Necron- Spoilers! Can't give away everything, then you'd have no incentive to continue reading :P
sammie117 and 777angeloflove- Thank you! That one was quite fun to write ^^
Raychaell Dionzeros- I know right? They are indeed terrifying creatures. And I can't tell you yet, mainly because I haven't quite decided . I was considering on leaving them out for a while yet as Allen didn't meet them till he was 15 so I was going to wait till the 4th year but we shall see. It may change yet
Kureru- So glad I managed to cheer you up- Maths is never fun :P Hope you enjoy this one too!
Dumbledore ignored the wooden chair that had been oh-so-kindly set out for him by the Ministry officials who were all of a sudden fawning over him as they realised the true extent of their mistake in questioning Allen. Dumbledore smirked slightly as he conjured up his favourite purple chintz chair. He absolutely loved the 'protection of underage wizards' Act of 1975, though he had a nagging suspicion that Fudge was going to change it now after the issues it had just caused him. He had been quite ready to kick the poor boy out of Britain and back into Japan without so much as an apology however Dumbledore had been kind enough to point out that if he did so, a lawsuit big enough to make the most seasoned layer quiver would land on his desk. At this, Fudge had rather quickly reviewed his plans and came to the conclusion that perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea to allow Allen to stay after all.
"So" Dumbledore said calmly as he settled down in his chair "What have you decided"
Fudge cleared his throat and began to re-align the quills on his desk in order of height and nib-thickness
"We have come to our decision Dumbledore. We have concluded having seen the medical reports and having heard the boy's testimony that he was indeed injured by dark magic. This obviously addled his brains, causing the hallucinations and delusions about these so-called 'Akuma' and this 'Earl'. As for his arm holding magical powers, this is clearly poppycock too- seems to be a further delusion of his...err... unstable mind. We have however decided that as he has so far shown no signs of violence that he is not currently any danger and therefore can be allowed to mingle with the general public. If that changes, if we get even the slightest whiff of anything suspicious, we will have to send him to St. Mugo's. It's for everyone's protection really."
Dumbledore smiled and nodded "You know, minister" He said pleasantly "You are without a doubt the most excellent politician I have ever met. Your ability to dress up this pile of dung in pretty frills and ribbons just proves that the public most definitely made the right choice when they elected you. Rest assured that I will, as I have always done, pick up the slack and make up for your incompetence by actually acting on this information. If you wish to remain in government when this whole thing blows up in your face, I would suggest you let me do as I wish. I assure you, I will allow you to take the credit as always so there is no need to be concerned" He stood up and, with a barely perceivable flick of his wand caused his chair to disappear and a small gust of wind to sweep over the ministers desk ruining the neat alignment of his quills. Dumbledore smiled inwardly at this childish victory and swept away before Fudge realised that it had been him.
"Oh, and by the way" Dumbledore said just before he exited the room
"The boy is coming to Hogwarts. I shall assume that you have enough common sense to realise that that is the best place for him and therefore will set no more petty bureaucratic obstacles in my way. I am rather bored of skirting around paperwork at this stage. Adieu"
"No"
"...So Professor McGonagall will sort out... wait, what?"
Allen folded his arm stubbornly across his chest "I came here to fight Akuma and save as many souls as I could, Professor. No offence or anything but I fail to see how exactly I will be able to that effectively if I am in a classroom writing down 101 ways to tame a dragon or whatever it is you teach here"
"There's actually only 1 really, and we don't teach it here anymore- the health and safety regulations were a right pain in the..." Dumbledore trailed off, his eyes sparkling slightly
"Regardless, Allen, you must come to school. You have magic and if you don't learn to control it, you will just be putting your life and the lives of those you love at risk. You are still young, enjoy your childhood while you can- you are entitled to happiness just as much as anyone else. Besides, it is illegal for untrained wizards to run around Britain getting up to who-knows-what. The Ministry would never allow it"
Allen shook his head stubbornly
"There is no way- I don't care if I am breaking the law doing it, I refuse to sit here being pampered while there are people and souls out there suffering because of my selfishness. I am a child no longer Dumbledore- age is not something that can be measured in years, but rather by experience and I have experienced enough Dumbledore, believe you me, I have experienced enough to remove the child in me completely."
Dumbledore sighed deeply, he had been afraid of this. There was nothing for it- he couldn't let this one slip the net- he had too much potential. He held too much promise. Perhaps he had been wrong about the prophesy after all, perhaps this child was the key to all his questions. There was no way he was going to allow him to disappear now. He was going to have to do the thing which he promised himself he would never do. He was going to have to make an exception to the rules
"What if I gave you the freedom to leave when Akuma appeared? You managed to uphold jobs while in Japan and still fight Akuma, there is no reason you shouldn't be able to do the same with education. The school will be funded for you, you will have an allowance provided for all the equipment you need as well, so money will no longer be a worry for you. Besides, you never know, what you learn here may help you to save more people in the future- having an extra weapon never hurt. Plus if you joined us, you would no longer need to sacrifice your ideals. We do not perform illegal human experiments or prize politics above life. You would still have the freedom to save souls regardless of whether or not some bureaucrat considered them to be important"
Allen frowned and sat in silence for a while
"Can I think about it?"
Harry and Ron made their way towards the fat lady's portrait, scarcely believing they were still alive and in one piece after their adventure. Hermione was waiting for them, an extremely disapproving look on her face and her arms tightly folded across her chest
"...Irresponsible and childish! Oh by the way, Harry, you missed it because you were away being clobbered half to death by a tree but remember that boy you told us about? The one from the hospital wing? Yes well he has been sorted into Griffindor. He is in our year actually, turns out he fast tracked by sitting the 1st year exams over the summer holidays. His little sister is here too, turns out Dumbledore adopted the both of the so she is staying in the..."
"WHAT?" both Harry and Ron yelled, identical expressions of shock and horror on their faces
"Dumbledore ADOPTED THEM?" they both cried in disbelief
Hermione sniffed at their reactions "yes, well that was what I just said wasn't it? Honestly, you two are so immature sometimes- why shouldn't Dumbledore adopt?"
Ron snorted at this "Because he is ancient and a complete and utter crackpot that's why!"
Hermione shot him a rather condescending look before choosing to ignore his comment "Anyway, they are both inside if you want to..." She was once again rudely interrupted as both the boys barged past her into the common room, gaining access through the portrait that she opened for them as she followed rather huffily behind
Harry managed to get through first, and he immediately picked Allen out from the crowds of people there. Mainly because almost every single Griffindor had gathered in a semi-circle around him and were bombarding the poor boy with so many questions that it was impossible to discern one from the next.
As soon as Harry climbed through the portrait, Allen's face split into a grin "Harry!" He cried causing the entire common rooms attention to turn on him. Harry gulped nervously and glared at Allen who mouthed 'sorry' from his spot behind the pack of people who all simultaneously began asking questions about his crash landing in the school grounds
Harry, Allen and Ron eventually managed to escape from their schoolmates and ran into their dorm. They all slumped down simultaneously on the floor, laughing rather giddily at their situation.
"So" Harry said, turning to face Allen "You were adopted by Dumbledore?"
Allen laughed lightly, rubbing the back of his head rather sheepishly "Yea, well, it was the only way he could convince me to stay at school- see I told him on no uncertain terms that Mai came above everything in my books, even my education so the only way I would come here would be if Mai could come too. Of course that is against the school rules but Dumbledore found some loophole somewhere that stated that the headmaster could bring his children to the school regardless of their age so he adopted both of us. It's purely to please the paper pushers- I mean it isn't as if he acts as a 'dad' or anything; he is more of a... guardian? A sensei? I still have full responsibility of caring for Mai, although she is looked after by Madame Pomfrey while I am here or in class. He just provides us with the place to stay and in return I have to promise to come to school and work hard" He shrugged "seemed like a good deal to me!"
Harry and Ron were both dumfounded
"What is his house like" Ron asked, completely out of the blue "I just can't imagine him living anywhere"
Allen laughed again "I know what you mean! His house is, like a huge mansion on this sea cliff it has the biggest grounds you have ever seen and it's all overgrown and wild like a jungle. The house itself is mental- It's full of these really weird metaphorical things, like as soon as you walk in the front door, there is this huge tree, growing out of the hallway floor. It is almost reaching the ceiling and is a deep mahogany colour, with dark red leaves shaped like stars- its leaves are constantly falling down and being reproduced. I made the mistake one day of asking him why it was there and he launched into-and I'm not even joking- an hour long lecture on how it symbolised the futile struggles of nature and humankind, for the tree was reaching for the unattainable sun, that it signified the resilience of nature for it was slowly cracking the man-made stone of the floor, that he enjoyed walking across the carpet of leaves and wondering over the endless cycle of life and death, each causing the other for the leaves which fall off the tree provide the nutrients for the next generation. He also said he thought it was marvellous that the tree had created its own universe, that it surrounded itself by shooting stars, and then after all this he just gave me a rather funny look and said 'plus I thought it was pretty' and wondered off to make himself a cup of tea"
Ron and Harry both sat in a stunned silence before Ron piped up "Yup. He is most definitely barmy" and with this deep and philosophical statement, he began to dig through his trunk looking for his pyjamas
At this stage, Seamus and Dean burst through the door to the dorm, deep in conversation. As soon as Seamus spotted the boys in the middle of the dorm, he froze and turned to face Dean, muttering something under his breath. The two boys then continued into the dorm in silence, shooting a rather dirty look in Allen and Harry's direction before sitting on their beds and sorting through their stuff. Harry was rather bemused by their behaviour- he had always gotten on well with the boys and couldn't figure out what was wrong with them. Allen who of course didn't know them at all stood up and stretched,
"Well, I don't know about you lot but I am exhausted!" He rummaged through his trunk and pulled out a wash-bag before shuffling off to the dormitory bathroom
Dean let out a 'tch' of disgust when Allen exited the room and rolled his eyes at Seamus who returned the gesture "Just our luck to be trapped in the same room with the freak huh?"
Harry looked over at Ron, who gave him an equally confused look back
"Err, what are you guys on about?" Harry asked
"That white-haired freak- he gives me the creeps. People like him shouldn't be allowed in schools, I certainly don't want to be in the same room as him" Dean snorted in agreement and shook his head in disgust "Can't believe Dumbledore actually let him in"
Harry bristled at this comment about his new friend "Neither of you even know him, how can you judge someone like that without ever speaking to them? Allen is a great guy"
Seamus shot Dean a rather dark look "Have you two even seen his scar? Don't you know what that sign means? It is the sign of the most evil and dark magic that has ever existed. I don't even want to know how he got it! Even You- Know- Who didn't meddle with that branch of magic"
Dean nodded in conformation "Me and Seamus met up over the holidays and we saw an article about it in the Daily Prophet. I'm telling you, that boy is dangerous"(1)
Harry and Ron looked at each other, both thinking the same thing
"How exactly had Allen gained that scar?"
When Allen wondered back into the dorm, dressed in a shirt about five times too big for him (which came in handy as the sleeve finished well below his fingertips) everyone had already settled down in their beds with the curtains drawn. The room was awkwardly silent, as if all the occupants were holding their breaths- there was no snoring or heavy breathing. Just silence. Allen made his way slowly to his bed, unsure of what to make of it. He sat down on the end of his bed and glanced around the dorm again but the red hangings of all the beds remained shut, enclosing their occupants in their crimson cocoons. Allen shook his head, and told himself he was just imagining things. They must all have been tired. It was late after all. He rolled into his bed and pulled his own curtains shut.
Two beds away, Harry lay his eyes open, staring blankly at the room of his four poster bed, his mind a million miles away. He remembered what Allen had told him about his scar all those months ago. But he had been so vague, who was it that had given him it? What wizard was there that had dabbled in magic darker than anything even Voldemort would venture into? And how on earth had Allen gotten mixed up in it. Sleep was a long time coming to him that night as suspicions and thoughts swirled around his head like unchartable constellations and galaxies
A/N (1) I am putting this prejudice in here because of how Seamus and Dean acted in the 4th book. They didn't strike me as the most accepting of people
So yeah, I am going to assume that if you are reading this, you already know the Harry Potter books back to from like I do so I will be able to shorten this story slightly by leaving out any of the irrelevant stuff like what happened during Harry's summer- you know, the whole Dobby incident, car wreck issue etc etc.
Also, I will I think re-post my question over the next few chapters to see what you guys think and if it is fairly evenly split, I'll just continue at the pace I am going
review 1- if I am going too slow and 2- if I am going at the right pace and 3- if I am going too fast (though I sincerely doubt that I am going too fast)
Thaaaaanks so much to all of you lovely reviewers btw! ('')
Oh and in case anyone is curious, apparently the green goblin that haunts my friends house has eaten my 2nd HP book . still. Borrowed one from the library so all is fine.