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Chapter 99 - Fluffy Returns

Dimension: 1375 - Earth
Date: 14th October 2001 AD
Country: Britain - Scotland
Location: Hogwarts - Great Hall
Time: Early Morning

The following morning Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny were all sitting down to

breakfast, along with a few others scattered around the hall, being the day

after a Quidditch victory meant that almost all those involved in the

celebration would be late risers this morning and as the match was against

Slytherin it meant all those in said house would be in no hurry to rise and most

of those in the others would only just have finished celebrating.

Hermione, while sitting at the table reading one of her books from her birthday

took a glance at Ginny sitting next to her. She was staring intently at the

Slytherin table and more specifically at a certain blond haired Slytherin

Prince.

Hermione was beginning to wonder about the couple, it could actually work. Her

father would have a fit of course....actually forget her father....his would

probably have a seizure....which wasn't really all that bad when you thought

about his allegiances.
________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile up at the head table, Buffy was bored, if there was one thing she

hated it was mornings, especially when there was the prospect of lengthy

research in the near future.

Scanning the room she observed those already up, the hall was mostly empty as it

was only just six thirty and breakfast had only been going for half an hour; she

had observed that most of the students at weekends came down to breakfast around

nine, apparently because of the parties in three of the Common Rooms last night

that time was likely to be put back to around eleven, being a Slayer though she

was used to not getting much sleep so the late night had very little affect upon

her.

There was at most fifty students in the hall and four members of staff

consisting of Filch, Flitwick, Vector and herself, the rest of the Scoobies were

suffering similarly to the students.

The usual Gryffindor group were at their table, she exchanged a quick hello

glance with Hermione before returning to her toast and pumpkin juice.

Pumpkin juice.

Who ever came up with the idea of pumpkin juice? It's not that it tasted bad;

she was just dying to have some good old fashioned orange.

Her mind had begun to drift when she heard an almighty crash from the middle of

the room.

Looking up, what she saw made her fall backwards off of her chair.

Standing in the middle of the room was a huge three headed dog.

There was instant chaos, students started running all over the place. Teachers

trying to calm them down and the dog causing more chaos every moment.

The dog was growling, barking and snarling (three heads remember)

THREE heads, who ever heard of a three headed dog?

The dog bounded forward snapping the tables that it had been precariously

balancing on like matchsticks before landing in front of the teachers table.

Most of the students had reached the door and were getting as far away as

possible.

Professor Vector had run to get Dumbledore, while (for some reason) Filch went

to get Hagrid.

Why Hagrid, alright he was big and did have a big dog but not THAT big in

that little cottage of his.

Professor Flitwick moved forward and attempted to stun the creature but the

spell wasn't powerful enough and just impacted harmlessly.

The dog swiped at him with one of its paws, but Flitwick cast a spell on himself

and flew up into the air above the dogs head.

My god, that man's a fast caster, well Dumbledore did say he was a champion

duellist, I just thought the opponents couldn't hit him because of his size.

Buffy vaulted over the table and started trying to distract the heads from

trying to bite off Flitwick's feet.

One head swiped around and knocked Flitwick out of the air, sliding to a halt at

the other end of the hall.

All three heads then turned to Buffy and started trying to decapitate her.

Buffy was spending all her time trying to avoid getting ripped to shreds, one

lucky paw caught her in the side and sent her flying through the air to land

dazed against the wall.

When she looked up she saw the dog towering over her.

She didn't have the energy to get up, this was it.

"How much is that dog in the window,"

Wait, is that singing?

"The one with the waggily tail."

It is singing.

"How much is that dog in the window,"

Looking to her left she saw Harry and Ron hands round each other's shoulders,

swaying while singing.

Are they TOTALLY insane, this is NOT the time for a sing-along.

"I do hope he is for sale."

Buffy saw the dog above her start to sway, it began to stumble slightly

You've got to be kidding me, singing sends it to sleep....Hang on....I'm

underneath it.

The dog started to fall forward.

"Accio Buffy!!"

Buffy shot out from under the dog into Harry's arms.

The dog collapsed to the floor.

Ron bowed low "Thank you Hogwarts and goodnight."

"We're here till July." Harry added laughing, before turning to Buffy "Are you

alright?"

"I think so." answered Buffy looking at what remained of the Great Hall.

All the tables were smashed, the benches were also in pieces, there were broken

plates covered in food covering the floor, which were already being cleaned up

by the House Elves

At the far end of the Hall Ginny and Hermione were leaning over Flitwick, who

was unsteadily getting to his feet.

"Dog in the window?" Buffy asked in disbelief.

"Singing sends Fluffy to sleep." Harry explained.

"Yes, but why THAT song?"

"You'd rather we sang ‘Who let the dogs out'?" Harry smirked before they both

burst out laughing.

When they finally managed to stop, Buffy asked her next question:

"Fluffy?"

"Don't ask me, Hagrid named him."

"If you think that's funny you should meet fang." Ron commented

"I've met him." she told them "Why, how bad does he get?"

"Oh he can be deadly," replied Harry sarcastically "If he's in a bad mood he

could slobber you to death in under a minute."

"Thanks for not letting me get turned into a Scooby Snack....or a pancake." she

said turning to Harry and Ron and giving them thank you hugs.

"I accept the Snack bit," Harry answered "But the pancake was not me....I was

just in the way."

"Then who?" Buffy asked confused.

Harry then moved out of the way, behind him was Draco with his wand hanging

limply in his hand.

Buffy moved to him.

"Thank you."

Draco shrugged "Your welco...." He was interrupted by Buffy hugging him tightly.

"Air, air, AIR!!"
________________________________________________________________________

The sight that greeted Adam and Dumbledore when they entered the room was, to

say the least....unusual.

All five tables were smashed.

There was food covering the floor

Professor Flitwick was being helped up by Hermione and Ginny (which was

interesting to see as he couldn't exactly put his arms round their shoulders).

And Harry and Ron were standing starring at Buffy giving Draco Malfoy a bone

crushing hug.

"Now if that is not a strange sight, I don't know what is." Adam commented.

Buffy immediately jumped back from Draco as Adam's raised an eyebrow in her

direction.

"Thank you hug....He saved my life....They all did." she was beginning to

babble, most people did that under Adam's gaze, it was a nightmare trying to

concentrate (especially if you were female).

Adam turned to Dumbledore.

"I think we are going to have to increase the pace of research Albus."
________________________________________________________________________

Dimension: 1375 - Earth
Date: 17th October 2001 AD
Country: Britain - Scotland
Location: Hogwarts - Muggle Defence Classroom
Time: Late Afternoon

A few days later during one of the joint MD, DA and Duelling lessons.

Adam was really pleased at the progress of the class, they had proceeded through

almost all the hand-to-hand weapons that they were teaching them and had a basic

understanding of each, he and the Scoobies would have to start teaching them the

true mastery of weapons soon. The group's skill with their wands and Elemental

powers had also increased.

Harry was a most proficient teacher once he got going and several of the

students could almost beat him in a duel, the main three being Hermione (thanks

to the gift of extra power that she had received, both Elemental and magical

making each of her spells about twice as dangerous as it had been previously),

Draco (who now as he was training and fighting alongside Harry was rapidly

catching him up with regards skill, especially when he had a small arsenal of

not quite so light but not exactly dark spells from his days as the dark prince

of Slytherin) and lastly and rather surprisingly, the only other Slytherin and

the only Slytherin girl attending the class; Blaise Zibini. As well as having a

few of the not so light spells that Draco possessed (as well as a few of her

own) she also had lightning fast reflexes (which explains why she was on the

Quidditch Team) to the extent that they were at least equal to that of the Fleur

and Colette (predatory birds needed to be able to react fast when chasing prey),

Adam had heard Fleur and Harry talking about her and wondering whether she could

be part Veela, but her hair being jet black kind of scotched that idea, even one

sixteenth Veela blood would make the hair blond at the least.

"Well done everyone," Adam began "In the last few weeks we've covered armed

combat with the use of quarterstaffs, axes, daggers, short swords, rapiers and

broadswords, next week and the week after we will move onto the use of Samurai

swords, the hardest to master, as well as incorporating Elemental skills into

wizard duels."

Adam turned to retrieve his cloak and staff from the back of the room; allowing

his mind to move back to the much more pressing matter of the attacks.

There had been another two creature incidents after Fluffy's appearance in the

Great Hall. A group of third year Hufflepuff's had come across a Dementor and a

fifth year Ravenclaw had come across an Acromantula.

Luckily in both cases no one had been hurt, in the former Harry had been nearby

and in the latter Ron, both had managed to subdue the creatures before they had

caused any damage, he was especially proud of Ron for that, he had faced his

fears and defeated them, it was amazing what you could achieve when you had to

protect others.

The thing that was confusing the researchers was the fact that in the case of

Fluffy, the place where Fluffy had been kept was not altered in the slightest,

which meant Fluffy hadn't moved an inch, so if it wasn't Fluffy that meant the

other creatures were not real either, this was confirmed by Harry after he snuck

out of the school to speak to Aragog who confirmed that none of his larger

children had even left the forest.

On a happier note the Ball has been booked for the weekend after next and after

his return from captivity he had noticed how Hermione, Draco's and their

respective partner's had changed, they had all got a bit more flirtatious,

especially Draco and Ginny.

"Professor," Hermione began, though she quickly corrected herself when he turned

to look at her "Sorry Adam, but the week after next is the Halloween Ball."

"The week after then," he corrected "And while I think of it," he smiled turning

to his fellow MD Professor "Anne, may I escort you to the Halloween Ball?"

She looked more than a bit stunned by the, it was evident that she thought of

him more as an older brother or possibly an uncle and he knew she was thinking

that that made for all kinds of unpleasantness on a date.

"Don't panic, I'm not asking you out," he elaborated, allowing her to breathe a

sigh of relief "Simply put, I am not aware of you having anyone to accompany you

and I know I do not have anyone either."

"Sure," she sighed in relief "Why not."
________________________________________________________________________

On the other side of the room Ginny and Hermione were getting ready to leave.

"Lucky woman," Ginny commented "Why did he have to be a Professor, or I would

have asked him....If I weren't already going with Draco that is."

Hermione chuckled "I'm just wondering if Ron will actually ask me to the dance

rather than assuming that I am going with him."

Ginny grinned.

"With how long it took you two to actually get together most of us were

beginning to wonder if one or both of you were gay."

"What!!" Hermione exclaimed "Whatever made you think I was gay?"

"Well you haven't had any boyfriends at Hogwarts and Ron had never had much luck

with girls."

Hermione was about to answer when she looked over Ginny's shoulder and grinned

before turning and walking away with a smile, rather relieved to be leaving the

conversation.

Confused Ginny turned to see what she was looking at only to come face to face

with a rather nervous Draco Malfoy.

"Ginny, I was....Well I was wondering, if maybe if you weren't too busy, or if

you don't have any previous engagements, if you would like to accompany me to

the Halloween Ball?"

He was babbling.

He never babbled.

He looked terrified, she'd better say something or he would apologize for

wasting her time, as if she would say no when they were dating.

"Well, I'm sorry I...." he began disappointedly.

"Yes."

He paused not quite believing what he had heard "Pardon?"

"Yes, I will go with you to the Ball." she said beaming at him.

"Oh great, thank you, err....should I meet you outside your Common Room at

about...."

"Seven." she decided.

"Ok great, ok, thank you. See you later then."

"Bye." Ginny replied inwardly grinning, what had happened to the Slytherin

Prince they all knew and loathed.
________________________________________________________________________

Hermione watched from a distance seeing the pleased smiles break out on their

faces she guessed Draco had been successful, now if only Ron would ask her to

the ball she....

"Hermione."
________________________________________________________________________

Adam had donned his cloak, picked up his staff and was waiting for Anne (all the

other Scoobies had already left with the students) when Ron made his move,

meaning that there were only a few of them left to witness it, he had just seen

Ginny and Draco's exchange and judging from the pleased looks on their faces it

had gone to plan, from what he could pick up with his extra sensitive hearing

this one was going just as well, if not better.
________________________________________________________________________

"I'll see you in the Common Room at seven then." Ron said very pleased with

himself.

"Ok, see you then." she replied, almost wanting to squeal with delight, they may

have already been going out but for him to actually ask her to the Ball as his

first choice made her go all weak.

Ron walked to grab his stuff, he would have waited but Hermione had told him she

wanted to do some extra research and to go on without her.

As soon as he left the room and closed the door, she squealed with delight, she

actually squealed.

The man she loved was going to take her to the ball.

As he passed Adam gave her a slight smile.

"Calm down Cinderella."
________________________________________________________________________

Dimension: 1375 - Earth
Date: 17th October 2001 AD
Country: Britain - Scotland
Location: Hogwarts - Muggle Defence Classroom
Time: Early Evening

"It's was inevitable really." Harry agreed "I mean everyone knew they would get

together."

Thud.

"It was just a matter of when."

Thud.

"And whether either of them would ever actually admit to having feelings for the

other."

Thud.

"Yeah but from what I've heard," Anne replied "Ron isn't exactly the sort to

know the best way to woo a girl."

Thud.

"Well he obviously didn't do too badly earlier." Buffy added.

Thud.

"I didn't woo Fleur at all but I still got her."

Thud.

"Well it just shows she knows when she's onto a good thing." Buffy grinned.

Thud.

"Where is she now anyway?"

Thud.

"Visiting her family, she and her sister are spending the evening with them,

it's a Veela thing. Birds stay in the nest until they are almost fully grown and

Gabrielle is obviously not that so every few weeks she spends the evening back

at the Chateau and Fleur joins them."

Duller thud,

Clang.

"Bugger."

"Ha ha!" cheered Buffy "Told you we were better than you."

"Well you are Slayers," he replied walking over to target board and bending down

to retrieve his knife from the floor where it had dropped when it missed the

target "That does give you a bit of an advantage."

"It's still satisfying to know we can beat you," grinned Anne as she and Buffy

walked over to the target board and began pulling out the knives embedded in it

"And returning to our previous topic of conversation; the squealing brunette."

"You know, that smile that Hermione was wearing when she came out of here

earlier was so big I thought she was going to strain something." Grinned the

other Slayer.

"I'm just glad they...." Harry never got the chance to finish as their Alliance

rings began to glow and images flicked into their minds and the minds of many

others around Hogwarts.

FLASH

The Chateau Delacour.

FLASH

Dimitri, Delphine, Fleur and Gabrielle.

FLASH

Fire.

FLASH

Explosions.

FLASH

As they came back to themselves Harry was already running before his vision

fully returned, Buffy and Anne close behind.

Squeezing his ring Harry sent the confirmation message as well as the rendezvous

location for those at Hogwarts back along the link, but he wasn't going to wait

for reinforcements, his family was in danger.

Skidding into the empty staffroom (the room with the nearest fireplace) he

didn't even slow down, with a quick hand gesture he sent a gust of wind across

the pot of floo powder and into the fire, sending just enough of the stuff into

the flames.

"Chateau Delacour!!" he bellowed as he dived straight into the fire, barely

giving the powder time to establish the connection.

As Buffy and Anne slid in the door, they turned to look at each other both

wanting to go but both knowing that someone needed to organise the rest of the

reinforcements.

In the end it was the first to get to the fireplace that went, which was Buffy

after she shoved Anne back towards the door with her superior strength.

"I'll get you for that." The latter swore as Willow, Tara and Hermione came

charging in.
________________________________________________________________________

AUTHORS NOTE: I may have already said this but I started this story before we

knew Blaise was a guy so in my story she's a girl so I don't want to see any

reviews saying that I got the gender wrong.