Hi Jack!

Finally, an update, I hear you say! What can I say, time flies when you're having fun. One day it's the second of September and you're trying on a ratty old hat, next thing you know it's the middle of November and you find yourself in a Doctor-worthy adventure.

Alright, now that I've piqued your interest, let me start with the Sorting stuff. In my first letter I already told you about the Giant Squid (Kraken?), the ghosts (!), Peeves, and the Sorting Hat. Now that I've had some weeks of classes, I can tell you more about them too.

Most of them are ok – you know, the ones where they teach us to defy all known laws of physics on a regular basis. I can't wait to get to the more advanced classes!

The physics-defying classes are Charms ('Here's a feather, now make it fly!'), Transfiguration ('Here's a match, now turn it into a needle!' First lesson, that, I kid you not.) There's also Defense against the Dark Arts, which has the potential to be interesting, if only it were taught by a halfway competent teacher, and Potions, whose teacher is definitely competent in his subject, and also a bully. I'll tell you more about him when we see each other, there's too much information there for this letter.

Other than that, there's Astronomy, which most students seem to dislike, but I do like it for obvious reasons. Mostly I try to guess which way lie the planets I visited. Herbology is basically 'how to take care of magical plants', not much to say about that, and History of Magic is... well, imagine every boring history lesson you've ever attended (did they even have history lessons in the 51st century?), and then increase the boredom with a factor 10. I'm just saying – it's taught by an actual ghost! It's like he wouldn't even notice if we relocated to a different classroom, he'd just keep droning at an empty room.

Again, it's a class with so much potential. If the teacher was the tiniest bit passionate about his subject, people might actually learn something! I like to imagine the Doctor teaching a History class, just for a laugh.

Anyway, now that's out of the way, on to the interesting bits! I'm not sure which event to tell you about first, so I'll just go in chronological order. You remember from my first letter I told you about Gandalf's warning about the third floor corridor. Well, due to... reasons and circumstances, we found ourselves in that location. Don't laugh, it was an honest accident. I will admit to a healthy dose of curiosity and a bit of early stages planning to check it out, though.

Turns out, there's a three-headed dog locked up in a room there, and it's guarding something. We found out it's a Cerberus and its name is Fluffy. Don't ask about that name, but whatever it's guarding has to do with Nicholas Flamel.

Do you know that name, by any chance? I feel like I should know it, but not from the last couple of months, so maybe it's a mundane reference?

So there's that, and then there's Halloween, when a troll got into the castle. Did anyone contact you about that? It attacked us, we defeated it – remind me to tell you the details when I see you.

There were four of us involved, and I'm wondering if the school took steps to inform our guardians, or nobody at all, or just the wizarding folks but not mundanes.

Also remind me to get a mobile phone as soon as they're available on the market, at least then I can inform you right after these happening take place, instead of waiting two weeks to write a letter. That or an e-mail address, I'm not fussed.

Either way, the most recent event was actually only two days ago. It was the first Quidditch match (you should go watch Quidditch at some point if you ever get the chance. Archie's description pales in comparison to the insanity on brooms that goes on during these matches, and professional Quidditch is even worse from what I gather).

Harry's on the team as the Seeker, and at one point his broom started bucking and trying to throw him off – I'm still shaking thinking about it. We're fairly sure either Snape (the Potions guy) or Quirrell (DADA) were trying to kill him, or at least seriously injure him. We just haven't figured out yet WHY either of them would do that. We can't prove it was either of them, or even decide who was the guilty party in the first place. My money's on Quirrell. We have yet to figure out HOW all these events are related, but my Doctor-sense is tingling, so to speak. I'm fairly sure they correlate somehow.

So yeah, I'll keep you informed about any future developments. I think finding out who Flamel is could be a step in the right direction.

Donna

***DNMCY1***

Hello Donna,

Two months in and you're already in trouble? I'm conflicted, the part of me that remembers an 11-year-old boarding that train is horrified. A troll? Homicidal teachers? WHAT?

The part that knows you're not actually 11 is cheering you on. To be fair, the Doctor would have needed even less time, trouble-magnet that he is, so... go you?

Seriously though. I won't ask you to stay away, because I realise that you won't. I know how traveling with the Doctor changes a person. But do try to be careful? I've grown fond of my favorite shorty, so try to keep yourself in one piece if you can, and the same goes for your friends who actually are 11 and might not have quite the same sense of danger as you. There's a difference between knowing the danger is there and going ahead anyway, and just not seeing it.

To answer your question, I was not informed about any of these incidents. Well, I wouldn't have been about Harry, and I assume you kept the whole Cerberus thing secret from any grown-ups, but the troll at least should have been brought to my attention. You might want to check with your friends if their parents or guardians heard anything. Wasn't that school supposed to be a safe space, though?

I don't have quite as much news to tell you. The Rift is keeping us busy enough, but nothing too serious has come through. We haven't had even one alien invasion since you left! Tell you what, though, I'm glad I'm not the boss here – too much paperwork by half. Torchwood One want to know absolutely everything! Alex is welcome to it.

You did ask about Nicolas Flamel. You're right, the name rang a bell, so I did some digging. He was a 14th century French alchemist, best known for allegedly creating the Philosopher's Stone. Even the Torchwood Archives mention him – mostly asking lots of questions, the answers are a bit sparser. He was supposed to be filthy rich and immortal, if you can believe the stories, but Torchwood never did find out how much of that was true, and if the stone (if it even existed) was an alien artifact they could claim. Eventually they decided he was nothing more than a legend and filed everything they had on him. Him being a wizard might explain why they could never confirm anything. Their specialty is aliens, they'd hardly be prepared to deal with a wizard.

That should help you along, you're closer to the source for any additional research.

You mentioned e-mail. I can probably get you into the Torchwood e-mail. It'll be more primitive than what you're used to, it's nothing compared to my Vortex Manipulator, but if we can find a device that works over there, that should help a little.

Keep me informed!

Jack