I fear great apologies are in order. This chapter took me WAY too long to write, and I realize it's been over a month since I updated this story. I haven't forgotten, I've just been busy with school and such. Chapters will now be coming much more frequently, and I thank all of you who still read and review my stories despite the ridiculous time it has taken me to finish this chapter up.

Blah is two characters talking telepathically.

Chapter 13 Taal's Trial

Taal woke up with a start. She kept her eyes closed, forcing her muscles to stay loose and relaxed. She was dealing with Witches and Wizards here, and while she seemed to have all of her tech on her (apparently they weren't bright enough to remove her coat- maybe they had never heard of pockets being Bigger on the Inside), she didn't want to antagonize them and get herself into a worse situation that she would not be able to get herself out of. She was banking on the Doctor coming to save her, but she had a backup plan. But she needed to test a hypothesis before she could implement it.

So she observed her surroundings. She was in a cold, high backed chair made of what felt like stone, but it could have been just hard, cold wood. There was a slight unnatural chill in the air- Taal guessed that dementors were about, but she wasn't feeling any of the other effects of a dementor. She wondered offhandedly whether she'd be able to see them, considering she was a non-human and not even really a witch. She was in a large room, judging by the echoes, probably made out of stone as well. There was low, nervous whisper coming through the room from in front of her. She realized where she was, and her mind instantly painted a picture of the room.

She thought back to watching The Order of the Phoenix with the Doctor earlier that year. She would be in the room near the Department of Mysteries, the room where Harry was tried- would be tried- for doing underage magic the next year. She took some comfort for the fact that she had not been put in the cage-like trial seat Harry saw in the Pensive. Instead, she was simply sitting 'unconscious' in a chair, unbound, about to be tried for being the associate of a Death Eater. Which was, admittedly, not really that much better of a scenario to be in.

"I grow tired of this," a voice high above and in front of her called. She recognized the voice as that of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, "Wake her."

There was the sound of footsteps, and a wand was pressed to the base of her throat. "Ennervate." She was thrown to consciousness. A witch with short reddish hair and the black robes of the Wizengamot smiled almost apologetically before returning to her seat through Apparition. Taal glanced about. She had been right about there being dementors in the courtroom. They seemed to be completely ignoring her, oddly enough. Her emotions were probably far enough from human so as for them not to have any interest in her, a prospect which she liked as far as her chances of escaping increased greatly.

She looked up at Fudge, waiting for him to address her. Finally, he did. "You have been identified as Major Lynsing Maria Taal. We have no record of you as a witch in our database. You have been charged with knowingly and willfully aiding in the escape of the known Death Eater Bartemius Crouch Junior from Hogwarts custody, as well as traveling with him and, through guilt by association, of being a Death Eater yourself. How do you plead to these terms?"

Taal raised her eyebrows and leaned back on her chair, hands behind her head and legs crossed out in front of her. She looked completely relaxed. "I'm afraid that I must plead not guilty to those charges. All of them are false, because I'm afraid that I've never even met Mr. Barty Crouch Junior."

A nervous mutter broke out among the Wizengamot at Taal's bold statement. Fudge peered down at her, and she just stared back up at him, the innocent expression she had perfected after accidently caused the Doctor to lose control of the TARDIS and land in the middle of the ocean. Neither of them had been dry for a week afterward. Fudge cleared his throat. "So am I to accept your plea of not guilty?"

"Oh, it's not a plea, it's a fact." Taal responded quickly. "Use Veritaserum if you don't believe me. I have never met Barty Crouch Junior. I travel with the Doctor. I aided in his escape and in that of a Mister Jack Harkness from unlawful custody in the Hogwarts dungeons. And no one is less of a Death Eater than the Doctor. I doubt he can even do magic, and if he could, he would never even look at any spell that would cause harm."

"An eloquent speech, Miss Taal," said Fudge. "But I'm afraid that this man you call 'the Doctor' is not the man you think he is."

Taal leaned forward. "I think the fact is that the Doctor isn't the man that you think he is, Minister. He's an alien, as alien as I am. Have a medwizard or someone check me out; my biology is very different than someone who had drunk a polyjuice potion. Also, Minister, is Barty Crouch Junior not dead? As far as I know, he died in Azkaban." A lie of course, she knew exactly where Barty was- in Hogwarts under the name of Mad-Eye Moody. But Taal wasn't going to say that.

"That is immaterial." said Fudge. "The fact remains that this man matches every eyewitness account of Barty Crouch Junior, not to mention every single record that Ministry has. Deaths can be faked-"

Taal cut him off. "Then you say another has escaped from Azkaban."

Fudge went pale, but blustered on. "YES!" He shouted. "Sirius Black did it, why not Mr. Crouch?"

Taal had had enough of this now. She stood up, brushing off her coat. "Sirius Black is immaterial." She shouted back, enjoying the angry mutters breaking out among the Wizengamot for her daring to talk back.

"Immaterial? Immaterial?" cried Fudge. "Sirius Black is no such thing! Black is a known supporter of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, a criminal responsible for the deaths of twelve muggles and a wizard! He is dangerous and still at large!"

"Sirius Black is innocent! He escaped under completely different circumstances, namely the fact that he in an animgus. And Dementors don't work on animagi, do they, Fudge?" She smiled more broadly, showing her teeth. "Well? Why don't you bring one on and see what happens?"

Fudge looked at her like she was an insect, and actually snarled slightly deep in his throat. His face paled slightly, but he leaned over and his voice got dangerously quiet. "Do you realize what you're asking me to do? You're asking me to bring a dementor here, into the Wizengamot itself, just to prove a point."

Taal looked back at him calmly. "You're called wizards for a reason. Protect yourself with your sticks." She scoffed. "Or is a dementor- a creature supposedly totally under your control- too scary for the big bad Minister of Magic?"

He looked at her with anger, but he knew he had no choice but to accept her challenge. He pulled out his wand. "Patronus charms at the ready!" he bellowed, and the doors swing open. A single creature in a long tattered black cloak glided in. Taal looked at it with easy, finding that, except for the unnatural chill in the air, she didn't have any of the other affects of a dementor happening to her. It stopped when it was about three feet from her, cocking its head in an almost inquisitive look, like it was confused. Taal was confused too, but she didn't want to betray her feelings. She had just wanted to have the dementors in the room so she could escape long enough to test out a theory.

What are you? A small, oddly cultured voice said in the back of Taal's head. She jumped, and the voice hurriedly added, it's just me, the dementor. I'd rather they- the head of the dementor turned almost imperceptibly towards the wizards- don't know we're capable of this. The longer they think of us as dumb animals, the better.

Taal's eyes grew slightly wider, but she projected her thoughts towards the dementor as best that she could. I'm what's called a catperson. I'm not human, never was and never will be. Probably why your dementor-y happiness sucking powers don't work on me. My brain works quite a bit differently than the humans that you're used to dealing with.

The dementor glided forward slightly, and even with the hooded cape over its face, Taal could tell that it was sizing her up. Yes… I can see that I wouldn't be able to get anything from you, unfortunately. But why were you willing to take this risk? You could have been... not killed, but put out of commission, permanently. What could have possessed you to take such a risk?

The Doctor. Taal answered promptly. And I'm a risk taker. But I needed you in here so I could escape.

Escape? Asked the dementor. Its tone of voice went suddenly hopeful. If I help you escape, may I come with you?

Take you with me? Taal resisted clamping her hand over her mouth. While that may seem stupid to a wizard, this dementor and her seemed to have an understanding. Alright. This is how it will work. You distract them long enough for me to force the door, then keep them busy once I'm out for a half a minute.

And then I follow you, and you get me out of here, finished the dementor. Deal?

Fine. Can I call you something other than 'the dementor?" maybe… Danny? Danny the dementor. I like that… Taal thought, carefully concealing the fact that she'd have to leave him behind if her plan works.

A sound like dark chuckling filled her mind. Danny t is, then. I don't need you to take me with you all the way, you know. I just need you to get me to a lift or a door to the outside. I can take care of myself from there.

Alright Danny… Taal reached inside her jacket and rested her hand lightly on her wand, the incantation she had heard so many times in the book in her head. She tensed to run, then shouted, "GO!"

Danny the Dementor leapt forward, gliding at top speed right towards the Wizengamot. Taal pulled her wand out of her jacket, and shot the spell at the door as she ran. When she realized that the lock was holding, she pulled out her blaster and simply shot the door out of her way. She leapt through the hole, and stuck her head back in. "DANNY! Now or never!"

The dementor made one last swoop at the assembled wizards, and then followed Taal through the hole, which she quickly sealed up. I'll leave you now… said the dementor. I can see that you'll be fine without me, and if we split out, they'll split up. He started to glide off, but Taal grabbed the back of his robes, and found them surprisingly warm to the touch. What?

I just need you to do one more thing for me. Taal stopped as the dementor gave her a long look, then nodded. I don't need you to go looking for him, but if you see a man named the Doctor, an alien like me but who looks human, let him know I'm here, and that I'm alive.

The dementor looked at her for a long minute, and Taal feared he would refuse. But instead, he nodded his hooded head and swept off. She ran off down the corridor in the opposite direction, running deeper into the Department of Mysteries.