For the next few days, Tom observed.
No matter what, Hadrian Karys always had perfect grades even when he showed no attention in class, nor was he ever seen in the library. During lessons, the Professors would nod at him, award him a few points and then let him sit and read. Albeit, strangely it was always one book he never seemed to finish. Even in Binns' class, whilst most students were catching up on sleep, Karys never failed to portray his boredom by constructing small figurines with pieces of parchment and recreating some of the Goblin wars.
Even the Slytherins were more interested in the paper war on Karys' desk than listening to the actual Professor describe it in more painfully acute detail.
The Head Boy also took note of the fact that some of Hadrian's magic was wandless and silent. All the boy had to do was stare his vivid green eyes once at the Goblin and it would growl with life, sword raised in an attacking position.
At first Tom was dumbfounded. The boy had so much potential and yet he wasted it on frivolous acts of boredom. Even in class, most of Karys' magic was performed with a wand yet the boy did the easiest things wandlessly. It was obvious that the simple feats weren't actually even the best he could do because Hadrian performed it as if it were second nature to him. The detail of his wandlessly transfigured parchment was stunning. The yellow paper would become a gleaming and ornate shield with a blood red scepter in the center with twin snakes vining around it. And when Tom looked closely, it also appeared that the snakes were hissing in something that sounded strangely like parseltounge.
Karys never looked worn out or tired after what ordinary wizards would call amazing feats. Neither was the boy arrogant or cocky.
To be frank, the Slytherin Heir was jealous. Even Tom could do wandless magic but it would take at least some effort and leave him out of breath if he were to do something particularly straining. It irked him that whilst he was constantly at the top of the year for six years, in his seventh he was equaled. Karys probably wasn't even aware of his own power status rivaling Tom's but if he did, he didn't seem to care.
This earned him more of Tom's ire as so much talent was being wasted. And if there was anything that Tom hated, it was wasting potential.
Nonetheless, Tom couldn't allow Hadrian Karys to be commanded by anyone other than himself. The boy held talent and knowledge and if Tom had it his way, it would soon be shared with him. However, first the pretty, raven-haired boy had to be made subservient before he had too much time to think of ways to oppose the Slytherin King.
I think it's time Karys had a special visit paid to him in the Common Room.
Hadrian was at dinner one night and seated at the end of the Slytherin table. Despite offers from the Purebloods he still continued to sit wherever he wished. This peeved off Tom especially because the Slytherin Heir liked the idea of an organised Hierarchy seated in their approved locations. Even though the Houses were unaware of the social ladder in the Slytherin House, Tom knew that most Professors that had previously been in Slytherin acknowledged it. Harry knew it made him feel content to know that his power base had been established.
I wonder why he hasn't approached me yet. Perhaps he wants to make sure that when he hexes me it's in the privacy of the Slytherin Common Room.
Hadrian mused in silence as he pushed around the food on his plate. He had noticed Tom observing him many times when he thought Hadrian was none the wiser but instead of showing that he knew, the green eyed boy let Tom scheme in that psychotic mind of his. No doubt he was planning to dominate Hadrian somehow or was merely watching him for reasons Hadrian knew not. In all honesty, it excited him more than he'd like to admit. The Tom Riddle he was dealing with now was nothing like the crazed Voldemort he knew in the future; meaning Riddle would be more or less, in his prime regarding his mind. It would be a battle between the Alpha's and Hadrian couldn't wait to see who came out on top. Letting his eyes roam the Great Hall beneath his lashes, Hadrian shifted his musings onto his lighter endeavors.
For the past few weeks, Hadrian had set about making friends from the other Houses. At first they were stand offish and cold as was to be expected since he was a Slytherin, but later they had warmed to him when met with his warm, benign facade. He did, in actuality care for their opinions but being more open sped up the process. The Ravenclaw House was the first to be conquered since most of their House was neutral and was the House most in favor with the Slytherins. He befriended them by engaging them in long, logical talks about politics, Laws of magic or anything else that interested them. More often than not, a congress of Ravenclaws would gather in the Library and soon Hadrian became a member of their party after having intruded so many times due to what he overheard. Slowly but surely, he was ploughing his way through the Ravenclaw House and hopefully by the end of the term he'd have most of the upper years swayed.
Then it was the Hufflepuffs House who faced the brunt of Hadrian's false empathy. They were a tough shell to crack as they held the most light wizards who thought Slytherins were evil and Grindelwald supporters. However, Hadrian swayed some of them over by acting sickeningly warm and wearing his heart on his sleeve. He even helped a few with their homework. Since he told them his sob story about being an orphan the Hufflepuffs also began pitying Hadrian and acting more pleasantly than when he first approached them. He didn't like to use emotional blackmail for such a petty task but it helped speed things along. And so far it was working. Though there was still the odd person who was slightly wary of him.
But there were definitely a few Hufflepuffs that could keep his attention from wavering and were able to keep up stimulating conversations with Hadrian. Though it was amusing to see that more often than not, their debates tended to lean towards the subject of Light and Dark and the connections it held with the current war.
His efforts had paid off and now Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs alike were fooled by his smart and approachable demeanor. Hadrian was now the 'nice Slytherin'.
Finally it was the Gryffindor House that was the last to encounter Hadrian's friendly greetings. The raven haired boy knew that the Gryffindors loathed Slytherins like it were a law and obeyed it like it was Merlin's word; so none were to pleased when one even breathed the same air as them. Therefore, Hadrian approached Charlus Potter directly. The green eyed teen understood that by gaining the Alpha's acceptance he'd soon gain more respect as the rest of the Gryffindors followed their leader like sheep and were in that way, similar to Hufflepuffs.
At the moment, Hadrian was well acquainted with Charlus Potter to call him by his first name but not close enough to call him a friend. Though he was still working on that; it was understandable that he wouldn't be able to conquer the whole of Hogwarts in just under a month as barely half the students from the Houses he'd been working on had only begun to trust him.
His thoughts floated back to his first encounter with the Potter Heir, the same person who would soon become his Grandfather.
*FLASHBACK*
Hadrian Karys was striding towards the Quidditch pitch with an air of confidence blanketing him. It was unapparent but a part of him was in shambles at the thought of getting acquainted with his teenage Grandfather. It would feel so strange to him because he already knew that his Grandparents were dead by the time that he was born so he was in no way familiar to them. Though he had spent at least a year with his parents as a toddler, the subject of coddling Grandparents was alien to him. Never mind the fact that the first time they'd meet his Granddad would a teenager.
Blinking once or twice to raise his much improved Occlumency barriers, Hadrian tentatively approached the Gryffindor stands. A place where he had heard that Charlus Potter liked to sit and do Merlin knows what.
Sure enough, when he had climbed the last few stairs, the sight of messy, jet black hair made itself apparent to Hadrian whilst it's owner held his head bent over a book. The sight surprised Hadrian somewhat as he expected to find the Potter Heir practicing Wronski Feints, not engrossed by a book. Again this reinforced his idea that you can never fully assume to know a person before interacting with them and even then, the many layers of character were difficult to pick apart.
''Hello.''
The slightly drawled greeting startled Charlus and he immediately whipped around, fumbling for his wand. When Charlus had identified who disrupted him, honey brown eyes narrowed in confusion before sliding to the Slytherin crest which embellished Hadrian's robes. This time Charlus' eyes widened a fraction whilst it dawned on him that it was the new 'Snake'. Such emotions were so easy to read that Hadrian didn't bother suppressing a bemused smirk.
''What do you want?'' Charlus spat, his words dripping in disdain but coated with the smallest smidgen of curiosity.
For a minute or two, Hadrian observed the taller boy in front of him. Even though Charlus was a Potter, Hadrian could see traces of the Rosier family in his high cheekbones. The petite nose that was slightly turned up in arrogance looked to be inherited from a Malfoy family whilst the strong jawline boasted Black lineage. Hadrian should know, he once looked upon the same features everyday in the mirror before going through his inheritance to the Karys Line.
''Nothing in particular.'' Hadrian smiled slightly so that the Gryffindor knew that he meant no harm. It would do no good for either of them if hexes and curses began to shoot out of wands because of an uneasy atmosphere.
''Sure you do,'' Charlus sneered '' You're a Slytherin.''
''Oh really? I hadn't quite noticed that I'd been wearing items of clothing with Slytherin's emblem on them for roughly a month now. I thought the purpose of green stripes were to accent the black, but obviously I was mistaken. Do forgive me,
I'm new.'' Hadrian pulled the most confused and taken aback face he could manage and was rewarded with a soft chortle.
''Well if you are really that ditsy I suppose you're harmless enough.'' Charlus replied and abruptly sat back down with the usual grace a Pureblood would display.
Striding forward, Hadrian went to sit down next to Charlus as the latter patted the seat next to him.
'' Hadrian Karys.'' He held out a hand to shake and disguised his relief when the Gryffindor took it.
''Charlus Potter.'' Honey brown eyes glittered with amusement and curiosity as viridian green stared back with equaled intensity. There was a brief moment of silence before Hadrian began to make small talk.
Now, Charlus Potter was a man well liked withing Hogwarts - bar Slytherin- and therefore was privy to the coming and goings within the school. That was the reason he hadn't completely snubbed out Karys. From his friends in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, Charlus was able to gather that the boy before him wasn't your average slimy Slytherin. The Potter Heir wasn't stupid. He wasn't blind to what Hadrian was doing - setting about gathering contacts and such. He was much like Riddle in that way but the difference between Riddle and Karys was that the viridian eyed teen before him actually seemed to socialize not just as a means to benefit from it but also to simply bask in the companionship. Still, Charlus couldn't make solid assumptions because he had yet to talk with Hadrian himself but he was willing to give him a chance.
"I see that you're reading a book on Battle magic. Do you plan to make use of what you're reading?" Hadrian asked, genuinly curious.
"Well, in all honesty, I thought it would be prudent to read up on Battle magics what with the war peaking and my leaving Hogwarts at the end of the year. No doubt after I exit Hogwarts for good, I'm going o be susceptible to danger. The Light stance of the Potter family is, after all, common knowledge." A grim smile befell his lips and Hadrian readily returned it. Strangely, Charlus couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity he felt with the other boy but instead of questioning it he simply accepted it. Even if Karys appeared to be amiable there was still and air of mystery encompassing him in his own tiny bubble, as if he had secrets more potent than other's.
"For a Gryffindor, the self preservation I'm sensing is refreshing." Hadrian grinned and was relieved to earn a small chuckle back. "Of course you must be aware that Battle magic is used for large scale conflict. Do you think you'll be taking an active role in the war?"
"I hope so. I've always been a man of action. I'm planning to become an Auror when I leave." Came his reply, chest puffed in false self-righteousness and Hadrian let a small smile play on his lips. So this is where his wanting to become an Auror derived from. He hadn't thought it would start before James. "What about you, Hadrian?"
The boy in question sat quietly for a moment, pondering his response because he didn't know the answer. Despite everything, he hadn't come to 1944 with a solid plan and perhaps that was a mistake on his part. He just intended to go with a flow and so far he seemed to be doing alright. In the end he opted to be honest.
"I don't know, Charlus." dejection sank into his tone.
"You don't know?" came the startled reply. People had already started getting insurance and planning their last will and testament for Merlin's sake and the boy before him expressing his uncertainty only served to befuddle him.
"There is a great much I do not know." Hadrian had a far away look in his eye and Charlus couldn't help but discern wisdom and the feeling of a young boy having gone through too much for his age in unique emerald eyes. The Potter Heir began to panic as he felt Hadrian sink into a brooding mood and quickly changed the subject.
''But what do you know about Quidditch Hadrian?''
The serious atmosphere began to dissipate and the pair began to engage in easy conversation. They discussed the pro's and con's of the wronski feint, talked tactics and debated about who was more responsible for goals -the keeper or the chasers- Hadrian thought it was an extremely stimulating conversation and was glad to be so easily accepted by his Gryffindor Doppelganger.
''What position do you play?'' Charlus asked, intrigued by the amount of Quidditch information that was bursting out of Hadrian. He had a sneaking suspicion that the Slytherin had experience as a Captain and considering the fact that Charlus managed Gryffindor's team he knew that there was certainly a possibility.
''I haven't played for some time really...' Harry mused aloud ''but Seeker.''
An arched brow rose questioningly at the disbelieving look on Charlus' face. Hadrian thought it was fun but weird to be talking to a person who looked exactly like his former self. And so any reactions the Potter Heir displayed were caught by Hadrian's sharp and searching eye.
A slow whistle was elicited from smiling lips as brown eyes assessed Hadrian's body thoroughly.
''I should've guessed.'' Charlus said, more to himself than Hadrian. ''You've the perfect build of a Seeker. Your small frame and lithe body would make it easier for you to manoeuvre around the pitch; it would be stupid to have you as anything else.''
''Dear Merlin, are you checking me out?'' Hadrian teased lightly and snickered at the light blush blooming on Charlus' face before being shot a stern glare.
''It's whether or not you've got any skill on a broom that matters. You wouldn't stand a chance against me.'' And there was the Gryffindor arrogance that Hadrian once possessed. From the tone of his voice and the slight twinkle of challenge that gleamed in honey brown eyes, Hadrian guessed that Charlus also played Seeker.
''Oh really?'' The Slytherin quirked an eyebrow and laughed at the pompous reply.
''Of course! I'd bet anything on it!''
Hadrian rose to his feet ready to leave before smirking darkly at the Gryffindor.
''You should be careful what you bet on. You may just find that I take up the challenge.''
And with one last wink, the green eyed boy left without another word. Leaving an intrigued Charlus gazing at the spot where he had last stood.
*ENDFLASHBACK*
Now the pair had developed a mutual like that was slowly turning into friendship. They'd nod an acknowledgment to each other in the hallways or offer a fleeting smile during classes. And so far, things were going well for Hadrian.
But he knew that with his luck, things would eventually take a turn for the worst.