Disclaimer: I'm not the owner of Harry Potter and the magical world. All rights go to its rightful owner.
kageknuser2710: Hello ! Hum, I mean, yeah, probably. I don't have much to say in fact. I hope that you liked the story so far though. Take care !
SilveerKnighT: Hey ! Okaay, well, if that's what you think, feel free to look for other stories. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll only say that I'm glad you took your time to read up to chapter 13. Thank you, take care !
06/28/1992, 15H23, Greengrass Manor, England:
A first spell shot from Harry's wand, the boy mainly relying on his speed of execution. Through his training, he had forged a unique fighting style. While most wizards favored the power and originality of their spells, Harry, with his vast magical reserves, overwhelmed his opponent with a multitude of varied curses.
Nott, far from being defeated, immediately responded with a loud "Protego". Harry's spell bounced off the transparent shield without effect. Determined, the Gryffindor chained spells together, taking care to maintain great mobility. His Quidditch training was going to be very useful to him today, as his stamina was being severely tested. But he couldn't fail. The honor of the Potter family and the lives of the whole Greengrass family were at stake. He had to win, it was his duty.
The exchange continued, young Nott slowly getting exhausted after defending himself constantly. Finally, after a few minutes, Harry ceased his assault. Faced with the ineffectiveness of his attacks, he had to prepare a new strategy.
A sly smile appeared on the Slytherin's lips when he saw his opponent interrupt his offensive. "Tired already, Potter?!" he sneered. "What a poor hero! It's probably that Mudblood part of your blood that makes you that weak."
Harry clenched his fists, fighting against the rage that threatened to overwhelm him at this blatant insult. He quickly turned his head towards his uncle, who gave him a reassuring smile. With a simple nod, he advised him not to be carried away by the provocation.
'He's right, that's exactly what this bastard hopes for,' Harry thought to himself. "Maybe you're right, or maybe it's the opposite. But hey, after all, it's better to be born of a partially Muggle-born family than of a family degenerated by inbreeding," he retorted with a mischievous wink.
Hadrian chuckled inwardly, amused by the young man's sharp retort. 'I've raised him well, that kid,' he thought with satisfaction, momentarily forgetting that he was talking about an alternate version of himself.
The Slytherin's face and his father's turned scarlet with anger at Harry's remark. "Not a move, Nott, or I'll tear you to pieces," Hadrian growled from his seat, his voice menacing. The wave of pure magic that emanated from him seemed to calm the man, who did not notice that the pallor that dominated the Lord's face was gradually leaving him.
The Slytherin's wand lit up with a strange orange glow. For some reason, Harry was certain that this spell would be lethal if it touched him. 'Dark magic, I'll have to be extra careful,' he thought before retaliating with a new volley of spells.
"Expelliarmus", "Flipendo", "Depulso". Harry decided to adopt a new strategy. Condensing his sequence of three spells, he tried to imitate the technique he had observed during his training: that mass of raw magic his uncle used to pierce the opponent's defenses, as during the assault against the manor.
He closed his eyes, searching within himself for the source of his magical power. The situation was urgent, as Nott would soon counterattack, and defeat would be inevitable.
He perceived a thin thread, similar to his uncle's golden aura. However, unlike the older man's golden hue, his was a reddish shade. Deciding to note this peculiarity for later, he followed the thread to... an indescribable sight. An indefinite shape, like some sort of dome with multicolored threads. The image was confusing, but he knew he had found what he was looking for.
Concentrating his energy, he slightly compressed his core. Alas, this simple compression was enough to deplete nearly half of his reserves, leaving him stunned by the fragility of his core. 'By Merlin! How does Uncle Hadrian control his power with such precision?' he exclaimed inwardly.
Without further delay, he opened his eyes, discovering a blinding blue light about to strike his opponent's shield. "This must be my reinforced spell," he thought.
The power of the curse took Nott by surprise. Apart from its imposing size, it resembled the other spells the young Potter had cast at him. But when it struck the shield, it shattered, violently propelling the Slytherin backwards, his back hitting the ground hard. The boy got up, his body bruised with multiple cuts and contusions. A cry of rage escaped his lips, followed by a volley of curses. Harry dodged them with agility and retaliated in turn.
The duel intensified, the two boys exchanging spells for long minutes. Their bodies became covered in increasingly severe wounds, Harry miraculously managing to limit the damage. Only the raw power of dark magic allowed Nott to hold against him. Without it, the Slytherin would have lost a long time ago.
Time flew by, raising whirlwinds of earth. Sweat and blood beaded on the faces of the two combatants, exhausted by the intensity of the battle. Harry, having unintentionally emptied half of his reserves during his previous attack, found himself at a disadvantage sooner than he had anticipated. Worried, he glanced at his uncle. The latter lowered his headband slightly and winked at him conspiratorially. A voice then echoed in Harry's head: "Don't limit yourself to your wand. Use all the means at your disposal. Absolutely everything."
Harry's inattention earned him a slight cut near his eye. Dodging the new incoming spells, he murmured "Episkey" to heal the wound.
How could he fight any differently than with his wand? With his bare hands? By the time he got close enough, he would probably be hit... But then how...?
Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind: the land! Of course! His uncle was able to manipulate the elements at will. He was far from reaching that level of mastery, but he knew how to do one thing: small explosions.
Sending a new volley of curses to distract Theodore, he closed his eyes again. This time, the compression was minimal, and he managed to channel the desired amount of energy. "Depulso!" he shouted, pointing at the ground in front of the boy.
Theodore, already busy blocking the spells in front of him, ignored the new attack. Harry's spell hit the ground at his feet, causing it to explode. Chunks of earth flew in all directions, even reaching his eyes.
Blinded, the Slytherin panicked and cast several spells randomly around him before trying to rub his eyes. But unfortunately for him, it was too late. He heard several footsteps approaching him, and before he could raise his wand, he felt a hand strike his violently, sending it flying far from him. He recoiled, finally managing to remove the dirt obstructing his vision. But once again, he was too late.
"Flipendo!" The young boy was thrown backwards, his head hitting a staircase and knocking him unconscious. "Theodore! You little-" the boy's father began to shout while turning to Harry, drawing his wand.
Harry didn't care. The fight was over. He had won. Theodore was disarmed and out of action. He sat back, looked coldly at the older man as he tried to attack him.
"Oh, I don't think so!" Hadrian exclaimed, drawing his wand. With a twist of his wrist, a red spell shot out and struck the man's wand hand. All the spectators of the scene grimaced at the crack and the cry of pain that followed. Hadrian did not stop there, however, magically strengthening the muscles of his leg before apparating in front of the former Death Eater.
He then struck him with all his might, the kick sending the man flying like an autumn leaf in the wind. Another crack sounded, indicating that Hadrian had once again apparated. He appeared above Senior Nott and crushed him to the ground, before bending down and grabbing him by the collar.
"Three seconds to neutralize him. That's what I had thought," Harry said, smiling at his uncle who seemed to have taken advantage of the fight to recover.
The time traveler put away his wand and dragged the unconscious man's body to that of his son, stopping at the feet of Alexander and Ophelia.
"Lord Potter... What will happen to us?" Ophelia asked, her voice trembling with worry. Hadrian simply gave her a reassuring smile, slowly spreading his arms.
"There are only two ways to trigger a curse," he explained calmly. "Either it's linked to a magical contract. Now, unless your ancestors signed one and just broke it, which is... unlikely, or if the Malfoys' contract mentioned this curse, it can't be that. Plus, if I'm not mistaken, the contract was signed after the curse, wasn't it?"
Alexander and Ophelia nodded.
"That leaves us with only one possibility: it was triggered by a person," Hadrian continued. "And it just so happens that we learned some rather interesting information from our dear Lord Nott a few minutes ago, didn't we?"
He lowered his head, staring coldly at the Slytherin lying at his feet, his headband covering his eyes. "After all, he himself admitted his expertise in curses. And Malfoy, for his part, would never have dared to get his hands dirty. So there's only one suspect..."
A sly smile appeared on Hadrian's lips. He then asked Ophelia to heal Harry, and then rushed into the manor, dragging the two Notts by the collar, followed closely by Alexander.
The screams that echoed in the dungeons of the noble house for the hours that followed left little to the imagination as to the nature of the tortures inflicted.
'It's for the greater good,' Harry said to himself before falling asleep, exhausted by the battle. 'I hope the girls are okay. Their magical reserves are much smaller than their parents'.'
07/17/1992, 16H14, Paris, France:
"Moony! I'm going to buy ice cream with Sirius! Do you and Uncle Hadrian want some?" Harry exclaimed, beckoning to the two men who had remained behind.
The time traveler and the werewolf looked at each other before shrugging conspiratorially. "Get us some chocolate ones!" they replied in unison.
It had been a long time since the former soldier had felt such joy. Sirius had managed to find Remus and, not without difficulty, bring him back to Britain.
Harry had initially greeted the werewolf coldly, finding it much more difficult to forgive him than Sirius. Indeed, although he had suffered from the abandonment of his father's best friends, he had had to admit that his godfather was not entirely responsible. As his uncle had pointed out, the animagus was easily manipulated by his emotions. And even if he resented the man for that, he knew that if the latter hadn't been unjustly sent to Azkaban without trial, he would have played a significant role in his life.
However, the werewolf was free. He could have gotten him out of that hell. Harry didn't care that he was a werewolf. He would have much preferred to live with a loving person who was absent one night a month rather than with the Dursleys. He didn't hesitate to tell Lupin so.
The latter had apologized repeatedly, promising Harry that he would make up for it in the future. The young boy, preferring actions to words, had nodded and agreed to start over. However, he had insisted strongly that this was his last chance.
The werewolf had accepted, and a new relationship had formed from there, a relationship that had already begun to blossom since the beginning of the holidays.
Remus had found a family in Hadrian Potter, this unknown man whose smell reminded him terribly of Harry's, which reassured him when he learned that the latter had guardianship of Harry, Sirius Black, his best friend, and Harry himself, who was the closest thing to a son he would never have, according to him.
Hadrian nodded approvingly at the young boy and his godfather, who turned around to place their order. Since the fight against the Nott heir, the young boy's confidence had grown even more. The traveler had made sure that it didn't turn into arrogance, reminding Harry of the abyssal gap that separated them and that he would have to cross to face Voldemort.
Nevertheless, the fact that he was able to defeat in a duel one of the magically strongest students in his year, and who moreover used the spells from his family grimoire as well as dark magic, was clearly something to be proud of. The fact that it had also helped to save the honor of the Potters as well as the lives of the Greengrass family was the icing on the cake.
Indeed, after several hours of... intense questioning, Hadrian had managed to make Nott talk about how the curse worked. He had then neutralized it, and with Ophelia, the only one still conscious at that moment, they had burned the contract between Theodore and Daphne.
They returned a few days later, and Harry was happy to see the return of the floral decoration that adorned the noble house. "Business is picking up," exclaimed Alexander when he saw them arrive.
Hadrian then offered them a considerable sum of money, although laughable in view of the current funds of the Potters which, thanks to his investments, were skyrocketing. The mere pocket money he left for Harry would be enough to suffocate more than one noble simply by the amount.
Alexander refused at first, explaining that with the return of their production of various flowers and plants, business could resume. That's when he proposed a deal to them: "I buy all your current stock at twice the market price. What do you say?"
That proposition was enough to make Ophelia cry, having already seen the man and his heir put themselves in danger multiple times for them.
Harry, for his part, was warmly thanked by Astoria who didn't hide her gratitude towards him. Even Daphne, usually cold with him, although they were friends, had taken him in an embrace to thank him.
He savored the sensation, as short as it was. "Don't let it go to your head, Potter. I admit you're talented. But if I see you strutting around like Malfoy, I'll turn you into a tree and display you in the greenhouse," she had said, seeing the boy's proud smile.
"If that happens, put me near the asphodels. You said that plant symbolized what? The strength of life? That suits me well!" he had replied, eliciting a bored sigh from the girl who couldn't hide her smile.
The financial contribution had allowed the family to recover and to cancel the engagement between Draco and Astoria. This did not please Lucius Malfoy. However, after a thinly veiled threat from Hadrian who had told him to look at what had happened to Nott, he retreated once more. 'I should deal with him, sooner or later,' the time traveler promised himself.
Alexander had explained that the weakening of his life force had slowly led him to lose his reason. He had wanted to contact Hadrian, but Lucius had intervened more quickly, and faced with a seemingly quick way to end one of his problems: the rapid decline in income since the death of all the plants in the manor, he had cracked.
However, Hadrian wasn't fooled. He knew that Lucius had played with the man's mind. He found some clues. There was no other way he could have convinced him to sacrifice one of his daughters. He loved them too much for that. A quality that Hadrian admired in him fervently.
With the problem solved, the vacation could resume in earnest, with a trip to Italy first, which allowed the time traveler to grieve again, and then to France, to watch the dueling tournament that was being held there.
"Here, Hadrian," Sirius offered, handing him the chocolate ice cream. The latter thanked him, as Remus started eating his own ice cream offered by Harry. Thinking better than to stay in the middle of the road, they continued on their way towards the dueling arena.
The city's very pretty. Hadrian had been there several times in the future, both for work and to visit Fleur's family. However, he had spent very little time in the Muggle world back then. That's why he was making up for it today with this vacation. The architecture of the buildings, and even of the whole city, fascinated him with its order. To imagine the time it must have taken with Muggle techniques... it was, for him, inconceivable.
Remus and Sirius walked in front of Harry and him. The two had apparently already visited the city, with Peter and James, during summer vacations. They were having fun pointing out the changes, doing their best to avoid any mention of the rat.
"Uncle Hadrian! Is this where the duel is going to be?" Harry asked impatiently, quickly wiping the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.
"Yes, that's right! Hurry up and finish your ice cream before it melts."
The young boy nodded and quickly finished his ice cream. Hadrian discreetly took out his wand and cast cleaning spells on the quartet. After all, no matter where they were, Sirius and he remained two eminent Lords, and Harry the boy-who-lived. They had to make a good impression!
They quickly went to the reception, taking advantage of the VIP access their position gave them, and found a place to sit that would give them a better view.
Once seated, Harry looked up at his uncle and asked, "Why don't you do tournaments, Uncle Hadrian? With your strength, you would be invincible!"
Hadrian simply laughed and shook his head. "I'm a soldier, a warrior if you prefer. Not a duelist. To tell you the truth, the last time I did a duel, according to the rules of it, I lost," the man confessed.
"Whatever you say, uncle Hadrian! As if I was going to believe that someone could beat you. I've seen what I've seen at the manor, Uncle Hadrian. You won't get me! I know you can't lose," Harry replied, seeming dismayed at the idea that Hadrian could actually lose a fight.
Sirius was about to reply, but Hadrian gestured to him to drop it. The latter then shrugged and resumed his conversation with Remus.
The former soldier leaned back in his seat, looking coldly at the sky. 'We're all invincible,' he thought bitterly. 'Until we lose, and then we're no longer.'
08/24/1992, 11H38, Diagon Alley, London:
The rest of the holiday was very busy for Hadrian Potter. He had even asked Sirius and Remus to keep Harry with them for the month of August so he could get back to work. They were delighted with the proposal, each wanting to make up for their past mistakes.
The youngest boy had a hard time at first, but eventually understood Hadrian's choice. And with that, the time traveler had returned to Great Britain.
He hadn't stopped training Harry and taking him to different dueling rooms around the world so he could practice. Now, he wanted Harry to start working on silent spells and mastering his core. And for that, he would be useless.
Hadrian had started by carrying out his first bounty hunting mission, having to deal with a group of vampires who had betrayed the clan. The hardest part had been locating them. For the rest, he had captured them with his flames, and had tied them up. Once this was done, he brought them back to the ministry who offered him his reward.
To say that the ICW was shocked by the speed of his success was an understatement. The only reason they had assigned such a dangerous mission was because of the recommendations of the Mexican Minister. But now, they understood where the man's reputation as an invincible soldier came from.
The time traveler had been able to meet Andrew, a... passionate worker at the ministry. It was also during this meeting that he had been able to see the other members of this restricted group. There were no more than a dozen of them, all spread out across the world. He had asked Andrew for a few names, and what he heard surprised him. He heard the name "Moon", which he recognized immediately.
This explained the woman's power. In this kind of work, the weak didn't last long. According to Andrew, the woman had gone on a solo mission to hunt down... Alexei.
This information chilled Hadrian's blood. He had no particular attachment to the woman, but had appreciated their exchanges, however cold they were. However, she had no chance against the Russian wizard. The man's constructions weren't human. He still remembered their duel during the cave trial. Her lightning bolts would do nothing to him.
He then understood. In his time, Fortuna did not lose to Voldemort. No, she had fallen to Alexei.
Hadrian quickly asked Andrew for more information about her position. The woman, with her power, could be of great use in the war against Voldemort. He would need her.
However, the bureaucrat admitted that he couldn't give that information. "Understand that we cannot risk all our agents. Normally, if after three months no news is given, we put back the contract. If you want to go there officially, that's the only way. Otherwise, you can go there on your own... But without information on this madman's latest movements, you might as well be looking for a needle in a haystack," the man had explained.
Andrew's detached explanation had left a very dissatisfied Hadrian who promised himself to find a solution. However, he had other plans to put in place, and the fall of the vampire group had only delayed them. Between his new job, the meetings at the Ministry, regular exchanges with the goblins, and his preparations for the future, the month of August flew by.
As the holidays were coming to an end, Sirius, Remus, and Harry returned, and the trio spent a day together at Potter Manor catching up. Hadrian took the opportunity to test Harry, and found that the latter had improved greatly. With his current power, he believed Harry would have crushed Theodore Nott in a few seconds.
The day after they returned from vacation, Remus left with Sirius. The duo wanted to get rid of Fenrir Greyback. After much negotiation with the time traveler, who tried the best he could to explain to them that it would be a suicide mission, they agreed to settle for reconnaissance.
"Those two are going to make my hair as white as my eyes if this keeps up," the man thought, feeling his age catching up with him.
For his part, he had left with Harry to take care of school supplies. He knew the way by heart, having done it six times for himself first, and then several times for his godson, Teddy.
After the usual batch of quills and parchment, several sets of uniforms for Harry whose growth never seemed to stop according to the older man, and other trinkets, they finally reached the manuals.
Hadrian had been waiting for this moment impatiently. Not to see Lockhart again, no, far from it. If he was happy, it was because it would give him the chance to recover Tom's journal, thus taking care of another of the Dark Lord's Horcruxes.
The two entered the crowded bookstore, standing in line. Further ahead of them, they could see the Weasleys as well as Hermione and Neville. The young Gryffindor didn't notice them, apparently too focused on the idea of meeting her hero. Neville, standing next to her, seemed more bored than anything else. The man's vanity made him want to gouge his eyes out. What's more, he had only been waiting for twenty minutes!
Hadrian turned and, discreetly lowering his headband, searched the surroundings for the Horcrux. 'Oh, there it is! How kind of it to wait for me patiently outside. Don't move little Horcrux. Daddy is doing the shopping and he's coming,' he thought, putting the headband back on his eyes and moving forward in line with Harry.
He took the time while in the line to explain to Harry the true nature of the man. Of course, he couldn't, without concrete evidence, reveal what the man was really doing to get his stories. However, he could warn Harry that the latter was a charlatan based on his own books.
Indeed, magic allowed for many things. However, being in two places at the same time was something that was almost impossible. So, in more than two places? It's unimaginable. Yet, the dates of the great Gilderoy Lockhart's adventures overlapped, making his statements literally impossible for anyone who paid the slightest attention to what they were reading.
'Does Harry and I count as being in two places at the same time?' the Lord wondered before putting that thought aside. With everything he had done since his return, he no longer considered himself as Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived and Voldemort's vanquisher. No, today he was Hadrian Potter, bounty hunter for the ICW and Harry's uncle. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Oh, but look who we have here! Harry Potter! Come here boy, we must take a picture together. Your fame almost eclipses mine!" the man exclaimed, getting up and grabbing the young boy's arm. He passed in front of Hadrian who simply smiled as he watched the idiot.
While Harry was taken by Gilderoy, the invincible soldier drew his wand and cast a spell towards the cameras. "Dear fans, here is our hero to all of us! Harry Potter!" The man continued to smile at the cameras, holding in front of him an annoyed Harry Potter. He ignored the boy and turned around, grabbing a copy of each of the necessary schoolbooks, as well as his own and handed them to Harry. "Here you go Harry," he exclaimed loudly. "Here's a copy of each of my books, as well as the textbooks you'll need this year. I'm giving them to you, to thank you for saving us all," he declared in his arrogant tone.
Harry quickly took the books and retreated, discreetly casting a spell on the blond's chair. He arrived in front of Hadrian, and they were about to leave when they were interrupted. 'Oh yes, that's right, he did announce that at the time,' Hadrian thought, squeezing Harry's shoulder, signaling him to stop.
"I'm going to take advantage of the people present here to make a big announcement. Know, dear parents, dear students, that this year, Hogwarts will have the immense honor of welcoming me, Gilderoy Lockhart, as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!"
Applause and cheers rang out throughout the bookstore, irritating Harry even more.
"Don't worry, I've messed up the cameras. I would have loved to see their faces when they realized they took a picture of themselves," Hadrian confessed, laughing.
"Thanks Uncle Hadrian! That reassures me. As for me... Let's just say I left a souvenir for my future defense professor," he trailed off with a mischievous smile.
The former combatant patted the young boy on the back proudly, before opening the shop door to let them out. The last sound he heard before closing it was a loud fart coming from the local star's office.
As soon as they stepped outside, they realized that the outside of the shop was no quieter than the inside. Indeed, they saw Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy exchanging punches, like two angry children in a playground.
"Here Harry, some popcorn," Hadrian offered, watching the scene. The young boy, who had just shrunk his books and put them in his pocket, accepted with pleasure. "It's fun walking around with you Uncle Hadrian. By the way... Where did the popcorn come from?" Harry asked.
"No idea, I brought them here with the 'accio' spell I told you about. I hope the owners don't mind," he explained, focusing on the scene.
He could see the mass of dark magic in the man's pockets. While the other passersby were giving their all to separate them, Harry and he patiently watched the scene, eating their popcorn.
The little street fight continued for a few more minutes before finally being interrupted. The two were separated, and Lucius took the time to readjust his robes.
He approached the Weasleys again, but this time stopped in front of Ginny, whose cauldron full of books had fallen to the ground while the adults were fighting. A mean smile formed on his face, but disappeared so quickly that Harry wondered if he hadn't dreamed it.
He bent down, and before Arthur could jump on him again, grabbed the girl's books and handed them back to her. Discreetly, he added a small black book that went unnoticed in the middle of the large cauldron. "Here you go young lady, I feel sorry for you for being born into such a... primitive family," he declared, ignoring the redhead's offended face.
Hadrian, having his goal in sight, left the popcorn to Harry, and started his way towards the Weasleys.
Suddenly, he heard: "Hadrian!"
Turning around, he saw the Greengrass family, led by Alexander, who greeted him. "Oh hello Alexander, Ophelia, Daphne, Astoria, delighted to see you all again. I'm sorry, I have to do something quickly, I'll be right back!"
Having said that, he turned around once more. However... the Weasleys had disappeared. Behind him, the Greengrass joined Harry, and they began to chat. Not wanting to waste time, he lowered his headband. The amount of information coming in made him stagger for a moment, before he resumed his search.
"How can the least discreet family in the wizarding world just disappear like that… Why can't my eyes see them?! It's like they just... disappeared," he concluded, looking into the shop behind him. There were few ways to disappear in the wizarding world. But, an effective way to do it was through fireplaces. And apparently, if the green flames and the hint of red hair he managed to see from the outside corresponded, then it seemed that the Weasleys had understood that very well.
'Damn it! I have to do something! Alexander, I like you, but I would have appreciated it if you had arrived a few seconds later,' he acknowledged, quickly putting his headband back on, happy to see that no one had paid attention to him.
He then approached the small group, who looked at him curiously. "Harry, Daphne, Astoria, I have a mission for you. I saw... a mass of dark magic emanating from one of the books Malfoy gave to the youngest Weasley. I have a lot of things to do in the coming days, so I won't have time to go there and explain before school starts. So, if you don't mind, try to watch over her at Hogwarts," he explained.
He continued by asking them not to put themselves in danger, and to warn him immediately if the young girl started to behave strangely. He assured them that he would also warn Dumbledore, so that he could have someone on site who could help them if ever needed.
The group then engaged in several discussions, Daphne, Astoria, and Harry catching up on one side, and Hadrian, Alexander, and Ophelia on the other. Hadrian explained what he had seen to the Greengrass parents, who admitted to having witnessed the scene from afar. The subject of the conversation then changed, although Hadrian remained very dissatisfied with how the day turned out.
"By the way, Potter, why do you have popcorn?" Daphne asked, a hint of irritation in her voice that Harry struggled to perceive. "Oh, uh... Uncle Hadrian made them appear, why?" he replied naively.
"I see. I'm only asking you that because my sister's popcorn mysteriously disappeared from her hands ten minutes ago. Tell me Potter, did you know that it's impossible to magically conjure food?" she added, crossing her arms, a movement quickly copied by her younger sister.
"H-Hey, wait a minute! It's a misunderstanding! It's my uncle who conjured them with a spell! It's not me!" he exclaimed.
Unfortunately for him, the girls had no mercy. 'At least, I'll have learned something new about magic,' he thought to himself as he ran, hoping to escape the dangerous angry sisters.
09/01/1992, 09H25, King's Cross, London:
"Goodbye, Uncle Hadrian! Thank you again for the holidays. They were the best of my life. I... I promise I'll do my best this year," Harry assured him, hugging Hadrian tightly.
"I don't doubt it. Don't forget to write, and if anything unusual happens, tell me, Sirius, or Remus, alright?" Hadrian insisted, releasing the younger boy.
Harry nodded, grabbed his trunk, and ran towards the train, leaving the time traveler alone on the platform.
'Enjoy this year,' he thought. 'Things are likely to get more complicated later.'
He went to say goodbye one last time to the Greengrass family, then apparated to Potter Manor. After all, work wasn't going to do itself.
09/01/1992, 09H30, Potter Manor, England:
Hadrian delicately picked up the quill from his desk and reread the list he had written. It had been over a year since he had returned to the past, and his life had completely changed.
Although he had managed to bury any reaction behind his Occlumency barriers, seeing Remus and Sirius again, both dead in his timeline, had greatly affected him. Several times, he had wanted to let go and throw himself into their arms.
Deep down, he felt a terrible urge to explain his identity to Sirius. However, he knew that it would bring nothing but misunderstanding and questions, and at the moment, he preferred to avoid questions.
'At the end,' he promised himself. 'At the end of all this mess, I'll tell them. He deserves it.'
He had already changed many things since his return. He had taken care of several Horcruxes, had partially freed Harry from his doomed fate, while also beginning to act against dark wizards internationally.
Alongside this, he had made acquaintances and forged powerful alliances that could help him when the time came. Both him and Harry.
It was with this thought that he reread the list again. At the moment, he had already crossed off:
- Training to relearn how to control my magic
- Find allies (from all factions if possible to have eyes everywhere)
- Find a regent to avoid attending all the Wizengamot meetings (Greengrass from the neutral faction could be an asset)
- Finish the manor repairs
- Meet Dumbledore and try to make him an ally. Otherwise, kill him.
- Free Sirius after catching Pettigrew
- Find a legal position within the Ministry to eliminate Death Eaters. Otherwise, make them die by "accident".
- End the magical war in Mexico.
Once this was done, he decided to circle several ongoing projects, such as:
- Deal with the Basilisk. Will have to wait until Harry reveals himself to be Parseltongue. Can use magical sight as an excuse to find the chamber.
He could do this as soon as Harry discovered his gift and heard voices in the school (although a part of him wished that Ginny would get rid of the book, he knew that the compulsion would force her to write in it).
"Wait a minute... Without the Horcrux in his head... HE NO LONGER HAS THE GIFT!" he exclaimed, jumping up abruptly. "Damn it! Why didn't I think of that sooner! I'm going to have to do this differently..." he muttered, pacing around the room. "I have no choice, I'm going to have to do it the brute way... Hopefully Dumbledore will swallow the story. He already knows about the book, so with a little luck..."
Sighing in annoyance at his oversight, he sat down once more.
- Wait for the diary (Harry's second year), then cast the soul-gathering spell
He circled this as it went in pair with the first one. However, he decided to cross out the second part of the sentence. The soul-gathering spell on a person with so many Horcruxes had never been done, and, having already destroyed several of them, he didn't want to risk making a mistake.
- Deal with Fudge and that other pink bitch.
- Deal with Greyback's pack, and see if I can get rid of the giants.
The first had already been partially accomplished, since he had Fudge in his pocket. He would only have to wait for the right moment to make the pink toad disappear, and that would be one less problem. As for the werewolves, he would act once Remus and Sirius returned from their mission. The giants... That was another detail that he preferred to deal with later.
As for the rest, he could either not act immediately or lacked the tools to access it. However, one thing he intended to do and wanted to do was get rid of the Death Eaters.
A part of him wanted to make those still free disappear first, but he knew that the worst of them were gathered in one specific place. A place he had already been to, and which he had been able to partially map.
Letting out another sigh, he took his quill and circled in a different color:
- Deal with the Death Eaters in Azkaban