Update: I'm apologizing for my horrid grammar errors in the last chapter. It just comes to show that you shouldn't type when you fly. I've tried to correct everything in this chapter too. Both 7 & 8 are un-beta-ed.

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Chapter 8

Story of the Stake

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The large class was waiting outside the queue before the large stone doors leading into Defense Against the Dark Arts. Everyone seemed to be excited about the prospect of heading into a class with a new professor.

Harry was particularly interested in seeing what Professor Summers was made of. It even made up for the fact that the Slytherins were in the large class with them. Next to him, Hermione bristled as Malfoy stalked by them with the new Ravenclaw girl, throwing them a nasty glance before taking Dawn's arm and halting her before she walked right past the classroom.

The heavy door opened and the students started spilling in. As Harry walked in, others around him expressed their surprise. All of the tables had been stacked to one wall, making the room a whole lot larger. There were chairs in a large three-quarter circle around a large rattling box in the center of the room.

"Please, come on in and make yourselves comfortable," an unfamiliar female voice said above them. There, approaching from her office, was Professor Summers.

"I took the liberty of rearranging the class to be more accomodating for its size," she began, taking a large scroll off the pedestal as she descended the stairs. "You won't need any books for a while. I plan on teaching practical method until Thanksgiving. So make sure your wands are at a comfortable position. Today we'll have a demonstration to be discussed fully next class period. But before we begin, I will take roll."

Opening the scroll, she named off the sixth years one by one, glancing at each person with their hand in the air as their name was read.

Finally, she set the scroll aside and walked over to the box, which began to rattle. "I'm sure by now all of you know that Lord Voldemort is once again active in this country. What I'm sure you do not know, however, is that his allies are growing, in strength and in numbers. So what will you learn this year? As much as you're willing to. I happen to know you've never faced this creature before," she continued, slapping her hand against the crate in the center of the room, the thudding sound deadening the shifting box. "I'm going to teach you about it. The strategies, the methods, and how to kill. Because if you don't kill it, it will kill you. And it doesn't have a care in who it's victims are.

"I'm talking about a vampire." As she said this, nearly a quarter of the class gasped and Harry could see Seamus Finnigan and their other suitemate Dean Thomas exchange a terrified glance. "There are three ways I can teach you to kill it. One, your wand. There are spells you can use to ensure a vampire dies and stays dead. There is the spell that creates fire. There is another spell that will give sunlight. Secondly, there's actual daylight, but the chances of you luring a vampire into daylight without being killed yourself are slim to none. And," she said, turning to a small table next to the crate and lifting a very old looking key. "This is the weapon most preferred into vampire killing. It's a stake. Straight to the heart. It's deadly, wonderful and it's the most lethal weapon you can have against them. Because it takes time to utter a spell or lure them into a trap. One of the best ways to survive it is to look it in the eye and know that you have to kill it before it kills you."

She paused a moment, circling the large ring of seats, glancing into one set of petrified eyes to the next. "How many of you here have seen a real vampire?"

No one raised their hands. Dawn was half tempted, but seeing the look in Buffy's eye, she resisted it.

"Now you can say you have," she said, her voice rising over the throttling of the cage. "So pay attention. You can leave your seats or push your chair back, but as for now, I'm going to show you what you need to know to stay alive. It's not about what you can do, it's about what you know. So know this." She turned and lifted a sharp, pointed stick off the table. The class shuddered. Harry could see Malfoy rising off his chair and backing toward the door slowly.

The lock clicked.

Lavender Brown screamed as a vicious creature burst out, turning its wrinkled forehead and barring its uneven, sharpened teeth. Everyone, except Dawn, leapt to their feet.

It didn't have long to smile though. As the class rushed away from the chairs, their Professor took initiative. Two swift kicked before she spun it around, her arm locked around its neck. "So what do you know?" she shouted over the sounds of terrified students scampering away. "It's dead." She slashed downwards with the stake and the vampire vanished into a cloud of dust. "And you're still breathing. Now," she continued, beckoning the frightened students back into their chairs. "Let me show you what else these creatures are capable of."

- - - - -

After her third class, Buffy left the room, wiping her dusty hands on her robes. She had just finished lecturing to the sixth years, which left her feeling exhausted. She had no idea that demonstrating the different ways to kill a vampire would be so difficult. And, judging by the looks on their faces when she had declared there would be no homework, they all looked thrilled.

As she walked back towards the staffroom for her half hour break, she saw another figure walking in the same direction. She quickened her steps and stopped dead when she realized that it was Professor Snape.

"Severus," she called out in her professional tone, falling into step beside him.

"Professor Summers," he said in a nasty tone, turning toward her. "How did your first day of classes go?"

"Rather well, surprisingly," Buffy replied with a sigh. "I was half expecting they'd all turn out to be annoying little students."

"Did you have any favored students?" he asked, turning those cold eyes onto hers.

"The Slytherins were really getting into the practical side of lecture," she responded with a laugh. "But they turned into the worst cowards possible when that vampire slipped from its cage."

"You brought a live vampire... into a classroom?" There was a sound of mangled fury in his voice.

"I'm the Slayer, Severus. I can handle it. It's nothing I haven't done before."

"But the students are unaccustomed to seeing such... creatures in their classes," he replied in an icy voice as they entered the staffroom, to find it empty. "Surely you must have some concern for their safety."

"I was not the only one in that classroom who knew how to kill a vampire," Buffy replied boldly.

"If you are referring to Dawn Harris, I suggest you recommend another," Snape replied. "I happen to be in the Order and her role in all of this was reported to me. I know of her relation to you."

To his surprise, she looked immensely relieved as she sat down, an empty mug in hand. "I'm really glad you know about that," she finally said, smiling up at him. "I wasn't sure whether or not I could trust you with that information."

"You might find a lot of the faculty can be trustworthy," he replied in a somewhat bitter voice as he took his own mug and collected a pot. "Would you care for tea?"

Buffy nodded and watched as he dished out tea leaves into both mugs and aimed his wand toward the tea kettle, which immediately began to steam. "Thank you," she said graciously, accepting her cup. "I know that the faculty is warm and trustworthy, but I was told that there are instances where it would be better to keep things to myself."

"I imagine you've spent your life doing just that," Snape said, resting his calculating eyes on her. "It must have been a very solitary existence."

"You have no idea," Buffy whispered as she risked a sip of tea. It was scalding hot and quite bitter, tasting like something Giles would drink. "But I'm glad you knew who I was before I had to confess my little secrets."

"I do promise I will not tell any of the students, for I am sure it would jeopardize your mission," Severus replied, rising with his tea in hand. "Now, I need to go and prepare the class for the sixth years."

As he turned to walk way, Buffy stood up suddenly. "Severus, one more thing." He stopped and half glanced at her over his shoulder. "If you touch or harm my sister in any way, I will kill you. And that, Professor Snape, is my promise."

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"Did you see how she killed it, right there, just like that?" Seamus Finnigan gushed as the sixth years filtered into the dungeons were Potions class was held. "I mean, did you see that stake?"

"I saw it," Parvati Patil said, shaking her head so her long dark hair swished about her face. "I just didn't want to believe it."

"Did you see it's face?" Neville Longbottom asked in a hushed voice. "Do you think these things have joined He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"Do you mean Voldemort?" Hermione asked briskly behind them.

"Shhhh!" Lavender Brown squealed, pressing a finger to her lips as Hermione stalked past them, rolling their eyes.

"They're living in a world of complete denial," Hermione said in a voice of irritation as she sat next to Harry. "Too bad Ron isn't in this class. He would have agreed with me."

Just five short minutes before, Ron had bade them farewell before returning to the Gryffindor common room to collect his broomstick to go and practice about the Quidditch fields. Harry was actually jealous as he watched Ron walk upstairs while the rest of the Gryffindor sixth years trekked downstairs to the dungeons.

The door burst open and Professor Snape billowed in, a mug of tea in his hand, which he set down with a firm sound onto his desk. Pulling out his wand, he looked suspiciously around the room, before his eyes settled on role call.

Once he had finished, he tapped his wand against the board and the students watched as the sixth year class objectives were displayed. "For the past five years, you have learned the basics of potion making. But this year," he said, as his cold eyes fell on Harry, "we will learn to make potions you can not even believe you will be creating. Today!" he continued, rapping the board again, while the students hurriedly copied down the objectives. "We will begin to compromise the polyjuice potion. You will find that my stores have been updated to the best of your needs. Complete this potion in one hour's time and make sure you have a flask to me by the end of the class period to receive any credit. I will be making my rounds around the classroom. You may work with one other person." He rapped again. "Begin. Now."

Harry turned to Hermione. "Can we work together?"

Her look was of pure exasperation as she was copying down the notes from the board. "Why don't you go to the stores and get us the things we need?"

As Harry lined up in the queue now waiting to get into the student's cupboard, he saw Dawn Harris standing two students in front of him, talking animatedly to Cho's friend, Marietta. Feeling a pang of anger, he diverted his eyes until he heard mocking laughter behind him. His arms full of potions supplies, he turned and found himself face-to-face with Malfoy. "Bee in your bonnet, Potter?" Draco asked maliciously, his eyes glowing. "Better watch your back."

"I'd watch mine first," an unfamiliar female voice piped up. They both turned to see Dawn, her arms also full of potions ingredients, but her eyes had a sharp, focused look to them. Her jaw set, she strode away.

"Better follow your woman's orders, Malfoy," Harry muttered as he stalked past him. "You wouldn't want to ruin that sparkling reputation of yours."

It was then that Professor Snape sped forward, his eyes full of delight as he rounded on Harry and Draco. "Is that slandering I hear in my class, boys? Oh, dear... the first day back and you're already wanting to get into trouble? There will be detention, Potter, if you interrupt my class again. Go."

Harry returned to the table, fuming as he dumped the ingredients onto the table. "I swear that if one of those vampires doesn't kill Snape this year, I will."

"Calm down!" Hermione urged him as she pulled some boomslang root to her and began carefully chopping it. "The last thing you need now is to get thrown out of this class. Snape would love any reason to kick you out."

Harry tried desperately to calm down as he added the nearly chopped pieces of root to the mixture Hermione had already concocted. "How much more do we have to do today?"

"Heat up the cauldron," Hermione said quietly, watching as he poked the bottom with his wand. "We have to heat up the mixture and stir in this," she continued, pointing to a vial containing a greenish substance. "Then we stir in the revolutions provided and bottle it."

"That's all?" Harry asked in confusion, as a loud explosion sounded behind them. The class dove forward as specks of the thick mixture filled the room and landed like gloopy, corrosive cement on every surface imaginable.

"Yuck!" Seamus whispered behind them, as he quickly wiped off the mixture, before his eyes widened and a cry of pain rose from him.

Soon, half of the class was screaming, steam coming from where the mixture had made contact with their body. Professor Snape strode forward and tended to the Slytherins first, telling them to go immediately to see Madam Pomfrey. He then turned his eyes to the Ravenclaw girl, who was standing there, trying to pull out the material from her hair. On her face was a sharp burn. "Perhaps you should go as well," he suggested quietly. Dawn turned to him with a look of surprise on her face, then grabbed her bag and ran.

To the rest of the class, he announced they finish their assignments before being able to go to the infirmary.

"Which idiot?" Snape thundered, walking down the main aisle, his eyes wide with fury. "Which unspeakable idiot did not follow the instructions as I had them on the board, and allowed their potion to overheat?"

With a trembling hand, Neville slowly raised it, tears of fear in his eyes.

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"Neville!" Harry shouted as he and Hermione ran after him as they approached the Great Hall for dinner. "Neville! What happened?"

"I'm out of his class," Neville said, turning to them with tearful eyes. "He thought I was unworthy of a s-s-student." He gulped and they could see the look of misery on his face. "He told me I was a complete failure as a wizard."

A sharp voice behind them shook them from their shock. "Neville Longbottom, is that your name?"

All three of them turned to see the petite form of Professor Summers walking down the steps into the entrance hall, every line on her face radiating her fury.

Neville nodded quickly. "Yes, ma'am."

"And Professor Snape told you this before expelling you from his class." There was definitely anger in her voice now.

All three of them nodded.

"I will see about this," she finally replied, walking into the Great Hall, her footsteps a lot sharper than intended.

Hermione's eyes were confused as she watched the Professor's retreating back. Next to her, Neville whispered, "How cool is she?"

"Wicked," Ron said from behind them. "Did she just saw she was going against an order of Snape's?"

"I think so," Hermione said faintly.

Ahead of them, Buffy walked angrily up to the staff table to see Severus about to sit down. She stalked up to his side and put her hand on his shoulder. He flinched before turning to her. "Can I help you?"

"I'd like a word." His eyebrows raised slightly at the firmness of her words, yet he followed her into a small room off to the side of the table nonetheless. As the doors closed behind him, she turned.

"How can you expel a student from your class? You know that this is the most important year, and what we need is for students to be able to create potions in order to protect themselves," she spat out.

"The boy is a danger to the wizarding world," Snape replied coolly. "He seeks to cause distress to those and mocks the magic of potions."

"Potions or not," Buffy snapped, walking right up to him, so that she could look into those cold, dark eyes, "he needs to know them. You know this. You just have so much pride in that head of yours that you're unwilling to see what needs to happen."

"He endangered a class full of students on the first day," Snape said slowly, a look of intense satisfaction spreading across his face. "My decision is final."

"It is not," Buffy said, finally turning away. "I will take this to the Headmaster if I must."

"You have no authority to counter my orders," Snape replied, his voice turning even colder.

Buffy turned on him, her eyes narrowing, fire flashing. "We'll see about-"

She had suddenly stopped speaking, for the doors had opened again, and inside walked a small white cat.

"Willow?" she asked softly.

The cat mewed softly and glanced up at her with Willow's emerald eyes. She could see the distress in them. Something was wrong.

"Oh, no."

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To be continued...

Chapter 9 -- What Giles and Wesley have been up to; Quidditch tryouts.