Six – Keep Calm, I'm the Doctor
In her bedroom back in Leadworth, Amy had a lot of things to showcase her personality. The walls were painted blue, to reflect the sky outside, because Amy wasn't one for confined spaces; one of them was covered in a collage of photos of her and Mels and the crazy fun times they'd had growing up; there were books of far away places and fairy tale adventures, fascinating Roman history and ancient myths; there were fairy lights strung across the headboard of her bed, so she'd always have the stars close by - and there was the Raggedy Doctor and his space ship, drawn on paper, made out of toilet-paper-rolls with a cardboard TARDIS, knitted out of wool and soft to cuddle with as she went to sleep and wondered if tonight he'd come back for her. It was her life, her childhood, a beautiful representation of everything she held dear.
Her room on the TARDIS was a bit less cluttered. There was a calendar on the wall that she used to mark not the dates – because that was just far too confusing - but the number of days she was with the Doctor; there was a wardrobe and chest of drawers against the back wall, filled with brand new clothes, and an old-fashioned full length mirror beside them; a glow-in-the-dark solar system (though not the one Earth was a part of) was stuck to the ceiling; her drawings, of the places they went and the people they met, were pinned on a gigantic cork board beside the calendar - and there was a bunk-bed, a big wooden bunk-bed with a ladder at the foot and two mattresses with two sets of crisp white sheets and two soft white pillows.
Why were there two beds?
Amy rolled over on the bottom bunk to gaze at her sketches, and found her eyes drawn to one in particular, from when the Doctor had taken her to Venice. It was just a simple sketch of the canals, nothing special, but she felt like there was something missing from it. Like she'd completely failed to capture the scene.
The thought just annoyed her though, so she swung her legs over the side of the bed and decided to forget about it. After all, there was a whole magical world – literally, magical - waiting for her just outside the TARDIS, so what did one niggling feeling really matter?
When she wandered into the TARDIS console room twenty minutes later she found the Doctor staring very intently at the screen, his eyebrows knitted into a frown and his lips pursed.
"What's up?" She asked, sashaying over to him and resting her chin on his shoulder.
"Good morning, Amy," he greeted, "Sleep well?"
Before she could get a good look at what he was actually doing, he pressed a few keys on the type writer and the screen went blank. Amy rolled her eyes at his secrecy and stepped back to let him turn to face her.
"Why did you give me a bunk-bed to sleep in?"
"Because bunk-beds are cool." The Doctor grinned.
"But it's got two beds, why would I need two beds?" Amy persisted. "Doesn't it seem like a bit of a waste of space…?"
"No, that's actually why bunk beds are great; they give you two beds in the space of one, plus you get to climb a ladder to reach your mattress! Isn't that awesome!" The Doctor tweaked his bow tie and cleared his throat. "Besides, space isn't really an issue in the TARDIS. Although we did lose a few rooms when we crossed the void, she must have had to burn them up -"
A knock on the front door cut his explanation short. He skipped down the steps to the door and flung it open, calling out a Hello! to whoever it was that had knocked.
"Hello, Doctor. I hope I haven't interrupted you," Amy heard Dumbledore's voice drift through the open door. "It seems that word travels fast here at Hogwarts; most of the students are here already, waiting patiently for you and Miss Pond to appear."
"Ah. Yes, I can see that." The Doctor craned his neck outside and gave a spirited wave.
Amy heard a sudden flood of whispers, and stepped down to the Doctor to see what was happening. She peered over his shoulder, and saw that the four long tables in the hall were filled with students, all wearing the same black robes that James had been in last night, and all staring intently at the TARDIS; some at the back were kneeling on their seats to try and get a better look.
"Shall we come and say hello?" The Doctor asked Dumbledore.
With an affectionate smile, Dumbledore nodded and stepped back. "Yes, I think that's a good idea."
So the Doctor and Amy exited the TARDIS and followed Professor Dumbledore up to a podium standing at the front and centre of the raised platform. The roar of whispers gave way to a reverential silence, and Amy raised her eyebrows at the Doctor, who quirked a brow and smiled reassuringly at her before turning to gaze out at the sea of faces below them.
Dumbledore took his place behind the podium and addressed the students in a booming voice, "We have some guests who will be staying with us for an indefinite amount of time. They may attend some of your classes, and please do cooperate and answer any questions they have." He turned to the Doctor and his companion and asked, "Would you like to say a short introduction?"
"Well it's lovely to meet you all!" The Doctor exclaimed, throwing his arms out wide, almost as though he wanted to hug the entire student body. "I'm the Doctor, this is Amy, and this is the TARDIS," he pointed to the blue phone box, "Stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Any questions?"
There was a moment of silence, where the students just gaped up at the strange man standing in front of them and pulling at his bow-tie; and then a boy with shaggy, black hair and a loose red tie called out, "Is it true that you're Evans from another dimension?"
Lily, who was sitting opposite the boy, scowled at him and hissed something that Amy didn't quite catch, but that seemed to be along the lines of, "I thought I told you not to say anything!"
Amy and the Doctor looked to Dumbledore for guidance on what to say, and when he nodded the Time Lord beamed down at the boy. "You believe in magic, yes? Yes, obviously, as you are magic. Right, well, I suppose you could think of this as another type of magic, if it helps, otherwise it might be a bit confusing – It's a bit confusing anyway, actually, I'm a bit confused and I'm the one actually in the story -"
"Doctor," Amy said warningly, gesturing for him to get on with it.
"Right, yes, sorry. Well. That is my space ship – it travels through time, too, very important, remember that – and Amy and I were in it when it was pulled through a crack in our universe and crashed here in your universe; in your school hall, specifically – love the ceiling, by the way," the Doctor explained, wiggling his fingers at the TARDIS and then up at the enchanted roof, which was now a nice light blue, although some grey clouds were still drifting overhead.
"A crack in the universe?" A girl from the table closest to Amy, which was filled with students wearing blue and silver ties, called out, clearly disbelieving.
"A crack in the universe!" The boy beside her repeated, looking as though Christmas had arrived early. "What's your universe like, is it much different to this one?"
"Uh, no, it's quite similar, but yes, there was a crack in the universe and something pulled us through here -"
"Something bad?" A small boy wearing a yellow tie, probably no older than twelve, interrupted the Time Lord with a shout.
"Uh, no, probably not… Maybe," the Doctor stuttered, rolling forward onto the balls of his feet and twiddling his thumbs. "It's a little bit not good, but not to worry -"
"Why should we believe what you're saying?" A pale, dark haired boy interrupted snidely.
The Doctor looked slightly taken aback by that, but before he had a chance to answer James was standing up at the table across the hall and calling, "Because it's the truth!"
"Yeah, there's another Evans standing up there, Snivellus! Thought you would have noticed that," the first boy to speak up shouted.
The Snivellus boy narrowed his eyes at Amy, who glared right back. "Have you never heard of Polyjuice potion, Black? I'd have thought that was at a level even you could understand -"
"And you think Dumbledore's just having a joke, do you?!" Black called out, rising from his seat in anger.
Instantly there were groups of students standing up at the red table and the green table and shouting obscenities at each other. The boy from the blue table who'd excitedly asked all those questions and his friends were yelling at the rude boy, too. Soon enough the whole hall was going to be in chaos. Amy watched in alarm as a few students drew their wands, and was just about to shout out herself when the Time Lord beat her to it.
"No one's joking here!" The Doctor declared, his voice full of authority with just the slightest tint of anger. Immediately the whole hall fell silent. "This is a serious matter, and with a war looming I'd expect all of you to be a bit more appreciative of the possible danger you're in."
"Very reassuring, Doctor," Amy muttered as the colour drained from the now silent and still student's faces.
The Doctor skipped down the steps and walked over to where Lily sat, gripping her shoulders and causing a light pink blush to spread over her cheeks. "Amy and I are not meant to be here, as having two Ponds in the one universe is too much." Amy rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest unappreciatively. "We need to find a way to get the TARDIS working again, but until we do, we all need to stay calm and work together, because it is possible, slightly, potentially, possible, that whatever brought us here has to do with Vold- sorry, You-Know-Who, and if that is the case then it is imperative that you trust me."
At the mention of Voldemort, the students seemed to realise the seriousness of what was happening. Most of them turned to glance at Dumbledore, who sombrely said, "The Doctor has my utmost trust. Whatever forces brought him here may indeed have a connection to the dark arts, so if there is anything we can do to help him, it will be done."
"Shouldn't we be worried, then?" A diminutive girl wearing a yellow scarf questioned, biting her fingernails.
At her words a fresh wave of panic broke out, with students asking if others could come through the crack too, or if they could be pulled through the other way, and why did the crack bring them to Hogwarts and what did this mean for the Quidditch match on Saturday?
Dumbledore raised a hand, and, obediently, the students quietened down again. "Do not worry. The matter is in very capable hands and will be rectified. Until then, life at Hogwarts will continue on as normal – Yes, Mr Potter, that includes Quidditch matches. We have taken steps to increase the security of the school, but none of you need to panic."
A girl at the blue table turned to her friend and whispered, just loud enough for Amy to overhear, "But how can we not panic if we don't know what the crack in the universe means? What if our whole world disappears!
"Your world is not going to disappear, so keep calm," the Doctor said brightly, smiling down at the girl, who looked embarrassed to realise he'd overheard her. "I'm an expert on universes, and cracks in them, and this will all be sorted in no time. Trust me; I'm the Doctor."
There was a beat of silence, and then the boy called Black asked, "So what do we do now, just go to class like everything's normal?"
"After an extended breakfast, class will resume as normal," Dumbledore informed him.
"I do wonder, Professor, if I could borrow James and Lily for a while. I've got some tests I'd like to run…" The Doctor asked.
Dumbledore nodded, and Lily and James shared a nervous smile.
"So, now that's all sorted," Amy stated, striding forward and looking expectantly out at the empty table tops, "You said something about breakfast, yeah?"
"Merlin!" A short boy beside Black breathed, looking impressed, "It's a Scottish Lily!"
James laughed, "As if her temper couldn't get any worse."
"Hey!" Lily and Amy said in unison, putting their hands on their hips.
"I'd watch it, Prongs," another of the boys sitting with them said, the corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk. "Who knows what two of them could do to you."
"Well -" James began, one eyebrow quirked up suggestively.
"Oh!" Lily gave an offended gasp and slapped him lightly on the cheek. A ripple of laughter broke out across the hall, with a few people cat calling.
"Ow! That was a bit harsh!" James said sulkily, rubbing his reddened cheek.
"That was totally fair," Amy said. "And now, I am starved!"
Dumbledore clapped his hands together and suddenly plates of food appeared on all the tables; pancakes and cereal, sausages and eggs and toast, jugs of milk and orange juice all wafting beautiful scents across the hall. Amy licked her lips and jogged over to where the Doctor still stood behind Lily, pushing him aside and sliding onto the bench next to her duplicate.
She started shovelling some scrambled eggs onto her plate, but before she could even have a mouthful the boy they called Black was leaning across the table and giving her a flirtatious smile.
"So your name's Amy, yeah? I'm Sirius Black," he greeted, holding out a hand.
"Hi," she said, shaking it.
"If you want a tour of the campus, I'm a bit of an expert -"
"Really, Sirius?" Lily sighed, "You're going to hit on my alternate self?"
"Yeah, that's sending some pretty messed up signals, Padfoot," James said, punching his arm.
"Did you wish really hard, James?" A boy with light brown hair teased, and then smiled across at Amy. "I'm Remus Lupin."
"Peter Pettigrew," the shorter, blonde boy beside Sirius greeted.
"Amy Pond," Amy said, taking a bite of eggs and toast, and then waving her fork over her shoulder, "And the Doctor."
"James and Lily told us that you're an alien," Peter said to the Doctor, "But you look human…"
"Nifty, isn't it?" The Doctor said, squashing himself down onto the seat between Lily and James; Lily seemed pretty pleased about this, while James looked a bit annoyed. "I look human, but I'm an alien. Two hearts, ability to regenerate – this is my eleventh body."
"You've had eleven bodies?! How old are you?" Sirius asked, incredulously.
"Nine hundred and something," the Doctor said, counting on his fingers. "I think. Hard to keep track, you know, with all of that time travel -"
Amy and the Doctor nearly jumped out of their seats when a soft, familiar voice said from behind them, "Maybe you should consider keeping a diary, Sweetie."
a.n. Cliff-hanger with the arrival of River, because I'm cruel. Absolutely all of the introduction/setting up/reaction stuff is done now.
Next chapter will have some one-on-one conversations between River/Eleven, Eleven/James and Amy/Lily. Exciting stuff.
But I have six assignments to do, so unfortunately I'm not sure when the next update will be. I'll try my best to not leave it too long!
Thanks for reading, I hope you're enjoying the story - please tell me what you think in a review!
Oh, and as a side note - I know in the DW universe HP exists as a book series, but for the sake of this story we're all just pretending that it doesn't. Kthanks. :)