The teachers had been pulled away from class, the students sent to the common rooms. Mulder and Scully were sitting there, utterly confused, as everyone paced back and forth, discussing what had happened.
"It's an impenetrable force field," Dumbledore explained. "At least that's what it seems to be."
"But how could someone do that?" McGonagall argued. "Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the wizard community! And no one's ever TRIED anything like this before!"
"Perhaps they have, but they finally succeeded," Dumbledore replied.
"Are you trying to say that we're trapped here?" Snape questioned, his face full of rage. "Are you trying to say that those Muggles are going to be here with us?" He pointed towards Mulder and Scully.
Mulder got out of his seat. "Hey!" he exclaimed indignantly. "This is not any fault of ours!" He'd figured out that Snape was against Muggles and wasn't particularly fond of him himself.
"Oh of course not," Snape sneered.
"Of course not is right," Dumbledore said firmly.
"Who could have done this?" the man with the huge blue eye asked.
"Professor Moody, we can only be sure that this is dark magic," Dumbledore replied.
"I know THAT!" Moody replied. "But who?"
"It could be Voldemort," Dumbledore said, causing everyone in the room to flinch.
"That makes no sense," McGonagall replied. "You're the only one he's frightened of. That's why he never tried taking Hogwarts, even when he had the most power he'd ever had before."
"Could someone explain what's going on?" Scully asked, but everyone ignored her.
"Could be someone who isn't afraid of you Albus," Moody growled. "It could possibly be a powerful Death Eater. You never know what's been going on… he could be aiding him."
Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "This could be true, very true."
"What are we gonna do 'bout them?" Hagrid asked, pointing towards Mulder and Scully.
"They'll have to stay here of course," Dumbledore replied simply. "They're going to need to get used to life at Hogwarts, they'll need to understand who Voldemort is. I'll explain it to them. Meanwhile the rest of you, go back to teaching class. Tonight, we'll bring the students together at the Great Hall and explain what happened. I'm going to tell our new friends here about everything."
~X~X~X~X~
"You've met Harry Potter, haven't you?" Dumbledore questioned. The two nodded and he sighed. "Well, quite a few years ago, there was a wizard by the name of Lord Voldemort. Most of my kind prefers to call him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Others just call him You Know Who."
"That's why they were flinching?" Mulder asked. Dumbledore nodded. "Was he a wizard gone wrong?" Mulder continued.
"You're not as ignorant as you seem," Dumbledore said, smiling. "You could say that. He was a Dark Wizard. VERY powerful. During his 'reign', he caused a lot of death and destruction. He killed tons and tons of people - Harry's parents were two of them."
"Oh that's awful!" Scully cried out, her motherly instinct taking over. "He's an orphan…"
"James and Lily Potter were some of our best," Dumbledore continued sadly. "But when Voldemort tried to perform a powerful curse to kill Harry, he failed, his power subsiding as well."
"You mean, Harry wasn't affected by something everyone else would have been affected by?" Mulder asked, his eyes widening.
"No. He was only a baby as well. He's quite famous in our community," Dumbledore said. "He lives with some awful Muggles when school's over - no offense to you. But it was the best we could do - they're his mother's sister and her husband, who have one child. The Dursleys." He peered at the two of them, his eyes glinting. "That's Harry's story. Voldemort was reduced to practically nothing, but lately he's been trying to come back to power. Last year, he came very close… and one boy died as a result. I'm amazed to see these children so happy. But that's the beauty of Hogwarts, it's practically home."
"That's - I don't know what to say," Scully murmured, amazed by all of this. "It's a terrible story."
"Voldemort's after Harry, it's all about revenge. Harry also has a godfather, Sirius Black, who was actually accused for the death of Lily and James - he supposedly betrayed them, along with killing thirteen people with a single curse. It turned out that another one - Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail, was responsible for all of it. Sirius is out of Azkaban, a prison for wizards, and though some people got to see him last year - he's still in hiding. Now's not a good time to bring him out into the world."
Mulder gazed at Dumbledore in awe, for once in his life, unable to think of something to say. Who would have thought that boy had been a part of such an amazing and horrible tale? "That scar," he said out loud. "The lightning shaped scar on his forehead - was it caused by when Voldemort tried to kill him." Dumbledore said it was true and Mulder sat back, numb.
"How long will we be here?" Scully asked. "We do have certain responsibilities..." Mulder flinched, just imagining Skinner's reaction when he told him that he had no idea where he had been.
"Well, it doesn't matter how long you stay here," Dumbledore replied. "We'll get you back where you belong… and if you're here for months, we'll send you back in time." He smiled reassuringly. "Please do me one favor."
"Yes?" Scully seemed uneasy.
"Don't panic. Don't let the children see you panic. We'll explain everything to them tonight, at least the best we can. But we want them to enjoy their year at Hogwarts. If they live in fear, they might as well surrender now."
Mulder nodded solemnly and Scully did the same.
~X~X~X~X~
"What's going on?"
The children were whispering excitedly as they gathered in the Great Hall, wondering what this important thing was. What could have interrupted class this morning, what could have caused them to gather them together?
"Children," Dumbledore said, his voice clear and strong. "Please quiet down."
A hush fell across the room as they all watched him attentively.
"It seems that Hogwarts has been surrounded by a very strong force field. We've been trying to penetrate it, but it's not working."
"That's why there weren't any owls here this morning," Harry said thoughtfully, nodding slowly. "But who could have done this?"
"It must be the work of someone very powerful, perhaps even Lord Voldemort himself…" A few gasped, some screamed. "Or it could be someone helping him. We don't know who it is, but keep in mind… we're okay in here!"
"Yeah right," Ron grumbled. "It's over, my whole life is over…"
"Sh!" Hermione admonished. "It's okay, we can't worry."
"Now, we can't receive mail, or leave… no one can come in. We don't have much contact with the outside world."
"We're not going to Hogsmeade this year?!?" Ron cried out indignantly. "That just ruined all my fun!"
"Stop complaining!" Hermione hissed.
"But please," Dumbledore continued. "Don't panic. Continue to act as if this is a normal year at Hogwarts. Go to class; talk with your friends. Act normal. If you act afraid, then it's a problem. Just be yourselves please, that's all we ask of you. And we thank you for being so wonderful during these trying times. They will get over soon."
As the students left the Great Hall, they couldn't help worry a little, but since they all admire Dumbledore, they chose to follow his advice. "We're not going to let this bother us," Ron declared and Hermione nodded, telling him that was the spirit.
~X~X~X~X~
The next morning, things had calmed down a little, even though they had no contact with the outside world. Mulder and Scully were still in the Gryffindor dorms, since there weren't too many other accommodations for guests. The kids were thrilled. The girls loved having Scully around to talk to and she wasn't a teacher! The boys were enjoying Mulder's company as well, after all Professor McGonagall wasn't ideal company.
"We'll get through all of this," Harry said with determination, as he sat with his friends and the agents at breakfast the next morning. And after that, they all decided not to talk about it. "So Mulder," Harry asked, an amused smile on his face. "Are you actually coming to class with us?"
Mulder nodded. "Sure. Why not?"
"You'll love Trelawney," Ron grumbled.
"You should have dropped it," Hermione said superiorly. "Scully and I are going to be in Arithmancy while you'll still be listening to Trelawney's garbage." Hermione usually was a bit of a 'goody goody', but lately, she wasn't shy about voicing an opinion when she had one.
"Don't show off!" Ron replied; feeling disgruntled.
"We'd better be off," Hermione said, smiling. "Herbology awaits."
The group got up to leave, Neville still looking utterly miserable, while the rest of them acted perfectly natural. "We have it with the Hufflepuffs," Harry explained. "It's nothing special, but an important class in its own way."
The agents nodded, wondering what kind of things they would encounter here. Scully watched in horror as Professor Sprout taught them more about Mandrakes. They were just like hideous little babies! Mulder happily chewed away on sunflower seeds after the professor conjured up some for him.
Then it was time for Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. "He brings out some really strange looking creatures," Harry said, frowning. "And the Slytherins are never very kind to him, so no matter what we think, we like to be nice to him about it."
"Mornin' everyone," a beaming Hagrid said in greeting. "Got somethin' new for yeh. I'm sure the Slytherins won' enjoy it, but who asked them anyway?" Mulder grinned, wondering what Hagrid had in store for them. "Beezletoms," Hagrid declared.
"What?" Ron suddenly seemed very alarmed. "Beezletoms?"
"Beezletoms." Hagrid went over to a huge fish tank, pulling out a strange looking creature. It had lobster claws, an eel-like body, and the head of a small kitten. Even Mulder had never fathomed that such a creature could exist, while Scully was busy trying to figure out if this was really possible. A small kitten's head on an eel's body? It couldn't be plausible… yet it was.
A few Slytherins walked in, a bit late. "What the heck is that supposed to be?" a snooty looking boy with blond hair asked.
"A Beezletom," Mulder informed him, gazing at the creatures with wonder.
"I didn't ask you," the boy sneered. Mulder glared at him, amazed at the cheek of this boy. "Muggles don't belong here," the boy added as an afterthought.
"Perhaps not," Scully replied irritably, "but it's not our fault we're here."
"Of course not," the boy said. He turned to Neville. "You really did it this time Longbottom."
"I didn't mean to!" Neville argued.
"Bad enough we have Mudbloods here…"
"That's it!" Hagrid boomed. "I won' tolerate that kind of language comin' from yeh! This is not a place to discuss who belongs here, it's a class…"
Scully couldn't help noticing that Hermione seemed a bit hurt by the boy's comment. "It's a not-so-nice way of referring to Muggle-borns," the girl explained. "But I shouldn't let him bother me, he's just a horrible kid."
Class ended when a Beezletom's claw pinched Mulder's nose, causing Scully to rush him over to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey performed a spell on it to ease the pain, then the two of them went down to lunch at the Gryffindor table. Hermione eagerly brought Mulder some lunch, mumbling something about how he must be feeling so horrible. "Looks like Hermione's falling in love," Harry murmured to Ron, feeling amused. Ron could only grunt in reply before gobbling up his lunch.
"It's an impenetrable force field," Dumbledore explained. "At least that's what it seems to be."
"But how could someone do that?" McGonagall argued. "Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the wizard community! And no one's ever TRIED anything like this before!"
"Perhaps they have, but they finally succeeded," Dumbledore replied.
"Are you trying to say that we're trapped here?" Snape questioned, his face full of rage. "Are you trying to say that those Muggles are going to be here with us?" He pointed towards Mulder and Scully.
Mulder got out of his seat. "Hey!" he exclaimed indignantly. "This is not any fault of ours!" He'd figured out that Snape was against Muggles and wasn't particularly fond of him himself.
"Oh of course not," Snape sneered.
"Of course not is right," Dumbledore said firmly.
"Who could have done this?" the man with the huge blue eye asked.
"Professor Moody, we can only be sure that this is dark magic," Dumbledore replied.
"I know THAT!" Moody replied. "But who?"
"It could be Voldemort," Dumbledore said, causing everyone in the room to flinch.
"That makes no sense," McGonagall replied. "You're the only one he's frightened of. That's why he never tried taking Hogwarts, even when he had the most power he'd ever had before."
"Could someone explain what's going on?" Scully asked, but everyone ignored her.
"Could be someone who isn't afraid of you Albus," Moody growled. "It could possibly be a powerful Death Eater. You never know what's been going on… he could be aiding him."
Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "This could be true, very true."
"What are we gonna do 'bout them?" Hagrid asked, pointing towards Mulder and Scully.
"They'll have to stay here of course," Dumbledore replied simply. "They're going to need to get used to life at Hogwarts, they'll need to understand who Voldemort is. I'll explain it to them. Meanwhile the rest of you, go back to teaching class. Tonight, we'll bring the students together at the Great Hall and explain what happened. I'm going to tell our new friends here about everything."
~X~X~X~X~
"You've met Harry Potter, haven't you?" Dumbledore questioned. The two nodded and he sighed. "Well, quite a few years ago, there was a wizard by the name of Lord Voldemort. Most of my kind prefers to call him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Others just call him You Know Who."
"That's why they were flinching?" Mulder asked. Dumbledore nodded. "Was he a wizard gone wrong?" Mulder continued.
"You're not as ignorant as you seem," Dumbledore said, smiling. "You could say that. He was a Dark Wizard. VERY powerful. During his 'reign', he caused a lot of death and destruction. He killed tons and tons of people - Harry's parents were two of them."
"Oh that's awful!" Scully cried out, her motherly instinct taking over. "He's an orphan…"
"James and Lily Potter were some of our best," Dumbledore continued sadly. "But when Voldemort tried to perform a powerful curse to kill Harry, he failed, his power subsiding as well."
"You mean, Harry wasn't affected by something everyone else would have been affected by?" Mulder asked, his eyes widening.
"No. He was only a baby as well. He's quite famous in our community," Dumbledore said. "He lives with some awful Muggles when school's over - no offense to you. But it was the best we could do - they're his mother's sister and her husband, who have one child. The Dursleys." He peered at the two of them, his eyes glinting. "That's Harry's story. Voldemort was reduced to practically nothing, but lately he's been trying to come back to power. Last year, he came very close… and one boy died as a result. I'm amazed to see these children so happy. But that's the beauty of Hogwarts, it's practically home."
"That's - I don't know what to say," Scully murmured, amazed by all of this. "It's a terrible story."
"Voldemort's after Harry, it's all about revenge. Harry also has a godfather, Sirius Black, who was actually accused for the death of Lily and James - he supposedly betrayed them, along with killing thirteen people with a single curse. It turned out that another one - Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail, was responsible for all of it. Sirius is out of Azkaban, a prison for wizards, and though some people got to see him last year - he's still in hiding. Now's not a good time to bring him out into the world."
Mulder gazed at Dumbledore in awe, for once in his life, unable to think of something to say. Who would have thought that boy had been a part of such an amazing and horrible tale? "That scar," he said out loud. "The lightning shaped scar on his forehead - was it caused by when Voldemort tried to kill him." Dumbledore said it was true and Mulder sat back, numb.
"How long will we be here?" Scully asked. "We do have certain responsibilities..." Mulder flinched, just imagining Skinner's reaction when he told him that he had no idea where he had been.
"Well, it doesn't matter how long you stay here," Dumbledore replied. "We'll get you back where you belong… and if you're here for months, we'll send you back in time." He smiled reassuringly. "Please do me one favor."
"Yes?" Scully seemed uneasy.
"Don't panic. Don't let the children see you panic. We'll explain everything to them tonight, at least the best we can. But we want them to enjoy their year at Hogwarts. If they live in fear, they might as well surrender now."
Mulder nodded solemnly and Scully did the same.
~X~X~X~X~
"What's going on?"
The children were whispering excitedly as they gathered in the Great Hall, wondering what this important thing was. What could have interrupted class this morning, what could have caused them to gather them together?
"Children," Dumbledore said, his voice clear and strong. "Please quiet down."
A hush fell across the room as they all watched him attentively.
"It seems that Hogwarts has been surrounded by a very strong force field. We've been trying to penetrate it, but it's not working."
"That's why there weren't any owls here this morning," Harry said thoughtfully, nodding slowly. "But who could have done this?"
"It must be the work of someone very powerful, perhaps even Lord Voldemort himself…" A few gasped, some screamed. "Or it could be someone helping him. We don't know who it is, but keep in mind… we're okay in here!"
"Yeah right," Ron grumbled. "It's over, my whole life is over…"
"Sh!" Hermione admonished. "It's okay, we can't worry."
"Now, we can't receive mail, or leave… no one can come in. We don't have much contact with the outside world."
"We're not going to Hogsmeade this year?!?" Ron cried out indignantly. "That just ruined all my fun!"
"Stop complaining!" Hermione hissed.
"But please," Dumbledore continued. "Don't panic. Continue to act as if this is a normal year at Hogwarts. Go to class; talk with your friends. Act normal. If you act afraid, then it's a problem. Just be yourselves please, that's all we ask of you. And we thank you for being so wonderful during these trying times. They will get over soon."
As the students left the Great Hall, they couldn't help worry a little, but since they all admire Dumbledore, they chose to follow his advice. "We're not going to let this bother us," Ron declared and Hermione nodded, telling him that was the spirit.
~X~X~X~X~
The next morning, things had calmed down a little, even though they had no contact with the outside world. Mulder and Scully were still in the Gryffindor dorms, since there weren't too many other accommodations for guests. The kids were thrilled. The girls loved having Scully around to talk to and she wasn't a teacher! The boys were enjoying Mulder's company as well, after all Professor McGonagall wasn't ideal company.
"We'll get through all of this," Harry said with determination, as he sat with his friends and the agents at breakfast the next morning. And after that, they all decided not to talk about it. "So Mulder," Harry asked, an amused smile on his face. "Are you actually coming to class with us?"
Mulder nodded. "Sure. Why not?"
"You'll love Trelawney," Ron grumbled.
"You should have dropped it," Hermione said superiorly. "Scully and I are going to be in Arithmancy while you'll still be listening to Trelawney's garbage." Hermione usually was a bit of a 'goody goody', but lately, she wasn't shy about voicing an opinion when she had one.
"Don't show off!" Ron replied; feeling disgruntled.
"We'd better be off," Hermione said, smiling. "Herbology awaits."
The group got up to leave, Neville still looking utterly miserable, while the rest of them acted perfectly natural. "We have it with the Hufflepuffs," Harry explained. "It's nothing special, but an important class in its own way."
The agents nodded, wondering what kind of things they would encounter here. Scully watched in horror as Professor Sprout taught them more about Mandrakes. They were just like hideous little babies! Mulder happily chewed away on sunflower seeds after the professor conjured up some for him.
Then it was time for Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. "He brings out some really strange looking creatures," Harry said, frowning. "And the Slytherins are never very kind to him, so no matter what we think, we like to be nice to him about it."
"Mornin' everyone," a beaming Hagrid said in greeting. "Got somethin' new for yeh. I'm sure the Slytherins won' enjoy it, but who asked them anyway?" Mulder grinned, wondering what Hagrid had in store for them. "Beezletoms," Hagrid declared.
"What?" Ron suddenly seemed very alarmed. "Beezletoms?"
"Beezletoms." Hagrid went over to a huge fish tank, pulling out a strange looking creature. It had lobster claws, an eel-like body, and the head of a small kitten. Even Mulder had never fathomed that such a creature could exist, while Scully was busy trying to figure out if this was really possible. A small kitten's head on an eel's body? It couldn't be plausible… yet it was.
A few Slytherins walked in, a bit late. "What the heck is that supposed to be?" a snooty looking boy with blond hair asked.
"A Beezletom," Mulder informed him, gazing at the creatures with wonder.
"I didn't ask you," the boy sneered. Mulder glared at him, amazed at the cheek of this boy. "Muggles don't belong here," the boy added as an afterthought.
"Perhaps not," Scully replied irritably, "but it's not our fault we're here."
"Of course not," the boy said. He turned to Neville. "You really did it this time Longbottom."
"I didn't mean to!" Neville argued.
"Bad enough we have Mudbloods here…"
"That's it!" Hagrid boomed. "I won' tolerate that kind of language comin' from yeh! This is not a place to discuss who belongs here, it's a class…"
Scully couldn't help noticing that Hermione seemed a bit hurt by the boy's comment. "It's a not-so-nice way of referring to Muggle-borns," the girl explained. "But I shouldn't let him bother me, he's just a horrible kid."
Class ended when a Beezletom's claw pinched Mulder's nose, causing Scully to rush him over to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey performed a spell on it to ease the pain, then the two of them went down to lunch at the Gryffindor table. Hermione eagerly brought Mulder some lunch, mumbling something about how he must be feeling so horrible. "Looks like Hermione's falling in love," Harry murmured to Ron, feeling amused. Ron could only grunt in reply before gobbling up his lunch.