I woke up to Jarvey shaking me awake with his paws.
"Come on, it's almost radio time."
"Oh yeah radio," I muttered groggily, looking at the time, 7:30.
I nodded, clothed myself, grabbed my wallet, and let Jarvey climb my arm before opening my door to find a few Ravenclaws waiting outside, including Rebecca.
"Hey Felix, can you play Thunderstruck?" someone called from the crowd.
"No, play Wonderwall."
"All of you shut up, he needs to play Everybody Wants to Rule the World."
"Academics of all types," I began, sweeping my gaze across their eager faces. "Since today is the last free day of school, I'll play all of them for you."
"Hell yeah," I heard one of them yell.
Then I turned to Rebecca, who was just smiling.
"Looks like you're back to your usual self," she said. "Oh, and it also looks like I win the bet. However, I don't want a kiss. I want something else—I want an answer. How did you get the broom to listen to you in the exam?"
The broom listened to me? When the bloody hell have brooms ever listened to me? Don't tell me my simulacrum is a better flyer than I am. I'm gonna burn all those damned brooms to the ground.
Of course, that's what I wanted to say. What I really said was:
"Sorry, but no, you didn't win." I took out my wallet, scoured it a bit, and grabbed the doorknocker, showing it to her with a flourish.
She looked dumbfounded, along with the rest of the Ravenclaws that had been waiting at my door. Her mouth fell open, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Someone check the door," Rebecca yelled, frantic.
I smiled through all of this, watching a first-year Ravenclaw hurriedly rush to the door and throw it open.
"The knocker's really gone," he yelled back, his voice echoing through the common room.
"See?" I added, savoring the moment. "Don't worry, I know that you're only a second-generation wizard, so I'll give you time to copy the best tome you have. I'll be waiting for it at summer's end though, so start copying, Clearwater." I laughed, and Jarvey joined in as I handed her the doorknocker.
The Ravenclaws parted like the Red Sea as I made my way to the club room. It wasn't long before I arrived, still giggling to myself (well with Jarvey but those are unnecessary details). I settled into my chair, adjusted the microphone, and took a deep breath.
"Wizards, witches, and familiars, it is a sad day indeed, for this will be the last broadcast I make until Hogwarts begins once more in September! But fret not, my magical friends, for if you want the greatest chants ever sung, I'll be making new Jarvey radios for you to own and I'll be handing them out in September, so you can listen to these merry tunes anywhere and everywhere. Now onto the broadcast. We'll be starting hard with a song you may all know well. WONDERWALL!"
As I began to play the familiar chords and sing, I felt completely in my element. Jarvey joined in for the chorus, his raspy voice adding an unexpected harmony that somehow worked perfectly.
[wonderwall released by Oasis in 1995 so yes some time shennagings, but wonderwall is a bop so look past it lol]
"Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you
By now, you should've somehow realised what you gotta do
I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now
And backbeat, the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before, but you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now
And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
But I don't know how
Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall"
Merlin's beard, it felt great to play once more. It was fulfilling in a way that stealing magical artifacts or mastering advanced spells could never quite match.
Dumbledore's POV
I sat in my headmaster chair, looking through a few papers on Auror movements. Fawkes was perched contentedly on his stand, preening his scarlet feathers. The office was quieter than usual without the Sorting Hat's occasional commentary—a reminder of my failure that stung more sharply than I cared to admit.
Three months. Three months of searching, of bringing in Aurors, of exhausting every detection spell and tracking charm known to wizardkind. And still, nothing. The Sorting Hat had simply vanished, as if swallowed by Hogwarts itself.
I sighed, absently stroking my beard as I gazed out across the grounds. The summer was nearly upon us, the last day before students would board the Hogwarts Express homeward. Another school year completed, though this one with a bitter taste of defeat.
The Jarvey radio on my desk suddenly crackled to life. That strange device young Felix had given me during our interview months ago—a fascinating bit of magic, combining Muggle technology with charms in a way I hadn't seen before, more advanced than even the WWN.
Music began to pour from the device, Felix's voice carrying through the castle. I'd been suspicious of him initially, but my examination of his memories had yielded nothing conclusive. Still, there was something about the boy that reminded me of another exceptional student from years past—one whose brilliance had turned to darkness.
"Today was gonna be the day, but they'll never throw it back to you
By now, you should've somehow realised what you're not to do
I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now
And all the roads that lead you there were winding
And all the lights that light the way are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
But I don't know how
I said, "Maybe"
But as the music continued, I found myself listening despite my troubled thoughts. The melody was captivating, the words speaking of salvation and connection—wonderwalls and roads winding toward some distant destination.
"You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall
I said, "Maybe (I said maybe)
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall"
For a moment—just a moment—I wasn't Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Order of Merlin First Class, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. I wasn't the man who had failed to protect one of Hogwarts' most treasured artifacts. I wasn't the wizard carrying the weight of secrets that would shape the coming war.
I was just an old man, enjoying a song on a summer morning.
"I said, "Maybe (I said maybe)
You're gonna be the one that saves me (saves me)
You're gonna be the one that saves me (saves me)
You're gonna be the one that saves me" (saves me)"
Felix stopped singing, as only instrumentals began to play slowly quieting down
Fawkes hummed along pleasantly, I did as well.
The hat was still missing, yes. But Hogwarts endured, as it always had. And who knows maybe one of these students would be able to create aa sorting hat of their own, the students always came up with ingenious solutions.
They always did.
I glanced at the scorch mark on the wall where the Sorting Hat had once rested. "A mystery for another day," I said quietly, before turning back to my work.
Outside, students laughed and chattered, savoring their last moments together before the summer parted them. Life continued to march on.
That, perhaps, was the greatest magic of all.
A/N: Final chapter of the first year, now a few chaps on what Felix is doing in the summer like three or four at most and finally the golden trio woohoo.