My Champion
Elizabeth Princeton Dumbledore, 1850-1945
Albus Dumbledore, 1846-1997
Author's Note:
During the course of the Harry Potter books, JK Rowling informed her readers that Albus Dumbledore was about 150 years old. I took that from HBP and subtracted to get a birth year of 1846. We don't have a more exact date. Because of the normally longer lifespan of witches and wizards over that of Muggles, I have slowed down the aging process for magical folk after they pass adolescence. Muggle years of age and magical years of age do not parallel after witches and wizards reach adulthood.
We know much about Dumbledore's life. Elizabeth is an original creation, but if Albus loved someone, I imagine it was someone like her.
Albus, Filius, the Potters, Weasleys, and Thomases, as well as Grindelwald and the whole magical world are creations of JK Rowling. I am honored to be given the privilege of time in their company, and neither receive nor require further compensation. Elizabeth is mine, but really, she belongs to Albus, and he to her, so she has my permission to remain in Rowling's world.
Later in the story, you might recognize a quotation from The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck. The quotation was part of the original challenge that inspired this work, and it was not my intent to plagiarize his excellent prose.
Part One- Elizabeth
Elizabeth Princeton, 1861 age 11Reporters are so disingenuous. Without exception, the first question they ask me is, "Where did you learn to duel like that?"
For one thing, that question betrays a total lack of understanding of dueling as a sport. Even the Daily Prophet's sports reporters (with one notable exception) don't have the brains to ask me about my modifications of the Chiswick technique or the strategy I used in the match against Van Tassell last year. Don't even get me started on idiots whose first question after we won our first World Cup in the partners' division was whether Filius and I were a couple. Because, you know, you can only duel with someone if you're shagging them, apparently.
As if that weren't bad enough, the second question was always whether I'd ever considered playing professional Quidditch. I like a good Quidditch match as well as the next witch, but there are other sports, and I happen to excel at one of them. Honestly. The only reporters you can count on to know anything about dueling are from Russia and Greenland, where it's usually too cold for Quidditch and they pay more attention to indoor sports.
Besides the general idiocy implied in the question about where I learned to duel like this, I've never been quite sure how to answer it. Part of me always wants to go into a rant about how many years of practice, how many hours a day you have to drill, how much study is involved. I mean, you don't just learn to duel like it were that easy.
But I don't rant, of course. I eventually settled on a lame and non-committal, "A friend introduced me to dueling when I was a child, and I've loved it ever since."
Smile for the camera, everyone's happy.
Even as I say it, I sigh inwardly. He wasn't just a friend. The young wizard who taught me to duel was the crush of my childish heart, the hero of my dreams. I didn't know it when he taught me, or even when I grew up to duel professionally, but Albus would grow up to become the love of my adult life, too.
And he didn't just "introduce me" to dueling, the great prat. He tried to show me up, so what could I do? He had this idea that since I was younger, since I hadn't been to school, he had a right to beat me in a duel. So, I worked and worked so that the next time he came home from Hogwarts, I'd be every bit as good as he was.
I wasn't as good as he was, of course, owing mostly to the fact that I wasn't allowed to use magic out of school. But I did study every spell, charm, hex, and countercharm Albus ever taught me. It drove my parents crazy, because half the time when I was supposed to be doing my regular studies or my farm chores, I was out by the pond pretending to duel.
I used sticks I picked up in the woods on the edge of our farm, I fashioned myself a holster for these pretend wands, and I was, American gunfighter-style, the fastest draw in the west. Or at least, in the general vicinity of . Of course, I had to keep that secret, because the Muggles weren't supposed to know I was a witch, and nobody but Albus would have cared anyway.
Not that Albus cared, not then. He was twelve, and I was eight, and I was no more than a bothersome child to him.
But I lived for the holidays and the summers, when he would come home. He always came to see me on the first day, he never made me wait. I knew he had other friends he saw over the holidays, but he always had time for me, and he always had something new to teach me. He wasn't allowed to use magic outside of school either, but he did know a lot of spells, and he taught me everything he had learned in four years of Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He liked to pretend it was an inconvenience for him to teach me, but it wasn't, and even then I didn't take him seriously. He loved to teach, even when he was a teenager and his only student was an annoying child.
By the time it was my turn to go to Hogwarts, his thick auburn hair was getting long, and he refused to cut it, because everyone knew all the great wizards had long hair. He was going to grow a beard, too, as soon as his facial hair started coming in. I would always giggle when he said that, because at fifteen Albus was tall and gangly, but his face was smooth as a baby's. Sometimes I would catch him examining his chin in his mother's mirror, looking for traces of the long-awaited beard. By the time he graduated Hogwarts, they still hadn't shown up.
That first trip to Hogwarts was an adventure for me. Trains were still so new to England, and Albus thought they were a silly way for witches and wizards to travel. I couldn't wait, though. Even if it meant getting all the way to London, I was excited. You couldn't Floo directly back then, either, so it was a long trip in and out of fireplaces, some of them belonging to total strangers, with our trunks pulled and pushed along with us. I had left my parents at home on our farm, which was scary because I had never been on my own without them before. Actually, I had never traveled past the boundaries of Ottery-St. Catchpole before, either.
I was traveling with Albus and Aberforth, and our three trunks were hauled in and out of people's sitting rooms and kitchens, until finally we were spit out of the green flames into an office stuffed way back in the corner of King's Cross Station. From there we had to haul those trunks a distance of what seemed a mile, then through the brick wall and finally onto the train. Aberforth left us as soon as we were in sight of the train; I don't think he ever did speak more than a dozen words to me in the whole time I knew him. Now that I think of it, I wonder why he was returning for his sixth year. As far as I knew Aberforth wasn't interested in school. I always thought he preferred to be with his goats.
I watched Aberforth walk away through the crowd, but I felt quite safe, because I was with Albus. I took a minute to gaze at the huge scarlet steam engine; Albus had told me about it, of course, but I was from the country and had never seen anything like it.
I turned to say something to him, I can't even remember what, but he was gone. I couldn't see him anywhere. He hadn't left with Aberforth, but he wasn't with me, either. I could feel my lip quiver, and I immediately bit down on it. Don't be stupid, I told myself firmly. The train's right in front of you; you can just get on it and you'll be fine.
I was trying to be brave, but it was hard; everything and everyone seemed so big and loud, quite unlike the country. Then I remembered that I could probably levitate my trunk if I had to, because Albus had taught me the spell, and that cheered me up a bit. It didn't even occur to me that I had never actually done the spell.
I heard shouting coming from the midst of the crowd a few feet away, and I looked over to see that people were backing away from something. I left my trunk and hurried forward, and sure enough, there was Albus, in the middle of the crowd. His overgrown auburn hair was blown back in the breeze, and his blue eyes seemed to be glowing. He was face to face with another boy, a boy even taller than he was, with long blond-white hair. Between them stood a very tiny boy, even smaller than me, with tears streaking his dirty face. The blond boy was holding a small money bag in his fist.
"I said give it back, Malfoy," Albus said calmly, resting his hand on the small boy's shoulder.
"Go back to the country, Dumbledore," said the boy called Malfoy. "This is none of your business."
"This boy is half your size," Albus pointed out reasonably. "Where's the honor in that?"
The pale boy sneered at him. Albus raised an eyebrow, flicked his wand, and the money bag flew out of Malfoy's hand. Albus caught it in midair. Turning to the small boy, he handed him the bag and said, "Are you all right, Filius?"
The boy sniffled and nodded. "Y-yes, sir." He stuffed the money bag in the pocket of his robe.
Albus laughed. "You don't have to call me sir, Filius. I'm only a Prefect, not the Headmaster." He ruffled the boy's hair. "Come with me. There's someone I want you to meet."
Without another glance at Malfoy, he led Filius through the crowd toward where I was standing. But right at that moment I saw a flash of movement behind him and I knew that Malfoy was coming after him. I don't know what made me do it; I guess I was just angry that anyone would think about attacking my Albus. I screamed like a banshee and ran, pushing past Albus and Filius until I reached Malfoy. I doubt he even saw me coming; he was pretty tall. I forgot magic completely; I jumped on him and pummeled him with my fists and kicked every part I could reach.
"You leave him alone! You leave him alone!" I screamed and punched and kicked, tears of outrage streaming down my face, pushing him back and back under the onslaught, until I finally was pulled away by the back of my new black robes.
"All right, Elizabeth," Albus said calmly, bending low to speak soothingly in my ear. "It's all right. Get out of here, Malfoy," he added, nodding at the other boy, "unless you want me to let her go again."
Malfoy's friends all laughed, but Malfoy scowled and strode off into the crowd. I would teach his grandson, Abraxus, a long time later, and I'm afraid I would always have trouble not hating the little git. But at the moment I was crying my eyes out, and Albus knelt down next to me and said very gently, "My champion. You're so brave. Are you all right?"
I took a few shuddering breaths and nodded. He thought I was brave. I was his champion. My heart swelled with pride, and I managed a small smile for him. To tell you the truth, at that moment, I could have managed to pull down the moon if he had asked me to.
"Come on, then," he said to me, and to the other boy, Filius, whom I had forgotten was still there. "You two can sit in my compartment with me, all right?"
We nodded gratefully and followed along in the wake of his billowing robes. He led us to a compartment, then helped us heft our trunks up onto the shelf over our heads.
"Oy, Dumbledore!" came a voice from the doorway. We all looked over. Albus grinned and his blue eyes sparkled. There in our compartment stood two boys, identical twins. They were tall and thin and absolutely covered with freckles. Their hair was the brightest orange I've ever seen on a human being, before or since, and their mischievous brown eyes sparkled behind wire-rim glasses.
"Hello!" Albus said cheerfully.
"Who're the midgets?" said the other twin, jerking his head toward us.
I put my hands on my hips and scowled, little Filius flushed, but Albus just said, "This is Elizabeth. She's from our neck of the woods. And this is Filius. Malfoy was trying to steal his money bag." He turned to Filius and me and said, "This is Charles and William Weasley."
"Hullo, midge," said one of them, holding out a hand to me. "Call me Will. This is Chuck," he added, jerking a thumb toward his twin. I wondered at the time if I'd ever learn to tell them apart, though it turns out I did eventually. As they shook hands with Filius and with me, Filius stuttered with awe while I tried to pretend I conversed with nearly grown boys every day. I supposed I did, if one counted Albus, but it didn't occur to me until that minute that Albus was actually the only boy I knew.
Albus had to go to the Prefects' car for the beginning of the trip, and he left Filius and me in the care of the Weasleys. They put us at our ease and made us laugh, and introduced us to the several friends who stopped by, some staying to visit. By the time Albus got back, our car was full, and Filius and I were rather squashed into one corner. Still, we weren't overlooked. Several of the older boys had heard about the confrontation with Malfoy, and came over to congratulate me.
"Julius Malfoy's a right old git," one of them said. "Make Albus show you some good hexes for the next time he gets out of line. He won't stand a chance."
I stammered and blushed as much as Filius had done before, but looking back, it was amazing how readily these older boys accepted the presence of two "midgets" in their car. I know now that that was Albus' influence; he just seemed to bring out the best in people.
It was growing dark and the gas lights had just come on. Will and Chuck were telling stories about playing Quidditch in their orchard and getting yelled at by their mum, making us all laugh, when the door slid open. A girl stood there, framed in the doorway. Everybody looked up, and all the talking stopped. Several of the boys dropped whatever they were holding. I could tell she knew exactly what effect she had on all these stupid boys by the way she was posing, like they were going to paint her portrait. She had golden hair and blue eyes, and while she was petite, she had assets under her robe that I certainly didn't have under mine.
But this beautiful girl only had eyes for my Albus. "You haven't congratulated me for making Head Girl, Albie," she pouted. Her lips were very pink. I was sure she used glamour on them, and I called her the worst names I could think of inside my head, all the while wishing I knew the spells to make myself look pretty like that.
Albus flushed, and the other boys snickered. I tensed and started to stand up, but Will laid a hand on my shoulder, because he could tell that I was getting ready to do to this girl exactly what I had done to Malfoy. Albus, for his part, shook his hair back and affected a nonchalant look.
"Hello, Griselda," he said charmingly. He always was too charming for his own good. "Congratulations on making Head Girl. Headmaster Black could not have made a better choice."
And he bent his head and kissed her hand.
"I'm going to be a dueling champion," I said loudly, struggling against Will's firm hand. Everybody turned to look at me, so I crossed my arms in front of me and pretended to be talking to Filius. "You just wait, Filius, I'm going to be the best and the fastest, and then I can hex anybody who is bad, or anyone I hate, like that Malfoy, or like…" I lost my nerve here, and my face flooded with heat, so I just mumbled, "…anybody bad at all…"
The boys laughed, and Griselda the Head Girl giggled in a stupid manner. Albus turned back to her. "Shall we patrol the corridors together?" He offered her his arm and they left together.
He didn't even look back at me. I looked down at my knees, my face burning. I guess I had embarrassed him, but why did he have to go acting like an idiot around ugly old Griselda? Why wasn't he ever charming to me? The boys in the compartment continued their conversations again, while I sniffled pathetically.
A few moments later I felt the seat beside me sink down. A hand touched my chin gently, forcing me to look up at him. It was a black-haired boy named John.
"Don't worry about it," he said kindly. "He always acts a bit stupid around Griselda Marchbanks. But next year she'll be gone, and you'll have grown up a bit, won't you?"
I smiled, grateful to this kind boy. These older boys I was meeting, plus Filius, of course, would become some of my best friends, and I would have most of them for my whole life. Sort of my honorary older brothers. But I did develop rather a crush on John Potter that day.
"I'm going to be a dueling champion, too," Filius announced in his squeaky voice. Apparently he had considered it and found it to be a good idea.
John grinned and rubbed Filius' hair. "Sure you will," he said. "You two can be partners and be the best duelists in the world." He turned back to his conversation with the Weasleys and a dark-skinned boy with the funny name of Thomas Thomas.
Filius and I talked for the rest of the trip about our careers as dueling champions. He had a Muggle dad and grew up around Muggles, which meant he didn't know very many charms, so I taught him the ones that Albus had taught me. We got out our new wands, causing the older boys to look alarmed.
"Oy, midge!" Will said, laughing. "You want to watch where you point that thing!" The rest of the boys laughed, too; these boys were always laughing. It made Filius and me feel like we belonged.
We only saw Albus again at the end of the trip. His job was to help the first-years off the train, which he would have done anyway, of course, being Albus. A grown-up met us at the station calling, "First years! First years follow me!"
Albus gave me a little nudge. "Go on, he'll take you over. I'll meet you there."
Apparently he had forgiven me. That was fine, but I wasn't sure I had forgiven him, and if I had known that wasn't the last of stupid Griselda I would have made more of an effort to hold my grudge.
Filius and I followed the teacher, who indicated we should get into the rowboats waiting at the docks. We did, and I reached for oars, out of habit mostly, because I was quite used to rowing on our pond at home. But there were no oars; the boat just took off by itself, along with the others, across the very dark lake. The water was rough and choppy, and I could tell that Filius was a bit nervous about going so fast, but I wasn't. I was brave. Hadn't Albus said so?
"Honestly, Filius," I said in a superior tone of voice. "If you're going to be a dueling champion, you can't be afraid of every little thing!"
He gulped, then nodded. We continued to speed along the surface of the lake—how big was this lake, anyway? Finally, we changed directions a bit, and saw it. Hogwarts Castle loomed up and up in the darkness, lights glowing in every window and reflected on the water. I'll never forget my first sight of it; I don't think anyone ever does.
We docked beneath the castle and climbed out clumsily. Several students ended up trailing their robes in the water, but Filius and I managed to stay dry. I had decided that Filius was going to be my best friend, besides Albus. I never knew what Filius thought of this decision; probably that it was easier to let me have my way than to argue with me. He was always saying things like that. Anyway, he was my best friend from that day on.
I had also decided that we were both going to be sorted into Gryffindor, which was the best house. I didn't know anything about the houses, but I knew that Albus was in Gryffindor, so that was the best. And it was the one for brave people, and that was me.
But that part didn't work out the way I wanted it to. When the deputy headmistress called out, "Flitwick, Filius," and he scrambled up on the stool, the hat took just a beat and then said clearly, "Ravenclaw!"
Filius gave me an apologetic look as he hopped down and ran to the Ravenclaw table, where they were clapping for him. When it was finally my turn, I did get sorted into Gryffindor. I was sad that Filius couldn't be with me, but I was quite cheered by the sight of Albus and the other boys clapping so enthusiastically.
We ate a wonderful feast on golden plates, then the headmaster stood up. He was handsome in a sort of wicked way, with long dark hair and a curly goatee. He wore lavish green and silver robes, and the emeralds caught the light of the candles when he moved.
"Good evening, students," he said in a bored, nasal voice. "I am your Headmaster, Phineas Nigellus Black, of the noble and most ancient house of Black. I suppose that since it is September we must allow you back in the castle. Pity. Children are disgusting creatures, and while it is appropriate to quarantine you away from the general public, it hardly seems fair to inflict you upon your betters. Nevertheless, we are trapped here together for the next ten months, while the law requires that my staff try to fashion you into less hopeless cases. Try not to make too much trouble for us, won't you? Now, to bed with you."
I thought that was the rudest speech I had ever heard, and thought I saw some of the teachers glaring at the Headmaster, but when I looked around the older students were just rolling their eyes. I shrugged, assuming they must be used to it. Albus called for the first year Gryffindors, and I followed him toward the back of the Great Hall.
I caught Filius' eye and waved at him, and at the same time Griselda Marchbanks waved at Albus. Albus tossed his hair back and strutted toward the doors with the first years in tow. Filius and I rolled our eyes at each other across the hall, and Filius did an outrageous fancy-girl walk in imitation of Griselda, making me laugh out loud. That set another pattern for the future; Filius could almost always make me feel better.
Some of my classes were pretty interesting. Defense Against the Dark Arts was my favorite, because I had really taken to the idea I had blurted out on the train, that I was going to go after bad people. Maybe even vampires or werewolves, though Filius didn't think that sounded like a good idea at all. But I sometimes think, if things had been different, maybe I would have been an Auror. Charms was good, too, because we learned how to do a lot of practical magic, and it gave Filius and me a way to show off, even if it was only to each other. Charms was always Filius' favorite, and he was usually the best in the class. We had a lot of fun in that class, too, because the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws usually had it together.
In the evenings I would sit with Albus and his friends in the Gryffindor common room. Classes were easy for me because Albus had taught me almost everything already, and if I didn't already know something, I wasn't inclined to put myself out to study it. I liked to listen to the boys talk, and it wasn't until later that I realized that what I was learning the most about on those evenings was…boys.
I learned that all of the gang except Albus was on the Quidditch team, but even boys who weren't on the team could quote every player's record and every team's statistics, and tell you exactly how long it had been since a given team had won the House Cup. Albus and I sat together at Quidditch matches, and Albus would murmur statistics for the different players as they flew by, and give me commentary on the different maneuvers and strategies they used. John, he told me, had been on the team since their first year, the youngest Seeker in a century at the time, and I cheered him loudly at every game. John told me later that he started listening for my cheers, and he always tried to do well so he didn't let me down.
In any case, by listening in on their conversations, I learned about the things they were studying, and I could understand a lot of it, because I already knew so much. That was fine with me, too, because I didn't really like to study—not like Albus did. Albus actually refused to try out for Quidditch because it would take away from his studying time. I just studied as hard as I had to in order to prove to Albus that I was as good as he was at anything.
Of course, I still wasn't as good as Albus. I learned that the hard way at the first meeting of the dueling club. I was so ready, I had practiced all my moves, and now I was going to get to do them with a real wand. Filius and I were paired up, and I managed to disarm him every time, which just confirmed what I already thought about my skills. Feeling cocky, like I already was a dueling champion, I ran to find Albus. He was dueling with Griselda, who was actually pretty good, but not as good as he was.
"Albus!" I panted, running up to him. "I—I challenge you!"
Never mind that he was the brightest student in the school. Never mind that all I had ever done was disarm a boy even smaller than me. I was ready.
Griselda pouted at my taking Albus' attention away from her. I smirked. Albus looked down at me.
"All right, Elizabeth," he said. "Mark your paces."
I counted ten paces away from him and turned, ready to disarm him, when my wand flew out of my hand. I ran after it, then did one of my gunslinger moves, but he disarmed me again. I ran again, then sent the spell back at him. This time his wand flew out of his hand, but it was so obvious that he let me do it that it wasn't satisfying at all.
I suppose he read the frown on my face, because he called me over to him. "Look," he said patiently, squatting down next to me and shaking his shaggy auburn hair out of his eyes. "You waited too long after you turned. The spell has to be out before the turn is complete, or you risk getting hit first. Understand?"
I nodded. I was sulking about losing, but what he was saying made sense. "I'll beat you next time," I said. In fact, I wouldn't beat him until his seventh year, when I had already begun to do well in tournaments. He really could have been great if he had wanted to. The thing about Albus is that he was a born leader, but he was never competitive.
He stood and squeezed my shoulder, then turned as Griselda took his arm. He had forgotten me already, but it didn't hurt as much as before, because now I had something new to teach Filius.
Filius and I practiced every day. I was the more aggressive of the two of us, and he was the more creative. He was so good in Charms, he could think of something creative for any situation, when I tended to just pound him with the same old standards.
But we learned from each other. He tended to be too timid and I tended to be too predictable, so we knew how to strengthen each others' weaknesses. I always said that together we made the perfect duelist. Every time dueling club met, Albus taught us something new, always something useful. I don't think either Filius or I would have gotten as good as we did without that early coaching from Albus.
Looking back on it now, I expect Albus just showed us something new so that we'd then go off and practice it and leave him alone with Griselda. Well, I don't know. Like I said, Albus was a natural teacher, so I don't think he really minded. But I always think of it when the reporters ask me how I got so good.
I'm willing to give credit where it's due. I wouldn't be what I am today if it weren't for Albus Dumbledore.