A Revelation

Home.

Hadrian missed it. He was missing his friends too, his very first friends.

Either way, Hadrian knew he would be hearing from them sometime soon, so there was no point in thinking those thoughts.

He had a lot to do over the Holidays, a lot of training.

As soon as Hadrian came home, he had gone to visit Merlin, who was currently residing in one of the libraries. Hadrian asked Merlin to help him, to which he agreed. He thought Hadrian was very talented, so why would he refuse? It wasn't as if he was going anywhere anytime soon...

What had shocked Merlin was that Hadrian asked for training in wandless magic.

Not many wizards could use wandless magic nowadays. Even with decades of training, some might only be able to do only simple spells like the levitation charm.

Regardless of what Merlin had said, Hadrian would have attempted it anyway.

Hadrian hit the hay and got ready for his first-day training that was due tomorrow.

"For the first spell, we'll try a wandless levitation charm.", said Merlin, "Before you try it, I want you to use the spell regularly, with a wand. Make sure you focus on the feeling.", he finished, emphasizing the words 'feeling and 'focus'.

Hadrian pointed his wand at the shiny red apple he would be using for the spell.

He focused entirely on the way his wand fit in his fingers, the way his magic would soon course through his body and come out of his wand.

He performed the spell, very very slowly.

He focused on the 3 basics of magic, Will, Intent and Control.

He finished the incantation and wand movement and lifted the apple, focusing on the sensation he was feeling whilst he maneuvered it through the air.

He then slowly brought it back down, back onto the table.

"Good, Hadrian.", whispered Merlin, "Now without your wand."

Hadrian willed his wand to go back into the runes located on his forearms.

He then focused his attention back onto the apple.

He tried his hardest to replicate the feeling, the way his magic flowed through his body. He pointed his empty palm towards the apple.

He once more felt the magic slowly build within him. He once more remembered the 3 basics of magic. He lifted his hand, the apple moved slightly. Hadrian poured more of his magic through his hand.

It finally began to lift into the air, Hadrian remained focused. The apple was swaying slightly in the air, it was not as stable as when he used his wand. He then moved the apple around for 15 seconds until it dropped.

Hadrian sat down in his chair, panting.

Merlin beamed down at him, with a look of pride.

"Well done Hadrian. Well done.", said Merlin. "Couldn't have done better myself."

Hadrian raised an eyebrow at him.

"I mean, obviously I could but - what I meant to say was, that was an excellent first attempt.", Merlin said sheepishly.

Hadrian grinned at the man.

"Wandless magic used to be something that all children were encouraged to use. Now it has become a rare talent. What on earth has happened to our world?", he grumbled.

"I thought only extremely powerful wizards were capable of Wandless Magic?", said Hadrian.

"That's nonsense! Wandless magic was taught to children your age to help them get used to their magic.", he answered, "What's true is that, after your first magical maturity, It becomes harder to use wandless magic. Children are a lot more willing to believe in something 'irrational' than adults would. That's the reason why they perform a lot of Wandless Magic when they are young. 'Accidental Magic', they call it. What poppycock!".

Hadrian shook his head, the man was going into one of the rants his grandfather had told him about.

For the past 3 months, Charlus had been getting Merlin up to date with the state of the Wizarding World, and to say he was appalled was an understatement. Hadrian didn't want to be there for Merlin's endless tirade, so he decided to pop downstairs for a drink.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, Merlin!", he said as he ran down the stairs.

Merlin shrugged his shoulders...before continuing his rant, even after Hadrian had left.

Hadrian stopped by the living room, where his grandparents were sitting.

"He's started again, hasn't he." groaned Charlus.

Hadrian nodded.

To which Charlus responded by murmuring phrases like, 'stupid old man', 'should burn the painting', while he read his newspaper. He went and got a nice, cold drink before returning to the ranting man to continue his training.

"Hadrian.", said Merlin.

Hadrian swiveled his head away from the apple and to Merlin.

"Your Creature Inheritance. I said it would on your 11th birthday. There is a chance it could happen during your Christmas ritual.", said Merlin with a stern voice.

"What's wrong with that? It's just going to come a bit earlier, right?", Hadrian asked anxiously.

"Yes. It will also be very painful. Your body will break down and rebuild. It will be excruciating.", said Merlin, looking at Hadrian sympathetically. "Knowing this, would you still want to go through with it?... You could always just miss it out until your 11th birthday."

"I can't miss my first Ritual! I refuse. I don't care how painful it is, after all, I dealt with your artifacts remember?", said Hadrian, who was quite irked at the thought of missing out on his first ritual with his family.

Merlin still looked quite worried for the child but he nodded resignedly.

Hadrian then continued with his wandless training for 3 hours straight!

He had taken breaks when necessary, all thanks to Merlin's incessant nagging.

When he was done, he made his way upstairs to his room.

"Hmm...", he said looking at himself in the mirror, "It's gotten longer.", he said while grabbing the ends of his hair, which had now grown long enough to reach his nose.

'Great. Now I need a haircut', he thought, sighing to himself.

While he was fiddling with his hair, his grandparents walked in.

"You need a haircut," said Charlus bluntly.

"Yes I do, genius.", he retorted, rolling his eyes.

Hadrian then looked at them and said, "So...what's happened now then?".

They both glanced at each other, as though to say, 'you tell him.'

Hadrian cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to him.

"Well...", started Dorea.

"James and Lily are having a baby.", Charlus said bluntly.

Hadrian looked at them, then he looked down. He felt as though he had just been sucker-punched in his stomach.

"So It's fine to have another child...even though they abandoned me due to... 'safety reasons'." he drawled out, in a quiet, icy voice.

Charlus and Dorea said nothing, but he could feel that they too were angry.

"I read it in the newspaper, I just didn't want to tell you in the middle of your practice.", said Charlus, apologetically.

Hadrian looked up at them, his eyes flashing a vibrant lime green.

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?", asked Hadrian, voice wavering slightly.

"It's a girl. Lily flooed us asking if you would come over, once the baby was born. She said she misses you.", Dorea replied.

"Well, I don't miss her," he replied, without missing a beat. , "I'll see the baby, but I am not going for them. I'm going for the baby."

Charlus and Dorea nodded, as they went over to comfort the boy.

Dorea hugged him, whilst Charlus put his hand on Hadrian's head and ruffled it.

Hadrian wiped his eyes, he hadn't cried - but he would be lying if he said they weren't wet.

"I'm fine now. Honestly, look.", he said as he gave them a tentative smile.

Charlus and Dorea frowned inwardly, they knew a forced smile when they saw one.

"We have got to get you a haircut tomorrow." He said, grabbing a handful of his grandson's hair and chuckling.

"Oh!- leave him alone Charlus.", said Dorea as she slapped at the man's arms.

'Granny to the rescue', thought Hadrian.

A few minutes later, they left his room, leaving Hadrian in his room alone.

Hadrian was quiet upset and happy. He found it very confusing. However, the most prevalent emotion he was feeling was anger. His 'parents' had essentially given him up.

'It's for your 'safety', they said. 'The prophecy says Arthur must kill Voldemort', 'He is the Boy-Who-Lived'.

These were all things they said that day.

Hadrian scowled.

His opinion of his parents had reached an all-time low.

They even had the cheek to say they, 'missed him'.Hadrian didn't care if they missed him. He just didn't.

The only good thing to come out of this situation was that he would now be a big brother. He would also meet his brother too.

He was NOT, looking forward to seeing his parents again.

Hadrian shook his head. He was in turmoil right now. He needed to clear his thoughts.

So he sat down on the floor, legs crossed, and began his meditation/Occlumency training.

Hadrian's grandparents had told him that he was now allowed to practice Occlumency as much as he wanted. This was due to the Ancient Artifacts and the discovery of Merlin's Portrait. He had to keep all those secrets.

Hadrian tried to clear his mind but found it too difficult. He couldn't focus right now. So he went to bed.

It took him a long time to fall asleep, no doubt due to the events of today. But he finally went to sleep, drifting off into dreamland...