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Rowena began her tale.
"It begins, Doctor, with a mystery that refuses to be solved.
"When I awoke, I was under the stars, lying next to my companions. I was startled to find that I knew nothing of where I was. My cry awakened my companions, and together we attempted to make sense of our sylvan surroundings. There was not a tree or a rock that looked familiar. We were dressed in the peculiar attire of rich scarlet robes and elaborate hats.
"In fact, all we recalled was one thing. Our names... they echoed in our heads like a half remembered melody. Imagine our confusion when we examined our robes, and found simple sticks in the pockets! Long and short, black and white, all had one thing in common: they were warm to the touch, as if they had been lying in the desert sun. Yet the ground on which we lay and the air which we breathed was wintry. We used our mysterious knowledge to construct a basic habitation and a fire. Then we set off in search of other living beings.
"When first they saw us, the people of the nearby village ran in fear...and we realized how strange we must look, in our flowing red robes and cumbersome hats...So we returned to our humble dwellings and changed our attire into the more simple robes you see now, intending to return to reason with the villagers. Hardly had we done so than there was an immense crack, as if thunder itself had reached down to smite the earth, and a figure appeared. He introduced himself as a magician named Hengist. He had heard about the disturbance our presence had caused in the village, and he had come to investigate.
"After hearing our confusing story, and seeing the odd sticks we had discovered in our pockets, Hengist came to the conclusion that all five of us were wizards and witches."
"Five?" interjected the Doctor, roused out of his mesmerized listening. "There are only four houses, I thought?"
Rowena sighed. "There was one other. Ulric. But Ulric has forsaken our company, as part of the sad tale which I am relating. But that is later in the story."
The Doctor remembered the half-disassembled tent bearing the sigil of the wolf. That must have been Ulric's.
Rowena continued. "Over the next two years, he taught us how to manipulate the strange magical force we possessed. We progressed quickly. Our focus was undivided, for we were convinced magic is the art that would reveal the mystery enshrouding us. Soon we developed the skill to do whatever we wished, for the power came naturally to us...thanks mostly to Hengist's expert tutelage.
"Hengist is the heart and soul of the village we had entered into. It is the only village in all of this country that is solely home to Wizardkind. He invited us to live there with him, in his mansion in Hogsmeade - "
Hogsmeade! That was in the books! the Doctor remembered excitedly.
"But we refused. We felt alien, our presence strange among that peaceful village, although all its inhabitants were nothing short of welcoming. Our story carries the aura of foreboding, and we did not want to pass that onto them, so we remain in our lonely tents. But not for long, Doctor. We are sitting in the foundations of what may be the greatest creation of Wizardkind for centuries to come." Her eyes glinted proudly. Behind her, Helga smiled and Godric nodded triumphantly. "Hogwarts. A fortress that can harbor us and any we choose to accept in the study of magic. For we have no home, no family but each other, no wealth or wordly attachment. Nothing, in truth, but our magic-so why not devote our lives to it? It is a mystery greater than we ourselves are."
"In any case, we began the construction of Hogwarts. But no sooner had we laid the cornerstones than yet another mystery occurred." Rowena hesitated for the first time since beginning her story. "It is...difficult to describe, Doctor. Wondrous and terrifying. A hole in the fabric of the universe! A rent through which we can see...everything. When I am finished, we will show it to you...perhaps you can shed some light on this particular enigma.
"When we discovered this strange rip, we also found evidence of some enormous beast. The trail led from the rip into the forest, where we were unable to follow it. But it left a trail of destruction in its wake. Trees slashed to ribbons. The earth churned up. Creatures left pitifully dead.
"Then there appeared to us the image of a woman. She had hair as flame-red as Godric's - "
"-and as acerbic a tongue as Rowena's," mumbled Godric.
"She spoke, but not to us. Spoke words that sounded nonsensical to our ears. Not the language...but the terms." Rowena's silvery eyes bored through him. "Doctor, she spoke of stars and life and mountains raining fire. And something called a psychic paper. Then she flickered away."
The Doctor felt as if the stone floor were falling away underneath him. Donna. The one who had accompanied him through the stars, to the last day of Pompeii. Who was fascinated by and critical of his psychic paper. Whose standoffish attitude belied the unbelievably kind human inside. Whose hair he had always envied. His best mate, before he had had to wipe her mind of him. His mind refused to accept the possibility. He'd tried too hard to convince himself Donna was never coming back...
If it turned out Donna had not returned, if he gave himself false hope, his loneliness would be too much pain to bear.
He stood up quickly, interrupting Rowena as she began to continue. "Show me the rift," he commanded.
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After snagging Harry and Hermione, they, the Doctor, and the Founders, still minus Salazar, set off for the rift. The Doctor gave them the extremely condensed version of Rowena's story.
Hermione was stunned. "So 'A History of Magic' was completely wrong," she said in agitation.
Harry was no less shocked. "If they're not from earth...where are they from?" he muttered. "Doctor, are they from Gallifrey like you?"
The Doctor let out a brief, sharp laugh. "Harry, Gallifrey and Earth are two planets out of an infinite number. They could be from anywhere or anytime. Maybe they are from Earth, just in the wrong time. There's too many possibilities to be sure." He ran long fingers through his messy hair in frustration. "Too many mysteries," he muttered. Normally the potential of that would excite him, but for some reason it unsettled him. Perhaps because of the reminder of Donna.
"This is the place," announced Godric. His translucent green eyes caught the evening sun; he looked uneasy, which seemed an unfamiliar emotion to him. "You see, there is the destruction Rowena spoke of."
The Doctor examined the destruction before him. It looked as if a rampaging herd of Daleks had marched through, so great was the devastation to the forest. But what chilled him was the still bodies of the little creatures. A few feet away, a furry stoat lay unmoving. A little farther was a deer. Animals of all shapes and sizes, including what Hermione identified as an erkling, a moke, and a shrake. Their twisted bodies looked little different from the familiar Terran creatures in their identical rigor mortis.
Helga sniffled. "Poor little things," she whispered. "Not even a chance did they have. Bodies unmarked. It was a magical thing did this to them, make no mistake."
Godric turned from the scenes of death. "The rift is near as well."
They trod on in silence, reaching a low ravine. A gasping stream trickled tenaciously on through the valley of stones.
"Here," Godric said quietly. Harry and Hermione both inhaled sharply.
"It's beautiful," whispered Hermione in awe.
An immense, glowing...the Doctor wasn't sure how to describe. A rip? A hole? It was an empty space, edges luminous. Tendrils of light stretched out from it, shimmering in golden shades. It shone like the sun. Most fascinating were the scenes flickering in the middle. Other worlds. Other times. A pirate ship floating through the stars. An octopus-like creatures with two heads attacking a city. Gleaming white towers. A man holding the body of a child and weeping. Two armies marching on each other in a field of fire. A makeshift raft floating on a silent ocean.
The images lasted less than a second each, but the Doctor could sense a microcosm of eternity behind each. It reminded him a lot of the Untempered Schism young Gallifreyans were forced to stare into, although it was a lot less powerful. Some would be inspired, some would run away, and some would go mad... It was difficult to tear his gaze away. "Harry, Hermione," he hissed. Reluctantly they looked at him. "Don't stare into the rift," he told them. "Stare for too long and you'll go mad." Harry's eyes widened a little behind his glasses. Hermione looked utterly fascinated.
The Doctor turned to the three Founders. "This is where the beast – " he began, then the world exploded around him.
The only sound was a roaring that crashed onto his ears and beat on his body as he was thrown down the ravine. He hit one of the stones and then rolled to a stop, wincing. Above him, a dark shape twisted and screeched as it writhed its way down the ravine. He gradually became aware of horrible, drawn out screaming as his hearing adjusted.
"It's a basilisk!" he heard Harry yell in horror. "Don't look at it!" The Doctor quickly averted his eyes, remembering the killing gaze of the basilisk. All the dead bodies of the animals started to make horrible sense.
"How do we stop it?" the Doctor bellowed. He scrambled back as the shape swung its head towards him and roared. In the light of the rift, he could see its long, lithe body and heavy triangular head.
"Godric! Stab it with the sword!" Harry bawled.
"It's in my tent," Godric bellowed back.
"We have to disapparate!" Rowena cried. The Doctor saw her blurred outline turn, then stumble. "Something is blocking me! My wand is useless!"
Salazar, the Doctor realized. The snaky little traitor. He had set the basilisk on them, driven it 'halfway to madness', then blocked them from escaping. He edged out of the way of the basilisk, putting it between him and the rift, so that he saw it clearly in the light for the first time. His hearts beat with recognition as he saw the unique pattern on its hide.
It's a Roskralchinro! he realized. His mind churned at warp speed as the thing began slithering nearer. Native to the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius. Sensitive to sound. No wonder the description of the basilisk in Chamber of Secrets had reminded him of a Roskralchinro. They were one and the same!
He began to laugh madly at the sheer impossibility. "Make noise!" he bellowed. "As much as you can!" To his relief they did not hesitate.
The serpentine creature roared and shook its wedge-like head in agony at the sudden cacophony of sound. It tried to escape, only to have its way blocked by Rowena, who for all her cold gentility was howling like a one-woman symphony. The basilisk threw its heavy body to the side and fled up the ravine out of sight, keening.
Gryffindor pounded after it, but Helga stopped him. "Let the poor thing go," she advised. "It's half out of it's mind. Someone's been tampering with it, didn't you see the scars all over its back?"
"I was a little busy with the teeth," muttered Godric. "We have to warn Salazar." He started off for camp. Helga followed. Rowena paused by the Doctor and the two teenagers. Her hair was dishevelled, and her eyes still shone with a fierce battle-light.
"To finish," she said, "Ulric forsook us soon after we saw the image of the woman, claiming to have seen her somewhere before. Much as we recognized you, Doctor. I cannot put my finger on it, but your face strikes a chord somewhere deep, deep in my memory..."
With that, she turned and followed Godric and Helga. The Doctor faced Harry and Hermione. "We have to go."
Hermione nodded. "Let's find Ron." Harry put his arm around her in comfort, but far from desperation, she seemed extremely keyed up.
The Doctor nodded. "That too, but listen. That basilisk was...not from around here. It was from a different planet, called Raxa – well, never mind. The point is, how did it get here from there?"
Harry started. "That basilisk. It's the same one I faced. It's probably heading towards the castle, we have to warn them!"
"Never fear. I'm certain our good friend Mr. Salazar will take good care of it," the Doctor said grimly. "He tried to get us killed. Or, rather, his faceless master did." He filled them in about the conversation he had heard. "We need to find out who, why..."
"And we need to find Ron, Doctor," Hermione said anxiously. "That's most important."
The Doctor stopped talking. Of course Ron was most important. He'd gotten so caught up in this mystery that he had almost forgotten the most human element of it. "Of course. So, we know he's on Gallifrey, which is still impossible, love that impossibleness – "
"Doctor," Harry said. He was looking beyond him. The Doctor shut his eyes a brief moment. What now?
He turned to see the rift. It had stopped fluctuating between images and focused on one single image.
It was Donna Noble's face.
The Doctor was not aware of scrambling towards the rift. He did not remember falling on the rocks of the ravine and cutting his hands open. He did not remember Harry and Hermione's frantic questions.
All he could take in was that Donna Noble was looking at him, saying things that made no sense.
"No, but isn't that a bit weird? Agatha Christie didn't walk around surrounded by murders, not really. I mean that's like meeting Charles Dickens, and he's surrounded by ghosts, at Christmas..."
Then her image disappeared and once again fluctuated to alien scenes. All that was left was his shout of anguish. "Donnaaa!"
Okay so these are the details to remember: Red robes and hats. Ulric's disappearance. The founders only remembering their names.
Thanks to: rossaldinho7, lightningstrikesonce, Pikachu79, TR Wexler II, notwritten, and flyinglovegood123 for reviewing. It does mean a lot.
Next chappie up soon. Counting down to Rose Tyler's appearance!
Please review, darlings. It won't stop me from posting if you don't, but it only takes a second and it really helps a lot.
Love,
hogwartsharpist