Chapter 11
Everyone was up bright and early the next morning. For obvious reasons, all of them wanted to be there when the Daily Prophet was delivered. Picking idly at their breakfast, all of them kept an eye on the windows where the owls usually flew in. Even Ron seemed to have lost his usually voracious appetite this morning.
Finally, the rush of wings signaled the arrival of the owls. Each one of them had a copy of the Daily Prophet in their talons. Once the paper was deposited in front of everyone, it was snatched up at a speed that would rival a vampire's.
As expected, the front page was dedicated to Fudge. Everyone watched gleefully as the picture on the front page showed Fudge being marched off by the aurors. The trial for Fudge was taking place today afternoon.
Everyone read on as unflattering remark after unflattering remark continued to describe the former minister. Even Willow and Hermoine were impressed with Rina's language.
"Wow, I never knew that there were so many ways to describe a complete imbecile," Willow said.
"Rina turns insulting people into an art form," Hermoine agreed.
"It says here that Lucius Malfoy is going to be the attorney representing Fudge," Xander remarked.
"WHAT!" the Hogwarts people, with the exception of Dumbledore, shouted.
"Page five, bottom right corner," Xander said helpfully.
Everyone hurriedly flipped to the stated page and started scrutinizing the bottom right corner. A moment later, the faces of the Hogwarts group fell. The Scooby Gang looked at each other, wondering what was wrong.
"Is there going to be a problem?" Faith asked.
"I hope not," Sirius replied.
Faith raised an eyebrow. Sirius noticed it and continued. "It just happens that the Malfoys have great influence in the wizarding community, being one of the oldest families."
"They also happen to be filthy rich and not afraid to throw their money around," Harry said disgustedly.
"Ah," Anya nodded understandingly. "You're thinking that Malfoy is going to offer the judges money in exchange for letting Fudge go."
The expressions on the faces of the Hogwarts group was enough to confirm Anya's statement.
"Either that or he's going to revert to the time-honored traditions of threatening and blackmail," Sirus said morosely.
"Shouldn't there be precautions against this type of thing?" Dawn asked.
"Malfoy will find a way," Snape muttered darkly. "He's one of the most resourceful people working for the Dark Lord."
"Voldemort, Severus," Dumbledore chided gently. "There's no need to be afraid of his name."
"That's easy for you to say," Snape grumbled. "You're the only wizard in the world that he fears."
"Now just hold on a sec," Xander interrupted. "You mean to tell me that just because this wizard is such a bad-ass powerful Big Bad, you're all afraid to say his name?"
"He's not just any wizard, Xander," Ron said, his voice trembling a little. He's the most powerful dark wizard since Grindelwald."
"So what," Buffy spoke up. If I'm afraid to speak out the names of my enemies who are more powerful than me, I'm gonna be dumb for the rest of my life."
"You don't understand the Dark Lord," Snape snapped at Buffy. "His power is unmatched by anyone except Dumbledore but the most frightening aspect of him is his thirst for pain, suffering and blood."
The Scooby Gang raised their eyebrows. "That's his most frightening aspect?" Dawn said in disbelief. "In that case, what are we waiting for. Lets just find him and kick his butt."
"Yeah," Buffy said in support of her sister. "He doesn't sound more dangerous or powerful than some of the enemies we've faced. We've never found it difficult to say 'The Master' or 'The Judge' or 'Dracula' or 'Glorificus', and all of those Big Bads are more powerful and evil than Voldy can ever hope to be in his wildest dreams."
Anya continued. "And if you're thinking that what he did to torture people is bad, you've been living very sheltered lives. I can think of at least five hundred and twenty eight ways off the top of my head to inflict even more pain than his so-called torture."
"I'd have to agree with Anya on this one," Angel agreed somberly. "Voldemort is but an amateur when it comes to torturing people." Briefly, his eyes fixed onto Buffy's face, remembering what he did to torture her when he lost his soul.
Buffy acknowledged Angel's look, giving him a sad smile in return. "What Voldemort inflicts is merely physical pain. The evils we have faced – and defeated – inflicted not only pain on our bodies, but left scars on our hearts, our minds and even our souls."
Snape looked disbelievingly at Buffy. "Apart from Dracula, I've never heard of the others, and what I've heard about Dracula is that he's just a muggle fairy tale."
The entire Scooby Gang glared at Snape and then switched their focus to Hermoine when she nodded and said without thinking, "Professor Snape is right."
Snape was visibly intimidated under the glares of the Scooby Gang but he tried to save his dignity by returning the stare – even though his knees were shaking uncontrollably. Suddenly, he was very glad that he was sitting down since he wasn't sure that his legs would continue supporting him.
Hermoine had no such dignity to preserve and hid behind Harry and Ron when the glares of the Scoobies switched to her.
Finally, Buffy replied, "For your information, Dracula is very real. We have fought him before and beaten him back. However, for some reason, he is unable to stay dusted even when a stake is pushed through his heart."
"As for the rest of the evils you seem to be ignorant of," Dawn continued without missing a beat, "The Judge is an evil being who can kill you just by looking at you. The legend goes that no mortal weapon can harm him and in the olden days, it took an army to defeat him. However, he cannot be killed, so his body was dismembered into several parts and scattered around the world, awaiting the time when the parts would be brought together and assembled again."
"As for the Master," Angel continued, "he was a very powerful sorcerer as well as a vampire. Put those two aspects together and you get a very dangerous combination."
Willow continued, "Glorificus, or Glory, was not a demon, but a hellgod."
"Technically, it should be hellgoddess," Dawn corrected.
Willow shot Dawn an amused look. "Hellgoddess then," she said. "But whatever the name we choose to describe her, she is still a goddess – a higher being who is so powerful that she should exist in another plane.
"She did exist in another plane, Willow," Xander reminded. "She was only kicked out of her own dimension because she was too evil, even for the other hellgods."
The Hogwarts group went slightly pale at the descriptions of the foes that the Scooby gang had faced. However, Snape wasn't ready – or was too stupid – to let this subject rest.
"If what you say is true, then why don't you go and destroy him now?" he asked sarcastically. "In your eyes, he should be an easy enemy to dispose of."
"That's true if he's the top dog of the organization," Faith retorted. "We're not worried about Voldy if that's what you're insinuating. We're concerned about the one who's behind him and possibly dictating his actions."
That made the Hogwarts group sit up and pay attention. "Behind him!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. "What do you mean. The Dark ... I mean Voldemort is the one who is leading the Death Eaters."
"That would be nice if it were true," Buffy commented. "However, judging from your descriptions of Voldy's power, unless he's experienced a massive power surge, there's no way he could have convinced that many vampires and demons to attack the wiccan meeting."
Angel nodded. "You may be more knowledgeable about Voldemort, but we know vampires and demons better than you. And the one thing that can be counted on is the fact that vampires and demons only follow a master if he is much more powerful than them. From what I've heard of Voldemort so far, he doesn't meet the power requirement necessary to convince them to join him."
"But what could be more powerful than the Dark Lord?" Ron asked plaintively.
"We've just described four of those things to you, Ron, or have you forgotten already," Dawn replied. "But if you're looking for entities that are more powerful than Voldy, then forget it. I can think of thirty eight different types of demons off the top of my head who would consider Voldy a mere nuisance, an insect to be got rid off only if he crossed their path."
"But could any of those demons not only command a whole army of vampires and demons, but convince them to put aside their legendary aloofness towards each other and work together as a team?" Angel asked.
"Aloofness?" Hermoine asked curiously.
"Vampires and demons have this inter-species superiority complex," Buffy explained. "Vampires think that they're at the top of the food chain and demons think that they have no predators to worry about. Hence, the two species don't cooperate with each other often and stay out of each other's way."
"I must say that I can't think of anything that can convince that many demons and vampires to work with one another," Dawn admitted. "What about you guys."
The Hogwarts group looked at each other with blank expressions on their faces. Voldemort was already more powerful than they could imagine and thinking that something was more powerful than him was almost impossible to them.
As for the Scooby group had faced beings more powerful than Voldemort before, but none of them, with the possible exception of Glory, had the power to convince that many vampires and demons to work for them. Only Angel and Anya had slightly disturbed looks on their faces.
Buffy was the first to notice the expressions on Angel and Anya's faces. She immediately rounded on them. "Okay, you guys know something. Spill it."
Angel and Anya looked at each other before Angel spoke. "There is one entity that is capable of joining the ranks of demons and vampires. Do you remember the First Evil?"
Buffy's eyes widened as she took in the implications.
Anya concurred with Angel's opinion. "Apart from the First, there's no other being that I can think of that's capable of such a feat."
"The First Evil," Willow muttered. "The stuff from which all evil originates. If the First has taken Voldemort as a host, we have a major problem."
"That's probably why the killing curse didn't kill him when it rebounded from Harry," Tara said thoughtfully. "The First was watching over him and when the curse hit Voldemort, the First was just waiting to claim its vessel."
"But the spell destroyed the body, though," Willow continued. "If I'm right, the main priority of the First would be to secure its hold on its vessel. The second priority would be to restore the vessel to a more tangible form."
"A more tangled form?" Xander interrupted, looking confused.
"The word is tan-gi-ble, Xander," Willow replied, looking amused. "In short, basically the First wanted a physical body for a vessel instead of a disembodied spirit."
"But if the First is such an all-powerful entity, why doesn't it just wave its hand – if it has a hand – and just give Voldy his body back?" Dawn asked.
It was Buffy who replied. "No one is all-powerful, Dawn. Every entity has its limits. Glory was a goddess, a divine being..."
She trailed off as the Scooby Gang turned to stare at her.
"...Okay, well, maybe not so divine, but more like a hellish godlike being," Buffy amended hastily. "Anyway, even though she was powerful, Willow managed to fight her and even stop her if only for a little while. Considering that Glory was supposedly the meanest and most powerful hellgod in her dimension and Willow was only at the baseline of her powers at that time, it showed me that all beings, no matter how powerful they might seem to be, have their limits."
"But considering that it's the First that we're talking about, it can't have spent over a decade just to acquire a body," Angel cut in. "If he wanted a physical vessel that badly, he could have gotten one within a few months."
"Unless he was distracted by something else," Faith said suddenly. "I mean, if the First is anything like one of the Big Bads that we've faced in the past, its more interested in bringing hell to Earth. What if he spent his time recruiting demons and vampires instead of trying to restore a body?"
Everyone became silent as they considered that unpleasant possibility.
Finally Dumbledore said slowly, "If what you say is true, then, Voldemort, or rather, the First Evil came into this world over a decade ago to plan its destruction."
"And over the years, it has bided its time, amassing an army of demons, vampires and who knows what else in order to fulfill its plans of bringing death and destruction into this world," Anya said, looking unexpectedly solemn.
Everyone was up bright and early the next morning. For obvious reasons, all of them wanted to be there when the Daily Prophet was delivered. Picking idly at their breakfast, all of them kept an eye on the windows where the owls usually flew in. Even Ron seemed to have lost his usually voracious appetite this morning.
Finally, the rush of wings signaled the arrival of the owls. Each one of them had a copy of the Daily Prophet in their talons. Once the paper was deposited in front of everyone, it was snatched up at a speed that would rival a vampire's.
As expected, the front page was dedicated to Fudge. Everyone watched gleefully as the picture on the front page showed Fudge being marched off by the aurors. The trial for Fudge was taking place today afternoon.
Everyone read on as unflattering remark after unflattering remark continued to describe the former minister. Even Willow and Hermoine were impressed with Rina's language.
"Wow, I never knew that there were so many ways to describe a complete imbecile," Willow said.
"Rina turns insulting people into an art form," Hermoine agreed.
"It says here that Lucius Malfoy is going to be the attorney representing Fudge," Xander remarked.
"WHAT!" the Hogwarts people, with the exception of Dumbledore, shouted.
"Page five, bottom right corner," Xander said helpfully.
Everyone hurriedly flipped to the stated page and started scrutinizing the bottom right corner. A moment later, the faces of the Hogwarts group fell. The Scooby Gang looked at each other, wondering what was wrong.
"Is there going to be a problem?" Faith asked.
"I hope not," Sirius replied.
Faith raised an eyebrow. Sirius noticed it and continued. "It just happens that the Malfoys have great influence in the wizarding community, being one of the oldest families."
"They also happen to be filthy rich and not afraid to throw their money around," Harry said disgustedly.
"Ah," Anya nodded understandingly. "You're thinking that Malfoy is going to offer the judges money in exchange for letting Fudge go."
The expressions on the faces of the Hogwarts group was enough to confirm Anya's statement.
"Either that or he's going to revert to the time-honored traditions of threatening and blackmail," Sirus said morosely.
"Shouldn't there be precautions against this type of thing?" Dawn asked.
"Malfoy will find a way," Snape muttered darkly. "He's one of the most resourceful people working for the Dark Lord."
"Voldemort, Severus," Dumbledore chided gently. "There's no need to be afraid of his name."
"That's easy for you to say," Snape grumbled. "You're the only wizard in the world that he fears."
"Now just hold on a sec," Xander interrupted. "You mean to tell me that just because this wizard is such a bad-ass powerful Big Bad, you're all afraid to say his name?"
"He's not just any wizard, Xander," Ron said, his voice trembling a little. He's the most powerful dark wizard since Grindelwald."
"So what," Buffy spoke up. If I'm afraid to speak out the names of my enemies who are more powerful than me, I'm gonna be dumb for the rest of my life."
"You don't understand the Dark Lord," Snape snapped at Buffy. "His power is unmatched by anyone except Dumbledore but the most frightening aspect of him is his thirst for pain, suffering and blood."
The Scooby Gang raised their eyebrows. "That's his most frightening aspect?" Dawn said in disbelief. "In that case, what are we waiting for. Lets just find him and kick his butt."
"Yeah," Buffy said in support of her sister. "He doesn't sound more dangerous or powerful than some of the enemies we've faced. We've never found it difficult to say 'The Master' or 'The Judge' or 'Dracula' or 'Glorificus', and all of those Big Bads are more powerful and evil than Voldy can ever hope to be in his wildest dreams."
Anya continued. "And if you're thinking that what he did to torture people is bad, you've been living very sheltered lives. I can think of at least five hundred and twenty eight ways off the top of my head to inflict even more pain than his so-called torture."
"I'd have to agree with Anya on this one," Angel agreed somberly. "Voldemort is but an amateur when it comes to torturing people." Briefly, his eyes fixed onto Buffy's face, remembering what he did to torture her when he lost his soul.
Buffy acknowledged Angel's look, giving him a sad smile in return. "What Voldemort inflicts is merely physical pain. The evils we have faced – and defeated – inflicted not only pain on our bodies, but left scars on our hearts, our minds and even our souls."
Snape looked disbelievingly at Buffy. "Apart from Dracula, I've never heard of the others, and what I've heard about Dracula is that he's just a muggle fairy tale."
The entire Scooby Gang glared at Snape and then switched their focus to Hermoine when she nodded and said without thinking, "Professor Snape is right."
Snape was visibly intimidated under the glares of the Scooby Gang but he tried to save his dignity by returning the stare – even though his knees were shaking uncontrollably. Suddenly, he was very glad that he was sitting down since he wasn't sure that his legs would continue supporting him.
Hermoine had no such dignity to preserve and hid behind Harry and Ron when the glares of the Scoobies switched to her.
Finally, Buffy replied, "For your information, Dracula is very real. We have fought him before and beaten him back. However, for some reason, he is unable to stay dusted even when a stake is pushed through his heart."
"As for the rest of the evils you seem to be ignorant of," Dawn continued without missing a beat, "The Judge is an evil being who can kill you just by looking at you. The legend goes that no mortal weapon can harm him and in the olden days, it took an army to defeat him. However, he cannot be killed, so his body was dismembered into several parts and scattered around the world, awaiting the time when the parts would be brought together and assembled again."
"As for the Master," Angel continued, "he was a very powerful sorcerer as well as a vampire. Put those two aspects together and you get a very dangerous combination."
Willow continued, "Glorificus, or Glory, was not a demon, but a hellgod."
"Technically, it should be hellgoddess," Dawn corrected.
Willow shot Dawn an amused look. "Hellgoddess then," she said. "But whatever the name we choose to describe her, she is still a goddess – a higher being who is so powerful that she should exist in another plane.
"She did exist in another plane, Willow," Xander reminded. "She was only kicked out of her own dimension because she was too evil, even for the other hellgods."
The Hogwarts group went slightly pale at the descriptions of the foes that the Scooby gang had faced. However, Snape wasn't ready – or was too stupid – to let this subject rest.
"If what you say is true, then why don't you go and destroy him now?" he asked sarcastically. "In your eyes, he should be an easy enemy to dispose of."
"That's true if he's the top dog of the organization," Faith retorted. "We're not worried about Voldy if that's what you're insinuating. We're concerned about the one who's behind him and possibly dictating his actions."
That made the Hogwarts group sit up and pay attention. "Behind him!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. "What do you mean. The Dark ... I mean Voldemort is the one who is leading the Death Eaters."
"That would be nice if it were true," Buffy commented. "However, judging from your descriptions of Voldy's power, unless he's experienced a massive power surge, there's no way he could have convinced that many vampires and demons to attack the wiccan meeting."
Angel nodded. "You may be more knowledgeable about Voldemort, but we know vampires and demons better than you. And the one thing that can be counted on is the fact that vampires and demons only follow a master if he is much more powerful than them. From what I've heard of Voldemort so far, he doesn't meet the power requirement necessary to convince them to join him."
"But what could be more powerful than the Dark Lord?" Ron asked plaintively.
"We've just described four of those things to you, Ron, or have you forgotten already," Dawn replied. "But if you're looking for entities that are more powerful than Voldy, then forget it. I can think of thirty eight different types of demons off the top of my head who would consider Voldy a mere nuisance, an insect to be got rid off only if he crossed their path."
"But could any of those demons not only command a whole army of vampires and demons, but convince them to put aside their legendary aloofness towards each other and work together as a team?" Angel asked.
"Aloofness?" Hermoine asked curiously.
"Vampires and demons have this inter-species superiority complex," Buffy explained. "Vampires think that they're at the top of the food chain and demons think that they have no predators to worry about. Hence, the two species don't cooperate with each other often and stay out of each other's way."
"I must say that I can't think of anything that can convince that many demons and vampires to work with one another," Dawn admitted. "What about you guys."
The Hogwarts group looked at each other with blank expressions on their faces. Voldemort was already more powerful than they could imagine and thinking that something was more powerful than him was almost impossible to them.
As for the Scooby group had faced beings more powerful than Voldemort before, but none of them, with the possible exception of Glory, had the power to convince that many vampires and demons to work for them. Only Angel and Anya had slightly disturbed looks on their faces.
Buffy was the first to notice the expressions on Angel and Anya's faces. She immediately rounded on them. "Okay, you guys know something. Spill it."
Angel and Anya looked at each other before Angel spoke. "There is one entity that is capable of joining the ranks of demons and vampires. Do you remember the First Evil?"
Buffy's eyes widened as she took in the implications.
Anya concurred with Angel's opinion. "Apart from the First, there's no other being that I can think of that's capable of such a feat."
"The First Evil," Willow muttered. "The stuff from which all evil originates. If the First has taken Voldemort as a host, we have a major problem."
"That's probably why the killing curse didn't kill him when it rebounded from Harry," Tara said thoughtfully. "The First was watching over him and when the curse hit Voldemort, the First was just waiting to claim its vessel."
"But the spell destroyed the body, though," Willow continued. "If I'm right, the main priority of the First would be to secure its hold on its vessel. The second priority would be to restore the vessel to a more tangible form."
"A more tangled form?" Xander interrupted, looking confused.
"The word is tan-gi-ble, Xander," Willow replied, looking amused. "In short, basically the First wanted a physical body for a vessel instead of a disembodied spirit."
"But if the First is such an all-powerful entity, why doesn't it just wave its hand – if it has a hand – and just give Voldy his body back?" Dawn asked.
It was Buffy who replied. "No one is all-powerful, Dawn. Every entity has its limits. Glory was a goddess, a divine being..."
She trailed off as the Scooby Gang turned to stare at her.
"...Okay, well, maybe not so divine, but more like a hellish godlike being," Buffy amended hastily. "Anyway, even though she was powerful, Willow managed to fight her and even stop her if only for a little while. Considering that Glory was supposedly the meanest and most powerful hellgod in her dimension and Willow was only at the baseline of her powers at that time, it showed me that all beings, no matter how powerful they might seem to be, have their limits."
"But considering that it's the First that we're talking about, it can't have spent over a decade just to acquire a body," Angel cut in. "If he wanted a physical vessel that badly, he could have gotten one within a few months."
"Unless he was distracted by something else," Faith said suddenly. "I mean, if the First is anything like one of the Big Bads that we've faced in the past, its more interested in bringing hell to Earth. What if he spent his time recruiting demons and vampires instead of trying to restore a body?"
Everyone became silent as they considered that unpleasant possibility.
Finally Dumbledore said slowly, "If what you say is true, then, Voldemort, or rather, the First Evil came into this world over a decade ago to plan its destruction."
"And over the years, it has bided its time, amassing an army of demons, vampires and who knows what else in order to fulfill its plans of bringing death and destruction into this world," Anya said, looking unexpectedly solemn.