Dear Buffy:

The first week has been pretty hectic, with everyone starting classes and everything. The castle is a lot different when it's full of kids. Things have been going pretty good. I've made some new friends, so far mostly among the guys and girls on Harry's Quidditch team, but there are a few others. There's a really nice girl from Ravenclaw named Laurie Davis, and a Slytherin boy named Rob Harding. (Not all Slytherins are useless gits.) He seems to have a bit of a thing for Laurie. My lab partner in Potions is from Slytherin too, and she seems to be nice.

Speaking of useless gits…I've had a couple more run-ins with that Malfoy berk. (See, Spike taught me some useful stuff after all! I got lots of words I can call Malfoy!) I've had to take his wand away from him twice now because he keeps trying to curse me with it.

Ginny was concentrating on Quidditch tryouts last week, so we haven't started her training yet. She's the team Seeker now. (I only had to watch the first practice to see that Slayer strength and Quidditch Chaser were non-mixy things) but she's a really good Seeker too…just as good as Harry (I think Slayer reflexes have a lot to do with that) and Harry's a pretty good Chaser so I suggested they trade positions and it looks like that's going to work out real well. We're going to have Ginny's first real training session on Tuesday. Professor Lupin is going to be there too, so he can see how it's done. :)

I hope Yanka finds you alright. She's supposed to be able to find you anywhere in the world, but if you've left Britain it could take her a while. Hope to hear from you soon. Give my love to Willow and Xander and Giles and everyone else.

Love, Dawn.

Dawn took her letter for Buffy, along with the one she'd written for Willow up to the Owlery. Yanka came right to her when she whistled, and Dawn tied the two letters to her legs. "Okay, Yanka. These are for Buffy and Willow. Deliver Willow's first. Buffy should be near her, but if she isn't Willow will know where to find her. Do you understand?"

Yanka gave an indignant hoot, as if she thought Dawn had just insulted her by asking if she understood such rudimentary instructions.

"I'm sorry," said Dawn. "Of course you understood." She fished some Owl Treats out of her pocket and fed them to her. "Okay, off you go!"

A few quick strokes of Yanka's wings sent her flying out of the Owlery. Dawn watched her flying south, across the lake until she disappeared from sight. She turned and looked around the Owlery for Harry's snowy owl. "Hedwig? Are you here girl?" She reached into her pocket for more Owl Treats when she saw the white owl flying toward her. Hedwig landed on the perch that Yanka had just vacated.

Dawn held out her hand with the treats in it. "Here, I didn't forget that I owed you."

Hedwig hooted her thanks and pecked the treats from Dawn's hand.


Yanka flew into the Great Hall with all the other owls delivering the mail at breakfast on Monday. She landed in front of Dawn with a couple of letters strapped to her legs. Dawn untied them and checked to see who they were from. One was from Buffy, and the other was from Willow. She opened Buffy's first, and quickly scanned through it. It was a fairly short letter just saying that everything was going well, everyone was okay, and that they all said to say "hi." It ended with a promise that Buffy would be coming back to Hogwarts "in a few weeks."

Dawn put Buffy's letter away and opened the one from Willow. It contained the same sort of non-news that she'd gotten from Buffy, plus a promise to get the books Dawn wanted on micro-electronics, and that she'd send them along with Buffy when she came to visit. Dawn couldn't help noticing that everyone was being pretty vague about when Buffy's visit would be. Dawn showed the letter to Hermione before they went off to classes.


Dawn and Ginny found Professor Lupin waiting for them in the Room of Requirement on Tuesday afternoon. He was wearing a sweat suit and was by the punching bag, hitting it rather ineffectually. Dawn thought it was a good thing he didn't know how to get much power into his punches, because the way he was holding his hands, he was liable to break a finger, or maybe his wrist if he ever did hit it hard.

Harry, Ron and Hermione came in behind them. They'd been invited along to watch, and join in the exercises. They pulled off their school robes. Both Dawn and Ginny were dressed in the exercise clothes they'd gotten during their London shopping trip. Hermione had picked up training clothes for herself at the same time. Harry and Ron were just wearing blue jeans and t-shirts.

Dawn had also brought along a duffle bag full of the pads and helmets and things they'd bought, but she wasn't planning on using any of them today. She was just moving them from her trunk so they'd be here when they did need them.

Dawn went to the stack of floor pads, and started to spread them out. "Okay, the first thing we're going to work on is how to fall."

"Fall?" asked Ginny. "Isn't that just something gravity does to you?"

"It's something that gravity can hurt you with if you don't do it right," said Dawn as she arranged the pads, making sure that the velcro tabs were all fastened. "If you know what you're doing you can fall onto a hard stone floor, and not hurt yourself. Here, I'll show you." She moved away onto a patch of bare floor.

They all watched Dawn deliberately fall over backwards. She flung her arms back at the last moment, just before she was about to hit, and slapped her forearms against the floor before the rest of her body made contact with it. Then she kipped back up onto her feet. "See, the point of a breakfall is to take the impact of hitting the floor in the parts of the body best able to absorb it, and to spread it out over as large an area as possible. I didn't hit the floor first with my elbows, or my hands, because that concentrates the impact in one small area, which leads to broken bones, but by slapping the floor with my arms, they took most of the impact."

Dawn moved back over onto the mats and knelt down on it. "We'll start with the front breakfall, from a kneeling position, and work up to standing breakfalls." They all knelt beside her. "Okay, it's important to hit the mat hard with your arms. If you just try to hold them stiff in front of you, you're gonna smack your face into the mat. Keep your chin tucked in, and your back curved, and fall forward like this." Dawn fell forward, and caught herself by slapping her forearms against the mat. She pushed herself back up onto her knees. "Now, you try it."

They spent the next hour practicing front and back breakfalls. Dawn wasn't surprised that Ginny learned how to do them very quickly, a talent for this sort of thing was part of the Slayer package. Harry, Ron and Hermione picked it up quickly too. Professor Lupin wasn't doing as well, though Dawn was surprised by just how well he did do for someone his age. He worked hard, but there was no way he was going to be able to keep up with Ginny. It would be hard enough for someone his age to keep up with a normal fifteen year old girl, let alone a Slayer.

When Dawn decided that everyone was sufficiently proficient at falling onto their faces and backs, at least for one lesson, she took them over to the punching bag, and gave them a brief lesson in the proper way to make a fist, and to throw a punch…mainly just to keep Professor Lupin from hurting himself if he came back and tried it again when she wasn't there. They called an end to the session with enough time for them all to go back to their rooms, and have a shower before it was time for dinner.


They quickly fell into a routine. Ginny would have training sessions with Dawn and Professor Lupin on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, the days she didn't have Quidditch practice. Harry, Ron and Hermione would come too. After the first couple of lessons Lupin found he was mostly acting as an observer.

They started into grappling, and throwing techniques in the second week, after everyone had become adept at the various breakfalls. Ginny was getting tired of falling and wanted to do something else.

"Okay." Dawn stood facing Ginny on the mats. "Attack me. Try to grab me and throw me down onto the floor. No punching or kicking though."

"You sure?" asked Ginny.

"Yep, I'm sure," said Dawn. "Go for it."

"Okay." Ginny moved in quickly, trying to grab Dawn. She wasn't entirely sure of what happened next, but she felt her feet going out from underneath her, and she was falling toward the mat. She did a perfect side breakfall as she hit it. Dawn hadn't let go of her though. She kept hold of Ginny's arm as she followed her down onto the mat. Ginny felt her arm being twisted around behind her. She was pinned face down on the floor, and unable to move.

"Now," said Dawn. "There are times when all your Slayer speed and strength won't do you much good. The way I've got you now, I've got all the leverage advantages, there really isn't much you can do about it. If I put a little more pressure on your arm this way…" She twisted a bit, and Ginny hissed from a sudden pain in her shoulder. "…I can dislocate your shoulder. A little like this…" Dawn pressed, and Ginny felt the pressure building in her elbow. "…and I can pop your elbow."

Dawn let go of Ginny, and they both got back to their feet. Ginny was rubbing her shoulder a bit.

"I wanted to do that to you early," said Dawn. "After a couple of weeks, I don't expect that I'll ever be able to do anything like that again. Right now, you have all the strength and speed advantages, but you don't know how to use them. I don't have the strength or speed, but I've got the knowledge. Once you've got a little knowledge, you'll have all the advantages."

They stood facing each other again. "Okay," said Dawn. "Come at me again, but slowly this time, and I'll show you what you did wrong, and what I did."

Dawn had Ginny stop once she had grabbed her. "Okay, see now you're all off balance. I've got a few things I can do to you that don't take much strength at all." She demonstrated by pushing Ginny one way until she started to fall, and then catching her, and pushing her another way. "And it was even worse when you were moving because all your momentum was helping me do this!" Dawn pivoted, and slowly pulled Ginny through the flip she had done earlier.

Ginny found herself lying on the mats again, with her arm firmly held immobile by Dawn. Dawn released her and they got back to their feet. "Okay, now you try it." Dawn grabbed hold of Ginny the way Ginny had grabbed her. "Take it slow, step by step, just the way I did it."

Ginny did it just the way Dawn had done it, pulling and pivoting, lifting her up until she was balanced in the air, and then rolling a little more to drop her down onto the mat, following through to get Dawn into an armbar.

"Good." Dawn slapped her free hand against the mat a couple of times. "That means I give up, and you can let go of me now."

"Oh." Ginny let go of Dawn's arm. "Sorry."

Dawn climbed back to her feet. "No, you did good. Let's try it again, only this time, full speed. You ready?"

Ginny nodded and Dawn rushed at her. Ginny grabbed her and flipped her ot the mat, a lot harder than she had the first time. She grabbed Dawn's arm, and twisted it around into an armbar. She felt a pop, and Dawn cried out in pain.

Ginny released her instantly and jumped to her feet. "Oh god! Sorry! What happened?"

Dawn pushed herself up with her left arm until she was sitting on the mats, and hissed in pain. Her right arm was dangling by her side. Dawn grabbed her elbow to keep it from moving. "You dislocated my shoulder."

"Oh god! I'm sorry!"

"No, that's okay…these things happen."

Professor Lupin was kneeling beside her. He took out his wand and touched it to her shoulder. "Immobilus!" Dawn felt her shoulder lock in place, unable to move. "There, that should hold it until we get you to Madam Pomfrey."

"That feels better." Dawn held up her hand. "Could you give me a hand." Harry helped pull her up onto her feet.

"I'm really sorry!" said Ginny.

"Stop apologising already!" said Dawn. "It was an accident. Accidents happen. At least this time it's not broken." She tried to take a step toward the door, and swayed a bit on her feet.

Harry moved quickly up to Dawn's left side and put an arm around her. "Here, lean on me."

Dawn put her left arm across Harry's shoulders. "Yeah, that might be a good idea. So, Madam Pomfrey. You know, I still haven't really met her."

Dawn continued to lean on Harry as they went down to the hospital wing. Professor Lupin followed them. "Poppy!" he called as they entered the hospital. "We've got a patient for you!"

Dawn looked around curiously. She had missed being shown inside the hospital wing when she'd gotten the tour from Harry and Hermione during her first visit to Hogwarts, and was surprised by just how many beds there were. A long line of them covered with white sheets. None of them were occupied at the moment. "So you get a lot of sick people here?"

"No," said Ginny. "I don't think I've ever seen more than four of them in use…and then it's usually Harry in one of them."

Madam Pomfrey had come out of her office. "So what's happened to you then?" she asked Dawn.

"Dislocated shoulder."

"Oh! Well, come right over here!" She had Dawn sit on the edge of one of the beds. She looked up at Professor Lupin. "You used Immobilus on it?"

"That's right Poppy, and then we brought her straight here."

Madam Pomfrey smiled. "So good to have a professor who doesn't try to treat the injuries himself." She pulled a screen across, to give her and Dawn some privacy, and then used her wand to make Dawn's t-shirt disappear. She looked at Dawn's shoulder closely. "Yes, it is dislocated."

"I figured that out when it went 'pop,'" said Dawn.

"Well just hold still for a moment." Madam Pomfrey pointed her wand at Dawn's shoulder. "Analgetos!" The pain went away. "Restauro!" Dawn felt her shoulder socket pop back into place. "There, good as new!" Another tap from Madam Pomfrey's wand and her t-shirt was back on her.

Dawn rotated her arm experimentally. Her shoulder was still numb, but she seemed to have full mobility again. "Wow! That was quick! Thanks."

"You are welcome, Miss Summers." Madam Pomfrey pulled aside the screen again. "Your shoulder will still be sore for a another day or so once the anesthetic spell wears off…as a reminder for you to be more careful at whatever you were doing that dislocated it in the first place, but you should have full use of your arm again. If you notice any problems, or the pain persists for more than twenty-four hours, come back and see me."


Ginny seemed much more affected by Dawn's dislocated shoulder than Dawn was. At the start of their next training session on Thursday she was very reluctant to try to throw Dawn again. Dawn used her hesitations against her, to throw Ginny to the mat several times before she got over it.

Ginny was learning to fight with the speed of a Slayer. Once she got over her hesitation problem she quickly learned the moves Dawn was teaching her. She rarely needed to be shown how to do something more than once, and after a few repetitions was executing moves flawlessly. Dawn was starting to think she had been overly optimistic when she told Ginny that she would only be able to successfully pin her for the first couple of weeks. By the end of their session Ginny was pinning Dawn as often as Dawn was pinning her. She still tended to be a little too careful about how she executed the various submission holds Dawn taught her.

Sometimes Dawn let one of the others partner with Ginny, so she could stand back and watch, see what Ginny and they were doing right, and wrong. It also served as a humbling experience for Harry and Ron. Dawn didn't want them getting the idea that they were ready to put what they were learning into active use.


On the afternoons that Harry and Ginny had Quidditch practice, Dawn would go jogging. She'd do a lap around the main grounds, starting by running down along the eastern shore of the lake until she reached the fringe of trees that separated the school grounds from the railway line and the town of Hogsmeade, then she'd turn east, moving across the lawn to edge of the Forbidden Forest before turning back north. She ran along beside the forest until she reached the paddock behind Hagrid's hut. She knew that Hagrid often had unpleasant things in his paddock, so she would follow the fence around it.

Some days the little Trivet would appear on the other side of the fence, and run along beside her. Dawn thought that was strange, since there was nothing actually keeping the Trivet inside the fence. It could apparate across it without difficulty, or even jump it, if it wanted to. After the second time it happened she stopped to ask Hagrid about it when she reached his hut. She kept running on the spot as she talked to him.

"She knows she's safe inside tha paddock," said Hagrid. "Trivets are very timid creatures. Even though she's jus' as safe anywhere on the grounds, she feels better inside tha fence."

"But a Trivet can get away from almost anywhere can't it?" asked Dawn.

"If you can grab hold of it, and keep hold, it can't apparate away," said Hagrid. "Tha's why so many die if ya try to keep 'em captive. There ain't an anti-apparition spell that can stop 'em. Ya gotta keep 'em tied down, and they don' eat, and most jus' waste away."

"That's horrible," said Dawn.

"Yeah, it is," said Hagrid. "But Trivets were hunted for a thousan' years. Tha ones tha' survived were tha ones that were most timid. Apparated away at the firs' sign o' humans aroun'. Tha' little friend o' yours is the bravest Trivet I've ever seen."

"And she's really cute too!" said Dawn. "Thanks, well, I gotta run! Bye!" Dawn continued on her way, back along the fence on the other side of the paddock, with the Trivet following along beside her. She paused briefly when she got back to the edge of the forest to go to the fence to pat the Trivet briefly on her nose before setting off on the last leg of her run, back around the castle to the Quidditch pitch on the far side to watch the end of the practice.