Yes, yes, hello? Mhmhmm I was born in procrastination nation.

"I think Clara has the exact same condition as I do."

Through all the noise and flashing lights of the Great Hall, John saw the light dim in Clara's eyes, her shoulders slumped and for one moment he saw her whole demeanor fade. It was… heartbreaking. Ginger stared wide-eyed at Clara.

"Wha-? Did you know? How could you not tell me? I have so many questions!"

"I–," Clara started, then faltered because of the shock.

"If Clara does suffer from what I may have," John began "She may not have realized it like I did. It took Clara to tell me that something was off for me to even begin thinking that something was seriously wrong."

"Well, what do we do then? If the both of you have it, maybe you got it from Hogwarts. You all have seemingly normal lives outside of school–"

"No," Clara spoke, "well at least I don't."

"What?"

John caught on. "Clara's right, I have a feeling this isn't directly caused by us attending Hogwarts, every time summer rolled around–"

"It didn't," finished Clara.

Ginger shook her head, "This doesn't make sense."

Clara shifted uncomfortably. "Whenever I left the train and walked onto the King's Cross-platform… It was like tie just didn't mean anything. Everything just sort up sped up… Except for this year."

John nodded, "You're right, this year I lived in a shack, you know besides the impossible time-speeding-up thing that had occurred."

"Hold up. You lived in a shack?"

"Yeah," John admitted though not the least bit embarrassed. "I had tickets to the Quidditch World Cup given to me by…" John felt his stomach sink.

"Who gave you the tickets, John?" Clara asked firmly.

"You said your dad gave them to you…. You lied," Ginger said quietly. "Why would you lie?"
"Because up until Hogwarts I had no father," John remembered suddenly. "The tickets just appeared, taking me to the special seating, coincidentally next to… you."

Ginger looked offended. "Are you saying that this is my fault?"

"No!" Clara exclaimed the gears were obviously turning in her head. "I think I understand what John is saying. We were always sort of pushed, er encouraged to be at Hogwarts, or at least with fellow students like you. It can't be a coincidence that we all had the same seating? I mean come on! Some sort of exterior force is influencing our world!"

John snapped his fingers. "Oh, yes! Yes, yes, Clara Oswald! That makes sense!" He frowned profusely, "But who wants us to be together?" There was something important John was missing. Instantly, his mind was at work 1000 miles a second attempting to solve the puzzle, however, the mental block Sorty had mentioned must have affected his thinking and problem-solving skills because he was usually much faster at coming to conclusions, whether they be right or wrong. (They were usually right.)

Slowly, realization dawned on John. "I don't think this exterior force is trying to get me to Hogwarts, it's trying to get me to you, Clara." He stared at her brown eyes for a time that even for him was uncomfortable. "Listen, we became friends almost instantaneously, remember? Our first day during the Sorting."

Ginger was picking up on it too. "That's right! But that doesn't explain your genius that got you separated during school."

Clara bit her lip, "If some external force were trying to get us in together why would it allow you being transferred to the 2nd year when you were in our 1st? Wait, who decided to bump you up."

"It was hinted to me that Snape asked for it, though I'm sure he regrets it now. I used to be top of the class in my first few weeks. I knew everything and anything Snape threw at me, my potions were perfect, even when the recipes were incorrect."

"Snape?" Ginger echoed. "Bloody Snape? But why? This makes even less sense!" Her warm brown eyes were narrowed, creases had formed on her forehead.

Something about all this was very disturbing, and John felt a headache coming on, he rubbed his temples. "I don't know why Snape would do it, but the point is he did. Now, what are we going to do about it?"

"I don't know about you but I do not want to talk to that slimy git!" Clara snapped. She was looking very frustrated. "This is stupid! What if we're just overreacting, huh? Maybe John really is a genius that moved up to 2nd year-"

"Yeah but Clara," Ginger uninterrupted, "that like, never happens."

"-Okay but you know what also doesn't happen? Missing memories and new ones that just suddenly reappear in your head that drive you absolutely mad! I never wanted this, I just want to go to school."

"Clara if you haven't noticed," John quipped in a condescending tone, "we are in a magic school. Anything can happen! Maybe you're right, maybe this is just some shockwave of the obvious drama that has endured ever since Potter has arrived, but I don't think it is."

Clara opened her mouth then closed it shut, she was speechless.

In the corner of his, John caught Ginger play with her flaming red hair nervously. She was fixated on a knot and began pulling strand, not quite meeting their eyes when she spoke. "We have to do something," she murmured. "I don't want my friend to be like this!" Her voice hardened. "We need a plan. Clara, John, write everything you remember on some parchment. Maybe things will start coming back… I read somewhere that blue ink is the best for remembering things, granted this isn't a test but…"

John fished around in his pockets, and pulled out a blue Muggle pen, and clicked it. Ginger smiled fondly.

"Dad has some of those but he never lets me touch them." She proceeded to pull out a roll of parchment. With her own quill, she wrote in quick lettering: Memories

Of course, right when they were getting down to business was when Granger decided to barge into the conversation. Ginger hastily stuffed the parchment in her bag.

"Hello," said Hermione politely, which irked John. "I came over because you guys look stressed. Has third year gotten to you?" She asked Ginger and Clara.

"Guess so," Clara said nervously.

"Oh, don't worry, you guys are all very smart," Hermione again directed it to Ginger and Clara, but John smiled at her with a sly grin.

'Really? Thank you! At least someone here appreciated my higher-order thinking!"

"If by higher-order you mean ink stains on your pants, then yes." John looked down and realized that she was in fact, correct and that one of his other pens in his pockets had leaked. Hermione continued, "Seeing as you're so clever I'll be assuming you won't need my assistance in getting the stain out."

Truth be told, John didn't really care about the stain except for the fact that McGonagall would probably yell at him for ruining yet another pair of pants. (It wasn't his fault yesterday when they caught aflame, he was sitting close to Seamus.)

"So," Granger mused, "What are you having trouble with? I'd be happy to help. If any of you are taking Ancient Runes, I know that class was a bit of a struggle."

"That was because you kept messing about with time!" John quipped.

"Hey!" Granger hit the back on his head firmly, but not enough to hurt John. "McGonagall said we weren't allowed to talk about it!"

Ginger looked amused but confused as well. "Am I correct when I assume that John and Hermione time-travelled last year?"

"Oh yeah," Clara laughed, "Though John totally started failing his classes and was forced to stop. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if he also ripped a hole in the Fabric of Reality while tripping his way to Charms."

John crossed his arms. "That hurts," he pouted and placed a hand on his heart, "right here."

"Maybe you shouldn't have time-travelled then!" Ginger accused. Hermione looked positively enraged.

"Well John, I should've known you'd tell someone. Though I'm going to trust that you won't say it again. Oh, whatever, I can just charm you myself," she reached into the sleeves of her robes.

John raised his hands up immediately. He wasn't stupid enough to mess with Granger when she was angry. She was annoying, yes, but even John admitted that she was damn good at magic. She could hex his toe off and he wouldn't notice until next Sunday!

"Now, Listen," John replied sternly to Hermione's wand, which she lowered when she saw John's surrender. "I only told Clara because she already kinda knew, remember? And you basically told Ginger now!"

Hermione blushed, and in an attempt to change the subject she cleared her throat haughtily. "Well, what were you guys working on before I interrupted? I would certainly be willing to help with it."

The three of them became very still.

"No," Clara said with a chuckle. "We're fine…"

Hermione looked disappointed, but let flashed a toothy smile anyway. "Oh, well, I'm sure you're a very bright bunch and don't need me!"

"No, we don't," John assured her.

"John!" Clara groaned.

"Should you ever need help you lot, just ask me and a study trip to Hogsmeade can be arranged," Hermione said with a smile. "I'll let you guys finish your work." With that, she straightened herself and walked away, her bushy hair following her.

"That was close," Clara breathed once in the all clear.

"It was, we need to be more careful," John stated. "Though, Granger has given me some ideas on how to continues…"

Ginger raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"But first, we need to do something very important."

"What?" Clara asked, almost worried.

"Can we do that thing people do in films where they stick their heads together and devise a super cool plan to save the world?"

With a smile, Ginger replied, "I don't quite understand that sentence, but yes."