CHAPTER 36: DINNER AT HOGWARTS
Remus and Moody arrived at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, surprised to see it in standing between Numbers 11 and 13 without popping up from nowhere.
"I didn't believe it at first," Remus said with a shocked look. "I thought it was a mistake, possibly a very bad joke, but it seems she really did it."
"If she did, then we're dealing with a very powerful witch," Moody said. "We need to find out her motivations and stop her before she does any more damage. No one's inside, let's go."
Remus and Moody walked up the stairs and into the house in which used to house their headquarters. Remus quietly opened the door, not wanting to wake up Mrs. Black, and was shocked to stumble over debris when he took his first step. Did she destroy the inside of the house?
His loud fall caused enough noise to have woken up Mrs. Black and he prepared himself for the noise that never came. He looked up and lit his wand, illuminating the gaping hole in the wall where Mrs. Black's portrait once hung.
Standing up and brushing himself off, Remus glanced around everything else, noticing that the debris he tripped over must have come from the apparent explosion from the wall.
"How did she do that?" Moody asked, surprised. "We've been trying for months to get that thing off! We used every spell, explosive ones included!"
"You said she was powerful," Remus muttered, continuing on through the hall. "Personally I think we should be thanking her for that small miracle," he said.
"Thank her all you want after she throws Sirius back in Azkaban," Moody said following him to the kitchen.
"It looks like they've searched the place," Remus said with a general glance around, noticing opened doors and pulled back bookshelves.
"Apparently she wasn't happy with the lack of results," Moody said, pointing out the soup dripping from the wall and the shattered remains of the bowl on the floor.
"Good," Remus said. "Nothing else really seems to be missing or out of place. I don't get it. One would think that she'd be a little more through in her search, try to find out where he went."
"Maybe she's not that smart," Moody said.
"She got this far," Remus said with a frown. "She's proven herself entirely capable."
"Maybe she did get a lead," Moody suggested, "found something that she thought was significant."
"Or maybe she's even smarter than we think and she already found him," Remus said with a significant look at Moody.
"She's already back at Hogwarts, right?" Moody asked.
"Back in her office," Remus confirmed, his eyes widening with sudden realization, "with the map that she took from Harry the other day!"
"The map?"
"The map that shows everyone in the school!" Remus said. "She knows Sirius is at Hogwarts! We have to get him out!" It didn't take long for Moody and Sirius to portkey back to Hogwarts in Dumbledore's office.
To their surprise and horror, Sirius was not in the office or in the room that Dumbledore had procured for them.
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Sirius was currently sniffing around the school, after having picked up a slightly familiar scent in Dumbledore's office, that wasn't Harry's. It was fairly recent but was obscured slightly by several others, some new and some old. Fortunately, dogs had an amazing sense of smell and he was able to track it down the stairs and out of the office.
Sirius had been a dog in Hogwarts before so he was used to the barrage of smells that attacked his senses, but it was a little difficult to keep track of just one of them, especially since it seemed to be pulling him in different directions, which would make sense since she traveled all over the school.
The question was, which way did he go?
Thinking it through, while the halls emptied fairly quickly as everyone headed off to dinner, he decided to pick a way and follow it for a while. He knew he needed to head to rooms somewhere, so heading off to the library or the Great Hall wouldn't help him much. Plus he didn't want to get recognized, dog form or not.
It didn't help that Sarah Fox was back in the building, either.
After several minutes of searching and contemplation, Sirius seemed to get a solid scent and the hallways began to look eerily similar to the ones in his dreams. He knew he had to be getting close.
As the scent he was following seemed to suddenly go in several directions, Sirius was sure it had to be here, because every time she exited her room, a new scent would be created. He transformed out of his dog form, aware that there weren't too many paintings down this hallway so it was unlikely he'd be recognized.
Just as he had expected, there was a picture of a lake. Strangely enough, the sky was cloudy and rain pelted down, just like in his dream. "James," Sirius said after a moment's pause. As the door opened, Sirius let out an unbelieving breath.
He had never been one for prophecies or divination and now here he was, following a dream that, so far, had turned out to be impeccably right. It was eerie.
Sirius stepped into the room, cautiously looking around for any signs of Buffy. It didn't look like anyone was in the room but he could still find proof that she lived here. Then Remus would have to believe him and they could find her.
Sirius shrugged and began rifling through files and drawers, trying to find something useful, but all he could find were a couple of textbooks and other random books; it didn't look like she had very many personal items in the room. Sirius strode diligently over to the bedroom and opened the door, thinking that he was more likely to find something there.
He stopped in amazement as he saw a beautiful, rather young looking, phoenix sitting on the bed preening its feathers. "Buffy?" he asked softly, remembering how she had been able to transform into a phoenix. Down in his heart, he knew it wasn't her, knew it wasn't the same phoenix he had seen so many times before, but he had just wanted to hope.
That hope was dashed when the bird stopped preening and turned its head sharply to look at him. Sirius was confused because phoenixes were extremely rare, but the one on the bed wasn't Fawkes and it wasn't Buffy, so that meant it had to be another one, which was very strange.
Where in the world did Buffy find another phoenix? The only one he had ever heard of was Fawkes and he was sure that if there had been another one somewhere, word would have gotten out quickly. It was very strange.
Glancing to the side, Sirius noticed what looked like an overturned photograph lying on the bedside table. Walking over, the bird watching him the entire time, Sirius bent over and picked up the picture. He felt some shock at seeing the old photograph of James, Remus, him and Buffy, but hope began to rise again. It had to be Buffy! She had to be staying in this room! She was at Hogwarts the whole time... right under their noses.
Sirius didn't know if he should've gone to get Remus or wait for her to return back to her room. After thinking it through for a couple of minutes, with the bird studying him, Sirius decided to go for a third option. He was going to follow her scent and try to find her now. He knew she was alive, he knew she was at Hogwarts and he knew she was within reach... sitting still and waiting was not a valid choice; he had to do something.
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Willow, Xander, Anya and Giles all made it back to their apartment and collapsed on the couches. "Do you think she'll find him?" Willow asked.
"I hope so," Xander said, pulling Anya closer. "She deserves a little happiness. I want our perky Buffy back."
"When do you think they'll be back?" Willow asked after a minute of thoughtful silence.
"I bet they're off having sex," Anya said bluntly. From the stares she then received, she added, "What? Do you really think that after being away from each other for that many years, the first thing they're going to do is meet the friends? They're having sex."
"Maybe not," Willow said half-pouting.
Any other retort was cut off by the sudden arrival of Faith, who looked very harried and ready for battle.
"Faith! What are you doing here?" Willow asked, surprised by the appearance of the rugged girl in the middle of their living room.
"I got the portkey B gave me," Faith said. "We've been attacked and we need more help. So grab a weapon and let's go."
"But what about Buf-" Willow asked.
"There's no time," Faith interrupted. "We have to go now! We're holding them off for the moment, but we're gonna need some magical help to keep them back."
"Okay," Willow said.
"This thing only works twice, so everyone hold on," Faith said, holding out the old stake Buffy had used. "Slayer Headquarters!" Faith yelled, causing a tug to pull on everyone's navel.
When they opened their eyes again, the gang found themselves trapped inside a room with too many windows and doors, demons and vampires of all varieties pounding to get in.
"Oh my goddess," Willow breathed, shocked at the shear number of demons.
"Good Lord," Giles said, picking up his weapon of choice and brandishing it well.
"Let's get to work, Red," Faith said.
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Dumbledore was sitting at the Head Table, enjoying a wonderful meal the house elves had prepared, and was chatting quietly with Professor McGonagall. Professor Fox had yet to show up for dinner, which didn't go unnoticed, and Dumbledore wondered what she could be up to. It never occurred to him that chaos was about to be let loose in his school.
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"What the hell?" Buffy asked, staring into green eyes that were startlingly familiar. The first thing that ran through her mind was that the First was back, wanting revenge for the demise of its plans; however, the fist that came out of nowhere and slammed into her face caused all of those thoughts to disappear. The shock of the attack and the force of the punch caused Buffy to stumble back, losing her balance and causing her to be vulnerable to the next attack.
Harry looked over at Buffy's explicative and was shocked to find two Professor Foxes standing in front of the closet. The both looked exactly alike, from the clothes they were wearing down to the posture and hairstyles. Harry couldn't find any words to express the confusion he was feeling and he was even more speechless when one of them attacked.
Possible explanations flashed through his head, the most likely being that she ran into a boggart in the closet, but it didn't make sense that her worst fear was herself. Why would she be afraid of herself?
Then Harry thought back to the previous year when Mr. Crouch had kidnapped Moody and had stored his body in the trunk for a year, using polyjuice potion to keep up his appearance. Could Professor Fox be doing the same thing? It made some sense, but the double didn't look haggard at all, unlike the real Moody had.
As the fight continued, Harry had no idea which person to trust, which person to help, which person was the real one.
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To say she was shocked was an understatement, as Buffy was not prepared to deal with a double of herself walking out of her office closet. The thing attacked her, catching her off guard and causing her to stumble. Before she could gain her balance again, the thing came at her again. And again. Each punch was forceful and painful. The thing was relentless, not letting Buffy defend herself in any way.
Finally, after rolling over her own desk, Buffy did a flip kick, allowing her to get back onto her feet. "What the hell are you?" Buffy asked as the thing came around the desk. She didn't even notice Harry standing off to the side, watching with a dazed look on his face.
"I think the question is, what the hell are you?" the thing asked, preparing to hit her again.
Buffy dodged the punch and threw one of her own that was too easily blocked. Buffy felt like she was trying to hit steel, her arm was in so much pain. Buffy pushed aside all other thoughts as she concentrated solely on trying to beat this thing, whatever it was. It was almost as if she were fighting Caleb again, only, if it was possible, the Buffy copy was stronger.
As was proved by the kick that caused Buffy to fly across the room and slam into the door of her office... no, she didn't slam into the door... she slammed through the door, causing wood splinters to explode outward.
While Buffy was rolling backwards from the blow, Harry decided that it would be best if he stunned both of the Professors and then brought them to Dumbledore. Happy to finally have thought of a plan, Harry pointed his wand at the one still in the office and tried to stupefy her. Much to his amazement and bewilderment, the spell just bounced of the figure, coming back to hit him square in the chest, knocking him out.
The double walked calmly through the door towards Buffy, who lay still on the floor, trying to catch her breath and recover from the hit. "Please don't tell me the Terminator movies are real," Buffy muttered as she saw the thing still advancing. "Although after all I've seen I shouldn't be surprised."
Buffy quickly jumped up and tried to defend herself from the creature but was only successful in getting hit a couple more times for her trouble. With every hit she took, Buffy stumbled back, losing ground to the double; they were quickly moving away from the office door.
As she took yet another brutal hit that caused her to fly back down the hall, Buffy decided that she really needed to focus if she was going to beat this thing. She needed to be more offensive and less defensive, so she got up and collected herself as the thing came closer. "Okay, no matter how hard you hit me, no candy's going to come out, I promise," Buffy said, preparing herself.
Like she expected, the thing just kept coming closer, and then they started to fight. The first couple of moves on Buffy's part were still a little off, as she was trying to test the creature's style... besides excessive face punching. It didn't take long before it escalated rapidly, each move getting faster, each kick connecting harder, each punch causing more pain. If she just concentrated hard enough, and kept from being hit, Buffy could keep up with the thing's pace. She could hold her own, but she didn't know how long she could.
Buffy attempted to punch, but the thing sidestepped her and grabbed her arm. Buffy reached her free arm back and pulled on the blonde hair with such force that she was able to flip the thing over her. When Buffy pulled her hand back, blonde tendrils were wrapped around her fingers. She didn't have time to think as the creature attempted to knock her down, but was used to reacting on instinct and she jumped over the feet coming at her.
The battle continued down the hall and Buffy had no idea how she was going to defeat the creature; it took a centuries old Slayer scythe to kill Caleb and she had to slice him in half too! Right now, Buffy was weaponless and already worn out due to the magic she had already expended earlier that evening. As Buffy ducked under a punch coming her way and twisted up to kick the thing in its face, she spied her saving grace. The suits of armor that decorated the halls.
Getting away from the thing was going to be a challenge, as grabbed her ankle and yanked her forward, making her fall on her face. Buffy quickly shook off the stars that accompanied the impact, and kicked her free foot behind her again and again, hitting the thing's face each time. "You're like the double from Hell!" Buffy grunted as she saw her efforts weren't making much of an impact. "Even Faith reacted a little. Get. Out. Of. My. Body." Buffy said, accenting each word with a kick. Finally, the double had had enough and it's grip loosed on her foot.
Buffy scrambled up and away, racing to the other end of the hall. "My knight in shining armor," Buffy said, surprised to see the headless suit in front of her. "Sorry," she said, lifting the sword out of its hands. "You won't be needing it anyway."
Buffy turned around, swinging the sword experimentally in her hands, getting a feel for the weight and balance of it. "So you can take a couple of hits to the face; it only proves you have a hard head; let's see how you like holes poked into it."
The double suddenly had a sword in its hand, one that Buffy could have sworn wasn't there before she blinked. "Okay, what are you?" she asked.
"I am you," the double said, swinging her sword at Buffy. Buffy quickly lifted her sword up and blocked the deadly blow.
"I'd really appreciate it," Buffy said through the exertion while the double was forcing her sword down, "if you'd stop... being... me!" With the final word, Buffy gathered her strength and forced the sword back up and away from her body.
And so the sword fight began. Buffy felt like she was fighting herself... which she was... but only with better technique and more power behind the moves. The speed and intensity of the fight began to wear on her. Yet again did she swing her arm overhead, yet again did she jump over the low aimed sword, yet again did she push off the wall, yet again did she parry the sword's sharp edge.
The double finally got the upper hand, twisting the swords in a way that trapped Buffy's wrist, and then using her free hand to punch her face. Buffy lost her grip on the sword and winced as it tumbled to the ground. Another well placed roundhouse kick made Buffy stumble farther from the weapon. The double picked up the exhausted Buffy by the throat and began to suffocate her.
"You are worthless," the double said, throwing the purple faced Buffy back with a simple gesture. Buffy slammed into the door, causing the doors to open from the impact. Buffy tumbled head over heels into the Great Hall, unaware of the resulting gasps and movement from the surprised students.
Buffy lay on the floor coughing, trying to get the precious air back into her lungs. Students scrambled from their seats and raced to the opposite side of the hall, towards the protective professors.
Buffy was alone as the thing continued to walk through the doors and head towards her, sword firmly in its hand. Buffy was so tired... she was tired of fighting... she was tired of going through this life alone... she was tired of the way her life kept turning out...
Buffy rolled over slowly, pain radiating with every movement of her body. Buffy looked up at the thing that had taken her body while she gasped desperately for air.
The students were all afraid of what was going on... there seemed to be two different professors and they couldn't tell them apart. Was it a repeat of last year? One of them was laying on the floor, obviously very beaten while the other one kept coming at her with a sword in her hand! She was their DADA professor and she couldn't even protect herself! Or could she? Was she going to kill her? Who would she kill next? Why wasn't she moving?
The professors were having equal difficulty with what they were seeing. Dumbledore might have believed that one of them was the real Sarah Fox except all the sources said that Sarah Fox didn't exist, but now there were two of them! He figured the best thing to do would be to stun both of them and then go from there. He didn't expect his spells to be useless against the one and he didn't want to leave one defenseless. But how could he help her?
"You're pathetic aren't you?" the thing asked, looming over her. "No friends... no hope... no love... no weapons... only death. You should've died a long time ago and saved everyone all the trouble you've caused."
Buffy could feel the same rage that she had used to beat Angelus and the First rise up in her. "Don't you people ever learn?" she said from her position on the ground. Suddenly, she kicked with all her might at the knees of the double, wincing slightly at the crunching sound that could be heard; she then kicking the sword out of its hands and into the air. Flipping up, Buffy stood above the creature that was on its knees in pain and reached for the sword as it fell perfectly into her hands. "Taunting me only pisses me off."
She lifted her arm back to give herself the momentum to chop off the creature's head when it unexpectedly changed into something different. The blonde hair shrank and was replaced with messy black hair, the green eyes changed to brown, and a familiar person was now standing in front of Buffy.
"James?" she asked, lowering her weapon to the ground in astonishment.
"What are you waiting for?" the 17 year old James spat. "You've killed me once, you can do it again."
"No," Buffy said, wide eyes filling with tears. "I didn't..."
"You killed me. You killed Lily. You might as well have killed Harry. And Sirius. And Remus. It's all your fault."
"No, James, I didn't..." Buffy tried to say, tried to deny what she believed in her own heart.
"I wish you'd never been born!" James said with the most furious eyes Buffy had ever seen.
"RIDDIKULUS!" a voice bellowed from the front hall, startling everyone and causing the figure of James to disappear suddenly. Buffy was too shocked to move and her sword dropped listlessly to the floor as she raised her eyes to look at her savior.
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The effects of the stunning spell had finally worn off and Harry had quickly gotten up to see what had happened with the two professors. Unable to find them in the office, or out of the office, he had continued his search for the map, knowing it would tell him where they went.
He had finally found it on one of the shelves in the closet, and he had quickly whispered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Scouring the map, he had quickly located a surprising dot... the one he had been trying to get the map for in the first place.
Elizabeth Potter.
The shocking thing was that there was another dot next to it labeled Elizabeth Potter as well. 'The boggart must have found another victim!' Harry thought, the effects of Willow's spell making him unable to put the facts together correctly. 'The boggarts attacking her now!' With renewed energy, Harry tore down the hall, following he paths that would lead him to the great hall. Stuffing the map back in his pocket, he was just in time to see a surprising scene.
The boggart had left Elizabeth Potter alone and was back to attacking Professor Fox. He was surprised to see that the boggart had apparently turned into him, but upon closer observation (the taller and older figure), Harry realized it was his father. 'Why is Professor Fox afraid of my dad?' Harry thought.
He didn't waste any more time with pointless thoughts and yelled the spell that was sure to get rid of boggarts. No matter how much he wanted to stay with his dad, wanted to see his dad, Harry knew he didn't want to see him as a boggart, an image that might corrupt any thoughts he had of his father.
Now where did Elizabeth Potter go?
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"Sirius!" Remus whispered fiercely as he ran into the dog that had been running through the halls, chasing dozens of scents. "What are you doing?"
Sirius transformed, not caring about the problems that might be caused by his appearance. "I was right!" he said excitedly, pulling out the picture to show Remus and Moody. "She's alive! She's alive and she's here at Hogwarts! It was just like my dream!"
"Where did you get this?" Remus asked, holding the photograph, confused.
"On her bedside dresser. She left it there. It's proof! She's at Hogwarts somewhere, I know it!" Sirius shouted.
"Sirius!" Remus said. "You're still a wanted criminal! Keep your voice down. You're not even supposed to be here! You were supposed to wait in the room!"
"I know but I had to find her! I knew I was right!" Sirius protested.
"Well what are you going to do when you get caught by Sarah Fox?" Remus said, his frustration for his friend overshadowing any other happy feeling he got from the possibility of Buffy being alive.
"She looks a little like Sarah Fox, doesn't she?" Moody asked, examining the old photo, shrugging as he gave it back to Remus.
"I've never seen Sarah Fox before," Sirius said, brushing aside any thoughts that that statement brought up. "Remus, we have to find Buffy."
"This is my picture," Remus said suddenly.
"What?" Sirius asked.
"This is my picture. It was in my old house..." Remus said, trailing off in realization.
"The old house that someone broke into?" Sirius asked, his train of thought matching with Remus'. At Remus' nod, he continued in a triumphant voice. "See! More proof! She's obviously been looking for us!"
"I saw her die," Moody protested. "That can't be her."
"But it is! I know it!" Sirius said. "There must be some mistake! Maybe you were put under a spell; made to see something that didn't really happen."
Remus turned to Moody thoughtfully. "If Buffy's alive, you'd be the only one to know. None of this fits with your story."
"I can't be under a spell," Moody said. "Not for this many years."
"And you can't be taken hostage and stored in your own trunk for a year, either," Sirius said. "Oh, wait, that did happen."
With a growl at Sirius, Moody consented. "Maybe I am under a spell. If so, take it off immediately."
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The Great Hall was silent as everyone contemplated what had just happened. Buffy still hadn't moved, except to acknowledge that Harry had indeed been the one to save her. The students didn't move either; no one wanted to be the one that broke the tense silence.
Everyone had figured out that their DADA professor had been fighting a boggart, but what they didn't understand was why she was afraid of herself and why she was afraid of Harry Potter, or James Potter, depending on if the person knew enough to recognize the difference.
Harry was the one who started to move towards his professor, more to get to his friends than to get to her, whom he still didn't trust. He couldn't get any answers from her if she was dead, could he?
Harry bypassed her with a look and continued to his friends, who were concerned about his safety, seeing as how they knew he was waiting for Professor Fox. He was incredibly late to dinner.
Before a word could be said, however, people came bursting through the doors, surrounding Professor Fox. Aurors. A lot of Aurors. All with their wands raised and pointed at her.
And then Fudge and Umbridge entered, both wearing smug grins and looking way too happy and proud.
"You are under arrest," Fudge started. "For the impersonation of a Ministry official and for magically controlling the Minister of Magic."
Buffy hadn't moved as the guards had rushed in. She hadn't moved as they all lifted their wands at her. She hadn't moved as Fudge and Umbridge walked into the room, but she lifted her head at the sound of his voice.
"You," she spat, her eyes resting on the one person whose fault all of this was. None of this would have happened if Fudge had not ordered her dead. "This is all your fault."