Chapter 1- Introduction
A cold chilling voice spoke, "Nagini has interesting news, Wormtail," it said.
"In-indeed, My lord?" said Wormtail.
"Indeed, yes," said the voice. "According to Nagini, there is an old muggle standing right outside this room, listening to every word we say."
The old man didn't have a chance to hide himself. There were footsteps, and then the door of the room was flung wide open.
A short, balding man with graying hair, a pointed nose, and small, watery eyes stood before the old man, a mixture of fear and alarm in his face.
"Invite him inside, Wormtail. Where are your manners?"
The cold voice was coming from the ancient armchair before the fire, but the old man couldn't see the speaker. The snake, on the other hand, was curled up on a rotting rug.
Wormtail beckoned the old man into the room. Deeply shaken, the old man took a firm grip on his walking stick and limped over the threshold.
The fire was the only source of light in the room; it cast long, spidery shadows upon the walls. The old man stared at the back of the armchair; the man inside it seemed to be even smaller than his servant, for the old man couldn't even see the back of his head.
"You heard everything, Muggle?" said the cold voice.
"What's that you're calling me?" said the old man defiantly.
"I am calling you a Muggle," said the voice coolly. "It means that you are not a wizard."
"I don't know what you mean by a wizard," said the old man, his voice growing steadier. "All I know is I've heard enough to interest the police tonight, I have. You've done murder and you're planning more! And I'll tell you this too," he added, "my wife knows I'm up here, and If I don't come back-"
"You have no wife," said the cold voice, very quietly. "Nobody knows you are here. You told nobody that you were coming. Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, Muggle, for he knows... he always knows..."
"Is that right?" said the old man roughly. "Lord, is it? Well I don't think much of your manners, My Lord. Turn 'round and face me like a man, why don't you?"
"But I am not a man, Muggle," said the cold voice, barely audible now over the crackling of the flames. "I am much, much more than a man. However... why not? I will face you... Wormtail, come turn my chair around."
The servant gave a whimper.
"You heard me, Wormtail."
Slowly, with his face screwed up, as though he would rather have done anything than approach his master and the rug where the snake lay, the small man walked forward and began to turn the chair. The snake lifted its ugly triangular head and hissed slightly as the legs of the chair snagged on its rug.
And then the chair was facing the old man, and he saw what was sitting in it. His walking stick fell to the floor with a clatter. He opened his mouth and let out a scream. He was screaming so loudly that he never heard the words the thing in the chair spoke as it raised a wand. There was a flash of green light, a rushing sound, and the old man, otherwise known as Frank Bryce crumpled. He was dead before he hit the floor.
Across the country, a scrawny ten year old boy with short raven hair woke up with a start, his scream caught in his throat, his blue eyes popping open.
His face was shining with sweat, his breathing erratic. This was the third time this week he had had that dream, and he couldn't figure out why.
"Alexander! Wake up!"
He jumped about ten feet in the air, before falling out of bed with a loud thump.
"What was that?!"
"Nothing," shouted Alexander, dusting himself off as he rose to his feet. He looked up and saw a little kid in his doorway with a mop of unruly brown hair, and mischievous green eyes. "Hey, Jack, what's up?"
"Breakfast is ready," he wrinkled his nose. "But you might want to take a shower before joining us."
Alexander looked down at himself before letting loose a contagious laugh, " I think you may be right, Camille would definitely disapprove."
Jack smiled and turned to leave before turning around again. At Alexander's questioning gaze, a smile lit up his face, and he brought forth a letter that he had been hiding behind his back. "I almost forgot, a letter arrived for you this morning," he handed over the letter, and Alexander turned over the letter again and again, not believing he had actually received any mail. "Well, are you going to open it, or not?"
Alexander shot Jack a mock glare, and proceeded to sit down on his bed, Jack clambered up shortly after. Alexander paused, not sure If he wanted to read what was inside the letter, after all, why would anyone write to him now when they hadn't written to him before. "Come on, Alec," Jack whined, "open it already.
Alec sent Jack a tired smile, and crossing his fingers, hoping there wasn't anything too horrible on the inside, he ripped open the letter.
Dear Mr. Bennett,
I have heard of your little predicament, and I thought I should write to you, so I might be able to express in words how terribly awful that must have been, and I offer my condolences to you. It was a major loss to the community and I was sad to hear that it had befallen to you. And I know that I can not fix anything that has happened since the incident, but I hope I can still offer you some solace in your tragedy. So, without further a do, I extend an invitation for you to join us at Hogwarts this year as a fourth year student. If you would like to join us this year, please reply as soon as you can. I hope to see you at Hogwarts this year.
Sincerely, Albus Percival Dumbledore.
"What the heck is that supposed to mean?", asked Jack. An annoyed meow was heard and then a small, sleek black cat with icy blue eyes jumped up on the bed, and curled up between the two of them. "See!" Jack exclaimed, "Ash agrees with me too."
Alec rolled his eyes good naturedly, and scratched Ash behind the ears affectionately. "It means that this Dumbledore has heard about my school being burned down, and he is offering me a place at his school."
Ash turned her gaze up at Alec, looking imploringly into his eyes, as if saying this is not a good idea. If there ever was an overly suspicious cat, this was the one.
"You mean a magic school?", Jack had his overly curious eyes trained on Alec, and he almost let out a curse when he realized Jack had said those words out loud.
Alec sent his famous death glare Jack's way, jumped up to his feet, and closed the door. "Be careful what you say, what if Camille had heard you.", Jack ducked his head in shame, it almost made Alec wince in shame, almost. He had seen this trick before, heck he had performed this trick before, there was no way he was going to be out tricked by his own apprentice, no way. "Nice try, kid. But I came up with that trick, It might work on your mom, but it doesn't work on me."
Jack smiled up at Alec, and shook his head disappointed. "I wish. Other than you, she's the only other person it doesn't work on."
Alec smiled back at Jack with a contemplative look on his face. "I tried the same thing on your mom when I first came here, she didn't buy it at all. I just figured you'd be able to pull it off since you're her real kid."
Jack looked over at Alec sadly, and looked like he wanted to object to that statement, but Alec was avoiding his gaze, and petting Ash. Jack and Ash looked each other in the eyes and seemed to come to an understanding. They couldn't push Alec on the matter, or he'd just pull away, so it was joking time. "Yeah, well, mom's like a rock, unmovable. She's pretty cool like that."
A choked laugh fell out of Alec's throat, and he raised his head and nodded. "Yeah, your mom is pretty cool, a bit of a bad ass."
A clearing of a throat is heard, and as the two boys swivel themselves towards the doorway, there is Camille James, in all her glory.
Camille is a beautiful woman, early twenties, auburn hair, with a pair of piercing emerald eyes that could make a war hardened man start quivering in his boots. And at this moment she was looking at the two boys with steel in her eyes, her arms crossed. "Are you planning to join me for breakfast, or will I be eating alone."
The two boys looked absolutely gobsmacked, did she just say what we think she said? But the boy that looked the worst for wear was Alec, his face flushed, wondering how long Camille had been standing in the threshold without his knowledge, how much did she hear?
With all those thoughts running through his head, he never saw Camille approaching them, he never even noticed her until she put her cool hand to his forehead, and he almost jumped a foot in the air. Jack was smiling brightly, trying hard not to laugh, Alec glared at Jack, trying to hell him to shut up, but when Camille saw where his field of vision had turned to, and Jack's smiling face, she turned her icy glare on her son, "What's so funny?", the smile fell off Jack's face, and he didn't know how to respond to that. "Nothing. Then why don't you go downstairs and set the table.", Jack nodded, and bolted out of there as fast as humanly possible. A triumphant smile lit up Alec's face until Camille turned back around and focused all her attention on Alec, a disapproving frown gracing her features. "You don't seem to be ill, but you should take a shower before joining us for breakfast, and then we can reevaluate everything then." Alec nodded, and obediently leaped to his feet, running off to take a shower.
Camille smiled to herself as she disappeared from the room. Ash hissed at Camille's retreating back, and laid back down, waiting for Alec to return.
Alec was in the shower, relishing in the warmth as each drop brought as it touched his skin. He leaned his head back and looked on as each drop of water traveled from the shower head to the floor, absolutely mesmerized. Drip. Drip. Drip. He did not realize how much time had passed, watching each drop of water as it splattered against the shower floor until the temperature of the water changed from nice and warm to frigid and cold. He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower realizing it was time past to leave and join Jack and Camille for breakfast.
He stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist and looked at the scars that marked his body, he traced one with his finger but stopped, not allowing himself to relive those horrid memories. He wiped the condensation of the mirror with his hand, and for the first time that day saw his face, and instantly wished he hadn't. In the mirror was a face of a sad, hardened little boy. The depth of his blue eyes held such knowledge, too much knowledge for a mere boy of ten. And if that wasn't bad enough there were horrible bruise like shadows under his eyes, evidence that he hadn't had much sleep lately. He scowled and turned away from the mirror not wanting to look at his face any longer. It brought back too much pain and heartache, and he couldn't stand it a moment longer. So, he did the next best thing. He plastered on a fake smile, dressed in a tee and a pair of jeans, and marched downstairs, ready for breakfast with his "family".
Alec padded into the dining room, his bare feet slapping against the tile floor. As he appeared Jack peered up at him a mischievous smile on his face, his mouth full of bacon. "Hey, Alec."
Camille turned her stern gaze to her son, "no talking with your mouth full," Jack closed his mouth, properly chastised. And without missing a beat Camille turned her attention to Alec. "Alexander, how nice of you to join us.", Camille lifted her chin, a haughty expression adorning her face.
But Alec knew she wasn't being serious, at least not totally, so he just smiled back in earnest, and said, "No problem." Camille looked surprised, but he could see a twinkle in her eyes and knew that she now respected him. He wasn't the annoying little brat anymore, in her eyes he actually had some worth.
"What is this?"
Alec lifted his eyes up to hers, totally lost. "What?"
Camille's eyes twinkled with amusement. "You know...", she tossed the Hogwarts envelope to him as it skidded across the table until it sat in front of him. "This."
His eyes opened wide in shock as he fingered the envelope. "Oh."
A smile adorned Camille's face. It scared him, he was pretty sure he preferred the scowl. She took a sip of juice, so casual, it was nerve wracking. "So, when were you going to tell me you were invited to a boarding school on full scholarship."
He looked surprised, but schooled his expression. "I just found out this morning."
Camille nodded her head in acquiescence. "You better write back right away, you wouldn't want them to accept someone else in your place because you took too long to reply."
His lips pressed into a thin line he nodded his head. He wasn't going to tell Camille that that probably wasn't going to happen. Hogwarts invited him for a reason, and they weren't going to resend that invitation because he was slow at replying. "Of course, I'll get right to that."
Camille nodded her head, ending the conversation, finishing her breakfast. Alec turned his attention to his bare plate, and his stomach growled in annoyance. He grabbed a few strips of bacon and some scrambled eggs, and dug in. He quelled his hunger for the moment and stood up from the table, his plate in hand, placed his plate in the sink, and retreated to his bedroom. "I better go write that letter. And left.
He fell down on his bed, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and started to write.
Dear Albus,
I've received your letter and can say I am touched that you would think to invite me to your school. After the incident at my old school I never thought I would be accepted at any other school nor would I want to go to another school. But knowing what school I have been invited to, I know I can not turn this offer down. If you would take me, I would love to further my education at your lovely school, I'm sure it will be a blast.
Sincerely, Alexander Bennett.
He folded up the letter, placing it in an envelope, sealing it with his spit. He held the letter in one hand, and whispered. "Transporto.", the letter disappeared from his hand, leaving behind a trail of smoke. Now, all he had to do was wait for the response, and he was good to go. He was out of here.