Echo was placed in the back of a carriage with Dumbledore, which seemed to move all on its own. Once they were far out of town, the vehicle suddenly jerked and flew up into the air without warning. But Echo wasn't concerned with that. Instead, he was trying his best to hide the existentialism on his face and failing to do so. It took him a little while, but he finally realized where he was! It had been such a long time that the mere thought of it danced at the recesses of his mind like an old memory, but once he dusted them off, it became so much clearer and more terrifying! He hadn't just been sent to another point in history, but also to another universe altogether! More specifically, the universe is residing in the Harry Potter book series!
Now, if he has been a super fan of the movies and other offshoots, he'd be ecstatic! But he wasn't a super fan; he wasn't even a fan. Not only did the books his friends used to rave about never interest him when he was younger, but he also got scared off from any recollection of the series when he witnessed a scene in one of the movies where a guy turned into a werewolf and tried to kill someone! Still freaks him out to this day.
Worst of all, he didn't know diddly squat about any of it! The only thing he knew was the main character, who used magic in a magic school with an old guy who looked like what people assume Merlin looked like. And that very same old Merlin lookalike was sitting right across from him.
"Echo, are you alright? You look… pale," Dumbledore asked, looking quite worried about his expression.
"Yeah, I'm good. Just…thinking." Echo replied quickly in a small voice and a small, rapid head nod.
He wanted to press further, but decided against it as he let the boy sit and think in silence. After a long, silent, and very awkward ride between them, they finally landed in Hogwarts. Echo shook himself out of his stupor and hopped out of the carriage, suddenly overwhelmed by the sight of the extraordinary Hogwarts. It was a true medieval castle surrounded by most, and by most, it was really on a plateau in the center of the largest lake he had ever seen! Honestly, it was too much for him to take in at once!
Dumbledore stepped out of the carriage and took a deep breath, taking in the sight of his school. He turned around, ready to see Echo's enamored expression, but what he got instead was a look of pure horror and discomfort. It was like looking at someone who could tell that the place was haunted or something.
Trying to put on a cheerier tune for him, Dumbledore coughed to get his attention and said, "Welcome to one of the greatest Wizarding schools in the world, Echo, Hogwarts! Here you will be taught how to hone the very essence of your magic and become a truly great Wizard."
Echo just grunted in response, his eyes still not pulled away from the enormous enormity of the castle before him.
Dumbledore tried to change tactics and pointed out several landmarks. "Over there is the Forbidden Forest, as the name implies. No students should go in there unattended." Echo finally broke his eyes away from Hogwarts and grew even paler at hearing this. "And right near to us is the Black Lake, home of the Mermaids and Giant Squid."
Echo wobbled on his legs at the "Giant Squid" part, moved over to the nearest bush, and promptly emptied his whole stomach into it! Dumbledore quickly moved over to him and began to strike his back. Once Echo calmed down a bit, he looked back at the old wizard and voiced his displeasure.
"Are you trying to make me want to live on the streets? Because you're succeeding," he told him, tears in his eyes.
"I never thought you'd take it all like this? I assumed you'd be excited or at least feel neutral about it.", Dumbledore told him, looking concerned and confused.
Echo shot up and turned to the old man, exclaiming angrily, "Excited! Who in the world would take any of this with excitement? Let alone with a grain of salt! I turn a rod into a snake that bit a guy and turn him into a bouncy ball! I just found out I'm a witch!"
"Wizard, unless that's how you feel?", Dumbledore corrected him before gingerly asking.
"Who cares!", Echo shouted back. Taken aback by this, Dumbledore stood there and waited for him to vent. "No one should take any knowledge of this any other way!", Echo exclaimed while waving his arms about.
Dumbledore put his hands up defensively and told him, "Alright, alright. Perhaps you're correct. Let's take a moment to breathe and try to take it all in."
Echo wobbled into a stone bench nearby, head hung low, as Dumbledore sat beside and patted his back. After a moment, each breathed and said, "It's gonna take more than a breather to take in everything I know."
After a few minutes of silence, allowing Echo to absorb all that had been given, Dumbledore kindly asked him, "Better?"
Echo sighed, brought up his head, face still a bit pale, and replied, "No. But at least I don't feel like digging myself a hole to crawl into."
"That's the spirit!", Dumbledore exclaimed in a hipper tone while playfully slapping his back, almost making Echo puke a second time. Then he jumped up and told him while moving into the huge building doors, "Now then, let's make our way inside. I have a meeting that was supposed to be about half an hour ago."
Echo followed behind him, still unsure and unsteady on his feet.
Meanwhile, in the Meeting Room
Around a large table in one of Hogwarts' many restricted sections, a vast ensemble of people sat around and chatted with one another as they impatiently awaited their final member to show up. They had been told about the meeting days in advance and even reminded of the facility hours prior. Why anyone was late was beyond them….but then again, they knew this person and knew what he might do.
And wouldn't ya know it, the very topic of discussion came right through the door in a hurry. Without looking up from the parchment she was writing on, an older witch told him in a firm tone, "Albus, you're late."
"Forgive me, Minerva. I had an unexpected distraction while I was in town." Dumbledore apologizes while smoothing out his robes.
"What kind of distraction?" Minerva asks while looking up from her writings, only to see a young boy wearing shabby-looking clothes next to him. Taking on a more annoyed expression, Minerva said in an irritated yet neutral tone, "Albus."
"I didn't steal this one, Minerva….this time." Dumblordor tries to put her mind at ease, only to get even more silent, and is thrown at him. "Besides, I had to take him before the Ministry did.", he followed up while placing a hand on his small shoulder.
Minerva raised an eyebrow and asked suspiciously, "What did he do?"
Echo rubbed his shoulder while booking down, and vaguely explained, "It was….an accident."
Minerva sighs at the 'explanation' and replies, "Well, I'll take your word for it, Mr–?" She trails off, not getting his name.
"Echo," he replies.
"Echo what?" she insinuates while taking note of his name, already knowing Dumblord's intention.
"Just, Echo?" he replied.
She looks up from her paper and asks, "Do you not have parents?"
Echo looked down, thinking back to his past. Remembering how he got sick, and his parents didn't even give him the time until he couldn't move. From there, he was placed in a hospital by them, only to avoid any legalities, and left to rot….and die.
He grabbed his arm and looked at the ground with a sour expression, saying, "Never had."
"At least this one is an orphan, Albus. And I suppose having him here would be better than letting him wander the streets with no idea how to use his magic," Minerva finally conceded, making Dumbledore smile with glee.
He follows up by proclaiming, "All in agreement in letting young Echo attend Hogwarts?"
All the teachers looked at one another, murmured a bit, and then voiced their agreement.
Even though he didn't want to, Dumbledore followed the rules and asked, "Are you all in denial?"
"I," one voice spoke out in disagreement.
All heads turn to a well-dressed man in a suit, who has a very displeased expression as he casually glances at Echo.
"You, Professor Clank?", Dumbledore asked the man.
Professor Cleen nods his head and replies, "I am. Professor Dumbledore, do you not remember what happened the last time you brought a stray to Hogwarts?"
"Professor Cleen, you can't determine Dumbledore's track record based on one incident," Minerva strictly yet calmly told the man.
"Not even when the incident turned into the Dark Lord Voldemort?" Cleen inquires.
"Professor Cleen! We do not speak his name!" a small, sharp-mustached man yelled in a harsh tone while slamming his hands on the desk.
As all the teachers began to converse about the subject at hand, Echo looked around, confused, and inquired, "Whose Moldy Butt?" Everyone stopped talking, looked at the young boy, and promptly began to lose their minds with laughter! Even more confused by this and a bit irritated, Echo demands, "Seriously, who is that?"
Dumbledore wipes a tear from his eye and tells him with a proud pat on his back, "I'll explain later. For now, Professor Cleen, you're outranked in this decision."
After coughing down his laughter, Cleen replied, disgruntled, "Fine, but I'll be watching him." He pointed a finger at Echo, who narrowed his eyes in response.
Placing a hand on his shoulder and motioning to the other adults with the other, Dumbledore tells him, "Echo, I'd like you to meet your Professors, hopefully, for the rest of your school life."
First was McGonagall, the Transmutation and Apparition professor. Then there was Cleen, the Defensive Against the Dark Arts and Potions professor. Next came Astronomy with Professor Starlit. Divination and Xylomancy with Professor Starlit's twin Sister. Charms with Professor Flitwick, Muggle Studies with Professor Clank, History of Magic and Study of Ancient Runes and Magical Theory with Professor Binns, Herbology with Professor Bloom, Broom Flying with Professor Hooch, Arithmancy with Professor Longbottom, Care of Magical Creatures with Professor Haggrid, Art with Professor Weasley, and finally Ghoul Studies with Professor Hallow.
Echo had no idea what to say to all these new people who would essentially be his superiors. So he said the first thing that came to mind: "Um…..sup."
"Sup?" Minerva repeated.
"You're not from around here, are you, lad?" Hagrid said.
"From the accent alone, I can tell he's American," Flitwick said to another.
"Wow. I'm still here," Echo irritatedly told them.
Minerva told him, "We'll be sure to teach you the proper etiquette while you attend Hogwarts and live in the United Nations."
Still unable to speak in this situation, he pulled from his shallow knowledge of other countries and said the first thing that reminded him of Britain was, "Uh…..fish and chips and Queen Victoria?"
"Americans," Cleen groaned.
Later at Hogsmeade
After the meeting that Echo didn't take part in, he was escorted with Dumbledore off the school grounds and into a small but cozy town known as Hogsmead. Echo said nothing to the old wizard as they rode in silence, still trying to process everything he knew in just an hour.
Finally, they came to the town, and Echo watched as people moved aside for them or even bowed. Echo knew it wasn't for him, so he guessed that Dumbledore was a pretty big deal. Eventually, they made it to a busy-looking shop that had a hanging sign that read "Diagon Alley".
Echo looked up at the old man and asked, "Um….Dumbledore?"
"Headmaster Dumbledore or Professor Dumbledore," he corrected him.
Restraining himself from rolling his eyes, he continues, "Right, uh, what is this place?"
"This is Hogsmead," Dumbledore answers vaguely.
Eccho narrows his eyes around the area and asks, "Does every place around here have the word 'hog' in it?"
"Everything here was all due in part to the creation of Hogwarts," he explains.
"That's fair. But why are we here?" Echo points to the shop.
"To get you your school supplies and a wand," Dumbledore tells him.
Echo raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Wand? Like….fairies?"
"No, no, like this," Dumbledore corrected him while taking out his Wand and letting the boy hold it.
"So that's what it is," Echo said, mesmerized by the stick.
"With a wand in hand, witches and wizards can focus their magic and cast an array of advanced spells," Dumbledore explained further.
Echo gave him the Wand back and asked, while pointing at the shop, "Okay, I understand that, but what supplies would be needed for a magic school?"
"A uniform will be presented for you before the Sorting Ceremony, and there are plenty of hand-me-down books for you to use. But apart from that, you'll need a cauldron, a telescope, a brass scale, a set of glass vials, and your choice of an Owl, Cat, or Toad," Dumbledore explained in order.
Echo looked at him weirdly at the last item and asked, "Is that supposed to be an acronym?"
Once inside and after grabbing all the necessary items, he was taken to another part of the shop, which had lines of cages filling every available space. In each cage was a different animal, one that Dumblordeore had told him about earlier.
Echo blinked dumbly at this sight and said, "Oh….you were serious….what is this for?" he asked while pointing at the many animals.
"Companionship or a test subject," Dumbledore told him.
Echo shook his head and told him, "I've never taken care of another living thing in my life, and what do you mean by test subject?"
"For your potions and spells. One misplaced syllable or a bit too much of anything in a cauldron could mean the difference between poison and blowing up," Dumbledore listed off and explained.
"I guess that makes sense. We do use animals when testing products and researching diseases. If I'm going to be a magic scientist, I might as well have a Geauinpig," Echo shrugged in agreement.
A little while later, after Dumbledore finished making small talk with the shopkeeper, the two of them came out with Dumbledore holding all of his supplies in a magic spell that allowed it to float right beside them before loading all of it onto the carriage. Echo came out behind him with a small cage containing a….Geauinpig, a dumbfounded expression on his face.
Once they reached the magic vehicle, only then did Echo finally speak up and say, "You know, when I said Geauinpig, I didn't mean the actual animal. I would've been fine with a rat. You know it's just a saying?", he asked, hoping the old wizard wasn't just losing it.
"Yes, but the owner doesn't.", Dumbledore explained, making Echo's face falter. The old wizard then took the cage and placed it on the back to be strapped in and told him, "Well, let's stop by Ollivanders and get you that wand."