In the last two weeks Hadrian had continued to go to Morsegrave tower. It was still the only one of his properties he had been to or even looked over the paperwork for, other than the island, since he had only wanted to look through their libraries and this one was more than he needed for the moment. To his utter shock the books he had found on horcruxes were written in great factual detail. They were like textbooks, purely factual with no bias embellishments thrown in. Harry had spent the last few weekends taking great care in detailing all the most important aspects of the work on to parchment. He had hoped to find something for the ritual too but the amount of books on ritual magic was far more vast than he had expected and Harry had no clue where to begin. He wondered if just giving Barty what he already had would be enough? Then if they were open to what he gave them he could bring him directly here so he could find what he needed.
He had also set a date to meet the Suzerain a week after Samhain. Originally they were going to meet sooner but he had found out that she was just making time for him when she was extremely busy with Samhain preparations and he didn't want to bother her. He knew what it was like to have no time for things. He insisted they could talk after Samhain had passed and everything had calmed down. In the meantime he had been talking to the librarians and getting to know them. They seemed happy to have people (him) visit the library after so long and he was happy to listen to their stories about the library or his ancestors. It had been a nice change of pace.
He had grown rather close to two of the Librarians Erinys and Keres, a set of twins who both had gray feathers and piercing yellow eyes. They adored the library as well as teaching and had taken it upon themselves to teach him all about the old holidays that were created to honor mother magic and her children. He had been extremely grateful for the knowledge they gave him as he was sure that he now knew more than even the purebloods with how the rituals in their culture had been watered down over so many years.
Currently Harry was in the school library ignoring Ron and Hermione, reading a book he had found in one of the side towers of Alexia's library. He had gone through all the books they had on horcruxes and hadn't found what he had wanted to. He wanted evidence of the horcruxes causing insanity but he hasn't found any written record of anyone making more than one. The only evidence he had found was about the makers becoming colder and quicker to anger. If he was going to convince Voldemort to take back some of his horcruxes, he would need more. Melia had told him that three of the towers were filled with books written in creature languages that were either common, extinct, or unknown. Harry had immediately gone to the tower with the unknown languages to see if his magic could decipher them. If they hadn't been identified in several hundred years then they would be old and might have something interesting.
This side tower was the smallest at only two stories but he had expected that. In the center had been a plinth holding a perfectly circular electric blue stone that appeared to glitter in the magelight. Melia informed him that it was a system that was created by Alexia herself and that no matter how hard people have tried they haven't been able to replicate it. He just needed to push magic into the stone while thinking of the parameters he was looking for and it would bring you the book that held what you asked for. Since she was unable to identify any of the languages it was made with advanced intent magic, no one really knows how she did it. He had placed his hand on the orb with one thing in mind, horcruxes. Three chests and three books were brought to him. Melia informed him that the books were the same as the scrolls that were in the chests and that all of the scrolls within the library had been hand transcribed to books for easier reading and study.
The books were massive and only one was actually legible to him. but he had been making his way through it, wanting to know what he could. So far it depicted the history of a leader of a community the name of which had translated to 'the collection of burning blood' and he didn't know how that was meant to be taken. The leader didn't have a translatable name so it looked like the original language to him which was a bunch of squiggles and dots that made three distinct sections. He had focused on it and read it out loud, asking Melia what he had said after. She had spoken it back to him as Ramaloth so that's what he went with.
The whole thing had been written by someone who seemed to be a friend or an advisor to Ramaloth. It went through everything from when he was a child being the seventh of nineteen sons and the fight for the throne that was expected of them. With eighteen people out to kill him he became paranoid leading him to develop and make his first three horcruxes. Harry had the sinking feeling that this was the first person who made a horcrux. But he had made them by killing three of his brothers, sacrificing them to make himself immortal.
It spoke of how his paranoia got worse, pushing him to make another, sacrificing another brother and eight townspeople to increase the power of the ritual. After this he became obsessed with death. Before he had been interested in becoming a doctor. The human anatomy intrigued him. This intrigue turned into a manic obsession of learning how the body worked by any means necessary. Despite his original goal of helping his people with illness, he found himself slaughtering hundreds to sate his curiosity. After another assassination attempt from one of his brothers, he made another horcrux. At this point it was just him and his older brother, the second son. He figured he wouldn't be left alone now that there were only two of them left, so he made another horcrux with his death.
The person writing detailed everything from his changing priorities, beliefs, obsessions, and sanity with every horcrux created. It was haunting as it recorded the slaughter of their entire community, by the hands of its now ruler. The writer wrote about destroying the horcruxe's of the person they once loved, the final blow he landed, and the betrayal he saw in the other's face as he watched the light leave his eyes. Their entire race had been eradicated, their community raised to the ground. Nothing was left and that's why they wrote this to warn others of the consequences. It was awful and exactly what he needed. He needed to talk to Salazar.
He stood from his seat slinging his bag over his shoulder and running to the library wall that holds an entrance to the passageways. He allowed the magic of the castle to guide him as he made his way to Salazar, his face still buried in the book as he goes over what is written. The second the door opened he moved forward practically skipping into the room.
"Sal I found it. I found what we needed. There's details in here that should help with the alteration of the ritual as well as actual proof of the insanity theory." he placed the book on to the desk only for it to drop right through and hit the floor. There was definitely meant to be a dest there. He blinked at the book for a second before slowly raising his eyes to observe his surroundings. Plush green sofas and armchairs were clustered around fireplaces. The walls were dotted with several portraits that hung between large windows looking out into the black lake. There were also a lot of eyes currently watching him in confusion. Oh he was definitely not meant to be here
"Oh, um, my bad, I must have taken a wrong turn. I'll just be going now." He quickly picked up his book but before he could turn around he was tackled. Looking down he found a girl who he recognised. It was the slytherin second year that had asked if she could pet his patronuses on the train. She unwrapped her arms from around him but didn't let go of his robes as she bounced in place.
"Can I see your magic pets again? Please? They said I couldn't ask you when we weren't in the common room but now you're here I can see them right?" She continued to bounce while she spoke and Harry couldn't help the soft smile that spread across his face. Before he could answer her, Flint was gently pulling her away.
"Andry you're being rude. I know mother taught you better than that. You haven't even introduced yourself. Nor have either me or father spoken to him yet." the girl, Andry, he guessed, stuck her lower lip out in a pout, casting her eyes to the floor as Flint turned to Harry and bowed. Not a small head tilt or acknowledgement but a full ninety degrees bow. Quickly the girl regained her composure and plunged into a deep curtsey. For a moment it was silent with the two showing no signs of moving and Harry started to panic.
"You have to allow them to stop." Harry startled at the voice that whispered into his ear. Looking over he found Theo standing right behind him with his head bent down to speak directly to him. He quickly turned back to the two people bowing in front of him.
"Um. you can stop that. Please." Flint rose from his bow and immediately started to speak.
"I am Marcus Flint, Heir to the Noble and Distinguished House of Flint. My father is the Viscount of Lurias and this is my sister Alexandrya Flint. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." he gave another short bow and continued. "My father has been unable to acquire a meeting with you and as Heir to the Flint family I have been given permission to handle this in his stead." There were a few gasps and Harry had a strong sense of foreboding. "I, Marcus Flint, Heir to the Noble and Distinguished House of Flint, take on the Life debt to Harry James Potter, Heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, in my sister's stead, if it so pleases him." Harry was gaping. He knew he was. but what life debt did they owe him. He was so confused. The one thing he did know was just how serious this was. Refusing was not an option; it was seen as extremely rude and could cause a blood feud. The problem was that he had no clue what had invoked it.
He sighed, noticing that the girl hadn't risen from her curtsey yet. There was only one option for him to choose. "I, Hadrian Jameson Potter, accept the debt invoked by the Noble and Distinguished House of Flint and its transferral to the Heir of their house. So mote it be." a soft yellow glow encompassed the three of them and the girl finally raised from her curtsey, looking nervously between the two of them.
"Heir Flint, I apologize for my ignorance but what exactly was done to invoke a life debt between our houses." Flint's eyebrows shot up in surprise before he could school his expression.
"It seems no one told you just how close the dementors got." his hand seemed to automatically reach out for the girl next to him. "If it weren't for you I'm not sure my sister would still be here." he was petting his sisters hair in what looked like an unconscious gesture of comfort for the both of them. Harry knew of course that she would have been fine since last time no one was seriously hurt but from their perspective he saved a member of their family. He sighed.
"I release the life debt owed to House Potter by the Noble and Distinguished House of Flint…"
"Harry." Theo hissed warningly into his ear. Harry knew he couldn't just dismiss a life debt, again it was seen as disrespectful. However he could use it.
"...in return for your confidants." There were a few gasps and Flint looked a little shocked. What Harry had asked of Flint was to basically listen to him and keep his secrets, that's it. not exactly something you would exchange for a life debt. Flint just nodded mutely before shaking his head and speaking.
"I accept your terms." again a soft yellow light glowed between them before dying out. Harry was glad he accepted, he didn't like life debts. "Does… Does it extend to others?" well it was a little late for him to be asking that, wasn't it.
"No it doesn't." Flint visibly relaxed and Fawley stepped up beside them with a bow toward harry.
"I'm Gemma Fawley, Heiress of the Noble House of Trembley and Daughter of the Noble and Ancient House of Fawley. My Mother is Countess of Santanes and my Mama is Baroness of Valensart. It's a pleasure to formally meet you." That was interesting. He knew Fawley was an heir but he had assumed it was to the Fawley line. Clearly she had an older sibling who inherited the more prominent title of Fawley, leaving the second lesser title of Trembley to her. "Heir Potter, would you mind explaining to me just how exactly you got into our common room?" ah yes he had just waltzed right in. he turned to the wall he had come from finding a full length portrait and Harry waved his hand towards it."Yes, but how? Professor Snape informed all of the prefects about every entrance and that wasn't one of them." Hadrian shrugged.
"He doesn't know all of the passageways." He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing his magic to probe at his surroundings, finding all the passages leading into the dorms before they opened and he smirked. "There are a total of fifteen passages that lead into the slytherin dorms in some way. Though the ones in a few of the bathrooms are a little disturbing but all in all it's still on brand so there's not much I can really say about that." Fawley along with everyone else gaped. It was silent for a moment then pandemonium.
Theo was in the Slytherin common room with the other Slytherins in his year, happily reading another one of Hadrian's books. He always had interesting books on topics that Theo could never find much on. He had become someone Theo would consider a close friend. Hadrian had managed to become a part of their group to the point that his absence was noticed by all of them. At first they were just getting annoyed with the way he was treated by Weasley and Granger but then it evolved into all of them waiting for Thursdays to see him. Then he started coming to their study room more and theo noticed people turning to talk to him when he wasn't there or all of them subconsciously leaving a space for him. He noticed Draco's face light up as he turned to say something only to pause when hadrian wasn't there. Honestly it was strange just how quickly he had slotted into their group. Goyle would say something in Gibberish then look up confused when he got no answer before repeating it in cornish to Crabb if he needed an answer or just going silent if he didnt.
Now was one of those times that they were missing his presencs so they had left their study room early and gone to the common room where his absence wasn't as noticeable. They hadn't been there too long when Flint walked over to them and bowed toward malfoy. That got most of the room's attention.
"Heir Flint, what can I help you with?" Draco's impassive mask was in place and his voice was indifferent.
"I request help in securing a formal meeting with Heir Potter." Theo saw malfoys eyebrow twitch in surprise, clearly not expecting that.
"I will be willing to make your request to him the next time I see him." Flint nodded in thanks and was about to leave when one of the full length portraits swung open and everyone in the common room turned to look at the intruder, who practically skipped into the room.
"Sal I found it. I found what we needed. There's details in here that should help with the alteration of the ritual as well as actual proof of the insanity theory." Potter lent forward like he was going to place the book on something that wasn't there, his eyes never leaving the pages. Clearly he wasn't where he thought he was. The book dropped to the floor with a loud smack which seemed to break Hadrian from his daze. He looked up and surveyed the room. "Oh, um, my bad, I must have taken a wrong turn. I'll just be going now." He quickly picked up the book but before he could turn around he was tackled by Flint's little sister.
"Can I see your magic pets again? Please? They said I couldn't ask you when we weren't in the common room but now you're here I can see them right?" Flint Quickly strode towards them and theo followed, curious. He gently pulled her away, clearly unhappy with her behavior.
"Andry you're being rude. I know mother taught you better than that. You haven't even introduced yourself. Nor have either me or father spoken to him yet." Flint turned to Harry and bowed. His sister followed soon after. For a moment it was silent and theo looked to see Harry starting to panic and abruptly realized he had no clue what was going on. He stepped around them making sure he didn't come between them or stand beside Harry since he was not involved and dropped his head down to whisper in his ear. Merlin, Theo hadn't realized just how Short Harry was. His general presence was always so noticeable and powerful that he had always appeared larger than he was. He barely reached Theo's chin.
"You have to allow them to stop." Harry seemed to startle, his eyes flicking to him in surprise for just a moment before looking back and awkwardly addressing them.
"Um. you can stop that. Please." Theo had to smother a chuckle at just how uncomfortable Harry seemed at that moment. Flint rose from his bow and immediately started to speak.
"I am Marcus Flint, Heir to the Noble and Distinguished House of Flint. My father is the Viscount of Lurias and this is my sister Alexandrya Flint. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." he gave another short bow and continued. "My father has been unable to acquire a meeting with you and as Heir to the Flint family I have been given permission to handle this in his stead." Theo sucked in a sharp breath. Most of the house knew that the Flints currently owed a life debt to Hadrian. Alexandrya had been a few moments from having her soul ripped out. A dementor had been feeding on her for almost half a minute by the time Potter's patronus had stopped it but to think they were that desperate that the Lord was allowing his Heir to take the life debt in his place showed just how important this was to them.
"I, Marcus Flint, Heir to the Noble and Distinguished House of Flint, take on the Life debt to Harry James Potter, Heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, in my sister's stead, if it so pleases him." Harry went stock still and Theo peered round to see his face. He looked utterly confused. Theo was about to give more instructions when hadrian sighed.
"I, Hadrian Jameson Potter, accept the debt invoked by the Noble and Distinguished House of Flint and its transferral to the Heir of their house. So mote it be." a soft yellow glow encompassed the three of them and Theo was surprised that he knew what to do. He was pretty sure that they hadn't covered life debts with him yet.
"Heir Flint, I apologize for my ignorance but what exactly was done to invoke a life debt between our houses." Theo saw Flint's eyebrows shoot up in surprise, his eyes flicking to him and Draco with a clear question. Theo had never thought to bring it up with hadrian and clearly no one else had either.
"It seems no one told you just how close the dementors got." Theo winced at the clearly pointed jab at them. "If it weren't for you I'm not sure my sister would still be here." He sighed again.
"I release the life debt owed to House Potter by the Noble and Distinguished House of Flint…" what the fuck was he doing? You don't just dismiss a Life debt especially not after just receiving it. That's worse than just rejecting it. He's essentially saying that she isn't worth one.
"Harry." Theo hissed warningly into his ear but he was ignored and hadrian continued.
"...in return for your confidants." Theo felt his knees buckle slightly in relief. He wondered if Hadrian realizes that he basically just made Flint his Vassal. He would have to bring it up with him later.
"I accept your terms." again a soft yellow light glowed between them before dying out. "Does… Does it extend to others?" Theo could see the apprehension on Flint's face. it was a little late for him to ask now but luckily for him Hadrian wouldn't do something like that.
"No it doesn't." Flint visibly relaxed and Fawley stepped up beside them with a bow toward harry.
"I'm Gemma Fawley, Heiress of the Noble House of Trembley and Daughter of the Noble and Ancient House of Fawley. My Mother is Countess of Santanes and my Mama is Baroness of Valensart. It's a pleasure to formally meet you. Heir Potter, would you mind explaining to me just how exactly you got into our common room?" That was actually a good question that Theo also wanted the answer to, but Hadrian just waved his hand towards the portrait he had walked through and Fawley looked less than impressed."Yes, but how? Professor Snape informed all of the prefects about every entrance and that wasn't one of them." Hadrian shrugged.
"He doesn't know all of the passageways." Theo felt a burning wave of magic sweep over him, knocking the air from his lungs. He had never felt magic that dense in his life. He looked at hadrian, feeling the magic still seeping from him. Then in a moment it was gone and Theo was utterly confused. The Notts had the gift of magic sensitivity. Being in Hogwarts really messes with him. It's like his nerves are constantly buzzing with all the ambient magic but that also dampens the feel of everyone else's since it just merges with the castle's magic. He had never noticed that hadrian doesn't leak magic like other people. Like he consciously keeps it locked away. This was the first time he felt it like that and it was almost intoxicating.
"There are a total of fifteen passages that lead into the slytherin dorms in some way. Though the ones in a few of the bathrooms are a little disturbing but all in all it's still on brand so there's not much I can really say about that." Fawley along with everyone else gaped. It was silent for a moment then pandemonium.
"There are passageways that lead to the bathrooms?"
"How is that ON brand?"
"Can everyone just get into our dorms if they know the right passage?" Theo saw Hadrian shuffling towards the portrait again, hoping not to be noticed but was intercepted by Warrington placing a heavy hand on his shoulder and directing him back towards him and Draco. It wasn't long before Hadrian was standing in front of them pouting.
"Can't I just leave and we can all pretend that this never happened. I actually have things to do. The only reason I came here was because Hogwarts brought me here. It's normally more reliable." Warrington, to his and Dracos surprise, snorted a laugh.
"No you can't just leave. Especially not when you tell us that there are so many ways to get into our dorms that anyone could utilize if they knew." Hadrian shook his head.
"No one can use them other than me. Not the teachers, not Dumbledore, not even Snape can use them without me escorting them." Warrington looked skeptically at him until he elaborated. "They're Slytherins passageways. You have to know parseltongue to use them and I don't plan to use them unless I really need to." Warrington actually looked relieved at that, calling over to Fawley who was still trying to calm the rest of the house. When that didn't work he stuck two fingers in his mouth and let out a shrill whistle. Hadrian flinched back from the noise covering his ears and dropping the book again. Theo could see tears brimming in his eyes. Warrington however didn't seem to notice.
After getting everyone's attention he calmed them with the knowledge that Hadrian was basically the only person in England who could access them. While he did that Theo moved over to Hadrian, who looked like he was still in pain. Draco was right by his side but before they got there Goyle ran past them, talking a mile a minute. Hadrian gave him a soft smile nodding at something he said, still rubbing at the ear that was closest to Warrington.
"Are you alright?" Draco sounded worried. Hadrian just nodded and Goyle scowled, clearly disagreeing with his assessment.
"Creature blood makes ears…" he paused, clearly struggling for a word. "Loud?" Theo winced in sympathy. Hadrian had been right next to Warrington. If he had sensitive ears then yes that would have been painful.
"Sensitive. He has sensitive ears." he corrected Goyle and the other boy nodded.
Hadrian ended up staying in their common room till dinner. Allowing the younger years to play with his patronuses, helping the fifth years with their OWL work and some of the six and seventh years with their NEWT work. Theo just sat there in awe. Clearly Hadrian hadn't noticed that they were testing his limits. Limits no one had found yet. They asked him to help them with spell performance by getting him to demonstrate them. Its like he didn't even notice he was supposed to struggle casting spells while his patronuses were still out. They didn't even flicker a little bit. Honestly even Theo was taking notes on the lesson and yes, it was a lesson. He kinda wished Hadrian was their DADA professor. The way he was explaining concepts and making casting corrections was better than any teacher they had had so far. More interesting was that he seemed to enjoy teaching them.
Eventually though they did have to go to dinner and hadrian was offered a standing invitation to come back if he wanted to. To their surprise he came to the slytherin common room both Tuesday and Thursday, after dinner until curfew. By the halloween feast the few people that hadn't been convinced that they could trust him now at least liked him. They had been subtly interrogating him over his personal beliefs. Even though Theo and the others had already assured them that he wasn't on the light side of things they still wanted to make sure. He hasn't seemed to notice and was genuinely happy and relaxed around all of them. This, however, only made it more obvious to the entire house just how uncomfortable he was with his own house.
During the halloween feast Hadrian looked dead on his feet and Theo was honestly worried, looking at his house mates he wasn't the only one who noticed. Every now and again he would catch one of the upper years sending a worried look over to where he was sitting. Theo was just glad that Neville seemed to be acting as a buffer between Hadrian and their house mates.
It was after the feast that once again something went wrong. A bloody serial killer managed to bypass a horde of dementors and get into the 'safest' building in britain. And now they are telling him that ne needs to sleep on the fucking floor. At the risk of him sounding like draco, just wait until his father hears about this. At least hadrian silenced the weasel. No one would have gotten any sleep if that had continued.
Theo was not pleased to be awoken by loud shrieks and yelling. Was it not bad enough that they had to sleep on the floor the night before. Now, people have to wake him at… he cast a tempus and frowned at the numbers displaying 06:17 in glowing blue. Someone was going to die today. He turned towards the comotion to find the target of his ire, only for his scowl to disappear immediately upon seeing Granger shaking an unresponsive Harry Potter.
He scrambled to his feet and walked forward only getting a few steps away before a hand landed harshly on his shoulder and pulled him back. He spun finding Flint and Warrington holding not only him but Zabini and Malfoy too. He spoke lowly so only they would be able to hear.
"I know you're worried but right now, in front of the entire school, that's not a luxury that any of you or him can afford." they all nodded knowing his words were true. Instead of moving closer they watched as someone cast an enervate only for it to hit some kind of shield that dissolved the spell and caused a ripple effect around his body. Madam Pomfrey as well as Snape marched into the hall and straight over to Hadrian.
Diagnostic charms weren't working. Movement charms didn't either. No magic could be cast on him at all. Smelling salts didn't work. Physical movement didn't work. Snape even tried to prick his finger but he couldn't even puncture the skin. Eventually he lifted him into his arms and carried him out of the hall. As soon as the doors had closed behind them it was pandemonium.
"Why can't something be normal just once." Theo couldn't help but snort at the perfect deadpan that Zabini had quoted Hadrian's own line from the class with the boggart they had had at the beginning of the year.
"Because he's Harry potter." Was the equally deadpan answer that Pansey gave him.
Harry woke up to the red canopy of his gryffindor bed the day before halloween and decided no. Just no. He didn't want to deal with Ron, Hermione, or anyone else for that matter. He didn't want to and he wasn't going to. He pulled his covers around himself and buried his face into his pillow. He was tired. So tired. A minute later his curtains were pulled open and someone shook him. Peeking out from under his covers he saw Ron. As soon as he made eye contact he glared at the other boy and hissed.
"Fuck off Ron." before pushing the other boy and shutting the curtains. He just wanted one day. One fucking day where he didn't have to talk to anyone, do anything, be anywhere, he just wanted to curl up without the stupid glamor that he always kept on when he slept in the dorms for this exact reason. He warded his curtains closed, not caring about the consequences of having people realize he could cast wards of that level. He took off the glamor ring and snuggled into his tails.
He pulled his knees closer to his chest, cocooning himself within his tails. He had tried to ignore everything and push it all away over the last few months but it was getting more and more difficult. Things just kept piling up but most of it wasnt even bothering him all that much. He was dealing with everything as it came. There was just one thing that kept popping up in his head on an almost daily basis and he couldn't deal with it anymore.
He didn't know if he could trust Fred and George. Death hadn't explicitly stated that they were helping Dumbledore but it didn't mean that they weren't. At first he just didn't think about it but he had forgotten just how close he was with the twins. With the amount of help he was giving them with pranking they were only getting closer, and that scared him. his mind kept reminding him that they were just two more people who could betray him and honestly that would hurt more than Rons betrayal ever did. He squeezed his eyes closed, willing himself to go back to sleep.
He woke to someone prodding quite forcefully at his wards. He quickly put his ring back on before whoever was on the other side got in and snuggled back into the pillow. If they wanted in that bad they would have to break fully through the wards. After a good five minutes and three different people trying, they finally managed to get through. He knew it wasn't one of the teachers, it wouldn't have taken them that long to get through. It also wasn't one of his year mates since they wouldn't have been able to get through at all. Merlin, why wasn't he allowed just one day to himself.
He didn't bother to move or even open his eyes. He just stayed there as they gingerly pulled open the curtains around his bed. He jolted as he felt a hand on his forehead and his eyes snapped open. George was knelt by his bed, hand outstretched. He relaxed instantly and allowed the contact. George turned to the people with him and Harry looked past him to see Fred and Oliver. His eyes widened. He had quidditch practice.
"Shit." all eyes turned back to him as he pushed himself up to get out of bed. But Fred marched over and pushed him back down.
"Nu uh. You're not getting up." Harry frowned at him.
"You're a little warm right now. It's best if you stay in bed." George added on looking slightly worried.
"Besides, practice is already over." Harry squeezed his eyes shut.
"I'm sorry I missed practice." Oliver stepped closer shaking his head.
"It's perfectly fine. We were just a little worried. We know you wouldn't miss practice on purpose. So when we asked Ronald and he told us that you have been sulking up here." Harry noticed bothe Fred and George frown at that. "We thought we would check on you."
"You've been asleep the whole day"
"Dinner's in a few hours."
"And you missed breakfast and lunch." He hadn't realized that he had actually slept the whole day. Honestly, he couldn't bring himself to care all that much. he wanted a day to hibernate and Merlin damn it he deserved one. George's hand returned to his forehead and Harry wouldn't lie, the cold felt nice against his flushed skin. He nuzzled into the hand and felt a second be placed on the back of his neck. The cold was nice.
He was gently nudged awake again and he blinked bleary eyes up at George, who was now sitting on his bed gently running his hand through his hair. Harry was curled into his chest.
"It's time for dinner."
"You shouldn't miss another meal." his head snapped around to find Fred sitting on his other side. All Harry could do was nod. He still felt tired but he knew he needed to eat something. During dinner he sat between the twins who warded off any and all questions, allowing him to ignore everyone. He just felt so tired.
The next day Harry was sitting in the Gryffindor common room, conflicted. Today was Halloween. The day Sirius would break in and he was currently trying to convince himself that it was a bad idea to approach him. He knew he couldn't. Siriuses actions were one of the most important things that needed to stay the same this year. It is his actions that make Wormtail leave to find his Lord. if he messed things up now everything he had had to endure with weasley and granger would be for nothing.
"Hade? Are you alright?" he looked to his left, finding Neville sitting next to him. After his tantrum by the lake he had told Neville about everything that had been done to him. It had given him a proper understanding of what was going on so instead of trying to pull Harry away from the two idiots he had ingratiated himself into the group. Acting as oblivious and harmless as he could. The act had made the two idiots more comfortable about leaving Harry alone with him. Not thinking he would bring up anything they didn't want him to know. It had taken a lot of pressure off of his shoulders over the few weeks and he was incredibly grateful.
It was one of the times that they were alone after Neville had gone to the first meeting with the snakes and found out he didn't like to be called Harry, when Neville had called him Hade instead of Hadrian and it seemed to have stuck. Hadrian had also continued to bring Neville to Slytherin hall whenever they met up. To his slight surprise he had found that Neville and Goyle had started to forge a friendship through their mutual love of herbology. Apparently a language barrier didn't exist when it came to plants. He had yet to talk all that much with the other Slytherins but they were all still friendly.
"I'm fine. It's just that something bad always happens on Halloween." he still wasn't feeling all that good. Since the day before it felt like he had no energy. Like all he wanted was to sleep. Neville grimaced but nodded. it was almost time for the feast so there would be no chance for him to use the time turner, since they would be shuffled into the hall for a sleepover. He would just have to make sure he stuck close to Neville, Dean, and Seamus. This was going to be such a waste of a day.
Like clockwork the events played out exactly as they did last time, with Sirius scratching up the fat lady's portrait during the feast. After the dramatics of everyone needing to see the damage, and making sure that their savior understood just how lucky he was that he hadn't been in the tower they were all shuffled down to the hall for a sleepover. Despite the Gryffindors and Slytherins being at opposite ends of the hall he saw a few of them cast worried glances toward him. Honestly he wasn't sure if they were worried about what happened with Sirius or if he looked as bad as he felt. His head felt like it was stuffed with cotton and his vision was starting to swim. He sat heavily on the purple sleeping bag he was given, slamming his hand on the floor to stabilize himself when a sudden wash of vertigo hit him.
"Are you okay?" He looked up and tried to focus on the person in front of him. It was Neville. He was kneeling in front of him, his hands on both of Harry's shoulders keeping him upright. "Harry? Are you alright?" damn he had taken too long to answer.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just feel really tired. Like really really tired." Neville tried to let go but Harry was basically leaning on him at this point. He was freaking out a little bit, this wasn't normal. Why did he feel like this? This didn't happen last time. A loud snarl made him jolt and he turned to see Ron passed out and snoring loud enough for the Slytherins to look over. He pulled out his wand and cast a silencing charm at him, receiving the gratitude of most of the hall. Not that he noticed in his current state. Using his magic seemed to make the exhaustion worse and he face planted the soft purple sleeping bag, within a few seconds he was asleep leaving a very worried Neville staring down at him.
Harry awoke slowly to fingers running gently through his hair. He was sitting with his back pressed against something hard. He cracked his eyes open and was met with the strangely specific shade of white he associated with his in-between. Tilting his head back, he met the shadowed area where Death's eyes should be, and now that he was looking closer, he swears he can see a purple pupil shaded in their depths. He slowly blinked at them before closing his eyes again and resting his head on Death's knee. They stayed like that with Death running their thin fingers through his hair until he broke the silence.
"Death? How am I here?" he remembered how he felt before he came here, he was tired. so tired he basically collapsed. His eyes widened. "I died, didn't I?" Death chuckled. The sound was low and smooth.
"No, you are not dead, master. I apologize for worrying you with how forcefully I pulled you here but I felt that it was necessary. I believe you have questions that I could answer, also it occurred to me that a few things were missed out when I sent you back. I am only able to initiate contact when the vail is at its thinnest, so it had to be tonight." Harry raised an eyebrow at the understatement of them missing a few things to tell him.
"Yeah you could say you missed a few things." Harry moved away from the deity and sat in his own armchair opposite them. "You could have at least given me a warning. 'Oh by the way you own most of wizarding Britain, are the religious leader for most of the magicals in the world, and are the King of all creatures.' thanks for the heads up." Harry spoke in the most even deadpan he could manage and Death winced.
"Yeah that was a surprise to me too. I knew about Potter, Black, and Peverell. The others weren't something I was aware of." Harry gaped and Death folded their arms over their chest defensively.
"What do you mean you weren't aware?!" death scrunched their face up.
"That was Fate's fault and the creature stuff was Mothers." They huffed, slouching in their seat looking just as irritated as Harry at being left out of the loop. Then Harry realized.
"If that's not what you were talking about, then what was it that you left out?" Death looked back to him in slight confusion before it cleared to understanding in a second.
"Oh, I forgot to mention that you can summon me within the mortal plain. All you need to do is call." and yes Harry could see how that would have been an important and very useful piece of information to have had. Harry pinched the bridge of his nose and drew in a deep breath resisting the urge to… scream? Cry? Punch the entity in the face? He wasn't quite sure, but he knew none were a good idea.
"You're telling me that I could have summoned you this entire time, just by calling for you?" Death nodded and Harry took another deep breath.
"I am just as annoyed as you are. Do you know how many centuries I have been waiting to go to the human world?" Death was pouting at him and Harry sighed, before deciding to move on.
"How long do we have here?"
"As long as you like, Master. Once here you can stay as long as you like." That was good. He had a lot of questions that he didn't want to talk about where someone else could hear.
"First question. Fred, George, Percy, Charly, and Bill, did they know what was happening to me?" this had been the one thing he had wondered about this whole time.
"Fred, George, and Bill. found out around your fifth year." Harry sucked in a sharp breath. "They confronted their mother when they found out about the family's involvement. She obliviated them. Percy and Charly never knew a thing and both thought of you like a little brother. Percys 'betrayal' of his family was because he became suspicious of Dumbledore and believed his family was too deep in to listen to him. He had been collecting evidence on all the bribes and other illegal things Dumbledore had done within the ministry. He hoped to get his family out from under his thumb, not realizing that they were a part of the problem." Harry wondered whether he should talk to Percy maybe during the tournament next year, though if he got to Barty first he wouldn't have to compete at all.
Now was not the time to be thinking about all of this. He had so many questions but now he had someone who could answer them he couldn't think of any. His mind had gone mostly blank other than one question. It kept repeating like a broken record.
"What happened after I died? Everyone saw Ron send a curse at me. So what happened to them?" Death grimaced.
"The way Ron hit you was more calculated than you think. He tackled the young Malfoy, while simultaneously sending a killing curse at you." They paused before looking directly at harry. "Would you rather me show you?" Harry nodded and instantly they were standing in the rubble of Hogwarts, watching as his old self grinned at Draco while the blond nodded back. He saw his face turn to confusion as Draco was tackled and the green light was sent towards himself. Everything was silent for a minute until it was shattered by a scream and Hermione ran over to him, tiers running down her face. He had to admit she was a good actress; he would have believed it too.
Ron told everyone he saw Draco draw his wand and that was another thing. Ron had Draco's wand. The wand Harry had been using since he disarmed him at malfoy manor, but he had dropped it during the battle. Draco had been using another wand, the same one he had thrown to Harry in their time of need. Did no one care that Draco had been the one to save them? He watched as Draco protested saying it wasn't him, only for Hermione and Ron to shut down every one of his points.
To Harry's horror he realized that no one but Ron and Hermione would know that Harry had in fact been using Draco's wand this whole time. When Draco said as much, Hermione had walked over to where Harry had lost Draco's wand, they were clearly aware of where he had dropped it since they picked it up again. She made a show of looking around before 'finding' his holly wand broken in two on the floor and Harry's heart fell into his stomach. Hermione had kept the pieces of his trusted wand for sentimental value. They had set it up so well. Harry had thought it had been impulsive, stupid and that they would have been caught easily, but that wasn't the case.
After that it was like it was in double time. Harry watched through the farce of a trial they gave Draco before throwing him through the veil along with his mother and father. He watched as more and more magics were banned. as the house elves were forcibly freed, killing an entire race of creatures. As werewolves were discriminated against to the point of being actively hunted. As Bill, Teddy, and Andy were killed by the hunters. As fairies, pixies, nymphs, merpeople, centaurs and other creatures fled england. As England's magic became unstable due to the imbalance. As Albians wards that were over two millennia old started to fail. As they finally fell, revealing the magical world. As every nation was engulfed in civil war between magicals and muggles. And finally as the bombs were dropped across the world. Poisoning the planet and killing most of the human race.
Seventeen years. That was all it took from the end of the battle to the end of the world. Harry was left reeling staring in shock at the toxic planet left behind. Death spoke softly as he watched the dying world.
"The one with the power to restore the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must stay on the side of the other, for neither can thrive while the false Light survives... the one with the power to unite races and magic will be born as the seventh month dies…" after a long silence he Eventually spoke in a small voice barely above a whisper.
"To stop this." he gestured to the world around them. "I have to work with him, don't I? Only with Tom and I working together can we fix it." Harry had already worked this out. It was why he was working so hard on the resurrection ritual, but he wanted undeniable conformation.
"Yes. You can not do this alone and despite what he turned into, he was a visionary and one of fate's favorites when he was younger. My sibling has tried three times in the last century to fix the rapidly tipping balance of magic but her three chosen have all been tampered with by Albus Dumbledore. First was Gellert Grindelwald, next was Tom Riddle, and last was you."
"Judging by the pattern, if he had been alive at the end of the battle I would have been made into the new dark lord then." Death nodded.
"It is more than likely, yes." Harry just sat thinking for a moment.
"When you said Dumbledore interfered with Tom, what exactly do you mean by that?"
"Are you aware of how Riddle found out about horcruxes?" Harry shook his head. "He found it in a book in the restricted section. The restricted section of a school library. Do you really believe a school library would have such an illegal book?" he shook his head again. He knew there were some questionable magics in there, but the ministry would have stormed in here if there was anything illegal. "It also just happened to be one of the books that had the least amount of information. Just enough for you to be able to make a horcrux but nothing on the dangers of doing so." Harry frowned. "It doesn't help that the old goat placed compulsions and curses on the book. After he made the first horcrux he wasn't the same. Then with each one he made his sanity declined until he was no longer the charismatic confident man people originally followed."
"Will I be able to fix it?" Death nodded. "Even if I destroyed his largest soul piece?" Death chuckled.
"A soul is not so easily destroyed, master. Merely the vessel." Harry frowned.
"Then what happened to it?"
"It latched onto its closest other soul piece." they lent forward and tapped his scar. Harry almost panicked until he realized something.
"With every soul piece I destroyed the one in me got bigger."
"And your emotions heightened, anger increased, the hurt, the loneliness, the hatred." Harry just sat processing that for a long while. "It no longer resides in you, master, so there is nothing to fear." Harry tried desperately to stop thinking about the last timeline and whether dumbles knew exactly what he did, or if this was something even he didn't know. He was pretty sure he didn't want to know the answer to that.
"So, I can fix him?" Death nodded.
"I can't lend a lot of help in this matter, but I can say that you are currently doing well. He has to be willing to reabsorb his soul pieces. If he is not, it will not work. So you must convince him first." Harry had no clue how he would have gone about forcing the dark lord to do something like that so willing participation was always the plan.
"And you can guarantee me that Voldemort, the thing that came out of that cauldron will not come back?" Death nodded.
"As long as they dont use what they did that last time it will go very differently." Harry nodded. At this point he was glad that he had seen the Riddle in both the diary and Dumbledore's memories. It put his mind at ease knowing what he used to be like. Dumbles memories were bias as hell but he was able to see them to the intelligent boy beneath them, and what he had learnt of the knights of walpurgis gave him hope that he was doing the right thing. Not to mention he had seen the consequences of the alternative.