It was two weeks after his birthday, the start of October a few days away, Rodrick woke up in his own dormitory, he'd been spending the last couple of days, much to his friend's annoyance and amusement, in the infirmary wing. Dumbledore had insisted on his extended stay in the hospital. Rodrick wasn't all that put out... The vision for some reason had lingering effects on him... Something simply felt off for him. He had been exempt from the classes, for the past two weeks, much to his own amusement. The headmaster had allowed him to continue his reading as long as he didn't attempt any more spells.
Remembering his birthday, a small smile found its way onto his face.
His birthday gifts varied from a multi-coloured notebook from Luna to a plack with his first name written on it to put beside his hospital bed. That one he got from Nott.
Daphne and Tracey had both decided to get him a small bag to keep his things inside. It was quite thoughtful of them... Not that he was sure he'd use it.
Malfoy got him a mask. A bloody mask. "To help you hide your face better," Were his only words.
He had received a gift from Professor Snape as well; it was a warning to stop pushing his boundaries regarding the potions lesson as well as what Rodrick assumed was a compliment regarding his progress on the Extraction spell. He wasn't sure; the wording involved the word idiotic, and Gryffindorish.
When he asked him how the potion turned out, his professor sneered. "The toad didn't die," Was all he told him.
Astoria gave him some sweets and honestly, that was the best gift out of all of them.
Remembering that day, that vision, Rodrick shuddered. He'd gotten over the implications of the vision after the second meeting with Dumbledore; it had occurred just before he was discharged from the hospital wing. It wasn't the vision itself he was worried about though, it was something else.
...(Flashback starts)...
Rodrick eyed the headmaster in front of him curiously; the man had shown up out of nowhere before asking for some privacy with him. He watched sadly as his friends left... Leaving him alone with the old wizard.
"How are you feeling?" Albus Dumbledore asked the twinkle in his eye seemed to dim somewhat.
"Better," Rodrick replied, looking down towards his hand, however, he felt his eyes drop a little. His hand still shook for some reason.
The headmaster's gaze followed Rodrick's own before he saw the shaking head.
"That will stop on its own... The memory whilst hidden away is still fresh, no doubt it is still affecting you,"
Rodrick nodded before raising his eyes to meet the headmasters, a small smile taking hold on his face. "I was successful you know, with Extraction,"
"Indeed, I heard from your head of house... It is truly difficult magic... I knew you had talent but even I was surprised to hear it..." The headmaster spoke, his eyes twinkled with a new light. The level of magic the boy displayed at his age hadn't been seen in a very long time...
The smile on Rodrick's face only grew, looking back down he asked an uneasy question.
"What was he like? Vol-Tom Riddle, in Hogwarts... Was he simil-" Rodrick stopped himself.
The headmaster's gaze didn't shift; he knew what the boy was asking.
"He had potential, quite a lot of it. In that regard, he may have been similar to you. However, you both took on different aspects," Dumbledore finished, a small glow in his eyes as he stared down at his old friend's grandson.
"Aspects?" Rodrick questioned curiously.
"The magic Tom sought... Was a lot darker than you, he was more interested in curses while you followed the more experimental side,"
Rodrick looked down again raising the headmaster's curiosity. "I didn't need to look for curses... I knew enough before even coming here," he spoke quietly.
Dumbledore eyed the boy impassively, "Your grandfather?" He questioned.
Rodrick nodded, unsure of what to say.
"Even then, it seems your interests lie in the more unconventional magic,"
"Unconventional?" Rodrick questioned.
"Magic extraction is available through Alchemy," The headmaster stated, "Yet you sought to do it through spellcasting, which quite remarkably you managed although, the timing is quite interesting,"
Rodrick nodded at that, "I am guessing it only worked because it was a special day regarding me..."
The headmaster agreed to that, there was a small smile of amusement on his face, "I am not entirely sure the results are worth it,"
Rodrick chuckled, "Yea I didn't expect it to be so draining,"
"I am still intrigued as to why you sought to attempt it in the first place when more stable means were available?" The headmaster ask.
Rodrick's face took on a thoughtful expression as he tried to find a way to explain his reasoning.
"The alchemy method involves quite a lot of burning making it quite difficult to use effectively on most things,"
"Such as? Most Magical Extraction is used on charmed object or cursed objects, things that can be protected against fire,"
"What about a living being?" Rodrick questioned.
Albus eyes widened slightly, "Why would you want to use that magic on someone living?" His eyes slowly wandered over to the boy's arm, curious if it was that, he hoped it wasn't, he knew it wouldn't be possible to fix a curse of that magnitude.
Rodrick looked away, "My friend's cursed... I can't exactly use alchemy on her unless I wanted to burn he,r"
Understanding seeped through the headmaster, he was told beforehand of the person in question by her parents...
"You want to use that magic to get rid of it?" The headmaster asked, his brows furrowed. "That is extremely dangerous... That curse would need a new catalyst, a living catalyst, if it is removed from the girl,"
Rodrick nodded, surprising the old wizard. He quickly raised his arm, "This curse, it'll take in and destroy any magic it comes into contact with."
Albus' eyes widened, slowly examining the arm... Yes, it made sense, he remembered how magic had interacted with it before... They'd assumed it was simply repelling it.
"Take it in?" Dumbledore asked curiously; there was a worried glint in his eyes.
Rodrick shrugged, "Temporarily, the curse on my arm doesn't like sharing space with something else." There was an amused smile on his face.
Albus sighed, "I doubt you'll listen if I told you it would be a bad idea to attempt it?"
Rodrick grinned, "You could oversee it when I try it out later,"
Albus' raised an eyebrow, "You plan to do it soon?" Yes if he oversaw it... Perhaps it would be safer.
Rodrick nodded, "If Friday taught me anything, I need to wait for when my magic is stronger I suppose,"
Albus' sighed, "You chose Arithmancy didn't you?"
Rodrick let out a small laugh at that before he confirmed it.
"I do not think it is safe to try it out so soon," The headmaster warned.
"I was planning to test it on something else first... Maybe Christmas, you can oversee that as well... If you want."
Albus' raised an eyebrow at that before agreeing. "I will make some arrangements for that then,"
The two set into a small silence following that.
Rodrick sighed, "I suppose there's no point in avoiding the main issue..."
Albus chuckled, "And what issue is that?" The headmaster asked, amusement lining his face.
Rodrick shook his head, trying to hide his expression "The vision,"..."So do you have any idea what it was about?"
Albus nodded slightly, "I am not entirely convinced... But I believe that it was meant to show you the victims of the dark lord,"
Rodrick nodded somberly, remembering the last victim. He quickly raised his head, however.
"Why aren't you convinced?"
Albus Dumbledore cut of his gaze slightly, his mind remembering two particular students. "There were two people shown that didn't make much sense," The headmaster started, he saw the intrigued gaze on the boy's face, "One of them is the current Azkaban escapee, Sirius Black,"
Rodrick's eyes widened slightly, "But isn't he a death eater?"
Albus nodded, "That is the strange part. I do not see why the dark lord would want to kill him,"
Rodrick nodded slightly, "And the other?"
"Peter Pettigrew, someone who by all accounts should already be dead, murdered by Sirius Black,"
Rodrick relaxed back into his pillow, "What does it mean... exactly?"
Albus looked away unsure of the answer, "It is only a vision... A vision that happened to occur on a day well known for its... Unpleasantries." He turned and found a worried look on the boy's face. "Remember Rodrick, They are only visions, it is not a prophecy,"
Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, "What's the difference?"
Albus' smiled, "Visions, as you should already know, can be changed,"
...(Flashback ends)...
Walking down to the great hall Rodrick sighed again, he knew he wouldn't find any of his classmates waiting for him there, they were all currently in a potions lesson. It gave him time to worry about how he was going to explain his behaviour to his grandfather when he next saw him... He hadn't seen him since the vision, yet he still hadn't thought of a good way to explain his actions... They were all pathetic.
Reaching the Great hall he searched it out, finding no Slytherin's sight he plopped down on the table, watching as several pieces of toast appeared in front of him. As he reached for it, however, he felt two familiar arms fling themselves over his shoulder.
"Hello, twins," Rodrick started, not even bothering to turn to them.
"We must be-"
The first one started before Rodrick put his hand up.
"If you talk like that, you will see no cooperation from me what so ever," He pointed out.
"Well, aren't you in a bad mood," The right twin spoke, amused.
Rodrick rolled his eyes before he reached for the piece of toast, the twins moving away to give him the room to eat.
"So what can I do for you?" Rodrick asked, taking a bite.
The left twin spoke first, "We heard about what you did in potions."
"We were interested if you could use that magic to help us," The second twin finished.
Rodrick raised an interested eyebrow at that, "What magic exactly?" He asked curiously.
"Why the magic extracting one," The right twin spoke amiably.
"What did you have in mind?" Rodrick followed with a question, Toast forgotten.
"You see young snake," Right spoke up.
"We have a brother," Left added.
"Who could use a little extracting," Right joked.
"Good one Fred," Left remarked.
Rodrick turning to the left one, "What are you referring to, Fred was it?"
The left twin stared incredulously at the Slytherin, "I called him Fred," He spoke, a finger pointed to the other side.
"Which makes you Fred," Rodrick retorted, a small smile on his face.
The two twins frowned.
"Hey Fred, I am starting to think this Slytherin might be a real Slytherin," The right one spoke out.
Rodrick rolled his eyes.
The twins shrugged, before George spoke up, "We want you to extract the stick up his arse," he remarked as he pointed towards another Weasley, the head boy for that matter, sitting at the Gryffindor table.
Rodrick coughed out a few pieces at that, barely able to hold his laughter. "Wrong time to say that,"
The twins laughed.
"I'll think about it," Rodrick added on amused.
The twins seemingly satisfied got up and made to leave before George turned around, "Where do we stand on that Invisibility charm?"
Rodrick raised an eyebrow at them, "Not happening," he answered, to their disappointment.
"..."
"Ah well, we can try next time, ay Forge?"
"Too right Gred,"
Rodrick shook his head before he turned his attention back to his food.
Later that day, after the Potion's class had finished, Rodrick waited outside the door, disillusioned, for his friends to show up. The first out was Daphne, unaccompanied by anyone.
A small grin took over Rodrick's face as he grabbed the girl and pulled her into the invisible charm.
A small yelp came out of her before she saw who was responsible.
"Rodrick! you're finally out," She spoke cheerfully before she quickly grabbed him into a hug.
"You act like I was in danger," Rodrick remarked. Before he made his way outside.
"The others?" Daphne pointed out.
Rodrick shrugged, "Meet them later, come on,"
It was a moment later before the girl agreed and followed him out.
Rodrick stared at her arm for a moment, contemplating something.
"Yes?"
He shrugged and looped his through hers.
Daphne blinked, "Are you ok?"
Rodrick nodded.
"Alright then..." She whispered with a smile. A smile on her face dimmed slightly remembering the birthday, "Not the best birthday huh?"
Rodrick stared at the girl, "It wasn't that bad really, I had you there at least,"
Daphne smiled, "Yeah I suppose friends do help sometimes"
Rodrick shook his head slightly, "Yea... Right everyone else as well I suppose" he remarked, a small grin on his face, he could see the girl slowly redden before she huffed.
"I am glad to see your back to normal," she spoke uncertain, she could feel his arm shake slightly.
"Apparently it should go soon," Rodrick shrugged leading the girl outside.
There was a small silence as Daphne eyed the surroundings wondering where they were going before she saw the tree by the lake, she could feel a small smile frame her face.
"Haven't been here in a while," Rodrick remarked.
Daphne chuckled, "We passed this area on the first day, remember?"
"I meant just you and me" Rodrick pointed out, sitting down against the tree. Daphne made to sit beside him before she felt his arms pull her into his lap.
"R-Rodrick!" she spoke out quickly.
"We're under a disillusionment charm," he pointed out, a rueful smile on his face.
"That's not the point you dolt," she remarked playfully, still haven't made a move to change.
"You don't seem to mind, besides I was under-"
She rolled her eyes before she relaxed against him.
"Ok, no longer under any impression."
"That's not the problem... your acting strange,"
Rodrick raised an eyebrow; he could feel the girl's hair brush against his face. "You said I was back to normal..."
"You're not usually this forward, In fact, I thought you detested this sort of thing..." she pointed out.
Rodrick blinked, "Really? what gave you that idea?"
daphne turned at that, bemused.
"You're joking right?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," He grinned.
Daphne stared at him, confused before she pulled him into another hug.
"Daphne, what's wrong?"
"What did you see?" She asked, letting go.
Rodrick stared at her before sighing, "Not what I expected you to say,"
Realizing his meaning, "Sorry... It's just...I am not sure you would've done that at the start of this year... I am happy, I really am... But it just seems..."
"Out of nowhere?" Rodrick questioned
Daphne nodded slightly, moving away from his lap and sitting in front of him.
"What did you see?" She repeated.
Rodrick sighed, "I saw people die," he answered.
A small look of fear passed through the girl at that, "Who did you see?" she asked fearfully.
Rodrick quickly shook his head, "It wasn't you... Or your family or friends... Don't worry"
Relief filled back onto her face, "Why are you acting like this?"
Rodrick looked down slightly, "I am happy... I didn't see you there... I don't know, I feel like something might happen... I don't want anything to happen." He wasn't sure where to go with it and settled to stare at the ground.
"Rodrick?" Daphne asked.
"I don't think I could handle it you know... If I saw any of my friends or your family... Or you" he finished as he relaxed against the tree.
"No one's going to die... Ok? it was just a nightmare... You remember what Granger said about that day."
Rodrick nodded slightly, "Curse, bad luck or death," before chuckling, "Yea that sounds like the vision alright... Still, you can't blame me if I feel like the world's going to end,"
Daphne laughed at his reaction, "You can't base everything on that... You'll miss the good things if you do"
Rodrick raised an eyebrow at her, "Really? Like what" He could slowly see the girl's face turn red.
"Like this," she spoke before she leaned in for a kiss.
Rodrick froze. 'Ok, didn't think it'd go this far,'
She pulled back just as fast.
He stared at her, unsure how to respond, he could see her face flush. A frown appeared, probably due to his lack of a reaction.
What exactly do you say at this point? Thank you?
A small grin slowly took over his own flushed face, "Good things huh...Aren't you egotistical," he joked much to the girl's exasperated face.
"You're impossible," Daphne spoke as she got up.
Rodrick laughed before he got up with her, quickly grabbing her into another hug, "Thanks," He murmured into her hair. "So," Rodrick added on, "You want to talk about that or?"
"Just keep walking Rodrick,"
"Oh... Alright, talk about it later," He shrugged.
"Maybe," she answered, an amused twinkle in her eyes.
Rodrick rolled his eyes before another thought entered his mind.
"You know?" he started.
"Yes?"
"You're a horrible kisser."
Daphne twitched. "That is not what you're supposed to say... Besides, you literally froze!"
"Didn't give me much of a chance... Besides, What did you expect me to say?" He questioned, a geniunely confused look on his face.
Daphne sighed.
"Just keep walking Rodrick..."
...
Another two weeks seemed to pass in a blur, Rodrick to his friend's surprise hadn't bothered to bring in his potions book to any of their lessons. He still felt completely off, as if something was going to happen. He couldn't focus on multiple things, hell he couldn't even focus on one thing. His Professor's had been somewhat surprised by that, although they'd just assumed that he had finished up on his studying considering the rumours. It was something his Transfiguration and Charms professor's had congratulated him on. His Potions teacher seemed happy, in that he wasn't sneering as much, to see Rodrick's full focus to his subject again, he made sure to keep Longbottom away from both, him and Granger but he hadn't bothered to threaten the boy's toad anymore.
Rodrick was 100% certain Dumbledore had something to do with that.
The fact House points seemed to start raking in again did a lot to keep the potions professor mollified.
Perhaps the most bothered by it were his friends, his closest ones. Luna and Astoria seemed to fit that description. The two were almost always around the four of them. None of them had mentioned it though; they'd kept quiet about it, no doubt for different reasons.
Blaise didn't want him to relapse back into that book addiction... It was difficult enough to deal with him with his face stuck in it for most of the day, but in lessons? That was true horror. 'Maybe he got a vision of his future if he spent his life reading books?'
Luna wasn't sure which magical creature was bothering him, she'd been on the lookout trying to discover a new creature but sadly she hadn't been successful. Her father would be proud if she did manage it.
Astoria was there because her curse wouldn't act up... He was also the only one who fed her sweets without a known limit, unlike someone who kept on worrying about something as silly as her figure, 'as if that would matter.'
Daphne knew the issue but didn't think it'd be a good idea to bring it up again.
Tracey, while not knowing the cause, followed Daphne's lead regarding it. She had however teased the girl after what happened near the black lake. 'It was so sweet!' the girl had been over-excited ever since.
"So, looking forward to tomorrow?" Tracey asked, there was a cheerful look on her face.
"I can't wait! I heard from the older years about it; I've been looking forward to going to Honeydukes for a while"
The other's stared at Daphne curiously, Rodrick was the first to speak up.
"Guess your sweet tooth's back," Much to her embarrassment.
"I meant for Astoria," The girl quickly pointed out, much to her sister's joy.
"Really?" The young Greengrass spoke up, a smile on her face.
"Sure..." Daphne remarked, "Not too much though."
Astoria huffed, "If this is about my figure again..." the girl spoke up earning snorts from the people around them.
Daphne frowned, "You should be worried about that! You don't want to end up like-"
Rodrick surprisingly interrupted her there, "The curse eats up her energy too quickly. If she slowed down her intake she'd lose weight really fast," he pointed out.
There was a startled look on Daphne's face, "Really?" Her head swept between Rodrick and Astoria.
The girl nodded vigorously at that, much to Luna's amusement.
"I guess that's fine then..." she started before she turned on Rodrick. "You need to eat more then! half your bodies cursed!"
Rodrick stared at her, trying to think of something to change her mind...
"Whose fault is that," Rodrick deadpanned accidentally.
Daphne's eyes widened slightly before they took on a dejected look as she started muttering apologies quietly to herself.
The others turned to Rodrick.
"Was that necessary?" Tracey asked, her hands crossed over her chest.
"You broke my sister," Astoria huffed, failing to hold her amusement.
"Are those Nargles?" Luna asked as she stared up.
"Well done," remarked Blaise. His laughter turned everyone's attention to him.
Rodrick moved over towards Daphne before he began patting her on the back.
"I didn't mean that..." He muttered, a wane smile on his face.
Daphne looked up towards him, "It's still true..." she pouted.
Rodrick was about to say something else before he saw the girl's lips twitch up.
His brows narrowed, "Seriously?"
"You should've seen the look on your face," Dahne remarked finally letting out a chuckle.
The two turned to the rest of their friends and found them still hounding Blaise.
"Should we tell them?" Daphne asked, amused.
"Nah, let's give them some space to torment him," Rodrick retorted, he laughed as he saw Tracey take her wand out on the boy.
"Space?" Daphne asked confused.
Rodrick grinned before he took his wand out and covered the two of them in a Disillusionment charm. He'd been doing that ever since he was released from the hospital wing.
"Ah, he's running away again," Astoria pointed out seeing the two disappear.
"He's taking your sister as well," Luna remarked.
"Oh..."... "Let's get some desserts" Spoke up the excited first year.
Luna stared at the girl for a few seconds before she agreed. "Maybe the creature likes desserts,"
The two walked away towards the Great hall.
"Don't leave me alone with this crazy b-" Blaise started, barely managing to stop himself.
"Finish. That. Sentence." Tracey spoke up dangerously, her wand glowing.
...
That night Rodrick found himself staring into a blank void. 'Here goes nothing,' he thought, trying to prepare his excuses. However, instead of the usual mirrors showing up, he found the place slowly distorting before it turned to show a strange stairway. At the top stood a large painting of a fat lady. 'Another vision?' The thought didn't sit well with him, the last one didn't exactly finish off well. He watched as the rest of his surroundings appeared. He recognized it, not from having been there but the description was similar to what he'd heard. It was the Gryffindor common room entrance, or rather the painting that one had to get through. Draco Malfoy had somehow found that out the previous year, however without the password it was rather useless.
Rodrick stood there anticipating the door to open before he sighed in disappointment, it would've been quite interesting to see what was inside. His mind however quickly wondered why he was been showed this place. When he turned around, however, he stopped in his tracks. He saw a large black dog standing in front of him, slowly moving towards the portrait.
Rodrick's eyes widened as the dog slowly transformed, turning into a haggard looking man wearing rags. Rodrick gasped as he recognized him as the Prison escapee, Sirius Black.
That was when his eyes blinked open. Sirius Black was going to be in the castle. The dream didn't say when. Rodrick cursed quietly, his mind quickly trying to figure out if he saw anything that indicated the da-
Rodrick let out a small chuckle. It should've been obvious... Every year so far, he'd had a dream just before a certain special day. He was willing to bet his entire vault that Black would make his appearance on Halloween, while everyone was at the feast.
Knowing that, he figured he could tell Dumbledore tomorrow, after returning from Hogsmeade, no need to ruin the day for everyone. A voice in the back of his head reminded him of his grandfather's words regarding Sirus Black, in that he wasn't as black he was painted, he could be even darker... Sirius Dark. That didn't sound as threatening. Nott had taken to calling him He-Who-Could-Not-Be-Contained, it didn't sit well with anyone, so no one sat with him. The boy had stopped days after starting the nickname.
Rodrick shrugged, he'll tell the headmaster and let him deal with it, it wasn't exactly his problem considering it was Gryffindor... but he found himself growing to like some of them, even if they were idiots.
Maybe that was why he'd been feeling so bad? Was it Black's impending visit to the castle?
Deep down, he, for some reason, doubted that...
...
Hogsmeade turned out to be more fun than Daphne and Tracey realized, they walked in a group of three with an irritated Rodrick following behind them, they'd been trying to get the boy to enjoy the day but he hadn't been in a good mood since the morning.
"I wonder when he'll actually bother to go inside one of these shops?" Tracey huffed. "He's literally stood outside every shop while we went in,"
Daphne gave a small smile, "I can't blame him, they didn't exactly let Blaise come with us, he came into the Three Broomsticks at least."
That was the sore point of it, Blaise had forgotten his form at home.
"Still... It's a little much isn't it?" Tracey remarked, "He barely bothered to finish his Butterbeer!" She quickly added.
Daphne smiled remembering that, the boy had barely touched it before Tracey had threatened to hex him. "I don't know, if you weren't allowed, I'd probably react the same way," she pointed out.
Tracey smiled at the sudden compliment, they turned towards the potion shop, before once again trying to get him to react to something.
"Even you can't just ignore this," Daphne spoke, a smirk slowly fitting on her face which quickly broke down as she saw his expressionless face.
"Ok, seriously what's wrong?" spoke up an annoyed Tracey.
Rodrick turned towards her, a strange look on his face before he sighed. "I am sorry... I had another vision yesterday you know... I figured it would happen on Halloween night,"
The two girls let out unladylike snorts at that, Halloween had a good history at Hogwarts.
Rodrick raised an eyebrow at them.
"You think it might be today?" Tracey asked trepidation.
Rodrick nodded, "The place was clear of students, so it could be today seeing as most of them are outside right now,"
Daphne's eyes widened slightly, "The only student's left are below third years...What happen?" she quickly asked, panic setting in, "How bad was it!?" she spoke out thinking of her sister.
Rodrick raised his hands to calm the girl down, "I don't think it involves us, mostly Gryffindors,"
"What was it?" Tracey asked, seeing the look on Daphne's face had set her on edge.
"It was Si-" Rodrick started.
"What?" Daphne huffed, annoyed at the sudden stop, when she noticed the look on his face however she stilled herself... He looked haunted.
Tracey seemed to notice as well, "Rodrick?" she called out.
Rodrick stared impassively at the window to Potions store; there was a paper stuck to it.
Daphne turned to see what Rodrick was staring at, "Is that a daily prophet clipping?" she spoke out before letting out a gasp.
Tracey turned towards it, "It's dated tod-" before she stopped herself as she read the headline. "Oh, Merlin..." she cried out.
Daphne turned back to Rodrick, a fearful look on her face. She watched as Rodrick started laughing.
He couldn't help it... The laughter just kept on oozing out, non-stop.
"I guess Granger really hit the nail on the head," Rodrick exclaimed, laughing even louder.
His hand had finally stopped shaking.
"Rodric-" Daphne tried to calm him down to no avail.
Rodrick's laughter slowly died out on its own as he stared at the headline on the paper.
'GELLERT GRINDELWALD IS DEAD'