Harry Potter 1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form. **

**This fic is something I had on my mind for a lot of time. It probably will have slow updates but I will continue it.**

**Some warnings: Harry in this story is extremely biased and racist towards Muggles, he had no positive images of Muggles growing up, he clearly was an abused child and no one did a thing to help him so he doesnt' trust any of them. Dumbledore and the Weasley have manipulated him during all the years the was in the Magical World and in this story they will be portrayed in a bad light. They are not evil per se, but they played with his life throught compulsions and potions and Harry will do everything he can in order to make their life hell. On another note, due to him being an Auror and before fighting in a war, he will have no problem in killing a person, so expect at least a few deaths.**

**Pairings: I like Harry/Daphne stories so expect this; no harem, sorry. Harry is two years older in this AU, so romance will be at least in the later years of Hogwarts, at the beginning he is a fourth year and they will not be involved until she is fourteen at the very least. **

**I think this will be all, i will update in the later chapters if I remember something of importance. Review and let me know what you think! **

**The next chapter is almost ready so read the both of them before a review. Bye!**

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He had done it. Finally, after all the hardships he went through to put this all together he did it. He found a way to travel back in time, and this time, he planned to do everything right.

He would not be the innocent and naive eleven years old boy, malnourished and abused, beaten down by his very blood kin just for the purpose of sending him to martyrdom by what he considered to be his Grandfather. No, this time, Harry James Pott- scratch that, for he would not be able to use his real name, he would do everything right.

He decided on this course of action two year after the end of the war with Voldemort, when on duty as an Auror he discovered a filthy Muggle beating a six year old boy because he did magic. His two colleagues were reminded in that very moment why, even after two years, his final battle against the Dark Lord was still spoken with fear and awe; he, a seventh year student against a Dark Lord. With only six years of instruction and precious spells picked up here and there from various libraries during the years, he was able to outwit and defeat Voldemort, it was truly awe-inspiring for the witnesses.

Now he completely lost control of his magic, which lashed out to the Muggle and reduced him a pile of trembling and crying mess. It was a scene that reminded him of Uncle Vernon, those times when he was unable to protect himself with magic, and receive beatings from his "family" because he was a wizard. He could not let this happen to another innocent child because of the ignorance of a Muggle.

Of course, none of his Auror colleagues remembered any of it, all they could remember was going there, obliviating the Muggle of accidental magic and be done with it. Instead, in reality they assisted to the brutal torture of the Muggle, then he obliviated all of them and took the child with him.

It was when he lost control of his power that happened, it didn't show at first, but while time passed he started to _remember_, he started to take control of his mind after so many years. He began to review everything that happened to him, from his very childhood to days ago and realized that his life was not _his_. Everything he did was not him, but a carefully constructed puppet by the very man he respected the most, the very man he named one of his children after. And then, even his love was not real, just a love potion and well placed compulsions. His friends, those he was prepared to sacrifice his life for, were just power-hungry and greedy mongrels ready to stab him in the back in a moment, now he remembered all the times he caught them talking about him and the plans they made, and then being obliviated of the knowledge.

It all started a chain of events he could not have fathomed a while ago. If he didn't have to take care of the child he would have fallen in depression, and even then, he spent nights drowning his sorrows in Firewhisky. He moved out of the house, for he could not even look to his wife's face and his children's, all of this was not real, he did not love her and the children, well, he loved them alright, but he could not look their way without being reminded that it was the results of something he never agreed upon after all. Then, when he finally found a proper family for the boy he rescued, he realized how much he came to hate everything, in the end those he hated the most in the past were the only ones who had been honest with him. They never faked to be his friends, never lied to him in the face, they always said what their goals were and they made it clear that he was their enemy if he stood in their way.

He started to almosr regretting killing the Dark Lord, for every time the old goat told him they were different, they were exactly the same. Both orphans, both unloved, both treated like crap by the Muggles, them, _Wizards_, treated like abnormalities by _inferior beasts!_ By the time he entered the Wizarding World he was fascinated by it, it was the first time in his life that he felt at Home, a place where he could be himself and not fake his emotions. He remembered reading about the Dark Lord Voldemort and his plans to rid the Magical World of mudbloods. Yes, he could understand that mudbloods could not be trusted right of the bat, but they were magical nonetheless. It was the way they were brought up that was the problem, they were infected by the Muggles and their way of thinking, they could not understand the culture and the way wizards and witches lived because they never were explained to them. Yes, after a bit of education about the way this world worked and then they could be accepted in the society, which really needed new blood infused in the old lines, which were slowly but surely dying out because of inbreeding.

He had very much in common with Lord Voldemort and the same goad, but they wanted to achieve it with different methods. They wanted to be completely separated from the Muggles and the conservation of the Old Ways, for they could not forget their origins and roots, but he wanted to achieve it politically and peacefully, he would convince the others of the necessity of the separation from the beasts, they were thirsty of war, they could not remain in peace for long and if they continued to have contacts with them they would in the end get involved in their conflicts and lose precious numbers. Voldemort instead, wanted to become the complete ruler of magical Britain and his agenda consisted in the exile or kill of all those of _impure _blood, which was completely hypocritical of him, as he himself was an halfblood. He did not realize the importance that muggleborns have and so he went on killing sprees and targeted them mostly, but in so doing he caused the end of various lines of Purebloods like the Prewetts. When he would go back, he could not ally himself with him and had to proceed to destroy him as soon as possible.

That's when he discovered it, he, like Tom, was a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin through his mother, who was adopted in her early days and came from a long line of squibs that were in the past cast off the family. Unlike Riddle though, he came from the _male_ line, instead of the _female_ line which married into the House of Gaunts and ended with Tom Marvolo Riddle himself. So he had the birthright of being the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin and being a Parselmouth was not some fluke from having a connection with the wanker, like Dumbledore thought, it was in his _very blood_.

From that point forward he closed himself off society and retreated in the old Slytherin Castle he discovered from his new found properties in the north of Scotland, hidden behind so many wards that no one would ever find him. There he found five old house elves still bound to the family, them, like their fathers before them, had not seen hair nor hide of their masters for all their life and were overjoyed when he walked through the front doors. Apparently, the last master of the Castle was the grandson of Salazar, and after him no one ever came, since his granddaughter married a Gaunt and moved out, and his son was banished after being found a squib. The elves continued to take care of the Castle and every few years they would take in a baby elf to continue their work and being raised inside the property bonded them to the family, and even if no one ever came to renew the bond they instinctively knew that someone related to them was still alive.

In the Castle he found an impressive library, where he immediately went crazy with the amount of rare and expensive books he found and the portrait of his ancestor. Their first encounter was a little bit awkward, since he never received a visit in his Ancestral Home, as the only other portrait of his was inside the Slytherin common room at Hogwarts and he found it boring and useless to talk to a bunch of children who nowadays cared more about the purity of their blood than ambition and cunning, the most respected traits of his House; instead they behaved like a bunch of Gryffindors, always outspoken and not an ounce of cunning, he simply could not believe how his House had fallen so much, except for a couple of pupils every year, they were all idiots.

What followed were gruesome and tiring lessons, in the library in magical subjects –he simply could not fathom how much he missed in Hogwarts and how many things there were to magic that no one ever talked about- and etiquette, traditions and culture of the Magical World – _"I won't have my descendant behave like a pig and not knowing nothing about his heritage"- _with his forefather's portrait. It was during one of these lessons that he breached a topic he dared not talk about before.

"Grandfather, why is everyone talking about you hating mudbloods? And is it true that the basilisk in the Chamber was there to purge the school of them?"

The man in the portrait scowled, his aristocratic features -with his high cheekbones, arched eyebrows, angular jaw and those cold and calculating icy blue eyes- showing annoyance at his question.

"Of course I don't hate them _now_, but at the time you could not trust mudbloods, there were witch hunts and the little shits came to our school saying to the Muggles about some story about an apprenticeship with a Master and then when they learned all they could they went back to the filthy beasts and sold us out. They decided to save their sorry hides and condemn other magicals because they didn't want to die. That's why I didn't want to admit mudbloods in the school, I didn't trust them and every time one was admitted, they turned their backs on us and then mobs of angry Muggles came knocking at the doors of other student's families because they trusted them and were betrayed. I told this numerous time to Godrid, Rowena and Helga, but they were too compassionate, they could not understand how a child could do this when they were helped to control their magic. But I could see it in their eyes, they were greedy. With the knowledge imparted to them, they could rule the Muggles and no one would suspect a thing, they could live _normal_ lives and live in luxury. Obviously the Muggles could not harm many of us, we had wards protecting the school, whose location is a secret because of redirecting and confundus wards surrounding the entirety of the valley, and the manors of many purebloods were well protected. In those times, Hogwarts was still small, it was known to all the purebloods of course, but halfbloods didn't know of its existence and the only way to learn magic was being apprenticed to a Master and they were very demanding and not always they would accept students, they were mostly scholars and didn't like company. To learn you had to belong to a family well instructed or go abroad traveling and learning the magics of other countries. That's how I learned for the most part. The Slytherin family was very respected and politically powerful, but I became what I am because I learned from others: wards and curse-breaking in the tombs in northern Africa, potions in France, dueling from the Romans and parselmagic from the Indians. Those who didn't have the fortune to be born in powerful families had an incomplete education, usually knew an handful of charms, a pair of curses for protection and a mal-suited wand if they had one, those were the ones who didn't survive the Muggles and were burned to death."

He paused to take a breath while Harry thought about everything told to him and there was one thing that struck him the most.

"You said something about parselmagic?" He asked a bit hesitantly.

Salazar regarded him as if he were retarded.

"Of course boy, you think being a Parselmouth is all about talking to snakes?!" He bellowed.

Harry shuffled a bit on his feet and looked at his ancestor embarrassed. "Err.. Yes?" He finished meekly.

The Slytherin Patriarch looked at him for a long moment in disbelief before he burst out laughing. It took a few minutes before he stopped and even then, he continued to laugh in front of the red face of the last Potter.

"There is more to parseltongue than talking to reptiles obviously. The Slytherins were famous in England and Europe because we were the only ones in this part of the world and we could do very little with the gift, even if what we did was astounding. In Asia I met a lot of locals who had the gift of parseltongue and they thought me very much. Our family focused in warding and defensive magics, but the Indians were able to heal and kill with ease using parselmagic. We were able to cast the most powerful wards and defensive spells because we cast them in parseltongue, doing so empowers the spell beyond imagination because you are using a magical language. The Indians instead bonded with a snake and then used it as a focus as you would a wand and then were able to heal almost everything, same thing with offensive magic, using the snake as a focal point they were able to compress their magical power and then release it in controlled burst of offensive magic capable of bypassing most shields. If you go looking in the library you will find all my notes and spells in parselmagic. If I remember correctly there should be a bunch of books in parselscript in the Chamber at Hogwarts."

"Parselscript?" Harry responded, his head spinning with all the ideas swimming inside.

"Why yes, I told you parseltongue is a magical language and as such it as a written counterpart. There aren't many languages able to focus our magic, but parseltongue and gobbledegook are the most powerful and the latter can be used only by the goblins."

"What about the Chamber of Secrets and the basilisk?"

"The Chamber was built by me because I needed a place where Silvana could rest inside the school, the basilisk you slayed was my familiar and she grew an impressive size and I could take her with me no longer. So I built the Chamber under the dungeons of the Castle and inside I put a little study and library for my own use when I was with her. All those rumors about the 'monster of Slytherin' was just a joke between me and Godric, he was always boasting about that blasted bird of his and he would never recognize the beauty of my familiar. If what you say is true and you are a Potter than you are descended from Godric, I remember hearing that one of his grandchildren changed his name to Potter and the bird that saved you in the Chamber didn't do it out of his good heart, but because you are the descendant of his last Master."

"Are you talking about Fawkes? The phoenix bonded with the old coot?" He asked incredulously.

"If the bird is a fire phoenix then it should be him yes, even if he went by a different name. If what you told me about that man is true maybe he forced the bird to bond with him, or maybe he bonded with him in his youth and then changed and they were already bonded, it is even possible that he just enjoys being at Hogwarts and decided to help Dumbledore sometimes. Anyways about the Chamber, Silvana was not there to kill mudbloods, it's just her den so to speak. She probably obeyed that little upstart Riddle because he descends from me even if it is from the female line of the family not because she wanted to harm the students."

What followed that conversation was an intense study of parselmagic, he even went back to the chamber, carrying the portrait of Salazar with him, and he felt a little guilty seeing the sad look his ancestor casted the giant snake _–"Do not feel guilty boy, she would have preferred death than harming a student, and she would have not attacked you in the first place if she had known about your heritage."_-, but he continued through the Chamber and into the library, that was hidden beside the statue and opened to a specific sentence known only by Salazar, which explained why Riddle never found it. Inside he found the books mentioned by Salazar and took them with him back to the Castle.

It was two years since he took residence inside the Slytherin Ancestral Home, he learned a lot, he behave like a perfect pureblood Lord of House should, but it was a lonely existence. He was a master of transfiguration, his studies in obscure branches of magic helped his performance overall, he was able to cast the most powerful wards in parseltongue, able to heal the basic injuries and some. He found that, after getting rid of the connection with the Dark Lord –which incidentally was _not_ an Horcrux like the old goat led him to believe, it was just a mental link caused by the failed curse and the second _Avada Kedavra _he took would have killed him if it weren't that he was the master of the wand Riddle was using, that fortunately refused to harm its Master- that he was somewhat of a prodigy in the Mind Arts and studied fervently to create the most safe Occlumency shields he could. Being a Master Occlumens had the side-effect of improving by leaps and bounds his recall and he was able to finish reading the library in little to no time, and then it was just a matter of months until he was able to cast everything inside, even the Dark Arts, which were explained to him by Salazar after seeing his reluctance on the matter. He still remembered the rant he had to listen to, which was then renamed _"The Rant of the Century"_ because he had to sit, still and silent, for two and a half hours to his ancestor berating him for being _"a close minded pig" _and concluded with _"being a Dark wizard does not mean you go on killing sprees to relieve some stress and it does not make you evil, but more dangerous and powerful against your opponent"._

Even after years of solitude, he still had not forgiven his _friends, _and could not bear to speak to them again. He was too ashamed to try to reform a relation with his children, for after he escaped he basically made their mother broke, sure he left her the house but he took all the money with him, it was what she married him for so he took it away from her. He obviously set vaults for his children but it was not the point. Those he could relate to however, now that he shared their opinion of Muggles and mudbloods, could not be approached by him, because he was _The Hero of the Light_, he sent their husbands, sons and fathers to Azkaban and through the Veil, it was obvious which kind of welcome he would receive. So when he came up with the idea to travel back in time, he did not even stop to think it was impossible, everything to fight the boredom, for he longed for something to do. He longed for other people to speak with, the portrait notwithstanding.

He set out to complete this project of his, he studied runes more in depth, because it was the only way he could think of that would enable him to travel that far back, the researched rituals and with a word or two in the right ears he was able to acquire a time turner to further study the concept of time travel.

It would be three years of feverish study and research before he was able to say he did it. He was now 24 years old and was about to travel back in time, where he would do everything right.

That's when he realized, he could do nothing of the sort. He based the ritual and the spell on the concept utilized by the time turner but on a bigger scale, he would not be Harry James Potter, for there would be another Harry James Potter already in the world. He could not dispose of his younger self, for this would alter the timeline and maybe even kill himself. No, he had to become another person, so that he could kill Voldemort sooner and end his younger counterpart sufferings. But how?

He could be Lord Slytherin, but he looked too much like a Potter, there was no way someone would connect the dots and point out his relation with the Boy-Who-Lived. Worse, if someone realized _he was _Harry Potter from the future, they would capture him and milk everything he knew before throwing him through the Veil.

He set himself to find a way to change his appearance permanently, because every method he knew was out of the question. Polyjuice was unreliable, he was no metamorphmagus and even then there was the chance of him changing back to his base form. Transfiguration was a viable option, but it was not permanent, it would last maybe a couple weeks if he put a lot of power behind it, but a well placed _finite_ from Dumbledore –who would no doubt sense the transfiguration- would ruin everything.

He found his answer in an obscure tome he saw in a shop in Knockturn Alley, it mentioned a blood adoption. It was a simple ritual really, it needed the blood of the parents and it would rewrite his DNA to match a possible child between the two. Now he needed the blood for the ritual. Salazar told him that he placed several vials of blood of his family members, even of himself, inside his potion cupboard –_"you never know when you need blood for a potion" _he said- inside unbreakable-chamed phials placed under the most powerful stasis charm he could manage. Fortunately, the charm had only began to fail and some of the blood was now unusable but the most was still fresh. Quickly renewing the stasis charm, Harry took the blood inside the ritual room of the Castle.

"Which blood should I use Grandfather?" He asked the portrait of his ancestor.

"You should probably use mine, which will strengthen the blood your mother passed onto you, this will awaken the traits common of the House of Slytherin and will overrode the looks of a Potter you currently have. For the other, you shouldn't use the blood you found there, in the tome it does not say anything specific about using blood of cousins but mixing blood too closely related is always a bad thing, look at how the rest of our family ended up. The Slytherins died out of inbreeding and the Gaunts were so much interrelated that they developed a mad streak which only became more visible and strong with the generations. You should find yourself a pureblood witch of another family, the Blacks maybe? Or a minor House should do, even a foreign one. After all, you would came out of nowhere so you should think carefully about your past and craft a believable story, which means forging documents and so on." He explained wisely.

Harry found himself researching the pureblood witches escaped from home, the dead ones and so on. He finally found the perfect mother of his new persona. Miranda Malfoy, pureblood, the second daughter of Abraxas Malfoy, sister of Lucius Malfoy, was sent to France during the early '70 to stay away from the war. She unfortunately died in 1978 and her body was not found. Recovering her blood had been an hassle, but he made it, several thousand galleons poorer, but he managed to get some of her blood from the goblins –who always take some blood from witches and wizards to check their identity when they go to take some gold from the vaults from time to time. It irked him a little that he would be "related" to the Malfoys, but in the end they had the same ideals and Narcissa was not so bad, even Draco demonstrated himself to be at least bearable later in life.

It was decided, after various discussion with Salazar, that he would use a very dark ritual to deage his body –because the blood adoption worked better the younger you were- because he wanted to go back to Hogwarts and help his counterpart. For this, he needed a woman who preferably died during the year of his presumed birth, 1978. The ritual was gruesome: he needed the fresh heart of a human, a criminal Muggle he found on the streets, and the sacrifice of a sacred animal, in this case he used a bat, which was symbol of Death and Rebirth. He had never felt so much pain in his life, even when Voldemort tortured him through his scar was not this painful. It felt like his bones were broken in tiny little pieces over and over again, he felt himself stretch and then shrink, his head exploded with pain and the worst part was that the ritual prevented him to pass out. After two hours of screaming and mind numbing pain worse than the _cruciatus_, he began to regain his bearings.

As soon as he was able, he stood up and conjured a mirror, he looked at himself satisfied of the results. He looked exactly like he did when he was thirteen, going to fourteen, maybe a little bit taller but he was okay with that, he cured his malnutrition and bad bones problems a while ago following a strict regimen of potions and he became taller than he was before. Now all he had to do was wait a few days and then do the blood adoption ritual.

This ritual consisted of a runic circle with the diameter or three meters, where he would lay down after the ritual part, to let his body rest. He entered the circle and placed himself in the center, where he mixed the blood of Salazar Slytherin and Miranda Malfoy in a silver cup, then he cut his wrists and waited for a few minutes to let his blood flow to the ground. He waited until he felt the dizziness connected to a major blood loss before he started. He began chanting the ancient spell, concluding: "I am Harry James Potter, no more. My name is Hadrian Abraxas Slytherin".

He chose this name because Hadrian was fairly similar to Harry, so he would not have a hard time to get used to it and Abraxas to reinforce his connection to the Malfoy family, after all, Miranda would surely name her son after her father, wouldn't her?

His father was to be Salazar Slytherin III, who fell in love for the beautiful Malfoy daughter and then married her in secret, because of the war. The two had a son, Hadrian, but unfortunately Miranda died in childbirth. Salazar III buried her body in their backyard and then took his son with him, traveling the world. He died in the spring of 1992, and Hadrian travelled back to Britain. It was a good background story, considering that he made in fact a world tour after the war and knew the magical cities very well. No one would question him about grandparents, everyone knew that the Slytherins were blood-purist and would never marry mudbloods or half-bloods and there was no spell that could reveal who his parents and grandparents were, just tests that revealed his closest relation to a family, namely Slytherin and Malfoy. He knew for a fact that the Malfoys had no family three like the Blacks, because, even if they were powerful and rich, they weren't a Most Ancient and Noble House like the Blacks and the Slytherin family tree was lost in the early times.

If someone questioned why his family never returned to Britain the answer was simple. Salazar fled the English Isles after he left Hogwarts, still enraged with the remaining founders, and he married a pureblood woman abroad, after all, his wife already died after giving him two son -one a squib- and a daughter. The rest of the family never wanted to return because of what they did to their Patriarch, he was the first to set foot in the Isles after a millennium.

After he said those words, he drank all the crimson liquid inside the cup and laid down on his back inside the runic circle. Initially, he felt a pleasurable warm feeling all inside, but then the heat began to burn and he began to scream, he felt his blood burn him from the inside, still circulating through his body.

The ritual was shorter than the previous one, only ten or so minutes of _agony_, and all was over. He laid on the ground panting, never wanting to get up.

"Well boy, you surely were a Slytherin before but now you really look like one." He heard the voice of his ancestor reverberate through the walls of the chamber.

He painfully got up and rested a minute or two on a sitting position before he felt sure he could stand. Then he collected his wand and conjured a full length mirror and gasped as he saw his reflection.

Before, he had messy raven-black hair, almond green eyes with a glow of power, high cheekbones and an angular jaw, not to mention the ever-famous lightning bolt scar on his forehead, which faded a bit after the connection was cut.

Now, he stood a bit taller than before, maybe 5'7", shoulder-length pitch black hair, which flowed down from his head, his eyes changed colour but retained the same glow as before, now were ice blue, unblemished forehead, his chin was a bit angular, like Salazar, and the jaw was well refined, his eyebrows were arched and all in all he displayed an air of aristocracy the same of his ancestor.

_§I agree with you, Grandfather§ _He hissed back and noted that it came easier to him to speak parseltongue, before he had to stop a moment and imagine talking to a snake, now it was as if he _knew_ the other language and had no problem switching back and forth.

Now that he took care of his apparent age, his parentage and background story, he had to formulate a plan. The ritual to go back could be used to go back a decade or so and he decided to go back during the spring of his first year at Hogwarts.

Why? Because he wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone. The Slytherin Vaults had been previously emptied and generations of crazy Gaunts took care of wasting all the remaining fortune, so he would be broke. At the moment he lived off the Potter and Black money, but he couldn't take anything with him, maybe his wand because he used it for the ritual and the clothes he had on, but other than that he had to rely on the limited funds available to him in the small Vault his ancestor had the forethought to create in Slytherin Castle. With the Stone, he would be able to refill his Gringotts Vault and he wouldn't have problem in the future financing his political movements.

Furthermore, he calibrated the ritual to give himself the body of a thirteen years old, so he could be placed in fourth year at Hogwarts, where there would be no Chamber of Secrets scandal, of that he would have to make sure of. This way, he would be old enough to be considered a prodigy, he had no intention of dumbing himself down to the standards of the other students.

A couple of days later, he found himself inside the ritual room once again, defining the last touches of his plan with Salazar's portrait. He was a bit saddened that he could not take it with him, but he knew there would be another in the past.

"And remember grandson, plan in advance, don't let yourself be manipulated but do it yourself, cunningness, that's the word. I expect you to be sorted in Slytherin House obviously and make me proud. And for Merlin's sake get a blasted familiar!" They had talked about this at least a hundred times over. Since he would be going to the past, he hadn't wanted to form a familiar bond and then leave his familiar here, so he used a conjured snake to use it, but the effects were less powerful without a real familiar to use as focus.

"Yes, Grandfather. I will get a familiar and make you proud" Hadrian said to the portrait.

"Good, and a last tidbit of information no one nowadays seems to remember Hadrian" He paused for dramatic effect. For all his ancestor was, a dark wizard, a scholar and a powerful sorcerer, Hadrian thought he was a bit of a drama queen, not that he would ever tell him that. "Hogwarts Castle will respond to you once you enter its wards. Not because you are the heir of a founder or all that crap, I would have never accepted something like that, but because Hogwarts was the Slytherin Ancestral Home before I proposed to use it as a school. The wards and the school itself will recognize you, during the years the building became somewhat sentient and it will do what you tell it to do, it is your birthright after all." He finished with a smirk.

Hadrian's mind was spinning. Hogwarts Castle was previously Slytherin's? That explained a lot. How he never seemed to get lost inside the school, and the rare few occasions it happened he always found a corridor that would never be there the next time that guided him somewhere he recognized. The fact that the castle would understand he was the Heir was another piece of information he had to think about. If he was the heir, he could control the wards, he could prevent the wards to notify Dumbledore of its presence. Yes, this was something he would definitely think about in the near future.

"Thank you, Grandfather. To learn from a _real_ Slytherin how to be one had been a wonderful experience" He finished with mirth and a bemused expression on his face.

"Wipe that expression from your face boy, I'm still the best at what our House is famous for, even if you come at a close second, now go and return the honor our House lost because of that idiot Riddle." He concluded and turned to leave before he paused for a moment and turned back.

_§You have my blessing grandson, know that you have already made my proud, now its time to show the world why you never mess with a Slytherin. I wish you the best in your endeavor.§ _He finished before he left the frame and probably traveled back to his portrait in the Slytherin common room.

Hadrian sighed, he would miss the old man.

He prepared meticulously the ritual, he could not afford to make a mistake, not when he had already invested so much in this project. He set the ritual circle, the runes this time carved in blood on the floor, another pair of Muggles as sacrifices –they truly were beasts, the think he discovered they did in their minds made their life forfeit immediatly- and he was ready to begin the ritual.

He stood, in the middle of the dark room, and began to gather the magical power needed for the spell he would cast. The power requirement was something that would prevent other wizards to do this, apart from the fact that no one even knew of it, the ritual needed someone on the power level of wizards like Dumbledore, Voldemort and himself and he had no intention of giving them something like this, he spent years developing the ritual and he would be damned if they got their hands on it.

He began chanting, the spell was composed of two parts, the final incantation and a pray to Magic itself to assist him. The ovation was about time, rebirth and change, things he would bring with him in the past. He began to feel the exertion of using so much magic in so little time. He felt his body being compressed from every angle in a manner nod dissimilar to apparition.

When he almost felt like dying, he shouted the incantation of the spell. **_"Reverto Tempus!"_**

As he felt himself losing consciousness, he knew that whether this worked, he did not regret doing it even if it meant dying for attempting it.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form.**

**This is the beginning, Hadrian begins to set his plans into motion and Harry makes an entrance in the end of the chapter. A little cliffhanger but don't worry, another chapter is in the way. Now that you have a bit of an overview of this story, let me know of your opinions. As you can read in this chapter, Hadrian really has no qualms in dealing with Muggles, I say no more and let you read.**

**A little tidbit of information: I don't have a beta, so I don't get all the little errors. You may find some errors, if so, contact me via MP.**

**Bye!**

* * *

He groaned. The pain. The _pain_ was so much he couldn't even breath properly. He was still on the ground, burnt marks resembling runes around him in a circle, his faithful 13' of dark ebony, with basilisk venom and powdered fang wand rested in his right hand. The robe he previously wore was in shreds. Then he realized. The ritual. He had to check if the ritual went right, because in the position he found himself in, he was in the same ritual room as before.

"Nippy!" Hadrian bellowed.

A loud crack was heard. A thin little creature, garbed only in a tea towel, with large bat-like ears flapping up and down nervously in hesitation and… was that hope? Its eyes large like tennis balls. The elf asked "Mas.. Master? Master is here?" He finished the sentence allowing a little hope to sift through.

Hadrian blinked. His elves knew what he was doing and accepted it. So if this elf did not know.. it worked. It bloody worked!

"Yes Nippy, I am here, can you tell me the date?"

If the elf was confused by the question, he did not allow it to show. "Today is 24th of March 1992 Master Slytherin Sir."

Yes, now it was confirmed. The ritual worked and he was in the past. "Gather the other elves and tell them that Lord Slytherin is in the castle. Clean the castle from top to bottom and fetch me a clean robe with a pain-killing potion and a pepper-up." Only Merlin knew how dusty the Castle got since the last family member took residence here. The elves did what they could, but without a Master to give them orders they cleaned only the most important parts: the ritual room, the master bedroom, the kitchen, the library, the entry hall and the dining room. It would not do to have his Ancestral House look like a filthy Muggle hovel.

The elf looked positively... giddy to receive orders for probably the first time in his life. "Yes Master Slytherin Sir, Nippy will do as ordered by Master!" and disappeared with a crack, only to reappear a few seconds later with a green robe in silver linings and a blue and red potions in his hands.

He quickly gulped down the pain-killing potion following suit with a pepper-up. Now feeling moderately operative, he took the robe and put it on, after burning the remains of his older one. First things first, put the elves to work, then begin working on the Stone.

Seeing the elf still there he said. "Take the other elves here to renew the bond to the House of Slytherin, after that you can proceed to clean this place."

Nippy snapped his finger and another six elves appeared in the room. Hadrian frowned. The castle used to have at least twenty elves, what with four stories and uncountable rooms and various family members and cousins, at the time a lot of people lived here and elves were needed more. He would have to work on that. It would not do to have the noble line of Slytherin dying on him.

"I am Hadrian Abraxas Slytherin and I will soon be recognized as Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin as soon as I turn fourteen years old. This summer –even if he deaged and used the blood adoption ritual, his birthday remained the same- I will become of age and it will be official. In the meantime I will take residence here, in the Castle, and I expect it to be spotless. I won't have this noble House disgraced because the guests are welcomed in an unclean place. So get here and let's renew the bond to the family and then get to work."

One by one the elves told him their names –he still could not remember all of them, such silly names they had- and he bonded the Slytherin family to Nippy, Soppy, Catty, Luppy, Minny and Fatly and he proceeded to bond them to the family. The elves looked happy to have a Master to serve again and immediately got to work to clean the place completely.

Now he had to plan.

A week later, he had ascertained that he was really in the past, the Daily Prophet still went on about various shenanigans of that little cretin Fudge and his little band of merry idiots in the Wizengamot. He had registered himself with the ICW and a little portkey to Geneva –the gathering point of the International Confederation of Wizards- got him legally emancipated and an apparition license. Obviously, the British will sooner rather than later get onto him on his apparition, but seeing as they were always swarmed by paperwork, they would not have even got his emancipation and apparition license read.

He got easily emancipated, he was already twelve and the Heir of a famous line of wizards, his father was the unfortunate victim of dragon pox and they didn't make it in time to the hospital and he had to burn the body so that nobody got infected after him. They asked the usual questions, where have you been all this time? Who are your parents? Where are they? Oh, so you want emancipation? And so on. Nothing a little bit of gold could not resolve anyway. Now he had to wait until he was "fourteen" to claim his Lordship and then everything would be okay. Well, as long as he had the Stone it would be okay.

He verified his magical reserves and he was pleasantly surprised to see the ritual had not messed with his core, sure the de-ageing ritual shrank it a bit, but it was normal for a fourteen years old wizard of his power and nothing a couple of years and intense training couldn't take care of.

Now it was time to take the Stone. He knew from past experience that the obstacles were more for show than for protection, after all, how could you expect an eleven years old wizard with little to no training to pass them all if they were more difficult? Of course they were also calibrated for his little _friends_, a chess challenge for the ginger menace and a riddle for the bookworm. But who is to say there weren't wards there? Alarm wards, containment wards and so on. After all, Dumbledore may be a manipulative old goat, but he knew his stuff. He would not risk the safety of the Stone just to test his little marionette, he would place safeguards in case something went wrong, of that he was sure.

After spending another week of planning, he carefully made his way to the school. He apparated to Hogsmade and used the secret passage under Honeydukes to enter the Castle. As soon as he entered the ward line he felt a little brush against his magical core and then a feel of.. welcome? Apparently, Hogwarts was welcoming his rightful owner. He silently made his way into the Castle, telling it not to notify the Headmaster of his presence and to hide him from other methods of tracking, like a little useful device named _The Marauders Map_. He would have to make another one, it was too useful a tool to leave in the hands of the redheaded twins.

He stealthily made his way into the corridor, silently applying a disillusionment charm over himself with a silencing charm on his feet. He quietly reached the third floor corridor, miraculously not encountering anyone, it was dinner so the residents of the Castle were probably all eating in the Great Hall. He opened the door leading to the hidden set of chambers and conjured an harp –a déjà vu here- and made it playing for the Cerberus. He let himself fall down the trapdoor and made some fire to scare the Devil's Snare. He calmly walked to the room with the keys, casting every other step revealing charms to spot hidden wards or charms. He only detected a couple of alarming spells, set to notify the caster if they noticed an intruder. Quickly snatching the key with an overpowered _Accio_, he entered the room with the chess set. There he found a more interesting challenge. Apparently Dumbledore was not as much an idiot as it seemed. The whole room was warded in order to respond specifically to an object, which he presumed was the Stone, and if the wards detected it they would recover the object and put it in a sort of pocket space, inaccessible by everyone but the caster. He could break it of course, given enough time, but why breaking the ward if he could avoid it completely? It took him only fifteen minutes to dismantling the ward, carefully avoiding to set it off and then the caster –probably Dumbledore, an exceptional time. He was a Slytherin after all, and they were the best ward casters in Europe since Salazar himself.

The chess was a child's play, he won in sixteen moves. He was touchy about the subject, but he grudgingly admitted that he was no Ron at chess, as much as the redhead was a complete moron at most times, he had a gift at the game. He was still sour about it.

Hadrian finally entered the troll room, and found an alarm charm and a detecting ward, coupled with a pair of charms on the cupboard containing the troll. If someone tripped the ward, the troll would be released. He quickly went to work and disabled them.

As soon as he entered the chamber with Snape's –the greasy git- riddle, purple flames sprung up behind him and in the arch in front of him. He was not concerned, it was a simple Prometeus Fire and a flame-repelling charm, a sixth year spell, would enable him to pass them as he pleased. The fire was easily bypassed with it, but would knock everyone out with quite a few burns if they didn't protect themselves. Nothing too dangerous of course, Dumbledore didn't want poor Harry to die if he got the wrong potion.

Hadrian reached the _Mirror of Erised_, noticing the absence of any kind of protection except for the mirror itself. Was Dumbledore so sure of his protections that he would not place a few more? Apparently so. Deciding to bless him instead of cursing him for this stupidity, he walked in front of the mirror and watched his reflection.

It showed Hadrian in his twenties, on his side with his arm wrapped around her waist was a woman with clouded features, but it was noticeable by the swollen belly that she was pregnant. In his other arm rested a little girl, again with her features not clear, with her head on his shoulder. He almost wanted to laugh, after all this time, the thing he wanted most was still the same. A family of his own.

He smiled a sadly and bitterly at the reflection and then set powerful Occlumency barriers around his mind. He closed his eyes and set to the task. He knew the secret of the protection, to get the Stone he needed to want the Stone for the sake of wanting it, not using it. Firmly planting this thought at the forefront of his consciousness, he again opened his eyes and saw his reflection studying him from the mirror. Then he grinned to himself and waved with his hand. He put a hand in the pocket of his robe and took out the Stone, he rolled it in his hands for a few moments and then put it back inside the pocket. Hadrian, in front of the object, clearly felt the weight of something small set into his pocket.

Quickly getting out of the mirror's sight –he didn't want it to take the Stone back if it caught him thinking about using it- he took it out and looked at it intently. It clearly gave off a powerful magical aura and surely was the original, or maybe a copy Flamel gave Dumbledore, he didn't really think a man of his age and wisdom would give blindly the means of his continued wealth and existence to the Headmaster. Maybe he trusted him with a Stone, but not the only one in existence, he would have no guarantee if the man got it destroyed by accident and then he would die for a stupid mistake. There was no doubt it was an original, no fake could emanate such an aura, now he needed to try it out and see if it worked and how.

Taking out a copy he himself made in his Ancestral Home, it looked the same and if things went like they did for him, it would be destroyed during his altercation with Quirrel and no one would question it.

"Nippy!" He called out. With a crack, his Head Elf –he had needed to name a Head Elf to coordinate all the others- appeared in front of him.

He handed the Stone to the elf and told him. "Nippy, I give you this important task. It is vital that you carefully complete it without complications." He seriously told the creature, which began to nervously shift on his feet.

"I need you to go back to Slytherin Castle, no deviations, go in my study and place this object on the desk. It's extremely important that you do nothing to ruin it. Apparated there, place it on the desk and guard it with your life if necessary. Am I made myself clear?" He asked with a serious tone of voice. He needn't put so many things inside the order, but you never know with the little buggers, better safe than sorry and his manor was extremely well warded –it was one of the first things he checked upon his arrival- and there was no chance someone could stumble upon the Philosopher's Stone.

The elf nodded his head up and down so quickly he thought he heard his neck snap. "Yes Master Slytherin Sir, Nippy will do as ordered! Nippy will not fail Master!" He said resolutely and disappeared with a crack.

Hadrian sighed. It was always a pain to deal with house elves.

He recomposed himself and stepped in front of the mirror again, this time however he thought about _putting_ the Stone inside. The scene of before repeated itself, only now he felt the weight of the fake being removed from his pocket.

He sighed in relief, it was a bet trying to put it back inside. He didn't know the nature of the enchantment and knowing Dumbledore it could be something extremely obscure that would take him days to decipher or something so stupid he would overlook it.

Retreating his steps, and consequently reapplying the wards and charms, he made his way back to the trapdoor. It was only a matter of a levitation charm and he was once again in the presence of the tre-headed dog. Trying to make little to no sound, he vanished the musical instrument and exited the door under a disillusionment charm.

As soon as he was out, he cast all kind of revealing charms he knew to check the presence of other people before going back to the entrance of the secret passage.

On the way out, he sent a silent thanks to Hogwarts and the order to make himself visible to the wards again and he almost felt an appreciative sentiment redirected towards himself.

Once in Honeydukes, he immediately went outside and then apparated to the manor.

* * *

It was maddening. It has been two weeks since the theft of the Stone and he was certain it was the real deal. He tried everything he could think of, with the help of the portrait of Salazar, which was extremely interested in studying the thing –that had been an awkward conversation when he explained his identity to the man-, he made numerous attempts to convert lead into gold, but to no avail.

He found how to make the Elixir by accident. It was on his thirtieth try, when the Stone was too warm to keep in his hands because of how much magic he pushed through it to get a result and he put the Stone inside a goblet of water, he didn't think of anything at first, but when, a few minutes later he went to retrieve it and he saw the water was golden, he knew he got it. The Elixir of Life.

They tried it on a couple of Muggles brought on the brink of death in the depth of the dungeons. Hadrian saw no reason in trying it himself when he was completely healthy and he could see no problem in testing it on others and rid the world from a couple of idiots in the meantime.

The results were stupefying. The Muggles were regenerating in front of them, the injuries were knitting together leaving unblemished skin behind, old scars were fading and they seemed to be on peak condition. He made other experiments and concluded, Salazar agreed with him, that no matter the injury, it didn't regrow limbs but he had other solutions for that, the Elixir would cure everything as long as the patient had a little of life inside of him and even then it could revive someone if the death happened only a couple of minutes beforehand. He was positive the effects of the Elixir would be more pronounced if used on magical people, but he didn't want to go around playing charity and practically telling everyone he stole the famous Philosopher's Stone.

He tried to put the Stone on the lead, the lead on the Stone, the lead superheated, the Stone supercharged with magic and the put on the metal. Nothing he tried seemed to work. It was only perchance he tried to use it as a wand. He thought, if it was not contact that made the reaction, maybe the stone could be used as a focus for the magic. So he took the Stone in one hand, pushed a lot of magic inside the Stone and when he thought it could take no more before it became too hot he released the energy and watched in fascination as a beam of white light shot from the Stone to the lead in front of him.

It was a slow process, it took a couple of hours but surely enough he was the proud possessor of 2 tons of gold. It was only a matter of time before he ordered the elves to stop whatever they were doing and ordered them to go and raid the muggle mines and take the metal at the manor. In a couple of days he had the Vault inside the Castle overflowing with ingots, all of them pure at 99.6%. He would wait until he claimed the Lordship and then he would dump the gold with the goblins.

It was a boring wait until the 31st of July, when he officially took the mantle of Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin. He again went to the ICW and registered his claim. He would have done it in Britain, but better doing it internationally until he officially introduced himself in society. After all, better not attract too much attention to himself until he was prepared for it. There were not many Most Ancient and Noble Houses left in Europe and he was sure there would be rush of news once the fact that the House of Slytherin had a Lord once more.

It was early afternoon when he went to Gringotts with a trunk full of gold ingots, at least twenty tons of pure gold. He went to the teller and waited his turn.

As he stepped before the goblin he said. "Good morning Master Goblin, may your gold always flow free."

The goblin was able to contain his surprise, it was not everyday a wizard respected the old customs. "And your enemies bath in their blood, wizard. What can Gringotts do for you?"

"I wish to see an account manager to reopen my account, and to convert a lot of gold into Galleons."

"Which account manager do you wish to see?"

He smirked. "The Slytherin account manager."

The goblin froze for a moment before he looked at his finger and paled at the sight of the signet ring on his ringer. He pushed a button behind the desk. A young goblin hurried by his side and they spoke quickly in gobbledegook before he turned to him again. "This goblin will escort you to your account manager Lord Slytherin".

A few gasps went around the hall of the bank as wizards and witches heard what the goblin said.

He followed the goblin in a luxurious office, where an elderly goblin stood behind the desk.

"Greetings, wizard. My name is Grugnak. Please have a seat." Hadrian sat in front of the desk and he saw the creature take our a dagger and a sheet of parchment. "Please do not take offence, but we must make sure you are who you say you are. This is a test to verify your claim of the Slytherin line, cut your palm with the dagger and let seven drops of blood fall unto the paper" explained him.

Hadrian smoothly took the dagger and cut his palm, he let the drops fall before he wandlessly healed the cut. He watched in a disinterested mask the parchment absorb the blood before the following appeared upon it. _Lord Hadrian Abraxas Slytherin._

The goblin immediately changed his behavior, it was not everyday a vault of a Most Ancient and Noble House gets claimed and this wizard spoke about gold to convert.

"So, tell me Lord Slytherin what can I do for you?"

"First things first Grugnak, I wish to inquire about the state of my family vault, it is my impression that the various descendants and then the Gaunts squandered practically everything?" Hadrian asked in a cold voice.

Grugnak snapped his fingers and a folder appeared in front of him. "Yes, the Slytherin Vault is empty of Galleons, they were all removed by other relatives and the last access was in 1870 by Septimus Gaunt when he removed all the monetary possession of the Vault. Inside there still are all the various jewels, weapons and books that can be removed by Lord Slytherin only, so they remained untouched."

"I suspected as much. During the centuries after Salazar Slytherin fled the Isles we have accumulated a lot of gold and it is my intention to remain in England and put all the gold in Gringotts. Is that acceptable?"

The goblin assumed a greedy glint in his eyes. "How much gold are we talking about?"

"I have with me twenty tons of pure gold in ingots, but I have a lot more in the manor, it only waits for being converted, for the right price of course, there are other banks I could go to"

Grugnak almost snarled at the mention of other banks. He knew perfectly well that the amount of gold he was talking about would take Gringotts a lot of profits and he could not allow this to slip their hands of his head would be forfeit.

"You of course realize we have to check the gold for its purity"

"Obviously, here, they are all the same level of purity." Hadrian said, opening the trunk and showing a pile of ingots to the account manager. He immediately snapped his fingers and moments later a trio of goblins with various tools entered the room.

One of them took one ingot and put it on the table, where it was weighted and then poured unto it a purple vial of potion. The potion shimmered and then a bright golden puff of smoke emerged from the ingot.

The goblin took a sharp intake of breath. "The gold is almost pure Master Grugnak, I could say at least 99% and" Hadrian interrupted the goblin, "99.6% to be precise".

Their greedy eyes turned to him. "And every ingot I posses has the same level of purity as this one. You are of course welcome to check."

It took ten minutes, but by then all the gold resulted pure and Grugnak was almost salivating in prospect of so much gold.

"We could give you, say, 25 thousands Galleons for ingot?"

Hadrian raised an eyebrow. "40 thousands"

The goblin narrowed his eyes. "28 thousands"

"35 thousands and all the gold I posses will be in Gringotts at the end of the week"

"Deal". Both were mildly satisfied. Sure, he paid a bit too much for the gold but if the young Lord had this much… a promotion was on the horizon, thought Grugnak.

Hadrian instead was internally smirking in satisfaction, with the Stone he would milk Gringotts dry and be the richest man in England by the end of the week.

He left Gringotts after making a few other deals with the goblins and 700.000 Galleons richer than before. He was sure by this time next month he would have at least a few millions inside the bank. He made stipulations with the goblins that only he could access the Vault and in doing so he negated the possibility of Riddle ever doing so.

In the mean time he also took the opportunity of viewing the last Will and Testament of Lily Evans Potter, citing her being the last of his cousins from the other line to die. To say the goblins were surprised was an understatement, no one ever knew about her relation with the line of Slytherin, but after doing a quick test with her blood stored inside the bank, in revealed her being a distant relative and he was granted access to the Will. A couple hundred Galleons traded hands to secure silence about Lily's ancestry and the read was available to him. Of course he already knew the contents. Sirius was listed as his guardian, Pettigrew was ousted as a slimy traitor and he never had to be placed with the Dursleys. It was no surprise that the Will was sealed by the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and that Albus Dumbledore was his magical guardian. At least he hadn't meddled with the Vault, of that he was sure. He was also sure that those redheaded idiots were taking money from the old coot to be his friends and that that screeching harridan money grabbing Prewett was plotting of dosing him with potions and then take the Potter fortune for herself.

Over his dead body.

The rest of the week was spent planning his next move and moving his gold into Gringotts, the goblins got grins so wide when they saw him enter the bank every day the other customers got a little frightened. At the end he was a proud young millionaire, almost the richest Lord of all England, still, the Blacks were above him, no surprise there, he would have to invest the money now, he could not continue to present himself with gold every time or people would get suspicious.

It was also during this week that he sent a missive to Hogwarts, informing the Headmaster that he would attend the fourth year and that he would take all the core subjects plus Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and he was available during the summer to take the third year tests.

Now he found himself in front of the very house he swore to burn to the ground –and he did-, he could not believe he was doing it, but this was the main reason he came in the past in the first place, so he could very well stop bitching and start changing everything for the better.

He steadily walked to the door, he wore a smart muggle suit and for that he was almost itching to get everything done and burn the thing, and knocked.

Opening the door he saw the face of Petunia Dursley, as ugly as ever, the Muggle.

"Petunia Dursley?" He saw her nod.

"I frequent the same school as your son, Dudley, and was sent here by the school to inform you of some special projects they would like your son to attend, can I come in?" He asked, putting up a charming face, but he knew he had her at the first mention of that pig. Aunt Petunia always loved to brag about that idiot.

As soon as the door was closed behind him, he took out his wand and stunned her. Vernon entered the hallway and saw him, wand drawn, in front of his wife and lost it. He began screaming about freaks and abominations and Hadrian quickly lost his patience and silenced the Muggle following with another _stupefy._ He would have loved to stay and torture what he considered an hairless ape for a little but he had things to do.

He walked up the stairs and as soon as he saw his cousin he stunned him. He reached a door with padlocks on it and snorted in disdain. He was so weak at the time. Meek, malleable. He would have to work on it.

He wordlessly opened the door, to see what looked like a thin, malnourished twelve year old boy looking at him in suspicion and a little bit of fear. He saw recognition when he spotted the wand, and then he was regarded warily by the boy.

"Are you Harry James Potter? Son of Lily Evans Potter?" Hadrian asked.

Harry nodded a little and then quietly answered. "Yes, who are you? Why are you here? What did you do to my relatives?"

Hadrian waved his hand as if to swat an annoying little bug. "That is of no importance at the moment. But tell me…" he paused a moment to look at the boy, making him squirm under his gaze.

_§Do you understand me?§ _He hissed.

Harry looked a little lost before he responded. _§Of course I do, why?§_

_§Good, you are her son. Come with me, there are a lot of things we have to talk about. But first, let me take care of the Muggles and we will be gone from here.§ _

Harry still looked suspicious but relaxed a little bit. He watched in awe as pack everything and released his owl, then he _obliviated_ the filthy Muggles and then he told him to grab the trunk and to hold firmly unto his arm because they were leaving.

Harry, now over the fact of seeing advanced magic, exclaimed. "Why should I trust you, I don't even know your name!"

Hadrian smirked. "Why, because we are cousins, Harry." And with that parting remark, he disapparated to the manor, a totally incredulous and flummoxed twelve year old boy in tow.

* * *

**In the next chapter.**

**A long explanation to Harry and Hogwarts.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form.**

**In this chapter we see the introduction of the other characters important to the story. The beginning of the school year and a long discussion with Harry.**

**Bye!**

* * *

They reappeared with a soft crack in front of the Castle's main doors, they were massive and decorated with snakes slytherin on it. Hadrian turned to Harry and saw him watching the building in awe. He sincerely could not fault him, he had the same reaction the first time he saw it. With four stories and a couple of towers, it was a smaller replica of Hogwarts.

He began walking towards the doors, which opened by themselves as they sensed his presence. As they entered the entry hall, which, like the rest of the Castle, screamed wealth and pureblood at the same time, he called an house elf.

An elf appeared in front of them with a loud crack and he noticed Harry tense a little at his presence, why should Harry be nervous around house elves? Ah… Dobby, he almost forgot about the little critter, loyal house elf, a good heart and intentions even if rarely did the best of things.

"What can Soppy do for Master Sir?" He asked in trepidation.

"Take Harry's trunk to the room beside mine and organize his possessions, for the time he will stay here you will be his personal elf. Inform the others about this, in the meantime we will retire in the drawing room for tea." Hadrian replied.

He guided Harry towards the room and then he sat in a comfortable chair in front of the fire place, gesturing for Harry to do the same.

"I guess you have questions?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Who are you? Why did you take me away from my relatives? What did you do to them? And what do you mean we are cousins?!" Harry finished taking a deep breath.

"Very well, in order, I am Hadrian Abraxas Slytherin, Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin. I took you away from your relatives because you should have never been there in the first place and since I didn't want to go through the legal crap to take you I simply _obliviated_ them and placed false memories that you went to your friend's home. And we are cousins through your mother, Lily Evans Potter, the fact that you can speak parseltongue just confirms it." Hadrian explained patiently.

Harry seemed a little confused now, "Wait, what do you mean I should have never been at the Dursleys? And how are we related specifically?"

"What you must understand Harry, is that I came back in England only recently because my father died, we did not know about yours or your mother's existence, I discovered we are related only a week ago and it took me all this time to find your residence. You should have never been placed in the Muggle's care because it says so in the Last Will and Testament of your parents, I read it while at Gringotts and a lot of guardians were specified for you in the case something happened to your parents, it also says that you should never go to them, because they hate magic and you probably wouldn't be treated well." He paused a moment to let Harry take everything in.

"As for how we are related, it is a very distant connection. Our many times grandparent Salazar Slytherin had three children before leaving Britain. Two sons and a daughter, the daughter never married, one of his sons was banished from the family for being a squib and his first son, the Heir, had two children, a boy and a girl, the boy never married and remained in this Castle till he died and his daughter married into the House of Gaunt. I am a direct descendant of Salazar, because he remarried and had other children when he fled Britain, you on the other hand come from the squib line, he probably made his life in the Muggle world and through the generations the magical potential reawakened in your mother, Lily. If you want to know, we are related to your Dark Lord Voldemort, he is a Gaunt, but if I remember correctly his father was a Muggle" Hadrian finished with disdain clear in his voice.

"So you are telling me that you and I are related, albeit distantly, and even Voldemort is a cousin of mine?" He concluded a little bit fearfully and incredulously.

"Correct. When I read the Will I noticed that something was very wrong, firstly, the Will was never read, it has been sealed by the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and then the very same became your magical guardian, I don't know why but there is something fishy about this. Figures the old goat would try to pull something with you being the Boy-Who-Lived and all that bull."

"Who is this old goat you are talking about?" Harry asked a little uncertainly.

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. I knew he was a meddlesome old man, but interfering with the Will of a Noble House like the Potters is too much even for him, there must be something for him to act like this."

Harry seemed a little taken aback by his declaration of Dumbledore, then he became enraged. "Dumbledore is a great man!" He exclaimed.

"Oh yes? Why, tell me one good thing he did for you, I don't know how you lived with the Muggles but considering your state of clothing and the fact that you are so thin I guess it wasn't the best of places to grow up. There would have been countless families that would have jumped for the opportunity to take you in, _magical_ families, maybe you would have grown up a little arrogant dealing with your fame, but I bet you would have had a better life." Hadrian ended with a challenging tone, as if to dare Harry to contradict him.

What followed was a few minutes of silence, while Harry mulled over everything his "cousin", he was still a bit hesitant to call him that, told him. The more he thought about it, the more angry he became, it was obvious in retrospect that something was very wrong with his life.

The afternoon was spent by Harry and Hadrian exchanging stories about their lives, Hadrian told him about his travels around the world and Harry, after a bit of hesitation, told his cousin about his home life. It was with relief that he realized he could not see pity in Hadrian's eyes, anger, but no pity. They started to think about all the event that happened in his first year at Hogwarts and very disturbing things came to light. How could a pureblood family as ancient as the Weasleys not remember where the platform entrance was, the obstacles in the chambers under the third floor corridor seemed calibrated almost for them. All put together they were able to create a very disturbing picture, it was obvious he was being controlled, it was in the small things, but it was there.

It was with trepidation that Harry let himself being tested for compulsions and mental suggestion by Hadrian and when he saw his face become red and twisted in anger, he knew something was wrong. In the end, they found a couple of compulsions that pushed him to talk only with Hermione and Ronald and a few others that instilled a sense of trust and admiration toward Dumbledore.

Hadrian immediately removed them and promised to teach him a method to protect his mind from future intrusions during the next month in the Castle. Hadrian also seemed very interested in his scar and asked permission to cast a few diagnostic charms. At seeing the results he frowned.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked with hesitation, after all the revelation in this afternoon it would not surprise him if his scar was a freaking bomb ready to explode.

"I don't know, it obviously is a curse scar and I sense a connection, I dare say, mental, but I don't understand why they didn't purge it from you. I know rituals are banned by the Ministry but surely someone would have done a purging ritual for something like this." And continued muttering charms under his breath.

After a couple of minutes, Hadrian stated. "I don't know exactly what this thing is, but is seems a connection with something, maybe the Dark Lord himself. As soon as morning we will do a ritual do purify your body, it should work and purge the thing from you."

Harry said "Well, the scar hurt during last year in front of my Defense professor and at the end of the year I discovered that Voldemort was possessing him, does this mean something?"

Hadrian raised his eyebrows. "Yes, it means we will do the ritual as soon as we can. If it hurts you in the presence of the Dark Lord I do not know what else this connection could be used for. Better be safe than sorry I say."

The next morning they went through the ritual, it was painless for Harry's part, but it hurt a little in the end when his scar split in two and a black liquid poured out of it.

After cleaning the room and cleaning his face, Hadrian decided to cast some charms to see if the ritual worked. The results were positive and Harry told him that it was like he had been living all this time through a veil, because everything seemed clearer now.

As soon as they finished, Hadrian put Harry to work, he noticed that the boy was too thin and gave him a potion regimen to continue at least until the winter holidays and then he helped Harry with schoolwork and tutored him in subjects he didn't understand and advanced material he found interesting. He also was attending lessons with the portrait of Salazar Slytherin himself, who gave him lessons about the Wizarding Culture and the proper Etiquette he should have already known.

It was during these lessons that Harry asked the same questions he did once to the portrait. Once Salazar explained why he hated mudbloods, Harry turned to him.

"Even you hate muggleborns and Muggles?" He asked.

"Yes, I hate Muggles, they are beasts and if we don't distance ourselves from them, they will draw us in their wars and useless bickering between nations and we will pay the price for it. They outnumber us and even if a single wizard like Voldemort could kill hundreds by himself, he still is a single person and they will simply kill us because there are millions and billions of Muggles, while we are a few hundred thousands all around the world. Do you get this?"

Harry nodded, still a bit confused.

He sighed. "Harry, you have to understand, that magic makes us superior, everything we do is better, our bodies are better, we live longer, we do not get their diseases and we have a superior intellect. I know there are some wizards who are idiots, but that is their fault for too much inbreeding."

"Like Crabbe and Goyle?"

Hadrian nodded. "They come from pureblood families, but they inbred too much. Magic prevents the negative effects of having children with first and second cousins, but when you reproduce with your brother or sister even magic can't do miracles. Look at them now, they are like trolls, good for nothing but hard work, even their magical power has dwindled during the years. The same could be said for the Gaunts, they were so fixated with blood purity that they ended up marrying their siblings and became all mad."

"And what about muggleborns?"

Hadrian fidgeted a little. "This is a bit complicated. In one hand, I think that magical blood is all the same, we all have magic and there shouldn't be a difference between all of us, but there are some families who have important traits, like the Slytherins with parseltongue and the Blacks with numerous Metamorphmagus. It is advisable for certain families to marry between purebloods because in this way their traits do not become lost. Take parseltongue for example, there is more to it than speaking to snakes and if we went around marrying mudbloods there was the chance of this gift being lost. You also have to understand that most of the distrust towards them originated in the past, when our ancestor still lived, nowadays they are just ignorant and this is the cause of our hate toward them. They come here, full of muggle ideas and try to change our culture, they do not understand the way Magic works and try to force us to see it their way, they do not even try to learn about our ways. Think about the old festivities for example. Samhain, the 31st of October, is a very important night, because the rift between life and death is thinner, ghosts have more power and spirits can visit the world of the living. A lot of rituals can be executed on this date. Now we celebrate it as Halloween" he spat with disgust "and we have forgotten the Old Ways, we do not celebrate Yule and the other holidays correctly because the Muggle traditions have spread too much in our culture."

He paused a bit to take a breath. "Lord Voldemort and I have similar ideals. We both want to separate the world of Magic completely from the Muggles, but differently from him, I recognize the potential mudbloods bring with them: new blood and stronger magic than most of our wizards and witches. We just have to educate them to our culture, take them from the Muggles earlier and place them with proper Wizarding families that have no children, this way everyone is happier, our pool gene expands and our magic becomes stronger. Voldemort instead wants to eliminate all the impurities, all halfbloods and mudbloods would be killed on sight or reduced to slavery. If things went his way, we would die out in less than two centuries. He wanted to bring change through war and conflicts, I will try to bring it through politics and public support. After all, what I dream of is not unachievable and the ideas are just and everyone would benefit from this.

The purebloods would get people with strong magic to strengthen theirs, halfbloods will be treated with respect and mudbloods will have a proper life in the Wizarding World and not between the Muggles."

Hadrian sighed, it would take a bit to convince Harry, but he was positive he could do it.

* * *

On the 3rd of August he received a letter from the Headmaster asking to come the following day to do the third year exams. Checking that Harry would be okay for the day, he left for the school.

When he arrived through apparition and entered the gates, he found himself being welcomed by the Headmaster, Deputy Headmistress and the other Heads of House.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Lord Slytherin, I hope you are good?" Asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, thank you for the welcome, Headmaster Dumbledore. I am sorry to say I do not know your colleagues."

After a bit of introduction, he was led into the Great Hall, where in the morning he took the tests for Transfiguration and Charms. After a short pause for lunch, he did the practical, stunning the Ministry examiners with his wand work.

This routine continued for the rest of the week, written test in the mornings, practical in the afternoons.

He was proud to say he basically aced the tests with minimal efforts, of course, he would have hanged himself if he didn't, what with being 24 and all that.

He had a lot more conversations with Harry during the days, when he tutored him and talked with him about nothings and they got closer and closer. He took advantage of their newfound friendship to explain to Harry something he thought about.

"Harry, now that you are more comfortable with me, we have to talk about your use of parseltongue."

"What about it?" Asked Harry confused.

"What I mean to say is that it will be expected from me to be a Parselmouth and thanks to Voldemort everyone will think I am a Dark Wizard just because of this. I know you took the lessons with grandfather seriously so I know you understand a bit of politics. With your position of the Boy-Who-Lived, you cannot be seen speaking parseltongue, they will shun you and think you are the next Dark Lord. You understand perfectly how feeble the public is, do not give the journalists something like this or they will have a field day. I also think that we should keep our connection a secret, you do not want it to be public knowledge you are related to Lord Slytherin and the Dark Lord. This does not mean we can't talk to each other of course."

Harry was still a little dubious but gave in. "Okay Hadrian, we will do as you say."

It was in the second week of August that Hadrian sent a formal letter to Lucius Malfoy, inviting his family for tea Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately Abraxas could not come, as he was alredy ill.

Harry remained in his chambers with silencing charms all over the place so as not to attract their attention.

If Lucius was surprised to see Lord Slytherin was a fourteen years old, he did not show it. Narcissa was obviously trained since infancy to attend meetings between purebloods and played the perfect Lady of the House. Draco was a bit nervous being in the presence of a Lord but he behave himself.

He met them at the doors, "Lord Malfoy, Lady Malfoy, Draco, a pleasure. Please come in."

He led them to the drawing room, where tea was being served by a house elf and various sweets were already set out on the table. They sat comfortably for a few minutes, making good conversation over nothings, when Lucius asked the question everyone was thinking.

"To what do we own the honor of being invited here today, Lord Slytherin?"

Hadrian put the tea down and took a deep breath, this was not going to be easy.

"Lord Malfoy, I know we do not know each other much, but I wanted to know your family because we are related." Lucius raised an eyebrow. Hadrian chuckled. "Yes, I know I am probably related to all the other pureblood families, but what I mean is that we are more closely related than the others. We never met because my father and I were out of the country for all my life since mother died in childbirth. When father died I came back in England and waited to set the family affairs straight before contacting you."

He took a deep breath. "My father was Salazar Slytherin III and my mother was Miranda Malfoy, your sister."

Lucius adopted a look of shock before schooling his features. "And why did we never receive notice of this?"

"My mother was in France since the beginnings of the '70 and she met my father in 1975. They married a year later but they could not risk sending news because of the war, so they kept everything secret. Mother died in childbirth and after the burial father took me with him and we traveled the world visiting the various magical communities and learning obscure magics from them. I came here this spring and will attend the fourth year of Hogwarts this September."

When Lucius asked for proof of his claim, he took out parchment and dagger and did a small ritual to reveal the parents and identity of someone. After making the necessary spells, the parchment read.

_Hadrian Abraxas Slytherin. __Salazar Slytherin III. Miranda Malfoy._

Satisfied with the ritual, the meeting went smoothly after that. He alredy knew Narcissa was a good person, but talking with her without being the Boy-Who-Lived made the experience different. After knowing he never knew his mother, it seemed she took it upon herself to replace her. He did not know how to react to this new development, but Aunt Cissa, as she wanted him to call her, seemed to expect this and paid it no mind. Uncle Lucius, he had to reinforce his Occlumency shields considerably when he was asked to call him that lest he burst out laughing, was a bit lost. He loved his sister with all his heart and was overjoyed to have a nephew, but his other side, the more political one, was alredy scheming and planning to find a way to turn this to his advantage, it was not every day you are related to a Slytherin after all. Draco was confused, he did not know what to make of this, but even he could see this was important, so he kept his mouth shut and talked only about school and Quidditch.

Lucius also gently inquired about his political views and was satisfied when he learned he was a "proper" pureblood, meaning: he hated Muggles and would support everything against them. Hadrian dared no breach the topic of mudbloods, he knew it was a little early into the game to try to change the Malfoy's views.

They all left the manor with good spirits, Hadrian was relieved everything went well. He was expected at Malfoy Manor the following weekend for a formal dinner and be introduced to the Malfoy Patriarch.

On Wednesday they received their Hogwarts letters and Hadrian the results of his tests. He was not surprised to see he had all O's in every subject.

They went to Diagon Alley under glamour to buy their school supplies and he made sure Harry bought a complete new wardrobe at Madam Malkin's, the old witch smiled so brightly she could have lit the place all by herself.

While Harry was suffering at Madam Malkin's, Hadrian went to the Magical Menagerie in search for his familiar. He clearly felt a pull at his magic and followed it. When he entered he greeted the woman behind the desk and went immediately to the reptile section. There he watched in fascination the little snakes moving in the cramped up space that was the cage. He moved on and walked in a particular dark part of the shop where he saw it. He felt the pull become stronger and with a wandless _lumos_ he watched the contents of the cage.

Inside he saw a beautifully colored coral snake, the color pattern consisted of a series of rings that encircled its body, wide red and black rings separated by narrow yellow rings. The label said.

_Coral Snake, magical breed, venomous._

It was still little for a magical snake, he thought, it was 3'7" but he knew that when it bonded to him it would grow greatly taking into consideration his more than average magical power.

He approached the snake and hissed softly. _§Hey there, little fellow. Mind if I pet you a bit?§_

The snake, which was hissing angrily till a moment ago, stopped and looked at him as if it was judging hid soul. _§Yes you can, Speaker. I will be your familiar."_

Hadrian was a little taken aback but he shrugged it off. Snakes always seemed to know what was going on and if it alredy wanted to bond with him, all the better. He quickly paid for the animal and exited the shop. He discovered that it was a female and he named her Elvida. She approved.

Two gruesome hours later, Harry was professing his burning hate for Hadrian while they walked to Gringotts.

"Oh stop being such a baby Harry, thanks to the potions you have filled out a lot and you gained a few inches, you wanted to go to school in those disgusting rags of yours?" He asked with sarcasm.

Harry had the decency to blush. It was true, he supposed, since the ritual and the potions he felt great. The scar on his forehead faded a little and thanks to the potions he was taller and put on some weight. He wanted to undergo a ritual to fix his eyesight, but Hadrian refused, saying that there was the chance of his magic righting it during his puberty, still, he bought a new pair of glasses either way, they were silver and thin with small lenses. All in all, he gave off a new image of himself.

They entered Gringotts and Hadrian requested an audience with both their account managers.

Harry watched in rapt fascination as Hadrian managed his gold and investments, then he motioned for him and guided him through the paperwork of his Vault.

"Since you are twelve and the Heir of a Noble House, you can gain emancipation at your age, plus, if someone tries to block you, we have the Will of your parents which was obviously not followed as leverage to gain you emancipation, after that you will be able to manage your gold more freely, but you won't be able to take out objects from your vault until you claim the Lordship of your House at fourteen. Understand?"

Harry nodded, all of this was already explained to him by Salazar during their lessons but it helped being reminded of it all.

"For now, I will help you managing your investments but once you can, I expect you to do it alone and bring profit to your Vaults, Gold is useless if you leave it there gaining dust." He nodded and noted that the goblins seemed pleased from his words. Of course, they gained a percentage of his profits so it was obvious they were happy. Well, as happy as a goblin could anyway.

They continued their routine until the end of August. Hadrian went to a formal dinner at the Malfoy's and was introduced to Abraxas and he seemed to make a good impression on the man.

Harry continued to improve in his subjects, Hadrian put him through hell once he saw his marks _–"I won't have a cousin of mine with this marks, I expect you to be at least in the top 5 of your year, am I clear?"-_, he also began teaching him a rudimentary version of Occlumency, which he learned was the art to protect one's mind. He was mildly good, he could recognize an attempt of Legilimency and he could dispel compulsions, but he could not keep out an accomplished Legilimens the caliber of Dumbledore or Snape. Hadrian instead was pleased with his progress _-"You are definitely good for your age, continue your exercises in the mornings and evenings before bed and we will continue our lessons in the weekends during school."-_ and told him not to look either of them in the eyes just for precaution.

Hadrian made sure Harry reviewed all his experience at Hogwarts through his mind and he began to notice that his "friends" were not so friendly anymore. Ronald always seemed to be jealous of him and Hermione got angry when he got something right before her. When Hadrian told him the Weasleys received gold from Dumbledore to be friendly to him -that had taken a lot of persuasion on Hadrian's part for the goblins to tell him- he felt like the world fell upon him but Hadrian quickly told him that they were only two people and Hogwarts had hundreds of students, surely at least one of his roommates would be his friend and in Hadrian's opinion the Longbottom Heir could go to places if he was more confident in himself.

Gaining emancipation at the ICW has been a bit complicated. One would think being the Boy-Who-Lived and all that he would have obtained it instantly because people wanted to please him, instead they wanted to _protect_ him and thought being emancipated was too dangerous for him. Again, gold passed hands and the process went smoothly, even if a bit slow.

* * *

On the 1st of September they donned their robes and went to the platform through the Floo. This way Hadrian rid himself of the "Dobby problem" as he dubbed it. They agreed that they should act as if they didn't knew each other. Harry had prepared a cover story for this summer, apparently he was fed up with the Muggles and went to Diagon Alley and rented a room at the Leaky under false name, then he went to Gringotts where he inquired about his Vaults and the Will of his parents and he saw the deception of Dumbledore. From there everything went to the right places, he went to his manor –unplottable and warded like hell, Hadrian made sure of that- and remained there for the rest of the summer, gained emancipation and he would not return to the Muggles ever again.

Confident in their stories, they exited the Floo a few minutes from one another. Harry went first, for Hadrian had to set the Castle in lockdown as he would come back only during the winter holidays. He was still debating whether to organize a Yule ball to introduce himself officially to the other purebloods. He would think about it.

After setting the wards and the last orders to the elves, he exited the Floo on the platform and waved to the Malfoys when he noticed them. They made their way towards him and Narcissa, to his dismay, enveloped him in a tight hug. He tried to resist but her grip was too firm and he resigned and let himself enjoy the warm feeling in his chest. When he looked up he saw the smirk on Lucius face and Draco was silently laughing at him.

Feeling his cheeks warm up, he patted Narcissa on the back. "There, there Aunt Cissa, I won't die at Hogwarts. And try to remember young Draco as well." As he finished, he flashed a sadistic grin to Draco, who assumed a look of utter betrayal and resignation as Narcissa let him go and went to "her little Dragon".

He shared a smirk with Lucius and shook his hand. "Goodbye Uncle Lucius, give my greetings to Grandfather."

"Will do Hadrian, take care at Hogwarts and keep an eye on your cousin will you?" He asked.

"Sure thing, take care." And with that he left the small family to their goodbyes and boarded the train. He passed a compartment full of gingers and sneered at them. Weasleys, they reproduced worse than rabbits. He preferred to call them hypocrites rather than blood-traitors for they never married Muggles or mudbloods, instead they preached about their equal rights but in the end they were the first to have disowned a squib three decades ago and marry only other purebloods.

Shaking his head, he passed their compartment without giving them another glance. He found an empty one and sat down by himself, letting Elvida out from his robes. He was not surprised she grew during the last week of summer, the initial period of the bond had finished and she measured 4'3" more or less, she would grow more, but at a more slow pace now. She slithered around the compartment for a bit, then she coiled beside him, resting her head on his lap and letting him petting her.

Meanwhile his mind was spinning with thoughts. He did not know personally any of the fourth year Slytherins, the knew he was in class with the Carrow twins, Bole, Montague, Pucey and Warrington, all of them in the Quidditch team except for the twin sisters. He remembered the twins were neutral in the war, they did not want to get involved, as their parents before them, and tried to distance themselves from Amycus and Alecto. None of them actively supported the Death Eaters' cause, so he could very well try to convince them of his ideals, in time of course.

Of the younger years, namely Draco's years, he knew a lot of them. Millicent Bulstrode, Daphne Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson, Tracey Davis, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy. All of them from influential pureblood families, except from Davis, she was a halfblood.

He could easily gain influence with the upper years, with him being Lord Slytherin and what not, they were not nearly as politically powerful as those in Draco's year. With them, he had to tread carefully, he could not allow himself to alienate a possible ally because he ran his mouth without thinking.

He was interrupted from his musings as the door opened to reveal Draco with his clique. Theodore was a dark haired boy with angular features, Blaise was dark-skinned with raven hair, Crabbe and Goyle resembled more gorillas than human beings if not for the lack of fur, Tracey had strawberry blonde hair and a heart-shaped face with green eyes, Millicent was a bit on the ugly side, what with her broad shoulders and a patch of hair under her chin, Draco embodied the perfect mix between a Malfoy and a Black: slicked back blonde hair, high cheekbones and aristocratic features, Daphne was the one who stood out the most, all her posture and image screamed pureblood: perfectly arched eyebrows, a linear petite nose, delicate jaw, full lips and icy blue eyes with a mane of black luscious hair that cascaded down her shoulder blades.

Draco seemed a little surprise by his presence but recovered quickly. "Can we sit here Lord Slytherin?"

From the lack of gasps and intakes of breath, he deduced Lucius must have spread the news that he was related to the House of Slytherin. He was sure he had milked it all the way and then some but he expected it, Lucius was the perfect Snake after all.

"Certainly Draco, you and your friends are welcome to sit here, I long for intelligence conversation for once. I couldn't help but notice the hoard of gingers on the train and if they are all the same I fear they are a bunch of illiterate idiots." Hadrian replied. "And please, feel free to call me Hadrian if we are not in a formal setting."

They introduced themselves and then sat inside the compartment. There was bit of confusion when they saw Elvida but he was quick to assure them she was his familiar.

_§Stay calm Elvida, they are not a danger.§_ The boys were awed at the display of parseltongue and in the end, the girls gave in and asked to pet her. He relayed the message and Elvida rose from her position and slithered towards the girls, where she made a sort of nest between their robes. While Daphne and Pansy pet her, Hadrian was getting to know the others. What he learned was not news, but hearing it first hand was a different experience. He already knew what their families did to earn their money. The Malfoy's were into potion ingredients and rare artifact, coupled with Lucius' work at the Ministry. The Crabbes and the Goyles were Vassals of the Noble House of Malfoy and did what Lucius wanted them to do and received payment for their services. The Notts had vast fields where they grew food and other products. He did not know what the Zabinis did, but he knew for sure that her mother always seemed to marry rich wizards who later on would die unexpectedly and then leave everything to her. Pansy's family had a company for export of goods to the other magical societies, mainly France and Germany. The Bulstrodes invested in various companies and were not on the level of wealth of the Malfoys. Davis' was a halfblood because her grandfather had been a mudblood, but he gained the respect of the old families by creating various companies that made deals with the Muggles and brought the investors a lot of Galleons in a relatively short time. Daphne's family was famous for harvesting wand making ingredients and they grew various animals useful for potions.

When they asked about his family, Hadrian answered. "Well, at the time of Salazar, the Slytherins were the best warders of the entire Europe, the wards of Hogwarts Castle were cast by Salazar himself in parselmagic and they still hold strong after a millennium. After he left Britain those idiot Gaunts squandered the family wealth and by the time of the last descendants they were paupers and lived in a shack in a Muggle village" he said in disdain. Hadrian knew that he had their interest now. He just had to tread carefully and their families would know another Slytherin will real skills was back in Britain.

"Obviously Salazar thought in advance and he made another fortune abroad. When father died I brought all the family fortune back in Britain and closed the Vault to all the others who could have a claim. During august I went back from Gringotts and the Manor several times to deposit all the ingots we had. Now I am dealing with the goblins and making investments. I alredy know the "family business" if you want to call it like that of casting the most powerful wards. Traveling since birth I started my education very early since I have a large core and could begin in my early years, so I am alredy accomplished in parselmagic. I just have to finish Hogwarts and take a couple of Masteries, then I will continue the tradition and enter the political arena in the Wizengamot. The family seat hasn't been used since Salazar II and I intend to bring back the glory and honor of my family. What these ignorant muggle-loving idiots are saying about my ancestor is complete bull."

Blaise, who had been silent since the introductions, said frowning. "You mean his opinions about mudbloods?"

"Yes, Salazar hated them not because they had "bad blood" but because they were cowards and backstabbers. They came to Hogwarts to study magic and then they betrayed us selling families to the Muggles. That's why he thought of them with mistrust, at the time you could never afford yourself to grow complacent with them or they would turn on you. He left Hogwarts because the other founders did not agree with him and continued to teach the mudbloods. That is the reason why he hated them, not because of their blood. They are as magical as us in the end, it is just a matter of upbringing. Now the reason because we hate them is different, they come here sprouting muggle ideas and try to change our culture and traditions, they have alredy managed to make us forget about the Old Ways. What we should do is to bring the mudbloods into our society as soon as they display magical potential and place them with proper families, this way they will accept and understand the way magic works and will integrate in our society without problems." He finished with satisfaction. He knew he shouldn't have ranted about this so early in the year, but they were all interested and nodded as if confirming his opinions. They were young and easily swayed to his cause, but he better be more cautious with the upper years.

After that, they discussed it a bit more and then changer topic. He met Pucey and the Carrow twins during the trip and went in their compartment to chat and acquaint himself more with his year mates. He learned that the dormitories where divided per years and not gender, each person had a personal room which they were allowed to personalize. He alredy saw the common room in his past so he would have no surprise there.

As they arrived, he waved off his new acquaintances and stepped inside a boat with three little first years. As they rode through the lake, he sensed a malevolent aura and he narrowed his eyes toward the ginger menace. Obviously the Horcrux was alredy at work in corrupting her mind. He already had something special planned for the bitch. They arrived in front of the closed doors that led into the Antechamber, where Professor McGonagall awaited them and then proceeded with the usual tripe about the Houses.

Slytherin was the best, obviously. Cunning and ambition. How he could have gotten himself in Gryffindor was beyond him, he supposed he was a little brash and hot headed at the time, but seriously, _Gryffindor?_ The House of the idiots? Ravenclaw was the worst of the lot, sure it was for the "intelligent" but in reality it was a pit of know-it-all that had no practical knowledge whatsoever. At least Hufflepuff had hard-workers and loyal students. It was still lame, but at least they had good qualities.

He quietly let Elvida slid down his robes and she stayed at his feet. He zoned off as they entered the Great Hall, keeping up a blank face as required to someone of his status. Even if he himself wanted to gape and point to the various decorations -the beauty of the Great Hall was ever the same- Lords do not point or gape, it was unbecoming.

He patiently listened with one ear to the song and the sorting, while he let his eyes wander. Harry was sitting at the Gryffindor table, as far away from the two traitors as possible, he assumed he already clarified the situation with them. He sat with Thomas, Longbottom and Finnigan with the female Gryffs, namely Patil, Brown and Dunbar. He nodded to himself, they were good sorts of friends for Harry. He didn't expect him to know the entire school, but he told him in uncertain terms that he should widen his circle of friends more than just Granger and Weasley.

He recognized various students in the hall and most of them were studying him, curiously asking themselves why he was in the middle of the first year midgets.

At the Slytherin table he saw Draco and the other second years all sit together and the fourth years, the twins and Pucey at least he recognized, were keeping him a seat. It was a given he would be sorted in the house of the Snakes.

At the Head table he saw Dumbledore watching everything from his high-backed chair like a mother hen would his chickens. He resisted the urge to send him a stinging hex when he saw that damnable twinkle in his eyes. To his right was an empty chair reserved for the Deputy. To his left sat Flitwick, beside him was Sprout and at the end of the table were Vector and Babbling. To the other side of the table sat Lockhart –the pompous fool was already grating his nerves-, Snape –he couldn't help but pity the man, he was surrounded by idiots, to his left and to his right- and Hagrid at the end. He was a bit conflicted about Hagrid, on one hand he was a generous and good person, on the other he was Dumbledore's man through and through.

He patiently waited until the first years were sorted. Then he notice the old goat standing up with his eyes twinkling full blast.

"As you may or may not have noticed, this year we have a transfer student. He did not attend a school previously but he passed brilliantly the third year exams and will join the other fourth years here in Hogwarts. Please give a warm welcome to Lord Hadrian Abraxas Slytherin." He gestured with his hand in the direction of the hat.

Hadrian began to walk toward the chair and he heard Elvida coming behind him. A small smirk found his way to his face as he heard the gasps and muffled shrieks from the students. He was such a drama queen, he blamed that to Salazar.

He was just three feet from the hat when it bellowed. **_"SLYTHERIN!"_**

No surprises here, he imagined the castle recognized him and the hat alredy knew that he was fit for that House. He just raised an eyebrow before bowing to McGonagall and making his way to Slytherin table where the students were clapping exitedly. He took the sit the other fourth years kept him and he noticed, as did the rest of the hall, that as soon as he sat the green and silvers of the table seemed to brighten, the banner of the Slytherin Coat of Arms above the table came to life and the snake started to move in the green camp. Elvida came up to his arm and he hissed softly to her and she wrapped herself around his shoulders.

After a few moments Dumbledore started the feast and he began to eat making conversation with his fellow classmates.

* * *

It immediately became clear that Hadrian was a prodigy in class. All the spells were perfectly cast on his first try, his written work was flawless and he casted silently. However he did not give off the know-it-all vibe, he instead helped his housemates to complete the work and this gained Slytherin a bunch of points. They were alredy in the lead. It did not help that every turn he embarrassed the gingers and sabotaged their works. The Weasley twins never managed to lose as many points as they did the first few weeks of this year. He managed to steal the _Marauder's Map _and that would make their escapades more difficult, above all if someone told Filch were to find them every time they set foot outside the common room during the night.

He kept in contact with Harry through a pair of charmed journals he gave him during the summer. He made sure he continued his potion regimen and the Occlumency exercises, then they would have a private lesson during the weekends in an abandoned classroom.

During the evenings he interacted with all the snakes inside the common room and steadily and carefully he managed to create a few alliances inside his House. Differently from the other houses at Hogwarts, Slytherin is a sort of playground for those that would enter politics out of school. There were alliances and a certain hierarchy. He of course started in a high place for being a Lord and the Lord of their House nonetheless. He portrayed himself as available to the younger years, helping them with the workload and guiding them through the castle, and a cunning politician to the older years. It helped that he was often seen talking in parseltongue with Salazar's portrait above the fireplace, which was famous for not having spoken a word in two decades.

With the indirect help of Draco's group, the other Slytherins started to act more cunning. He dared not speak about mudbloods yet, but he could talk them into being a bit more resourceful and not getting caught while doing something against the rules. If you want to bully a little 'Puff, at least use a glamour and blame a Gryffindor, no use in getting the blame and points subtracted for these little skirmishes. They did not speak the word "mudblood" outside the common room, this way the other students saw that Slytherin did not mean Evil and Death Eater automatically.

In the course of a month, he got the school to think of the Snakes with less prejudice, but they were still wary of them. He himself had the image of the dedicated student and was often seen in the library where he would help everyone if asked, without caring of blood status and house allegiance.

Of course he did not sit still in September, he laid out the trap for the Horcrux. He placed several wards in parselmagic around the secondary entrance of the Chamber –how Riddle thought the real entrance was in a _girl's_ _bathroom_ he would never understand, that was the exit Silvana used when Salazar took her inside the school, otherwise she would use the other exits in the grounds- and he was sure Riddle never knew of the uses of parseltongue in casting wards. He talked a bit to Silvana and once brought with him the portrait of Salazar and left him there for some talking with his familiar.

Soon, the Halloween feast arrived. He made sure to be seen frequently and was always in the company of someone. He would spend the feast with the others, then use the time-turner and go in the chamber to wait for the Weaselette. It was one of his greatest moments when he thought of getting a time-turner, you never know when you need one. It was a pain getting his hands on one, that was sure, but he managed.

He spent the feast with the other fourth years, shooting here and there comments like, _"Halloween, filthy muggle feast, wizards celebrate Samhain not this pumpkin rubbish" _and similar.

He watched the Gryffindor table especially well and noted with glee that the Weasleys noticed their little sister was absent.

After the end of the feast, the Slytherins all returned to the common room, he remained with the other students to socialized and then retired for the night.

When he was sure all were asleep, he donned the time-turner and went inside the common room.

He searched for a little snake engraving beside the fireplace and hissed softly. _§Open§_

A little doorway opened and he made his way inside, casting cleaning charms as he walked and lit the torches. Salazar told him about the passages but he never had the opportunity to visit them. The old founder created a series of passages that went all through the school and could be opened only by his heirs.

He quickly went downwards, where he knew the chamber was located. When he reached a peculiar door, where instead of the usual snake he saw an engraved basilisk, he repeated the command and entered the chamber, right beside the statue of his ancestor.

He sat in a conjured chair in the corner under a disillusionment charm in front of the statue and turned the time-turner 5 times, sending himself in the past well before dinner. Now it was a matter of patience until the little girl would come out here.

He waited and waited until he heard the doors slid open. He watched as a little girl with bright red hair, freckles and second-hand robes walked into the main chamber. As the girl stood in front of the statue, Hadrian silently rose to his feet and walked behind the girl.

He bend down until his head was beside hers so she could feel his warm breath against her skin. He felt her stiffen and said.

_§Hey there little girl, are you lost?§_

* * *

**In the next chapter.**

**The rest of the school year ( maybe ) and lessons at Hogwarts.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form.**

**I apologize for the long wait, but I had to take some exams and I am studying for the post-break. I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but it is already in construction -it is a slow process for me to write in a foreign language so please point out errors and bear with me.**

**Furthermore, I read a lot of interesting fics lately and they gave me a lot of ideas for some one-shots or other mid-length stories. I do not know whether they will be published, if I will continue them and other such things, so do not despair if this story will not be constantly updated. I am determined to finish it, but I do not know how much time it will take me, the first chapters were already thought out in my head before I wrote them and now I have to think more carefully about the plot and so on. **

**If you have questions review and they will be answered in the next chapter.**

**For "carick of hunter moon": I looked at the profiles you mentioned in your review and I admit they point out good flaws in the canon plot. Maybe I didn't explain very well in the early chapters but the idea is that Ronald, like his sister Ginny, is set up since he was little to think of Harry as someone he should be close to. Obviously in the later years gold became involved excetera. Hermione is a nuisance in Dumbledore's plans because she had no part in them, but he adapted and "recruited" her, using her flaws to endear her to his cause. She was probably convinced that she was doing everything in Harry's best interest and so on... When the story will be completed I will probably rewrite some more confusing parts hoping to clear some holes I left behind.**

**About this chapter: tell me what you think about my idea of Houses and family magiks, I am interested in your opinion about this since it will probably come up in my other/possible future stories.**

**WARNING: character death. I really debated long whether or not to take this course of action, I wrote two different beginnings of this chapter but in the end this seemed to fit more with the personality of Hadrian, feel free to review.**

**Bye!**

* * *

_He waited and waited until he heard the doors slid open. He watched as a little girl with bright red hair, freckles and second-hand robes walked into the main chamber. As the girl stood in front of the statue, Hadrian silently rose to his feet and walked behind the girl._

_He bend down until his head was beside hers so she could feel his warm breath against her skin. He felt her stiffen and said._

_§Hey there little girl, are you lost?§_

_…_

Ginny turned around lightning fast but by the time she faced him he had already cast a stunner that hit her right in the center of her chest. He watched in detachment as she crumbled to the ground motionlessly.

Now he had to decide what to do with her. He never considered himself a cruel man; vindictive, yes, but not cruel. He knew that Ginny had plotted to dose him with potions since a young age, how could she not, growing up with stories about how her mother did the same thing with poor Arthur -he actually pitied the man- and he would make sure she would never use love potions on him again. _And she never will,_ he assured himself.

Taking a peek in the girl's mind, he was able to determine that her mother had already coached her to be the perfect Mrs Potter. Since she could understand what she told her, it was always stories about how she would marry the Boy-Who-Lived and give him a bunch of Weasley children.

Hadrian had never been more repulsed in his life. To twist a young mind like this…

Well, she hadn't done a thing for now and this was the only reason he would gift her with a painless death. He didn't want to go to the trouble of erasing memories or what not and this was the perfect opportunity for a preemptive strike against the harpy and Dumb-dore.

Laying a gentle hand on her face, he couldn't stop thinking about the children she gave him. After he discovered her crime, he hadn't been able to look at them in the face for the rest of his life until he made use of the ritual. Oh, he loved them alright, but he couldn't help but think they were _wrong_, if not for the potions, he wouldn't have had them in the first place. James… he resembled his mother too much to look at with those fiery Weasley hair and brown eyes. Albus –he would never forgive himself for naming his son after the old coot- was the one who most took after him, he almost was a carbon copy of himself at a young age, messy black hair, bright green eyes, wobbly knees… Lily was his favorite, she took after her paternal grandmother except for the eyes, but even then, the children didn't really feel _his_, at least, that's how he felt like once all the potions had been purged out of his body.

This would be a preemptive strike, removed the girl, remove the problem. Sure, she was still eleven, but with the way her mind worked, plus the influence of Tom… at this he remembered the Horcrux, still in the girl's hands, clutched tightly. He removed the little book, stood up and after a moment of contemplation hissed.

_§Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four!§. _His ancestor was such a drama queen…

The mouth of the statue opened and out slipped a gigantic snake, Salazar's pet basilisk. Her eyes were closed and she approached cautiously, tasting the air in the Chamber.

_§What is it hatchling?§ _She hissed.

_§Silvana, how do you feel about dinner?§_ He replied softly.

* * *

Hadrian was petting Elvida while watching dispassionately the other fourth years trying to summon an object during Charms. He got 20 points to Slytherin because he performed flawlessly and silently too and now was bored.

What could he do now? He had helped Harry distance himself from those gold-diggers, create himself a group of trusted friends and allies, began educating and tutoring him in more advanced magic and already got himself an Horcrux.

About the Horcrux… the first time he wrote in it he could feel its magic try to ensnare him and began to siphon his power inside itself. It was a laughable attempt, but Voldemort was sixteen when he created it, so he gave him some credit for the try. Anyway, sitting in the common room by the fire and reading the insult it threw at him was somewhat hilarious. He almost broke in two when he read its response to his full name.

The reactions after the young redhead's disappearance were mixed. On one hand, the majority of the castle did not even knew her, because of the diary she kept mostly to herself, alienating her peers. On the other hand, sitting at the table during breakfast and listening to Molly Weasley barging into the Great Hall and begin shouting at Dumbledore… he had a private good laugh sometime later in his room. He felt a little guilty thinking about the twins, Bill and Charlie, who had lost their little sister, but the rest of the bunch were completely rotten and didn't deserve his compassion.

The research parties scouted the school, but no trace was to be found. Understandably, her siblings were a bit stressed, they still didn't know where she went, if she was kidnapped or simply run away.

Now he had do decide what do to next.

He supposed he could gather the other artifacts but was in doubt whether to allow Voldemort's resurrection. On one hand, a lot of people were going to die if he let him, on the other hand, having a Harry who defeated the Dark Lord _another time_ as an ally would be beneficial. Seeing Voldemort trying to recreate his base of support when he had already taken it away from under his nonexistent nose… marvelous!

No matter, he would think about that in two years, he had a lot of time to think about the issue.

He could hire a lawyer for Harry and set him on the Sirius Black case, but in a year everything would sort itself, leaving Sirius another year in Azkaban was a rotten thing to do but it would be suspect if he just came across a rat and cast the animagus revealing spell on a whim.

At the moment he was focusing on his studies and making his presence known in the pureblood circles of Britain. Obviously schoolwork was not hard for him, so he spent a lot of time researching everything that took his interest in the Hogwarts library and the next year he would attend the iOWLs, the International Ordinary Wizarding Levels. They were more difficult than the british ones but were internationally recognized.

He fully intended to give a Yule Ball in his Ancestral Home and he still had to send all the invites to the right people. He would have to talk to Harry about it. There was no doubt the second year would want to come with him for the holydays and Dumbledore, who he made sure would not get even an inkling about the emancipation, would smile at him grandfatherly saying how good a thing it was he was bonding with his "family". Yeah, right.

He had however, to make sure Harry understood what coming home with him meant. He could not be seen during the party, most of those attending would be dark purebloods and the presence of the Golden Boy would not be beneficial. Christmas day he would spend at Malfoy Manor, probably, and then he would repeat the day with a time turner to spend it with Harry as well. It was the best thing he could do given the circumstances.

Once New Year arrived, he would take his family seat on the Wizengamot, now that he was fourteen, as the new members were traditionally introduced to the Lords on the first week of the new year.

During one of the Saturday lessons he gave Harry, the boy breached a new topic.

"Hadrian, various times you said something about Ancient and Noble Houses, is there a specific meaning in this titles?" Harry questioned curiously during break from the Occlumency exercises.

Hadrian blinked, then said. "What prompted this question?"

"I remember you saying that Slytherin is an Ancient and Noble House, but often this summer you talked about the Noble House of Potter and Malfoy, is there a difference?"

"Yes, of course there is a difference. An House gains the title of Ancient when it is possible to trace the family for over 10 generations and considering that wizards live on average one hundred years, it is around a millennia. My House can trace its origins till the beginnings of Middle Age." He finished proudly.

"The Noble title is gained when a member of an House accomplished something to the benefit of society as a whole, the Slytherin family was already an important one in the Wizarding Society at the time and when Salazar founded the school he gained the title of Noble for this action.

The Potters on the other hand are a relatively young family, your ancestors were formally recognized as a House when an ancestor of yours married a daughter of the Peverell line, which then died out because no male heir was born. Around three hundred years ago a Potter defeated a Dark Lord and gained the Noble title due to this accomplishment. There are a lot of Noble Houses and all of them have a family seat in the Wizengamot. The only remaining Ancient Houses are Slytherin, Black and Bones, the others died out because no male heir was produced."

Harry frowned a moment in thought, then after assimilating the new information, he asked. "I know of several families that go as far as a few generations, how come they are not part of a House?"

"Harry, a House is different from a family because all the members of a House share a common trait that made them stick together at the beginning, that's where family magiks come from."

"Family magiks?" He asked a little dumbfounded.

Hadrian sighed, curse the old man for never explaining things to the boy, now he had to do it himself.

"At the beginning, when Houses did not exist, a lot of people with a common trait used to rally together to protect themselves from the Muggles and live a peaceful life. Then generations after, the magic of all the members merged together and they really became a family in every sense, they shared the same magiks and that's where the family magiks come from, as well as the role and power of the Head of House. This magiks can be a peculiar trait, like Parseltongue of Metamorphmagi, even a particular affinity for the different kind of magic there are. A reason purebloods do not like to mingle with mudbloods is that they posses no family magiks and if their magic is too… let's say exuberant, it can override the family magiks, resulting in a child that can no longer pass down the traits a House is famous for.

The Slytherin line is famous for the gift of Parseltongue, the Peverells were powerful Necromancers, the Bones are famous Rune Masters, the Potters have a knack for Transfiguration and the Blacks had a lot of Metamorphmagi but they were not careful and ended up with marrying too close relatives and the magiks became corrupt, I heard of a daughter of the Black line that has reawakened the gift and even if she is a halfblood, having the gift is enough to guarantee her a good marriage. If you look at the tapestries of the various families you'll notice that certain families never marry into each other unless the members do not possess the family traits fully, I know that generations ago a Slytherin married a Black, but only because she was not a Metamorphmagus, the consequences of mixing two magiks so distinctive from the other are not known, that's why when you pick a spouse you have to take into account the various family traits, that's the reason why purebloods are careful with marriages and why betrothals are still used nowadays.

Back to the topic of Houses, each family member posses a particular trait and a lot of people together with the same trait make a House. The Head of House has little to no role today, but in the past it was its role to provide the family with safe housing and food. Today its more a ceremonial title, since food is no more a problem and most families have Manors since generations, a Head take the family seat on the Wizengamot and approves the marriages of the members of its family, that's all.

Now, something you didn't understand?"

Hadrian knew this kind of things were known to all the purebloods and he already knew his younger self had no one to teach him, but it still irked him that the old man left him ignorant of things of this importance. Harry may be a halfblood, but the magiks of the Potter family was still strong in him and would be passed onto his children, leaving him without this kind of knowledge would lead to a wrong marriage and centuries of careful breeding would be lost. It was a bit strange to see things like a marriage, which should be out of love, like something as _breeding_, but the tradition of the family had to be kept to the forefront of his mind. He too, would have to carefully select a bride for the continuation of the Slytherin family.

It was a couple of minutes later that Harry nodded, then paused and said. "I understood most of the things you said, a House is a gathering of people with the same gifts, the Head is responsible of its members and purebloods marry certain people to preserve this gift, the only thing I didn't understand was the part regarding betrothals…" He finished with uncertainty.

Hadrian fidgeted a little, how to put this in a way the boy could understand? When he found a suitable way he said. "Are you aware that Draco is betrothed to Parkinson?"

He expected him to ask question, but definitely he hadn't expected Harry to burst our laughing. After a few moments of hysterics, he calmed down enough to gasp out. "Draco… and …. Pugface?" and there he went, laughing again like a maniac.

"Stop acting like a common mudblood and compose yourself!" Hadrian snapped.

The effect was instantaneous, sure, the pairing was absurd and the girl had an ugly face, but Hadrian had done a lot of things for him, he started teaching him, he rescued him from the Muggles and now was imparting precious knowledge about the Wizarding World he should have had in the first place. It would not do to disappoint him. he straightened and schooled his features as much as he could before apologizing for the outburst.

The older boy waved a hand dismissively and replied. "Fine, now can you explain to me why this matter amuses you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry fidgeted a little, "Well… I know that they spend a lot of time together, but I just can't picture them together and Parkinson has a pugface!"

With an eyebrow still raised, Hadrian replied. "Yes, I am aware they spend time together, that's one of the reasons they are betrothed to one another and don't worry about her face, she will grow into it."

Once the excitement left him, Harry nodded to his cousin to continue the explanation.

"As I was saying before you rudely burst out laughing like a disgusting baboon" This was said with a glare that made the boy flinch, "Draco and Pansy are betrothed to the other because it's their very own magic that deems the union a good one. You probably never had the opportunity because of the war going on, but when children coming from pureblood Houses are still toddlers they are gathered with other children with a few years of difference and put together in a room with the parents overseeing everything. Since their magic is still growing and susceptible to the magic of others, there is the possibility that among the other children, their magic finds a compatible companion to continue the line. That's the reason betrothals are made at such a young age, very few are still used as a political move, most of them are to consolidate the bond between the children. Apparently, Draco and Pansy reacted positively when in close proximity and their magic reached to the other, this indicated that they were highly compatible with one another and that the traits of their family would be passed down to their children.

That's also the reason Witches and Wizards usually have only one partner, their magic searches for the best possible match and once it is found then the bond is for life."

"Now that I have answered your questions do you think we can continue with the lesson?" He asked.

Harry opened his mouth to reply but before he could utter a word he was silenced by a whisper.

_"__Legilimens!"_

He held the attack in place for half a minute before forcing his way inside Harry's mind. He was progressing admirably, he was able to keep his shields up during the daily activities but in front of a full fledged attack he still had problems to keep a capable Legilimens at bay.

He stopped the spell and nodded in his direction. "Good, even if unprepared you managed to keep me off for at least 20 seconds. Continue your exercises every night before you sleep and you should be proficient enough by the end of the year. By that time it will your responsibility to keep your shields to their fullest and increase their capacity. You may require a little guidance but after a certain level I can only help so much."

Thinking about Occlumency always invoked his anger towards Snape. He couldn't believe the bastard purposefully taught him wrong. Well, he had imagined it but he didn't think even Snape could sink so low as to teach him wrong such an art.

The mastery of this obscure branch of magic gave one an incredible boost of his mental capabilities, recall- and speed of thinking was increased as well as the ability to contain and control one's emotions.

One had to manually redirect his magic towards the brain, then you have to imagine the magic assuming the shape of a shield, then begin to _clear your mind_, basically emptying your mind of foreign thoughts and leaving behind a relaxed and peaceful emptiness. The basics weren't that hard, in fact, most pureblood heirs had basic Occlumency training to detect probes of Legilimens, but further than that, very few had a true mastery of the art. Reaching such a level made it possible to _brush_ one's consciousness against another's and receive feedbacks on their feelings and surface thoughts. That's why Dumbledore always seemed to _know_ things and know when someone was lying to him. To even trying to lie to a master Legilimens was practically impossible and this made him grudgingly respect the abilities of Snape, who he knew lied to the Dark Lord at every turn.

Another reason very few people were proficient in the art was that to truly learn it is fundamental to have the help of a trusted Legilimens to understand the mechanics of the defence against a mental attack and there were a handful in all Britain. After one had a good grasp on the basics, then it was just a matter of reinforcing the shields and being able to recall them in the least time possible. Most people did not have the perseverance to daily check them and left it at that.

Harry tried compose himself. "Thank you Hadrian, I really appreciate your help."

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the headache that he knew was coming. He suddenly straightened and asked. "Hadrian, you said we were related didn't you?"

Hadrian blinked. He really had no idea where this was going. "Yes… what about it?"

"If we are related how come you haven't taught me all the cool things I saw you doing with Elvida this summer? I am a Parselmouth too!" He finished with a little whine.

He regarded him with a serious expression. "I know perfectly well that you are a Parselmouth Harry, but I can't teach you the lore of my family. If I were to do that, you would have to renounce your name and become adopted inside the House of Slytherin, your family magiks would be _purged_ from your body, which is a rather painful experience, and all the things Potter would be lost. No sense crying over spilt milk. You have your own brand of family magiks and various family spells inside your vaults and manor, focus on those and leave the rest alone. The only way you would need to know parselmagic is in the case of my death. In that avenue, I expect you to continue my family name and pass down the knowledge, Salazar's portrait would help you in learning it. Now go to your common room and let the matter go. See you next weekend."

He watched Harry leaving the classroom and slumped in the chair. He didn't remember being so curious. It was question after question, the boy always had something to ask.

He sat there for a moment pondering on recent events. With the disappearance of Ginny hanging on their heads, the twins became distracted and he took the opportunity to relieve them of the Marauder's Map. It was his inheritance, after all. Well, his and Harry's, he would have to make a copy for himself in the future so he could give the original to his younger self. With the Map and the Cloak, he was sure to have no problem sneaking around.

He was still sore about the loss of the Cloak of Invisibility, unfortunately, the only things that came back with him were his wand and the robes he was wearing.

He thought about retrieving the Hallows and uniting them again, but in the end it was not worth it as he didn't have the abilities to use them to their fullest. _Master of Death indeed…,_ he thought. That story was a source of endless amusement for him. Luckily, he found the diary of Ignotus Peverell inside the Potter Vault and was able to discern the truth about the Hallows.

All of them, the Elder Wand, the Cloak of Invisibility and the Resurrection Stone, were powerful and very well crafted objects made by the three brothers. How that became a story for children he will never know.

It turns out the three Hallows were powerful foci for Necromancers, which the three Peverells were. The objects had each a connection with death –Thestral hair and Elder wood for the wand, the skin of a Lethifold for the Cloak and the frozen heart of a Dementor for the Stone, he still couldn't imagine _how_ they managed to get their hands on a Lethifold, much less skin it, he really didn't even want to speculate about the origins of the heart. With them, a wizard had much less trouble using Necromancy, calling souls from the afterlie, raising Inferi… all that tripe. Unfortunately the last known, and capable, Necromancers were the Peverells and they took the knowledge to their grave. Voldemort and his little band of Inferi was nothing compared to the power of the three brothers.

He could easily retrieve the Stone but he didn't want to even touch that thing, being from the future he didn't really know from which timeline he would be calling the souls from and didn't want to cause a paradox.

The wand was impossible to take, Dumbledore would surely notice its disappearance and the Cloak was with Harry.

He shook his head, _one step at a time_, he reminded himself. Now he would concentrate on his training and meanwhile he would make future plans, like how to discredit Dumbledore and make him lose all his position and face. He already had something in mind regarding the Black case…

He stood up and calmly went his way to the dungeons, it was nearing the end of November and it was time to send out some invites…

* * *

It was the last day before the beginning of the winter holidays and the teachers were gathered in the staff room for the usual end of the term reunion.

It was a cozy room, with a warm fireplace with comfortable chairs in front of it, a lounge and a little kitchenette area for little snacks during the day. At the centre of the room stood a mahogany table accommodating all the teachers.

Severus watched dispassionately as they chit chatted about the dunderheads he found himself to teach. He really couldn't understand the excitement in teaching. Sure, he found a potions prodigy once in a while, but they were so far in between that it really wasn't worth the effort. All he wanted was to stay in his lab, examining new potions, making new discoveries, away from the little idiots in the castle-

The Headmaster's voice cut through his musings. "-verus? Severus!" He called more forcefully.

He mentally shook himself before setting his full attention to Dumbledore. "Yes, Headmaster?"

He could see an amused glint in the old man's eyes, which were twinkling happily.

"What is the situation with your Slytherins? I trust everything is well and under control?" he asked.

Severus nodded, pleased with the way things were going in his favor. "Yes, Headmaster. This year the situation is more manageable and there haven't been any troubles so far. My snaked are performing well in class and we are first for the House and Quidditch Cup." He couldn't help the final jab directed towards Minerva, who, he notice with hidden glee, was fuming at him.

And it was true. This year the house in green and gold was performing spectacularly. Their grades were as high as ever, they didn't cause problems, few points were deducted and his Quidditch team was in the lead, sure he lost to Gryffindor, but they were still first.

It was all thanks to the new Lord, he thought to himself, since the beginning of the year, he noticed more and more of his snakes defer to him, as if he was the King of the house, which, considering his last name, was not too far a possibility. He was charming, that was for sure, and all the teachers were enamored with him. Furthermore, if what he heard from various conversations was true, he was a true prodigy. It helped things that he seemed to know his way around a cauldron.

Minerva scoffed. "Of course you are first in the Quidditch lead, with the new brooms your team has plus their game tactics it is obvious that-"

"Now, now, Minerva my dear, do not let such trivial things cloud your mind." Dumbledore intercepted in his genial voice, peering at the Transfiguration teacher from above his half-moon spectacles.

Minerva blushed slightly, feeling chastised.

Severus smirked, it was always such a fun seeing the cat animagus cowered by Dumbledore.

When he looked back to the aged Professor, he couldn't help but glance to his robes. Sure, Dumbledore was a powerful wizard, a cunning one at that, but his sense of dress was abysmal. Today he was wearing a purple robe with orange linings with little lemon drop scattering around in random patterns.

Severus focused on the topic at hand.

"Are there particularly gifted students in the new year batch?" Asked Dumbledore.

There were a few, as it seemed, the Creevy boy was particularly good at Charms and a no named 'Puff was good with plants. Severus nearly snorted. Erbology was a necessary knowledge for a Potions Master, but other than that, he could see little use in knowing how to pot a stupid plant.

Then Babbling said. "The new fourth year, Mr Slytherin is a prodigy in Ancient Runes, the other day he completed the assignment early and began reading a book on advanced Runes, I have to admit I am impressed with his knowledge." She finished pleasantly.

That triggered a domino reaction. Apparently, the rumors about his ability were well founded, even Minerva, who usually despised his snakes, had to grudgingly admit his talent for Transfiguration, Vector as well expressed her opinion of this new student and Flitwick was bouncing excitedly in his chair.

Severus had to admit he was impressed, not a single bad thing was said about him, which in itself was a remarkable feat, _the boy truly knew how to charm others_, he thought.

Dumbledore relaxed back in his chair and took a moment to analyze the new information before putting it aside for future pondering.

"Now, let's make our way from the first years to our NEWTs students…"

* * *

**In the next chapter.**

**Winter holidays and Wizengamot. **


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