"Are you sure this is a good idea, Colonel?"

Jack nodded.

"It should be fine, sir."

"You think."

"I'm pretty sure."

Hammond sighed.

"That doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence."

"Relax, General Hammond," Daniel said. "We'll only be gone for the day – and there are going to be a lot of people there to make sure nothing happens."

"All wizards?"

Sam nodded.

"Yes."

"They'll even come looking for Carter if she gets lost again," Jack added, tossing a grin towards his second in command, who flushed immediately.

"I didn't get lost."

"You didn't show up at Jack house," Daniel said.

"I-"

"She showed up at Jack's Place, though," O'Neill said, his brown eyes filled with amusement. "Lucky guys."

Daniel smiled, too, because he was so used to being the one everyone looked for and it was fun to not be for once.

"You never did tell us what they said in that bar when you came tumbling out of their fireplace…"

Sam sighed – again. She knew she wasn't going to hear the end of this – ever. The fact that she – and only she – had said the destination wrong when using the floo powder to get back to Jack's house, ending up in the middle of a very smoky pub in a town called Corby. A town that was nowhere near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Or, for that matter, even in the United States.

"It was a pub, not a bar."

Jack snorted, and Daniel had to hide his own snicker behind a cough when Sam gave him a sharp glance.

Even Hammond couldn't help but smile, but he turned his attention back to the topic at hand.

"So Dumbledore's going to be there?"

Jack nodded.

"Apparently, he's there every time, and there will be several others. We'll be fine."

Hammond shrugged. It was obvious that SG-1 wanted to go – even Jack, who was the biggest holdout when it came to this kind of thing. If they weren't worried about their safety, then he wouldn't worry, either. Besides, they'd proven they could handle whatever the wizard world threw at them – so far. And they were due a little vacation time.

"Very well. Just don't be gone long."

"Yes, sir."

Hammond watched as they filed out of his office, and then shook his head. Some things were just too crazy, and this was definitely one of them. And that was saying something; given what odd things he'd seen in the last several years.

OOOOOOOO

Sirius was the first to notice them pull into Jack's driveway. He nudged the others, and stepped off the porch where they'd been waiting, watching as O'Neill stopped the truck and SG-1 got out.

"Well, they certainly stick out, don't they?" Sam asked, smiling as she came around the other side of the truck.

"Don't they just?" Daniel agreed, smiling a greeting to Sirius as he shut the door.

The group consisted of Sirius, Lupin, Arthur Weasley, and Dumbledore himself. Dumbledore was dressed in brilliant purple robes (complete with pointed hat), Sirius was dressed in the clothing he'd borrowed to go out to eat with a couple of months before, Lupin was dressed in brown robes (without a hat) and Arthur was dressed in regular clothing, but it was such a hodgepodge of clothing that it definitely didn't look normal in Jack's moderately conservative neighborhood.

"At least they didn't bring centaurs and thestrals," Daniel said, sounding just wistful enough that Jack knew he wished that they had.

"Sam! How are you?"

Sirius took Carter's hand with a smile of greeting, and she returned the smile.

"Good, Sirius. Thanks."

"Jack?"

"I'm fine, too."

There were other greetings, as well, but Dumbledore cut them short before they could really get started. He ushered them all inside Jack's house – out of the view of anyone else – and asked for their attention. Which he received immediately.

"We don't have a lot of time, I'm afraid," he said, coming over to stand by Teal'c. "We cannot apparate directly into the school as you know, and I absolutely must be there in time. Which means we have to walk from the village."

They'd decided on apparating, because it was quickest, and safest, really – and not because Carter had taken a wrong turn the last time they'd used floo powder, Dumbledore assured them.

They each partnered up with a Muggle, and no one was really surprised when Sirius stayed beside Sam.

"Hold tight, now," he reminded her, smiling when she took his arm.

Jack hid an amused smile – and a little stab of jealousy that he shoved down immediately – and took hold of Arthur Weasley's arm. Dumbledore waited until he was certain they were all ready, and then he nodded, and he and Teal'c vanished. Immediately, the rest of them vanished as well.

OOOOOOOOO

The school was lit up brightly, with the halls and corridors gleaming with a fresh cleaning.

"I must leave you," Dumbledore told them as they entered the main doors, and they could all hear the low murmur of a large number of people behind the doors that led to the great hall. "You can watch from an alcove over there…" he motioned towards a much smaller door to their right.

He left, and the others headed for the door he'd pointed to. As they entered, they could all see that the room was filled with students, ranging from very small to nearly adult, and all dressed in black robes and hats, and seated at four long tables.

"It's just like in the books," Sam whispered, even though there was no way the kids would be able to hear her.

"Indeed," Teal'c said, nodding his agreement as they watched another group of youngsters enter the room behind a witch that Jack realized was Minerva.

"So let me get this straight…" he said, craning his head to see if there were any kids in that group that he knew. Of course, he knew a grand total of three of the kids that went to the school – and of them only knew Harry well enough to pick him out of a crowd – so he wasn't surprised that he didn't know any. "They put the talking hat on their head and it separates them into the houses…?"

Sirius nodded.

"It's been doing it for hundreds of years."

"And no one's gotten cooties?"

Sam giggled.

"What's a cootie?" Arthur asked, curiously.

"Never mind," Daniel said. He was looking at the crowds of kids at the tables, and pointed. "There's Harry."

"The red-haired boys sitting near him are my sons; Ron, Fred and George," Arthur told them, pointing as well. "And the girl beside Hermoine Granger there is my daughter, Ginny."

"All your kids go here?"

"They have, yes."

"That's Draco Malfoy," Sam whispered, looking around as well and pointing to another table. She'd never seen him, of course, but he definitely matched the description in the book. Right down to the two bulky boys that were flanking him at the table he was sitting at.

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Jack asked.

"You met his father last year," Daniel answered. "Lucious Malfoy."

Jack frowned.

"Who?"

"The guy who kidnapped us the first time," Sam clarified.

"The guy with the fancy wand?"

"Yes."

"The wand you snapped," Daniel added.

Sirius smiled.

"I heard about that. It was a bold move, Jack."

"One that earned you a dangerous enemy, though," Lupin said, seriously.

Jack shrugged.

"I already have dangerous enemies. One more won't matter."

"Besides, he's in Azkaban, right?" Sam asked.

"For now," Sirius said, darkly. "You never know what will happen, though…"

"Well, if it happens, it happens," Jack told him. "I have enough to worry about without worrying about stick boy. What happens next here?"

He was obviously changing the subject, and just as obviously unconcerned about Malfoy.

"They eat."

"But you can't join in," Arthur said, apologetically.

Sam nodded. They'd already been warned that some of the children at the school had parents and other relatives with connections to Voldemort, and Dumbledore didn't want to draw attention to them. Or to Harry or the other Gryffindors they would have joined for dinner.

"I've seen what I wanted to see," she said, her eyes fixed on a child who was taking the hat off and practically running over to one of the tables. "It's very interesting."

"You should see how interesting it is when the hat's actually on your head talking to you," Jack told her, with just a hint of sarcasm.

She smiled.

"We'd better get going," Jack said.

He had only come because he wanted to make sure that nothing happened to the rest of his team while they were visiting the school during its sorting ceremony, and he was ready to go home.

"One more visit, first," Sirius said, looking over his shoulder towards the door. A moment later it opened, and Harry walked through, looking happy and hearty – and grinning brightly when he saw SG-1.

"Hi, Jack."

"Hey, Harry. How's it going?"

"Great."

Harry greeted the others, blushed at Sam, and then tuned back to Jack.

"Are you staying for the feast?"

"We can't. Don't want to draw attention from Voldemort's minions."

"Oh."

He looked a bit disappointed at that, but Jack reached out and put his hand on the boy's shoulder, feeling a surge of protectiveness go through him as he did so.

"Don't worry, boy. You'll see us again."

"Without being chased by Voldemort?"

Jack smiled.

"We'll see."

He couldn't make any promises, of course, and he had a feeling that despite the fact that he had never heard of these people – or their enemies – he was now unequivocally a part of their world. As weird as it was. After all, if the others failed, Harry would need someone to take care of him, and even though Jack couldn't see how anyone as powerful as Dumbledore was supposed to be could fail with all the back up he had, you never knew. Right?

"We'll see you soon, Harry," Sam said, smiling. "Maybe we can all spend Christmas together…"

Sirius smiled – and his smile was as much for Sam as anything.

"That would be great."

The End!

So! That's the end of this one! I know there's more to tell, but that's another story, which has nothing to do (well not a lot to do) with prophecy, so it'll be another story. What did you think? Too long? Too short? Boring? Exciting? At least somewhat interesting?