Someone commented on how the letter said stuff like 'love her loads' and that this wasn't very Giles-like. Just wanted to address this: I had a mental picture of the Scoobies all crowded round Giles as he wrote and so I figured some of their language would've transferred into the letter.
I'm not
sure when the Scoobies will be in this story. They will show up, but I doubt
they will all come to Hogwarts, in my other story I got stuck in a huge amount
of characters, I may just keep Hogwarts for Buffy.
As for Faith, I think she's going to stay sane and take care of Sunnydale, I
think the presence of Buffy, the better slayer with the loving family and
friends is what pushed her over the edge.
Chapter 8
Buffy's
fourth day at Hogwarts came, sunny, but icy and crisp. Buffy had a morning of
Defence Against the Dark Arts, the only lesson of Harry's she hadn't been to
yet. She had a breakfast of eggs and toast, while Hermione scanned the Daily
Prophet once again for any news, of which there was none. The arrived at the
classroom in time to get seats towards the back of the classroom and waited for
their teacher.
"You should be thankful you weren't here
last year," Hermione said quietly to Buffy. "After Fudge didn't believe
Voldemort, he sent a Ministry Official to interfere at Hogwarts. She wouldn't
let us do any magic and gave us about 50 new rules we had to follow. There was
a centaur incident though, and erm…she's been bedridden since." Buffy laughed.
"Why do I have the feeling that you guys
had something to do that," she said, and Hermione blushed.
"It's okay though this year," she said,
shooting a furtive look at Buffy. "We've got our old teacher back, Professor
Lupin. He went to school with Harry's dad and he's in the Order too. Plus he's
a really good teacher." Buffy looked up as Professor Lupin entered the class.
He gave the class a wan smile, and placed his bag on the desk.
"Good day class," he said politely. "I
thought today we could look at studying Patronuses. I know that some of you
have already attempted this charm, those who attended the DA meetings last
year. Who can tell me what the Patronus charm is used for?" Buffy saw Hermione's
hand shoot up, among a few others. Lupin nodded at Dean Thomas.
"To repel dementors," Dean answered, and
Hermione put her hand down, disappointed. Buffy watched her in amusement.
"Good, five points to Gryffindor," Lupin
said nodding. "How do we perform the Patronus charm?" Once again, Hermione's
arm shot up. Lupin nodded to her.
"The witch or wizard had to focus on a happy
memory and then say the incantation 'Expecto Patronum' and the physical
manifestation of the memory will protect you from the Dementor." Hermione said
breathlessly. Lupin smiled again.
"Good, ten points," he said. "Now of
course I am not going to be able to bring a Dementor into the castle, so we are
just going to try to form a corporeal patronus, which is all you will need to
do for your exam. Perhaps we can get some practice, though I'm not sure how, I
will have to talk to Dumbledore. Let's start then."
With that
the class dissolved into small groups where they all tried to perform the
charm. Buffy was with Ron, Hermione and Harry as usual. All of them conjured
their patronuses first try and Buffy watched Harry's stag canter around him.
"They are so cute," Buffy said
longingly. Harry looked at her.
"You want to try it?" he asked and Buffy
nodded. "Okay so think of a really happy memory, the happier the better." Buffy
thought for a moment, then fixed upon the night she had spent with Nagel. If
she could block out what it had caused, it had been the best night of her life.
"Got it," she confirmed.
"Ok, so fix on that memory and say 'expecto patronum'" Harry said. Buffy
nodded, biting her lip, and then captured in her mind the happiness she had
felt when she had been with Angel.
"Expecto Patronum," she murmured and wisps of silver shot out the end of her
wand.
"Hey, that was something!" she
exclaimed. Harry nodded, and grinned.
"I think you need a happier memory," Harry
said, "When you get the right one, it will just happen." Buffy nodded,
realising that the memories that were connected with Angel were top painful for
it to be that happy. She thought, and decided that the time with Willow and Xander and Giles was the
happiest times she had. When they were together, the Scooby Gang. For a moment,
a lump rose in her throat as she thought of how much she missed them, but she
swallowed hard and raised her wand. Once again, she raised her wand, and
fixated on her three best friends.
"Expecto Patronum," she said clearly,
and a huge silver shape burst out the end of her wand. A silver panther padded
around Buffy, sleek and beautiful but deadly, as shown by the fangs it
displayed when it yawned. Gradually the silver smoke dispelled.
"Well done, Miss Summers!" Professor
Lupin exclaimed, coming up behind Buffy. "I was just coming to tell you that
you didn't need to do the charm, but I see that it wasn't necessary. Very good
indeed." Buffy grinned happily, and Professor Lupin went to correct Seamus.
"That's really advanced magic," Harry said,
surprised. "You must have a lot of power."
"I don't know," Buffy said shrugging.
"Slayer stuff I guess. We're made of magic really."
Later, that evening, Buffy sat alone at a desk in the Gryffindor common room.
She had a blank piece of parchment in front of her, and a quill in her hand,
which she was gradually getting used to using. She was trying to write to her
friends, but every time she started, she hated what she had written and screwed
up the parchment. Consequently, a growing pile of parchment balls lay on the
floor next to her, which Ron and Harry were charming to fly at other students and
hit them, anonymously. Finally Buffy just placed the tip of the quill on the
page and scribbled out a letter. She read it, and decided that it would do. It
read:
Dear Giles, Wills, Xander, Oz and Cordelia,
Hi guys, it's been a while. Professor Dumbledore showed me your letter and I
decided it was time I wrote to you. I'm doing okay in England, Hogwarts is great and I've made three good friends. I needed this; I
needed to be away from Sunnydale, to sort my head out and figure out what I'm
going to do. But I'm missing you guys so much, I think about you all the time.
I'm sorry I left you without saying anything, but I had to go, I had to get
away from Sunnydale. I hope you are doing okay, remember that you are
constantly in my thoughts. I know I will see you soon, when things are right.
Love, Buffy
P.S Can you please tell my mom that I am doing okay, and that I miss her too
Buffy
folded the parchment. She felt she wasn't quite ready to write to her mom yet;
the pain of what had transpired between them was too fresh for her.
With a word to Harry, Ron and Hermione, Buffy left the common room, to go to
Dumbledore's office. She knocked on the door, and Dumbledore called her in.
Buffy pushed open the door, then stopped in the doorway at the sight of two
strangers.
"Buffy," Dumbledore greeted her. "Come in.
This is Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and an old friend of mine, an
Auror, Alastor Moody." Both men nodded their greeting to her, and Buffy nodded
back. Cornelius Fudge eyed her warily.
"I'll be leaving then," he said importantly,
placing his bowler hat on his head. "I'll be in touch Dumbledore." He nodded to
Moody, glanced warily at Buffy again, and swept out of the office.
"Bungler," Moody muttered after he had
gone. "Can you believe that man, after last year he still has the nerve to act
like that?" He lounged in one of the chairs in Dumbledore's office. Buffy tried
her best not to stare but it was difficult, the disfigured face and the
spinning electric blue eye were too fascinating, not to mention the wooden leg.
"We shall see," Dumbledore said vaguely.
He looked up at Buffy.
"I brought this letter, I thought you
could send it to Giles," Buffy stammered. Moody sat up suddenly.
"This is the slayer?" he growled. Dumbledore
nodded, and Moody stood up.
"I know Rupert Giles," Moody growled to
Buffy, extending a gnarled hand to her. "Of course he talks bout you all the
time, he was so proud when he got a slayer. Thought you'd be taller though." Buffy
shook his hand, and smiled at him shyly.
"Most people do," she admitted. "I can't
believe Giles never spoke about the Wizarding world." Moody shrugged.
"Rupert was sworn to secrecy, we don't
like muggles to know about us," he said, his blue eye spinning crazily. "There
aren't too many wizards in America, especially round the hellmouth. I've
never met a slayer before, how old are you?"
"Just seventeen," Buffy answered.
"And what kind of numbers have you notched up?" Moody asked. Buffy frowned and thought carefully.
"Over a
hundred vampires and probably about seventy demons," she said thoughtfully. Moody
raised his scarred eyebrows.
"Impressive," he said. "I'd like to see you
fight sometime." Buffy smiled graciously.
"You're welcome to, though I don't have
anything to fight except the dummy, which doesn't put up much of a fight," she
confessed.
"We'll have to find something for you to
fight," Dumbledore said. "I don't want your condition to lessen." Buffy handed
him the letter, which he gave to Fawkes who disappeared in a flurry of flame
coloured feathers.
