Author's Note: Cybred - Of course things went the way it did in BTVS canon. Why wouldn't it? If I had sent an army of HP witches and wizards down into the Hellmouth it would have been over in a heartbeat. Where is the fun in that? It's why the majority of HP witches and wizards were upstairs guarding the exits. Also remember that Buffy's wand was snapped several chapters ago by Spike (she gets her new one in two more chapters) so the only one carrying a wand in the Hellmouth was Dawn.

Chapter 55: Horace Slughorn

Dawn had spent the remainder of the day after their arrival, and after Madam Pomfrey had healed the last of the wounded, portaling those former Potentials who were American citizens back and forth to L.A. where Angel had helped them to get passports so that they could officially leave the country. Once back at Grimmauld Place Buffy had taken them to someone from the Ministry of Magic who worked in British customs so that they could get their passports stamped.

Dumbledore before leaving had told Buffy, Harry and Dawn that he would return that Friday. He had something he needed Dawn and Harry's help with. Then he suggested because of the cramped conditions of Grimmauld Place that till the newly formed Slayer's Council took possession of the castle in Scotland that Buffy, Dawn and Harry should spend the rest of the summer with the Weasleys.

Buffy had been glad that when she had explained to her friends and family what the plan was for The First that she had gotten everyone to take their possessions and move them here. As a result, Hedwig, Joyce, and Dawn's cat and Faith's owl as well as Willow, Harry, Dawn and Buffy's trunks and personal possessions were already here.

Harry had asked if he could get a copy of the Daily Prophet to get news and Buffy had reluctantly agreed since she had forgot to ask Dumbledore what had been going while they had been fighting their war in Sunnydale.

They had learned that Rufus Scrimgeour had succeeded Fudge as Minister of Magic.

They had also learned that every single one of the Education Decrees had been rescinded. Something Harry himself was happy to hear as it meant he was likely no longer banned from Quidditch.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Buffy?" said Faith as she walked up to the blonde Slayer. "Sirius and I have been talking about after the wedding. Mainly about our last names. Neither of us truly love our last names, we both have baggage associated with our last names. I would like to ask if I could take your last name as my own. Then when Sirius marries me he could then take it also."

"Faith Summ…" said Buffy.

"Potter," corrected Faith.

Buffy smiled and nodded. "That would make you my sister in a way. Are you okay with that?"

"I'm five by five," answered Faith. "What about you though?"

Buffy smiled as she pulled the brunette Slayer into her arms and hugged her. "I would be happy to consider you my sister."

"So, would I," said two voices in unison as they turned and saw Dawn and Harry standing in the doorway of the bedroom.

"And Faith," said Dawn. "I would be proud to be your bridesmaid."

July 20, 2003

Everyone was finishing breakfast when Dumbledore apparated into the hall.

"Good evening, everyone," said Dumbledore as he stepped into the kitchen, looking at them through his half-moon glasses with a most satisfied expression. He spotted Dawn and Harry. "Buffy, I have taken the liberty of talking to Ministry officials in the Land office about the castle. They have started the process of transferring it into your name. I would suggest, Sirius, that once that is done you go there and make it habitable for the Slayers. Remus will meet you there and help you, that way you won't be away from your fiancée for very long."

"Thank you," Sirius said as he looked toward Faith.

"Is there anything we can do?" Xander asked.

"Yours and Ms. Jenkins services of course will be required once you move into the castle. For now, help Ms. Lehane with her charges."

Harry noticed that Dumbledore's wand hand in the days since the Battle of Sunnydale had become blackened and shriveled; it looked as though his flesh had been burned away. "Sir—what happened to your—?"

"Later, Harry," said Dumbledore. He then turned to Willow. "Willow, since we know you will be going with Buffy to Hogwarts when the new term starts. I have been thinking that you could take Buffy's guidance counselor position. That would open it back up during the day as well as give you both a job at Hogwarts."

"What do you think, baby?" Willow asked as she looked at her wife.

"I will miss doing it of course," Buffy said. "But Albus is correct. It's either you have a job or during the day you have to sit in our suite with nothing to do."

"I'll do it," Willow said as Dumbledore smiled.

"Albus," Buffy said. "I talked with Sirius. We've decided we would like to get rid of Kreacher. We know he knows too much about the Order just to set him free. We were thinking with your permission we could order him to work in the kitchens at Hogwarts."

"You have it, Buffy," Dumbledore said.

"Kreacher!" Buffy called as the house elf appeared before her.

"Yes, Mistress," Kreacher replied.

"You will go work in the kitchens of Hogwarts for the remainder of your days," Buffy ordered.

The house elf immediately disappeared.

"If there is no other business," Dumbledore said. "Dawn, Willow, Harry, Buffy are your trunks packed?"

"They are," Buffy said. "We never unpacked them after sending them here before the Battle of Sunnydale.

"Good, good. Go get them as it is time for us to be off," said Dumbledore.

"Faith," Buffy said. "Take good care of our new sister Slayers."

"I will, Buffy," Faith said.

"That reminds me," Dumbledore said. "Sirius, do you still have your mirror?"

"I do," Sirius replied.

"Good," Dumbledore said. "That way Ms. Lehane can continue to stay in contact with Buffy for anything Slayer related."

Buffy, Dawn, Harry and Willow went to retrieve their things and returned moments later.

"We do not want to be encumbered by these just now," Dumbledore said, pulling out his wand. "I shall send them to the Burrow to await us there. However, I would like you to bring your Invisibility Cloak, Harry… just in case."

Harry extracted his cloak from his trunk. When he had stuffed it into an inside pocket of his jacket, Dumbledore waved his wand and the trunks, cages, with all three owls and Dawn's cat vanished.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Keep your wands at the ready," Dumbledore said brightly.

"I have to go to Diagon Alley, Albus, remember," Buffy said. "Spike snapped mine in half before we got him detriggered."

"Ah yes," Dumbledore said.

"Aren't Harry and I no longer allowed to use magic till the start of term?" Dawn asked. "After all we're not on the hellmouth anymore."

"If there is an attack," said Dumbledore, "I give you permission to use any counterjinx or curse that might occur to you. However, I do not think you need worry about being attacked tonight. After all you are with myself, Buffy and Willow."

Dumbledore came to an abrupt halt. "This will do. Of course, none of you have passed your Apparition Tests. So, Dawn, you will need to hold my hand very tightly. My left, if you don't mind—as you have noticed, my wand arm is a little fragile at the moment. Then when we get to where we're going you will open a portal for Buffy, Harry and Willow so they can join us."

Dawn gripped Dumbledore's proffered forearm.

"Very good," said Dumbledore. "Well, here we go."

Dawn added a little of her Slayer strength to her grip; the next thing she knew, everything went black; she was being pressed very hard from all directions; she could not breathe, there were iron bands tightening around her chest; her eyeballs were being forced back into her head; her eardrums were being pushed deeper into her skull and then—

Dawn gulped great lungfuls of cold night air and opened her streaming eyes. She felt as though she had just been forced through a very tight rubber tube.

"Take a minute, Dawn, the sensation does take getting used to," Dumbledore said. "Then open the portal to Harry, Buffy and Willow."

Dawn nodded as she breathed in and out for a few seconds before standing upright and closing her eyes. She pictured her family and opened the portal. Harry, Buffy and Willow stepped out of it a moment later.

Dumbledore drew his traveling cloak a little more tightly around his neck, and said, "This way." He set off at a brisk pace, past an empty inn and a few houses.

"So, tell me, Dawn, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Your scars… have they been hurting at all?"

"No," Dawn and Harry said simultaneously.

"Sadly, I have not had the chance to do any Occlumency lessons with Harry or Dawn since we were busy with the First," Buffy said.

"Understandable, Buffy," Dumbledore said. "Your priority was in ensuring the world did not end."

"I've been wondering why they haven't been hurting," Harry said. "I thought it would be burning all the time now Voldemort's getting so powerful again. Was it because of the hellmouth?"

"It could have been," said Dumbledore. "But it could also have been because Lord Voldemort has finally realized the dangerous access to his thoughts and feelings you both have been enjoying. It appears that he is now employing Occlumency against you both."

"Well, I'm not complaining," said Harry.

"Neither am I," Dawn said.

They turned a corner, passing a telephone box and a bus shelter.

"Albus," Willow said. "Where are we?"

"This, Willow, is the charming village of Budleigh Babberton."

"Albus," Buffy said. "You have yet to say why you needed Dawn and Harry today."

"Ah yes, of course, I haven't told you," said Dumbledore. "Well, I have lost count of the number of times I have said this in recent years, but we are, once again, one member of staff short. We are here to persuade an old colleague of mine to come out of retirement and return to Hogwarts."

"Why not have Willow do it?" Dawn asked.

"I have a specific person in mind," Dumbledore explained. "No offense to you, Willow."

They proceeded up a steep, narrow street lined with houses.

"Professor, why couldn't we just Apparate directly into your old colleague's house?" Harry asked.

"Because it would be quite as rude as kicking down the front door," said Dumbledore. "Courtesy dictates that we offer fellow wizards the opportunity of denying us entry. In any case, most Wizarding dwellings are magically protected from unwanted Apparators. At Hogwarts, for instance—"

"—you can't Apparate anywhere inside the buildings or grounds," said Harry quickly. "The only thing that can bypass the magical protection has been Dawn and the Key."

"Right you are, Harry," said Dumbledore. "And you know why that is?"

"Because the Key is older than anyone knows. So old that the founders of the school didn't think to shield against it," Harry said.

"Yes."

They were nearing a small, neat stone house set in its own garden. As they reached the front gate, Dumbledore stopped dead.

Buffy, Dawn, Willow and Harry followed his gaze up the carefully tended front path and saw the front door was hanging off its hinges.

Buffy moved forward as she reached behind her back and unholstered the scythe. She led them through the gate and up the garden path. She pushed the front door very slowly, the scythe at the ready.

"Lumos," Dumbledore said as his wand tip ignited, casting its light up a narrow hallway. To the left, another door stood open.

Buffy walked into the sitting room with Dumbledore, Harry, Dawn and Willow right behind her.

A scene of total devastation met their eyes. A grandfather clock lay splintered at their feet, its face cracked, its pendulum lying a little farther away like a dropped sword. A piano was on its side, its keys strewn across the floor. The wreckage of a fallen chandelier glittered nearby. Cushions lay deflated, feathers oozing from slashes in their sides; fragments of glass and china lay like powder over everything. Dumbledore raised his wand even higher, so that its light was thrown upon the walls, where something darkly red and glutinous was spattered over the wallpaper. Harry's small intake of breath made Dumbledore look around.

"Something horrible has happened here," Dumbledore said.

Buffy moved carefully into the middle of the room, scrutinizing the wreckage at her feet as Dumbledore followed. They looked at the wreckage and found no sign of a body.

"Buffy, could he have been dragged outside?" Dawn wondered.

"No," Buffy said peering behind an overstuffed armchair lying on its side. She nudged the seat of the overstuffed armchair with the scythe, which yelled, "Ouch!"

"Good evening, Horace," said Dumbledore.

Where a split second before there had been an armchair, there now crouched an enormously fat, bald, old man who was massaging his lower belly and squinting up at Buffy with an aggrieved and watery eye.

"There was no need to stick that thing that hard," he said gruffly, clambering to his feet. "It hurt. What gave it away?" He grunted as he staggered to his feet, still rubbing his lower belly. He seemed remarkably unabashed for a man who had just been discovered pretending to be an armchair.

"I'm a Slayer," said Buffy. "I can sometimes sense things out of the norm."

"Also, my dear Horace," said Dumbledore, looking amused, "if the Death Eaters really had come to call, the Dark Mark would have been set over the house."

The wizard clapped a pudgy hand to his vast forehead. "The Dark Mark," he muttered. "Knew there was something… ah well. Wouldn't have had time anyway, I'd only just put the finishing touches to my upholstery when the Slayer entered the room." He heaved a great sigh that made the ends of his mustache flutter.

"Would you like my assistance clearing up?" asked Dumbledore politely.

"Please," said the other.

They stood back to back, the tall thin wizard and the short round one, and waved their wands in one identical sweeping motion.

The furniture flew back to its original places; ornaments reformed in midair, feathers zoomed into their cushions; torn books repaired themselves as they landed upon their shelves; oil lanterns soared onto side tables and reignited; a vast collection of splintered silver picture frames flew glittering across the room and alighted, whole and untarnished, upon a desk; rips, cracks, and holes healed everywhere, and the walls wiped themselves clean.

"What kind of blood was that?" asked Buffy.

"On the walls? Dragon," said the wizard called Horace, as, with a deafening grinding and tinkling, the chandelier screwed itself back into the ceiling.

There was a final plunk from the piano, and silence.

"Yes, dragon," repeated the wizard conversationally. "My last bottle, and prices are sky-high at the moment. Still, it might be reusable."

He stumped over to a small crystal bottle standing on top of a sideboard and held it up to the light, examining the thick liquid within. "Hmm. Bit dusty." He set the bottle back on the sideboard and sighed. It was then that his gaze fell upon Dawn and Harry.

"Oho," he said, his large round eyes flying to Dawn and Harry's foreheads and the lightning-shaped scars they bore. "Oho!"

"As you have already guessed," said Dumbledore, moving forward to make introductions, "this is Elizabeth "Buffy" Potter, the Slayer. Her wife, Willow Potter, a wiccan witch. Her sister Dawn Potter, a Slayer and a Wiccan witch. And her brother Harry Potter. Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Harry, this is an old friend and colleague of mine, Horace Slughorn."

Slughorn turned on Dumbledore, his expression shrewd. "So that's how you thought you'd persuade me, is it? Well, the answer's no, Albus." He pushed past the Potter family; his face turned resolutely away with the air of a man trying to resist temptation.

"I suppose we can have a drink, at least?" asked Dumbledore. "For old time's sake?"

Slughorn hesitated.

"All right then, one drink," he said ungraciously.

Dumbledore directed Buffy, Dawn, Willow and Harry toward chairs not unlike the one that Slughorn had so recently impersonated, which stood right beside the newly burning fire and a brightly glowing oil lamp. They took the seats.

"Hmpf," Slughorn said, having briefly looked at the Potter family. He looked away quickly as though frightened of hurting his eyes. "Here—" He gave a drink to Dumbledore, then thrust the tray at Buffy who handed a drink to both of her siblings and her wife. He sank into the cushions of the repaired sofa and a disgruntled silence.

"Well, how have you been keeping, Horace?" Dumbledore asked.

"Not so well," said Slughorn at once. "Weak chest. Wheezy. Rheumatism too. Can't move like I used to. Well, that's to be expected. Old age. Fatigue."

"And yet you must have moved fairly quickly to prepare such a welcome for us at such short notice," said Dumbledore. "You can't have had more than three minutes' warning?"

Slughorn said, half irritably, half proudly, "Two. Didn't hear my Intruder Charm go off, I was taking a bath. Still," he added sternly, seeming to pull himself back together again, "the fact remains that I'm an old man, Albus. A tired old man who's earned the right to a quiet life and a few creature comforts."

"You're not yet as old as I am, Horace," said Dumbledore.

"Well, maybe you ought to think about retirement yourself," said Slughorn bluntly. His pale gooseberry eyes had found Dumbledore's injured hand. "Reactions not what they were, I see."

"You're quite right," said Dumbledore serenely, shaking back his sleeve to reveal the tips of those burned and blackened fingers. "I am undoubtedly slower than I was. But on the other hand…" He shrugged and spread his hands wide, as though to say that age had its compensations.

"So, all these precautions against intruders, Horace… are they for the Death Eaters' benefit, or mine?" asked Dumbledore.

"What would the Death Eaters want with a poor broken-down old buffer like me?" demanded Slughorn.

"I imagine that they would want you to turn your considerable talents to coercion, torture, and murder," said Dumbledore. "Are you really telling me that they haven't come recruiting yet?"

Slughorn eyed Dumbledore balefully for a moment, then muttered, "I haven't given them the chance. I've been on the move for a year. Never stay in one place more than a week. Move from Muggle house to Muggle house—the owners of this place are on holiday in the Canary Islands—it's been very pleasant; I'll be sorry to leave. It's quite easy once you know how, one simple Freezing Charm on these absurd burglar alarms they use instead of Sneakoscopes and make sure the neighbors don't spot you bringing in the piano."

"Ingenious," said Dumbledore. "But it sounds a rather tiring existence for a broken-down old buffer in search of a quiet life. Now, if you were to return to Hogwarts—"

"If you're going to tell me my life would be more peaceful at that pestilential school, you can save your breath, Albus! I might have been in hiding, but some funny rumors have reached me since Dolores Umbridge left! If that's how you treat teachers these days—"

Buffy looked at her siblings. "Did you two do something to her?"

"Like drop her in another portal that landed her in front of a bunch of centaurs?" Dawn said as she smiled at her sister. "Why yes I did. Then she had the stupid idea to insult them from what I heard."

Buffy chuckled and both Dumbledore and Slughorn looked round at her. "Sorry," she said. "But, Albus, you knew what I thought of her."

"I do," Dumbledore said as he stood up rather suddenly.

"Are you leaving?" asked Slughorn at once, looking hopeful.

"No, I was wondering whether I might use your bathroom," said Dumbledore.

"Oh," said Slughorn, clearly disappointed. "Second on the left down the hall."

Dumbledore strode from the room. Once the door had closed behind him, there was silence. After a few moments, Slughorn got to his feet but seemed uncertain what to do with himself. He shot a furtive look at the Potters, then crossed to the fire and turned his back on it, warming his wide behind.

"Don't think I don't know why he's brought you all," he said abruptly. He looked at Buffy and Harry. "You two look very much like your parents."

"We know," Buffy said.

"Hmpf. Yes, well. You shouldn't have favorites as a teacher, of course, but Lily was one of mine. One of the brightest I ever taught. Vivacious, you know. Charming girl. I used to tell her she ought to have been in my House. Very cheeky answers I used to get back too."

"Which was your House?" Willow asked.

"I was Head of Slytherin," said Slughorn. He looked at Buffy. "I knew you know. Oh, sure they kept it a secret with charms. But I knew, the glow your parents had when they found out that she was pregnant." He sighed and then turned and looked at Harry and Dawn. "You two are in Gryffindor I suppose, like her? Yes, it usually goes in families. Not always, though. Ever heard of Sirius Black?"

"We have," Buffy said. "He's our godfather."

"Then you know he was a big pal of your father's at school. The whole Black family had been in my House, but Sirius ended up in Gryffindor! Shame—he was a talented boy. I got his brother, Regulus, when he came along, but I'd have liked the set."

He sounded like an enthusiastic collector who had been outbid at auction. Apparently lost in memories, he gazed at the opposite wall, turning idly on the spot to ensure an even heat on his backside.

"I assume you know your mother was Muggle-born, of course?" he asked as Buffy, Dawn and Harry nodded. "Couldn't believe it when I found out. Thought she must have been pure-blood, she was so good."

"My wife here is Muggle-born," Buffy said. "And one of our friends, who's in Harry and Dawn's year, is also Muggle-born."

"She's the best in our year," Harry added.

He bounced up and down a little, smiling in a self-satisfied way, and pointed at the many glittering photograph frames on the dresser, each peopled with tiny moving occupants.

"All ex-students, all signed. You'll notice Barnabas Cuffe, editor of the Daily Prophet, he's always interested to hear my take on the day's news. And Ambrosius Flume, of Honeydukes—a hamper every birthday, and all because I was able to give him an introduction to Ciceron Harkiss, who gave him his first job! And at the back—you'll see her if you just crane your neck—that's Gwenog Jones, who of course captains the Holyhead Harpies… People are always astonished to hear I'm on first-name terms with the Harpies, and free tickets whenever I want them!"

"And all these people know where to find you, to send you stuff?" asked Harry.

The smile slid from Slughorn's face as quickly as the blood from his walls. "Of course not," he said. "I have been out of touch with everybody for a year. Still… the prudent wizard keeps his head down in such times. All very well for Dumbledore to talk, but taking up a post at Hogwarts just now would be tantamount to declaring my public allegiance to the Order of the Phoenix! And while I'm sure they're very admirable and brave and all the rest of it, I don't personally fancy the mortality rate—"

"You don't have to join the Order to teach at Hogwarts," said Buffy. "I'm not officially in it since I'm a Slayer and have other responsibilities. But there are other teachers who are not in the Order."

"I reckon the staff are safer than most people while Dumbledore's headmaster; he's supposed to be the only one Voldemort ever feared, isn't he?" Harry asked.

Slughorn gazed into space for a moment or two.

"Well, yes, it is true that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has never sought a fight with Dumbledore," he muttered grudgingly. "And I suppose one could argue that as I have not joined the Death Eaters, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named can hardly count me a friend… in which case, I might well be safer a little closer to Albus… I cannot pretend that Amelia Bones's death did not shake me… If she, with all her Ministry contacts and protection…"

Dumbledore reentered the room and Slughorn jumped as though he had forgotten he was in the house.

"Oh, there you are, Albus," he said. "You've been a very long time. Upset stomach?"

"No, I was merely reading the Muggle magazines," said Dumbledore. "I do love knitting patterns. Well, Buffy, Harry, Dawn, Willow, we have trespassed upon Horace's hospitality quite long enough; I think it is time for us to leave."

Buffy, Dawn, Willow and Harry got to their feet.

Slughorn seemed taken aback. "You're leaving?"

"Yes, indeed. I think I know a lost cause when I see one."

"Lost…?"

Slughorn seemed agitated. He twiddled his fat thumbs and fidgeted as he watched Dumbledore fasten his traveling cloak.

"Well, I'm sorry you don't want the job, Horace," said Dumbledore, raising his uninjured hand in a farewell salute. "Hogwarts would have been glad to see you back again. Our greatly increased security notwithstanding, you will always be welcome to visit, should you wish to."

"Yes… well… very gracious… as I say…"

"Good-bye, then."

"Bye," said Harry, Dawn, Buffy and Willow.

They were at the front door when there was a shout from behind them.

"All right, all right, I'll do it!"

Dumbledore turned to see Slughorn standing breathless in the doorway to the sitting room. "You will come out of retirement?"

"Yes, yes," said Slughorn impatiently. "I must be mad, but yes."

"Wonderful," said Dumbledore, beaming. "Then, Horace, we shall see you on the first of September."

"Yes, I daresay you will," grunted Slughorn.

As they stepped outside and set off down the garden path, they saw that night had fallen. Slughorn's voice floated after them, "I'll want a pay raise, Dumbledore!"

Dumbledore chuckled. The garden gate swung shut behind them, and they set off back down the hill through the dark and the swirling mist.

"Well done," said Dumbledore.

"So, what exactly did we do there," Willow wondered.

"You four showed Horace exactly how much he stands to gain by returning to Hogwarts. He likes his comfort. He also likes the company of the famous, the successful, and the powerful. Hence why I brought all four of you instead of just Dawn and Harry as originally planned," explained Dumbledore. "He enjoys the feeling that he influences these people. He has never wanted to occupy the throne himself; he prefers the backseat—more room to spread out, you see."

"He used to handpick favorites at Hogwarts, sometimes for their ambition or their brains, sometimes for their charm or their talent, and he had an uncanny knack for choosing those who would go on to become outstanding in their various fields. Horace formed a kind of club of his favorites with himself at the center, making introductions, forging useful contacts between members, and always reaping some kind of benefit in return, whether a free box of his favorite crystalized pineapple or the chance to recommend the next junior member of the Goblin Liaison Office."

"I tell you all this," Dumbledore continued, "to put you on your guards. Harry, Dawn, he will undoubtedly try to collect the two of you. And through you both." He looked at Buffy and Willow. "You four will be the jewels of his collection; 'the Boy and Girl Who Lived', 'The Slayer', and 'The Wiccan Witch.'"

Dumbledore stopped walking, level with the church they had passed earlier. "This will do, Dawn. A portal to the Burrow if you please."

Dawn nodded and opened the portal and they stepped through it and into the garden of the Weasleys.

"If you don't mind, Buffy," said Dumbledore, as they passed through the gate, "I'd like a few words with you before we part. In private. Perhaps in here?" He pointed toward a run-down stone outhouse where the Weasleys kept their broomsticks.

"I'll tell you guys later," Buffy said as she followed Dumbledore through the creaking door

Dumbledore illuminated the tip of his wand, so that it glowed like a torch. "I wanted to mention first that I am pleased and a little proud at how well you handled what happened in Sunnydale," he said. "That was a difficult situation. Worse than any you have ever faced. I take my hat off to you—or I would, if I were not afraid of showering you in spiders. And now, Buffy, on a different subject, it is my wish that you, Willow, Harry and Dawn take private lessons with me this year."

"Does this have to do with Voldemort and the prophecy?" Buffy asked.

"Very much so," said Dumbledore.

"Since Severus refused to give Harry and Dawn Occlumency lessons toward the end of the term," Buffy said. "And since I had him teach me for the remainder of the term. Would you like me to take that up and teach Harry and Dawn?"

"I think they would no longer need them. I think Voldemort learned his lesson at the Ministry not to mess with a Slayer," he said. "Which means even though he does not want Harry or Dawn to share his thoughts or emotions. I no longer believe he will attempt to possess them either. He doesn't know how far reaching the Slayer spirit is. He does not know, with Harry being your brother, if it resides within Harry as well."

"Lastly, I want Harry to keep his Invisibility Cloak with him at all times, even within Hogwarts itself. And while they would not be as good as Harry's I would like to recommend when you four go to Diagon Alley that you buy one each for yourself, Dawn and Willow."

"Alright," agreed Buffy.

"Very well, then," said Dumbledore.

"One last thing," said Buffy. "I don't know how this kind of thing works in the wizarding world. But Faith and Sirius both dislike their family names. So, Faith asked if she could take my last name, Potter, as her own. I told her yes, that I would love to be her sister."

Dumbledore nodded. "Go to Gringotts and testify to that fact before the goblins. They have people working in muggle offices in the various government offices around the country who can make the changes. At that point she will become your sister in all but blood." He then pushed open the broom shed door and stepped out into the yard. "Let us not deprive Molly any longer of the chance to deplore how thin you are."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "And you've seen how much I eat."

"Yes," Dumbledore laughed.