Title: Certain Magic
Author: Watoshimi Kairou
Fandom: Harry Potter, Labyrinth
Characters: Jareth / Sarah Williams, Toby Williams, Hermione Granger, Severus Snape
Rating: Mature
Status: Incomplete
Summary: Toby Williams is attending Hogwarts and he's about to bring with him fairy tales even the Wizarding World didn't think existed.

Because let's be honest here, if Sarah was thrust into the Harry Potter world, she'll take it over. And I want to see it happen.

Certain Magic
[1] New Doors

Albus Dumbledore has been the headmaster of Hogwarts for many, many years and have had the duty of informing non-magical parents about their very magical children for even more. But never, in all his years had he ever met someone who took in the news as calmly as Sarah Williams was currently doing. Except for Miss Granger but Miss Granger was an entire different monster altogether (he had a feeling she was the only muggleborn child who actually had expected his appearance).

"I'm a wizard," Tobias Williams repeated for the fourth time since Albus' announcement.

To his right, Mr. And Mrs. Williams were both sitting in a state of shock, unable to fully comprehend the situation despite having more than an hour to do so. This was fine; this was expected. It usually takes a couple hours, sometimes, even days before muggles can fully understand and believe that their child had magical abilities. What wasn't normal, however, was Sarah William's reaction, or more specifically, the lack thereof.

The young woman in question was currently looking over the paperwork that he had brought over with a familiar disinterest he usually witnessed only in wizarding parents. He took the moment to simply observe her rather abnormal behavior, watching the way her brows furrow in concentration as she read over the list of school supplies.

"Oh look, Toby," she said. "You can bring a pet."

"Really?" the young boy squealed, leaning over to read the list. His eyes lit up immediately, "An owl! I want an owl! Oh, may I have an owl? Oh please, Sarah! Please?"

She laughed softly and flashed a smile in Toby's direction. "You'll have to ask dad and Irene once they recover," she said, glancing up at her parents. Her tone was amused and Albus had to prevent himself from expressing his surprise. If he didn't know better, he would have suspected that Miss Williams already knew of the existence of magic and this was simply a review for her. Perhaps she was acquainted with a witch or wizard? "So, about these school supplies," Sarah said, turning towards him. "Where would we get them?"

"Ah," Albus murmured softly, recovering from his own confusion. For a moment, he felt as if the tables were turned; her being a witch and him being the muggle parent being told the existence of magic for the first time. "Of course. Everything you may wish to purchase, including all school supplies can be found in Diagon Alley. My deputy headmistress, Professor Minerva McGonagall will guide you through your first time. We'll just need to set up a time to meet before term starts."

Sarah looked over the letter again. "Would this Saturday be good?" she asked. "Dad and Irene both have days off."

"But Sarah," Toby interrupted. "You'll come too, right?"

"Of course, Toby." She sent him a mock scowl. "I did take the entire summer off for you if you recall."

"This Saturday is fine," Albus said with a careful nod. It felt strange making decisions with an elder sister, no matter how good of a guardian she was when her parents were sitting right there. "Expect Professor McGonagall around noon?"

She smiled. "That's fine."

Albus glanced at her parents, glad to see that they were looking less shocked and slightly more confused. However, it appeared that they had no problem having their daughter handle everything. Not that Albus could blame them of course, since Sarah Williams was doing a fine job handling everything on her own.

"What about the currency?" Sarah asked.

He blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Currency," she repeated. "Unless your world uses pounds too."

"Ah, you're quite right." He smiled, "We have three different coins: knuts, sickles, and galleons. I am unsure of the exact exchange rate right now but there are about five British pounds in a galleon. Professor McGonagall can go into more detail this weekend. Most helpful in case you wish to open up an account at our Gringotts Wizarding Bank for young Mr. Williams."

She nodded and opened her mouth to say something, only to pause. Her gaze flickered to a spot on the ground next to his chair as if distracted. He followed her gaze but did not see anything out of the ordinary. Clearing his throat, Albus said, "Miss Williams?"

Flinching slightly, Sarah snapped her attention back to the aged wizard and forced a smile. "Is there something else we should know before we allow Toby to attend your school?" she asked, her tone carefully polite.

Toby looked horrified at the possibilities of Sarah not wanting him to attend a magical school. "Sarah!" he protested.

"Hush, Toby," she chided softly, patting him on his knee in a comforting manner.

Albus watched, unsure what he was supposed to think when Toby pouted but leaned back against his chair, lips pressed together tightly to keep himself from talking. His parents remained silent, taking their time to review the papers Sarah had already looked at. Albus wondered at their odd family dynamic.

"What exactly do you mean, Miss Williams?" Albus asked, feeling a tingle in the back of his spine. There was something about this woman... "Do you have a more specific question in mind?"

Sarah narrowed her eyes and Dumbledore had a feeling that his gentle, grandfatherly demeanor would not work to his advantage. She leaned back, form stiffening and straightening as she did so. Her green eyes darkened and the small, gentle smile that played across her lips disappeared in a flash. Albus had suspected before but he had a feeling that Sarah Williams was more than a little protective over her younger brother. Older siblings usually are, he knew, but there was something about her protectiveness that sent the small, fine hair at the back of his neck standing up.

"Professor Dumbledore," she said slowly, her tone clipped and cold. "My family and I are at a disadvantage as we are completely unfamiliar with your world. For all we know, we could be sending Toby to a world on the brink of war. You might as well just tell me to sign him up for his execution."

Albus flinched visibly; he had expected something, of course, but he hadn't expected her to hit it spot on. "Well," he began slowly, wondering how he should go about answering the question. "You are right, we are at the brink of war. However—"

"War?" Robert sputtered. "You're at war and you expect me to send my son to your school?"

Albus raised a wrinkled hand. "I assure you," he said firmly, eyeing Mr. Williams with calm eyes. "Hogwarts and its staff is more than capable of protecting the students within castle itself has hundreds of years of protective barriers and charms. In fact, Hogwarts is considered to be the safest place in the wizarding world right now; many parents send their children to Howarts just to keep them safe."

Irene narrowed her eyes. "But not safer than our world, right?"

Albus hid a smile. Despite having been shocked into silence for a little more than an hour since his appearance; the two parents obviously took the safety of their child extremely seriously. "If you were a wizard family living in a muggle—non-magical—world, then yes, I would recommend you to keep young Mr. Williams here. However, because you are muggles, I strongly urge you to allow him to attend Hogwarts. There may have been hints of it before but once Mr. Williams turns eleven, his magic will began presenting itself more and more with or without proper training and guidance." He turned his gaze towards Miss Williams who was staring at her favorite spot on the ground once again.

As if sensing his stare, she looked up, a slight frown tugging her lips. "So, you're telling me that Hogwarts had never been in the center of whatever conflict you guys are in?"

There it was again. That tingle. It struck Albus odd that Sarah had not only manage to hit every point he did not want to bring up but also managed to ask her questions in ways that made him think she was making statements instead. Her tone dared him to lie. He had a feeling that she knew more about the wizarding world than she let on. "That's not exactly true," he admitted slowly. "A couple years ago a basilisk was released within our school and managed to petrify... certain students." He then added quickly, "However, I assure you the basilisk has since been killed and the students fully recovered."

"A basilisk?" Irene asked, alarmed. "What is that?"

"Students were being petrified?" Robert exclaimed, shocked.

"Oh man," Toby muttered. Sarah would definitely not let him attend the school now.

"A basilisk is a reptile—in our case, it was a snake—with a... rather lethal gaze." He watched as both Mr. and Mrs. Williams pale. "Again," he said as firmly and gently as possible. "I must emphasize the fact that non of our students were killed; only petrified." He chose not to mention Myrtle.

Usually, Albus would not press so hard to convince parents to allow their child to attend Hogwarts. However, Tobias Williams was a muggleborn and with the rise of Voldemort and the obvious decline of new muggleborn students, Albus feared that if this trend continued, the Ministry of Magic would take it upon themselves to ban muggleborns from the magical world "for their safety". And even if that was true, Albus knew how hard it was to retract a law once it has been implanted.

Robert rolled his eyes. "Only petrified," he repeated mockingly.

"Which is mostly due to luck, right?" Sarah asked, looking at Albus with steady eyes. "It just means that none of them looked directly in the basilisk's eyes; like through a mirror or something."

Albus blinked slowly. "That's... correct..."

Despite the situation, Irene gave a somewhat-fond roll of her eyes. "Sarah always had an interest in fairy tales and mythology. I daresay she knows just as much as you do."

For reasons he did not understand, Albus didn't doubt it.

"Sarah knows magic," Toby confirmed.

Albus smiled warmly, hoping to ease the uncertainty and tension in the air. "I can see that. I've never met a muggle quiet like Miss Williams."

While both parents relaxed slightly due to his joking tone, Albus could tell that Sarah was not as convinced as he would have liked. Her gaze flickered from him to the ground and back again. Lips pursing, Sarah asked, "You said that the basilisk attacked certain students. Exactly what kind of certain students are we talking about?"

Alarmed, Albus felt himself stiffen. Her questions—her too-specific questions—was no mere coincidence. He extended the familiar aura of his magic around him, feeling for something—anything—that could be out of place. Nothing. For a moment, Albus considered lying to her, just to see her reaction but he had a feeling that if he did, it would guarantee not seeing Mr. Williams in the upcoming term. "Muggleborns," he admitted wearily. "The students attacked were all muggleborns."

Sarah leaned further back against her seat as if relaxing. Albus knew better though, he thought she looked somewhat like a serpent, posing to strike. "Am I correct to assume that this... war of yours has something to do with prejudice against muggleborns?"

Not at all, Albus wanted to say but knew that wasn't true. Voldemort himself may not care about one's blood status—after all, he was more concerned with trying to kill Harry Potter—but his followers were a complete different story.

Seeing that Albus was not going to answer Sarah's question anytime soon, Toby immediately assumed the worst. "Oh man, oh man," he muttered. He really wasn't going to be allowed to attend now.

"Which means," Sarah continued ruthlessly. "That Toby would be more endangered in your extremely safe school than the average student."

Albus thinned his lips. "Miss Williams, I understand your concern. I have no doubt in my mind that Mr. Williams will experience prejudice while at Hogwarts. However, I also believe that will be the extend of it. Despite the nature of our war, as long as he remains within the walls of Hogwarts, his life will be in no danger." As long as he stayed away from Harry Potter, of course; the poor boy has the unfortunate luck on endangering everyone he interacts with. Fortunately for Albus, however, Harry was currently going into his fifth year and would have little to no interaction with young Tobias Williams.

"You gave us a lot to think about, Professor," Robert said slowly. "But I would like to discuss this further with my wife and daughter before making any final decisions."

"Understandable," Albus nodded.

"And..." Robert said hesitantly. "And if it's not too much trouble, we would still like to go to... ah, Diagonally, if only to check it out."

Albust beamed. "Of course."

"Then we'll give you our final decision then," Irene said finally.

"Excellent."

"Oh man," Sarah groaned tiredly, slowly making her way up the stairs. Thankfully, the rest of the meeting went rather well, her family had spent the two hours afterwards asking questions, attempting to understand Toby's new world. Unless it was about their war and and the lack of safety of their school, the professor was more than happy than to answer all their questions. Sarah shook her head, wondering why he wanted so badly to recruit Toby. It certainly couldn't have been his desires for Toby's safety. Slowly, she made her way into the privacy of her old room before closing and locking the door behind her as quietly as possible. Turning around, she was not surprised to see that her bed was already occupied.

"Thank you, Squeak, Romby, Gip; you guys are the best."

"No problem, Lady!" the three goblins happily chirped at the same time.

She sat down at the edge of her bed and poked the nearest goblin who fell over and giggled. She scratched him underneath his chin fondly. "You guys can't read minds, can you?"

Romby and Squeak giggled as if she had just made the funniest joke.

"'course not, Lady," Gip answered when Romby pushed him out of the way so Sarah could scratch under his chin. "We just know about magical humans, that's all. That magic human wanted to lie to Lady."

Romby tsked. "We're not going to let that happen."

"'course not," Squeak confirmed, ears twitching.

"Thank you," Sarah said, feeling warm and happy. "So you guys are familiar with this... magical world?"

"Yes!" they confirmed.

Sarah frowned. "Do you guys think it's safe for Toby to attend?" she asked slowly.

"Lady?" Gip asked.

She swallowed hard, feeling slightly light-headed with confusion. "I mean, since Toby is a wizard; it's obviously better for him to attend... Hogwarts. But if he's going to be in danger at some boarding school I can't even access... I don't know." Obviously she wouldn't be the one making the final decision but she had a feeling that after today, both her father and stepmother would be turning to her for confirmation.

"Little Toby needs to learn human magic," Gip said.

Romby nodded in agreement. "Uncontrollable magic means lots of explosion," he elaborated.

"Lady is worried?" Squeak asked.

She smiled wearily. "Yea, I guess I am."

The three goblins fell silent, exchanging uncomfortable glances with one another. Having never having the need to offer comfort of any sort, they were unsure how to proceed.

Sarah looked down at the three goblins thoughtfully, gaze going from one to the other as a idea took hold and grew. "Guys..." she began slowly, unsure how they would react to her idea. "Do you think you could... follow Toby to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him? Protect him in case anything happens?" Unless Professor Dumbledore's "protective barriers and charms" kept goblins out for whatever reason.

"We can do that!" Gip announced.

"Really?" Sarah asked excitedly. "That's great! I thought you guys may not want to."

"Oh no," Romby said, shaking his head. "Kingy says we have to listen to Lady."

Sarah paused at the mention of the Goblin King before freezing altogether, needing to take a minute to completely comprehend the sentence. "The... Goblin King told you guys to listen to me?" she asked slowly, requiring confirmation.

They nodded.

"I—uh—why?" she stammered, unsure what to think.

Romby giggled, "Because Kingy is going to make Lady his—"

Squeak shoved a bony elbow into Romby's stomach. "We're not supposed to say yet!" he reminded, horrified, the idea of getting bogged tickling the edges of his thoughts.

"Say what?" Sarah asked, suspiciously eyeing the goblins who were looking everywhere but at her. "Guys," she said, her tone promising punishment for disobedience.

"Sorry, Lady," Romby said quickly. "We got to go!" And then, without any further warning, the three of them disappeared, leaving Sarah to stare stupidly at her empty bed.

She sat there for a minute, half-hoping that they would come back before huffing in annoyance when it was obvious they would not be returning anytime soon. She sighed and made her way towards her vanity; figuring that while she may not get anything out of the goblins, Hoggle would be more than happy to tell her. Sitting down, Sarah reached out and pressed her fingertips against to cool glass. "Hoggle," she murmured softly, watching the mirror ripple with magic.

As the image in her mirror settled, Sarah could make out the clearing image of a very familiar dwarf. "Hoggle!" she greeted happily, promptly forgetting the real reason why she had called him in the first place.

"Sarah!" he greeted back. "You back at your old place, eh." he observed, peering over her shoulder.

"For the summer," she admitted. "Toby threw a fit about not seeing me so I'm staying for a while." She sighed happily, finally feeling completely at ease since the professor's appearance hours before. "You will not believe what happened to me today."

Hoggle raised his bushy eyebrows. "A good thing?"

"I hope so," Sarah replied with a slight frown. She waved off the dark thoughts with a flick of her hand. "Anyway, apparently wizards and witches exist!"

"You mean human wizards 'n witches?"

She faltered. "Well... yes." Were there other kinds? Goblin wizards and witches, perhaps? "So anyway," she continued. "Some old wizard came by to tell us that Toby's a wizard and that there a school he should attend. Hogwarts, apparently; it's a school meant for magic." She paused and added, "Human magic."

Hoggle gaped. "Your brother's a wizard?"

"Yup," Sarah declared proudly, beaming. Truth to be told, she was a bit envious of her brother but ultimately decided that she had experienced enough magic to last her a lifetime. She'll just observe from afar, thank you very much. "Dad and Irene still aren't completely sure if they want him attending Hogwarts since there's some sort of war going on or something but we'll be going to some magical mall Saturday. You know, check out the magical world and maybe do some shopping." She took a breath to continue but paused when she noticed the frown tugging at the dwarf's rough features. "Hoggle?" she asked worriedly. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing!" he denied immediately.

Sarah raised her eyebrows.

"Nothing," Hoggle repeated,this time calmer. "It's just that... well, we don't hear good things about human magic-users much here in the Underground."

She leaned forward. "Really? Why's that?"

"Well I don't know much," the dwarf admitted. "But the Underground monarchs don't really get along with them."

"Monarchs?"

"Ya know," Hoggle explained hesitantly. "Like the Elvin King to the north of us, or the Dragon Emperor to the South. And there's also the Faerie Lord to the far north. And, of course the Gob—Jareth." He coughed. "Jareth."

Sarah's eyebrows shot upwards in surprise. This was her first time hearing that the Underground had other monarchs besides the Goblin King. Despite her continued contact with residents of the Underground, she knew little about their world. "Why don't they get along?"

Hoggle shuffled in his spot uncomfortably, flushing an angry-looking red. "I don't know the entire story," he reminded her. "Jareth would know more."

She nodded in understanding, waiting for him to continue.

When it was clear that Sarah was not going to comment, Hoggle huffed in exasperation. "Apparently, a real long time ago, besides the monarchs, we all lived Aboveground. But we didn't really get along with humans and there was a whole bunch of conflict. Anyway, it led up to some war." He paused, frowning in thought. "We were more powerful, 'course, but we were eventually overwhelmed by the sheer number of them humans." Hoggle shrugged, "So we lost and many of our kinds were forced into slavery and whatnot."

Sarah gasped. "Slavery?!"

"There ain't no slaves now," he grunted. "At least I don't think so, anyway. There was another war about that or something."

"And then what happened?" Sarah pressed.

Hoggle shrugged again. "Nuthin' much. Most of us moved Underground but for those that stayed, humans usually look down at them and stuff. No equal treatment or anything."

"That's horrible," Sarah breathed. "Why didn't the Underground Kings and Queens do anything?"

The dwarf frowned and scratched the back of his head, thinking. "'cause they're not forced to live Aboveground and the monarchs want nuthin' to do with humans. Humans have a way of blaming everything on someone else. That and they like to take advantage of us." His eyes widened in horror as he realized what he had just said. "Not that you're like that, Sarah! Definitely not!"

Sarah smiled, "I know what you meant."

"Nowadays," Hoggle continued. "Humans don't even know about the existence of the Underworld or our monarchs. We keep quiet about it 'cause we don't want another war."

"Of course not," she said with an understanding nod. "Don't worry, you're secret is safe with me!"

"Right," Hoggle said, shuffling again. "But, um... that's just what I know. I'm sure Jareth would know more."

Sarah raised her eyebrows, almost mockingly. "I certainly hope so," she said. Despite what she knew of his personality, he had to have some good points if he was a king. Unless, of course, his only job as a king was grabbing wished away children. "Is there anything else about the wizarding world that you think I should know? Squeak, Romby, and Gip were extremely helpful but... I think I scared them away for a while."

Hoggle frowned, "I dunno. What I know is from other goblins but I don't know how accurate that is." He pursed his lips. "Jareth probably knows more."

Sarah sighed, resting her chin in her palm. "I guess I have to wait until Saturday then."

"Yeah," Hoggle agreed. "That's a much better idea."