BTVS / Harry Potter (Deadly Hallows spoilers) - Dead Trouble XIII

[ffutures]

Here's part XIII 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

XIII – Under Siege

“To continue,” said Percy Weasley, ignoring the flashes of several cameras, “first reports of the situation came to the Ministry’s attention three days ago, when an Auror assigned to a routine airport security duty noticed some suspicious activity by a group of Muggle women, and informed the Ministry. Briefly, he became aware of evidence of extraordinary strength and speed, consistent with the so-called ‘Slayer Curse’ which you will find described in your briefing scrolls. It was felt best to keep our profile minimal, to avoid giving this group any proof of magic’s existence.”

“Yesterday morning we received another message, using an emergency communications system which I am not at liberty to describe, giving the location of these premises…” Percy gestured towards the castle behind him, shimmering behind something that looked like blue heat haze, “…and warning us that our Auror was being held prisoner, and that there was an unspecified dangerous magical creature on the premises. We now believe that at least one unregistered witch is also present. Our investigations suggest that someone has found the key to casting the ‘Slayer Curse’ at will, presumably to create an army of women capable of defeating any normal Muggle force.”

“We are currently trying to negotiate with this group to arrange a peaceful settlement and the release of all hostages, after which we hope to investigate the circumstances of these events and the prosecution of any witches or wizards involved, if we find evidence of criminal activities. Questions?”

“Auror Weasley!” a dozen voices shouted. Percy recognized one, and thought that he might as well get the worse over with first.

“Miss Skeeter?”

“Can you confirm for the Prophet’s readers that the kidnapped Auror is none other than the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter himself?”

“Perhaps I should begin by pointing out that Auror Potter is now twenty-seven years old. I’m reasonably sure that he would not thank you for calling him a ‘boy’.” A dozen reporters laughed; Rita wasn’t the most popular member of the wizarding press, at least amongst her peers. “To answer your question, I’m not at liberty to reveal the names of anyone involved at this time.”

“We have reports,” said Rita, “that the clock in Mister Potter’s house shows him as being in Mortal Danger. Would you care to comment?”

“All I can say, Miss Skeeter,” said Percy, “is you’re misinformed; my brother-in-law’s clock doesn’t have a Mortal Danger position.” It actually read ‘Mortal Peril’, but Percy had no intention of saying so. “Although having said that, I’d imagine that my clock may be reading something of the sort, because my sister will kill me if I discuss Harry’s activities.”

More laughter; Percy spotted another familiar face in the crowd. “Mister Creevy?”

“Dennis Creevy, Wizarding Wireless Network. This siege has attracted the attention of the whole wizarding world’s press, and commentators in America are comparing it to a Muggle siege a few years ago, which led to several deaths. That was caused by the activities of a Muggle religious cult; is any cult activity suspected in the current situation?”

“Yes.” More flashes, and more questions which Percy ignored. “Let me finish please. We have reason to believe that this situation may be linked to the destruction of the city of Sunnydale, California, four years ago. American Aurors suspected cult involvement at the time, and there were several reports of demonic activity; reports which we now believe may be substantiated.”

“Auror Weasley,” shouted someone he didn’t recognize, a woman with an American accent, “are you saying that there’s a demon in that castle?”

“We haven’t ruled it out,” said Percy. “But obviously our investigation is ongoing. Those of you who remember your Dark Arts courses will know that there are many different species, some of them more or less harmless, and it’s possible that that’s what we’re dealing with here. Mister Creevy again?”

“Is it true that there was a giant guarding the castle, and you had to stun him after he knocked a broomstick out of the air and injured a wizard?”

“It isn’t a true giant,” said Percy, “just someone suffering from the usual Thricewise curse.” There was a ripple of amusement from the assembled reporters, everyone knew how that one worked. “It’s true that he did some minor damage, but nobody has been injured, apart from a few bruises and grazes.” Behind the reporters he noticed one of his assistants waving a small scroll and making a ‘wind it up’ gesture. “No more questions for now, please. I’m sorry, I’m needed elsewhere.”

. . . . .

“Look,” Harry said through the bars of the magically-warded cell door, “I know that your witch isn’t going to trust me with a wand, but at least let Mister Bury renew the preservation spell on the body. It was only intended to last a couple of days, and it’s a bit warm with all the wards around the castle.”

“I can smell it a bit already,” said Spike. “All right, I’ll ask, but your friends out there have got the Slayers running paranoid. It’s not in their blood to give up without a fight, and by now people on the outside must have noticed that the phones aren’t working and so forth.”

“So?”

“So sooner or later someone will show up wanting answers. Someone with big bloody guns, I’d imagine.”

“Guns?” said Bury. “Think they’re a match for magic?”

“I’d really rather not find out,” said Harry.

“Good lad,” said Spike. “If big sis really thinks that Dawn’s in trouble she’s likely to show up with a few of her mates. Maybe your blokes can handle Slayers, though with all the magical knick-knacks Willow’s been handing out to all and sundry I wouldn’t swear to that, but Buffy’s got friends in the military, commando types with no sense of humour and lots of experience fighting magic. Spells are all well and good at close range, but a sniper or a helicopter gunship can really ruin your day.”

“Merlin… look, can you try to persuade your witch to talk to us? Someone needs to take the initiative here, or there’s going to be even more trouble.”

“I’ll try. But I think Willow may have her own ideas about how we’re going to settle things, and right now she’s not in a very understanding mood.”

. . . . .

Percy hurried through the wards that kept the press a safe distance from the castle, and waited until they were out of earshot before asking questions. “What’s happening, Jenkins?”

“Message from the Minister, sir; apparently the Muggle Prime Minister had been in touch, he’s not very happy.”

“The Muggle Prime Minister? What’s he got to do with anything?”

“It seems that our friends in the castle have contacts in high places.”

“That’s all we need. Okay, let’s see the scroll.”

Percy read it through then read it again. “This doesn’t really change anything; the Minister isn’t actually ordering us to drop the case. It just means that we’ll have to be really sure of our grounds before we arrest anyone. Have a word with the others, tell them to be extra careful.”

Jenkins went off, and Percy heard a feminine voice say “Excuse me.”

“Yes?” Percy turned, and saw an attractive brunette in her thirties holding a notebook and quill, the American reporter who’d questioned him at the press conference. “Sorry to bother you, I was hoping you could give me more background on the Slayer curse.”

“Not right now, I’m… just a minute, how did you get out here, miss..?”

“Burkle. Winifred Burkle, Los Angeles Cauldron. I guess I just followed you out here.”

“Through the wards?”

“What wards?”

Percy swore, and turned to look back the way he’d come. Surely Jenkins hadn’t messed up a spell that basic… He never saw the fist that knocked him out.

TBC



Comments please before I post to archives.

Comments

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

"at least amongst her perrs." I assume "peers"?

Argh, the suspense is killing me.

[maviscruet.livejournal.com]

I like how badly wrong it's going - and there does not even appear to be a bad guy causing it.....

OH and I went looking for Thricewise curse on google - and your the top hit........

[adoxerella.livejournal.com]

I've really enjoyed this story. You do a great job with all of the character's voices. The idea that the two groups would suspect each other seems to fit well.

I was a bit confused with the whole Thricewise thing. In chapter ten you said it was Andrew who boinked the Thricewise, but in this chapter you I understood it to be Dawn, like in the comics. Could you please clarify? Thanks.

[kerravonsen]

Gah! Can't any of them be sensible?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

No, it's Andrew that the Aurors have captured, the Dawn thing is just that she's in the castle so apparently in danger.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Wizards and Scoobies? Are you insane...?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I have no idea how the whole Thricewise thing is supposed to work, but it sounds like a curse to me.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks, will fix.

[arkeus.livejournal.com]

Quite good. You managed to make the Hp wizards strong enough to matter, which is impressive, and without your comments we wouldn't know how weird it is... (like if rack is a squib that does newt level spells like human silent transfiguration, repelletn wards, etc, then why are other Squib not taught alternative methods of magicks?).

The plot is, as in all your fics, engaging too :-)

Great Work!

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I think the words "deadly dangerous" and "dark" are all that the wizards would need to decide not to train up the squibs. And given how close Willow came to ending the world, and what e.g. Amy and Rack were like, can you blame them?

Thanks for the kind words.

[arkeus.livejournal.com]

Hum....that's why i said "Alternative methods", meaning that there should be constant testing done with squibs to see if they can't use another type of focus, etc...

of course, maybe you are farther along than me in that line of thinking :p

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Absolutely superb.

[liliaeth]

Stupid Willow, I really wish she'd find out how little she actually knows about magic, in comparison to trained aurors. I'd reckon that Willow is maybe, and that's at most, on the level of a fourth years Hogwarts student. She's like a wizard child, lots of power, but little or no controll.

That and I'd love to see the Initiative get their buts kicked by the aurors if they try anything. Technology might sound cool, but half the stuff won't even work, if the aurors use enough magic.
(there's a reason after all that technology won't work at all around Hogwarts or Hogsmeade.)

[averageshmoe.livejournal.com]

Have to ask, did you base this confrontation on a real life event? It's playing out like a news story where two powerful groups who perceive themselves as answering to no one escalate a simple misunderstanding into a crisis.

Which it now is.

JK never went into it, as far as I can recall, but if the abundance of magic can 'suppress' technology is the reverse true. If Harry or some other wizard found themselves in a computer lab what would happen?

take care

pgavigan

[liliaeth]

Actually, don't squibs have no magic at all? I remember that Neville's family thought he was a squib because he showed no signs of having any kind of magic, until a granduncle of his nearly dropped him from great height. It's not that they can't use wands, it's that they just have no magic, like any normal muggle.

I'd reckon Willow's magic without a wand, could be easier blamed on a lack of training due to living near the hellmouth than anything else.

[gianna24.livejournal.com]

Awesome.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Wards? What wards? - Excellent.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Just hope I can think of an ending that works. This decided to mutate a little as I was writing it.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

But this isn't Hogwarts or Hogsmeade, and the Initiative do have their own sources of magic. Assuming I go that route, of course...

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Oh, it probably took a little effort... not enough to bother Illyria though.

[liliaeth]

True, but considering what incompetents the Initiative were shown to be in canon, I don't really see them as standing even the beginning of a chance.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I wasn't thinking of any particular event, but there are endless examples of organizations clashing for silly reasons. I don't think technology has any special effect on magic - if you want some technobabble, the field effects left by Potterverse magic mess around with the uncertainty principle and quantum-level events just enough to screw up electronics, but the reverse isn't true.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

At their last appearances (Riley's hunt for the demon tribbles in S6, and Spike's brain op in S7) they seemed to be fairly competent. Of course Adam and friends killed off everyone who wasn't...

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

In Willow's case it is, as you say, lack of training - I don't particularly like the "Hellmouth stops wizards being found" explanation, my guess is that their methods of finding students really aren't as efficient as they believe, especially in finding muggle-born witches/wizards, and that if they aren't exposed to magic early enough they never develop their powers. But certain places with natural magic, such as Hellmouths, can stimulate the development of magical abilities in people such as Amy's mother, Marcie, and Willow, who may be able to learn magic by involuntarily casting a spell (Marcie), finding the right books (Amy's mother), or tuition (Amy, Willow). Not sure about Tara, perhaps her family lives near another Hellmouth.

[pilot-moondog.livejournal.com]

Of course the obvious follow up along those lines would use both of the wizards called Harry. Potter and Dresden. Might even work well if you use the literary version of Dresden as opposed to the slightly fluffier TV version.

I am liking this a lot. It looks unlikely that either party is going to be walking away from this with their pre-conceptions entirely intact, which is good.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Not especially - remembering that Willow was only 15 when she began to learn magic, my guess is that she was simply a late developer, and that the Wizarding schools aren't as good at finding students as they think they are.

[liliaeth]

true, I'd reckon Willow is like a kid kept away from school, when then has to try and learn stuff by going to the library. Forced to teach herself how to read, with minimal to no aid from the librarians. Because Giles didn't train her at all, he just didn't do enough effort to keep her from his books, and I don't think she really got the chance to learn all that much from Miss Calender before she died.

And wizard kids, esp. muggleborns show a lot of signs of magic, but it's usually in situations of high emotion and isn't always recognized as magic when the parents have no idea what they're seeing.

And who knows, maybe the American wizarding world just isn't nearly as organized as the European one. After all, the only mention we get of American wizards, is at the Quidditch World Cup.

[liliaeth]

I don't know, they didn't seem all that competent in As You Were. Though that could be my general dislike of Sam and Riley talking*g*

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Dresden is obviously a lot closer to the HP style of magic than Willow etc., though there are plenty of differences. I can't recall seeing any Dresden / HP crossovers, which is odd really.

[basilio-the-cat.livejournal.com]

Great chapter! :)