Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any aspect of the Young Wizard series. They both belong to far better writers then myself and I am only playing in their wonderful playground. Jason Waite is mine, but he's the only one so far. The rest belong to J.K. Rowling and Diane Duane. Enjoy! And please R&R!
**********
Jason groaned as he regained consciousness. The last thing he remembered was walking down the street full of shops in London. Then, when he paused trying to read one of the faded signs above a door, there was a sharp pain on his head then nothing.
"Hey. Are you ok?"
Jason opened his eyes and was met with a face framed with red hair hovering over him. As he began to sit up, he held a hand to his head, over an obvious lump. Wincing, he pulled his hand away and looked to see if there was any blood. There wasn't, but it still hurt.
"I think so," he told the woman as he sat on the edge of the bed.
He looked around to see that they were in some sort of hotel room. It was small, but only because of the other people filling it. Mostly red-heads, only the boy with black hair, and the girl with brown, stood out.
"Well, you look to be alright. I'm terribly sorry for running into you like that. I didn't see you till the last second," she apologized profusely. "You must have been looking for the Leaky Cauldron the way you were staring at the sign."
Jason just looked at her with a blank face. The Leaky Cauldron? Is that what the sign had said? It was hard to tell at the time, it was so blurry.
"Uh… I guess it was. I was really just trying to read the sign. It just seemed so out of place, being as blurry as it was. Most of the signs were very clear." He explained when she looked worried by his confused expression.
It was their turn to look confused now, although Jason thought it was more due to his accent. They must not get many Americans around here, he thought.
The boy with black hair came up to him a little hesitant. "You said the sign was kinda blurry? Like it was out of focus?"
Jason looked at him strangely. "Well, I thought it was due to being worn out or something, but yea, it was out of focus now that I think about it." A thoughtful look came on his face, "Now that I think about it, most of the people were walking past it like it wasn't even there. Even other tourist and they were looking at everything!"
It was Molly's turn to look confused, and a bit worried. "Oh dear," she murmured. She then looked at him with a very serious expression. "Now…. Uh…." She paused realizing that he hadn't told her his name.
"Jason. Jason Waite." He supplied.
"Right. Jason. I'm Molly Weasly," She said in a distracted introduction. "Now, I need you to answer this question as truthfully as you can, alright." At his nod, she continued. "Have you ever heard of wizards?"
Jason looked startled for a second. That was the last thing he expected her to say.
"Well… yea… but how do you know? Are you one too?" He became thoughtful. "I mean, my friend said that it's harder for guys to tell if girls were, and vice versa…" He trailed off noticing that they were all looking at him oddly.
"What do you mean, is she one?" One of the younger red-headed boys asked him. "Girls can't be wizards. They're witches…Ooof" He was cut off as the brunette girl jabbed him in the ribs.
"Ok, I'm confused. If you're not a wizard, how do you know about us?" Jason asked puzzled yet again. He bowed his head and held it in his hand as it began to pound. "Man, this is giving me a headache."
Molly got a maternal worried look on her face. "Oh, I'm sorry dear. Why don't you rest a bit and we'll get this straightened out later, alright."
Jason, his head hurting to almost migraine proportions, could only nod and lay back down on the bed. He fell asleep, still confused but too tired to really make much of it, soon after the family had left.
*******
"I don't understand. Why would he assume you're a wizard and not a witch?" Harry asked Mrs. Wesley as she shut the door behind her.
"I'm not sure, Harry dear. I need to speak with Dumbledore." She said and went off to her room, leaving the others standing puzzled in front of the door the strange boy now occupied.
"We'll have to wait and see what's going to happen later. We can't do anything now and we have to catch the train to school tomorrow. I suggest we all try and get some sleep." The ever practical Harmione said to the group and headed off to the room that Ginny, Mrs. Weasly and herself shared.
Ron shrugged after her and went to his room and the others followed.
*******
"Hmm… This is strange indeed. I wish to speak with him, but with school starting so soon, I'm needed here. You'll just have to send him to Hogwarts with the rest of the children, Molly. I'll take care of it from there." Dumbledore told her after she told him what happened and the boy's strange reaction.
"Are you sure that's wise, Albus? I mean, he could just be a well attuned muggle. It wouldn't be good for him to see Hogwarts. It may scare him, and then where would he be? I don't like the idea of using a memory charm on someone who is just well attuned to the magical world." Molly told the headmaster with worry lacing every word.
"Don't worry, Molly. I'm sure it will all work out." He assured her.
They exchanged a few pleasantries and then broke off the contact. It looked like Jason was going to Hogwarts.
********
Jason awoke the next morning without the headache, although his head still hurt some. The sun was shining in through the small window and brought the sounds of the streets below with it.
He was curious about the people that took him here yesterday. They knew about wizards, but seemed confused when he assumed that Mrs. Weasley was one. Three of the kids were his age, 15, and the others looked a bit older, although the red haired girl looked younger.
He shook his head, got up and headed toward the door of the room. He wasn't going to figure anything out without going out of his room and asking questions. And that was exactly what he planned to do.
He opened the door to an empty hallway and headed down the stairs to the common room below. He paused at the top step and looked down in surprise at the old fashioned décor that seemed of the place for the part of London that he was in. He smiled and shook his head and headed down to find the Weaslys.
*********
"Hey look! There's Jason." Ron said as he spied the boy coming down the stairs. "Jason! Over here!" He called out and waved his arm to catch his attention.
Jason looked over and , seeing Ron, strode toward the almost full table.
"Good morning." He said to them politely.
"Good morning dear," Mrs. Weasly said to him and gestured for him to sit at an empty seat across from her and beside Harry. She then grabbed an empty plate and began to put food upon it.
"I was wondering if you could answer some questions…" Jason began as soon as he was seated, but stopped when Mrs. Weasly began to speak.
"I was just going to tell you. I spoke to someone that I think can clear up the confusion but I must ask. Where are your parents? I'm sure they're worried sick when you didn't come back last night," She told him with concern.
"Oh. There's no need to worry," Jason assured her, "I came to England on my own."
Molly nodded, and seemed relieved at the news. Although silently wondering why he came alone. "That's good to hear, because the person I would like you to meet is a train ride away and it may take a few days."
Jason nodded. "Ok. So when do we leave?"
"In 30 minutes. You'll be riding with my children as the train is heading toward their school. Just follow them and they'll take you to Albus." She told him.
Jason nodded again and hurriedly ate the breakfast that she had been dishing out for him as she spoke.
He didn't notice the looks that the children exchanged with eachother around him. If he had, he might have been a bit worried.
*********
Half an hour later, they were in the train station heading to their usual platform.
"How do we get him to the platform without freaking him out, Mrs. Weasly?" Harry asked watching as Jason walked with the twins. They were talking rapidly about something, although Harry had no idea what that could be.
"The twins and I have already figured that out dear." Molly assured him, though she was surprised by the simplicity of the plan she was confident that it would work.
"Hey Jason. Wait till you see the train! It's great! Nothing like these old hunks of metal here, eh Fred?" George said to his brother.
"Yea! Ooo… here," Fred said as he pulled out a bit of cloth from his pocket. "Let's blind-fold him so that he gets the full effect!"
Before Jason could object, the blindfold was already in place and tied securely over his eyes.
"Oh, come on guys…" Jason started to say.
"Don't worry! It'll only be a minute." They assured him, speaking in unison.
Jason frowned. He didn't know them that well, but he knew them well enough to not trust them when they spoke like that.
"Guys…" He began again, but was interrupted as the twins drug him along and through the pillar to the platform.
The others soon followed and were there to witness the unveiling.
"It's great, isn't it?" George asked seeing the look of appreciation on Jason's face.
"Yea…"
"Let's get a closer look as we load our bags." Fred said as he grabbed Jason's arm and pulled him toward the train, not giving the other boy enough time to notice that the rest of the train station changed drastically and the other trains had disappeared.
It was only 10 minutes more before they were on the train and on their way to Hogwarts.
********
The compartment they were in was unusually quiet for the group that was there. Harry, Harmione, and Ron were unsure of what topics would interest Jason that wouldn't make him think they were crazy and Jason was unsure of what to say for almost the same reason.
Their silence was interrupted from the almost routine visit from Draco Malfoy as he opened their compartment door. Oddly, he didn't have his two shadows behind him but that didn't make him that much less an unwelcome sight.
"Go away, Malfoy." Harry said before the blond boy could say anything.
Draco sneered at him and noticed Jason sitting there looking at them with a curious expression.
"Another follower, Potty? Is he a mud-blood as well? You seem to be attracting them like flies." He said giving a disgusted look toward Harmione.
Ron's face began to turn red in anger blending with his red hair. "Malfoy…" He growled, and began to rise.
Assessing the situation, Jason interrupted whatever Ron was going to do by standing blocking Ron from Malfoy's view.
"It seems as though you're not welcome here, Mr. Malfoy." He was coldly polite and glared at the boy. Draco just rubbed him wrong.
Draco was surprised by the accent, then he smirked at Jason, giving the boy his full attention. "Well, a mud-blood and an American. Well, you can't get lower then that, now can you." Noticing that Jason didn't have a wand accessible, he pulled his own and pointed it at him.
"Tanrantellegra!" Draco said before the others could do anything.
To their amazement, nothing happened. Jason was still standing and his legs didn't jerk uncontrollably.
Jason was puzzled at their amazement. "What?" He questioned when they didn't say anything.
"How…?" Draco started to say but stopped unsure of how to continue.
That brought the rest out of their daze and Harry shoved the still bewildered Draco out the door and shut it. They all heard the boy walk off and they turned to Jason.
"How did you do that?" Ron asked in wonder.
"Do what?" Jason asked, puzzled as ever.
"You didn't even speak a counter, and you don't have a wand. How did you deflect the curse?" Harmione asked when she collected herself enough to speak.
"Curse? What are you talking about. He just pointed a stick at me and said some silly word. Was it supposed to affect me?" He asked.
"Working properly, you would probably be jerking your legs all over the place." Supplied Harry and Ron and Harmione could only nod in agreement.
"I have no idea." Jason said frustrated as he sat down. "Nothing has made sense since Ron's mom bopped me on the head yesterday."
They all sat in contemplative silence for the rest of the train ride each trying to figure out what was going on.
******
The train stopped not long after the sun went down for the day and they all disembarked from the train. Jason looked in wonder at the tall man gathering the younger students.
"First years this way!" The large man called out.
"That's Hagrid. He's a teacher at our school and a good friend." Harry said standing right behind Jason when he noticed who he was looking at.
"Oh…" Was all Jason could think to say.
"Jason Waite?"
Jason turned to see an older man with strange clothes coming toward him. He also noticed the long white hair and beard the man sported. It must have taken forever to grow it that long, Jason thought randomly as the man stopped in front of him.
"I hope you enjoyed your trip. Train rides can be most fun." The man said cheerfully. "I'm Albus Dumbledore, headmaster here at Hogwarts. Now if you'll just follow me, we'll get some things straightened out."
Jason was in a daze as he was led along to a carriage and headed to the school that he just noticed was a large and magnificent castle.
"Wow." Jason said as he looked to the large towers. The full effect of the school was amazing. Large stone towers, the lake, and an odd looking sports field with very tall hoops at one end.
"That is the Quiddich field." Dumbledore supplied when he noticed where Jason was looking.
"What's Quiddich?" Jason had never heard of that before.
"You'll find out soon enough." Was all Dumbledore said.
********
It was a bit later when Jason found himself in the Headmaster's office. It seemed cozy, but the thing that grabbed his attention was the magnificent bird perched next to the desk.
Dumbledore had left Jason alone in his office while he went to start the feast for the school and assured the boy that he would be back shortly. So, not seeing the harm, he walked over to where the bird was preening to get a closer look.
The bird eyed him warily as he came closer to it but it continued cleaning each feather with care.
"Dai'stiho." He murmured to the bird, using a language that every creature that existed knew.
If a bird had facial expressions, he knew it would have been startled. As it was, the feathers ruffled and it flared its wings as if to keep from falling off it's perch.
Startled by the sudden movement, Jason reeled back to avoid being hit in the face by those magnificent wings.
"I've never seen Fawns be se startled by someone speaking to him before. It makes me curious as to what you said." Dumbledore said as he entered the room, startling Jason even more as he whirled to face the older man.
"I only said 'Hi' to him." Jason said looking toward the ground. It wasn't really lying. The word did mean greetings, hello and different variations of the word.
"Yes, but I doubt that a simple 'Hi' would have startled him so much. Please, have a seat." Dumbledore replied and gestured to the empty seat in front of his desk.
"You practice Draoicheacht don't you." Dumbledore sated more then asked when he was seated behind his desk.
Seeing that the headmaster wasn't one to waste words at the moment, Jason could only nod as he recognized the original druid for 'Wizardry.'
"Well, my boy, it seems you have stumbled upon a different kind of magic. One that few your age know in your line of work." The headmaster said as he stood back up and gestured for Jason to follow him out the door and to the dining hall of the school.
As Dumbledore opened the side door to the hall, Jason stared in wonder at the ceiling that didn't seem to be there and the candles that floated in the air above a room full of students of varied age. "Welcome to Hogwarts."