Dark Destinies

Disclaimer: Most characters featured in this story are not of my creation. They belong to their respective creators, J.K. Rowling, Joss Whedon, and any and all parties related to Bloombury Publishing, Scholastic Inc., AOL/Time-Warner, Fox, and Mutant Enemy. Grrrr, arrgh.

Chapter 2

"Dad, there's something I want to ask you," Rupert stood in the doorway of his father's small library. "Busy?"

Rupert's father shut the ancient book which lay on his desk. "Never too busy for you, Rupert. I was just doing a little research. What's on your mind?"

"Is it possible to enchant any object with a spell?" Rupert asked.

"I suppose it is, Rupert," Stephen answered after a moment's thought. "The Council's in possession of quite a few magical objects. Orbs, amulets, books, that sort of thing."

"So anything can be enchanted?" Rupert added. "Even, say, a hairclip?"

"If the spell's powerful enough. Where are you going with this question?"

"When I was playing with Petunia…"

"Getting manhandled by her, you mean," Stephen chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose that's more accurate," Rupert grinned. "Anyway, Lily started to cry because Petunia was making such a din."

"And?"

"And Petunia's pigtails stoppered up her gob like a cork. Who could've enchanted her hairclips to do that, Dad?"

"And Lily was upset?" Stephen asked.

"Terribly upset."

"Hmmm."

"I'm not too fond of that Hmmm, Dad. What's that mean?"

"You remember this afternoon when the Sarrok demon was banished through the portal?"

"How could I forget? That was fantastic!" Rupert couldn't help but grin as he recalled the moment.

"It took eight Watchers to control that portal." Stephen drew a long breath. "An Auror could've closed that portal easily."

"Aur-auror?" Rupert repeated, his mouth stumbling on the new word. "Are there other members of the Council besides Watchers?"

"Not exactly," Stephen stood up from his desk and started to search the shelves. "An Auror is someone who investigates and stops dark magic." He pulled a large book from its place on a shelf. "You'd better read this. It'd explain everything better than I can."

Rupert took the book in his hands. "The Watcher's Guide to the Wizarding World," he read. "And this'll tell me what Aurors do?"

"And much else."

"And it'd explain why Petunia's pigtails ended up in her mouth?" asked Rupert hopefully.

"Perhaps, if my suspicions about Lily are true."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Oh, and Rupert?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't bring that book to school. I won't be able to get another one," Stephen said, chuckling.

Rupert winced a little, but shared in his father's soft chuckle. "Right, Dad."

Rupert carried to book up to his room. He lay stomach-down on his bed and opened the cracked cover.

All Watchers are versed in the use of magic spells in order to combat the forces of darkness. It has not been unusual for the Slayer to rely on spells from time to time as well. Man's way is to attempt to tap into these magical forces through the use of chants or appeals to the gods. Anyone can learn how to do these spells; these spells are still the backbone of what we do as Watchers. However, there are some humans who are naturally gifted at magic. They do not need to appeal to ancient gods to do their bidding. The world knows these men and women as wizards and witches.

The wizarding world calls non-magical humans, Muggles, and the term is used indescriminantly. A Wiccan who has mastered the conjuring of the dark arts would still be a Muggle in the eyes of wizards. Innate magical talent is the main difference between Muggles and wizards. The talent may manifest itself in unusual ways. Since their power is not channeled or controlled, a young wizard or witch might cause magical things to happen without realizing it. If a wizard child is scared or angry, odd things could happen around him, usually to the thing or person that is upsetting him.

"Lily," Rupert said out loud. "Lily's a witch?"

Here in Britain, especially talented wizard children are sent at age eleven to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There, they learn how to control their magical powers, developing them into fully useful talents.

Rupert flipped through a few pages, searching for the term 'Auror." He stopped when his eyes caught it:

Auror: a wizard who tracks down and defeats Dark Wizards. This is the closest wizarding equivalent to the Watchers in the Magic World. Over the centuries, Aurors and Watchers have developed a close working relationship, since the Magic and Muggle worlds frequently overlap.

Rupert stayed up half the night skimming through the pages of the book. When he woke the next morning, he found that he had drooled all over the chapter heading titled: A Concise History of Hogwarts.

"Bloody hell," he murmurred. "Dad'll be furious." He wiped the sticky substance off with the back of his sleeve. "Hope it'll dry…" he sighed, wafting the page back and forth intently.

"Rupert!" his mother's voice pierced the quiet morning. "Breakfast!"

"All right, Mum!" he yelled as he scrambled up out of bed. He shut the book and left it on his bed as he frantically combed his hair into a more presentable shape.

"Rupert! It'll get cold!"

"I'm coming!" Rupert said, hurrying down the stairs. "Morning, Mum," he said automatically as he entered the kitchen and sat down at the table. "Morning, Dad."

"How much have you read, son?" Stephen asked.

"Most of it. You suspect that Lily's a witch?"

"Lily's a witch?" Margeret repeated from her place at the stove. "I thought you needed to know how to chant out spells and things to be a witch."

"Not a Wiccan, Mum," Rupert said. "A real, magical witch!"

"There's a difference, Megs, I told you before," Stephen sighed. "Anyway, yes, I suspect that Lily may be a witch."

"But she's only a few days old!" Rupert exclaimed. "Can she have such, such powerful magic within her when she's so young?"

"Magical power is innate," Stephen said, cupping his hand for emphasis. "It lives in the soul when the child is born. Sometimes it might manifest itself quite early, like in Lily's case. Other times, a child may be born to Wizard parents but have no powers to show for it."

"A Muggle born to Wizards? Sounds…rare."

"It is rare, Rupert," Stephen said. "There's only been three cases in recorded Wizard history of a completely non-magic child with Wizards as both parents. It's much more common when one of the parents is a Muggle."

"But what about Lily?" Rupert asked. "Her parents are Muggles."

"It's odd, but it's common to have Wizards born to Muggles," Stephen explained. "It usually means that the Muggles have Wizard ancestors. The Magic and Muggle worlds seperated once we began to rely on science, and many wizards and witches went into hiding, living as Muggles. I wouldn't be surprised if half the families of Britain discovered a Wizard in their family trees somewhere."

"So if Lily's good enough…" Rupert trailed off.

"She'll be invited to attend Hogwarts someday," Stephen finished.

Rupert's mum slid the fried eggs onto Rupert's plate. "Hurry and eat before it gets cold. You'll be late for school." She then scurried back to the stove.

Rupert smothered his toast with marmalade and took a huge bite out of it. "So, Dad, about these Aurors…"

"Would you like to meet one?" asked Stephen as he sipped at his coffee.

"You personally know an Auror?" Rupert's eyes grew wide. A real live wizard!

"To be accurate, the Council does," said Stephen.

"What's his name?" Rupert asked.

"Claudius Rayne," Stephen said.

"He sounds old. Well, his name…makes him…sound old," said Rupert.

"He's old by Auror standards," Stephen explained. "Fighting Dark Wizards makes death an occupational hazard for Aurors."

"Watchers too, I suspect," murmurred Rupert. He didn't want his mother to overhear.

Rupert's father seemed to ignore his son's comment. "But Rayne's worked with us for a long time. I think he'd like to meet you. Yes. I'll have to discuss Lily with him as well. I'll have to send an owl to him."

"An owl?" Rupert asked, intrigued.

"Wizards communicate with each other by sending messages via owls," said Stephen. "The Council has a small Owlry for that purpose. I must do that the next time I stop by."

Rupert picked up his fork and shoveled a heap of eggs into his mouth. "Dad," he said, his mouth full of egg.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Stephen sighed. "You know better than that."

Rupert chewed quickly and swallowed hard. "Sorry, but when d'you think I can start my training?"

"Soon as you'd like," Stephen said as he perused the newspaper.

"Brilliant!" Rupert said. "What do I learn first?"

"First off," Stephen said, "You must learn never to interrupt an Englishman when he's reading the Times."

"Oh…" Rupert said quietly, not knowing if his father was joking or not. That always bothered Rupert. One moment his father was all smiles, the next, all business. Rupert wished that his father would just pick a personality and stick with it. "Dad, what would you say if I told you I wanted to be a fighter pilot?" he asked, smirking.

"Hmmmm?" Stephen mumbled. "You're a Watcher. Like your father. Can't be anything else."

"Not even a grocer?" Rupert said, grinning at his own private joke.

"Watcher," said Stephen. "You could have another job, of course, but your destiny is the same as mine, and your gran's."

"Well, why don't I just be a boring old librarian, then?" asked Rupert.

"Good, that'll keep you close to your books. A Watcher's best weapon is knowledge, after all," Stephen said.

Rupert groaned under his breath and took another bite out of his toast. Perhaps being a Watcher wouldn't be too fun after all.