Timeline Harry Potter - after Order of the Phoenix. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - after Chosen.

Disclaimer None of these characters belong to me. All Harry Potter related characters, settings etc belong to JK Rowling; all BtVS characters etc belong to Joss Whedon.

"Dawn! Dawn, would you hurry up! We're going to be late!" Buffy turned round and rolled her eyes at Willow, Xander and Giles. "Does Dawn know we're not going to see the Queen of England? It's just a school for God's sake."

Willow laughed. "She's just excited, Buff. And it was nice of Professor Dumbledore to consider Dawn for Hogwarts."

True to his word, Professor Dumbledore had tried his hardest to help the group with their problems since the defeat of the First Evil. With him they had discussed the idea of a training establishment of some description at Hogwarts and various other magical schools around the world. However, they had agreed that this would alert Voldemort to the army of Slayers, as it were, of which he appeared to be unaware.

Instead, Giles and Andrew, who was proving himself to be extremely useful, had made good progress in tracking down Watchers who remained all over the world. Groups of Slayers had been despatched to groups of these Watchers who were stationed at various demon hotspots for training. And of course, these girls had a choice.

Buffy had a choice now too, she knew, but ... She still felt like The Slayer. Faith agreed with her, and the two had decided to "keep on slayin'." Both liked the idea (although it was difficult to get Faith to admit it) of helping newly called Slayers, in the way neither of them had been helped.

Dawn appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "No need to shout, I'm ready," she said, smiling at her sister. As they walked into the palatial living room, Buffy wondered how Dawn was feeling. She'd made quite good friends with some of the Slayers who came to Giles' house as a result of Willow's locating spell, but they'd virtually all gone now, able to help the remaining Watchers with the knowledge and skills they had acquired from the fight against the First. Still, one or two of the girls remained, to help Faith and Buffy sort new Slayers, so maybe Dawn wasn't too lonely after all.

"So," Dawn was saying with more than a little scepticism in her tone, "we throw some of this onto the fire and say -"

"The Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley," Willow said, holding up the bag of Floo Powder Dumbledore had given them.

"Right," Dawn replied frowning. "Erm, maybe you should go first, Will."

Willow took a small handful of the powder and threw it onto the flames in the large fireplace. She spoke the destination loudly as she stepped into the green flames, hearing the others gasp as she vanished.

A few minutes later, the five Scoobies stood assembled in the small pub, empty except for the barman, Tom. Buffy was the only one to have come out the fire gracefully, rolling across the floor and springing to her feet. Dawn looked decidedly green and Xander had just finished dusting himself off when -

"A giant?" He asked incredulously. Indeed, it appeared a giant had entered the pub.

"Alright, Tom," it said in a deep voice. "Dumbledore's wee group arrived yet?" The barman smiled and pointed towards the five people stood by the fire.

"Just arrived, Hagrid."

The giant walked over and gave them all a massive smile. "I'm Reubus Hagrid, Keeper o' the Keys for Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore sent me to meet yeh, an' take yeh to Hogwarts."

At their blank smiles, he elaborated: "By portkey?" Giles nodded in understanding; this was how Dumbledore had transported them to Hogwarts the first time, stating that he felt it would be safer for them than Flooing directly there - it had been discovered that Umbridge had been tampering with the Hogwarts fireplaces before she had got her comeuppance.

Hagrid rubbed his hands together, then patted them about his voluminous greatcoat. "Now, I should have it 'ere somewhere." Pulling out a large rusted iron kettle, he set it down on the table. "Right, well, it should be active in five minutes or so. Just time for a wee half, eh Tom." He sat down at the table, indicating that they should all do so too. "Jus' put a hand each on this, 'cause I'm not awful sure when it's for."

Tentatively, exchanging looks, the Scoobies reached out a hand for the kettle, each finding a spot around Hagrid's shovel-like hands. Suddenly, they felt an irresistible jerk behind their navels, and a few seconds later found themselves in a large circular office. Professor Dumbledore was sat at the desk, and looked up, beaming.

"Excellent. I'm so glad you made it. How was your journey?" At the looks they exchanged, he laughed. "It does take a bit of getting used to." He turned to Hagrid, who was surreptitiously finishing off his drink. "Thank you, Hagrid." The giant man nodded at the Headmaster, then turned and left, slotting the glass into a secret coat pocket as he did so.

"Now," said Dumbledore, "you must be Dawn."