Sorry I left the last chapter on a cliffhanger. But first I would like to thank Dobby's Socks for being my beta-reader for this story. With all that said, on with the chapter!
"Oh no. Harry. Harry! Look, I know you're probably confused and scared but I can help, but only if you let me! Harry!" The Doctor dashed after him in pursuit and was so swift he was able to block the doorway before Harry could even reach it. He couldn't think of anything to say and blurted out,
"I don't believe you."
"What? Of course you do, otherwise why would you be making a run for the door?"
"I've got a trial to go to. I'm already late," Harry grumbled.
"If I were you I'd probably be more worried about the evil being possessing me," the Doctor remarked.
"Why do you care so much about me? I don't even know you!" Harry snapped at him.
"Because I help people, as often as I can," the Doctor voiced.
"Well how can you help me then? What do you think you can do to fix it?" Harry begged.
"I don't have a long term solution, but I think I can weaken Voldemort's consciousness for only a temporary amount of time. And then you should go to the highest authority, someone powerful with extensive magical knowledge, someone that you trust and seek help from them," the Doctor suggested. Donna approached Harry slowly.
"Harry, I don't entirely understand what's going on, but if the Doctor says he can help you, he can. Please, trust me," Donna persuaded. Mr. Weasley walked over to the Doctor and tried to whisper to him but Harry overheard.
"You're saying that You-Know-Who is inside of Harry's head?"
"Yes," the Doctor responded.
"Then get him out of there," Mr. Weasley ordered.
"I'll do whatever I can. Now Harry I'm going to go inside your mind again. This time it might hurt a bit since Voldemort has attached onto your soul."
"You said what you're going to do was temporary. How long will it last?" Harry asked. The Doctor's face fell at this question.
"At maximum I would say three days. That's why you need somebody else that can help. Maybe if I had more time I would be able to find a better solution, but even then there aren't that many books on the matter of horcruxes, that's just another word for the spilt up pieces of the soul. Just make sure you're prepared for this Harry." With that the Doctor placed his fingers on Harry's temples and Harry felt his presence in his mind. Then something started shrieking and wailing in his head, and Harry could only guess that it was Voldemort. It was so painstakingly loud it was as though his eardrums would burst. In just an instant, the noise died down until there was only silence. Harry opened his eyes and found the Doctor standing before him.
"Harry, how do you feel?" the Doctor inquired.
"Actually, I feel great. I mean I'm a little bit dizzy, but other than that I feel better than I have in weeks," Harry answered.
Mr. Weasley smiled and whispered into the Doctor's ear, "Thank you." The Doctor clapped his hands together and spun around, obviously satisfied with his work.
"Alright, Harry you mentioned before that you have a trial to go to so I suggest you best be off now." Harry checked his watch and was alarmed at the time shown.
"Mr. Weasley, we'll be late if we don't go now," Harry urged. Mr. Weasley agreed,
"Quite right Harry, but we still haven't figured out the map." The Doctor picked up the map off the floor and gazed and studied it for a couple of seconds, and placed it back into Mr. Weasley's hands.
"Wait. I think I figured out what went wrong with your directions," the Doctor announced and opened the doors of his ship to peer outside and snapped them shut while murmuring, "Oh dear. Well this is embarrassing."
"What do you mean? What did you do this time?" Donna demanded.
"Nothing bad! Well, take a look for yourself," the Doctor proposed and gestured toward the doors. Donna sneaked a glance and turned her head left and right a couple times.
"No, you did not. You know, you are worst pilot ever."
"That's a way of showing you're grateful. I mean, it's not my fault the TARDIS decides to park next to another telephone box!" the Doctor tried to defend himself. Sure enough, when Harry poked his head out of the wooden doors to his left was a red telephone box.
"You're driving it! I mean I know from experience we often have crash—"
"I do not crash; it's emergency landing," the Doctor objected.
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, you control where we go! I mean that's just misleading!" Donna reasoned.
"Okay, well it doesn't matter now! We found the right box and Harry and Mr. Weasley can go to their trial while we go somewhere else where the TARDIS isn't seen as misleading by some people in particular." the Doctor gritted the last part through his teeth.
"Well I better get going Doctor. Thank you though, for everything. I think I've learned more from you in the past fifteen minutes than I have from the people I'm supposed to trust," Harry confided in him.
"I'm sure they have your best interests at mind; don't doubt them Harry. Actually, I accidentally probably told you a lot more than people would have wanted you to know, so I apologize to whomever that applies to. But off you go, can't be late for that hearing now!" The Doctor ushered them out of his ship and slammed the doors shut.
OoO
Donna observed as the Doctor placed his trench coat on the rack and fiddled around with the console.
"Where do you want to go Donna? What do you want to see? Do you want to go to Barcelona this time; it really is a great planet and—" Donna cut across his ramblings and crossed her arms while she nagged,
"Will you stop going on about Barcelona? You have to tell them."
"Tell them what?" the Doctor inquired but Donna could see right through him that he was only pretending to be naïve. He started to duck his head under the console to act as if he was searching for something and Donna wondered if that was his way of avoiding her disapproving glare.
"You very well know what I mean. Tell them it's a time machine!" The Doctor banged his head on the dashboard since his head was tucked underneath. His head poked out and he was rubbing the back of it and sort of pouted at her.
"Don't. Do that," he commanded.
"Do what? Ask you to do some kind of decency for these nice people? I don't think that's a whole lot to ask for considering that you said less than an hour ago and I quote 'I help people, as often as I can'. And they will probably be late for their hearing if you don't do something about it," she retorted.
"Donna, remember the first time we met and I said I couldn't take you back to your wedding because that would be interfering with your personal timeline? It's the exact same case here. The only time I would ever do that is just for a cheap trick," the Doctor attempted to explain.
"Well, think of it this way. Wizards to you; are like magicians who pull cheap tricks. But right now; they're at the end of their rope. And they need a doctor to make them better. And since they pull 'cheap tricks' all the time, I don't think they would mind one right now to make their lives a little better. You got it now?" Donna related. She saw a grim look pass over his face for a moment, but it softened when he sighed. She knew she had him.
OoO
Harry stepped into the red phone box after a very strange encounter, and he pondered over it a little bit while Mr. Weasley dialed the number for the third time today. Who was he supposed to go to for help? And how would he ever make it alive out of this trial? His train of thought was interrupted though when the doors to the phone box he was standing in swung open and both wizards were greeted simultaneously by an enthusiastic,
"Hi!" from the odd pair they had just met today. The Doctor scratched at his cheek while he quizzed,
"Did I mention that my ship travels through time and space?"
OoO
Harry stood once more in the unusual now established time machine and watched as the Doctor tinkered with some controls. In the center of the console was a long tube which extended almost to the ceiling. There was an object inside, and it started moving in an up and down motion. Harry couldn't help but ask,
"Is this like a time turner?" The Doctor turned around to face Harry and grinned.
"No, it's bigger and better!" he exclaimed and darted here and there almost like a mad scientist thrilled with his latest discovery. Harry walked over to Mr. Weasley who had been just staring at the room.
"Mr. Weasley, what do you think of all of this?" Harry questioned not very certain of the man's opinion. There was a slight pause before he answered.
"I'm not sure Harry. But I would advise you not to tell any of your peers about this. I wouldn't guarantee that they'll entirely believe you."
"I'm going to turn the TARDIS invisible. I haven't done this for a while," the Doctor mentioned.
"Wait. You can turn the TARDIS invisible?" Donna pried.
"Yes," the Doctor answered.
"Then why haven't you used it before? Like when in Pompeii instead of it being stolen and sold it would've stayed safe, or how about during the Sonteren—"
"Son-TAR-an," the Doctor interrupted.
"Whatever it is invaded Earth then I wouldn't have gotten stuck on their spaceship."
"But you saved the Earth in the process Donna! See, things happen for a reason," the Doctor checked the monitor set up on the console and stated, "We're here."
"So this took us back in time, right? So when did we land?" Harry asked, familiar with the concepts of time travel from his third year.
"I believe twenty minutes before your trial. I usually end up landing in places I need to go late, so this is a record time for me. Let me just make sure I stopped off at the right place or not, because I have been known to unintentionally end up where I didn't mean to go." The Doctor strolled down the grated ramp and peeked out the doorway slightly. "Yep, this is the Ministry of Magic. After you." Harry followed the path to the doorway and wandered outside along with Mr. Weasley.
"Incredible," Mr. Weasley breathed in amazement. At this point Harry was debating over the instructions Mr. Weasley had given him before about not telling anyone else about this. They had only appeared in a hallway, but still this was an event that Harry could have never imagined. Mr. Weasley grasped the Doctor's hand and shook it very feverishly.
"Thank you Doctor. For all you have done for Harry and me; I'm truly grateful."
"You're welcome? I mean this isn't really going out of the way for me or anything; I really didn't do a whole lot," he replied. Now it was Harry's turn to say thank you.
"Thank you Doctor, you've really helped me. Will I ever see you again?" Harry asked. The Doctor seemed to hesitate at this question.
"Perhaps. Maybe if you keep an eye out for me. I seem stumble across the same people a lot. Good luck with your trial!" he responded.
"The only thing that will result from this hearing is me being expelled from Hogwarts and my wand taken away from me."
"Oh, don't say that! I'm sure that your Headmaster will give you a flawless defense. Now, don't waste any more time on me, go!" he repeated this command for what was probably the fifth time but he didn't even seem to care. Harry and Mr. Weasley scurried away too soon to hear or see what happened afterward.
OoO
Donna poked her head out of the TARDIS. The Doctor just stood there grinning staring at absolutely nothing. She tried to act casual to worm something out of him like she always did.
"Can you tell why you're grinning like a five-year old?" She failed at this attempt. She was just too impatient to find out.
"It's just those two people, not remarkable in the slightest well expect for them being wizards and Harry the boy-who-lived, said thank you. I mean I've saved hundreds of civilizations in my past but when I go and make someone on time for an appointment they go bowing down on their knees. Why?" Donna realized a fact so important about the Doctor she hadn't thought of before. He did save so many lives and he never even asked to be thanked, but when someone would show him some gratitude he saw it as a privilege. He talks all the time but he won't say anything meaningful. She couldn't think of anything else to say except,
"I told they were kind. But you wouldn't listen to me at first, would you Spaceman?" He chuckled bitterly at this but stopped when he spotted a man with ridiculously long blonde hair with black robes striding towards him. The Doctor whispered,
"Donna, stay in the TARDIS. Don't come out under any circumstances, got it?" She only nodded once and shut the doors. She immediately regretted that decision.
OoO
"It's a wonderful day, isn't it? Anything seem to be the problem?" the Doctor tried to converse with the man but he seemed not to be in the mood for small talk.
"I'm sorry; it's just that I've never seen you here before. Can I see your identification papers please? It's just standard procedure around here," the man instructed.
"Oh, yes of course! I know I've got them around here somewhere," the Doctor replied. He searched through his bigger on the inside pockets nervously, for he wasn't sure whether he had placed the psychic paper in his suit pockets or the ones in his trench coat. Unfortunately, it appeared to be the latter option. He heard a door creak very slightly, he had hardly even noticed it and also heard the sound of something sliding on the floor. He turned around to find the cause of the noise only to spot the psychic paper lying conveniently on the floor. Oh, he would really have to thank Donna for this later. He picked it up and handed it to the man.
"I must've of dropped it. By the way, I didn't catch your name, what is it?" the Doctor implored.
"Lucius Malfoy. But for you sir, your identity is still unknown. You see, this paper is blank." Lucius flashed the paper in front of his eyes and the Doctor sighed in defeat. He should've known it wouldn't have worked on wizards. Unexpectedly, the man called Lucius Malfoy pinned him against the wall before the Doctor could react, and his face was only etched with rage and anxiety.
"Who are you? A spy? A burglar? Whatever your plans, they have been stopped me and will not continue any longer. The Minister will be made aware of the situation one way or another, even if you don't answer to me," Lucius hissed at him. His fingernails were so sharp they were almost digging into the sides of his neck.
"I'm none of the above," the Doctor muttered in response.
"You will be taken to the Minister, none the less. And her too!" Lucius let go of his tight grasp and pointed at Donna, Donna whom he had told to stay in the TARDIS. Why did nobody listen to him?
"She is your accomplice in this matter, no doubt. If any of you makes an attempt of escape you will both be restrained. You are fortunate I do not result to that technique right now. This way!" Lucius commanded. The Doctor and Donna very grudgingly followed, dodging restraint since both were not very fond of the idea.
"I told you to stay in the TARDIS!" the Doctor murmured at Donna.
"What? And leave you alone with that creep? No chance," she whispered back. He was still upset at her for disobeying him, but what were companions for?
The Doctor and Donna are in trouble with the wizarding law. And none other than Lucius Malfoy did they aggravate. Oh dear. How are they going to get out of this one? You'll just have to wait for the next chapter. But anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it and please review!