A/N: I realized today that FanFiction has been removing all of our section breaks. I've gone back put them back in in such a way that they won't be removed. Sorry if this caused anyone any confusion.

Dumbledore sat in the room of requirement, waiting for Frank to arrive on Monday morning. The children encircled him on his way out of the Great Hall, no doubt because he'd not spent breakfast with them.

Merely missing two meals in their company and they acted as though he'd been away for a fortnight, doing something devilishly interesting. It was quite heartening, how they took to him.

Indeed, Frank had spent another evening socializing with Gryffindor House the night before. Minerva had told him so. It seems as though their guest is quite the raconteur, and favors Harry, Hermione and Ron, above their classmates.

Based on her observations, Harry and Frank seem to get along like a house on fire. This aligned quite well with what he, himself, had noticed. Frank cares for the Golden Trio already, and feels a certain affinity for young Potter...so much better to defend the boy.

Although, it would prove to be a hinderance if Frank's attachment to Harry clouded his judgment in a crisis.

Yet, Dumbledore thought, a person who came from a place where death and final decisions were the order of the day ought to be able to place the greater good ahead of other things.

Frank walked in the door, locked it behind him, and strolled over.

"What's on our agenda for today?"

"That is precisely what I was considering this very moment." Albus sat up, clapped his hands, and tried to appear more positive than his worries left him feeling. "I would like to discuss a shift in our explorations."

"Okay."

"There are offensive spells and so on, as you are aware. I feel as though we should explore those, but I am concerned of actually causing lasting damage."

Frank nodded and put his hands in the front pockets of his pants.

"We really cannot predict what will work, how much it will hurt, or if you would be able to heal the wounds. I will not require you to submit to this experimentation, but I would like you to consider it."

It seemed to him that Frank truly was giving it some consideration. Suddenly, Frank walked to the center of the room and casually held up his right hand.

"How's your aim today, Professor Dumbledore?"

"Superb."

"I can easily grow back a finger, or the whole hand. That doesn't worry me. Pain, well, I'm used to it. Let's give it a try."

"Oh. Well. Thank you." Dumbledore stood up and readied his wand. "Let us try Diffindo. It separates seams, but it can also cut things. I will aim for your index finger. Is that fine with you?"

"Go for it."

"Diffindo!"

Frank's right index finger went flying, and he yelped in pain. "It worked. Goddamn it!"

"There's no blood," Dumbledore remarked. "Why?"

What he saw next left him quite queasy. The finger on the floor inched its way to Frank's foot. When it arrived, it seemed to dissolve into his shoe, a moment later, the finger grew back in its normal place.

"It was a clean cut." Frank flexed his hand. Everything seemed to be working properly. "My right arm seldom bleeds anyway."

Dumbledore shook his head. It was incredibly disturbing, but equally fascinating.

"Professor, my turn to want to test a theory. Do Diffindo again, but at the wrist."

"Whatever for?"

"One thing I've learned is that my body adjusts to certain kinds of damage. For example, I don't really feel gunshots anymore, but I used to. I wonder if the effects of magic can be reduced by exposure."

The professor nodded. It was a very logical theory, given Frank's experiences, but it did feel rather sadistic to subject him to repeated amputations.

"Very well." Frank raised his hand, and Dumbledore whispered, "Diffindo."

This time, Frank's whole hand dropped to the floor, wiggled back, and regrew.

"Again, if you please." Frank requested.

"Diffindo!"

The wrist was cut, but not completely through. A moment later, it healed.

"Amazing." Dumbledore sighed. "Completely astounding."

Frank shook out his shoulders and asked, "What's next?"

Dumbledore found himself lost in thought about the ramifications of Frank adapting to magic. What if his ability extended to the Unforgivables? What could that possibly mean?

Invulnerability.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

"Oh dear. Terribly sorry, I was lost in thought. Yes. Perhaps we might try transfiguration spells."

"That sounds a little more lighthearted, and probably doesn't make any of my body parts fall off." Frank chuckled to himself. "I'm interested."

"Young man, you're going to wear me to a nub. I've hardly had students as eager to learn as you, much less willing to put themselves in harm's way for that knowledge."

Frank flipped over into a handstand, spun around, and fell to the wooden floor with a horrible slap. Somehow, he rebounded from the impact and came to his feet in an instant. He shook out his shoulders again, and crooked his finger at the headmaster.

"Come on, Professor, you've got one or two more experiments up your sleeve. Turn me into something useful."

Stunned and chuckling happily, he cast a basic spell at his guest. The intent: turn Frank into a teapot. The result: frightful to behold.

Frank's body became a whirling nightmare of black spikes, shot through with red. The young man made a noise that sounded like the ululations of a lost soul, that slowly became something understandable.

"...waaaauuuuuthis sucks! I can't tell you how much!" His body stopped reacting, and he stood in the middle of his shredded clothing.

"Goodness." Dumbledore quickly conjured him new clothes, and looked away.

"That felt uniquely awful, Sir." Frank looked down at his arms and noticed he was dressed differently than before. "Hey, these celestial print robes are pretty stylish!"

"It was the first thing I could think of," Dumbledore whispered. "Ahem. So, that looked somewhat awful."

"I can't say I liked it, but at least we know the spell doesn't seem to work as planned...unless that's what you wanted"

"Oh, no! You were supposed to become a teapot."

"Yeah, that didn't work at all."

Dumbledore smiled at him, weakly, and suggested that his original clothes could be mended. Frank nodded. When the shredded garments were whole, he put them back on. To be considerate of his guest's modesty, the Professor was facing the other way, imagining an exciting game of solitaire.

** - HPDEB - **

"What's your afternoon class, Harry?" I asked.

Lunchtime was just about over, and I felt like I could do more with my day than lounge. The Professor suggested that I experience a little more of student life, and dropping in on classes seemed like a great way to do it. Besides, it never hurts to ask.

"Potions, with Professor Slughorn."

Harry had an eager, and somehow conspiratorial look on his face. I thought that I might want to look into that a little more at some point.

"Do you think he'd mind if I observed class? I'm really curious about how you learn to do all these things."

Harry scratched his thatch of midnight-black hair, and was about to answer me, but Hermione broke into the conversation.

"Really! I don't see why he'd be bothered" Curly chirped. "I'd think it quite an honor to have Hogwarts' most unique guest sit in on his class."

"Hey, I don't want to intrude," I held up my hands, palms out, "besides, I'm a Muggle."

Hermione looked back and forth between Harry and me, made a face, and told Harry to run up to the front table and ask Slughorn directly.

"Alright." Harry got up and strode to the front of the hall.

He came back to us, sat down beside me, and did an excellent Slughorn impression.

"Well, that's quite irregular. I do find that I am excited by the prospect of displaying my star pupil's mastery of potions to the man. Tell him I said that he's very welcome to join us, but not to drink anything without asking first. Don't want him turning into a flaming marshmallow, do we?"

We laughed, and when lunch was over, Harry, Ron and Hermione took me with them.

Class was utterly fascinating, and the room itself was an insane Victorian laboratory full of glassware, bottles, cauldrons, concoctions, decoctions, and a Chinese pharmacy's worth of exotic things in transparent jars. I'm very glad I tagged along.

Even Slughorn seemed to enjoy having me as an observer. I will say one thing though, if he favored Harry more strongly than he already did, I'd be worried that the professor was a closet pedophile.

I left about mid-way through the class, citing an urge for fresh air and took a short walk, letting myself get lost, knowing my tech would help me get back later. The Hogwarts grounds were freezing, but quiet and beautiful.

I decided to join the kids for dinner. There wasn't much space, but I walked up and addressed my favorite witch.

"I don't want to sit on your lap, Curly. Scoot over a little bit."

"I. I. I," she stammered.

I grinned at her and said, "If you get up, I'll let you sit on my lap if there's no room left."

Hermione blushed, and her hair straightened ever so slightly. I filed this away for later analysis. Food was more pressing.

I decided not to go to their common room after dinner again, and instead went straight to my room to relax. Maybe I'd caught Dumbledore's need to think.

My head was surprisingly full. It just didn't want to stay with one topic.

** - HPDEB - **

It's a heart-pounding sort of feeling, Hermione decided.

Everyone was loitering in the common room after curfew, but she sat off to the side by herself. It wasn't utterly without precedent, she'd done it before when she felt like there was a lot to think about. The other students didn't take very much notice, either.

"Maybe...Maybe he's the one." She whispered to herself. "I feel immensely attracted to him, and he's most definitely an adult." She mulled it over a bit more. "I want it to be him. I need to review my research and plan the best way to be irresistible to him. No good if I don't have a backup plan, either. Perhaps I should create a review schedule?"

She did. It included arguments, counter-arguments, subterfuge, physical expressions of desire, and quite a few lines to commit to memory. Nothing better than preparations to make a girl feel in control!

** - HPDEB - **

Another good night's sleep, then a bathtub that gave me a special kind of joy, and fresh clothes, made me feel like I could take on something large and angry. I stood in front of the mirror, and realized that I was sporting the beginnings of a beard.

"Heh. Haven't seen that in a while." I swiped my right hand across my face to tidy my soul patch to match the other stubble.

After that, I tromped down for breakfast. As I walked, I noticed more glowing things than I had before. Snape had been the first, but now I could see that some rocks in the walls had little haloes. Strange, this new awareness of magic!

When I made it down to the Great Hall, the kids were already pushing their way inside, except for this blond boy; the one who glowed like Snape. His housemates created a wedge around him and he walked in the middle, unmolested by everyone.

That's a hoity-toity kid! I knew I needed to keep an eye on him.

** - HPDEB - **

Professor Dumbledore fetched Frank himself.

"Excuse me children," he said to everyone at the Gryffindor table, "Frank and I have a meeting this morning."

"Professor, you're always having meetings with Frank," Ron spoke up. "What're the two of you doing every morning?"

"Unraveling the secrets of the universe, Mr. Weasley!" Dumbledore smiled.

Frank tried not to laugh. Teasing Ron was almost an informal sport.

"That's two points to you, Professor."

Dumbledore swatted Frank's shoulder. "Only two? You, Sir, are a harsh referee!"

"Wait! What're you two keeping points for?" Ron started to turn a little pink, he didn't like being left out.

Hermione caught on and replied before anyone else could. "Word scores. Everytime Professor Dumbledore says 'unraveling,' he gets two points." It wouldn't do to have an angry Ron so early in the day.

"Spot on, Miss Granger! Spot on!" Dumbledore grinned.

"Good show, Curly." Frank smiled and got up from the bench. "I'm sure I'll see you guys later. Be studious and respectful to your elders."

The two older men strolled out of the Great Hall. Snape watched them go, and considered the things that might be happening.

Draco Malfoy started to compose another letter to his father.

** - HPDEB - **

When Dumbledore opened the room of requirement for us, it contained two comfortable armchairs again. He asked me to sit beside him, and gave my knee a grave little pat.

"I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about the Unforgivables. Again, it is up to you to decide if you want to proceed."

"These spells would be the very worst of the worst, I guess."

He nodded. "They are illegal, and represent the darkest of dark magic. The use of one earns the caster a one-way ticket to Azkaban. However, within the wards of Hogwarts, the Ministry cannot detect their use. The monitoring of these charms within Hogwarts is left to the Headmaster."

"What do they do?"

"Cruciatus causes intense, continuous pain. It is torture of the worst kind. The Imperious Curse allows a wizard to control the actions of another. Only those with a strong will and sense of self are capable of resisting any request, order or whim of the offender." Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Then there is the Killing Curse. As the name suggests, it kills, instantly. There is no known defense."

"I see. Do you know how the Killing Curse causes death?"

"No. It has been theorized that it kills the soul or destroys the victim's magical core, but those are both incredibly unlikely. Dementors remove a person's soul, but it does not kill them. And Muggles do not have magical cores, but they can still be killed by the killing curse. Ultimately, victims fall to the ground, often looking surprised or terrified."

I imagined it. "A puppet when the strings are cut."

"Very much so."

I stood up, walked to my customary place in the middle of the floor. "Let's try the first two."

Dumbledore stood, and stared at me as if I'd volunteered for a firing squad. "Are you certain?"

"I'm willing, and am considering the third."

"But, it could very well kill you where you stand!" He was incredulous. I would have been if I were him.

"Professor, there have been more occasions than I can count when I should have died and didn't. We've got a fifty-fifty chance, and I feel motivated to live."

"Very well. The first of the two." He stood for a moment, and seemed to center himself. His vitals did funny things.

As he pointed his wand and traced a complex pattern in the air with it, I noticed a look of hatred in his eyes. It took me aback. So much so that I almost missed him shouting, "Crucio!"

I blinked. So did he. His vitals slowly returned to normal, and his eyes lost the slightly crazed look. He looked vaguely ashamed.

"Did you feel anything?"

"No, Professor, not a thing."

"This is unbelievable. May I try the Imperious Curse now?"

"Go on."

A less complicated pattern and a spoken invocation.

I stood there staring at him, wondering why he wasn't blinking. It was a little unnerving.

"What? Come on, Dumbledore! Is something supposed to be happening?"

"By Merlin's robes! Nothing? You did not hear a voice in your head? No feeling of bliss?"

I shook my head. "If this is the worst of the worst, then I'm game to let you try to kill me."

"Do you truly consent to this?"

"Yes."

"In the event this succeeds, do you have any last requests, burial preferences, or anything you would like me to do after you pass?"

He was completely serious. He expected me to die the moment he cast the spell. Wow!

I thought about what I wanted in case it worked.

"Please cremate my remains. Scatter them somewhere nice." I massaged my forehead. "Please feel no guilt if it works. It has been a true pleasure to know you. Tell Harry that he's a noble young man, and I know he will do well in the world. For Hermione, I'd like her to know that I've seldom met such an intelligent, charming and attractive young woman. She will make a formidable witch, a great one. Ron should know I have great faith in him, too, and regret that I won't see the man he'll become."

I chewed on my lower lip. "Let's do this shit!"

Dumbledore took another moment to center himself. That evil look returned to his eyes. With a grand gesture he shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"

** - HPDEB - **

Frank froze in place. His eyes followed Dumbledore, but he was silent.

He didn't die. He truly didn't die!

"Frank?" Dumbledore approached him cautiously. "Frank? Are you there?"

A low growl escaped his lips. Words followed.

"Complete autonomic nervous system failure. Refresh in progress. Combat activity suspended."

"What do you mean, Frank?"

Frank's eyes bored holes in Dumbledore, and he felt as though they took him apart in some way. It was a cold analysis at best, and an inhuman survey at worst.

"No threat has been identified. No offensive response necessary. Refresh time estimate: three minutes, forty-two seconds."

"What do you mean by no offensive response?"

"You will not be killed. The probability that an offensive response will result in your death is 100%." Frank's mouth opened and became a smile that struck fear into Dumbledore's heart. "Therefore, this body is held in check."

"W...wonderful. Would you please keep me advised of your progress? I'd like to know when to expect Frank's return."

"Affirmative."

This rough, charming, mad fellow was a walking weapon, a power that magic barely affected. At most he could be delayed by some simple spells; wounded, but able to heal; yet, unkillable by the worst curse there is.

What world would inspire someone to change into such a thing? How terrible was his plight twenty-two years in the future? Dumbledore worried what it could mean for the children, and their children to come.

"Two minutes, sixteen seconds. Partial autonomic function restored. Consciousness reboot commencing. Please wait."

Dumbledore waited, not entirely patiently, and felt quite grateful when Frank's facial expression softened. It was though he was dreaming with his eyes open.

"Autonomic function restored. Reboot. Five. Four. Three. Two…"

"You're alive?" Dumbledore asked him.

"Yes," Frank nodded. "I'm relieved that you're still alive, too!"

"So am I. You certainly didn't die," Dumbledore said, "but your consciousness was completely gone."

Frank told him about being shot in the head, and what happened after, how the machines' prime directive is to keep him alive long enough to heal completely. In order to do that, they throw his civilized behavior out the window. When they're in control, he feels he becomes a monster that does it's best to destroy any threat to his life.

"Professor, in any other case, you would be dead right now. I suppose that all of me understands that you're not a threat, that this was a test."

"I am grateful to be alive, young man. In light of everything we have experienced the past couple of days, I believe it would be beneficial to both of us to get to know each other better."

"That sounds reasonable, Professor."

"However, I would like some time to consider what we have learned here. Shall we meet back here tomorrow morning?"

"That works for me."

** - HPDEB - **

After lunch, I went wandering. As I walked by a classroom door, I heard an obnoxious voice. Snape.

All of a sudden, I felt a urge for mischief.

I opened the door, and walked in. I didn't bother to ask permission. Inside, my heart beat a happy little tattoo.

Professor Snape stared at me. Anyone with less composure would have stood there with a gaping mouth. He stood up straight, and addressed me calmly.

"Is there something we can do for you, Mister Stewart?"

"I'm here to observe, Professor Snape." I indicated the whole class with my hand. "Your students speak very highly of your classes, and I am very interested to see what the fuss is about."

He made a "hmm" noise that sounded more like a low growl. "I hesitate to mention, but you ARE a Muggle, and incapable of magic, so interrupting my...observing my class...is of little value to you."

I walked up to the row of seats nearest me and rested my hand on the back of a student's chair.

"Professor, as sagacious as you are, you know the value of expanding the mind. While I do not spend time in Asia, watashi wa gakkusei no Nihongo desu...I am a student of the Japanese language."

"Indeed. Do you also speak French?"

"Oui. Et vous?"

"Oui. Latin?"

"No, actually." I shook my head.

"Hm. What an uneducated clod you are. Was this excluded from your schooling because you do not have the intellect for it, or are they simply backward in your America?"

"I might make mention of the fact that Latin isn't taught at Hogwarts. Does that mean you feel as though the entire student body is comprised of clods?"

Snape strode towards me, and students moved out of the way.

"Yes. They're all miserable idiots," he snarled at me. "It is a waste of my time, bothering to educate them."

"But, Sirrah!" I fluttered my hand in front of my face and affected an atrocious girly tone of voice. "Why so ever would you pain yourself so greatly?! I am aghast!"

"Get out of my classroom, Muggle." Snape was up in my face, I could smell his breath. Didn't brush after lunch. "You have no business here."

I looked him square in his eyes and replied, "Yes, I do. I need to see how you defend against the bad guys. From what I've been told, there are quite a few of them."

"You understand nothing, and aren't capable of fathoming the requirements of a proper magical defense."

"Magical, no. I'll agree with you there. As for the rest, you're welcome to test me." I smiled. "I'll even limit myself to average human capabilities."

"Liar."

"Test me, Professor." I walked backwards approximately ten feet between us. "Use a nice spell that should make me quiver in my shoes. Diffindo, perhaps?"

"You'd be dead. My skills as an offensive wizard are known all over the world."

"Poor choice of words, baby doll." I kept right on smiling. "Professor Offensive, give me a reason to defend myself."

That did it. Successful goading points to me.

Snape drew on me, and took one step forward. So did I. I watched his mouth start to move, and I took another step and gave him a thumbs up, right under his jaw.

"Gawb!" He gagged on his spell.

I didn't take my finger away, I just put my hips into it and gave the pressure a little more umph.

"Bwawk!"

"Professor, here are three great ways to defend against anything. Don't be there when it happens, proper application of force at close range, and/or let your opponent do all the work. I'm worried that you don't teach these things." I dropped my hand. "Everybody catch the lesson?"

There were mumbles. I'd been hoping for more, but oh well.

Harry looked a little surprised. Ron's eyes were bugging out. Hermione looked confused.

One young man, a blond Slytherin, looked like he wanted to kill me with his bare hands. Adorable.

"Class dismissed!" Snape yelled, and the students bolted.

Seconds later, I was alone with the jackass.

"You rank bastard!" Snape growled at me and said, "Incarcerous! Levicorpus!"

Sure enough, I was swaddled in some hot leather straps and found myself hanging by an ankle in mid air. The levitation part didn't last very long, to Snape's surprise. I just stood there, packaged, as though for a very particular sort of party, and waited.

"I'm going to take you to Dumbledore myself, and have you sent back to wherever you came from. You've humiliated me, and disrespected my authority at every turn. Who do you think you are?"

"Me? I'm Frank Stewart, the man who'll be a pain in your ass for as long as you continue to treat students so poorly. They're quite vocal, you know."

"It is not your place to meddle in our affairs!"

"I see, then the Room of Requirement was wrong in sending Potter to me. Granger was wrong in bringing me back here with them. I see."

"Yes, they should be punished within an inch of their annoying lives for this!" Snape was up in my face again. He seemed to like that, almost as though he thought he could intimidate me.

"No, you misunderstand, Professor. If the Room wanted status quo, Harry was sent to the wrong man. I shake things up. There's something about you that makes me think you're a bad guy, and that makes me want to fuck with you until you make a mistake. When you make that mistake, I'll be there to get you."

"I am not a bad guy, Muggle, and I do not make mistakes. I am better than a common, undisciplined, uneducated, powerless mistake of nature such as yourself."

"Hm. That so?" I cut the bonds and they fell to the floor. "We'll just see about that."

I turned around and left the room with him staring at the straps littering the floor.

Mission accomplished. I wondered if they had a snack bar anywhere on campus, I had a real craving for tea and scones.