Hello there! I've thought a lot about what adventures the Doctor will encounter as him being the professor of History of Magic, and I'm really excited to write them! This starts out in the middle of the chapter The Sorting Hat's New Song from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. So, just as a disclaimer if I use any of the lines or sections from the book, such as Umbridge's speech, they are J.K Rowling's and not mine. Also when I use some of the text I may skip some parts I don't need to use. Well, enough with me boring you with a silly author's note; on with the chapter!
Chapter Four
"We have had three changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. And..." Dumbledore trailed off and glanced down the staff table and carried on,
"It appears our third teacher is not present yet. I am sure though that he has a reasonable explanation for his absence." He still smiled cheerfully at delivering this news, and while there was a slight round of applause it seemed choppy and abrupt from all the murmurs and gossip spreading about the tables. Harry wondered what subject this new professor was filling for; he recognized that every teacher he had ever known was here so was this professor teaching another class? Harry certainly hoped not, he knew he had enough already to do for his O.W.L. year; another course might just kill him.
Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the—"
He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge said, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech. Just as she tried to open her mouth to continue, the Great Hall doors swung open with what seemed to be a great force. The culprits of this interruption were revealed, and Harry could only gaze upon them, awestruck. There standing in the doorway were the Doctor and Donna; the strange pair he had met the day of his trial. Everyone's attention was now directed towards the two, and when Harry decided to peek a glance at Umbridge, her lips were pursed together almost as much as Professor McGonagall's usually were. Harry nudged Ron's shoulder to grab his attention.
"Ron, it's him. That's the Doctor and Donna," Harry stated.
"Wait you mean that Doctor guy you were going on about before?" Ron questioned. Harry decided when he had arrived at Grimmauld Place to ignore Dumbledore's and Mr. Weasley's advice and told Ron and Hermione of his strange morning. Of course, he left a few details out. Such as all the parts including Voldemort or horcruxes or things he knew his friends might be a bit apprehensive about. The Doctor scratched the back of his head as if trying to think of what to say.
"Blimey, didn't know I was this late," the Doctor muttered to himself and then added, "Sorry everyone, got a bit lost. Seems to happen a lot."
"Nice going," Donna responded in a hushed whisper. He gestured his hand forwards and commanded,
"Come on Donna. Ladies first." They strode up one of the aisles and were totally oblivious to the hundreds of eyes that followed their movement. They sat themselves down at the staff table as if nothing was unfit about their untimely fashion. The Doctor stared at Professor Umbridge as if expecting something to happen.
"Well, go on then," he instructed. Dumbledore took this time to intervene and rose from his seat.
"I don't believe I have properly introduced our new staff member. This is Professor Smith who will be teaching the course History of Magic along with his colleague Miss Donna Noble," Dumbledore announced. The Doctor waved his hand and chirped merrily,
"Hello!"
Harry was personally a bit perplexed at this and most of the other students were as well since the chattering was now evident and commencing among all tables. He picked up little things from the conversations such as,
"What happened to Binns?"
"I don't know, but good riddance. He's the most boring ghost at Hogwarts."
"What do they need two professors for?"
These were questions Harry found himself asking too along with some others. Why was the Doctor going by Professor Smith? He had said himself his name was strictly just 'the Doctor'. The answer immediately popped into his head. Of course. He had to go by another alias; students couldn't be calling him 'Doctor'. That also brought another inquiry to light. Why was the Doctor even here? And why was he teaching at his school?
He didn't really have time to think over his thoughts though as Professor Umbridge gave another clear and sharp,
"Hem, hem," in that petty annoying voice Harry was already sick of. Harry couldn't help but notice that Donna was turning her head towards the Doctor and mouthed something to him as if she were confused by this and while Harry couldn't tell exactly what she had said, the man just shrugged his shoulders in response and the silent conversation appeared to be over.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome." She produced another cough,
"Hem, hem," and continued, "Well it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"
Harry glanced around. None of the faces he could see looked happy; on the contrary, they all looked rather taken aback at being addressed as though they were five year olds. The Doctor—he meant Professor Smith, he would really have to get used to that—and Donna appeared to be searching the crowd for the one child who was supposedly smiling.
"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"
Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins.
Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again "Hem, hem" to make another point, but was disturbed when Donna requested,
"Are you alright? Do you have a bad cough? Seriously I think I have cough drops around here somewhere. Or maybe you need some tea?" The whole Great Hall couldn't resist it and erupted in giggles and snickers under the impression that she was making a joke, but from the little time Harry had met with Donna he knew she was actually saying this out of kindness. Harry gazed at the staff table and they wore bemused expressions at this, including Professor Smith. Professor Umbridge turned to face Donna.
"Oh no my dear," Donna quirked her eyebrows up at this nickname for her, "I am perfectly alright," Umbridge chuckled dryly. She spun back around to address the Great Hall once more with her speech.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching." Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back. Professor McGonagall's dark eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawk-like, and Harry distinctly saw her exchange a significant glance with Professor Sprout as Umbridge gave another little "Hem, hem" and went on with her speech. Professor Smith was just as solemn if not more so and his whole face was etched with disdain for Umbridge and after this he eyed her more carefully.
"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation…"
Harry felt his attention span weakening from the monotonous speech, and was open to any distraction that was somewhat interesting. As he observed the tables, every house seemed to be occupying their time with other activities such as chatting away, reading a book, anything that would take up time. At last, the toad-like woman finished her speech and sat down. Dumbledore was the first in the entire hall to applaud and that was followed by series of unenthusiastic claps from the rest of the teachers, all but one.
Harry noticed that Professor Smith wasn't even joining in and had his arms crossed over his chest along with a grimace sent in Umbridge's direction, causing him to have the appearance of a pouting child who disagreed with the rules. Harry wasn't sure of the message of the speech, but from the wary and scowling looks of the staff table, he wished he understood.
OoO
Harry, Ron, and Hermione descended down the moving staircases, none of them particularly excited about their upcoming schedules. Ron was still muttering and complaining about double potions, but their first destination was classroom 4f, the History of Magic classroom. There were five desks clumped together so the trio took their seats and Neville and Dean Thomas joined them. Dean started,
"Look, Seamus probably didn't mean it Harry, he's just confused and—"
"I know you mean well Dean, but I don't care about what Seamus thinks of me or the Ministry of Magic so you don't have to defend him," Harry cut across Dean, though he knew very well that what he just said was truly a lie. He did care about what Seamus thought, what everyone thought of him as.
"Is that a pillow Dean?" Ron questioned, thankfully changing topics. Harry had only just noticed then accompanied with Dean's books and supplies was indeed a pillow resting on the desk.
"Yeah, I thought I would take a nap here since I didn't get much sleep last night. I mean it's History of Magic, it'll probably be the same as Binns teaching," Dean answered as he dropped his head on the pillow. Hermione sighed in exasperation and asserted,
"You have to at least give Professor Smith a chance Dean; he hasn't even walked in the room! He's new here; you can't judge him just yet!"
"Yeah well Professor Umbridge is new here too, and you judged her pretty quickly," Ron spoke in Dean's defense.
"She's different Ronald!" Hermione hissed. Harry rubbed at his forehead, resisting the urge to plug his ears from their insufferable bickering. As Dean closed his eyes though, the doors to classroom 4f swung open with a mighty force.
"Hello class! Sorry I was late; I tend to do that a lot. As you know I am Professor Smith and this is Miss Donna Noble. Well, I just call her Donna, but I think you are all required to address her as Miss Noble. Right, enough with chit-chat; let's get to business. First matter is attendance," Professor Smith announced and he glanced once at the list of students and back up at the class and stated, "Yeah, you're all here. So since I have not been your teacher for the past four years of your History of Magic education, I just want to check up on what you know or remember." He paused here in his ramblings waiting for someone to raise their hand to answer his request, and the candidate was no other than Hermione.
"Yes Miss Granger?"
"Over the past four years we have studied various icons in Wizarding history such as Gaspard Shingleton, who created the Self Stirring Cauldron or Emeric the Evil who terrorized southern England during the Middle Ages. We've also learned about riots and rebellions such as the Gargoyle Strike of 1911, but we have mainly focused on the Goblin Rebellions," Hermione concluded.
"I see. Thank you, Miss Granger for your extensive explanation. Anyone else care to add anything?" The room was silent.
"Nothing, seriously? Alright well you all must be being modest, which I don't mind. Tell me then Mr. Longbottom about the Witch Hunts of the fourteenth century," Professor Smith requested.
"I, I don't know sir," Neville stammered. Malfoy snickered at Neville's humiliation.
"That's okay; I'll just ask someone else about something different. Mr. Malfoy, tell me about the Medieval Assembly of European Wizards." Malfoy's head shot up surprised at being put on the spot.
"That it's pointless," Malfoy sneered.
"It is now obvious to me that your class, with the exception of Miss Granger, has retained absolutely no knowledge of this course! Now what I don't know whether that is due to your former professor's teaching methods or just pure laziness either or are unacceptable! Your O.W.L.s are coming up and I have a year to teach you five years' worth of curriculum. Correction: I have less than a year to teach you all of this!" Professor Smith turned to his esteemed colleague, Miss Noble.
"Donna this is impossible! There is no way I can achieve this! This is far beyond my limits! This is a hopeless endeavor!" He continued with his ranting while Hermione shook her head.
"Great, we've just given our teacher an anxiety attack. You see, if people other than myself actually attempted to listen to Professor Binns we wouldn't be in this predicament," Hermione lectured.
"Oh so you're just putting the blame on me!" Ron snapped.
"Not just you exclusively! I mean Harry's as guilty as you!" Hermione argued.
"What's this got to do with me?" Harry demanded. Chaos ensued within the classroom, everyone seeming to be squabbling about some trivial matter or another, making this the first time actual noise filled the room.
"Oh this worse than dealing with you when you had dad shock," Donna fussed.
Proffesor Smith still raved,
"I can't do this!" He looked up at the classroom for a long moment. He then declared quite loudly, "Let's do it! Alright class!" This alone awoke the sleeping occupant of the room, Dean Thomas, startling him. The chattering commenced no longer. Donna silently pulled out a tattered journal from one of the desk drawers, handing it delicately to Professor Smith, in fear it would not remain intact from its fragile condition.
"Thank you Donna. Now these are the notes from your Professor," he stated and added hesitantly, "when he was alive. But since we are starting at the very beginning, these aren't really necessary." He tossed the book carelessly behind him and it burst into shreds upon impact. He darted up the stairs to some of the desks.
"Since we are learning about the history of magic, you lot should learn what magic exactly is."
"But professor, we know what magic is," Hermione clarified.
"Really, do you? Then define it for me Miss Granger." She took a breath and replied,
"Magic is an ability some such as ourselves possess, enabling us to perform certain tasks other people cannot."
"And what causes this ability?" Professor Smith inquired.
"It's passed down in families. Yet there are some cases that are unexplainable where in a family of non-magical people a child can use magic, such as myself," Hermione answered.
"You only answered part of my question. You didn't tell me how magic originates in certain individuals." Harry cautiously raised his hand, doing something he had never truly done in a classroom before. Helping a friend.
"Yes Mr. Potter?" Professor Smith asked.
"Sir, I think that the answer is that magic is caused by a higher capacity of radiation in people than others," Harry responded recalling what the Doctor had defined magic as to Donna when Harry had been eavesdropping on them. Whispers were spreading about things like what is radiation and the Boy-Who-Lies doesn't fail to give another lie.
"That is exactly right Mr. Potter. Ten points to Gryffindor! Seems you've been listening," he paused here and winked at Harry, knowing exactly where Harry had found this source of information and continued on, "so we will be meeting the first people who developed this ability. And Mr. Thomas, what precisely do you need this for?" The professor gestured towards the student's pillow.
"I, well, I—" Dean stuttered trying to come up with a reasonable excuse.
"Oh save it, you can pick it up at the end of class." With this Professor Smith seized the pillow and punted it to the back of the room causing object to bounce off the wall and land on the ground.
"He sure likes throwing things, doesn't he?" Neville whispered.
"But Professor Smith, radiation isn't the cause of magic. Bathilda Bagshot wrote that magic is passed through a person's bloodline," Hermione objected.
"Miss Granger I assume that you are familiar with the term radiation because your parents are Muggles, correct?"
"Yes," she answered unsurely.
"Those of your classmates whose parents are not Muggles have no clue what radiation is. Which I am about to tell them about. Radiation is the process in which energy is emitted as particles or waves. Wizards and Witches use wands to project this radiation enabling the ability to cast spells. Your minds control what you want this to produce; therefore there are a variety of spells. Now Miss Granger you know that there has hardly been scientific development in the Wizarding community compared to the Muggle community so tell me how Ms. Bagshot could explain the source of magic. Genetics are only part of the answer." Harry stared at Hermione whose mouth kept popping open like a fish, stunned.
"Blimey, a professor who can make Hermione speechless. I like him," Ron remarked.
"But sir, you said that we had a higher capacity of radiation. What causes this?" Neville quizzed.
"Excellent question Mr. Longbottom! It's caused by a mutation in your genes in chromosome six, but I won't get into DNA any further. So there you have it, the cause of what we call magic. But now we have to worry about the actual lesson at hand. The development of Wizards and Witches initiated in Ancient Egypt and Greece. Notable figures from these areas include Andros the Invincible, Circe, Falco Aesalon, Herpo the Foul, and Mopsus. One of whom we will cover today," the professor explained. Harry heard a noticeable yawn from the back corner, a student probably preparing to nap since the excitement had died down.
Professor Smith rushed down the stairs to a very large cabinet, unlocking the doors revealing the blue telephone police call box Harry had been an occupant of before. Donna who had surprisingly been very quiet this whole time stood now in front of the class.
"Right. All of you, in the box," Donna commanded.
"What you expect us to go in there!" Draco spat back.
"Yes, I do! You got a problem with that?"
"We'll never fit in there!" One girl countered.
"Why are we going in there?" Another student queried.
"It's bigger on the inside; you don't need to worry about space. And you'll see what we're doing soon enough," Professor Smith assured them. Harry, being the only student who knew about what the box was, was the first to depart from his seat and enter the blue police box doors. He heard from the classroom three sets of feet bounding down the stairs which soon followed him inside the box. These people being no other than his two best friends and Neville Longbottom. They gazed at the interior with such wonder just as he had a couple weeks previously.
"See? They know to set an example." Harry heard Donna scold the class.
"Bloody hell mate. I mean I knew you said this was a different kind of phone box, but I wasn't expecting this," Ron mentioned. The rest of class filed in eventually, Harry seeing amazement reprising. The two teachers joined them.
"Right, so everyone's in? Good," Professor Smith checked and darted over to the console flipping levers and switches with much enthusiasm. He faced the doorway then and snapped his fingers once, and the doors slammed and the lock clicked shut. The wheezing noise started up, everyone scrambling around the room trying to find the source of the odd sound.
"Professor! What's happening?" Hermione interrogated with fright.
Professor Smith was too occupied with the console, constantly banging upon it with what looked like a sledgehammer yelling, "Behave!"
One girl shrieked. Hermione in panic started repeatedly casting the spell Alohamora on the lock, but it refused to budge.
"Doc-, I mean professor, where are we going?" Donna demanded.
"The Island of Circe!" the Doctor yelled back.
So the Doctor's "curriculum" has been revealed. And a trip to the Island of Circe, none the less! How will this history lesson pan out? With a lot of trouble I can assure you guys. Well I hope you guys enjoyed it and please review!