Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply
When Albus Dumbledore was able to see, the first thing he saw was a boy who he assumed was Harry. And if that was the case, then he really was not a happy man. This boy in front of him had such in an intimidating presence that even he, The Great Albus Dumbledore, was wary he saw the girl. She was cute he noted in a dangerous sort of fashion. He watched as she shifted her feet and muttered something to Harry.
Dumbledore quickly tried to calculate the girl's influence on Harry, and, by proxy, his plans for him. It was obvious that they were close however he didn't believe that it could do much damage to the grand scheme of the greater good as he called it. Of course he was assuming that they had known each other for about two or three years and therefore wouldn't be a problem more likely he could put her on the path with Harry and use her as a pawn. He would never realize how much that dismissing her would come back to bite him in the ass.
Telling the other professors in the room to stand behind him, he checked to see if the girl was magically inclined. Finding that she was and highly so at that, he decided to make her a student and potentially a key player in the war that he was conducting. Looking more closely at the children, he noticed that at least the girl was blind. He wasn't sure about Harry but judging by the scars that covered his chest and the part of his face that wasn't covered by cloth it was an extremely likely possibility. Only time would tell him if he could still use him in his plans.
"Harry, my boy, how good it is to see you alive and well." Dumbledore finally said, unsuccessfully trying to alleviate some tension.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you must have me confused with someone else. My name's not Harry, its Hadrian, Hadrian Bei Fong." Harry stated, "watching" everyone carefully and shifting into a more offensive position.
Not entirely sure when the Dursley's "lost" him, Dumbledore decided it was best to go along with the name lest he provoke a fight. Looking back at the girl for a few moments, he inquired as to what her name was trying to be polite.
"The name's Toph, Toph Bei Fong." she replied jamming her thumb to her chest, then as an afterthought she tacked on her alias, "also known as the Blind Bandit to those in the fighting trade." Her smirk looked more intimidating than friendly to the overtaxed professors.
After introductions all around Dumbledore suggested that they move to a more comfortable location to speak about a few things. Toph and Harry thought that most of the people there where friendly, but they were still a bit wary seeing as they still had no idea where they were. Though they could tell that they were in a large castle and it was made of stone.
"Excuse me sir," Harry started, turning once again to face Dumbledore. "But where are we?"
"Well Harry..." Dumbledore started to say until he was interrupted.
"My name is Hadrian, sir, and until I get to know you I would prefer it if you called me Mr. Bei Fong" Harry said politely.
"Well, yes, of course. As I was saying, we are at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now come along we have much to talk about and many details to take care of." And with that Dumbledore lead everyone back into his office and offered them some tea. All declined, Toph and Harry because it didn't smell like the jasmine tea that they were used to, the others because they wouldn't put it past their esteemed headmaster to lace it with something.
It took a lot longer than expected for Albus to explain everything to the two children in front of him. Mostly because they kept interrupting his explanation asking for clarification of most of the common knowledge things. By the end of it he was more confused than ever, not that he would ever admit it to anyone but his familiar. Thoughts like 'what is bending' and 'who exactly is the fire king and how did his nation start a war' kept running through his mind causing a headache.
Then, when probed about his name again, Harry insisted that his name was Hadrian Bei Fong and that he never heard of a Harry Potter let alone met him as their home life was pretty sheltered. Deciding to let the name issue slide at least for the time being, Dumbledore asked Harry to remove his headband so that he could see his eyes. This Dumbledore thought was fool proof as everyone knew Lily's eyes. This was also met with a lot of hesitation from Harry and a sightless glare from Toph that made even Severus proud. Though after a few moments of silent encouragement from Toph, Harry reached around and untied his headband revealing that the scars on one side of his face went in a spiral pattern and a star shaped one and really he had no eyes to speak of, just empty sockets. To say that the Heads of House were shocked would be an understatement. They were enraged at whoever could do that to a child. After awhile the shock wore off, the rage subsided, and Harry put his headband back on. The headmaster decided that it was time to end the meeting, telling the kids that Professor McGonagall would take them to go buy school supplies tomorrow, that they would be sorted into their house afterward. Then, the next day they would be free to explore and familiarize themselves with the castle, and then they would start classes with everyone else when classes adjourned on Monday.
Dumbledore then dismissed everyone from his office, saying that it was getting late and that tomorrow was going to be a long and busy day. Standing up, Toph, Harry, and the professors left the room, glad to be able to stretch their legs. They were half way down the hall when one of the professors spoke up. By the sound of his voice, it was the lanky man named Professor Snape.
"As you know I am Professor Snape. I teach potions. It's more or less a class of science. Things in this class need to be exact, and with you two coming in late you will require extra classes to be able to catch up with the rest of your classmates. There is also the slight inconvenience of both of you being blind, but nevertheless I expect you to be able to conduct yourselves with the professionalism that this class requires. These extra lessons will be to help you find ways to identify the ingredients, how to cut or chop them, depending on the instructions. I would like to do this on Saturdays until I'm satisfied with your abilities. I will also tutor you in Defense Against the Dark Arts on Thursdays. We will discuss a time schedule for this later." Once he finished talking he detached himself from the group thinking 'I must be going soft. But I'll be damned if they don't have great potential to be masters at whatever they wanted.' Shaking his head he went to bed for the night as did everyone else.
In the morning Professor McGonagall picked up Harry and Toph from the room that they were staying in and took them down to the kitchens for breakfast. Once they were done, the small group walked down a small path that led them to a carriage that would take them to the port key zone of Hogshead Village. When they got there McGonagall stepped out first and turned around to see the other two jump out, and for the first time, she noticed that they were bare foot. "Why aren't you two wearing any shoes?" she asked while pulling out their portkey, which was some sort of card with a red and white ball on the back and some sort of creature on the front, looked like some sort of rat, only cuter.
"We see with bending," was Toph's simple answer.
"I do apologize, but I've never heard of bending." And she really did sound apologetic.
"We'll give you a detailed version later, Professor, maybe even show you some of it. But short version is we can see with our feet." Harry said with a smile.
"Well that does sound quite interesting I do have every intention of keeping you to that. Anyway, what I'm holding here is a portkey, it is a magical mode of transportation made from any random object, it will take us to a small alcove in Diagon Alley right next to Gringotts, which is our first stop on this outing. Now a portkey works by using your magic to take you from where you're currently at to a place that has been preset. One important thing to remember about portkeys is to not let go until you're back on the ground. Now grab a hold, and we'll be off." McGonagall told them. With a little guidance Toph and Harry each took hold of the offered card and soon after, with a tugging hook-like sensation felt behind their belly-buttons, they vanished from Hogsmeade and reappeared next to Gringotts.
Walking out onto the main street both Harry and Toph's feet were assaulted with the vibrations of the semi-crowded alleyway. They closely followed behind Professor McGonagall, realizing that in this new place they could easily get lost.
Quickly they all ascended the stairs of the large white marble building known as Gringotts and headed inside where McGonagall lead them to an open teller. After very carefully explaining the situation to the goblin, he had them lead to Diamond Claw who, being a nice, polite, and understanding (a/n: cough cough greedy cough cough) goblin did a quick blood test on Harry and then switched the names on the vaults from Potter to Bei Fong, added Toph's name to them and made two new sets of keys, one for Harry and the other for Toph. All for a small fee of course.
Saying the trip down through the tunnels to get to the vaults was unsettling for the humans of the group would be like saying, "the sky is blue". It's just an obvious fact. So, it's needless to say that they were glad to have their feet on solid ground again as they followed the goblin to the vault door, where they stop. "Key please," came it's nasally voice.
Harry passed over his key to the goblin and watched as the iron door opened up to reveal a large cavern filled with coins. With a quick crash course from their accompanying goblin guide on the names and corresponding sizes of the different coins as well as the exchange rate for each of them, they quickly filled their pouches with galleons and back towards the goblin, who was waiting by the door, Harry picked up a couple of galleons, walked over to him, and bowed. "Thank you for putting up with our ignorance and taking time out of your schedule to help us correct it," Harry said and handed over the coins to the shocked goblin. After that both were brought back to the lobby, where Professor McGonagall was waiting for them. Saying goodbye to their goblin escort, they left the bank, not realizing that they had earned the respect of the highly antisocial creatures that inhabit it.
Following McGonagall, they quickly got all their school supplies and two trunks. The only two required stops they had left were Madame Malkins Robes For All Occasions and Olivanders: Makers of Fine Wands Scene 382 B.C. They went to Madame Malkins first and ordered their school robes and some tailored clothes, including their Chinese fighting uniform and a set slipper shoes among other things.
Finally, they came to their last stop, Olivanders'. Stepping into the shop, dust assaulted the noses of all three of them. Spreading out their senses, Harry and Toph noted that this store was smaller than the rest of the stores that they were in that morning. There also seemed to be shelves upon shelves everywhere, filled with boxes upon boxes. Then, what seemed to McGonagall like there was no warning at all, Toph and Harry turned around.
"You know where I come from it's considered rude to try and sneak up on people," Toph said with a smirk.
"So it is," replied a shocked Olivander. For you see, never before had he ever been caught; hence he forgot to try and creep them out by using their names. He got right to work.
This was by far the longest stop today. For starters, they were standing there listening to the old man talk and mutter to himself while something kept moving in front of them, but the kids had a pretty good guess that it was just a means of distraction, seeing as Olivander had his back turned to them searching for something amongst the back to them, he held a few boxes in one hand and with a wave of his other hand stopped the measuring tape. Resting the boxes on the desk in front of the others, he smiled, and while taking a box off the top of the pile, he asked, "so who wants to go first?"
Without missing a beat Harry spoke up, "ladies first, sir. That's the only proper way." And with that Toph was told to wave stick after stick. Sometimes, Mr. Olivander would take one away as soon as she touched it, or sometimes in mid-wave, since occasionally an object would blow up; however, sometimes nothing would happen at all. Slowly Toph made her way through about three quarters of the store and to Professor McGonagall it seemed that Olivander was beside himself, not from worry but from joy.
"Ah ha, a difficult customer! Not to worry, I do love a challenge," he said with a smile. Pretty soon they were nearly out of wands to wave and try.
That's when an idea came to Oleander's mind. He walked to the very back of the store muttering, "I wonder," under his breath. He reemerged a few minutes later holding two very old looking and dusty boxes.
"These two wands I have here were made by one of my ancestors. They are both very special, and I swear I'll eat the Ministers hat if you both don't leave here today carrying one of them." Once he said that Olivander opened the lid on one of the boxes, revealing a beautifully crafted black wand.
Carefully lifting the wand out of its box, he looked at it and said, "You know I really have a good feeling about this one." Handing it over to Toph gently, he spouted off its information. "Twelve inches Hawthorn, dual core, powdered fang of The Black Dragon suspended in the blood of The White Dragon. Go ahead, give it a wave."
As soon as Toph closed her fingers around the handle, she felt a warm sensation shoot up her arm. She gave it a wave; immediately the feeling spread throughout her body and the tip shot out golden sparks. She knew in that instant that it was meant for her, it felt like a small part of her that she didn't even know was missing was returned.
Seeming almost giddy with the result with the previous wand Olivander turned to Harry and opened the other box revealing what many would either call the wands twin or counter. This one was a finely crafted white wand. Olivander looked at Hadrian and handed him the wand. "Twelve inches Bleached Holly, dual core, powdered fang of The White Dragon suspended in the blood of The Black Dragon. Give it a wave." Getting much the same result from him as he did the girl it, was easy to say that Olivander was a very happy man.
After they paid for a set of holsters and their wands, they decided to head back to the castle, deciding to wait until they were more settled into their new surroundings before getting a new pet. They took the same portkey back and was greeted by Professor Flitwick who told them to come talk to him after dinner because he had something that help aid them in their schooling.
It was a short and pleasant trip back up to the castle with Flitwick and McGonagall chatting softly the whole way. Without realizing it, both Toph and Harry fell asleep only to be woken up shortly thereafter. McGonagall walked with them back up to their temporary rooms, letting them lead the way. Minerva was in a slight state of wonder as they walked through fake walls and hidden passages that she never knew existed. Soon they were back in their rooms and were packing up their trunks, and then they took a much deserved nap, seeing as they had a long night a head of them still.
-Dinner Time-
Most of the students were wondering why this dinner was mandatory. It wasn't a feast. It was too early for one of those, and it was normally come and go as you please. But either way, everyone was there tonight.
Soon enough Dumbledore stood up and spoke. "My dear students, tonight we have a special treat. Sometime in the past two weeks a family moved into the country and transferred their children here. So, without further ado, Professor McGonagall, if you please."
Professor McGonagall walked out carrying the Sorting Hat and stool. Following behind her were a young boy and girl. Both looked stubborn as hell. Most of the student body thought Gryffindors for sure. McGonagall seemed to have a small conversation with the two of them before nodding her head and called out the name of one of the kids. "Bei Fong, Toph," rung out loud and clear throughout the Great Hall.
The girl seemed to jump at what everyone else guessed to be the voice of the Sorting Hat inside her head. It seemed to take forever as the hat seemed to debate with itself, humming and grunting, until if finally called out "HUFFLEPUFF." The table on the right exploded with cheers and then quieted down as Professor McGonagall called out "Bei Fong, Hadrian." It took even longer for him, but the overturning factor at least for the hat was his desire to stay near his friend. So after a long debate with the hat it yelled out "HUFFLEPUFF" once again and once again the Hufflepuff table shouted for joy with a thunderous applause.
After everything settled down, dinner was pretty much uneventful. Toph and Harry acquainted with their housemates and year mates. They quickly learned that their common room was on ground level and that the password that allowed them entrance changed every month. This month it was Badger Hole.
Soon enough dinner was over and they left to go meet up with Professor Flitwick. It took them a little while, but they managed to find him in his office on the fifth floor. They knocked softly and waited until they heard Flitwick say come in before entering.
"You wanted to speak with us sir?" Harry asked as he walked in next to Toph.
"Yes, yes, I did. I had a few charms that will help you with both your class work and homework. The first will read your textbooks and notes to you, the second will charm your quills to write what you say for homework and class work purposes, and will also write down what questions are asked, pertaining to the class material, and answers, as well as the lectures for notes. Finally the last one is a small silencing barrier to keep from annoying others when doing your work." And with that Professor Flitwick kept them until he was sure that they could perform the spells flawlessly.
By the time Toph and Harry found their way to the Hufflepuff common room they were exhausted. Walking over to an empty couch, they collapsed on it. A few moments later, a shadow loomed over them and poked Toph on the shoulder.
"Hey, get up. I'll show you to your rooms. The headmaster said that you two were to have your own rooms connected to the common room, something about reducing hazard liabilities" said a sixth year prefect. Then, the prefect continued with, "you can set your own passwords on the doors. Come on this way," while leading the two to their rooms and stopping in front of a statue that guarded a hidden door. Once the statue moved to the side the prefect took them further into what appeared to be a smaller common room with two doors. "The one on the left is yours,Toph, and the one on the right is Hadrian's. The bathrooms are each connected to your rooms. Goodnight guys, see you in the morning, and welcome to Hogwarts."
Soon thereafter the entirety of the student body was asleep.