15 Dumbledore's Query

During Oz's strange sleep, all the teachers had gathered for a meeting to discuss how the first years had fit into Hogwarts.

"Good, now that everyone's here what's the verdict on this year of students".

The man who began this conversation was none other than Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster. After he poised this question, the other teachers all took a moment to think before responding.

"This years students have done exceptionally well fitting in, there's been hardly any issues and they all seem to be keen to learn".

The first to respond was Professor Flitwick, the charms teacher and head of Ravenclaw house. He sat at the table with his head only just reaching above it.

"Besides one odd and unsavoury individual in my house, there's no issues, the students again this year all fail to meet my standards in my class... well except for that odd one".

The next to respond was Severus Snape, the potions master and teacher, also head of the Slytherin house. After Snape's input Dumbledore interjected.

"I suppose your talking about that one student? Oz was it? He's certainly an interesting one. Even I can't read him at times. Sometimes it almost seems like his core is masked, but for an 11 year old wizard to do that is highly unlikely. I must be getting senile in my old age haha".

To the rest of the teachers, it seemed that Dumbledore had been paying more attention to Oz than what he was putting on. The teachers brooded on Dumbledore's comment for a while before Mcgonagall replied.

"After that small incident at the beginning of the year, it seems he's been ostracized from his year quite a bit. Him being silent, sleeping and not trying to make friends doesn't help himself either. When I met him to take him to Diagon Alley he seemed extremely confident and outgoing, but I guess the reveal of him being in Slytherin must have sobered his confidence quite a bit. From what I could tell he seemed to think he'd be in Ravenclaw due to his drive for knowledge...".

Mcgonagall then let out a soft sigh. The boy was a curious subject, his placement within Slytherin still confused the teachers considering the fact that the boy came from an orphanage with no known magical familial connections.

"By the way Albus and Severus, did you ever figure out the boys lineage after initially looking into it? Surely for him to be put into Slytherin it must mean he's connected to some wizard that had been in the house before".

Dumbledore and Snape then looked at each other heaving a sigh, Dumbledore then turned to Mcgonagall shaking his head.

"That boy is honestly an enigma, it's like he suddenly appeared at that orphanage one day and everyone just accepted it. Any information about him from before that time is basically non-existent".

Hagrid who was sat in the corner of the room then chimed in with his own idea.

"Have you tried asking the goblins? surely they must know his lineage and where he's from?".

Snape gave a disdainful snort at Hagrid's suggestion.

"Of course we've tried that you fool. The goblins cant do an inheritance test without blood and we cant exactly attack the boy for his blood just cause we are curious as to where he came from".

Mcgonagall gave a cool smile at Snape's comment.

"My my Severus I think its the first time I've heard you defend a student so voraciously, has the boy grown on you or something?".

Snape glared daggers at Mcgonagall after her comment.

"The only thing growing is my annoyance! I'll give that boy tons of homework and he'll have it finished within a day! he writes even the smallest details so it takes a longer time to mark than the rest of the students. If he continues to toy with me like this I swear ill...."

Dumbledore then stops Snape before he can go off on a rant about the boy.

"I need to ask you all something important now... Do any of you think the boy could be potentially dangerous? The boys origins are unknown so there's no telling who are where he came from. In addition he's a smart boy judging from the work he submits so its hard to read what his motives are... Considering how he's been left alone by the rest of his house, im worried at the prospect of him turning bad... maybe we should keep an eye on him more closely?".

The room fell into silence at Dumbledore's comment. Surprisingly the first person to respond was Snape.

"Thats a foolish notion Dumbledore. Although the boy is insufferable, he hasn't done anything to make him suspicious. He simply goes to lessons, does the work then leaves immediately back to his dorms. Yes he's alone but he doesn't seem to mind it, as a matter of fact he sits in class with a grin on his face as he's learning... His grin especially grows bright when he gives me pages and pages of homework to mark...".

After Snape's comment Dumbledore relaxed a bit in his chair, he strokes his beard looking up at the ceiling of the room.

"I'm not trying to pin the boy for no reason, its just with Harry coming next year I want this place to be nice and welcoming for him. Having another potential dark lord in the making here at the same time as Harry would not be ideal".

Pomona Sprout, professor of herbology and head of Hufflepuff let out a little chuckle after Dumbledore's comment.

"I say Albus for a boy you haven't seen since a baby you do care about him an awful lot. Oz in my lessons has always been a quiet but smart boy getting the work done quicker than anyone else, I don't think you have anything to worry about".

Albus felt relieved at his colleagues answers to his query, feeling a weight had been lifted after the last few months of worry.

'Looks like there's no need then for me to keep monitoring him'.

After the talk about Oz, the teachers then proceeded to discuss some more topics before eventually splitting off to get ready for the day ahead.

.

Oz woke up after the strange dream and looked immediately at his fireplace, feeling a sense of foreboding staring at it.

'Todays lessons start soon but... I feel I need to know what's down there right now. I can always feign illness or something if anyone asks where I was'.

Oz's curiosity was overwhelming his senses and he felt like he wouldn't calm down until he had seen what was behind that door he had seen in his dream, even it meant jeopardizing his attempts at being a good model student.

'The dark magic coming from that door... I need to be careful. The magic itself doesn't feel violent though, it feels like its actually inviting me down there. After my wake up call at the beginning of the year though, it'd be prudent of me to expect the unexpected and be fully prepared for this venture'.

Oz then grabbed his wands, putting them in the wand holsters under his sleeves. After getting a few supplies together just in case of an emergency, Oz turns back towards the fireplace again.

'Strange how such a place hasn't been discovered or at least doesn't seem like its ever been discovered in a long time. I wonder if there was a strong ward on it or something that only allowed it to appear when I appeared here in this room. The question then is though, why me?'

Oz casted aside all of his stray thoughts and questions heading towards the fireplace. As he placed his hand on the floor of the fireplace, he felt his blood suddenly being sucked out of him. The sudden feeling of blood loss made him jump back and instantly after his recoiling, the fireplace that had sucked some of his blood gave off a pale green light. When the pale green light finally finished glowing and registering Oz's blood, he was presented with a hatch in the floor.

'Well there's no turning back now'.