Tristan Parkes: Day of the Dementors

Tristan and Ashlee were in full pursuit of Corrine, who kept ducking into alleys and crossing streets, trying to lose them, but tonight just was not her night, given that Tristan and Ashlee were always close behind her. Suddenly, Corrine rushed into a train station, jumped over the ticket barrier and quickly hopped into a train, just as it was pulling out.

"Quick!" said Ashlee, as she ran over to a conductor. "Excuse me? Where's that train headed?"

"Circular Quay," replied the conductor. "Sorry, but the next one doesn't leave for another half hour."

Ashlee walked back to Tristan and asked, "Trist, what are we gonna do?"

"All I can think of is to teleport to every single stop along the way, and see if Corrine gets off there. If she does, we stun her and grab the gem. If not, we move onto the next stop."

"Sounds like a plan."

Tristan studied a map of the train-system, and found the next stop on it. He then found the location of the station on a map in his teleporter. Tristan then selected the destination and teleported them to the station. A number of people are around, but nobody seemed to notice their arrival, despite the cloud of blue sparks.

Ashlee scanned the crowd. "She's not here."

"The train probably hasn't arrived yet," replied Tristan as he walked over to a timetable and checked it against his watch. "It won't arrive for seven more minutes. I'll program the teleporter with the locations of the other stations on this circuit while we wait."

Tristan started tapping commands into his teleporter, while Ashlee walked over to a drinks machine.

"Trist, you want a drink?" she called out.

"Sure. I think we'll both need something to keep us hydrated, given all the running we're likely to have to do tonight."

Ashlee put some coins in the machine and came back with two bottles of PowerAde. "What do you want? Red or blue?"

"I'll take the blue," replied Tristan, and Ashlee handed him the bottle. "You know, they still make this stuff in 2103."

"Really?" asked Ashlee, who took a mouthful of her drink.

"Yep," replied Tristan, taking a big gulp of his drink. "It's surprising how long some businesses can last. Microsoft didn't survive past 2025."

"Oh, that's an oxymoron. Microsoft Works," replied Ashlee and sniggered.

"The Open Source movement was what led to Microsoft's downfall. They just couldn't compete with the free Windows-compatible operating systems and eventually went out of business."

"Oh." Ashlee looked at the platform. "I think the train is nearly here."

Tristan downed the last of his drink and got a stungun ready. They waited for a few moments, and eventuall the train left, with Corrine still on it. "Well, I didn't see her get off. Let's head for the next stop." Tristan picked the destination off the list and teleported them to the next station, again, nobody seemed to notice their arrival.

"You know, this is kinda fun," said Ashlee.

"What? The way we keep teleporting in and nobody notices us?" asked Tristan.

"Yeah," replied Ashlee. "How come they don't see us?"

"The teleporters feature an anti-Muggle spell that prevents them from seeing the sparks. Great-granddad Xavier put that in the Version 8 models of the teleporters. He'll invent the Version 1 model in late 2007. He was through eleven versions before his seventh year at Hogwarts. This is a Version 24 model."

"Cool." Ashlee looked at her watch and sighed. "On second thoughts, not-so-cool. All this waiting around is kinda boring."

Tristan's eyes lit up with inspiration. "Next time the train stops, I'll tag it if Corrine doesn't get off. Maybe being able to see where she is up to will help make things a little less boring."

"Smart thinking," remarked Ashlee.

"That's my speciality."

Ashlee laughed. "And he's modest too!"

"You think I'm being modest?" asked Tristan, with a raised eyebrow.

Ashlee rolled her eyes and grinned. "There's a little thing called sarcasm. Maybe you've heard of it."

"With a family like mine, how could I not have heard of it?"

Ashlee laughed again. "Trist, you're impossible. But I want it to stay that way."

"Thanks. I think," replied Tristan. "Keep your eyes peeled. I can hear the train coming." Although Ashlee showed no signs of being able to hear the train, Tristan certainly could, due to his very acute hearing, a quality that most members of his family after his great-grandfather, Xavier Parkes, seemed to share.

Ashlee looks at the tracks, and upon seeing them vibrate, announced, "Here it comes."

There was no sign of Corrine this time, either. Just as the train started to pull out, Tristan rushed up to it and slapped on a small, grey, square device with a blinking green light on it. "Right, that should let us track where that train goes. Off to the next station." Tristan picked the next station off the list, and they vanished in a cloud of sparks, only to reappear on yet another platform.

Ashlee gave a grin. "So, how are we gonna check that tracker?"

"With this," replied Tristan, and replicated a small device about 1*1*2cm and plugged it into the teleporter. Tristan then brought up the map, and two dots could be seen on it: a stationary red one, and a moving green one. "The red dot is us, and the moving green dot is the homing device I placed on the train," explained Tristan.

Ashlee peered at the screen on the teleporter and asked, "So, how long 'til she gets here?"

"At the speed it's travelling, I'd guess about four or five minutes," came Tristan's reply. Ashlee took another drink from her bottle and asked, with a note of curiosity, "Hey, Trist? How come you're so ready to fight when you reckon thinking is your strength?"

"The second magical war of the twenty-first century started in May of 2071, just four-and-a-half months after I was born on the first of January. The war didn't end until the eleventh of October in 2077. I spent over half of my pre-Hogwarts childhood living in a world that was at war. I think that's what has turned me into such a combination of thinker and fighter," replied Tristan. "Well, that, and my genetics," he added as an afterthought.

Ashlee gave Tristan a sympathetic look. "Guess I'm lucky."

"You're lucky that the Second Voldemort war never left Britain. Well, I suppose there was the exception of those escaped Death Eaters who murdered your friend Mel. Right now, the only Death Eaters left are rotting in Azkaban Prison, and the last one will die in a little over two years' time." Tristan was silent for a moment, then added: "I once visited Azkaban Prison. It's a horrible place. With all those Dementors as guards, it's no wonder most prisoners go mad."

Ashlee shuddered. "I hate those things. And that's a big thing for me. I don't usually say that I hate something."

"I don't like them either," replied Tristan. "After the Second Voldemort War, the Ministry of Magic developed a spell to bind the Dementors from Britain to the island where Azkaban is located and destroyed all information concerning the workings of the spell, so that nobody could devise a counter-spell. Nobody has succeeded in devising one, either."

"That's good," said Ashlee, and took another look at the teleporter's screen. "She's nearly here."

"Hopefully, we'll be able to catch her this time," replied Tristan.

The train stopped, and Corrine poked her head out the door and spotted Tristan and Ashlee. She quickly dashed back inside the train, and the train left the station. Tristan let out a sigh of disappointment. "Off to the next stop, then." Tristan and Ashlee then teleported into the last stop on the list. "She'll have to get off here. We'll get her this time."

Ashlee looked around, and exclaimed, "Hey! I know this place!" She slapped her forehead. "Duh! Circular Quay! I've been here a few times."

Tristan went into planning mode with his speech. "Now, as soon as she gets off the train, which she'll have to, we grab her and stun her, then teleport back to the TARDIS. That's assuming everything goes according to plan, which it probably won't. I strongly suspect we'll have to do some more chasing her."

Ashlee bounced on the balls of her feet. "I'm all geared up!"

"I might end up having to duel her," said Tristan, seriously, "but if I have to, I'll try not to kill her. I've killed too many people in the past few days. I don't think I could handle another one on my mind."

Ashlee stopped and gently squeezed Tristan's hand in an effort to comfort him, unsure of what to say.

"You're reminding me of the 2005 season of Doctor Who," replied Tristan, unable to help giving a small smile.

Ashlee laughed softly. "How ironic."

The train arrived and Corrine finally got off.

Ashlee spotted Corrine, and pointer her out. "Come on. There she is."

Tristan and Ashlee snuck up on Corrine and Tristan put a stungun into Corrine's back. "How nice. We've finally found you," said Tristan sarcastically. "You gave us quite the run-around. Now, give us that gem and we'll let you go, otherwise, the police will find you floating in the harbour with a hole in you."

"You wouldn't kill me," snorted Corrine.

"No, but we can get damn well close to it," replied Ashlee.

"Start talking, or things will be taking a turn for the worse," threatened Tristan.

"I think you're bluffing," replied Corrine.

"I'm really not in a mood to argue," said Ashlee, who pulled out her gun and lazily aimed it between Corrine's eyes. "So, can we get this over with quickly?"

Corrine gave a smirk and replied, "Oh, I think so." She quickly slipped her wand out of her pocket and stunned Ashlee, then elbowed Tristan in the stomach and took off.

Tristan whipped out his wand, woke up Ashlee, and they took off after Corrine.

"That woman is a real cow," said Ashlee as they pursued Corrine.

"Lucky I was wearing reinforcing mesh under my shirt or she would have winded me," replied Tristan.

Corrine ran down the stairs from the train station, pushed her way through the line of people at the docks, and hopped onto a ferry. Ashlee ran over to the timetable and quickly scanned it, looking for the ferry's destination. "She's headed to the Harbour."

"Well, we can beat her there," replied Tristan. "Just give me a minute to program the destination into the teleporter." Tristan tapped the teleporter a number of times, then teleported them to where the ferry would dock.

Ashlee looked around and sighed happily. "I know this area well too. Thank Goodness." Ashlee finished off her drink, and tossed the empty bottle into a bin.

"We'd better come up with a better way of catching her when she arrives. Any ideas?" inquired Tristan.

"We could stun her? Or trap her?" suggested Ashlee.

"I'm not sure how much of a duellist she is, though," replied Tristan. "If she's very good, she could do a pretty good job of dodging our fire. As for a trap, I can't think of anything that would be appropriate to use in a city."

The ferry arrived ten minutes later, and Corrine hopped off. She quickly glanced around, spotted Tristan and Ashlee and took off, with Tristan and Ashlee in hot pursuit. "And I thought that gem was giving us the run-around when Matt had it," remarked Tristan, dryly.

Corrine came to a stop on a bridge and jumped over the railing to land on the roof of a shopping centre. Tristan and Ashlee wasted no time in following, although Tristan put a deceleration spell on them to prevent the shock of hitting the roof from being so severe. They then took off after Corrine along the rooftops, jumping gaps between buildings as necessary and Ashlee occasionally firing off her stungun and trying to hit Corrine, but without success. After some time, Corrine landed on the roof of a warehouse, and smashed a skylight in the roof with a Reducto curse, and hopped in. Tristan and Ashlee then cautiously followed her inside.

"Where do you thinks she is?" whispered Ashlee.

"Hiding, no doubt," replied Tristan, in a similar whisper. "A sense of self-preservation is quite strong in Slytherin students, and I'd bet a thousand Eurodollars that Corrine is an ex-Slytherin."

Ashlee peered into the darkness of the warehouse. "I can't see a thing," she complained.

Tristan pointed his wand between Ashlee's eyes, and muttered a spell that made the target's eyes more sensitive to light for about thirty minutes. Tristan then turned his wand on himself and repeated the process. "Much better," he said with considerable satisfaction as the warehouse interior brightened up.

Ashlee grabbed his arm and whispered, "Over there. Behind those boxes. Don't look or she'll know she's been spotted."

Tristan walked past the boxes, appearing to search, and spun around to face Corrine. "Aha! So there you are. What's the big idea running away from us?"

"I would have thought it to be pretty obvious, with you wanting to destroy that gem. That gem is unique. You have no idea what power it contains," replied Corrine.

"Wrong!" said Tristan, pointing at Corrine. "I know exactly what power that gem contains, which is exactly why it must be destroyed."

"Well, you're not going to get it," replied Corrine, with her arms folded.

"Don't count on it," said Tristan, menacingly, as he raised his wand.

"Oh, so you want to duel me for it? How sporting of you," replied Corrine. "Too bad I'm not a sporting person," she added, and fired off a hex at Tristan, who quickly dodged it.

"You'll have to do better than that to beat me, Corrine."

"I intend to."

Tristan moved out into an open area, leading Corrine, but keeping his wand trained on her the whole time. "Now, let's duel properly."

"Be careful, Trist," warned Ashlee, as she took shelter behind the stack of boxes Corrine had been hiding behind and watched nervously.

"No need to worry Ash. I know what I'm doing, and I do have a century of knowledge she doesn't have," reassured Tristan. Turning to Corrine, Tristan said, "Now, let's duel."

Corrine attempted to stun Tristan, but Tristan put up a shield that reflected it back in her direction. Corrine only just managed to get out of the way in time.

"Tricky one, aren't you?" remarked Corrine. "I'll bet you were in Slytherin, like me."

"Nope, Ravenclaw. Try this on for size." Tristan made three fast circles in the air with his wand, followed by a jab, and a huge tornado of crackling electricity flew out. Corrine let out a shriek of surprise and quickly put up a wall of water to defend herself. This was unsuccessful, as the electrical charge split up the water and ignited the resulting gasses, with an explosion that sent Corrine flying a good five metres. "Heh, heh, heh. Everybody makes that mistake," chuckled Tristan.

"I'll kill you for that!" snarled Corrine.

"I'd like to see you try."

"Avada Kedavra!" cried Corrine, but Tristan ducked the curse aimed at him and fired out a bolt of lightning at Corrine.

"You're going to end up in big trouble with the authorities if you keep trying to use that curse on me," said Tristan, matter-of-factly.

"As if," snorted Corrine. "They'll never find me. Crucio!" Rather than screaming in agony, as was usually the result of being subjected to the Cruciatus Curse, Tristan just stood there looking blank until the curse was lifted.

Ashlee let out a scream. "Leave him alone you monster!"

Tristan yawned and asked Corrine, "Is that the best you can do? I've had solder burns that hurt more than your pathetic Cruciatatus Curse."

Ashlee sighed with relief that Tristan was alright.

"Pathetic?" exclaimed Corrine, in disbelief. "You should have been on the ground screaming in agony. What are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," replied Tristan with a smirk. Tristan then fired the ever-annoying Bat-Bogey Hex at Corrine and watched in amusement as she desperately tried to perform the counter-curse. When she did succeed, Corrine looked furious. "I learned that one from Harry Potter himself," sniggered Tristan.

Corrine let out a scream of rage. "I swear it! I'm going to kill you!"

"Not if I've got anything to do about it," replied Tristan, who then pointed his wand at himself and displaced himself in space. Corrine tried Avada Kedavra again, but it just passed through Tristan. "Nice try, but no banana."

"Expelliarmus!" shouted Corrine. Although the spatial displacement spell Tristan had used made the Killing Curse pass straight through him, due to the spell's mechanics, it didn't block it the Disarming Spell, and Tristan was blasted backwards, with his wand flying out of his hand and into Corrine's. "Success. I win!" cried Corrine in triumph.

"Don't count on it," replied Tristan. "Shock 'em!"

As soon as Tristan gave the command, electrical sparks appeared all over Tristan's wand and Corrine was forced to drop it. Tristan held out his hand, fingers spread out, and the palm facing Corrine. "Plaga Unda!" he shouted, and a rippling shockwave travelled through the air in Corrine's direction and sent her flying across the room into the opposite wall, where she slid down, unconscious. "No, I win," said Tristan, smugly.

Ashlee ran out from her shelter and launched herself at Tristan. "You're alive! You won!" Ashlee stepped back and slapped him softly on the arm. "Don't ever scare me like that again!"

"Well, I think we'd better restrain her and turn her over to the magical police." Tristan snapped his fingers, and his wand appeared in his hand in a small cloud of blue sparks. Tristan then conjured up ropes that bound Corrine head to toe. "There. She won't be going anywhere for a while."

Ashlee walked over to Corrine and searched her pockets. "Victory!" she announced, holding up the gem.

"Indeed. Can I borrow your mobile phone for a minute?" asked Tristan.

Ashlee handed it over and replied, "Help yourself."

"What's the emergency number in Australia?" asked Tristan. "I know it's triple-nine in England, but what is it here?"

"Triple zero. Why are you calling that? Muggles won't know what to do with a witch."

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

Tristan dialled 000 on the phone and it was shortly answered by an operator. "Yes, Police please. Thanks. Listen, could you put me through to a Weird Shit Expert? What? Of course I know about them. I'm not ignorant, you know. Now could you please put me through to one? Thankyou. Finally, your Muggle colleagues were a bit reluctant to put me through to you. I have incapacitated a witch who used the Cruciatus Curse on me and twice tried to kill me with Avada Kedavra. Yes, I am being most serious. You can find her in the abandoned warehouse on the Sydney docks. Use of priori incantatem on her wand will reveal that I am telling you the truth. No, I won't stay around in the area. I have something much more important to deal with than a simple police inquiry. Good evening." Tristan hung up the phone and handed it back to Ashlee. "We'd better leave before the police show up." Tristan teleported them back to outside the TARDIS, unlocked it, and entered.

"So, what do we do with this thing now?" asked Ashlee, as she removed the gem from her pocket and held it out to Tristan.

"Dispose of it somewhere where it won't cause any trouble to anyone ever again," replied Tristan as he took the gem from Ashlee and put it down on a bench at the side of the room.

"Where?"

"I know just the place, but I suppose I should take you back home first." Tristan set the TARDIS going and it materialised in the alley near Ashlee's flat.

"Hey, how come the TARDIS can work with the gem inside it but not near it?" inquired Ashlee, all of a sudden.

Tristan grinned. "I was wondering if you were going to ask me that. The answer is really quite simple: the inside of the TARDIS exists in a separate universe from the outside. As a result, the gem's effects are confined to the universe that the TARDIS interior exists in, and not the normal one where the outside exists."

"I guess that makes sense." Ashlee stared at the ground. "So I guess you'll be going now." She held out her hand and Tristan shook it. "It was nice to meet you, Tristan. I hope it all turns out okay for you."

"I think it should," replied Tristan. "It was fun meeting you, Ashlee. Maybe I'll drop by in a few months' time? Who knows? Well, I'd better set the coordinates for the centre of the galaxy so I can dispose of this wretched gem before I go off travelling the universe."

Ashlee smiled and hugged Tristan quickly. "Drop by anytime."

"That's funny," said Tristan, with a grin.

"Goodbye." Ashlee walked to the door, and paused mere centimetres from it and then called out, "Hey, Trist? You know, if you ever need a hand on the TARDIS, I'd be more than happy to help."

"Hmmm... You know, we do make a pretty good team," replied Tristan, thoughtfully. "Still, what about the people here, like your parents?"

"I could tell them I'm going travelling? Not exactly a lie, is it?" suggested Ashlee.

"It wouldn't be one at all," replied Tristan, "as long as you don't say somewhere other than where you're really going."

Ashlee looked thoughtful. "I always told them I'd go travelling when it would suit me. Well, now it suits me. That is, if it suits you? Willing to have me aboard?"

"Well, you've had quite a spectacular two days with me, and I have to admit that I've grown to like you, not romantically, though, but as a friend. I'd be happy to have you on board. We'll have to give out cover stories to the people you know before you leave, so they won't think you've been murdered or something like that. Rose made the mistake of not doing that in the 2005 series of Doctor Who."

"Could you give me a day?" asked Ashlee. "There's a lot I need to do." She began to rattle off a mental list. "Say goodbye to my family, quit my job, cancel my lease, put my stuff in storage and find a home for Ruffles. My parents would have her, I think."

"You could bring Ruffles along. Remember that the TARDIS also serves as a home, not just a means of travel," said Tristan as they left the TARDIS and started walking along the street towards Ashlee's flat.

Ashlee jumped happily. "Thankyou! I really couldn't handle leaving my baby behind," replied Ashlee, as they arrived at the entrance to the building where Ashlee's flat was located.

Tristan just smiled. "Go on, make your arrangements. Tonight will most likely be the last night you spend in your flat, so why don't you make the most of it? Don't worry. The TARDIS will still be here all through tomorrow."

Ashlee smiled. "Thanks, Trist. You know, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship," she said, darting upstairs to her flat.

Tristan gave another smile and turned around and headed back to the TARDIS for the night.