More cheers, and Adrian pulled his wand, shifting his body language towards Hermione. Adrian doubted anyone was going to do anything, although it would be a spectacular story to try and explain to Professor Snape.
"Eventually Gryffindor and Slytherin had a fight, a duel or an argument or something, and Slytherin was kicked out of Hogwarts! So Slytherin built a hidden chamber in the castle, one that none of the other founders knew of. Slytherin sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that nobody would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived. The heir alone would open the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the monsters within, and use it to purge the school of all mudbloods!"
That sounded ridiculous in Adrian's point of view. If that was truly the case, why wouldn't the Chamber have been opened during Grindelwald's time, when the muggle's were actually being a threat?
Adrian stood abruptly, stretching lazily and giving a small nod to signify he was satisfied. Carmen politely gave him a rude gesture, abandoning her chair to get back to whatever homework he had taken her from. Hermione stumbled upwards quickly, eager to leave the room. The other students began reorienting the room back to its natural position, dragging the chairs across the ground.
"Where do you think you're going!" Millicent blurted, jumping to her feet and clumsily knocking over the chair she had been sitting on. "Leading a Gryffindor here, inside the Common room, and not only that but she's a filthy-"
"Step aside, Bulstrode," Adrian commanded, rubbing his temple with one hand. The other gripped his wand in his sleeve. "We've already established that you do what I say."
Millicent stormed right up and too close for Adrian's comfort. "What'cha gonna do about it, orphan?"
Adrian's cheek twitched and his eyes narrowed. There were a few whooping sounds as students turned to see the exchange- the story of the burning Bulstrode was something of a classic. A prime example of tiny first years decking it out.
"I'm saying that you should step aside, and we won't have any unfortunate accidents."
Millicent's breath was directly on Adrian's face. Her nostrils flared like an ox. "How about, no."
Adrian's grip on his wand tightened. Hermione moved behind him, likely reaching for her own wand.
"I said," Adrian paused, feeling the swell of magic under his call, moving with the current of his aggression, "move."
Millicent shouted and paused dumbly. It took a moment for her to process the situation before she dropped to the floor- her green and black knitted Slytherin scarf was smoldering hotly. Not full out fire, but the uncomfortable heat around her throat.
The Slytherin common room was filled with the enthusiastic clapping of the minority who had been paying attention. The others jumped, peering around in confusion, then disappointment, as they realized they missed yet another feud. Adrian pulled Hermione out through the common room, thankful that the confrontation had happened inside the room. Hermione gave a full body shiver as the magic set the deal in place.
"Your deal is set," Adrian's voice was suspiciously blank, his eyes dull and looking far too distant. "You won't be able to tell anyone about the events that happened inside, good luck finding a book for Potter."
"W-wait." She garbled out, clutching his arm tightly. "You- I didn't know that you're an orph-"
"Don't," Adrian growled out, glaring at he with a menacing look which made her breathless. "I left them, not the other way around."
"Like- emancipation?" Hermione seemed confused. She stumbled, eyes widening in shock. "Were they... were they bad to you?"
Adrian's jaw creaked as his teeth pressed harshly together. Hermione twitched as she finally realized she was on testy grounds.
Adrian pulled his arm free and walked past her, Hermione stumbled in worry and mostly confusion. "Wait! Where are you going!"
"Owlery," Adrian grunted, not even dignifying her to pause. "To send a letter."
"At this time?" She questioned, baffled and sounding a bit lost.
Dear Merlin did he have to do everything?
She followed him a safe distance, only until she recognized her surroundings and diverged off towards her own tower. Adrian continued to the Owlery, writing a quick letter on the free parchment provided in the building. Bellatrix would know something about this madness; it seemed right up her alley to know something about monsters out to eat mudbloods.
He didn't receive a letter back, much to his dismay. Hedwig returned happy though, so she must have mooched decent food off of Rabastan's plate again.
On the bright side, knocking down his reputation in Slytherin had given him another deal with Hermione, although this time not in his favour.
It was barely a week later when she came running to him in a corridor, wanting to 'purchase' a deal like it was muggle currency.
He was starting to regret gaining her infallible trust the prior year.
This time she wanted him to somehow obtain shredded Boomslang skin and powdered bicorn horn, potion ingredients he didn't have on hand.
He stared at her, and she shrugged with an uneasy smile.
"Will you be paying for this, this time?' Adrian sighed, scratching behind his ear as he thought. The ingredients would be expensive, normally debts only qualified for the service of obtaining them, they didn't include the price of the items themselves.
"We can pay!" Hermione blurted. "We just need a little of each!"
'We.' That meant he was assisting the Golden Trio once again. Spectacular.
Adrian looked at the two ingredients and thought about what they could be used for. "Alright, I'll get them to you and you pay once I deliver. Boomslang skin will be harder, it's normally a galleon per vial, you're lucky I know somewhere I can get it for fifteen sickles."
"We just need them soon." Hermione blushed, looking at her feet unsure.
'We' again. The Golden Trio was on something time sensitive, which likely meant they were brewing potions or trying rune-based rituals. Considering the shared intelligence of the group, potions was much more likely. He couldn't help but wonder why they were they brewing potions?
He still had the lists of Knockturn Alley stores that allowed order by Owl, he could easily purchase the ingredients and be reimbursed at a later time. The benefit was now he knew the group was attempting something.
He wished Bella would get back to him already, he had questions still.
....
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