Chapter 17:

The journey to the headmaster's office had taken far longer then the pair had expected, they ended up having to ask one of the Slytherin prefects to show them the way. They were currently standing in front of a stone gargoyle, waiting for something to happen. Rodrick made to reach out with his hand to try and find some hidden switch to no avail, frustrated, he took out his wand and pointed it at the gargoyle. Daphne looked both shocked and amused at the sight before she started laughing. A frown appeared on Rodrick's face, he turned towards her and asked her what was so funny.

"You're crazy," she replied still laughing. Before Rodrick could respond, however, she turned to the gargoyle and uttered the password given by Blaise. The gargoyle statue moved, in its place appeared a staircase.

Rodrick wouldn't look at her face in response. They both made their way up the stairs, he had a scowl set in his face at the embarrassment while Daphne looked positively glowing in amusement. All the emotions, however, were quickly replaced when they saw the office for the first time.

It was a vast and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. Many unique silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses; there were one or two who slept in their frames cozily, others looked their way but ignored them. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tainted wizard's hat. Rodrick immediately recognized the sorting hat and made his way over towards it. Daphne was fixated on some of the instruments she'd seen.

"You told me about a family member that was sorted in Gryffindor?" Rodrick questioned the tattered hat; Daphne heard the question and curiosity brought her towards the two. She watched the hat, waiting for its response.

"There was indeed such a person," The hats creases seemed to lengthen as the hat narrowed itself towards the boy. "I cannot divulge any information; it is rather confidential," the hat turned itself around, ending the discussion. Rodrick huffed at the reaction. Daphne said nothing at the sight.

A chuckle was heard prompting the two students to turn and face Albus Dumbledore. The headmaster was dressed in purple robes; he had a long white beard and half-moon glasses covered his eyes. He looked friendly and yet Rodrick wouldn't meet his eyes. The headmaster directed the two towards two seats.

Dumbledore was curious, very curious about the two in front of him or more specifically the boy. An orphan. Dumbledore had meant to meet the boy for some time and yet he never really got a good chance to do so, he had gotten some form of a break when Severus Snape had informed him of the boy's plans to visit the Greengrass family. The boy was unusual, he'd heard the reports from most of the teachers about his prowess, and the more he heard, the more worried he became. Everything he'd seen or heard about the boy so far painted an image, an image he had seen before. Most of his teachers had told him that he was an average student, at first he had been quite relieved to hear such a thing. Until he found out from his Transfiguration teacher about the boy's half-successful attempt, of very advanced magic. It was only made worse when Minerva had told him that she'd overheard the boy mention a teacher outside of Hogwarts. Yet none of that could explain what he felt right now.

Albus Dumbledore felt calm, Even when he'd seen Harry Potter there was a level of anxiety there worried about the influence that Voldemort might've had on him. And yet when faced with someone whose upbringing copied the dark lord and if his Potions teacher and Transfiguration teacher were correct, the child's potential was significant, potential he wanted to hide. Even with all that He felt calm. It had taken a moment before he realized why. His Occulemency was at an all time high. That thought itself worried him, something about the boy set his magic on edge. When he looked closer, he noticed the boy's eyes were purposefully avoiding his. Does he know about Legilimency? The headmaster thought. An eery sense fluttered through the room. There was something wrong here. The boy or at least his magic was familiar to him, too familiar but what it was he couldn't guess, he didn't recognize the kid at al-

Albus Dumbledores thoughts stopped at once. The boy's appearance was tampered with, that was why he could sense his magic so openly. Someone tampered with his appearance. Could he have done it himself? No, it couldn't be... Where could he have learned such a thing. There were very few people currently alive who could change their appearance with such ease, and not a single one of them was accessible for teaching. Albus quickly put it to the back of his head, he was sorely tempted to remove the transfiguration but held back on it, it would do no good to distance the boy. The last gifted student he did it to became a dark lord and the one in front of him was gifted, even if it were only in Transfiguration.

Dumbledore let out a cough to bring the students attention towards him, Daphne's eyes darted to his own, he saw curious eyes and slight panic in them. Rodrick still refused to meet his eyes. Dumbledore let off a small smile to elevate the girl's concerns.

"Do you know why your here Rodrick?" he asked, the girl's eyes narrowed slightly.

Rodrick raised his head slightly before he gave his reply.

"No sir, am I in trouble?"

Dumbledore's eyebrow rose, 'is he that wary of me?' He thought with a frown before his mind jumped to another possibility, 'has he done something he's afraid of me finding out?' Dumbledore racked his head trying to think of any recent unexplained incidents, but all that he could come to was the troll incident, which fortunately was sorted out by Professor Quirrel-

Daphne's eyes were currently inclined towards Rodrick's side, Rodrick's eyes were installed onto the desk in front of them. If either one of them had looked up, they would have seen the headmasters emotionless face.

Dumbledore mentally chided himself for the assumption. How he thought that Professor Quirrel- No, Voldemort would willingly help the school out and take out a troll was inconceivable. Dumbledore remembered that night when he'd found the unconscious troll with Professor Quirrel standing over it; the man had a disgusted look on his face before he resumed his clumsy act. He had been with Minerva and Severus. Severus was the only one to question the fact that the troll was taken care off by the dark lord. He should've listened to his potions teacher a little more.

A sense of dread filled the headmaster; there were signs of the Imperius curse on the troll. When he'd assumed that Quirrel was responsible for taking it out, he wasn't worried. The dark lord was more than capable of such a thing, but if it was someone else... Dumbledore turned his eyes towards Rodrick. The panic was growing by the second, if this child was already capable of casting one of the three unforgivable curses...

"I believe, I heard you were planning to visit the Greengrass family for the holidays." the headmaster mentioned. "Is there a problem with the orphanage?" he added. There was a visible sense of relief from the two students; it only helped make the headmaster feel more suspicious about the troll incident.

"I don't like the place all that much; I feel like an outsider," The boy echoed words he'd heard a lifetime ago.

The girl added on with a small smile on her face, "My parents were okay with him spending Christmas with us, they owe him much."

Rodrick stiffened slightly at the words, knowing what was coming next.

"Is that so? Curious, Did something happen during your stay in the castle? You have only been here for a couple of months," The headmaster had a twinkle in his eyes.

Daphne Stiffened at this, unsure of what she should say. Her eyes darted towards Rodrick.

"I helped her sister, at Kings Cross." Rodrick hastily replied.

Daphne nodded her head, grateful for the save.

Dumbledore stared impassively at the two before he let off a small smile of assurance, yet he couldn't help himself with the next question.

"Is there something you wish to tell me, Rodrick?"

The boys face looked up in reflex at the question. Unconsciously Dumbledore met his eyes.

Curiosity took over, and Dumbledore went inside the boys head.

The headmaster was only there for a split second before he forced himself out. He did not see a memory, or more specifically he did not see Rodrick's memory.

The headmaster's mood turned somber; he noticed a lack of indifference in their faces. The boy didn't seem to notice the intrusion. He may not even be aware of the special shield left on his mind. A dominant form of Occulemency and very difficult to pull off, it was one that could only be set by an outside source. It was also one that could only successfully work if administrated at an early age so as to let it refine the mind properly. Dumbledore had learned about it from an ancient book, one he'd kept hidden in his family vault, deemed too dangerous for the public.

"Did you know any of your family members?" The old man asked, his small smile in place but his eyes did not copy it.

"No sir," replied the boy, a worried look in his eyes. Daphne at this rate settled her eyes on the floor.

A sense of guilt passed through the headmaster. It seemed the child was afraid of him for some reason or the other. The headmaster scooped up several sweets before he passed them onto the children with a genuine smile. Whatever the case was, he had no right to be making children feel like this; he was the headmaster. The two children seemed to deflate at this, most of the tension appeared to disappear.

"I will speak to Hagrid about revisiting your orphanage, I will see if there is anything I can do to make it more comfortable," The old man said, surprising himself. He hadn't planned on doing such a thing. The boy's reaction surprised him a little more.

"Hagrid?" Confusion ran through Rodrick's head.

He did not introduce himself when he visited? Thought Dumbledore with a small frown.

"The keeper of keys, he came to visit you when you received your letter." Replied the headmaster.

Rodrick still confused, although wanting to leave, nodded his head quickly.

Not wanting to hold the two for too long, the headmaster dismissed them with another smile while urging them that if there were any problems they were more than welcome to visit him.

The two took their dismissal well; they'd practically ran out of the office, thought Dumbledore with amusement.

The tension returned once the two students were out of sight; his mind brought back to the Occulumency displayed, the boy honestly might not even know of its existence. One or both of his parents could have placed it in his mind before they left him at the orphanage. Going to such lengths would suggest they had been in some danger...Considering he was an orphan, it's likely they weren't alive anymore. The sadness was made worse when he remembered the memory he'd seen; it was his own, the memory of his sister's lifeless eyes.

It had taken a while before Dumbledore regained his composure. He called on his head of houses to once again confirm the student's whereabouts at the troll incident, although curious at the sudden summons no one questioned their headmaster on it; he was rather odd at times. It seemed that the only one who was out of the common room at the time was Draco Malfoy and the prefects, he'd apparently been called on by Professor Snape although the teacher had proclaimed it a prank. Even then the boy was seen going back to the common room with his friends. Rodrick and Daphne were also accounted to Dumbledore's relief; it meant the boy was not responsible for the unforgivable curse. Which brought the better question out, why did Voldemort consider taking out a mountain troll crucial for his plans? Was he attempting to gain favor with the students?, Dumbledore decided he would need an even closer eye on the DADA teacher. He made a note to himself to ask Hagrid about the orphanage he'd seen.

...

When the two students were out of the headmaster's office Daphne let out a huge sigh of relief; she turned to Rodrick a smile on her face, which slowly disappeared. Rodrick was staring at the floor with a frown on his face. Daphne tugged at his shoulder playfully trying to get his attention.

"Whats wrong?" she questioned "Were not in any trouble, thought you'd be happier," she said trying and failing to sound relieved.

Rodrick stared up at her before sighing. "You heard him didn't you?" he questioned. "He said Hagrid was the one to come to me at the orphanage; he mentioned me receiving a letter" Daphne blinked.

"You received two... but if you got two then why did Hagrid tell the headmaster you only received one? Didn't you mention it to him?" she let out in a rapid pace.

"I did, but there's another problem here," Rodrick said, Daphne stared at him waiting for him to finish. "It wasn't Hagrid that came to see me; it was a blonde man who did."

Daphne's mouth stretched to an o shape. They both stared at each other for a few minutes trying to contemplate what was going on. She questioned him on who the man was.

"He wouldn't tell me, every time I asked he avoided the question."

"We can try and figure it out over the holidays, and if we can't we, can always ask the headmaster..." he supposed, "Besides the man wasn't exactly bad, he did help get everything I needed. And showed me how to get to Diagon Alley." Rodrick added.

Daphne stared at him unsure before she nodded her agreement, there wasn't much else they could do at the moment and tomorrow they would be at the manor anyway, no need to start off in a sour mood. It was at this moment that Daphne realised something.

"Wait, are you even ready to leave tomorrow? Do you have everything packed?" she blurted out a little worried.

Rodrick stared at her for a few seconds before replying "I don't have much to pack you know," The two stood in silence for a few moments.

"I don't know how to respond to that," Daphne sighed.

...

That night, Rodrick found a strange box waiting at the bottom of his bed, he had just finished preparing for the morning.

When he opened said box, he was shocked at the contents. Inside was a key, but what shocked him was the note that came with it. It gave him several warnings about using the key in front of other wizards; goblins were less likely to antagonize him for it as long as he was a good customer.

It was the key to the Grindelwald vault in Gringotts.

...

The next day, Dumbledore had finished his meeting with Hagrid before worry once again kicked in.

Rodrick seemed to have far more going on around him then he'd realised. When Hagrid had gone to the boy's orphanage in an attempt to introduce him to the wizarding world, he'd been intercepted by another wizard, the man had shown the half-giant a signed form from the Ministry telling him that his current task was transferred to them. If it had been anyone else who'd been sent then perhaps the ministry wouldn't have been able to pull off such a stunt, however Hagrid's situation with the department gave them enough clause to take over the whole thing. While untrue, he was still under suspicions of opening the chamber 50 years ago. The friendly giant reluctantly agreed but only after the man promised to send Dumbledore a report of everything, which he certainly didn't do.

In all honesty, such a thing was not too uncommon, even if the missing report was troublesome it wasn't what worried the headmaster, it was the man in question who had taken the task upon himself, he had somehow heard about Rodrick as well as tricked ministry employees to signing such a thing. He risked danger to his name to get a look at an orphan, if that wasn't a red light, then the man's name definitely was.

Lucius Malfoy.

A/N

In case anyone was interested in how Ron, Harry, and Hermione made it back to the common room without a hitch, Fred and George saw them outside the common room thanks to the marauders map; they opened the door and let them in. The prefect never saw the twins coming.