...

He'd always known that his grandfather had been... Well, a dark man, he had to be. One doesn't get labeled a Dark Lord for nothing. Always known that he was responsible for a countless number of deaths, of inflicted pain and misery-

But to think that said number was in the millions? Dozen upon dozens of it at the very least-

Despite the Occulemncy he'd had magically grafted into him, a side-effect of his connection to the man, Rodrick couldn't help the shudder that racked through him.

...Muggle or not, a life should've been sacred, and yet his grandfather was the architect of a war that had devasted humanity as a whole.

The man was responsible for more than a percent, surely at the time, of the total population dying.

And possibly the most, he couldn't stop the frown from etching itself onto his face, because no word came up besides it, horrifying part was that... Was that...

He was proud of it.

Decades later and he didn't regret it at all...

And all to prove a point... All because the simple idea of equality had driven him to devastate the world.

Had he even tried other avenues? Or had he simply jumped to kickstarting the worst wars that both, the wizarding and the muggle worlds had seen?

"Rodrick."

Had he seen the destruction of the first muggle one and thought it a challenge to overcome?

Truth be told, he was absolutely terrified- Not of the man himself, even if a small part of him was starting to understand why the world had decided to throw him into prison and try and forget he ever existed, but at the fact, that he shared his blood.

The worrying thought that... That there was even the slightest chance of him turning out the same, to grow into a person that could look at human life as naught but a statistic... A pawn to push his goals.

Every time his grandfather had ever shown any pride in him, had ever remarked that he reminded him of himself when he was young- The words had used to mean so much to him, and yet now all those memories terrified him.

For all intents and purposes, Gellert Grindelwald in theory had a regular childhood- Barring his school years at any rate, and yet he had... Turned into that.

What did that say about him? Someone who shared the man's blood and yet grew up worse- Grew up with the expectations to become as great as him, grew up with Occulemncy clouding his emotions and pushing him to look at the world through naught but logic...

Would he be worse?

It said quite a bit that, despite the mental shielding, he was quite frankly having what amounted to a panic-

"What's with him?"

-attack.

He found his vision blurring, images and sound filling his head as he remembered his grandfather's glee as he reminisced of the past, memories of what he expected of him-

"Hello, earth to the orphan- Merlin, as if your status wasn't bad enough, you've decided to go deaf on all of us-"

"What!?" He snapped, his breathing labored as he raised his gaze from the textbook he'd lost focus on, his eyes locking with Malfoy's blonde hair. The boy startling as his knees for a moment seemed to buckle-

It was only then he noticed the fact every parchment, textbook and even the bedside desk itself had been pushed out of place.

Ignoring the accidental bit of magic, his Occulemency forcing him to calm down as he took in a deep breath, he locked eyes with the blonde staring at him apprehensively.

"Apologies." He barely managed to remark through strained teeth. "What did you want?" He questioned, letting out a breath as he briefly opened and closed his eyes before leaning back into the bed's pillow.

Malfoy's eyes, for a moment, seemed to look away, before the boy steeled himself and promptly turned back to uncertainty.

Idly glancing past him, his gaze found a frowning Nott stood a few feet away, his hands in his pocket and a wary Blaise, the latter electing to take a few steps away from the former boy as he sat on his bed.

Malfoy let out a cough, one hidden behind a fist, his gaze steeling itself once again.

"We uh-" Nott visibly grimaced, idly shaking his head- An action Blaise seemed to find somewhat amusing, despite the wariness filling him. "-we're thinking of..." Malfoy slowed down the slightest, hints of a frown filling his face. "Pulling a prank on Potter..."

He tilted his head at that, his brain barely processing the words as he locked eyes with the blonde.

Malfoy, though he clearly wanted to, didn't look away.

"It'd be easier if you helped... Given you're aver-" Malfoy blinked once. "-good at magic..?"

Rodrick blinked once, took in a deep breath, and promptly turned his gaze back to the textbook in his hands.

"Have fun." He remarked curtly.

It was telling that Malfoy left alone- Well, with his two lackeys, while Nott let out a snort and left, and took a different direction, to the blonde's irritation.

Blaise waited a few moments before opening his mouth, his gaze locked onto him.

"What was that about?"

"...Stress." He shrugged. "Think I've been studying a little too much." The lie, as easily as it came was that much harder to believe given Blaise's raised eyebrow.

...

"Do you know why you're here?" Snape drawled, this time evidently not having something to mark as he simply stared at him.

He was currently in the professor's office, idly gazing around the... Rather drab-looking room.

In response, he simply let out a shrug as he leaned the slightest back onto his seat- The earlier day's... Overthinking finally dying down in his mind, tiredness and a desperate need to sleep filling him- A need he found himself not wanting to go through given it might lead him back to that dreamscape.

As much as he might've loved the only family he had, he wasn't sure he was in the right state of mind to interact with it.

"I am guessing someone needs some stitches?" His mouth automatically let out the joke, the words registering a moment later as a grimace filled his face.

Snape did not look amused.

"You lost control of your magic." He remarked pointedly, his gaze narrowing. "Any other first year doing the same-" The man sniffed. "-wouldn't concern me. Someone of your... experience and history-" Memories of the troll incident-filled his mind at the latter word. "-a tad more complicated." The man finished as he locked his hands together, his gaze leaning in the slightest bit. "Explain."

"Exam stress?" He questioned, a strained smile on his face.

"I've seen some of your results." The man deadpanned in response. "Try again."

He couldn't help but fidget in his seat, his mind going through random bits and pieces of his experience so far in Hogwarts.

After another moment of silence, Rodrick let out a sigh.

"It won't happen again, I... Just personal things I need to deal with, you know?"

Snape gave him an unimpressed look.

"Truth be told," The man drawled. "Any other student, and we wouldn't be having this conversation, to begin with." A single beat passed. "But like I said, your history in the castle speaks for itself- The last time you were put in a stressful situation, you attempted to use the Imperius curse."

He flinched at the words.

"So." The man remarked, narrowing his gaze at him. "Last chance. You can either explain it to me or the headmaster." Another beat passed. "And if you choose the latter, I'll be certain to notify him of the gravity of the situation."

He held in the urge to grit his teeth, his gaze locked down to the desk.

Racking his brain for a reason- Any reason that might get the professor off his back, his mind quickly settled on the aforementioned Troll incident as well.

He may or may not be one- Truthfully, he wasn't sure if that vision was a one-time affair or not, but according to his grandfather, Seer business was always a good excuse to get out of trouble.

"The troll incident..." He found a hint of confidence fill him as he blinked once and turned his gaze up towards the Professor's face. "I saw... What would've happened if I hadn't been there the night before- In a dream." He paused for a moment. "I don't know if it was a one time thing or not?"

The professor's expression would've been utterly passive if not for the slightest twitch in the man's eyes that he noticed.

He let out a sigh.

"I have a lot of nightmares-" Which, was somewhat true given he tended to meet a nightmare of a wizard most nights- A nightmare to the rest of the world anyway. "-Some feel more real and, well, after the troll attack, I get stressed wondering if it's more than just a nightmare... You know?"

The man processed his words, a frown rapidly filling his face as he leaned the slightest bit back into his seat.

"You had one last night?"

He nodded.

"What did you see?" There was almost a sarcastic tone to the man's disbelieving voice.

That... Well, that he could answer truthfully at the very least.

"...It was a little confusing but... I- Everything else is-wasn't too clear, the nightmare kept jumping around but there was a Dark Wizard... judging by... The atmosphere? And what it all felt like- Very dark actually..." After a moment of thought, he hastily added; "...Or worse... Ca-Couldn't really tell."

Wasn't like the world had a lack of those right? Hell, Quirell probably counted as one himself even, and he'd thought he was a bumbling idiot at the start of the year.

Yet... For some reason, the man took it harder than he'd expected- Oh sure, shock was always going to be on the table- A child seeing a Dark Wizard in his nightmares was bad enough but...

For some odd reason, there were hints of dread on the man's otherwise expressionless face- It was mostly the eyes and slight paling that gave it away. Not to mention the sheer discomfort his magic was oozing out...

For some odd reason, there was utter dread on the man's face.

He couldn't help but blink at the reaction- And at that very moment, he felt the man attempt to read his mind.

Unsurprisingly, the expression on his professor's face turned worse for wear as his attack fell onto the mind shield personally created by Gellert Grindelwald.

Instead of seeing his memories, Professor Snape saw a terrible memory of his own life- Because his grandfather evidently simply couldn't fathom the meaning of not overreacting to a threat of any kind.

Still, he wasn't particularly surprised to see the man attempt to read his mind- His grandfather had certainly warned him that Hogwarts staff had a tendency to ignore the meaning of privacy if it suited them- What he had expected, however, in regards to the memory was bemusement and possibly anger, yet all he got was even more dread.

To the point instead of either demanding an explanation or otherwise, the man simply blinked once at him and promptly left the office in a panic of all things.

...

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Edit: Rereading it over, I can't say I am too happy how the chapter turned out- Not really sure why.