CHAPTER SIX: PROVOCATION
"Which means that Voldemort knows how and why I was banished. He knows that I hate Minister Fudge, and he knows that I want to go back," Buffy finished.
"What he doesn't realise is that you are one of the most morally incorruptible people on this earth," Giles interjected.
Buffy gave a wan smile at her Watcher, thankful that he had faith in her loyalty to the side of light. And while part of her would have loved to see Fudge booted from his seat of power, she wanted him to lose it fairly to a better Minister who didn't have the emotional connection when it came to the conditions of the contract she'd signed.
"Which means that mom's in trouble," Buffy added. "And seeing as I'm not allowed anywhere near St Mungo's, there's no way that I can possibly protect her."
"She is well protected Phoenix, I promise you that," Dumbledore assured her. "I wouldn't allow any harm to come to your mother, or to Frank either."
Buffy nodded, logically knowing that Dumbledore could do a far better job of protecting her biological mother than she could ever do, but the irrational side of her hated being stuck in Sunnydale while a war was being waged.
"If this Voltron guy's been brought back or whatever, maybe this Minister Fudge guy will let you go back," Xander suggested. "I mean, who wouldn't want a Slayer on their side?"
"You raise a good point Mr Harris," Dumbledore replied, making Xander puff up with some pride. "Unfortunately Minister Fudge is refusing to acknowledge Lord Voldemort's return."
"What!" Buffy exclaimed loudly. "Are you serious? Fudge is denying he's back? Is he insane?"
"Not insane," Dumbledore replied quietly. "Just in denial, and rather fearful that his position as Minister will be stripped if he acknowledges the truth. Most everyone will be somewhat panicked by the return of the Dark Lord, and will want a Minister with power."
"Meaning you," Buffy said, reading the subtext.
Dumbledore sighed softly and looked at his granddaughter with sad and serious eyes.
"You know that I will never take the mantle of Minister of Magic," he replied.
"Hogwarts would fall without you," Buffy replied.
"You exaggerate slightly, little one," Dumbledore said softly.
Buffy rolled her eyes at the name, but said nothing. Her grandfather was possibly the only person who could get away with calling her that without being seriously injured for it.
"However, I do fear that Hogwarts will fall without you there, dear girl," Dumbledore said, looking seriously at his granddaughter.
Buffy just looked back at him incomprehensively.
"What? You know I can't go back," Buffy replied softly.
"I would not ask this of you if the situation wasn't serious. But I do recall you being the first to put yourself between Harry Potter and anyone who wished to cause him harm," Dumbledore explained. "Surely you recall the incident with the troll, and then following him through the trapdoor to stop Lord Voldemort from retrieving the Stone. You were one of the few who remained truly supportive of Harry when the rest of Hogwarts was convinced he was the Heir of Slytherin."
"But I'm not allowed back there," Buffy reminded him. "That contract I signed was pretty damned specific. There aren't any loopholes in wizarding contracts Papa, you know that."
Dumbledore was silent, and Buffy looked at him, trying to work out what her grandfather was thinking. She didn't particularly like where her musings were taking her.
"You want me to go back without Ministry permission," Buffy deduced.
"No, no, that would be far too dangerous. You remember Dolores Umbridge, of course?"
Buffy groaned and rolled her eyes. Seeing the confused looks of the Scoobies and her Watcher, Buffy quickly elaborated.
"Umbridge was possibly the worst of the panel of witches and wizards at my trial. She's pretty tight with Fudge, and she was bringing up any and every misdemeanour from my first few years at Hogwarts. She hates any and all magical creatures, even Slayers. She prefers people to be one hundred percent human and wizard all in one. A real stickler for purebloods," Buffy explained. Buffy then turned to her grandfather curiously. "What does that toad have to do with anything?"
"She's the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor."
"What!" Buffy cried in disgust. "Her? Why would you hire her?"
"Because no one else wanted the position of DADA Professor," Dumbledore explained. "The Minister decided that he should be able to appoint anyone to an unfulfilled position if I was unable to locate an appropriate professor."
"Which means that if I even went back to Hogwarts, Umbridge would notify the Ministry within minutes of spotting me," Buffy mused.
The group fell silent, trying to truly understand what Dumbledore was suggesting. And while Buffy's two best friends may not have properly understood everything that they had just learned, they certainly had a lot to think about.
"I don't suppose we could see the contract that you were coerced into signing?" Giles asked.
"The only copy I have is still in a box somewhere," Buffy admitted.
Dumbledore again reached into his robes and pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment held together by a green ribbon.
"Conveniently enough, I did bring a copy along," the elderly wizard said, handing the parchment to Giles.
Xander looked at Dumbledore agog, wondering just how many hiding places the wizard had within his robes. It seemed to have a dozen hidden compartments, each of them housing so many different things.
Giles undid the scroll and laid it out on the table. Willow leant forward to look at what had been written, her eyes scanning the page and recognising Buffy's signature, regardless of the fact that it had been nearly two years since she'd signed it.
"It seems fairly solid," Giles commented.
"It's a Wizarding Contract. They don't have loopholes," Buffy replied.
"What does it say?" Xander asked curiously, though not curious enough to bump Willow out of her seat so he could see what was on the parchment.
"I, Buffy Anne Summers, the Vampire Slayer and the Chosen One, do solemnly swear that from this day forth, I shall never venture into the wizarding world again. Not for any reason shall I step foot into a store, area, school, hospital or sporting field, under pain of death," Giles recited, pausing with pain in his voice as he reached the section regarding death. "I agree that I have willingly signed this document, and will make no move to contest the conditions placed upon me for as long as I remain the Chosen One, as defined by Section 7c of the International Being Division for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. The breaching of this agreement will result in execution. Signed Buffy Anne Summers."
"Harsh," Xander whispered, though for all his flippancy, he was stunned that the Ministry of Magic had forced a fifteen year old to sign a contract like that.
"But…you can't legally be held accountable if you signed that while you were underage," Willow said, having some knowledge of the law. "You were only fifteen."
"Papa D was one of my signatories. If I break contract, it'd be blamed on him as well," Buffy explained.
"It does seem to be ironclad," Giles said, removing his glasses to polish the lenses, a sign that he was becoming stressed by the situation. "It goes so far as to define exactly what the Chosen One is. According to Section 7c, a Vampire Slayer is the one girl in all the world chosen to hunt the vampires. The Chosen One. She is the Slayer."
"And there's no way for you to stop being the Slayer," Xander added, looking more serious than he ever had.
"I suppose if you really wanted a Slayer at Hogwarts, we could get in contact with Kendra," Buffy suggested.
Dumbledore looked at his granddaughter in complete confusion.
"Kendra?" he repeated questioningly.
"The other Slayer," Buffy explained. "You do remember me telling you about that whole me dying thing, right?"
Dumbledore nodded and stroked his beard thoughtfully. It was a move he often made whenever he was thinking things through, the constant motion of his fingers coming through his facial hair was soothing, and allowed him to remain calm. The Headmaster of Hogwarts didn't like thinking of the incident that Buffy was speaking of, especially seeing as he'd been unable to give aid to his troubled young granddaughter when she'd so desperately needed it.
"Kendra!" Willow suddenly yelled.
Buffy, Xander, Giles and Dumbledore all turned to the redhead, who blushed under their scrutinising gaze.
"Well, it's just…Kendra's a Slayer," Willow stammered out.
"Uh, yeah, we just kinda established that Will," Xander pointed out.
"Noooo, Kendra's a Slayer. A Chosen One. Meaning that the definition given by the International Division of whatever isn't applicable anymore. There is no Chosen One anymore. There's two of you," Willow rambled out with excitement. "I mean, you could technically claim that you're not even the Slayer anymore seeing as you've…y'know, passed the torch or whatever."
Buffy's jaw dropped and she grabbed the contract from across the table, spinning it around to carefully read over the description given by the International Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. The wording of the definition, and in the contract had given her a loophole, something almost unheard of within the wizarding world. The contract was only valid while there was only one Chosen One.
"Will, I could kiss you!" Buffy exclaimed with excitement.
Willow blushed and smiled proudly. Xander gave his redheaded best friend a one-armed hug, his own grin brimming with pride at her quick thinking.
"Miss Rosenberg, I think you'd have made a fine Ravenclaw," Dumbledore complimented her. "They're said to be the most brilliant witches and wizards to ever go through Hogwarts."
Willow went even redder at the compliment and ducked her head shyly.
"Fudge won't buy this," Buffy suddenly said, her grin fading. "They'd just change their definition of what a Slayer is."
"Ah yes, but as Miss Rosenberg just said, you are no longer the Slayer. The line no longer passes through you, and you, therefore, are technically no longer a Slayer," Dumbledore reminded her. "Trust me, Phoenix, when I'm through with the Wizengamot, they'll have no choice but to allow you to return home."
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Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Been completely absentminded aand having a break from writing. Enjoy the updates, and if you're an SG-1 fan, go check out my new BTVS/SG-1 fic as well, it's called Long Lost, and is, as it sounds, a long lost relative fic.
Toodles.
Kattie.