The Watcher and the Wizards

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 1

He was the first Muggle to set foot in Hogwarts in the thousand-year history of the school.

And he was late for class.

Rupert Giles sped down the confusing corridors of Hogwarts, past staircases that enjoyed changing directions and paintings whose subjects couldn't help but stare at the strangely-dressed man.  Giles was clad not in robes like the rest of the school, but in ordinary Muggle clothes.  Tweed in fact.  He finally reached the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.  After taking a moment to compose himself and to wipe the beads of sweat from his brow, he took a deep breath and pushed the heavy wooden doors open.

Young faces, teen-aged faces stared back at him.  Some were amused, others shocked.  Quite a few students sneered as he passed them on his way to the front of the room.  Slytherin, Giles thought automatically.  He dropped his bag onto the desk where it made a heavy thud that echoed through the classroom.  He searched the room for a chalkboard but couldn't find one.  He sighed and settled himself at the edge of the desk.  After surveying the class, he took off his glasses and started to clean them.

"Welcome, Fifth Years to Defence Against the Dark Arts.  I'm your teacher, Rupert Giles," he managed to grin and he placed his glasses back on..  "But Giles will be sufficient.  I'm not a professor.  And yes, as you can see, I'm a Muggle.  Now, I'm going to..."

A hand instantly went up.

"Yes, Miss, uh...?" Giles said.

"Granger," the girl said.  "Hermione Granger.  I'd like to know why a Muggle would be here teaching..."

"Ah, good question.  That's probably been on the minds of the lot of you...er...How many of you know know what a Watcher is?"

All eyes were on Hermione, but, for once, she didn't have an answer.

"I see," Giles sighed.  "Well, I'm not surprised that you don't know.  Not very many Muggles know either.  In every generation, there is a Slayer.  One girl in all the world given extraordinary powers to combat the forces of darkness.  She is trained by another Muggle called the Watcher.  The Watchers Council works somewhat like your Aurors.  If we are not with the Slayer, we travel the world seeking out pockets of evil, demons, vampires, ghosts, and we try to put a stop to them before any Muggles find out...or are harmed.  Now, as I was saying, I'm going to call roll."  He pulled out a scroll from his bag and qickly went through the names.  All Fifth Year Gryffindors and Slytherins were enrolled in the class.  He even offered a quick nod of acknowledgement to Harry Potter when he called out the young man's name, much to the chagrin of the Slytherins.

Another hand floated slowly up above the sea of heads.

"Yes?" Giles pointed to the yonng man who had raised his head.  For a split moment, Giles thought he saw Spike sitting there.  But no.  It wasn't William the Bloody, it was a pale blonde lad in Slytherin robes.  "Mister...?"

"Malfoy," the student said snottily.  "Draco Malfoy.  I'd like to point out, Giles," he spat out the word as if trying to get rid of something caught in his teeth. "that Slytherin house does not support your being here.  Personally, I think old Dumbledore went senile over the summer if he thinks the best Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor is a Muggle who won't know a werewolf even if one came and bit him on the bum."

The other Slytherins laughed and some patted Draco on the back as they muttered "You tell 'em, Draco!" and "Good job, Malfoy."

Giles' mouth quirked into a hint of a smile.  He thought about docking Slytherin some points, but decided on a better plan.  "As a matter of fact, the Slayer and I went werewolf-hunting once.  A large hairy creature had been spotted lurking around the town, but only during the night of the full moon and the days preceding and following it.  Hadn't killed anyone...not yet, so Buffy...er, the Slayer.  Her name is Buffy Summers.  Buffy and I set out to capture it before it had a chance to attack someone..."

"Capture?" Draco interrupted.  "Not kill such a...dangerous beast?"

Giles frowned.  Slytherins were nasty gits, weren't they?  "That 'dangerous beast' was a human for most of the month.  His human identity was discovered by one of Buffy's friends.  We ended up containing him during the nights he changed, and he never had the chance to harm anyone."

"Whatever happened to him?" Herminone asked, genuinely curious.

"He left to search for a way to cure his...affliction.  He went to Asia and studied meditation with a group of monks.  He's had some progress with it, as a matter of fact.  I've also heard that there are special potions that might help, but that's too advanced for young students," Giles said.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione shot meaningful looks at each other.

Giles noted the glances.  "Miss Granger.  Anything else you'd like to add?"

"No...Giles," the young lady said quickly. "It's just that...one of our previous Defence Against the Dark Arts professors had the same...affliction.  He had to leave when everyone found out about it.  His name was Remus Lupin."

Giles hoped his face didn't convey the sense of sudden recognition he felt when Hermione said that name.  "Indeed?" he asked, taking off his glasses and cleaning them again. "Well, werewolves can be extremely dangerous if left to roam.  I trust he hadn't harmed anyone?"

"No, but he was going to, sooner or later," Draco said.  "You can always tell with their kind."

"Indeed," Giles said again as he placed his glasses back on his face. "My plan for today was to do a quick question and answer session with the class, so I can see what you know and you can learn what I know.  Alright?" he scanned the room for any looks of dissent.  There weren't any, apart from the perpetual scowls that many Slytherins seemed to wear on their faces.  "Fine.  Questions?"

A fair number of hands shot up.

"Ah, excellent," Giles said.  "Um...Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Could you tell us more about the Slayer?  She isn't in any of my books..."

"What would you like to know about her?" Giles asked.

"What sort of powers does she receive and how does she get them?" said Hermione.

"Well, she has extraordinary strength, for one thing.  Her skills with weaponry is unmatched.  And she's cute," Giles could almost feel the icy looks the teens sent towards him.  "That last bit was a joke," Giles added.  The strange looks continued.  "Erm, and as for how she aquired her skills.  As you know, the world maintains a delicate balance between good and evil.  The First Slayer was called when those Powers that Be who were on the side of good realized that evil was becoming too powerful.  The Slayer maintains the balance.  Now, I shall ask a question of you fifth years.  You should heave learned enough from your previous classes to answer this.  Name three ways to destroy a vampire."

Hermione's hand shot up one again.

"Miss Granger?" Giles said, pointing at her.

"Sunlight, of course.  Beheading.  And a stake through the heart." Hermione said confidently.

"What sort of stake?" Giles said.

"Oh..it has to be made of wood, since wood is or was, something alive.  Metal swords or bullets can't do much of anything to a vampire...unless you use the sowrd to behead it, of course" Hermione added.

"Very good Miss Granger.  One point for Gryffindor," Giles said.  "I'll chip in another point if you can name any famous vampires?"

"Well," Hermione said.  "There was William the Bloody and his love Drusilla.  By some accounts, they decimated half of Europe.  I read about it in A History of Dark Happenings."

"I'll  add two points since you did mention two vampires, Miss Granger," said Giles, as he once again hoped he didn't show any sign of recognition when he heard those names.  "So, that's three points for Gryffindor in all.  Anyone else?"

The seminar lasted for the whole period, until the students had to head off for their next class.  Giles got many compliments from the Gryffindors about how interesting his class was, while all of the Slytherins skulked out without a single word to him.  Giles let out a huge sigh.  The fourth years would be coming in for their class soon.  Perhaps he would take Dumbledore up on his offer of a time-turner.  Goodness knows, he'd need one before he ran himself ragged trying to teach seven levels of the same class.  Suddenly the door opened, admitting new students into the room.  'Here we go again,' Giles thought to himself as he once again endured the strange looks the students shot in his direction.