'I take it back. This is an absolute bore.' Hadrian thought in anger. His fangs bared while clenching his fists.
It was Defense Against the Dark Arts with Gilderoy Lockhart which proved to be worse than when Professor Quirrel was the teacher.
"Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class. Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five times winner of Witch Weekly's: Most Charming Smile Award." He said with a smile that would gross any person with common sense. Which was only Hadrian, Draco, Daphne, and Ronald. "But I don't want to talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at it." His laugh was awkward and left everyone staring at him awkwardly.
Gilderoy cleared his throat as he spoke. "I see you've all got my books, good. To prove that you've read them, we're going to have a little quiz."
Hadrian cocked an eyebrow at the professor, suddenly feeling like his pride was threatened. Two papers were passed down to each desk with Hadrian looking at the test with Draco. "These questions… They're all about him?" Draco asked in quiet outrage.
"You have thirty minutes. Start!" Gilderoy announced.
"I know I can be prideful, but this is absolutely embarrassing." Hadrian said before smirking as he wrote down the answers.
After the thirty minutes were over, the tests were passed back to Gilderoy who looked them over. When he got to Hadrian's, his skin turned pale as he stared wide eyed at the vampire student. Hadrian had a smirk on his face as his burning red eyes dared the teacher to do something.
Gilderoy cleared his throat and placed it down before they went in with the lesson.
"What was that about?" Daphne asked Hadrian once they sat down at their table in the Great Hall. Venom climbed up onto the bench and began to eat the chicken that appeared on the table.
"What was what?" Hadrian asked with a tiny grin on his face.
"Oh come off it, Hadrian. We saw the way Lockhart looked at you. What was that about?" Draco said, eating a salad.
"Well I'll tell you, I had my brides dig up whatever dirt they could find. What I found was… interesting, to say the least."
"What is it?" Daphne leaned forward in interest.
"Those books published by him are false. Those achievements he prides himself on were from other witches and wizards. From what my brides have discovered, Lockhart learned about them and obliviated the witches and wizards so that they may never call him out on it." Hadrian had a grin on his face.
Both of them were shocked at how they had such a fraud as their teacher.
"How could Professor Dumbledore allow him in this school?" Daphne asked with a whisper.
"It can't be because of costs. Hogwarts can afford many things." Draco shook his head as he grabbed a salad bowl.
"Exactly. He's here for a different reason. Perhaps much like last time, he expects someone else to expose him." Hadrian said as he fished a cigarette out of his coat. He placed it in his mouth before pulling out the lighter and flicking it open. He placed the flame near the cigarette before it lit up. He closed the lighter and placed it back in his coat before taking the cigarette out and blew some smoke out.
"Dumbledore enjoys testing children with things they shouldn't be worried about, doesn't he?" Daphne said with a huff as she began sucking on a blood pop.
"Indeed." Hadrian agreed before inhaling some more smoke.
Owls began pouring into the Great Hall to deliver mail and gifts, when one owl crashed into a plate of chips at the Gryffindor table, in front of Ron Weasley. A lot of the students laughed and the owl got back up before flying away. Seamus Finnegan announced, "Look everyone! Weasley's got himself a Howler!"
Everyone anticipated what it would be about, and Neville encouraged Ron. "Go on, Ron. I ignored one from my Gran once… It was horrible."
Ron opened it with shaky hands when a shrill voice screeched.
"RONALD WEASLEY!!"
The latter began to float and take the form of a mouth with paper teeth and the ribbon as a tongue.
"HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR!! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED!! YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT!! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!!" His mother howled in Ron's face when the howler turned to Ginny and said in a soft voice, "Oh and Ginny dear. Congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud!"
The howler blew raspberries at Ron before tearing itself up into tiny pieces.
Everyone was left speechless at Ron's stupidity before Hadrian began to clap slowly. Clap… Clap… Clap… Clap… Clap… Clap…
This prompted everyone at Slytherin to begin clapping alongside each other. Soon Ravenclaw joined in and so did Hufflepuff, and finally several members from Gryffindor clapped slowly. The Weasley Twins were trying not to laugh out loud.
It was certainly a funny lunchtime that day.
August came and went quickly and it was in September when things would change.
Hadrian, Draco and Daphne were walking towards the Great Hall after a little study session for dinner. That was when Hadrian heard something.
$Death… I am on the prowl for Death.$
It was in Parseltongue, that much Hadrian knew, so it must've been a snake. But where was it coming from?
Hadrian stopped, which made the two of them stop and look at him. "You alright, Hadrian?" Draco asked.
"I heard… a voice." Hadrian said before looking at the wall to their right.
"I'm not hearing anything." Daphne said, looking at Draco if he heard it. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't hear anything either."
Hadrian hesitated before pressing his ear against the wall and could hear… hissing and slithering inside. "There's something within the walls."
The duo looked at him before Draco asked. "What is it?"
"It's… a snake."
"A snake? In the walls?" Daphne clarified.
"Yes, it sounds like… a big one. And… it's gone." Hadrian removed himself from the wall and looked back at them.
"We should maybe tell a professor about this." Daphne suggested. The trio agreed so they began their trek when Hadrian sniffed the air, smelling blood and Draco looked at the ground and saw… a ripple of red.
Draco looked up and said "Oi." This caught Hadrian and Daphne's attention when they looked up in Draco's direction.
Along the stone wall was the sentence.
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE
"What the hell…" Draco said with a hollow breath.
"It exists? The Chamber of Secrets exists?" Daphne said with widened eyes.
"Look." Hadrian pointed to a brown cat with red eyes hung on a torch. She seemed to have been frozen solid in position.
"It's Mrs. Norris. What did that to her?" Draco asked while Daphne placed a hand over her mouth.
Hadrian looked at the cat before saying, "Let's go."
Before they could begin walking away, a crowd of students formed to stare at Mrs. Norris and the bloody writing on the wall. Draco and Daphne started to grow worried that they would start accusing them of this.
Ron had a smirk on his face and was about to say something when Argus Filch pushed through the crowd. "Get out of my way! My way!"
Once he made it to the clearing, he looked horrified at the sighting of Mrs. Norris. He was on the verge of tears as he whimpered "Mrs. Norris!?" He looked at Hadrian and glared at him and accused. "You murdered my cat…"
Hadrian glared back at him. "I did no such thing. Something else attacked your cat."
"I saw you do it, filthy snake!" Ron said to which Hadrian glared at him.
"If you saw me do it, why didn't you stop me. Cease your prattle, Weasley." Hadrian growled before Filch stormed towards him and forcefully grabbed his collar.
"I'LL KILL YOU!! I'LL KILL YOU!!" Filch shouted before Hadrain grabbed his hands and twisted them to make him let go.
"You have no true power, Squib." Hadrian said before Professor Dumbledore arrived. He shouted "Enough!" And so Hadrian let go of Filch's arms and backed away. Along with Dumbledore came Snape and the rest of the teachers. They all looked horrified at the sight before Dumbledore reported. "She is not dead, Argus. Merely petrified."
"Ah thought so. It's dreadful I wasn't there in time. I know exactly the counter curse that would've saved her." Lockhart said with a smirk before it faded at the sight of Dumbledore shaking his head.
The Headmaster ordered "Everyone back to their common room. Everyone except you three." Dumbledore pointed towards Hadrian, Draco, and Daphne.
Hadrian glared at the Headmaster. He did not react to his glare as he asked, "Can I ask where you three were at the time of this attack?"
"We were in the library. We just finished a study session and were about to make our way to the Great Hall when we saw the state of Mrs. Norris. We even planned to tell you about it." Hadrian said.
"It's true, we were giving each other tips and lessons on Charms and Potions, specifically." Daphne said.
Professor Snape stepped forward, "I think it's quite clear they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. You may go now."
The trio made their way to the Slytherin Common Room where the students were conversing before seeing Hadrian and bowed their heads at him.
Hadrian sat down on his makeshift throne and placed his leg over the other and intertwined his hands together and asked, "The Chamber of Secrets… What is it?"
Daphne answered, "Legend goes it was built in secret underneath the school by Salazar Slytherin. It's said to hold his books and even a monster."
Hadrian raised his eyebrow, "A monster…"
"Father told me about his time at school, the Chamber was opened and a muggle born died." Draco said.
"Hmm…" Hadrian hummed which made Daphne ask, "Do you know something Hadrian?"
He looked around before leaning forward and said in a low voice. "I believe I know what kind of monster it is. A Basilisk."
The two of them were shocked, "A Basilisk? How is that possible? There hasn't been one in centuries." Draco said.
"But it makes sense, Salazar Slytherin left Hogwarts after a disagreement with the other Founders. If he created a monster in the Chamber, it makes sense if it was some sort of serpent-like creature." Daphne said.
"But Mrs. Norris was petrified, not killed. The Basilisk kills all who look at it." Draco argued. It was silent when Draco realized, "Unless she didn't look at it."
Hadrian smirked, happy that Draco was starting to show his intelligence.
"Exactly. The floor was shiny, as if… wet." Hadrian said, having a sliver of a clue of where the Chamber could possibly be.
"We'll look into it tomorrow, for now, let us retire." Hadrian said before getting up to go to bed.
'This year just got interesting.' Hadrian thought.
AN: Hello everyone. I hope you all feel satisfied with this chapter. Sorry I haven't been writing in this one. I was having a bit of writer's block and I can't guarantee that this means I'm back to writing chapters. I will need a bit more time to figure out this story and the direction. But I promise you all I haven't abandoned this story.