A/N; This story is set thirty years after the fall of Voldemort and focuses on an amnesic first year under the assumed name of Edward Ramsden, and the friends he makes at Hogwarts.
Disclaimer; I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters in the books, or the universe in which it takes place. They all belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not making money off of this fanfiction.
Edward Ramsden and the Lucky Dragon
Edward nervously boarded the Hogwarts Express while avoiding the train's other passengers as best he could. He chose an empty cabin near the end of the train and slipped in quietly. It wasn't the people he wanted to avoid so much as the questions. What's your name? Where are you from? Who are you? All questions he didn't have answers to. Simply put, Edward had awoken in a hospital bed one night, as a boy without a name. Without a history. Without a home. The kind nurses dubbed him Edward Ramsden, and he was told he could stay in the hospital until his memory returned. His own looks were alien to him, from his blue eyes and brown hair to his thin, but slightly muscular frame. Even the wicked-looking scar stretching across his chest, a jagged, sideways cross, was unfamiliar.
But then strange things started happening. Ghosts appeared, fires were started, and once, a potted plant asked him out on a date. He refused, of course. Then came the owl, a brown bird flecked with gray, delivering a letter inviting him to attend Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. He took it for a joke until a mountain of a man with tangled graying hair and an impressive (but equally tangled) beard showed up and escorted Edward out of the hospital on the pretence of being "Hagrid, a fren' of his relatives".
Since then, he had been introduced to the magical world, brought shopping in Diagon alley, and given a brief history of Hogwarts and a description of what would be taught there. While shopping, Hagrid bought Edward robes, a wand(eleven inches, ivory with a unicorn hair core), a diminutive black owl Edward named Dorian, as well as books and supplies for his classes. Hagrid then dropped Edward off at a tavern of sorts called the leaky cauldron and didn't return until three days later to take him to platform 8 and 1/4. The Hogwarts express used to roll out of 9 and 3/4, Edward was told, but after an incident involving Cornish pixies, a pseudo-dragon and a panicked centaur, the platform had to be moved, and .
So there he sat, off to who-knows-where to learn who-knows-what without even knowing who the hell he was. Well, at least the rest of the students seem to be leaving me alone, He thought. The thought came too soon Edward realized as two students entered the compartment and sat down. One was a boy with unkempt curly brown hair and hazel eyes, and the other a girl with auburn hair that fell straight down to her shoulders. Neither had noticed him it seemed, as both were still looking out the windows set in the doors for some reason.
"Oh shi-....err, I'm sorry, I thought this compartment was empty." The boy said, turning around and noticing Edward for the first time.
"It's okay, I don't really mind." Edward lied. "I'm Edward Ramsden."
"Basil Mordha. And this is...." Basil gestured towards the girl and trailed off, confusion and embarrassment evident on his face. "Err...Actually, I don't believe I caught your name."
"Evlin Dunlevy." She said, turning away from the door.
"What the heck were you two running from, anyway?" Edward asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.
"Couple of third years thought it was a nice idea to prank Evlin. They didn't like it too much when I made it backfire on them. I imagine it will take half the train ride to get the soot off their faces."
"How did you manage that, anyway?" Evlin asked.
"Wasn't anything special. Just a little bit of ash from the fireplace, a little something special from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, toss in a well timed wave of your everyday magic wand, and poof!" Basil grinned and waved his hands in front of his face, presumably imitating an explosion of some sort.
"So where are you two from?" Evlin asked, "I was born and raised in London, myself."
"I'm from Clonmacnois, Ireland. What about you Eddie? Can I call you Eddie, by the way?"
"If you want." Edward shrugged and thought of what to say, "I'm from Gillingham."
That wasn't entirely a lie, as far as he knew. The hospital he'd woken up in had been in Gillingham. The three talked idly for the rest of the ride, Edward carefully steering the conversation away from him when he could, and lying through his teeth when he couldn't. The other two didn't seem to notice, or if they did they didn't confront him about it, which was just as well. By the end of the train ride, he was Eddie Ramsden, a muggleborn from a poor family whose Hogwarts related expenses were paid by the school. Basil, who came from a well to do family of Irish wizards, was kind enough to buy Eddie a couple chocolate frogs and a box of every flavor beans.
"Who is Harry Potter?" Eddie asked after eating the chocolate frogs and looking at the cards. Harry Potter, a man in his mid forties with messy black hair, green eyes, and a lightningbolt-shaped scar, and an ancient man by name of Phineas Dragontongue.
"Oh, that's right. You're muggleborn, so you wouldn't know about him. About fifty or sixty years ago, a dark wizard calling himself Voldemort rose to power. He was a nasty bloke that went around killing muggles, mudbloods, and squibs with his followers, the deatheaters. Harry Potter is the wizard that eventually defeated him. That was around thirty years ago. There's more to the story, of course, but that's the gist of it. If you want to know more, you can read one of the twenty thousand books on him, or you can ask him yourself; He teaches defense against the dark arts, much to the chagrin of the potions professor, Severus Snape. He's fancied that position since Harry Potter was a student, or so my mum says anyway."
"My dad says professor Snape used to be a death eater." Evlin contributed. She had been somewhat quiet so far, but Edward gathered that she came from a middle class mixed family.
The train pulled into the station at Hogsmeade, and the students got off, the first years being lead to a bunch of boats on a lake by the aging half-giant Hagrid. Hagrid was saying something to the students, but Edward wasn't paying attention. He was thusly caught entirely off guard when they rounded a bend and Hogwarts came into view. The castle was enormous, covered with towers, statues, and spires, and above the castle two smaller keeps floated randomly, each about an eighth of the size of the main building.
"Quite the sight, isn' she?" Hagrid asked rhetorically, "Righ' then, we'd best be off. Get in the boats, no more 'an three ter a boat."
At the entrance to the castle they were met by a redheaded man at least in his fifties whose tight lipped smile suggested a strict demeanor.
"Good evening, and welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Percival Weasley, your transfiguration teacher as well as head of Gryffindor house. The opening speech is currently underway, and the sorting shall begin soon." Professor Weasley said and lead them through an impressively high-ceilinged hallway to two large double doors. "I ask that you wait here for a few minutes, and I will fetch you for the sorting shortly. I suggest you compose yourselves as best you can in the time you have left." Professor Weasley then entered the doors, offering a brief glimpse of the dining hall beyond. A few minutes later the doors opened all the way and the professor lead them into the hall. Four long tables sat evenly spaced in the large room, and a fifth table sat atop a raised platform and Eddie spied Harry Potter sitting there, so he assumed it to be the teachers table. A stool was placed just before the platform, and a tattered old hat sat atop it.
Proffessor Weasley pulled out a roll of parchment and said, "When I call your name, take a seat atop the stool and place the hat on your head. When the hat calls out your house, take a seat at the corresponding table." He then proceeded to point out each of the tables corresponding to the four houses, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.
"Oy, get on with it, Weatherby or whatever your bloody name was!" The hat growled, "I'm not getting any younger!"
Laughter broke out among the tables and, much to the annoyance of the sorting hat, it was several minutes before the students were suitably settled down and the sorting could begin.
"Aberthy, Reginald" an annoyed Professor Weasley called out, and the boy in question did as instructed. After a moment of deliberation the hat shouted out "Hufflepuff!" and Reginald walked towards his cheering housemates. Around fifteen more students went up and were sorted before Elvin was called up. It was almost a minute before the hat called out Ravenclaw. Eventually, the sorting got around to Basil. The sorting hat deliberated for a while with him too, as it had with a few others eventually it said, "Slytheri-No, No, best put him in Ravenclaw!"
After about another minute Eddie was called up, and he slowly lowered the hat over his head, taking a seat on the stool. He felt the hat probe his mind and he heard its voice inside his head. Well, aren't you the interesting one. Your head's almost empty! A bit drafty in here actually. Settle down, settle down, I meant no offense! I'm not calling you stupid or anything, I'm just saying you've got some learning to do. Quite the liar, you are, though I can't say I blame you, given your situation. Not quite enough to put you into Slytherin, I don't think. Incredible thirst for knowledge though, I must say. Only one place for that. "Ravenclaw!" The hat said the last word both in and outside of his head, to the cheers of his now-housemates. Setting the hat down, he walked over to the Ravenclaw table and sat with Evlin and Basil.
"Looks like we're all Ravenclaws, huh. Talk about coincidence. Shall we be friends, then?" Basil asked as the sorting went on, and he smiled at Eddie and Evlin.
"Sure." Evlin said, smiling as well. Eddie nodded and offered a weak smile of his own.
As the last first year, a Slytherin, sat down and the hat and stool were removed, a serious lady who looked almost as old as the sorting hat stood up. "For those of you who don't know, my name is Minerva McGonagal, and I am the headmistress of this school. Before we begin the welcoming feast there are a few things I must say. Firstly, the dark forest is off limits to students of all years without express permission and an escort from the faculty. Also, starting this year, Jeremy Filch will be taking the place of his father as Hogwarts' caretaker, after his father Argus got on the wrong end of one of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes more dangerous products and decided to retire. He has asked me to remind you that the list of restricted items can be found outside his office along with the rather small list of products allowed from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes since it is a far shorter list than that of their restricted products. With that said, may the feast begin!" She waved her wand and food filled the tables.
Eddie didn't know what most of the stuff was, but it was all better than the hospital food by far, and he was able to explain that his ignorance was due to growing up in a poor family that couldn't afford very much of what was present. At first his housemates scoffed at him, but they then took pity on him and suggested dishes for him to try and warned him to steer clear of others. As the feast slowly drew to a close, the head boys and head girls of each house stood up and lead the students to their respective dormitories.
"Each dormitory is guarded by a portrait or a statue each with a password" The Ravenclaw head boy explained as he lead them up a staircase, "Mind the staircases, they like to move. Anyway, as Ravenclaws, the password each week is usually a figure from wizarding history or an artefact of some sort. It is suggested that you read up on the figure each week, however it is not required. This week's password is an easy one that all of you can remember." He then stopped at the top of a staircase in front of a portrait of an old man and said loud enough for each of them to hear "Merlin" and the portrait slid aside. "As many of you know, Merlin is one of the greatest wizards that ever lived and is best known for his work with king Arthur and the famed sword Escalibur. I say he is one of the greatest wizards and not that he was one of them, past tense, because, as of yet, no one has been able to confirm he is dead. Although officially attributed to Nicholas Flamel, Merlin is believed to be the original inventor of the sorcerer's stone, an object allowing the owner to brew a potion to extend one's own life indefinitely. For more information on merlin, read the book Merlin's Beard, a biography originally written by Sir Calloway and revised by multiple authors as Merlin's life extended long beyong that of Sir Calloway."
After the lecture, they were lead into the common room and directed to the towers that would serve as their dormitories. Eddie shared a room with Basil and three others whose names he didn't know. They found their trunks positioned at the foot of their beds and after a few moments of making sure their stuff was all there, they headed to bed.
Over the next week the students were acquainted with each of their classes. Each day, not counting weekends, had its own schedule, three classes, followed by lunch, followed by two more classes. Students then had free time to study, complete their homework, or do whatever it is that young wizards do. Eddie wasn't really sure what the other students did, he spent most of his spare time in the library that week, making up for all the things he didn't know or didn't remember. From what he gathered, Basil spent his time pulling pranks and getting on the nerves of Mr. Filch. Evlin spent some of her time in the library, but not much of it and he wasn't sure what she did outside of that time. By the end of the week Eddie had read five books cover to cover, and snippets of many others. Strangely enough, he found himself able to recall almost every word he'd read with near perfect clarity. He could even recite one of the shorter books he'd read word for word all the way through. On Saturday, Basil came into the library looking for Eddie.
"You have got to get out more, mate." Basil said, dragging him out of the library, "You've spent practically all week holed up in the library. I mean, I love books as much as the next bloke, but you can't learn everything from books. You gotta get out and experience some things for yourself."
"What can't you learn from a book?" Eddie asked, and Basil looked at him with a raised brow.
"There's tons of things you can't learn from books. Books only tell you the theory, and leave you to figure the rest out on your own. For instance, you can't learn to swim from a book. They'll suggest techniques, sure, but toss a man who's only learned to swim from a book in a lake, and he'll drown the same as a man that never learned to swim at all. Another thing you can't learn from books. People. There's psychology books, I'll give you that, but they aren't very accurate and it's mostly guess work. To understand people, you gotta watch them, spend time with them, talk to them, listen. For instance, talking to you I know you don't like talking about your past, for whatever reason, and if a conversation turns that way you lie or change the subject," Eddie looked away sheepishly when Basil called him out on his lies, but Basil continued on without pause, "You want to learn damn near everything you can get your hands on, and you don't trust people easily. Evlin, on the other hand, is bookish, but still likes sports and is very outgoing and social. She gets along with everybody but is truly friends with very few, and I'm not sure, but I think she fancies you."
"What was that last bit?" Eddie asked, he hadn't heard it because they'd passed by a loud group of people as Basil said it.
"Nothing, never mind." Basil said, apparently thinking better of telling Eddie. "Anyway, the point is you can't learn everything from a book. Now come on, I'm teaching you to play wizards chess, whether you like it or not." Basil grinned at this point, dragging Eddie towards the common room.
"Wizard's chess?" Eddie asked
"Just like normal chess, except the pieces move and break each other. I'll show you."
Three hours later Eddie had yet to win against Basil, but he was getting better. He was check-mated for the fifteenth time just before Kelly Bones, another Ravenclaw, came rushing into the room. She was out of breath and appeared upset.
"What's got you in a tiff?" Basil asked, raising one eyebrow. "You alright?"
"I'm fine." Kelly wheezed, "It's Evlin that's in trouble. You're her friends, right?" Eddie and Basil both nodded. "She's in the nurse's office. She was in the dungeons looking for professor Snape when she ran across something foul. The teachers won't tell us what. They're even evacuating the Slytherin dorm!"
Basil and Eddie glanced at each other before bolting towards the door, knocking over their chairs and the chess board.
"Thanks for letting us know." Basil called out as he ran past Kelly.
They ran down several flights of stairs before hearing a crash above them. Eddie glanced back in time to see a door go crashing down a flight of stairs as a rhino sized bronze dragon made its way onto the stairs. It's scales looked to be made of a shimmering metal, and it's eyes were pitch black recesses into its skull. It appeared to have shrivelled wings, but due to their size Eddie gathered that they were vestigial at best. The dragon sniffed about before it fixed its gaze on Eddie, and it began bounding down the stairs. Eddie mentally noted the staircases it was coming down and realized that it was chasing them.
"Eddie, we should be running now, shouldn't we?" Basil asked nervously.
"Yeah, I think we should." Eddie answered, and began running down the stairs, taking two or three at a time. It wasn't long before they came to a dead end where a moving set of stairs lead them to a locked door that made passage impossible. Eddie looked over the railing and saw a flight of stairs about twenty feet down floating towards them, the other end was connected to the same floor as the hospital wing. Eddie sized up the jump. Something deep inside of him told him he could make it, and warmth filled his chest. He took a few steps back to get a running start.
"Shit! Dead end!" Basil cursed, glancing back at the advancing dragon before noticing what Eddie was doing. Basil peered over the railing. "Please tell me you're not going to do what I think you-" Eddie leapt over the railing before Basil could finish talking. "...Nevermind. Crazy bastard." Basil finished, taking a few steps backwards as Eddie landed on the top of the stairs and tumbled down a few steps and twisted his ankle before he stopped himself and started running down the stairs, limping slightly and staggering every ten steps or so as pain lanced up his leg.
"Aw, bloody hell. I'm going to regret this tomorrow." Basil muttered, running a hand through his hair. He then backed up, ran, and leapt over the railing after Eddie, landed on the stairs as well, and proceeded to tumble down the entire flight of stairs, crashing into Eddie just before his foot touched down on the last step. The two boys rolled across the floor, a writhing ball of tangled limbs, before skidding to a stop. They quickly but carefully extricated themselves before looking to see the dragon's progress. It had arrived at the dead end, and it bellowed at them.
"Shut up, you stupid git!" Eddie shouted, and flung a flipendo jinx at it halfheartedly. The spell wasn't anywhere near strong enough to budge the creature, but it did seem to piss it off. The dragon waddled backwards before leaping towards them. It was going to be close, but it looked like the dragon was going to make it.
"Bombarda!" Basil shouted, and a small explosion erupted from the dragon where the spell struck it. The dragon continued forward, but at an altered trajectory, and it crashed into the wall before falling to the floor several stories below. At first, Eddie thought it was dead, but it was apparently only stunned, and it soon stood up and shook itself off before glaring at them and meandering off towards the dungeons. Four of the dragon's scales had come off and landed next to the two boys, each the size of their fist.
"Nice one." Eddie offered as he felt bruises form from their tumble. "These aught to make some nice souvenirs." He handed a scale to Basil, saved one for Evlin and one to give to the professors.
"Thanks. We should probably get down to the nurse's office...Ouch!" Basil said, shouting the last part as he stepped down too hard on an apparently damaged foot. They limped towards the medical wing.
"What in blazes happened to you two!?!" Wendy Coltney, the medi-witch exclaimed. "You didn't get in a fight, did you?" She asked suspiciously.
"We fell down some stairs." Eddie said with a grin. He felt a black eye forming where Basil's knee had caught him rather solidly. Madam Coltney sighed and shook her head, directing them each to a bed and beginning to examine their wounds. While she was fussing over Basil, Eddie looked around and spied Evlin laying on a bed near the back. She appeared to be asleep.
"Is she alright?" He asked, gesturing towards her.
"She'll be fine, deary. You two are both worse off than she is. Alright then, your turn. Take off your shirt." She said to him, and when he did as she told him, she and Basil both gaped at his scar.
"Wicked scar!" Basil said, apparently admiring it. "How did you get that?"
"Yes, mister Ramsden, how did you get that? Most wounds that would give a man a scar like that would kill a boy your age." Madam Coltney said.
"I'm not sure. I don't remember. I've had it for a long time, and the doctors said something about post-dramatic-stress-disorder." Eddie lied, purposefully mispronouncing the disorder's name. He had come up with that explanation for his scar on Tuesday after coming across the disorder in a medical magic book, and he wondered if maybe that really was the reason he couldn't remember anything..
"Post-traumatic-stress-disorder." Madam Coltney corrected and started attending his more current wounds. "With a wound like that, that's hardly surprising. Well, you two don't seem to have any major injuries, but it will take several hours for these potions to take affect, so I'm holding you here until after dinner. Miss Dunlevy will be out of here around the same time."
Ten minutes later, Evlin groggily sat up, rubbing her eyes. She looked around for a moment and when she caught sight of Eddie and Basil she said, "Bloody hell, what happened to you two?"
"We could ask the same of you." Basil answered with a grin. "You'd never believe the scar Eddie has, by the way. Eddie, show her your scar!" Eddie rolled his eyes and lifted his shirt, his scar eliciting a wince from Evlin.
"That looks like it hurt." She muttered.
"Couldn't tell you. I don't remember getting it." Eddie said, and explained his 'disorder' as he lowered his shirt.
Professor McGonagal chose that moment to walk into the room, accompanied by Professor Potter. The headmistress looked at Eddie and Basil questioningly and asked, "Were you two involved in the incident as well?"
"No," Basil answered for both of them, "Kelly Bones told us what happened and we....err...were involved in a separate incident on the way to come see her....Also, we fell down some stairs." Basil offered an embarrassed grin.
"I see...And how are you feeling, Miss Dunlevy?" McGonagal asked.
"Tired." Evlin mumbled. "Sore."
"Can you tell us what you happened?"
"I was in the dungeons looking for professor Snape...I had a question about our homework. But I turned a corner and there was...well...there was a dragon. It appeared to be carrying an egg, and when it saw me, it hit me with its tail and ran off. Then I started to feel sleepy, and woke up here. Madam Coltney said the sleepiness was from a mild concussion."
"We saw a dragon too." Eddie said, "But the one we saw didn't have an egg, and it came after us on the stairs. We...err...fell down some stairs trying to get away from it, and with a couple spells we were able to prevent it from getting to us. It fell down to the bottom of the stairwell and headed for the dungeons. Um... Here, this is one of its scales." Eddie handed one of the scales to the headmistress.
Professor Potter sent McGonagal a meaningful look, but Eddie didn't know what to make of it.
"A dragon...That brings back memories." Professor Potter said.
"This is ill news indeed...especially if it has hatchlings. Harry, do you think you can handle it?"
"Sure, I can handle it. Finding the bloody thing is going to be a problem though. I'd best get on that." He said, and walked quickly out into the hall, taking the scale with him. McGonagal asked Evlin a few more quiet questions before leaving as well.
"Wait, let me get this straight," Evlin asked incredulously, "You two got attacked by a dragon too? And you fell down some stairs?"
"Well, we got caught at a dead end, so we kind of sort of...um...jumped?" Eddie offered, and she gaped at them.
"Don't look at me!" Basil said defensively, "It was his idea. I was just gonna unlock the door and find somewhere to hide, but....after he jumped I decided I couldn't let him upstage me like that. I have an image to uphold, afterall."
"You're both crazy!" She shouted, "You could've been killed!"
"But we weren't." Basil pointed out.
"You got lucky!"
"I knew I could make it." Eddie said defensively.
"How?" asked Basil and Evlin at the same time. The two glanced at eachother briefly, apparently unnerved by their simultaneous answers.
"I don't know, I just...felt it, I guess."
"You're both insane." Evlin muttered.
"If by insane you mean insanely smart and insanely good looking, then yes, yes I am." Basil joked.
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully with the three of them talking amiably in the nurse's office, though Evlin still seemed to be concerned about their sanity, especially after Eddie gave her one of the scales. After the day ended, things went back to normal, for the most part. By the end of October, professor Potter had yet to catch or kill the dragon, but he'd had a few encounters with it for sure, for on some days he came to teach his classes with torn clothing, or smelling of dragon fire and covered in soot. Eddie spent less and less time in the library as the gaps in knowledge between him and his classmates dwindled. He still spent a fair amount of time there, to be sure, but he was just as often found in the common room playing chess with Basil or Evlin. He no longer lost as often on that front, at least not against Basil, but Evlin proved to be a master chess player and crushed both of the boys every match they played against her.
Holloween and Thanksgiving came to pass, and Eddie hardly noticed except that he was somewhat certain he had made a fool of himself during the Holloween festivities. Someone had cast a memory charm on him, however, and his only clue he had done something was that students and teachers alike had a hard time looking at him without grinning for the next four days. Though he'd pestered Basil and Evlin over the last two months, neither would tell him what happened, and as november drew to a close he resigned himself to never knowing. Just one more night to not-remember. One more couldn't possibly make a difference, could it?
In any case, since the incident on the stairs, Eddie continued to find moments where feelings deep within him urged him to do things. What they urged him to do varied from situation to situation, and the feeling was never quite the same. Once, he'd gone down a rarely used corridor and found an empty locket. After that one he thought perhaps he shouldn't listen to the feeling, at least that's what he thought until he came across the locket's owner, who paid him a galleon for returning it. He later bet that galleon, on urging from within, on a high stakes Exploding Snap game and ended up taking ten times what he'd put in. In general, he found that with the feeling came a surge of warmth in his chest. He started logging when he felt it, and for sake of ease began calling it his 'instinct'.
One night, he found himself with Basil and Evlin in a common room that was otherwise unoccupied. Basil was casting charms on everyday objects for use in his pranks, and Eddie and Evlin were reading.
"So, what are you two doing over the holidays?" Basil asked, afterwards pointing his wand at a seemingly innocent button and muttering a spell under his breath.
"I suppose I'm going with my parents to visit my uncle in Berlin. What about you, Basil?" Evlin asked.
"I'll be heading home. Most of my family will be there, except my prat of a brother, thank Merlin." Basil said in a way that showed he was none too thrilled with the prospect.
"And you, Eddie?" Evlin asked after a lengthy pause. She had apparently been waiting for him to answer on his own.
"I suppose I'll stay here. My family would probably try and get me a present, and...they mean well, but I know we can't afford it." Eddie said, not looking up from his book. The lies were coming easier every time.
"You're getting good at that." Basil remarked offhandedly, casting another charm. Evlin didn't grasp what Basil meant, though it was crystal clear to Eddie.
"Good at what?" Evlin asked
"Lying." Basil answered.
"Er... I'm sorry, are you accusing Eddie of being a liar? Have you gone nutters?" She asked. Eddie closed his book and sighed.
"Alright, I'll level with you." He said at length, and his words were met with a confused look from Evlin and a curious one from Basil. "Anything I've told you about my family or my past thus far has been complete and utter bullocks. There. You happy now, Basil?"
"Not particularly. I've gathered that much on my own. What I want to know is why you lie, and what your real history is." Basil responded. Evlin seemed content to watch the exchange.
"That makes two of us." Eddie muttered. Something urged him to tell them the whole story. Perhaps it was instinct, or perhaps it was guilt.
"Pardon?"
"I said, that makes two of us." He grumbled, " The reason I lied is because I don't know my own bloody history. Woke up in a hospital bed a couple months ago with a scar on my chest and no memory of bloody anything except how to speak and how to read. About a week later, I started casting accidental magic; things disappearing or appearing, talking plants and the like. Hagrid showed up and dragged me through Diagon Alley, and three days later I'm on the train talking to you two. You know the rest from there."
"I...See." Basil said. It seemed he had been expecting something far different from the truth, perhaps some dark secret or some such. He almost sounded disappointed.
"You don't remember anything?" Evlin asked Eddie.
"Nothing." He admitted. "Edward Ramsden isn't even my real name, or if it is, it's one hell of a bloody coincidence. No past to speak of, and no family to go home to. No one to buy me anything, either; the school payed for all my supplies."
"Oh." She said dumbly, apparently unsure of what to say.
"Sorry, mate." Basil said by way of apology.
"It's ok." Eddie told him, and resumed reading his book.
A week later most of the students and staff had left on holiday, leaving the headmistress, Professors Harry Potter, Hermione Weasley, Snape, and a few others Eddie didn't have classes with as well as a handful of students. Eddie decided to use the holiday to explore the castle grounds. He didn't get very far before Professor Potter warned Eddie away from the dungeons; The dragon hadn't made an appearance in a while, but it was still on the loose. So, instead of exploring the dungeons as he had initially planned, he found himself exploring the few bits of the upper floors that he didn't already know. Occasionally, his instinct would urge him to perform some small act, such as to say a couple words, or to twist a torch holder, either action usually met by a secret passage being revealed. None of them was particularly useful, or lead anywhere special, and would only merit using if he were running late to class. On his third day of explorations, he was urged to take a step into an empty classroom.
It hadn't seen usage since the goblin rebellions from the looks of things, and dust blanketed the room. The room had apparently been turned into storage at some point, and promptly been forgotten, for dust covered boxes lined the back wall, and the floor was strewn with miscellanea. Apart from the boxes and other odds and ends, there was a strange statue of an armor-clad wizard set to the side. It seemed to be a perfect representation of some wizard from days gone by; The countenance of the fixture was smooth and lifelike, from the head down to the knees, where the statue sank into a gilded base. A polished onyx plaque read:
Herein resides the soul of;
Zacharias William Althair,
Dragon of the Sands, Warrior of the Aether, and Child of the Wind.
Natural life;
May 20, 1633-May 20, 1768
Eddy made a mental note of the name, and vowed to research it later before continuing his search of the room, trying to distinguish what might have caused his instinct to lead him hear. He sifted through the boxes, finding naught but dust and junk.
"Looking for something?" Came the smooth tones of the statue, startling Eddie from his search.
"Did....did you just...speak!?!" He asked, turning to the statue and trying to contain his surprise.
"Indeed I did. As I am wont to do when a wet-behind-the-ears student rouses me from my slumber." The statue grumbled sleepily.
"Er....Sorry, sir. I was under the impression you were merely a statue. I daresay I was wrong in that regard."
"Merely a statue!?!" The living stone fumed, its fists clenching, "Boy, I was one of the greatest wizards alive, in my day! It just so happens that my day has long past and, in order to prolong my existence I sealed my essence inside this statue. So long as it remains unbroken, I cannot die. Nor can I live, however; In my haste to preserve myself, I neglected to fashion legs for my body-to-be, and thus I am stuck here. And you? Why are you here?"
"It's winter break," Eddie started, "I was bored and decided to explore. I entered this room on a whim, as it were, and thought I might find something interesting in those boxes." He gestured at the pile of junk-filled boxes.
"Nothing interesting in those boxes. Excepting my wand, I suppose. If I had that, perhaps I could fix some legs for myself..." Thinking of this, the statue reached out towards the nearest box, and found its reach too short, "Blast! Ah well, was worth a try I suppose." Eddie saw opportunity in the statue's dilemma.
"I could look for your wand for you..." Eddie said, trailing off.
"And I suppose you want something in exchange." The stone-man stated.
"If it wouldn't be too troublesome, do you think you could teach me?" The statue seemed to regard Eddie critically, and put a hand to its chin in thought.
"Not an ideal pupil," Zacharias muttered, "But a strong aura, I suppose...Control is a mess though..." And then louder the statue said, "Perhaps we can come to an agreement, but I'm not going to let you do this in halves. If you want me to teach you, then you must pledge yourself as my apprentice, and do everything I say as I say it must be done to the best of your ability. Is that clear?" Eddie nodded, "Then find my wand and we'll see if we can't turn you into a half decent mage." Zacharias commanded, and Eddie began searching through the boxes again.
He didn't find the wand that day, or the next, or even the day after that. During his search, Eddie systematically looked through a box, moved it to the other side of the room, and started another box. On the fourth day, only three boxes remained in the back of the room near the living statue. Looking through two of the last three boxes, he found nothing resembling a wand, and he began to lose hope. That hope was restored when, in the bottom of the last box he found an eight inch marble wand. Stone was rarely used in wand making, and Eddie puzzled over why this one utilized the inflexible material. He had no way of knowing what the wand core was, but whatever it was, it was very powerful. The wand sent a shiver down his spine when he grasped it, and he could scarcely hold on to it long enough to give it to Zacharias.
"Took you long enough." Zacharias muttered, "Alright then. If you're still serious about this, then you'll meet me in dungeon nine at this time tomorrow."
"But sir," Eddie said, alarmed, "There's a dragon in the dungeons!"
"I am aware. If you cannot make it past the dragon, or survive long enough to reach dungeon nine, then you are no apprentice of mine." He said with finality, "And if you do manage to make it, you will refer to me as Master Zacharias, or Master Althair if you prefer. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Master Althair." Eddie answered.
"Then I will see you tomorrow, apprentice." Eddie's new master said in a tone indicating dismissal.