230 Fanfic #230 A Grindelwald's Tale (Rewrite) by NotAHero101(HarryPotter)

This fanfic is an au following an oc. I really like this fic because it has a lot of original story elements with a focus on the mc's development.

Synopsis: Follow Rodrick, grandson of Gellert Grindelwald, as he struggles with his own identity in a world both magical and dangerous. Will he ever be able to step out of his grandfather's shadow? Maybe if nobody finds out his family name in the first place. Though, of course, having a Grindelwald's morales doesn't make things any easier.

Rated: T

words: 49k

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13714053/1/A-Grindelwald-s-Tale-Rewrite

Here's the first chapter:

Startled, Rodrick found himself frozen, his gaze set on an imminent, oncoming, disaster. One yellow eye, as bright as a snake's, taking in the young raven-haired girl, currently as frozen as he was and stood just a few feet before him. His own journey to the elusive, hidden, entrance to the magical side of the muggle station halted.

The other eye, on the other hand, was set on the trolley rocketing towards her. Behind said trolley, currently been manhandled by said transport equipment, was an admittedly pale red-head, earnestly and failing to hold back and put a stop to the seemingly magical equipment.

The girl in danger on the other hand, for whatever reason, wasn't budging.

Rodrick, having spent a moment of thought on the matter decided to move first. Quickly clearing the remaining distance between the two of them, he promptly found himself in front of the younger girl. His expression calm and collected, even in the face of potentially been run over by the redhead gawking at him.

With the trolley showing zero signs of slowing down, Rodrick, instead of simply pushing the girl herself out of the way, merely raised a hand and, a simple spell to balance out the forces rushing his way later, promptly slowed it down to a halt. The slightest hint of magic hidden from the eyes of any muggle onlookers.

"T-thanks, I am not sure what got into it!" stammered the red-haired boy at the wheel. His earlier pale expression seemed to disappear with a more cheerful, and rather goofy, expression replacing instead. "I am Ron, by the way, Ron Weasley!" he quickly introduced himself. Rather easily for that matter, without the slightest hint of anything having, up until that moment, gone wrong. Which, given he'd almost sent the girl, still frozen before him for that matter, to the hospital said quite a bit.

"Rodrick," He replied evenly. "You should get going before her parents get here," he added on, his eyes idly tilting to the side as he pointed out the three currently rushing towards them. And while he'd usually have a problem with, well, not minding his own business, he really didn't want the boy's family to show themselves as well.

That had certain odds of him having to deal with them as well. And frankly, he had enough on his plate to worry about as it were.

At his words the other boy didn't spare him a second glance, instead choosing to take off albeit at a much slower pace, back towards his own family.

Taking his eyes off the fleeing ginger, Rodrick turned his attention to the young raven-haired girl in front of him. "Are you okay?" He questioned, keeping his voice barely above a whisper.

The girl, however, looked glued in place.

After another moment of deliberation, Rodrick moved his hand towards the girl's forehead; a warm yellow glow promptly echoed out through the back of his fingers, washing over the girl before him in a single moment.

"Ugh," Was the first sound to leave her lips. the girl briefly shaking her head as she, almost comically, started looking back and forth before her gaze fell on him.

"Aah, thank you!" she suddenly remarked, a sheepish expression covering her face.

"No problem," He replied easily, his mind for a moment considering he simply give his farewells before electing to at least wait for the girl's family to reach them. Just in case the poor girl found herself under the sights of another out-of-control trolley.

"What's your name?" he settled for asking as he waited, a genuine smile on his face. Though judging by the girl's clothing, having seen a few of the robes before him in one of the many shops filtered throughout Diagon Alley, he figured she was a pureblood.

Or really well off.

"Astoria Greengrass," The girl replied, her face glowing up as it cut into a smile.

"Rodrick. A pleasure to meet you," He introduced himself for the second time in the same minute. His mind echoing the girl's second name through his head. He was fairly certain he'd heard of it.

Before he could contemplate it any further, his gaze fell on the three people marching towards them. The first, currently to the left of the small group was a beautiful woman, who looked to be in her thirties- not that he had any intentions of asking- the kind of beauty he'd usually seen in magazines, with the same dark raven hair that reached her shoulders with eyes sparkled like emeralds. Her robes looked even more ostentatious then what the girl before him was wearing.

Probably the mother, he figured. The man on the other hand seemed to have forgone the wizardly look in favor of a grey striped, black business suit. With short brown hair crowning a pair of eyes hauntingly similar to the girl he'd just helped avoid the nearby hospital. Behind the two of them was another dark-haired girl, currently pushing an even bigger trolley then the redhead before him; this one however at least looked to be around his age. Taking a closer look, he found himself starting at the same emerald eyes as the mother. As the three reached him, he promptly found himself staring at the girl behind a trolley at eye-level. The girl was as tall as he was.

The woman promptly lowered herself down towards her youngest daughter, pulling her into a hug. "I was so worried there for a second," She remarked with the barest hint of fear in her voice. At which point her emerald eyes promptly turned piercing as they zeroed in on him, almost like a hawk's.

Not that he'd ever interacted with such a creature before, he'd simply felt it an apt description.

Still, not knowing how else to respond, Rodrick settled for a nod, his body on the cusp of turning as he made to leave before he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder dashing any hopes of his escape out the window.

"What's your name, young man? I believe I owe you my thanks for helping my daughter," There was a twinkle to his eyes as he spoke.

And as with all twinkles, his grandfather had made his stance clear on the matter, he did not trust it.

Rodrick opened his mouth to respond, only for the younger girl to interrupt him and introduce him herself: "His name is Rodrick!" She cheered with a toothy smile.

He closed his eyes for a moment as his head automatically nodded to the name.

"Rodrick?" The man clarified, likely waiting for something else-

'My last name...' He warily realized what the man was waiting for.

"Just Rodrick, I am an orphan," He slowly added, not knowing what else to expect next.

The man's mouth, just as those very words tended to cause with near-anyone else he'd spoken to, went into an O shape. Albeit it didn't seem to take long for the man to retake hold of the conversation.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Rodrick. My name is Cyrus Greengrass, and this is my wife, Roxanne," The woman let loose another smile with the introductions. "I take it this is your first year? It will be Daphne's first year as well," The man added, pointing to his elder daughter, who appeared by his side.

Rodrick nodded again, unsure of how to respond. Admittedly, he found it completely odd that the man would reveal so much, despite having just met him. It wasn't like the man had anything to gain from speaking to him- Particularly if he believed the part about him been a nameless orphan.

Still, frankly, anything was better than the sudden silence that seemed to settle in.

'What should I say? Should I leave now or am I expected to stay?' The thoughts whizzed around his head, his mind fumbling for the correct course of action.

"Do you know anything about your family?" This question, this time, came from the green-eyed mother, who wore a thoughtful, if empathetic, look on her face. One that had him instinctively narrowing his eyes for the briefest of moments.

Judging by the sudden change in expression in the woman's face, she seemed to notice all the same.

"No. I grew up in an orphanage," He answered warily, his gaze fleeting to and from the wall he was supposed to run through.

Focusing back on the couple before him, he found Cyrus's eyes lingering on his trolley for some reason-

'Ah, right.' Orphans aren't supposed to come fully equipped with everything on the Hogwarts list, presumably. It was either that or the pureblood before him was figuring out the best way to rob him of his, frankly, only real pieces of belongings.

"I received all of the money for this with my letters of recommendation,"

"Really?" Came the surprised, immediate, answer from the man himself. "Strange, perhaps you have some family somewhere who knows about you?" He asked.

'...What kind of family would leave- On second thought, what did it matter to these people?' He had never gotten much attention at the orphanage itself yet the moment he left, strangers suddenly found him interesting enough to speak to?

Gods, if he'd known all it would take to give him a chance at adoption was going outside that hell-on-earth he would've run away a long time ago.

And promptly came back because his grandfather would've insisted on it but that was neither here nor there.

"I wouldn't know of any," He settled on shrugging, in the end not truly bothered about it.

"You said letters?" The question came from Mrs. Greengrass. "There was more than one?"

"Yes..." He replied warily, his gaze switching between the two adults before him. "One from Hogwarts and another from Durmstrang," He clarified further.

'Was that strange?' He found himself wondering. 'Most people get multiple letters, don't they?' He certainly couldn't imagine every child being forced to go to the same school...

Speaking of school, he quickly turned his gaze towards one of the many clocks attached and pinned to the platform walls, panic swelling inside of him as he realized he was about to be late.

"I-uh, need to go!" He said with a forced smile. "It was nice to meet all of you," He added on as an afterthought.

Before the Greengrass family could say anything else, he was practically already on his way, breaking out into a run as he did. His ears picking snippets of a conversation involving wandless magic, or something of the sort. Putting the thoughts to the back of his mind, he made his way through the train platform, just like he'd seen others do before him.

To say he was awestruck at the sight that greeted him would be an understatement. Hundreds of people greeted him on the other side. Most on the cusp of boarding train, which designated the others as family members seeing them off.

Noticing the red-haired boy from earlier, Rodrick found himself gaping as he took in the sheer size of the family he was apart of. Four or five? He wasn't sure how many children there were: to the side stood a girl and the family even seemed to have a set of twins!

In fact, the red-haired family even seemed to have a black-haired child! Truly, they seemed to have everything! Dis-loyal spouses included! He found himself idly wondering who sired the poor, malnourished, boy; and that was by his own standards, and he was an orphan! Though judging by the fact their clothes looked as rundown as his own; he had a feeling the boy was lucky to get fed anything.

His grandfather had promised him wonders the likes of which he'd never seen before.

So far, he'd run into a nosey family and a broken one.

Which wasn't all too different from what he was used to seeing in the orphanage.

Long-story-short; his grandfather had clearly lied to him.

After a moment's thought, Rodrick promptly let go of his trolley, instead electing to levitate his items, believing it to be an easier method to carrying everything inside. He did not expect the surprised looks at doing so. Everyone around him, including the red-haired broken family was, for whatever reason, staring at him, either in surprise or in shock.

Perhaps it was because he was alone, while everyone else was surrounded by family? Fixed and/or otherwise...? Either way, he didn't let his thoughts linger on it too long, lest he got upset again. Soon enough he found himself walking through the compartments with his luggage floating behind him and the stares of other passengers piercing him from all directions.

'What's with all these people?' He couldn't help the thought, shifting around uncomfortably. Putting away his trunk, albeit having taken a book and his wand out, he made to find an empty compartment before settling down to read through another of the many magical books his blonde, school-appointed tourist guide through the wizarding world had suggested he acquire.