A/N: This is the first chapter of Alexi Knight's story, I'm going to try and make each at least a few pages long. In this chapter, you meet Alexi. The majority of her conversation with Dumbledore is taken from the 6th book, as well as Mrs Cole.

Chapter 1

She looked up from her book and peered out the window, something silvery catching her eye. It was a man wearing strange clothes- a velvet suit in a shade similar to maroon. It was his long beard and hair that had captured her attention. She watched with interest as he approached the orphanage's door and was greeted by Miss Jordan, one of the women that worked in the orphanage.

She went back to her book, wondering what on Earth that old man could be doing at the orphanage. As it turned out, she would soon know. She had barely finished the chapter of the book she was reading when there was a knock at the door. Was it that man?

She set her book down and opened the door, and sure enough, there he was. Mrs Cole, the matron, was walking away, having obviously just led him to her room.

"Can I come in?" he asked politely, his bright blue eyes twinkling behind half-moon spectacles. She nodded mutely and opened the door wider, stepping to the side.

Her room was rather small, her furniture consisting of the orphanage's standard bed, desk, chair, and wardrobe. Her school uniform hung in her wardrobe, and the book on her desk was borrowed from James, another orphan. The man sat in her chair, and she sat across from him on her bed.

"How do you do, Alexi?" he asked, holding out his hand for her to shake. She did. "I am Professor Dumbledore."

"Professor?" she asked warily. "Is that like a doctor? What are you here for? Did she get you in to take a look at me?" she was pointing at the door that the matron had just walked away from.

"No, no," he tried to assure her, smiling gently

"I don't believe you. She wants me looked at, doesn't she? Tell the truth!" she said the last three words with great power, as if it were a command she gave often. The man was still very calm, and looked as if he had had this exact conversation before.

"Who are you?" she asked after a few moments of silence, when it seemed that the man would give no further explanation without another question.

"I have told you. My name is Professor Dumbledore and I am the headmaster at a school called Hogwarts. I have come to offer you a place at my school- your new school, if you would like to come,"

Still looking like she thought that Dumbledore was going to take her away to an asylum, she eyed him carefully. "Well alright then, what kind of school is this?"

"It is a school of magic," he said simply.

There was silence. Alexi had frozen, her eyes locked onto Dumbledore's as if trying to see whether or not he was lying. "Magic?" she whispered

"That's right," he replied

"You're joking," she decided, standing and crossing to the door. She opened it, as if to say that this meeting was over and he could now leave.

Dumbledore took what looked to be a stick from his pocket and flicked it. The door sprung from her hands and closed itself. Dumbstruck, she sat back down.

"You're not joking," she amended, memories flickering at the edge of her mind. Memories of her, doing seemingly impossible things. These memories were unwanted, so she pushed them away.

"You are a witch," he informed her.

It was another hour before he left, after answering all of the questions she could think of about Hogwarts. He also gave her a train ticket and a small bag of wizard money. He walked with her to the Leaky Cauldron, where Tom the Bartender took her out back. He opened up a passage way in a brick wall, and Dumbledore sent her off to get her school supplies, a list in hand.

She turned around to thank him, but he was gone, the brick wall closing back up even as she watched. She first went to get a trunk to put her things in, and then picked up her books. Quills, parchment, and a basic supply of potion ingredients went in after the books, and she ceased to be amazed by the wonderful things that filled the shops.

She got herself some robes, some for school and some plain black ones that she changed into there, so she could fit in with the witches and wizards bustling about her. Then she got a cauldron, a set of scales, and a collapsing telescope before entering a shop called Olivander's.

Olivander, the wizard that owned the shop, was very old. His grey eyes watched her carefully as she crossed to the front desk.

"I'd like to buy a wand," she informed him, hoping that she had enough money left to make her purchase. Dumbledore had told her that he'd loaned her enough money to buy all the basic school supplies she need, and a little extra to do with what she pleased.

"Of course," he said, his voice crackling. He moved among the skinny boxes stacked high on shelves, and returned a few minutes later with a box in hand. She took the wand and waved around as he said too, but he snatched it out of her hand almost immediately.

This went on for quite some time before she found her wand- or rather, it found her. It was made of blackthorn and with a core of basilisk fang. It was twelve inches long and unyielding, completely smooth. The handle was made of aspen, a much lighter wood that was carved with a swirling sort of pattern around the edges.

She left the shop seven galleons poorer, Olivander watching her as she left. She wandered about Diagon Alley for a bit before stumbling across a side street, marked 'Knockturn Alley'. Curious, Alexi walked into the darker alley and passed by sinister shops.

Who goes there? Came a voice, which no one else seemed to hear. The voice was strange and hissing. The shop on the corner. Go there, let me see you. The voice hissed at her. Wary of following instructions from a voice she heard in her head, she did so.

There was no shopkeeper, in fact, there didn't seem to be anything in the shop at all. There was only a bunch of dusty shelves and a counter, the one thing on it a bell. Slowly, Alexi walked forward, her hand hesitating on it for a moment before she rang it, and as she did so there was a tugging sensation.

Dust flew up around her, and the next moment she and the bell were gone, the only evidence that anything was there at all a clean circle in the dust.