Author's Note: I was on a course for a week, but I am finally back with the next part of my story, involving trains, intimidation, and a speech.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or Harry Potter. Neither do I own Thomas and the Jet Engine, a Thomas and Friends episode, from which some of this text has been taken, or a Back to the Future description for a steam engine, or the typical Patrick Moore ending to his show.
Spoilers: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Doctor Who episodes in Series 1, NuWho.
Enjoy!
As Rose and Sam walked past the end of the platform, they found the Doctor with a huge grin on his face, peeking out of a steam engine's cab. There was a familiar noise coming from the sonic screwdriver which he held in his hand, and the steam engine was emitting smoke that was a violent shade of violet. This, Rose assured Sam, was entirely normal.
"I'm making adjustments to the engine, calibrating it for high speed and adding a coffee holder. The magical extensions are fantastic!" The Doctor's enthusiasm poured out thicker than the smoke from the funnel. "Please mind your step as you board the train, and stow your luggage in the overhead compartment."
The two of them heaved their luggage aboard, and the Doctor's too, and placed them under, on and over seats in the carriage, which they coupled to the train. As the Doctor did his final adjustment, he climbed back into the carriage, and pointed his sonic screwdriver at the locomotive, and the effect was immediate. The jet engine he had built from spare parts and used to repower the engine burst into life. The whine got louder, and louder, and louder... and suddenly the jet engine was rocketing them down the tracks. The Doctor whooped with joy. Rose covered her ears. Sam watched out of the window nonchalantly, the ability to remove himself from the situation being something he had got from his father. Rose struggled forwards towards the engine, eventually climbing into the cab. With satisfaction she saw the broken piece of plastic. So much for your coffee holder, she thought vindictively.
Rose reached for the brake handle, and tried to put on the brakes, but the spare express couldn't stop. "Woohoo!" yelled the Doctor, watching as they overtook an Intercity 225.
"This is going faster than the Muggle trains, what have you done to it?" she asked him, shouting over the whine from the jet engine.
"Oh, that's small fry. Wait until you come across the big ones!" the Doctor replied. Sam had, despite his uncaring expression, never had so much fun in his life.
As they raced up the line, the magical stationmaster there called ahead. "Clear the lines! It's a runaway train!" Signals were changed, and points were switched. The Hogwarts Connect was diverted into a siding, and the Hogwarts Chieftain down the freight only line as the train whooshed up the main line.
Harry Potter was having a time of his life. Sharing things with newfound friends, magical chocolate frogs and pepper flavoured beans. There was just one thing blighting his day, which came in the form of a pale, blond-haired boy with two of the biggest boys he had seen in his life (discounting Dudley, of course).
"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"
"Yes," said Harry. He gave a glance at the two boys again, and felt a familiar flicker of fear. He had been in similar situations before, but there was no magic involved, and he had had someone to help him. He didn't know whether Ron would side with them yet.
"This is Crabbe, and this is Goyle. And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Ron sniggered. Malfoy glared at him. Harry was just about to tell Malfoy to get out when he saw an amazing sight.
As the Doctor raced the train through Newcastle, Rose reported a train in front. "Fantastic!" the Doctor replied. He waved the sonic at the locomotive, slowing their train down as they drew alongside. "Look for Harry!" the Doctor shouted as they slowly passed by the compartments. Finally, a shout from behind alerted him and he slowed the train down further to match the speed of the fully laden Hogwarts Express. Sam saw the shocked faces of Draco Malfoy and his two little cronies and the surprise on the face of a red-haired boy in the compartment. Harry Potter simply waved. As the doors of the two trains drew alongside with the Doctor's expertise at this, Rose wrenched open one and then the other. Draco Malfoy flinched as a strong wind blew into the compartment. The two of them began to heave suitcases across, watching as the soon-to-be Slytherins gaped open-mouthed. When the last of the suitcases had been successfully heaved across the gap, Rose helped the little boy over it. Rose leapt over straight afterwards, and finally the Doctor gracefully jumped the gap, shutting both doors as he did so. Rose looked at him admiringly. The Doctor didn't notice. He was too busy with the sonic slowing the borrowed locomotive down to a halt, and simultaneously switching it into a siding. As he finally finished his work with a flourish, he spun around and sonicked the door shut, trapping Crabbe and Goyle outside. Malfoy looked at them all.
"So you've chosen the worse sort of wizards. Consorting with three Muggles to get them on the train. You've broken the International Statute of Secrecy. You won't last long..."
"Hi, Harry!" This came from Sam.
"Be quiet, Muggle." This came from Draco Malfoy.
"Well, actually, he's not a Muggle. Care to take a second look? Pointy hat, school robes, owl, wand?"
"Well then be quiet, Muggle." This time Draco directed his words at the Doctor.
"Sorry. I don't believe I've introduced myself. I'm the Doctor, I'm 903 years old, I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterberous, I'm the Oncoming Storm, I've been to Hell and come out unscathed, I've saved the planet a minimum of 73 times to date, and you call me Muggle?"
"Fine. Be quiet Muggle." Draco Malfoy directed these words at Rose, who looked shocked beyond recognition. Nobody could think of a fitting response until the Doctor spoke up.
"So can we all be friends now?"
Draco Malfoy sat down seething with rage. How dare this Muggle, or Time Lord as he liked to call himself, suggest that he, Draco Malfoy, be friends with Harry Potter, a Weasley, a Muggle-born, a Muggle and a strange man who claimed superiority over his father's master? Then his past returned to haunt him.
"Draco, if you reveal what happened at this meeting, I will have to kill you."
"Brand him with the Dark Mark as a sign of his loyalty to me!"
"No, do not! Do not give him such torture so early in life!"
His mother writhing in pain under the Cruciatus Curse...
Lord Voldemort raising his wand to strike him... and then the terrible, crushing sensation...
Draco Malfoy looked up at them. Maybe it was the right thing to do, but this would go against 11 years of conditioning.
"No chance!" Before he could stop himself, he sneered and left the compartment. The Doctor looked glum.
As they finished the rest of the journey, eating sweets, discussing what had happened since they were separated, and why someone would want to stop him getting onto the platform, a little girl called Hermione Granger came in.
"Oh, are you doing magic then? Let's see." Ron cleared his throat, sure of the spell.
"Sunshine daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow!" Nothing happened.
"Are you sure that's a real spell? I've only tried a few simple ones myself, but they've all worked for me." Hermione pointed her wand at Harry's glasses and said, "Oculus Reparo!" The glasses mended instantly. Harry thanked her as she turned to the others in the compartment.
"I didn't see you there before, who are you?"
"I'm the Doctor, this is Sam, and this is Rose." The Doctor indicated the other two.
"Pleasure. Are you going to Hogwarts? You look a bit too old to be learning."
"We were just helping young Sam get onto the train. There was a bit of trouble earlier."
"Ohh, did you Apparate? I heard it was impossible to Apparate onto or Disapparate from the tracks."
The Doctor opened his mouth, presumably to spout a lie, but Harry answered for him.
"They came up on the southbound line on another train, it was amazing! They jumped from one to the other."
Hermione looked disdainful. "Is that allowed? Because if you left the other train on the other line, there might be a collision. Did you get permission?" The Doctor looked uncomfortably at everyone else. However Rose let Hermione know that they left the train on a siding.
"We, erm, used magic to slow down the train to a stop and switch it onto a siding." Hermione looked at them strangely, but did not ask further, instead enquiring about what spell they used. The Doctor had however read the books they were told to take in, and with quick thinking provided an answer.
"We used Arresto Momentum to slow it down, and Mutario to switch the points." Hermione got into an in-depth discussion about spells. The Doctor had to think fast recalling the memories to give the correct answers, because although he had read the Harry Potter series back to front fifteen times, and normally too, and he had some experience with magical matters from his years at Gallifrey, he had only just learnt most of the spells in terms understood by a 20th century student. Rose started to chat with Harry and Ron, who she took to immediately, and it was only when the overhead announcement announced that they would be arriving in 5 minutes time, and Harry and Ron rushed for their robes (Sam having changed on the borrowed locomotive, Hermione being already changed, the Doctor having come equipped as usual and Rose having no robes at all), that Hermione finally left and the Doctor could voice his relief.
"Whew, that was hard."
"How did you know all the spells? You've never learnt them before?" Rose looked at him amusedly. Harry laughed at how well Hermione had been taken in. The Doctor looked guilty.
As the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station, the Doctor helped the other four heave their stuff down, and as it slowed to a stop, the Doctor flung open the compartment door. They lifted their cases down onto the ground to hear a familiar voice.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" Hagrid stopped dead in his tracks.
"So there yeh are, Sam! An' with the Doctor, too!" Hagrid looked at the Doctor, who grinned back.
"I haven't seen yeh in ten years, Doctor! Dumbledore can't wait fer this!" Hagrid started leading the first years down the path towards the lake. The Doctor watched them go, and then watched as the higher years left on the carriages, which he clearly did not want to go on. Then he walked down the platform silently, around the front of the train and pointed the sonic screwdriver at a certain patch of grass. Suddenly, a whole railway line followed by a locomotive appeared in mid-air.
"How did you know that was there, Doctor?" Rose asked, looking at him admiringly. The Doctor looked back at her. "It has known magic."
The Doctor strode forwards and pulled out the psychic paper. On it he found a message.
"Your 11th incarnation asked me to leave this for you, fifteen years ago. Use it well." The Doctor grinned his terrible grin. "Now who wrote this note?" he asked into the night, before boarding the train with Rose as it set off down the winding tracks. They caught glimpses of Hagrid and some of the first years as they plunged into a tunnel, the sound of water lapping over their heads. At the end of the tunnel there was a winding cylinder of tracks leading upwards as finally the locomotive came out of the ground a few yards from Hogwarts' double doors. The Doctor cloaked it and the track, and then walking straight up to the front doors, knocked on them and then waited. Half a minute later, the doors opened.
"Ah, Hagrid, you're early..." Professor McGonagall trailed off when she saw the Doctor. "Good Heavens, Doctor, you could have told me. I was feeling tired, but to get the opportunity to take a rest after all these years of opening ceremonies..."
The Doctor smiled at her, and replied, "I'd love to take the job." Professor McGonagall was left speechless as she turned around and returned to the Entrance Hall. The Doctor and Rose waited for instructions, and sure enough, the doors opened a minute later and Albus Dumbledore came through into the Entrance Hall.
"Ah, Doctor. Minerva tells me you've turned up at Hogwarts at last. I hope you will enjoy your year here." The Doctor looked up, startled.
"Well, you see, it was a mistake. Young Sam missed the Hogwarts Express because someone forgot to send him his ticket." Here the Doctor glared at Dumbledore, who flinched very slightly. "I had to chase your Express up with the spare prototype to get him aboard. I think you'll find it smoking near Newcastle. However I will take up this job in the opening ceremony."
"Excellent, excellent. So, business. When the first years arrive, you direct them into a side room, and then check with us whether we are ready. When we are, you lead them in, and stand at the front with the Sorting Hat and the stool. I trust you are familiar?"
The Doctor leant down. "Hello, I didn't see you there. After a thousand years, you don't feel like talking? That's strange, I feel exactly the opposite." He straightened, and then motioned for Dumbledore to continue.
"When the Hat has finished its song, you are to call out all the names of the students, and then as they come up and are sorted, you wait to call out the next one. When this is all done, you will give the Hat and the stool to Argus to take away, and then take your seat next to Miss Tyler here. I will take her into the Great Hall now." Here Dumbledore finished speaking, and took Rose by the arm. "This way, please."
The Doctor stood by the front doors, and around two minutes later, there came a knock. He pulled them open. Hagrid saw him, and quickly improvised.
"The firs' years, Doctor," he said.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," he replied.
He led them into the Entrance Hall, watching as they marvelled at the architecture, paintings and statues. He was itching to explore, but first he had a job to do and a feast to attend. He moved deliberately away from a door on the right, where Dumbledore and a babble of noise had come from, and to one of two doors. He pulled it open. Inside was a cleaning cupboard.
"Oops, wrong one," he muttered, and pulled open the second one. There was a small room inside with enough space for everyone to be comfortable, but not too comfortable, and a box in the corner. "Now that's more like it!" he said. The first years all crowded in, and when they were all inside, he closed the door, stood on the box, and pointed the sonic at his throat.
"Welcome to –" he trailed off. That frequency was high, like a speaker too near a microphone. Some first years laughed nervously.
"Welcome to –" he trailed off again. That frequency was deep, like burping. He tried one final time.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, although you've been here only four minutes" he checked his watch "less than me," he said. This amplified his voice perfectly. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. I myself do not approve of such segregation, but here we are. The Sorting is very important because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts, which is what Dumbledore says. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. They are named after the four great founders of Hogwarts. Now Gryffindor, nice guy, went out with Ravenclaw when they were 18. Slytherin used to spend his time making models of buildings. He liked doing that; he designed Westminster Abbey as well. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. When I was at Hogwarts, we lost every single year. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting, though why that does anything, I don't know. I'm coming back when we're ready for you. Until then, good night!" The Doctor stepped down from the box, and left the room quickly. The room burst into talk.
"I heard Professor McGonagall gave the pep talk, I wonder why it's changed," Ron said to Harry.
"A Muggle, on the staff this year? My father'll have a fit when I tell him-" Draco Malfoy drawled to Crabbe and Goyle.
Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein were laughing. Hermione Granger was muttering to herself, "Gryffindor and Ravenclaw went out at 18? Why doesn't it say that in Hogwarts: A History?", and Ernie Macmillan was having a heated, one-sided discussion with Hannah Abbott about whether the segregation of Hogwarts students into houses was a good idea.
They were so engaged in their conversation that they didn't notice the ghosts coming in, until the Doctor himself returned and announced to them, "We're ready for you now. Form a line, that's it, you'll all get inside, Crabbe, so stop squabbling with Goyle, and follow me." As they finally lined up, the Doctor led them across the Entrance Hall, and pushed open the double doors to the Great Hall with a flourish.
Author's Note 1: Please review! Thank you time-turning tardis for your review for Hippogriffs Are Cool, which you all should read, being the prequel to the whole series.
Author's Note 2: The Doctor will be back, with the first hints of an old foe and a heated argument with Dumbledore next chapter.