The bell rang at ten o'clock sharp, as had been agreed via note – still on parchment, but at least delivered by post and with a return address in case the proposed date was not suitable. Donna opened the door to a severe-looking woman. Everything about her spoke of rigid self-control, from her grey hair tied in a neat bun to her demure women's suit.

"Hello, dear," the woman said when the door was fully open. "You must be Donna." She had a slight Scottish burr in her voice and a kind smile in her eyes, although it barely touched the corners of her mouth.

"I am Professor McGonagall. May I come in?"

Donna stepped aside to let the woman through to the living area, where Jack was waiting. By the time she'd closed the door and had joined the other two, Jack was standing up and shaking the professor's hand with a familiar gleam in his eyes.

"Well hello, I'm Captain Jack Harkness. How are you today?"

Donna rolled her eyes. "Tone it down, Harkness."

Jack turned a mock offended look on her. "What? I'm just being polite!"

A raised eyebrow on McGonagall's face had him throw up his arms in surrender. "Alright, alright. I can't win if it's two against one."

Donna turned to the professor, knowing Jack would stop flirting once the topic became serious. Or at least curb it somewhat – the day Jack completely stopped flirting was the day he finally died for good.

"Can I get you something to drink, professor, before we get to the reason for your visit?"

The older woman looked genuinely pleased with the suggestion. "Why yes, thank you. Perhaps some tea?"

Once they were all settled, the professor was the first one to start speaking.

"First, miss Noble, I feel I owe you an apology. As I understand from young Archibald Fairtree's somewhat excitable explanation, your letter was delivered by owl post, even though we normally make sure to visit muggleborn witches and wizards personally. I will be looking into how such a change in procedure was possible. For now, however, let us pretend that this is a normal visit, so that we may get to the questions you undoubtedly have.

"Now, you obviously received your letter already. Is there anything you or your father would like to ask?"

Donna glanced at Jack with a little smirk. "Jack is not my father, professor. He is a family friend and my guardian. But, my first question: Magic is actually real?"

"Oh, yes dear. Have you never experienced something inexplicable, or made something happen by really wanting it, perhaps in a stressful situation?"

Donna resisted the urge to glance at Jack again. He must be thinking the same thing she was. Plenty of weird stuff happened around her, but most of those could be explained. Most of them with 'The Doctor was involved.' Even her recent adventures could be traced to him one way or another. The regeneration in any case, and the displacement in space and time... well, if it wasn't him, then it was the Rift that was responsible. But things she herself had caused?

"Not as such, no."

McGonagall pursed her lips together in thought. "That is somewhat irregular, but then we were already dealing with the irregular, were we not. Perhaps the two are related somehow. Under normal circumstances, untrained wizards and witches display what we call 'accidental magic'. It is generally an unfocused force, enacting a subconscious wish on behalf of the child. Very often, if not always, it occurs when a child experiences extreme emotions – anger, or fear, to give an example."

"Right, and so muggleborns – that still sounds like an insult, by the way – don't get to hear about magic until they're eleven? Even though they've been using this magic for about a decade, give or take a few years? Tough sh... luck," she corrected herself just in time to avoid cursing in front of the professor. Jack usually didn't mind, knowing her real age, so she wasn't in the habit of censoring herself.

McGonagall pursed her lips again. Evidently, she'd heard the replacement, though she didn't comment. Instead, she smoothed the legs of her trousers a little. "People have been trying to get the Ministry to change the policy." From the annoyed set of her mouth, Donna guessed that she counted herself among these people. "But no, they hide behind their precious Statute of Secrecy and let the Hogwarts teachers do the talking, including why it took so long to explain what was going on."

"Okay, well, since we've established that I am an exception... could you maybe show me some? Magic, that is?"

McGonagall nodded. From somewhere up her sleeve, she took a wooden stick, showing it to Donna and Jack. Then she showed her arm, and the leather that was strapped there. "Wand. Wand holster. Invest in one of these, they're much safer than keeping your wand in your pocket."

With that, she twirled the wand and said... well, gibberish as far as Donna was concerned. Where was the TARDIS and her translation circuits when you needed her? McGonagall's clothes changed from her severe suit to a set of emerald robes.

"These are everyday robes for witches, although the hat is currently missing. What I just did is called Transfiguration, which is the discipline of changing one thing into another. More accurately, I ended the transfiguration on my robes. They were made like this, and I had transfigured them to a more muggle appearance to avoid attention.

"Other disciplines include Charms, where you learn how to manipulate the laws of physics as you learned them in school," as she said this, the teapot rose into the air and poured itself, followed by the sugar and milk, and lastly the spoon stirred them, all without the professor's hand going near the items. McGonagall continued her speech as if nothing had happened.

"or Herbology – working with plants has a magic all its own. Not everyone has an aptitude for it, but you need at least the basics. Then there's Potions, which is a slower kind of magic than the others, if not less powerful. Many pupils, and even adults, underestimate exactly what you can do with a well-brewed potion. My own first love is and always will be Transfiguration, and that is what I teach."

Donna's eyes glittered as she watched the teapot's antics. "That is brilliant! I'm starting to see the appeal of learning magic. Where do I go to get a wand?"

The rest of the visit passed pleasantly, with Professor McGonagall explaining to them how to get to Diagon Alley and to Platform 9 ¾, as well as some recent history of the wizarding world. She also recommended several books that would be helpful in navigating wizarding society. She left with a confirmation from Donna that she would, indeed, be attending Hogwarts as of the 1st of September.

After she left, Donna and Jack sat on the couch, discussing everything they'd heard. For the first time since she'd realised she'd have to go back to school, she found herself actually looking forward to it.

"I feel a trip to Diagon Alley coming up. You in or should I go alone?"

Jack grinned boyishly at her. "Rift permitting, count me in. Wouldn't miss it for the world. Besides, I have a couple of alien gadgets I'd like to try out on that perception filter type of thing she mentioned. Just some stuff that fell through the Rift. I'm sort of curious which of them is stronger, the magic from this world or the technology from another."

"Will you be telling your boss about all this?"

Jack shook his head, looking a bit more serious. "Not right now. Torchwood One is definitely out, they'd probably try to eradicate magic users, and they're not nearly as proficient with alien weaponry as they like to believe. I'm fairly sure magic would win in that situation. My colleagues here in Cardiff... Lets just say, if something like their war ten years ago were to happen again, I might tell them. At least we'd know the cause of any inexplicable happenings. But for right now, I don't see the need to let them know. What they don't know won't hurt them, so long as these magicals keep up with that Statute of Secrecy. Let Torchwood concentrate on alien life and tech, and leave the magic to the experts."

They continued talking for a while longer, until Donna's young body demanded sleep. That was one thing she missed, being able to go on until late at night. Then again, in her later years she'd gone to sleep early anyway, and at least she did have an abundance of energy during the day now, and none of the aches and pains that came with old age. In all, she thought she'd rather drawn the long straw in that particular exchange – the long nights would come again when she grew a little. Her last thought before falling asleep was excitement for their upcoming trip to Diagon Alley.