Darkness is my ally

Cracks in the Armour

"Neville!" Hermione exclaimed, looking to Hadrian with a cold glare as she hissed, "What have you done to him?"

"Opened my eyes," Neville answered, before, to the amusement of the Slytherins and their sovereign, the Longbottom Heir dropped to one knee and bowed his head before Hadrian, his voice calm as he explained, "Thank you for setting me free from myself: I, Neville Franklin Longbottom, pledge myself to your service and your teachings, my King."

Chapter 6: Cracks in the Armour

It was a confident Hadrian Potter that returned to the Slytherin Common Room following their Flying lesson, some of the snakes with him still laughing at the look on Granger's face when their King's new warrior had revealed his true self to them. There were also some that whispered in silent tones about the scare they'd received when Hadrian had actually smiled for the first time since they'd known him.

Once the entrance to the dorm closed behind them, Hadrian stopped dead in his tracks, the other first-years stopping with him before he turned and, looking to each and every one of them, he took a deep breath before he spoke, "Nott, come here."

The weedy boy who had spent the past three weeks as his King's pet and servant stepped forwards with a hint of fear to his expression; stopping in front of Draco and looking down at Hadrian's feet – as he considered himself unworthy to look his Master in the eye – the boy gulped and clenched his fists to stop their shakes.

"Kneel."

Theo obeyed instantly, dropping to his knees and bowing his head as he waited for Hadrian's commands or words.

"Three weeks ago," Hadrian exclaimed to the assembled Slytherins, "This boy, Theodore Adrian Nott, challenged your King's authority and chose to think himself as my superior and consider me as his pet and slave. For this, he was punished by magic and by me and spent his days as my pet: now, Theo, tell me: do you still consider me your lesser?"

"No Master," Theo replied, his voice steady despite the way that his heart pounded in his chest.

"Have you seen that I truly am worthy of the crown and my place as your dorm-mate?"

"Yes Master."

"When you look at me, do you see a half-blood?"

"No Master."

"What do you see?"

"I…I…"

"Look at me."

Theo's eyes looked up, meeting the cold, unforgiving glare of the Slytherin King before he spoke, "I see a warrior, a sorcerer and a sovereign: one who is worthy…no, more than worthy of being one of the children of Salazar. I see the future of our House who, beyond good and evil, would even give the reign of the former Slytherin King a run for his money."

"And tell me," Hadrian asked, his voice hardening with a hint of rage as he asked, "Do you know who that last King was?"

"The…The Dark Lord," Nott answered, the other Slytherin first-years seeing their King's eyes harden just as his voice had done.

"Yes," Hadrian hissed, the word almost turning the blood in the veins of the snakes to ice, "Lord Voldemort…"

As expected, there were a few flinches from the Slytherins at the mention of the accursed name before Hadrian continued, "He Who Must Not Be Named; You Know Who; all names of pathetic weaklings who fear their own shadows rather than fear the true evil out there. After all, for a big bad Dark Lord, he didn't seem to fare too well against the true Slytherin King…and I was but a baby too. Does this tell you that I am equal to Voldemort in any way?"