Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Xander and Professor McGonagall are taking me to patrol a nearby town with some vampire activity. It was 20 minutes past 11 and I was coming downstairs to leave, dressed in my jeans a black tank, and my jean jacket, when I noticed Harry and Ron getting ready to leave the common room. I heard about Malfoy challenging Harry to a duel today and decided to address it.
“You realize there is about a 90% chance this duel is a setup, right?”
Ron turns an interesting shade of red, “Go back to bed!” he shouts.
I just roll my eyes, “Can’t do that I’m afraid. I have somewhere to be with Professor Harris. Try not to get caught, please. You don’t want Gryffindor to lose house points.” I make my way out of the portrait with Harry and Ron behind me and see Neville sleeping on the ground. “Hold the portrait, Harry.” I give Neville’s shoulder a shake. “Neville, wake up and go to bed.”
Neville stirs and opens his eyes. “Hermione? What are you doing out here?”
“Professor Harris needs me tonight,” I reply simply.
“Oh okay. Thanks for waking me.”
“No problem. See you in the morning,” I tell him watching him shuffle off into Gryffindor Tower. I turn to Harry and Ron, “Just so you know Professor McGonagall is going to be with Professor Harris and me, I don’t know when we’ll be back so keep your eyes open.” Both boys give me a nod and I head off to meet the Professors in the entrance hall.
Xander is in jeans and a t-shirt while Professor McGonagall is in her usual robes. “Mia, right on time. The good Professor here is going to teleport—”
“Apparate, Professor Harris,” Professor McGonagall corrects.
“Apparate us to the town cemetery. We’ll just let you do your thing; we’ll just be watching. Weapons check. Stakes?” I open my jacket showing my two stakes tucked into pockets. “Scythe?” I reach over my shoulder and grab the Scythe to show him then put it back. “Okie dokie. Looks like we’re good to go. I don’t want you to use the Scythe unless you have to. Don’t need you getting rusty with other stuff.”
Once we arrive, Xander waves for me to take the lead and pulls out his notes from Giles. “Okay, tell me about Angelus.”
“Angelus was turned in 1752 by Darla,” I state as I start walking through the cemetery. “Angelus and Darla are eventually joined by Drusilla and Spike, both of whom he turned. They were vicious. In 1898, Angelus killed a daughter of a gypsy tribe. The tribe decided to curse him by returning his soul. He lived life in the shadows after that feeling remorse for his actions before getting his soul back and changing his name to Angel. Eventually, he met Buffy and through their time together, they fell in love, and in a moment of true happiness his curse was broken and his soul taken from him. Willow restored his soul in the end and later down the line Angel is now set in LA. He did bring that amulet for Spike when the Hellmouth was destroyed too.”
“Good. What about The First?” Xander continues.
“The First Evil,” I spot a vampire and head that way.
“Keep going. Buffy studied for the S.A.T. while patrolling.”
I catch up with the vampire and tackle him to the ground. He pushes me off him into a nearby tombstone. “Can’t I just slay him first?” I ask as I duck a punch.
“Nope,” Xander replies.
I kick the vampire in the chest, and he flies back a couple of feet. “The First Evil, the personification of evil itself,” The vampire charges me and punches me in the face, but I double back with a roundhouse kick to the face. “He can show up as anyone who has died, vampires included.” I pull out my stake, jam it into the vampire’s chest, and watch him turn to dust. “Buffy defeated The First in a final battle which destroyed the Hellmouth.”
“Not bad. Let’s go ahead and head back. You have class in the morning.”
Professor McGonagall looked shocked, to say the least, but apparated us back to the castle. The next few weeks were pretty cut and dry. I found the vampire nest in the town and took it out. I had only one more ambush with Professor Flitwick, and I will never understand how he can move like he does. It only took a little extra effort because of how fast he was casting spells. Harry ended up telling me he found a Cerberus in the forbidden corridor. I did some research on how to get past it because I knew I was doing a test run after Christmas. Who knew that it would be as simple as music?
I was enjoying my dinner at the Halloween Feast in the Great Hall when the doors burst open, and Professor Quirrell came running in looking like a mess shouting, “Troll! In the dungeons! Thought you ought to know.” I roll my eyes when he faints. He’s our defense teacher and he’s scared of a troll? His dramatics however start an uproar of chaos.
A loud bang of fireworks from Professor Dumbledore’s wand silenced the masses. “Prefects! Lead your houses back to the dormitories…” Xander cut him off.
“Headmaster, have the students stay here, please.” Xander looked over to me, “Mia, you think you can handle this?”
I stand up with a smirk, remove my robes, pass them to my dorm mate, Lavender, and remove the Scythe from my back. “Let’s do this.”
Professor Dumbledore looks at Xander, “Are you sure she’s ready?”
“Professor McGonagall told you about our field trips. She’s ready and she’s not going alone. Luci!” a small house elf appears. “Luci, could you grab my crossbow and my sword please?” The house elf pops away and returns in seconds with the requested items passing them to Xander, who has removed his suit jacket and untucked his shirt. I notice the students have started looking at Xander, Professor Dumbledore, and me.
Professor Dumbledore turns and addresses the students, “I know this may seem strange, sending a first year to deal with a troll, but with Professor Harris and Miss Granger’s involvement, I am forced to declare this an ICW matter.” Professor Dumbledore turns to me, “Miss Granger as the Supreme Mugwump, I am authorizing you to act within the capacity of wizarding territory.”
I nod my head, “Thank you for the opportunity.”
By this point, Xander made his way to me, “What do you think? Ice cream after this?”
We head to the doors, “Chocolate sounds lovely.” I spy people looking at me like I’m crazy.
Just before we get to the doors Xander turns to the hall. “Give us an hour… and somebody get that guy off the floor,” Xander says exasperatedly, and we leave closing the doors behind us. I take the lead as we make our way to the dungeons. “So, what do we know?” Xander asks.
“Trolls are incredibly strong, but also just as stupid. They have a taste for human flesh but are not picky about it. They can be particularly violent and aggressive. Trolls are attracted to unpleasant smells, and they smell just as unpleasant.” I hear the sound of wreckage, “and it is no longer in the dungeons.”
“It’s your show, Mia. I’m just a backup.”
I gave him a nod, crept around the corner, and spotted the troll lumbering along the corridor with a giant club in its hand. “Distract him until I can get behind him.”
“Is it a slayer thing to use me as a distraction?”
“Xander!” I say exasperatedly.
“Okay, no jokes. Go ahead.” I silently moved forward with my back stuck to the wall. “Hey! Stinky! What happened? Get lost on the way to the dump?” Xander shouts and I roll my eyes. Honestly!
The troll turns to Xander not seeing me make my way behind it. I pull out the Scythe and swipe the blade along the back of its ankles. The troll roars and falls backward while swinging its club. The club hits me in the stomach and I slam into the wall.
“Mia!” Xander shouts.
“I’m good,” I shout and get up. I turn and run at the wall, jumping and kicking off the wall onto the troll’s back. I grab the Scythe and stab it in the back of the troll's neck. The troll collapses, and I quickly jump off and away from the body. I turn to Xander and smile.
Xander looks at me, “You, okay? That wall looked like it hurt.”
I shrug my shoulders, “Just a few bruises.”
“We’ll get you to the nurse after this. I want to see this magical healing in action,” Xander looks at his watch. “I bet if we run, we can make it before the hour is up.”
I just laugh and take off at a jog for the Great Hall. It takes about 10 minutes to reach the Hall and when we come in all is quiet.
Xander steps forward addressing Professor Dumbledore, “The threat is neutralized. I can let you know where the body is, but after that, Mia needs to go to the nurse for some bruises and I want to watch.”
Professor McGonagall stands, “I will not award points for your actions, Miss Granger because I am aware it is your duty, but I will ask Professor Harris to award points based on your performance.”
“Sure, you got knocked around a bit, but the takedown was quick, and you didn’t play around. I say 20 points to Gryffindor for efficiency.” Xander says uncertainly with a look at Professor McGonagall, who nods.
After that, the rest of the students were escorted to the dormitories. Xander and I showed the Professors the body and went to the hospital wing. Xander just couldn’t get over the fact that after a few minutes with bruise paste from Madam Pomfrey, I was as good as new.
Once I arrived at the common room, I was surprised to find what appeared to be a party and the entire house waiting for me. I was greeted with cheers and questions about how I handled the troll. I kept my answers simple and to the point and when people asked why I was the one to handle it, I just repeated Professor Dumbledore’s statement of it being an ICW matter. It didn’t take long for me to beg off and head to bed.