August 14, 2014 - Defense
August 14, 2014 - Defense
Alt Title: Day 14 - Defense Professor Harkness
Author: mmooch
Chapter Summary: **For the 2014 LiveJournal’s Twisted Shorts FaD** challenge. DADA might be cursed, but these classes wouldn’t be.
Chapter Crossover: Marvel Comics
Rating: FR-13.
Word count: 967
Challenge: for the livejournal 2014 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.
Timeline Reminder: this is at the end of the first Voldemort War (although in my ‘verse, it’s the only Voldemort War); not sure for Agatha’s timeline
Warning: I know next to nothing about Agatha Harkness, except what I read on her wiki page, so I apologize now for my ignorance.
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. Marvel Comics characters belong to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Marvel Comics. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Ministry of Magic
It was Buffy’s turn to visit Willow at her office - which happened to be in the Ministry of Magic - to talk about their progress.
“Xander’s having a blast coming up with blueprints for the castle. Has he mentioned to you what he’d like to do once the renovations are completed?” Buffy asked, taking a sip of her coffee. She was dragging her feet in switching over to tea. So what if everyone else here drank it? She loved her coffee and wasn’t about to give it up without a fight, dammit!
“He’s afraid that all he’d be useful at is construction,” Willow answered. “I told him that none of us are qualified for the jobs we have, but you know how stubborn he can be.”
“Yeah, he’s convinced that he’s cursed in every other job but construction. Speaking of curses, did you hear that the Defense Against the Dark Arts position is supposedly cursed? For the past 30 or so years, no teacher has lasted more than a year. The lucky ones suffer some kind of public humiliation which requires them to leave; the unlucky ones get maimed or killed,” Buffy rambled. That position was proving difficult to fill because of the curse.
Willow looked thoughtful for several minutes. “Huh, I wonder…” she trailed off. Finally she asked, “Do you know if they’ve tried moving the class to another room or changing the name of the class? Sometimes curses are really specific, so changing a minor thing about the cursed object/person can result in the curse being broken. Like if somebody wanted to curse Buffy Summers, but you got married and took his/her name and became Buffy Newname, the curse wouldn’t be effective against you anymore.”
“That’s got to suck for people with a name like John Smith,” Buffy said.
“Only if the curse is on all people named John Smith; there is some intent tied to it, too,” Willow stated simplistically. She was putting it in the most basic terms she could so she wouldn’t confuse Buffy. “The point is, you could try changing the name and room and see if that changes anything.”
“I’d still have to find somebody willing to take the risk,” Buffy muttered.
A disembodied voice interjected, “Perhaps I can be of some assistance in that matter. I mean you no harm,” she said as she slowly came into their line of sight. She was an old woman…very old, and held a black cat in her arms. “My name is Agatha Harkness, and I would like to discuss a mutually beneficial partnership for us.”
“You’re real?” Willow gasped out, looking like she was about to go all fangirl.
Buffy glanced at her best friend while keeping an eye on the mysterious woman. “You’ve heard of her?”
“Let’s just say that in a Who’s Who of magical people, she’s in the Top 10…probably Top 5,” Willow answered with excitement. Tara would be so jealous that she wasn’t here!
“I apologize for eavesdropping on your conversation, but I was seeking a group powerful enough to protect me from my enemies. I may know a lot about magical spells and how to use them for protection, but I’m not as powerful as I used to be. Against the people who are coming after me, I fear that I would fail. While I don’t fear death, I still would prefer to avoid it for a bit longer, if possible,” Agatha told them.
Willow grabbed Buffy’s hands and demanded, “You have to accept her offer and help her! The knowledge she has about so many things…I-- I--” she couldn’t finish her sentence she was so worked up.
Buffy shrugged. “We’d have to find somebody who could do the spellwork with the students, but we’ve been trying to have a senior professor and a junior one for all the classes so far anyway. You could teach the theory part and somebody else could handle the practical. We just need to verify that you are who you say you are.”
“Nicholas Flamel and his wife Perenelle should be able to vouch for me. And there are enough people in England who know of the Flamels to vouch for them,” Agatha suggested.
“Cool. I’ll use one of those post-owls to take a note to him.”
Buffy’s office
A week later, Buffy had her Professor of Magical Protections - Theory approved by the Board. All she had to do was introduce Agatha Harkness to the boardmembers and they pretty much were happy to give her whatever job she wanted at the school.
Currently she was in a staff meeting to talk about the other half of that position. Minerva suggested, “Perhaps we should get an Auror or duelist to cover the practical.”
“Wouldn’t we have to worry about them leaving after a year…or less?” Buffy asked. “Maybe we could get somebody who’s willing to apprentice for a few years in exchange for teaching practical?”
Tara raised her hand and said, “I wouldn’t mind learning protective magic - especially under Agatha Harkness.”
“Cool! Any objections, ‘cause it doesn’t matter, Tara’s got the job,” Buffy rushed out before anyone had the chance to make sense of what she was saying. She liked the idea of Tara becoming a stronger, more confident witch. Plus there was the added bonus of having another Sunnydale survivor inside the castle to keep an eye on Dawn. Her baby sis wasn’t quite the kidnap victim she used to be, but it still happened occasionally.
“You should also consider starting a physical education class,” Methos suggested. “Not only will it teach the students about the benefits of keeping fit, you can expand it to include fencing, self-defense, that sort of thing.”
Buffy nodded, “I like that. Okay, tomorrow I’ll start the search for a phy ed teacher.”
A/N: Who saw that coming, ‘cause I sure didn’t when I started the chapter!
Tomorrow…Bet you can guess!
Alt Title: Day 14 - Defense Professor Harkness
Author: mmooch
Chapter Summary: **For the 2014 LiveJournal’s Twisted Shorts FaD** challenge. DADA might be cursed, but these classes wouldn’t be.
Chapter Crossover: Marvel Comics
Rating: FR-13.
Word count: 967
Challenge: for the livejournal 2014 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.
Timeline Reminder: this is at the end of the first Voldemort War (although in my ‘verse, it’s the only Voldemort War); not sure for Agatha’s timeline
Warning: I know next to nothing about Agatha Harkness, except what I read on her wiki page, so I apologize now for my ignorance.
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. Marvel Comics characters belong to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Marvel Comics. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Ministry of Magic
It was Buffy’s turn to visit Willow at her office - which happened to be in the Ministry of Magic - to talk about their progress.
“Xander’s having a blast coming up with blueprints for the castle. Has he mentioned to you what he’d like to do once the renovations are completed?” Buffy asked, taking a sip of her coffee. She was dragging her feet in switching over to tea. So what if everyone else here drank it? She loved her coffee and wasn’t about to give it up without a fight, dammit!
“He’s afraid that all he’d be useful at is construction,” Willow answered. “I told him that none of us are qualified for the jobs we have, but you know how stubborn he can be.”
“Yeah, he’s convinced that he’s cursed in every other job but construction. Speaking of curses, did you hear that the Defense Against the Dark Arts position is supposedly cursed? For the past 30 or so years, no teacher has lasted more than a year. The lucky ones suffer some kind of public humiliation which requires them to leave; the unlucky ones get maimed or killed,” Buffy rambled. That position was proving difficult to fill because of the curse.
Willow looked thoughtful for several minutes. “Huh, I wonder…” she trailed off. Finally she asked, “Do you know if they’ve tried moving the class to another room or changing the name of the class? Sometimes curses are really specific, so changing a minor thing about the cursed object/person can result in the curse being broken. Like if somebody wanted to curse Buffy Summers, but you got married and took his/her name and became Buffy Newname, the curse wouldn’t be effective against you anymore.”
“That’s got to suck for people with a name like John Smith,” Buffy said.
“Only if the curse is on all people named John Smith; there is some intent tied to it, too,” Willow stated simplistically. She was putting it in the most basic terms she could so she wouldn’t confuse Buffy. “The point is, you could try changing the name and room and see if that changes anything.”
“I’d still have to find somebody willing to take the risk,” Buffy muttered.
A disembodied voice interjected, “Perhaps I can be of some assistance in that matter. I mean you no harm,” she said as she slowly came into their line of sight. She was an old woman…very old, and held a black cat in her arms. “My name is Agatha Harkness, and I would like to discuss a mutually beneficial partnership for us.”
“You’re real?” Willow gasped out, looking like she was about to go all fangirl.
Buffy glanced at her best friend while keeping an eye on the mysterious woman. “You’ve heard of her?”
“Let’s just say that in a Who’s Who of magical people, she’s in the Top 10…probably Top 5,” Willow answered with excitement. Tara would be so jealous that she wasn’t here!
“I apologize for eavesdropping on your conversation, but I was seeking a group powerful enough to protect me from my enemies. I may know a lot about magical spells and how to use them for protection, but I’m not as powerful as I used to be. Against the people who are coming after me, I fear that I would fail. While I don’t fear death, I still would prefer to avoid it for a bit longer, if possible,” Agatha told them.
Willow grabbed Buffy’s hands and demanded, “You have to accept her offer and help her! The knowledge she has about so many things…I-- I--” she couldn’t finish her sentence she was so worked up.
Buffy shrugged. “We’d have to find somebody who could do the spellwork with the students, but we’ve been trying to have a senior professor and a junior one for all the classes so far anyway. You could teach the theory part and somebody else could handle the practical. We just need to verify that you are who you say you are.”
“Nicholas Flamel and his wife Perenelle should be able to vouch for me. And there are enough people in England who know of the Flamels to vouch for them,” Agatha suggested.
“Cool. I’ll use one of those post-owls to take a note to him.”
Buffy’s office
A week later, Buffy had her Professor of Magical Protections - Theory approved by the Board. All she had to do was introduce Agatha Harkness to the boardmembers and they pretty much were happy to give her whatever job she wanted at the school.
Currently she was in a staff meeting to talk about the other half of that position. Minerva suggested, “Perhaps we should get an Auror or duelist to cover the practical.”
“Wouldn’t we have to worry about them leaving after a year…or less?” Buffy asked. “Maybe we could get somebody who’s willing to apprentice for a few years in exchange for teaching practical?”
Tara raised her hand and said, “I wouldn’t mind learning protective magic - especially under Agatha Harkness.”
“Cool! Any objections, ‘cause it doesn’t matter, Tara’s got the job,” Buffy rushed out before anyone had the chance to make sense of what she was saying. She liked the idea of Tara becoming a stronger, more confident witch. Plus there was the added bonus of having another Sunnydale survivor inside the castle to keep an eye on Dawn. Her baby sis wasn’t quite the kidnap victim she used to be, but it still happened occasionally.
“You should also consider starting a physical education class,” Methos suggested. “Not only will it teach the students about the benefits of keeping fit, you can expand it to include fencing, self-defense, that sort of thing.”
Buffy nodded, “I like that. Okay, tomorrow I’ll start the search for a phy ed teacher.”
A/N: Who saw that coming, ‘cause I sure didn’t when I started the chapter!
Tomorrow…Bet you can guess!