Servants of Wizards
Disclaimer: I own only my own original ideas, characters and plot. I do not own anything already owned by JKR, much to my poor person disgust.
Summary: This is a tale of Albus Dumbledore's early year(s) at Hogwarts and the trouble he got into. After all, even the greatest wizards of all time were children once.
IMPORTANT Authors Note: This story is Non Deathly Hallows compliant!!! Anything found out about Dumbledore's past in the 7th book does not apply in this story! He is simply a young half-blood wizard with a younger brother and a mother and father. I don't care for emails trying to correct me about anything I write concerning old Albie's history. In my personal opinion the last 3 books don't exist, I'll be lucky if I can remember all that much about what happened in the last 2.
And in the style of "Dance of Death" I am having a title which apparently makes neither sense, nor relation with the story summary at all.
Speaking of "Dance of Death" I am not abandoning it, I simply got this idea and had to do something about it. Hopefully my attempt to write more than one story at once however will go much better than my last attempt... removes non-existent hat and mourns the death of "The World's Gone Mad" and "A New Generation"
"I shall remember ye on my External Hard Drive!"
I had to let them go... It wasn't them, it was me.
Chapter One: September First
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore stood nervously on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. He eagerly eyed the large train puffing softly as it waited for students to board so it could leave the station. After years of hearing stories about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from his parents, he could barely suppress the excitement he felt at finally being old enough to go to the ancient school of magic.
He was tall for eleven, with Auburn hair which reached his shoulders (he refused to let his mother cut it) and bright blue eyes which reflected his thirst for knowledge and hinted at trouble.
At the moment Albus' eyes were darting everywhich way, trying to take in everything at the same time. He unconsciously shifted a little closer to his family as he eyed the several hundred students on the platform. Students stood everywhere with their parents and their luggage and their pets, and more students leaned out of the windows and doors of the train waving to their families, shouting to their friends, pulling faces at their enemies. The noise was incredible; shouting, crying, screeching, meowing, cawing, cheering and on top of all this the train continued to puff merely, ever patient as it waiting for eleven o'clock to come around.
Albus felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to face his family. His mother gave him a watery smile.
"Promise you'll behave yourself at school, dear." She ordered him softly.
"I will, Mother" Albus promised, idly crossing his fingers in his pocket. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his father's eyes twinkle, and knew that the action had not been unnoticed.
"Try hard in all of your subjects, Son." His father added, though his voice was stern, his eyes continued to twinkle.
"You know we will be proud of you no matter how well you do, just so long as you try your best" His mother interjected.
"Yes, Father, Mother." He replied.
A whistle blew loudly and Albus felt his stomach turn over in both excitement and a tiny hint of fear. His Mother heard his mother give a sad squeak and she embraced him tightly, holding him close. When she let him go he turned and hugged his father, then ruffled his younger brother, Aberforth's hair.
"Look after Mother and Father, Abe" He ordered, his younger brother nodding silently in reply.
"Hurry Dear" his Mother urged, as another whistles blew.
Albus turned and jogged to the train, climbing on as one of the last students, he weaved in and out of the other children, entering the empty carriage where they had put his trunk earlier. He leaned again the window and waved frantically to his parents, smiling as they wave back. He off-balanced and fell sideways into a seat due to the train giving a great lurch as it began to pull out of the station. Sitting up he continued waving until he knew they could no longer see him. Then eased himself properly onto the leather seat, closing his eyes and taking a deep shaky breath. This was it, he was going to Hogwarts. His mind raced with thoughts from the mysterious sorting ceremony, to classes, to the other students, to teachers. He shivered slightly in anticipation, mentally singing 'Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts!' Something which only managed to get him even more excited. After about half an hour though, he began to get bored...
Very bored...
His parents had said it was going to be a long train ride but Merlin! He thought it would be a bit more exciting than this. He idly stared out the window.
Tree, tree, tree, rocks, field, tree, farm, tree, rocks, field with cows, tree, tree, tree.
Albus banged his head on the window a few times.
And now he was bored... with a headache.
He sighed, there were several books in his trunk, not including his textbooks, but the seat was comfortable and he was feeling a little bit too lazy to get up, drag his trunk down, open it, find his books, decide on a book... and so on. He sighed and turned back to window, scowling slightly at the completely uninteresting scenery.
"Pretty boring, hey?" Asked a voice behind him. Albus turned to the door to see a boy standing in the doorway, grinning sheepishly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you" The other went on hurriedly, looking worried that he may have upset Albus.
"No it's alright" Albus interjected. "Do you want to come in?" He added hopefully, having someone to talk to would certainly improve things. The new figure's sheepish grin widened, flashing white teeth.
"Thanks"
Albus took in the stranger as he sat down across from him. Where Albus was taller than most eleven year olds, this pale skinned boy appeared to be much shorter. His long hair was blonde and tied back in a ponytail; Albus knew his Mother would disapprove of it; his eyes were a misty blue-grey that somehow managed to hint at both innocence and at the same time: trouble. Albus grinned at the other boy and reached across the gap between them, sticking out his hand.
"Albus Dumbledore" He introduced himself. The other boy took his hand with a grin of his own,
"Artimus Stonefalcon" Came the soft reply.
"Stonefalcon?" he repeated, he had never heard that name in wizarding Britain before.
The other boy winced,
"My grandparents... well... they liked to be dramatic when it came to magic, they decided that Richards wasn't suited enough to great wizards such as themselves and changed it."
Albus snickered.
"Dad says they changed it to compensate for the fact that they were lucky to have enough magic between them to levitate a tea-cup" Artimus continued with a chuckle.
Albus laughed outright at that.
"Seriously?"
"Oh yeah, Dad used to say the best magic they ever managed to do was move out of the house they shared with my folks"
Albus laughed again.
"So are you a first year too?" Artimus asked after a moment.
"Yeah," Albus replied, suddenly feeling excited and nervous all over again.
"Oh good" Artimus too looked slightly nervous. "Are you as scared as I am?" He questioned, a hopeful look on his face.
Albus felt relieved, he had been a little bit worried that he would be the only one daunted by the prospect of going so far from home, with people he didn't know to learn magic for ten months. Even though his common sense stated quite clearly that everyone must be nervous when they first start, common sense rarely wins out against sheer irrational terror, especially in the mind of an eleven year old boy.
"Terrified" Albus confessed, "My parents told me all about it, but I'm still worried about what to expect. Especially the sorting ceremony"
Artimus gave an audible sigh of relief.
"Me too. Though I don't know anything about Hogwarts. My parents went to Beubaxtons"
"You're French?" He questioned excitably.
"Yes... and at the same time... a big resounding No" Artimus said with a grin.
Albus raised an eyebrow.
"My Mom was born in France, moved London, sent to Beauxbatons, but stayed in London. My Dad was born in London, but moved to France, sent to Beauxbatons, then moved in with my Mother in London." Artimus was cross-eyed as he tried to understand his own explanation. "My parents wanted to send me to Beauxbatons till they realised at the last minute that I have never been to France, neither do I speak French."
"You're Mother is French, and your Father went to school in France, but you don't speak any French?" Albus inquired chortling.
"They tried... I don't do so well with languages."
Albus laughed, "and now you are going to a school to learn magic which the incantations for which are in another language"
"Don't remind me" Artimus moaned in despair. "I'm going to fail miserably"
"I'm sure you will do fine"
"I'm going to blow myself up!"
"I'll help you" Albus insisted
"Then I'll blow us both up!"
"The teachers won't let you accidentally blow anyone up" Albus said firmly
"Who said it was going to be an accident?" Artimus asked mischievously, then cackled in an all-together evil and maniacal way. Albus waited about a minute for him to stop
"That was creepy"
"I hope so, I've been practising." Artimus insisted
"Practising your evil laugh" Albus repeated with a grin.
Artimus nodded eagerly.
"OH! If you try it yourself, don't do it when your parents are home... they think you're going crazy and start making appointments for you to see mental healers..."
Albus snorted.
"So what about you?" Artimus asked after a comfortable silence. "Have a big family? Small family? Raised by Wolves?"
"Only my parents and my little brother, Aberforth"
"Oh a little brother? I'll bet that's fun."
Albus snorted, "Oh yeah real fun, annoying little brat following me around all the time, getting into my things, making a mess."
"I don't have any siblings, always wanted one though. It gets a bit lonely being an only child." Artimus explained. "When does he start Hogwarts?"
"Not for another three years, thank Merlin" Albus sighed happily, closing his eyes and relishing the idea of being free from Abe for about thirty months over the next three years. He opened them when he heard Artimus laughing at him though.
"You look like someone has told you that you've been made king of the world and can everything you ever wanted with a snap of your fingers"
"Feels like it" Albus retorted, "Wait until you get a sibling"
"No thanks, I'm quite happy to whine all day about being lonely"
Artimus looked out the window grinning for a while, however it wasn't long before the grin had slid from his face. He shifted uncomfortably.
"You know a lot about Hogwarts?" He asked, his voice soft again.
Albus looked up and smiled, recognising Artimus' nervousness.
"I can tell you about it if you like." He offered kindly.
Artimus shot him a grateful look and nodded.
Albus then launched into an explanation of everything his parents had ever told him about Hogwarts, Artimus' nervousness fading as he went on.
He talked about everything; classes, teachers, houses, his thoughts on what happened at the sorting ceremony, answering Artimus' questions as best as he could. After a long time of this, the conversation switched to other topics; books, Quidditch, books and their homes.
They were so engrossed in their conversation that they both jumped in surprise when a prefect poked their head into their carriage and told them that they would arrive at Hogwarts soon so they should be putting on their robes and that they were to leave their luggage on the train. As one the boys nodded, then looked out the window, noting the darkness which had fallen without them noticing. They glanced nervously at each other and shared a pair of queasy smiles. Silently they hauled their trunks down from the luggage racks and pulled on their plain black robes. The train noticeably slowing down until they came to complete stop. They waited until the worst of the student masses got off before following.
"First years, over here" Called a deep male voice. The two new friends traded a glance and made their way towards the voice, finding themselves standing near a large, heavily built muscular man. He scowled at all the scared looking first years, cowing them even further. His eyes swept over each of the gathered children, lips moving as he counted them, then nodded.
"This way, come on. Don't get left behind, or you get left here" He growled threateningly, causing several of the clustered children to huddle closer. They followed the man down a dirt path for a distance, keeping completely silent, whether due to apprehension and nervousness because of the up and coming sorting ceremony or due to fear of this large no-nonsense man, Albus wasn't sure. He wasn't even sure about himself.
There were the sounds of water lapping ahead of them, and they came up to a large black crystal surface. A multitude of little boats floated gently on the surface, the calm silence broken by the sound of wood hitting wood as the boats rocked against each other.
"Everyone get into the boats, four in each" Ordered the man. "If you mess about and fall into the lake then it's your own fault and you can get yourselves out"
Everyone clambered carefully into the boats, being careful not to fall in the water. Once everyone was seated, the boats began to move, slowly moving over the surface. Albus looked around with interest, taking in as much as he could in the dark. As he glanced over at Artimus he noticed that his new friend was staring determinedly at the sky, avoiding looking at the water. He turned his head slightly and gave Albus a hint of a smile.
"Hate crossing open water" He confessed softly, so the two students behind them couldn't hear.
"Vampire" Albus accused with a chortle.
Artimus chose to ignore this.
"Eyes front" commanded the man who had collected them. Artimus whimpered slightly, though it was cut short by a gasp. And Albus knew why.
In front of them was Hogwarts, a huge castle looming in the blackness. Windows glowed golden, light by the lights inside. The boats hit the shore, surprising several students who had been too busy gaping to notice the end of their trip. The climbed out of the boats, and stumbled up the shore, whispering about the sight before them. Finally after a walk, they reached a set of massive stairs which lead up to the biggest set of doors Albus had ever seen. The man counted them once more, nodded and heaved on one side of the door, shoving it in with an ominous groan. He then walked inside, the students hurrying along in his wake.
Albus traded a look with Artimus and grinned nervously, getting a weak grin in response. Together they walked through the doors and into the entrance hall of Hogwarts.
End Note: Yes, I like my main original male characters short... Leave me alone...
And yes my train appears to be an strange living entity of some kind...
raises hands in the air with an eager/triumphant look on face IT'S MAGIC!!!
Special Thanks To: A Pink Rose. Without you and your cruel slave-driving ways Lauren, this chapter would not be here today, as long as it is.
If my readers expect each chapter to be as long as this (which at 2350 words is my longest ever I think) then petition to her. It had nothing to do with me and my fingers which have now been reduced to stubs after just less than 2 hours of frantic writing, thanks to her and her cruel, cruel ways.