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Chapter 2
Buffy
followed Dumbledore out of the terminal at Heathrow Airport, lugging the duffel bag that held
all the possessions she had taken to LA with her. It hit against her legs as she
walked but she resolutely followed Dumbledore though the crowds. It had been a
long flight, nine hours and Buffy had slept for nearly half. When she had been
awake, she had talked to Dumbledore, asked him about Hogwarts and Harry Potter,
the boy who she was to protect. What Dumbledore had told her had opened her
eyes wide to a world she had never even heard about.
"Where are we going?" Buffy asked,
hurrying forward to catch up with Dumbledore.
"To London," Dumbledore answered, not slowing his pace. Buffy did not question him further, just concentrated on following him, as he made a path through the crowds. She had grown used to the fact that everything in the 'muggle' world as he called it fascinated him. During the entire flight he stayed awake, watching the muggle creations.
Dumbledore
and Buffy climbed onto a train from Heathrow, and after a short trip, arrived
in Central
London.
Once again, Dumbledore walked through the crowds, Buffy trailing after him. He
did not falter or stop and Buffy fought to keep up.
After a short walk he stopped dead, and Buffy, not properly focusing, nearly
walked into him.
"Why'd we
stop?" she asked. Dumbledore gestured to a small dark pub in front of them,
which Buffy felt she would not have noticed were it not for him pointing it
out. Wordlessly they entered the pub.
"Professor Dumbledore, it's so good to
see you!" the toothless man behind the bar exclaimed. He placed the glass he
had been polishing down on the wooden bar. "Hogwarts business?" he asked,
gesturing to Buffy. Dumbledore nodded and smiled briefly at him.
"I'm afraid we can't stop, Tom," he said apologetically. "We've got some
shopping to do, then we've got to get to Hogwarts, I've been gone three days
already."
Tom nodded at them and waved goodbye, looking curiously at Buffy, as they departed into the back alley. Dumbledore tapped the bricks with his wand and the archway opened in front of them.
"This is Diagon Alley" he announced, as they walked down the cobbled streets.
"Okay that
was just weird," Buffy said breathlessly. "But shopping, which is definitely of
the good." Dumbledore led Buffy towards Ollivanders, 'makers of fine wands'
Buffy read. They entered the musty shop and a wizened grey haired man came
forward.
"Dumbledore, good to see you," he said. "It's been a long time. This must be
Buffy." Buffy looked at Dumbledore inquisitively and he nudged her towards Mr.
Ollivander.
"I've heard
much about you, the Slayer," the man said solemnly. "Powerful I should think.
Try this one." Mr. Ollivander handed Buffy a wand.
"Phoenix tail feather and ash," he informed
her, "Well, give it a wave!"
She waved it, but nothing happened. Mr. Ollivander frowned.
"Curious," he murmured. "I thought this might happen." He left them, retreating into the depths of the shop. Buffy looked back at Dumbledore again, but he just kept smiling resolutely. Eventually, Ollivander returned.
"Try this, I made it a very long time ago," Mr. Ollivander said, handing a wand to Buffy. "Hair of a slayer, and willow, ten inches, very thick."
Buffy took
the wand and immediately felt an affinity with it. She waved it, and red sparks
appeared that lit up the darkened room.
"Well done!" Mr. Ollivander exclaimed. "I should've known that that wand would
be suitable. Great power it holds, great power indeed." Buffy smiled weakly at
him as Dumbledore paid and they left the shop.
"You will need some robes I think, and
some potions equipment..." Dumbledore said thoughtfully.
"But Professor, I haven't got any
money," Buffy stammered. "I can't afford any of this." Dumbledore smiled at her
swiftly.
"The Watchers Council know you are
here," he said. "Although we do not align ourselves with them normally, I felt
it imperative that they have some idea of where you are and what you are up to.
They know of our world, and have provided a kind of scholarship fund for you to
attend Hogwarts."
"You must've done some fancy talking to
get money out of them," Buffy grumbled. "They aren't my biggest fans."
"The threat of Voldemort hangs over them also I believe," Dumbledore said, smiling again. "That gave them some incentive." Buffy grinned.
"They must have a new slayer anyway; Kendra was killed, so maybe she can go to Sunnydale." Buffy said painfully. "Take my position…" Her voice faded out as she though of a new slayer taking over her watcher and her friends. Dumbledore smiled at her sympathetically and then held the door on Madam Malkins robes open for her.
"Is that
everything then?" Dumbledore asked an hour or so later. "Robes, wand,
ingredients, books, potions." He ticked
them off on his fingers.
Weapons," Buffy said bluntly. "I have
one stake, and a knife, I need some more if I am to protect myself properly."
Dumbledore nodded and led her down Diagon Alley, to a darker, less open part.
"Why do I need all this stuff anyway?" Buffy said curiously. "I mean I'm not going to be able to do magic like Harry Potter, if he's been at Hogwarts six years."
"I'm afraid you are going to have to be undercover," Dumbledore said apologetically. "To everyone but Harry and his closest friends, you will be an exchange student that Harry has been asked to take care of. This will be good for you; a new environment should help you to regain your strength.
You are
only a few months older than his fellow students and Harry and his friends will
be able to help you in any magic you attempt. Mostly your job will be to
protect Harry. You will be living in the girl's dormitories of course, and I
have arranged for a secret training room to be set up for you."
"So no ones going to know I'm the slayer?" Buffy said eyes strangely shiny. "I
hid it from my mom for years, it shouldn't be too hard. Of course when she
found out…"
Once again Buffy fell silent. Dumbledore took the girls hand and squeezed it sympathetically. In the few days they had spent together, he had got to know this girl and to see that she held a lot of pain. He did not know exactly what had happened in her last days in Sunnydale, just that she had to kill her love and her mother had thrown her out. He was determined that he would be able to help her in that time she was at Hogwarts.
Together
they entered the weapons shop. Buffy looked wordlessly at the shelves full of
weapons that were stocked.
"Wow," she said simply. Dumbledore
smiled at her expression.
"What do you need?" he asked gently. "I don't really know much about muggle
combat, let alone Slayer combat. Get whatever you need; I assure you the
Watchers Council have been very generous."
Buffy looked around the shop like a small child in a sweet shop and she began to select items off the shelves, then putting them back as she found improvements. Finally she was done, having picked out a medium sized crossbow, a double ended axe, a knife and a long shining sword.
"These will
do," Buffy said, admiringly the gilded handle of the sword. They paid and left
the shop.
"That's it then," Dumbledore said. "We'd
best get to Hogwarts."
"Another train?" Buffy asked wearily. Dumbledore
once again led the way down the street.
"Thankfully no," he said smiling, "We will
be travelling by Floo this way."
"Flu?" Buffy asked. "Like a cold? Huh?"
"No, no, Floo is a means of travelling through a fireplace." Dumbledore explained, chuckling slightly. "Here, take some powder from this jar and throw it into the fire, then step into the fire and say 'Hogwarts.'" He held out a small jar he had retrieved from his robes and Buffy took some, looking at him dubiously. She did as he asked, and on throwing the powder into the flames, they turned bright green. She stepped into the fire and said clearly 'Hogwarts!' She felt herself whirling away from Diagon Alley.
