Author's Note:

Chapter two is here! If you've made it this far, I thank you greatly and know if you were standing beside me I'd envelop you in a phenomenally large hug. Please feel free to review! I grow on them all, just please be nice :) But if you don't review, that's okay too.

Dedicating this chapter to the life and death of Amy Pond & Rory Williams, even though it occurs way before they do and even before the Eleventh Doctor.

I unfortunately, do not own anything related to Doctor Who or Harry Potter, sadly.

Go forth and read my darlings!

Chapter Two

"You've got to be joking." Rose flipped around to face the Doctor. "We're at Hogwarts? We're actually at Hogwarts?" She flipped again to face the castle. "You can't be serious."

"Actually, I'm quite serious. Albus and I are old friends." The Doctor put his hands in his pockets and rocked in satisfaction.

"Honestly? For real? This isn't some joke or anything?"

"Absolutely not. Go look for yourself."

Rose screamed, running wherever she could. Running towards the Whomping Willow, which was definitely what she thought it originally was. Towards the Black Lake, where the Great Squid reigned over its icy depths. She didn't care where she went, because she was at Hogwarts!

"Are you done now?" the Doctor asked, laughing at her inner child once she fell to the ground in excitement. "I mean, if you're not, I could always just, well, wait." He cringed at the idea. What was the point of having a TARDIS if you had to wait all the time?

"It's just so – so – so wonderful!" Rose screeched, picking up some of the fallen leaves on the ground and throwing them up in the air. "I'm at Hogwarts!" She ran over to the Doctor and nearly ran him down with the hug that pursued. "You are the best mate ever!"

"I'm glad to hear it," the Doctor said with a smile. "Do you want to go inside?"

"We get to go inside?" Rose exclaimed, the shock of the moment clearly evident on her face.

"Well of course we get to go inside – that's the point of coming, isn't it?" The Doctor held out his hand, which Rose graciously took. "Let's have a look then, shall we?"

They started off towards the great looming castle. No matter where she looked, Rose always saw something new. A new turret, a new window, the Forbidden Forest, and if she looked carefully, she could see the plume of smoke that was for sure coming from Hagrid's cabin.

"Wait," she said, stopping in her tracks. "What time are we?"

"Time?" asked the Doctor. "Well it's still your birthday, isn't it?"

"I don't mean our time, Doctor," she exasperated. "I mean, well, Hogwarts time. What decade is it? What year?"

"Oh! Well, I don't know really. I suppose…" He trailed off, licking his finger and placing it in mid-air, as if testing the wind. "I think...I believe we are approximately..ah yes! We are in – 1996, I think. Yes. September. First, if I'm correct."

"September first? Well that means the students just got here. They actually walked just here, only hours ago!"

"Not quite hours ago, I don't think. Only just recently. In fact," he muttered, squinting at the largest windows on this side of the castle, "I think the welcome back feast is about to start. Shall we join them?"

Rose beamed. "Oh please," she gushed. They set on their way up to the great castle. "But please, tell me more! How did you know I wanted to go here?"

"Not that hard, really," he teased. "You are reading the books all the time, and the way you treat them, well, it was easy to put two and two together. Besides, it is lovely here. Hardly changed."

"You've already been here?" asked Rose, curious indeed.

"Well, yes," the Doctor admitted. "Quite some time ago actually. I think it was even before Albus became headmaster…back when he was still the Transfiguration teacher. Oh, that was so many years ago, it will be good to see the old chap again."

Rose gaped at the Doctor in awe. She knew he was brilliant, marvellous, astounding, but there was so much more to him than she could ever imagine! Dumbledore! He was friends with Dumbledore! It was almost too much to take in all at once.

"And Harry?" she asked. "What about Harry?"

"Harry? Oh, Harry! Harry Potter! Well, I suppose he'd be in there too then, seeing as it's not quite – well he hasn't…" The Doctor stopped himself. "Mustn't give away the ending!" he quipped. "You're only on…book six, yes? Best keep it there. Don't want to spoil it!"

"Oh come on Doctor, please?" Rose begged. "You know how book six ends…I can't possibly bear waiting!"

"Tell you what, as soon as we're done here, we'll nip up to 2007 and get book seven for you, how's that?"

"Oh that would be wonderful, Doctor, thank you!"

They were nearly at the castle; Rose could almost feel the magic that was oozing out of it. "If we're in 1996, Harry hasn't found the Half-Blood Prince's book yet, right? This is their sixth year?"

"Yes, that's right. We're here at the start of term, nothing special will have happened yet. Good, you can have your own adventures! No need to go meddling in someone else's."

Rose was won over by her emotions. "I just can't believe we're here!" she chirped. "Right now, at this very moment, Harry Potter is in that Grand Hall! And Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy, Hagrid…all of them! Here!"

"Rose Tyler, I can honestly say I have never seen you this excited."

"Well, imagine if you got to visit the land of your childhood!"

The Doctor was silent. Rose looked up at him, and his eyes had glazed over, like his was off in his own little world.

"Doctor?" she quizzed.

"Yes, Doctor, right, that's me," he perked, out of his dream state. "Nothing to worry about, just got lost in thought there for a minute."

They had finally reached the castle doors. They were gigantic, way larger than Rose ever expected them to be.

"Do we – knock?" she asked.

"Well, let's not, we don't want to interrupt the sorting." He took his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and, carefully avoiding the wood (because the sonic doesn't do wood) he unlocked the great locks that bound the doors shut.

Like magic, they opened with a few clicks. The Doctor tucked away the screwdriver, then expertly opened the door and gestured for Rose to enter first. She did, as did he, and the door was promptly shut behind them.

Rose could only ogle in awe. She was in Hogwarts. She was actually in Hogwarts. It was beyond imaginable. She could barely wrap her head around the fact that great wizards and witches alike were right through the doors into the Great Hall. She could barely wrap her head around the fact that there was a Great Hall. House elves below them, cooking away, preparing all the food that would soon adorn the house tables. Ghosts! She had seen ghosts before, travelling with the Doctor, but these ghosts…Sir Nicholas, The Bloody Baron…they were all here.

"Are you the Doctor?" asked a voice. Rose turned about, as did the Doctor. They came face to face with a thin-face woman, complete with wrinkles, dressed in emerald robes and her head topped with a proper witch's hat.

"Yes! And this is my companion, Rose," he answered, holding out a hand for the professor to shake.

"Yes, well, please ask her to accompany you while following me. You'll have a brief meeting with Professor Dumbledore before you enter the feast and prior to the sorting."

They followed her. "It's Professor McGonagall!" Rose whispered excitedly, while hanging on to the Doctor's arm. "And we're meeting Professor Dumbledore! Wait," she paused. "What did she mean, prior to the sorting? I thought you said it was already going on?"

The Doctor shushed her and winked; he was full of surprises. He pulled her along until they entered a brightly lit study-like room filled with over stuffed chairs accompanied by a cheery fire, crackling away.

"You're late," remarked Professor McGonagall. "I'll get the headmaster and let him know you've arrived…just stay here for now." With a twist of her wand that made a log of wood sacrifice itself to the fire, she left in a twirl of emerald robes.

Rose looked around. It was a peculiar room, but she liked it. It had just the right balance of big and small, and it felt like the TARDIS, in a way. She wandered around, inspecting all the portraits and giggling when they complimented her. Then she remembered.

"Doctor," she commented, whirling around to face the suspicious timelord. "What did she mean, prior to the sorting ceremony? I know you said it was ongoing already, I wasn't that excited. Doctor?" She snapped her fingers.

"Yes!" he said snapping back into reality yet again. "Well, that's a bit of the surprise part. You'll see," he smirked.

"Yes, you definitely will," boomed a new voice, one filled with wisdom and experience. Rose turned toward the source, and came face to face with the greatest wizard of all time. "Hello, Rose, how nice to finally meet you."

Rose gaped. She couldn't help it. Never in a million years would she ever imagine being this close to Albus Dumbledore. She froze, mouth open, until she had the sense to close it out of respect for the old gentleman.

"Rose," the Doctor prompted.

"Right! Er, hello Professor. Nice to finally meet you as well."

The headmaster chuckled. "Well, it's nice to see you have a bit of spunk in you. I like a bit of spunk. And that the Doctor is no longer travelling alone," he noted in the Doctor's general direction.

"It does get a bit lonely," the Doctor admitted.

"Well, that's all in the past now," said Dumbledore. "Best to forget those dark times." He sat in the biggest chair, a fair distance away from the fire. "Best keep away from the flames, Rose," he hummed. "Don't want the beard to catch."

Rose giggled; she never imagined that Dumbledore would crack jokes like this. However, there was a tone of seriousness in his voice as he brushed his long white beard to the side opposite the dancing flames.

Finally sitting comfortably, the Doctor and Rose settled in to hear what Dumbledore had to say. Rose paid close attention, she was sure that any minute, any sentence could be genius.

"Well," Dumbledore chirped. "Welcome to Hogwarts! And how are you enjoying it so far?"

"Fine sir," Rose replied. "Although we haven't been here all that long."

"Ah, yes! Well, that will soon change. Doctor, how are you? You've regenerated I see."

"Yes, a few times since we last met, actually. It's been quite some time, hasn't it Albus! You've gone white now; no more ginger."

"Hair color change does come with old age," said Dumbledore, stroking his beard fondly. "Although, I can't say I don't like this change…there's something peculiar about white. I think it suits me."

"It does indeed," quipped the Doctor.

"Well, enough about my age, Rose Tyler, I've got some good news for you." Dumbledore had a twinkle in his eye, not unlike the one that now returned to the Doctor's as well.

"Yes?" asked Rose.

"The Doctor here has told me that you are quite a fan of the wizarding world," Dumbledore express. "Oh I know about the books," he explained, acknowledging the puzzled look on Rose's face. "I always knew there were other dimensions and universes out there; I'm not surprised that in one of them, our world is just a story." His face sparkled. "Nevertheless, you are a fan of it, correct?"

"Oh yes sir," Rose chirped. "I absolutely love them."

"Well then, wouldn't you like to explore our world?"

"I would love to, sir, but being here is enough already."

"Enough already! Well, there's more than enough here. All over the place. Places to be found, secrets to be unlocked, you name it. There's not a single person in wizarding history that has explored every inch of this castle, myself included."

Rose turned to the Doctor; he was beaming. "Doctor…what's going on?" she asked, puzzled.

"I have arranged," Dumbledore interjected, "For you and the Doctor to stay here for a day or two."

"Really?" inquired Rose, whipping around to look at the Doctor.

"Really really," he replied. "And you know what else?"

Rose raised her eyebrows in response to the inquisition.

"You get to be sorted into a Hogwarts House."

Rose gasped. It can't be! Could it? She looked back at Professor Dumbledore, who nodded.

"You will be sorted into your house this evening, take part in the welcome feast, and then stay the night in the dorm room of the house you've been sorted into. Tomorrow you will attend classes in the morning, accompanied by one of the students, and then in the afternoon you will be able to watch a friendly Quidditch match we have set up in your honour."

Rose continued to gape. To be at Hogwarts was one thing; to participate in its actual day to day life? Now that was a dream come true.

"Thank you so much sir," she grinned, taking his hand and shaking it rather harshly.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Now hang on a minute Rose," he chimed, "I'm not quite finished yet. After the Quidditch game, you are again allowed to stay in your dorm, then the next day you will visit Hogsmeade with the rest of the students before your departure. Now, how does that sound?"

"It sounds absolutely lovely Professor."

"All right then! Now that that's settled, let's get you sorted."

They got up, Rose grabbing onto the Doctor's arm and following the headmaster out of the room into the entrance hall once again. Soon enough they were approaching the entrance to the Great Hall, beyond which lay the sorting hat and Rose's destiny as a proper Hogwarts student, even if only for a day or two.

"Thank you so much Doctor," she whispered, placing a kiss on his cheek. "This is definitely the best present ever."