Chapter 8 Part 2/2

Rodrick woke with a groan; his grandfather had shown him one of those lovely spells on a conjured practice dummy... It was downright screwed up... How could someone come up with something like that, it was completely and unnecessarily brutal.

He simply had to learn it.

Rodrick chuckled at the amount of work he was putting himself through. He really was turning into a bookworm. Putting on his robes, pocketing the things he would need for the day, Rodrick left the Dungeon. He woke up earlier than the other's hoping to get some early practice in before the lessons started, It was Friday, he had three subjects to look forward to. Arithmancy, Runes, and History. He smiled knowing he wouldn't even need to ask Binns for permission to do his own work, the man was literally too dead in the head to notice.

Outside of the dungeon, he found a special surprise waiting, a surprise in the form of a red bird.

'Ah right, Dumbledore,' Rodrick thought with a sigh.

"You don't happen to have the password? Do you?" Rodrick asked the red bird amused.

"Screech"

Rodrick stared warily at the bird before shaking his head 'I am really losing it... for a second I thought I understood that,' Taking his potions book out, Rodrick began his routine mantra as he walked towards the headmaster's office, the bird flew slowly behind him. It made for an amusing sight.

It almost looked like the bird was trying to take back its feather.

Passing what Rodrick assumed were two second-year Hufflepuff, Rodrick felt somewhat embarrassed when he noticed the girl's giggling towards him.

"I don't know why he's following me..." Rodrick muttered causing the two girl's to start laughing even more.

"Rude..." Rodrick whispered as they walked in the opposite direction.

He shook his head; he had more important things to worry about.

Reaching the Headmaster's office, Rodrick stared at the Gargoyle idly before wondering what the password could be... A small smirk took over the boy at that before he muttered one word that seemed to work. He doubted it was the password. Dumbledore must've heard it and quickly let him in.

"Horcrux."

...

Dumbledore stared down at the boy warily; he could feel his own Occulemency shields staggering slightly. He was unsettled... very unsettled.

"Hello, Headmaster," Rodrick spoke up cheerfully.

Dumbledore sighed after that; the boy was something else entirely...

"I am sure you have many questions," Rodrick spoke amused.

"Far more than I'd thought yesterday..."

Rodrick had actually laughed.

"I suppose so, where would you like to start?"

Dumbledore had a thoughtful gaze on his face at that... There were so, so many things to discuss...

"The vision you had... What did it entail?"

Rodrick eyed him at that, "Would you like to see it?"

Albus had a certain twinkle in his eye at that, "I wasn't aware a person could recreate a vision from the future"

Rodrick had a strange light in his eye, "I wouldn't call it that... You'll find out what I mean soon enough."

Albus called for the Pensieve to appear in his office.

Rodrick stared wide-eyed at the expensive artefact... It was so difficult to get a hand on one of those...

"How does it work?" Rodrick asked.

"Focus on the memory and I will do the rest."

Rodrick nodded. He quickly set about finding the memory, once that was done he gave the go-ahead to the headmaster who took his wand and placed on the side of Rodrick's forehead, slowly he set about removing the memory before placing it into the Pensieve.

"Shall we?" Dumbledore asked, amused.

Rodrick nodded his head once again before the two dove their heads into the clear water.

The vision appeared once again, surrounding them. Rodrick watched as Dumbledore's expression slowly turned to a frown, no doubt wondering where he was in all this.

"This is..." Albus started, confused.

"See?"

"This is not what happened..." Albus spoke, watching as the young Tom Riddle spoke towards one Harry Potter.

He turned and saw Rodrick's eye on the book.

"I suppose you saying Horcrux wasn't a coincidence?"

Rodrick nodded.

Albus turned his attention back to the scene, his thought's lay elsewhere regarding the boy next to him... He truly was an enigma.

Once the vision ended, Albus had a thoughtful look on his face.

"I must admit.. That wasn't what I expected..."

Rodrick nodded before admitting to having another one to show.

Albus raised an eyebrow at that before he repeated the process.

Rodrick and the headmaster this time appeared back in front of the same tree, Luna Lovegood and another version of Rodrick Grindelwald lay relaxed against it.

Albus Dumbledore was confused by the vision until Rodrick pointed towards the book in hand. The headmaster's eyes slowly adopted a frown at that. The vision quickly ended after that.

"I am as confused as you are..." Rodrick remarked with a sigh as he fell into one of the chairs.

Albus watched with amusement as the boy plucked a sweet into his mouth.

"Certainly strange, I presume this is what you meant when you said they were not actual visions?"

"I think they were possibilities... Things that could've happened."

Albus raised an eyebrow at that.

"How would the first one have happened?"

"I think it might've if I'd decided to go to Durmstrang instead, I did receive a letter from them."

"Hmmm... What about the second?"

"I don't know... Maybe If I'd known about the diary? I did have visions regarding Ginny Weasley... It doesn't make sense why I'd show it to Luna Lovegood though."

"The Diary is gone in any case..."

Rodrick nodded.

"There was something else... The second vision... I think that that version of me... he could sense me... he kicked me out," Rodrick spoke, earning an amused look from the headmaster.

"I believe it might have something to do with your wand."

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that.

"Elderwood is sensitive; it is extremely picky regarding its wizard... Some wands tend to even downright refuse certain wizards... if they deem them unworthy," He spoke thinking of his own.

Rodrick was trying to follow but failed to understand the point.

"What happens if two of you suddenly appeared before the same singular wand?"

"Ah!" The understanding seemed to click. "The wand would respond to it!"

Albus nodded to that. "It may have been that same disturbance that caused the other you to react the way he did."

"I think Voldemort must've sensed me as well but couldn't actually tell where I was."

There was a strange look on the headmaster's face when he spoke.

"Professor?" Rodrick asked uncertainly.

"Forgive me my boy, very few people would dare say his name."

"Oh right..." Rodrick responded, unsure of what else to say.

"How did you hear of the Horcrux? I hardly imagine you found it in a library book by accident... You seemed to know the diary was one as well," Albus suddenly brought up.

Rodrick looked down slightly; there was a thoughtful look on his face. Wondering what he should say.

Sighing, he turned back up to the headmaster's piercing eyes.

Pointing towards his head, "The mind shield... I am sure you've noticed it?" Rodrick spoke bemused, receiving a nod. "It does more than just protect my mind... it provides a link to anyone with my blood... to my Grandfather."

Understanding soon dawned on the man... "Remarkable... I take it this is how you learned your spells as well?"

"I see him almost every night," Rodrick added on, a small smile on his face.

Albus stared at the boy in front of him, there was an almost fond look on his face, "He told you about the Horcrux as well?"

Rodrick nodded.

"Headmaster?" Rodrick spoke in an impassive tone, earning Dumbledore's attention.

"Yes?" Albus replied, there was something about the tone of his voice.

"There's something... I am fairly sure," Rodrick started, watching as the headmaster's gaze strengthened, "You would find both difficult to take in and consider just as important."

Albus curiosity was peaked.

"I want the same value of information in return," Rodrick spoke evenly.

"A trade?" Albus spoke amused. Wondering what the boy was about to tell him. Something about his eyes though... Something warned him to avoid it...

Rodrick nodded.

"What kind of Information?"

"Regarding Potter..."

There was a sense of dread slowly filling up in the headmaster at that.

"Why is he a Parselmouth?"

Albus Dumbledore found himself walking on thin ice at that...'What is he...' The thought quickly halted itself. Was he testing him?

"I-" Albus began before he saw Rodrick raise a small hand.

"Professor... This is a matter of trust..."

"You suspect something."

"Looking through that vision brought back some memories."

"Such as?" Albus enquired.

"The diary allowed Ginny Weasley to open the chamber. The diary was a Horcrux. Voldemort had more than one."

Albus tensed slightly... "You want to know how many he has?" he asked hopeful.

Disappointment and a sense of dread took over when the boy shook his head.

"You know what I am asking."

Albus looked away at that. Sighing.

Rodrick waited with bated breath for the headmaster to answer.

"When did you start suspecting it?"

"I saw it... A thin cord attached to him... To his scar... The same one was attached to Riddle."

Albus' eyes widened, "You saw a cord?"

Rodrick nodded slowly, "The vision was strange, I could recreate the imagery, but the Magic involved... that I couldn't copy." "It's true then?" He continued.

Albus nodded slowly.

Rodrick sighed. "Harry Potter's a Horcrux," he confirmed. "Who did he kill for it?"

Albus raised an eyebrow at that, "You don't know?"

"I am grasping straws here Headmaster."

Albus looked amused, "Quite the large straws," causing the boy to chuckle. "What will you do with that information?"

Rodrick shrugged, "Nothing, it isn't my problem really, I'll let you solve that one. Just wanted to know for the sake of knowing,"

Albus started laughing, "You truly are a peculiar one, most students your age would jump at the chance to take control."

Rodrick chuckled, "Trouble seems to love finding me anyway, the small amount of time I get, I want to dictate to what I feel I need to do."

"Such as?" The headmaster asked intrigued.

Rodrick took and unshrunk the potions book.

"Ah the infamous book itself," Albus spoke amused, "A lot of your teachers have told me about that little habit."

"I wanted to lay off Gryffindor's points, give them a chance you know, figured I should get another hobby."

Albus frowned slightly knowing the points... The boy wasn't even bothered to win.

"You're still keeping up?"

Rodrick nodded.

The headmaster's eyes quickly went to the open page, recognizing the magic.

"Is there a particular reason you're attempting Extraction?"

"You know it?" Rodrick's eyes widened. If the headmaster could do it then...

"I know the alchemy way, yes," Albus replied evenly.

Rodrick deflated at that; he'd seen that form... It wouldn't work... if anything it might make it worse. Rodrick shuddered.

"Is there a particular reason you're going for the more difficult path?"

"I'll show you once I've managed it," Rodrick replied, a small grin taking over at the headmaster's frowning face, the man really didn't like not knowing something.

A few moments passed before the headmaster asked another question.

"Has your grandfather mentioned anything regarding his views of the world."

"Has he tried to push his ideals on me you mean?" Rodrick asked stifling a chuckle.

Dumbledore nodded.

"No... I think he tried it with my mom though."

That brought a sombre note to the headmaster.

Rodrick noticed the look on his face.

"You knew her quite well?"

Albus nodded slowly, remember memories of the young girl.

"She was a student here in Hogwarts."

Rodrick's eyes lit up at that, "Really?"

Albus had an amused look on his face, "She was in Gryffindor."

Rodrick coughed as if he'd swallowed a bug.

"What?" His eyes narrowed.

Albus was barely holding in his laughter. "Your father too."

Rodrick could slowly feel his world crashing around him. Turning back up he sought to get back at the headmaster.

"My grandfather told me about the Deathly Hollows."

Albus' eyes widened at that, "Did he now..." He asked unable to control his emotions regarding them.

"No," causing the old man to stutter. "I just wanted to see your reaction."

Albus shook his head at that, "Where did you hear about those three items then?"

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, causing the headmaster to momentarily wonder if he'd said too much. It was the boy's question that confused him though.

"Three? I thought there was four."

Albus blinked at that, wary. "Where did you hear about them?"

Rodrick slowly looked up towards the headmaster's gaze, "There's a book... In my vault."

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Never having heard of such a thing "Did you read it?" His mind already wondering if there was any way to convince the boy to let him read it.

Rodrick shook his head, "No, He warned me not to."

"Did he now?"

"Said he hated it."

"Are you sure we're talking about the same person?" Albus asked amused. Gellert had been obsessed with them. For him to hate it... That served to only intrigue the headmaster even more.

Rodrick nodded slowly.

"Is there anything else? Regarding them, you wish to tell me?" he asked a small twinkle in his eye.

Rodrick considered telling him about the necklace but refrained from doing so, "Not at the moment."

Albus frowned at the meaning, "Perhaps another time then. I believe you have a lesson to attend to in any case."

Rodrick nodded, he turned to leave before remembering his deal, "Do you still want to know?" he asked amused, a mischievous glint in his eye.

Albus considered the question carefully, something told him to decline the offer. "What does it relate to?"

"The war," Rodrick replied.

Feeling a sense of relief wash over him, Albus nodded, he had been somewhat afraid Gellert would tell the boy to reveal something earlier...

"What about it?" The headmaster asked intrigued.

Rodrick smiled, setting the headmaster off. "My grandfather, he knew you know, he knew he was going to lose that war. Years before your fight with him," The boy quickly left after that.

If the boy had turned back, he would've seen an inquisitive look on the Headmaster's face.

Albus Dumbledore took out his wand, examining it, intrigued by the unexpected new piece of information.

"That would certainly explain a few things..."

He turned to Fawkes and asked it's opinion.

"Screech"

Dumbledore frowned "It's not that far-fetched..."

...

Leaving the headmaster's office, Rodrick was pleasantly surprised to find two girls waiting for him, Tracey and Daphne both stood in front of the office with grins on their faces. Pocketing the potions book Rodrick moved towards them.

"So Arithmancy?"

Receiving two nods, the three friends made their way to their second first elective lesson.

...

He entered the Arithmancy classroom, the girls flanking him on each side; he noted amused at their lack of breath. It was understandable; the classroom was on the seventh floor. Looking around, the three Slytherins did not find any other housemates.

"We might be the only Slytherins here," Rodrick noted.

"We can actually interact with other houses then?" Daphne remarked.

"Certainly looks like it, unless one of those Ravenclaws happens to be spying on us," Tracey added on.

There were quite a lot of Ravenclaws... In fact, it looked like all of the third year ones had decided to take the class. Ironically contrasting the number of Gryffindors... Considering it was Arithmancy, it really wasn't much of an irony. It was too passive of a subject to really attract a Gryffindor's brashness. Then again Rodrick only assumed that was the case from the name, probably like the Gryffindors.

He raised an eyebrow at some of the stares they received; the boys were frowning at them.

"Wonder what their problem is?" Rodrick muttered as he moved towards one of the emptier sides of the room.

Daphne looked amused at the boy, "That's what happens when you beat a Ravenclaw in tests."

Sitting down Rodrick turned to the raven-haired girl, "The girls aren't staring at me like that," he retorted, amusement lit his face at the look Daphne's took on.

Tracey shook her head before sitting down. Daphne took the seat behind Rodrick, next to Tracey.

"Real mature..." Rodrick spoke.

"Hmph," Was the girls only reply.

The professor had just reached the classroom, She had long thin black hair and was dressed in red robes, a pointed hat resting on her head.

Rodrick took in his surroundings; he found maybe two Gryffindors? He didn't recognize either; they were huddled up with a group of three Hufflepuffs. On the left side of the room, ahead of his table was the group of Ravenclaws, there were nine of them situated near each other. Rodrick recognized two of them, Michael Corner due to his outlook, most of the third year Slytherins had initially thought he was a dark wizard and so attempted to befriend him.

It turned out he was just anti-social.

The other was MacDougal, a Pureblood witch. Some of the rest were familiar faces, but Rodrick didn't know much about them.

The professor had been about to start speaking before someone whipped through the door earning everyone's attention. Turning, Rodrick saw Hermione Granger.

"Sorry I am late," remarked the bushy haired witch, she looked around trying to find an open seat, she frowned slightly when she didn't find one near her housemates.

"There's a seat over there," The professor pointed out, her hand outstretched towards the seat beside Rodrick.

Hermione eyed the seat warily; she walked up towards the three Slytherins before slowly putting her bag down and taking her seat.

"Hello, Granger," Rodrick spoke first, trying to break the ice. Tracey and Daphne both looked amused at the situation.

Granger looked at him warily, her head slowly turning towards the girls behind them. "Hello."

Rodrick raised an eyebrow before chuckling, "Relax, they're not Malfoys," he spoke, his lips tugging up.

That seemed to placate the girl, Tracey, and Daphne much to Rodrick's amusement introduced themselves to Hermione.

"I know who you are." Hermione pointed out, affronted before she realized they were only playing around, the smiles on their faces gave it away quickly.

"Attention class," The professor's voice rang out. "My name is Septima Vector, I will be your Arithmancy teacher for the upcoming years and if you manage to make it to NEWT's I will teach you the advanced class as well."

Granger's hand slowly went up.

Rodrick's chuckle, however, stopped it halfway there, she turned to the boy, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Let her finish," Rodrick spoke amused.

"Oh." frowned the girl.

The professor continued, "You will need at the very least an E if you wish to continue with the subject."

"Ah..." Hermione muttered out.

"Your question?" Daphne asked amused."

Hermione nodded at that, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

The three Slytherins had to hold in their laughter.

"In this course, I will be teaching you the different aspects that have an effect on one's magic."

Rodrick drew himself in at that, curiosity up. He'd expected a more logical attempt at Divination, not what the professor had just said.

"This ranges from festive days, where the magic concentration is significantly higher causing an individuals magic to have a greater effect, to numbers that have a certain magical element added to them, the most famous of which is the number 7, discovered and researched by one of the more famous Arithmancers of our time. Can any of you tell me who that is?"

Hermione's hand went up once again.

"Yes, Ms?"

"Granger professor. The witch was Bridget Wenlock, an Arithmancer from the thirteenth century."

"Correct, 10 points to Gryffindor."

Hermione's face seemed to glow at the reward; she was amused to hear the groans coming from behind her. Turning to her right, however, she found Rodrick to be indifferent to it. In fact, it seemed something was taking up his attention.

Tracey and Daphne were shocked to see Rodrick's hand go up next. That was the first time he'd ever interacted with a teacher first.

"Yes, Mr?"

"Just Rodrick," replied the boy, earning amused looks from the student's around him, "I was wondering if birthday's had an effect like that?"

The Professor raised an eyebrow at that before the shadow of a smile took over her face, "There are indeed rumours surrounding that, some Arithmancers are currently researching into it, it is somewhat difficult to find out, however. After all, they would only be able to check once a year."

Rodrick nodded, it was difficult, normally anyway... An idea was slowly formed in his head.

"Are you planning something for your birthday?" Daphne asked curiously.

Rodrick shrugged, "Not really, it's next week you know, a bit late to start planning."

Hermione blinked at that; she'd been slowly trying to figure out an easier way to research the question.

"Next week?" Hermione suddenly asked, "What day?"

Rodrick levelled a stare at her, 'Why is she asking?'

"Friday," Tracey answered casually, earning two strange stares from the two around her. "What?" she questioned them.

Rodrick shook his head.

Hermione's mind was slowly working... "That's the thirteenth... Friday the thirteenth,"

Rodrick shrugged, "I was born on September 13th," can't exactly hide it at this point. "What does it matter?"

"There's a Muggle superstition regarding that date," Hermione pointed out.

The three Slytherins stared at each other at that.

"So?" Daphne asked.

"There's also one regarding Halloween... Christmas, all the holidays in fact and specific numbers like 7."

"You think there's something special about it then?" Tracey asked, her eyes lighting up.

"What usually happens on that day?" Rodrick asked, curious.

Hermione looked away, "It represents bad luck... Curses... Death... That sort of thing," she replied uneasily.

The two Slytherin girls looked uneasily at each other at that before they heard a snort from Rodrick.

"Yeah that sounds about right," he remarked amused.

Hermione turned towards the Professor, a hand raised, intent on asking about it.

To her disappointment, the Professor didn't know much regarding that date.

The lesson followed a routine similar to that, the Professor would teach, and a hand would pop up every few minutes. Rodrick hadn't asked another question following the first much to his friend's disappointment. The work involved mostly essay writing and the occasional diagram as the Professor explained.

Rodrick's mind lay elsewhere, however. 'There's no harm in trying I guess...'

When the lesson ended, Granger had quickly disappeared through the door much to Tracey's amusement.

"She comes in last and leaves first."

The others shrugged, they had two more lessons to go through.

"I have Divination..." Tracey spoke, avoiding Rodrick's amused look.

"We have Runes," Rodrick pointed out.

"We'll walk you," Daphne said with a smile.

"We will?" Rodrick remarked, earning a jab from Daphne. "We will," he repeated.

...

Arriving at the door to the classroom Tracey turned to her friends before thanking them, she was somewhat in a hurry considering they'd taken a detour to the girl's bathroom, Rodrick didn't dare enter lest his life at Hogwarts officially ended, she quickly entered the classroom, the door locked behind her.

"It's your fault she was almost late," Rodrick pointed out after the girl had gone inside.

Daphne huffed, before she could reply however she chanced a glance inside and found the teacher missing. "Teacher's not there anyway."

"We're gonna be late though," Rodrick pointed out.

Daphne pouted but didn't say anything.

They turned and found a strange looking witch staring at them, more specifically at Rodrick.

"Let's go..." Daphne spoke up, feeling unnerved.

Rodrick nodded slowly before he made to move however the witch spoke up first.

"You have the second sight..." There was an eery tone to her voice as she spoke "Are you a student in my class? You would fit in quite well... I could help-"

"No! Sorry I have a lesson right now already. Sorry," Rodrick almost yelled out frantic.

Daphne stared wide-eyed at the witch in front of her.

"Oh well, that's a shame then, if you ever change your mind..." A moment later the professor added on "Perhaps you'd like some private lessons instead?"

Rodrick shook his head quickly.

"I see. Very well then."

The Professor shuffled into the room at that, as the door was about to close Rodrick caught sight of something.

'Granger?' Rodrick thought. He wasn't sure if she'd been there before, 'Did she use the disillusionment charm?' Rodrick frowned somewhat at that. 'I thought I was the only one capable of that... In our year anyway.'

Rodrick sighed as he walked away from the class, Daphne followed behind.

"So you really can see the future," the girl joked.

Rodrick rolled his eyes.

"You look upset," Daphne pointed out causing the boy to sigh again.

"Someone else in our year can use the Disillusionment charm."

Daphne stared in shock at the boy's pouting face before she broke out in laughter.

Rodrick narrowed his eyes at the girl.

"What's so funny..."

"You're being petty."

Seething, Rodrick turned away, slowly feeling his embarrassment build up.

After calming herself down, Daphne asked him who it was.

Rodrick scoffed, "Find out yourself."

It only caused the girl to laugh even more.

...

The two arrived at their Rune's classroom late; Daphne had an anxious look on her face as she entered, behind Rodrick of course.

Blaise saw the two before he smirked at their lateness; he turned to see a frowning Professor. Seeing the look on Rodrick's face however he frowned, the boy was focused but... it wasn't at the teacher. 'Whats he thinking about?'

Nott seemed to have the same thoughts.

Malfoy and his goons glared at one of the three Gryffindor's in class; they hadn't even noticed Rodrick had entered until after the Professor had spoken up.

"I do not condone tardiness in my class, however... Seeing as this is the first lesson I will let it slide, do be careful to show up on time from now on."

Daphne nodded quickly as she went to sit, Rodrick, however, didn't react to the teacher, he was slowly following the girl next to him. Sitting down his eyes gazed over towards someone that shouldn't be in their lesson.

Hermione Granger.

'I'll ask her later... When there are fewer blondes around...' Rodrick thought apprehensive.

The runes class was... Somewhat disappointing, Rodrick had initially thought that they would be learning Rune magic, similar to what he'd seen in the writing on the wall in the second year however as the lesson went on he quickly found out they would simply be learning the very basics. Pretty much learning the letters to a language.

The most irritating part was that it was all theory work, the professor didn't mention anything about practical work.

"Will we do any practical work?" Rodrick asked suddenly, much to his friend's amusement.

The professor raised an eyebrow at him before she stifled a laugh. "No I am afraid not, it is quite the difficult kind of magic to attempt... If you can manage to get to your NEWT's, then perhaps you may be able to attempt some of it," She answered much to most of the class, most of the Slytherin's at any case, disappointment.

'I have to wait four years...' Rodrick thought somberly, 'Maybe my grandfather knows a few things...' Turning, Rodrick saw an interested look on Daphne's face, she seemed to be enjoying the lesson.

Rodrick turned back to the professor; maybe he was simply expecting too much too quickly.

...

The moment the ancient runes lesson was finished Rodrick took out his shrunken potions book and feather before resuming his endless quest of magic extraction.

"For a second I almost... Almost forgot that horrible book," Blaise spoke out, a frown on his face.

Daphne just chuckled at that. She turned to watch Malfoy follow after Granger and her housemates, attempting to harass them. Nott showed up to the small group of Slytherins just in time to watch Malfoy get hexed by Hermione; he was the first to break out in laughter.

"What happened?" Rodrick spoke up from his book; he'd missed it while trying to extract magic out of the feather.

Daphne turned to him, a small twinkle in her eye. "Find out yourself."

Rodrick turned to Blaise then who repeated Daphne's answer. Nott had already left them in favour of teasing Malfoy.

He twitched at that before he moved closer to Daphne.

"I'll sit with you; I think Blaise is ready to do History on his own," Rodrick remarked much to the boy's horror.

"She said it as well!" Blaise tried to point out.

"She had enough reason to," Rodrick replied, earning a laugh out of the girl.

"Come on I'd rather not be late," Daphne spoke up.

The three made their way towards the history classroom. Rodrick turned his attention back to the book. He grinned when he saw the chords appear from the Phoenix feather; it lasted longer than the last time.

"Another step done?" Blaise asked.

Rodrick shrugged, "No... Just lasted longer, a few seconds closer to the next step."

"How long is it supposed to last?"

"About a minute," Rodrick replied to their horrified faces.

"That was like 5 seconds..."

"I have got a lot of work to do then," Rodrick spoke, a grin on his face.

The two other Slytherins sighed.

Reaching the classroom, Rodrick didn't even bother asking the ghost if he was allowed to self-study, he took a seat in the back and simply continued with his practice much to Daphne's amusement.

"I'll keep some notes in case he says anything important," Daphne told him from his side.

"That'll be a miracle," Rodrick remarked. Causing the girl to chuckle. She looked up to see Tracey sit down next to a depressed looking Blaise; the two were in the table ahead of them. Nott and Malfoy showed up a couple of minutes after the lesson had started. "Thanks though," He added on grateful.

"Considering why you're studying that, it's the least I could do," Daphne replied.

They shared the class with Hufflepuff. Naturally, that meant Nott was completely on edge; he deflated when he saw Rodrick was too busy with his new hobby. 'At least he won't cal-'

"Hey," Nott heard a voice call out to him. He turned around and found a Hufflepuff smiling at him.

'No...'

"We heard about your situation." The Hufflepuff started, he had gotten up from his seat and took the one beside him. "We just wanted to apologize for ignoring you earlier; we had no idea you were supposed to be sorted in our house!"

There wasn't a hint of malice in the boy's words.

Nott blanched, turning around he saw every Slytherin either start laughing immediately or try to hide their faces and laugh, much to the Hufflepuff's confusion. Even Rodrick seemed to momentarily get out of his reverie to laugh at the situation.

'I am going to murder whoever thought that was a good idea...'

"I AM NOT A BLOODY HUFFLEPUFF!" he screamed out towards the boy talking to him, freaking him out. The boy frantically got up and returned back to his seat, a shocked look on his face. He could hear them muttering, calling him rude.

One of them had the audacity to call him shy, causing the Slytherins laughter to escalate.

Nott felt his body slack before he buried his face onto the table... Screaming only made it harder for others to believe him...

Binns thought he'd finally managed to get his class interested into something.

Outside the class stood two identical twins with mischievous grins on their faces.

...

The first Friday arrived with a surprise. They, like usually, had Potions with Gryffindor. Rodrick had expected it'd be the same as usual; they would go inside. Snape would put a potion on the board with instructions. The class would be told to make it. Slytherins and Gryffindor would spend half the time trying to sabotage the other. Snape would give points to Slytherin for no reason and take away any from Gryffindor for the same.

Neville Longbottom would explode his cauldron.

That was not the case. Rodrick had woken up earlier; he had only gotten his potions book out after arriving at the classroom, he couldn't risk being late. He had been expecting an easy lesson, the moment he saw the potion on the board he put his book away. He could've sworn he saw the hint of a smirk on the teacher's face at his actions.

There were no cauldrons about; they weren't going to create any potions in this lesson. It seemed as if Snape planned to explain the potion on the board. That was fine. The potion itself was one of the most advanced ones there was. Rodrick paid as much attention to it as he could. He didn't know why Snape had decided to suddenly bring up such a potion, but he wasn't about to complain. It wasn't one that could be found lying in a library book. The procedure to create it was unique as the Professor explained.

By the end of the lesson Rodrick had been itching to try to concoct it himself, remembering his already difficult goal of magic extraction he sighed, it wasn't exactly cheap anyway. The only potions that cost more involved Basilisk Venom. Even then he was glad for the lesson in the general; he doubted he would've gotten a better chance at learning the Wolfsbane Potion. Looking around he couldn't understand why everyone else looked bored.

It was such a wonderful lesson!

The only other person who seemed to understand that was Granger. The only time the others looked engaged was when the Professor picked on Longbottom, which he did quite often, news of the Boggart lesson had reached him.

Rodrick spent that evening in the Library finishing off all the homework he'd received; he wanted it out of the way as soon as possible. His group of friends had decided to join although they slowly left one at a time, the only one that managed to stick around for the long of it was Daphne although she had fallen asleep about half an hour before Rodrick had finished the last piece of homework. It took him far too many hours for it to be considered healthy before he was done.

Astoria had joined them just before dinner; she stuck around for 5 minutes before she'd left yawning, Luna had come and gone with her.

Daphne's head rose up slowly from the pile of books surrounding them; she saw the amount of parchment on his side before her face slowly took on a smile.

"You finished it?"

Rodrick nodded, finally relaxing in his chair.

"What homework do you have left now?" She asked, looking through her own list of things to do.

"Nothing," Rodrick replied, amused.

Daphne blinked at him, "Nothing?" her eyes slowly widened, "You finished all of it!?" she spoke a little too loudly.

They were kicked out of the library before Rodrick could even reply.

...

"So... Can you help me?" she asked sheepishly.

"With?" Rodrick replied.

"All of it..." she answered causing the boy to snort. He didn't have any energy to even attempt the extraction.

Rodrick put an arm over the girl's shoulder, "I could help you..."

Daphne eyed him curiously waiting for him to finish, surprised at the action.

"But you wouldn't learn much now would you?"

Daphne frowned. "You always help everyone else..."

"I expect more from you," Rodrick replied.

Daphne's eyes widened slightly, ..."Still not fair..."

Rodrick raised an eyebrow, "Just do what you can, if you can't finish it, I'll let you copy some of mine"

Daphne beamed.

Rodrick rolled his eyes.

"That's not helping anyway, and you never let the others copy you," Daphne spoke.

"Yea... If I let everyone copy me it'd be too obvious now wouldn't it, Consider it me paying rent to stay at your home" Rodrick deadpanned causing the girl to laugh. "Well... it's too bad you can't copy my test-" He didn't even finish before he got elbowed.

"Very funny," Daphne rolled her eyes.

...

The second week seemed to pass by even faster than the first. Rodrick's habit of diving straight into Magic Extraction had become a bit of a norm for his teachers and classmates for that matter. Most of the Gryffindor had been quite upset when they'd seen the teachers give him such leeway, perhaps the most shocked looks had appeared when Rodrick was allowed to continue the habit in Transfiguration; they'd all assumed the first time was a fluke.

Professor McGonagall hadn't been planning to start the theory on Animagus transformations until after Christmas, that meant Rodrick didn't need to focus as much of his attention in the lesson. He'd already shown he could handle each spell, all he really needed to do was some of the essays.

Rodrick frowned before he swept towards a seat beside Nott, nowhere else was free, he placed his potions book onto the table. He'd almost been late to the lesson, once again caught up in practice. He took out several pieces of parchment from his pocket before unshrinking them.

Nott eyed it warily, "You should consider a bag... What happened to your bag anyway?"

Rodrick snorted, "Don't know and this is easier."

Nott shrugged.

Rodrick felt more ok with sitting beside the boy if he wasn't going to be as talkative as he'd assumed. He had nothing against him really, it was just Daphne, Tracey, and Blaise didn't bother him too much while he was focused on the book. The other Slytherins were not as thoughtful.

"What is that anyway?" Nott asked.

"Homework," Rodrick replied causing the boy's eyes to widen slightly.

"But that's due next week"

Rodrick turned around, walking up to a surprised professor before handing it in.

"This is..." McGonagall started before Rodrick confirmed it to be the homework she'd set the last lesson. She skimmed through the work quickly, examining it before she felt a small smile take over her face.

"Well done, 5 points to you for Diligence."

There was a mild scoff in the background at that.

Rodrick was quite surprised at the points but thanked the teacher before he returned to his seat, he proceeded to read through the next part of the spell.

He'd recently found out the book had a strange charm placed on it, one that made it look like there were fewer pages than reality, one spell turned out to have almost a hundred pages dedicated to it.

The more he read, the more he realized just how extensive the spell really was. Extraction didn't simply have one explanation that worked for everything; it ranged from different circumstances. The essential difference was extracting magic from a living organism and non-living one. Then it went onto differences between inanimate or animate things. And from there it was split to whether something was solid or liquid or even gas... The list was extensive. He'd looked through the actual potion's in the book and was pleased to see only a few pages compromised for each one; it looked as if Extraction was perhaps the most difficult part.

Professor McGonagall watched Rodrick's desk idly as she taught the lesson, his head was focused down towards the potions book, reading through the large cluster of words. His wand at hand and a floating red feather in front of it. On the desk was also a quill copying down every word she said. Turning towards her other star student, she found the girl stealing glances towards the magical display.

"How much more are they going to let him get away with?" Ron grumbled to Harry.

Harry Potter felt pretty good, for once the spotlight wasn't on him, literally. Rodrick's magic was distracting everyone around them. He enjoyed feeling like a regular student.

"I don't see a problem, he's doing his work anyway," He replied to his redheaded friend who only frowned even more.

"I don't get how he's even doing that..." Ron grumbled.

"It's a quick quotes quill," Hermione pointed out.

"Don't those exaggerate everything?" Ron replied.

"No, some are made to simply copy down what the person says, properly. Either that or he's using a levitation charm on it which I doubt..."

"Why?"

"That spell he's trying... I've never seen it before; I stole a glance at the page he was reading, it's really complicated."

Ron rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he managed it," Harry spoke up.

Ron turned towards his friend, staring impassively.

"You remember the first year... And what he did last year."

"Where did he learn all of that..." Hermione muttered, "I tried to find where he got that book from, it wasn't in the library."

"Probably a family heirloom or something" Ron remarked.

"He's an orphan though, well he was... before the Greengrass family took him in" Hermione pointed out.

"He is, but he has a family name, so having heirlooms shouldn't be that odd," Harry accidentally spoke up.

His two friends turned to him at that.

"Do you know it!?" they asked at the same time.

Harry Potter was grateful for his head of house' interference at that. He needed to come up with an excuse for later.

"Please pay attention to the lesson," Minerva McGonagall's voice spoke out behind of Hermione, startling the girl.

...

The defence lesson was slowly becoming a student favourite. Remus Lupin, for his second lesson, taught the class about Red Caps. He had been somewhat disappointed that one of his student's seemed to lack any interest, it was the same one that transformed his boggart into a female. Sighing, he continued with the lesson; he did agree to let the boy work in his own way, he shouldn't have any problems with him as long as he got his work done. Which the boy did quite well, he was surprised to see him hand in his homework so early though. He had been tempted to ask for everyone else's before squashing the thought. The class would resent the boy and him if he did that.

Looking to one his best friends son, he watched, amused, as Harry's friends were badgering him about something.

Turning his attention back to the rest of the lesson, Remus Lupin explained the dangers of the small dwarf-like creatures...

...

Rodrick frowned, it was only the second week, and he'd already started regretting one of his electives. Ever since Buckbeak had almost injured one of the students, Hagrid had lost most of the confidence he'd had. Which led to the situation they were in now...

Daphne stared, cringing, at the red bloated looking worm in front of her. It looked utterly revolting... She looked around trying to gouge everyone else's reaction; she turned in time to see Tracey about to huddle over clutching her stomach. She went to help the girl before she saw a wane smile on her face. The girl slowly raised her head, confirming she was fine.

She watched as Hagrid quickly escorted a sick looking Neville Longbottom to the hospital wing.

Of course, she hadn't expected the vomit to come out anyway... She definitely didn't expect it come from Rodrick. She heard the gag and turned in time to see Rodrick release his breakfast to the floor. The class looked stunned at the sight, none of them sure what to think.

"If any of you... Speak a word of what happened today," Rodrick started out towards the students surrounding him. "You'll get to meet the Basilisk."

That was when the first reaction occurred. Ron Weasley had started laughing.

Rodrick turned towards the ginger kid before levitating every single worm in the room and sticking them onto him. The worms stuck around a few seconds before they were returned to their place. Leaving a pale looking Weasley in its place, froth had built at his mouth.

"Anyone else?" Rodrick asked a dangerous tone to his voice.

No one else laughed... Not openly anyway.

...

Friday quickly came, which meant it was double Potions with Gryffindor. Rodrick woke up with a grunt, the constant use of magic was getting to him. Reaching out of bed, he noticed everyone else still asleep. Looking to the time, he frowned slightly when he noticed he was up even earlier than usual.

He shrugged and got out of bed and had been about to go to the bathroom before he spotted a small wrapped up box with a small hole in the middle of it, there was a note attached. Ripping the note off, Rodrick read it.

'I know you're waking up before everyone else, so I had this prepared! Enjoy, Blaise."

Rodrick warily opened the box before he twitched. A dark look took over his face as he stared down at the red see-through looking bloated worm.

He sighed as he moved over towards Blaise's bed and placed the worm on the boy's head before he left the dormitory.

...

He walked warily through the empty hallway contemplating his options. His thoughts quickly went to Arithmancy, if there was a good time to attempt his magic it was today. He took his wand out about to attempt the magic.

"Crap..." Rodrick muttered out loud.

'I forgot the feather...'

He considered going back for it before he felt his energy drain at the thought. He was already in front of the potions classroom... He settled down on the floor, his back against the wall as he opened up the potions book and set about to read instead, he could always try it later.

It was about 15 minutes later before Rodrick heard the footsteps coming towards him.

'It's too early...' Rodrick thought warily. He quickly got up from the floor and waited for the person to appear.

A few moments later Hermione Granger showed up, she hitched a breath slightly when she saw him.

"R-Rodrick!" she spoke first, her hand slowly reaching to hide the necklace..."What are you do-" She was about to finish before she yelped. The boy had sprung towards her and grabbed the necklace.

"What are you doing!" she spoke at the sudden action, she was about to reach for her wand before she heard him speak.

"Where did you get this!?" Rodrick asked, slightly too loud. The necklace looked too similar...

Hermione blinked at that, he'd recognized it...

"Professor McGonagall gave it to me!" she exclaimed quickly.

"Huh... She did?" Rodrick asked confused; he quickly let go of the necklace realizing he must've freaked the girl out. "Sorry... Just a bit surprised."

Hermione nodded slowly.

"So what is it?" Rodrick asked curiously.

Hermione stared confused at the boy. "What is it?... You don't know?"

Rodrick frowned, "Answer..."

"It's..." she started but felt unsure about finishing.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, "I saved your life 2 years ago. answer." he deadpanned.

Hermione sighed at that, "It's a time turner."

Rodrick blinked at that confused, "What the hells a time turner?"

Hermione frowned, "I thought you knew, with the way you acted."

"Sorry about that... It looked similar to something else that's all."

Hermione frowned, he didn't seem like he was lying...

"I am guessing you use it to go back in time or something?" Rodrick questioned.

Hermione nodded.

"Explains how you were in two places at the same time."

Hermione's eyes widened, "You knew!?"

Rodrick shrugged.

"Saw you in two places at once by accident."

"And you never said anything?"

"Weirder things have happened."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at that.

"Like what?"

"Basilisks, Trolls, Dark Lords."

The two stared at each other at that before Rodrick started laughing first; Hermione copied him slowly.

"I am not even sure if this year is fine," Hermione spoke, amused.

"It's a Black year indeed" Rodrick quipped, smiling. He quickly set back down on the floor against the wall before he continued to read his book.

Hermione was about to copy him before she saw other student's show up, she moved a few spaces away instead, her eyes gazing at the book in the boy's hand.

The other student's all eyed the sitting boy but said nothing. He was weird like that.

"RODRICK!" Blaise bellowed as he paced quickly towards the boy on the floor.

Rodrick raised his head at that, seeing the upcoming boy he quickly got up off the floor.

"Good morning to you to Blaise."

"THIS IS NOT FUNNY!"

"I am not sure I know what you're referring to"

"THE FLOBBERWORM! PUTTING IT ON MY FACE!"

There were quite a few students surrounding them who started laughing, mostly Gryffindors.

"Prove it." Rodrick deadpanned.

"Prove it!?" Blaise asked incredulously. He was about to add on more before he saw Rodrick point behind him. Turning around he met Professor Snape's cold eyes, behind him a sniggering Malfoy.

"Go fix yourself!" Snape demanded before he swept into the classroom.

Nott was glad the attention wasn't on him for once.

Blaise turned back to Rodrick about to speak before he saw the dangerous glint in the boy's eye.

"If you weren't my friend, I would've fed you that," Rodrick whispered before he followed the potions master inside.

Blaise stood there, unsure of what to think... Perhaps the worm was a bad idea...

"Blaise?" He heard someone call out from behind him.

Blaise turned and found Daphne and Tracey looking at him, an amused expression on their faces.

Daphne laughed when she saw the mark on his face.

"Lessons started," Blase managed to utter before he moved past both girls, headed to get rid of the mark on his forehead.

Daphne and Tracey entered in time to see Snape move Longbottom to the front of the class. The two girls moved to sit next to Rodrick before they asked him what had happened, Longbottom was a table away from them.

"He wants them where he could see them... He doesn't want Granger helping Longbottom." Rodrick shrugged.

"Silence..." Snape spoke, "Today you will be attempting to concoct a Shrinking Potion. If you did your summer work properly... You should have no problems." His eyes glared at Longbottom, making the boy squirm.

Rodrick moved his seat in the middle of the two girls "In case either of you needs help" There was the hint of a smirk on his face.

Daphne rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.

Tracey looked grateful; they were all working on their own.

"I thought you'd be practising your spell," Daphne spoke up.

"Forgot the feather," Rodrick replied.

"Happy Birthday by the way," Tracey added on.

"Wheres my gifts?" Rodrick asked, amused.

"Back in the dorm... We didn't have enough time to get them," answered Daphne.

Rodrick nodded.

The lesson proceeded like normal; only, Longbottom seemed to mess up more often than usual. Rodrick stared impassively at the orange mess; it was supposed to be a clear green, the boy had added too much cat spleen to his potion. He turned to the potions professor, expecting a frown, however, Rodrick found a small smirk on the man's face.

'What is he planning?' Rodrick thought warily.

"Ah, Rodrick..." Tracey spoke up.

Rodrick turned to watch her potions before chuckling; she'd added too many leeches. He helped her finish the potion, it wouldn't be perfect, but it wouldn't be a complete failure...

"Done?" Snape asked from behind Rodrick's chair.

Rodrick nodded before he let the professor check his cauldron, receiving a curt nod.

Snape turned towards the other two cauldrons; his face a mask as he stared before he walked towards Longbottom's table.

"I still don't understand how you can do it so quickly," Daphne spoke.

"Magic," Rodrick joked, earning a huff from Daphne and chuckle from Tracey. It was half true; he used levitation and a few cutting charms to finish the preparations faster. The three however quickly turned their attention elsewhere when their teacher started speaking.

"Longbottom, Where does it mention the Potion turning orange in your book?" He started, "What will it take before instructions finally pierce that thick skull?" Snape sneered.

Rodrick felt bad for the boy; he saw him turn pink at the sudden insults. He turned to Hermione and watched as the girl attempted to get the teacher's attention, no doubt to help Longbottom. Rodrick sighed, when will the girl learn the teacher wouldn't let that happen. It was quickly becoming obvious why the professor had moved Longbottom so far away.

"Perhaps testing the potion out on your pet toad might make you more willing to listen carefully," Snape added on, a savage looking smile on his face as Neville's face quickly turned to horror.

Neville tried turned in an attempt of trying to find some help, Hermione was too far... The only friendly face around that could help him was...

Rodrick sighed as he saw Longbottom turn towards his desk.

"Help him!" Daphne urged Rodrick.

Rodrick shook his head slowly, "The potions a mess, no amount of ingredients will fix it..." he whispered back.

Daphne frowned at that, neither her nor Tracey knew enough to attempt themselves...

"What if you get rid of it?" Tracey asked.

Daphne shook her head, the professor would know. Turning to Rodrick however, she saw a thoughtful look on his face.

"Get rid of it..." An idea clicked, it was the thirteenth... And his birthday... It was worth a shot.

Rodrick relaxed when he saw his professor's attention elsewhere, focused on Potter. The boy was in a conversation about Sirius Black. Even Malfoy was paying attention.

Slowly he took his wand out startling the two girls.

"Tracey... Swap places with me," he whispered, the girl quickly nodded.

"Rodrick! what are you doing!?" Daphne asked

'Seriously? You just asked me to help him...'

"Shush," Rodrick replied before he turned to Neville. "Longbottom," he called out.

Neville blinked in surprise at the sudden name before turning to the source, "R-Rodrick?"

"Bring your cauldron closer..." Rodrick whispered.

Neville's eyes widened slightly before he nudged his cauldron towards the black haired boy.

Rodrick focused his magic, his wand hidden just under his sleeve. "Auferto!"

The three students watched wide-eyed as orange whiffs slowly trickled out of the cauldron.

Daphne turned to Rodrick, "It's worki-" She started before she saw his face, he looked pale.

Rodrick tensed, 'The book didn't mention it was this draining.' He could feel it quickly sapping at his energy...

"Just a bit more..." He muttered.

Snape's eyes lazily gazed over towards Longbottom before he narrowed them. The brats cauldron was overflowing... Focusing his gaze, however...

His eyes widened as he took in the sight that was really happening, he was about to speak up before he saw the source of the magic.

'Already?'

Rodrick watched wide-eyed at the orange liquid floating aimlessly in the air, he turned around and found most of the student's gaping at him, even the professor. 'So much for a distraction,' he thought amused. He quickly moved the floating liquid and let it flow easily into an empty cauldron. He made to move after that before he found his energy quickly disappearing. 'Oh, crap...' where his last thoughts as he let his head drop, face first into his table.

He was out cold.

...

A/N

To those who know what's going to happen, do try and keep it spoiler free for those who don't. It wouldn't do to ruin the surprise, now would it? Which surprise you ask? All of them.

As always, please mention any mistakes you come across, attempting to go over a read through after putting all of it in here ends in the page freezing.