Fic: Unexpected Guest (4/7)
Title: Unexpected Guest, Ch. 4: Confrontation.
Author: Mirrored Illusions aka 3am_moonlight.
Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Harry Potter (JKR).
Rating: Gen / Teen.
Word Count: 1,300 (chapter) / 10,237 (complete).
Timeline: BtVS: S05's The Gift and book 5 (the Order of the Phoenix) of HP.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss and the Harry Potter 'verse belongs to JKR.
Summary: Fudge and Umbridge confront Buffy in the hospital wing.
Author's Note: Written for the 2018 August FaD, Day 19.
The pompous man puffed himself up, making himself look pretty ridiculous in his expensive robes, and then introduced himself in such a way that made it quite apparent he thought much too highly of himself and his position. A little modesty went a long way. In her peripheral view, she saw Madam Pomfrey reenter the room looking upset at the new people disturbing her territory but a look from the headmaster made her keep her opinion to herself. At least for the moment.
"I am Cornelius Fudge, the British Minister of Magic." The arrogant way he spoke and the way he didn't even attempt to shake her hand told her everything she needed to know about him; useless and with someone else telling him what to think. It strongly reminded her of the politicians in Sunnydale under Mayor Wilkins III. So who was the Richard Wilkins of Britain's magical world, or was there more than one?
"It is against magical law to allow muggles on land owned by or occupied by witches and wizards unless there are special circumstances. The law specifically denies muggles access to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry under any and all circumstances. As such you are under arrest for breaking into a magically owned property."
Buffy blinked innocent hazel green eyes at the wizard. "A muggle is someone without magical abilities of any kind, correct?"
The man responded impatiently in the affirmative, so she continued, "Then I'm not a muggle and that law doesn't apply to me."
Minister Fudge blustered, but the Toad began speaking in the same insulting, simpering, and very fake girly voice as she'd done when Buffy had first arrived. "Now, little girl, I know you believe you can do magic but muggles are quite simply incapable of such magnificent feats. They, like you, are defect. It is a condition that simply cannot be remedied."
Buffy quickly interrupted before Sauron managed to say anything, "First of all, I'm not a little girl. Propriety states that once you know someone's name you are to use it, preceded by either Miss, Mrs, or Mr. So, the proper way for you and everyone else here is to address me as Miss Summers unless I give you permission to call me something else." It was best to make this woman understand as quickly as possible that she could not walk all over her as she pleased.
"Second, insulting my intelligence while you yourself act as if you're mentally challenged will not make me respect you or your ridiculous statements in any way. It does make me wonder why someone put a person with an intellectual disability in a position of power, particularly in government and in a school. It doesn't give me high hopes for the rest of your hidden community if you are a reflection of them. And third, people without magic are not 'defect'." That part of Umbridge's little speech had gotten Buffy's hackles up, but she still tried to be polite if for no other reason than to be the better person.
"People develop differently, it's part of the human evolution. It's what makes us good at different things so together we can change and improve both ourselves and society as a whole." ...and now she sounded like she was reciting one of her own teachers. Some of the school's teachers, um, professors, according to Bumblebore. No, wait, she thought to herself, his name is Dumbledore, not Bumblebore. Whatever, some of the professors were nodding along, but the two Ministry workers were looking offended and angry.
"Can you tell me, in all honesty, that all magical children are born from magical parents?" That made both of them look shifty and mildly uncomfortable. "Exactly. I bet there are children at this school who have no magical relatives at all, and children who have both magical and non-magical family." Beside her, Dumbledore beamed. And the pink-haired woman behind and to the side of the Minister winked at her in amusement.
Then she had a thought, "If someone lined up a bunch of children dressed in identical clothes and asked you to tell them which child has an all-magical ancestry, which child has mixed ancestry, which child is magical but has no magical ancestry, and which child has no magic and no magical ancestry - would you be able to correctly tell which child has which family background?"
It was unlikely, magic was not a physical feature you could see just by watching someone, but the witch's arrogance and total conviction in her own belief system would probably force her to lie and soon the Slayer was proven right. "Of course, pureblood witches and wizards are always easily separated from all the other riff-raff we have to contend with." There had to have been blackmail involved in her appointment as a professor because that right there? Did not make her teacher material, at all.
"So, what kind of 'riff-raff' are you? I can't imagine these supposedly perfect people would include you among themselves, considering your mental deficits and bad manners in general."
Dumbledore actually covered his lower face with his hand trying to hide his laughter, and behind the Ministry workers, their bodyguards did the same thing. The strict looking witch who had escorted them to the hospital wing and the school nurse both turned away trying to hide their own laughter. Clearly, the Undersecretary was not popular among any of them. Imagine that.
Buffy smiled politely and widened her eyes slightly, making certain Umbridge understood she was waiting for an answer. Instead of giving her a reply to the semi-genuine question, she started yelling while waving her hand dramatically in Buffy's direction. "Detention!" Then she glared when Buffy actually laughed and did absolutely nothing to hide it.
"I'm not a student at this school, Miss Umbridge. You can't give me to detention."
"AURORS! ARREST THAT INFURIATING WOMAN!" Buffy resisted the urge to put her hands over her ears, because oww! The enhanced hearing was great while hunting demons and the undead, or just generally sneaking around, but it was not so great when people had the bad manners to start screeching right beside her.
"Geez woman, there's no need to yell. We're all less than ten feet away from you." It was Buffy's turn to glare, "Also, not helping in disproving your mental state."
Neither of the bodyguards or Aurors as she'd called them had moved towards Buffy or given any signs they intended to arrest her, so that was good. It was most likely due to Sauron giving them some kind of hand signal, rather than anything she herself had said or done, but she appreciated it none the less. It did, however, mean Umbridge turned her anger on them instead. Neither of them bent to her demands, instead, they stood up straighter and just ignored her.
While Umbridge and Fudge argued with the Aurors, Buffy switched her attention to the doors at the end of the room where a group of teenagers had gathered during the confrontation. In the front of the group was her two visitors from last night, and on the other side of the pair was a tall, gangly redheaded boy with a lot of freckles. She smiled at Hermione and Harry, and they returned the friendly gesture. Behind them were a pudgy blonde boy and a redheaded girl who looked a lot like the redheaded boy.
The faculty members didn't seem to have noticed them and neither had any of the Ministry people, so Buffy decided to pretend they weren't there and just allowed them to no-so-secretly eavesdrop on the adults. Passive aggression was a wonderful thing sometimes, and it would serve both Umbridge and Fudge well to have their dirty linen spread around the school to undermine their authority.
Author: Mirrored Illusions aka 3am_moonlight.
Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Harry Potter (JKR).
Rating: Gen / Teen.
Word Count: 1,300 (chapter) / 10,237 (complete).
Timeline: BtVS: S05's The Gift and book 5 (the Order of the Phoenix) of HP.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss and the Harry Potter 'verse belongs to JKR.
Summary: Fudge and Umbridge confront Buffy in the hospital wing.
Author's Note: Written for the 2018 August FaD, Day 19.
The pompous man puffed himself up, making himself look pretty ridiculous in his expensive robes, and then introduced himself in such a way that made it quite apparent he thought much too highly of himself and his position. A little modesty went a long way. In her peripheral view, she saw Madam Pomfrey reenter the room looking upset at the new people disturbing her territory but a look from the headmaster made her keep her opinion to herself. At least for the moment.
"I am Cornelius Fudge, the British Minister of Magic." The arrogant way he spoke and the way he didn't even attempt to shake her hand told her everything she needed to know about him; useless and with someone else telling him what to think. It strongly reminded her of the politicians in Sunnydale under Mayor Wilkins III. So who was the Richard Wilkins of Britain's magical world, or was there more than one?
"It is against magical law to allow muggles on land owned by or occupied by witches and wizards unless there are special circumstances. The law specifically denies muggles access to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry under any and all circumstances. As such you are under arrest for breaking into a magically owned property."
Buffy blinked innocent hazel green eyes at the wizard. "A muggle is someone without magical abilities of any kind, correct?"
The man responded impatiently in the affirmative, so she continued, "Then I'm not a muggle and that law doesn't apply to me."
Minister Fudge blustered, but the Toad began speaking in the same insulting, simpering, and very fake girly voice as she'd done when Buffy had first arrived. "Now, little girl, I know you believe you can do magic but muggles are quite simply incapable of such magnificent feats. They, like you, are defect. It is a condition that simply cannot be remedied."
Buffy quickly interrupted before Sauron managed to say anything, "First of all, I'm not a little girl. Propriety states that once you know someone's name you are to use it, preceded by either Miss, Mrs, or Mr. So, the proper way for you and everyone else here is to address me as Miss Summers unless I give you permission to call me something else." It was best to make this woman understand as quickly as possible that she could not walk all over her as she pleased.
"Second, insulting my intelligence while you yourself act as if you're mentally challenged will not make me respect you or your ridiculous statements in any way. It does make me wonder why someone put a person with an intellectual disability in a position of power, particularly in government and in a school. It doesn't give me high hopes for the rest of your hidden community if you are a reflection of them. And third, people without magic are not 'defect'." That part of Umbridge's little speech had gotten Buffy's hackles up, but she still tried to be polite if for no other reason than to be the better person.
"People develop differently, it's part of the human evolution. It's what makes us good at different things so together we can change and improve both ourselves and society as a whole." ...and now she sounded like she was reciting one of her own teachers. Some of the school's teachers, um, professors, according to Bumblebore. No, wait, she thought to herself, his name is Dumbledore, not Bumblebore. Whatever, some of the professors were nodding along, but the two Ministry workers were looking offended and angry.
"Can you tell me, in all honesty, that all magical children are born from magical parents?" That made both of them look shifty and mildly uncomfortable. "Exactly. I bet there are children at this school who have no magical relatives at all, and children who have both magical and non-magical family." Beside her, Dumbledore beamed. And the pink-haired woman behind and to the side of the Minister winked at her in amusement.
Then she had a thought, "If someone lined up a bunch of children dressed in identical clothes and asked you to tell them which child has an all-magical ancestry, which child has mixed ancestry, which child is magical but has no magical ancestry, and which child has no magic and no magical ancestry - would you be able to correctly tell which child has which family background?"
It was unlikely, magic was not a physical feature you could see just by watching someone, but the witch's arrogance and total conviction in her own belief system would probably force her to lie and soon the Slayer was proven right. "Of course, pureblood witches and wizards are always easily separated from all the other riff-raff we have to contend with." There had to have been blackmail involved in her appointment as a professor because that right there? Did not make her teacher material, at all.
"So, what kind of 'riff-raff' are you? I can't imagine these supposedly perfect people would include you among themselves, considering your mental deficits and bad manners in general."
Dumbledore actually covered his lower face with his hand trying to hide his laughter, and behind the Ministry workers, their bodyguards did the same thing. The strict looking witch who had escorted them to the hospital wing and the school nurse both turned away trying to hide their own laughter. Clearly, the Undersecretary was not popular among any of them. Imagine that.
Buffy smiled politely and widened her eyes slightly, making certain Umbridge understood she was waiting for an answer. Instead of giving her a reply to the semi-genuine question, she started yelling while waving her hand dramatically in Buffy's direction. "Detention!" Then she glared when Buffy actually laughed and did absolutely nothing to hide it.
"I'm not a student at this school, Miss Umbridge. You can't give me to detention."
"AURORS! ARREST THAT INFURIATING WOMAN!" Buffy resisted the urge to put her hands over her ears, because oww! The enhanced hearing was great while hunting demons and the undead, or just generally sneaking around, but it was not so great when people had the bad manners to start screeching right beside her.
"Geez woman, there's no need to yell. We're all less than ten feet away from you." It was Buffy's turn to glare, "Also, not helping in disproving your mental state."
Neither of the bodyguards or Aurors as she'd called them had moved towards Buffy or given any signs they intended to arrest her, so that was good. It was most likely due to Sauron giving them some kind of hand signal, rather than anything she herself had said or done, but she appreciated it none the less. It did, however, mean Umbridge turned her anger on them instead. Neither of them bent to her demands, instead, they stood up straighter and just ignored her.
While Umbridge and Fudge argued with the Aurors, Buffy switched her attention to the doors at the end of the room where a group of teenagers had gathered during the confrontation. In the front of the group was her two visitors from last night, and on the other side of the pair was a tall, gangly redheaded boy with a lot of freckles. She smiled at Hermione and Harry, and they returned the friendly gesture. Behind them were a pudgy blonde boy and a redheaded girl who looked a lot like the redheaded boy.
The faculty members didn't seem to have noticed them and neither had any of the Ministry people, so Buffy decided to pretend they weren't there and just allowed them to no-so-secretly eavesdrop on the adults. Passive aggression was a wonderful thing sometimes, and it would serve both Umbridge and Fudge well to have their dirty linen spread around the school to undermine their authority.