Harry Potter fulfilled his destiny, and the world is at peace. But he isn't. Hermione says he's haunted by the war. Ron has no idea. Ginny can't understand. McGonagall thinks he's still adjusting to a 'perfectly nice, normal life.' But Harry knows, he isn't haunted by the war.
He misses it.
Without it, what is his purpose? He feels at a loss. So, in search of happiness, true fulfillment, Harry turns to the Darker Arts for help. After a year of research he finds a spell intended to solve all his problems. Welcome to 1971, an alternate universe where Harry Potter doesn't exist. Hadrian Riddle, however, does. Perhaps a bit of a hastily concocted alias, but Harry Potter was willing to take it, if it meant he could leave Harry Potter behind. Hadrian Riddle was what was in front of him.
Chapter Six
The Door in the Floor
The clock struck ten with finality, and the man in the shadows paused his pacing. With a soft creak, the door which he had eyed with both trepidation and exasperation for the past hour opened.
"Please, do come in." The shadow man stepped forth-no-glided forth to the inside of the office. "I apologize for the wait time, I was catching up with an old friend."
"No apologies are necessary, I am not in too much of a rush."
"Please, seat yourself." The shadow man did. "You are not one to make calls in the dark of night, so rushed and urgent." The office man's voice lowered. "You are most certainly in a rush, so I do apologize most sincerely. Now, tell me what you wish to speak of."
A moment of heady silence coated the room before-
"Grindelwald." The office man sucked in a long, deep breath and listened intently to the shadow man's words. "Monday, I don't know how. But my sources are clear it happens Monday. My sources are not misinformed, I made sure."
"You tell me this, why?"
"Because the target is Hogwarts."
"It is impossible."
"Apparently not."
"Will you stay and aid?" Another silence laid in the room, thick and weighty.
"Of course I will. Hogwarts is my home." The office man sighed.
"I will have Madam Marron set up a room for you for the next couple of nights, Tom."
"Thank you for your consideration, Albus."
"It is not an issue." The shadow man dipped his head and walked out of the office as silently as he had came.
Unbeknownst to one Tom Marvolo Riddle and one Albus Dumbledore, down a couple of floors three first years were exploring the castle after curfew. Unbeknownst to one Tom Marvolo Riddle, one of those three shared his name and Dumbledore knew it. And Dumbeldore didn't want Tom to know it.
Unbeknownst to one Albus Dumbledore, Fate doesn't play by his rules.
"Does anyone have a clue where we are?" Sirius asked. Harry did, but he couldn't say so. Instead he was forced to walk the castle and pretend like he had no idea where they were.
"Nope!" Spoke James cheerfully. "Not an inkling! Oooh! More stairs!" Sirius and Hadrian made eye contact and mentally groaned in unison. They trudged forward with sore feet, the castle seemed to sprawl on forever.
"Come on now, dear." A motherly voice drifted from the upcoming staircase. "Just down this way, and a bit left." James froze in step, eyes wide. Sirius backed away slowly. Hadrian grabbed James' shoulder and forcefully dragged him to the wall. In the dark they waited for whoever it was to pass them by. As shoes clattered down the stone steps, the three pressed themselves against the wall even harder.
Then wind began to whistle gently in their ears- for the floor had began to move down with them on top of it, in complete silence. They still faintly heard from above as they shifted down- "Just here Tom dear, do you want help settling in?"- before they hit the bottom of the hole.
Sirius was smiling wickedly, Harry could barely see it by the faint line of torchlight from above.
"This is what I expected from Hogwarts," he whispered excitedly. "Trapdoors, secret passageways, and stuff!" James nodded fiercely in agreement.
"That's great and all," Harry shot back, "but do either of you know how to get out?" James continued to grin like an idiot.
"Nope! Not an inkling!" He said. Harry groaned and pulled out his wand. For show he whispered,
"Lumos!" A small light appeared at the tip of his holly and phoenix feather wand. He had been overjoyed to receive his old wand when he went to Ollivander's, it was like reuniting with a long lost friend.
Sirius and James looked at the wand in awe.
"You've gotta teach me that one!" They chorused in unison. Harry shushed them and began to look around the tiny space they had landed in. It seemed they were about fifteen feet down in a five foot by five foot room. He didn't see any way out, but as Harry turned a glint of silver caught his eye. He walked over closer and leaned down.
A small but intricate snake was carved into the wall, shiny and rearing its head back as if about to bite. Harry tried his luck and whispered to it in Parseltongue. Open. Nothing happened. Open for the heir of Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four. Immediately the wall faded away to reveal two sets of stairs. One going up, one going down. James and Sirius rushed over to where Harry was, and both went to go down the descending stairwell. Harry grabbed both their cloaks.
"What do you think you're doing? Up! Now!" They hung their heads in disappointment, but went up the stairs.
This staircase didn't just go to the next floor- it kept whirling upwards until the three were sure that they had trekked higher than the heavens. But finally a door appeared that let out directly across the hall from the Gryffindor portrait hole. As soon as they stepped out the door it vanished into smooth wall.
"That was amazing!" Sirius whispered with joy. "We've got to find all the other passageways in the school!"
"Then we can pop out wherever and scare people!" James said happily, a dreamy look on his face.
"Yeah!" Sirius said, or at least he meant to. Instead he yawned half way through so it came out more like Yeeeaaaahhhhh.
"We shall continue our adventures in the morning!" James said.
"You guys go on ahead," Harry said. "I have something I need to do."
He didn't know what to do. He didn't even know if it was true. But it was too much of a coincidence.
Hadrian Riddle was Tom Riddle's son.
It was the conclusion Dumbledore had come to, the most logical explanation. He would reassure the other teachers that there was no relation between the two. He didn't want anyone going around saying Tom Riddle's son had arrived at Hogwarts.
On the chance there was a relation, he would make sure the name Hadrian Riddle was not mentioned around Tom. Because if this was Tom's child, the very child that Dumbledore had been told was killed in one of Grindelwald's raids without Tom aware that it even existed, then Albus was in for trouble. Because eleven years ago he was still on good terms with Gellert Grindelwald...
...and he had planned out a raid to eradicate the Riddle line.
He had attempted to kill little Hadrian Riddle and his mother and thought he had succeeded. He of course felt guilty later, but thought it for the best. If it would be anything like Tom, he was doing the world a favor. Plus, Gelllert needed proof that Albus still sided with him. What way to better prove that then plan a raid that would be focused on killing some baby and its mother?
Dumbledore realized now all the horrifying mistakes he had made, realized how twisted and cruel the war made him. He had wanted nothing more then to start fresh and be free from the Great War still raging with Grindelwald, but then Hadrian Riddle shows up and reminds him of the horrific past deeds he had committed.
No matter what, Tom could not discover what Dumbledore had attempted all those years ago. He couldn't even discover that Hadrian was any relation of his. If he learned of the name, Albus would have to interfere. As far as Tom would ever know, Hadrian Riddle as his son does not exist.
It was for the boy's own good, really. Tom Riddle does not know of compassion, love, or caring. He would most likely ignore the child at best. At worst... well, Albus preferred not to think of that.
He sighed sadly and tiredly. He was going to have an interesting couple of days. Well, it is a big castle. Perhaps they'll never meet without any interception from me? Wishful thinking, Albus admitted to himself.