Lord of time (chapter 41-107)

59

Thaddeus Nott and Aiden Avery checked each compartment as they boarded the train, giving a nod to those who were in Slytherin and a sneer of derision to those in Gryffindor and to a lesser extent the Hufflepuffs. Opening a closed door, Thaddeus peered inside giving a small grin to the Black's every single one of them was in the compartment filling it completely. Alphard, Cygnus, Orion, Dorea, Walburga, and of course, Lucretia.

"Good holiday?" Dorea enquired politely, she couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts, she wanted to see Charles again, she hadn't been able to see him all summer, and to make matters worse her parents wanted her to make a decision on the few candidates they'd picked as her husband. Although thanks to Hadrian's book a few had been removed, including her cousins, whom she emphatically did not wish to marry.

"Better than most," Thaddeus admitted, only due to the fact he could escape to Hadrian and Tom's, all his other friends had parents who were hosting parties every other day, making sure they didn't overlap with other the parties too. "I'll see you all at Hogwarts." he added before withdrawing after they all gave their own goodbyes.

"They might be late again," Aiden suggested as they once more began to lug their luggage behind them, looking into the compartments.

"Alright, that's it, I'll wait here with the trunks, you go ahead and check the compartments for Tom and Hadrian," Thaddeus grumbled righting his trunk with a little more force than necessary. "I'll stay at this empty one just in case."

"There's no need," Tom stated through a honeyed voice from behind both boys causing them to jump as though they had just been electrocuted.

Hadrian laughed as the boys whirled around, half relieved half startled. "Come on, let's get sitting down, we're holding up the line," sliding past Tom and into the compartment, their trunks were shrunk and upon their persons, they had no need to trail it behind them when they could use magic at home to make the journey a little easier.

"You do know the second you're on the train you can use your magic?" Hadrian informed them as he spelled both their trunks onto the racks above their head. Tom sat down next to him, claiming the window seat as he always did.

"Here, Abraxas wanted me to give you this," Thaddeus informed him, sliding the letter from his pristine cloak pocket and handing it over, the Malfoy seal was unbroken and the thick expensive paper unwrinkled.

"And why did he not send it via owl?" Tom demanded reaching over and accepting the letter placing it in his lap but not yet opening it.

"I don't know, Abraxas was with his father, doing business with my parents," Thaddeus, "He told me to give it to you when we got on the train." he was very curious but he knew better than to ask.

"Did you read the newspaper today?" Aiden asked a frown on his face.

"Yes," Harry replied grimly, "Sixty-nine people died in America, twenty-two are confirmed to be witches and wizards, the body count is still being tallied, they suspect it will be more by the time they're finished shifting through the debris." it wasn't the end of it either, worse was still to come. He didn't feel guilty, he was only one person, he couldn't save everyone, and he also had no idea what Grindelwald was doing or where he was. He only knew where he had been defeated, and other general instances, like Germany where he found his Elder wand years ago.

"They suspect Grindelwald is behind it, which means he's in America," Thaddeus added to the conversation, "MACUSA wouldn't have put it in print if they weren't sure." Magical congress of the United States of America, they were really good, excellent fighters. Most people just called them the American Ministry, MACUSA was a mouthful.

"Mmm, if he is he'll be there a while," Hadrian commented, "Having the American Ministry after you...not a place I would want to be, they're relentless." they had more numbers than the Brits do. He had to say he was surprised they hadn't sneered or been smug about that fact, there weren't many in ways of pureblood's they tended to add non-magical blood constantly, which should be making Thaddeus and Aiden look down on them...had his book had that much of an impression? If that was the case then writing that book had been the best thing he'd ever done.