Part 12
"Bossy Enough Already"

By OldScout

Minister Fudge finally returned to the conference room to see Director Bones, Professor Dumbledore and Amos Diggory looking at the locator map. He stared at the map with them for a few minutes before asking "What are we looking at?"

"The white dots are The Chosen, and the red are slayers." Amos answered.

"Why are the white spots blinking red?"

"Because the Chosen are slayers as well, Minister." Dumbledore said. He leaned over and addressed the younger man softly. "Cornelius, we need to lay our cards on the table. These women can be a tremendous asset in our battle but we need to be up front with them."

"So, Wiz's what's the what?" Buffy Summers asked as she jumped up and sat on the table next to the map. "Oh, pretty lights." She said looking at the map.

The Wizards exchanged looks over the woman's apparent ignorance.

"Looks like a locator spell to me." Buffy continued. She smiled. "Making sure we're slayers, eh?"

"Apparently there's a difference between being a slayer and being chosen." Professor Dumbledore replied.

"Yep, I guess now there is." Buffy agreed

"How exactly was Miss Rosenberg able to accomplish this?" Dumbledore asked looking at Willow as she shared a laugh with the girls.

Buffy swung her legs back and forth under the edge of the table and smiled. "She did a spell."

"Of course." Dumbledore turned to Minister Fudge. "Perhaps it is time to make our proposal to Miss Summers."

"Are you kidding?" Fudge replied. "She's one of the bossiest people I've ever met, what's she going to be like when she learns the truth?"

"Ah, hello?" Buffy said. "Sitting right here." She crossed her arms. "You're right, Alby, I think it is time for you guys to tell me what's going on and all about the Big Bad you're all so scared of."

Minster Fudge, Director Bones and Professor Dumbledore exchanged looks. Fudge was frowning and Bones face was blank. Dumbledore finally said. "To understand everything, you need to know something about the history of the Wizarding world."

Buffy jumped off the table and called out. "Okay, everybody, it's time for class to begin. Take your seats and settle down." She clapped her hands a couple of times and motioned to the auditorium seats and took one herself front and center.

After getting everybody seated Buffy waived her hand at Professor Dumbledore. "Okay, Alby, we're ready."

Dumbledore stood and walked in front of the table. "As I was telling Miss Summers, to understand The Chosen One's standing in the Wizarding world, you have to understand some of our history." He looked at Buffy who was slouched in her chair but watching him intently. "A long time ago, when the Romans were just starting to abandon Britain, there was no Ministry of Magic or any formal separate community of wizards.

"Those people who found themselves magically inclined would seek each other out and live in small groups sometimes known as covens."

"Oh, Oh." Willow was enthusiastically raising her hand.

"Yes, Miss Rosenberg."

"But aren't covens generally formed by wiccans and other users of earth magic?"

"You're right, but back then it was a term used for any groups of magic users, real or imagined. Now the problem was, and in many cases still is, that many non-magical people considered anything or anybody they didn't understand to be evil." As he said this, Dumbledore couldn't stop himself from glancing at the pretty young woman the others were now referring to as 'Fred'.

"People could be accused, tried, and executed for witchcraft or heresy. For real wizards and witches there really was no threat. They could easily remove themselves from custody or avoid it all together. The tragedy was really for the muggles who were accused and executed for so many other reasons mostly political and personal and almost never actually attempting to practice any kind of real magic.

"So it was that as we officially do now, back then Wizarding folk lived outside rules and laws of normal humans, or muggles as they became known." He looked at the young women sitting around him and thought of the legacy of bravery and sacrifice they represented. "This was all well and good as long as the Wizarding fold did not draw attention on themselves or flaunt the muggles laws in their faces."

The old professor paced across the room a couple of times. "There was a time when a group of young wizards asked themselves why they were hiding from muggles. They were obviously superior to muggles and in the logic of the time, anybody who was inferior most have been put on this earth to serve their superiors. These young men soon took to preying on muggles, terrorizing them, stealing from them and abusing them in many shameful and horrible ways."

"Why didn't the other witches and wizards do something about it?" Tonks asked.

Dumbledore looked at the young Auror, long bright blue hair hung about her shoulders and was slightly obscuring her face. She shouldn't be here, this was not information generally shared with young wizards and witches, even Aurors; but when Buffy had chased one of the younger slayers from a chair next to her so Tonks could have a seat the decision was made. "What would they do? There were no Wizarding laws, they didn't think of themselves as a separated community, more like clubs or loosely formed guilds. If they associated with these wizards even to reprimand them they would be seen as being part of them. Remember, they still mostly considered themselves part of the muggle world just with extra talents, like artists or musicians.

"A lot of havoc was reaped and terrible things were done. Things started to get really bad as more persecution of alleged witches took place while the truly evil laughed and continued their wicked ways. There was, however, one answer, one protector, one person who made those who lived outside the laws of normal people answer the evil." Albus Dubmledore looked at the room of slayers. "One girl chosen to protect humanity from evil."

"Watch out." One of the girls said.

"There's going to be some ass whooping now." Another added.

He watched the girls grinning at each other giving quick "high fives" he believed the gesture was called.

He continued. "In time an old man that was a form of holy man for his time showed up in the small town that had fallen under the thumb of these wizards. With him was his ward, a teenage girl schooled since birth in the teachings of his god and the arts of war and combat. She had recently come into her full calling and was anxious to do the work of her calling and her God." The room full of young women stared waiting for more. "This girl was trained to fight probably as you are today, if something is evil and not human, kill it; a very simple rule for a very violent time. It didn't take long for the Chosen One to find the evil wizards that had been terrorizing and controlling the town. In fact, it is said that some paid her a visit, looking to take advantage of a fresh young girl."

Dumbldore looked over the rims of his small wire framed glasses. "They learned that night, as we learned tonight that a slayer is quite resistant to Wizarding magic. The three were found dead the next morning. No one shed a tear or worried about the killer except a few in the Wizarding community, mostly their parents." He took a few steps away from the girls and turned back. "The young slayer was now convinced that these Wizards were real; they had tried to do magic on her and had hexed her watcher. The next night she went to the small group of cabins outside of town where the three where known to live. There she found the rest of their group including many things they had taken from the local community and several young women whom they'd spelled and stolen from their families. There was no doubt these girls were there against their will. It is said she witnessed some extremely depraved activity and the Wizarding world fully admits that these wizards were some of the vilest creatures ever produced by the Wizarding community before or since."

Sitting on the edge of the table, he looked out at the room. "She killed them all. It was no contest, a slayer against humans, for without their magic that is all they were, all we are. Against the Chosen One the magic didn't work, but a slayer's strength, speed, and sword works against just about anything.

"Afterward, the girls now freed of the curses that bound them swore an angel from God came down to smite the foul creatures that had enslaved them. The blood soaked cabins were burned with the bodies left where they fell and the remaining timbers scattered and buried. The town folk and local Wizarding folk all thought it was over. They were wrong because the young slayer was a child of her time and a dutiful servant of her God. She had no clue that the man who raised and trained her did so without telling anyone else in his order. He had come to his robes late in life after being initiated into the organization of Watchers. He saw the girl as the weapon of God and trained her serve to both callings as one.

"She was a child of her time and she was taught that witches were evil and she had found proof. Witches were real and they were evil." Dumbledore stood again and paced a few steps. "That is when the war really started."

"War, what war?" Tonks asked.

"The Chosen One and the wizards." Dumbledore replied. "Witches and Wizards were real, and they were evil. Or so the Chosen One decided." He turned to Buffy. "Miss Summers, what do you do to something you know is evil and who normal humans can't handle?"

"I slay it." She responded.

"That's what this slayer did, she saw evil and she slew it. The only problem was that she saw all witches and wizards as evil. The wizards were nearly helpless and started using magic to really hide themselves, not just stay separate, but hide. It wasn't enough, the slayer found them. Finally they the found or developed new curses; curses powerful enough to stop the slayer. Soon there was a killing curse, one that would kill a muggle with a word. It is said it took three killing curses to stop the slayer. Finally the horror was over."

"Why haven't I ever heard of this?" Tonks asked; her eyes wide in disbelief. "Nobody ever mentioned this in Wizarding History class."

"Most people don't know about it." Minister Fudge growled.

"It wasn't over. Was it?" Faith asked.

"No, Miss, Ah, Faith." Dumbledore stumbled. "It wasn't, it was just beginning."

"What? Why? How?" Tonks asked in disbelief.

"Tell her." Buffy said quietly.

"When I was Chosen." Faith replied. "I was drawn to Sunnydale, not just to continue the fight and protect the hellmouth, but to avenge Kendra. I don't think I even gave it conscious thought, I just knew what I had to do."

"So the next Slayer was Chosen." Dumbledore said. "And more Wizards started to die." He looked at the group staring silently at him. "Over the next five years countless Wizards and their families died in the silent war and at least six Slayers. Not only that, but as the war between the Wizarding community and the lone protector of the muggle community conitnued, the real evil started spreading. For with the Chosen One taking all of her time to hunt down wizards and witches, she had no time for the demons and other forces of darkness."

"How did it end?" Dawn asked as the Slayers sat there in disbelief.

"Finally some leaders of the Wizarding world were able to track down the Slayer and her watcher, a very enlightened Roman, and forge a treaty." Dumbledore looked back at the other senior staff. "These Wizards promised to create a Wizarding community totally separate from the muggle community and create laws and appoint Wizarding Knights to protect muggles from abuses by wizards."

"You mean you're entire community was created because of the Slayer?" Willow asked.

"Not really." Dumbledore responded. "We were already living apart and hiding from the much larger muggle community, but the treaty with the Watcher forced the Wizards to formalize their laws and set standards of behavior for our people." He looked at the room as the girls took this in.

"That's not all. Is it?" Buffy asked.

"No, Miss Sumners, it isn't." Dumbledore paced the room again. "You see the Roman Watcher in charge of the current Slayer was a wise and educated man and he could see that the more organized the Wizarding community became, the greater the potential for abuse. He needed to be sure that there was always someone who could protect the muggles from the Wizards should they choose to prey on the muggles again or worse start making laws to control muggles, effectively taking over the muggle community. He insisted that if he were to agree to keep Slayers away from the Wizarding community and let them look after their own house, the Wizards must agree that should the Chosen One ever be brought into a disagreement with the Wizards, then they would acquiesce to her decisions."

"Acquiesce?" Faith asked.

"Submit or Consent to her decisions." Director Bones answered; but just got a blank stare from Faith.

"It means the Slayer was in charge." Willow said with a smile. "That's it, isn't it? That's why you've all been ready to burst a seam tonight because Buffy's in charge and you don't want to admit it."

"Way cool." Faith said with a grin. "Way to go B. Now you get to boss around even more people."

"Great." Dawn moaned. "As if she isn't bossy enough already."

Professor Dumbledore looked at the room. They didn't get it, it could be argued the laws applied to all slayers but they applied to Buffy and Faith for sure. Yet they immediately put the role solely on Miss Summers. Why? Was she that well liked? Was she really that good of a leader? Or was that since she was the oldest and most experienced they just naturally let her take charge. If the Wizarding community did the unthinkable and started a relationship with the Chosen One...s. Then he figured he'd find out in due time.

"Perhaps it would be easiest to show you how the law is worded." Dumbledore said and pointed his wand at the blank wall behind Minister Fudge and Director Bones. "Exsertus exertus lex leqis." Words appeared on the wall. "These are the core of the Secret Tenets of the Wizarding world."

Ministry Of Magic: Primary Secret Tenets: (Modern Translation and clarification; 1936)

In order to protect future generations of the Wizarding Community,
1) In order to peacefully co-exist with the non-magical (here after referred to as muggle) community, The Ministry of Magic (here after referred to as "The Ministry") shall make no law affecting and take no actions, challenging or contradicting decisions or actions taken by the Chosen One (here after referred to as "The Slayer") in her role as it pertains to protecting herself, the muggle community and all others The Slayer deems worthy of protection.

2) In order to remove the burden from The Slayer of policing and enforcing the lawful behavior of the magical community toward the muggle community, a Department of Magical Law Enforcement will be established, funded, and maintained by The Ministry.

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To be continued.....