CHAPTER 12: HOGWARTS
Buffy, Willow, Xander, Anya, and Giles stood around the sixth flat they had looked at. They had spent the night at The Leaky Cauldron and gratefully got advise from Tom about where to start looking for a new flat. He was very helpful and he even called the wizarding real estate agency for them.
They had a quick breakfast before they spent the next four hours looking at flats, much to everyone's chagrin. Four hours was a little excessive, especially after only seeing six places! The walking was definitely bothering Anya the most, and she had no qualms about keeping them all informed of just how much pain she was in.
Finally, the agent brought them to a flat near the outskirts of London; it was fairly secluded, as not many houses, flats, stores, or . . . well, much of anything was around, which was ideal for them. The less people around, the better; who knew what was going to happen?
They walked into the rather large two bedroom flat, and let out a sigh of relief. It looked as if it might be the one. There was a nice kitchen with a table and chairs, a comfortable looking living room with two chairs and a sofa surrounding a fireplace, which had floo access, two bedrooms, and one and a half baths.
As they searched carefully for any signs of disrepair, Xander and Giles being more alert to the finer details, they whole-heartedly agreed that it was perfect. All the details were sorted out, papers were signed, money was exchanged, and the real estate lady gratefully went home.
After saying goodbye and closing the door, everyone collapsed in the living room. Xander and Giles plopped on the chairs while the girls fell onto the sofa, Buffy laying her head tiredly on Willow's shoulder.
"We're done!" Anya said.
"Remind me never to do that again," Buffy said, closing her eyes.
"On the bright side, the furniture is already provided," Xander said. "Now we don't have to go shopping for that."
"Yes, that is rather convenient," Giles said thankfully.
"We wouldn't have to go shopping anyway," Buffy said sleepily. "I could have just transfigured a couch or two. I think. I might have to practice at that. I didn't really finish school."
"So, what do we want to do now?" Willow asked.
"Nap," Buffy answered like a little girl.
"Sounds delightful," Giles answered.
"How do girls do it anyway?" Xander asked, amazed.
"Do what?"
"Shop? I mean, all that walking and looking, it's exhausting."
"No, this wasn't shopping. When you shop, you buy things," Buffy said.
"Lot's of things," Anya added enthusiastically.
"And what, pray tell, did we just do?" Giles asked. "We walked..."
"And looked," Xander interrupted.
"And bought a flat. Well, leased it at least."
"Shopping is fun, you buy lots of things, and come home with many many packages, full of things to unwrap and enjoy," Anya said. "We have nothing to unwrap here. It wasn't shopping."
"And it wasn't fun," Willow added.
"Yes, I do believe we all agree on that point," Giles said.
They all sat in silence for a moment, relaxing in their new flat, when a tapping came from the window.
"Morrigan!" Anya said, jumping up with renewed vigour and opening the window to let the magnificent white bird in. "You found me! That is so amazing." She petted her owl, who nipped her fingers affectionately.
"Morrigan?" Xander asked curiously.
"She has to have a name," Anya explained.
"How'd you come up with that? I would have expected something more..."
"Blunt," Buffy suggested helpfully.
"Possibly sex related and embarrassing," Xander said, shrugging his shoulders.
"For your information, Morrigan is a Celtic goddess."
"I'm afraid to ask of what," Xander said.
"If I remember correctly, she's the goddess of several things, including war and revenge," Giles said.
"Ah..." Xander said. "Is anyone surprised?"
"She's also the goddess of night, magic, and prophecy. Not to mention that she's the queen of fairies and witches. I thought it would be appropriate. What do you think?" She asked her owl, perched on her arm. She responded with a happy hoot, and Anya smiled.
"Speaking of names, what are you going to call your phoenix?" Willow asked.
Buffy frowned thoughtfully. "I have no idea, I'm not any good with names. Where is she anyw--." Buffy was interrupted by the sudden pop and appearance of her phoenix. "Never mind."
"Well, why don't you suggest something, and she'll tell you if she likes it," Anya suggested. "That's what I did with Morrigan. That way you can't go wrong."
"Okay... How about Rose?" Buffy said. "You're red, like a rose." The phoenix shook her head, upset at the suggestion.
"Why don't you try something less common?" Willow said. "I'm sure she would appreciate something unique." The phoenix trilled in agreement.
"Unique?" Buffy asked with a worried voice.
"It might help if you decided to name it after something, like a goddess. They tend to be more original," Anya said.
"You mean like Aphrodite?" The phoenix shook her head violently at the suggestion.
"Yes, but more obscure."
"I believe in Greek myth, Hestia was the goddess of fire," Giles said helpfully. The phoenix considered it, but then shook her head.
"She's also the goddess of hearth and family life," Anya said.
"How do you know so much?" Xander asked, amazed.
"I've been around for a thousand years; I've picked up things along the way. Plus, I lived back in the time when people worshipped those goddess. "
"How about Kali?" Anya asked.
"I like it," Buffy said. "It's a pretty name."
"Isn't that an Indian goddess? The one with several arms and human hands as a skirt of some kind?" Giles asked uncertainly.
"Yes," Anya said nonchalantly.
"I don't like it," Buffy said with wide eyes. The phoenix shook her head in agreement.
"Scary visuals tonight," Xander said with a shudder.
"Does it have to be a goddess? I mean, most of the goddess have really strange names anyway," Willow said. "A lot of things have meaning, like flowers. You liked rose, right? That stands for beauty. For the most part at least; when you get more specific, the meaning changes."
"You're quite right, Willow," Giles said, praising the red-head.
"Myrtle is for love," Willow suggested.
"I've heard that name before," Buffy said, thoughtfully. The phoenix shook her head, and then realization crossed Buffy's features. "Moaning Myrtle! From Hogwarts! She's a ghost that haunts one of the bathrooms; a bit of a cry-baby she is," Buffy said, her English accent becoming more pronounced.
"Right then," Giles said, after staring at her for a while.
"What about Iris? Flaming Iris means flame," Willow suggested again.
"Fennel for strength," Giles suggested.
"Isn't that in Hamlet?" Willow asked, and Giles nodded.
"What about Celsia?" Giles asked, after the previous two were denied. "It stands for immortality.
"I like that one," Buffy said, turning to her phoenix. "What do you think?"
The phoenix considered it for a moment, before trilling happily.
"Good, you are now Celsia." Another tap on the window interrupted any further conversation. "What now? We just moved in!"
Anya, still close to the window, opened it and let a great horned owl come gliding through the room. It perched on the armrest next to Buffy and dropped the large package it was carrying in her lap. Then it took flight and flew out the window.
"Wow, do you think they're faster than Fed-Ex?" Xander joked.
"What is it?" Willow asked.
"It's from Fudge," Buffy said, reading the label. "It's the package he was going to send me, with all my forms and teaching material."
Buffy opened the package and pulled out a thick Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook that said, "Professor's Edition," on the cover. She assumed it contained all seven textbooks combined into one easy to carry package. A smaller packet of papers sat on top of it. "I guess this is the instruction manual," Buffy said, holding up the small packet.
She flipped it open and briefly started skipping while the others gathered around the textbook. "Wow, there's so many monsters in here I've even heard of," Xander said. "And I've spent many hours looking through various books researching."
"This could prove to be very useful... and interesting," Giles said.
"You have got to be kidding me," Buffy said, outrage and disgust evident in her voice.
"What?" Giles asked, looking up in surprise.
"Fudge is such an idiot! Here he is, on the brink of another war, and he's making the teachers teach theory?! Theory works well... in theory. I mean, nothing prepares you for the real world except going out and getting your hands dirty. How can he be so stupid?"
"Wait, you're supposed to teach a bunch of kids, that could very well come up against some major evil, theory. They don't really learn how to protect themselves?" Xander asked incredulously. "I know I didn't go to college like the rest of you, but even I'm not that stupid."
"Apparently, he's changing the curriculum," Buffy said, reading the offensive material. "Any teachers that don't comply are getting sacked, and a new ministry teacher will take over. They can't do that!"
"These kids are going to school and not getting practical instruction? That's ridiculous," Giles said.
"That's Fudge for you. Blind and stupid; a deadly combination."
"Yes, deadly for everyone it seems," Giles said, reviewing the packet. "You aren't going to obey these useless rules, are you?"
"I might have to," Buffy said reluctantly. "I mean, I have to keep that job, and if I don't follow the curriculum, I'll get the boot. But maybe there's some way around it," she said with a thoughtful frown. "Until then, I have some studying to do. I didn't even finish the last two years of school!"
"Well, we can help you!" Willow said, eager to flip through the magical textbook.
"Yeah, how come we didn't get handy instructions on how to fight evil?" Xander asked. "It's because we're American isn't it? Englishmen always think they're better than us."
"If they were better, why do they need a how-to guide?" Willow asked absently, flipping through the book.
"I resent that comment," Giles said indignantly.
"So, let's get down to business," Buffy said.
They spent the rest of Saturday and the better part of Sunday studying the textbook, memorizing things that might come in handy, and making notes of other things. Buffy took out her wand and practiced several of the spells in the textbook, after trying to remember spells she had learned earlier.
To her delight, it all came back to her fairly quickly. She started out small and then impatiently hurried to try something bigger. Such as changing her hair tie into a small coffee table. The first time worked well, except the table wasn't very sturdy; it had elastic qualities to it that made it entertaining to put anything on it.
"Concentrate, Buffy," Giles said exasperated.
"You're just upset because the tea bounced back at you," Anya said with a smile. "It was rather funny."
"Not if you're on the receiving end of the scalding liquid," Giles retorted.
"Maybe now's a good time to start our first wandless magic lesson!" Willow said excitedly. She dragged Buffy into one of the bedrooms and closed the door behind them. Then she opened it quickly and said, "We need silence," before closing it again.
Buffy and Willow sat cross-legged on the floor, facing each other.
"Now, it's going to be a lot like meditation, and I know you've done plenty of it with Giles, so you should be good at it," Willow said.
Both of the girls quietly relaxed their minds and bodies and came to a tranquil state. "Now," Willow said in a trance-like quite voice, "look inside yourself for your magical centre. You should find it fairly quickly."
"Okay," Buffy said quietly.
"Focus on controlling that power, harnessing it."
Buffy was focusing on the surprisingly large area inside herself that pulsed with magic. Even though she wasn't really looking at it, it seemed to shine a rich red colour, swirling with gold streaks. It was beautiful, and it seemed to call out to her.
She gently tapped into the swarming source and then as she did, she could hear loud crashes that jolted her out of her trance.
Shards of glass surrounded her and Willow, and footsteps could be heard racing towards their door. Apparently the windows had shattered.
"Oops," Buffy said sheepishly, looking at an astonished Willow.
The door opened to reveal Xander's and Giles' worried faces, Anya safely behind them. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine. Just a little glassy, that's all."
"You must have a lot of power to do that!" she exclaimed. "A lot more than any of us thought."
"It was so weird," Buffy said, describing her experience. "I just wanted to touch it, and then when I did, a jolt shot through me and I hear the windows cracking."
"More like exploding," Xander said. "I didn't know what was going on in here."
"I thought we were being attacked," Giles said.
"Nope, not yet," Buffy said, standing up and brushing the glass off her clothes. She brought up her wand and said, "Reparo," watching in amusement as her friends were shocked by the way the glass lifted up off the floor, and Willow's clothes, to form sparkling windows, looking just like new.
"I wish I would have remembered how to do magic. I would have save loads on clothes and weapons," Buffy said wistfully.
"Yes, well," Giles said, taking off his glasses to clean them. "I believe that's enough for today. You've got a big day tomorrow, so you'd best get a good night's sleep."
"Yeah Buff, first day of the job. I'm so proud of you," Xander said, with fake exuberance. You're going to be a teacher. I never thought I'd see the day."
"I wish Snyder was still around," Willow said with a smile, and then, off her friends incredulous looks, added, "NO! I don't. I don't wish for anything, especially not that! What am I saying?"
"Goodnight Willow," Buffy said, walking out of the boys bedroom, giving her friend a strange look, shocked that she would even think a thing like that. Willow and Anya soon followed to their own bedroom down the hall. Buffy had split all the beds into two, and three in the case of the girl's room. It wasn't as hard as transfiguring a table, but it wasn't entirely easy.
Monday was going to be an interesting day . . .
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Monday morning found the great hall filled with students at breakfast. The staff table was entirely full, which was interesting, as that only seemed to happen on feasts.
"What do you think is going on?" Hermione asked her best friends Ron Weasley and Harry Potter.
"I don't know," Harry said with a frown. "But Dumbledore doesn't look too happy." He didn't look angry or upset, but he definitely lost the sparkle in his eyes. Other people might not have noticed it, but Harry had spent enough time around the Headmaster to know when he wasn't happy. He didn't even look this upset at the Welcoming Feast when he announced the new DADA position. He even chatted with Umbridge, which he was not doing at the moment.
"Look at McGonagall!" Ron whispered. "She looks furious!" Professor McGonagall's lips were pulled into the tightest line Harry had ever seen. She seemed to be trying very hard to keep her emotions in check, but it wasn't working too well. Every now and then her eye would twitch just the tiniest bit. Harry had been on the receiving end of plenty of her disappointed glares and angry lectures, but he had never seen her like this before.
"I'll bet it has to do with Umbridge," Harry said angrily.
"What do you think she's done now?" Hermione asked. "She looks happy enough, although it looks like something might be bothering her."
Umbridge was currently very troubled by the letter she received yesterday. She happily accepted the role of High Inquisitor, but she didn't want to be replaced as a professor. She was a little worried as to why Fudge deemed it necessary to add another ministry official to the school. Perhaps he thought she wasn't doing her job well enough? Well, she would just have to make sure that the new professor, whoever he was, was up for the job. She'd keep a very close eye on him.
Just then, Dumbledore stood up and grabbed the attention of all the students, and professors, in the Great Hall. "Good morning, students," he said. "I have been informed of a change in the Defence Against the Dark Arts position. . . "
Murmurs raced through the hall as everyone had an opinion on the topic. "Maybe she's getting the boot!" Ron cried with glee.
"Then why would Dumbledore be upset about it?" Hermione asked reasonably.
"Attention... students," Dumbledore said with a small smile. "Minister Fudge had deemed it necessary to add a new station at the school. Professor Umbridge will now be the new High Inquisitor of Hogwarts."
New murmurs started, this time louder than the first. "What about DADA?" Hermione asked miserably.
"Please don't let it be Snape," Ron moaned.
"The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher will be arriving shortly. His train was running a little late," Dumbledore said once the chatter died down. "He's a ministry official, so please treat him with the same respect and courtesy that you treat the rest of your professors. Classes will continue on as normal."
"Another ministry official? That's ridiculous!" Hermione said, distraught. "How are we going to learn anything this year if they refuse to teach us!"
"Maybe this guy will be better," Harry said. He couldn't be too upset that Umbridge would no longer teaching. The new guy had to be better than her, more reasonable at least.
"With Fudge controlling everything?" Hermione asked doubtfully. "And what is with this new position? High Inquisitor? What kind of power does she have?" Hermione asked.
"Probably way too much," Harry said angrily. He hated Umbridge with a passion. "Maybe I won't have to serve detention with her anymore."
Just then, as Dumbledore was about to continue with the new rules and details about the High Inquisitor's position, the doors of the great hall opened to reveal a small, skinny, young blonde girl.
The entire hall went silent and Ron's mouth dropped open in surprise. The young woman walked forward carelessly, and Fred and George, among others, began to whistle in appreciation.
"Who is she?!"
Whispers once again flooded the great hall, only this time they were stopped very quickly by Dumbledore's question.
"May I help you?"
"Hi! I'm Sarah Fox."
Nobody in the hall moved an inch, wanting to see who this girl was, and what she was doing at Hogwarts.
Obviously, something in Dumbledore's blank expression registered, and she said, "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?"
For the first time ever, no sound was heard in the Great Hall, as surprise, disbelief and astonishment ran rampant through every one of the occupants.
"She's what?" Harry asked at the same time everyone else seemed to find their voice.