School Board Meeting Room - December 2, 2007
James was sitting in the school board meeting once again. He was pleased that they finally had what they needed, it was just frustrating that it had taken so long.
Once the meeting had officially been opened James called everyones attention. "I am putting forward a motion to request the retirement of Headmaster Dumbledore."
Everyone was slightly shocked at that, they might not respect him as much as they once had, but many still looked up to the man.
"Can you give us your reason?" Rowan Finnigan asked.
"Of course." James agreed. "One thing I feel we shouldn't forget is just how this school was running before the board stepped in. He had been systematically canceling classes and cutting back on the material that was taught. Even now he still puts forward motions to try and remove classes every year. The students deserve to get the best education we can provide them and for some reason he doesn't want that.
But, that isn't my main issue. My first main issue is that he has not actually been doing his job. As you will all remember, a few years ago we set up wards that would keep track of how much time professors spend working. It was to keep track of the amount of overtime that is put in on marking. That records the hours for everyone, headmaster included."
James sent copies of the hours sheet to everyone. "If you look at that you will see that he only worked a total of 9 hours on Hogwarts business in all of November. He has just been passing his work off to the rest of the staff so he can do as he pleases.
And what he seems to want to do is fear monger about Voldemort returning… Again."
"Well, from what he has said…" Rowan shrugged, letting people draw their own conclusions.
James pulled out more papers and passed them around. "The ministry has known about the horcruxes for years and has tracked them down and destroyed them. This is the magical death certificate. According to lady magic herself, he's dead. So unless you think Albus Dumbledore knows more than Lady Magic…"
Everyone looked at the death certificate. Dumbledore had been doing everything to block it's release. "He really is dead!" A few muttered happily.
"And my final issue is the constant harassment of my son." James growled.
"Harassment?" Helen Davis was surprised by this.
"Yes, ever since his first your Albus has been calling Hadrian up to his office for pointless reasons. He has even tried to stop Hadrian from coming home on holidays. Last year he even tried to convince him to drop out for some reason.
But this year has been the worst. In the first few months of school Hadrian was called up to see Albus almost every other day. According to Hadrian it was always the same thing. Albus wanted him to go horcrux hunting. And, he wanted him to do it with Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Ginny Prewett for some reason.
It only finally stopped two weeks ago when Hadrian just started to refuse to go up and see him anymore since the only thing it has to do with his education is to try and stop it."
"He actually tried to get students to drop out?" Ethan Grove asked in shock, he was the new governor that had replaced Molly.
"Yes. I just think that Hogwarts and her students aren't Albus's first priority anymore." James said. "If we request the retirement now, we can have the rest of the school year as a transition period. The new Headmaster can step into place, and Albus can, hopefully, assist in getting them used to the position.
Since Albus has been Headmaster for over 50 years he is entitled to continue to live on school grounds so he will be around. It will allow Albus to bow out with dignity."
James really wanted to drive the man out while pelting him with stink bombs, but knew many wouldn't understand his view point.
"And can we assume that you are recommending your own husband step into that roll?" Gunther Vane questioned.
"No." James smiled. "That is actually something that is supposed to be addressed later on. Severus's contract is up at the end of this year and he has already decided that he does not wish to renew. Teaching has never been Severus's passion. He truly only took the position to help protect the students when he was a spy, but since the war is finally over for good, he feels he can leave and know the students are safe.
He is planning on going back to research. Over the years he has gotten multiple requests to work on developing potions to treat all kinds of illnesses but has had to reject them since he just doesn't have the time. He doesn't want to do that anymore.
I spoke with him and he said that he would be happy to come in once or twice a month to work with the NEWT level students if the school wants, but he doesn't want to teach full time anymore."
"So we are going to need a new headmaster, deputy headmaster, and potions master." Helen said in slight shock. "I think we should first vote about whether or not we should request the retirement of the headmaster."
When the vote was called, it was unanimous, which was exactly what they needed. There was no way around it now.
"What do we do if he refuses to retire?" Gunther asked.
"Since the vote was unanimous he has no choice." Alice said. "He can either retire with dignity or he will be forced out and everyone will know."
A few started getting a little nervous, but Rowan put a stop to that. "Don't you lot start getting twitchy now. It's too late. It's done. He's out.
Honestly. The man isn't doing his job and is actively encouraging students to drop out. That is in no way acceptable for a headmaster. If anyone else had a full time job and only showed up for 9 hours in a month they would be fired, and he is no different. At least we are giving him the chance to retain his dignity, most employers wouldn't waste their time with things like that."
James glanced between Alice and Narcissa with a small smirk. He really was glad that Rowan was willing to be so blunt and didn't care about how others felt about it.
"Now we just need to determine who should take up the rolls." Helen said. "Since Severus is planning on leaving we should also select a new deputy so they can transition in as well.
Does anyone have any suggestions?"
"I think, right off the bat, we should state that Minerva McGonagall will not be moved into either position. After what happened last time she was deputy I think it would be better to select someone else." Narcissa said.
"Agreed." was heard around the room.
"I would like to nominate Filius Flitwick as headmaster." Pandora Lovegood said. "He has been teaching here for 30 years. He is well liked and responsible enough to handle the position."
"What is your opinions?" James looked to the four students on the board.
The students whispered amongst themselves before Padma Patil nodded and cleared her throat. "We agree. Professor Flitwick has always been seen as one of the fairest professors. All the students in his house know that we can come to him with any issue and he will always do his best to help us, that isn't something we have with the current headmaster.
It will be a little sad to not have him as our charms professor, but it's only the natural progression of his career. We're sure the replacement professor will be qualified.
If not him, then we would nominate Professor Sprout. Like Professor Flitwick, she is fair and approachable. She would make the students feel safe."
"What if we placed Filius Flitwick as Headmaster, and Pomona Sprout as deputy." Gunther suggested. "They can start to move into the positions over the next few months along side their teaching responsibilities. We could request that the assistant head of house for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff step into the full position and allow them to select their assistants. That would free up the other two to begin to step into their new positions.
I'm not sure how much help Albus will be, but I'm sure Severus will be there to assist. Between the three of them they should be able to manage."
"Agreed." Everyone said.
All that was left to do on this subject was to write up the letter informing Dumbledore, Flitwick, and Sprout of the board decision. Filius and Pomona could still refuse, but they didn't think they would. The only one that couldn't refuse was Dumbledore.
James let out a small smile. It had taken over a decade, but Albus Dumbledore was out of his final position of power.
After that the meeting carried on, including looking over the recommendations Severus gave for his own replacement as professor.
Filius Flitwick's Office
Filius was all smiles as he looked down at the formal letter from the school governors requesting him to transition into the roll of headmaster over the next few months. He had never thought something like this could happen for him.
Although their world was becoming more open and accepting he had never thought it had gone this far. Albus had been the first headmaster that wasn't a pureblood from an old family. And now, he was going to be the first headmaster that wasn't completely human. No other with goblin heritage had ever been placed in such a powerful position, he couldn't wait to tell his family.
But first, he had a class to teach in a few minutes.
Pomona Sprout's Office
Like Filius, Pomona was pleased with the offer she had just gotten. She knew what many thought of her house, they were the house that took those that just weren't good enough to get in one of the other houses. But she could change that.
Despite those like Amelia Bones coming from her house, there was still a stigma against those of Hufflepuff. She would show them just what a puff could do.
Glancing at the clock, she saw that she had a class in a few minutes, after that she was going to go speak to Severus. She was worried about why she was being offered his position. She didn't want to take her colleagues position, but if he was willingly giving it to her then she hoped he would be willing to teach her how to handle the responsibility. She would also need to meet with her assistant head of house, Bathsheba Babbling, to inform her that she was to become the full head of house and would need to select her own assistant.
Headmaster's Office
The entire office was destroyed. All the former headmasters had been forced to flee their portraits in a bid for safety. The owl that still looked like Fawkes had fled to the owlry.
Albus was sitting at his charred desk, staring down at the remains of the letter the board had sent him. It had informed him that he was being requested to retire. It also stated that his retirement had gotten a unanimous vote, so if he refused he would be publicly fired.
The letter detailed why it was that he was being requested to step down and covered his lack of doing Hogwarts related work, his endangerment of the students, his disregard for maintaining the wards, and his harassment of a student.
Didn't they understand everything he had done was to save their world? They had no right to do this, and he couldn't even stop it yet. If he announced what they were doing then everyone would know about him being fired. His reputation was strong, but not strong enough to withstand that right now.
He was going to make each and every one of those fools suffer once he regained his power. They would be public outcasts and no one would ever take them seriously again by the time he was done with them.
The only good thing was that he had gotten a message from Gellert that had been passed through his followers. He had managed to locate the ritual books that Albus wanted.
Everything would be set to hand over in April. The reason for the wait was that it took time for Gellert to move things around since he technically wasn't supposed to have contact with the outside world so he couldn't do anything to draw attention to what they were doing.
Once Albus had those books he could fix things. It would probably only take a month or so to get everything he needed for the rituals.
And then, their world would be fixed.
Severus Prince-Peverell's Office - December 8, 2007
Severus smiled as he thought about the news, and certain peoples reactions to it, that had come out over the past week.
The day after the school board meeting it had been publicly announced that Albus was retiring and that Filius was going to be the new headmaster. In all, the public was actually very supportive of the idea.
He knew that if they knew that Albus was being forced into retiring there would be those that would protest the action, but since they actually thought it was his idea they were supportive. There were also those that had students in the school that had heard for years about the lack of care Albus had for the kids.
Every day there were new articles about the changes the school would be under going over the coming months. The Prophet had tried insinuating that without Albus the school would be in danger, but since Voldemort was gone, they couldn't really identify any real threat so most just ignored it. Instead, people were excited about a fresh start. Both Filius and Pomona were well liked by pretty much everyone.
Severus had taken great pleasure surreptitiously watching Albus's face each morning as the papers were delivered. The man was doing a relatively decent job at hiding his real feelings on what was happening, but to anyone who really knew him his fury was obvious.
That fury was only exacerbated by the fact that the only people that had stepped forward to publicly request he not retire was Molly and a few of his other blind followers, and the public was mostly ignoring them. Molly in particular was actually only making things worse.
The womans once pristine public image had been tarnished over the years. Now, most people ignored her or actively went out of their way to disagree with her. That would only make Molly angry and start ranting like a crazy woman.
She had repeatedly argued with the fact that she hadn't been informed of the board meeting when she was a member. So, since she hadn't been there they couldn't claim it was a unanimous vote. The other governors had just pointed out she had missed the summer meeting without due notice and as such she had been stripped of her position so they hadn't had to inform her of anything. Which just set the woman off once again.
Now, he was meeting with Filius and Pomona. He had already assured Pomona that he didn't want the job and told her that he would be leaving the school at the end of the year to go back into research. The board had indeed already decided that he would be invited back to the NEWT level practical classes twice a month to work with the students.
When the next semester started both Filius and Pomona would be starting to step into their new positions. Filius was going to suggest a replacement charms master for his class to help him. The new charms master would begin to take over so Filius could start to focus on the headmaster position, but Filius would still do some of the teaching for the NEWT students since they would be starting their review for the end of year tests.
Today he was going to start teaching them what their new responsibilities were going to be. Albus should have been showing Filius, but the man was, once again, not at the school. He had actually been going out of his way to try and limit what Filius knew about his new position in hopes that he would fail and Albus would have his spot back.
The afternoon was spent giving the two a breakdown of the different paperwork each job required. Since Albus hadn't been around much Severus had been doing both the headmaster and deputy headmasters work, so they really didn't even need Albus to show Filius.
They had even gone up to the headmasters office so Filius could see where he would be working and to get him acquainted with the past headmasters. The previous headmasters were thrilled to meet Albus's replacement. After so many years, they had little to no respect for the man anymore.
Both Filius and Pomona were startled to see just how little Albus actually had to do with the school. He might have been living there and going to have his meals in the great hall to give the impression that he was around, he was almost never there anymore.
Peverell Manor - December 24, 2007
Hadrian was sitting nervously in one of the sitting rooms waiting for his family. He had gotten a letter that was more than a little concerning.
"Hadrian, what is it?" James asked as he sat down across from his son.
Fred and George were to either side of Hadrian, Severus was next to James, and Sirius and Remus had taken the two wing backed chairs.
"I got a surprising letter." Hadrian held out the letter. "It's from Gellert Grindelwald. He wanted to meet with me next week. He even included how we can gain access to the castle he's in."
"You aren't going." Severus said instantly. He didn't want his son anywhere near that man.
"He included this." Hadrian held out a picture of Abe and Cassiopeia at the winery in France. The picture held last weeks date on it.
Sirius took the picture. This wasn't good. They couldn't risk Albus learning that Aberforth was still alive.
"I think I should meet with him." Hadrian saw his family getting ready to argue the point. "I won't be going alone of course, I'm not that reckless. But we do know that he knows more about Dumbles than anyone else. And we can't risk Abe.
I want to know what he wants."
The others didn't really like it, but they did need to know to know what the old man knew.
In the end, they agreed that Hadrian would go, but Fred, George, and Severus would be going with him. James, Sirius, and Remus would remain outside the prison. If the others didn't return within an hour they would get help.
Nurmengard Castle - January 2, 2008
Hadrian was nervous as he and the others were guided into Nurmengard Castle. The man he was going to meet with was a Dark Lord that was on par with Voldemort. But unlike Voldemort, he wasn't completely insane.
Once they were in the main part of the castle they were led to a sitting room. It wasn't overly lavish, but it was still decently appointed.
"Please, have a seat gentlemen." Gellert indicated the seats opposite him as he set down one of his books. "I would offer you tea, but I think we all know none of you will eat or drink anything while you all are here."
"Thank you." Severus said as he and the others sat. He knew better than to be openly rude to this man. "We only have an hour, so please, let's not waste time with pleasantries."
"To the point then, I like that." Gellert smiled. "So you are Fredrick and George Weasley-Prewett, I am not surprised to see that you would come with your soul mate. And then we have Severus Prince-Peverell, previously Prince-Potter. I'm glad you chose to attend, I have read all of the different papers you've put out, your work is incredible.
And, of course, the man of the hour, Hadrian Potter-Black, I can't tell you just how pleased I am to finally get to meet you.
It has been delightful to watch you systematically destroy the little world Albus had created for himself over the past decade."
Gellert was pleased to see the complete lack of shock on the young mans face, it helped to confirm a part of one of his theories about him.
"It has been fun to do, but I can't take all the credit. All I have really done is just say no." Hadrian looked the man dead in the eye.
"So modest. To what I wished to discuss with you. I wish to request your assistance with Albus." Gellert sat forward slightly.
"And just what do you have planned?" Hadrian questioned hesitantly, it would be foolish to forget just what this man was capable of.
"I only wish to do to him what he has done to me. As I am sure you are aware of, Albus and I were once partners until he betrayed me. Over the decades he has come to visit me often, always boasting about how his plans have been working out perfectly. That is, until you.
I have waited patiently for a chance to put an end to his machinations, and that time has finally arrived." Gellert had a far away look in his eyes for a moment.
"And what would you want for Hadrian to do to assist you?" Severus questioned, he wasn't going to risk his son.
"Excuses." Gellert returned to the present. "My people and I will be dealing with Albus in a few months time. All that we require from you is to use your contacts to make an excuse for his disappearance."
"Why do you want to do that?" Fred questioned.
"He seems to be working from a plan the two of you created, so why stop him now?" George added.
"I am well aware of what people think of me. I earned every bit of fear and disgust. I will admit that when I was first imprisoned here I was ready to kill everyone involved, but as time has passed, I have seen the error of my ways.
The arrogance of youth has given way to the wisdom of old age. I have come to regret my actions. And I have accepted that my imprisonment is the penance I must pay for my crimes.
Looking back, as I often do, I can acknowledge that I was wrong. The only justification that I can offer anymore is that I truly believed that I was doing the right thing. I did not set out to be the villain, I was intent on being the hero.
Given what I was reading at the time I was lead to believe that our world would die if we did not take immediate action. I saw my self as a freedom fighter or a liberator. But, time has shown me that I was wrong. Given that the magical world is still going strong I have no choice but to face the fact that I was wrong.
In truth, I feel my punishment should have been worse than this given what I did. However, we can not change the past, well, most of us can not. But now, it is Albus's turn to pay what he has done."
"You didn't answer why you chose to act now?" Hadrian pointed out. He had heard in his last life that Grindelwald had come to regret his actions, but he actually hadn't really believed it, but now he was starting to.
"He was just too much of a public figure for his disappearance to go unnoticed or investigated. I had to wait until his little world started to crumble around him. You have taken care of that for me.
But, the most important thing is that he came to visit me over the summer. He was seeking some of my old ritual books. I managed to delay him, but the delays will not last forever. Either I give him what he wants or he will find another way to get it, and none of us can risk that."
"And just what is so dangerous about these rituals, more than the expected of course?" Severus was getting concerned. When Albus dabbled in ritual magic it was never a good thing.
"The first ritual he wanted would allow him to strip away a persons complete personality and replace it with one of his choosing. I hope I do not have to tell you who he is planning on using it on." Gellert, and everyone looked to the dark haired young man. "But it is the second ritual that is the real danger. It is the arcane temporal commutatio ritual.
To the general public it is an old Atlantian ritual that would allow an individual to rewrite time. That is not the truth. While it will allow the caster to rewrite time itself, it comes at a terrible cost. Two of the most well known instances of this ritual being used was Atlantis and Pompeii. Powering the ritual takes the lives of thousands.
Albus knows this, but he will never allow that to stand in his way. Albus has always been willing to sacrifice others to get what he wants."
"What are you going to do?" Hadrian chose to ignore the implications of the rituals for the moment.
"I have already informed him that I will have the books he requires by April. But, when he comes to collect them, he will be joining me in this prison that we created together. Albus Dumbledore will never again leave Nurmengard Castle.
You see, I have come to learn that this is the perfect punishment for him. Albus will be able to watch as the world moves on without him. He will read the paper as you remove his work and fix the world he was in the process of breaking and see he was wrong." Gellert's voice once again became distant as he finished his thought.
"But how will you contain him?" Hadrian asked.
"The same way I am contained." Gellert pulled open his robes slightly to display a deep rune etching on his chest. "This rune reaches right down to the bone of my sternum. It permanently binds my magic and anchored me to these walls. If I ever try to leave these grounds the magic that it contains will turn inward and kill me.
My people are already in the process of getting the ritual to do this ready for him, that is why we must wait to put things into motion. Albus will be bound just as he had done to me."
"But people will notice he is here." Fred said.
"All those that guard these grounds are my people and have no problem imprisoning the one that betrayed us. The only time an outsider enters this place is the ICW representatives do a bi-decade review. And when that happened then we can just restrain him in a different part of the castle."
"I don't mean to be rude, but, if you have so much control here, why have your people not moved forward with your plans?" George asked. "You might not be able to leave, but you could still lead."
Gellert smiled at him. "I could, but as I said, I can admit I was wrong. It took over 20 years for my people to get into place, and by then, I had accepted my failings.
I did terrible things. I am man enough to admit that. I do not wish to be responsible for more death and destruction."
Gellert turned his eyes to Hadrian. "I remember a man with your name. I would apologize for his death, but I would not wish to lessen his sacrifice. I may have killed him, but I never had anything but the greatest respect for the man.
My people have sworn their life and magic to my will, and my will is that they do not repeat the mistakes of the past. They respect my wishes. Our war has ended, as it never should have begun.
Now, you only have a little time left, I would recommend you take your leave now. The last thing any of us need is for anyone to know you were here."
The others started to get up but Hadrian turned back before he left. "We will help you. When do you need us to start making excuses for his disappearance?"
"Albus will most likely announce he is going on some trip or another around the middle of April. All I need from you is to ensure the story gets around and then make excuses when he doesn't return, but most will not take much notice of his lack of return for at least a few weeks. You only need to worry about things when people start to take notice.
I would recommend you speak with my Great Aunt. She has plenty of old photos of the two of us when we were younger. You could hand those over to reporters and use those to work on discrediting him if anyone starts pushing to find his location."
Hadrian nodded and turned, leaving with the others.
Filius Flitwick's Office - January 7, 2008
Filius was proud as he started his first day as the headmaster. He was still in his old office since Albus still hadn't vacated the headmasters office. Over the holidays the man had made non-stop excuses about why he couldn't clear his stuff out of, what was now, his old office.
But Filius really didn't care. It actually worked better for him to still be using the one he had been using for so many years. While he was starting to take over the paperwork involved with being headmaster, he was still doing some teaching. The school governors had already managed to hire a new charms master, but Filius was just helping to get him used to his new position.
For this semester it would just be easier for him to keep his old office down in the main part of the school near his classroom. He was just grateful that he had Pomona and Severus there to help him do all the extra work he now had. The new charms master and the teaching assistants that Filius had previously hired would, from now on, be handling the marking for all the years except for the seventh years, he didn't want all these changes to effect the students that would be taking their NEWTs in only a few more months.
The school governors had arranged for new quarters for Albus to have since he was allowed to remain at the school, but the man was refusing to move into them meaning Filius would have to wait to move into the headmasters quarters. In truth, Albus was behaving like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. He was refusing to do anything he was asked and was completely ignoring anyone that said anything he didn't like. The week before, during a staff meeting, Albus had ended up all but yelling over Filius when some one asked a question for the headmaster.
Filius was slightly concerned about how he was going to handle becoming headmaster when Albus was still living in the school. The older man just wasn't willing to let go and take a step back.
Headmaster's Quarters
Albus had sealed himself in his private quarters. He still couldn't believe that those stupid governors thought they could take his position from him.
He had signed the resignation letter, but that had only been done so the fools wouldn't try to fire him publicly like was threatened. He was sure that the public backlash would have been enough to force them to reverse the decision, but it hadn't been. The idiot public actually thought the retirement had been his idea and were supporting it.
Then there was the fact that they were replacing him with Filius Flitwick. Albus had never really liked him, and that had only gotten worse when he had stood between him and forcing the Potter brat into compliance. Armondo Dippet had been the one to hire him and by the time Albus had gotten control from the senile man Flitwick had had tenure and he hadn't been able to find a way to get him out of the school without causing an incident with the goblin nation.
And that was why Albus hated the fact that Filius was supposedly going to replace him. He was ¼ goblin.
Those idiots had put a part creature in control of Hogwarts.
There was no way Albus Dumbledore was going to allow a creature to take control of his precious school. And that was why Albus had sealed his quarters and office as best as he could. Unfortunately Severus, as acting deputy headmaster, could override the seal on his office and allow limited access.
Once the summer came the wards would be updated and transferred to the creatures control.
All Albus could do now was wait for Gellert to get in contact saying that he had the books. Then Albus would be able to fix everything.
Molly's Flat - January 19, 2008
Molly was furious as she fixed lunch for the kids. She wasn't mad at them, she could never be really mad at them, but she was mad at everything else.
She still couldn't believe that she had been kicked off the school board. Then to make matters worse, once she was gone those people had been so stupid as to force Albus to resign. And, they also didn't even give the position to Minerva as they should, instead they gave it to a creature and a woman that did nothing but garden.
Didn't they understand just how foolish that was. She knew that people were saying that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was gone for good, but she didn't believe it. Albus had spoken with her about it and had assured her that he wasn't truly gone. She was making sure to tell everyone who came to her restaurant the truth. The ministry was just hiding the truth because they didn't want to admit that they needed Albus's help.
Turning away from the stove she levitated the food over to the children. Both Ron and Ginny grabbed their favourites immediately. Ever since the meeting with the healers the year before the food they could have at the school was limited. Both of them had had to stick to the proper diet during the summer as well since their mum wasn't there to make sure they got what they wanted.
Even now, after everything, their mum still limited the amount of junk food they were allowed. It was annoying, but they both did have to admit that they were starting to feel a bit better. Both had more energy and Ron didn't feel like he was going to die every time he had to go up all the stairs that lead to Gryffindor Tower.
Molly really wasn't sure if she really liked the changes in the children. She did enjoy that they had started to behave in a more mature manner, but she didn't like them pulling away from her and the path that she and the headmaster had set out for them.
Ginny was still interested in the Potter boy, just like they wanted, but she was also looking at others. Molly had heard her daughter discussing a few other boys. Thankfully, in Molly's opinion, they were all from titled and/or wealthy families. The Potter boy was the best option because of everything he had coupled with his fame, but if they couldn't fix him soon then her baby would need someone to look after her until they did.
Ron was actually finally doing his own school work, mostly. Hermione was still going over everything, thankfully, but the boy was finally doing it without being threatened overly much. But he was also not listening the way he once had. Ron had started trying to make friends with those in other houses and Molly was worried about them corrupting her little boy. Molly still didn't trust the other Hogwarts houses.
Molly knew what was best for her children she knew, and she didn't really like the paths they were on at this point. They weren't following her or the headmaster the way that they should. She was sure it was because of the influence that Arthur and Muriel had had over them during the summer and in time she would be able to fix it.
Glancing over she saw Hermione with her face in a book. So far every time she had seen the girl since the start of school she had had a half dozen books with her. Molly did understand that she wanted to do well on her exams, but she really felt the girl should pay more attention to Ron, they were going to be married after all. It was a wife's duty to put her husbands needs first after all, or at least, the duty of any woman married to her little boy.
Molly knew she needed to find a way to get back on the school board, and then she will fix things. The school needed Albus, and she was going to make sure he got his rightful job back.
Molly's Flat - February 16, 2008
"You wanted to see me?" Ginny asked her mum as she was walking into the flat.
"Yes, I heard from your brother that you spent this Valentines day with Zacharias Smith." Molly said, looking to her daughter in slight disappointment. "You were supposed to be working on getting closer to Hadrian."
"I've tried, but it's just no use." There was a petulant whine in Ginny's voice that had been becoming slightly less common over the summer but had started to make a comeback. "He disappears with the twins every valentines day. Besides, they have a marriage contract, just going out with him a few times won't be enough."
"I have found a way around that foolish contract." Molly smiled as she saw excitement glowing in her daughters eyes. "If you were to get pregnant with his first child then he would have no choice but to marry you.
The public would demand it. And, even if he still refused, you could force him to name your child his heir under the first born clause in the Olde Laws. You would have access to the properties and vaults in order to care for the child. You would also get the fame of being the mother of his first born."
Ginny took a few minutes to think about it. She really did want the money and the fame, but she didn't really want to have to have a kid. Not to mention, she would need to have it before Hadrian got married, and that meant she had to be pregnant before he finished school. He would most likely get married within a few months of graduation, the twins weren't stupid enough to risk losing him if they waited she was sure, so she would have to hurry.
"I really don't want to have to have a kid." Ginny whined eventually.
"Ginny… You are going to have to have a child." Molly huffed in annoyance. "You can have a child now and be the mother of the Potter Heir, or you can have a child later and have it as heir to its fathers title or fortune. A child is how you secure your future.
Having Hadrians child will make you rich and famous. If you wait until after he is married to those horrible twins, then you will get next to nothing. When you marry, you will need to have a child with your husband either way."
Ginny knew her mum was right. She had always known she was going to have to have a child with whoever she got together with, but she just didn't want to do it while she was so young. There was still so much she hadn't gotten to do yet, she didn't want to have to deal with the responsibility of a child.
"I know mum. Kids are just so much work." Ginny pouted.
"Honestly Ginny." Molly looked to the ceiling trying to stay calm. "You just have to have the kid, not raise it. You still have another year of school after this, and I will not be allowing you to drop out.
You will go to school and I will keep the baby with me. After all, it's only natural for me to look after my first grand baby since you and Hadrian are just too young and irresponsible. We can even arrange for Hadrian to get us a manor and full access to the vaults to ensure that I can buy the child whatever it needs."
With that Molly was off thinking about being a grandma and being able to buy whatever she wanted. She would make sure that the baby would be raised properly, she didn't want to risk the poor child becoming like Hadrian.
"And just how am I supposed to get him into bed?" Ginny questioned. "His stupid rings keep letting him know when there's a potion in his drink."
"Simple, I looked it up, the rings only let him know if he doesn't know about the potion. They won't react if he is willingly taking the potion." Molly informed her daughter.
"And how am I supposed to get him to take it willingly?"
"You get him drunk." Molly smiled. "You might not even need to give him a love potion. Just get him drunk, both of you take a fertility potion, and do what needs to be done.
You don't need his love, just his child."
Ginny actually thought it might work. She would have to work out some way to get him to have a drink with her, but she would find a way. The good thing was, from what she had learned of marriage contracts there were always fidelity clauses in them. If she could prove that Hadrian cheated on the twins, which her being pregnant would do, then the contract would be broken.
Ginny didn't even really want Hadrian for herself anymore, she just didn't want the twins to have him.
Great Hall - March 20, 2008
In response to Molly's demand that he find some way to get Hadrian and Ginny in a situation where Ginny would be able to get the boy drunk, Albus had chosen to arrange a ball. The closest day that would give him time to make the arrangements and still be considered worthy of celebrating was the vernal equinox. He hadn't wanted to seem like he was pandering to those blood supremacist and celebrate Ostara, so he said it was for the equinox.
Filius, Pomona, and Severus had really only agreed to allow him to plan the ball because it would keep him distracted for almost a month and a half which would allow them to actually be able to do their jobs in peace. The man had been constantly sticking his nose into things since the new semester had saturated and this had been the perfect way to get rid of him.
They didn't think there was too much damage he could do by arranging a ball. Plus, it would give the students a chance to relax and have a bit of fun before the end of year exams got too close.
Hadrian stood in the great hall trying to figure out what this ball was about. He knew that there was no way that Dumbledore had just randomly decided to hold a ball, there had to be a plan in all this. he just couldn't see it at that point.
But what benefit could he gain from a ball like this. Sure, it made the students happy to relax, but no more than they were with a Hogsmeade weekend.
It didn't seem to serve to gain him any power. Those in positions of power, like being members of the Wizengamot or being wealthy, really wouldn't care about a party at the school. There weren't any major bills waiting to be passed so he couldn't be using this to try and sway any of the titled students.
Looking around he saw that Fred and George were absent, but he had expected that. They had both warned him Dumbledore was up to something when he had made arrangements for them to be doing rounds in the dungeons this evening.
But it wasn't really like they could do anything even if the twins were there. They were barred from showing their relationship publicly. The three of them had become extremely skilled at disappearing to private places together.
"Good evening Hadrian."
Hadrian closed his eyes in irritation as he heard the voice behind him. "Prewett."
It had been a calm year up until this point. Although the girl was still trying to send him seductive looks, she hadn't actually managed to corner him to speak to him since the return from Yule holidays.
"Surely we are past such formalities?" Ginny simpered as she stepped up next to him. "How are you enjoying the ball?"
Hadrian chose to ignore the first question since he knew no matter what he said the girl wouldn't listen. "I don't really see the point in the ball. It is Ostara, and while the celebration of Ostara includes dancing, it is supposed to be outside. Ostara is the celebration of balance and growth.
"Here, why don't you have some of this, I'm sure it will help make tonight a lot more fun." Ginny held out two glasses of an amber liquid. "It's just a little fire whiskey. The best part is that these glasses are charmed so they will just refill when you run out."
The girl pushed the glass into Hadrians hand giving him no chance to refuse. Hadrian was surprised when his rings didn't warn him of anything. Discretely Hadrian cast a charm and was surprised when it too came up clean. He knew there was a chance that it just meant an older potion was used, but he didn't think so, it seemed to be just plain fire whiskey.
And then Hadrian understood the plan. Since they couldn't slip him any potions they were just going to try and get him drunk. Hadrian hated to do it, but he had to admit that they were dedicated, too bad that dedication wasn't directed towards something useful.
"Hey Hadrian, there you are."
"Hey Nev." Hadrian was pleased when Neville arrived to save him.
"Come on, the others are waiting." Neville had seen the red head trying to get close to his friend and wasn't going to risk her trying anything. "Draco and Susan are debating the most effective way to sway votes in the Wizengamot and we need you to break it up.
Oh, here, I grabbed this for you."
Neville handed over a glass of wine. Hadrian was happy to take it as he set the glass Ginny had given him down. Having a glass of wine would make the girl think she still had a chance of him getting drunk so she wouldn't keep trying to drink the fire whiskey.
"Why do you have wine?" Ginny questioned in confusion. "We're still kids, the teachers will get mad."
"We aren't little kids." Neville was confused, didn't she realize they weren't little kids anymore. "The legal drinking age in out world is 17. The seventh years can have a few drinks from time to time if we want. We just aren't allowed to get drunk around the younger years."
Ginny was annoyed as Hadrian and Neville turned and walked away from her, but she hadn't given up hope. Hadrian still had a drink in his hands, she just needed to make sure he had a lot and that she was the one to escort him from the hall and into a private area.
Fred and George's Quarters
Only 20 minutes after walking away from Ginny Hadrian had had his friends cover for him while he slipped from the hall. He chose to just go directly to Fred and George's rooms. They were supposed to be finished their rounds within an hour or so so he was just going to wait for them. And he could use that time to do a little extra studying.
He didn't want to have to deal with another run in with Ginny Prewett. He just needed to get through these last few months and he would be free of having to deal with her and the other two.
Great Hall
Just as the ball was winding down Ginny was once again doing the rounds of the hall trying to find Hadrian. She had sent multiple elves to refill his wine glass so he should be quite drunk by this point.
Reaching her hand into her pocket she felt the two little vials of fertility potion that her mum had brewed for her. They couldn't get Hadrian to drink a potion if he wasn't willing, but what male would refuse to do one little thing if it got him laid.
But as she finished another round she realized that Hadrian wasn't there. Trying to think back, she couldn't remember seeing him for a while. She had been busy dancing with a few others and hadn't noticed his absence before.
What she didn't know was that Hadrians friends had made arrangements with a few of those that could actually stand the girl to ask her to dance whenever they noticed she was looking around. They thought it would keep her distracted so that she wouldn't notice that Hadrian was already gone.
Ginny was ready to scream. Another chance, gone.
Library - April 12, 2008
Hadrian was sitting quietly in one of the private study nooks in the library. He would have been in the secret one that he and the others had used during the trip wizard tournament, but Draco was using it with his runes study group. He didn't need to study runes as much so he was focusing on going over some of the different theories involved in the development of different types of magic for his magical theory class.
Lately, that was all they did, go over what they had already learned. The reason for that was that the final semester of their last year the students weren't given any new information. Instead, those last months were strictly focused on revising everything they had learned over the last 7 years.
"Hello Hadrian, what are you doing?" Hermione questioned as she walked over to where she saw the boy sitting, Ron following behind her.
Hadrians shoulders slumped, he was just glad the desk he was at was only meant for one meaning they couldn't sit with him. "I'm reviewing, clearly."
"What are you reviewing, I don't remember any of these titles from our classes?" Hermione was confused as she looked at the different books that she had never read before.
"Magical theory." Hadrian informed her. "Is there a reason you're here? I'm busy and don't have time to waste."
"We just came over to say hi." Hermione huffed at the rudeness.
"Why are you even taking that class?" Ron questioned. He didn't see a point in all the extra classes people took, it was just more work.
"Because I'm interested in learning more about magic and how it works." Hadrian sighed before turning back to his books hoping they would get the hint.
"But it's foolish. It doesn't do you any good to know nonsense like that." Hermione argued.
"Yes, because knowing how magic functions and is produced doesn't help in knowing the best way to cast and use ones magic." Hadrian said in a clearly sarcastic voice. "Knowing about magic helps in improving you casting abilities."
Hermione just rolled her eyes like usual, but didn't bother to argue. As much as she might want to she knew that starting an argument in the library was a bad idea.
"But it's so much work." Ron whined at that.
"Welcome to life." Hadrian rolled his eyes. "Life is work. Nothing comes for free. If you want something, you have to earn it."
"What would you know of work? You're rich. You can have anything you want." Ron said, jealousy clear in his voice.
"Yet I still study because I have plans for my life." Hadrian sighed. "I may come from a wealthy family, but I have still always worked for everything I have."
Just as the other two were getting ready to start going on about their opinions on everything they were interrupted by one of the librarians passing by. She gave the two a sharp look, much to Hadrian's joy, and made the two quickly shuffle off. Hermione dragging Ron behind her since she wasn't going to risk getting banned from the library like she had been in previous years when they had argued with Hadrian.
Hadrian was just pleased to get back to his revision. He had plans for a date with his twins. And he already knew they were planning something fun.
That was one of the best parts of being with the twins, they could always get him to have some fun and forget about everything else and just be a teenager in love.
Headmaster's Quarters - April 17, 2007
Hadrian was silent as he slipped into the private quarters of the headmaster. He had something to do. Thankfully he had managed to get Dobby to slip a light sleeping potion into the headmasters dessert. It would make sure the man didn't wake while he was there.
He was also wearing his cloak and had hidden himself from the portraits in the office that was connected to the quarters.
Hadrian knew what he needed to do. He couldn't allow Dumbledore to continue to have the Elder Wand. It was just too dangerous to risk, the Elder Wand was the most powerful wand in the world.
He couldn't help but smirk slightly when he saw the old man. Albus Dumbledore was curled up in a Gryffindor red room on a bed that was a bright orange and yellow, honestly, was the man colour blind. In one arm he was snuggling a teddy bear, and in his other hand was the wand.
Silently Hadrian cast a disarming charm.
Dumbledore didn't even flinch when the wand flew across the room, just to be caught in Hadrian's free hand.
"Hello Master."
Hadrian nearly screamed as he heard the rough voice behind him. Turning around he glared at the entity known as death before sending a cautious look back to Dumbledore, not wanting to risk speaking for fear of waking the man, not that he could do anything. Reaching into his back pocket Hadrian pulled out a wand that looked exactly like the Elder Wand and slipped it into the sleeping mans hand. Regulus had managed to acquire the wand for him, it wouldn't work in the long term, but Hadrian had gotten a letter from one of Grindelwald's people letting him know that Dumbledore would be dealt with in the next few days.
"He won't wake." Death assured his master.
Hadrian pinched the bridge of his nose like a headache was building. "Hello Death."
Death chuckled lowly before waving his hand and transporting the two of them to his masters room in Ravenclaw Tower. "Well done at collecting all of my hollows once again."
Hadrian had known this was coming. He had been given the cloak by his dad before the start of his first year. The stone was given to him after the ring horcrux had been destroyed, he had chosen to just place it in one of his vault since there really was no one he wanted to call back. And now he had the wand.
"I've never used the stone or the wand. Don't I have to use them for me to be considered your master?" Hadrian questioned, relaxed now that he was away from the old man.
"But you did use them, in your past life, and that is enough. You have been my master ever since, even if you went back in time, there is no way for you to lose the title. Even if another acquired all three, they would only become my master after your death." Death informed him.
"So I will still die?" Hadrian questioned, he really didn't know much about being Death's master. He had never really interacted with the entity in his last life.
"You and your soul mates will live a longer life, but you will eventually die. Your kind are not equipped to live forever, you body will still degrade with time, just slower since you are connected to me.
Being my master grants you my assistance, not my fealty. This will inform you of your responsibilities." Death handed over an ancient tome. "Only you can see or read it."
"Great." Hadrian muttered. "More homework, I have exams coming up you know, and I've never done these ones before."
"You don't have to read it today." Death would have rolled his eyes if he could, sometimes it was annoying to have such a young master. "There really isn't much that you are required to do. It is really more of an honorary title given, my siblings and I set up challenges long ago as a way to find those worthy… And for entertainment."
Hadrian couldn't help but chuckle when Death had shrugged his shoulder in an offhanded manor when he added the last part.
"Do you know if Dumbledore will notice the change of wands?" Hadrian questioned nervously. "We tried to get it to feel like the right wand, but didn't really know how."
"I will ensure that he doesn't master." Death assured before disappearing into thin air.
Hadrian just looked at the spot where Death had been for a second before shaking his head and going back to bed. It was well after 3 am and he needed to be up for classes the next day.
Headmaster's Office - April 18, 2008
Albus grabbed his shrunken trunk as he made his way to the floo. He was going to be flooing to his cottage in Godric's Hollow and then leaving from there.
The letter had finally arrived letting him know that Gellert had finally managed to get him everything he needed. But this time he couldn't just openly walk in like he had done in the past, he needed to be more discreet.
And then meant he couldn't draw attention to himself.
Instead he had informed the rest of the staff that he was going to be away for a week or two on a research trip and would be back once he found what he needed. It was vague enough that he wouldn't have to deal with too many questions, but specific enough that they didn't just think he had left. He wasn't sure how long it would take to prep the rituals, but he figured that would give him enough time.
He had already arranged to lay a false trail heading towards Cypress. There was plenty on the island that people would believe that he had wanted to study.
Albus smiled as he left, soon he would have everything fixed.
Austria - April 20, 2008
In a dark ritual room seven people in hooded cloaks prepared for a ritual.
The day before the traitor, Albus Dumbledore, had arrived at their door step demanding that they bring him directly into the castle that now served as prison to their Lord. After assuring him they just needed to arrange a few things they had lured the man inside. He had been stunned and restrained immediately.
They were going to be doing a few rituals over the next two days before they moved the man into Nurmengard and sealed everything in.
Thankfully the man was silent, but that was mainly because they had been keeping him unconscious the entire time. There was no need for him to be awake for any of what was coming, so they had chosen to leave him stunned. It was mainly because a few of them had known him in the past and didn't want to have to listen to him complain or order them around.
That had always been one of the main differences between him and their Lord. Dumbledore gave orders and never told his people the full story. Their Lord, at least with his inner circle, had been open and had been willing to talk with them. That was why they had managed to get so close to winning up until the betrayal.
Their Lord would explain the plans he had been making and allow them to debate with him. While he had gotten the final say, they were able to add their opinions which helped to refine their plans. Even now, their Lord listened to his most trusted.
Soon, the traitor would begin to serve his punishment.
Nurmengard Castle April 22, 2008
Gellert Grindelwald smiled as his people carried Albus Dumbledore into the room that would now be his and laid him on the bed. The rituals were finally complete and they were just going to finish tying him to the wards and they would be done.
Then all that was left to do was to wait for him to wake.
Nurmengard Castle - April 24, 2008
"Good morning, Albus."
Albus Dumbledore was slow to wake. His entire body felt like he was trying to move through mud. And he ached, it was a bone deep ache.
Blinking his eyes open he saw the smiling face of Gellert. This wasn't right. While he had been on his way to see the man he couldn't remember his arrival. And why had he been asleep, he would never willingly risk being so vulnerable around Gellert.
"W…What?" Albus forced out of his mouth that felt like it was filled with cotton.
"Don't stress yourself too much, it will take you a bit to feel better, although you will never feel quite like you used to." Gellert smiled.
Albus was confused. His mind just wasn't working right. He just couldn't remember. Slowly, and with a great deal of pain, he pushed himself into a sitting position. His chest felt like it was on fire. Looking down he could just see the edge of some sort of burn over the top of his robe, a robe that just so happened to be a bland grey, something Albus would never have willingly wore.
"Yes, I know, it hurts." Gellert saw him notice the edge of the brand. "But it will heal, I assure you. Mine did after all."
"What have you done?" Albus questioned, trying to keep his worry out of his voice.
"I have finally taken my revenge." Gellert kept his face placid. "Did you think you could betray me, imprison me, and that I would allow it?
No Albus. I have watched and waited for years. I have seen you build yourself up, and now I have watched you fall."
"I will regain my rightful place, you just have to give me those books and I can fix everything, you can be free." Albus tried not to get angry, Gellert was difficult to deal with when they argued.
"You really are a fool Albus. Did you really think I was going to give you those books? No, I have done enough damage to this world, I will not do more by allowing you to continue to harm others.
Albus Dumbledore will never leave Nurmengard Castle. You helped to build this prison, and now you get to live in it." Gellert was pleased to see the fear growing in Albus's eyes. He remembered that fear all too well.
"Gellert." Albus growled.
Gellert smiled at the sign of anger. "Oh do try and stay calm Albus, anger will get you nowhere.
It's simple, I had my people subject you to the same rituals your little followers in the ICW subjected me to.
You are forever bound to this castle. You will never leave, if you try it the bindings will use your own magic to kill you. But, you will never be able to access your magic again. You are now equal to a squib in power, you can feel it, but you will never be able to use it again.
Welcome home Albus."
With that Gellert got out of the chair and left the bland room to go and get his lunch.
That had been one of the things he had taken great joy in arranging, the room was nothing like Albus would like. The room was done in muted tones of grey and white. The best part, every single article of clothing followed the same colour scheme.
Gellert would never have to see those horribly coloured robes the other man favoured. For a time Gellert had wondered if he wore those hideous clothes to make others underestimate him, then he moved on to wondering if the man was colour blind, but didn't have proof either way.
It took about 15 minutes for Albus to force himself up and follow Gellert. The rune on his chest had given him pause, he knew the runes formed an imprisonment spell.
Moving slowly he moved through the castle, knowing the general direction he needed to go. He had helped to design the place after all.
He found Gellert slowly eating a simple breakfast of eggs and toast.
"Please… Come in Albus, I'm sure you're hungry by now, you haven't eaten in a few days."
"People will come looking for me."
Gellert chuckled softly. "No, they won't. You aren't their hero any more Albus. You were once, but the Potter boy now has their adoration, not you. Yes, there are those that are still loyal to you, but not in the way they once were. They think you are a wise man, but not to the point they will come running.
But even better, you yourself set up the excuse for your disappearance. You even laid the false trail for us. As far as people are concerned you are simply off on a research trip. When you don't return they will just assume you haven't found what you were looking for."
Albus stared for a moment. He was right. Albus had told everyone not to worry while he was away, that he would return when he found what he was looking for.
Even Molly believed him to be working. It would probably take that stupid woman months to start to worry, especially since he had removed her infatuation with him.
Ignoring the food that was placed in front of him, Albus looked down at the runes on his chest. He would have to form a plan. If he could find a way to disrupt the design of the runes they would lose their potency.
"Don't bother." Gellert could see the planning look on his former lovers face. "Do you really think I would not have tried disrupting the runes. Honestly man, I am not a complete fool.
The reason the runes have left such a mark is because they were made to go deep. Those runes were etched directly onto your sternum and inlaid with goblin smelted gold. It is impossible to weaken them."
Albus was furious. He couldn't remove or weaken the runes. That meant his magic was bound and he was tied to the castle, at least until there was outside intervention. Surely the ritual could be reversed once someone else noticed he was there.
"I will be here only until someone comes here to find me. They will arrange for my removal." Albus smirked.
"And just who do you think would come here that would help you? All the guards here are my people, and trust me, my people are more than pleased that you are finally being punished for your betrayal."
"The ICW representatives monitor you." Albus announced after a few moments of thought.
Gellert chuckled. "They only check on me once every 5 years. And their last check was during last summer, that means they won't be returning for just over 4 years. Not that they will see you when they next come to 'visit'."
"I will make sure to speak with them." Albus growled.
Gellert didn't flinch at the tone. "No, you will not. I will remind you, you are an old man. An old man that will never again wield magic.
When the ICW representatives come to do their check you will simply be silenced and moved to another section of the castle. No one will ever know you are here. I can promise you that."
Albus glared. He needed to find a way out of this place. Their world was depending on him to purge the dark.
Hogwarts - May 16, 2008
It was only a few weeks after Albus Dumbledore had left the school that rumours about his absence started to circulate. People had been contacting the school asking all kinds of questions.
Rita may not have been as popular or influential as she once was, but she was still perfectly capable of stirring people up. She had been going on and on about how Dumbledore had disappeared. She had even implied that Flitwick had arranged it so that he could gain full control over the school.
The goblin nation had not been pleased with that implication and Rita had found her vault under audit, an audit that could last a few months.
The school governors had managed to remove most of the worry. They released the note that Dumbledore had sent them stating that he was going on a research trip and would be back once he found what he needed. James had been so pleased Severus had managed to convince the man he had needed to send that note.
After the announcement of the research trip people once again calmed down. Their old hero wasn't missing, he was just on a research trip.
James and Remus, who were the main two working outside of the school, had already started to make plans to begin their campaign to discredit the man in the press. They were going to wait a few more weeks before they anonymously sent in the pictures of Dumbledore and Gellert that they had gotten from Aberforth.
A week or so after that they were going to send a reporter the contact information to Gellert's great aunt, Bathilda Bagshot. They had at first considered Rita Skeeter, but had later decided that was too cruel to the elderly woman.
Remus had had his work cut out for him at trying to restrain James. Despite them both being former Gryffindors, Remus was much more level headed. James had wanted to release everything immediately so people wouldn't have time to worry about the old mans disappearance.
But Remus had managed to make him see sense. They needed to have a strategy and move cautiously. They had been working on this for a decade, they could wait a few more weeks to destroy the mans reputation.
They were going to release the information slowly. Start to change peoples views of the old man before they even notice their opinions had shifted.
Without Dumbledore around they even managed to clean out his office and quarters so Filius could move in once he was ready. While Filius hadn't fully moved in, he still spent an hour or so every week in the headmasters office. He wanted to get a better understanding of the position so he was speaking more and more to the portraits of the former headmasters.
McGonagall and a few had protested when the elves had started moving Dumbledore's stuff to the new quarters he had been given, but no one had listened. They just kept pointing out the man was no longer headmaster so he couldn't just keep pretending he was and refusing to give up the quarters and office.
The school was finally starting to run smoother. Dumbledore was no longer there trying to undermine Flitwick and the students were more relaxed, especially since Dumbledore was no longer terrifying many students with his continued claims Voldemort would return again. There were still a few students that were following that line of thought, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, amongst them but no one really listened.
Everyone in the school was mostly relaxed and their excitement grew every day as the end of the school year drew closer.
Headmaster's Office - May 24, 2008
Hadrian was, for once, happy as he made his way up to the headmaster's office. This time he wasn't going to have to meet with the ever annoying Albus Dumbledore, instead he was going to meet with Headmaster Filius Flitwick, not that the man knew that.
It had been just a little while before then that Hadrian had been sitting working on some herbology work when none other than Fawkes had flashed into his room. Hadrian hadn't seen the old fire bird since they had left Greece.
Fawkes had felt the shift in the wards and knew that Dumbledore was officially gone from the school so he had chosen to come home. Fawkes had actually known the founders and had chosen to become a guardian of the school they had created.
Over the centuries he had come and gone from the school as he pleased. That was until he had a run in with Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore had seen him when he had been attending school and had come back for him after he started his campaign with Gellert Grindelwald.
Just after one of his burning days Albus Dumbledore had bound him against his will. For over 50 years he had been a prisoner forced to serve an awful wizard. But now that he was free, he wished to return to his role of protecting the children in times of need.
He wasn't going to stay at the school all the time, he still wasn't ready to give up that much of his freedom, but he would stay from time to time.
"What can I do for you Hadrian?" Filius questioned in confusion as one of his students entered the office. Filius had just been having a discussion with some of the former headmasters about how best to integrate new students.
"I came about…" With a flash, Fawkes appeared sitting next to the disguised owl that Dumbledore had left behind. "Him."
"Why are there two of Fawkes?" Filius questioned in confusion.
"There aren't." Hadrian moved forward and swiftly unraveled the illusions on the owl, most wouldn't be able to, but since Hadrian could see magic it was easier for him to find a weak point in the spells. "There."
"It was an owl?" Filius was even more confused now than before.
Due to the ritual the owl would never again be what he once was. His feathers were always going to be a burnished red and his call would forever be a trill. But the owl didn't mind, he was finally free so without a moments hesitation he flew out the window to return to his old nest.
"Dumbledore could never admit that he had never had a phoenix familiar." Hadrian pet Fawkes. "It would make him look bad."
"But he had Fawkes." Filius said.
"No, Fawkes was never his… Willingly." Hadrian looked to his old head of house and current headmaster. "When my parents were working as curse breakers in Greece they helped work in a temple devoted to phoenixes.
The curse breakers decided to summon a phoenix to see if the temple was still operational and Fawkes was summoned. That was when the bindings were noticed. And, as curse breakers often do, they broke the enchantments on him.
You see… Albus Dumbledore bound Fawkes to himself using an illegal binding ritual so he could tell people that he had a phoenix familiar in order to make himself look like he was a good man."
"And how would he go about finding a phoenix?" Filius questiond. "They are notoriously difficult to find."
"He came here." Hadrian shrugged. "Fawkes was actually friends with the founders and they requested that he help protect the school after they were gone. Fawkes was in fact, a guardian of Hogwarts since its founding. Just ask them." Hadrian waved towards the portraits.
"Ay, the lad speaks the truth." Former Headmistress Elizabeth Burke announced grandly. The woman had served in the position of headmistress for 37 years in the late 1600's. "Fawkes was often by my side during my tenure. We were in the middle of one of those horrible witch hunts during my time and he would help me get to any of the students in times of need. He also spent a great deal of time in the infirmary providing his tears to our healers.
That horrible man barred us from telling anyone about the atrocity he had committed when he stole Fawkes just after one of his burning days. But now that he is gone we are free to inform you. That man was the worst headmaster to ever set foot in this school. The things he did would make even the worst witch hunter pale in revulsion."
There were many voices announcing their agreement. Filius looked to Hadrian in confusion.
"Former Headmaster Dumbledore was nothing like what he pretended to be. He was a power hungry monster that encouraged the abuse of children in the hopes they would look to him a saviour when he allowed them to attend the school.
As we all know now, Tom Riddle was subjected to horrible abuse and that helped to create his hatred of the muggle world and enforce his blood supremacy. What most don't know was that former Headmaster Dippet had tried to have him removed from the orphanage by Yule of his first year. Then Deputy-Headmaster Albus Dumbledore stopped the removal and then informed the head of the orphanage, who was the primary abuser, about the accusations Tom had made. That was why Tom hated him so much.
I would recommend that you have all the staff members subjected to an influence test at Gringotts. Over the years my family and I have found many people that have been subjected to spells and potions by that man."
"Spells and potions?" Filius was shocked.
"When I was found I was covered in all manner of things. Including having over half of my magic and skills blocked. Both my parents had bindings, memory charms, and compulsions on them." Hadrian informed the other man gravely.
"You never trusted him, did you?" Filius said finally seeing just how much the boy disliked the former headmaster.
"And I never would." Hadrian smiled. "Just so you understand, we all know that my dad was kidnapped by Lily Evans shortly before the attack on me. What most don't know is that the house he was held at didn't belong to that woman. The house my dad was held captive in belonged to none other than Albus Dumbledore."
Filius was stunned. Albus had helped to kidnap James Potter. What else could the man have done?
"I will leave you to your discussion with the former headmasters and mistresses. I think you will have many more questions for them now." Hadrian smiled and headed for the door. "After all, they had to watch him day after day for 50 years. Who would know his plots better?"
Just as Hadrian closed the door he smiled as he heard…
"Tell me everything."
Molly's Flat - June 7, 2008
Once again it was a Hogsmeade weekend, and once again Molly had her two children and Hermione sitting in her dining room as she made them something to eat.
Molly was uneasy as she looked over the children.
It had been over a month since she had last heard from Albus. She knew he was on a research trip, but the least he could do was reach out to them and let everyone know that he was fine.
Then there was the papers. A few days before the papers had printed a picture of Albus and a boy they claimed was Gellert Grindelwald. It said they had been friends as teenagers.
Molly didn't believe it of course. There was no way Albus would have ever associated with someone so dark, even when they were young. She was sure the picture was fraudulent, or that the other boy wasn't even Grindelwald. Molly would never believe any lies like that about Albus Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore was a hero.
But she still needed to contact him and none of her owls to him would leave. That meant wherever he was was out of range of where an owl could reach. Molly tried every day, but nothing.
They needed to fix Hadrian soon. In only three weeks the school year would be ending and Hadrian, along with her Ronnie and Hermione, would be graduating. Once he was out of the school it would become that much harder to reach the boy.
While he was at the school they had people that could monitor him, but once he was done they lost what little control they had. They didn't even know where he was going to be living once he finished school, although Molly figured he would keep living with his parents. And, they had no access to that house.
She wanted to try love potions again, but she knew that just wouldn't work. Ginny needed to marry that boy. Molly hadn't gone through everything she had gone through just for her and her Ginny to get nothing.
Ginny deserved to be Lady Potter. Molly herself deserved to be the mother-in-law of the Boy-Who-Lived and grandmother to their children. Her Ronnie deserved to be his brother-in-law, it would help him to get a better position in the ministry.
They needed to find a way in. They needed to break that contract the poor boy had with those two useless lumps that she had so kindly taken in and tried to mother.
Hermione was practically twitching as she sat and picked at the food Mrs. Diggle put in front of her. She really didn't want to be here.
The exams were starting in only a few days and she had so much revision left to do. There just wasn't enough time in the day to do everything she needed to do. She found herself wishing she hadn't returned that time turner multiple times everyday.
She knew that Mrs. Diggle was thinking about Hadrian, but Hermione just didn't care anymore. The boy might be rich and famous, and she was more than willing to try and benefit from that, but her education needed to come first. The boy no longer served a purpose since He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was gone.
Her entire future was depending on the tests that were to take place over the next two and a half weeks.
Ginny was annoyed as she dipped her roll in the soup her mum had put in front of her.
Nothing was working. She was supposed to be engaged to Hadrian by this point, it was what her mum and the headmaster had promised her since she was a little girl. Instead, the idiot was engaged to her idiot brothers.
When summer came she was going to have to address the issue with them. She couldn't do it while they were at school since they could take points and assign detentions, and she couldn't risk any more of those.
Nothing worked. She needed to get Hadrian into her bed. She needed to be the mother of his child.
While she had been working on other plans, including ingratiating herself with other heirs, nothing would be the equivalent of being Hadrian's wife.
Ginny was singularly focused on her future, everything else came second, including her school work.
Ravenclaw Dorms - June 20, 2008
Hadrian was exhausted as he fell into his bed face first. He just knew he needed to keep going, it was almost done.
He had just finished his alchemy exam and it was finally the weekend. He had two days until he had to start taking the rest of his tests. Although the worst was over. He only had his charms, spell crafting, and law exams left to take, he had already finished everything else.
Then, he could start studying for his other tests. Hadrian had already made arrangements with the ministry to take his NEWTs in his self study subjects the week after the school came to an end.
Soon… Soon he would be done with school and could start to live his life.
It was just about finishing the exams. And those exams were brutal. There was just so much information needed. Every night he returned to his dorms with his brain feeling like a wrung sponge.
But once he finished, it was done.
Both Voldemort and Dumbledore were gone. Hadrian and his family could finally live their lives without either of those threats hanging over their heads.
Everything they had been doing for over a decade had lead up to this. They were finally free to live their lives.
Hogwarts - June 29, 2008
The day finally arrived. It was graduation. Hadrian was finally finished with Hogwarts.
It was over. His life could finally begin.
Graduation wasn't like it was in the muggle world. There wasn't a big ceremony where diplomas were handed out. The main reason for that was that the exams wouldn't be finished being marked, that meant there may still be a chance that someone might choose to do another year, which was always an option. Instead, the students would celebrate privately with their families when their results came in a week or so.
Hadrian couldn't believe that it was finally over. His life was finally his own.
When he had gotten up that morning he had all but skipped down to the great hall that morning for breakfast. The train would be leaving Hogsmeade station at 11 so he had time to relax.
He had packed everything up the night before and was complete ready to go. There was no way he was going to spend a moment longer at the school then he had to. He had considered just flooing or appariting home, but was convinced to take the train one last time. Everyone had told him it was a right of passage to ride the train that one last time.
Fred and George were also finished their apprenticeships too. They would be cleaning out their quarters during the day and would be at the train station to collect him from the train with the rest of his family. The first part of their masteries had been completed. Their hours were complete and they had already done their first round of tests and submitted their articles. All they had left was another round of tests and to do a bit more research and write up a report and submit it. They figured it would only take another two years or so if they kept working hard.
The three already had plans to spend the month after he got his NEWT results on vacation, just the three of them. Once they arrived back they were going to have to get back to work.
Hadrian was now expected to take up his seat on the Wizengamot full time. He had attended every session during the last school year, but much of the work that came with a seat was still being done by his dad, now it was his. He was also going to work on getting his own mastery, but like he told Flitwick, he was going to take his time and not push himself.
Fred and George were planning on returning full time to their shop to work on inventing new products. It was good since working at the shop doubled as research in their chosen fields.
All three of them just couldn't wait to get to be together without anything standing in their way. It had been so nice during Hadrians fifth year, and the twins final year, to be able to even just hold hands in public without having to worry. Fred and George had already made plans to make sure the entire world knew that Hadrian was theirs.
All through breakfast Hadrian kept looking up to the lower staff table and looking at his twins, massive smile plastered on his face. His papa and Uncle had obviously seen it, and both thought it was hysterical to see just how excited he was. But Hadrian really didn't care, he was in love.
Hadrian was practically bouncing as he sat watching the train pull into the Hogsmeade station. Students were milling around as they waited with him. Many of the seventh years that were finished school seemed to be almost as excited as Hadrian was.
"Hadrian, I feel it's time we talk."
Hadrian's mood instantly fell. Ginevra Prewett had just walked up behind him. "I really don't see what we could have to speak about."
Ginny bristled slightly at the tone, but she wasn't going to let it dissuade her. With Dumbledore off on some sort of research mission her mum had impressed upon her, Ron, and Hermione, that it was up to them to keep track of the boy until Dumbledore returned. And to do that they needed to get Hadrian to fall in line. This was the best chance they had since they didn't know what he was going to be doing, and where he was going to be living, now.
Choosing to force back her anger, Ginny plastered on a large, clearly fake, grin. "You're just so funny.
We wanted to talk to you about what we are going to do this summer. Then there is also next year, I still have another year of school to…"
"I'm going to stop this little moment of insanity right there." Hadrian interrupted. "WE… Aren't doing anything this summer. I… Will be enjoying a vacation with MY… FIANCÉS. Then I will be going to work, just like everyone else who is graduating this year.
As for you having another year of school… How is that supposed to affect me? We are not friends, we have never been friends. The only connection that we have is that I am engaged to your elder brothers.
You really have no influence on my life and my future."
Ginny was ready to start screaming, but chose to laugh fakely once again. "Now isn't the time for jokes Hadrian. You know how much danger you are in due to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. My mum is supposed to keep an eye on you for Headmaster Dumbledore until his return."
"FORMER… Headmaster Dumbledore has no control over my life, and no right to information about it. All that man is is my FORMER headmaster. I will not be reporting to your mother about anything, she means less than nothing to me.
You have nothing to do with me or my life, and that isn't going to change."
"How dare you speak to Ginny like that?" Hermione snarled.
"Well how do you expect me to speak to her?" Hadrian turned to the girl instantly. "She is just a silly little girl that likes to think she is somehow involved with my life. I might not be able to prove it, but there is no doubt in my mind that she has been one of those that have repeatedly tried to douse me with love potions. And there is really only one thing you can call people that do such disgusting things like that…"
Ron didn't like what was being implied about his sister. "Don't talk about my sister like that."
"If you don't want people talking about your sister like that then you should have tried to keep her under control while you had the chance. I no longer have to put up with that sort of behaviour to keep the peace with my fellow schoolmates. Love potions, and anyone who uses them, is the definition of criminal.
I'm not going to pretend that people who do things like that are in any way decent. I have no intention of acting differently." Hadrian huffed out, pleased to see the different people that were eavesdropping on them, for once.
"Ginny just wanted to talk to you about the summer." Hermione forced out in a calm voice after jabbing Ron in the ribs to keep him quiet.
"Like I said, it really is none of her business, or yours. My life does not involve you in any way." Hadrian rolled his eyes. "We are not friends, never have been.
As I said, I will enjoy a vacation with my fiancé's and then start working."
"I thought you were going to try and get a mastery." Ron sneered in what was supposed to be a mocking tone. "Finally realize fame won't get you one?"
"I have never used my supposed fame to achieve anything in my life. I have worked for every grade I have ever received." Hadrian hated people thinking he only got good grades because he was supposedly famous. "As for my mastery, I will still be working for it, just not immediately. I have other important things in my life which take precedence.
My priority will be the Wizengamot and my mastery will be a side project. I already have a schedule worked out to earn it, it will just take a bit longer since I already have obligations."
Hermione bristled. This boy had no right to be involved in governing their country. He was just a stupid child. "And what of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"
"What about him?" Hadrian questioned. "He's dead. That's the end of it, as you well know. I will not waste my life worrying about a dead man."
"Headmaster Dumbledore said that he will return." Ron said.
"And he is wrong. There is a magical death certificate. That means, he is dead, there is literally no magic of his left in this world. He's gone, it's over. Accept it. Move on." Hadrian said in an exasperated voice. "It's time you lot learn to live your own lives and stop worrying about mine."
Ginny and the other two just glared. They couldn't believe that even now Hadrian was being so dismissive of them. After all these years they should have been used to it, but they still didn't like it.
This was their last chance, and they weren't going to take no for ran answer.
"Look, I know we have had our issues in the past, but we really are just trying to do what is best for you." Hermione said in a snotty voice.
"But you have no right to try and control my life." Hadrian snapped as soon as she finished. "YOU are NOT involved in MY life. I will live my life as I see fit. And, I have no intention of allowing anyone who has nothing to do with my life to influence my actions.
I will live my life, you live yours."
With that Hadrian got up and started to move away. He grinned when he heard the others following him only to be stopped by Professor Fabbri.
Hogwarts Express, Platform 9 ¾
Hadrian grinned as the train pulled into Platform 9 ¾. It was completely done.
Through the window he could see his family was all there waiting for him. His now 10 year old sisters with a congratulatory banner that held a startling amount on neon glitter, he was going to have to be careful since he was sure once he reached them he would somehow end up wearing that glitter.
Like him Neville and Draco were pleased to see their families waiting. They both, like him, had plans for their lives and were excited, and slightly nervous, to take the next step of their lives.
Once the way was clear enough, Hadrian took a deep breath and stepped from the Hogwarts Express for the final time.