Family Secrets
Hey guys, so this is going to be a short AN as a friend of mine suggested that I put all thanks at the bottom which makes a lot of sense. Although I've since lost the list I'd compiled so I'm going to have to skip it for this chapter so:
Thanks to everyone who's read, reviewed, favourited and followed this story. Also thanks to everyone who's favourited and followed me.
No one got the movie reference :-(
It was a bit obscure though so I can't be too harsh. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the titular character in BBC's 'Sherlock' but he also did the voice of Smaug in 'The Hobbit' movies and Smaug was a Fire Drake from the North, hence Sherlock's wand core.
There's now a poll up on my profile for who you'd like Hadrian to be paired with so please go and take the poll.
I'll be skipping ahead to their 4th year after this chapter as that's when the events will properly begin.
Anything you recognise is not mine. There's some sections in italics which are quotes from one of the books, you'll know which one when you see it.
Chapter 4
Even though Hadrian and Hermione had settled in well at Beauxbatons, they still looked forward to being home for Christmas. While they had stayed with family and friends overnight, it was the longest either of them had been away from their families and they both found that they missed them. The added bonus was that they would be meeting Luna and the twins in person for the first time too. The letters from the three had put them firmly as friends to the entire group (although Lily explained that she felt like Luna was a little sister) and they had enjoyed writing to each other. Things with the twins' mother had gotten more tense as the months had gone on, their friendship with Draco was too much for her. When she found out that they had been invited to the Malfoys' for Christmas, she threatened to disown them if they didn't refuse. According to the twins, their older brother Bill was the Prewitt heir (from their mother's side of the family) and he secretly added them to the Prewitt family just in case. But it was unneeded, when Molly Weasley found out that the Malfoys would be meeting up with the Holmes family, she insisted that they help with her plan to marry Ginny off to Hadrian. While they didn't refuse in so many words (not wanting to receive another Howler from her) they pointed out that this would be the first time they met Hadrian and it would be considered rude to push such a matter.
Hadrian, when he found out about Molly's plans, was less than impressed. He stated that the idea of being in a relationship with Ginny disgusted him as she looked far too like his mother for his tastes. When he and Hermione returned home, they spent ages agonising over what to get the twins for Christmas, in the end, Hermione chose to get them a Muggle Chemistry set each as it was something which they never would have been given before. Hadrian, on the other hand, decided to get them a collection of forensic kits between them as they had expressed an interest in what his father did for a living. This prompted the rest of their friends to get gifts along a similar line of thought. Draco got them a camera and the accessories to catalogue any 'evidence' they found, Lily had persuaded her parents to help her get them a microscope and they had also helped Luna to purchase a book on Forensic Science and a magnifying glass. Even better for the twins, their older brothers, Bill and Charlie, had done a bit of digging after letters from them stating their new obsession and bought some accessories to go with the forensics kits. Luna was harder to buy for but with some help from Élodie, Mary, and Narcissa Malfoy, they gathered a selection of clothes, shoes and accessories for her.
When the twins first met Hadrian, they were a little nervous but the boys were soon put at ease by him stating that he was aware that they had no wish to help their mother. That Christmas turned out to be one of the best that Luna and the twins had ever had, they weren't treated like guests, they were treated as if they were part of the family and belonged there just as much as everyone else.
The only downside was that Molly had been sending them letters every other day in her quest to try and force them to help her arrange a match between Hadrian and Ginevra. Things finally came to a head on New Years Day when Molly actually sent a Howler to the twins, although she was careful not to mention her plan.
"THE PAIR OF YOU NEED TO REMEMBER YOUR FAMILY OBLIGATIONS, I HAVE ASKED YOU TO DO SOMETHING AND YET YOU ARE IGNORING ME! YOU TWO ARE COMPLETE DISGRACES AND I AM ASHAMED TO CALL YOU MY SONS. IF YOU DON'T START TOEING THE LINE, I WILL ENSURE THAT YOU'RE DISINHERITED AND EXPELLED FROM HOGWARTS!" The twins were mortified by their 'mother's' attitude although the Malfoys assured them that they didn't think any less of the twins for having such a mother.
"Thank you but…"
"...it might be time to…"
"...contact our older brother, Bill. He…"
"...said that we could…"
"...be added to the Prewitt…"
"...family if she tried…"
"...anything like this." The twins smiled at their hosts. They couldn't understand why their parents were so antagonistic towards the Malfoys, all of them had been perfectly pleasant to the pair of them.
Bill, upon reading the letter from the twins was shocked at how far their mother would go to try and force someone to marry into their family. He reassured the twins that they would always be a part of the Prewitt family thanks to him, and there was nothing that their mother could do to change that as he was the current head of the Prewitt family.
Hadrian and the others were just as shocked, especially when they found out that Molly had threatened to have them expelled from their school.
Once they knew that they were safe and would be able to return to school, the twins sent a letter back to their 'mother' disowning themselves from the Weasley line. Bill also sent a letter, making it clear that the twins were now legally Prewitts, and that as he had taken over the Prewitt lordship, they were legally his heirs. Molly had no say over that, not that she gave up easily.
When everyone returned to school, Hadrian and Hermione promising to keep in touch with their new friends, news travelled around fast around Hogwarts about the twins becoming the Prewitt heirs and leaving the Weasley family. Ron and Ginny attempted to try and harass the two but were soon moved on by the twins' other friends. Percy expressed some disappointment that the two had left their parents behind but otherwise left them to it.
Upon finding out that using the twins as an avenue to Hadrian had been pulled away from her, Molly tried sending a letter in an attempt to persuade that both the Malfoy and Snape families were Dark and that it would be best for the Holmes' to stop associating with them and to transfer Hadrian to Hogwarts where he would be 'safe'. Both Mycroft and Sherlock had openly laughed at that, surprising not just the Watsons, but also Sally Donovan who had come round with paperwork for Greg who was resting at home with his husband after an injury in the line of duty. Sally had recently been discovered to be the aunt of one of the first year Gryffindors.
"It is merely an idiotic woman attempting to force her daughter upon my nephew. She seems almost desperate." Mycroft replied in answer to their inquiries.
Time skip to 4th Year.
Lily Watson was practically running from the library with her friends to reach the entrance hall in time. The Tri-WIzard Tournament was being held at Hogwarts and the other schools involved were about to arrive. But that wasn't what was exciting Lily, Hadrian and Hermione were part of the Beauxbatons contingent and she couldn't wait to see them again. Luna was already waiting for her when she got there as were their friends, Pansy, Daphne, Padma, Blaise, Draco, Neville and Seamus.
"We thought you were going to miss it Lily!" Padma grinned as they hurried outside.
"I got caught up in the library. Besides, you know that my cousins are arriving today, that's not something I'd ever miss!" Lily replied, sticking her tongue out. Lily made sure that Luna was next to her and could see alright. Two years previously, Luna's father had finally succumbed to his illness and died. John and Mary Watson had quickly adopted the lost young girl even though they also had a five year old son. Becoming part of the Watson family had done wonders for Luna, just the fact that they wanted her had caused her to blossom, as had being both an older and younger sibling.
It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Lily shivered in anticipation, much to the amusement of their friends, although they were all excited to see Hadrian and Hermione too. The group of friends had all met them during the summer holidays after First year while visiting Lily and all of them were close to the two. Whispering started as the students all began to wonder where the other schools were and how they were getting there.
And then Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers - "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions. "There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest. Something large, much larger than a broomstick - or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks - was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.
"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely.
"Don't be stupid. . . it's a flying house!" said Dennis Creevey.
Dennis's guess was closer. . . . As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.
The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed - then, with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backward onto a Slytherin fifth year's foot, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes.
There only just time to see that the door of the carriage bore a coat of arms (two crossed, golden wands, each emitting three stars) before it opened.
A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully.
A shining, high-heeled black shoe emerged from the inside of the carriage - a shoe the size of a child's sled -followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman many of the students had ever seen. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped.
As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman.
Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.
"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
"Dumbly-dorr," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"
"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.
"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.
Behind Madame Maxime was a collection of boys and girls in pale blue robes, shivering in the cold. None of them were wearing cloaks but a few seemed to have cast warming charms on themselves as they were unaffected by the difference in temperature. Among that small number was Hadrian, Hermione and a tall blonde girl who seemed to be part-veela, no doubt remained in Lily's mind that she was Fleur from her cousins' descriptions.
"As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.
"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"
"Warm up, I think," said Madame Maxime. "But ze 'orses -"
"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other - er - charges."
"My steeds require - er - forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job. "Zey are very strong. . . ."
"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, smiling.
"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"
"It will be attended to," said Dumbledore, also bowing.
"Come," said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps. As they passed, Hadrian winked at Lily in the same manner that her Uncle Sherlock was wont to do. Hermione waved lightly and Fleur nodded politely to them as she hadn't formally met them yet.
They stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky.
For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then - "Can you hear something?" someone said.
A loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed.
"The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"
From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water - except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks - and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor. .
What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool. . . and then Lily saw the rigging...
"It's a mast!" she said to her friends and they nodded in agreement, recognising the rigging from the trips that Mary Watson had taken them on.
Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.
People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. They all seemed to be heavily built but it soon became apparent that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.
"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"
"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied. Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.
"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and Harry noticed that his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd. "How good it is to be here, how good.. . . Viktor, come along, into the warmth. . . you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold..."
Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Draco, Seamus and Blaise, the Quidditch obsessed members of their group of friends, gasped.
"That's Viktor Krum!" Seamus whispered to Lily as she seemed a bit bemused by their reaction.
"I had no idea that he was still at school." Draco nodded as they recrossed the entrance hall with the rest of the Hogwarts students heading for the Great Hall, when they reached there they all headed for their tables although Seamus nudged Neville to get him to leave some room for Krum and the Durmstrang students. Not quickly enough though as they opted to sit at the Slytherin table, much to his disappointment and Draco and Blaise's joy. The students from Beauxbatons had chosen seats at the Ravenclaw table. They were, for the most part, looking around the Great Hall with glum expressions on their faces. Three of them were still clutching scarves and shawls around their heads.
Hadrian, Hermione and Fleur however seemed perfectly comfortable and were rolling their eyes at their schoolmates antics. Lily rushed over with Luna and Padma to sit with them before the seats were taken.
"Bonjour Lily, Luna, Padma, ça va?" Hadrian grinned, kissing her on the cheek.
"Oui, je suis bien, merci. Et toi?" Lily replied in flawless French, surprising many of the Hogwarts students around her.
"Moi aussi. Might I introduce Mademoiselle Fleur Delacour, one of our dear friends." Hadrian replied, switching effortlessly into English halfway through, further surprising the surrounding Hogwarts students with his RP English pronunciation.
"Bonjour Fleur. We've heard so much about you. Welcome to Hogwarts." Lily smiled at the older girl.
"Merci, I 'ave also 'eard much about you and your friends. 'Adrian and 'Ermione speak of you often." Fleur smiled back in reply. They chatted about a few inconsequential things for a few moments as the last students took their places.
When all the students had entered the Hall and settled down at their House tables, the staff entered, filing up to the top table and taking their seats. Last in line were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime. When their headmistress appeared, the pupils from Beauxbatons leapt to their feet. A few of the Hogwarts students laughed. The Beauxbatons party appeared quite unembarrassed, however, and did not resume their seats until Madame Maxime had sat down on Dumbledore's left-hand side. Dumbledore remained standing, and a silence fell over the Great Hall.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."
One of the Beauxbatons girls still clutching a muffler around her head gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh. She stopped and looked down when Fleur glared at the girl for her rudeness.
"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"
The plates in front of them filled with food as usual. The house-elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them.
The Great Hall seemed somehow much more crowded than usual, even though there were barely twenty additional students there; perhaps it was because their differently colored uniforms stood out so clearly against the black of the Hogwarts' robes. Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep blood red.
Once the golden plates had been wiped clean after dessert, Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now. Lily grinned at Hadrian in anticipation.
"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket, just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" - there was a smattering of polite applause - "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."
There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likable. He acknowledged it with a jovial wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced.
'What a grumpy person.' Lily thought and by the looks on her friends' faces it was clear that they thought so too.
"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."
At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."
Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students; some of the younger Hogwarts students stood on their seats for a better view.
"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways.. their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."
At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing.
"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."
Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames. Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.
"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.
"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.
"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."
At the dismissal from Dumbledore, all the students including the visiting ones stood to leave.
"An age line would work in theory, however, there's some clear issues with it." Hadrian muttered to Lily.
"Oui, eet eez true. A younger student would only 'ave to ask an older one to place zair name in for zem to bypass ze line." Fleur agreed, looking astonished that such a flimsy method was being used.
"There's also the issue that they could just levitate the name over the line." Hermione wrinkled her nose at the stupidity.
"Trust me, you don't have to tell me how dumb our headmaster is." Lily sighed to them.
"If you think he's so dumb, then maybe you should just leave you stupid slut!" A high-pitched and whiny voice piped up from behind them. They turned to see a young girl of about Luna's age with red hair dressed in a Gryffindor uniform and Lily internally sighed as she realised that GInny Weasley was about to make a nuisance of herself. The girl was clearly trying to act older than she was and, rather than making herself attractive, it only served to make herself look ridiculous.
"I would appreciate it if you would refrain from insulting my cousin." Hadrian said coldly, a glint in his eye that reminded Lily of Uncle Sherlock's protectiveness.
"You're Hadrian Holmes aren't you? I'm Ginny Weasley. If you wanted, I'm sure I could persuade our headmaster to let you stay in Gryffindor Tower. WE could...get to know one another better." The girl ignored Hadrian's tone and moved uncomfortably close to him, batting her obviously fake eyelashes while her two cronies looked on. Lily idly wondered if Padma's parents knew how much make up their other daughter, Parvati, wore when in school. Then again, she and Lavender Brown had always followed Ginny's lead.
"I am disinclined to acquiescence to your request, not only are all visiting students to stay with their fellows, but I do not know who you are. I am, however, well aware of how much of a nuisance your mother has been towards my father and uncle with regards to you." Hadrian replied just as coldly.
"My mother's only trying to make sure that you end up with a suitable bride, what's so wrong with that!" Ginny pouted at not having her way.
"Easy, she's not my mother!" Hadrian replied. Fake tears forced their way into Ginny's eyes and her lower lip wobbled slightly.
"Are you really going to make a girl younger than you cry?" She asked in a quivering voice.
"Let's see, youngest child of seven, only daughter. Certainly the mother's favourite, possibly the father's, no wait, definitely only the mother's favourite. Used to getting whatever you want from your mother, often at the expense of your siblings except the next one in age. You like to act older than you are in the hopes that other students will forget how young you are and will respond to your advances.
"A false sense of entitlement, you believe that you're some sort of princess and should be allowed to do whatever you want and that rules don't apply to you. You're highly jealous, not overly intelligent, certainly not when compared to me, and have been raised to believe that you must marry someone who's rich and become a sort of broodmare mixed with a trophy wife for them." Hadrian rattled off every deduction he'd made about her within the few short seconds that he'd first seen her. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily could see not only Madame Maxime but also Dumbledore watching the confrontation.
"How could you be so mean to her? Ginny's only trying to make sure that some slut like the three stood next to you don't trap you!" Parvati snarled angrily. This only served to make Hadrian turn his attention to her.
"Eldest daughter of twins, sister is much more intelligent than you so gets more of your parents attention. Because of this you overcompensate in a bid to gain any sort of attention for yourself. Not quite as money grabbing as your 'friend' but you wouldn't mind marrying well and not having to work to support yourself.
"Your family is originally from India, you moved to this country when you were three or four and you regularly take trips to visit family, certainly every summer, maybe during winter too. Your sister also has the most attention there, increasing your jealousy. Like your 'friend' you think of yourself as a princess and loath anyone who dispels that notion. You call other girls 'sluts' to hide the fact that you and your friends are skirting dangerously close to that definition yourselves." Hadrian quickly deduced her as well, causing her jaw to drop and Padma to give a small smile at Lily. Lavender then proved that she had even less wit than the others.
"You're just some sort of...FREAK!" She screeched and the difference in Hadrian's manner was easily seen.
"Only child, used to be 'Daddy's Little Princess' until they found out that you're a witch. Father is a strict Christian who really doesn't approve of magic, like your 'friend' you overcompensate by acting out as you no longer receive any positive attention. You dislike the notion that anyone is better than you in any way, a remnant of you privileged upbringing, and so you try to bring those people that threaten the view that you're superior down to your level.
"The fact that your mind immediately sprung to the word 'Freak' as a way to insult me tells me that you've been called it quite often yourself, much to your annoyance. You care too much about your appearance and are of the rather incorrect assumption that the more makeup you wear the better it is. You're family is rather well-off in the mundane world but your father is threatening to cut you off due to your behaviour so you are also desperately looking for a rich husband to take care of you.
"You have a distinct lack of common sense but there could still be hope for you if you would only take the time to think through your actions. But you are so stupid that you would rather waste what little potential you do have in order to keep some friends who are not likely to help you better yourself in anyway." Hadrian's voice was cold and sharp as he verbally laid into Lavender. The girl's eyes went wider and wider until it looked to Lily like she was attempting to resemble a cartoon character. As he finished his final words, Dumbledore stepped forward.
He hoped that by embarrassing the boy, that he could gain some measure of control over his father. With the right leverage, Dumbledore was sure that he could persuade Mr Holmes that a marriage contract between Hadrian and Ginevra Weasley would be the best thing. Molly was still harping on about it to him, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have the scion of an old Pureblood family to be aligned with one of his allies. The brat would have to be forced to be civil and attentive to Ginevra but that wouldn't be too hard with potions.
"Hadrian, my boy. I'm afraid that I must ask you to apologise to the young ladies. They were only trying to welcome you to Hogwarts, such a reaction to them is unacceptable. In order to foster a feeling of goodwill with them, I shall make arrangements for you to stay in the Gryffindor dorms." Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling even though he had a disappointed look on his face. Ginevra, Parvati and Lavender all had smug looks on their faces, although Lavender looked a little pensive too.
"Firstly Headmaster Dumbledore, I am not 'your boy' and as such I would appreciate it if you would refer to me in the proper manner and not with undue familiarity.
"Secondly, you have asked me to apologise but are you going to make them apologise for the insults to my friends and family?
"And thirdly, I must decline to stay in accommodation which you provide." Hadrian's manner was just as cold as before but his manner was stiff and formal.
"I heard no insults, and I'm afraid that I must insist, surely you will enjoy staying in Gryffindor Tower." Dumbledore thought that he was going to get his way, but he hadn't planned on Madame Maxime making her presence known.
"What eez zis Dumbly-dorr? I was stood ze same distance from zem as you were and I clearly 'eard zem insult not only two of my students but also two of your own and you say zat you will not make zem apologise for eet! On top of zat, you are blatantly trying to bend ze rules of ze agreement zat was reached between our three schools when we agreed to come 'ere for zis tournament for your own ends!" Madame Maxime was furious, especially as Mycroft had insisted that Dumbledore be kept away from Hadrian as much as possible. By now a crowd had gathered and were watching Dumbledore's attempts to take control of a situation which he had caused.
"My dear Madame Maxime…" He started before the angry French-woman interrupted him once more.
"Non! I understand why you insisted on zis tournament, you wanted to 'ave a way to 'ave some contact wiz a pupil who denied a place 'ere in favor of my school! I zink zat I will contact his oncle Mycroft, a very dear friend of mine, about zis matter." She shouted. Dumbledore cowered away from the large and angry woman, realising too late that he had badly miscalculated.
"Lord Holmes has no authority in this school." Dumbledore said, attempting to wrest control back.
"Zat may be true but 'e eez good friends wiz several of ze Governors of zis school. Not only zat, but 'e 'olds a place on your assemblée de la magie. I am sure zat 'e can raise certain questions about why you are attempting to influence my student." Madame Maxime said, her eyes narrowed as Dumbledore paled at the implication. With that final announcement, the Beauxbatons students and faculty swept off to their accommodation while Padma, Luna and Lily headed back to their dorms. Ginevra narrowed her eyes and made her way to the Owlry to send a letter to her mother. Their plan to entice Hadrian Holmes into a betrothal contract had suffered some setbacks but she thought that she could get it back on track with some help from her mother.