Disclaimer: obviously, I only own the idea of my story and not that of the original author of this series.

'French thoughts'

"French speech"

'English thoughts'

"English speech"

This method is reversed in flashbacks

Not even going to try putting French accents into the English portions

Chapter 11: Wand Weighing Ceremony

The week and a half until the wand weighing ceremony passed in a blur. It had mainly just been him studying spells and working on his control. He had been scouring the library for any more mentions of elementals, but couldn't find anything other than a few unimportant lines about them. The tone in the house had been much more subdued. Sirius hadn't mentioned the incident to Hadrian, but there had been a disconnect between the black sheeps of the two families. The day had arrived and he found himself back in front of the wrought iron gates that he had left not long ago.

He was met by a girl who was around his age, maybe a year older, who made a motion with her arm to come closer. She had the blue trims and raven badge on her robes, indicating which house she belonged to. "My name is Cho Chang, I'll be taking you to the ceremony."

Hadrian could see the nervousness and curiosity in her eyes. He gave a nod t show that he had heard her. When she saw that he wasn't going to say anything, she turned around and started to lead him into the castle. During the walk, Hadrian could see her inner struggle of wanting to ask him questions and remembering the last person who stood up to him. In the end, the slight fear outweighed her nagging curiosity and the trip passed in relative silence. She started to slow down and Hadrian followed suit.

"Here we are. If you need anything else the headmaster is inside the room. I have class to get to, but I guess I'll see you around." She said before heading down the hallway and disappearing around the corner. Hadrian took a steadying breath before putting his hand on the knob and twisting. He was greeted to the sight of the four champions with their respective headmasters, along with an older man who looked like a mad scientist as well as a lady holding a notepad with a poison green pen hovering above. The last person in the room was the partner and photographer of the journalist. The photographer wasn't doing his job very well as he seemed to get distracted by something.

Hadrian took a closer look at the champions. He saw his brother who was trying to get himself in some extra pictures, to which he would be able to capture the photographer's attention for a few moments before it inevitably slipped away. Hadrian looked around for the source of the distraction. He didn't have to look very hard. He found his previous charge and instantly knew what the problem was. While Fleur wasn't trying to do anything, the natural allure that she let out would overtake the weak minded. This created the issue of the camera man being constantly distracted.

His gaze then slid over to the two other champions. They were both broad shouldered and rather tall. The similarities seemed to end there. Viktor Krum was stockier and had a sort of rugged handsomeness. He also had a brooding look on his face that only deepened when the reporter would try and talk to him. The other champion, Cedric Diggory if he remembered the paper correctly, was the definition of pretty boy. The hair and face complimented his inviting smile, leading Hadrian to believe that he was probably a leader in his house.

Hadrian closed the door and that seemed to gain the attention of the other occupants of the room. The reporter got a hungry look in her eye and was about to advance before Dumbledore spoke up.

"Now that we are all here, I believe we can get on with the ceremony."

The reporter looked a tad bit disheartened before setting her face back to neutral. The old man who had been standing off to the corner of the room stepped forward. Dumbledore spoke up again.

"Everyone who doesn't know him, may I introduce you all to Garrick Ollivander. He will be the one to be testing all of your wands today."

The now revealed wand-crafter seemed a little jittery. Hadrian had no idea what it was from till the man spoke.

"No one in my family has done a wand weighing in centuries." He said with excitement. "But you don't care about ancient history. Let's get on to the ceremony. Mr. Krum, if you will." He said with his hand outstretched. The Bulgarian pulled out his wand and handed the handle towards the wand-crafter. The old man looked at it and Hadrian could feel the small tentacles of magic being sent as probes by Ollivander. He brought it back up into the light to inspect for any flaws in the wood.

"10 ¼ inches, hornbeam with dragon heartstring. A bit more rigid than I usually make them so not one of mine. If I'm not mistaken, this is a Gregorovitch creation?" he said with a questioning lilt at the end.

The Durmstrang champion beamed with pride. "I was one of the last ones to get his wands."

Ollivander nodded like he had expected that. "Everything seems to look good. Let's see how it performs." He said before flourishing the wand and conjured a rose before vanishing it. "It seems to be in excellent form." He complimented while handing it back to its owner. He then turned towards the next person.

"Now, the French delegation. If I may?" Fleur held out the wand to the man with reluctance. He seemed eager to grab it and tried to take it before she had fully extended it towards him. The moment he touched the wand he pulled his hand back. "Whoops. Sometimes I get overzealous." He laughed. He took the wand gingerly this time and brought it up to eye level. He inspected the wood for damage before having a slight confused look on his face before he brought the wand up to his ear. A surprised look overtook the previous one.

"9 ½ inch, rosewood with what I believe to be a veela hair." He stated while looking at Fleur. She nodded back at him. "One of my grandmothers." Ollivander nodded. "I don't use them as they seem to be a little too temperamental for my liking, but to each their own." He said before waving his wand.

"Avis". His action caused a small ring of birds to be conjured around his head where he then pointed them out of the open window. "It seems to be functioning at full capability." He handed the wand back where it was almost snatched out of his hand.

"Continuing on with the British. Mr. Diggory?" The wand he was looking for found its way into his hand. His face seemed more interested as he studied it. "One of mine. I see it's also been well taken care of." His pleased smile showed his mood towards his wands being well treated.

"Polished it last night sir." Diggory said with pride. His chest seemed to puff out a little in tandem with his comment.

"Very good. 12 ¼ inch, ash with a unicorn hair. It feels in good order. Now for the test." He waved the wand and caused wine to spew out like a fountain, which he then vanished before it reached the floor. "Excellent." He returned Diggory's wand.

He turned towards Thomas. "Eldest first." Thomas handed over his wand. "Another one of mine. 11 inches, holly with a phoenix feather core. A little lackluster on the cleaning but that can be improved. No matter." He transfigured one of the chairs into a desk and back. "I see nothing wrong with this." He handed the focus back.

"Now, onto our last champion." Hadrian looked at the wand crafter. He deactivated the runes that stopped other people from using his wand. He could see an intrigued look come across the old man's face. "For all my years spent in the wand business I still rarely get to see custom made Favager wands. They are usually zealously guarded. I have only been able to study a few from families who have lent them to me after the owner had died. It is rare I get to see a forged wand."

Rita stepped forward. "I'm sorry, did you say forged? Aren't wands crafted?" she seemed ready to have something to say for the old wand maker who had made a mistake.

"I guess that they do have to do some crafting to make their wands, but no, I used the word forging on purpose. Do you know much about the process of forging steel?" The reporter shook her head. "In the process of forging the steel, there is a part where the forger must beat the slag, or impurities from other metals, out of the steel they are trying to create so that the metal can become pure. The Favagers have a similar concept. When the wood for a wand is taken from its place in nature, it generally has some magic residue on it. It can be from a magical creature wandering about the tree or it can be from a witch or wizard using magic close by or on it. Favager were the sole receivers of the title of wand forger for their ability to purify the wood from any residual magic. It makes the wand connect better with the owner as it is mainly their magic that now coats the entirety of the wand. It has been a secret that many wand crafters have desired to find the secret to and never found. They do sell regular wands as well, due to the fact that their magic cleansing process is apparently very taxing on them. The regular wands will not, however, produce the same results. They also usually only make custom wands for people that are high in social circles or people who they have taken an interest in."

Rita seemed sad that she wouldn't have a reason for a scathing article. Ollivander the continued. "Well, I guess if you come to Hogwarts you are a student or professor. I'm sorry for the impromptu lecture. 12 ½ inches, water oak with a crushed serpent scale core. I haven't had the chance to use this core myself, as the ingredient is extremely rare. I have no doubt that this wand will be best used by you and will hardly react to me and I have never seen Favager wands falter for their owners." He handed it back. Hadrian deftly raised his hand and reacquired his wand before sliding it back into its holster.

Dumbledore gently clapped his hands together. "With the ceremony done, I am excited to see you all in almost two weeks' time." The tournament entries started to head towards the door.

"Not so fast. We can't leave without a few pictures. It's for the front page of the Prophet tomorrow."

Hadrian didn't stop his walk towards the door. "Mister Potter?" the reporter called out.

Hadrian continued. "I didn't come here to be paraded in front of the people. I came because my name was entered without my consent. Pictures aren't in my top concerns at the moment." He opened the door and closed it rather harshly before ending up in the hallway.

He stalked down the hallway, retracing his steps to the place he came in through. His walk was uninterrupted as most students were in their classes. He was halfway through his walk when he thought he heard a whisper. He spun around looking for the source of the voice, as he couldn't feel anybody's magical signature nearby. He looked around the empty hallway. He couldn't see anybody and continued walking. Not two steps later, another whisper made it to his ears. This one only making the sound of a soft p. Hadrian brought in his senses to a five-meter radius so that he could feel anything and everything in that area.

Once he had made sure nothing was in the area, he slowly started to expand it. Making it larger, meter by meter, he continuously felt nothing. He then created a thin layer of water around himself and banished it outwards. The water hit nothing but the walls when it reached them. Anyone who saw him right now would look at him like he was crazy. He started to make his magic flow in preparation for any spells he might have to react to.

He nary moved a foot before the whisper made itself known again. "Up." He could make out the word, along with an amused lilt that carried as well, as if the speaker was amused. He looked up at the ceiling before he heard what sounded like a distant giggle of a woman. "No, stairs." Hadrian made his way to the portion of the castle that held the moving staircases. He had heard stories of the stairs that moved erratically, causing students to be late for classes. Now, while most of them were moving, there were some that were static. They looked like a preplanned route through a maze of chaos. "Follow."

He considered that this was a ploy by Albus before disregarding that thought. It hadn't been long since he had left the room and Dumbledore seemed one that didn't want to insult the press to their faces. Though that was the confusing part. He couldn't think of anyone else who had the ability and access to manipulate the wards and magics of Hogwarts to suit their needs. The only other person who had the slightest chance of doing this would have been the deputy headmistress. He also discarded her as the culprit. For one, she was teaching a class. Secondly, the voice didn't sound like the strict voice he had heard in the entrance hall the last time he was here. These thoughts left him stumped on who seemed to be playing a game with him.

He had heard about how Hogwarts held many mysteries, but he hadn't heard of one where a voice directed someone places. He decided to continue. If whoever was doing this intended him harm. They would have done so already, as he was at the mercy of the Hogwarts wards. Still, he took his steps with a measured pace and made his way up the stairs. Higher and higher he rose until eventually the stair cases led him to a door which he pulled open. The hallway he walked into was barren except for a few paintings and a few benches off to the sides. He looked around for any more clues before zeroing in on the paintings. It didn't look like much, most of them were doing normal things, but if one were to pay attention to all of them they would see a large number of pointed fingers. All of them pointed in the direction Hadrian figured he was supposed to be going.

He walked along the hallway and looked at the paintings constantly to make sure he was on the right path. He made his way until the paintings started pointing back at him. He got into the spot that was between both sides of the pointed fingers. He saw the arms in the paintings drop as they went back to whatever they had been doing before. He looked at the point he had been led to.

'Is this it? They brought me all this way so that I could see some dancing trolls?' He thought. The one man in the tapestry who was busy dodging troll legs looked at him. He must have seen Hadrian's confused face as he gave a quick point over Hadrian's before quickly sidestepping the troll foot that landed right where he had been standing a moment ago. Hadrian turned around. There was a small design being made at the center of the wall that he knew had been blank when he had walked up. The design kept growing until it covered a large portion of the wall. It suddenly sunk into the wall as the design gained three dimensional qualities. The end result was a door that looked as if it should be at the entrance to the great hall and not in some random hallway. He reached for the handle and tentatively grabbed the handle before twisting. He cautiously poked his head inside. He could see a fairly spacious room with nothing obstructing his view. The only thing that was inside the room was a cloaked figure with its back towards him.

"Don't be shy." Even though it was at a normal talking voice, he could recognize the voice from the whispers. "I'm sorry about the inability to hear me. I haven't spoken in a while so I didn't want to yell it out to the castle, that would have been rather awkward." He deftly made his way into the room, looking for any signs of a trap. He made his way until he was only about two meters away from the lady. "I'm just glad the paintings still remember what to do. It has been a long time. But I digress. I haven't had someone knock so loudly before. Most people would think it rude to make such a noise that early in the morning."

Hadrian had the decency to look a little sheepish. It had been rather rude to the other inhabitants to wake them. "I guess it did have some benefits. I wouldn't have met you if you didn't knock so hard." A befuddled look overcame Hadrian's face at that comment. He didn't think his knock was anything too hard to replicate.

"What do you mean that we wouldn't have met? Anybody that graduated with any actual knowledge of magic could have done that." He awaited an answer.

The woman turned around. She looked to be in her mid-twenties with raven black hair and chocolate brown eyes. Eyes that looked to hold an untold amount of wisdom. "It is not that what you did was hard, more of the consequences of what you did. I haven't been up for ages. The loud sound echoing throughout the castle was like an alarm spell for me. And then I got to notice the strong signature walking through the gates. My rest has apparently been long, seeing as I'm looking at an elemental. I went to sleep after I heard of my student's demise."

Hadrian's eyes tightened and he took a step back. His magic fired through his pathways. A feeling of cold settled over the room and he could start to see his own breath. He had no idea how this lady knew he was an elemental. If what she was saying was true, she had been around for centuries and was extremely dangerous. His senses were on high alert for anything that might happen. "There is no need for that." She said while holding up her hands. "I have no intention of bringing any harm to you. I rarely ever did anything against my students outside of my instructional times. Only the odd instances where I felt my student was in need of reprimanding. I am quite impressed by your control. Though I wonder if that is as far as you have gotten, or if you have pushed yourself to learn more?"

Hadrian's body was still taught, ready to move at any sign of things going south. He stayed silent and the lady continued on as if she didn't feel the mounting tension.

"You have most of that technique down, but you can take it further. Keep your magic entwined with the cooling water in the air and it makes it easier and quicker to conform it into water when necessary."

Tension could be seen slowly leaving Hadrian's shoulders. It didn't leave completely, but enough so that the other person was wary of being the recipient of a barrage of spellfire at the slightest movement. "And how would you know so much about how I use my abilities?" He had a sneaking suspicion of who he was talking to. He wanted to see if he was right. "There aren't too many books about how elementals use our magic. Did you make it your life-long passion to study an elemental's style of magic?" he threw out the bait.

"My life-long goal was to expand my mind. It was to create new things to help wizarding society as well as to teach the young so that they might better their own lives. The latter parts of my goals have almost been completely ground to a halt, but my search for knowledge didn't stop until I went to sleep. I think it would be better to say that it was put on hold while my mind rested. I still seek to know all that I can. And for your other question, why would I not know about how my own magic works. It would be a terrible shame if I used something with no concept of how it worked."

His suspicion was becoming more and more set into a belief. "One last question." She smiled benignly at him, as if say "anything". "How is a founder of Hogwarts still here, not as a ghost or painting, but as a person?" It was something that bewildered him. Even the Flamels were able to avoid public knowledge about their existence forever, and Rowena had been alive centuries before them.

"I love a bright student. It makes sessions go quicker. You are half right. I am not a ghost, nor am I a painting. However, I am not alive." Hadrian's head rotated a few degrees to the right. He raised a finger and slowly moved it towards her shoulder. She gave him a deadpan look before raising her own hand and flicking away his finger. He pulled his hand back with a calculating look. "As I said, I am not alive. I died centuries ago in this very room. It was a room I designed and built myself. It was made so that I could teach an apprentice in a setting of my desire. Each of my apprentices were brought to this room the same way you were. They had no knowledge of what was going on, but made the same conclusion I assume you came to. That I am not out to hurt you. Why would I want to hurt the bright minds of our society? They are the ones who will facilitate change."

"That doesn't answer how you are here." Hadrian tried to steer the conversation.

"It has to do with how and where I died. I left the castle after I felt I had taught the students and the new faculty all that they would need to know to make progress towards the future. I traveled the world to broaden my horizons. When I felt that my time was near, I came back to the castle and had the elves take care of me until my passing. When I passed, my mind melded with the wards. There is a reason that the castle is thought to have become sentient over the years, though most get the reason wrong. I melded with the wards, but I had died in this room which becomes what one needs most. I could use it to create a body for myself and my mind returns to it for its duration. I can't take it outside this room. So, I would lead students to me using the wards. I continued teaching promising students until I heard what had happened to my last one." Hadrian's interest was piqued. He wondered what names had been put in the history books because of teachings in this room.

"Answer me this. Why is there such a low number of students at the school? There can't be more than 300."

"A war. It caused the death of numerous families as well as muggleborns causing a large decrease in the number of students we would have in the following years."

Rowena shook her head as if in pity. "What wastefulness. Were they really so foolish as to fight because of one's birth. Magic is magic. It's stupid of them not to see it. There are only a few advantages one has being born from a magical over a muggle. One is the possibility of receiving any skills that are passed down the family tree. The second is just that they grow up around magic and don't have to acclimate to it like a muggle born would and get the benefits of learning about our society at a younger age. They also have the chance to have spells made by their family that only they or anyone they teach will know. That is pretty much where the benefits of birth end."

"So, the whole blood supremacy thing…"

"Is just a façade. People trying to put themselves above others. I have no doubt that it has been preached for so long that lots of people believe it and why wouldn't they. It's a way to see yourself above your peers. Isn't that what we all do? Try to find something in ourselves that separates and puts us ahead of the rest. They aren't going about it the best way, but they are falling into human nature. While we are on the topic of magical blood, what are the muggles doing? Are they still hunting us for the things that they can't control?"

"No, the ministries around the world have gotten it to the point that most muggles believe magic to be fictional and the ones who do believe in it are considered to be nut jobs. The only contact we really have with the muggle world is when the teachers go and talk to the families of muggleborns. So that limits the amount of these types of occurrences to a few times a year. They generally go and talk to the families on the child's eleventh birthday before the school starts."

"Is that why they seem more confused than they used to?" She saw Hadrian's confused face and continued. "You don't grab them from the families as soon as magical prowess is displayed?" Hadrian shook his head. "That explains a good deal. We had a whole department dedicated to monitoring for magic across the countryside so that we could find children who could use magic and to get them away from the possibly hostile situations that would arise if they were discovered by villagers, or sometimes from their own families. Therefore, they had more of their childhood in the magical world. We didn't start actual magical training until eleven but we would educate them on how our world worked and that their gift was a gift and not something to be considered as a sin."

"What did you guys do with the parents?"

"It depended on the level of hostility found within them. We generally left the them alone if they held no animosity towards the child and would schedule some meetings throughout the year so they could see each other. There were some who turned a cold shoulder to the child but wouldn't do anything against them because they were their own flesh and blood. We would create scenarios in their mind of their child not coming home after wandering out of their eyesight. It was the easiest way if other people in the village would know the child. Then there were the people who would either harm their child or tell the others in the town about the child's abilities. We usually cursed these families and misfortune would fall upon only those in the family who were at fault. They never extended to people's descendants. This meant that magical children almost always joined our society earlier than they do in this age."

Hadrian accepted the answer, then looked up to see Rowena laughing. "What?"

"There seems to a man trying to sneak past the wards. He just changed into a dog and he is now sneaking towards a passage from the outside."

"Is it a large black dog?"

"Yes. You know him?"

"My godfather. He is probably not used to someone having as much control and a feel for the wards as you have. He told me stories about how he used to slip in and out of the castle during his school days without anyone noticing. He probably came here for me. I should go meet him before he does something foolish."

Rowena seemed a little disheartened. "My door is always open to you should you want a place to learn. Walk past the wall three times thinking of the place you need and the door will appear."

Hadrian had a stray thought. "Are you able to make the passage impassable and to make him use the front door? I don't want to have to go search for him."

She nodded. "Go and meet your godfather. I hope to see you soon young elemental."

Taking the dismissal for what is was, Hadrian headed back to the door and exited. The hallway was clear when he exited and he could hear the general cacophony of school children's yells throughout the hallways. Just as they had when he ascended them, the stairs made a straight path for him rather than making him go through various alternate routes or having to wait. He made his way down to the front entrance and waited for Sirius to show up.

Sirius walked to the large front doors to find his godson leaning against its frame with an amused smirk across his face.

"Couldn't sneak into the castle?" Hadrian mocked the Black lord.

Sirius' eyes lit up "That was you! I though Dumbledore had stopped me from trying to sneak in. I thought he was trying to put you in some uncomfortable situation to try and make you stay."

Hadrian shook his head. "No, he wouldn't do that with so many people around. He has his reputation. But he doesn't have to convince me either. I've decided to stay for the remainder of the tournament."

Sirius looked worried. "Hadrian are you okay? Did Dumbledore do anything to you?"

"No, Sirius, this is of my own free will, though it is nice to have someone worrying about me. I just think that having access to the grounds of the tournament as well as the massive library this school has will be a boon to my chances of surviving and even winning this thing." Hadrian said, deciding to keep Rowena a secret.

"I thought you didn't want to enter."

"I don't want to be in the tournament. However, if I'm going to be put in it regardless of my wishes I might as well go for the gold, both metaphorically and literally."

"What about your family? Will you be able to handle them and Dumbledore for the whole year?"

"Sirius, I have one family member left. You." Sirius got a little misty eyed. "I can handle my family. Dumbledore will be a challenge but I think I can manage. I feel like I have someone looking out for me in this castle."

Sirius bear hugged him. "Then you go show the what you are made of. Not as a Potter, but as Hadrian, the man who will win the tournament for all those above him." He let go of the Peverell head. "What is the next step?"

"Room and board." He said as he walked towards the office he had been in less than two weeks ago with his godfather trailing behind him.