Harry Potter and the Slayer's Crusade
Buffy Summers and her friends have just received the most important calling after the
destruction of Sunnydale... to fight the growing forces of evil, to meet friends old and
new and to find the Hogwart's slayer.
Set after "Chosen" and "Order of the Phoenix".
Disclaimer: I don't own anything by Joss Whedon and J.K. Rowling. I'm simply borrowing the
characters and mixing up the pensieve a bit to give it a good twist. No flames of
discontent meant. If you don't like what I write, don't read it. Simple. As. That.
And now... thanks to Trina for her awesome beta-reading skills. And to Alpha, for all of
her inspiration. And many more thanks are in order, I'm sure.
And... review! I love reviews!
Chapter 1
The Calling
- - - - -
"You're joking, right?"
It was a bright, sunny morning in Los Angeles. Buffy Summers had been settled comfortably on an old sofa, an ice pack laying across her face, when she heard a whispered conversation behind her. It was Giles, her former watcher, and someone else, but she couldn't quite tell who.
"Buffy! You're awake!"
"Wesley," Buffy muttered, removing the ice pack and sitting up, shaking her head to clear it a bit. "How are you?"
"Well," he said, dragging out the word hesitantly as he turned his gaze to Giles, who stood there, exhausted, his suitcase in hand. "I suppose that we should let Giles talk a bit, shouldn't we?"
Buffy touched her still-bruised forehead before turning her rapt attention to her former watcher. Then she noticed the serious look on his face. "What is it?"
Wordlessly, he handed her an envelope. Buffy took it gingerly and turned it over, her eyes narrowing as she spied a crest over the seal, decorated with four tiny animals. Gazing curiously at the two men, she opened the envelope carefully and pulled out the contents inside.
"What is this?" Buffy asked, before seeing her name at the top and read the letter once. And, just to be sure she'd read it correctly, a second time. "Giles?"
"The Ministry of Magic," he explained, taking the vacant seat next to her on the sofa. "My contacts in London referred me to this particular branch of government and after a long meeting, I deciphered that what they really wanted was Slayer strength in full in England."
Buffy stared quietly. Maybe the alcohol had all gone to her head and she was still passed out, but for some reason didn't think so. "What does this Ministry want?"
"Quite frankly, it's you," Giles replied softly, removing his glasses. "They have a teaching position open within a certain academic institution known as Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They feel that you are suited for the position. They also have information regarding the unaccounted for Slayer in England. But..." his voice trailed off as he glanced at Wesley, who saw it perfectly fit to continue.
"They have positions open for Mr. Giles and I as well," he said, positively glowing with pride. "Imagine! Me working for the government again!" He sighed, a wistful note to his voice. "Anyway, they have also requested the Slayers for a special, yet dangerous assignment."
Buffy nodded as quickly shuffled through the papers. "I'll talk to Faith. I'm sure we can work something out." She paused a moment. "Giles," she began uncertainly. "If I were to go to England to this magic school... I don't know any magic."
"That will change," Wesley replied, as enthusiastically. "They are perfectly prepared to give you a good dosage of magic to see your duties through to the end."
"Perfect," Buffy frowned. "So I get spoon-fed magic just so I can teach a group of children."
"Teenagers," Giles muttered, replacing his glasses. "Anyway, you should speak to Faith quickly. We haven't much time. You're due at the Ministry of Magic in London at the end of the week."
Buffy stopped. "So soon? We just got to L.A.!"
"I'm sorry, Buffy, but circumstances are that serious."
"What aren't you telling me?" Buffy asked, seeing the casual glance between the men and feeling a suspicious part of her stomach jump.
"That will all be covered as soon as we get you to England," Wesley said, clapping his hands together, spying something over Buffy's shoulder. "Ah, Willow! Good morning!"
As the gang continued to wake and greet each other, Buffy returned to her spot and picked up the packet and read through every single page, trying to decipher what was going on. But for all she could tell, the papers were as vague as Giles and Wesley had been. With a sigh she rose and glanced around the now-empty room. As she passed, Faith walked by, carrying a box from the bus. "Faith!" she called.
Faith paused. "What?"
"We need to talk."
"In today's news, temperatures soared once again throughout the plains. Four have been arrested due to breaking the ban on water usage..."
Harry Potter sighed as he passed the living room, where his family was circled around the television, their eyes wide and entranced. Every so often, Aunt Petunia would turn her head toward the window, purse her lips, and return her gaze to the television.
No one could guess that Harry was related to these people. For all a stranger would know, he was just a ghost, shifting aimlessly throughout the obsessively clean house, walking from one room to the other without purpose. Even his eyes, a brilliant green, were glassy, with dark rings underneath.
For too long now he had had to dwell on the nightmares. Every night he watched as his godfather, Sirius, fell to his death. And every night, Harry woke in a cold sweat, his scar prickling uncomfortably.
Noticing a painful twinge, Harry pressed his fingers to his forehead and sighed. As he sat at the foot of the stairs, he heard Uncle Vernon turn off the television and say loudly to his wife, in the hopes the neighbors would hear: "At least we haven't used any water outside since May."
His cousin, Dudley Dursley, waddled into the hallway, pausing by the staircase to stare at Harry for a moment. As soon as Harry looked away, Dudley continued down to the kitchen, where he was heard complaining loudly to his mother about not having dinner on time.
"Boy! Boy?!" A vague voice floated into his ears until he saw black shoelaces in front of him and dared a glance up to see Uncle Vernon hovering above him, his eyes narrowed suspiciously, a letter clutched in his hand. His beefy face was a deep shade of violet as he calmly dropped the letter into Harry's lap before retreating to the kitchen. "Dinner's in five," he snarled before he disappeared from view.
Harry quietly turned the letter over and spied the Hogwart's crest. A deep sense of longing filled him as he carefully opened the letter and lifted out the pieces of parchment inside.
The first was the book list. He wasn't surprised to see that only three were assigned. The second was the updated list of rules and regulations that had been put into affect since Lord Voldemort had returned. The last was a list of his O.W.L. scores.
He could feel something like anticipation prickle at him as he lifted the paper to see his scores. As he scanned them, he could feel a grin tugging at his mouth, something he'd been neglecting to do since his return to number four, Privet Drive. He had advanced in Charms and Transfiguration, and, much to his delight, Care of Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He hadn't done well in Divination, which he no longer cared about. The score he had most wanted to see was his Potions score. And he had scored an Outstanding.
He felt his stomach drop with the shock of it. He had received ten O.W.L.'s. "Wow," he whispered softly to himself as he rose and walked reluctantly in the kitchen, where the rest of the Dursley family was gathered around the table, Aunt Petunia putting a large pot of steamed vegetables on the table.
All eyes turned as one to look at him as he took his seat, not even willing his voice to work as he carefully spooned steamed sprouts on his plate before pushing the dish to Dudley, who was eyeing Harry's plate with great interest.
The one thought that cheered him up as he ate the mushy food was sending his snowy white owl, Hedwig, to his two best friends to tell them about his scores. Just the thought of one thing going right this summer made the horrible month of silence and ignorance at Privet Drive worth it.
As he watched Dudley belch loudly and stare into the empty dish and complain loudly that there were no more sprouts, Harry could feel his stomach sinking as he quickly pushed what remained of his vegetables onto his cousin's plate.
After dinner, he retreated upstairs back to his quiet bedroom and closed the door, turning to see Hedwig perched on top of her cage. Harry quickly sat down and scribbled two notes on parchment, one to Ron, the other to Hermione. He knew that Ron was probably still at the headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix and would be anticipating his letter. He also wrote in parting, asking when he would be able to leave the Dursley's.
He felt a tight knot of guilt in his stomach as he set down his quill. He still had not told anyone about the prophecy. And he knew that his time was running out. He had to tell someone, yet there was no one left to tell. His godfather was dead, gone, and never coming back. He knew his friends would react badly. He just wished he could tell someone, anyone. He really needed to talk about it, but not to anyone associated with magic.
With a sigh of frustration, he tied the two scrolls of parchment to Hedwig and watched as she flew into the night.
"Is everyone here?" Buffy asked, circling a large group of people who had gathered at the now empty Hyperion Hotel. "Can everyone hear me? Good."
"What's going on, B?" Faith asked, hugging her knees. "You've been all mysterious on us."
"Just four weeks ago, I told you you had a choice. A choice to be made into a Slayer. Now I'm giving you another choice. There is another Slayer in England, but we don't know who she is, or where. But now we have help."
She stared at the openly curious faces around her.
"We have been asked by the Ministry of Magic in England to assist them in their troubles with their own villain. They have asked me to teach a position at one of their schools. I have since accepted the position and my flight will leave tomorrow night. I'm here to ask you who's coming with me.
"I have already asked Willow and she has agreed to travel to the school with me. But, if the Slayer is a student, and I was told that she is, we need someone inside the school. Dawn has already agreed to transfer to become a sixth-year. Now comes the harder part. Giles and Wesley have both accepted positions inside the Ministry of Magic. And this is the part where you come in.
"They have a wizarding prison, called Azkaban. It is defenseless, guardless and seriously lacking in strength. We have been asked to hold the defenses around the prison. Faith, this is where you come in. You and the rest of the Slayers can guard the prison of Azkaban."
There was a silent hush around the room before Rona spoke up, her voice shaking slightly. "Buffy, none of us know any magic. And if we're guarding a dangerous prison, that means there are dangerous criminals within."
"We will be using borrowed magic," Buffy replied. "You will have the power to stop whatever is in that prison. Willow will be at standby, as will Giles and Wesley. But the Ministry of Magic has become desperate since the regular guards have left the prison."
"Why?" Vi asked.
"You don't want to know," Willow replied darkly. "But this is where we make the choice. There'll be six of us on the flight out tomorrow. We want to know who else will come along?"
"I've never been to England," Vi said, looking around nervously. "I'm in."
"It'll be dangerous," Buffy warned, her voice dropping ominously. "What's contained within those walls is more dangerous than the First. And more deadly."
"Death, danger and total darkness," Faith said with a chuckle. "I'm in, B. Just tell me where to sign."
"What will be do once we get to England?" Willow asked in a small voice.
"We'll be trained in magical arts and given our powers," Buffy replied. "I spoke with a representative of the Ministry this afternoon... a Mr. Percy Weasley. He's the assistant to the Minister of Magic who's a..." she shuffled through her papers. "Cornelius Fudge."
That said, Buffy turned her attention to the Slayers, who all looked at each other nervously. "At least we'll all be together," Faith said. Some of the girls nodded, the rest looked terrified.
"I'm not saying that we're all going to make it," Buffy said quietly, reading the fear on their faces. "I'm saying that we've done the best we can and we defeated one of the greatest evils of all. And now everything is being entrusted to a sixteen-year-old boy, and the least we can do is help them out. I know that we're risking our lives here. But it's the right thing to do."
There was a loud murmur and some of the girls stood up, including Amanda, who turned to Buffy and gave her a familiar half-smile. "What time do we leave?"
To be continued...