Zalkin

Chapter 1

The old man sat at the wooden desk looking at a list of names written on a parchment. The names were written in very neat writing, which appeared to be written with a quill. There were empty spaces in the list where unwanted names had already been removed. Now down to just a few names, there weren't many options left.

The last few remaining names were read aloud: ‘Albert, I don't imagine most teenage boys take someone seriously that is named Albert. Frederick, there is already an infamous Fred at Hogwarts, one is more than enough. Wilfred, now that's a name that will get your head flushed in the toilet in the boy's bathroom. James, yes, that could be a suitable name.’ For now, he decided James would do just fine, unless he could choose something better before he introduced himself to anyone.

Lying down on the bed, James closed his eyes and focused on completing the spell. He visualized himself as he had looked as a sixteen-year-old boy and said ‘corpus tempus conversio.’

James sat up slowly, unsure if he would be able to stand with the room still spinning so wildly around him. He sat for a few seconds and then stood shakily beside the desk. He held the back of his leather chair as he cautiously moved toward the mirror on the closet door. He had no idea that he would feel poorly for so long after trying this spell. Of course, he rarely did spells of this magnitude on a person any more, let alone on himself, so he hadn't really been sure what to expect.

He stood in front of the mirror trying to get his bearings. Gradually he started to survey his appearance, starting at his feet. Seeing no change there he continued upward. As he progressed little by little he could feel his stomach churning, whether it was from dizziness or nervousness, he didn't know. Finally, he found the courage to finish his assessment.

As he had hoped, staring back at him from the mirror was the face of a young man. Well, not quite as he had expected. The facial features were about right, but he had kept his white hair. He had seen other young wizards with white hair. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. He could always claim to be part Veela. That would certainly be an interesting twist.

Now the first real test. School supplies.

* * * * *

Before James could buy his books and supplies for school he would have to get some money from Gringotts. He had written a note before he had performed the corpus tempus conversio spell so that the goblins could verify the handwriting. He had assumed that his penmanship would change somewhat after the spell. As he walked through the silver doors, one of the goblins looked up at him and called him over to the counter.

‘Hello there, boy. What can I do for you today?’

‘I need to speak to the manager.’ James said. ‘I have a note here for him.’

‘Certainly,’ the goblin said. ‘I will get him for you. Please wait in the chair by his office.’

James watched as the goblin walked into the room behind the counter. He never ceased to be amazed by the efficiency of Gringotts. With so many accounts to look after, it was remarkable that it ran so smoothly and with no mistakes to speak of. As he was watching the activity he was approached by a goblin who he assumed must be the manager.

‘Welcome to Gringotts. How may I help you today?’ he asked with a smile.

‘I have a note here,’ James said as he handed the folded piece of paper to him. ‘I need to access the vault, but as you can understand I need to use a great deal of discretion here. I come to you because I know you handle very delicate situations for many of your customers. I need to withdraw enough money to cover my Hogwart's supplies and for a small amount of spending money for the fall term.’

He finished reading the note and carefully refolded it before placing it in his jacket pocket. ‘I assure you, James, you have nothing to worry about. I will personally escort you to your vault. I will find out from one of the employees how much is the usual amount taken by Hogwart's students, and we will be on our way.’

* * * * *

The shops were buzzing with activity as James finished shopping for his schoolbooks. He had hoped to see Draco and his family here. The more often he ‘bumped into’ Draco, the easier it would be to talk to him and not appear to be too obvious. Of course, there would be plenty of time at Hogwarts, but the sooner he could get started the better.

He looked down at the books that he had just finished purchasing. Although advanced, they looked horribly boring. He smiled as he looked at his divinations book and wondered if Sybil Trelawney would choose him to be the student who would die this year.

He saw Hagrid out of the corner of his eye. As James walked in his direction he couldn't see any sign of recognition on his face. This was a dangerous test. If Hagrid recognized him, he couldn't be sure of what the response would be, but knowing Hagrid, it would be loud enough for everyone in Europe to hear him.

"Excuse me, sir." James said as he approached the large man. "I am going to Hogwarts this year and I don't know where to buy my wand." Well, maybe not too bad a question on such short notice, even though Ollivander's was clearly marked about 20 meters away.

Hagrid looked at him curiously and said, "You look a little old to be starting Hogwarts. Would you be the student that I heard about? Been a long time since Hogwarts has seen a student from Salem."

James smiled timidly. "Yes, I am an American. I'll be taking classes with different years of students, mostly with the fifth years though. I have a wand that I bought in the United States, but I understand the best wand shop is right here, somewhere."

"Well, you've got that right. See that store just beyond the broom shop? You can get your wand there. If you want to get it today you better go now, you'll be standing in line all night otherwise."

"Thank you," James said with a smile "I look forward to seeing you around Hogwarts."

"Same here." Hagrid said. ‘By the way, what's your name?’

‘James,’ he said with a smile and a wave as he walked toward Ollivander's shop.

* * * * *

There were many people standing in line at the wand shop. He talked to Timothy Leary while they waited in line. He had known Timothy's father, Alex, for years. He was now the lead wizard in the search for Voldemort and his followers. James occasionally had to stop himself from calling him Timmy, but otherwise he thought it went well.

He was glad he had taken time over the summer to find out what young wizards and witches were interested in now. When he was young they had very little of the technology that was now available. Of course, he didn't have much time to look at current events and trends in the muggle world, but very few wizards knew much about those.

As he entered Ollivander's he smiled as he remembered his first time in the shop. The measuring tape taking measurements while Mr. Ollivander searched the wands for just the right one. He looked at the thousands of boxes stacked on the shelves and lying open on the floor.

‘Well, hello there young man. Who might you be?’ Mr. Ollivander asked as he walked out from the back room.

‘My name is James Zalkin, I am a new student from the United States. I already have a wand, but I was hoping you could fit me for one. I hear you are the best at selecting a wand to fit the wizard.’

‘Well then,’ Mr. Ollivander said as he picked up his tape measure, ‘let's see what we can do for you today.’

The measuring tape moved quickly around James as Mr. Ollivander chose a variety of wands from the shelves. As he was handed each one, James would wave the wand a few times. Each time the wand was taken from him and a new one was put in its place. Finally, after what seemed like a hundred attempts to find the right one, James knew he had found the right wand. As he held it in his hand he could feel the wand vibrate. He swirled it around his head as purple and green sparks shot out all over the store.

‘Very interesting. Very interesting indeed,’ said Mr. Ollivander as he took the wand from James.

* * * * *

James stood on platform 9 3/4 waiting for the Hogwart's Express. He looked around, seeing many students that he recognized. Hermione was just coming through the wall onto the platform followed closely by Harry. Neville was talking to his grandmother and trying to cover the cage for his new owl, Medlin, who was wildly flapping his wings and trying to get the attention of the other owls nearby.

Mrs. Weasley was beside him telling Fred and George to behave and asking all three of the boys to watch after Ginny. James was, as usual, amazed at her ability to deal with her children so firmly but lovingly. As he was watching their interaction, Mrs. Weasley turned and looked at him.

"Hello there young man," she said. "Is this your first year at Hogwarts?"

He paused and thought about how he could answer the question. "Yes, Ma'am. I have been at Salem Academy in the United States, but I will be spending this year at Hogwarts."

"Well, that is wonderful. It has been a long time since we have had an exchange student at Hogwarts. You'll love it there. Such a wonderful school. Of course, things will be different now that Professor McGonagall is Headmistress." Mrs. Weasley sighed as she turned to look down the tracks for the train.

James thought about how to respond to this. Would a student from the United States know about the situation at Hogwarts? Rather than take a chance he decided to remain silent.

"Are your parents here somewhere?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she looked at his polished wooden trunk and covered birdcage.

"No. They are in the United States. Mom was going to come with me, but she couldn't get away from work."

"Do you have a host family for your stay here? If you need a place to stay, there are many families that would be happy to host an exchange student."

Just then, the train whistle blew as the Hogwart's Express pulled into the station. James was privately very happy to be able to get away from Mrs. Weasley. The less he told people about his situation the better his chances of not getting caught in this charade. For now, he would keep his story short and simple, he was an exchange student and his father worked for the Wizard's Gazette in Massachusetts.

* * * * *

There were still a lot of seats remaining in the compartments on the train as James walked down the aisle. He chose a seat in the compartment next to Draco Malfoy. He wanted to make sure that Draco would see him but he didn't want to be obvious, although he was sure that his appearance would make him stand out in Draco's mind.

He settled into his seat as people filed in around him. He pulled out his copy of "Wizard's Magazine" and started reading about the latest discoveries in the search for Voldemort and his circle of followers. It seemed that there might be a chance that a spell could be created to find the origins of the dark mark call. That would certainly be a great step forward in the search for the missing wizards from Hogwarts. Maybe this fagade wouldn't be necessary after all.

* * * * *

The next few hours were a blur to James. He ate so many chocolate frogs he thought he would throw up. He couldn't believe how much candy the other students in his car could eat. No wonder Mrs. Pomphrey always stayed so busy. He thought that if he were going to spend much time eating candy he would have to come up with a spell to make himself less jumpy from all the sugar.

After Crabbe, Goyle, and Draco got done tormenting other students on the train, they worked their way back to their seats. As they passed James' compartment, Draco stopped and turned around to look at him.

‘Who are you?’ Draco demanded.

‘My name is James. I'm sure you must be Draco.’

Draco looked at Crabbe and Goyle with a satisfied smile on his face. He turned back to look at James.

‘So, you've heard of me. Glad to hear it. Why don't I know you then?’

James returned Draco's smug expression. He had practiced his response to this question for days. Draco was so predictable that he would probably be able to follow his practice conversation word-for-word.

‘I'm an exchange student from the United States. My father decided to send me to Hogwarts for a year because he thought Salem was too light on dark arts. He says that this place would be much better for me, although before you came along, I was beginning to wonder.’

‘Flattery will get you everywhere, James.’ Draco said as he sat in the seat beside him. ‘So, did you hear of my family while you were in the United States?’

‘No. I asked some people at the station who you were. They said you were in Slytherin. That's where my father said I should be. If I get in some other house I should consider not going home.’

Draco smiled at James. ‘I think we are going to get along very well, James. Very well indeed. Enjoy the rest of your trip. I'll see you at the Sorting Ceremony.’

* * * * *

Now standing in line for the sorting he really started to doubt his ability to do this. What if he said something to a student that revealed that he already knew them? What if he talked in his sleep? What if one of the professors started to wonder how he could do such advanced spells? He thought he could keep his skills hidden from most of the professors, but he was sure he couldn't keep it from all of them. The one thing that had gone in his favor was that Minerva McGonagall wouldn't have time to teach with all the excitement over her taking over the school and working with the search for Dumbledore.

Now he was next. As James walked up to the chair with the Sorting Hat he looked around at the students watching him. So many familiar faces looking at him. He didn't have to pretend to look nervous as he sat on the chair. If the Sorting Hat wasn't cooperative, none of the plans would matter.

He put the hat onto his head and a voice quietly whispered in his ear. "Ah, I see that you have decided to attempt this ruse after all, Albus. Well then, I guess we should get started." The Sorting Hat paused for a second and shouted out "SLYTHERIN" as a relieved James stood up and walked toward the Slytherin table.