Thanks for all the reviews. The dream...I'll elaborate on that one soon enough, but you won't really get it completely until the end. Dawn...I don't like Dawn. Mostly, I think she should die. Or boil in a pit of her own blood. Either way, she's not in this fic. Cause I don't like her. And there will be more Craig. This story is as much Craig's as it is Harry's.
Krum surveyed his class. Harry returned the look, perhaps defiantly, perhaps not. He'd considered himself the equal of Viktor Krum for two years now - Krum's status as Harry's teacher hadn't changed that.
"We will be having an observer join us today," he said, in his usual deep accent. "I believe that some of you already know Faith, the Vampire Slayer?"
There were nods around the room. Faith stepped forward and gave a little wave to Harry, who was in the back row with Ron and Hermione.
Harry leaned back in his chair to cover up the fact that he was talking. "I wonder why she's here?" he asked, earnestly, because he liked Faith and didn't mind having her around. Maybe she would balance out his almost-dislike of Krum.
"I don't know," Hermione said. Ron gave a little mock gasp.
"You've gone and done it! Ruined my hypothesis that you know everything!"
Hermione kicked Ron under the table. It wasn't a very painful kick, partially due to the fact that Ron and Hermione were also holding hands under the table.
Krum hadn't gone on yet. Harry had discovered that Durmstrang had given Krum a hard resolve towards teaching - though he felt bad about what he'd put the class through so far, it didn't really phase him all that often. Now, he was nervous.
"Something big is up," Harry said, but neither of his friends heard him.
"We will be doing some hands on work today," Krum said. He nodded to Faith. "If you will follow us out to the grounds, we will be conducting class in the new training center."
The class rose and filed out. Now Hermione and Ron were worried too. "Didn't they just build that thing for high risk training for the military forces?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah," Harry said. "That's what it was supposed to be for."
They walked in silence out to the grounds. The class had long been mute for DADA. Krum didn't insist on silence - he seemed to make up for the torturous nature of his class by not being too overly strict with them, like McGonagall or Snape - but the class had learned that the wrong word during a dangerous incantation can have disastrous results. Such an accident had occurred early in the year, but luckily, Madame Pomfrey had been able to remove the boils from Seamus' eyes. There were lasting effects, though - he would lose visual focus at twilight for the rest of his life.
The training center was built next to the Slayer training grounds, between them and the barracks. None of the students had been allowed inside it, so they didn't know what to expect.
When they entered, Harry, Neville, Hermione, and Ron all gasped. "The Department of Mysteries!" they all said.
"It was modeled after your Department of Mysteries, yes," Krum said. "However, there are a few fundamental differences. It won't spin, and the doors are all marked and unlocked. We'll be going this way," he gestured towards a specific, drab gray door. Printed in sharp black on it was 'Danger Simulation Room'.
The class walked inside, flanked by Krum and Faith. In its three days of operation, the DSR had been left running already once, with nasty results for the next group that came in to train. Luckily, the thing was off.
"What is this place?" Dean Thomas asked, expressing the wonder of the crowd.
The DSR was a huge, cavernous room, obviously enlarged magically, with black, seemingly padded walls. When Ron attempted to touch one of the walls, it shimmered and let his hand through. He pulled it back sharply.
"It's on fire!" he yelled, nursing his hand. "Oh, this hurts like hell," he added.
Krum shook his head. "Look, don't touch, Weasley," he said. He stepped back to the entrance and opened the door. "Outside, now."
Ron stepped back out the door, intent on the Hospital Wing. He stopped immediately after clearing the door. He turned back and, amazedly, showed them his now healthy hand.
"Whatever this room does to you is being simulated by the room," Krum explained, as Ron stepped back in. "As soon as you leave, it can't influence you or anything else any more.
"This is a combat simulation chamber, similar to the one used by Aurors in London. It can be configured to produce any scenario. There's a list of the preprogrammed ones on the door.
"We will be working a simple one; a Japanese dojo. You will each fight a demon chosen at random from the list we have studied already. Consider this a pop quiz.
"Oh, and don't forget; this may be a simulator, but it still hurts, as was demonstrated by Mr. Weasley. The safety is on right now, so it'll stop before it will kill you, but you are still in danger of injury."
Krum stepped back and punched a button on the wall. The button turned from the same black as everything else to a glowing red. The air shimmered, and a second later, the black padding was replaced by a dojo.
The class took seats on the bleachers on one wall. Krum addressed those sitting. "As long as you are on these bleachers, the demons cannot see or affect you," he explained. "Faith is here to help if anything goes wrong. I will call you each one by one. Mr. Thomas, you will start us off. Good luck."
Krum sat as Dean stood up. He stepped down uneasily. He was obviously not pleased to have been selected to be the first one.
The class watched in fascination as Krum pulled out a sheaf of parchment. On it, he wrote something that none of them could see. A moment later, a demon appeared.
A banshee! The banshee opened its mouth and let out a blood-curdling scream. Those on the bleachers heard the censored version, not loud enough to hurt, but Dean got the full blast of it. An adult banshee could kill with its scream in a matter of minutes, and they could scream non stop for hours.
Dean collapsed. He hit the floor, but managed to stay on his knees. His hands flew to his ears, but remembered at the last second not to. Skin only amplified the banshee's cry.
Dean took a moment to steady himself, and slowly, painfully, stood. The banshee's wail increased in volume, making Dean sway, but he kept his balance this time. He raised his wand, and through the din, managed a quick spell. "Quietus," he croaked out.
The banshee immediately quieted down. The noise coming from its throat was no longer deadly or even harmful. It choked a bit, trying to regain its volume, but Dean's spell was not easily broken. He didn't waste time, either. After regaining his composure, he sent a quick Stunner towards the banshee. It dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Krum stood. "Very good, Mr. Thomas, very good indeed," he said. "Come and sit down. Ms. Patil, you are next."
Parvati climbed past Dean, who sat down with exhaustion written across his face. The banshee had taken a lot out of him. Harry patted him on the back, and Dean smiled.
Parvati stood in the center, waiting to be attacked. Krum once more wrote on his sheaf of parchment, and instant later, three small black Gavrokian spiders appeared.
Next to Harry, Ron cringed and hid his face. Harry shook his head, imperceptibly. Ron would have been in big trouble if he had drawn this one.
Parvati, as it was, wasn't making much progress. She sent Stunner after Stunner towards the spiders, which crawled across the walls. None of her spells connected. Finally, tiring of dodging, one of the spiders leapt at her face, intent on impaling her brain.
It was reflex that saved her. She threw up her wand and yelled, "Impedimenta!" The spider stopped moving in midair and fell to the floor, immobile, where Parvati squished it with her shoe.
"Tarantelgra!" she cried, pointing her wand at the wall. One of the spiders was hit by the arachnid spell, and it fell to the floor, dead.
The final spider came at Parvati low, and managed to attach itself to one of her legs. It impaled her, sinking its fangs deep into the flesh of her calf.
Parvati shrieked in pain. Faith was about to jump in and help her when Krum shook his head. "Not yet," he said.
Parvati collapsed to the floor, crying with the pain that the spider was inflicting as it tore at her leg. She tried vainly to shake the spider loose. It was too deep into her leg, though, and it wasn't letting go. It ripped a piece of her leg off and ate.
The pain was almost unbearable. In absolute desperation, Parvati flung her wand around behind her, yelling imperceptibly. Perhaps what she shouted was some spell she'd picked up elsewhere, or perhaps her wand was simply reacting to her need, but there was a flash, and the spider was gone.
"Very good, Ms. Patil," Krum said. "Mr. Longbottom, you're next," he said. "If you and Mr. Potter would kindly help Ms. Patil back to her seat...?"
Harry jumped with Neville, and together they half carried the severely limping Parvati back to her seat on the bleachers. Harry joined her, ripping some fabric from his shirt to bind the rather sizable wound in her lower leg.
Neville now stood alone in the center of the dojo. He glanced around nervously. He didn't know what to expect, but things had gotten progressively worse, and now...
Now, as Krum wrote on his parchment once more, a vampire appeared. Faith gasped, as did Hermione. "Spike!" Faith said. Krum nodded.
"William the Bloody," he said. "One of the worst vampires in recorded history. Recreated very well here, I think."
Spike regarded Neville. "Hmm, tasty little critter you must be," he said. "Mind if I have a bite?"
He attacked Neville quickly. Neville, forgetting his wand momentarily, threw up an arm to protect himself. Spike, of course, was a good deal stronger than he was, and Neville's arm all but broke under the blow. He cried out. Spike grinned.
"There it is," he said. "I feel like I haven't gotten any decent action in months."
He took another swing at Neville, hitting the student in the gut. Neville doubled over. As he was catching his breath, he muttered to himself, "Knowledge is power."
Spike's next punch was aimed at breaking Neville's neck. Neville did a quick role forward, wrapping his legs around Spike's now outstretched arm. Neville pulled down hard, dislocating the vampire's shoulder.
Neville jumped quickly back to his feet. He raised his wand and hit Spike with a Stunner. Spike's eye's rolled up, and, woozily, he said, "Oh, now that's not good."
He fell forward, right onto Neville's waiting wand, which turned Spike the illusion to dust.
Krum felt like clapping. "Very good, Longbottom," he said. "Of course, the illusion wasn't at its highest difficulty level, but it was still an excellent feat. Ms. Granger? You're up."
Hermione stepped down and readied herself. Krum was about to write when he paused. He looked at Hermione. "Ms. Granger, I have something special here for you," he said. "You wanted to be tested on a higher level, yes?"
Hermione faced Krum. She was obviously afraid, but just as obviously determined. Ron's knuckles were turning white as he gripped the bench. "Say no, just say no, please, say no..." he muttered.
"Yes," Hermione said. "I did."
Krum nodded, steeling himself. "Then prepare to defend yourself." He wrote on the parchment, quickly, as though he wouldn't go through with it if he moved too slowly.
A moment later, the Beast appeared. This time, Faith didn't gasp. She bolted upright. "No!" she yelled, surprising all the students but not Krum. "Take that thing away, Krum! Even I couldn't beat it, and I tried to in real life!"
"I'm aware," Krum said, as the Beast advanced towards Hermione. "But you didn't know the thing's weakness. If she has been doing the advanced studies she claims to have been doing, she does."
Faith refused to sit. "This is going to be ugly," she declared. Several of Ron's knuckles cracked, and his face was devoid of color.
Meanwhile, Hermione was struggling to remember how to kill the Beast. She knew she'd read it somewhere, but it wasn't coming to her.
Quickly, she cast Impedimenta. The Beast slowed for a moment, then slowly sped back up, breaking the charm. Hermione threw a Stunner at it, but the spell had no affect, bouncing off the Beast's rock hard armor.
The Beast took a swing at Hermione. Perhaps the Impediment Charm hadn't completely worn off, because she managed to duck under the blow. Still, it made contact with the dojo wall, drilling an enormous hole through it. Everyone cringed. Faith went to shout to Hermione, to tell her what to do, but Krum interrupted. "She can't hear you," he said. "She can't even see us now that the Beast is here."
"This isn't right, Krum," Faith said. "You brought me along in case something went wrong," she watched as Hermione narrowly avoided another crushing blow. "And I'd say that this definitely qualifies as 'wrong'."
"I'll tell you when to intervene, Faith," Krum said. "She'll be okay. She's the best there is."
After a couple of minutes of the same old duck and chase tactic, which was tiring Hermione quickly, it finally hit her. Both the answer and the Beast.
She was lucky. It was only a light back hand that connected, but it managed to make her see stars. She gazed at the Beast and fell to the ground. She raised her wand quickly to point at it.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" She yelled. A long, jagged piece of the Beast's outer crust was pulled free. It flew up into the air, and came whistling down again quickly. It made contact with the Beast's head. It fell over - right onto Hermione. Luckily, the carcass had dissolved by the time it hit her.
Ron rushed down out of the bleachers. He stopped next to Hermione, and was joined a second later by Harry. "Are you okay?" Ron asked, his voice a high-pitched squeak.
"Yes," Hermione said, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine." Her eyes never moved.
"Well, Hermione, I guess that teaches you not to do too many advanced courses," Harry said, trying to lighten the mood. "It's getting dangerous."
"It certainly is," Ron agreed, not joking in the slightest. "Come on, sit down over here."
Ron walked a very shaky Hermione back to the bench. He was about to sit down with her when Krum spoke up.
"It's your turn, Mr. Weasley," he said.
Ron was so worried about Hermione that he forgot to be nervous as he stepped into the center of the dojo. It came back to him in a hurry, though, when a very large, very icky something jumped out at him.
"Melma demon!" Ron gasped.
Everyone cringed. The Melma was dripping all over the floor. It roared at Ron and dragged its horrific body closer to him. Ron backed away. The Melma took a swing at him, but the punch was way over Ron's head. Unfortunately, this meant that the Melma dripped on Ron a bit.
"Erg!" he yelled, as a small bit of the greenish yellow slime hit his shoulder a scorched a small hole through the fabric.
Ron retreated across the room quickly. He looked at the Melma as it dragged its body across towards him. "Uh, I know I remember how to kill you," Ron said. "I know it, I know it, I know it..."
The Melma swung at him again. This time he managed to avoid both the punch and the goo.
"That's it!" he yelled, suddenly, startling everyone. "Frio Totalus!"
A jet of blue icy wind sprouted from Ron's wand. It hit and enveloped the Melma. In a moment, the thing was frozen solid.
"Very good," Krum muttered, checking the class roster. "Yes, okay, then. We have time today for one more. Mr. Potter, I believe that is you."
Harry stood and descended the stairs. Ron stopped him briefly on his way to Hermione, who was still a bit shaky. "Good luck," Ron said. "Not that you need it," he added, with a grin.
"Thanks," Harry said. He stood in the middle of the dojo and watched as the bleachers disappeared from his view. He waited.
A minute later, it appeared. At first, Harry thought it was some sort of slimy gorilla. Then he remembered what it was.
A Drokken! The beast sprang at him, knocking him over. He climbed to his feet as quickly as he could manage, but the attack had hurt. The Drokken regarded him hungrily. It salivated more as it prowled around in a circle, searching for another opening.
It threw itself at Harry unexpectedly. Harry didn't even have time to raise his wand before the beast hit him. He lost his grip on his wand...and it spiraled away from him.
The Drokken was still near him. He rose, only to duck under another lunge from the Drokken. It went over his head, but managed to swipe his shoulder with its claws as it went. Harry yelled, but realized that this was his one and probably only chance to regain his wand. He looked around for it, searching wildly, but it was gone from sight.
The Drokken had recovered from it's missed lunge and was preparing for another one. Harry stopped searching for his wand. He squared himself and faced the Drokken.
He drew the Hunga Munga from the small sheath beneath his outer robe.
The Drokken lunged at him again, and this time, the lunge did its damage. The Drokken locked into Harry by placing its two enormous forearms around the boy's back.
Harry was constricted to the bursting point almost instantly. Every time he attempted to move, even a little, he felt the Drokken ripping a bit more of the flesh from his back.
In a move of desperation, Harry, ignoring the incredible, searing pain, wrenched his right arm upwards. He wouldn't have been strong enough to break the Drokken's grasp; however, the Hunga Munga cut just deep enough to cause the creature pain.
The Drokken released it's grip on Harry. He resisted the urge to collapse, as the pain the Drokken had inflicted was severe and the creature had been more or less holding Harry up. Harry steadied himself and looked to the wounded Drokken. He knew that the thing would be back in the fight quickly.
He needed to act - now.
He lunged at the Drokken before it got a chance to hit him. The creature was surprised to be attacked, to say the least. It barely threw up an arm to protect itself before Harry's axe came down and buried itself in the arm.
The Drokken howled with fury and pain. It threw Harry off, putting a little extra power into it. Harry landed on his feet, in a crouch. He was no longer thinking. He was doing.
The Drokken came at him. It threw an enormous punch, aimed at knocking Harry's head from his shoulders. Harry sidestepped it at an impossible speed, and in the same motion, slashed upwards with the Hunga Munga. The arm of the Drokken was severed at what passed for an elbow.
Harry rolled away as the Drokken clutched at is new stump. The creature tottered a bit, swooning from the loss of blood. It turned to Harry, and Harry through the Hunga Munga, full force. The axe hit right dead on, and removed the Drokken's head from the rest of its body.
Harry picked up the axe and watched as the class shimmered back into his view. Most of them were gaping at him. Krum was amongst the gapers; however, realizing that Harry could see him, he abruptly shut his mouth.
"That was a truly amazing bit of fighting, Mr. Potter," he said. "Truly amazing. Okay, um..." he seemed to have lost his train of thought. It came back quickly. "Class, line up next to Mr. Potter. Single file."
The class obeyed, though Hermione and Parvati both had to have some support. Faith rose out of the shadows, watching Krum like a hawk.
"That was an excellent performance today, class," he said. "Ms. Patil, Mr. Potter, I believe that you will find that your injuries will disappear as soon as you leave this room. However, I would still recommend a trip to the infirmary for both of you; there is some psychological damage that goes along with being injured here. Perhaps you should go too, Mr. Weasley.
"Always remember this when you're in a fight: the other one doesn't care about what happens to you. All it cares about is hurting you as much as it can. You have to think the same way. Class dismissed."
As soon as the class was gone, Faith confronted Krum. "They were all supposed to be toned down!" she yelled, barely restraining the urge to decapitate Krum. "None of those things were supposed to be anywhere near as powerful as they are in real life."
"They weren't," Krum said. "No matter how much she knows, do you think that some school girl might be able to kill the Beast?" he chuckled.
"That Drokken was as close to the real thing as it could be," Faith accused.
"And what would you know about Drokken?" Krum asked, returning to his classic surly demeanor.
"I know people from Pylea," Faith said. "That thing didn't have any safety restrictions on it, did it?"
"No, it didn't," Krum admitted.
"Why?" she asked. "Is there some reason you want Harry Potter dead? Cause then I might want you dead. And I'm good at that."
"It was nothing like that," Krum said. "My orders came from the Headmaster. He believes that Mr. Potter requires more...challenge...than his classmates."
Faith regarded Krum for a while. "I don't think that you should be asking for my help again," she said.
"Don't hate me, Faith," Krum said. "I'm just a soldier following orders."
Faith left, without looking at Krum. She wasn't sure she wanted to see what was in his eyes at that moment.
On the grounds later that day, the Slayers trained. Giles walked through the ranks with Buffy, surveying the Slayers as they worked.
"They're very good," Giles observed.
"They have dedication," Buffy stated. "They have a cause, and they trust each other. And they don't have the First popping in to convince one of them to kill herself every other day."
"Yes, that helps," Giles said, chuckling a bit. "But I don't think that this army really knows what its up against."
"Army of vampires, demons, and Dark wizards," Buffy said, ticking the categories off on her fingers. "They've got it all."
"Yes, they know the facts on paper," Giles said. "There is a great difference between paper and blood. Now, many of these girls have never even fought a real vampire. They're all Slayers, yes - and that may work against them, psychologically. Part of the Slayer mentality is that every Slayer harbors a superiority complex over vampires. So you've got a largely unthreatened group of superiority complexes."
Buffy considered that. Were the girls too cocky? "I guess you're right," she said, slowly. "Any suggestions?"
Giles kept quiet. Buffy grimaced. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
Giles ignored this. "I think we should take the girls into the forest. On a hunting expedition."
"Into the forest? You got balls, my man!" Craig strolled into sight, appearing out of thin air. Both Giles and Buffy jumped.
"How'd you do that?" Buffy asked. "You can make yourself invisible?"
"Nah," Craig said. "I can just make it so you can't see me. Or won't see me, I guess would be closer to the way it works."
Buffy looked quizzical, but dropped the matter. "You've been into the forest?" she asked.
"Once or twice a week, yeah," Craig said, smiling. "So, can I come?"
Giles was still a bit miffed over Craig's sudden appearance. "This isn't some joy ride," he said, a bit louder than he'd intended. He quieted when the Slayers looked at him in curiosity. "I can't guarantee that we could protect you in there."
"I don't need protection," Craig said, laughing. "If any protecting does go on, it'll be me protecting you."
Giles was understandably upset about this. Buffy jumped in. "How well do you know the forest?"
"Better than most around here, except maybe the Divination teacher, Firenze," Craig said to her. "He used to live there; he's a centaur, you know."
"Yes, I've met him," Buffy said. "He seemed kinda mellow."
"Maybe that's what he's like in a castle," Craig said. "Out there, in the wild, centaur's can be vicious bastards."
"Not that you'd know a thing about viciousness," Giles muttered. Craig heard him.
"You know what's funny?" he said. "Most people would think that anyone as violent as me would have to be crazy. But violence helps keep me sane. Not completely sane, of course," he smiled in a very disturbing manner, "but sane enough."
Before Giles could think of something else to piss the young man off with, Buffy spoke. "We'd love for you to come. Be at the Slayer meeting room at six tonight. We'll have a meeting to iron out the details, and with any luck, we'll be into the forest by eight."
Craig nodded. Though he addressed Buffy, his smile was aimed at Giles. "I'll be there," said he. He walked off, disappearing behind one of the training apparatus'.
"I don't like him," Giles said. "Nor do I trust him."
"Come on, Giles," said Buffy. "You've seen him fight."
They resumed their walk. "That's part of the problem," Giles said. "He enjoys the fight far too much."
"You heard what he said. Fighting helps keep him sane. Wouldn't you enjoy it if it helped to keep you from going crazy?"
Giles considered. After a moment, he said, "I suppose so," but he didn't mean it.
At six o'clock, sharp, Buffy stood before the crowd of Slayers. She still wasn't used to it.
"We've got something special planned for tonight," she said. "A trip into the forest."
There was general murmuring amongst the crowd. Buffy scanned it but couldn't pick out Craig. "Giles will explain the details."
As she turned to yield the podium to Giles, Buffy found Craig. He was sitting in a chair besides Willow, on the end. He smiled at her.
The smile was blood-thirsty.
"Right, then," Giles said. "We'll be dividing into your separate companies for this exercise. Companies A and B will provide our flanks; the rest will spread out in a triangular line to sweep the forest from one end to the northern tip. Each company will maintain communications with myself and Buffy at all times for instructions. We're going to run into demons out there; a lot of them. Kill those that you have to. Your main objective is to simply get through the forest. Engage the demons, though. That's all. Companies report to your Company Leader to receive arms. Dismissed."
The Slayers began to file out. As soon as they were gone, those that sat with Buffy formed a loose circle. Giles addressed them as well. "You all know what we're doing," he said. "We don't want any casualties, so be careful out there. Let's get going."
Craig waited with Buffy as the others left to find their prospective company. Craig walked with Buffy towards Giles own unit. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked.
"You'll stick with me and warn me about any of the nasty patches of the forest that we may hit," Buffy said.
"Sounds good," Craig said.
It took shorter than any of them had expected to get going. Both Craig and Buffy selected broadswords from the chest was marked "Scooby".
"Scooby?" Craig asked.
"It'd take too long to explain," Buffy said. "Just go with it."
"Sure, whatever," Craig said.
The march began. Buffy withdrew a piece of parchment. On it were a bunch of glowing dots. "What's that?" Craig asked.
"It's a tracker. Willow made it. It allows me to see where all of our Company Leader's are in relation to me. See, they're spreading out, heading into the forest."
Craig observed the map, with its glowing dots. He pointed at two of them. "These two are heading right into the nest of those spiders we fought off in September," he said.
"Thanks," Buffy said. She raised her wristwatch to her face and spoke into it. "Companies H and J, alter your course twenty degrees south."
"Twenty degrees south, aye," came the responses.
"Very militaristic," Craig observed.
"It's how they've been trained," Buffy said.
"Actually, I was talking more about you than them," Craig said. "You don't seem like the militant type."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Buffy said. "Any more trouble?"
Craig observed the parchment. "It's not easy to tell without any of the forests lines," he said. "This one is about to hit a vamp nest; they're probably not there right now, though, since it's dark out."
"What could vampires possibly want in that forest?" Buffy asked. "There aren't any humans there for them to eat."
Craig shrugged. "Dunno," he said. "They can eat other things, you know."
"Yes, I know that. But vampires won't ever choose to, not if they can have human blood instead."
Craig shook his head. It mattered little to him. "Maybe they're vegetarians?" he said. "Who cares? Are you going to warn that company that they're about to hit a vamp nest?"
"No," Buffy said. "I'm not. They'll deal with it."
"Or they'll die a bloody, gruesome death," Craig said.
The rest of the operation passed without incident - until the units were on their way back. Buffy and Craig were beginning to wonder if they were really necessary when a half dozen panicked voices came in over Buffy's wristwatch/communications thingy.
"Buffy? They came out of nowhere! Dozens! Centaurs...!"
"Come on!" Craig said. "Centaurs can't be handled alone! They need help!"
Buffy and Craig sprinted, together, into the forest. In short order, they found the beleaguered units, who had had the wisdom to group together.
Centaurs would break out of the shadows, racing around and rearing at them, hitting them with hooves and flailing arms. The Centaurs were much to fast for the disorganized Slayers, and the toll was beginning to show. Many of the girls lay on the ground, bleeding, and many more were on their way there.
Craig leapt into the fray, without waiting for Buffy to come up with a plan. He hit a Centaur that had Jennifer Dane pinned with a dragon's kick that could have shattered steel. As it was, it shattered the Centaur's back, dropping it to the ground.
Craig smiled viciously. He was loving this. He was born for this.
He leapt away again, redirected himself using a tree, and hurtled at a Centaur. He it in its torso, bending it back.
The other Slayers, heartened by Craig's triumphs and strengthened by Buffy's leadership, fought back with new vigor. The other units began arriving, as well. The tables turned, slowly, in favor of the Slayers.
Soon, the Centaurs broke and ran. But Craig wasn't done. He beat a Centaur down into the ground, and kept punching well after the creature was unconscious. Faith approached Craig. "Craig, it's over, it's done, you can calm down now..."
Craig turned to her. She, and everyone else, gasped. Craig's face had been deformed, as it had at the Lake. Blood was smeared all across the deep lines that crisscrossed him.
With a primal snarl, Craig leapt at Faith. She was barely able to roll away from the lunge, but Craig didn't overshoot by much. He was back on his feet and locked into a grapple with Faith before anyone knew what was going on.
Craig aimed a punch at Faith's head with his right fist. Faith ducked it and went to drive her shoulder into Craig's midsection. Craig moved with blinding speed, leaping up and using his outstretched right arm to flip himself over Faith. As he landed, and Faith rose from her lunge, Craig swept his left elbow back in a tight arc, catching Faith in the back of the head. She was thrown several feet by the impact.
As she rolled away, the Slayer's regained their senses and flooded in to hit Craig. He jumped and grabbed a branch, using it to swing himself into their mass. He kicked at them, making contact with a head and driving that Slayer back into her fellows. Craig came down to the ground with a Slayer behind him. He used his left arm to push his elbow violently backwards into the Slayer's gut. She doubled over. Craig threw his legs out in front of him, falling to the ground in a flat position. About halfway there, he grabbed the Slayer around the neck and, completely defying the laws of gravity, reversed direction, coming back up and throwing the Slayer into Buffy.
Craig turned a flip to intercept two more Slayers, performing a split kick that while he was upside down. Craig landed with his hands and stayed like that for a moment. Then he pivoted his hips and spun to the ground, landing in a sitting position and taking the feet out from underneath a Slayer in front of him. Craig hit his legs against the ground and flipped himself off the ground to stand on a branch, twenty feet above the forest below.
He stood and steadied himself there. A bit of the blood on his face dripped into his mouth. As soon as he tasted it, the lines receded. He fell, unconscious, to the ground, and knew no more.
Buffy climbed painfully to her feet. That impact had hurt a lot. She surveyed the carnage around her. Forty or more Slayers were on the ground. Some were getting back up again. Others weren't.
Craig was amongst them. Buffy approached him. He was laying, face down, on the ground. She nudged him with her foot, rolling him over. His eyes were wide, staring, and white. His mouth was open in a horrible grimace. She knelt and felt for a pulse. She found one. He was still alive.
"Who got him?" she asked.
"No one," Giles said, emerging from the ranks. "He just passed out up there and fell. Come on, we have wounded we have to get to the Hospital Wing."
They began picking up their fallen comrades. Buffy herself made a point to pick up Craig. "Are you sure we shouldn't just leave him?" one of the Slayers asked.
"I'm sure," Buffy said. "Though I'm not sure what that was all about, I think I have an idea."
They marched back out of the forest. Upon clearing the tree line, Buffy took a head count and found none missing. They'd all made it out.
As she turned to head up to the Hospital Wing, with those twelve people whose injuries needed special care, a large, brightly colored bird appeared in front of her.
The bird flapped its wings once and landed in front of her. It presented its leg to her. Attached to it was a note. Buffy put Craig down and detached the note, wondering whether or not the night could get any worse.
It could.
Buffy,
Come to my office as soon as you read this. Voldemort has attacked the Ministry of Magic in London. There's no one left. HE MIGHT BE COMING HERE NEXT.
Cliffhangers make the world go round...please give me a review! Please! I beg of you! As you might imagine from this, we're getting close to the end. REVIEWS! PLEASE! Please oh please oh...yeah, you get the idea.
Krum surveyed his class. Harry returned the look, perhaps defiantly, perhaps not. He'd considered himself the equal of Viktor Krum for two years now - Krum's status as Harry's teacher hadn't changed that.
"We will be having an observer join us today," he said, in his usual deep accent. "I believe that some of you already know Faith, the Vampire Slayer?"
There were nods around the room. Faith stepped forward and gave a little wave to Harry, who was in the back row with Ron and Hermione.
Harry leaned back in his chair to cover up the fact that he was talking. "I wonder why she's here?" he asked, earnestly, because he liked Faith and didn't mind having her around. Maybe she would balance out his almost-dislike of Krum.
"I don't know," Hermione said. Ron gave a little mock gasp.
"You've gone and done it! Ruined my hypothesis that you know everything!"
Hermione kicked Ron under the table. It wasn't a very painful kick, partially due to the fact that Ron and Hermione were also holding hands under the table.
Krum hadn't gone on yet. Harry had discovered that Durmstrang had given Krum a hard resolve towards teaching - though he felt bad about what he'd put the class through so far, it didn't really phase him all that often. Now, he was nervous.
"Something big is up," Harry said, but neither of his friends heard him.
"We will be doing some hands on work today," Krum said. He nodded to Faith. "If you will follow us out to the grounds, we will be conducting class in the new training center."
The class rose and filed out. Now Hermione and Ron were worried too. "Didn't they just build that thing for high risk training for the military forces?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah," Harry said. "That's what it was supposed to be for."
They walked in silence out to the grounds. The class had long been mute for DADA. Krum didn't insist on silence - he seemed to make up for the torturous nature of his class by not being too overly strict with them, like McGonagall or Snape - but the class had learned that the wrong word during a dangerous incantation can have disastrous results. Such an accident had occurred early in the year, but luckily, Madame Pomfrey had been able to remove the boils from Seamus' eyes. There were lasting effects, though - he would lose visual focus at twilight for the rest of his life.
The training center was built next to the Slayer training grounds, between them and the barracks. None of the students had been allowed inside it, so they didn't know what to expect.
When they entered, Harry, Neville, Hermione, and Ron all gasped. "The Department of Mysteries!" they all said.
"It was modeled after your Department of Mysteries, yes," Krum said. "However, there are a few fundamental differences. It won't spin, and the doors are all marked and unlocked. We'll be going this way," he gestured towards a specific, drab gray door. Printed in sharp black on it was 'Danger Simulation Room'.
The class walked inside, flanked by Krum and Faith. In its three days of operation, the DSR had been left running already once, with nasty results for the next group that came in to train. Luckily, the thing was off.
"What is this place?" Dean Thomas asked, expressing the wonder of the crowd.
The DSR was a huge, cavernous room, obviously enlarged magically, with black, seemingly padded walls. When Ron attempted to touch one of the walls, it shimmered and let his hand through. He pulled it back sharply.
"It's on fire!" he yelled, nursing his hand. "Oh, this hurts like hell," he added.
Krum shook his head. "Look, don't touch, Weasley," he said. He stepped back to the entrance and opened the door. "Outside, now."
Ron stepped back out the door, intent on the Hospital Wing. He stopped immediately after clearing the door. He turned back and, amazedly, showed them his now healthy hand.
"Whatever this room does to you is being simulated by the room," Krum explained, as Ron stepped back in. "As soon as you leave, it can't influence you or anything else any more.
"This is a combat simulation chamber, similar to the one used by Aurors in London. It can be configured to produce any scenario. There's a list of the preprogrammed ones on the door.
"We will be working a simple one; a Japanese dojo. You will each fight a demon chosen at random from the list we have studied already. Consider this a pop quiz.
"Oh, and don't forget; this may be a simulator, but it still hurts, as was demonstrated by Mr. Weasley. The safety is on right now, so it'll stop before it will kill you, but you are still in danger of injury."
Krum stepped back and punched a button on the wall. The button turned from the same black as everything else to a glowing red. The air shimmered, and a second later, the black padding was replaced by a dojo.
The class took seats on the bleachers on one wall. Krum addressed those sitting. "As long as you are on these bleachers, the demons cannot see or affect you," he explained. "Faith is here to help if anything goes wrong. I will call you each one by one. Mr. Thomas, you will start us off. Good luck."
Krum sat as Dean stood up. He stepped down uneasily. He was obviously not pleased to have been selected to be the first one.
The class watched in fascination as Krum pulled out a sheaf of parchment. On it, he wrote something that none of them could see. A moment later, a demon appeared.
A banshee! The banshee opened its mouth and let out a blood-curdling scream. Those on the bleachers heard the censored version, not loud enough to hurt, but Dean got the full blast of it. An adult banshee could kill with its scream in a matter of minutes, and they could scream non stop for hours.
Dean collapsed. He hit the floor, but managed to stay on his knees. His hands flew to his ears, but remembered at the last second not to. Skin only amplified the banshee's cry.
Dean took a moment to steady himself, and slowly, painfully, stood. The banshee's wail increased in volume, making Dean sway, but he kept his balance this time. He raised his wand, and through the din, managed a quick spell. "Quietus," he croaked out.
The banshee immediately quieted down. The noise coming from its throat was no longer deadly or even harmful. It choked a bit, trying to regain its volume, but Dean's spell was not easily broken. He didn't waste time, either. After regaining his composure, he sent a quick Stunner towards the banshee. It dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Krum stood. "Very good, Mr. Thomas, very good indeed," he said. "Come and sit down. Ms. Patil, you are next."
Parvati climbed past Dean, who sat down with exhaustion written across his face. The banshee had taken a lot out of him. Harry patted him on the back, and Dean smiled.
Parvati stood in the center, waiting to be attacked. Krum once more wrote on his sheaf of parchment, and instant later, three small black Gavrokian spiders appeared.
Next to Harry, Ron cringed and hid his face. Harry shook his head, imperceptibly. Ron would have been in big trouble if he had drawn this one.
Parvati, as it was, wasn't making much progress. She sent Stunner after Stunner towards the spiders, which crawled across the walls. None of her spells connected. Finally, tiring of dodging, one of the spiders leapt at her face, intent on impaling her brain.
It was reflex that saved her. She threw up her wand and yelled, "Impedimenta!" The spider stopped moving in midair and fell to the floor, immobile, where Parvati squished it with her shoe.
"Tarantelgra!" she cried, pointing her wand at the wall. One of the spiders was hit by the arachnid spell, and it fell to the floor, dead.
The final spider came at Parvati low, and managed to attach itself to one of her legs. It impaled her, sinking its fangs deep into the flesh of her calf.
Parvati shrieked in pain. Faith was about to jump in and help her when Krum shook his head. "Not yet," he said.
Parvati collapsed to the floor, crying with the pain that the spider was inflicting as it tore at her leg. She tried vainly to shake the spider loose. It was too deep into her leg, though, and it wasn't letting go. It ripped a piece of her leg off and ate.
The pain was almost unbearable. In absolute desperation, Parvati flung her wand around behind her, yelling imperceptibly. Perhaps what she shouted was some spell she'd picked up elsewhere, or perhaps her wand was simply reacting to her need, but there was a flash, and the spider was gone.
"Very good, Ms. Patil," Krum said. "Mr. Longbottom, you're next," he said. "If you and Mr. Potter would kindly help Ms. Patil back to her seat...?"
Harry jumped with Neville, and together they half carried the severely limping Parvati back to her seat on the bleachers. Harry joined her, ripping some fabric from his shirt to bind the rather sizable wound in her lower leg.
Neville now stood alone in the center of the dojo. He glanced around nervously. He didn't know what to expect, but things had gotten progressively worse, and now...
Now, as Krum wrote on his parchment once more, a vampire appeared. Faith gasped, as did Hermione. "Spike!" Faith said. Krum nodded.
"William the Bloody," he said. "One of the worst vampires in recorded history. Recreated very well here, I think."
Spike regarded Neville. "Hmm, tasty little critter you must be," he said. "Mind if I have a bite?"
He attacked Neville quickly. Neville, forgetting his wand momentarily, threw up an arm to protect himself. Spike, of course, was a good deal stronger than he was, and Neville's arm all but broke under the blow. He cried out. Spike grinned.
"There it is," he said. "I feel like I haven't gotten any decent action in months."
He took another swing at Neville, hitting the student in the gut. Neville doubled over. As he was catching his breath, he muttered to himself, "Knowledge is power."
Spike's next punch was aimed at breaking Neville's neck. Neville did a quick role forward, wrapping his legs around Spike's now outstretched arm. Neville pulled down hard, dislocating the vampire's shoulder.
Neville jumped quickly back to his feet. He raised his wand and hit Spike with a Stunner. Spike's eye's rolled up, and, woozily, he said, "Oh, now that's not good."
He fell forward, right onto Neville's waiting wand, which turned Spike the illusion to dust.
Krum felt like clapping. "Very good, Longbottom," he said. "Of course, the illusion wasn't at its highest difficulty level, but it was still an excellent feat. Ms. Granger? You're up."
Hermione stepped down and readied herself. Krum was about to write when he paused. He looked at Hermione. "Ms. Granger, I have something special here for you," he said. "You wanted to be tested on a higher level, yes?"
Hermione faced Krum. She was obviously afraid, but just as obviously determined. Ron's knuckles were turning white as he gripped the bench. "Say no, just say no, please, say no..." he muttered.
"Yes," Hermione said. "I did."
Krum nodded, steeling himself. "Then prepare to defend yourself." He wrote on the parchment, quickly, as though he wouldn't go through with it if he moved too slowly.
A moment later, the Beast appeared. This time, Faith didn't gasp. She bolted upright. "No!" she yelled, surprising all the students but not Krum. "Take that thing away, Krum! Even I couldn't beat it, and I tried to in real life!"
"I'm aware," Krum said, as the Beast advanced towards Hermione. "But you didn't know the thing's weakness. If she has been doing the advanced studies she claims to have been doing, she does."
Faith refused to sit. "This is going to be ugly," she declared. Several of Ron's knuckles cracked, and his face was devoid of color.
Meanwhile, Hermione was struggling to remember how to kill the Beast. She knew she'd read it somewhere, but it wasn't coming to her.
Quickly, she cast Impedimenta. The Beast slowed for a moment, then slowly sped back up, breaking the charm. Hermione threw a Stunner at it, but the spell had no affect, bouncing off the Beast's rock hard armor.
The Beast took a swing at Hermione. Perhaps the Impediment Charm hadn't completely worn off, because she managed to duck under the blow. Still, it made contact with the dojo wall, drilling an enormous hole through it. Everyone cringed. Faith went to shout to Hermione, to tell her what to do, but Krum interrupted. "She can't hear you," he said. "She can't even see us now that the Beast is here."
"This isn't right, Krum," Faith said. "You brought me along in case something went wrong," she watched as Hermione narrowly avoided another crushing blow. "And I'd say that this definitely qualifies as 'wrong'."
"I'll tell you when to intervene, Faith," Krum said. "She'll be okay. She's the best there is."
After a couple of minutes of the same old duck and chase tactic, which was tiring Hermione quickly, it finally hit her. Both the answer and the Beast.
She was lucky. It was only a light back hand that connected, but it managed to make her see stars. She gazed at the Beast and fell to the ground. She raised her wand quickly to point at it.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" She yelled. A long, jagged piece of the Beast's outer crust was pulled free. It flew up into the air, and came whistling down again quickly. It made contact with the Beast's head. It fell over - right onto Hermione. Luckily, the carcass had dissolved by the time it hit her.
Ron rushed down out of the bleachers. He stopped next to Hermione, and was joined a second later by Harry. "Are you okay?" Ron asked, his voice a high-pitched squeak.
"Yes," Hermione said, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine." Her eyes never moved.
"Well, Hermione, I guess that teaches you not to do too many advanced courses," Harry said, trying to lighten the mood. "It's getting dangerous."
"It certainly is," Ron agreed, not joking in the slightest. "Come on, sit down over here."
Ron walked a very shaky Hermione back to the bench. He was about to sit down with her when Krum spoke up.
"It's your turn, Mr. Weasley," he said.
Ron was so worried about Hermione that he forgot to be nervous as he stepped into the center of the dojo. It came back to him in a hurry, though, when a very large, very icky something jumped out at him.
"Melma demon!" Ron gasped.
Everyone cringed. The Melma was dripping all over the floor. It roared at Ron and dragged its horrific body closer to him. Ron backed away. The Melma took a swing at him, but the punch was way over Ron's head. Unfortunately, this meant that the Melma dripped on Ron a bit.
"Erg!" he yelled, as a small bit of the greenish yellow slime hit his shoulder a scorched a small hole through the fabric.
Ron retreated across the room quickly. He looked at the Melma as it dragged its body across towards him. "Uh, I know I remember how to kill you," Ron said. "I know it, I know it, I know it..."
The Melma swung at him again. This time he managed to avoid both the punch and the goo.
"That's it!" he yelled, suddenly, startling everyone. "Frio Totalus!"
A jet of blue icy wind sprouted from Ron's wand. It hit and enveloped the Melma. In a moment, the thing was frozen solid.
"Very good," Krum muttered, checking the class roster. "Yes, okay, then. We have time today for one more. Mr. Potter, I believe that is you."
Harry stood and descended the stairs. Ron stopped him briefly on his way to Hermione, who was still a bit shaky. "Good luck," Ron said. "Not that you need it," he added, with a grin.
"Thanks," Harry said. He stood in the middle of the dojo and watched as the bleachers disappeared from his view. He waited.
A minute later, it appeared. At first, Harry thought it was some sort of slimy gorilla. Then he remembered what it was.
A Drokken! The beast sprang at him, knocking him over. He climbed to his feet as quickly as he could manage, but the attack had hurt. The Drokken regarded him hungrily. It salivated more as it prowled around in a circle, searching for another opening.
It threw itself at Harry unexpectedly. Harry didn't even have time to raise his wand before the beast hit him. He lost his grip on his wand...and it spiraled away from him.
The Drokken was still near him. He rose, only to duck under another lunge from the Drokken. It went over his head, but managed to swipe his shoulder with its claws as it went. Harry yelled, but realized that this was his one and probably only chance to regain his wand. He looked around for it, searching wildly, but it was gone from sight.
The Drokken had recovered from it's missed lunge and was preparing for another one. Harry stopped searching for his wand. He squared himself and faced the Drokken.
He drew the Hunga Munga from the small sheath beneath his outer robe.
The Drokken lunged at him again, and this time, the lunge did its damage. The Drokken locked into Harry by placing its two enormous forearms around the boy's back.
Harry was constricted to the bursting point almost instantly. Every time he attempted to move, even a little, he felt the Drokken ripping a bit more of the flesh from his back.
In a move of desperation, Harry, ignoring the incredible, searing pain, wrenched his right arm upwards. He wouldn't have been strong enough to break the Drokken's grasp; however, the Hunga Munga cut just deep enough to cause the creature pain.
The Drokken released it's grip on Harry. He resisted the urge to collapse, as the pain the Drokken had inflicted was severe and the creature had been more or less holding Harry up. Harry steadied himself and looked to the wounded Drokken. He knew that the thing would be back in the fight quickly.
He needed to act - now.
He lunged at the Drokken before it got a chance to hit him. The creature was surprised to be attacked, to say the least. It barely threw up an arm to protect itself before Harry's axe came down and buried itself in the arm.
The Drokken howled with fury and pain. It threw Harry off, putting a little extra power into it. Harry landed on his feet, in a crouch. He was no longer thinking. He was doing.
The Drokken came at him. It threw an enormous punch, aimed at knocking Harry's head from his shoulders. Harry sidestepped it at an impossible speed, and in the same motion, slashed upwards with the Hunga Munga. The arm of the Drokken was severed at what passed for an elbow.
Harry rolled away as the Drokken clutched at is new stump. The creature tottered a bit, swooning from the loss of blood. It turned to Harry, and Harry through the Hunga Munga, full force. The axe hit right dead on, and removed the Drokken's head from the rest of its body.
Harry picked up the axe and watched as the class shimmered back into his view. Most of them were gaping at him. Krum was amongst the gapers; however, realizing that Harry could see him, he abruptly shut his mouth.
"That was a truly amazing bit of fighting, Mr. Potter," he said. "Truly amazing. Okay, um..." he seemed to have lost his train of thought. It came back quickly. "Class, line up next to Mr. Potter. Single file."
The class obeyed, though Hermione and Parvati both had to have some support. Faith rose out of the shadows, watching Krum like a hawk.
"That was an excellent performance today, class," he said. "Ms. Patil, Mr. Potter, I believe that you will find that your injuries will disappear as soon as you leave this room. However, I would still recommend a trip to the infirmary for both of you; there is some psychological damage that goes along with being injured here. Perhaps you should go too, Mr. Weasley.
"Always remember this when you're in a fight: the other one doesn't care about what happens to you. All it cares about is hurting you as much as it can. You have to think the same way. Class dismissed."
As soon as the class was gone, Faith confronted Krum. "They were all supposed to be toned down!" she yelled, barely restraining the urge to decapitate Krum. "None of those things were supposed to be anywhere near as powerful as they are in real life."
"They weren't," Krum said. "No matter how much she knows, do you think that some school girl might be able to kill the Beast?" he chuckled.
"That Drokken was as close to the real thing as it could be," Faith accused.
"And what would you know about Drokken?" Krum asked, returning to his classic surly demeanor.
"I know people from Pylea," Faith said. "That thing didn't have any safety restrictions on it, did it?"
"No, it didn't," Krum admitted.
"Why?" she asked. "Is there some reason you want Harry Potter dead? Cause then I might want you dead. And I'm good at that."
"It was nothing like that," Krum said. "My orders came from the Headmaster. He believes that Mr. Potter requires more...challenge...than his classmates."
Faith regarded Krum for a while. "I don't think that you should be asking for my help again," she said.
"Don't hate me, Faith," Krum said. "I'm just a soldier following orders."
Faith left, without looking at Krum. She wasn't sure she wanted to see what was in his eyes at that moment.
On the grounds later that day, the Slayers trained. Giles walked through the ranks with Buffy, surveying the Slayers as they worked.
"They're very good," Giles observed.
"They have dedication," Buffy stated. "They have a cause, and they trust each other. And they don't have the First popping in to convince one of them to kill herself every other day."
"Yes, that helps," Giles said, chuckling a bit. "But I don't think that this army really knows what its up against."
"Army of vampires, demons, and Dark wizards," Buffy said, ticking the categories off on her fingers. "They've got it all."
"Yes, they know the facts on paper," Giles said. "There is a great difference between paper and blood. Now, many of these girls have never even fought a real vampire. They're all Slayers, yes - and that may work against them, psychologically. Part of the Slayer mentality is that every Slayer harbors a superiority complex over vampires. So you've got a largely unthreatened group of superiority complexes."
Buffy considered that. Were the girls too cocky? "I guess you're right," she said, slowly. "Any suggestions?"
Giles kept quiet. Buffy grimaced. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
Giles ignored this. "I think we should take the girls into the forest. On a hunting expedition."
"Into the forest? You got balls, my man!" Craig strolled into sight, appearing out of thin air. Both Giles and Buffy jumped.
"How'd you do that?" Buffy asked. "You can make yourself invisible?"
"Nah," Craig said. "I can just make it so you can't see me. Or won't see me, I guess would be closer to the way it works."
Buffy looked quizzical, but dropped the matter. "You've been into the forest?" she asked.
"Once or twice a week, yeah," Craig said, smiling. "So, can I come?"
Giles was still a bit miffed over Craig's sudden appearance. "This isn't some joy ride," he said, a bit louder than he'd intended. He quieted when the Slayers looked at him in curiosity. "I can't guarantee that we could protect you in there."
"I don't need protection," Craig said, laughing. "If any protecting does go on, it'll be me protecting you."
Giles was understandably upset about this. Buffy jumped in. "How well do you know the forest?"
"Better than most around here, except maybe the Divination teacher, Firenze," Craig said to her. "He used to live there; he's a centaur, you know."
"Yes, I've met him," Buffy said. "He seemed kinda mellow."
"Maybe that's what he's like in a castle," Craig said. "Out there, in the wild, centaur's can be vicious bastards."
"Not that you'd know a thing about viciousness," Giles muttered. Craig heard him.
"You know what's funny?" he said. "Most people would think that anyone as violent as me would have to be crazy. But violence helps keep me sane. Not completely sane, of course," he smiled in a very disturbing manner, "but sane enough."
Before Giles could think of something else to piss the young man off with, Buffy spoke. "We'd love for you to come. Be at the Slayer meeting room at six tonight. We'll have a meeting to iron out the details, and with any luck, we'll be into the forest by eight."
Craig nodded. Though he addressed Buffy, his smile was aimed at Giles. "I'll be there," said he. He walked off, disappearing behind one of the training apparatus'.
"I don't like him," Giles said. "Nor do I trust him."
"Come on, Giles," said Buffy. "You've seen him fight."
They resumed their walk. "That's part of the problem," Giles said. "He enjoys the fight far too much."
"You heard what he said. Fighting helps keep him sane. Wouldn't you enjoy it if it helped to keep you from going crazy?"
Giles considered. After a moment, he said, "I suppose so," but he didn't mean it.
At six o'clock, sharp, Buffy stood before the crowd of Slayers. She still wasn't used to it.
"We've got something special planned for tonight," she said. "A trip into the forest."
There was general murmuring amongst the crowd. Buffy scanned it but couldn't pick out Craig. "Giles will explain the details."
As she turned to yield the podium to Giles, Buffy found Craig. He was sitting in a chair besides Willow, on the end. He smiled at her.
The smile was blood-thirsty.
"Right, then," Giles said. "We'll be dividing into your separate companies for this exercise. Companies A and B will provide our flanks; the rest will spread out in a triangular line to sweep the forest from one end to the northern tip. Each company will maintain communications with myself and Buffy at all times for instructions. We're going to run into demons out there; a lot of them. Kill those that you have to. Your main objective is to simply get through the forest. Engage the demons, though. That's all. Companies report to your Company Leader to receive arms. Dismissed."
The Slayers began to file out. As soon as they were gone, those that sat with Buffy formed a loose circle. Giles addressed them as well. "You all know what we're doing," he said. "We don't want any casualties, so be careful out there. Let's get going."
Craig waited with Buffy as the others left to find their prospective company. Craig walked with Buffy towards Giles own unit. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked.
"You'll stick with me and warn me about any of the nasty patches of the forest that we may hit," Buffy said.
"Sounds good," Craig said.
It took shorter than any of them had expected to get going. Both Craig and Buffy selected broadswords from the chest was marked "Scooby".
"Scooby?" Craig asked.
"It'd take too long to explain," Buffy said. "Just go with it."
"Sure, whatever," Craig said.
The march began. Buffy withdrew a piece of parchment. On it were a bunch of glowing dots. "What's that?" Craig asked.
"It's a tracker. Willow made it. It allows me to see where all of our Company Leader's are in relation to me. See, they're spreading out, heading into the forest."
Craig observed the map, with its glowing dots. He pointed at two of them. "These two are heading right into the nest of those spiders we fought off in September," he said.
"Thanks," Buffy said. She raised her wristwatch to her face and spoke into it. "Companies H and J, alter your course twenty degrees south."
"Twenty degrees south, aye," came the responses.
"Very militaristic," Craig observed.
"It's how they've been trained," Buffy said.
"Actually, I was talking more about you than them," Craig said. "You don't seem like the militant type."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Buffy said. "Any more trouble?"
Craig observed the parchment. "It's not easy to tell without any of the forests lines," he said. "This one is about to hit a vamp nest; they're probably not there right now, though, since it's dark out."
"What could vampires possibly want in that forest?" Buffy asked. "There aren't any humans there for them to eat."
Craig shrugged. "Dunno," he said. "They can eat other things, you know."
"Yes, I know that. But vampires won't ever choose to, not if they can have human blood instead."
Craig shook his head. It mattered little to him. "Maybe they're vegetarians?" he said. "Who cares? Are you going to warn that company that they're about to hit a vamp nest?"
"No," Buffy said. "I'm not. They'll deal with it."
"Or they'll die a bloody, gruesome death," Craig said.
The rest of the operation passed without incident - until the units were on their way back. Buffy and Craig were beginning to wonder if they were really necessary when a half dozen panicked voices came in over Buffy's wristwatch/communications thingy.
"Buffy? They came out of nowhere! Dozens! Centaurs...!"
"Come on!" Craig said. "Centaurs can't be handled alone! They need help!"
Buffy and Craig sprinted, together, into the forest. In short order, they found the beleaguered units, who had had the wisdom to group together.
Centaurs would break out of the shadows, racing around and rearing at them, hitting them with hooves and flailing arms. The Centaurs were much to fast for the disorganized Slayers, and the toll was beginning to show. Many of the girls lay on the ground, bleeding, and many more were on their way there.
Craig leapt into the fray, without waiting for Buffy to come up with a plan. He hit a Centaur that had Jennifer Dane pinned with a dragon's kick that could have shattered steel. As it was, it shattered the Centaur's back, dropping it to the ground.
Craig smiled viciously. He was loving this. He was born for this.
He leapt away again, redirected himself using a tree, and hurtled at a Centaur. He it in its torso, bending it back.
The other Slayers, heartened by Craig's triumphs and strengthened by Buffy's leadership, fought back with new vigor. The other units began arriving, as well. The tables turned, slowly, in favor of the Slayers.
Soon, the Centaurs broke and ran. But Craig wasn't done. He beat a Centaur down into the ground, and kept punching well after the creature was unconscious. Faith approached Craig. "Craig, it's over, it's done, you can calm down now..."
Craig turned to her. She, and everyone else, gasped. Craig's face had been deformed, as it had at the Lake. Blood was smeared all across the deep lines that crisscrossed him.
With a primal snarl, Craig leapt at Faith. She was barely able to roll away from the lunge, but Craig didn't overshoot by much. He was back on his feet and locked into a grapple with Faith before anyone knew what was going on.
Craig aimed a punch at Faith's head with his right fist. Faith ducked it and went to drive her shoulder into Craig's midsection. Craig moved with blinding speed, leaping up and using his outstretched right arm to flip himself over Faith. As he landed, and Faith rose from her lunge, Craig swept his left elbow back in a tight arc, catching Faith in the back of the head. She was thrown several feet by the impact.
As she rolled away, the Slayer's regained their senses and flooded in to hit Craig. He jumped and grabbed a branch, using it to swing himself into their mass. He kicked at them, making contact with a head and driving that Slayer back into her fellows. Craig came down to the ground with a Slayer behind him. He used his left arm to push his elbow violently backwards into the Slayer's gut. She doubled over. Craig threw his legs out in front of him, falling to the ground in a flat position. About halfway there, he grabbed the Slayer around the neck and, completely defying the laws of gravity, reversed direction, coming back up and throwing the Slayer into Buffy.
Craig turned a flip to intercept two more Slayers, performing a split kick that while he was upside down. Craig landed with his hands and stayed like that for a moment. Then he pivoted his hips and spun to the ground, landing in a sitting position and taking the feet out from underneath a Slayer in front of him. Craig hit his legs against the ground and flipped himself off the ground to stand on a branch, twenty feet above the forest below.
He stood and steadied himself there. A bit of the blood on his face dripped into his mouth. As soon as he tasted it, the lines receded. He fell, unconscious, to the ground, and knew no more.
Buffy climbed painfully to her feet. That impact had hurt a lot. She surveyed the carnage around her. Forty or more Slayers were on the ground. Some were getting back up again. Others weren't.
Craig was amongst them. Buffy approached him. He was laying, face down, on the ground. She nudged him with her foot, rolling him over. His eyes were wide, staring, and white. His mouth was open in a horrible grimace. She knelt and felt for a pulse. She found one. He was still alive.
"Who got him?" she asked.
"No one," Giles said, emerging from the ranks. "He just passed out up there and fell. Come on, we have wounded we have to get to the Hospital Wing."
They began picking up their fallen comrades. Buffy herself made a point to pick up Craig. "Are you sure we shouldn't just leave him?" one of the Slayers asked.
"I'm sure," Buffy said. "Though I'm not sure what that was all about, I think I have an idea."
They marched back out of the forest. Upon clearing the tree line, Buffy took a head count and found none missing. They'd all made it out.
As she turned to head up to the Hospital Wing, with those twelve people whose injuries needed special care, a large, brightly colored bird appeared in front of her.
The bird flapped its wings once and landed in front of her. It presented its leg to her. Attached to it was a note. Buffy put Craig down and detached the note, wondering whether or not the night could get any worse.
It could.
Buffy,
Come to my office as soon as you read this. Voldemort has attacked the Ministry of Magic in London. There's no one left. HE MIGHT BE COMING HERE NEXT.
Cliffhangers make the world go round...please give me a review! Please! I beg of you! As you might imagine from this, we're getting close to the end. REVIEWS! PLEASE! Please oh please oh...yeah, you get the idea.