Hi there! I'm back! How are you all?
~~~~~
Slytherin Castle, United States of Hawaii
29th July, 1991
"Come on guys, he headed this way."
Hadrianus glanced back in the direction where he could hear the thunderous footsteps of several of his opponents approaching, before looking around for a quick escape. There is no way he is going to be caught today. He couldn't use his mamba form so openly, as it has become quite well-known amongst his opponents. He needs to make sure his form has adequate and natural camouflage amongst the green.
Unfortunately for him, the wind has started to blow in the opposite direction, so his smell can be easily picked up by his attackers. He really needs to turn this disadvantage into an advantage. The sooner, the better.
Well, at least he can fight without holding himself back! Father had been very strict on this. Apparently, he needs to practice not holding himself back against any adversaries he would be facing. Hadrianus knows that himself as well. If he truly gets sorted in Slytherin, then he would be facing many upper-class students' ire directed at him for taking the topmost rank the moment he stepped in. All because of the House he has inherited. Hadrianus was irritated, never had he ever cared for all those stupid things. But apparently, everyone else does.
After throwing a quick Bombarda at them for a headstart of distraction, Hadrianus applied the strongest smell-cancelling charms he could recall before he resume running, cursing inside his head for forgetting it beforehand. So much for being a genius! Hadrianus scoffed at himself.
His only advantage here was he knew this forest like the back of his hand. So he knew where to hide for the next 45 minutes.
While his opponents may have more knowledge, manpower, and experience, Hadrianus has the speed, wits, creativity, and detailed familiarity of the forest.
Hadrianus ran haphazardly, using the vines and branches to aid his speed, as he quickly went over several plans and their advantages and disadvantages to throw people off his trails without getting caught. He needs to escape, cause some diversion, and hide. Maybe exactly in that order.
"Distraction. If you can't win with your power, cause distraction. Be creative so no one catches you."
Hmm, for that, he needs to see which one of his opponents is on scouting duty and who are chasing him.
Hadrianus smirked on finally reaching the river, before jumping in and shifting into his mamba form midjump. As he did, he quickly swam towards the bush of wild watercress, hiding under the fresh green water plants.
As soon as he reached the bush of watercress, all four of his opponents skidded to a halt in front of the riverbank, whose only goal was to catch Hadrianus and drag him kicking and screaming to the Lord they serve.
"Oh my, he jumped!" The only female opponent exclaimed.
"He is a snake, he can swim underwater." Retorted the other.
"We need to find him before the time is up." Reminded the third one, before starting to disrobe. "I'm going in."
"Me too," decided the female one.
"And me."
"Go, I'll scout the area in case he tries to escape." The last one decided.
"Admit it, you just hate getting your fur wet." One of them teased, before laughing on receiving a middle finger as a reply.
Three of the four opponents disrobed and jumped in. The only remaining one on scout duty pulled a cigarette from his pocket, before casting a mild incendio, then took a long inhale. Just as he did, he heard a light crunch of dry leaves. Jerking up, he looked to the side, trying to locate where the sound came from.
A loud banging sound alerted the swimmers. The three of them came to the surface to the signal of their fourth partner.
"He's escaping, that way." The fourth one pointed to the other side of the river. Immediately all three of them quickly swam away, summoning their clothes and spelling them on themselves as they rush towards where they could hear a light pitter-patter of footsteps.
The opponent's face melted away, revealing a smirking Hadrianus watching three of his opponents running away. Pocketing the wand, he turned to the unconscious form of the real fourth opponent hiding behind the big rock. After a quick thought, he quickly levitated the unconscious form of one of his opponents to one of the topmost branches of the tallest tree he could find nearby, then ran to the opposite side of where his opponents went, towards the South East.
While the watercress would have been a good camouflage for his green scales, it was not enough for the skilled opponents who are fixated on catching him underwater. Better to send them on a wild goose chase and find something that'd be a better disguise than some underwater bushes.
Without having to worry about his opponents, Hadrianus quickly found the thick banyan tree wrapped in the green liana vine. Without wasting time, he changed into his mamba form and climbed up. He could have used notice me not or repellant charms, but unfortunately, his opponents are going to look for those charms, and they will give him away.
Now he needs to wait for 20 more minutes.
*****
"I win!"
"You cheated!"
"You're just a sore loser because I won!"
"But you didn't have to hang me on the top branch of a Koa! Ce n'est pas juste!"'
"C'ies la vie! Besides, that's on you for getting so busy smoking."
"Children!" Nagini called, getting the attention of her bickering kids. Both Barty and Hadrianus huffed at each other, before crossing their arms and looking away.
Nagini took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, enjoying the rare moments of calmness, which was again rudely interrupted when a cackling Bella barged into the parlour, then swooped in to give a loud and wet kiss on Hadrianus' cheeks. "My baby boy is all grown up now, he escaped from us for the whole hour!"
Nagini sighed, she couldn't wait until all of these overgrown hatchlings are off to Hogwarts. Though the relief was short timed, until she recalled that from this year, her own hatchling will be joining them as well.
Hadrianus beamed at his godmummy. They had played chase in the forest surrounding Slytherin Castle several times but this was the first time Hadrianus managed to win. Last time he managed to stay up for a whole hour before Barty caught him just before the time was up. It's such a shame that Barty knows his naga form intimately, no matter how excellent an illusion it provides. But this time, being unconscious, wandless, and hanging from a tree, Barty's knowledge was useless. And knowing Barty was aware but oathbound about the knowledge that Hadrianus was a metamorphmagus helped him a lot.
"Hatchling, your father is waiting for you in his office."
"Father is waiting for me?" Hadrianus perked up immediately, before frowning in suspicion, "Why?"
"Why don't you go and find out yourself?" Nagini was amused.
"You're so grounded now, Little Prince!" Barty chortled, and Hadrianus scowled at him, before walking out of the parlour to his father's office, both his hands wringing in anxiety. To be honest, he has no idea what he did this time.
Was it because of Barty? But he deserved it!
Though, as soon as he saw father, all his worry was forgotten for the moment.
"Father!" He barrelled into the room and slammed into his body, hugging his father's waist in greeting. Ever since his father accepted two jobs, being the Head of the Department of Regulation and Care of Magical Creatures as well as Improper Use of Magic, he had become so busy, even with several assistants and secretaries that he appointed! Hadrianus hardly sees him for more than an hour at home!
Marvolo chuckled, his hand rubbing on his son's mop of raven hair in greeting, "Yes, yes, I get it, you missed me."
"You're never home anymore." Hadrianus pouted, looking up at him with his big ethereal green eyes.
Marvolo smiled softly at his son's complaints, "You know I have jobs to do."
"I missed you."
Marvolo gulped thickly at the earnest declaration. Thanks to Nagini's parentage, his son has no trouble expressing his feelings so openly, unlike Marvolo. He could only hope that his son could understand that his feelings are mutual, from the tightening of his grip on him.
"Oh, father, I finally won this time! Fair and square."
"Did you, now?"
"Yes! So, as a reward, do I get to know where is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?"
Marvolo smirked at that, "Nice try."
"Oh! Come on! Please please please with a cherry on top?"
Marvolo snorted, amused. "No. You'll need some amusement in Hogwarts. This will keep you from getting in trouble."
"Fine!" Hadrianus pouted, "Can you answer a super important question about it?"
"No."
"Come on! It's about your pet danger-noodle!"
Marvolo sighed. He is not sure whether Jörmungandr is going to be offended or pleased being called that. Probably pleased. "What is it?"
"If you have really bad vision and you encounter a danger-noodle, what is better to do: glasses off or glasses on?"
Marvolo blinked, "That's -"
"A perfectly justifiable question."
Marvolo knew that he would regret telling Hadrianus about the Jörmungandr. "You don't even wear the glasses anymore!"
"... So?"
Marvolo sighed, "All Jörmungandr need is eye-contact, poor vision doesn't matter. However, if you're thinking about taking Jim Potter to visit the Chamber of Secrets, make sure you have their secrecy sworn in first."
Hadrianus flushed at having caught.
"Now, son..." Marvolo started, changing the topic.
"It wasn't me." Hadrianus immediately blurted out, cutting whatever he was about to speak. "It was Barty's idea! I am completely innocent!"
If Marvolo was any lesser man, he would have smacked his face and shook his head in exasperation. "What have you done now?"
"Nothing! I am the bestest angel!"
The look Marvolo gave him told Hadrianus that his father knew Hadrianus was anything but.
"Come, sit by me, you little imp, your letters have arrived." Marvolo sighed, resigned, taking his seat, ignoring the reminder of the past where once a teenager Hadrianus had proclaimed the exact same. Looks like his son's vocabulary needs some serious upgradation.
"My acceptance letters?" Hadrianus asked, eagerly taking all three letters. He was invited to 3 schools, Castelobruxo, Ilvermony and obviously Hogwarts!
Marvolo leaned back in his chair, watching Hadrianus tearing into the envelopes and reading his letters with enthusiasm.
It was a joy to see his son growing up in front of his eyes.
Once there had been a very thin, underfed, under-loved child who took comfort from sparse crumbs of kindness, now there is a healthy, growing child full of joy and eagerness to learn about the World, who gave love much more than he received from them. It was a delight watching his son grow from that weakling, his magic and body flourishing and getting more powerful with each day, knowing that the child belonged to him. Only him.
"Well, Hogwarts, obviously." Hadrianus replied in a duh tone as he looked through all the letters, "But others...huh, these look really interesting," He mused, going through the brochures.
"I'll take you to visit those sometimes." Marvolo waved his hand like dismissing a fly.
"Okay." Hadrianus agreed cheerfully.
"Alright, since your Hogwarts letter has arrived, now we need to talk.
"Are you breaking up with me?" Hadrianus blurted.
Marvolo stared, "What."
"I saw in those movies, they only say that when they break up with people."
Marvolo pinched the bridge of his nose, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled through his mouth, a breathing habit he created since the little minx came into his life.
"About your lessons , you must decide which one you wish to take." Marvolo pulled out a brochure that came with the Hogwarts letter, to let the parents and children know what electives they would need to take for certain streams.
Hadrianus read the brochure carefully, opened the random page of the brochure and poked his wand on Charms Mastery, and a list came out, telling them names of the Muggle and Magical classes, OWLs and NEWTs necessary for the Mastery etc.
"Cool." Hadrianus looked back at the booklet, "Did you make this, father?"
"Do not give all credit to your father, son. While it's true that I did initiate the idea, it was the result of various brains working day and night for the betterment of Hogwarts."
"Awesome!" Hadrianus started scanning from the first page.
As Hadrianus doesn't have any non-magical parents, 'Culture and Custom of Non-magical People' is mandatory for him, even if he was well-versed in non-magical customs. Thankfully, it includes fun trips to cinemas, museums, amusement parks, muggle zoos, etc. After talking briefly with his father, Hadrianus decided he was also going to sign up for the 'Culture and Custom of Magical People' class, solely for the fact that it will be easy O and also involves fun trips to various sacred magical places, even if they include boring kinds of stuff like visits to Wizengamot and Ministry of Magic, etc.
Aside from his core classes, he also needed to choose some of his elective classes starting from the first year.
"I thought the elective was from the 3rd year?"
"It's different types of electives, most of them are muggle classes, like mathematics and sciences. Some of them are monthly classes until the third year. Some continued until the final year. Look into chapter 3."
Hadrianus turned to the said chapter, scanning it quickly, "I don't have to attend Penmanship and Introductory classes, right?"
"No."
"So that gives me free time for a few hours." Hadrianus nodded, before picking his colour pencil and notebook that he uses for rough use, and started to write the classes he wanted to pick.
"Okay, so, from the electives, I'm choosing Mathematics, Science and Technology, Literature, and Arts. From the mandatory classes, Latin, Social Studies, Cultures and Customs of Wiggles and Muggles, Charms, Transfiguration, Defence, History, Geography, Astronomy, Herbology and Potions. Do I have to choose from all these extracurriculars as well?" Thankfully many of them are either once-weekly or twice-monthly classes. So he won't be overwhelmed, much.
"You're already choosing Arts. Do you think you can handle more?"
"I don't know."
"Don't overtax yourself, you've already chosen plenty."
"Okay." Hadrianus jolted down a short reply, thanking them for the invitation and his decision about accepting it, attaching the list of the subjects he was choosing and promising that he will be there on 1st Sept.
"Did you buy my ticket?"
"Of course," Marvolo pulls the ticket to let Hadrianus see it. The preteen studies it with wonder, noticing the magic inside it. Father had started teaching him how to pull strings of magic to his hand and eyes, to detect the magic of persons and objects. Though, he hadn't learnt to detect harmful magic without diagnostic charms yet.
"There's some magic in it."
"Yes, it is to make sure you can pass the portal at the Station."
"Nice!" Hadrianus grinned, admiring the simple yet effective piece of magic.
"However, now this topic is over, there are some other issues we need to talk about."
"What is it, father?" Hadrianus asked, distractedly, still busy poking at the ticket.
"You are Heir to four Houses. Remember, this means people will try to court you."
Hadrianus paused to look at his father incredulously, "COURT ME?" He shrieked in shock, "I am eleven!"
"It means nothing to those power-hungry people. You have no idea how many courtships offers I have been getting and rejecting for you since you were eight."
Hadrianus gaped. "What is wrong with these people?" He never knew and was immensely thankful for having the bestest father in the world!
"I'd imagine multiple people would vie for a spot in the four powerful Ancient and Noble families, and between them, you're a burgeoning political power. In fact, their family and relatives will probably encourage and support them to pursue a courtship with you and use any method to have you. Via potions in your food, or charms when you're caught unaware, or maybe sneaking into your bedroom in the middle of the night, anyway they could think of."
"Bu - but...that's so...!"
"That's Slytherin for you, son. Always hungry for more power!"
"Ugh!"
"Why do you think I taught you all those diagnostic and security charms? You will need them every single day you're out of the safety of your house!"
"B - but - why would they do that! It's not fair!"
"As you said to Barty, c'ies la vie. You being the first male heir of the Peverell as well as Heir of Slytherin line in a really long time, especially considering they thought the line had died out, you will be quite the celebrity in elite circles."
Hadrianus slumped his shoulder, "They did the same with you, didn't they?"
Marvolo paused, blinking in surprise at that. His son is getting more intelligent and observant day by day. He considered his next words carefully in front of the little genius, "I learned the hard way to always ward my room before I go to sleep." Marvolo didn't mention he got it the worst way possible for daring to get sorted in Slytherin even after being a 'mudblood'. He doesn't want to think about that.
"I would never want you to repeat what I suffered. This is why I keep telling you to claim your Prince's throne on the first night, and most will fall in line. Most stopped bothering me when I claimed my place in the hierarchy."
Hadrianus sighed, but nodded, "I will always ward my room and check my food, and never relax when I am not in my room."
Marvolo nodded, "And...I know it may be too early for me to tell you, but if you like someone -"
"Ewww!"
"Just - listen for the future referral," Marvolo ignored Hadrianus' grimace, "If someone catches your attention, you will need to judge them and get to know their intention fully before you go further than just grabbing their hand. I am sure Bella will be more than agreeable to help you."
"Uh-" Hadrianus remembered the time he saw Reynaldo eating Godmummy's face and grimaced. "Sure."
"Now, to the next issue. In Hogwarts, Severus will help you practice Occlumency."
Hadrianus blinked, surprised, "Uncle Batman? Why can't I come here weekly and you do it?"
"Why don't you trust him?"
Hadrianus didn't want Uncle Severus to be anywhere near his brain, with his father he has no problem, but not with him. So Hadrianus scrambled for a way to refuse it, "Um, what if Uncle Severus gets to know some secret you don't want him to know?"
Marvolo looked amused, "Severus already knows everything you have to hide, Hadrianus."
"But - what about - If he gets to know about you - er, baking the cakes?"
Marvolo smirked, "Do you even know what are they, or where are they?"
Hadrianus blinked, realizing that it was true, father had never told him, except for the fact that he and the locket he was wearing is one, "On second thought, maybe it's better if I don't know. In fact, is it safe to wear this one in Hogwarts?" He picked up his locket to emphasize.
"Yes. The locket is much more than only a Horcrux. It will help me find you in case of danger. But if you do not want him to know about your prank schemes, then I suggest keep practising the Occlumency shield." Marvolo's eyes were glinting with amusement.
Hadrianus' shoulder slumped, defeated, "You're not giving me that much of a choice, father."
"No need to look so miserable, son. It's not the end of the World. It could be worse." Like, carrying the Potter surname while under the tender mercy of Severus's wand.
Hadrianus pouted before perking up eagerly, "If I say yes, can I get five pieces of chocolate cake as dessert tonight?" He asked, earning rolling eyes from his father.
"Two, no more. Moving on. Remember, when writing your name - "
"Write the short form of my major titles, as well as a short version of my name, never tell anyone my full legal name, so no one can enter me into a magical contract without me knowing. Right?"
Marvolo nodded and pulled out a book, "Read this book and master the charms. I expect you to demonstrate them to me by the end of this week, to ensure you've mastered them. And you will use them on every received mail, no exception."
"Yes, father."
There was a knock, followed by Nagini and Bella entering the office. Nagini took her seat beside the fireplace while Bella skipped inside to bow before Marvolo, then took her sit on the ground beside Marvolo's throne.
"ROMC people will be coming at 10 am on Monday morning, My Lord."
"Which means 11 pm tomorrow night, unless we move to Britain tomorrow."
"They're coming to evaluate my familiar bond with Azure, right?" Hadrianus asked, remembering the new rules by the Ministry of Magic. Every familiar is now allowed in Hogwarts, but any familiar beyond Class XX creatures according to M.O.M classifications must be evaluated before they bring it to the public places, and Hogwarts is definitely a public place.
"Yes. Now, I'd prefer it if we move to the Manor until your time for Hogwarts before that, so you can get accustomed to Britain's weather. Go ahead, take a nap. You have to wake up really early tomorrow for the ritual and then get ready for Britain. Bella will help you tomorrow."
Hadrianus pouted at the mention of the Creature Binding Ritual, but knowing its a lost case, he didn't argue against it anymore. He turned to his Godmummy, "I demand chocolate for every ritual, Godmummy."
"Ask your father." Bella immediately replied, not wanting to incur her Lord and Lady's wrath by agreeing to her Godson's demand in front of them. She had too many punishments by falling into traps several times laid by her genius little scheme master Godson to become aware of them.
"Father - "
"Ask your mother," Marvolo said, throwing it straight back.
"Mum - "
"No."
Hadrianus groaned. Why are all the adults so mean?!