2 – The Goblin Rebellion

'Why do you want to come here?' asked the Doctor as the TARDIS stopped making a strange vrwoorrp, vrwoorrp, vrwoorrp noise. Hermione assumed that mean they'd landed. 'Nothing happened in 1612.'

'Nothing happened in the muggle world,' said Hermione.

'Muggle?'

'Non-wizard.'

'Oh.'

'For wizards, there was a goblin rebellion in 1612. The goblin population revolted against the way wizards and witches discriminated against their kind.'

'Goblin?'

'Humanoid creatures with long fingers and feet that stand at about four foot.'

'Right.'

'Anyway, we have to study the goblin rebellions at school, and I thought seeing them first hand would give me an edge. Also, the goblins were rebelling due to underrepresentation in the Wizengamot and because they were banned from having wands, and I thought maybe the house elves could learn something from their rebellion.'

The Doctor looked more than slightly puzzled at this stream of information. 'So…is that all fixed now?'

'No,' said Hermione. 'They're still underrepresented and they still don't have wands. In fact, there were more goblin rebellions in the 1800s, which also didn't fix anything. But the house elves could still learn a bit about standing up for themselves.'

Colin saw the look on the Doctor's face and jumped in. 'House elves are magical creatures wizards use as servants. Hermione wants to set them all free, but the thing is they like being servants. They don't want to be free.'

'That's because they don't know any better,' said Hermione crossly. She turned to the Doctor. 'House elves are pretty much slaves. They're not paid and they don't get holidays, and they beat themselves up when they do something wrong. It's awful, so I started an organisation called the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare which aims—'

'Spew,' said Colin, cutting in with a grin on his face. 'It's called Spew.'

'It's S-P-E-W,' said Hermione. 'Not Spew. Did you hear that from Ron? He's a member, he shouldn't be mocking it. He's always—'

'Look,' said the Doctor, opening the TARDIS doors. 'Goblin rebellion.'

'Oh, good,' said Hermione, walking over and looking out. The Doctor sidled over to Colin.

'Is she always like that?' he asked quietly.

'I'm not in her year,' said Colin, 'so I don't see her much, but yes. Yes she is.'

'Brilliant,' said the Doctor. 'Just brilliant.'

'Come on,' called Hermione. 'Let's go have a look around. Colin, you need to take lots of photos so that I can show the house elves.'

'You want to show the house elves pictures of goblins and wizards dying violent deaths?'

Hermione glared at him.

'Fine, fine,' said Colin. 'Don't worry. I'll take the pictures.'

Hermione nodded and looked back out the door. Colin and the Doctor joined her.

'Is that Hogwarts?' asked Colin, pointing.

The TARDIS was parked in a field near Hogsmeade. There were several columns of smoke rising from the little village, and every now and then there was the flash of a spell. Past Hogsmeade, there were a couple of towers that looked very familiar to the witch and wizard.

'Of course it is,' said Hermione. 'Hogwarts was founded in about 990AD, which was over 600 years before the goblin rebellion.'

'Wow,' said Colin. He raised his camera and snapped a picture.

'Let's go,' said Hermione, stepping carefully out of the TARDIS. The Doctor followed her, and then Colin, who held his camera in one hand and drew his wand with the other.

'What are you doing?' asked Hermione when she noticed the wand. 'We're not seventeen yet. We've still got the Trace on us.'

'It's 1612,' said Colin.

'So?'

'So even if I cast a spell and the Trace is active in this time, the Ministry of Magic is going to get a notification that some underage kid called Colin Creevey who they've never heard of, who isn't on any of their records, has cast a spell. They won't be able to track me down since I won't be born for over 400 years.'

'Well…maybe,' said Hermione. 'But what if it registers when we get back?'

'I'm currently standing in the middle of a vicious and bloody goblin rebellion. Honestly, I want more than a camera to defend myself with. Anyway, the Trace wasn't designed to cope with time travel.'

'Fine,' said Hermione, drawing her own wand. 'Maybe you're right. Still, don't cast a spell unless you have to.'

'I'm considering asking about everything you just said,' said the Doctor, 'but I think Hermione'd be talking for the next two hours if I did, so let's just go.'

. . .

The Doctor, Hermione and Colin ran through the streets of Hogsmeade. Around them, spells whizzed through the air and wizards and goblins yelled abuse at each other.

'What are all the coloured lights?' asked the Doctor as they rested against a building.

'Spells,' said Hermione, puffing after their mad dash.

'What do they do?'

'Depends on the spell.'

'Oh. That's useful.'

Hermione shrugged. 'The green ones are probably killing curses.'

'Great,' said the Doctor. 'How do you stop spells?'

'Shield spells, counter curses. You should probably just try and dodge them.'

'Hermione, where are we actually going?' asked Colin.

'The Three Broomsticks,' said Hermione. 'That's where the wizard headquarters for the rebellion were.'

'Is that far?' asked the Doctor.

'No. It's just in the next street. Come on.' Hermione led the way across the road.

'Wow,' said Colin, looking down the street. The sun was struggling to shine through the layer of smoke, giving everything a hazy look. Untouched buildings stood next to piles of rubble, and here and there bodies lay at odd angles. Further away, four goblins stood, outlined against a fire. Colin raised his camera to take a photo.

Meanwhile, Hermione was having a closer look at one of the bodies. 'Hey, this looks like Ragnok the Pigeon-Toed. He was an author as well as an activist. I've read some of his works, though most of them were burned by angry wizards.'

'What are you two doing?!' said the Doctor. 'Get behind cover.' He shoved Hermione towards the far wall as spells began to fly at the three of them. Apparantly the goblins further down the street had noticed them. The Doctor grabbed Colin's collar, pulling him across the street and behind a building.

'Hey,' choked Colin, 'you'll ruin my photo.'

'You can't stop and take photos in the middle of a rebellion. Especially not photos of the enemy,' said the Doctor.

'We're not the enemy,' said Hermione. 'We're just observing.'

'They don't know that. As far as they're concerned, you're over 5 foot tall and therefore not a goblin, so they're going to try and kill you. You two need to sort out your priorities. You can't admire the scenery or examine the bodies. War is dangerous, and awful, and innocents die all the time. Make sure you understand that.'

Colin started fiddling nervously with his camera. Hermione looked at her feet.

'The Three Broomsticks is this way,' she muttered, walking off. They followed her around the corner. She led them over to a building with what might once have been a sign hanging lopsidedly out the front, half of it blasted away. She tried the handle, but it was locked.

Hermione waved her wand and tapped the lock, saying, 'Alohomora.' The lock clicked and she led them inside, the door swinging shut behind them.

Inside, there were about a dozen wizards sitting in chairs or leaning against the wall. The looked like they were all exhausted, many of them sitting with their head in their hands or with their eyes closed. Three wizards were standing around a document-covered table in the middle of the room. One of them turned. He had deep bags under his eyes.

'Thank God you're here,' he said. 'They're winning.'