Call me Squib

The Magical Old Man

Chapter Four: The Magical Old Man

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It had been two weeks since Embry had arrived at the Weasley household and in that time there hadn't been any sign of the dark haired girl's family, much to her relief. She didn't want to know what would happen to her new friends if Lucius were to find out she was hiding there.

Since her arrival, Molly had set Embry up in one of the empty bedrooms. Though once Embry had learned that it belonged to one of the older Weasley boys, Charlie, the girl had insisted on just staying in the living room. Molly had shut the idea instantly, insisting that Charlie wouldn't mind, as he was now living in Romania.

"Lu!" Ginny shook the brunette's shoulders one morning, despite the fact that the girl had already been awake and was reading one of the many Muggle books Arthur kept around the house.

"Yes?" Embry raised a dark brow at the redhead.

"Mum and Dad want to talk to you!" Ginny beamed as she dragged Embry out of the bedroom and down the stairs by her arm, which was once again covered by a long sleeved shirt. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Embry found herself facing Molly and Arthur in the living room, though they weren't alone. Sitting in one of the chairs was an older man with a long silver beard and matching hair.

"Lu, this is Professor Dumbledore," Molly introduced the girl to the old man as she stayed by the stairs, not sure what to make of the new face. "He's the headmaster at Hogwarts."

"Nice to meet you," Dumbledore offered the girl a small smile, though she didn't return it. "Mr. Weasley here tells me that Lu is just a nickname of sorts?"

"Yes," Embry nodded stiffly.

"May you tell me what your real name is?" Dumbledore asked. Embry quickly shook her head, not trusting her voice to stay even. "I promise not to alert anyone of your whereabouts. I simply wish to have you enrolled for classes at the end of the summer. Seeing as how you haven't attended any school yet to learn how to use your magic, you are a great deal behind others your age."

"No, she's not!" Ginny interrupted. "I've seen her use it a few times since she got here, she's even better than some of the seventh years."

"It's illegal," Arthur frowned at the revelation.

"She told me that nothing's ever happened before when she used it, and she's not seventeen yet." Ginny continued, remembering their conversation at the lake from Embry's first day with the ginger family.

"It'd be impossible for the Ministry to be unaware of underaged use of magic," Arthur shook his head, confusion written clearly all over his face. "Every child that's born with the ability to use magic is listed from the moment they're born and supervised closely until they come of age."

"Could you show us something?" Dumbledore asked, his bright blue eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles.

Embry glanced around the room to find something to mess with, but she was afraid to ruin something and anger Molly and Arthur. Her gaze landed on the glasses sitting on Dumbledore's face. Within the blink of an eye the glasses had turned into a small brown bird, it being smaller than Embry's fist.

"That's quite good for no schooling," Dumbledore chuckled as the bird sat itself on his head. "How old are you?"

"Thirteen," she whispered as her gaze trailed over to the glass of water resting on the coffee table. She didn't even think about it before she started to twirl her finger around behind her back. She watched as the water rose from the glass and danced around behind the three adults, earning quiet laughter from Ginny.

"Well then, I would like to invite you to attend Hogwarts this fall," Dumbledore glanced towards Ginny at the girl's laughter before settling his gaze on the brunette in front of him. "For your age you'd normally be in your third year, but I think that it'd be better suited for you to go into fourth year instead."

"Fourth year!" The twins appeared from the kitchen. Their sudden outburst startled Embry, sending the water she'd been playing with falling onto Molly, Arthur, and Dumbledore's heads. Ginny's laughter grew at the sight, as did Fred and George's.

"Sorry," Embry apologized softly as an amused smile danced across her lips. With just a flick of her wrist, the water left their clothes and returned to the glass on the table.

"How'd you do that" Ron asked from where he stood beside his brothers.

"Magic, Ron!" The twins yelled in his ears.

"Who taught you that?" Dumbledore raised one of his silver brows at the girl. She only remained quiet, not wanting to risk anything getting back to her father. He was already going to be furious that she had run away, she didn't want to anger him further and risk someone she cared about getting in trouble. Dobby had been the one to teach her various spells when she was younger, helping her master silent magic.

"I was told you apparated here," Dumbledore moved on when he realized Embry wouldn't be answering his question. "How long have you been able to do that?"

"It was my first time," Embry admitted with a small shrug of her shoulders.

"Do you mind telling us why you came here at least?" Arthur's voice was soft, though his words still landed heavily on Embry's shoulders. Making her feel as though he didn't want her to be there anymore.

"The way they described it," she found herself cowering a little behind Ginny's smaller figure. "It sounded safe."

"Well, Lu," Dumbledore rose to his feet, giving the girl another smile. "I meant what I said about wanting you to attend Hogwarts, perhaps as a fourth year. Could you give me a name and place where I could send your letter at the end of the summer?"

"Lu... Dobbs." She smiled, remembering her old nickname for Dobby.

"You can send it here," Molly added without hesitation, before looking back at the brunette. "If that's alright with you?"

"Yeah," Embry smiled back at the woman. For the first time since she'd met the Wealseys everything felt right.