This is the sequel to "Magical Connections" and will go through Harry's 4th year, picking up where the last story left off. I'm loosely following Goblet of Fire as I did get into some of that book's storylines in the previous story.It's recommended that you read the "Magical Connections" before attempting to read this one. I also suggest that you go back and reread the final chapter of it before you start with this one.
FYI: I decided that if I waited until I read and studied the books, this sequel would never get written. So expect me to mess things up. Please feel free to email me if something really irks you that I do. I am looking for a reader. Someone who is very familiar with the Harry Potter universe and can catch my plotline mistakes before. If you are a Harry Potter guru, please email me. I will let you read over my chapters in advance, correcting any HP related errors. Go to my profile page to email me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the characters, nor do I own Buffy or its characters. Remember, I make no money on this story, but this is free for your and mine amusement only.
Chapter 1: A House Divided
*****Sorting Day******
Severus still couldn't believe that both his girls were sorted into his house, but he was extremely proud—and relieved. After the dinner and sorting, he went up to his girls. Draco was introducing him to the rest of the house.
His house was looking at Buffy and Cordelia in amazement. Millicent kept looking at Buffy and then at him, and he knew what she was thinking.
"Stop staring. Yes, Buffy Anne is my daughter. Yes, she looks like her mother," Severus said sourly.
"My mother is going to be teaching here," Buffy said proudly.
"She's a witch, right?" Pansy asked.
"Nope. She's just a regular person," Buffy said. "She'll be teaching art classes as she owns an art gallery back home in the states."
"Your mother is a muggle?" Pansy said, like it was a shock.
Buffy clenched her fists and stepped forward. "Say that word again and see what happens," Buffy growled in such a menacing tone that the entire group of Slytherins stepped back.
When Professor Snape's glare matched hers, Draco grinned. "I can totally see the resemblance," he said to Cordelia.
Cordelia snorted. "Relax, Buffy. The snakes will learn not to go around insulting anyone's mother," she said, giving the group a scorching look of her own. "I'm sure Pansy didn't mean any insult."
"No, of course not," Pansy said quickly. "I'm sorry."
"You all can get to your quarters. Cordelia and Buffy already have rooms in our dungeon, so they'll be along shortly," Severus said to the kids. They all scattered. Only Draco remained behind.
"It's okay, Drake. Let me say goodnight to our friends," Cordelia said, wanting to go over to the Gryffindor table.
"I can wait," he offered.
"Not necessary," Cordelia said. "Buffy needs some time to cool off."
"I'm going to have to hurt some snakes, Father, if they're going to insult my mother," Buffy said.
"Just don't do any permanent damage," Severus said. He waited until Draco walked away. "I'm happy that you're in my house."
Buffy lost some of her anger and grinned up at him. "You know that stupid hat didn't want me in your house. I told it I would set it on fire if it tried to place me anywhere else," she said.
Severus let out a bark of laughter before he could stop it. "How every Slytherin of you, my dear," he said with a smirk.
"Well, I am you daughter," she said. "And I am still a slayer. That makes me both a creature of darkness and a hero. But being placed in Harry's house would've only made things difficult for you—I know that."
"I would've dealt with it," he said.
"Now you don't have to," she said smugly. She gave him a hug and joined Cordelia, who was trying to console the twins.
"Okay, listen, you doofuses," Cordelia said. "Yes, the totally gross hat wanted to put me in your house, but I told it not to."
"Why would you do that?" Ron asked in shock.
"The same reason I did," Buffy said as she joined Cordelia. "We don't want to cause trouble for my father, and we want to be placed in a position to know what these wanna-be-death eaters are up to."
"And convince them that their blood purity bullshit is lame," Cordelia said.
"Good luck with that," Hermione said.
Harry thought of his own near brush with being sorted into the snakes and believed the two girls. "We don't care," Harry said. "We're still friends."
"Nothing can separate me from my girls," Xander said, throwing his arm around Buffy and looking around for Willow. "Where's Willow?"
Buffy looked and saw her talking animatedly with a blond girl. "She's already making new friends," Buffy said.
"Luna's sweet if a bit strange," Hermione said.
"She's batty as a fruit cake," Ron said.
"She's not batty," Ginny said, glaring at her brother. "She just sees the world differently than the rest of us."
"Don't you mean she just sees things that aren't there?" Ron said.
"We gotta go," Cordelia said. "We'll catch you guys at breakfast."
Buffy went over to talk to Willow, and Willow introduced her to Luna.
"I didn't know what house you wanted, Buffy. I should've thought Slytherin," Willow gushed. "He did say I could be a dark wizard 'cause I'm so full of the magics and a baby of the hellmouth, but I told him that I didn't want to be a dark wizard."
"It's okay, Will," Buffy said, giving her a fond look. "I don't want you to be one either. Ravenclaw is the group of Giles, so I'm sure you'll love it."
"You are a magical creature, aren't you?" Luna said, studying Buffy closely. "I don't see a horn or tails. Hmm. Are you a nymph? Or a fairy?"
"I'm human," Buffy said, giving the girl a puzzled look.
"So maybe half or a quarter?" Luna asked. "It's so clear in your aura. You're not just a human witch."
Buffy grinned. "No, I'm not," she said. She put her index finger to her lips. "Shhh. I'm not supposed to talk about what I am."
"When you decided to go public with your status, my father would love an exclusive," Luna said. "He's an editor of The Quibbler."
Willow's eyes widened in alarm. "That's—that's," she began.
Buffy cut her off. "Not a problem. I'll be happy to," she said with an easy smile. "But until then, mums the word, okay?"
"Of course," Luna said. She looked around as if just noticing the other Ravenclaws were gone. "We should get to our rooms."
"Oh, my stuff's in Slytherin house," Willow said. "I have to go get it."
"Would you like some help?" Luna asked kindly.
"I will help her," Buffy said.
"I will be along shortly," Willow told her.
"Okay. Our password is the square root of 459," Luna said, still staring at Buffy as she walked away.
"She seems nice," Buffy said.
"Why was she staring at you?" Cordelia asked as Xander walked up with her to join Willow and Buffy.
"She could tell I was a magical creature," Buffy said in a low voice.
"Really?" Cordelia asked.
"I guess she is really different," Xander said.
"She's super nice," Willow said. "She's seen all kinds of creatures I've not seen before even living on the hellmouth."
Willow walked with them back to the Slytherin rooms to get her stuff. The password was changed.
"That was fast," Willow said.
"They forgot to tell us the new password," Buffy said, annoyed. She pounded on the door, and one of the first years opened it. Buffy pushed through. "What's the new password?"
"We don't share passwords when another house is present," Flint said, eying Willow with distaste.
"This is Willow, my best friend. She's getting her stuff to move into Ravenclaw. You can give the password to my cousin," Buffy said.
When Buffy and Willow went to the room, Draco motioned to Cordelia. "Come over here, cousin," he said. He was very glad that she was in his house. Having both girls was a boon to the house and a clear shock to those stupid Gryfs. He grinned recalling the faces of the Weasleys.
"Why are you grinning from ear to ear?" Cordelia asked. "And why didn't you tell us the password was changed?"
"Of course, it was changed. We change it ever school year—sometimes once or twice a month even," Draco said.
"It better not be pureblood because I don't have any patience for that kind of bullshit—I'm not going to put up with a bunch of bigotry," she announced, glaring at Pansy and Millicent.
Not wanting to piss off their head of house or the new witches, they said nothing.
Draco grinned. "You are so going to turn this house on its head," he said. "The new password is snakes."
Blaise was looking at her with interest but said nothing. Crabbe looked more than a little dumbfounded.
When Cordelia went to help Willow get her stuff, Draco's friends looked at him expectantly.
"What?" he asked, crossly.
"What are you going to do about your cousin and Buffy?" Pansy asked. "They can't go around acting like they can do whatever they want."
"That remains to be seen," Draco said coolly. "My cousin is a Black, and Snape's niece while Buffy is his daughter. I don't know them well yet, but Buffy doesn't seem to be afraid of anyone—not even my father. Couldn't you feel the power coming off her? I wouldn't go making an enemy out of her if I were you. They're Americans. Of course, they're not going to be like us. Neither of them was raised in our world, but they were placed in our house. Say another bad word about either of them again, you'll be answering to me."
He got up, giving all of them a cold look before going to his quarters. He knew that his housemates would test what he said, but he also knew that he wasn't going to let anyone hurt his family. He finally had a relative close to his own age that he genuinely liked, and he wasn't about to have her upset in anyway. Of course, he had the feeling Cordelia could very well take care of herself. The girls in his house wouldn't know what hit them. Chuckling, he stepped into his bedroom.
*****The Next Day*****
Xander got up with the twins and their best bud Lee. He was glad that Lee was so easy going, and he had seemed to welcome, not resent, Xander's new friendship with the twins. The four of them were about to go to breakfast when Ron's depressed faced drew Xander's attention.
"What's wrong, Ron?" he asked.
"Look at this," he said pointing to the robe his mother sent him. "I have to wear this hideous robe that used to belong to one of my brothers."
Xander thought all the robes were hideous, and he couldn't see how it was any worse than any others. "Do you want to wear mine? I think all of the robes look like dresses, so I don't care one way or another," he said.
"You want to wear that ugly thing?" Ron asked in surprise.
Xander shrugged. "Well, I don't want to wear any robe at all, but since I have to, I might was well help a friend out, right?" he asked.
"Are you sure?" Ron asked.
Xander took his robe off and handed it to Ron as an answer. Then he picked up Ron's and put it on.
"Are you sure you want to be caught dead in that thing?" Lee asked.
Xander shrugged. "I don't care. I'm already the weird America muggle raised wizard. What's one more thing?" he said.
"Well, it's—" George begin.
"your funeral," Fred finished.
They went to the normal Gryffindor table and sat down. He waved at Willow and her interesting friend Luna. Willow grinned and waved back. They'd already decided that they'd spend breakfast and supper with their houses, but they'd spend lunch with each other as they always would at home. They would rotate tables they would sit at, starting with Gryffindor today.
Xander had caught up to his year in transfiguration and defense of the dark arts. However, he was in year three with charms because there was just too many to learn. He refused to take muggle studies since it seemed like a waste of time. One of his electives was divination, and his girls were also in there with him. He was in the fourth year with potions, which was more than embarrassing. However, he couldn't learn all the names of the different potions. Severus was disappointed, but he hoped to be ready for year five by the end of the semester. The twins were committed to tutoring him. There was just so much to learn. Luckily, Ginny was going to be with him in charms, so he would have a Weasley by his side there, too. She said that the Ravenclaws would be in there with them, so Willow's new friend Luna would be in there, too. He wanted to give Mrs. Summers a familiar face, so he signed up for her Art for Beginners class. Happily, it was the first class on his schedule.
He figured he'd be in there alone and was surprised that the twins followed him in.
"You guys are taking art?" he asked as he walked to the classroom door.
"Playing with paints and stuff first thing in the morning?" George said.
"How much better can a day start?" Fred added.
"Don't go making messes. This is Buffy's mom's class," Xander said, taking a seat on the front row.
"Hello, Xander, boys," Joyce said, looking at Xander and the twins with a warm smile. She was nervous but excited. It seemed that more students were interested in taking art than Albus thought, so she was teaching three beginning art classes and one art history class. She decided that she'd decide who showed some real talent and put them in a more advanced class. Albus seemed delighted at the idea, so he agreed.
A few minutes later, Ron and Harry both came in.
"Why didn't you tell me you were taking art?" Xander asked.
"I didn't realize we could take it," Ron said. "When I found out that we could take it instead of divination, I told Harry."
"I hate divination, so I was ready to do anything else," Harry said. "The professor is always predicting my death every year."
"Well, the girls and I are taking that one on Tuesdays and Thursdays," Xander said.
"Be prepared for gloom and doom," Harry said. "I'm sure hellmouth babies are destined for doom and gloom."
"You're probably right," Xander said.
Harry nudged Ron. "Hey, look—ferret boy is here," Harry said as Draco came into the class, sitting by exit. He looked uncomfortable, so Xander gave him a friendly wave as he sat down.
Draco wasn't sure what compelled him to sign up for art, but his mother had always drawn. No one but her knew that he had a knack for it, too. When he saw that Ron and Harry were also in the class, he almost turned around. Then Xander had waved at him, giving him a welcoming smile. Although he didn't smile the American, he did nod. Didn't the guy know he wasn't supposed to be so nice to other houses? However, he was the best guy friend of Buffy's, so he didn't want to go out of his way to alienate the guy.
Ron clearly didn't like Xander's friendliness and glared at Xander. "Why are you being friendly to that snake?" he asked.
"Snake? He can turn into a snake? That's wicked cool!" Xander said, purposely misunderstanding.
"No, that's not what I meant!" Ron said.
Xander smirked. "I hope you don't think you can tell me who to be friendly to," Xander said. "'Cause he's Cordy's cousin and Buffy's godcousin or whatever. I have no reason to dislike him, and I don't judge people based on gossip. Cordy may be a royal bitch sometimes, but she's someone I've known and fought with since I was five."
Joyce started class, so the conversation was cut off. Harry whispered to Ron, "Don't start, Ron. It's not our business who's friends with Malfoy."
Ron didn't like it, but he didn't say anything more.
Joyce was happy to see a few students she knew as she began the class by passing out drafting paper, encouraging them to draw anything they wanted. She went around observing, feeling good about her first class.
Xander's next class was transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. He was very happy that in this one and Defense against the Dark Arts, he was in fifth year with Buffy and Willow—and Cordelia. He could've been placed in sixth year as he was better in this subject than the girls. But he hadn't done his major transfiguring test yet. Somehow, Cordy managed to get to all the right years in all her other subjects and still went back home for three weeks when Buffy did. They spent a week together in Sunnydale, so they must've studied together. Cordelia drove Buffy to LAX, so her dad could think she arrived on a plane. Buffy had decided not to tell her father about her supernatural life, but Cordelia did tell her family about Buffy being her cousin. They had told Xander her parents had been very happy that she had discovered some blood relatives.
Buffy grinned and sat next to him while Draco sat in front of him with Cordelia sharing his table. He looked surprised that she sat down next to him. The dark looks from their perspective houses didn't faze any of them. From what Xander could gather, it was mostly two houses in any given room if a person was on their correct level.
"I can't believe Willow won't be with us," Xander remarked.
"Most of the time Ravenclaw students are paired with Hufflepuff," Draco said. "In the electives, there will be more of a house mix."
Professor McGonagall saw the intermixing but said nothing. Perhaps, it was passed time that the students learned house division was not meant to make enemies of their classmates.
"I totally hope we get to try and change our forms," Xander said. "Professor McGonagall is a cat. Maybe I'm like a wolf or a tiger!"
"Or a chicken," Cordelia muttered.
"Or a chihuahua," Buffy said with a grin.
"Well, chihuahua's are very cute and love Taco Bell—I love Taco Bell!" Xander said, unoffended. Buffy laughed, enjoying her friend as always.
"We learned how to change forms during third year," Draco said.
"Oh, so you already know what your form is?" Cordelia asked her cousin.
He nodded and looked embarrassed.
"What is it?" Cordelia asked.
"A ferret," he admitted.
"Seriously? That's why Ron calls you ferret-boy?" Xander asked.
Draco glared at him. "Shut your mouth!" he ordered.
The Harry and Ron finally made it to class, plopping down behind Xander. "Did I hear—" Harry began.
"Malfoy talking to you in a rude manner?" Ron asked, glaring at Draco.
"Don't start," Buffy warned.
"You know you two are starting to sound like the twins," Xander said with a smirk. She waved at Hermione who slipped in behind the boys.
Professor McGonagall decided it was time to start class. She had the class refresh their memories by doing some reading, and then told the American students to come to her desk.
"I expect all of you to be on sixth year by end of this term. I do realize that you never got a chance to try your Animagus form," she said. "Normally, you would not have been put in this class without first demonstrating your ability. However, our schedules the last weeks you all were together for the summer never worked with mine. Albus could have overseen your transfiguring but chose not to for some reason. Today, you have permission to do the spell. Do you know it?"
The three students nodded eagerly. "Can I go first?" Xander asked. The rest of the class dropped all pretense of reading and watched the American transfer students who were already famous in the school.
"Of course," his teacher said.
Cordelia and Buffy stepped back while Xander got out his wand and worked the spell. He was so surprised how quickly he changed forms and how little it hurt.
"What the hell is that?" Cordelia asked as she gaped at Xander's animal form.
"That's a hyena," Buffy said, looking at Xander in fascination.
"Bullocks, that's awesome!" Ron exclaimed.
"I've never seen a hyena," Harry said in awe.
"Very good, Xander. You may change back," the professor said.
Just like that, Xander was able to be back in his own form. He couldn't believe it. "That was incredible!" he gushed. "I can be an actual wild dog—not as cool as a wolf, but so much cooler than your uncle." That comment was directed to Cordelia, who—predictably—glared.
"Hyenas are like coyotes, the reject dogs. No surprise that's your form," she said coldly.
Draco snickered. His cousin was so quick witted.
"Why don't you try?" Xander said. "I'm going to die laughing if your form is a hog or a skunk!"
"As if," Cordelia said with a haughty sniff. She pulled out her wand and worked the spell.
"Oh. My. God!" Ron said.
"Good Merlin!" the Professor said in surprise, jumping back slightly.
"She's a panther!" Buffy said in awe and a twinge of jealous.
"It's not right," Xander muttered in disgust as he gazed at the black sleek cat, who decided to stalk him.
"Cordy, what are you doing?" Buffy asked as the very large cat moved to stand directly in front of Xander.
"You don't scare me," Xander scoffed.
Harry and Ron, though, were torn between terror and admiration. "She could eat us in one gulp," Harry whispered.
"I'm not sure my brothers would mind going out that way," Ron said with a snicker.
Cordelia opened her mouth to show Xander her teeth, reveling in how powerful she felt. This was the most incredible experience of her life.
"You got cat breath!" Xander said, annoying her.
She considered using her claws on him, but she didn't want her house to lose points. Instead, she used her large tongue, swiping his cheek.
"Oh, gross!" Xander said, wiping is face as Cordelia changed back, giggling. "I have Cordy cooties!"
"That's was so cool, Cordy," Buffy gushed, giving her a hug.
"My big cat is so much better than your dog," Cordelia said, tossing back her hair.
"That was most impressive, Cordelia," Professor McGonagall said. She looked expectantly at Buffy.
Buffy could feel all eyes on her and was nervous. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out her wand to do her own spell.
Her classmates looked on in terror at her form.
*****To Be Continued******
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Feel free to review. Don't forget to send me your email address if you want to be a reader. Make sure you REALLY know the books and are a stickler for details. Updates will be very slow until I get a helper or two. Thanks so much!