The Wizard's Guide to Timelords and Other Demons Book 1: The Forgotten War

Temporal Causality Violations (And Other Misdemeanors)

The Doctor did not find his second flight with Air Fawkes any less unsettling than the first one. As his eyes regained focus, he noticed that they had been returned to nearly the exact spot in Dumbledore's office from where they had originally set out. Within moments, the rest of the Doctor's senses caught up with him and he immediately became aware that something was very wrong. And it wasn't just that he had suddenly found it difficult to remain standing.

"Why is the floor moving?" Professor Snape asked.

It was then that they all became aware of Professor McGonagall approaching them from the other side of the office, bracing herself against the wall to avoid falling over as the entire room seemed to be swaying back and forth. No one seemed to notice that Fawkes had vanished into a fiery ball moments after they arrived.

"Thank heavens you have all returned safely!" McGonagall said.

"We seemed to have arrived in the midst of some kind of ground disturbance," Dumbledore observed.

"Oh, it's much more than that Albus." McGonagall replied, and then gestured towards a nearby portal. "You have to see this for yourselves, but for heaven's sake, be careful not to fall through the window with all this shaking."

Professor Dumbledore, together with the Doctor and Professor Snape cautiously made their way to the window and peered up into the sky. By now, the edge of the twisting vortex had nearly reached down to the horizon, with a diameter of at least thirty miles as best as the Doctor could tell. Numerous lightning strikes could be seen in the distance with an occasional bolt impacting nearby in the Forbidden Forest, splintering trees, and causing the air to explode with thunder. Violent winds tore across the grounds below. Several small trees had been uprooted and parts of the greenhouse appeared to be damaged.

"Is this the Beast's doing?" McGonagall asked.

"No, it is not." The Doctor replied.

"You seem very certain of that, Doctor." Snape said.

The Doctor turned and looked back at Elise, who was still standing where she had arrived a minute ago. Her face was pale and her eyes somewhat sunken. She looked as though she had suddenly become quite ill.

"Elise, what have you done?" the Doctor shouted.

Seeing that she was not well, Professor McGonagall moved quickly to her side, stepping carefully on the constantly shifting floor.

"Are you ok my dear?" she asked as she wrapped her arm around Elise's shoulder.

"Elise?" the Doctor shouted again.

"Leave her alone Doctor, can't you see she's not well?" McGonagall protested.

All at once a thunderous roar emanated from below in the direction of the forest and the Doctor glanced out the window to determine its source. But it was not really thunder at all. Instead, two large trolls came bounding out of the trees, bellowing in terror. They seemed to be desperately trying to escape something that was chasing them. The source of their alarm became clear as two large, dragon-like creatures emerged from below the treetops and launched themselves towards the fleeing trolls. They each had four limbs, in addition to wings that stretched out to an enormous span. Their huge jaws gaped wide open as they descended swiftly upon their frightened prey. Professor Snape's keen eye was able to identify an additional feature on one of the creatures that he found very intriguing.

"Is that another set of jaws on his chest?" he asked.

The Doctor replied in a grave tone, "Yes, it is."

With a deafening shriek that resounded through the air, one of the creatures fell upon a troll, grasping it with long claws, and then made quick work of the troll with a flashing of teeth from both sets of jaws. Seconds later, the second troll suffered the same fate, and the two flying creatures darted off, plunging back into the forest canopy.