The next morning Danny woke up feeling extremely tired, he'd had an episode that night after talking to Professor McGonagall. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, he wondered if he could just stay in bed but he knew he couldn't so he stood up before getting dressed. He waited for Ron to get up and get ready before heading down to breakfast, when he sat down he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He mentally sighed, it was still there, the thing from the Erised mirror didn't seem to want to leave. Danny wasn't sure how to feel about that, he just knew he was glad that his wounds were gone so it didn't hurt to move. As soon as he and Ron were done eating they headed to herbology and they waited for the teacher to get there after getting their stuff on.

The teacher soon walked in and spoke, "Morning everyone." She tapped a pot with her wand to get everyone's attention and repeated what she said.

The students responded at the same time, "Good morning Mrs. Sprout."

Danny still thought that was creepy, Mrs. Sprout smiled, "Welcome to greenhouse three second years, now gather 'round everyone. Today we're going to re pot Mandrakes, who here can tell me the properties of the Mandrake root?" Hermione raised her hand, "Yes Miss Granger."

Hermione put her hand down and spoke, "Mandrake, or Mandragora, is used to return those who've been petrified to their original state. It's also quite dangerous, the Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it."

Mrs. Sprout smiled, "Excellent, ten points to Gryffindor, now as our Mandrakes are still only seedlings their cries won't kill you yet. They'll only knock you out for a couple of hours which is why I've given each of you a pair of earmuffs for auditory protection, so can you please put them on right away."

Everyone picked up their ear muffs and Danny quickly put earplugs in his ears before putting the earmuffs on. Since his hearing was so good he could still hear despite the added protection, as well as hear the teacher. He looked up just in time for her to give them instructions, "You grasp your Mandrake firmly, you pull it sharply up out of the pot."

When she pulled the Mandrake up Danny winced at the sound, he was pretty sure that by the end of this his eardrums would have burst. "Got it, and now you dunk it down into the other pot and pour a little sprinkling of soil to keep him warm."

Neville then passed out and Mrs. Sprout sighed, "Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs."

Seamus spoke, "No ma'am, he's just fainted."

Sprout looked at him, "Yes well, just leave him there." Danny almost laughed and Sprout continued, "Right, on we go, plenty of pots to go around, grasp your Mandrake and pull it up."

Everyone did as they were told and Danny felt like his ears were dying, thankfully he didn't pass out. When class was finally over they eventually wound up in the great hall eating lunch and Ron was using tape to fix his wand. Ron looked at him, "Say it, I'm doomed."

Danny nodded a little, "Yeah, you're doomed."

Then someone spoke, "Hi Danny!" Danny turned just in time for a bright flash to blind him, "I'm Colin Creevey, I'm in Gryffindor too."

Danny looked at the kid, "Um, hi."

Then someone else spoke, "Ron, is that your owl?"

Ron and Danny looked to see that it was indeed Ron's owl, Errol landed in the chip bowl and several people laughed. Ron spoke, "Bloody bird's a menace." Ron took the letter from the owl and Errol quickly went over to Danny before settling in his lap and Danny smoothed his feathers. Ron spoke again, "Oh no."

Seamus spoke, "Look everyone, Weasley's got himself a howler."

Neville spoke, "Go on Ron, I ignored one from my gran once, it was horrible."

Ron's hands started shaking as he opened the letter and as soon as he did a voice shouted, "Ronald Weasley!" Ron dropped the letter and it changed to form a mouth and continued, "How dare you steal that car! I am absolutely disgusted, your father's now facing an inquiry at work and it's entirely your fault!"

"If you put another toe out of line we'll bring you straight home!" Ron nodded and the letter looked in Ginny's direction, "Oh and Ginny dear, congratulations on making Gryffindor, your father and I are so proud."

Ginny looked a bit embarrassed and the letter stuck it's tongue out at Ron before tearing itself up. Ron, and even Hermione, looked a bit scared, Errol decided to fly away at that moment and Danny mentally sighed, this year was off to a bad start. After lunch they went to Defense Against the Dark Arts and as soon as he saw the new teacher his day somehow got worse.

Gilderoy Lockhart walked out of his office and looked at all of them, "Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, me." Ron looked very displeased, Danny felt the same way, he already wanted to punch him in the face. Lockhart continued, "Gilderoy Lockhart. Order of Merlin third class, honorary member of the dark force defense league, and five times winner of Witch Weekly's most charming smile award."

Danny thought he should add 'total narcissist' to that list but kept quiet, he didn't want to deal with this guy. Lockhart kept going, "But I don't talk about that." Then why mention it at all? "I didn't get rid of the band of Banshee by smiling at them." He laughed a little and Danny looked around, the boys seemed to be in the same boat as him and Ron but the girls were eating this up.

Lockhart still kept going, "Now, be warned, it is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard kind." Danny raised an eyebrow, he wanted to say 'you?' but forced himself to stay quiet once again. Lockhart tapped the covered cage next to him, "You may find yourselves facing your worst nightmares in this room."

"Knowing only no harm can befall you whilst I am here, I must ask you not to scream, it might provoke them!" He then took off the cover on the cage and over a dozen tiny creatures were trying to get out of the cage.

Seamus spoke, "Cornish pixies?"

Lockhart spoke, "Freshly caught Cornish pixies." Seamus laughed and Lockhart looked at him, "Laugh if you want Mr. Finnigan but pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters, let's see what you make of them."

He then let the pixies out and they flew at the students, many of them dove out of the way but Danny just leaned back in his seat. Lockhart kept telling them to round up the pixies and Danny rolled his eyes before standing on his desk and whistling. Everyone, including the pixies, looked at him and he shouted, "Come on you stupid little pixies, come get me!"

Many of the students started running out of the room as the pixies flew toward Danny and the halfa easily dodged them by jumping onto other desks. He soon made his way to Lockhart's desk and grabbed the pixies out of the air one by one and putting them in the cage. After several minutes of doing flips and tricks to avoid and catch the pixies he finally put the last one in the cage.

By the time he did the room was practically destroyed, Lockhart had run into his office, and a majority of the class had run out of the room. Danny, Ron, and Hermione were the only ones left aside from Neville who was hanging from the chandelier. Danny climbed up to the chandelier and hooked the back of his knees on the chandelier before grabbing Neville and bringing him closer to the floor so Ron and Hermione could grab him.

Neville sighed, "Why is it always me?"

Danny shrugged before jumping from the chandelier onto the ground with more grace then anyone the others had ever seen. Lockhart had come out of his office just in time to see Danny do that and he looked impressed. After classes were finally over he went to meet Oliver Wood and the rest of the quidditch team before practice.

Once they were all dressed they started making their way to the field to practice and Wood spoke. "I spent the summer devising a whole new quidditch program, we're going to train earlier, harder, and longer." He then looked out at the field and he looked confused, "What, I don't believe it."

They walked outside and Wood looked at the Slytherin quidditch team, "Where do you think your going Flint?"

Flint looked at him, "Quidditch practice."

Wood stood in front of him, "I booked the pitch for Gryffindor today."

"Easy Wood, I've got a note." Flint held out the note and Wood took it and read it, "I, Severus Snape, do hereby give the slytherin team permission to practice today owing the need to train their new seeker." Wood looked at Flint, "You've got a new seeker, who?"

The Slytherin team stepped out of the way to reveal Draco Malfoy, so he was their new seeker. Danny spoke, "Oh joy."

Malfoy spoke, "That's right, and that's not all that's new this year."

They all looked at the brooms the Slytherin's had and Ron spoke, "Those are nimbus 2001's, how did you get those?"

Flint spoke, "A gift from Draco's father."

Malfoy looked at Ron, "You see Weasley unlike some my father can afford the best."

Danny spoke, "So the little rich boy bought his way onto the team, how nice, but those aren't going to do much if you don't know how to use them."

Malfoy got closer to him, "No one asked your opinion."

"Haven't you been paying attention, I don't give a damn whether someone asked for my opinion, I call it like I see it."

Hermione spoke, "And he's right, everyone on the Gryffindor team got in on sheer talent."

Malfoy looked at her, "No one asked your opinion either, you filthy little mudblood."

Danny bit back a growl and his teammates didn't seem too happy about what Malfoy called Hermione either. Ron took out his wand, "You'll pay for that one Malfoy, eat slugs." The spell Ron used backfired and he went flying back, Danny, Hermione, and the Gryffindor quidditch team went to see if he was okay.

Hermione spoke as she knelt next to Ron, "You okay Ron?" Ron looked sick and Hermione looked worried, "Say something."

Danny spoke, "I'd be careful, he looks sick."

As if on cue Ron threw up a slug and Danny cringed, that probably wasn't a good feeling. There was a flash and Creevey spoke, "Wow, can you turn him around Danny?"

"Not at the moment." He looked at Hermione, "Let's get him to Hagrid, he'll probably know what to do."

Ron threw up another slug and the two grabbed their friend before quickly bringing him to Hagrid's. Hagrid had them sit down and Hagrid left for a minute before coming back with a bucket, "Well, this calls for specialist equipment." He handed Ron the bucket before sitting down, "Nothin' to do but wait 'til it stops I'm afraid."

Ron threw up another slug and Danny cringed once again, "Well, it's better then being around Lockhart at least."

Hagrid looked at Ron, "Well, better out then in, who was Ron tryin' to curse anyway?"

Danny looked at him, "Malfoy, he called Hermione a, um, well I actually have no god damn clue what it means."

Hermione stood up and crossed her arms, "He called he a mudblood."

Hagrid gasped, "He did not."

Danny spoke, "Okay, seriously, what the hell does that mean?"

Hermione looked at him, "It means dirty blood, mudblood's a really foul name for someone who is muggleborn, someone with non-magic parents, someone like me. It is not a term one usually hears in civilized conversation."

Danny bit back a growl and Hagrid spoke, "You see the thing is Danny there are some wizards, like the Malfoy family, who think they're better then everyone else because their what people call pure blood."

Danny was quiet for a split second, "Okay, I'm going to punch him in the face."

Hermione smiled just a little before Ron threw up another slug, "It's disgusting."

Danny smirked, "And the valiant warrior who went down fighting for Hermione's honor speaks."

Hagrid looked at Danny, "And it's all codswallop to boot, dirty blood, there isn't a wizard alive today who isn't half blood or less. More to the point they have yet to think of a spell that our Hermione can't do." Hermione smiled and Hagrid smiled back, "Come here."

Hagrid held Hermione's hand in both of his, "Don't you think on it Hermione, don't you think on it for one minute."

Danny smirked, "He's right, Malfoy's got nothing on you, and if you want me to I will get back at him for you, I'll even let you pick how."

Hermione laughed and Danny was realizing that he was very protective of the people he considered friends. His mind halted when that though came up, friends, he considered them friends, he never thought that would happen. After Ron stopped throwing up slugs they left Hagrid's, Danny and Ron now had detention to serve.

Unfortunately for Danny he had to serve detention helping Lockhart sign things and he was not happy about it. Lockhart eventually spoke, "Danny, Danny, Danny, can you imagine a better way to serve detention then my helping me answer my fan mail?"

Danny mumbled to himself, "I can think of a few."

Lockhart looked at him, "Fame is a fickle friend Danny, celebrity is as celebrity does, remember that."

Danny shook his head a little before he heard someone talk, "Come to me."

He felt a hand on his shoulder, it was more firm then normal, like it was telling him to be careful. He stayed silent as he tried to figure out who talked or where they were, it sounded like it was in the walls. Lockhart then looked at the clock, "Oh look at that, we've nearly been here four hours, spooky how the time flies when one's having fun."

Danny felt the hand leave his shoulder, "Yeah, spooky." Danny was then allowed to leave and as he was walking he heard the same voice again, he put his ear closer to the wall and followed the voice to try and figure out where it was going. Then someone else spoke, "Danny."

He looked to see Ron and Hermione, "Okay, I'm probably going to sound crazy but there's something in the walls and I think it wants to kill someone."

Ron spoke, "Kill?"

Danny heard the voice again and he ran in the direction it was headed, the two ran after him and Hermione spoke, "Danny wait, not so fast!"

Danny ran through the halls after the voice and he stopped when he got to a hallway with water covering the floor, he didn't hear the voice anymore. He felt a hand on his wrist and it gently lead him down a hallway before letting go and he went in that direction. Ron and Hermione soon caught up to him and he walked down the hallway before coming across a line of spiders leaving through the window.

Danny spoke, "Well that's something you don't see everyday."

Ron spoke, "I don't like spiders."

Danny looked at him, "You get used to them when you practically live with them for over a decade."

He then looked in the water, Ron and Hermione followed his gaze and Ron spoke, "What's that?"

The water was reflecting something, they all looked up and Hermione read it, "The chamber of secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir beware."

Danny then looked at one of the lights, "Holy shit, it's Filch's cat, it's Mrs. Norris."

People soon started filing onto the hallway and Malfoy spoke, "Enemies if the heir beware?" He looked in Hermione's direction, "You'll be next mudbloods."

Danny bit back a growl before he heard Filch speak, "What's going on here, go on make way, make way." As soon as he got through the crowd he looked at Danny, "Phantom, what are you ...?" He stopped talking when he noticed Mrs. Norris, "Mrs. Norris?" He looked at Danny, "You've murdered my cat."

Danny shook his head, "No, I wouldn't-."

Filch cut him off, "I'll kill you." He grabbed the front of Danny's robe, "I'll kill you!"

Someone then shouted, "Argus!" Everyone stepped aside to let Dumbledore through and he looked at Filch, "Argue, Argus I..." He seemed to freeze when he saw what was written on the wall before he spoke again, "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately."

Danny stayed where he was but everyone else, including Ron and Hermione, tried to leave. Dumbledore stopped them, "Everyone except you three." He pointed to Ron, Hermione, and Danny, everyone else quickly left aside from the trio."

Dumbledore looked at Filch, "She's not dead Argus, she has been petrified."

Lockhart spoke, "Ah, thought so, so unlucky I wasn't there, I know exactly the counter curse that could have spared her."

Dumbledore seemed to pretend he hadn't spoken, "But how she has been petrified I can not say."

Filch gestured toward Danny, "Ask him, it's him who's done it, you saw what he wrote on the wall."

"Woah, hold the fuck up, I didn't do this, there was no way I could have."

Filch looked at him, "Rubbish."

Snape spoke, "If I might headmaster, Perhaps Phantom and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, the circumstances are suspicious, I for one don't recall seeing Phantom at dinner."

Lockhart spoke, "I'm afraid that's my doing Severus, you see Danny was helping me answer my fan mail."

Hermione spoke, "That's why Ron and I went looking for him Professor, we just found him when he said..."

Snape raised an eyebrow, "Yes Miss Granger?"

Danny spoke, "When I said I wasn't hungry, we were going back to the common room when we found Mrs. Norris."

Ron and Hermione nodded in agreement and Snape looked at Dumbledore who spoke, "Innocent until proven guilty Severus."

Filch spoke, "My cat has been petrified, I wanna see some punishment!"

Dumbledore looked at him, "We will be able to cure her Argus, as I understand it Madam Sprout has a very healthy growth of Mandrakes." Sprout nodded and Dumbledore continued, "A matured potion will be made which will revive Mrs. Norris. And in the meantime I strongly recommend caution to all."

They all nodded and the trio were allowed to go back to their dorms and on the way Hermione spoke. "It's a bit strange isn't it?"

Danny raised an eyebrow, "And by that you mean?"

She turned to him, "You hear a voice, a voice only you can hear and then Mrs. Norris turns up petrified, it's just strange."

"And that's not exactly a good thing, they probably would have locked me away if I told them I heard a voice in the walls." He mentally sighed before walking past them and up to the dorms, so many mysteries so little time.