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ffuturesHere's part XII of Dead Trouble, my BTVS / Harry Potter crossover. This is set several years post Deadly Hallows and post BtVS Chosen, with some spoilers for the BtVS Season 8 comics and Deadly Hallows spoilers. Previous parts are here
Dead Trouble
XII – Made in Peru
“Now here’s my plan,” said Bury, “one of us should be able to cast a wandless spell to get one of the wands back if we really concentrate hard, and then...”
“That won’t work,” said Harry, relaxing on the reasonably comfortable bed of the turret room where they were being held. “The wands are three floors down, and if we accio them they’ll be flying around the place, and I’ve a feeling someone would notice. Look, I think they’re starting to believe the truth about the body, if we just wait it out I think we’ll be all right.” As he talked he signalled for Bury to play along, guessing that they were being overheard, if not by magic then by electronics, or by Illyria listening through the walls. He couldn’t see a camera anywhere, that didn’t mean that there wasn’t one but he hoped that if they could see him they wouldn’t understand what he was doing before it was too late.
“I suppose you’re right. Even if we got away, I can’t see us getting the hearse out of here.”
“Exactly. Like I say, we just have to wait it out. Most of them seem to be reasonable people, it’s just that witch of theirs that worries me.”
“The red-head?” Bury made a face. “She’s going to kill herself or one of her friends casting spells without a wand.”
“It’s not quite that bad,” Harry saw a winged shadow flit past the window, and quietly got up and put his hand out through the bars. “Wandless magic has a bad reputation, but I think she has it under control. I was thinking more about the things we’re not allowed to tell her. I don’t think she’ll be satisfied without knowing all the facts, and you know how much paperwork that would involve.” He waited… there was a soft thud from the fireplace behind him, and some soot sifted down from the chimney. Henrietta was a good owl, but not quite in Hedwig’s league; she’d missed seeing his hand, but at least she’d found the right chimney.
Harry groped in the ashes, and found a small leather pouch. “Anyway, might as well get a bit of rest, they said they were waiting for someone from London, probably won’t get here for hours.” He gestured for Bury to come close, while listening for anyone coming up the stairs. He couldn’t hear anyone, that didn’t mean that there wasn’t someone on the way.
Harry tipped out a silk bag containing a dozen of the finest Weasley fireworks, carefully selected for noise, duration, and distraction value, and a book of matches. Next was a gold Galleon, Hermione’s invention, magically connected to a dozen others like it, at the Ministry and carried by some of the other Aurors. It probably wouldn’t work through the castle wards, but ought to be useful once they were outside. The next item was a phial of the Draught of Living Death, enough to knock out eight or ten people. After that was what looked like a stubby Muggle pencil; Harry flicked it gently, and a butterfly flew from the end. Bury raised his eyebrows in surprise. The disguised wand was one of the Ministry’s secrets; it took Ollivander three weeks to make something that size that worked at all, longer to match it to its user, and they cost a small fortune. It wasn’t anywhere near as good as his usual wand – it was impossible to pack a powerful core into such a short length – but it ought to be good enough to get him to the real thing. For a moment Harry wished that he still carried his cloak routinely, or had it in his emergency kit, but it was too precious to risk. Never mind; the final item was a matchbox-sized cardboard box containing four tiny glass phials full of swirling black powder, and a pair of folding cardboard spectacles with grey lenses. Harry turned the box over to show Bury the Weasley logo, and ‘Made in Peru.’
Harry lit one of the fireworks and threw it as far as he could out of the window. A few seconds later there was a colossal ‘BANG!’ and flash of red light outside, followed by the ‘Whizz’ of a dozen more bomblets flying off in different directions. Harry ran back to the door, and with a quick “Alohomora” the door swung open. Harry stunned the distracted girls outside, put on the cardboard glasses, and threw another two fireworks and a vial of Peruvian Darkness Powder down the spiral stairs. There were more explosions, and Bury looked at Harry dubiously. “Upstairs!” said Harry, “and grab my belt if the darkness comes up this far.” Below the stairs were filling with harmless evil-smelling smoke and darkness; the darkness was soon level with their feet, rising up their bodies as Bury grabbed him. In a few moments only the special glasses allowed him to see his way. He led Bury up a flight and back into the light, found a door that led out onto the battlements, fired off more stunners at the women patrolling the wall, and ran across the roof towards another turret. An arrow whizzed past his head – Harry wondered why they preferred them to Muggle guns – and he fired a stunner back but couldn’t tell if he hit his target. Another phial of darkness powder gave them the cover they needed to reach the turret. Along the way he threw more fireworks down into the castle courtyard, and threw the last firework and another vial of powder down the flight of stairs in the new turret.
“Now what?” said Bury, “They’re bound to guess we’re going down.”
“We’re not; keep quiet.” He led Bury back outside under the cover of darkness, cast a quick spell on his enchanted Galleon, and threw it out as hard as he could. He whispered “Now we wait here,” and risked a last silencing spell and a low-level Muggle repelling charm, hoping that neither would be enough to tip off the witch to their presence. He felt as tired as though he’d played a hard Quidditch game, using the wrong wand was exhausting. He put the pencil in his pocket, joining a couple of pens the women hadn’t confiscated; if they were caught there was a chance it would go unnoticed.
For the next few minutes the explosions continued, slowly tapering off into silence. Twice girls groped their way along the battlements, but as Harry had hoped they missed the crouching wizards.
Slowly the darkness began to clear, and Bury whispered “better break the last vial.”
“Can’t. They’ll notice for sure if this doesn’t clear.”
“There you are!” a satisfied-sounding voice said a minute later. Harry looked around; Willow was floating in the air level with the battlements, a faint flicker of lightning around her. She gestured, and Harry felt his charms evaporate, along with the last of the darkness.
“Now what?” said Bury.
“Now we find out what you’re really up to,” said Willow. “Someone could have been hurt with all those explosions.”
“They’re harmless,” said Harry, “just noise and light. Look, we just want to do our job and take her to be buried.”
“Yeah, like I believe that.”
“It’s true,” said Harry. “Anyway, it's too late for arguments.”
“Why's that?”
With a series of loud cracks a dozen broomsticks appeared around the castle, each carrying a combat-trained Auror, and a Sonorus-amplified voice said “This is the Ministry of Magic – lay down your wands and weapons and come out quietly.”
“I’m sorry,” said Harry. “Hopefully we can settle this without criminal charges, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to take you in for questioning.”
TBC
Comments please before I post to archives. I probably won't post any more until after the weekend, I'm off to a con in the morning.
XII – Made in Peru
“Now here’s my plan,” said Bury, “one of us should be able to cast a wandless spell to get one of the wands back if we really concentrate hard, and then...”
“That won’t work,” said Harry, relaxing on the reasonably comfortable bed of the turret room where they were being held. “The wands are three floors down, and if we accio them they’ll be flying around the place, and I’ve a feeling someone would notice. Look, I think they’re starting to believe the truth about the body, if we just wait it out I think we’ll be all right.” As he talked he signalled for Bury to play along, guessing that they were being overheard, if not by magic then by electronics, or by Illyria listening through the walls. He couldn’t see a camera anywhere, that didn’t mean that there wasn’t one but he hoped that if they could see him they wouldn’t understand what he was doing before it was too late.
“I suppose you’re right. Even if we got away, I can’t see us getting the hearse out of here.”
“Exactly. Like I say, we just have to wait it out. Most of them seem to be reasonable people, it’s just that witch of theirs that worries me.”
“The red-head?” Bury made a face. “She’s going to kill herself or one of her friends casting spells without a wand.”
“It’s not quite that bad,” Harry saw a winged shadow flit past the window, and quietly got up and put his hand out through the bars. “Wandless magic has a bad reputation, but I think she has it under control. I was thinking more about the things we’re not allowed to tell her. I don’t think she’ll be satisfied without knowing all the facts, and you know how much paperwork that would involve.” He waited… there was a soft thud from the fireplace behind him, and some soot sifted down from the chimney. Henrietta was a good owl, but not quite in Hedwig’s league; she’d missed seeing his hand, but at least she’d found the right chimney.
Harry groped in the ashes, and found a small leather pouch. “Anyway, might as well get a bit of rest, they said they were waiting for someone from London, probably won’t get here for hours.” He gestured for Bury to come close, while listening for anyone coming up the stairs. He couldn’t hear anyone, that didn’t mean that there wasn’t someone on the way.
Harry tipped out a silk bag containing a dozen of the finest Weasley fireworks, carefully selected for noise, duration, and distraction value, and a book of matches. Next was a gold Galleon, Hermione’s invention, magically connected to a dozen others like it, at the Ministry and carried by some of the other Aurors. It probably wouldn’t work through the castle wards, but ought to be useful once they were outside. The next item was a phial of the Draught of Living Death, enough to knock out eight or ten people. After that was what looked like a stubby Muggle pencil; Harry flicked it gently, and a butterfly flew from the end. Bury raised his eyebrows in surprise. The disguised wand was one of the Ministry’s secrets; it took Ollivander three weeks to make something that size that worked at all, longer to match it to its user, and they cost a small fortune. It wasn’t anywhere near as good as his usual wand – it was impossible to pack a powerful core into such a short length – but it ought to be good enough to get him to the real thing. For a moment Harry wished that he still carried his cloak routinely, or had it in his emergency kit, but it was too precious to risk. Never mind; the final item was a matchbox-sized cardboard box containing four tiny glass phials full of swirling black powder, and a pair of folding cardboard spectacles with grey lenses. Harry turned the box over to show Bury the Weasley logo, and ‘Made in Peru.’
Harry lit one of the fireworks and threw it as far as he could out of the window. A few seconds later there was a colossal ‘BANG!’ and flash of red light outside, followed by the ‘Whizz’ of a dozen more bomblets flying off in different directions. Harry ran back to the door, and with a quick “Alohomora” the door swung open. Harry stunned the distracted girls outside, put on the cardboard glasses, and threw another two fireworks and a vial of Peruvian Darkness Powder down the spiral stairs. There were more explosions, and Bury looked at Harry dubiously. “Upstairs!” said Harry, “and grab my belt if the darkness comes up this far.” Below the stairs were filling with harmless evil-smelling smoke and darkness; the darkness was soon level with their feet, rising up their bodies as Bury grabbed him. In a few moments only the special glasses allowed him to see his way. He led Bury up a flight and back into the light, found a door that led out onto the battlements, fired off more stunners at the women patrolling the wall, and ran across the roof towards another turret. An arrow whizzed past his head – Harry wondered why they preferred them to Muggle guns – and he fired a stunner back but couldn’t tell if he hit his target. Another phial of darkness powder gave them the cover they needed to reach the turret. Along the way he threw more fireworks down into the castle courtyard, and threw the last firework and another vial of powder down the flight of stairs in the new turret.
“Now what?” said Bury, “They’re bound to guess we’re going down.”
“We’re not; keep quiet.” He led Bury back outside under the cover of darkness, cast a quick spell on his enchanted Galleon, and threw it out as hard as he could. He whispered “Now we wait here,” and risked a last silencing spell and a low-level Muggle repelling charm, hoping that neither would be enough to tip off the witch to their presence. He felt as tired as though he’d played a hard Quidditch game, using the wrong wand was exhausting. He put the pencil in his pocket, joining a couple of pens the women hadn’t confiscated; if they were caught there was a chance it would go unnoticed.
For the next few minutes the explosions continued, slowly tapering off into silence. Twice girls groped their way along the battlements, but as Harry had hoped they missed the crouching wizards.
Slowly the darkness began to clear, and Bury whispered “better break the last vial.”
“Can’t. They’ll notice for sure if this doesn’t clear.”
“There you are!” a satisfied-sounding voice said a minute later. Harry looked around; Willow was floating in the air level with the battlements, a faint flicker of lightning around her. She gestured, and Harry felt his charms evaporate, along with the last of the darkness.
“Now what?” said Bury.
“Now we find out what you’re really up to,” said Willow. “Someone could have been hurt with all those explosions.”
“They’re harmless,” said Harry, “just noise and light. Look, we just want to do our job and take her to be buried.”
“Yeah, like I believe that.”
“It’s true,” said Harry. “Anyway, it's too late for arguments.”
“Why's that?”
With a series of loud cracks a dozen broomsticks appeared around the castle, each carrying a combat-trained Auror, and a Sonorus-amplified voice said “This is the Ministry of Magic – lay down your wands and weapons and come out quietly.”
“I’m sorry,” said Harry. “Hopefully we can settle this without criminal charges, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to take you in for questioning.”
TBC
Comments please before I post to archives. I probably won't post any more until after the weekend, I'm off to a con in the morning.
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no subject
Date: 2007-08-09 11:37 pm (UTC)Lovely save, that, with the Ministry of Magic showing up.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-09 11:42 pm (UTC)This is getting good...can't wait to see more.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-09 11:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-09 11:51 pm (UTC)See you at Recombination.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 12:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 12:25 am (UTC)I loved the end, though i am starting to think that you are one of the first ones to make a Decent Wizarding World Force...Weird, but good.
no subject
Of course this would have been unlikely in the old days as there would have been some sort of liason between the Ministry and the old Watcher's Council. I have the feeling that the only reason this conflict is occurring is that Giles is off-stage.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 03:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 03:06 am (UTC)That said I think Harry has done something incredibly stupid. Assuming that the Aurors have surrounded the castle, that puts them quite firmly in a possible death trap if the Slayers happen to have hidden forces in the area. Especially if Illyria can still do the time manipulation gig.
Also, by taking it to the level of rights of legality it raises the whole question of what precise authority would the Wizarding World have.
Enjoying the story and looking forward to more.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 03:07 am (UTC)And I wasn't planning to write even this much, so I'll leave it at this. XD;;
no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 05:27 am (UTC)I do hope that Giles turns up and manages to calm people down before they start killing each other...
no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 05:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 07:00 am (UTC)I *love* this! You're weaving so many threads together so cleverly. Plus you're updating really often. ::pats you on head::
no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 07:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 07:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 07:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 07:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 07:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 07:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 07:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 07:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 09:12 am (UTC)Oh dear
Date: 2007-08-10 09:58 am (UTC)http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/10/weasley_computers/
Re: Oh dear
Date: 2007-08-10 01:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 01:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 04:55 pm (UTC)1) Reensoulment of a vampire - multiple times
2) True resurrection, albeit with ritual help from friends and appropriate paraphernalia
3) Enhancement of her own strength and speed to Slayer levels
4) Lightning and shields powerful enough to damage or stymie a hellgod - not sure just how powerful Glory was in wizarding world terms, but she's certainly a match for a score of vampires
5) Instahealing of injury, faster than anything Pomfrey or St. Mungo's has been shown to due, both at the end of Season 6 and in the Season 8 comics
6) Empowering all the slayers at the end of Season 7
7) Broomless, unaided flight, akin to Snape or Voldemort (and everybody seemed pretty impressed by them)
8) Not just teleportation (although it seems both different from and much more draining than Apparation), but imposing teleportation on others
9) Enough Legilimency by the end of Season 5 to be able to serve as a psychic switchboard or go deep into Buffy's psyche when she's catatonic
10) Telekinesis beyond what Wingardium Leviosa seems to provide, although its destructive use may not be as effective as Reducto
11) Able to take on a PTB (although admittedly Jasmine was as yet unborn, so probably not at her most powerful) or Giles when imbued with the power of a whole coven of (presumably wandless) practitioners
12) Obliviate multiple targets with one spell, and with not all of them present
None of which is to say that she's necessarily a match for a dozen aurors, especially since she's unlikely to have experience shielding against their kinds of spells. But Willow does seem able to do a number of things the HP wizards would consider remarkable in some areas, and closely match their abilities in others, with relatively few deficits that I can see. The difficulty of her teleportation spells vs. the ease of Apparation might be one of these, inexperience with shielding against direct attack spells like stunners might be another.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 11:22 pm (UTC)That said I will be curious to see how the Buffyverse crowd cope with the idea of magical police who don't entirely approve of their actions. If at all possible you have to introduce Willow to Hermione though. I suspect they'd either get on like the original house on fire or hate each other on site.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-13 09:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-13 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-15 05:29 pm (UTC)