Disclaimer: Still don't own any of them.
Reviews: Please, pretty, pretty, pretty please?
Pairings: Look in previous chapters.
Catlimere: Thanks so much for your input. I really enjoy knowing what people think of my work.
CinnamonGrrl: Thanks to you too for your help. Your suggestions are so useful; it was really nice to get some constructive criticism.
Helga: You're wonderful for reviewing even if you don't read this type of fic very much.
Chapter 5: Los Estudiantes
Buffy was true to her word, within eight days, she had learned all of the information in all the books all the way through seventh year. DADA books were useless to her, but she read them anyway so she could relate to her students. There was no way that she was going to disappoint Dumbledore, who had given her a chance when few others would have done so. She had yet to screw up a Potion. Unexpectedly, Buffy had never opened up like the teachers expected.
Most of the time, new teachers began to make friends with the rest of the staff and be more exuberant within five days of arriving, but Buffy had, if anything, become more reclusive. She had diverged no more details to what had happened to her earlier. Dumbledore had shown her the workout room that some of the teachers used to keep their reflexes in shape. Anyone who had seen her in that room could not say that her injured leg hindered her in any way when she was fighting. For the most part, Buffy spoke only to Dumbledore, Dobby, Remus, Minerva, and Severus.
Remus had surprised everyone. He had rejected most people's sympathy and friendship for the summer, but he had accepted Buffy's friendship. She didn't pity him; she acted normal. He had returned to teaching, which was something he loved, and he had made a friend who could honestly commiserate with him.
The most disastrous event had been when Sybil Trelawney had descended from her tower and ran into Buffy. Sybil began to predict, "I see a very violent, early death for you. Pain follows you everywhere and will never let you escape its grasp. Some has been undeserved, but much deserved."
That was the last straw on Buffy's nerves. Seers weren't real in her book, but Sybil's words seemed to strike a chord with her and Buffy collapsed into tears. Sybil ran shrieking through the halls. The first person to arrive was Severus Snape. "What happened?" he asked, worried for her. She seemed to be made of a very fine crystal. Beautiful and strong, but if pushed in the wrong way, she could break.
Buffy mumbled, "Nothing. Sybil told me the truth. I've deserved everything I've gotten."
"What!?" he gasped, Sybil had never been that cruel before, then he told her, "Most of her prophecies are fake anyway."
"But she was right about dying. I have died early. Twice. Death and pain follow me wherever I go, both of which I deserve," she sobbed. Severus was taken aback by this admission.
Dumbledore had arrived by that time and he told her, "Miss Summers, Sybil predicts an early, violent death for everyone, even me."
"Oh." Severus and Minerva walked with Buffy to her rooms and made sure that she was okay. She had seemed to calm down after she realized that Trelawney was a phony. But Severus swore that he could see a level of self-loathing in her eyes. Before he left, Severus assured himself that Buffy was emotionally stabile.
Everyone in the castle was concerned for their new comrade's well being. She had grown to be like a little sister for Remus and Minerva, and Severus wasn't sure where she fit in his heart. Of course, it was only recently that he had found that he had one.
Finally, the day that the students started had arrived. Buffy walked into the Great Hall for breakfast dressed in her standard scarlet-and-silver robes and her blond hair bound tightly against her head. She came off as very stern yet also beautiful.
Before Buffy rose from her seat, Flitwick and Snape approached her seat with a box. "This is a gift from the staff here to you. So you can look the part of a DADA teacher," Severus told her.
Buffy carefully opened the package to reveal a hand carved, gilded cane. The head of a lion and the head of a snake adorned the handle. The handle pulled out to reveal a gleaming sword covered in ancient runes. "It's beautiful," she gasped.
Dumbledore explained the runes and told her, "The runes make it far more powerful against magical enemies. Its name is Anduthoniel. It belonged to the last Slayer to attend Hogwarts, two thousand years ago."
As the carriages began to approach, Buffy put her hood up so no one could see her face. Buffy managed to sit through the Sorting Ceremony and watched as Slytherin house gained several students. Most of the other students were too afraid to come to Hogwarts after Voldemort's return. Gryffindor was the only other house to gain more than one student. After the Sorting, Dumbledore stood up to make the Opening Feast announcements: "Welcome to Hogwarts. As you know, the Forbidden Forest, is obviously, forbidden, and curfew is in effect for all students. And now I would like to introduce this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts instructors: the returning Remus Lupin and Buffy Summers." With this, Buffy stood and removed her hood. Everyone gasped.
The Great Hall filled with murmurs as everyone digested this new information. The students seemed to think that she was very young and small to be teaching such a class as DADA. Eventually, Dumbledore interrupted their murmurs with, "And now, let's eat!"
During the meal, Buffy noticed that the boy everyone was so excited about, Harry Potter, was not present at the meal. She leaned over and mentioned it to Dumbledore. Dumbledore asked Minerva, "Could you please go and get Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley from their tables and bring them up here." Minerva looked up and saw that the two young Gryffindors were staring at her anyway, so she just waved them up. They jumped up and nearly ran up to the teachers' table. "Where is Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
Ron told him worriedly, "Neither of us knows. Harry was writing us regularly and told us in his last letter, two days ago, that he would see us on the train today."
"He said his relatives were being rude and everything, but that was normal for Harry, so it's possible he might have been kidnapped," Hermione blurted.
"Now, now," soothed Dumbledore, "We don't know what happened at all yet. I'm going to send two Professors to the Dursleys to see if he's there now. Please, return to your seats and see me when the feast is over. I don't want to alarm anyone."
They did return to their seats, looking very somber. Dumbledore turned around and asked, "Severus, Buffy, would you mind going to the Dursleys' house to check on Harry to me?"
"Why us, Headmaster?" Buffy asked.
"Because you, my dear, are very familiar with Muggle ways, and Severus is the most powerful dueler I know other than myself, Harry, Voldemort, and you. Could you take the Floo?" Dumbledore asked them.
Severus and Buffy hurried to the fireplace in Dumbledore's office. Severus explained, "We floo into Arabella Figg's house. She's a squib, but she has her fireplace connected."
"Arabella Figg!" bellowed the two professors as they disappeared in the fireplace.
Severus arrived before Buffy. She stumbled out of the fireplace and Severus caught her as she tripped over one of Arabella's many cats. "Definitely not my fave mode of transport, Sev," Buffy grumbled, brushing soot off her nose.
The two walked toward Number 4 Privet Drive. As they went up to ring the bell, Buffy transfigured her gilded cane into a small necklace, which she put around her neck. She could walk without her cane, but she was much slower. A horrendously fat boy answered the door and hollered as he ran from them, "Dad, the freak's friends are here!"
An equally enormous man lumbered up to the door and told them, "We don't permit that kind in this house."
"We're looking for Harry Potter," Severus told him.
The man's face turned redder and he told them, "I kicked that freak out like I should have long ago."
"Mr. Dursley, I dearly hope that you are not speaking of your own nephew in that voice," Buffy said sweetly.
"Why would you hope that?"
Buffy smiled sinisterly and told him, "Because Harry hasn't shown up for school. And I have just recorded what you said to me. And you, as his guardian, have a legal obligation to keep him or turn him over to proper officials. And my legal obligation is to report this to the proper authorities so that they may investigate your treatment of your Wizard nephew." Severus looked at Buffy and saw a hardness and courage that he had never seen in her face before.
The man only thought a second before his whole attitude changed. Surely he could not have the rest of the neighborhood find out that his nephew was a Wizard. He smiled and held his hand out as he said, "I am Vernon Dursley, and if you would please follow me, I will take you to Harry. I'm sorry about the misunderstanding, I was only joking, you see, Harry has decided that a normal school would really be the best place for him."
"Lead us."
Vernon Dursley trudged up the stairs and came to a heavily locked door. He took out a ring of keys and began to unlock all of them. Buffy waved a hand and all the locks came undone. Severus reached out and opened the door. The two rushed in once they saw the figure lying on the floor of the empty room. No one saw Vernon disappear.
Harry Potter was crumpled on the floor, apparently the victim of a harsh beating. Buffy was looking over him. "Some of these bruises and whip marks are several days old. Some have already scarred over. Sev, he's been beaten all summer," she nearly cried, her voice full of pain.
Harry was conscious, but not really in great shape. "I'm okay, miss, just need a lil sleep," he mumbled.
Severus was seething with anger as he hissed, "Mr. Dursley, do you have any idea was the penalty is for physically abusing a child?"
Buffy turned instinctively just in time to see Vernon aiming a shotgun at them. She raised her hand and shot a stunning spell towards him, but even when it hit it didn't effect him at all. Time seemed to slow as she found herself jumping up to shield Severus and Harry from the shot. Buffy caught most of the shot in the chest.
"Stupefy!" Severus yelled as he pointed his want at Vernon. Then both he and Harry crouched down to look at the wounded girl.
Buffy whispered, "You're both safe. Dobby will be so happy. So will Dumbledore." She released a weak cough as blood dribbled from her mouth.
"Will she be alright?" Harry asked his Potions teacher.
Severus gather the girl in his arms, not caring if he hurt her, for his only goal was to get her to Hogwarts. "Harry, is the fireplace in the Floo network?"
"Yes, Professor Snape, for emergencies."
The two rushed down the stairs and Flooed back to the Hogwarts infirmary. "POPPY!" Severus roared.
Poppy came rushing out of her office. "What happened?"
"She was hit with a Muggle fireweapon."
"A gun. Then, put her on the bed," Poppy instructed. She has spoken with Buffy about repairing her leg earlier, but when she looked closely at the injury, it was both too old and too severe to completely fix it. Now, she rushed off to get supplies to treat the wound.
Severus whirled around and growled at Harry, "Go get the Headmaster! Then return to get your wounds looked at."
"Please, Professor Snape, make sure she lives, I owe her my life," Harry begged.
"So do I," Severus replied, "Now go get Albus!"
Severus rushed back in to give Poppy a hand. Over the next half-hour, Severus and Poppy worked to repair the injured tissue. The lead shot had been removed, thanks to a potion, which made the lead 'float'. Most of the tissue had been repaired, but her lungs and the ribs that were broken would take a few days to heal. Severus explained the situation to Dumbledore, "She threw her life in the way for two people she barely knew. Poppy estimates only a few days, a week at the most, before she'll be fully healed, but she didn't know that when she leapt in front of it. She wants me to come by tomorrow morning to assess the potions' effectiveness on her. Buffy didn't react to some potions like other people do. Merlin, Albus, she doesn't even seem to value her life like other people do."
"Severus, Buffy values her life exactly how all Slayers have, at least the good ones: a disposable tool," Dumbledore told him.
Severus shook his head in amazement, "She hasn't always thought that way, has she?"
"No, she hasn't. Six months ago, Buffy valued her life like anyone else. She was the longest living Slayer on record, so she believed that her point of view on life benefited her slaying. Then a close friend snapped and turned on her, killing most of her other friends. Since then, she has abandoned her previous view of life and sees everything quite cynically."
"Oh. How sad," Severus mumbled, and walked off, thoroughly disturbed by Dumbledore's insight.
Harry was waiting outside the infirmary. "Professor Snape, how is the blond girl?" he asked, terribly worried about her.
Severus's face softened ever so slightly and he replied, "She's doing very well, Potter. You can expect to have your DADA teacher back by the end of the week."
"May I see her?'
"You have to ask Madam Pomfrey," Severus told him. The Potions Master walked away, rethinking his views on both Buffy Summers and Harry Potter.
Madam Pomfrey tended to Harry's wounds and then told him to come back to see Buffy when she awakened. Buffy had already reawakened briefly and was fine. The mediwitch would need to keep an eye on her for the next eight hours, but everything was healing perfectly. The small blond girl certainly didn't react to things like most people. She seemed far more resistant to injury than most people Poppy had tended to over the years.
Reviews: Please, pretty, pretty, pretty please?
Pairings: Look in previous chapters.
Catlimere: Thanks so much for your input. I really enjoy knowing what people think of my work.
CinnamonGrrl: Thanks to you too for your help. Your suggestions are so useful; it was really nice to get some constructive criticism.
Helga: You're wonderful for reviewing even if you don't read this type of fic very much.
Chapter 5: Los Estudiantes
Buffy was true to her word, within eight days, she had learned all of the information in all the books all the way through seventh year. DADA books were useless to her, but she read them anyway so she could relate to her students. There was no way that she was going to disappoint Dumbledore, who had given her a chance when few others would have done so. She had yet to screw up a Potion. Unexpectedly, Buffy had never opened up like the teachers expected.
Most of the time, new teachers began to make friends with the rest of the staff and be more exuberant within five days of arriving, but Buffy had, if anything, become more reclusive. She had diverged no more details to what had happened to her earlier. Dumbledore had shown her the workout room that some of the teachers used to keep their reflexes in shape. Anyone who had seen her in that room could not say that her injured leg hindered her in any way when she was fighting. For the most part, Buffy spoke only to Dumbledore, Dobby, Remus, Minerva, and Severus.
Remus had surprised everyone. He had rejected most people's sympathy and friendship for the summer, but he had accepted Buffy's friendship. She didn't pity him; she acted normal. He had returned to teaching, which was something he loved, and he had made a friend who could honestly commiserate with him.
The most disastrous event had been when Sybil Trelawney had descended from her tower and ran into Buffy. Sybil began to predict, "I see a very violent, early death for you. Pain follows you everywhere and will never let you escape its grasp. Some has been undeserved, but much deserved."
That was the last straw on Buffy's nerves. Seers weren't real in her book, but Sybil's words seemed to strike a chord with her and Buffy collapsed into tears. Sybil ran shrieking through the halls. The first person to arrive was Severus Snape. "What happened?" he asked, worried for her. She seemed to be made of a very fine crystal. Beautiful and strong, but if pushed in the wrong way, she could break.
Buffy mumbled, "Nothing. Sybil told me the truth. I've deserved everything I've gotten."
"What!?" he gasped, Sybil had never been that cruel before, then he told her, "Most of her prophecies are fake anyway."
"But she was right about dying. I have died early. Twice. Death and pain follow me wherever I go, both of which I deserve," she sobbed. Severus was taken aback by this admission.
Dumbledore had arrived by that time and he told her, "Miss Summers, Sybil predicts an early, violent death for everyone, even me."
"Oh." Severus and Minerva walked with Buffy to her rooms and made sure that she was okay. She had seemed to calm down after she realized that Trelawney was a phony. But Severus swore that he could see a level of self-loathing in her eyes. Before he left, Severus assured himself that Buffy was emotionally stabile.
Everyone in the castle was concerned for their new comrade's well being. She had grown to be like a little sister for Remus and Minerva, and Severus wasn't sure where she fit in his heart. Of course, it was only recently that he had found that he had one.
Finally, the day that the students started had arrived. Buffy walked into the Great Hall for breakfast dressed in her standard scarlet-and-silver robes and her blond hair bound tightly against her head. She came off as very stern yet also beautiful.
Before Buffy rose from her seat, Flitwick and Snape approached her seat with a box. "This is a gift from the staff here to you. So you can look the part of a DADA teacher," Severus told her.
Buffy carefully opened the package to reveal a hand carved, gilded cane. The head of a lion and the head of a snake adorned the handle. The handle pulled out to reveal a gleaming sword covered in ancient runes. "It's beautiful," she gasped.
Dumbledore explained the runes and told her, "The runes make it far more powerful against magical enemies. Its name is Anduthoniel. It belonged to the last Slayer to attend Hogwarts, two thousand years ago."
As the carriages began to approach, Buffy put her hood up so no one could see her face. Buffy managed to sit through the Sorting Ceremony and watched as Slytherin house gained several students. Most of the other students were too afraid to come to Hogwarts after Voldemort's return. Gryffindor was the only other house to gain more than one student. After the Sorting, Dumbledore stood up to make the Opening Feast announcements: "Welcome to Hogwarts. As you know, the Forbidden Forest, is obviously, forbidden, and curfew is in effect for all students. And now I would like to introduce this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts instructors: the returning Remus Lupin and Buffy Summers." With this, Buffy stood and removed her hood. Everyone gasped.
The Great Hall filled with murmurs as everyone digested this new information. The students seemed to think that she was very young and small to be teaching such a class as DADA. Eventually, Dumbledore interrupted their murmurs with, "And now, let's eat!"
During the meal, Buffy noticed that the boy everyone was so excited about, Harry Potter, was not present at the meal. She leaned over and mentioned it to Dumbledore. Dumbledore asked Minerva, "Could you please go and get Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley from their tables and bring them up here." Minerva looked up and saw that the two young Gryffindors were staring at her anyway, so she just waved them up. They jumped up and nearly ran up to the teachers' table. "Where is Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
Ron told him worriedly, "Neither of us knows. Harry was writing us regularly and told us in his last letter, two days ago, that he would see us on the train today."
"He said his relatives were being rude and everything, but that was normal for Harry, so it's possible he might have been kidnapped," Hermione blurted.
"Now, now," soothed Dumbledore, "We don't know what happened at all yet. I'm going to send two Professors to the Dursleys to see if he's there now. Please, return to your seats and see me when the feast is over. I don't want to alarm anyone."
They did return to their seats, looking very somber. Dumbledore turned around and asked, "Severus, Buffy, would you mind going to the Dursleys' house to check on Harry to me?"
"Why us, Headmaster?" Buffy asked.
"Because you, my dear, are very familiar with Muggle ways, and Severus is the most powerful dueler I know other than myself, Harry, Voldemort, and you. Could you take the Floo?" Dumbledore asked them.
Severus and Buffy hurried to the fireplace in Dumbledore's office. Severus explained, "We floo into Arabella Figg's house. She's a squib, but she has her fireplace connected."
"Arabella Figg!" bellowed the two professors as they disappeared in the fireplace.
Severus arrived before Buffy. She stumbled out of the fireplace and Severus caught her as she tripped over one of Arabella's many cats. "Definitely not my fave mode of transport, Sev," Buffy grumbled, brushing soot off her nose.
The two walked toward Number 4 Privet Drive. As they went up to ring the bell, Buffy transfigured her gilded cane into a small necklace, which she put around her neck. She could walk without her cane, but she was much slower. A horrendously fat boy answered the door and hollered as he ran from them, "Dad, the freak's friends are here!"
An equally enormous man lumbered up to the door and told them, "We don't permit that kind in this house."
"We're looking for Harry Potter," Severus told him.
The man's face turned redder and he told them, "I kicked that freak out like I should have long ago."
"Mr. Dursley, I dearly hope that you are not speaking of your own nephew in that voice," Buffy said sweetly.
"Why would you hope that?"
Buffy smiled sinisterly and told him, "Because Harry hasn't shown up for school. And I have just recorded what you said to me. And you, as his guardian, have a legal obligation to keep him or turn him over to proper officials. And my legal obligation is to report this to the proper authorities so that they may investigate your treatment of your Wizard nephew." Severus looked at Buffy and saw a hardness and courage that he had never seen in her face before.
The man only thought a second before his whole attitude changed. Surely he could not have the rest of the neighborhood find out that his nephew was a Wizard. He smiled and held his hand out as he said, "I am Vernon Dursley, and if you would please follow me, I will take you to Harry. I'm sorry about the misunderstanding, I was only joking, you see, Harry has decided that a normal school would really be the best place for him."
"Lead us."
Vernon Dursley trudged up the stairs and came to a heavily locked door. He took out a ring of keys and began to unlock all of them. Buffy waved a hand and all the locks came undone. Severus reached out and opened the door. The two rushed in once they saw the figure lying on the floor of the empty room. No one saw Vernon disappear.
Harry Potter was crumpled on the floor, apparently the victim of a harsh beating. Buffy was looking over him. "Some of these bruises and whip marks are several days old. Some have already scarred over. Sev, he's been beaten all summer," she nearly cried, her voice full of pain.
Harry was conscious, but not really in great shape. "I'm okay, miss, just need a lil sleep," he mumbled.
Severus was seething with anger as he hissed, "Mr. Dursley, do you have any idea was the penalty is for physically abusing a child?"
Buffy turned instinctively just in time to see Vernon aiming a shotgun at them. She raised her hand and shot a stunning spell towards him, but even when it hit it didn't effect him at all. Time seemed to slow as she found herself jumping up to shield Severus and Harry from the shot. Buffy caught most of the shot in the chest.
"Stupefy!" Severus yelled as he pointed his want at Vernon. Then both he and Harry crouched down to look at the wounded girl.
Buffy whispered, "You're both safe. Dobby will be so happy. So will Dumbledore." She released a weak cough as blood dribbled from her mouth.
"Will she be alright?" Harry asked his Potions teacher.
Severus gather the girl in his arms, not caring if he hurt her, for his only goal was to get her to Hogwarts. "Harry, is the fireplace in the Floo network?"
"Yes, Professor Snape, for emergencies."
The two rushed down the stairs and Flooed back to the Hogwarts infirmary. "POPPY!" Severus roared.
Poppy came rushing out of her office. "What happened?"
"She was hit with a Muggle fireweapon."
"A gun. Then, put her on the bed," Poppy instructed. She has spoken with Buffy about repairing her leg earlier, but when she looked closely at the injury, it was both too old and too severe to completely fix it. Now, she rushed off to get supplies to treat the wound.
Severus whirled around and growled at Harry, "Go get the Headmaster! Then return to get your wounds looked at."
"Please, Professor Snape, make sure she lives, I owe her my life," Harry begged.
"So do I," Severus replied, "Now go get Albus!"
Severus rushed back in to give Poppy a hand. Over the next half-hour, Severus and Poppy worked to repair the injured tissue. The lead shot had been removed, thanks to a potion, which made the lead 'float'. Most of the tissue had been repaired, but her lungs and the ribs that were broken would take a few days to heal. Severus explained the situation to Dumbledore, "She threw her life in the way for two people she barely knew. Poppy estimates only a few days, a week at the most, before she'll be fully healed, but she didn't know that when she leapt in front of it. She wants me to come by tomorrow morning to assess the potions' effectiveness on her. Buffy didn't react to some potions like other people do. Merlin, Albus, she doesn't even seem to value her life like other people do."
"Severus, Buffy values her life exactly how all Slayers have, at least the good ones: a disposable tool," Dumbledore told him.
Severus shook his head in amazement, "She hasn't always thought that way, has she?"
"No, she hasn't. Six months ago, Buffy valued her life like anyone else. She was the longest living Slayer on record, so she believed that her point of view on life benefited her slaying. Then a close friend snapped and turned on her, killing most of her other friends. Since then, she has abandoned her previous view of life and sees everything quite cynically."
"Oh. How sad," Severus mumbled, and walked off, thoroughly disturbed by Dumbledore's insight.
Harry was waiting outside the infirmary. "Professor Snape, how is the blond girl?" he asked, terribly worried about her.
Severus's face softened ever so slightly and he replied, "She's doing very well, Potter. You can expect to have your DADA teacher back by the end of the week."
"May I see her?'
"You have to ask Madam Pomfrey," Severus told him. The Potions Master walked away, rethinking his views on both Buffy Summers and Harry Potter.
Madam Pomfrey tended to Harry's wounds and then told him to come back to see Buffy when she awakened. Buffy had already reawakened briefly and was fine. The mediwitch would need to keep an eye on her for the next eight hours, but everything was healing perfectly. The small blond girl certainly didn't react to things like most people. She seemed far more resistant to injury than most people Poppy had tended to over the years.