Hadrian knew that the ritual would take many hours once it began to heal the damage to his parents' minds and magical cores but he and Tomoe only needed to be there to paint the runes before simply allowing the potion to do its work. The runic circle he needed to draw on the floor using the potion was quite complex and would take a good bit of time as each circle needed to be perfect and the runes on the border needed to be in the exact location that coordinated with the design in the center. He couldn't even charm the tern feather to write them out without him as no external magic could be used here or the ritual could destroy them instead of healing them.
Harry sighed before turning around and re-entering the Magyk room to see Tomoe nearly finished draining the excess liquid from the potion. This potion was unique in the sense that the liquid separated from the thicker sludge-like potion that was used to draw the pentagram and runes while the liquid had to be drunk by the person the ritual was being performed on. Getting his parents to drink it and also draw the coordinating runes would be the easy part. The difficulties would come from the potion and ritual actually working its way through their minds and clearing away the damage and rot. It was not an easy or painless process.
"Well, no time like the present," Harry stated as cheerfully as he could to Tomoe who, as always in situations like this, looked worried for him.
" Don't be so worried Tomoe, please. I know this ritual can be difficult for some but you know it isn't for me. I've done things many times more complicated than this before." Harry said gently as he made his way to Tomoe to wrap his arms around his middle and bury his face in his chest.
Tomoe's hand came up and began stroking his hair as he looked down at his tiny love who was happily nuzzling into his chest before he sighed lightly and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on the crown of his head, taking in the delicate scent of apples mingled with the sharp bite of lightning. His little mate was powerful and he knew there would be no issues with the actual healing but he worried about what would happen after their minds were healed. Would they still hate them? Try to force him back to England to defeat their Dark Lord?
"I'm only worried because of how they've acted so far. I know they have no chance of truly forcing you but you are so soft-hearted my darling and I know that their pleas for help would get to you eventually no matter what you've said. You will never allow innocents to suffer" Tomoe said softly while continuing to stroke Hadrian's hair even though he had stiffened somewhat before he sagged again him with a gusty sigh.
Harry pulled away and tilted his head back to look up at Tomoe whose beautiful navy eyes filled with so much love just for him and he could only sigh. "I know I won't be able to stay away because you're right. No matter what I said when I was angry at them I can't just leave people to suffer when I can help but I'm definitely not just going to roll over either and let them boss me around or try and force me to do anything I don't want and even if they do I know that you'll always protect me."
With that, Harry leaned up on his tippy toes and kissed Tomoe softly before giggling and mischievously pulling his tail for a second. Tomoe growled in shock and darted out a clawed hand but Harry simply twirled out of his reach, heading for the door.
"Come on Tomoe! We've got a runic array to draw and my parents to dose!"
***Hogwarts Castle, Scotland***
Albus Dumbledore was not a happy man currently. Not only had James and Lily just left to try and secure their brat of an heir but Fawkes had disappeared as well! He also needed to deal with the Triwaized tournament. The ministry was having him take over most of the preparations as Hogwarts was the school hosting the tournament. He needed the Goblet of Fire to bind Harry to the tournament to force him to the Hogwarts come October.
Only he, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Defeater of the Dark Lord Grindlewald, Order of Merlin (first class), Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, would be able to guide young Hadrian Potter to end Voldemort once and for all. Such a pity that the rare submissive wizard would have to sacrifice his life to do so, but with the soul fragment residing in his scar there really was no choice.
If things had been different he might have even been interested in taking the pretty young thing as his bride. Up until now, he had never found anyone he considered worthy of marrying or bearing his children, but Submissive Wizards were so exceptionally powerful and that power could be transferred to their husband of choice if they performed a soul bond ceremony. The only other person he had considered was Gellert.
"If only he needn't be sacrificed for the greater good when he's seventeen… Perhaps there may be something I can do. I may even pay a visit to dear Gellert to see if he has any books that may be of use…" Albus murmured thoughtfully to himself while helping himself to some of his sherbert lemons. The undoctored ones, of course, it wouldn't do to accidentally eat any that were soaked in mild truth and will-weakening potions.
"I suppose we should begin with the tasks and there will also be the traditional Yule Ball…" Thus he despondently knuckled down to get the majority of the planning over with.
The first task would require the champion to steal a golden egg from a nest guarded by a vicious nesting mother dragon.
In the second task, they have to recover something important from the bottom of Hogwarts' lake.
The final task is to navigate a trap-filled labyrinth and collect the Triwizard Cup.
The Yule Ball, a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament, is a formal dance held on the evening of Yule (the pagan Winter solstice/Christmas celebration) of a tournament year and is opened by the tournament champions and their partners. He'd have to make sure Hadrian wouldn't be able to bring that wretched beast with him once he was forced to compete. He could just imagine the headlines! Aside from that he also needs to have the house-elves set up menus for tasting and make sure there were enough tables for all of the additional students and members of various ministries.
Just as he was finalizing the last few details, Minerva McGonagall burst into his office.
She was a tall, severe-looking witch, and her dark hair was up in a tight bun. She was wearing her usual green tartan robes though her pointed witch's hat was askew. Her cheeks were flushed and she was panting as if she had run all the way to his office and she had some parchment clutched in her hand.
"Albus! Albus have you seen today's Daily Prophet?!" She all but shrieked once she'd caught her breath.
"My dear Minerva, what on earth could have been printed that has you in such a state?" Albus asked her alarmed as he pushed aside all of the parchment regarding the Triwizard Tournament.
"It's Rita Skeeter! She's written about Hadrian Potter!" She threw the Daily Prophet onto his desk as she spoke and Albus felt all the blood drain from his face as he read the headline blaring across the front page.
"Wrong Boy-Who-Lived! Hadrian Potter recounts the night He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was defeated!"
The article then went into greater detail about how Evan had accosted Harry in Diagon Alley and how Hadrian remembered that horrible night due to a magically amplified memory. Albus' hands were trembling as he flipped through the article hastily before he sank weakly into his chair. Minerva looked at him worriedly.
"Albus is any of this true? I thought that Lily and James had sent Harry to the muggle world as he was squib?" She asked this delicately as she'd known Albus long enough to know he could lose control of his magic and cause considerable damage.
Albus sighed and looked older than he ever had before placing on a mask of sadness before speaking.
"Sadly my dear it is indeed true. He was the one to truly defeat Voldemort," He ignored her flinch at the mention of his name. "When I examined them that night after Lily floo called me it didn't occur to me that his magical core could be drained for any other reason as Lily had previously voiced several concerns of young Harry not showing any signs of accidental magic."
Albus wasn't about to tell Minerva that Lily had actually come to him several times complaining of the fact that he was actually expressing far more magic than normal and how he was too calm and quiet to be normal. How James cooed and coddled over him while ignoring her favored child, Evan whom in her eyes was much more deserving of attention and praise.
All of this of course stemmed from the adjustments he'd made to her mind and personality from the moment she stepped into Hogwarts. He had done this with many other students as well to keep things the way he liked them. He kept certain families from becoming too powerful and offered aid and influence to others as well. He was most proud of finding a spell that allowed him to limit but not destroy the fertility of witches and wizards. Being able to reduce the number of dark purebloods who didn't deserve to even be alive was wonderful.
"I'd stop the evil beings from breeding completely if it wouldn't be too suspicious." He thought grumpily to himself while completely ignoring what Minerva was saying but he quickly roused himself when he saw her face pinch as she realized he wasn't listening to her.
"I apologize, Minerva, my mind wandered for a moment because of this, What were you saying?" He asked kindly and was glad to see her face smooth out and an understanding glint to enter her eyes.
"I was just asking what was going to happen from here with Evan and Hadrian. I know Mr. Potter will not take this gracefully."
Minerva said all this in a slightly exhausted tone which caused Albus ot wince slightly. He's always brushed Evan's personality under the rug a bit as he didn't have to deal with it often, Minerva, on the other hand, did. She dealt with him and the problems he caused on a daily basis while he was in school. Lily dealt with him during the summer as James was often away on Auror business or dealing with his duties as a lord.
"This has already proven to be true Minerva. When we discovered Evan wasn't the boy who lived earlier in the summer he did not take it gracefully at all and obviously, his attack on young Harry has shown that time hasn't softened his feelings or thoughts on the matter. We are trying to have Hadrian enrolled in Hogwarts for the upcoming year but bringing him home is proving to be quite difficult." Albus intoned gravely while looking at Minerva over his half-moon spectacles.
"What can I do to help you, Albus? You know you don't need to do all of this on your own." She replied.
"I'll need your assistance this year to help reign in young Evan. He must get control of his temper and begin behaving as a young man should. He is not a child any longer."
Both Albus and Minerva sighed wearily at the amount of work this was going to take throughout the school year…