CHAPTER 10: THE MINISTRY
Willow, Giles, Anya, and Xander all stood by the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron, shocked by what they had just witnessed.
"Okay, tell me that wasn't freaky," Xander said, the image of Buffy being enveloped by flames, burned into his memory.
"That's much too reminiscent of that time our parents tried to burn us at the stake," Willow said with wide eyes.
"Well, who's next?" Anya said cheerfully. "Xander? You're the brave, strong man here, I think you need to go." Anya patted his arm and pushed him towards the fireplace, much to his dismay.
"What about me?" Giles asked indignantly.
"You're old and weak," Anya said bluntly.
"I beg your pardon?" Giles said, whipping off his glasses and pointing them at the sandy blonde. "I'll have you know that I am in just as good of shape as I was ten, twenty years ago. Not that traveling by this floo method has anything to do with shape or age."
"You tell her Giles," Xander said. "Even better, you should show her. March right up to that fireplace and give it a whirl." Willow nodded her head emphatically in agreement.
"You're bloody right I will," Giles said, replacing his glasses and marching up to the fireplace. He took a pinch of the floo powder before he realized that he'd been tricked. "Oh bugger..."
"Go on, Giles," Willow encouraged.
Giles sighed and threw the powder into the fire, knowing he had no choice. He watched the flames turn green before he took a deep breath and stepped into the smoky area. "The Ministry of Magic!" he yelled, and then, like Buffy, was gone in a surge of flames.
Xander turned to Willow expectantly.
"Don't look at me!" she squeaked, and he stepped up to take his turn.
Back at the Ministry of Magic, Buffy waited, rather impatiently, for her friends to arrive. Surprisingly enough, Giles was the first one to land in a heap at her feet.
"Fun trip?" Buffy asked, helping him to his feet.
"Delightful," Giles said sarcastically, fixing the glasses that had rearranged themselves and dusting the soot off his robes.
Soon enough, Xander, Willow and Anya arrived through the fireplace, all coughing, grumbling, covered with soot, and sprawled on the floor.
"You get used to it," Buffy said, looking at her scowling friends. "The first time's always a bit weird."
"You mean we have to do that again?" Willow exclaimed.
"How else are we going to get out of here?" Buffy asked her.
"This day just keeps getting better and better," Xander grumbled, unaware of how Buffy's eyes clouded over briefly.
She tried to push all her pain to the side. She had to be strong. She had things to do; Sirius was depending on her, and she wouldn't, couldn't, let him down. There would be time later to grieve. For now, she had an escaped convict to save.
"Come on," Buffy said, leading the group down a very long hall with a highly polished dark wooden floor and peacock-blue ceiling.
Everyone was entranced by the place, including Buffy, who hadn't been here for over a decade and barely remembered it. Golden symbols continually moved and changed along the ceiling, and the walls were paneled with a dark, shiny wood with several gilded fireplaces protruding slightly. The arrivals came from the left wall while the wizards departing left on the right wall. The corridor wasn't very crowded because the workday had yet to be over. Amazingly enough, it wasn't even six yet.
Half-way down the hall sat a fountain with larger than life golden statues sitting in the middle of the circular pool. The wizard, as the tallest figure, stood with his wand pointed straight up. A witch, centaur, goblin and house-elf surrounded the wizard, while the magical creatures looked up adoringly at the wizard and witch. Jets of water were flying from the two wands, the tip of the centaur's arrow, the point of the goblin's hat, and from each of the pointed ears of the house-elf. The water sparkled slightly in the light, producing an enchanting scene, as the water pattered gently back into the water.
There were golden gates at the far end of the hall, which the gang steadily walked toward. Behind a desk on the left sat a bored-looking, badly shaven wizard in peacock-blue robes. When Buffy and the rest tried to pass through the gates, he stood up and walked out of the little hut.
"Excuse me," the guard said, indicating the blonde at the head of the group. "All visitors must check in here," he said, pointing to the hut and a sign that read "SECURITY."
"Oh, sorry. My mistake," Buffy said, trying to be apologetic. She had wanted to go unnoticed, but she should have known it would have been useless. She walked over to the small hut while the guard entered the building and sat heavily in his chair.
"Wand?" he asked tiredly.
Buffy hesitated a moment before handing over her most valued piece of wood. Mr. Pointy came in a very close second.
The guard dropped it onto a strange brass instrument, resembling a set of scales with only one dish. Much to everyone's surprise, except the guard's, the wand begins to vibrate. A narrow slip of parchment came speeding out of a slit in the base. The guard tore it off and read the writing on it.
"Ten inches, phoenix-feather core. Been in use for half an hour?" The man asked, surprised at what the little paper said. The wand had been dormant for over a decade and the last spell, which coincidentally also counted as the first spell, Buffy performed was less than an hour ago.
"Yeah," Buffy said. "I broke my last wand, sat on it by accident. Cause a whole lot of trouble, I must say," she said, rubbing her butt. "I just went down to Olivander's to get a new one." Buffy didn't want to give away the real reason her wand hadn't been active in over a decade.
The man handed her wand over to Buffy, who gratefully took it from him. He chuckled slightly at Buffy's statement and said, "Don't ever let Moody hear you say that. He's always ranting and raving when somebody places their wand in their back pocket."
"Moody?" Buffy asked sharply, surprised at the name. "Alastor Moody?"
"Is there any other?"
"Is he here?" Buffy asked, wondering if he would be able to find the person who saved her life, and tore her away from her family.
"Nope. He's been retired for a while now," the guard said, looking at Buffy a little suspiciously.
"Of course," Buffy said, noticing the change in the guard's features. "The way you talked sounded like he was here today. Visiting or something. It sure would be nice to see Alastor again. It's been a long time since I've seen him last."
"Well, I'd give you his address if I had it, but he doesn't make it well known. He's too paranoid," the guard said sadly, with a shake of his head.
"Right, well, thanks anyway," Buffy said, confused as to why he'd be paranoid.
"Whoa! What about the others?" the guard asked, before Buffy could walk too far away.
"We don't have wands," Willow said. "We left them at home."
"You left your wands at home?" the guard asked, once again getting suspicious.
"She means that they've lost a bet," Buffy covered quickly. "And now they have to live as muggles for a week. It's only day three, so we try not to talk about it much," Buffy said in a mock whisper. "It's a lot harder than anyone would think."
The guard nodded in understanding. He didn't know what he'd do without his wand for a week. It'd be awful. "Well, good luck with that," the guard said. "It must take some willpower. I guess if you've grown up as a muggle, it shouldn't be too hard, but I've lived around magic my whole life. I don't know if I'd be able to make it."
"Yes, it's terrible," Giles said, unconvincingly with a shake of his head. "I have no idea how I'll live four more days."
"Well, we'd better get going. We have a meeting with the Minister. Don't want to be late for that," Buffy said.
"No, you sure don't," the guard said. "Let me get you some passes. Names?" As the group looked at each other nervously, the guard slid the piece of parchment with Buffy's wand information on a small brass spike.
Buffy stepped forward and gave the guard her best smile. "So this is what you do all day? It must be dull, handing out passes and checking wands..."
"Yeah, but it's work," the man said, looking up to stare into Buffy's sparkling green eyes. His throat went dry suddenly as he realized just how beautiful she was, with her golden hair flowing down her back. "Ummm..." he trailed off, and cleared his throat.
Buffy looked into the man's brown eyes and said softly, "We don't need passes."
To the other Scoobies amazement, the guard seemed to fall into some kind of trance. "You don't need passes," he repeated.
"And I'd really like that paper," Buffy said, smiling as he reached out and extracted her wand information from the small stack on the spike.
"Here you go," the brown haired man said, handing over the slip of parchment.
"Thanks," Buffy said. "And just forget that you ever saw us, okay?"
"Never saw you."
Buffy turned around and noticed her friends' shocked expressions. She nodded them forward, away from the guard, who continued to look after Buffy, dazed.
Once they were through the gates, and into a smaller hall beyond, Buffy finally asked, "What?"
"Did you just use magic on him?" Willow asked. "I didn't even see you use your wand."
Buffy frowned slightly as she thought back to what she just did. "I don't think I did. I mean, I guess I could have, but I didn't do it consciously."
"Maybe you have the power of persuasion," Anya said. "I've known quite a few people that have mastered that skill. You don't even have to have a wand to use it. They always got what they wanted," Anya pouted, thinking back to earlier times.
"That sure would explain a lot," Giles said, also thinking back to earlier times, although not quite as early as Anya. "I did let you get away with quite a bit."
"Then how come I couldn't charm my way out of Snyder's office? That would have come in handy."
"I doubt it was from lack of trying," Giles said affectionately.
"I think he was immune from everything,' Willow said.
"Stupid troll," Buffy grumbled.
"So Buff has the power of persuasion," Xander said. "What are you going to do now?"
"I don't know," Buffy said, thinking about what she could do. "I mean, there is an Imperious Curse that is a no-no in the wizarding world, but that controls other people. I'm merely persuading them, so I should be okay, right?"
"Depending on what you persuade them to do," Giles said. "Although, there is a degree of control on your part, and a loss of freedom on their part..."
"Well, I'll just have to use my power for good."
"Fighting for justice, and the sake of mankind," Xander remarked.
"That's our Buffy," Willow said with a smile.
"Speaking of which, you can't call me that anymore," she said. "I'm... Who am I again?"
There was silence for a moment, while each person was lost in his or her own thoughts. A list of names could be heard escaping the lips of various people as they scrambled to find the correct identity.
"S... S.... Sally, no, Sabrina, no, Sarah!" Buffy exclaimed. "Sarah Fox."
"Sarah, of course. Now where are we headed, Sarah?" Giles asked, indicating the many different lifts that were situated in front of them.
"Up. We're headed up," Buffy said certainly, as she stepped forward into a rather large lift. Everyone squeezed inside and Buffy looked at the buttons curiously before deciding upon one. "He's the big boss, right? So, he'd probably get his top floor."
The doors closed and the elevator began rising. A lady's soothing voice announced, "Level One: The Minister of Magic." The doors opened and the group stepped out.
They were in another hallway, this time with windows letting brilliant amounts of light in.
"I thought it was night outside," Xander said.
Buffy looked confused for a moment, "I was. It must be magic, to keep this place cheerful."
At the end of the corridor, which was painted a deep blue, sat a shiny wooden door with a brass nameplate reading "Cornelius Fudge."
Buffy walked forward and then halted in her tracks. She turned back around and looked at her friends. "Could you wait here for a moment? This is something I need to do alone."
Her friends hesitantly nodded. "Just don't do anything I wouldn't do," Xander said.
"Try to behave rashly, please," Giles said.
"Just don't kill him," Anya stated bluntly. "Anything else and I don't really care. But we don't need a psycho slayer on our hands."
"I'll try to keep my temper in check," Buffy said.
"Deep breaths. Violence doesn't solve anything," Willow said. "Well, it doesn't solve everything," she corrected at Buffy's disbelieving glance.
Buffy nodded, took another deep calming breath and headed down the hallway again.
She reached the door and was about to knock when she heard voices coming from the room. With her enhanced Slayer hearing, she could hear most of the conversation.
It was about Hogwarts.
It was about Harry. Her nephew.
"The boy has a nasty temper," an old lady's voice was saying. "Had to put him in his place a few times, but he still persists in defying me."
"Well, don't let that stop you. We can't have him spreading his lies around," the voice Buffy recognized as Fudge's said.
"He is quite the liar, and he's very stubborn. It's going to take a lot to break his nasty habit."
"Do what you must," Fudge said. "Harry Potter's been in a thorn in my side for too long. Making up unbelievable tales every year, getting away with everything. It's all Dumbledore's influence, too. Don't think he's acting alone. That meddlesome old fool will ruin everything I've built up. He's using his power and Potter's influence. Something must be done."
"Potter's too clean though," the woman's croaky voice returned. "I just know he's up to something, breaking rules of some kind, but I can never catch him. And I have reason to believe that he's in contact with Black."
Buffy's heart leaped up at the mention of Sirius, wondering if Harry knew where he was.
"Don't be ridiculous," Fudge said. "The man tried to kill him two years ago, I doubt they're pen pals."
The woman cleared her throat, making a decidedly unpleasant noise in the process. "The school is decidedly unkempt," she said, changing topics. "It needs more structure, more rules."
Buffy could almost hear a smile in Fudge's next words: "Then take the appropriate measures. I'll sign any new school rules that you believe are appropriate and in the school's best interest."
"Of course. Thank you, minister."
"I'll expect an update again next week," Fudge said. "Thank you, Dolores."
Buffy could hear a small whoosh, and she assumed the woman named Dolores had flooed from his office.
So, Fudge was making changes at Hogwarts. Apparently he didn't like Dumbledore and was making Harry's life hell. A plan began to form in Buffy's mind. But first she needed more information.
It was now or never.
She raised her hand and knocked on the door.