"Up! Get up! Now!"
Another morning, kinda similar to all...
Hadrian woke up with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.
"Up!" She screeched and then went to the kitchen she put the frying pan on the stove and then came to slam at the door again, "Are you up yet?" She demanded.
"Nearly," Hadrian sighed in annoyance, as he slowly got up. He despised this—the constant feeling of powerlessness, the relentless subjugation.
However, there was a certain sharpness in his eyes today.
Yesterday, Hadrian had come to a crucial realization about himself and his desires.
Power.
He craved it, but not just in any measure. He wanted it to an extreme degree.
"When are you planning to get out of your hole? The chores aren't gonna wait for you, nor is that wooden stick if you go back to sleep again!" Petunia threatened.
The woman really was planning to beat him black and blue. After all, if he wasn't punished for his mistakes now then he was sure to repeat them again, right?
And Hadrian knew that, she always said something along those lines when she beat him so he simply got out and got ready for the chores.
'Before anything, I have to do something about my surroundings though. Honestly, they aren't that BAD of a people. But...' He thought, his emerald eyes cold and calculating.
'They are annoying...'
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[ A Few Days Later ]
Petunia Evans Dursley was a strict, narrow-minded, and highly prejudiced woman. She was intolerant, status-conscious, paranoid, and above all, prideful and condescending.
No one could have imagined her current state: prostrated in front of an 11-year-old boy, the same boy she had beaten and abused for years.
Tears streamed down her face as she begged, "P-please, don't do this. You can't do that to Dudley. He's a sweet boy, he just made a mistake. He's your brother!"
"Is that so?" Hadrian mused, his voice devoid of empathy as he lounged on the couch, gazing down at his groveling aunt. "But, Aunt Petunia, I must submit the evidence to the police as a good citizen. However, I doubt the Commissioner's wife will let him off easily..."
He leaned forward, his voice a chilling whisper. "After all, Dudley killed their precious dog. The childless woman treated that animal like her own daughter. And did you see how Dudley laughed after running it over with his little motorbike in that video? I suspect the Commissioner's wife might be so enraged that she ensures Dudley doesn't survive juvenile detention. She's quite... infamous for her temper. And Commisioner's feelings won't be that different from hers..."
Petunia's beggings got desperate as her tears flowed nonstop. Just yesterday she saw the Commissioner thrashing a man who he suspected of having killed their dog.
Hadrian had used Dudley's video camera, which the fat boy got as a present, to record Dudley's crime. Of course, the poor fat bully didn't get the idea of ramming his motorbike over the dog of the Police Commissioner on his own.
He'd been dared by his friends, who were subtly manipulated by Hadrian. All were unaware of the owner of the dog they were plotting their stunt on.
Today, Hadrian had given a copy of the videotape to Petunia, leading to this desperate situation.
"Hmm..." Hadrian pulled her hair to make her look into his eyes, "Let's talk about what I want then."
Petunia looked into his emerald eyes, her face pale and tear-streaked. "Anything," she whispered. "P-Please, just don't hurt Dudley."
He exhaled with an innocent smile, "Let's make a deal then. Honestly, you all can't give me much and I don't really plan on staying in this house for long... Still, from now on, things will change around here. I want your and your family's absolute obedience. You will inform Uncle Vernon and Dudley of this new arrangement. If they have any doubts, remind them of the tape. Remind them what's at stake."
Petunia nodded frantically, her desperation palpable. "Yes, yes, of course. We'll even become your slaves. Just please, don't show that tape to anyone."
"Good," Hadrian said, a small, cruel smile playing on his lips. "Because if any of you step out of line, even once, that tape goes straight to the police. And we both know what that means for Dudley."
Petunia's face crumpled as she nodded, the last of her resistance crumbling.
Hadrian stood up, towering over her despite his young age. The power dynamic had shifted irrevocably, and they both knew it.
"Ah, also tell Uncle Vernon to remind me to send a message to my 'friends' every day. If I miss a 'single day' they will send the tape to the Commisioner's home on their own, fearing something happened to me."
"O-Okay," she agreed, her voice small and defeated.
"Excellent," Hadrian said, turning to leave the room. "I expect lunch to be ready in ten minutes. And it had better be good."
Petunia watched him go, a sense of dread settling in her chest. She had underestimated the boy, and now they were all paying the price.
She got to her feet, wiped her tears, and headed to the kitchen to prepare lunch. Her hands shook as she worked, the reality of their new situation sinking in.
She would have to tell Vernon and Dudley, and she dreaded their reactions.
But there was no choice. Hadrian held all the cards now, and they were at his mercy.
As she cooked, Petunia couldn't help but wonder how everything had gone so wrong. She had always believed that keeping Hadrian down was for the best, but now, faced with the cold, calculating boy he had become.
What kind of 11-year-old could formulate such blackmail...
She was raising a Tyrant under those stairs.
The only grace in the situation that she found was that he said that he wasn't planning on staying in their house for long, he said it himself.
This would all be over soon.
They would be free again once he leaves...
Or at least that's what she believed or what she was 'led' to believe.
The next day dawned with an unusual quiet in the Dursley household. Hadrian, for the first time, woke up without Petunia banging on his door.
He got up from a rather comforting bed for the first time in his life. The Dursely couple's bedroom was modest but a significant upgrade from his previous living conditions.
As he descended the stairs, he was met with a sight that would have been unimaginable just a day before. Dudley, who usually spent his mornings glued to the television, was waiting nervously by the dining table.
He had a black eye that flicked towards Hadrian, filled with a mixture of fear and forced friendliness.
"Good morning, Hadrian," Dudley said, his voice strained but attempting politeness.
Hadrian raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, merely nodding in response. He took a seat at the table, where a surprisingly elaborate breakfast spread awaited him.
Bacon, eggs, toast, and even freshly squeezed orange juice – it was a stark contrast to the usual meager portions he was given.
Petunia bustled in from the kitchen, her demeanor uncharacteristically accommodating. "Good morning, Hadrian. I made your favorite – scrambled eggs with a bit of cheese, just how you like it."
Hadrian suppressed a smirk. "Thank you, Aunt Petunia," he replied, his tone neutral.
Vernon entered the room, his usual bluster replaced with an uneasy silence. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Morning, Hadrian," he muttered, avoiding eye contact as he took his seat.
"Uncle Vernon, please, get out of here. I want you to eat 'after' I am done." Hadrian waved the spoon gesturing him to leave.
The fat middle-aged man seethed with rage, his face turned red... but he controlled himself.
"Just for a few months... Just for a few months..." He went away muttering to himself.
"Hadrian," Petunia began hesitantly, "Dudley has something he wants to say to you."
Dudley shifted uncomfortably in front of him. "I'm... I'm sorry for how I've treated you," he mumbled, his face reddening. "I-I shouldn't have bullied you. It was wrong."
Hadrian put down his fork and looked directly at Dudley, after contemplating for a few moments, he simply nodded.
He wasn't much interested in the stupid fatso, but he might make him suffer later if he wished.
The rest of the meal passed in strained silence, the Dursleys clearly struggling with their new reality. Once breakfast was over, Petunia cleared her throat again.
"I've put some of Dudley's things in your new room," she said, her voice quivering slightly. "You can use whatever you like."
Hadrian nodded. "I appreciate that, Aunt Petunia."
Petunia was blatantly trying to suck up to him. She couldn't dare to displease him, she was aware of how awful she had been toward him all these past years.
She was sure that if he wanted he could beat her black and blue for the sake of revenge and she wouldn't be able to do anything...
The timid boy had become sufficiently cruel for such a deed as well.
Just yesterday she was slapped on her cheeks when the hot milk she had brought to him turned out to be a little cold...
The words he uttered after slapping her sent a chill down her spine, "I didn't really want to hit you for such a meager thing... But you see, punishments are necessary. After all, if you aren't punished for your mistakes then you're sure to repeat them again, right?"
These words of his seemed too familiar.
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.
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The days continued rather peacefully for Hadrian, with Durselys not getting in his way and even serving him as if he were their lord.
But Hadrian wasn't satisfied...
'This' wasn't absolute power... 'This' wasn't his end goal... But there was no throne in this country. The leader changed every few years on the whims of the public.
'The only relevant term that defines what I want is a Dictator...'
Anyway, a sad thing happened to him... the magical book that had guided him and showed him his real path was disintegrated after the next chapter of "A Choice."
However, the book finally gave him a real-life ability. It was an ability to manipulate his dreams however he wished.
In these dreams, he could re-create his surroundings to the last detail, except for real people.
He could also spend years of time here without much time passing in the real world.
A handy ability that he could imagine had plenty of uses.
.
.
.
A few days later, something unexpected happened Hadrian received a letter addressed specifically to him.
When Vernon and Petunia saw the letter a look of dread befell them. They tried to hide the letter from him but a single raised brow from Hadrian and they reluctantly gave him the letter.
After reading the letter and interrogating the Dursely couple who seemed to know an awfully lot about this 'wizard' stuff, he realized that this world was more than what it seemed. It made sense too, after all a snake had given him a life-changing magical grimoire...
And he realized that the wizards seemed like a threat to his rise to power.
After all, Petunia told him that her sister or Hadrian's mother used to perform life-threatening magic tricks just to play or impress her parents...
And from their faces, there was no doubt that they were telling the truth.
'Turning a human to a toad... imagine various ways to torture that transformed person.'
And so, Hadrian decided to accept the invitation. But seriously, where should he get the items listed on the other side of the letter?
When he wondered that, Petunia told him that her Sister was guided by a young beautiful witch.
Lily, Hadrian's mother, used to be a big fan of hers, the witch was called Mina McDonald or something like that...
Hadrian nodded and decided to just wait for his guide...
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Thanks for reading!