Dumbledore examined the list of upcoming students. As usual, there were around thirty. It was the name on the bottom that was bothering him. It hadn't been there when he'd first seen the list around eleven years ago. He was slightly worried about that. He supposed it was entirely possible that he'd just forgotten about it, but he didn't think so. He would personally visit this boy instead of sending Minerva, he at last decided.
He found the elderly witch in the staff room and handed off a stack of letters. "Sometime within the next week." He requested.
"Of course Albus." She answered calmly as she glanced through the envelopes. She supposed she would have to start by figuring out where exactly they lived.
Having taken care of that, Albus hurried down to Hogsmeade to disapparate. With a loud crack he appeared outside of a house. He had not expected the young wizard to live right beside of Harry. This was boding even less for whoever the boy was. He walked up the path through the sparsely vegetated lawn. It was clear that the drought was taking its affect on the landscape.
He suddenly remembered Alastor mentioning two people who had resisted his attempts at an oblivate. Dumbledore had been mildly surprised that he hadn't insisted on bringing the two to headquarters for interrogating but then the only option would have been to hold them there indefinitely or kill them since obliviation was out of the question..
Albus knocked on the door. After a moment, a young woman answered the door. "Hello." She greeted politely. "Can I help you?" She didn't look old enough to have an eleven-year-old son. She would've been in her middle teens in order for that to work. Brother then, he decided.
"Good evening." Albus courteously replied. "Is there a Mister Tobias Williams living here?"
The young woman narrowed her eyes. "Who wants to know?" she asked suspiciously.
"I do." Albus said calmly. "I wish to discuss his future."
"I make it a point to turn away salesmen." She replied coolly. She had a good idea what he was talking about however. He had an aura around him. She just wasn't sure if it was a good aura or an evil aura.
"May I come in?" Albus asked, ignoring her comment. Grudgingly, she allowed him in. "May I speak to him?"
"Toby!" She hollered. "Someone wants to talk to you."
After a moment, Toby came trotting down the steps, taking them two at a time. He paused upon seeing Dumbledore. "You're a wizard." He remarked. "And a powerful one at that."
Albus was startled to say the least. "What makes you say that?" He asked curiously. The child didn't seem evil; he seemed remarkably intelligent for his age.
Toby shrugged noncommittally. "No reason at all." He said immediately. It was quite clear that he was trying to steer the subject away from that. Dumbledore allowed him to for the moment.
"I would like to give you this." He handed a thick envelope to Toby. Toby took it and examined the outside of it. After a bit, he opened it and quickly read through the content. He did not seem the least bit surprised over his admittance.
"You're not surprised." Albus remarked as he watched the boy closely.
"I live beside of a wizard. How could I not know?" Toby answered calmly. "So when can I go to Diagon Alley?"
"Do you need me to accompany you?" Albus asked pleasantly as he regarded the young wizard.
"No, sir." Toby answered politely. "I think we can find our way."
Sarah shot him a glance before agreeing. "We can find our way."
"You will be staying in a dorm at Hogwarts. You may return home during the winter break and over Easter."
Sarah did not look particularly pleased about this development.
"Sir, I am taking private lessons from someone." Toby remarked as he read the contents. "Will I be permitted to continue them?" He glanced up after asking with a hopeful expression.
"What are you learning?" Albus was interested despite himself. The two hardly looked wealthy enough to afford a private tutor.
"Economics, government, history, the usual." Toby said waving his hand dismissively. To the casual observer, he looked indifferent about the response. Sarah was no casual observer and noticed that he was looking slightly worried.
"This is a rather unusual problem." Albus mused out loud. "Generally students do not bring anyone with them."
"Please sir, I must continue my studies." The tone of Toby's voice had changed slightly. There was a slight tremor in it.
"Perhaps your tutor could stay in Hogsmeade and you can continue your tutoring there?" Albus suggested, not unkindly. Whoever the tutor was, he meant quite a bit to the child. Albus glanced at Toby's older sister who was staring at Toby. She evidently did not realize that he was looking because quite a few emotions were racing across her features. Puzzlement and suspicion to name a few. Albus began to suspect that perhaps she did not know of the child's tutor. Albus did a quick a reevaluation of the child. He could certainly pass for a Slytherin. He was quite cunning and very good at hiding what he truly thought
"Thank you, sir!" The boy was evidently pleased about this judging by his excitement.
Albus raised an eyebrow, but said nothing about it. "Good evening." He walked out of the house and down the street. After making sure no one was looking, he apparated away.
Sarah glanced at Toby as soon as he'd left. "Who? She asked sharply. "And how do you know where Diagon Alley is?"
Toby squirmed in his seat slightly under her stare. "Just someone." He said lamely. "He showed me where Diagon Alley is too."
Sarah stared at him for a moment before it clicked. "Jareth?" She asked as she watched his face.
Toby nodded without looking up. "He said you might not be happy about the fact that he's been training me." He glanced up and Sarah noticed that he was looking slightly nervous.
Sarah sat back on the couch deep in thought. She had tried not to think overly much of the Goblin King. When faced with he thought of him now, she had to wonder about his motives. Was he genuinely interested in her little brother, or was this a plot to draw her brother away from her.
"How long has this been going on?" She asked finally.
"Since I was seven. He showed up, kidnapped me, and started teaching me things." Toby replied, still staring at his toes.
Sarah sat back thoughtfully. "Did he tell you-?" She found that she could not finish the sentence.
"Yes." Toby replied as he came to sit beside her on the couch. "He told me not to be angry with you." He said hurriedly, before she could ask the obvious question. "He said that you were a typical teenager and that I should not blame you for what happened, but should rather be grateful
Sarah stared at him wordlessly. That was the last thing she'd expected to come from the Goblin King, but then she was remembering him from a rebellious fifteen-year-old's prospective. "Does he still-?"
Toby nodded empathetically. "He's actually coming for me tomorrow. I don't know if he'll know where I am though."
"If he still uses those crystals of his he'll know." Sarah strangely enough wasn't bothered by him spying on them with his crystals though she rather suspected she should be.
"I'll see about going to Diagon Alley again with him, if it's all the same to you." Toby remarked as he stood to go do whatever it was eleven year olds did outside.
Sarah felt a small part of her ache at the thought. Her little brother had just showed up and now he was distancing himself from her again. She was determined that that would not happen so easily. She would be having a word with Jareth when he came tomorrow. That was certain.
I know, I know it's short. I'll get another one up sometime soon (maybe). Just to clarify things, this and my fic Reparo are related it's just not obvious yet. I hope you liked it enough to review.