I promised myself that with every major writing milestone I'd have some fanfiction fun as a reward, so this is to celebrate the release of my novel, "The Notorious Ian Grant".
It's also, of course, a nice way to mark the first TV appearance of the 12th Doctor--even though what I'm giving you is the 10th, for reasons that will become obvious.
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The fun part is looking, and while looking Luna
Lovegood discovers a strange blue box in Hogwarts - and an even stranger man
inside, with a simple request: "take me to your leader".
THE HEADMASTER'S DOCTOR
Luna Lovegood wandered through the
halls of Hogwarts, looking.
She didn’t know what she was looking
for, but she always found something. Looking was the fun part.
Sure enough, she found a new something
in a dead end corridor, empty except for tall windows and a stone Gargoyle: a
tall blue wooden box in the shadows, perhaps big enough for a few people to
stuff themselves into, with the words “Police public call Box” along the top.
She paused, her head tilting as she studied it.
“Hello.” It was clearly alive, so it
was only polite to greet it.
The box’s door swung open, and Barty
Crouch Junior stepped out.
“Oh.” Luna reached for her wand,
then paused when the man smiled. “You look like someone who’s … no longer
there.”
“Well, I can’t be that person then,
can I? I’m here!”
That made sense. Plus, this man
looked remarkably more sane, and seemed older, and Luna was fairly certain
Crouch Junior could not have pulled off such a dashing look in a pinstripe soup
and brown duster. “Are you a professor?”
“No, I’m a Doctor. I’m looking for a
professor, though: a man by the name of Dumbledore.” The Doctor closed the
box’s door and locked it behind him.
“Come along, then. My name is Luna.”
If this man was not a student or a teacher, the Headmaster was exactly who
should be alerted. But she paused when they reached the gargoyle. “I’m afraid I
don’t know the password.”
“Really?” The Doctor took a wand
from his pocket—a very unusual looking wand that made a strange whirring sound
when he waved it toward the gargoyle. Luna instantly wanted one of her own.
“Ah.”
The gargoyle leapt aside.
“Most wands don’t do that,” Luna
told him.
The Doctor glanced at his wand, then
tucked it into his jacket pocket. “It’s sonic.”
“Of course. That explains the
sound.” Luna knew what the word sonic meant, and assumed it must be a kind of
magic, or at least not the kind of technology the Muggles used.
Together they climbed the circular
staircase, and The Doctor didn’t seem the bit perturbed about it moving as they
went. They paused at the oaken double doors. Instead of using his wand The
Doctor gave three quick knocks, and the doors swung open.
Headmaster Dumbledore stood before
them, and exchanged a hearty handshake with The Doctor. “Welcome Doctor,
welcome! Come, sit. Miss Lovegood, by all means, do come in also.”
Was Dumbledore sick? He didn’t seem
sick … maybe The Doctor wasn’t that kind of doctor. Luna followed the two men
in and perched on an armchair, looking around curiously as they exchanged
pleasantries and sat on either side of the desk. The books that lined part of
the circular room called to her, but she silently told them she couldn’t read
right now.
“You look well, Albus.”
“As do you, Doctor, younger than ever.
I was paid a visit by your granddaughter earlier this year—she says hello.”
Granddaughter? Luna studied The Doctor.
Dumbledore pushed a glass bowl of candy
toward the other man. “Please, help yourself.”
“Hm …” The Doctor rubbed his chin.
“I’ve rather lost my appetite for those, after that dust flavored bean—I was
thirsty for days. But I brought something I believe you’ll find just as tasty,
and less of a risk.” He reached into a pocket, and produced a small bag. “Jelly
Baby?”
“Why, thank you.” The Headmaster
took a handful, then The Doctor offered the rest to Luna. “You can take the
bag, Luna. I recently found a whole cabinet full of these, so there’s plenty to
go around—and no surprises, like those Every Flavor Beans.”
Luna rather liked surprises,
although she’d found the liver flavored Bean less than savory.
Dumbledore leaned forward, his smile
fading into a grave expression. “I must apologize once again for that
unfortunate unpleasantness at the Ministry, Doctor. I realize it could have
been ages or minutes ago for you …”
“It wasn’t at all your fault—“
“Perhaps, but I was blind to what
was happening, and you’re the one who suffered for it. Barty Crouch Junior was
a youth when that spell diffused you into his body, so no one noticed as he
grew to resemble you—and sadly, I knew you only by another face. If I had not
managed to remove you at the moment of the dementor attack, you may have been
trapped even longer …”
“To me it was only a few hours.” The
Doctor’s voice was gentle. “Just the same, I’d rather not have it happen again.
Can I assume a Time-Turner is no longer in the hands of Barty Crouch?”
Luna’s attention had been wandering
to the arched ceiling, but now it snapped back onto the other occupants.
Time-Turner?
“Barty Crouch has, I’m afraid,
passed away.”
“Oh—I’m so sorry.” And The Doctor
did look sorry, although Luna surmised something Crouch did had caused the
strange man many problems.
“Perhaps it’s for the best.”
Dumbledore leaned back, looking suddenly much older. “The punishment for trying
to change his son’s past would have been very severe indeed, had Barty
survived. And of course he would have had to deal with the fact that his
disruption, in the end, made no difference at all—and even caused his son’s
mental imbalance.”
“Having two minds trapped in one
body will do that. But they can’t be faulted for trapping me—Crouch didn’t even
know I’d been drawn into the spell.” After a moment The Doctor waved his hand,
as if putting it all behind him. “And the Time-Turners? I tried to convince the
Master that humans were not yet capable of handling a device like that, but he
does like sewing chaos.”
“All destroyed in a conflict at the
Ministry of Magic. All but this one.” Dumbledore pulled a necklace from a desk
drawer, and handed it to The Doctor.
The visitor studied it as it dangled
from his hand. “I suppose he expected the human race would destroy themselves
with these. And they might have, too, if your people hadn’t tracked them all
down.”
“What will you do with it?”
The Doctor shrugged. “The Master
stole them from our home planet, but I can’t take it back there. I believe I’ll
just hold onto it, for a while.”
“Perhaps you’ll find someone else
trustworthy who can make use of it.” Dumbledore rose. “And now, Doctor, I fear
I must take my leave of you. These are perilous times, and I find myself pulled
in every direction.”
“Of course.”
“Miss Lovegood, will you show The
Doctor back to where you found him? And do try not to be late for your next
class.”
“Yes, Headmaster.” What an odd
comment—Luna didn’t have another class until after lunch. But she obediently
rose and led The Doctor through the door and down the stairs, where the
gargoyle again stepped aside for them.
“How long have you known Professor
Dumbledore?” Luna asked, as they headed back toward the box.
“Oh … a hundred years, give or take.
He journeyed with me once, for a short time, after a friend of his passed
away.”
“That sounds like fun. I suppose
everything is a journey, but some are more interesting than others. ” They
paused by the box, and Luna gazed up at it. “It’s bigger on the inside, isn’t
it?”
Turning, The Doctor examined her
more closely. Then he smiled. “You like to travel? As it happens, I travel a
lot.” He opened the door, and she gazed in with wide eyes and an open mouth. It
was, indeed, bigger on the inside.
“But I need to be back by my next
class,” she breathed.
“Oh—didn’t I mention it’s a time
machine?”
Luna grinned. “Of course it is.”
“Fantastic!” The Doctor led the way
in. But, just as Luna was about to follow, she heard a cough behind her.
She turned to see a tall man in a
flowing black robe. He gazed at her, mouth in that perpetual frown, face
partially hidden by long strands of dark hair. “Miss Lovegood.” He held his
hand out. The Time-Turner dangled from his fingers. “You will take this with
you.”
“Oh. Where did you get that,
Professor?”
“From you.”
The Doctor stuck his head back
through the door. “Hello, Severus!”
If anything, Snape’s frown deepened
even more. “Doctor. Miss Lovegood, you are going to be a few hours late.” The
Doctor looked offended, but chose not to speak.
“Thank you very much.”
“Now that you know you will be late
… I expect you will not … be … late.”
Snape spun on his heels and stalked toward Dumbledore’s office.
“Thank you very much, Professor!” Luna
walked into the box, and let the door shut behind her.
This would be interesting.
