Power of Words
Power of Words
By: ann no aku
Plot: The Doctor goes back in time to 1994 to see Rose one final time, still haunted by memories of her. When he arrives, he realizes that someone has taken books and brought them to life (in particular, the Harry Potter books). The Doctor decides to go straight to the source at Hogwarts, infiltrating to figure out what has happened. On his way, he bumps into Dumbledore, whom seems aware that he is a book character. Dumbledore urges the Doctor to help set the world right, all while still playing a key role in the events that occur. Under Dumbledore's guidance and suggestion, the Doctor becomes the new DADA professor at Hogwarts, looking not quite like himself all the time.
Author's Notes: This story takes place during Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (1994) and after the Doctor Who Christmas Special "Voyage of the Damned".
Chapter One
Last Chance
He lost Rose to a parallel world because of the Daleks and Cybermen, he lost Donna Noble to . ..well . .he didn't know what, exactly, he lost Martha to her family, and he lost Astrid Perth to Max Capricorn. How many more people would he meet only to die or fear him? The Doctor couldn't stand the loneliness, the constant reminder that he really was the last of his kind. He winced as he recalled the Master, and how he had died in his arms.
Against his own better judgment, the Doctor set the controls to 1994, sometime in the middle of summer. "Oh, I am going to regret this," he mumbled to himself. "Still, if Jack Harkness could do it, why can't I?" Looking away, he banged his large mallet on a button. As if the TARDIS was warning him, it spun through the air, knocking him off his feet and headlong into the grated metal floor.
What felt like hours later, the Doctor awoke, surprised to find warm blood trickling down the side of his face. "You know, I don't hurt you!" he yelled at his TARDIS, instantly thinking of how hard he had hit his ship with the mallet. "Okay, okay, fine. So I was a little over eager. You didn't have to make me bleed!" Grabbing his coat and stuffing his sonic screwdriver in his inner pocket, he opened the door and wished he had someone to share the feeling with. "New time, new world. Never changes."
With a smile plastered on his face, he made his way down the street Rose's apartment was on, eager to see her as a child. I'm far enough in her past so that she won't remember me when she sees me in the future. Just a glimpse, I can't risk having the Reapers show up. He walked past children running and screaming outside, playing games with each other. "I just love England like this, all perfect and brilliant! Not an alien in sight! Well, except for me, but well-!" He followed closely behind a family, leading the way to the apartment complex.
"Mummy, it isn't fair! Why can't I go to Hogwarts, too? Where's my letter?"
"What?" he said to himself, wondering if he had heard correctly. "I must've hit my head harder than I thought."
"Quiet! We do not talk about these things in public!" the mother scolded her young daughter.
"Yeah, if you talk about it, I'm allowed to turn you into a toad!" a tall boy said, smugly smirking.
"And you, Dean, keep that to yourself! You're scaring your cousin!"
"What?" the Doctor repeated, staring in shock at the family.
"But Mummy, I want to go! I want to meet Harry Potter! I want to go to the Quidditch World Cup-"
"Angela, I said stop it! Now we are going to have lunch with Mrs. Smith at Royal Hope Hospital, you can play with Mickey and his friend Rose. You're the same age, you and Rose are."
"What?" he said again, momentarily questioning his sanity.
"I don't like Mrs. Smith, she's old!" Angela whined, tugging on her mother's hand to pull her back.
"I bet she's a witch, too. Poor Mickey didn't get his letter, either," Dean stated, raising his fingers and waving them threateningly at Angela.
"Dean Thomas! Aren't you a little old to be scaring eight year olds? Mrs. Smith is injured, and you're poking fun at her!" his aunt chided, pausing only to smack him on the back of his head.
"Ow!"
"WHAT?! This can't be happening; this just cannot be! Harry Potter is a fictional character!"
At the mention of Harry's name and the Doctor's shouts, the family turned around to face him.
"Hello there," the aunt greeted. "Are you alright? You're bleeding."
"No, yes. I mean, I'm fine, but something's not right." He struggled for words, clutching his head between his hands.
"Come with us. I am sure Jackie can make you a cup of tea and clean up your wound. I'm Cassandra Thomas, my daughter Angela, and her cousin Dean. We're just popping over to Jackie's for a bit; she's taking care of Mrs. Smith. She had a nasty fall the other day down the stairs. We're all going to go see her at the hospital together." She advanced toward him, a hand outstretched to help the Doctor.
"I've had Jackie's tea before, that's not what I need," he mumbled incoherently. "No! Don't touch me! You-you can't touch me."
"He's a nutter!" Dean exclaimed, laughing.
"You-you . . .you cannot be. This can't be real."
"What are you talking about? Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?" Cassandra inquired, her hand still reaching out for him.
"I am a doctor!" he hissed through his teeth, his fingers still stuck in his hair. "Just, please, don't touch me." They're not real, he told himself. Who knows what will happen if I touch one of them.
"Dean, go fetch Ms. Tyler," his aunt commanded. "It's okay; I am here to help you. What's your name? What happened to you? Why are you bleeding?"
"Oi, what are you doing down there for, Cassie?" a voice called from over the balcony. "Come on up!"
"I know that voice," he whispered to himself fearfully.
"Yes, that's Jackie Tyler. Do you know her?" Cassandra turned around to face Jackie. "I have an injured man here! Do you think he could nip in for a minute for a cup of tea and to get cleaned up? I think he may have a concussion!"
With the word "man" uttered, Jackie's face broke into a large grin. "Send him up; I have just the cure for an injured man!"
"Oh, no. No no no no no no no no no no!"
"Dean, I thought I told you to get Jackie!" Cassandra shouted at her nephew, using the opportunity to smack him upside the head again.
"Ouch! Merlin's beard, Aunt Cassie, she's right there! She's heard the whole thing!" He rubbed his short hair, glaring at his aunt, his eyes stinging from embarrassment.
"And stop that nonsense! What did I tell you about that?" She hit him repeatedly with her purse. "Do you want everyone thinking you're a nutter?"
"Er, could you stop that, please?" the Doctor requested, surprised to see them staring at him with confused looks on their faces. Dean was nursing his injuries quietly. "I just really don't like seeing people get hurt."
"He's not really hurt, are you, Dean?" Cassandra argued, looking concerned. "Besides, he's just being a silly boy. Come on, then. Come meet Jackie; she can get you all better. She's single, you know."
"Now that's enough!" the Doctor bellowed, completely disgusted by the thought of being set up with Jackie Tyler. "I'm leaving!"
"But you're hurt!"
"I don't care! Give Mrs. Smith my condolences." He turned to walk away, but stopped short. "Tell her," he began hesitantly, "tell her to be careful going down the stairs in the future."
"I'm sure she will. Mrs. Smith is going to have Mickey fix it."
"Right." Without another look back, and feeling vaguely unsatisfied from having not seen Rose and destroying his last chance, the Doctor re-entered his TARDIS to try and solve the mystery of why Harry Potter book characters were existing in the real world.