As the days progressed she found more clues about the Heir and the old books provided mentions of a monster controlled by him.
Well, he was just playing with the girl, he already knew most of the things but still acted surprised by some of her findings... Hadrian needed someone in all the houses.
In Slytherin, he had Evelyn, in Ravenclaw he had Luna, in Hufflepuff he had yet to find a person who he could easily manipulate, but in Gryffindor, he had chosen it to be Hermione.
And she might become his first subordinate whom he didn't need to break or torment first.
Hadrian was thinking of using love and need as her leash.
About a month later as more victims of petrification appeared one after other... his favorite and closest pet, Evelyn, became a victim as well.
Well, using her as the bait was effective...
His orders were risky, fatal even... but she did well avoiding direct eye contact with the snake, if she had seen its eyes directly then she wouldn't have been merely petrified but dead...
Using Evelyn as bait, he had found the real identity of the Heir. It was the youngest Weasely. However, there was more to it. She was being manipulated... by a freaking book.
'Sigh, what's up with strange books in the world...'
First, it was that book that introduced him to his real self and gave him the ability to bring and manipulate the world in his dream... now, it's a book that has the soul of the previous Dark Lord entrapped in it...
'Truly frightening!' Hadrian chuckled as he forced the mandrake potion down the throat of petrified Evelyn who was holding a hand mirror.
The matured Mandrakes, a major component of the recovery potion, cost him quite a bit, but it was no big deal. It was like taking out a bucket of water from the sea. Potter Fortune was just that large.
Of course, other muggle-born victims could never afford it that's why they would have to wait for the school's Mandrakes to mature. It'd take a few months for them to mature at that... the victims were quite unfortunate indeed.
"I never expected you'd be a major cause for my vision where I saw Eveie in this state, Lord Hadrian," Luna said in her dreamy voice as she saw Evelyn's form slowly turning back to normal.
"Well, I suppose you're right." Hadrian chuckled. "At least, due to your warning, I had the time to prepare the recovery potion and it happened according to MY will... and she didn't have to suffer for long..."
Evelyn's eyes fluttered open as the effects of the mandrake potion brought her back to normal. She looked up at Hadrian, who was gazing down at her with an unreadable expression.
"Welcome back, Evelyn," he said softly, helping her sit up.
"Did you find him, Hadri... can I call you Lord Hadrian as well, like Luna?" She asked, her eyes pleading.
Hadrian smiled, he was pleased with her attitude, "Yes, I found her. And yes, you can call me your Lord, but only when we're alone. I'm not ready to reveal myself to the world yet."
As they were returning to their dorms, Luna came near Evelyn, "Are you happy, Eveie, that you were so useful to Lord Hadrian?"
Evelyn who was smiling nonstop since earlier nodded, "Yes, why wouldn't I be..."
She had proved her worth to Hadrian once again, as the role of the bait could only be taken by her as she was the only muggle-born serving Hadrian for now.
In the next few weeks, Hadrian researched the magic Tom Riddle (Voldemort) could have used to control a girl to such a degree with a mere diary.
He had his suspicions when he encountered Voldemort's soul last year latched onto Quirrel, but after finishing his research he concluded that Voldemort had surely used the Horcrux magic to preserve himself even after his death...
'The previous Dark Lord was truly someone amazing. He had instilled such fear that no one dares to speak his name and he's still finding ways to come back to life, huh...'
"I have decided, I'll meet with him when he has nearly taken over the Weasely girl."
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On a certain night, Hermione Granger who was studying in the Gryffindor's common room, heard the sound of slow footsteps.
It was Ginny Weasely, Ron's little sister. She was the weirdest girl in the house, hiding in plain sight, always reading that old black diary with empty pages... her eyes were almost emotionless, as if spellbound...
But what was she doing so late at night?
Where was she going?
Hermione Granger, the ever-curious girl, decided to sneakily follow Ginny Weasely.
The poor bushy-haired girl didn't know that this decision of hers was going to be the cause of a hellish nightmare for the next couple of weeks...
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Thanks for reading!
Next chapter... Taming Hermione