Adrian whipped his head around the Great Hall, his eyes darting, trying to figure out who was poking around in his mind. He quickly scanned the faculty table.
Professor Snape was engrossed in his meal, a sneer of displeasure plastered on his face. The other staff members were deep in conversation, laughing and chatting amongst themselves.
'That narrows it down,' Adrian thought. 'There's only one person with enough nerve to try that.'
His gaze settled on Dumbledore. The Headmaster was staring at Adrian through his half-moon spectacles, his eyes slightly narrowed, as if in deep concentration.
When he noticed Adrian looking back, Dumbledore quickly looked away, his eyes sweeping across the other students. It could have seemed like a headmaster simply showing concern for his students, but Adrian wasn't fooled.
'Too bad for you, Dumbledore. How are you going to act now that you can't use Legilimency on someone for the next twenty-four hours!' Adrian chuckled to himself, though his face only showed a carefully crafted look of concern.
The Lord's rings Adrian had officially claimed were, he'd discovered, quite powerful. In the six months since he'd absorbed their knowledge, he'd realized just how formidable their defenses were.
The rings, when worn together, completely blocked any attempt at Legilimency. More than that, they didn't just stop the mental intrusion; they reflected it back at the caster. This resulted in the Legilimens experiencing their own attack, leaving them with a splitting headache for a while.
Adrian watched as Dumbledore briefly clutched his head, his eyes glazing over for a moment, before he seemed to recover.
'That'll teach you to go poking around in my mind, you old goat-fucker.'
_____
Adrian was settling into his lavish new bedroom. Ravenclaw was known as the house of knowledge and intellect, but that didn't mean they lived like monks. Each student had their own private room, complete with an attached bathroom.
Besides the large four-poster bed, the room included a bookshelf stocked with a variety of reading material, ranging from general information to the history of Hogwarts and the wider magical world.
A quick browse showed that they were the heavily regulated ministry versions of the books, but at least the room offered some form of entertainment.
Walking over to his trunk, Adrian placed his hand against the insignia on the top. A soft click was heard, and the trunk lid popped open automatically.
Inside, he found a ladder leading down. Grim had retrieved this particular trunk from the Tepes treasure room. It held its own apartment inside, along with a training room and a portable library.
Stepping inside, Adrian changed into his workout clothes and began his daily physical training routine.
Morning came and went, and Adrian and his fellow first-year Ravenclaws found themselves in their Transfiguration class, waiting for Professor McGonagall.
"Hey, did you hear about the two second years?" A Hufflepuff girl whispered in front of Adrian.
"Someone told me they stole an enchanted car and flew to Hogwarts! Apparently, Muggles saw them, and then they crashed and destroyed the Whomping Willow."
Adrian couldn't help but snort, hearing about how Harry and Ron had already caused chaos before the term had even properly begun.
Adrian watched as Luna, seated beside him, twirled her wand in her hand, her eyes distant as she was lost in her own thoughts.
"Do you think the two students had a Nargle infestation, Adrian?" she asked, her dreamy voice barely a whisper.
"Hmm, probably not. I think they might have been influenced by another supernatural creature," Adrian replied, though he knew it was Dobby who had prevented their entry. He wasn't about to reveal information like that, though.
At that moment, the tabby cat sitting on the table at the front of the room jumped down and transformed into Professor McGonagall.
"Good morning, students. Thank you for being on time for your first lesson." Turning to face the class, she walked to the chalkboard.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone caught messing around in my class will be removed and will not return. You have been warned."
With a flick of her wand, the chalk began writing on the board.
Adrian took out his quill and started taking notes. 'I'd rather look like I'm doing the work and not have to explain why I already know everything. Drawing attention to myself right away will cause more trouble than it's worth.'
_____
Classes continued in the same vein throughout the day. Adrian diligently took notes in each class, performing his magic within the expected range for a first-year student. Sure, he might have cast the spells slightly faster than the others, but he made sure to stick to the correct incantations and standard wand movements.
He was currently wandering the school hallways. Dinner had just finished, and since he didn't really need to study, he decided to explore.
The halls of Hogwarts were confusing, to say the least. Each one seemed to lead to another, and yet, somehow, by sticking to the basic principle of always turning right, he would often end up on a completely different floor.
'Man, I really want to steal that map from the Weasley twins. It would make navigating this place so much easier, and I wouldn't have to worry about anyone seeing me if I decided to go for a late-night stroll.'
With that thought in mind, Adrian resolved to keep an eye out for Fred and George Weasley. The two of them possessed the Marauder's Map, created by James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.
Lost in his thoughts, Adrian somehow ended up on the seventh floor. 'I swear I didn't even take the stairs to get here!' he exclaimed to himself.
Seeing the painting of the dancing trolls, Adrian grinned like a Cheshire Cat. 'Well, well, well. Maybe I could find Tom Riddle's Horcrux and stash it in my inventory for a while?'
Walking past the wall three times, Adrian focused his thoughts. 'I need the Room of Lost Things, organized by category.'
On his last pass, the wall shimmered, and a large double door materialized. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Adrian sighed in relief as he pushed the doors open, then willed the door to disappear from the outside world.
"Holy shit!" he exclaimed, looking at what seemed like a football stadium filled with items. Everything was neatly stacked in its respective corner. Mountains of books, lost jewelry, clothing, wands, and more.
"This looks like the best garage sale I've ever seen." Rubbing his hands together, Adrian walked toward the jewelry section. "If I were the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw, I'd be hiding here."
Using his wand, Adrian began moving each item magically. He wasn't sure if touching a cursed object was a good idea at this point.
Two hours later, Adrian finally struck gold. At the bottom of the jewelry pile was a silver diadem. With a flick of his wand, the diadem revealed itself to be a multi-cursed and heavily charmed object.
"Oh boy, he really was paranoid." Walking closer to the item, Adrian could feel the subtle compulsion trying to trick someone into wearing it. The faint whispers surrounding the diadem made it even more eerie.
Placing his palm near it, Adrian willed the diadem into his inventory, exhaling with relief as he watched it appear in his system storage.
"Haha, I could literally just put all his soul containers in my inventory and let him die." Since the system inventory existed in its own separate dimension, the moment the Horcrux was moved into it, the tether connecting it to Voldemort's wraith was severed.
"Now, all I need is a way to consume and siphon off the soul piece embedded in the diadem. I'm pretty sure I'd get a significant boost to my magic, along with his knowledge."
"Grim, can you please come here?" Adrian asked aloud.
POP
Turning to his side, he smiled at his ever-happy house-elf. It turned out that what he had once read online was true. If Dobby could pop in and out of Hogwarts while bound to the Malfoy family, why couldn't his own house-elf do the same?
"Master Tepes, how can I be of service?" Grim asked.
"Can you find any spare trunks in this room and start sorting through the contents? Anything of value, even if it's dark, store it in the trunks. Spare money can be stored in the private vaults at home, and if there's anything you think I'd like to see, just let me know."
With a quick nod, Grim clicked his fingers, and several spare trunks appeared at his feet. "Of course, Master."
Nodding, Adrian willed the room to give him a different exit location. "Take all the breaks you need; there are no time constraints with this job."
Waving his hand, Adrian exited the room, making his way back to the Ravenclaw common room.