Chapter 25: Chapter 24 Letters
Notes:
Suprise shawty! It's me again, here with a double update.
Chapter Text
It had quickly spread through Slytherin House that Hadrian Potter was officially the new year leader, and the first thing he did in his new position was to call a meeting the next morning with his year group before breakfast.
"It is clear that I am officilly the one in charge," Hadrian began, looking pointedly at Malfoy, who looked like he wanted to protest and then thought better of it. "And until January, you will have to deal with it until I can be challenged again, although I will tell you now, it will go down exactly like it did last night," he warned.
"My first order of business as your year leader is to get our class in order. You specifically," he looked at Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Parkinson. "That means no more bullying, no more slurs, no more acting like what everyone expects evil Slytherins to be like. We are a house of pride, cunning, and ambition, and it is time we start acting like it." He looked around the room and saw some of the older years were listening in.
"If you cannot be trusted to behave in public, then I will assign you a handler to ensure your proper behavior." Malfoy's group looked horrified. "As I am sure that none of us wants it to come to that, I trust that you will get your guys' acts together?" Everyone nodded, and Hadrian smiled.
"Good. I want to reiterate that no bullying includes not actively sabotaging other people's potions, it means no hexing them in the halls, it means no saying mean things to their faces. You can have whatever opinions you want, but you wait until you are behind these doors," he pointed to the common room entrance, "to express them if they will cost us house points." He got a few unhappy looks from that, but he didn't care.
"I am not a dictator, but I do expect you to fall in line when it comes to the good of our house. If you have questions, ask them. I will be here to help anyone who needs it," Hadrian said, smiling kindly. Parkinson raises her hand.
"Yes, Parkinson?"
"Do we have to be nice to your mud- I mean muggle-born friend?" She asked, quickly correcting herself when she saw Draco Malfoy flinch.
"You have to be polite, but I am not expecting you to be friends with anyone you do not want to be friends with. However, I wouldn't be against it if you wanted to be friends with her. Hermione is one of if not the most, academically gifted students in our year, and you could stand to benefit a lot from being connected to her," he told them, and Daphne smiled.
Crabbe raised his hand.
"Yes, Crabbe?"
"Call me Vince. Is it true that there is a Cerberus on the third floor?"
"Yes, Vince, that is true." Everyone who was part of Malfoy's faction had their jaws dropped, even Tracy. "And none of you are to go anywhere near it. Professor Snape has made it more difficult to get in there, but do not try to get in. School is dangerous enough without getting mauled by a three-headed dog the size of a carriage." Vince frowned.
"Not even to look?" He asked sadly.
"For your safety, no," Hadrian told him softly, feeling oddly paternal over the large boy, who seemed so young and childlike at this moment.
"Aww," he pouted. "I love animals and I really wanted to see a magical creature."
"You could visit Hagrid," Hadrian suggested to the horror of everyone else. "He might not show you because you are a Slytherin, but you could try asking him. He was friendly enough when I met him, if not a little biased against Slytherins."
More than a little if we are being honest.
"Would you come with me?" Vince asked, looking up hopefully at Hadrian. Looking around the room and realizing that no one was suddenly going to hop up and volunteer to go with the animal lover, Hadrian sighed and nodded his head.
"Yes, Vince. I will go with you. Why don't we head down after breakfast, and before herbology? He lives close to the greenhouses." Vince lit up like a child on Christmas and excitedly bobbed his head.
"Anything else?" Hadrian asked the group. They all shook their heads, Vince still beaming. "Then you are all dismissed. Remember, no bullying, and make Slytherin proud," he told them, feeling like a proud parent as everybody grabbed their bags and headed to breakfast.
"You're really going to visit Hagrid?" Blaise asked as they walked towards the Great Hall. "I thought you didn't like him."
"I'm not his biggest fan," Hadrian said and shrugged. "He's nice, but he's Dumbledore's man through and through, so I don't trust him. He has his uses, though."
"Ah," Blaise responded knowingly, getting a smirk from Hadrian in response.
"Yeah."
"Fair enough, have fun," Blaise told him, clapping him on the shoulder before tucking a braid behind his ear.
"You don't want to come with?" Hadrian asked sarcastically.
"Not in a million years."
Theo just told him, "I faced down a troll for you. I'm not going with you to see Hagrid."
It was not until Hadrian sat down in the Great Hall for breakfast that he remembered one crucial detail of what had happened yesterday.
Shit! That was all he had time to think before he was swarmed by owls delivering the morning post. Dumbledore removed the mail ward.
He looked up to the Head Table, and sure enough, Dumbledore was watching Hadrian being plagued with a smile on his face that didn't fit the benevolent grand-fatherly image he tried to paint himself in.
Gritting his teeth, Hadrian and his friends started doing their best to unload the owls before they could make a mess of the breakfast table, well, more of a mess. Eventually, Hedwig, who had returned from delivering the letter he had written to Andromeda, got sick of the performance of the other post owls.
She flew down and elegantly stuck out her leg for Hadrian to take her reply from the Tonkses, nipped Hadrian gently on the ear, and then flew up into the rafters, looking down on all of the other owls as if to show them how it was done.
Following her example, the other post owls quickly formed into lines and were swiftly relieved of their burdens before also taking to roost in the rafters or flying out the open windows, returning to wherever they came from.
Professor Snape, fed up with the entire production, swooped down to where Hadrian and his friends were trying to organize his letters and packages. "This is the result of the headmaster removing the mail ward?" he asked drily.
Hadrian sighed before they both shared a look and glanced up at the Head Table, where Dumbledore was looking significantly put out that Hadrian was no longer being bombarded by owls.
"Precisely, professor."
"Might I suggest that you either place another mail ward on yourself and redirect it to Gringotts so that they can screen it before passing it along to you, or at least getting a mailbox so that the Great Hall is not inundated with even more owls than usual every morning," Snape told him, sneering slightly at the considerable amount of owls above the Slytherin table.
"That is a good idea, sir. I didn't know that Gringotts offered those services."
"Many don't, however, Gringotts is not only a bank, but a country, and as such, they offer many additional services on top of the typical assistance that a bank may offer. They have several teams of curse breakers in their employ, and I highly recommend that you make use of them before touching that mail," Snape informed him. "As much as I hate to admit it, the headmaster was right when he said that he was protecting you. There may be all sorts of enchantments on those letters. Love spells, compulsion charms, curses, all sorts of things."
Hadrian nodded seriously. "Mimzy!" He called. She appeared with a pop.
"Yes, Mr. Hadrian, how may Mimzy be helping?"
"Hello, Mimzy. Good morning. Could you please put these in my room for me to deal with later? I will be contacting Gringotts to see if they can handle my mail moving forward."
Mimzy nodded her head so eagerly that her ears were flopping back and forth like an overexcited puppy.
"Mimzy can be doing that, Mr. Hadrian," and with a pop, all of the mail disappeared.
"I wasn't aware that you could call a house-elf as a student Mr. Potter," the potions professor said lowly.
Hadrian shrugged. "They like me. I think it is because I treat them as equals." The professor's eyes widened slightly.
"Be that as it may, it would be prudent not to call them in front of other students, understand?"
"Yes, sir." Daphne, Blaise, and Theo just watched the entire interaction with wide eyes.
"Vince!" Hadrian called out to the larger boy sitting a few seats down from him.
"Yeah?" he asked, looking up from his plate of food that was nearly empty from the mountain he had piled onto it at the beginning of breakfast.
"Are you ready to head to Hagrid's?"
Vince smiled and quickly ate the last few bites of his food and downed the last of his pumpkin juice. "Yep, let's go!"
Hadrian smiled at the boy's eagerness. "Alright, guys," he told his friends. "I'll see you in the greenhouses."
After they all said their goodbyes, the two boys walked out of the castle and headed towards the groundkeeper's hut.
"It's kind of… small," Vince said, looking at the hut in surprise.
"Well," Hadrian replied. "It is just him; he probably doesn't need a lot of extra space."
"Good point."
Hadrian knocked on the large front door and heard a dog barking. He instinctively wanted to hide behind Vince's much larger body, thinking of Ripper, Aunt Marge's dog that always loved to chase and bite him, before remembering that he was the leader of his year of Slytherins and he couldn't hide behind them as Malfoy did at the first sign of trouble. Taking a deep breath, Hadrian forced a pleasant smile on his face and moved in front of Vince as Hagrid opened his door.
"Harry!" Hagrid cried happily, black eyes crinkling in delight as he smiled.
"Hello, Hagrid. I go by Hadrian now. Do you mind if we come in?" Hagrid had a slight frown on his face before smiling again.
"Not at all," he said, opening the door wider to reveal a large boarhound that he was holding back by its collar.
Swallowing his nerves, Hadrian bravely walked inside and took a seat at the table.
"What can I do fer ya Harry- er… Hadrian?" Hagrid asked as Vince started to play with the dog. "And don' mind Fang, he's a blubbery coward. Couldn' hurt a fly."
"Right," Hadrian said with a painful smile on his face as he glanced at the large dog. "We are actually here because Vince," he looked over at the larger Slytherin, who was drooled all over by Fang, "Is interested in magical creatures, and I was wondering if you'd be willing to show him any in the Forbidden Forest."
Hagrid perked up, and he looked at Vince. "You like animals?"
"Oh, yeah. Dragons are my favorite, but I like all of them." Hagrid beamed, quickly pulling the large boy into a conversation about the different creatures that lived in the forest. Hadrian stopped listening once they started talking about the acromantula nest living near the castle. Instead, he looked around Hagrid's small hut. There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it. As he looked at the table, he saw something interesting. Hadrian picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet:
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.
Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied a week prior.
"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.
Hadrian remembered Theo telling him on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Theo hadn't mentioned the date.
"Hagrid!" said Hadrian, "that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday!"
Hagrid pointedly avoided making eye contact. Hadrian read the story again. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied a week prior. Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, he had told Hadrian when he was drunk on the bank's steps if you could call it emptying, taking out a little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for?
Right as Hadrian was about to question Hagrid, who was being suspiciously evasive, there was a knock on the door. Grateful for the interruption, Hagrid rushed to open it, only to reveal Ron Weasley on the other side of the door.
"Hello, Hagrid," he said, looking sullen. "Oh, hi, Hadrian. Crabbe," he greeted, sounding despondent.
"What's wrong, Ron?" Hagrid asked. Letting the boy inside.
"It's Scabbers. I haven't seen him since yesterday morning, and I was wondering if you could keep an eye out for him. I know it's not likely that you'll find him; he's a rat and he's old, but please?"
"Ron," Hagrid sighed, but the redhead seemed so sad that he eventually agreed. "Alright, I can keep an eye out."
"Thanks, Hagrid. What are you doing here, Hadrian?"
"We just came to talk to Hagrid about magical creatures, right, Vince?" the large boy grunted in approval. "We've got to get to class, though. Thanks, Hagrid." Vince grunted again, a friendlier sound this time, and all three boys made their way out the door.
"I'll see you later, Ron," Hadrian told him, getting a slow nod back as the redhead trudged back up to the castle. "Alright, Vince. Let's go tame some Devil's Snare."
Vince smiled, and the pair walked towards the greenhouses, ready for class to begin.
When Hadrian wrote his letter to Rockfang, requesting they set up a mail ward and mailbox for him, he asked if he could use the break-in as an excuse to audit his vaults. He wanted to get back the things that Dumbledore had kept from him over the years, and to return anything magical that was not in the vaults when his parents died, that belonged to him that people might have been holding onto.
Hadrian wanted whatever could connect him to his parents, and he had read in one of his many books on the goblin nation that anything placed in a Gringotts' vault was tagged with goblin magic so it could be summoned back to the vault in case of death, emergency, or theft. He wrote in his letter to Rockfang:
I don't trust that Dumbledore will hand over everything that belongs to me, and certainly not before he is ordered to by the Wizengamot. I worry that he will do something to my belongings between now and then to hold onto them.
I will pay whatever fees Gringotts requires for their exemplary services.
May your blade never break, and your enemies crumble,
Hadrian J. Potter
Heir to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter
Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black
He also wrote to Remus Lupin and his godfather.
Friday, November 1, 1991
Dear Remus Lupin and Sirius Black,
I hope you don't mind that I am writing to you jointly. I had many similar questions for both of you, and seeing as you are likely spending your time together, I figured I might as well save the parchment and the hand cramping of writing everything twice by condensing it all into one letter.
Let me start with an introduction. My name is Hadrian James Potter and I am eleven years old. I was sorted into Slytherin, and I am incredibly happy there. I have made several friends, including Daphne Greengrass, who I know is the daughter of one of my dad's best friends growing up. I am also friends with Theodore Nott (he prefers to be called Theo), Blaise Zabini, Hermione Granger, Susan Bones (niece of the head of the DMLE), Hannah Abbot, and Neville Longbottom, my godbrother.
I think it is important that you know that I loathe Dumbledore with every fiber of my being. He orchestrated everything to land Sirius in prison, and he took me to live with my mum's sister, Petunia. He left me on her doorstep all night with a note, threatening her to take me in. She did, and then for the next decade, I was abused by my aunt, uncle, and cousin. I never learned about my parents or magic until I received my Hogwarts letter a week before my eleventh birthday.
Hagrid took me to Diagon Alley where I then learned I was the heir to the Houses of Potter and Black and was the Boy-Who-Lived. I learned how my parents died, and I learned that everyone thought that Sirius betrayed them until I discovered my mum and dad's wills in my trust vault. I keep hearing that my mum was clever, and I believe it.
DO NOT TRUST DUMBLEDORE! I repeat, do not trust Albus Dumbledore. Despite knowing about the abuse (I told him when he tried to force me to re-sort into Gryffindor), he keeps trying to send me back. I hate it there, and I hate them. Their house was never my home. Hogwarts is my home now. He has been stealing from me, lying, and generally abusing his authority to get what he wants, and my safety and well-being are not on the list! If you care about me, you will not tell him anything.
Hell, I was attacked by a troll on Halloween! And he is keeping a Cerberus inside the school behind a door that was opened by a simple alohomora. Professor Snape has been helping me a lot. I know you guys didn't get on at school for whatever reason, but he has been brewing me the potions that I need to take to correct the malnutrition and weak body that I have as a result of the abuse. If you have to interact with him, I ask that you at least be civil. He is a decent head of house and has been going against Dumbledore on my behalf.
By now, you probably know that I am in contact with Andromeda and Ted, they are my healer and lawyer. I have a whole team of lawyers, and they helped me get Sirius out of Azkaban and got him a trial, they are also working to shut down the publishing companies that were using my name without my permission, and Ted is working to ruin Dumbledore's life.
We aren't expecting many of his charges to stick, given who he is and how the wizarding court system works, but I am hoping that by bringing him to trial at all and getting him fired from the Chief Warlock position, people will start to question him. That his reputation will take hit after hit until it is worth dirt.
I guess this is the part of the letter where I ask you questions and get to know you. Remus, did you look for me after everything happened? I have heard that you were one of my parents' best friends, so where were you? Sirius, why did you make me heir? What were my parents really like? Everybody says they were heroes, but I don't know what they were like on a personal level. What were their bad habits, things about them that drove you crazy, but you now think back on with a fond smile?
I was not raised by my parents, and I wouldn't want you to think that I am a carbon copy of them, but I like hearing about the little things that I share with them. I've been told that I look like my dad but with my mum's eyes. I know that I have my dad's cursed hair and my mother's temper, but I want to know more about them.
I hope the fact that I hate Dumbledore doesn't cause a wedge between us, especially considering how he has controlled both of your lives, too. I want to get to know you both and see what kind of relationship we could have. You two are some of the last tangible connections I have to my parents, and you can tell me things that nobody else can.
Hope to hear from you both,
Hadrian J. Potter
Heir to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter
Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black