There was a loud bang from a corridor on the third floor as Athena and Billie began taking the stairs up to their next class, Charms. Normally, they'd have simply assumed that it was someone bringing Weasley products into the school to torment Filch. They might have very easily not gotten involved with what happened next had it not been for the students who almost knocked Billie down a flight of stairs in their haste to escape the commotion.
"What was that about," said Athena, pulling out her wand; it was most likely a portable swamp or something like it. What she did not expect, however, was the strange couple who ran from around the corner. The man was wearing a suit and bowtie with a pair of scrappy trainers while the girl was clad in clothes made of some strange material.
The man stopped on the landing beside the students. "Hello," he said, smiling. "Run for your life." The girls exchanged a glance. Was this man mental?
"Exactly who are you," demanded Athena.
"I'm the Professor. And this is Rosie," he said, indicating the girl. "Now I really think running would be a good idea, miss…"
"Athena. Athena Walker." She stood her ground, staring the Professor in the eye. "And this is Billie Tyler." The Professor sighed, grabbing each of their hands and half dragging the two witches down the stairs.
"Like I said, you really want to run right now," said the Professor. "We need to get away from them. As quickly as possible."
"Get away from what," said Athena, trying to pull herself away from the Professor. The man stopped around a corner, letting the girl go.
"Daleks," said the Professor. "We are running from Daleks."
Athena raised an eyebrow. "From what now," she said.
"Is that like a Crumple-horned Snorkack?" asked Billie, smiling slightly.
"Like a what?" said the Professor quizzically?
"Daleks," piped in Rosie. "Look like big pepper pots of death. And they are chasing after us so maybe we should get moving, Doc." The professor nodded quickly.
"Right. And don't call me 'Doc.'" He started to lead the way down the hallway, but stopped when he saw that Athena hadn't moved. "Move," he said. The Slytherin stared at him.
"How dumb do you think we are? Rolling pepper pots of death? Do you think we're stupid?" The Professor sighed, a dark glint coming into his eyes as he turned around fully to face Athena.
"Get back," he said, reaching into his pocket. Athena instinctively grabbed her wand from her own pocket, pointing it at the man. "Not me. Behind you."
Athena turned, her eyes meeting what looked like a giant pepper pot gliding toward them. Its lower half was covered in orbs that were set in rows. It was a light bronze color; an eyestalk protruded from its top, with two other limbs extending from the lower half.
"Halt," it called out in a mechanical voice. "Halt or you will be exterminated!" It pronounced every syllable as a separate word.
"You're joking," said Athena, pointing her wand at the Dalek. "Finite incantantem," she said, waving her wand. Nothing happened.
"Weapon detected," screeched the Dalek in its metallic voice. "Exterminate!"
"Expulso," called Billie, her wand pointed at the Dalek. The Dalek's metal shell exploded with a loud bang, revealing what looked like half of a squid.
The Professor stopped short of the forest, looking back at the three girls. "You realize how this makes me look," he said. "Mysterious man wanders in, takes three young girls into the forest where they don't return from."
"We can take care of ourselves," said Athena, smiling. "And we all decided to go with you after all."
The Professor sighed, smirking at the Slytherin. "You know, I knew an Athena once. She was a terrible pain; always going on about the fate of Greece." He started down the path to the TARDIS. "I suppose we can travel together for a little while. Let's go."
They walked down the path, the Professor carefully counting his steps back to his ship while Rosie watched the forest around them for anything that seemed threatening. The Hogwarts students hummed a tune back and forth. They finally stopped in front of the machine, the Time Lord smiling happily at his TARDIS.
"Here she is, girls. The TARDIS; stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. What do you think?"
Rosie raised an eyebrow. "Um, that's a piano, Doc." The Professor spun around.
"It's disguised to blend in," defended the Professor.
"Then why is it a piano in the woods?"
"I never said it was good at disguising itself," said the Time Lord, sighing heavily. "It needs some repairs, but it was the best one I could get second hand. It's a type 101." He walked around to the back of the piano, opening it up like a door. "Come on then."
The girls followed, stepping inside without much reaction. The console room was bright and shimmering, copper and bronze glimmering on every surface. At the center of the room was a pillar of glass that went through the console.
"Well," said the Professor. "Aren't you going to say anything?"
"It's…shiny," said Billie, smiling.
"Well yeah," said the Time Lord. "But I mean it's bigger on the inside."
"My family has a tent with six bedrooms. Bigger on the inside is hardly a selling point," said Athena snidely. The Professor stepped over to the console, smirking.
"Well, I'd like to see your tent do this," he said, flipping a switch. The TARDIS began making a grinding woo noise. "Next stop, the marketplace on Coruscant. Hold on tight."
[-a/n: So, here's another chapter done. Hopefully I can get the next one done sooner than the month this one took me.