AN: Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. I went away with my family for Easter, then I got hit with a whole lot of schoolwork. I should be updating more frequently from now on.

4 – Diagon Alley

The TARDIS wheezed to a stop and instantly, someone was banging on the door. The Doctor walked over and pulled it open, revealing a flustered-looking Hermione clutching a very large book.

'Doctor!' she said, opening the book and showing him a page. 'I'm in my history book.'

'What?' said the Doctor, trying to figure out which part of the page he was meant to be looking at.

'Look!' said Hermione, jabbing at a paragraph near the top.

'Here, come in,' said the Doctor, stepping out of the way and taking the book off her. She stepped inside as he read the offending paragraph.

The Ministry of Magic thought a peaceful resolution to the goblin rebellion impossible, but at the military base of operations in Hogsmeade, fighting was at its height and both sides were tired of the death. Advice from three travelling wizards, Hermione, Colin and an unnamed doctor, led to a peaceful resolution when the goblin leader, Urg the Unclean, signed a treaty with the wizard leader, Fairfax. The treaty was forwarded to the Ministry of Magic and signed by the Minister himself.

'Unnamed?' said the Doctor. 'I gave them a name. This always happens. Why can't you humans accept that 'the Doctor' is a perfectly reasonable name?'

'That's not the problem,' said Hermione.

'I think it's a problem,' said the Doctor.

'The problem,' said Hermione loudly, 'is that I am in my history book. What do I do?'

At that moment Colin entered, swinging the TARDIS door shut behind him. 'What's going on? I heard yelling from half a block away.'

'Colin, we're in A History of Magic,' said Hermione.

Colin grinned. 'Really? Let me see.'

'Second paragraph,' said the Doctor, passing him the book.

'Awesome,' said Colin after he read the paragraph. 'I'm in my own history book.'

'Firstly, that's my history book,' said Hermione. 'Secondly, this is in no way 'awesome'. What if someone realises its us?'

'Think about it, Hermione,' said Colin. 'Someone reads this. Which do you think is more likely? That they immediately assume that it must be Hermione Granger and Colin Creevey, two students who have barely spoken, who have somehow managed to travel back in time? Or that its just someone named Colin and someone named Hermione who happened to be there?'

'Well, maybe,' said Hermione. 'But still, we can't afford to have our names cropping up in history books all the time. We have to be more careful.'

'Fine,' said Colin. 'We'll be careful.'

'Actually, Doctor,' said Hermione, 'I was wondering, how does this actually work? I mean, A History of Magic has changed, but I can remember that it wasn't always like that. How come we can just go around changing history?'

'Time isn't a straight line,' said the Doctor. 'It's all bumpy-wumpy. Most of it is in a constant state of flux, meaning it can be changed. History is being changed all the time, all around us, only people never know. Being a time traveller means you can see it happen. None of your classmates will know anything has changed. As far as they're concerned, the goblin rebellion always ended in a treaty.'

'I want to see what it says in my textbook,' said Colin. 'Plus I need to buy them before school starts anyway. Can we go to Diagon Alley?'

'Where?' said the Doctor.

'Diagon Alley,' said Colin. 'It's where we go to buy all our school stuff.'

'I've never heard of it. Is it in London?'

'Yep.'

'Show me on the scanner.' The Doctor walked over to the console and flicked a couple of switches, bringing a map of London up on the scanner.

Hermione and Colin looked at the map. 'It's about here,' said Hermione. 'You get to it through a pub called the Leaky Cauldron on Charing Cross Road. We could walk there.'

'We could,' said the Doctor. 'On the other hand…' He walked around the console, pushing buttons. Then he pulled a lever and the TARDIS began to move. It was moving in its normal jolty way when suddenly it jerked violently, sparks shooting from the console.

'What was that?' said Hermione, getting up from where she'd landed on top of Colin.

'Diagon Alley,' said the Doctor. He pulled out a hammer and started hitting parts of the console before he threw a lever. The TARDIS jerked, spun and yet more sparks came shooting out of the console.

'Come on,' said the Doctor. 'What's the matter?'

The TARDIS groaned and landed.

'Did we make it?' asked Colin, helping Hermione off him for the second time.

'No, we're back where we started,' said the Doctor. The three of them looked at the console, which was smoking slightly.

'Fine,' said the Doctor. 'We'll walk.'

'Here we are,' said Hermione, coming to a stop outside the Leaky Cauldron.

'Right,' said the Doctor. 'Wait, where's the pub?'

'I keep forgetting you're a muggle,' said Hermione. 'It's that really broken down building. It's got a spell on it to stop muggles from seeing it for what it really is.'

The Doctor looked at the building. He pulled a pair of reading glasses out of his pocket and looked at it again. Then he pulled a strange metal object out of his pocket and pointed it at the building, pressing a button. The object lit up with a green light and made a buzzing noise.

'What's that?' asked Colin.

'It's a sonic screwdriver,' said the Doctor. He turned it off and looked at it, then took off his glasses and pointed it at them instead. He put the glasses back on and smiled. 'I can see the pub now.'

'Really?' said Hermione.

'Yep. There's a sign there that says "the Leaky Cauldron".'

'How did you do that?'

'With some impressive jiggery-pokery. Let's go.'

Hermione shrugged and led the way into the pub. They walked through a dim room and out into a courtyard. Hermione tapped a brick on the wall, which then opened to form an archway. The Doctor looked down Diagon Alley.

'Wow,' he said. 'You know, in twelve hundred years of time and space, I've never seen anything like this.'

Colin shrugged. 'It's just a marketplace for wizards. Come on. I have to get money out of Gringotts.'