Chapter 1
Five carriages flew through the air towards a large castle in the middle of the night. The all flew in a formation, with a heavily armored one in the center. The castle ahead looked devoid of life, its lights long gone out.
Five Ministry of Magic Department of Magical Law Enforcement carriages landed in the grounds outside of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Three figures stood on the grounds, waiting for the carriages to arrive. Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Severus Snape were positioned for the arrival of the oddest transfer student Hogwarts had ever received.
It was mid August and the grounds were looking lovely, yet also a bit daunting at midnight. The arrival of the DMLE Azkaban carriage kicked the cobwebs of sleep from the three teachers readying for the 15 year old prisoner transfer. A surly looking man came out from the lead carriage and walked up to Dumbledore and handed him a piece of paper.
"This is for you to sign Headmaster," he said, pointing to the "X" on the paper. "I wouldn't wish him," he pointed to the armored carriage, "on anyone."
"I believe we can handle him quite well," Dumbledore said with his familiar twinkle in his eye. He signed the paper with a quill from his pocket and gave the paper back to the man.
"Your funeral," the man mumbled as he returned to the carriages.
"Why are we doing this again Albus?" Snape asked in a humorous way. "It seems that we are biting off more than we can chew with this one."
"I assure you Severus, he will be fine for school and we must keep him safe at Hogwarts. Azkaban will be broken soon, the Dementors won't be under Ministry control for much longer," Dumbledore countered, in a finalizing way.
"Just a question Albus, who is 'he'?" McGonagall questioned. "Does he even have a name?"
"None that I am aware of. He has no transfer papers nor a criminal record," he answered.
"Then why was he in Azkaban of all places?" she asked exasperated.
"That is a question we must ask him."
"Headmaster! We will transfer the prisoner over to you now!" the surly man yelled from his carriage. Dumbledore nodded and the armored carriage opened up. A hooded figure walked down the ramp and four guards attached metal rods to his collar. The prisoner had metal binders covering his hands and wrists, locking them together. His ankles had chains on them, keeping him to a slow crawl. The guards walked him up to the Headmaster and paused.
"Sir? Where do you want him?" one of the guards asked.
"Here will be fine thank you very much," Dumbledore said pleasantly.
"H-here? Are you s-sure? He's highly d-dangerous," the guard stammered.
"The Headmaster said here so leave him here. Are you ignorant or just plain stu-" Snape snapped.
"That will be enough Severus," Dumbledore interjected. "Remove the binders and the collar."
The guards did as they were told, but left the hood on as they ran to their carriages and took off.
"Abrupt aren't they?" Snape asked, sneering.
"May I remove this hood, or am I to evil to see my new guards?" a cold voice came from the hood. Dumbledore proceeded to remove the hood to see smirking dark red haired youth underneath. The boy had a puckering scar from his left temple to the center of his chin. "Ah, so this is who it is, an old man, a grease ball and a hag. This will be an easy escape for once."
"Silence!" Snape roared at the boy.
Surprisingly, Dumbledore was smiling at the boy. "What is your name son?"
"First of all, I am not your son, and second of all why should I tell you?" he said, the smirk still on his face.
"I am Albus Dumbledore, the person on the left is Minerva McGonagall, and on my right is Severus Snape."
"Well then, now where precisely am I?"
"You are at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry which we are all employed as professors. Now would you answer my question please?"
"Hmm, I guess so. My name is Gien Sentow, so pleased to meet you," he said with a sweeping bow.
"Well Mr. Sentow, I have brought you here to tell you of a proposition I have for you." Dumbledore said, not losing his twinkle and his smile.
"Oh really? What would that be?" Sentow said while looking at everything around him, not meeting Dumbledore's piercing blue gaze.
"I wish to enroll you at Hogwarts where you will learn all about magic. You of course can refuse and will be returned to Azkaban, being that you are still a prisoner. If you do enroll here, you will stay on the grounds at all costs, but after graduation, you are free to do whatever you want."
"Quite an odd place you have here Dumbledore. This is my first time out of Azkaban in my life. Quite an odd place. Is it always this dark? Is that the sun? Or the moon?" he said pointing to the moon with a curious look on his face.
"Well are you or are you not?" Snape spat.
"Quite snapping aren't you Snape?" Sentow asked, cocking his head towards Snape, smirking again.
"There is one more condition." Dumbledore said, averting a verbal fight. "There is a student I want you to guard. He is as of now, not in danger, but I am worrying about the strength of the wards at his home."
"Ah, I figured there'd be something else in this. Who is it?" Sentow said, turning his eyes to Dumbledore and frowning.
"I need you to guard Harry Potter. You must retrieve him and take him to here. Do you understand? The location is on this paper if you choose to apply at Hogwarts." Dumbledore took a piece of parchment from his paper and held it out to Sentow.
"I'll do it. A foolproof escape plan, I like it," he took the paper from Dumbledore's wizened hand and looked it over once. "I know this place. It was on a map." He shut his eyes in concentration. "Oh here it is. I'm off!" His eyes snapped open and he smirked again.
"How can you get there? You can't apparate!" McGonagall said haughtily.
"You're right. But luckily, I'm smarter than the average teacher," he said, this time smirking at McGonagall as she sputtered. "I'm not in school yet!" Sentow disappeared in a bright flash of light and a sound like a cannon firing.
"Why are we doing this again Albus?" Snape asked wearily.