A BtVs / Angel / Harry Potter / Sopranos / Highlander crossover. Minor spoilers up to the end of season 7 of Buffy. Set after Season 7 BtVS, after Season 4 Angel, after Harry Potter graduates, and nowhere in particular in Sopranos / Highlander continuity.

All characters belong to their respective creators / film companies / etc. and are used without permission. This story may only be distributed on a non-profit-making basis.

Work in Progress. If you like this story, check out my other stories on the Fanfiction Net, Twisting the Hellmouth, and Fonts of Wisdom websites.

I'm British, so's my spelling. Live with it.


Since the last chapter was published I've seen the first two episodes of Angel Season 5, and realised this story is more AU than I'd anticipated. I'm not planning to change anything, and there will be no spoilers for the new series.

Apologies for moving Hungary a couple of thousand miles North in the previous chapter; in the first draft the setting was Finland, unfortunately I changed that but forgot to remove references to the weather and Arctic circle. Hungary is, of course, a lot further South than Scotland.


Bring Me The Head Of Harry Potter

by Marcus L. Rowland

XV

"Hello, Potter," Krom said with a thick accent, "what the hell are you doing here?"

Behind him another stranger entered the tent, holding an odd-looking wand, a cylinder nearly an inch thick and more than two feet long, fitted with a shoulder stock and telescopic sights. He moved to where he could cover everyone without endangering Krom.

"Whoa," said Angel, "don't need heavy weapons in here, I hope we're on the same side."

"That depends," Krom said grimly, "there's a body outside, you've just released enough psychic force to knock out seers fifty kilometres away, you're trespassing on the site of an investigation, and you're a vampire. I'd like an explanation."

"It's complicated," said Harry. "Could you please put that away, at least."

Krom said something in a language Angel recognised as Albanian; the other wizard silently shouldered the weapon and drew a more normal wand from his sleeve.

"That's not much of an improvement," said Dawn. "Now I'm gonna reach into my pocket nice and slowly and get some ID, maybe it'll help." She slowly pulled her card and showed it to Krom, saying "Dawn Summers, Watchers Council International."

Krom looked at the card, saw the scythe appear as she touched it, and said "I see. You are here for the vampire?"

"No, he's working with us."

"You are a Slayer working with a vampire?"

"I'm a Slayer," said Kennedy, "she's a Watcher, Angel's a vampire with a soul. Sounds like a bad soap opera, I know."

"Angel. That would be Angelus?" asked Krom. "But what is a soap opera?"

"You're well-informed," said Angel. "Angelus is the monster I used to be. A soap opera is a popular form of muggle entertainment."

Krom said something and the other wizard put the wand back in his sleeve. "Perhaps I should introduce myself to those who don't know me. Captain Viktor Krom, Eastern Wizarding Alliance Special Forces. This is Sergeant Stok. The rest of my unit are outside."

"Captain?" asked Harry. "You were a lieutenant last time I saw you. And whoever it was that's been giving you English lessons is bloody good."

"The paperwork from the final battle finally came through, and I think winning the World Cup again helped. As for the language, I spent two months on a training course while I was waiting for my promotion. It seems to have worked."

"Special Forces? Is that like the Rangers or Delta Force?" asked Gunn.

"Similar."

"Lorne told me about them." said Angel. "More like Spetsnaz or the SAS." Gunn's eyes widened.

"You flatter us," said Krom. "Now, would someone please tell me why you're here?"

"It's a long story," said Harry, "but basically we're trying to find out what really happened here, and see if there's any chance that the Ministry of Magic was involved."

"I can tell you most of what happened," said Viktor, "if you don't already know it. As of now you are our principal suspect."

"What?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Tell me how you come to be here, and I'll explain."

* * * * *

"So that's about it," Harry said about twenty minutes later, "Soprano tried to kill us, and Angel had to kill him in self-defence. When he died there was that weird lightning thing, I suppose he must have been some sort of warlock. None of us had a clue until it happened." He'd carefully avoided mentioning Dawn's immortality, fearing it would cause problems for her, otherwise he'd told the truth.

"Possibly an immortal," said Krom, "I've read that it happens if you sever their spines."

"I guess you're right," said Angel. "Certainly he seemed to fight like he expected to live forever."

"And the newt is another gangster?"

"That's right," said Willow. "Furio something, uh, Furio Giunta."

"And none of this has been sanctioned by the Department of Magic in America or the Ministry of Magic in Britain?"

"I'm afraid not," said Harry, "the Ministry seems to be going out of its way to be awkward, I think they would have tried to stop us if they'd known we were going to end up here."

"Very well. For now I'm prepared to accept your story. It fits in with our intelligence," he glanced at Willow and added "and I doubt we have the firepower to stop you if you're lying."

"Okay," said Harry, "I think we've been good about answering your questions. You said you know what happened to the school, are you going to tell us?"

"What we know," said Krom, "is mostly circumstantial. We started off assuming that it was a magical attack, but we couldn't detect any of the usual signs that one had taken place. No obvious spell residues, nothing except a fierce all-consuming fire and explosion."

"Explosion?" asked Gunn.

"The school wasn't just destroyed by fire, it was blown apart, seemingly from the inside, at about four in the morning." He tapped his wand and muttered something, and a three-dimensional image of the school appeared in mid-air, then exploded in slow motion, seeming to burst on all sides simultaneously. "From the distribution of the rubble we know that the blast was spread throughout the school, rather than coming from a single source."

"Not a bomb then," said Gunn, "that'd be a single source. Unless... are we talking a fuel-air explosion?"

Krom swore. "It took us two months to work it out, and any muggle with a little knowledge of military weapons could have given us the answer in five minutes. Yes, it was a fuel-air explosion."

"So someone dropped a bomb," said Angel, "why suspect Harry?"

"Not a bomb. Once we knew we were looking for a non-magical weapon, we found a forensic scientist who was able to analyze the ashes and determine the fuel. It was something called liquefied propane, which is apparently used in the muggle world. Approximately a hundred to a hundred and twenty tons of it, I'm told."

"When I was a kid," said Kennedy, "I went on a vacation to Spain, I remember hearing about a camp site where a propane tanker had exploded, the fireball killed three hundred people. And that would have been ten or fifteen tons of the stuff, not a hundred."

"How did it get there?" asked Harry, "You couldn't move that much on a carpet or even a dragon, and it's way too much to apparate or move with a portkey."

"Some sort of portal spell?" asked Willow.

"Precisely, far enough above the school to be outside the defences. We have detected its residue, although we do not know its precise nature. It showered down like a storm, flooding the central courtyard and flowing into the buildings. As it spread it released vapour and those who breathed it began to suffocate. Eventually the vapour reached something that ignited it; there wouldn't have been many fires alight, Karkaroff only allowed them for magical purposes, but there were probably torches in the dungeons and burners in the potions laboratory. Or someone may simply have lit it from above. Once it was ignited, the rest was apparently inevitable."

"You seem to know a lot about it for someone who isn't a.. a muggle," said Willow.

"I've had to learn. And there were witnesses. They couldn't explain what happened, but they described the suffocation and the explosion."

"Ghosts?"

"Exactly."

"Couldn't something have been done?" asked Dawn, "Some sort of magical protection?"

Krom shrugged. "There were defences, but they were defences against a magical attack. They would have stopped the gate opening inside the building, but wouldn't have seen rain as a threat."

"Unless you knew it was coming and what it was," said Willow, looking appalled, "and were prepared to transmute it into something harmless, about the only defence would be to enclose yourself in a barrier spell powerful enough to resist the blast and wait it out. That must have been like ground zero with a small nuke. I'd guess that most of them either died in their sleep or were trying to cast spells to stop themselves suffocating when it detonated. Or couldn't make the barrier strong enough."

"Earlier you said I was your chief suspect," said Harry. "Why?"

"Because you'd been here, could have led the attackers here, and came back here."

"But that must apply to most of the dark wizards in Europe. It certainly applies to everyone who came here for the inter-school Quidditch tournament."

"Which is why our students and visitors are spelled against revealing that information or using it to harm the school."

"But you let me in without any of that... why?"

"On the contrary, all of you were thoroughly spelled, although you would not remember it. I'm surprised that you were able to lead others here."

"He didn't," said Angel. "I bought the location of the unplottable area from Wolfram and Hart, and Kennedy spotted the ruins before Harry said anything. All he did was steer the carpet as we directed."

"That makes sense," said Krom. "The spell would not stop him from doing that if they already knew where to go, it would be futile. If you would be so kind, I will have our wizard test the spells to make sure that their integrity is complete. He is outside."

"And if I object?"

"That would be regrettable."

"Okay, provided that Willow and Dawn can watch."

"Very good, Harry, you're learning how this game is played."

"Game?" asked Willow.

"Better a game than any of the alternatives, Miss Rosenberg."

"I guess."

* * * * *

"Harry's clean, then?" asked Dawn.

"Yes," said Krom, looking relieved. The wizard who had examined Harry packed away a kit of curious tools and said something to Krom. He translated, "The spell has never been removed or modified."

"Okay," said Harry, "now tell me why you thought it might be me."

"Until Durmstrang was destroyed the Alliance was lukewarm, at best, about fighting against Voldemort. He had his supporters here, and some of them were as bad and as well-organised as your Death Eaters. Ever wonder what happened to them?"

"I just assumed that your aurors..."

"No. The Baba Yaga had a grandchild at the school. She was not pleased by her death."

"Oh shit," said Willow, in a very small voice.

"You know of her?"

"Met her once. Invulnerable, unaging, and scarier than the First Evil. She wanted me to re-open the Sunnydale Hellmouth."

"Why?" asked Dawn.

"I didn't ask."

"What was she offering as payment?" asked Harry.

"Tara. I think she could have done it too."

"And you turned her down," Dawn said flatly.

"You know how many people died to close the Hellmouth. Anya, your friend, a dozen other potentials. Would Tara have thanked me if I'd made it all for nothing? If I did to her what I did to Buffy, pulled her out of Heaven?"

"You could have closed it again. Not like anyone lives there now."

"No I couldn't. Not the way she wanted it opened. I'm not sure much of California would have survived."

"Oh. Okay, I guess you were right." Dawn hugged Willow, then turned to Krom and said "So what did she do?"

"Killed Voldemort's supporters, and their families, overnight. Several hundred of them. Followed by the few officials who dared to complain. And suddenly our forces were let loose against Voldemort."

"So you're thinking it was kinda convenient for the Ministry of Magic and the other guys fighting Voldemort?"

"It's an obvious theory. So obvious that we need to disprove it. If we don't, or if it is found to be true, there will probably be another war."

TBC