Jack looked at the old guy, who was smiling as well, and then over his shoulder once more.

"Carter?"

She was staring at the old guy, too, but she turned to O'Neill when he spoke up.

"He's-"

"A character out of the books?" Jack asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest of the living wizards," Teal'c said. "He is described in the Histories as the only person Voldemort is afraid of."

Jack looked from Teal'c back to Carter.

"Good guy?"

"Yes, sir."

"And this Voldemort guy?"

"He's a bad guy, sir."

"Ah."

"He's a son of a-"

"Sirius." Dumbledore held up a hand to interrupt the man standing beside him, and the man called Sirius fell silent, still looking at Jack and the others. "Untie them."

If Jack expected Sirius to come over and untie them, he was disappointed. Instead the man simply raised up his wand and pointed it at each of them, and the ropes holding them so tightly simply fell loose from around them.

"That's incredible," Daniel said, looking down at the ropes as he stood up.

"It is, indeed, magic, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said, standing as well.

Jack wasn't as impressed – or maybe he'd just had too many surprises for one day.

"Yeah, well… whatever it is, it's-"

"We have them on the run, Headmaster," A new voice interrupted. And even as she spoke, Jack saw the old woman that he had met in the bar the night before come into the doorway.

"Minerva…"

Sam looked over at him, surprised.

"You know her, sir?"

"We met her last night," Daniel said, pushing his glasses back onto his nose. "She was in the bar…"

Minerva smiled, slightly, and nodded.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Doctor Jackson. And you, too, Jack."

Jack scowled, but it wasn't his annoyed scowl, it was the one that plainly said he didn't know what the heck was going on and he didn't like it.

"Okay…what's going-"

"They got away, Professor," yet another new voice interrupted from the hall, and this time it belonged to a man who was just too big to be believed. Jack looked up at him as he entered the room, and just couldn't believe what he was seeing. The man was easily a foot or two taller than Teal'c, and had to weigh at least twice as much. He was hairy and unkempt, and he looked like some kind of mountain man gone horribly wrong.

"What-"

"Rubeus."

Jack looked over at Daniel with the same look of surprise that Sam had looked at him with.

"You know him?"

"Well… no. I mean… kind of. I met him at the Museum of Flight yesterday. He was-"

"Okay, stop." Jack had had enough. He looked at Dumbledore – who certainly seemed to be in charge – at least everyone was reporting to him. "Who are you?"

"Albus Dumbledore."

"What are you?"

"I'm the Headmaster at Hogwarts, which is a school for young wizards and witches."

"What?"

Instead of seeming annoyed at the fact that Jack didn't have a clue what was going on – and was obviously not happy about it – Dumbledore gave him a slightly sympathetic smile.

"I know this is all unsettling, Colonel O'Neill – I can call you that, can't I?"

Jack shrugged.

"Everyone else is."

Dumbledore smiled again at the sound of frustration in O'Neill's voice.

"Let us take you someplace a bit safer, and we'll try to explain."

"Back to the hotel?" Daniel asked.

"No. Hagrid here doesn't fit in all that well with people – and if he were to go to the hotel that the convention is being held at, he'd simply draw far too much attention from the children."

"Yeah…" Jack said, looking at the guy again. "I can see how he'd draw attention to himself…"

"Are you Sirius Black?" Sam asked the man standing beside Dumbledore.

He smiled, and it lit up his handsome face.

"I'm famous, huh?"

"You are indeed," Teal'c said. "I have read all about your unwarranted incarceration in the wizarding prison of-"

"I'd rather not talk about that," Sirius said, his expression clouding for just a moment. He turned back to Carter. "Unless you want to, of course…?"

She gave him a hesitant smile, unsure if he was flirting or if he were just being friendly.

"Uh…"

Jack scowled.

"If you don't mind? I'd like to know what's going on."

The man flushed, and turned his attention back to the others, but it was Dumbledore who spoke up.

"Let's go."

He took out an ordinary looking stick – this one looked more like a branch than a wand like the others – and tapped it lightly a couple of times with wand. Then he handed it to Jack, who didn't reach for it.

"What's that?"

"A portkey."

"A what?"

"If you all take hold of it, it'll transport you and your team to a place where we can tal without having to worry about being interrupted."

Jack hesitated.

"Why don't we just talk here?"

"It doesn't hurt, Jack," Minerva assured him.

"I'm not worried about it-"

"Sir, we should probably just-"

"Fine."

With a sigh, Jack reached out and took hold of the stick – as did Sam, Teal'c and Daniel. An instant later, he once again felt something seem to grab him, and he felt himself dissolving. He was getting too old for this crap.