Chapter 6
Far away, in the countryside of England, facing the rolling of the waves, a lone man stands. Thinking of what step he should take, his heir, his grandson, is alive and loved; despite not being with him in the Potte Ancestral House, he’s glad that their in-laws are not as horrible as what Lily used to say. Sure, the first time he received the missive from Ragnok regarding Harry’s first visit, he was wary of the muggle, the treatment he’d received, and the lot.
Oh, he raged when he knew that Dumbledore was meddling with his family affair, but alas he took the route he took. Even as far as making James take an unbreakable vow to not disclose to anyone that he’s alive and kicking, using James as a decoy of the Lord of House Potter. He’s been sitting on evidence for the last decade, waiting for the right time. And what a right time, indeed, Petunia was as loyal as a badger, as cunning and shrewd as a Slytherin, and as smart as Ravenclaw. Charlus couldn't've known.
He never thought that Petunia, a muggle, would willingly go to the goblins. Sure, it's customary, especially when One needs to exchange their money for a galleon and such.
Sure, Charlus knows about Albus's entanglement with Grindelwald, but Charlus and Arcturus used to bitch about it, especially after the allegedly epic duel. How hard is it to duel your ex that you allegedly still love? Even then, it’s not a duel till death, and Albus still annually visits Gellert, in the summer under the guise of ICW business. And that’s not law-breaking, earth-shattering revelation like what he did to his Hadrian. Nevertheless, Charlus has decided to pay a visit to the Dursley the day after Hadrian’s departure to Hogwarts, to build a rapport first, despite the fact they've met almost 12 years ago.
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It’s early afternoon in Privet Drive, where only homemakers and toddlers are around in the neighbourhood. Their teens are off to school, and their extracurriculars and their breadwinners haven't arrived from work. A stark difference from a few days ago, the 4# Privet Drive was bursting with life, but now, with half of their occupants going to their respective boarding schools, one in Scotland and one in London, the quiet is stifling. Especially when you’re alone in a four-bedroom house like Petunia currently is. Petunia was in the middle of reading through the documents sent by Gazlowe when suddenly the sound of a doorbell rang throughout the house. This is an anomaly in itself since it's almost a custom to make an appointment or a call before you visit someone's house, in their part of town.
Opening the door, Petunia then met face-to-face with someone she thought would never meet again: Lord Potter, her sister’s father-in-law. Sure, Petunia met him once, at Lily’s wedding, but that’s it; they have no further communication with each other. Petunia herself thought that the old Lord had died since no one ever came to ask about Hadrian’s welfare. Which, in hindsight, is pretty concerning; who drops a baby on a doorstep on a winter night? No one is sane, that’s for sure.
“Good afternoon, Petunia. May I come in?” asked Lord Potter.
“Oh, of course, come in. Do you want anything, tea?” Petunia ushered Lord Potter to sit in the living room.
“Tea would be nice, thank you. I hope I'm not intruding?”
“No, no, not at all, please make yourself at home. Please wait for a minute.”
“Thank you, Petunia.”
“I hope the tea is to your liking, Sir. And, What do I owe the pleasure?”
"Here's the thing, Petunia, I'm not sure you know how the circumstances a decade ago at the wixen. What with some meddling busybodies that happen to hold significant political power in our government.”
“Did you mean a certain headmaster, perchance?”
"Well, yes. A long story short, my visit pertains to my grandson, my heir, Hadrian. I don't know If you know, but Dumbledore kidnapped Hadrian from the ruin of our cottage where your sister resided at the time.”
Hearing that, Petunia let out a shocked gasp.
"And that old man brought Harry here? Why?“
"Honestly, I had no idea, but to be completely honest, I was under the impression of you as a magic-hating muggle. Especially after that spectacle that was Lily's wedding. So, I assumed he would want Hadrian to be abused, at worst, and neglected at best.”
“Oh, that! I–I would never! “
"I know that now but Albus doesn't, Petunia. He had the habit of playing with people's lives. Now, when you took Hadrian to Gringotts, did you do an inheritance test?
"Yes, please wait here, I'll take the results.“
"Here are the results; a lot of it went through my head; maybe you could help explain further the significance?
Upon receiving the parchment, Charlus zeroed in on the fact that Sirius had blood-adopted Hadrian on top of performing the Godfather Oath, making his supposed betrayal even more impossible.
"Oh, Sirius! You stupid idiotic boy! Why didn't they tell me? No wonder Sirius went to prison without a trial.” He muttered under his breath.
"I beg your pardon?!” Petunia is aghast at hearing what comes out of The Lord's mouth.
“Here, 'Sire, via blood adoption’ means that biologically, Hadrian had 3 biological parents, Lily, James, and Sirius. In magical families, you can't kill your child, or put them in mortal danger, or you forfeit your life and magic. Hence those with squib children chose to raise them in secret and keep it under the House Matter Clause. Not to mention, he swore to be his godfather in the eye of Mother Magic. If he betrayed Hadrian, he should've dropped dead the second he allegedly told Voldemort the secret.”
“Well, Oh? Oh? That means — don't tell me the wixen world is that barbaric! What do you mean without trial?” ask Petunia, while pacing the floor.
“Don't worry about that, with the power of the Potter Family, we could get him out of Azkaban easily,” Charlus reassures Petunia. “And look, Hadrian is the heir of the House of Black, which means I could coax the Lord Black out of his self-exile.”
“Peverell and Emrys? It's impossible! Oh, Petunia, do you know what this means? There's no Peverell or Emrys for several centuries, and now for these two heirships to appear in Hadrian?” Charlus chuckled. “We're going to turn the wixen world upside-down.”
“Also, there's this health check, sir” Petunia then gave the proffered parchment to Charlus, and he took it slowly, “there's no need for that, I'm sure. Lily and James took all his needed vaccines when he was merely a baby, Petunia.”
“Oh, but you're going to need that if you want to truly ‘turn the wixen world’ on its axis, sir,” Petunia said while clenching her hands.
“why? I'm sure you took great care of Had— what is this trash?! Oh, Dumbledore, that son of a bitch!” Charlus exclaim. “Who else knows of this, Petunia?” Charlus loses his temper, the temperature suddenly drops and there's a menacing aura pouring out of the old Lord.
“Ragnok, Gazlowe, my husband, and I, and now you, my Lord. Hadrian knew but he didn't understand the implications.” She said, after a few beats.
“Good, anything else, Petunia? and don't skip out.” Charlus ordered.
Petunia then explained all of their findings and all their plans for Dumbledore. Including taking it to international levels. Charlus admitted that he, like all the Potter before him, always has been short-term goal sort, not used to plot for a long game. And he could only thank his luck that Petunia seemed to like to play the long game and bide her time. He'd gladly take the back seat because if he's not, the Potter Rage would take over. They went on talking for hours about Hadrian education, personality, and character as a person. Then Charlus cut his visit with a promise of continuing conversations and a promise from Petunia to inform Ragnok to include Charlus in their planning.
Not long after that, Hadrian's Hades flamed directly in front of Petunia, bearing a letter from her nephew, informing her of how he's now a Slytherin and who's his Head of House. Upon reading Snape’s name, Petunia sent Severus Snape a personal letter bearing the health test results of Hadrian and demanded he protect Hadrian and to keep quiet of the fact that Hadrian is free of all enchantments.