In between light and darkness
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First of all, I would like to thank all those who posted a review. They help me a lot to stay motivated and to keep writing and improving the story.
Just to clear up a lot of confusion, concerning the last chapter. Yes, Hadrian bought himself a new identity. He technically already is Hadrian Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell but only from the moment onwards Death dropped him into the new timeline, Harry's sixth birthday. Before that there is no record of a Hadrian Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell because he didn't exist and was not born. So, Hadrian had to create a public record for Hadrian Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell from July 31st, 1980, to July 31st, 1986. He did this via a new identity. Now if the Ministry for example checks a Hadrian Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell they will find his birth certificate stating that he was born on the 31st of July in the year 1980. Besides that, they will also find a lot of other documents such as a passport concerning the Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell.
"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
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
Chapter 5: Politics
4th September ,1986 – Slytherin Castle- Third person Point of View
The last six days had been boring for Harry. He went to Gringotts two more times and removed the last seven blocks to his magic in two separate sessions. Griphook, the medical imp at Gringotts, told him not to practice magic for the next two weeks. Since today was Saturday, he would have to wait until the Saturday after next to be able to do magic again. Griphook warned him not to try to cast a spell after the blocks had just been removed.
According to the medical goblin, Hadrian's magical core had cracks from the removal of the 11 blocks. Griphook said that the Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell should at least rest one week, two would be the number of weeks the goblin would have preferred, before Harry started to practice magic again.
Should he start to practice magic before resting 168 hours (one week=seven days), then the condition of the magical core would worsen. The core would eventually develop so many cracks in it that it would eventually fall in two, resulting in Hadrian losing his magic. Hadrian had been more than a little horrified at that scenario.
It was the worst thing that could happen to a wizard, losing his magic, it would be worse than a life sentence to Azkaban. Hadrian thought and he should know what he was talking about. He spent 10 years after all in the dementor hell. Even after that… experience Hadrian would rather go back there than lose his magic.
Hadrian's future laid in the magical world. He could just not imagine himself living in the muggle world. I, Hadrian thought after he heard the possible consequences of him not resting two weeks decided, am going to be a good boy and do as the goblin said I should do. I will rest the next two weeks before throwing myself into practicing magic again.
Although Hadrian could not practice magic yet, he felt whole. Usually there was always a void inside him, and his insides felt as if there was nothing except if he cast a spell. In that case, he felt a small amount of magic flowing through his veins.
After all of the blocks were removed though, he constantly felt magic flowing through his veins but not a small amount, a gigantic amount of magic. Hadrian assumed that this was because of the cracks in his magical core. Usually, the magical core only released magic if a person cast a spell. Now though it constantly released magic into his blood stream because of the cracks in the core. With time Hadrian believed that magic would stop being released into his blood stream as soon as the magical core healed.
Despite the fact that I do not want that at all. Hadrian had rather taking a liking towards the magic flowing in his veins. It made him feel more alive. More awake. As if he had just drunk two energy drinks in a row and was full of energy, he needed to get rid of. It was an oddly comforting feeling. Though Hadrian reminded himself that having cracks in his magical core was not a good thing at all to have. The Slytherin-Ravenclaw knew that the feeling was addicting like a drug and therefore not to be actively sought out.
Notwithstanding the fact that Harry could practice no magic, he still felt as soon as he touched his wand that his mastery over the piece of wood had grown. He supposed it was due to the fact that the basilisk horn now better responded to his magic after the block on parselmagic had been removed. The same could be assumed of the thestral tail hair. Now that the blocks on Necromancy, Shadow Magic and Soul Magic had been removed he felt his control over that particular part of the wand grow.
So, Hadrian wanted to read up on the Wizengamot and politics in general when it came to Magical Britain. He had nothing else to do. For the next two weeks he was stuck not being able to practice magic. Might as well use the time productively. He thought.
He had already learned a lot about politics in the last six days. For example, the allies of House Ravenclaw and Peverell. He already knew the allies of House Slytherin before he knew the allies of House Ravenclaw and Peverell. The allies of the House of snakes were the Greengrasses, Blacks, Carrows, Zabinis, Abotts and Boneses. House Peverell's allies were the following: the Fawleys, the le Fays, the Emryses, the Ollivanders and the Hufflepuffs.
After Hadrian found out to which Houses House Peverell was allied to, he couldn't believe it. House Peverell was once allied to Morgana le Fay and in turn the Royal House of Pendragon itself, Merlin Emrys and Helga Hufflepuff themselves. House Ravenclaws allies were the Delacours, the Wakuhisas, the Scamanders, the Longbottoms, the Volkovs and the Ollivanders. The Delacours were a powerful, influential family which held a seat on the Wizengamot in France. The current French Minister of Magic was a Delacour. The Volkovs were a Russian family who held large influence not just in Russia but all of Asia. The Wakuhisas were the founders of the premier magical school, Mahoutokoro, in Japan.
But all of these allies were allies of House Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Peverell once upon a time weren't they? The last Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell, Bradley Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell, was the last in the eyes of the public recorded Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell. After that the line of the Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Peverells ended, at least in the eyes of the public.
What happened to them afterwards? Death said that they didn't claim Lordship for reasons I would have to find out on my own. Maybe, some of the family allies know why they never claimed Lordship? Surely, my mother… Hadrian still felt strange saying that, Emily Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell was his mother by blood, death had made it that way, but would she ever be anything more? He didn't view Lily Potter as his mother, how could he after she abandoned him? It still somehow felt strange calling a women you never met your mother, only because the entity Death made you two related to each other and calling the women who gave birth to you not mother. Had contact with some of the family allies. They will probably know all about my family, right? Hadrian asked himself in his head.
Hadrian sighed, pondering such things would get him nowhere, he assumed it would be best to get in touch with the Greengrasses. Hadrian read in the Slytherin family grimoire that the Greengrasses could never willingly harm him.
This was due to the fact that the Slytherins and Greengrasses swore an oath more than two thousand years in the past. The oath stated that a Slytherin would never be able to harm a Greengrass physically and financially and would aide him with all he could, if the Greengrasses ever demanded help. In return the Greengrass swore an oath to do the same in regard to all Slytherins. Should the oath ever be broken either the entire Slytherin or Greengrass family would lose their magic, depending on which family broke the oath.
The oath was sworn when the Greengrasses and Slytherins first made an alliance. It was a kind of insurance that either side would not dare to betray each other. Hadrian fully intended to use the oath sworn two thousand years ago to his advantage.
Hadrian intended to make Lord Greengrass his guardian and proxy for the three Wizengamot seats he held. Hadrian neither wanted to join the Light or Dark fraction of the Wizengamot for several reasons. Reason number one being: The light was under Dumbledore's banner, while the dark was under Lucius Malfoy's banner who was under Voldemort's banner in return.
Hadrian had no interest in serving under each of those banners. Voldemort wanted to rule the world, not just magical but also muggle world. To do so you would have to break the statue of secrecy which would most probably cause bloodshed and a war between muggles and wizard kind. Plus, Harry didn't buy into all that crap about blood superiority.
As Hadrian thought about blood superiority he began to wonder, was he a half blood or pureblood? After all he had the blood of Emily Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell and her husband flowing through his veins. The former Potter couldn't give two tosspots about his blood status, but he also knew that a great deal of other people laid a great amount of attention on the blood status of a person.
Harry didn't want to ally himself with the light because that would mean allying yourself with Dumbledore, and Harry would be damned if he allied himself with a man who let him rot in Azkaban for a decade. Additionally, Harry didn't agree with most of the concepts of the light fraction of the Wizengamot.
Now he and the three Houses he represented would ally themselves with the neutrals, with the Greengrasses. With the oath between House Slytherin and Ravenclaw sworn, it would ensure that the Greengrasses couldn't hurt him physically or financially. The other allies of House Slytherin, Harry would have to convince to join him in the neutral party of the Wizengamot.
It would be hard to do so, but doable. Hadrian knew that Augusta Longbottom, Amelia Bones, and many others had doubts in the light fraction of the Wizengamot, but those doubts were nowhere near enough to convince both to leave the fraction.
To convince them to join the neutral fraction Hadrian would have to offer them something better than the light fraction could.
Augusta Longbottom and Amelia Bones loathed Dumbledore's 'you must forgive' approach to criminals. Augusta because she thought that this was the reason that her son and daughter in law were currently laying in a coma, unlikely to ever wake up again. Amelia because it hindered her in doing her job as the Director of Magical Law Enforcement.
Both of the elderly ladies were reasonably pro Muggle unlike Florian Greengrass. They were for the rights of Muggleborns, Werewolfes and goblins like Florian Greengrass. Hadrian decided that he would think about how to convince the two to join the neutral party of the Wizengamot at a later date.
Hadrian's end goal was to add a third political party that could rival the influence of the light and dark fraction of the Wizengamot in power. This political party would have the advantage of being the deciding vote. They could either side with the light or the dark and with whomever they would side with, would get what they want.
Although many people had doubts over the fraction their House on the Wizengamot resided over, they never broke away from it. Because a) they saw the fraction they were currently in as a lesser evil meaning they didn't want to join the other fraction of the Wizengamot. The second reason being that the House would risk being get caught in the crossfire between the two major political fractions of the Wizengamot. Something which the Greengrasses constantly were.
They were constantly being attacked and or exposed to threats to join one of the Wizengamot's two major fractions. Additionally, all people on the Wizengamot were influential people. Not having one of the major sides of the Wizengamot back you up, could prove disastrous for you and your ambitions.
If Amelia Bones were to suddenly join the neutral fraction of the Wizengamot then the 'light' fraction of the Wizengamot would make her life significantly harder. Plus, she would not be the Director of the DMLE for long if she had no support from the Wizengamot.
The Greengrasses were the best and influential lawyers in Britain, meaning that they did not need support from large fractions of the Wizengamot to continue being influential. Still not being allied to the larger fractions on the Wizengamot ensured that their lives were significantly more difficult than if they were allied to one of the two larger fractions on the Wizengamot.
Either way, he guessed it would be best to write Florian Greengrass a letter. Taking out quill and parchment he began to write
Lord Greengrass,
my name is Hadrian Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell. Before you decide to throw this letter away and think of it as a joke, I would like you to check the Slytherin crest on the envelope, showcasing this letter authenticity. I would like to arrange a meeting with you to discuss the state of our alliance and if possible I would like to join the neutral party of the Wizengamot. I await your reply.
Signed,
Hadrian Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell
Heir to the most ancient and noble House of Slytherin
Heir to the most ancient and noble House of Ravenclaw
Heir to the most ancient and noble House of Peverell
Putting the letter in an envelope and putting the Slytherin crest on the envelope I put it on the side and decided to send it to the Greengrasses via the owlery at Diagon Alley. Though I had an owl she was still an owlet and still had to be thought how to carry letters and deliver them to the person I wanted to.
Harry knew that he wanted to ally himself with the Greengrasses politically but what would he do with the rest of the House Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Peverells allies. Truthfully, he didn't know. Maybe he would have to discard them as allies although doing so Harry would only do if he absolutely had to. The allies of House Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Peverell were powerful allies and Hadrian would hate to discard them just because they didn't get along politically, surely they would be able to get along despite their political differences, like civilized people.
Getting support on the Wizengamot to my cause will be hard, thought Hadrian. The Wizengamot predated even the British Ministry of Magic. Now the former served the latter as the legislative and judicial branch of wizarding Britain. It passed laws and handled the most important judicial matters like trials and such.
There were representatives of the Ministry of Magic, representatives of old, recognized Wizarding families. The representatives of old recognized wizarding families could be divided into four groups. Ancient and noble families. Most ancient and noble families and just ancient or noble families.
To be recognized as an ancient family you would have to prove that you at least had one magical ancestor in the last 10 generations. 10 Generations were around 300 years. To be recognized as a noble House you would need to do some kind of deed that either got you an order of Merlin, First Class or Second Class or you would need to prove that you had at least two ancestors who held Order of Merlin's, Second Class. Two Order of Merlins usually meant having one Order of Merlin, First Class. Other options for achieving the status of a noble House were proving that you had two Chief Warlocks, Supreme Mugwumps, Minister of Magics or some other two powerful, well-known wizards or witches in your lineage. You could also end up becoming a noble House by ending a most noble and ancient House.
A noble House for example were the Scamanders. Newt and Theseus Scamander were war heroes in the war against Gellert Grindelwald. For their deeds both of them earned themselves an Order of Merlin, Second Class. As a side-effect the Scamanders now also had 3 seats on the Wizengamot with Newt being the Head of the noble House of Scamander. The other two were for both Order of Merlin's the twins held.
But still the Scamanders were not a wizarding family before the war with Grindelwald. How could they have become allies with House Ravenclaw. Were the Scamanders of today's era related to some Scamanders House Ravenclaw made allies with a few thousand years ago? Or were the Scamanders the list of allies of House Ravenclaw referred to just some family who House Ravenclaw viewed as allies who coincidentally shared the same name with the well-known megazoo lists of today, but had no relations to them? Or had some Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell, who never claimed, for whatever reason, their ancestor's legacy, befriended and allied themself/herself with Newt and or Theseus Scamander.
Nonetheless, Harry should also probably write a letter to the Scamanders and ask about the state of their alliance if they actually were the family who was named Scamanders who was allied to House Ravenclaw. He should probably ask to have a meeting with them.
Hadrian decided that he would only send a letter to the Scamanders and the rest of his allies asking for a meeting and the state of their alliance after the Greengrasses gained guardianship over him.
Thinking about the Scamanders and whether or not they were the same family who was allied to House Ravenclaw got Harry a headache. A terrible, nasty headache. For one because he trailed off from the original topic, as he so often did when it came to politics.
Most ancient and noble Houses had at least 4 members in their family who either were Chief Warlocks, Ministers of Magic, persons who held an Order of Merlin, First Class, or just simply well-known recognized witch and wizards. On top of the family must be able to trace their magical lineage at least 1000 years back.
There are about 10 most ancient and noble Houses at the time active in the Wizengamot. The Blacks, Greengrasses, Notts, Malfoys, Diggorys, Ollivanders, Macmillians, Potters, Longbottoms and the Lestranges. Those were the current 10 Most ancient and noble Houses residing on the Wizengamot.
Though soon there would be thirteen. The most ancient and noble House of Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Peverell would join the list of most ancient and noble Houses.
Although one ancient House had as many votes- one vote- as a most ancient and noble or as a noble House had, the most ancient and noble Houses were regarded with fear. Most feared them due to the family magic they possessed. The most ancient and noble Houses were old very old, so old in fact that they had knowledge, (terrible) knowledge of magic long since forgotten by the rest of the wizarding world.
Family magic was magic limited to a family that could only be practiced by people who had the blood of that certain family flowing through their veins. Many people feared what kind of havoc a most ancient and noble House could wreck with family magic. Some of the most dangerous dark lords came from the most ancient and noble Houses. They were so powerful and feared because of that family magic.
Family magic was a spell, charm, enchantment, or magic in general that was keyed to the bloodline of a wizarding family using blood and or soul magic or potions. Family magic was something that was only passed down within a family. Those who tried to obtain family magic or stole it were downright hunted down and murdered by the family. And the law actually encouraged murder if it ever came down to someone stealing family magic. That was how precious family magic was.
Family magic was magic created by a family member that was supposed to remain in the family only. It was like a family heirloom in that sense. Anyone who taught family magic to an outsider, not member of the owner of the family magic, could be disinherited if not killed if the Head ever so wished. As could the outsider, again if the head of House was interested in doing so.
There were 7 noble and ancient Houses, 14 noble and 12 ancient Houses currently having a seat on the Wizengamot. All Department Heads like Amelia Bones also Head a seat on the Wizengamot. On top of that there were also elected officials who held a seat on the Wizengamot. Elected officials had 43 seats on the Wizengamot. If you had an Order of Merlin, First or Second Class, you had a seat on the Wizengamot. As Chief Warlock you could vote but only if a vote came down to a tie. Otherwise, you just presided over the Wizengamot sessions but could not influence the votes.
There were a lot of people who had a vote in the Wizengamot. If you counted there were around 150 people who had a vote in the Wizengamot. But the Wizengamot only dealt with the most important issues of magical Britain.
Two weeks later-18th September ,1986- Slytherin Castle
Harry woke up as usual at six o'clock, climbed out of bed and started stretching. He yawned, stumbled his way to the kitchen and then ate the breakfast one of the House elves prepared for them.
The House elves really changed things around Slytherin Castle. The first week they were here they managed to clean the entire castle. Before they arrived everything was dusty, now everything was cleaned and looked in order. It was a nice, notable change.
In the end, Hadrian decided not to send the letter to the Greengrasses at this date. He just didn't want to announce his presence to the world. It would have consequences; he just didn't want to face yet. He wanted to be alone for the next few years and just learn magic.
As suspected the release of magic into his bloodstream had decreased in the first week and was outright gone in the first half of the second week. The Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Peverell suspected that during the time magic stopped flowing into his bloodstream that the cracks in his magical core had fully healed. Nonetheless Harry would not put that theory to the test. If he was wrong the consequences of further rupturing his magical core were just too great.
In the last two weeks, Hadrian had learned quite a bit. His photographical memory certainly was a godsend. He started with history, he especially studied the wars against Grindelwald and Voldemort. He also became rather intrigued by a book written by Salazar Slytherin himself. It was all about how to approach certain situations, how to deal with them, and Salazar's own suggestions on tact, cunning and manipulations.
What Harry found astounding about the book was how little he actually knew about the founder of House Slytherin. According to the book, Salazar grew up in a time where wizards waged war against each other. The only reason why Hadrian studied recent history was because of Salazar's words. He clearly remembered when Salazar wrote the words: The moment I truly understood my enemy, well enough to defeat him, then I loved him.
It didn't take a genius to figure out why understanding your enemy would be a handy thing to effectively be able to defeat him. At the moment he neither understood Dumbledore nor Voldemort. Both had probably gone to great lengths to ensure that their pasts were buried so deep that none would ever find out anything about them.
Although he could not find out anything about Tom Marvolo Riddle and Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and what dark secrets they had, he could still try to figure anything out how they acted during the last war. What were Voldemorts attack strategies, how brutal were they during the wars they experienced and how did they react to their enemies' strategies, how much did they sacrifice and were did they draw the lines and so much more questions?
Each and every one of them, needed to be answered. It would be very important for Hadrian to understand Dumbledore and Voldemort. Only when he understood them, only then would Hadrian be able to know what to expect from the two and how to move and combat against them effectively.
The book explained that understanding your enemy would be crucial for defeating him. The book also delves into sociology, psychology, and politics. Hadrian could certainly see the appeal in those books. Sociology is the science of how people live together. Understanding society was as Hadrian guessed a very important thing as a Lord. What vendettas did certain groups of people have, what were there goals, how did they interact with other groups and so forth. The art of understanding why people acted the way they did- psychology- was critical in understanding humans and somewhat being able to predict their actions. Politics, well you would need to understand them if you were going to be a Lord on the Wizengamot. It was also important to understand the society you currently live in and what questions it was plagued by and what value concepts certain groups of politicians and the population.
All three of the subjects were related to each other and to truly understand the world you lived in you had to have studied all three of them. After reading the book, which was written by Salazar, he went to Flourish and Blotts to buy more books regarding politics. Additionally, he went to a muggle bookstore after having gulped down an ageing potion to buy some books on sociology and psychology.
Hadrian practically devoured the books, having read half of the books he bought on sociology within a week. Hadrian enquired 50 books in total, 20 on sociology, 15 on psychology and 15 on politics.
He had learned a lot, really a lot on how society worked and how people interacted with each other.
Nonetheless the two weeks the healer had advised him to rest were over. It was time to learn magic. To get the thing moving.
§Are you having troubles, young lord.§ asked Serena who was coiled around a chair next to Hadrian at the breakfast table. The young lord just shook his head in negative and spoke, "No, darling I do not have any problems. I was just wondering what I will do when I reached a certain skill in magic."
Truthfully that was the question that always bothered Hadrian before going to sleep. The former timeline was embossed by a reclusive and cold Hadrian. He had few friends. This was something he wanted to change.
Daphne Greengrass, the Carrow twins, Tracey Davis, Blaise Zabini, Natalie Black, Theodore Nott Junior, Delphi Riddle, Hannah Abbott. Those were all the friends he ever needed and had. Thinking about those friends hurt for several reasons.
Hadrian remembered quiet clearly when Voldemort came with Natalie and Daphne in tow into his cell.
Flashback-A timeline that was not to be- Azkaban Prison Facility- Hadrian's' Point of view
I stared at the emotionless wall in my cell. The book on wandless magic laying in my lap. The wall had 1840 strokes scribbled on himself. Every night before going to sleep I did scribble one more stroke onto the wall. It helped me greatly not to lose the sense of time. The day I woke up here today I knew that I had been in Azkaban for five years and 15 days.
A month or so ago, Voldemort and his most trusted supporters had laid siege on Azkaban. The once great prison was now nothing more than a ruin. And this was Hadrian living condition, he lived in a ruin. Voldemort had taken great importance in the fact that the part of the prison Harry resided in was not damaged. He had anyone else in the prison swear loyalty to him orr killed, but the Potter he had left to rot. When the ministry took notice of the fact, that Hadrian was the only habitant of Azkaban, Dumbledore, James, and Adrian visited him.
Flashback inside a Flashback- After Mass Azkaban breakout- Hadrian's Point of view
Hadrian laughed. For the first time in years, he actually laughed good naturally. "What makes you think I'll tell you anything?" the Potter asked.
"Hadrian, focus this is important, if you have any leads on Voldemort that may prove he is back and is responsible for the Azkaban mass breakout…"
"I won't give them to you."
"What?" exclaimed a shocked Adrian. "You heard me right. Voldemort was here and I told him the prophecy." I laughed at seeing their horrified expressions on their faces, before a light ball went off in Dumbledore's head and he said with smugness that I didn't Dumbledore ever possessed, "You don't know the prophecy, we never told you."
Hearing this James snapped out of his horrified expressions and smirked, "Dumbledore is right, you don't…" before he could continue speaking I proved him and Albus wrong, "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
Seeing their paling expressions, Harry eventually burst out laughing for the third time in quite a few years. "How do you know the prophecy?"
Hadrian his back leaned up against the wall, stretched out his arms and wiggled his index finger at him. "Oh," I cooed, " does Bart lock and his loyal Potter followers want to know where I learned the prophecy. I am afraid I can't tell. You must understand you are too young to have this information, but I assure you I will tell you when you are wise and older. This is for the 'Greater Good', I am confident you will understand." I did my best to make my voice sound like Dumbledore.
Truthfully, the Headmasters words always enraged me. How dare he just decide what is best for people without their consent. The nasty habit he had of portraying himself as the wise old headmaster and everything else as dunderheads was also infuriating. It made Harry feel dumb and reminded him of when Vernon would talk down on him during his time at Privet Drive.
Dumbledore's kind elderly grandfather façade broke, and he started shouting at me, "Do you have any idea of what you have just done?"
I decided to shout right back. "Yes, I did. I just printed a massive target for Voldemort on all of your backs. And I hope that when he comes for you that you will die a very painful death."
Clenching his fist Adrian asked, "Is that all you care about? Revenge against us. Don't you get it, Hadrian you were guilty of unleashing a basilisk onto a school full of children."
I gave my brother a long, irate stare, before grinning, "Regardless of that, I won't help you in proving that Voldemort is back, you reap what you sow, and if I assess the situation right, Fudge believes Voldemort is not back either and with the Minister denying his return, you will just have to wait until he shows his face to the world."
"See reason, Harry, by then hundreds of life…"
"You reap what you sow, I won't help you in proving that Voldemort is back. For me you are just as bad as Voldemort is. I have nothing left to loose. I will die here in Azkaban. If you could get my out of this cell and back into society, I would have actually considered helping you, but even you as Chief Warlock do not have that power. Officially I was responsible for unleashing one of the darkest and most powerful creatures onto a school full of children. There is no way in hell that you can legally get me out of this cell without Fudge stripping you out of all those fancy positions you hold. If you did it illegally, you would be the first suspect, and the Minister wants you gone, so you would be handing him a reason on a silver platter to have you imprisoned for helping a convict escaping. To sum up, it is not worth it for you to get me out of this cell. And if you can't get me out of this cell, I have no reason to corroborate your story of Voldemort returning. Now leave me alone, I want to enjoy my misery."
Dumbledore sighed, "Come James, Adrian, it is clear that he won't help us."
James, Adrian, and Dumbledore eventually left but not before I spoke up again, "Oi, Albus and James." I said. The two stopped before looking back at me, both having an eyebrow raised, waiting for me to continue speaking.
I smirked, taking full pleasure in speaking the next words. "Sooner or later, everyone will have to take a banquet of consequences."
Albus looked a bit guilty, but James just glared at me, with his hands now in fists. Not a second later, he stormed out of the prisoner complex, Albus and Adrian soon following him.
Flashback inside a Flashback end
After two year or so after my talk with the Potters, Voldemort opened the doors to my cell and without a care in the world walked into my cell.
"How is my favorite prisoner today?" he had chirped, as he entered the cell. I just glared hatefully at him. Honestly, Voldemort and I had many conversations after he returned to power. I often wondered, why he couldn't just leave me alone. Maybe it was a pathological need of dark lords to show who was superior.
"Nothing special, I am still plagued by misery though the talk with the Potters did manage to lighten my mood." I replied honestly. The talk with the Potters really did help. Showing James and Albus what the consequences of abandoning me to an abusive household and imprisoning an innocent man were, filled my up with joy. I felt petty for not helping them against Voldemort, but I guess I truly was blinded by a need to avenge myself. And avenge myself I did at Albus and Dumbledore.
Ah, it was irrelevant now. I was in Azkaban; I could help nobody. Voldemort, Albus and Potter would have to duke it out with each other without me or my interference.
"How are your plans for world domination going." I asked him, trying to sound casual but utterly failing.
He grinned at me. "The new Minister of Magic is Pius Thicknesse. The Ministry is under my rule from now on. Pius is under the Imperious Curse. Dumbledore and his precious Order of the Phoenix as are the Potters are on the run. They are currently trying to escape the country. Soon, England will be invading Magical Poland. After that France, Germany, and the rest of the Magical European governments. All in all, I cannot complain."
"Freaking fantastic." I muttered, making Voldemort laugh at me.
"Well, I also have a gift for you." At hearing this I perked up and shuddered a little bit, a gift from Voldemort was never something good. He snapped his fingers and soon two people wearing death Eaters masks came in, with two people who they had magical bound. The two magically bound were thrown down the ground by the death eaters. A minute or so later they straightened up.
Hadrian recognized the two, Daphne Greengrass and Natalie Black. You could see that they recently cried, their clothes looked like shit and Hadrian couldn't help but stare dumbly at the two.
He hadn't seen them in three years. Their appearance had changed, they both had changed into women. The chests of both women had grown. Hadrian felt somewhat ashamed of noting the fact that this was the first thing he noticed when he laid eyes on the two. They were no longer little girls. Both girls refused to look at me. "You see, when Dumbledore framed you and made everyone believe that it is was you who opened the chamber of secrets," he spoke, making both Natalie and Daphne throw their heads up at Voldemort to stare at him, "Oh, the ladies didn't know that." Voldemort noted, in an obvious fake surprised tone.
The dark lord proceeded to laugh, "You know, I find it quite funny, Potter stood up for you, didn't he, he even managed to buy you a flat, so you wouldn't have to live in that filthy orphanage, right?" Natalie still stared at me a little dumbly, but shakily nodded her head.
"He even tried to help you search for a cure to the bloodline curse for young Astoria, didn't he?" Daphne just nodded her head.
"And then abandoned me, when everyone believed that I opened the chamber of secrets." Harry added darkly. "Yes," Voldemort agreed, before the Greengrass could speak," then you two" he gestured to the two women;" abandoned him when he needed you two the most."
"Why?" Hadrian asked, "Why, what?" Tom returned the question.
"I want to know what led the two of you to betray me and testify against me in court?" Voldemort seemed to like the exchange, so he just stared at the two women, "Well…" He drawled.
"Dum-bledore sa-id" Natalie began stuttering, but I decided to take my frustrations out by yelling at her before he could finish the sentence, " Albus Dumbledore is nowhere near the great men he portrays himself as."
"He said, he could heal my sister." Daphne bit out, sobbing, "You have to understand that only now do I realize that I made a deal with the devil. Back then I just had to decide whether to save you or my sister. After the basilisk fiasco, he approached me and said he would heal my sister if I testified against you."
"Did he?" I snarled. "Did he save your sister?" I asked admittedly curious. "Yes, yes he did." Daphne said quietly, after a moments pause.
"Pathetic." I commented, causing Daphne to wince. "I trusted you during my stay at Hogwarts perhaps more than anyone else. I even confided in you about the abuse that had taken place at the Dursleys. I even defended you from my idotic brother, the fellow Slytherins and anyone else who wished to bully or harm you, sometimes I butted heads with professors for you. Do you know how many people I defended you from?" I shouted out the last part.
"Every family on the Wizengamot who was light and dark. All of them wanted to send the message to Lord Greengrass that while he could handle the threats, he was exposed to for being neutral in the Wizengamot, his daughter could not. Many of the Slytherins hated you because you just didn't subscribe to the pureblood supremacy. It was I, who stood up for you after you put Malfoy in the hospital wing, it was I who claimed to have put him in the hospital and took the political fallout for it. THAT WAS ALL ME!
It was me, who stopped Snape from expelling you, after they didn't believe me. I butted heads with him, I chose you over my own flesh and blood! And then after all that when I needed you, you still abandoned me, when it absolutely mattered the most. " I spoke the last part a bit quietly, hardly above a whisper, yet Daphne and Natalie could hear me quite clearly.
"You know I never considered the Potters my real family, that was always you and Natalie. When we met on the train, I was happy beyond relief. My parents abandoned me, so I searched for someone I could cling to, someone who would appreciate me, see me as worthy and not just the brother of the boy- who- lived and someone who would cling to me. Someone who I could make happy. I had a high desire to find friends. I think now that I searched for a replacement family, and it just so happened that I find it in you. I saw you and Natalie as my family, someone who I should care for, protect.
That is the reason, I helped you to search for a cure for Astoria. I just wanted to help you protect your little sister, as someone who was abandoned I know how important a functioning family was. I wanted you to have that- a functioning family- make no mistake if Astoria your family would fracture, maybe fall apart. You already had your differences with your parents and her death would have pushed you and your parents over the edge. I wanted you to grow up in a somewhat semi-functioning family. We never found the cure together, but I would have never suspected you to betray me for the first person who came around with a cure. "
During my rant, Daphne just held her head down, knowing that I had every right to shout, yell and probably curse her.
"It is too late now." Daphne announced sadly. "He won." Daphne said, referring to Voldemort. "Yes, I didn't know that you were innocent, but fact is all evidence pointed against you. I guess we were all simply fooled by the great Albus Dumbledore," the sarcasm was not lost on either of us when she said that name, "You are right I probably should have believed that you were innocent, that you didn't have it in you to be responsible for the death of countless students, but you were always an enigma to me. You loathed the Potters, hated Snape, Dumbledore after first year, Draco and so many more. Your actions sometimes clearly reflected that hate. You were a child that had not the best mental state, and I don't know, I just thought that it was not out of the realm of possibility that you opened the chamber.
Other times you protected me, Natalie and even that first year muggleborn Slytherin. You were compassionate, friendly, charming, helpful, intelligent, witty, cunning, and loyal. I thought that that part of your person was just made up- a mask you wore from time to time. It was not hard especially when the whole school saw you unleash the basilisk. I guess Albus bribery to cure my sister if I testified against you did just get me to do that. It gave me the final edge needed in testifying against you. Originally I was going to testify for you, though I had my doubts about your innocence, but knowing that my sister wouldn't die if I testified against you, sort of made the choice tip in the favor of testifying against you. From there on out I pushed any doubts of your innocence out of my mind and convinced myself that you were guilty.
That is, it. That is the reason I testified against you. For what is worth, probably nothing, I am sorry for betraying you like that in court and letting Albus offer influence my decision."
I took a moment to digest all that information . I was still quite angry with Daphne and the decision she fell, though my hate for Dumbledore only increased. I knew that it was probably being pointless in being angry with Daphne and Natalie. But it still hurt to know that the people you thought of as family to think that you would lead a basilisk into a school full of children. 300 people could testify that he led a basilisk into a school full of children, why should the testimony of two matter who said otherwise matter.
Nonetheless I turned to Natalie, glared at her with all my anger and asked, "What made you testify against me?"
Natalie shrank back under my glare. "Like Daph, I thought it wasn't impossible for you to open the chamber. You sometimes acted like a saint, other times you acted like a maniac who was only out of blood. I always suspected that you had a split personality. Besides like she said, you didn't have the best mental state. I just believed that I never knew the real you and that you had chosen that maniac over the saint once and for all. I am sorry, I shouldn't have believed that you were guilty of the crimes Dumbles accused you of."
I closed his eyes and opened them a second later. "It doesn't matter," I finally said," I am assuming the dark lords gift is your death." The two nodded, gravely. "We opposed him and well thinks got nasty and you know how dark and light lords are, they can't have anyone oppose their power. We are going to die here tonight. Again, for what it is worth, we are sorry." Daphne spoke.
The next things happened pretty quickly, Daphne closed her eyes and not a second later a green light hit her in the middle of the chest, letting her dead, motionless body fall to the floor. Though I didn't see it, I knew Voldemort had just pointed her wand at Daphne and fired the killing spell at her.
"Hadrian, for what it is worth, I am sorry too. I hope we can work out our differences out in the afterlife." She as well closed her eyes and was hit by the killing curse in the chest not a second later, making her lifeless body fall to the ground.
I stared at the two dead bodies lying on the ground and smiled faintly.
Flashback end
Thinking about their death hurt. Yes, they abandoned me in their time of need, but I always wondered, how I would have reacted if I saw the events that led to his imprisonment from Daphne's and Natalie's point of view.
I liked to think that I would be convinced of my innocence but deep in my mind there was a voice saying, 'you would have betrayed yourself just like she did'. I did his best to ignore the voice but the realization that there was a chance that I could have betrayed myself were I put in Daphne's and Natalie's situation stung.
The notable fact that Daphne did it to save her sister also changed things. I never had a loving family, so I won't even pretend that I knew what Daphne was going through. If things went differently with Adrian, would I have testified against Daphne if it got me the cure against his illness?
I shook my head, no what-if scenario would get me anywhere. The question I needed to ask myself was: Would I be willing to forgive Daphne Greengrass and Natalie Black? And more importantly, if yes, what would that do, to my actions I would take in the near future. And what about the rest of my friends. What should I do about them?
End of Chapter 5