Chapter Text
The students of Hogwarts, both old and new, sat in the great hall chatting quietly amongst themselves, enjoying their dinner and the scenery. While the arrival of new first-years were being led by Professor McGonagall to the front to be sorted into their houses by the sorting hat that laid pointedly on stool.
“Will you wait along here, please?” The Professor stopped before the children and turned to them. “Now, before we begin, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words.” She ushered for the adolescent children to look ahead at the teachers table, where Dumbledore raised from his chair, successfully silencing the crowd of students.
“I have a few start of term notices, I wish to announce. The first years, please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch–” The grayed man motions over to Angus Filch, with his red eyed cat, Mrs. Norris. “ –,has asked me to remind you that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you.” He takes his seat.
“When I call your name, you will come forth, then I shall place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses.” McGonagall informed the first years before she cleared her throat, starting the sorting process. “Hermione Granger.” The young and bushy haired girl walks forward and takes a seat on the stool, McGonagall then places the sorting hat on her head.
“Ah, right then… hmm… right.” The sorting hat rummaged through the young girl's mind, gathering whatever information it needed in order to find the perfect house for her to be in. “Okay, I guess I'll place you in… Gryffindor!!” The students cheered; Hermione jumped off with a smile and headed to the table of red coated lions.
“Draco Malfoy.” McGonagall called out. A platinum blonde haired boy pushed his way through the crowd and struts up to the stage proudly. McGonagall grips the tattered hat and moves to put it on the boy's head, but before she could do so it freaks out and shouts out the boy’s house before even touching his head.
“SLYTHERIN!” The house of snakes cheer, silently, with a graceful and dignified manner. Quickly the young first years were called up and put into their houses with little to no difficulty, all was going well up until…
“Harry Pott—” Just as McGonagall was about to call up the next student the ceiling started shaking, the bewitchment that was used to make it look like the night sky flickered a couple times before turning a dark and sinister, scarlet red. The teachers jumped out of their seats thinking whatever was happening was the result of someone evil trying to break through their shields.
“Headmaster?” Cuthbert Binns looked at the man in question, who was sitting calmly in his seat, like there wasn’t something dastardly happening in his school. Dumbledore placed a finger over his lips in a ‘shoosh-ing’ motion before gazing back up at the ceiling, which had miraculously turned emerald green, a few shades darker than any black magic the Professors have ever seen.
Above the student body and teachers saw the silhouette of what seemed to be a child, moving in closer and closer. And just as quickly as a hiccup a body fell from the ceiling, like a rock in water.
“Ahh!” The falling boy bellowed. Acting fast the boy threw out his hands, letting the emerald green energy blanket the ground and cushion his fall, saving him from his unsightly death. Sighing with relief, the boy remained conscious for a brief second before passing out in the center of the grand hall.
The entire hall turned silent and stared at the unconscious boy, who fell from the ceiling and used both wandless, and non-verbal magic to protect himself. “Professor Snape? Would you be as kind as to take our guest to Madam Pomfrey.” Dumbledore called for the head of the Slytherin house to escort their intruder, so to speak to the hospital wing. Severus inclined to the headmaster's wishes and levitated the poor boy out of the grand hall and down to Madam Pomfrey. “Professor McGonagall, please continue.” He motioned for the transfiguration teacher to continue.
“Oh, yes of-course—” she cleared her throat. “Harry Potter.” She called out, sending the crowd of students into another vail of silence. The dark-haired boy slowly walks up and sits on the stool, Mcgonagall places the hat on the eleven-year old’s head.
“Hmm… difficult, very difficult. Plenty of courage I see, not a bad mind either. There’s talent, yes and a thirst to prove yourself. But where to put you…?” The hat thought out loud.
“Not Slytherin. Not Slytherin.” Harry whispered to the hat.
“Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it’s all here in your head and Slytherin could help you on your way to greatness! There’s no doubt about that. No?” The hat tried to persuade the boy into being open to joining the house of Slytherin.
“Not Slytherin… anything but Slytherin.” The boy whispered without giving it a single thought.
“Well, if you’re sure… better be… GRYFFINDOR!!” The table of lions roared joyously as the-boy-who-lived was put in their house.
“We got Potter! We got Potter!”
Dumbledore raises from his chair, silencing the mass of students. “Let the feast… begin.” Food magically appeared on all the tables, and the hall was filled with awe and chatter. “Minerva, would you be kind enough to take over?” He asked with a knowing glint in his blue eyes, McGonagall nodded acknowledging the headmaster's question. “Thank you.”
Rounding the table filled with his peers, Dumbledore made sure to give them all a friendly smile and gently welcomed the newest teachers to the school. Finally, the headmaster made his way to the double doors and left the loud confines of the grand hall to the quiet halls, making his way to Madam Pomfrey office.
“How is he?” Albus asked the moment he entered the room, worried that the mysterious boy might have fractured something in his descent. He glides over to the boy’s bedside and is immediately met with a massive amount of magical energy around the boy, in a protective manner.
“It happened the moment Professor Snape laid him down. We’ve tried to break through, but the boy’s magic is just too strong and unrelenting.” Pomfrey explained tiredly from all failed attempts to break the boy's tough barrier. “There’s nothing I can do for him until he wakes up.”
“I see…” Dumbledore grew curious, well even more curious than before about the young brunette laying on the medical bed in what seems to be a magical slumber. “Well, we shall hope he awakens and can give us answers about his odd and surprising appearance.” Albus smiles at Madam Pomfrey and respectfully nods his head to the woman and Snape before taking his leave.
Snape watches the oldman leave and stands silently across from the ginger haired nurse. He saltures over, getting closer to the boy, who bears a somewhat slight resemblance to his old nemesis, James Potter (Aaron Taylor, fancast) and couldn’t help the scowl that appeared on his face. 'Let’s hope he's nothing like that wretched man, if so, then we're in for a great deal of problems.' Snape thought to himself as his expression soured.
“Professor, it's getting late. I will contact you if, or when the boy wakes up.” Madam Pomfrey said as she escorted the man to the doors.
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Theodore’s eyes shot open, his normal ocean blue eyes glowed a bright emerald green, the same shade as his magical energy output. The young Maximoff blinked a couple times, returning his eyes back to their normal shade of blue and with a simple wave of his hand the green barrier surrounding him dispersed into thin air.
The boy quietly moved from his bed and planted his bare feet on the cold tile floors and shivered. Theo glanced round the dark and empty room, wondering where he was and how he got to such a place.
Looking around the dark room Theo had come to the conclusion he was in some sort of hospital or nursing center, judging by the medical beds and curtains around them. “Mom! Dad!” The boy shouted into the darkness for his parents in hopes for one of them to respond but nothing came.
Madam Pomfrey awoke to the commotion in the medical room her newest patient was causing. The woman made quick work by sending a message to Headmaster Dumbledore about the boy being awake before grabbing her wand to check on him.
“Who's there?!” Theodore called out into the darkness, keeping a trained eye on Madam Pomfrey, who was frighteningly surprised that the boy knew exactly where she was through the blanket of shadows. “I know you're there, come out!" He shouted defensively, while honing his magical energy into palms and aiming them at the woman in question.
“Calm down, young man.” Dumbledore appeared beside the boy, being as quiet as the wind, which only spooked the boy into firing at the headmaster. The elderly man, having not been prepared for such a thing, was flung against the wall violently.
“Headmaster!” Madam Pomfrey shouted, worried for the man's wellbeing as she took a defensive stance against the young boy before her, unsure if he would do the same to her. Theo gave the oldman a sad and hopeless look, he obviously didn’t mean to hurt the elderly man, but it was an accident plus it was his own fault for creeping up behind him. Theo was always taught to protect himself by any means necessary and if it meant hurting a few people then so be it, so shaking himself off his scattering thoughts the boy turned his attention back to the gray-haired woman pointing some sort of stick at him. “Young man, stand down. We are not your enemy; we only want to help.” She said softly.
Theodore shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t trust you.” He plucks the woman's wand from her hands before taking over her mind and lulling her to sleep and softly laying her on the floor. “Everyone lies. I can’t trust anyone until I know more.” Theo tells himself twice before he heads for the giant wooden doors.
The young warlock exits the hospital-like room and into the dimly lit corridors looking left to right for an exit. “You there!” A gray and weathered oldman, one drastically different from the other elderly man Theo met minutes ago, this man looked a lot scarier and more willing to hurt a child, if provoked.
Theo sprinted in the other direction. “Stop!” The man shouted after him with his small companion trailing beside him. Maximoff raced through the confusing building avoiding other adults, and prefects who tried grabbing him.
“Leave me alone!” He releases a small-scale power surge sending a few students and staff back. “Sorry!” Theo apologizes but uses the accident as a diversion to get away, he climbs a large stone staircase heading down, which there would hopefully be an exit.
“Careful!” And like a scene out of a movie, the stairs shifted, like they actually moved. So instead of Theo heading down, like he was originally supposed to be, he was now heading up via the magical stairs.
“This place is so strange.” Theo sighed to himself before throwing himself over the railing.
“Stupefy!” A blinding red light comes towards Theo at an alarming speed but before it could make contact the boy's magic reacted fast and absorbed the blast much to the outlier's surprise.
Theo slowed his descent using his telekinesis, like his mom taught him, and Billy. Once the boy was close enough to the ground, he released his hold on himself and did a quick tuck and roll to ease the impact.
“Young man!” A shout was heard from a far, it had to have been the old wizard Theo presumed from how low and wise it sounded but that didn’t stop him. Theodore rushed through the castle-like structure, his mind guiding him through the labyrinth of walls to hopefully his freedom.
After what seemed like an hour or so Theo caught sight of the giant oak-wood doors that stood between him and his freedom. Excitement buzzed within the boy as he propelled himself forward bursting through large doors, he continued his assault forward towards the murky water.
Theodore’s happiness was however shortly lived as he came in contact with the castle's barrier preventing him from leaving its grounds. “No!” He shouts at the invisible barrier, Theo pushes against it and tries to overload it to the point that it would collapse on itself, but it seemed the barrier had countermeasures to his prying. “Ah!” The boy yelps as he is flung back from the barrier’s defense mechanism.
The boy groaned, his head throbbed rapidly and painfully. He sat up slowly, being sure to keep his eyes close and to move slowly to refrain from barfing– or in his case dry heaving seeing as how he hadn’t eaten in hours.
“Are ye’ alright, boy’o?” Theo sighed, there was no use running no-more, he was trapped—so he might as well play nice and comply, that is until he could find a way to escape and get back home.
“I’m fine, sir. M’ just a bit dizzy.” Theo answered as he slowly opened his eyes. “Hovno.” The boy cured in his mother's tongue at the burly man standing before him, he was taller than any man or woman he’d seen in his life. He was about twice as tall as an average man, standing at eleven feet, six inches tall (too big to be an ordinary human) and three times as wide, with a long mane of shaggy black hair and a beard that covered most of his face. The man’s hands were as big as his mother’s china plates and his feet in their boots were like baby dolphins. He had dark eyes that glinted like black beetles which terrified the young Maximoff.
“Oh, it would seem you have caught our guest, Hagrid.” A woman with a wonky looking witch hat walked up to Theo and the giant, who was known as Hagrid.
“Evenin’ Professor McGonagall.” The giant greets to which he receives a nod from the prim faced woman before her eyes trail to the boy sitting at their feet.
“You’ve caused quite a ruckus tonight, young man.” The woman said with a raised brow, her expression remained the same as she did so. “Come young man, we must get you back to the medical wing. From the way you're gripping your head, I can only presume you went against the barrier, and it retaliated.” She stated with a brow raised, she seemed to already know how Theo hurt his head at this point she was just stating the obvious.
The woman—McGonagall offered a hand to the boy and helped him on his feet. “Thank you.” Theo politely nodded to the woman as she led them back into the castle and up the shifting stairs. “Can I ask about these weird stairs? And why do they move?” He asked the emerald dressed woman at his side.
“The Grand Staircase or the weird stairs as you like to call them are how we get from point A to point B here at Hogwarts. The stairs reached each floor of the castle, including the dungeons.” McGonagall explained. “Rowena Ravenclaw, one of Hogwarts founders, was the one who invented the concept of moving stairs.” Theo nodded along with the woman’s words even though he had no idea who this Rowena woman was.
“Back to the scene of the crime.” Theo muttered to himself as they entered the medical room, where he first awoke.
“McGonagall it seems you found that barmy boy.” Madam Pomfrey glowered at the young brunette for a brief moment or two before refocusing on Dumbledore and his wounds.
“Now, now, Ms. Pomfrey. One cannot judge, if you were in his shoes surely, you’d be on guard as well.” The elderly man with the long beard quickly came to Theo’s defense, seemingly having no hard feelings after being thrown against the wall by said boy. “Now, my boy. Can you tell us a bit about your situation?” The old one turned to Theodore for answers.
Theodore looked at the man in his blue eyes and sneered when his iris twinkled with some sort of wonder and fascination. Maximoff sighed because he didn’t have any answers regarding how he got to such a place, it was only moments ago he was in his bed, in between his brother Billy and Tommy, saying goodbye to their mother and father for what seemed to be for the last time. Then he woke up in this strange room surrounded by a sea of unfamiliar faces before blacking out and waking up again in this same room moments later.
So, he told the old man this, making sure to leave about a few details for good measure.
“How peculiar.” The old man— I mean, Dumbledore said. He clasped his hands together and stared at the boy with his twinkling blue eyes, trying to piece together his thoughts and the obviously repressed information the young boy gave him. Maximoff…? The headmaster tried to think of any student who walked the halls with such a foreign sir-name and couldn’t for the life of him think of one and that was a problem all on its own.
“Sir?” Theo called out, breaking the silence. “If you don’t mind me asking, what is this place?” The curiosity of knowing where he landed was eating him alive since the moment opened his eyes and now seemed as good a time as any to finally get some answers.
And just like that Theo confirmed one of Dumbledore’s theories about the boy hailing from another world, one where Hogwarts didn’t exist. “Well, my boy you're in Hogwarts, the school for young witches and wizards much like yourself, to train and hone their magic.” He spoke.
“A school for people with magic…” Theodore said slowly to himself in a faint whisper. We’ve never had a place like this back home and if we did mom never told us about it. I suppose even she didn’t know herself. He thought defensively, knowing his parents only wanted the best for his brothers and himself and would never do anything to put them in danger, and the fight against the military didn’t count.
“Would you like to attend?” The headmaster asked, causing all three individuals in the room to look at him as if he grown another head,
“Albus!” Madam Pomfrey’s eyes bulged at the sudden invitation. Don’t get the woman wrong, Theo seemed like a lovely boy, grated that he quite literally disarmed her then put her asleep mer minutes ago. But he was undoubtedly dangerous, and his arrival was suspicious, she didn’t trust the boy one bit and she couldn’t fathom why Dumbledore would invite him to stay at Hogwarts.
Minerva was also a bit agitated with the man for such a suggestion, but she knew why he offered. It was obvious that the boy had nowhere else to turn too and they couldn’t just leave a youth as powerful as himself on the streets where he could get taken by some sugar coated deatheater. In all honesty the woman just didn’t want to deal with another trouble causing kid, bad enough Potter and the young Weasley boy were in her house, she could already perceive the trouble the two would cause they’re stay here.
Theodore stared at the man in disbelief, the same man he tossed aside like a ragdoll was offering him to stay at their school and practice magic with other kids his age. “I—I…” He stammered, he knew the decision wasn’t hard or even difficult in the slightest. He knew he needed somewhere to go, and these people seemed kind enough to let him stay, providing a roof over his head, a bed, and hopefully three meals a day with an occasional snack or four, so honestly it was a no-brainer. “I’d love to attend your school, headmaster.”
Dumbledore grinned. “Good. We’ll need to get you sorted but that can wait until morning after you’ve rested of-course.” He nods to Minerva, and she conjures up a plate of food for the boy being sure to keep the meal simple. “And eaten.” He stands and heads for the exit as Minerva gives the boy his food and follows Dumbledore out.
“So… Do you guys have internet here?” Theo turned to Madam Pomfrey and asked.
“Young man, eat then sleep.” She demands before making her departure.
“So that's a no?”