The group headed outside, led by Mary. "Mrs. Weasley," said Mary, spotting Molly amongst the group of witches and wizards on crowd control. "What's the situation like out here? Do you need assistance?"
"I'd say the situation is…stable," said Molly. "However, I wouldn't say or do anything to provoke them. Several of the people in the crowd just turned to dust, which I'm guessing is your doing."
"Yep, the Stone's destroyed," said Gene. "Destroying it means people who were brought back have returned to the afterlife."
"Did you ask if they wanted to go back to the afterlife?" demanded one woman in the crowd, tears still clear on her face. "My little Sarah was eight years old when she was taken from me. And you think it's fair that I've had to lose her twice?"
"Listen madam," snapped Gene, marching towards her before anyone could stop him. "Death is final. We can't go around deciding who gets to live or die. And before you give me some sob story about how 'it wasn't her time', I want to make it clear that I do agree with you. It isn't fair that your daughter died so young. But if we start making exceptions for her, we have to make exceptions for every man and his dog. And if that happens, where do we draw the bloody line of who gets to come back?"
There was a hush following Gene's speech. Some were shocked at what he'd said, some were looking like they were in agreement. No-one seemed to want to break the silence. "Did…did that just work?" asked Ron quietly.
"It looks like it might have," said Gene. "Now, if everyone can just disperse, go back to your homes, we can finish up he…" Before Gene could finish what he was saying, a bottle came sailing out of the crowd, nearly hitting him.
"MURDERER!" yelled someone in the back of the crowd.
"THE DEAD SHOULD HAVE A VOICE!" yelled someone else.
"ABOMINATIONS!" yelled a priest. "You should reject your heathenistic magic ways before you spend eternity in Hell."
"Bloody Hell, do these people ever give up?" asked Ron, getting his wand ready with his friends.
"This isn't going to end well," said the Doctor. "Even with the two dozen or so witches and wizards here, I don't see any way of subduing a crowd of this size."
"I have sent for back-up," said Mary, getting her umbrella ready. "Though whether she's likely to respond to something like this…I don't know…"
"Your back-up is one person?" asked Hermione. "That doesn't seem like much help."
"You'd be surprised," said Mary. "Especially when you see what she specialises in."
"Ooh, I think I know who you mean," said the Doctor, sounding giddy.
"In the meantime, let's see if we can quell the rampage," said Sherlock, reaching into his jacket.
"Sherlock, I don't think the threat of shooting an angry mob is going to make the mob less angry," said John.
"Probably not," said Sherlock. "But the thought that they might be the one who is shot might keep them at bay."
"HE'S GOT A GUN!" someone yelled, causing a panic among the people.
"See, no-one's going to…" started Sherlock.
"GET HIM! He can't shoot all of us," said someone else.
"Holmes, before we get torn to shreds, I just want to say you're an idio…" started James, as he suddenly vanished.
"James?" asked Martha, who suddenly vanished as well.
"What are those?" asked Hermione, pointing out two sparkly golden holes where James and Martha had been, just as another one opened beneath her. "Whoa…"
"Hermione!" yelled Ron, as another hole took him.
"Is this your backup?" asked Harry.
"It is," said Mary, calmly jumping into a hole.
"Well, I guess we follow them," said John, following the others.
"Good luck to the rest of you," said the Doctor, jumping in.
"Don't worry, we'll hold them back," said Ginny. "You guys just go."
"Got it," said Harry. "Gene? Sherlock? You coming?"
"I don't suppose we have a choice," said Gene, stepping into a hole.
"Well, I guess we either die going through here, or get ripped apart by the mob," said Sherlock. "I'll take my chances with the hole." Sherlock stepped through the hole, vanishing from existence.
"I'll try to be home for dinner," said Harry, following the others.
"You better," said Ginny, before focusing her attention on the crowd.
Meanwhile…
"Ah, good to see you all made it," said the woman before them.
"Blimey, that's a woman?" asked Gene. "Not many of you who don't have hair."
"Indeed, Mr. Hunt," said the woman, clearly not amused by his comment. "Now, I assume you're wondering why I brought you here."
"Because Mary wanted us here?" suggested John. "By the way, who are you?"
"I suppose I should introduce myself," said the woman. "After all, I already know who all of you are. I am known as the Ancient One."
"Ancient?" asked Ron. "You don't look that old."
"Well, thank you Mr. Weasley," said the Ancient One. "But now I think we need to go over why I brought you all here."
"Where is here, exactly?" asked Sherlock. "This doesn't look like anything in London."
"That's because we're at Kamar-Taj," said the Ancient One. "A temple for training magic users located in Nepal."
"That's ridiculous," said Hermione defiantly. "Surely we'd have heard about you if you use magic."
"Oh, sweet child," said the Ancient One condescendingly. "What little magic you wield is but a fraction of what magic is capable of. Here, we can harness the very fabric of reality and bend it to our will."
"I find that hard to…" started Hermione, as the Ancient One walked up to her and placed her thumb on the young witch's forehead. Hermione stopped and had a stunned look on her face, before seeming to come back to her senses. "What…" she said, at a loss for words. "What the hell was that?"
"Proof of what I can do," said Ancient One. "Now, you've got yourself into a bit of a bind back in London, haven't you?"
"And I suppose you have some kind of plan to fix it all then?" asked Gene.
"Well, yes," said the Ancient One. "I believe I can fix the problem. I can get rid of people's memories of magic…"
"That's good," said Harry.
"…by taking away everyone's memories of the last day," said the Ancient One.
"Sounds good," said Ron. "Let's do it."
"I don't think you quite understand the spell," said the Ancient One. "It takes away everyone's memories, of everything relating to the last day. Including yours."
"Hold on," said Sherlock. "You mean, everything we've been through in the last twenty-four hours, just gone with the snap of your fingers?"
"Put simply, yes," said the Ancient One.
"And you can't modify this?" asked John. "Even to have just us remember everything? I mean, what if something happens and we need to deal with the Master again? Surely there's something you can do about…"
"I understand what you're asking, Dr. Watson," said the Ancient One. "But I've already modified the spell as much as I'm willing to risk changing it. Think about it this way: when you perform surgery, you have to do things in a certain way to get certain results, correct?"
"That's true," said John.
"And while you could possibly make minor changes and still get the desired results, then more you change it the more unlikely you're going to get the right outcome, correct?" asked the Ancient One.
"I guess so," said John. "So, this is goodbye for all of us, is it?"
"I'm afraid so," said the Doctor. "Magic like this is incredibly dangerous to meddle with. I'm surprised you're even attempting this."
"It's not something I wanted to do," said the Ancient One. "But the world is not ready for magic. One day, maybe, but not now."
"It does seem odd that the world can accept that a billionaire businessman can fly around in a suit of armour, but not magic," said James.
"The world is a rapidly changing place, Mr. Bond," said the Ancient One. "Think of how much has changed even in just the last ten years."
"So, what happens if the Master decides to try something else?" asked Ron. "Does the Doctor have to deal with it by himself? What if he can't handle it alone?"
"I have planned for that," said the Ancient One, holding what appeared to be a rock. "Mary, this is for you."
"Gee, thanks," said Mary with a thick layer of sarcasm in it.
"Believe me, you're going to want it," said the Ancient One. "That rock has been tied to the spell. Hide that rock somewhere safe, and if you're ever in need of help, squeeze it. The spell will be lifted from the rest of this group, and the memories of this day will come back."
"And because we'll all remember this conversation, we can come running to help," finished Hermione. "That's…not a bad plan. It means it isn't goodbye forever."
"I can live with that," said Martha. "I'll miss you guys, but hopefully we'll see each other soon."
"Oh, don't get all weepy on me woman," said Gene.
"…Maybe I won't miss all of you," said Martha.
"What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Gene.
"I hope you're all ready," said the Ancient One. "Here we go…" The Ancient One began waving her arms around in a variety of calculated movements, drawing in magic and focusing intently, as the room began to glow…
Two days later…
"The last of the protesters from Saturday's riots has been released from police custody," said the news reporter. "It's still unclear what brought on the riot in the first place, with many of the protesters stating they remember being angry and upset about something, but cannot remember what. While the police would normally not accept this as a reasonable excuse, reports coming in from across the globe seems to conclude that many people have gaps in their memory from the same time period. This collective lapse in memory across the world has scientists scrambling for answers, but are unable to even figure out where to start researching the strange phenomenon."
"Turn that off," said Nick Fury from the other side of the video call. "Now Poppins, obviously we at S.H.I.E.L.D. are more than a little concerned about what just happened the other day, as I'm sure you understand."
"Indeed I do, Fury," said Mary.
"And we've come to the conclusion that something you did had something to do with it," said Fury. "That said, we don't know exactly what it is."
"Are you accusing me of something, Fury?" asked Mary, a note of anger in her voice.
"A little, yes," said Fury. "However, we also can't see anything severely negative that was lost in that time. So I'd like to ask you, with the understanding that you will not be punished if your actions were necessary, do you know anything about what happened?"
"Director Fury," said Mary, about to chastise him. "I would never…wait…yes…yes, I think I remember something?"
"You do?" asked Fury, surprised that he wasn't getting chewed out. "What is it? What do you know?"
"I'm…not sure," said Mary. "Just that…if I need help, I know what to do."
"That's it?" asked Fury. "There's no note or anything? Just a vague recollection of something?"
"Yes, that's it," said Mary. "I'm sorry, I'm not normally like this."
"I'm guessing that means we were right with our assumptions," said Fury. "But whatever it was, it also meant removing your memories regarding it, for…someone's safety. Whose safety, we can't be sure."
"My thoughts exactly," said Mary. "Is there anything else I can help you with today, Director Fury?"
"No, that will be all," said Fury. "Until next time, Director Poppins."
The call cut out, and Mary went back to her desk. She opened a locked drawer, and saw a rock sitting there. She smiled at it knowingly, before locking the drawer again.
Author's note: And…done. Another fic finished. Thank you to everyone who read it, this was an interesting new piece for me to embark on. As for my next fic…Half-Blood Prince Abridged. Honestly, what else did you expect it to be? That seems to be what most people come to my profile to read. Speaking of going to my profile, I have a poll there to determine what my next fic will be. If you want to have your say on what I should write after New Moon Abridged is finished (and I am getting close to the end of that), head on over there and have your say. Now, as for this fic, I decided to leave it open to whether or not I should do a sequel. I don't really know what I'd do if I were to do a sequel, but if I feel there's enough demand I'll start looking into it. Anyway, that's all I have to say for now, so until next time guys…