"What happened to you?" Daniel asked as they started walking down what was little more than a dirt road. "Where did you go?"

Jack scowled.

"Dobby kidnapped me and took me to Harry, and then Voldemort's pals kidnapped me from them. And then the centaurs snatched me from him – although I'm not complaining about that, since things were getting pretty hairy by that time." He looked over at Dumbledore. "I'm really getting sick of being passed back and forth like some kind of prize watermelon at a county fair…"

Dumbledore nodded.

"More like a pawn, Jack, I'm sorry to say," he replied. "But there will be time to discuss that once we reach the school. Are you injured?"

"No."

"I never should have convinced you to go out to eat…" Carter said, shaking her head, guiltily.

"It wasn't just you, Sam," Daniel said. "I did a lot of fast talking, too, as I recall."

"So did I," Sirius added. "I certainly didn't mean for you to be put into danger, Jack."

O'Neill shrugged.

"It's not important." Of course, next time they might listen to him, now, which would be a pleasant change. "I still don't see how Voldemort knew Harry had me. I couldn't have been there more than ten minutes before his-"

"Undoubtedly through his bond with Harry," Dumbledore said. "It's not so convenient when it works for the other side as well…"

Sam nodded her agreement to that, although Jack didn't seem to know exactly what they were talking about. No big surprise there, since Sam and Teal'c knew far more about the books and the lore of the wizards than Daniel and Jack did.

"Is there any risk that O'Neill has been subjected to an Imperious Curse?" Teal'c asked.

"A what?" Jack asked, frowning.

"A curse that would make you do whatever someone else – Voldemort, most likely – tells you to," Sam explained. She looked over at Dumbledore. "Is there?"

"I'm not under some kind of kooky curse," Jack told them, annoyed.

"Would he be aware of the spell if he were, indeed, under the control of someone else?" Teal'c asked.

Jack's scowl deepened, but Dumbledore gave him a sharp look and they all stopped walking.

"It's possible he wouldn't…" the old wizard conceded.

"I'm not under anyone's control," Jack snapped, feeling a headache coming on.

"But if you were, you'd probably say that…" Sam said.

"I'm not."

"Jack…" Dumbledore said, realizing that O'Neill was getting angry when there might not be any reason to. "Did you hear anyone say Imperio around you while you were with the Death Eaters?"

He paused, thinking back, and finally nodded.

"Yeah. When he was trying to get me to come with him, I told him I wasn't going anywhere – my head was killing me from getting knocked out by his thugs – and he got ticked and tried to use some kind of Jedi mind trick…"

"A what?"

All of the wizards were frowning in confusion, but Sam couldn't help smile, despite the seriousness of the question.

"A Jedi mind trick," Jack repeated. "He tried to get into my head."

"You felt it?"

"Yeah."

"What was he trying to get you to do?"

"Drink some kind of painkiller."

"Did you?"

"Eventually – but only after he got pissed and drank half of it himself to prove to me it wasn't poisoned."

"Why did he want you to drink it?" Minerva asked, curiously.

"Because I wouldn't go with him with my head pounding – and it was killing me."

Minerva looked at Dumbledore, who was studying Jack. Finally, he nodded.

"Chances are, you were too strong-willed to succumb to the Imperious Curse, Jack. It's a potent spell, but it's not irresistible. If he was that angry, I'm certain he didn't take control."

"I told you he didn't…"

Like Jack would ever let Voldemort into his head? He didn't even want him on the same planet.

"And you seem to have been right," Dumbledore agreed, amicably. The old wizard resumed the walk and the others fell into step as well, walking in silence down the road toward Hogwarts.

OOOOOOOOO

By the time he reached the castle, Harry was out of breath and sweating profusely. But he didn't care. The huge doors that led to the great hall and the rest of the school were wide open as if the place had been expecting him, but he barely noticed that, either. He bolted through the doors and headed for the staircase that led towards the Gryffindor common room.

Unfortunately, when he reached the portrait of the fat woman that guarded it, he found that there were definite disadvantages to coming to the school during Summer Break.

"Password?" she asked him, her expression clearly telling him that she knew he didn't have a clue what it was.

"I don't know," Harry puffed, wiping his forehead. "Let me in though."

"Not without the password. You know the rules."

"But I don't know what it is yet!"

"You shouldn't be here during the summer, anyways," she told him, smoothly.

"I don't have a choice!" How frustrating was it to be lectured by a picture when all he wanted was someplace to sulk! "Let me in…"

"Not without the password…"

"I don't know-"

"Oh, leave him alone…" As Harry watched, another woman joined the fat lady in her portrait; this one from a painting that he knew was on the second floor stairway. "We all know you don't make up a new password until the first day of term." She gave Harry a wink, and he realized that she'd just given him the hint he needed to get in.

"Ditwit," Harry said, telling the fat lady the password that had been the last password of the school year before.

The fat lady scowled at her friend, and then rolled her eyes.

"Very well…"

The portrait swung open, and Harry ducked through the hole, anxious to find a quiet place where no one else would be able to find him.