Title: The Clock
Summary: Minerva McGonagall’s answer to Jack’s job.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Stargate SG-1 or Harry Potter
Warnings: Spoilers for ‘Fire and Water’…but you might need to have seen this one to get the story. The basic plot line of the episode is Daniel was kidnapped by an alien and Jack, Sam, and Teal’c’s memories were modified to believe he had died.
Timeline: Follows Second Chances. Takes place during ‘Fire and Water’, episode 12, season 1.
Author’s Notes: Okay, bunny breeders, it took longer than I thought (I was distracted by a bunny from the Connections ‘verse), but here it is.
The Clock
McGonagall checked up on them every couple of months, almost acting like a real social worker with all her questions.
Eventually McGonagall became Professor because Jack could not resist giving the woman a nickname and Professor was somewhat respectful and based off the fact that every time she stopped by, she taught Harry something or gave him something educational. It was always about magic so somewhat cool by default, but it was still geeky. During her first visit, Harry would talk to Jack and sometimes to his teacher at school. By McGonagall’s second visit, Harry would talk to most adults including Professor McGonagall, but still avoided talking to the kids at school. By her third visit, Daniel was temporarily living with Jack and teaching Harry Latin, Jack was on active duty again, and Harry had the occasional bratty kid moment. Jack considered that his biggest achievement. Sure, the universe and the Air Force might consider bringing Teal’c home his biggest achievement in the past year, but to Jack, getting Harry to act like a normal kid once in a while ranked a tiny bit higher.
On her fourth visit, Professor became Minerva. She brought The Clock.
Yes, it deserved capital letters in Jack’s opinion.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She showed up halfway through Daniel’s wake, carrying a large box, looking puzzled as hell when Harry told her what was going on. Less than ten minutes after her arrival, she had Harry round up Jack and General Hammond in Jack’s bedroom so she could explain what was so special about her latest gift to Harry.
“You may not be aware, Colonel O’Neill, but since your return to active duty, there has been some talk among the magical community of removing Harry from your care,” Professor McGonagall began as sat the box down on the bed. She waved her wand at the door. “While no one knows the exact nature of your work, we do know it often takes you away from Harry and is a high risk to your life.”
Harry grabbed Jack’s hand and looked up at Jack with a panicked expression, and Jack shook his head. “You’re not going anywhere,” he whispered, ruffling Harry’s hair, before turning his fiercest glare on the woman. “Professor, you know I like you loads, but if you don’t get to the point real quick, I’m kicking you out. Now’s not the time.”
“My point, Colonel O’Neill, is you’ve been a positive influence on Harry, and I will not have him taken from your care because you might be reported dead for a short time,” she said, watching Harry and Jack with a fond smile. “One of my former students created a clock that monitors her family’s welfare. It has hands for each family member and words in place of numbers that can tell her any number of things. As of right now, the clock Molly Weasley created for you and Harry only has ‘Home’, ‘Traveling’, ‘Missing’, ‘Mortal Danger’, ‘Visiting’, and ‘Dead’ on it, but it also has your name, Captain Carter’s, Harry’s and Dr. Jackson’s on its hands.”
Professor McGonagall pointed her wand at the box and the sides fell down, revealing a large, old fashioned clock. A clock that had a hand with Daniel’s name on it firmly pointed at the four ‘o clock place, ‘Missing’. “My point is, according to this clock, Dr. Jackson is still alive.”
Jack stared at the clock in disbelief. He could hear General Hammond demanding an explanation on how the clock worked from the Professor—Crap, he hadn’t told General Hammond about magic yet, had he? His team knew because they had all seen Harry’s little accident when Janet poked him one too many times, but no one else—but Jack couldn’t take his eyes off the clock. Daniel was alive. Daniel was alive, and they had left him there.
Aw, shit.
It wasn’t until Harry turned Daniel’s hand to an empty slot and it slowly swung back to ‘Missing’ that Jack snapped out of his daze. “Sir, if there’s a chance…I want to take my team back.”
“Jack, we don’t know how that thing works,” General Hammond said, eyeing the clock the same way Jack eyed Carter’s alien toys: like he had no clue how it worked and was waiting for it to explode any second. “Considering the situation, there might be a chance it’s been thrown for a loop.”
“The clock will continue to monitor a person’s life no matter where they are, General Hammond,” Professor McGonagall said sharply. “Molly Weasley designed it that way. That’s why a strand of hair from the person in question is spelled into the hand. It uses the person’s life codes to monitor him or her.”
“She means DNA, sir,” Harry said softly. He had moved Daniel’s hand and was watching it go back to missing again. He turned to Jack with a hopeful smile. “Can I go get Dr. Janet and T so Professor McGonagall can put them on the clock while you talk General Hammond into letting you get Daniel?”
Despite the situation, Jack had to snicker, just for a moment. The look on Hammond’s face was priceless. “Go for it,” Jack said, jerking his head towards the door, and Harry took off like a bat out of hell. Jack couldn’t blame him; he wanted every member of his team on there too, even Janet who wasn’t technically part of his team. Evil needles and penlights aside, Janet was a damn good friend. She was also a damn good kid-sitter.
“Colonel O’Neill…Jack,” General Hammond said, using the same pacifying voice he had used when he had found Jack knocking out a car window. “I can not let you go back without more proof than a,” he grimaced, “magical clock. If you want to go back, you need to prove he’s still alive. According to your own report, the situation is too dangerous to risk your lives without definite proof.”
“That’s fine, sir. My team is good at doing the impossible,” Jack said quickly.
General Hammond turned to Professor McGonagall. “If this pans out, I would like to speak with Molly Weasley about creating more of these clocks. All of my people have high risk jobs, not just…Colonel O’Neill’s team,” he said, only a slight pause as he remembered the woman was not privy to classified information and came up with a different name for SG-1.
Professor McGonagall frowned, and Jack rolled his eyes. He knew what was coming and on any other day, he’d gladly enjoy watching the Professor and Hammond clash, but right now he just wanted Harry to get back with Teal’c, Janet and hopefully Carter. They needed Carter’s brains to figure this out.
“I will have to speak with my superiors about the cost, but we will pay for them,” General Hammond added when the Professor didn’t respond right away.
“The cost doesn’t concern me, General Hammond, although I’m sure Molly Weasley would appreciate the supplement to her husband’s income. There are laws concerning the magical communities’ separation from the non-magical communities. You know as well as I there are certain groups who would love nothing more than to get their hands on someone like me or Harry…”
At that point, Jack tuned them out. Harry was back, and he had brought Carter with him. Daniel was completely forgiven for trying to turn Harry into a little geek since it meant Harry was smart enough to pick up on Jack’s need to have Carter here. “Don’t destroy the clock, buddy,” Jack said, noticing the way Teal’c tensed up at hearing Harry’s babbled explanation. “I don’t like the fact that we left him behind either, but it’s the only thing we have saying he’s still alive.”
“Indeed,” Teal’c said with a slight nod of his head. With one last intense glare at the clock, he gave in and let Harry tug him and Janet over to the Professor. Jack turned all his attention to Carter. They needed to figure this out and they needed to figure it out now.
“Sir…” Carter said. She looked up from the clock and just stared at him. “We left him there.”
“I know, Carter, but right now we need to find more proof he’s alive so we can bring him home,” Jack said softly, and he squeezed her shoulder. “Can you think of something that would explain why we remember him dying if he’s not dead?”
“I…There are so many possible explanations or theories, I don’t know where to begin,” Carter mumbled. She knelt down in front of the clock and moved Daniel’s hand to a blank number slot just like Harry had. Everyone watched it slowly inch back to ‘Missing’. Carter then moved Jack’s clock hand to the same empty slot and it almost instantly swung back to ‘Home’. “Can anything interfere in the clock’s ability to monitor someone’s life?”
“Molly explained certain wards and spells can affect the clock,” Professor McGonagall said quietly, watching the group for clues as to what had happened, “but nothing else as far as she knows.”
“With our situation distance might be a factor, sir,” Carter said. “I’d like to study any information you have on the spells put on this clock.”
“Carter, anything you do get on it won’t leave this house. The Professor can spell a safe for you to lock it up in,” Jack said before Carter or the Professor could object. “We can’t risk anyone finding out about the wizarding community. Harry’s the most visible and vulnerable one around. They are not taking my kid.”
“I understand, sir, but there might be a way to compensate for what we do. We could get a more accurate reading if we modify it…somehow,” Carter exclaimed as she moved Daniel’s hand again. She breathed a sigh of relief as it moved over ‘Dead’ and settled back on ‘Missing’. Jack was halfway tempted to grab her hand and drag her away, but she stood and began pacing the room, muttering under her breath.
Jack breathed his own little sigh of relief as he listened to her mumbles. Carter was brainstorming on their current problem and not on the clock; it would only be a matter of time before she came up with a way to prove Daniel might still be alive to the General’s satisfaction. It’d be quicker if the Professor wasn’t in the room, but Jack could deal Minerva’s presence for a while longer before he kicked her out or talked her into watching Harry while he was off world.
She had brought proof Daniel was alive and that nagging twitching feeling his memories were off was right. For that, Jack would happily kiss the woman and take the slap for it. Hell, he’d let her spell his television so he could only watch the History Channel from now on if this thing was right.
Jack gave into temptation and moved Daniel’s clock hand to an empty space. The part of him that had been empty since he had walked back through the gate filled a little as the hand moved back to ‘Missing’.
Daniel was alive.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“How did you figure out I wasn’t dead?”
“Oh, Minerva stopped by for a magic lesson, Carter and the docs did their thing, and here we are.”
“I missed it? She came by already? What did she bring this time?”
“She brought the Clock.”
“She also brought Daniel a book on British Magical traditions, sir.”
“Ah, but the Clock was the reason we started searching for proof Daniel was alive.”
“I believe the Clock is the relevant part of her visit, Major Carter.”
“A clock. You used a clock to prove I was alive?”
“Yeah, about that. General Hammond didn’t want to trust the Clock. We had to pack up your apartment before the docs had their brainstorm.”
“You didn’t.”
“You can ask Minerva about the Clock since you’re staying with me tonight. Carter’s already planning on grilling her.”
A pause. “You conned her into watching Harry, didn’t you?”
“She had to go back and get a book on some mind protection technique for him anyway. She and General Hammond figured out the kid knows more than he should.”
Another pause. “How much trouble are we in?”
“If you were military, you’d be this close to being court martialed and scrubbing toilets while waiting for your trial.”
“Ah. You know, Nem’s not so bad…”
“Carter, dial us home. Don’t try running, Daniel. We’re all responsible for this; you’re damn well going to be there for it with us.”
McGonagall checked up on them every couple of months, almost acting like a real social worker with all her questions.
Eventually McGonagall became Professor because Jack could not resist giving the woman a nickname and Professor was somewhat respectful and based off the fact that every time she stopped by, she taught Harry something or gave him something educational. It was always about magic so somewhat cool by default, but it was still geeky. During her first visit, Harry would talk to Jack and sometimes to his teacher at school. By McGonagall’s second visit, Harry would talk to most adults including Professor McGonagall, but still avoided talking to the kids at school. By her third visit, Daniel was temporarily living with Jack and teaching Harry Latin, Jack was on active duty again, and Harry had the occasional bratty kid moment. Jack considered that his biggest achievement. Sure, the universe and the Air Force might consider bringing Teal’c home his biggest achievement in the past year, but to Jack, getting Harry to act like a normal kid once in a while ranked a tiny bit higher.
On her fourth visit, Professor became Minerva. She brought The Clock.
Yes, it deserved capital letters in Jack’s opinion.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She showed up halfway through Daniel’s wake, carrying a large box, looking puzzled as hell when Harry told her what was going on. Less than ten minutes after her arrival, she had Harry round up Jack and General Hammond in Jack’s bedroom so she could explain what was so special about her latest gift to Harry.
“You may not be aware, Colonel O’Neill, but since your return to active duty, there has been some talk among the magical community of removing Harry from your care,” Professor McGonagall began as sat the box down on the bed. She waved her wand at the door. “While no one knows the exact nature of your work, we do know it often takes you away from Harry and is a high risk to your life.”
Harry grabbed Jack’s hand and looked up at Jack with a panicked expression, and Jack shook his head. “You’re not going anywhere,” he whispered, ruffling Harry’s hair, before turning his fiercest glare on the woman. “Professor, you know I like you loads, but if you don’t get to the point real quick, I’m kicking you out. Now’s not the time.”
“My point, Colonel O’Neill, is you’ve been a positive influence on Harry, and I will not have him taken from your care because you might be reported dead for a short time,” she said, watching Harry and Jack with a fond smile. “One of my former students created a clock that monitors her family’s welfare. It has hands for each family member and words in place of numbers that can tell her any number of things. As of right now, the clock Molly Weasley created for you and Harry only has ‘Home’, ‘Traveling’, ‘Missing’, ‘Mortal Danger’, ‘Visiting’, and ‘Dead’ on it, but it also has your name, Captain Carter’s, Harry’s and Dr. Jackson’s on its hands.”
Professor McGonagall pointed her wand at the box and the sides fell down, revealing a large, old fashioned clock. A clock that had a hand with Daniel’s name on it firmly pointed at the four ‘o clock place, ‘Missing’. “My point is, according to this clock, Dr. Jackson is still alive.”
Jack stared at the clock in disbelief. He could hear General Hammond demanding an explanation on how the clock worked from the Professor—Crap, he hadn’t told General Hammond about magic yet, had he? His team knew because they had all seen Harry’s little accident when Janet poked him one too many times, but no one else—but Jack couldn’t take his eyes off the clock. Daniel was alive. Daniel was alive, and they had left him there.
Aw, shit.
It wasn’t until Harry turned Daniel’s hand to an empty slot and it slowly swung back to ‘Missing’ that Jack snapped out of his daze. “Sir, if there’s a chance…I want to take my team back.”
“Jack, we don’t know how that thing works,” General Hammond said, eyeing the clock the same way Jack eyed Carter’s alien toys: like he had no clue how it worked and was waiting for it to explode any second. “Considering the situation, there might be a chance it’s been thrown for a loop.”
“The clock will continue to monitor a person’s life no matter where they are, General Hammond,” Professor McGonagall said sharply. “Molly Weasley designed it that way. That’s why a strand of hair from the person in question is spelled into the hand. It uses the person’s life codes to monitor him or her.”
“She means DNA, sir,” Harry said softly. He had moved Daniel’s hand and was watching it go back to missing again. He turned to Jack with a hopeful smile. “Can I go get Dr. Janet and T so Professor McGonagall can put them on the clock while you talk General Hammond into letting you get Daniel?”
Despite the situation, Jack had to snicker, just for a moment. The look on Hammond’s face was priceless. “Go for it,” Jack said, jerking his head towards the door, and Harry took off like a bat out of hell. Jack couldn’t blame him; he wanted every member of his team on there too, even Janet who wasn’t technically part of his team. Evil needles and penlights aside, Janet was a damn good friend. She was also a damn good kid-sitter.
“Colonel O’Neill…Jack,” General Hammond said, using the same pacifying voice he had used when he had found Jack knocking out a car window. “I can not let you go back without more proof than a,” he grimaced, “magical clock. If you want to go back, you need to prove he’s still alive. According to your own report, the situation is too dangerous to risk your lives without definite proof.”
“That’s fine, sir. My team is good at doing the impossible,” Jack said quickly.
General Hammond turned to Professor McGonagall. “If this pans out, I would like to speak with Molly Weasley about creating more of these clocks. All of my people have high risk jobs, not just…Colonel O’Neill’s team,” he said, only a slight pause as he remembered the woman was not privy to classified information and came up with a different name for SG-1.
Professor McGonagall frowned, and Jack rolled his eyes. He knew what was coming and on any other day, he’d gladly enjoy watching the Professor and Hammond clash, but right now he just wanted Harry to get back with Teal’c, Janet and hopefully Carter. They needed Carter’s brains to figure this out.
“I will have to speak with my superiors about the cost, but we will pay for them,” General Hammond added when the Professor didn’t respond right away.
“The cost doesn’t concern me, General Hammond, although I’m sure Molly Weasley would appreciate the supplement to her husband’s income. There are laws concerning the magical communities’ separation from the non-magical communities. You know as well as I there are certain groups who would love nothing more than to get their hands on someone like me or Harry…”
At that point, Jack tuned them out. Harry was back, and he had brought Carter with him. Daniel was completely forgiven for trying to turn Harry into a little geek since it meant Harry was smart enough to pick up on Jack’s need to have Carter here. “Don’t destroy the clock, buddy,” Jack said, noticing the way Teal’c tensed up at hearing Harry’s babbled explanation. “I don’t like the fact that we left him behind either, but it’s the only thing we have saying he’s still alive.”
“Indeed,” Teal’c said with a slight nod of his head. With one last intense glare at the clock, he gave in and let Harry tug him and Janet over to the Professor. Jack turned all his attention to Carter. They needed to figure this out and they needed to figure it out now.
“Sir…” Carter said. She looked up from the clock and just stared at him. “We left him there.”
“I know, Carter, but right now we need to find more proof he’s alive so we can bring him home,” Jack said softly, and he squeezed her shoulder. “Can you think of something that would explain why we remember him dying if he’s not dead?”
“I…There are so many possible explanations or theories, I don’t know where to begin,” Carter mumbled. She knelt down in front of the clock and moved Daniel’s hand to a blank number slot just like Harry had. Everyone watched it slowly inch back to ‘Missing’. Carter then moved Jack’s clock hand to the same empty slot and it almost instantly swung back to ‘Home’. “Can anything interfere in the clock’s ability to monitor someone’s life?”
“Molly explained certain wards and spells can affect the clock,” Professor McGonagall said quietly, watching the group for clues as to what had happened, “but nothing else as far as she knows.”
“With our situation distance might be a factor, sir,” Carter said. “I’d like to study any information you have on the spells put on this clock.”
“Carter, anything you do get on it won’t leave this house. The Professor can spell a safe for you to lock it up in,” Jack said before Carter or the Professor could object. “We can’t risk anyone finding out about the wizarding community. Harry’s the most visible and vulnerable one around. They are not taking my kid.”
“I understand, sir, but there might be a way to compensate for what we do. We could get a more accurate reading if we modify it…somehow,” Carter exclaimed as she moved Daniel’s hand again. She breathed a sigh of relief as it moved over ‘Dead’ and settled back on ‘Missing’. Jack was halfway tempted to grab her hand and drag her away, but she stood and began pacing the room, muttering under her breath.
Jack breathed his own little sigh of relief as he listened to her mumbles. Carter was brainstorming on their current problem and not on the clock; it would only be a matter of time before she came up with a way to prove Daniel might still be alive to the General’s satisfaction. It’d be quicker if the Professor wasn’t in the room, but Jack could deal Minerva’s presence for a while longer before he kicked her out or talked her into watching Harry while he was off world.
She had brought proof Daniel was alive and that nagging twitching feeling his memories were off was right. For that, Jack would happily kiss the woman and take the slap for it. Hell, he’d let her spell his television so he could only watch the History Channel from now on if this thing was right.
Jack gave into temptation and moved Daniel’s clock hand to an empty space. The part of him that had been empty since he had walked back through the gate filled a little as the hand moved back to ‘Missing’.
Daniel was alive.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“How did you figure out I wasn’t dead?”
“Oh, Minerva stopped by for a magic lesson, Carter and the docs did their thing, and here we are.”
“I missed it? She came by already? What did she bring this time?”
“She brought the Clock.”
“She also brought Daniel a book on British Magical traditions, sir.”
“Ah, but the Clock was the reason we started searching for proof Daniel was alive.”
“I believe the Clock is the relevant part of her visit, Major Carter.”
“A clock. You used a clock to prove I was alive?”
“Yeah, about that. General Hammond didn’t want to trust the Clock. We had to pack up your apartment before the docs had their brainstorm.”
“You didn’t.”
“You can ask Minerva about the Clock since you’re staying with me tonight. Carter’s already planning on grilling her.”
A pause. “You conned her into watching Harry, didn’t you?”
“She had to go back and get a book on some mind protection technique for him anyway. She and General Hammond figured out the kid knows more than he should.”
Another pause. “How much trouble are we in?”
“If you were military, you’d be this close to being court martialed and scrubbing toilets while waiting for your trial.”
“Ah. You know, Nem’s not so bad…”
“Carter, dial us home. Don’t try running, Daniel. We’re all responsible for this; you’re damn well going to be there for it with us.”
Tags: au, gen, hp, sg1