In between light and darkness
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"Hello." Hadrian said- Person speaking
Hello. Hadrian thought- Person thinking
§Hello.§ Hadrian hissed- Person/snake speaking in Parseltongue
#Hello.# Hadrian said- Person speaking in the goblin tongue/language
Last time on in between light and darkness
Harry briefly wondered who Bradley Slytherin was but dismissed it as irrelevant and added it to the list of things he should research. That list was getting longer each second it seemed.
With the dagger, Harry cut a thin line in his right hand. He held his bleeding hand over the book and watched as a few seconds later a message was written on the previously blank page. It read, "Welcome Hadrian Slytherin to gain access to the knowledge of your ancestors, please place the ring for the heir or lord of the oldest and noblest house of Slytherin in the circle."
A circle suddenly appeared under the message.
Hadrian shrugged and did as told. Turning the ring visible he took it off his finger and put it inside the circle. Runes appeared all over the page and the ring started to luminate green. The ring ultimately stopped glowing green and the runes disappeared.
Hadrian took the ring and put it back on his finger. Another message appeared on the page. "The deceased Slytherins pass the knowledge of House Slytherin onto its heir."
Hadrian smiled at the message.
Time to become great, shake the foundations of the political world, and be an absolute pain in the ass for Twinkle Eyes, the Potter family and Voldemort. Hadrian thought with a large grin plastered across his face.
Chapter 4: Getting equipped
Currently sitting on the couch of the living room, Hadrian read the Slytherin family grimoire. He was currently revising on his first year of potion making. Although Hadrian was always good at the subject, his knowledge was very lacking.
Severus Snape may have been a potion genius, but he was also a horrible teacher who should have never been allowed students in the first place, not to mention a greasy git. The only reason he ever taught at Hogwarts was because of Dumbledore. The so-called 'Champion of the light' wanted to keep an eye on his little death eater spy.
Truthfully Hadrian always wondered where Snape loyalties really lied. The fact that he was a spy, master Occlumens who was trained to conceal his true motivates, did not make it easy for Hadrian to figure out. Did he work for Dumbledore? Or for Riddle?
His actions in the classroom spoke of a bitter man, who took a great amount of pleasure in berating and tormenting students. That certainly seemed like something a Death Eater would do. His bias against any House that wasn't Slytherin didn't help the potion professor's case.
On the other hand, Hadrian wondered what an obnoxious little git he would be if he was pressed into a job, he didn't like. Severus Snape was a potion professor's who began teaching at Hogwarts shortly after Voldemort's downfall. Meaning at the moment, he was now teaching his sixth year in succession. Like earlier mentioned, Severus didn't want to teach at Hogwarts.
He wanted to work in a laboratory where he would develop new potions and would advance the art of potions in general. And with all honesty, he should. This way, he would at least make his contribution to society. Right now, he didn't make any kind of contribution to it at all. If Snape died as a Hogwarts teacher, the only legacy he would leave behind would be decades of tyranny at Hogwarts, and a bunch of terrorized children.
Hadrian sighed; at the moment he was reading a book on safety measures when it came to brewing. Potions if brewed wrongly, could lead to a burn, chemical burn, explosion, paralysis of certain parts of the body and many other gruesome things.
Naturally he wanted to avoid those things when he began brewing. Snape also never taught these kind of safety measures or many other things like how potion ingredients interacted with each other.
He just put instructions on the board and expected everyone to magically know how to brew potions. Never forget that it was his job how to teach students how to brew them.
Hadrian looked outside and realized that the sun was already setting down. In the last few hours all he did was studying. From Defense against the dark arts to herbology, Hadrian studied a bit of everything. Mostly the first chapters to each book he bought in Diagon Alley.
Hadrian stood up, placed the book on potions he read a moment ago on the nearby desk. He proceeded to stretch a little bit, waking Serena up who was still attached to him.
Just before he wanted to go to the sleeping chambers and get a good night rest an owl arrived, through a window Hadrian had opened earlier. She landed on the desk and had a parchment in her mouth. Taking the parchment, Hadrian wondered who wrote him.
The envelope revealed that the letter was sent by Ragnok. Opening the letter Harry began to read:
Mr. Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell,
the prisoner who your blocks will be transferred to will arrive at Gringotts on the 31st of August. Please be at Gringotts at 9 o'clock on the date named above.
Signed,
Ragnok, King of the goblin nation, Director of Gringotts
After reading the letter, Harry took out a piece of paper and began writing his reply.
King Ragnok,
I will be at Gringotts at the cited date and time.
Signed,
Hadrian Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell
Putting his reply to the letter in an envelope, he gave it to the owl, who took it in its mouth and flew away with a hoot.
So, I have a month before I can start learning magic. But I need to do a few things before that. For one I need to visit the Dursleys, see a mind healer, get a wand, begin to make long term plans for the future, procure a minimum of three house elves, find out who were the family allies of House Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Peverell and think about if I want to reveal myself as the heir of those three Houses to them. But before I do all of these things, I am going to go to sleep now.
1st of August 1986, Slytherin Castle
Opening his eyes, Hadrian woke up and stared at the white ceiling. First of all, he needed to go shopping again. Last time he forget to buy things like food, and other things like a toothbrush you needed to live.
Pulling the blanket away, Harry stepped out of the king-sized bed. After he made his bed, he walked into the living room and saw Serena sleeping on the ground. Hedwig meanwhile was nowhere in sight. After waking Serena up, they walked in the potion's laboratory.
Hadrian took a book called 'Moste Potente Potion' and looked up the receipt for the ageing Potion. After grabbing all the ingredients that Hadrian needed, he lit the fire under the cauldron and began brewing. An hour later Hadrian's potion was finished. Transferring the ageing potion into multiple vials and storing them away, so he could use them later, Hadrian gulped one vial of the potion down his throat.
Hadrian felt a bit dizzy, but all of that was gone after a minute or so after Hadrian took the potion. Looking in a mirror, Hadrian gasped. Ageing potion does exactly what the name implies, it makes the drinker of the potion look older for a specific amount of time. The effect of the vial Harry took was to last for an hour.
Looking in the mirror Harry couldn't help but be amazed. He would be looking smoking hot when he was older. The emerald, green eyes shone brightly, the hair was still messy, and his hair was blacker than it was now. (Look cover of the story, this is how Hadrian looks when he sees himself in the mirror.)
§Serena, could you please transform yourself into a normal looking snake. I would like to go shopping in Diagon Alley and a basilisk would just stand out to much. Plus, it would draw attention to us and not of the good kind.§
Selena nodded her head in understanding. She began chanting in Parseltongue and not a minute later, she was only an armlength of her master long. She coiled herself around Harry's shoulder.
"Let's go." Hadrian said out loud. Thankfully the Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell didn't have to take care of Serena's stare. When a basilisk usually stared at someone said person would instantly die. An indirect look however would only render the victim petrified. Thankfully Salazar Slytherin placed an enchantment on Serena that she could only kill and petrify -whichever she wanted to- if she wanted to do it out of her own free will.
Taking the sack of money and two more vials of the ageing potion with him, Harry with the shrunk down Serena began walking out of the Slytherin Castle and to the fireplace.
Grabbing some floo powder and letting it drop to the ground, Harry spoke, "Leaky Cauldron."
Leaky Cauldron
Hadrian stepped through the fireplace and took a seat by the braids. Shortly after, the bartender at the Leaky Cauldron, Tom, came over and asked what I wanted to order. I ordered a classic British breakfast consisting of toasted toast, a couple of fried eggs, sausages, bacon, and beans. In addition, I ordered a black tea.
After eating a good breakfast, I entered Knockturn Alley. Knockturn Alley was often associated with the dark arts which was true, most of the shops here, sold cursed objects, poisons, and the like. Hadrian however was here to buy a new wand.
The most famous wandmaker in Magical Britain was the Ollivander's but Harry knew he couldn't buy his wand there. For one only first-years and people who either lost or get their wand damaged could buy a wand there. Buying a wand at a younger age would be illegal.
Entering a shop called obscure branches of magic, Hadrian walked up to the counter. The shop name revealed everything you had to know about the shop. It sold books about obscure branches of magic. Most obscure branches of magic such as Occlumency, Legilimency, blood magic and rituals were forbidden to learn in magical Britain. The man at the counter just introduced himself as Mark.
"I would like to buy a wand, without the trace, of course."
Mark just raised an eyebrow and said, "Wait here. I'll be right back." He disappeared into a storage room that was probably behind the counter. Two minutes later, he returned with two boxes, one on top of the other.
He set the top box on its side and the bottom one in front of me and opened it. "This box contains all 38 wand woods that exist in the world. Touch them all once and see how your magic reacts to them. When you touch a wood in this chest, your magic core should feel neither incredibly hot nor incredibly cold. It should just feel right to you. If you've found a wand wood that the moment you touch it lets your magic pleasantly flow through your entire body, then we'll have found the wand wood your wand will be made of."
Hadrian touched each wood in the chest. As soon as he came in contact with one of the woods, its core began to heat up or suddenly became cold. The Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell placed these timbers on the left side of the chest. After trying almost half of the woods, he finally found the wood he was meant for.
The former Potter's magic flowed through him and seemed to sing a song of approval within Harry, thankful that it would be finally put to use. There was a small amount of wind in the shop as Harry touched the wood.
"That is the one, I'm sure of it." Hadrian said confidently, handing Mark the wood. Mark looked which wood it was and gasped. Curious as to what caused this reaction, Hadrian asked, "What's wrong?"
"Wrong, nothing's wrong it is just that well this is elder wand." Hadrian just stared at the man after his 'explanation' as if to say, 'is that supposed to mean anything to me'.
Sighing Mark began elaborating, "Throughout the last ten centuries there have only been a handful of wands, who had elder wood as the wand wood. It is reputed to be deeply unlucky and tricker to master than any other. Elder wands were among the most powerful wands but scorned to remain with an owner who was not the superior of their company; it took a remarkable wizard to keep an elder wand for any length of time. Only a highly unusual person would find their perfect match in the elder, and on the rare occasion when such a pairing occurred, it might be taken as certain that the witch or wizard in question was marked out for a special destiny. In wizarding folklore, the entity death, itself is believed to have created an elder wand. Thus, elder wands are often associated with death."
Hadrian took a step back and recalled the words Death had said to him: "You are the executioner of two deities' will's; we will give you the power you need to have a realistic chance against Dumbledore and without screwing up every self-imposed rule we ever set upon ourselves. But if you do not succeed in murdering Dumbledore and Voldemort, we will choose another to do what you could not."
Hadrian grinned, "Well I guess than I am such an individual." He truly was marked out for a special destiny, but Harry reminded himself that Death had also clearly stated that he could fail and that if he should fail that the deity would choose another to do what he could not.
Mark chuckled. "Letting that notion behind, let us move on to the wand core. Now a wand can be made of one wand wood, but it can have multiple cores." He put all of the wand woods Hadrian laid to the left of the box back into the box. He closed the box with the wand woods, turned around and put it on a nearby shelf. He opened the box he had placed to the side earlier and put it in front of Hadrian.
"Same process here, if your magic flows through you like it did with the elder wood when you touched it then you have found your wand core. There are 20 type of wand cores you will go through each of them." Mark instructed.
Doing as told, Harry went through the twenty cores. Only three felt right for him. The feather of a phoenix. Thestral tail hair. And last but not least a basilisk horn.
After I was done with my selection of the cores, Mark said, "Well it will be a hard wand to make but I think you should have your wand in an hour. Your wand will be most exceptional and hard to master."
"Exceptional and hard to master?" repeated the former Potter. "Yes" started the shop owner, "a wand made out of elder wand is already incredible hard to master on its own. One basic rule of wand crafting says that the more core's you have the harder it will be for the user of the wand to master said wand. You have three cores; a wand can have a maximum of three cores. Every single one of your cores is hard enough to master on their own but all of them put together and your wand will resist you until you have proven yourself worthy of being its wielder. You unlike other people will have to work a lot on your magic, because your wand will resist you. But if you ever master your wand, you have the potential to be an extraordinary wizard. It is exceptional because of four reasons. Reason number one: The elder wood. Like I said, only a handful of people ever wielded an elder wand in the last millennia. For that reason alone, your wand is exceptional. Reason number two: your wand will possess three cores. One is usual, two is rare, three is theoretically possible but only is the case out of one in a million wands.
Number 3: The thestral tail hair. Like the elder wood, this wand core is not usually seen in wands. I believe only 100 people ever had the thestral tail hair as a wand core. Wands who have this hair as a core are unstable but powerful, difficult to master and very hard for wandmakers to produce. And the last reason: a phoenix feather and the horn of a basilisk. The phoenix is the embodiment of light creatures while the basilisk is the embodiment of dark creatures. That they both would share a core in a wand with each other is unprecedented. It either means that you are conflicted or have a great amount of darkness and light in, your heart. Whichever may be the case, knowing what your wand is going to be I think we can expect either great or terrible things of you."
Hadrian took a moment to digest all the wandmaker said about the wand. "I'll come back in an hour to pick up my wand. I would like it to be eleven inches please."
The wandmaker just nodded in acknowledgement.
Borgin and Burkes- Knockturn Alley
Borgin and Burkes reputation was shady at best. The Auror Department conducted regular raids of the store. They never found anything illegal, but everyone knew that Borgin and Burkes was the kind of shop that you wanted something illegal. Hadrian was here to buy himself a new identity.
Evil-looking masks stared down from the walls, an assortment of human bones lay upon the counter, and rusty, spiked instruments hung from the ceiling. Even worse, the dark, narrow street Harry could see through the dusty shop window was definitely not Diagon Alley. That was how Hadrian would describe Borgin and Burkes.
It was not only an antique shop for dark artifacts, but it was also the black market for house elf slavery and new identities. Hadrian looked around and saw an opal necklace on the wand. Above it stood the warning. "Dangerous. Caused the death of thirteen muggles." How lovely thought Hadrian dryly. Hadrian took a look at the other artifacts in the room, but he stopped his tour when he saw Mr. Borgin appear from behind the store counter.
Mr. Borgin was a stooped man, with greasy hair. "What can I do for you, Mr...", "Carter" Hadrian answered the question what his name was. "I would like to buy a new identity for myself."
"New identity?" Mr. Borgin said pretending to be scandalized, "we do not sell those things, that would be illegal."
"Mr. Borgin," 'Mr. Carter' admonished, "it is well known that you sell new identities even if it is illegal. I would like to create a new one for myself."
Borgin still looked like if he wasn't sure if he could trust me. After a while of him pondering, he finally decided that I was trustworthy and took out a parchment. "Name of the identity you want to create?"
"Hadrian Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell" I answered. Borgin's eyes just widened but he eventually wrote it down. "Birthdate of Hadrian Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell?"
"July 31st, 1980"
Mr. Borgin asked me a few more question like the name of Hadrian Slytherin's parents or what color his eyes had. After he wrote all that down, he knelt down opened a cabinet in the store counter and took down a piece of paper and a quill. "If you want to buy a new identity at Borgin and Burkes you will have to sign this magical binding contract. Otherwise, I will not sell you a new identity. Reading the contract, Hadrian nodded took the quill and signed the contract. It was a contract that basically said that he would lose his magic if he ever made known where he bought his new identity if it ever was the case that it was discovered that Hadrian Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell was a created identity.
"I will speak to a friend at the ministry. He will get you your new identity. Come back here at the end of August with a 100 gallons and you will get your new identity."
Hadrian nodded and left the shop. As he left the shop, he took a vial which contained the ageing potion and gulped it down his throat. He didn't want the effect of the previous ageing potion to be negated just yet.
Roughly 60 minutes later.
After Hadrian ordered his new identity he went grocery shopping. He bought food ingredients for a week. He bought vegetables, fruits, meat, bread, and other things Hadrian wanted to eat. At the moment, Hadrian was on its way to Knockturn Alley again. In both his hands he held grocery bags.
Now all he would have to do, is get his wand and then he would have done everything he wanted to do in Diagon Alley.
Walking into Mark's shop, Hadrian saw the man advising a customer on which book was the best beginner's guide on Occlumency. I walked to the counter and waited till the shop owner was done advising the client. After a few minutes the customer decided which book he wanted to buy, he paid for the book and left the shop.
Mark walked into the room behind the counter, returning with a package.
He lifted the lid of the box and set it aside. Inside the box was the wand in a recess made specifically for an 11-inch wand. Carefully, Hadrian took the wand out of the recess and examined it: it had a smooth, unadorned shaft and a handle made of two connected spheres. The wand looked remarkably unique compared to other wands, especially because it had carvings reminiscent of elderberries that stretched along its entire length.
"Remarkable" Harry noted, his voice just a whisper. Mark heard him none the less. "Yes, it is the most remarkable wand I have created in years." Mark agreed whole heartedly. "That would make 25 gallons, please."
Hadrian placed the wand back in its recess and put the lid back onto the box. He gave the wand crafter 25 gallons, bid him farewell and left.
Arriving at the Leaky Cauldron he stepped into the fireplace and said, "Slytherin Castle."
Slytherin Castle
Hadrian walked through the garden and into Slytherin Castle.
The first thing he did was put away all the groceries. Then he took the box with his wand and ran into the living room.
Eagerly trying out his new wand, he flipped open the lid of the box, picked up the wand, pointed it at a nearby chair, and said the word "Wingardium Leviosa."
Surprisingly, Harry had to concentrate hard, send a lot of magic into the wand, and practically force the wand to do his bidding
In the end, the chair actually lifted off the ground, but only 2 inches before it hit the floor. That was disappointing. Harry realized. With his old wand, he would have managed to lift the chair of the ground with a simple levitation charm.
Well, Mark said that it would be no kindergarten play to master the wand. But he would master the wand. Hadrian tried to lift the chair of the ground again, this time with an equal amount of success as he did last time. It was frustrating but Hadrian kept going, he would one day be the master of the wand.
Evening- Slytherin Castle
Getting the chair lifted was a piece of hard work. After two consecutive hours of attempt after attempt, Hadrian managed to lift the chair half a meter in the air and even managed to levitate it back down. At the end of this session, Hadrian was magically exhausted. He decided to sleep for a bit before he woke up and prepared lunch.
For lunch he just made some steak with rice. He wanted to look good after all when he became older. In the last timeline he looked skinny and starved. He would eat healthy and enough food in this timeline though.
After he ate, he fed Hedwig some food. To get the food, Hedwig had to fly two hours. Serena meanwhile was hunting mouses in the garden before Slytherin Castle. Hadrian got up and opened the family grimoire and looked for the family allies of House Slytherin. As Hadrian looked over the list of family allies, he recognized a few names. Greengrass, Abbott, Bones, Carrow, Black, Zabini.
The Greengrass's family was the leader of the neutral faction of the Wizengamot. The Abbott and Bones family were followers of the light faction of the Wizengamot. The Carrows and Blacks were members on the dark faction of the Wizengamot. The Zabinis didn't hold a seat on the Wizengamot but were considered neutral meaning they neither held allegiance of the light or dark faction of the Wizengamot.
That puts me in a tight spot. Hadrian realized. The moment I contact or renew the alliances with some of these families I will be forced to choose. Well maybe I can win the Blacks and the Carrow's over to my cause but the Greengrass, Abbott , Zabini and Bones family won't be easily moved from the support of the neutrals or the light faction.
But before I have to choose which faction of the Wizengamot I want to lend the support of my three families, I have to figure out what they stand for and which goals they pursue.
What do I stand for? God, I haven't even stepped a foot into politics, yet I already have a headache from just thinking about it. I should also probably subscribe to the Daily Prophet to find out what is happening in Magical Britain. Though, the current administration in the Wizengamot has the Prophet in his hand. Meaning the Prophet will print, whatever either Dumbledore or Fudge want. What other newspapers are there in Britain, that actually print the truth. The Quibler, no, they have no credibility. The story's they publish are just outrageous and more sensationalized than those of Rita Skeeter.
Great another problem, I have no way to get the truth about what is going on in the wizarding world. Well, I will think those issues through later, now I will have to visit the Dursley's first. §Serena§ he cheerfully shouted. A moment later the snake slithered onto his shoulder. He grabbed his wand walked outside the Castle and summoned the night bus.
Privet Drive 4, Surrey (Hadrian's POV)
After a rather bumpy ride, I walked to the door at Privet Drive and rang the bell. Ten seconds later and the door opened, Petunia looked who rang the bell, when she saw me her face blanched. "Y-yo-you!" she stammered out. I ignored her and walked right into the kitchen. Arriving there I saw Uncle Vernon sitting there. Wanting not to spend a moment longer in this house than I needed I got down to business, "We need to talk." I said, notifying Vernon of my presence. "You." He shouted, trying to lung at me. It seemed that he was out for revenge when I beat him to the ground two days ago. Before I could even raise my wand to defend myself against my Uncle, Serena slithered at my uncle and was moments away from biting down on him, when I intervened, §Stop§.
Serena stopped but so did Uncle Vernon. "Bravery is by far the kindest word for stupidity, don't you think, dearest Uncle?" "What is a snake doing here?" Uncle Vernon panicked.
I smirked. "Oh, that's Selena. You see, she is a basilisk. She can kill or petrify you just with her stare if she wanted to. Her venom is so poisonous that there isn't an anti-venom to it in the entire world. Well, except phoenix tears maybe but you won't be finding a phoenix anywhere near here. Best thing is, she only listens to me, her master. You see, I am what wizards call a parselmouth, a person who can speak to snakes every snake listens to me and obeys my command."
After seeing that I positively scared my uncle and the rest of my family who I could see witnessing the exchange out of the corner of my eyes, I began to talk. "You know what, things are going to function as follows here from now on. I will not live here, and you will not inform Lily and James Potter of that fact. If you do I already placed enchantments on you that will kill you if you do." I lied about the last part, but the Dursleys didn't need to know that.
The Dursleys paled. "Serena, come here." I ordered. Serena released Vernon from her grip, shut her mouth, slithered away from Vernon and into my sleeve. "Now I am going to pick up the two bags with all of my clothes inside them I left here and then I'll be off. I'll come visit you in a month again."
Grabbing his things Harry stepped out into the streets again, put on a sad, down beat façade and saw Mr. Figg pass him. He waved at the squib. After the squib was gone Hadrian summoned the Knight bus again and left the Dursley's home behind him.
Gringotts, 31st of October 1996
Today is the day. Hadrian thought gleefully as he walked into the halls of Gringotts. Today was going to be the day, he would finally get rid of those blocks. To feel his entire magic flowing through him.
In the last month, Hadrian worked really hard to polish up on everything he had learned in his two years at Hogwarts. Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, astronomy, herbology and defense against the dark arts. At the end of the month, he had freshened up his knowledge theoretically and practically. The practical part was being the hardest, which caused Harry to frown often in the beginning. During his attendance at Hogwarts the exact opposite was the case.
Back then, Hadrian could always do magic, but never really understand why magic worked the way it did. Now he understand why magic worked the way it did but could not perform magic the way it used to. Maybe it was because he was sent back in time into his six-year-old old body, whose magical core was only half the size compared to his eleven-year-old body.
Originally in the other timeline of events, Hadrian attended Hogwarts like any other student at the age of eleven. Compared his current six-year-old magical core to his alternate timeline eleven-year-old magical core, would make his current core pale in comparison.
Or maybe it was the new wand, the elder wand. It was a stubborn one that one, Hadrian admitted. The wand would refuse to be wielded by Hadrian. Slowly but surely, Hadrian felt his allegiance over the wand getting stronger, but he still had a long road ahead of him if he wanted to call himself the master of the wand.
But Hadrian was willing to walk that road. He would defeat Dumbledore, Voldemort, the Potter's, and it would be all worth it.
Clearing his voice, Hadrian spoke #Good morning teller. I have a meeting with his majesty right now.#
The goblin at the counter stopped what he was doing effective immediately. To him Harry was probably the strangest human he had ever seen. Not only did I speak the goblin tongue, something that is highly unusual, but I also referred to Ragnok as 'his majesty'.
In private behind closed doors, the parselmouth would have probably just addressed him as Ragnok and Ragnok 'Heir Slytherin' as Hadrian, but in front of other goblins he was either 'King Ragnok', 'Director Ragnok' or 'his majesty', just as Harry was 'Heir Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell'.
This formal way of addressing each other showed the rest of the world, that they recognized the power they each held. Ragnok as the king over all the goblins in England and him mine as a future Lord. Not many witches ever acknowledged the power the king held, largely due to the fact, that they believed themselves to be superior.
#Of course,# The goblin replied and led me into a dull, black looking room. Runes were drawn all over the place. Starring into the middle of the room, Hadrian saw the goblin drawing wards and runes into a structure that appeared to be a circle. Harry didn't know how or why but he was totally convinced of the fact that those wards and runes were likely to be considered illegal in eyes of the ministry.
The Heir to House Slytherin never really understood why such magics as blood magic were forbidden in Britain. For instance, many members of the magical society believe magical blood to be sacred, yet blood adoption was outlawed after the first war with Voldemort ended.
The believe that magical blood was sacred was not just carried by the faction consisting of the dark families but many families who considered them light as well. Honestly, the former Potter also disliked all that division and stigma that existed because of family's alignment to the dark and light.
If you were a light family, you had to be absolute pro-muggle, you had to detest and don't practice obscure and labeled 'dark, forbidden' branches of magic, you had to be willing to forgive anyone, and you just had to otherwise you would be labeled as dark.
If you were dark you were an evil, dark, muggle hating wizard or witch who believed in blood superiority. There was no in between you just couldn't share ideals of both fractions of the Wizengamot. Doing so and voicing them out loud would be committing political suicide.
This in large parts was due to Lucius Malfoy and Dumbledore. They would simply crucify and threaten to ban a person who wouldn't agree with the goals from the fraction they were in the Wizengamot. For many lords on the Wizengamot they were only aligned to one fraction of the Wizengamot because they saw it as the lesser evil compared to the other. Getting thrown out of one fraction of the Wizengamot and not wanting to ally yourself with the other would do your political carrier no good.
You could potentially ally yourself with the neutral party of the Wizengamot but that would also mean that you would have to denounce every shred of political power your family held. The neutral party held less than 1% of the votes of the Wizengamot. Only the Greengrass's were neutral neither openly supporting the dark or the light faction of the Wizengamot. But they also didn't wield any power when it came to politics. Meaning if you were threatened with expulsion by Dumbledore or Lucius from a political fraction you fell in line.
Regardless of that, Hadrian just didn't understand why the blood adoption ritual was outlawed after the war with Voldemort. Why would the Wizengamot do such a thing, when a war just ripped away many of the wizarding families who existed for centuries, if not millennia. With blood adoption those family's legacy could carry on.
The rune and blood magic used by the goblins would of course also be seen as dark. But Gringotts was not British soil, it was goblin soil. Inside Gringotts goblin law was enforced while outside its wall you were trialed by the Wizengamot if you're case was important enough if not your case would be moved to a lesser court.
Hadrian watched the goblin draw the runes and wards and did not notice Ragnok approaching him until he stood next to him and said, "Greetings, Heir Slytherin-Ragnok-Peverell." After they both had exchanged Greetings, Hadrian asked if the wards and runes were the process on how to remove the blocks placed on Hadrian.
"Partially," the goblin replied, "the wards and runes will be the final step in removing the blocks, however, the first one will be a potion that will weaken the blocks. After that I am going to bring in the prisoner, who we will then have the blocks removed to with the help of the ward and runes."
"Talking about the potion," he continued talking, stopped and took a vial out of his classic Gringotts robes and handed it to Harry, who gladly took it, " this vial contains a poisonous potion, that will not kill you but act as a poison to the blocks. It won't remove them completely, but it will most definitely weaken them. Probably, it will hurt as hell for you, also. Five minutes after you consumed the potion you will sit in the circle. There we goblins will perform an ancient ritual to shift the blocks to the prisoner. Today we can only remove 4 of the 11 blocks that were placed upon you. So chose four we will remove today, then came back in two days again to remove four again, then wait two days again, before coming back and removing the final three. The last block that will be removed that day will be the one on your magical core. So, what four blocks would you like to have removed today?"
Hadrian thought about every block that was currently on his magic.
(Here's the list if you forgot it.)
Magical core (50% blocked, 50% unblocked)
Wandless magic ( block malfunctioning)
Photographic memory (blocked)
Healing magic (blocked)
Dark magic (blocked)
Parselmagic (blocked)
Metamorphmagus (blocked)
Elemental magic (blocked)
Necromancy (blocked)
Shadow magic (blocked)
Soul magic (blocked)
Hmm, I am not going to learn about the dark and black arts for a while, so dark magic, Necromancy, Shadow, and Soul magic will be the blocks that will not be removed today. So that only leaves the blocks on my magical core, my wandless magic block that is malfunctioning, the block on my photographical memory, healing magic, parselmagic and the block on my Metamorphagus ability. Elemental magic is still to advanced for me to learn and I already know the basics of wandless magic though my knowledge and practical work could be better when it comes to the subject. That means the blocks on my healing magic, parselmagic, photographic memory and Metamorphmagus ability will be removed today.
After having thought about which blocks Hadrian wanted to be removed today, Hadrian answered the goblin's question. "I would like to have the restrictions on my healing magic, photographic memory, parselmagic and Metamorphmagus ability removed."
"Very well," said Ragnok glancing at the goblins who were just leaving the room, "it seems the runes and wards have been drawn, so you can drink the potion now. As soon as you take the potion take a seat inside the circle."
Hadrian nodded, took the vial in his hand, opened it, and drank it. The pain Ragnok promised did not fail to disappoint Hadrian, as it was what Hadrian felt the moment he took the potion. He bit his lip, not wanting to scream, drawing blood from it. Shakily he made his way inside the circle.
As he did so, he could see the goblins leading a man whose eyes spoke of the terror he had seen in his days into the room. They made him kneel down in front of Hadrian just outside the circle. The pain of the potion was excruciating for Harry, who thought that only Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse could ever rival the pain he felt at the moment. Like with the Unforgivable Curse, he now felt that his blood in his veins was on fire. It felt like he was being cooked on the inside.
After five minutes Hadrian senses were dulled. He was on the verge of passing out. He didn't even realize that the goblin's positioned themselves around the circle and began chanting.
Να είσαι καθαρός, να λείπεις, να μην αμαυρώνεις. Απαλλάξτε τον χρήστη από την κακή σας επιρροή. Αφησε τον ήσυχο. Σας διώχνουμε.They chanted.
As soon as they began chanting, the pain got even worse, not that Harry could believe that it ever could. Now he had the feeling that his blood was on fire and that some of his insides wanted to leave his body.
It was not a pleasant feeling to say the least. Feeling as if heart would rocket out of his body together with feeling as if blood was boiling Hadrian finally let loose a large scream. The goblins though just ignored him and continued repeating the chant.
The Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell meanwhile laid on the floor, hitting it with his hands. The goblins chanted and chanted and after what felt like an eternity to Hadrian something akin to green chains who changed colors manifested or came out of Hadrian torso.
Hadrian's eyes rolled back into his head, and his head dropped back. Just before Hadrian lost consciousness, he heard the goblins change the chant. They now chanted:
Φύγε για πάντα θα φύγεις. Ανόητος που αμαυρώνει τη μνήμη του, θεραπεύει, μεταμορφώνει και φιδίζει.
Two hours later- Gringotts
Hadrian's eyes opened. He groaned. Looking around to see where he was, he saw himself still laying in the circle, on Gringotts ground, on the cold stones. Hadrian took his hand and folded them over his abdomen.
He felt strange. On a fundamental level. His body hurt and ached, he had a massive headache and felt like throwing up, his insides though, those felt awesome. In the past Hadrian felt nothing except a big void there but now he felt magic flowing through every inch of his body.
"Oh, you are awake." Hadrian heard a voice remark. His response to the goblin words was nothing but a nod of his head. Harry moved his upper body upward at a 90-degree angle, away from the cold stone, looking for the voice that spoke. He found it in the form of a goblin standing to his right.
"How long was I out." Hadrian finally asked, as he began stretching his arms which was followed by him rotating his hip to the left and right.
"Two hours," the goblin answered, "get up, his majesty ordered me to get you to the healers."
Hadrian just groaned.
Medic facility - Gringotts- Hadrian's Point of View
I left Gringotts Medical Facility. The headache and the desire to throw up had gone away, after the medical-trained goblin gave me two potions. The goblin, Griphook, I think his name was, also told me not to practice magic for the rest of the day, so that my magic could adjust to the four blocks being removed. After the medical goblin was finished speaking with me, I removed 1000 gallons from the Slytherin vault via my key.
Naturally, I didn't quite like that but well what could you do. At the moment I was sitting in the Leaky Cauldron, eating the steak, Tom, the bartender had advised him on ordering. I ate the steak, paid for it and after I paid for it, I went to the bathroom, locked the door behind me, took out a vial and drank it. Slowly the effects of the ageing potion sat in, and I left the Leaky Cauldron and made my way towards Borgin and Burkes.
"Ah Mr. Slytherin, here to receive your new identity." I heard the voice of Mr. Borgin drawl as I closed the door of the shop. "Yes, yes I am." I answered courtly. I walked towards the counter and Mr. Borgin took a box from behind the counter. He opened the box and handed me a bunch of papers and a card. I took the papers and scanned through them. One of them was my birth certificate. Apparently, in this timeline I was born in a muggle hospital. The paper was signed by John Stewart, a ministry official. On the paper was also the crest of the Ministry of Magic, showcasing that it was a legitimate, official paper.
I momentarily, placed my birth certificate aside and took the passport in the box into my hand and examined it. The passport seemed to be a legal document as well. Placing it aside as well, I looked at Mr. Borgin and asked, "How much?"
"100 gallons"
I nodded my head, before I spoke, "I would also like to buy every book you have written in Parselscript and three house elves. (Parselscript is Parseltongue just in written form. Parseltongue is a magical language that was supposedly around for thousand of years, so I find it hard that it has no written component. In this fanfic, Parselscript will be that written component.) Mr. Borgin eyes shone with glee. He went into the storage room and returned with at least twenty books.
In the end I and Mr. Borgin negotiated that each book would cost me 10 gallons. The house elves were a bit of a tricky thing. I eventually managed to acquire the three elves for paying 300 gallons. House elves were not slaves, they merely served wizards and witches in a symbiotic relationship. They fed of our magic or the magic of a building to keep themselves alive. House elves were usually bound to wizards but on rare occasions to buildings.
The most known case of this happening was probably Hogwarts. They served the Headmaster but were bound to the magical building itself. The castle was also the place where the elves drew magic from. Hogwarts like Slytherin Castle was so old with so much magic being practiced in it that the building in itself became magical. The same could be said for Slytherin Castle.
Borgin lead me into a storage room where the elves were, they were in a poor condition. They wore racks and had cuts and bruises all over their bodies. The skin of those elves was pale- even for house elves whose skin color was naturally pale. Selling house elves was forbidden but it was better than letting them die. Without magic to fed of off the elves here would eventually end up dead. The house elves at Borgin and Burkes had either lost the family they served, were sold, or released and wanted to find a new family to serve.
Eventually I picked three house elves I wanted to buy. I named the female one Bonky, and the two other's I named Zokby and Salkby. "Zokby," I spoke. The elf looked up, his eyes showing that he was frightened. "Yes, master." He answered, his voice laced with fear.
"First of all, don't tense up. I am not going to mistreat you. Secondly elves can sense their owners magic, right?" The elf just nodded. "Good," I spoke. "Zokby, Salkby, Bonky I want the each of you three to split and hold the twenty books laying on the counter of Mr. Borgin's desk. After you picked the books I want you to teleport to me in exactly twenty minutes from now, okay?"
The elves just nodded again. I turned to Mister Borgin and questioned him, "I take, you want an oath regarding the illegal business that happened here today?" The man nodded his head in conformation.
I sighed, took the wand out of my pocket, causing Mr. Borgin's eyes to widen momentarily at seeing my wand and then spoke, "I swear on my life and magic that I will not reveal where I bought the house elves Zokby, Salkby and Bonky and under any circumstances."
After giving Mr. Borgin 600 gallons, I left the shop, the box with the documents concerning Hadrian Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell in his hands. Next I went to the Leaky Cauldron, stepped through the fireplace, and left the Leaky Cauldron with the words, "Slytherin Castle."
Not 10 minutes later, the house elves arrived each carrying six or seven books in their hands. I let them enter Slytherin Castle, showed them the guestroom, where they would be living and the rest of the castle. I told them that they could and should bond now with the castle.
At seeing how dirty the castle was, the house elves took it upon themselves to begin cleaning the entire castle.
Seeing them beginning to clean the entire castle, I went to sit on the couch, after having grabbed the book regarding wizarding etiquette and the world of politics and started reading the book.
All things considered ; things are going well. Hadrian decided in thought. I got my wand, a new identity, house elves and in a few days all of the blocks on my magic will be removed and then I can finally begin to practice magic. For the next coming days, I will just have to study the Wizengamot and the politics surrounding it and Magical Britain. After that I am going to have decide on a course of action I want to take outside of studying magic. Who to ally myself politically with? And what do I do regarding the situation with the newspaper in Magical Britain?
End of Chapter 4