Meanwhile, back at the ranch –
Disclaimer: Is this really necessary? If anyone really thinks these characters belong to me, then I've got some *great* real estate investments I'd like to discuss with you. All of the Buffy characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc., and the Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling. I'm just borrowing them for a while. There is no intent to profit from this. Only the story is mine, and if anyone waves enough money in front of me, even that is negotiable.
~~~
Buffy and Xander’s room
The Three Broomsticks Inn
Hogsmeade, Scotland
A few minutes after leaving Hogwarts
“You got any idea about what the hell is going on here, Will?”
Xander’s frustrated question broke through the noise of confused conversation the room as the crowd of people currently filling the room to more than its normal capacity stared in a mixture of frustration and worry at the faintly glowing portal hanging in the air at one side of the room.
The Council head’s question had been triggered by the surprising and somewhat disturbing appearance of the faintly glowing transparent shield that had unexpectedly appeared and blocked access to the portal leading back to Council headquarters Dawn had created as the three Harrises were about to step through.
“Do you guys have any idea about what the problem is, Will?” Buffy asked quietly, not wanting to sound overly alarmed at this unanticipated occurrence, even as she curled a protective arm around Harry and reflexively pulled him a bit closer to her.
She’d just gotten her child back and she wasn’t about to let anything stand in the way of their returning their lives back to the normal – or at least what passed for normal for anyone associated with the Council, she immediately qualified her thought.
“At the moment, none of us have any idea about what’s causing this, Buffy,” Willow responded as she frowned and began muttering yet another diagnostic spell to see if she could determine exactly what the problem might be, while Sabrina and Sally were both occupied with their own attempts to determine the cause of their inability to return home.
“Ah, we’re sorry to interrupt, especially with all the excitement you’ve just gone through and all, but I think we might be able to provide some information as far as your current problem is concerned,” they heard a new voice abruptly announce from behind them.
~~~
10 Downing Street
City of Westminster
London, England (Scooby-verse)
"Excuse me, Prime Minister, Mr. Hawthorne and the gentleman he requested that you speak with has arrived. Also, per Mr. Hawthorne's 'suggestion,' I took the liberty of seating them in the secure room."
"Thank you, Walter. Would you have any observations regarding our visitors you'd care to share with me, by any chance?"
"At the moment, sir, all I would offer is the suggestion that you enter into this meeting with an open mind and that you listen to him with as much care and seriousness as you would a briefing offered by Mr. Powel or Mrs. Albright."
"It's that serious, Walter?"
"As the Bard once wrote, 'There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy,' sir."
"Hmm. I'm not at all sure I see, but I thank you nonetheless, Walter."
"My pleasure, Prime Minister."
***
"Good morning, Michael, how are you doing?"
"Good morning to you, Tony. And let me say again how much I appreciate your seeing us on such short notice. Please, allow me to introduce Mr. George Hammond, formerly with a branch of the American military. George, Prime Minister Anthony Blair"
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Hammond."
"And I am equally pleased to meet you, Prime Minister. Please, call me George."
"All then, George, but only if you call me Tony."
"All right, Tony, I'll do that. I hope you don't mind, but before I can get to the primary reason for why I'm here interrupting your already busy schedule, I believe I need to provide you with a background briefing on some things that are probably going have you wondering why I'm not locked away in a padded room somewhere, instead of being here, wasting your time."
"Actually, George, a man whose opinion I have the highest degree of respect for suggested that I come in here and listen to everything you have to say with an open mind, so that's exactly what I'm going to do.
"So, what is it, exactly, you want to brief me on?"
“Well, there are any of a number of people who are members of a group I’m associated with who would be a much better choice for this particular task, but none of them are currently available – for reasons which I’ll be getting into later in our discussion – so I suppose I’ll just have to make do.
“In any event, I guess the best way to begin this briefing is the same way they would:
“‘Into each generation a Slayer is born, one girl in all the world, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires...’”
~~~
Buckingham Palace
Blue Drawing Room
London, England (Scooby-verse)
“Good morning, Prime Minister. How are you doing this fine morning?”
“Good morning, Your Royal Highness. I’m doing quite well, thank you. I met a very interesting gentleman earlier this morning, and he told me a story that, quite frankly, I would have found completely unbelievable, if not for the fact that he managed to provide quite convincing proof that everything he told me he was the truth.”
“Indeed? And would I be correct in assuming that you are here to tell me that same story, Prime Minister?”
“You would, indeed, Sir. As well my requesting that you allow my new associate the opportunity to provide you and your staff as well as the Queen Mother with this same evidence, since I must admit that, without seeing this proof firsthand, it would be quite easy – and personally much preferable, I’ll admit – to shrug this new information off as the ravings of a deranged mind.
“Although, given the recent developments in America with regard to the various proceedings concerning what their newspapers refer to as ‘arcane phenomena’ and the legal status of what some of their solicitors have referred to as their ‘life-impaired clientele,’ I suppose I really shouldn’t be too surprised by what I learned this morning.”
“I find your words quite intriguing, Prime Minister. How much time would you suggest that I ask Mother to allot for this proof you intend to have this new friend of yours provide for us?”
~~~
Buffy and Xander’s room
The Three Broomsticks Inn
Hogsmeade, Scotland
“Ah, we’re sorry to interrupt, especially with all the excitement you’ve just gone through and all, but I think we might be able to provide some information as far as your current problem is concerned,” they heard a new voice abruptly announce from behind them.
It would not have been at all unreasonable for any interested parties who might have been watching and keeping track of the events that happened around the extended Harris family to believe that everyone present possessed the ability to perform magic of some sort, to judge by the way everyone present seemed to instantly teleport in place one hundred and eighty degrees in order to face the unexpected new presence, at the same time that weapons suddenly appeared in the hands of everyone present in the room, all of them aimed at the newcomers.
The source of the unanticipated voice was a young redheaded, green-eyed woman who appeared to be approximately Dawn’s age, and who was accompanied by a taller, thin, black-haired young man, both of whom were currently standing in the corner of the room farthest from the door and away from any possible window access, either.
“All right, who are you two and how did you get into our room?” Xander demanded as he immediately moved to stand between the pair and his son, his Desert Eagle in his right hand and the Zat in his left both leveled at the newcomers, while Buffy reflexively pushed Harry behind her and lifted the Scythe into a defensive position, their attention completely focused on the potential threat before them, save for the small remnant that was alert for any indications of possible additional enemies.
“We’re sorry to startle you like this, but there didn’t seem to be any other way to contact you, so we decided to just go ahead and do it, rather than wait for those idiots in charge to finish holding their meetings and wasting time before finally deciding to do what we’re doing now,” the man (who looked the least bit familiar, Xander thought to himself as he watched the two intruders) stated, the semi-exasperated expression on his face clearly conveying his opinion of whoever the beings he referred to as being in charge might be.
“James, you’re not really helping things with that completely non-explanatory explanation you just provided,” the woman declared with a roll of her eyes.
“I’m sorry, but he’s always been in love with the sound of his own voice,” she went on, turning to address their warily watching audience.
“First off, let me introduce ourselves properly,” the redhead said. “I’m Lily Potter, and this is my husband, James.
“And we’re Harry’s birth parents.”
~~~
School Library
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Wizarding World
“Why do you think that the Death Eaters’ leader thought Harry’s last name was ‘Potter’?”
Ron’s question seemed as much rhetorical as actual, Hermione decided as she sat with him, Susan and Draco in the library, the four of them situated off to one side of one of the larger reading/study areas on the first floor, to discuss possible ramifications of all of the events and revelations they’d witnessed earlier in the day.
Draco had quite reasonably pointed out that having the four of them seem to abruptly disappear immediately after the already tumultuous and disconcerting events of the day would only serve to further concentrate the teaching staff’s attention on them since, with their reputation of being Harry’s closest friends, they had already been subjected to an apparently incessant string of questions by both their fellow students and several members of the teaching staff, and they fully expected to be subjected to even more.
“Well, my first guess based on the sight of our oh-so-esteemed Potions professor lying on the floor of the Main Hall alongside all of the other Death Eaters who portkeyed into the school, is that Snape identified Harry to him as actually being Harry Potter,” Susan answered him.
“But that then brings up the question of why he would do something like that,” she continued. “I know that he really didn’t seem to like Harry at all, especially considering the way he acted when Harry challenged Dumbledore about the points issue, but why would he tell a group of Death Eaters that he was Harry Potter.
“After all, Potter’s been missing for almost ten years now,” she noted semi-parenthetically.
“Exactly,” Draco nodded. “So why would he suddenly show up now, after the Ministry hasn’t been able to locate him despite their best efforts to do so?
“I remember hearing my father grumbling during some of the Wizengamot’s budget negotiations last year that the Ministry still had several teams assigned to following up on any reported Harry Potter sightings and about how much it cost to have them do that,” he noted.
“Like Susan just said, there haven’t been any credible sightings of him in ten years, so why would he suddenly pop up now?”
“Maybe it’s because Harry Potter has been living somewhere, in some secure, magic-protected location where the Ministry couldn’t find him and he decided to show up now so that he could attend the same school that his parents attended,” Hermione suggested thoughtfully.
“I was watching the staff table to see if they were going to try to do something about the Death Eaters, and I saw Professor McGonagall turn very pale when the Death Eater’s leader called for Potter, and I *know* I saw her look over in our direction for a moment, as though she were looking at Harry, before she turned her head away,” she shared her observation with her friends, which made the other three frown as they considered that fact.
“Maybe she did that because Harry Harris really is Harry Potter,” Susan suggested after several additional moments thought.
“Remember, back right after he told us he was a Parseltongue, he said something about him being kidnapped by a bunch of people he called ‘airheads’ because they thought he was involved in some kind of prophecy that said he was going to save the world from some Dark Lord?” she reminded the others of Harry’s irritated min-rant after they had defeated the Yuan-Ti who had invaded the school.
“You guys have to admit, there are a whole *lot* of things about Harry that really are strange when you think about them,” she noted.
“There’s the fact that he evidently was living in America before he came over here to go to school, and all the things he’s mentioned about his family – like the fact that he said his parents and most of his family are sort of like aurors, but different, and then later, after Snape deducted those points in Potions class when he was explaining how he knew that there was a demon species called bezoars, he said that his parents know a lot about demons and other stuff like that because of their jobs,” the redhead reminded the others of some of the – oddities – of Harry’s life.
“And I really can’t think of any other eleven year old who’s anywhere near as self-confident or nearly as competent at so many different things as Harry is, or who knows nearly as much about really weird things as he does,” she continued. “It’s almost like he was training to be an auror from the time he was a little kid.”
“I don’t know that I agree with everything you just said, Susan,” Ron semi-objected. “Sure, Harry knows a lot about a lot of different things, but when it comes to knowing about really strange stuff, I think that Hermione, here, probably knows as much as Harry does.
“She’s almost scarily brilliant!” he declared. Seeing the looks he was getting from his companions at that statement, he frowned. “Well, she is,” he insisted.
“Not that that’s a bad thing,” he added, in an apparent attempt to mollify the brunette who was looking at him with an expression midway between insulted and pleased.
“But you’re right about the other stuff,” he nodded his agreement after another moment’s consideration. “Harry’s probably the most self-confident person I’ve ever met. I haven’t seen him back down from any sort of argument where he thought he was right.
“Not even when it was against a teacher. Like that git, Snape,” Ron went on.
“And all of those Death Eaters only showed up after Harry started classes here,” Draco chimed in with his own observation.
“Personally, I’d say that that’s quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you?”
The silent frowns and thoughtful looks that occupied all four of the children’s faces were attributed by Madame Pince to lingering upsets and worries caused by the Death Eaters’ appearance.
~~~
Buffy and Xander’s room
The Three Broomsticks Inn
Hogsmeade, Scotland
“First off, let me introduce ourselves properly,” the redhead said. “I’m Lily Potter, and this is my husband, James.
“And we’re Harry’s birth parents.”
That particular bit of revelation went over better than an outside observer might reasonably expect, especially if said outside observer were not overly familiar with the Scooby Gang.
“Oh, really?” Faith interjected. “Well, the last I heard, sister, Harry’s parents were dead.”
“We are,” the guy who had been introduced as James Potter replied, as he reached his right arm out and swung it through the bookcase off to one side. “We’re ghosts now.” The woman standing next to him, the woman who had identified herself as Lily Potter, reached out and waved her hand through the wall next to her to show that she, too, was immaterial, just like her companion.
“Oh. Well, even if that is true, I think you’ll understand if we don’t just take your word for who you say you are, won’t you?” Dawn chimed in after a moment. (The least bit sarcastically, it must be admitted.) Slightly off to one side, Jon was practically bouncing on his heels with glee hearing his darling talking like that. After all, it had taken his older self years to get Carter to that level of snark; Dawn was looking to be a veritable prodigy.
“We can understand that you’d be skeptical about anyone showing up and saying something like that,” James stated in a reasonable voice.
“So we’re going to tell you some things that only Harry’s real parents would know about the circumstances involving how our son appeared to you, Mr. Harris,” Lily said.
“Harry was wrapped in his favorite blanket when he appeared wherever it was where you were staying,” she told her intently listening audience.
“It was a faded blanket with groups of narrow red, green, yellow and blue stripes spaced about nine inches apart on a pale blue background, and the top left corner looked somewhat chewed-up,” she elaborated as she stared at Xander. “That’s because Harry chewed on it constantly once he started teething.”
“And Harry was dressed in a green tee shirt that had animated pictures of a stag, a black dog, a wolf, a rat and a raven moving around on it and a diaper, without any pants or socks on,” James continued their discourse.
“That was because Voldemort showed up and attacked our home while Lily was in the middle of changing Harry’s clothes and getting him ready for his afternoon nap,” he explained.
Glancing over at Dawn, Xander saw her nod her agreement that the two ghosts had accurately described Harry’s clothes and the blanket that had come with him the afternoon that he had abruptly first appeared in their presence.
“Okay, you’ve convinced me you are who you say you are,” Xander said, lowering his Desert Eagle and relaxing his stance a bit. Behind him, Buffy relaxed somewhat, also, as did the other members of their extended family, and Harry moved out from behind Buffy to get a better look at the beings claiming to be his birth parents.
“I guess normally I’d shake your hand and say it’s nice to meet you, but I’m thinking that would be kinda of difficult, what with you guys being ghosts and all,” Xander then said as he looked the new arrivals over with a much friendlier expression, only to almost immediately let out a small “Oof!” before then turning to glare at Buffy and indignantly demand, “What did you do that for?”
“Because you’re an idiot, you idiot!” Buffy glared back at him for a moment, rolling her eyes and shaking her head in resigned frustration before turning towards their ethereal visitors.
“I’m sorry, but he’s got all the tact and diplomatic skills of a five-year-old,” she apologized to Harry’s birth parents as she indicated her husband with a nod of her head.
“And let’s forget that Mister and Missus Harris nonsense, okay? I’m Buffy and he’s Xander, and these people are the rest of our family,” she went on in a much friendlier tone of voice, ignoring Xander’s outraged “Hey!” of protest at her description of him.
“Oh, don’t worry about that, Buffy,” Lily smiled back, immediately taken with the petite blonde’s manner.
“Compared to some of James’ past behavior, your husband’s more than qualified to be an ambassador,” she reassured Buffy while ignoring James’ own “Hey!” of protest.
“So you’re my birth parents?” Harry broke in, taking a step forward.
“Harry?” Lily gasped as she got a better look at her child. “Oh Merlin, James! Look at him! He looks so much like you!” she noted as she took a step forward, also, and ethereal tears began to fill her eyes.
“And he’s got your eyes, Lil,” James observed as he moved up to stand beside his wife. “Oh, Harry, it’s so good to see you’re safe, son!”
Buffy took a discrete step backwards while gently nudging Harry forward towards their two ethereal visitors. At the same time, she caught the eyes of the non-family members of the intently watching group and gave a small nod of her head towards the door in an effort to give the newly reunited family a modicum of privacy, and the room was quickly cleared of everyone but the Scoobies and Casey Ryback, who had finally been adopted as a full member of their extended family after his actions during the attack on the compound that had resulted in Harry’s kidnapping.
Tearful greetings and emotion-laden questions and exclamations by both groups then ensued, introductions were made and, once everyone’s emotions had gotten time to settle down, the discussion eventually came around to the original purpose of James and Lily’s visit.
“Well, it’s extremely hard to get any sort of definite answers from the Conclave – they’re the group of beings who seem to be in charge of overseeing how things develop throughout the world here,” Lily was explaining to an avidly listening group, “but from the various bits and pieces of information we’ve managed to gather together, along with whatever other information the other ghosts we’ve been in contact with have told us, it seems that now that Harry has returned here, to his home dimension, the Conclave are reluctant to allow him to leave and go back to your dimension, where he was raised, which is why that shield appeared, blocking your portal and preventing the three of you from leaving here.”
“Why is it, exactly, that this Conclave you’ve spoken of wants Harry to remain here, as opposed to coming back home with us, do you know?” Giles inquired, having reflexively assumed the position of spokesman for their little group.
“Truthfully, we really don’t know, since none of the questions we’ve asked have ever really been answered with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no,’” James replied, as he sat next to his wife on the ethereal sofa they had conjured for themselves earlier to sit next to the one currently holding Harry, Buffy and Xander.
“All of these so-called higher beings just seem to love the circular talking deal-y thing,” Jon grumbled to the room at large.
James gave Jon a nod of shared frustration and then continued on. “But from the various answers – and lack of answers – we’ve received over the course of the past ten years, if I had to hazard a guess, I’d say that they’re concerned that Harry might suffer some sort of unfortunate, probably fatal, accident if he were to return to your home dimension.”
“Apparently, from everything we’ve been able to gather, we believe that the Conclave’s ultimate purposes could possibly end up being at cross purposes with those of the beings who are their equivalents in your home dimensions,” Lily stated with a frown.
“And the Conclave isn’t willing to risk anything happening to Harry that might prevent him from eventually being able to resolve matters with Voldemort here, the way the prophecy said they would have to do,” she concluded their explanation, such as it was.
“I *knew* it! I KNEW those bastard Powers couldn’t be trusted!” Buffy immediately snarled upon hearing Lily’s words regarding the suspected actions on the part of their purported mystical supervisors. “I knew from the first time Whistler contacted me.
“I swear, the first chance I get, I’m going to kill every last one of them!”
“Indeed, Buffy, it would appear that we were correct in believing that the Powers’ ultimate intentions might not align completely with ours,” Giles agreed, a frown of displeasure furrowing his forehead.
It was no secret that the Powers viewed the New Council as being far too successful in their work. Their desire for equilibrium was at odds with the Council’s mandate of ending the Darkness’ threat to Earth. And now it appeared that yet another group of so-called higher beings were looking to play with their family for their own ends.
They obviously didn‘t know who they were messing with.
“Not to get off track here, guys, but I’m a bit more interested in finding out exactly what this prophecy Lily mentioned says about Harry and this Moldy-shorts guy having to throw down on each other,” Xander interrupted. “ ‘Cause I gotta say, based on the experience we’ve had in the past with prophecies, I’m not liking the idea at all.”
“I’m with X on that,” Faith chimed in from her position on the arm of the couch she was perched on next to Willow, with Oz on the redhead’s far side. “I can’t remember any prophecy I’ve ever read promising sweetness and light – more like death, destruction and years of suffering if we didn’t take the Big Bad down hard and fast.”
“Have you actually seen this prophecy you spoke of, Lily?” Willow asked, her analytical mind focusing on the heart of their current discussion. “Or were you just told about it? And if so, who was it that told you about it?”
“No, neither of us have ever seen the prophecy,” James shook his head.
“And we first heard about it from Albus – Albus Dumbledore, that is,” he clarified his answer for his circle of listeners. “He’s the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, the school Harry’s currently enrolled in.”
“Yeah, we already knew that much,” Buffy said, her tone making it clear that her opinion of the ostensibly venerable headmaster was less than completely favorable.
“This Dumb-ass guy is the one who was behind the attack on our home when they kidnapped Harry,” Xander explained, a rather disquieting frown on his face that matched those of the other members of his family as he spoke.
“And we’re gonna have words with him about that whole matter,” he noted.
“Good,” James said upon hearing that, a smile just as hard as the brunet’s on his own face. “And if it’s not too much trouble, if you get the opportunity, I’d appreciate your asking him how it was that Voldemort learned that Peter was our Secret Keeper.”
“What kind of secret was this Peter guy keeping for you?” Buffy asked, puzzled at the description she’d just heard.
“Well, after we learned of the existence of the prophecy linking Harry and Voldemort from Albus, we put one of the Potter family houses under a spell that essentially erased the knowledge of its existence from the minds of everyone except those told of it by a person selected to be the secret’s guardian,” Lily explained the reference James had just made.
“And aside from two other friends of ours that I would have trusted with our lives, Albus was the only other person who knew that Peter was the Secret Keeper of the location of the house where we were staying,” James added.
“That’s very – interesting,” Giles commented thoughtfully.
“Yeah, it is,” Faith agreed with a nod. “Everything I’ve heard about him makes me really look forward to meeting this putz.
“If only just so I can stomp his ass into the ground.”
“Well, since it looks like we’re not going to be able to take Harry back home, I think we’re going to have to start looking around for some place to stay until we can resolve things with this Voldy-whoever guy,” Oz observed thoughtfully.
“I don’t think that our getting a couple more rooms and staying around here is the best idea, considering all the fuss we probably created when we stopped by to pick up Harry,” he noted.
“Well, if a place to stay is all you need, then I’ve got an idea,” James interjected as he leaned forward with a smile.
“You just need to…”
~~~
