The Doctor and the Wizard Ch. 10
Hermione led the Doctor through the oak wood doors into the Great Hall. For all the times she had seen this hallowed hall, it's size couldn't be ignored. The pair of them gazed at the endless sky, both minds working furiously to stay focused on the task at hand and not get caught up in the beauty of it all. "I love magic."
The Doctor smiled at Hermione's simple comment that held so much meaning. She shook off her ephemeral daydreaming and continued swiftly along the wall, stopping suddenly at what seemed like the only square foot of wall not covered in either painting or window. "You might want to back up a few paces."
Hermione and her senior companion took a step backwards, towards the tables still full of silverware and empty plates. The Doctor's mind drifted slightly; lunch was just about to be served. Some first year was probably still super excited for their first tastes of Hogwarts cooking. Now this. The Nestene had captured these kids and probably scared them half to death, if nothing worse had happened...
He pushed the thought away. Everyone was fine. They had to be. He couldn't handle another heavy weight of grief on his shoulders. A loud bang brought The Doctor right out of his wandering thoughts. Blinking his eyes and peering through the dust, he faintly heard Hermione call out, "Come on, Doctor! Nobody is in here."
He stepped through the gaping hole that Hermione had blown in the wall, urging his brain to come back to the present so he could be of some assistance to Hermione, which turned out to be difficult at the moment.
Before he knew what was happening, a small, warm hand was holding his and two big brown eyes were staring straight up into his own. "Are you alright?"
Automatically, he forced a smile at Hermione and began walking quickly towards the ovens. "Now! We need to start getting some heat started in here."
Hermione let his hand separate from his, rolling her eyes slightly from his unrelenting need to seem okay no matter what. A moment later, she followed in his lead and began turning the ovens on their highest setting possible, alarms going off in her head that maybe they were insane for attempting anything at this scale of danger and audacity, but her hands continued fiddling with dials and buttons anyway.
When for minutes had passed and all of the ovens had been double checked for the correct settings, The Doctor and Hermione met at the threshold of her entrance to the Great Hall. "This place is about to roast, so I suggest we go and find Harry and Ron. Which way is Gryffindor Common Room?"
Hermione led him back through the Entrance Hall and up a few flights of rotating steps, which The Doctor gladly commented on as being the most brilliant thing he had ever seen, and through another long corridor until they reached yet another set of steps. "Blimey, how do you kids remember this place?"
"It's not really as big as it seems, I suppose."
Two pairs of footsteps echoed through the corridor they were just about to round, accompanied by the sound of Auton blasters. The Doctor pulled Hermione against the perpendicular wall and stood against her, acting as a kind of shield should any Autons round the corner. Harry and Ron appeared from the edge of the wall, faces red and lungs pushing air out as soon as they breathed in. The Doctor pulled them towards him and in one swipe had all three of them tucked between his torso and the stony wall. None of them dared make a sound, besides Ron and Harry's occasional pant for breath, and none moved more than a fraction of an inch, their shadows daring to give away their exact position to the incoming enemy forces.
As the sound of plastic feet grew, so did the tension that lay in that small space where the quartet had chosen to hide. The Doctor gritted his teeth, head bent against the wall, sending prayers telepathically to any God who would listen to please not let these kids get hurt because of him. Almost against every wish of his being, The Doctor turned his head ever so slightly and cracked his eyes open, just enough to see if there were any Autons there.
A weight the size of Hogwarts Castle seemed to fall onto his chest. At the corner of their dead-end corridor stood two of the Nestene, albeit shorter than usual, blank eyes sending a chill down his spine. At the same exact moment, both of their guns raised. In an instant, The Doctor was completely blocking all three of the young warlocks. "Wait, wait, wait! I wouldn't do that if I were you. These three; these three a-are...the Chosen Ones. Yup. Your boss would disable you if any of them were harmed. He's saving them for the...Ultimate Ending. The grand finale of your conquest. I would just keep moving along if I were you."
As The Doctor spoke, three sets of hands began digging into his shoulder and arm, adding an extra dose of the paternal rage he held for anyone who wished to harm anyone under his protection. The shorter of the Autons began walking towards The Doctor, his gun still raised. "Now, hold on there."
The Auton advanced, stopping only when his blaster was less than a millimeter away from one of The Doctor's hearts, which was pounding so loudly that the Auton still at the corner could probably hear it. The Auton closest to The Doctor grabbed his arm tightly, though it wasn't nearly as comforting a feeling as the students' small fingers had been. The Doctor closed his eyes and drew in a breath, all of his mind on a possible regeneration about to happen.
As it happened, however, The Doctor only felt a slight tingling sensation and added pressure from the now fours hands that held his arm before the temperature began to gradually increase. When The Doctor dared to open his eyes, he found himself back in the main control room of the Autons, although there was one giant change. Standing at the controls was Professor Dumbledore himself!