Rodrick looked up from his leather seat, ahead of him was the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. The man was sporting his favorite half moon specs, wearing a bright pair of purple wizard robes, star outlines patterned all over it. He actually looked like the muggle definition of a wizard with his long white beard.
They were currently in a separate room, away from the others. Dumbledore had asked for privacy regarding their discussion, although displeased, the elder Greengrass couldn't refuse the man, he simply had too much authority.
Plus he asked politely.
The professor had spent the past few minutes appraising him, neither had said a word since they'd entered the room although he did notice the old man place a privacy charm around them.
"Professor..." Rodrick opened his mouth, unsure.
"Yes? Dear boy." the man replied in a grandfatherly voice. Something that made him tense. Gellert had undoubtedly warned him about this.
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at the boy; the tension was flowing off of him, it was almost as if he was scared? No, wary was the better word. He still couldn't understand the reason for all of this.
"There's nothing to be afraid of, I am only here to check up on you after your recent troubles," Albus spoke kindly.
Rodrick relaxed slightly.
"I believe your lack of a guardianship has been sorted, although I was quite surprised to find out how quickly it was done," Albus spoke, a twinkle in his eyes.
Rodrick nodded along uncertain, "I met Mrs. Malfoy at the orphanage by chance, she helped me out."
Albus narrowed his eyes slightly, he knew it was no coincidence but what he didn't know was the reason.
"Yes, that was quite kind of her, I must admit," Albus spoke, but before he could continue, Rodrick raised a hand.
Rodrick sighed slightly, shocked at what he was about to do.
"Sir, can we avoid beating around the bush, I am not nearly Slytherin enough to enjoy it." He knew it was a bad idea, but he really didn't know how long it would last before they reached the point, he knew they eventually would.
Best get it out of the way as soon as possible lest he accidentally reveal too much.
Albus Dumbledore brows went up before he started chuckling. Yes, the boy really was extraordinary. "I am quite amused, I must say, I am not sure I expected that," He remarked, a smile on his face.
Rodrick made to roll his eyes but managed to stop himself; the action only amused the headmaster even more.
"Oh very well, if you insist," Albus started, "I was quite worried about Malfoy's particular interest in you, I heard from Hagrid about his involvement regarding your invitation, I was slightly put out you didn't mention it to me," when the man finished, to his surprise he found the boy far more relaxed than before.
"Sorry but we really didn't have a lot of time at that point, I still had plenty of packing to do to get ready..." Rodrick excused himself; he wasn't putting much on it being believable.
The headmaster merely nodded along agreeing.
'He definitely didn't buy that.'
"No harm was done, although I must ask you to be careful when dealing with the man. Do you have any idea on why he seemed so interested?" He questioned, but the look in his eyes set Rodrick on guard.
The man knew something, he was testing Rodrick, lying right now might be a bad idea, but what could he have known?
Rodrick's finger went to his chin, imitating a thoughtful expression, he was facing the floor, trying to avoid the headmaster's gaze. He wasn't sure on what he should tell the headmaster, in all honesty, his grandfather still considered it a folly to reveal his name, merely due to the fact he would be watched much more closely. He sighed, there really wasn't anything he could say without causing himself any problems.
The boy was troubled, he was certainly trying to hide something, especially considering he was hiding his own face. Something about the boy suggested it was a matter of preservation; he wasn't the first orphan to be admitted to Hogwarts, there were plenty over the years. Almost all of them adopted a particular sense to avoid everyone else, none more so than Voldemort, although he did it for very different reasons to the rest. What the boy in front of him however showed wasn't simply a sense to hide himself but more out of survival instincts. Knowing this, Albus once again broke the silence that etched on.
"Rodrick, there really is no reason for you to feel unsafe at Hogwarts," The moment he spoke the words, however, Albus regretted them, he saw the boy stiffen completely, anger coursed through his eyes. What on earth could result in such a reaction?
"Forgive me headmaster, but it isn't my Hogwarts years I am afraid of. It's the rest of my life."
Albus Dumbledore felt wary, he understood the issue at large, he had considered it the moment Malfoy took an interest in the boy, but he had hoped it was otherwise. He knew it was delicate ground; he simply couldn't let the boy feel safer with the Malfoy's it was asking for trouble.
"I assure you, no harm will come to you for your family name."
Panic screeched through Rodrick at that, 'He knew!?' When he gazed towards the headmaster's eyes, he saw a confused look; there was no caution in them, the twinkle had disappeared. He relaxed slightly, he was guessing.
Rodrick decided to play it safe. "I prefer privacy on the matter; I have no reason to let everyone else know, it would only complicate my life."
Dumbledore frowned, he understood the boy's point and agreed with it somewhat, but it wasn't a healthy mindset.
"Hiding yourself from the beginning will only make it harder to accept everything when it's too late, there will come a point when you can no longer hide," Albus spoke, remembering memories of the first war. He had avoided that war as much as he could and at the end, it was brought to him anyway. If he had to involve himself anyway, why did he wait so long? He had spent long days thinking about all the lives that could've been spared...
Rodrick sighed before he locked eyes with the headmaster, a dejected look on his face.
"I know."
Dumbledore felt bad for the boy; he had originally planned to bring up the troll incident and the child's use of dark and without doubt illegal magic. But the look on his face simply broke any will; the boy clearly did it out of pure intentions even if he used and knew the wrong kind of magic. At the end of it all, he must've learned such magic simply to protect himself. Albus sighed, tired, that brought up an uneasy point for the headmaster, who could have taught achild younger then 12 an unforgivable curse? And exactly how far did they go in teaching him... He would need to ask Rodrick at some point, but he could not do it today.
"I presume you are fine then? With the Greengrass family taking guardianship of you?" It wasn't a bad point really, the family was wealthy enough to afford it and were one of the Purebloods not to support the dark lord, they had stayed neutral to avoid any consequences. Something Albus could understand, he had done the same for most of the first Wizarding war.
Rodrick's eyes lit up at the change of subject before he quickly agreed. The headmaster smiled at him once before he reassured him that if there was anything he was worried about, his door was always open.
The old wizard had spoken to the elder Greengrass after that before he left, he gave his goodbyes to his two students and met the future one. 'Children truly were the delight of the world' Albus thought fondly.
"He's weird," Astoria broke the silence, earning amused looks from the people around her. Her attention quickly changed to desserts.
"I think she'll love Hogwarts, but only for its feasts," added on a bemused Rodrick.