Aug. 24 - Legalese
Title: Legalese
Author: 3am_moonlight
Crossover: BtVS / Harry Potter (JKR)
Rating: Gen / Teen.
Word Count: 1,097.
Timeline: BtVS: S05's The Gift and book 5 (the Order of the Phoenix) of HP.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss and the Harry Potter 'verse belongs to JKR.
Summary: In which there are questions and even some partial answers.
Author's Note: Follows ' Unexpected Guest/Introductions', ' Late Night Conversation', ' Early Morning', ' Confrontation', and ' Wands or Kindle?'.
"Now someone explain to me how this legilimency works and if there are any laws regulating the use in any way." Buffy was annoyed, getting hexed by the arrogant pink toad was not on her to-do list for today or any other day.
"Now, Buffy, this is not the problem. We were merely attempting to ensure your health and safety." The old man tried to distract her with a gentle tone and what was clearly meant to be a tone of voice that said 'I'm older and wiser than you, so don't contradict me'.
She glared, "As I told everyone in the hospital wing, you are to call me Miss Summers under all circumstances unless I give you permission to call me something else." In most cases, she wouldn't have cared, but she had the feeling that giving ground to this man would be a very bad choice. People like him would start by crossing the small lines and then move his way up to the bigger ones.
"Then may I please have your permission to use your given name, Miss Summers?" The overly polite wording made her want to act like her most belligerent teenage self, but instead, she gave an equally polite refusal.
"No, Mr. Dumbledore, you may not. There is no reason for us to be on a first name basis at this point, should the situation change then I will inform you of such." Those two sentences were about as far away from her normal speech pattern as she could get without messing it up. The wizard and some of the other people and portraits in the room looked shocked and offended at her reply, but she chose to ignore it in lieu of getting an answer to her original question.
"So, legilimency?" She looked from Dumbledore to Umbridge and then to McGonagall and even Fudge. A glance at the two Aurors by the door, who were both holding their wand but pointing them at the floor, showed they had no intention of answering. Dolores Umbridge seemed to have an inner debate with herself if she should defend Buffy or the two professors. McGonagall looked stern and disapproving, mostly in her boss' direction. Fudge had the same dilemma as his Undersecretary, and Dumbledore just gave her a grandfatherly smile clearly believing his earlier reply was all the answer she needed.
"There are five government employees here, including the British Minister for Magic and the Chief Warlock. As I understand it, the Chief Warlock oversees court procedures so he has to be well versed in matters of justice and law. So, Chief Warlock Dumbledore, what does the law say about the use of legilimency? When is it legal to use it and when is it not?"
The man in question had been looking more and more uncomfortable the more she spoke, and when she finished he reluctantly answered her. "It is illegal to enter anyone's mind without their knowledge and explicit permission unless it has been ordered by the Wizengamot or someone's life may be dependant on knowledge hidden in their or someone else's mind and there is no other solution. Being caught performing Legilimency outside of these restrictions are cause for up to 10 years in Azkaban."
Buffy looked thoughtfully at him, then asked. "So I could legally pursue this and get both you and Snipe thrown in prison?" The peanut gallery was suspiciously quiet during the exchange, but she supposed they wanted anything to use against the others.
"Yes, Miss Summers." She hmm'd and in her peripheral view, both Umbridge and Fudge were looking increasingly gleeful.
"Could I also charge Miss Umbridge with attempting to attack me magically, particularly since she knows I don't have a wand to defend myself with?" The gleeful looks instantly vanished.
Dumbledore frowned a little but seemed compelled to answer, "There appear to be some muddy waters. It is illegal to attack magical people without due course and it's illegal to attack muggles using any kind of magic, but your status is unknown at this point. As such an attempt to file charges may become difficult."
That was interesting but not really useful. She let it go and took a closer look at the wands instead. Umbridge's wand really was short compared to the other three. Without stopping to consider the ramifications, she commented, "This looks like a child's training wand or something. Kind of like the magical version of caster wheels on a child's first bicycle."
Over by the door, the pink-haired Auror turned an unnatural shade of firetruck red, starting with her cheeks and working it's way all the way out to the roots of her hair. Buffy blinked. If the woman hadn't obviously been trying to keep her laughter in she would've been really worried. The big, black Auror had cast the same spell as Hermione had done right before the two left the hospital wing and all sounds they made became partially muted. Dumbledore's beard and mustache twitched while his eyes twinkled merrily. Only the stern-looking McGonagall managed to look mostly disapproving, but her eyes gave away her amusement for a few moments.
Buffy looked up and made eye contact with the wands owner, "Is this about your mental issues, you're only allowed a training wand because of it?" Maybe that was pushing the invisible line a little too far because the witch got up and began yelling profanities at the top of her lungs.
A wave of McGonagall's wand and Umbridge was magically muted. That was a really useful spell, something that would've come in handy when the Big Bads did their monologuing during Apocalypse Season. Maybe Willow could find a Wiccan version of it? If she ever got home, of course.
Right after muting her fellow professor, McGonagall aimed her wand at the fireplace and said "The Minister of Magic's Office" and it burst into green flames. Another flick of her wand and the witch was standing right in front of it and was forced to step into the flames or fall down. A pointed, "You'd better follow her, Minister Fudge" had the man reluctantly following.
Buffy was just kind of staring at that point and didn't snap out of it until the deputy headmistress addressed her directly. "Miss Summers, please throw their wands into the flames. They will need them and you will be prosecuted and quite likely sent through the Veil of Death if you keep them."
Most of that went over her head, but the main point didn't and she threw the sticks into the fire.
Now what?
Author: 3am_moonlight
Crossover: BtVS / Harry Potter (JKR)
Rating: Gen / Teen.
Word Count: 1,097.
Timeline: BtVS: S05's The Gift and book 5 (the Order of the Phoenix) of HP.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss and the Harry Potter 'verse belongs to JKR.
Summary: In which there are questions and even some partial answers.
Author's Note: Follows ' Unexpected Guest/Introductions', ' Late Night Conversation', ' Early Morning', ' Confrontation', and ' Wands or Kindle?'.
"Now someone explain to me how this legilimency works and if there are any laws regulating the use in any way." Buffy was annoyed, getting hexed by the arrogant pink toad was not on her to-do list for today or any other day.
"Now, Buffy, this is not the problem. We were merely attempting to ensure your health and safety." The old man tried to distract her with a gentle tone and what was clearly meant to be a tone of voice that said 'I'm older and wiser than you, so don't contradict me'.
She glared, "As I told everyone in the hospital wing, you are to call me Miss Summers under all circumstances unless I give you permission to call me something else." In most cases, she wouldn't have cared, but she had the feeling that giving ground to this man would be a very bad choice. People like him would start by crossing the small lines and then move his way up to the bigger ones.
"Then may I please have your permission to use your given name, Miss Summers?" The overly polite wording made her want to act like her most belligerent teenage self, but instead, she gave an equally polite refusal.
"No, Mr. Dumbledore, you may not. There is no reason for us to be on a first name basis at this point, should the situation change then I will inform you of such." Those two sentences were about as far away from her normal speech pattern as she could get without messing it up. The wizard and some of the other people and portraits in the room looked shocked and offended at her reply, but she chose to ignore it in lieu of getting an answer to her original question.
"So, legilimency?" She looked from Dumbledore to Umbridge and then to McGonagall and even Fudge. A glance at the two Aurors by the door, who were both holding their wand but pointing them at the floor, showed they had no intention of answering. Dolores Umbridge seemed to have an inner debate with herself if she should defend Buffy or the two professors. McGonagall looked stern and disapproving, mostly in her boss' direction. Fudge had the same dilemma as his Undersecretary, and Dumbledore just gave her a grandfatherly smile clearly believing his earlier reply was all the answer she needed.
"There are five government employees here, including the British Minister for Magic and the Chief Warlock. As I understand it, the Chief Warlock oversees court procedures so he has to be well versed in matters of justice and law. So, Chief Warlock Dumbledore, what does the law say about the use of legilimency? When is it legal to use it and when is it not?"
The man in question had been looking more and more uncomfortable the more she spoke, and when she finished he reluctantly answered her. "It is illegal to enter anyone's mind without their knowledge and explicit permission unless it has been ordered by the Wizengamot or someone's life may be dependant on knowledge hidden in their or someone else's mind and there is no other solution. Being caught performing Legilimency outside of these restrictions are cause for up to 10 years in Azkaban."
Buffy looked thoughtfully at him, then asked. "So I could legally pursue this and get both you and Snipe thrown in prison?" The peanut gallery was suspiciously quiet during the exchange, but she supposed they wanted anything to use against the others.
"Yes, Miss Summers." She hmm'd and in her peripheral view, both Umbridge and Fudge were looking increasingly gleeful.
"Could I also charge Miss Umbridge with attempting to attack me magically, particularly since she knows I don't have a wand to defend myself with?" The gleeful looks instantly vanished.
Dumbledore frowned a little but seemed compelled to answer, "There appear to be some muddy waters. It is illegal to attack magical people without due course and it's illegal to attack muggles using any kind of magic, but your status is unknown at this point. As such an attempt to file charges may become difficult."
That was interesting but not really useful. She let it go and took a closer look at the wands instead. Umbridge's wand really was short compared to the other three. Without stopping to consider the ramifications, she commented, "This looks like a child's training wand or something. Kind of like the magical version of caster wheels on a child's first bicycle."
Over by the door, the pink-haired Auror turned an unnatural shade of firetruck red, starting with her cheeks and working it's way all the way out to the roots of her hair. Buffy blinked. If the woman hadn't obviously been trying to keep her laughter in she would've been really worried. The big, black Auror had cast the same spell as Hermione had done right before the two left the hospital wing and all sounds they made became partially muted. Dumbledore's beard and mustache twitched while his eyes twinkled merrily. Only the stern-looking McGonagall managed to look mostly disapproving, but her eyes gave away her amusement for a few moments.
Buffy looked up and made eye contact with the wands owner, "Is this about your mental issues, you're only allowed a training wand because of it?" Maybe that was pushing the invisible line a little too far because the witch got up and began yelling profanities at the top of her lungs.
A wave of McGonagall's wand and Umbridge was magically muted. That was a really useful spell, something that would've come in handy when the Big Bads did their monologuing during Apocalypse Season. Maybe Willow could find a Wiccan version of it? If she ever got home, of course.
Right after muting her fellow professor, McGonagall aimed her wand at the fireplace and said "The Minister of Magic's Office" and it burst into green flames. Another flick of her wand and the witch was standing right in front of it and was forced to step into the flames or fall down. A pointed, "You'd better follow her, Minister Fudge" had the man reluctantly following.
Buffy was just kind of staring at that point and didn't snap out of it until the deputy headmistress addressed her directly. "Miss Summers, please throw their wands into the flames. They will need them and you will be prosecuted and quite likely sent through the Veil of Death if you keep them."
Most of that went over her head, but the main point didn't and she threw the sticks into the fire.
Now what?