Chapter 3.

The Doctor was besides himself. It was actually Harry Potter, Ron Weasely and Hermione Granger. What was more incredible is that they were actually how JK Rolling had written them. Surely this was no coincidence.

"Brilliant," he said, looking at all three of them. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all exchanging glances, glances that the Doctor read easily.

"Nope," he said gleefully. "Not a wacko. Well, ok. Maybe. But still. Look at you all! I know I might seem a tad crazy, but really I'm not. Just a little unusual. Oooh this is too good! I'm at Hogwarts with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry Potter! The Chosen One! The Boy Who Lived! And you two! Look at you!"

The Doctor dashed up to them, pinching the very unaware Ron Weasely's cheeks.

"You, my friend, are the ultimate ginger! Oooh how Donna would flip if she was here."

He beamed at them all. It was clear that he was unsettling them, especially by the way they were all backing away. Still, he couldn't help himself. He had to continue.

"You know, I've chased ghosts at Christmas with Charles Dickens, drowned...well...Donna drowned it, I helped, but drowned a giant wasp with Agatha Christie...but I've never been with the actual characters of a book. Oooh this is too good!"

Finally, finally Harry Potter took a hesitant step forward. His wand was drawn now and he looked pale and scared.

"I don't mean to be rude," he started. The Doctor, practically dancing at this stage, hesitated for a moment. "But," Harry continued. "You don't belong here. I've never seen you before, and Professor Dumbledore would have introduced you at the feast if you were a new teacher. So, who are you, and what are you doing in here?"

"Me?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow at Harry. "I...told you. Department for exploding wands. Feast? So, what's the date then, huh?"

Hermione looked at Harry, and then simultaneously with Ron pulled him away.

"Come on, Harry," Hermione said, her voice an authority filled whisper. She was obviously unaware that the Doctor had good enough hearing to pick up what she was saying. "There's been enough weird stuff happening recently. Who knows if we can trust him. We should tell Professor McGonagall."

"Hold on," the Doctor threw out an arm to try and stop them, immediately withdrawing his arm as three long wooden sticks were pointed at him. They'd appeared out of nowhere. "Okay! No need to...they're almost as bad as soldiers. Put them down, I'm not going to hurt you. I just...I'm curious. Hermione Granger, isn't it? Smart girl. Never trust anyone, that's always the cleverest way to go, except when I'm around. All...well...most of the time you want to trust me. Anyway, that's not the point. What...'weird stuff'." He used quotation marks. "Because I've worked with weird stuff a lot in my life and because..." he pulled his sonic out of his pocket and pointed it at the floor. He noticed that the wands were once again pointed at him, but he ignored it. "...I am getting readings that definitely don't belong here."

"Whoa!" Ron had finally spoken. "What is that?"

"This?" the Doctor waved it absently in the air. "Sonic screwdriver. Does everything but deadlocks, wood and a cup of tea."

"A sonic screwdriver?" Hermione repeated, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Since when have screwdrivers been sonic? No one has created a sonic instrument that has worked properly yet. Anyway, any normal sonic instrument wouldn't work inside the castle grounds."

"Harry," Ron muttered, leaning close to the black haired boy, who's wand had been lowered slightly. "What's a screwdriver."

"Muggle device," Harry supplied back. "They use it to do screws up and stuff."

"Oi, you," Ron called, brandishing his wand at the Doctor. "What weird readings does this thing give you?"

The Doctor looked up from his sonic at the red headed boy. "Ooh you know, this and that," he said absently. "But you know...you don't trust me so," the Doctor sniffed. "I guess you can all just go...sod off!" He gave a grin. "I love it. I never used to be rude. Rude and not ginger..." It was one of the first things the time lord had said with this reincarnation. He looked at the three. "Nothing you'll want to know," he said, throwing down the challenge. If JK Rolling had written any of these like they should be, Harry shouldn't be able to resist the adventure.

The Doctor didn't have to wait long to be proven right.

"Wait," Harry's voice rang out. "Alright. Some...weird things have been happening. People, they've been coming back to school...they just seem different. Out of it. They're having trouble with spells and the almost have a robotic feel to them. They just don't seem...right."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at Harry. Immediately he had suspicions about what might be going on, but he kept them to himself.

"Alright then," Hermione gave a resigned sigh. "We've told you, now you tell us."

The Doctor looked up at the roof, ran a hand through his hair and then looked back at the three. "The reading's I'm getting...someone or something is leaching the very essence of this place. Isn't me, my TARDIS only just landed. This kind of energy isn't compatible with it anyway. But something or someone's been slowly draining this place for a long time. And just recently...recently, it got faster. And, it's draining..."

The Doctor pressed a button on his sonic, causing the normal buzzing noise and blue light to flash through the air. "...right up through there." The sonic was letting out irregular beeping, and once it was pointed to the roof, the beep became one long sound.

"And," the Doctor looked slightly worried. "It's alien."

Suddenly I understand why people always want reviews. It's nice to know if people are actually enjoying the story. So, please, tell me if I should quit while I'm maybe not so ahead, or keep going! Thanks XD.