Author's note: Sorry for delays. Just been working, that type of thing. Im hoping to upload more to stay tuned

Chapter 7: Dreaming and threats

HADRIAN POV

As Hadrian sat down next to Estrella, he was met with enthusiastic people looking to meet the famed 'Boy-Who-Lived. Hadrian internally cringed. He hated attention, let alone attention for something that, by all rights, he should not have survived. A mere fluke. Regardless, he took it in stride, as he waited for the rest of the sorting to end. He clapped politely, while also keeping a wary eye of who was giving him looks of wonder, or malice. With Weasley's sorting to Gryffindor, Hadrian let out a sigh of relief. The sorting was a boring affair, and Hadrian immediately started making plans to skip them all together in the future. His meticulous plan making was cut short, by a pompous voice.

"Heir Potter, an absolute pleasure to have you in the house of Gryffindor", the voice said.

Hadrian slowly turned to the voice to find a head in the middle of a giant plate of chicken. It was the ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, who, up until this point, had made himself scarce. Hadrian chuckled and said,

"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you, Sir Nicholas", he replied, standing up with a small bow.

He heard stories of Nick from his father, and after the thrilling tale of how Sir Nicholas had repeatedly beat Peeves over the head with a ghostly violin, Hadrian decided to get on his good side. His acknowledgment of the old ways was not lost to the old ghost.

"It is refreshing to see someone so young adhering to his duties to stick to the old ways. If you are anything like your father, I imagine we will be hearing much about you over the years, Heir Potter", the ghost said, with a smirk.

"Indeed, Sir, I would consider it a shame if I left a legacy like his go to waste", he said with a knowing wink back.

Both people started chuckling, much to the shock of others. Sir Nicholas was a pleasant ghost to most Gryffindor's, but never had they heard the ghost outright laugh with another student. It was unsettling.

"I will keep an eye out, Heir Potter, and for you, call me Nicholas. Your father and myself shared a deep respect for one another, I would like that relationship to transcend into the next generation of the Potter Family", the ghost said, with a bow of respect.

"Only if you call me Hadrian, Nicholas", he said with a deep bow, this time.

"Hadrian it is then. Welcome to Gryffindor", he said while tilting his head off of his neck, at his throat. The only indication that it was still attached was one single strand of skin, hence his name.

Hadrian sighed. It was going to be an interesting year.

"I think you are most likely the biggest arse I have ever met, Potter", Estrella cut in with a whisper, next to his ear.

"And why is that my dear?", Hadrian replied, not even bothering to look at her, his attention solely focused on his plate.

"Because you are just you. An overconfident prick that needs to be taken down a few pegs. Humbled even, if you will", she replied hotly.

"Oh? And I suppose you will be the one that will teach me my lesson?", he replied in a bored tone

She scoffed.

"I'm not your mother, Potter. If anybody should be teaching lessons, it's her", she said.

Hadrian finally looked at her, debating if she was serious or not. He saw the small fire in her eyes, the barely contained fury, and he wondered why. Surely the girl saw the benefits to being confident.

"My mother taught me many lessons, Estrella. What's got your knickers in a twist?", he asked rather bluntly. He had no patience for these mind games his friend liked to play.

In turn, the young girl huffed.

"There are too many eyes on you Harry", she said gently.

In turn, Hadrian looked around, and noticed there were quite a few students staring at him. None looked too alarming. He saw the look of warning in her eyes, when she turned around, and quickly glanced towards the staff table. He followed her gaze, to a professor with a purple turban wrapped around his head. He had never heard of the said professor, but he stood out, given that he was the only professor that was not facing the Hall. Instead, he was turned with the back of his head pointed towards Hadrian. He suddenly tensed, understanding what the young girl was saying. Somebody's eyes were on them.

Hadrian suddenly felt a huge wave of malice, an anger that seemed familiar to him. He felt a little string of magic poke him, and Hadrian in turn, grabbed it with magic, and yanked on it, the strange professor's head suddenly snapping back to his spine. The professor seemed to jump out of his seat, but remembered himself, and sat back down in a daze.

"Quirrel's back to his weird ways this year huh? I thought he was lying about that vampire attack, but he's been paranoid since", Hadrian heard a voice say.

He turned to one of the Weasley twins. George, he believed. Or was it Fred? Or was it George?

"Fred, it is Professor Quirrel, and the man has been through much. Show some respect for the teacher", a pompous voice jumped in.

"Regardless, what does the man teach?"Hadrian said, to no one in particular.

"Defense, Heir Potter, and it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Percy Weasley", he pompously stuck out his hand.

"Ignore our"

"annoying"

"and pompous"

"Ickle prefect"

"Perfect brother of ours"

The Twins jumped in.

Hadrian chuckled. He liked the twins, and found that they were quite brilliant.

"Well, it's a relief that our defense professor actually had to defend himself. Gives him a bit of credibility", he said with a shrug.

Privately, Hadrian's thoughts were racing. He had no doubt he recognized that malice. How could he forget? He thought, at least he would have a little more time before he had to confront the bastard, but the Dark Wanker clearly wanted his power back. The fact that Hadrian could so easily destroy his weak mind probe, did not go unignored. The Dark Lord clearly was weak, if he had to resort to possession. But why Hogwarts? Surely the madman would be more focused on obtaining a body, rather than killing him.

He glanced at Dumbledore, who was back to staring off into space as though he had not a care in the world. Hadrian was not fooled. He saw Voldmort/Quirrel's reaction to Hadrian's rebuttal of the mind probe. There was no way he had not. The old man would prove useless. If it had taken Estrella only a few minutes into dinner to realize something was wrong, there was no way Hogwarts had not noticed. The castle, itself sentient, sent magical warnings to the headmaster, in the form of ward alerts. It was a tricky bit of magic, only truly finished until Merlin himself had thrown his whole power into finishing the Four Founders Creation. Hadrian had read that bit of information in a lost long book of Godric Gryffindor in the Potter Family Vault.

He sighed.

"Estrella, my dear. It is going to be a very interesting year"

"Yes dear Hadrian. I have foreseen much misfortune in the future", she replied mystically

BREAK

A WEEK LATER

LILY POV

Lily Potter awoke with a fright. She jumped up, breathing deeply, covered in a light sweat that immediately turned cold as she got out of bed. She sighed, seeing it was still dark outside. Ever since Hadrian had left for Hogwarts almost a week ago, she had not been able to get a good night's rest. Her recurring nightmare of getting the notice that Voldmort had finally found her little boy and she was not there to protect him, haunting her. Since Hadrian had left the safety of her roof, the old fear and nightmare that her son wasn't protected sprang up, and as much as she tried, she could not shake it. She hoped Hadrian would write to her soon. Even her youngest, the always joyful and rambunctious daughter of hers, seemed to be down. Hadrian's absence was felt heavy by the Potter Family.

She sighed, deciding sleep was no longer an option, and got on her fluffy bathrobe that she stole from the suite of her and her husband's honeymoon. Of course she could have gotten a better one, but she liked this one, serving as a reminder of the best week of her young life.

'Although, Hadrian makes me feel older by the damn day', she thought with a pout.

She strolled down towards the kitchen, intent on making a cup of tea, and relaxing with a book until the rest of the family woke up. She decided to put in enough tea for a few cups, knowing her daughter and husband did not like being up earlier than they had to. As she made herself comfortable with her newest book, she was startled by a gentle hoot, from outside of the living room window. She got up quickly, and let in a grateful Hedwig, who Lily immediately doted on.

"My, what are you doing here so early in the morning, sweet girl?", she asked.

Hedwig's reply hoot seemed to be more of a sigh, as if saying

'Hey, I am just the messenger'.

"Fair enough", Lily said with a giggle.

The owl stuck her leg out and Lily took the letter tied to the beautiful owl.

"Let's see how Hadrian is, shall we?"

Dear Family,

Hogwarts is a sight to behold. Despite my current feelings towards the people in it, I can confidently say that the castle is a magical wonder. I am not sure if you guys knew this, but magic rolls off the castle itself. The castle is sentient, constantly changing. Breathing if you will. It is fascinating.

Well, what can I say? First week here, and I am bored. I appreciate the professors, especially Flitwick and McGonagall, both showing exactly why they teach the field, instead of still learning it. I detest Snape as well as the sniveling coward that goes by the name Quirrell, for the time being. Snape is a bully. He deducted ten points from me, citing that I was breathing too heavily, and proceeded to ask me questions that were NEWT level. I, of course, being who I am, answered all questions correctly, and the git proceeds to deduct ten more points for cheating. I mean really. Quirrel, on the other hand, is a much more dangerous beast. I have a few theories as to what is going on, nothing concrete, but I will make sure I have something to tell you around Christmas. I don't like it. He portrays himself as a stuttering fool, but then gets these anger filled moments and his stuttering seems to disappear. I am asking you guys to trust me on this.

Albus Dumbledore has not yet approached me, but I can tell you right now, I do not like the old man. He too is playing a game, coming off as the old geezer, frail, with a legend that supports his power. I know better. His magical presence, even turned down, can be felt from across the castle. His power is still unmatched, even in his old age, but compared to mine, it is significantly lacking.

Now that the negative jumbo is out of the way, I must tell you about friends. I have met a pair of twins who are easily the most funny people I have met, and great pranking partners. I think I can convince Estrella to join. Speaking of Estrella, she is popular with the boys, but she decided flaming charms to the bits would ward off any potential suitors, which did wonders. She has the reputation of being the Flame Queen of Gryffindor, whereas a Slytherin girl in our year is called the Ice Princess of Slytherin. The ice princess, Daphne Greegrass, had seen what Estrella used, and decided she would use a freezing charm to the bits. That also did wonders. I'm not exactly sure why they weren't both given the name 'queen' but Estrella said it had something to do with her being a higher breed, and thus, she was given the almighty title of queen. In her words, "There can be only one queen, but many princesses". Weird one that one. Susan is also having an easy time settling. Hufflepuff is a great match for her, and she is already making tons of new friends.

I also had the pleasure of meeting a muggle born by the name of Hermione Granger. She reminds me a lot of you, mother. She actually quoted you, when I asked why she knew about Pureblood customs, almost to the exact wording. I have offered her the protection of House Potter, and I stand by my decision. I think a formal vow is not necessary, but things at Hogwarts are not what they seem. It is not the sweet and innocent school I thought it would be. There is some foul play going on here. A chess match where only some of the pieces are aware of their roles. I, of course, accept such fickle challenges.

Anyways, that is all for now. Oh, actually one more thing. I made the quidditch team. Luckily, I have my broom but I thought the 'youngest seeker of the century' was a bit neat.

I miss you all dearly, and I cannot wait until I can come home. I hope everybody isn't getting all mopey without me there. I hate giving myself so much credit, but I know how hard it is not having me there. I am pretty great.

I love you guys with all of my heart and on my word as a Potter, I will write more often.

Love,

Harry

P.S Lillith better be studying hard so when she comes to Hogwarts she can have more free time to help me with pranks.

Lily let a huge deep breath she did not realize she had held. Her boy was safe. Relatively. A 'chess match where not all of the pieces were aware of their roles' sounded very foreboding, but she had a feeling her son was more than capable. It did not help her worrying, but it did help her breath a little.

She was happy he was making friends, and the thought of a muggleborn that quoted her, was intriguing. Estrella being labeled the 'Flame Queen' seemed fitting and made Lily chuckle. James is going to be ecstatic about Hadrian becoming the 'youngest seeker in a century'.

She sighed, remembering Hadrian's warning, and immediately reminded herself to talk to James about a 'Professor Quirrel'.

Her boy was safe, relatively, but she would get to the bottom of what seemed to be going on at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

DUMBLEDORE POV

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore sat in his office, waiting for his staff that could shed some light into the new students he had been wondering about. The first week of school is always hard for first years, let alone returning students.

He sighed, as he usually did whenever tough thoughts sprang into his head. With all of the first years, only two raised his eyebrows at the sorting. Estrella Black and Hadrian Potter. The two young students' magical presence could be felt the moment they walked into the room, Hadrian more so than Estrella, but still, the young girl was impressive. Albus was not an evil man. He himself agreed that he was manipulative at times, but that was for the greater good. Albus could not let another Dark Lord destroy what was left of the magical world. Albus knew the signs. If the world kept going this way, magical blood would be all but spent, an ability lost to human stupidity, and the races' inability to understand that change needed to be made. He sighed again, thinking about his frayed relationship with the Potter Family.

He understood Lily's need for privacy, but he just could not understand what he did to them to deserve such animosity. Surely the woman would see that having the most powerful light wizard looking after and training her son would be somewhat beneficial. He shook his head. He would have to talk to Hadrian away from his parental influence. Convince the boy that all he wanted was the end of the Dark Lord. Albus knew that he was still alive. He had come across in his research to find out just why Hadrian survived, something called a Horcrux. Obviously he didn't have the ability to conduct tests on the young Potter, but Albus believed that the boy himself must be a Horcrux, in order for Tom to still be alive. Albus shuddered, the thought of ripping one's soul did not sit right with the old man.

Oh he knew that Voldmort was in the castle, but it was the perfect opportunity to test young Hadrian, hence the Philosopher's Stone in the basement of the castle. He needed to know if Hadrian had the courage and ability to fight someone like Voldmort.

Albus was pulled from his thoughts by a slow trickle of teachers entering his office.

He smiled and greeted all of his teachers and got the meeting started. This was going to be a long year.

HADRIAN POV

Hadrian woke up on his second week of classes in a daze. His first week had gone exactly how he thought Hogwarts would go. He and Estrella breezed through the classes, always getting spells right on the first try, which earned them points, plus tutoring experience when both students went around and helped everyone. Hadrian was not stupid. He knew some people looked at him with envy and some looked at him in wonder. He had already made a mental list to stay away from Mafloy and his ilk, as well as a jealous Ron Weasley. The young headed ginger had pissed him off with too many questions about how he was cheating, that Hadrian banished him into the Gryffindor couch, bound him, and silenced him. Nobody moved to help the boy, the rest of Gryffindor House having gotten quickly used to ignoring the young redhead and his jealous moods.

Hermione, to Hadrian's delight, was also doing extremely well. Hadrian was nervous for a bit, because Hermione seemed like the type that was used to being the smartest in the room, but the young girl did not even bat an eye. Instead, she humbly asked for private tutoring sessions, so she could get better. Of course, the young man had obliged.

Knocking Malfoy down a peg during the first flying lesson had felt better than he could have ever imagined, and resolved himself to embarrassing and outperforming the git at every turn, just so he could watch the little ferret get frustrated when he could not do what Hadrian did. Hadrian was not a show off, but obviously he hated people that thought they could be better than him.

He sighed and got dressed in his workout clothes, and decided to go on a run. Those helped him clear his mind better than any meditation.

As Hadrian started his jog, he thought about his plans for a prank. The legacy of the Marauder's hung in the balance, and Hadrian felt himself getting bored with each passing day. Hogwarts needed a laugh, and Hadrian was determined to embarrass those that needed it.

But who?

As Hadrian ran around the grounds of the school, another first year was also waking up.

BREAK

Estrella's POV

Estrella seemed to be walking. Not that she could tell much. Everything seemed dark and mysterious around her. Her feet were walking on solid ground, so she assumed she was on concrete.

She knew she was in a dream. Her abilities in divination allowed her to gain an edge over her dreams, where she could control pretty much anything that happened. When she was a child, she loved using the ability to give herself superpowers, and do whatever she wanted, but she mostly let her dreams run her course. It was tiring staying conscious even while you were dreaming.

Suddenly, out of the darkness, a doorway seemed to materialize. She walked calmly towards it, and was met with a sight that stopped her heart. In front of her was a huge throne room look alike, but the walls looked much like Hogwarts. In front of her was a huge staircase going downwards, and at the bottom of the staircase stood a figure looking into the mirror. That figure seemed to have impossibly red eyes, and he seemed to be muttering to himself.

Estrella felt those red eyes suddenly turn on her and the figure merely smiled. The smile unsettled her more than anything.

"I see" , the figure said to himself.

Estrella, who was feeling apprehensive, now felt strangely confident, and felt a certain rage towards this figure.

"And what is it that you see?" she asked

"You are a dream walker. You have the ability to walk into people's dreams".

That caught Estrella by surprise. Not once has she ever walked into other's dreams. What was going on?

"What do you mean?"

"Ahhh so this is your first time doing it? I could explain, but that would be rather boring. I would rather ask you, why do you think you are safe?"

And suddenly, the red eye man whipped his wand towards her and a green spell came blasting towards her. Avada Kedavra

She, being who she was, simply wished the spell to nonexistence. This caught the red eyed man by surprise.

"Complete control. I must admit, I suspected it, but to actually see it. I don't think I've met someone so in control of their mind since young Bellatrix".

Estrella immediately understood who this man was. What was she doing in the Dark Lord's dream?

"How are you here?", she asked.

"I believe I should be asking you that question. It is just a sign of how weak I am, if a mere first year could venture this far into my mind. You will die when the time is right, Ms. Black. Not before. Now begone, I have no need for your presence", he replied with a wave of his hand.

Estrella felt herself being pushed back, and as much as she wanted to push back even harder, it seemed that she was no match for the Dark Lord.

Estrella woke up with a start, sweating, and felt like she wanted to throw up. She wobbly got up from her bed, and immediately collapsed under her own weight. The other girls, who were not awake yet, seemed to not hear her. She tried to get up, but found that she couldn't. Suddenly, she felt a pair of arms come around her, and attempt to lift her up.

"Estrella, what happened?", came the voice of Hermione.

She sounded very scared, so Estrella responded with a tired voice, "I am fine. Just had a bad dream or something. Not feeling very good".

Hermione immediately pulled her wand out, and with a swish and flick, Estrella felt herself levitate.

"I know you'll probably be fine, but I think you need to see Madame Pomphrey", the girl said evenly.

Estrella, for her part, just nodded, trying her best to stay conscious

BREAK

Hadrian's POV

"What do you mean she is in the hospital wing? I swear if that little blond piece of shit ferret touched her, I'll end him where he stands", Hadrian threatened.

"It was not anything like that, Hadrian. I woke up early to do some light reading, and then I went back to the room and found her collapsed. I am not sure what happened. She said she had a bad dream of something", Hermione replied fast, catching up to the angry boy that was walking away from her.

Hadrian was not listening. Hadrian knew what had happened. He knew that little Malfoy git wouldn't be capable of this. Estrella could wipe the floor with that ponce. No, this was something deeper. He needed to see her.

As Hadrian walked towards the Hospital Wing, Hadrian caught sight of Professor Quirrel, looking for all the world, just an innocent teacher. Except for his smile. There was something about his smile that enraged him. Hadrian stopped, and stared at the suddenly startled professor.

"What see…seeems to.. To.."

"B-b-b-b-b be quiet, you stammering little shit. I know your game, and if I find out you, or your master has laid a hand on my Estrella, I will kill you. One of you is already on my shit list, so she better tell me something different when I get there", Hadrian said in a cold whisper.

He turned around and kept walking, ignoring the scared, weirded out look Granger was giving him.

"I will explain later, for now, just follow my lead, and trust me", he whispered.

Hermione for her part just nodded her head.

"As long as I don't get killed… Or worse, expelled"

Hadrian merely just smiled and said, "You need to sort out your priorities".

BREAK