Chapter 8 – Confundus Charm?

'Encrypted signal detected. Decryption of signal...100% completed. Signal reads:

"Scout Ship 2 broadcasting encrypted message to Mothership and Invasion Fleet. Scout Ship 2 has crashed on the target planet of Sol 3, due to the regretful decision of plotting course through ring of small rocks. Power levels are recharging. Surveillance of area will begin once crew is revived. Scout Ship 1 remains undetected."

End Message.'

Weeks passed, and the weather started to cool down, welcoming in October. The Quidditch season had started, and the House teams were out practising at every opportunity. The Doctor, who liked taking evening walks around Hogwarts' grounds, would often see seven figures flying in the air above the Quidditch Stadium.

"Enjoying your time here, John?" asked a familiar voice from behind the Doctor as he stared up at the Gryffindor team's practise session. It was Dumbledore.

"Sorry?" asked the Doctor, slightly startled by Dumbledore's sudden appearance.

"Are you enjoying your time here? For a muggle, all this must be very overwhelming."

"Overwhelming? Ha!" the Doctor grinned, "It's very hard to find things that overwhelm me."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Spells, potions, flying broomsticks?" he offered.

The Doctor shrugged. "Seen them all. Well, except for the flying broomsticks, they're new. I've only ever seen pictures of them at the Academy, when we were covering the Carrionites. They, uh, used them to swoop down on their target and get a bio sample that they could use for their DNA replication modules."

Dumbledore gazed intently at the Doctor, his blue eyes appearing to penetrate deep into the Time Lord's skull. After a moment, he sighed.

"You're a very...unusual muggle, John," he said. "All that I know personally would have been overwhelmed by their experience. But you...you act like you've seen it all before."

The Doctor smiled sadly. "When one's over a millennium old, there isn't much left to see, is there?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just...I look at a star, any star, and all I see is just a big ball of burning gas. I know how it began, I know how it ends, and I was probably there both times. I've got all of the universe as my backyard, but after a while it becomes just that: a backyard."

Dumbledore considered the Doctor's revelations. Was he really over a thousand years old? If he was, that would mean he was born several hundred years before Nicolas...but something didn't feel right. And he mentioned having the universe as his backyard... Was he a traveller from the future, who had arrived here by mistake? That would explain how his box was able to totally ignore Hogwarts' protective enchantments. But perhaps he was something else, perhaps he was a creature from anorther planet?

Something in Dumbledore's mind clicked. The meteorite. The blue box. John 'the Doctor' Smith. Were they all somehow linked? Only time would tell.

Putting these troubling thoughts from his mind, Dumbledore spoke once more.

"I must admit, John, that I was afraid your subject wouldn't be all that popular, but it appears as if the majority of students are enjoying your classes. I must congratulate you on this; you've put in a fine effort."

"Thanks. As I was telling - what was her name? The pink one? Dolores! - as I was telling Dolores the other week, I've only ever had one previous teaching job, and that only lasted a few days until I had to blow the school up. Well, until I had to tell a robot dog to blow the school up. Long story," the Doctor said hastily, noticing Dumbledore's expression of incredulity. "It's not something I make a habit of..."

Dumbledore asked another question that had been on his mind recently.

"I'm going to change the subject here, but Doctor who? I don't believe you've answered that. Properly, I mean," he said.

"Ooh, dangerous question," the Doctor grinned, and said no more, leaving Dumbledore to sigh in disappointment.

Dumbledore and the Doctor stood in silence as the landscape slowly grew darker. The Gryffindors finished their practice and began walking back up to the castle. As the group passed by the two teachers, Dumbledore said goodbye to the Doctor and went over to the Weasley twins. From what the Doctor could make out, Dumbledore was trying to find out what invention the twins were getting some first years to test. The Doctor laughed softly. He doubted that Dumbledore would get the information he wanted. Shaking his head in amusement, he too started making his way up to the school.

"You'll be fine, Ron. Just don't listen to what Malfoy and the Slytherins were singing. They're trying to unnerve you."

Back in the training rooms, Harry was desperately trying to cheer Ron up after the Slytherin's performance of 'Weasley is our King' during that evening's training session.

"Yeah. Whatever." Ron wasn't convinced.

Harry sighed. "Look, mate, I've done all I can. You just need some determination." He gathered his belongings and walked to the door. "I'll see you at dinner."

Ron watched as Harry left the training rooms. He knew that Harry was only trying to help him with his susceptibility to teasing, but his pride stopped him from taking his best friend's advice. He sat alone for a few more minutes before shaking his head in frustration. He got up, put his training robes away, grabbed his broom and started walking up to the castle, telling himself that he'd apologise to Harry as soon as he could.

The Skarasen's head and neck silently broke the surface of the lake. With a mechanical whir, its eyes scanned the surrounding landscape, eventually locking on to a lone figure walking close to the lake.

In the reconaissance ship, a visual link was displaying the Skarasen's view on a screen.

"It appears as if that creature is returning to the structure," observed the first alien.

"Yes," hissed the Commander. "We have scouted the area sufficiently; it is time to act. Capture the human!"

"At once, Commander."

Grrr

A low growl interrupted the peace of the night. Startled, Ron whirled around, wand raised.

"Hello?" he asked nervously. Memories of an encounter with a werewolf two years previously were still very prominent. "Lumos." The wand tip lit up, revealing the still surface of the lake.

Grrr

"Is that you, Malfoy?" Ron called. "You're not funny, you're just a coward as usual."

Splash!

A massive shape reared up from the lake and loomed above him. Ron hurriedly retreated, but tripped and fell to the ground, dropping his wand in the process. The wand's light cut out immediately.

"Come on, where are you?" Ron said desperately as he scrabbled in the grass, trying to find his wand. Suddenly, he was illuminated by a bright blue light.

"What the?" Ron said as he started to vibrate. He looked at his hand, and was horrified to find that it was glowing blue. "No!" he yelled, before his body disintegrated into thousands of blue sparks. When the blue light stopped a second later, Ron Weasley had disappeared.

Several minutes later, the blue light returned, and Ron's body quickly reformed from a cloud of blue sparks. He stepped forward and paused before bending down and retrieving his wand. Hesitating again, he then jerkily resumed his walk back up to the castle.

The blue light shut off yet again, and the creature that had emitted it sank silently beneath the surface of the lake.

Harry was worried. His best friend hadn't turned up for dinner, a fact that Harry found extremely odd, as Ron loved meals. Indeed, his appetite was famous throughout the school! Hoping that he'd be in the common room, Harry opened the portrait only to be disappointed. Sighing, he went over to Hermione, who was sitting at a table, writing furiously.

"You haven't seen Ron anywhere, have you?" he asked her, tapping her on the shoulder several times in an effort to get her attention.

"One moment," Hermione replied, not looking up. "Okay, done!" she exclaimed happily a moment later, turning to Harry with a piece of parchment in her hand.

"What's that?" Harry said apprehensively. "You're still curious about Professor Smith, aren't you?"

"Of course I am, and I won't be satisfied until he spills everything," she huffed. "Anyway, this is a list of everything I know about Professor Smith." She waved the parchment under Harry's nose. "Read it!"

Harry reluctantly took the parchment and began to read:

ooOoo

Professor Smith – Facts

- Claims to be 1, 313 years old when he looks no older than 30. Did he use a Philosopher's Stone?

- Graduated from the Magical Scientific Institute of Brisbane 15 years ago. Is that even a place? And if so, Prof. Smith must be exceedingly smart to graduate when he was about 15.

- Has a strange instrument that has a green diode at its tip and makes a whirring sound when used. Prof. Smith claims that it is his wand

- Claims to have travelled forwards in time by using a 'wormhole' created by the 'Hadron Collider'. Do any of those things exist?

- Owns a blue box that he allegedly bought in 1963. Somehow, it can move. It can project holograms from both its keyhole and lamp. Prof. Smith calls it 'old girl'.

- Teaches concepts about magic and gravity that are contradicted in all books researched. Is he a liar, or does he honestly believe he's right?

ooOoo

"Really, Hermione, is all this necessary?" Harry groaned in exasperation. "Do you really have to know everything about him?"

"Absolutely!" Hermione replied. "I want to know where he got all these outlandish ideas from." She snatched the piece of parchment back.

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment, Ron walked in, detouring slightly by walking straight into the wall.

"You alright?" Harry asked, trying to keep the grin off his face. "Someone put the confundus charm on you?"

Ron ignored him and walked over to Hermione. "Hello, Hermione."

"Hey, Ron," Hermione said absently, now engrossed in her Ancient Runes homework. "Where have you been? We were starting to get worried."

"I have been talking to Fred and George about their use of the First Years as test subjects for their Skiving Snackboxes."

Hermione was surprised. "Really? It's about time you stepped up to your position as Prefect!"

"Sorry to interrupt your thrilling conversation," interrupted Ginny as she climbed through the portrait hole, "but I've got a note here from Professor Smith."

"Thanks, Ginny," Harry said, taking the note. "Oh, great," he groaned a second later.

"It's our detention, isn't it," Hermione said gloomily.

"Yep. Eight o'clock, tomorrow night."

"Well, I have to say that it's about time! It's been weeks since he caught us investigating his box!"

"I suppose he must have been busy," intoned Ron. "I am going to bed. Goodnight."

Harry and Hermione stared as Ron lumbered up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

"I think someone's put a confundus charm on him," Harry said, concerned. "Probably a Slytherin hoping to ruin our chances of winning tomorrow's game."

"I hope he recovers quickly," Hermione said anxiously.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, before following his friend up the stairs to his dorm.

Author Note: The Nicolas Dumbledore was referring to was, of course, Nicolas Flamel. And what's happened to Ron? Is he really under a confundus charm, or is it something far more sinister?

I'm happy to announce that the sequel finally has a title! Harry Potter and the Witch's Secret is currently 30 ,787 words long, with quite a few more to go. I can see it easily reaching 40k, but whether it does or not is another matter! So, what's the meaning behind the title? Let the speculation begin!

Replies to reviews:

Insanityisgood25: Thanks! Yes, I imagine the look on the trio's faces would be great to see, they'd be simply dumbfounded!

Henny14 & twinpowersactivate: Thanks!

SoManyFandomSoLittleTime: I think he'd be a lot crankier if that were the case, actually!

Ace x Girl x Called x Ace XD: Thanks! I think that if the Doctor was very angry, he'd be more likely to do something horrible to whoever angered him. We'll see something like that happen later in the story, actually!

theunnamedGryffindors2: It's alright, technical difficulties happen all the time. And you didn't interrupt any of my daily activities either, so no harm done. Anyway: Don't worry, constructive criticism is always good, as it helps me improve! You've raised some good points, ones that I might have to address more in the story itself.

First of all, while it's true that Hermione is a muggle born and would have learnt about science (and gravity) in Primary School (the UK and Australian equivalent of Elementary School), she would only have learnt what gravity is, not how it works and what causes it. Therefore, when she reads about it in wizarding literature, she accepts the wizarding explanation for how it is created. As for her trying to prove the Doctor wrong, that comes from her very strong belief that books are always right, a theme that will continue through this story until its resolution in the sequel.

As for Ron: he is more open minded than Hermione, and is able to believe that books are not always right. It also comes down to the fact that it is unlikely he ever would have researched wizarding explanations of natural phenomena like gravity, and so never had the wizarding explanation enforced on him. Therefore, when the Doctor comes along and gives what sounds like a reasonable explanation (to him, at least), he goes with that, rejecting Hermione's position.

I hope that answered your questions!