Chapter 25: August 25, 2014 – Transfiguration

Challenge: for the livejournal 2014 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.

Timeline: pre-movie, making it AU

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. Sorcerer's Apprentice characters belong to Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard, Matt Lopez, Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Saturn Films and Broken Road. Charmed characters belong to Constance M. Burge and the WB. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Buffy's office

"So my assistant, Walter, tells me that you have a favor to ask?" Buffy said to her guest; a scruffy, sorta homeless-looking guy.

"Yes, but you may want to call your deputy here so he can verify my claims," the man suggested. "I'll tell you right now that his demon name and my first name are quite similar."

"Okay, thanks for the head's up. Scooby!" she called out. When the house elf appeared, she said, "Scooby, I need you to find Deputy Cole, please. Tell him to come to my office as soon as he can."

"Yes, Mistress Buffy," Scooby replied eagerly, then popped back out.

"Scooby?" her guest inquired.

"Inside joke for me and my friends."

Cole must have been in his office because he knocked on her door just then. "You wanted to see me, Buffy?" he asked.

"Yes, Cole. This man suggested that you be part of this meeting so you could tell me he's not crazy," Buffy said.

"Never said I wasn't crazy," the man interjected. "Just that what I'm about to tell you is the truth." He held out his hand to Cole and said, "My name is Balthazar Blake."

Cole's eyes widened. "The Merlinean?"

"The whateein?" Buffy asked.

"He was one of Merlin's apprentices," Cole explained. "There were two major factions of sorcerers and sorceresses in ancient England: the Merlineans – named after Merlin – and the Morganians – named after his student and later his enemy, Morgana le Fay."

"What does this have to do with us?" Buffy wanted to know.

"Just before Merlin died, he gave me the task of finding the Prime Merlinean. That person would be the only one capable of destroying Morgana for good. Right now she's trapped in a Grimhold. Once I find the Prime Merlinean, I need to train him or her until they are competent enough in their abilities to defeat her and the other Morganians that are trapped."

"Just curious about something before we get any further," Buffy interrupted. "Should you be sharing this much information with complete strangers? Especially one that you obviously know is part-demon?"

"You're a Slayer; Slayers are always a force for good when the world is at stake," Balthazar answered. "Besides, I doubt any of this is really news to Belthazor."

"I prefer to go by Cole these days," Cole corrected the sorcerer. "He's right, though, Buffy. I already know all this, and I can guess why he's here." When Balthazar gestured for him to continue, he did, "He's here to test the dragon ring on the students; see if any of them is the Prime."

"You got it," Balthazar agreed. "I know the chances are slim – mostly because I've been looking for many centuries now – but I need to try."

"Is there any danger to the students?" Buffy asked.

"Only if they are the Prime and there are Morganians around to witness the dragon ring accepting him or her."

"Then I suppose it will be okay…if they agree. I won't have you forcing anyone to try it," Buffy warned him. "I'll have them called down here by house, year and gender. That way they won't have to sit around and wait a long time."

"I'll tell Walter to send notices to the teachers and house common rooms with the house elves," Cole offered.

"Thanks." She turned to look at Balthazar and said, "This will take a day or two. Do you have a place to stay or should I have an elf make up one of the VIP suites for you?"

"If you don't mind, I'd prefer to stay here," Balthazar requested.

"When you are out of your rooms, you will have an escort. If we find you in the castle or on the castle grounds unescorted, you will be taken into custody. Understand?" Buffy calmly told him. While it sounded like he was a good guy, he was still a stranger and she would treat him like any other visitor to the school would be treated.

After all, her teachers had to be vetted before she actually allowed them into the school. 'Trust but verify' was the motto she kept in mind when it came to her students' safety. Speaking of which, she'd contact Giles and Willow later to check out Balthazar's history a little more. Maybe make sure the guy claiming to be him actually was him.

Teacher's lounge

Next day…

Buffy watched in bemusement as Balthazar collapsed onto the couch across from her. She nodded to Worf that she would escort Balthazar back to his suite after they talked. "No luck?"

He sighed, "No…and can I say that some of these children have serious entitlement issues? They believed that just because they wanted to be the Prime Merlinean, the dragon ring could be forced into choosing them. Two of them even tried to bribe me…like I somehow had any control over the matter and was just waiting for the last 1,270 years for somebody to offer me money."

Laughing, Buffy said, "Yeah, after reading a little about your story, I'd be willing to bet that those people who thought they could buy the ring would actually be more suited to being Morgana's followers than Merlin's."

"Did you have some kind of surveillance in the rooms?" Balthazar asked in surprise. "They droned on and on about how their bloodlines went back to Merlin's time – which they're wrong; their family names aren't that old in England – and that's why it should be obvious – even to a servant like me – that they are the rightful heir to his powers."

There was a knock on the door, and then it opened. Lily Potter stuck her head inside and asked, "Is Professor Flitwick here? He said he wanted to speak with me about something?"

Buffy glanced at the clock and replied, "No, but he should be here in a few minutes if you'd like to wait."

"Well, I've got my son, Harry, with me…" Lily trailed off doubtfully.

"It's fine; come on in," Buffy welcomed her. "How are you doing now that Pettigrew's in Azkaban?"

"Still stunned that he would betray us like that. I keep thinking that I should have seen it before, but looking back, I can't find that deciding piece of evidence," Lily answered.

"That's why successful betrayers are able to do what they do," Balthazar remarked wisely. "Until they commit their act of betrayal, they offer no major clues beforehand."

"I'm sorry, have we met?" Lily asked.

"Lily Potter, this is Balthazar Blake, the last Merlinean. Balthazar, this is Lily Potter. She's a recent graduate of Hogwarts," Buffy handled the introduction.

Balthazar got a calculating look in his eyes. "Really? Would you consider holding a tiny, metal dragon for me for a second, Mrs. Potter?"

"Excuse me?"

He explained about the dragon ring and despite not expecting anything to come out of it, Lily agreed to hold it. Sure enough, she held it for over two minutes before he sighed in resignation and reached out to grab it from her. When he did, he accidentally knocked it into Harry's stroller.

That's when things got crazy.

The dragon came to life and wove itself around little Harry's wrist (since his fingers were too small for a ring).

"What does this mean?" Lily demanded.

"It means that your son has a destiny, Mrs. Potter," Balthazar answered. He started murmuring to himself, "He's too young to begin training yet, but he needs to be kept safe."

"You better not be thinking about taking him from his parents," Buffy warned him, looking very much like a pissed off Slayer at that moment.

"Not at all," he assured both of them – even though that had been his initial instinct. Given the protective ring of people around the boy, it probably would be better to leave him where he was. "But I do need to stay close by so that when he's old enough to begin training, we can start right away. And I need to protect him from any new followers of Morgana that might wish to do him harm." He looked at Buffy and said, "Hey, you're looking for teachers, aren't you? Why don't I teach here until he's ready?" he suggested.

"Well, I do still have some magical positions left to fill…specifically Charms and Transfiguration," Buffy admitted.

Having walked in just as Buffy said the last bit, Flitwick spoke up, "Actually, I was hoping to convince Lily to assume the position of my Charms apprentice/assistant professor."

"Even better!" Balthazar exclaimed. "Then Harry would be living in the castle as well and I would be part of his life before he becomes my apprentice."

"Assuming I take the job and James agrees to us living here," Lily reminded them. She paused for a moment, then admitted, "Although, he did just mention last night that he worries about us when he's working, and if he knew we were some place safe, he and Sirius could probably accept assignments that require them to be away overnight without tearing himself up about leaving us in danger."

She nodded slowly, "Okay, I'll talk to him tonight and see if he can meet you tomorrow. If he's okay with it, I'll accept Professor Flitwick's offer and we'll see about the apprentice issue when it actually becomes an issue."

"Fair enough," Balthazar agreed. He knew in the end that Harry's parents wouldn't have a choice in the matter…not if they wanted him to survive.

A/N: Since I took one destiny from Harry, I thought it only fair to give him a new one. Instead of being the Boy-Who-Lived, he's now the Prime Merlinean.

Tomorrow…Numbers of some kind (Math, Arthimancy, Economics, Personal Finance, etc.)