Ghost Hour at Hogwarts

Previously:

In front of him now stood a boy about his size, with the same raven black hair in a total mess and the same facial features, except that his eyes were ice-blue. Harry stood up from his bed and looked at the gho- no, boy, who looked so much like him. Said boy just rubbed his neck again and a gave a small wave and said "Erm, so, in this form I'm Danny Fenton. I'm known as a halfa, so half-ghost half-human, discovered recently that I'm a wizard and that I'm your twin."

.........

Danny held his breath (not that he needed to, in his ghost form he didn't have a beating heart or a functioning anything, really) and watched the expressions on his brother's face. At first Harry stared at him numbly, before the words registered in his brain. His expressions melted into one of shock and then pure happiness. Then back into confusion and anger. Harry's eyes appeared to gleam brighter, not as poisonous as Phantom's glowing eyes but still intense and yet Danny just stood there, letting his brother get used to the idea of having a twin.

It hasn't really been his plan. Danny didn't think he would actually reveal himself within twenty minutes of knowing Harry. However, over the past two weeks he learned and heard a lot about Harry. Some praised him as the 'Chosen One' but most people let their own opinions be negatively influenced by the Ministry and the newspaper.

When Danny realized that, he got even more anxious to meet his twin. He remembered too well back when Vlad had framed him as an act of revenge and made it seem as though Phantom and Fenton were the bad guys and everyone hated him for a couple weeks. He was so angry at the time and without his friends and sister he would probably have snapped.

So yes, he thought that Harry would receive news or at least some sort of secret messages from the wizarding world while he was at his Aunt's and Uncle's. Danny truly believed that Harry had to come to terms with all the hatred on his own, since his friends and godfather weren't allowed to write him- for whatever reason.

He was prepared to be there for him and show his full support as just Danny, the normal wizard teen. After all, revealing that your long lost twin is half dead isn't easy to swallow (not that Danny had any experiences in this regard). To see his brother with bruises around his neck, way too skinny for a 15 year old and wearing oversized clothes however made him realize that maybe, just maybe Harry needed someone who was completely there for him. Who didn't listen to a man with a beard and still writes him, who tells him everything he needs to know and that includes a certain ghost part.

Danny realized that he wanted Harry to get to know him fully and made the decision that brought him here.

His twin was now standing right in front of him, their noses almost touching and green eyes met blue ones. Surprisingly for Danny, they were the same height. It was surprising because the halfa grew much slower than the other kids his age, so technically, Harry should be taller than him. Yet, at the same time, he was obviously malnourished. Danny knew the signs because of the people in Valerie's former neighbourhood. It causes stunt growth and several other problematic and unhealthy side effects.

It was weird, as both boys simultaneously raised their left hand. Harry touched his twin on the cheek, to make sure he was actually there and Danny looked at Harry's lightning scar. A weird sense of death and wrongness surrounded the scar tissue and the ghost side in Danny wanted to rip this wrongness out.

Harry continued to look at the boy in bewilderment, for once not feeling anything. He was just dumbfounded. Right in front of him stood someone who looks so much like him and was apparently his brother. A real brother. Someone who shared his freakishness with him, who was like him and yet apparently so much more. A ghost. Holy Hecate, Danny was a ghost, he managed to suck in a bloody dementor into some object as if it was nothing! He could fly and turn invisible, things he himself only managed with a broom and a cloak.

Tears welled up in Harry's eyes and he took his (once again) broken glasses off, to wipe off the tears that threatened to flow. He started to shake, it was so much. He didn't know if he should be overjoyed or extremely mad at everyone who lied to him. That's right! No one ever told him he had a twin, a family. Merlin be damned if he ever considered the Dursley's his family. He had been so, so alone. How often had he wished for someone who would understand him, would be there for him? How often had he begged to be allowed to stay with Sirius or at least stay at Hogwarts and his requests being denied?

And now after a month of quiet he learns about a brother who has only learned about the whole wizarding thing two weeks ago. Who had been alone as well, probably. And in all this time, in these two weeks, no one wrote him. Though, they have barely written to him ever since summer break started. No, he had to learn about Danny from Danny himself, after he rescued Harry from Dementors who had tried to kill him and Dudley!

The anger came back full force, exploded deep inside him and broke out of the metaphorical box in his mind and he pushed the offered hands of support from the halfa away. Seething in blind anger, a magically conjured wind raged around the small room but left him and his brother alone. When he suddenly found himself in a comforting embrace he came back to himself. Danny was holding him and seemed to be crying as well, for some reason that calmed Harry down enough that he could lock all his anger in a vault in his mind.

Danny and Harry stood like that in the completely destroyed room for a few minutes, neither saying anything, only thinking about the absurd situation they've found themselves in. They hadn't known about the other for fourteen years and now that they did, it felt as though they never wanted to let go again. Harry didn't even know Danny- besides the fact that he was half dead and a wizard like him.

Danny had similar thoughts, he was still holding Harry, trying to somehow tell him that he is here for only him and wants to protect him. Yet, he wondered why. Sure, they were brothers but that isn't reason enough, especially since they didn't grow up together. He barely knew Harry, only the things he has been told from other people. His magic core once again tried to reach out to Harry's and this time Harry's accepted.

Their magic was so similar, almost the same. Both immensely powerful and yet they seemed to timidly look at each other. They've known each other before, they were the same, though one was marked with ice and death, the other with death and hurt. The cores connected and power surged through the twins simultaneously, Danny saw pictures in his head he immediately recognized as some of Harry's memories and Harry had the same experience with Danny's memories. When the power surge was over they sat panting on the floor. Ancient magic hummed in the air.

They stared at each other, confused as to what just happened but a new kind of understanding in each other's eyes. They offered the other a light grin and then they just laughed, whatever was going on could be talked about later. The tension left the room and Harry looked around, slightly panicked as he realized how bad Vernon was going to react when he sees what Harry had done.

Danny stood up, once again offering his hand for Harry to take, the boy-who-lived accepted and the halfa hauled him up. Danny looked around, making a face. Most things were broken, however, he could probably use his ghost powers to at least clean up. He noticed fear tugging at his magic core and he stoped looking around for a second, confused where that sensation came from. He wasn't afraid- at least not right now.

He looked at Harry who seemed close to a panic attack. Maybe he was able to feel his emotions now? Because of whatever just happened with their magic cores? He decided to try it out and send some calm feelings, not really knowing what he was doing but seeing his brother visibly relaxing.

Danny transformed into Phantom without a word, startling the younger teen and used his ecto blasts to save and clean what could be cleaned in the room. When he retransformed he looked at an expectant looking Harry "This should do. If it were up to me you wouldn't have to live here a second longer." His twin smiled a bit, tugging at his hair "You made me calmer", he stated, but he didn't sound angry. When Danny nodded he continued "I don't know why you were able to do that, or why I can do it as well with you but it really helped me, thank you." "I wish I could do more for you." Danny answered honestly.

They sat down next to each other on the mattress and Harry thought about how much was going to change now. Would Danny come live here? Hopefully not. Maybe he could live with him? That would be cool, living in the US during summer... He just hoped that he could now leave the Dursley's. He touched his neck and winced, it still hurt.

"Want some ice for your throat?" Came Danny's question and Harry shook his head "Thank you, but it will be healed by tomorrow. Can I ask you some questions?" "Of course, ask away!" Harry smiled again and began "How exactly did you grow up? Are you... happy?" His twin looked at him with something akin to worry and answered "Yes. My parents... I mean, my adopted parents are really nice. Most of the time anyways, ever since they learned about my ghost half we have been really close. Mind you I only told them two months ago." "Why so late? Didn't Invi- sorry, Phantom, so you, first show up over a year ago?"

"Yep, my par- I mean, Jack and Maddie Fenton are ghost hunters. They always told Jazz- my sister, or rather adopted sister, and me how they would love to dissect a real ghost. Back then the whole town as well as Jazz and I thought they were crazy and ghosts didn't exist. Then they build a portal to the Ghost Zone and I accidentally activated it from the inside. When I came out, the portal was working and I had turned into a halfa. Obviously I was scared, only my two best friends Sam and Tucker, Sam is my girlfriend now by the way, knew about it because they were there. Mom and dad kept talking about capturing ghosts and I was just too scared to tell them. 'What if they think I'm possessed?' 'What if they dissect me?' Were questions I asked myself almost daily.

"It got better and I even had proof at some point that they would accept me no matter what but the fear was still there. Then two months ago I got hurt pretty badly as Phantom and mom found me bleeding out in my room. She didn't even ask questions, even though I was their enemy, she brought me down to their lab and she and dad saved me. Then they asked me where their son was and I was so relieved in that moment that they didn't use my injuries to their advantage and tortured me like they always threatened that I just told them. They were horrified, because for a year they tried to capture their own son- I mean, adopted son."

"Danny," Harry said silently, having listened intently and noticing Danny's hasty corrections when he talked about his adopted family. He also felt his distress that he didn't want Harry to get mad or jealous that he had a caring family and Harry didn't "You grew up with them, they are your family, I get that. Do I think that's fair? No, not really. My life here with the Dursley's isn't fun and I honestly hate it here, I truly wish I had your place but I don't. I have to deal with that. If you still see them as your real family, then I'll try to accept that, too. So don't worry when you call them your parents or your sister, after all, they are your family, more so than I am. Do you think they would like me, though?"

Danny grinned, punching his shoulder lightly "Yeah, dude, you are a wizard, they will love you. Also, you are my brother. I just hope it's okay that I also have a sister. Trust me, she is so annoying sometimes but you will like her, she is a lot like Hermione, just more focused on psychology than general knowledge." Harry felt warm at the implication that Danny wanted to take him to the US and considered him his brother already "I'll keep that in mind. How do you know Hermione though?" The halfa went silent for a second "Well, she stays at your godfather's together with Ron and the other Weasleys. They are at the Order's headquarters."

Harry looked at him confused "What's the Order?" Before Danny could answer, a loud crash sounded through the house. The twins froze up, if it were the Dursley's they would have heard them arriving and Harry was sure Vernon would already stomp up the stairs to his room. They looked at each other, Harry holding his wand firmly in his and Danny changed back into Phantom, floating almost invisibly next to Harry. He looked at the bespectacled boy "I'll take a quick look. If it's burglars I'll deal with them, if they are Voldemort's followers I'll bring you to safety." Harry could barely nod before Danny disappeared.

Two seconds later he reappeared next to him "It's okay, they are from the Order, the ones who fight against Voldemort- still, be careful. And try to act surprised, okay?" Harry nodded and made his way downstairs, still careful, wand before him, feeling his brother float invisibly next to him. When he entered the kitchen he looked at the scene in front of him with some amusement, the amusement he felt in his magic core told him that Danny also thought this was funny. A young woman with bubblegum pink hair was standing in the centre of the kitchen surrounded by exasperated wizards and witches, two of whom Harry recognized as Mad-Eye Moody and Remus Lupin. The others he didn't know.

The girl was trying to balance several pans at the same time and no one tried to help her, so he decided to make himself known and cleared his throat. Moody, who had already noticed him standing there, watched as Tonks let all the pans fall to the ground in shock to Harry showing up and Lupin whipped around to face him, wand in hand, when he saw Harry he relaxed slightly "Harry, I'm sorry but I have to ask, what form does your patronus take?" "A stag, why?"

"Just a security measurement, we are here to pick you up." Harry raised his eyebrow "And how am I supposed to believe you? You could be Death Eaters as far as I'm concerned." He felt a ghostly nudge against his shoulder and mild annoyance resonating through his core and tried not to grin. Professor Lupin looked proud for a second before he said "The day you first came and visited me in my office, a Grindylow was in there with me." Point to him. Harry nodded sharply and the rest of the witches and wizards introduced themselves excitedly as the Advance Guard.

Then everything happened rather quickly, Tonks- never Nymphadora- helped get his trunk and clothes and everything that's his. So not much. She didn't say anything though, for which Harry was thankful. Then they made a formation with brooms and Moody cast an invisibility spell over Harry, so that they could fly over to central London together.

The flight was brutal, he was freezing the whole time, mindful of the muggles and even a helicopter that flew passed him. However, he felt a warmth inside him, send to him by his brother and Harry was once again grateful to have Danny with him. When they landed, Harry felt cold, yes, but he would also be freezing if it weren't for his shared connection with Danny. While everyone regrouped for a minute, Danny whispered into his ear "Remember to act surprised, especially when we meet. I'm not a good actor, so hopefully we can pull it off. I haven't told anyone else about my ghost half and don't plan to." His brother grinned and rolled his eyes "Do you think I'm stupid? We'll manage, Danny."

Hestia Jones gave him a side glance, but she definitely hadn't heard what he had said, else she would have probably asked. They made their way to the house numbers 11 and 13 and after being handed a letter with the address, Harry watched Number 12 appear right in front of him. He was feeling excited, he got away from the Dursley's, he would hopefully not be expelled and he had a brother whom he already trusted more than anyone, really.

They entered the house and Tonks promptly tripped over some hellish looking statue, everyone froze for a second before a deafening screech sounded through the house, apparently coming from a painting close by. The insults that the painted woman yelled at everyone were almost hilarious if it weren't so loud. Suddenly, Sirius showed up, gripping the curtains next to the painting and yelling exasperated "Please, you awful woman, SHUT UP!" The painting responded with sticking her tongue out "Don't you dare tell me what to do, you disgrace of the most noble and ancient hou-" She was abruptly cut off when Sirius and Kingsley Shacklebolt managed to close the curtains.

Sirius sighed loudly, finally noticing Harry who was left standing alone in the entrance, everyone else has already gone downstairs and Tonks had left his unshrunken trunk and everything else next to the painting. His godfather grinned happily and opened his arms and Harry couldn't help but melt into it. He had Sirius back and he seemed much better mentally and physically. After a few moments they let go, Sirius looking his godson over, noticing with distaste his clothes and thinness. He'd get his godson some proper clothes as soon as possible, he swore to himself.

"Harry, I'm glad you could make it! There is a lot we have to catch you up on. Come on in, come in." He took Harry's stuff and led him to the stairs that led to the bedrooms, Harry asked "What is this, Sirius? Who was that woman in the painting and what is going on?" The animagus placed the trunk next to a closed door and answered "This is my house. The woman is- or was, my mother. As to what is going on: We brought you to safety." Harry raised an eyebrow "And you couldn't have brought me to safety sooner because...?"

Sirius tucked at his messy hair and answered, sounding angry "Because Dumbledore forbade us to write you or to get you earlier" he sighed again and looked Harry in the eyes "I'm truly sorry, I wish we could have gotten you here sooner." He then glanced at the still closed door and pointed at it while walking back down the stairs "You should probably enter, Molly is preparing a really late dinner (or really early breakfast). Don't freak out when you meet our surprise guest, okay?" Acting confused Harry nodded and opened the door, only to be met with an arguing Ron and Hermione, Danny standing in between them looking very uncomfortable. When their eyes met, Harry could basically hear his plead for help in his head, he suppressed a grin and once again cleared his throat to get their attention.

His best friends' heads whipped around and their faces brightened when they saw Harry. Within seconds he was being crushed in a hug and he awkwardly patted their backs. Hermione cried apologies and Ron looked extremely guilty, Harry allowed himself to have some fun "You know, I kinda missed your letters, you know? Do you mind telling me why you didn't find the time to reply to a single message of mine? It's not as though you promised you'd keep me updated over the summer." Hermione flinched and Ron rubbed his nose and avoided his eye contact "Sorry mate, really. We wanted to write you much more than what we wrote but Dumbledore..."

"Dumbledore made us promise not to write anything important, we are truly so, so sorry Harry. Please don't be mad!" Hermione cried out and instead of feeling guilty, the vault in his mind threatened to open but he managed to calm down and shut the vault close once more. It wouldn't do him good to get angry all the time and blowing things up "I'm not mad, only really disappointed. I trusted you guys, your letters were literally the only thing that gave me a feeling of belonging and instead of just making up something, you just ignored me. You couldn't even write me that you couldn't tell me anything? Instead I was thinking I did something wrong and blamed myself. Which I honestly didn't need, I have enough on my plate already."

Tears streamed down Hermione's face and Ron continued to stare at the floor in shame and guilt, Harry was about to say more, like how he couldn't understand why they wouldn't even tell him that they spent the whole summer together without him, when Danny's emotions surged up. He felt soothing emotions calming him down and he looked at his brother who stared wearily back at him from the back of the room.

Right. He shouldn't blame his best friends for something they couldn't change. If anything it was Dumbledore's fault. With that in mind he hugged his friends to their immense surprise and said calmly "I can't forgive it, yet. But it's not entirely your fault, so let's just forget it for now, alright?" Relief washed over their faces and Harry felt much better when he saw his best mates like that. He definitely preferred it when they were happy-ish.

Finally he pretended to notice Danny "Who is that?" He said to Ron and his red headed friend bit his lip uncomfortably, looking at Hermione pleadingly. She swallowed hard before she answered "That is Daniel, he came here about two weeks ago... we were told that he is your twin brother." Harry pretended to look shocked and made his way toward Danny, who looked at him with mild panic. Harry knew it was because he feared he couldn't pull off another 'first meeting', so he took over "My... twin? Seriously?" Danny nodded, rubbing his neck embarrassedly. Harry turned back to his friends with shock on his face "Please, could you... leave us alone? I mean, I have a lot of questions to ask him." Ron and 'Mione nodded, looking at him worriedly but leaving nonetheless. On her way out Hermione called to him "We'll knock when the midnight dinner is ready, okay?"

Harry waved her away and when the door closed he grinned at his twin "That went horribly. I can't act either, probably should've told you that." Danny smiled back, pointing at the bed in the middle of the room. Harry seated himself on it comfortably and Danny sat down on the bed opposite Harry's "You were quite mean to your friends, you know?" Harry sighed "Yes, so were they, Hermione is smart, she could have found something to write that isn't 'important' and still make me feel included and not forgotten."

Danny agreed to that "They tried to talk to Dumbledore or any adult every possible moment. But they just said that "Owls can be traced", even though they allowed your owl to enter and leave every time. Still, Hermione and Ron, they definitely wanted to write to you, I did, too but I sent my owl to Amity Park and she isn't back yet." Harry blinked at him, glad that he had let Hedwig out before the whole fiasco that day. She would find him, he was sure of that.

"So, how did no one miss you? I mean, everyone seems to be still up, even though it's past midnight and it looks like you are sharing your room with Ron." Danny smiled at the ring on his finger for a moment before answering "I can duplicate myself. Of course, the farther I go from my duplicate, the weaker our connection but I can hold that connection with only one for quite some time and also a long distance. So while I was at Private Drive, I was also here, listening and talking to Ron. When I merged with my duplicate earlier, our memories merged together as well and I just continued on as usual. My luck was that I was in the bathroom when we merged, so no one noticed. Hermione and Ron were arguing about writing you secretly, by the way. They don't know why you are here yet and I'm sure most Order members are told right now in one of their meetings."

"Okay, you keep telling me about the Order, what is it? What do they do?" Danny groaned "They say that they want to stop Voldemort but really, all they talk about is how to keep you safe, if you are safe and how to protect 'it'. Oh, they also try to get others to join the Order, also known as Order of the Phoenix. It's led by Dumbledore and was already a thing during the first war. Our parents were a part of it." Harry noted how Danny said "our parents" and felt this happiness again. He looked at his twin and noticed how Danny played with his hair, lost in thought, similarly to how Harry does it. He started "That's it? Didn't really do a good job with protecting me, I'd say." Danny laughed at that and Harry continued "And what is 'it'?"

Danny looked up, not sure if he should tell Harry about it yet but in the end, the sooner the better, right? "'It' for them is a weapon against Voldemort while really it's a prophecy about him and you. I don't really know what it says, only that Voldemort didn't hear all of it when he came for you on Halloween and it's the reason our parents are dead and we didn't grow up together." Harry opened and closed his mouth. A prophecy? A bloody prophecy was the reason he was an orphan? Grew up with the Dursley's and had a psychopath after him? He could barely believe it and huffed in annoyance. He didn't feel energized enough to even be angry at the revelation "How do you know about it then?" Danny looked a bit guilty "I have friends in the GZ who told me about it, I was just so curious after learning I'm a wizard and my friend told me everything he knew. He is a very old ghost, so he could tell me a lot.

"I know that the prophecy is in the Ministry, I kinda listened in on some of the Order's meetings and they always send some guards down there to protect the prophecy from enemies. They strongly believe that when Voldemort learns about the full prophecy, things will turn out rather ugly." Harry swallowed after the whole new onslaught of information, he shouldn't have asked. He was still too exhausted from the attack on his life, be it from Vernon or the dementors and the revelation that he has a twin. Yet, he was glad that Danny told him all of this. If Dumbledore ordered everyone to not write him, then he probably ordered them to keep him in the dark about other things as well.

Anger surged through him for a second. He used to trust the headmaster with all his heart, even though he realized early on that he was being manipulated but he didn't care. Now though, he already had answers and didn't have to look for them anymore, possibly putting his life in danger again. He just had to destroy the stupid prophecy or something and then that would be it. He stoped his thinking for a second and asked his brother "The biggest question I have is why in Merlin's beard there aren't that many members in the Order? With Voldemort back, shouldn't there be more? What about the Ministry? Why is everything so calm?"

Danny made a face "Yeah, that's the biggest problem. Besides filling his ranks in secret and trying to get more allies- same as the Order really- Voldemort hasn't done anything yet. No one really knows what his plans are. The thing is, besides the Order, barely anyone believes Voldemort is back. The Ministry is a bunch of cowards who shove everything bad that's happening onto Sirius, saying he is at fault for every body they find, for every store that's broken into. Added to that, they make you and Dumbledore out to be liars and nut-jobs. Unfortunately, a lot of people believe the news. People hate you right now."

Harry felt his left eye twitch, how many more bad news was he going to get? Not that he was unthankful but he just couldn't believe how ignorant wizarding Britain was. Why would he lie? Wasn't he their "saviour"? What did they think happened at the graveyard? That he killed Cedric?? It was laughable, meanwhile Voldemort was doing Merlin knows what and he was kept in isolation, just great. He felt his emotions spiralling out of control, again. He should be used to people praising him one day and hating and ignoring him the next day. People were like that, easily believing things that were convenient for them, why was he even surprised?

He rubbed his forehead tiredly, ignoring the mild pain in his scar. It has gotten worse the past weeks and by now he thought that his scar acted up whenever Voldemort felt a strong emotion- which was mostly anger or satisfaction.

Danny sighed as well, noticing the emotional turmoil in his core, knowing it was Harry who felt so tired and done. He wished he could do more for him, tell him that everything will be okay. To be fair though, he had the ability to protect him, since barely any spells would work on him. He was about to say something, anything, when someone knocked at the door and Hermione peeked in carefully, relieved when she saw Harry and Danny sitting close to each other without any wounds. So they probably got along well. Harry also looked much calmer, albeit very tired.

She watched as the boys went passed her, noticing their closeness once more. How they managed that within an hour was beyond her comprehension but really, maybe it's because they are twins. She once read about a theory that magical twins shared a special bond that allows them to feel close, some rumoured that they could read each other's thoughts or even feelings. Most twins just shrugged such questions off though she was sure that Fred and George could read each other's thoughts. Obviously they never admitted something like that, maybe Harry and Danny were similar in that regard.

Danny wasn't really hungry. Of course, he had eaten just last morning, so he was content to just watch the others and listen to their conversations. Most Order members have already left and Molly had been ecstatic when she saw Harry and immediately put way too much food on his plate. No one noticed but he barely managed to eat something and just shoved his food from left to right. Danny was really worried, he didn't need to eat much but Harry technically did, so he wondered how he could help him. He already thought about how he would never let him return their aunt- and wasn't that a disgusting thought. Petunia Dursley was his aunt, his real aunt. Bloodrelated, same as Dudley. He hoped Lily had been much nicer than that horse neck.

The letter she wrote sounded sincere and full of love and everyone he asked told him how nice and intelligent and talented she had been- even Snape. He thought back to his studies. In just two weeks he had managed to finish first year and start second year. He had never been more thankful for his overly good memory and his apparently naturally strong magic core. His teachers were very impressed and even Dumbledore told him that he expected much from him. Danny was still suspicious of the headmaster, but knew better than to antagonize him. He had enough powerful people after him as it is.

After a few more minutes, around 2:30 in the morning, Mrs Weasley insisted on them going to bed and the children begrudgingly followed suit. As soon as Danny laid in bed he listened to Harry's and Ron's hushed conversation without making out any words on purpose. He didn't want to listen in. His brother and Ron had a lot to catch up on and he didn't want to be in their way.

He sighed tiredly: studying, practicing and then duplicating himself to fly through London only to fight a dementor and revealing himself to his twin was surprisingly tiring. He supposed he was allowed to. He remembered Van, the ghost siren he managed to free. He wondered briefly what happened to the Death Eater, he had checked the area the following night but obviously couldn't find him. He wasn't sure what to make of it- if it even had been the right decision to not do anything to him. It was too late now, though. What would he even do anyways?

...............

Almost two months. He had been resurrected almost two months ago. Lord Voldemort strolled through the large hallways of Malfoy Manor, ignoring the ancient paintings showing several ancestors of the Malfoy family. He watched as Nagini slithered next to him, hissing playfully at the paintings, who didn't realize her playfulness and tried to hide. Pathetic. Just like Lucius Malfoy. His son might still be useful, though.

Voldemort entered his personal chambers. It was similar to a library, a heavy and big oak table with a comfortable chair was placed in the centre of the room. To the left was a huge fire place, the rest of the room was surrounded by large bookshelves filled with hundreds of books about the darkest of magics up to the lightest of charms. Voldemort sat down behind his desk and looked through his documents. He had many plans, yet the most important goals of his were getting the prophecy and more followers. It would be best to have people or beasts that were absolutely loyal, powerful but easy to control. Werewolfs would do nicely, as well as vampires and maybe even the giants. He already sent out messengers who would... convince several such Beings to cooperate.

He grinned and Nagini asked sleepily what made him move his lips weirdly like that. He just told her not to worry about it. The Dark Lord looked back at his plans and found himself staring at Loyd Rainstedt's report from two weeks ago. He remembered the pureblood from the USA very well. He was a loyal follower during his first rise to power and remembered how he gloated about having a loyal and powerful servant. He met her only once but he had been impressed.

He never gave it another thought until Rainstedt visited him again. He had been surprised, during the war he had been injured and thus was allowed to leave his direct services, his son was supposed to join his ranks in about two weeks and yet he showed up personally, almost begging for a personal audience with him. Graciously as he was he granted it him and was not disappointed.

The servant Loyd had was a ghost, but a new kind of ghost. One that could fight and do actual harm. Spells and charms as well as most potions didn't work on their kind and they could be easily controlled with either the imperious or other controlling spells. He felt something deep inside him, it was almost... excitement? Having a whole army of such ghosts, even a handful, would already give him the upper hand in this new upcoming war. Spells couldn't detect them and they were nearly indestructible. He could think of many, many uses and felt almost insulted that Rainstedt hadn't told him about all this before, though he had been absent for a while, thanks to Potter.

Yet, now he had been told about a ghost who seemed even more powerful than all the other ghosts Rainstedt met by chance in the past 20 years. He looked at the phantom drawing and smirked again, a phantom drawing of the ghost who called himself Phantom, how fitting. The ghost looked like a child but according to Loyd he could be invaluable and he had seen his memories, the Dark Lord believed him with all that was left of his soul.

He would find Phantom, make him his servant und use him to kill Dumbledore. If he finally got rid of Potter while doing so, even better, else he had other special plans for his prophesied enemy.