The Man and His Box continued.

Chapter Two- Magic and Mayhem

Something in Harry’s brain clicked.

 Who where these people to come into his common room? Who was the strange Darlek that shot Neville? Clearly the Darlek wanted this ‘Doctor’, and it was his fault that Neville die-.
 Harry would not let himself think that last word. Instead he leapt on the man, and started to claw at him, to try and rip him apart, to cause him as much pain as Harry felt.

But this Doctor did nothing to stop the attack. He had seen the body on the floor as he stepped out of his box, and his quick mind had come to a conclusion. The correct conclusion as usual.

Rose cried out and tried to pull Harry of him, but Harry snarled at her like a wild animal and kicked out at her. That of course stirred some emotion in the man. He stood up, and brushed Harry off him as if he was nothing but a troubling fly. He held Harry at arm’s length, and again those deep brown eyes met the bright green ones. Expect this time, the brown ones held no hatred of fear. Only sadness. Such grief and loss, and a bland nothing that hurt to see.

Harry seceded his attack, and only stood in this man’s arms, holding his gaze. Then he broke away.

Turning to face the body of his friend, he whispered, ‘Who are you?’

The strange man sighed, and sat down in the chair that Neville had occupied only an hour previously. His friend, Rose the beauty, sat on the table, facing away from the fire, leaving the other comfy armchair for Harry. She looked deep into the tall man’s eyes, and Harry got the distant impression that there was more than friendship going on between these two.

‘My name is the Doctor. Always the Doctor. This is Rose Tyler, my ah, companion. She goes with me on my travels. That blue box is my T.A.R.D.I.S. It’s a sort of spaceship if you like. You can go in and have look inside.’ He ended with another sigh, gesturing wearily with his hand at the blue box.

Harry looked up at the Doctor. Then he looked at Rose, and saw that this was the truth.

‘Why was that thing here?’

‘The Darlek?’

‘Yes. That’s what is called itself.’

Another sigh. This one was the most heartbreaking. Rose patted her Doctor’s knee, and he took her hand, giving it a slight squeeze and a small smile at the gesture before continuing with Harry’s question.

‘The Darlek’s have been my constant enemy through these thousands of years. They have followed me where ever I go.We have defeated them time and time again, and yet they still come back.’ He spat that last word, and glared over at the smoking remains of the Darlek.

‘And now they have killed your friend. I am sorry. So eternally sorry.’ He looked up at Harry, and his eyes were so sad that any insult that had been forming on the boy’s lips faded away.

The Doctor closed his eyes and took Rose’s hand again.

Harry rose from the chair, and walked slowly over too Neville’s body.

‘I don’t understand anything. None of this makes sense. There are barriers around Hogwarts so you can’t Apperaite or Disapperate inside the school grounds. How did you get in? How did that thing get in? What is a TARDIS? Why are you here?’ It all came out in such a gush that Harry could hardly stop himself.

Before the Doctor could say anything more, Rose spoke. ‘Doctor, show him. With your mind. Remember how you showed the King of Usadp?’

He let a small smile slip before standing up and brushing his knees. ‘That’s my Rose. Always thinking ahead.’  He calmly walked to where Harry was kneeling, and crouched beside him. Rose shifted to the chair where the Doctor had been and peeped over the back of it curiously.

‘Now, please don’t be too astounded.’

‘Don’t touch me.’ Spat Harry, dodging the Doctor’s outstretched hands, and raising . ‘You haven’t even tried to explain what happened to Neville.’

‘He was just trying to help!’ Cried Rose indignantly, stand up from where she was sitting and standing protectively in front her Doctor.

The Doctor shook his head gently, but firmly told her that it was okay. ‘His friend was just killed. Let it be.’

Harry pretended not to hear, and bent over Neville’s slumped body, attempting to lift it over his shoulder. He struggled to lift the boy, who weighed perhaps more than Harry himself, but when the Doctor offered his assistance, Harry simply shouldered past him and continued on his way, towards the stairs.

The Doctor and Rose exchanged a look, and the rugged man leapt forward to open the door for Harry, who grunted a begrudging thanks.

Although the question burned inside him, the Doctor knew better then to ask Harry where they were going. Instead, he concentrated on the boy that he carried. The Doctor felt a double pang in his chest as he found what he was looking for on the boy’s exposed chest; a burn mark where the laser had hit him.  

Harry suddenly stopped outside a door on a small landing, adorned with a bright painting of a large bird, with flaming plumage. Even more astounding then the creature’s feathers and matching background was that it was singing! It was actually moving its painted beak in an obvious but silent song.

The Doctor’s eyes widened. In all his years of travel he had never seen such an amazing thing.

‘That’s impossible,’ Breathed Rose, echoing the Doctor’s thoughts.

Harry ignored the two strangers mingled wonder and fascination, but he did think it slightly odd that they found it so interesting. Pushing this thought to the back of his head, he spoke directly to the brightly coloured bird.

‘Forkes. Please tell Dumbledoor that Neville was injured by something that I have never seen before. And I mean, seriously injured. He is- unconscious.’

The bird fixed a beady black eye on Harry before squawking audibly in recognition before spreading his wings and flying out of the frame of the door.

Harry closed his eyes and gasped in pain, collapsing on the cramped landing. Rose and the Doctor both leapt forth to catch Neville before he hit the ground. Harry stuck out his chin in defence, but Rose could see that in his eye he was grateful for their help.

A loud call attracted their attention. Forkes had returned from his mysterious excursion. He nodded at the boy, who merely said thanks before squeezing past Rose and the Doctor and heading back down the stairs.

Harry was not sure how he knew to go down, back to the common room. When his a Forkes’s eyes briefly met, a thought was placed into his mind, and he knew that the magnificent bird had put it there.

An old man met him at the foot of the stairs, staring up at the little blue box. He had a waist-length beard, and his purple and silver robe caught the firelight in a way that made it seem like it was moving. He finished tapping the TARDIS with his wand, murmuring under his breath, and looked up at the boy hesitating at the bottom step.

‘ Harry, where is Neville?’ Spoke Dumbledore in a calm yet authoritative voice, peering over his half-moon spectacles, ad giving Harry the distinct impression that he was under an X-ray.

Harry remember the strangers where carrying Neville, and stepped into the common room, moving aside to let them pass with their precious cargo. 

The Doctor and Rose clumsy finished their journey down the stairs and laid Neville on the ground, and stepped back, exchanging glances. ‘You must be Dumbledore.’ Said the Doctor.

‘Professor Dumbledore. But who are you? And what has happened to my student? These questions will be answered later, but now we must get Neville to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey is awaiting us. Forkes will take us.’

A bird, identical to the one painted onto the door on that upstairs landing soared through an open window to land on his master’s shoulder. After instructions from Dumbledore, Harry held Neville in his arms with Forkes on his shoulder. Dumbledore, Rose and the Doctor each held a part of the large bird.

‘The Hospital Wing, please Forkes.’

Forkes cawed in response to his master’s gentle command, and burst into flame, disappearing into thin air. His load followed in a burst of brilliant flame.

Seconds later, the company arrived in a brightly lit, white room. It was obviously with Hospital Wing, with single beds lining the walls, and a small office in one corner. A small, plump woman in light blue Healer’s robes sat on a chair behind a desk in this little office.

She looked up with a frown on her face at the interruption, but this quickly turned to a look of horror and alarm at the strangers and the limp body in Harry’s arms.

‘Headmaster! What is the meaning of this? I didn’t actually think you where- oh never mind that now. Potter, put him on this bed. Why is that whenever something happens, you’re involved?’

Harry managed a small smile and carefully placed the boy on the bed. Rose and the Doctor stepped back, watching silently as the ward pulled out her wand and began muttering and waving her wand around the body of Harry’s friend.

‘Oh hello Harry.’ Said an absent-minded voice. A skinny girl with a pallid complexion and dirty blonde hair reached down to her waist had floated into the room and now stood close to the dark haired boy.

‘Luna, what are you doing here?’ Harry inquired.

She lifted the small potted plant that was cradled in the crook of her arm.
‘Neville gave me one of his Mimbulus Mimbletonia plants. He managed to get them to breed. It can tell me where he is, because it has a connection with the mother plant.’

Most of this went over Harry’s head, but he was so used to Luna’s odd theories that he nodded and decided that he was better off not knowing.

Luna stroked the ugly plant affectionately, and it made an odd crooning noise. Its many boils shook with delight.

The strange girl’s orb-like eyes widened as she saw Neville’s unnaturally still body. She drifted over to the boy on the bed, placed the ugly plant on the bedside table, and kissed his lightly on the forehead.

The small action was so filled with love that Rose’s eyes began to prick with tears. The Doctor noticed, and held her close.

‘Neville..’ Whispered Luna. ‘I came too late.’

She stepped back, tears filling her large, pale-blue eyes, standing in line with Harry. The raven-haired boy took her hand and squeezed it in an act of friendship. Luna looked at him, before stepping into his warm embrace.