Originally, the first few sections of this chapter were going to be part of Chapter 19. But due to a computer crash that erased the sections, they were dropped and I just uploaded the last chapter as it was. So here they are now, recreated to the best of my ability. Happy reading to you.
Voldemort stood at the edge of the enormous precipice, his minions lingering a few feet back. They knew not to disturb their master now. The loss of the Sunnydale Hellmouth was almost personal to Voldemort.
He looked into the vast emptiness of the crater. The Sunnydale Hellmouth was the thing that had started him on his path to greatness. The Albanian Hellmouth, of which he was the only person alive who knew of it, had sustained him in his most dire hour. He had a connection to the gates of hell. And now this one was gone.
Completely, irrevocably, gone.
Voldemort's fist clenched. He was angry. Where most men would have felt loss, sadness, or even regret, he only felt anger. Then again, Voldemort was not a man anymore; he was something...other than that, and he no longer was troubled by the petty emotions of men.
Anger, though...anger he could use. Anger he could focus. And now, he wished to focus his anger on the Slayer. She...all of them...would pay for what they'd done here.
Soon enough...they would all pay.
Harry attempted to get to sleep, but he failed. He shifted around, looking for that one spot where sleep might come to him. There was nothing in it; he was completely restless.
Eventually, Harry rose, quietly, from bed and put on a robe. He was headed for the Common Room. Might as well get some homework done if sleep was going to evade him. He shut the door softly, making sure as to not wake up his roommates.
When he reached the Common Room, Harry was surprised to find Ginny standing, similarly dressed, by the window. "Couldn't sleep?" she asked.
Harry nodded. He crossed the room to the window and looked out of it with her.
"I've got a bad feeling," Ginny said. "Like there's something...not right....happening."
"I know," Harry said. "I feel it too."
"Are we dreaming?" Ginny asked.
"I was thinking the same thing," Harry said. "But this isn't a dream, Ginny. This is reality."
"I suppose you're right," she said. She shivered slightly, and Harry drew his arm around her.
They stood like that for a long time, just watching the grounds. There was nothing there, but they stared anyway.
Eventually, Harry sat down on the couch and leaned back, feeling the effects of a long day at last. Ginny joined him a second later, resting her head against his shoulder. They were asleep almost before they realized what was happening.
Dumbledore sat in his office, watching the monitor in the wall. He liked to know when students were in their Common Room's past midnight; usually he didn't mind, but on the rare occasion that he did, it was nice to know.
Now, he watched as Harry and Ginny fell asleep. "It's rather amusing, how the bond has manifested itself in them," he said. "It's why they keep sleeping with one another, apparently inadvertently."
"That's a cold way of putting it," Craig said. "They're in love, Professor."
"Yes, but it isn't the same, normal kind of love that most people experience. There love is magically binding them to each other. You, above all, should know what that's like."
"Yeah," Craig said. "And that's why you brought me here, isn't it? So that I could teach them about the bond. Show them where Skye and I went wrong."
"You're a clever boy, Craig," Dumbledore said. "Yes, I did bring you to Hogwarts to help Harry and Ginny. That bond between them, and the power they could share...without it, we're lost."
"I'll help them as much as I can," Craig said. "But in the end, its up to them..."
"Yes, it is," Dumbledore said. He looked back at the monitor where Harry and Ginny were sleeping peacefully.
The both sat and stared for a long time.
Faith and Dumbledore stood in front of the barracks. The commander of the forces to operate out of Hogwarts was due to arrive in a half hour.
"You have undoubtedly heard about all the disappearances," Dumbledore said, abruptly.
"Yeah," Faith said. "Harry and Ginny mentioned a few."
"You've been spending a lot of time with Harry and Ginny?" Dumbledore asked, surprised.
"Yes," Faith said. "Ginny is a Slayer, after all. And Harry...well, even if he isn't gonna just blurt it out to everyone around him, you can still tell he's special."
"He really is," Dumbledore said. "But the disappearances...they're the things that worry me."
"Why so much? I don't mean to be cynical, but weren't you expecting this?"
"Yes, but not to this degree," Dumbledore sighed. He felt like leaning against the barracks wall for support. "Voldemort has been killing more people faster than the last time he was in power. He's taking three people every week, and many of them have left body parts behind, too, which is entirely unusual."
"Why?" Faith asked.
"Because when Voldemort kills, there is nothing left but a body that appears in good health, except for the fact that it is dead," Dumbledore said, and proceeded to explain the Avada Kedavra curse.
"Creepy," Faith said, bordering on uninterested, when Dumbledore was finished. "So why isn't he using this curse?"
"I don't know," Dumbledore said. "I was hoping that when Buffy arrives back we could have a little chat and see if we can't figure out a way to figure out what Lord Voldemort has been doing - ah, here they are at last."
A goblin, riding a broom, had descended to below the cloud level. A moment later, several hundred other brooms, each carrying a goblin or a wizard, descended as well.
"How many are there, now?" Faith asked.
"Well, after all the unnecessary redirecting of our forces done by our illustrious Minister," Dumbledore almost sneered at the word, "we have received a full hundred less than previously expected. So that numbers our new garrison in the low hundreds, around three hundred or so."
Faith nodded. The brooms had begun to land, their passengers dismounting. They looked a bit worn.
"Doesn't seem like they had a good trip," Faith observed, as she and Dumbledore began to walk towards the goblin leader.
"The trip took around sixteen hours, what with all the little loops and twirls they had to do to 'throw the Dark Forces off their scent'. More of Fudge's doing. Utter nonsense."
They had reached the goblin. He was taller than his fellows, rising to be almost as tall as Faith. She looked him in the eye, but saw only blankness. She blinked. He smiled.
"Good evening and well met, Grimshar," Dumbledore said, putting a hand on the goblin's shoulder.
A throaty rasp of a voice replied. "Good evening and well met, Dumbledore."
"Grimshar, I would like you to meet Faith, one of the Slayers I told you about. Faith, this is Grimshar the Aggressive," Dumbledore said, by means of introduction.
"I don't bother much with the title," Grimshar said. "Gives people the wrong idea about me."
"I'm sure," Faith said, lightly, not wanting to offend the goblin.
"If you'll come this way, I'll show you the barracks. They're quite comfortable," Dumbledore said.
"I'm sure they are," Grimshar replied. "Probably too comfortable. We're soldiers, Dumbledore, and we're here to fight a war, not to have Four Star Service."
Faith chuckled. She liked Grimshar so far - he was a warrior, and she could respect that.
The goblin turned back to the field, where his men were getting their gear in order. "Everyone, as soon as you are done getting your gear into place, move into the barracks. You will be assigned a bunk once there."
He turned back to Dumbledore. "So, any news for me?"
"None," Dumbledore said, resuming their trek towards the barracks. "You already know about the disappearances, and what Mr. Fudge is doing about them."
"Yes, sir, I do," Grimshar said.
"I've talked with the Slayers, and once we have all of them back, I intend to see if we can't find out what Voldemort is up to."
"Sounds good," Grimshar replied. "When you need anything from us, just let me know."
Dumbledore smiled. "Of course. Now I'll let you get settled in."
Grimshar nodded and entered the barracks, his men and goblins following.
"He's rather taciturn, even for a goblin," Dumbledore said.
"I'd never have noticed," Faith said sarcastically.
Soon enough, the army forces had disappeared inside the barracks. Faith nodded at Dumbledore and was about to enter as well, to head for her room, when the older man caught her arm.
"Faith, when is Buffy planning on getting back?" Dumbledore asked.
"Give her two weeks," Faith said. "Things have been going better than anybody expected. Willow and Kennedy are on their way back now. So are Andrew and Xander. Buffy still has a few things to rap up here and there."
Dumbledore nodded. "Good night, Faith," he said.
They departed.
Giles and Shannon stood in front of a dilapidated building. The place was a complete dump; the neighborhood it sat in was terrible.
"Well, this is it," Shannon said. "The last one."
"Yes," Giles said, eyeing the building. "Let's just get it over with, shall we?"
They entered the building, pushing aside the door, which was not on its hinges. The sight that met their eyes made Giles want to be sick. It didn't hit Shannon quite as much, but then, she was an American teenager, and somewhat used to drug use.
There were people lying on the floor of the house. They stared in different directions, not at anything in particular, most with glazed eyes.
Fighting down an urge to vomit at the disgusting state of the human beings before him, Giles said, "We're looking for a girl named Maria Grieta. We were given this address."
One of the girls raised herself up off the floor, revealing her lack of clothing, which did not improve Giles' disposition, and served to unnerve Shannon. "That's me," the girl said. Her eyes were somewhat clearer than the rest, but she still grinned in utter bemusement at them.
"Umm...well, I don't know how to say this..." Shannon said, despite all the practice she'd had at explaining Slayerdom to all the new recruits. "But...well, you're kind of a superhero."
"Tactful," Giles muttered, and Shannon sent him a dirty look.
"We're all superheroes here," one of the men said. "We're gonna save the world...wee..." he collapsed and began snoring loudly.
Maria stood up. She was a bit wobbly, but she managed to keep her balance. "What do you want?" she asked. Her bemused grin didn't fade.
"We're here to inquire as to whether or not you would like to join other girls like you in a training program in England," Giles blurted out.
"Tactful," Shannon said, and Giles ignored her.
"England?" Maria asked.
"Well, yes," Giles said.
"Sounds cool," Maria said, her bemused grin fading slightly. "But wait outside while I get decent."
Once back on the street, Giles rubbed his hands together to keep warm. "Get decent? It was a bit late for that, don't you think?"
"Giles...are you sure about her?" Shannon asked.
"Of course I'm not sure!" Giles said, exasperated. "What is there to be sure of?"
"That she's a pot head," Shannon said.
"Yes, there is that," Giles admitted.
"I don't trust her," Shannon said.
"Well, you don't have to," Giles said. "Our job is to get her to come with us. Once that's done, we'll figure out what to do with her."
Maria emerged a moment later, her eyes no longer glazed, wearing a baggy sweatshirt and a pair of old, worn out jeans. "Lets go save the world," she said.
"Oh, boy," Giles and Shannon said in tangent.
Two weeks passed, and the Slayers began arriving back at Hogwarts. It was luck that saw that they arrived back at the same time that the barracks were being completed, giving them a place to sleep.
Buffy arrived back on October 30th, the day before Halloween. She was the last of the Slayers to arrive back, since she wanted to get in and be able to take a complete head count. Each team had brought with them the new Slayers that they had managed to recruit.
Buffy arrived alone, unceremoniously. She carried a bag slung across her shoulder that contained all that she traveled with. The only two people who knew that she was getting back that night were Faith and Giles.
They were waiting for her when she got up to the barracks. Giles, dispensing with his usual dignity, hugged Buffy. "It's good to see you again," he said.
Faith contented herself with a nod and smile. "Good to see you again, B."
Buffy cut right to the point. "How did we do?" she asked.
Giles handed her a folder. "We contacted five hundred twelve newly risen Slayers," he said. "Of those, four hundred ninety-three decided to come to Hogwarts. They're inside now." He gestured inside the barracks door.
Buffy drew in her breath. She'd sent several of these Slayers here herself, and of course she knew the thirty or so 'originals', so this wouldn't be such a gigantic mass of unknowns.
It was a gigantic mass of unknowns.
When they walked inside the barracks, once again astounding Buffy with its size, Giles hit a button on the wall and held it. "Everyone report down to the Briefing Room right now," he said. His voice, magically magnified, echoed through the barracks. Slayers began exiting their rooms, heading down to hallways towards a room at the back of the building. Even though she had heard the numbers, Buffy wasn't completely prepared for the amount of people she saw.
"I'm guessing you know what you want to say?" Buffy asked, her voice taking on a shrill note that didn't seem natural.
"I have an idea," Giles said, smiling.
"Good," Buffy said. "Cause my mind is going seriously 'bye bye'."
Faith laughed. "You were pretty good at this back in Sunnydale," she observed.
"That was somewhat different."
Guessing what was going on, the Scooby's opted to travel to the entrance to the barracks rather than to the briefing room. There was a series of 'hello's' and hugs.
"Come on," Giles said. "They'll be waiting for you."
They entered the Briefing Room through the side door. Seated in the hall were nearly five hundred young Slayers. Buffy felt herself panic slightly and fought it down quicker than most would have noticed.
Giles made her introduction. "You've all been brought here because of your common gift. You're all Slayers - albeit a bit new at it. This is Buffy Summers. Many of you have already heard of her, probably. She will be your leader here, and your teacher as well. She's been a Slayer for more nine years now - longer than any Slayer before her. You can learn a lot from her. But don't take my word for it. Listen to her."
Giles motioned for Buffy to step forward. She addressed them. "Hello, everyone. I realize that this is a new experience for all of you. Its probably more than a little frightening. I know; I went through that fear once, too. But you don't have to go through it alone. Welcome to Hogwarts."
There was applause. Willow grinned at Buffy. "You're getting good at those," she said.
Buffy smiled too. She went forward to introduce herself personally to all the new Slayers.
Faith searched the crowd and finally found Ginny. "How'd you get down here quick enough?" Faith asked.
"Floo," Ginny said. "Dumbledore set up a specific gateway for the three of us at the school so that we can get down here for meetings and such. Its going to annoy my roommates quite a bit."
Faith looked around. "Amazing," she said.
"There are a lot of them," Ginny observed. "Excuse me; a lot of us."
Just then, Dumbledore entered the room. Faith started over towards him automatically, then stopped. "You want to tag along?" she asked Ginny.
"Sure," Ginny said, secretly thrilled at the opportunity to get information before Harry. She would enjoy holding it over his head.
The two made their way quickly through the room. Dumbledore didn't see them. He was, instead, focused on Buffy. He reached her, and before greeting her, said, "We have a problem."
Dumbledore, Buffy, Giles, Faith, and Ginny all exited the room. They headed towards the private meeting room off of Buffy's chamber. They entered quickly, not wanting to be followed.
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked.
Dumbledore was in a completely different state then either Buffy or Faith had ever seen. Ginny had only seen him like that once; at the Ministry the spring before.
"One of my spies reported back today," he said. "He'd been gone for nearly a week and I'd begun to worry about him. But the news he brought me worries me even more."
He took a deep breath. "As we know, Voldemort already has an army of a decent size. But he plans to gather to him an enormous army of vampires. He is using all the people he has captured to create a lake of blood for them to feed on. He has put a spell on the lake sight to keep the blood fresh."
Ginny stifled a noise of disgust. "That's not all," Dumbledore said. "It turns out that Voldemort is planning a ritualistic spell that will make the lake of blood self-replenishing."
"A never ending supply of fresh blood in a huge, easily accessible location," Buffy said. "He'd have every vampire in the world at his beck and call."
"We can't allow that to happen," Dumbledore said. "The lake is in the middle of an Albanian forest, where Voldemort is basing much of his action."
"Then lets hit it," Buffy said.
"It's not that simple," Dumbledore said. "There is something strange about the forest. Only a select few people have ever been able to enter it and leave again. Many others have mysteriously disappeared there. It turns out that only people with darkness in their souls may enter the forest and return from it."
Silence followed Dumbledore's words. Faith laughed without mirth. "Sounds like I'm in," she said.
"I'll give Angel a call, too," Buffy said. "Willow might be able to do it, too."
"Me too," a voice from the doorway said.
"Ah, Lupin," Dumbledore said. "Mr. Giles, Buffy, Faith, I would like to introduce you to Remus Lupin."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Giles said.
"Likewise," Lupin replied.
"So how can you get into this place?" Faith asked, bluntly. "How is your soul dark?"
"I'm a werewolf," he said. "It kind of goes with the territory."
"My spy will want to go as well," Dumbledore said. "Severus Snape is a former servant of Lord Voldemort who betrayed the Dark Side to rejoin us."
"And you trust him?" Giles asked.
Before Dumbledore could say anything, Faith jumped in. "You trust me?" she asked.
Giles shut up.
"Five? Is that it?" Buffy asked.
"Craig may want to go along too," Dumbledore said. "His...gift...makes him eligible for this."
"Six, then," Buffy said. "You'll go in, covert, and see if you can't disrupt this ritual thing."
"I'll talk to the others tomorrow," Dumbledore said. "Remus, your quarters are this way."
The meeting broke up, leaving Buffy with a windswept feeling. It was happening fast. It always did.
TWENTY CHAPTERS! Please, oh please, read and review. Its incredibly important to me to hear your feedback. I need feedback in order to go on writing. Get me? Bunker shorts be with you.
Voldemort stood at the edge of the enormous precipice, his minions lingering a few feet back. They knew not to disturb their master now. The loss of the Sunnydale Hellmouth was almost personal to Voldemort.
He looked into the vast emptiness of the crater. The Sunnydale Hellmouth was the thing that had started him on his path to greatness. The Albanian Hellmouth, of which he was the only person alive who knew of it, had sustained him in his most dire hour. He had a connection to the gates of hell. And now this one was gone.
Completely, irrevocably, gone.
Voldemort's fist clenched. He was angry. Where most men would have felt loss, sadness, or even regret, he only felt anger. Then again, Voldemort was not a man anymore; he was something...other than that, and he no longer was troubled by the petty emotions of men.
Anger, though...anger he could use. Anger he could focus. And now, he wished to focus his anger on the Slayer. She...all of them...would pay for what they'd done here.
Soon enough...they would all pay.
Harry attempted to get to sleep, but he failed. He shifted around, looking for that one spot where sleep might come to him. There was nothing in it; he was completely restless.
Eventually, Harry rose, quietly, from bed and put on a robe. He was headed for the Common Room. Might as well get some homework done if sleep was going to evade him. He shut the door softly, making sure as to not wake up his roommates.
When he reached the Common Room, Harry was surprised to find Ginny standing, similarly dressed, by the window. "Couldn't sleep?" she asked.
Harry nodded. He crossed the room to the window and looked out of it with her.
"I've got a bad feeling," Ginny said. "Like there's something...not right....happening."
"I know," Harry said. "I feel it too."
"Are we dreaming?" Ginny asked.
"I was thinking the same thing," Harry said. "But this isn't a dream, Ginny. This is reality."
"I suppose you're right," she said. She shivered slightly, and Harry drew his arm around her.
They stood like that for a long time, just watching the grounds. There was nothing there, but they stared anyway.
Eventually, Harry sat down on the couch and leaned back, feeling the effects of a long day at last. Ginny joined him a second later, resting her head against his shoulder. They were asleep almost before they realized what was happening.
Dumbledore sat in his office, watching the monitor in the wall. He liked to know when students were in their Common Room's past midnight; usually he didn't mind, but on the rare occasion that he did, it was nice to know.
Now, he watched as Harry and Ginny fell asleep. "It's rather amusing, how the bond has manifested itself in them," he said. "It's why they keep sleeping with one another, apparently inadvertently."
"That's a cold way of putting it," Craig said. "They're in love, Professor."
"Yes, but it isn't the same, normal kind of love that most people experience. There love is magically binding them to each other. You, above all, should know what that's like."
"Yeah," Craig said. "And that's why you brought me here, isn't it? So that I could teach them about the bond. Show them where Skye and I went wrong."
"You're a clever boy, Craig," Dumbledore said. "Yes, I did bring you to Hogwarts to help Harry and Ginny. That bond between them, and the power they could share...without it, we're lost."
"I'll help them as much as I can," Craig said. "But in the end, its up to them..."
"Yes, it is," Dumbledore said. He looked back at the monitor where Harry and Ginny were sleeping peacefully.
The both sat and stared for a long time.
Faith and Dumbledore stood in front of the barracks. The commander of the forces to operate out of Hogwarts was due to arrive in a half hour.
"You have undoubtedly heard about all the disappearances," Dumbledore said, abruptly.
"Yeah," Faith said. "Harry and Ginny mentioned a few."
"You've been spending a lot of time with Harry and Ginny?" Dumbledore asked, surprised.
"Yes," Faith said. "Ginny is a Slayer, after all. And Harry...well, even if he isn't gonna just blurt it out to everyone around him, you can still tell he's special."
"He really is," Dumbledore said. "But the disappearances...they're the things that worry me."
"Why so much? I don't mean to be cynical, but weren't you expecting this?"
"Yes, but not to this degree," Dumbledore sighed. He felt like leaning against the barracks wall for support. "Voldemort has been killing more people faster than the last time he was in power. He's taking three people every week, and many of them have left body parts behind, too, which is entirely unusual."
"Why?" Faith asked.
"Because when Voldemort kills, there is nothing left but a body that appears in good health, except for the fact that it is dead," Dumbledore said, and proceeded to explain the Avada Kedavra curse.
"Creepy," Faith said, bordering on uninterested, when Dumbledore was finished. "So why isn't he using this curse?"
"I don't know," Dumbledore said. "I was hoping that when Buffy arrives back we could have a little chat and see if we can't figure out a way to figure out what Lord Voldemort has been doing - ah, here they are at last."
A goblin, riding a broom, had descended to below the cloud level. A moment later, several hundred other brooms, each carrying a goblin or a wizard, descended as well.
"How many are there, now?" Faith asked.
"Well, after all the unnecessary redirecting of our forces done by our illustrious Minister," Dumbledore almost sneered at the word, "we have received a full hundred less than previously expected. So that numbers our new garrison in the low hundreds, around three hundred or so."
Faith nodded. The brooms had begun to land, their passengers dismounting. They looked a bit worn.
"Doesn't seem like they had a good trip," Faith observed, as she and Dumbledore began to walk towards the goblin leader.
"The trip took around sixteen hours, what with all the little loops and twirls they had to do to 'throw the Dark Forces off their scent'. More of Fudge's doing. Utter nonsense."
They had reached the goblin. He was taller than his fellows, rising to be almost as tall as Faith. She looked him in the eye, but saw only blankness. She blinked. He smiled.
"Good evening and well met, Grimshar," Dumbledore said, putting a hand on the goblin's shoulder.
A throaty rasp of a voice replied. "Good evening and well met, Dumbledore."
"Grimshar, I would like you to meet Faith, one of the Slayers I told you about. Faith, this is Grimshar the Aggressive," Dumbledore said, by means of introduction.
"I don't bother much with the title," Grimshar said. "Gives people the wrong idea about me."
"I'm sure," Faith said, lightly, not wanting to offend the goblin.
"If you'll come this way, I'll show you the barracks. They're quite comfortable," Dumbledore said.
"I'm sure they are," Grimshar replied. "Probably too comfortable. We're soldiers, Dumbledore, and we're here to fight a war, not to have Four Star Service."
Faith chuckled. She liked Grimshar so far - he was a warrior, and she could respect that.
The goblin turned back to the field, where his men were getting their gear in order. "Everyone, as soon as you are done getting your gear into place, move into the barracks. You will be assigned a bunk once there."
He turned back to Dumbledore. "So, any news for me?"
"None," Dumbledore said, resuming their trek towards the barracks. "You already know about the disappearances, and what Mr. Fudge is doing about them."
"Yes, sir, I do," Grimshar said.
"I've talked with the Slayers, and once we have all of them back, I intend to see if we can't find out what Voldemort is up to."
"Sounds good," Grimshar replied. "When you need anything from us, just let me know."
Dumbledore smiled. "Of course. Now I'll let you get settled in."
Grimshar nodded and entered the barracks, his men and goblins following.
"He's rather taciturn, even for a goblin," Dumbledore said.
"I'd never have noticed," Faith said sarcastically.
Soon enough, the army forces had disappeared inside the barracks. Faith nodded at Dumbledore and was about to enter as well, to head for her room, when the older man caught her arm.
"Faith, when is Buffy planning on getting back?" Dumbledore asked.
"Give her two weeks," Faith said. "Things have been going better than anybody expected. Willow and Kennedy are on their way back now. So are Andrew and Xander. Buffy still has a few things to rap up here and there."
Dumbledore nodded. "Good night, Faith," he said.
They departed.
Giles and Shannon stood in front of a dilapidated building. The place was a complete dump; the neighborhood it sat in was terrible.
"Well, this is it," Shannon said. "The last one."
"Yes," Giles said, eyeing the building. "Let's just get it over with, shall we?"
They entered the building, pushing aside the door, which was not on its hinges. The sight that met their eyes made Giles want to be sick. It didn't hit Shannon quite as much, but then, she was an American teenager, and somewhat used to drug use.
There were people lying on the floor of the house. They stared in different directions, not at anything in particular, most with glazed eyes.
Fighting down an urge to vomit at the disgusting state of the human beings before him, Giles said, "We're looking for a girl named Maria Grieta. We were given this address."
One of the girls raised herself up off the floor, revealing her lack of clothing, which did not improve Giles' disposition, and served to unnerve Shannon. "That's me," the girl said. Her eyes were somewhat clearer than the rest, but she still grinned in utter bemusement at them.
"Umm...well, I don't know how to say this..." Shannon said, despite all the practice she'd had at explaining Slayerdom to all the new recruits. "But...well, you're kind of a superhero."
"Tactful," Giles muttered, and Shannon sent him a dirty look.
"We're all superheroes here," one of the men said. "We're gonna save the world...wee..." he collapsed and began snoring loudly.
Maria stood up. She was a bit wobbly, but she managed to keep her balance. "What do you want?" she asked. Her bemused grin didn't fade.
"We're here to inquire as to whether or not you would like to join other girls like you in a training program in England," Giles blurted out.
"Tactful," Shannon said, and Giles ignored her.
"England?" Maria asked.
"Well, yes," Giles said.
"Sounds cool," Maria said, her bemused grin fading slightly. "But wait outside while I get decent."
Once back on the street, Giles rubbed his hands together to keep warm. "Get decent? It was a bit late for that, don't you think?"
"Giles...are you sure about her?" Shannon asked.
"Of course I'm not sure!" Giles said, exasperated. "What is there to be sure of?"
"That she's a pot head," Shannon said.
"Yes, there is that," Giles admitted.
"I don't trust her," Shannon said.
"Well, you don't have to," Giles said. "Our job is to get her to come with us. Once that's done, we'll figure out what to do with her."
Maria emerged a moment later, her eyes no longer glazed, wearing a baggy sweatshirt and a pair of old, worn out jeans. "Lets go save the world," she said.
"Oh, boy," Giles and Shannon said in tangent.
Two weeks passed, and the Slayers began arriving back at Hogwarts. It was luck that saw that they arrived back at the same time that the barracks were being completed, giving them a place to sleep.
Buffy arrived back on October 30th, the day before Halloween. She was the last of the Slayers to arrive back, since she wanted to get in and be able to take a complete head count. Each team had brought with them the new Slayers that they had managed to recruit.
Buffy arrived alone, unceremoniously. She carried a bag slung across her shoulder that contained all that she traveled with. The only two people who knew that she was getting back that night were Faith and Giles.
They were waiting for her when she got up to the barracks. Giles, dispensing with his usual dignity, hugged Buffy. "It's good to see you again," he said.
Faith contented herself with a nod and smile. "Good to see you again, B."
Buffy cut right to the point. "How did we do?" she asked.
Giles handed her a folder. "We contacted five hundred twelve newly risen Slayers," he said. "Of those, four hundred ninety-three decided to come to Hogwarts. They're inside now." He gestured inside the barracks door.
Buffy drew in her breath. She'd sent several of these Slayers here herself, and of course she knew the thirty or so 'originals', so this wouldn't be such a gigantic mass of unknowns.
It was a gigantic mass of unknowns.
When they walked inside the barracks, once again astounding Buffy with its size, Giles hit a button on the wall and held it. "Everyone report down to the Briefing Room right now," he said. His voice, magically magnified, echoed through the barracks. Slayers began exiting their rooms, heading down to hallways towards a room at the back of the building. Even though she had heard the numbers, Buffy wasn't completely prepared for the amount of people she saw.
"I'm guessing you know what you want to say?" Buffy asked, her voice taking on a shrill note that didn't seem natural.
"I have an idea," Giles said, smiling.
"Good," Buffy said. "Cause my mind is going seriously 'bye bye'."
Faith laughed. "You were pretty good at this back in Sunnydale," she observed.
"That was somewhat different."
Guessing what was going on, the Scooby's opted to travel to the entrance to the barracks rather than to the briefing room. There was a series of 'hello's' and hugs.
"Come on," Giles said. "They'll be waiting for you."
They entered the Briefing Room through the side door. Seated in the hall were nearly five hundred young Slayers. Buffy felt herself panic slightly and fought it down quicker than most would have noticed.
Giles made her introduction. "You've all been brought here because of your common gift. You're all Slayers - albeit a bit new at it. This is Buffy Summers. Many of you have already heard of her, probably. She will be your leader here, and your teacher as well. She's been a Slayer for more nine years now - longer than any Slayer before her. You can learn a lot from her. But don't take my word for it. Listen to her."
Giles motioned for Buffy to step forward. She addressed them. "Hello, everyone. I realize that this is a new experience for all of you. Its probably more than a little frightening. I know; I went through that fear once, too. But you don't have to go through it alone. Welcome to Hogwarts."
There was applause. Willow grinned at Buffy. "You're getting good at those," she said.
Buffy smiled too. She went forward to introduce herself personally to all the new Slayers.
Faith searched the crowd and finally found Ginny. "How'd you get down here quick enough?" Faith asked.
"Floo," Ginny said. "Dumbledore set up a specific gateway for the three of us at the school so that we can get down here for meetings and such. Its going to annoy my roommates quite a bit."
Faith looked around. "Amazing," she said.
"There are a lot of them," Ginny observed. "Excuse me; a lot of us."
Just then, Dumbledore entered the room. Faith started over towards him automatically, then stopped. "You want to tag along?" she asked Ginny.
"Sure," Ginny said, secretly thrilled at the opportunity to get information before Harry. She would enjoy holding it over his head.
The two made their way quickly through the room. Dumbledore didn't see them. He was, instead, focused on Buffy. He reached her, and before greeting her, said, "We have a problem."
Dumbledore, Buffy, Giles, Faith, and Ginny all exited the room. They headed towards the private meeting room off of Buffy's chamber. They entered quickly, not wanting to be followed.
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked.
Dumbledore was in a completely different state then either Buffy or Faith had ever seen. Ginny had only seen him like that once; at the Ministry the spring before.
"One of my spies reported back today," he said. "He'd been gone for nearly a week and I'd begun to worry about him. But the news he brought me worries me even more."
He took a deep breath. "As we know, Voldemort already has an army of a decent size. But he plans to gather to him an enormous army of vampires. He is using all the people he has captured to create a lake of blood for them to feed on. He has put a spell on the lake sight to keep the blood fresh."
Ginny stifled a noise of disgust. "That's not all," Dumbledore said. "It turns out that Voldemort is planning a ritualistic spell that will make the lake of blood self-replenishing."
"A never ending supply of fresh blood in a huge, easily accessible location," Buffy said. "He'd have every vampire in the world at his beck and call."
"We can't allow that to happen," Dumbledore said. "The lake is in the middle of an Albanian forest, where Voldemort is basing much of his action."
"Then lets hit it," Buffy said.
"It's not that simple," Dumbledore said. "There is something strange about the forest. Only a select few people have ever been able to enter it and leave again. Many others have mysteriously disappeared there. It turns out that only people with darkness in their souls may enter the forest and return from it."
Silence followed Dumbledore's words. Faith laughed without mirth. "Sounds like I'm in," she said.
"I'll give Angel a call, too," Buffy said. "Willow might be able to do it, too."
"Me too," a voice from the doorway said.
"Ah, Lupin," Dumbledore said. "Mr. Giles, Buffy, Faith, I would like to introduce you to Remus Lupin."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Giles said.
"Likewise," Lupin replied.
"So how can you get into this place?" Faith asked, bluntly. "How is your soul dark?"
"I'm a werewolf," he said. "It kind of goes with the territory."
"My spy will want to go as well," Dumbledore said. "Severus Snape is a former servant of Lord Voldemort who betrayed the Dark Side to rejoin us."
"And you trust him?" Giles asked.
Before Dumbledore could say anything, Faith jumped in. "You trust me?" she asked.
Giles shut up.
"Five? Is that it?" Buffy asked.
"Craig may want to go along too," Dumbledore said. "His...gift...makes him eligible for this."
"Six, then," Buffy said. "You'll go in, covert, and see if you can't disrupt this ritual thing."
"I'll talk to the others tomorrow," Dumbledore said. "Remus, your quarters are this way."
The meeting broke up, leaving Buffy with a windswept feeling. It was happening fast. It always did.
TWENTY CHAPTERS! Please, oh please, read and review. Its incredibly important to me to hear your feedback. I need feedback in order to go on writing. Get me? Bunker shorts be with you.