The tour of the grounds ended with the stadium Dawn had noticed when they first arrived. Harry led them into the field, nearly twice the size of a football field, and pointed around it. "This is the Quidditch Pitch!" He pointed out the three hoops on fifty foot poles at either end of the field. "You score by putting the Quaffle through one of those hoops."

Harry launched into a detailed description of the game and its rules until Hermione interrupted him. She could see that Buffy's and Dawn's eyes were starting to glaze over. It reminded her of the way Ron often looked in History of Magic classes. "Um, Harry, I think maybe you have to actually see Quidditch being played to really appreciate it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Harry. "So, you ready for your flying lesson?"

"I guess," said Dawn. "What do we do?"

"First we have to get you some brooms." Harry started toward the shed near the pitch where the school brooms were kept. "Follow me."

Harry opened the shed and pulled out three brooms. He moved off onto a clear bit of lawn, layed down the brooms, and turned toward the castle. He pulled out his wand and pointed it back toward the castle. "Accio Firebolt!"

"What was that for?" asked Dawn.

"He's showing off, and getting his own broom," said Hermione.

Buffy glanced at the three brooms already on the ground. "Uh, you expect me to try this too?"

Harry looked around at her. "Sure, why not? Slayers are magical people aren't they. This should work for you."

"Sure Buffy, you've helped Willow out with lots of spells," said Dawn. "Even done a couple yourself."

"Flying on a broom doesn't really take magic anyway," said Hermione. "The magic is already built into the brooms. And if you can't do it, the worst that can happen is your broom just lays there on the ground."

Harry was looking back toward the castle. Dawn followed his gaze, and saw a small dot in the sky, rapidly growing as it raced toward them. It grew until she saw that it was a flying broom. It dove down toward Harry and came to a stop beside him.

Harry grabbed his broom, and put it down on the ground parallel to the three brooms already lying there. It made the other brooms look pretty shabby. The handle gleamed, and the twigs that made up its tail were all perfectly aligned. "Nice broom," said Dawn.

"The Firebolt," said Harry. "Finest broom money can buy. It was a Christmas present…" He paused for a moment. "Sirius gave it to me."

"So he wouldn't want it making you sad," said Buffy. "So come on, how do you do this flying thing?"

"Okay." Harry visibly forced himself to smile. "Step up on the left side of your broom, hold out your right hand, and say 'Up!'" Harry had done so himself as he spoke, and his broom leapt up into his hand. Buffy, Dawn and Hermione all did the same, and Hermione's broom leapt into her hand too. Buffy's and Dawn's just kind of twitched on the ground.

"Not working," said Buffy.

"It takes a bit of practice," said Harry. "You have to get the inflection just right. Try again. It took Hermione half a dozen tries to get it right. Nearly the only bit of magic I haven't seen her get perfect the first time."

Buffy and Dawn stood beside their brooms saying "Up," and "Up!" and "UP!" and "up." Dawn's was the first to react. It jumped up toward her hand so suddenly that she missed catching it, and it fell back to the ground. A couple of attempts later Buffy's broom leapt up and she caught it. Dawn's followed right behind it.

Harry had them put the brooms back down on the ground, and try again until they both had their brooms reliably leaping into their hands on command. Then he showed them how to sit on the broom, and how to hold it.

"I want you to kick off from the ground," said Harry. "Rise up a few feet in the air, and hover. Just hold your broom steady for a few seconds, and then lean forward a bit to come back down. Hermione, show them how it's done."

"Okay." Hermione pushed off from the ground and rose up into the air on her broom. She hovered in place in front of them for a moment before sinking back to the ground.

"Now you try it," said Harry.

Dawn and Buffy both pushed off, and rose up into the air. They didn't do it anywhere nearly as smoothly as Hermione had, but they both managed to come to a hover, Dawn about five feet up and Buffy—who had pushed off much harder—about ten feet in the air.

"This is so cool!" said Dawn, who had a bit of a clockwise spin to her hover. She pushed forward a bit, and slowly sank back to the ground, with Buffy behind her.

Harry had them repeat the hovering exercise several times until they both had good control over their height, and could hold themselves steady. Dawn still had a tendency to spin, but Harry figured it was her broom, so he swapped it for another. Many of the school brooms were badly in need of a tuneup. Sure enough the spin went away with the new broom.

They went on to lessons in how to make their brooms go forward, and more importantly, stop; followed by turning and controlling their altitude. Soon they were doing laps around the Quidditch pitch, followed by Buffy and Dawn flying a figure eight pattern around Harry and Hermione while they hovered stationary.

"This is a blast!" said Dawn as she circled around Harry.

"You up for a little follow the leader?" he asked.

"Sure!" said Dawn.

"Okay, follow me!" Harry took off toward the castle with Dawn and Buffy right behind him, and Hermione bringing up the rear. He was careful not to go too fast—his Firebolt could outstrip the old school brooms with ease—but he went fast enough that they had to work to keep up with him. He circled around the castle, and then rose up and wove between the towers.

Harry kept going up until they were about a thousand feet above the ground—pretty much the limit for the brooms the others were riding. He pulled himself into a hover. Dawn pulled up right beside him. "So how's that thing with heights you were talking about?" he asked.

"I seem to have gotten over it!" Dawn looked around. She could see everything for miles around. The castle almost directly under them, the lake and the forest. To the south of the lake, just beyond the railway tracks she could see a collection of buildings. They were the only sign of human habitation visible, other than the castle itself. She wasn't feeling confident enough to let go of the broom with a hand at this height, so she spun around and pointed with the handle. "What's that over there?"

"Hogsmeade," said Harry. "It's the only entirely wizarding village in Britain. Normally students are only allowed to visit it a couple of weekends a term, but since the term hasn't started yet…" He turned to Hermione, who was slowly circling around them with Buffy. "Want to show them around Hogsmeade?"

"I'm not sure we're if supposed to leave the school grounds," said Hermione.

"Term hasn't started yet, so those rules don't apply, and no one has told us we aren't supposed to leave the grounds." Harry pointed the nose of his broom down toward the lake. "Let's go!" He dove toward the water.

Dawn and Buffy dove after him. "Harry!" called Hermione, and she reached into her pocket for her wand as she dove after them all, just in case.

Hermione needn't have bothered. Harry was still keeping himself well within what he knew the school brooms were capable of doing. Dawn was still shrieking as she dropped toward the water, and her knuckles were white, she was holding on to her broom handle so tightly.

Harry started to pull out of his dive a hundred feet above the lake. He slowly brought himself to level flight again barely above the water. He glanced back and saw that Dawn was just a little way behind him, and about ten feet higher, her long hair streaming in the wind, and a look of total exhilaration on her face. He thought she looked beautiful, even prettier than Cho.

"Harry! Look out!" cried Dawn.

"Huh?" Harry glanced ahead and saw that the shoreline was rapidly coming toward him. He pulled up sharply on his broom, but his toes still clipped the upper branches of a tree. He leveled out again at a higher altitude, and slowed down a bit. Dawn flew up beside him. "Thanks!"

"You should pay more attention to where you're going!"

Buffy and Hermione caught up with them on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. They had both opted for a more sedate dive than the one Harry and Dawn had taken toward the lake. They flew down the main street with Harry and Hermione pointing out the various shops and other points of interest.

"All this flying is making me thirsty!" said Harry when they reached The Three Broomsticks. "Come on." He landed lightly in front of the inn. Dawn, Buffy and Hermione followed him.

There was a rack near the front door of the inn with a sign reading 'Please leave your brooms here' beside it. Harry hesitated for a moment before leaving his Firebolt there, but he figured that between the registration number permanently engraved on the handle, and the anti-theft alarm spell on it, it should be safe enough, so he added his broom to the rack with the others.

There weren't many tables occupied in the common room of the inn. A few people called out greetings to Harry when they recognised him. Harry smiled and nodded and said "Hi" back as they made their way to a table, but the smile faded as soon as he turned away. "I don't remember ever seeing a third of those people before," he whispered to Dawn, "but they all act like they're my best friends."

"The price of fame, Harry," said Hermione.

"I don't want to be famous!"

"I know," said Hermione, "but there are benefits." She saw Madam Rosmerta coming toward them, and ignoring a few other patrons trying to get her attention to order refills of their drinks. "Such as prompt service."

"Hello Harry!" said Madam Rosmerta. "What can I get for you and your friends?"

Harry, Dawn and Hermione all ordered butterbeers. "Can I get a beer-beer?" asked Buffy.

Madam Rosmerta looked at Buffy for a moment, and evidently decided she was old enough. "Certainly dear. What would you like? We have a wide selection."

"Oh, whichever you think is good," said Buffy. "I'm trying to widen my horizons. Surprise me."

Rosmerta smiled. "Very well." She left their table and soon came back with three tankards of butterbeer, and another full of a dark brown…almost black liquid with a thick white head on top. "Here you go." she placed the tankard in front of Buffy. "It's our own brew. I dare say you won't have had it before."

Buffy took a sip from the tankard. The taste and texture reminded her a bit of Guinness. "Very good!" she told Rosmerta.

"That will be two Sickles each for the butterbeers, and seven for the beer-beer," said Rosmerta.

Everyone started to reach for their pockets. "I've got it," said Buffy. She pulled a Galleon out of her pocket and placed it on the table. "I'm still figuring this wizard money out, that should cover it, right?"

"Oh, yes!" said Rosmerta. She took the Galleon and gave Buffy sixteen Sickles in change. She bustled off to take care of her other customers.

Everyone took a deep drink from their beverages. "So how's our point score coming?" Harry asked Dawn.

"The flying…lots of points!" said Dawn. "That was a blast! Um, I think I'm going to take off a couple of points for the murderous plants in the greenhouse, but Professor Sprout seems nice, so that balances out. The castle is really cool, but it loses points for things like missing stairs, no electricity, and the slave labour. The food is really good though, so on balance I think it's in the black.

"Of the other teachers I've met…Professor Snape lost points for trying to frighten me, but Hagrid gained them back by being so nice, when he's someone who really could frighten me if he tried."

"Snape didn't scare you?" asked Harry. "Half the school is terrified of him."

"Hey, I've been frightened by experts!" said Dawn. "Has Snape actually killed any students?"

"Not that we know of," said Hermione, "but he's been pretty high up on our suspect list a couple of times."

"Lots of student deaths are there?" asked Buffy.

"No," said Harry. "No one has actually died in the school since we started. Hermione and some others were petrified by a Basilisk once, but no one died. Cedric was killed by Voldemort, but that didn't happen at the school."

"So, death rate way lower than Sunnydale High," said Dawn. "More points."

"Dawn, every other school on the planet has a lower death rate than Sunnydale High," said Buffy.

"And knowing that, you still made me go there."

"You could have gone to Miss Porter's School for Girls."

"A girls' school? I'd rather risk death."

"Hogwarts is generally considered the safest place in Britain," said Hermione. "Except for…" She looked at Harry.

"What?" asked Dawn.

"Well, Voldemort's got it in for me, so I'm not really the safest person to hang around with," said Harry. "That's what happened to Cedric. He got in the way of one of Voldemort's attempts to kill me."

"Hey, I grew up in the same house as the Slayer," said Dawn. "I've lost count of the times I've nearly been killed because I got stuck with Buffy as a sister."

"Most of those times were because you didn't do as you were told," said Buffy.

"Not my fault you keep trying to send me away whenever it looks like things might get interesting."

Dawn saw a couple of people she recognised come into the inn. "There's Professor McGonagall, and um, Flitwit?"

Hermione looked around "Flitwick. He teaches Charms. Really smart, and really nice too."

"They certainly make an odd looking couple," said Buffy, looking at the tiny Charms professor beside the imposing height of Professor McGonagall. The tip of his pointed hat was at about her waist level.

"You know, I've seen them come in here together a few times," said Hermione. "You don't suppose that there's something going on between them do you?"

Harry sputtered in his butterbeer. The noise drew McGonagall's attention. She came across the inn toward them. Flitwick followed, having to take two steps to every one of hers to keep up. "Potter, I thought I recognised your broom outside." She smiled at Dawn. "So what do you think of our little community here?"

"It's very nice," said Dawn. "I think I'd enjoy coming here for school."

"Have you met Professor Flitwick yet?"

"Not yet." Dawn held out her hand to the tiny professor. "How do you do?"

"I do quite well," said Professor Flitwick. He surprised Dawn by actually taking her hand and giving it a kiss. "A pleasure to meet you Miss Summers."

McGonagall and Flitwick left to get themselves a table on the far side of the inn's common room. Dawn wondered whose privacy they were doing it to protect. Maybe it was just a desire not to associate with the students any more than they had to.

Buffy watched McGonagall and Flitwick sit down at a small table, and Rosmerta brought them their drinks without even taking an order. "Do you suppose there is something going on between them?" she asked.

"Uh-uh! No way!" said Harry.

"They look awfully friendly," said Dawn.

"Yes, they're friendly!" said Harry. "They're very good friends, but I'm sure that's all it is! I mean, look at the size difference!"

"I don't know," said Buffy. "Might be interesting with someone that small…and the beard would certainly tickle." Harry and Hermione were turning beat red. "What do you think Dawnie? Do they make a cute couple or what?"

"They make a very cute couple," said Dawn.

"Stop it!" said Hermione. "They're teachers! Just the thought of it…" She shuddered.

"You're the one who brought it up first," said Buffy.

"And I'm very sorry I did!" said Hermione.

Harry drained his butterbeer. "I think it's time for us to be heading back to the school, anyway."

"Good idea!" Hermione raised her glass and gulped down the last of her drink too.

Buffy and Dawn stopped speculating about the teacher's love lives, but they took their time finishing their drinks before they got up from the table. They all waved goodbye to the professors as they went outside.

They pulled their brooms out of their racks. Dawn got ready to launch herself into the air. "You want to race?" she asked Harry. She saw he looked a little uncertain. "What's the problem? Afraid I'll beat you?"

"It's not that," said Harry. He made up his mind. "Here Hermione, you can take my broom, and I'll take yours." He traded brooms with her.

"Huh?" asked Dawn.

"My broom, against yours would be kinda like…" Harry racked his brain, trying to come up with a comparison. Luckily, Dudley had become car mad over the last year, so he found he had a comparison ready at hand. "…a Porsche against a Yugo." He got on the broom. "This way I won't have an unfair advantage. First one to the broom shed wins. You ready?" Dawn nodded. "Okay, three, two, one, go!" Harry still let Dawn kick off first and watched for a second to make sure she was flying smoothly before he took off after her.

Buffy and Hermione were left standing in front of The Three Broomsticks. "Is Harry's broom really that much faster?" asked Buffy.

"It is." Hermione watched as Harry and Dawn disappeared around the corner at the end of the street. "I'm not much of a flier, but if I took off now, I could probably still beat them back to the broom shed on it. Harry could have been there and back by now. He's the best in the school, and this really is the world's fastest broom."

Buffy and Hermione got on their brooms, and kicked off together. Hermione darted ahead, and then pulled to a complete stop when she tried to slow down to let Buffy catch up. "I've never ridden it before either," she said when she pulled even with Buffy again, this time managing to control her speed a little better. "It's a lot more responsive than the brooms I'm used to." They continued to fly sedately toward the school.

Harry caught up with Dawn as they crossed the railroad tracks. He started to pull ahead as they went out over the lake. Dawn leaned down a little closer to her broom, cutting the wind resistance, and started to inch back closer to him. They were neck and neck as they rose up to clear the cliff edge on the far side of the lake.

Harry drew ahead again as they hurtled across the school lawn toward the Quidditch pitch. Dawn could see the broom shed ahead, and tried to coach a little more speed out of her broom. Try as she might, Harry stayed a few feet in front of her. Neither of them let up as they approached the shed. They flew over top of it with Harry still in the lead. Only then did they slow down. Harry sat up on his broom and clasped his hands over his head in victory as he slowed and brought his broom back around to land in front of the shed.

Dawn landed right after him. She was laughing. "That was great!"

"So what does the winner get?" asked Harry.

"How about this?" Dawn grabbed him, and planted a kiss right on his lips.

"Ahem!"

Harry jumped back away from Dawn, blushing furiously. He turned and saw Madam Hooch standing in the doorway of the shed. He saw that she seemed to be suppressing a laugh.

"Oh, Madam Hooch, this is Dawn Summers. I was just giving her a flying lesson."

"Oh, that's what kids are calling it these days," said Madam Hooch. Harry's blush deepened, and Dawn started to turn red too. "A very nice bit of flying it was too," she told Dawn. "And this time I am talking about the flying. Very well done for a beginner. Your landing was a little sloppy though, needs a little more practice I think." She glanced at Harry's broom. "Glad to see you can still fly a standard broom fairly well Potter. You haven't gone and let yourself be spoiled by your Firebolt. Um, where is your Firebolt?"

"Oh, I left it with Hermione, so it would be a fair race." Harry looked back toward the lake. "Here they come now."

Buffy and Hermione were cruising across the lawn toward them. They came in to land, and Dawn was pleased to see that her landing had been smoother than either of theirs.

Hermione handed Harry back his broom. "Here you go Harry, I think I'll stick with the Shooting Stars. This is a little much for me to handle."

"Is that really that much better a broom?" asked Dawn.

"Why don't you show them, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"If you insist." Harry hopped onto his broom, and rocketed away. It only took him a few seconds to cover the 500 feet to the far side of the Quidditch pitch, and then he took an abrupt 90 degree turn…straight up. He kept going up until he almost disappeared. He finally slowed, and reversed directions into a dive straight down, picking up more and more speed as he came.

Dawn watched Harry hurtle toward the ground. "Pull up!" she said quietly, but he didn't. "Pull up!" she shouted. She was sure he was going to smash into the ground and kill himself.

Harry pulled out of his dive with about fifty feet to spare and came hurtling back across the lawn toward them, doing barrel rolls as he came. He pulled up into a loop just before he reached them, and came down to a smooth landing in front of them.

"Oh god! I thought you were going to kill yourself!" said Dawn.

"That dive?" asked Harry. "Wasn't even close. I've pulled out a lot closer to the ground than that when chasing the Snitch, haven't I Hermione?"

"Yes," said Hermione. "And every time you do it, I think you're going to kill yourself."

"I suggest that you put your brooms away, and get back to the castle." said Madam Hooch. "It's nearly dinner time."

"Okay, Professor," said Harry. They gathered up the brooms and returned them to their shed. Harry made sure that they were all neatly placed in their racks. Madam Hooch got upset when students left the shed in disarray. They made their way up across the lawn to the castle gate.