teachers punishing them just barely. Ugh. When Danny pulled himself out of his mind, he saw he was in the Great Hall. He felt a stabbing sensation in his gut. Oh no. Not now. Please don't be. He ran to a washroom for the second time that day. Of course the world had to hate him. He needed Jazz. She always had some on hand just in case this happened. He ran to Ravenclaw Tower. It took everything he had not to fly there as Phantom. He knock on the portrait. 
"Oi!" It grumbled. He gave it a look. Someone opened the hole. 
"Hey, what's up kid?" A tallish guy stuck his head out.
"Can you get Jazz for me? Tell her it's Danny. And it's urgent," The guy nodded and stuck his head back in. Jazz took what felt like forever, but was probably more like five minutes. He quickly pulled her into a hallway without paintings. 
"Danny? What's wrong?" 
"It happened," He clenched his legs together. 
"What happened?"
"I'm not gonna say it! Do your psychology thing and figure it out!" 
"Someone found out?" He shook his head. "Something trans related?" He nodded. Realization dawned on her face. "Oh Danny. I'm sorry it took me so long to notice. I'll get you some pads. Wait here," She came back a few minutes later. He happily took the box and gave her a quick hug. He tucked the box under his robe. Ugh, stupid body. I knew it was going to happen sooner. I'm lucky it took this long. But another few months wouldn't have hurt! He was pulled out of his thoughts when he ran into someone.
"Sorry," He said quickly. 
"You again? We just dealt with you," Weasley, alone. Okay, he could deal with that. 
"I'll just go Weasley. Leave me alone," He tried to side step him, but he moved. 
"What're you hiding under your robe?" He grabbed the box and yanked it out. Danny panicked and grabbed it back. He was too late. "Period pads? What did you need those for? Are you pranking someone?" 
"No," He said quickly. 
"They for your girlfriend or something? That blonde chick you alway hang out with,"
"She's just my friend and that's exactly why I have these," He said quickly. Ron narrowed his eyes, but Danny managed to get past him. He ran to a washroom. His legs felt sticky. I'm gonna have to get rid of these pants.
"Hey, Fenton, I wasn't done talking to you! Why'd you come in here?" Ron said. 
"Go away Weasley. I'm seriously not in the mood!" Oh, that was a lot of blood. Ew. 
"Seriously dude. I can tell those aren't for your girlfriend. The bloody hell are you using them for?" 
"None of your beeswax," He growled. He liked these pants too. The stabbing pain was back again. "Owwww," He groaned. 
"Are you hurt or something? Oh god, are you using them to soak up blood? Just go to the infirmary," 
"I don't need the infirmary," He finished what he was doing and walked out of the stall. 
"Why were you moaning in pain then?"
"Ugh, fine. I'll tell you, but you gotta promise not to tell anyone. Your friends don't count," Ron nodded. "Okay, so I'm trans, and lucky me just got my stupid period for the first time. Jazz gave me these so I would be able to finish my day,"
"Wait, so Malfoy was right when he said you were a girl?"
"I'm not a fucking girl! And Malfoy probably said that with no information at all. He's stupid,"
"Umm, okay. Can you just obliviate me instead? I don't really wanna know that,"
"I can't do that. It's illegal,"
"I'm consenting. That overrides the law,"
"Ugh, fine," He brought up his wand. "Obliviate,". And thus Ronald Weasley left the washroom thinking he'd merely come in to use the loo. He hadn't seen Danny Fenton once during his walk. 

Once Danny had thrown out his pants, luckily it wasn't obvious he'd bled over them because he was wearing his robes, he went back to wandering. He ended up back in the Great Hall just in time for dinner. He made a mental note to get some pads during the next Hogsmeade visit and sat down. 
"You good man? You look extra moody," Fiona said. 
"Just peachy," He grumbled. He felt lightheaded. 
"Okay, I'll take that as a no. What happened?"
"My body hates me," He mumbled. Fiona's face dawned in recognition. 
"Oof. Sorry dude. That always sucks. And you've gotta keep an eye on Pothead tomorrow,"
"I know,"
"I'd offer to do it, but you're the one with ghost powers,"
"Thanks for the reassurance,"
"No problemo boo," She grinned. 
"Is that supposed to be funny? Because I'm a ghost,"
"Oh shit. I didn't even realize that," She spluttered. Danny let out a weak laugh. He was now developing a headache. 
"Ugh. Blood loss," He groaned. 
"A heavy hitter then. That's incredibly unlucky for your first time. Especially because it tends to set the bar for the rest of 'em,"
"So you're telling me I'm gonna be an extra moody bitch until I get on testosterone?"
"Pretty much yeah,"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," He groaned. Fiona pat him on the back as he thunked his head on the table. "Can there be a magic way to make it go away,"
"Sadly, that's one of the few things the wonders of magic doesn't prevent," She said. He felt like he was going to cry. Stupid fucking hormones. 
"Hooray Danny! You get another reminder that you were born horribly wrong. And this one is painful!" He said sarcastically into the table. He was actually crying now. Fucking hell. He heard Jazz walk up behind him. 
"Are you doing okay?" She asked. 
"No, I am doing as horrible as my horrible life wants me to be,"
"I see someone's being a Drama King," Jazz chuckled. 
"I hate you," He groaned from his puddle on the table. 
"You aren't going to die," She sat down and started rubbing circles into his back. They were getting weird looks, but it was comforting so he didn't care. 
"Too late for that," 
"Okay, tell me how you're feeling. Symptoms," She said. 
"Lightheaded. Headache. Feels like I'm getting stabbed in the gut. I can't stop fucking crying. Pretty much anything pisses me off. And I think I lost a gallon of blood all over my favourite pants," He listed off. Jazz made a face but quickly looked perky.
"That's not so bad!" She said. 
"Don't lie to him. He got the worst of the worst. Just say that," Fiona said. 
"WHY CRUEL WORLD!" He plopped back into his puddle. 
"I didn't really want to cause that," Jazz said. He made a noise somewhere between acknowledgment and pain. Jazz went back to rubbing circles into his back. He heard footsteps behind him. "Go away you three. He's not in the mood," Golden Trio or Malfoy Gang. Either were gonna be a massive pain in the ass. 
"We needed to talk to him about making more Potter Stinks pins," Malfoy sneered. Malfoy Gang then. Slightly easier to deal with because only one of them actually had itelligence. He picked his head off the table. 
"Can we do this another time? Like, in a week?" He said. 
"I'm not going to wait for you. I'll tell my father... I'll tell him..."
"You haven't got any dirt on me. Boo hoo. I'll help you tomorrow at lunch. Meet at Snape's class. You have that before lunch, right?"
"Yes. Thank you for your cooperation," Malfoy took his goons and walked off. Danny plunked his head back in his puddle. He vaguely noticed it splash. He stayed like that for a bit until Dumbledore stood up to announce where they would be holding the next trial. Danny formed a mind in his plan to stock up on tampons and figure out how they worked before he went swimming. 

And thus he spent that night popping into random girls' dorms, grabbing a couple of tampons from each and moving to the next. Turns out the goddamn things were incredibly difficult to use. He went through about four before he figured it out. At least they made a much smaller mess. At least until he soaked through a tiny one in five minutes. He'd had to throw all the smallest ones out. Overall, he got no sleep that night. 

He dove into the lake after the Champions went in. He quickly found the reason they were there. Four people were chained down. Two redheads. His heart skipped a beat when he realize that one of them was Jazz. She must've been for Cedric. The little blonde girl was obviously for Fleur. And that Krum guy obviously didn't give a fuck about Ginny Weasley, which meant that he had Hermione. And that left Harry with Ginny. He saw a bunch of merpeople. They obviously didn't see him because he was invisible, but they were still kinda freaky guarding the hostages. First up was Cedric, with the bubble head charm. That was smart. It only took a moment for him to untie Jazz. Danny felt a pang when he thought of how she was going to react to finding out she was completely submerged in water. She had thalassophobia (the fear of deep bodies of water) to his claustrophobia. They were both fairly manageable, but Jazz was bound to have a panic attack. He remembered his while he was in the thermos. Tucker joking about it didn't help. He saw the Krum guy free Hermione. He'd partially transfigured himself into a shark. Interesting but effective. Next was Harry. He was having a bit of trouble freeing Ginny, but seemed fine. Fleur came, but her bubble head charm didn't look very sturdy. Okay, interfering was bad and all, but he couldn't just let her and her person drown. So he made himself visible and quickly grabbed her and untangled her person. He went invisible and shoved them towards Harry. He hated the guy, but he had something important to do in the future. The good PR wouldn't hurt. Once he was certain they were safe, he flew out of the lake and towards Jazz, who was lying down and breathing quickly. He hesitated and quickly changed behind the crowd before running towards her and Cedric. 
"Jazz! Jazz! It's okay! You can breathe. You aren't underwater. Everything's fine. Breathe with me, okay?" He sat her up and helped her through the breathing exercises. Cedric stared at him. "Uh, yeah. You should probably know now that both of us have phobias. She has thalassophobia, which is the fear of deep bodies of water. We both get really bad panic attacks when our phobias are triggered. This was a really bad idea,"
"Okay, that's good to know. What's yours?" Cedric asked. Danny blushed. 
"Claustrophobia. And that's probably really stupid coming from the guy who got shoved into classroom cupboards by bullies constantly," He stammered. Cedric nodded. 
"Nothing wrong with that mate. I'll say that Jazz has the more reasonable one out of the two of you, but I'm not invalidating you or anything," 
"Danny, I never want to be underwater again," Jazz grabbed him.
"Alright. That's what you said when you barely touched the ocean that time too. You need to have baths," 
"I guess your right. Can't I just shower instead?"
"By that do you mean stand under the shower for five seconds and come running screaming bloody murder?"
"Uh, no?"
"Okay. I totally believe that. Can I go back to being the younger sibling now?"
"Yeah. Sorry about that," 
"Nah, it's fine. They probably shouldn't have put you in that situation," Danny stood up and pulled Jazz up. She blushed when she noticed Cedric watching. Cedric rubbed the back of his neck. Danny decided to take that as a sign to leave. 

After reading for about twenty minutes, he found who came up with the idea for that trial. Of course it was McGonagall. He'd confront her after he made Malfoy some more of those pins. Which was now. He walked into her office. 
"Mr Fenton? Did you need something?"
"Yeah, I wanted to know why you decided it would be a great idea to put students unrelated to the tournament in an extremely dangerous position," He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. 
"They were perfectly safe,"
"Physically perhaps. May I tell you that Jasmine Fenton, my sister, has a massive phobia of deep bodies of water? Did you consider that possibility?"
"She'll be perfectly fine. Everyone knows phobias are irrational fears,"
"Would you like that to be twisted into a statement about how you don't care about students' mental health Professor?" 
"Of course not. Does she need the infirmary?"
"Nah, I'll just have to spend the next week, which is really sucky timing by the way, handling the panic attacks she has because she tried to have a shower," 
"What's so bad about the timing? Have you got places to be? I would hope not, as you need to assist Professor Snape's classes," He felt the stabbing pain coming back. And the blood rushing from his head. He tried to keep his calm demeanor, but failed miserably. 
"I- uh, I know- that. Just gimme a sec- fucking hell- ow-. It's just a teenager thing that- ow- stop it- I got stuck with this week," He was breathing heavily. The cramps were eating away at him.
"Mr. Fenton, are you alright? Do you need to visit the infirmary?"
"No, it's nothing I can't handle. Painful yeah, but not like I'm injured or anything," He said. He clutched his stomach in pain. 
"Are you unwell?"
"Nope. Not sick. I'll just see myself out," He straightened up, feeling incredibly dizzy all of a sudden, but walked himself out the door. "Oh god, why me. Can't I just not deal with this right now? Gotta get to Snape and help him teach. Yup. That's what matters," He leaned against the wall to regain his composure. Time to get down to the dungeons. When'd he land on the floor? Maybe he could just stay here for a bit. It was cold and hard, but oddly comfortable. He laughed weakly. What was he doing again? Everything went black. 

Minerva McGonagall was disappointed in herself when she let Daniel Fenton walk out the door. And she was going to stay there, but something made her stand up. Sure enough, he'd fainted outside her door. She watched him collapse. Oh dear. She quickly picked him up and walked towards the infirmary. He was oddly cold, but she was more concerned about his sudden change in attitude and his obvious signs of illness. But Madame Pomfrey found nothing wrong. He woke up about half way through class. She was glad she had a free period. 

When Danny came to, he was disoriented. Ugh, what happened? I was outside McGonagall's office. And then- Oh fuck, I fainted. He sat upright. That was not good. He was obviously in the infirmary. McGonagall was staring at him. 
"Ugh, how long was I out,"
"About 45 minutes. What happened?" She asked. He groaned. Great, now he was gonna have to explain. 
"I- uh- well, you see, I- um, I got my period yesterday and found out that I got stuck with the short end of the stick," 
"Your period? I'm sorry, but I was under the impression that you were male,"
"I am, I'm trans and my parents got all my papers arranged when I was ten, so nobody but Jazz, Luna, Fiona and now Cedric know here. I can't believe I fucking fainted. And I'm missing class. Fuck," 
"Language. But I would assume that would be something the school should have been informed of," 
"It wasn't important at the time, and I was doing just fine until yesterday. Please don't change anything that's going on, because it was fine the way it was,"
"I can't exactly let a female bodied student change in front of male bodied students. And vice versa,"
"I don't change in the dorms. I go to the bathroom. I don't want them seeing me either. And I stay out of the room when their changing," McGonagall nodded. Oh thank god. 
"Alright then. I suppose it is fine then. Are you feeling well enough to go back to class?"
"Yeah, the impromptu nap did wonders," He said and rubbed the back of his neck. Madame Pomfrey walked up to his bed. 
"I don't think so. You aren't going back to class. You can go to your next class but I'm not letting you go immediately after a fainting spell," Danny held back a laugh. Was there a spell that caused fainting? 
"Alright. Then what do you suppose he does until then?" McGonagall said. 
"If he is losing that much blood, I wouldn't have him moving about at all, but since I can't just keep him out of school once a month, he'll have to take these," She handed him a bag of leaves. "You brew them into tea and drink it. It lessens the blood flow. Will probably help with any help with any headaches or light headedness as well," He gratefully took them. "I've got a pot brewing right now. It doesn't help with light flow, but they come in handing for a heavy flow," He nodded. There was at least a way to make it more bearable. 
"Well, I must be getting back on track," McGonagall stood up. 
"Wait, Professor McGonagall,"
"Yes, Mr. Fenton,"
"Can you not tell the students please?" She raised an eyebrow but nodded. She walked out of the infirmary. 

He quickly explained his absence to Snape when he got to his classroom. The gothic professor didn't look impressed but seemed to understand. Danny sighed in relief and got to work setting up the ingredients they'd be using this class. Snape had decided he should help out in the seventh year classes for the first time today. Hopefully he made a good impression. Cedric would be in this class. 
"Fenton? What're you doing here?" He asked when he saw Danny at the front. 
"Teaching assistant. And before you say I'm too young, Snape sought me out," Danny said. He dropped a bottle. He quickly flicked out his wand and caught it with a levitating charm. Cedric looked impressed. 
"Huh. Snape usually chooses sixth years. I find it cool that you caught his sights,"
"If you can call it that. I just schooled Potter on how to get the juice out of the beans. I've been making the Draught Of The Living Dead since I was five," He dropped the ingredient jars on the front table. 
"That's impressive. But should you be talking about Harry that way?"
"He can handle me. I'm not too harsh on the guy. Just tell him the truth. And he's arrogant too. He's getting credit for something his mother did,"
"Why does that bug you so much?"
"Jeez, you sound like Jazz. And it bugs me because I had to claw my way through anything to get any credit. And he just got it for existing. Call him the Boy-Who-Lived all you want, it's like calling a mirror cool. It's true, but not all that special," He grunted and grabbed the boxes of new textbooks that had finally arrived. He handed one to Cedric. 
"Now you just sound cynical. And I didn't know we were getting new textbooks. Dr Madeline Fenton? Does she have any relation to you?"
"I get to be cynical. And she's my mother. I told her that we were using textbooks from the 1700s, so she modified them to the modern methods. Look, it says modified from the old ones," He pointed to the section of the cover. It was a lime green book with cauldron decals on it. The script on the front was the same block text used on the Fenton devices. 
"How many did she rewrite?"
"All of 'em. She didn't want the students reading outdated information that they would have to relearn. She's talking with the school board to get them to make it part of the curriculum,"
"Your mom is cool, Fenton. Those textbooks were awful. It felt like it was the most dangerous way to make the potions,"
"Yeah. My mom thought it would be a good idea modify the recipes to be school safe," He dropped a textbook on another desk. Students were starting to file in now. Cedric was always early. He smiled at Danny and sat down. 
"Hello students. I'd like to introduce you to Daniel Fenton. He is my teaching assistant. And seeing as you are nearly adults, I would appreciate it if you would be respectful to him despite him being younger than my usual TAs," Snape said walking into the room. One student raised a hand. 
"Why are we only meeting him now?" He said when called on. 
"Because I had no need for a TA in this class until now. Any other questions?" When no one raised their hands, Snape started teaching. Danny quickly finished organizing the ingredients and set up the mirror. When he was sure it was taking notes, he rejoined the class. He could always trust Potions class to calm him down. He smiled and pointed out the best way to stir, clockwise, not counter clockwise and sighed happily. Maybe no one would understand it, but making potions calmed his nerves. It was routine. Simple. 

Soon his mind lingered. His animagus ritual would be done tonight. He'd finally be able to see what he was. YES! He smiled and hummed while he followed along with Flitwick's lesson. 

Chapter Text

They finally found out why the hell they needed dress robes. There was this Yule Ball thing happening before the Christmas holidays. And they needed dates. Well, they didn't, but the Champions did. And the sentiment ended up being extended to everyone else. Cedric wasted no time asking Jazz. That Krum guy asked Hermione and she took awhile, but ended up saying yes. Harry went with Ginny. And Fleur went with some guy named Roger. Danny was kinda nervous, cause he wanted to ask this guy, Ryan Xiang, but he didn't know if he was into guys. So he sat there stewing. Fiona finally said something. 
"Okay, you've been staring at Xiang for hours now. Just ask the guy," 
"I know! But what if he isn't into guys? You saw what happened to Luna, I don't want that to happen,"
"Listen, I don't understand your attraction personally, he's cute-"
"He's fucking hot. Don't lie,"
"That's your opinion. And anyways, if you don't ask him as Danny, I will make you ask him as Danielle,"
"You wouldn't,"
"I would,"
"I fucking hate you,"
"Love you too," She giggled. "Come on. I'll be your wingman,"
"You? Wingman? You'll make him hate me!"
"Rude, I don't suck that much. And if I wingman you, you gotta wingman me for Tracy,"
"You guys have been dating for three months,"
"My point still stands,"
"What's your cover?"
"Weasley Twins. They needed someone to go with, so I offered to help them with prank shit if they played my cover,"
"Genius,"
"I know. So we're going at lunch,"

And there Danny stood, with some flowers tucked into his pocket, as Fiona walked up to Ryan. 
"Are you asking me out?" Ryan asked her.
"Nah. I want you to meet my guy Danny over here. Awesome guy, honestly, if not a tad bit insecure," She grinned. Danny facepalmed. Seriously?
"Yeah, I see him,"
"Come on, I want you guys to get to know each other," She pushed Ryan towards him. 
"Uh, hi," Danny said once they were there. 
"Hi, your girlfriend wanted me to meet you,"
"We're not dating chico," Fiona said. Danny wanted to strangle her. 
"You aren't?"
"Nah. I gotta fly. Have fun falling in love dorkokun," She said and ran. 
"I hate you!" He yelled after her. 
"Love you too!" She yelled back. He groaned. 
"So, you needed to ask me something?"
"Uh, yeah. That was Fiona's failed attempt at being a wingman. I was- I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Yule Ball with me," He pulled out the flowers. 
"Yes! You asked me! I wanted to ask you actually. I was terrified you were gonna be straight or something because you hang out with that girl all the time. I'd love to go," Ryan said red faced. Danny thrust the flowers into his hands and squealed. They both blushed and ran opposite directions. Fiona popped out in front of Danny. 
"How'd it go, bambino?"
"Wonderful! You are the best wingman ever!" He hugged her. 
"Wait, actually? Cause I fucking messed up. I panicked man. And I watched you. My wingmanship is not what got you that date. 'Fucking hot' liked you back,"
"Wait, so the 'tad bit insecure' comment was unintentional?"
"Nah, that was part of the plan babushka. The gotta fly was me panicking,"
"Oh, well that was obvious,"
"Jerk!"
"Wait, does this mean we can't be platonically romantic anymore?" He gasped. They exchanged a :O face. 
"I guess not! It might look like we're cheating. Bae, I love you so much, but we must resign this habit,"
"Nooooooooo," He said. They both broke out laughing. Harry walked by and gave them a look. 
"What are you two going on about that so funny?"
"Nothing special. Got my date to the Yule Ball,"
"Nice, who's the lucky girl," Harry said, genuinely interested. 
"Ah, heteronormative. It's not a girl. I asked Ryan Xiang. The feeling was mutual," He said. Harry made a face. 
"Congrats, I guess," Harry said and walked away. 
"Well, wingman. It's time I returned the favour," 

Tracy was a Slytherin girl in their year with black hair that looked almost purple and grey eyes. She and Fiona had been dating for three months in secret because Slytherin wasn't exactly open to gays. It wasn't that she didn't want to come out, it was that she couldn't. Thus the Weasley cover. The Weasley Twins were cool about it. Fred was gay after all. And George was aro ace. So they came to the Pride club meetings and often played cover for the closeted lesbians. They were probably the most open of the Weasleys. There was a point when they'd offered to cover for Tracy, but it would be worse if a Slytherin dated a Gryffindor. So she usually went 'dateless' or had Danny cover her. He was often considered the "Hufflepuff Slytherin" after all. And Hufflepuffs were neutral dating wise anyways. They tended to be neutral for pretty much anything, now that Danny thought about it. Eh, whatever. Time to play wingman in an abandoned hallway. Tracy smirked when she saw them.
"Hey pretty lady. My gal Fiona wanted to talk to you," He said nonchalantly. Tracy was obviously holding back a laugh. 
"Does she now? Are you her wingman?"
"Actually, yeah. I had to return a favour,"
"Okay, tell me amazing things about her then," 
"Of course. Nothing but the sexiest bi gal you'll ever meet. Genius in arithmancy. Loves wizard chess, and if I do say so myself, is a whiz at it. Also a self proclaimed bitchbender," He grinned. Tracy finally broke. She giggled. 
"What does that even mean?" 
"Ask her. I think it's some sort of reference to a show she likes," (It's kinda an Avatar reference. It's an inside joke between me and my friend. He's the bitchbender, and I'm the assholebender. But bitchbender sounds better, so there) He said through giggles. "Just go talk to her," Tracy nodded. They quickly chatted and went over the situation. Fiona explained why he was playing wingman. 
"You needed a wingman Shorty?"
"I'm not that short! And I didn't need her. She offered,"
"Only cause you weren't gonna ask anyways!" Fiona said. 
"Whatever you say boo," He grinned. 
"Are you guys seriously doing that in front of me," Tracy said. 
"It's a habit. We're trying to break it," They said in unison. And then laughed. 
"JINX!" Danny cried before Fiona could. 
"Dang. What do I owe ya? Wan' a beer?"
"Nah, a few joints 'll tide me over. But seriously, you owe me a hot chocolate,"
"Gotcha. And I can't believe you called me a chess whiz because I beat you a few times,"
"Excuse me! I am amazing at chess. So of course you must be a whiz," He said fake offended. 
"Okay genius boy. We need to work on our outfits. I am so putting makeup on you,"
"Ugh, fine. But only to extenuate my preexisting features,"
"You're on," They giggled and walked toward their dorm. 

 Danny later helped Luna ask out a girl named Zera from Gryffindor because she was still a little hesitant from the train incident. Zera had long brown hair down to her knees and bright blue eyes. She wore square glasses and had a sprinkling of freckles over her nose. She could've been Danny's sister by how much their faces looked alike. Hell, if he didn't know better, he would've said she was another clone! But Luna wanted to ask her. Danny smiled and offered to help her out. Luna had cried and said she would love if he did that. 
"You can do it Luna. I talked to her beforehand and she said she was questioning. This won't be another Ginny,"
"You really think so?"
"Of course! You rock, of course she'll say yes!"
"Okay. I can do this. Hi Zera,"
"Oh, hi Luna! I heard about what happened on the train and I wanted to say I'm really sorry,"
"I agree. That sucked. She's got a gay brother and an aro ace brother and she has the audacity to say that! Oh wait, we aren't here to talk about that. Whoops," Danny said sheepishly. 
"Uh, thanks for that Danny. Zera, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Yule Ball with me,"
"Wow, you've got more confidence than I do. I was a nervous wreck when I asked Ryan,"
"Danny, you realize you're the worst wingman ever, right?"
"I gotta suck at something!" Danny grinned lopsidedly. 
"I'd love to go with you Luna. I was thinking about what to say if a girl asked me, and well, I really wanna go with you. I think you're so cool to just be yourself and not let anyone stop you. And you're really cute," Zera said. 
"My work here is done!" Danny tipped a fake hat and walked away.

It was Hogsmeade weekend, finally, so he could get some pads and tampons of his own. He'd waited for goddamn months because he kept getting held back. He wouldn't have to pilfer from random girls anymore. So he walked arm in arm with Fiona as they skipped along the path. The still got weird looks, but what did they care. The school had dubbed them the weirdos, and they were taking that title to heart. 
"Ugh, it's like you two want to get bullied. You ask for it!" Ron said as they skipped alongside him. 
"Awww. Come on Ronny! We just like to express ourselves. Sorry if we don't restrain our personalities for some jerk!" Fiona said fake sweetly. 
"Aren't you going to the Ball with my brothers?" Ron said lazily.
"More as a joke than anything else. Fred and George aren't into girls. But you could've said this," Danny said as they faded into a walk. Ron looked baffled. 
"They- what?"
"Oh come on. We run the Pride club. They're there every week. I thought you noticed," Fiona scoffed. 
"Fred, George, is what they say true?" Ron looked pale. Or paler. He was a pasty bitch. Fred and George were walking behind them.
"You'd believe us-" Fred started.
"Over them? Are you stupid?" George finished. Danny could tell them apart. He was one of only a few that actually could. 
"Just tell me the truth," Ron grumbled. 
"Of course. I'm gay!" Fred said.
"And I'm aro ace! You really didn't know? We basically scream it once a week,"
"Maybe he's just clueless?" Danny said. 
"Takes one to know one mate," George said. 
"I'm not clueless!" Danny said. Ron had left them behind. 
"Are you sure?" Fred said. 
"Cause you didn't notice Ryan checking out your ass," George continued. 
"But then again, he didn't notice you checking out his," Fred replied. 
"Wait, he was checking me out?" Danny blushed. 
"Of course mate. Almost as much as you were checking him out," George laughed. Danny blushed more. 
"Was it that obvious?" 
"Yes," Fred, George and Fiona said. 
"Jinx? Does it count with you guys?"
"Yeah. What do we owe you?" The Twins said in unison. 
"Can I get you to pay for Danny's hot coco?" She said.
"Passing the buck. Genius tactic," Fred said.
"We've raised you well," George said. "And we'll gladly pay. We've got some money left over from selling pranks,"
"What'd does that even mean?" Danny said.
"Well, it varies. It could be selling out products," Fred explained. 
"Or our services. We're the school's best kept secret," George continued.
"Hired pranking! We'll prank anyone as long as you pay!" They finished together. Obviously a business pitch. 
"That- is genius. You guys are gonna be rich," Fiona said. 
"Yup. And we get the blame so others don't," Fred said.
"It's a flawless way to get back at people without the worry of getting in trouble," George said. 
"And for an extra fee, we do custom pranks," They grinned. 
"You guys would definitely rule the world if you decided to put your minds to something but pranks," Danny laughed. 
"We chase our passion," Fred grinned.
"And it's the best pranks you'll ever find," George said. 

They were now sitting in the Hog's Head drinking butter beers and hot coco in Danny's case. It wasn't that he didn't like butterbeer, but he prefered hot chocolate. They were talking about how to best spruce themselves up for the Yule Ball. That was what everyone was talking about. Well, maybe just the Yule Ball. But Fred and George were getting Fiona to do their makeup. Jazz and Luna were sitting with them too. 
"I can't believe you guys are sixth years sometimes," Jazz said. 
"Nice to hear, little miss prefect," Danny said. 
"You and your stupid puns," Jazz said. 
"You said it was a coping mechanism," Danny replied.
"It's not a very healthy one!" She told him.
"It's effective," He said back. He casually ignored the feeling of dissociation. Looked like the rest of the day would be deadpan humour then. Jazz seemed to notice but didn't say anything. Thank god. I'm not in the mood to get psychoanalyzed. He felt the world become blurry around the edges as it set in. Ah, blessed life, where he felt like he was spectating his own body. He hated these days, but they were random, so he just powered through. He sipped at his hot chocolate. It burned his tongue. He didn't care. It was a sensation the kept him connected to the world. 
"You good dude?" He heard Fred say.
"Cause you just went glassy eyed," George continued. 
"I'm fine guys. It's just one of those days," Danny shrugged. It didn't feel real. Fred and George exchanged a look but didn't day anything. 
"Maybe we should get back to the school," Jazz suggested. Danny nodded. Fiona, Fred, George and Luna stayed behind. Maybe the cold snow would help. It was helping, right? He felt the panic rise in him. Okay. Dissociation and panic attack isn't a good combo. You aren't in any danger, so stop acting like you are. He mentally scolded himself. It helped with the panic at least. Jazz seemed concerned. He felt the snow fall on his face but he couldn't feel the cold. This had always worked before, why wasn't it now? Ice powers. The cold doesn't affect you anymore. Something whispered in the back of his mind. That was not good. It meant he needed to use heat instead. Jazz seemed to notice it too. Jazz, Jazz, Jazz. His brain started swirling. He needed to lie down. They would be back at the castle soon at least. Then he could fall into the soft pillows of his bed. That seemed so nice. Why was Jazz yelling? He was fine, everything was fine. 

No! Everything was not fine! Why was everything burning? Oh god, he failed, didn't he. Jazz and everyone else was dead because of him. It was his fault. He cheated and then everything went completely gone because he asked Vlad for help. But Vlad didn't help. He just made everything so so much worse. He brought his hands up to cover his ears. Everyone was screaming. Why was he just watching? Everything was so loud. He wanted the noise to go away. But it wouldn't go away because he needed to hear it. Hear what he had caused. It was all his fault. He tightened his hands around his ears. Hands that were too big. Ears that were too pointy. No matter what he did this would always happen. Why did he keep fighting it? Because I need to fight it. I have to fight it! He screamed. But no noise came out. The world was ending and it was all his fault. And he could even scream. Couldn't even say anything to justify his insanity. Because he was crazy and made the world end. He didn't deserve to explain himself. 

When the world came back into focus, he was kneeling on the ground with his hands clamped over his ears and he was screaming like a madman. Jazz was holding him tight. He pulled his hands off his ears. At least they were alone. In the snow. 
"Haven't had one of those for awhile," Jazz said. 
"I- I know. I honestly thought it was just gonna be dissociation. But then I thought something and I was back there. And nothing made sense. And everything was so loud Jazz," He sobbed into her shoulder. 
"Hey, it's okay. You're safe. See? We're in the snow outside Hogwarts. That isn't going to happen," She assured him. 
"I couldn't scream. I wanted to so bad, but I couldn't make a sound. And then I started spiralling and I couldn't control my thoughts anymore. I hate it when that happens. I hate it," He held her tighter. They sat there like that for what felt like a long time. But judging by the sun not moving, it had only been a few minutes. He shakily stood up. 
"Let's get you to bed. You don't have to come to dinner if you don't want to. But send Libra if you need anything," She smiled. They walked through the empty halls towards the kitchens. He was glad that the Hufflepuff dorms were so close to the Great Hall in case this happened. Once he'd quickly changed into his NASA pajamas, he collapsed into his bed. It was soft and he wanted to sleep forever. But sleep wouldn't come. So he was forced to lie there and think about his episode. It was the worst one he'd had yet. He groaned. Then he saw something glint from his bag. Draught of the Living Dead. That'll help. He thought. He quickly scribbled a note for Jazz and drank it. He sank into his pillows and pulled the covers up to his chin. It was so comfortable. Hmmm. 

Danny sank further into his mountain of pillows. He'd always brought a lot with him. He felt like he was sleeping on a cloud. The thing with the Draught of The Living Dead was that it could have different effects. His mother's tended to make him blackout, but he prefered drifting to sleep. The cloud effect happened sometimes. He settled into his cloud and let the effects take him over. At least until the world turned red. He saw fire on the ground. Wait, I'm not supposed to be able to dream. He thought. Was his mind resisting that? This is bad, this is bad. Very very bad. He was starting to panic. It was okay. He was asleep. Just a nightmare. He could deal with these. But then he started thrashing to try and wake up. But it wasn't working. Calm down idiot. You're fine. He told himself. But a terrified part of his mind took control of his body. He was falling through the cloud and onto the burning ground. He lifted his head up. The Nasty Burger. Oh god, not again. He looked down at his white gloved hands. His bangs fell into his face. Okay. Just stay calm. It wasn't working. He heard cackling. Then screaming. Valerie screaming. Oh god. Fucking calm down! It isn't real! He scolded himself. It was still not working. He brought himself to his feet. Looks like struggling through is tonight's game plan. He mentally groaned. He stared at the flames. Everything was so realistic. Run run run run run. Some part of his mind started going off. He dropped his head into his hands. Dan would be there any minute. Maybe running would help? His mind seemed to agree. So he ran. And ran. But the world wasn't going anywhere. It just reloaded. He dropped to the ground and screamed. He couldn't even wake up. I'm never doing this again. I'm fucking trapped. Dan walked up and grabbed the front of his shirt, grinning. Danny couldn't hear what he was saying over his screaming mind. He felt the tears streaming down his face. Dan put him down and he brought his hand up to his face. He looked down at his hand. It's black. I'm crying fucking tar. And then it warped to ectoplasmic green. Oh god, now he was crying blood. The green swirled into red. Danny kneeled and put his hands on the ground. He'd normally be awake by now. It was like his mind was taunting him. This is your punishment for trying to overcome these nightmares. He shifted his elbows to the ground to cover his ears. He screamed until he was hoarse. But it didn't come. Because he was only screaming here. Trapped in a broken mind until morning. He sobbed and screamed. MAKE IT STOP! He couldn't speak. It was all screaming and thoughts. He dropped to his side and pulled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. Soon the fire was on top of him. It was eating away at him. He could feel it. But he couldn't move anymore. Everything was going numb.

He sat up abruptly. There was no sign that he'd had that nightmare. He wrapped his arms around his chest. He felt tears stream down his face. His entire body was shaking. Jazz had taken the note he'd written. No one else was awake yet. So he'd jerked himself out of the potion induced sleep. That was both terrifying and relieving. Maybe he should go find Jazz. It must've been the middle of the night. He felt awful. He pulled off the covers and stepped out of the bed quietly. He pulled a hoodie on over his head and padded over to the door. He quickly made himself invisible and walked towards Ravenclaw Tower. Once he was there he phased through the portrait. In Jazz's dorm, he shook her awake. 
"Danny? How are you awake?" She yawned. 
"My broken mind finally figured out how to override the effects," He said and sat down on her bed. 
"It what? You managed to wake up from it?"
"Yeah. And before that I got stuck in a hellscape nightmare. I feel awful," He said. Jazz sat up. 
"That isn't good. What happened?"
"Well, it felt like a cloud, but then the world turned red. And the ground was burning. I tried to wake up but I was trapped. And I was crying blood for some reason. My brain is so fucking messed up," He dropped his head into his hands. "And the worst thing is that I was perfectly still when I woke up. Like I'd been in a deep sleep," 
"That's really bad Danny. There's gotta be a way to deal with this,"
"Jeez. I'd love to find that. I was screaming so loudly Jazz. But I was silent when I woke up. And I wasn't in control of my body. I think I'm crazy Jazz,"
"You aren't crazy. What happened to you was terrible for your mental health. We're trying and that's what matters,"
"Maybe I could just not sleep. Wait, that won't work either because it's just as bad when I'm awake. I feel like my mind has been shredded to pieces and I can't do anything about it. Because no matter how hard I try, I'll always be broken," Jazz pulled him into a hug. She had no clue what to say. 
"I know you'd love to stay here for the rest of the night, but you'll get in trouble if you stay. I'll walk you back," She pulled him up. Danny nodded. He was miserable. She looped her arm over his shoulder and guided him towards the kitchens. 
"My mouth hurts," He grumbled. "And my teeth feel weird," 
"Lemme see," She said. He turned to her with his teeth barred. She gasped. "Danny, you're growing fangs,"
"Yay, more weirdness. And now I have pointy teeth. Why does the world hate me?" His stomach grumbled. "And now I'm hungry,"
"You skipped dinner. Can you wait until breakfast?"
"Probably. It's not like I'm going back to sleep anyways," Jazz gave him a sympathetic look. 
"Oh yeah. I explain what was happening to Fiona. Oh, and is wack still a relevant meme?"
"Thanks. You didn't tell her about the getting sick thing, right?"
"I did tell her. I had to explain why it happened. The whole body reflecting mental state thing. And is wack a relevant meme?"
"Okay. Well, that sucks. And why the hell do you care about relevant memes?"
"I want to be more of a teenager," She said sheepishly. 
"Listen, basically no one here cares about meme culture. Which is why I know it was relevant last time I checked. Six months ago. I guaran fucking tee you it isn't anymore but I don't care,"
"Thank you for that incredibly confusing explanation,"
"Welcome to Gen Z humour. Nothing makes sense. But it's still hilarious," He said. Jazz shook her head. "Clementine," Was the password. 
"You got an easy password? Lucky. Ours is Paravalis. It's not even a real word,"
"Sucks to be you. I normally phase through," 
"Alright. See you in the morning then," She waved. Danny stumbled through the portrait hole and decided to sit in the chairs in the common room and stare at the fire. He lost track of time and heard someone come in. 
"You been out here all night kid?" The person said. It was a seventh year girl. 
"Nah. Just since midnight. Nightmares suck,"
"I feel you there. Come on. You should probably get dressed," She said. He nodded and stood up. Today was gonna be a long day. Might as well get it over with.

Chapter Text

Danny, Fred, George, Fiona and Luna were sitting in Gryffindor's common room. Fiona was doing Danny's makeup. Fred was done. He had green eyeshadow on one eye and orange on his other. His eyeliner was reverse. George was going to get the mirror image. Jazz walked in. 
"Guys, we need to look presentable," She sighed. 
"We look presentable!" Fred and George protested. 
"Okay then. Why're we meeting here again?" Jazz sat down in one of the chairs. 
"Because Gryffindor is the only one that hasn't hosted us yet. Other than Slytherin, but we wiggled around that by Danny getting Snape to let us use his classroom," Luna said. She was putting on goofy rainbow eyeliner. 
"Hmm. Looking good Danny," Jazz said. 
"Mhm. Fiona said she's doing something to make me more masculine or something," 
"Okay," Jazz leaned back into her chair. The Golden Trio walked in. 
"Hey Ronny!" Fred and George said. 
"What are you guys even doing?" Hermione said. 
"Pride club meeting," Danny explained. 
"And you're doing each other's makeup," Harry said sarcastically. 
"Correction. Fiona is doing our makeup and Jazz is doing hers," Luna said. 
"I don't even want to know," Ron said. 
"Don't make me look too het big sis!" Fiona said. 
"I would never! What do you take me for? Straight?" Jazz said, fake offended. 
"Of course not! Absolutely ghastly. Your pansexual energy is too strong," Danny gasped. 
"I really don't understand," Hermione said. 
"That's what gay humour is for. Confusing the straights!" Fred and George said. The Trio scoffed and left. 
"So what pranks are we playing tonight?" Fiona asked the Twins. 
"Well, McGonagall paid us to prank Snape," They replied. 
"NO WAY! SHE DIDN'T!" Danny spluttered. Fiona smacked him back into place. 
"Yes she did. I was there," She said. "But are you really going to do it during the Ball?"
"Of course,"
"Chaotic energy all around," Danny said. 
"Always bae," Fiona replied. 
"You guys are both dating other people. Are you seriously keeping this up?" Jazz said. 
"It's a habit. We're trying to break it," Danny offered as an explanation. They all laughed. 

Danny stood in front of the mirror and stared at his dress robes. They were bright white and went down to his ankles. He had a black tie with a star pattern on it with accurate constellations. His black cape that went to the floor had the same pattern. He was furiously trying to comb his hair. 
"Woah! You trying to blind me?" Fiona walked in. 
"Oh come on. I like these," He heard a crunching sound. "THAT'S THE SECOND ONE I'VE BROKEN!" He pulled the broken comb out of his cursed locks. 
"Want me to try?" Fiona offered. 
"Yes please," He said meekly. Fiona grabbed a comb from his pile and started combing. It broke within the first ten strokes. 
"HOW?!" She marveled at the broken comb. They went through another comb. "I'm going to try magic," The only result they got was purple tips. 
"I like the look, but it didn't really do anything," The purple leached away. 
"I swear, your hair is cursed! We're going to the DADA teacher and checking for curses,"
"The same teacher who showed the forbidden curses to a class and turned Malfoy into a ferret? And makes my Vibe Check go nuts even through the mirror,"
"Malfoy totally deserved that, but you've got a point. McGonagall then?"
"I guess so," They walked down the hall and knocked on the door. 
"Mr Fenton? Ms Flaggerly? Shouldn't you two be getting ready?" The Professor asked.
"Yeah, we were, until we tried combing Mr I Have Cursed Hair," Fiona pointed to him. 
"Hmm. And you want me to check for spells that could be causing it," McGonagall guessed. They nodded. The teacher pulled out her wand and hovered it above his head. "A sticking charm. A tangling jinx. The Cruciatus curse? Petrificus Totalus? How did these end up in here?"
"My mom accidentally dumped an few experimental potions on my head when I was three," Danny explained. 
"I can reverse it, but by Merlin's Beard, take better care of your hair Mr Fenton,"
"I'll get right on that," The professor uttered a string of spells. Fiona put a hand to his hair. 
"It's so soft! So this is what your hair feels like naturally," She gasped. McGonagall pushed them out. 
"Danny? Fiona? What're you doing here? We need to get to the Great Hall," Jazz walked past them. They followed. "What'd you do to your hair?"
"McGonagall removed about a dozen spells," Danny explained. 
"Wait, is that why that nightmare in grade three happened? Mom sent me an owl," 
"It was only 13 pencils! I got the candy wrappers out!" He protested. 
"And you also are never growing your hair out again,"
"Aye aye captain," He saluted. Jazz rolled her eyes and went to find Cedric. He stuck himself next to Ryan. 
"Hey, you made it. What'd you do to your hair to make it so soft?" He stuck his hands in Danny's hair. "It is soft,"
"McGonagall removed the curses that have been in it since I was three,"
"Okay then. Just so you know, I'm gonna keep doing this," He kept playing with Danny's hair. Danny giggled. "I like your outfit by the way,"
"Thanks. Yours doesn't look so bad either," 

Once the Champions and their dates had been introduced, they started dancing. A slow song came on. 
"May I have this dance?" Ryan asked slowly.
"Of course," Danny took his outstretched hand. They danced around the room until their eyes met. They stared into each other's eyes for a long time, and then Ryan pulled Danny into a kiss. It was heaven. At least until they got interrupted. The teachers were fine with kissing, so who was bothering them?
"Can I ask you boys a few questions?" A woman with shoulder length curly blonde hair asked. "Rita Skeeter. Daily Prophet," Ugh, a reporter. 
"Um, sure," Ryan said. 
"Excellent!" She dragged them to a broom closet. 
"Oddly appropriate," Danny muttered. Rita set up her Quick Quotes quill. 
"Now, did you boys go together because no girls would go with you? Is this a pity date?"
"Uhh, no. He was the first person I asked," Danny said. 
"Mhm. Did you have low confidence in asking girls?"
"What? No! I'm gay and Danny's bi!" Ryan said.
"Mmm. Social reject with low confidence takes pity on gay boy,"
"What! That's not what either of us said! We're leaving," Danny grabbed Ryan's wrist and dragged him out of the closet. (Make any gay jokes you will)
"Not like reporters?" Ryan asked.
"No, I really don't. They twist the stories to the point that their lies so they can make the front page," 
"Hmm. Wanna go back to dancing?"
"Sure," They were dancing happily when Danny heard something. Freak. People started noticing them and he heard snippets of conversations. Freaks, weirdos. Disgusting. He tried to tune them out a focus on dancing. What are you? A freak trying to fit in with humans? Or a creepy little boy with creepy little powers? Then he heard someone say
"Two guys? I thought this school didn't let freaks in," And he pulled away from Ryan and ran. 

He sat in a washroom stall. At least he made sure it was the guy's bathroom this time. He heard someone come in.
"Danny? Is everything alright?" Ryan said. No, I'm a freak. I don't deserve you. He thought. Ryan opened the stall door. "Hey, it's okay. Don't listen to them. You aren't a freak. And neither am I," He sat down in front of Danny. 
"No, I am a freak, and I'm stupid and wrong and broken. I don't deserve you," 
"Hey, hey, it's okay, you aren't a freak," Ryan kept talking, but Danny couldn't hear it. The world went gray and Ryan's face became fuzzy. There were faces in the walls yelling at him. Freak! Abomination! You should've died all the way! Coward! Can't even handle your own mind! Stop trying to fit in where you don't belong!
"Leave me alone," Danny whispered. That made them worse. What? Can't handle a little name calling? You're so weak! Freaks like you don't deserve to exist! You cause a horrible future! You're horrible! Danny brought his hands up to ears. It wasn't helping. "Go away, stupid voices," He said louder. Ryan tried to pull his hands away from his ears, but he kept them latched on. 
"-Jazz-" He heard Ryan say. The voices drowned everything else out. He clamped his hands over his ears harder. He felt tears trickle down his face. Oh boo hoo. Poor abomination. You can't handle some noise. What a loser! He squeezed his eyes shut. Go away. He thought. Leave me alone. I don't want this. One of the voices laughed. You asked for it though! We're just giving you what you asked for! He felt hands on his shoulders. He bit his tongue and tasted blood. 
"Danny!" Jazz's voice was warbled. The voices came back ten times stronger. His senses felt overwhelmed. He shook his head. Every nerve in his body felt sensitized. Breathing felt so hard to do. The garbled screams of freak! Abomination! Took over his hearing. But he wasn't going to scream. He wouldn't let them hear him scream. He bit his tongue harder. The blood rushed into his mouth. Jazz yanked his hands off his ears. That made it so much worse. He put them back. He was shaking. He started backing away from Jazz. She was touching his super sensitive skin and it was too much. He pulled his legs up to his chest. "-teacher!" Jazz yelled. He bit his tongue harder. The blood gushed from his tongue. It's only fair, after all the blood you spilled! Jazz was shaking him. He pushed her arms off of him. "Danny! You're bleeding!" And then it all went away. 
"They're gone? THEY'RE GONE!" He said in triumph. The sensitized feeling went away. 
"How hard did you bite your tongue Danny?" Jazz stared at him. He felt really woozy all of a sudden. 
"I-I don't know. I think something's wrong with me," He said. Jazz pulled him into a hug. 
"Mr Xiang, I don't understand what you mean by that!" Flitwick said from the door. 
"He's having a panic attack or something. He keeps saying something about voices," Ryan said. Fuck, that's what Jazz meant. She sent Ryan to get a teacher. 
"Mr Fenton, are you alright?" Flitwick said when he saw the scene. "Where did all that blood come from,"
"My tongue," Danny said quietly. It was slurred. His mouth was full of blood. 
"Don't talk, you'll lose more blood," Jazz said. 
"Ms Fenton, can you take your brother to the infirmary?" Flitwick said. "I'll need you to explain what happened, Mr Xiang," Ryan and Jazz nodded. She pulled Danny to his feet. He leaned against her for support. She dragged him to the infirmary, still dripping blood from his mouth. 
"It's those stupid fangs. Really bad timing for them to come in," Jazz muttered. Danny struggled to stay awake. He collapsed the minute they passed the threshold.

When he came to, his tongue felt heavy. His teeth felt normal somehow. 
"I have no clue how you bit your tongue hard enough to lose that much blood, but you need to be more careful," Madame Pomfrey said. "I don't want to keep finding you here with a case of massive blood loss again!" He nodded. Jazz raised an eyebrow. 
"But you had fangs!" She whispered to him. 
"I think they went away before she saw them," He whispered back. They slitted back into place. Ouch. 
"Alright. All I can give you is advice to stop losing so much blood. Get out of here. You're fine now," Madame Pomfrey said. Danny nodded and got up. 
"How long was I out?" He asked once they were out of the infirmary.
"Ten minutes, give or take," She replied. "What the hell Danny?"
"Uhh, I panicked and my brain started attacking me? There were all these voices telling me I was a freak and then my senses got super strong and everything was overwhelming,"
"Okay. You think you're okay to come back to the dance?"
"Yeah. Is Ryan alright?"
"Yeah, he got a little concerned when I told him it looked like a panic attack, but he's okay," 
"Yup. Is he at the dance now?"
"Yeah. He came by after he was finished with Flitwick and said he'd be waiting for you when you came to. He's a catch," Jazz laughed. Danny laughed with her. "We've really gotta do something about this. You only went a week between episodes," 
"I know. We can figure something out later," He kicked the floor. 
"Hey, remember how you said you got these robes for a reason? What was that?" She looked at him. 
"Oh! It was this!" He transformed. The black and white swapped, taking the star patterns with them. 
"Oh, neat! But you should probably change back. Sucks no one will be able to appreciate it," Jazz said. He nodded and changed back. When he got back to the Great Hall, he felt a bit calmer. Jazz smiled at him and went to find Cedric. 

Chapter Text

Danny and Ryan walked over to Fiona and the Twins. It looked like they were going to spike the punch.
"I wouldn't advise that," Danny said. Ryan nodded. 
"Oh, fine," Fiona said. "It wasn't alcohol or anything,"
"I'd be worried if it was! Knowing you guys, it'll probably just give people boils," Ryan crossed his arms. The prankster trio made noises of agreement. 
"You can find a better way to prank people, you know," Danny suggested. "Make traps and shit,"
"Alright. But this kinda does count as a trap," Fiona pointed out. Danny glared at her. "Oooh. So scary. I'm terrified,"
"Please. I could be scary than you," George scoffed. Danny grinned like a maniac. Fred jumped back.
"Are those fangs?!" He said. 
"We're having a scare off then," Danny walked off. Ryan followed him and they got trapped in a prank five seconds later. "Fireworks. So creative," 
"They add a nice effect," Ryan said. Danny looked at them. He giggled. Ryan was right. "What's got you giggly?"
"Their pranks aren't supposed to be pretty," Danny explained. Ryan nodded. 

The scare off started the next day. It made Danny think of that thing Lancer had set up that summer. Maybe he shouldn't have thought of that. Eating underwear was not pleasant. Bleh. Nightmare fuel would be the best place to start. And where to get the best fuel from? The source of course! The Twins could eat it. Hmmmmm. He'd start with the blood crying because that had seriously unsettled him. He couldn't use Dan of course, but he knew he could find some of the their weaknesses. Nothing too severe of course. He wasn't going to go into any sibling death shit. That'd just be cruel. But blood tears was what he was doing now. He got Jazz to help. He realized after he scared Fred and George that maybe making himself cry blood after that nightmare was a bad idea. He ran to the washroom and puked. Okay. Not doing that one again. Playing on the trapped feeling was next. He'd lock them in a room (not before any classes) and make terrifying dialogue. He wanted desperately to make them lose their minds with the loud noises, but even if he could manage it to the effect he dealt with it, he'd never wish that on anyone. The Twins were banging on the door crying by the time he was done. 
"Do I win yet?" He asked when they walked out. 
"Wasn't even- huff- scary! Bring it on!" Fred said through shudders. 
"Our's is next!" George promised. 
"Can't be scarier than anything my twisted mind can cook up," Danny crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. 

Turned out their prank was cheap rubber spiders on strings that came out when he walked into his dorm. The spiders at least made scary faces. 
"Lame! I haven't been scared of spiders in years!" He sat down on his bed. Fred and George popped out of his roommates' beds.
"What? But those were the expensive ones!" Fred whined. 
"We'll reuse 'em on Ginny later," George reassured him. Danny smirked. They had another chance before he could play again. And he was using Libra next time. 

Time for scare two. Fake zombies rose from the floor when he walked out of the Hufflepuff dorm. Must've been tweaked to only sense him.
"Very scary guys. Don't you know ghosts are much cooler?" He chuckled. The Twins walked around the corner. 
"How didn't that scare you? Those were our best scares!" They cried.
"Need to up your game for me. It's my turn next!" He grinned. The Twins exchanged looks of horror. Danny laughed maniacally. 

He tweaked his ghost form to look more like himself and draped Libra over his shoulders. Once he looked more like the ghost of Danny Fenton and less like a goofy superhero, he waited in the Twins room and started humming creepy tunes. He forced the temperature to drop and made fog pool around the floor. The Twins walked in and screamed. He giggled creepily. 
{Don't underestimate the mind of a traumatized teenager} He sang in parseltongue. They wouldn't understand, but they would hear the tune. Libra grinned at them. They ran from the room. He followed them. "Aw. Why're you scared? I just wanna play!" He said in a childish voice. The Twins backed into the corner.
"Leave us alone! Fenton, you can stop now. We admit defeat!" Fred cried. 
"Yes! Just stop it with your terrifying shit. We shouldn't have tempted fate," George cried with him. Danny grinned. 
"Damn, that wasn't even the best I could come up with. Lancer would've been unfazed. I kinda wish I could get a redo from the Fright Knight incident," Danny grinned and subtly changed to make it look like he was wiping makeup off. 
"What the fuck dude? How do you come up with this shit?" George wiped himself off.
"And what's with the snake?" Fred shuddered. 
"Oh, this is Libra. She's very friendly but loves to give a good scare," Danny chuckled. "And I don't exactly have the healthiest mental state. I'm bordering on insane,"
{You shouldn't joke about that}
{Too late}
"You were talking in parseltongue! And I'm really regretting poking the bear," Fred sighed. 
"Yeah. If we knew you could come up with this deranged shit, we wouldn't have ventured to this territory," George winced. 
"Eh, it's okay. It was fun scaring you shitless," 
"Never again," The Twins exchanged a look of solidarity. 
"We should've given up after the locked room incident," Fred sighed. 
"Hell, even after the blood tears incident!" George threw his hands in the air. 
"Those ones were based off of some of my nightmares. This one was just a horror movie trope," 
"Wait, nightmares?" George asked.
"Dude, you should really get some help if you dreamt that first!" Fred said. 
"Jazz is helping me out. Can't exactly go to a traditional therapist for the shit I've been through. And those weren't even the worst parts. But I wasn't about to succumb you guys to screaming that won't go away no matter how much you cover your ears," The Twins paled. 
"THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN THROUGH?" They yelled. 
"Umm. Maybe I should explain. But not here. Can't risk anyone overhearing," Danny led them to a broom closet. 

Once they were settled and certain no one would overhear, Danny sighed. 
"Okay, so don't lose it, but I kinda sorta died," He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. 
"YOU WHAT?" They screamed. 
"But I lived!" He joked. Okay, not funny. "So, I got coaxed into walking into my parents' untested experiment, a portal into another realm, and it turned on with me inside,"
"How are you alive?" Fred stared at him.
"That thing must've fried you to a crisp!" George joined the staring. 
"Can we not say that so much? And I lived because ectoplasm cushioned my still living cells before I could die all the way. It fused with my DNA so I'm sorta half dead now? Schrodinger's boy I guess," He grinned sheepishly. 
"Okay, I have decided I never want to understand any of that," George said. 
"Kinda late now," Fred huffed.
"Wait, you guys aren't telekinetic? Never mind. Yeah... I also happen to be the Ghost King now because I beat up the old one after he sucked my town into that alternate dimension,"
"We are in the same room as royalty," Fred cried.
"I can never forgive myself!" George wrapped him in a hug.
"Okay, I'll ignore that. Not even the weirdest thing that happened. But technically speaking, neither of these things happened due to timeline and reality rewriting bullshit,"
"Go on," They said. Danny sighed again. 
"Okay, I'll explain Freakshow first. This guy was running a circus my friend Sam wanted to go to because it was a gothic circus. And I thought it was cool until I got fucking mind controlled by the guy's staff and very nearly killed Sam. Also, I might've commited a few robberies under his control? The details are fuzzy. We broke the staff and all, but I never want to get controlled like that again. The guy, Freakshow, he had a full name but I forget that, broke out of jail with this thing called the Reality Gauntlet and we tried to stop him, but he fucked us over and revealed me to the world. So we ran around the States trying to get the stupid gems so that he wouldn't kill our families. Just our luck, he found a goddamn loophole and we accidentally helped him unleash the thing's full power. So he turned the world into a circus and made me try to save my family. He turned me to orange goo, dammit. Everyone thought I was dead, for real this time. But I got up off my ass and saved them from the next deathtrap. Jazz figured out he had this thing called ghost envy, so I made him turn himself into a ghost and I sucked him into a thermos. I got the Gauntlet from him and made the world proper. And also made everyone but me, Sam and Tucker forget it ever happened. Technically, I did a thing to make it so it never happened, but semantics," 
"That's fucking insane! Is that what bugs you so much?" Fred said. 
"Cause as messed up as that is, it isn't exactly nightmare fuel," George continued. 
"It bugs me yeah, but there were worse things. I told you there was a second thing that technically didn't happen. This one was with Dan," He shuddered. "My ultimate enemy. So it all started because Lancer, I think I mentioned this, but he was the guy who was running the summer school, made us take these CATs to estimate our futures. And I was kinda overwhelmed with ghost hunting and somehow ended up with the answers. I wasn't gonna cheat, but fucking Tucker convinced me to look at the answers. But then we got attacked from a ghost from the future, cause Clockwork was messing with time and all. Moving on. We ended up in Clockwork's lair, and accidentally ended up escaping to the future where I turned evil after a fight with him. Dan, that's what future 'me' called himself, was destroying future Amity with this power I hadn't had yet, a ghostly Wail. I forever hate myself for thinking the same thought as him. And Valerie and a bunch of other people saw me and assumed I was him, which wasn't untrue, but still wrong, and yelled that what had happened was my fault. Then HE showed up and said that was actually him, and me eventually. He almost fucking killed Sam and Tuck. If they hadn't managed to get back to our time, they would've died. I wasn't as lucky. He fucked me over so I couldn't get back home, and knocked me out. I found out that everyone I loved and Lancer died because there was a meeting at the Nasty Burger, which has explosive sauce for some reason, and it exploded, killing everyone there but me. Dan had tied me up. He threw me into the then Ghost Zone and pretended to be me in my time. I got attacked by the ghosts because they were convinced I ruined them all. And it was a sad sight. Ember went to seed after Dan ruined her vocal chords. Skulker and Technus had to fuse or else they would've been destroyed. Box Ghost and Lunch Lady had a kid, ew, not that that was my fault, and Johnny was in a wheelchair. I fucking panicked and screamed at them. Accidentally unlocking my Ghostly Wail ten years too soon. I got a note from Jazz later telling me about Wisconsin. I didn't know that she knew my secret then, but I went to beat the hell out of Vlad. And he explained what had happened. I got super depressed after everyone I loved died, so he came up with the genius plan to remove the ghost from my body. And of course Phantom lost it and ripped Plasmius out of Vlad. I'll explain that later. And then they fused? I don't know the details. And when I asked what happened to Fenton, Vlad said some things are better left unsaid. But it doesn't take too much to guess," Fred and George went pale. 
"Your one half killed the other?" Fred managed to say. Danny nodded. 
"Uhh, moving on. He then helped me get the stupid time medallion out so I could get back to my time. When I got there, he'd been revealed and he'd chained them to the vat of sauce. I managed to beat him up with my Wail and he spluttered because I wasn't supposed to get it yet. I trapped him in a thermos. But he messed with my head. Saying that he was still there and I would always turn into him. I got turned back to human form and couldn't change back cause he stuck the Spectre Deflector on me. And I was too late. They blew up. Clockwork fixed it and said I deserved a second chance and all, but sometimes I don't know. But that never happened!" He covered up his sadness with a grin. It was so obviously fake. Fred and George exchanged a look. They needed to get him some help. But what were they supposed to do? It was terrifyingly obvious that he wasn't lying. 
"That- uh-," Fred tried to say something.
"Gee, I think it's starting to get late! It'll be dinner soon!" George said after Fred cut himself off. Danny nodded. What the actual fuck? 

Chapter Text

It was the day of the final trial. Everyone was excitedly hanging out around the Quidditch pitch, that now had a massive hedge maze. Danny had transformed and was hanging out behind Harry invisibly. Harry seemed to be able to handle himself, so he left him alone to check on the others. Krum wasn't looking so hot, but he was alive. Cedric and Fleur seemed fine, so he went to the middle. He started at the Cup. Something was... off about it. He heard a commotion and turned to find Harry and Cedric running towards the Cup. They exchanged a look and both grabbed it. Then they disappeared. Danny's stomach wrenched. A portkey. That couldn't be good. 

It felt like an eternity until something happened. They reappeared. Harry was covered in blood. But that wasn't what caught his attention. If you couldn't sense death, it would look like Cedric was asleep in Harry's arms, but he was dead. Harry stared at Cedric's body. Danny felt a scream bubble up in his throat, but it dissipated when came face to face with Cedric. Not his body, his ghost. Cedric stared at him. 
"D-Danny. What's happening? I'm scared," He breathed. Tears sprung to Danny's eyes. 
"You're dead Cedric. It's gonna be okay, but you gotta tell me what happened," Danny put a hand on Cedric's shoulder. Harry was running from the maze, leaving the Cup behind. Danny led an invisible Cedric out of the maze. Cedric had tears streaming down his face as he explained that the Dark Lord was back and he'd been hit with the Killing Curse. But he'd stayed there and watched as Peter Pettigrew slashed Harry's arm and dumped his blood into a cauldron where You-Know-Who rose. Danny listened quietly. 
"Danny, death hurts. But it was so quick it almost didn't," Cedric whispered. 
"Maybe for you," Danny said lowly. "You got lucky. Do you want to say any goodbyes?" He turned to Cedric, who nodded. They stared as Harry screamed about Voldemort coming back, and the adults staring at him disbelieving. Except Dumbledore. And Danny felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he realized that this is what Harry would have to fight. Why Danny had to keep him alive. Clockwork materialized behind him. 
"Was I supposed to stop it?" Danny whispered. 
"No. You did what you were supposed to," Clockwork put his hands on Danny's shoulders. Cedric stared at them. "There was nothing else you could've done,"
"You could've warned me at least," Danny cried. 
"The Observants would've been very mad at me if I had," Clockwork said. 
"You piss them off anyways,"
"It wasn't necessary," Clockwork said. Danny sighed and stared at the crowd. Malfoy was laughing at Harry's increased panic. Danny didn't like Harry, but Malfoy needed to stop. 
"I have to do something. I can take you to your parents later Ced," Danny touched the ground and transformed invisibly. Cedric followed him to Malfoy. "Stop it," He growled in Malfoy's ear. 
"What're you gonna do about it, Freak boy?"
"I can ruin you," 
"Really now?"
"Do you know what kind of power I have you conceited snob? More power than you and your pathetic father could ever imagine. Would you like your afterlife to be horrible?" He tilted his head. "Because I can make ghosts hate you for mocking the way in which someone died ten times over,"
"Like ghosts can do anything. They're weak," 
"Oh, are you talking about the echoes? Because they're nothing compared to true ghosts. Maybe I could talk to Ember? I wonder how she would react to someone who thought the concept of death is convoluted. I know how I feel," Danny said and walked away. Malfoy stood there shaking.

He walked up to Harry. 
"I believe you. Maybe none of these idiots do, but you aren't known for lying. And I have someone to back up your story," 
"Who?" Harry stared at him wide eyed. 
"Someone who stood there watching. Cedric Diggory," Harry went pale. 
"How?"
"Most people can't see the newly dead, especially without ectoplasm. But I'm not most people. I'd what you'd call one of a kind. Do you need to talk to him?"
"No. He said everything he needed to say. I saw all those who died at the hands of Voldemort's wand. Cedric asked me to bring his body back," Harry said and collapsed into tears. Danny nodded and left. He couldn't interfere too much. Ron and Hermione ran up to Harry. This was their job. 

The next day he had the odd sensation to go check on the Vibe Check nutso. And what he found terrified him. He was grabbing a fistful of hair from the real Moody to make polyjuice potion. Danny tried to free him, but the lock wouldn't break. 

A few hours later, Harry walked in and opened the chest by fluke. He came back with Dumbledore a few moments later. The polyjuice fake got chained to a chair. Snape walked in. Danny had quickly went to help him with something, and he'd gotten brought along. 
"Daniel, fetch the veritaserum," Snape growled. Danny nodded and ran. Once he had what he needed, he ran back to the Defence room. Snape took the potion from him and dumped it down the now transformed fake. 
"Barty Crouch Junior," Harry explained when he gave him a look. The son of a ministry official, who happened to be there, who had been apprehended as a Death Eater. 
"What're you doing here?" Dumbledore asked. 
"Making sure Potter got to where he needed to be. I put the scoundrel's name in the Goblet. But nothing you can do will be able to change what happened. What needed to happen did," the Death Eater replied.
"No wonder my Vibe Check went nuts around you. How dare you impersonate such a good person. I despise you," Danny growled. Everyone stared at him. 
"You knew something was up this whole time?" Harry said. 
"Yeah, but it wasn't like he was going to get investigated. I'm just the school weirdo, my word is worth shit,"
"You could have mentioned something Daniel," Snape said. 
"I did what I could. I investigated as much as I could. But I thought I might've just not liked him, so I didn't want to raise any concern over a false alarm," Everyone seemed to understand. 

Barty Crouch Junior got hauled off to Azkaban with no chance of release. They found Barty Crouch Sr dead outside the Forbidden Forest. Danny had just been walking around the grounds for what would be his last time in a while, anda feeling of dread had come over him. He found the body a moment later. His ghost did not appear. The staff seemed terrified that they'd let this happen, and the Triwizard Tournament was once again removed from the world. 

Danny was now sitting on the train staring out the windows. He and Fiona hugged before he got off and ran to a fireplace. 
"Fenton Works," He said and threw down the floo powder. Jazz walked out behind him a moment later. Their parents ran up to them and they hugged. 
"I have half a mind to make you switch schools, but Hogwarts is the only acceptable one. Be careful while there, okay? That place seems to attract danger," Maddie said when they pulled away. He and Jazz nodded and he quickly ran up to their respective rooms. Danny quickly changed and went to check on the ghost situation. 
"Where the hell have you been? You just disappear for almost a year and show up again out of nowhere?" Val said when she caught up to him. 
"I go to school abroad," He explained. 
"You go to school? Funny, now that I think about it, Danny goes to school abroad too. I don't know why he always ends up in summer school then,"
"Can we think about this later and kick ghost butt now? I'll take this over what happened at school any day,"
"Okay weirdo. Let's destroy some ghosts!" They laughed. Danny thanked the stars for Val's truce with him. Hell, it was less a truce and more an alliance. She filled him in on what he'd missed. Nothing big, just regular ghost of the week stuff. Plasmius tried to kill his dad a few times, but she'd nipped it at the bud. 
"Ghost child. You're back. I've missed doing this," Skulker flew up. 
"Can I play the 'I command you to go home' card?" Danny said.
"I suppose you could. But I won't be taking your pelt anymore, your majesty, this is merely a gentle fight," Skulker said.
"Your majesty?! THE FUCK?!" Val screamed.
"Oh yeah, kinda got crowned ghost king while I was gone," Danny said. "It's kinda complicated, but I took Pariah's crown, so I became King by passage and shit," Val just stared at him. He laughed. This would be a good summer. 

Chapter Text

Hogwarts: Legacy was recently released. As a trans person on the internet, it is impossible to avoid discussion of it and listening to people try and justify buying a game instead of just admitting they are transphobic and anti semitic.  It is exhausting and I do not want to have a connection with those people or JKR. I am prioritizing my mental health and the wellbeing of trans and Jewish people over a little popularity that I have gained from this series. Please feel free to continue reading but please consider not purchasing this content and donating to JKR by extension. 

Thank you

-Author