WARNING: This story is unfinished and will remain so, unless the authors come back to complete it.

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Welcome to the Real World

A “Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons” and “Harry Potter” cross-over fan fiction

By Kelly Haycock and Devon Ricks

 

Chapter 5

Authors’ note:  All Harry Potter characters, places etc already established in the books belong to JK Rowling.  All Captain Scarlet characters, places etc already established in the television series belong to Gerry Anderson. We only own the characters we created for this story.

“Imagine an instant...  That the world of Captain Scarlet and the world of Harry Potter would be set in the same timeline, and in the same universe..."

 

 

Scarlet was dumfounded.  That this seemingly very old man has just told him he was at a school had thrown him.  A school for magic though was just incredible and prior to receipt of this information, would be something out of a book.

"Now, as much as I know Hagrid does like company, I'm going to request you come with us, Captain.  We can put you in quarters that might be construed to be a bit more comfortable and private.  Hagrid is always having people come here so we don't really need them seeing you, now, do we," Dumbledore told him.

"Perfessor, don' yeh think the students seeing the Cap'ain might be a problem?" Hagrid asked.

Dumbledore turned to look at the big man and nodded.  "Quite right, Hagrid.  Captain, what is your name? It will make it easier in our discourse."

"It's Paul," Scarlet replied.  He looked as Hagrid snickered behind him.

"All right, Paul.  I have a cloak that I'm going to ask you to put on, but I think I need to show you what it does first.  Arbus would you put it on please and show our new friend here what it does?"

Dumbledore handed the cloak to White and he donned it, leaving his head visible.  He kept his face impassive, then looked at Dumbledore and Scarlet.  The latter was growing paler by the moment and appeared ready to pass out.

Dumbledore looked at Scarlet.  "It's called an invisibility cloak, Paul.  Under it, he is completely normal."

"And you want me to wear that? Won't students panic seeing only my head?" Scarlet inquired, dubiously.

"No.  You'll be completely covered.  They will not see any part of you.  We'll move carefully enough that you can keep up with us, but you should stay close," Dumbledore said as White removed the cloak and folded it over his arm for the moment.  "Hagrid, thank you for bringing Paul to our attention.  Arbus, give him the cloak if you please and we will be on our way."

White handed him the cloak, opening it so Scarlet was wrapped in it, then adjusted it so it covered his head.

"Professor?" Scarlet said.

"Yes, Paul. What's wrong?" replied Dumbledore looking at the blank spot between them.

"If I'm invisible, then how come I can still see this cloak over me?" Scarlet asked.

"I'm not sure you could understand the theory of it, Paul, but let’s just say it's reflecting things," Dumbledore told him.

"All right," came a weak reply.

 

*****

 

Dumbledore, White and the hidden captain walked up to the castle, Scarlet in awe of the building as they approached.  He could see students of different ages around the grounds, some practicing spells of a various nature.

He turned around to look behind him at where he had been.  Peeking over the trees, he saw water in the distance.  He also saw two students talking as they walked toward the castle, both paying rapt attention to him? No, he decided.  He turned around and followed at Dumbledore and White.

The interior of the gigantic building was even more impressive than the outside, stairs all around, paintings on all the walls.  He paused in surprise.  One had moved! He shook his head.  He had to be seeing things.  He followed the two men down several corridors till they reached a painting.  Dumbledore looked for something and rapped on part of it, a door opening.  White was looking at him puzzled.  The three then passed into a larger room.

"Paul? You can remove the cloak now," Dumbledore said, looking directly at him??

The Spectrum Captain removed the cloak and straightened his cap, it having gone slightly askew.  He looked around the room.

"You'll be able to relax here for a bit.  I'm going to request, however, that you stay here.  Arbus and I must deal with something but we well return later.  Are you hungry?" Dumbledore asked.

Scarlet looked at him for a moment, surprised at the question then nodded.  "Yes."

He sat down in a large overstuff chair, one by a large crackling fire.  Dumbledore went to the globe and passed his hand over it.  White was looking at the door and he seemed to have a faint smile on his face.  Scarlet looked at the door and gasped.  An odd little creature stood there, with ears that seemed to blossom larger than his head. He sat there, rooted to the chair in surprise. Oh Lord he was going insane… he had to be!

"Paul, this is Dobby. Dobby, this is Paul.  He'd like something to eat," Dumbledore remarked.

The house elf walked up to Scarlet and his ears twitched as he looked at him.  "What would Paul like to eat?" he asked, his voice high pitched.

"Uh… erm… mash, bangers, toast, cherry preserves, if you have them and a good stiff cup of tea," Scarlet requested.

"We should be able to accommodate that for you, Paul.  Just remain here and you'll be safe for now," Dumbledore said.

‘And out of the way for a while’, thought White.

He made a hand motion to White and they left, Dobby right behind them.  Scarlet slumped into the chair after removing his cap and looked at the paintings on some of the walls.  They were all wonderful works but he couldn't get over the feeling that he was being watched.  Something white caught his eye and he got up and went over to the bed.  Lifting the bed skirt, he reached out and revealed a white boot.

‘He is here,’ Scarlet thought to himself.

 

*****

 

Dumbledore and White had reached the headmaster’s office and White sat down in a chair across from his grandfather.

"Grandfather, he can't stay here.  He has to go back," White said quietly.

"I agree and very quickly as well.  It presents the right opportunity for you to go back and talk with your men to get them ready," Dumbledore said.

"Like this?" White protested, spreading his hands wide.

"It does present some difficulties, I know, Arbus.  Don't you think he may get suspicious if you never talk to him, though? He looks to be a rather sociable young man," Dumbledore remarked.

"He can be and he can also be troublesome in not obeying orders," White remarked looking rather perturbed.

"If he is an indication of your men, then you should be pleased that they will look for you," Dumbledore stated.

"I'm quite pleased they're looking for me but I didn't expect one of them to find me, least of all Scarlet," White sighed.  "When do you think I should go back?"

"Soon.  Give him a chance to eat first.  Then we'll take him," Dumbledore suggested.

"We? You're coming too?" White was startled as Dumbledore nodded.

 

*****

 

Dobby had returned to the room with a tray laden with the breakfast for Scarlet and set it on a table for him.  As Scarlet examined it, he became aware that Dobby was watching him.

"Is something wrong… er… Dobby?" Scarlet asked.  He popped some sausage into his mouth.

"Your clothes look better than Arbus’. His doesn't suit him," Dobby remarked.

Scarlet blinked at the remark, chewing slowly.  "These are the clothes we're assigned."

"It a shame you do not live here, Dobby could make better clothing.  Too bad also you have no magic," the little house-elf sighed.

"Dobby, does this room belong to Arbus?" Scarlet asked.

"Indeed it does, Sir.  Arbus is staying here while he is getting his magic back," Dobby told him.

"Getting his magic back?"

His little hand went to his mouth, his eyes went wide and he grabbed for a book and started hitting himself on the head.  Scarlet dropped his fork and tried to grab the book away from him.  He was startled at Dobby's behavior and finally the house-elf dropped the book onto the floor, panting heavily.

"Dobby is sorry, Sir.  There are things that are secret around here.  Dobby must go.  Please finish your meal though, Sir.  The Professor and Arbus will come back soon I think."

Scarlet watched as Dobby left the room and turned to the tray and dug in with a vengeance.

He looked around the room again. It was more sumptuous but there were signs that the Colonel had been there.  He noticed a wardrobe, and got up to go examine it better.

One of the doors was open slightly and he'd see a flash of white.  Opening it, he found the Colonel’s uniform, clean and pressed.  He looked it over and saw scratch marks of some kind on the one shoulder and wondered what could have made them.  One fact remained though, that the Colonel, or Arbus as he had been called, was nowhere to be found, but he was here.

 

*****

 

White and Dumbledore finished their planning and returned to White’s room, Dumbledore carrying the photograph Scarlet had arrived with for the time being.  As they entered the room, Scarlet looked in their direction and stood up quickly wondering if it was the Colonel entering.  Dumbledore caught the faint look of disappointment when he realised it wasn't him.

"Paul, I hope Dobby attended to all your needs well enough and you're ready to go back now," said Dumbledore.

"Yes, thank you, he did.  How am I to be returned though?" Scarlet inquired.

"Almost the same way you were brought here, but we will have to go back to the edge of the forest to do so," Dumbledore replied.  He handed the picture to White, who merely inclined his head.

Scarlet nodded and took the invisibility cloak from White, then put it on.  They left the room, heading back out of the massive building and to the small glade that he'd appeared in.

Once there, he removed the cloak and handed it to Dumbledore.  He heard a bird call and was amazed to see a large snowy owl swoop in and land on White’s shoulder, a mouse in its beak.  White spoke softly to the bird and stroked its breast.  The bird then began to eat the mouse fastidiously, and when done, White looked at Dumbledore.

"If you please Arbus," Dumbledore said.

Dumbledore placed a hand on White’s shoulder and on Scarlet's. White closed his blue eyes after looking at the Captain, and the next moment they stood in the Colonel’s quarters.

Scarlet looked around in surprise, then at Dumbledore wondering at the slight smile on his face.  White took something from Dumbledore, that Scarlet now recognised as the picture he had been forced to bring with him and placed it back in exactly the spot the Captain had picked it up from. White then bent to pick up the stone, still lying on the floor.  Scarlet took another look at him, his eyes going wide.

"Oh my God," he gasped.

"Not quite, Captain," came the voice of his Commander from the man before him.

"Colonel… what happened?!"

"Later, Captain, right now it would take too long to explain and we do not have the time," the Colonel said, lifting the owl off his shoulder and placing him on the back of his chair.  "Let's just say a little magic was involved."

"Magic?" Scarlet asked dubiously.

"Yes, Captain, magic.  Now if you please, shall we go to Command? We need to call a meeting and you're going to get everyone there," said White.

 

*****

 

Scarlet could only be thankful that not many people were in the halls and equally glad that they were close to Command.      

He entered, Dumbledore and the Colonel close behind.  Lieutenant Green looked up and nodded to Captain Scarlet, then noticed the two men behind him.  He blinked and hoped no one had noticed his gasp.  Dumbledore??  On Cloudbase??  Then who was the other young man?

"Lieutenant, would you please call a meeting of all the Captains for us? We'll be in the conference room," Scarlet told him.

"S.I.G., Captain," the young man replied.  He noticed Dumbledore looking at him and afforded him a quick nod.  The old wizard nodded back and smiled slightly.

They adjourned to the conference room, Dumbledore looking around.  "Impressive, Arbus, very impressive," he commented.

"Probably a bit more Spartan than what you're used to though," White replied.  He decided to wait until all were there before he regained the center chair of the table.

The Captains arrived, Captain Grey arriving first and taking his place, then Magenta and Blue, followed by Ochre.

"Any luck in your investigation, Captain?" asked Captain Blue.

"Yes and No," said Scarlet watching as Ochre approached the table.

"Great, so where is the old man?" Ochre asked.  Scarlet closed his eyes and sighed.  ‘Too late.’

"The 'Old Man' is right here, Captain," came an all too familiar voice from behind him.

Ochre groaned and turned around slowly and saw the two men there, one, young, whose eyes were flashing in anger; the other, older man wearing some weird kind of pyjamas.  This brought the other Captains to alert and staring at both strangers in surprise.

It felt odd for him to move to his chair and not look quite right, but as he sat down he was able to gauge the shock in his men's eyes.  It was nothing compared to the look on their face when Dumbledore produced a chair in a chintz pattern for himself and sat down.  Lieutenant Green grinned at this and kept taking notes.

"First off.  Captain Blue, thank you for looking after Cloudbase once more while I was gone," he said, Blue looking at him in confusion.  "I have managed to obtain help, albeit of an unusual nature by your own standards.  Unfortunately, in doing so Captain Scarlet has also discovered part of what the threat is about.  The rest of it may even be far more impossible to believe, for you at least.  What Captain Scarlet saw was my past, but the future of another part of our world.  One that has been hidden for a great many years and one that... perhaps because of something I might have done, has now the possibility of being brought to light.  As you can see though it affects people in unusual ways, depending on their age at some times.  Professor Dumbledore even does not show his true age.  Myself... well this is temporary...I hope.  Magic has done this, gentlemen."  His men looked at him in various levels of disbelief.  "No, I do not mean stage magic either, Captain Magenta, not slight of hand.  Leave that for now.  We have an ever greater problem and that is partially with Captain Black."  The men at the table gave him confused looks.  "He too knows the same things I do," said Colonel White.

"The same things …meaning… magic," said Scarlet.

"Yes.  It seems that Captain Black was a student, but after I had left.  Now, because of him seeing something I had done, he is going to use that and bring that world into the forefront," stated Colonel White.  "And I would imagine, try and get rid of me in the process.  This will mean a fight I think, different from anything any of you will have dealt with."

"How different?" asked Captain Grey.

"As different as night and day.  You're used to your handguns and weapons along those lines.  In this world, the weapons look innocent," he stated and produced his wand, to lay it on the table before him.  The five men looked at it, then their 'rejuvenated' Commander.  "Trust me when I say this is a dangerous and deadly weapon."

 

*****

 

While the Colonel was filling in the rest of the Captains, a young boy was at the memorial garden back at Hogwarts.  He was seated under a thick old oak and he looked quite despondent.  He looked at the flame and closed his eyes for a moment.

"You appear to have the weight of the world on your shoulders," came a gravely voice.

"Sometimes I truly wonder," he replied, looking at the darkly garbed man.

At that moment a slight breeze caught some of his hair and in went into his eyes.  The man automatically brushed it away, but not before the teen gave a pained look.

The man inquired. "Care to talk about it?"

Harry looked up at the darkly dressed man. Hair blew into his face from another gust of wind, causing Harry to once more think of Sirius.

"Alright."  He leaned back slightly and looked at the man again.  "I lost someone close to me," he told him.  The man nodded in understanding.

"They must have been very close.  I, too, have lost some family dear to me, but I don't remember them, it was all so long ago.  Tell me, Mr. Potter. Who was it?"

"How do you know my name?” asked Harry.

"Why, young sir, I know quite a bit about you.  How your parents died and left you at such a tender age.  Again, I know how bad that can be, to be raised with kin that do not know or want to know of what you have the potential to do."

Harry nodded.  "But he knew... my godfather…  He knew and he wanted to have me live with him.... he was... ki...killed…" By now, Harry had started to lose what little control he had.  The man patted his back in sympathy.

"Sirius, I gather."  Harry nodded.  "He was a good man and had much bad happen to him.  No one man should have all the evil happen to him as Sirius did," the man said, an odd edge to his voice.

Harry looked at him.  " It wasn't fair! He never asked for it to… "

"No, he didn't, but the area he was involved with… left him little choice for it not to happen."

"You must have known Sirius very well to paint that so exactly.  What's your name?"

The man smiled sardonically.  "Call me Conrad."

"Were you a student here?" Harry inquired.

"Yes, but it’s been a while since I was back," Conrad told him.

"What house were you in?"

"Hufflepuff."

"You said you lost family.  Who was it?" Harry asked.

"My parents.  I was only months old when it happened.  I was raised by family in the States and I wasn't able to come back to England until I got my letter."  He smiled slightly at the memory.

The two began to talk about their lives.

 

*****

 

He sighed.  "Seamus…. Please.  You have to enunciate!"

"I yam," replied the Gryffindor.  "You just canna tell!" He glared at the Slytherin.

"Do you ever expect to perform a simple spell like water to rum then?" The Slytherin was well aware this spell was a sore spot with the young man.

"I can do it!" replied Finnigan.

"Without blowing your eyelashes off?" Richards raised an eyebrow, emphasizing his point.

The Gryffindor gave him an angry look and they were stopped by another Gryffindor approaching.  "There you are.  Have you seen Malfoy?"

"No.  He decided he didn't like a Gryffindor teaching him things?" Richards inquired, smirking.

"Probably.   Bones said she saw him heading this way."

Both males shook their heads.  Haycock sighed.  "Maybe he's hiding at the Memorial Garden."

"Care ta have some help looking fer him?" asked Finnigan.

"It would be appreciated, Finnigan.  Maybe your tutor can cool down a bit, as well," said Haycock.

Richards looked surly and the three headed toward the Gardens to see if Malfoy was there.  As they drew closer they could see Harry and both tutors looked each other quickly upon noticing who he was standing with.  How on Earth had Captain Black gotten into Hogwarts? The two former students both wore worried expressions as they regarded the other, then they turned back to Finnigan.

"If Harry's there, then Malfoy won't be I think.  Finnigan would you do me a favour and see if he's back in the library? That’s the one place I haven't looked yet," suggested Haycock.

"Shure I will.  But don' expect me ta speak with him," said Finnigan.  He gave a smirk to Richards and headed back to he castle at a run.

"So, where is Malfoy?" Richards asked.

"No clue and this is pure fluke.  We need to tell Dumbledore," said Haycock.

"He's gone off someplace, with the Colonel."

"Bet you a tenner I know where they are," Haycock said.

"So how do we tell them?"

"Send him a message," said Haycock.

"I don't think they have ever seen an owl delivery there before," said Richards.

"Probably never seen a ferret either but we have no choice.  If one can't find him the other can."  Haycock looked at her owl, who had been on her shoulder the entire time and a black nose poked out from Richards’ robes.

"I don't want either of them to get hurt, Haycock, I've got an idea.  You still have that fob for your keys?" Richards asked.

"The disk? Certainly."

"All right.  Make a light collar for Lexi and attach it to the collar." Richards looked around and found a small patch of long, untended grass. He pulled several strands and wove it quickly into a green thong, handed it to Haycock and grabbed more for a second one. He wove quickly and then secured it around Polo’s neck.   He took the ID disk from his chain and Polo raised his little head for him to affix the disk.

"All we need.  A ferret that likes to dress up," she said, attaching her disk to the woven band for Lexi.  The owl preened after the collar was on.  "You too eh?" she asked Lexi.  The owl hooted.

Richards was already writing a small note and attached it to the ferret’s little collar, then looked him in the eye.  "Don't loose it Polo.  It’s important."

Haycock attached her message to Lexi's leg.  "All right Lexi, you and Polo find Dumbledore.  This is an emergency!"

She raised her arm and the owl took wing, swooping down to grab the little ferret, which immediately started to wiggle as the owl grabbed him. Richards looked at Haycock.

"I don't think he likes that."

 

*****

 

The popping sound was almost inaudible in the large room as both creatures appeared, and both owl and ferret were a bit disoriented.  Lexi dropped the ferret and he landed safely, making a slight hissing sound at the owl, which in turn clacked its beak at him.  The ferret cringed a bit and the two headed off on their assignment, that being to locate Professor Dumbledore.

The owl flew at a height that would activate the doors and they both passed through, moving down several corridors.  Some Cloudbase staff were a bit surprised to see both owl and ferret in the corridor and several people ducked to avoid being struck by wings, or jumped to he side to avoid the white streak running at them.  The door to the conference room was activated and they entered, Lexi landing to perch on the back of Dumbledore's chair while Polo jumped up onto the circular table looking around.

He looked at Captain Grey and moved closer to him, patted his tunic and lay down to roll over.

"What on earth?"  stated Colonel White.

"I believe you will find that this is a form of help, Arbus.  See if the ferret has a tag on a collar," suggested Dumbledore.  He was fingering one on the owl.

Captain Grey leaned to check it, the ferret passive as he checked and found the collar and he looked at his commander.  "It's a Spectrum ID disk!"

Colonel White looked at Dumbledore who simply smiled.

Dumbledore took the message from about Lexi's leg and opened it.  "Oh dear.  I thought as much when these two appeared.”

"What?" asked Colonel White.

Captain Grey took the small scroll of Polo’s collar and opened it.  The Captains at the table look startled when he read the message.

“Black at Hogwarts.”

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 6… SOON

 

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