The weeks went by with Hadrian watching Quirrell with Daphne often providing information from Tracy's gossip circles once he offered her a trade, he would teach her some things in exchange for information, so far though the man hasn't made any moves that could be deemed suspicious however to Hadrian that itself was enough to get him to raise his guard. Before his conversation with his father Quirrell often left the castle, there was no pattern or routine to him leaving other than every time was at night Hadrian was amused at the thought as there was a rumour going around that people thought the unnaturally pale man was a vampire. The young Grindelwald even set up extra security around the third-floor corridor going so far as to add one of his few Crystal Eyes an invention his father came up with similar to muggle CCTV, it's a crystal ball imbued with the specific users magic and if you have proficient training in the mind arts you can get an image from the crystal projected into your mind. Even with several added to the area, all Hadrian picked up was the 'Golden Trio' snooping around and running with their tails between their legs when they opened the door. Hadrian suspected the normally jittery man's good behaviour was because he was onto him or at least suspected Dumbledore, which Hadrian wasn't sure if said man knew anything about Quirrell.

A good boon for Hadrian would be if he knew what was hidden in the castle but alas he knew nothing other than it most likely being a dark artefact, the only way he could really find out what it was would be if he went down to look himself but that would remove any protections placed around it not to mention it would likely inform the headmaster. It was these thoughts that led him to spend all his free time in either his private room or the library researching as many Albanina related dark artefacts that he could find, it was a long shot considering it may not even be from Albania but with Quirrell's new behaviour he didn't really have much to do. It was during one of these times in his private room that when Daphne came in looking like she just found Merlin's own spellbook as she had the widest grin on her face.

"Well you look chipper" He offered her a small smile from behind his desk.

"Tracy heard some news about trouble in the lion's den" she sat opposite him looking like she was fighting back laughter.

"Oh? Pray, tell what are our resident kittens are up to?" Hadrian asked, his elbows placed on the desk with interlocked fingers.

"Weasly has been ripping into Granger calling her out every time she 'helps' someone." her grin turned slightly feral.

"truly? I guess Granger didn't change the way she approaches people but then again I'm sure the majority of his house need to correct Weasly so maybe that's why she was just wrong time wrong place." He mused, At the beginning of school and in any class he was able to talk to her in Hadrian tried to adjust Granger's idea of how to talk to people yet after weeks he has made no progress. She really is an intelligent witch even surpassing Daphne if by only a slight margin but her attitude will always hold her back.

"Everyone in that house apparently bullies her because of how she talks to them, Weasly is just the most public about it." Daphne didn't particularly like the Weasly family, not many pureblood did unless they were devout followers of Dumdeldore, but her own dislike mainly came from the fact the Weasly twins were able to catch her in one of their pranks.

After that conversation died down as Daphne began helping him with reading different material in hope of finding information to narrow down the potential artefact inside the school once a few hours had passed they needed to leave as tonight was the Halloween feast, Hadrian didn't really care much for it though he would prefer to spend his time practically rather than at an extended dinner however it was obligatory to attend. Once they reached the Great Hall Hadrian eyes instantly went to Quirrell's seat only to find it empty, the man had been on time if not early at every meal for the past weeks so the fact he was here put Hadrian on edge.

"Daphne I'm not feeling too well, I think I'm going to head back to my dorm" Hadrian whispered to the girl beside him.

"You seemed fine earlier...if you need anything just ask okay" she had a slightly concerned look on her face.

With that said Hadrian sped of while wracking his brain for any possible place Quirrell might be, he couldn't be on the third floor as his protections hadn't gone off...unless he disabled them? At that thought, Hadrian cast his mind to one of his Crystal eyes overlooking the door but there was no visible sign on anyone there. To go and check-in person could potentially be a huge waste of time and with the blasted moving stairs it could take a while but then if the supposed idiot has found some way into the room without alerting his traps then that would also be a huge problem, Hadrian didn't have time to overthink anything so he decided he would just start from the bottom and work his way up.

Once he reached the dungeons he began to smell a horrid putrid smell, sure it never smelt great down here anyway but that was just a very damp stink this, however, was simply rotten like a grown man hadn't bathed a day in his life kinda smell. Reluctantly he followed the trail of stink to its source but he had to quickly hop back and peer around a corner with his jaw hung open, why? well, he came upon a sight that completely baffled him, Quirrell in all his madness was standing at the end of the corridor talking too...two trolls? Hadrian knew the man likely lacked friends but this was just a whole new level of weirdness.

'how in merlins name did he get a troll into this bloody school? Let alone two!'

Hadrian cast a charm on himself to enhance his senses and focused his hearing on Quirrell's location.

"Once I leave I want you two to break this floor, and do not go upstairs...if you come across anyone...kill them" when he finished he stormed off in Hadrian's direction but luckily;y he cast the disillusionist charm on himself and blending in with the wall going completely unnoticed.

Once he knew it was safe he blew a sigh of relief, sure he could probably take the idiot in a duel but him plus two trolls? Hadrian wasn't a fool. Speaking of the big oaths Hadrian peered around the corner again only to come face to...knee, a big blue ugly knee. Hadrian looked up into the drooling face of one of the huge trolls standing over him wielding a thick club in hand, he could only think of one thing to say.

"Shit"

Daphne walked over to the Slytherin table and sat beside Tracy and opposite Blaise, she was surprised when Hadrian mentions being sick but then she realized Quirrell was missing. Daphne didn't know how powerful Hadrian was but she did know he was smart so if he believed he could take on Quirrell then it's likely he could, as she began tucking into the food after some cliche speech from the headmaster Tracy began ranting about any and all gossip she had lately heard but she blocked it out for the most part.

"So what happened with Hadrian?" the question brought the blond back to reality, seemed Tracy realized she wasn't really listening.

"He told me he wasn't well so he went back to the Raven tower," Daphne answered her voice not showing her doubt.

"Really? maybe you could be his personal healer then" The brunette winked only making the blond roll her eyes, Tracy often tried pointing out that she should 'hop on that' or something.

"Trace your being foo-" her response was cut of however as the doors to the great hall burst open followed by a panicked Quirrell running in causing Daphne to tense up.

"TROLLS!, TROLLS IN THE DUNGEON!...I thought you ought to know" he instantly passed out onto the floor a few beats passed and the whole hall went into a panic.

The blond had many red flags go up once he finished shouting, Hadrian most likely went to look for Quirrell and if he saw trolls in the dungeon then Hadrian might have been near them too. As Daphne panicked in her own way the headmaster rose from his chair calling for silence across the whole hall his voice booming thanks to magic.

"SILENCE! Please do not panic, prefects lead your houses back to their dorms! Teachers will accompany me down to the dungeons!" Instantly everyone went quiet while they watched the team of teachers speed out the room followed by the thought to be passed out Quirrell.

Daphne's panic got worse not only for Hadrian but herself and her housemates, did the old fool forget Slytherin dorm was in the dungeon? Their prefect led them from the great hall with everyone either too scared to talk or gossiping about all kinds of mad possibilities. They gradually made their way into the dungeons but before they could reach their common room a loud roar broke out through the murky corridors, it was then an object came flying out of the dark and crashed into the ground in front of them which caused many of scream and back away but on a closer look Daphne gasped.

"Shit"

Hadrian quickly rolled to the side to avoid the large hand that tried to grab him he then rose to a knee and aimed his wand at the large monstrosity in front of him 'FLIPENDO MAXIMA!' a bright blue beam shot from his wand and impacted the troll directly in the chest but because the beast's skin was highly resistant to magic it barely left behind a mark as the creature began stomping towards the young wizard. The blonde started backing up while blasting the spell at the floor breaking it up into pieces of rubble before whipping his wand through the air causing all the broken floor pieces to fly straight at the troll, most weren't big enough to cause much damage but several certainly broke some of its bones and even tore off a leg this forced it to fall to the ground which Hadrian followed up with raising the largest piece and dropped it on the monsters head completely crushing it.

The son of Grindelwald breathed a sigh of relief once a few seconds passed and there were no signs the beast was getting back up. Hadrian turned and began walking down the corridor towards the stairs leading to the great hall however he quickly stopped when he heard the sound of snapping and gargled sounds. He quickly turned and saw the former dead troll flesh...regrowing and its bones forcefully snapping back into place but what really caught his attention was the runic array spread across its body there were many symbols he didn't recognize but one certainly stood out, it was the centrepiece all others connected to.

The symbol of reanimation.

It's from the forbidden and darkest branch of magic, Necromancy, Hadrian wracked his brain for how someone like Quirrell had knowledge from something that hasn't been used since Salazar Slytherin himself. The only solution could be the vampires in Albania as the vampire clans still perform necromantic rituals but they surely wouldn't have taught a human their secrets...unless they really did convert him? Hadrian brainstorming was cut off as the troll was now fully back on its feet and it looked pissed. With speed, a creature of its size shouldn't have been possibly capable of it began running at the young wizard but before the beast could reach him he threw up his wand.

'PROTEGO MAXIMA, FIANTO DURI, REPELLO INIMICUM'

A powerful shield formed between him and the troll blocking the corridor and as the monster rammed into his barrier it shook the very walls of the castle, the overwhelming creature began hammering away against the shield and due to the brutal strength the troll had cracks slowly formed from the centre slowly webbing out to the corners.

"Ahhh, you gotta be kidding me! An undead bloody troll!" Hadrian was panicking because the only way to kill an undead is with fire and a troll was top tier magic resistant, keyword being resistant and not immune.

The only way for the young wizard to win would be to overwhelm its resistance with power but to protect against its above normal troll strength due to it being undead and at the same time power a powerful enough fire spell to completely eviscerate the monster is easier said than done. On top of all that Hadrian could feel his shield breaking slowly like glass so to buy himself a little more time, he added two powerful Flipendo's or knockback jinx to the shield, one that would hit the toll and another that would hit him upon the shields breaking. As expected with one last powerful punch from the troll the shield shattered activating the jinx he just placed, it barely affected the toll but Hadrian was launched off his feet flying thirty feet down the corridor just before he landed (crashed) on the ground his cast quick cushioning charm to avoid breaking anything (everything) and to add even more to his panic he came face to face with Daphne looking down at him as he lay sprawled out across the dungeon.

"Daphne? what are you doing down here?" Hadrian asked as if everything was perfectly normal.

"Our common room is down here" that's when Hadrian noticed all the other Slytherins looking equally shocked as the blond girl "we got told a troll was loose in the castle so all houses were told to go back to our dorms."

"Did you not get told that they were in the dungeons?" he rose to his feet with surprising grace and looked completely normal still like he wasn't just launched down a corridor.

"We were" was Daphne's simple response.

"Yet your here" was Hadrian's simple reply.

Both had completely blank expression on their faces causing the other Slytherins to feel uneasy in the tension it was creating, however, the tension easily broke as a loud roar once again echoed across the dungeon followed by loud thumping.

"Listen up!" Hadrian shouted to the gathered students "a very angry troll is currently wanting to kill us, so I want anyone able to use a Protego up front and centre and cast your strongest one you can...now!" he added when no one moved.

All the older years scrambled to the front and began cast various levels of the shield charm making one large layered barrier while Hadrian added a few strengthing charms of his own, once it was up and being charged by dozens of students Hadrian started charging his own spell with the tip of his wand glowing a yellow-gold colour. Not a moment later the troll came out of the darkness in the corridor and once again began hammering away at the shields the weakest of which instantly shattered knocking the ones who cast them onto their rears.

"Hadrian please tell me you have a plan?" Daphne asked while holding her own shield up.

"Of course I do Daphne, I'm going to feed about half your house to the beast to gain its favour before politely asking it to leave the castle..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Everyone looked at the young Grindelwald as if he was insane, it made Hadrian internally chuckle as he realized this is how people probably looked at his father, gradually his internal laugh began to become external, it began echoing across the dungeon walls and for those who listened it sounded absolutely maniacal. By this point, Hadrian had put a lot of power into his spell and the to glowed so brightly anyone who looked at it would feel like they were watching the very sun itself and while he was laughing like a mad man he raised his wand and aimed it straight at the troll.

"Drop your shields and run behind me!" some were hesitant but they all complied and once they dropped Hadrian roared.

"IGNIS AUREAM MAXIMA!" from his wand a powerful wave of golden fire poured out smashing into the towering troll and pushed it back while completely scorching the walls, ceiling and floor. The Slytherins from behind Hadriands back watched in both fear and awe as this eleven-year-old boy unleashed power that resembled a dragon's breath attack. Unknown to the Slytherins through Hadrian could just about make out the troll in the flames and it was slowly pushing back so in one final feat of powerful magic his reared back his wand arm before jabbing it forward and just like throwing a bucket of water a torrent of flames poured out completely filling the whole corridor enough to begin melting the stone walls, ripping up the floor and causing some of the ceilings to collapse.

"AHHHHHHH!" Hadrian roared while he poured everything he could into the flames and after a few minutes, the flames ceased showing nothing but an empty broken corridor.

Hadrian slowly turned to face the Slytherins gathered behind him, their faces were very amusing to him, even the usually publicly stoic Daphne had her jaw dropped with a charming smile he decided to give them an impromptu lesson.

"Let this be a lesson to you all, resistance does not mean immunity"

followed by him collapsing to the floor passing out.

a beat passed in silence before "Holy shit!" someone from within the crowd of snakes shouted.

Daphne rushed to the collapsed boy hoping he didn't somehow kill himself some of the others in her year followed along to help while all the older years sat back all feeling the same thing...fear. The younger students may not know the story of Grindelwald but many of the older ones did and what they just saw brought back countless memories of stories they read about the exploits of Dark Lord Gellert Grindelwald and how he brought all of Europe to its knees.

When Hadrian woke it was to a white ceiling, a ceiling he didn't recognize, he cautiously looked around the room and instantly relaxed when he noticed it was the hospital wing and not one of the stupid tests his father often pulled on him while he slept, he still has flashbacks from the time he woke at the base of a volcano...that was erupting. The young Grindelwald looked around the room finding himself alone with no sign of patients nor the matron only his clothes neatly folded on a chair beside his bed and the early morning sun rays coming through the window so he did what anyone would do in his situation, he got ready to leave. After the short time it took to get dressed he began walking to the exit but just before he reached the door his entire body locked up his legs snapped together while his arms snapped to his side.

"Where do you think you're going Mr Grindelwald?" a voice spoke from behind him.

"Ah, you must be madam Pomfrey, I would shake your hand but..." he tried to move his hand but all he could do was shrug his shoulder.

"Cheeky brat" she murmured under her breath while she flicked her wand-making Hadrian flat back over to his bed and unceremoniously drop into it "you practically drained your core, Mr Grindelwald, you're lucky to be alive...now stay in that bed while I get you some potions" it wasn't a request, Hadrian noticed.

So after what felt like an eternity, Hadrian had consumed several potions to help with his drained core and any injuries he had received he was also told that the headmaster wanted to speak with him which wasn't surprising as he most likely destroyed a castle corridor in front of all of the house of snakes. Once he eventually was allowed to leave the hospital he immediately headed for the headmaster's office only to be stopped by an annoying gargoyle that wouldn't move no matter what Hadrian said.

"I don't know the password you annoying statue" he breathed in to help calm himself, "the headmaster said he wanted to see me"

"He isn't in his office right now"

"..."

"WHAT! I have been standing here for half an hour and you tell me this now!?" Hadrian shouted as his anger bubbled.

"I'm a statue that can't move from this spot, I need to entertain myself someway" this only annoyed him more.

"Oh, I'm sorry you're a waste of architecture maybe I should put you-" Hadrian was cut off by a cough from behind him.

Dumbledore stood looking over the shoulder of the young Grindelwald with an amused twinkle in his eye, Hadrian just gave the man a flat look.

"Now now Mr Grindelwald no need to destroy more of the school" he gave a joyful chuckle as he spoke he gave the gargoyle an unusual sweet-sounding name when it opened it revealed a spiralling staircase.

They entered his office which was filled with portraits of who Hadrian wasn't sure of who they were and multiple different artefacts around the room but what really caught his eye was the beautiful firebird perched behind the desk, a phoenix glowing a radiant gold fire. Dumbledore sat down gesturing to a chair for Hadrian which he complied with.

"Lemon drop?" the old man offered with a grandfatherly smile.

"No, thank you" Hadrian refused as politely as he could and after his day/night it wasn't much.

"Okay then, Mr Grindelwald I'm sure you have been waiting for me to come and meet with you since coming here and I apologize that I haven't" Hadrian wasn't expecting an apology, he was honestly expecting to be expelled.

"It's fine headmaster, I know you are busy especially with...recent events. I to have been busy on my own things." The blonde spoke honestly while eluding to the old man he knew something was up in the castle, if his eye twinkle disappearing was any indicator then he caught on.

"Like battling 'unique' trolls in the school halls?" straight to the point the younger wizard mused.

"When I first arrived at the castle I explored most of it but I didn't get a chance to go into the dungeons as the Slytherins don't take kindly to others intruding even ravens, so with the feast, it was a good opportunity to have a look around down there. So it was a wrong place wrong time kind of thing" the boy lied easily "Although it is a mystery how not one but two trolls got into the castle, foul play perhaps?"

"You are a very perceptive young man, just like your father...yes I fear there is something more going on in these very walls and your actions last night more than likely caught their attention and they may target you now." the headmaster's voice was grave but Hadrian could tell it was an act.

"Target me? you mean they might try and kill me?" the young wizard asked with fake curiosity.

"Maybe...or recruit you. Most if not all of the school populace are aware of what you did last night and that means that soon news articles like the Daily Prophet will soon know...your attendance at this school I have for the most part kept quiet, I hoped it would come out after the first term because by then you would have built yourself a reputation as a model student if you truly are anything like your father that is. But after your actions against a troll and even slaying it news will spread quickly and with that your power will be known and as I'm sure your aware the rumours here in Hogwarts tend to become exaggerated so the one who let the creature in will likely want that power on their side."

"So what are you saying, headmaster? I leave school?" Hadrian was acting dumb but he had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"You have proven yourself well above your peers, and this foe even with your displayed power will likely underestimate you because of your age. So I would like you if this mystery person reaches out to you and asks you for your help, accept and bring me any information that could help stop whatever it is they are planning." Dumbledores voice was the most serious he had ever thought the man could use.

"I'm not sure...that sounds dangerous." the boy's voice was filled with fake fear.

"You will be compensated and I assure you it will be most rewarding." his grandfatherly smile was back in force.

"Hmm well if it will help the school then I will help"

After they spoke for another ten minutes mainly about how next time he should find a less destructive way to deal with situations in the future and how proud he was that Hadrian protected fellow students the young wizard left the headmaster to his thoughts and as he walked through the early morning corridor back to Ravenclaw tower Hadrian couldn't wipe the victorious smirk from his face.

"Let the games begin"

AN: ANOTHER CHAPTER AND A LITTLE BIT OF ACTION TO BOOT! obviously, this wasn't a typical battle that will happen in this story but it was needed. Before people point out that in canon it was one troll and in this, there was two, I know.

The reason is simply that with both Dumbledore and Hadrian watching him Quirrell most likely became paranoid and with you know who involved and that he likely is aware of Grindelwald's (older) exploits and power his son is likely not going to be some slouch.

IGNIS AUREAM MAXIMA: IGNIS AUREAM means golden flame and is an actual spell from Harry potter but its only called golden flame so I just gave it the Latin translation.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED AND PLEASE REVIEW!