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Harry can barely remember any of his childhood before landing at the Dursleys. He had dreamt a few times of a man and a woman looking down at him lovingly but could never truly see their faces. The woman had a heart shaped face with beautiful red hair and the man had darker messy hair that reminded him of his own but somehow even worse. He remembers giggling as he rode on top of a shaggy dog while a tired looking man watched them with a smile. But he can never see many details, mainly just fuzzy outlines similar to when he tries to see without his glasses in real life. Even though he can't really remember them well, he still misses them terribly. Almost as if he is feeling phantom pain from missing a limb that was lost years prior.

From the moment he was left on his aunt and uncle's doorstep, his life took a turn for the worst. It was a strange and scary night. There was screaming and loud bangs echoing through the house. He remembers seeing a bright green light and the pain in his head as it hit. There was a large gruff looking man that flew him in a flying motorcycle. But the worst memory of that night is of an old man with cold blue eyes gleaming with malice masked behind kindness as he is left on the cold steps all night long. The next morning, it was his aunt's shrill cry that startled him awake and her shrill voice has continued to wake him up before her beloved and self proclaimed “perfect family” every morning since. According to her, "freaks don't get to sleep in."

He tried asking his aunt about his parents at one point when he was younger, but learned to never speak of them again quite quickly. She had shrieked that they died as drunks in a car accident. It is apparently where his lightning bolt shaped scar came from, some glass cut him and never properly healed. Harry knows that car accidents can be very deadly, he has heard about them on the news when the telly is on. However he finds it hard to picture his parents as drunks when looking back on his fuzzy memories of them. They wouldn't have knowingly left him behind with such hateful relatives ...right?

You see, his relatives don't like him much. They don't like him at all really. They most likely only took him in and feed him because they don't want the cops called on them for child abuse and neglect. Harry couldn’t help but wonder why they never dropped him off at an orphanage with how often they complain about him being too expensive to care for. Being seen as the “perfect family” is ridiculously important to them and his "freakiness" apparently ruins that. That is why he sleeps under the stairs in the cupboard instead of Dudley's second room. It is also why he has to do so many chores around the house to "earn his keep." But that was normal for boy or freak as he had never learned otherwise.

No one taught him life could be different until he reached kindergarten and got to see how much better everyone seemed to be treated compared to him. He didn't even realize his name was Harry until his uncle threatened to strangle him if he didn't answer to Harry at school. As he watched the interactions with other children, his mind wondered. 'Was that what it was like to have parents that cared for you? Was that what his parents used to treat him like?’

Harry has always been smart for his age and it was probably the only reason he remembered his name was Harry and not freak or boy after being called it so much at his residence after his uncle threatened him. He would call it home but a place is only home when you feel safe and loved and he most definitely did not. Unfortunately for Harry, it continued to get worse as he grew older. The smarter he got, the more hate he received. As the "freak of the family" he wasn't supposed to do anything that made him stand out and take attention away from their precious Dudy-kins. But Dudley was stupid and hated school while school was Harry's safe space. The teachers already knew he was smart and he wasn't about to ruin his grades for his fat pig of a cousin no matter the punishment, and he was punished often.

As Harry continued to do well in school, Dudley never improved. In fact, he seemed to get worse as he aged. He preferred to spend his time "convincing" the other kids that Harry was a freak. In other words, if you were nice to Harry, he would introduce you to his chunky fists. Harry hunting quickly became a thing and every time Harry did better on a test than Dudley, Vernon would ignore Harry as Dudley and his gang would beat Harry up. Unfortunately for Harry, that was every single test, so he learned how to climb trees and hide quickly. But he forced himself to lose sometimes because when Vernon found out he would win, his uncle would beat him up and let Dudley help. This was always much worse as in Vernon's mind, it was the only way to get the freakiness out of the boy and to teach him to be "bloody normal". Those were his exact words and Harry disagreed as it wasn't his fault unexplainable things happened.

But Vernon's punishments were always far worse than Harry hunting or any other additional punches from Dudley just because he felt like it or was bored. Vernon was the one to handle the punishments for any time the freak misbehaved, which was all the time. Nothing Harry did was ever to his relative’s standards and Dudley loved to break things and blame them on his tiny cousin just for the fun of it. After all, who would believe the little freak over their precious Duders? Although Vernon enjoyed using his fists, he used his belt as a whip for certain occasions as well. Luckily he never used knives or anything else sharp as he couldn't have the boy bleeding out on him. The neighbors never did anything about it either as Petunia spread all kinds of gossip about her uncontrollable nephew and his horrid rebellions he's had since his parent's accident. She claims his parent's drinking habits damaged him as a babe and that nothing done to help improve his constant misbehavior seems to stick for too long.

His punishments vary depending on the chore he messed up on. If he missed some weeds in the garden, it was a smack or being hit over the head with the small plastic shovel tool he had used. Sometimes Vernon would hold him by the neck as he forced him to eat the ones he missed for dinner and then starve for the next day or two. Harry believed the next two punishments were partially the reason why his eyesight got increasingly worse. If he didn't clean well enough he would be hit a few times and then forced to sleep in the shed for the night so he couldn't run away. When he took too long doing the laundry, Vernon would shove him in the dryer and turn it on for a short bit before letting him back out and forcing to finish his chore. Mess up a meal and he either got no food for a time being, was a whack over the head with a hot skillet, or both. Which again, was probably part of why his eyesight had gotten so bad. But Vernon was smart in a way and always made sure to hit where his injuries would be covered by his oversized shirts and pants.

He had a few other punishments for random things but those were the main ones. However, Harry especially hated when aunt Marge would come over because her dogs were trained to attack on command. But one of those awful days, Harry had decided to hide outside by mentioning to his uncle how the heat may damage the garden. Harry had to bite back a small smile as his uncle harshly told him to "hurry up then boy and tend to the garden!" The heat was extreme but to Harry, it was much better than having to be near any dog. He had developed a not so little fear of dogs over the years except towards any that looked like the shaggy dog from his time as a baby. His mind wondered as he pulled some weeds before going to grab the hose he kept stashed behind one of the larger bushes. "Stupid human almost stepped on me!" Harry froze and whipped his head around. "Who said that!? Where are you?" "Speaker!? Down here child!" Harry looked down at his feet to see a beautiful grey snake with a zigzag black pattern curled up near his feet, which he recognized as an Adder he had read about once at the library.

"I'm very sorry Ms. Snake! I didn't mean to almost step on you... but how am I able to understand you?" "Do not fear hatchling, no harm was done. You can understand me because you have been blessed with the ability to speak the majestic language of the snakes!" Harry stared at the snake in confusion before she let out a hissy laugh and continued to explain, "Parseltongue is a magical gift very few in this area have, that allows them to speak and understand snakes. It is actually quite common in areas like India." "I have magic!?" Harry exclaimed. "But how? Uncle Vernon says magic isn't real? He'll kill me if he finds out!"

"Then it will be our little secret hatchling. Those muggles don't deserve to be in the presence of such a powerful wizard anyway!" The snake angrily hissed. "Muggles?" Harry asked. "Also what is your name? I can't just keep calling you Ms. snake. My name is Harry by the way." "Hairy?" She snickered to the best of a snake's ability, "What an odd name... muggles are non magical humans and I don't have a name so you can pick one for me if you want." "How about Raven?" Harry asked. "I love it hatchling!" Raven hissed excitedly. With a smile on his face, Harry spent the rest of the day outside tending the garden and listening to Raven tell him all about the wizarding world.

She told him all about being hatched in the home of a wizard who always smelled strongly of herbs. The man was cruel to her and her siblings, forcefully milking their venom and using the venom in bubbling bowls for his soups he called potions. He would collect their shed skin and even removed some scales from her siblings as punishment if they lashed out in anger. She never did like him but luckily, one day a kind soul saved her from his clutches! The child’s scent was similar to that of her captor, a young girl that she will be forever grateful to.

Raven tells Harry all about her adventures throughout the area and of all the silly pointy hats and sticks magic users wave around for their magic. Magic can be wonderful but also rude as it has taken her from one place to another without her permission by magic users for one reason or another that she never bothered to learn as she had better things to do. The wise snake warns her new hatchling to always treat magical creatures with respect, along with wonderful non magical creatures such as herself. Harry had many more things to learn about but the pair only had time to go over so many topics before Vernon demanded the boy to return inside to serve the family. Raven quickly slipped into her little one’s shirt unseen and their new relationship quickly blossomed as did the garden Harry constantly was forced to tend to.

Chapter Text

Harry and Raven first met at the tender age of six, nearly seven.Three years have passed since then and he has loved every minute of it. She spent most of her time wrapped around his little waist and would complain about how he should be warmer than he is as humans are supposed to be warm blooded, not cold like she is! However, Harry didn’t immediately let her go everywhere with him as he feared what his uncle would do if he discovered Raven. Seeing as how snakes aren’t taught magic, she did her best to explain how the users of magic convince it to do as they wish. They command it to do things with silly sounding words that she does not understand.

Seeing as how calling out abracadabra didn’t work, no matter how you say it, Harry began to focus on the times that his unexplainable incidents took place. They all happened when he strongly wished for things to change like when Aunt Petunia gave him an awful haircut and the next morning, his hair had all grown back. Being only seven at the time, the young boy gave his magical powers the nickname, wish magic. The first thing that he needed to get good at was hiding Raven from others for her safety. He practiced his powers constantly and it took him several long weeks to perfect the trick that hid her from his relatives. Once he had perfected it, Raven barely ever left his side and that was the way they both liked it.

They had both grown over the years but Raven hated to admit how little her precious hatchling was actually being fed. As his “wish magic” improved, Harry was able to start unlocking and locking doors so that he could get out of his cupboard and eat at night. But only so much could be taken without his oversized uncle and cousin realizing something was up. Aunt Petunia was much less likely to pick up on it as she nibbles on less food than a hamster does. She wants to stay scarcely skinny for some unearthy reason. Harry on the other hand was the average height of a seven year old at age ten and it was not by choice. His oversized clothes helped hide that fact a bit, but no one ever questioned it as they didn't want to risk Vernon blowing up at them as he would always claim they were calling Dudley fat to take the topic off the boy.

The main time Raven would willingly leave her hatchling’s side, was once a week to feed while Harry would be working in the garden. It was at these times that he was safest, as the Dursleys tended to stay inside and never wanted to be around his freakishness for too long. Raven always returned quickly but as time grew, less and less rodents remained near the Dursley residence. It was during one of these hunting trips that Vernon had decided to come outside because Dudley wanted a snack. More like he was demanding food, but to his father and mother, he could do no wrong so they always did as he “asked”.

As Vernon had stomped outside, Raven was basking in the sun with a full belly causing her to react and slither away a bit too late. Vernon saw her and screamed in fury before running at her in an attempt to strangle the snake to death as his face turned purple in fury. Fearing for his only friend's life Harry discreetly tugged on the hose to catch on his uncle's feet causing the whale sized man to fall on his face. He knew Raven could bite Vernon if needed but she hates eating anything with too much blubber. She is perfectly capable of defending herself but he couldn't bear to see her get hurt.

"You little freak!" His uncle shouted and pointed a finger at Harry as he struggled to stand up. "How dare you let snakes into my family’s garden! You planned this, didn’t you!? Trying to kill me with your snake now were ya!?" At that point his uncle had grabbed the collar of his shirt and was dragging him across the yard and into the shed. "You little bastard! You’re dead boy! Dead boy! Do you hear me!? Dead!" His uncle harshly whispered as he threw Harry into the dark, soundproofed shed and proceeded to slap him hard across the face. Being so small, the force of the slap slammed Harry into the wall beside him and he slumped down knowing that getting up would make his beating worse.

At this point aunt Petunia walked out to see the slap and slightly flinched as her pale blue eyes met his teary green ones. Harry knew his aunt didn't truly hate him but his best guess was that because he was a living reminder of his dead mother and her sister, she couldn't stand to look at him. Not wanting Vernon to actually kill the boy, Petunia just sniffed her nose up in the air and said, "Vernon dear, do try to keep it down, the neighbors might hear. Besides we can't have him dead, how would we explain his disappearance?" Harry just stared at his aunt with a hidden hate behind them. She had never cared for him and he had never cared for her.

Vernon just sneered at the boy. "Don't you worry pet, I won't kill him. I'll just make him wish he were dead." He shut the door and locked it with a click, sealing Harry's fate. Harry did not like the sound of that and by the end of his beating he didn't like the feeling of it either. His uncle had recently grown a stronger liking to using the whip instead of his fists as it prevented any bones from breaking, meaning less questioning looks from busy bodies. It also was easier to use as he was so fat he struggled to reach down and punch Harry as he was sprawled across the floor. Harry already had many scarring welts on his body from previous beatings. At times, Vernon simply wanted to blame him for a business contract going wrong, a bad day at work, or simply because Harry breathed too loud. By the end of the night, his scars had definitely increased by a few and Harry lacked the energy to move. He had received some kicks and punches to the stomach first but was whipped so harshly for vomiting and for screaming a few times from the pain after being told to keep quiet.

Vernon left him on the floor surrounded by his own sick and the blood slicking down his back after throwing a towel and bucket at him claiming he wasn’t leaving until he cleaned up his mess. Too tired to even attempt magic to clean up, Harry slowly slipped into a state of unconsciousness. When he finally woke up, the smell surrounding him had worsened and so had the aches and pains in his body. Without moving, he used a small cleansing wish, making the towel clean for him, gently cleaning the blood off his back before moving to the floor.

Once everything had been cleaned up, Harry felt a tiny bit better. He let out a groan as he pushed himself up gently against the wall, hissing as his bare back rubbed against it. He whispered for light and for the shed door to slip open under his breath. His favorite snake hurriedly slithered up to him and checked over his injuries.Raven hisses in anger and worry for the child at the poor sight of him. Her hatchling had been seriously harmed trying to protect her. She hissed kind reassuring words in Harry's ears as he just sat still and cried. He was so tired and just wanted to be loved by more than just his dead parents and mother hen of a snake.

As his tears fell and slipped on some of his wounds along his arms, they began to sting more as the salt irritated them. He grit his teeth to quiet his cries of pain and squeezed his eyes shut. He wished harder than ever before for someone to save him and to be taken away from this awful place. A strange feeling grew in his gut as a force seemed to press around his body and he barely registered Raven wrapping herself around his wrist as she tried to grab his attention. His vision grew dark as the pressure intensified and with a pop, Raven and Harry were no longer in the shed.

Harry flopped backwards, his entire body pressed on the floor, as the wall he was rested on was gone. There was no hiding the sound of pain and shock as his blurry vision took in the sights of a ceiling he had never seen before. All around him was rich marble and stone going in every direction he could see. Raven hissed at him to be cautious as she slithers up into the sleeve of his shirt so that he doesn't waste his magic hiding her. Harry barely had the chance to respond when the sound of feet echoed throughout the room and appeared to be headed his way!

He does his best to sit up without agitating his body’s various wounds but froze at the sight of what made eye contact with him. It is a creature, a magical creature that Raven had told him about before. Just as she had described, they held many pointy features with wrinkled skin and with faces that appear to be more stern than Aunt Petunia. The goblin in front of him is dressed in a black suit and tie with a white button up and speaks with a rather gravelly voice. “How did you get in here child? What happened to you?!”

Although touched by the worry that the goblin seemed to hold for Harry, despite never meeting before, his body could stay awake no longer. He did his best to respond, but could barely get out a word as darkness filled his vision. Boney hands caught him as he collapsed and harsh growls sounded near his ears before his world went silent as well as dark.

Chapter Text

For the first time in his life since being left on his relative’s doorstep, Harry woke up to a peaceful surrounding. There was no harsh rap of knuckles on the door and shrill screeches to get up. His body did not ache from sleeping on an old cot and he was not in his dimly lit cupboard at all. With his glasses missing, Harry was unable to look around and see much of anything but the bed and sheets he had been placed on were the softest things he had ever felt! The pajama set he was wearing fit him better than any hand-me-down he had ever received from Dudley too.

Someone to his left gasped and Harry turned to see the blurry figure of a woman seated near him. They handed him his glasses and he blinked a few times as his vision cleared. “Good afternoon sleepy head.” A woman dressed in what seemed to be a fancy, dark blue cloak with a white stick and bone forming an x said in a gentle tone. Her dark blond hair was up in a messy bun and seems to be trying to appear calm but her hazel eyes show worry. “How did I get here?” Harry questioned, ignoring the woman’s question for the moment. “We were hoping you could tell us that sweet heart.” The kind woman answered and introduced herself as Marcy and explained that she had been called to help treat his injuries as she is a healer.

Harry was able to put together that the symbol on her long coat of sorts must be what doctors wear as the Dursely’s had never actually taken him to a hospital to be treated for anything before. He was hesitant to tell the woman anything despite not feeling any sense of danger coming from her. He froze as he realized that someone had to have seen his wounds when changing him into the soft pajamas he was in now and looked at Marcy in distrust.Raven squeezes his stomach in comfort as she smells Harry’s growing fear. “Who changed me and what do you all want with me?” He asked, full of caution and concern, as adults always something in return for their acts of “kindness”.

A deep frown fell across the woman’s face at his response and promised that no one here means to do him any harm. Still worried about his relatives being contacted and him getting into even more trouble, Harry refused to give the healer his name and glared as he was too scared to care about any future consequences for his disrespect. “I don’t need or want your help, I don’t have the money to pay you anyways…” He stated in hopes that he will just be let go. With a bit of bargaining, Harry eventually did tell her his name, but only his first name and watched as she pulled out a stick and waved it in the air in an intricate pattern.

“What was that?” Harry asked as Raven had told him about magic users and their pointy sticks but never seen one in person before. Marcy replied with a quiet laugh, “It’s my wand silly.” She paused when realizing that Harry did not appear to know what she was talking about and a look of sorrow and pity filled her eyes. The healer asked Harry several questions about his experience with magic and while Harry nervously explained his magical wish powers, the sadness never left her face. She informed him about many children around his age and younger having accidental magic and how your loved ones are supposed to care for you, not lock you up and cause you harm. Harry didn’t feel like talking too much after that and was grateful that she did not push him to speak anymore.

He mostly sat in silence after Marcy stated that a goblin will arrive soon to figure out how they can help him stay safe. She promised that they will do everything in their power to see to it that his relatives never harm him again. Her eyes had developed tears earlier when she looked at a scroll that had appeared when she waved her wand around Harry. It was a rather long scroll that she claimed held all the injuries he had ever received in his life and fed him several foul tasting potions. One of the potions even fixed his eyesight! They helped Harry feel a bit better after but an awful aftertaste was stuck in his mouth until Marcy handed him a mug of tea to sip on. It was chamomile with a swirl of honey in it and did wonders to calm him down and remove the lingering taste of potions. He quietly whispered a “thank you” to her for all her help.

Marcy was happy to talk enough for the two of them as she congratulated him on finding a familiar with his snake. Raven popped her head out from Harry’s shirt collar at this mention and hisses proudly in acknowledgment of the compliment. “She was quite protective when you passed out, nearly bit a few goblins before we managed to prove we meant no harm. Do you think she will let me check out some of your old scars to see if there is anything we can do to heal them up?” the healer requested and after hesitating for a short moment as adults aren’t always trustworthy, Harry and Raven agreed to finally give the kind woman a chance.

Marcy didn’t press much on the causes behind Harry’s scars but he figured her magical list told her the answers to any questions she may have had. Her soft humming helped Harry grow slightly less tense over time and she was always sure to let him know if she needed to touch a scar before doing so with his permission. It was a bit overwhelming as no one had ever requested Harry’s permission before doing anything to him before! Eventually, Marcy couldn’t do any more healing as several deeper and or older scars had too much nerve damage for magic to be able to do much but Harry was incredibly grateful for her help and made sure to tell her so.

The sharp tapping sounds of shoes grabbed Harry’s attention. Walking in from the other side of the room was a goblin, but not the one that he had seen upon his accidental arrival. “Hello master goblin, may your gold ever flow.” Harry said, repeating what Marcy had taught him was the polite greeting used in goblin culture. “ Greetings child, may your enemies fall at your feet. Marcy has informed me that your name is Harry and you are worried about payment. You do not need to fear as no child, magical or not, will be harmed at Gringotts or forced to pay for much needed treatment. My people may be greedy at times and love money, but we make more than enough off your people to afford to give a few healing potions for free.”

Harry did his best to hide his relief but the goblin’s toothy grin told him that he didn’t do a very good job. The goblin asked if he was well enough to walk and when Harry agreeds, the small but intimidating looking creature led him down a long hall. They walked down past many offices until they stopped at one labeled unknown inheritances. The inside of the office was just as lavishly decorated as the rest of the building Harry had seen so far and at the end of the room was an intricately carved desk made of dark wood with a sign that read Silverclaw.

The goblin went to sit at his desk and motioned for Harry to sit in a lush looking chair before shifting through a drawer for some papers. As Harry sat in the chair, his body sank comfortably into the cushions and he felt tiny as his feet could no longer touch the floor and nearly tipped over as the back of the chair fell so far behind him. Silverclaw was kind enough to let him look around the office for a few more moments before they returned to business. “Now Harry, Marcy has informed me of your predicament and in order to help you, we first need to discover if you have any living relatives willing to take you in.” The goblin placed a needle and a blank piece of parchment close enough to the end of the desk for Harry to reach.

"This test may seem scary but all you need to do is prick your finger for three drops of blood on this paper and your information will appear. And do not worry, the magic will allow the wound to heal immediately after and it is fairly painless. It will tell us all we need to know about your magic, family, and any additional abilities you may have that the regular witch or wizard may not possess." Harry quietly took the needle from its place on the desk and barely winced as he pricked his finger until three drops fell onto the paper. Words flew across the growing parchment of paper in red from the magic drawn from the blood provided. Harry's eyes grew wide at the sight of the magic at work and leaned forward to better read what all his test said.

Full name - Harry James Potter
Father - James Potter
Father - Sirius Black (blood adoption)
Mother - Lily Potter nee Evans
Siblings - one - died shortly after mother’s murder during pregnancy

Magical core - grey but drawn towards dark

Godparents:
Assigned by father - Sirius Black (illegally incarcerated), Remus Lupin (location unknown)
Assigned by mother - Alice Longbottom (deemed clinically insane), Severius Snape (unresponsive to all attempts to contact)

Godsiblings - one - Neville Longbottom

Current magical guardian - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (illegally claimed)

Familial guardian(s) - Petunia nee Evans and Vernon Dursley (rejected by magic due to abuse)

Heir -
Potter (through father)
Black (through blood adoption)
Gryffindor (through father)
Slytherin (through conquest)
Peverell (through father)

Vaults -
Potter (multiple)
Black (multiple)
Gryffindor (multiple)
Slytherin (multiple)
Peverell (multiple)

Magical Gifts -
Natural animagus (through both fathers)
Metamorphmagus (through blood adoption/Black family magic)
Parseltongue (through accidental horcrux and familiar bond)

Familiars - two
Common European Viper - named Raven by chosen wizard
Unknown

Horcrux in cursed scar (accidentally placed by Tom Marvelo Riddle due to insanity at age one)

"Mr. Silverclaw, why is this Dumbledore person illegally in charge of me? Who even is he?!" Harry asked as he had never heard such a name before. Silverclaw growled under his breath. Dumbledore has spent many years sticking his long nose into many magical children’s businesses that never accepted their lordships once they came of age. "Let me see it child," Silverclaw asked before skimming through and sending a message off in a puff of smoke for help from other goblins for the horcrux removal.

While Goblins may seem heartless, they often hated to see a young magical child harmed more than some of the wizarding community did. What they hated even more was Dumbledore as his manipulation was what caused so many to be hurt in one way or another. The sight of 10 year old Harry Potter being the size of a small six to seven year old and looking so scared, made Silverclaw's blood boil! He was going to get the boy the help he needed and no one was going to stop him. He had not been expecting to find the wizarding child revered by many wizarding families for defeating the dark lord to be in his office but regardless, he would do his best to keep the child safe!

As he awaited for some of his fellow goblins to arrive to help Harry, he explained to the boy what some of the things mentioned on his test meant. Harry worried about Dumbledore finding out he was here and being sent back to his relatives but Silverclaw promised he will be protected and that his healer had been sworn to secrecy on their magic that nothing that took place in this room leaves the room unless given permission from the patient. They also flipped the parchment over to reveal a copper red drawing of a family tree, going as far as eight generations back. It would have extended further, but there was no more room left on the paper.

Before they could look over it in detail, two more goblins arrived in the office looking grim. Silverclaw told Harry to look over the list while he discussed the ritual needed to remove the hrocrux as painlessly and quickly as possible. They didn’t want to scare the child more than necessary but having a horcrux for too long can cause the personality of the soul piece to merge with the boy and even take over his mind with enough time. It can damage the horcrux holder’s magic as well as the horcrux needs power and magic to stay alive. After a vague explanation of what was going to happen, Harry was put to sleep and Raven was removed from his body as they feared her connection to Harry may affect the ritual in a way that is harmful to her or Harry.

When Harry woke up, his body felt quite sore but also better than it had in years. He felt full of energy despite his physical soreness and smiled at the sight of Marcy by his bedside once more. "Feeling much better I hope Mr. Potter?" The kind woman asked and this time Harry felt no fear when she waved her wand around. She told him it was to let Silverclaw know he was awake and they had a pleasant chat as they waited for the goblin’s arrival. Marcy admitted she knew very little about horcruxes but for him not to worry as the horcrux was safely removed and has returned to its rightful soul. It did no permanent damage to his body and he should be fully healed from it in no time.

Upon Silverclaw’s arrival, Marcy bid Harry adieu and wished him well. The goblin went straight to business once confirming that Harry was feeling alright. “According to your bloodlines, Lady Malfoy is from the Black family tree as are you due to your blood adopted father Sirius. As for business, unfortunately Dumbledore has not only been neglecting your care..." "Has he been stealing money from me as well?" Harry asked, feeling exhausted once again, even after just waking back up. "Yes, it seems the people you were placed with for your care are being paid with your money. Would you do me the honor of allowing me to end those transactions and demand repayment?" Silverclaw bluntly asked with a vicious grin.

Harry just sat there silently for a moment before a small smirk grew on his face. He was suddenly glad he had been forced to listen to his uncle constantly grumbling about money as he sort of understood and made a request, "Could you charge interest on the stolen money?" Silverclaw nodded knowing he liked this boy for a reason. "Indeed we can! I'll get started on it immediately. We can claim that Gringotts was going through old records and discovered the Potter will had never been read and claim that unapproved transactions occurred as Dumbledore was never officially chosen as the guardian. We can use this as a reason to unseal your parent’s wills.”

The pair go over a few more key details about Harry’s family including many investments his families have made and some that Dumbledore had fiddled with. Silverclaw promised to take care of everything for him and send a summary of it all once he is finished working through it all. He also informed Harry about the fees that goblins charge and have been charging since his family began their investments to keep everything in good standings and Harry agreed to continue the payments and for Silverclaw to take some extra payments as thanks for all his help. The goblin was quick to accept and thank the boy for the gold. The previous goblin over the Potter household would be severely punished for their lack of control and most likely their acceptance of bribery to allow Dumbledore. If the goblins had their way, the headmaster would have his wand hand chopped off for all the theft he has committed.

Their last matter of business was finding Harry a place to stay while awaiting the Malfoy family’s response to a distant cousin’s call for help. Silverclaw suggests to Harry that he stays at the Peverell family manor as the Malfoy family manor is nearby so should he want his own space, they are only a short broom ride away. It also had a nice big garden and greenhouse that Harry was excited to use as gardening was the only chore besides cooking he enjoyed. The home had not been lived in for many years and any house elves living there may have left due to the lack of family magic around to keep them alive and healthy.

In order to gain access to this historical family home, Harry would need his heir rings. For this, they had to go down into the vaults where the rings are held for safekeeping. The minecart ride was what Harry had imagined a roller coaster to be like and couldn’t wait to try out other wizarding ways of travel as broomsticks sounded like great fun! Silverclaw instructed Harry to place his hand on the door to each vault and let his magic flow. At first it took time to let his magic loose after having to always hide it but each vault accepted him and enveloped him in a warm hug, almost as if welcoming him back to the family. He teared up at the Potter vault as he had never felt so loved and was happy to slip on each family ring. Each ring was always waiting for him at the entrance as each door swung open and shrank down to fit perfectly on his fingers.

He couldn’t help but shiver when the magic in each ring had fully accepted him and its protective magic flew over his small body. He felt overwhelmed by the amount of magic used by him and on him but had never been happier. His Gryffindor and Slytherin combined into one ring on his right hand's ring finger. On his pointer finger sat his Potter ring on the right and Peverell on the left. He also was given a card connected to one of his Potter vaults with another small fee. At the end of the day and a legal changing of his name, Hadrian Dorian Peverell, friend of the goblins, made his way to his new home and Harry James Potter was no more. Knowing he would already be singled out for his family name, Hadrian hid all his rings but the Peverell for others to see but took comfort in the cool feeling of them resting on his skinny fingers.

All he had to do now was wait for his family to either accept him or reject him like his muggle relatives had. He honestly wasn’t sure how to feel about the thought of having a family that loved him once more. For so long he had only had the fuzzy memories of his parents and maybe a few uncles but things were starting to change. Whether his newfound family took him in or not, he had several places to stay and it was time to go see what the Peverell family had left behind for him. With a deep breath and a warning to Raven to hold on, Hadrian whispered the activation word for the portkey, felt his body begin to spin, and held on tight!

Chapter Text

Stumbling to the ground as he arrived, Hadrian looked up to see himself in front of Peverell manor. It was absolutely beautiful despite its age and overgrown gardens! As he knocked on the front doors, he could only imagine the size of the inside and all the different rooms the mansion may hold. He felt some of his family's magic float across his body and the front door swung open and the magic recognized him like it had at the Gringotts’ vaults. A thin layer of dust seemed to coat the inside of the house and Hadrian wondered if Silverclaw was right, and the houselves had been forced to leave with no new magic being provided over the course of several generations.

Before Hadrian could explore any further, four creatures appeared with a loud pop, directly in front of him. They were all wearing thin, black pillow cases and lined up in front of him with huge smiles on their faces. The poor things had clearly done their best to stay presentable and care for the home but they looked quite pale and sickly. "Hellos master!" One of them squeaked as they stepped forward. "I is Milly, head elf. Wes would like to welcome you to Peverell manor! Wes apologizes for being unable to welcome youse to a clean home but we does our best" Milly said as she wrings her hands nervously, then bowed and stepped back as another stepped forward, this time a boy. "Hello master! My names Willard and is Milly's husband. Wes will do our bests to takes care of yous if you allows us" He stops and points to the two remaining house elves who are slightly smaller than him and Milly. "These be our daughters, Daisy and Ivy." The two girls bow as he says their names and smile up at Hadrian with excited, giddy grins.

"Well, it's nice to meet you four." Hadrian said, trying to not get overwhelmed. "My name is Hadrian but you may call me Hades if you would prefer it." Milly turned to look at her family with wide eyes and soon all four were bowing at Hadrian's feet. "Wes do not deserve such a kind master! Master Hadrian is too kind!" They exclaimed as Raven chuckled at the look of shock on her hatchling's face. "I didn't mean to upset you!" Poor Hadrian exclaimed in confusion, "you don't have to call me Hades if you don't want to!" Milly realized that they had caused their kind, tiny master to freak out and frantically began to explain. "Do not worry master Hadrian. Wes just never been treated so kindly is all!"

Hadrian frowned as Milly’s response reminded him of his life with the Dursleys and gently responded, "Oh... well I am going to continue to be kind as I wished others were that kind to me. Now all I wish is for you all to keep the house clean and stocked with food. I enjoy cooking and gardening so don't worry too much about that. For now I want you all to learn proper English and get a nice uniform as no house elf of mine will ever be looked down on... got it?" Hadrian said and prayed the elves won't bow at his feet again. To his happy surprise they all just nod and Milly stepped forward again to speak. “Young master, will yous be accepting your bond with us so wes can better care for yous?”

Hadrian was silent for a moment trying to remember what all Silverclaw and Marcy had told him about house elves and didn’t remember any mention of how to form the bond. Milly tried to backtrack and apologize when Hadrian did not respond but he cut in when she seemed ready to cry for upsetting her little master. “Please do not cry Milly! I am not upset, I just don’t know how to bond with you and not to mess up, causing you and your family to become more sick!” Milly perked up at this, proud to be able to provide an answer for Hadrian and explains the simple process of staging he accepts the elves individually into his family.

Hadrian watched in awe, as after making the statement for the bond, each elf immediately grew healthier. They gained more color in their pale skin, their bodies strengthened by his magic, and even their outfits were improved by a snap of their fingers. The girls turned their pillow cases into silky black dresses with grey aprons that held the Peverell family crest of a skeleton like black horse and a triangle with a circle in the middle and a line going through the center. Willard’s uniform was a similar fabric but in a suit form with the family crest below the frosty grey pocket square that matches the color of the girl’s aprons. All four then pop away after sending one last grateful smile his way.

"Well Raven, that was… a lot." Hadrian said with a sigh. "Shall we explore some outside while the elves clean up our new home?” "Letsss!" Raven lazily hissed. Trying not to cough too badly as closing the front door sent a wave of dust into his lungs, Hadrian wandered around to the back of the manor. The shrubbery was a bit of a struggle to push through but luckily none of them had any thorns. He felt as if he were exploring the great unknown, in a forest that had yet to see the destruction that humanity brings as they cut anything in their path to build their towns and cities.

Around the corner of the house, Hadrian could see the green house and stables Silverclaw had told him about in the distance. Despite the out of control plant growth, both structures seemed to be sturdy and safe to go into. Entering the green house first, Hadrian observed plants of all shapes, sizes, and colors. They were unlike anything he had ever seen before and couldn't wait to dive into the Peverell library to read about how to tend to them. But, seeing as how he had no idea if any of the plants may decide to eat him, he turned around and went towards the stable. The stable wasn't as impressive as it held no creatures in it but the size alone was enormous. Any animal that was ever kept here was lucky to live in such luxury. Raven seemed to think so too as she slithered down his body to go explore on her own.

Knowing she would return eventually, Hadrian walked around the backyard for a bit longer. He didn’t dare go into the woods as he feared he would get lost but wanted to go in there some time in the future. Who knows what he might find out there! It was so fun to look at everything and be able to see it all in way more detail than he ever could before! The colors were so vibrant and the patterns on some of the birds that flew by and flowers around the grounds were wonderful.

As time passed and the sun started to go down, Hadrian headed back to his new home. Milly met him at the back door with a smile and was proud to let him know that the house had been deep cleaned and ready for him to stay in. Willard had kindly prepared a simple dinner of a meat and two veg to enjoy and apologized for not being able to provide better food on such late notice. Hadrian told the elf between bites of the delicious meal that he can go to Gringotts to grab any money he needs for fixing up the manor or buying food and to just let him know afterwards. The elf thanked him several times before popping off to go do some chores somewhere else around the house.

Not quite ready to head to bed just yet, Hadrian went to find the library. To his excitement, he found it rather easily and the library was bigger than any he had ever seen. Granted, he had only been to the public and school libraries but that isn't the point. The library was two floors tall with spiral staircases on either side of the room to reach the second floor. It also held several couches and chairs to lounge in in the center of the room. Hadrian ran his fingers along the spines of many books looking for ones specifically on magical plants. Many of the titles drew his attention on topics of things he had never heard of before and was excited to read all about!

Ivy popped in and asked Hadrian if he would like some tea before bed as he reached a section on magical zoology and he happily accepted her offer. The young elf returned within a short second with tea, a small plate of shortbread, and a potion that she stated is to help the little master grow. It was another icky tasting nutrients potion but if it meant he would grow, Harry would only grumble a tad bit about its bitterness. Ivy was also quite happy to help him find the book he wanted and gave a small explanation about the subject being called herbology and popped away with the promise of more help if he needed anything.

Ready to test out the comfortable looking couches, Hadrian plopped himself down and they did not disappoint. The couch fabric was soft and the cushions just as comfortable as they looked! Hadrian laid down across the cushions and slightly grimaced as his small self barely covered most of one of the three sections. He opened the book to distract his quiet self hating thoughts and dove into herbology 101. His eyes started to droop as the excitement of the day slipped away and exhaustion took its place. He felt the book drop to his chest as his eyes closed for a fourth time and did not open again until morning came along.

“Young master?” A voice softly called, waking Hadrian up from his slumber. With a long sigh, Hadrian sat up on the couch and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “Yes Milly?” He asked, his voice still a bit groggy. “Would yous like to go to your bedroom for a changes of clothes? Milly got yous new clothes already master as yous brought none with yous." She said with a giggle. Feeling very grateful for her thoughtfulness, Hadrian thanked her as he shuffled down the hall and upstairs to his new room. The room was bigger than Dudley’s first bedroom and the bed was big enough to fit at least three Hadrian’s on it! The comforter looked so soft and matched the color theme of the Peverell family crest with some hints of green that Milly stated matched his eyes.

Having already prepared a much needed outfit the night before for Hadrian, Milly handed it to the boy. Hadrian smiled at her in thanks and went to the bathroom to slip the outfit on. The bathroom was just as nice as the rest of the manor and the bathroom counters were an intricate marble with deep sinks and a large mirror that revealed his horrible bed head in the mirror. "Does master need Milly's help?" Milly asked with a mischievous smile. Hadrian just nodded his head and pointed to his hair. To his surprise, Milly just snapped her fingers and gave him an entirely new haircut. She shaved the sides and the back leaving it only in the top and somehow worked her house elf magic making it have a styled yet messy look. It also revealed his now extremely faded lightning scar to the point that it was barely even noticeable! As he looked in the mirror Milly had provided for him, Hadrian thought about the potions Marcy had given him to heal up his scars. Maybe he could get some more to remove it completely!

"Thank you Milly! It looks great!" Now dressed in a soft red shirt and black jeans that actually fit, Hadrian practically skipped down stairs before wandering around and following the smell of food to the kitchen. At the stove, stood Willard cooking some eggs and bacon along wth some beans and toast. "Good morning little master! Yous look good today." He said with a smile. "I'm not that little... am I?" Hadrian wonders out loud. Willard just smiled and handed his master his breakfast and offered a mouse to Raven. With a snap, the magic holding the mouse still was released and Raven slithered off on the hunt to catch her breakfast.

As he munched on his beans and toast, Hadrian saw Willard open a window and an owl flew on in. “A letter for yous from Gringotts.” Willard stated after looking at the letter’s seal and handed a slice of bacon to the hungry owl. Hadrian nodded in thanks as he still had food in his mouth and began to read through the letter Silverclaw had written him. The goblin described his meeting with the Lord Malfoy, Lucius, and how he told the man about Hadrian’s situation and tweaked the family tree slightly to hide his true parentage. He explains how he understands Hadrian being wary but to give the family a chance and that the Malfoy family is a well respected dark family and Lucius requested that a letter he wrote be sent to Hadrian.

Attached to the back of the goblin’s letter was Lord Lucius’s letter. The man introduces himself and mentions his wife, Narcissa, and their son Draco, who is around Hadrian’s age. He seemed decent in his letter and talked about how had he known about Hadrina earlier, he would have done everything in his power to take him in and care for him as if a child of his own. It all sounded genuine but adults know how to manipulate with their words to get their way. Not wanting to push them away but not ready to fully trust them, Hadrian started to draft a letter in return.

He tells Lucius in his letter about his wariness to trust the family as they are strangers to him but wanting to connect with his magical family and meet them at some point. He did his best to make the script legible as he was unused to writing with a quill and ink. Hadrian paused to talk to Daisy, asking her if they have owls as they are used for mail and when told no, scratched out a few lines to rewrite about when to meet up. He wrote asking if the Mafloys would be willing to meet in public and help him around town as he needs to purchase some supplies soon. If they knew of any good places to go, Hadrian would greatly appreciate their help. With the letter finished, Milly looked over the letter and used her magic to clean up the smudges and scratched out lines. All he can do now is wait for their response and hope all goes well… maybe they can even help him buy a new owl.

Chapter Text

While waiting for Lord Malfoy to respond to his letter, Hadrian goofed off in front of his bathroom mirror. Silverclaw had explained to him what being a metamorphmagus meant and he giggled to his heart’s delight as he focused and changed himself with magic. After spending so much time hiding his magic to not be screamed at for being a freak, he had never felt so free! He lost track of how long he spent changing his hair color and going from bushy eyebrows to an extra pointy nose. His favorite trick was hiding away his lightning bolt scar and couldn’t wait to get his hands on more scar removal potions like what Marcy gave him at Gringotts. Maybe he could just go to Gringotts later and buy the potions from the goblins!

Raven hissed praise in his ear when he successfully removed the snake scales he had grown across his cheek. It got stuck for a good few minutes and Hadrian’s best guess was that animal features are harder to control. He shifted everything back to normal, minus hiding his scar, when Milly knocked on the bathroom door. She walked in with a letter in her hand with a seal he was growing to become familiar with as the wax had the Malfoy’s crest pressed into it. “The letter is safe! I has checked it myself!” Milly stated proudly as she had taken to protecting her master quite seriously and her English had been quickly improving. The letter itself was brief and simple, having been alerted by Silverclaw of Hadrian’s situation, the Lord did not want to overwhelm him with too many people at once. He suggested that Hadrian meet his son along with his godfather, Severus Snape, at Florean Fortescue ice cream parlor to be in a public setting so Hadrian can feel safer.

There was also a separate note at the bottom of the letter stating that Draco is an avid shopper and is quite excited to meet him. He had told his father to ensure that Hadrian knew that he had offered his services to help his cousin look and have the best as that is what everyone in his family deserves. And that, if he is willing, Draco would love to show him around their family manor and share a cuppa tea with him after their shopping trip. Hadrian had never been allowed to go shopping before, aunt Petunia had always done it and now Milly or Willard will pop over to wherever they need for supplies. Scribbling down a quick response, Hadrian agreed to meet later on at the date and time suggested.

With more than a full day to mentally prepare to meet his cousin and the man that was actually godfather to both of them, Hadrian stressed in the library as he poured over texts on wizard etiquette to avoid accidentally insulting anyone. Milly sent Daisy and Ivy to him several times to remind him to eat and provided him with meals and snacks in between with nutrient potions to keep him from getting sick due to eating so frequently after starvation. He had been warned that after missing so many meals that he may never regain all the height his body should have grown into but some height is better than none.

The day passed by quicker than Hadrian would have preferred but he slept well as he went to bed with a full stomach and without injuries from his relatives. When he woke up and headed downstairs for breakfast, he couldn’t help but wonder where Milly was getting his clothes from. She puffed her chest out slightly and proudly claimed that she had used her magic to preserve some of her old master’s clothing and had shrunk it to better fit Hadrian. A bit weirded out over wearing a dead person's hand-me downs, and already nervous about the meeting, Hadrian did his best to hide his discomfort and insisted on cooking breakfast.

Despite it being against an elf’s nature to argue with their masters, both Milly and Willard were quick to try and talk the young boy out of his idea. They ended in a compromise to where Hadrian could cook his food, just this once, as it was to help with his anxiousness. Their only request was that they could supervise and they get to clean up after him. Hadrian agreed as he loved to cook, especially considering he no longer had to sneak in bites of food when his relatives weren't looking. He kept the food light so as to not upset his nervous stomach and took his nutrient’s potion without a grimace as he was starting to grow used to the taste. Raven doesn’t bother hunting anything as she had had her fill of mice for a while and complained about getting fat if the elves didn’t stop spoiling her.

The elves quickly used their magic to wash up the kitchen and waved Hadrian up to his bedroom to get ready. He grabbed the ragged outfit that he had arrived at the manor in from earlier that week and changed into it. His magic shrinks the clothes down to actually fit him and add a bit of color back into them. Looking in the mirror at his messy hair, he scrunched his nose in concentration and watched as his metamorphosis abilities helped out his hair a little bit and made sure that his faded lightning bolt scar was completely hidden away. Raven was curled up in her usual spot, around his stomach, and it was nearly time to go.

Still fairly unfamiliar with most wizard ways of travel, Hadrian requested for Milly to take him to Florean. He felt his body get squeezed tightly and spun for a short second before they landed in the alley with a resounding pop. He thanked Milly for her help and was quite thankful to the elve’s way of transport being much quicker than that of the portkey the goblins had given him. Diagon Alley was busy with men and women, all dressed in robes of various colors, traveling up and down the roads. Hadrian looked down at himself and couldn’t help but feel embarrassed at his lack of magical attire and it would seem several people around him did not approve either.

A boy that seemed to be close to his age was staring at him in distress and trying his best to hide those emotions behind a pained smile. He was standing next to a man dressed entirely in black and didn’t look the happiest to be out in the sun as his pale skin was likely to burn quite quickly. Hadrian tried not to appear intimidated as the pair made their way towards him and the boy spoke up. “Are you the new found cousin father told me about? Hadrian?” Hadrian nervously nodded, not wanting to say the wrong thing and also just not used to anyone his age being willing to talk to him. “Ah… well met cousin, I am Draco, Draco Malfoy.” Draco held out his hand and Hadrian quickly wiped his hand to remove any sweat before accepting the handshake. The blond continued to speak as they shook hands, “Father told me that you were unrightfully raised by muggles so I will forgive your drab clothing for now. Come on! We must get you some new clothes before ice cream as this is a horrid!”

The man standing beside Draco spoke up for the first time at this statement by saying Draco’s name in a scolding tone. The pale boy blushed in embarrassment and apologized for seeming rude and that his tongue can get ahead of him at times. He promised to make up for his uncivil commentary by paying for their treats after shopping as he had now made it his mission to find Hadrian a wardrobe appropriate for that of a Malfoy! He quickly introduced his godfather, Severus Snape, before taking hold of Hadrian’s hand and led him over to Madam Malkin’s robes for all occasions.

Draco entered the building as if he ran the place and once he could see that they had the store to themselves, he called out for Madam Malkin. “My lady Malkin, I have an emergency for you!” Footsteps sounded from the back of the store and soon a cheerful lady he could only assume to be Madam Malkin appeared. "Hello heir Malfoy, what seems to be the issue today?” She asked in a tone that suggested this wasn’t the first wardrobe drama Draco has come into her store with. She paused as her blue eyes landed on Hadrian and gave him a sad smile. “I see, let me have a good look at you dear so we can get you fixed up nice and quick.”

Hadrian let Draco lead him over to a stand and watched with awe as measuring tapes flew around him with a simple flick of Malkin’s wrist. A parchment and quill flew beside the tape and wrote down his measurements. Severus just stood back and let Draco do his thing as he and Madam Malkin held up different squares of fabric to his skin and eyes, commenting to each other which colors would go best for his particular skin tone. Hadrian did pipe up a time or two for colors that he liked and particular fabrics that he felt were the most comfortable. Soon enough, Hadrian had a bill of nearly 100 galleons with shirts, jackets, robes, shorts, pants, and shoes for casual. Draco promised that he has another place in mind for any dress robes and other fancy attire he may need for future events.

Luckily, Severus stepped in at this point and suggested that they wait another day as he could see Hadrian was feeling exhausted and a bit overwhelmed. Draco apologized again for getting ahead of himself and admitted he hadn’t had this much fun in a while. Madam Malkin complemented Draco on his eye for design and Hadrian for being such a good model and sport about the entire fiasco. She let them know his clothes will take an hour or two and to take their time and have fun after Hadrian had paid her with his Gringotts card. Grateful for her help, he thanked her once more before they left the store.

Directly across from Madam Malkin’s store was Florean Fortescue’s Ice-cream Parlour and Hadrian did his best to keep himself from drooling. The treats he could see from the windows looked absolutely delicious and smelled delectable. A bell jingled as the group of three entered the building and a teenager welcomed them in from behind the counter. Hadrian had only been lucky enough to taste ice cream a few times when Dudley would hate a flavor and give it to him as Vernon did not want to waste anything, not even if it meant giving it to the freak. The menu had many flavors Hadrian had never heard of before including chocolate frog fudge, vampire’s delight, and creamy butterbeer.

After having tasted a few samples and Draco giving a rundown of the best flavors, Hadrian ordered a small chocolate frog fudge sundae and took his time, savoring the flavor. Draco got a butterbeer milkshake with extra marshmallow drip on top and tried to pay for their treats before Severus insisted on paying. The man did not get himself anything but claimed that Lucius had given him some extra galleons to treat the boys. Draco didn’t fight his godfather over this as they were still in front of the teenager but did grumble afterwards about being forced to go against his word on promising to pay for their treats himself.

They sat outside in the sun despite the summer heat as Severus placed a cooling charm on them and the ice cream to prevent it from melting too quickly. They ate in silence as the boys enjoyed their sugar filled dessert as they watched various wizards and witches shop throughout the Alley. Draco proudly announced a new promise once he finished his milkshake by vowing to buy Hadrian anything from one of the stores that he wants. They still had time to spare for Malkin to finish adding weather charms and such onto the new clothes so they could explore for a while. His suggestion was for them to check out the quidditch supplies first and Hadrian agreed, despite having no idea what draco was talking about.

Draco was allowed to lead the way and pointed out a shop a few stores down the road. It was called Quality Quidditch supplies and had a broomstick displayed in the window, much to both the boy’s delight. Severus followed them at a slower pace as they did their best not to run ahead and stared at the broomstick. “Father bought me the model that came out before this one, the Nimbus 800! I’ll bet father would buy this one too so that we could each have a broom to use! We would take turns of course, on getting the newer faster broom.” Draco stated matter of factly with a smile. The thought of wind rushing through his hair as he flew around brought a giddy smile to Hadrian’s face. “How much is it? It looks like it would cost a fortune.” Hadrian asked, not meaning to say so out loud and caught the eye of a red head glaring at him and the back of Draco’s head.

Hadrian tilted his head in confusion, unsure of why the boy would seem to feel such a dislike towards his friend and distant cousin. Draco noticed his look of confusion and asked what was the matter, turning to see the angry boy. Seeing this as an invitation to walk over to them, the boy leaves a redheaded woman and girl that he seemed to be shopping with. “Malfoy.” He said in a jealous tone, “Bragging about your wealth that your family stole to buy another friend are you?” Draco frowned, looking truly upset unlike when he was playfully grumbling at Floreans, and responded with a mask of indifference. “A Weasley I presume… is your family still in denial of being the cause behind their own failures?” The boy who had yet to introduce himself flushed red in anger, nearly matching with his hair.

The woman he was with stopped him from retorting by squeezing his shoulder and calling out his name in warning. “Ronald Weasely! What have I told you about wandering off, especially in such a busy place as this!” Severus placed a hand on Hadrian and Draco’s shoulder as well and acknowledged the woman’s presence. “Molly.” “Severus.” Was the woman short response before tugging her son away and loudly nagging him for hanging out around people of their sort, whatever that meant. Hadrian looked up to Severus for answers but the man claimed it was not something to be talked about with so many listening ears around them.

“We can talk about it at the manor if you would like? And we can have Lady Malkin owl deliver your clothes there too.” Draco suggested and they headed back to Malkin to let her know. She was happy to do an owl order free of charge as Draco was a favorite customer of hers and wished them well. Severus led them to a safe apparition spot and Hadrian did his best to not get sick once they landed inside Draco’s home. They waited to let Hadrian regain his normal breathing before going into the seating room for tea. Lord and lady Malfoy arrived shortly after Dobby got them all seated with tea and biscuits and let Draco ramble about their trip, including their untimely meeting with some of the Weasleys.

Draco requested permission from his parents to share the story behind the Malfoy-Weasley feud and turned to Hadrian in excitement when granted his wish. He quickly began to gossip about how a few generations back, there had been a marriage contract between a Malfoy Lord and Weasley Lady. He explained the different ancient pureblood family lines and how at the time, the Weaselys were quite rich. Their two households wanted to combine through matrimony to form an alliance and the contract was written up when the couple were teenagers. Neither side was being forced into the marriage and both parties seemed happy with the arrangement. However, the Weasley lady fell in love with a muggle and never arrived at the altar as she ran away with her new “boo” to marry him instead. This greatly disrespected the Malfoy family and by breaking the contract, the Weasely’s were forced to pay for the damages of the betrothal contract and lost most of the properties and finances to the Malfoy family. Since then, the Weaselys have hated the Malfoys when it is their relatives' fault and she could have requested for the contract to be made null instead.

Hadrian sat there in shock at such a crazy story and agreed that it was the Weasley Lady’s fault. “Is that what Molly Weasley meant by not hanging out with that sort? She dislikes you all and me by association for supposedly stealing from her family?” The Malfoys kindly informed Hadrian on the fight over the use of dark magic and how families with darker cores, such as themselves, are being discriminated against as the light sees them as evil and the history behind the last wizarding war. They were happy to answer Hadrian’s questions and welcomed him to the family. Dobby refilled their teas and biscuits several times over the next few hours as they all talked and got to know each other. Hadrian still had a lot to learn but he was doing his best to be well informed and it seemed that Dumbledore was in the middle of it all. Which to him was just plain ridiculous for the light side to see the man as a wise leader as the word dumb was in the beginning of his name! He was going to need to put his plans into action soon rather than later if he wanted to be safe from Dumbledore’s clutches!

Chapter Text

After spending the rest of the day with the Malfoys, Milly had popped into their home and insisted it was time for Hadrian to return home and go to bed as little masters need good sleep to grow big and strong! Hadrian thanked the Malfoys and Severus for their time and tea before Milly took them both back to the Peverell manor. She returned to the Malfoys a second time to collect Hadrian’s new clothes and rushed the boy to bed with a set of silk pajamas that Draco had ordered for him. The material matched the sheets on his oversized bed and couldn’t help but fear that this entire week was a massive nightmare that would end at any moment and he would find himself back in his little cupboard. Raven offered to nip him to prove it was not a dream but Hadrian declined as if it was a nightmare, he wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible.

As more time passed, the month of May was nearing its end and Hadrian met up with Draco another few times at both Diagon Alley and the Malfoy manor. He was introduced to the ways of floo travel and linked into the wards as to floo in any time he wanted or needed. Narcissa was happy to help Draco improve Hadrian’s wardrobe and they went with him to bet an owl as well! It was there that he discovered his second familiar, a beautiful snowy owl, that he named Hedwig. She got along well with Raven and was happy to deliver notes to and from Draco and correspondents with the goblins.

It was during an ordinary morning in late May that Hedwig delivered another letter from the goblins, this one was from Silverclaw. It stated that the matter is urgent and that after a long week of digging through years of paperwork, all of Dumbledore’s withdrawals from Hadrian’s vaults had been looked over. Silverclaw requested Hadrian’s presence as he did not want to risk any of this information falling into anyone else’s hands. He wasted no time getting ready to leave and told Milly to let the Malfoys know he had a meeting at Gringotts if any of them drop by. He grabbed some floo powder from the painted pot by the fireplace, that is large enough to comfortably fit a family of three standing up, and called out the provided password to floo directly into Gringotts.

His body was spun around rapidly as if stuck in the middle of a cyclone and his eyes stung as dust flew into them. He felt himself flung forward, out of the fireplace, and fell face first onto the marble flooring. Thankfully, no one else was in the room to see his disastrous luck with magical travel and used a bit of his magic to wish the dust away. He ran a hand through his hair as an heir should always look presentable according to Lucius before heading down the hall. Having counted the doors when Silverclaw had first led him to his office, Hadrian made his way to the correct door quite easily but double checked the plaque on the door just to be safe.

Hadrian knocked on the door twice and waited to be called in. A gravelly voice that didn’t sound exactly like his goblin friend stated he could come in and he hesitated before opening up the door slowly. It could be a trap, after all, some overly powerhungry guy named Dumbledore was being looked into for messing with his vaults and he could be walking into a little red riding hood situation with no woodcutter to save him. Granted, the wizarding world apparently has no little red riding hood story as Draco had no idea what he was talking about when they looked through the library to compare muggle from wizard life but that’s besides the point.

“Greetings master goblin, may your gold overflow.” Hadrian said as the door fully opened and he paused as this goblin was indeed, not Silverclaw. “I mean no disrespect, but who are you?” He asked with caution, ready to run if necessary. “Apologies young wixen, you need not fear me. I am Silverclaw’s apprentice and I am no master. You may call me Tin, sir Tin if you wish. I have yet to earn the end of my name as I must first become a master like Silverclaw. I am hoping to gain the title Tingrip as I hold tight to the gold that I am given. But I am rambling, forgive me. Master Silverclaw was moved down the hall as he is now working full time as your family’s vault overseer. We won’t speak of what was done to your old one.”

Apprentice Tin took Hadrian farther down the hall to the very front of the hall and explained that due to the Peverell being such a powerful family and one of the oldest in Wixen history, they were one of the first to join Gringotts and known to be friends to the goblins in the past just like Hadrian. He told Hadrian to be proud of these facts as very few magical folks see Goblins as more than dumb creatures that are below them and fail to show them respect. The few that do gain more money back as the goblins are more inclined to work with those that took time to learn their ways. As they reach the door labeled Peverell Tin stated that none of Hadrian’s other names are stated for security purposes and because the oldest family line is always the one established on the doors as they are typically the most valuable and respected ones. With a bow and farewell of “May your enemies fall at your feet young one.” Tin left Hadrian to return to his work and trek back down the hall.

Hadrian rapped his knuckles lightly on the door and Silverclaw’s voice rang through, telling him to come in. They exchanged the usual greetings and Hadrian admired the new room. The set up was nearly identically to the old one minus the fact that piles of papers and files fill nearly the entire room! Even one of the chairs was full and he had to squeeze through carefully to not knock anything over. Silverclaw waved a clawed hand towards an open chair as he shifted through for specific papers, grumbling under his breath in possible goblin curses as the growls were hard to understand. “Apologizes Heir Peverell, for the mess and for the use of curses around such young ears. It is unbecoming of me to speak in such a way. As you can see, your previous vault managers left quite a mess.”

Hadrian watched and listened as Silverclaw continued to grab a few sheets of notes and the goblin explained that Dumbledore had been bribing the Potter’s goblin. That goblin was punished accordingly and what was done to him is not for young ones to know about. As for the Peverells, the family had been thought to have died out and as no one had been accepted as an heir to the family in years through their magic until now so the vaults had been highly neglected! “To be quite frank,” Silverclaw grumbled, “your vaults are a mess.”

Hadrian couldn’t help but laugh at the goblin’s blunt statement and asked if he could do anything to help. He was told no and thanked for the offer. Silverclaw handed Hadrian a parchment from the pile he had collected, and it was a list of many names he was unfamiliar with. The master goblin went on to inform his client that many families were nearly wiped out in the last wizard’s war and those of the older generation with no heirs to give their titles and lands to, gifted nearly everything to Harry Potter as thanks. The polite and correct political thing to do is to write them all a letter of acceptance and gratitude that is long overdue as these should have been written years ago by his magical guardian, which Dumbledore neglected to do.

One thing the old coot did do though, was to create a ward around Harry to send all fan mail to what was once an empty vault. It is now teeming with letters that have built up quickly over the years and an entire team of goblins and curse breakers are shifting through them all to remove any letters left to do harm to Harry. The legal change of his name should prevent the ward from effecting any future letters sent to him as it was connected to his name and not his magical signature but fan letters to Harry should continue to enter the vault. Not wanting Harry Potter to fully disappear, Hadrian agreed to have any letters of importance sent to him once cleared by the goblins to write letters in return and is given a large package of prepared letters.

“Now that we have covered the somewhat adequate choices Dumbledore had made for you, it is time to dive into the bad. This list is much longer and is why it took me so long to get through everything.” Silverclaw warned and gestured to the piles of paper placed throughout the office. It took time, a lot of time, but they began to review his many transactions over the course of his time in charge of Harry. With paying the Durselys a mixture of hush money and an incentive fund to care for him, there were 103 payments total, with one for each month since the doorstep dropoff. Every payment was sent on the first day of the month and luckily, the payments had not been cut off yet, meaning Dumbledore was unaware that Hadrian was missing from his relative’s house. With this in mind, they would release the news about Harry Potter running away on the first of June as Dumbledore wasn’t the only one with a love for a bit of a dramatic flair.

Some random additional withdrawals of various amounts were removed by Dumbledore under the claim of Harry needing supplies for one thing or another. Silverclaw’s best assumption was that it was for pocket money for the man. There were also a few withdrawals for a bird fund shortly after the Potter parents' murders, but those stopped after a couple of months. James Potter’s invisibility cloak was missing as were a family tome or two but Silverclaw promised that they can easily be recalled with a bit of goblin magic. As for the other vaults, Dumbledore had no knowledge of them, as Harry had to accept the heir rings or be accepted by the family's magic first.

The last bit of business for the visit was several investments that had been made over the years. Fleamont Potter’s invention of the Sleekeazy hair potion was the most popular money maker, alongside some shares with Quality quidditch supplies James had made right after Harry’s birth. The Potters held small shares in many of the shops throughout Diagon Alley and Silverclaw encouraged Hadrian to buy more as they were all doing fantastic. Hadrian agreed and promised Silverclaw another commission as thanks for all his hard work in getting everything in order. The goblin gave a sharp toothed grin and thanked the boy as their meeting came to an end and promised to inform him on any new investments he finds and or buys more of.

Hadrian returned to his manor shortly after a brisk walk down the long hall to the floo network. The meeting had not gone on for too long and it was time to set out the beginnings of his plan. June first was only two days away after all! He carefully spent the next two hours weaving his story without giving hints towards where or who he is now. He didn’t want to include the goblins at all in fear of Dumbledore hunting some of them down as he wouldn't put it past the man to try and get away with it because goblins are mistreated already for being dark creatures. Silverclaw promised this would not be the case as history has told many times of the goblins' strength in their wars with wizards and an attack on them would incur another war that the wizards would not be prepared for.

He wrote about how he remembers how his parents tragically died and actually tears up for a moment as he truly does miss them. His hands slightly shook as he described the screams, flashes of green light, and pain. Draco had actually been the one to tell him the whole story as the boy had been shocked at Hadrian’s lack of wizarding knowledge and gave a dramatic telling of the entire tale of the slain Potter parents and a defeated Dark Lord. It had been a lot to take in and he made sure not to touch his healed scar when Draco mentioned Harry Potter’s famous lightning bolt scar from surviving the killing curse.

Hadrian paused to take in a deep breath to calm down and return to his letter. He moved onto the fact Dumbledore illegally became his magical guardian and placed him with his muggle relatives. Silverclaw had been the first to inform him of the man with too many names and titles. The young heir described his confusion upon this discovery as he had never met or heard of any Dumbledores until his visit with the goblins and becoming their friend. He explained how his magic had brought him to the goblins and was now in hiding, under their protection as Dumbledore had made a dumb mistake placing him with muggles.

Although it was hard to bring up many horrible memories, Hadrian vividly detailed several specific incidents of accidental magic and the treatment he received for these uncontrollable actions. He went into the fact that he had silently spent years begging for help and was always ignored and pushed away, especially by adults. He wrote all about his fear of what would happen should muggles discover magic was real and the harm that would come to all of them. He finished off the letter pleading with her to share his story with the wizarding world as he fears what could be happening to other children like him and may not be as lucky as him for their magic to send them somewhere safe. He added an additional note at the end requesting she wait for June 1st to spread the word and thanked her for her time.

Taking some wax to seal up the letter, Hadrian used his Potter ring to prove the authenticity of his message. Hedwig flew down to his shoulder, already aware that she was needed and hooted in happiness as her feathers got scratched. Willard used his magic to place a glamor on Hedwig to prevent anyone from connecting her to both Hadrian and Harry Potter in the future and tied the letter to the owl’s leg. After receiving one last scratch, Hedwig flew out the manor and all Hadrian could do was wait. And start looking over the letters Silverclaw gave him but WIllard insisted on eating lunch before anymore work.

Chapter Text

By the time June first came around, Rita Skeeter had sent him a long letter of condolences for his sufferings and many pretty words promising to do all in her power to spread the word for his sake. She also included the final version of her article to be reviewed before it was posted and offered to be of any help he may need in the future. While the woman was clearly fishing for more gossip to spread to gain more popularity, Hadrian was looking forward to working with her more in the possible future and let her know this in his letter approving the article.

He read through the article and he loved the dramatic title, “The boy-who-lived abused!?” It was a wonderful attention grabber and left nothing to the imagination. She included all the details he provided about his childhood and built on his fear of what muggles would do should they discover the wizarding world. Her article explained research she had done to confirm how muggles now lived and how they have grown since the world wars and reflects on what they did to the Wixen during the witch trials. She drags Dumbledore’s name through the mud for his failure to care for Harry and questions why nothing was done by him or the ministry. She finishes off in a spectacular way by encouraging the Wixen to gather together for the sake of the children and do something to prevent such a horrible thing from ever occurring again as their savior is considering leaving the magical world entirely!

Hadrian sat back with a sigh. Even though the woman tended to thrive on the dramatic side of life, she certainly has a way with words. It could not have been written any better and he was looking forward to the wizarding world’s reaction to it all. Silverclaw believed that it should cause the magical world to unite an uproar as children, regardless of being magical or not, are to be treasured as they are blessings from Lady Magic. Maybe several follow up articles on the topic of child abuse and mistreatment will be written along with new laws passed on better protecting children and Hadrian was hopeful that Lucius will be a part of the crusade. In fact, he had arranged to eat breakfast with his family with the article in mind to put the idea in the man’s head if Narcissa doesn’t bring it up first.

Ready to pop on over to the Malfoys, Hadrian gave Raven a warning as he walked into the floo room. The room itself is simple, looking like an empty hallway with an old fireplace. A painted pot holds some sort of sand in it on the mantle above the fireplace that was a bit too high for him to be able to reach until Milly had it lower to his height. “Malfoy manor”, he called out and heard Raven hiss in annoyance as they spun around. Draco’s voice could be heard yelling about something being an outrage and he had a pretty good guess on what had the boy thrown into such a tizzy. Draco idolizes Harry Potter and proudly displays every book written about the savior’s adventures in his collection. When finding out about this, Silverclaw began the process of suing the author amongst several others for writing about a minor without their given permission.

As he entered the dining room, Narcissa was the first to see and greet him. “Hello Hadrian, I hope you are having a better morning than dear Draco at the moment.” She said in a teasing tone and ignored Draco’s drama happening in the background. They all knew it was better to let him exhaust himself to keep the rant that always follows from going on for too long. Lucius sat at the head of the table looking even more pale than usual and was ignoring his morning tea. Perhaps Harry Potter’s story had been more detailed than needed for the magical community to read? The man couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Draco in worry so the man could be imagining his son in Harry’s position and that is why he looked ready to be sick. Lucius and Narcissa love their son and are wonderful parents despite what the light side claims to know about supporters of the dark side.

“Do you know what’s upsetting Draco and Lucius so badly?” Hadrian asked Narcissa as the woman appeared to be completely calm, unlike the blond males in the household. “The boys have discovered some rather upsetting news about Harry Potter but refuse to share any of the details with me.” “It is for your own good my dear, these details are not for a woman such as yourself to read as they are unbecoming news of what was done to the child by his disgraceful relatives. Pigs are more like it if you ask me.” Lucius claimed, having gained some of his color back. His hands trembled slightly as he returned to his tea and made a slight face when he discovered it had grown cold.

After whispering an incantation and waving his hand over his tea to warm it back up, he spoke up again. “There is a reason why we warn you boys to be cautious around Dumbledore. If he cannot take the time to check up on the child he has claimed to be the magical guardian over, how much worse would he do for you two while the headmaster of your school? I don’t say this to scare you but to prepare you. Hadrian, have the goblins taught you anything about Occlumency?” “No sir but I know it has to do with the mind and my Peverell ring has protections on it to help against such things.”

“We will have to have Severus see if he has time to train you. I can teach you the basics as I have done with Draco but Severus knows Legilimency which is the way one enters your mind compared to Occlumency is how to defend your mind and sharpen your memory. I wouldn’t put it past that old man to try and secretly slip in your mind as he has an obsessive need to know everything despite Legilimency being near illegal to do on minors.” “Does it hurt?” Hadrian asked in fear. “No, it should not hurt unless the invader is extremely forceful and purposely meaning for it to hurt, with Severus you will barely feel a thing. Merely a poke but in your mind instead of on your body such as your arm.”

Draco joined in on the conversation, having calmed down and always excited at the mention of his godfather’s name. “Uncle Sev is the best at Legilimency! He taught me all about it and says I have some of the best shields he has ever seen! Instead of a boring old wall like the books suggest, I imagine a bunch of dad’s prized peacocks attacking the invader to disorient them and kick them out! And if they get past that because uncle Sev is just that good, you end up in a potion room and I swirl you around in the potion being stirred to make you super dizzy!” The blond bragged and was practically beaming when his parents complemented him on doing a wonderful job.

Draco was quick to offer his book on Occlumency to Hadrian and rushed off to grab it once his mother excused him from the table. Dobby popped in with some breakfast for the group as they chatted about what they have all been up to over the past few days and Hadrian mentioned his visit with Silverclaw. Lucius was incredibly impressed with Hadrian for befriending the goblins and told him so with a toast. The Malfoy lord inquired about their direct relation as the goblins had refused to share the exact details with him. This gave Hadrian the opening he needed and was happy to share.

He told Lucius all about doing the blood inheritance test to learn about his family as he had been raised by magic hating muggles that were descended from squibs. His connection to the Malfoys was through Narcissa’s family, the Blacks. Marius Black was Hadrian’s grandfather and while the man had married another squib, they had done their best to keep the secret of magic from their children, not wanting to create hate over them being separated from the magical world. He explained that he learned about this when he discovered a letter addressed to him by his grandfather and how he knew to go to the goblins for help. His parents had been killed during the wizarding war in an attack and his muggle relatives hated him for being a freak as they saw themselves as better than magic users for not being so stuck in medieval times and traditions. Naturally, only part of this story was true as Silverclaw and Hadrian had crafted it together but it held some truth and that always makes lies such as this more believable and easier to not slip up on.

However, Hadrian took the storytelling a step further and admitted that he should have gone to Sirius instead of the Malfoys but couldn’t as the man was illegally incarcerated in Azkaban. He knew that Lucius held power and connections to high places and could get Sirius a trial to prove his innocence much easier than Hadrian as adults rarely want to admit to a child that they were ever wrong. Narcissa raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow in surprise as Draco gasped at the fact that their cousin was being wrongly held in such a horrible prison and looked to Lucius to do something about it. “It would seem that Dumbledore blundered again, as chief warlock of the Wizengamot, it is partially his job to keep up with making sure all the trials occur, especially for those of higher families like the Blacks. This is an outrage, if you will excuse me, it would seem I have a lot of business to attend to.” Lucius stated and hastily stepped out of the room to get to work.

The next few minutes were mostly silent as the three picked at their food as their appetites had left them. Draco hesitantly broke the silence with a question for Hadrian. “Hadrian, did… did your magic hating relatives treat you like they did Harry Potter?” Hadrian was quiet as he considered his answer while Narcissa scolded Draco for asking such a blunt question, despite not meaning it out of malice or disrespect. “I definitely have a few scars but with the nerve damage they caused, the healer at Gringotts wasn’t able to help heal them all…” Draco and Narcissa were thoughtful and did not push for details. Narcissa simply told the boys to follow her and led them to her office where she kept several emergency potions on hand as she is a trained healer.

“There may not be any potions out there for treating nerve damage but I do have several potions on hand that can help with the symptoms of nerve pain. I know Severus is working on a potion to heal the full extent of nerve damage but these will have to do for now.” She pulled out two darker colored potions from a locked cabinet and handed them to Hadrian. “The one in your left will help heal up minor damage to scars and the right will decrease nerve pain. If you need any more, never hesitate to ask me or Severus.” She brushed a stand of hair out of Hadrian’s face and gave him a kiss on the head after receiving a little nod of permission from him. She sent him off to his assigned room that Draco had chosen as it was connected to his bedroom.

Hadrian spends the rest of the afternoon with the Malfoys after applying the potion to his back and a few places on his arms and forehead scar. It dried quickly and left no residue on his skin once seeped in completely. Lucius was gone for the rest of the day but Draco was happy to teach Hadrian more about quidditch as it would be criminal for any friend or family of his to not know how to play the game! Narcissa watched as the referee and was happy to cheer on both sides when either boy scored a goal or did a little trick on their brooms. Hadrian loved flying and Draco had been right about Lucius being happy to buy another broom for them to take turns on as Hadrian would not let the man buy them both a new broom.

After the reveal, Hadrian frequently spent time with the Malfoys and Severus as he had much to learn about the wizarding world and they were more than happy to teach him all about it. Everything went quite well as his Occlumency shields, mediation, and potion skills improved over time with Severus. Narcissa taught him about wizard etiquette and often dragged Draco into additional lessons to tease him as he is already “a proper little prince” in her eyes. Draco introduced Hadrian to some of his friends as well. Lucius was in charge of wizard history and politics which was more sharing Wizenamot’s drama than anything else. He was taught all about why the dark side disliked Dumbledore as the old man would always wait for the maximum amount of damage to occur before swooping in to save the day. He was praised for defeating Grindelwald yet that was the only known time he actually did anything to help in the war.

Lucius informed him of how the Dark Lord was once a proud and brilliant man that slowly grew insane for an unknown reason and Dumbledore had been the one to get in the way of their plans from day one. He fought against the dark lord from the moment the man tried to decrease all the laws against dark magic due to the use of blood magic and the hate on dark creatures. Dumbledore has preached about equality and attempted to persuade werewolves to his side of the fight and yet he is the biggest supporter now for additional hateful laws against their kind. The man claims to do all for “the greater good” but only he knows what the greater good should hold and it doesn’t support the dark side of magic at all.

Months flew by as Hadrian learned more and more. The goblins helped create a distrust towards Dumbledore as they released a redacted copy of Potter’s will to the prophet shortly after the news of Harry Potter. The man had tried to claim Harry was spoiled and had run away and was exaggerating to get his way but the ministry shut him down quickly. The Hogwart’s board was keeping a close eye on Dumbledore to ensure the children were safe. The time of absolute trust towards the “all knowing” headmaster had come to an end for many but his power was still more than enough to avoid anything more than a slap on the wrist of his wrongdoings. The road towards the defeat of the "great" Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and his many titles was going to be a long and difficult one but Hadrian was ready!

Chapter Text

As time for Hogwarts grew closer, Hadrian continued his lessons and absorbed every bit of information he could! Narcissa never let their lessons drag on for too long as it is important to also spend time being a kid. Hadrian struggled with that a bit but Draco was happy to teach him more magical games like wizard’s chess and exploding snap. Neither were major fans of exploding snap as Draco preferred his eyebrows to remain unsigned and Hadrian was constantly startled by the explosions but their friends Vince and Greg loved it. Blaise preferred wizard’s chess as did Daphne but Tracey and Pansy preferred to just watch the boys as they found the games to be too brutish for their tastes.

With the Malfoys and his new friend’s help, Hadrian learned how to stand up for himself and they taught him the rights and wrongs of the world and how to react in those situations. Severus and Lucius had been extremely careful with details on this topic specifically because of a certain nosey, bearded, old man that currently resides in Hogwarts. Narcissa was especially proud of teaching him how to create comebacks worded like a compliment. Lucius and Severus encouraged both boys to follow her advice as she was known for her sharp tongue. Pureblood politics can be a very messy game and having a woman like her on our side was always a major advantage.

Many of their days were spent in the Malfoy manor, away from the nosey public but the Malfoys would come over to the Peverell manor as well. They occasionally visited Spinner's end but Severus preferred brewing at his own home so they tended to stay at the others to avoid possible accidents despite the many protection spells he placed throughout his house. Even the house eves befriended one another as their masters spent so much time together and would all work together to care for everyone. Dobby and Milly teamed up together the most to watch over the boys and would insist on bed time whenever they tried to stay up too late during sleepovers. Mopsy, Severus’s elf, would often use the boys to drag her master out of his house whenever he spent too much time brewing.

Severus took his potions extremely seriously and did not like being disturbed when working but would teach the boys about whatever he was working on when Mopsy would arrive with them. He went shopping with them to hand pick their potions ingredients for school for Draco's birthday in early June and explained the best preservation spells to them despite fresh ingredients being best for potency. Potions was easily both boy’s favorite subject and Hadrian was quite ecstatic when he discovered Severus’s legacy as the youngest potion master ever and his praise nearly made the man blush. Lucius had been the one to tell Hadrian about it one day after Severus spent the afternoon with him and Narcissa grumbling and gossiping about his frustrations with Dumbledore to cheer his friend up.

Severus wasn’t the only one dealing with Dumbledore issues, the man was making politics difficult as well! The man seemed to hold more love for muggles than Arthur Weasley did and tried to deny the dangers that muggles can hold towards things they do not agree with. He was forced to work with Arthur on the topic of muggles as the man was head of the misuse of muggle artifacts to explain the danger that some muggle creations hold. He double checked this information with Hadrian as the Weasley patriarch was currently obsessed with the ideas of rubber ducks and cars. Hadrian was happy to help and liked the man well enough despite the previous treatment he had received from the man’s wife and youngest son.

Lucius also worked hard on getting Sirius a trial and the ministry rushed to fix their horrendous mistake, mainly because Fudge didn't want to fall out of office as the mistake was being pointed towards him. Dumbledore tried his best to put a stop to the trial but backfired as this made the public call for a trial even harder. They knew Sirius was appointed as Harry Potter’s godfather and hoped that if the man was found innocent, could find the boy. When Sirius heard the news, he instantly offered to take Veritaserum and the crowd was in an uproar when it was discovered that Peter Pettigrew, a former hero, was actually the traitor to the Potter family. Sirius had to go to Saint Mungos for mind healing but the man was doing well and had reunited with his friend Remus, who visited him often. The ministry has aurors on the hunt for animagus rats ever since.

The Malfoys and Hadrian were discussing Sirius and his recovery when the boys’ letters arrived a week before Harry Potter's birthday. It used to be Hadrian’s birthday as well but with some help of ancient goblin magic, his birthday changed to the day he took on his new name on May 18th of 1990. Draco had insisted on a “little” celebration and drug Hadrian all over France to go shopping as the Malfoy’s owned a villa there for vacations. Narcissa was happy to chaperone as she loved to spoil both boys and took them shopping for clothes, food, and toys on many occasions. Milly naturally got along quite well with Narcissa and they teamed up on doting Hadrian and Draco every chance they got.

Naturally, Narcissa was more than happy for another chance to shop and purchase their supplies. By now, Hadrian had realized that Narcissa would never bend when it came to him paying for his own things and just let her pay. Severus double checked his spell work and the conditions of the boys’ ingredients as "his godsons were not going to go to Hogwarts using inadequate ingredients!" Even Lucius had already gone ahead and purchased trunks for the both of them and added all the necessary protection charms and their names charmed on. Though there were not many supplies needed that hadn’t already been purchased, Narcissa sent them to go get ready and be ready to leave in half an hour as Drao takes his time with his hair.

Narcissa told them that they would enter through the Leaky Cauldron to enter the alley as it was tradition that her mother did with her and her sisters when they were younger. They took turns using the floo network and while it wasn’t Hadrian favorite way of travel, it was much better than apparition and portkeys. Hadrian had gone first and looked around the pub and breathed in the wonderful aroma of food cooking somewhere in the kitchen as he waited for the other two. Draco arrived next and once Narcissa walked out of the fireplace, she spelled any ashes off of them. The bartender soon saw them and walked over with a kind smile that Hadrian could tell was not faked. "Hello there lads and lady, I'm Tom," he said with a soft voice as he crouched down to match Hadrian's small height, “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you before! I know the noble lad and lady Malfoy, but who might you be.”

"Hello Mr.Tom, my name is Heir Peverell, Hadrian Peverell. The Malfoys are my cousins and took me in as their ward" He said quietly with a small nod as he held his hand out for a handshake. Tom's grip was firm as he gently squeezed Hadrian’s hand with a smile. "Well then Heir Peverell," he says in a dramatic whisper, "may I be of any assistance?" Hadrian cracked a grateful smile and asked if he could use his magic to allow him into Diagon Alley. Tom happily agreed and gently led him by the hand to the back entrance. He stated that he is happy to be of service to two such wonderful families and that he will keep the news to himself so that they may enjoy their trip through the alley. He did a dramatic reveal for Hadrian and Draco before leaving with a playful bow.

Hadrian thanked Tom for his help as did Draco. “Don't wander off lads, young chaps such as yourselves shouldn’t be alone. Stick close to the lovely lady Malfoy as it can be easy to get lost when you’re this size.” Tom told them out as their group started to head out and tipped his hat to Narcissa as a sign of respect. Narcissa smiled at him before leading the boys to Madam Malkin's as robes were the first thing on their list. As they walked down the alley, Hadrian couldn’t help but pause from time to time to glance in shop windows and smile at the casual use of magic all around him. While he had grown more used to the sight of it being used, he never wanted to lose the feeling of awe any time it was shown around him.

The walk to Malkin’s shop was quick as the human traffic wasn’t too busy as many had not yet started their Hogwart’s shopping. Having been inside with the madam on several previous occasions over the past year or so, Malkin worked quickly. The boys bought their robes, dragon hide boots, and full uniforms from her and she wished them luck on their sortings and school. The trio waved goodbye before they headed over to Flourish and Blotts. Narcissa let them each pick out three books not on the school list and Hadrian happily picked Beginners guide to wandless magic, Animagus and how to become one, and Potions for the advanced. Draco got Quidditch throughout the ages, Potion ingredients and where to find them, and Introductory to runes. After a short trip to get parchment, ink, and quills, the three got a sweet treat at Floreans and went back home to pack.

Severus joined them for dinner that night and listened as the boys chatted happily about their trip and Draco complained for a moment about no brooms allowed for the first years being added for the muggleborns sake. Hadrian half heartedly listened as he thought back to the note at the bottom of their letter mentioning both no brooms and something about being up to date on magical potions. He pulled his letter out of his pocket as he had held onto it all day and piped up with a question for Narcissa and Severus. “Uncle Sev, Cissa, what did the letter mean about being up to date about magical potions? I know we should read our textbooks to prepare for school but should we be practicing our potion making skills too?”

Hadrian stiffened as all three adults paused and looked at him in worry. “Hadrian darling, were you never taken to a med witch to take your magical cures against disease like dragon pox?” Narcissa asked. “No… my relatives always claimed my parent’s religion was against vaccines to avoid paying for a trip with me to the doctors.” Draco scrunched his nose in confusion and tried to quietly whisper to ask his father what a vaccine and doctor was. Narcissa and Severus successfully whispered to each other on the other side of the table in worry as Lucius shrugged at his son, not knowing the answer as he too was unfamiliar with those terms.

Dinner ended soon after Narcissa announced it was time for a trip to Saint Mungos as despite her absolute trust in Severus’s brewing skills, she did not want to risk anything going wrong. Hadrian should have been given cure potions since he was a boy and every Wixen takes them every few years to make sure the cure remains in their systems. Dragon pox is especially dangerous and nothing compared to the muggle’s chicken pox. No matter how cool dragons are, he doesn’t want to sneeze fire or turn green and purple! Narcissa was quick to calm him down and promise everything will be alright. Once he gets his metamorphmagus abilities under control and his hair back to its usual color instead of grey and spikey, they head to Saint Mungos.

Wizards and witches of all sorts sat in rows of chairs with injuries clearly indicating magic accidents such as extra arms or animal appendages. Severus led the three of them to the front counter as Draco and Lucius stayed at the manor. He had a whispered conversation with a healer dressed in lime green that had the same wand bone symbol that Marcy from Gringotts had. The woman behind the counter turned pale and looked down at Hadrian in concern as he nervously clutched Narcissa’s hand. She gave him a tight smile that did very little to help his nerves and let her usher them into a room up on the second floor which had a sign that stated it was for magical bugs and diseases.

The woman took them into a room and told them not to leave it and wait for a medwitch to arrive to help them. They all sat down with Hadrian on the bed and Severus and Narcissa on the nearby chairs. The door of the room was closed but made of see-through glass. Hadrian watched a few people walk and rush past their door as they waited for a couple of minutes when a familiar face appeared. “Sirius?!” Hadrian called out to the man and saw as the man turned and smiled at the sound of his voice. A look of confusion and worry fell on his face as he realized Hadrian was seated inside a room to be treated and let himself into the room.

“You all right there pup? Whatcha doin’ in here? Cissa? Snape?” The man asked. “What do you think mutt?” Severus grumbled as he was still bitter towards the man. Sirius had apologized to Severus in person and through a letter for his actions as a teenager but that does little to make up for years of bullying. Severus was happy to return the favor with a few barbs towards the man’s animagus form but Sirius didn’t seem to mind. Narcissa gave both men a look of warning to behave in front of Hadrian. “We found out at dinner that Hadrian had never received his magical cure potions and rushed over here as soon as we had the chance to finish dinner.
After all, taking potions on an empty stomach is never a good idea.” Narcissa stated and Severus nodded in agreement.

A woman dressed in lime green robes that matched the woman at the counter entered the room before their conversation could continue. She had a tray of potions on a cart that she was pushing along by hand and greeted them. She introduced herself as their medwitch for the night and sent Sirius back to his room as it was about time for him to take his potions as well. The man bid them farewell and to visit him again soon before doing as the woman had instructed him to do. She informed Hadrian about the potions he was to take and that they would be rather nasty. She also happily answered his question about pushing the cart as using magic risked interfering with the magic and potency of the potions.

Hadrian did indeed make some faces as he swallowed the fowl tasting potions, one at a time. None of them were appeasing looking colors or the easiest to swallow. The one for dragon pox was so bad that steam shot out of his nose and dried out his mouth. This caused his hair to turn a vibrant red in shock and the medwitch tried to hide her laugh behind a gasp as she stated that she had never seen the potion cause that type of side effect before. Neither adult with Hadrian bothered correcting her as it was none of her business to know otherwise and thanked her for her help. There was a bit of paperwork to fill out in the end to create a medical file for Hadrian and then they were able to head back to the manor.

Narcissa requested that Hadrian stay in his room in the Malfoy manor to ensure that he was alright after taking all those potions and Hadrian slept soundly throughout the entire night. Unfortunately, this was the only night for most of the week that he didn’t toss and turn. While Draco was ecstatic to start school, Hadrian was quite nervous. After being starved for ten years his growth was stunted and even with Narcissa’s healer skills and Severus’s potions, he would never truly grow as much as he should have. Narcissa and Milly made sure he always had snacks and ate his fill but he was still on the scrawny side. Draco was a whole head taller than him and Blaise was even taller! Hadrian had always been teased and picked on for his size and intelligence, so naturally he was quaking in his boots.

Hadrian couldn’t help but freak out about it since they received their letters and his family had noticed his slight eye bags and hands trembling under the table whenever Draco would ramble about his excitement. Narcissa worried that the potions were disrupting his sleep and gave him a few dreamless potions and those helped for a while. They fought off the bad dreams and afterwards, he only had a bad dream once a week or so. But as the days grew closer and the month of July was coming to an end, the nightmares were making a viscous comeback.

The night before the train was when Lucius passed his room and heard a sniffle. He walked in to see the boy practically drowning in blankets in an attempt to quiet his crying and looked terrified when Lucius walked in. His caring guardian slowly walked up to his bed and sat down beside him. He wordlessly asked if it was okay to tough him and hugged him tightly and rubbed his back when he received a little nod. Hadrian's tears began to flood out as he explained his fears.

Soon Draco heard him crying from his room over and told Dobby to grab his mom before running into the room they had insisted on Hadrian spending the night in so they could go to the platform together in the morning. Draco jumped on the bed and curled under the blankets with his undersized cousin and hugged him tight. When Narcissa glided in, dressed in her nightgown, she sat by Lucius's side before he wrapped them all in a group hug. He explained Hadrian's fears to them and Draco immediately became overprotective and dramatic as he loudly proclaimed that no one will ever get the chance to so much as look at him funny with him around.

They spend the next hour whispering to him and promising that Slytherins stick together and will protect him from harm as they all knew how cunning Hadrian could be when he puts his mind to it. By the time he fell asleep, the entire family cuddled with him with the use of a simple expansion charm to fit them all quite comfortably. When morning came, Hadrian arrived on the platform with his caring family, barely able to contain himself. If you looked at him closely, you could see him slightly bouncing up and down on his toes as he strained his neck to look all around.

"Good luck boys, do good in school but remember to have fun." Lucius stated as he gently squeezed a hand on both of their shoulders. Narcissa just rolled her eyes at her husband's behavior and pulled the two into a hug which they gladly responded to with matching strength. "Off you go" She said as she fixed their robes and hair one last time before letting them go. Draco relished in the attention and pretended to be embarrassed as Hadrian’s ears turned red as he was still unused to such kind attention sent his way. They each gave a wave and before they knew it, were on their way to Hogwarts.

Chapter Text

The two boys happily made their way to the back of the train where most Slytherins typically sat. They glanced around at the open cabs and Draco took the lead by dragging Hadrian into one already partially filled. Inside sat four boys that he had met once or twice before as they had come over to hang out with Draco over the summer. To the left sat a dark skinned Italian boy known as Heir Zabini or Blaise and a slightly smaller boy beside him with sandy brown hair and a book in front of his nose. The other boy’s name is Theodore Nott but he preferred to be called Theo by his friends. To the right sat two larger boys that are more of the silent type and extremely overprotective of their friends. Their names are Vincent Crabb and Gregory Goyle though they preferred to go by Vince and Greg. Both had shorter dark brown hair with Vince being slightly taller and stronger than Greg.

All four looked up as Draco dramatically entered the cab with Hadrian smiling at them sheepishly from behind. Having known Draco for years and used to this kind of behavior, they smiled and laughed as Draco huffed in mock annoyance. "Hello Draco, fancy seeing you here." Blaise joked as he made room for the two to sit. "Are the dramatic entrances really necessary every time you see us?" Theo drew out in an attempt to sound like Snape. Hadrian tried to stifle his chuckle as Vincent and Gregory smirked. "Well at least my little cousin appreciates them, don't you Hades?" Draco claimed, spinning around to look at him only to see his face turning red from trying to hold in his laughter and a teasing look in his eyes. Draco gawked at the betrayal before he closed the cab door and sat down with a pout.

They hung out for a while and chatted as Draco gently ran his fingers through Hadrian's hair to fix it and help calm him down. Hadrian was content to watch Vince and Greg get blown up in a game of exploding snap and would comment on occasion in Draco, Blaise, and Theo's discussion in what their favorite class will be. Draco, to the surprise of no one, was most excited for potions while Blaise preferred herbology as it is where many ingredients needed for potions and poisons are derived from. Theo and Hadrian didn’t necessarily have a favorite as they both love to learn as their favorites will depend on the professors’ abilities to teach the various subjects.

Their peaceful atmosphere didn't last long as it was interrupted by a bushy haired, buck-toothed girl who slammed the doors open and demanded if they had seen a toad. Hadrian was so surprised that he slipped off of Draco's lap and fell to the ground. At the same time Vincent and Gregory were both shot in the face by their cards, covering up the sound of a sharp hiss from Raven as Hadrian's fall jostled her from around his waist. Blaise stood up at his full tall height for boys his age and glared down at the girl. "I have three things to say to you about your deplorable behavior!” He held up his hand and began to count off the numbers with his hand. First of all, it is rude to interrupt a conversation. Second, you didn't even knock or ask permission to enter. Thirdly, you seem to seriously lack the intelligence to hold a conversation as you don't even know how to introduce yourself! Now what do you have to say for yourself?"

The girl just gulped and stared down at her shoes. A small nervous boy who still had some baby fat on his face walked up behind her. "I apologize for her behavior heir Zabini, I asked her if she had seen a toad as I lost mine and she has since dragged me around, demanding if anyone has seen him." He stuttered nervously and fiddled with his robe. Theo spoke up to intervene, "Well if that's the case heir Longbottom we accept your apology but it is not your fault that this girl is lacking in manners, but if you can't find your toad why not ask a prefect for help? They should know spells to bring him right to you." "Thank you! You all can call me Neville if you wish, after all you did help me." He proclaimed with a shy smile.

Seeing that she was being ignored and insulted, the girl huffed angrily and stormed off. "Then you can call us by our first names as well but only around each other." Theo responded as he ignored the girl's hissy fit and proceeded to introduce the group to him one by one. Neville thanked them again for their help and set off to find a prefect. The boy’s conversation shifted to the topic of muggleborns being disliked due to their lack of acknowledgement towards wixen culture up until the trolley lady arrived. Vince, Greg, and Blaise bought a few galleon’s worth of candy to split between themselves while the others declined. Narcissa had packed some sweets for her boys to enjoy and Theo was happy with the lunch his elves had prepared for him.

Neville popped back over to their cab shortly after the trolley lady left, politely knocking on the door, with a toad in his other hand. He introduced them to Trevor, who had been given to him by his great uncle ALgie as a gift for making it into Hogwarts. When questioned about the phrasing behind the gift, Neville flushed in embarrassment and described growing up believed to be a squib and the dangers his family put him through. Hadrian was furious and ready to fight the entire Longbottom family, had Draco not held him back. They talked him down into simply writing a threatening letter to the Longbottom matriarch and Neville’s grandmother about her family’s abhorrent behavior towards her grandson and strongly suggested she fix their ways or else she will be hearing from the ministry. He also stated that her lack of understanding of ways of wands and hindering her grandson’s education by giving him a wand that was not meant for him was disgraceful and that the issue would be rectified as soon as possible.

The group of boys sat quietly for a while as Neville and Hadrian calmed down and observed the landscape fly by through their cab’s window. Theo was the one to break the silence by inquiring about what houses they all expected to end up in. All the kids minus Neville bet that they will be sorted into Slytherin but Draco claimed he wouldn't be surprised if Hadrian or Theo ended up in Ravenclaw. Hadrian glared at him for that and turned his nose away at the very thought as Draco's dramatic nature had rubbed off on him a bit. He smiled as he made his secret godbrother laugh but frowned when Neville told them his grandmother demanded for him to be like his father and end up in Gryffindor. The boy’s shoulders sag as he mumbled about wanting to be in Hufflepuff but also wanted to make his grandmother proud.

At this Hadrian huffed and declared that he should be who he wants to be and shouldn't let anyone tell him otherwise. "People will claim we are all evil due to being Slytherins, but Merlin was a Slytherin for… Merlin’s sake!” He paused to wink as he said this, “How can everyone really think that our house makes us evil?" Neville sat still for a moment as he pondered Hadrian's question and shook his head. "Slytherin or not, you all have been very kind to me and I wish to remain friends regardless of your house!" Neville gave Hadrian a one handed hug to not squish Trevor and went to return to his cab after telling them they should change into their robes soon. "He's lucky he decided to remain our friend, Raven was threatening to eat Trevor if he said otherwise" Hadrian claimed as he pulled his robes on and acted as if he said nothing at all.

An hour later, Hogwart’s express arrived at its destination and a half giant can be heard yelling about first years and four to a boat. As they followed the booming voice to the boats, the boys met up with the girls Hadrian had been introduced to over the summer. On the first boat sat Draco, Hadrian, Vincent, and Gregory. Second was Daphne, Tracey, Blaise, and Theo. Pansy and Neville got stuck on the third boat with the bushy haired girl and Ronald, who was looking a bit sick. They watched happily as the boats magically pulled themselves across the water and Hadrian ran his hand through the water. Draco held onto his robes tightly as he feared his cousin’s little body would fall overboard but he had a feeling that the giant squid wouldn't let that happen. He felt one of the tentacles teasingly splash him with some water and giggled at Draco's yelp. The squid's single eye winked at him from below and swam away as they reached the castle.

Hadrian watched as the man Draco told him was called Hagrid, knocked loudly at the door. The man reminded him of his dreams but he didn't have time to focus on that at the moment. The door swung open and a stern looking woman led the group up some stairs and told them to wait. Hadrian giggled as he listened to the kids around him question how they would be sorted. Lucius had told him and Draco it was with a hat and he found it absurd that some of the kids thought they would have to fight a troll to get in. He jumped when screams were heard and looked around to see some ghosts floating through the walls.

The lady he now knew as McGonagall, re-entered and ushered them down to the front of the hall in front of a stool where the sorting hat sat. He zoned out a bit as all the 'what if's ran through his head and only focused when his friend's names were called. He smiled at Neville's happy face when sorted into Hufflepuff and snickered at the smug look in Draco's face when sorted before the hat even touched his head. Pansy had just been sorted into Slytherin when his name was called. "Hadrian Peverell" He froze as all the gasps and whispers began and felt his breathing increase. Blaise just squeezed his hand and gave him a little nudge forward. He took a deep breath and put on his pure blood mask as he sat down on the stool. He struggled to fight the urge to slump his shoulders when the hat was so big that it fell over his eyes and most of his nose.

His eyes widened as a voice that wasn't his chuckled in his head. "Do not fear child, it is just me, the sorting hat. No one but you can hear me." "Do you have a name Mr. Hat?" Hadrian asked, not wanting to be rude. The hat just chuckled again which felt very weird as it echoed around inside his head. "My name is Alistair and you would be the first child I have sorted to have a different name in your past, Harry Potter." The hat was quick to continue on as Hadrian was beginning to feel dread fill his stomach. “Do not fear, your secret is safe with me, no nosey headmasters can force information about the students out of me.” Alistair comforted. "This one goes to... SLYTHERIN!"

As the hat was lifted off his head, Hadrian looked to Draco first and his cousin began to clap at the sight of his smile. The rest of Slytherin including Severus joined in as Hadrian makes his way across the hall. Most of Hufflepuff including Neville clapped and some from Ravenclaw including the girl whose name he heard was Hermione clapped too. Gryffindor clapped some but were the quietest while they burst into enormous cheers for anyone sorted into their house. The rest of the sorting goes by quickly, with Gryffindor nearly nursing a few eardrums with the sounds of their cheers when another first year joins their ranks. Ronald Weasley is one of the last to be sorted and wasted no time to find Hadrian and Draco with his eyes and sent nasty glares their way.

“Jeez, what's that weasel’s problem?” Daphne asked, catching the attention of a few of the older Slytherins. Draco shrugged and continued to clean the food off his plate as Hadrian kept a protective hand around his plate and glanced up at Ron as if worried the boy was going to attack him. "Don't worry about him Hades, his pitiful kitten's claws aren't even sharp enough to scratch you!" pansy snarked, causing some of the Slytherins sitting near them to snicker and introduce themselves to their new house members. They promised to keep an eye on the boy and teach the firsties some defense spells if need be. The Weasley twins and older prefect brother never bothered the Slytherins for the most part but the youngest was presenting himself in a way that suggested he would be a problem.

Unlike the other Hogwart houses, Slytherins always stick together and protect their own. Lucius had been sure to instill this fact into both boys' minds but Hadrian was still struggling with the idea of having others willing to care for him. Even with many promises passed around, Hadrian couldn’t help but worry. He also couldn’t push away the fear of if his birth parents would be proud or disappointed of him as a Slytherin. He picked at his plate, enjoying the delectable treats, but wasn't able to stomach much. "Just because you're small doesn't mean you shouldn't eat much to remain as you are..." Draco said in another attempt to cheer the boy up. He received a tiny smile and quiet response of “I know” but Hadrian simply stabs at his food with his fork.

The occasional stare being sent his way by a nosey headmaster wasn’t helping his appetite either. Draco was quick to notice this and shifted to keep Hadrian from view as best he can, the girls on the other side of the table do the same to remove them from the bearded fool's view. A few of the professors notice this happen and Severus barely manages to hide his smirk at Dumbledore's childish pout. By the end of the feast, Dumbledore gave up on trying to catch another glance at the boy whom he knew very little about and went back to the feast. Eventually he dismissed the children with a few words of warning about death on the third floor and sent them on their merry ways to their dorms from the night. Hadrian even managed to eat a bit more as Theo bribed him with some of his books.

The first years all carefully follow their prefects down to the dungeon. Hadrian appeared to be one of the only first years not shivering at the end as he had had to sleep outside in colder temperatures before and had grown quite tolerant to extreme weather. The prefects turned around to address the first years and noticed this and made a mental side note of it for later. "The password is mandrake root, past this portrait is the Slytherin dorms and no one other than your fellow Slytherins should ever follow you in here. The password will change every two weeks and it will be posted in the dorm the day before."

The female prefect stated the password to the grumpy frog and everyone stepped back as the portrait swung open. They all walked in and stopped in the middle as the prefects turned around to face them once more. "As some of you have already been informed, Slytherins stick together and watch out for one another. Having said this, any fights will take place here and will not leave until settled. We are seen as the evil house so we must look united in front of the others. Professor Snape is our head of the house and potions professor so I suggest you study up. If you need any help, come to us prefects or the professor. As for our names, I am Andria Marcel and Marcus Flint is our male prefect." Marcus just nods at the mention of his name. "Marcus will lead the boys to your dorms and girls will follow me."

Each dorm held two boys so Draco and Hadrian paired up, as did Vince and Greg roomed, and Blaise and Theo. All the dorms were the same, with two queen sized beds, black silk sheets, and silky green mattress covers with hints of silver outlining it. Each room had a bathroom and shower and their trunks were already waiting for them at the foot of their beds along with their new Slytherin uniforms. Once unpacked, the boys met up with the girls in the common room and sat around each other on two big couches. The two prefects from earlier approach them soon after and ask for official introductions as they had already met most of them at galas in the past.

Blaise went first, mentioning how he is his mother’s only son and she is currently on her seventh husband but that he doesn’t suspect the dimwitted man will last much longer. Theo goes next, explaining how he is the only son of Tiberius Nott and prefers to spend his spare time in the library as knowledge often leads to power. Daphne proudly goes third, talking about her parents and her precious little sister Astoria, who shall be joining them next year. Pansy proclaims she shall be the next best thing since the Weird Sisters, with both amazing singing and fashion. Tracey is rather quiet and merely mentions that she is excited to get a chance to prove herself.

Vince and Greg introduce each other but say nothing more as they stand behind Hadrian and Draco. Draco is more than happy to go next and excitedly describes his lineage of both the Black and Malfoy family line and how he plans on being the best in potions class as he was taught by the head of the Slytherin house himself! Hadrian goes last and does his best to properly follow all the etiquette Narcissa had drilled into his head as this was his first proper meeting with Hogwart’s students older than him. He did a little bow to them both and shook their hands as he told them, “Well met” and introduced himself as Hadrian Peverel, cousin to the Malfoys, who had been incredibly kind in taking him and helping him prepare for Hogwarts.

This sparked a rather long conversation that went on until it was time for lights out about what to expect from various professors around the castle and which textbooks were either helpful or trash. Learning that the ghost of professor Binns was still at Hogwarts, who as a ghost went he taught Lucius and Narcissa, and maybe even when Dumbledore was a child at Hogwarts was disappointing and Hadrian decided to write a letter to his uncle about bringing the issue to the other Hogwart’s board members. Severus was the one to end the discussion by sending them all to bed and smiled at his godson and honorary godson once the others were not looking. The first full day of Hogwarts would begin in the morning and class would start the next day in case anyone needed to make some last minute owl orders for forgotten supplies.

Chapter Text

Some people may claim that going to sleep in a new place or on a different bed can be difficult but Hadrian slept peacefully throughout the night. The magic of Hogwarts gently cradled him, emitting a peaceful feeling of the warmth and comfort of home. He felt as if he was still spending the night in his manor or with the Malfoys. Although waking up to a soft green light from the lake instead of sunlight through the window was odd, it wasn’t eerie. The lake’s water was murky but beautiful in its own way as mere creatures swam by at times, some even waving as they passed. Hadrian sat in bed, watching the Black lake until Draco woke up and they got ready for the day.

Draco took longer than Hadrian to get ready as the Malfoy heir had always taken great care in his appearance, and was the last of their group to meet in the common room. They had arranged with the fifth year prefects to be shown the best ways to get to and from classes. Marcus and Adria had been the ones to suggest the idea as they knew from experience that the other houses are usually not very kind to them, barring the Hufflepuffs. In fact, if you get lucky enough to personally befriend the puffs, they are likely to share the secrets they know about the castle. The most coveted secret of theirs is how to get into the kitchen.

Andria began the tour by pointing out a few things the first years may not have noticed during their time in the commons the previous night. By the entrance of the dorms was a bulletin board with a few pieces of parchment attached with announcements about various clubs and Marcus was happy to pipe up, claiming himself as the appointed captain of the team. He proudly showed the green captain badge, which was pinned slightly below and to the left of his prefect badge. Amelia teasingly rolled her eyes and smiled as she mentioned the desks in the back of the room for study groups as professor Snape will not accept anything below an acceptable and will enforce tutoring sessions when necessary. She promised them that they needn't worry too much, as they can ask for her or Marcus as it is part of their job to help and most of the older students don’t mind helping either. Slytherins need to watch out for one another after all!

The two prefects cast warming charms on the first years as they walked away from the warmth of the fireplace and out into the dungeon. They promised that most will adjust quickly to the temperature and that they can always learn warming charms as it is a first year level spell. They head to the great hall for breakfast despite Marcus trying to insist on visiting the quidditch pitch before they eat. A few Hufflepuffs join them once they reach the basement of the castle and they all travel together to the ground floor. The giant doors to the Great Hall appear less intimidating without the daunting pressure of the sorting hanging over the first years’ heads and Hadrian takes a moment to admire the floating candles before finding a seat next to Draco.

The area as a whole feels larger as it is not filled with students like it was the previous night and Hadrian can breathe a little easier. Raven loosening her hold on him helped too as she was no longer freezing from their trip through the castle dungeons. Quiet chatter bounces around the room as some students speculate on the whereabouts of Harry Potter as his name was not called during the sorting and wonder if he went to a different school or is still in hiding. Others, probably fifth and seventh years, mumbled about enjoying their free time while they had the chance before exams sneak up on them. The Slytherins mostly whispered out of respect for those still waking up and sipping on their various teas in hopes of being energized soon.

Professor Snape entered the room, quiet as ever, with his cloak billowing dramatically behind him, scaring a student and causing them to choke on their drink. Draco and Hadrian glanced at each other and did their best to withhold their giggles as Lucius had informed them of the man’s flair for dramatics and how his cloak was charmed to always fly, no matter the speed he entered a room. They pretended to not feel the glare Severus playfully sent their way and smiled at him as he handed out their schedules for the year. However, the potion professor’s good mood noticeably dampened as Ron Weasley stumped in, wearing rumpled robes and dried droll on his face. His prefect brother, Percy, fussed over the boy for being so unpresentable and cleans him up with a few waves of his wand. Ron’s grumblings could be heard from across the room and messily eats his food like a starved child that hadn’t seen food in days. Hadrian knew the feeling but even he never ate in such a messy way as it wastes food!

Hadrian returned his attention to Severus at the sound of the man clearing his throat. “Should I ever even hear whispers of any of you behaving in such a way, you will have detention… with me.” The man threatened his house and the two prefects promised to pass the warning along. Professor Snape turned with another swish of his cloak and left with a single nod in acknowledgement. Glad to have been finishing up breakfast as Ron’s eating habits had destroyed any remaining hunger in any of them, Marcus suggested they continue the tour. He led them to the quidditch patch and pointed out the forbidden forest and how the class on caring for magical creatures often met near there but that wasn’t anything for them to worry about until their third year. He showed them the broom closet and the spot where their flying lessons would take place later that week with Madam Hooch, whom he would be apprenticing with to help him get a job in the ministry in the department of magical games and sports.

Throughout the rest of the tour, Andria and Marcus switch back and forth between leading the tour and sharing various tips and tricks they have learned during their time in the magical castle. They point out a few secret passageways and which sets of stairs to avoid when going to certain classes. Different professors are mentioned as well as the best ways to study and prepare for their exams. Peeves chased them out of one hallway, screaming at them the entire way before cackling with laughter and floating away “to scare some other kiddies!” All in all, the tour went quite well and Andria was kind enough to draw up a map for them to follow and made copies for them all.

The rest of the young Slytherins’ day was spent in smaller groups split across the castle. The girls had fun chatting in the common room and learning as much gossip about their classmates and professors as possible. Theo wanted to check out the Library more as did Hadrian so the other boys hung out at a table for a bit before dragging the nerdy pair of Slytherclaws off to explore. Madame Pince waved a goodbye to the two boys after they checked out some books and did some last minute review outside while Greg and Vance played more exploding snaps. Draco and Blaise theorized what plants could be found for potions and poisons in the forbidden forest and Black Lake as they walked around the school grounds, but never venturing too far from the rest of their friends.

They ended the evening with dinner in the great hall, finding their own way as the prefects had left to go if any other first years needed their help after lunch. Draco and Blaise worked together to figure out the correct paths to take and only ended up lost as a staircase decided to move when they were about midway down. Dinner itself was delicious and Hadrian was curious as to how many elves the school must need to prepare such large feasts for the students thrice a day. He would have to see if Neville could tell him where the kitchens are located and he can thank the elves for their hard work. He caught the eye of his friend and smiled at the boy who smiled back and waved at him from across the Hufflepuff table. Curfew was at eight for the young first years, for the Slytherins at least, and school officially began after breakfast at 9.

The next week consisted of a lot of teachings on the foundations of magic and the importance of correct wand movement and pronunciations of spells. It was mainly review for anyone raised in a magical household but a large percentage of the students that were halfblood and all of the muggleborns knew little to nothing of these teachings and Hadrian was glad to have received the help from the goblins and Malfoys or he would have been very lost. He didn’t understand why the nonmagic raised kids were not provided with additional lessons ahead of time. Those students clearly knew very little about wixen culture and he could understand why so many purebloods disliked or even hated the muggleborns.

He had heard several of the first years whispering and rudely pointing at professor Flitwick and asking one another about his size and comparing him to a dwarf, which is a massive insult to magical goblins as they are not nearly as messy or rude as headstrong dwarfs. Hadrian was fairly confident that the man had some goblin blood in him and the goblin dagger on the man’s desk confirmed his theory. Goblins are wise and powerful creatures, meant to be shown respect. Time spent in professor Binn’s class of History of magic would have taught them that if the ghost didn't talk half his class to sleep in record time. Hadrian managed to stay awake for most of the class and quietly giggled to himself as Draco had drool drying on the corner of his lips and Vince was hugging his book like it was a teddy bear. Usually news of having a ghost as a teacher would be amazing but the professor seemed to be stuck in the time of goblin wars and rumor has it that he isn’t even aware of the fact that he himself is history.

Herbology was quite fun as it was simply a magical version of gardening. First years gather in the first greenhouse as it holds the nondeadly and barely dangerous plants in them to avoid accidents from occurring three times a week. Professor Sprout is a kind shorter woman, who has a warm personality, fitting for being head of the Hufflepuff house. She had given the Slytherins some points for their finding their way so quickly, thanks to their tour earlier that week, and did not treat them with distrust like some of the students from other houses would. They shared Charms with her house and learned about proper treatment of plants with the Ravenclaws.

Professor McGonagall taught Transfiguration and had a “don’t mess with me” attitude which reminded Hadrian of that of a sassy cat that wasn’t afraid to claw you if you got too close. Her no nonsense policy kept anyone from carelessly waving around their wand and accidentally blowing something up like one Gryffindor boy was apparently becoming known to consistently do. She held the class's attention as she transformed her desk into a pig and back without saying a word and warned them of the dangers of horseplay leading to students being seriously harmed. Both the Slytherins and Ravenclaws sat up a little taller in their seats and quietly took notes as she taught and wrote complex information on the chalk board.

Hearing about Ron getting on McGonagall’s bad side by arriving late caused many to laugh at his misfortune. Weasley had rushed into class ten minutes after it was scheduled to begin and slammed the doors as he flung them open in his hurry. McGonagall had already begun class and paused her notetaking at Ron’s disruption. Several versions of what was said was spread throughout the castle but Hadrian’s favorite was the Scottish woman warning him not to be late again unless he wished to be turned into a stopwatch to properly tell time. Hadrian was not a fan of Ron but even he wouldn’t purposely wish for someone to be dealt the Gryffindor head of house’s ire. Professor Snape was already out for his head, he didn’t need two angry professors competing for who would have him in detention next.

Hadrian didn’t think that Severus had cared much when Molly Weasley had called them “the wrong sort” but he forgot who Draco learned his dramatic tendencies from. Ron having been very verbal about his hate for potions near the presence of the potion’s professor didn’t help matters either. So, when time for potions came, the head of the Slytherin house was very happy to hop on the chance to embarrass the boy. He gave his speech that he gives every year about the delicate art of potions in a whisper that coughed many to lean forward just to catch all the words he spoke. Hadrian saw Ron raise an eyebrow in disbelief and knew the boy had just signed his death warrant as he visibly doodled a crude sketch of Snape on a piece of parchment.

"Tell me Weasley because you feel the need to not... pay... attention... Why is it vital with some potions to gather fresh supplies in place of older preserved versions?” Ron stared at the man in silence, jaw dropped at being called out. "Let's try a different question then Mr. Weasley, what would happen should one neglect to turn their burner off when an instruction calls for one to do so?" "I... I don't know..." Ron gritted out as his ear turned red from a mix of anger and embarrassment. "One more try, should a brat be given detention for such blatant disregard towards such a dangerous subject?" Ron just glared again, this time refusing to answer despite knowing the correct response. Snape just smirked.

"Let's see if any Slytherins know how to crack open a book and read. Mr. Peverell, answer the first question." "Using more fresh properties of material allows better results and potencies in potions. For some, it can even make the difference between helping or harming. Such as a weak skelegrow could possibly cause bones to repair incorrectly or a sleeping draught could put someone into a state of insomnia. The dangerous possibilities are endless sir." "Very good, now Mr. Malfoy, if you would answer the second question." Draco smirked, "The failure to correctly follow directions and turn off a burner when instructed could lead to a potion boiling over, dangerous fumes filling the room, or even an explosion that could cause harm to the person making the potion and any others around them." "Teacher's pet." Ron hissed. "That will be five points from Gryffindor for your cheek Mr.Weasley now Mr. Nott, answer the third question." "According to Professor McGonagall, anyone caught in dangerous horseplay should be kicked out of Hogwarts.”

At this point Ron was an impressive cherry red that flushed all the way down his neck and hid behind his arms as he slumped in his seat. Snape slowly turns to face Ron and glares at the ignorant boy. "As you should know, your eldest brothers William and Charlie have both graduated and made good names for themselves. Your brother Percy is snobbish and the most extreme rule follower I have ever met but at least he isn't a moron. The twins are impossible to deal with but at least they have some mediocre talent with potions in order to perform those horrendous tricks they call pranks. But you... consider me disappointed... Mr. Peverell, Malfoy, and Nott, you receive ten points for your answers each."

Not a simple peep left Ron mouth for the rest of that class and it took most of the hour for him to return to his normal shade of pale. He seemed to believe it was Draco and Hadrian's faults he was reprimanded and would often glare in their direction. They would have to keep an eye out for him in case he got any bright ideas but were not too worried about him posing any kind of threat towards them. All they would have to do is ask and Lucius would handle the situation for them only if Severus doesn’t go to the man to gossip before their owl arrives.

Chapter Text

Hadrain spent all of History either reading through his potion book or passing notes back and forth with Draco. What most people didn't know about Draco was his love for pranking. He loves to be petty and dramatic after all and he sees pranking as one of the best ways to get revenge. The entire friend group including Draco, Blaise, Theo, Vince, Greg, Daphne, Pansy, and Tracey want revenge towards Ron and want to enlist Hadrian's help as he was known as the most cunning in their grade. But sometimes Ron just made it too easy.

Snape was one for revenge as well and Ron had been very verbal about his hate for potions. So when time for potions came, the head of the Slytherin house was very happy to hop on the chance to embarrass the brat. "Tell me Weasley because you feel the need to not... pay... attention... what do I get when adding powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Ron just gapped at being called out. "Let's try a different question then, where Mr. Weasley would one find a bezoar?" "I... I don't know..." Ron gritted out as his ear turned red from a mix of anger and embarrassment. "One more try, the difference between monkshood and wolfbane?" Ron just glared again not knowing the answer. Snape just smirked.

"Let's see if any Slytherins know how to crack open a book and read. Mr. Peverell answer the first question." "Well professor, mixing powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood would create a sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death so powerful that a drop can put one into a death like slumber, hence the name, living death." "Very good, now Mr. Malfoy please answer the second question." Draco smirked, "A bezoar can be found in the stomach of a goat and can counter most poisons but seeing as you have a masters in potions you most likely have a few in your potion storage closet as well professor." "Teacher's pet." Ron hissed. "That will be five points from Gryffindor for your cheek Mr.Weasley now Mr. Nott, answer the third question." "Monkshood and Wolfsbane are the same plant under a different name along with Aconite and can be used in the wolfsbane potion for werewolves that was created by you."

At this point Ron was seething and blurted out, "Well maybe if you actually taught the class instead of bullying kids to make yourself feel better about your greasy bat self we would know these things already!" Snape slowly turns to face Ron and glares at the ignorant boy. "You know your eldest brothers William and Charlie have both graduated and made good names for themselves. Your brother Percy is snobbish and the most extreme rule follower I have ever met but at least he isn't actually stupid. The twins are impossible to deal with but at least they have some talent with potions in order to perform those horrendous tricks they call pranks. But you... so far all you have proven able to do is run your mouth and insult others who have done nothing to you. Consider me disappointed... Mr. Peverell, Malfoy, and Nott, you receive ten points for your answers each and Mr. Weasley I will be seeing you in detention and at your parent teacher meeting tonight!"

Not a single peep was heard from Ron for the rest of class as they learned how to make a simple boil potion. Unfortunately, due to Ron's shock, he failed to take his potion off the burner and melted his cauldron. The potion left him with boils covering his body and whimpered in pain all the way down to Madam Pomprey's office.

Soon after was DADA for the Slytherin first years and they were all extremely disappointed. If they listened carefully enough, Professor Quirrell was a good teacher but it was such a struggle to understand his stuttering that most of them just opted to read from their course books while he taught. But Raven had something odd to say halfway through the class. "Hades" "What is it Raven?" "The turban man's scent is the same as what you used to smell like before the horcrux was removed..." Hadrian just stared at Raven for a second in surprise and turned a confused glance towards Quirrell.

Quirrell stuttered along with his lesson but met Hadrian's eyes for a split second and flashed his red eyes without missing a beat. He had heard Raven's comment and his eyes darted to where a certain someone was rumored to hold a lightning scar. It had healed up nicely and used to show a faint white outline before Hadrian discovered and trained his metamorphosis ability to keep it constantly covered. However those sensitive enough to magic could still feel the small dark magic residue left behind by the horcrux if one focused on it enough. The stuttering professor and his hidden head piece had never expected to see Harry Potter in front of them under a different name but were intrigued and at the end of class asked Hadrian to stay behind for a moment.

Draco and Blaise, who were seated next to Hadrian, sent him questioning looks but he just shook his head and let them know he would fill them in later. They walked off and let the others know as well. Hadrian and Quirrell waited for the last student to leave and shut the door followed by a privacy charm. Voldemort took over and it showed as Quirrell's eyes suddenly turned red. "Are you the reason some of my soul and sanity returned to me little horcrux?" He asked as his fingers hover over where the famous scar is rumored to be. "I've had quite an interesting year and the goblins were quite happy to help." Hadrian replied cryptically as his magic revealed his hidden scar for a second before continuing to cover it. Quirrell just chuckled a hissy type of laugh and smirked. "It would seem Dumbles has a weapon hidden in the third corridor. Help me out and I will help you." "How do I know you won't turn on me the moment you get what you want?" Hadrian asked. Voldemort stared at him for a moment and nodded in approval. "You are suspicious and rightly so, just talk to Lucius and he can answer all your questions over break." Hadrian nodded and Quirrell blinked before walking him to the door and stuttered out for him to have a good day.

What Hadrian had failed to tell Quirellmort was that he was already planning on stealing whatever was hidden, just to mess with Dumble bumbles out of pure spite and replace it with a fake. If he decides to not trust the dark lord, he will keep it for himself. If he does decide to help him, he will give the stone to Lucius for safe keeping till the end of the year for possible future plans. But for now, the less who knew the truth, the better, so he lied to his friends for their safety. He told them Quirrell wanted to ask how he was doing after the accusations Ron threw his way.

Having finished classes for the day, Hadrian, Draco, and Blaise headed to the library to find Theo. Unaware of the mischievous twins following them, they chatted to one another as they walked the empty halls. A hand landed on both of Hadrian's shoulders and a startled gasp escaped his lips. Draco and Blaise whipped out their wands as Hadrian spun around to face his attackers. "Whoa! We come in peace little snakes!" The twins said in sync. They had grown tired of their little brother's spoiled attitude and wanted to let the snakes know of their plan.

"I'm Gred," Fred said pointing to himself, "and I'm Forge!" George finished with a smile. "We are planning to prank Ron for his bratty attitude," Fred continued, "as mom will probably let him continue to get away with it." Then George jumped in, "Dad tries his hardest," and Fred cut in, "but he is always busy with work." The twins spoke the last sentence together, "Anyways we wanted to see what ideas you all had to add to the prank!"

So after a few hours of plotting, Ron found himself the next day with silver hair and hissing like a snake every time he tried to speak. Wednesday was itching powder in his bed with rashes that grew the more he scratched. Thursday made all his food taste like slugs so his face was pale and puckered up all day. Snape found great joy taking away points for making faces at him in class on multiple occasions. Friday resulted in neon green hair and small charmed spiders chasing and biting Ron. He spent the entire weekend whimpering about the bites and how he doesn't like spiders but even Madam Pomfrey refused to help him with the pranks or heal the bites until Monday.

Needless to say, the Weasley twins became honorary Slytherins from that day on. If it wasn't for the fact they didn't care if they got caught pranking, they would have been sorted as Slytherins back in year one. Unfortunately, their mother would have thrown a fit so they chose to be stuck with Gryffindor instead. Hadrian had to fight smiles throughout the entire week as did his friends as he had never had some much fun before. He had been right too, Hadrian did in fact like the famous Devil Twins and luckily for him, they liked him too.

Chapter Text

Professor Flitwick had spent the past two days focusing on the importance of correct spell pronunciation and wand movement. Today was finally the day for them to get to try the spell on the feathers that sat in front of them all. No one had succeeded yet and as Flitwick tried to encourage them, a loud boom echoed around the room. Seamus had caused another spell to explode but luckily still had his eyebrows this time. Flitwick told the class to behave and helped Seamus to Madam Pompfrey. "I bet you're the reason why Seamus can't do any spells right Peverell! You probably used your dark magic to curse his wand!" Ron loudly accuses. "Honestly Ronald! No spell is good or evil, it's just magic! It's the intent behind the spell that makes it dark or not. I could kill you with two first year light spells just off the top of my head." Hadrian lectured which caused Ron to scoff. Hadrian mocked in a sad voice, "You don't believe me?" Ron shook his head no and continued to glare at Hadrian.

"Very well, let me demonstrate." Hadrian paused and smirked before using Wingardium Leviousa to lift up all of Flitwick's book stack he uses during class. He watched as Ron's eyes widened as each book slowly floated to hang above his head. "The moment I end this spell, the books fall and crush you... it may kill but it will most likely only knock you out." Hadrian dramatically flicked his hand away and the books sat back down to where they previously sat. "Another spell is aguamenti, with a bit of water I could drop water, bit by bit, down your throat and drown you... does that sound very light to you Weasley?" Ron just looked ready to wet his pants.

Flitwick, who walked in near the end to see Hadrian putting back all his books, slowly applauded. "Very impressive Mr. Peverell! Your charm work is quite strong and so was your speech but might I ask that you don't risk a students life next time? Ten points from Slytherin for student endangerment but twenty for spell work and ten more for your speech. Now Mr. Peverell, if you would help your classmates complete the spell as well, I would be forever grateful!" Hadrian agreed with a smile and helped out his fellow snakes as all the little lions covered away when his eyes landed on them.

By the time flying class came around, Ron's pale face had gotten back to its normal complexion and unfortunately, so had his attitude. He loudly bragged about his skills on a broom and how he can outfly his brothers while they waited for Madam Hooch to arrive. She made her appearance shortly after with her white spiked hair and yellow hawk-like eyes. She coached them to command their brooms to come up and Hadrian's broom was one of the first to join his hand. Draco, Blaise, and surprisingly Daphne were next to get their brooms. Ron's broom suddenly slammed into his nose and Madam Hooch soon after had to stop his nose bleeding with a quick spell. She had them all hold their brooms and Ron turned bright red as he found out that he had been holding his broom wrong all his life. They then hover on their brooms and are given permission to fly a bit as long as they don't go off too far or high up. Wanting to go higher but aware that Raven wasn't the biggest fan of heights, Hadrian dropped down a little faster then he meant to, to let her slither off.

At the same time as Hadrian flew down, Ron shot forward. His reason for shooting forward was to "accidentally" knock Hadrian off and blame it on the old school brooms. However he missed and in his anger forgot to stop his broom and ended up with him slamming into the castle wall. He didn't get hurt too bad as he hit the wall fairly close to the ground but moaned and groaned loudly anyway. His nose was gushing blood once more and this time it looked broken. He also had a large bruise across his forehead and according to him had "a bloody wicked headache!"

Annoyed at the boy she had heard loudly bragging about his skills on the broom, Madam Hooch failed to feel too much sympathy for him. Seeing as how he already caused a lot of trouble, she floated him up and pulled him along by the arm. As she tugged him along, he loudly complained even more and claimed it to be Hadrian's fault. When she asked him why, he dumbly let it slip that he was trying to knock him off his broom "and the bloody idiot dropped out of the way." Needless to say he lost a few more points for his house and class was dismissed early.

By the time the first month since school started came to an end, Ron was quickly on his way to breaking the record for most points lost in a year! Gryffindor was in the negatives while Slytherin already had nearly two hundred thanks to Hadrian and his first year friends. He earned the entire school's respect and Ron gained most of the school's anger. Ron's own brothers didn't try to protect him and Fred and George were quite happy to test several new experimental prank spells on him to teach him a lesson which sometimes took several days to finally wear off.

Word also spread about Hadrian's speech in Charms fairly quickly and received various reactions. Most of the students, especially Slytherin, were proud and compliment him on his way with words. The Ravenclaws were more curious about his opinions on certain spells and on several occasions gone to bring him into their debates which now focused a lot about the usage of spells. Hermione is especially vocal during these as she hates the fact that she has yet to perform a spell correctly before Hadrian. Hufflepuff tended to be more weary as they held mostly light cores or neutral cores but were more open to the idea of it all. Neville was a big help with this as him and Hadrian have hung out a few times to study herbology together and he gladly defended his friend whenever any one questions him. Gryffindor however stay as stubborn as ever and continue to distrust the dark and slimy evil snakes minus a few including the famous devil twins and their friend Lee.

The teachers who mainly have light or neutral cores found the discussion interesting as well and were quite happy as the hate on children with darker cores lessened. They began to incorporate the idea of intent with spells in class but still left room for the students to come to a conclusion on their own. Dumbledore was an entirely different matter as the self proclaimed leader of the light and not happy at all. The light side was losing its mindless support and he couldn't speak against it without making himself look bad. Dumbledore needed to find Harry Potter now or else all his plans were going to fail! More and more people were becoming aware of the boy's missing status and going to him for answers. He had considered claiming Harry was receiving special training but some would demand to know who his teachers were. He contemplated the idea of faking an illness, but he would eventually recover and people would search for him through Saint Mungo's records. The possibility of a copy or Polyjuice potion was thrown around as well but without any hair, it wasn't an option either. Soon, the simple claims of Harry's safety wouldn't be enough and Dumbles sucked on a lemon drop laced with calming draught as his mind raced for ideas in desperation.

Chapter Text

Halloween was quickly coming and Hadrian was losing sleep. He had many horrible memories of the holiday thanks to his oh so "lovely" relatives and learned a few years ago that it was also the death date of his parents. He didn't really blame Voldemort for their deaths but he was still upset by it. He had a reoccurring dream every year of the night it all happened, filled with vivid flashes of green lights and the following screams and thumps of dead bodies. When the third light flashes, all he feels is a stab of pain and jumps awake covered in sweat and struggling to breathe.

This year was no different and his sleep was filled with nightmares that always grow worse up until Halloween night hits. He tried to hide it but unlike with the Dursleys, his friends actually care and pay attention to him. It was four days till Hallows' Eve when Hadrian woke Draco up with his muttering. Raven was hissing in his ear what Draco could only assume was comfort as he watched his little brother toss and turn. He begged, "no" and "stop" over and over while Draco carefully sat down beside him. "Please!" Hadrian whimpered, "don't hurt me." Draco grasped Hadrian's shoulder and ignored the violent flinch that followed. "Wake up!" He whispered yells after calling Dobby to get Severus. Hadrian shot up and nearly collided heads with Draco in his panic. "Hey, hey! Shhh, you're okay. I've got you, they can't hurt you anymore!" Draco comforted as he held Hadrian's shivering body tightly and rocked them back and forth. Hadrian just sobbed into Draco's shoulder and his head shot up at the sound of Severus rushing into the boy's aid. He quickly scooped both boys into his arms and Hadrian took comfort in the familiar smell of smoke and various potion ingredients.

Not wanting to go back to sleep, Severus offered to hold Hadrian in his arms while Draco slowly drifted back into dreamland. He distracted Hadrian by mentioning different potions and their effects and promised dreamless potions to help him get through the next few nights. Morning arrived too soon as the sun slowly lit up the water in the Black lake can be seen from the window. Still mentally and physically drained from his constant nightmares, Hadrian gave up on trying to hide his exhaustion from his peers. Most of the Slytherin house were already aware of this but having seen how hard Hadrian tried to hide it, no one had made any mention of it yet. They instead observed from a distance, ready to interfere if he got much worse. His eye bags could be seen growing darker by the day and his performance in class was less impressive than usual. Both his mind and body desperately needed rest and potions could only help so much.

Breakfast that morning was the final straw when Hadrian didn't even attempt to pretend to eat by pushing food around on his table. Quickly developing the personality of an overbearing mother, Pansy began to scold the youngest member at the table. "That is it Hades! If you don't eat at least five pieces of fruit I put on your plate I'm sending a letter to your mother!" Pansy meant well when stating this but it was her comment that sent the last shred of Hadrian's emotional control to snap. His eyes teared up as he replied, "That's just it though Pansy..." Hadrian let out a bitter laugh and quietly sniffled, "I don't have an actual mother for you to write... no matter how much I wish I actually had an actual loving family to take care of me I don't... because they're all dead," a tiny sob escaped his lips, "and it doesn't help that Hallows' Eve is my parents dead day either!"

Not realizing his slip up, Hadrian grabbed a slice of toast and speedily exited the Great Hall. He had told the world he was an orphan but never revealed until then any details on his parent's death. Only a handful of Slytherins heard him but most were quite quick to put the missing pieces together. After all, Harry Potter defeated the dark lord and was made an orphan on the same night. Knowing full well that no one changes their name simply for fun, silent promises are made to protect both him and his secrets from a very manipulative headmaster and his party of light wizards he commands.

Time trudged along and it isn't until lunch that Hadrian's friends find him hidden in his favorite corner of the library away from all the prying eyes. With it being the weekend, none of them missed any class and they are all too relieved to have found him to be mad that he disappeared in the first place. Sneaking in some food with some house elves help, Blaise managed to convince Hadrian to eat a few bites and earned a hiss of approval from Raven. Surrounded by his friends, a small smile returned to Hadrian's lips and it grew even bigger when presented with a gift. From a little collection of galleons from everyone in their friend group, Theo owl ordered him a book on "dark rituals" the ministry of magic had banned thanks to Dumb as a door after the first wizarding war from the Coffin house down on Knockturn Alley. The book is titled Samhain, and explains how to honor the dead, allowing one to feel your ancestors' presence around you for a short period of time.

After that, and the help of Snape creating a safe mix of calming draught with a sleeping draught, Hadrian slept better than he had in a while. He continued to remain tense and flinched more often at louder noises but he is better than he was before. He started to eat more as well but on Halloween day, Hadrian was barely able to stomach a piece of toast, much less all the sweet treats covering the tables. He sat through class for the day in a dazed state and opts to stay in the library again versus enjoying the Halloween feast at dinner. It should be for Samhain or Hallows' Eve but this was one of the many things banned since Dumbledore came into power at Hogwarts.

Just as Hadrian finished his homework for the day and was about to leave the Library, a gut wrenching smell reached his nose. It reminded him of Dudley and Vernon's laundry before being washed mixed with sour milk that had been set outside of the fridge for too long. His stomach had already been rather queasy all day and he all but sprinted to the bathrooms. Ignoring the fact that he ran into the girl's bathroom as it was closer, he barely made it into a stall on time. As he continued to get sick, the smell grew worse and his vomit wasn't exactly helping the matter. He was so busy getting sick, he didn't even realize the familiar weight of Raven on his body had disappeared.

The loud thud of slow steps and scratching of something large being drug across stone floors grabbed Hadrian's attention and he quickly went to the sink to wash out his mouth. Focused on the acidic burn on the back of his throat, he ignored the noise until it seemed to be getting closer and looked up when something in the corner of the mirror caught his eye. Standing behind him and staring straight at him was the largest and most hideous mountain troll Hadrian had ever laid his eyes on. In an attempt to scare the troll away, he created fire in the palm of his hand but it only freaked it out! The club it had been dragging around swung at the fire and him! The troll roared so loud that the room felt as if it was shaking and Hadrian screamed in pain as the troll's club barely nicked him but the force threw him into the wall as it destroyed the row of stalls beside him. Holding his possibly broken ribs, he attempted to crawl away beneath the sink but the troll just smashed those with its club as well.

In pure desperation, he screamed out, "wingardium leviosa" with his hand held at the club and as the spell activated, flew it above the troll's head. Both Hadrian and the troll freeze and look up at the club. "Hadrian!" He heard his honorary (and actual) godfather yell in terror as he and a few other teachers ran toward him with their wands out. Raven hissed out his name in worry as well as she slithered out from behind Severus and wove herself through the mess of the bathroom to reach him. He lost concentration on the spell and the club fell onto the troll's head and quickly scoots back into the wall as the troll collapses unceremoniously to the floor. Severus ran up to his godson as he was a terrifying sight to see. He had blood running down his head from several small cuts and splinters and holding his ribs tightly. Not to mention slightly shivering and had a small bit of vomit on his chin as well. All around him were destroyed stalls and smashed sinks with water spraying out through the broken pipe lines. "Merlin Hades, why are you in here with the troll?!" All the other teachers were just shocked as they had never seen the full caring side of Severus, not even towards his beloved snakes.

However Dumbledore decided to live up to his name by being dumb and spoke up, ruining the precious moment. "Mr. Peverell, powerful wizard in the making or not, you had no right to go running off to cause trouble and take on a troll on your own! Thirty points from Slytherin for your arrogance!" Hadrian just leaned into his godfather's strong arms and let his fear show. "Professor, I promise I didn't go looking for the troll. I didn't know there was even one in the school! I was just going back to the dorms from the library when I smelled it and ran to the bathroom to get sick as I have been feeling bad all day." Raven hissed out a few insults at the old coot as well but Hadrian feared his mouth would be washed out with soup for a week if he repeated half of them.

Severus scowled at the bearded fool as he felt Hadrian's attempt to stop shivering. "He has been feeling under the weather all week, Albus, all of us can attest to that as he has been rather withdrawn throughout our classes." He sneered as Sprout, Flitwick, and McGonagall nod their heads in agreement when Dumbledore looked to them for confirmation. "Very well, I will give your thirty points back but seeing as how going to the feast is mandatory I will keep five of them." The headmaster said while putting on the mask of a disappointed grandfather towards Hadrian.

"With all due respect, Headmaster, I'm sure you are already aware of my past. Part of that past involved being forced to go trick or treating on Halloween for my obese cousin in an oversized pair of shorts and a shirt in cold October weather and would be beaten and forced to sleep outside if I didn't get enough or the right kinds of candy for him. So forgive me for not wanting to indulge in those very same treats on a night that has brought nothing but pain to me in the past." Hadrian said, never taking his eyes from the main source of his problems. The old nuisance just gulped and mumbled out a pitiful apology before claiming all the excitement had made him tired and shuffled away as quickly as his old body would let him.

The other three Hogwart heads look at Hadrian with poorly hidden pity behind their eyes. Sprout actually teared up and whispered, "good lord..." and excused herself to go check on her puffs. Flitwick went to deal with the removal of the troll from the school and McGonagall gave him a wink and ten points for sheer dumb luck and quick thinking before leaving to help Flitwick. Still sitting on the floor with Hadrian in his arms, Severus carefully got back up and carried him to his office bridal style as he didn't trust Pomfrey to correctly care for his godson.

When he reached his office, Hadrian had fallen asleep with Raven keeping a protective watch over him from Severus's shoulders. Marcus and Andria were waiting for him in his office as they had been made aware by Draco and his friends of Hadrian being in the Library and hadn't been able to find him yet while the sixth and seventh year prefects took care of everyone else. The sight of his small and pale body dangling in their professor's arms causes them to jump up and ask him if he needed any help. One skelegrew potion, two pain reliever potions, and one blood replenishing potion later, Hadrian's skin color returns to normal and his breathing is no longer strained. Severus spends the rest of the night by his side and worries over how to let Lucius and Narcissa know without them storming the castle in an overprotective rage.

Chapter Text

When Hadrian woke up the next morning, he was confused. His body felt sore and he wasn't in his bed. He stared up at an unfamiliar white ceiling and felt the soft sheets underneath his fingers. His eyes shut tightly again as the light sends a dull ache to the back of his head. He tries to get up but his ribs lightly throb and a soft groan slips from his mouth. "Hades?" He freezes at the voice of the woman who had practically adopted him over the past year. "Open your eyes again for us sweetheart." A soft hand gently grips his cheek and rubs their thumb up and down in a comforting fashion. He lets his eyelids flutter open and lean his head into the hand. His eyes follow the hand, across the arm, and up to the worried faces of Narcissa and Lucius.

"Do you remember what happened last night?" Lucius asks. Hadrian tries to answer but coughs as his throat feels dry and sounds like someone scratching in sandpaper. "Here" Lucius quickly spells a glass of water on the small side table and lifts Hadrian's head to help him rehydrate. "A troll got into Hogwarts last night and attacked you. You knocked it out but got hurt in the process, is that right?" Hadrian just nods his head. Narcissa runs her fingers through his soft locks of hair, "Draco is worried sick, do you feel up to seeing him?" Hadrian just sleepily nods his head again. Only moments later, the doors to the room he is in, fly open with a bang with Draco running in at full speed. His eyes are slightly bloodshot as if he had been crying and his beloved hair had a few hairs out of place. "Are you okay!? Uncle Sev wouldn't tell me much, all I know is you got attacked by the troll! And when Sev rushed you in your head was covered in blood and you weren't moving!" He rambles worriedly as he carefully pulls his little brother into a long hug.

"I'm okay... just a bit sore at the moment." Hadrian whispers, fighting the sleepy state the potions held him in. "You should see the state I left the troll in." He weakly jokes as he sits up and snuggles into Narcissa's side with a happy sigh. Draco climbs onto the bed's other side with his father as Lucius expanded the bed earlier to easily fit them all. They all sit next to each other in silence, just enjoying one another's presence when Severus dramatically sweeps into the room. "Albus just announced that classes have been canceled for the rest of the week at breakfast so Hadrian, you better take all the time you need to rest and recover." He gives Hadrian a look to let him know he is being dead serious and then turns his attention towards Lucius and Narcissa, "If you want a chance to embarrass the old fart in front of the entire school, I suggest you hurry before breakfast ends." Severus had never seen his friends move so fast. He blinked and they were already out the door.

Despite them not having been in the school's halls in many years, the furious married couple know exactly where they are going. Dumbledore was unaware of their presence at the moment as they had flooed in through Severus quarters, but not for much longer! With a flick of his wand, Lucius bangs the unnecessarily large doors wide open. The old man's crescent moon shaped glasses slip down his nose as he jerks up in surprise at the thud echoes around the room. He had never faced such powerful pure blood's wrath before as they tended to prefer threats in private and he was worried. Seeing as how Hadrian had no legal guardian he hadn't expected word of his injuries to cause anyone to create any ruckus.

"ALBUS PERCIVAL WULFRIC BRIAN DUMBLEDORE HOW DARE YOU ALLOW A TROLL TO ENTER HOGWARTS! NOT ONLY DID HADRIAN GET INJURED, YOU ALLOWED A FULLY GROWN MOUNTAIN TROLL TO GET PAST THE SCHOOL'S WARDS YOU ARE SO BLOODY PROUD OF!" Narcissa scolds and is filled with so much anger that her magic could be seen flying around her in a beautiful gray hue. Lucius calmly sets a hand on her shoulder and waits for her to calm down. "Albus I suggest you watch yourself as the school board will be hearing about this. Another slip up and you may find yourself no longer holding the job you are so proud of. You are supposed to protect these children! Not allow harm to befall them. Good day headmaster." The hall is silent as the couple walks out of the hall with their heads held high and the aura of their strong magic still lingering.

All eyes turned towards Dumbledore as he had told all the children that the troll had been taken care of and that no harm had come to anyone. Seeing as how the heads of the houses had been busy cleaning up the mess, even they hadn't been aware of his manipulation of the situation. A seed of distrust begins to grow in the teachers as whispers of shock from the students slowly fill the hall and their breakfast lays in front of them cold and forgotten. Albus just sits there in silence as he quickly finishes his breakfast and panics in his head as he attempts to calmly storm his way up to his office.

Once the Malfoy Lord and Lady arrive back in Severus's quarters, they hold back a laugh at Hadrian's pouting face as he doesn't want to take any more nasty potions from his godfather. They graciously save him from the potions master and announce that they are taking him and Draco back to the manor for a few days until class starts back up the next week. Both boys let out a cheer at the good news and share a smirk as they realize their disappearance will only add more rumors against Dumbles. Hadrian being gone will make it seem like his injuries caused him to be sent home to fully recover and help discredit Dumbledore as only Snape, Andria, and Marcus knew the true extent of his injuries.

Lucius helps Draco pack up both his and Hadrian's trunks as Narcissa helps Hadrian floo to the manor. They spent the next four days together from Thursday to Sunday as Halloween that year took place on Wednesday. Hadrian writes a letter to Rita Skeeter with Lucius's approval and has her over for tea on Friday to discuss what all had taken place. She discusses the situation with Draco as well for his side of the story who happily tells her that "the headmaster must be losing his mind as the troll was said to be in the dungeons and tried to send everyone to their dorms when everyone knows that Slytherin dorms were also in the dungeons. Hufflepuff is down there too!"

On Saturday Narcissa takes the boys to Diagon and Knockturn Alley for some treats and just for them to have a bit of fun. Sunday is more relaxing as Hadrian still has to be careful not to over work himself so soon after being healed. With Willard and Milly's help, he makes them all some snacks for the whole family to have a picnic outside the manor by the garden. Sooner than either of the boys would have liked, they floo back to school. The boys give both adults a hug after dinner and Lucius places a featherlight charm on their trunks to easily transfer them back into their shared room.

Monday morning arrived and so did Rita's article. It would seem she happily gossiped about the information with her fellow reporters as several articles from different papers appeared with similar titles. From the daily prophet, DUMBLEDORE ENDANGERING STUDENTS! to the Quibbler, A TROLL ENTERED HOGWARTS!, and Hadrian's favorite, from Witches weekly, HAS DUMBLEDORE FINALLY LOST IT? Seeds of doubt were now not just in the school but being placed and spread all throughout the wizarding world in Britain and perhaps even to those outside of Britain! The only part Hadrian didn't like about it was that now he is going to have even more looks of pity and curiosity following him everywhere he may go.

To his great annoyance, some admirers and haters within the castle quickly grew very vocal on their opinions of the attack. The loudest hater of Hadrians could currently be seen fuming and idiotically rushing towards him despite only having finished his first of his three months worth of detentions. "You brat! You just can't ever get enough attention can you? Noooo, being a creature and Peverell wasn't enough so you decided to let in a troll and got hurt in the process! Serves you right you weak and slimy snake!" Ron sent a cutting hex at Hadrian but due to his magic being rather weak and using his older brother's old wand, it only made a small cut on his eyebrow as the boy turned to tiredly face him.

Gasps could be heard around the hall as Ron once again accuses Hadrian of being a liar and has now physically attacked him with magic. "Was that supposed to hurt? If anything you're the weak one as your magic barely cuts through the skin. Call me a liar all you want I don't care... but attack me again and you may not like what happens after." Hadrian calmly responds as a thin trail of blood slides down his face. "You're threatening me!?" Ron stupidly screeches loud enough to match his mother and fails to notice some of the Slytherins surrounding him. "No," Hadrian pauses, "that was a promise." He nods to the other Slytherins and Vincent and Gregory each harshly grab an arm and drag him out of the hall kicking and screaming. The two seventh year prefects follow and close the doors behind Ron and breakfast continues on as if Ron had never said a word.

Chapter Text

A few days have passed since Ron weakly attacked Hadrian and he has yet to get a moment alone since. Ron was given another week of detention and he tried to loudly blame Hadrian but no one would listen. Ron was being shunned by almost the entire school body even more than before. The release of the troll attack along with Ron seemingly increased all of his friend's protective nature by a thousand. Most Slytherins, especially those in the younger years tend to always stick together in a group of two or more for protection but no one would even let him leave their line of sight for a mere second. At least one other Slytherin stayed with him no matter where he went, preventing him from aimlessly wandering the school for fun. Hadrian knows they mean well but he is still getting used to others genuinely caring for him despite being free of the Dursleys for some time. It wasn't his fault that up until two summers ago he was raised by relatives that barely cared enough to keep him alive. If Dumbledore had kept his stupidly long nose out of his family's business, he could have ended up growing up with Neville or one of his godparents!

Quirrel had become a bit protective towards him as well. The false stutterer had asked him if he was okay the morning the story was released and his eyes seemed to follow Hadrian anytime he was nearby. He was currently in Defense against the dark arts when the professor stuttered and asked him to stay behind class as they neared the end of the class period. Not sure why but not worried about the man having a hidden agenda up his sleeve like a certain headmaster, Hadrian didn't feel worried and agreed with a quick, "yes professor," and continued to take notes. As class ends, Hadrian sends a small nod to Draco and Blaise to tell them not to worry and waits with Quirrell for everyone to leave the room. With a dramatic wave of his hand, red eyes appear as a privacy charm is thrown on the door. "I'm sorry you got hurt by the troll, my little horcrux. I had meant to use it as a distraction and had no idea you weren't in the hall with everyone else." "Don't worry professor, just give me a heads up next time." Hadrian pauses and teases with a smirks, "At least it gave me a chance to make Dumble bee look bad!" Quirrelmort just rolls his ruby colored eyes and softly pushes Hadrian towards the door. Hadrian glances back at the man one more time with a smile and closes the door behind him.

Outside the classroom, Draco and Blaise quietly discuss the potions essay Snape had assigned in class earlier that afternoon. They glance up when they hear Hadrian close the door and the three make their way to the library where the rest of their friends are impatiently waiting for them. Pansy, who is the proud mother figure of their group, runs to Hadrian and searches him for injuries as she has been doing every day since the attack. She nods her head a minute later, satisfied that is a-okay, and leans down to give Hadrian a kiss on the head before letting him sit down with everyone else. Having grown used to this, only his ears turned red instead of his entire face and neck.

Like usual, Hadrian is the first to finish his work and turns his attention to helping his friends finish as well. Snape's potion essay requires two feet on why you should always check the quality of your ingredients for potions as Ronald had used a shriveled up eye of newt instead of a fresh one and nearly blew up his own hand. Not even Snape's precious snakes escaped his rage, hence the extremely long essay most of them were still working on. Draco finishes soon after Hadrian and the two decide to explore the castle. They bid goodbye to their friends and head towards the astronomy tower as it has the best view in their opinion. They slowly climb up their third set of the moving stairs and make it halfway up before it begins to move. They climb up to the top and stand in front of a door they have never been behind before. Curiosity gets the better of them, and easily walks in as the door is left unlocked. The hall is dark and empty but holds unlit torches along the wall. With a flick of his wrist, Hadrian lights up half of them and the fire leads them to another closed door. This one is locked but the simple alohomora charm does the trick as they hear the door lock click open.

This large looking room is rather dark and quite just like the rest of the hall they had just explored. Draco whispers "lumos'' and a small but bright ball of light appears on the tip of his wand. Both boys cover their eyes at the sudden brightness and in the process fail to see the large figure slowly nearing them. A low growl echo through the room and Hadrian feels his heart skip a beat. His eyes fill with terror as he looks around and faces three, massive, drooling dog heads connected to an intimidating body chained to the cement floor. Draco reacts first as he screams in terror but Hadrian can't force his body to move. This dog was a thousand times worse than any dog aunt Marge had ever brought over and he was frozen in a flashback. He could hear multiple dogs growling and barking in his ears as he remembered all the times he would hide in trees for hours and the other times he hadn't made it up the tree in time. His legs began to ache as the phantom feeling of sharp teeth gripping and tearing into his legs appeared. He was going to die!

Hadrian faintly feels a hand grab him and yank him backwards but he still can't snap out of his panic. His breath quickens and his hands tremble. Tears begin to fall down his face and his hands start to tug at his hair frantically. The howls and barks continue to sound painfully in his ears and pulling his hair only reminds him more of the pain his past caused him. He tries to remember the dog he loved as a baby but the memory turns on him and that dog too attacks! Their eyes turn red and saliva drips down its snarling lips. He can't breathe!

Hadrian curls in a ball to try and protect himself but suddenly the dog froze. "...adr-" A voice is saying something but the dogs prevent it from getting through to him. "Hades!" Again someone calls and the dog disappears. Hadrian looks around again and finds his vision blurred but he is no longer with his relatives. Where was he again? Everything is dark but someone is in front of him, holding his face. "...ok at me..." Their voice continues to cut out but he realizes he can breathe again! "Tha... it, breat..." The person with him put his ear to their nervous heart beat but he found himself gradually calming down.

The hands that held his face were now wrapped around him and rocked him back and forth. His face was wet and realizes he had been crying. The heartbeat he is listening to calms down as he calms down and a soft voice whispers in his ear. "You're okay, you're okay." Hadrian realizes he is in the cold hall and Draco is the one holding him. The rocking back in forth relaxes him and the exhaustion caused by his panic attack hits him all at once. "M'sorry Dray..." He whimpers out. "I've got you little brother, go to sleep Hades." When Hadrian opens his eyes again, his surroundings have changed. He is no longer in the dark hall but in his warm bed. The covers have been pulled over him and he could feel Draco's arms wrapped tightly around him. He listens to his brother's breathing and lets his heavy eyelids close once again.

Chapter Text

After a panic attack, Hadrian's mind is always at its weakest and nightmares often follow. The need to sleep to recover while riddled with nightmares leaves Hadrian sometimes more tired than he was before the panic attack but he isn't alone. Luckily this panic attack took place on Friday so he was left with plenty of time to sleep in with Draco remaining by his side throughout the entire night. Knowing that it is the weekend, they continue to cuddle all morning and relax under their pile of blankets and pillows. At first, no one thought anything of the pair not being up yet as they tend to stay in bed late when they have no class. However it was later than usual as it is nearly time for lunch and their door remains locked. With privacy charms to prevent anyone from entering someone's room unwelcomed, their friends worry grows as no one answers the door, no matter how hard the knock.

As the most protective of the pair, Blaise and Pansy take matters into their own hands and head to Professor Snape to help dispute their friend's words of disagreement. Being an overprotective worrier himself, Severus is soon seen rushing to the boys room with his cape swooping dramatically behind him. As head of the house, he easily unlocks the wards set and quietly glides in. His eyes fall on the sight of Hadrian's bed that clearly hadn't been slept in and flashes them to Draco's bed. His heart beat slows back down to normal as he sees two bodies buried in blankets together and watches as they slowly rose and fell in sync. He tells his godsons's friends that the boys are simply still asleep and hurries them out of the room.

He sits down on the edge of the bed after closing the door, and pulls back the covers. His hand moves to sweep some of Hadrian's hair out of his face but falters at the sight of dried tear stains. With a quick spell, he wets the handkerchief Draco had bought him a few Christmases ago and wipes the stains away. He gently grips the smaller boy's bony shoulder and shakes him awake. "Hadrian... wake up little slyther." He watches as Hadrian's eyes flutter open and stop at the sight of his worried face.

"Sev?" Hadrian sleepily slurs. "You want to tell me what got you so worked up last night? It's nearly noon Hades..." The potion master inquires. "Not really..." Hadrian mumbles but answers after faced with the man's famous glare, "panic attack..." Snape sighs and pulls the boy into his chest as new tears develop and he begins to sniffle. "I- I was so scared! I thought- I thought I was going to die! And- and it was so cold and dark!" Hadrian rambles as his tears fall. Draco wakes up at the sound of Hadrian's distress and joins their hug session, wild bed head and all! "Alright, you two just rest and take it easy, Draco I'm assuming you were tired because you stayed up to help calm Hades down?" The man asks and Draco just nods his head while fixing his hair.

Doing as commanded of them, both boys spend the day resting by reading in the library. What they didn't tell their godfather was that they were researching "Fantastic beasts and where to find them" to learn about the Cerberus and what on Earth it could possibly be guarding. Once they learned music will put it to sleep, they scoured the shelves for music charms to put said dog to sleep as neither of them were very good at playing any instruments. They are well aware of the fact that whatever is being guarded by the Cerberus is important, they plan to explore the corridor again before Christmas break so that if they take it, they can hide it at Malfoy manor. After all, if it is discovered missing while they are gone, there is no way the school can somehow create an excuse to come and visit every family to search for the missing object without creating gossip and distrust towards the headmaster.

With their plan created and research completed, all the boys could do is wait. To keep any suspicion away from them, they continue to act like normal by spending time with friends, studying in the library, and watching the Slytherin quidditch team practices. However the thought of the Cerberus kept Hadrian up many nights and he decided one night to go without his brother. It was well past midnight and most of the teachers including Severus were normally asleep by then.

During their research sessions, Draco and Hadrian had speculated that whatever was attempted to be stolen from Gringotts could be at Hogwarts. Dumbles likes to stick his overly long nose in everyone's business so it wasn't too far-fetched to think he had something to do with this as well. After all, he had been the one to warn them to avoid that corridor unless they wished for painful death. Having studied materials used in class and outside of classes as he wanted to excel in, Hadrian breezes through the mysterious course.

He uses one of the music charms Draco had found in the library on the monstrous dog and trembles as slobber drops from its sharp teeth, near the trap door. He easily uses Wingardium Leviosa to lift the heavy paws off the trap door and recklessly hops down. When he realizes he landed on Devil's Snare, he uses his favorite fire spell to create a ball of fire in his hand. Hadrian clumsily drops down onto his feet and uses bombarda on the charmed key room's door. He knows bombarda is an advanced spell but you can never be too careful with a muggle loving, bearded oaf nearby. One of Slytherins key qualities is being cunning and Hadrian uses this skill on the giant chess board and wins with his knight in four moves. He simply walks through the fire in the potion room and holds his breath as he runs through an empty room if you ignore the giant troll snoring in the corner.

He slows down his pace when he ends up in a room filled with a dark magic that surrounds a seemingly harmless mirror. He slowly approaches it and reads an inscription on its edges. erised stra ehrou oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. Translating the words in his head by reading it backwards reveals the hidden message, I show not your face but your heart's desire. Looking into the mirror, tears swell up in his eyes. It depicts an older version of him surrounded by the Malfoys, Severus, his friends, and a tall man who's smile looks more like a smirk and red eyes matching those of what is left of Voldemort. They all look so happy together as smiles and playful smirks flash across their faces. However that was not what made him cry. He cries as his wings are spread out proudly as if on display and not a single scar could be seen anywhere on his body.

Hadrian prefers to wear long sleeves for a reason. So far he has gotten away with claiming that he enjoys feeling toasty as fire is always warm but it also helps him feel safe. Most of his scars can be found on his back but a few can be found on his arms from times he would try to protect himself from a whip or hot pan and get hit or burnt. The mirror shows his greatest desire, which was to be accepted by those around him and by himself. He hates how his relatives treated him and the way it has left him both emotionally and physically scarred. It leaves him constantly questioning why anyone muggle or wizard treats him with any kindness and still flinches when caught by surprise. He wants so badly to be able to accept their love without wondering about hidden motives but he isn't there yet. Ripping his eyes away from the wonderful scene, Hadrian reminds himself of the dark magic of the mirror and that what he is seeing isn't real and may never be.

Glancing back at the mirror, it seems to have picked up on his thought process as everyone around mirror him slowly disappears one at a time with sad smiles. Voldemort and the Malfoys are the last to go and Narcissa even gives mirror him a hug. His mirror self sends him a sad smile as well and a stone appears in their hand. Hadrian recognizes it as the philosopher's stone and gasps in surprise. The reflection put it in his pocket and suddenly he felt a weight in his own pocket. So this is the weapon Voldemort wants. With the real stone in his pocket, he needs a fake to keep Dumbles off his back. With a small pebble from the floor, Hadrian uses the skills he has worked so hard on with McGonagall and transforms it into a copy of the philosopher's stone. He places the real one on the floor and faces the mirror again. Winking at himself, he puts the fake in his pocket and wishes for it to return to the mirror. To his happy surprise, it actually works and Hadrian travels back the way he came.

He runs through the fire and past the troll like before. He checks on the chess board and this time they let him through. He uses Reparo on the door he had exploded and finds a dark stairwell that he had missed on his way down. Up the stairs he goes and Hadrian finds himself near the door to the room the Cerberus is guarding. With all his tears wiped away and a subtle skip in his step, Hadrian's very early morning adventure comes to an end. He makes his way back to the room undetected and places another privacy charm in his trunk to hide the stone.

Morning came and while Hadrian slept well, he didn't get to sleep long. He had made quick work of the course but didn't fall asleep until 3:30 in the morning. He is not very happy to wake up at 6 for breakfast but with his usual excuse from the past week or so of not sleeping well, no one really questions him. However, by the time his second class comes around, he can barely stay awake in Charms and this doesn't go unnoticed by Flitwick. He has Draco walk him back to the dorms and Hadrian spends the rest of the class period sleeping away in his comfy bed.

Chapter Text

Christmas break is just around the corner and still no one seems to have realized the stone is a fake. However, Hadrian is still struggling to fall asleep, much less sleep through most of the night. He has been partially honest when he admits to his friends that he hadn't been sleeping well but he refuses to tell them why. He isn't too worried about the Cerberus and getting caught with the stone anymore but just like with Halloween, Christmas doesn't really have any good memories attached to it minus this past year and even then it wasn't great.

Last year was a bit better, mainly because he no longer had to watch "precious Duders' ' open tons of presents and break them within a week while he cleaned up the mess his cousin left behind. Instead, he got to learn about the burning of a Yuletide log to honor Lady Magic and to ask her to bless the upcoming year. If she says yes, your log will burn for the next few weeks or even months if you are lucky. Celebrating Yule in place of Christmas helped him with his nightmares the year before but Dumbledore is the muggleborn's biggest cheerleader and has insisted on celebrating Christmas and even has had Hagrid drag a giant tree into the dining hall and covered it in decorations. His influence on the wizarding world is an extremely large reason as to why Purebloods seem to hate muggle borns as he has taught all his mindless followers to hate on Yuletide and Samhain celebrations as he labeled them as dark magic. These celebrations honor and strengthen Lady Magic and is why the Purebloods hate Dumbledore and the muggleborns trying to force their muggle traditions on them as if they are more important.

Hadrian had exchanged gifts after Yule with the Malfoys and Severus last year but lied to them and told them he had plans during the actual celebration as the Dursleys had drilled it into his head all his life that he didn't deserve any gifts or attention of any kind as he wasn't worth it. Milly, Willard, Daisy, and Ivy had all gotten him gifts despite him telling them not to and that alone caused him to sob in happiness. It scared the house elves as they thought they had offended him but he wasn't looking forward to another lonely holiday.

As dark thoughts of past gifts of old socks and used tissues filled Hadrian's head at dinner, Pansy bumped his shoulder. "Quit picking at your food phoenix, you are still too skinny!" Pansy had taken to calling him that ever since he had burst into flames one night. She had accidentally scared him as her Mother Nature had caused her to hunt him down as that night he had attempted to skip dinner was rather scary. His dark thoughts that occasionally took over, never left him with much of an appetite and he was trying to not worry his friends but it obviously wasn't working. They were annoyingly observant but they were all Slytherin so it was kind of expected of them.

"What's wrong Had?" Blaise asks as the mother hen in him was starting to come out too. Hadrian just nibbles on a pitifully small piece of buttered broccoli and sighs. "Nothing" he mumbles in an attempt to get them to drop the subject. "Hades..." Draco warns in his 'you better cut the bull crap or else!' voice. "I just..." He pauses trying to find the right words. The exhaustion in his voice causes the three overprotective Slytherins worried glares to soften. "Last year I spent Yule alone and-" "What!?" Draco interrupts. "Shush, let the baby finish!" Pansy scolds.

Hadrian gives a weak shrug as an apology and continues, "my relatives never let me celebrate anything... no birthdays, Christmas, no gifts... I didn't want to force yet another family to have to deal with my freakiness..." He mentally begins to harshly scold himself for his slip up. 'Stupid Hadrian! You just had to mess it up! Now they will hate me! Why didn't you just lie!?Ugh you idiot!' Another shoulder bump brings him back to reality and his eyes flash towards the anger that fills his friends' eyes, or ex friends if this went in the direction he worried it is headed in.

"Hadrian?" Pansy's voice calls, filled with nothing but worry instead of the disgust he was expecting. His eyes look up from his plate to meet hers and she grabs his hand to give a soft squeeze. "Come on, we are going to the kitchen to talk without any nosy eavesdroppers nearby!" She leads him up stairs and down hallways and never once lets go of his slightly trembling hand. Draco and Blaise follow quietly behind. Pansy tickles the pear and it giggles as the portrait swings open. Behind the portrait is a kitchen, larger than the ones Hadrian has ever seen and is full of possibly hundreds of house elves. Many heads turn toward them with wide eyes and one brave elf dressed in a pink dress makes her way to them. "How can Pinky be of service to yous little ones?"

After Pansy requests more food for her "shy and skinny little friend," in a demanding tone, the group of four sit themselves down at a table Pinky pointed them to and Hadrian nervously fiddles with his fingers. "Phoenix- no Hadrian I want you to tell me exactly why you think you are a freak," she pauses to stop Hadrian as he tries to open his mouth and answer. "I want to know why you think it, not what your awful, no good, dead beat, idiotic muggle relatives told you!" She angrily rants. Hadrian just scrunches up his eyebrows and nose in thought for a few seconds before timidity responding. "I'm not like you guys... I don't have any parents, no family that loves me... I have crazy magic that no one is supposed to have till they turn 14, and even then I have a rare creature that hasn't been seen in forever. I mean, Dumbledore even went out of his way to put spells and blocks on me just because he could... I just want to be normal but I'm not and being different means I'm a freak, a mistake, a nuisance, a burden-"

"STOP!" Draco cries out causing Pinky to run up to them and give them all some hot chocolate and a box of tissues. Blaise just quietly asks the house elf to get professor Snape and she disappears with a small pop. Pansy pulls Hadrian into a tight hug and a small muffled squeak escapes his lips as she tucks his head into her shoulder. A sob escapes his lips and Draco and Blaise quickly join the hug to comfort the boy they've all mentally adopted as a little brother. Pansy grabs some of the tissues grateful for the house elf's thoughtfulness and wipes away all her boy's tears.

The portrait then slams open and out of it stands a skillfully hidden mask of concern on their favorite professor. "Do pray tell me why on earth you four are sobbing your hearts away in the kitchen." Draco lets out a watery chuckle, "Hades let it slip at dinner that he spent last Yule alone," he pauses as he blinks away tears and Snape raises an unamused brow at a still crying Hadrian. "He continued to tell us he never received any gifts from his relatives and claimed he didn't want to make us deal with his freakiness..." A dark look forms on Severus's face and he bends down to scoop both his godsons and their two friends into a tight hug. He kisses Draco's and Hadrian's heads and practically commands Hadrian to remove those vile thoughts from his head. "Hadrian, I don't care what you think about yourself, you are coming to celebrate Yule with me and the Malfoys. You get no say in it either as I am head of your house and in charge of the list of who is staying at Hogwarts over break!" Hadrian just nods his head and mumbles a small "yes sir."

One hug and a few spells later, Severus helps his snakes hide their tear stains away and removes the puffiness around their eyes. He fixes Hadrian's hair up a bit and gives Draco a comforting pat on the head. He gives them a rare smile and ushers them all back to the dungeons to go to bed early. Emotionally and mentally drained, they go without complaint and soon their eyelids become heavy and droop close.

Despite the Malfoys having already planned to have Hadrian over, Severus spends the next hour carefully crafting a letter. Wording everything with a few choice words to insult his old guardians and detailing the situation without causing the Malfoy Monarchs to storm the castle again in worry, the potion master leans back in his chair with a sigh. He cares for Hadrian just as much as the Malfoy family does and wants the best for his honorary godson. Despite not being rich, Severus plans on spoiling him and no wretched words from those imbecile muggles are going to change that. Once the letter is handed off to his house elf, Severus gets ready to head for bed as it has been a long day. If only Hadrian would tell him who his relatives were and he could torture them a bit and then make them all forget so he can start all over again. With one final dark thought, he closes his eyes with a dark smirk and falls into dreams that would make the Dursleys weep.

Chapter Text

Ever since Hadrian's confession, his friends have been extra loving and supportive, not in public, but it still means a lot. Slytherins are known for being cunning and tend to be very ambitious and successful in life. Unfortunately as they are seen as the dark house, people only see them as evil and manipulative, as there is no way they could possibly all do so well without some type of bribe or cheating in one way or another. With the excuse that dark magic twists their minds as it focuses more on emotion versus intent, those jealous of their success and skills attempt to constantly tear down even the youngest of Slytherins from the moment they get sorted. So Hadrian is quite happy to keep a mask up until he and his friends are alone as it was the only time others aren't around to harshly judge them for being their actual selves.

The day before break arrives and a certain manipulator has just discovered his possible future weapon wouldn't be spending his Christmas alone at Hogwarts. The potion master's cape bellows dramatically behind him as he is sent down to breakfast to let Hadrian know he has been summoned by the arrogant fool with way too many names and titles. The young boy's friends grow nervous for him, but having read over Hogwart's rule book, he knows of a certain specification the old fart loves to constantly overlook. While he has every right to talk to Hadrian about leaving for break as he has no known living relatives, any student summoned to the headmaster's office is supposed to bring their head of their house with them.

So Hadrian happily munched on his buttered and jammed toast and swung his legs underneath the table with a smile. To most, he looks like a happy boy, excited for the holidays but his housemates know better. Hadrian Peverell is about to create some chaos and they can hardly wait! He swallows his last bite of toast, as when told about the meeting he lost most of his appetite, and walks to where Snape sat to wait for the boy to finish. Severus raises his eyebrow at the boy in hidden amusement and they walk together to the Griffin statue. Already annoyed due to the statue clearly showing favoritism, the professor grumbles out the candy themed password and manages to gracefully stomp up the steps. Severus loudly slams the door open and ignores Albus in favor of waiting for Hadrian to slip in behind him. As he enters the room, Snape sits down and his godson soon sits in the seat beside him. Albus attempts to dismiss the man but Hadrian is more than happy to recite the rule he has memorized for this very situation, months earlier.

"Very well my boy-" "Don't call me that." Hadrian snaps, "My uncle always shouted boy at me when mad so I would appreciate it, if you would address me with my correct title. In case your old mind has forgotten, it's Lord Peverell to you." The elderly man stroked his beard with his thin fingers and sighed. "Well *ahem* Lord Peverell," he manages to choke out, "I wish to discuss with you the fact that you will not be staying with us for Christmas. I know you are emancipated, but due to your power you could be in danger if someone attacked you for it."

Severus stares at the man in silent rage as Hadrian remains unaffected and walks over to pet Fawkes, causing dear Dumbles to fidget in his overly large and unimpressive throne. "Sir, you are aware that no one unless accepted into wards are not allowed into my properties and if they break them down I am immediately made aware the moment they start to attack?" Hadrian asks rhetorically as if talking to an uneducated child. Albus Dumb-as-a-door coughs to clear his throat and nods. "Then excuse me professor, but I must be off and pack the rest of my things!" The boy says in a false cheery tone.

Without waiting for a response, both Slytherins stand up and sweep out of the room as they can barely withhold their laughter. They return to the dorms and Severus is more than happy to add the memory to a large pensive for all his snakes to watch and rewatch till their stomachs can handle no more laughter. The best part is at the end, as Fawkes cries out as Hadrian leaves and flies after the kind boy that has released him from the old coot's manipulative magic.

Many small greetings are exchanged the following morning and trunks charmed to be easily carried onto the Hogwarts express. The Slytherin house is the first to arrive per usual and minus a few Ravens, are the only ones already on the train. None of them mind as they prefer the quiet and they all split into their groups and add charms to prevent ease-droppers and extend a few to make room for everyone. Hadrian's group does the same and Hadrian is happy to show off at his friend's requests to transform the seats into a comfier version of themselves.

The trip itself doesn't take too long as they all happily play exploding snap for hours and then switch to random topics of discussion. Even Vincent and Gregory jump in at random times to talk. It isn't often but they know a surprisingly large amount of knowledge about prank spells and hexes as their fathers had both taught them in depth. They had been discussing how to best prank Dumbles without him catching them and the two larger boys were quite happy to write down an entire list.

Eventually though, Hadrian grows tired as he still hasn't slept the best all week and takes a nap with his head in Draco's lap and feet covering Blaise's lap. Pansy thinks it is adorable and grumbles about cameras having a flash as it will wake him up and get her caught. Once they near the station, Draco reluctantly wakes up his little brother by shaking his shoulder. The boy's bright emerald eyes slowly blink open and with Pansy's help, fixes his hair. Hadrian has to stop himself from physically bouncing in excitement and nearly runs all the way into the couple he so dearly wishes were his true parents. Narcissa crouches down to reach his short height and tightly hugs him and rubs his back. Lucius gives him a side hug after and with very little warning, side apperates him and Draco back to the manor.

Lucius holds on tightly to Hadrian to keep him from falling and pulls him into a tight hug after arriving. He hugs Hadrian on one side and Draco squeezes them both on the other side. He kisses them both on the head and sends them to their rooms to unpack before dinner. Both boys smile up at the man and once arriving in his room, Milly is very happy to see her baby in one piece after being stuck with such an old fart for so long, those were her words exactly. Christmas break has begun and this time Hadrian wouldn't be alone.

Chapter Text

Having fully unpacked and his stomach starting to growl, Hadrian makes his way down to the dining room. Draco, being a diva king and having more than him to unpack, joins them a few minutes later and the house elves serve them a full course meal good enough to compete with Hogwarts. Small talk is made until dinner ends when Hadrian finally decides to ask Lucius his burning question, "What did the dark lord stand for because I don't believe a single word that leaves that ancient headmaster's mouth." Lucius just pauses and puts his fork down and looks at Hadrian with a Snape worthy raised eyebrow causing him to look down with flushed cheeks at his impatience.

His head flies back up as Lucius chuckles and motions him to follow him. They walk side by side to his office and Hadrian sits down while Lucius closes the door behind them. "Hadrian be honest with me, who told you to ask me such things?" Hadrian looks down at his fidgeting fingers and looks at Lucius to see concern instead of the anger he was expecting. "I.. it was Professor quirrell..." Lucius just waits for him to continue, "what I mean is... the dark lord possessing quirrell told me after Raven noticed he smelled like my scent before the horcrux was removed."

Lucius sucks in a deep breath and looks almost excited for a second but quickly pushes it away. "Hadrian the dark lord was many things and brilliant was one of them. He had some of the greatest control over his magic I had ever seen, even above yours and very ambitious. He also worried about the mass destruction muggles could cause if they ever discovered our world. He sought to protect dark creatures rights and free dark magic while Dumbles worked heavily against him to do the very opposite. Over the years he lost his sanity and became more ruthless, even towards his most faithful followers. I don't know how you managed to talk to him without being attacked or killed but please be careful! Promise me!" The man grips Hadrian's arms and looks him dead in the eyes. He whispers an "I promise" and explains his conversation with the former dark lord in detail.

Lucius is shocked to find out the diary he has been protecting is a horcrux and reluctantly gives it to Hadrian. Hadrian tells the man he has a plan but refuses to say any more only promising that he will be very careful. Having to go prepare for the Yule ball his family is in charge of hosting that year, Lucius has no choice but to give up and help his wife for the time being. Hadrian winks and walks off while Lucius grumbles about the boy being the death of him one day.

The manor is a flurry of nervous energy over the next two days as Narcissa commands the house elves to perform their variety of duties and Lucius watches his wife with a look of pride in his eyes. Hadrian and Draco are allowed to watch all that is being done but warned to be careful as the preparations are made. Not wanting to be in the way, Hadrian asks Lucius why the Yule ball always takes place a week before Yule instead of being on the actual day of Yule. The blond politician explains that while mass celebration of the holiday is good for magic, the ceremonies performed by families on Yule as they relax their magic and burn the Yule log is a dangerous thing to do as everyone's magic is different and not all Magic's react well to others. A few more questions are asked and Lucius happily answers them to curb the boy's curiosity before sending him off to change for the ball.

Now wearing the fine dress robes Narcissa bought him over the summer, Hadrian joins Draco's side and they make their way to the manor's entrance to greet many guests as they arrive for the night. Lucius introduces both boys as his sons and Hadrian can't help but smile every time he hears the words "my sons" instead of my son and his friend. Once most everyone has arrived, Lucius sends the boys to go have fun. The pair socialize and dance throughout the night with friends and associates alike and act like perfect gentlemen, just as Narcissa taught them. As the end of the night draws near, Hadrian sees Quirrell talking to a stiff Lucius and Narcissa and slips away. He comes back with a small wrapped package in his hand and passes it to Quirrell with a wink. The man gives him a smirk and pats his hand in return, shocking both Malfoys. "Thank you little horcrux." Hadrian just gives Lucius a mischievous smile and reminds him his mask is slipping before going back over to Draco and his friends.

Early the next morning, Hadrian is woken up by an unfamiliar owl that refuses to stop pecking at the window until let in. He groans as he gets up and checks the letter for spells before untying it. He flips the letter over and sees it's from Quirrell. In the letter, he thanks Hadrian for gifting him with the stone and praises his cunning nature as he himself had no idea the stone had been stolen and neither does Dumbles. Near the end of the letter is a hint that he will return to the manor later that week and "to let his peacock of a father" that he will arrive. Hadrian snickers at the jab and sighs knowing that now that he is awake there will be no going back asleep.

True to his word, Quirrellmort arrives later that week and Lucius looks quite faint when Hadrian addresses the man as such. Having only ever been addressed with disgust or utmost respect, Riddle just chuckles and shoots a mild stinging hex at him. "Honestly Lucius I'm not entirely insane anymore, give me some credit!" The dark lord teases through a red eyed Quirrell, which is quite an odd sight to see as the man held no stutter. Having spent many spare hours outside of studying and homework, Hadrian is quick to gather all the necessary ingredients for the resurrection ritual.

Quirrell pulls out the stone and his Ravenclaw diadem horcrux while Lucius gathers chalk for the rune drawings. After pulling all the needed ingredients from his trunk, Hadrian meets them in the room they picked out and prepares his cauldron with an engorio. With the cauldron now large enough to fit a human body, Hadrian explains the runes needed and Lucius begins to carve. Once all the ingredients are added, Quirrellmort takes a large gulp of liquid from the stone while in the cauldron and sinks down to let the potion completely submerge on top of him.

Voldemort feels his spirit being ripped from the diadem, diary, and Quirrell and can hear the man's pain-filled screams. He watches as flesh and bones form around him and feels his new heart begin to beat. Soon only the now ex-horcruxes and Quirrell remain with his new body and surprisingly Quirrell didn't die unlike every other thing he had previously possessed for a long period of time. Thankfully Hadrian throws him a robe and he is able to rise to the full height of his 18 year old self. His only remaining soul pieces now are the hufflepuff cup he made at age 19, the ring he made at 17, and the Slytherin locket at 25. Once he reconnects with them all, he will age up a small bit and have a full soul and completely sound mind once more. His current body formed so young due to his diary holding half his soul at the age of 16.

The sound of an exhausted man's whimper brings him out of his musing and he remembers Quirrell at his feet. He motions for Hadrian and Lucius over to help pick him up as after such a strong ritual, the man's core will be much too sensitive towards magic of any kind. Hadrian floo calls Severus over for help and to say the man was furious at his godson is a sugar coating so sweet you would get a toothache just from saying it. After reprimanding the boy for his idiocy and extreme lack of self preservation, he sweeps off to treat Quirrell. In fact, Snape is so mad he takes away Hadrian's potion ingredients and refuses to let him help with Quirrell while letting Draco stay behind and watch. However, by the next day, Hadrian manages to be forgiven and gets his ingredients returned.

Quirrell remains weak and sickly but gradually improves. At the same time, the dark lord spends hours and hours with Lucius and Narcissa to discuss his new alias and revise old plans. The day before Yule, he goes to Gringotts to claim his titles and promises to try and return for the exchange of gifts. By then, Quirrell has healed up nicely as well and returns to Hogwarts for the rest of break and excitedly describes his absence away as him off for treatment that completely removed his stutter.

Chapter Text

With Yule only a few days away and neither boys having had the time to go shopping yet, they are scrambling for the chance to find gifts. With Dobby and Milly by their sides, Narcissa gives them permission to go to Diagon Alley for a few hours as long as they return in time for dinner. Hadrian dresses in a black button up shirt with emerald buttons that match his eyes and dark grey slacks. Draco dresses in a similar fashion with a dark gray button up and black slacks. Both have casual black robes on top but Draco has a thick black jacket too. Unlike Hadrian whose constant hot body temperature isn't typically bothered by the cold, Draco needs extra layers to provide warmth and has a dark green scarf and gloves, Slytherin style, along with his jacket.

The boys cover their excitement with well practiced masks and make their way to Gringotts first. Hadrian politely asks to see Silverclaw while Draco takes his key and rides a cart down to one of the Malfoy family's vaults. Despite having multiple vaults and keys as well, Hadrian holds a single key and card connected to them all over the summer with Lucius's help and wants to check up on his vaults as he worries Dumblebee will try to intercept his letters at Hogwarts. Not wanting to make his friend wait too long, he has a short but polite conversation with the goblin and leaves with several thick parchments shrunk down and secure in his pocket.

With matching smirks, Hadrian and Draco explore store after store, wanting to get the perfect gifts for their loved ones. After a few hours, they split up and agreed to meet up for ice cream to satisfy their matching sweet tooth, or in Draco's case, sweet teeth. Hadrian got two scoops of tectile tart flavor on a waffle cone and Draco decided on a chocolate frog fudge sundae. Hadrian almost offers to buy something for Milly and Dobby but doesn't when he remembers the last time he did so, resulting in them loudly sobbing about the great master Hadrian's kindness and refusing the food he tried to offer. With both their bowls scraped empty and every last drop of their treats gone, Milly and Dobby apperate them back to the manor and snap the newly wrapped presents under the Yuletide tree that would later be cut into the Yule log.

Before Hadrian knows it, the night before Yule arrives and everyone gathers by the tree. Each person has been assigned a color and all their gifts are wrapped in paper and bows of said color. Lucius has white and Narcissa's is silver. Severus got black, for obvious reasons, as it is about the only color his wardrobe holds. On the other hand, Draco receives grey and Hadrian, emerald, to match their eye colors. Hadrian mails a gift to Voldemort as well by an owl, wrapped in red for his eyes too who was unfortunately too busy to make it in person. But the thing is Hadrian still didn't fully understand the concept of gift giving, and expects nothing that year as the Malfoys have already gifted him with letting him stay with them for the holiday. He has however, gotten a few prank items for Fred and George through owl order and done the same for his friends with different candies or small gifts including Neville.

So Hadrian watches happily as each of his adopted family members open his gifts and happiness twinkles in their eyes in a non evil Dumbledore way. Lucius goes first and Hadrian had gone to Scribbulus Writing Instruments and with the store owner's help, for a small fee, had one of his feathers turned into a self inking quill. Lucius looks up at Hadrian in shock as most creatures would never willingly share feathers or scales as it holds a bit of their personal magic and are highly sought after and illegally trafficked. Hadrian just gives him a nod and smile and is very proud of himself when he doesn't flinch at the aristocratic man's sudden hug he gets suddenly pulled into. He does blush a bit though when he realizes a high pitched yelp slipped out of his lips upon the initial contact.

Narcissa unwraps her gifts second and is just as pleased when she receives Hadrian's thoughtful gift. Narcissa has always complimented on Hadrian's warmth, almost as much as Raven does, as she tends to get cold often and is seen constantly wearing gloves. Despite the fact the sewing can be seen as girly, Hadrian has had to patch up hand-me downs for years to fit and become quite skilled with a needle. So Hadrian had gone to Madam Malkin's for some nice black lace gloves and embroidered Narcissa's initials onto the bottom of them in a silver thread. He also infused some of his magic into them with permanent heating runes that adjust with her constant hand heat. Narcissa gives him a tight squeeze and loving kiss on top of his head after slipping the comfortable gloves and Draco pouts as he had only gotten his mother hair clips with anti slip charms on them. Narcissa notices this and gives her son another hug and kiss to make his pout disappear.

Severus gets the usual potion related gifts with ingredients and books and Hadrian's gift to him is no different... sort of. Some of the hardest ingredients for a potion master or brewer of any kind to obtain is phoenix tears. Being a phoenix creature himself, Hadrian was happy to make himself cry for Severus and collect them. The fact he could make himself cry is actually quite depressing as he has so many horrible memories to make him cry but that's besides the point. Severus isn't a cuddly person so he didn't give the boy a hug once he realized what he had been given but he does give him a genuine but sad smile as he knows Hadrian had made himself cry for his sake. So regardless of all Hadrian actually buying the man a small collection of potion flasks, one could almost say it is a tear worthy gift.

Draco's turn is next and he barely manages to hold himself still. The boy happily rips open every gift and lets all his emotions show as he only truly does around his family and closest friends. Hadrian had had the most trouble deciding what to get Draco but was quite proud of the gift. In fact, he struggled so much to find a gift he almost didn't find one at all. Close to giving up, Hadrian had noticed a small store almost hidden away in a small corner. It turned out to be a store that creates protective charms with a hint of darker magic to detect when those around you may wish you harm. The charms were all placed in rune form to keep from ever wearing out or being deactivated on a variety of jewelry items. Seeing as how Draco is named after a dragon, the silver dragon pendant was clearly the perfect option.

Hadrian watches with anticipation as Draco teases him and slowly peels back the wrapping paper instead of tearing it all off. Seeing that the box resembles the jewelry box his mother received from his father with a new necklace, Draco sends Hadrian a mixed look of suspicion and confusion. Snapping the box open, Draco smiles widely as he picks up the dragon for everyone to see. Leaning beside Draco to get a better look at the charm, Narcissa notices the runes on the back of it. "Hadrian sweetheart, what do the runes on here do?" Hadrian feels the tips of his ears grow red as he still hasn't grown used to adults using endearing names towards him and explains. "They protect you from harm, if anyone is trying to hurt you or wishes you harm, the pendent will grow warm and create a soft humming noise only the person wearing it can hear." The three adults smile at his protective and caring nature and Draco tackles him in a hug. This causes Raven to let out an annoyed hiss as she had been napping around Hadrian's waist until Draco rudely woke her up but he just chuckles that she would never actually hurt him or anyone else in the room for that matter.

Hadrian begins to rub his eyes as sleepiness suddenly hits him and misses the Malfoys pulling his presents that were purposely hidden behind the tree. They knew he would have tried his hardest to tell them he didn't need or want anything and for that very reason didn't let him know of them. Severus sees his exhaustion and gently pushes his head onto his shoulder and rubs his back. Hadrian watches as Draco walks to him with an emerald green package and slightly sits up in confusion as it is sat in his lap. "Open it Had!" Draco laughs and Hadrian carefully opens the package to reveal an advanced book on elemental magic. "For me?" He quietly asks with small tears in his eyes.

Severus kisses the boy's head and whispers, "We wouldn't have gotten you anything if we didn't think you were not worth it. We love you Hadrian and you better get used to it because you will have many more gifts in the future!" Hadrian leans into Severus's comforting hold and smiles at the Malfoys, "Thank you." Lucius and Narcissa both smile and Draco joins the hug after giving Hadrian another gift. More tears fell as he was given two more books in runes and the Olde ways with its ceremonial rituals. Narcissa gives her gift last, and in her hand was a small jewelry box. Hadrian takes it with shaky hands and slowly opens it. In it sits a single ring, made of silver and holds the shape of a very familiar family crest.

Hadrian's tears become a river as he sniffles and looks up at Lucius for confirmation. The man smiles at him and nods. Draco has a smile so big Hadrian worries his face might rip as he slips the ring on, looking quite good with the rest of his lord rings. The Malfoys had just given him something that was almost unheard of these days. They gave an outsider a family ring, which is for someone that wants to join the family without the typical way of joining through marriage or adoption. It puts him under their protection so any attack on him, political, mental, physical, or verbal, is an attack on them. He is no longer just close to the family, he is now officially one of the family! Raven grumpily hisses once more in annoyance as she gets squished from the family hug but quiets down when promised her Yule gift of mice.

Chapter Text

Hadrian wakes up in the same bed he had slept in for the past week and a half but feels different. He feels... happier. A smile grows on his face as his fingers run over his new ring, allowing the coldness of the ring to wake him up. The room he had been thinking of as his assigned room for whenever he visits is actually his room for him and him alone! He gets up out of his bed and dresses quickly as he wants to thank his official family properly by making them breakfast as a surprise. He knows he will have to argue with the elves but he already has a battle plan in mind. Having thrown off his comfortable silk pajamas and changed into some nice jeans and a Slytherin sweater, he walks down the glamorous stairs and to the kitchen and is met by two very frustrated elves and one friendly elf. Having been with Hadrian for nearly a year and a half now, Willard and Milly have grown used to him attempting to cook most mornings and they aren't happy. Dobby however, is just giddy to see the boy as he is such a kind master towards all house elves.

"Milly please!" Hadrian begins as she already knows what he wants to do. "No master Hadrian, you will not be cooking for the family, how many times will I have to tell you that!?" Milly claims, upset that her little master still feels the need to complete those chores his awful muggles made him do. "But," "No," "What if," "Still no!" Hadrian and Milly go back and forth while Willard watches his wife work and Dobby watches in confusion as he tries to follow their argument. "Ok fine!" Hadrian pretends to give up. Milly sighs happily and turns to Willard to begin breakfast. "I order you to let me cook breakfast." Her master's smug little voice pipes from behind her.

Milly just freezes and pulls on her ears in frustration. Willard sighs as the boy has managed to find yet another loop hole in Milly's argument and Dobby laughs at the boy's cleverness. "Only if you let us help you!" Milly finally responds in defeat. Hadrian smiles in victory and bobs his head up and down. Together, with mainly Willard and Dobby's help as they did more of the cooking regularly, they whip up a large breakfast. They cook French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage. They squeeze fresh orange juice and bake cinnamon rolls. They pull butter and jams out for the toast and after one hour as magic speeds things up, everything is finished.

Draco wakes up to the smell of breakfast and sits up confused as usually Hadrian is the one to playfully wake him up by jumping on his bed when he sleeps too long. He goes to his now literal brother's room and sees an empty bed. A little worried, Draco wakes up his parents and Severus and they all travel downstairs to look for him. However they weren't expecting to see him partially covered in flour and using his flames to magically warm up some syrup. Narcissa giggles at her youngest son and he jumps, losing concentration, and Willard just barely catches the dropped syrup cup in time. "Hi?" Hadrian nervously says, causing Draco to burst into the laughter he has been trying so hard to hold in and falls to the floor clutching his sides.

Severus just flicked his wand to remove the flour from Hadrian's hair and Lucius playfully rolls his eyes as he tells Dobby to clean up. The family all gather at the table once Draco calms down and enjoy the feast Hadrian has prepared. They all eat until they could eat no more and chat, when Milly walks in with a letter for Hadrian. She has already checked it for spells like the good elf she is, definitely not overprotective, and it was clean, so Hadrian opens it and begins to read. "It's from the dark lord thanking me for his Yuletide present."

Lucius chokes on the orange juice he was drinking and Narcissa pats his back as he regains his composure. "You... you sent the DARK LORD, a Yuletide present!" Hadrian just shrugs and nods as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do. "Well what did you get him!?" Draco impatiently demands. "I got him a silver ring with snakes carved in it, whose fangs hold an emerald in place due to him being in the Slytherin lineage. I also sent him a book on current politics and rules with an inheritance test for him to take so he knows what seats he can claim at Wizengamot."

Severus just hums in approval of the gift and eats another bite of his jammed toast, completely unfazed. Hadrian continues to read the rest of the letter written in Parseltongue. -Now that I have been made aware of my power in Wizengamot, with you and my followers, we can peacefully bring change to the wizarding world as I originally wanted. Fudge is a complete and total idiot and a helpless puppy that follows Dumbles every order. If we can get rid of him, we can place someone new of our own choosing to control the ministry. As appreciation for your help, I have placed a bracelet with a small piece of the philosopher's stone in it with protective runes carved into it. Behind this letter is my test's results which I thought you would enjoy reading. With the new name I have chosen, the old coot will try and claim I am Voldemort but after claiming for so many years that I hated my name, we can use that to show the world his mind is slipping. Take care, my little horcrux.
~ Lord Marvel Thomas Gaunt

Hadrian slips the bracelet on with a smirk and feels a small warmth as the bracelet's magic surrounds him. He flips over to the back of the page to finish the letter. As it would turn out, the dark lord owns seven votes as he holds the Gaunt name which is known to be connected to the Slytherin line and though the Riddles were surprisingly squibs, they are an older family that hold his other three votes. Hadrian has claimed the Slytherin Lord title so he was unable to claim that but seven votes was enough to hold a strong influence as a new face in his twenty year old body. He has collected the rest of his horcruxes and is ready to take action. His cover story is that he has been hidden from the world as his mother died in childbirth and was homeschooled by his muggle relatives. Once he learned of his magic, he taught himself and traveled the world to learn more about magic and all it can and cannot do. He will take his OWLS and NEWTS back to back to prove his knowledge and join Wizengamot as soon as possible. He will slowly make his followers aware of who he is once he accepts his seats, starting with his inner circle within some time this new year.

Chapter Text

Hey y'all! First off, I want to apologize for taking so long to update this story! This story is being cross posted from Wattpad and I didn't entirely love the direction it was going in. I have been rewriting it but for the most part, the main plot remains the same! I have more time to write throughout the summer as I won't be swamped with constant college assignments so updates hopefully don’t take too long. To everyone reading this, hopefully you are all doing well and life isn't kicking your butt too hard. Have a blessed day, night, afternoon, etc! Much love to you all, Ash ;)

Additional update! This has already been largely removed from the story but Hadrian does not have a creature's inheritance. Several chapters have been majorly swapped around and Hadrian is less OP. Dumbledore is still awful but it is more building on all he did or more so didn't do for Harry in the books. Ron is also a brat but not nearly as bad as he is currently written as in most of the story, more just canon accurate jealousy. I am halfway done with the posted part up to the start of year one. I am working on chapter eleven now and hopefully y'all will enjoy reading it as much as I have loved creating it!