Chapter one: Arrival at Hogwarts

The trip went smoothly. Everyone who went along – Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles, of course – were perfectly comfortable taking the Express from King's Cross. Xander commented on the nice type of wood in which the train was decorated; he felt he needed to make a professional statement, to prove himself useful in any way. In his mind, though, the suspicion that they might just have brought him along because it would've hurt his feelings if they hadn't grew all the more strong. He tried to ignore it, but it was surprisingly hard. After all, Anya was right, wasn't she? He wasn't useful. He wasn't needful. All he did was tag along, trying not to get in the way.
Right?

After a couple of hours' travel, they finally arrived at Hogsmeade. Willow was thoroughly amazed.
"Hey, can I have a look around? Please?" She was a bit jumpy after having spent so much time on the train.
"No," answered Giles stiffly. "We need to get to the school. Dawn is at home watching soap operas with Spike, the until just recently dangerous vampire, and Anya's probably scaring away all of my customers. Need I say more? We should hurry as much as possible, so we can get…"
He paused mid-sentence. All of them fairly perplexed, everyone looked at him. He seemed awfully confused all of a sudden, for no apparent reason, which wasn't like him at all.

"… Giles?" Xander asked. "You there, old fellow?"
"I think he's dozed off," said Buffy, frowning.
"With his eyes open? Excuse me, miss powerful chosen one, but I don't think so," said Xander, not without a trace of irony in his voice.
"Hey, carpenter boy, what do you know?"
"I know only military can sleep with their eyes open," snapped Xander.
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, well… question is, how do we awaken him?"
"Guys…" Willow, having succeeded to draw attention to herself, pointed silently toward the direction Giles was staring at.

It was a lady, Giles' age or a few years older. She was wearing a distinguished green dress, a string of pearls around her neck and a pointy hat to round off the look. And she was walking straight towards Giles, a minor smile on her lips.

"… home." Giles finally finished the sentence, and a smile began to spread across his face. "But on second though, why rush things? This is sort of a vacation, after all. By all means, Willow… you go explore." The lady had now almost reached him, and he stretched out his hand. "You must be Minerva."
The lady nodded slightly. "Yes, I am. Minerva McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House. You are all most welcome."
"Well, enchanté," whispered Giles, more to himself than anyone else. He approached her slowly, apparently trying to look graceful in spite of his age. "I'm Rupert, Rupert Giles. But you can call me… Ripper." Thus, he bent down and kissed her hand in a gentleman sort of manner.

Buffy suddenly felt nausea overwhelm her. She wasn't ready for the sight of a flirtatious Giles. "Eww," she proclaimed, leaning against Xander for support. "He's flirting with her!"
"Yeah, I kind of noticed," said Xander, equally disgusted, patting her on the shoulder. "And he's using his old pet-name."
"It isn't that strange when you think about it," Willow said, seemingly unmoved. "Ripper does sound a bit more like a young name than… uh… Rupert."
"But he's Giles! Giles, people. He isn't supposed to have intimate relations!" Xander shook his head violently, almost causing Buffy to fall over when her balance was disrupted from the sudden movement. "Oh, sorry, Buff."
"Xan, I'm sorry to negate what you're saying, but you're wrong. Remember Miss Calendar?"
"Right," sighed Xander. "But you all know what I mean, right? You have to admit it, Willow… it's kind of yucky."
Willow shook her head vigorously. "I don't see anything wrong in Giles being happy at last. I know he could really use some happiness in his life. I don't think he's succeeding in filling up the void inside him with ancient texts and dusty books. Everyone needs someone."
"It wasn't just miss Calendar, though. He had a thing with my mom, too. Remember?" Buffy said, smiling shakily at the memory. "The candy bars…"
"Right," disrupted Xander quickly in an attempt to spare her of the memories. "Giles has been around a bit, all right. But… no, sorry, but I just can't see it. The two of them. Together."
"Aw, come on Xander. What's the harm?" said Willow, looking at the pair as she spoke. They were now standing quite close to each other, talking constantly. Since they were a few metres away from the rest of the group, they couldn't hear what they were saying. "I think they're cute," Willow continued. "Oh, look, she's dropped her hat! And he's… aw, he picked it up for her! Oh, oh, now she's whispering something in his ear… he's blushing? What could she…"
"Let's not even go there," Buffy said and silenced her. "Well leave the mummies be, 'kay? Hey, maybe if we close our eyes it'll all go away." She did so, and then, slowly, she opened them. "Nope, still there," she sighed.

---

The lovebirds, having made contact in a fabulously polite and old-fashioned way, went first into the carriage that had been selected as their means of transportation to Hogwarts. They sat down beside each other; Giles, being the gentleman he was, let her get in first and then parked himself as far away from her as possible, yet right next to her. She gave him the courtesy of a gentle smile.

"Quite the gentleman, mister Giles," she pointed out, correcting her hat as it had brushed against the ceiling when she got in.
"I've told you once and again, Minerva – do please call me Ripper," Giles insisted, a sheepish smile on his wrinkled face.
"Ripper." Her smile grew bigger, her thin lips stretching almost inhumanly. Buffy gave Xander a look filled with terror, which was soon returned. The professor leaned back against her seat. "So. I understand you're mainly coming to inspect our library?"
"Yes," Giles answered, writhing uncomfortably. He felt everyone's gaze upon him, and it wasn't that pleasant being watched. But after a reproachful look from Willow, everyone turned to look out through the beautifully crafted window, to inspect the suddenly very interesting surroundings. "I was a librarian at Sunnydale High, back when Miss Summers and her friends went there."
Buffy frowned, once again looking at Xander for some sort of reaction. "Miss Summers?" She turned to Giles. "Hey, what's with the formalities, mister Giles?"
Giles tried to look stern. Unfortunately, a stupid smile still occupied his lips, and the result of his efforts turned out a horrible grimace, most of all resembling some sort of stoned duck. "That is how Watchers are to address their Slayers, Miss Summers."

Minerva glared at them. "Excuse me, but it seems your… is it 'Slayer'? Yes, your Slayer is having some behavioural difficulties… Ripper."
"Yes. While I have tried every method possible to improve her manners, she's still somewhat traumatised from her life as an American citizen." Giles caught Buffy's eye and winked at her, and she understood. He wanted to at least appear professional in front of professor McGonagall, and that was an impossibility if they continued the open, sarcastic dialogue they had always had between them. Buffy winked back. She could deal with it a couple of days. She just had to keep all of what was bottled up inside her… inside until then.
"I am a hopeless case, professor. Please do forgive me if I have offended you with my frank and impolite tone of speech," she said, faking a British accent. Xander looked like he was going to burst into either laughter or tears – possibly both at the same time. But he restrained himself.
McGonagall looked at her, a strange look on her face. But she didn't comment on Buffy's behaviour again during the trip.

Arriving at the castle, the Scoobies couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of it all. There seemed to be no end to the towers, and the architecture looked like something out of a fairytale. Just the fact that they were able to see anything at all was an honour, Buffy had come to realise. Giles had told her before they'd begun their trip that muggles – ordinary people – normally weren't able to see the castle in all its splendour. But the professors at Hogwarts, and finally the headmaster himself, had been courteous enough to let them, through the use of high magic. Willow hadn't got the information, though; Giles had figured that she might've tried to figure the whole procedure out if she'd known that magic was involved in any way, and since she was still on the recovery, he kept it quiet. So to her, it wasn't some big miracle, but to the rest of them, it was magnificent.

As they walked into the Great Hall, a bunch of teachers came forth to welcome them. There were few students to be seen, though; McGonagall had explained that they were currently in class.
The group of teachers was very friendly and informative. They told Giles about the story of the school, how it all had begun and up to the present day and time, although it was a fairly short version.

"Ask miss Granger if you want to know anything else," said professor McGonagall, pushing a brown-haired girl forward. "I've deployed her and a couple of more students to escort you to what will serve as your sleeping quarters during your stay here, but she seems to be the only one who's showed up. The students' obedience here are sometimes quite servile, but I'm sure miss Granger will do her job." She walked away, Giles' gaze following her as she went down the hall.
Xander stared at the girl standing in front of him. She was carrying more books under her arm than he would have thought possible with her skinny arms, and as a construction worker, he was thoroughly impressed.
The girl McGonagall had introduced as miss Granger shook Giles' hand vigorously using her free arm. "Pleased to meet you, mister Giles."
He let go of her hand to gesture vaguely toward the Scoobies, who were standing just behind him. "Likewise, I assure you. Well, perhaps I should introduce you… this is Buffy Summers, also known as the Slayer."
The girl nodded, curtsying. "I've read about you, miss Summers. It's an honour."
Buffy grinned. "Please. It's not like I'm a goddess or something. Defeated one once, though.I'm just plain old me."
"But still," the girl persisted, "you've done spectacular work. I think you'd be perfectly fit to be an Auror."
"An… an Auror?" Buffy looked perplexed. This wasn't the kind of praise she had been expecting.
"They do similar work to yours," miss Granger explained.
"Oh."
"And the others are her… co-workers," continued Giles, "for a lack of a better word."
"Also known as 'the sidekicks'," Xander added humorously. "I'm Xander, and this lovely redhead is Willow."
Willow granted her a big, warm smile. The girl smiled back, nodding. "You're a witch."

Willow's smile faded but slightly, a puzzled look on her face. "Umm… yes, I am. How did you know?" she asked carefully.
"Please," said the girl, giggling slightly. "I've been on the Internet, you know. I'm muggleborn, so I have some access to technical search-engines."
"I'm on the Internet?!"
"Of course. You all are."
"Well, what did you expect," mumbled Xander. "Everything's on the Net these days. You should know, seeing as your out surfing all the time. And hey, the work we do, we should get some recognition."
"Right," coughed Willow, taken aback by the sudden surprise. "Right."

Some seconds later, a boy came walking up toward them. He was obviously looking for miss Granger, and he advanced through the hall quickly to get to her.
"Hermione!"
The girl turned her head, and detected the boy instantly. "Hi, Harry. Come over here and greet the guests!"
"Guests?" Harry frowned, looking at the Scoobies. Then, his frown vanished and he smiled courteously. "Right, McGonagall put you in charge of the welcoming committee."
"Malfoy didn't turn up, of course," she said, rolling her eyes. "That wasn't such a surprise. But Neville was supposed to help, too, and he's usually all about commitment. I'm getting worried something might've happened to him. Was he at Potions class?"
"Yeah," Harry answered her, correcting his untidy hair. "He had an accident while brewing a potion… well, you know Neville. You can imagine Snape's reaction. He literally threw the poor guy out, bellowing the he should get to madam Pomfrey as soon as possible."
Buffy inspected the boy as he talked. He seemed quite a plain character. There was nothing special about him, really; he wore the same outfit as the rest of the pupils, and thick, round glasses. The only thing mildly interesting was the scar in his forehead, shaped as a lightening-bolt.

"Interesting scar you've got there," she said, disrupting the conversation he'd been having with Hermione. "What's your secret? I can't ever seem to get my scars to shape that appealingly."
The boy met her investigating gaze, smiling lopsidedly. "Couldn't tell you. I didn't put it there."
"But then, who…"
"Silence, Buffy." Giles' stern tone of voice shut her up efficiently. The look on his face told her she shouldn't ask more, rather just be still and hold her mouth.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"It's okay," Harry retorted. "It's just, it's kind of complicated, that's all. And I understand that you have got to get going and unpack, am I right?"
Giles nodded approvingly. "Now here's someone you could learn from, Buffy. Right down to business. You get so much more work done that way."
"Yeah, and in such a dull and uninteresting way, too!" sneered Buffy under her breath. Giles pretended not to hear, lifting up his luggage. He'd brought only the most important things – clothes, toothbrush and a couple of booklists. Buffy's luggage was considerably larger, and contained multiple changes of clothing, at least three pairs of shoes and a make-up kit.
"All set? Then let's go!" said Hermione, leading them off towards the nearest staircase.

They were given a room located somewhere between the Gryffindor girls' and boys' dorms. Since they knew each other so well, that wasn't a problem, sharing a room unisex style. The only condition was that the 'boys' had to promise not to sleep in the nude, a request they were more than happy to accommodate.
After the gang had unpacked, Harry and Hermione introduced them to the nicer students, which pretty much meant anyone who wasn't in Slytherin house. Buffy got the impression that Harry had built up his own little 'Scooby gang' at Hogwarts. There was Hermione Granger, of course - a girl who resembled Willow, back in the early days when she had been a bit of a geek – but also a redhead boy named Ron Weasley, a quite shy character. The latter apparently had numerous siblings who also attended the same school.

After a while, Willow began to feel queasy. She didn't know why, but she had a terrible stomach-ache, and her head was spinning. Giles helped her to get to madam Pomfrey, allowing Buffy to stay with all of the new people.