Chapter Twenty One

When Harry awoke, it was in unfamiliar surroundings.

The room was deep purple, with bright, flashing lights, and spinning machine parts. Somewhere near the bed he was sleeping on, there were two people fighting.

One was a young girl, with dark hair, about fifteen. She was very short.

Another was a tall man, with a wide chin. He was wearing a bow tie.

"This wasn't what I meant, you know. I mean, we did technically just kidnap a child!" the girl seemed to be saying.

"Oh, don't worry, we'll put him back!" the tall man said.

She gave him a look, and shook her head. "You're a madman, you know that?"

He gave her a dopey smile, "Of course I am." He clapped his hands and gestured over to Harry. "Oh, look, he's waking up!"

Both of them were looking at him, now, and Harry wasn't quite sure what to do.

"He-Hello," he said.

"Hi," the girl said, with a bright smile, and a little wave of her hand.

"Hello!" the man said, clapping his hands. "It's nice to meet you, Harry. I'm the Doctor, and this is Rissa," he gestured to the girl next to him. "and this" he gestured to the room "is an alien spaceship. It's called the Tardis. Stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. It's a time machine. You with me so far?"

Harry nodded.

"Good. So," he continued, getting this big, dopey smile. "Anywhere in time and space. Where would you like to go?"

Harry was quiet, then asked, "Why me?" Harry was quite intelligent for his age. "I'm nothing special."

Rissa walked close to him, and knelt down by his side. "Harry, everyone's special, in their own way. And I'm sure you'll find out just how special you are." Her eyes twinkled. "In a couple of years."

"But for now," she said, straightening up. "You'll learn how special you are in the adventures we go on. Would you like to go to a different planet? Or go back in time? Or see the future?"

"I – I don't know," Harry said. "I can't decide."

"Who says you can't do both?" She said. She turned to the Doctor and said, "Let's take him to New Earth."

...

New Earth was amazing. And for once, we didn't run into any trouble. We walked around, explored the new world. We explained the situation of New Earth to Harry, how we moved to a different planet when our old one got to old.

He took it all in with starry eyes, smiling big.

When the day was done, we got back to the Tardis.

"Thank you," Harry said. "This was the best day of my life."

"No, it's not," the Doctor said gently. "With us, you'll have many more days like this!" He gave his big, dopey smile.

"But for tonight, we need to take you home," Rissa said gently.

"But…I don't want to go back," Harry said. He was fighting tears.

"Harry, you must stay with the Dursleys. It doesn't make sense now, but in about a decade, ten years, you will understand," Rissa said.

"But don't worry," the Doctor said. "We'll see you again tomorrow night."

Rissa whispered in Harry's ear. "Don't count on that. Chances are we'll overshoot to your next birthday. But you will see us again."

She kissed his forehead and walked him out of the Tardis.

...

Five minutes later, Vernon and Petunia heard that noise again. They rushed back to the front hall, where the blue box was again appearing and disappearing. It stopped, and the door creaked open. The same girl that they had seen earlier walked out, leading Harry by the hand. She led him back to his cupboard and opened the door. Harry settled in bed, and the girl tucked him in.

"Goodnight," they heard. "Happy Birthday, Harry."

The girl closed the door behind her on the way out. Then she turned to the Dursleys and said, "We need to talk."

...

The girl walked into the kitchen like she owned it. She sat down at the table and waited for them to sit down.

Once they were all seated, the girl said, "First things first. We didn't kidnap your nephew. Two, I don't think that you would really care anyway. After all, he is a wizard, and you hate being anything other than normal."

The Dursleys exchanged a look. Just who was this girl?

"Are you a wizard, too?" Petunia asked.

She smiled. "No. My friend, however, (the man with the bowtie) isn't exactly human. Because you see," she said, getting up from the table, "you should really stop worrying about Harry. And don't mention this talk to him. It will upset him. But leave him alone. Because you have bigger things to worry about."

She walked back towards the blue box. Petunia and Vernon hurried after her, desperate to understand what was going on.

"What do you mean, we've got bigger thing to worry about?" Vernon demanded.

"Well," she said, opening the door and leaning out. "I told you he wasn't exactly human. And it's true, you don't really have to worry about wizards anymore. Because my friend….is an alien." She paused to let that sink in. "And just know, we'll be watching you. I suggest you treat Harry better...or face the consequences."

Then she brought the rest of her body back inside the blue box, and the door clanged shut.

And the blue box disappeared, almost as if it was never there in the first place.