Magic Wars

A long time ago in a galaxy very near. . .

MAGIC WARS: EPISODE I

THE PHANTOM VAMPIRE

When the remote community of Godric's Hollow is occupied by dementors, the Ministry of Magic sends Orion Jenson and his apprentice Albus Dumbledore to sort the problem out.

Meanwhile, the Dementor Federation is seeking to gain control of the trade route from Godric's Hollow to Hogsmeade, and Paul Grindelwald, head of the Department of Magical Commerce, attempts to negotiate.

~*~

Orion and Albus stormed into the cottage which served as the dementors' headquarters. "You must pay attention to the living magic, my young apprentice," Orion said.

"Actually, I'm not all that young, Orion. I'm already one hundred years old," Albus pointed out.

"And so? Pull out your wand and fight these dementors! Concentrate on the moment!"

"Lumos-saber!" cried Albus, and the fight began.

~*~

Surrounded by a pile of dead dementors, Albus and Orion scurried out of the cottage. "You were right about one thing, master," Albus said. "The negotiations were short!"

"Oh, no!" cried Orion, "We're out of floo powder! We'll never get back to the Ministry building!"

"Why don't we just apparate?" Albus asked.

"Don't be silly, Albus, you know we forgot out apparation licenses!"

"Let's consider our options, master. I see an orphanage over that hill where we could possibly have a hot meal while we think this problem over."

"Good plan, my young apprentice!" said Orion. "Well thought out. The magic is strong with you!"

~*~

When Orion and Albus entered the run-down brick building, they were assaulted by crowds of screaming children. Orion's eyes were immediately drawn to the sad shape of a thin, dark-haired boy in the corner of the room, holding himself back from the other children.

Just then, a stern-faced woman shuffled into the room. "Out, all of you! Back to your room!" she screamed at the children, who ran boisterously out. . . except for one. She didn't seem to notice that the black-haired boy in the corner had stayed behind. "What can I do for you?" she asked sharply.

"I'm Orion Jensen and this is my young apprentice, Albus Dumbledore. We were just over at Godric's Hollow solving a little problem and we realized that we'd run out of, um, fuel. . . for our car. We were wondering if you might give us a room for the night until our friends arrive to pick us up."

"I don't have room for two more people, especially big ones."

Orion waved his hand in the air and said, "You'll be happy to make room for us."

"I'll be happy to make room for you," she repeated mechanically.

Orion caught the pointed gaze of the boy in the corner of the room.

"Tommy!" the woman cried, "Get back to your room! This instant!"

He trudged out obediently, but not before casting a plaintive glance at Orion and Albus.

~*~

That night, as they settled down for their simple meal, Orion and Albus found the boy they had seen earlier that day. The long hall was filled with chattering, hungry children, but Tommy sat by himself. Orion and Albus plopped into empty chairs near him.

Two thin children walked through the rows of tables and served their food, a scanty portion of oatmeal. Orion and Albus looked at their plates, scarcely wettened by the two or three bites of oatmeal that had been dropped on them. Across the table, Tommy was engaging in a rather unusual activity. His placed his hand a few inches above his food and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, the oatmeal expanded to cover the entire plate.

Orion and Albus glanced at each other incredulously. Were they witnessing advanced wandless magic from this half-starved little boy?

"What's your name?" Orion asked.

The boy looked at them questioningly. "Tommy Riddle," he finally said.

"How long have you been at this orphanage?"

"Since I was three, I think. When my mother died."

"What did you just do to your food?"

"I don't know, sir. . . I was hungry and I just closed my eyes and wished that I had more food."

Orion cast a half smile at Albus. "I sense a vergence in the energy field created by all magical things," he finally said.

Albus replied, "There's always a bigger oatmeal."

~*~

"We need to talk to the Ministry about this boy," Orion said, as the two sat alone in a small parlor after dinner. "I believe he may have special powers."

"But how will we get in contact with them? We don't have an owl, and we're stuck here at this orphanage until we can get some floo powder," Albus said, "Unless. . . you might consider illegal apparation?"

"I've been thinking about that, Albus. I believe the Ministry might excuse it just this once."

"I agree. Let's talk to the boy."

~*~

"Tommy, we have reason to believe that you may be a wizard," Orion began.

Tommy nodded quietly.

"How would you like to go away to Hogwarts School?"

"Go away, sir?"

"Yes. How old are you?''

"I'm ten, eleven in two months. I would love to go away to your school!"

"That's wonderful, Tommy!" Orion said. Albus sat in silence and studied the boy's face. Something wasn't quite right. . .

"I had a dream, sir. . . I dreamed that I was the most powerful wizard in the world, and that I was surrounded by green lights!"

Orion laughed. "That's fine, boy! Maybe your dream will come true someday."

Albus looked uneasy. He had a bad feeling about this.

~*~

"What do you mean, we can't take him away? But he's magical!" Orion protested.

"This boy was placed in this orphanage under my charge. He will not leave."

"With all due respect, ma'am, we're leaving, anyway."

He then grabbed the boy, ran out the door with Albus and Tommy into the nearby forest.

~*~

Just then, they were assaulted by a vampire in a black cape. His face was painted red, and his yellow, pointed teeth flexed behind his snarling lips. "Take the boy, Albus! I'll handle this!"

"Expelliarmus!" he yelled at the vampire, who cleverly avoided his spell.

"Lumos-saber!" The two then engaged in a long, drawn-out, super-dramatic duel. Finally, the vampire flew away, and an exhausted Orion staggered behind the tree where Albus and Tommy had been hiding.

"What was that thing?" Albus asked.

"It was a vampire, stupid," Orion said between gasps.

~*~

"I have found the wizards, my master," the vampire said to a cloaked figure.

"Good, and did you catch a glimpse of the boy?"

"Yes. He shall be very useful to our cause. . ."

"Yes," the master said slowly, "He must be turned to the Dark Arts. . ."

"How shall you penetrate the security at Hogwarts. . . assuming he's allowed to be trained?"

"Oh, I have connections with the ministry. . . I'm trying to cleverly disguise it, but I'm actually the head of the Department of Magical Commerce, Paul Grindelwald. And maybe someday I'll be Minister of Magic."

"Oh, cool."

~*~

Orion and Albus watched as Tommy stood before the Minister of Magic, Voda Kamino.

"Very strong in magic this boy is," Voda said.

"Then he shall be trained?" Orion asked.

"Be trained he shall NOT."

"But why?" Orion whined.

"Much anger I sense in this boy. Much anger. Anger is the path to the Dark Arts! Anger leads to hate, hate leads to destruction, destruction leads to piles of destroyed stuff!"

"Oh, right. I forgot. But why?" Orion whined.

"Okay, okay, we'll train him," Voda said.

~*~

Orion and Albus walked outside the Ministry building. Just then, they encountered the same ugly vampire who had attacked them before! A grand fight ensued, which ended with Orion dead, the vampire chopped in two, and Albus left with tears streaming down his face as Orion's dying breath echoed through his mind, "Train the boy!"

~*~

Albus and Tommy stood outside the Hogwarts castle. Tommy craned his neck to see the tops of the magnificent towers. "Wow, I can't believe I'm going to be a real wizard!" he said. "Yippee!!"

"That's right," Albus Dumbledore said absentmindedly as they walked into the building.

They were greeted by Paul Grindelwald, head of the Department of Magical Commerce. "Tommy Riddle, eh?"

Tommy nodded.

"I shall be watching your career with great interest!"

Tommy looked back at Grindelwald as he and Dumbledore walked slowly down the corridor. "Are you an angel?"

THE END (UNTIL EPISODE II)