A/N This is really inexcusable, even by my standards. I AM SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE! :( I've just been busy, I guess. I haven't even had time to read the comment thingies, so I'll reply to 'em in the next chapter because I really want to get this one up RIGHT NOW!
CHAPTER SEVEN
Harry was sitting at the Gryffindor table between Ron and Hermione. While Ron and Hermione had no trouble at all eating the dinner, Harry was much too occupied watching the teachers up at the Head Table.
The evening had started off normal enough. He had come down to the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione, laughing and trying his best to forget the Doctor. Everything had gone downhill from there.
When Dumbledore introduced the Doctor as the new Astronomy teacher, there had been a lot of surprise and confusion. Nobody, except for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, had seen him before. He had just…appeared out of thin air.
Harry had been pestered with questions about the Doctor. What was he like, where did he come from, and why on earth was he called "The Doctor"? Harry really didn't know the answer to any of them.
However, it was after Dumbledore's speech that things got really weird.
Harry was absentmindedly picking at the usual delicious food, when he noticed something strange out of the corner of his eye. Glancing up at the Head Table, Harry was surprised by what he saw. Snape was glaring at the Doctor fiercely. The Doctor's expression was closed and guarded.
Slowly, however, Snape's face was changing. The malice was turning into…frustration? The Doctor had closed his eyes. Then, suddenly, they flew open, and once again, Harry swore he saw glints of golden light flashing from them.
Completely perplexed, Harry was startled to see what Snape's expression was now. It wasn't hate, it wasn't confusion, it was pure terror. What on earth was going on? Looking back at the Doctor, he seemed…triumphant. Then the Doctor blinked a few times, and seemed shocked. Not at Snape, but with himself.
Snape stood up from the table. He was biting his lip hard. He walked out of the room without his usual sneer, instead trying to disguise the terror Harry had just seen him display moments ago.
A minute later, the Doctor left, looking disgusted with himself.
Harry looked around the Gryffindor table. No one else seemed to have noticed what he had.
"Harry? Are you all right?"
Harry looked to his left. Ron and Hermione were looking at him with curious expressions.
"I…yeah, I'm all right." He stood up from the table. "Come on, back to the Common Room, there's something I have to tell you about."
"But we just got started- oh brother," Ron said, getting up from his seat and running after Harry and Hermione.
…
"So let me get this straight," Ron said. They were gathered in the chairs surrounding the Common Room fireplace. There were a few other people in the room, so they were all whispering. "Snape was glaring at the Doctor."
"Yes," Harry said.
"The Doctor was glaring at Snape."
"Yes."
"Snape suddenly gets scared out of his mind."
"Yes."
"The Doctor looks triumphant, and then shocked."
"Yes."
"Snape leaves still terrified, the Doctor leaves still disgusted."
"Yes."
Ron nodded. "Okay. Weirdest story ever, but okay."
"Not okay," Hermione said. "We don't know what actually happened."
Ron looked at her funny. "Yes we do. I mean, me and Harry both told the story, twice, just now."
"I mean, yes, we know what happened, but we don't know what happened."
"Come again?"
"What she means is," Harry interjected, "is that we don't know what went on between the Doctor and Snape."
"Oh."
"Maybe it was Legilimency," Hermione said. "Did Snape have his wand out?"
"I dunno…maybe he had it out under the table," Harry said. "Either way, didn't he already use Legilimency on the Doctor?"
"You told us earlier that Snape looked scared after he read the Doctor's mind the first time," Hermione said. "Didn't Dumbledore talk to you about the Doctor? Did he tell you anything about what Snape learned?"
"Er…well, actually…"Harry stammered. He sighed. "Dumbledore didn't actually…tell me anything about the Doctor. He…couldn't."
"What do you mean?" Ron asked.
"Dumbledore told me…" Harry hesitated a moment, looking around to make sure no one was listening. "Dumbledore told me that Snape refuses to tell him anything about the Doctor," he finally said in a low voice.
"What?" Ron shouted. Hermione shushed him.
"Snape just…said we could trust the Doctor. And that…"
"Yes?" Hermione prompted.
"He said that we didn't want the Doctor as our enemy."
Hermione looked shocked, and Ron looked confused.
"Well…that's ominous," Ron finally said.
"Yep."
"And Dumbledore still hired him, even though he was a muggle, and he didn't know anything about him?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah."
There was a moment of silence.
"Well…maybe we can ask the Doctor about it in class tomorrow," Ron said.
"Even if he doesn't tell us anything, I'm sure it'll be an interesting class," Hermione said.
"Yeah," Harry said, staring into the fire. "Interesting."
…
The next morning passed, for the most part, uneventfully. The only item of interest was between Charms class and Transfiguration. Harry and Ron were walking the halls together, killing time before they went to McGonagall's class, when they passed two Ravenclaw fifth year girls whispering together.
"He must be a muggle genius; I didn't know anyone knew so much about Astronomy…"
"He's a good teacher. I've never learned so much in a class before."
"Not to mention he's so handsome…"
The two girls suddenly noticed Harry and Ron listening to their conversation. They both blushed scarlet.
"Are you talking about the Doctor, by any chance?" Harry asked.
"Oh, yes! Have you had him yet?" one girl asked eagerly.
"Um, no," Ron said. "We have him after lunch."
"Oooohh…" the other girl said. The two looked at each other and giggled.
"What? What's so funny?" Ron asked.
"Nothing," the girls said at the same time, and laughed again. "You're just going to have an…interesting class, that's all." The two ran off, still giggling together.
Harry stared after them and Ron raised his eyebrow in confusion. "Well, doesn't that make you excited?" he said sarcastically.
Harry didn't answer, still staring at the girls running away.
Ron sucked in a deep breath. "Well…better get to McGonagall's, then…"
Transfiguration passed quickly, as did lunch, where they met up with Hermione. Before Harry knew it, they were climbing the seven flights of stairs leading to the Astronomy tower.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione hesitated outside the door for a moment.
"Well…" Harry said. "Here goes nothing, I guess." He pushed open the heavy wooden door.
Most of the class was already seated. The Gryffindor sixth years and the Slytherin sixth years were sharing the period. Harry was a little disgruntled to see Malfoy sitting in the back of the room with a haughty expression. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat together at a table near the front of the room. A little anxiously, they pulled out their textbooks and quills.
Harry took a look around. The classroom seemed mostly the same. There were star charts, rotating glass models of the universe on the tables, and a few telescopes pointing out the windows. However, he could see a few places where the Doctor appeared to have…modified. There were strange attachments affixed to the telescopes, and the glass models seemed larger, as though more galaxies had been added to them.
There was no sign of the Doctor.
"So…where is he?" Ron asked. Some of the people in the class had started to whisper together, wondering where the teacher was.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang from the closet. All the heads turned in confusion as light spilled out from under the crack in the door and there was another crashing sound.
The door flew open and the Doctor stumbled out, instantly turning around and slamming the door shut behind him.
"Good afternoon, class," he said cheerfully. Almost everyone had confused looks on their faces, except for Malfoy and some of the other Slytherins, who were sneering at the Doctor.
"Um, excuse me, sir, but…what were you doing in the closet?" Hermione said.
"Hmm? Oh, just getting things…ready," the Doctor said, turning to her.
Harry raised his eyebrows. Getting ready? For what?
"All right," the Doctor said, clapping his hands together. "Astronomy. Aaasssttrrrooonnoommmyyy. Astro nomy." He frowned. "'Physics' is more fun to say than 'astronomy'." He shrugged. "Anyway, on to the lesson. The first thing I should tell you- there's no such thing as magic."
There were several shocked exclamations from around the room, and some laughter.
"What are you talking about?" Malfoy scoffed from the back of the room. "This is a school of magic, sir."
"I'm well aware that's what you think, mister Malfoy," the Doctor said. "However, I'm afraid it's not true- magic is not real."
"Well then what am I doing when I do this, sir?" Malfoy said. He waved his wand in the air, and his quill floated into the air.
"That is a complex series of electric currents that reverses the polarity of your quill and reduces the gravitational pull being applied to it," the Doctor said as he strode towards the back of the room. He plucked Malfoy's wand out of his hand.
"And this," he said, waving the wand in the air, "is not a wand. It's a telepathic molecular modifier. They are…well, were supposed to be extremely rare, up until a…few years ago when they were all…destroyed."
"Oh of course, sir," Malfoy said sarcastically. "It's a 'telepathic molecular modifier'. How could I ever have been so stupid as to think it was a wand?"
"Well, maybe if you listened to what I was saying instead of scribbling notes to Miss Parkinson you would learn a thing or two," the Doctor said. "Maybe we could discuss this more in a detention after class? Would you like that?"
Malfoy's sneer disappeared. "No, sir," he mumbled.
Harry and Ron looked at each other, barely concealing their excitement at seeing the Doctor shoot down Malfoy.
"Anyway," the Doctor said, setting Malfoy's wand back down on his desk. "This year, you're going to learn a little more than just astronomy. I'm going to teach you about the whole universe, all the stars and planets that ever existed and will exist. Actually," he said, "I'm going to teach you about Time and relative dimensions in space." He smiled. "It's the TARDIS class."
Harry blinked, suddenly remembering the first thing the Doctor had said: "Where's the TARDIS?" Harry hadn't thought much of it at the time, thinking that he had probably misheard the Doctor, but now he wasn't so sure. Maybe the word 'TARDIS' had more significance than the Doctor was letting on.
Frowning ever so slightly, he turned his attention back to the Doctor, who was now drawing a one by four grid on the chalkboard.
"This is a punnett square. Does anyone know what that is?" he asked. Hermione's hand instantly shot into the air. "Yes, Hermione?"
"A punnett square is a grid used by biologists to predict the likelihood of certain genetic traits to be passed down through different generations," she recited.
"Very good, Hermione," the Doctor said. "You're absolutely correct. This certain punnett square is going to show how you all have your…'magic' abilities."
"A telepathic molecular modifier is tuned into your mind," the Doctor continued. "Only people with psychic abilities can connect with it. Your 'spells' help enforce the connection between your mind and the…'wand'. There are two basic things your mind has to have to integrate itself into the 'wand's' telepathic field: an advanced psychic ability, and an especially sensitive neurological system. Both of these are recessive genes."
The Doctor wrote two four letter sequences on the board: PpNn and ppnn.
"The 'P's stand for psychic ability and the 'N's are for neurological sensitivity," he explained. "The first person, say your father, has the PpNn code. He would not be a…wizard, I guess you would say because the dominant gene, the non-psychic ability and the less sensitive neurological system, is masking the recessive genes. However, the other person, your mother, has both recessive genes, and would therefore be a 'witch'."
He wrote a two-letter combination on top of the column and another four two-letter combinations alongside each row: pn on the top, and PN, Pn, pN, and pn on the side. He then filled in the column so he had four four-letter combos written: PpNn, Ppnn, ppNn, and ppnn.
"As you can see, if the only combination that allows you to be a 'wizard' is ppnn, then you really only have a one in four chance. That is, of course, assuming that both of your parents have a recessive gene somewhere and it gets passed along to you. This punnett square doesn't account for whether or not both your parents have 'magical' abilities, or if both of them do, or if one has both dominant genes. It also doesn't account to several other necessities that I'm not going to go into right now, or genetic mutations that may occur."
The Doctor put his chalk down. "Have I thoroughly confused you yet?" he asked.
Everyone's eyes were wide and confused. Only Hermione seemed to have the faintest idea about what he was talking about. There were several nods around the classroom.
"All right, then," the Doctor said. "I think that's enough genetics for today, then." He walked to the closet and grabbed the doorknob. "Are you all ready?" he asked.
No one seemed to know what to say. Ready for what?
"I'm going to take that as a yes," the Doctor said, and he pulled the door open.
Instantly the room was filled with…starlight. The walls, ceiling, and floor were covered with an incredible display of the universe. Swirling galaxies, shining clusters of stars, and the occasional comet were turning slightly around the entire classroom. It truly was breathtaking.
"But how did you…?" Hermione said in awe.
"I'm transmitting a map of the universe from a hologram projector in here," the Doctor said from within the closet. "It's a bit old, so the quality's not as good as some of the newer models, but it'll do for now."
The quality wasn't good? What was he talking about? Harry felt as though he was literally floating in the middle of space, surrounded by stars.
"I thought this would make the classroom a little more interesting to learn in," the Doctor said, still beaming as he walked back to his desk. "The first thing we're going to learn about is the Andromeda Galaxy." He pulled out his funny metal screwdriver thing and buzzed at one of the galaxies. It zoomed up until the main focus of the projection circled around one of the stars.
"Now this star is called Omega 693," the Doctor said. "You might want to take some notes on this, it'll help with your homework. Omega 693 is more commonly referred to as Seculpa's Star…"
The next hour was the most enjoyable Astronomy class Harry had ever been in. The Doctor was so animated and fun to be around, and seemed to know the answer to every question a student might have. Harry felt completely comfortable with him, and the way he taught- actually showing them stars and galaxies and nebulas- made Harry wish he never had to leave.
Inevitably, though, the class had to end. After showing them Omega 693's surrounding asteroid belt, the Doctor went back into the closet and switched off the projection, making Harry remember that he was still just in a classroom.
"All right class, that's all for today," the Doctor said. For the first time ever, Harry was disappointed to leave. "I want an astrology chart of Omega 693's galactic placement by Monday, and a punnett square with the genes PpNn for both parents filled in."
"Yes, Professor," Harry said. The Doctor blinked in surprise.
"Professor?" he said. "Oh, yes, right, I'm a professor now…" He smiled again. "Well, go on! Get to your next class!" he said to Harry and Ron.
"See you later, sir," Ron said as he pushed open the door.
"You as well, Mister Weasley," the Doctor said. "And you, Harry." Harry and Ron waved and let the door slam shut.
There was a moment of silence as they stood outside the door.
"Well," Ron said. "That was…"
"Interesting, yeah," Harry said.
"He's smart though, isn't he? For a muggle, I mean."
"Definitely, he's a genius."
There was another pause before Ron spoke up again.
"Reckon Hermione will fill in my punnett square for me?"
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