CHAPTER 1

Of Portals and freakily smart people

He ran up the grassy grounds of Hogwarts and raced up the marble staircase, sprinting along the corridors until he finally skidded to a halt outside a door.

"Professor, Professor! You will not believe what we just saw! Come on!" He panted, pulling on her hand as he went, forgetting just who this teacher was.

"Potter stop tugging my hand this instant!" Professor McGonagall snapped irritably as she was towed along after the frantic teenager. "What on Earth are you babbling about?"

"It was just there when we got there… I swear that it wasn't our fault this time. We didn't do a thing! I swear… but you'll just have to see. I think I know what it is but I'm not sure…"

Glancing at the occupied boy next to her, the Professor could not believe how depressed he had been less than five months ago. He had recovered remarkably, and although his eyes still clouded over when he heard anything relating to the loss he had suffered, he was much better. They continued to rush out of the school and over the lawns until they reached the edge of the forest. Here Professor McGonagall shot a suspicious look at the young man, but he just hurried along around the forest until he came to a place where there was a small path. The trees blocked out the view of the school before the pair had gone more than a few metres.

Professor McGonagall gave her companion a sideways glance, then cleared her voice and spoke in hushed, slightly sarcastic tones, "I'm very sorry to interrupt our little expedition but where exactly are we…" She broke off and stood stock-still, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide.

She stayed like this for a few moments before she partially collected herself.

"Potter…" she managed to break out before she stopped again. "Potter", she started again in a somewhat stronger voice, "Go get the Headmaster."

As the boy sped away to do her bidding, she forgot all dignity and sat on the floor. If this was what she thought it was, and what she thought Potter thought it was too, then this would mean a whole lot more work for her. She sighed and buried her head in her hands. And she had just finished marking all the homework!

It was three weeks after they had discovered the portal, and they had still had no luck. Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Supreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, member of the International Confederation of Wizards, and a whole lot of other useless titles, had called in a select few trusted people he could trust who specialised in portals and teleportation devices, charms, hexes, the history of magic, magical creatures, curses and recognising Dark Arts and how to counteract them. Some of these people could already be found at the school, such as the tiny Professors Flitwick and Binns, and of course Albus Dumbledore had the largest collection of magical knowledge out of almost anyone that Minerva knew. He had summoned a little over ten people altogether, and although they were all some of the most scholarly and learned in their field, they had been unable to shed much light on what the portal was, how it came to be, and why it was there.

Minerva McGonagall felt like banging her head against a tree. She was beginning to loathe that tall, forbidding oval shape with the surface of shifting silvery light. Some of those studying it had suggested half-heartedly throwing a rock into it just to see if the wretched thing would have a reaction, but those who still had a smidgen of hope left (and a bit more sanity) realised that this could trigger some kind of reaction.

But the option of what to do was soon taken out of their hands. It had been four weeks since the portal's discovery, and the scholars were sitting dejectedly in front of the protective wards that they had put up around it, offering an idea every few minutes or so, but mostly just staring blankly at the portal as if wishing it would just suddenly spit out the answers they'd been searching for.

Maybe the portal was activated by their joint longings, or maybe it was just the right time, or perhaps it had finally got sick of having clueless people throwing spells and counter-spells at it in an attempt to get rid of it. Whatever the reason, four weeks, two days, one hour, and approximately sixteen minutes after Albus Dumbledore had first seen the portal, a man came stumbling out of it. He staggered out of the silvery sheet, and stared around wildly, before narrowing his eyes and looking again. When he reached Dumbledore, his eyes widened in surprise before he narrowed them again, this time in anger.

"Whadda ya mean by this, eh, Dumbledore?" he spluttered out, slurring his words in his annoyance, "What are ya leading us on a wild goose chase for, eh?"

The assembly stared at him. Dumbledore was the first to recoup.

"I beg your pardon?" he asked, faintly puzzled, "A wild goose chase? I'm afraid I don't seem to know you."

"Prob'ly not, seeing as I'm only a lowly auror, but what business is it of yours to go around creating portals and worrying the Ministry of Magic? You know as well as anyone else that we have more important things on our hands then to be worried about potentially dangerous gateways!" replied the stranger angrily.

"Excuse me young man", broke in old Barnabus Crumbly, one of the experts on Charms, "But you should show a tad more respect for your elders! There you go again!" he exclaimed as the newcomer opened his mouth heatedly, "interrupting folk when they're in the middle of talking! Now before anything else you should get your story straight. Albus Dumbledore did not create this here doorway, and he would not disturb your Ministry for such a petty thing as just to discover whether he could create one or not. Shame on you for not knowing better! Now," he said a bit more gently, "why don't you tell us who you are and where exactly the other end of this gateway is and we'll try and figure out what to do next."

But before the man could so much as utter a word, another figure came whizzing out of the portal.

"Jenson!" He began excitedly, "we think we know where this portal leads. But it would be unbelievable if it did! I mean really unbelievable. I wonder…" but trailed off as he saw whose company he was in.

"Lennox? Is that you?" He inquired, peering inquisitively at the fortyish professor of magical history who looked rather startled that this strange looking old man knew who he was.

For this latest entrant was definitely more than a bit odd looking. He had white and grey hair, wisps of which seemed to stick up in every direction, as if it was permanently charged with electricity. He had a dishevelled appearance, robes with smudges of brown and grey on them, and spectacles perched lopsidedly on his thin nose. He was without a doubt a scientist and quite possibly a mad one to boot.

"Er, who are you?" Questioned Lennox, just as confused as everyone else there. Everyone but Dumbledore and the new arrival that is.

"I think I know what is going on", interjected Albus quietly.

Everyone immediately turned to him and stared dutifully, waiting for an explanation. The latest addition however bounced on the balls of his feet, clearly eager to share his knowledge and understanding of the nature of the situation.

"It seems", Dumbledore said calmly and still in that quiet voice, "that a time portal has opened into our very own Hogwarts-"

"Exactly!" interrupted the jittery scientist, speaking rapidly, "Precisely what our studies and my theory proved! It's meant to be impossible, or only able to work under certain conditions, and even then it is only open for a short period of time, relevant to our time of course, but this, this is a scientific anomaly, it's unheard of, yet anyone can see that this portal is standing right here, as it definitely is, oh yes without a doubt it's standing right there, but…" The scientist ran his hands over his hair looking amazed and some part of Minerva's mind registered that this was probably the cause of it standing on end.

"I apologise, but could you possibly tell me where and what time you are from?" Dumbledore interjected. "You are in the year 1976", he added before the open-mouthed scientist could talk.

The scientist still looked amazed, then pulled himself together and drew himself up proudly, puffing out his chest, before he could answer though, the auror, who had been observing the proceedings quietly, straightened his back and spoke up. "We both work for the Ministry of Magic. Actually we were meant to go back and report to our superiors to tell them what we found out about this place ten minutes after we arrived, and it's been", he said looking at his watch, "over fifteen minutes, so I believe that we should go back and let everyone know that we are alright before we go any further."

"Hold on a second!" exclaimed the young professional on magical creatures, "We still have loads of questions! What about-"

"We will answer all your questions when we come back", said the auror firmly, "But right now we must get back. We will return in a few hours or days." And with that he turned on his heel, resolutely took hold of the robe collar of the scientist (who looked regretful and inclined to stay) and marched through the silvery light without another word.

A/N: What do you think? Feedback people!