Chapter 2

Hadrian was sitting on a chair in what he recognised to be the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. He had only been in the ancestral house of the Blacks once before, but it was hard not to recognise the place even though it looked slightly better than the last time he had seen it.

He had his wand clutched tightly in his hand as his eyes kept roaming the room looking for any potential threats. While his face was completely neutral and emotionless, mentally, he was frowning as he thought back to how he came to sit here.

After the red-headed woman's outburst, things had quickly escalated, as more and more people started to shout things, trying to be heard over each other. And as always in his life, things went from bad to worse when the woman came at Harry with her arms wide and tears in her eyes.

In hindsight, it was pretty obvious she wanted to hug him, but Harry only saw a possible threat move toward him and reacted with instincts that were honed through countless battles. The woman had barely taken two steps forward before Harry had drawn his wand and had fired a stunner.

This … hadn't been his brightest idea. Though that could not be helped since even his Occlumency sheilds could not dampen the momentary emotion he had felt. Otherwise, he would have simply moved to the side rather than rely upon instincts. Moments after he had pulled his wand and downed the woman, he was surrounded by angry, slightly shocked and armed witches and wizards who all had their wands trained at him.

This wasn't the greatest situation for Hadrian to be in, but he wasn't deterred. He had faced worse and survived. There was no way he was going down.

With that in mind, Harry moved in one fluid motion. He raised his hand in the air while going down on one knee. He then clenched his eyes shut and fired a Lumos Maxima while ensuring his magical sense spread out to spot any movement or acts of Magic.

After he had become one with the hollows that had responded to each of his bloodline, thereby allowing him to become much superior to any other, he had slowly surely earned the title master of death. Though the title could have been interpreted having control of death, it was far too misleading.

The result was as Hadrian expected, almost all of the people in the room used both their hands to shield their eyes from the sudden light in the before rather dark room. Not everyone was affected as Hadrian effortlessly cast a shield charm to protect him from an incoming spell.

Glancing through his transparent shield, Harry saw the caster was none other than the supposed deceased Auror Alastor 'mad eye' Moody.

''Enough!'' Dumbledore bellowed. ''lower your wands.''

Moody sharply glanced at Dumbledore while keeping Hadrian within his sights with his fake eyes. A silent communication seemed to pass between them, and then after several moments of silent communication, Moody reluctantly lowered his wand.

By now the Order members had regained their sight for the most part and they clearly had heard their leaders words as they didn't aim their wands at Hadrian again, though they still were looking at Harry cautiously.

Dumbledore coughed a bit uncomfortably. This was not how he had expected the first meeting with 'the hero' to go.

''I can see that we are all a bit stressed'' He said, and Hardrian snorted inwardly.

'There is no doubt that was Dumbledore alright. Way to state the obvious.' Hadrian thought.

''I suggest we all adjourn to the kitchen so that we all can sit down and talk peacefully about all this.''

Hadrian thought about it for a split moment, but in the end, his need for information had won out over any other argument in his head. Especially since he knew he had the ability to leave at any time. In any case wherever he was, the connection he had to the Grimmauld palace had not altered, thank to him being the Lord of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black.

''Lead the way.'' He had said as he made sure he didn't have too many people behind him.

And so now here he was sitting at a table facing a bunch of people who looked like they had seen a ghost (which shouldn't be too surprising for them). His plan of action was of now unknown. He had no information about the situation he was in, but he knew better than to crumble. Had he, he would be a disappointment to his family name, his bloodline, his ancestors. There had never been a moment where he had simply given up. He had been taught better than that.

XxX

''Now,'' He said as his eyes swept over Hadrian. ''Tell me what the most important thing in any battle is?''

''To be stronger than your opponent?'' Hadrian naively answered.

''To be stronger than you opponent …'' The man repeated, ending with a slight snort. ''What strength? Physical strength? Magical strength? No, strength alone is useless. You can be as magically powerful as Merlin, but if you are slow as hell or if your aim is shit then all the strength in the world won't help you.''

''To have greater numbers than your opponents?''

''Good try.'' The man admitted. ''Even when facing a far superior opponent, you can pull off different strategies that will lead to victory if you outnumber them, but like power, it is not the most important thing. Try again. "

''Knowledge,'' Hadrian answered. ''If you know more spells than your opponents, then you can win.''

''Partially correct.'' The man replied. ''I am sure you have heard of the saying 'knowledge is power.' In a fight, magical knowledge is very important. So, for example, there are shield spells that can be used to shield yourself against specific spells but are useless against others. Those shields are usually less taxing on our magical reserves, but if you identify the incoming curse wrong, then your shield will be useless. Thus, there is a need for knowledge, but it is far more than that. Having information on your opponent is just as important. Facing an unknown is far more dangerous than facing an opponent of whom you know things. For example, most people, regardless of how much knowledge they have, tend to favour certain spells. If you know what this spell is, then you are less likely to be caught off guard. It's the same when you look at it on a grander scale. How do you expect to make a proper strategy if you don't know your enemies' numbers?If you don't know whether or not there are wards or how skilled your opponents are?''

Salazar Slytherin was silent for a moment, giving hadrian a moment to absorb his words. He then pointed his at one of the cabinets and directed hadrian to it. Within was a plethora of ancient and powerful tomes, but he had the resolve to quench his curiosity and grab the intended tomes.

''Now, as I said, gathering intelligence is important, but at the same time, counter-intelligence is just as important. The magical world knows several ways to get information from a person. I heard that in this era, you have veritaserum , but there is a magical art that is far more subtle than that. It's called Legilimency, to put it in the simplest term a user of Legilimency can read someone's mind. It's a bit more complicated than that, but due to our lack of time, let's keep it at that. There is a chapter in the book I gave you which will explain it in a bit more detail so read that during your own time.''

Hadrian was shocked. 'Mind reading? You have to be kidding me?'

''The opposite of Legilimency is Occlumency. A trained user of Occlumency has better control of his emotions, can shield themselves against users of Legilimency, and can to some extent withstand truth potions and mind-altering potions. To become a skilled user of Occlumency, you have to do a lot of exercises, which can again be found in the book. There is little I can do to help you with this due to me being a portrait.''

''Now to master the art will take years, sometimes even decades, but I can assure you the results will be more than worth it."

XxX

After remembering that specific lesson, Hadrian decided on his plan. As long as those people didn't act hostile, he would try to get as much information as possible.

''So ... I have been a patient, old man.'' Hadrian said as he addressed Dumbledore. ''Now can you 'please' tell inform me as to why I am surrounded by people who should, as you so elegantly would put it, be on their next great adventure.''

Dumbledore blinked in surprise before giving the boy his patented grandfatherly smile. ''I can assure you, my boy, everyone in this room is very much alive.'' He then remembered that the diary described how the two worlds, while similar, had differences, so maybe the world where the boy came from he knew the people here and they had all died? ''I don't know if you know who I am, but my name is …''

''I know who you are, Dumbledore.'' Hadrian interrupted.

''Then I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage, my boy. You know my name, but I don't know yours.'' Dumbledore said, although he had a very strong suspicion who he was, he just didn't understand how it was possible. It was also the reason why he had asked James to stay with Lily outside of the room. Until he could ascertain the exact details about the young man, it would be better if they weren't there. Lily especially might get too emotionally distraught. It wouldn't help the upcoming conversation if some of the participants were too emotional to contribute.

Hadrian narrowed his eyes. ''What year is it?'' he asked, not willing to part with his time travel theory yet.

If the abrupt change of topic surprised Dumbledore, then he didn't show it. ''It's 1997, my boy, the thirteenth of August.''

'Well, there goes what is left of my time travel theory.' Hadrian thought, although this still didn't explain why Dumbledore didn't know him or why dead people were alive.

''My name is Hadrian Potter.'' Hadrian answered, not willing to disclose his other title and status. ''Do you know how I got here?''

Before Dumbledore could answer, Sirius Black spoke up. ''Harry... is that really you?''

Hadrian had no idea what to say. He had no idea what was going on. The man who had spoken to him bore a strong resemblance to his late godfather, although considerably healthier looking, but that wasn't possible. Sirius was dead and buried. So Hadrian wasn't too sure of what to reply to this older and healthier-looking version of his godfather

Luckily for Hadrian, Dumbledore interjected before Hadrian had to answer. ''Now, Sirius, I understand the need for information, but I am sure this is all very confusing for young Harry, and it is probably for the best if I first explain everything to him.''

Sirius didn't look too happy but complied regardless.

"I would rather prefer you address me as Hadrian"

Dumbledore merely nodded. He had no trouble in calling him by what he had requested. Though it seemed that not everyone had the same idea. However, as they were interrupt Dumbledore attracted everyone's attention.

''Excellent,'' Dumbledore said brightly, ''Now that we are all acquainted, why don't we all place our wands on the table? After all, we have no reason to use magic on each other, right?''

As a sign of good faith, he was the first to place the wand on the table in front of him, and upon seeing it, Harry's eyes widened before glancing down at the wand in his hand.

'I hadn't counted on that.' Hadrian thought, mentally analysing what this development meant for his status. It was physically impossible for two items to be identical and in the same place.

While Hadrian was thinking the others in the room started laying out their wands, some with more hesitation than others, but after receiving imploring looks from the others, they relented until finally Moody laid his wand on the table and all eyes turned to Hadrian again.

Hadrian understood that if he wanted to have a smooth conversation, then he couldn't deny putting his wand away after the others already did it, so he relented and placed his wand on the table.

Dumbledore eyed the wand the boy placed on the table, and his eyes widened dramatically when he saw the familiar wand. Of course he had given his phoenix and Holly wand over, not even a thought passed his mind to part with his other, more temperrental of the two.

Moody, meanwhile, used his magical eye to scan the boy and immediately noted that the boy was still far from unarmed even though he put the wand he had away. Moody inwardly grunted in approval. If he had been in the boy's position he wouldn't have given all his weapons up either.

''Now where to start?'' Dumbledore said as he stroked his beard absentmindedly.

''Maybe how I got here would be a nice place to start.'' Hadrian said sarcastically.

''Ah yes, that would be a good place, wouldn't it. Well, basically, we have some trouble facing a dark lord named Voldemort, and we used a ritual to summon a hero from another world who could aid us in our noble cause.''

''Another world? As in an alternative universe?'' Hadrian responded.

'I shouldn't be too surprised.' Hadrian thought. He had stopped using the word 'impossible' a couple of years into his magical education. Not to mention the fact that strange things tend to happen around him.

Besides, this wasn't the first time he had heard of people arriving from another world. It supposedly had happened several times according to Wizarding Legends.

''I am afraid I am not familiar with that term.'' Dumbledore admitted, bringing Hadrian out of his thoughts.

''It's a theory that a new universe is created for every choice that is made and anything that can happen will happen if not in this universe then in the next or the next …''

''Ah, maybe that is why you thought we were dead.'' Dumbledore replied after he took a moment to take in the information.

'' So you, for all intents and purposes, kidnapped me from my own universe to fight old snakeface …?'' Hadrian asked with an unnatural calm tone.

''Well …'' Dumbledore began before Hadrian cut him off.

''Although I have vanquished the dark lord and fulfilled the prophecy, I can not but help think of why is should have do it again? Why don't you have the me of this universe do it?''

''If I understand it correctly you know of the prophecy and you managed to beat Voldemort?'' Dumbledore inquired.

''If you are talking about that prophecy that that dammed drunk gave then yes on both counts. Now again what happened to the me of this world that he can't handle the prophecy.''

No one answered, but they didn't have to. The looks on some of the people's faces were more than enough to come to a conclusion.

''He is dead.'' Hadrian deadpanned.

Some people looked like they got struck after Hadrian spoke so bluntly, but Harry didn't pay them any mind as he asked the question he honestly wasn't sure he wanted to know. ''So how did he die?''

Dumbledore sighted heavily. ''I am afraid Mr Potter was captured during the third task of the Tri-Wizard tournament.''

'Yeah … and?' Hadrian thought. That answer had been hardly satisfactory. After all he had been kidnapped before, but he managed to escape.

Hadrian sighed, it seemed clear that this Dumbledore was just as bad as his Dumbledore in giving vague and short answers. Hadrian thought about it for a moment before deciding that if he wanted something he had to give something. ''Okay it is clear that our histories are different. Why don't we compare some key events in my and your Harry's life for comparison.''

Dumbledore nodded; learning about the history of the rather vulgar young man might give him some insight in his personality.

''What happened here on Halloween 1981?'' Hadrian started.

''You, ehh our Harry Potter managed to survive and reflect a killing curse cast by Voldemort, resulting in him being reduced to a wraith until he was revived in 1995.'' Dumbledore said.

Hadrian rolled his eyes. He could have figured that out himself. Why else would Voldemort kidnap his alternative self? No, the question was how did the boy's parents survive?

''How did he reflect the curse?'' Hadrian asked, ''Something similar happened in my universe, but in my universe my mother used blood magic for a ritual and sacrificed herself to save me. So if my mother didn't sacrifice herself then how did the curse rebound?''

Questioning why the parents of a version of him were alive while his weren't was probably not the most tactful thing to do, but Hadrian couldn't find it in himself to care. Those people for all intent and purposes kidnapped him and the only reasons why he had not left, or better yet expelled the rest from the ancient house (if he could control the wards that are currently being controlled by the current head of house black) was that they held all the information and as long as they kept talking he would try to refrain from doing something stupid.

As it turned out nobody really knew how this Harry survived. Apparently the Lily Potter of this world had been pregnant at the time and due to a complication had to go to the hospital on Halloween and Harry had stayed behind at Godric's Hollow with someone from the Order who knew the secret of the Fidelius Charm.

When the ward alerted James Potter that someone had penetrated them. He immediately sped home. What he found was; a dead Order member, his baby boy with a bleeding scar and a wand and robe who were later identified as Voldermort's and so similar to Harry's own universe the legend of the boy-who-lived was born, but that is where things started to change.

''So we both survive and Snakeface is reduced to a shade. That at the least is the same.'' Hadrian said. ''There I assume the changes begin. I was sent to the magic hating Dursleys and my dear godfather who everyone thought was the secret keeper couldn't control his anger and went after the traitor … this resulted in him getting a life sentence in Azkaban.''

Hadrian decided not to bother telling the whole story. He was only giving them information so that he could obtain information himself in case he couldn't get back. Besides the end result was the same Sirius had put his anger before his duty as godfather and paid the price.

Hadrian noticed that Sirius's eyes had widened dramatically when Hadrian told him about getting life sentence and Harry decided to ask the man a question. ''I take it you didn't go after the rat?'' he asked, truly curious. Even if the Potters were alive he just couldn't imagine Sirius letting a traitor go. The man was a bit of a hothead and would often allow his emotions to control him.

The woman next to Sirius, who Harry recognised as Emmeline Vance snorted and said. ''Like I would ever allow him to do such a foolish thing.''

''You won't allow him, Ms Vance?'' Hadrian asked with a raised brow.

''Mrs Black, actually and no there was no way I was going to allow him to go around and do foolish things leaving me behind while I was high pregnant.''

Hadrian shook his head briefly to regain his wit. He decided as the world apparently hadn't ended he should just continue and think about this madness later. ''Anyway as I was saying, after my parents dead and my godfather's imprisonment I was sent to my mother's sister and her family. That is where I stayed, ignorant of my heritage until I was eleven and received my Hogwarts letter.'' He then felt silent waiting expectedly for Dumbledore to continue on his side.

"Mr Potter along with his sister Rose and his parents stayed in Potter manor until it was time for him to go to Hogwarts. Nothing of note happened in that time.'' Dumbledore said before continuing on to the boy's first year. '' In his first year Mr Potter was sorted into the Gryffindor house, became the youngest seeker in a century, and helped me stop Voldemort from stealing a powerful artefact.''

Hadrian then noticed something due to seeing it for years it took a couple of times for him to realise. Every time Voldemort was mentioned almost everyone shuddered. This has become so normal that Harry ignored it without thinking about it, but then he realised the name was actually being said. He hadn't heard the name since halfway through his fifth year!

''Wait,'' Hadrian interrupted, drawing attention to him. ''I just notice you keep saying Voldemort, does that mean there is not a Taboo on his name here?''

''He placed a taboo on his name?'' Dumbledore said looked intrigued and if Hadrian read the emotion correct slightly impressed. Hadrian nodded and Dumbledore continued. ''That is a very impressive piece of magic and also potentially very dangerous. I can only assume his name became even more feared.''

Hadrian nodded solemnly. It was definitely dangerous. ''Several people were killed before someone figured out we couldn't say his name.''

Dumbledore lowered his head. It was always a waste if blood was spilled needlessly.

''So what happened to Hermione Granger?'' Hadrian asked as facing a troll was apparently not part of the accomplishment of his counterpart.

McGonagall spoke up this time. ''Ms Granger was critically injured on Halloween eve by a troll. We never managed to find out why she was there as Ms Granger wasn't saying anything other than she wanted to go home. Such a waste too, she was a brilliant witch and had great potential.''

After a moment he managed to gather his thoughts and told them about his first year. ''Like the Harry of your world, I was sorted in Gryffindor and joined the Quidditch team as a Seeker. On Halloween Eve when we were warned that a troll was in the castle, I noticed that Hermione wasn't there and went to warn her with a friend. We managed to get her out of there and to the tower before she was harmed.'' This was technically the truth she wasn't harmed after all and saying that you faced down a troll at age 11 usually resulted in disbelief or fear so it was better if he left that out.

Hadrian thought a bit about what to tell next. Nothing of interest really happened until Christmas when he received his invisibility cloak and found the Mirror of Erised.

That only left his encounter with Voldemort so he told them about that. He told them about how he and two friends passed the 'dangerous' traps and about his confrontation with Voldemort at the end.

''So what happened in his second year?'' Hadrian asked.

Dumbledore thought about it for a moment before answering, ''Not much happened in Mr Potter's second and third year. Young Harry found that one of his friends was acting weird since she started writing in a diary that was unknowingly a dark artefact and reported it before his second year began. We destroyed the artefact shortly after that.''

Hadrian eyes widened briefly at hearing this before he managed to reign his emotions in. If he understood the situation correctly then the Chamber of Secrets was never opened. That means the Basilisk was still there … A basilisk who would follow the command of any speaker. Though since it was linked to Salazar's bloodline, Hadrian should have no qualms in overriding the commands given by riddle, seeing as he was Lord Slytherin.

Hadrian knew that there was a distinct possibility Dumbledore either would not know or wouldn't tell how he could get home so having an ace in the hole like this was definitely an advantage if he had to stay here for a longer time. At the very least he now had a place very few people have knowledge about.

''That friend, I assume you mean the youngest Weasly?'' Hadrian asked.

Dumbledore nodded solemnly. ''Can I assume that something similar happened where you came from.''

''Something similar yes,'' Harry agreed. ''It took a bit longer and the diary managed to influence youngest Weasly a bit which resulted in several students having to go to the hospital wing, but in the end the diary was destroyed and no permanent damage was done.''

If Hadrian had learned one thing then it was that it was much easier to just tell half-truths then outright lie. So he was definitely proud of the little story he managed to spin which was one hundred per cent the truth, while only giving away what he wanted.

''What about Lockhart? Did he teach in the 1992-1993 year?'' Hadrian asked, curious about what happened to the man who, in his universe, had lost his memory when he was forced to go with him and Ron to the Chamber of Secrets.

''Professor Lockhart did indeed teach that year, but he felt he had other responsibilities and left at the end of that year.''

Hadrian inwardly snorted at hearing that. He was amazed that the man would leave on his own, but there was a distinct possibility he didn't want to get connected to the low NEWT and OWL scores that were most likely scored that year.

Deciding he had nothing to hide about his third year Hadrian decided to go first this time. ''Before my third year Sirius escaped Azkaban. It was widely suspected that he wanted to kill me, so the Ministry in its infinite wisdom decided to place Dementors around Hogwarts to guard it.''

Dumbledore coughed to break the rather awkward silence that had descended upon the kitchen. '' And did the Dementors manage to capture Mr Black?'' He asked.

Harry shook his head. ''Unfortunately the dementors had managed to catch Mr Black at the end of the third year and sucked his soul out of his body. We could not even prove his innocence before his untimely demise''

Dumbledore grimaced. The whole atmosphere of the room seemed to have dropped, knowing that a man with such a skill set as has, had gone through an ordeal.

''What about his fourth year? I assume he also was chosen as the fourth champion?'' Hadrian asked as he noticed a lot of people had stiffened as he asked this.

Dumbledore stroked his beard and his eyes darkened. ''Yes, I am afraid so, Crouch Jr. managed to fool everyone and infiltrate the castle acting as our DADA teacher of that year. He entered Mr Potter in the Goblet of Fire so that he would be chosen as the fourth champion. He then had to take part of the three tasks I am sure you know of.''

''You were kidnapped too Mr Potter?'' Dumbledore questioned, curious how the boy survived, Voldemort was not known for his mercy.

''Ah,'' He replied positively. ''I'm sure pretty much the same thing happened in our two universes. Crouch entered me, I competed in the three task and the tri-wizard cup was a portkey that transported me to the graveyard were snakeface got resurrected.''

''And how did you escape?''

Hadrian shrugged. ''Voldemort couldn't be allowed to look weak in front of his followers so he challenged me to a duel.'' Hadrian chuckled darkly. ''I was outclassed back then" ' had it not been for Salazar's training me for the prior year I may had suffered the same fate as this worlds Potter'

''Anyway, at one point our wands connected due to Priori Incantatem and let's just keep it at the fact that it surprised the bastard enough that I could reach the cup and return back. To this day I still have no idea why that idiot Crouch Jr. made that Portkey two-way.''

Hadrian paused for a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. ''When I arrived back at Hogwarts I immediately informed Dumbledore who informed Fudge , who being his typically bumbling self refused to accept the truth and was ready to write us off as liars and scaremongers, ''

Dumbledore nodded, the same thing had happened when his spy had informed him the Potter boy was dead and Voldemort had returned and he had conveyed this news to the Minister.

''Unfortunately for the idiot, several of his colleagues were there with him and they heard Dumbledore inform him and they didn't agree with shushing everything up, especially so shortly after the first war. From what I have heard it didn't take long before Fudge had alienated himself enough for his inaction that a vote of no confidence was called and he was kicked out of his office. Minister Bones, former head of the DMLE was chosen as his successor.''

''Really?'' Dumbledore questioned sounding intrigued. Regardless of the situation he couldn't help find this entire story very fascinating. To hear about a world so similar yet so different was definitely a unique experience. How one small change could change things so much.

Hadrian nodded, ''So from what I gather my counterpart didn't survive the kidnapping? Any idea how?''

Dumbledore shook his head. ''I am afraid not, a spy within Voldemort's ranks managed to inform me that young Harry was killed, but he wasn't there at the time so he doesn't know exactly what happened.''

''So no body was recovered?'' Hadrian asked as the cause of death might have been answered by an autopsy.

''Unfortunately not, no.''

Hadrian hummed. ''What about this spy? Snape by any chance?''

''That is Professor Snape, Mr Potter.'' Dumbledore replied a reply which Hadrian had heard so often it wasn't even funny. ''But, yes you are correct Professor Snape risks his life daily to spy for the light.''

'Well that is different,' Hadrian thought, 'I wonder what reaction he would have to my fifth year, though knowing him I already have an idea of what it would be.''

''Anyway, after Professor Snape informed me of Voldemort's resurrection I informed Minister Fudge and unfortunately I didn't have the same luck as you had. My position was already not too good as the Boy-Who-Lived had died under my watch, so the people easily believed

Fudge when he said I was lying. Voldemort hasn't been seen in public since then, instead he is mostly doing things hidden, but his presence can be felt in the recent laws. So, for example it is now allowed to own Muggle as 'pets','' Dumbledore said with a hint of disgust in his voice. From what we can gather, Voldemort spent most of his time these last two years recruiting and planning for the upcoming battles.''

''I guess I will continue then.'' He said after a moment of silence. ''Not much changed at first. The Ministry insisted on implementing a new course in Hogwarts called Additional Defence Lessons, our Dumbledore didn't want us 'children' to be too involved with the war and was opposed to the course, but eventually compromised and allowed the subject to be an elective instead of the Core one the Ministry wanted.''

''Well obviously the Headmaster is right, children should not involve themselves with such things.'' Molly Weasley exclaimed.

Hadrian glared at the witch, but decided not to bother with a verbal reply. ''Anyway that changed after the first Hogsmeade visit.''

''Why, what happened?'' Dumbledore questioned with dread filling his stomach.

Hadrian's eyes shadowed over as a dark memory resurfaced. ''The massacre of Hogsmeade is what happened.'' He spat out.

Almost too afraid to ask, Dumbledore asked. ''What do you mean?''

Hadrian's voice turned cold and emotionless as elaborated ''The Death Eaters along with a group of Dementors attacked Hogsmeade and started killing anyone in sight.''

The Order felt silent, Voldemort might be their enemy, but never did they think he would sink so low as to target children at such a large scale.

Hadrian, whose eyes had turned hollow as he just stared ahead, continued as memories flashed through his mind.

''They caught us by surprise.''

Hadrian stared completely aghast as a large number of Death Eaters started streaming into the village and started firing curses at anything that moved, a familiar cold he hadn't felt since the end of his third year started to fill his body. He shut his emotions down and let the effect of his training show full effect.

''So many died.''

Hadrian running out of his magical reserves decided to take a breather while the aurors whom had finally arrived took care of the rest. it came to him as a surprise how he had handled the situation, while he would say that he had gotten rid of his 'saving people thing', it seems that it is not entirly the case as of yet. Turning back to the castle he came upon a truly sickening sight of a group of younger years who looked like they had been hit with a cutting curse multiple times and left to bleed to dead. Though his training with Salazar had taught him much he had yet to see the true horrors of war until now, he did not mind when he was drowned in the blood of his enemies as their bodies were personally dissasembled by himself, nor the deaths of his allies. The death of the children is what truly brought pain to his heart, the blood of magical stained on the ground, innocent blood.

A silence felt over the room as everyone took in what Hadrian had told them. Many were not sure what to think.

Hadrian too had to take a moment to gather his thoughts. Talking about the massacre again had brought forth memories he had tried to suppress a long time ago.

"The attack led to the creation of the elder council, a group founded by the remains of what was left of the wizgamot after the attack ocured. There was no need for any political aspect from Voldermort's side since it was declared that Gringotts would not actively help any side in the matter thereby stopping any transaction from Gringotts. Of course many did not listen but they faced the consequences of their action. Those who were smart enough to learn from the previous goblin rebellion had stored their valuables within their ancestral homes and had the power to join the elder council"

''After that things changed …. It was shown that Voldemort had no qualms attacking children so we were taught what to do if it happened again, ADL among other things became mandatory for everyone.''

''Another consequence of that attack was much more severe,''

Many gulped wondering what the boy spring onto them next.

''The Muggles, the parents of the muggleborns somehow had gotten a hold of the fact that hogwarts was no longer safe for their children. They had tried flee from Magical Britain however, they soon learnt that they would be hunted no matter where in the world they may be. It was then with all their ignorance they had decided to inform the rest of the muggles of existence of magical kind. Luckily the majority had not little to no faith in such 'fairy tales' as they put it, allowing the statue of secrecy to stay remain entanct , otherwise the outcome would have changed''

''Why is that?'' One of the Order members Hadrian didn't recognise asked.

''You are a pureblood aren't you?'' Hadrian asked upon which he received a nod. ''To put it simply: for Muggles to know of the magical society and subsequently join the war , the statute of secrecy had to be broken.'' He said before adding with a slightly mocking tone. ''You do know why we went into hiding and the statute was implanted, right?'' When he didn't immediately answer Hadrian continued. ''Wizard kind was nearly exterminated during the witch-hunts. If we hadn't gone in hiding then there is a distinct chance that none of us would be here. So if Muggles with seventeenth century technology could do that then how do you think their late twentieth century's counterparts will do? Though we may be argueably stronger than our previous generation, our numbers have dwindled down mostly due to Grindlewert ''

'That being said it is not as if I did not have a contingency plan in the case that the statue of secrecy was broken, I would never allow my kind to be extinct or to be hunted again by those muggles'

''Then what about You-Know-Who?'' Another Order member asked. ''He believes in pureblood supremacy, he would never accept that Muggles could pose a threat to him.''

''Say what you want about the man, but he isn't stupid. A madman, yes, but not stupid.'' Hadrian replied before muttering. ''mostly at least.'' And then returned to normal volume. ''We are a completely hidden community with only a few Muggles knowing about us and those are closely watched. Why would any sane person give up that advantage? Straight-out fighting a force that far outnumber you will get you killed no doubt, but why would he if he can remain hidden?''

Hadrian looked around the room looking each member in the face. '' The Imperius curse, compulsion charms, Apparition, Portkeys, Metamorphagi, Polyjuice potions, Invisibility Cloaks ...Those are only a couple of things wizards have that could allow us to pit Muggles against each other without showing ourselves. So again why would Voldemort give up such an advantage if he doesn't have to?''

'Its truly a shame that he had to spill magical blood, things may have gone differently otherwise'

Hadrian didn't expect an answer so he didn't even wait for one. ''Now where was I, ah yes, a couple of months into my fifth year.'' Hadrian said. ''Well, despite the turmoil outside of the walls things inside Hogwarts were relatively calm. Unfortunately things couldn't stay that way for long and that was proven when newly marked Death Eater, Draco Malfoy used a Vanishing Cabinet that he managed to repair to bring a number of Death Eaters into the castle. Thus the first battle of Hogwarts began…''

''A student let Death Eaters into the school?'' One of the Order members muttered in disbelief.

''Fortunately for the students of Hogwarts the Death Eaters were arrogant and attacked in the middle of the day. The students had been training for months and were more than prepared for them. Unfortunately there was another Death Eater in the castle who used the moment of confusion to back-stab Dumbledore …'' Hadrian directly looked at Dumbledore as he spoke the next couple of words. ''Severus Snape killed Albus Dumbledore, took his wand and left the castle before anyone could stop him.''

Dead silence followed Hadrian's statement before Sirius shouted out.

''I know he couldn't be trusted that slimy Slytherin!''

''Enough Sirius,'' Dumbledore rebuked. ''Mr Potter already explained that there would be differences between our two universes, apparently Severus's betrayal is one of them.''

''Anyway, slowly but surely we managed to overwhelm the Death Eaters and after months and months of fighting we managed to force Voldemort to retreat back to his last stronghold: Hogwarts. It was there during the third and final battle of Hogwarts that I managed to fulfill that accused prophecy.''

''May I ask how you did this and are you sure he is dead for good?'' Dumbledore asked.

''I had destroyed every last part of him that had anchored himself to the land of the living''

Dumbledore nodded. ''I suspected something along those lines, but that doesn't explain how you managed to defeat him for good,'' He said.

'' Due to my special status I managed to banish a being of death to the afterlife.''

''Your special status?'' Dumbledore asked confused what the boy was talking about.

Hadrian nodded, ''You hold one of the three pieces so you probably know the story.'' He said while pointedly looking at Dumbledore's wand. ''The title is more than just a fancy title, those who unite all three gain control over those who have died and are still in this realm.''

Several people were looking at Hadrian strangely, they had no idea what he and the headmaster were talking about.

''You have united all three?'' Dumbledore asked, not believing someone so young managed to accomplish his childhood dream.

Hadrian shrugged. ''Ah,'' He replied nonchalantly, ''I don't see why you are so surprised about that, you should know were two of the three are. It is not that far out of the realm of possibilities that I could have recovered the third.''

''I see but that does not explain the fact how you posses the title, many before you had tried but no one had succeeded"

" Though they may have had united the three, the object themselves had never acknowleged them as their master. "

Dumbledore nodded slowly, he would talk about this in a more private setting on a later date." … so you managed to defeat Voldemort. How is magical Britain now?''