A/N: Okay, this is going to be a fun fic I write when I don't want to write my other story I'm working on. It's in first person, but I think it's obvious who it is. Though, I admit, I don't usually write in first person, and thus am not very good at it. Note, I will do my best to stay with cannon, so if you catch me straying, please let me know! I hope you enjoy, and please review.

"Hey! That's MY book! Hands off!" That jerk! I finally got my own book and the creep decides he's going to put his filthy little hands on it! Obviously he's the new kid everyone has been talking about. Little Johnny this, little Johnny that. It's enough to make me sick! I walked up to this kid, glowering. He apparently didn't know that I ruled this dump. So, I took it upon myself to teach the kid a few lessons. My...well I don't know what to call them really, they certainly weren't my friends. I've never had any friends. Well, anyway, these four kids walked into the sleeping area with me. For a moment, I felt bad for the blonde haired kid. He looked scared enough to wet his pants. I thought about going easy on him, after all, he was the new kid on the block. But then I saw the smudges all over my brand new book. Okay, it wasn't brand new; it was used, but still!

"Get him," I told the two large blokes in the group behind me. Without asking a question, they went forward and grabbed the kid by his arms. He started crying like crazy. I guess I was being too hard on him. He was only like 6 or 7, and here I was, almost 11, but he got dirt on my book. The boys backed this kid into the wall and pinned him there. I got all up in his wet snot-nosed face and I looked that kid right in the eye. "Look here, Johnny. This here dump is mine. You gotta understand, this is a dog-eat-dog world we kids live in, and we gotta look out for our own stuff. So it's nothing against you personally, but you see that book over there," I whispered menacingly to him. I jerked my thumb over my shoulder toward my book. The kid nodded his head fervently. Boy, did he look scared! "That there, is my book. So I gotta protect that book because it's all I have. Understand?" Again, the little kid nodded his head. For a minute, I thought he'd nod so hard the head would fall off, but of course it didn't. "That book is a special present to me." A present from the local dumpster, but it was still mine. "And I'm not planning on sharing it. So keep your paws off of my stuff, or you'll get more trouble. And you don't want more trouble, do you?" The kid shook his head; tears leaking silently down his face. I turned my back on the kid, and the boys let go of him. Boy can that kid run! He was out of that room before I could blink my eyes.

"Tom!" I ran down the stairs and into the lobby. No one with half a brain would keep Ms. Jenkin waiting. No one. I came to a skidding halt in front of her and waited for her to yell at me for bullying the new kid. She never understood how we had to protect what was ours. And if you weren't tough, you'd get eaten alive. I had no plans of getting eaten alive, either.

"This is Mr. Dumbledore. He'd like a word with you," she said kindly to me. No way was I finding a home! This was too good to be true! I turned around excitedly and nearly cried with disappointment. Mr. Dumbledore was some old looking geezer...and not a good-looking one at that. He wore these strange glasses and had a long beard. "Mr. Dumbledore, you can talk with Tom in this room over here, send him if you need anything, he knows where everything is," Ms. Jenkin said politely, gesturing to the room us kids weren't allowed into, unless we were getting out of this dump.

"Thank you, miss," the old man said with a smile.

Ms. Jenkin then turned to me with those icy cold gray eyes of hers. "Be polite, Tom. This may be your ticket out of here for school," she warned me. Sounded good to me! Even getting out of here for only nine months was worth talking to this guy for any length of time.

So this Dumbledore guy and I walked into the parlor and he sat down on the couch and I sat down on the chair opposite the couch.

"Tom, have you ever noticed anything strange happening around you?" Dumbledore asked. What a funny way to start a conversation, but if it got me to a real school, I'll humor him.

"No, sir."

"Nothing at all, not even slightly out of the ordinary?" he prompted.

"Well sure there's some things. Like one time I climbed a trellis really fast because I was almost caught sneaking back in. And this other kid got a bloody nose when I didn't do nothing. And one time, the floor cleaned itself when I forgot to do it, and Ms. Jenkin was coming around inspecting." This answer seemed to please the man. He smiled and his blue eyes twinkled.

"Have you ever wondered why those things happen to you?" he asked me. Well sure I did, who didn't?

"Sure, sir. But doesn't it happen to everyone when they're under stress or something?" I read in that book I got that something went from the brain to the muscles when it's under stress. Adrinalime or something.

"No, Tom. You're a very special boy," he said happily. This conversation was definitely going south. I looked out the window. The sun was starting to go down. And the birds outside the window were settling in for the night.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. You happen to be a wizard."

I stared at the man. I couldn't help it. He must have been off his rocker! Maybe he wanted me to go to some school for nutters. Well, I don't care how nice it is, I'll stay here, thank you.

"And you've been invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he told me. He was saying all this like it was some big treat.

"And if I don't want to go?" I challenged.

"I think you will once you hear me out," the man said. It was funny, he looked at me like he was reading my mind.

"Okay."

"Hogwarts is a school for people who can do magic. Like in the books, but much better because it is real. Students learn to brew potions, levitate objects, change objects, read the stars, translate the old ruins, and best of all, enjoy a stay at a remarkable place that even I still can't fathom all of the secrets."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" It was starting to sound too good to be true! I could get out of this place for nine months of the year and learn magic! I always used to dream about being a wizard, but it had never been anything more than childhood fantasies.

The man took a slender piece of wood out of his coat pocket and tapped the coffee table that stood between us. It immediately changed into a friendly dog, wagging it's tail and panting happily. I jumped back. It's not that I was scared. Okay, maybe I was a little scared; after all, I've never been this close to a dog. But having some fancy coffee table change into a dog was startling, at the least. The man turned the dog back into the ornate table and smiled at me. I think he knew exactly what I was thinking, but I wanted to say it aloud all the same, make it official.

"Where do I sign up?"

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