All right, that was Malli's writing that you read, with a little bit of editing, mind. Now here's my part. And again, I know it's not going to be anywhere near what Malli would have done, most likely, but I'm trying, so cut me a bit of slack? Thanks, and I hope you read, even if there's not a whole lot of reviewing.
Review answers:
wtf: I said already that I'd be continuing the story, as is obvious by this chapter. Pay attention. I want reviews on what I write. I don't want it so that people can praise her work, that's been done. I want to know how I do on it, if I'm following it right, or what I can do to do a better job. I don't want praise for Malli's work, that's wrong. What I'm doing is trying to carry on a legacy, and trying to do it right. Is that okay with you?
Monkeybum21: yeah. I'm continuing on, and I'm not just stopping at where she stopped, at chapter 36. That was a bit of a cliffhanger, and I don't really care for those. Hehehe. Hopefully my version of what happens is going to be original, not like the others. The others are fine pieces, though. All of us are simply writing what we think will happen, and we all have a different opinion.
Draco's Slytherin Vampiress: yeah, it was really bothering me that the chapters were all bunched together instead of separate. I'm definitely updating soon, I started this chapter as soon as I finished posting the rest of The Phoenix Child original. So around 5 o'clock.
Goddessa39: Yes ma'am!
SilverPunk with an attitude: lol. I'm glad you like it. I hope you like my continuation as well.
Um, to my style now, thoughts are in '...', the spoilers for this are the same for Malli's spoilers: Season 7 and pre-season 7 Buffy, Harry Potter OotP and pre OotP. And I may end up at the near-end with a Tonks/Willow flirting and a Harry/Hermione get together. Oh, not like together together, just like dating together. Psychic talking is ..., like the link that Willow had set up while Buffy was dead in season 6? That, but they're all hooked up now. Well, all of the Scoobies.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter Belongs to J K Rowling, Buffy belongs to Whedon, and the plot and such up to this point belongs to Malli. Dig?
Merry Late Christmas!!
Chris
CHAPTER 37: PIECES FORMING THE PUZZLE
With a growl at Sirius, Moody consented. "Maybe I am under a spell. If so, take it off immediately."
"Um...Moody?" Remus said tentatively. "Maybe I should do that. You know Sirius can't use his magic."
"What...? Oh, of course. Sorry, Sirius," Moody apologised. "Well? Take it off, Remus."
Remus pointed his wand at Moody and said, "Finite Incantatem!" Effectively ending any spell put on Alastor Moody.
Moody blinked a few times. "Oh, dear God! What have I done?" he muttered to himself.
Sirius grabbed the old Auror roughly by his robes. "What? What is it, man? What did you do? Where's Buffy?" The Animagus didn't care whether or not he hurt Moody, he just wanted his Buffy back. "Well?" He demanded, growling, after a few seconds where Moody thought. "Where is my girl?"
"Calm yourself, Sirius, and maybe he can get the chance to tell you," Remus said wisely, removing Sirius' hands from the front of Moody's robes. "Moody? Maybe it's best if you tell him soon, while he still has a little control," Remus suggested, looking at Moody and Sirius, who looked like he was struggling to keep himself from shaking Moody, a bad idea at any time, much less just after being taken from the effects of a year's old spell.
"Sorry, Remus, I...Sorry," Moody said, still stunned by his memories. "Last I saw of her, She was in Los Angeles, California. In the United States. Her name was changed to Buffy Summers. I had to, Sirius. Fudge ordered her dead, there was no way I could have let her continue living as Elizabeth Potter. And there was no way I could kill an innocent girl," Moody started rambling on, shocking Remus and Sirius. This was a man that was most likely to keep his mind in a strange situation.
"Hang on," Remus said with a frown. "Why were you under a memory charm?"
"If someone were to interrogate me as to what happened that night under Veritaserum or some other truth serum, I didn't want the secret to be out that the girl was really alive or that Fudge ordered her dead," Moody explained. "I put myself under after I brought her to LA and found a family for her."
"You brought my girlfriend to Los Angeles in the United bloody States of America!" Sirius roared. "Why there? Why not find a wizarding family here that didn't know her?"
"I was afraid Fudge would recognise her," Moody said, flinching at Sirius' tone, another thing that shocked the other men. "There was a prophecy that stated that she would be the one stronger than Voldemort, strong enough to defeat him once and for all." Moody laughed bitterly. "Fudge claimed that he wanted the girl killed on grounds that if she were to join the dark side, the world would be doomed. Load of rubbish, if you ask me. I say it was simply because he was afraid of the girl because she had more power than he, and he likes having all of the power."
"So she's still alive?" Sirius asked hopefully.
"As far as I know, yes," Moody said. "But I haven't seen the girl in years, obviously, so I don't really know."
Sirius waved that away. His girl is still alive! He could have jumped for joy, but restrained himself. "So there's a chance that she's in the castle?"
"A very good chance, Sirius," said Remus, interrupting Moody's response. "Harry mentioned seeing the name Elizabeth Potter on the Marauder's Map when he last visited, so there is always that chance."
"We should tell Dumbledore about this," Moody said. "He should know if he sees her that she's really her and not a Death Eater impersonating her.'
"Well, as it's dinner, he'd be in the great hall right about now," said Remus, checking the time.
"What are we waiting for? Buffy may be there as well," Said Sirius, starting off for the Hall.
"Wait, Padfoot!" Remus shouted, making Sirius stop in his tracks. "You're still a wanted criminal, remember? Change first, then go." Sirius nodded and changed into his dog form, then trotted off to the Great Hall, with Remus and Moody on his tail. Not literally.
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Great Hall
"You," Buffy 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."
"My fault?" Fudge asked, laughing incredulously. "How is it my fault that you were controlling me? That you don't exist in any ministry files? How is this my fault? This is all your fault, don't put any of the blame on me." He didn't know what this woman was playing at, but he wanted it to end.
"This all started because of an action that you made, a horrible order that you didn't even have the guts to carry out yourself!" Buffy snarled, getting mad at the minister, losing the sweet blonde image that she'd been sporting when around him completely.
Fudge had no clue what she was talking about. What had he done that had made this woman so angry.
"You don't remember? Maybe showing you my true face will jog your memory," Buffy said, forgetting completely about the charm that was in place. She undid Willow's spell. Everyone watched, puzzled, as nothing happened. Only those close to her saw the change: her eyes went from blue to a gorgeous hazel color.
Meanwhile, Harry was in deep thought. 'If she was controlling the Minister the whole time, then what's her real plan? She obviously hates the man because of something that he did, but then why was she talking to Umbridge about some plan that they had? Well, if she'd been working with the Minister and Umbridge, I guess that she would know a thing or two, and since it seems that Umbridge isn't under her thrall, she had to play along with the toad faced bitch. She did stand up for me, and she went against the Ministry's set curriculum. Not to mention saving my arse from getting expelled more times than I can count, I guess she can't be all bad.' He worked things out in his head, coming to the conclusion that even if he didn't know who she really was, he could trust her a little. It seemed that all of Voldemort's followers were suck ups to the Ministry and it's Minister, so there was little chance of that. And she wasn't out to make his life miserable, so that was another count of her not being with Voldemort, who would love to make his life a living hell. 'But then who is she and what is she planning?'
While his head was working things out, Remus, Moody, and a great black dog ran into the Great Hall, startling quite a few students in the process. Dumbledore stood up and said, "SILENCE!" in the voice of his that demanded that everyone do as he say. The hall quieted immediately. "Thank you. Now, students, touch the table for your house, and you will be transported back to your common rooms. Teachers, I beg you to leave. The remaining, however, stay in this room: The Minister, Professor Umbridge, Professor Fox, the Aurors, Professor McGonnagal, Madame Pomfrey, Alastor Moody, Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, the Dog, and myself, of course. Mr. Weasley, go with your house, please." It wasn't a request, but Ron nodded anyway. Everyone carried out the directions, and in a few minutes, the room was clear of everyone but those Dumbledore had asked to stay.
"Professor Dumbledore? Exactly what is going on?" Asked Hermione, who had no clue why she was there as well. And she wanted to know what was up with professor Fox, who she really was.
"Ah, Hermione, I am not quite certain yet, maybe Alastor and Remus could fill us in as to what they were going to tell us?" Dumbledore's eyes flashed, not the usual twinkle, warning everyone to be careful what they did. Any wrong action would invoke the wrath of one of the few men that Voldemort was afraid of. Everyone shivered.
"Right, professor," Moody said, intending to tell what he wanted to say. "Well, this isn't for everyone's ears. Is there some way that only you can hear it?" He said this in a quiet tone, so only Dumbledore could hear it. Buffy, of course, heard it as well, thanks to her slayer hearing.
"There is no spell for that. However, there is a spell that allows only people who are already aware of the situation to hear what you have to say," Dumbledore answered after thinking for a minute. "Oirius intelligentus," he said, ignoring the Minister's protests that he demanded to know what was to be said. "Now, who can hear me right now?" He asked, and was shocked to see Professor Fox raise her hand as well as Moody, Remus, and The dog, who happened to be Sirius. "Well, Professor, I feel you have some explaining to do after we know what it is that you know," the old man stated, a curious look in his eye.
"Right. Well, professor, do you remember the whole Potter line?" Moody asked, starting off vaguely on purpose.
"Of course," Dumbledore answered, puzzled.
"All of them?"
"Alastor, what's the point?"
"Name all of the dead Potters, and I'll get to the point when you say their name," Moody said, finding a way to do it.
"James, Lilly, Marie, Frank..." Dumbledore said, watching Moody's face as he rattled off the Potters. There was only one left. He looked warily at Sirius, knowing the connection he'd shared with the girl. "Elizabeth..."
"That's the one I'm talking about," Moody cut in. "Dumbledore, she doesn't belong on that list that you just rattled off. She's not dead, Albus."
Dumbledore looked shocked. "She's...what? But how? Death Eaters killed her years ago, you told me personally."
"Yeah, well, even if I hadn't been under a memory charm, that would have been a lie. Fudge ordered her death. But it turns out I didn't have the heart to kill the lass, and ended up modifying her memory and moving her to Los Angeles," he explained, not noticing that Professor Fox had gone very pale. Dumbledore, however, noticed, as did Sirius.
"Professor?" Dumbledore enquired. "Are you quite alright?" He still worried about Sarah, even though he knew that she wasn't who she claimed to be.
"You look oddly familiar, but every time I try to place you, my mind goes to something else for some reason," Moody said, squinting his one good eye at the blonde while the magical eye went haywire. "What's going on? Who are you, really?"
"Miss Fox?" Dumbledore asked kindly. "Would you reveal your secret, since apparently you know something about what we're talking about."
Buffy hesitated, wondering if she should reveal that there's a spell on her that wouldn't let anyone realise who she really was. 'Well, I could always take it off of myself and see if they can figure it out on their own, but first I'd better talk to Will. Good thing she has the psychic link set up between us all. Hehehe.' With that, she contacted Willow. Will? You there?
Buffy? Is this really important? There's kind of an emergency going on here, Willow thought back, while working on the situation in LA with Angel and his group. She threw a lightning bolt. Make it fast, Buffy.
What's the counter curse for the spell on me? I want the people in Hogwarts to figure it out on their own without me having to tell them.
oh. It's not that hard, just think about letting the spell fall away from you, and it will. Just focus on having the spell gone. Willow knew she was speaking gibberish, but she knew that Buffy would understand.
Thanks, Wills. Are you gonna be okay without me there? Buffy asked, realising there was trouble.
Yup. I got it all under control, Willow reassured, cutting the link.
Buffy looked at everyone. "Maybe it will make it easier if I take the confusion spell off of myself?" She suggested, starting to focus.
"Confusion spell? What exactly does that do?" Remus asked her. When she was done, he felt something clicking in his mind.
"Whenever someone comes close to discovering who I really am if I don't tell them, then they become diverted and their attention is drawn to something else," Buffy explained after releasing the spell. Dumbledore gasped.
"You! Elizabeth Potter!" It was very hard to get Dumbledore surprised, but it happened.
"Yes, me," Buffy replied, suddenly not sure about her decision.
"Buffy?" Remus asked, looking at her. "Is it really you?"
"Yeah, Moony. It's not that easy to get rid of me," she answered, hugging him tightly. He returned it, burying his face in her hair.
"Hey Moony! Get your paws off of my girl!" Growled a voice that was familiar and not at the same time.
Buffy looked over and gasped as she saw...
I know, it's a cliffhanger, but I couldn't resist. I wanted a good place to end, and this seemed like it. Hehehe. Sorry. I'll get writing soon, I promise. It's 10:45 at night, so wait until tomorrow and I'll give you more writing, okay?
Peace, love, and Music for all!!
Chris