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.
Hadrian himself was thinking of a scene in Dumbledore's office, one he wasn't part off but he could guess how it went. Could see Dumbledore informing his so called friends with a sad look on his face that he would turn dark that he would become the next Dark Lord and it was up to Hermione and Ron to take care of the problem before it got worse. It completely strengthened his resolve; he was going to deserve an Oscar for this performance he thought to himself. And so he began to speak, knowing that Tom would be watching Dumbledore closely so he could see the memories when they returned to Hogwarts.
"When I informed Dumbledore that I had learned about my family, I wasn't lying. If I was to be the heir of the Peverell estate I wanted to know more than just my name, knowledge is power." Hadrian explained, breathing deeply, "I knew my family had lived for quite a long time in Godric's Hollow, both sides actually, since I am direct descendant from Godric Gryffindor, and the youngest Peverell brother, the area was named after Gryffindor. I went to visit the graves of my ancestors, unfortunately I'll never know where my parents are buried, if they're even buried so this was as close to family as I was ever going to get."
Loud bursts of exclamations rose at Hadrian's proclamation to be a direct descendant from Godric Gryffindor himself. While those who were more composed were nodding, quite respectful that Hadrian was doing all he could to learn about his family. As one they quietened down as the Minister rose his hand to silence them and their rampant speculation. They were sitting before the heir of Godric Gryffindor. There was only one line truly known, the Smith line was directly descendant from Helga Hufflepuff the others had thought long gone…until Tom Riddle came along as the last of the Slytherin line.
"While I was in Godric's Hollow I spoke to some of the people there, a witch named Bathilda Bagshot and many of the non-magical people who stay there." Hadrian didn't even blink at their confusion as to why he was calling them 'Non-magical' instead of Muggles. "Bathilda seemed very lonely, I enquired about her family, but she told me she didn't have any nearby, only a great nephew who was in prison."
Tom derived great amusement from Dumbledore who had paled even more as he listened to the topic of conversation. Oh, this day had been so long in coming, knowing and doing nothing had been torture for him, but thankfully he had Hadrian and his other plans to distract him.
"I got talking about books, we are both Authors, she told me about her plans of her new history book and I told her about what I had planned next. Tom and I must have sat talking with her for hours, she showed us a picture of her great-nephew, and honestly Tom had to get me out of there," Hadrian shuddered, "I recognized the person in the photo, it took me days before I could even think about what I had seen." this would cement their belief that he would never join Grindelwald no matter what Dumbledore alluded to.
"And what had you seen?" the Minister asked perplexed, they were missing something, they just couldn't figure out what.
"May I?" Tom stood, making a big show of being concerned for Hadrian, they had to make it clear to people that Hadrian would never side with Grindelwald no matter what Dumbledore asked or said, something they both agreed on. Hence the decision to make Hadrian seem vulnerable, and of course as his bonded Tom would know better than anyone else how 'affected' he was. He did look rather pale; he would have been concerned if not for the amusement he could feel through the bond. Truly wonderful acting, he wasn't sure he would have been able to be so thorough.
Andronicus conjured up an additional chair, silently allowing Tom to take a seat.
Tom slid smoothly from his seat with a nod to Slughorn before moving around the benches before seating himself comfortably on the chair. "The picture was of two wizards, two I recognized of course, they're in the paper, it would be difficult not to. Despite the attack, Hadrian has never actually came across a picture of the Dark Lord Grindelwald, he hadn't realized he'd been attacked by the wizard himself." he waited on the gasps of horror and shock to pass, "The photo Bathilda showed us was of Grindelwald in his teenage years…with Dumbledore. They looked extraordinary close, much like myself and Hadrian." and bang the fireworks started, Tom kept his face blank as the Wizengamot went crazy yelling and denial penetrated the air.
The Minister withdrew his wand and sent red sparks into the air that caused deafening bangs to circulate the room, causing many to wince at the loudness. "Silence!"
"We went back and apologised to Bathilda, it was very rude the way we left so abruptly," Tom continued once the Minister got control of the situation. "We found out that they had been together but it was all hush-hush, back in those days it wasn't something people spoke about let alone acknowledged. Living in a small community, everyone knew, but that wasn't the most alarming thing we found out…this is all just hearsay, with what we've put together…but we have no proof."
"This has nothing to do with the charges brought against me," Dumbledore stated vehemently, desperate to get this stopped before more information was revealed.
"Quiet, you will have your chance to ask questions," the Minister stated seriously, giving Dumbledore a long penetrating look. "If you had representation with you, you would know that this line of questioning is quite within our rights, as it pertains to the original question I asked."
Tom glanced between Dumbledore and the Minister.
Dumbledore's lips pursed as his blue eyes flashed with irritation, but he said nothing, knowing he'd already lost before he could truly put up a plausible reason as to why this line of questioning was unforgivable. If he continued to resist it, then he knew they would just continue to dig up more and more information.
"Continue," Andronicus added to Tom, giving him a nod.
"It wasn't until after the werewolf cub incident that we began to investigate more thoroughly, his reaction spoke volumes to its authenticity." Tom continued, embracing all eyes on him, he knew Hadrian preferred it this way. "We did some digging, mostly using the newspapers as focus point, we went way back to when Percival Dumbledore was put in Azkaban for killing three Muggle boys, there was a big mystery surrounding it, but we pieced together that after Percival was arrested and sentenced to Azkaban the family of four moved from Mould-on-the-wold to Godric's Hollow where almost everyone seemed to think it was a family of three, Bathilda saw Ariana though, once in the dead of the night it was all quite secret. We got information from the parents of the three boys who were killed by Percival and they told us that the boys had been curious about Ariana despite the parents not wanting their children to be around them since they were 'odd' I think it had something to do with their magic. Which made us question the idea that had been perpetrated that Ariana was a squib,"
"After doing more digging we realized that someone had heard Percival attacking those boys, going on about what they had done to his daughter, that if they wanted to see 'magic' he would show them it. Of course, he just thought Percival was barmy, while we realized the boys must have done something to Ariana for the father to enact retribution on her behalf." Hadrian said, a sad look on his face that was no way feigned, the poor man had gone to Azkaban without telling the world what happened fearful of what would happen to his daughter…not wishing to have her sent to St. Mungo's because they feared she would be a danger to the international statute of secrecy. "A few years later Kendra Dumbledore died, her cause of Death was widely regarded as 'unknown' despite the claims that say it was backfiring charm. It wasn't long afterwards that Ariana died too, it was that exact same day that Gellert Grindelwald ran away from Godric's Hollow never to be seen or heard from again…well until he started his reign of terror."
"It took us ages to find someone who had heard what happened that night," Hadrian commented, and Dumbledore immediately crumbled, like a puppet with his strings cut. All fight had left him and honestly Hadrian couldn't even bring himself to feel slightly sorry for the old fool. "Apparently an argument started about how Ariana couldn't go with Albus and Gellert to be dragged behind them while they realized their dreams. Then someone, presumably Gellert said that Ariana wouldn't need to be hidden when they subdued the Muggles, then some sort of commotion was heard and they said they saw the blonde German boy fleeing the scene." and that was all they could say, the rest he was sure they could piece together themselves.
Silence, utter silence it was as though nobody dared to even breathe.
"You would make one hell of a Law Enforcement officer, both of you," the Minister murmured, sitting down stunned, teenagers had spoken to both Muggles and wizards and managed to figure that much out on their own without an ounce of training? Did this mean that Dumbledore had known Gellert Grindelwald was a Dark Lord? Had he conspired with him? Was he still doing it? If these rumours were to be believed it meant Dumbledore had known which made him culpable. They'd obviously figured this all out in a single summer? Turning to the Auror, "I want all three cases reopened, Percival Dumbledore, Kendra Dumbledore and Ariana Dumbledore…I want everything on my desk first thing tomorrow morning. Send a summons to Aberforth Dumbledore tomorrow for an immediate meeting."
"Yes, Sir," the Auror stated grimly, giving a nod of understanding, at least they should be near each other and he wouldn't spend the entire evening after this trial was over digging through the archives. They were sorted alphabetically, had been that way for many years now.
"Good," Lestrange relaxing slightly, trying to get his mind around the fact Dumbledore could have known all along what Grindelwald was going to do. Unfortunately they could do nothing about it yet; they'd need to investigate it, and if there was a case, proceed with it. He could see that the Wizengamot were struggling with it as well, but they were remaining silent which was a good thing, his head was thumping, he needed a potion. They hadn't even gotten to the best piece of evidence against the old man yet.
Andronicus turned to the Minister, clearing his throat to get his attention before whispering into his ear; "I think perhaps we should take an early lunch don't you?" it wasn't all that early, just fifteen minutes. Everyone needed time to process this, and quite frankly he had forgotten about the questions he needed to ask still, his mind was reeling. He needed to regain his scattered wits, and not in the courtroom.
"Agreed," Lestrange stated, and not even a few seconds later Andronicus was gathering up every piece of parchment on the table.
"The trial will reconvene in one hour and fifteen minutes, we're taking an early lunch," the Minister stated after standing up, speaking solely to the wizards of the Wizengamot, who all seemed relieved by that pronouncement, it seemed to have been the right idea. Turning to face the two Hogwarts students, if he had them right, they had held onto that for blackmail material, but they hadn't used it, the question was why? Why hadn't they used it against Dumbledore? Perhaps Dumbledore had just gone too far in trying to gain control of the Peverell-Slytherin heir and he'd snapped back, using the full force of the Ministry of magic to get him to back down. He couldn't say he would have done anything differently if he was Hadrian. Perhaps knowing he could be in it with Grindelwald, someone who Hadrian Peverell was genuinely scared of had also factored in.
"What can I get you?" the witch asked, a notepad in her hand gazing at them expectantly after they lowered their menus. They had gone to the main cafeteria that the Auror's used, it was extremely busy, people bustling around, loud conversations going on, that Hadrian and the others only picked up bits and pieces of the conversations.
"A bottle of orange juice, a coffee, tuna sandwich and a slice of carrot cake please," Hadrian said giving her a small smile that was rather weak, he could feel people watching him and he didn't like it. Word was getting around the Ministry of magic a lot quicker than anticipated. Slughorn himself was very twitchy, evidently he wanted to say something but it wasn't the right time.
"Apple juice, sausage and Gorgonzola pasta and cheesecake, thank you," Tom gave his own order.
"I'll have cream of tomato soup, apple crumble and a coffee, thank you very much," Slughorn said distractedly, not paying much attention to the witch at all.
"Was any of that true?" Slughorn blurted out, barely able to put the silencing spell up before it burst out of his mouth. He knew Bathilda, had known her for many years, as had Albus. He knew how resourceful Slytherin's could be, especially Tom and Hadrian, now they were in a class all by themselves. Everything he thought he knew about Albus was being torn to shreds, now he was learning in his teenage years he had been in a relationship with Gellert? He'd always assumed Albus was asexual, he never seemed to care for either gender, and was quite content to be on his own, working his way up the ladder at Hogwarts.
"I didn't lie professor," Hadrian said solemnly, feeling a little bad for Slughorn, he was finding it difficult to comprehend what Dumbledore was capable of.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Horace questioned, he didn't want to believe that Albus knew what the Dark Lord was capable of, and he truly didn't. He wouldn't be the first teenager taken in, but he was too smart, and what was suggested made it seem like both male Dumbledore's knew the Dark Lord, and had known what he wanted to do with his life. What he had intended to do, by Merlin, all those people…all those deaths, if he had known it was all on him.
"I had no proof," Hadrian explained sitting up straighter, eyes meeting Slughorn's with seriousness. "It would have been my word against his, I didn't expect it to get brought up and I wasn't going to lie to the Minister of magic, I didn't think anyone would take me seriously if I said anything…how would you have reacted, Sir, if I said anything before all this…" Hadrian gestured to their surroundings.
Slughorn sighed and slouched in his seat, Albus he had felt had always been rather unfair on the Slytherins, Tom and Hadrian in particular. Albus had insisted that Tom wasn't what he seemed, long before Hadrian had shown up, he had swiftly rebuked him for saying such things. Then he had been treating both boys a great deal more unfairly than he'd realized, and it disappointed him that they hadn't felt they could approach him. He admittedly took more care in making sure the boys were well, happy than he did his other students. Tom and Hadrian didn't have anyone else, and as grown up as they liked to be, they were still young and needed a guiding hand not condemnation by Dumbledore's hand. He was just relieved that Hadrian had gone to Armando when he had, and this had all been unveiled no matter how painful it is right now, he dreaded to think what would have become of Hadrian and Tom if they had continued to be pushed into believing that there was something wrong with them to deserve Dumbledore's actions. He honestly wasn't sure how he would have reacted, he wanted to say he would have given Hadrian the benefit of the doubt, but he would be lying, he just didn't know. "It matters little now," Horace said wisely, "We cannot change or undo what has already been done or said."
Hadrian and Tom shared a secret look filled with mischief and amusement, since they could actually change whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. It was something Hadrian often forgot, along with the fact that he couldn't die, and was immortal. Tom however, was very much aware of these things and revelled in them. He had been looking for a way to achieve immortality, for both of them in fact towards the end, only to have all his desires come to fruition all at once.
"That ones mine," Hadrian said, putting up his finger, as he watched the witch give Tom his tray of food, it was quickly slid along to him instead, "Thank you," it was difficult to believe it was already the afternoon, so much for it being a long day. Grabbing his bottle he drank from it deeply, quenching his thirst gratefully.
The meal was eaten in silence, and from under the silencing charm that still hung around them like an invisible net. They could still hear what other people were saying, it was just if they spoke, and nobody would be able to hear them. Not that there was any chance of that. There was a lot of talk about Dumbledore's trial, mostly from the large table three down from them; it was all Auror's sitting there judging by the red robes. Hadrian even picked up the word 'Gryffindor' and suspected heavily he was also the subject of conversations. Thankfully though the curious looks seemed to have tapered off.
"Might I ask a personal question?" Horace asked gazing at Hadrian, as he ate his apple crumble, looking a little livelier now he'd had his coffee.
"Sure," Hadrian agreed curiously.
"Why didn't you take on the Gryffindor name?" Horace asked there would never be any name more renowned than the likes of the founders last names. "I assume you are not the only heir?" if he wasn't it explains why he didn't take the name. It wasn't possible to take on a name if they truly weren't the last man standing so to speak - like Tom. It was still odd calling him Slytherin; it's why he stuck to Tom.
He was surprised by the question, but didn't show it overly much, he suspected Slughorn just wanted something to talk about and try and take his mind off what had happened. "The Peverells are well known, perhaps just as greatly as the Gryffindor name, the Peverells have been around for a greater expanse of time, I believe the Gryffindor name was only around two generations before it changed to Peverell, then the Peverell name lasted seven generations before all females were born and the name was lost and the Potter name began." Hadrian explained, "In terms of power level, knowledge, intelligence, keeping my name was the smartest thing to do." it was more recent in people's minds, plus Hadrian Gryffindor just didn't have the same ring to it like Hadrian Peverell.
Horace nodded in thoughtful agreement, it was true, the Peverells were renowned for quite a few aspects of magic, it explained the ease in which Hadrian had acclimated to magic (something he had thought numerous times over the last few years) and upon finding out that Tom were a Slytherin, and incidentally a Gaunt it had explained his as well.
"And it's the one thing nobody could take away from me," Hadrian added, Potter, Peverell, no matter what happened it couldn't be taken away from him not like everything else had…including his life at one point, if he hadn't been the Master of Death he would have died by their hands. He grimaced at his thoughts, fucking hell; he had thought more about them and what Dumbledore had done more in a single day than he had in an entire year.
Tom interlocked their fingers, squeezing lightly, leaving them on the top of the table for all the gawkers to see. Hadrian was his, and they would never have a chance. He knew many of them would have salivated at the prospect of marrying into the Peverell line, or using their child to do so. Not just Hadrian either, they'd be desperate to join the Slytherin name with their own too; Avery was just the first of many to think of it. The news of their bonding and marriage would get around soon enough; the merging of the Slytherin/Gaunt and Gryffindor/Peverell lines it would be big news. It was no longer required to be a secret amongst the elite Pureblood's.
Despite the situation Horace's lips twitched, these boys weren't afraid of much, especially not ridicule or scorn for who they chose to love. They had freely come out during the Yule ball, perhaps paving the way for a few others to come a little more quietly out of the closet. It was easy for them admittedly, they had no parents to pressure them into accepting a traditional marriage to a witch to maintain normalcy and prevent scorn. It wasn't quite so bad as it used to be, they were more accepting due to the potions and new ways that enabled a bonding between three people, usually a woman who could bear the heirs and have them not be 'bastards' so to speak. There was also a potion that gave children three parents, and all that required was a woman to carry the child. The third way had never hit off as well as the others; fear of the unknown squashed that particular potion at least in the UK, from what he knew it was used more often in the USA.
Glancing at the time, Hadrian stood up Tom let his hand up, and he began to clear the mess they'd made, gathering the trays then the plates and empty bottles and bundled them on top of the trays and dumped them in the sink, grinning as they began to scour themselves, before slotting into a drying rack. The most simplistic of magic continued to amaze him sometimes, after all this time it shouldn't but it always did.
"Professor, is it normal for wizards or witches to get relatives wands?" Hadrian asked, as they began to make their way out of the cafeteria, Hadrian ignored those watching him.
"It is a normal practice in some families," Horace answered, "Not all of them keep the practice up, I believe it was more to do with the fact they couldn't find a wand to suit them, and along the way going to Ollivander's replaced the outdated practice of using familial wands."
"Why is it common practice in some families?" Hadrian queried, perplexed by the tradition.
"Unfortunately this is one of the practices were the reason for it…has long since been lost," Horace admitted, "I do believe however, that it is more along the lines of thinking of the wands as a heirloom, part of the family, part of their ancestry that they don't wish to be lost."
"Even at the risk of their own magical growth being stunted?" Hadrian snorted derisively, unable to help himself. "Ollivander puts it right, it's not the wizard who chooses the wand, it's the wand that chooses the wizard, with limited wands they're picking the one that reacts best to them without little consideration to the fact there's other ones out there most suited to them, and wands are temperamental."
"Why did you get onto that subject?" Tom asked more amused than anything.
"Eileen, she has difficulty with the most basics of spells, it's her wand, or rather the wand she picked from a limited choice of dead relatives." Hadrian explained as they stepped once more into the elevator. Grabbing a hold he continued on, "It won't make her super powerful or anything like that but she will have a much easier time with a wand of her own."
"You seem very sure of that," Horace added, sighing in relief as the elevator stopped, he only had to do this one more time then that was him back at Hogwarts.
"I am," Hadrian said firmly, without a single doubt.
"Mr. Peverell-Slytherin, please retake your seat," Andronicus said as he approached the trio, feeling a lot better after the long break. The second seat was already gone, so Hadrian wandered over while Tom and Horace claimed the seats on the benches facing Hadrian and of course the Minister, court scribe, Undersecretary and Dumbledore.
The court scribe was busy writing down the time and various other things onto the parchment, writing down what the Minister was saying. Date, time, reconvening court trial case for Dumbledore, even Tom wasn't listening to that part, he mostly had eyes for Dumbledore who seemed to have calmed considerably, and looked much more determined than they'd seen him since the beginning which was worrisome but not overly so they were both confident that they had Dumbledore where they wanted him, not overconfident though. Hadrian constantly drilled it into him never to underestimate Dumbledore, given what he had seen in the future he had to admit it was a good assessment to make.
"Mr. Peverell-Slytherin, how did the overall experience affect you?" Minister Lestrange asked, getting to the winding down statements.
"It's all I've ever known during my period of time at Hogwarts, I grew used to him watching me all the time, no matter where I was, in class or in the Great Hall, even the corridors. It was unfair, I didn't like it at all, I felt deeply uncomfortable, I just thought he didn't like me, it wasn't until the Auror's asked me if he had touched me that I felt really sick, it made me think of each occasion differently…" Hadrian said, finding it increasingly difficult to keep his amusement under bay at the sick looks on everyone's face.
"So you would say it had a negative impact on your schooling?" Lestrange questioned.
"Definitely," Hadrian agreed, nodding emphatically, Dumbledore definitely negatively impacted his education, in both his experiences at Hogwarts.
"That is all the questions I have for you, Mr. Peverell-Slytherin," the Minister said, "Mr. Dumbledore do you have any questions you wish to ask?" his distaste at having to allow this evident in every line of his body and in his voice. Hadrian was a victim of Dumbledore's they shouldn't be allowing it yet Dumbledore had a right to defend himself, it was a sticky situation but both himself and Andronicus both agreed that the boy was strong enough to endure a few questions, especially with them there to curtail anything if the questions got out of line.
"I do," Dumbledore stated, standing up, he had to get the Wizengamot doubting the validity of his statements; he was not going to let the boy get the better of him. "You say you are a descendant from the youngest Peverell brother? That would be Ignotus isn't that correct?"
"Yes," Hadrian agreed, his lips twitched just slightly as he correctly deduced where Dumbledore was going with this.
"Yet it is a well known fact that the Potters are in fact descendant of Ignotus Peverell," Dumbledore said ponderously.
"It's funny that you should know that, the Potters never reveal who they are descendant from, it's a closely guarded secret, nobody outside the family know about it. Not even the elite purebloods knew that piece of information until you spoke about it." Hadrian said, pointing out the Wizengamot and their reactions. He gazed at Dumbledore with renewed wariness, trying to convey his distrust.
Dumbledore twitched in irritation, "Then how come you know?"
"We're related, cousins I think, I never really dwelled on it," Hadrian stated, "I am from the eldest child of Ignotus Peverell, the heir, contrary to popular belief he didn't just have a son, he had two. I have a family tree; my House-elves are currently stitching the results up onto canvas and are doing extremely good work. If anyone wishes to contest the results it would be a simple matter of calling my House-elf with the paperwork." Death was fond of Ignotus, that part of the story was true; the youngest son had gained his respect, maybe because he had known what would become of the family line ending with him becoming Master of Death.
"How many questions did I ask you during your detentions?" Dumbledore asked, getting back to the facts, seen as that one was well and truly a waste of time, it was obvious he wasn't lying, he could sense the truth.
"Three or four, all the while trying to get me to look into your eyes, but it frustrated you when I wouldn't meet them." Hadrian said blankly. "Which put me on edge, I thought you were going to attack me."
That certainly got a lot of people riled up. They would know the reason, why was why Hadrian had so 'innocently' brought it up. Legilimency was a near forgotten art; they definitely wouldn't think that he or even Tom would know it. The Minister quickly quietened them down, breathing like a Bull about to charge.
Dumbledore's mind was whirling, each time he asked a question it seemed as if the brat was trying deliberately to make things even worse for him. Should he just stop and let the deliberations begin? He didn't know how it could get any worse but it seemed as if Hadrian could do the impossible. Things were already bad enough, and he knew they probably had plans to reopen his sister's case; they would try and find out about him, they would find out about his entire life, something he had made sure would never come to light. Merlin, he wished he had never met the boy, wished he had taken his time getting to Hogwarts so that he expired before help could be administered. If only he had listened to his gut this would not be happening to him. What the hell could he ask? All questions that had been posed before him had probably cemented his fate, nothing he asked Hadrian Peverell would help him get out of this situation.
Closing his eyes resignedly, having to admit defeat, "I have no further questions," he said his voice tired and sad for the first time in his life his expression matched his emotions, there was no manipulations to be had. He was defeated and he knew it, he just prayed he did not end up in Azkaban prison.