Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardy
Prof. Dumbledore stood at the top of the small staircase just off of the main hallway that led to the Great Hall. He watched the students hurry past on their way to breakfast, making a point to call out a greeting to random students. His attention was so focused on the young people in his charge that did not sense the Doctor behind him until the ancient alien spoke.
"I'll stay and see what I can do to help," the Doctor said, startling Dumbledore. "But don't think, not even for an instant, that you are smart enough to manipulate me," he warned. "I was going to help protect the students before you and I had our little chat. There are some other reasons for me to stick around, but they are none of your business," he explained.
"Thank you, Doctor," Dumbledore replied, not turning to face him. "Will you be joining us at the head table for breakfast?" he asked as if their previous disagreement had never happened. When he failed to receive a reply, Dumbledore turned around to watch the Doctor head through the doors to the Great Hall, making a straight line for the Gryffindor table. Sighing, Dumbledore turned again to welcome students on their way to their morning meal.
The Doctor decided to find out what the old Moob had been thinking when it told him he would have been placed with the Gryffindors had he been a student. While making his way to the table decorated with red and gold, the Doctor took notice of how the students at each table acted. He was able to see that those sitting at the Gryffindor table seemed to be a bit more lively than their counterparts. It wasn't that they were being rowdy, they simply looked like they were eager to embrace what ever life sent their way. Smiling, the Doctor thought that perhaps he would have things in common with the Gryffindor students after all. Weaving through the sea of milling students, he went to where he had seen his new friends Hermione and Neville sitting. Tapping Hermione gently on the shoulder, he asked, "Room for one more?"
Hermione blushed slightly when she recognized the voice behind her. "Certainly, Doctor," she replied, scooting so there would be space between her and Harry. "But shouldn't you be sitting at the head table?" she asked.
The Doctor chuckled and took his seat next to Hermione. "I'm a bit cross with your headmaster this morning. Besides, you lot look like you're a lot more fun to hang out with," he admitted. A new place setting appeared in front of him, startling him slightly. He looked around and saw food materializing on Hermione and Harry's plates. When his plate remained empty, the Doctor looked over at Neville. "Um...am I supposed to do something?" he asked.
"The House Elves cook breakfasts to order," Neville told him. "All you have to do is look at the plate and say what you want," he explained. To demonstrate, Neville looked at plate and said, "Fried tomato." A tomato cut into slices and fried to perfection took form on his plate. Neville broke off a piece with his fork and popped it in his mouth. After he was done chewing and swallowing, Neville beamed at the Doctor. "Hogwart's House Elves are the best cooks on the planet," he boasted.
Curious, the Doctor decided to try an experiment. He looked at his plate and said clearly, "Lungbarrow porridge." A bowl of thick porridge with odd, unidentified bits floating in it popped into existence in front of the Doctor. While he beamed with nostalgic joy, Harry and Hermione leaned away from the odd smell. The Doctor put a large spoonful of the mixture into his mouth and rolled his eyes back in pleasure. "Just like our nanny used to make. Magic is cool," he proclaimed.
The scent of the traditional breakfast for the House of Lungbarrow wafted over to Ron. "GAH! What did you do to piss off your nanny?" he questioned, waving his hand in front of his face.
The Doctor looked up at the red headed boy and grinned proudly. "Many, many things. She said I was born into mischief," he replied cryptically. "Why do you ask?" he inquired, not realizing how Gallifreyan cooking smelled to humans.
Ron chuckled. Like the Marauders before him, he figured that anyone who got into mischief was all right in his book. He held out his hand to the Doctor, streching over the plates. "Ron Weasley," he said, introducing himself.
The Doctor put down his spoon long enough to shake Ron's hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Ron. I'm the Doctor," he replied.
Harry shifted in his seat so that he could offer the Doctor his hand. He dreaded telling people his name and the reaction they inevitably gave him. Harry often wished he could meet someone that had no idea who he was. "I'm Harry Potter," he introduced himself.
The Doctor turned to face Harry. "Hello, Harry," the Doctor said, shaking his hand.
Draco Malfoy had been walking past the Gryffindor table on his way to where the Slytherins sat while Harry introduced himself. "One more person to add to your fan club, Potter," he sneered. Draco walked quickly off, not giving the the Doctor or Harry a chance to reply.
Ron shook his head at how the Doctor looked confused. He knew how his best friend hated the fame that came with just being him. Like tearing off a bandaid, Ron thought that getting past the whole stardom thing was best done quickly so that people could get to know Harry as a person. "That's theHarry Potter you're sitting next to, mate," he told the Doctor, pointing a fork full of streaky bacon at Harry.
Harry winced and waited for the Doctor's reaction. A small grin started to form on his face when there seemed to be no sign of recognition from the Doctor. It seemed that his wish for anonymity had finally been granted.
"I'm sorry, are you famous?" the Doctor inquired. "I'm not really up with pop culture," he admitted. "You're not in a boy band, are you?" he asked, a slight look of distaste in his eyes. Hermione and Neville had to pound on Ron's back as he choked on a mouthful of food.
********DrW********
Hermione was secretly happy that the Doctor had chosen to spend the morning shadowing her and her friends while they went about their day. Care of Magical Creatures was first up on their schedule. She was interested in how the odd, but cute, man would react to to their old friend, Rebus Hagrid. How a person reacted to those different from themselves spoke volumes in her opinion. It was with that in mind she watched the Doctor when Hagrid came out of his hut to greet his students. The doctor showed no signs of fear or disgust when he saw the half-giant, only non-threatening curiosity.
Hagrid met the Doctor's eyes with a steely glance, taking a measure of the oddly dressed man (the Doctor still insisted on wearing his robe open at the front.) A slight smile and nod of his head was Hagrid's response to the Doctor's friendly grin. "Doctor, isn't it?" he asked and held out a huge hand. The Doctor shook it, his hand lloking like a child's in comparison to Hagrid's. "I'm Rubeus Hagrid, grounds keeper and teacher to this lot of ruffians," he told him good-naturedly, waving at the students. "Prof. Dumbledore said you might be wandering around the grounds today," he shared.
The Doctor was about to reply, but he caught a streak of color in motion just behind the huge man. Leaning to the side, he was able to get a better look at what was moving. His jaw dropped when he saw a custard colored furball the size of a small melon rolling around on the ground. It stopped for a moment and a ridiculously long tongue shot out to snare an unsuspecting spider before continuing to roll around aimlessly. "How did you get here?" the Doctor asked the little creature, oblivious to the strange looks he was getting. He ran his hands through his hair while he tried to figure out what was going on. "I used to have one of these as a boy," the Doctor said, still a little stunned. Puffskeins were common pets for Gallifreyan children.
Hagrid chuckled. "Bought 'im at the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley," he told the bewildered Doctor. "Thought the students might be interested in something that doesn't want to eat them for a change," he explained, not quite telling the whole truth.
The Doctor heard Ron sniffle and turned to look at the young man. Ron saw the Doctor looking at him and motioned with his head to the furball. "I used to have a puffskein until Fred decided to use it for bludger practice one day," he explained. The puffskein sensed Ron's unhappiness and leapt into his arms, making a calming, purring noise. "Who's a cute little bloke? Who's a cute little bloke?" he needlessly asked, rubbing his face in the soft fur.
The other Gryffindors chose to look somewhere else other than at Ron, giving him a chance to collect himself. Hermione had turned to face the castle and saw a rock about the same size as the puffskein in the middle of the perfectly manicured lawn. She furrowed her brows when she didn't remember it being there when they walked from the castle to Hagrid's hut. Something that size would have surely caused Neville to stumble. She turned her head when she heard Ron making even more embarrassing noises. Rolling her eyes, Hermoione looked back to the strange rock. She was certain it was now a at least a meter closer to them than it had been just a moment earlier. Reaching up, she was about to tug on the sleeve of the Doctor's robe to get his attention when he spoke in a loud, stern voice.
"Don't even think about it. Do...and I'll boot you into the next spiral arm," he warned. Hermione pulled her hand back suddenly, wondering what she had done to offend him. The Doctor spun around and stared at the gray and black rock. "Just because you lot survived falling through the atmosphere above Tunguska doesn't give you the right to prey on humans," he admonished, pointing a long finger at the rock. "This is your kinds' second warning, I won't give another," he intoned slowly. Hermione's eyes grew wide when the rock sprouted legs and scuttled off behind Hagrid's hut. The Doctor looked at Hermione and gave her a conspiratorial wink. "Pogrebin - they feed off of emotional energy, especially hopelessness, but if you stand up to them, they'll run away every time," he explained. Hermione was relieved that the Doctor's irritation had been directed at the pogrebin and not her.
"Very good, Doctor. I'm impressed," Hagrid said apprciatively. "I'm surprised that you know about them. Pogrebin aren't well known outside of their native Russia," he told the group.
Without thinking, the Doctor replied, "They're not native to Russia. That's just where they ended up." Hagrid looked at him quizzically. "They're came to Earth on a chunk of their planet after it exploded. The planetary fragment broke up with quite a big boom a few miles above Tunguska, scattering the little scavengers for hundreds of miles," he lectured.
Hagrid stroked his beard thoughtfully. He didn't know the Doctor well enough to tell if he was kidding, but he had heard from the black market salesman he dealt with that the first time the pogrebin had been seen was right after the fateful explosion that leveled the Tunguska forest in 1908. Deciding to ask the Doctor about it later, he went on with the day's lesson. He pointed to the custard colored ball of happiness in Ron's arms. "Can anyone tell me what the two creatures have in common?" he put forth to the students.
"They're both about the same size as a bludger," Harry offered.
"True, true," Hagrid said, nodding his head. "But I was looking for something a little more profound," he prompted.
Hermione watched the Doctor look from the puffskein to where the pogrebin had run off to. She made the connection and shot her hand into the air, confident in her answer.
Hagrid called on her, "Go ahead, 'Mione."
Hermione put her hand down. "Positive and negative," she blurted out. When she saw the rest of the class looking at her blankly, she went on. The Doctor's look of approval gave her extra confidence. "They produce opposite emotions in humans. Puffskeins make us happy and pogrebins make us miserable," she explained.
Hagrid clapped his enormous hands. "Very good, 25 points for Gryffindor," he said loudly. "Nature, especially the magical side of her, exists in a constant state of balance. Things get out sorts when that balance is disturbed," he pointed out.
Ron leaned over to Harry and whispered, "Guess who has been out drinking with Firenze again?" Hermione shot him a withering stare and he tried to look contrite. The rest of the lecture was made up of Hagrid pointing out the differences and similarities in the two creatures and how they balanced each other out. When the class was over, the students made their way back to the castle, constantly scanning the lawn for any out of place "rocks".
Once they neared the main doors, the students found Prof. Dumbledore helping a young, blonde woman out of a carriage. Most of the boys, including the Doctor, stopped to stare at her. She was very attractive and looked to be about Tonks' age. "I think I'm in love," Ron muttered in admiration.
Hermione gave a snort of disgust. "Honestly, Ronald Weasley! Could you be any more shallow?" she asked rhetorically. She looked over her shoulder at where the Doctor was standing. Instead of looking at the pretty woman with lust in his eyes, the Doctor had a mixture of surprise and fondness on his face. They were close enough to the carriage to overhear the headmaster and the newest guest at Hogwarts talking.
"I am ever so pleased to see the Prime Minister decided to send you, Miss Ace," Prof. Dumbledore told her with a slight bow.
Ace returned the bow. "You know me, Professor, always looking to get into the thick of things," she replied. She saw the group of students standing a few meters away. Going with a hunch, she nodded towards them. "Which one is the Potter boy?" she asked bluntly, causing Harry to blush.
Prof. Dumbledore motioned for Harry and his friends to come closer. "Harry, I would like you to meet an old friend of mine. She is one of the Prime Minister's Black CATs," he told him. "Ace, this is Harry, Ron, and Hermione," he said, finishing the introductions.
Ace jerked her head towards the Doctor. To her, he looked a little to young to be a teacher and definitely too old to be a student. "Who's he?" she asked.
Before Dumbledore could reply with the cover story he had concocted, the Doctor took a step forward, a smirk on his face. "You know...there once was a time when I was the only person you called 'Professor', Dorothy McShane," he remarked.
The Doctor's smirk held while Ace caught on. The look of startled recognition made him raise his eyebrows twice, teasing her. His smirk faded however, when she took three large steps and shoved him hard in the chest. Everyone, including Prof. Dumbledore, stepped back from the unexpected show of violence. From his new position sitting on the ground, the Doctor looked up into Ace's face while she yelled at him. "Where and when the hell have you been?" she demanded from her foster father.