A/N On three separate occasions the Council attempted to evaluate Buffy's skills, the Cruciementum, when Wesley first arrived in Sunnydale and during the Glory incident. Mrs. Post, in the show, began her arrival with a critique of Buffy and Faith's performances on a Slaying she witnessed and won Faith over by telling her she would help her become a better Slayer so Faith could live longer.
The Cruciementum as it was presented on the show made no sense. Consider the logistics of procuring, transporting and imprisoning a vampire. It could have cost a lot of lives, not to mention money, to do the test that way.
And drugging Buffy, especially unknowingly, was straight up evil. (However, in view of Joss' comments about the Normal Again episode makes you wonder if it was already on his mind to just declare the whole show as happening in Buffy's insane mind, in which case, drugging her would actually be medicating her and Travers could be read as the doctor trying to pull her out of her delusion, that makes more sense than what we saw on the show.)
The Cruciementum without the drugging and under controlled circumstances though could just be seen as a test of Buffy skills. The unannounced test that Wesley on the Next Generation underwent was done with an instructor nearby watching to make sure it didn't go too far, it's in real that if he'd failed he could have been injured or died.
Buffy fights vampires and demons so her test would involve a vampire or demon. Also, The Cruciementum could be seen like the equivalent of a SAT test, a means of evaluating what someone's learned up to graduation and at one time, graduating High School was something not many people managed, over time that number grew.
If the Council wants to ensure more Slayers live than evaluating a Slayer that manages to survive longer than the average can help ensure that.
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Corinne MaCalister had been practicing Magic since she was a teenager, she'd apprenticed under the Devon Coven and worked for the Magic Department of the Watchers Council her whole career. As had her mother before her, working for the Watchers Council often passed through family lines as it wasn't a job that could be advertised for and outside recruiting happened like with Michael Fischer, an individual who, when witnessing the truth about the world, refused to look way and joined the fight. Such individuals than raised their children in the knowledge of the truth of the world, which made it easy to recruit them to the fight as well.
Not many people worked Magic anymore, like demons, the world had forgotten it existed, so someone who did work Magic often also taught it to their children as Corinne had learned from her mother.
All of which meant Corrine felt the Magic around Sunnydale the moment she stepped off the plane at the Sunnydale Airport. There was a Magic field surrounding Sunnydale, the same kind of Magic as on the physical reports that had been submitted officially for nearly a century by Sunnydale to the outside world. But it felt different than Corrine had felt on those reports she'd examined. Someone else, possibly several someones given the size of it, was working a similar spell.
Which actually made sense, the sudden collapse of such a spell could very well have destroyed Sunnydale and a large part of the population if they'd suddenly been forced to face the reality of the supernatural.
As Corrine walked around the town she also noted very strong Wards placed around the schools and an especially strong one around Sunnydale High School, where the Hellmouth was located. Someone was working to protect the children in Sunnydale, those Wards would have to be redone every day. Similar Wards were found around the art gallery owned by Joyce Summers, mother of Buffy Summers, the Slayer who'd died and been revived just a couple of months ago, the first ever. That Ward made sense too, a vampire might target the Slayer's mother to get to her. The second Slayer Rupert Giles was currently guilding until he could be evaluated was found in a small apartment, the building also had a Ward going on it. An excellent precaution since her neighbors could be used against her.
The surprise was the Wards around City Hall and the Police Department. But Corrinne realized that actually did make sense too, the police had to be in the know, Michael's report said two years ago they added a night shift patrol, which meant the police were hunting vampires in Sunnydale and of course someone high up in City Hall, like the Mayor, the new Mayor as of two years ago when the changes began, would want those employees protected as well.
A lot of Magic was being worked in Sunnydale and that required a good sized coven dedicated to white Magic and protecting people. There were limits to what they could do because their numbers wouldn't compare to the size of the town but what they'd managed, especially in only two years, was impressive.
Corinne noted intense night patrols around a teen hangout club as well. Warding that would be very difficult, it had bouncers and they could be thralled by vampires who would then invite the vampire in, negating the Wards. Any of the teenagers could invite someone in as well, just like at the schools, it could be done, but given that the Slayers also frequented it, along with police patrolling, it would be a waste of valuable resources on an already stretched thin Magic group.
Corinne was able to make an assessment of Buffy Summers skill level as well after witnessing her fight a vampire. Faith Lahaine would not be undergoing the Cruciementum at 18, she'd activated later than most Slayers, it was done if a Slayer reached 18 after at least two years of service. Since Faith had activated just prior to 18, a rarity, since the average age was 15, she'd have to be tested at another time.
Buffy's skill level showed a proficiency in martial arts and favored kicking, so that made sense since the sensei Rupert Giles' reports stated he'd procured for her was teaching her taekwondo and kickboxing.
As for opportunities to evaluate her, Sunnydale had a number of neutral demons and some violent ones as well, along with a constant influx of vampires. They all frequented the demon bars that had strong antiviolence Wards on them, so finding one that could participate shouldn't be too difficult.