CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: THE RESCUE
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco and Giles were racing towards the Headmaster's office. After they had checked the girls dormitory for any sign of their blonde friend, and found none, they were fairly certain that the only real option they had was to speak to Professor Dumbledore about their suspicions. When they'd exited the boys dorms, they'd been greeted with the sight of most of the Gryffindor students milling around the Common Room, trading stories about the 'truth' of what Buffy Summers had done to Vincent Crabbe.
Giles and the four students following him were horrified to realise that Buffy had been escorted to the Headmaster's office. They couldn't help but wonder if this was the true Buffy or the one who they assumed was masquerading around wearing Buffy's face. They couldn't work out whom it could have been, or what they'd hoped to gain from doing it.
Draco had his suspicions about some of the Slytherin students. The problem was that so many of then truly hated Buffy Summers, so it could have been any number of them.
The group came to a halting stop outside of Dumbledore's office. "Cockroach Cluster," Giles said, and the group watched as the stone statue began spiralling to create a set of stairs up to Dumbledore's office.
"I will never understand Professor Dumbledore's fascination with sweets," Draco muttered quietly.
Surprisingly it was Ron that murmured his agreement with the Slytherin boy.
They raced up the stairs and burst into Dumbledore's office. They all stopped short when they saw a very pale Buffy, her hands shaking terribly, seated in front of Dumbledore, with McGonagall hovering nervously behind her.
"Giles," Buffy whispered quietly.
The group regarded her warily. They couldn't help but all get their hopes up that everything that had occurred in the past two hours had been no more than a cruel joke pulled by one of the Slytherins. Harry especially couldn't help but feel his hopes lift as he stared at his girlfriend.
Giles looked closely at Buffy, and was startled by the huge difference that he could see between the girl who sat before him now and the one who had yelled at him only half an hour earlier. Before, her eyes had been cold and incredibly harsh. Now, he could actually recognise the girl he thought of as a daughter. Even beneath the fear and confusion, he could see the spark that made her Buffy. He could see the warmth and love she had for the group that stood in front of her, regardless of the emotional turmoil she was going through on the inside. He knew without a doubt that whoever it had been earlier to wear Buffy's face, it had not been Buffy. The girl in front of him was definitely the one he'd watched mature from the frivolous sixteen-(fourteen)-year-old girl, into the matured seventeen-year-old in front of him.
"Rupert," Dumbledore greeted the man. "Misters Potter, Malfoy, Weasley and Miss Granger. I can only assume that you are here to speak to Miss Summers."
The four students nodded fervently. Giles was the only one to speak.
"Professor Dumbledore, we believe there's been an incredibly large misunderstanding," Giles explained.
Dumbledore leant forward a little more in his chair, his hands still proper beneath his chin. "Oh? What would that be?"
"The girl that we watched perform the Cruciatus Curse on Vincent Crabbe was not actually Buffy Summers," Giles replied.
Neither Dumbledore nor McGonagall had been expecting that explanation at all.
"Rupert…" McGonagall trailed off, not entirely certain what to tell the younger man. She knew how fond he was of Buffy, so she could understand that he would wish to defend the girl.
"Whoever that was, it wasn't Buffy!" Draco added.
Dumbledore stared calmly at the group.
"Perhaps you could enlighten us further," the Headmaster said.
All at once, the four students began speaking, their voices overlapping. All that could be heard was something that sounded slightly like: "…wasn't Buffy…" "…couldn't have been…" "…never kiss Malfoy…" "…didn't know Seventh Year work…" "…forgot about her and Harry's room…"
"Everybody stop!" Dumbledore yelled.
The four teens immediately stopped and fell into a sheepish silence. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Buffy was fairly certain she'd have started giggling at the expressions on her friends faces.
"Miss Granger, if you would begin please," Dumbledore said.
Hermione flushed slightly, embarrassed to have everyone suddenly turn their attention to her.
"Well…I suppose it began in the library. When I returned from the bathroom, Buffy was…well…rather strange. Restless and fidgety. I couldn't take it after a few minutes, so I suggested we go back and visit with Harry and Ron. She seemed to like that idea. On the way back, she was really quiet. And when I spoke about the room that she and Harry found-"
"The Room of Requirement," Harry and Buffy said simultaneously. The couple exchanged glances, and couldn't help but smile at the familiarity of speaking in unison with each other. Harry grinned widely as he took in Buffy's half-smile. It felt as though he hadn't seen her smile at him like that in days.
"Yes, that one," Hermione continued. "Buffy…or whoever it was I was speaking to, she didn't start gushing like Buffy usually does."
"And when you got back to the Common Room, she looked really surprised when Harry kissed her," Ron added.
Harry tilted his head thoughtfully. Now that he thought about it, he should have seen the signs earlier. There had been a look in Bufy's eyes that he'd noticed but chosen to ignore, thinking it hadn't been too serious. Now, he was seriously regretting his actions.
"And then what happened?" Dumbledore asked.
"Well, Buffy suggested that we should go outside," Ron continued, taking over for his girlfriend. "So, we left. And then when we got downstairs…half of Slytherin was down there. And then Buffy…or…whoever it was…she…"
"Broke up with me," Harry finished for his best friend. His voice was flat, and he was trying to keep the hurt from showing. But he could still feel how painful it had been when he realised exactly what Buffy was doing. It had been the worst feeling in the world, as though his entire universe had just crashed down on him. He hated feeling that way.
Buffy felt tears come to her eyes as she took in the pained expression on Harry's face. She was tempted to stand up and go and comfort him, but she was fairly certain that she would be stopped. She tried to catch his eye, but for some reason he wouldn't look her way.
"After that, she walked outside," Hermione said. "Ron, Harry and I went back up to the Common Room, so we don't actually know what happened after that."
Draco stepped forward. "I think this is my bit of the story then," he said. "I was down on the Quidditch Pitch, practicing some new moves, and I saw Buffy down on the ground. I was a little surprised that these three weren't with her, but…I let it go. We started talking, and she told me about breaking up with Harry because she was in love with someone else. And then…well…she…"
"Kissed him," Ron said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
Draco glared at the redhead, but turned his attention back to Dumbledore. "She kissed me. I pushed her away, and she tried to do it again. So…whoever it was, it wasn't Buffy. No matter how upset she was, there is no way that Buffy Summers would ever try to kiss me."
Buffy was slightly shocked at the story she was hearing. It was strange being spoken about by her friends when she had absolutely no memory of the things that they were speaking of. It was also slightly disconcerting to hear that whoever it was that had worn her face had tried to ruin her life in the most effective of ways.
"I challenged her about it, and the next thing I knew, she had her wand out, and she stunned me," Draco continued. "The next thing I knew, I was waking up, flat on my back, probably about half an hour later. I ran up to the castle, and to the Gryffindor Tower. That was when Professor Giles and the others told me that they thought someone had been using Polyjuice Potion."
The room fell silent, and Buffy couldn't help but fidget with her hands nervously. Ever since she'd heard the word Azkaban, she'd been terrified out of her wits. She'd heard the stories about Dementors making you relive your worst memories, and that was something she definitely did not want to do. Not to mention the fact that the majority of people in Azkaban would have been only too happy to kill her.
The door burst open once again, and the group turned in surprise, wondering who would have just barged in like that. The five students held back groans when they recognised the greasy aired Potions Professor enter the room scowling for all her was worth.
"Headmaster, he wasn't there," Snape said, not even taking in the extra people in the room. As he entered even further, he finally noticed, and his scowl deepened. "Perhaps because he is already here…"
"Professor Snape was just sent out looking for you Professor Giles," McGonagall explained.
Giles was not entirely happy with Professor Snape being in the room. He'd seen and heard of how badly Snape treated the students, especially Buffy, Harry and their friends. He couldn't understand why Snape would be so antagonistic towards them, but Giles knew there was very little he could do about it.
"I took the initiative to pass through the dungeons and pick up a vial of Veritaserum," Snape said, presenting the glass jar to Dumbledore. "I thought it perhaps the quickest and easiest way to ascertain that Miss Riddle here is nothing more than a liar."
Buffy went to retort, but a sharp glare from Giles quickly told her to think twice about it. She sighed and kept her mouth closed.
"Professor Dumbledore, I assure you, Buffy is not lying," Giles said.
Dumbledore shifted his gaze between all of the people standing in his office. The four students behind Giles were nodding their agreement. Buffy herself was looking as though she was about to breakdown any moment. Snape looked murderous, and McGonagall looked as though she wanted to believe Giles' tale. Unfortunately for Dumbledore, he needed to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Buffy Summers was innocent. And Snape had just presented him with the perfect way to do so.
Sighing, the Headmaster reached towards the vial and pulled the lid off. He quickly smelled the potion, just to ensure that Snape hadn't been attempting to do anything too horrible to Buffy. When he was satisfied that it was only Veritaserum, he handed the vial to Buffy. She took it tentatively.
"If you wish to stay out of Azkaban, I would suggest drinking it," Dumbledore said softly.
Buffy rolled her eyes, but quickly downed the Potion, her nose wrinkling in distaste as the Potion burned the back of her throat.
"Tell us Miss Riddle, where have you been for the last two hours?" Snape demanded quickly before Dumbledore or anyone else could stop him.
Dumbledore shot the Potions Professor a reprimanding look. He knew that Veritaserum forced the drinker to answer any and all questions posed to them in the most truthful manner possible.
"To the best of my knowledge, I've been either in the library or the Gryffindor Common Room," Buffy replied blandly.
The group (minus Snape) breathed a collective sigh of relief. She hadn't been lying about having no memory of the events.
"Would it have been possible for you to have done what you have been accused of doing?" Snape asked.
"Possibly. I have the magical strength needed to perform the Cruciatus Curse."
"Have you ever used the Cruciatus Curse?" McGonagall asked.
"Never."
Again, the others sighed with relief.
"Could you have performed the Cruciatus Curse and have no memory of doing so?" Snape pushed.
"Possibly," Buffy replied.
"Perhaps she was possessed," McGonagall whispered to Dumbledore.
Buffy turned to face the Professor and felt inclined to speak up even though McGonagall hadn't asked a question.
"I've been possessed before and had perfect memory of the events," Buffy said. "I don't believe that I was possessed."
"We were suggesting perhaps another student using Polyjuice Potion," Giles offered.
Buffy nodded. "That could be a possibility. Unfortunately, with half of the student body actively disliking me for who my father was, it could be just about anyone."
Dumbledore leant forward in his chair and stroked his beard.
"Miss Summers, do you believe that you cast the Cruciatus Curse on Mr Crabbe?" the Headmaster asked.
"No, I don't," Buffy replied honestly.
"Can you think of any instance where you might feel tempted to use the Cruciatus Curse?" he continued.
"No, I can't. Perhaps if Voldemort was still alive I'd have said yes though," she admitted.
Dumbledore nodded, satisfied with Buffy's answer. He opened up his desk drawer and handed Buffy another Potion vial. She took it from his and drank without question. She felt something shift within her, and knew that the Veritaserum had been nullified by whatever it was that Dumbledore had just given to her.
"Professor Dumbledore, surely you are not going to let her get away with this?" Snape said, barely managing to keep his anger in check. "One of the students is in the infirmary because of the Cruciatus Curse. You must take some sort of action."
"I am hardly about to take action against a student who has just proven her innocence. You heard her answer yourself Severus. Miss Summers did not knowingly use the Cruciatus Curse on Vincent Crabbe," Dumbledore explained.
Snape was obviously not happy with Dumbledore's answer. He couldn't believe that Dumbledore wasn't going to take action against Buffy. His eyes narrowed into slits and he looked away in disgust.
"We still don't know that it wasn't Miss Riddle who used the Cruciatus Curse," Snape said, a definite sulking tone entering his voice. "Even if she has no memory of it, it was still very clearly her who did it."
"Haven't you been listening?" Giles yelled angrily. "We just posed a theory of what really happened. Are you really that spiteful that you would seen innocent girl sent to Azkaban?"
"She is not innocent!" Snape replied.
"I didn't use that Curse on anyone! I just admitted that much! With that stupid truth potion as well. What more can I do to prove to you that it wasn't me or my wand that cast that stupid spell?!" Buffy demanded angrily, standing up to face the Potions Professor.
Snape towered above her angrily, and Buffy stared back with defiance. As much as she knew that she wasn't meant to be speaking to a Professor the way she'd just spoken to Snape, she couldn't help but keep her anger back. Her fear at being sent away from Hogwarts was making her anger even more heightened and that was never a good thing.
Student and Professor stood their ground, glaring at each other as though their lives depended on it. It was only when the last of Buffy's words hit Dumbledore that the thick silence was cut.
"Miss Summers, might I see your wand for a moment," Dumbledore requested.
Buffy tore herself away from the staring match and looked at the Headmaster blankly for a moment. He nodded encouragingly, and, finally Buffy just shrugged and reached down to where she kept her wand, strapped at her ankle. Again, McGonagall was startled to realise that the Buffy she had watched used the Curciatus Curse had pulled her wand from within her cloak. A cloak that the Buffy now in front of her claimed to avoid wearing unless it was during lessons.
Buffy handed the black wand to Dumbledore, and the Headmaster studied it gravely. He had never seen Buffy's wand close up, though he knew that it was the wand that Voldemort himself had fashioned. He could feel power pouring from it. Dark power. But, like Dumbledore had told Harry in his second year at Hogwarts, it was people's choices which proved what sort of character they truly had. Even though Buffy Summers was born from quite possibly the most evil man that the wizarding world had ever known, Dumbledore knew that Buffy herself was far from evil.
"Perhaps we can settle this," Dumbledore murmured.
All eyes turned to the aging wizard, and he placed the wand on the desk and withdrew his own wand from his robes. Pointing his own at Buffy's he murmured an incantation. "Priori Incantatum."
The group watched as echoes of the previous spells floated from the wand in grey mist. Charms, transfigurations, hexes, a stunning spell that Buffy had used on Hermione's cat to get it away from one of her jackets, the protection spell that she and Harry alternated casting (both of the teens blushed bright red when the echo came forth), and a concealment spell. The echoes lingered for moments before misting away as the group waited to hear the word 'Crucio' but nothing came from it.
Dumbledore allowed the spell to continue, the echoes coming out quickly as the spells came out in reverse order. The group watched, completely mystified by some of the spells that Buffy had tried in the moths before her battle against Voldemort. McGonagall was highly impressed by some of the echoes that came out, surprised to see and hear that Buffy had been trying a lot of Seventh Year Transfigurations the previous year.
Buffy felt herself becoming nervous. She knew that the place they were at was just before the holidays had started the previous year. Any further back, and the group would hear the curse that had made her a killer. They would know for certain that she had the strength within her to kill a man.
"Avada Kedavra."
Dumbledore waited several more moments, as stunning spell after stunning spell came out, the hexes the evidence of her battle against Voldemort. Dumbledore only stopped when the spells had returned to the standard spells that Buffy had been teaching herself.
"I believe in all certainty that Miss Summers did not perform the Cruciatus Curse on Mr Crabbe," Dumbledore announced. "As you could all see and hear, even when Miss Summers was up against Voldemort, she refused to use the Cruciatus, even though she herself had been subjected to it."
Buffy felt herself begin to breathe a little easier now that Dumbledore had announced that he believed her to be innocent. Having Giles and her friend behind her was definitely comforting, but there was just something to be said about having the trust of Dumbledore.
"Whoever it was that used the Cruciatus on Vincent Crabbe, it was not Buffy Summers, and it was not from this wand," Dumbledore continued.
"We don't know that!" Snape protested loudly. "Perhaps she just used a different wand."
"Actually Professor, I can't use anyone else's wand," Buffy replied calmly. "No one else's works when I use it."
Snape turned to look at her incredulously. He knew that every wand chose it's witch or wizard owner, but no wand was ever entirely unsuccessful even if it wasn't one's own. To hear that no other wand but her own would work for her was news to Snape.
"You've never been able to work another wand except for your own?" Snape asked.
Buffy nodded. She could remember when she'd let Harry use her wand, just to let him experiment with it. She knew that Harry was partial to his own wand, with the Phoenix feather core that came from Dumbledore's own bird Fawkes. When she'd explained to Harry that her own wand's core had come from the Phoenix that belonged to Voldemort, Harry had been keen to test the wand out. So, as all teens are wont to do, they'd swapped wands for several minutes.
//"I can't get this thing to work," Harry complained. He held it in front of his face as though to examine why it was faulty.
Buffy ignored it for a moment and turned Harry's wand over in her hands. She couldn't explain it, but she knew that if Harry's wand were placed in a pile of fifty other identical wands, she'd be able to pick his wand out. There was something about the wand that just screamed Harry.
She pointed it to the cushion that lay on Harry's bed.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
Nothing. She shook the wand, as though trying to shift something back into place. She tried again. Nothing. Harry looked at her curiously.
"That's strange. I can't get your wand to work and you can't get mine to work," he said.
She took her own wand back from Harry and pointed it at the cushions. "Wingardium Leviosa." Harry followed her example. Success. The cushion began levitating several feet off the mattress.
"That's strange," Harry commented.
Buffy nodded. She looked to Hermione who had a speculatively look on her face.
"Maybe it's just you with Harry's wand and Harry with yours," the girl suggested. Hermione then took her own wand from her robes and handed it to Buffy, who pointed it at a book on the closest desk. She tried an animal transformation, but again, nothing worked. Ron handed his wand to Harry, who tried a levitation spell. Except this time, it worked perfectly.
"Maybe I just can't use anyone else's wand," Buffy said, handing Hermione her wand back.
"Perhaps. That's incredibly rare though," Hermione said.
"Not to mention the fact that it's kinda creepy. The only wand that will work for me is one that Voldemort made," Buffy said, pulling a face that clearly showed her displeasure.
Hermione nodded her agreement. It wasn't a comforting thought.//
"I can't use anyone else's wand, but no one else can use mine," Buffy explained.
"That is very odd," Dumbledore commented. He held Buffy's wand in front of him and pointed it at a teacup. "Fereverta." Nothing. "Wingardium Leviosa." Nothing. "Serpensortia." Harry and Buffy flinched but nothing happened.
"Peculiar," Dumbledore whispered.
"Like I said, no one else can use it," Buffy said. "I think Voldemort may have been able to…seeing as he was the one who made it and all that, but…apart from him…no one else has been able to even float a feather with it."
"How do we know that she isn't lying about not being able to work anyone else's wand?" Snape demanded angrily.
"She can't," McGonagall assured him. "Last year, Miss Summers forgot her wand in her room for one of my lessons. I lent her a spare, but she could get no results from it whatsoever. Even with the simplest of spells."
Snape still didn't look entirely happy about it.
"So, we have proven that Miss Summers is indeed innocent," Dumbledore mused. "Who then was the culprit behind the attack on Mr Crabbe?"
Before anyone could even begin to speak of any of their theories, the door once again burst open. Eight of the nine people within the room felt their hearts sink. Snape just smirked and went to welcome their guest.
"How good to see you again Minister Fudge."
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Long chapter…and who loves cliff-hangers btw? ;)
Ooo…btw, does anyone know where I can get the script for the movie Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle? Cos I've got this weird idea fo a crossover that I really wanna write, but I can't do it without the script. Any and all help in locating said script would be tremendously appreciated!
Many thanks to everyone for your feedback and your emails and stuff. Always good fun.
Toodles.