Rodrick stared at the letter he'd received, bemused. 'What the hell does this mean?' He'd finally received a letter back from Bathilda Bagshot, his great aunt. He'd sent the woman a letter in hopes of connecting with her at least. It would've been interesting to have a glimpse of his grandfather's past... He could ask Dumbledore but a small part of him told him that it would be quite biased. Of course, the reply he received wasn't what he expected at all.
"Rodrick?" he heard Roxanne's voice. So far it seemed they were the only two to be up and about downstairs. It was Christmas morning and it seemed Roxanne still had a small amount of work to do before everything's in place. Cyrus had gone out earlier on in the day for some sort of business. The girls were either sleeping, in Astoria's case, or getting ready in Daphne's.
Rodrick turned to Roxanne, a confused expression on his face. "This doesn't make sense," He remarked.
Roxanne walked over towards his side before taking a look at the letter in question. The same confused expression showed upon the woman's face. After all, the letter had explicitly told him that Bathilda Bagshot didn't have a single clue on who he was... Considering she was the one who had given him his letters and starting galleons, it really made no sense that she couldn't remember or in fact, even knew who he was.
"Are you sure it was the same woman?" Roxanne asked.
Rodrick nodded absentmindedly, his mind trying to figure out what to do with the new piece of information. He sighed again when he realised there was only one possible way to answer his questions... He needed to meet Malf- Rodrick's thought process stopped there, remembering the vision he'd had of Voldemort's return... It seemed he had more than one thing to discuss with the Malfoy Lord.
"Rodrick?" Roxanne asked, an inquisitive look in her eye.
Rodrick raised his head to meet the Greengrass woman's eyes. "I need to meet Malfoy,"
Roxanne stared at him for a few seconds before nodding, "I'll have Cyrus arrange a meeting..."
Rodrick blinked a few times at the woman's casual tone. "It's fine if I do?" he questioned.
The action seemed to make the woman laugh, "Of course it's fine," she answered chuckling.
"Really? I thought-" he stared before stopping himself, unsure of what to say.
"You thought we'd be against it?" she questioned amused.
Rodrick nodded his head slowly. "I thought your families didn't like each other?"
Roxanne had an amused look on her face, "Yes well I wouldn't say we were fond of each other much..." she spoke, slowly the woman walked towards the sofas before urging Rodrick to follow her.
Sitting down, Rodrick turned towards the woman, a curious look on his face.
"Where to begin..." Roxanne remarked.
"How about the beginning?" Rodrick offered, barely holding a straight face.
"Yes well... Let's see..." Roxanne remarked rather slowly.
Rodrick raised an eyebrow, waiting.
"You see, the two families, in this case, Cyrus's father and Lucius's. They both started Hogwarts at the same time, the two were both sorted into Slytherin and a friendship came out of it," Roxanne remarked, a twinkle in her eye.
Rodrick's mouth had dropped at the words, he couldn't see how the two families could get along, let alone become friends.
"I am sure you know that our family had refrained from entering the last war?"
Rodrick nodded his head at the question, Greengrass was famous for staying neutral... It was then Rodrick had found a question.
"How many families stayed neutral?" Rodrick questioned.
The shadow of a smile showed up on the woman's face. "More then you realise,"
Rodrick's gaze didn't budge, "How many are still alive to this day?"
"Less than right..." Roxanne remarked, waiting for the boy to make the connections.
"Abraxas Malfoy... I believe that was the man's name. He asked Voldemort to ignore your family, didn't he?"
Roxanne nodded, the smile on her face more visible. "Yes the man had given us his protection, he had been apart of the inner circle, one of the more influential ones. He gave my family and Cyrus's the protection to stay neutral."
Rodrick nodded at that, it explained things more.
"My husband and Lord Malfoy had grown up under that friendship, they never did manage to replicate it, this day its more of a rivalry really" Roxanne chuckled, "But even then, thanks to the man's father, our family had managed to avoid the war. Of course, it went both ways, while Abraxas didn't want to fight his friend, Lord Greengrass was even less likely to fight his friend."
"And so he chose to stay neutral..." Rodrick remarked... He wondered if they could get the same protection for the second time Voldemort returned, he knew it would put him at ease if they weren't in any danger.
"Perhaps it might be better if you met Malfoy at his dinner party," Roxanne added on.
Rodrick raised an eyebrow at the idea, "What kind of party will it be?"
"A Pureblood special I am afraid," Roxanne remarked amusedly.
"Will the ministry employee's be there?" Rodrick questioned, hints of a plan forming in his head, he knew Malfoy would appreciate this...
Roxanne nodded somewhat uncertain.
"And Sirius Black?"
"I don't think the man plans on attending..."
Rodrick shrugged at the words, "I'll send him a letter," he finished, causing the woman to start laughing. If all three factors were at the party... Yes it would make everything go much smoother.
"So you'd like to attend?" Roxanne questioned.
Rodrick nodded, "When will it be?"
"A couple days from now," Roxanne answered.
The two fell into a short silence before Roxanne broke it again, once again noticing the same worried look on the boy's had caught her attention.
"Is there something worrying you?" she questioned.
Rodrick shook his head, "It's Christmas, I need to visit the headmaster's office,"
Roxanne raised an eyebrow at the words.
"I want to test it, the magical extraction,"
Understanding dawned on the woman's face, "You know," the woman started, however, the words simply couldn't come out, she was torn between the boy helping cure her daughter and the idea of what would happen should he make a mistake.
Rodrick seemed to notice the look if him shaking his head meant anything.
"I've spent the last who knows how many months trying this! The idea of a little danger stopping me now is unheard of!" he remarked before falling into laughter, "Merlin, I am turning into a Gryffindor,"
Roxanne brought him into a hug.
"You don't need to do everything by yourself," she remarked to the surprised boy, moving back she grabbed his shoulders, "Your the ward remember," she remarked chuckling, "We're here to help you, not the other way round,"
"Is that an excuse to keep paying for everything?" Rodrick questioned, causing the woman to smile, feigning innocence.
The smile seemed to leave him speechless.
"Thank you..." he'd settled on at the end.
...
Dumbledore watched as the Slytherin Menace flood through the fireplace into his office, a grin on his face. He sighed, knowing the boy had every attention of attempting the extraction. He made no reaction to his Phoenix bowing its head towards the Grindelwald heir, he did take note of the fact the boy was still wearing the necklace, the supposed... Or rather definite at this point, fourth hollow. It took a lot of willpower for the headmaster to simply ignore its existence... Everything he'd ever read about the hollows was slowly turning out to be minuscule... Just what exactly had Gellert been planning all those years ago... A question he sadly will never know the answer to.
"Good morning Rodrick." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, once again amusement hitting his face as he watched the boy casually plop a sweet into his mouth, 'Like Grandfather like Grandson,' he thought to himself, it was there he remembered that his mother had had the same liking to sweets.
"I am sure you know why I am here," Rodrick remarked.
"I am, however before you do attempt that, I must ask you to show me what you saw at the Black home," Dumbledore asked, there was an edge to the man's voice.
"Straight to the point," Rodrick remarked, a smile on his face.
"Yes well, I figured you'd rather not beat around the bush considering it's Christmas," Dumbledore remarked.
Rodrick nodded quickly, "Indeed I have present's waiting for me at home,"
"You call the Greengrass Manor your home?" Dumbledore questioned, the same twinkle in his eye.
"I call the Greengrass family my home," Rodrick spoke back.
Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, a family is a much better home indeed,"
"Compared to an orphanage... I'd say so myself," Rodrick deadpanned.
The two ironically set into a small conversation regarding the boy's mother, it was here that he'd finally learnt his mother's name, when Dumbledore had asked him if he wanted to find out his father's name, Rodrick quickly took his wand out to take the memory. His grandfather had warned him he wouldn't like it... He wasn't for once going to ignore the said warning. Raising the wand, he slowly placed the tip of it at his temple. \I still can't believe she taught Divination of all things...'
Dumbledore watched as the boy slowly removed the memory from his head.
"This is..." Rodrick started before he shook his head.
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at the boy's face, it wasn't the first time he'd received a vision. The reaction was surprising.
Rodrick sighed, "Just watch..." he remarked before he poured the contents onto the Pensieve.
Dumbledore watched the content's whirl before the two both dipped their heads in.
Rodrick felt himself grow wary as he watched the memory play through, turning towards the headmaster he found a shocked look on his face.
"This is... How are you interacting with Harry!?" Dumbledore questioned, clear signs of worry in his eyes...
Rodrick shook his head, "I have no idea... lo-" Rodrick was about to tell the headmaster to take a look at Harry Potter's clothing before his mind stopped itself... He turned towards himself... Worry quickly took over as he'd realised that he was wearing the exact same clothing. 'Well, that's just perfect...'
"Why does young Harry believe you can apparate?" Dumbledore questioned as he watched the vision played through.
Before Rodrick could answer, however, the area was quickly covered in malevolent magic.
"Tom..." Dumbledore whispered as he watched the dark lord. Surprise and shock emanating from the old man's face. It seemed the sight of young Grindelwald had sent the man into a rage... Or perhaps it was the magic surrounding the boy's eyes? Dumbledore shook his head at the thought, no it was no doubt the boy's face... Voldemort for a strange reason seemed to recognise Rodrick... Not just recognise but seemed to have a personal vendetta against him... It wasn't easy to get that out of Tom... Dumbledore watched as Voldemort struck down Harry Potter and then the vision ended.
"That... I need time to process this..."
Rodrick nodded, "I agree," he managed a weak smile.
"You said you made a contract with death? and that we no longer needed to worry about Harry Potter's Horcrux?" Dumbledore remarked, he was still to this day surprised that they'd managed to take out 3 Horcrux's already, The Black Horcrux was especially surprising... He had never considered it to be there... He'd spoken to Kreacher the house elf about it, apparently, Sirius's younger brother had stolen it and attempted to destroy it, the poor boy must've believed it to be the only Horcrux, he'd found it inside a strange cursed cave. Kreacher had explained how the young master had replaced it with a fake... The thought of going through the horrors of that place only to find a fake Horcrux... The idea unsettled Dumbledore greatly... Something about the words he'd heard seemed to haunt him... Really it just showed how truly insane Voldemort was... He had no doubt the man had more.
"You remember my Grandfather's death?" Rodrick questioned, barely suppressing his emotions.
Dumbledore nodded, "The same happened with young Harry... Only you were able to save him,"
Rodrick nodded absentmindedly, "Yes... I can't take the memory to show you but I will say the contract I made revolves around returning the hollows to their home, in exchange Harry keeps his life and link to Horcruxes... But is no longer one."
"Home?" Dumbledore questioned, once again seeing just how much he truly understood, the ideas of Hollows having a home? that made almost no sense...
"I was told to find all the answers in a book..."
"The book?" Dumbledore questioned.
"I saw what kind of pages there were... The titles..." Rodrick stopped there. "My grandfather was right... The book is a horror"
Dumbledore's curiosity was slowly going out of hand, he quickly shook the thoughts away, 'Another time,'
"You said Harry keeps his link? Is there a particular reason you included that?"
Rodrick nodded his head, "I think the link between them could be used to find the other Horcruxs,"
Understanding quickly filled the headmaster up, "Yes that is perhaps for the best..." he did sigh in relief knowing that Harry Potter was no longer in danger of dying... "How long do you have?"
Rodrick shook his head, "No real limit, I'd made it clear I'd only start pursuing the contract goals after Voldemort was dealt with."
Dumbledore nodded again, "A good choice,"
"So... What do we do about Voldemort?" Rodrick questioned.
"You were right in thinking that he may return next year..."
Rodrick raised an eyebrow at the words, "What makes you say that?"
"Because from the looks of it, it will be during the Triwizard tournament, a tournament that Hogwarts will be hosting for your fourth year,"
Rodrick's eyes widened at the words, "You can't stop it?" He asked, perhaps they could avoid it if the tournament never happened.
"The board would never agree, too much work has gone into it as it is. Though I am confused about one thing,"
"Hmm?" Rodrick blinked.
"From what I saw, I believe both you and Harry will be participating... Which frankly makes no sense considering it's only one person per a school," There were hints of amusement at the man's voice, no doubt Rodrick must've had a hand in the picking... Future one at any case from what he'd seen.
"Do you think I should avoid it? The tournament?" He'd heard about it from Gellert, his grandfather had drilled it into him to always take the chance to show the world his worth...
Dumbledore stared at the boy, that was perhaps the most important question... It was too late to cancel such an event, the opportunity to host the famous Tri-wizard tournament was not something they could ignore... without his seat as Chief Warlock the level of influence he had was far less. And so it really depended on whether Rodrick should even attempt it in the first place...
"For starters, how you manage to even participate is a question in itself, the fact is the tournament is made for those who have already come of age."
Rodrick shrugged, "I'd probably manage to go past an age limit," He remarked amused before the situation really fell into place... Voldemort may return in the next year... That was a level a of stress he wasn't looking forward to...
"No doubt..." This was it... Dumbledore knew if he'd asked the boy to avoid it, he very well might listen... However... The old man sighed.
Rodrick had a wane smile on his face, "You want me to participate" it was no question.
Dumbledore nodded anyway. "You are perhaps the most promising student currently at Hogwarts," 'Perhaps even in History, I certainly don't remember performing Human Transfiguration at 11... Then again my Grandfather didn't start war,' "If Voldemort is truly returning, you are the most likely to survive an encounter,"
"And Harry?" Rodrick questioned.
"I can trust you to keep him alive if recent happenings are any indication. Of course, the better question is how the both of you would even manage to enter, I would much rather Harry didn't put himself in danger..."
Rodrick raised an eyebrow, "And it's fine for me?"
Dumbledore levelled a stare at the boy, "You are a talented wizard... You would be hard-pressed to find anyone, dead or alive, who wouldn't see that. If there will be danger involved with the tournament, danger that can't be stopped...Then it's best that you are the one who has to deal with it, I am sure you realise that anyone else will no doubt break under that pressure, I have no doubt in your abilities to overcome it... of course if a good solution shows itself, I don't need to tell you to take it, you are a Slytherin,"
Rodrick nodded along, speechless at the man's praise.
...
The two had settled into a small silence before Rodrick had once again taken hold of his wand, he reached into a robe pocket to pull out the test subject for the day, the same phoenix feather Fawkes had gifted him with. He was amused to see the bird tilt it's head at the action. He took in a large breath.
Dumbledore watched with an inquisitive look as Rodrick cast of one of the most difficult spells in history, wide-eyed as the boy slowly extracted the essence? Or magic? Out of the Phoenix Feather. The feather was currently levitating in midair, a small globe of magic surrounded it as Rodrick slowly but surely extracted out it's core. 'Incredible,' Dumbledore couldn't help the thought, the level of magic being performed was truly remarkable... 'To think he's only 14...' Who knows what the boy would accomplish when he comes of age... Or even before, he already had a rap sheet of doing the impossible.
Small drops of magic slowly came out of the feather, it had an orange tint to it, no doubt due to where it came from. Dumbledore watched as Rodrick slowly levitated a flask near it and quickly fill it up in Phoenix essence? He really couldn't find a word for what the boy had managed to, in a sense, discover... The possibilities the flask currently being filled up could be used for was almost endless... Of course, the fact that it could only be acquired through Magic Extraction outside of alchemy and the fact that there was only one person currently alive capable of doing it made it extremely rare... The boy could very well sell the flask for an unearthly amount of galleons... Considering the boy's personality, however, Dumbledore chuckled. He would never willingly give up such a rare ingredient. Whenever he'd spoken to Snape about the boy, the main subject was always surrounding his competency at Potions... It seemed the ex Death eater had a soft spot for the Grindelwald heir.
Ironically it seemed his Transfiguration professor had similar views surrounding his talent at Transfiguration... The combination of the two was truly remarkable. It had finally given the two rival head of houses something in common with each other.
"Screech"
"Not now Fawkes," Dumbledore frowned.
Rodrick almost lost concentration at the headmaster's ability to speak chicke- Phoenix.
...
It was an hour later before a haggard-looking Rodrick came out of the Greengrass fireplace, he was greeted by the entire family there.
"Rodrick!" He heard Astoria's voice call out to him, putting in place a smile Rodrick quickly patted the girl on the head before he was pulled into a hug by the girl's sister.
"Merry Christmas," the rest of the family seemed to watch the scene with a smile. Letting go a flustered Daphne gave the boy a grin, "Guess who's coming!"
Rodrick raised an eyebrow at the girl, "Who?"
"Tracey and Blaize, their parents gave the ok and Blaize finally found his letter!"
Rodrick stared at the girl before turning towards her parents.
"Yes?" Roxanne remarked, staring at the boy bemused. She'd figured he'd be happy about the news.
"Do any of you have a history book I can give Blaize?"