OK Second chapter up now, please read and reivew, will be a longer wait to third chapter as havent started it yet :p

Albus Dumbledore: A Biography

Chapter Two

During there last year as living as muggles the Dumbledores began to integrate and teach Albus of the wizarding world from trips to Diagon Alley to building his first broomstick (this was common practise at the time as the first mass-produced racing broomstick was yet to be built). On his first time riding it in the manor grounds he promptly fell off and broke his nose. On their first visit to Diagon Alley the eleven year old Albus watched as his Father then his Mother were immersed in green flame and then refused point blank to use Floo powder. It wasn't until his Mother came back and with him in her arms they travelled together to the fireplace at the centre of the Alley.

The sight that greeted him as he climbed out caused him to think he was still dreaming, indeed after years of subduing any magical beliefs he was now expected to embrace them with open arms. As he walked around a few people began to point at him and mutter excitedly under their breath, his parents realising that they had be recognised quickly walked to the main reason they had journeyed here, to buy Albus his wand.

As they entered the boxy shop a very old man came limping with a stick while a young boy followed. In his memoirs the old Abelard Ollivander remembers how difficult it was to find a wand for the young Albus trying the most outlandish combinations until finally he settled on a twelve and half inch red-cedar wand with dragon heartstring and most unusually silver inlay. There are only a few wizards who ever needed a metal counterbalance to create their perfect wand and while it became fashionable in the late fourteen hundreds as a symbol of prosperity, Ollivander himself admits that he only stocked five such wands in his entire shop.

Their next stop was perhaps Albus' favourite and the one he had most looked forward to 'Flourish and Blotts' as they entered his eyes looked around in wonder at the various shapes and hues of the books. While he begged his parents to buy him more they reached a compromise of his set books and a complete set of the then highly popular 'A Budding Wizards Guide to Charms' by Mary-Anne Brocklehurst. That was until Albus spied a book by his Father in the corner of the shop, beaming he clutched at it and started reading before they had even bought it. Scolding him for not paying for it his Mother hastily bought the book so as to prevent the thief's curse.

Their final stop, purely due to Albus' desire, was the sweet shop in Diagon Alley, the semi-recently closed 'Pennithoughts'. Here Dumbledore was spoilt rotten by his parents and it was also the first place he tasted the ever present Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean (though some years later), which, until his vomit flavoured bean, were his favourite sweet.

By December that year the Dumbledores had finished closing all their muggle ties and were ready to move back to their ancestral home in Camelot (the muggle city of Wintoncester). It is curious to note that while their disappearance triggered a widespread craze for news when they returned many wizards had forgotten of their existence, to the extent that it was only reported in 'The Quibbler'. Upon arrival at their castle they found a delegation from the ministry ready to welcome them back along with many of the Dumbledores' relatives.

It is widely believed that Dumbledore had one of his best Christmases ever while his family was staying, enthralled by the magical decorations a much happier Nimué recounts in al letter to her father and mother who was ill with dragon pox:

'Young Albus is so much more animated now, he watched in awe as Ceres started to decorate the tree and practically jumped a foot in the air when Kelepticus offered him a wizards cracker. Though I am gratified he also laughed and propped the trilby on his head giggling merrily. Even the press are leaving us alone.

I do help that your fortune improves and you feel better soon, I hear that Dragon Pox is especially bad at this time of year.

My Love, Mama and Papa,

Nimué

On Christmas day due to the unusual circumstances the floo network was extended to the D'amours family home in France so Albus' grandparents could witness his first truly wizarding Christmas day. Like most infants Albus awoke early, though this could have been due to his Uncle Kelepticus shooting a firecracker from his wand at four thirty in the morning. Eager to unwrap his present he went into his parents room and began work on his tidy haul. First to be opened was from his Aunt Eustoma, Uncle McKinnon and Cemmunos McKinnon, they had bought him 'Hogwarts: A History' by Unity Ufferton, elated by this Dumbledore eagerly opened the next. All in all Dumbledore received almost all books, probably due to his Mother making his love of books very apparent, though not unexpectedly Kelepticus bought him a nose-biting teacup and a supply of dungbombs. It is quaint that his spoils this year mirrored his later years and led to his rather bizarre love of socks.

For lunch his Mothers side of the family prepared an immense Christmas dinner complete with flaming Pudding and stuffed turkey, while Ceres commanded the kitchen, Eustoma became the slave-driver of tidying, instructing the family on laying the table and clearing away the wrapping from earlier. By the time dinner was ready Kelepticus had been disabled by a full body bind curse as Eustoma had caught him trying to release a Niffler into the Christmas pudding in an attempt to retrieve the hidden Galleons within.

During the dinner Albus talked to many of his numerous relations in particular his Grandparents Vivienne and Maurice D'amours who told him of his lineage. This shocked Albus the most as having read muggle fiction for the last eleven years and being told that wizards didn't exist; being told he was a descendant of Merlin must have seemed somewhat absurd. To convince him thoroughly they pointed to an old sword over the mantle piece on which the scabbard was written:

'Her Excalibur lyft, Sworte of Arthur'

Translated from Middle English this reads 'Here lies Excalibur sword of Arthur' and has been dated back to Merlin's realm.

As this was Dumbledore's first wizarding Christmas his parents had decided to put a substantial amount of their gold into making it perfect, moreover, Ambrosius had just finished the charm he had been working on to produce warm snow indoors that would lay until the counter-charm was cast. Casting this in the entrance hall to their castle the whole family enjoyed a huge snowball fight, the more elderly among them sat on the sidelines bewitching the snowballs to fly at their adversaries. After many hours and when most of the family were almost falling over from physical fatigue Ambrosius ended the charm and the snow disappeared and left the family panting all red faced and laughing.

It is clear to see that despite being raised as a muggle Dumbledore quickly evolved to wizarding life and became a well-adjusted young man. It is also of worth to notice how much laughter he had with his family sometimes due to his Uncle Kelepticus or a small blunder by one of his Aunts but the young Albus was never far away from some form of mirth or love.

For supper as the wizards had made the lunch they felt no guilt in allowing their house-elf Tilly to cook the tea. A fine selection of cold meats and salad was laid on and much to the delight of Albus (and possibly Kelepticus) another round of wizarding crackers. By the end of the supper many of the older wizards were slightly tipsy, as they were being rather generous with Eustoma's homemade parsnip Wicklewine. However, the festivities were not over yet, they diverged into the drawing-room where a huge fire had already been prepared and twenty five live fairies bedecked the tall ceiling, something that Albus didn't miss as he winked at his Uncle.

As the night wore on so did the chatter, starting with the whole family splitting into small groups Nimué with her sisters, mother and mother-in-law gossiping about the minor happenings back home in France. Ambrosius in deep conversation with Maurice, Malcom and Eustoma while Anlepe (Ambrosius' Father) had already fallen asleep on a particularly comfortable chintz next to the fire. Albus wandered round sometimes catching small snippets of conversation. It was in the early hours of the morning that Albus finally went to bed climbing to his tower bedroom as the moonlight poured in through the windows. Just before he went to bed he opened the present from his parents, a small diary and wrote in there:

Christmas Day 1848: Got up late and opened presents, all excellent, have so much to read before Hogwarts now. Uncle Kleppy got me some dungbombs and told me to drop them in Father's study. Not sure if I will though. Had a huge lunch. Father had invented a new charm to create snow which was magical, had a snowball fight started off as a war of the families ended in a free-for-all! All-in-all a truly amazing day, everyone who went there says that Hogwarts is incredible I can't wait.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

A touching entry, though to the point. In my opinion the singular most interesting point is that Albus signs it with his whole name, a fact that was still present upon his death no matter how long it took. Moreover, whereas many see it as an annoying scrap of information Albus prized his, probably due to the traditions hidden in it as Albus was his Great-Great Grandfather, Percival was a rather foolish knight of King Arthur perhaps symbolising the rather eclectic sense of humour prevalent in the Dumbledore family (Kelepticus in this generation). Wulfric was after one his Mothers Czech relatives and Brian was his pseudonym when living among the muggles, his parents were initially against it becoming part of his permanent name but it is a further indicator of the fondness Albus has of his childhood.

The remaining eight months before Hogwarts were rather chaotic, even for the irregular Dumbledores. Nimué decided to do a quick whistle-stop of the British Isles starting in Brigton-on-Sea and working its way to Gilderhurst, Hogsmeade and Abernaethien. This comeback tour after a twelve year 'holiday' provoked widespread hysteria and demanded huge press-coverage from around the world. Crazed headlines spread like wildfire around the world's wizarding media one overjoyed journalist wrote: 'The Great Crumpeter returns, she's not Dead after all!' While this may have helped the Dumbledore estate it was perhaps ill timed a few months before Albus left for school.

During this time Albus took to his old habits of reading and music playing. His intelligence was now vastly above average and yet his muggle days had installed an almost infinite modesty and a naivety that his Father had worked so hard to preserve. It is important that the 'Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Under-Age Sorcery' which is the bane of many children in the present day didn't exist in 1849 and was introduced in 1875. This allowed Dumbledore under the supervision of his Father to practice and perfect many simple to intermediate charms. While at the time this was not unheard of, parents usually taught their children elementary skills, it was very unusual for parents to take such an active form in the child's pre-secondary school education.

By the time he was to attend Hogwarts, Dumbledore was as prepared for school life as many of his peers who had lived as wizards all their life, likewise, his skill with a wand far outclassed all of them. Taking a train to Kings' Cross-Station where he was to board the Hogwarts Express and start his revolutionary time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.