Hadrian Romanoff and the Beginning

Chapter-8

Minerva McGonagall looked across the Great Hall, checking that everything was in place for the arrival of the students, and sighed.

After the panic and worry of discovering Harry Potter hadn't been added to the list of incoming first year students she had gone through all her records and found that she had indeed sent out a letter and that it had been marked as 'incapable' which meant that the boy was either behind wards so strong they kept out Hogwarts letters or he was no longer eligible to attend, either through death or lack of magic. She had fretted that those horrid Dursleys had done something to the boy but Albus had taken her aside and admitted that he had certain artifacts that proved Harry still lived.

The following days after the discovery had been filled with anxious nerves until Albus announced that everything was well in hand. Trusting that the headmaster had visited Privet Drive and sorted it all out Minerva had gone back to arranging everything for the upcoming school year. It was quite easy between so many years of practice and the number of first years being quite small.

Briefly her thoughts strayed to hoping that another magical baby boom was approaching. It was quite disconcerting to see more and more rooms go unneeded, collecting dust, because there simply weren't enough students to justify their use.

She shook her head. The time for those thoughts would come later, over a glass of that lovely brandy Filius hoarded.

For now she had to focus on ensuring the elves were able to perfectly time the arrival of food with Albus' rather eccentric welcoming speech and that Hagrid knew how many first years they were expecting - the disaster of Rhosyn Cooper being left behind on the other side of the lake was not one Minerva wished to repeat.

-

Natasha trailed behind her nervously excited son with a small smile on her face.

A large crowd of families bustled around them - parents ushering their young children about, older students doing their best not to look like they were close to their families, new to the scene non-magicals looking hopelessly lost.

Clint walked by her side, his peering gaze hidden behind sunglasses and his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, looking every bit like a normal man who couldn't kill half the people around them in three minutes or less.

Thor and Loki walked behind her like sentries, easily looking over the rest of the crowd due to their impressive height. A sneer marred Loki's handsome face and several times Thor had to reach over to pull down Loki's hand when someone bumped into the god in their haste. Though it would be amusing to see Thor figured it would be best if his brother didn't turn someone into a caterpillar for the offense.

Tony and Sirius had disappeared into the crowd almost the moment they arrived, Bruce and Remus hurrying after them like parents keeping an eye on their trouble making sons. Sirius and Remus had opted to wear their disguises again while Tony hid his oddly recognizable but not familiar face behind the most expensive pair of sunglasses he could find. Bruce had argued that his beard was one of his most famed features but Tony refused to shave it - citing something about blasphemy and being true to one's self.

Natasha kept her ears open for the sound of scandalized screams and shouts of 'you bastards!' in case she needed to step in or, more likely, watch the show.

Hadrian led them to the impressive glaringly red train, weaving through the crowd easily due to his size and training, careful not to get too far ahead the others lost sight of him.

Once they had broken free from the sea of nervous energy Hadrian pulled out his shrunken things from the pocket of his hoodie, handing it to Loki for show. The sorceror unshrunk the trunk and owl cage with a flick of his finger, Hedwig soaring in seemingly out of nowhere to land on Hadrian's shoulder, greeting her boy with a nip at his ear.