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

The Plan

Professor McGonagall was noticeably upset by what Dumbledore had just told them. It was not what any of them had expected.

"I don't understand. Why would the Beast come to Hogwarts, Doctor?" McGonagall asked. "It has the Rod and the Sash, what else could that creature possibly want here?"

The question hung in the air for a few moments. The Doctor, who already knew the answer, looked over at Elise as if to prompt her to speak. Elise could see where this was heading. Does the Doctor know? She was hesitant to answer at first, but then decided it was about time she trusted her new friends—especially after all they had been through.

"It's me the Beast is after," she confessed.

Professor McGonagall's face was filled with surprise as she looked around the room at the others, examining their faces which were much calmer. She soon began to feel as though she were the only one who had missed an important memo.

"Albus? Severus? Did you already know about this?" She asked.

"I suspected it when Hagrid first informed me of the giants' approach, Minerva," Dumbledore responded. "Although you may recall that it was Professor Snape who had earlier alerted us to the Beast's great interest in Miss Winchester."

"You are correct, Professor," Snape added. "The Beast is very concerned about Miss Winchester and greatly wishes to control her. Not merely as a servant as I had been, but as a receptacle to bear his very soul. To replace the one he currently has, I assume. If he cannot accomplish this, he would see her dead."

Poor Toby, Elise thought. So much of her hate and anger had been directed at him because the Beast possessed him. She remembered how she had once considered Toby a good friend. Was that the real Toby, or had he really been lost long ago?

"Yes, exactly" the Doctor said, breaking Elise's train of thought, "and now we can use that to our advantage to trap the Beast once and for all."

"Are we to assume that you have formulated a plan to accomplish this, Doctor?" asked Dumbledore.

At this point, the Doctor's plan was really quite simple: First, capture the Beast. Second, find the Disciples of the Light and invite them to come take it away.

The second part would require him to pop over to the Medusa Cascade nebula in the TARDIS as he had been instructed in his dreams. Return to the rift when the trap is set, they had told him through the psychic paper. Unfortunately, the TARDIS was, for all practical purposes, dead, and would not be making that journey any time soon. Something will come up, the Doctor assured himself, but not with a lot of confidence.

The first part of his plan presented an even more vexing dilemma, however. His last dream had provided him everything he needed to know to devise the perfect plan, but only if it included Elise and everyone else. Despite the Sorting Hat's clever little rhyme, the Doctor was still not comfortable with the idea of risking the lives of others. But would the risk be any less if he went after the Beast it alone?

As he mulled it over, one part of the hat's song rang clearly in his mind, and it haunted him:

And those he'd fought alone to save,

Now suffer deaths, more vile.

The truth be known, the Doctor had absolutely no idea how to capture the Beast on his own, even if he did have the TARDIS. The Disciples of the Light had made it abundantly clear that they wanted them all to work together, and it seemed the Doctor would have to play by their rules whether he liked it or not.

"I'm laying out a plan as we speak, Professor," the Doctor said. "And it's going to take all of us to make it work, plus a little outside help from some friends you didn't even know we had."

For the next several minutes the Doctor rehearsed to the others his experience in the pit on Krop Tor. He told them about the Disciples of the Light and how he had been searching for some sign of them for several years now. He also spoke of the dreams he had as well as the message that had appeared on the psychic paper (an item with which Professor Snape was very intrigued, in fact the mere mention of it had almost derailed the conversation).

The Doctor also explained how his last dream had shown him how to capture the Beast could be captured, though he did not give them any details as he was still working it all out himself.

"Assuming you are able to devise a way to ensnare the Beast and hold him, which I sincerely doubt you will, quite frankly," Snape said, "are you certain these Disciples of the Light will come and get it?" Snape asked.

"Absolutely," the Doctor said with confidence, as much to assure himself as everyone else.

Professor McGonagall was irate. "We are all speaking of this grand plan to trap the Beast, but does it not bother anyone that we're planning to use Miss Winchester as bait?"

"Oh, Elise Winchester is far more than just bait, Professor McGonagall," the Doctor said, and once again fixed his gaze on Elise.

Here it is, she thought. Are they ready for this? Am I?

"Are you going to tell them?" the Doctor pressed after a period of silence, "Or shall I?"

Elise took a deep breath and prepared herself to speak the words she had before sworn she would never reveal to the people in this room.

"I am the bait, Professor McGonagall, I have to be," she said, then took another deep breath before continuing.

"But I am also the trap."