Death Is Our Gift

IV

"Going... going... gone"

The next few weeks were hectic. Giles was forced to give up his robes in exchange for his old tweed suit, which in Liam's opinion wasn't much better. Xander was called and said he would fly in to see them off, but Willow talked him out of it. He was confused. Liam thought that if Xander were here, he would talk them out of this. Xander was always playing the rational one, which was quite a stretch from the stories he had heard of Xander's past. Xander did mention that his construction business might bring him over to England in the winter, so they promised to keep in touch. Liam never saw Xander as a father figure, more like a goofy uncle, which he was.

Liam packed what he wanted to take. After Giles informed him that electronics would not work in Hogwarts, he decided to pack his CD player and some discs for the long plane ride ahead. All that was left for him to pack were mementos and his clothes. Giles also informed him he would have to get robes when he got there, but he would be allowed to wear 'regular' clothing outside of school hours.

Liam spent as much time as possible at his mother's grave. He planted fresh flowers and even read some of his book to the grave. Giles visited it on several occasions, each time coming back with red eyes. Liam didn't think it was possible for Giles to cry, but the thought was soon buried under an immense load of anger.

The drive to LAX was surreal. Willow and Giles were talking about magic, while Dawn tried to learn. Liam just stared out of the window. Before they left, they all drove to the cemetery. Giles stayed rather stoic in front of the marker, but inside he was mush. Willow told Buffy that she would take care of Liam and that they would visit her as often as possible. Liam made a rubbing of her stone for his room, his way of taking her with him.

At the airport, they were given great leeway in the security check (Liam believed it to be a little added help from Dumbledore and Giles). The departure from Dawn was hardest of all.

"Now, you be a good boy," said Dawn in a very grown up manner. Dawn had always been more of a big sister than an aunt, but she could be very motherly when she wanted to. "No making the British mad, and play nice with the other kids."

"I'll try, but I've always been told that I don't play well with others."

"Yeah, but now they can turn you into a frog if you don't!" Dawn wrapped her arms around him. "I love you Liam."

"Love you too. Visit Mom for me."

"For you and for me both."

They released and Dawn grabbed Willow. "I love you too, Willow."

"Ditto, kiddo," replied Willow.

After a few extra seconds, Dawn pulled away from Willow and hugged Giles. "Keep them safe," she said to him, but whispered, "and don't give up on him. He needs you."

"I'll do my best," said Giles. He pulled back and ushered everyone to the gate. As Liam began to walk down the tunnel to the plane, he looked back over his shoulder to Dawn. She was the only living relative he had. And as she stood there, trying to fight the urge to cry, he didn't see his aunt or the Slayer. He saw his mother. She was standing next to Dawn, her arm around Dawn's shoulder. She was sad, but happy at the same time.

He saw her mouth something to him. Something about saying 'hi' to someone, but he couldn't tell. He blinked, and she was gone. Only Dawn was there, looking back at him and waving.

As the plane took off from Boston to London, Liam decided to buried his nose into the book and read it again. He had finished most of it before, but since he still had another five hours until they landed, he wanted to go over everything again:

If you care reading this book, you have either found out that you or someone close to you is a witch or a wizard. In either case, congratulations are in order. I know, from personal experience, that this both an exciting and confusing time.

The purpose of writing this book was to give an advantage to those entering the magical world and to dispel a lot of the common negativity around the realm of magic, as Muggles perceive it.

"Hey Giles," said Willow, looking at the back of her book, "is she supposed to be doing that?"

Liam looked at the back of her book, then the back of his book. On the back cover was an attractive woman with curly brown hair and a scholarly looking pair of glasses, which seemed to slip down the bridge of her nose periodically. Liam knew this, because the picture was moving.

"Ah yes," Giles said, looking up from his newspaper for a moment. "Paintings and photos in the wizarding world do tend move quite a bit. The essence of the person is captured in the picture, so the picture of them tends to act as they would." The person in the picture finally pulled out her wand, muttered something, and with a flash of light the glasses stayed on her face. She smiled triumphantly.

"Leave it to Hermione to solve a problem that way," said Giles, returning to his Muggle paper.

"So, you know her?" asked Willow.

"You could say that," said Giles. "When I first arrived at Hogwarts, she spent a great deal of time talking to me about the Watchers, the Slayer, various legends-"

"Did she know Mom?" asked Liam.

Giles turned to look at Liam. "While your mother was in England, she roomed with Hermione. Hermione and her friends were a great help to us while we were there. Plus, I believe your mother enjoyed her company. She said that she reminded her a great deal of you," looking now to Willow.

"So, does everyone know about Mom being the Slayer?" asked Liam again.

"A select few students that Dumbledore trusted knew who she was, as did the staff at Hogwarts, where we spent most of our time. But to everyone else, she was just an American Muggle who was working on something for the Ministry. During our stay there, only a few others found anything out. Dumbledore swore those to secrecy, fearing the rumours that would spread about the Slayer being real."

"They don't know about the Slayer?" asked Willow.

"To the wizarding world, the Slayer is a mythical figure. It would be like meeting Hercules on the street. Wizards, on the whole, are committed to living life like normal. They understand that there is darkness in their world, but do not wish to confront it."

"Sunnydale Syndrome," commented Liam.

"Exactly," said Giles. "If someone said that the Slayer was not only real, but staying with a group of students as to track and combat dark activity, you would have had mass panic. Luckily, we avoided the situation."

"So, why didn't she ever mention any of this?" asked Liam.

"Because put the shoe on the other foot," said Giles. "If it is so hard for wizards to accept the Slayer, what makes it easier for the Scoobies to accept wizards?"

"But no one had a problem with me," said Willow, "or with Tara." The last word caught in her throat a bit, but she worked through it.

"Yes," said Giles, "but circumstances were different. A few witches are nothing to worry about, but if someone had said that in San Francisco there was an entire community of witches and wizards living just outside of our perception, you would have felt-"

"Violated," finished Liam.

Giles looked back at him. "That's rather crude. I was thinking more confused."

"It's relative," said Liam, putting his headphones on and opening the book again:

The wizarding world has its versions of heroes. Some are only famous around England, while others are internationally famous, or infamous as the case may be. An example, close to my heart is Harry Potter. Harry is known in the international wizarding world as "The Boy Who Lived". This title was given to him at the age of one, when Voldemort (see Chapter Nine: Famous (and Infamous) Wizard - A Brief Overview) cast the Killing Curse against Harry and it did not kill him.

Harry's survival not only vanquished Voldemort for many years, but gave the wizards hope that the world was safe again. Since then, Harry has fought against the Dark forces. He has taken on an almost legendary status in our society, only punctuated by his tragic life. For more information on Harry, please see Chapter Ten: The Boy Who Lived.

A tap on his shoulder caused Liam to look over, and see Giles motioning to him. He took down his headphones. "Yes?"

"I need to visit the loo," he said, rather discreetly.

"You'll talk about wizards and witches at full volume, but you can't say anything about taking a piss."

"I'm English," said Giles. "Be thankful you're underage or I would be discussing matters that would make your immature head spin."

"Both of you, stop it," said Willow. "What would Buffy say?"

"Guess I'll never know," said Liam, as he got up from his seat, his staring at Giles never wavering. He had stories about Giles' alter ego 'Ripper', who was cold, callused, and could strike without warning. But Liam knew he wouldn't, and that was his weakness. Giles slid past him, never leaving eye contact until he was in the aisle and on his way to the bathroom.

"Can't you try and get along with him?" asked Willow. "Giles is a great guy, once you get past all the English nobility and stuff."

"Sorry Willow," replied Liam. "I gave up being nice to Giles for Lent."

"But you're not Catholic," said Willow.

"True, but if I ever convert, that's the first thing I'm giving up."

"Do you want to sit here?" she asked. "Separating you two for the remained of this trip will make everyone feel good."

Liam smiled. "Thanks. I'd like to just bury myself into a book and tunes and ignore the pompous ass."

Willow smiled back. "Just try to be civil, okay?"

Liam rolled his eyes. "Look, I'll keep my opinions of his over inflated sense of self to myself and try to not yell at him too much. But I refuse to be afraid of him."

"Fair enough. And I'll ask the same from him." Willow nodded at this and allow Liam to sit in her seat. He put his headphones back on and began to read the book again.

When Giles returned, he saw Liam sitting next to the window with his headphones on, and Willow reading her book in his seat. "I take it your changing our seating arrangements?" he asked.

"I figured that if either of you wanted to get to the other, you'd have to go through me." Giles laughed at this, and took Willow's old seat on the aisle. Willow turned back to her book and began to read again:

Special oracles in their native countries choose most young wizards and witches. In Egypt, for example, the oracle is an enchanted cobra statue, which announces once a year the names of all new magical people in the country. And interesting note: for seventy years, there were no magical names chosen, seeing as how no one could speak Parseltounge, the language of snakes. (see Chapter Six: Wizarding Terms that You Mustn't Forget)

Another example of the oracle is the Enchanted Book at Hogwarts. It records all the magical births throughout England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The book itself was, according to legend, written by the Four Founders of Hogwarts (see Chapter Twelve: Hogwarts, a Condensed History, or Hogwarts, A History). Only the Headmaster of the school can add a name to the book, which has only happened with wizards or witches who have discovered their powers later in life.

"Giles," Willow said, looking up from her book, "why wasn't I chosen to go to a wizarding school?"

Giles put down his paper. "Well, I've asked Dumbledore that question many times and even researched it myself. The most common explanation is that because you were raised on the Hellmouth, you could not be detected. The same goes for Amy. Had I known more about the wizarding world before hand, I would have gone to someone straight away. I'm sorry for that."

Willow shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not," she said. "The more I think about it, the more it's a good thing. I'll have Liam studying and helping me, plus you and all the other Hogwarts people to help." She thought about this for a moment. "So, what are they like?" she asked.

"Most of the staff are rather friendly. I believe you'll be the youngest, but Oliver Wood, who is our flying instructor and self confessed Quidditch expert, is a year or so older than you. All the way up to Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick, who teaches Charms. Then there is Severus Snape, the Potions Master."

"Sounds icky," said Willow.

"He is," said Giles. "But I shan't speak ill of a colleague. But I will say this," he said looking over at Liam, who was engrossed in his book, "be thankful you're not a first year magic student with Buffy Summers as your mother."

After what felt like an eternity, they finally arrived at Heathrow. Giles, Willow, and Liam stepped off the plane. They were finally here. After a few minutes of confusion at the gate, they reached their luggage and Giles hailed a taxi.

"These things are so cute," said Willow. She had said the word 'cute' in relation to the things she saw going on fifteen times in as many minutes. Liam was more interested in seeing Diagon Alley than in seeing 'cute' taxis, 'cute' police, and 'cute' bums. He had read all about its creation and how it was hidden from the Muggle world.

"Yes, Willow," said Giles. "Buffy said the same thing when she first arrived. Now, we'd best be-". Before he could finish, a brown barn owl landed on top of the cab, which no one seemed to notice. Attached to the bird's leg was a piece of paper. Giles took the piece of parchment and read it. He chuckled a bit.

"The Headmaster has already booked us rooms at the Leaky Cauldron, because he knew I would forget to owl him upon arrival."

"How did he know we were here?" asked Willow. "Cause, that's kinda creepy."

"Dumbledore doesn't miss much. As to how he knows, he just does." Giles pulled a quill out of his pocket and wrote a quick note on the bottom of the parchment. He gave it back to the owl, which promptly took to the sky again.

The trip through London was much like a guided tour. Liam had only been in London a few minutes, but he could tell that he was not going to like this town. It reminded him of Los Angeles, only with older buildings and dirtier streets. The cabbie, apparently intent on giving a rather long-winded explanation of every sight imaginable, was going out of his way to show every sight imaginable.

"O'er there you'll find Big Ben 'n Parliament," said the cabbie. "Not many know dis, but Big Ben is actually-"

"Listen," said Giles in a very stern manner. "We'd very much like to get to Charing Cross Road as soon as possible. Which means get your arse in gear." The cabbie was apparently intent on getting his 'arse' in gear, because they were soon stopping at a bookstore. They got out of the cab, Giles reluctantly paying the cabbie. "Well, what do you think?" asked Giles.

"Looks like a dump," Liam quipped to no one.

"It's supposed to," said Giles. "Muggles are getting more and more curious about the world around them. Of course, some phenomenon like the Hellmouth aren't helping matters much. The International Federation of Wizards has begun to lay out plans for the contingency that Muggles discover our existence."

Giles walked towards a run down old building, wedged between the bookstore and a record shop. Liam had read that The Leaky Cauldron had Muggle repelling charms around it, but it had never occurred to him that he was seeing it in action. No one on the street gave the building a second glance.

Giles opened the door, and motioned the others inside the bar. The book did not begin to do the bar justice. It looked like something out of an old painting. The wooden tables and booths scattered around the room, with a couple of large fireplaces took keep the room warm (and allow for Floo'ing, as Liam had read). Behind the long bar was a bartender, his old face smiling as he looked at them.

"'Ello Professor," he said. "I have the three rooms ready for you."

"Ah yes, thank you Tom," said Giles. "I think we'll have a bit of a rest before heading out, if it is all the same. Could you send up some tea and cakes in a few hours?"

Tom nodded and helped the travelers with their luggage. Once Liam was in his room, which was extremely quaint, with a single bed, a desk, and a dresser with a mirror. He placed his cases near the dresser and then collapsed on to the bed. He vaguely heard someone in an American voice tell him, "Pleasant dreams, smarty pants."