Two - The Time Turner

"It's real?" Rory said, gaping. "Hogwarts, and magic, and - and Harry Potter, it's all real?"

Amy nodded, only half paying attention to his wonderment. She was distracted by trying to keep up with the Doctor, who was striding across the grounds towards the doors of the entrance hall. He turned his head back and hissed, "Quiet, Rory! We can't disrupt the timeline by sharing knowledge of the future. Can we, Amy?"

She ignored his pointed stare and mumbled something about falling out of pockets, not her fault. Rory looked perplexed.

Even more confused than Rory were the students they were passing. There were clusters of them spread out around the grounds, enjoying the sunshine, and as the three strangers walked by they turned to stare. Amy guessed that they hadn't seen people in muggle clothes casually strolling across campus before. The Doctor waved at a group who were being particularly blatant with their staring, and they looked stunned. Some immediately turned their heads away, some toppled onto the grass in their haste to get a better look, and some hesitantly waved back.

Rory waved too, until Amy slapped his hand down, feeling uncomfortable about all the attention. "Stop that."

"Just being friendly," he muttered, rubbing the back of his palm.

They came to the entrance hall, a small crowd of students trailing them at a distance, and a stern voice greeted them. "Good to see you've arrived in one piece."

They all turned towards the voice, and a woman dressed in emerald green robes stepped in front of them.

"McGonagall!" The Doctor cried, flinging his arms wide. She leant back slightly, anticipating a hug, but the Doctor merely beamed at her. "Are you the one who invited us? I was a little surprised when the TARDIS landed, I'm awfully curious about how you managed to reach us. I guess there's been some new developments?"

Her lips twitched up in a smile. "There have indeed, Doctor. If you'll follow me, Albus would like to talk to you in his office."

The Doctor glanced at Amy and Rory, who nodded. They started following McGonagall, and were forced to stop abruptly to avoid running into her when she turned around to glare over their heads. They looked back to see a pale, blonde boy with a pointed face behind them.

"Can I help you, Mr Malfoy?"

The boy stepped back. "I was just -"

"Going outside to enjoy the sunshine, yes, that's exactly what you should do." McGonagall continued glaring at him until he disappeared down the steps outside, and then she swept imperiously up the stairs without another word.

Amy shared a look with Rory and the Doctor, and then hurried after her. She brought them to a large gargoyle and muttered something that Amy didn't catch, because as soon as they stopped Rory leant over and whispered in her ear, "How is this real? How can books be real?"

Amy whispered back, "I don't know. I guess everything's real in a parallel universe, somewhere. We're probably a telly show in some universe."

They chuckled quietly, and then followed McGonagall up the stairs into Dumbledore's office. Little had changed since the last time Amy had been in the circular room. The trinkets were still there, puffing smoke and twirling, the portraits were still full of moving figures, bustling about in their frames and pointing at them. The Doctor let out a gleeful whoop when he saw Fawkes the Phoenix, who was currently a brilliant red. The bird squawked and fluttered his wings.

Dumbledore smiled warmly at them. "Hello, hello, come in! How was your journey?"

"Not too rough," the Doctor replied, stooping to give Fawkes a pat. "Nifty trick, that."

The Headmaster's eyes shone. "I thought you might like it."

"Are you going to tell me how you did it?" The Doctor straightened and gave Dumbledore a shrewd look. The Professor stayed silent. "Thought that might be the case. Not to worry, I'll figure it out soon enough."

"I see you've brought another traveller," Dumbledore deftly changed topics, turning his smile to Rory.

"Ah, yes, how rude of me! Dumbledore, this is Rory Williams. Rory Williams, Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts."

Rory stepped forward to shake Dumbledore's hand, grinning. "Hello, Professor." Once Dumbledore had turned away, Rory looked at Amy and pointed at his hand, silently shouting. I just shook hands with Dumbledore! he mouthed.

She tried not to laugh as Dumbledore shook her hand. "Pleasure to see you again, Miss Pond."

"You too, Professor."

Pleasantries exchanged, Dumbledore took a seat behind his desk and gestured for the others to do the same. Amy was only mildly surprised to see that while there had been empty carpet behind her a moment ago, there was now an elegant chair. She sat, and Rory and the Doctor did the same, though the Doctor's foot tapped anxiously against the leg of his chair.

"So, down to business then?" he said.

Dumbledore nodded. "I have a favour to ask of you. Are you familiar with time turners?"

The Doctor's back straightened and his eyes narrowed. "They're a bit of a relic, but I've seen them before. Studied them, back on Gallifrey."

"One of our students, a particularly bright young girl by the name of Hermione Granger, is looking to take an amount of classes this year that would be impossible without the use of time travel."

"She wants to take so many classes that her timetable overlaps, and you're going to let her use time travel to do so?"

Dumbledore's gaze remained steady behind his half moon spectacles. "If it were any other student, Doctor, I assure you we would not allow it. As it is, Miss Granger is remarkable - the brightest witch of her age. I believe that while it will be challenging, she is equipped to handle the pressures. In fact, she may be better for it."

"Time travel is dangerous," the Doctor said. "You need training and practice and... and years of dedication to the craft before being trusted with such a monumental responsibility!"

"We are unfortunately pressed for time," Dumbledore said softly.

Rory laughed softly at the pun, but when McGonagall shot him a look he immediately quietened.

"Perhaps you should meet the girl for yourself," Dumbledore offered. The Doctor nodded, his expression and posture petulant. "Professor McGonagall, could you please fetch Miss Granger for us?"

McGonagall disappeared. In her absence Dumbledore offered the visitors some sherbet lemons. They were eating the treats when McGonagall returned with a student in tow. The girl had a wild mane of bushy hair and slightly bucked teeth, and she looked apprehensively at each of the strangers in turn.

"Miss Granger, I'd like you to meet our guests - This is Rory Williams, Amy Pond and the Doctor."

"Doctor of what?" she asked, more confidently than Amy had been expecting.

"Oh, a few things," the Time Lord said, swinging out of his seat and over to her. He clasped one of her hands in both of his and shook it, smiling kindly. "So, brightest witch of your age - what an honour."

Hermione blushed a little at that, looking down at her feet. "Oh, I -"

"No need for modesty," the Doctor said. "You're going to need confidence if we're going to go through with this."

"You're going to go through with it?" Amy asked.

"They need our help, Amy," the Doctor said.

She wanted to argue, wanted to protest that this wasn't how it happened, that she was pretty damn sure there hadn't been any mention of Hermione having help from a Time Lord in the books - but, then again, though the writing on Lily and James's time at Hogwarts was brief, she was pretty certain there hadn't been any daleks included in their story. Maybe the Doctor was right, maybe they had to stay. Maybe this wasn't breaking the timeline, maybe this was causing it.

"Do you know a lot about time turners?" Hermione asked.

"They're not my favourite mode of time travel, but they'll do in a pinch," the Doctor replied.

McGonagall's lips pressed into a thin white line as Hermione gasped. "There are other modes of time travel?"

The Time Lord realised his mistake and scratched his cheek nervously. "Well, uh, yes, a few, but - ah, none that we have access too and the time turner really is a fine little contraption, quite remarkable and more than suitable enough for just getting you from one class to the next."

"And the next," Rory added.

The Doctor clapped his hands together. "Yes. Right. So, where is it?"

Dumbledore produced a small hourglass on a necklace from his desk drawer.

The Doctor's eyes lit up when he saw it, the gold glinting as it span in a slow circle. He crowed, "Beautiful! May I?" He took the device from Dumbledore with reverence. "Oh, it's even engraved. 'I mark the hours, every one, Nor have I yet outrun the Sun. My use and value, unto you, Are gauged by what you have to do.'"

Hermione's jaw had dropped. She looked slightly apprehensive, but also determined. When the Doctor passed the time turner onto her she held it in her hands and stared at it, seemingly forgetting everyone else in the room.

"As we discussed, Miss Granger, this must remain absolutely secret. You cannot tell anyone at all about this. The Ministry was hesitant about granting you this permission, and we mustn't do anything to arouse suspicion," McGonagall said.

Hermione nodded.

"Ah, yes, I'm afraid there's a bit of paperwork for you, too, Doctor." Dumbledore again reached into his drawer, this time pulling out a rolled up sheet of parchment. He passed it to the Doctor and it unfurled, the end rolling down, down, down and curling over his boots and onto the carpet. "The laws surrounding time turner use."

The Doctor grimaced. "Rules. Of course."

"Once you've read and signed that, you can get on with helping Miss Granger learn how to manage the responsibilities of being a time traveller."

"We shall be holding on to the time turner until then," McGonagall explained, taking the device back from Hermione and dismissing her.

She gave Amy a searching look just before she exited.

"And I believe that is quite enough to be getting on with," Dumbledore said. "Beds have been arranged for you, as I'm presuming that the TARDIS is not parked in quite so easy a location to access this time around."

Amy's chair disappeared as soon as she stood.

The Doctor glanced up from the contract and said, "It's out by the forest, so beds here might be more convenient, sometimes. I don't like to leave her alone for too long, of course."

Dumbledore appeared understanding. "Of course. You're more than welcome to stay wherever you choose. I must ask though, that Miss Pond and Mr Williams try not to attract too much attention. I'm afraid that their resemblance to Harry's parents might be a cause for concern. We'll have to consider how to introduce him to this concept before introducing him to you, personally."

"Yeah, sure, of course," Amy agreed. Rory's mouth had dropped open again. Oh, she really had a lot to explain.

"Professor McGonagall shall lead you to your quarters, and I will see you in the morning to discuss things further."

And that was that - they were going to be teaching a thirteen year old how to time travel at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At least things couldn't get as weird as the last time they were here... Amy hoped not, anyway.

a.n. sorry.