Summary:
Previously. . . The friendship between Hadrian and Draco is born and Harry meets a peculiar Slytherin in his first runes class.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextCHAPTER 15:
Ron stared thoughtfully as Harry lectured Hermione of all people on Runes. He felt left out. . . That is until Harry had practically dragged him to their little circle and started blabbering about how Divination sometimes included runes. Their attention was wrapped around the youngest of the trio's words. The magic Harry had was. . . Ron couldn't really explain it. It was powerful and unique.
Harry's magic was in between dark and light. It was gray. But Ron suspected his friend was more dark than light. Hermione was also dark. Ron was light. He was the only one with magic that felt light between the three of them. At first, he had been a bit scared about it but as time passed, Ron had gotten used to it.
It had been a rare gift for him. When he was seven, he had been told by his great-aunt Tabitha, his mum's wise old aunt, that he had a chance at an old family gift from the Prewett's. Magic awareness wasn't the same as simply sensing magic. You could easily pinpoint what kind of magic core a person had and estimate how powerful they were. They didn't need to have their magic flare out, he could just feel it.
He had started feeling magic when he was twelve. He hadn't known what that ominous feeling he had whenever he went near Ginny, but it had soon been revealed that it was a memory possessing her. Ron had felt the diary possess his sister and he had done nothing about it. He had gone to aunt Tabitha the summer before their third year, asking her how he felt about it.
Then he started to notice how Fred and George's cores weren't the same. Similar, but not the same. They were both dark but Fred's was more aggressive and loud while George's was quieter yet sneakier in a way. It had helped Ron figure out which twin was which—this has absolutely delighted Fred and George which resulted in Fred convincing George to lift him into the air.
So Ron observed. He watched as Harry drawed out his magic and didn't even cast a spell to burn a rune into a square of parchment. Watched as Hermione's magic flared in excitement. They were dark. Well, Harry was more gray. He has gotten used to dark magic. Ginny and the twins were dark. Charlie and Percy were neutral but Charlie leaned towards the light while Percy leaned to the dark. Bill was the only other light wizard among his siblings.
"You don't really need to cast a spell. Using your wand would be easier but since you haven't learned how to draw out your magic without spells we'll have to get you a runic pen." Harry explained, instructing Hermione on her runes. "Want that to be your Christmas gift?"
"Absolutely!"
Ron shuddered a bit at the pure excitement the dark magic had. Hermione's magic was dancing around, obviously gleeful.
"I'm still getting you those tarot cards." Harry snickered, causing Ron to pout.
"Why tarots?"
"Some tarots contain runes, so we'll just have to figure out how to activate them. How's divination?"
He immediately grimaced at the thought of divination. The subject itself was nice and Ron did feel like he was great for it, but he hated the teacher. Trelawney wasn't so bad but she kept on predicting deaths and when Harry had left her class she had bemoaned how she could no longer warn him of imminent danger. It was rubbish.
Harry is danger.
"Trelawney is all tosh. Can't get anything other than death omens. I think I'll just drop Divination."
Harry had immediately stiffened. Ron flinched as he felt the single second where Harry's magic had come out. It was enough to make him gulp, trying so hard not to edge away from the other boy.
"So the only issue is the teacher, right?" Harry asked. "What if you had a good mentor?"
"I guess. . . Why?"
A smile graced Harry's lips. He and Hermione had deemed such a smile the trouble they faced since their second year. That smile meant trouble. It caused him to glance at Hermione who had glanced back.
"Don't drop out. I'm sure we'll be able to find someone. They might be a student and that'll be better. Seers are typically odd fellows and can be distinguished by their dazed demeanors. Well, that's what Pythia: the Oracle of Delphi says." Harry shrugged, getting to his feet and rushing back into their dorms.
Ron left Hermione, bewildered and confused. He and Hermione stared at each other before looking away.
"When in the world did he decide to buy a book on divination? I mean. . . I can recognize the name Pythia from Greek mythology, but why does he have a book about it?"
"You know, he's turning into you. With all the reading, books, and suddenly transferring to Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. I mean. . .bloody hell, I feel like I'm the stupid one between us." Ron chuckled bitterly.
He knew the feeling of inferiority well. He was the youngest son after all. He was inferior to his older brothers, he was inferior to his only sister. The only thing he knew he was good at was chess. He prided himself in chess, especially when his older brothers and father couldn't beat him at it.
He had thought that he'd be free from his inferiority, but then again. . . He was friends with the boy who lived and the girl declared as the brightest witch her age. Ron was just. . . Ron .
He hadn't expected for a pillow to be chucked at his head when he said that. His eyes wide, he turned to a seething Hermione who had gotten up her feet. A book at the ready, she was ready to attack. But Hermione didn't assault him with a book like usual, no, she threw her book and the ground and screamed into a pillow. It was a bit embarrassing since some of their housemates were staring.
Then Hermione began her tirade, "Idiot! Dummy! Stupid, stupid Ronald!" Ron had to admit that those words stung but Hermione looked furious. "You're not stupid!"
"I mean… you just—"
"How could you say that? If you had been stupid, we wouldn't have saved the philosophers stone in our first year." Hermione yelled, but she didn't finish. She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Okay. . . You are stupid." She admitted, not an ounce of regret or guilt on her face. "You're stupid for following after Harry when he went into the chamber to save Ginny. You're stupid for putting yourself between a suspected mass murderer and us. You're stupid for being friends with a bossy know-it-all like me. Since you've done all that, then you are stupid!"
Ron was gaping as he stared at Hermione. He had expected hurtful words of confirmation. She kinda did confirm he was stupid but he hasn't expected this. It bothered him. Befriending Hermione wasn't stupid. Why would she say that?
"'mione—"
"Idiot!" She yelled before gathering her things and rushing up the stairs to the girls dorm.
Ron was befuddled, slumped against the chair and staring at their homework.
"What the hell was that about?"
He turned towards Harry, who had a book in his hands. The dark haired boy looked quite bothered, but took one look at Ron and sighed. Harry sat beside him without a word and handed him the book. Harry's presence seemed calming, his dark magic swirling around him in a way that hugged him.
"Am I stupid?"
Harry glanced at him, sighing again. "Yeah. You're as stupid as me." He said and hummed quietly.
"Hermione said I was stupid."
"Bet you said something about your stupidity." Harry snorted, patting him in the back. "She's angry for you. You're not supposed to hate yourself. You're Ron, our best friend and the guy who stayed at Hogwarts during Christmas for me. You're not stupid, just reckless like the rest of us."
It was nice. Harry and Hermione had his back, the same way he had theirs. He hadn't realized it, and the next thing he knew, he was trying not to cry.
Harry, someone who was supposed to be the younger brother between them, had acted like the older brother and pressed his hand against the top of Ron's head. The dark haired boy pushed his head down, as if he had sensed his embarrassment and tried to push his head down to hide his tears from the others.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
It had been an entire week since the first day. Divination was still a pain and Defence Against the Dark arts was a scary experience. Moody had pissed off Harry by insinuating how he was the only survivor of the killing curse and also having scared Neville out of his wits. Harry was either livid or just annoyed.
Regardless, Ron was upset. Aside from how frustrating divination was, Hermione had started to ignore him. She was still angry with him. Give her time. She's upset you insulted yourself. Harry had told him, but it didn't make him any happier.
While Harry and Hermione were in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, he usually had a free period. He had spent that time reading through the book Harry had given him, Pythia: the Oracle of Delphi . It was informative when it came to seers and spoke of the myth and legend of the high priestess of the temple of Apollo in Delphi.
It was described that Pythia was seen as a divine being by mortals. An apostle of Apollo some people had declared. But there had been a description of how Pythia always seemed so dazed when it came to her prophecies.
He didn't particularly understand why Harry gave him this book. The fact that he was learning divination didn't seem enough of a reason for Harry to buy a book about some Greek oracle. Ron was a pureblood—he knew that the Greek myths were real. Pythia must have existed at some point in history. Regardless, he was still confused as to what the book was for. Dazed, Dreamy, often deemed insane by normal mortals. The book described.
The book was heavy, yet it felt light. He closed it shut, sighing as he rubbed his temples. What was the point of giving him the book? Ron could never fathom why. It was like he was being mocked for being such a failure. Yet. . .
"The Oracle of Delphi." Someone said as Ron turned to the stranger. "Legend says that Apollo himself favored her and made her immortal." The girl had soft blonde hair, cloudy blue eyes, and a personality Ron could describe as dreamy.
"I— Hello?" Ron nervously greeted. Something about the girl told him to be cautious. He could feel her magic. It was confusing to say the least. It felt like pure ethereal light, a comforting—not blinding—light. Yet he could feel darkness in the depths of it. As if he would find an abyss under the light.
Her darkness feels like Harry's. He thought, gulping as he smiled at the girl. He noticed the deep blue robes she wore, Ravenclaw .
"You're Ginny's older brother, yes? I sometimes saw you come by our house when Ginny dragged you and the twins around." She giggled. Ron realized who he was talking to. Luna Lovegood.
The very girl he has called Loony. But now he didn't think she was Loony. She seemed. . . Dazed, Dreamy. It made him pause, staring at her with wide eyes. But Luna only smiled at him, then plopped on the free space right beside him. She carefully took the book from his hand and started flipping through the pages.
"The interesting thing about Pythia is Delphi itself. In ancient times Delphi was considered omphalos , the center of the world. Y'know, Delphi was a religious sanctuary dedicated to the god of truth, archery, and the sun and light, Apollo." Luna explained, "Although it is befitting that a sanctuary in Apollo's name would have an oracle. He's also the god of prophecy."
"Is. . . Is that so?" Ron hesitantly grinned.
He delved deeper into Luna's magic. He was careful not to alert her but he Suspected that if the girl did sense him inspecting her magic, she didn't really care. It welcomed him, for a few moments. Ron could feel Luna's magic, a soft and gentle breeze that wrapped around him like a silk blanket. Those moments only lasted for a few seconds before he was pushed back and practically spat out from the comforting blanket of Luna's magic. He felt devoid of its warmth, grimacing as he gulped and gave her a sheepish smile. Luna simply hummed.
"Quite the predicament you are in." She sighed, pressing a hand against her cheek as she tilted her head. Her expression was neither pitying or amused, she was interested and curious. "You do not receive visions. Neither do you sense a person's past or future. How curious. Not a seer but something that involves divination." Her gentle tone made him shudder. Yet the way she smiled was comforting yet it seemed to mock him.
He stared at her in wonder. Was she a seer? Was she not? He wasn't sure but something made him feel a sort of kinship from Luna. There was wisdom and knowledge in her eyes that did not compare to Hermione's sharp intelligence. Luna knew things not from the text books like her Hermione. It was something else entirely and it unsettled him. Whatever wisdom she had, Ron feared that it was exactly like Harry's dark truth that he hides from the world.
"Little piece of advice, Ronald Weasley. . ." Luna hummed, her tone taking an ominous turn that was filled with calm and serenity. She stood, patting her robes and skirt as she smiled at him. Ron tried his best not to flinch as he met those eerily knowing blue eyes.
"The art of divination does not always mean to divine the future. Sometimes it is the past and sometimes. . . It is the present."
She walked away with a grace he could not describe. Her humming echoed, her voice lingering in the air. As if magic willed her voice to be heard, even if it was a simple humm of it.
"To divine does not always mean to scour the future."
"Don't scare him too much."
Luna giggled at Hadrian's tired expression. She hadn't planned on startling Ronald Weasley so much, but she had moved on instinct. Harbingers of fate, although weak, were attracted to each other. It seems Ronald Weasley was an unfortunate fellow who excelled in divination and was dubbed as a harbinger of fate. Such were the worst nightmare of Hadrian Potter, who scowled silently.
"I did no such thing!" She giggled, "I simply listened to the nargles that have been buzzing around him. Such wonder and talent that is being wasted upon the hands of Sybil Trelawney."
Hadrian drawls out, "Wasted talent indeed. That is why I've trusted you to guide him. . .so please do not scare him with your wistful ways." His sarcastic tone filled with a mix of amusement and annoyance.
Truly, it was frustrating to watch as someone with innate talent wither away in the hands of a seer who had no control of her powers. Sybil Trelawney was but a smidgen of the few who Fate had trouble deciding on. The powers to divine past, present, and future, yet she has no control. Trelawney was pitiful to Luna, someone Fate had decided was not worth control over her powers.
"A few more weeks and Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive. If I enter the tournament again I'll just shove Diggory aside." He bluntly stated.
"How cruel. Won't you share your glory?"
"Share? Darling, so you really think I should share the glory of having Voldemort point his wand at me? If that is so honorable, then perhaps I will have all of the champions have it." The venomous tone in his voice made her stiffen for a moment. Clearly he did not appreciate her meaningless jokes.
"I. . .see." she cleared her throat, quickly continuing with news that would please him. "It seems like Durmstrang has allowed younger students to attend the tournament to have them witness such a historic event. Although, anyone third year and younger are not allowed to come with the seventh years deemed worthy to be one champion."
"I know. . .Asen Oblansk will be attending so will—Ah." Hadrian paused, before a small smile split across his face. "Nikolai Markov."
His expression morphed into a malicious kind of glee. It made Luna worry for poor Nikolai, someone that had caught the attention of her friend. No matter who or what you are, catching the master of Death's attention was a blessing and a curse.
"Brilliant. Perhaps. . .Ah yes." Hadrian hummed, turning on his heel. He didn't care if he left Luna behind, neither did she blame him. Hadrian was used to walking down a path alone, metaphorically and literally. The Master of Death has experienced and seen death many times, loneliness was something that should be expected in his wretched occupation. Luna wasn't allowed to pity him, but she sincerely hoped his future would get better. She hoped that Fate would have mercy on him.
Magic surrounded them. The halls of Hogwarts have magic. She could feel it, remnants of the founder's essence carved and imbued into every brick. At the same time, she could feel the most complicated piece of magic known to humanity. Hadrian's magic was like a puzzle. Some pieces did not fit, some pieces were absolutely perfect, it would take extreme focus and skill to work on the puzzle to put the pieces back together. Luna did not have that much skill but she could faintly align some pieces together.
"What shall we do with the imposter?" She quietly asked. Her focus was still on Hadrian's magic. Another fraction of his magic was in a tangled mess. She imagined a thousand piece puzzle board, inspecting every piece and setting it aside to put it together.
"I'll deal with Crouch myself. Focus on the task I gave you." Hadrian sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Also, do me a favor."
"What is it?"
"I'll need you to talk to Draco about his mother. The Black sisters as a whole and Nymphadora Tonks. Morgana knows how the Blacks need to return to glory."
Luna faltered as yet another puzzle piece was shown to her. The Blacks. A seer she may be, but Death had given his supposed master some privileges, that included Hadrian having a partial immunity to the predictions of seers. Puzzle pieces—that's what she calls the tidbits of clues that help her predict the possible futures Hadrian may have and what his past lives were like. The Blacks were heavily involved in at least one of his lives. Hadrian based many of his movements on the Blacks, even the way he dresses reminded her of a man in her mother's old pictures. Regulus Black, she remembered the boy that was her mother's best friend and the dead man that was promised to be her godfather.
Hadrian dressed similarly to the deceased Black Heir. Although he didn't publicly wear those clothes at the moment, she had seen the dark and cool colored clothes that he would often wear. She had seen the way he fixed his hair and rid himself of those glasses and the first thing she thought of was the picture of Regulus Black her mother showed her when she was a child.
"Why?"
"As I said," He halted and turned to her with that dangerous smirk of his. "I will bring the Black Family back to glory. That starts with finding more of those with its blood."
Blood , it was one of the things she discovered to be Hadrian's affinity. It was frightening but at the same time, it made him powerful. She hummed softly, nodding along as he started to explain what to do. The tournament was nearing and Hadrian's plans were to commence immediately.
"We begin with the first task. I don't plan on using the broom. More skilled spellwork will do."
"Not too skilled or you'll garner the fool's attention."
"Of course, of course! Simply accio, water charms, fire repellent charms, and the such." Hadrian waved his hand dismissively, although Luna doubted that, "Then on to Crouch. I'll deal with him, as I've said. While you do what I've asked of you."
Luna nodded curtly. His instructions seemed obscure but she knew what to do. Hadrian didn't need to tell her much when it came to some things, but she could understand what she was told to do. It wasn't dangerous or life-threatening, but it was a crucial point in the plans and arrangements he had been preparing for months.
"How long do you need?" He asked. "Understand that I cannot do this part due to the attention that will be on me."
"I know. I will not fail you." She whispered.
Failure was not an option. Not anymore that is. The Master of Death has awakened and Luna's duty as Fate's Harbinger made sure she would be involved in any event or outcome regarding Death's champion. Failures meant ruining Fate's plans for this world and Luna feared Moira's wrath the most. In the words of Hadrian, Seers were complicated. She was one of the complicated bunch after all.
Hadrian smiled at her, walking away towards his next Arithmancy class, leaving her to contemplate on what to do next. Fate worked in mysterious ways and Luna tried her best to understand the mystery of Moira. She wandered the halls of Hogwarts, finally arriving at her Defense against the Dark arts lesson. She quickly spotted Ginny's flaming red hair and sat on the space beside her.
The youngest and only daughter of the Weasleys turned her head towards Luna, and pouted. "Where did you go?"
"Somewhere." Luna smiled, "The nargles led me somewhere interesting again."
Ginny sighed, but smiled fondly nonetheless. It made Luna chuckle, nudging Ginny with a grin. The other girl laughed, before she jolted from the loud bang of a door slamming open. Their eyes went towards their Defense against the Dark arts teacher, who limped from his office to the front of the class. His scowl was worse than usual, but he proceeded with the lessons like usual.
She tilted her head and watched the man teach. He explained the differences of curses, hexes, and jinxes. How not all curses had a counter. The man pretending to be Moody faltered for a moment as he met her eyes, Luna smiled, making sure no one knew what she thought.
Will he spare you or not? She thought with an angelic smile. The imposter would either live long enough to witness a new future or perish by the hands of the master of death himself.
She was curious, Let's see how long you will last.
Notes:
Harry and Hermione have special roles in the story, so Ron obviously has one for himself. I once read in an article that Ron was really good at divination, like how he was the symbolism for some foreshadowing.
So I basically took that and made it into something I want. Luna and Ron are going to be best friends. Cause Ron's basically the mom friend like James
Anyways! This is a bit early compared to my recent chapters. I'm really bored and trying to cope with school by escaping into the story I have written. Lmao I read too much ORV. Kim Dokja, what have you done to me?
Anyways! I finally got the hang of formatting my chapters a bit like different fonts. I am so damn happy I found that advice on Reddit. Although I don't know how to use the workskin feature. Someone help.