Harry Potter and the Watcher from Sunnydale

Chapter 7 Giles Charges Into Action

Bobbie rematerialized about an hour later.

"Hullo, Uncle Rupert," she said. "I got Hermione to St. Mungo's Hospital. The healer said it should be easy to heal Hermione; he was surprised that she hadn't gotten treatment yet. I didn't think it was wise to tell him anything about the whys. Uncle, don't you think we could call in the Aurors now? We've got Hermione and we've got proof that she's been maltreated."

"I would," said Giles, "except for the matter of timing. Dredfall must know by now that Hermione has escaped; he might respond by moving Ron somewhere else. I think we ought to attack as soon as Dudley gets back with the car."

"I borrowed a cell phone from a Muggle friend whilst I was out; I'll try to reach him now."

She handed her wand to Giles, and took the phone out of her pocket. Magic did bizarre things to electronics, which was why witches and wizards had difficulty using modern technology like computers. At magic-heavy places like Hogwarts, the Ministry for Magic, or even the Dredfall mansion, a cell phone would be useless. But a wandless witch standing almost a hundred yards from the house should be able to use it safely. She spoke into it, and a few minutes later Dudley drove up in Giles' car.

Dudley was indignant on learning how Marietta had deliberately given Hermione a disfiguring disease, and Giles was surprised at hearing Dudley express so much empathy. Then he remembered that Dudley had once had to have surgery to remove a pig's tail given him by an angry wizard. It would give Dudley reason to sympathize.

"All right," said Giles. "If they've noticed Hermione's escape, they know that we're likely to come back to rescue Ron, and they have probably improved their defences. Any ideas?"

"When we were fighting Death Eaters," mused Bobbi, "we learnt that the key was to do the unexpected, and fight Muggle style. What do you think, Big D?"

Dudley contemplated the mansion. "Break in a window."

Giles looked at the facade. "There are windows, but they're not the modern sort. Stained glass that has remained intact for centuries. Probably rather sturdy. What can we break them with?"

"Crash through one with our horse. I saw Arnold Schwarzenegger do that in a film."

"Ahem," said Giles, both impressed and dismayed by the violent suggestion. This wasn't a film and things could end in a few possibilities, some of which would be terrible. "Do either you have extensive experience with riding swift horses?"

Dudley muttered something about "too heavy". Bobbi said "Just brooms in Quidditch. But don't YOU have experience in horseback riding, Uncle Rupert?"

"Yes," Giles replied reluctantly, "but I don't feel very much like Arnold Schwarzenegger."

- - - - -

Ten minutes later, Giles urged the horse into a trot. Bobbi and Dudley had gone ahead under the Invisibility Cloak, and would be in a position to rush in once Giles created the opening. Giles needed Bobbie, because once he got inside he would have shot his bolt, and would be a defenceless Muggle in a wizard stronghold.

About a third of the way there, horse and rider were proceeding at a full gallop. At this distance, he could make out the design of the stained glass better, and was rather impressed at the artistry. Did he really want to crash through it like a barbarian? Part of him dreaded breaking the window. He hoped that Bobbi could work a Reparo spell once the crisis was over, or if not, that they could find a more powerful wizard to do the job.

Two-thirds of the way there, Giles realized that the logistics were crucial. He had to arrange for the horse's hooves to crash through, then ride clear of the shattered glass. He could not in good conscience risk injury to an innocent horse, plus Giles had a healthy sense of self-preservation of his own.

"Now!" he said to himself, and urged his mount to jump.

CRRRASHtinkletinkletinkle.

They landed in the formal drawing room, and Giles tried to reign in the horse as quickly as possible, before their momentum threw them into furniture or the opposite wall.

"That was awesome, if I do say so myself," Giles said out loud. Sometimes Buffy's Valley Girl vocabulary could be very expressive.

Of course the noise was audible all over the house. Giles heard footsteps, and Dredfall rushed through with his wand drawn.

"Expelliarmus!" cried Bobbi from the window.

The wand leapt out of Dredfall's hand, and Giles caught it. It was useless to him, but at least it was out of the enemy's hands. Bobbi and Dudley climbed through the broken window, and on a sudden impulse, Giles handed the wand to Dudley. Dredfall knew that Giles was a Muggle, but he might still think Dudley was a wizard who could deplay the wand.

Dismounting, he led the horse to the front door, and urged it outdoors. Doubtless quite bewildered as to the ways of humans, it seemed quite eager to leave.

"Find Ron," Giles ordered Bobbi. "Or failing that, find Marietta and make her tell where Ron is."

Bobbi nodded and went down the corridor in which Dredfall had appeared. Dudley pointed the wand at Dredfall. Both the wand and his own bulk made Dudley look very intimidating, to people who weren't familiar with his personality.

"Hermione looked terrible," said Giles angrily. "Why did you kidnap her, Dredfall? You used to fight evil, when you saw it in Voldemort."

"That girl was a threat," replied Dredfall. "She wanted to destroy the wizard culture and make us all live like Muggles."

"I am a Muggle." His tone told Dredfall that he was annoyed with the answer.

"Yes, but you have a healthy respect for magic and the practices that have grown around it. The Granger girl doesn't. Just learning a lot of spells – yes, I KNOW she was the best in her class – doesn't give her a feel for the culture."

"To her, what you call 'culture' is simply a euphemism for enslaving elves. She thought elves were entitled to human rights."

"Oh, I understand where she's coming from," Dredfall said condescendingly. "Muggles believe humans are the only intelligent race, and that they are basically the same under the skin. That's how she was brought up, and she retained that point of view even after learning that she was a witch. But elves, goblins, and so on are different from humans. You fight vampires, Giles. Do you consider them human, with human rights? Don't you find it OK to stake them and ask questions later?"

"Vampires are inherently evil," said Giles stiffly. Fortunately he had not told Dredfall about Angel, or for that matter, the unpredictable Spike.

"And elves are servile, and goblins are greedy, and I am sure they would say humans have their own infuriating qualities. But over the centuries we have carefully built up a culture that allows us to co-exist – and she wants to destroy that."

"Just how pervasive is this culture of yours? Ron's family functions quite well without exploiting elves. We're really talking about a few rich families that can't function without parasiting off somebody else's labour."

"What about the elves that do the drudgery at Hogwarts?"

"Headmistress McGonagall and Hermione are discussing how that could be reformed."

"Oy! Uncle Rupert!" called out Bobbi's voice. She entered the drawing room with Marietta, whom she had tied up rather efficiently. Bobbi was holding two wands, having apparently captured Marietta's.

"Have you found Ron?" asked Giles.

"Not yet. But Marietta says she'll tell us where he is if we don't turn her over to the Ministry. I didn't think I should make that decision myself."

Giles thought over it. "Hermione was inclined to be forgiving, because she felt guilty over the zits spell. Dudley?"

Dudley glared at Marietta. "If it were up to me, I'd beat you up, bitch. But I'll go along."

"Wait!" cried Dredfall, realizing what his fate was to be. "I can tell you—"

"We're not giving you the same deal," Giles said angrily. "You kidnapped Hermione and she had done nothing to provoke you. Marietta?"

Marietta pointed at a decorative vase at the side of the drawing room. "He's in there. The stuff at the top is phony."

"In there? There's not enough room," said Giles.

"We made Hermione put an extension spell on it. It's a lot bigger inside than outside."

Bobbi walked over to the vase and pointed her wand at the top. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The "stuff at the top" flew upward from the vase, followed a few minutes later by a young redheaded man. He bounced off the ceiling and pushed himself down to the floor.

"Wow!" said Dudley, looking impressed. "I don't care what Mum and Dad say; some of these magic spells are cool."

"It was a lot cooler to look at than it was to be inside it," Ron said sulkily. "But thank you for coming after me."

Bobbi turned to Marietta. "OK, you can run now. You might get away faster if you can get on that horse out there. But just keep this in mind: Hermione was feeling guilty about that rash, and she might have healed it if you had asked. But too late now."

"Bollocks!" swore Marietta, stomping out the door.

"So that's it?" asked Dudley. "We've won?"

"No," Ron said. "We've got over the immediate crisis, but there's still a lot to do—"

TO BE CONTINUED