Chapter 62
One thing no one understood was how did Harry come back at the right time to finish the war and when Harry was confronted about it he revealed that while he had confined himself to Peverell Castle and cutoff all the connection from the outside world he was rigorously practicing and researching Peverell Magic to find a way to remove the Horcrux from Gaunt family ring which has resurrection stone. When he finally found a way he removed the Horcrux from the ring and replaced it with a piece of paper, which he destroyed with a killing curse. He used the resurrection stone to talk to his Grandparents who had a nice talk with him and brought him back to his senses and bid him to not use the stone again. After which he trained in the castle grounds. He received the news of the attack on Hogwarts which he had anticipated, from Toby and he rushed back to Hogwarts.
Hadrian Potter stood on platform 9 ¾ along with the Potters, Blacks, Malfoy and Greengrass parents, awaiting the arrival of the Hogwarts express bringing the students home for the summer holidays.
The past few months had been rather strange in many ways for the teen. Things had certainly changed in the wizarding world with the fall of Tom Riddle and Hans Gaulitier, mostly for the better.
There were many things that had irked Hadrian since the battle of Hogwarts, but he had expected it to an extent. He had not, however, expected things to change so drastically and so quickly for himself.
There were things he managed to take in his stride; the continuous congratulations of the public and words of support and gratitude falling into that category. Though it did get a bit bothersome after a while, particularly when he merely wanted to do some shopping or have a little time away from his home. He remained patient with the members of the public and found that he appreciated the praise, even though it would be much preferable for them to not be so keen on vocalising it so loudly, and so often. He had, after all, only done what he knew was right and what he had to do, not for the glory or praise he was receiving.
The thing that had plagued him the most was the media that became incessant with their questioning and requests for interviews, which he always refused. He had been firm with the fact that he would not discuss anything pertaining to the war with them, yet, they continually insisted. Even though Amelia Bones herself had ordered them to leave him alone, there was no law to prevent the hounding he received. Luckily, the auror's were quick to come to his aide to disperse the annoyance. He questioned multiple times if he should have refused his father's proposition of placing men from the Potters army to guard him everytime he went out.
Ever since the conclusion of the war, he had been on the receiving end of many offers, some flattering but most quite disconcerting. There had been offers of product endorsements from more companies than he could count, with some that he found flattering and others that did not sit well with him.
The first had been an offer from Teen Witch Weekly asking him to pose in the magazine, something he refused to do without any form of compromise. He remembered the article they had written about him only too well and it in no way appealed to him. Not only would Daphne have strung him up if he had even considered it but the ribbing he would have undoubtedly gotten from his friends would have been unbearable and never-ending.
FLASHBACK
Hadrian had just managed to escape from a trip to Diagon Alley that had ended up with him being cornered by members of the public. They were trying to congratulate him and offer him their gratitude for what he had done for them, something he would never get used to. He had merely ventured out to go to Gringotts.
He entered the drawing room and sighed as he looked upon the mountain of mail he had received that very morning. He had put Lily in charge of dealing with it after he himself was not able to face the task anymore. Lily insisted that she quite enjoyed the job and had developed a system of screening the letters and arranging them into piles based on what they were.
The fan mail was placed in one pile, a very large pile at that. The next was professional correspondence, endorsements and such. The final pile was personal mail from Gringotts and any other official documentation. This was by far the smallest pile and would not often have anything in it. Today was different however, there was a letter for him.
The letter made him frown in confusion as he looked at envelope. It was from the Wizengamot, but it had another gold seal next to it which he recognized as belonging to the ICW. He opened the letter and his eyebrows rose in shock as he read the content.
To Heir Hadrian James Potter,
It is both my honour and duty to inform you that you are to be awarded the title of Baron in the wizarding world, the most prestigious title attainable. We have chosen to bestow you with this award for your continual efforts and success at keeping the Wizarding population of Britain safe. Most recently with your defeat of the Dark Lord Voldemort and Hans Gaulitier.
I congratulate you most sincerely on your ascension to such a position and look forward to attending the ceremony.
In addition to this you are to be awarded the Order of Merlin 1st Class by Wizarding Britain for your efforts. Once again I offer you my congratulations.
Please find enclosed a list of other awards being bestowed at the same ceremony.
The warmest of regards,
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
British Representative of the International Confederation of Warlocks
Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot
List of awards and recipients
Title of Baron:
Hadrian James Potter
Lord James Charlus Potter
Lord Sirius Orion Black
Rigel Arcturus Black
Draconis Lucius Malfoy
Ascension to Lordship:
Alastor Moody
Order of Merlin:
Lord James Charlus Potter (1st class)
Hadrian James Potter (1st class)
Thomas Charlus Potter (1st class)
Lord Sirius Orion Black (1st class)
Rigel Arcturus Black(1st class)
Lily Potter (1st class)
Marlene Black (1st class)
Draconis Malfoy (1st class)
Alastor Moody (1st class)
Daphne Greengrass (1st class)
Kingsley Shacklebolt (2nd class posthumous)
etc...
Hadrian read the letter several times for the news to sink in, but found himself speechless no matter how much he did so. He was truly honoured to receive such an award; he just simply did not know how to respond to such a thing.
He took a moment to compose himself and ran to discuss the matter with his father. He would at least understand what it was he was feeling right now, him being the recipient of the same award as his father after all.
He entered the kitchen to find both Thomas, Lily and James sitting at the table clutching a letter similar to the one he held in his own hand.
Sirius and Rigel broke them out of their stupor when they entered the room and they just stared at each other with the same dumbstruck expression etched on their faces; it seemed that they all were just as speechless.
None could find the words to describe what they were currently feeling, so instead, they opted to just maintain their stares. This continued until Marlene entered the kitchen to find them in their near catatonic states.
She sighed at the pair that arrived before addressing them.
"If you two are just going to stand there, at least have the decency to close your mouths, it's quite rude," Lily pointed out.
Both father and son snapped their mouths shut with an audible click.
"What is wrong with you all? Why did you rush here in such a hurry?" Marlene questioned, noticing that something was clearly bothering them.
Sirius just shook his head and handed her his letter without a word.
Malene took the parchment with a frown, which only lasted a moment. After she had read the first line, the look she gave had turned to one of wide-eyed surprise followed by a smile and a tight hug to her Husband, son and the Potter's.
"If anyone deserves this it's you guys." She spoke quietly but sincerely.
"I guess we can't say no," James eventually said, snapping from his mute state.
"No," Lily and Marlene said simultaneously and firmly, "And neither of you will attempt to refuse it, that would be insulting to yourselves and the entirety of the wizarding world. You guys have earned this and you will accept it, think of how proud both of your families would be," Marlene implored.
Hadrian smiled at his father before speaking.
"She's right," Hadrian began. "Arcturus and my Grandfather will kick our arse's if we don't accept," he pointed out.
Sirius and James nodded, Rigel shuddered.
"Maybe we do deserve it," Rigel conceded. "It's not like they hand these out very often."
"You do deserve it," Lily reiterated, "If it wasn't for you guys the war would still be going, many more people would have lost their lives and he would still be alive. Like it or not you guys are heroes and the people know it, all they do is sing your praises and look up to you" she reeled off.
Neither men were happy about being labelled as heroes, but they could not refute what the woman had said. They had done all of those things and they were held in such high regard, something that flattered the duo.
They shared a final look and nodded their agreement.
They would accept the award and title for what it was, an honour. An honour that both of their grandfather's had accepted with humility and dignity. An honour that Sirius, James, Rigel, and Hadrian would accept in the same manner.
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