Author's Note: I have no claim over Buffy and Co., nor over Harry and crew. They belong to Joss Whedon and JK Rowling, respectively. Please read and review!

August twentieth finally rolled around and she was ready to go. She'd stuffed all her things into two large trunks, one weapons and one non-weapons. The house was empty and closed up. She sat on the back porch, waiting for who knew what. Dumbledore said he'd arrange a staff member to come get her, but he hadn't said who, how or when. She was almost afraid the whole thing had been a bad joke when out of nowhere, literally, a giant appeared in the backyard.

Buffy was instantly on her feet in attack position, although she wasn't sure it would do any good. The man was twice as tall as a normal person and three times as wide, thanks in part to his thick coat. At least his face seemed friendly, what she could see of it anyway, since most of it was obscured by a wiry mass of black hair.

"Ah, an' yeh must be Buffy. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, the groundskeeper at Hogwarts, an' I also teach the Care o' Magical Creatures class. Dumbledore sent me to pick yeh up and bring yeh to the school. Is that all yer bringin?" He pointed to her trunks.

"Yeah, that's it. But how are we going to get there? And how did you get here?" she asked.

"Portkey! Dumbledore had one to bring me here and another to bring us both back. It's set to go in ten minutes, so yeh could wrap things up. Is there anything else yeh need to do?"

"No, I don't think so, but maybe I'll take one more look through the house just to make sure." Buffy walked through each room in the house, trying to leech out as many happy memories as she could. She lingered in Dawn's room the longest. She might now have been Buffy's real sister in the conventional sense but they were each other's only family. She left her good-byes and walked back to Hagrid.

"All ready now?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess. How do I use a portkey? I don't have much experience with magic, myself. That was always Willow's gig."

"There's nothin' to it. Jus' touch it, all yeh need's a finger and it'll go off when it's supposed to. Which is in about a minute now so let's just grab yer trunks up now and take a hold of this." Hagrid held out a dirty Ping-Pong paddle. "If yeh've never used one before it can be a shock, an' I gotta wan yeh, this one's going to be a doozy. Got a long way to go, after all." Hagrid grabbed one of the trunks and Buffy grabbed the other, and with her free hand, she held the top half of the paddle, feeling stupid. She couldn't imaging how silly this would look if someone saw them. No self-respecting vampire would ever take her seriously again.

It felt like something had hooked a finger behind her bellybutton and was dragging her very fast. Just when she thought she was going to puke, her feet slammed into the ground and she fell over. Hagrid let go of the trunk and helped her to her feet. They were in some sort of village. Little shops peppered the road and people in long cloaks milled about.

Wow, I was expecting something a little more institutional," Buffy said, looking around.

"Nah, we're in Hogsmeade, a wizarding village. We'll take a carriage from here to the castle."

"Castle?"

"Yeh, castle. What did yeh think it was going to be, some broken-down shack?" Hagrid laughed. A small coach carried them through the village. The castle sprung itself from around the bend. Buffy couldn't believe her eyes. She'd seen mountains smaller than that!

"You weren't kidding, Hagrid. That place is huge!" He led her into the entrance hall where he left her trunks.

"I'll make sure these are brought to yer room. Dumbledore wants to introduce yeh to the rest of the staff. They're all excited to meet yeh." That made Buffy apprehensive. How much did they know about her? She wasn't exactly jumping up to share her past with everyone. Buffy lost track of the stairways and corridors and was thoroughly turned around by the time they reached the teachers' lounge.

"Ah, here we are. Jus' go on in, they're all expectin' yeh." Hagrid said.

"You're not coming in? Buffy had known Hagrid less than an hour but in this totally foreign place, an hour was better than nothing.

"No, I got my regular work to be getting on with. But don' worry, yeh'll be fine." He gave her an encouraging smile and walked down he hall. Well, she'd come this far and it was way too late not to knock, so what choice did she have? She rapped on the door, which opened immediately.

"Ms. Summers! You're right on time!" An ancient looking man with a long white beard, half-moon glasses and flowing purple robes greeted her. He walked forward and shook her hand with a jovial smile. "I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster here at Hogwarts. We are delighted to have you with us. Please, come in and I will make some introductions. This is Professor McGonagall. She is the deputy headmistress and the head of Gryffindor house. She also teaches transfiguration. Here we have Professor Flitwick, who teaches charms. Professor Trelawny, divination, Professor Binns, history of magic." Buffy was shocked to see what looked like a ghost. "Professor Sprout, herbology and head of Hufflepuff house. And last but certainly not least, Professor Snape, potions and head of Slytherin house.

Buffy shook everyone's hand (except Professor Binns). Everyone seemed perfectly friendly, except for Professor Snape. He didn't say anything to her, but seemed to glare maliciously at her as he shook her hand. Buffy, refusing to be intimidated, returned the stare until Dumbledore spoke again. When she looked again, Snape was gazing into the fire. She wondered if she'd imagined the whole thing.

"I expect this has been overwhelming for you so I'll show you to your room. Tomorrow we'll give you a tour of the castle and grounds. I'm sure you've noticed this place almost has a mind of its own. But plenty of time to worry about that later. So if you'll just come with me, I'll bring you to your room." They walked together up more stairs and down more halls until they stopped in front of a large painting of a fat woman in a pink dress.

"This is the entrance to Gryffindor tower, the dormitory for the students for the students in Gryffindor house, which includes Harry Potter. I've arranged for you to have a private room here."

"Uh, color me confused, but in where?"

"Oh, silly me! You need the password to get in. 'galloping gizmos'." To Buffy's amazement, the painting swung out to reveal a doorway. "I believe your room is on the third floor, girls' side. You things should already be there. I'll make sure Professor McGonagall escorts you to breakfast in the morning and after that we can begin the tour. I also want to say I know what you've been through in the last few years, and I'm desperately sorry for all of your loss and suffering. However, I did not tell anyone else of your past. I firmly believe that divulging your past is up to you. I give you my word that the staff and students will hear nothing from me." Buffy looked at him with sad gratitude.

"Thank you," she said, "and goodnight."

"Goodnight, and may you sleep well," he said as they parted ways.