A New Dawn at Hogwarts

The 1st of September dawned bright and dry, and also a tad bit warm. For several students crossing across to platform 9 ¾, it was a fairly exciting day. But for one student it wasn't. No. For Hadrian Evan Jameson, muggle-born, first-year student, it was the start, the dawn of time as decided by the One who wielded him as his Hand. Having arrived at the station at half past seven, he had proceeded to set up watch points, monitoring charms, eavesdropping charms, several spots surrounded by notice-me-not charms, muggle repellent charms on several spots outside the station, and so on and so forth. Each point was selected with care, so that through all the magical monitoring system he had set up, he would get a combined view of the entire area of platforms 9 and 10, as well as the sole magical platform. They were also apparition points for him. Then there was a station wide magical detector, one to detect any unaccounted for magical presence. He had a copy of students' lists, after all. The train would chug in at ten, but he was there to observe every person around. It was necessary to do so.

For here, he was on a reconnaissance mission. He had probable targets to look up till Christmas, people to intimidate, cowards to subjugate and threats to eliminate. He was a soldier, an assassin on a mission. It was not the people so much as the ideology that he had to get rid of. He had an entire generation to protect, and the only way to do it was to nip any diseased, infested branch while it was but a twig. It was important. It was necessary, but not sufficient.

He had already decided to find a compartment to sit alone in. It was not prudent to interact with any of the subjects of protection, nor the people of interest. It was important to keep two faces. One would be good ol' Hadrian Jameson. The other would be the Hand. He knew for sure that there would be two subjects coming in through the muggle side- Lily Evans and family, and Remus Lupin with his parents. But there would also be at least one person of interest- Severus Snape.

By ten thirty, he had spied and observed the Mulcibers, Notts, Averys, Malfoys, Runcorns, Wilkes', Lestrange Brothers, Rowles and the Rosiers. He found that not all of them were the ones Hadrian Potter had known and battled. That meant that among these Persons-of-Interest, there were several who had died in the first war. There were no Jugsons, no Walden McNair, no Selwyns, no Parkinsons, no Crabbes and Goyles, no Travers', and no Gibbons, Yaxleys, Carrows or Crouches. He needed complete information on these individuals, so scouting them out was an important task which he couldn't delegate to Lord Potter. He knew that Rookwood was already a part of the Ministry, and he was in a very powerful, sensitive and secret position. He had to be taken out first, fast and without any allusion. Augustus Rookwood would not be missed. There was also the threat of the likes of Dolohov and Karkaroff from the continent. The most troublesome would be the cannon fodder- basically half-bloods and people like Pettigrew, who would be on the fence and easily swayed by power.


The Potters and the Blacks came in almost simultaneously at half past 10, and it was great to see that James was quite a bit less arrogant. He had sent Legillimency probes at the two boys. Sirius was still the same. James was so too, but now his self-centred tendencies and inflated ego were tempered heavily by his love for the younger siblings with whom he was very close. He was proud, fun-loving and a prankster, yes, but not a bully, which he had sometimes been for Hadrian's father. Then there was Regulus. He was a person the Hand had to save. Of all the Death Eaters that there were, Regulus was the one who came closest to earning redemption, and had failed only because he had died. He would need to be protected.

At just after 10.35, Hand saw the Lupins enter the station. He looked careworn, poor and sickly- not surprising since the full moon was on Saturday the 4th. He needed to help Moony, Hadrian thought, before mercilessly quashing that line of thought. He was the Hand, a man on a mission. He couldn't get entangled in such things deeply, even if he would befriend the subjects. He still wished he could have helped the lycanthrope by being an animagus already, but he knew that it could be achieved by a mortal only in the mortal realm. It would make him a good ally, useful when it would come to killing Fenrir Greyback. But there was no need to actually condition him. Once the Hand attained his animagus form, Remus Lupin with all his wisdom, knowledge and memories would be sent back to help him.

Barely had the Lupins gone in, when The Evans' and Snapes came in. For the Death Eater, it was a classic case of crude mother, stern father. He had checked into the bastard's history. All that Tobias ever did was put down Eileen's compulsive denigration of all things muggle. She had been a slightly flighty woman in her youth, and when she was pregnant with Severus, Tobias had married her. The truth was that neither truly loved each other, but soldiered on for their son. Tobias wasn't abusive. Stern and strict, certainly, but Tobias Snape was no bully as Snape painted him to be to Lily, the lying creep. He silently cast an age-maturing hex that would lower Snape's inhibitions against showing his true colours to Lily, while also causing his worst traits to rear their heads all the time. It wouldn't be abrupt, but gentle, almost parabolic if one were to draw a graph.

The Evans' on the other hand seemed to dote on their daughters, particularly, given the situation, Lily. Lots of hugs and kisses were thrown in, and she was certainly the apple of their eye. There were also a few tears on Mrs. Evans' part. Slimeball Snape was looking at the family gathering as if he had swallowed a lemon. Good. Petunia was looking as if Lily was something particularly nasty and disgusting. Little Dennis was sad that his big sister was going away, and sadder still because she was crying. "Time to move in on subject," the Hand decided.

Assuming an appropriately scared, yet nervously excited expression, Hand moved towards the Evans'. "Er... please excuse me, ma'am, would you please tell me how to, er...?"

"Cross the station?" asked Rose benevolently.

"Yes. I mean, I saw your daughter was carrying similar things to mine, you know for the special school, and..."

"Ah! Say no more. Why don't you go in with Lily here?" Matthew offered, ushering the two ahead. "I am Matthew Evans by the way, and this is my daughter Lily."

"Please Pardon my manners, Mr. Evans. I am Hadrian Evan Jameson," the Hand replied, shaking Mr. Evans' hand firmly, placing a note in it as he did so. "You can call me Harry James." Matthew's hand tightened and eyes widened, the only signs of recognition. Hadrian then fell in step with Lily, calmly observing the scowling Slimeball. As soon as they were on the platform, Snape possessively pulled Lily away, who shrank away. She was crying, evidently due to Petunia's behaviour, which was fuelled and exacerbated by Snape.

The Hand kept a cold glare on Snivellus, who returned it, before thanking Lily. "Ms. Evans, if you would like it, I would be honoured to be able to share a compartment with you and your companion," he invited her, pretty sure that Snivellus would scupper that. Slimeball Snape did not disappoint.

"No! We are not sharing with you!" he growled, and dragged her away.

The Hand smiled grimly, and walked away to the compartment he had set up wards around at ten, as soon as the train came in. That was simply the start for Snivellus. He settled down with his notes, practice books and books on all sorts of arcane knowledge. A question was troubling him-finances. How was he to help finance his operation? He would need Remus to destroy Fenrir Greyback. That was to ensure that any money Remus got would not be construed as charity. It was nearly half an hour later that the Hand found the solution. One was the Room of Hidden things. Sorting all things inside and selling them, if necessary after curse-breaking and such, would raise finances. It would be wise to have Lord Potter set-up a small account and have the money deposited there. Investment would make it grow. Then there was the basilisk. A wonderful, continuous source of Armour grade skin and venom would yield great money. It wasn't ideal. But it was useful, and to the point. He would sell it through Gringotts, for they were the no questions asked type.

Yes. The Hand had a plan, and now he had the means to work with it.


The group of first years was now in the Great Hall, awaiting their turn at the sorting. Jonathon Avery, Hannah Abbott's Aunt Marie, Sirius, Amelia Bones' younger brother Richard were sorted turn by turn. Lily, as expected, was sorted into Gryffindor again. It was obvious that James had his eye on her already, for as she made to the table, he gave her a smile and ruffled his hair. Slimeball, if at all, looked even sourer. Hand was thankful that Hadrian Jameson looked nothing like Harry Potter and James Potter, instead looking a lot like Matthew. His hair was silvery-blonde like Fleur's and black with golden brown accents. While the Hand did not particularly care for the look, it would've been difficult as it was due to Harry Potter's facial similarity with James.

Finally it was the turn of Hadrian Jameson. Without much ado, he strode up to the Hat wore it and plopped onto the stool.

"My, my!" exclaimed the Hat. "You are neither of this time, nor this place and yet..."

"Cut the crap! Sort me in Gryffindor and be done. You know exactly who I am, what I am and why I am in the here and now."

"Hot-headed, are we? GRYFFINDOR!" the hat declared.

Hadrian got off, and nodded to James, Peter and Remus on the way to the Gryffindor table. On the way, he wondered about the disposition that he would need to keep. He had to be friendly enough to be included in the marauders, authoritative enough to keep them from crossing the line they were about to toe, and a little dreamy and vague like Luna to keep a tab on himself if his tongue slipped. He went over to where Sirius sat, opposite Catherine Greaves who sat beside Lily. It was obvious that Sirius and Lily had already had an altercation by the way she was glowering at him. Of course, Sirius and James had renamed Snape as Snivellus.

"May I have this seat Mr. Black, Ms. Evans? Or is it reserved in hope for a friend?" the Hand asked.

Sirius glared at him for a moment then nodded expressionlessly. The Hadrian part of the Hand cringed. Sirius had never looked at him that way- he was always happy to see his godson. The Hand looked over to Lily who was biting her lip ("Damn! That is exactly like Hermione used to do!" thought Hadrian). The Hand sent a surreptitious mental probe at her. The results made him scowl mentally. Snape had started to poison her mind against him.

"He seems okay, but Severus said that such boys are bad because they only want to befriend girls and throw them away! But he is being polite to everyone!" Lily was warring with herself mentally. The Hand sent a very slight suggestion to trust him and her guts instead of Snape, and she suddenly smiled and nodded. Hadrian had to admit, she seemed like a red-haired Hermione. The Hand quashed all reminiscences of his best friend mercilessly as he sat.

They were soon joined by the twins, Eleanor and Arwen Riverwood, then Mary McDonald, followed by Peter and then James. Gryffindor had a full house of ten students. Sirius was being very moody. Peter and Remus were having a discussion in hushed tones, while James was talking to Nearly Headless Nick. Lily, Greaves and the Riverwood twins were discussing something, while McDonald had shrunk into herself. Hadrian smiled at her and engaged in some small talk, basically about their nervousness in the new environs, before she joined James in ribbing Nick. The Hand then tuned them all out, preferring to observe every person in the room, probing people mentally. It was wise to do it then, for there were so many people and there was chaos, meaning that his probe wouldn't be detected, except for the likes of Dumbledore. People like the second year Marlene McKinnon, the third year Prewett twins and their classmates Alice Dearborn and Frank Longbottom, fourth year Ravenclaw Emmaline Vance, her sixth year housemate Dorcas Meadows, the Head Boy from Ravenclaw- Caradoc Dearborn, Hufflepuff Benjy Fenwick impressed him tremendously. Richard, Amelia and Edgar Bones the three siblings with two years each between them were virtually leaders of their years. Hand could see why they were coveted as magically and morally strong people. All of these were people who needed saving. And the Hand was there to do exactly that.

"Jameson...Hey Jameson!" shouted James as he tried to get his attention.

"Huh?"

"Merlin knows I have been trying to call you for the past five minutes! You looked like you had been cursed or something!"

"Sorry Potter, I was looking forward to coming here, but it is so overwhelming!"

"Ah! You must be a muggle-born."

"Yes. I am."

"Hmm, that makes a rather composite first year dormitory. Old gloomy over there," he explained, jerking a thumb at Sirius, "and I are purebloods and cousins, though we don't meet up much, Pettigrew and Lupin are half-bloods- well three quarter, technically. Not that it matters a jot, but statistically, we are probably the perfectly complete group there is," James mused grinning widely. Hadrian nodded as he overrode the Hand, unable to say much to his father.

They were soon led to the Gryffindor tower by Gregory Vane and Amanda Fennel, the fifth year prefects, and shown around. All the first years looked awestruck, barring of course the Hand. As Hadrian, he had lived there for six years, had called this place home. He knew every nook and cranny. But as the Hand, he was observing the Tower anew, looking for escape routes, hiding places and danger areas. Unfortunately for him, his would-be parents and their companions (for none of them were really friends yet) had seen that.

As they retired to their dormitory for the night, the boys fell into a bout of talk, Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans, Quidditch talk, chocolate frogs, and a little introduction of themselves. The Hand mostly kept silent, for he was unless asked to speak an observer. Peter went off first. Hadrian was surprised to know that he had a muggle-born mum. He had always thought that he was probably a pureblood. Hadrian of course knew all that James and Remus had to say, having been observing them since their births.

When at last it came to Hadrian he told them, "I am a muggle-born technically. I was at an orphanage, but I had run away a couple of days before my birthday. Those gits and bullies were driving me mad, and something always happened to them, especially when they would go after the younger kids or the girls. People would get stuck upside down on the window sill, or they would feel compelled to serve the ones they wronged all the while singing some silly song, or they would prance up to the matron in pure happiness and confess before shouting "joy to the world" or something of that sort. Sometimes, they would get their clothes changed to girls' clothes, or would end up with singing fingers. One thug realised that it was me doing the things to them and they went after me. I didn't retaliate much, but just ran off when it became too much. I somehow always forgave them easily when they tried to bully me. Then I ran off to Charring Cross Road and came hungrily to this decrepit hotel or pub, and that's where I learnt what I was. So I live at the Cauldron, help old Tom with things and he lets me live and gives me food."

The boys were laughing at what happened to bullies around him uproariously, which was precisely Hadrian's idea. He had decided to paint himself as a prankster vigilante. He knew that one of the ways to get Lily to warm up to these lovable pranksters was to get her to see them as retaliators. A few general pranks were certainly alright, but not when that went around to bullying others.

Sirius was still morose, so Hadrian prodded him a bit. "What's with the gloomy face, eh, Black?"

"It's not really any of your business is it Jameson?"

"Fair enough, mate" Hadrian responded. "Just trying to be nice and all."

"Hey Black! Let us know what makes you tick!" demanded James.

"I told you it's none of your business Potter. You know my family, they are all dark. Got a problem with that? If you must know, I am wondering how I could write home that I am in Gryffindor, when I don't really feel bad about it. I have known all those gits and prats in Slytherin, and frankly it is not a loss. I don't like my family, going on and on about blood purity. It is irritating. I don't want to be like them. But then I have become a disgrace for them," he added musingly. Hadrian realised that Sirius still held that bit of love for his family.

"Well if they can't be proud of you for what you are, they won't be much of a family will they?" he asked rhetorically. "You say they are dark, but darkness isn't as much in the ideals and beliefs or what a person is, as much as it is in the heart. If you can still find it in yourself to love your family, even though they clearly aren't proud of you, then you, my friend, aren't dark." The whole piece was delivered in the most Luna-esque manner possible.

"Wow, that is profound," muttered Remus.

"Why would you say that?" demanded Sirius.

"Oh, don't mind me, Black! I sometimes make such comments without realising about it. I also know more about people than they think I do, or even they do. You for example, are essentially fun-loving, loyal and courageous. But you are torn about your loyalties. You don't know whom or what to be loyal to." All the boys gaped at him.

"Oh yeah?" challenged Sirius. "Well, tell me something about Potter and you!"

"WHAT?" James cried.

"Oh between us, all five of us will be great friends by our seventh year. I have a very specific, mission, I guess you could say. This mission will be completed by November 1978 But if I don't become successful in what I am to do, the one you least expect to do so will hoodwink the other three and betray everyone, killing all of you. And James will have a son who he will name after me. And you will be the godfather." James and Sirius both blanched at that, not just because of discussions about James' son, but also because of the nonchalant way that the boy talked about disappearing. "The one you need to worry about most is your brother Regulus. A young fool he may be, but he is worth several Gryffindors. Get your paternal grandfather, the Lord Black, and you father to keep him away from your mother, for her expectations will cause him to die an early death. You should not be worried about befriending me, by the way, Black. I am pretty sure that I can barge into your home uninvited and scare your folks bad if they try troubling you."

Sirius scoffed at that. "A Black scared of a mud-"

Hadrian froze and all the others gasped. Then they saw the truly frightening expression on Hadrian's face. He glanced at Sirius and the boy was suddenly floating in the air, his limbs seemingly stretching in all directions. "Never use that word, Black, unless you were being sarcastic. I did not want to expose this, but you forced my hand. When I came to Diagon Alley, I performed a blood inheritance test because I was curious about my origins. I have magical blood through two squibs from two very powerful families in me. And it is true for all other muggle-born or as I prefer it, newbloods. This is your first and last warning." Sirius dropped to his bed in a heap, given a lot to think about.

It scared his godson from the future. The Sirius that Harry knew was almost nothing like this boy. Sirius had tried to be a Black ever so briefly, before he questioned the logic of the beliefs. Everyone wanted acceptance, particularly from their own families. Sirius had finally cracked and had flipped the Blacks the bird, resulting in the carefully constructed face of rebellion that slowly overtook reality. Harry wanted his 'Pafoo' as his younger self had called the pad footed one. Sirius wouldn't be estranged from his family for that, while at the same time, he would be the progressive Sirius Black, Padfoot of the Marauders, whose beliefs were as real as his antics weren't, as well.


Over the next two days, all the boys were still getting their bearings. Hadrian quickly moved to be on decently friendly terms with all of them. He knew that Sirius would be the one that would be tough to crack. And boy! Was he proving hard to crack! The only one who could get an answer from him at all was James, and that was because of the familial relationship.

Their classes were simply Transfiguration (McGonagall), DADA (Rasmussen), Herbology (Sprout), Charms (Flitwick), Potions (Slughorn), History (Binns) and Astronomy (Williams). The first years had five lectures each day, and Thursday started with Double Transfiguration with the Puffs. Hadrian was paired with Lily, much to James' irritation. Abbott and Richard Bones were at the adjacent table. The Hand casually sent a probe through each of their minds. The two puffs were a cheery pair and were the first to extend a hand of friendship, which the Hand accepted just as boisterously. Lily was still uncertain about him, and was running Snape's reading of the Hand through her mind. The first lecture was chiefly about the applications of Transfiguration, the course goals, requirements, and so on, along with practical demonstrations that had the students awed. It was in the second hour that the students were to do anything at all.

It was the simple toothpick to needle transfiguration. It was a matter of incanting 'Transverto!' and imagining the toothpick changing into a needle- or rather imagining a perfect needle. The Hand had had extensive training in letting his magic flow through him. The first try was successful. He got Gryffindor points for that. He change it again, and just for practice sake, performed the transfiguration silently, then with words but no wand, and then silently and wandlessly (under notice-me-not charms of course). He then settled for watching the Mother struggle. For the next fifteen minutes, the only changes in his three workspace companions' toothpicks were in their positions. They poked and prodded and jabbed to no avail before Lily nearly shrieked in anger. It got worse when she saw the perfect needle that Jameson had produced. Jameson had by now gotten so bored with it, that he and Potter had gotten into a needle fight, where they were using their wands to swish their needles about.

"How are you doing that?" she asked in not a little irritation. Jameson looked at her curiously, then transfigured the needle back to a toothpick, and performed the spell again for her benefit.

"But that is the same thing I was doing!" she protested.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Sorry?"

"What were you thinking about when you performed the spell?" he asked, a tad bit patronisingly.

"Changing the toothpick to a needle of course!" she retorted in indignation. "And getting points for Gryffindor..." she added in an undertone.

"Ms. Evans I believe that is your mistake. You do not believe that you will have a needle when you see the toothpick and perform the spell. You see, the needle is a toothpick is a needle. They are one and the same. You just need to believe it. When you want it to change, it means you already believe that it needs to change. Forget the toothpick. Just concentrate on a needle while you say the spell."

Lily grudgingly followed those instructions. At first, the toothpick became shinier. Then she concentrated again on it and it changed into a needle. She beamed. "Thank you! Thank you!" she chanted as she glomped him. This was the cue for Hadrian to temporarily cede control to Harry. Now he could remember his mum hugging him. But again, she was like Hermione in the way she behaved when helped.

"That is quite alright, Ms. Evans. I am sure you would have helped me too," Hadrian replied softly.

Hadrian then proceeded to help Marie Abbott and Richard Bones, earning fifteen more points from an approving Professor McGonagall. He placed suggestions in James', Sirius' and Remus' minds to do the same at the same time, earning them points too. Gryffindor were fifty five points up.

Once the class was over, Hadrian respectfully retreated towards the Marauders, only to be cornered by James. "So Jameson, you fancy Evans or something?"

Hadrian froze and almost heaved at the idea. "No, Potter. I am simply trying to befriend her. As for fancying her, perhaps you will be satisfied by this. I Hadrian Evan Jameson, solemnly swear on my life, magic and soul that I don't and will never fancy Lily Evans, or anyone else originating in this time and space for that matter. So I claim so will it be."

This made them all aghast. "Are you mad? Why did you swear such a Vow?"

"I told you yesterday, Potter. I will disappear before November 1978. I have made a magical Vow to someone to be a celibate till such time in heart, mind and body."

James looked at the boy sheepishly. "So you had," he agreed.

Harry/Hadrian frowned at James, then asked, "Aren't you a bit young for the fancying business?"

"It's Evans, mate," James replied with a deep sigh. "I was a boy in mind as well, before I saw her."

Remus, Sirius, Peter and Harry gaped at James. Then they exchanged glances in agreement that they would never speak of what James said again. Ever.

Over the day, he had partnered James in Charms (both managed well), Herbology with Remus, and sat in History with Peter. Potions, in which Slughorn had separated the class house-wise, had him partnering his mum again. It was however DADA where he, Remus and Sirius really became friends.

The Professor Rasmussen was singularly biased. In fact, it was the same bias that Hadrian never wanted Sirius and Remus to face. The middle-aged ex-Auror (and were Hadrian anything to do with it, this Auror would have been fired at the first instance) started picking on Sirius almost from the word go. If it was not about insinuating Sirius being a Dark Wizard, it was insulting the family. If it wasn't that, it was picking him out for demonstrations. Had it not been so derogatory, it would have been funny. But the worst part was the way he almost sucked up to the Slytherins. And then there was his treatment of Remus. He kept glancing at Remus whenever he mentioned about covering werewolves. Poor Remus was trying to hide himself or wished that the ground would swallow him. The Hand wanted to retaliate, oh yes he did. But he knew that it wasn't the right time. He decided to use the cerebral approach.

"Professor, you keep talking about Dark Wizards and Dark Spells. How does one decide whether something is light or dark?"

Rasmussen glowered at him condescendingly. "It is not for you to decide, Mr. Jameson. You have to accept things as they are. My job is to help you defend yourself."

"But just accepting doesn't help me at all. You could name a 'dark' spell, and I could give you a light use for it. And you could tell me about a 'light' spell and I could tell you a 'dark' use for it. How do you exactly discriminate magic? Isn't that worse than discriminating against say muggle-born witches and wizards or squibs?"

"Five points from Gryffindor will be deducted for your cheek, Jameson. But you did challenge me, didn't you? Well, considering you are a first year, and just a muggle-born at that, I will give you the simplest of 'light' spells. Demonstrate the use of 'Lumos' for 'dark' purposes, if you please."

Hand Jameson just shrugged, and then silently cast 'Lumos!' "As you can see, this is the spell for light in dark places. Now," he continued, amplifying the luminescence to a blinding effect, but directing it at the Professor alone, "you can see that I have him nearly blinded, and unable to think. I have him on the backfoot." He proceeded to stun, bind and stick Rasmussen upside down to the ceiling. Everyone hollered with laughter, irrespective of house.

The Hand then revived the Professor, who looked at him with a most murderous expression that amused him, before bringing the Professor down and unbinding him. "Have I proved my point Professor?" the Hand asked with a smirk.

"That will be fifty points from Gryffindor for your actions, Jameson!" The Gryffindors groaned as one. The Hand was unapologetic, unsurprised, uninterested, and if possible, his smirk had only widened. He had won fifty points on his own within the first day itself, so all he had done was lose those. The Professor was not done yet, however. "And I am sure that you will lose more points when I ask you the next question. Give me any good use of the Cruciatus curse." The purebloods and halfbloods gasped as one.

"I am sorry, sir, but I don't know this curse, or what it does, so I am not sure how I can answer this question."

"Just goes to show that you don't know everything, do you, Jameson? Well, the Cruciatus curse is the pain or torture curse. It causes severe spasms of the body, and tremendous nerve trauma. Now that you do know what it does, I will deduct twenty points from Gryffindor, if you don't or can't give me a good use of this." One mental probe at Rasmussen's pathetic mental shields told Jameson that the man was doing an internal victory dance at showing up the 'pathetic mudblood'.

"Have you ever heard of a defibrillator, Sir?"

"De-fib-what?" barked the man in response.

"A defibrillator," answered Hadrian. "A defibrillator is an electrical device that is used to send intense electrical shock pulses into the body to restart a person's heart. It has been around since the 1930s. Mind you, it doesn't bring people back from the dead, but if the device is used within a stipulated amount of time, the shocks help restart the heart. The Cruciatus curse could be used similarly. As I am sure that nobody has tried or thought of it, given the fact that a learned person like you could not find such a use, you could get people at St. Mungo's to try."

Fortunately or unfortunately, the class ended just about then, and The Hand sent one last smirk at the Professor. He was sure that this person was going to be a forerunner to the Death Eaters- the Knights of Walpurgis. He didn't care anyway. If he did participate in the movement, he would kill him, fair and simple. The modus operandi was quite straightforward. Capture, safeguard, torture, extract information, decapitate, immolate body and transfigure ashes to fertilizer. There would never be any evidence related to the person's death or disappearance.

Slimeball Severus 'Snivellus' Snape observed the class with disdain. They were all frothing at the mouth over how a filthy mudblood had shown up the Professor. He accosted Lily. "Do you see?" he asked through gritted teeth. "Do you see why I told you to stay away? He is an arrogant toerag! He showed up the Professor, for Merlin's sake! Trust me now at least! He is a show-off!"

"I don't understand what you are saying, Sev. He actually had a fairly intellectual debate with the Professor. Rasmussen did not think of the matter from the other side. If he did, and contributed to the class, what is wrong in that?"

"The thing that is wrong is that he is deliberately showing off! He is exactly like the boys I warned you about! He is one of those who will try and impress girls out of their...knickers," he said in a very small voice, "Just for the fun of it. I just want to protect you, Lils!"

Lily was troubled by that. She believed that it was all that Sev wanted- to protect her because she was his best friend. It never crossed her mind that the only one actually thinking in such a derogatory manner about the girls was Severus himself. Unfortunately, the girls back in her dorm seemed to give a little credence to Severus' thoughts. They were discussing the enigmatic first year in hushed and dreamy tones. That made Lily grimace and decide to stay away from him as far as possible.

In the boys' dormitory, Jameson was accosted himself. "What was that?" demanded James.

"What was what?"

"You know what I mean! Why go and pick on Rasmussen?"

"Did you miss it Potter? I am not a fool. He wasn't exactly subtle the way he was picking on Black. Dark family indeed! And then he has the audacity to be all sunshine and smiles to the Slytherins! And don't think that just because I didn't know about the magical world till July end means that I know nothing at all. I know exactly which families are 'dark' and which are 'light'. What I hate is the fact that he is creating sheep! "We have defined 'dark' and 'light'. Accept it! The only truth is what we say! Accept it!" Sorry. That is not my cup of tea. He forgets that each person is an individual, first and foremost. He has to respect Black for his bravery, for without being brave neither of us could have gotten into Gryffindor. Then the way he talks about werewolves. They are humans! They just have a disease that makes them unable to mingle normally with humans one- or every three and a half years- two days a month. And he calls them dark creatures! It just goes to show that he is a self-serving bigot, not a good teacher. Say, if I attacked you, with intention to cause you harm, wouldn't you classify me as an enemy at least, if not 'dark'? If anyone shot a spell at me, unless it was a healer or someone under oath to never harm me, I would take that as the action of an enemy and retaliate. There's this mad Auror who's got the right idea- CONSTANT VIGILANCE! I just proved that it is not the spell but the intent that makes a person or the use of magic dark. Magic is magic, people are people. All that matters is intent." He stopped as he realised that he had let Harry through, and gotten onto the soapbox.

The four original Marauders gaped at their dorm-mate. "Why do you defend the werewolves or Black here?" Remus finally asked shakily.

"Everyone is entitled to a secret of their own, Lupin. When I was in Diagon Alley back in August, someone found out that I have a very peculiar ability. All of a sudden I had wizards and witches and hags from Knockturn Alley after me like I was the second coming or something, and those in Diagon Alley were shunning me. You don't need me to tell you that this ability is considered Dark. So I taught myself as much of DADA as I could. And trust me, everyone thinks I am out to hurt people, or become the next Dark Lord or something. I am not. I am really not," he clarified, with a pleading tone in his voice. The Hand had to be a decent actor.

"What is it that you can do?" asked Remus. He was now bolstered by the idea that he wasn't the only one who'd be classified as dark.

"Why should I tell you? You will be like those people in the alleys. Once you know, you will all shun me too!" The Hand protested forcibly.

"I promise you I won't. I will give you an oath if you want," replied Moony.

"What about you?" the Hand asked turning to the others.

"What he said," they agreed in unison, pointing to Remus.

The Hand probed them all mentally, and placed very strong suggestions for them all to be friends. Merlin, but nobody might have been as liberal as he was becoming with mind manipulation. He placed the suggestion for them all to be the Marauders, to accept his being a Parselmouth, and to warm up to each other rather fast. It would not do to waste time. "Alright," he conceded, when he was satisfied that the idea would take root, but did not pull back the probes. "I am a Parselmouth." He got gasps in response. "See? You already think I am dark because I can talk to snakes!" he growled, acting very convincingly.

That seemed to jerk them out of their stupor. "What? No!" declared James. "I am just thinking of all the pranks we can pull on the Slytherins with that! This is bloody marvellous! And seeing that the gift is actually Slytherin Family Magic, it means we have got the Heir of Slytherin in Gryffindor! If that is not a prank, tell me what is?" He then literally bounced around the room in laughter. The Hadrian part of the Hand wondered whether James would have the same reaction if he knew that his son was a Parselmouth. Prank Indeed.

When the young Potter Heir finally calmed down, Jameson warned, "This doesn't get out of us five. Ever."

"I promise!" James said giddily. The other three agreed too.

For both Remus and Sirius it was a gigantic relief. Remus knew for sure that Jameson would understand he wasn't a dark creature if he ever found out that he was a Dark Creature. Not that Remus would let Jameson know voluntarily. But he would at least have empathy, and that was more than he could ask for. For Sirius, it was a relief from the idea of hailing from a Dark family yet being in Gryffindor. Here was 'an' heir of Slytherin himself. And this Heir had muggle roots and was in Gryffindor! If that wouldn't make Sirius relax, nothing would.

"Alright, mates, we have let things get too heavy, and we haven't really become friends. On my part, I would like to be your friend, if you'll let me. You can all call me Hadrian," the Hand said, breaking their reverie.

"And you can call me Remus," Moony told them shyly.

"I am Peter."

"Well, I was really hoping you could all cut out the formalities fast. I am James."

"I am Sirius, but just call me Black till my mum's Howler comes in, as it is bound to."

"We could organise a school-wide prank to get Black's spirits up after that, you know," James mused, making them all laugh.


The 4th of September was a difficult day for Remus. This was the first transformation since the start of Hogwarts. He was feeling exceptionally tired. Somehow, he had had an idea of leaving sometime after lunch to check-out the library, but in reality going to Madam Pomfrey so that she would be ready for the transformation. It made him feel even more relieved. He wouldn't have to lie to his friends, yet. It was yet another painful transformation, but he somehow could tide over it.

Hagrid took him to the Whomping Willow, sometime after four thirty, and he lay there, mulling over Hadrian's words repeatedly. In his heart, Remus Lupin did not want to hurt anyone, as man or wolf. Didn't that mean that he wasn't dark? He had no dark intent, certainly. Somehow, Remus felt that he would have to get to know this new bloke better to know himself well.

Said bloke had spent his morning behaving like a kid on a sugar high to stave off any attention from Remus, and intended to do the very same around night time too. In the intervening period, he went around to the Room of Requirements, or more specifically, the Room of Hidden Things.

The job of sorting, curse-breaking, evaluating the stuff in the room would take Hadrian a week of Sundays at least, even magically. Everything from stolen broomsticks to soiled and used underwear was littered in the very room where the Horcrux was hidden. Then there was the Vanishing cabinet. The other of the pair had to be bought from Knockturn Alley. More importantly, everything had to be done under the radar. Nobody was ever to know.

Sunday saw him writing a letter to Lord Potter and Mr. Evans. The two liaisons would have to be introduced to this form of the soldier.


It was on Monday that problems with Lily resurfaced like the champagne cork that shot out once the bottle was opened. Hadrian had made it a point to make very good acquaintances within the first two days with as many people as he could. And at least one meal a day, he would make it a point to personally greet these acquaintances. When he turned up at the Gryffindor table, he joined the dorm-mates and settled for breakfast, a rather heavy one, as he had gone to the Room of Requirement where he underwent a military standard physical regimen, dodging and moving, boxing and dirty tactics. As he sat down however, he noticed that he was subject to very filthy looks from Lily. He did not comment on the results of his probing. It was obvious that Snape had been back at work.

After that the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins had flying lessons. The Harry part of Hadrian grimaced. These were the same brooms he had used in his first flying lesson. Madam Longfoot was the teacher, with Rolanda Hooch as her deputy. The Gryffindors were all lined up on one side, and the Slytherin were opposite them. Unfortunately for Lily, the Gryffindor boys were all lined up next to her, with Jameson next to her. Both could see Snivellus giving him the evil eye. Hadrian waved at him jauntily. The flying lesson was supposed to be normal, particularly because he did not have cretins like Malfoy to disrupt things. But it was a case of the more things change the more they remain the same. This time, it was a far serious attack. Avery and the younger Mulciber brother, with Slimeball in their shadow, were targeting the muggle-born with 'innocuous' dive-bombing.

As a soldier, the Hand decided to divert the attention of villains away from the civilians. He flew around in a zigzag attacking formation, taking the offensive himself. The adversary left its quarry and focussed on this new player into the game. The Hand led them higher and higher, beyond what the adversary was confident of attaining, and made them chase him. When he was pretty sure that they would be right on his back, Hadrian spiralled and dove. Avery and Mulciber dove after him. Just before it would be too late, Hadrian flattened out. Unfortunately Avery and Mulciber did so too. Neither paid attention to the ground where McGonagall had hurried onto the grounds to check on her student just after the dive. Hadrian, unmindful of her, decided to repeat the tactics. Avery followed, but Mulciber proved to be cleverer. He made to follow, but suddenly dive-bombed Lily, who much to everyone's horror (except Mulciber's), fell off. Hadrian sprung into action. This was no remembrall- this was the 'Mother'. With a dive, he grabbed her around the midriff and plopped her onto the broom, before swerving and spiralling in a slow descent to the ground. He did not stop to look at anyone at all. Instead he just hexed Mulciber, Avery and Snape off their brooms and proceeded to toy with them. The whole class group watched in awe as Hadrian did what the fake Mad-Eye had done to Draco Malfoy- minus the transfiguration into a ferret part.

"Bloody"- bounce- "fucking"- thump- "cowards!" yelled Hadrian, "Going"-bump- "after"- clunk- "people"- thump- "who have never"- bounce- "thought about"- crash- "riding a broom before just because you can! Who the bloody hell, do you think you are?"

"Mr. Jameson! You will-"

The Hand paid her no attention, instead striding up to the three boys, and speaking to the snakes on their badges in Parseltongue, and tying them all up very securely. He then cast an area wide charm that would make everyone (except the Marauders) forget his retaliation, but they would still remember that he saved Lily, and that the three Slytherins were the perpetrators and that they had been somehow punished. Not content with his punishment, however, the Hand decided that he wanted to end their line should they cross the line, ever. A time-strengthening, undetectable curse tied to the use of the word "mudblood" which would reduce their reproductive capacity with each time the word mudblood was used to denigrate anyone was the most powerful punishment- and nobody would ever be any the wiser. They always cared too much about Heirs, didn't they? Well, a faulty apparatus would soon be the least of their troubles.

"That was bloody brilliant flying!" James gushed, making 'Harry' preen at his father's praise.

"Mr. Jameson!" interrupted McGonagall.

"Never- in all my time at Hogwarts-" Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "- how dare you- might have broken your neck-"

Hadrian wasn't having any of it. Letting his power flare in a way that had everyone backing off, he responded, "And if I hadn't, Ms. Evans' dead body would have been awaiting the train to be sent off to her grieving parents! Perhaps instead of biting my head off, you might want to do something to those bastards, for a change! I know that you have been standing there for precisely fourteen minutes and thirty seven seconds, before I caught Ms. Evans. You came down by the side door of your office to reach here quickly, a door which has direct access to the ground floor by its own set of stairs! And I know that the two flying instructors- the ones in charge in situ, had seen it all too. So you all three of you knew what was going on! And here you dare, you actually dare to admonish me? If it has escaped your notice, let me tell you this- these cretins that lie there were targeting Ms. McDonald, Miss Evans and me. The first rule of combat under duress is to protect civilians, and that is what I was doing. SO before you go off at me, I will see those three punished or expelled for trying to murder three students under your care or the Head of the DMLE will be hearing from me. You choose! And so help me if anyone of them gets off for being boys who made mistakes. These people will grow to be murderers! And it will be just that one little time when they were let off, and every such one little time will see things accumulate to the point when they will be murderers! I warn you, woman!"

The entire year group and three professors stood with their mouths agape at the way a first-year tore into Minerva McGonagall, the so-called lioness of Gryffindor. The woman in question was trying to refute what he said, but couldn't string together anything that would be true. The words and phrases- 'civilians', 'rules of combat', 'murderers'- rang in her mind heavily. Those weren't the words of an eleven year old boy. Those were the words of somebody who had fought battles, particularly seeing the reflexes, both physical and mental. Finally McGonagall decided to take small control of the situation. "Mr. Avery, Mr. Mulciber, Mr. Snape, I will be reporting this behaviour to Professor Slughorn! I will also deduct twenty five points from Slytherin! Now get going!"

The Hand nodded at that. The Harry part rebelled. She had taken fifty points apiece when they were helping Hagrid. As a Head of House, McGonagall was terrible. She just cared about herself in that sense. Her duty, her beliefs, her discipline, her students should adhere to her idea of discipline and her House had to be given the worst punishment by her just so that she wasn't called into question in anyway. Gryffindor Head of House indeed.

"Thank you, Professor. I apologise for overstepping my bounds and shouting at you."

"I will let it pass, this time," McGonagall said. She turned to follow the Slytherins. It was then that she turned around again to face him. "Actually, Jameson, I wanted to commend you for your flying an offer you a reserve place on the team."

The Hand smiled. "Thank you for your consideration, ma'am, but the rules state that first-years aren't allowed brooms. It follows that it is not expected that first years should join House teams. While I will certainly try out for the team next year if I can make it till then, now is not the time. While I respect your judgement, I want to earn my place fair and square, on my own merit, if I have it."

People were sure they heard 'ten points to Gryffindor' as she left.

Lily decided to retaliate on Snape's behalf once the Professor was gone. "Do you think you are so special, you arrogant toerag? What did you implicate Severus for? I should have realised he was right again. What is your problem with Snape?"

The Hand looked at the Mother neutrally, with a deepening aura of magic engulfing her. He stepped into her personal space and whispered. "I would have asked whether you were alright, but I don't think you have your own brain to think with. You just need the greasy git's brain to do that for you. Keep defending Snivellus, Ms. Evans. Keep forgetting that he was revelling in Avery's and Mulciber's shadows. I think you are a foolish little girl who is blinded by faith. Never trust anyone- not even those you think of as friends or allies."

Lily nearly vibrated with fury. The battle-lines had been drawn.