An Eccentric Child
1991, London, England.
True to its name as the fog capital, the entire city was blanketed in mist, and the gray sky offered no real sunlight.
Professor Filius Flitwick stood before a house, checking the Parchment address in his hand.
As the Charms professor and Head of Ravenclaw House at Hogwarts, guiding Muggle-born young witches and wizards into the wizarding world was his annual routine task—a chore that was sometimes delightful and sometimes a headache.
Will Behrens, Professor Flitwick silently recited the name and knocked on the front door.
No one answered.
He knocked three times more, still no movement.
Flitwick frowned, only to hear the door lock emit a soft click—the door swung open by itself.
There was no one behind the door.
"Please come in," a flat, youthful voice came from deep within the house.
Flitwick stepped across the threshold. It was a small but exceptionally tidy house, the furniture slightly aged yet spotless, and the living room walls hung with several photo frames containing a woman with delicate features and a boy whose expression was somewhat aloof and even blank.
On the coffee table in the center of the living room, a thick, leather-bound book lay open, beside which sat a stack of a dozen or so books that had clearly been read repeatedly.
His gaze swept across the spines—Herbology Analysis, Potions Pharmacology: An Introduction, Principles of Transfiguration—and Professor Flitwick's eyebrows climbed higher and higher.
This was prime Ravenclaw material right here!
"Hello," that voice came from the direction of the Kitchens.
Professor Flitwick followed the sound and saw the owner of the voice: a thin boy with a sickly pale complexion and neatly trimmed black hair, standing by the stove and turning to face him.
"I'm sorry, I'm cooking and can't spare a hand, you'll have to wait a moment."
The boy's pupils were rare, presenting an overall silver-gray, appearing cold and devoid of warmth.
Yet whatever he was cooking smelled wonderful. Professor Flitwick caught the scent and felt his appetite genuinely stirred—he hadn't eaten lunch yet, after all.
Ah, truly Hufflepuff material as well—watching Will working methodically inside the Kitchens, a thought popped into Professor Flitwick's mind.
"Mr. Behrens?" Flitwick asked aloud.
"It's me." The boy turned, wiped his hands with a cloth, and looked as calm as anything, unlike a child from a Muggle family. "Please take a seat, Professor. The food and tea will be ready shortly."
Professor Flitwick sat down by the table, his mind racing.
The file stated that this child was Muggle-born, but the scene before him looked nothing like a family "completely ignorant of magic"—those books clearly came from the wizarding world, and some were even advanced material.
Professor Flitwick frowned—there was a problem here. Could this child have been in contact with rogue wizards?
A few minutes later, Will emerged from the Kitchens carrying two plates.
"Child," Flitwick weighed his phrasing, "do you have any relatives who are wizards?"
"Er, as far as I know, none of my family members should be wizards." Will placed the plates before Professor Flitwick. "Please enjoy, Professor."
Professor Flitwick glanced down; on the plate was steaming spaghetti, expertly presented.
He didn't notice the subtle expression on Will's face—Will wasn't lying, but he had concealed part of the truth. Although his mother wasn't a witch, he had found an old Wand in the house, and moreover, he had never seen his father, so the matter of his father didn't fall under what he knew.
Not knowing what to say, Professor Flitwick took a bite of the spaghetti. "It tastes wonderful. I can hardly believe a child made this."
"Thank you, Professor." Will headed back toward the Kitchens. "I started cooking very early on."
Professor Flitwick felt a twinge of sympathy and changed the subject. "So, where did you get these books...?"
Will set a cup of Black Tea before Flitwick and sat down across from him.
"Bought them," Will said. "In Diagon Alley."
Flitwick nearly spat out the tea he had just swallowed.
"Diagon Alley?!" His voice pitched up an octave. "How did you—"
"I found my way there myself. Well, through the Leaky Cauldron."
Professor Flitwick opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for where to begin lecturing this child.
A Muggle-born young wizard, with no guidance whatsoever, had not only found the Leaky Cauldron, but sneaked into Diagon Alley, and even stumbled into Knockturn Alley—this already crossed into the territory of recklessness.
Professor Flitwick felt this child might very well end up in Gryffindor.
"How did you come into contact with the wizarding world?" Flitwick forced himself to calm down.
Will took a sip of tea. "Two and a half years ago, when my mother was still alive."
He said, "She was an alcoholic and sometimes locked me in the storage closet. One time I cried too hard inside, and the light bulb burst—all the light bulbs, even the house's circuit breaker tripped."
Flitwick's expression froze.
"After that, I felt many things were different," Will continued. "Whenever I got angry or sad, things always happened. Then one day, I saw a pub on the streets of London that other people seemed blind to."
"The Leaky Cauldron?" Flitwick asked.
"The Leaky Cauldron." Will nodded. "I walked in, discovered all sorts of strange people, spent some time observing, listened to them talk, and figured out that magic existed."
Professor Flitwick fell silent for a long time.
He had taught at Hogwarts for decades, seeing all kinds of young wizards—reckless hotheads who always jumped the gun, super-genius prodigies, mischievous pranksters. He thought he would no longer be surprised by any young wizard.
But he had never seen an eleven-year-old Muggle-born child find the Wizarding World all by himself like this.
Professor Flitwick remained silent for a long time, recalling what Will had just said, and asked tentatively, "Your mother..."
"She died two years ago," Will said. "A mental haze caused by alcoholism, ran a red light."
The tone he used when saying this was very flat, but Flitwick felt a pang in his heart. In his view, Will must have suffered from excessive grief, resulting in some kind of emotional shutdown.
Professor Flitwick cleared his throat, deciding to temporarily bypass this heavy topic; these matters required a long-term— "Well, regarding admission—we need to go to Diagon Alley to buy the items you need, the Wand, school robes, cauldron, textbooks..."
"I've bought the Wand," Will said.
Flitwick's eyebrows raised once more.
Will fished out a dark brown Wand and handed it to Flitwick. "Acacia wood, Phoenix feather, twelve and a quarter inches long. I bought it from Mr. Ollivander."
"Ollivander sold you a Wand?" Flitwick asked in disbelief, "Without a Hogwarts professor accompanying you?"
"He said I was 'one of the most interesting customers' he had ever seen," Will said.
Professor Flitwick looked at the thin boy before him, a storm of emotions churning in his heart. He had originally thought today's work would be just like previous years, explaining the existence of owls and broomsticks to a family completely ignorant of magic; he would only need to follow the procedure to bring this child into the Wizarding World.
As a result, Will had completely disrupted his plans now.
"Then," Flitwick said, "what about the textbooks and school robes?"
"I've bought them all," Will said. "The textbooks are brand new, bought at Flourish and Blotts. The school robes were ordered from Madam Malkin, picked up last week."
"...A cauldron? Scales? Telescope?"
"They're all here."
Professor Flitwick found that his job as a guiding professor had already been entirely completed by this child himself.
"Well, child," he finally sighed, "it seems there isn't much you need me to do."
Will glanced at him, and something seemed to flicker slightly in his silver-gray pupils.
"There is one thing," he said.
"What is it?"
"Professor, actually I have a lot of questions about Charms. Why do the books only mention the wand movements and pronunciation? I want to know what their basic logic is, and what the core of the movements and pronunciation is."
For the first time in so many years, Professor Flitwick lectured unceasingly for an entire afternoon to an un-enrolled young wizard outside of school.
Will studied very seriously, and seemed to become happier the more he learned. Professor Flitwick was astonished at Will's reaction; after all, he did not know what Will was gaining.
[You have acquired new knowledge of Charms, Charms experience +1]
[You have acquired new knowledge of Charms, Charms experience +1]
[You have acquired new knowledge of Charms, Charms experience +1]
"Child, when I first started, I thought you would go to Gryffindor, thought you would go to Ravenclaw, and also considered Hufflepuff, but I am certain now that you will go to Ravenclaw." Professor Flitwick felt this child's thirst for knowledge was outrageously strong, and his thinking was agile with broad interests.
Will had almost completely memorized those basic theories of Charms classes; not just for the first year, but even the second-year content had been mastered quite proficiently by him, and he was also commendable in practical operation.
Flitwick felt that this child's magical talent also belonged to the top tier; at least he himself had not reached Will's level at this age.
At the same time, he was also glad that the child had not come into contact with Dark Magic now.
Children with such a thirst for knowledge all came from Ravenclaw in his memory, and the vast majority of them became outstanding wizards in the future.
He could tell that Will was the same, and he would definitely accomplish great things.
Although he could tell that Will still had some questions he wanted to ask him, he had to leave now. As the Head of Ravenclaw, he was actually quite busy: "Child, when you get to Hogwarts, you can come to me with questions at any time, and I will do my best to help you."
"Alright, Professor Flitwick, see you at term-time then." Will was obviously a bit reluctant to part; after all, the experience growth was real and tangible.
Flitwick felt a bit of heartache. Such a young child living alone really was somewhat unacceptable, and longing to communicate with others was normal; however, Flitwick knew that he could not take care of this child for a lifetime. Once Will arrived at Hogwarts, he would take special care of him.
Flitwick secretly decided that no matter which house the child went to, he had to make other professors care about him, and most importantly, he must not let him go astray.
[Note: Half-blood wizard, ancestors are German wizards]