Oh in case anyone was wondering where the name Scrimgeour came from, it's actually from the Harry Potter books. I was reading some information on the Harry Potter Lexicon about how DADA teachers are always people we haven't met before and so I wanted to fit in with that. The name Scrimgeour comes up in OotP, at the beginning when I think moody says that Scrimgeour has been asking a lot of questions.
Hope you enjoy this chapter and review please!
Thanks to:
ScruffyWes
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Chapter 26 – Professor Scrimgeour
Buffy woke up with her hair stuck to her face and looked around wildly, forgetting where she was. She relaxed briefly when she realised she and Sirius had fallen asleep on the sofa but she soon leapt up and ran from the room. Buffy ran into the bathroom and hovered over the toilet, feeling waves of nausea pass through her. She had just finished throwing up when Sirius came into the bathroom.
"You okay?" he asked concernedly, and Buffy
nodded, wiping her mouth with a tissue and reaching for her toothbrush.
"Must've eaten something wrong
yesterday," she murmured while she brushed her teeth quickly to get the taste
of vomit from her mouth. "I thought the meat tasted strange. I hope the others
are okay."
"Are you sure you should go up
today?" Sirius asked, leaning against the side of the large bath.
"I feel fine now," Buffy assured him,
rinsing her mouth out. "Besides if I don't then that guy Scrimgeour will wonder
where I am and awkward questions will be asked.
"Scrimgeour," Sirius said thoughtfully.
"That sounds familiar."
"The new teacher for Defence Against the
Dark Arts," Buffy clarified. "Comes from the Ministry, an Auror or something."
Sirius expression darkened.
"Frederick Scrimgeour?" he said darkly.
"They're letting that scum teach the kids?"
"You know him?" Buffy asked and Sirius
nodded grimly.
"He was one of the Aurors sent to
capture me and take me to Azkaban," Sirius said, staring hard at the wall. "A
piece of dirt who'll use any measures to do what he's been told by Fudge. He's
known round the Ministry as Fudge's little lapdog. Watching everyone, and if
they put a foot wrong going straight to Fudge."
"Apparently Fudge wants to keep an eye
on Dumbledore still," Buffy said, recalling what Dumbledore had said yesterday.
"He wants the kids taught proper magic this year but still doesn't trust
Dumbledore."
"I bet he doesn't," Sirius said moodily.
He looked up at Buffy. "He'll be watching you if he thinks you're a relative of
Dumbledore."
"Exactly," Buffy said with a frown. "I'm a
little concerned to be honest. I've got to bluff it out as Giles' daughter."
"You had a secret identity for years,"
Sirius pointed out reasonably. "You'll be okay."
"I hope so," Buffy said with a sigh.
Buffy made
her way to the Scoobies rooms without getting lost, something she was proud of.
When she arrived only Faith, Oz and Xander were in the sitting room.
"Are the others getting dressed?" she
asked, motioning to the bedrooms but Xander shook his head.
"The others were drawn by the magical pull of
the library," Xander said grumpily. "First thing after breakfast they went
their. Anya wanted to find herself in a book." Buffy giggled.
"Sounds like Wills and Giles," she said,
settling down on a sofa. "We won't see them until dinner I guess." Faith
smirked.
"Hey what happened to you at breakfast?"
she asked suddenly. "We thought you'd come down so you'd be there. We told
everyone that you were sleeping in."
"I was going to come early but I was
sick," Buffy explained. "I feel better now but I couldn't deal with food right
then."
"You okay now?" Faith asked concernedly.
Buffy waved her off.
"I'm fine," she said unconcernedly.
"Just ate something wrong. Any who, what're the plans for today?"
"Well Xander's sulking," Faith said, shooting
him a dirty look. "Moaning coz his fiancées abandoned him." Xander scowled.
"We could go outside exploring," Oz
suggested and the others agreed. The four got up and left the sitting room.
They walked down the corridor and as they turned round the corner, Buffy bumped
into someone, scattering their papers all over the floor.
"Oh I'm sorry," she exclaimed and the
man looked up at her with a scowl as he crouched and gathered his papers. Buffy
offered him an uncertain smile.
"Miss Giles I presume," the man said
smoothly, proffering a hand for her to shake. "I am the Defence Against the
Dark Arts Professor here at Hogwarts. My name is Frederick Scrimgeour."
"Nice to
meet you," Buffy said smoothly, even though she was feeling decidedly
uncomfortable. "And it's Buffy."
"And you must be the other Miss Giles,"
Scrimgeour said to Faith who nodded. "And Mr. Xander and Mr. Oz."
"Just Xander and Oz," Oz said quickly with a
small smile. Professor Scrimgeour nodded smartly.
"How are you enjoying your day at
Hogwarts so far?" he asked them, turning his sharp eyes on all of them. "I
understand you have taught at an American Magical School?" Oz, Faith and Xander
exchanged worried glances but Buffy decided to reply, having been with Sirius
long enough to have some semblance of knowing about magic.
"It's a lovely castle," Buffy answered
politely. "The teaching standard is much higher here I must say. Uncle Albus
informs me that the OWL grade statistics are very high. A lot of O's for the
students I am led to believe. Though I did hear that the last year results in your
subject were particularly disappointing." Professor Scrimgeour mouth tightened.
"Yes, well there were some problems with
Hogwarts last year," he said noncommittally. "The students probably found it
hard to focus." Buffy nodded as if she understood.
"Of course," she said agreeably. "Though I have heard good things about your teaching methods." She smiled at him which he returned after a beat.
"Thank you," he said with a nod. "I'm just on my way to teach some NEWT students now if you'd care to join me and see first hand my teaching methods."
"We were planning to see the grounds…." Buffy began. "But I suppose my friends could go ahead without me."
"Certainly," Professor Scrimgeour said politely. "If you'd like to follow me."
"I'll be right along," Buffy called before turning back to her friends quickly.
"I want to check this guy out," she whispered quickly. "I'll catch you guys later."
"Be careful," Faith whispered quickly. "I don't trust him, he's got shifty eyes."
"I got it," Buffy said with a reassuring smile
before jogging to catch up with Professor Scrimgeour who offered her his arm.
"So what did you teach in America?" he
asked conversationally as they descended a staircase.
"Originally Potions but I filled the
Defence Against the Dark Arts position when the last Professor retired." Buffy
replied comfortably.
"Oh, well perhaps you can assist me with my
teaching," Professor Scrimgeour suggested and Buffy gulped.
"I'd prefer to watch you teach if that's
okay," she said, shooting him a dazzling smile. "Pick up some ideas."
"As you wish," Professor Scrimgeour
replied, holding open a door for her. Buffy walked into the classroom ahead of
him and saw to her relief that she had once again entered one of Harry's
lessons. He spotted her immediately and she shot him a look of mixed alarm and
pleading before smiling back at the Professor and sitting down in the chair he
motioned.
"Take your seats class," he said,
clapping his huge hands and the class did so quickly and quietly. Buffy briefly
spotted a flash of blonde hair that told her that Draco Malfoy was also in this
class.
Professor
Scrimgeour stood before the class for a few moments, surveying them in silence.
"Right class, today, as you can see we
have a guest visitor, Miss Giles, who will be watching our class," Professor
Scrimgeour announced. "Please treat her with courtesy and perhaps she can take
a little bit of Hogwarts back to America with her." He looked round the class
and then nodded, apparently satisfied. "Today we will be practising Disillusionment
charms. Break up into pairs and by the end of the lesson I wish to see everyone
performing it perfectly. Miss Giles and myself will provide any assistance
where needed."
Professor Scrimgeour began to stride the class, long measured strides and Buffy got off of her chair, clutching her wand nervously. She began to walk between the students, watching curiously as they tapped their wands on each others heads and turned into human chameleons.
"Miss Giles?" a boy called and Buffy turned in
dread. The boy had a round face and looked rather pale and nervous. "Umm, there
was a problem and I accidentally put the jelly legs jinx on Seamus and dropped
my wand and it rolled away and I can't find it. Could you remove the jinx?" He
looked at Buffy hopefully and she nodded, somewhat unsurely. The round faced
boy began to crawl under the desks and Buffy looked at the boy, Seamus, who was
wobbling round the room on jelly legs.
"Point your wand and say Finite
Incantem," a voice hissed in her ear, Hermione's voice. Buffy swallowed hard
and pointed her wand at the unsuspecting boy.
"Finite Incantem," she said nervously
and to her great surprise the boy's legs straightened out and became solid once
again.
"Thanks Miss," Seamus said gratefully.
Buffy beamed, astonished that she could actually do magic, even at a simple
level. Turning around, she realised she hadn't done the spell, as Hermione
winked at her before turning back to her partner.
Buffy smiled and continued her walk round the classroom.
"They are very good, are they not?"
Professor Scrimgeour said to her, standing closer than she would like. Buffy
smiled despite her temptation to kick him where it would really hurt.
"Very impressive," she agreed. "My students will be working on this charm when I return home. This has been very useful for me." A bell rung loudly and the students began to pack up their things to go to lunch.
"Would you care to accompany me to lunch?"
Professor Scrimgeour asked Buffy politely and after a moments hesitation she
nodded. Buffy knew she was playing with fire by spending any time in this mans
company but her slayer curiosity was urging her to do as much spying as
possible. She wanted to actually be of some use to the Order.
"That would be lovely Professor," she
said sweetly. "Lead the way, I still find these halls a little tricky."
"Naturally," Professor Scrimgeour said
with a smile. "And its Frederick, please." Buffy graced him with a smile. She
was watching him carefully, despite all appearances and she knew he was watching
her. Underneath the façade of cordiality there was deep mistrust between the
two of them.
They discussed magical teaching as they
walked to the Great Hall, Buffy careful to turn the conversation around when
they got into anything she didn't know.
They reached the hall and Faith shot her
a concerned glance which Buffy returned with an imperceptible nod.
"Buff, you've got to sit next to me," Faith
called loudly, in a frivolous voice Buffy had never heard her use before. "Me
and daddy have to tell you about the things we saw. Uncle Albus has such a
super school!" Buffy almost laughed, hearing Faith sound so Cordelia-ish but
she held it back and turned to Professor Scrimgeour with an apologetic smile.
"Another time," he said, eyes watching
her closely. "Good Day Buffy." He strode off to the other end of the table and
Buffy sat down next to Faith.
"I don't like undercover stuff," Faith said,
cracking her knuckles. "Not so much of the hitting and more of the talking. At
least when I'm out doing the slaying gig I've got an understanding with the
vamps. They're gonna die coz I'm gonna kill them. This way is too complicated.
I like it simple."
"Me too," Buffy said, beginning to pile
food on to her plate. "But I wanna keep an eye on this guy, maybe find out
something juicy."
"I wouldn't count on it B," Faith said,
eyeing Scrimgeour down the table. "That guy looks like he won't give anything
away. I'm kind of looking forward to getting back to the house to be honest.
This place is nice and all, but it's risky." Buffy nodded. "Besides I wanna
check out some of the talent." Buffy grinned.
"You still can," she offered. "Charlie's
gone back to Romania though." Faith shrugged.
"Maybe Sirius can help me out with one
of his buddies," Faith suggested.
"Well there's Remus," Buffy said
doubtfully. "But he's not your type." Faith shrugged again.
"I'm looking for something a little
younger," she said thoughtfully. "No offence B, but I want someone with a
little stamina."
"Sirius has plenty of stamina," Buffy
said hotly and then blushed when she saw Faith's knowing grin. "Okay, I'm
done."
"It's cool B. I'm just messing with
you." Faith said, still grinning. Buffy giggled, her cheeks still warm.
"Anyway, how was your journey round the grounds?" Buffy asked.
"Big," Faith said simply. "Saw this big squid
thing in the lake, wandered through the woods and saw some weird things moving.
And there was this really big guy."
"Hagrid," Buffy said thoughtfully. "I
met him once briefly at the house. He's really friendly." Faith nodded.
"He waved at us like he knew us," she said explanatorily. "Like actually knew us."
"He probably did," Buffy guessed. "He's pretty tight with Uncle Albus. You wanna go visit Padfoot this afternoon?" Faith nodded.
"He's pretty lonely huh?" she asked concernedly and Buffy shrugged.
"He's doing okay," she said. "Nice to go and see him though." She checked with the others, but they had all made other arrangements with teachers to attend lessons and Giles wanted to go back to the library.
