** I do not own the rights to Harry Potter, the names and original ideas belongs to J.K Rowling.**
Chapter 3
"In all the years Tom's been here, he's never once had a visitor", Mrs. Cole's elderly, sweet voice said, as she was escorting a tall man up the stairs of the orphanage. Every step caused the stairs to give out tired noises, from all the years of people running up and down.
The man that Mrs. Cole was currently escorting upstairs, wore a dark-green trenchcoat, with a hat of a matching green color, along with black, polished shoes. He also had a long, gray beard, that was tied with a band at the end. Above the nose; two, kind, blue eyes rested.
Mrs. Cole reached the top of the stairs and continued, with tired legs, to the left where she followed a long, narrow corridor, until she stopped. They had arrived at the door at the far end of the corridor, where everything seemed to be completely quiet. They stood still for a few seconds, before Mrs. Cole raised her right hand an gently knocked on the door. There was no answer. She knocked a second time and followed with; "Tom, dear, are you in there?".
The door opened, and a little boy stood in the opening, looking up at the Head Matron and the male stranger. He was no older than eleven, but had an expression that proved him to possess maturity way beyond his age, which caused him to look very bored. As he was holding the door, Mrs. Cole moved aside, so the man could step forward.
"Hello Tom", he said, while reaching out his hand, " my name is Albus Dumbledore, and I would like to have a little chat with you". His hand stayed empty, as the boy didn't reach out to shake it. He retracted it, while giving Mrs. Cole a curteous smile with a nod. At this signal she left the two of them alone. Tom turned around and walked inside the room, leaving the door open, thus inviting the, seemingly friendly, stranger in.
The boy sat quietly on his bed, with his legs dangling from the side of it, while looking down on his hands. Albus Dumbledore entered the room, with his kind eyes looking at the boy, he too, sat down on the bed. After a few seconds, the boy finally spoke.
"You're the doctor, aren't you?", he started, "she wants me looked at".
"No Tom, I'm a teacher, at a school for gifted young men and women, like you and me", Dumbledore replied, "it's called Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry".
At the last words, Tom turned his eyes on Dumbledore for the first time. Only, this time, the mature expression was gone. It was now replaced by the look of curiosity – the look of a child. But the moment of curiosity soon vanished, and Tom's face quickly turned back to boredom.
"You're a wizard?", he asked, while turning his gaze to the rain hitting the window, "prove it".
Suddenly, the cabinet in the small bedroom caught fire. Tom immediately turned his eyes to the cabinet and stood up, while gaping at the event taking place before him. The flames reached all the way from the floor of the cabinet to the ceiling, where they seemed to stop without causing neither the floor nor the cabinet or ceiling any damage – they weren't even hot. In the midst of all this, a loud clonking sound could be heard from the cabinet.
"I think there's something in there trying to get out", Dumbledore told the boy, and they both walked over and opened the cabinet-door.
On the floor, a little tin-box was jumping up and down, causing the noise. Tom reached down and took it out, walked over to the bed and sat it down. He opened it, and in it were some pictures, a ring, two necklaces, a small broach and a little tin-soldier. When he had opened the box and revealed the treasures within, he walked over to the window and looked out again.
"Stealing is not accepted at Hogwarts, Tom", Dumbledore said while closing the lid to the box. He reached for his coat and the hat, and held them in his arms. Before he turned to leave, he made a little jump; as if he'd forgotten something. "I almost forgot, you'll need this". From one of his coat-pockets he took out a small envelope with emerald letters with his name and adress on it. "That is if you want to go to Hogwarts", he said smilingly.
Tom turned around and gazed up on Dumbledore. For a few seconds they both just stood there, looking at each other, until Tom finally gave off a tiny nod, and then turned back to the window.