Lord of time (chapter 41-107)

64

Hadrian could only do one thing, could only go to one person for help, if Death could be considered a person that is. As always the feeling of his mind being penetrated was quite jarring as Death appeared for him as he always did when he thought of needing his help. 'Interesting predicament you have yourself in,'Death informed him sounding amused, but he was always that way. Hadrian sensed another presence which could only be Tom - evidently he had been invited to this little conversation.

'I don't want anyone becoming suspicious of how I know...what is the best way to do this without arousing suspicion?'Hadrian wondered, technically not asking Death, merely speculating out loud looking for input, 'Skeeter found out by drugging the old woman, Bathilda Bagshot, can you make it so it looks as if me and Tom spoke to her? Imbed a memory of the conversation?'he didn't know if it was possible for him to do it, but he had yet to find something that Death couldn't do - or he himself come to that.

'Being there is easily explained; you became aware of your heritage and wanted to know more about your ancestors who had lived in Godric's Hollow.'Tom added his own suggestion, he wanted Death to do this more than Hadrian did, and he wanted to see Dumbledore brought down to an all time low. Pretending to be self righteous when all along he'd been a cowardly wizard without the guts to see his visions through. Saying nothing against Grindelwald when it was obvious he wanted to kill millions of wizards and Muggles alike, Muggles he didn't care for but the wizards who were dying enraged him. 'Plus there's bound to be some Muggles still alive who remember that time, the Ministry won't question them the way they would question us.'

'Done,'Death proclaimed, just as Tom and Hadrian visibly winced at the disconcerting feeling of memories playing out of nowhere, memories they both know that weren't theirs, but had been implanted, the memory acted out a scene they could see themselves acting out. Would Bagshot and the others feel this or was it because they were more than just 'human' that they could feel it?

"Mr. Peverell?" the Minister questioned, "Please, answer the question to the best of your ability, do not be afraid."

'They will not feel it.They are trying to catch your attention'Death informed them, and with that his presence was gone again.

"I'm not afraid," Hadrian said quietly, after a few moments he remembered the question that had been posed before him. "I said that Ariana's death should have driven that home. I wasn't able to say anything else thankfully; Tom came and dragged me out of the Great Hall to calm down. She died while she was under his care, he was meant to look after her..."

"Would this be Ariana Dumbledore?" the Minister questioned, already knowing the answer.

Hadrian's eyes widened, nodding dumbly, the Minister must have gone digging and how he had found anything out was beyond him. Dumbledore had made sure that anything pertaining to his life was obscured. The only reason Skeeter had found out was by drugging the only woman who could have known anything.

"What do you know about Ariana Dumbledore's death?" Andronicus demanded he and Minster Lestrange had worked very hard to find out who Ariana was, starting with Dumbledore's history, his life and had found it quite quickly. What alarmed them was the lack of information about her, nobody knew she existed, the only thing they had was a newspaper clipping of Ariana's funeral, but that was only mentioned briefly, the paper had concentrated on the fact the teenage Aberforth Dumbledore had attacked his own brother, the heir of the estate. "Why do you know about it?" considering the boy was a Slytherin he believed there were greater motives than the Wizengamot even realized except the few that were Slytherin themselves.

Hadrian pondered on what to say, did he just give them the basics? Get it over with or did he savour each and every moment of Dumbledore's downfall?

'Take your time,' Tom insisted smugly, he wanted to savour it as well, everything Dumbledore did flashing before his eyes, most of it pensive memories.