Disclaimer:I don't own any of this. I'm not making any money, nor do I plan to do so.

---

Harry and his friends heard a horrible scraping noise in the middle of the second floor corridor.

"Basilisk!" Ron squeaked.

"No, the basilisk didn't sound like that," Harry commented.

"Look!" Hermione exclaimed, pointing at a blue police box that had just appeared behind them. Just then, the door of the box opened and a tall, curly-headed man wearing a long, deep red coat and a super-long scarf walked out.

"Hello, there," he said cheerfully to the three teenagers, his large, warm, brown eyes twinkling.

"H-hello," stammered Ron.

"You must be students here," the man said, "Could you take me to your Headmaster?"

"Y-yes," said Harry, "but...who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," he answered, "And I'm going to be your new Dark Arts professor. It seems your Headmaster has been having a spot of trouble trying to find a new one, so he called me. It sounded like fun, so I took the job. A jelly baby?" He took out a paper bag and offered its contents to the astounded children.

"He must be a relative of Dumbledore's," Ron whispered to Harry. "He acts just like him."

---

That man dressed all in black stared coldly at the Doctor.

"Hello, there. You must be the Potions Master. I've heard a lot about you. I am the Doctor."

The man smiled and stuck out his hand. He reminded Snape of a picture of some Muggle writer he'd once seen.

"I know who you are," snapped Snape, staring down his long nose at the outstretched hand.

Just then, Dumbledore arrived at the bottom of the spiral staircase. "Severus! Just the man I was looking for..." His voice trailed off as he looked at the other man.

"Ah, Albus! It's been years! You're looking well," said the Doctor with a huge, toothy grin.

Albus, his mouth agape, stared at the man as if he was trying to recognize him. After a long pause, he said, "Doctor?"

"Yes!" exclaimed the curly-headed man, laughing, eyes goggling. Dumbledore smiled and laughed with him and said, "You've had a bit of a regeneration since I saw you last."

"Three, actually," replied the Doctor. "And your hair is a bit lighter."

"Well, I AM over one hundred and fifty years old," said Dumbledore.

"A spring chicken," quipped the Doctor.

Dumbledore laughed heartily. "It's good to hear someone say that. Here at Hogwarts, they think I'm a bit of an old coot."

"Headmaster," interrupted Snape.

"Oh, yes, I needed to see my Potions Master. Doctor, this is Professor Severus Snape. Severus, this is-"

"The Doctor," Severus spat, his face a study in contempt. "We've met."

"Ah, good," said Dumbledore, sounding a little worried. "Well, Doctor, maybe one of these three can show you to your classroom and your office."

"I'll be happy to, Headmaster," volunteered Hermione. Ron stared at her. He couldn’t believe the girl could fall so quickly for a man with goggle eyes and big teeth.

"Doctor, this is Hermione Granger, one of our finest students," said the Headmaster.

"Pleased to meet you," she said breathlessly.

"Likewise," said the doctor, bowing slightly.

Hermione blushed.

"And these are Ron Weasley and Harry Potter."

"Ah, yes, Harry, I seem to have heard something about you, but I can't remember what or where. At any rate, I'm pleased to meet the three of you, and I look forward to seeing you in my classes. Which way is my office?"

Hermione had to turn the Doctor around because he had headed out in the wrong direction.

Snape, watching the four disappear around the corner, frowned deeply at them before Dumbledore led him upstairs.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you see here, so I can't accept any money for it.

---

The students sat in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, awaiting their teacher. The last time they were forced to wait like this, Snape had been substituting. They sincerely hoped he wouldn’t be doing so again.

Just then, the door swung open and the tall, curly-haired man made his way to the front of the room, long scarf flying behind him. On the chalkboard, he wrote The Doctor in big letters. He turned around and greeted them cheerfully.

“Good afternoon, class, I’m your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. You may call me the Doctor,” he said.

“Doctor,” said Draco disdainfully. “Isn’t that a Muggle title?”

Ignoring him, the Doctor continued his lecture. “While I am not a wizard per se, I can do the same things you can do, except I use just my mind. Your Headmaster feels it is time to teach you to do the same, since each and every one of you has that power.”

“You’re a Muggle?” exclaimed Ron.

“Not exactly,” answered the new teacher. “Now what was I saying...yes. You wizards have come to rely on your wands so much that you haven’t fully developed your natural magical ability. The wand is essentially a physical and psychological crutch, and dependence upon it can become quite the inconvenience, especially in a situation where you don’t happen to have it. Now, Time Lords like me…”

“Wait a minute,” cried Ron. “Time Lords?”

The whole class looked dumbfounded.

“Yes,” the Doctor answered brightly, eyes round as saucers. “From Gallifrey.”

“You mean to say,” asked Hermione, “you’re not from Earth?”

“Well, not everyone is,” answered the Doctor, shrugging.

“I knew there was life on other planets!” Luna exclaimed. “I told people there were beings from other planets walking around. Somebody wrote an article about them in my father’s magazine.”

People turned to stare.

“What’s Luna doing here?” hissed Ron.

“She was in Harry’s DA class last year,so she scored high on her OWL," Hermione whispered in reply. “Be quiet.”

Ron looked around. Such a small number of students had achieved scores high enough to take Defense Against the Dark Arts that the school was offering only two time slots for the subject: one for the sixth years and one for the seventh. He noticed that most of the class that wasn't Slytherin was composed of Harry's former DA students.

“And you would be right,” the Doctor was saying, smiling.

“Wait a minute,” said Hermione, dubious. “The odds against intelligent life from other planets even MAKING it to Earth are…”

“Several billion to one against,” said the Doctor, nodding. “Unless you factor in travel through time and space.”

“I told people there were beings who could master both time and space at the same time,” said Luna triumphantly.

With a huge grin, the Doctor said, “You are quite a perspicacious young lady!”

Luna smiled dreamily.

“And Time Lords can do magic with just their minds?” asked Harry.

“Not really magic,” answered the Doctor. “It’s actually psychic manipulation of the physical world. That is essentially what magic is. That’s not to say that Gallifreyans don’t use crutches of their own. This is one of my personal favorites,” he said, pulling out a long, thin object with a light in the side of the top. "It’s called a Sonic Screwdriver, and it works like this.”

The screwdriver emitted a red light that filled the room. Draco’s wand went flying from where he had concealed it under his desk, poised to hex the Gallifreyan. Draco suddenly looked nervous. There were sounds of awe. The respect-level in the room for this new teacher rose dramatically.

“But-how?” spluttered Ron.

“But electronics don’t work at Hogwarts,” said Hermione.

“Right you are,” said the Doctor. “But this isn’t electronic. It’s Gallifreyan technology. ”

“Bloody hell,” whispered Ron.

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own any of this stuff. Therefore, I can't accept money.

---

The Potions Lab was boiling hot.

Inwardly, Snape was, too.

It would often get uncomfortably hot inside the classroom when the cauldrons were simmering, but opening the door usually rectified the problem. This year, even that practice had no effect. How was he to teach under such conditions, when a drop of sweat could weaken or even neutralize some of the more delicate potions? He imagined the heat had something to do with that…that ALIEN Dumbledore had hired. Imagine, choosing such a being over himself. He wondered if his boss was not becoming senile.

When Severus questioned the appointment, the Headmaster had told him that the Doctor could teach the students wandless magic, a skill which would serve them well when the war began. When Snape reminded him that the Ministry did not approve of wandless magic, Dumbledore had reminded Snape that the School Charter did not forbid the subject to be taught, and, furthermore, that it allowed the Headmaster to hire anyone of his choosing.

Meanwhile, the class brewed and sweltered.

Harry, wiping perspiration from this forehead, looked up at Snape, who didn’t seem to be affected by the heat at all.

“He’s a snake, all right,” he said under his breath.

Hermione, stirring the cauldron, sighed, “He’s used a cooling charm on his robes, Harry. You could have done the same if you had paid attention in Charms last year.”

“Hey,” whispered Harry, “You’re not sweating either.” Fingering her robes, he added, “These are cool!”

“Stop that!” Hermione hissed, gaining Snape’s attention.

Potter was displaying his flippant attitude again, Snape thought angrily as he glided across the classroom. Last year, he had had to wage psychological warfare on the boy to get him to study enough to pass his OWL. Dumbledore had asked him to help the boy, and he had done it the only way he could. He had used the boy’s hatred of himself to spur him to try increasingly harder. He had been secretly impressed at how much the boy had managed to pack into his brain over the year, even though he wasn’t about to pass him until his potions were perfect. Otherwise, the boy would have thought he was doing well enough to stop working so hard. Having been a teacher for many years, Snape knew how much effort it would take for the boy to achieve an O, and he was determined the boy was going to exert it. Now, Potter was in Advanced Potions, but he obviously hadn’t learned his lesson. He was going to have to play the heavy again. It was going to be fun.

“A public display of affection, Granger, Potter?” Snape purred. “By now you should know that the classroom is not the proper place to act upon your feelings for one another.” He emphasized these last words for Draco and Pansy, who were snickering softly.

“Ten points from Gryffindor, each,” he added. “And, for the sake of the future of Wizardkind, it would be best to separate you two. Granger, you will work with Miss Parkinson. Potter, go work with Mr. Malfoy.” The four groaned as Hermione and Draco exchanged seats. Snape strode back to his desk.

“I don’t know why I should have to work with the Mudblood,” whined Pansy.

“Quiet,” Snape warned.

"I really don't know why I have to go to school with the likes of you at all. I mean, we don't even get to go to Hogsmeade this year because old Dumbledore is afraid his precious little Mudbloods are going to be kidnapped by You-Know-Who," Pansy complained.

"Purebloods have been kidnapped too," Hermione reminded her.

"So? They're just Mudblood-lovers like that senile old man in the Headmaster's office," Pansy said authoritatively.

"He's not senile," said Hermione through gritted teeth.

Snape glared in their direction, and Pansy temporarily fell silent. After a little while, she began badgering her cauldron mate again.

“Next time, Granger, when you and Potter feel like snogging, do us a favor and go somewhere we don’t have to watch,” sneered Pansy.

“He was just feeling my robes,” argued Hermione.

“He was feeling you up?” whispered Pansy a little too loudly. Malfoy snickered at Potter.

After a minute, Pansy continued. “Dumbledore really is senile, you know. That stupid Headmaster should be dismissed right now, letting in Mudbloods, werewolves, half-giants, and now aliens! I mean, what’s an ALIEN supposed to teach us? What can he POSSIBLY understand about witches and wizards? It’s madness.”

“I think he can teach us quite a lot,” answered Hermione.

“Look at the slut!” Pansy whispered quite loudly. “Now she’s whoring after both Potter and the alien!”

Everyone turned and stared at Hermione.

Hermione replied calmly, in the same stage-whisper, “You’re about to add the lacewings too early, Parkinson. They’ll make the cauldron explode more violently than any of Neville’s ever did.” The students, other than Pansy and Draco, stifled laughs.

Shooting her partner an ugly look, Pansy put the ingredient back on the table.

“Showing off again, Granger?” Snape asked silkily. “Want to make sure the whole class hears? Five more points from Gryffindor.”

Pansy smiled smugly over the cauldron at Hermione, who stirred with an angry look on her face.

At dinner that evening, Snape was thoroughly angry at the world. Not a single dunderhead had successfully completed their potion. Even Granger had produced a weak Aging Potion because sweat droplets had fallen into the cauldron. It was doubtlessly Pansy’s or Draco’s fault, though he would never admit it.

Between classes, he had spent his spare time casting cooling charms on ingredients that would lose their potency in the heat; at least he had done so to the ones he could salvage. It would take time to buy more, and it would put his department over budget. He was frustrated and completely exhausted as he stabbed his London Broil.

Worse yet, Dumbledore had placed the Doctor in the stool next to himself. That was Snape’s seat. Even more annoyingly, he seemed to be hanging on the man’s every word.

“Oh, and the castle is marvelous,” the Doctor was saying. “It’s exactly like it was when I visited last time, down to the last detail.”

“Don’t you mean it is exactly like it was after you altered it?” asked Snape with a clipped tone.

“I’m sorry, Professor,” said the Doctor, looking at Snape. “I don’t catch your meaning.”

“It’s fascinating,” said Snape, “How your arrival coincides with the worst heat wave in recent memory down in the dungeon.

“Severus, I am sure it has nothing to do with the Doctor,” said Dumbledore.

“No, wait, you say that the dungeons are unusually hot,” inquired the Doctor.

“I'm so happy to know that Hogwarts still employs the best and brightest,” Snape shot back.

“Where does the heat seem to be coming from-the walls, the floor?” asked the Doctor.

Snape glared at the man, trying to figure out if he was attempting to mock him. The Doctor seemed genuinely concerned. 'How nice,' Snape thought bitterly.

“If you must know, if the floors get any hotter, students may be exiting the dungeons in their sock feet because their shoes will have melted to the floor,” Snape replied.

For a moment, the doctor’s eyes goggled, and then he looked worried. “Headmaster,” he asked. “May I have a tour of the dungeons after the evening meal?”

'NO,' yelled Snape mentally.

“I think that can be arranged. Severus, would you mind doing the honors?” asked Dumbledore with a stern expression.

“Of course not, Headmaster,” Severus replied with his usual reserve.

---

“This way,” Snape said as he led the Doctor to the dungeons.

The doctor removed what looked to Snape like a long, silver wand with a disk on top. The disk had a window on it that displayed numbers and letters. There was a button on the side.

“What is that?” Snape inquired suspiciously.

“A thermometer,” said the Doctor, bug-eyed and smiling. “I’m sure you Wizards use these too?”

“Yes, but not ones like that. You do realize that Muggle devices do not work here at Hogwarts?” Snape asked contemptuously.

“Ahh, but this is not Muggle. It’s Gallifreyan. I designed it myself,” the Doctor answered, still smiling annoyingly.

“Alien,” spat Snape.

“I’ve been to a number of planets where you would be considered just as alien-and a freak. Not just Earth,” replied the Doctor.

Snape stopped and whipped his head in the Doctor’s direction, glaring.

Ignoring him, the Doctor took the temperature along the walls and the floor. “27 degrees, 28 degrees, 29 degrees-most certainly unusually hot, but not deadly,” said the Doctor, crouching and looking at his thermometer.

“Try working in it,” the professor growled, narrowing his eyes at the other man.

“And the temperature gets higher the further down I read. That’s odd, because warm air rises. “Professor, is there any spot down here where the floor is lower than any other?”

They stood looking at each other, the Doctor expectantly, Snape unwilling to reveal anything. After a long pause the Doctor spoke.

"Well?”

“Yes,” answered Snape reluctantly.

“May I see it?” asked the Doctor.

Snape had an unreadable expression on his face as his mind worked. He could simply refuse, but his boss would certainly hear about it. He said simply, “Follow me.”

With a flourish of his robes, the Potions Master led the way, walking with his usual swift pace. The Doctor, for a moment taken aback, caught up easily. Snape walked faster. The Doctor walked faster. Snape and the Doctor kept increasing their speed until they were running at a swift pace. They nearly ran into two Ravenclaws.

“And we’d lose House points if we tried that,” said one to the other.

Snape stopped abruptly. The Doctor stopped just as abruptly, disappointing Snape.

“The dungeons are quite large. You were wise to move quickly, otherwise the trip might have taken all night,” said the Doctor cheerfully.

Snape scowled as he took the wards off and opened a door to his right.

“This is the storeroom for the school’s potions ingredients. Do NOT touch anything,” he warned the Doctor.

Snape led the other man into the middle of the room. Here, Snape took the wards off a trap door and grabbed the handle after performing a Cooling Charm on it.

“This chamber was designed to store particularly climate-sensitive potions ingredients. Of course, I have had to remove its contents, most of which were completely destroyed by the heat,” Snape said.

When he opened the door, the hot air hit them like a blast furnace. Snape moved aside as the Doctor descended into the hole.

Snape considered closing and sealing the trapdoor with the Doctor inside. If the man was so powerful, he could make his way out.

The Doctor’s voice drifted up from the cellar, “Unless you have two hearts and a bypass respiratory system, I suggest you not try that.” Snape stepped back, startled. Was this Doctor a Legilimens?

After a few minutes, the Doctor ascended the steps. “Thirty-eight degrees. Curious. The heat source is a strong one, and it’s definitely underground. Are there any caves, tunnels, or chambers under the school?” he asked.

“There is the Chamber of Secrets, but we sealed it five years ago, after a student was abducted and taken down into it,” said Snape.

“I need to see this chamber. Is there any way to get down there?” asked the Doctor.

“I suggest you consult the Headmaster,” answered Snape.

---

Meanwhile, the whole school seemed to know the Doctor’s diagnosis of the problem. Something was in the Chamber of Secrets, producing terrible heat. Several Slytherins made snide comments to Potter about not finishing the job during his second year. Others thought Voldemort must be hiding down there again, and that he placed some kind of temperature hex on the school from below. Several became worried that the whole school would explode or burn down. Frantic parents sent the Headmaster owls suggesting that he close the school and send their children home.

Snape moved his classes out of the dungeons to a first-floor classroom. Slytherin House was relocated temporarily to another location, an action not well received among its members. Some people were looking to Harry for help; others were blaming him for the entire business.

That night, Harry had had enough.

“I’m going down there,” he said. “If Voldemort is back, I’m the one who can kill him.”

“I’m going with you,” said Ron.

“And me too,” said Hermione.

“No, you’ll only get hurt,” said Harry bravely.

“What about you? You need back-up,” said Ron.

“And what if you need a spell you don’t know?” asked Hermione in all seriousness. “You don’t even know how to do a Cooling Charm.”

Harry looked at his friends. Sadly, reluctantly, he relented. Harry threw on his Invisibility Cloak, and Hermione cast a Disillusionment charm Ron and herself.

They had to pass the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom on the way to the dungeon stairs, and as they did, the Doctor stepped out of it and called, “You three. In here. Now.”

Disclaimer: I don't own anything; I don't want money.

---

“I wonder what’s taking him so long?” asked Harry.

“Yeah, I wish he’d just give us detention and get it over with,” said Ron.

“I bet he’s talking to Dumbledore,” said Hermione.

“I wonder what they’re talking about that would take this long?” asked Ron.

“Expulsion, Ronald,” sighed Hermione unhappily, “Or the loss of our Prefect and Head Girl positions.”

“Hermione, use your brain! If we weren’t expelled before, I doubt we’re going to get the sack this time,” exclaimed Ron.

Just then, the Doctor reappeared at the top of the stairs with a huge grin. He was wearing a miner’s hat, and he had a rope over his shoulder. In his hands, he had more miner’s hats.

“You’re not going down into the Chamber without me,” he said, descending the stairs. When he reached the astonished trio, he handed each a hat.

“But-” said Harry.

“No buts,” he said. “It wouldn’t be very responsible for your Defense teacher to let you go down there on your own!”

“H-how did you know where we were going?” asked Ron.

“Headmaster Dumbledore told me this evening that you three had a penchant for adventure and to watch out for you. Since you can’t reach the entrance of the Chamber without passing my classroom, I listened for you. I heard your footfalls,” replied the doctor.

Hermione hit the top of her head with her hand. “I didn’t remember to Silencio our feet! How could I be so STU-pid?”

“Well, now, I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you,” said the Doctor, quite serious this time. “I’m rather glad you didn’t remember.”

“We’ve never actually had a teacher who wanted to accompany us before. Usually they just dock house points,” said Harry.

“Or they just let us save the school by ourselves,” muttered Ron.

“I know, and that worries me,” said the Doctor gravely. “But at any rate, I was going to ask you right after dinner, but you disappeared before I got the chance,” he continued. “I’m not exactly familiar with Parseltongue, you know. And I could use some guides-and somebody bright with extensive knowledge of the Chamber itself.”

Hermione blushed harder.

“Wait a minute,” said Harry. “Will these lights actually work here?”

“Try them,” said the Doctor, smiling toothily.

They switched on the lights, which shone brightly across the room.

“But how?” asked Ron.

“Gallifreyan technology,” said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

“Everyone ready to go?” asked the Doctor.

Harry squared his shoulders. “Sure,” he answered. “And, Doctor, there’s no way to get out of the Chamber without flying.” He showed him his broom.

“Ah,” said the Doctor, jogging back upstairs to get his own.

---

The chamber was unbearably hot. A couple of Reducto curses and treatment from the Sonic Screwdriver took care of the debris from the collapsed tunnel, and they were able to pass into the Chamber itself. The three students were very glad that Hermione had performed a Cooling Charm on them before they began. The Doctor, of course, weathered the heat in stride. He took a reading.

“43 degrees,” said the Doctor.

“Unbearable,” said Ron

“Unless you’re a reptile,” said Harry.

“Right you are,” said the Doctor as he scanned the room.

“Do you think,” asked Ron, “That all this could have been caused by reptiles?”

“Not just any reptiles, but a sentient race of reptilian creatures called the Silurians. I’ve faced them before. They were the dominant life form on Earth 20 million years ago, and their technology was very advanced. They saw a small moon that they calculated was on collision course with earth, and they moved underground to avoid what they thought would be the greatest cataclysmic event since the meteorite that killed the Dinosaurs,” the Doctor explained.

“Doesn’t seem too bloody bright to me, considering the fact that it didn’t happen,” said Ron.

The Doctor suppressed a grin. “Don’t sell them short. They have quite formidable powers and technologies. Every time I’ve met them they’ve been determined to transform the earth’s climate to the same that existed 20 million years ago.”

“In Pangea,” Hermione answered. “Hot…But if they’ve been down here for all those millions of years, why didn’t they wake when the chamber was opened last time, or even when the chamber was first built?”

“Who says they didn’t?” the Doctor asked. Then he continued, “Hermione, what stood on this ground before Hogwarts or Hogsmeade were founded?”

“Hogwarts was built on the location of the Gryffindor ancestral home, and Hogsmeade was an estate owned by Helga Hufflepuff. The magical population of Scotland then was very small and more widely dispersed. So, there must not have been enough magical-excuse me-psychic energy available for their purposes,” the girl answered.

“Correct,” said the Doctor. “I met Godric once, capital fellow, quite the clever wizard.”

“Gryffindor? You MET him?” exclaimed Ron.

“Long story, said the Doctor. “I have a theory. We need to get into the nest.”

The four mounted their brooms and headed to the bas-relief face of Slytherin. The mouth seemed much bigger from their new perspective, and they could see it was open. It was large enough to allow them to fly in a pair at a time. The Doctor and Harry went first. The room seemed cavernous, yet it was merely large enough to fit one fully-grown Basilisk comfortably. The floor had been swept clean recently, it seemed, and there was no sign that any huge snake had lived there.

“That’s odd,” said Harry. “We found skeletons all over the place in the tunnels.”

“Somebody has been using this room recently,” answered the Doctor.

“By the way, what are we looking for?” asked Harry, puzzled.

“You’ll know when you see it,” answered the Doctor.

“Doctor, look!” said Ron, pointing at a lab that had been set up in the corner.

The doctor rushed over and looked. He picked up a large, flat stone-like object.

“A Basilisk scale,” said Harry.

There were various pieces of equipment nearby.

“Just like I suspected, somebody has been taking DNA samples,” said the Doctor. “And they’ve been at it for quite a long time. Tell me, how long does it take a basilisk to mature?”

“Hundreds of years,” said Hermione.

“That’s why Slytherin chose that particular creature; he knew his chosen heir wouldn’t appear for nearly a millineum,” said the Doctor. “Although, with cloning, the Silurians could have cut that time by a mere fraction, say…fifty-five years.”

Hermione, blanching, said, “So you’re suggesting that they woke when Tom Riddle opened the chamber the first time.”

“Yes. I suspect that there are fully matured Basilisk clones somewhere nearby. Several would produce enough energy to generate this heat.”

“But if they could produce a suitable environment with Basilisks, why would they bother with witches and wizards?” asked Ron. Hermione and Harry agreed that this was a good question.

The Doctor smiled proudly at his student. “Excellent question. A Basilisk, other than its lethal stare, really doesn’t have that much magic. It would take enough of the animals to fill the entire Chamber, one on top of the other all the way to the ceiling, to achieve the necessary energy, and even then there wouldn’t be enough to transform the world’s environment.”

Hermione thought hard. “Does that have something to do with their brain tissue, spinal column ratio?”

“Yes, and the fact that sentient beings tend to produce more psychic energy anyway," said the Doctor. “I suspect that less than a handful of Silurians scouted the area fifty-five years ago, and the same group cloned the Basilisks to wake up a few dozen others. I’m thinking their plan is to collect all the witches and wizards they can find and take them prisoner inside Hogwarts, where they will harness their psychic energy to transform the face of the planet.”

The others shuddered.

The Doctor knocked along the walls, concentrating hard. At last, he seemed to find what he was looking for. The three students anxiously awaited an explanation.

“A door,” said the Doctor, pointing at the wall opposite the lab. “But I suggest we not try to open it now. We’re going to need a lot more people down here before we try that.”

Suddenly the door opened of its own accord, and the Doctor and Harry, who was standing next to him, were pulled inside.

“Run!” was the Doctor’s strangled cry. “Tell the Headmaster.”

Ron was flying away, holding fast to Hermione, even as he spoke.

Snape woke out of a sound sleep, his Dark Mark burning. He felt an inexplicable need to go investigate the Chamber of Secrets. He knew intellectually that it was sealed, but he sensed that the Dark Lord was calling him and the other Death Eaters down into the Chamber. He hastily rose from bed and hurried down the hall to the stairs. When he reached the second floor corridor that someone had just rounded the corner on the other end of the hall. He wondered if it was Potter and his friends. Normally, he would have investigated, but his Mark hurt him too badly.

When Snape stepped into the bathroom, he saw the entrance was open. He cautiously moved towards it, hearing strange voices. The voices did not sound human, nor did they sound like any other creature he had ever heard. As he drew nearer, inexplicably, he understood what they were saying.

“They are gone, sir. Shall we bring them back?”

“No. Our orders are clear. We are not to go above until all is ready.”

“What if they come back?”

“There is not much the apes can do to us.”

“What if there are more like the boy?”

“There are not. Seal the entrance.”

When the entrance started to close, Snape made haste to the nearest Floo.

---

“Headmaster!” the children panted.

“Yes, Ron, Hermione? Did something happen down in the Chamber?” Somehow, judging from the grave look in his face, he seemed to guess what.

“Harry and the Doctor were abducted by the Silurians!” cried Ron.

“They’re a race of-“

“Yes, the Doctor already told me of his suspicions,” Dumbledore said, walking to his fireplace and tossing in a handful of Floo powder.

He stuck in his head and talked to the person on the other side. After a few minutes, he withdrew.

“I have contacted our friends; they will contact the others. We shall be seeing them shortly," Dumbledore informed the trio.

Just then, Lucius Malfoy’s head appeared in the fireplace.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Malfoy?” asked Dumbledore.

“I request permission to visit the school immediately,” he said.

Ron and Hermione were shocked; Ron’s mouth hung open stupidly.

“Yes, of course,” said the Headmaster. Lucius stepped through.

Soon after, there was a knock at the office door.

“Come in,” called Dumbledore.

It was Snape.

“Come to warn your Headmaster about the threat to the school?” Lucius said mockingly.

The headmaster looked from Snape to Lucius, immediately understanding.

“The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and Harry Potter are currently prisoners of the beings in the Chamber. I have contacted the Aurors; they should arrive momentarily,” said Dumbledore. “It seems there have been several witches and wizards kidnapped and taken into the Chamber, especially this evening.”

Just then, Shacklebolt and then Tonks stepped through the fireplace. Soon, Aurors, government officials, parents, and friends of Dumbledore started asking permission and arriving through every available fireplace.

---

While Ron and Hermione were making their escape, the Doctor and Harry found themselves face to face with four brownish-green, reptilian creatures with red lights on top of their heads. They wrested from the pair their wands and their brooms as well as the Doctor’s rope. The Doctor knew better than to offer resistance, but Harry rebelled and soon found himself trying to counter their psychic attack. The attack felt a little like the Imperius Curse, which the boy knew how to resist. Soon all four concentrated their energy on Harry, causing him to crumple. They seemed surprised that one of these magical people could resist their attack at all.

Two of the Silurians carried the boy, and a third escorted the Doctor to a cell they called “the holding pen.” It was a stone room with a barred door. They threw in the boy, and the Doctor caught him.

After the other three guards left to their previous posts, the fourth said to the Doctor, “I’m very sorry about all this.” The Doctor, understanding the language, also understood the genuine regret in the creature’s voice.

The Doctor helped Potter to come back to consciousness.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“In a Silurian holding pen,” said the Doctor. “I’ve been in them twice before. Are you all right?”

“Yeah, said Harry, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “I’m just a bit dizzy.”

“You shouldn’t have resisted them, Harry, but if you’re up to it, how about we break out of here? We won’t be able to bend the bars, but maybe we can blast a hole through the rock, if you’re up to trying some wandless magic again,” the Doctor suggested.

“Yeah,” said Harry, standing up and squaring his shoulders determinedly. They listened for the guards, but they seemed to be gone, completely confident that their prisoners could not escape.

“Here, where the bars attach to the stone, try a Reducto.”

Harry did, but the spell bounced off. He tried again with the same results.

“Hmmm, there seems to be some kind of psychic energy dampening field here,” the Doctor mused. “No wonder they’re so confident. But they weren’t expecting to capture an alien,” he said, bug-eyes twinkling. He took out his sonic screwdriver. As soon as he directed the beam at the wall, the field appeared as yellow, pulsing bands. The bands pulled apart like strings thinning and breaking, and buckled, still pulsing.

“Now try. Point at that bare place and concentrate.”

The boy did, causing a small hole to appear. They heard footsteps. The Doctor backed up into the corner to hide the evidence.

The cage opened, and another prisoner was tossed inside. Harry gasped when he saw his face. It was Voldemort.

The Dark Lord’s red eyes fluttered open and immediately locked on Harry. At the same moment, they each raised their hands and muttered the Killing Curse. Each curse fizzled into a puff of green smoke as it hit the other. Voldemort, undeterred, sprang to his feet and lunged at Harry, who lunged back. The Doctor, fast as lightning, stepped between the two and separated them.

“Stop! If one of you manages to kill the other, you won’t have any hope of escaping! The whole of human kind is in danger. Even if you live, you’ll become a slave to these creatures until they don’t need you anymore, and then you will die!” he said.

One pair of green eyes and one pair of red ones regarded him, the former shocked, the latter disbelieving.

The Doctor explained the Silurians and their plan to Voldemort. “And I bet the recent kidnappings that you have been claiming lately haven’t been done by Death Eaters at all, have they, Mr. Riddle?”

“Doctor?” Voldemort inquired.

“What, you don’t recognize me?” the Doctor quipped. “I haven’t seen you since, what, your third year? What a waste of talent,” he said sadly.

Narrowing his eyes angrily, he said, “I need proof.”

“Proof? Look around you. Have you actually gotten that dim?” asked the Doctor sternly. “But if you do need proof, help us blast through this wall, and I’ll show you.”

Blasting through the wall would be in Voldemort’s interest, so he agreed. Keeping one hand on the Dark Lord, the Doctor used the other to operate his Sonic Screwdriver. With this device and the combined Reducto curses of Potter and Voldemort, they reduced the wall to rubble.

Voldemort was going to break for it, but the Doctor was faster, binding him with a much stronger Magic Reducing spell than used in the pen. They moved down the corridor to a crescent-shaped underground amphitheater of sorts, where, fortunately, all the beings faced away from them. About thirty Silurians were sitting and listening to an authoritative-sounding one, obviously their leader. A projection of Hogsmeade appeared above the floor in the center of the room.

“Once we hook the rest of the magical apes into our Psychic Energy Concentrator, we will storm the castle above and the town,” he said. A model of Hogwarts appeared. “We will bring them to the castle, and use the machine to cast a Magical Dampening Field around them, one many times stronger than the one we are currently using in the pens. Then we will seal the cave on the Hogsmeade end and take the Machine and the apes up to the Castle as well. We shall have sufficient energy to wake the rest of the colony.”

“But what will happen to-uh-them after we have enhanced the climate?” asked the guard who had apologized to the Doctor.

”We will no longer need them. They will be left to die.”

“What if some survive? Will we let them live?” the concerned Silurian asked.

“Of course not. Two sentient species cannot co-exist side by side. The earth was ours first, and the apes are inferior. Any survivors will be exterminated.”

The Dark Lord looked outraged.

Just then, the leader looked up and saw them. “The apes are attempting to escape!” he cried. “I want them back here ALIVE!”

Harry panted and whined, “Why does everyone want to kill me personally?”

“Because you’re just that kind of boy,” Voldemort snapped.

The Doctor took the dampening field off Voldemort, and they all ran. The Silurians were hot on their heels and shooting at them. They zigzagged back and forth to avoid the attack, but Harry and Voldemort were grazed. The Doctor had to hold onto the dazed wizards and help them along as they staggered away from the enemy. The Doctor was amazed that these two were strong enough not to be knocked unconscious by even a grazing shot. Finally, with the Silurians hot on their heels, they reached the mouth of the Basilisk’s nest and looked down. About one hundred witches and wizards, Dumbledore in the forefront, were standing in a crescent formation with wands upraised.