Chapter 9 – Abnormal Resistance and an Astronomy Lesson
"Quidditch today!" Harry said excitedly, bolting out of bed. "You alright?" he asked Ron, who was sitting upright in his bed, gazing straight ahead.
Ron ignored him.
"Come on," Harry said encouragingly. "You just need a good breakfast."
Harry and Ron received a rapturous applause as they sat down at the Gryffindor table, which looked like a sea of red and gold. If Harry had thought that Ron's morale would be boosted by all the support, he was wrong, as his friend quietly took his place at the table.
"What's this?" he asked, pointing at his bowl of porridge.
"Porridge, of course," said Hermione, plonking herself down next to him. "What did you think it was, dog vomit?"
Ron frowned, but started to eat, shovelling mouthfuls of porridge into his mouth so fast that his cheeks began to swell.
Harry watched his best friend curiously. He'd been behaving oddly lately, but the fact that his atrocious table manners remained was a good sign.
"Okay, I've only just found out Slytherin's final line up," Angelina addressed the Gryffindor Quidditch team in the changing rooms twenty minutes later. "They've got two new beaters, some blokes called Crabbe and Goyle."
Harry's stomach plummeted. Not good news.
Angelina checked her watch. "It's time," she said in a hushed voice. "C'mon, everyone ... good luck."
The team rose, shouldered their brooms, and marched out of the changing rooms and into the dazzling sunlight. A roar of sound greeted them, through which a faint chorus of 'Weasley is our King' could just be made out. Harry glanced worriedly at Ron, but the red head appeared not to have heard the song.
The Slytherin team was waiting for them on the field.
"Captains, shake hands," ordered referee Madam Hooch, as Angelina and Slytherin Captain Montague reached each other. "Mount your brooms..."
Madam Hooch placed her whistle in her mouth and blew.
'Good luck, Ron,' Harry thought as he zoomed into the air, eyes darting all over the field, looking for the tiny glimpse of gold that would betray the snitch's position.
Fifteen minutes later, it was apparent (much to Harry's surprise) that his wish had worked; Ron had not let the Slytherin team score a single goal. This caused a domino effect, and boosted the whole team's morale, so much, in fact, that the Gryffindor Chasers were performing extremely well.
"And Gryffindor lead two hundred and ninety to nil!" roared commentator Lee Jordan, a smug grin splattered across his face. "Serves you right, you dirty little Slytherin -"
"JORDAN!" shouted Professor McGonagall.
Malfoy watched as Ron blocked yet another goal. 'How is that idiot doing it?' he thought furiously. 'I have to do something!' He flew over to Crabbe and Goyle.
"We've got to take Weasley out of action, he's somehow too good. Both of you hit the bludgers at him – no, don't argue, I don't care whether it's illegal or not, just do it!"
Leering, his two cronies nodded dumbly and flew off to intercept the bludgers.
WHACK! Crabbe swung his bat at the first bludger, and it ricocheted off onto a collision course with the Gryffindor Keeper.
WHACK! Goyle diverted the second bludger, and together, they flew closer and closer to the crimson figure until –
THUD! Both balls rebounded harmlessly of his chest and were sent flying back into the game.
Alarm bells went off in the Doctor's head. Ron should not have stayed on his broom after that double impact; it was enough to send anyone flying. The Doctor frowned; this would have to be investigated...
Malfoy gawked openly. 'How the hell did he stay on his broom?' he thought in amazement. He was so distracted that he didn't notice Harry zoom past him, arm outstretched.
"Harry Potter catches the snitch! Gryffindor wins four hundred and sixty points to nil! Harry Potter catches the snitch while the Slytherin Seeker is too busy gawking at the Gryffindor Keeper! Gryffindor wins!" Lee cried triumphantly, his free hand punching the air.
"Damn!" spat Malfoy in disgust. He would pay Potter and Weasley back for this, no matter what the cost.
'Ron's increased resistance to pressure has to be linked to the message the TARDIS intercepted,' the Doctor thought on the way back up to the school. 'Has he been experimented on, or abducted? I'll have to do a little bit of investigating during his detention tonight.'
At ten to eight, Harry and Hermione dragged themselves away from the victory celebration in the Common Room to go to their detention. They waited patiently for Ron outside the portrait hole, as he was somewhat hampered in his efforts to escape by the fact that the rest of the House didn't want him to go. However, he did finally manage to extricate himself from Lavender Brown, and soon joined his friends.
"You alright, mate?" Harry asked as the trio made their way downstairs to Professor Smith's office.
"Yeah, I am now. I felt a bit woozy last night, but thankfully got better before the game."
"So...you don't think someone cursed you? With the confundus charm, perhaps?" Hermione said.
"Well, thinking about it, that probably did happen, but I can't really remember," Ron admitted. He scowled. "Probably Malfoy."
They arrived at Professor Smith's office several minutes later. Hermione knocked on the door.
"Come in," said Professor Smith's voice. Hermione opened the door and the trio entered. Professor Smith looked up from his work.
"Just preparing for our next lesson," he said, answering their unspoken question. "I'm sorry about the lateness of the detention, but I couldn't fit it into my schedule; stuff happened. Now, what we're going to do today is –"
"Hem hem," coughed a familiar voice from the doorway. Harry, Ron and Hermione spun around in horror to see Professor Umbridge smiling triumphantly behind them.
"Oh, err, hello!" Professor Smith said brightly. "What are you doing here? If it's about the mental breakdown of Miss Oswin, well, she did ask about faster than light travel! I think my explanation of how it works might have been a bit too detailed," he added guiltily.
Hermione immediately resolved to research faster than light travel on the holidays. She had the feeling that Professor Smith was lying to this Oswin person as to whether or not it was possible.
"I'm doing my job, John," said Umbridge sweetly. "I heard that these naughty children had detentions with you tonight."
"Well, yes. But what's that got to do with you?"
Umbridge held up a piece of important-looking parchment and began to read. "Educational Decree Number Twenty-Five. The High Inquisitor will henceforth have supreme authority over all punishments, sanctions and removal of privileges as may have been ordered by other staff members. Signed, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, Order of Merlin, First Class, et cetera."
Harry struggled to comprehend this latest decree. "So you're going to make Professor Smith give us a worse detention than he would've normally?"
Umbridge opened her mouth to reply, but Hermione interrupted her.
"No, she isn't," she said, giving Umbridge a potent look of revulsion. "She's going to commandeer our detention herself."
Harry's heart filled with dread. The thought of spending another night of carving words into his own flesh was almost too much to bear.
Professor Smith stood up from behind his desk. "I can't let you do this, Dolores," he said, voice dangerously soft.
Umbridge looked up at him with an air of superiority. "Oh, and why not? May I remind you that you only just passed your Inspection? Hinder me now, and a 'probation' may just find its way to you."
"Inspection results don't matter to me, Dolores, but the safety and wellbeing of the students here do. I've heard rumours about what happens in your detentions, and I'm giving you one warning. Stop now."
Umbridge started at him determinedly. "And just who do you think you are to stop me? If you so much as scratch me, I'll have you sent off to Azkaban without trial!"
Professor Smith stared coolly back at her, and much to her surprise, didn't back down.
"The students of this school are not to be harmed in anyway; they are under my protection. There are just over a thousand students here that I won't let you hurt, but if you ignore me, go against my instructions in any way, then you'll have me to answer to," Professor Smith said warningly.
Umbridge regarded him carefully. "Who do you think you are, threatening me?" she sneered after a short pause.
"I'm the Doctor, Dolores, but I'm not threatening you, I'm warning you. Stop your torturing while you still can."
Umbridge drew herself up to her full height. "Very well," she sighed, taking out her wand. "You are on probation. Stupefy!"
A red light burst from her wand and struck Professor Smith in the chest, who immediately crumpled backwards into his chair.
"You attacked a teacher!" Hermione shrieked.
"Yes, I did, didn't I?" Umbridge replied calmly, pocketing her wand. "You three, with me, now!"
Harry, Ron and Hermione reluctantly followed Umbridge out of Professor Smith's office, leaving the teacher in question unconscious on his desk.
'I'm the Doctor...' The thought echoed around Hermione's brain as she was lead to Umbridge's office. 'The Doctor? I think I need to take another trip to the library.'
"Okay, Hermione, we're here," Harry said to a huge pile of books in the Library the next day.
"Sit down," the books said impatiently.
Ron was confused. "Books don't talk, do they?"
Hermione's head appeared from behind the pile of books. "Honestly, Ronald, use your brains!" she said crossly, before lowering her voice. "I've found something about Professor Smith!"
In spite of himself, Harry was intrigued. "Really? Something that explains all you want to know?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, unfortunately, but it has gotten me a little closer to working out who he is. Do you remember what he said last night, something about a Doctor?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I looked 'Doctor' up in the library -"
"Surprise surprise," Ron said sarcastically. Hermione threw him a withering look before continuing.
"- And found a lot of interesting information. Here, read this." She passed Harry a book.
"Mysteries of the Wizarding World? I never knew you were into conspiracies, Hermione!" Harry laughed, amused by the book's title.
"Just read," Hermione said impatiently, pointing at a specific paragraph in a chapter titled 'The Doctor'.
Harry and Ron obeyed.
ooOoo
Throughout Wizarding history, no myth or legend has existed or endured as long as 'the Doctor'. This mysterious figure has been present in many major moments in Wizarding history, including the first documented case of Lycanthropy and the formation of the Internqtional Statute of Secrecy. Both of these accounts, plus many more, will be analysed in detchapter subsequent pages.
But who exactly is this 'Doctor'? The current popular theory is that he is a time traveller from the late Twentieth or early Twenty-First centuries. This theory is based purely on the description of his appearance, something that remains constant in all recorded sightings. 'The Doctor' is described as a young man, estimated to be in his late twenties, wearing what can be interpreted to be a jacket and bow tie -
ooOoo
Harry looked up in shock.
"Jacket and bow tie?" he repeated. "But that's what Professor Smith wears!"
Hermione nodded grimly. "I know. Unfortunately, this book doesn't have pictures, so I'll have to find some elsewhere, just to confirm that it is him – ouch!"
She rubbed the back of her left hand tenderly, where the words 'I must not support those who tell lies' were faintly visible. "These cuts are taking ages to heal," she said bitterly.
"I bet Umbridge cursed her quill to make them hurt as much as possible," said Harry gloomily, rubbing his own wounds. "What about you, Ron?"
Ron showed Harry and Hermione his hand. "They healed ages ago," he said, shrugging.
"How did you do that?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"Dunno," Ron replied, unconcerned. "Natural ability, probably."
Harry and Hermione exchanged suspicious glances before packing up and heading back to the common room.
"It's quite amazing, really, how often the Doctor pops up in wizarding history." Hermione explained more of her findings on the way. "There was another major sighting at Hogwarts, actually. According to the Founders' memoires, he was instrumental in making sure that Hogwarts was built next to a lake."
"Was that in 'Hogwarts: A History?'" Harry asked as they reached the third floor corridor.
"No! I'm surprised; I would've thought that the authors would have mentioned it ... but then again, the house elves aren't mentioned either. I wonder ..." she trailed off thoughtfully, before shaking her head. "Never mind. Anyway, for now, I'll just watch Professor Smith closely in class, see if I can get any extra details. Our next science lesson should be a good opportunity, we're starting a new topic."
"Hello, everyone!" said Professor Smith as he bounded into classroom six on Monday afternoon. Most of the class yawned in response. Professor Smith may have a lot of pent-up energy, but they didn't. Umbridge, who was standing in a corner, raised her pen, ready to take notes on her clipboard.
Malfoy raised his hand. "Sir, we aren't doing gravity again, are we? My brain hurts from the sound of your voice going on and on and on..."
Crabbe and Goyle sniggered, but Professor Smith was unimpressed.
"No, Mister Malfoy, we're not doing gravity again, we finished that last lesson. No, today, we are moving onto the amazing, the wonderful Astronomy!" he cried, doing a silly twirl.
"But sir," called out Parvati. "We already do astronomy!"
Professor Smith's grin faltered. "Oh, yes, that's right. Professor Sinistra teaches it, right?"
"Yeah," Harry said apologetically. "We've been doing it since first year, so we know quite a lot."
"I'm not too sure about that, considering Aurora's knowledge of the Proxima Centauri system." Professor Smith muttered.
"What was that?" Umbridge said sharply.
"Nothing, nothing." Professor Smith grimaced. "Okay, so you know astronomy; let's have a test. Name two planets in the Isop galaxy?"
The class exchanged confused looks. The Isop galaxy, where was that?
"Which star, other than the sun, is the closest to Earth?"
Hermione's hand shot into the air.
"Miss Granger?"
"Alpha Centauri, the star of the Proxima Cenauri system," Hermione reeled off.
The majority of the class rolled their eyes at Hermione's display.
"Very good, ten points to Gryffindor!" Professor Smith said happily. "Just out of curiosity, does anyone know how many stars are in the Proxima System?"
Hermione's hand was in the air in an instant.
"Just one, sir," she said, as if the answer was completely obvious. "Just one, everyone knows that!"
Professor Smith sighed and rubbed his forehead. "No!" he said irritably "As I keep trying to tell Aurora, Proxima Centauri is actually called Alpha Centauri C; it's the third star of a ternary star system."
The class exchange looks of surprise. They weren't sure they believed that, they'd have to ask Professor Sinistra during their next proper Astronomy lesson.
"Really?" asked Ernie MacMillan skeptically.
"Yep!" said Professor Smith, irritability forgotten. "In fact, in twenty eighty-nine, Alpha Centauri C was the destination of the first human light speed ship!"
Hermione made a mental note to remind herself that she had resolved to research faster than light travel.
"Hem hem," Umbridge coughed from the back of the class. "John, you may have forgotten, but it's only the fifteenth of November, nineteen ninety-five."
Professor Smith blinked and checked his watch. "So it is! Sorry, I'm not used to doing it in the right order! But anyway, ninety four years isn't going to make that much of a difference. I mean, all you are going to do is face the Oil Apocalypse, establish several manned bases on Mars..."
Malfoy groaned very loudly.
"Sorry, I'm rambling; happens when I'm excited, and I'm really excited now because I LOVE astronomy!" Professor Smith said, the epitome of an excited five-year-old. He went to one of the classroom's many cupboards and took out a small dome with a picture of the galaxy covering it. As the class strained their necks to get a better look at it, Professor Smith put it on his desk, took out his wand, pointed it at the dome, and pressed the button.
"Wow," the class breathed collectively. The dome had lit up and was now projecting a 3D map of the galaxy in the classroom.
"I know," Professor Smith said happily. "I don't need shoddy old telescopes, I've got the entire galaxy in the room!" He walked over to one of the galaxy's outer arms and pointed at a specific point.
"This is your solar system. Come closer, get a better look," he said, grinning at the class' stunned reaction.
The class moved close and noticed that next to Professor Smith's finger, tiny planets were orbiting around a large star.
"But that's the Earth!" said Lavender in amazement, seeing the little blue planet orbiting around the sun.
"Are we really that small?" asked Dean Thomas in wonder.
"Yep!" said Professor Smith. "So, now that you know where your solar system is, can you find the Proxima system?"
It took Hermione about half a second to complete the task.
"Here it is!" she said excitedly.
"It has got three suns! Professor Sinistra was wrong!" Susan Bones said.
Hermione looked at the Proxima System again and frowned. So, Professor Smith was right about the number of stars in the system...unless he'd faked the map of the galaxy. She mulled it over in her head; it was probably the latter.
"You know, I didn't realise that the Proxima System was so close to Earth," commented Anthony Goldstein.
"That's because, relative to the galaxy, it's not," explained Professor Smith. "The galaxy's a hundred billion light-years across; the distance from Earth to Proxima is only 56. Now, if you'll turn your attention to this star, its name is Sirius..."
As the lesson continued, Harry wondered if his godfather knew that he shared his name with a star. Luckily the holidays were only a few weeks away, so he wouldn't have long to wait until he could ask.
Author Note: There's a series 7 Easter egg hidden in the chapter, see if you can find it!
Oh, no! The Doctor and Umbridge had an argument, and Umbridge won! Don't worry, there will be a round 2!
Part of this chapter will be referenced in the sequel, but which part that is, I won't tell!
Replies to reviews:
theunnamedGryffindors2: No problem!
shtoops: You did too, I'm sorry I didn't reply, I completely missed it! But yes, you are spot on. And the explanation for gravity is one I made up, it's not HP canon or anything.
Insanityisgood25: Thanks! Originally, Dumbledore was quite naive to everything going on around him, so I've definitely changed that. He won't get all his answers in this story; the big spill, where he and the other teachers learn everything, will happen in the sequel. The Doctor won't be happy about it, but events will force him and...another character...to explain everything.
Yes, forgetting about the detention is a very 11 to do!
Of course you have to wait for the sequel! I can guarantee that if you read the first few chapters now, you'd have no idea where the majority of the plot points came from!
Thanks!
TracyFace3 Thanks, that means a lot! Yeah, I like to focus on the description by visualising the scene I'm currently writing. So far, I think it's going well! And I'm doing a better job at being 11 than Matt? But - but - he is 11! (Thanks anyway, though!)
Yep, this story will be updated once every four days, and will not be abandoned. Thanks again!