A Revelation II

Hadrian dropped his eyes to the picture beneath the title. What he saw confused him greatly.

His supposed sister...had blonde hair and black eyes?

He could see the familiarities between her and Lily and maybe even James from the way she was smiling in the picture, but the rest didn't make sense.

Hadrian read through the rest of the article, it was filled with speculations about why they had hidden the child and if they were trying to learn from their 'mistakes' - no doubt implying that he was the 'mistake' they were talking about. The way they 'raised' Hadrian and his resulting 'Dark-Wizard Ways' that could resurface in the daughter at the hands of the parents.

They also questioned whether she was actually one of their own or if they had adopted, which Hadrian too found himself asking.

The picture was of the family shopping in Diagon Alley for Arthur's Hogwarts supplies, the child - whose name hadn't been confirmed yet, was in the arms of Lily Potter.

Hadrian looked to his grandfather for confirmation, "...She doesn't look like us."

Charlus looked back at Hadrian before sighing, "Yes, I noticed."

Hadrian let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "They didn't let us see her."

Charlus tightened his fist so tightly that the whites of his knuckles could be seen.

"I know.", he said.

They both sat there in silence for a while before Charlus spoke once more, "I'll have to tell Dorea."

Hadrian didn't respond to that statement, instead, he chose to ask a question that had been lingering in his mind from the first moment he looked upon the newspaper, "How is it that she looks so different?".

Charlus glanced at Hadrian before looking away and saying, "I suspect she's a Metamorphmagus. Your cousin, Nymphadora, also possesses the talent."

"I thought it was really rare?", Hadrian questioned once more.

"It is," Charlus sighed momentarily before continuing, "The talent became rarer and rarer due to the inbreeding in the Black family. They put so much stock into being Purebloods that they didn't even account for their special abilities being diluted. Abilities and traits like Metamorphasis or-",

"-Parseltongue.", Hadrian finished off.

"...Yes, Parseltongue. The reason for their re-emergence is clearer now. Andromeda, your aunt, married a muggle-born named Ted Tonks. The inclusion of new magical blood awakened the latent abilities the Blacks were once known for, the same thing happened with you and...your sister.", Charlus continued.

"That might be true, but Merlin said that the reason I can speak Parseltongue is because of my Dragonlord awakening..."

"Yes, but who's to say you never possessed the ability without the awakening?"

Hadrian opened his mouth to retort but clamped his mouth shut when he realized his grandfather was right.

"We knew they were hiding her...", Charlus said, disturbing the silence.

Hadrian nodded resignedly.

"It was too long. At least it wasn't for a different reason...", Hadrian replied.

The 'different reason' Hadrian was referring to was a miscarriage. Whilst very rare for Witches, the possibility remained - and Charlus preferred the baby being born and him being barred access to it than for it to die in his daughter-in-law's womb.

Hadrian was angry, which was rare for him. It was cruel...to deny him what he was promised. The fact that it was his blood sister, not adopted like he thought she was in the first place, made it that much worse.

The only solace he found was through the fact that Dorea would no doubt be sending a Howler at one point.

"I'm going upstairs to talk to Merlin about the parseltongue books.", said Hadrian, as he rose suddenly from his seat.

Charlus nodded, to which Hadrian responded by swiftly evacuating the premises - in fear of Dorea's early return. She was a Black, and the females from the Black family were infamous for their temper.

Hadrian made his way up the stairs and into the room where Merlin's portrait was hung.

"Old man.", Hadrian greeted.

"Hmph.", Merlin responded.

"Grandfather and I went to Gringotts to see if there were any vaults I could claim...", Hadrian said as he walked up to the portrait.

"And...?", Merlin inquired, raising a single eyebrow as he looked at Hadrian.

Hadrian sighed, "I'm now Lord Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Peverell."

Merlin chuckled, "Well then. That's a lengthy title!"

Hadrian smiled, "And you're not allowed to call me it."

Merlin smiled back at Hadrian, "We wouldn't want your ego to inflate now, would we?"

Hadrian ignored the jibe and moved on to the purpose of his visit - aside from avoiding his Grandmother.

"Within Salazar Slytherin's vaults, I found Journals and Parseltongue spellbooks.", Hadrian said, "I just wanted to know if you think I should learn them now... the Grimoire hasn't given me a parseltongue spell yet - or a dragonic one."

Merlin grabbed his beard and ran his fingers through it while he thought, until finally, he answered, "Hmm, I don't see why not. The Grimoire's parseltongue spells shouldn't be in Sally's spellbook, so it wouldn't make a difference. In fact, it would probably increase your spell repertoire."

"...Sally?", Hadrian replied - in a deadpan voice.

"Well...yes. Sally. He wasn't particularly fond of the nickname, but his real name was too snake-like for me."

"No, I mean - you knew Salazar Slytherin?"

"I knew all of the founders of Hogwarts.", Merlin replied nonchalantly, "I as good as taught them for a time. They were always a rambunctious quartet. Especially Godric.".

Hadrian looked at Merlin in awe.

"Oh yes - they were quite the rivals. All four of them.", Merlin's eyes glossed over as he reminisced, "I remember it clearly. I was on one of my travels, looking for something new - there's always something new. Imagine my surprise when I saw four teenagers, orphans - mind you, with incredible potential for magic. Sitting by a lake, in a small village in the north."

"So, you what? Adopted them?", Hadrian asked.

"Well not entirely, but I suppose I did.", Merlin replied.

Hadrian tilted his head in confusion.

Merlin chortled, "I took them away from the Orphanage, legally, yes - but not as a parent, more of a teacher. They were very grateful, even more so when I explained to them that I would be teaching them magic. After a month of looking after the little buggers, they came to me with a request - as their magical guardian, only I could fulfill it. Quite an unusual request too..."

"...Which was?", Hadrian impatiently cut in - he was growing tired of Merlin's games.

"They wanted me to legally change their names!", Merlin barked with laughter, "Such stupid names too! They thought they were quite clever, what with the alliteration. You don't honestly think that their birthnames were so ridiculous?", Merlin asked as he watched Hadrian's mouth hang ajar.

Hadrian shook his head, "O-of course not!"

Merlin shook his head and chuckled, "...Where was I? Oh yes- stupid names. After they picked their stupid names, they trained under me for a few years, before they set off to do whatever. I think Godric picked a fight with the goblins over a dumb sword and Salazar went off playing with his snakes."

"What about Hogwarts?", Hadrian asked, enamored with Merlin's story.

"Oh yes! Hogwarts! Another stupid name!", Merlin was overcome with laughter this time, wheezing and coughing until Hadrian too was laughing alongside him. "They were not a sensible lot, not at all. Hogwarts! I suspect that was Godric's doing - a practical joker, he was.", Merlin chuckled once more.

"I hadn't seen them for a few years by then, yet they came to me for help. I didn't do much but offer my recommendation on what the school should look like and whatnot. The rest was entirely their doing. Most of it was Rowena's...even the stupid swinging stairs, bloody fell off them the first time! Thought it was funny if she didn't activate the movement runes until I was about to step on onto the next set of stairs! Lucky I could fly...", Merlin finished off.

"...You really are an old man.", Hadrian finished off, grinning as Merlin regaled him with stories of the Founder's youth.

"More than you could imagine."

"So that's a yes, to the parseltongue tomes?", Hadrian asked again.

"Yes."

Hadrian then went downstairs quickly to retrieve the books that were shrunken in Charlus' pocket. He levitated them up the stairs and back into the room.

Hadrian took out the first Parseltongue book, as he was reading - he asked Merlin another question.

"Hey,-", Merlin looked at Hadrian, curious."- Who was Herpo The Foul?"

Merlin gazed at Hadrian with downcast eyes and a green complexion, "He was a truly...sick man. The things he did were just w-wrong."

Hadrian peeled his eyes from the book to look at Merlin, "What did he do that was so wrong?"

"I'd rather you not know. I'd rather I not know, but It is too late for that.", Merlin replied.

"...Alright. Only, Sally said that he was researching his stuff in one of the journals he wrote."

"He WHAT?!", Merlin shrieked, "That stupid boy!"

Hadrian recoiled in shock, "W-what? Why are you shouting?"

"Tell me, what was he researching!? I have to know Hadrian, this is important!", Merlin shouted again.

"I don't know!", Hadrian replied, "He stuck it in a dingy chamber under Hogwarts!"

"Promise me. Promise me, one day you'll look for the Chamber. I suspect he's hidden it quite cleverly, but it is of the utmost importance that we find it."

"I-i promise.", Hadrian replied, taken aback by Merlin's somber and worrisome tone.

Merlin nodded thankfully, "Good. Good..."

Hadrian went back to reading his book, but his mind was swimming with worried thoughts, 'What made him freak out like that?'

A loud shout broke Hadrian from his thoughts, "THEY DID WHAT?!"

Hadrian grimaced, "Grandma Dorea is home."