"I don't believe this," Scully moaned. "This is an insane asylum! A beautiful one," she added after looking around, "but this makes no sense."
"Does anything ever make sense?" Mulder asked, his expression so peaceful, one could say he was on a trip of some kind.
"No," she replied. "Why are you so calm?"
"Because Scully - I don't know if this is a dream, if it is, it's quite odd. And if it's reality, it's even stranger. But it's still very enjoyable," he said, a slightly blank look in his eyes. "So, let's just take everything in stride… go with the flow…"
Scully turned away, annoyed, but realizing that everyone could see that she was very annoyed - she just forced a smile on her face. For some reason, one of the professors at the table was glaring at the two of them quite sourly. "Muggles," he whispered harshly to McGonagall. "How could Albus allow this?"
"Severus, you know he has a kind heart. Those two must be exhausted after all of this, he couldn't just turn them away. We'll pull off a few tricks to erase their memories of this. Don't worry about it."
"I don't like this," he said angrily. "And they get to sit here as well!"
"What could we do?" she argued. "Leave them in some other part of the castle so that Peeves could drop by and bother them? That poltergeist is always bothering the students, we can't have him go after the poor Muggles."
"Poor Muggles, you say?" He folded his arms and gave Mulder the evil eye. There was something he didn't like about that one. It was almost as if he wanted to be there, but the woman on the other hand, was doing a great job acting upset. He would slaughter Longbottom this year…. "How did Longbottom do this?" he asked. "He barely passes Potions every year, how did he manage to make such a huge mistake?"
"Perhaps his grandmother's wand was doused with something special and he accidentally did something?" McGonagall replied. "Professor Snape," she added coldly. "Don't bother doing anything to that boy. We'll handle it."
He scowled in reply, but settled back as Dumbledore stood up, welcoming all of the students back. "Welcome back for another year at Hogwarts," he said cheerfully. "I'm glad to see you all again. Last year was very hard for all of us," he added seriously, "but we will get through all of this together."
The students clapped solemnly, a few wiping a tear or two away, as it had been tragic. Mulder couldn't help but wonder what had happened in this cheerful atmosphere. Then again, every place had its dark side.
"And without no further ado," Dumbledore announced. "Let the Sorting Ceremony begin!"
~X~X~X~X~
Scully raised an eyebrow, wondering what was going to happen next. She watched as some slightly nervous looking children lined up, deciding that they were probably new students - or as they would say - first years.
Professor McGonagall placed a tattered hat on top of the stool in front of the children, causing everyone to stare at it rather fixatedly. Mulder looked on in interest, wondering what this hat was supposed to do. It seemed rather ordinary, but he knew that it couldn't be. Suddenly, the hat broke into song, and he heard Scully gasp as she muttered that this just had to be a dream over and over again.
The song was not too long, but Mulder was able to figure out that the school had four houses - Slytherin, which was obviously quite cunning, and from the looks of them - a bit cruel. Gryffindor was brave and Ravenclaw was clever, while Hufflepuff was hardworking. Quite interesting to know indeed…
One by one, the children put on the hat, and it would scream out what house it belonged in. The kids from those houses would cheer happily, thrilled to receive a new Gryffindor and so on… The two agents saw that Harry, Ron, Hermione - and even Neville, were sitting at the Gryffindor table. Finally, this strange ceremony seemed to get over, and Dumbledore announced that it was time to eat.
Scully glanced at the golden plate in front of her, which was now filled with delicious food, and dug in. Mulder dug in as well, but was well aware of the whispers around them. The teachers were busy making comments; the students could be heard, wondering who these two were, since they hadn't been introduced as new teachers.
"Muggles," Snape was still complaining. "And they sit here with us, fully-trained wizards and witches."
A man with a slightly alarming looking eye was gazing at the two of them, trying to understand what they were doing here. Another burly one was glancing in their direction, commenting as well: "Muggles aren't necessarily bad, yeh'll understand that soon. But I'm surprised that Longbottom coulda done all of this…"
Mulder made himself busy by gazing at the Great Hall's ceiling, which looked exactly like the sky outside. Even Scully couldn't help enjoying herself a little as she looked around, amazed that such a structure could exist….
The feast finally ended, with Dumbledore saying a few words. "And this year, we will be playing Quidditch again," he added, smiling. "Practice if you haven't been playing since the year before last, I want to see some great work out there!" Scully was too busy staring at his silvery hair and beard, to understand what he was talking about. He did look like a wizard, but it was so storybook-like!
The children began filing out of the hall, leaving Mulder and Scully wondering what to do now. McGonagall approached them. "We haven't given the children an explanation as to who you are, but perhaps we should put you up in one of the houses." She turned to Dumbledore. "What do you say Albus?"
~X~X~X~X~
They were in Dumbledore's office and Scully was gazing at the moving portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses. She decided that she was going to enjoy herself, because even if this was a dream, it wasn't turning out to be so bad at the moment. So Scully smiled and everyone glanced at her in shock, surprised to see her act somewhat happy. Mulder grinned, glad that she was trying to enjoy herself.
"We'll put the Sorting Hat on you," Dumbledore said, "to find out what house you should stay in for tonight." He shrugged as he brought it towards them. "If something caused you to penetrate through Hogwarts, you shouldn't have any problems with this. But of course, we'll find out." He placed the tattered hat on top of Mulder's head. "You first."
Mulder sat there, wondering what house he would be in. He didn't really want to be in Slytherin, they were a nasty looking bunch. He couldn't handle spending the night over there. "A Muggle," the hat said, "but if you could get through, then I suppose I must sort you." Mulder gulped, wondering what would happen next. "You have a tendency of dropping that weapon you Muggles use," it continued. "A gun, right? But you've searched long and hard for a certain Truth. I suppose you're a brave man then, who has been through a lot more than the rest of them believe you have." Mulder nodded, nearly causing the hat to fall off. "Though you have your silly moments," it continued crossly. "But very well then…." Mulder clutched Scully. "GRYFFINDOR!!!!!!" the hat bellowed.
Dumbledore nodded, pleased. Mulder took off the hat, and handed it to Scully. "I just put it on top of my head?" she questioned. When Dumbledore said yes, she placed it on top of her own head. "Hmmm," the hat mumbled. "Brave indeed, though skeptical. But I suppose that keeps your partner grounded, doesn't it? You both have had some trying times together, and though different, are indeed alike." Scully took a deep breath, wondering what would be next. "GRYFFINDOR!!!!!!!" the hat screamed.
Dumbledore took off the hat. "Two brave Muggles, huh?"
"What are Muggles?" Scully asked, the curiosity killing her.
"Ah," was his reply. "It's what we call people like you - non-magical folks like yourself. Not an insult, just our word for you." Scully nodded, pleased to have received some kind of explanation. "Minerva?" Dumbledore inquired. "Can you take these two up to the dorms?"
"Of course," McGonagall said, stepping forward. She motioned towards the agents. "Come with me please."
~X~X~X~X~
"Now there's a boys' dorm and a girls' dorm," McGonagall said, leading them towards the Gryffindor tower. "So naturally, I'm going to put you two in separate ones. Mulder, you'll go into the boys' dorm. Scully, you'll go into the girls' dorm."
"Yes ma'am," Mulder said jokingly, then turned his eyes to the floor, when McGonagall shot him a dirty look.
"We've put extra beds in the dorms for the fifth year boys and girls," she continued. "They had some room, so we decided to put you in there. I believe you've met some of the Gryffindor boys and of course - Hermione Granger." Scully nodded in reply, somewhat relieved that there would be a familiar face around, even if it were a fifteen-year-old girl.
They stopped before a portrait with a fat lady in a pink dress. "Password?" she asked, causing Scully to jump in alarm. Mulder blinked, still trying to figure out how this world had been hidden so well from Muggles in the past.
"Diddlywinks," she said, with Mulder stifling his laughter.
She led Mulder to the boys' dorm. "Harry?" she inquired, and the boy with the startling green eyes and black hair smiled.
"Yes Professor?" he asked.
"Could you possibly show Mr. Mulder around?"
"Just Mulder," Mulder interjected.
"Sure." Harry grinned. "So you're staying with us Mulder?" Mulder nodded and Harry asked him to come in, so that he could introduce him.
With Mulder taken care of, McGonagall took Scully to the girls' dorm. "Hermione?"
The girl on the train came up to her. "Yes Professor?" Her tone was more rushed, not as relaxed as Harry's, and certainly eager to please. "Do you need something?"
"Show Miss Scully around," she requested.
"Just Scully," Scully said, with a smile on her face.
"Of course!" Hermione practically dragged Scully into the dorm.
McGonagall left, rolling her eyes. Those two Muggles certainly were a pair.
~X~X~X~X~
"That's Ron," Harry said, pointing to the boy with shocking red hair that had been on the train. "Of course you knew that. And that's Neville. You met him too."
"So you're not a Muggle sir?" Neville asked, trembling.
"Actually," Mulder corrected, feeling sorry for the boy, "I am. But I don't think anyone's completely mad at you."
Everyone in the room gawked at Mulder. "A Muggle!" Ron said triumphantly. "I knew it! Even Hermione didn't figure it out!"
The other boys crowded around Mulder. "Dean Thomas," one of them said. "It's a pleasure to meet you sir," he added. "How did you manage to get through?"
A look of admiration was on the other boy's face. "Seamus Finnigan," he said. "How DID you manage to get through? Is that lady who was with you, a Muggle too?"
Mulder nodded. "But I didn't figure out how to get here, something happened, and we got transported to your train… and now we're here."
"It's all my fault," Neville moaned. "I did that, I did something strange with the wand, causing you to come here. The Ministry's probably going to ban my existence!"
"Wow Neville!" Seamus exclaimed, thumping him on the back. "You can barely do any magic, but now this? That's the coolest mistake ever!"
"Yeah," Dean added. "Wow, I wonder how you did that!"
Neville turned bright red, forgetting his problem momentarily. He was finally being admired for something, even if it was a mistake. But how had he done it? He didn't want to know; perhaps he would be forgiven. But then his misery settled back in. That was highly unlikely.
Mulder grinned as he looked around at the six four-poster beds in the dorm, trunks and posters by the beds. This was a nice change….
~X~X~X~X~
By the next morning, word had spread like wildfire, that two Muggles had spent the night at Hogwarts. All the students were highly intrigued by this, wondering how and why they were there. Then word got out that Neville had blundered even more than usual and though some laughed about it, he became a bit of a celebrity as well, just like Mulder and Scully. By now, most of the teachers were actually amused by this, and enjoying it, even though this wasn't really a good thing for the magical community. Mulder and Scully weren't exactly that horrible.
Mulder and Scully sat with the students at breakfast, watching them go over their schedules. "I wish school had been like this for me," Mulder said jealously, "but no…" Even Scully was slightly envious of the kids. No wonder most of them had been excited to come back!
"Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures," Hermione said.
"But of course the second class is with the Slytherins," Ron mumbled unhappily. Hermione nodded sympathetically. "And I'm still taking more Divination," he continued. "I hate Trelawney!"
"Bad teacher huh?" Mulder asked.
"You could say that again!" Ron replied. "She's too busy predicting garbage, including Harry's death. She's been wrong for the past two years."
"Why Harry?" Scully asked with interest.
"No need to explain it," Ron said. "You're leaving after breakfast, right?"
Mulder scowled. "Yes."
"I still can't believe this," Hermione said softly, without removing her gaze at Mulder. "I'm Muggle-born, I should have known… but it just seems impossible!"
"Don't say that," Neville replied. "I didn't mean to do this!"
"Let's not blame anyone," Scully said hastily. "Accidents do happen." Neville smiled gratefully, admiring her blue eyes, before looking away. The two agents' eyes met, with slight alarm.
Breakfast was about to end and Harry looked up inquisitively. "Don't you find it odd that the owls didn't come in today?"
"Is Hedwig gone off somewhere?" Ron replied.
"Actually no - I didn't send Sirius anything. He's still in hiding," he continued. "But Dumbledore's taking good care of him. They just don't want Azkaban notified of anything. Now's not a good time."
Neville looked on, slightly confused, but the other two nodded seriously. "Don't worry about it then," Ron said.
"Well, I wouldn't," Harry said, "as I'm not expecting anything, but normally the owls do come in right now."
"Owls?" Scully asked.
"That's how we get our mail," Hermione explained.
"Oh." She didn't know what else to say.
"True," Ron said, puzzled. "They normally come in with something kids have forgotten, or something special now that school's started. But not a single one has come in…. not even one with your howler, Neville!"
Neville shuddered. "Oh don't remind me…"
"Well," Hermione said briskly. "We're about to be late for class. We better go. It's been nice knowing you, Mulder…" she seemed to bat her eyelashes for a second. "Goodbye Scully!"
"Bye!" the two agents said simultaneously.
Hermione walked off, with Harry and Ron at her heels. "But don't you find it odd?" Harry pressed on.
"It's strange," Hermione said, quickening her step, "but I'm sure there's nothing wrong. Don't worry about it."
~X~X~X~X~
Mulder and Scully made their way to Dumbledore's office and were let in after a few minutes. "Hello agents," he said in greeting. "Did you enjoy your night?"
"It was very nice," Scully said graciously. "Thank you."
"I see you're enjoying yourself more, Miss Scully," he said, an amused smile on his face.
She reddened. "Sorry, I was a bit confused. I still am…"
"Understandable," he replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Hagrid doesn't have to teach a class until an hour from now, so he will accompany you to the gate, and take you to Hogsmeade. Then you'll just get on a train, we'll send you back to King's Cross."
"Pleasure to meet yeh," a man with unkempt hair and a bushy beard said, holding out his hand. Mulder shook it, wondering about how tall this somewhat gigantic man was. In a minute, he was nursing his hand, as Hagrid had squeezed it quite hard.
"We're glad you were able to stay calm," Dumbledore said. "Thank you for being such wonderful guests."
"Thank you for being such a wonderful host," Scully replied, smiling. "We won't forget this."
"Actually, I'm afraid you will. We can't allow you to have memories of this," Dumbledore said apologetically. "Sorry."
This reminded Mulder of the MIB, but he chose not to say a word. Scully seemed a bit disappointed, she obviously had ended up enjoying herself, dream or not.
"Come on," Hagrid said kindly, leading them outside. "Yeh mus' be eager to get back." The agents followed and soon found themselves in the horseless stagecoach. "Yeh mus' have been surprised to come here," Hagrid said conversationally.
"Oh yes," Scully replied softly, staring out the window, trying to force herself to remember the beautiful structure. If only she hadn't been so mad at Mulder earlier, she might have had even more fun. This truly was an unforgettable experience, but sadly it would be forgotten. Mulder was also quite mournful, not in the mood to go back to apartment 42. Hogwarts was much more exciting than that.
The gates opened, the stagecoach bumped along, getting closer and closer to leaving the school… when suddenly, it bounced against what seemed to be an invisible barrier, flying back into the gates. "Sorry 'bout that," Hagrid said, getting outside, as he tried to understand what was going on. He got out of the coach. "Be righ' back."
Scully looked on in confusion as Mulder rubbed his head gently. What was going on? Why weren't they getting out? It couldn't be that Muggles couldn't get out of Hogwarts, right?
Hagrid ventured out of the gates, trying to get out of where they had been, on foot - when suddenly his body was hurled back, slamming against the coach. Mulder and Scully bolted out of it. "Are you okay?" Scully asked worriedly.
"Sure," he groaned. "But I believe we've got a problem on our hands. Yeh'll have to come back with me."
"Does anything ever make sense?" Mulder asked, his expression so peaceful, one could say he was on a trip of some kind.
"No," she replied. "Why are you so calm?"
"Because Scully - I don't know if this is a dream, if it is, it's quite odd. And if it's reality, it's even stranger. But it's still very enjoyable," he said, a slightly blank look in his eyes. "So, let's just take everything in stride… go with the flow…"
Scully turned away, annoyed, but realizing that everyone could see that she was very annoyed - she just forced a smile on her face. For some reason, one of the professors at the table was glaring at the two of them quite sourly. "Muggles," he whispered harshly to McGonagall. "How could Albus allow this?"
"Severus, you know he has a kind heart. Those two must be exhausted after all of this, he couldn't just turn them away. We'll pull off a few tricks to erase their memories of this. Don't worry about it."
"I don't like this," he said angrily. "And they get to sit here as well!"
"What could we do?" she argued. "Leave them in some other part of the castle so that Peeves could drop by and bother them? That poltergeist is always bothering the students, we can't have him go after the poor Muggles."
"Poor Muggles, you say?" He folded his arms and gave Mulder the evil eye. There was something he didn't like about that one. It was almost as if he wanted to be there, but the woman on the other hand, was doing a great job acting upset. He would slaughter Longbottom this year…. "How did Longbottom do this?" he asked. "He barely passes Potions every year, how did he manage to make such a huge mistake?"
"Perhaps his grandmother's wand was doused with something special and he accidentally did something?" McGonagall replied. "Professor Snape," she added coldly. "Don't bother doing anything to that boy. We'll handle it."
He scowled in reply, but settled back as Dumbledore stood up, welcoming all of the students back. "Welcome back for another year at Hogwarts," he said cheerfully. "I'm glad to see you all again. Last year was very hard for all of us," he added seriously, "but we will get through all of this together."
The students clapped solemnly, a few wiping a tear or two away, as it had been tragic. Mulder couldn't help but wonder what had happened in this cheerful atmosphere. Then again, every place had its dark side.
"And without no further ado," Dumbledore announced. "Let the Sorting Ceremony begin!"
~X~X~X~X~
Scully raised an eyebrow, wondering what was going to happen next. She watched as some slightly nervous looking children lined up, deciding that they were probably new students - or as they would say - first years.
Professor McGonagall placed a tattered hat on top of the stool in front of the children, causing everyone to stare at it rather fixatedly. Mulder looked on in interest, wondering what this hat was supposed to do. It seemed rather ordinary, but he knew that it couldn't be. Suddenly, the hat broke into song, and he heard Scully gasp as she muttered that this just had to be a dream over and over again.
The song was not too long, but Mulder was able to figure out that the school had four houses - Slytherin, which was obviously quite cunning, and from the looks of them - a bit cruel. Gryffindor was brave and Ravenclaw was clever, while Hufflepuff was hardworking. Quite interesting to know indeed…
One by one, the children put on the hat, and it would scream out what house it belonged in. The kids from those houses would cheer happily, thrilled to receive a new Gryffindor and so on… The two agents saw that Harry, Ron, Hermione - and even Neville, were sitting at the Gryffindor table. Finally, this strange ceremony seemed to get over, and Dumbledore announced that it was time to eat.
Scully glanced at the golden plate in front of her, which was now filled with delicious food, and dug in. Mulder dug in as well, but was well aware of the whispers around them. The teachers were busy making comments; the students could be heard, wondering who these two were, since they hadn't been introduced as new teachers.
"Muggles," Snape was still complaining. "And they sit here with us, fully-trained wizards and witches."
A man with a slightly alarming looking eye was gazing at the two of them, trying to understand what they were doing here. Another burly one was glancing in their direction, commenting as well: "Muggles aren't necessarily bad, yeh'll understand that soon. But I'm surprised that Longbottom coulda done all of this…"
Mulder made himself busy by gazing at the Great Hall's ceiling, which looked exactly like the sky outside. Even Scully couldn't help enjoying herself a little as she looked around, amazed that such a structure could exist….
The feast finally ended, with Dumbledore saying a few words. "And this year, we will be playing Quidditch again," he added, smiling. "Practice if you haven't been playing since the year before last, I want to see some great work out there!" Scully was too busy staring at his silvery hair and beard, to understand what he was talking about. He did look like a wizard, but it was so storybook-like!
The children began filing out of the hall, leaving Mulder and Scully wondering what to do now. McGonagall approached them. "We haven't given the children an explanation as to who you are, but perhaps we should put you up in one of the houses." She turned to Dumbledore. "What do you say Albus?"
~X~X~X~X~
They were in Dumbledore's office and Scully was gazing at the moving portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses. She decided that she was going to enjoy herself, because even if this was a dream, it wasn't turning out to be so bad at the moment. So Scully smiled and everyone glanced at her in shock, surprised to see her act somewhat happy. Mulder grinned, glad that she was trying to enjoy herself.
"We'll put the Sorting Hat on you," Dumbledore said, "to find out what house you should stay in for tonight." He shrugged as he brought it towards them. "If something caused you to penetrate through Hogwarts, you shouldn't have any problems with this. But of course, we'll find out." He placed the tattered hat on top of Mulder's head. "You first."
Mulder sat there, wondering what house he would be in. He didn't really want to be in Slytherin, they were a nasty looking bunch. He couldn't handle spending the night over there. "A Muggle," the hat said, "but if you could get through, then I suppose I must sort you." Mulder gulped, wondering what would happen next. "You have a tendency of dropping that weapon you Muggles use," it continued. "A gun, right? But you've searched long and hard for a certain Truth. I suppose you're a brave man then, who has been through a lot more than the rest of them believe you have." Mulder nodded, nearly causing the hat to fall off. "Though you have your silly moments," it continued crossly. "But very well then…." Mulder clutched Scully. "GRYFFINDOR!!!!!!" the hat bellowed.
Dumbledore nodded, pleased. Mulder took off the hat, and handed it to Scully. "I just put it on top of my head?" she questioned. When Dumbledore said yes, she placed it on top of her own head. "Hmmm," the hat mumbled. "Brave indeed, though skeptical. But I suppose that keeps your partner grounded, doesn't it? You both have had some trying times together, and though different, are indeed alike." Scully took a deep breath, wondering what would be next. "GRYFFINDOR!!!!!!!" the hat screamed.
Dumbledore took off the hat. "Two brave Muggles, huh?"
"What are Muggles?" Scully asked, the curiosity killing her.
"Ah," was his reply. "It's what we call people like you - non-magical folks like yourself. Not an insult, just our word for you." Scully nodded, pleased to have received some kind of explanation. "Minerva?" Dumbledore inquired. "Can you take these two up to the dorms?"
"Of course," McGonagall said, stepping forward. She motioned towards the agents. "Come with me please."
~X~X~X~X~
"Now there's a boys' dorm and a girls' dorm," McGonagall said, leading them towards the Gryffindor tower. "So naturally, I'm going to put you two in separate ones. Mulder, you'll go into the boys' dorm. Scully, you'll go into the girls' dorm."
"Yes ma'am," Mulder said jokingly, then turned his eyes to the floor, when McGonagall shot him a dirty look.
"We've put extra beds in the dorms for the fifth year boys and girls," she continued. "They had some room, so we decided to put you in there. I believe you've met some of the Gryffindor boys and of course - Hermione Granger." Scully nodded in reply, somewhat relieved that there would be a familiar face around, even if it were a fifteen-year-old girl.
They stopped before a portrait with a fat lady in a pink dress. "Password?" she asked, causing Scully to jump in alarm. Mulder blinked, still trying to figure out how this world had been hidden so well from Muggles in the past.
"Diddlywinks," she said, with Mulder stifling his laughter.
She led Mulder to the boys' dorm. "Harry?" she inquired, and the boy with the startling green eyes and black hair smiled.
"Yes Professor?" he asked.
"Could you possibly show Mr. Mulder around?"
"Just Mulder," Mulder interjected.
"Sure." Harry grinned. "So you're staying with us Mulder?" Mulder nodded and Harry asked him to come in, so that he could introduce him.
With Mulder taken care of, McGonagall took Scully to the girls' dorm. "Hermione?"
The girl on the train came up to her. "Yes Professor?" Her tone was more rushed, not as relaxed as Harry's, and certainly eager to please. "Do you need something?"
"Show Miss Scully around," she requested.
"Just Scully," Scully said, with a smile on her face.
"Of course!" Hermione practically dragged Scully into the dorm.
McGonagall left, rolling her eyes. Those two Muggles certainly were a pair.
~X~X~X~X~
"That's Ron," Harry said, pointing to the boy with shocking red hair that had been on the train. "Of course you knew that. And that's Neville. You met him too."
"So you're not a Muggle sir?" Neville asked, trembling.
"Actually," Mulder corrected, feeling sorry for the boy, "I am. But I don't think anyone's completely mad at you."
Everyone in the room gawked at Mulder. "A Muggle!" Ron said triumphantly. "I knew it! Even Hermione didn't figure it out!"
The other boys crowded around Mulder. "Dean Thomas," one of them said. "It's a pleasure to meet you sir," he added. "How did you manage to get through?"
A look of admiration was on the other boy's face. "Seamus Finnigan," he said. "How DID you manage to get through? Is that lady who was with you, a Muggle too?"
Mulder nodded. "But I didn't figure out how to get here, something happened, and we got transported to your train… and now we're here."
"It's all my fault," Neville moaned. "I did that, I did something strange with the wand, causing you to come here. The Ministry's probably going to ban my existence!"
"Wow Neville!" Seamus exclaimed, thumping him on the back. "You can barely do any magic, but now this? That's the coolest mistake ever!"
"Yeah," Dean added. "Wow, I wonder how you did that!"
Neville turned bright red, forgetting his problem momentarily. He was finally being admired for something, even if it was a mistake. But how had he done it? He didn't want to know; perhaps he would be forgiven. But then his misery settled back in. That was highly unlikely.
Mulder grinned as he looked around at the six four-poster beds in the dorm, trunks and posters by the beds. This was a nice change….
~X~X~X~X~
By the next morning, word had spread like wildfire, that two Muggles had spent the night at Hogwarts. All the students were highly intrigued by this, wondering how and why they were there. Then word got out that Neville had blundered even more than usual and though some laughed about it, he became a bit of a celebrity as well, just like Mulder and Scully. By now, most of the teachers were actually amused by this, and enjoying it, even though this wasn't really a good thing for the magical community. Mulder and Scully weren't exactly that horrible.
Mulder and Scully sat with the students at breakfast, watching them go over their schedules. "I wish school had been like this for me," Mulder said jealously, "but no…" Even Scully was slightly envious of the kids. No wonder most of them had been excited to come back!
"Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures," Hermione said.
"But of course the second class is with the Slytherins," Ron mumbled unhappily. Hermione nodded sympathetically. "And I'm still taking more Divination," he continued. "I hate Trelawney!"
"Bad teacher huh?" Mulder asked.
"You could say that again!" Ron replied. "She's too busy predicting garbage, including Harry's death. She's been wrong for the past two years."
"Why Harry?" Scully asked with interest.
"No need to explain it," Ron said. "You're leaving after breakfast, right?"
Mulder scowled. "Yes."
"I still can't believe this," Hermione said softly, without removing her gaze at Mulder. "I'm Muggle-born, I should have known… but it just seems impossible!"
"Don't say that," Neville replied. "I didn't mean to do this!"
"Let's not blame anyone," Scully said hastily. "Accidents do happen." Neville smiled gratefully, admiring her blue eyes, before looking away. The two agents' eyes met, with slight alarm.
Breakfast was about to end and Harry looked up inquisitively. "Don't you find it odd that the owls didn't come in today?"
"Is Hedwig gone off somewhere?" Ron replied.
"Actually no - I didn't send Sirius anything. He's still in hiding," he continued. "But Dumbledore's taking good care of him. They just don't want Azkaban notified of anything. Now's not a good time."
Neville looked on, slightly confused, but the other two nodded seriously. "Don't worry about it then," Ron said.
"Well, I wouldn't," Harry said, "as I'm not expecting anything, but normally the owls do come in right now."
"Owls?" Scully asked.
"That's how we get our mail," Hermione explained.
"Oh." She didn't know what else to say.
"True," Ron said, puzzled. "They normally come in with something kids have forgotten, or something special now that school's started. But not a single one has come in…. not even one with your howler, Neville!"
Neville shuddered. "Oh don't remind me…"
"Well," Hermione said briskly. "We're about to be late for class. We better go. It's been nice knowing you, Mulder…" she seemed to bat her eyelashes for a second. "Goodbye Scully!"
"Bye!" the two agents said simultaneously.
Hermione walked off, with Harry and Ron at her heels. "But don't you find it odd?" Harry pressed on.
"It's strange," Hermione said, quickening her step, "but I'm sure there's nothing wrong. Don't worry about it."
~X~X~X~X~
Mulder and Scully made their way to Dumbledore's office and were let in after a few minutes. "Hello agents," he said in greeting. "Did you enjoy your night?"
"It was very nice," Scully said graciously. "Thank you."
"I see you're enjoying yourself more, Miss Scully," he said, an amused smile on his face.
She reddened. "Sorry, I was a bit confused. I still am…"
"Understandable," he replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Hagrid doesn't have to teach a class until an hour from now, so he will accompany you to the gate, and take you to Hogsmeade. Then you'll just get on a train, we'll send you back to King's Cross."
"Pleasure to meet yeh," a man with unkempt hair and a bushy beard said, holding out his hand. Mulder shook it, wondering about how tall this somewhat gigantic man was. In a minute, he was nursing his hand, as Hagrid had squeezed it quite hard.
"We're glad you were able to stay calm," Dumbledore said. "Thank you for being such wonderful guests."
"Thank you for being such a wonderful host," Scully replied, smiling. "We won't forget this."
"Actually, I'm afraid you will. We can't allow you to have memories of this," Dumbledore said apologetically. "Sorry."
This reminded Mulder of the MIB, but he chose not to say a word. Scully seemed a bit disappointed, she obviously had ended up enjoying herself, dream or not.
"Come on," Hagrid said kindly, leading them outside. "Yeh mus' be eager to get back." The agents followed and soon found themselves in the horseless stagecoach. "Yeh mus' have been surprised to come here," Hagrid said conversationally.
"Oh yes," Scully replied softly, staring out the window, trying to force herself to remember the beautiful structure. If only she hadn't been so mad at Mulder earlier, she might have had even more fun. This truly was an unforgettable experience, but sadly it would be forgotten. Mulder was also quite mournful, not in the mood to go back to apartment 42. Hogwarts was much more exciting than that.
The gates opened, the stagecoach bumped along, getting closer and closer to leaving the school… when suddenly, it bounced against what seemed to be an invisible barrier, flying back into the gates. "Sorry 'bout that," Hagrid said, getting outside, as he tried to understand what was going on. He got out of the coach. "Be righ' back."
Scully looked on in confusion as Mulder rubbed his head gently. What was going on? Why weren't they getting out? It couldn't be that Muggles couldn't get out of Hogwarts, right?
Hagrid ventured out of the gates, trying to get out of where they had been, on foot - when suddenly his body was hurled back, slamming against the coach. Mulder and Scully bolted out of it. "Are you okay?" Scully asked worriedly.
"Sure," he groaned. "But I believe we've got a problem on our hands. Yeh'll have to come back with me."