Disclaimer: All things belong either to Joss Whedon or J.K. Rowling.
Ch. 1: The Forest
"In the beginning there were seven gateways to hell known as hellmouths. One was known to be in Sunnydale California and was destroyed by us. Another was known to be in Cleveland and is currently being monitored by the new Council of Slayers. Five others are scattered around the world lying dormant. One is known to be in England and is coming out of the dormant state. But the council has yet to pinpoint its location. It seems the people looking for it get close but then suddenly forget what they were doing. And all the records seem to disappear as well. Its imperative we locate this hellmouth before its too late."
As Giles concluded his mini-speech he looked around the round table at the others. Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Xander, Faith and Andrew were there for the Council meeting. The table was scattered with old books and parchments as well as a map of England.
"We get it Giles," Buffy whined. "if we don't find this hellmouth all hell will break loose and blah blah blah. We've all heard this before."
Giles was a little annoyed at this and he had taken off his glasses to clean. Then he looked directly as Buffy. "Are you done?" Buffy gave his a look that said yes. "Good." He put his glasses back on and proceeded with the speech. "We are here, if you were listening you would have caught this part, because no one can find it and we are running out of time. The Covenant has been observing something 'strange' about this particular hellmouth, something that maybe even dangerous. And it's up to us to find it."
"Well no biggie," Buffy said cheerfully. "We locate it, we kick some demon ass and then we go back to our little vacation. Right?" Buffy now looked around for something from the others.
"I'm sorry Buffy," Willow looked at her with sad eyes. "I felt it. It's bad."
"How bad is it?" Buffy asked, now with seriousness in her voice.
"Well… its not as bad at the First but its not good. And there's something different about it this time."
"Then we'll deal. That's what we do. We go find this hellmouth, find out whats up, kill what ever it is, and make sure we seal the hellmouth." She was determined and serious this time.
"So what's the plan then?" Xander asked as he turned to Giles.
Giles then stood up and leaned into the table and pointed at the map. "Buffy, you take Willow and Xander here and try to locate the hellmouth. Willow can cast a spell so that you will not be affected by whatever magics that are hiding this hellmouth. Report back when you find it. The rest of us will stay here, research." This got a groan from the rest of the scoobies. "Oh don't give me that. If I have to do it, you do too."
"Ok then. That's the plan. Willow, Xander, lets go."
"Why a forest? Of all the places, why a forest?" Buffy demanded as she moved branches out of the way as they made their way through a dense and dark forest. "Why are we here anyway?"
"It's where all the others were before they forgot what they were doing." Willow answered patiently.
"Have you noticed it's always a cave, or a dessert or a forest when ever we have one of these 'journeys' to make?" Buffy pointed out.
"Just think of it as going on a camping trip," Xander suggested.
"Ick. Camping. Hate camping. There are always mosquitoes, wild animals and sleeping on the hard ground involved. And maybe, possibly a demon attack."
"We need to find a clearing," Willow stated as she ignored the rest of the conversation.
They moved forward through the thick forest fighting branches and bushes until they got to a small clearing. Some light broke through the tops of the trees to light the area.
"Now what?" Xander asked.
"Now I do a spell to guide us to the hellmouth." Willow moved to the center of the clearing and sat of the forest floor. She placed her hands palms down on ground and muttered a few incomprehensible words. She momentarily glowed before the glow around her gathered into a ball of light in front of her. Then she stood. "We follow it."
They followed the light for most of the day through the forest. Conversing very little and focusing on not tripping or walking into trees. It was about sunset when the forest got thinner and they didn't have to fight the trees.
"Don't you think this forest is a little strange?" Willow asked.
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked as she looked around to see anything strange.
"I mean, we've been walking all say and we haven't seen any animals or demons."
"Maybe they know to stay clear?" Buffy shrugged.
"There." Xander pointed at the edge of the forest.
They quickened their pace in a hurry to get away from all the trees rather than the excitement of finding the hellmouth. When they emerged from the forest they could clearly see a hut close to the edge of the forest and a castle ahead of them.
"Oh Buffy," Willow said concern in her voice, her eyes locked on the castle with amazement. "I know this place… I think we should get back to headquarters." Willow made to turn when Buffy stopped her.
"Whoa, aren't you going to tell us where this is?" Buffy inquired.
"Yeah Will, we want to know." Xander pleaded.
"You're not going to believe me," Willow hesitated. "I think this is Hogwarts."
"Get out."