Hello ! i just want to thank everyone who clicked this story, alerted it, favorited it and reviewed it. you all have no idea how warm and fuzzy it makes me feel to hear a new email and see i got a review :)
so this chapter is about Hadrian's beginning and his childhood before Hogwarts
A Misconception of Identity
Chapter 2
Hadrian Before Hogwarts
In 1980, Severus Snape was a loyal Deatheater and a trusted member of the Dark Lord's Inner Circle. He was married to Evangeline Viellen, the French heiress of the powerful Viellen line and a direct descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw.
Evangeline died a few weeks after giving birth to their son Hadrian Aaron Snape. Severus, being both an Inner Circle Deatheater, spying on Dumbledore and currently being sent on a dangerous mission through France on Voldemort's orders, knew he had to take his son out of the line of fire.
He took Hadrian to his friend Lily Potter. He asked her if she could take care of him until it was safe for Hadrian to be with his Father again. Lily consented. As she and James were already deep in hiding, they were far out of danger and if there was one thing Lily and James wanted it was children but they were unable to have any. They both jumped at the chance to take care of a child as their own, even if it was only temporary, and Lily didn't tell James who 'Harry's' father was, she left him unnamed.
They adored him and loved him like their own. Everyone who did see the Potters during their time in hiding - namely: Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, the Longbottoms, and the Bones – was fully under the belief that 'Harry' was the Potter's son, if not by birth then by blood adoption.
When Dumbledore held 'Harry' for the first time he immediately realized that he had incredible magical strength. Dumbledore quickly formulated a plan. 'Harry' would become a strong magical force and when he was he would be a valuable weapon in the war against Voldemort.
The problem was the Potters weren't just going to let him take their son and train him as a soldier, he had to give them a reason…or he could just get rid of them entirely? But no the Potters provided massive monetary support to him and his cause.
A reason it was then.
Dumbledore orchestrated a false prophecy to be told to him by a fraud seer he was interviewing for the Hogwarts Divination post. He made up a prophecy that fit his purposes and implanted in the fraud's mind.
He did it in a public place and the Deatheater that he knew was following him, though he didn't know which Deatheater it was, was easily within hearing range to report back to Voldemort.
He expected Voldemort to be fearful and to pause the war for the time being and dedicate himself to study on how to defeat his 'vanquisher'. Dumbledore did not expect for Voldemort to find where the Potters were and go to kill them and their 'son' before Dumbledore could even tell the Potters his prophecy.
When he got to the pile of rubble that was formerly the Potter cottage, he was distraught over the loss of his plan; that is until he realized that though the Potters had died in that attack 'Harry Potter' had not and in the process had managed to destroy Voldemort. Though it wasn't Dumbledore's plan, circumstances had worked out very well for it.
Dumbledore put himself as 'Harry Potter's magical guardian and decided that 'Harry' must know hardship and cannot grow up learning of his fame. He must have complete trust in Dumbledore and view him as the mentor to guild him on his path to defeating Voldemort – even if he had to die in the process – and the abusive, magic hating Dursley's were exactly the people to do that for him.
He left 'Harry' the Dursleys' doorstep with nothing but a blanket, a letter, and the intention of only coming back for him in ten years. Then he left to go make plans for his infant pawn.
In France, Severus knew immediately once his master was gone. He flooed back to England immediately and as soon as he entered the Leakey Caldron he knew what had happened. Voldemort had gone to the Potters and killed them and then tried to kill his son but for some inexplicable reason he had been unable to kill the infant and was destroyed instead. 'Harry Potter' was hailed as a hero and the savior of the wizarding world.
Severus, while he was upset about the death of his friend and the – probably temporary – destruction of his master and lord, he was more relieved that his son was alive. If only he could find him!
Through a bit of quick investigative listening to gossip, Severus found out that Dumbledore had gained magical guardianship of 'Harry Potter'. Using a very dark tracking spell that he had cast on Dumbledore when he began as a spy, Severus was able to find Dumbledore's location: Privet Drive, Surrey.
Severus knew it was likely that someone was watching the house till, at least 'Harry' was 'safe' with his 'relatives'. He went there that night and quickly spotted the animagus form of Minerva McGonagall and Hadrian asleep in a blanket on the porch of number 4.
'They just put him on the doorstep and left him there!' Severus seethed
He knew he couldn't do anything with McGonagall there so he waited until she left. Unfortunately that wasn't until Lily's disgusting sister had opened her door and, after numerous shrieks and with a lot of disgust, reluctantly took Hadrian inside.
McGonagall left and as soon as she did he went Severus went to the Dursley's and knocked. A few last minute glamours to hide his identity and the door opened revealing a very disgruntled man who could only be part walrus.
"Hello, Mr. Dursley. My name is Martin Sinclair and I believe there is some kind of misunderstanding. May I come in?" said Severus with a bit of quick lying.
Vernon looked at the well-dressed man and decided that this wasn't someone to take is anger out on and what he had to say was important to something or other. Unfortunately, he wasn't having a good morning and couldn't listen to him.
"I'm sorry Mr. Sinclair. We are having a bit of a family emergency. Could we talk tomorrow-"
"Mr. Dursley, what I have to say is very relevant to what I believe has happened to your family this morning." Severus said with a pointed look.
Vernon led him inside to the kitchen where there was a baby on the counter and a very distraught Petunia pouring over a letter.
"As I thought. May I see that letter Mrs. Dursley?"
After a sharing a look with Vernon she handed it over.
Dear Petunia,
Your sister was kill last night and has unfortunately left her young son, Harry Potter, without a home. It is imperative he grows up with your family.
There are unsavory people trying to get their hands on him and the protection your blood offers him is very much needed.
I must say that you do not have a choice. You must take Harry in. in return you will be paid a monthly stipend of 2,000 pounds for housing him and you may treat him however you like. He only needs minimal care.
I will send someone to take him to Hogwarts on his eleventh birthday. Until then he is yours to do with as you choose.
Severus was seething. He could hardly hold back his raging fury but with the help of a lot of Occlumency he showed no outward signs. There was no signature. Nothing that could absolutely tie Dumbledore to what he was going to do to 'Harry Potter'.
"It seems that I was correct. There was a great misunderstanding and a grave error on someone's part. Now, to start, I am correct in my assumption that you do not wish to take care of this child?" at their enthusiastic nod he continued. "Well, this child was not supposed to go to you and your lovely family. He will be taken to a place for his kind and not be dumped on good normal folk like yourselves."
With that Severus picked up Hadrian, resisting the urge to hug him to his chest and never let go.
"I apologize for any inconvenience this has given you and I thank you for your time."
Right as he was going to open the door Vernon called out slightly hesitantly "And what about the money?"
Severus did a few quick calculations. As Dumbledore didn't have the money to support the Dursley's bribe it must be coming from the Potter vault.
Severus knew the Potters had left Dumbledore all of their assets in their will, he also knew that the Potters were not as rich as most would believe. James had a significant inheritance from his parents but he and Lily had made little money of their own since their graduation and they gave most of their money to Dumbledore in support of the war.
He knew Dumbledore was under the impression that the Potters were extremely wealthy so the money would run out soon enough the way Dumbledore spends and the payments to the Dursleys would stop soon enough, and the less Dumbledore had the better.
"You will receive payments, I believe. I do not how long they will go on but it could be a very long time. Whatever you get is yours. No one will try and rope you into any responsibilities."
They looked close to giddy, but then again, who wouldn't be happy at receiving money for doing nothing at all.
"Now I must wish you both good day." With that Severus strode out the door.
Right outside the door he apparated to Prince manor. He dropped the glamours and held his son close, tears starting to stream down his face.
"oh, Hadrian. I missed you."
Being a single Father with a full time job at a boarding school where you have to hide the fact that you have a son can be a bit challenging.
Severus, to what would have been the surprise of anyone that had ever known him, handled it almost beautifully, at least in regards to his son.
Hadrian lived at Prince Manor most of the time. While Severus was at Hogwarts, Hadrian was in the care of house elves. Every morning Severus would leave the manor at about 8:30, before class starts, and would floo back home every chance he had a free moment before leaving for the night at 7:30. His quarters at Hogwarts were almost completely unused.
While he could have spent more time with humans and not house elves, Hadrian was a well-loved child that was both exceedingly intelligent and magically powerful.
Hadrian was one of the few wizards whose magical power resulted in a strange side effect. It affected both his body and mind, advancing his body well past where a child his age should be. His growing muscles grew faster and he had far more coordination and grace then the usual bumbling child.
The effect his magic had on his mind was much more curious. He started to soak up information like a sponge, his memory perfectly categorizing every piece of knowledge he took in and remembering it perfectly.
He could already read and write exceptionally well by the time he was three and his desire for knowledge was insatiable.
He was three years old and reading a children's book about magical creatures when Severus came in through the floo from Hogwarts.
As usual, Hadrian was excited to see him, the fact that he had seen him not three hours before was irrelevant in his choice to grab onto his father and squeeze the life out of him.
When he let go they started on their daily routine of telling each other about their days (Severus thought that Hadrian learning etiquette and conversation at a young age was a better option then teaching it to him later).
As Severus told Hadrian about teaching Hogwarts' dunderheads about things that they don't appreciate or even attempt to care about, he noticed Hadrian becoming more and more irate. As he had often told Hadrian about the morons he had to teach without this response, he wondered what had caused it and asked.
His response to the question was the biggest tantrum the normally easy-going and happy Hadrian ever had. But it was not the tantrum itself that had Severus frozen in his seat, staring at his son in disbelief. No, it was rather what Hadrian was throwing a tantrum about.
His son was angry because it was the unappreciative Hogwarts students getting to learn and not him. To say Severus was shocked would be an understatement. He had never seen Hadrian this upset and it was over learning. Severus was taken over by nearly hysterical laughter.
Hadrian stopped his tantrumming for a moment and glared at his father like only a Snape could. Severus stopped his laughter to assure Hadrian that if he wanted to learn then he would be happy to teach him, he merely thought to wait till he was older.
After that most of their time together was spent on teaching Hadrian the finer points of potions and beginning magical theory. Hadrian eagerly took to learning with a voraciousness Severus found difficult to sate. But still, having an eager and apt pupil to teach was a new and pleasant experience.
After that Severus taught him more subjects; history, Herbology, astrology, the theory on potions, charms, and transfiguration as well as languages. There were a number of books in the Prince library on alternative magical theory as well so Severus gave him access to those as well. It advanced to the point where Severus needed to discreetly hire Hadrian tutors in subjects he wasn't knowledgeable enough in and things he just didn't fully have enough time to teach him.
Most of Severus's holidays from Hogwarts were spent taking Hadrian to different magical places as well as the magical communities of other countries. Severus's time as a spy and his own curiosity made him very well learned when it came to different magical cultures. That in no way stopped them from visiting the Muggle world and learning there.
After a trip to a Muggle cinema to see a movie about secret agents Hadrian gained a desperate need to learn martial arts of all kinds. Severus was fully supportive of this and even taught Hadrian himself in using daggers because of his own proficiency in the subject.
By the time Hadrian was seven he was well versed in all the subjects his father and his tutors were teaching him as well as fluent in Latin and French and proficient in Italian and several different martial arts and weapon styles. He was also a little above his grade level in all the Muggle subjects as well as being adequately versed in Muggle culture, concepts, and able to fit in with Muggles. Severus didn't in anyway ignorant of the Muggle world like stereotypical purebloods.
It was at this time Severus figured that it was time for Hadrian to learn how to focus his magic. His accidental magic was getting a little out of hand it was growing so strong. He took Hadrian to a focus specialist he had met in Thailand.
The specialist, an ancient man with a wry smile who seemed to know every language Hadrian could think of, tested Hadrian's magic to see what focuses would suit it.
While in England the only focuses mostly used were wands, other parts of the world used other things. While a wand could mostly fit anyone with magic if they get one young enough, sometime other focuses can suit someone a little better.
Hadrian's matched wand -given-, fan, gemstone, and metal focuses.
There were far more types of focuses that could be used –musical instruments, staffs, thread, paint brushes, cloth, even certain plants- but they would only hinder his magic.
Fans, the ancient man explained, originated in China but have been seen a lot around the world. They were used mostly by the ladies of China but were most suited to people highly aligned with the element air.
Gemstone and metal merely referred to focusing your magic through a specific stone of metal object.
Of all things, Hadrian's suited gemstone and metal were fire opal and cobalt as well as something the man had called an 'interesting property' star diopside.
The man –Hadrian still couldn't find out his name- quickly started on finding Hadrian's correct wand attributes. After leading him around and making him hold endless objects of all variations he finally finished with them and told them to come back to pick up his focuses in a week.
It was a very long week for Hadrian, like any child he was eager to try his focuses for the first time.
As the week came to a close, they went back to see the man. He eyed them with his wry smile before beaconing Hadrian to him and laying a wrapped cloth on a table.
He pulled out a shiny object and pushed it onto Hadrian's arm and around his right wrist. It was a bracelet made of a bright silvery grey metal set with a large yellowy orange stone shaped like a cat's eye. Cobalt and fire opal.
Hadrian felt his magic hum with approval as it wrapped around the bracelet and the stone glowed like fire.
The man nodded with approval and slipped a ring onto his left middle finger. It was the same bright silver of the bracelet but it was shaped like a Celtic knot with a black stone with silver crosses spreading from the middle. Star diopside. Used almost only for casting runes and focusing mental magic (it had few compatible magics that it could be used for) it was most known for its uses in soul magic. An interesting choice indeed.
The two metal/stone focuses done, the man pulled out a dark colored fan. Hadrian unfolded it, the frame was made of ebony with cobalt finishes while the fabric was a deep glittering black with swirling silver designs. It was made of woven black unicorn hair, a powerful focus for wide spread magic.
The last was a black wand of the man's own creation. Ebony and blood from a 1200-year-old basilisk. 13 ½ inches, supple, and carved with the runes of 'power' and 'thought'.
The man explained that all people's magic is different so Hadrian would have to learn himself how to use each different focus and what magic it could be used for.
After that he dedicated himself full heartedly to using magic and learning every different kind he could, it was also at this time his tutor could start taking him on 'field trips' of sorts, much like Hadrian and his father's holiday trips.
While Severus may have missed him when he wasn't there he learned more than most would believe and took the time to make various friends wherever he went.
It was one of these friends who showed Hadrian a book in which he found a spell to learn languages faster. Ecstatic to be able to speak to his new friends in their own languages to, he immediately took to the spell learning Bulgarian, Japanese and Chinese fluently.
At eleven Hadrian received his Hogwarts letter. After a long discussion with his father it was decided that no, Hadrian didn't want to go to Hogwarts or any magical school for that matter.
He was perfectly happy with his own self study and tutors besides the fact that Dumbledore would have 'plans' for 'Harry Potter' and it would be difficult to hide that the Boy-Who-Lived was actually Hadrian Snape, son of the hated potions master.
And so his life went on. Hadrian spent even more time away and in other countries learning and Severus finally gave him access to the Viellen estate, most notably the library that was used by Rowena Ravenclaw herself.
Soon Severus gave him permission to go where he liked by himself, on the condition he be back before Severus got back home from Hogwarts, and he spent more time with his friends and took the time to befriend some of the most notable young people in Europe, with Viellen Chateau as his and his closest friends' hideaway and escape.
For most of his out of England pursuits he used his nickname Ian Aaron as something of an alias. It was still important to keep his identity somewhat secret.
At age twelve he decide he knew enough to take some of his OWLs. He took his Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology, Defense, and Muggle studies (he'd lived in the Muggle world he didn't need to take classes on it) OWLs at the British Ministry of Magic and received straight O for all subjects.
At age fourteen he took all the rest of his OWLs that the British MoM offered (all the subjects taught at Hogwarts: Astronomy, History of Magic, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination. And subjects not offered ay Hogwarts: Dueling, Warding, and Healing), he wanted to know every subject, as well as his NEWTs in the subjects he had previously taken OWLs in, passing all with Outstandings.
Also at fourteen, after eleven years if tutoring since he was three, Hadrian passed his Potion Mastery with flying colors. Admitting him into the Potion Masters' Guild like his father, who used the name Potions Master Prince when working with the Guild. Hadrian chose, in the interest still of protecting himself from people seeking 'Harry Potter' and also to use the reputation he had built under his nickname Ian Aaron.
While Hadrian was smart and thought on his feet, he had strong penchant for trouble and danger. Though he always got out of it, he put his friends in a lot of danger and made Severus worry more than most people that knew him would believe.
Hadrian was sixteen and visiting Latvia with his friends Tyler Ferronen and Emily (Emma) Cosslin when he heard about a very rare flower that Hadrian had been looking for to use in a ritual he wanted to do.
The fact that this was located in the known territory of a werewolf pack and the flower needed to picked on the full moon held no sway to Hadrian's decision to get the flower and Emma and Taylor decided to trust him not to get them in too much trouble and to make sure he didn't fall off something or something else equally likely for Hadrian to do.
As was anyone but Hadrian expected, they were attacked by werewolves. Almost the entire pack went after them and they were circled. It was then Hadrian fought back and held off the werewolves long enough to make a portkey back to Prince Manor.
When Emma told his what happened, Severus was anything but pleased. It was something of a last straw for him and after Emma and Tyler left he decided that he needed to do something about Hadrian's 'accidents'.
After much deliberation he decided that the only thing he could do was try and put some stability in Hadrian's life. That being his decision left him few options on how to accomplish it, his only valid option was to enroll Hadrian in Hogwarts.
While he used to be worried about repercussions of sending Hadrian to Hogwarts, it had been a long enough time since anything had happened and Hadrian was beyond Hogwarts' education anyway so it wouldn't stunt his education. His decision made and a mere week and a half before the start of the term, Severus flooed to see Dumbledore and enroll Hadrian.
It was two days before start of Hogwarts term and they were celebrating Severus's new position as Defense teacher, when Severus told Hadrian about going to Hogwarts.
Hadrian's application accepted, and his supplies bought and ready, Severus didn't give Hadrian much of a choice, though it didn't stop him from arguing.
Finally Hadrian grudgingly agreed on the few terms that he would have full control, of his classes and he took a portkey to Hogwarts at the Sorting and didn't have to take the train.
After sorting out his affaires with his friends and teachers Hadrian arrived at Hogwarts on the evening of September 1st.
a/n: whoo! chapter done! i feel so happy i got it done and more than 4000 words, ten pages. so i hope i have the next chapter upo soon. the next is going to be sabout what has been going on in the wizarding world, mostly dumbledore, until Hadrian goes to hogwarts
love forever
-say :D