The beady eyes turned shifty, and Jack noticed it right away – and knew he was about to be lied to.

"I'm a friend… a prisoner here, such as yourselves…"

Jack shook his head, not at all amused. It wasn't even a good lie. He looked around the room.

"You've got it pretty good here for a prisoner… what's your name and where are we?"

The room was richly decorated, with paintings on the wall and elaborate tapestries hanging in places that the painting didn't cover. There was a large fireplace with a fire burning merrily in it, and several odd-looking weapons leaning against the wall. Daniel was looking around the room and not at the strange-looking little man, and he noticed something immediately.

"Jack…"

"Not now, Daniel." O'Neill had his full attention on his fellow 'prisoner', who was squirming under his direct stare.

"The people in the pictures are moving…"

"What?"

Jack turned to look, and saw Daniel was right. The portrait above the mantel held a picture of a guy who looked a lot like the Malfoy guy Teal'c had dropped in the small room they'd been in. There were some differences, this guy looked older, and a bit heavier, but the face was the same and the eyes were equally evil looking. And it was moving.

The man had been painted sitting in a chair, and as they watched, he stood up and hurried out of the side of the picture.

"What the-"

"Sir!"

Sam's voice got Jack's attention, and when he turned, he found that the little guy was gone. A movement on the floor drew his eye, and he saw a large rat dodging under the closest chair.

"What the hell!"

"It was that guy, sir," Sam said, and when he looked at her he saw that her face was suddenly pale and her eyes were wide. "He… he just turned into the rat. Right in front of my eyes!"

"What?"

Sam looked around the room, moving away from the chair that the rat was hiding under. No one liked rats, after all.

"He changed into a rat, sir…"

"Carter…"

"I saw it, Jack!"

Carter was definitely looking rattled, now, and Jack frowned, reaching out to take hold of her arm to steady her.

"Easy…"

"It's just like in the books, sir," Sam said, shakily. "The moving pictures, the crazy-"

"Then someone's messing with us," Jack said. "Trying to make us think that-"

"I don't know anyone with the technology to make someone turn into a rat, sir."

"Nor do I, O'Neill." Teal'c, of course, was unflappable. "This is the work of dark wizards."

Jack didn't even bother to correct him. Not that he believed in dark wizards – or light wizards, for that matter – but he had better things to worry about just then.

"Come on, guys, let's get the hell out of here."

He didn't know where the guy went – Carter certainly seemed to believe he turned into a rat, but Jack was more inclined to believe that someone was using smoke and mirrors on them or something, trying to make them believe that the books were coming to life around them. Of course, he didn't have a clue why anyone would bother – and if he found out it was a practical joke by some advanced alien race, there were definitely going to be some heads rolling – but he didn't care to stick around and find out. Practical jokes were never something that Jack was all that fond of.

They headed for the door, and all of them watched their feet – looking for the rat, Jack knew – and every now and then looking at one of the portraits on the wall. All of them had people moving in them, now, watching their retreat, and Jack couldn't help but feel the hairs on the back of his neck raise.

Before they reached the door, however, it opened with a crash, and the exit was suddenly blocked by a small handful of men. They varied in ages from one guy who looked old enough to be a grandfather many times over to a young man probably Daniel's age. They were dressed in cloaks, robes and other odd-looking garments, wearing expressions that were serious and angry, and Jack saw that all of them were carrying sticks – and had them out and pointed at SG-1.

They pulled up short, but Jack wasn't all that worried. Yeah, there were more of them, but all they had were sticks. Jack had Teal'c.

Before he could say anything, though, the crowd in the doorway parted, and a furious and very rumpled looking Lucius Malfoy stepped into the room. His cold glare was only for Jack, and he held his hand out in an imperious manner that immediately reminded Jack that he didn't like this guy.

"You have something that belongs to me… give it back."

Jack's gaze followed Malfoy's and he looked down at the walking stick in his hand. It was fairly cool looking, yes, - although the snake head at the top was a little overdone – but hardly worth getting so worked up over.

"This?"

He held it up so the guy could see it, and although Jack wouldn't have thought it possible, Malfoy's face grew even angrier.

"Give it to me, you filthy-"

Recognizing immediately yet another way to anger this man – and Jack couldn't understand why the man rubbed him so wrong so easily – O'Neill gave him a mocking smile.

"Come and get it."

He took the walking stick in both hands and started to draw it down onto his knee, fully intending to break it in half – but it broke apart before he could, and Jack found himself holding a little stick in one hand and the rest of the walking stick in the other. A wand had been hidden in the staff – and even Jack had to admit that was pretty cool.

"Give it to me!" Malfoy had lost his temper completely. Reaching out, he snatched a wand from one of the men standing beside him and started to point it at Jack, who replied by dropping the bottom part of the walking stick, and taking hold of the wand in both hands and snapping it over his knee – just like he had the one belonging to the little boy in the elevator at the hotel.

"You forgot to say please…"

Malfoy's face grew white, and then red, and then white again as Jack dropped the pieces of his broken wand on the floor with a clatter. The rest of the crowd seemed frozen by the act, but Lucius exploded. The wand in his hand bore down on Jack.

"Avada K-"

"No!"

Startled by the sudden voice – it wasn't a shout although it resonated thru out the entire room – everyone turned, including SG-1 and Malfoy. From apparently nowhere a figure had emerged from the right side of the room, and it was a figure that seemed to exude evil. Tall and completely covered by a dark cloak, the figure approached, and Malfoy dropped the wand in his hand, his fury turning immediately into fear. The others in the group all dropped theirs as well, and where Malfoy showed fear, they showed terror.

"M-master…"

Malfoy's voice had lost the silky smoothness, and was now submissive.

"I told you I wanted him alive, Lucius…"