Here's Chapter 2. I realise this has taken me ages to write, but I hope you enjoy it. I am grateful to all those of you who have read and hope you continue to. Feedback is greatly appreciated.
The Doctor looked on stunned, was there really a grain of truth in that? he thought to himself. "When you say Wizarding World, do you mean there are more than just you three?" the Doctor asked, Hermione nodded and then continued with her explanation, "We are able to cast magical spells with these wands. So if you give me my wand I can show you." He placed her wand into her hand and she waved it and said, "Avis" a flock of birds erupted out of the end of the wand and began to circle her head. "That's amazing." The Doctor breathed, "It's a holographic projection I imagine." Hermione laughed, it was such a typical thing for a Muggle to assume that it was some sort of illusion, like the ones created by the so called "magicians."
Watching this strange man marvel at the birds Ron was still wondering about the word "TARDIS" He was puzzled, the way the man had said it, made Ron think of a vessel. He spoke up his curiosity could no longer be contained, "You mentioned something about being in a Tardis. What in Merlin's name is that?" The Doctor carried on watching the birds but still answered, "Picked up on it have you, and yes I was in the TARDIS, it's my spaceship, well a bit more than that, well a lot-" Hermione piqued up and said "Spaceship? But that's impossible. I mean although people have been travelling in space it's going to be a bit bigger than just that." She pointed at the blue box. A look of reproach passed over the Doctor's face. But Hermione carried on "I mean also where is the fuel and the exhaust." The Doctor's face had a resigned look upon it.
"I guess you want to see some concrete proof then?" He directed his question at the brown haired girl, whose name he had forgotten, as she seemed to be one with the probing questions. "Well then follow me." Harry issued a warning glance towards Hermione but she looked back with a look of contempt that suggested to Harry that Hermione deemed the situation under control. Harry looked over to Ron who shrugged back at him and gave him a confused look. Hermione was the first to stride behind the tall thin man that called himself the Doctor, as he turned his back on them and entered the narrow blue box, leaving the door open behind him. All three of them knew enough about dimensions to know that all four of them could not fit into that tiny box, not even if they squeezed in tightly. But still they followed their curiosity definitely piqued.
Hermione was going to lead the way into the police box before Harry brushed past her and murmured, "Let me go first." with his wand directed at what he assumed was the Doctor's back. Hermione glared at him again, he felt a slight flutter near his stomach, but he still he carried on. Both Ron and Hermione hot on his heels. "Whoa!" "Merlin's beard" "Unbelievable!" their exclamations of shock and surprise made the Doctor grin broadly, he always liked that part of people discovering the fact that the TARDIS was bigger on the inside. Never gets old he thought to the TARDIS, he knew that this thought would be picked up by his trusty ship. He grinned at them, however this grin soon slid off of his face when the brown haired girl, he was beginning to deem the "Smart" one of the trio, started to say, "Well it's nothing that amazing really, I mean we've all seen an Expansion charm at work, the tents that we used for the World Cup or the bag," With that she pulled out a small beaded bag out of her coat pocket and shook it, the doctor perceived a rumble that seemed to conjure the image of cargo hold in his mind. "Crap I had finally sorted the books into order. So really, I don't know what we're exclaiming about, this is obviously some sort of crackpot fool that is trying to have a laugh with us." Utter amazement crossed the Doctor's face before a look of anger replaced it, he put on his most patronising voice, "Well if you must know, Miss Know-it-all-" Ron sniggered "this is a type 40 TARDIS, as I've already told you this means Time and Relative Dimension In Space. With her I can travel through the whole of time and space. The giant space you see isn't some "Expansion hex" but the TARDIS is in another dimension. And you want to know what fuel I use, well if I could direct your attention to this thing here." They all turned round to the middle console, for lack of a better word for it, "Well I travel using energy from the Time Vortex. Oh yes!" His face had become twisted into a grimace between excitement and anger that Hermione found both terrifying and fascinating. "You still don't believe me, well watch this." With, what to Hermione seemed like, a final blow he twisted a lever and the TARDIS lurched into movement, the three looked around in bewilderment as they were flung to the floor.
"So where will it be? Tudor times, or better yet Medieval times, nothing quite like a witch hunt to cheer you up." He said it in a friendly tone that had a hint of spite. Hermione cottoned on quite quickly. "Well if you must know we recently did a unit of work on Witch Hunts in History of Magic." Harry looked at her confused, "We did?" he asked. Hermione sighed and muttered darkly, "Of course we did, you just slept through it and then copied my essay when I wasn't looking." Harry grinned, that sounded very like him. "As I was saying, it'll be good to experience it first hand. If you are REALLY taking us to the Middle Ages." Her voice was filled with a spiteful scorn. The Doctor smiled inwardly but kept a serene face, and said matter-of-factly, "Well I can tell you that the TARDIS has just landed in London, England in 1207. When you step out these doors you'll be able to tell that you are no longer in Scotland nor in your own time. So off you go." He gestured to the door. This time it was Ron who went ahead as he wanted to believe this charismatic but disturbing man. As he opened the doors the first thing that he noticed was the fact that the light hadn't changed, so the same old sun, but the next thing he noticed was the smell. His face screwed up in disgust as he noticed the lingering stenches of festering excrement and humans, animalistic and unfiltered. "Bloody hell it reeks." He said holding up his sleeve to cover up his nose. The Doctor said from within the Tardis, "That's the smell of the Middle Ages, charming isn't it, see thing was they didn't have any sewage at that, so you may want to watch out beneath windows. As they'll just chuck out any human waste into the street."
Hermione was right behind Ron and could see the hustle and bustle of what seemed to be Market Day in London. She noticed the smell but was more practised than Ron in hiding her disgust as she wrinkled her face once in disgust and then smoothed it out again. A thought occurred to her, one that she voiced, "We're going to be noticed if we walk around like this, I mean we'll really be arrested for Witchcraft then." The Doctor smile and said, "A valid point Miss-" "Granger" "-Right, Miss Granger, well the Tardis will be able to sort you out with outfits. I'm sure you would like to keep your current clothes so a change might be a good idea. Follow me." He led them down a long narrow staircase that they hadn't noticed before. This room was filled with rows and rows of brightly coloured garments, some seemed to require a third arm or leg to wear them, others seemed to be made of materials not known on Earth. "Here it is." The Doctor muttered, he had led them to one large wall were all the clothes that were worn at some time on Earth were held. "The start with Ancient Egypt at that end," he pointed to the far side of the wall, "and works itself up from there to about several thousand years into your future." Generally Hermione was not someone who made a fuss of what she was wearing, but even she could not suppress the excitement of playing dress up. She cracked a grin and admired the colours and the different materials. She could have happily stayed in that room to try on all sorts of garments and just revel in the feel of diving into eras. But she was desperate to find out whether what they had seen out the TARDIS door was really the Middle Ages. Hermione knew what sort of clothes she would be looking for; she had decided that she would also try on the traditional underwear, to make it seem more realistic.
She walked along the row that the Doctor had indicated, she didn't even need to calculate the amount of years between the Egyptians and the Middle Ages, but she was so familiar how the clothes should like that she was able to select the correct era automatically. First all of all she decided to help Harry and Ron as she knew that they would have a few problems selecting the correct outfit. For Harry she found the customary breeches and shirt that functioned and were seen as underwear, "This is the traditional underwear, and you're going to have to wear it, you know just in case." She blushed furiously as she said it and decided to carry on rummaging around for more clothes. She then pulled out a doublet that was embroidered and then a pair of woollen hose. Harry looked at her back and said "You have got to be kidding me." She shook her head and said, "That's what they wore." She then handed him a tunic that was to go over the doublet that was also embroidered heavily, this time with gold thread. Hermione knew that this may aid their trip if people thought that they were rich. Lastly she pulled out a green cloak and gave it to Harry. "I guess you're going to have to put your wand up your sleeve as it doesn't have pockets." Harry left her with an angry expression, mumbling under his breath something about "absolutely ridiculous." Hermione chuckled and turned to Ron, "Now to outfit you." She managed to find another pair of breeches and a shirt. however she was only able to find minstrels clothes. "I don't know Hermione, I mean it looks a little silly." Ron said looking at the brightly coloured clothes he was supposed to wear. Hermione frowned and said, "Well these are the only things that'll fit you, so it's worth giving it a shot. Now go get changed."
A little while later, after they had all gotten changed, they met back at the console room. Hermione had now piled her brown hair onto her head and a gold circlet lay delicately on her forehead. She had decided to leave her hair uncovered as she was unmarried. She had chosen a pale blue chemise and over it a dark blue dress, setting off her traditional English Rose complexion. This dress had narrow sleeves to the elbow where they flared dramatically and the skirt was subtly flared too. At her waist she had tied a belt on which the small beaded bag hung, it looked so similar to the pouches that the ladies of the medieval times would have carried, that she knew it wouldn't cause a problem. An intake of breath made her look at Harry, he was looking at in her in an incredulous way. His lips seemed to mouth the word "Wow" but she couldn't be sure. She looked to the Doctor to see how he had dressed himself. She noticed that he hadn't changed. "I thought we were all going to get changed, as to not draw attention to ourselves." The Doctor grinned and said, "Nah, my handsome face is unforgettable, won't cause a scene at all. Well unless we've landed in Elizabethan times. In which I case I suggest staying away from all old Bessie, Virgin Queen she is not I tell you." He was rambling again, but Hermione couldn't bring herself to stop him, as there was a certain boyish glee in his ancient eyes. "Well let's go I guess. And explore, although that may get cut short, trouble usually finds me." The Doctor added. Harry laughed coldly, "What evil set out to destroy you through any means possible?" He said almost bitterly. He had won the war, but at a huge cost. The Doctor still had his hands in his pockets and said, "That's usually it, well they're usually trying to destroy the Earth and enslave Humankind but I'm the thing that get's in the way." Now Harry laughed in earnest, "Welcome to the world of Harry Potter, not a day went past when someone wasn't set on my destruction, only because little old me, as a baby made someone's spell backfire on them."
The Doctor grinned at him, and said "Well at least we have something in common." Hermione looked on darkly at this exchange, not that she didn't encourage people to talk about horrific pasts, as it helps one to get over it, but she didn't like the way in which the two were making the remarks; in such a bitter and yet offhand way. Something in the pit of her stomach dropped, and she knew it wasn't something positive. She had enough of being confined to the box and so she pushed the three men out of the door and said, "Come on we have the Middle Ages to explore." Harry laughed at her whiny tone of voice.
Suddenly they were all outside, the Doctor shut the doors behind them and then clicked his fingers, the TARDIS disappeared, a look of panic went through the trio, and the Doctor said "I'm just putting it a second out of sync, that way it stays hidden." They weren't entirely sure what that meant, but they knew that it would be a good thing to hide something so precious.
It was now that the scene before them actually hit them. The smell was the first, but underneath the undulating stench of human remains there was the barely tangible hint of frying meats, some herbs and the tangy smell of cut grass. One of Hermione's favourite scents and so she decided to concentrate on that smell. The Doctor grabbed four apples from a nearby stand, and as the aged man who tended the stall started to protest he waved the psychic paper at him. The poor old man almost tripped over himself whilst trying to apologise with a "Begging your pardon m'lord. Didn't knowI was with nobili'y"
Harry watched this display uneasily, it reminded him too much of someone being imperiused. So he waited till the man had turned his back to them and then he grabbed the Doctor's arm and hissed at him. "You have no right to take someone's free will." The Doctor, despite his best inner attempts to tell himself otherwise, was frightened of the young man who was gripping his arm painfully. He was also scared of the blazing look of hatred and rage he saw in the man's eyes. The green seemed to flash dangerously. The Doctor almost swallowed, but reminded himself that he was in control. "Now you can check if you want, but I didn't do anything to him, I just showed him this-" he held out what to the trio looked like a blank piece of paper in a brown wallet, "It's psychic paper, it'll show people what you want them to see. At the moment it says that young miss is a Baroness and that you-" he gestured at Harry "-are her betrothed, the ginge is your entertainment and I'm your advisor." The Doctor chose to ignore the angry look that Ron was giving him. He assumed, correctly, that it was due to being the jester. "Isn't it brilliant, I love giving people advice, seeing as I am that much more cleverer." Hermione scoffed, and he grinned mischievously "Oh go on then, test me." The slightly patronising tone infuriated Hermione but she decided to let the taunt go, at least for a while, the words of Trelawney echoed through her mind, and Hermione was not ready to find out if they were true or not. "So I'm a baroness then?" She asked instead.
The Doctor showed her the psychic paper, "See for yourself." Hermione wasn't able to see anything so she said this to him. "Now that's interesting, see it works because you humans have a latent psychic ability." Hermione was listening intently to the Doctor, but both Ron and Harry had rolled their eyes and were now scanning the market. Every stall was covered in various food stuffs, and loosely woven cloths. They both realised that they stood out with their richly died clothing. The shouts of the different vendors, that were trying to attract more customers, mingled with the din of various animals. "What I don't understand how you can't see it. I mean even I can't, and my mind is a bit different to a human's." The Doctor was saying to Hermione. She mulled this over for a while before answering, "Well maybe the magic is another way the latent psychic ability has manifested itself. Or the magic sort of negates the effects of this ability, apart from true Seers." The Doctor looked thoroughly impressed; this was something he had ever considered before. "You have true Seers in your world. I mean I remember when I was with Donna-" again a sad, regretful look passed his features "-and we were in Pompeii. All of the Seers and Augurs had true sight. Everything they saw was true. Which never normally happens." Hermione was about to ask a question about Pompeii, when she noticed a strange man looking at them suspiciously. The man was hunched over, an age was not discernable. But Hermione was able to tell that despite his posture he had the lithe grace of a big cat. The hunched posture then made sense to Hermione, as she remembered all the times that she had been to the zoo with her parents, this was a cat ready to spring. "Doctor I don't mean to interrupt you, but there is someone watching us. And I think more caution could possibly be exercised. After all we are in an age famed for its hunts." Comprehension dawned on the Doctor's face as he listened to her.
"Well then I suggest we go somewhere where we can't be found. Now your clothes suggest nobility, so pick a house that looks fancy. And walk regally. You're a Baroness." He said as he had already began to motion towards one of the impressive buildings that lined the market. As they moved together in their little group the other man moved too, if Hermione had still had had her eye on him she would have seen the prowling way the man walked, likening him even further to one of the great cats. He kept the four carefully in his vision as they disappeared into a house. The man moved towards the entrance they had just used but not entering it himself. As he stopped short when a smell met his nostrils. The corners of his mouth turned up as he whispered, "My, my Doctor, who's a naughty boy associating with Wizarding folk."
