Rodrick groaned as he looked around, He took in all of his surroundings. He quickly realized he was in another dream... 'At this point I am pretty sure I've spent more time in some fantasy then I have in my actual life.'
He was definitely sure it was a dream. There was no other chance of him ever coming back to the place his mind decided to help him revisit.
He could already feel the depression slowly seep into him as he took in the familiar bleak hallway, filled with doors to rooms he was never welcomed in. Rodrick turned to face his door. The door to a room he'd had to share with a few other orphans.
'Well, I wonder what the world wants me to find out this time,' He thought amused as he went through the door that ruined his childhood.
Assuming he ever had one.
He took a good long look at the familiar surroundings, the place he'd stayed in for 11 years, the place that had sent his view of muggles down the drain.
'A memory?' Rodrick thought to himself as he took in the scene before him.
He watched idly, with a slow but definite increasing level of anger as his 4-year-old-self was bullied by his roommate... He'd repressed most of his childhood simply because there were no silver linings to remember.
As he watched the blonde 8? or was it 9? Year old pick on his younger form, Rodrick's mind wandered to what had happened to him... He furrowed his brows when he realized he couldn't even remember the boy's name... Strange... He was certain that the boy had never actually been adopted, yet he had almost no recollection of him.
His minds musing snapped when he turned his attention back to the scene, he almost laughed when he found the room completely turned upside down, that was his first run-in with accidental magic. Rodrick shook his head as he watched his younger self completely ignore the situation as if it was his imagination.
A few moments later Rodrick made to move away from the scene, however... As soon as he reached the door, something in the back of his mind just shot to the front... He turned back and found the memory occur as he remembered it... The upside down room had been reversed moments after it'd happened...
It was at that point when Rodrick realized why it had taken so long for him to start believing in magic... Why he had thought it was all in his imagination. Warily, Rodrick glanced towards the bully in question...
No reaction.
There was no reaction out of the boy. It was incomprehensible. No muggle could ignore a room being flipped over like that...
'Was it really my imagination? Has this memory been modified?' He knew the answer to both of those questions was the same... A resounding no. He remembered the incident, it was clear as crystal. Attempting to remember the bully, however, proved fruitless. He had no information regarding the boy he'd slept in the same room with for as long as he could remember.
'What is this supposed to mean?' There was something going on and for a strange reason, Rodrick found himself terrified of it. There was something seriously wrong going on here. Leaving the room Rodrick quickly made his way over to another.
Rodrick found the typically white room as he'd always remembered it. There sat on his own bed was one of the few orphans who'd gotten on with him, in that he neither bullied nor despised him. He felt dread go down his spine when he realized he couldn't remember this one either... Rodrick gulped as he waited for whatever was about to occur... He watched as his younger self, this time 7, enter the room.
This was after he'd started receiving dreams of his grandfather, dreams he had deemed his imagination.
He watched with bated breath as his younger version tried to speak to the kind orphan... He felt tense as he watched that same boy disappear as soon as the younger him turned away.
The disappearing wasn't what had freaked him out... It was the strange glint in the other orphans eyes... Rodrick closed his eyes, he made his way back to the first room and cursed. That same glint was in the blonde's eyes as well.
Rodrick was about to enter another room before he heard a knock. He turned his head towards the end of the hallway, he found the front door, a shadow on the other side. He narrowed his eyes and walked towards the door in question.
As he was about to open the door, however, something seemed to hold him back. Looking through the eyehole on the door first, Rodrick found an old looking lady standing in the doorway. He'd seen a picture of his great aunt, after finding out about her from Malfoy Snr, he quickly connected the two pictures.
Rodrick reached for the doorknob... He made to greet the elder on the other side, however...
Rodrick stood, still as a statue, feeling dread as he stared into the mirror on the other side of the door... However it wasn't his reflection that scared him, it was the woman standing behind him... The striking blonde hair that cupped a face too similar to his predecessor... Eyes hauntingly the same as his own. There was a smile on the woman's face, she proceeded to place her arms over his shoulders, in an attempt to draw him into a hug. Rodrick felt hollow as nothing seemed to connect to him, he closed his eyes as he turned around, hopeful and reopened them to see nothing...
His gaze, instead of landing on that same bleak hallway, fell into the ceiling of his room at Greengrass Manor.
...
That morning, Rodrick found himself confused, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about the dream. He didn't even know what to think of it, the only thing he really got out of it was seeing his mother for the first time... It was that reason alone that seemed to placate him...
He'd finally caught a glimpse of her... If only it wasn't on such a somber dream... if it had been her on her own, without the orphanage or his mysterious great aunt or the other orphans... It would've been the perfect dream to fall asleep into... He sighed, he knew there was something going on... Otherwise, he wouldn't have been shown everything else. He knew for certain that there was something strange... Something haunting about that orphanage but for the life of him, he simply couldn't tell or more accurately he didn't want to know. There was already too much going for him to comprehend... The list simply kept on growing.
He stared into the bathroom mirror, Rodrick quickly slapped himself alert. He was expected at the Black Manor today... He would need to deal with a lot of Gryffindors. he needed his energy for that mess. The bright side of it all was Daphne would need to suffer with him. Rodrick quickly made his way out of the bathroom, thoughts of the dream at the back of his Occulemency shielded mind.
...
As he was about to enter the fireplace leading towards the infamous Black Manor, Rodrick stilled himself. They would floo to a nearby pub where they would be picked up by their, surprisingly enough, defense professor. Cyrus had originally wanted to go with them but after some convincing, he agreed to let them go on their own, on the condition they immediately floo call back once they'd reached the manor.
"Is something the matter?" Cyrus asked, he'd noticed the boy seemed somewhat off during breakfast. His wife had tried to get him to talk about it but all they'd gotten was that it was a bad dream.
Daphne turned back at that, staring at the boy with a worried look in her eyes.
"Ah, it's nothing bad..." Rodrick started, his mind resolving itself. He should at least try.
Rodrick turned around completely, facing the Greengrass Patriarch.
Cyrus gulped down something, wondering why the boy had adopted such a tense look, was he having doubts about visiting the manor?
"I need to write a letter," Rodrick deadpanned, earning strange looks from everyone.
"To who?" asked a bewildered Daphne.
Rodrick was confused at the sudden tension, wondering where it'd come from.
"My great aunt, Bathilda Bagshot," he shrugged. He blinked when he heard the adults suddenly sigh in relief.
"I see," Roxanne remarked shaking her head at her husband.
"Is there something I don't know about?" Rodrick asked Daphne, somewhat bemused.
...
The two students floo'd to the pub opposite Black Manor, although to Rodrick's annoyance, Daphne had, as always, landed with far more dignity than him.
"Somethings even talent can't fix," there was a teasing look on Daphne's face as she spoke.
Rodrick rolled his eyes as he dusted himself off.
"I take it yous them Greengrass's then aye?" A gruff looking man spoke, a strange look on his features. They seemed to be in another room.
Rodrick stared impassively at the man, he was about to correct him, that he was in fact just a ward before Daphne cheerfully agreed to the man.
Daphne turned to Rodrick before grinning at him as she led him through the open door. Rodrick rolled his eyes but a quick glance at the man set his eyes on edge.
"Rodrick?" Daphne called out at the sudden change in the boy's face.
"Watch your eyes," Rodrick warned the leering stranger.
A hint of anger coursed through the man, he was about to put the boy in his place, however, as soon as matched the boy's eyes, he quickly recoiled.
"Me's got a Lazy eye isall," The man stammered out an excuse, there was an almost haunting look in the boy's eyes... Something about them set him on edge... Something about them was terrifying... He felt danger. Pure danger staring at the strange black haired boy. Azkaban definitely put that Black's mind to something... If he's waiting for this
Rodrick glared down at the stranger, he'd noticed a chord surrounding the man's heart... It wasn't just a white one, there were two darker toned one surrounding it, a tone of red and grey, the red and grey seemed to intertwine for some reason... It didn't take a genius to realize the meaning... White supposedly applied to every wizard, red entailed a form of a curse and grey implied the kind of curses one used. If Rodrick had to bet anything, he'd bet that he himself had all three, based on his spell use and previous adventures in any case. The man's however, well, it looked short. Very short. He was quickly brought out of his musings.
"Rodrick... Let's just go" Spoke a somewhat fearful Daphne.
Rodrick adopted a smile at the girl before he agreed and led her away, unbeknownst to him, was the short chord suddenly growing in size as he walked away.
The man had practically melted into his chair as he watched the boy walk away... He'd remembered that first war... He'd remembered what it was like working with fellow death eaters... He'd remembered that first time he was in the presence of the dark lord. Something about the boy he'd just met gave off that vibe for danger.
...
It didn't take very long before the two students found their professor at the pub, it turned out he'd been waiting for them for almost an hour.
"Hello, Rodrick, Miss. Greengrass" Remus Lupin spoke, towards his two Slytherin Students. A grateful look in his eye as he took in the one responsible for his friend's freedom.
"Hello, Professor," Daphne chirped up, smiling.
Rodrick gave his greeting somewhat slower, his mind wondering why exactly, his professor's chord seemed to have an extremely bright red chord running around a much smaller white. Even Astoria's white cord didn't look that outmatched. Exactly what kind of curse did his professor have to deal with?
The Professor raised an eyebrow at his student's before adopting a smile, "Well, Shall we?" he asked as he started to lead the two away.
"Rodrick, Are you sure you're fine?" Daphne whispered as they followed the professor.
Rodrick nodded.
Daphne didn't believe him if her rolling her eyes meant anything.
"I should warn you two..." Remus spoke up, remembering quite the important piece of information.
"Hm?" Rodrick raised his eyes towards the professor.
"Sirius has a house elf... A, well, quite the hateful one I suppose,"
Daphne blinked at that, wondering what could constitute a hateful house elf.
"Noted," Rodrick remarked absentmindedly causing his professor to shake his head, as aloof about everything as ever. It was remarkable to find a student who could look at extraordinary happenings with indifference, he still remembered the day they'd found out Sirius was innocent. Everyone was shocked, and yet he'd acted as if it was any day of the week.
"Explain," Daphne demanded, much to Lupin's amusement.
Rodrick rubbed his chin in thought before a smile took over his face, "I'd imagine he'd be like a Malfoy."
Lupin raised an eyebrow at that, 'Aren't they friends?'
"Oh... That's great..." Daphne drawled.
'I'll never understand Slytherins,' Lupin thought as he scratched the back of his head.
...
"Blood Traitor," Kreacher immediately called out as soon as Lupin walked through the door.
Daphne was the one to follow after the professor, receiving the same message in kind.
Sirius had come down the stairs, as soon as he'd noticed some of the wards, an irritating and useful function, send a jolt of a warning that some other's had entered the premises. He narrowed his eyes as soon as he heard Kreacher start insulting people, he was about to once again reprimand the useless elf, before...
Kreacher was about to speak, about to once again call out another traitor, the moment he saw who the second guest was, however, a force stopped him from uttering anything. His eyes widened, in complete shock, as he noticed the necklace around the boy's neck.
As the Black family house-elf, he was allowed access to some of the more ancient texts and artifacts, while most had disappeared over the ages, his knowledge of them remained... His heart seemed to pound louder in his head as he recognized the deathly hollow... The worst of them all.
As demanded upon by all who recognized and understood the magic that befell that artifact, Kreacher understood one very important life-saving fact. Anyone crazy enough to attempt to subjugate it was mad. If they were powerful enough not to lose their mind, they were dangerous.
Chancing a closer look... Kreacher noticed something different about the necklace, something that hadn't been mentioned in the texts... It was cursed, curses that looked centuries old, cursed to unbelievable lengths, he could feel his breath quicken... The level of blood magic that had been performed... Whoever had done it was absolutely mad, mad and without doubt extremely powerful to overpower a gift from death.
Considering the boy wearing it was still breathing... It could only mean he was related to that person... Why such a person was friendly with these blood traitors, Kreacher would never understand but he knew what was expected of him.
Sirius, Remus, and the recently joined Harry Potter stared in open shock as Kreacher, the hateful house elf, bowed towards Rodrick. An action that was neither mocking nor sarcastic.
"Welcome to the Black Manor, I am Kreacher the house elf, I will be attending to your needs," The house elf spoke the expected words of any elf serving a pureblood family. Well, at least the elves old enough to remembered the old traditions.
No matter the arrogance, no matter the power, no matter the creature. All who recognized that necklace understood its authority, its power.
All creatures respected the Hourglass Of Death.
Rodrick blinked at that before he shrugged.
"Alright,"
He walked past the confused house elf, he quickly reached Daphne who simply walked beside him, unfazed by the whole thing, as they went towards the host and lord of the manor.
"How?" Was all Sirius asked, as he stared in wonder. He'd never seen the stupid elf so flustered... He simply must know this secret.
"Hmm?" Rodrick remarked, confused.
Harry Potter was simply staring at the two Slytherins, wondering where Daphne's parents were before he facepalmed himself.
"Potter?" Rodrick questioned, while amusing, he wanted to know what could cause a Gryffindor to slap himself.
"Stupid Master should greet guests more properly..." Kreacher remarked, his eyes glazed with worry as he stared at the dangerous teen.
Remus Lupin frowned as he stared at Sirius' expression, "Sirius..." While he wouldn't use the same words, he did agree with Kreacher for once.
"Ah, right well... Hmmm, what was I supposed to say again?" Sirius muttered as he turned to stare at his godson.
Harry Potter stared at his godfather incredulously, "I don't know"
Rodrick had amusement lining his face.
"Oh right!" Sirius remarked loudly, a look of relief seemed to go over everyone at that, aside from the two guests trying hard not to laugh.
The small group of people, waited patiently for the ex Azkaban escape to start the official welcom-
"How did you make Kreacher act properly!?" Sirius asked eagerly, whatever it was, it must've been amazing.
Most of the people there groaned while Rodrick shook his head, amused. He turned his head and eyed the house elf, he was surprised to find the elf avoiding his gaze for some reason.
"Well..." he stared as he turned back, "I do know this one spell that might help you... Fix the contract so to speak... Although it does have its side effects..."
There was an almost hungry look in Sirius's eyes as heard those words, "Really?" he asked eagerly, as if he was just given quite the big birthday present.
Rodrick nodded somewhat warily, he was starting to feel slightly bad for Harry Potter at this point. "It's pretty dark though... Very dark actually..."
A frown marred Remus Lupin's face at that, 'What kind of magic did he know?'
Daphne just shook her head exasperatedly, she knew what her professor was thinking and frankly, she doubted any answer was acceptable.
Sirius mind quickly started pitting the advantages and disadvantages of the spell, chancing a look at a terrified Kreacher his mind was quickly made up.
"Tell me!" he eagerly asked.
Harry Potter was starting to understand why Dumbledore told him to keep extra care and why Remus was with them and why they were having a large gathering. Sirius could sometimes be just a tad bit immature.
"Sirius!" Remus spoke up tiredly.
"Oh it's fine, it's a pretty short incantation, Mor-" Rodrick started.
"NO!" Kreacher suddenly bellowed out. The start was all he needed to hear to know exactly which spell the boy was referring to. It quickly sent the boy up on his dangerous scale, WHY DOES HE KNOW THAT!?
"I want to know whatever it is even more now," Sirius remarked excitedly, he'd never seen Kreacher turn purple before.
"Kreacher will behave! Kreacher will behave!" Kreacher quickly spouted off.
"Well that solve's your problem," Rodrick remarked, somewhat relieved.
The other's released a sigh at that, while Sirius started pouting.
"I still think you-"
"Sirius!" Remus once again called out.
"Hmm?" Sirius turned towards his fellow marauder.
Somehow the eye signals Lupin sent Sirius seemed to give him the right message.
Sirius turned back towards Rodrick, then towards the door before his brow furrowed.
"Where are your parents?" He asked the orphan.
Harry's eyes widened, "Sirius!" he made a gesture for Rodrick to follow him away to apologize.
Daphne's eyes widened as well, wary of Rodrick's reaction.
A few moment's passed in silence before he started laughing. It took him a few moments to calm himself, Rodrick quickly started following Harry Potter. He could hear Daphne in the background explain everything to Lord Black.
"I am sorry about that," Harry Potter spoke.
Rodrick shook his head, "It was funny, honestly," he chuckled.
Harry Potter was about to say something before they heard Remus shout off Sirius name in the background.
"Wonder what he said that time," Rodrick remarked amused, he found a red-faced Daphne pacing towards them.
"Your godfather is crazy," Daphne told the boy who lived.
A few seconds passed before Harry Potter quickly nodded his agreement.
...
"I really don't see the big deal Moony," Sirius spoke up.
"You can't ask her if she's his honey, Sirius! They're 14."
Sirius rolled his eyes at that, "I was younger when I started, and why didn't anyone tell me that he was Greengrass's ward... I would've invited them as well if I'd known"
"Thank god you didn't..." Remus whispered to himself.
"Hmm? Didn't hear you there Moony," Sirius spoke up.
"I said, we figured since you sent the letter to them, you'd known," Remus quickly came up with an answer.
"I gave it to Dumbledore to give it to him" Sirius shrugged, "I didn't know where he lived "
Sirius turned around to find his House-elf still shaking, he grinned, "Kreacher, be a dear and make a nice delicious lunch for everyone to enjoy, without dobby's help," there was a mischievous glint in the marauder's eyes.
"Stupid master..." Kreacher grumbled.
Sirius' eyes glistened with mirth "If the food is in anyway not to standard of the noble and pure house of Black... Well I am sure Rodrick will be wonderful help"
The house elf's eyes widened at that before he quickly disappeared with a pop, leaving a grinning Sirius Black in his wake.
"You're a horrible person sometimes you know that?" Remus remarked shaking his head.
"I was in Azkaban!" Sirius tried to defend himself.
Remus raised an eyebrow at that before a small smile took over his face, "Remember Sophie?"
"Not Fair Moony!" Sirius muttered aghast that Remus would bring her up.
Remus had to stifle a laughter, the two started walking, "Was I supposed to mention girl's that rejected you instead?"
A confused look took over Padfoot's face, "I don't remember girl's like that..."
Remus had to control the urge to call him out on that little lie, instead, he grinned before bringing one such person up.
"Professor Grace did,"
"Hey! We promised to never speak about that unfortunate and fairly secret circumstance!"
Remus rolled his eyes, "She only rejected you... In the great hall... On Valentines day, nothing unfortunate or secretive about that"
They arrived in time to hear the other house elf meet the guests, in the kitchen, in front of most of the Weasley's that had already arrived as well as Granger.
...
"Hello, Master Grindy," Dobby remarked cheerfully to Rodrick.
Rodrick blinked at that.
"I am not going to dignify that with a response," He remarked, staring at the house elf.
Dobby's expression quickly changed into confusion, was the young master upset with him? He started fidgeting around.. He shouldn't make Harry Potter's friends uncomfortable.
Daphne broke out in laughter at the nickname, the moment of panic already gone by.
Rodrick's face twitched as he watched the girl laugh, ahead he found most of the Weasley's in his school, minus Percy and their father. Their mother was sat in the back, knitting something, next to her a large pile of sweaters, she was surrounded by what looked like two other Weasley boys although they looked old enough to be out of Hogwarts, sat next to her was a somber-looking man... There was an almost dejected look in the man's face. For a strange reason, Rodrick felt compelled to look away... The man didn't seem to comprehend the people around him. Rodrick took a glance at the sweater the mother Weasley was knitting, he found the letters 'Fabian' etched into it.
The twins did look amused about his appearance and possible nickname if their grins were anything to go by. Granger looked ecstatic to have someone else who did his homework around. Ginny wasn't sure how to feel around the boy, although she did stifle a laughter when Dobby called him Grindy.
Ron Weasley narrowed his eyes slightly, he knew the boy wasn't inherently evil, he was only an orphan after all, but still, there were things to be wary about... "Well, if it aint the Slytherin Poltergeist," he remarked.
Hermione rolled her eyes at Ronald, he'd been calling him that ever since second year.
"Slytherin-
-Poltergeist?" The twins each spoke a word, before turning to each other.
"Fitting," they finished at the same time as they stared at Gryffindor's curse.
Turning towards their brother, "Well done," they both spoke as they nodded their heads.
Molly, at that point, turned towards her youngest boy, "Now Ronald you shouldn't be calling people names like that!" she reprimanded.
"But he's responsible for us losing the house cup and the Quidditch one last year!" Ronald quickly tried to defend himself.
Molly's eyes narrowed at that, "You shouldn't blame others for not trying hard enough yourself!" she warned again, the other's were all watching this with amusement.
Rodrick grinned at that, "I mean it's not like the point difference was that bad,"
Daphne rolled her eyes before playing along, "It was only 840 right?"
Molly's face blanched as she turned towards the twins. "What exactly did you two to do last year!"
"It wasn't-
-us, we actually-
-didn't lose that-
-many points," George? or was it Fred that finished...
"I find that very hard to believe," Molly replied as she crossed her arms... Honestly if they spent some of that focus on actually studying, they could do so much better!
"Ron lost 300 points on his own," Ginny decided to add to the conversation.
Ron's eyes widened as his mother turned towards her youngest boy, a horrified look on her face.
She was about to speak before Ron quickly blurted out.
"Harry lost 400!" he spoke pointing towards his best friend.
It wasn't long before the room fell into an argument over who lost the most points. The twins looked put out for an unknown reason.
Daphne stared at the scene in open shock, she turned towards Rodrick and found the boy barely holding his laughter.
"You've been here 5 minutes," she spoke shaking her head.
"I know right," Rodrick remarked amused.
Remus Lupin and Sirius Black entered the room at that point.
"What's going on here?" Remus spoke, his voice barely going over the noise in the room.
"Turns out I am a Slytherin Poltergeist," Rodrick remarked amused, staring as Harry Potter pinned the potion making incident on Hermione.
Remus Lupin's face took on a confused expression, wondering what that meant.
Sirius however simply asked the more important question, "Slytherin huh... I wonder what a Ravenclaw Poltergeist is like?"
Daphne raised an eyebrow at that, "Isn't that a politician?"
Rodrick quickly nodded at that, "Make's sense"
"What's a Gryffindor one like?" Daphne decided to ask.
It took a second before all eyes fell on Black.
Sirius dramatically rolled his eyes, amusement and pride clearly shown on his face before he asked for the last house, "Hufflepuff?"
The four stood there in silence... Well their own silence, everyone else was still arguing, although for some reason it seemed Ginny had something stuck to her hair. Fred looked too happy.
"Probably extinct," Rodrick finished.
He started following Sirius into the room, for some strange reason, however, Rodrick felt the urge to turn his gaze... His eyes landed on a room on the other side of the hallway... 'Maybe this is what my dream was referring to...'
His eyes widened in horror when he saw the large chord emanating from the door... Completely black, it had an almost malevolent aura to it.
"Rodrick?" Daphne questioned, when she saw the boy stop in his tracks.
"Bathroom..." Rodrick remarked quietly, thinking of an excuse. He paid no attention as Sirius set off hand signatures about the directions. His attention taken over in delight by all the new stories.
"Down the hall, second door to your right" Remus added helpfully.
Rodrick nodded aimlessly as he walked away from the noisy room... His eyes set on the Darkness...