The origin of modern day witches and wizards is not known. What is known is that the earlier and possible originators of magic were exceptionally powerful beings who did not require wands or any other medium to work magic. Abilities were instinctive and operated on whim. An individual could work all manner of magic by the merest intention, almost like wishing. The majority of the earliest witches and wizards eventually descended into insanity due to the overwhelming amount of magic coursing through their systems and many committed suicide. These symptoms faded through the generations as the level of magic inherent to each individual became more stable and the use of wands became commonplace but remained in many pureblood families due to their tendency toward inbreeding. This is an unfortunate result of a misguided attempt at preserving and possibly increasing magic levels by older families as well as a misplaced sense of purity. Modern discoveries are ignored due to the incorporated understanding of muggle science in magical genes. This research has failed to reveal the original source of magic in mortal humans leading some more open minded magical philosophers to theorise the existence of another world, adjacent to ours, as the source of magic.
Extract from 'Magical Origins.' NEWT level History Of Magic Text.
Jareth was frustrated. In all his time as Goblin King no one had ever won the Labyrinth. Neither in his father's time or his grandfathers. In fact no one in living memory had ever won.
So why did the one runner he was desperate to see lose have to win.
Sarah was special. She had called him to her at an age before she could even formulate words properly. Mere whim was powerful enough. The first time he saw her as only a tiny babe, freshly born from a vain woman who had never wanted her, he felt the connection between them. The destiny of him, the Goblin King and High Prince and heir to the throne of the Underground, and this tiny, mortal babe had been intertwine. She should have been insignificant, born to a race still pathetic and squabbling about insignificant details always about themselves. But she wasn't. He had known then.
He watched her grow. He saw the mother who had despised her very existence come to feel some degree of affection, perhaps as much as she was able, for her extraordinary daughter. The father loved her from the first. He was truly a family man and wanted a child more than anything. His joy was immeasurable with his beautiful daughter in his life. Sarah thrived in a loving home. Happy and brilliant she excelled at everything she attempted. By age 8 she was far beyond her peers and ridiculed by those who envied her seemingly perfect life. After many failed attempts at connecting with both those who were her age and those in her own advanced class she began to withdraw into herself. But she still had her loving family. Her father doted on the child he had always yearned for calling her his little princess and lavishing attention on her. Her grandparents were similar having only Sarah, since her mother had been an only child and her father's parents had long since passed from cancer. So her home life was still wonderful. Except for one part.
Linda Williams was a vain and selfish woman. She loved her child as much as her nature allowed but still loathed to see all of her spotlight stolen. By the time Sarah was ten Linda had become abusive to her gifted daughter. Jareth saw the damage being inflicted upon the child he cared for and took the opportunity to remove the cause. He lured Linda away as the handsome and dashing actor Jeremy Davids. He fed her selfish nature, pandering to her wants and advancing her acting career until the inevitable day came when she divorced Sarah's father leaving both him and the girl that still loved and idolised her mother. Sarah retreated into fairy tales to feed her own desire for a fairy tale solution to fix her family. Jareth created a human persona to maintain Jeremy and retreated to the underground continuing to watch the girl his life now centred upon.
She grew, physically, but emotionally she seemed stuck on her mother leaving. Her brilliance faded in the face of her depression. Her mortal education still posed no challenge but she had no passion, instead retreating into fantasies about her mother. Jareth was felt helpless and he despised it. This remarkable child had been able to call him into her life as a babe and here she was now wasting away. Years pasted and her father moved on to another abusive wife. Jareth shook his head at the human's idiocy. He would even find it amusing if it weren't for the effect it was having on the girl he cherished. Procreation is the domain of married couples and Sarah's father was revelling in his new family. He now had a son, Tobias, to treasure as well as his new partner. Sarah was still his child but she began to fade into the background, helped along by Irene and her intense dislike of both Sarah's fanciful nature and the living reminder of her husband's ex-wife, of whom she envied, and his past. To be fair to the father, much of the abuse was carefully concealed by his manipulative partner. But none the less the damage was done.
Sarah's sweet nature was being broken and Jareth was in anguish. He began attempting to make her life more bearable. She yearned for a companion so he sent her a shaggy sheepdog puppy and manipulated the minds of her father and stepmother to think it was their idea. Her bulling classmates soon found themselves with hideous nightmares and quickly lost interest. He granted her the power of wishes and sent her a specially written edition of The Labyrinth in the off chance it might lead her to him. But his powers were limited and his Sarah was still sinking into depression.
Irene quickly tired of the tedious tasks of motherhood and quickly manoeuvred into place the technically reasonable expectation of Sarah babysitting when she and Sarah's father Chris went out. She then quickly began abusing it behind a guise of put-upon misunderstanding that Chris quickly fell for. Soon Sarah was being left for days at a time with Toby and like any teen the brother that she adored began to wear on her nerves. Jareth became hopeful. Maybe this abusive, idiotic woman had managed to do something right and soon both Sarah and young Tobias would soon be safe from her manipulations. But Sarah loved her brother. As angry as she became at the unfair situation she very rarely got angry enough to take it out on Toby. Jareth rued her sweet nature. He loved her for who she was but still wanted her to lose her ferocious temper long enough to deliver her safely into his embrace, for he now recognised his feelings as love. The Goblin King and High Prince of the Fae had finally fallen, and for a mere mortal.
Eventually Irene became ridiculous in her demands, for she too was hoping for Sarah to lose her temper enough for an excuse to send her away. One particular night she admonished Sarah for failing to be home half an hour earlier than she had originally demanded and Sarah, already tired from the previous two nights of taking care of a cranky Toby, shouted and stomped off to her room. Failing to receive, once again, any affection or understanding from her father Sarah became incensed at Toby's continuing crying. She began quoting from her copy of The Labyrinth in anger, the words fresh in her mind from when she had been practicing it earlier. The goblins Jareth had set as her personal guard many years earlier began to get excited. They could sense what was coming. He was quickly informed. They were all disappointed when the words she finally shouted were incorrect. Jareth had smiled to himself, she wasn't that silly, his Sarah was a believer.
Then IT happened. She did it. Her anger made her either brave or just callous enough to disregard her caution. Jareth's heart had leapt. It was the opportunity he had been yearning for. He was gone in an instant.
Sarah tore through his labyrinth with an ability that shocked him. He knew she was intelligent, but the ease with which she succeeded shocked him. Everything worked in her favour. Her love for her brother spurred her on, her intelligence made light work of puzzles and her humility allowed her to reach out to the occupants of the labyrinth and find those who would help. No other runner had ever thought to ask help of the labyrinth dwellers. His own reaction to her companions surprised him. He would never admit it aloud but he was jealous, especially of that little coward, Hoggle, yes he remembered the name. He got it wrong deliberately to antagonise the dwarf.
All too soon the girl he loved was gone. Even in their final moments together, Jareth's pride kept him from being truly honest in a way she could comprehend. He didn't blame her, he knew it wasn't her fault she didn't understand his hasty offer. He hated himself. But he would be patient. Time was on his side.