The One Who You Fear

Chapter 1: The Big Mistake

"What is that thing?"

Dean and Seamus got out of lunch a bit early and stopped by Gryffindor to pick up their books and stuff for the next class, but they stopped when they saw a huge, glistening tunnel on the wall of the common room. They stared into it, trying to see where it led.

"Hey, what's so--" Neville had entered the common room as well and joined in their stares. "Whoa."

"Have any idea what that is?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," Seamus nodded. "That's a portal. It can lead to other realities, planets, even other time periods."

"Oh yeah, I remember those," Neville muttered.

"Where'd it come from?" Dean asked.

"Who knows? Maybe a house elf created it as a joke," Seamus suggested.

"Should we tell Professor McGonagall?" Neville asked. "Or maybe Ron or Hermione?"

"Shh!" Dean answered. "You hear that?"

The three of them leaned in closer. They could hear whispering coming from somewhere in the tunnel.

"It sounds like another language," Seamus said. They continued to listen to see if they could make out anything anyway, but then--"It stopped."

"I wanna see what's in there," Dean said and began to stick his foot in.

"Don't be stupid!" Seamus yelled, pushing him out of the way.

"Yeah," Neville added. "My cousin Lou found one at Gran's one day and went in. We never saw her again."

"Well, there's still gotta be a way to find out what's on the other side." Dean got out his wand. "Accio!" A small beam of light fired down the tunnel.

"Dean, you could get whatever's whispering on the other side!" Seamus said. "Who knows what that could be?"

"Hello?" a voice said.

"What's that?" Seamus whispered.

"Hang on. Here it comes." Something flew into Dean's hand. "It's a straw hat."

"You think it can talk, maybe like the Sorting Hat?" Neville asked.

"Don't be thick, Neville. I bet it belongs to someone," Seamus answered.

"Let me see it." Neville looked it over. "Hey, this looks like one my Dad got from--AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Someone had emerged from the time portal and grabbed the hat out of Neville's hand. He was an Oriental man wearing a white robe. When Neville screamed, the man opened his mouth as if to speak.

"Stupefy!" Dean yelled. The stranger immediately passed out. "We're dead."

"And it's all thanks to you, Dean!" Seamus yelled.

"I wasn't expecting to find a person attached to it!" Dean looked down at the unconscious, white-robed man. "And he's probably a Muggle. He looks a lot like something out of a film, like The Karate Kid, or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

"What's a . . . film?" Neville asked.

"It's Muggle entertainment. I'll explain later. I'm not sure if he even speaks English."

Seamus sighed. "Well, we might as we face what we did sooner or later."

"Later has my vote," Neville said.

"I meant now. After all, lunch is about to let out, and the common room's going to be packed. We're lucky that it's so empty now."

"Alright." Dean got out his wand again. "Ennervate."

The white-robed man slowly opened his eyes. The three boys looked at each other nervously. "How are we going to talk to him?" Neville asked.

"Allow me." Dean said slowly in a louder voice than usual, "Do not be alarmed. You are safe. We are friends. See us smiling? We are good. We are friends." He tried his hardest to make hand gestures to help the stranger understand, but they didn't seem to work.

All the same though, the stranger smiled deliriously and repeated, "Friends."

"That's right. I'm Dean." Dean pointed to himself.

"Dean."

"And I'm Neville."

"Neville."

"Er, my name's a little harder. It's Seamus. Shame-us."

"Seamus."

"Very, very good. Now, you are--?" Dean pointed to the stranger.

"Jack."

"What?"

"Samurai Jack."

"Did he just say, 'Jack?'" Neville asked.

"I think so," Dean nodded. "I would have thought it would have been a longer, more complicated name than that, something Oriental you know."

"Well, I like it," Seamus said. "It's short and sweet. It almost sounds English."

"I think it is," Jack answered.

Everyone gaped at him for a while, then they laughed. "See? He does speak English!" Seamus sniggered.

"Yeah, that makes things easier," Neville muttered.

Jack, meanwhile, stood up and looked out the window. "Where am I?"

"Uh, well--" Everyone started to stutter and look around the room as if they expected to see an answer somewhere

"This is England, is it?"

"Yeah, it is!" they answered jubilantly.

"Is Richard the Lionhearted still king?"

They exchanged confused glances. "Uh, no," Neville answered.

"Why? You want to join Robin Hood and his merry men?" Dean laughed.

Jack didn't answer but sighed and hung his head.

"No, no, no, it's ok. We didn't mean to offend you," Seamus consoled.

"It is not you. I'm just still far away from--where is the time portal?"

"So it went to a different time!" Dean said.

"Yeah, that's kinda obvious," Seamus said. "You know, that's a really good question. It was here a moment ago."

"It must have collapsed," Neville answered. "They often do."

Jack was silent for a while. His face was full of disappointment. "You say you are friends?"

"Yeah," Dean nodded.

"Then why did you knock me out?"

"I'm sorry, but we panicked. We didn't expect someone to come through, it was an accident."

Jack scrutinized Dean. "How did you knock me out? I remember a stick, and not a very big one at that."

"Uh, well, the thing about that is . . . "

"Dragon wings," a muffled voice said outside.

"Hang on! Someone's coming!" Seamus said.

"Quick, let's get you to our dorm!" Dean said. "You can hide there."

"Why?"

"Just go!" But it was too late. A young man with red hair wearing a golden badge and a young man with black hair and glasses came in. "Ron! Harry! How's it going?" Dean greeted.

"Fine. Why aren't you heading to class?" the red-haired boy class asked.

"We were just getting our stuff," Seamus answered. Jack noted that he was not making eye contact with the boys.

"Who's that?" the boy with dark hair asked.

"Who, this?" Dean answered nervously. "This is just Jack. You know, Jack?"

"Can't say that we do," the dark-haired boy answered.

"Come on, are you really admitting that you don't know Jack?" Dean laughed.

The young redhead rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and my grades in Potions prove it. Jack who?"

Jack nearly answered, "Samu--"

"Samson!" Neville answered quickly. Jack looked at him uncomfortably. "What?"

"Yeah, it's Jack Samson," Dean nodded.

"So, I guess you're the new student?" the redheaded student asked. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Ron Weasley, Gryffindor prefect."

Jack had no idea what Gryffindor was, but if he remembered his English, "prefect" meant somebody very important indeed. "It is an honor," Jack answered with a bow.

Ron's face went pink, and he pushed Jack up to standing position and shook his hand. "None of that. I'm a Weasley. Nobody bows to me."

"But--"

Dean interrupted him, "Wait, you were expecting him?"

"Kinda. Professor Dumbledore mentioned something about a new student coming a while back. Speaking of Dumbledore, he wants to see you right away."

"Very well."

"Just hang on. Harry and I gotta get our stuff for Potions." Ron and the dark-haired boy ran up the stairs.

"Why did you lie about me?" Jack whispered.

Seamus answered, "Because if they knew we brought a Muggle into the school, we would--"

But before he could finish his sentence, Jack pushed him against the wall and looked him in the eyes. "What did you call me?"

"Relax, Jack," Dean said putting his hand on Jack's shoulder. "It's not an insult. That just means you don't have any magic ability."

"Dean!" Seamus yelled.

"Magic? What about magic?" Jack said.

"If he's going to see Professor Dumbledore, we might as well tell him," Dean whispered with gritted teeth. "You can't do magic, can you?"

"I am a mortal man."

"Well, we call your kind Muggles. We don't mean no harm by it, just a way to distinguish us. Muggles are fine. I'm Muggle-born myself."

"Yeah, and I'm half-Muggle," Seamus added. "Now, will you let me go?"

Jack did, but he was still unsure about this. "Why do you need to distinguish us?"

"Because you're not supposed to know about us."

"I'm aware of magic in the world."

"Consider yourself lucky," Seamus said.

Ron headed back down the stairs holding a small cauldron in his hand. "OK, let's go."

Jack followed him, but then he turned to the dark-haired boy that came in with Ron. He noticed a strange mark on the boy's forehead, a lightning-bolt shaped scar. Could it be? No, surely it was a coincidence, he is so young!

"Oh, that's my friend Harry," Ron answered. "You'll get a formal introduction to him later, we don't have time."

"Hey Jack, you don't have to say it was us who brought you here," Dean called after him.

"Yeah" Neville added. "In fact, why don't you just let it conveniently slip your mind?"

"You could say you got here by accident," Seamus suggested.

"Very well," Jack nodded as he followed Ron.

Ron got a good look at him as they walked out. "You're a little old to be a student, aren't you?"

"I have finished my training long ago."

"Weird. Well, Dumbledore says you belong here, and I'm not going to argue. I hope you're in Gryffindor. I somehow figured he told all the prefects because he didn't know where you would be sorted."

"Pardon me, but what is Gryffindor?"

"That's where you just were. It's my house, one of four in Hogwarts."

"What is this about pigs?"

"No, no, no, Hogwarts. That's the name of this school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Oh."

Ron was rather quiet as he led Jack up the stairs. "I wonder what Double U will be thinking about this."

"Who is W?"

"No, not W, like the letter. Double U, like U and U."

"Who?"

"It stands for Umbridge and Undertaker." Ron lowered his voice. "Otherwise known as Death and Doom, but you didn't hear it from me."

"Why are they this notorious?"

"Well, they were both put here by the Ministry of Magic. Professor Umbridge is our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and she's making everything hard on everybody. Governor Undertaker was first controversially placed as a new school governor, and he was recently made Hogwarts High Inquisitor. He and Umbridge have been closely monitoring both the students and the teachers, making sure everyone follow their rules and their standards. They're not going to be really happy that a student as old as you appeared out of nowhere."

"I can handle them."

"Of course," Ron sniggered, "you may not have a problem. Death and Doom work together, but I don't think they could stand each other. Undertaker continues to say he's doing everything to protect us from You-Know-Who, while Umbridge doesn't even believe he's--"

"I'm sorry," Jack said. "I don't know who."

Ron stopped. "You don't?"

Jack shook his head.

"Don't make me talk about him, please. He's the evilest wizard of them all! We wizards are scared to say his name."

Jack understood. "Do you mean the Master of Masters?"

"Oh yeah, his followers call him that."

"The Deliverer of Darkness?"

"Definitely."

"The Shogun of Sorrow?"

"Uh, I'm not sure what a shogun is, but it sounds about right."

"Do not be afraid, my friend. I have the key to his destruction."

Ron looked at him funny. "All right, power to you. Well, this is Dumbledore's office. He should be waiting for you. I gotta get to class. Fizzing Whizbee!"

The large, stone gargoyle before them jumped aside, revealing a moving, spiral staircase. "What sorcery is this?" Jack said to himself as he stood on the staircase. It moved him up to a pair of large doors with griffin-shaped knockers. He knocked them solemnly, and the door opened by itself.

The office was a wonder. Dozens of curious instruments were everywhere, a bird Jack was sure was a phoenix was perched behind the desk. Sitting at that desk was an old wizard with a long, silver beard and half-moon glasses. "Ah, there you are! I was wondering when you would get here."

"Are you Dumbledore?"

"Yes, Jack, I am."

"How do you know me?"

"I know many things. Have a seat."

Jack sat down. "I came to this place by accident, and I understand that I am not supposed to be here. I hope I have not disgraced these walls by being a mortal."

Dumbledore laughed. "Not at all. You see this was no accident. I confess I intervened so that you could come here."

"Why?"

"I am aware of your legend, past and future. We are going through dark times in this school. Few understand that magic won't make all these problems go away. We have abilities you do not, but there is something you can do that no one else in this school can."

Jack was about to ask what that could be, but he thought about what Ron had told him and understood. "You need me to truly protect you from A--I mean, the One Who You Fear."

"Oh, I'm not as afraid of him as I am of our new faculty."

"Undertaker and Umbridge?"

"So, you have been told. Very good. I am most concerned about Undertaker. It is unprecedented that the Ministry would appoint a governor as it has done. Everyone's under his spell because of all the promises he made. I may be the only one who doubts him. He says things like, 'I will make sure your fear will be no more than a memory. It will be the least of your worries.' I fear that he doing exactly the opposite, that he is leading the students and teachers both into the tyrant's hands, or he has something much worse planned that even I can't imagine. I have done all I could to question and stop him, but he is so evasive. I need you to protect my students from him and whatever he has planned."

"Dumbledore, the best way to stop him is to see that he never existed. If you are truly a powerful wizard, please send me back home so that I can undo the future the One Who You Fear has caused."

"I know. Time is a very delicate magic, though. It was hard enough even for me to get you here. But I promise I am working on it, and I will do all in my power to see you home. All I need is for you to agree to help us."

"Very well, I shall."

"Excellent. Now, it may help if you observe some of our best classes to understand this situation. So, I'm going to place you in Gryffindor. I don't think I need a Sorting Hat to tell me that is what would be best for you. Here are some robes for you. You can wear them over your gi. I'll work up a tertiary schedule for you. Don't explain to the students why you're here. I'll tell the teachers I select what we are doing."

"Alright."

"Good luck, Jack. Oh, and the password to Gryffindor is 'dragon wings!'"

Jack tucked the Gryffindor robes under his arm and walked out. Dumbledore secretly smiled and looked down at the papers sent by Antaeus Undertaker. Dumbledore didn't like being deceptive, but he felt like in this situation that it had to be done. He never avoided Voldemort's name, but he knew what was on the young samurai's mind.

It looks as though he fell for it.