A Deadly Inheritance [on hiatus/probably discontinued]

The lead up to Hogwarts

Word count: 3400

Death watched as Voldemort fired off two curses, killing the adults of the house. The child had so much potential, and it had been far too long since he had meddled in mortal affairs. The woman next to him watched on, equally deep in thought. She turned to him.

"I know that look." Death chuckled, that much was true; it appeared on her own face on a regular basis. "You wish to spare his life."

"You know I can't do that, I would have to grant him my essence, and I simply don't have time to teach him how to use it - my being here is already creating a queue of spirits."

"I could bring him up." Death almost laughed at her words. "I am used to life as a mortal. Look here," she held up his dying soul, "feel it, it is rather dark is it not?" Death could only agree, the boys soul felt like so many others he had held, all those years ago...

"It has been nearly 1000 years now since you last held a soul like that, hasn't it? Begging to be moulded into something darker, deadlier, more-"

"Oh, shush you!" Laughing, Death began his work, hands moving without much thought; to the untrained eye it might look like a complicated origami he had been practicing his whole existence - and to be fair, they weren't that far off, forcing an early creature inheritance of this particular species was his specialty back in the day.

Soon the deed was done, the boys soul returned just in time for the canine's arrival. As one last touch, the woman granted him the gift of a photographic memory, before bidding her companion farewell.

"It was nice to see you again, but until your next mortal life is over, this is goodbye. I wish you all the best in your studies, my Lady." With that, death returned to the afterlife and was immediately met with the ever-welcoming chorus of screams.

——1——

For as long as he could remember, Hadrian had been different. He was always thin, freakishly pale, and you could clearly see his bones (especially on his face). He always felt slightly hungry, yet was never satisfied from any size of meal, so eventually he just gave up eating. He understood that sleep was a thing that people needed, but he thought it pointless so spent the night in his thoughts instead.

He could always tell when someone was ill, it was like a sixth sense, and could feel if one was close to death. Whenever he got angry the temperature would noticeably drop, frost would even form on the walls and plants if it was winter. He had a terrifying presence; his 'family' were afraid, the neighbours were afraid, so that's why - at the young age of 4 years old - he found himself on the lonely streets of London. It was at this point that he found his first friend; whenever he closed his eyes there was always this patch of grey amongst the darkness, it never moved, so he just thought it was normal. Once on the streets however, it sprang to life.

The greyness was not light, or dark in any sense of the word; Hadrian could only describe it as 'the purest grey you could imagine'. It introduced itself as Lady Magic, claiming to be his mentor for the foreseeable future. And in the coming years, she did just that; teaching him how to control the cold, melt into shadows, even become invisible to those around him. She taught him that there was a part of himself that wasn't human, and that it would fully manifest upon his death. She taught him how to control it, partly shift his own form, and eventually, how to fly.

On one particular night, his eye caught sight of a lone man wandering the streets. Some gut instinct told him this man was guilty - though of what, he didn't know - once he was close enough he took a deep breath, smelling the man's fear; and fear smelt good. Keeping invisible, he opened his mouth wide and inhaled its delicious taste, watching as the man slumped to the ground once he was done.