Chapter 10
Buffy pulled on her cloak as she stepped outside, shivering against the damp chill that seemed to seep through the thick fabric. She walked slightly quicker to catch up, reaching Hagrid in no time.
"Hello, Hagrid," Buffy greeted him with a smile.
"Hullo, Miss Summers," Hagrid replied, smiling shyly down at her.
"Do I need to remind you to call me Buffy?" Buffy asked. "When people call me Miss Summers it makes me think I'm in trouble."
"Might I remind you, Miss Summers, that you are in detention because you got into trouble in my class?" Ramsay asked, glaring at Buffy over his shoulder from his place several paces ahead. "I believe that Mr. Hagrid has the right idea in calling you Miss Summers, given the circumstances."
Buffy stuck her tongue out at his back when he turned to face forward again.
"Don't worry about him, he's just in a mood," Hagrid reassured her, patting her arm gently.
"So I've been told," Buffy replied with a roll of her eyes. "So, what does my detention entail tonight?"
"I think we're going into the Forbidden Forest," Hagrid replied.
"Isn't it supposed to be, y'know, forbidden?" Buffy asked. "As in, no one allowed to go in?"
"Usually that's the case," Hagrid replied. "But sometimes there are things in the forest that need to be done. That's where I come in. It's part of my job, here at the school, and sometimes I get asked to help out with detentions that lead students into the forest."
"Okay, so I get why you're here, because you're all with the helping out and stuff," Buffy said before jabbing her thumb in Tom's direction. He was walking ahead of them, next to Professor Ramsay. "But what's he doing here? Aren't prefects supposed to be all with the rule following and not getting into trouble?"
"You're assuming I'm here because I got into trouble," Tom said, glancing at her over his shoulder. "Prefects are asked to help supervise detentions from time to time, especially detentions like this one where the task may be a little more dangerous than usual."
Buffy wondered what kind of school would allow students to go into a dangerous forest, at night, to serve detention. Even when Sunnydale High School had been under the thumb of the evil troll Principal Snyder, the worst thing Buffy had had to do was take some kids out during Halloween, the quietest night in the supernatural world, apparently. At least, it wouldn't have been dangerous if Ethan Rayne hadn't turned her little group into their costumes.
"Don't listen to him, Buffy, the Forest isn't as bad as everyone says," Hagrid said with a reassuring smile. "Yeh just need to know which creatures to trust and which to steer clear from. Calling it forbidden just keeps students from going in and getting lost. Most of the time, anyway."
"We're here," Professor Ramsay said as he stopped by the edge of the forest. Squinting, Buffy could just barely make out a trail winding into the dark trees. "Now, here is where we split up. Hagrid, you're with me. Summers, you're with Riddle. No arguments, I don't want to hear it. My third year class is going to be studying mokes this term, and I would like to procure some of them for the children to study before the weather turns sour. Once you capture five in the boxes I will provide you with, you may go back to the castle. A simple petrificus spell should be enough to subdue them. Send up some red sparks when you're done and I'll send Hagrid over to guide you back to the grounds. All clear? Do you even know what a moke is, Miss Summers? Or how to do a simple petrificus spell?"
"I'm sure you know the answer to that," Buffy replied, trying to keep the snap out of her voice Yep, this guy was way worse than Snyder.
"Get Riddle to show you, I don't have the patience to teach first year spells to a sixth year," Ramsay said with a dismissive wave. "Come along Hagrid, you and I will take the right fork. Summers, you and Riddle take the left once you've figured out what you're catching and how you're catching it. I don't want to be out here all night, so the sooner you figure out what you're doing the sooner you can get on with this and complete your task."
Hagrid smiled sympathetically at Buffy as he handed his lantern to Tom before heading over to follow Ramsay down the path. This left Buffy alone with Tom, who was smirking at her.
"What's so funny?" Buffy asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Nothing," Tome replied with a small smile.
"So, are you going to show me this spell or what?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow. "And what's a yoke?"
"I think you mean a moke," Tom said with another amused smirk. "I could explain what a yoke is, but we'd be here all night. Here, we'll kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, because I think I see a moke to petrify."
"Ooh, where?" Buffy asked, trying not to sound terribly excited, but it was hard. There was new magic to be learned, and considering it was a first year spell she was going to learn, it couldn't be too difficult.
Tom smiled slightly as he lifted the lantern high, illuminating more of the path and a large tree about ten feet away. There was nothing particularly interesting about the tree, except for the fact that there was a lizard, about six inches in length, on the trunk.
"See the lizard?" Tom whispered so as not to startle the creature, pointing at it.
"Yeah, what about it?" Buffy asked, wondering where this was going.
"Follow me and keep your eyes on the lizard," Tom said as he approached the large tree. As they approached, Buffy saw the lizard get smaller and smaller until they finally reached the tree. The lizard had shrunk to about half an inch in length, and it stood perfectly still on that tree trunk.
"Now I'm going to show you how to do the spell to make sure the little guy won't get away," Tom continued. "I'm going to demonstrate the spell, but you're going to be the one who casts it. Sound fair?"
"I suppose so," Buffy said uncertainly. Her first experience with magic earlier that day hadn't gone as well as she had hoped, so she was naturally wary about waving her wand and saying funny words.
"Did someone have an unpleasant experience with magic today?" Tom asked, smirking playfully.
"No comment," Buffy replied quickly. "Now what's the what with the spell?"
"We really need to work on keeping you from butchering the English language like that," Tom said with a sigh and a shake of his head, but he was smirking in amusement. "Now, this spell is ridiculously easy. All you have to do is point your wand at whatever living object you want to petrify and say petrificus totalis. It's one of the easiest and first spells students are taught in Defence Against the Dark Arts. It's not permanent and can be thrown off by a particularly strong witch or wizard without a countercurse, but it'll serve our purposes here. Now, you try."
"Okay, here goes," Buffy said, taking a deep breath as she extracted her wand from the special pocket sewn inside the sleeve of her robe. She pointed her wand at the moke and concentrated. "Petrificus totalis!"
A sheen seemed to settle over the moke, and it was still as stone. For good measure, Buffy experimentally poked the little lizard with her finger, smiling to herself when it didn't move and, indeed, felt like stone.
"Congratulations on casting your first successful spell," Tom remarked with a smirk. "Now, let's get that little bugger into the box and move on."
Tom held the box underneath the moke, in the perfect position to catch it as he poked the little lizard with his finger. It dropped to the bottom of the box, landing with a dull thudding sound.
"That's not going to hurt the thing, is it?" Buffy asked, worried. She may be the Slayer, and she may kill creatures of the night on a regular basis (or, at least, she did before she got sent to Hogwarts), but that didn't mean she didn't worry about hurting harmless little woodland creatures getting hurt because of something she had done.
"Nothing permanent," Tom replied. "It'll survive, mostly because the charm completely petrifies the object of the spell, hardening their skin into a rock-like substance until the spell is lifted. It should be fine until that happens."
"Okay then," Buffy said, sounding unsure but she didn't have a reason to doubt him. Besides the fact that he sort of but not really set of her Slayer senses, he had been nothing but normal and pleasant to her. "Hey, how do you know this stuff? You don't take Care of Magical Creatures, do you?"
"I don't anymore," Tom replied with a shrug as he turned and began walking down the path, heading further into the forest. "I started taking it in third year when more advanced courses became open to me, but found that it wasn't quite right for me. Besides, it didn't quite mesh with what I wanted to do when I leave Hogwarts, and the more relevant my courses are the easier it will be for me to get the job I want."
"Makes sense," Buffy said as she followed Tom deeper into the forest.
It was quiet, too quiet, which tipped Buffy off to something wrong instantly. With her Slayer hearing, Buffy could hear the barest of whispers, the softest of rustlings, but except for her own and Tom's footsteps, she couldn't hear anything. She couldn't even hear Professor Ramsay or Hagrid, and they couldn't be too far off; the paths didn't look like they diverged that much. The lack of sound gave Buffy a very bad feeling, one she was sure anyone around her could sense.
"Buffy, are you all right?" Tom asked, breaking Buffy out of her thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Buffy replied quickly.
"Really? Because you seem on edge," Tom said turning around to face her. "I thought you Gryffindors were supposed to be brave or some rot like that."
"I just have a bad feeling, that's all," Buffy replied. "It could be anything or nothing. Let's just get this thing finished so that we can get back to the castle already."
"I like the way you think," Tom said before he turned and headed further into the woods. Buffy walked quickly to catch up, only to find a figure blocking their path.
"Two lost little children wandering through the woods," she said. "Did you not leave a trail of breadcrumbs so you could find your way home?"
She was petite, with long dark hair and eerie pale blue eyes. Her skin was so pale that it seemed to glow in the moonlight with an ethereal light. Dressed in a flimsy white nightgown, she should have been freezing; Buffy was shivering underneath her heavy cloak, and she'd been walking and keeping active. Despite her appearance, the woman gave off a dangerous air, one that made the hairs on the back of Buffy's neck stand straight.
"Or maybe not such a lost little child," said the woman with a dreamy smile before her face morphed into a demonic visage. "Slayer."
"Vampire," Buffy acknowledged, dropping into a natural fighting stance. Drusilla the crazy vampire stood in front of them, much stronger than she had been when Buffy had encountered her in Sunnydale. Even in her weakened state, she had taken down a Slayer. "Tom, get out of here, quick! Go find Hagrid and Ramsay, just get out of here!"
Buffy was unable to give out any more instructions as Drusilla lunged at her, fingers hooked into claws, sharpened fingernails ready to strike.
The fight was fast, furious and vicious. Drusilla was fast, one of the fastest vampires Buffy had fought in a while. Attacks were landed and dodged with a furor that would only have been matched by a battle with Angelus.
Buffy finally landed a kick to Drusilla's stomach, sending her flying. The only thing that stopped her was a large tree trunk, which she collided with and splintered. That didn't stop the vampire for long, though, as she quickly scrambled to her feet, snarling at Buffy as she got ready to pounce again. The only thing that stopped her was the sounds of someone stumbling through the bush and a voice calling her name.
"Dru! Drusilla! Where have you gone off to, you crazy bint?"
Drusilla snarled again before she turned and ran through the forest, heading towards the voice calling her name. Buffy stood there, breathing hard, and watched her leave. It was only when she heard a sound behind her that she snapped out of "Slayer Mode" and paid attention to the rest of her surroundings.
"What the hell are you still doing here?" she asked Tom, frantic. He was standing there, blinking at her with a look of disbelief on his face. "I told you to run. You could have gotten hurt. Or worse, eaten!"
"What just happened?" Tom asked. He glanced at Buffy's forehead, where a cut was bleeding. "You're hurt! What the hell were you thinking, taking on a vampire bare handed? Bloody Gryffindor bravado like that will get you killed."
"Which is why I told you to run and save your neck," Buffy replied. "What's worse, one person dead or two people dead?"
"We have to tell someone about this," Tom said.
"And say what, exactly?" Buffy asked. "Because telling people a tiny blonde girl fought a vampire and sent her flying sounds kinda crazy if you think about it."
"Well, we don't need to include that," Tom replied.
"Then how would you explain the fact that we're not, y'know, dead in the middle of the forest and drained of all our blood or walking around as vampires?" Buffy asked.
"I have taken nearly six years of Defence Against the Dark Arts and besides Potions it's my best subject," Tom replied. "We've learned several spells that would be effective against vampires. I'm sure it would be believable that I would be able to hold off one vampire, causing it to run off to lick its wounds."
Buffy sighed; she really hoped that this aspect of her life wouldn't be discovered by the Hogwarts students. At least, not this quickly. It was Sunnydale all over again. There was even that stupid Vampyre book Giles had tried to force on her on her first day!
"Buffy, are you okay?" Tom asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Buffy replied with another sigh.
"Well then, come on. We should get back to the castle," Tom said, jerking his head in the direction that would lead them out of the forest. "At least to get that cut looked at. It could get infected and leave a nasty scar if it doesn't heal properly."
"It's just a little cut, it'll heal fine on its own," Buffy replied with a shrug. Given the choice between Dippet and the hospital, Buffy chose Dippet. She didn't trust him as far as Willow could throw him, and she was sure the headmaster didn't like her much, either, but if it meant avoiding a hospital, she would bite the bullet and deal with the older man. "And should we continue with the detention? I doubt Ramsay would qualify 'vampire attack' as a valid excuse for skipping out on detention."
"You leave him to me," Tom said. "I'll make sure you don't get punished for this if you go to Dippet right now. If you're more comfortable, we can go to Dumbledore if you want."
"Okay, fine, if it means I get out of the forest and avoid the hospital, I'll go," Buffy replied with a sigh. "But we're going to Dumbledore."
"Didn't I give you that as one of the options?" Tom asked, getting exasperated. "Now that we have that settled, let's go already, before they decide we're not actually a threat and come back for seconds!"
"Speak for yourself," Buffy muttered under her breath before she straightened her back. "Lead the way, Tom, because you know the forest way better than I do."
Tom led them through the forest, keeping to the path, and before long they were at the edge of the Hogwarts lawn. Tom cut across the grass at a fast clip, causing Buffy and her short legs to jog to keep up. It wasn't strenuous on her body, it was just annoying that he wouldn't slow down slightly so that she would be able to keep up at a comfortable pace.
The trip to the castle was silent, and but for their footsteps on the stone floor their trip to the seventh floor was the same. They reached Professor Dumbledore's office in record time and Tom wasted no time in knocking on the door loudly. They didn't have to wait long, as the door creaked open only moments after Tom had knocked on it.
"Mr. Riddle, Miss Summers, what a surprise," Dumbledore said with a curious expression on his face. "To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"
"We wish to speak to you," Tom replied. "Something happened while Buffy was in detention in the forest and we thought you ought to know."
"And this information didn't warrant a notification to the professor supervising the detention?" Dumbledore asked mildly.
"This is something that concerns school security and we thought one of the head professors should know first, before it might spread around the school," Tom replied. "Since Buffy felt more comfortable coming to you, we decided that you would be best to tell."
"Alright then," Dumbledore said, nodding once in agreement. "Please, come in and tell me what happened. Would you like some tea? Or perhaps a lemon drop?"
"No thank you, sir," Tom replied. Dumbledore set his gaze on Buffy, the same questions implied in his eyes. Buffy shook her head as she sat down, remaining silent. She decided to remain silent and let Tom tell the story; after all, it had been his idea and his cover story in the first place.
Tom launched into the story, lying flawlessly as he wove the tale with his words. He described how he had blasted the vampire with a fire charm, burning it but not dusting it, before it ran off into the forest.
"Thank you for the information, Mr. Riddle. I will inform the headmaster promptly and we will make sure the security at the school is updated," Dumbledore said. "Now, would you please leave me and Miss Summers for a moment? I'd like to speak to her alone before sending her off to her dormitory."
"Of course, headmaster," Tom said, getting up from his seat and leaving the office, shutting the door behind him. Dumbledore waited several long minutes before speaking again, his attention fully on Buffy.
"Now, please tell me what really happened," Dumbledore said gently, steepling his fingers underneath his chin.
"How did you know Tom wasn't telling the truth?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow.
"I just want to make sure we have the story straight before I go to Headmaster Dippet," Dumbledore replied.
"Would you be angry if I told you Tom was lying?" Buffy asked.
"More disappointed than angry, although I'm really not surprised. Tom seems to think I don't trust him," Dumbledore replied. "Now, what is the real story? I would hardly expect a Vampire Slayer such as yourself to stand by as an innocent bystander jumps into the fray, even if that innocent bystander just so happened to be a wizard."
So Buffy told her story, from encountering Drusilla to her running off when she heard Spikes voice. Buffy was quite certain it was Spike; it wouldn't have been Angel, because if she remembered correctly, Angel was already in the United States. Besides, he had a soul and wouldn't have been hanging around Drusilla and Spike anyway.
"But what I really thought was weird, was that Drusilla didn't seem to recognize me," Buffy said. "I mean, if she encountered me in her past, wouldn't it be possible that she would say something?"
"Well, I have a few ideas on that," Dumbledore said. "One, she didn't recognize you when she met you in your time, and therefore she wouldn't have made that connection in your time. Two, so much time and so many events have passed by between this meeting and the next that she forgot all about you. And finally, this is the beginning of an entirely new time loop and you've started a parallel timeline. Between you and I, I sincerely hope that it's one of the first two scenarios. Parallel timelines have a tendency to get complicated and messy."
"I kind of hope so, too," Buffy replied. "Was there anything else you wanted to speak to me about?"
"No, you're free to go," Dumbledore said. "Will you be able to make your way back to your own common room, or do you need me to escort you?"
"The entrance is on this floor, right?" Buffy asked. Dumbledore nodded at her with a reassuring smile. "Then I should be all right. My sense of direction isn't that bad."
"Well then, I bid you good night," Dumbledore said, his smile widening slightly. "I'll see you bright an early tomorrow morning in Transfiguration with your fellow Gryffindors. Until then, good night."
"'Night, Professor," Buffy replied with a smile as she got up and left the office. She looked both ways down the corridor before stepping out of the office when she didn't see Tom loitering about. She caught sight of the Fat Lady's portrait from Dumbledore's office door, and she quickly made her way down the corridor towards the painting. She whispered the password to the portrait, causing it to swing open. She had expected the common room to be empty, but sitting in front of the fire were Minerva, August, Terrence and Quentin.
"You're alive!" Terrence exclaimed, grinning when he saw her. His smile fell when he saw that she was a little worse for wear. "What happened to you?"
"Detention in the Forbidden Forest," Buffy replied.
"Was it really that horrible?" Augusta asked.
"Not too bad, I've had worse at my old school," Buffy replied. She didn't reveal that most of the ordeals she had gone through in Sunnydale mostly had nothing to do with her detentions from Snyder. They didn't need to know that, hopefully they never would.
"But you're hurt," Quentin remarked, gesturing towards Buffy's forehead. "What happened, and shouldn't you go to the hospital wing?"
"Got a branch to the face while moke hunting," Buffy replied. "It's just a cut, no big deal. I'll wash it before I go to bed and it'll heal up on it's own."
"Well, all right," Quentin said.
"We're all just glad you're all right, Buffy," Minerva piped up. "Ramsay is known for his horrendous detentions."
"It was no big, I'm here and I survived to fight another day," Buffy replied. She began to feel weary; it had been a long, long day. She fought off a yawn, not wanting to appear rude but feeling like a comfortable bed would be heaven at the moment. "I'm really sorry I can't stay up and talk, but I'm about ready to fall over. All right with you guys if I head on off to bed?"
"It's fine with us, we were only staying up to make sure you came back in one piece," Terrence said with a grin, cowering when August smacked him on the arm.
"Okay, well, good night," Buffy said with a smile and a wave, heading towards the girl's staircase.
"Night, Buffy," the Gryffindor quartet on the couches chorused, waving back.
***
So, here's chapter 10. As usual, feedback is awesome and it's something that keeps me going.