TITLE : Supermundane

AUTHOR : Ave

E-MAIL : [email protected]

RATING : PG

SUMMARY : Buffy has a new life. A new mission. An old love… What happens when Hogwarts gets a new professor, and she gets more than she could wish for?

PAIRING : Will be B/A eventually, none for now, others may appear as well.

DISCLAIMER: The Buffyverse characters are not mine, they belong to Joss Whedon and other companies; Harry Potter and other HP-verse characters belong to J.K.Rowling. No infringement intended.

DISTRIBUTION : Anywhere, just ask and you will be granted.

FEEDBACK : Makes my day a lot brighter, and makes me write more! Constructive criticism is also very welcome, I would really like to hear what you have to say. And a response is guaranteed!

A/N: I know there are a few stories like this already written, but I have tried not to read them, so any similarities are purely coincidental, except some rather obvious ones.

A/N 2: To Ralkana, for being a great beta, a wonderful friend, and supporting my ideas! Thanks! To all B/A writers, because it is never over!

Chapter 1: Fortune Favors the Brave

She was Buffy Summers, young woman. Not the Slayer, the Sister, the Mother, the Friend. And for the first time since she had come back, life was really worth living.

After the battle with the First was over, Buffy had decided to take some time for herself. Dawn was staying with Willow and Giles in London, helping them create a new Watcher's Council. Now, three months later, Buffy went to visit them in England.

***

It was a warm summer night. She was walking through King's Cross station, carrying only a duffel bag. Over the past years she had learned not to get too attached to material things.

Looking at her watch, Buffy realized she'd gotten to the station too early. The train to Devonshire wasn't leaving for another hour.

'Oh well, I might as well look around. See some of Giles' glorious England. Or…at least the train station of the capital. That's something too.' With a mental shrug, Buffy lifted her bag from the bench. After walking a circle around the station, she came back to the very same bench.

'Or I could sit here and do nothing. That's something I'm good at.'

Suddenly, the station was filling up with people. They came separately, but they all seemed to know each other. And all of them had very large trunks.

'It seems that on August 25th this is the hangout for the strange-looking-with-heavy-trunks-and-so-passé-haircuts people. Stranger things have happened.' Buffy thought, but kept looking at them. It wasn't like she had anything else to do, after all…

 As they reached the divide between platforms 9 and 10, they seemed to vanish. At first, Buffy thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, but her Slayer senses told her something weird was going on. She got a bit closer to the remaining people, trying to hear what they were talking about.

"…and Tonks, do you remember how Jackie was so excited about finally going to Hogwarts, so when she tried to walk to the platform, she got scared and crashed into it? That was a close one. All the people around us looked our way. I thought we wouldn't make it to the train." A man with thick straw-coloured hair said to his companion, a purple haired young woman.

'Hogwarts? Crashing into a platform? What's going on around here?' Buffy was now seriously confused, and more than that, very interested in these people.

"Look, Emmeline and Hestia went through. I guess it's our turn then." As the woman named Tonks said that, she and the man she was with stepped forward and just disappeared into the barrier.

With her preternatural senses going crazy, Buffy got to the place where Tonks had stood only moments ago. The Slayer in her was telling her to investigate, discover whatever there is to hide, so Buffy decided to try and follow the people.

'Here goes nothing.' She started to walk towards the barrier. People walked around her. She was going to smash right into that ticket box. The barrier was coming nearer and nearer. She closed her eyes, ready for the crash…

It never came. She kept on walking, and opened her eyes.

A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said, "Hogwarts Express, 10 o'clock". Buffy looked behind her and saw a wrought-iron archway where the ticket box had been, with the words "Platform 9 and ¾" on it.

Being the predator she was, Buffy quickly hid behind a wall. Smoke from the engine clouded her sight, but it was a welcomed disguise. As everybody put their trunks into the compartment and got into the train, the whistle let out a deafening shrill and the train started to move.

Buffy figured it was her chance, and she quickly got into the still half opened trunk compartment. There she sat in a corner, wondering where this train would take her.

***

Not having anything to do during the journey, except wait, Buffy started thinking about her life, and what had become of it after she was no longer the only Slayer available, Faith excluded.

Now that she was by herself, there were many things she could do that had nothing to do with slaying.

But being alone didn't mean she didn't care for anyone else anymore. She wrote to Dawn and Willow regularly, sometimes putting in a few words for Giles too. Xander was in Mexico with, surprisingly, Andrew. They were on a long vacation, taking time to heal, sending her postcards every now and then.

And it wasn't like she wasn't a Slayer anymore. That she was, maybe more than ever. Her senses and reflexes had improved, her night vision also, and she was stronger than before. She didn't know where that improvement had come from, but she didn't question it that much. The one thing she wondered about was how she had survived with that wound in her stomach. It had certainly been a mortal wound, and she had thought that was it for her, but then she had felt a burst of power, and there had been no more pain.

'I should ask Giles about it, next time I see him. Which might not be that soon judging by the length of this journey. It feels like we've been travelling for days now. I wonder…' A sudden stop interrupted her train of thoughts. 'I guess we're here. Let's see how far from Kansas are we…"

As the chattering of the crowd moved away, Buffy slowly crept out of her hiding place, and kept following the people.

***

She sneaked into what seemed to be a great hall, just as everybody standing there stopped talking. At first Buffy thought she had been caught, but then she noticed a man standing at the centre of the table. She gasped, taking in his appearance. He wore half moon glasses and had a long crooked nose. But the thing that surprised her was his hair. He had very long flowing hair, beard, and moustache that shone brightly as pure silver.

Then the man spoke.

"Welcome! I hope you all had a great journey. As we all know, a new year at Hogwarts is about to begin. I know you must all be tired, so I'll just say a few words. I suppose you all know that Lord Voldemort has returned. And I think it is unnecessary to point out that there are hard times ahead of us. The Second War has begun. Voldemort is once more recruiting followers for a fresh attempt to seize power. We know what the consequences would be. So any help that is sincerely and with good intentions offered will be greatly appreciated. Remain vigilant. And have a good afternoon."

In small groups or by themselves, the people went in different directions, discussing the old man's words. A few of them passed Buffy, coming very close to her hiding place but not discovering her. She knew she had to find a better hiding position, and maybe look around in the process. So when the hall cleared out, she ran to the stairs and found herself in a maze of corridors. She walked through a couple of them, but realized there was no way she could find out anything without getting lost. Seeing a stone gargoyle that was big enough to hide behind, she quickly moved over there. But then the wall behind the statue opened and showed a man standing there. The same man with the silver hair, and a smile on his face.

"Hello, Miss Summers. Please come in."

***

Even though her mind told her to run away, she felt no harmful intentions coming off this man. And her curiosity got the better of her.

He led her to a beautiful circular room, lined with pictures of old looking men and women, all in robes. Buffy was surprised to see that they moved, but then she focused herself on the man in front of her, who was now sitting in a large armchair behind a desk.

"Sit down, Miss Summers. I am sure you have a lot of questions, and it will be very uncomfortable for you to stand during all that time."

She was very tired from the journey, so she sat down in a chair in front of the desk, with her guard still up.

"Okay, I don't want to be rude, but I don't know you, so getting to the point would be good. Who are you, where am I, and how the hell do you know my name?"

"You are one feisty woman, Miss Summers. I expected that much from you, I must say, knowing about your reputation. I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. That is also the answer to your second question. You are in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And I know a lot more about you than just your name. Including the fact that you are the Slayer. I sensed you in the Great Hall from the moment you came in."

Now Buffy was truly astounded.

"You know about me? You sensed me? What is going on?"

"You see, the world you are currently in is the wizard's world. You came here by getting through to platform 9 and ¾. A completely non-magical person, a Muggle, can't cross the barrier, not without a very special spell done from the inside. Neither can pure demons. Only witches, wizards and a few exceptions can get there. You being one of the exceptions. And since I am a wizard, I can feel you, but only because of my age and experience, so you don't have to worry about everybody here knowing who you are. I'm the only one.

"There is a proposal I want to make to you. I am sure you don't know anything about Harry Potter or Lord Voldemort, but you will soon, should you accept my offer. You see, Lord Voldemort is a Dark Wizard, and a very powerful one. He was defeated fifteen years ago, but now he is trying to regain power. I'm asking you to help me, and the wizarding world, in the war that is to come. The war against him."

Hearing his words, Buffy couldn't stop thinking about Willow and what had happened after Tara's death. Were it not for Xander… Buffy couldn't even think about it. And if that Lord What's-his-name was a wizard with more power, and pure evil from the core…

"How could I possibly help? I'm not a witch." And why should I accept your offer? What is there to accept? I'm sure you can defeat him again, if you have done it in the past. You don't need me."

"That is where you are very mistaken, Miss Summers. We need you very much. From what I understand about you, you have fought the forces of darkness for more than seven years now. You have a lot of experience in fighting, and you have saved the world a great number of times. I'm sure that means as much as you being a witch, if not even more. However, if you choose not to help us, I will arrange for you to go home safely whenever you wish to do so. But please, let me finish my proposal." Dumbledore stopped, letting her voice her opinions.

Buffy didn't say anything, just motioned for him to continue.

"We didn't defeat the Dark Lord. A little boy did. Voldemort killed his parents and tried to kill him, but the curse backfired, and reduced him to a being that is barely alive. That boy was Harry Potter. He is now in his sixth year here, and he has dealt with Voldemort for the past five years. But their last encounter killed Harry's godfather, so I'm afraid he will need a lot of time to heal, and someone to keep] him from doing a foolish thing, like seeking revenge. For now, anyway.

"That is why I am offering you a teaching position. Now, before you say anything, let me explain. You would be teaching a class called Defence. Until now, there has been no such class, and it won't exist if you decline my offer. As I'm sure you'll notice, that means I would open a new position just for you.

"I am confident you can teach my students how to defend themselves against an attack without wands, and fight the enemy. You would teach only sixth and seventh year students, because they are the ones in the most danger. I will open a bank account for you and deposit your salary there at the end of every month. We can discuss the sum later. You will be able to take that money when you choose to leave. That solves the problem of supporting yourself after you go back home, of course, in case you accept the job. You will have your private and training rooms here in the castle, and as you will see, the food is excellent. I think that is all. Do you have any other questions?" Buffy could almost see a sparkle in Dumbledore's eyes as he leaned into the armchair with a small smile on his face.

She had to admit, the offer was very tempting. She definitely needed money, and she had trained the Potentials, after all. Still, it was all too weird. A whole new world. And she was supposed to fight a Big Baddie again. She knew nothing of this man, except for what he had told her, and she would be a professor. Her?! Who would've thought!

'Wait, girl! You're way ahead of yourself! You're actually considering it?' A small voice in her head squealed.

It would be a huge challenge…

With that thought, Buffy grinned and gave her answer to Dumbledore.

***

TBC...