Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer nor Harry Potter. All of the characters, settings, themes, books, show, titles, worlds, names, demons, witches, slayers, creation, references, and basic gist of the two fantasy worlds all belong the Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Warner Bros., and of course, J.K. Rowling. All rights reserved.
Timeline: Story is set 1 year after Season 7 and five days before Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban. Just for possible future references, the story will be happening during Angel's Season 5.
Author's Note: Whoohoo! Thanks for the review guys! Don't stop sending them in. Up next: Good ol' Buff finally meets Hagrid and sees what lies behind the Leaky Cauldron. Literally. Now go on! Read to find out more! Oh and several cookie points if you know the movie I'm talking about later on.
-
---
Chapter 4—The Escape
---
-
Friday went by quickly; much too quickly for Buffy's taste. The gang decided to leave Buffy's departure partly told to the Slayers to keep things simple, saying that she went for a vacation and will be back in the following summer.
Faith was officially appointed as the new 'head teacher' and the Slayers took the new change with little question. Even Xander called in sick just to hang out with them.
The Scoobies helped Buffy pack her clothes, while Andrew, who filmed through all of it, made some quirky commentaries while they did and almost ended up being thrown out of the window.
Finally, Saturday came and it was time for Buffy to leave. She was about to call a cab to take her to London when another owl came in an open window. Andrew, Faith, Xander, and Giles were startled at the strange entrance of the bird but Buffy and Dawn calmed them down.
The Slayer took the package away from the owl that she recognized as Albert and gave him some bread before he flew away. She opened the package without caution when she saw Dumbledore's familiar handwriting. A purple, velvet pouch came out along with a letter with a small message:
-
"The pouch enclosed is a Portkey. It will take you directly to the Leaky Cauldron and will leave at exactly 9:30 A.M. Hold on to the pouch and your baggage tightly.
–Albus Dumbledore."
-
"Wicked," Faith muttered lowly as she read over Buffy's shoulders. The blonde Slayer took no notice and looked at her watch. It read 9:29, giving her exactly a minute to get her final goodbyes done.
She turned to her small group of friends with a shaky smile. "Guess this is it guys," they all smiled sadly, knowing that it would be long before they see her again. Buffy turned to her sister and said, "Take care, Dawnie."
Her sister merely nodded, unable to say anything else. Buffy smiled once more before holding on to the pouch and her luggage tightly. The sudden tugging sensation happened again and her friend's faces disappeared in a blur of colors.
-
---
-
The Leaky Cauldron
-
Buffy reappeared in the familiar pub and caught herself before she could fall again on the hard ground. She was about to cheer to herself for her small feat when a large man suddenly towered her.
A very large, hairy man.
Buffy was about to ask him what he wanted but he beat her to it.
"Yer Miss Summers, I presume?" he asked her, his thick beard making his voice sound gruff. Buffy had to crane her neck to get a better view of his face.
"Yes…and you would be…?"
"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys in the grounds of Hogwarts. 'Tis a pleasure tah finally meet yeh, Professor Summers. Now, it would be best to check yeh in 'fore we go to Diagon Alley. Come this way," Hagrid instructed her, the gruffness from his voice was replaced by a smile.
Buffy stared at his retreating back before picking up her bags. Dumbledore never said her 'helper' would be gigantic! Literally.
When she finally caught up to him, he looked at her bags surprise. "Oh, begging yer pardon, Professor! I'll help yeh with yer luggage."
Buffy smiled at him but shook her head. "Don't worry about it Hagrid. I can carry it, being me as the Sla- I mean being me and all," she lamely corrected herself. Hagrid smiled at her knowingly. "Plus, you're already helping me with my shopping and stuff so it's fine. And it's just Buffy."
"Its common courtesy is what it is, Prof- Buffy. But if yeh insist," he shrugged. They finally came up to a bartender who Buffy guessed was the owner of the Leaky Cauldron.
He spotted them coming and greeted them both with toothy grin.
"Good morning, Hagrid! And I'm bettin' this is Professor Summers, correct?" the Slayer nodded slowly, surprised at how he knew her name. "Dumbledore told me 'bout you," he said, as if he heard her question. "Good wizard that man is, but he never did say the new professor was a pretty one! Anyways, he asked me to reserve yeh a room in 'ere. It'll be the second door to yer left in the third floor. I would lead yeh up there but customers," he pointed at the incoming witches and wizards as he offered them the key.
"Don't worry about it, Tom. I'll lead Professor Summers to her room," Hagrid said with a wink to Buffy, emphasizing on her title. He took the key from Tom and lead Buffy to her room.
After Buffy dropped off her bags, Hagrid led her to the back of the Leaky Cauldron. "Mind telling me why we're here, Hags?"
Hagrid simply took out a pink umbrella and started tapping the brick wall in front of them. Buffy arched her brow and was about to ask him about it when the brick wall started to move. It opened a gap that was large enough to let two Hagrids pass by with little discomfort. But it was what behind the wall that made Buffy's jaw drop.
"Welcome Buffy, to Diagon Alley."
It took the Slayer a second to finally compose of herself. "I'll never get used to this magic everywhere thing, am I?"
Hagrid chuckled at her complaint and started to lead her through the cobbled road. "Now, I suppose ye'll be needin' to withdraw from the Council's bank account in Gringotts before yeh buy anythin' else. Yeh got yer key and the pouch?"
Buffy took out the two items. "Double check," she said.
Buffy suddenly wished that they could walk so much slower, or be a tad bit taller. The sights and sounds around her completely attracted her attention.
From the store that sold animals, to ones that solf cauldrons, to the potions store and to others that she didn't have time to get a glimpse at. She finally gave up trying and vowed herself to visit every store before she had to leave the Leaky Cauldron.
"So, where's this 'bank' I keep on hearing about?"
A large, white building suddenly towered them, with the words: 'Gringotts Wizardry Bank' imprinted in bold black right above a set of doors.
Hagrid chuckled once more at her reaction. Buffy glared at him playfully before muttering lowly, "Shut it, Chuckles."
He must've heard what she said since he laughed even louder. The Slayer shook her head at him and they both walked closer to the building. As they did, Buffy noticed a creature standing next to the set of doors and visibly tensed when she recognized it.
"It's a goblin, Buffy. They run the whole bank so it' best to keep yer…strength in check, if you get my meanin'," he muttered lowly to her.
When they finally reached him, the goblin merely bowed and opened the doors to let them through. Instead of entering the bank, they faced another set of doors with words written on them.
"'Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there',"
Buffy read out loud and turned to Hagrid incredulously. "You guys have serious issues with your doors," she said with a shake of her head before entering the bank.
What greeted her was something she did not expect. A large marble hall appeared in front of them and hundreds more goblins came bustling in and out of numerous doors.
Hagrid led her to the nearest open ledger where a goblin stared at them with a pair of beady eyes. "What can I do for you today?" he drawled in a bored tone. Hagrid nudged Buffy when she didn't speak.
"Oh yeah!"—the goblin rolled its eyes—"Um, I'm here to make an…uh…withdrawal," Buffy stammered an explanation.
"And do you have your key?" it sneered at her.
Buffy was about to teach him a thing or two about customer rights before Hagrid cleared his throat loudly. Instead of punching the lights out of him, Buffy smiled forcibly and showed him her key.
The goblin took it and looked at the key with narrowed eyes.
"Everything seems to be in order, Miss," he muttered gruffly before handing it back to her. "Pindemkin!" he called to a goblin. "Take these two to vault 213."
The goblin nodded at him before he called Buffy and Hagrid to follow him. "Erm, I think I'll stay here and wait fer yeh Buffy. The cart drives to the vaults gets me a bit green in the gills," Hagrid quickly explained.
Buffy pouted but nodded in understanding. Really, who wanted a puking passenger anyways?
"Okay. See ya later, Hags," said Buffy before following the goblin.
They indeed went for a twisting cart ride and Buffy quickly understood at how Hagrid could've gotten sick. Fortunately for her, the Slayer stamina helped her get through it and the kid inside of her was just squealing with delight at the roller coaster type ride. They finally stopped in front of an opening, and the goblin along with the Slayer got out of the cart.
"Vault 213. Just insert your key in the hole, Miss," he instructed.
At least he's nicer, Buffy thought to herself while she walked towards the wall.
She found the hole he was talking about and inserted the key. Buffy realized that she didn't have to turn the key since the key itself twisted and opened the door to her money with a loud creak.
Piles of gold, silver, and bronze coins appeared and once again, Buffy was awestruck. "Woah…I'm loaded," she added with a grin. "So, how does the money go around here, short stuff?"
The goblin beside her harrumphed indignantly and narrowed its eyes. "The gold ones are Galleons, silver are Sickles, and the bronze are Knuts. 17 Sickles to a Galleon and 29 Knuts to a Sickle. Everyone, knows that," sneered Pindemkin.
On second thought, maybe there really ISN'T a nice goblin, Buffy thought darkly.
She looked around at her vault, wishing that it could be just paper money instead of coins. Buffy was still confused at the currency but nonetheless grabbed a whole bunch of coins randomly and placed it in the purple pouch. When she was finished, she grabbed the key and went back to the cart.
Pindemkin drove the cart up again, and in no time, they were up to the main room.
Buffy rushed up to greet Hagrid. "Yeh finished, Buffy?"
"Well…since all I had to do was get a whole bunch of coins…yeah, I'm pretty much done in Goblin Central," Buffy replied back as they walked towards the exit.
The wizards-and-witches-filled-streets of Diagon Alley appeared once more before them. "So what to buy first…?"
…
The two set out to buy everything that they could possibly think of that Buffy would need to teach Physical Defense. They bought things from quills to parchment and from furniture to candles. They even went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasion to design an outfit for the students especially made for her subject.
Hagrid suggested on basing the color of the uniforms on their House colors; green for Slytherin, scarlet for Gryffindor, yellow for Hufflepuffs, and blue for Ravenclaws.
The first years will buy a plain black outfit but the uniform was charmed to turn into their House colors after they were sorted.
This lead to a conversation about Hogwarts and its Houses, and eventually, it ended up with Hagrid explaining the 'wizard lingo' to Buffy.
With their arms filled with bought items, they made a final stop at Eeylops Owl Emporium to get Buffy an owl. The Slayer took a good look around her, the smells and sounds of birds hitting her at once.
She scanned the room looking for the right pet, stopping occasionally to look at an owl more closely. Her eyes finally landed on an owl that was lurking behind a pair of tawny and barn owls.
Buffy walked closer to the honey colored owl, its brown eyes looking back at hers as if daring her to walk closer.
"I'll take that one," she pointed at the owl. The shop keeper gave her the owl along with the cage and Buffy paid 3 Galleons for the bird.
"What's the next stop, Hagrid?" Buffy asked as they looked for more stores they hadn't gone yet.
As nighttime grew nearer, many of the shops they passed were closing in for the night so there was no real use of buying anymore. True they were only shopping for school supplies, but Buffy was still in too good of a mood to give a damn.
Hagrid looked thoughtful for a moment before answering, "Not that I know of. But I'm sure that you can find some of the things yer missing in Hogsmead. It's the last real wizard settlement left in Britain and it's just a short distance from Hogwarts. 'Sides, its getting a bit dark out here, so we're gonna have to end our shoppin' now and go back to the Leaky Cauldron."
And so back they went to Buffy's room in the Leaky Cauldron where they dropped all of her bags. Hagrid turned to leave before he suddenly remembered something.
"'Ere's yer ticket to the Hogwarts Express. It's at King's Cross, just a few blocks down from here and it leaves at 11:00 on Tuesday. There'll be a barrier between platforms 9 and 10 but all yeh hafta do is go through it and ye'll be there," he instructed simply as he gave her the ticket.
Buffy raised her brow.
"Just…go through the barrier?"
Hagrid nodded as if it's the simplest thing to do. "See yeh at Hogwarts, Buffy," he said before turning around and leaving her room.
After he left, Buffy turned and started to look through the things she bought. She knew that there were some things that she still needed to get for her class, but she highly doubted that any of the wizardry shops here or in Hogsmead sold half the things she had back in Bath for the Slayers. Buffy decided to look in the shops in Muggle London tomorrow.
With a decisive sigh, she stopped shifting through the robes she bought from Madam Malkins. Even though she detest on wearing them profusely, Hagrid some how managed to convince her to buy a pair to wear on special occasions such as the first day of school.
Buffy placed back the light blue robe in the bag and turned to her owl.
"You know what will be great, Mr. Gordo?" the owl hooted, already knowing his name. Buffy started to put her shopping bags away in the corner. "A nice, long, hot bath."
"And I good cleaning around here too!" someone exclaimed. Buffy whipped around suddenly but found no one save for herself and Mr. Gordo in the room.
"Who said that?"
"Why me of course!" Buffy walked closer to where the voice was coming from. "Honestly, haven't you ever seen a talking mirror before?" mirror said incredulously.
"Only the one with the witch and seven dwarves during the whatsits century," Buffy replied, still shocked at the talking mirror in front of her.
"Oh, that mirror," its voice full of annoyance. "Harold, may he rot in a garbage bin, still have the fame stuck up in his thick head ever since he was asked about his part with the old hag, Malodora Grymm, during the Medieval Ages. He always rants about how dreadful Malodora was and how he was forced to tell her about the princess so she could poison her! With an apple no less! Harold can go for hours just describing about the beauty of that girl. 'Her hair black as ebony, lips red as blood, and skin white as snow'," it said in a deep mocking voice. "If I didn't know better I think he would like to marry that girl. Anyway, if you want to see Harold he's downstairs in Room 15," the mirror finished with a huff.
"Uhn…okay…," Buffy finally said, not sure of what to say after that. "I'm gonna…go now." She quickly rounded to the bathroom but suddenly turned when she thought of something.
"Do mirrors even have heads?"
-
---
-
Sunday
-
Morning came slowly and for once, Buffy didn't wake up to teach the Slayers. She rolled over the mattress sleepily, enjoying the last moments of lingering rest before it went away, coming back only when nighttime came. Even Mr. Gordo was still asleep, his head tucked under his wing. Buffy sighed luxuriously.
Nothing could possibly go wrong today.
"G'MORNING, SLEEPYHEAD!" the mirror screeched suddenly.
So much for nothing, Buffy groaned in her head.
The mirror's sudden greeting also startled Mr. Gordo, who glared at the direction of the mirror before hooting at Buffy.
"You better get up and feed that blasted owl of yours," the mirror said darkly. "It never fits well in the room with a bird hooting all bloody day."
Mr. Gordo glared at the mirror again, understanding fully well what it said.
Buffy rolled her eyes at it. It never fits well with a fist on a mirror either, she retorted to herself. Nonetheless, she got up and fed the owl, who hooted gratefully before eating the pellets, glowering time to time at the arrogant mirror.
The mirror started talking about the backside of having a pet, where in both Mr. Gordo and Buffy contented themselves on blocking the annoying voice of the snobbish mirror out of their heads.
The Slayer sat down at on a chair next to a table and her owl's cage and wondered what to do.
Buying the extra supplies would probably be mandatory, so shopping in muggle London was a must then. Buffy grinned at the thought of shopping again but a low growl in her stomach caught her attention.
But breakfast needs to come first. The essential key to getting a day started, she mused.
"…and all the mess they leave around! Ugh, I can't imagine a muggle's life without magic to clean those up…!" Buffy heard the mirror talk in the back.
She turned to Mr. Gordo, who was looking sulky at the ongoing rant of the mirror.
Poor guy.
Buffy took out a piece of parchment and quill, and after several tries on writing with a bird feather, decided to write the gang to spare the bird's sanity.
-
'Hey guys!
Do you mind on keeping Mr. Gordo (my owl. Isn't he pretty?) until this afternoon? I know it would've been easier on talking to you on the phone instead of writing a letter (stupid quill…), but I have a talking mirror in here that won't keep its mouth shut about pet cons.
Speaking of which, everything about the magic world is actually true. Oh, and Willow, if you're reading this, yes, there are broomsticks that actually fly. You know, one of the 'stereo-typical' things in your list thought about witches and wizards?
And sorry Dawnie, I ain't getting you one. The wizard bank here is actually run by goblins. I almost decked one of them…their attitudes never cease to change.
Anyways, I'm leaving for Hogwarts on Tuesday, so it might be awhile until I write to you. I think Mr. Gordo will know how to find me, so just write back. Send everything on how Faith is dealing with the teaching gig, to Wills in the other side of the world.
With Love,
Buffy Summers
P.S. The Magic Mirror in Snow White is actually in the same building that I'm renting!'
-
She folded the letter and wrote down the address. "You know where this goes right?" she asked Mr. Gordo. The owl cocked its head as if she asked a stupid question, but hooted in reassurance all the same. "Great! Do you mind staying there for a while? I don't know if you want to stay with the mirror over there so—good! See you later then," Buffy gave him the letter before he flew away from the room.
"Is that dratted owl of yours gone now?" the mirror drawled.
"Yes. And you will be too if you don't shut up," Buffy added sweetly before changing into a more suitable clothing for going outside.
She could already see the shining new weapons, the smell of untouched merchandise, the sounds of the cashier, the—growling sound of her stomach.
The Slayer smiled impishly at her stomach and went down to get breakfast before setting out on her shopping spree.
-
---
-
It was once again nightfall when she arrived back in the Leaky Cauldron. Already eating dinner at a fast food restaurant in muggle London, she merely skipped through the pub and entered her room.
Buffy's arms were filled with even more items bought than yesterday, though there were more clothes than actual supplies. She was already wondering how she was going to bring all of this to Hogwarts.
After she dropped the shopping bags on the floor, she finally noticed that Mr. Gordo was back along with a letter. Opening the folded paper, she grinned as she started reading it:
-
'Dearest Buffy,
Your bird did give us quite a fright when it came down on us this morning. Everyone here is fine and sends their best wishes for Hogwarts. Willow's coming from her trip from Japan a bit earlier than expected, but unfortunately, she won't be able to meet you before you leave. Good luck on your job. You'll do fine.
-Giles'
-
'Are you sure you can't get me a broom? 'Cause you know, it could be a birthday present or one of those 'best wishes in college' gifts. And besides…it IS just a broom, what harm could it POSSIBLY do?
You'll have to do this more often, Buff! This is way cooler than speaking on the phone…though I don't think the college kids in campus will really like having a bird as the new mailman. So did you meet the mirror!
Best of luck in teaching!
-Dawn'
-
'Surprisingly enough, B, I managed to get through the first day fine. And damn! What the hell did you tell them in the first day because they were all pulling off an 'Angel'. Anyways, I'll keep you heads up with anything going on.
-Faith'
-
Buffy folded the letter back up and thanked Mr. Gordo for his delivery. She was too contented with this day to let the mirror ruin it by its sarcastic remarks. Once again choosing to ignore the mirror, Buffy changed into her pajamas and slept once more on the firm mattress.
-
---
-Off the Coast of Bristol, England: The Azkaban Prison; Cell #5991
-
He's in Hogwarts! He's in Hogwarts!
The ongoing mantra was the one thing that kept his sanity with him.
He'll kill Harry! He's with the boy! I must get to the school. Must save him!
He half-consciously shifted to his dog form when the dementors passed by to give him his pitiful food. It was time to execute the plan.
Need to go to Hogwarts!
With all his will, he began to run through the dark corridors blindly. The screams of the prisoners and the wails of the innocent falsely charged almost deafened his heightened hearing, but he kept going. He dodged the passing dementors, hoping that they wouldn't realize too soon about his escape.
Must get to him!
The smell of fresh air amongst the dank walls suddenly became his guide. He sniffed his way around, hoping that the crisp air wouldn't fail him. Finally, as the smell of clean air almost began to overwhelm him, loud hisses and the cold eerie feeling suddenly followed him.
The dementors knew.
I will NOT get back there!
A hidden energy inside of him suddenly burst through and he ran faster than ever. He finally reached a pair of metal doors and the sound of crashing waves on the other side told him that he was near to his destination.
He knew that there won't be any wizards guarding Azkaban due to the dementors, so he didn't care about the loud banging noises he made with his head against the metal doors. At last, they too gave in to his will and swung open, revealing a sudden drop. He hesitated for a moment but the cries of the dementors closing in gave him the push he needed.
Not wasting anymore time, the dog leapt out of the hell hole that had kept him imprisoned for the past 13 years and fell.
He was falling down and time seemed to stretch on forever until the sudden coldness enveloped him; a telltale sign that told him he reached the icy waters below. His strained muscled cried for rest, but he ignored them. Time was precious and he can't waste anymore of it. He swam for miles on end until he reached the shoreline.
Still ignoring once more the pleas for rest, he staggered around, looking for some alcove he could rest in before he set out on his journey. Finally finding a suitable spot, he shifted back to his human form and for once, felt a tired grin form on his face as realization sunk in.
He did it.
He did the unthinkable.
The man breathed in deeply, hoping to calm his buzzing nerves and give rest to his tired limbs. The very air he inhaled was better than what he smelled back in that prison. Something in it simply smelled freedom; something he swore that no one will take from him falsely again.
He was the first one to have ever accomplished a feat like this.
He later will be known as the only wizard to have ever escaped Azkaban. Falsely accused as the Dark Lord's supporter, thought of as the traitor, and the mad man who killed an entire street of muggles, he was placed in a heavily guarded cell in the worst prison known to wizard kind, and yet he has escaped.
Sirius Black has escaped.
And vengeance will be sweet and most definitely served cold.
-->
A/N: Scratch out what I said last chapter. THIS is the longest chapter I've ever written. Anyways, review once more of what you think of my last scene. Please?
-->
Special Thanks to:
Rood-Roosje thanks! Okay…so you've read my little blip on the pairings last chapter right? Anyways, yup, you've guessed it! It's Sirius alright! So stick around to see what happens to dear Buff.
Marz1 thanks for the correction. I already changed it so that Harry was on the right age. And yeah. I guess the Defense Against the Dark Arts wouldn't really go to Buffy since she knows squat about magic, much less teach a whole class solely based on using spells to ward off their opponents. And come on, everybody knows Lupin is the best DADA teacher around the block!
Spuffy-Love-5b5s2 tight! I made a reader go 'wow'. Lol! I know what you mean. I dearly hope that this is as fulfilling as the last chapter, although most of it was spent on Buffy shopping around Diagon Alley. But anyways, I hope the ending was good.
Sonofgloin hey there! I'm glad you liked it. And no, I wasn't saying that Dumble- …you know what? We'll leave the Dumbledore issue and go to somewhere else. It is just a difference of opinion, though I did think that he was annoying with his crypti-ness during HP5. Hope I've done Sirius' escape rightly. Enjoy!
buffy13-buffyspike4eva an original, eh? Thanks! Anyways, thanks for the suggestion for the shipper stuff. I am still at rock bottom on which one to choose.
Jay come to think of it, almost all of the characters in BtVS are goofy in there own way. Buffy, Xander, Wills, and Dawn have the teenager goofiness almost throughout the show. Giles has the library plus British goofiness. And of course, Spike with being British and all (not that there's anything wrong with that) and the inner poet inside of him. I'll try to update soon, and I hope you like the Sirius seen.
And to charmedfanatic3000 and Feely Thanks for the review guys. I'll try my best to update faster, though I would suggest not counting on it. Oh, and please check on the author's notes for your other questions.
-->
edited on 8-18-05