Rodrick entered the dungeons, an amused smile on his face. Nott and Malfoy flanking him. He took his space on one of the couches in the middle. It was a Friday, meaning potions. The first Potion's lesson back for that matter. Well the first one for him, he'd decided to skip out on all his classes for the first week.

"So you're actually showing up today then?" Nott remarked.

Rodrick shrugged, "Probably," he wasn't really all that bothered by it if he was honest. It was the first year, potions or not, it was going to be boring. The past week had been amusing, to say the least. He'd come out with it and spoken to the headmaster, telling him who his mother was. The reaction he got was as expected. The man had seemed to shrink into his office... He hadn't said a word to him ever since. There wasn't much he could say.

Rodrick himself had been confused when he'd received his memories. he was astounded at himself, he wasn't sure how or why but the memories suggested him to having forgiven the headmaster... He was surprised at how much his emotions seemed to sway him. He'd gone over every memory he'd had, and frankly, it seemed he'd only really started acting like himself when Voldemort had made first true his blunder in his fifth year.

That particular memory always brought a smile to his face.

Nott raised an eyebrow at Grindelwald, the boy had suddenly gotten quiet.

"Why'd you want to see us at Hogwarts?" He heard Malfoy suddenly ask, no doubt referring to what had occurred at Greengrass's party.

"How would you two like to learn magic?" Rodrick questioned the two amused. He held back a scoff when he saw that greedy glint appear in both their eyes. Elsewhere he could hear other's mutter about his words.

"We already are" Nott deadpanned.

Rodrick blinked, he hadn't expected that, he simply shook his head. "I meant from me... of course, if your satisfie-" he didn't even finish before he saw both boy's shake their head quickly.

He frowned slightly before bringing his self-control back. Blaise was steadily walking towards them. Feigning something to do, Rodrick got up from his seat. The others were about to get up before a raised hand kept them at their spot. "After Potions, we'll start," he remarked to the two before heading off somewhere else, his eyes picked up Farley, looking through parchment before a smile took over his face.

"Ok he definitely has something against me" Blaise grumbled as he took a seat opposite Malfoy.

Draco raised an eyebrow at him.

"Don't tell me you two plan on following his lead" He added on, narrowing his eyes slightly.

Nott chuckled, "Grindelwald didn't say anything about that... not yet anyway," he remarked, amused to see Blaise had narrowed his eyes further.

"What do you think we'll be learning?" Draco questioned eagerly.

"Learning?" Blaise frowned.

A smirk took over Nott's face, "Grindelwald's teaching" he remarked, causing the other boy's eyes to widen.

"I wouldn't bother asking. If he wanted other's joining he would've made that clear." Draco remarked amused.

Blaise crossed his arms while relaxing his back against the sofa. An irritated look on his features.

"Where do you think it'll be?" Nott suddenly questioned. "I doubt we'll be allowed to do it in the open"

Draco shrugged, "leave it to Grindelwald"

"What's the dark lord doing now" Blaise muttered distastefully.

...

Rodrick walked over towards Farley, before leaning on the wall beside her chair. The girl hadn't seemed to notice him, her attention focused on what looked like charms homework. Rodrick glimpsed through the parchment over her shoulder, surprising her somewhat.

"Wha-" she started before recognising him. "Grindelwald?" she questioned. The boy was still reading through her paper. Somewhat annoyed by his lack of reaction, the girl promptly handed him her paper. "I wouldn't bother, This is OWL-"

"You've made over 30 mistakes" Rodrick spoke up.

The girl blinked a few times before turning back to her paper. Most of the people surrounding them were openly staring at the two. Farley frowned, not noticing any of the problems. "I doubt that," she remarked defensively.

Rodrick raised his gaze towards her before reaching his hand out, indicating a piece of parchment and quill.

Farley blinked a few times before giving the boy what he wanted. She watched, with a raised eyebrow, as the boy took his wand out and cast of several spells on her quill. She had been about to ask before she watched as the quill started writing things down onto the piece of parchment on its own. There was a look of surprise on her face, "What charm was that?" she questioned.

Rodrick shrugged, not giving an answer as he watched the parchment quickly fill up.

Farley sighed before turning back to the paper, her eyebrows furrowing when she read over what was already written. It hadn't taken long for the quill to finish off whatever it was doing.

"This is... its practically the same thing," she remarked, crossing her arms at Grindelwald. It was practically a waste of parchment.

Rodrick rolled his eyes, he indicated the original paper, "This will get you an E." before turning towards the modified parchment. "That's an outstanding."

Farley stared at him incredulously, there was almost no difference between the two parchments, she was about to say something before Rodrick raised his hand. "Go ask, Flitwick yourself" he practically challenged.

Farley stared at him for a second before getting up from her space, quickly leaving through the door.

Rodrick had an amused smile on his face before settling back down. He noted the gazes currently on him, he was about to open up something before to his surprise someone called him out.

"GRINDELWALD" He heard the familiar voice before closing his eyes. When he opened them, he found Cassius Warrington staring down at him.

"Warrington, can I help you with something?" he questioned calmly. The fourth-year seemed to stutter for a second before bringing himself up. "You insulted my father!"

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, "I did?" before it clicked, and he chuckled. "Right the half blood auror," he remarked, amused to see Warrington's eyes darken.

"Ye-" the boy had been about to reply before Rodrick spoke over him.

"Why'd you wait so long?" he questioned amused to see the boy once again stutter.

"What?"

"I've been back two weeks, what were you doing? trying to find a spine?" he questioned. He heard several people around him start laughing.

"You have any idea who" Warrington started before flinching back as soon as Rodrick promptly got up from his seat, he was shorter by quite a bit but he exuded so much power, Warrington was shocked.

"I am afraid you're the one who has no idea who he's talking to"

Then Warrington did something stupid. Again.

The boy promptly took his wand out and was sent flying across the dungeon, Rodrick in turn merely sat back down on his seat. "Someone take him to the hospital wing," he remarked absentmindedly.

Draco was staring at the show with barely concealed amusement. "Serves him right," He remarked with a glint in his eye. Nott had his gaze on the fourth year currently been forced up by his friends, he couldn't make out the words but they clearly weren't helping the fourth year any deal, he chuckled when he saw the boy try to make his own way out before falling to the floor, no doubt having broken several bones.

"What the hell..." They heard Blaise mutter, the boy was currently staring at Grindelwald wide-eyed.

Draco raised an eyebrow at the boy. "What?"

Blaise turned towards Malfoy, "Did you see that?"

"Everyone saw that," Nott said.

"He didn't even move... and Warrington was sent flying..."

Malfoy scoffed, "Don't you remember the party? he stunned a bloody Auror in a similar way"

Blaise nodded slowly, his stomach twisting as he stared at Grindelwald, the boy was downright scary. He knew, as well as anyone else, the boy was going to take over Slytherin... assuming he hadn't already, that was the main reason he'd been trying to get on his side... He didn't think he could handle having Grindelwald against him. He just wished he had more luck, he wasn't sure how Nott even managed, he'd rarely saw the two even speak. His mood soured even more, perhaps it really was due to Family Connections.

Their attention quickly turned back to the door expecting Snape, or another Professor before their eyes landed on a wide-eyed Farley. They watched as the girl practically paced towards Grindelwald.

"How was it?" he questioned amused.

"I just saw Warrington limping towards the hospital wing..." Farley started, rolling her eyes at the smile that overtook the boy's face. It was his fault she thought, shaking her head, before changing the subject.

"You were right... My paper got an E, your version got an O" she remarked, the surprised expression on her face visible... "How did you know?" she demanded.

Rodrick shrugged to her annoyance.

Farley twitched, she stared at Grindelwald for a few moment's before a thought occurred to her. "How much do you know about charms?" she questioned eagerly.

Rodrick stared at her for a few seconds before pointing to her work, "That level is rather simple I have to admit."

He could feel the sudden gazes snapping towards him.

"Can you do NEWT level?" he heard someone ask from the back. Rodrick ignored them, although Farley seemed to want to know the answer if the way her eyes were practically drilling a hole into his head meant anything.

"I haven't seen what entails that..." Rodrick lied, "If it's the level following that, then most likely" he added on, amused to see the way the girl's eyes seemed to enlarge.

"What about History?" The girl in front of him suddenly demanded, she'd gone down to his height grabbing his shoulder with a frenzied look.

Rodrick couldn't help the chuckle, Binn's it seemed was, as always, a nightmare, he knew he had to get rid of him before his fifth year. God knows he had no plans of dealing with that... He tore through his memories, trying to get an idea of what the replacement had been like... he doubted he could get Black as the teacher again all things considered although, surprisingly, Black wasn't a bad teacher, he had been far better compared to Binns for that matter.

He nodded his head, "If it's anything like that, then I am sure I can handle it."

Farley stared at him for a few seconds. "What else?" she questioned.

Rodrick shrugged, "Everything I am currently studying is extremely simple" he spoke.

"Arithmancy" the girl suddenly remarked.

Rodrick merely stared at her before asking for an example, if he was surprised by the sudden summoning charm he didn't show it. He watched as the girl produced the paper in front of him. He stared at the parchment before agreeing to know the course. He couldn't exactly just admit outright he knew what the bloody electives were now could he?

Farley repeated the process, this time producing a Rune's book. She watched wide-eyed as Grindelwald once again confirmed his knowledge. Then a smile overtook the girl's face.

"You are coming with me," she remarked greedily, she looked like she'd found a gold mine. Quickly grabbing his arm pulling him away.

Rodrick blinked before pulling his arm away from the girl, although he kept following her. He shook his head when he saw how excited the girl seemed to get. "no one else follows" he ordered, he had no intention of helping everyone... only the ones he liked and ones that were useful... Hell, he was only helping Farley because he knew how much influence the girl would wind up having, plus the fact he had no bad memories of the girl certainly helped... plus he knew it'd piss of Warrington even more. Though helping the older girls was certainly an appealing thought in of itself. He figured they were going to the library.

As Grindelwald left, the murmurs around the house suddenly exploded.

"Was he serious?"

"Is Farley playing us?"

"She's doing OWLS isn't she, how's he correcting her!?"

"Did you hear, apparently he can do NEWT level..."

The words practically poured off the Slytherins, the last one, however, gathered the most information...

"That's cheating..." One fifth-year remarked frowning... Farley just got an answer sheet for her exams.

"He's bluffing..." one Slytherin, in particular, remarked, crossing his arms. He refused to believe there was a brat that could skim through their exams, even if he was a Grindelwald.

"He created an anti-curse potion, apparated in the castle and killed a troll with an unforgivable... I am not even surprised anymore" The nearby Slytherin remarked shaking his head.

Nott and Malfoy stared at the commotion, amused smiles in place. Blaise's frown seemed to deepen. "That just isn't fair," the boy remarked shaking his head.

Nott had a smirk slowly grow on his face, "He's going to annoy a lot of Ravenclaws..."

Malfoy, on the other hand, was excited, the more Grindelwald knew, the more they were going to get.

...

Farley could only stare in shock as the quill corrected out her paper. Rodrick was sat across, writing runes into mid-air. When she'd asked what he was doing, he'd told her they were to stop Pince from bothering them.

Turning her attention back to the paper in hand, she read through the corrections he'd made to her Transfiguration, he hadn't been kidding when he'd said he could do most of her classes. She frowned noticing how many mistakes she'd made in that particular paper, to say she was horrified to hear the paper was worth an acceptable was an understatement. As she read over the corrections, she made to understand them while practically copying it out.

"Cheating Miss Farley?" she heard the boy question amused.

Farley rolled her eyes before an excited smile took over, "I am actually making sure to understand it... and you did say this would get me an O"

"Which it will" Rodrick clarified as he stared at the girl.

Farley nodded as she turned over to another parchment the boy had corrected, History. She had a wide grin on her face as she stared the homework. "If this is what You-know-who was like I can understand why so many followed him" she spoke amused.

"Seriously?" Rodrick questioned, a raised eyebrow.

Farley rolled her eyes, "I am only joking, I am quite against the whole dark lord thing" she spoke, wanting to see his reaction, when nothing showed up, she sighed somewhat disappointed but added on regardless. "But I am definitely glad you decided to grace this school with your presence," she remarked with a mock bow as she filtered through the papers, her smile growing with each one. The boy was a bloody genius.

"I do have potions soon, do what you will with the parchment, hand it in, rewrite it, change it, don't change it. I don't really care, though I recommend trying to understand it..." he felt himself go off on a rant, he shook his head before getting up. Rolling his eyes as he noticed the girl barely holding her laughter.

...

Rodrick left the library with a passive expression, without him there the runes surrounding that table would disappear... He'd made it that way on purpose. I wonder how long it'll take Farley to realise she needs to follow the rules again he thought amused. As he left, however, he bumped into the last person he expected to see.

"Greengrass."

The girl wouldn't immediately meet his eye, when her gaze did turn to him, however, there was steel. "I need to talk to you" she practically demanded.

Rodrick merely tilted his head slightly, "You want me to cure Astoria."

He shook his head slightly at the surprised look on the girl's face. "It's not that surprising" he added on amused, "I noticed she was cursed"

Daphne however merely stared at him, "I am surprised you bothered to remember her name"

The words seemed to have an effect on him if the way his expression seemed to quickly turn cold was any indication.

The two stood there for a few seconds before Daphne looked down. "Can you help?"

Rodrick nodded.

"What will it cost?" she questioned, still looking down. She'd heard the rumours of what the boy demanded... The most famous was the fact he'd asked the Longbottoms for the Philosophers stone of all things... she had been so confused the past couple of weeks. Something about the boy just set her on edge and she had no idea what it was. Then he'd practically told the whole world he could cure curses and Daphne had felt hope grow for her sister before she'd found out what he was charging for such a thing... Which is exactly why she was surprised to hear the boy's next words.

"Won't cost a thing, the potion isn't that well known yet... Your sister could help prove it's effectiveness..." Rodrick's world trailed.

Daphne looked up wide-eyed, when she caught his eye she found them rather... lonely?... she frowned slightly. she wasn't sure why that seemed to affect her. She watched as he walked past her.

"Send a letter to your parents, have them bring the girl to the castle," he spoke before disappearing out of sight.

Daphne had been about to ask him why he'd changed, or for that matter why he'd lied at the station before to her annoyance, the boy simply left.

She stared at the boy's back as he walked away, frowning. She wasn't even sure if she was right but she had a weird feeling the boy was trying to avoid her. It was the way he looked at her when she'd caught him outside the library... She wasn't sure what the initial feeling was before it turned into a distant one. She shook her head before making her way back to the dungeons, she had a letter to write... and a potions class to attend... He wouldn't lie about it, would he? She suddenly thought to herself frowning.

...

The Potion's class had not gone as expected, Rodrick had been quite surprised to find the Professor completely ignoring him throughout the majority of the lesson, oh he picked him to give answers and all but that was mostly for the points.

Rodrick wondered when the rumours regarding his knowledge would go around. Daphne had shown up after him, surprisingly late. No doubt she'd went and owl'd her parent's as soon as she could. He felt no regret over that fact. It was the way she stared at him that... well, she wasn't looking at him with a disgusted outlook anymore, not the same way she had at the start of term. He shook his head before bringing his focus back to the potion in front of him. He knew it wasn't going to fail but he had nothing else to do. Snape wasn't giving him much of anything really, he simply kept his focus towards Potter and Longbottom.

Idly, Malfoy was beside him, his goons, for once, nowhere in sight, not near Malfoy in any case.. He held back a chuckle at that thought. All he'd told the Malfoy heir was that they made him look weak, that was all it had taken to get rid of them. Frankly he felt nothing regarding Crabbe or Goyle, if their parents decide to join him then he would include them, otherwise, they weren't really his problem.

The end of the lesson came surprisingly quickly, Rodrick watched with an amused smile as Snape kicked everyone out.

"Mr Grindelwald, do remain behind" Snape drawled.

Rodrick shrugged before indicating Nott and Malfoy to stay in their seats.

As everyone else left, Snape turned his eye towards Nott and Malfoy before frowning, "I believe I asked for Grindelwald"

"You did, I, on the other hand, asked for them," Rodrick remarked amused.

Snape looked about to argue further before calming his expression, that wasn't what he was going for. "The headmaster asked me to oversee your Potions procedure" Snape explained calmly.

"And why would I reveal that?" Rodrick questioned, Malfoy had been about to intercede before Rodrick shook his head.

"He wishes to make sure that the potion is safe to use."

"I see. I take it to mean that he's considering handing the stone over then? seeing as that is the only option that requires a potion" Rodrick remarked calmly, he could hear Malfoy snort from beside him.

Snape didn't react, merely inciting that the headmaster was considering things carefully.

"Of course he is" Rodrick answered back barely holding his laugh. "In that case, I wish to see the Philosophers stone, to make sure it's genuine... I am sure you understand." he felt a hint of triumph when he saw Snape's eyes darken at the words.

Nott and Malfoy were both watching the scene with amusement.

"I am afraid that won't be possible," Snape remarked thinly.

Rodrick tilted his head, "In that case, I am afraid I'll have to refuse" he answered back calmly.

Snape stared at the boy, he himself had doubted it would work anyway, Dumbledore had insisted.

"Although..." Rodrick started, quickly earning the professors attention.

"I could show you specifically... under an unbreakable vow not to reveal anything to Dumbledore, in fact, I'll need you to lie to him and tell him you saw nothing." his words quickly grabbing Nott and Malfoy's attention towards him. Both of them confused to hear him even consider.

Snape narrowed his eyes, "Why?" he questioned.

"Why not." Rodrick remarked easily, "Even if I showed you how it was made... you'll never be able to replicate it." he added on.

He heard one of the Slytherins beside him gulp at the words.

Snape, however, had fury etched on his face at the words. Little...

"What do you say, professor?" Rodrick questioned, knowing Snape would accept.

Snape smirked before quickly agreeing, frowning as he watched the boy quickly place the charm on their arms. Confirming his ability to make one. It was made worse by the fact the boy made sure there were no loopholes.

As the vow fell in place, Rodrick got up from his seat before, to Snape's surprise, he carefully pushed all of the chairs and such surrounding him away. he turned towards the 3 other occupants, the professor no doubt wanted the other two first years to leave entirely.

"Make some room" Rodrick spoke with an even voice.

Snape raised an eyebrow before he saw the steel look on the child's face. He watched as Malfoy and Nott quickly moved out of the way, listening.

Snape merely moved forward towards the boy. He was currently in the middle of an empty space, he'd been about to question what the boy was about to do. However, he stopped himself when he saw him take his wand out and start carving runes... Of course, he can do that as well The thought irritated the Potion's master

"What are you doing?" Snape snapped.

"Like I said," Rodrick started, "It's a very complex recipe"

And Snape would later call that an understatement... he felt the tension drop as he recognised what the runes were meant to do...

"Those runes..."

Rodrick nodded, "Yes, they're to contain Fiendfyre"

"What on earth..." Snape remarked before he heard the boy's voice again.

"Oh, I'll need some Basilisk venom if you have any"

Snape twitched at the words, what the hell was the boy trying to do?

...

Rodrick left the Potions classroom, a shuddering Nott and surprised Malfoy beside him.

Inside the classroom... Snape was simply staring ahead, at the space, the boy had originally been in... He wasn't sure how or why anyone would even think of such a method... To say it was complicated was an understatement. He shuddered thinking of how many steps were needed to not only make sure the potion was made properly but to also make sure one didn't accidentally kill themselves in the process!

He understood why the boy had said it was impossible to replicate... He doubted anyone could. The process heavily relied on too many factors. Magic extraction... the most fundamental one, you couldn't even start the recipe without that... then there was the rune magic, it hadn't been a weak one... it simply couldn't be... Then the brat had used Fiendfyre of all things to bloody brew the thing... He understood why of course but it was still insane... He shook his head, the worst part of it all was that he knew that that potion would work... He knew that without a doubt. He sighed, he was glad he couldn't tell the headmaster, the man would likely ask him to try and replicate it through different means. Frankly, he had no intention of such a thing, he shuddered thinking of the amount of damage it must've caused simply trying to perfect that recipe... How in Merlin's name did a 12-year-old create that!? Was the last thought before he left the classroom. Grindelwald had naturally made sure to take the potion, Snape hadn't even bothered, he knew the boy was more likely to simply crush it instead of handing it over. He could, of course, mention the ingredients being used... but then Grindelwald would just pin the cost on the headmaster, besides it's not like Grindelwald had gained anything out of that show... right? Snape sighed again, he was starting to understand McGonagall's reaction to the boy... So much talent and yet a need to be so wary at the same time.

...

Lucius Malfoy made his way through the Ministry, head held high. A small smirk on his face. Grindelwald had asked him to collect on his favour from Fudge, the thought almost made him smile when he had realised the boy's full plan... Even Nott had been surprised... to think he could do that... He shook his head at the thought. He'd received a letter of instructions regarding Fudge, he would go 'convince' the minister to allow his request... While Nott prepared the second stage... The boy was far too cunning for his own good.

"Lucius?" he heard Fudge mutter as soon as he entered through the door. There was a surprised and uneasy look going over the man's face.

"Minister" Malfoy replied.

"What is this about?" Fudge questioned defensively. Things were all going out of control and it's all thanks to that Grindelwald brat... Yet he couldn't do a single thing to stop it... When they'd gone to investigate Crouch senior... they'd found the man's dead body in his home. He still wasn't sure how to even report that, he had originally been tempted to try and pin the blame on Grindelwald, but nearly all of his heads had quickly shut that down. Their last little attempt hadn't ended well for anyone, though he knew the head of Mysteries had ulterior motives regarding the boy... The man had been the most vocal stating the boy had access to information too important to suddenly lose... In other words, they couldn't drive him off. Trying to pin a murder on him without evidence was a good way to do that. The last time they tried to arrest him without evidence was still very fresh in the ministry. That's not even considering the whole bloody Fire Lord incident.

"You know why I am here" Lucius remarked evenly before handing the man a file.

Fudge stared at the piece of paper, "I was quite disappointed to hear you'd decided to join him"

Lucius didn't react. "The favour" he merely said.

Fudge sighed before opening the favour... Reading through the list of demands, his eyes widened. "Is he insane!?"

Lucius had a passive expression on his face.

Fudge's gaze snapped to the man, "He want's to remove Black from Azkaban, Have him put it into ministry cells and allow him 5 minutes alone with the man!?" he almost yelled.

Lucius raised an eyebrow at the minister, "I don't believe that was all."

Fudge blinked before turning the page and slamming the file shut. "Absolutely not!"

Lucius smirked, "You know, I did warn him you'd react like that"

Fudge narrowed his eyes at Malfoy, before watching the man slowly produce something out of his pocket. "This is the second offer."

Fudge glared at the man before begrudgingly taking the file... as he read through the demands... no, it was a warning. Fudge paled.

"Well?" Lucius questioned?

Fudge stared down at every single illegal dealing he'd had with the purebloods... Grindelwald threatened to let that go out... He stared up at Malfoy, a look of betrayal lining his face.

"The price of favours can sometimes exceed our expectations, don't you think Minister?" Lucius remarked, staring at the man with a passive expression. he watched as he sighed and slowly opened up the first file.

...

Elsewhere, in a small decrepit inn, a hooded man slowly walked over towards what is perhaps one of the worst werewolves in the country... well, he doubted he was going to last... All things considered. The man thought darkly.

Fenrir Greyback had been about to gulp down another cup before he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned, a ferocious growl escaping his lips before he felt himself stiffen at the magical pressure the man behind him had been releasing, he narrowed his eyes, he could practically smell the dark magic surrounding the individual.

"Greyback" A soft almost, whisper seemed to escape.

"Who are you" Greyback growled.

"A dead man" The hooded figure replied, slowly he lowered his hood.

Greyback stiffened, there was a manhunt for the man in front of him. "Crouch!" snapped the werewolf... something... there was something dark about the man... For the first time in his life, Greyback felt fear course through his veins... His Werewolf instincts were screaming at him.

Barty Crouch Junior smiled. "I have a job for you," the man remarked easily, "One I am sure you'll simply love to do" Barty licked his lips.