The Book of Bendy Bones

Despite her late-night, Buffy was awake bright and early the following morning. Deciding not to wake the others, she made her way downstairs, ordered breakfast and took a seat at a long table in one of the pub's side rooms. The owner, Tom, brought out a huge plate laden with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, fried tomato, and toast. He then retreated to the bar, polishing the same glass over and over as he watched her eat.

Buffy didn't let the scrutiny put her off her food. Instead, she stared over at a moving wanted poster stuck to a pillar and slowly ate her breakfast. She was always hungry after a slay-night and, after eating orphanage food, this breakfast tasted like ambrosia on her lips. She could soon get used to eating big breakfasts like this. Not that there'd be much chance of having an after-slay breakfast in future, not if it was true vampires were protected. Buffy forked the fluffy, golden eggs into her mouth, chewing slowly, and relishing the salty taste of the fresh butter.

She thought back over last night. Lovell had insisted on cleaning the 'crime scene'. He'd found an old shovel by the church and used it to scrape up vampire ash before dropping it into the grave she'd opened for the purpose.

"If the Ministry come here snooping," Lovell said, wiping the dirt from his hands onto his trousers, "they won't find any trace of magic so they'll think the Muggles have done it. It isn't the first time Muggle vampire hunters have been in this graveyard, although they're considered a joke."

Buffy hadn't voiced her thought, she'd been lifting a stone slab and sliding it back over the tomb at the time, but she'd thought the joke was on the Wizarding world. Believing vampires would live peacefully, happily abiding by their rules? They had to be crazy! She hadn't been in Britain for very long, but from everything she'd seen so far, it was not working out well.

There was only one piece of bacon left on her plate. With a sigh of regret, she popped it into her mouth and overheard the barman, Tom, say, "I don't know where she's put it all."

Buffy took a sip off coffee and give him a side-long look. Did he think she was deaf? He wasn't even trying to keep his voice down.

Tom continued, "Pile it high, she said," The downtrodden witch he spoke to kept rubbing the tables down with a damp rag, nodding disinterestedly. "Never, in all my days, did I think she'd eat that much. Do you think she's got worms?"

Buffy glowered in his direction. He'd never lived in an orphanage and had to eat a powdered egg or bread spread with tasteless margarine.

"Mornin' Miss Black and young Masters Black," Tom said, his tone had changed, becoming deferential. "Hope you slept well?"

Whoever he was speaking to was out of Buffy's line of sight. They must have come down from the guest rooms above and stayed on the other side of the bar.

"Good morning, Tom," a boy's cheerful voice replied. "Rigel and I both slept like a top, thank you."

Buffy recognised his voice. It was the boy she'd heard outside her bedroom door last night, the one who'd told the story of the Quidditch player and his intimate splinter problem.

"My bed was not aired," a girl complained petulantly. "I also found a boggart in my wardrobe. It was a nasty, stubborn one, it tried hanging around even after I'd dispelled it."

Buffy's eyes widened. "Oh, crap!" she said under her breath. After returning from St Mungo's, the boggart had been acting sheepish. She'd suspected it had left her room, but when she'd asked it, it had denied it.

"I'm very sorry about that, Miss," Tom sounded puzzled. "We've not had a boggart in here for decades. I don't know how that happened."

The girl tutted. "Thankfully, I don't scare easily. In future, please check my room for vermin before I'm due to arrive. This isn't the first time we've found pests infesting your rooms. My mother found doxies living in her bedcurtains the last time she took a room here."

'Doxies in her bedcurtains?' Buffy pushed back her chair and went over to the pillar. There was something familiar about the guest Spikey had scared.

"Yes, Miss. I certainly will. Are your parents be joining you?" Tom asked.

"My parents movements have nothing to do with you," the girl replied sharply.

Buffy thought the retort sounded not only rude but also defensive. She peered around the brick pillar. There was a young boy of eleven or twelve, a black-haired boy in his mid-teens with shoulder-length wavy hair, and an attractive girl with long dark hair who looked familiar.

The girl continued, "I've been given the task of overseeing our Hogwarts purchases for this year. Once we have everything, we'll floo home. Now, I'd like to order our breakfast and-"

"Thank Merlin for that!" interrupted the youngest boy. "Sis, I'm starving. Make it three full breakfasts, please!"

"How many times do I have to tell you, it's Walburga, not sis!" the girl snapped. "I only want toast for breakfast. Do you want me to look like an Erumpent?"

Buffy leaned back and took the curved vine wand from out of her pocket. This was Walburga's wand. How was she going to return it to her? She couldn't march over and hand it to her, not without revealing her identity.

"You'll want ta eat in a private parlour then?" Tom was asking.

"Of course, we aren't eating out here with riff-raff," Walburga replied snootily.

Buffy leaned back around the pillar and watched Tom show the group into a private room. She had a good view of the snobby Walburga from here. The girl had a strong jaw, a snub nose, and full lips which, right now, were turned in a downwards direction. Her two brothers followed in her trail, the older boy's chest broad and his shoulders already hinting at muscle. Buffy categorized him as the type who played sport and always have a girl hanging off his arm. The younger boy bounced along at his brother's side like a puppy until the older brother grabbed him in a headlock and dragged him along yowling. Buffy had a glimpse of Walburga rolling her eyes before they all disappeared out of view.

Buffy leaned her head against the pillar as she thought about the Blacks. So the high and mighty Walburga had snuck out last night when her parents weren't around to keep an eye on her. Had she gone to meet someone? Why was she in a graveyard? Buffy doubted that the girl had gone to look at the graves and take in nature she wasn't the type. She was either meeting someone there or had taken a shortcut when the vampires had caught her.

Buffy twirled Walburga's vine wand around in her hand. Unlike Dumbledore's wand, this one refused to produce sparks and felt dull and heavy in her hand. She'd speak to Lovell about the best way of returning it without Walburga seeing her. Maybe she could leave it on the bar, or something, and let someone else discover it.

Next to her face, the moving photo on the wanted poster caught her eye.

WANTED

for Wizard and Muggle Slayings throughout America and Europe

GELLERT GRINDELWALD

Liable to Change Appearance, Most Menacing And Extremely Dangerous!

Extreme Caution Should be exercised as this wizard is a devious lawbreaker and will resist arrest!

If located, do not try to apprehend him!

Contact your local Ministry immediately!

!Reward!

50,000 Galleons for information that leads to his arrest!

Buffy studied the photo of the man smirking onto the camera taking in his short blonde hair, high cheekbones and the playful expression. Grindelwald raised his head, tilted it, to stare back at her intently with mismatched eyes.

"You're wanted for slaying, huh?" Once more the man in the moving picture, raised his head, tilted it and stared at her.

Buffy wished they hadn't used the phrase 'wanted for slaying'. It was bad enough Lovell making her feel like a serial killer without seeing a poster for someone wanted for it. She had to put her vampire slaying on hold. It was going to be difficult, knowing that vampires were out there killing and legally she couldn't do a thing to stop them. What she needed was someone to liaison with the Ministry and give her the authority to go back out there and protect the innocent. Lovell had offered to help her research both the Slayer and the Watchers Council once they got to Hogwarts. He'd said the school library was extensive and they were bound to find something in there.

"Buffy," her uncle called and she looked around to see him walking towards her.

"Have you eaten?" Peregrine asked.

Buffy nodded. Her eyes went to Lovell who yawned widely, ran a hand through his messy hair, and grinned at her. Buffy return the smile, relieved she hadn't scared him off after last night.

"Lovell and I will eat a quick breakfast," replied Peregrine, "and we can be on our way. We have a lot of shopping to do before lunch. I want to be home by two o'clock."

Buffy dropped into her seat at the table and pouted. There was so much stuff to buy, how could anyone think it would take less than a full day? Didn't her uncle know how much girls liked to shop?

…...

After breakfast, her uncle led them out of the pub and into a small rear yard where the trash cans were kept.

Buffy looked about her at the high walls and then shot Lovell a baffled glance, to find he was watching her from through tousled hair.

"Watch," he whispered and nodded to his father.

Peregrine took out his wand and tapped several bricks in the rear wall. From the wall came a grating, sliding noise, and the bricks peeled back to form an archway. Beyond the arch lay a cobbled street lined with all manner of shops. It was early, and the shopkeepers were hurrying to prepare their shops for the day's trading.

One wizard waved his wand at the shop awning which magically unfurled. From the doorway of another, a line of different sized cauldrons danced out to pile up neatly in a stack by the shop's window. Buffy spotted a shop selling clothes and slowed her steps so she could take in the fashions displayed in the windows. Some of the styles made Buffy wrinkle her nose with distaste, others although vastly different from what she was used to wearing, she thought would suit her.

There were more shops selling owls, shops selling potions, and even shops selling skipping rats. Buffy felt like a kid at Christmas, everywhere she looked there was something fascinating to see.

"Money before shopping, Buffy," Uncle Peregrine said, steering her away from a shop that sold nothing but flying broomsticks. "None of the shops in Diagon Alley will accept Muggle money, we need to go in there first." He gestured to the corner of the street where a large, lopsided building stood. "That's Gringotts, the Wizarding bank. The key you wear around your neck opens your mother's vault."

Buffy stared up at the tall, columned-fronted, white building. The bank towered above all the other buildings in the alley and, despite the list, it was built to look imposing. As Buffy wondered how it managed to defy gravity, something moved to stand by the building's bronze doors. Buffy stilled. Her hand automatically went to the small of her back and the stake she kept secreted in her waistband. A small with a hooked nose, podgy face and long ,pointed ears lurked by the bank's doors.

She felt Lovell putting a restraining hand on her arm and the boy leaned in, whispering, "Don't worry, it's only a Goblin. They run Gringotts."

Buffy could see concern in his bright blue eyes as he looked from her to the Goblin guard. "What did you think he was?" he asked.

"A demon," Buffy replied absently, not taking her eyes off the Goblin. "I remember fighting a Hellgod and some of her minions sort of looked like..." she jerked her head in the uniformed goblin's direction, "...umm, like that," she finished.

By now, her uncle had reached the bronze doors and had turned to look for them. Lovell and Buffy hurried across the cobbles to catch him up. Beside the door, the Goblin guard's dark eyes watched Buffy narrowly as she crossed the street. Suddenly remembering that he was there to welcome, as well as guard, he gave them all a low bow. Buffy nodded politely in response and then followed the others as they entered through the second set of silver doors.

Inside was in an immense marble hall, with a long central aisle running the length of the chamber and a series of ornate crystal chandeliers hanging overhead. Goblins sat at the desks on either side of the aisle, each one busy writing in ledgers, counting out coins, or weighing and measuring large gemstones.

Buffy and her family were the only customers at this early hour and every time they came to a desk the goblin working there stopped and peered at them. When Buffy looked back over her shoulder, she saw they'd gone back to work, their task more important than bank visitors. She turned back, keeping her focus on the back of Peregrine's bird hat and trying to ignore the jarring sensation she had at walking into a nest of Goblins.

Peregrine came to a stop in front of a balding goblin's desk. The creature peered over the top of the tall desk to look down his long and crooked nose at them.

Buffy eyed him and the desk set up curiously. Why did Goblins have such tall desks when they were such a small species? The only reason she could see was it enabled them to look down upon the witches and wizards who banked here. Did the Goblins have a height inferiority complex? Or was there another reason for trying to intimidate Wizards?

"Yeees?" drawled the Goblin, already looking bored.

"We'd like to access our vaults, please," Peregrine said. He swallowed nervously, "and make some withdrawals."

"Name?" The goblin held out his hand, each of his long fingers was tipped with dark claw. "And your key, pleeease."

"Peregrine Lovegood," her uncle replied, dropping his key into the goblin's outstretched hand.

Then Peregrine took Buffy's arm (she'd been staring at the cobwebs covering the chandeliers) and added, "This is my niece. She will be accessing her mother's vault today. Her mother's name is Joyce Lovegood Summers."

The Goblin peered at her and Buffy gave him a cheerful wave, refusing to be intimidated.

"Name?" The Goblin's voice stern, not liking being waved at. He squinted at her through his half-moon glasses.

"I'm Buffy."

"Yes, I'm sure you are, but what's your name?"

"My name is Buffy," she repeated with a scowl. What was wrong with people? Her name wasn't that odd. "Buffy Summers." She reached up and placed the key onto the Goblin's desk quickly, not wanting to touch his creepy fingers.

"Lacklustre!" shouted the Goblin. "Ledgers!"

Another Goblin appeared, this one with a thatch of bright, red hair and had dark eyes darted to and fro. With a fast bow, he handed over the two ledgers he held to the Goblin cashier. With a start, Buffy realised one ledger bore her uncle's name embossed in gold letters, the other her name and her mother's. How had the goblin got hold of them so quickly? Magic?

As he waited for the older Goblin to examine the ledgers, Lacklustre stared over, studying each of them in turn. He regarded her uncle first, his eyes lingering on the bird hat before giving Lovell a cursory once over, then he turned his tiny eyes onto Buffy.

She watched him, studying her in an obvious assessment of her wealth and power. Buffy's Slaydar tingling at the scrutiny. 'Not a demon,' it seemed to say, 'but stay cautious.' The goblin was about to dismiss her, when Buffy - she wasn't sure why she did it – caught his eye and allowed a little bit of the Slayer to peep out.

There was a flash of shock on his face, quickly schooled away, and Lacklustre revised his opinion of her being below average. Somehow, Buffy managed to keep her face blank and not gloat. That would teach the Goblin for turning his nose up at her and her family.

"Lacklustre! Pay attention!" snapped the older goblin who'd been trying to hand back the ledgers. "Escort our customers to their vaults."

Lacklustre led them through a side door to a dark corridor where a small cart sat on a set of rail tracks. He gestured to them to climb in and then took a seat himself.

"This is scary," Lovell whispered as he slid into the seat next to her. "Hold onto the bar in front and close your eyes if you need to."

The Goblin released the brake and the little cart set off at a fast pace, rattling down the steep trackway, turning sharp left, and then picked up momentum as the gradient became steeper. They dropped lower, taking a series of sharp hairpin bends at break-neck speed. Lovell moaned loudly. Buffy saw that both Peregrine's and Lovell's fingers were white from gripping the bar in front of them as if their lives depended on it. Lovell had his eyes tight shut and he'd gone a peculiar shade of green.

Lacklustre grinned at their reactions, revealing sharp, pointy teeth.

"Whoo-hoo!" Buffy cried as the cart plummeted down another drop. She stood, lifting her arms above her head, the wind whipping her hair back, and shouted. "This is like flying!"

Peregrine reached over and pushed her back down into the seat. "Have a care!" he hissed. "You'll fall out!"

"This is ACE!" Buffy yelled over the sound of the rattling tracks and the scream of the wind blowing around them. "It's like the best..." she held on, nearly being thrown off the side by Lovell as they took a sharp corner, "...roller-coaster ride ever!" She hadn't enjoyed herself this much since before she'd woken up under the rubble. "I could ride this cart every, single, day!" she shouted.

Lovell didn't answer, his lips had become green. Peregrine looked at her as if he doubted her sanity and the bird on his hat (red today) closed its eyes and shook its head. Only the Goblin grinned happily, it's long hair sticking out in all directions from the wild ride.

Finally, the trackway levelled out, the cart rolled to a stop and they all got out. Lovell complaining of wobbly legs and clinging on to Buffy's shoulder.

"You're not gonna be sick, are you?" Buffy asked. She knew that he'd eaten a breakfast almost as large as hers. If he was going to start puking, things could get very messy.

"I'm fine now we're not moving," Lovell replied weakly. He swallowed loudly, adding, "How can you enjoy it? It's terrifying."

"People, er, Muggles would pay to ride that," Buffy replied.

"They must be mental," Lovell replied, with a shake of his head.

He went on, talking about all the other times he'd ridden the cart and stories he'd heard of dragons being kept down here, but Buffy wasn't listening. Her focus on the Goblin as he inserted Peregrine's key into the carved metal door. Curious at what it was like in there, she stepped forward, pulling Lovell along with her.

Inside, a long bench was stacked with neat rows of coins. A row of golden galleons along one side, silver ones in the middle, and bags of the smaller bronze coins the Wizards called knuts.

Her uncle picked up a large bag of knuts, then added sickles, and a number of the big gold ones to it. "I'm taking extra to cover your school supplies, Buffy. Joyce inherited a small amount from our aunt and our parents, but I don't think there's much left..."

That didn't sound promising. Buffy thanked him and promised to pay him back, then they all climbed into the cart once again to trundle along the track to Joyce's vault.

This time, Buffy was the one who followed Lacklustre to the vault door. When it swung open, she gasped. The bench in her uncle's vault had one or two rows of galleons. Here, the entire bench was covered in them.

"Oh!" Peregrine's brows shot up so high they almost got lost under his hat. With a frown, he asked, "Are we in the right vault?"

"This most definitely IS the right vault, Sir!" The goblin scowled, disliking the assumption he'd erred. "We don't make mistakes at Gringotts! This vault is held jointly by Joyce and Buffy Lovegood!"

Peregrine stared around him, seemingly not believing what he was saw. "This... this is a surprise. Yes, a surprise. I'd never have thought... I wonder where it came from?"

"A large deposit was made in the summer of 1927, sir. Sent in from one of our banks in Europe," Lacklustre added helpfully. "I checked the account ledger before we set off. I can check the date and the location of the branch later, if there's a problem."

His words reassured Peregrine. He nodded, thoughtfully. "Ah, that explains it. It has been added to. I came here before Joyce set off for Europe and she took most of her inheritance with her. Joyce must have acquired more and had it sent on."

Buffy wondered what her Mom had done to acquire so much money. Had she robbed a bank? Deciding that she could always ask in future, Buffy picked up one of the empty bags from the floor and began sweeping piles of galleons into it.

"What are these worth?" Buffy asked, holding up one of the gold coins between her fingers. She wasn't sure how much to take. She wanted a new wardrobe of clothes, all her school stuff, maybe a flying broom, and there might be a shop near here selling weapons. Even if she wasn't going out slaying, she didn't feel comfortable only owning one stake.

"A galleon is worth seventeen sickles and a sickle is worth twenty-nine knuts," Lovell recited promptly. Not that it helped her any.

Peregrine said, "I think you've more than enough for the next few years." The sack Buffy held was large and she'd added a lot of gold coins in there.

"What are these? Buffy asked. Stacked neatly by the door were two waist high piles of books. She picked up the top one and saw that they were all copies of the same book.

"Seeing With My Fourth Eye by Benedicta Bones," she read.

"Ah, they're Auntie's books. With the aid of the spectrespecs she saw creatures others couldn't, she logged them in there, and then put it into print. Sadly, she never sold many," Peregrine explained as Buffy opened the book. He gestured to the other stack where a pair of dusty winged glasses lay. "Those are her spectrespecs."

Buffy flipped the book's pages, stopping at one that bore a rudimentary drawing of a creature that looked like a Fyarl Demon. Underneath it claimed, 'Horned One. Spotted in a graveyard, language unknown, grumpy, avoid.'

She turned to another page, the creature drawn there had eight legs, the face of a horse and the teeth of a shark. Buffy didn't recognise it. She flicked over more pages and stopped when she came to another creature she recognised. She'd seen this demon in one of Giles's books!

Benedicta Bones had drawn a picture of a young Suvolte demon and labelled it as a Nargle. Buffy read the next paragragh.

'In the wild, Nargles can be found in any woodland tree, but always favour that which bears the mistletoe. Should they move into the dwelling of a magic user, they will cause the home owner much dismay by stealing the possessions of said witch or wizard and causing the magic user to believe they are losing their minds. A potion brewed with mistletoe and sloe berries * see potion list to rear, and placed outside will lure the creatures out the house, but the magic user may find the Nargle returns after time. A ring of cork worn around the neck helps to dispell them.'

Buffy closed the book, her finger running over the embossed picture of an eye and the author's name. Who was this woman and how did she know about demons?

"What's a fourth eye?" Buffy asked. "I've never heard of it."

"Ah," Peregrine smiled gently. "Aunt Bones said that everyone, magical or not, had the first sight, the sight of seeing the world around us. Those who have magic have second sight, they can see another layer in the world, ghosts and so on. A few Witches and Wizards can see the future which is the third sight. Auntie said that the fourth sight is the rarest sight of all. Those who have it can see creatures that no one else can." He pointed to the glasses. "The spectrespecs enhance that ability. I've a pair myself but have never had the gift auntie had."

"I'd like to catch a wrackspurt as Auntie drew them as moths," said Lovell. "You know that feeling when your head goes fuzzy?"

"Hmm," replied Buffy, her head had been feeling fuzzy a lot recently.

"That's caused by wrackspurts."

"I'd better take a copy then." Buffy pushed the book and then the glasses into the bag. She wanted to study the book somewhere private.

"Do you need anything else from in here?" Peregrine asked, taking another look around the vault.

"Umm," Buffy looked around her, she had money, she had a copy of her aunt's demon book, and she had the cool spectrespecs. "Yeah, I'm done. Oh!"

Something sparkled in the light of the goblin's lantern. A golden chain lay draped over the galleons. Curious to see what if it was attached to anything, Buffy pulled on the chain. Whatever was on the end had become entangled between the rows of coins. She tugged it harder, sending the coin towers tumbling to the floor, bouncing, and rolling all over the chamber as she freed the pendant.

Next to her, the Goblin let out a hiss. Giving her a dirty look, he crouched and picked up each coin with reverence, stacking them back in uniform rows on the bench.

"What's this, Uncle?" Buffy held up the necklace to show him. The pendant comprised of a triangle inset with a circle, and a vertical line. She wondered if it was a sigil? A magical symbol for something?

Peregrine took the pendant from her. "Ah, that's the symbol for the Deathly Hallows," he said. "The triangle represents the cloak of invisibility, the line the elder wand," he pointed to the circle, "and that's the symbol for the resurrection stone. Together the three form the sign of the Deathly Hallows." He handed it back to Buffy.

"It's from Beedle the Bard," Lovell added. Buffy gazed at him blankly. "The story of the Three Brothers and their encounter with death. It's a children's story."

"Is it a dark and spooky one?" Buffy asked hopefully. She pulled the necklace over her head and lifted the pendant, admiring the workmanship of the creator.

"It's about cheating death," replied Lovell, gallantly taking the bag of coins and sagging under the weight. "Or trying to," he grunted.

"Then it's my kind of story," Buffy said brightly. "I'm all for the death cheating."

"It may be fiction or it might not be," Peregrine replied mysteriously. At her questioning look, he continued, "A story for another time, I think." He checked his watch. "We must get on, the shops will be getting busy. There are robes and books to buy for the both of you, not to mention Buffy's wand." Peregrine gave Buffy a knowing smile. "Why do I have a feeling this might take a while?"

"Don't tell me..." Buffy said, getting back into the cart and settling the sack of coins onto the floor next to her feet. "...I'm guessing you've shopped with Mom in the past? She's almost as bad as me." She gave her uncle a dark smile and under her breath muttered, "Yeah, almost."

…...

A/N;

The graveyard Buffy found the vampires in I based on Highgate Cemetery.

The story of vampire hunters (and wizards!) frequenting the graveyard is a true one. There is quite a lot on the cemetery, some brilliant Youtube videos and this site deals with the legend of the Highgate Vampire – Occult World ( )

Bones is a wizarding name, Aunt Bendy Bones is one of my characters. I chose to create her as a reason why the Lovegoods believe so fervently in Nargles and Wrackspurts.

I was hoping to include Buffy's trip to Ollivanders in this chapter, however, the chapter is already pushing 5,000 words and it would have gone on for too long! I guess I get the fun of writing it next.

Thanks for all the lovely reviews left and the recommendation. Your encouragement is appreciated!