Chapter 1: Crash Land

The TARDIS was falling. Sirens were blaring. Red lights were flashing. It had been just another trip through the time vortex and now...

The Doctor had just left Bradoon, a lovely planet just outside the Milky Way Galaxy, or, the Third Milky Way Galaxy to be precise. After many years of reading about it, he had seen the Great Oparisay, and, apparently, had accidentally broken it. After running through the pink grass for over half an hour to get back to the TARDIS, which he had parked at the top of the Med-Tree, he was finally able to fly off peacefully, leaving the people of Bradoon to sort out the problem of their 'broken' relic. (In his mind, the Great Oparisay had already been broken, or, at least, it didn't look the same as it had in the pictures. Now it did...because of him. Oh wibbly wobbly; timey wimey.)

The TARDIS had been smoothly sailing through the Time Vortex, calmly heading for 21st century London, when suddenly there came a crash and the Doctor was thrown from the Console and onto his back. As fast as he could, he raced around, pulling levers, pressing buttons, until the alarms had started blaring and the lights had begun flashing.

Now, the TARDIS was spinning much too fast for the Doctor's liking and the controls had been deadlocked. The only thing that was working properly was the Scanner, and even that was simply confusing. "We can't be in a different universe!"

The Doctor sighed as he kept a tight grip on one of the TARDIS controls, which he only hoped wasn't some kind of self-destruct button. He never had studied all of these controls. Now he was regretting that decision.

"Where are you taking me, old girl?" The Doctor was looking helplessly around his ship as the Rotor groaned up and down in an almost sickly fashion.

The alarms cut off abruptly and the Doctor struggled to hold on as the ship went into free fall. Taking another look at the scanner only proved to confuse him even more. "Is that...no; it can't be. That's..."

The Scanner finally seemed to realize where the TARDIS' destination was and a thin line at the bottom of the screen read, 'Whomping Willow Tree. 1992'

The Doctor stared at the screen, mouth open in utter disbelief. "What?"

The sound of the TARDIS crashing echoed all over the Hogwarts Grounds.

It was one of the last beautiful days of October. The leaves were just beginning to change color and the air was just crisp enough to wear a jumper and maybe a scarf. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were outside, soaking in the last bits of sunshine that they'd get to enjoy before the snow season arrived. For some mysterious reason, nobody else seemed to be out on this wonderful day, which, if they were honest, didn't bother the trio at all. In fact, they rather liked having the grounds to themselves.

Hermione, as always, was propped up against a tree, leaving through her Potions textbook, trying to memorize the exact recipe for a sleeping draught. Ron and Harry had taken their Wizard's Chess board outside and were now struggling to find broken shrapnels of rock around the tall, overgrown grass. Hermione glanced up from her book to see Harry with his glasses on the very top of his nose because of how tilted his head was.

"Are you two wizards or what?"

Ron and Harry looked aghast at Hermione. She had been so quiet they had nearly forgotten she was there. Harry quickly fixed his glasses as he fumbled for his wand. Ron took out his own, then nodded his head. "Whomping Willow, remember? Broke my wand before classes even started."

Hermione glanced over at the Whomping Willow Tree, which lay in a field just down the hill from where they were sitting. Harry muttered "Accio chess pieces" when suddenly he began being pelt in the face with tiny rocks. Hermione simply rolled her eyes and closed her book.

"I'll take care of it."

Hermione swiftly took out her wand and swished it over the grass, whispering an incantation to herself. The chess pieces began lifting up slowly and sweeping themselves into a neat pile on the board. Ron ogled at Hermione in amazement. "What spell was that?"

Hermione put her wand back in her robes and picked up her book, a pleased grin stuck on her face. "Sounds like you need to go study something from the library, Ronald."

"Just tell me the incantation."

Hermione's grin broadened as Ron grew more desperate to know. After five more minutes of begging, Hermione finally stood and shut her book. "I'll get the book for you, but you have to find the correct spell, alright?"

Ron looked up at Hermione. The sun was shining directly behind her head, casting a halo around her unruly brown hair. "You're a saint, Hermione."

Just as Hermione began walking towards the tall oak doors, Harry pointed at an object high above them and shouted, "What's that?!"

Ron and Harry stood next to Hermione, their chess game long forgotten. Hermione did the calculations quickly and decided, "I think it's heading for the Whomping Willow Tree!"

Harry began running towards the mysterious object without caution, with Ron following close behind. Hermione glanced back at the castle and then placed her book on the ground, her curiosity overwhelming her fear of punishment. "Harry, it might be dangerous!"

Harry gazed at the object, which he could see better now that it was much closer to the ground they were standing on. "It looks like a box. Like a call box you see in cities sometimes."

Ron, his feet treading right behind Harry's, asked loudly, "What's a call box?"

Hermione, always first with the answer, replied in short breaths, "They used to...use them...a long time ago. To call police."

They had finally reached the clearing where the Whomping Willow lay menacingly ahead of them. All three pairs of eyes watched the box as it spun around and around, coming closer and closer. They all turned away as the box crashed into the Whomping Willow, sending heavy waves of sound through the field and sending the three young warlocks to the ground from the sheer force of the impact. The box was still intact, mostly, and had seemed to only have some cosmetic damage. Harry was the first on his feet. "How was it not destroyed?"

Hermione stood next to him. "What if someone's in there?"

Ron, still on the ground, looked quizzically at Hermione. "Are you mad? How could someone be in it?"

"Maybe it's a spaceship."

"Harry, don't encourage her."

Hermione looked down at Ron. "We have to go investigate."

Ron stood slowly, brushing off his pants. "Since when have you been okay with breaking the rules?"

"I just have a weird feeling about it. Like it's really important somehow."

The trio began approaching the box in the tree, treading carefully so as not to disturb the crazy limbs that once nearly killed Ron and Harry.

Ron muttered softly, "If we get killed, I'm going to murder you, Hermione."

Thanks for reading everyone! Reviews are most welcome. I hope you enjoyed this beginning and I hope you'll continue reading!