Edit: 29th June 2016
Changed the Doctors' corresponding wand woods to match personality.
Skip this if you want.
Since I haven't done this yet, I'd like to thank ppubl, humancreeper, govonininja, dontfrogget, Starscape593, Sazzzzzle, Nimrodel626, Jamie Gibbs, Ivory718, Ionamoon, Ianvrtt4, HHH8HHH, Carpe-Libri and Calafram for following. Special thanks go to Calafram, Ionamoon, Jamie Gibbs and dontfrogget for favouriting. Final thanks are for govonininja, Calafram, and the guest (Tony Prime) who reviewed. All of you help contribute to the next chapter of the story! :3
Without further ado,
"You're telling us, Hogwarts. Actually, really, Hogwarts."
Nine aimed an exasperated expression towards the others. "Yeah. There's three. For us, probably."
"But Hogwarts! That's not real!" Ten protested.
"Actually," Twelve cut in smoothly, "It's more than perfectly possible. Ideas bleed through the Void, or can. Have you forgotten that?"
Eleven, meanwhile, vaulted down the steps, heading for Nine. He half stumbled, half ran to his former self, peering at it from the other side.
"Whoa! He's not lying! Actual Hogwarts letters!" Scanning them with the sonic, Eleven's practically non-existent brows hitched up in surprise. Nine pushed his head away in annoyance, so that he could leaf through the other letters without a mass of brown
flop in the way.
"Okay, so, there're three letters. I'll take this John Smith one...the others are a Noble and Pond-Song?" He read out the recipients, adding a tone of question to his voice. Looking up, he caught the wistful expression of Ten and the indignant Eleven,
the latter perhaps just a bit too close for comfort.
Ten and Twelve joined their other two selves, with Ten lagging behind Twelve slightly. Eleven was clutching his letter, scowling at it. "Why do I have to be Pond-Song?" The bowtied Doctor was met with a deadpan stare by Twelve.
"You're the one who married-"
"Oh shut up, Eyebrows."
Ignoring the astounded looks on Nine and Ten's faces, Eleven stalked off towards the owl, whom was still there and watching the scene with confusion. Twelve simply shrugged and responded to the dumbfounded duo with a "Spoilers,".
Nine frowned, glancing upwards at Twelve. "Okay, so we'll go to magic school while we wait for the TARDIS t' recover, so what about you?"
"Oh, I'll get a job or something. I'm good at jobs. Or work on the TARDIS. I'm sure the Old Girl needs someone to look after her. "
"Right..." Nine and Ten shared doubtful glances. If they knew anything about themselves, future selves included, a job wouldn't last long.
It was at that moment Eleven returned, still with a somewhat mutinous expression, the owl following along. He produced a pen from the depths of his pocket, scrawling something on the letter before deftly tying it to the owl's claw. He looked at the others
expectantly.
"Bebe's agreed to help us deliver these letters, so you'd better hurry up."
Jolted into action, Nine and Ten both pulled out pens of their own and hastily scrawled their own replies. Attaching them to the owl's claw, 'Bebe' bobbed his head.
.:Well, it was nice meeting you all. Maybe I'll visit you guys at Hogwarts or something. If you don't mind opening the door?:.
Nine moved to open the door for Bebe, but there was a snap, and the door opened on its own. Bebe swooped out, another snap, and the door closed. When he turned, Eleven stood there smugly, hand held in semblance of fingers having been snapped. Nine cast
a dirty look at him. "Oh that is so not fair." Eleven just winked at him. "Watch and learn, kiddo. "
Ten flipped through all the pages of his letter and set them down on the console. He folded back up his glasses, which were now almost comically too big for him, back into his pocket. "We've got some time to kill before term starts. We should probably
start with getting some supplies." Ten frowned. "Tomorrow, relatively."
At that, they all split from each other, mostly to ponder what would happen now that three of them would be attending a fictional (of a kind) school for the next seven years.
Nine and Eleven left for the inner rooms of the TARDIS, hoping to find something to occupy their time. However much they wanted to help do maintenance on her, their discordant opinions would only make the situation worse. Ten made a beeline for the library,
once again, only this time in search of the Harry Potter books. Thoughts filled his mind of an adventure of witches and Shakespeare with Martha. He gave a slight hint of a smile of fondness. Twelve simply sighed in exasperation, and descended downwards
to check on components of his beloved TARDIS. Already, gears and cogs span in that mind of his in trying to find a way to keep an eye on his miniaturised past-selves.
Ultimately, after that revelation, none of them particularly felt like doing any more calculations.
However, the next 'morning' found them all meeting in the console room with barely contained excitement. After all, not even Time Lords have shopped at the real Diagon Alley before.
~Tomorrow, relatively~
Finding the Alley wasn't hard at all. With Ten, a book in hand and paraphrasing every other minute, they all located the Leaky Cauldron with just enough sanity to spare, and a confiscation of Ten's book into the dark depths of Twelve's pockets.
The four garnered many odd looks from the patrons, and they could just tell that they were thinking 'Stupid Muggles,' or something of the sort. Needless to say, they all quickly backed into the side alley with the brick wall, hurrying through after a
witch.
The wall closed up behind them, leaving the Doctor, technically plural, standing in Diagon Alley for the first time. The real one, not some half-hearted amusement park replica.
The Alley was a hubbub of activity. The hooting of owls layered with the bustle of conversation, creating a somewhat familiar marketplace like atmosphere. You could almost hear the sparkle in the Time Lords' eyes, because this was NEW! A new experience,
much like moving house and exploring the backyard, or making friends with the neighbours when you barely knew them, and they barely knew you!
Twelve blinked. Something had occurred to him.
"Oh. Well that's..."
"What?" Three pairs of eyes turned on the Scottish Doctor.
"We don't actually have any money, you know."
"Oh. Well that's..."
"Yes."
Eleven detached himself from the group and advanced unabashedly. "I'm sure it'll be fine! Psychic paper, remember!"
Everyone looked at him doubtfully. "Gringotts are managed by goblins though. You think that's gonna work?" Ten said with an air of exasperation.
"Uhm," Eleven shrank slightly. "Yes?"
"You bloody idiot. Let's do it."
The four drew some more strange looks as the walked through the bank, passing witches and wizards glaring scathing holes in their metaphorical/physical clothes.
For the scientific nature of the Doctor, even just being in the presence of Goblins, let alone Gringotts! Real Gringotts! Made their skin crawl with anticipation.
The line slowly trickled to them, during which Twelve was pushed forward as a grudging representative.
The teller looked at them expectantly. With slight nervousness, Twelve passed the billfold of psychic paper over.
The goblin looked over the top of his spectacles, eyes widening in surprise. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry about the wait," He gave a shrewd smile to the somewhat confused expressions of the Doctor, returning the paper. "FARNUK!" He hollered.
Instantly, another goblin hurried out from behind another set of doors, looking questioningly at his elder, who in turn, responded with an pointed look. "Farnuk, take our guests here to the Vault."
Farnuk backed up in shock.
"The-?"
"Yes."
"O-oh. Very well. If you'll follow me."
Paying no mind to at accumulation of strange looks from the general public, the Doctors shared a look, mostly an annoyed one at Twelve, which was the general consent that he had messed up. Twelve simply glared back at Ten, and followed Farnuk, prompting
the others to pursue him. The younger three had to move quickly to keep up with Twelve's long strides, a bizarre experience for them, who usually were in front.
There was a certain hissed exchange during the time taken the reach the minecart which would take them into the vaults. It rather began with Ten, who complained.
"Oh, now look at what you've done! I told you it wouldn't work!"
To which Eleven responded in kind.
"Well, how was I supposed to know? You're the one with the book!"
"That he," a pointing to Twelve, who gave no indication he had heard. "Took! After you told him to!"
"And you don't remember any details? Rubbish Time Lord you are!"
It was broken up by a grumpy Nine, who clocked both his future selves over the head with a rolled up Daily Prophet, picked up off the street and that he was reading during the wait.
"Do the two of you ever shut up? How I'll ever become you, I'll never know."
They soon quieted after that, settling on non-verbal spars with facial expressions, which lasted the short while longer to the minecart station.
Twelve, Nine and Farnuk took the first, leaving the second for Ten and Eleven, who quickly abandoned all disagreement in favour of interest.
Unsurprisingly, none of them were affected by the unpredictable nature of the minecart they had to ride in to access the vaults.
If anything, they enjoyed it. Or, at least, Nine and Eleven did. Twelve and Ten were much more interested in the sights they saw on the way down.
Dragons, magma pools, sphinxes, what seemed like an underground lake complete with a half-submerged ghost ship, they even passed through a waterfall of some kind, leaving them wet and blinking away water droplets. At the speed they were going, however,
it took almost zero time at all for them to dry off.
In the end, it had taken them a total of eighteen minutes, thirty four seconds to arrive at the bottom of the bank, and even the goblin looked vaguely ill.
It did not stop him from doing his job. The vault had a faded inscription carved into the stone wall beside it, 'Vault 0', Farnuk placed his hand on the door, which glowed slightly, then fell away to reveal another door, this one protected only by a simple
lock. He stepped back, glancing at the Doctors.
"It has always been said that there is the most final protection in place on the first un-vault, stronger than all our master metalsmiths strengths put together. Only the true owners of the key shall be able to enter the Healer's Vault. In time that Gringotts
bank has stood, we have kept its existence a secret, until now. Everything should be in order, my fine fellows. "
They were slightly alarmed at the mention of 'Healer', it being just one definition of their chosen name, but nonetheless approached the door, each distinctly making sounds of surprise at the lock.
It was the same kind that the TARDIS had.
Ten fumbled slightly, but he was the first to find a key. With the others falling back to give him space, he inserted the key into the lock. With a click, it unlocked, and he pushed open the door.
"Oh, I am a genius! I knew it would work!"
"You mean me."
"Well, technically, we're the same person, so yeah, me. Good catch, Chinny!"
"Oh, for the last time-! What's wrong with my chin?!"
Inside, it was actually quite cavernous. The floor was haphazardly covered in Wizarding coins, with smaller stacks and mounds dotting the room. Every so often, there was the glint of other jewels and intricate jewellery hiding amongst the piles of coins,
even a book or two. It was lit by two brightly burning torches either side, which cast a warm glow around the room.
Against the back wall sat four cabinets, each differing from the others, but each had relatively the same contents: a mish-mash, mumble-jumble of parts, a few books each and one small wooden box that matched the cabinets in materials.
Each Doctor approached one curiously. For Nine, he had taken to one of a cypress , a cabinet of hawthorn. Eleven chose the cedar, which left Twelve with afir, not that he minded. As they rooted through the shelves, Farnuk watched
them apprehensively, letting his eyes wander around the room with interest. It was clear that he had never been in this room either.
"Eh? What's this?" Eleven had put aside all the things on the shelves, and now held the box in his hands, carefully studying the Gallifreyan carvings on the box. "B-but, this is my handwriting! How'd it get here?"
"Give," Ten snatched the box, flicking it open. His eyes widened. "What?!"
Inside the felt lined box sat an exact replica of Eleven's sonic screwdriver, except that instead of a metallic casing, it was wooden. It still had some metallic embellishments, the rest was a finely varnished teak. Eleven picked it up gingerly, giving
it a slight wave. To everyone's surprise, a shower of green sparks shot out of the end. "Hold on," he pulled out his normal one, waving this one as well. It didn't give off anything.
"Um..." The others unearthed their own boxes, taking out replicas of their own sonics. "Hm," murmured Twelve. "Looks like we've got ourselves some wands. Makes sense, if you think about it. The wood must act as a conduit for the magic and then there must
be a frequency that's permanently activated to allow for the channelling. When have you ever seen a metal wand? The answer? Never. It just can't focus it."
They all gave experimental waves of their sonic wands. Ten frowned. "Well, that makes sense, I suppose...But how...OH! Oh! Future us must have left this for past them, in the past, which is past us for them and us right now and the future for us!" At
this, Farnuk looked rather bewildered, but the Doctors understood it just fine.
"Farnuk, how-, how long did you say this was untouched?"
"Since the bank was built, so that would be 1474. The first vault built, so to speak, as a gift to the four who aided the Goblins in establishing the bank. You were never told this? I would have thought, being..." Farnuk shook his head. "Never mind. It
is of no concern. "
So this new development, or rather, slightly ancient, allowed for the Doctor to fill their pockets with enough money to buy school supplies, and then, a lot of somes. The ride back, after making sure the door was firmly relocked, was almost as eventful
as the first. There was a lot of waving around the sonic, and to their utter delight, albeit, lesser surprise, it still was as functional as their metallic sonic screwdrivers. While none of them were particularly skilled in using them as wands yet,
they all had at least managed some modicum of skill.
The quad exited the bank, with Nine producing the letter.
"Right, we've got sonic wands, imagine that! So cross those off the list...Telescopes and protective gloves, we can find in the TARDIS, better than anything they'll sell here. Not like we'll need them... Trunks, bigger on the inside, somewhere in the
TARDIS as well. There's got to be some...somewhere. Everything else, we'll have to buy."
"Split up, and get enough for all o' us plus whatever you want. Don't spend it all though. Sandshoes, books. Ears, the Apothecary. Chin, with me. I don't trust you to not go wanderin' down Knockturn by accident. We're going to the robes shop, so you two
meet us there when you're done shopping."
Twelve took charge with the air of a professional parent. With some grumbling at Twelve's assigned nicknames, they did split up, as even though they wouldn't admit it, if was a good plan.
Chapter 2! Split in two parts! Yes, I did abuse time travel rights to write an easy explanation without having to make up whatever for them to have money.
Anyway, I'm thinking of possibly changing the name? The only good one I really thought of was 'The General Misadventures of Four Time Lords at a Magic School', which is a bit long. If you have any other ideas, tell me!
