Harry Potter and the Rogue Mage

Chapter 3 - Welcome to Hogwarts

Rowan blinked. The Great Hall was huge. Four long tables packed with black-robed wizards sat before him, containing students of all ages, shapes and sizes. There must have been several hundred of them as least, though thankfully they hadn't seemed to have noticed him yet, and above their heads, a night sky full of stars splayed across the ceiling in a cloud of magic. Rowan shivered slightly, and the torches around the edges of the hall flickered as he did so. Hurriedly, he reined in his magic, tensing his muscles, and the torches began to burn steadily again. He would have to be careful. With this many wizard-spells around, his Magecraft felt like it could crush them with its mere weight, like a spinning fan blade in a field of candles. 

Stiffly, Rowan glanced up as the applause faded, looking towards the long table at the far end of the hall. About a dozen witches and wizards sat there, the teachers no doubt, each clad in long, flowing robes, with the exception of one. A stout, middle-aged woman at one end of the table who, quite inexplicably, had elected to wear a fluffy pink cardigan over her robes, and a bright pink Alice band over short, curly brown hair. She was sitting stiffly upright, a wide, beguiling smile across her rather wide mouth, and was looking expectantly to her right, where the teacher in the center of the table was getting to his feet. And as he spotted him, Rowan felt a flash of recognition.

Wearing deep-purple robes scattered with silver stars and a tall wizard's hat of the same style, his silver hair and beard falling to his waist, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet, his electric blue eyes twinkling from behind his half-moon spectacles as he smiled at the students before him, before his gaze fell upon Rowan as the huge doors behind him closed with a loud thump. At the sound, the students turned as one to look at the newcomer, and a loud breath of whispers ran the length of the four great tables as they saw him. Rowan expected he must look quite intimidating. Tall, dark and unfamiliar, wrapped in a long, black coat with many belts and pouches underneath and carrying a long, black combat staff lined with metal. At present, Rowan was more grateful that he had elected to leave his knives and sword in his luggage.

'Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating.' Dumbledore said, the whispers in the hall ceasing immediately as he bowed to the woman in the pink cardigan, who Rowan guessed must have been the woman giving the speech before he walked in. He shifted uncomfortably, very conscious of the student's gaze.. 'And speaking of changes in staffing,' Dumbledore continued, turning to address the hall again, 'I would like to introduce the most recent addition to our staff.' Dumbledore made a slight motion with his hand to Rowan, who took a deep breath, steeling himself, then began to walk down the center of the tables towards the teachers, ignoring the whispers that sprang up again on either side of him.

'This,' Dumbledore told the hall 'is Rowan Faye. He is a good friend and colleague of mine, who has gone to great lengths and traveled a great distance to be here this evening. As for what he is here to teach, well...' Dumbledore smiled mischievously, 'I am sure you will find out, soon enough.' More whispering from the students, but Rowan ignored them, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly in a crooked sort of half-smile. Teacher, eh? So that's what Dumbledore needed him for. 'I would ask that all of you make him feel welcome, and ensure that his stay here is as pleasant as possible.'

Rowan glanced up at Dumbledore as he reached the stone steps at the front of the hall, and spotted the wizard's eyelid flicker slightly in a secretive wink. Rowan couldn't help but grin in return and walked quickly up the steps as the whispering continued to grow into a steady murmur behind him. Dumbledore walked swiftly around the table as Rowan approached, and they clasped hands warmly as they reached each other.

'My dear friend, thank you for coming.' He told Rowan sincerely.

'Sorry I'm a little late.' Rowan apologized with a grin, glancing back at the still murmuring students. In the midst of the sea of robes, he felt a slight pulse of magical energy. A focus-point, but he forced himself not to look. He knew who would be sitting there.

'Please, have a seat.' Dumbledore told him, gesturing at the teachers' table behind him. 'We will speak soon.' Rowan nodded, then turned to the table. The remainder of the teachers were looking at him curiously, but as Rowan's gaze met each of theirs, they smiled at him warmly, even welcomingly, some going so far as to even wave. Rowan smiled in return, nodding respectfully, before turning to the empty seat, which was positioned beside a tall, pale wizard with greasy, shoulder-length black hair and a rather hooked nose. He looked... oddly familiar.

'Fay.' The wizard drawled in a nasal voice, standing and extending a hand to Rowan as he rounded the table, and at the sound of the man's dispassionate, disdainful tone, the name of the wizard sprung into Rowan's mind like a buoy released from underwater.

'Severus!' Rowan laughed, grasping the wizard's hand firmly and shaking it. 'I almost didn't recognize you.' Snape regarded him with a distinctly sour look, but Rowan knew him well enough to be undeterred.

'I see that, despite the many hours of travelling you must have undertaken to reach Hogwarts,' Snape sneered, 'you have still managed to, against all probability, failed to replace your wand, Fay.'

'Oh, come now Severus.' Rowan chuckled as they took their seats, leaning his staff on the edge of the table beside him. 'You know just as well as I do that I don't need one. It's only extra weight.'

'And yet a suit of armor, a sword, and a suitcase containing all manner of unnecessary rubbish is not?'

'Undetectable extension charm.' Rowan shrugged. 'It's about the only useful spell you wizards have come up with. But still, what the hell would I need a wand for?'

'Your naivety is breathtaking.' Snape scowled, turning to face the hall again. 

'But you missed me regardless, didn't you?' Rowan grinned. Snape didn't answer, and so Rowan turned to face the hall as well. Dumbledore was speaking to the students again, but Rowan wasn't paying close attention. Instead, his eyes were scanning the students still arrayed before him. Many were still watching him, but Rowan was looking for someone in particular. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed his grip on his magic, allowing it to spill over the table like invisible smoke and seep across the hall and under the tables. He felt hundreds of people, bodies and legs, as vividly as if they were stood in his hands, but there was a distinct feeling coming from one of the tables; the focus that he had sensed earlier, and it was this that intrigued him.

A group of three students on the middle left of the tables were huddled together with their heads bowed, obviously conversing in detail about something. Two boys and one girl, of roughly Rowan's own age, or maybe a little younger. The girl had long, bushy brown hair and pale skin, and seemed to be doing most of the talking. The boy opposite her had flaming red hair, and many freckles splashed across his face. And the third boy, who seemed to be the very center of the magical focus, was Harry Potter. Rowan had seen his pictures in the few copies of the daily prophet that he had managed to scavenge from bins or pub tables. Untidy black hair, ruffled at the back, a rather thin frame, though Rowan suspected he was rather athletic, and he knew that if he got closer, he would see the green eyes, and the lightning scar which gave the papers such excitement. He could very well listen to their conversation if he wanted. He could listen to the whispered conversations of anyone in this hall, and possibly for a fair distance outside it as well, but Rowan decided against it, reining his magic back in, and turning to face Dumbledore, who seemed to be wrapping up his speech.

As Dumbledore spoke his last words to the hall, there was a great clattering from the four long tables as the students began getting to their feet. Those nearest the doors took off quickly, keen to get ahead of the crowd before the main wave of bodies caught up with them, whilst the rest milled around more slowly in a swirling tumult of black robes. 

'First-years!' The bushy-haired girl that Rowan had spotted conversing with Harry Potter earlier was calling along the table. 'This way, please!' Rowan smiled slightly as he watched a timid-looking group of smaller students immediately flock to her like chicks to their mother hen.

'Fay.' Rowan glanced up at Snape, suddenly aware that the rest of the teaches were beginning to get up. 'Did you plan on accompanying us,' Snape drawled, 'or were you waiting for a formal invitation?' Rowan rolled his eyes, but grabbed his staff, stood up, then followed Snape, Dumbledore, and the other teachers from the hall.