Hadrian had just started his third year at Riddale, and he loved it. He had met his best friend on his first day, Blaise Zabini was also a wizard, his mother worked away a lot, which meant that Blaise also stayed at the school over summer, although his Mother did visit every other weekend. Blaise was about an inch shorter than Hadrian and had olive coloured skin, Blaise had Dark brown hair and eyes, he made for a striking picture and he and Hadrian had hit it off right away. Hadrian was the top in all his classes, he loved to learn, however he also tended to get a lot of detentions. He wasn't rude to teachers, however he did make it known if he didn't agree with something. He also was very gung hoe in sticking up for his friends, which tended to be problematic as Blaise could annoy people, as he had no filter. Doctor Craven was Hadrian's personal tutor and half the time he didn't know what to do with the boy, it was obvious from his behaviour at the beginning of first year that he had been badly abused, however when questioned about it Hadrian just said that it was being dealt with. It was also strange that Hadrian had not had any visitors since he had been at Riddale. Craven just brushed it off and tried to help Hadrian as much as he could, as a school Riddale was quite pleased with Hadrian, if only he could control his temper outside of the classroom.
Currently Hadrian was riding Celsus through the forest that surrounded Riddale, he loved riding, it felt so natural and he felt so free, he and Blaise spent a lot of their free time riding, however this weekend was one where Blaise's Mum Loretta was visiting, she always invited Hadrian to join them as she knew his parents, however Hadrian often refused feeling that Blaise deserved this time alone with his Mum. Most of his other friends Silas, Fritz, Samuel and Joshua went home every weekend, none of them were wizards but Hadrian was close to all of them. Hadrian pushed Celsus hard jumping over fallen trees and large dikes, he had been out here three hours already and he needed to head back to the stables if he didn't want Dr Craven on his back. As he slowed Celsus to a walk outside the stable he saw Dr Craven walking down from the school with a tall man with shoulder length Black glossy hair wearing a black jumper and black jeans. Hadrian shrugged it off swiftly dismounting Celsus and relieving him of his tackle. Hadrian had grown in the last two years and now stood at 50.6" and weighed around 50lb's he was tall for his age but exceptionally lithe and packed with muscle from all of the sports that Riddale encouraged. Today Hadrian was dressed in and old pair of Henley blue skinny jeans that were faded, a white t-shirt and an old grey cashmere jumper with his ankle-riding boots. As he stood and fed Celsus an apple he shed the jumper, it was the tenth of September and still pretty warm, Hadrian was sweating from his ride and rubbed the jumper over his hair trying to get rid of some of the sweat.
Severus Snape-Prince was still in shock, two days ago he had been called into Gringotts, once there he had been told that he had several obliviates that pertained to some important information and that someone had paid to have them removed. Severus had agreed and the goblin healer had put him to sleep. Three hours later when he woke up Severus Snape was livid, how could Dumbledore do that? Where was Hadrian? Where was Tom? God Padfoot and Bellatrix were innocent and in Azkaban what were they going to do? His memories had revealed that he had in sixth year made friends with the Marauders after they had apologised to him. James and Lily had made him Hadrian's Godfather, and that Dumbledore had in fact murdered Lily and James and had managed to send Tom into a Spirit form when he had tried to protect Hadrian. He had asked the Goblins about Hadrian and found that just over two years ago the child had been to Gringotts and had started at a private school to get away from his abusive relatives. Severus felt like screaming when he found out what Dumbledore and those beasts had done to his precious Godson. He had wanted to leave then and there to go and see Hadrian, however he was informed that the children were only allowed visitors at the weekends. The Goblins then proceeded to tell him that his grandfather had not disowned him and that he was in fact Lord Prince. Severus had gone home and fallen straight to sleep dreaming of his Godson.
Now it was Saturday and Severus had just arrived at Riddale, he looked around and felt satisfied that Hadrian was at least in a safe place away from the Dursleys. He made his way to the reception, "Hello I'm Severus Prince I'm here to see my Godson Hadrian Potter." The woman was just about to call someone to fetch Hadrian when Severus said "Actually before you do that could I talk to someone about his progress?"
The woman nodded "Of course let me see if Dr Craven is free, he is Hadrian's personal tutor." The woman picked up the phone and dialled the extension "Hello Dr Craven, I have a Severus Prince here to see Hadrian, however he would like to talk to someone about Hadrian's progress." There was a pause as the person on the phone responded, "Okay then I will bring him up, do you want me to get a spot on Hadrian's location?" The person on the phone replied and the woman agreed before hanging up "If you will follow me Mr Prince, I will take you to Dr Craven." Severus was led up through the old manor, and he saw children of all different ages running through corridors, they travelled right up to the top of the manor "All the Professor's offices are on this floor." She led him to the end office and knocked on the door before opening it "Dr Craven I have Severus Prince for you." The woman then left leaving Severus with a middle aged man with golden blonde hair, the man was handsome, 6ft4" he was a bit taller than Severus and the man was incredibly lithe and dressed in a grey charcoal suit with a white shirt and a purple tie.
"Do sit down Mr Prince, would you like a tea or coffee?" the man asked after firmly shaking Severus' hand. After the initial pleasantries Dr Craven started to speak of Hadrian. "Here at Riddale the children work at there own pace through the curriculum. We believe that by the time Hadrian leaves Riddale at age eleven he will have university degrees in at least two subjects." At this Severus very nearly gaped, just how clever was Hadrian? "Hadrian also enjoys sports, he is the captain of the under eight football team and he has won every riding competition he has entered, he also enjoys fencing and tennis. Hadrian is very respectful to teachers, however he can become quite bored in class if we do not keep him on the right track, he can become disruptive in class if he has been allowed to slack on his work, because as clever as he is Hadrian is also only seven an he is still ruled by his emotions. Hadrian's best friend is Blaise Zabini and together they lead a group of four other boys, Silas Montgomery, Fritz Goman, Samuel Goddrey and Joshua Sever. As a group they get on well with Hadrian and Blaise spending most of their time together." It was only then that Severus recognised the name Zabini, they were a prominent family in the wizarding world and Lorelle Zabini had been quite close to Lily. "Hadrian gets in trouble quite a lot only because he is very protective of his friends. Blaise can be quite extroverted and this can rub other students up the wrong way especially the older ones, Hadrian is often very vocal in his defence of his friends. I don't know what you know of Hadrian's home situation, however a lot of staff have suspected abuse, I have not pushed Hadrian on this matter because he never goes home anymore, however when he leaves the school in a few years I might need to reconsider."
Severus interrupted at this point "I will be taking over Hadrian's guardianship I the very near future." Dr Craven looked surprised at this but brushed it aside for now.
"Okay then, would you like to see Hadrian now?" Severus nodded "Okay then let me see if I can find him, "All the children at Riddale are given a watch when they arrive, it contains a tracker, we have such large grounds that it would be easy for them to get lost, also at the weekends they have free rein as long as they follow the school rules, I usually spend a lot of my weekend with Hadrian, however I had a lot of paperwork this week so I don't know what he is up to." As he spoke, he was tapping away at his computer "Ah it seems he has been riding, he looks like he is heading to the stables, if you will wait a minute." Severus watched as the man shed his jacket and tie before undoing his top button and putting on a purple cashmere cardigan he pulled from his drawer "I try not to wear a full suit around Hadrian, he tends to go into political mode when I do, it puts him on alert which makes it exceptionally difficult to get him to talk to me." Dr Craven led Severus out of the building and onto the grounds, nodding to certain students and chastising others for running inside "At Riddale it is compulsory for students to bring a horse with them and there is a riding lesson every weekday, the children are slowed to take their horses out as long as it is not extreme weather and that it is still daylight hours and as long as they wear a helmet. Hadrian is an amazing rider if not a little over adventurous for my tastes, I think that child has given me numerous heart stopping moments. Both Hadrian and Blaise ride very well." As they neared the stables Severus saw a boy on a horse canter out of the forest before slowing to a stop outside the stables, he watched as the boy swiftly dismounted "That is Hadrian,, he looks like he has been out here for a few hours." Severus watched as his godson expertly removed the tackle from his horse before stripping out of his jumper and wiping it through his sweaty hair. I watched as he led the horse into its stable before closing the door and turning round.