Chapter 7 Part 1/2 Butterflies everywhere

Dumbledore sighed as he looked down at the still form of one of his Slytherin students, he turned his gaze towards Pomfrey, the look on her face had long turned for the worse... She'd been scanning the child for the past half hour...

The girl who had led him to the disaster had already been sent off back to her dorm; no one else had seen them on their rush back to the infirmary wing, it seemed the Quidditch game had sent the houses inside their common rooms, each for their own reason. He had no doubt rumours of what had transpired would quickly spread throughout the castle. He'd sent a Patronus to both his Slytherin and Gryffindor head of house's to clear the mess in the first-floor corridor. It was that same mess that had his thoughts warring with each other... The boy had killed the beast of the chamber, a Basilisk... No those weren't the right words to describe it; the boy had destroyed it. In all his years at Hogwarts, Dumbledore never once thought to see such a scene. A child had taken Salazar's monster and torn it apart.

Rodrick certainly didn't get off lightly.

...

Young Miss Lovegood had bumped into him on his way back to his office; she had a bewildered look on her face, he had thought she was being chased or lost, he couldn't quite tell. The girl had spoken in rather strange terms, ones he'd not heard of before. It oddly reminded him of Newt.

After he'd asked her to calm down, she'd said one word that quickly got his attention, 'Rodrick.' She had then proceeded to lead him back to the scene of the first opening of the chamber... To say he was shocked would be an understatement, the girls yell had gotten him out of his reverie. Rodrick had been in a crumpled heap on the floor still clutching his wand. There was clear blood and a large cut on his robes, when Albus had opened it to see the damage, Fawkes had quickly flown over the boy's body and let off his tears onto the injury.

It was two deep bite marks on his shoulder; his arm was a complete wreck. There were purple blotched marks going down the length of his arm until his wrist, both sides of it, with two long deep scratches down the bottom side, worriedly enough the Phoenix tears could only keep him alive, the arm didn't look at all different. The boy's transfiguration had cracked, it had quickly unravelled itself, Albus had watched it slowly before being brought back to the situation at hand.

The young girl had thrown her hat over the boy's face, covering it, she'd stated it was dangerous to see his face. If it weren't such a bad situation, he would've chuckled. He turned to the poor frightened girl and nodded slightly before he reinforced the Transfiguration with his own magic, having to take out his wand to do so was another worrying factor. He lifted the boy up into his hands, hearing a groan, Levitation refused to work. As he'd turned to take the boy to the hospital wing, he had finally seen the state of the beast.

A nauseating burning smell emanated from it, from the outside the monster looked fine but from within... It looked hollow, inside through the mouth of the giant beast Dumbledore found charred skin, organs melted in. The Basilisks venom sprayed out everywhere across the hallway...

'Only one spell could've caused such devastation...' When he heard the girls frantic breaths, Dumbledore quickly put those thoughts aside and made his way to the hospital wing.

...

Madam Pomfrey hadn't asked much, the moment she saw the boys state she pointed to a bed and sent off the young girl.

Dumbledore's mind warred with itself trying to decide the next course of action; the boy had killed a Basilisk, a terror that had threatened his students, something all the current and future students would forever be grateful for. He found himself almost indebted to the boy. The other part of his mind, however, focused on the 'how' part of it all. A 13-year-old boy should not be able to harm such a creature. A 13-year-old boy should not be able to live after encountering such a creature. A 13-year-old boy should not be able to cast Fiendfyre. Albus eyed the wand in his hand; it belonged to the student in the bed in front of him. Casting a silent Priori Incanto, he felt his own shoulders slack. It was worse than he'd thought. A 13-year-old boy should definitely not be able to cast the killing curse.

His musings on his next actions, however, were disturbed quickly, however, in fact, they almost disappeared, replaced with worry.

"Albus..." Pomfrey spoke up, a depressed tone in her voice.

Dumbledore's eyes swept to her own, worried at the sound she had made, when he caught her gaze, he almost winced.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, unsure.

The woman made no reply, only eyeing her wand's spark slowly dissipate over the boy, revealing no information. Albus's brows furrowed, that was not meant to happen.

"What is happening exactly?" he asked once again.

Pomfrey shook her head, "I can't do anything," she answered.

Dumbledore's face took on a weary expression, "What do you mean?"

"His arm is cursed." The tone in her voice went lower and lower before she turned her eyes to the headmaster, "What happened? Why is his arm covered in Basilisk Venom?" she asked dejectedly.

"He was attacked by one... I found him in the first-floor corridor."

The medical witch's eyes grew wider at that, but before she could ask a question regarding it the headmaster raised a hand, "It has been taken care off, by the young man in front of us, Fawkes here, has already administrated a cure to the venom, the boy will not die," he finished hoping to calm her down.

The medical witch's reaction, however, was not expected. Her eyes widened before taking a confused look.

"That's not possible," she spoke in a faraway voice.

Albus Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at that.

"The Venom has already seeped in so far... It takes weeks before it could get so far..."

Albus' eyes narrowed slightly in thought before his answer came up quickly. 'Fiendfyre...'

The cursed fire had sped the process up significantly.

"What will happen now?" he asked feeling powerless. "The boy is still alive, how bad is the curse?"

The medical witch nodded to that before she returned her gaze back to the headmaster, "I do not know the full effects... I only understand one thing from it... My magic is not working on him. The curse simply soaks it up before destroying it, leaving no effect... Without magic being able to interfere..."

"The boy is in a coma." He finished, his eyes glazed with worry. The boy may not even wake up to deal with the repercussions of the spells used. That thought sent the headmaster mood even lower. How could he consider judging him after what he'd done? The difficulty of the Transfiguration now dawned on him; it had taken the elder wand as well as mastery in the field to overcome the curse.

Pomfrey nodded slightly, "One I cannot help him wake from... The rest is left to him,"

Silence permeated the hospital wing; They could only hope. Madam Pomfrey had questioned whether they should send him off to St Mungo's before the headmaster had quickly rejected it, stating it would be too risky to let them attend to him. The doctor had nodded at that; they would no doubt consider amputating the arm off to get rid of the curse, that alone was too risky a process. Of course, the headmaster was referring to them removing the Transfiguration, With how hard he tried to hide it and how much he knew...

Considering it took the elder wand to have any positive effect, their efforts would no doubt fail and as much as it irked the headmaster he was not well versed enough to risk making it even worse, he wasn't sure but considering what made up the curse... Odds were the dark arts could work, unfortunately, anyone who decided to venture to the dark arts rarely saw a need to find a way to wake from a coma, they were more focused on ways to wake up from death.

Dumbledore sighed, there were too many unknowns to consider, one thing he was certain of. The boy's guardians were not going to be happy. The irony hit too hard. If the attack had happened a year earlier, the Philosophers stone would've certainly helped.

As he bade the medical witch good night and assured her the boy would no doubt wake up eventually, he made to leave for his office to contemplate the situation further, he had two heads to talk to as well. Pomfrey felt resigned as she covered the boy's bed with curtains and moved away.

Dumbledore turned and saw the despondent healer before he remarked that thanks to the boy's actions no more students would be in danger.

...

The next day, the message was given off at the great hall. Several Slytherin students left the hall as soon as it was uttered, one Ravenclaw followed them. The rest of the house of snakes had mixed reactions to the news; some felt relieved that the danger had passed, others were angry, not that their own had killed it but that it had the audacity to attack a Slytherin in the first place. Others simply couldn't decide how to feel about the situation, one of them was Malfoy who was staring up at the headmaster in disbelief.

The Hufflepuffs had cheerful looks on their faces, no doubt having only heard the part about the beast been dead and not the boy who may not wake up. The Ravenclaws took the more intelligent side and were curious about how everything had happened, what could possibly harm a Basilisk? The Gryffindors looked both upset and relieved they did not have the chance to do it themselves, one Ginny Weasley looked especially relaxed, although no one really knew why she had been in a bad mood all month.

Some Gryffindor's were relieved their points weren't in danger anymore... And they called Slytherin the bad house.

House unity is quite wondrous at Hogwarts, they each showed their sympathy in their own unique way.

Of course, Some Gryffindors really didn't think things through at all.

"The Heir of Slytherin killed his own pet? Did he forget to feed it before it decided to eat him or something?" Draco heard a Weasley like voice mutter.

"He probably spoke to it in English and forgot it only understood Parseltongue," A reflective image of the first answered back, having just learned the beast was a Basilisk.

Some Gryffindors had laughed at the twins antics before they saw their head of houses thunderous glare, Professor Snape took the opportunity to disregard them of the few points they had, although he didn't look nearly as cheerful as they expected.

Even when he wasn't directly involved, Rodrick demonstrated a knack for taking their points.

Draco turned to the person in front of him, Nott, the boy, had a worried look on his face, although that could translate to a sneer as well. Nott really had no idea how to make any expression. "What do you think happened?"

Nott blinked in surprise at that, "Why would I know; I wasn't sightseeing about yesterday." he answered.

Draco rolled his eyes before he turned his attention back to the headmaster.

"The headmaster's hiding something though, all he's told us is that Rodrick's in a coma and that he killed a giant snake, bit of heresy if you asked me, what's next? Ravenclaw's cutting up a book? Gryffindors thinking? Hufflepuffs... I am not actually sure about that one, not showing up to a friends birthday party?" Nott remarked.

"What do you think he's hiding?" Draco asked back ignoring the boy's attempts at humour.

Nott shrugged, "Best visit Rodrick though; I don't wanna be on his bad side when he wakes up and finds out we didn't,"

Draco blinked, "You're a closet Hufflepuff aren't you?"

Nott told him to shove it up somewhere, Draco didn't hear, he was already on his way to the hospital wing.

Nott idly eyed the Defence professor; he had both an angry and hungry expression to his face, he looked like someone who'd just lost a Minister for Magic appointment due to being late. 'Sometimes I understand why my friends think I am crazy. My imagination really goes too far sometimes...' Nott thought to himself before frowning, 'Friends? Merlin, I really am becoming a Hufflepuff... Why didn't that Basilisk put me in a coma instead, maybe reset that transformation...' Shrugging that off, he quickly got up and followed the trail of the other Slytherins.

...

It had been a week since Daphne found out about Rodrick's secret, a week since she'd accidentally told that same secret to her friend, a week since her friendship with the boy was all but broken and of course a week since she'd lost the chance to actually fix it. How did everything go so wrong so fast? To think all of it could've been avoided if she hadn't jumped to the wrong conclusion and...

It was all her fault.

She'd been reminding herself of that ever since she saw the state he was in last week... He looked so broken in that hospital bed, the healer didn't let them stay too long stating she needed to get to work but everyone there could tell she couldn't do anything. All they'd managed to do was put some bandages on his arm and shoulder, nothing else. She couldn't stay long anyway, as soon as she caught sight of him she felt tears go down her face, the last time she'd seen him she'd practically attacked him... Lovegood's strange but cheerful demeanour had all but changed, she didn't wait to see the others reaction to that.

She'd visited him every day, accompanied by her friend, most of the time Blaise and Lovegood would either follow or already be there. Strangely every time they visited they found a strange red bird waiting near Rodrick, Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore had been endlessly trying to get the bird out but it refused to leave the boys side.

Dumbledore had been quite upset.

Luna had apparently been with him before he was attacked, she told them all about finding Rodrick in that classroom on his own which had led to Daphne fidgeting about herself, the girl gave her a wane smile and continued on with the story. After she'd finished Blaise decided it was a good idea to be funny.

"Look on the bright side... There's no way Gryffindor are winning the cup this year... Rodrick would've been proud,"

It didn't really help, mostly because Rodrick would've most likely pointed out that the headmaster wouldn't care how many achievements another house got, Harry Potter would overcome it. The fact he didn't or couldn't point that out was a sombre note.

Most of the Slytherins were in the dungeon; some were focused on studying, others were focused on packing to leave...

The holidays were starting soon, Daphne remembered, they were two days away. Rodrick wouldn't be coming with her. Her parents had shown up as soon as the news reached them, she was called to the headmaster's office on that day, her father had been arguing with Professor Dumbledore about the whole incident, after getting swept in a hug Daphne took Astoria with her to see Rodrick, the girl wouldn't stop asking. She did get a glimpse of her mother, she'd never seen her so furious. Her parents had stayed around the entire day, they refused to understand why the headmaster had insisted on keeping the boy at Hogwarts, Daphne knew why but couldn't find herself able to tell them, she'd already spilt that secret out to someone else already...

"Daphne?"

Daphne turned her face to the source of the voice.

"Yes?" she replied a little surprised, she'd forgotten the girl was there.

"Are you okay?" Tracey asked kindly.

Daphne nodded her head slowly.

The girl didn't believe her but didn't say anything about it.

"You should get ready... Were leaving tomorrow you know."

Daphne's eyes had widened before she got up.

"Is Rodrick re-" She quickly stopped herself before she shook her head and moved towards her dorm.

Tracey was left sitting in the common room staring about; she quickly sighed, the silence had practically smothered their small group ever since the attack.

...

Rodrick blinked, he found himself staring up ahead at the hospital wing ceiling, he called out to the healer but found no response. Looking down to where the Basilisk had bit his arm he was surprised not to find a scar. He moved his arms around slowly trying to get an idea of his body's state and found them as light as air, grinning at his bodies recovery he got up from his bed.

Looking down he was surprised to find himself dressed in dark robes. 'Didn't the hospital have different clothing prepared?' He checked for his wand and found it inside a holster on his trousers, as he made to move around through the wing his breath hitched slightly. There were more people stuck in bed than he'd expected. He remembered only one student getting attacked... Why were there four? He recognized one of them as Granger.

Did he fail to kill the Basilisk? That thought brought a frown to his face; he remembered it burning alive... Was there a second one?

That was the moment he heard someone running around the wing; he turned to see Madam Pomfrey, he tried to think of an excuse to be out of his bed before he saw her walk straight past him. She paid him no mind, Rodrick frowned again before he called out to the healer. He received no reaction. When he walked up to her, she didn't pay him any attention. She couldn't even seem to see him.

"What's going on?" Rodrick asked himself. He walked ahead towards the door idly wondering if it was a dream or not, it all felt surreal.

Reaching the hospital wing doors, he attempted to open them before he flinched, his hands had gone through the handle as if he were a ghost...

That was definitely not a good sign.

He shivered slightly before walking through the closed doors. He stopped himself there, 'Where should I go?' He thought to himself.

He quickly decided to set out for the headmaster's office.

Arriving there he found himself liking the ghost-like body, it meant he didn't need any passwords to enter or exit, as he walked towards the office. He was both surprised and wary to not find the headmaster waiting for him there, instead, it was his Transfiguration professor. He tried to speak to her but found no response, with a frown, he walked over to the desk and found a Daily Prophet clipping surrounded by other gimmicks. The contents of it shook him, Albus Dumbledore had been removed for failing to locate the culprit. 'There really was a second beast then?' Rodrick quickly made his way to a new destination, the Slytherin Dungeons.

Arriving there and once again having walked through the password-locked door without a care, Rodrick found another surprise waiting for him. The entire room was filled with Slytherins, they were all talking about something or another, he found it hard to keep track... Mostly because he saw the way his friends were spread out. They weren't anywhere close to each other, in fact, they looked almos- Rodrick stopped himself in his tracks. He was nowhere to be seen. He searched throughout the room trying to find his place but failed. He paid more attention to the conversations hoping for an explanation but only got more questions. Malfoy was the one talking, he spoke about how the headmaster had been kicked out, about the students that were attacked. He mentioned the four students he'd seen at the hospital but nothing about himself.

Perhaps the most disconcerting thing was that Malfoy had mentioned his loss in the first Quidditch game of the year. God bless Malfoy for having an ego so high he would bring that up as a point in this kind of conversation.

Slytherins did not lose the first game... And yet Malfoy was saying they did.

Rodrick quickly left the dungeon to contemplate his thoughts. What on earth was going on? Was he being shown the world where he didn't exist? It made sense, if Potter was still on the team, Gryffindor would've likely won... He was responsible for Potter getting kicked out. He was also responsible for the Basilisk dying, without that, it would've kept on with its rampage. The big question was why he was been showed this in the first place? One thought startled him the most, did he die? Was the afterlife a movie viewing of possible lifetimes or something?

Rodrick shook his head, he was pacing about the castle before he saw the familiar looking blood writing on the wall, only something else was written this time. His eyes widened slightly, the writing mentioned a student being taken. He turned around to face the first-floor bathroom, that was where the Basilisk had come out from. His gaze landed on three different people, Harry Potter, Lockhart and Weasley. Rodrick furrowed his brows as he walked closer to them. He flinched slightly when he saw Potter start to hiss at the sink, 'Parseltongue?' he'd never heard about it before... He watched and chuckled slightly as he saw the two young students push Lockhart inside.

He followed them, his curiosity too high to ignore.

...

He watched as the moron dived a child in an attempt to grab his wand, Rodrick facepalmed himself, of all the stupid things to do, he went for the broken wand. Ironically it did give him some confirmation; he watched as the professor attempted to Obliviate the two students, it confirmed Nott's theory on the man stealing people's achievement.

He really ought to give Nott more credit; he was right more often than not.

If he ever got back to his world any case.

The spell naturally backfired and propelled the defence Professor onto the ceiling, the resulting crash caused the place to start crumbling, Rodrick on instinct moved out of the way but remembered he was nothing more than a ghost here, ironically if fate decided to give him his body back at that moment he would've turned into mangled bones. He watched as Ron Weasley struggled to get the rocks out of the way, he knew he was being petty, he smirked triumphantly as he walked through the rocks with ease. He followed Harry Potter and watched as he once again hissed to open the large stone door.

...

Rodrick stared around in awe at the chamber, it truly fit a place Salazar Slytherin would create, he eyed the long-standing pillars, and at the end of the dimly lit chamber, the large stone face of most likely the ancient wizard himself. He turned his attention back and watched on as Harry Potter fidgeted about himself, he couldn't blame him. He'd seen more than one of the snakes on the columns move their gazes towards his classmate. Rodrick turned his attention to the statue, at the bottom of it lay a small body crowned by red hair, Ginny Weasley. He watched as Harry rushed to the girl's side and his attempt to wake her, his own attention was brought to the object near her hands, a small diary. Rodrick wasn't sure why but as a ghost his senses seemed to have been elevated, he saw a long silverish cord from the book latch itself onto the girl, and another, much darker, one latch elsewhere, he followed that chord and found it linked to a young man dressed in Hogwarts robes. He looked blurred...

Was he stealing life from the girl on the floor?

Turning his attention back to the book, Rodrick took his wand out and examined it; it was covered in dark magic... What on earth was this thing!?

He heard Potter start talking to the shade and found out the boys name was Tom Riddle; it sounded familiar, he was sure he'd seen it somewhere around the castle. The teen didn't reply immediately, his eyes were fixated on something, Rodrick quickly realized he was staring towards his direction. 'Can he see me!?' That thought was quickly put away as the tall, thin boy turned back to Potter and started conversing with him.

'He can sense me...'

Rodrick watched the two students. He found himself slightly put out at Harry's naivety, couldn't he tell this Tom Riddle wasn't going to help? The guy had taken his wand, which alone would've set him off.

The way Tom was speaking towards Harry was disconcerting; it was almost as if he knew him or linked to him. Rodrick had focused his eyes before he felt a shiver go down his spine. There was a small almost unnoticeable chord linked between the stranger and Harry Potter... No... It latched itself onto Harry Potter's scar.

Something about that terrified him.

Rodrick focused on as the stranger explained everything, from what had caused all this to its purpose and the diary's part? Ginny Weasley had been writing in it, it was cursed to respond and the more emotions put in, the more power the diary had over the writer and if it got enough...

The diary would possess them.

Rodrick started to understand why he'd seen the young girl in his visions whenever they involved the Basilisk, she was the one who set it loose in the school, and Tom was the one who gave her that power. Something else was confirmed, he didn't exist in this world, either that or he went to Durmstrang, he doubted the latter.

He took a long deep breath, he had a bad feeling about what was going to happen... That small connection was slowly starting to make him feel cold. Tom spoke about how he'd discovered the chamber in the past... How he'd framed the games keeper... How his newest target was the boy in front of him... If the last year was anything to go by, Rodrick just met the young version of Voldemort.

Wonderful.

...

The stranger just admitted to in fact being the dark lord, 'That was nice of him,' on a side note he really was lucky he had enough letters to make that name, on another note He wasn't pureblood. That had potential use...

Now that he'd gotten confirmation that this was an infamous murderer, however?

Rodrick took his wand and cast the killing curse at him.

It didn't work, passed right through him. Of course.

Maybe it was because Voldemort looked as blurry as a ghost, or perhaps his magic didn't work in this world? None of them seemed to react to the green glow, maybe only he could see it? The irony didn't hit him; he called the boy a murderer moments before trying to kill him himself.

Harry Potter really had a lot of sass in him; he ought to give the boy more credit if he ever returned to his world. He'd just insulted the dark lord without a care in the world.

Dumbledores oversized burning bird suddenly showed up, literally out of nowhere, carrying the school sorting hat... What on earth was that supposed to do? Was the hat going to sort Voldemort into Hufflepuff and hope he killed himself?

Still... Something told him that particular fact was important... For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why though. It was just a hat.

He watched as Voldemort demanded answers out of Potter, Rodrick noted warily that he was becoming more stable by the second and considered whether the killing curse would work now or not... It wasn't his world, who would care? He turned his gaze back to the book; he saw the chords had grown thicker... Perhaps...

Rodrick raised his wand before considering the fact that he could not affect the world... Not on a physical level anyway... He turned it towards Harry Potter and cast off the Imperius curse.

"Destroy that diary."

He wasn't sure if the curse had any effect, Harry Potter didn't make a move, Rodrick didn't have the biggest ego, but a 12-year-old should not be able to resist an Imperius, even if it was from a fellow classmate... The troll didn't anyway... The only reaction he got out of Harry Potter was a twitch, he didn't notice Harry's eyes glancing a look at the diary.

Rodrick sighed, he really couldn't help here after all.

In hindsight, he really shouldn't have taken his attention away from Voldemort, even if Rodrick was a ghost. When he turned his gaze back to the dark lord, his eyes landed on two golden familiar looking spheres.

'Ah, crap...' Where Rodrick's last thoughts as the world around him spun.

...

He blinked once again; he was no longer in the chamber, this time he was outside the castle. He turned around eyeing his surroundings; there was almost no one in sight before he gasped... He saw two figures relaxing against a tree... He recognized both...

Luna Lovegood was, if Rodrick could believe his eyes, pouting towards the person next to her...

That person in question was the part that freaked him out.

Rodrick stared at the second figure, disbelief writ all over his face; he was staring at the familiar face, the one that would appear every time he stared into those mirrors.

He was staring at himself.

Perhaps the most disconcerting part of all of this was the book in the boy's hand... His own hand? Rodrick really didn't know how to describe it... It was the same book, the same book that Ginny Weasley had. Tom Riddle's Diary.

Voldemort's Diary.

Before Rodrick could even say anything he watched as his other versions gaze snapped towards him, 'Can he? I? sense me as well?' Something inside him churned as he saw the other version of him get up and slowly point his wand towards him. 'Wait a sec-' Before Rodrick could finish that thought, he saw a spell hurl towards him that sent the world around him spinning before it was covered in darkness.

...

Rodrick blinked once again. 'Merlin how many times do I have to do this?' he opened his eyes and found himself back in the hospital wing, trying to move out however proved to be difficult and painful, turning his head around he saw his arm had been bandaged up completely, he heard something behind him and when he raised his head he found the familiar burning bird gazing down towards him. He was back in his world, back in reality. He wasn't sure what to make of the dream's he'd had, perhaps they were simply lives that could've happened... He wasn't sure how on earth he'd ever have gotten that cursed diary though. He watched around him idly and breathed a sigh of relief when he found only one student in the hospital wing with him, he heard a small screech of surprise and turned to see Madam Pomfrey run towards him, a smile on her face.

Rodrick relaxed back into the bed; he was finally back home.

...

He fidgeted around aimlessly; Madam Pomfrey refused to let him go until the headmaster had seen to him. He'd gotten painless use of his bones back after casting some spell on himself; he was surprised to find out that due to his lovely new curse, Madam Pomfrey was unable to do so herself. She had opted to show him how it was cast instead. The healer had given him his wand to do so; he was a little disconcerted to find it in her possession.

He stared down at his right arm; he'd opened up the bandages to see what they were like, with the healer's help. He frowned when he found two bite marks on his shoulder, there was a dark purple hue surrounding them both, when he looked down the right side of his arm, he found more purple blotches going down it. It seemed they weren't able to fix it. He sighed when he realised he'd be stuck with such an outlook.

"Do you feel anything? Unusual?" Pomfrey asked, as kind as she could.

Rodrick shook his head towards, "Feel pretty normal, I mean it looks horrible but... I don't feel different?"

Madam Pomfrey looked away; she felt sorry for the poor boy to be stuck with such a disfigurement...

He was about to ask how long he'd been on the wing for before he saw the headmaster appear through the two doors, he looked like he was rushing towards him.

"Hello, Rodrick, how are you feeling?" The old man started, a small smile on his face.

The two spent some time getting rid of the pleasantries, Rodrick found himself too tired to bother trying to push through them, he was tempted to bring up his dream but figured it was best to simply ask his grandfather.

As he was about to change the subject to something else, he found himself lacking for one, he looked to the headmaster and saw a familiar looking twinkle in his eye. He watched slightly wary as the headmaster asked for some privacy from the healer. He steeled his nerves as he spoke.

"How did you find me... I mean when you showed up?" Rodrick asked.

The headmaster's reaction didn't change.

"Miss Lovegood had taken me to where you were; I must say it was a smart idea to call for a professor's help although why you stayed behind yourself is something I don't quite understand. "

Rodrick sighed at that, "I had a weird dream the night before... When I reached the corridor, it appeared again..."

The headmaster's eyes almost sparkled as he listened in, "Do you have them often?" he asked.

Rodrick shook his head at that, "Few times really... I had the same with the troll incident only I saw what would've happened." A light of understanding filled the headmaster's eyes at that.

"I can understand why you decided it was important not to hold back in that case."

Rodrick could only nod at that before he explained the fact he'd seen the Basilisks eyes in his vision which in turn caused his paralysis and so he was unable to actually leave, even if he'd wanted to.

"Remarkable, to think the Basilisk's vision is strong enough to affect a person to that extent..." The headmaster remarked, the bright-eyed look on his face resembled a first-year learning their first charm.

Rodrick could only shrug at that. It was then he quickly reached his hands to his face slightly worried, before he frowned, wondering how his magic was still in place.

Dumbledore chuckled at that earning the boys attention, "You have Miss Lovegood to thank for that, she wouldn't let me see your face without your permission," He started before explaining the young girl's action after having arrived at the scene.

Rodrick could only let off a smile at the idea that a hat would've stopped the greatest wizard in Britain. Britain not the world. Britain. His grandfather was still alive.

"While I am against someone hiding like that... Everyone has their own reasons in the end..."

Rodrick nodded again... He knew the headmaster was more than likely dying to know... He sighed deciding it might be best to simply show him, however before he could do anything like that the headmaster spoke.

"While what you did is certainly a wonderful thing for the castle... I must warn you, that using such dangerous curses... I cannot in good conscience allow them, Rodrick, what happen to you..." Albus Dumbledore spoke, a stern tone to his voice but kind eyes, they were gazing to his arm. "It could've been so much worse."

Rodrick lowered his head at that; he was wondering just how much he knew... Fiendfyre was a fairly obvious spell but...

"Especially the killing curse... I will not say anything about it this time, the situation you were in... However, if it happens again..."

Rodrick quickly nodded his agreement; the bloody curse never worked anyway. He felt some relief when the headmaster had agreed to let its use pass.

The two fell into a small silence at that, Dumbledore settled back slightly unsure how to approach the next subject, however to his good fortune it was Rodrick who spoke first.

"You want to know?... Don't you? What I am hiding, where I learned all those spells" An almost resigned voice filled the room.

"It would certainly help to accommodate to you," Dumbledore sighed, "I do not want you feeling Hogwarts is a place you need to hide in, at the very least I don't want you to feel afraid from its staff."

Rodrick chuckled, earning a raised eyebrow from the headmaster. "Last years defence professor was Voldemort... This year's one is a fraud who Obliviates people and steals their accomplishments."

Dumbledore's eyes were shining with mirth at that, "Is that so?" he moved his head a little closer, "Where did you learn that?"

Rodrick shrugged, "Friend of mine guessed it, he's usually right."

Dumbledore nodded along to that as if to say it was plenty of evidence. "What do you think should be done about him?" he asked amused.

Rodrick shrugged, "I don't really care, long as he doesn't try to steal my achievement of killing that Basilisk."

Dumbledore chuckled.

Rodrick sighed slightly before he reached for his wand, and removed the Transfiguration at his face.

Albus Dumbledore watched with keen interest as he saw the boy's face morph and change, it truly was a remarkable level of magic, to think a boy at such a young age could perform it... His enthusiasm, however, was quickly replaced as he saw the familiar face... It was only then that he truly noticed the boy's eyes properly and how the familiar looking face fit it...

Rodrick was staring on slightly confused, the reaction he was getting wasn't what he expected. He had thought the Headmaster would feel cautious... Instead, all he could see in his face was regret. He was not ready for the next part.

Dumbledore watched in open shock; his past came back to haunt him slowly... One of his biggest failures as a teacher staring back at his face. A Mournful look took over his face as that same failure was screaming at his face. He was left speechless before he spoke of the first words he could think of that were appropriate for the poor young man...

"I... I am truly Sorry..."

'Sorry!? What? What is he apologizing for? Surely he realizes?' "Headmaster... I don't blame you for what you did; you really didn't have much choice in the matter..." Rodrick spoke, slightly fearful.

Dumbledore was brought out of his sadness, what was the boy talking about? He locked eyes with him but ignored the temptation to enter his mind, he was eyeing him almost cautiously before he decided to speak, "I don't understand what you are referring to Mr Gr-"

However, Rodrick couldn't help himself as he cut him off.

"My grandfather... I am referring to him..." Rodrick spoke warily.

Dumbledore took a whirl at that... 'Grandfather? Who is-' He was about to ask before Rodrick added on first.

"My grandfather... Gellert Grindelwald."

Albus Dumbledores eyes widened at that... His mind was burning through every memory it had, piecing together a puzzle he had never understood... It was slowly beginning to fix itself, in his head... All it brought him was sorrow. His mouth opened and closed, unable to comprehend an answer. His memories took him back remembering... 'How could I not see it? How could I...' The pieces made sense... they made too much sense... The more he thought about it, the more he realized how much he'd failed his oldest friend.

Rodrick watched as the headmaster got up and told the boy they would continue talking later, he told him he was free to leave for the Gryffindor common room before he swept his robes out. His voice laced with sorrow. Rodrick could only watch in silent shock as the headmaster left, 'What on earth is he? Gryffindor!? Where did that come from? I am in Slytherin... His voice... I don't understand any of this.'

Rodrick cursed slightly... He better not give Gryffindor points for killing the Basilisk...

Rodrick blinked at the thought before he started laughing at his priorities; he just saw his headmaster look half mad for a second and the only thing he could think of was house points. He moved out of the bed and made to leave the hospital, he eyed the healer's frowning face but gave off a smile, to which she sighed. As he reached the door, however, he turned back to her and asked her how long he'd been in bed.

Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow at that before she answered, sending the boy into slight shock.

"Two months, I believe you just missed your houses second game"

Rodrick cursed out loud earning an even more disapproving look before he quickly swept out, '2 months!? How many points did Gryffindor get in that time..." He frowned at that, 'Priorities Rodrick, Priorities.'

Rodrick had pocketed his hands before he felt something soft in his pockets, taking it out of his hospital clothing he found a single Phoenix feather. He raised an eyebrow at that before smiling slightly, that bird must really like him to give him a souvenir.

...

Albus Dumbledore had just entered his office, to find his pet Phoenix waiting for him in its cage, a sorrowed look copying him on its face. Dumbledore could only nod at it, understanding the sentiment. For the first time in all his years, since his sister's death, he felt truly lost.

He sighed as he felt his body slack into his chair. He eyed the book in his desk; he remembered how they'd found it almost a month ago, it seemed without the Basilisk the Horcrux in the book had grown desperate and kidnapped young Ginny Weasley, thanks to Harry Potter opening the chamber, found in the first-floor corridor. It wasn't difficult to piece those two pieces of information together; Myrtle wouldn't exactly keep quiet about the large snake's death, calling it vengeance. He felt somewhat bad for Rodrick; the ghost seemed almost obsessed with him now.

He had made his way down with young Potter and his friends to the chamber; he'd quickly dispatched of the younger looking dark lord by using a vial of Basilisk Venom on his diary. Severus had been over the moon after his storage of Venom increased thanks to the large dead Basilisk.

Of course, the highlight of that day was when young Harry Potter had effectively stolen Lucius's house elf. The man had been around trying to pin the blame of Rodrick's condition on him for a while... Not that he was wrong too, only he wasn't blaming him for the right thing, Dumbledore thought somberly.

HE sighed, there were still two things he needed to deal with soon, well three if you counted the whole failure thing... Best not to dwell on that, it would do no good, he will simply have to make up for it with the third generation. The other things that needed doing naturally involved informing the Greengrass's of the boy's recovery... Merlin knows the Matriarch will finally be glad and stop trying to raise hell towards him... Hopefully...

And of course, trying to figure out who would be winning the house cup for the year... Harry Potter, after all, had saved a fellow student's life... Turning his attention to the current house points, Dumbledore sighed, some battles simply could not be won. He chuckled slightly wondering how on earth Rodrick had caused Gryffindor to lose so many points; it really was a talent.

"Did I call him a Gryffindor?" Dumbledore spoke out loud.

Hearing a screech from Fawkes, Dumbledore turned towards the bird and saw what he assumed to be an amused look on its face.

Another screech had Dumbledore nodding along to the bird, "That's right, I'd nearly forgotten that... They were in Gryffindor weren't they?" Dumbledore smiled slightly, "You don't think he'd mind if I gave Gryffindor Points because of that?"

Fawkes could only screech disapprovingly at that.

Dumbledore sighed, "Alright, I suppose that is true..."

Fawkes screeched again.

"No, we wouldn't want to give him a reason to follow in his grandfather's footsteps I suppose."

...

"Gellert has got a lot of explaining to do..."

Fawkes snorted.

"Indeed,"

...

Rodrick was on his way to the Slytherin Dormitory, he contemplated the best way to explain the attack, but so far his mind hadn't managed to come up with a good enough reason. He knew it was stupid, but his solution came up in the form of practically hiding. He couldn't think of anything else; his mind was pre-occupied with the strange dream he'd had while he was unconscious. Looking ahead he saw the familiar corner; he knew the dungeon's door was around it. He was aware that his housemates would badger him on with questions the moment he walked in and his mind really wasn't in any state to deal with them, best sleep it off and deal with it in the morning, preferably after breakfast, it would be somewhat easier then.

"Here goes nothing..." Rodrick muttered to himself before he took out his wand and cast a Disillusionment charm on himself.

Rodrick turned around the corner and almost snorted, it was the same perfect as the previous year. He took out his wand, and Confunded said prefect once again and urged him to open the password-locked door. There was no need to set him off on an order like last time; no one was expecting him to show up after all.

"Salazar," The tall long faced boy spoke.

Rodrick followed the prefect inside to the dungeon and flinched slightly; it was brighter than usual. He turned around and inspected it; there were lights flashing around everywhere, the common room was packed with students celebrating. 'Guess they must've won their game...' His eyes quickly landed on one of his closest friends, Blaise, he was tempted to greet him before remembering his situation, and of course, the fact that the boys birthday had recently passed and Rodrick had failed to get him a gift. He whistled as he walked through the dungeon, no doubt freaking out some of the nearby students, he made his way up to the staircase and went to his dorm.

Flopping to his bed, Rodrick let off more magic onto his Disillusionment charm and hoped it would last until morning. He cast a silencing charm to get rid of the noise in the dungeon before he relaxed his head into the pillow. 'Just got up from a coma and already back to sleep...' He thought, chuckling to himself. Sleep quickly took over surprising the boy somewhat before he felt himself drift off.

...

Rodrick's eyes opened up, he saw the familiar mirrors and felt a smile latch itself onto his face. He'd missed this place. He hadn't actually considered his grandfather's reaction though...

"You stupid boy!" Gellert Grindelwald's voice ripped through the silence, causing the boy in front of him to drop to the floor in shock. "Why on earth did you think you could take on a fully grown basilisk!?" A storm of emotions lined the former dark lord's face.

Rodrick's eyes widened, he could feel his breathing steadily growing faster, he blinked several times before he caught his senses once again. He hadn't expected this.

"I didn't have a choice!" He yelled off, eyes frantically looking everywhere but towards his grandfather, "The Basilisk paralyzed me... Anyway, I killed it..." He added on hoping to mollify him.

Gellert's eyes narrowed at Rodrick however before he could bring up another point, he watched as his grandson stood on his own two feet, his eyes glared towards him.

"Stop reading my mind!" He snarled.

Gellert raised an eyebrow at that; he was surprised to feel Rodrick push him out quite quickly. It was strange... "You pushed me out?" he questioned.

Rodrick had blinked at that before he felt his brows furrow closer, "I.. I didn't do anything."

Gellert's eyes narrowed slightly before he noticed something emanating from Rodrick's arms, he pointed towards it and demanded the boy raise his sleeve.

Rodrick hitched a breath; he contemplated whether to listen or not before he saw the grave look on his grandfather's face, he quickly released any tension he had felt before he listened.

Gellert's eyes widened at what he saw.

"Looks pretty bad doesn't it..." Rodrick remarked unhelpfully.

Gellert however simply went closer and grabbed the surprised boy's arm, he traced his finger over the cursed arm until it landed on the boy's shoulder. "This is... This is remarkable... I've never seen anything like it..."

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, "It's cursed... The healer said her magic couldn't affect me because of it, I don't see what's so remarkable..." he remarked put out.

Gellert locked eyes with his grandson at that, "Don't be such a fool, Rodrick, don't judge something before you understand it."

"Really? Remember the war you started on a race you didn't understand?" Rodrick deadpanned

"I'll not have any sass out of you boy,"

"What's so remarkable about it?"

"It's a catalyst, the curse absorbs the magic in... My attack on your mind... It soaked it up and removed it... This is incredible."

Rodrick's eyes widened before he eagerly spoke out, "Is it an immunity? Against spells?" There was a sparkle in his eye as he spoke that.

Gellert frowned at him, causing Rodrick's eyes to drop slightly, his smile to falter.

"No... If that was the case the Legillemency attack would've been stopped altogether, if anything it seemed to increase its effect on you considering you felt it"

Rodrick frowned, "If it makes spells more effective against me, I don't see what's so special..."

Gellert shook his head at that, "You're not paying attention, Rodrick!" There was a disappointed tone in his voice.

"Sorry..." Rodrick muttered quietly.

When he saw the upset look on his grandson's face, however, Gellert softened a little. 'He's only 13...'

Sighing Gellert had raised the boy's face before he started to speak, "It soaks up magic meaning it'll draw in any spells cast at you. However, that's not the point here; it's not just spells it can soak up here... It might even be able to soak up curses, cursed magic, taking it in before destroying it."

Rodrick's eyes lit up with understanding, staring down at his arm he came to his grandfather's point, "It can work as a cure to cursed magic..." It was then he figured something else out, "If I were to try to recreate the effect... In a potion then..."

Gellert nodded enthusiastically at that, "Just imagine how much of a breakthrough it would be..." His eyes held a strong fondness as he stared down towards his heir.

A smile took on his face before it fell slightly, "It won't be easy... I have to work with Basilisk Venom... and Fiendfyre!" Rodrick eye's panicked slightly before he remembered the final possible ingredient, "Phoenix tears... How do I even get that..."

Gellert raised an eyebrow before chuckling, "That feather you got... It should be a decent enough replacement, it wasn't the tears themselves that kept you alive, it was the Phoenix magic inside, the feather should have some of that magic stored inside."

Rodrick frowned, "Where would I even start?"

Gellert had a thoughtful look on his face at that before a twinkle appeared on them, "There's a book in the vault related to potions, it won't have the answer but I recommend reading it first, it should show you how to extract magical elements out of objects or in this case show you how to extract it from that feather"

Rodrick had a frown on his face, "I can't access until I am 17..."

Gellert laughed causing the boy to raise an eyebrow, "The contract your mother wrote up gives you access to that vault or did you forget?"

Rodrick stared dumbfounded at his grandfather, "But the goblin said..."

"He said what he did to try and stop you. If you actually weren't allowed you wouldn't have been shown the vault in the first place."

Rodrick closed his eyes, 'I am a moron...'

"Dumbledore knows," Gellert spoke before he sat on the ground, Rodrick followed suit, he nodded his head towards the elder.

"Kinda didn't have much of a choice there..."

Gellert shrugged, "I doubt anything will come of it,"

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that.

"To be honest I didn't expect you to last this long,"

"How long did you expect me to last?"

"Until the second day, of your first year."

Rodrick frowned, "Very funny... I see you have such high hopes for me."

Gellert chuckled before nodding along to irritate the boy.

"There was something strange though... I think he thought I was someone else, he didn't link me to you immediately..."

Gellert's stomach tensed slightly at that.

"You don't think..." Rodrick started, hopeful. Gellert, however, stopped him.

"Let me tell you one thing, Rodrick... I mean this the best possible way... You don't want to know... not yet anyway."

Rodrick was a little startled at the tone he was hearing, "He knows doesn't he..."

Gellert nodded slightly at that, "He didn't know enough about it."

Rodrick eyes were downcast as he asked: "How bad was it?"

Gellert closed his eyes, memories filling in, "I can't tell you about it right now."

Rodrick's face took a frown before he could say anything, however, Gellert spoke first.

"It would crush you if you knew... Believe me... It's not a good story."

The two sat in silence at that, Rodrick trusted his grandfather, whatever may be said about him, the man cared for his well being. He sighed before nodding his head, he would tell him when he was ready.

"There's a book in the vault," gaining the boy's attention. "I don't recommend going near it."

Rodrick frowned at that, "Why?"

"You won't like it."

Rodrick snorted, "How would you know?"

"Because I hated it."

"How would I know which one?"

Gellert chuckled slightly, "Go near the bookcase... You'll know, and the necklace, the goblin was right about it, I don't recommend going anywhere near it until your 17... actually don't go near it until you're angry enough to do something extremely stupid."

Rodrick had a deadpan expression on his face, "What on earth are you talking about? Occulemency keeps me from staying angry for long... I'd be hard pressed to find myself in a situation where I am that mad..."

Gellert laughed, "Trust me... There'll come a day when that happens."

Rodrick frowned, "I hate Divination and visions and seers and all that crap you know... I'd be grateful if you didn't speak in so many riddles."

Gellert's laughter only increased at that, "It runs in the family I can assure you of that"

Rodrick rolled his eyes before he asked whether his mother had visions.

"You have no idea,"

"That's not at all ominous..."

"Have you considered what your extra subjects will be for your third year?"

Rodrick blinked at that, "We have to pick extra subjects?"

Gellert nodded.

"How do you know that?"

"Not important, answer the question."

"I don't know what the subjects are"

Gellert gave him a list of the possible choices.

"Ok seriously how do you know that!?"

Gellert shrugged.

"Come on tell me,"

"No,"

"Don't be like that."

"Stop acting like a child."

"I am a child."

"Stop acting like one I didn't tell you to stop being one."

Rodrick harrumphed at that.

"Well, which three do you want?"

"Three!? I have to take three!?"

"Technically you only need to take two... but you're a Grindelwald."

"Why not make me take all 5 then?" Rodrick asked sarcastically, lowering his gaze.

"It clashes with your timetable."

"Seriously How do you know that!?"

Gellert had an amused look on his face.

Rodrick grumbled, "I swear if you weren't my only family member..."

Gellert started laughing, "I am not your only family member."

"What?" Rodrick asked dumbfounded.

"You did have a father... There is that family to consider" Gellert spoke smiling.

"I never even considered that... I figured they were all dead..." Rodrick took in his grandfathers expression.

Gellert had a mischievous smile, "Do you want to know who they are?"

Rodrick's stomach turned to dread at that... 'Don't ask... just don't...' Every time he ignored that feeling something bad happened.

"No... It's fine..."

"You're dying to know, are you sure?"

Rodrick nodded his head, untrusting his mouth. "Out of curiosity how bad would it be?"

Gellert chuckled deviously at that, "I've seen you throw killing curses for less,"

"I don't want to know then, and I haven't for one. I barely use the spell," Rodrick defended himself. His thoughts went to Greengrass family and felt a smile latch onto his face. 'They're plenty enough already,'

"Though if you're happy where you are... I wouldn't recommend looking into it,"

That wasn't at all cryptic.

"So what subjects?"

Rodrick lowered his head in thought "Not Divination for one." Earning another amused look from his grandfather, "I suppose Arithmancy, Runes and Babysitting animals."

Gellert shook his head, "I hope you take more care when you're studying the last one."

His mind then went elsewhere. Focused on what he'd seen in the coma. "Grandfather, what was that vision about? the one I had while in a coma, it didn't make any sense."

Gellert raised an eyebrow at that before he asked him what he was referring to, having seen nothing of the sort in the short Legilimency attack.

Rodrick's face took on surprise at that.

"Why don't you show me?" Gellert questioned.

"Show you?" Rodrick replied unsurely.

Gellert nodded, "This is technically your dream Rodrick,"

A light of understanding filled his eyes before he settled on something. "I never actually asked how you showed up in here did I?"

Gellert snorted at that, "Blood magic," he pointed to his forehead and added on, "The Occulumency shield on your mind was placed by your mother, it gives access to anyone related by blood to your mind no matter how far."

"That's useful... Did you do it to my mother as well?"

Gellert nodded.

"Why don't others know about it, why don't they use it? It sounds beneficial." He questioned.

"Because of its cost, it takes a large amount of magic to cast... That magic that doesn't return."

Rodrick felt something prick down his spine at that, "Permanent loss?"

Gellert nodded at that.

"Then..." Rodrick started. Gellert, however, cut him off.

"Don't. Don't blame yourself. Your mother did it for you, the same way I did it for her"

"You were going to prison..." Rodrick muttered sadly.

"And she was being hunted down," Gellert accidentally let out.

Rodrick's eyes flared to his grandfather before he stood up. "Y-You Know! you know who it was!" He shouted pointed towards the elder.

Gellert raised an eyebrow before forcing the boy back to the ground with magic. "Calm yourself down."

"Who was it?" Rodrick demanded.

Gellert rolled his eyes, "What will you do if I told you?"

Rodrick's eyes widened at that, "I'd... I'd kill them." No other option really came to mind.

"Really... You'll kill them... A 13-year-old boy..."

Rodrick's face pouted, "I know the killing curse."

"How well has that spell worked out for you?"

Rodrick muttered some indecency at that.

"I'll tell you when you're ready."

"Again with the when I am ready crap..."

Gellert's eyes flashed dangerously at that, "I won't hear any nonsense from you now boy."

Rodrick gulped slightly at that, "Alright... Alright... But you'll tell me right?"

Gellert nodded to that before he mentioned something of interest to the boy, "Even if I told you now it wouldn't matter anyway."

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, "Why?"

"Because one of them is dead, the others are in Azkaban."

Rodrick's eyes widened at that, "Voldemort..."

Gellert nodded, "It was most likely his orders, and before you jump to conclusions, Malfoy was not involved"

Eyes narrowing Rodrick spoke, calmly. "You're sure?"

"He wouldn't have approached you otherwise, besides did you detect any hints of him lying when you spoke to him?"

Rodrick pouted slightly, "No... But-"

"No, you will not go around murdering former Death-Eaters under an assumption."

"You sound like Dumbledore," Rodrick Muttered.

"You take that back right now!" Gellert Thundered mockingly.

Rodrick stared in shock, "Gellert Grindelwald has a sense of humour..."

Gellert rolled his eyes before he stood up, urging the boy to do the same. "Show me what you saw."

...

Rodrick and his Grandfather were currently seeing the small vision Rodrick had gone through, they were both there watching as Harry Potter spoke off towards Tom Riddle.

"I tried to cast the killing curse at him here..."

"Of course you did," Gellert replied somewhat worried and amused.

"What's wrong with the book?" Rodrick asked pointing towards it.

Gellert stared towards it before remarking, "This is only a copy of what you saw Rodrick, they are only images, the magic you witnessed cannot be reproduced."

It was then Rodrick ended the dream, Gellert looked towards his grandson in a questioning glance, "Why did you end it?"

Rodrick looked down embarrassed, "Basilisk showed up then... Kinda kicked me out..."

"The number of times you've stared into that beasts eyes is worrying."

"I am still alive..."

"Thankfully,"

"So what was with the book? How could it possess someone? And then release Voldemort."

Gellert eyed the boy, wondering how much he could tell him.

"The book was a Horcrux."

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that before asking what that was.

After explaining said magic to Rodrick, Gellert watched as he processed the information.

"You'll tell me about that and yet still believe I am not ready for other things?" Rodrick accused.

"Stop pouting, you're not a girl."

Rodrick rolled his eyes, "So Voldemort's is dead then? His Horcrux is gone," He had a sinking feeling he was wrong, which was only confirmed when his grandfather mentioned Voldemort potentially having more than one considering how careless he was with the book.

"Besides it's that world's diary that's gone... I am not so sure about your one."

Rodrick stared in open shock at the words his grandfather had used.

Gellert was slightly wary of the way his grandson was staring at him before he realized why.

"What do you mean that world... The way you said it..."

"Rodrick-"

"I saw something else! I saw mysel-"

Everything went black.

...

Rodrick blinked and found himself back in his dorm, Disillusionment still in place.

'He kicked me out... He kicked me out of my own dream...' He felt himself slowly drifting back into bed.

Waking up the following day, memories of his grandfather's last words before leaving said dream were gone.