Disclaimer: 17 chapters later, I'm still not the owner of Harry Potter. All rights go to its rightful owner.
Guest: Wow, now that's a lot of anger. You should take a break. If reading put you in that state, then you shouldn't be reading at all. Reading something is about taking the time to appreciate a story, and how it is written. If you don't like it, you don't read it. However, insulting the writer and his work like this won't change anything. Anyway, I hope you'll find peace in your life (you probably won't even read that answer, as you won't catch up to this chapter. But if one day you do, I hope life is better for you).
CaskettFan5: Welcome back ! I hope you had good vacations ! Anyway, yeah it's strange for Hadrian not to be the odd one for once, isn't it ? Well, I'll let you catch up. Take care, and have a great day !
Kageknuser2710: Hey ! No worries. I totally understand that problem (mixing up things). It happened to me a lot back when I read multiple fanfictions at once. That's why I often say: if you have a question, or something you don't understand, don't hesitate to ask. I'll answer the best I can. Just don't make suppositions. Anyway, take care ! I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story. Have a good day !
jmsdragn: Hey ! I... don't fucking know how I made that mistake, but thanks for pointing it out. It's already changed everywhere. Thanks ! Take care !
marisares76: Hello. While I see your point, I don't agree with it. Harry is his own character, even without parseltong. In the books (or the movies), he doesn't use parseltongue that much. Still, that doesn't make him less the main character. In my story, parseltongue would be useless, and wouldn't add much. Don't worry, he will have things that'll differentiate him from the others. Simply, not that. Oh, and to answer your first long review quickly about why people "think" loosing the horcrux would mean Harry loosing parseltongue... Well it's because it's like that in canon... That's as simple as that. Look it up on the internet if you don't believe me. Add that to the fact that young Harry didn't even knew that he had the ability, and for him it doesn't change anything. Anyway, take care ! (And in case you stop reading the story from here, well I hope you'll find better stories :). Have a great day !)
02/18/1993, 19H19, Hogwarts, Scotland:
As Hogwarts students made their way to the Great Hall, a message echoed through the castle: "YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE! ALL STUDENTS ARE TO RETURN TO THEIR DORMITORIES IMMEDIATELY."
Having finished his announcement, Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster, dispelled his Sonorus charm and joined Hadrian in his quest for the Chamber of Secrets.
The time traveler already knew the chamber's location. However, a major obstacle stood before him: he had absolutely no idea how to open it. For this reason, he slowed his search, taking the time to think of a solution to overcome this obstacle. At least, that was his initial plan.
The professors, paired up throughout the school, were to monitor the corridors to prevent any surprise attacks. Hadrian had ensured that he and Albus were on the correct floor, ready to quickly take the passage leading to the toilets that gave access to the Chamber if necessary.
After obtaining the old man's permission, he lowered his headband, trying to detect the magic associated with Salazar Slytherin's ancient hiding place. To his great surprise, he detected no magical trace emanating from the forgotten place.
In reality, the only clues they had were the magic residues left by Ginny Weasley and Hadrian's knowledge from the future. Without that, even with his eyes, he would never have found the chamber.
'It's likely that the magic surrounding it has dissipated over the centuries, seeing as it was built nearly a thousand years ago,' he mused, his bright eyes fixed on a pair of students approaching him and the headmaster.
"Uncle Hadrian?! Professors!? What are you doing here?" exclaimed Harry, visibly very worried. Hadrian froze, searching for how to answer Harry's question, giving the young girl accompanying him time to speak.
"Headmaster! You have to help us! My sister has disappeared!" she cried out, panicked. Her beautiful eyes, usually cold and distant—except in Harry's presence, as her father had pointed out before she slapped him—were wide open with terror.
The headmaster stepped forward and stood in front of the young girl. "Calm down, Miss Greengrass. The professors and I will take care of this," he began, trying to calm the panicked girl.
"Was your sister with Miss Weasley before she disappeared?" he added after a brief reflection. The blonde took a deep breath and replied, visibly troubled by the question.
"Yes, she was. She was the one watching over her since this black book story. Why? Did something happen?" she worried, noticing Hadrian's raised eyebrow.
"Ginny Weasley is also missing at the moment. We are looking for her-" he tried to explain, shocked by the turn of events because, in his time, Astoria had never been kidnapped. However, he was interrupted by Harry, whose magic was leaking from his body in waves. "Let us help you search, please!"
The bounty hunter, realizing that time was running out for the two young girls, nodded. "Are you sure, Hadrian? Isn't it too risky?" Albus pointed out.
"Anyway, even if I say no to him, he's going to do it behind our backs with the invisibility cloak anyway. So we might as well keep an eye on them," the time traveler explained with a wink at his nephew.
The now-quartet, after briefly explaining all the information gathered so far, set off, searching every corner of the school. Hadrian went over and over in his head all the possibilities he could consider, before making his decision.
"Albus, I think I have a lead. I have magical residue from Ginny Weasley leading to the girls' toilets," he said, approaching the old man.
The latter stopped dead in his tracks, staring at Hadrian for a few moments before finally voicing his thoughts. "But of course... of course! What a fool I am! Come, let's go," the headmaster ordered the group with renewed vigor.
"Fifty years ago, the Chamber was opened by the Heir of Slytherin. I suppose you can guess without too much difficulty who that person was," Dumbledore began, glancing sharply to his right.
"From what you told me about him, I suppose it's Voldemort. Well, Tom at the time," Hadrian replied, ignoring the shocked reaction of the children behind them.
When he heard this, Harry wanted to slap himself. They had searched the entire school for signs of a Slytherin descendant, without even thinking of the most obvious: Voldemort. Shaking his head, Harry vowed to pay more attention in history class. This kind of situation couldn't happen again in the future.
Information played a big role in war. If his uncle was right about the future that awaited him, he would have to prepare himself both physically and intellectually.
"Here we are. Kids, be careful, we don't know what awaits us." Daphne and Harry nodded, and the younger duo entered the girls' toilets, closely following the two most powerful wizards of their generation.
Hadrian scanned the room, making sure the Basilisk wasn't out, before reassuring everyone and putting away his wand. Almost as soon as he had done so, the group jumped at the sound of a toilet exploding to their left.
"Heeheehee, the headmaster and his friends have come to visit poor, boring, and pimply Myrtle! " she cackled, floating in front of the old man.
The ghost, alias Moaning Myrtle, was known to haunt the second-floor girls' toilets. As a result, almost no one ever came to these toilets. "Albus, so this girl died of..."
The headmaster nodded, confirming Hadrian's reasoning. This answer didn't surprise him, as he was already aware of it. However, the reaction of the two young people was quite different.
"Myrtle, I beg your pardon for interrupting you, but could you explain the circumstances of your death?" Dumbledore asked. For their part, the children began to search for a potential entrance.
"My death, Headmaster? But gladly, as it was so quick!" she exclaimed, twirling around them. "One moment I was crying in these toilets," she said, pointing to a cubicle. "The next, I was dead. The only thing I saw before my soul left my body was two big yellow eyes. Then, nothing more," she explained, not seeming at all disturbed by the recounting of the details of her death.
Albus nodded, the pieces of the puzzle fitting perfectly in his mind. He thanked the ghost and, as he turned to join the search, was interrupted by Harry.
"I think I've found it!" he exclaimed, rubbing one of the faucets. The group gathered in front of the sink, quickly noticing the engraved snakes.
"That's exactly what I thought. We've certainly found the Chamber, but it was foolish to think we could enter it without mastering what made Slytherin the world-renowned wizard he was," Hadrian affirmed.
"What are you talking about, Uncle Hadrian?" asked Harry, intrigued by his relative's reaction. "Parseltongue, Harry," Dumbledore replied instead of Hadrian. "It was the language he mastered perfectly, allowing him to communicate with snakes," explained the venerable headmaster, unconsciously adopting a professorial tone.
"I would dare say that no one other than Tom himself could have crossed this threshold. Consequently, we are at an impasse," declared the old man, before winking at Hadrian.
"Fortunately, I've taken advantage of my free time to learn the basics of Parseltongue. I'm certainly not a fluent Parselmouth, but I should be able to unlock the door provided the password isn't too complex."
The bounty hunter raised an eyebrow, surprised. He knew that Albus understood the language. But, as far as he knew, only true descendants of Slytherin - or himself through the Horcrux - were capable of using it.
"Well, if Ron managed to open the door back then, then he should indeed be able to do it," he acknowledged.
The headmaster stood in front of the faucet and began to hiss in a strange way. He tried several times, his face contorting under the intense concentration the language required, before finally...
"Professor, it's opening!" exclaimed Daphne, drawing her wand and pointing it in front of her. Indeed, what had previously been the sinks of the girls' toilets was now nothing more than a vast gaping hole.
Everyone approached cautiously, Hadrian taking advantage of his sharp eyesight to scan the environment for potential traps. "It's a long slide apparently devoid of obstacles," he affirmed after a careful inspection. Everyone nodded in agreement.
As the headmaster was about to speak, Daphne, driven by the urgency to find her sister, rushed forward and jumped into the hole, calling out her name. Harry, worried about his friend, didn't hesitate for a second and followed closely behind.
"Well, it looks like we don't have much choice left, do we?" Hadrian joked before approaching the gaping void. "I hope you're ready for another adventure, Albus," he whispered in the old man's ear before jumping in turn.
"Always Hadrian, always..." the man replied with a gentle smile on his lips. Despite the worry that gnawed at him about the fate of the kidnapped girls, he suddenly felt rejuvenated. He had a huge debt to Hadrian Potter, and although he didn't fully share his radical methods against dark wizards, he couldn't deny that the young man had managed to revive in him the same youthful emotions he felt when he played with his brother as children.
"You're never too old for one last adventure!" he declared firmly before jumping in the hole, ready to face the imminent impact.
02/18/1993, 19H41, Hogwarts, Scotland:
"I wonder why you weren't placed in Gryffindor," Harry sighed, observing Daphne.
As soon as she landed, the young girl hurried off, without waiting for the two adults who accompanied them. If Harry hadn't caught up with her, she would have been alone at that moment.
"Save your comments for later, Potter. Focus on finding my sister instead," she snapped, resuming her random hissing in front of the door that blocked their path.
Indeed, after landing, they had continued their progress through a maze of underground tunnels. Harry, so that his uncle could find them, had left traces of magic in their path. He was counting on Dumbledore and his uncle to follow them thanks to these clues.
Although he still didn't appreciate the old man, he agreed with his uncle that every additional wand on their side would be a great help against the powerful wizard that Voldemort was. And Dumbledore's wand, the only one Voldemort feared, would be of paramount importance in the confrontations.
After a long exploration, they finally found themselves facing a large circular door. Two snakes were sculpted on either side, and Harry assumed they could come to life if spoken to in Parseltongue.
This door represented an insurmountable obstacle for the duo of teenagers, as they didn't know the language that would allow them to open it.
"Daphne, don't worry, it's going to be okay," Harry assured her, sitting down beside her.
She looked up and stared at him coldly before her eyes widened in shock. His green eyes pulsed with a strange light, as if his magic was escaping through his pupils. The blonde wondered for a moment if the Basilisk hadn't possessed him.
"We'll save her, I promise," he assured her firmly.
The young girl let her shoulders slump and took Harry's hand in hers. "She'll live. No matter if the Dark Lord is waiting for us on the other side of this door. If he touched my sister, I'll kill him myself."
Fortunately for Harry, who didn't know what else to say to reassure the young girl, the two adults joined them. He noticed that they had put away their wands. 'The eyes of his uncle must have been enough to ensure that there was no threat,' Daphne thought, refraining herself from looking at the pale eyes of the man known as the "Invincible Soldier".
"Glad to see you both safe and sound," Hadrian said, patting them on the head. The headmaster nodded as well and approached the door. Casting one last glance at the time traveler, he began to hiss in front of the door. He tried several times again, before finally... *CLICK*
The small stone snake made a complete rotation around the circular door, before it began to creak open dangerously. The headmaster took his wand and stepped forward, making sure to keep everyone safe behind him.
The first thing that struck them once they were in the chamber was its immensity. The space offered was equivalent, if not superior, to that of the Great Hall. They were standing in a long corridor. On either side, trenches of water separated them from gargoyles and stone snakes decorating the room in the likeness of its owner.
In the distance, a large statue stood, "Probably Salazar Slytherin," Harry guessed. When they noticed it, they moved forward quickly, carefully watching their surroundings.
"Astoria!" Daphne suddenly murmured, before rushing towards the statue. Hadrian lowered his eyes and easily distinguished two pale figures lying on the ground in the distance.
Dumbledore looked at him, visibly waiting for confirmation. Hadrian nodded affirmatively, and they began to run after the young girl and Harry who had followed her.
Despite the length of the corridor, the adrenaline and worry for the two missing girls allowed them to reach their bodies fairly quickly.
Harry approached Ginny while Daphne stood beside Astoria. They checked their pulses, then searched for any sign of injury. Daphne quickly noticed a mark on her sister's temple, with a spot of blood fading into her hair. It troubled her deeply, and only the fact that her sister was still breathing prevented her from panicking.
"Ginny is breathing. She's pale, but she'll be fine. How is Astori-" Harry began before being interrupted by a cry from his uncle. "Atlas!" the latter shouted, creating the most powerful magical shield ever in front of the group.
The next moment, a spell of tremendous power struck the shield, causing it to shake violently. However, the shield held. "Impressive," said a voice that made Dumbledore gasp. "I didn't think there was anyone besides the old fool capable of blocking my spells."
From behind a pillar emerged a young man. He was very thin, of average height, and above all extremely pale. In fact, his face seemed even paler than that of the girls lying down. It was this unusual whiteness of his skin that made his bright red eyes stand out even more. "Tom, is that you?" asked the older man after recovering from his shock.
The boy's eyes trembled with anger. "Don't call me by that name!" he growled. The two children, shocked, watched the exchange between the adults and the unknown boy with astonishment. Harry's wand trembled in his hand. He was too weak. Still. He knew it. He could never have blocked the spell that his uncle had stopped.
The boy, brandishing Ginny's wand, drew the letters of what Harry and Daphne assumed to be his first and last name: "Tom Marvolo Riddle," which he quickly transformed into "I am Lord Voldemort".
A brief discussion ensued between the headmaster and the boy's memory, who after introducing himself, mocked the headmaster's old age. Then, changing his target, he began to taunt Harry, asking him how such a frail boy could have defeated the greatest wizard of all time.
Against all odds, however, Harry felt no anxiety. The wizards he considered the best were there, by his side. A teenage memory couldn't frighten him. He replied, "If Voldemort is the most powerful wizard of all time, then I'm reassured. I shouldn't have to train much longer to be the strongest."
This reply enraged the boy who turned around and, after one last mockery of the headmaster, called for the Basilisk.
Hadrian, pressed for time, quickly cast several Legilimency spells to send an urgent message. He ordered Harry and Daphne to find the black book and bring it to him. Then he turned to Dumbledore and asked him to help him occupy Riddle.
The time traveler had no doubt about his own abilities. He could face a young version of Voldemort without too much difficulty if he fought at his peak. The problem was the boy's near-invincibility, not being fully materialized yet.
An impossible to defeat opponent posed a much bigger problem. And he knew it perfectly well. Especially since the snake was coming.
"Damn it, I should have brought a rooster!" Hadrian cursed. "Albus, if we take too long, the girls will..."
"I know Hadrian. We must hurry. Let's go!" the old man declared before unleashing his magic. Hadrian followed, compressing his own core in turn.
The atmosphere suddenly grew heavier, the two powerful wizards preparing for a titanic battle. Hadrian put his headband back on and told the others to cover their eyes. He knew that with his sharp vision, even with his eyes covered, he would perceive the beast. He could then blind it, eliminating a major threat from the start.
The mouth of the statue opened, and an immense serpent began to emerge, fixing its eyes on the semi-materialized form of the young Dark Lord. The latter hissed, and the serpent turned abruptly towards them.
Hadrian no longer understood Parseltongue. However, he remembered the boy's words in his time, and knew what order the Basilisk had probably received.
"Kill them!"
02/18/1993, 19H50, Hogwarts, Scotland:
Harry and Daphne fled through the network of caves, desperately searching for a way to outrun the Basilisk that was hot on their heels. The young Gryffindor had anticipated the dangers that awaited him in the Chamber of Secrets. However, he had underestimated one crucial element: the age and colossal power of the Basilisk.
According to the books he read, the serpent was described as a majestic creature, capable of reaching an enormous size and endowed with a deadly and almost unstoppable venom. Nevertheless, with the species being almost extinct for a millennium, much information about these creatures was missing.
"Besides," he thought to himself, "a thousand-year-old, starving Basilisk is far more fearsome than anyone imagines. No book could have predicted a solution to such a threat."
As soon as the Basilisk emerged from the mouth of the statue, he closed his eyes. He heard hissing, which he assumed was an exchange between the boy and the old serpent, before two deafening detonations rang out. Reflexively, he opened his eyes, searching for the source of the noise, and saw his uncle concealing a revolver under his belt. "The gun's gone!" he exclaimed once the weapon was supposed to be back in its holster.
"He's blind, you can open your eyes!" shouted Hadrian, his wand twirling as he cast spells tirelessly towards young Voldemort.
When Harry saw the headmaster join the battle, he realized that he would be useless in the fight against Tom. The boy was far outclassed by the brute strength of the two wizards, and if the latter wasn't in this strange state of semi-materialization, he would have been dead a long time ago.
Instead, he rushed to Ginny and retrieved the black book she was keeping in a pocket of her robe. He threw it to Daphne, who seemed to regain her composure at the same time, and tried to call his uncle.
Unfortunately for them, the call also reached Tom's ears who, after a new cry in Parseltongue, ordered the snake to get rid of them. At least that's what they assumed, because the Basilisk immediately changed direction after the call and began to crawl straight towards them.
And so they found themselves fleeing, taking advantage of the noise of the battle in the Chamber to mask their footsteps, the only clue allowing the blind serpent to find them.
"Harry, hurry!" shouted Daphne who turned around, wand pointed at the serpent a few meters from them. "With me!" she added to the boy who immediately understood. "BOMBARDA!" they roared in unison, causing the cave ceiling to collapse on the serpent, effectively imprisoning it.
"It's only a matter of time before it breaks through the rocks. We have to go back to Uncle Hadrian to give him the book!" Harry affirmed, brandishing the object that had plunged them into this peril. "Never again will I do a mission for your uncle! Allies or not, my sister is in mortal danger because of this whole situation!" Daphne exclaimed, visibly angry at Hadrian.
Harry understood her reaction. If he had been in her place, he would have felt the same rage. However, he could not resent his uncle. This man devoted his free time to fighting dark wizards around the world, training him and taking care of him, simply because they shared the same last name. He owed him so much that he didn't even question whether or not he should help him.
However, the situation was different for the heiress of the Greengrass family. Although Hadrian had brought a lot to her family, he had never spent long periods of time with her and her sister. It was therefore logical that they hadn't become as attached to him as he had to them.
"You'll settle your score with him later. For now, he's fighting Voldemort to save your sister, so he's slightly busy! We have to find a way to join them," he declared, examining the book more closely.
This comment, uttered without thinking, hit Daphne like a ton of bricks. What was she doing? She had lost her cool. She was there complaining about a man who had saved her family from ruin, even death, while he was fighting a version of one of the worst Dark Lords that ever existed. And what was she doing to save her sister? Nothing. She was running away.
Shaking her head in anger at herself, she slapped her cheeks hard before taking the book from Harry's hands. "This book... If it's what connects the girls to Tom... Then all we have to do is destroy it to break the bond, right?" she deduced, examining the diary.
'That's probably why she's in Slytherin rather than Gryffindor,' Harry thought, watching her. But, instead of voicing what he thought, he preferred to add: "But then why would Uncle Hadrian want us to bring it to him if it has to be destroyed?"
"Well... I have an idea, but I'm not sure," she said aloud. Suddenly, the stone wall behind them trembled, indicating that the dangerous monster had regained consciousness and was trying to break their last defense.
"Quick, cast all the spells you know on this book!" Daphne exclaimed, throwing it to the ground. The Gryffindor, without thinking, stood beside her and began reciting the spells from his repertoire, echoing the actions of the young girl. From explosion spells to Incendio, to curses taken from the Potter and Greengrass grimoires, everything was tried. However, nothing worked, and they were soon forced to resume their flight in the corridors. The book, for its part, was back in Harry's pocket, intact.
"What do we do now?" Daphne cried out, visibly terrified. Harry turned and looked in front of them to identify the source of his friend's panic. "Damn it! It's a dead end!"
They were trapped. It was the end. There was nothing more they could do. On one side, a wall, on the other a deadly serpent. What could they do?
Preparing for death, they huddled together against the wall, awaiting their imminent end. The serpent, no longer hearing the sound of their footsteps, stopped near them, sniffing the air to confirm their presence.
Harry, whose mind was racing, raised his wand, a gesture that encouraged Daphne to do the same. The Basilisk continued to approach them. However, as it was about to open its mouth, Daphne murmured something that Harry did not understand, and a dark green flash shot from her wand to strike the beast.
Thorny branches erupted from all sides, imprisoning the creature's mouth. It wouldn't hold for long, but it gave them a reprieve to outmaneuver the snake while it struggled to free itself.
Harry moved forward but noticed that the blonde wasn't following. "Go on! The spell drained all my magic. Get out of here!" she cried, desperate.
Clearly, the poor girl had forgotten that Harry, in addition to caring about her, was a Gryffindor. So he stepped back, grabbed Daphne and carried her in his arms, like a prince with his princess, before running to the left of the snake.
"What are you doing?!" she exclaimed when she realized what he was trying to do. "Stupid Gryffindor, he's going to get himself killed if he keeps going like this!" Despite everything, she couldn't stop the slight blush that crept up her cheeks as she stared closely at the focused face of the boy who was running, fleeing the snake that wanted to kill them.
The snake, its mouth still blocked, violently struck Harry in the back with its tail, sending the boy flying forward. The young Gryffindor bit his tongue to stifle a cry and pivoted to protect the Slytherin in his arms. He hit the ground hard with his back already injured by the snake's strike, but managed, thanks to adrenaline, to get back up.
"Harry, are you okay?" he heard the young girl murmur, as she slowly lost consciousness due to magical exhaustion. "It's not 'Potter' usually?" he remarked, trying to smile to reassure Daphne.
She didn't answer, closing her eyes and falling unconscious after her last word. Harry gently placed her on the ground and turned to face the animal that had freed itself from the restraints that prevented it from devouring them.
His injuries severely limited his mobility. The fatigue he felt was incomparable to anything he had ever experienced before, and the throbbing pain that accompanied it was the only barrier to the unconsciousness that threatened to overwhelm him.
On the other hand, his magic vibrated in perfect harmony with him. All his senses seemed to be heightened to the maximum. He wondered, for a moment, if this was what his uncle felt when he lowered his headband.
He raised his wand and waited patiently for the snake to open its mouth, ready to swallow them. As soon as he saw the right moment, he aimed and cast the most powerful severing spell he could project into the animal's mouth.
The scales protected the outside of the beast's body like impenetrable armor. However, nothing defended its entrails. That was why, in desperation, he tried this last attack. And luckily for him, it worked. The snake recoiled violently, a powerful jet of blood spurting from its mouth as three of its sharp teeth fell to the ground. Harry could then see the danger of the beast's venom, as it melted the ground on contact.
When he saw this, his eyes lit up with hope. Even if they managed to escape, the time lost was considerable. Moreover, he was slowed down by the fact that he had to carry Daphne. Tom would then eventually become complete, and Astoria and Ginny would die. He had to try one last solution.
Grabbing the fang that had fallen to the ground, he let out a small smile. 'I have one last idea…'
02/18/1993, 19H48, Hogwarts, Scotland:
As Harry and Daphne fled into the depths of the caves, pursued by one of the most fearsome creatures in the wizarding world, the two men engaged in combat against Tom.
Albus began to raise entire sections of the floor to shield himself from the Avada Kedavra curses cast by the young Dark Lord. Simultaneously, he animated the gargoyles and serpents adorning the walls, commanding them to attack the boy.
Hadrian, meanwhile, grabbed the two young girls and placed them safely behind a pillar, adding shield spells around them to protect them from flying debris.
As soon as this task was accomplished, he returned to the battle, joining the headmaster. Inspired by his new bounty hunter companion, he conjured a powerful electric arc that he projected onto the young man. The latter, until then impervious to the projectiles sent by Dumbledore, was violently electrocuted by the new opponent's spell. Unfortunately for the duo, it wasn't enough, and the boy seemed to recover in an instant.
"Anything material, or any physical injury won't affect him! His body isn't yet fully materialized! We have to find something else!" Hadrian remarked. The old man nodded in agreement, and the duo separated. Albus was busy blocking incoming spells with the statues and debris, while Hadrian attacked.
Tom, for his part, was consumed by a black rage. He ignored the identity of the man who faced him, but he represented a significant threat. The young girl who had written in the diary had provided him with precise details about the war. However, the name of this wizard had never been mentioned. "But who are you?!" he growled in rage as a new electric arc struck him.
"Hadrian Potter, at your service," the man replied with an exaggerated salute. "Professional cleaner. Now, if you could disappear with the rest of the dirt on this planet, I would be delighted," he declared mockingly, as a new series of spells headed towards him.
The exchange continued for long minutes, with a few injuries beginning to appear on both adults. The two men alternated between attack and attack. Nevertheless, no curse managed to injure the Slytherin for more than a few moments.
"Tired, old man?" Tom sneered, his strength growing as he sucked the girls' life force, when he noticed the sweat forming on his former headmaster's face. The old wizard refrained from answering, preferring to think of a solution to his situation.
Hadrian's strength was no longer a secret. The wizard was his equal... No, he surpassed him. Even if their magical power was perhaps equal, Hadrian's youth offered him far greater endurance.
This reassured him, opening up new perspectives for the future that he hadn't yet considered.
However, an immediate solution had to be found. It was obvious that, if Tom had been fully materialized, the fight wouldn't have lasted more than thirty seconds, so great was the difference in strength. But they couldn't wait for the latter to regain a complete physical form. It would cost the lives of the two young girls they wanted to protect.
Tired of his ineffectiveness, Hadrian decided to up the ante. He unleashed a wave of pure magic that propelled young Voldemort against the statue of his ancestor. Then, concentrating his magic at the tip of his wand, he planted it in the ground, increasing the gravity around the boy to immobilize him.
He didn't stop there. Using his knife, he carved two runes into the ground, which Dumbledore quickly linked to the magic of Hogwarts, thus ensuring a constant flow of energy. As in Azkaban, the runes would send short but powerful shocks to anyone who ventured into the delimited perimeter. That done, he stepped back, observing Albus as he apparate.
"It's true that now that he knows where the Chamber is, he can apparate there whenever he wants. It could serve as a refuge in case of need. Voldemort is far too arrogant to believe that anyone has discovered his hiding place, so I doubt he'll look here."
The gravitational field, coupled with the incessant shocks, immobilized the boy. Hadrian knew that the amount of magic required by the gravity spell would eventually exhaust him quite quickly. But with a bit of luck, it should hold until Harry returned with the book.
He hoped the boy was okay. A part of him blamed himself for putting him in danger. But he knew that if he wanted to be ready for what awaited him, he had to confront real dangerous situations. Otherwise, on the big day, he might make a mistake.
And that, it was something that Hadrian would never allow!
Suddenly, as the minds of the two powerful wizards were racing at full speed, a blinding flash of light erupted from the body of the boy lying on the ground, forcing them to refocus on what was happening in front of them.
A gaping hole had appeared on the Slytherin's stomach, beginning to consume him as he screamed in astonishment. "What's happening?" the old man gasped.
"What's happening is that my nephew is a genius!" exclaimed Hadrian. "He managed to destroy the Horcrux!"
"A Horcrux? Yes, that's what I thought too. So Harry has... Basilisk venom!" the old man realized, turning to Hadrian.
The old man's face relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief. Then, as Hadrian watched the last shreds of light that made up Tom's body, the old man crossed the corridor, his fatigue forgotten, and knelt before the two girls.
He cast several diagnostic spells, making sure they were still breathing. Clearly, young Ginny was fine. She regained consciousness as soon as Riddle had disappeared from the room.
Unfortunately, this was not the case for Astoria who, despite Tom's disappearance, remained unconscious.
"Professor! I-I don't know what happened! I-It's not my fault, I-I swear!" the redhead sobbed. "I-It's this black book that-"
"Don't worry, Miss Weasley, the book won't hurt anyone anymore, and neither will the monster of Slytherin. Rest a little, we'll contact your family when we go back up," the headmaster reassured her. He then approached the young Slytherin and checked her pulse. "Still alive. I suppose it's that blow to the head that put her in this state," he deduced, noticing the same bloodstain that Daphne had seen earlier.
As he took the girl in his arms, he saw Hadrian go deeper into the cave where the two children had gone. He waited a moment before seeing the other adult come back carrying the older sister of the girl he was holding.
"How is she?" the director asked.
"She's fine, she's just suffering from magical exhaustion. Harry on the other hand..." the man stammered in return. He ran to him and placed the young girl next to the pillar. He then went back into the cave and returned carrying Harry.
In the young hero of the wizarding world's hand was Tom's diary, torn to shreds. One could still see a Basilisk tooth piercing the cover. Albus then understood that his hypothesis was correct.
When Hadrian placed the boy at his feet, the director immediately saw the bite mark on his shoulder. He then laid the youngest sister down and, hoping that all the children would survive, shouted: "Fawkes! We're going to need you!"
A flash of fire tore through the calm of the Chamber of Secrets, as the two adults prayed that the majestic animal could save the children from an imminent death.