Chapter 7: Intro to the Wizarding World 101

Willow winced at the bright mid-morning sunlight streaming through her kitchen windows and took another gulp of steaming coffee. Sleep had effectively eluded her last night and she was feeling tired and irritable - hence the deliciousness of coffee today.

It was like she was unable to block out last night's confrontation with Padfoot. Not a word had escaped her fervent analyzing, although she sadly was still just as confused, maybe even more so now.

It just didn't make sense. Okay, she could understand that he was freaked out by her occasional black-haired self. She would probably have felt the same if she had been in his shoes. But why on earth would he say those last words? She was supposed to tell 'her' people and the ministry that 'he didn't do it' and when somebody returned everyone would know the truth about him and Peter.

She was starting to wonder if they had even been talking about the same thing.

Obviously he was on the run and living in the wild - could he have thought she was after him? That made sense.

Regardless of all the 'whys' and 'maybes' of his reaction, she was still feeling hurt by it. The jerk hadn't even let her explain! She wished she could have tied him down and told him the whole story about how she is not longer evil, but noooo, he just had to start jumping to conclusions and freaking out that she was going to capture/kill him!

Idiot.

She had half a mind to find him, just so she could yell at him and quite possibly throw things.

More so, she had no idea why it was frustrating her so much. She had known the guy for half a freaking day. Yes, she had enjoyed his company. He made her smile and had a fun rakish grin that she had come to enjoy. And yeah, he had definitely made her question her switch in sexuality preference. But still…

She missed him. And it made her stomach feel icky knowing that he was out there afraid of her now - especially when he had no reason to.

That was it. Willow didn't care if she *was* supposed to be in the isolated stage of her treatment. She needed to see Giles. And Amelia too.

Before she went even crazier.

~*~*~*~*~

Sitting nervously on the plush couch in her mentor's living room, Willow gingerly took a sip of tea. She had always been a big coffee fan - even if her friends had frowned on her on the hyper results it sometimes produced - but after her extended stay she was becoming quite the tea fan as well.

"So Willow, what have we done to extract such a nice surprise visit from you?" Amelia said in her light brogue that had elements of the 'proper British woman' tone. The Devon Coven leader, who looked to be in her mid-sixties, had her gray-streaked hair lying in waves over her shoulders and she was staring at Willow with concerned green eyes.

"Yes, Willow, you sounded rather anxious on the phone earlier today. Is everything alright at the cottage?" Giles inquired as peered over the rims of his glasses.

Setting her cup down, she looked at each of them. "I'm fine - mostly. But something did happen at the cottage."

Giles looked alarmed, but the serene expression that Amelia possessed never left her face. Thinking of it, Willow had never seen that expression ever leave her face. It was probably why Willow had been paired with her, since she had such a calm demeanor.

"Ok, well I met this man yesterday. Not just any man though - I had caught him stealing out of my pantry. Anyways, I had placed a protective spell - the Creeper Catching Creeping Vine, remember Amelia? - and he had escaped through magic. But it felt *way* different than anything I had ever felt, not like earth magic at all, so I followed him and then got attacked by a hippogriff-"

"A hippogriff?" exclaimed a flustered Giles. "Here?" He began mumbling to himself as he cleaned his glasses.

Willow held up a hand to stop him. "Yes, a hippogriff. Anyways, said hippogriff was going to attack me when this man, who called himself Padfoot, stopped him. And it was obvious that Padfoot was living in a cave and starving - plus he smelled bad and looked like he never bathed - so I offered to let him stay over at the cottage, especially since that big thunderstorm was coming through."

Willow had thought her mentor's expression could never change. She was wrong.

"What in the name of the Goddess were you thinking, Willow?" she cried as her eyebrows shot up to her forehead. "You *never, ever* invite a strange man into your home, especially one that can do magic!"

Giles sighed as he took off his glasses and rubbed his temples. "Yes, Willow, what *were* you thinking?"

Willow wanted to scream. Okay, yes, maybe that wasn't the smartest move, but she *was* an adult. She wasn't stupid, nor needed to be looked after like a child.

She breathed in a deep breath. Well, okay, she supposed they had been looking after her like a child all summer; she had needed it.

"I felt bad for him, alright? And I didn't get any evil vibes off him at all."

"Still," Giles began in his official 'Watcher' voice, "if he had been evil, you may not have been able to fight him off. Your magic is still weakened and any defensive spells you may have tried could have gone horribly wrong."

"Okay, I get it," she stated, rather petulantly she supposed. "But that isn't why I wanted to talk to you two. You see, I told him about life back home and how my friends and I fought all sorts of supernatural baddies and he freaked out. I think he may have made the connection between my, um, past activities," she hurriedly threw out, "and realized who I was. Anyways, he got really frightened and left."

Amelia gave her a kind look. "My dear, that is to be expected. Redemption is not an overnight process and it is quite doubtful that many in the supernatural community know of your allegiance reversion. You cannot fault the man for that."

"I know, I know. It's just… That wasn't it. Before he left he said some weird things and I think our line of communication got crossed somehow. He started asking me 'where the others were?' and seemed to think I had back-up to capture him or kill him or something."

"Likely he thought you did not work alone, that perhaps you had aligned yourself with others since Sunnydale," Giles offered helpfully.

"Okay, yeah. But then he also said something about 'You-Know-Who' returning and the truth coming out about him and some guy named Peter and something about wanting to be left alone and he didn't do something. And that's not it! Before he left he said something like 'stupid' or 'stoopy' and used a freaking magic wand to do a spell that knocked me out!"

Amelia gasped and Giles turned to her in concern. Willow was especially concerned about her reaction - her faced looked as white as a sheet and her eyes were wide with fright.

"Amelia?" she asked hesitatingly.

The Coven Leader took a deep, shaky breath. "Are you sure that's what he said, Willow?"

"Yes… Why?" Willow's eyes narrowed. That was two times in just a few minutes that her mentor had reacted sp strongly, when normally she was so calm.

"He said that You-Know-Who would return? How did he say it - was it a threat? Or the ramblings of a mad man?"

Willow squirmed. This was giving her the belly rumblings. "Not really either of those. He more or less stated it."

Amelia closed her eyes and shook her head. "My dear Rupert, are you familiar with the Wizarding World?"

Giles frowned. "During my early years at the Council I had heard mention of it - I believe we had a married couple rumored to be a witch and wizard from there who worked with us - but I do not know much."

Amelia frowned. "That is because 'Muggles' are forbidden to know about it." Her tone didn't hide just how stupid she thought that idea was.

Nodding her head, Willow spoke. "Yeah, he mentioned that! He said that he didn't think I would notice him stealing because I was a 'Muggle' and later he said something about the Wizarding World. But I've never heard anything about it before."

"Yes, well. Hmm. Where to start?" Amelia mused out loud. "Essentially there are many kinds of magic in this world but two are the most prevalent. There is earth magic, which is practiced by us, and there are those who are a part of the Wizarding World. These witches and wizards have an inner magical core and they use a wand to focus that magic in order to do spells."

"Of course, outsiders are forbidden to know about the Wizarding World. Long ago their ministries ruled that wizards would live separate from non-magical beings and the communities became secluded. They have their own schools, shopping centers, and even their own government."

"That's so weird," Willow commented. "Why are they all hermit-y?"

Amelia frowned. "Obviously to live life without interference by muggles. But they, mostly, shun even the other magical creatures of the world."

"I daresay, you seem well-versed on the matter, Amelia. How did you come about all this?" Giles questioned.

Amelia gave a half-hearted smile. "Because I was born into it, Rupert. My family is an old pure-blood family, even if all that remain now are my sister and I."

"What? You're like a wizard-witch? But I thought you were a Wiccan?" Willow said in a rush.

"Not quite, my dear. I was born a Squib," she answered as she rolled her eyes. Willow was slightly amused to see her old-fashioned mentor roll her eyes. "That is a word used to identify those of us born to pure-blood wizarding families who have no magical core."

She sighed as she saw their confused looks. "Remember, I told you how the Wizarding community has an aversion to those without magic. Being a Squib is the worst of both worlds - shunned by one and confused by the other. I never went to Hogwarts - that's the magical school in Britain - however I did in my youth discover this very Coven. Actually, my sister did. They had spoken about it in some class and she told my parents this was an opportunity for me to use some magic. She was right - she often is - and I was lucky to have found my home here."

"I had no idea," sputtered an amazed Giles.

"Oh Rupert," she fondly patted his hand and smiled "A girl's got to have some secrets after all."

"Now I know you both have many questions, but I am disturbed by this stranger's talk of bringing You-Know-Who back. Since I am still a pure blood -even if I'm a Squib- I am part of the Wizarding World and thus still can receive The Daily Prophet, which is their local press. Not to mention our coven had it's own involvement against You-Know-Who's forces so long ago. If this stranger was serious about this talk…" Amelia trailed off as her eyes lit up with a realization.

"One moment, please," she said as she went into the other room, leaving Willow and Giles just to stare at each other in baffled silence.

"Here Willow, take a look at this," Amelia ordered in her stern motherly voice as she thrust a newspaper into her lap.

Willow picked it up and gasped. "Oh my gosh, is this real? These pictures are… They're *moving*" she cried in astonishment.

Giles, always a fan of the new and strange, got up to peer over her shoulder. "Astounding," he whispered.

"Yes, yes," Amelia murmured impatiently. "But actually *look* at the pictures. Do you recognize anyone?"

Scanning the front page Willow noticed the large picture that had the word 'WANTED' headlined above it. The man in the picture had stringy dark hair, a gaunt face, and eyes that gleamed with madness. In the picture he was behind a row of bars and clutched them while screaming wildly.

She winced - Willow couldn't believe it. "No," she said quietly.

"Willow?" Giles questioned.

"It's him," she answered reluctantly. "It's Padfoot."

"His real name, my dear, is Sirius Black - a mass murderer and escaped convict."

Amelia frowned again. "This disturbing news of yours must be heard by the right person. Since I'm a Squib and you're not any better, I do not want to entangle us with those blasted Ministry folks. I'll floo my sister and we'll meet with her today to get advice."

Willow stared at Amelia in puzzlement as the woman walked to the fireplace. "You're going to 'floo' her?"


Being sick is sort of fun because it means I have free time to write… and writing on drugs is fun ;) Just kidding. Not bad drugs, I promise, just the happy healing kind.

Anyways… I'm curious if anyone can guess who Amelia's sister is… I imagine it's fairly obvious…Oh, and expect the couple Giles knew to come up again at some point as well… ;)

And yes, sadness galore for the separation of Willow and Sirius, bur it won't be forever. They're both just too darn cute!

Thoughts? Suggestions? Holler at me :D You, dearest readers, have been supplying with some wonderful comments and excellent suggestions so far that have *really* been giving me some food for thought.

Also… 'Creeper Catching Creeping Vine'? I just have to say that is my new favorite thing I have ever created haha… Or maybe that's just the drugs and my love of alliteration.