Chapter 17 - Snape gets over it, meeting Tom Riddle
Hadrius Black, or Harry as he liked to be called, was currently sitting with Ginny at the Ravenclaw table for breakfast.
"So Gin" Harry said "what do you think our next lives will be?"
"Don't know" Ginny shrugged "maybe we'd Vikings"
"Maybe we'd be in a world where aliens and superheroes exist"
"Oh, maybe we could be in a world where you're a male Veela" Ginny suggested "although, with all the attention you attract I'm starting to suspect you already are"
"You're one to talk" Harry replied "anyway, what does it matter? I could look like a prince or lumberjack, you'll still be stuck with me"
"True" Ginny admitted "but I prefer you without a beard, I can see more of you that way"
"I also prefer you without a beard" Harry joked "it just doesn't do it for me"
"Prat" Ginny shook her head in amusement "anyway, what are you planning to do with Dumbledore?"
"He's not really doing anything over than extremely irritating me at the moment" Harry said "he wants me to fight, I'm not going to. At least not his way, by the way do you have any ideas about Tom and his horcruxes?"
"Not yet, the problem is we don't know where they are because they're in different locations from the last time."
"Yeah, last time the diary was with Malfoy and the cup was with Bellatrix but that hasn't happened yet" Harry pointed out "but we do know where the locket, diadem and ring are. Providing he hasn't placed them somewhere else"
"Yeah, we've left it for long enough. We'll go and destroy them this weekend, and then we can work on finding the rest."
"Yeah, we…oh wait, here comes Lilly" Harry smiled as Lily came and sat alongside them "alright Lily?"
"Yeah" Lily said slowly "um, something happened and I figured I should let you guys know"
"Okay?" Harry raised an eyebrow
"Um…me and James" Lily said "we're going out"
"You two are going out?" Ginny smiled
"Finally" Harry sighed "I was wondering when you two would get together, so what happened?"
"He asked me out again and I told him yes" Lily answered
"He finally wore you out?" Harry grinned
"Yes" Lily laughed "he did, but I was actually hoping to ask the two of you for relationship advice. I've never been a person's girlfriend before"
"Okay, no problem" Ginny said "the first thing you should remember is to be honest with each other, you don't have to tell each other everything but if it's important then you should let James know"
"That makes sense" Lily agreed
"Also, don't make him do anything he's uncomfortable with" Harry added "there are plenty of people who have tried to force their partners into becoming people that they're not. Don't do that to James and don't let him do it to you"
"Okay, thanks" Lily nodded
"Also, talk to each other" Ginny said "you two will have problems, when you do don't blow up on him, just calmly talk to him. If you get angry and need to vent then vent but don't do something you'll regret."
"Thank you masters" Lily joked
Harry and Ginny noticed that Severus was missing throughout the day, they both knew that he liked Lily and he was probably taking it hard. They had eventually found him, and brought him somewhere private.
"So Severus" Harry said "I take it you're not particularly happy"
"Do I look happy?!" Snape snapped, tears rolling off his face
"Smooth" Ginny said to Harry
"Severus" Harry ignored Ginny "I know you're upset about Lily and James"
"She was my friend!" Severus screamed "He had no right to take her from me!"
"He did not take her from you" Harry replied
"Yes he did! He stole her!"
"Severus, James didn't do it just to hurt you" Harry pointed out "neither did Lilly. The two just liked each other, it was not done to hurt you."
"Why did Lily chose him over me?!" Severus demanded "He's just an arrogant and spoiled show off! I was her friend! I was her first friend! I can't believe she'd do this to me!"
"Severus" Harry tried to calm the boy down "it's not like that…"
"I can't believe this!" Snape continued "It's all because of Potter! This is his fault! This is…" Whatever Severus was about to say next was cut off by the new handprint he had on his face thanks to Ginny, Severus looked at the girl with wide eyes.
"Are you done or are you going to keep screaming like a child?" Ginny asked calmly, Harry took that moment to take a step back and let Ginny handle it.
"But…" Snape's lips trembled slightly "I…"
"Severus" Ginny said with a hint of warning in her voice "you will be quiet and you will listen. What is Lily?"
"What? What do you mean?" Snape asked
"What is she?" Ginny repeated "Is she a book? Is she a dog? Is she a toy? Is she a chicken wing? What is she?"
"She's a witch, what's wrong with you?"
"Exactly" Ginny nodded "she's a witch and she's a human being. Not a toy or something that can be stolen, yes you were her first friend but that does not mean that you own her. Understand?"
"But I…"
"Understand?" Ginny narrowed her eyes
"Y…yes" Severus said, mostly out of self-preservation.
"What do you think Lily would do if she heard you were talking about her like she belonged to you?"
"S…she'd hex me" Snape reluctantly admitted
"And I would join her" Ginny said "we girls have enough problems with men trying to claim us against our will and we don't need people we consider friends to do the same, do you understand what I'm talking about?"
"Yes, I'm sorry Ginny" Snape said, realising she was right about him not owning Lily
"Good" Ginny continued speaking "now, James did not do this to hurt you, despite what you may think. James is a little immature and he likes pranking but he has a good heart, he would not hurt Lily. Lily is a pretty girl Severus, boys were bound to notice her sooner or later."
"But why him?! She could do so much better than him!"
"Maybe she could but you would say that about any guy she's with and you know it" Ginny responded "Severus, Lily and James like each other. That does not mean that they hate you or even dislike you, just because they're in a relationship does not mean that Lily won't want to spend time with you."
"How…how do you know?" Severus asked, nervously
"Harry" Ginny turned to Harry "would you mind leaving us for a bit? We're going to have a long conversation"
"Sure" Harry looked at Snape "I'd listen to her, believe it or not but she's more than just a pretty face."
Harry left Ginny to deal with Snape, Harry was an expert on many things but relationship advice was not one of them. Snape was stubborn but not as stubborn as Ginny and if there was anyone that could cool him down then it would be her. He didn't know what to expect but he at least hoped that Snape could co-exist with James and Lily.
Later at lunch Snape had come back and sat next to Harry who was sitting with the Black sisters and Regulus. Snape took a breath and looked at Harry.
"I want to apologise" Snape said "about snapping at you"
"Don't worry about it" Harry waved him off "did Ginny talk to you?"
"Yes" Snape said "she…was brutally honest in her opinions"
"Ah" Harry said in understanding "she can be like that, are you okay?"
"Yes, I think" Snape said "I'll love Lily, I always will but I think I could accept her being with someone else"
"You know, you could get with someone if you wanted" Harry suggested "what would it hurt?"
"Who would want me?" Snape sighed "Lily was my only friend, nobody else would want me"
"Don't say that" Bellatrix said "you're a really smart person Sev, and you're really nice once you get past the 'I'm better than all of you' thing you have going on."
"Thank you" Severus let out a small smile before an idea hit him "B…Bellatrix, would you like to go out with me?" At that moment Regulus choked on his drink, Andromeda and Narcissa started giggling while Harry had a small smile on his face.
"Sure" Bellatrix smiled "you can take me to Hogsmead next weekend"
"I'm happy for you guys" Harry said
"Thanks Harry" Bellatrix relied
"With that being said" Harry turned to Snape "if you hurt her then I will break your legs" Snape gulped under the intense stair from Harry, who had started smiling. Harry stood up and left, eyeing Snape evilly as he did.
"Don't worry" Bellatrix began reassuring him once Harry had left "He's only joking"
"And if he isn't?!" Snape asked
"Then you'd better not hurt her" Regulus smiled
"Hey guys" Harry said to the marauders
"Hi Harry" They replied
"Just wanted to let you know that I have to go tomorrow"
"But tomorrow's Thursday" Remus pointed out "don't you have to stay at school?"
"Usually" Harry nodded "but grandfather and father want me for something important"
"What?" Sirius asked
"Don't know" Harry admitted "just got a letter today that said they need me for something important tomorrow. I'll be gone for a day, maybe more. Just remember Sirius, if the old man calls you up then you refuse to speak with him without me or another member of your house, you have that right"
"Okay" Sirius nodded in understanding "I get it, don't go to the creepy old man's office without you"
"Thank Merlin, you lot are learning. As for the rest of you, you have the right to demand your head of house be there and you can refuse to attend if he doesn't tell you what the meeting is about. The only reason he can force you up there is if you have been in trouble or something like that"
"Got it" James said
"Yeah, don't get in trouble for the day and don't go to his office" Peter said
"Good boy" Harry handed Peter a cookie, which the boy gladly accepted "alright, I'm off. See ya"
The next day Harry found himself being taken with his family to some fancy manor, as of the moment they were currently outside of the manor. Harry recognised this building, it was very famous.
The building was known for being able to constantly add new levels to itself, it was limitless and could have theoretically kept going up until space. By the time Harry was born in his previous life the building had been destroyed, what was now a large grey building with white windows had become a burning pile of rubble during a death eater attack.
"What are we doing here?" Harry asked, as they stood outside and took in the mansion.
"Patience" Walburga said
"Patience is for wimps, and I could just rip the answer out of your mind if I wanted. I could be snogging my girlfriend right now, what are we doing here?" Harry directed his question to his father and grandfather.
"We're not sure" His father admitted "a few days ago we received a message, it instructed us to meet here"
"What message?" Harry asked
"It simply said that inside is the future of Britain" Arcturus, Hadrius's grandfather spoke "and that we were offered to become a part of it. I have brought you here for two reasons"
"Those are?" Harry prompted
"The first is for our protection" Arcturus smiled at his grandson
"What? I am not a bodyguard"
"No" Orion agreed "you're just the boy who beat the world's most powerful wizard with a simple stunning spell
"Makes sense" Harry conceded "I intimidate people and I provide you protection, what else am I here for?"
"This could affect the entire family" Arcturus said in a serious voice "and as you are my chosen heir, I'd like you to be present. I do not intend to make agreements and promises that you refuse to keep, Merlin knows you won't keep them if you don't like them"
"Thank you" Harry said gratefully
"Boy" His grandfather said fondly "you never need to thank me, I'm only doing what's best for the family and I believe that you're capable of making our name greater than before. Now come on" The Black family started walking towards the manor.
Once they entered, Harry saw quite a few purebloods and their children. They were all chatting to each other, Harry noticed the Malfoy and Lestrange family. He also saw Augusta Longbottom, and a few other light families. There were tables full of food and drinks for everyone, a few families were called in, Harry noticed that they started with the least important families and the light families.
It was soon getting dark outside, eventually the Black family were called in along with the Malfoys, Lestranges and several other known dark families. They were lead into a dark room, there was a fire place on the left and a massive dining table in the middle and a huge chandelier dangling from the ceiling. Each place had a name and indicated where the families should sit, the Malfoy head of house took his seat with Lucius standing behind him.
Harry's grandfather took his seat at one end of the table, while Harry's parents stood to his left and Harry stood to his right. Everyone looked at each other, their gazes rested on Harry longer than the others, everyone was wondering what was going on.
"Welcome" A voice called, everyone turned to see a hooded figure enter the room. He moved slowly and his movements had a familiar snake like feel to them, he sat on the empty seat opposite Hadrius's grandfather at the other end of the table and he removed his hood.
"Who are you?" Arcturus asked
"I am Lord Voldemort" Replied a young Tom Riddle, he had curly hair, a handsome face and Harry noted that his face no longer looked like he had ran face first into a wall "I'm sure many of you have heard of me"
"We have" The Malfoy head of house said "you're the new dark lord that we've been hearing about"
"That I am" Voldemort said proudly "that and so much more."
"Why have you summoned us here?" Another person asked
"To simply have a discussion" Voldemort answered "it is no secret that you all belong to well respected houses, you're also powerful and your blood is pure. That makes you valuable" Harry noticed many of the purebloods puff up their chests and smile, Voldemort was easily playing on their egos.
"For too long" Voldemort continued "we have been hiding from muggles, muggles who believe themselves to be better than us. Even now, they invade our world, the mudbloods are trying to take over."
"Skip the speech" Arcturus interrupted "and tell us what you want" Voldemorts eyes flashed in rage briefly before he managed to control them
"Patience" Voldemort said softly "patience and all will be revealed"
"Could it be revealed some time today then?" Harry said "unlike you we have things to do"
"Ah, Hadrius Black" Voldemort eyed Hadrius "the wandless wonder of the wizarding world, creator of the werewolf cure and defeater of Albus Dumbledore
"I have enough fan girls, now tell us what you want or stop wasting our time"
"Very well" Voldemort drawled, he wanted to ease them into this but it was clear that they weren't willing to wait "it's no secret that mudbloods are tainting our world, I am proposing an alliance."
"Alliance?" One person asked
"Yes, this world belongs to us, not the mudbloods and blood traitors. I am the heir to Slytherin, and I wish to continue Salazar Slytherin's noble work. With all of your help, I believe that we can make magical Britain great again. Look at you all, the Black family alone has produced countless great wizards including one who has defeated Dumbledore despite not having taken his owl exams yet. We would be unstoppable and…"
Voldemort was cut off by the sound of laughter, they all turned to Harry who put a hand over his mouth to try and control himself. He had turned red and looked to be losing control, he had to lean on the table to stay upright. He removed his hands once he had reduced himself to unstoppable smiling.
"And what is so amusing?" Voldemort asked in a slightly offended tone
"You" Harry suppressed another bout of laughter "just you and everything about you"
"Hadrius" Arcturus said "do you have something to say?"
"Yes, yes grandfather I do" Harry smiled at his grandfather
"In that case" His grandfather stood up and stepped out of the chair "you will be my next heir, you will conduct the meeting on behalf of the family"
"Thank you Grandfather" Harry sat in the chair, but instead of sitting like everybody else, he leaned back and placed his feet up on the table "now, let's really talk Voldemort"
"What do you wish to discuss?" Voldemort looked at the boy with narrowed eyes
"How about how you're a rotten no good liar?" Harry suggested
"Liar?" Voldemort repeated "What have I lied about?"
"Many, many things" Harry said "I will start with your claim of being the heir to Slytherin"
"I am the heir to Slytherin" Voldemort said confidently
"No, you are not" Harry calmly replied "if one carefully traces the Slytherin family tree then the come up on two different people, one line will lead you to the Gaunt family" Voldemorts eyes widened in surprise "however they only claimed that they were Slytherin's heirs but they never had proof. Wouldn't matter if they did as they are all basically squibs, the legitimate line so far ends on one person. A muggleborn believe it or not" Harry wasn't going to mention that the particular muggleborn was Lily "really, anyone could find out with enough research"
"I don't see…"
"I wasn't finished" Harry interrupted "then there is your name, your stupid made up name"
"Made up?" Orion Black asked
"Yes" Harry nodded "it's French, it means 'flight of death'. There are also no families called Voldemort in France or Britain"
"You seem to know a lot" The Lestrange head of house said
"I'm a Slytherin" Harry said as if it explained everything "I learn about all potential enemies and allies. I knew I'd meet the so called dark lord eventually and did everything I can to learn about him, I did enough digging and imagine my surprise at what I found."
"What did you find?" The Malfoy head of house looked curious, as did Lucius despite his dislike of Hadrius
"I found" Harry said in an amused voice "that the new dark lord, self-proclaimed champion of blood purity and heir to Salazar Slytherin, is in fact the bastard son of a muggle and a squib" All eyes turned to Voldemort who was trembling in rage.
"You lie" Voldemort voice was just loud enough for everyone to hear
"Do I?" Harry raised an eyebrow "I don't think I do, Tom Riddle Junior" Voldemort now looked undeniably furious.
"Tom Riddle Junior?" Hadrius's grandfather asked
"That's his name" Harry smiled at the obvious rage going through Voldemorts face "you see, Tom over there has a very interesting story. His mother was a squib from the gaunt line which claimed to be heirs of Slytherin, she then fell in love with a muggle named Tom Riddle.
But the problem was that Tom didn't like her, so what did she do? She fed him a love potion and Thomas over there was born, his father left and his mother died so he had to be raised in a muggle orphanage. He didn't like the other muggles there because they bullied him, Tom thought he was special because he had magic"
"Shut up!" Voldemort growled
"Then one day, Albus Dumbledore comes to visit and offers him a place in Hogwarts. He goes to Hogwarts and gets sorted into Slytherin, although the other Slytherin's picked on him because he was a half-blood. He ended up hating both purebloods and muggles, and vowed revenge. He looked at his heritage, he combined that with his parsletounge ability and convinced himself that he was the heir to Slytherin"
"I am the heir! I'm a parslemouth!"
"As am I" Harry calmly pointed out "as are over four thousand people worldwide, parsletounge may be considered a dark art in Europe but it's widely respected and praised in Asia. Now where was I? Oh yes, Tom tried to claim the Slytherin headship but found he couldn't. And he didn't want to become some simple ministry worker because he didn't want to deal with people, he turned to the dark arts and began recruiting while he was in Hogwarts.
You see, if Tom's plan comes true then he will have all the muggles killed and the purebloods will be cowering under his feet"
"You know nothing!" Voldemort shouted, losing his cool while the purebloods looked at him with outrage and barley concealed rage
"I know that you're pathetic" Harry replied "you want to rid the world of muggle because of a few bullies and you want to ruin this country to satisfy your revenge. I will not have you ruin lives for your own personal gain"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Voldemort roared, his killing curse flew straight towards Harry.
Harry kicked off from the table, the chair fell backwards with Harry still on it. The curse flew over his head, Harry flipped mid-air and landed on his feet. He stood up and didn't bother raising his wand, as everyone else in the room had raised theirs and aimed it at Voldemort.
"Touched a nerve?" Harry asked mockingly
"It seems that I must build a new world on my own" Voldemort said, with hate in his eyes "you could have been an incredibly valuable follower, goodbye"
No sooner than Voldemort had said that he portkeyed out, that didn't surprise him, what did surprise Harry was the small silver he saw being dropped from the roof. He looked up and saw snakes dropping various items ranging from forks to coins, he even found a spoon being dropped above his head.
He caught it and his eyes immediately widened, he realised that this was a portkey. Before he could do anything he found himself being pulled away, he noticed that everyone else had received one.
Soon he and everyone in that meeting found themselves in a new room, it was dark and everyone was visible thanks to the candles on the wall. Harry and everyone else found themselves sitting on a wooden chair, their hands were handcuffed behind their backs.
"Where are we?!" Walburga demanded
"You're in the building's basement" A voice called out, everyone turned to see a group of men in death eater costumes. "You see, our master wants you all gone. You should have joined him"
"Look" Harry said "can we skip the speeches please? Either get on with it or get lost, I have better things to do than listen to you incompetent buffoons"
The death eaters turned to Harry and slowly walked towards Harry, one death eater took the lead and stood in front of Harry while a different death eater stood on his left and a third stood at his side. Two more death eaters stood on standby, and prepared to act if necessary.
"Ah, Hadrius Black" The lead death eater placed a black bag over his head "such a handsome boy" The death eater then punched him in the face "not for long though, the dark lord made sure to specially get magical suppression handcuffs for you" The death eater punched him once more.
"If you don't surrender right now" Harry spoke slowly "then I will kill you"
"Ha" The death eaters laughed "you're deluded, you're handcuffed to that chair you idiot"
"How sure are you?" Harry asked as he pulled his hands out from behind his back, the handcuffs were resting in his right hand.
Before anybody could say anything, Harry transformed the handcuffs into a snake, he tossed it at the man on his right and it bit into his neck. He kicked the man in the front of him, causing him to fall back on to the other two death eaters. The man on his left had gotten his wand out, Harry stood up and wandlessly fired his bullet curse which shot through the man's chest, killing him. The other two death eaters had gotten up, one charged Harry who picked up the chair behind him, as the death eater charged him Harry trapped the death eaters right arm in-between the chair legs and dragged him to the floor.
A broken arm later, Harry had taken the chair and hit the other death eater in the face with it before he could get off a spell, Harry then tossed the chair on top of him, the death eater with the broken arm charged at him again. Harry sidestepped and grabbed the death eater before tossing him over head, the death eater crashed through the chair and landed on top of the other death eater.
Harry looked over the situation, one death eater was being poisoned by a snake, one was dead, two were on top of each other in a mess of broken bones while one was starting to get back to his feet.
"B…back off!" The death eater demanded
"Last chance, surrender or die" Harry said as he removed the bag from his head, revealing his killing curse green eyes which had replaced his grey ones. The death eater responded by pulling out his wand, Harry quickly shot off a bullet spell that hit the man in the head.
"Hadrius" Orion spoke in a shocked voice, after all he did just witness his son kill a few people.
"Shush, brain thinking, hush" Harry said "hmm, yeah, why not?" Harry clicked his fingers and everyone was released from their handcuffs.
"Hadrius" Arcturus spoke as he rubbed his wrist "what are you doing?"
"I'm going to go deal with the threat" Harry said as he transformed his clothes into black trainers, black trousers, a grey shirt and a black jacket.
He conjured up a black bandana and wrapped it around the bottom half of his face, he pulled his hood up, he was considering using his 'Curse' costume but had decided to save that for later. He opened his left hand and his bow appeared in his hand, he used his metamorphmagus powers to make himself tall enough so that he was at least six foot.
"What are you doing?" One of the frightened purebloods asked
"I'm going to go deal with the death eaters" Harry answered "stay in this room, don't let anybody in or out. Voldemorts likely brought a lot of his followers here, I'll get rid of them all and come back to you"
"That's insane! It's impossible!" Walburga yelled
"I'm insane and I'm possible" Harry responded "don't let anyone in, you have your wands and I'm sure at least a few of you are capable of putting up some locking charms. Stick together and keep quiet, I'll be back soon" Harry went out the door, closing it as he did, he placed a few locking charms on it so nobody could get in or out and he left.
Everyone in the room was very worried, they had been trapped by Voldemort and could die tonight. The Blacks were especially worried, while Hadrius was powerful he was definitely outnumbered and it would only take one accurate killing curse to kill him.
They waited, they waited and waited for what felt like centuries. They were getting more and more paranoid each minute, everyone was expecting someone to burst through the door and start firing killing curses at them.
After what felt like an eternity, the door opened, it opened slowly and everyone trained their wands on to the door. Hadrius Black, slowly walked in and everyone looked relieved, they then began examining him more closely.
He still had the same clothes except now they were a bit wet and he was missing his shirt and the bandana, he also had a black eye on the right side of his face and a cut on his left cheek but what really attracted their attention was the blood on his hands.
"All things considered" Harry said "today was very productive"
In the great hall, Dumbledore sat at the high table and he had been trying to think of a way to convince Hadrius Black to join him. He realised that it was better if he had backed off from his family as that only seemed to agitate Hadrius and he didn't want the boy to join the dark lord out of spite.
He was considering paying the boy but Hadrius came from a rich family and likely didn't need the money, he couldn't offer to help the boy get whatever job he wanted as he was more than capable of doing that on his own.
He considered bribing him by helping his family, yes, that could work. Perhaps he could let them get away with occasionally misbehaving. That could work, Dumbledore filed that plan in the maybe column. Perhaps this would make him more likeable but he wasn't sure if Hadrius would approve of any discrimination to his family, be it positive or negative.
He was considering a direct approach, perhaps telling Hadrius that he wanted him to fight with him in the war. That also had the potential to work, as Hadrius wanted to keep his family safe and helping with the war would make that a lot easier.
At that moment, the daily prophet arrived, Dumbledore noticed that the Regulus Black and the rest of Harry's family along with Severus Snape at the Slytherin table looked at the newspaper with wide eyes and shocked expressions. Regulus and the Black sisters and Snape jumped to their feet and ran to the Gryffindor table where they showed the newspaper to Sirius.
"WHAT?!" Sirius's voice was heard throughout the castle. His friends then looked at the newspaper, the Black family ran out of the hall with the three marauders following, along with Lily and Snape.
Dumbledore was curious what caused their reactions, he picked up the newspaper as he took a sip of pumpkin juice. He read the title and was so shocked that he spit the juice right out. He looked at the title and he couldn't believe it.
The title read 'Hadrius Black Mass Murders Death Eaters'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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