Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or Harry Potter.

The kids huddled inside the classroom, slumped with exhaustion as the adrenaline from their confrontation with the troll faded away. The teachers had been one for a few minutes, and they were all equally anxious for them to come back; hopefully in one piece.

Danny, Zabini, and Daphne were shoulder to shoulder, all three trying not to show how shaken up they were. Zabini's usual cool and collected expression had gone stony, and his legs were restless, but he kept himself from pacing like a scared animal. Danny had similar anxiety, only he was more concerned with what in the world he did with his hands. He was pretty sure what he did wasn't accidental magic. When he was younger, whenever his magic came to light it always felt like a warm, constantly moving energy, manifesting itself in funny and odd ways to accommodate the needs of his younger self. Whatever he did, it felt too...cold, for accidental magic-cold and almost ruthless. Troll hide was near impenetrable; for the creature to even feel it hit, showed how powerful it was. Danny didn't want to imagine what would happen if he hit a person with that blast.

Daphne shifted a little beside him, looking a confused as well as frightened and tired. She spoke, "Danny? What was that magic you used back there?" She gulped nervously. "It looked green."

"That wasn't magic," Hermione replied, sending him a stern, yet apologetic expression. "That was like what you before, with the door, I know you don't want to tell anyone, but don't you think we deserve to know?"

"Wasn't magic?" Daphne asked her. "What else could it have been?"

"It wasn't a killing curse, Daphne," Zabini said, and she relaxed a bit. "He didn't draw his and, no one can use a killing curse with accidental magic."

"But it wasn't accidental magic," Potter said, speaking up for the first time. "You knocked over a troll. I don't think most spells can do that, let alone accidental magic."

"I didn't knock it over," Danny protested. "I don't even...I don't know what I did. I just-I dunno." He was sputtering; he was undergoing a ghost-powers crisis, how was he supposed to dodge these questions when he was freaking out?!

"We just saved you two from getting killed by a troll," Ron said grumpily, "I think we deserve an explanation."

Danny was about to protest, they didn't actually save them, they arrived conveniently at the point where he was sure he could've come up with an idea to get them out, but Daphne suddenly grabbed his arm.

"What are they talking about?" she said, a steely glint in her eye that came whenever she heard gossip or secrets. "Are you keeping something from us?"

"Of course I am," Danny snapped. "Just like everyone else in our bloody House."

Daphne shrunk back a bit, but he was pretty sure she was going to grill him about it later. Zabini looked deceptively expressionless during the spat, while Hermione, Potter, and Weasley looked determined to find out what was up.

"It's about your...coven, right?" Potter said, making everyone look surprised at him. Potter was usually the one with the least knowledge of the wizarding world. "You told me it was different in America. Why won't you tell us?"

"Because you're all, apparently, extremely too nosy for your own good," Danny thought. "It's not something I like to talk about."

"You're trying to dodge the question, stop it," Hermione said.

"Listen!" Danny finally said through gritted teeth. "Yeah, it has to do with my coven. My super-secret coven that would hunt me down if I told their secrets, to British witches and wizards no less!"

Things were quiet for a bit. Danny sighed, and said, "Look, I don't want to talk about it. I can't talk about it." He hated the slight waver in his voice.

Before Potter or Hermione could respond, the teachers came back in a flurry of robes. McGonagall's usually tight bun was a little messy, and Quirrell looked more terrified than usual, but other than that, the three teachers didn't look injured. Snape looked as angry as a fury from hell, though.

"What," Snape said menacingly, "were you thinking? Confronting a troll for attention seems a bit much, even for you, Mr. Potter."

"Severus," McGonagall said tiredly and angrily, "wait for them to explain themselves." She raised an eyebrow at them. "Now. Explain." Her voice left no room for argument.

"Hermione, Danny and I were by the bathrooms during the feast," Daphne spoke up bravely. "We didn't even know there was a troll."

McGonagall's lips thinned but she seems to accept Daphne's answer. "And the rest of you?"

"We had to warn Hermione," Weasley said.

"And Fenton and Daphne," Potter added quickly.

"How chivalrous," Snape said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"We didn't mean to run into the troll, we just needed to warn them," Zabini said calmly. "We thought it was in the dungeons."

"You should have informed a teacher, or even a prefect, not gallivanting in the corridors to save the day in true Gryffindor fashion," Snape said sharply. All three Slytherins turned their eyes to the floor; they weren't used to Snape yelling at them.

"If you're done, Professor Snape," McGonagall snapped, definitely not appreciating the Gryffindor comment, "I must take my students back to their dormitories, as should you. You may punish your students accordingly, as I will mine." She gave Snape one last glare, and turned back to the three Gryffindors. "Come along."

Snape scowled at her, but didn't comment further. "Come," he snapped at the three Slytherins, and they followed him out of the classroom. They had to speed walk to keep up with his long strides as they headed toward the common room.

The common room was empty when they arrived, all the students in their dorms by now. Before he let them go to their rooms, he led them to his office. The three of them stood in a line, trying not to hunch their shoulders or scuff their toes on the floor.

Snape turned to face them, crossing his arms and towering over them. Danny was reminded of the first time he met the professor, cornered in his bunker with two oddly-dressed strangers. Snape had the same stony, impersonal glare he had back then now.

"The three of you acted extremely rash this evening. What would you have done if the professors and I had not shown up to deal with the troll?" Snape bit out.

Zabini and Daphne both looked sideways at him. What? Why did Danny have to talk? When did he become the spokesperson for their ragtag group?

Snape was looking at him, too; guess he believed Danny was the spokesperson as well.

"Run for our lives?" Crap, definitely not the time to bring out the sass. "Sir," he added weakly.

Snapes eyes narrowed and he had a feeling Zabini and Daphne were trying to resist slapping their foreheads.

"Keep in mind," Snape said steely, "that you three were off adventuring by the girls' restrooms after the Headmaster had specifically pointed out that a dangerous troll had been wandering the school." He looked pointedly at Zabini and Daphne, "I will not have your parents sending us howlers due to your irresponsibility."

Danny really wanted to tell him, again, that Daphne and he hadn't been in the Great Hall when people found out about the troll, but he knew he would be ignored. Again.

"You three will be serving detention twice a week for the next three week, which will hopefully teach you some common sense."

With that final note, he dismissed them to their dorms. Once they were out of hearing range, both Zabini and Daphne pulled his ears.

"OW! Let go!" He jerked his head out of their grip and rubbed his throbbing ears.

"'Run for our lives'? What's wrong with you?" Daphne said, frustrated. "You don't use sarcasm with Snape!"

"Well, what was I supposed to say?!"

"How about something that wouldn't have given us three weeks of detention?" Zabini asked dryly.

Danny scowled. "I didn't see you two jumping up to say your bit! Besides, how much crap do you think he gave about our story back there? He would've given us the detentions anyway."

They definitely didn't look happy, but they seemed a little more resigned, if not accepting. Daphne sluggishly marched to the girl's dormitories. Danny and Zabini stayed there for a bit.

"You're going to explain that thing you did, Danny," Zabini said, matter of fact.

Danny groaned. "Fine, I'll do it in the morning, I too tired right now."

Blaise nodded. "Good," he said, and they walked to their rooms, ready to sleep after all the hell they went through that day.

So...it's definitely been a while. I've actually had this chapter written up for a few months, but I lost the papers and only found them recently. They were in the same folder with all my pilot training stuff, stuffed inside my old artwork drawer...so it took a while to come across it.

I'll be honest with you, I haven't been writing much fanfiction lately. See, the way I write is a little bit like how Michelangelo would say how he carved-he would chip and chip, and eventually the sculpture would reveal itself. When I sit down to write, I may have a little plan for how it's going, but all of a sudden a sentence doesn't look quite right, and when I fix it, the ENTIRE plot changes. This is why it's extremely difficult to plan my stories, and why I can get stuck easily.

So, for new readers, you can either expect quick updates within the week/month, or you might not see an update for a few months at a time. Sorry about that, but I'm really busy with school, and have no organizational skills, and have an erratic writing style.

But, I hope you enjoy this update, even if it's a bit short. I can't believe this story has so many followers! I certainly didn't expect that when I posted the first chapter up there.

Thank you so much, and I hope you stick around through the slow updates because I really do like this story, and I have so many ideas for it!

As always, if you have any comments or critiques, please don't hesitate to tell me! And if you think flames are critiques, go ahead and write those too.

Until next time.