Marked as Equal

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Problem

Albus Dumbledore was over the moon with excitement that evening.

While Albus was always quite happy, days that held this kind of news were becoming less frequent. And so, Albus let himself enjoy the joy that had come with the news that the Ministry was going to revive the Tri-Wizard Tournament. While an event like this would be very beneficial in strengthening the international bond that Hogwarts had with Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, the old headmaster was far more focused on the potential that the tournament would have in preparing the chosen one for his upcoming trials, something that had been a struggle up till now.

With a glass of celebratory fire whiskey in his hand, with two ice cubes in it, he mulled and reminisced about the years he had spent trying to mold Eric Potter into the person he needed to be in order to cause the demise of Voldemort. The Philosopher's Stone mystery had been difficult to set up, as he had to convince the few people he told about it that it was real, while also making sure that rumor and clues about the stone only reached Eric, as well as the one close friend he had managed to pick up. Sadly, it was all in vain, as Eric was not able to combat the Voldemort-Quirrell hybrid, and Dumbledore, who had been secretly following and observing the duo as they went along, had to step in and save that day.

The Chamber of Secrets reopening had not been intentional, but the second it had happened, Dumbledore saw how he could use this to further Eric training. It had been easy enough to discover that it was Ginny Weasley who had been organising the attacks, under the possession of Thomas Riddle, but once again, his plans were foiled once again when Eric Potter wasn't brave enough to go and save Ginny at the end of the year. Instead, it had once again been Dumbledore that had to rush in and save the day, as well as destroy the horcrux that had come into the child's possession. But that year, Dumbledore had learned that Eric Potter could speak parsletounge, confirming that Eric did indeed have a piece of Voldemort's soul residing inside him. And although Eric didn't handle the rejection he faced from the student body at all like he had hoped, Dumbledore hoped that he still used the experience to gain a deeper appreciation for his friends.

Eric's third year had certainly been an interesting one. With the breakout of Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Sirius Black, along with a host of other Aurors, had been assigned to keep Hogwarts secure. This was also the year that Remus Lupin had taken up the Defense position at the school. It was the werewolf's presence, along with the search for Peter Pettigrew, that was the focus of Eric's growth that year. That had so far been the most successful plan that Dumbledore had cooked up, even with Pettigrew escaping Hogwarts, but the amount of work Eric put in, and how he developed was not to Dumbledore's liking.

But this, this, the Tri-Wizard tournament, this could be what finally got Eric to take his role as the chosen one seriously. The new rules would make it so that only those of age could participate, but that would not be at all difficult for Dumbledore to get around. And the reactions from the student body would also be good for Eric to grow as a good person. And if the rumors that Dumbledore had been hearing lately, the ones that suggested that Voldemort was regaining his strength, then the villain would surely also use this as a way to revive himself fully. This was just the perfect situation.

*MaE*

This was not the ideal situation.

Viktor Krum used to be quite content being by himself, and he still largely was. After all, people tended to be annoying, and recently, most tried to befriend him due to his fame as the youngest professional seeker in the world. And it certainly didn't help that his curt and no-nonsense attitude tended to put people off once he actually conversed with them.

But three years ago, Viktor had made a best friend. He was an odd person to have as a best friend, that was certain, and none of the other students at the Durmstrang Institute pretended to understand it. But after what had started off as a rather annoying set of meetings and interactions, he and Viktor had grown as close as family, to the point that his friend had simply been invited to spend the entirety of the holidays with them. Viktors parents had even asked the boy if he wished to become a Krum, but for reason he would only tell them, and reasons he had never told anyone else, he had to decline.

But why was he never around when he should be!?

Viktor Krum had spent at least a half hour searching the damn boat for his friend, and there was no sign of him. He shouldn't have been surprised, if he wasn't in his room, then he was nearly impossible to find, always being in the most random of places. But there was a limited number of places that one could be when sailing on a boat to Scotland, right? Apparently not, because Krum was under the impression that he had checked them all.

But when decided to check the deck of the ship for the third time, and had finally looked up to see what he was certain to be the odd mans vague person sitting in the crows nest, he felt very stupid. That should have been the first place he checked after his room, everyone knew that he had a strange thing for tall places. Of course, this meant that now Krum would have to climb the ladder up there. Krum wasn't afraid of heights at all, but it was cold outside and there was always something about climbing a ladder that was much more unsettling than flying a broom.

But once he reached the top, oh man, Viktor could understand why he was up here. Viktor had become used to seeing things from high up, but he had never been high up while on a boat. It was absolutely beautiful, being able to see neverending miles of waving and rolling ocean along with the Scottish coastline. And with all that was undoubtedly going through his friends mind, Viktor could easily guess that he needed this absolutely beautiful view to distract himself from those thoughts.

"Hadrian, Headmaster Karkaroff said that he wanted to see you before we get to Hogwarts. No doubt it is about what he expects out of you during the tournament."

Hadrian made no sign that he heard the Bulgarian, but Viktor knew that he did. Right now, Hadrian was sketching, something he did very often, and it looked like he was currently sketching the coast. Viktor was always amazed at just how lifelike his friend's drawing were, and when he had first seen the paintings that Hadrian had done he had first thought that they were photographs.

Hadrian not only had a strange personality, but a strange look to go along with it, though that was only partly because he refused to wear the school uniform, or any wizard clothes for that matter. His entire person was what one would call conventionally attractive, with a tall, slim, and well built body and a well sculpted face. His green eyes were bright and more green than any of the students had come across, and his black hair fell in messy waves that seemed both chaotic and natural.

But there were obvious hints that he was not just the misfit he acted like. There was a very noticeable tattoo taking up the space on his right forearm. A full circle, with a triangle residing inside it with the three corners touching the edges of the circle. Inside the triangle was a square, and inside that was another circle. The strangest thing Viktor found about the tattoo was simply the fact that it was facing Hadrian. Most people got their tattoos to that it was facing away from them, so that they could be seen by others easier. But Hadiran had his tattoo facing himself.

Running vertically over the right side of his lip and chin was a prevalent scar, which looked like it had been made there by a knife. And if one were to look at Hadrian's neck, they would see a big burn scar going halfway up the left side of his neck and disappearing into his shirt to continue down the left side of his chest.

And those were only the two scars that were visible. Viktor didn't make a habit of looking at Hadrian shirtless, but they did share a room at Durmstrang after all.

Finally, Hadrian stopped his sketching and looked up towards his friend. "You sound worried. Is everything alright, Viktor?"

Viktor sighed at the reply. "Of course everything is not alright, it amazes me that you are acting as calm as you are. Are you sure you shouldn't be as nervous as I am."

Hadrian simply smirked as he began to stand up from where he was sitting, stretching as he did so. "Well I'll be damned. One of the first times I ever get to see you nervous, and it's not even for yourself. You're making me blush, Viktor."

"You stop that right now." Viktor said quickly before Hadrian could go anywhere else with that thought. Apparently, there had been a rumor going around when the two of them had first started hanging out with each other that they had romantic feelings for each other. It was obvious to the two of them that no such feelings existed, but Hadrian never hesitated in joking about it.

Viktor heaved another sigh before he began speaking again. "Seriously, we know that both of your parents are going to be there for parts of the year at the least, and your younger brother studies there. Why aren't you more worried about this?"

Hadrian looked back in front of him, watching as his breath turned into a visible vapor in front of him. The schools had all decided to arrive at Hogwarts on the first of October, giving the visiting schools a month to settle in and make friends with the other schools before the selecting of the champions began. And though October had just begun, out on the water it was very chilly and Hadrian was transfixed by the vapor for some reason.

"I thank you for being worried about me, but there is nothing to worry about. It'll be weird and unpleasant, but I haven't been Harry Potter for ten years. Seeing them now isn't going to change anything, at least not in a way that matters."

Viktor knew, or at least he believed, that Hadrian was just saying this to comfort him, but he trusted Hadrian completely. And if something did go wrong, Viktor would be there for Hadrian in an instant.

"I will trust you, Hadrian, but I want to remind you that I will be behind you all of the way."

Before Viktor could properly realize what he had just said, Hadrian had another smirk turn up on his face. "Really, you're only going to be behind me? What if I wanted you to take me from the front?"

"Just get your ass to Karkaroff before I beat you there, Hadrian!"

"Kinky."

"Fuck you!"

*MaE*

Fleur Delacour had just about had enough of her peers.

Once again, drama had forced its way into her life, all because she was a veela. Some boy who she couldn't care to remember had broken up with Sarah, a girl who was the very definition of self absorbed. And of course, Sarah had immediately decided that it was Fleur's fault he had broken up with her, that Fleur had corrupted him with her allure. It was a ridiculous accusation, and one that Fleur had received many times before, but that did not stop it from being so utterly frustrating.

She sat alone in her room, Claire having left just minutes ago, and continued to vent her frustrations by angrily pacing the room. She would shout every now and then, not needing to worry about it thanks to the privacy charms placed on all the rooms. A loud voice, no doubt the work of magic, told her that they would be arriving at the British school in no more than five minutes, so Fleur took this last opportunity to release her anger before she had to depart the carriage and put on a good image for Beauxbatons, which would undoubtedly cause the sheep that would be the men of the two other schools to be entranced by her.

The landing was rough, though Fleur could only tell because they had been looking out the window when it happened, and watching such a rough landing made her slightly motion sick. The Headmistress then made sure that they were all looking perfect, before he had them walking out of the carriage in two lines. As expected, just about all of the male Hogwarts students, as well as a small number of the female ones, focused on her. Their reactions, as she saw a few of the older students shake it off after a bit, but there were also a few who were openly drooling over her.

A stern woman had then lead them into a large dining hall, with an enchanted ceiling that Fleur had to begrudgingly admit was much more impressive than any other dining hall she had previously been in. The gold plates and cutlery were also quite eye catching, though she knew it wasn't real gold. Fleur made sure to put as much distance between her and Sarah as she could, not wanting more a reason to get angry tonight.

Soon enough, the other students started filtering in, and she discovered that the table that the Beauxbaton students were lead to was the ones that the Hogwarts students with blue ties and emblems sat at. The Durmstrang students seemed to dawdle in the entrance way, focused on taking off their large fur coats in the warmer room, which is where she spotted a strange sight.

It was a person, dressed so differently from everyone else. He had to be a Durmstrang student, but he wasn't wearing the crimson robes that were their school uniform, nor was he even wearing the fur coat that the rest of Durmstrang students were wearing. Instead he wore simple black jeans and shoes, and a loose, plain, gray long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled covering his elbows. She could see a wand holster strapped to the right side of his belt.

On his right forearm was a tattoo she couldn't quite make out from the distance she was at, and on his left wrist was a well worn, light brown leather cuff watch. She could see what looked to be a burn scar on his neck, and he had very confusing hair, but by far the most attractive thing about him were his bright, vivid eyes. They drew her in from where she was sitting, and she found herself in a trance.

She quickly shook herself out of it and looked away from the boy. Looking around her, she quickly discovered that there were quite a lot of people that were looking at him, though part of that could definitely be attributed to the fact that he was now sitting next the quidditch star, Viktor Krum. But she did have no doubt that his abnormal, but not unpleasant, look and style was a large part of it.

An elderly English voice interrupted Fleurs thought, and she turned to see the Headmaster of Hogwarts standing at his seat.

"Now that we are all seated and settled, I would like to just make a couple of announcements to our lovely guests, as well as what I hope to be some words of inspiration. First off, while we here at Hogwarts are so glad to have you students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons here, it is important to note that while we want you to see the beauty that is our school grounds, the Forbidden Forest is named so for a reason, and should only be entered when there is a Hogwarts staff member present. There are other rules that must be followed here, and although a Hogwarts professor cannot reprimand you, we will talk to your own headmasters if our rules are broken."

Though these were serious things being discussed, the man, she believed his name to be Dumbledore, said it all with a smile and a joyful tone, his blue eyes twinkling like it was Christmas.

"Now, the boring official stuff is out of the way, let's move on to why we're all here. Building relations. Building friendships. All through competition. This in itself sounds controversial. After all, how is one supposed to become friends and allies with those that they are competing against? While, it is my belief that it is in competition that we discover others strengths, as well as their weaknesses, and that if we all band together, we can help not only others rise to greatness, but that they will do the same for us. And I also believe that our champions will be excellent displays of this."

It was inspiring, even if Fleur herself didn't necessarily agree with the statement. It sounded to her like this old man had too much faith in others, but she would see if he was right. Especially if she was chosen to be the Beauxbatons champion.

A couple more sentences, but Fleur stopped focusing on anything until the food appeared. She was a bit thankful that the house elves had taken the foreign students into account when they cooked, as there were a number of French dishes that she knew were safe to eat, though she was interested in trying some of the Bulgarian dishes she saw. Soon, her golden plate was filled with sarmale, mici, coq au vin, and shepards pie.

"Someone's hungry today. Is Sarah getting to you?"

Fleur turned to her left to see Olivia, another one of the few people she could call a friend, and the only person she could call her best friend. Olivia looked to be Fleur's opposite, though that was only true in appearance. Fleur had long, flowing blond hair, with bright blue eyes and pale skin. Olivia had dark eyes and hair, and hers was cut in a short bob. Her skin was tanned, something that had come from many summers working on her grandparents farm.

"It is not Sarah that is getting to me. I am just so sick of all the stupid immaturity that people seem to be so obsessed with."

"Well, you always know my opinion on how to get the other girls to leave you alone." Olivia said with a raised eyebrow and a sly smile on her face directed towards her taller friend. Fleur only sighed in slight annoyance, having already had this discussion with her friend many times before.

"I have already told you, trying to get a boyfriend would just be a waste of time. The girls wouldn't take it seriously, and none of the boys would truly be attracted to anything other than getting to date a Veela."

"And that may be true of the students and boys of our school." Olivia started, confusing Fleur slightly. "But what about dating someone from one of the other schools."

Immediately, Fleur's gaze shifted over to the strange looking boy sitting at the Slytherin table. He was a bit difficult to see through the students at the Hufflepuff table in between them, but she could see him making jokes at the quidditch player, jokes that seemed to be causing the famous Viktor Krum some grief if his annoyed expression and the laughing Durmstrang students were anything to go by.

Fleur felt a nudge at her side and turned to once again see Olivia's sly face, her eyes conveying that she knew exactly who Fleur was gazing at.

"Don't you say anything."

"And why shouldn't I?" Olivia responded with a laugh. "He is very cute after all. I mean, look at those scars. Everyone knows that scars make a man look sexy."

"It doesn't matter, because I don't want a boyfriend anyways. I do not need to be in a relationship to define myself. And just because he's attractive, doesn't mean he's going to be-"

And then Fleur's thoughts were interrupted when she turned to look back at him and saw him looking right back at her. Her thoughts turned to anger as she waited for him to show the signs of being entranced by her allure, just so that she could prove to Olivia that just because he could apparently get away with not wearing the Durmstrang uniform, he was no different from any other man she had come across. Just because he was very, very, attractive, it did not mean he would be have the qualities she desired in a man.

… But then, he wasn't showing the signs. No signs of being under her Veela spell. In fact, he was instead showing the normal signs of awkwardness that accompanied such an unplanned staring contest. His eyes would dart away from hers only to look awkwardly around the room, only to come back seconds later to check if she had looked away as well. After a while, he gave a very awkward smile to her, as well as something she decided had to either be a wave or a salute. The awkward exchange was ended when his attention was called for by Krum.

Fleur continued to stare in his direction for a couple seconds longer, in shock of what had just happened, before she felt a sting on her arm, courtesy of Olivia.

"Ouch! What was that for?!"

Olivia only laughed at her response to her pinch. "Sorry about that, Fleur, but I figured that someone had to stop you from gazing so lovingly at Prince Charming. I know he's attractive, but I didn't think that you'd fall for him that quickly."

"That isn't what happened at all!" Fleur said back to her friend, probably just a bit louder than she should have.

"Oh really. Then shed some light on why you were staring at him for so long, if it was not love at first sight."

"The only reason I was looking at him so long is because he wasn't affected by my allure, okay!" Fleur said back to the girl, and then she realized that she was still talking loudly, as she could hear all the french students around her stop their conversations, and feel them looking at her. Even Olivia looked shocked at the news.

And then she regained her sly smirk, though Fleur could still see traces of genuine happiness on Olivia's face. Olivia turned back to her food, and Fleur could hear the other French students whispering around them, trying to figure out which boy in the hall was the one who was immune to the famous Vella allure.

"I hope you know, Fleur, that now there is no choice. We have to see if this man is worthy of you. You don't get a say anymore."

Fleur could only groan.

*MaE*

As Severus Snape worked on the potions that Madame Pomfrey had requested for the hospital wing, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to who he had seen during the feast. It was him, Snape was certain of that. He might look a tad different now, and he might be speaking Bulgarian and going to school at Durmstrang, but Snape was certain that this boy was the boy that he had been looking for for ten years.

The long lost Harry Potter.

It had been then that so much in Snape's life had changed. It had been then that Snape had truly begun to close himself off from others completely. And it had been then that Snape realized that the people he had looked up towards, and the one person he had considered a friend, had truly changed.

It had taken James and Lily Potter somewhere around a month to realize that their son, Harry, had left them, and the only way they knew this was because Harry was there when Snape visited for tea and was gone when Snape came back a month later to drop off Harry's birthday present. That had been in early September, the fifth to be exact, so Snape knew that Harry should have just turned eighteen less than a month ago.

And ever since that day, Snape had been looking for Harry, whether it be traveling everywhere he could physically looking for the boy, or using what contacts he had, light or dark in nature, that might know even the slightest thing about the whereabouts of Harry. And he had done so for ten years, alone. Because even they they claimed to love their son, Lily and James just couldn't possibly leave Eric by himself or with a sitter while they looked for their other son. And when asked to help by Snape, Dumbledore had stated that his full attention needed to be focused on preparing Eric for the trials that were to come in way, and that Harry would have to remain lost all for the greater good.

And that was why Snape refused to call any of them his friends or allies anymore.

Now, that by no means meant that Severus was entirely alone in his quest. He had struck a very surprising friendship with both Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, two former enemies and bullies of his, in his search for Harry. Of course, the two of them were still friends with Lily and James, but Snape couldn't deny that he had become close to the two other marauders over the years.

But none of that mattered anymore, because Harry was here. After ten years, Harry was finally here, and he would be here for the rest of the school year. Snape had the entire year to talk to Harry, to do everything in his power to try and make up for the fact that he couldn't find him, make up for his damned parents horrible neglect of him. And as he looked down at the list of names of students he would be teaching from the other schools and saw the name Hadrian, mentally joking that of course he would be going by his full name now, he hoped that he could begin making up for all that had gone wrong in Harry's life as soon as he could. Hopefully, he could start as soon as tomorrow's lesson.

*MaE*

This time, Viktor made sure that the crows nest was the first place he checked when he was looking for Hadrian. Curfew would be in a few short minutes, and Viktor knew that if Hadrian was not reminded about the time, he would forget to check his watch. There was also the fact that Hadrian had been unusually distracted for the majority of the feast, and Viktor just wanted to make sure that being in the same room as his blood brother hadn't affected him badly.

But when he reached the crows nest, sight only visible by the number of small glowing orbs that were scattered around the platform, the person he found was not one that was nervous, or one that was angry, or even one that was confused and upset. The Hadrian that he came across was calm, at peace, focused on what he was drawing. A quick glance at the bulging journal revealed that he currently working on capturing the likeness of the Veela that had come with the other Beauxbaton students. But the fact that Hadrian was so focused on this drawing was what was odd.

Hadrian was an artist, there was no doubt about that. His drawing and paintings were perfect enough to pass as reality. But what was perhaps even more amazing was the fact that Hadrian created these masterpieces with no effort at all, almost as if he drawn them all a million times before. For him to be so focused on a drawing meant that it was something that Hadrian was thinking deeply about. And for him to be thinking so intently about someone he hadn't even talked to was out of character for the emerald eyed man.

"Enamoured with the Vella, are you?" Viktor said to his friend, drawing his attention away from the drawing and towards the one who stood before him. Confusion was written on clearly on his face.

"The Veela? What on earth are you talking about?"

Now that had Viktor confused. Hadrian had a better knowledge of magical creatures than anyone he had ever met before, so how had he not noticed what she was?

"The girl you are drawing, she is Veela. Surely you could tell, half the hall was staring at her because of her allure. It took all of us a bit to break out of the charm"

Hadrian looked back towards his drawing of the girl, gazing upon it as if he had just read a particularly surprising twist in one of the many books he read. He traced the outline of the woman's face, studying it thoroughly.

After a short while, Hadrian simply replied, "I didn't even notice."

Honestly, that didn't surprise Viktor as much as it should have. It was simply another one of those things that made Hadrian strange. But…

"If you did not know that she is Veela, then why are you drawing her?"

Hadrian closed his journal before he responded. "Well, she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I just wanted to make sure I don't forget her."

Viktor gave a small chuckle as his friend stood up from where he was standing, once again amazed by the weirdness that was his friend. "If I believed in such a thing, I would call that love at first sight. But I don't, so I won't. Still, for you to enamoured by any woman at all is shocking, so I'll still consider today a success."

Hadrian gave a small laugh, not willing to give Viktor anything more to hold over him. The two of them descended down the ladder and walked towards their rooms, hoping to get a good night's rest before they began their altered schooling. Neither of them knew what to expect of this school, but whatever may come their way, a proper amount of sleep would certainly help.

*MaE*

Dumbledore sat in his chair late into the night, gazing out of his window towards the Black Lake of Hogwarts, where the ship of Durmstrang sat at the docks, gently swaying with the small waves the wind made. The day had surely been a success, he could easily see the awe that the foreign students and headmasters had for his school. And once Eric became the Tri-Wizard Champion, he be much more prepared for his trials, and an added bonus is that the other countries of the world would be there to see his triumphs.

But there was something that was currently troubling Albus's thoughts. Something that he had not accounted for, and something that had not even cross his mind for many years. Of course, how could he have thought that the boy would end up in Durmstrang of all places. Truthfully, he hadn't even thought the boy was alive, years of Severus's fruitless searches had made that seem to be the only possibility. But after having disappeared for ten years, Harry Potter had finally been found.

Of course, now he went by Hadrian, and had hidden his past from those at Durmstrang. He was certain that Karkaroff knew of Hadrian's heritage, that was made obvious by the uncertain way he spoke of the boy when Dumbledore had asked about the oddly dressed boy. But that hardly mattered. What was concerning was the information that he had received from the headmaster of Durmstrang.

Hadrian was at the top of every single one of his classes, and had already taken the NEWTS for several of them. He was the best duelist in their school club, and had even beaten the teachers who had challenged him. He didn't have many friends, but that did not seem to bother Karkaroff. And a brief, small, undetectable glance into Karkaroff's mind told Dumbledore that the Durmstrang headmaster had already extended the option of becoming a teacher at Durmstrang once Hadrian was with his schooling, though it seemed like Hadrian was still thinking it over.

Over all, this was not the best news that Albus could have received. He had been completely focused on Eric's education for fourteen years now, and he was almost no closer to preparing Eric for his future than he was when Eric had first arrived. And if he did not gain control of this new situation, if someone were to find out the relation between the two boys, who knows what might happen. They might start to doubt Dumbledore's teachings, and that could not be allowed.

Something had to be done, but what?