I've had this spot for a long time now, a spot just outside The Three Broomsticks but far enough away that Madam Rosemerta wont throw me off the doorstep. I sit here with my box and sell the carvings I make, hand carvings not the quick one's that you can do with a wave of your wand. Not a usual thing for a wizard to do, especially not one who'd collected a number of NEWTS, but it's what I enjoy.

I'd only been here a few years when I first saw him, a tall, gangly thirteen year old with messy brown hair that was sticking out from under a tall purple hat with silver stars on it that I knew wasn't a part of the Hogwarts dress code. He was spending most of his pocket change in Honeydukes, buying more sweets then he could probably ever consume. Then with his friends he headed across the street to The Three Broomsticks only to pause and take a detour to where I sat carving.

"Hi," he said looking at the carvings I had on display. "Do you make all of these by hand?"

"Yep," I replied and he looked at me with the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen.

"That must be hard."

I shrugged. "I enjoy it."

He studied the carvings for a little while longer and a friend called out, "Come on, Albus, what are you wasting time with him for?"

The boy – Albus – didn't reply instead he pointed to a carving of a phoenix that I was rather proud of and said, "I like that one."

"It's fifteen gallons."

Much to my surprise he pulled the money out of his pocket and placed it in front of me before picking up the phoenix carving and walking off with a "thanks".

The next time I saw him was at Christmas time and he came by with a cheery smile and handed me a bag of assorted candies. "Merry Christmas."

I was so shocked that I didn't have a chance to thank him before he ran off to join his friends.

Over the years he was at Hogwarts I become accustom to him dropping by briefly to say hello and give me a bag of candies. He stuck me as a fairly bright boy and was definitely well liked so by the time he'd reached seventh year and was getting ready to leave Hogwarts I assumed he'd go off and get a nice cushy ministry job and I'd never see him again.

Then one night I was in The Three Broomsticks having a drink when the examiners came in having just finished observing the exams of all the fifth and seventh years. They were all talking about one thing, the amazing abilities of one Albus Dumbledore. Now I'd never learned Albus' last name, but I just had this feeling that the smiling boy with the bright blue eyes who cheerfully gave me candies was the same one that they were talking about.

Years passed and I didn't see Albus nor did I hear anything about what had happened to him. Then there was the scary news of the Dark Lord Gindlewald. Now I figure that there's one of these Dark Lords every so often, after all there was one in my parents time, and they were plenty scary but we always managed to kill them.

So for a few years there was plenty of worry among the wizarding community and people tended to avoid me out of suspicion so didn't get much news outside of what I overheard. Then one day there was celebration because Grindlewald had been defeated, defeated by one Albus Dumbledore.

Going into The Three Broomsticks I asked Madam Rosmerta for a copy of the Daily Prophet to look at. Sure enough there on the front page was a picture of Albus Dumbledore, the little boy I'd known as a Hogwarts student. He had a beard and long hair now but I recognised his striking bright blue eyes.

A couple weeks later he showed up in Hogsmade for a drink in The Three Broomsticks. There was a crowd of people following him, as if in awe, and he looked uncomfortable about it. Suddenly seeing me he turned and came over to where I was sitting.

"I'm surprised you're still here."

"Where else would I be?"

He chuckled and reached into his pocket, pulling out a bag of candy he handed it to me with a smile before heading into The Three Broomsticks leaving me sitting there in shock.

I next saw him when he came back to Hogwarts as a teacher. He paused to give me a bag of candies and I asked him,

"How come you aren't teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts? That's what everyone thought you'd teach."

"Oh, I find I prefer Transfiguration. Much more challenging."

I'd see him many times over the next few years, sometimes with his colleagues and sometimes by himself. He'd taken to wearing purple robes and equally strange looking hat as well as growing out his hair and beard. I thought he looked strange and told him so only to have him reply;

"Ahh, but it's all a matter of perspective is it not?"

One evening during the summer I saw him come into Hogsmade looking more worried then I'd ever seen him.

"What happened?" I asked as he stopped by to give me my candies.

"Oh, I'm just thinking about an orphan boy I just met."

"An orphan boy? What's so worrisome about an orphan boy?"

"There's just something about him. I think I'll keep a close eye on him." With that he wandered off to The Three Broomsticks for a drink leaving me scratching my head.

I gave little thought to his worrisome orphan boy until five years later when a boy I'd never seen before came into the village and stopped by me.

"What kind of wizard is homeless?" he sneered and I was struck by an immediate dislike of him.

"Tom," Albus' voice boomed down the street. "You'd be best to leave him alone."

Tom sneered at him but did as he was told.

Albus handed me my candies. "He worries me more and more every year."

"Why haven't I seen him before?"

"Because the orphanage he lives in wouldn't sign his form."

"Then why all now?"

"I don't know, and that is what worries me."

The next time Tom came up in conversation was a year later after the culprit who had opened the chamber of secrets had been caught.

"It wasn't Hagrid," said Albus with certainty.

"He doesn't really strike me to be the type," I agreed thinking of the bumbling half-giant who I talked to now and then.

"I think it was Tom."

"But he's muggle born. Can't the chamber only be opened by Slytherin's heir?"

"That's what worries me."

I watched Tom the next few times he came to the village and noticed something about him; the boys who were with him weren't friends, they were followers.

He graduated and I didn't hear about him again for years. Albus still stopped by with candies for me of course, though he had started wearing half-moon glasses and become Headmaster of Hogwarts and turned down the position of Minister of Magic. When I asked him why he'd decided to remain at Hogwarts he'd replied, "As a teacher I can shape all of those who come through Hogwarts doors into better witches and wizards, as Minister I'd spend my whole day arguing over policies."

Madam Rosmertas daughter (also Madam Rosmerta to make it easy on all the idiot's out there) had taken over The Three Broomsticks. For many years things settled into a relatively peaceful routine, then there started to be whispers about someone named Lord Voldemort and something called a Death Eater.

"Who or what is a Death Eater?" I asked Albus the next time I saw him.

"They are the followers of Lord Voldemort who is our new Dark Lord."

"Lord Voldemort, that sounds like a name out of a bad muggle movie."

"But it sounds more frightening then Tom Riddle."

"The orphan boy?"

"Yes." He sighed, "I should have kept a closer eye on him."

It seemed like in no time at all Lord Voldemort was becoming known as You-Know-Who among the more easily frightened of the wizarding community. But Albus dismissed it as rubbish, saying he would never be caught saying "You-Know-Who". Interestingly enough as Voldemort gained power Hogwarts was left alone, the rumour was that it was because he was scared of Dumbeldore. I believed it, after all he had always obeyed Albus when he'd been in school.

Voldemorts idea of pure blood supremacy was catching on among the Slytherin students who had always been very pureblood oriented in the first place, but especially among a group led by Lucius Malfoy. The group consisting of Malfoy, Nott, McNair, Crabbe, Goyle, Rockwood, Lestrange, Snape and the Black sisters quickly became notorious for causing trouble around Hogsmead. Then one day they stopped by where I was sitting.

"You look like a lost muggle," Malfoy sneered knocking my carvings over.

"Leave him alone Malfoy!"

"And what are you going to do if I don't, Potter?"

A group of four younger boys stood facing the Slytherins. Well three of them were facing the Slytherin's the fourth was kind of cowering behind them. The one called Potter drew his wand and said, "I'll make you then."

Instantly everyone had their wands out and I decided that now would be a good time to duck down behind my box.

"Wands away all of you," Albus' voice rang out and I dared to look up. "Now all of you head your separate ways and I don't want to hear of any more incidents."

They moved off and he came over to check that I was all right.

"That Slytherin group is a nasty piece of work."

"They are very much into the idea of pureblood supremacy, being pure bloods themselves. Well all except Snape who I believe tags along with them just to have a group to belong to."

I knew better then to argue with him, even if I personally disagreed, he'd been right enough other times.

Years passed and Lord Voldemort became more and more formidable to the point where it actually looked like he might win, then suddenly he disappeared, destroyed by an infant Harry Potter, the boy who lived.

When I asked Albus about the Potter boy he simply replied "He is in a safe place until he is old enough to attend Hogwarts."

The years passed and things returned to normal, then Harry Potter came to Hogwarts and nothing was quite the same again. Every year there were new troubles until finally, Lord Voldemort was reborn.

No one believed it of course, but I knew better then not to listen to Albus who had personally told me that Voldemort was back. Even when he was driven from Hogwarts castle I knew he'd return, he'd return because without him Voldemort would never be defeated.

Then Voldemort appeared in the ministry of magic itself trying to retrieve a prophecy and kill Harry Potter. For the first time ever when Albus walked past me he did not always stop, appearing to be a man on a mission more often then not even during the school year.

Then one late night he walked by with Harry Potter in tow, though you weren't supposed to be able to see the boy who was under an invisibility cloak.

Just after midnight I was jolted awake to the sound of screams and the sight of the Dark Mark over Hogwarts. Only minutes later Albus and Potter appeared at the end of the alley and collected brooms from Madam Rosmerta in order to get back to the castle as quickly as possible. I knew that meant that everything would be okay; the Death Eaters would turn and run as soon as he arrived.

But the next morning I was met with the most shocking news I had ever received in my life, Albus was dead and they were preparing a funeral for the weekend. I made my way to Hogwarts on the day of the funeral to be one of thousands of wizards who had come to pay their respect to one of the greatest wizards of all time and afterwards returned slowly to my spot.

Taking a seat I pulled out a bag of candies that Albus had given me a few days ago and I hadn't quite finished yet. I couldn't quite believe that he would never stop by again to give me more candies, never again would he take the time to update me on the war effort, never again would I see him because he was gone. And the funeral hadn't paid him proper respect. The speech had been filled with grand words but they hadn't truly described the Albus Dumbledore I knew; the kind, slightly eccentric boy with a cheerful grin and pockets full of candies that I'd met so long ago. A boy with bright blue eyes.