Accidentally Magical, or
Xander Harris and the Brand New Start
by KJ Dekker aka RockyD
Rating: PG-14 (nothing worse than the source materials)
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me, the Buffy ones belong to Joss
Whedon and Co. while Harry Potter and friends are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing I lay claim to is the excruciating torture I put them through... and I'm sure they love me for it.
Author's Note: I will hopefully be adding a chapter here every few days. This is the first part of what my brain is telling me could be at least a trilogy, so it should keep me busy for the next good while.
Feedback: Yes, please. Writing is an ever evolving process and your constructive criticism can be invaluable to a rusty author. Anything you can tell me will be appreciated.
Chapter Two: You've Got Mail
It took a little over a week for the reply to return to him. In the meantime, he had allowed Willow to practice a few simple spells with the wand, although never for very long. However, the short time she was given seemed more than enough, and her enthusiasm for magic seemed to return with a vengeance.
Buffy and Xander seemed glad to have their friend out of the funk she had sunk into with the slowing of her magical advancement, and continued to encourage her. He had to admire their loyalty and compassion in that respect, even if he wasn't overly fond of some of the wisecracking comments Xander expressed.
The tapping on his sitting room window was the indicator he was expecting, and the ordinary looking owl peeked at him through the glass expectantly. He opened the window and allowed the owl to enter his home. Expecting this visit all week, he was prepared with a water dish as well as a few treats for the undoubtedly tired bird. Even after it was finished drinking and eating it remained, so he assumed the letter would require a response of some sort.
He deliberated for quite a while about what he would find inside. He knew his standing in the wizarding community was not exactly surefooted. He wouldn't be surprised in the least if the letter was an outright refusal, but the owl patiently waiting was a good sign. He finally broke the seal on the letter and unrolled the parchment. He immediately recognized the eccentric script of the most famous wandmaker in the world.
Dear Mr. Rupert Giles
It is most unexpected to hear from you after such a long time. Even stranger is your request to purchase a wand for someone in your charge. You certainly will understand the hesitancy on the part of myself as well as that of the Ministry of Magic in light of your history. However, it is not outside the realm of possibility that your ways have changed in the intervening years, and we have been in contact with the Council of Watchers in regards to your service, and dismissal, as the primary Watcher for the current Vampire Slayer.
Do not fear, as we have always taken the word of the Council with a grain of salt, as even our own Ministry has had it's dark times. It is our belief that you should be given the benefit of the doubt, but not before thorough examination of your current and past activities. One of my assistants will be making a trip to your location, and will be in charge of your evaluation, as well as any subsequent dealings that may result.
If you would be so kind as to make arrangements to receive our representative from the Los Angeles office of the American Ministry of Magic, and return them with the owl which delivered this message. Due to the peculiarity of the region which you reside, that is the closest my assistant will be able to travel by traditional means. Your cooperation is appreciated, and let it be known that I have every hope of your good intentions and look forward to doing business with you in the future.
Signed,
Mr. Ollivander, Chief Wandmaker for Ollivander's Wand Shop
He breathed a sigh of relief at the lack of an outright refusal, but paled slightly at the mention of an evaluation. He suspected one of several methods would be used; a pensieve, veritaserum, or legillimency, perhaps all three.
He quickly ran over a number of his deeds in his mind, and contented himself in the knowledge that, though he'd made a number of mistakes, he had done his best to atone for them. He simply hoped his past wouldn't result in Willow losing a chance to further her education.
Just as he finished reading the letter, Buffy and Willow entered the apartment. They did this frequently as Giles wasn't too far from campus and it allowed them to keep on top of everything that was happening. Willow saw Giles at his desk holding a piece of parchment, with an owl perched nearby, and immediately knew it was his response from Mr. Ollivander.
Buffy, on the other hand, didn't make the connection and approached the owl with curiosity, "Hey, Giles, what's with this owl? Were you using that wand thing to transfidget like with Willow?" She leaned forward and reached her hand out to prod the bird, "What did it use to be?" Indignantly, the bird nipped at her finger, causing the Slayer to recoiled, "Giles, it bit me!"
Willow chuckled as she walked over and stroked the birds plumage, "No, Buffy, that's a delivery owl... Giles must have heard back from the wandmaker. Right, Giles?"
Giles nodded, "Yes, I have. The Ministry has not immediately refused my request, and our rather irate feathered friend here is waiting for me to write up a response. They're willing to send a representative here to assess the situation and decide if they shall fulfill the petition."
"What kind of response are they looking for?" Buffy asked even as she eyed the momentarily vicious bird.
"They've prepared travel arrangements for their representative, but Los Angeles is as far as they'll be able to travel by regular magical means... we have to provide them with a ride here to Sunnydale."
Buffy looked confused, "Regular magical means? Can't they just... y'know... where is Xander when you need a nerdy term? Teleport! That's it... can't they just teleport wherever they need to go?"
Giles rolled his eyes, "No, Buffy, it's not quite that simple. They can't travel like that to places they've never been before... so we need to arrange a ride for this representative from Los Angeles."
Willow perked up, "Oh! Oh, it's perfect! Giles, Oz is already going to LA for a gig with the Dingos... plus he's taking that thing to Angel for Buffy. He can meet up with this person and bring them back here!"
Giles was still weary about putting the Gem of Amarra in the hands of a man who could turn homicidal with the flick of an admittedly unusual switch, however he knew he could not dissuade his Slayer anymore than he could stop a bus with his bare hands. He nodded his agreement, "Very well, give me the details of his trip and I will relay them back to Mr. Ollivander."
Willow pulled a note out of her pocket and passed it over to Giles, who jotted them down inside his response, before rolling it up and attaching it to the owl's leg, "Now, I trust you'll take care with this, as well as with yourself. Rest as often as you need to." The owl hooted affirmatively and began flapping it's wings to take flight.
"Giles, why are you talking to it like it can understand you? It's just a bi..." Her comment was interrupted as the outraged owl flapped it's wings angrily and fluttered about directly over her head. She almost took a swing at it, but it finally headed off out the window which Giles had left open. Buffy was sorting herself out, mumbling about hoping it hadn't pooped in her hair, "Crazy bird."
Willow was absolutely aflutter about the possibility of receiving her very own wand. Seeing what she was capable with a wand suited for someone completely different, he was certain she would be capable of mind-boggling things when it came to magic. He only hoped he would be able to handle teaching her in a method of magic he wasn't completely certified in himself.
He considered that a condition of the Ministry, following a successful evaluation, might be that Willow be shuffled off to one of the nearest American Wizarding Academies. That prospect meant alienating the girl from her friends at a distant school where she wouldn't be able to travel directly home and would be taught the ways of magic by complete strangers.
If he proved himself in the evaluation, he would stress the need for Willow's delicate emotional stability to be taken into consideration. Such a dramatic change in her environment could result in catastrophic release of magic and label her as a dangerous case. He knew how the Council of Watchers loved an experiment being handed to them on a silver platter, and he imagined the American Ministry would be just as accepting. He hoped it wouldn't come to that.
He only suspected the American Ministry had not picked up on Willow's magical abilities because of the extreme amounts of ambient magic that surrounded the Hellmouth itself. That was also probably why the closest access for magical people was Los Angeles. The magic in the air would play havoc and likely scramble anyone traveling into the area. It was that interference that made him comfortable enough to teach Willow in the first place.
He wasn't sure how either the American or English Ministries would look upon his passing knowledge on to an 'impressionable youth.' If it wasn't for the evaluation he'd be required to pass before any transaction took place, he would consider omitting that piece of information from Ollivander's representative. As it was, he would, in fact, need to present it to prove his intentions.
The only person who seemed less and less enthused with this latest development was Xander. While initially supportive of his friend's renewed exuberance towards magic, Giles could see the young man slowly stepping back and remaining quieter when the subject came up.
It had never occurred to Giles, until he really stopped to see it, how frustrating it would likely be to see all of his friends developing special abilities while he remained completely normal and unable to contribute on the same level they did.
He had thankfully become less prone to throwing himself into the fray, but he suspected that might just be the result of Buffy's insistence that he stay 'fray adjacent' and out of harms way. He had seemed to accept this with little argument, but suddenly Giles could see the toll it was beginning to take on the young man. The question was what could be done about it.
Xander had never shown much interest in the research side of their activities, at least not when it didn't directly involve some sort of immediate threat to Buffy or Willow's lives. That was undoubtedly due to the young man's one-time crush on the Slayer and his long-time friendship with Willow, which then colored all of his actions when it came to them. Now, it just seemed to manifest as a strong desire to keep the girls alive, as any loyal friend would.
He supposed he could train the young man in self-defense, but he worried that would only encourage him into the fray again, and he had no desire to incur Buffy's wrath in that capacity. It might just be a matter best left until after meeting with Ollivander's assistant and sorting out whether Willow would be allowed a wand and to remain under his tutelage.
That encounter was only a few days away, and he didn't believe Xander's condition would get dramatically worse in that time, but he would keep his eye out just the same.