Renesmee Cullen and the Angel's Domain
Chapter 7: Unexpected Tag-Along
Saturday came and Renesmee was finishing up her breakfast in a flash and followed Annabelle Weasley and the rest of the Gryffindor team to the changing rooms for a last-minute lecture. "All right, everyone," Annabelle said, "I want everyone to play their hardest and have fun doing it. We have friends in Slytherin, so I don't want anyone to gloat, got it?" Everyone nodded. "Renesmee, you've improved on the Wronski Feint during our last practice, so I hope you're ready for it." Renesmee gave her a thumb's up and grinned. "Good. Let's go out there, then."
Renesmee held her broomstick over her shoulder with confidence as she walked out into the stadium with the rest of the team. Willow was commentating again this year and Renesmee heard her talking about the match. Renesmee looked to the stands and saw her family, Jake, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, Lorne, Angel and Spike sitting down and holding a Gryffindor banner. She waved at them and they waved back. Madam Hooch brought out the chest holding the Qudditch balls and said, "I want a nice, clean game from all of you. Captains, shake hands." Annabelle and the Slytherin captain shook hands then the fourteen players took off into the air. Renesmee hovered fifty feet in the air looking for the Snitch and watched the Gryffindor Chasers score a few goals and practically did a loop-da-loop when one of the Gryffindor Beaters pelted a Bludger at one of the Slytherin Chasers holding the Quaffle.
An hour passed and she saw Scorpius across the stadium. "Time to try out that Wronski Feint," she muttered and started to fly around the stadium. As expected, Scorpius followed her and dove down when she did. She pulled up two feet above the ground and heard the crowd gasp as Scorpius crashed into the grass. "Sorry, Scorpius," she said, "but I had to do that."
"And that was a fantastic Wronski Feint move from Renesmee Cullen!" Willow shouted into the megaphone. "What an awesome move!" Renesmee did a few laps and waved at the crowd. From behind Willow, Renesmee saw George Weasley shoot off a number of Filibuster's No-Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks into the air spelling CONGRATULATIONS, RENESMEE in bright red and gold letters in the air. Renesmee flew around the stadium again and saw a glint of gold a few feet from her and zoomed toward it. The Snitch darted to her left, then straight down and she followed it. "Oh! I think she's seen the Snitch-YES! Renesmee has definitely seen the Snitch!" Scorpius followed inches behind Renesmee as she dove down again. The Snitch pulled out of its dive and flew toward the Slytherin goal posts. Renesmee was a few inches away and...the crowd roared as she snatched it out of the air. "GRYFFINDOR WINS 240 TO 180! CONGRATS, GRYFFINDOR!"
Later that afternoon, Renesmee went to the common room and got started on some of her homework. Jasper's Mythology homework was easy because it was mostly about the Greek and Roman gods and what they were gods and goddesses of. Renesmee finished the essay and got started on her Potions essay which was about the past potions she had learned about and that was easy as well. As for Transfiguration, the essay about turning a hedgehog into a pincushion was harder. She had to explain everything about the transformation like what the hedgehog looked like when transfiguring it, the incantation and the correct wand movements. "Okay," Renesmee muttered as she put down her quill. "I finally finished my homework for the week. Time for bed." She packed up her homework and went up to the girls' dormitory for bed.
On Monday, everyone was ready for their lessons. Renesmee saw Angel walking with Conner and her heart leapt. "Hey, Conner," she said with a wave. Conner grinned and waved back. "Getting around Hogwarts okay?"
"Yeah," he said with a shrug. "Dad showed me some of the secret passages in the castle, so it's easy to navigate. Where are you off to?" Renesmee showed him her class schedule and he smiled. "Dad and I are going that way. Also, I'm kind of interested to see what Willow's got in mind for her class this morning." Renesmee smiled and the three of them walked to Charms on the second floor. Willow was standing outside the classroom waiting for them. "Morning, Willow."
"Oh, hi, Conner," said Willow with a grin. "Come on in." Renesmee found her seat next to Albus and opened Extreme Incantations to the spell they would be learning. "Class, we are learning the spell Lumos Maxima. This is a stronger version of the Wand-Lighting Charm and it gives more light than the original charm would." She waved her wand once and the candles and torches extinguished. "Allow me to demonstrate." Willow waved her wand in a whip-like movement and said, "Lumos Maxima!" A flash of blinding white light appeared at the tip of her wand for a second, and then it was gone. "That's the normal way to cast it. Here's the other way." She waved her wand while saying, "Lumos Maxima!" and a ball of light flew from her wand and hovered near the ceiling illuminating the room in white light. "Chapter thirty-two covers this spell in Extreme Incantations by Violeta Stitch. I want you to read that chapter on Lumos Maxima, and I want you to try the spell on your own time." The bell rang and the class ended.
Renesmee and her fellow Gryffindor third years attended their classes until lunch, then went outside for Herbology where they learned about the more dangerous plants, then to Care of Magical Creatures class where Hagrid taught them more about hippogriffs and how to take care of them. Renesmee got a chance to work with Buckbeak with Albus and Rose and learned what to feed him, how to care for his feathers and other things. Their last class before the end of the day was Potions. Professor Malfoy announced that he would be quizzing them on the week's lessons at the end of the week and encouraged them to prepare for it.
The best class so far was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Buffy had them learning about hinkypunks for they had already covered vampires during the first week of lessons. Hinkypunks, Renesmee found out, were one-legged creatures that had the appearance of wispy blue, grey or white smoke. Hinkypunks had a tendency to luring travellers off their paths at night into treacherous bogs or wetlands under the guise of a helpful, lamp-bearing being. "Hinkypunks may look frail and weak, but don't let their appearance fool you," said Buffy seriously. "They like to lure travellers ahead with their lanterns and doubtlessly will try and kill the traveller by throwing fireballs from its lantern. If that happens, you're not going to be alive for long."
Buffy pointed her wand at the ceiling and caused a thick fog to appear. "Your copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them says the best way to destroy a hinkypunk is to trap it in a corner, cast Lumos Duo on it until it's solid, then finish it with a Knockback Jinx." Buffy said holding up the book to show the class. "The person I got this hinkypunk from told me to use a Stunning Spell, which works a lot better." She set the hinkypunk free in the classroom and had the class watch her attempt to kill it. Buffy got the hinkypunk stuck in a corner of the classroom, cast Lumos Duo, and then used the Stunning Spell when it was solid. The creature was dead in that moment. "Now, onto another creature called a Kappa, which is a Japanese water demon. Who can tell me what a Kappa looks like and how it kills their prey?" Albus raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Potter?"
"A Kappa is a scaly creature with webbed fingers and kills its prey, which are mostly humans intruding on their territory, by sneaking up behind them and strangling them."
"Very good," said Buffy smiling. "Yeah, that's how they kill their enemies and no I don't have one to show you." She gestured to a tank covered with a sheet. "I do, however, have another creature to show you." She took off the sheet. In the tank was a creature with sickly green skin, green teeth, and small horns on its head. It had long spindly fingers and, to Renesmee, was a really good swimmer. "This is a grindylow. They are aggressive toward all humans and will use their long fingers to strangle whoever comes across them. How do we protect ourselves from a grindylow? There are two ways to do it. The first is to break their grip on you and the second way is to use a Revulsion Jinx." Buffy placed her hand in the tank and the grindylow grabbed her arm. "Relashio!" she said firmly and a burst of orange sparks hit the grindylow's arm and it swam away. "The other way is a bit different, but I'd rather see what you have to say on it, so for homework, I need a two-foot essay on how to protect yourselves from a grindylow attack besides the Revulsion Jinx. Due Monday morning. Tomorrow, we'll be learning about werewolves. I have a friend who is a werewolf who will be teaching that lesson tomorrow. Good day."
The bell rang and Renesmee packed her stuff once more until Buffy called her to the front. Renesmee went to the teacher's desk and waited. "Yes?"
"I was wondering if you would like to join me, Angel and Spike on patrol tonight." Buffy said while grading essays. "I'm sure you could use a vampire fight this time, right?"
"Yeah, I'm kinda looking forward to a fight tonight." Renesmee said grinning. "I'll see you at eight." Buffy nodded and Renesmee left.
After her next two classes, Renesmee was heading toward Gryffindor Tower when Dawn came up looking a little scared. "What's up?" Renesmee asked in concern. Rose and Albus, who were on the top of the staircase, came back down to see what was going on. "Dawn? Is everything okay?"
"Um," said Dawn nervously, "when you had Willow for Charms class, did you see anything different about her?" Renesmee asked what she meant. "Did you see her eyes turn black or did you see her get angry for no reason?"
"The only time I ever saw her get angry was when Angel and Spike were arguing in the Charms corridor," said Renesmee, "but I didn't see her eyes turn black yet. Why?"
"Buffy and Giles are getting worried that the bad side of Willow will return and...she might destroy the world again." Dawn answered. "That's what happened last time. I think you heard what happened to Tara Maclay, right?" Renesmee couldn't recall the story and shook her head. "Well, Willow and Tara were inseperable. Nothing could tear their relationship apart, and I'm not talking about just a friendship here, you guys, I'm talking about a romance." Renesmee grinned. This part she knew about. "This geek named Warren got angry at Buffy because she stopped him and two other geeks called Jonathan and Andrew from doing whatever crimes they were going for and shot Buffy with a gun. Unfortunately, he fired another shot and killed Tara.
"Willow got angry...so angry that her magicks were fuelled by grief and anger...and she went on a rampage. Giles arrived loaded with magic from a coven in England and tried to stop Willow, but she drained him to the point where it nearly killed him."
"What happened to Willow after that?" Renesmee asked curiously.
"Willow felt the pain of everyone in the world after she took whatever magic Giles had and summoned an effigy of a she-demon named Proserpexa, the demon of destruction. Here's the fun part of the story. Anya, Xander's ex-girlfriend, told Buffy and I...who were in a tunnel near Spike's crypt...that Giles was dying and that he said no supernatural force could stop Willow, not even the Slayer, then she took off to help Giles. Willow conjured up some earth minions made of trees and dirt and Buffy and I fought them. While we were fighting the tree-minions, Xander stopped Willow by saying 'I love you' until she finally gave up and started crying."
"Dad always said that love is the most powerful magic of all," Albus said with a grin. "He learned that from Professor Dumbledore in his first year."
"Dumbledore's right," said Dawn nodding. "Love is the most powerful magic of all. If we don't have love, what do we have? Chaos and mayhem." Renesmee smiled at this and kept the words close. "If you see anything weird about Willow, please let me know. We haven't seen Dark Willow for quite a long time." Dawn also held out a note written in familiar writing. "This is from Buffy. She wants you to meet her by the entrance hall doors in twenty minutes. You might want to bring that map of yours, too. See you."
"Thanks, Dawn," said Renesmee and she led Albus and Rose to the common room, then Renesmee went straight to the dormitory to grab the map, her leather jacket and a small bag full of silver-tipped wooden stakes, a crossbow, a few bottles of holy water and a crucifix, then headed straight down to the entrance hall. Buffy was waiting by the doors wearing her normal leather jacket over a hot-pink top and a pair of leather pants. Buffy's honey-blonde hair was tied back into a long braid down her back. "Hi."
"All right. Let's go on patrol." Buffy said with a smile and they went out into the fresh air. "Did Dawn talk to you about Willow?" Renesmee nodded. "Good. I don't want a relapse of what happened last time Willow went bad. It was bad enough that Tara died, but when Willow used black magicks to kill the guy...well, that's just not how we do things. See, the Slayer has a rule to live by and that is to never, under any circumstances, kill a human being. Faith did that once, and so did I, but we both got over it. For Will...let's just say she didn't take death too well back then."
Renesmee looked at Buffy and said, "I would think not. You can always ask Aunt Alice if she can see Willow's path in life, or ask Lorne to read your soul and see if your fears are going to come true."
"I might do both just to make sure. I trust your aunt with my life...and I never say that about any vampire besides Spike or Angel...and Lorne is such a sweet demon. Too bad Dawn got so angry when I told her I wanted to take my D.A.D.A. class to Pylea to check it out...oh well." Buffy said as they walked among the grounds with all senses on high alert in case any vampires were around.
"You trust my family?" Renesmee said slightly taken aback. "I always got the impression that you didn't trust them...or me." Buffy glanced down at her and felt a sudden urge to hug Renesmee.
"I trust you, Renesmee, all of you. Sure, I was a little cautious when I first met you but when I saw you..." Buffy smiled warmly now. "...I never saw any vampire as cute as you."
"Um, thanks," said Renesmee unsure of how to respond to the compliment. "I've never met a Slayer...well, at all, besides you." Buffy laughed and they walked along the grounds farther toward the greenhouses. Professor Longbottom was trimming some Venomous Tentacula leaves for Potions and waved when he saw them. Buffy and Renesmee waved back. "Did you hear about that prophecy Professor Scamander said last year? She said something about a werewolf giving Harry a message for me and I would have to fight the Three and their armies armed with the completed Sword of Angels."
"I did hear about it," said Buffy grimly, "and unfortunately, I think it's the real thing. I've been through a prophecy once and that was when I was sixteen. See, the prophecy said that I was supposed to die by the Master's hand and I did. The prophecy, however, didn't say how long I was supposed to be dead, so Xander revived me with CPR. The next Slayer to be activated was Kendra, who took her job seriously...a little too seriously if you ask me, and she was killed by Drusilla. Then there came Faith." Buffy's expression hardened. "Faith was nothing like me. She thrived to kill vampires and demons and her false Watcher called Gwendolyn Post didn't help matters. All that woman wanted was a poweful ancient glove that would destroy everything. That was before Angel went all evil and destructive on us."
"You had a rough career, didn't you?" said Renesmee and Buffy nodded. "I just don't like my destiny being written for me. I want to make my own destiny, you know what I mean?"
"Trust me, I do know what you mean," said Buffy bitterly. "I wasn't always the Slayer during my life, though. Back in LA, I was head cheerleader and I dated the hottest guy in school. That all changed when Merrick, my original Watcher, told me what I am. I had to burn down my high school gymnasium when vampires attacked, and then I got kicked out of Hemery and my mom and I moved to Sunnydale where things got a whole lot worse. I met Giles on my first day at Sunnydale High and I was trying to get away from my life as the Slayer."
"How did that work out?" asked Renesmee.
"Not well," said Buffy with a small grin. "A student was killed by Darla, an old vampire that turned Angel into what he is today. To make things weirder, Xander was in the library listening to my conversation with Giles and he knew about me being the Slayer." Renesmee gave a low whistle and shook her head. "At least you gained your abilities genetically because your parents are vampires...not the kind I'm used to fighting, but they're still vampires."
Renesmee thought about what it would be like to be a vampire slayer like Buffy while they walked in silence. Her thoughts were interrupted by a shadow running past the lamps leading to the castle and she stopped. "Buffy...look." She pointed to the shadow running by and Buffy stopped as well. "You don't think it's a vampire, do you?"
"Only one way to find out," said Buffy and they both ran at full speed toward the shadow. Renesmee launched herself forward and tackled the shadow while Buffy lit her wand and shined the light on them. It was Lilith Demona, the new Slytherin student. "Lilith? What are you doing out here?"
Lilith pushed Renesmee off her and stood up looking innocent. "I saw Renesmee leaving the castle with you so I thought I would check out what you guys were doing."
"Sorry, Lilith," said Renesmee, "but what we're doing is pretty dangerous." Lilith hung her head and started going to the castle. Renesmee felt so bad for the new student she sighed and said, "Okay, you can come with, but if we run into any trouble, get out of the way."
"Oh, I can handle anything that comes my way," said Lilith, "and so can Gabe McSaint." Renesmee and Buffy shrugged and they walked with Lilith around the grounds. "Can either of you keep a secret...without killing me or trying to kill me?"
Renesmee gave Lilith a strange look and said, "Why would we want to kill you? You've done nothing wrong."
"What I have to tell you...you may think about it," said Lilith sadly. She inhaled then exhaled deeply before saying, "I'm not exactly human."
"Shape-shifter?" Buffy asked and Lilith shook her head. "Demon?" Lilith nodded. "That explains a lot."
"What do you mean?" asked Renesmee. "I didn't know."
"As a Slayer, it's my job to determine whether a person is a demon or vampire." Buffy said matter-of-factly. "When I first started out, I had to hone my senses to find a vampire, but I can tell someone is a demon. It's not that hard. You just have to trust your instincts." Buffy looked at Lilith and said, "I can sense the demon part, but no evil...so far." Lilith shrugged. "Well, we're not getting any vamps out here tonight. Let's go back to the school and..." Renesmee ran off toward the forest in a blur. "...get some rest. She always does this!"
"Normal for her, isn't it?" Lilith asked and Buffy nodded. "Should we follow her?" With a nod, Buffy and Lilith ran into the dense forest. "Lumos!" Lilith's wand tip ignited and the forest was lit dimly by the wand light. "Why did she go in here anyway?"
"To hunt," Buffy said. "Renesmee is a vampire-human hybrid. She can eat human food but prefers blood over human food. She says human food tastes a little like dirt." Lilith gave a non-committal jerk of the head and they followed Renesmee's footprints to the center of the forest. Renesmee crouched behind a log, her eyes fixed on her prey. "The first time I saw Renesmee hunt, I was surprised at her speed and accuracy. Such grace and majesty."
Renesmee slowly approached her prey, a large mountain lioness, and pounced. The lioness tried to fight her off, but Renesmee was too strong for it to even attempt an escape. She held the lioness down with one hand and bit down on its neck and drank its blood until she had her fill, then ran up to Buffy and Lilith. "The lioness was easy, but it was a good hunt, don't you think?"
"All I can say is that you're lucky to have such powers," Buffy said with a little envy. "I have super-strength, speed and reflexes, but you...you can take down a mountain lion and are pretty much bulletproof like your parents. Most vampires I know can get shot but it hurts like hell. You, on the other hand..."
"Nobody's tested the endurance of my skin's strength, and they're afraid to," said Renesmee somewhat proudly. "Well, I suggest we go back to the castle and get some rest. I need all the rest I can get after a great hunt." The trio went back to the castle and went their seperate ways. When Renesmee got back to the common room, she found a silver metal box with a note. "What's this?" she said to herself and opened the box. "MOM! DAD! HARRY!"