Welcome to another chapter of "Road to Power"... You know what? I need a new welcome phrase.
Anyway, like always thank you for reading my story and I hope that it won't disappoint you in the future.
I am also glad that you understand why I placed Logan in Gryffindor. To be honest, when I was making basic plans for this fic, I wanted him to join Ravenclaw. It was only the last chapter that changed my decision. After all, even if he would be mostly left alone in Ravenclaw, it would be better to fool everyone by going to Gryffindor. Besides, I think that Voldemort's son in the House of Lions is quite ironic.
I would also like to inform you all that English in my 2nd language (I think I forgot to point this out is the first chapter). So while I am trying my best to deliver a chapter that everyone can read, I will make mistakes even after I edit those chapters. I am only a human after all.
I tried to answer most of the questions via PMs. Please check them and if I didn't answer you, then I either forgot or I wasn't sure how to answer you.
That would be it for this AN.
Enjoy.
Chapter 7. Blending in
Somehow I managed to get through the rest of the feast without murdering anyone. It really wasn't easy, but thankfully after the excitement died off, people at Gryfindor table became a bit quieter. Don't get me wrong, they were still the loudest bunch in the Great Hall and I really hoped that they wouldn't be like that every feast.
After the 'wonderful' feast ended, the first years were led to the Gryffindor common room by Prefects. During our trip there I was sure of one thing. People in the wizarding world were mad. Nothing else could explain a large number of moving stairs or false corridors. I wouldn't be surprised if someone died due to this shit in the past.
It was going to take a lot of time to learn my way around the castle. At least until I could get my hand on the Marauder's map or something similar to it. A normal map wasn't going to help here much if I didn't want to waste too much time. The knowledge of secret passages would be really useful, but I could try to discover them by myself. Unfortunately, my knowledge from canon about any passages disappeared a long time ago...
Oh well, I should probably focus on what was going on around me and at least try to remember the way back to the Great Hall.
After another few very boring minutes of walking through the dark corridors of Hogwarts, we arrived before the famous Fat Lady. The Prefects explained everything about passwords and curfews. Not that I would care about the latter.
When we finally walked into the common room, I again quickly observed it and came to the conclusion that yes, it was almost the same as in canon, only much bigger. Not surprising taking into consideration the number of students I saw at the Gryffindor table.
The room was cozy, full of squashy armchairs, tables, and had a bulletin board where school notices, ads, and other things could be posted. The coloring and decorations were in many shades of red and surprisingly it looked quite good. I also saw a small bookshelf in the corner, but I doubted that there was anything useful there.
After all of the first years finished their staring, the Prefects again spoke and informed us of our new dormitories, the rules inside the common room, and a few other unimportant things that I didn't bother listening to.
Finally, they let us go and all of the first years instantly went to their new dormitory.
Once again it was larger than any description from books hinted at. The room had two long rows of beds on each side and if my math wasn't failing me then there were sixteen of them, which matched the number of new male Gryffindors.
As expected out things were already waiting for us by their respective beds. Thankfully I spotted my trunk near the bed in the corner and I sighed in relief. At least I would only need to worry about a neighbor from one side.
I ignored the conversations that began to flow between my new classmates and quickly walked to my bed. There I fell back on it and zoned out for a moment. Only now it came to me that I would need to spend every night in a room with more than a dozen eleven-year-old brats. God, it would be a miracle if I didn't murder someone before the end of the year...
I lied there silently for another few minutes trying to convince myself that it was all worth before I felt someone touch my shoulder.
The sight that greeted me upon opening my eyes was surprising as standing before me was the young Harry Potter.
"Uh, hi. I wanted to see if everything was alright," he said a bit shyly, "Besides my bed is next to yours so it would be good to at least know the person that is sleeping next to you."
Damn, if only he knew how wrong it sounded, I thought amused before I stood up and extended my hand.
"Everything is fine, don't worry. I'm Logan Hunt by the way," I said with a smile, after all, a good first impression was important and I didn't really want to make Potter my enemy on day one.
"Harry Potter," the boy said taking my offered hand.
"Ah, the famous 'boy-who-lived," I said making air quotes to show how stupid the title sounded. Obviously, it worked as Harry released a weak chuckle, "You will need to forgive me, but I don't have any fancy title, besides I really doubt that you enjoy yours huh?"
"Yeah," he replied tiredly, "Unfortunately almost everyone I met think differently."
I snorted, "Don't worry about that. Give them a few weeks or months and no one is going to care anymore... Now I am going to hit the sack, we have classes tomorrow and I want to be well-rested for them," a big lie, but he didn't need to know that.
The boy nodded, politely bid me good night, and went back to talking with Ron if I wasn't wrong.
Well, I definitely made an acquaintance with Harry. I wasn't aiming for being friends with his future group as I never really liked Hermione and Ron too much, but being in Potter's good graces would definitely help in the future. I showed him that I didn't care about his title and was pretty easy to talk to.
Oh well, at least one less thing to do later.
The conversation with Potter definitely made the day a bit better. Also, the fact that his bed was next to mine was also nice. Now I wouldn't need to approach him at a later date when he was surrounded by other people. And I was quite sure that he would, either by Ron or some of the students that were never in canon.
Not that I cared for now. I got what I wanted and could go to sleep knowing that at least tomorrow I would be able to get out of this room.
Life at Hogwarts definitely was interesting. Almost everywhere you went, you would encounter something magical. Of course, I still thought that the moving stairs were a death trap. I even voiced my opinion a few times when I was conversing with my classmates, but only muggle-borns and Harry agreed with me.
I tried to meet more people during those last few weeks. After all, it would be good to at least know who would live with you in the same room for the next few years.
I got to meet most of the main cast, apart from the few individuals from other houses and I had to admit that I definitely wouldn't socialize with any of them at least until they got a bit older. Yes, I could exchange a few words with them, but any long conversation made me mentally cringe. It was just too weird to try and act like a kid again when you never truly were one. Besides no one enjoyed my good, old dark humor even when it made me lose a bunch of points for using vulgar language.
Bunch of uneducated brats...
With my current social standing, it wasn't a surprise that apart from some conversations during classes and in our dormitory, I mostly became a loner. Not that I minded it, quite the opposite, I enjoyed my time away from people. It gave me more opportunities to explore the castle and learn more magic.
I already knew my way to most of the more important locations in the castle, but there was still a lot left to discover. The room of requirements was one of the places I wanted to visit, but it was a risk with Voldemort infested Quirell in the castle. After all, his 'father' had a Horcrux there and I didn't want to risk him checking on it when I was inside. At least not yet.
Voldemort was another subject that troubled me every time when I had lessons with Quirell. I managed to get a seat in the back so he would never really look at me, but from time to time I still felt like someone was watching me during lessons. It was unnerving and I really hoped that the man didn't suspect anything even if my appearance was an almost dead giveaway.
Thankfully every other lesson wasn't as mentally taxing. I already learned everything that a first-year needed to know before school started so I didn't have any problems with completing my tasks. Even then I held myself a bit back so people wouldn't ask how I did everything perfectly on the first try. With my performance, I would still get mostly perfect marks - not including Herbology and Astronomy as those subjects were too boring even for me -, so I hoped to get the bonus money at the end of the year.
Apart from that I mostly studied magic that I would need in the next few weeks.
Concealment and detection spells.
If I wanted to move freely in the castle then I needed the ability to hide from everyone's view completely and be able to find out if anybody was spying on me. My ability to be stealthy was quite good, but against magic, it wouldn't do anything. Besides I wanted to know if Dumbledore put any tracking spells on me. If I was him, then I definitely would.
Thankfully after I learned some of the spells that could detect any charms that would spy on me, I found out that I had nothing on my person. It was a shocking but not unwelcome surprise. It seemed that the Headmaster trusted me more than he probably should. I guess that my acting wasn't as bad as I thought.
Those two branches of magic weren't easy to learn. They required a lot of control and magical power that an eleven-year-old shouldn't have. Thankfully due to my training without and with a wand during the summer, I was capable of performing most of the required spells after a few weeks silently. Wandlessly they were still beyond me, but I was sure that with time I would be able to use them.
All in all, everything was going according to my plans and soon I would be able to finally make my first move.
"I am all ears. What do you think about the boy?" Dumbledore asked his two trusted friends after they finished the monthly teacher meeting. The rest of the professors already left the room and now the Headmaster could finally find out more about the mysterious boy from his most trusted teachers.
"He is good, Albus, very good. Mr. Hunt definitely inherited his talent for magic from his parents," Minerva said even though she grimaced a bit at the last part.
That was quite right, Albus already saw the class results from most of the professors, and young Logan was on top in almost every one of them. Of course, there wasn't anything wrong with being on top of the class, but him being Voldemort's son made it a bit disturbing.
"I know Minerva. I read the reports. I want to know what you think of him, he is in your house after all," Dumbledore said after a moment.
"And wasn't his sorting the biggest surprise in my life," the old witch replied visibly annoyed, "From what I gathered he acts like some of the muggle-born children that we always get every year. He studies a lot but shows no problems socializing with other kids, even if the boy spends most of his time alone. He definitely possesses many similar traits to his father but lacks you-know-who's coldness. I even heard him using some jokes during my lessons, I wonder where he heard some of the things he said."
Albus really tried to hide his amusement when Minerva went on a rant about how it was unbecoming of a young child to use such dark humor. Maybe he really was unnecessarily worrying about young Logan.
"I understand Minerva. Thank you," Dumbledore finally said to stop his friend from speaking further, "Severus anything to add?"
"Not really Headmaster," the Potion professor replied, "The boy is definitely talented, but even I couldn't find anything wrong about him. Only legilimency could tell us more."
McGonagall instantly narrowed her eyes at Severus, "You will do no such thing. Mr. Hunt didn't do anything wrong and even if he is his son, we can't just break the law so you could satiate your curiosity. He doesn't know anything about his parents and obviously had a much better life than you-know-who."
Dumbledore quickly raised his hand up, "Don't worry Minerva. Legilimency is out of the question," he then took a small pause so his coworkers could calm down before continuing, "For now you can go. But please keep me informed if you notice something."
Both Minerva and Severus bid him goodbye and left his office.
Dumbledore relaxed back in his chair and stroked his beard. This meeting definitely shined some light on his problem and maybe now the old Headmaster would be able to focus on things that needed his full attention. Like the trap, he was trying to create.
Voldemort definitely knew about the stone. The question was if he would take the bait.
Dumbledore really hoped that he would, Albus needed to get rid of or at least capture the leftovers of Voldemort before he caused more problems. Maybe then Dumbledore would be able to sleep in peace without fearing that SHIELD would take things into their own hands.
Sometimes Lord Voldemort really wondered where he had gone wrong in his plan to win the wizarding war.
He, after all, was the most powerful Dark Lord to appear in the world in many decades. And even though the old fool Dumbledore was a pain in the ass to deal with, the old Headmaster still couldn't defeat him.
He was so close to finally taking over magical Britain and then spreading his conquest on the rest of Europe. Of course like always something must have gone wrong. The damned prophecy ruined everything.
If only he knew that this stupid mudblood would prepare somethign to save the little brat. It was a mistake on his part, he should have never rushed forward like that. Those mudbloods always came up with surprising ways to save themselves and Voldemort again underestimated them.
Of course, the Dark Lord wouldn't get truly defeated by some stupid miracle. His Horcruxes ensured his survival.
Still, the night cost Voldemort his body and now he was reduced to a shade that needed to possess other beings to regain his strength. Thankfully the old fool decided to leave the one artifact that would let him regain his body in the school full of children.
Even though his attempt to steal it from Gringotts failed, thanks to Quirrel's position, Voldemort was able to get inside Hogwarts without anyone noticing. While he didn't enjoy listening to his host when he was trying to teach the children anything, at least one good thing came out of it.
A boy, quite similar in appearance to Voldemort's young self. The Dark Lord knew that it wasn't possible for the child to be his son. Bellatrix would never go against his order and no child of his would ever be in the House of Brave idiots. So the boy's appearance was either a big coincidence or Voldemort's most trusted follower wasn't as obedient as he thought.
Still, the young mudblood was good with magic, so Voldemort would try to remember to make a background check on the boy and see who exactly he was.
For now, it would need to wait as just in a few minutes the Dark Lord would get another chance to get the stone.
The release of the troll should buy him enough time to steal the stone and either escape in case of success or safely get back if he failed. After that, it would only be a matter of time before he regained his body and took his sweet revenge on the Potter brat.
The day finally came and I was ready to visit the first mysterious place in Hogwarts.
Two days ago, during the Holloween feast, everything happened exactly like it did in canon. Quirell screaming about the troll before faking a faint in the Great Hall, Harry running away with Ron to save Hermione, and the rest of the school running around like headless chickens.
It certainly was very amusing and I got what I wanted from this event.
I noticed that sometimes during some classes, teachers would observe me for longer periods. It wasn't hard to deduce that Dumbledore told them to keep an eye on me. Unfortunately, this also limited my freedom in the castle.
So I waited for the first major event to happen in hopes that maybe it would take the attention from me for at least some time.
Thankfully it did and today I would visit the infamous Chamber of Secrets. I already prepared everything, including the rooster as apparently it really worked against Basilisks. Dumb as fuck, but it would at least save me if things went wrong. I hoped to make peace with the creature and just leave it alone while I searched through the Chamber in hopes of finding something better than Slytherin's statues.
After everyone fell asleep, I used disillusionment charm and every other concealing spell before I slowly sneaked out from Gryffindor Tower.
Upon arriving at Second Floor Girls' Lavatory I used some detection spells to make sure that there were no wards near the entrance. Thankfully I encountered zero wards and entered the Bathroom.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed that the Moaning Myrtle wasn't there. While my spells hid from her sight I would need to postpone my visit to the Chamber if she was here.
"Open," I hissed at the snake-engraved sink. It slowly slid open, revealing the long pipe that led to the Chamber of secrets. I hissed one more time in hopes that it would work, "Stairs."
Nothing happened, Well fuck you too fanon.
Groaning quietly I slid into the pipe and ordered the sink to close before I would fall too far.
The way down definitely wasn't too comfortable and unfortunately, I didn't know any spells that would help me with that yet. Something to research at a later date.
The corridor that led to the main chamber was almost completely the same as in canon so I was very careful to not fuck something up and cause a cave in like Lockhart did in the books.
Finally, I came to the next sealed doors and after a deep breath, I hissed again, "Open."
The main chamber while grand, definitely wasn't in my style. It was long and dimly lit with towering stone pillars entwined with serpents that rose to the ceiling only to be lost in darkness. And finally the large statue of Slytherin himself at the end of the Chamber.
Now I just needed to deal with the basilisk and then try to find something more useful than the old serpent. For once I hoped that fanon wouldn't fail me and that there was at least some truth to it.
Alright, let's do it... and hopefully not die.
That's it for today's chapter.
As you see I am not planning to drag the school years for 10 chapters and I will only go through major events and changes to canon. With this chapter, we are past Halloween. The next one will describe the rest of the exploration of the Chamber and probably the end of the first term.
I do not plan to have more than four chapters, including this one, for the first year of Hogwarts, but as I plan more and more things might change.
With that said, thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know if you have any questions via revies or PMs.
Have a good day/night.
PS: The next chapter will be probably out in 4-5 days. I need to take care of my other stories and finish some of my university work.