Juncture

"Are you an Animagus?"

Voldemort didn't bother to look up from where he was writing with a black quill, "No. I found the time and commitment needed for such a transformation useless. The inability to select your alternate form presented the chance that the effort would go to something pathetic. I decided to focus my attention on more useful skills."

Adrian bit his tongue and chewed on it slightly. He felt the itching desire to learn more and inquire about what exactly was more important than an Animagus form. His father wasn't wrong, it was still possible Adrian had an entirely useless or pathetic alternate form. He could see where his father was coming from.

"What did you learn instead?" Adrian asked, trying to sound as careless as he could. He knew instantly that he failed when his father glanced at him intently from the corner of his eyes. The red of the iris was breathtaking and intimidating all at once.

A small cruel smile twisted the corner of his face, pupils shifting ever so slightly to something more oval than normal.

"Things far beyond your level of understanding and competence."

Adrian, subdued, nodded and looked back at his book - there were only so many spellbooks he could read over summer break. He was indulging himself with an elaborate book on the habits of Grindylow and Merpeople, creatures commonly misunderstood and often misrepresented, but thankfully, his father had no objections to his interest.

It could be useful, at times, to have trivial facts on vampires or werewolves.

"With your occlumency now, it would be relatively simple to achieve an animagus transformation." His father's lidded eyes did nothing to hide the piercing look behind them."Of course, that would be once your spellwork has reached acceptable performance."

"Of course, father." Adrian smiled slightly, feeling conflictingly at ease and still cautious in the room. His father had the disorienting habit of complimenting him so carefully and verbally backslapping him the next second. It left him nearly dizzy, yet never dispelled the warmth in his stomach and his silent croon at the praise; no matter the insult directly after.

Bellatrix's arrest had only been the start of a wild summer. Initially, Adrian walked as if he was on twigs. He nearly never left his room, when he did he sent Lutain out with him to scout the hallways to assure the boy nobody was there. Adrian had seen the strange fondness his father had for serpents, it seemed to him that Lutain was more safe than he was.

He wasn't sure at the start if his father was as crazy or wild as Bellatrix was. He was the Dark Lord, after all. He might not have been the same wizard who tried to kill him as a baby, but he was still infinitely cunning and capable.

And as it turned out, he was; but in a much more dangerous way than she was.

Bellatrix was an uncontrollable storm, a tornado of chaos and impulsivity with no regard for ramifications. She would injure and then coddle and croon her apologies before inflicting wounds once more. His father...he wasn't like that.

He was worse.

He was honeyed words and careful movements, everything casual and calculated to the degree that Adrian fell he was falling into role of a script.

Adrian tried spontaneity, trying to break the mold he was trapped in. Even trying to surprise the other man only left Adrian stumbling, as if everything he did, his father was already prepared for. It felt that he was stumbling on a frozen stream, no matter which way he turned and walked he only found himself following the cold trail and threatening to slip.

His father didn't hurt him, but the man seemed to know Adrian in a way which left the boy feeling so terribly exposed. The Dark Lord would say barely anything, yet two or three words spoken so calmly had the ability to tear Adrian to shreds or leave him basking in a glow stronger by far than Bellatrix's affection. How Adrian longed for such praise, the simple acts of paternal affection that were followed with such loving lacerations to his heart and flesh, leaving him trembling and crawling on the polished floor.

Nagini was a unique balm that he hadn't anticipated, her heavy bulk and weight felt like the soothing numb of disinfectant in a wound. Assuring and pleasant against the sting, and his instinct to recoil away from it.

Yet it was worth it when his father's eyes nearly shimmered, widening with such surreal light Adrian could swear they would glow in the dark.

He would casually remark about something, a simple observation. And how Adrian hungered desperately to make that observation into praise- into a smile and a proud glance that left his blood singing.

Nagini watched him silently the nights where he was left curled helplessly in a ball. Sometimes he made it to his bed, staining blankets magically cleaned the next day, and sometimes he would be left prone in the training room, wracked with tremors as his body shook to stave off the pain of phantom sensations he couldn't process anymore. She watched over him as a silent protector, a statue on the altar of Adrian's devotion.

Lutain always said that Nagini's scales shone brighter in person; from all the nights he spotted her bulk watching him silently in the dark, Adrian was beginning to agree.

"Master is speaking to guest inside the office." Nagini hissed, lying entangled with his legs in her massive coils, her large head nested near his own. Lutain flicked his tongue companionably, curled around Adrian's right forearm and his pillow.

"Who is it?" Adrian asked, stroking the long forehead of the python.

"The blonde," Nagini hissed, causing Lutain to perk up.

"Spawn of dragon-hatchling?" Lutain lifted his head upward, eyes bright.

"Draco's father?" Adrian blinked in confusion, his hisses faltering, "What is he doing here?"

"Crazy-lady, they want her back."

Adrian nearly sat upright. Bellatrix? They were planning to get Bellatrix back?

Internally he nearly grinned in excitement, and at the same time he was horrified to think that he would be forced to leave. He didn't want to go, he wanted to stay with his father here.

"I wish we knew what they were saying."

"I do." Nagini reared, lifting her weight onto her coils before headbutting Adrian's chest roughly, if still gently for a snake her size. "Self, self?"

"Nagini," Adrian winced and pushed her snout aside. "What are you-"

The tattoo slid out of his skin, flicking its tongue at Nagini, who flickered her tongue back at herself.

"Self." The real Nagini was satisfied, looking at the mark agreeably, "What does Master say?"

The tattoo twisted in acknowledgment and melted under his skin once more. The sensation made Adrian twitch.

How brilliant, he hadn't ever considered something like that before. He knew that the tattoo, the elaborate yet completely legal mark that covered his flesh worked as a messenger between the painting in his father's office and throne room. He hadn't ever considered using it as a spy, a way to learn more information he wasn't privy to.

Yet, was he actually not permitted to know the information? It wasn't him who had suggested the tattoo do it, it was Nagini who had summoned it with an eager butt of her nose. Adrian shouldn't be punished for the action of his familiar, yet something inside him cried out that maybe Nagini had summoned it on purpose. Maybe she was trying to get him in trouble.

No, she liked Lutain too much to go out of her way to try and injure Adrian.

Yet somehow the concept of summoning the tattoo was a little too advanced for her, something that seemed suspiciously beyond her understanding.

It curled and rolled under his flesh, tugging slowly like the uncomfortable feeling of Spell-O-Tape being pulled away from his skin. It tingled and itched like a burn, or a blister starting to peel.

"You're using me like a carrier pigeon." Adrian argued, not enjoying how the python was using his skin.

"I find pigeon," Lutain offered, wriggling excitedly at the prospect of using his own service. Adrian almost smiled at how his familiar tried his best to accommodate his discomfort.

They waited in bated silence for the tattoo to slither back into view. It emerged from his thigh, sliding over a hip before reporting through fanged jaws, "Raid in fall. Azkaban. Crazy-lady free with kin and den-mates, Demen-tears problem."

Adrian smiled and stroked the tattoo appreciative. It was beautiful, yet morbidly nauseating to glance at knowing it was under his body. "Thank you."

It hissed welcomingly before fading away and leaving the three.

They were planning a raid on Azkaban? Fall was still a long time away, and Adrian didn't even know when exactly in fall this would be taking place. In fact, Adrian didn't know anything. He hadn't been told any details.

He was finding out about it from a tattoo.

Adrian knew that his father was aware that he and Bellatrix were close. Wouldn't it be logical for him to include Adrian on the planning to better manage her?

Unless his father didn't want Bellatrix and Adrian to meet or be together.

"We'll have to wait and ask later," Adrian stated the obvious, stroking each of the serpent's scales soothingly. More for himself as his anxiety drifted again.

His insecurities and worries only heightened and intensified as all three drifted in and out of sleep in the afternoon heat.

"Where did my father find you?" Adrian asked, running his hand down Nagini's back once more.

The sun had begun to set, his father had called a meeting which led to the three to be confined to the room.

The light shone through the window in flickering tones of red and orange, lighting across Nagini's scales in bright shimmers, holding tints of deep green between the normal markings. Lutain's own skin, having lightened to an earthy brown for some odd reason, glowed like a smoldering fire from the sun's light. Nagini's awesome bulk was always awe inspiring, yet somehow she didn't quite hold the same beauty Lutain possessed with the changing colours of his dark and brown scales.

"Where found?" Nagini asked, humming lowly and contently from where she curled around Adrian, "In store, near castle."

"Hogwarts?" Adrian blinked in surprise, "You mean the town, Hogsmeade?"

Nagini gave a hum and lazily flicked her tongue against his cheek.

"Well, what else? Did he buy you?"

"Yes, expensive." Nagini coiled lightly on herself, seeming proud of her price. "I was hatchling, small and cold. I spoke and Master heard, and asked me if I would serve him. I said yes and came with."

"Nagini always speak well?" Lutain curled onto his master's chest. It was a good question, Lutain's own vocabulary was painfully simple when Adrian first found him. Nagini was able to hold entire conversations and even use sarcasm on the rare instance.

"No. Master use the magic and I learn the words, he speak and I become." She hissed, mouth opening to menacing proportions if not for her boastful words, "Master make me great."

"You were always strong, my beautiful," The three glanced up at the door where the tall red eyed man slipped past the previously locked doors. "I just offered to you a greater opportunity for your potential."

There was something pointed in the tone, and Adrian knew better than to think it was coincidental. His father had taken Nagini as a hatchling, sheltering her and nurturing her into a beautiful creation of lethal awe. He raised her and tended to her like a poisonous flower, as deadly and as tantalizing as opium from a poppy.

Then what was he, what was Adrian, supposed to be?

(Against his rationality, he felt like a kneezle; so eager to crawl to his feet and begging for his father's praise.)

Lutain had never quite obtaining the level of fear Adrian held for his father, and slithered over eagerly and gazing upwards expectantly.

A small smile graced thin lips as, wordlessly, a small mouse was conjured. Lutain struck it without thought, the mouse shrieking before slowly going still.

Lutain's coils pulsated, struggling to orient the mouse in a posture where the snake could better consume the creature. The rodent flailed, spasming post mortem in a gruesome display as small amounts of blood already dribbled across Lutain's body.

"You have a quick strike." his father mentioned, eyeing the limp mouse and the strangely coloured snake. "An interesting patterning as well."

Lutain peered down at his body, observing the alteration in his colour. From dark black, almost bluish, he had somehow changed in just a series of days to speckled yellow and brown.

"Summer." Lutain offered, twisting and dancing in a signature S to appear more majestic. "It is warm, and summer now."

"Your scales alter with the seasons? Perhaps a lasting warming charm would appeal to you."

Adrian didn't know how to cast a lasting warming charm. He didn't want Lutain to indulge in a spell that he hadn't cast.

Lutain hissed wordlessly, rising as high as he could without falling to the floor. It was an impressive height, just shy of his father's naval.

"Make scales dark?" Lutain hissed curiously, twisting in a cobra-esq dance. "Make strong?"

"Lutain," Adrian choked out, reaching to snatch the dangerous snake away and back onto the bed. Lutain squirmed in Adrian's frantic grasp.

His father watched him with a blank expression. His mouth was twitching into a slight frown, Adrian had no hope for understanding the expression.

"No?" Nagini asked, lifting her body up and resting her head on Adrian's bed once again, "Master make you fast."

"He's fast enough," Adrian snapped out, swallowing once he realized his insolent outburst.

Nagini opened her mouth for protest, only for Voldemort to stroke down her large head, "Silence, my dear. The spell is quite difficult, otherwise I would long ago have taught young Adrian it. I don't believe he possesses the innate ability for such magic, even if he had years to practice."

The words were ambiguous and bordering the line of praise and insult. Adrian felt almost like keening pathetically, fighting the urge to try and show him wrong.

He could, he could practice and he could do that magic, easily!

And yet, he mused on if his father intended for him to give in so easily. Why else would he have phrased it such as that, if not for Adrian to beg him to teach him anyways?

This wasn't about him though, it was about Lutain. He couldn't throw his familiar in the same danger he faced every day. He wouldn't.

It wasn't that he didn't trust his father, the man had done a remarkable job of tending to his wounds and making sure that he was always alright. He just suspected that everything was beyond his control- everything was orchestrated and practiced and no matter what Adrian did he couldn't escape.

By saying no...this was his chance, this was his choice and not his father's.

He didn't want to disappoint his father. He didn't want to hurt Lutain.

He almost felt like crying as suddenly everything was too much, noises were too loud and his ears rang loudly and he felt the tickling urge of hysterical giggles press on his chest anxiously.

"Master?" Lutain looked up, wriggling eagerly.

"Let us not pressure your young master." His father spoke slowly, the red eyes observing him in such a way Adrian knew he could see the impact of his words.

Adrian tucked his hands below his thighs and out of sight to disguise the way they shook ever so slightly.

"And let us not be hasty, Lutain. The change is quite permanent, and I would not proceed without your young master's permission."

The red eyes slyly met Adrian's own, "After all, Lutain is your familiar."

Adrian said nothing, mostly because he was not sure how his voice would remain steady. He couldn't think.

His father rolled his eyes, Adrian's eyes prickled as he felt the stifling weight of disappointing his father lay heavy on his shoulders.

"I found Nagini in a pet store, located in Hogsmeade," His father started, his tone affectionate as he gently ran his fingers over the ridges around Nagini's eyes, "The store has long since closed. She was quite young at the time, and the staff obviously didn't know her species."

Adrian leaned forward subconsciously, watching his father's face with the utmost concentration. The way he spoke was so gentle, so proud and fond. Adrian hoped that someday he would talk about Adrian that way.

"I purchased her for two galleons." his father continued. "I had to sneak her back into the castle, of course. I kept her beneath my bed with a warming charm, as at the time I had to be very careful. The Chamber of Secrets had just been opened-"

"Why didn't you return my letter?" Adrian blurted, twitching as his father looked at him questionably, "The letter I sent, about the chamber."

"My useless follower, Wormtail, destroyed the letter prior to me receiving it, something about it being hexed."

Adrian had heard that name before, he knew who that was. He was the man who was an animagus, the one who knew the Potters before everything had happened.

His father wasn't happy with the man; Adrian could imagine how his flesh would have been slowly cut away in ornate ribbons and spiraling twirls- like the peeling of an apple.

(Adrian had only seen it once, watching his leg unravel towards his knee like a Christmas decoration, feeling his wand shaking in his hand and bile rising up the back of his throat. It was only a second before his father spoke the countercurse. His muscle looked wet and purple in the chandelier light.)

"Nagini is very important to me." Voldemort continued, speaking in soothing tones Adrian had never imagined the man capable of. "She holds a piece of my soul."

Adrian blinked at the odd expression. He hadn't ever heard of it, although it did convey affection appropriately.

"As do you," his father finished, turning and locking his eyes to Adrian's wide ones

His father stood and left his room, walking with footsteps too poised for how startled Adrian felt.

He was...important?

He knew that he was- what other logical reason was there for his treatment and care? Adrian still felt the doubt, irrationally gnawing anxiously inside- was he important?

His father didn't speak to him in those soothing tones, he didn't trail a finger along his jaw affectionately as he did to Nagini. He pushed him and twirled him, cursing him and praising him and it gave Adrian the sick idea that he was simply a marionette dancing on strings.

He choked on how badly he wanted to be the best marionette his father had, he wanted to make him so happy.

Adrian didn't know how, and he was beginning to doubt he ever would.

"What type is she?" Adrian asked quietly, sitting curled in a couch while Lutain and Nagini reared playfully on the carpet- each rising into mesmerizing dances and learning what the other could perform. Nagini had the benefit of height and girth, able to tense and move the muscles along her throat and belly until her entire body was undulating while her head remained still.

Lutain in contrast was thin and fast. He reared to a less impressive height, yet could dance with cobra grace into an almost hypnotic rhythm.

Adrian's father looked up, peering over his desk at the two serpents.

"I'm not sure; she was advertised as a reticulated python, although it's more likely that the owner didn't know either."

Adrian tilted his head and observed her body, "She's a python for sure. She has the heat pits and the other trademarks."

His father gave a small hum of agreement as he quickly finished whatever paperwork he had been writing. He set the quill down in its holder and crossed his arms on his desk.

"She didn't always appear the way she does now," his father explained slowly, in a tantalizing way he did when he was telling Adrian something he should remember.

"She's been enchanted and enhanced. I...boosted her potential, gave her abilities others would never have."

Adrian couldn't imagine what else he could have done to a python. She was obviously more intelligent, perhaps he aided her in serpent abilities?

"Did you give her venom?" Adrian asked, peering at Nagini who was now flicking her tail stiffly in attempts to mimic Lutain's whiptail.

"Partially," His father hummed, avoiding the question and leaving the answer tantalizingly out of reach, "I imbued her with magic. Her body strengthened and enchanted itself and she developed the venom herself."

It made sense. Adrian couldn't imagine any store selling an animal as lethal as Nagini; if her lethality came only after she was purchased it would certainly explain why she was so difficult to determine what species she was.

"Can she breed?" Adrian asked curiously, trying to imagine how interesting it would be if such enchantments carried through to her children.

Adrian's father looked baffled, his eyebrows rising ever so slightly and his eyes widening in confusion.

"Nagini has no interest in coupling nor will she ever." His father scoffed, as if the concept was well below him and her alike.

Adrian felt as if he should argue. He didn't want to, most likely because his father sounded so sure of himself. He wondered if the enhancement he was talking about was what he had offered Lutain.

"And Lutain?" His father asked, watching the thin brown snake coil himself and flash his fangs affectionately, "No muggle store would possess such a creature, and yet he seems too exotic to be found in the wild."

Adrian smiled at his familiar, "He wasn't. I didn't buy him. I stole him, really. Accidental magic,"

Adrian heard his tone soften in affection to his serpent. "He wanted freedom."

"You stole him?"

"From a zoo," Adrian offered, almost laughing at the surprised expression on his father's face, "He wanted to leave so I took him. He was much smaller, probably only a few months a muggle species, no magic in him."

His father eyed Lutain considerably, "I have not encountered such a snake before. It is remarkable that he is as formidable as he is, without the aid of magic."

Adrian felt the glow of pride bubble inside him happily. He had to hold himself back from beaming.

Lutain peered back at the two of them, his face and skull shaped into a permanent glare.

"Very," Lutain paused, considering before slowly hissing out, "For-mid-able."

"Formidable," Adrian offered again, Lutain flicking his tongue as he corrected himself and returned to playing with Nagini.

"You're patient with him." His father noted, his tone just shy of something... new. "You haven't enhanced his mental capabilities with magic at all."

It wasn't a question, simply an observation. Adrian didn't know if he was impressed or disappointed.

"No," Adrian admitted, twisting his fingers nervously, "He... I hadn't known any spells or enchantments then. I wanted to teach him English, he's a good friend."

Voldemort nodded slowly, blinking lazily like a content crocodile. "A testament to your patience. It seems ironic that you're capable of teaching a serpent to comprehend English without spellwork, and yet you're unable to master a rudimentary shielding charm."

Adrian paused and swallowed hoarsely. It didn't help move the lump in his throat from wiggling down into his stomach. Oh Merlin, Adrian felt so mediocre...

"Then again," His father started, pausing dramatically as tensions once again rose higher, "You would not believe who cannot perform that spell. Only a fraction of my Death Eaters can cast it adequately." Voldemort huffed, somehow keeping his tone light and only minorly intimidating.

Adrian wasn't sure if he was expected to laugh or balk at the expectations set for him.

"Hatch day!" Nagini suddenly interjected, hissing with an urgency trademarked by spontaneous recollection, "Master! Hatch day!"

Voldemort caught her head as his familiar collapsed in his lap heavily. Nagini tensed and twitched, her scales expanding before contracting in movement of her muscles coiling under her skin.

"Ah yes, thank you, my dear." Voldemort crooned, assuring Nagini of a job well done, "I nearly forgot. Your birth date is approaching rapidly, isn't it?"

Adrian nearly balked, "I- yes," How was this conversation supposed to end?

Voldemort hummed a monotone which conveyed no emotion or desire to continue the conversation.

Adrian wondered morbidly what Bellatrix would have gotten him for his birthday.

Adrian's birthday was a lethargic instance of how doing absolutely nothing was wonderful.

His father lived on the belief that a day where nothing was accomplished was a poor excuse of a day itself. Adrian was held with the expectation of accomplishing something before bed everyday.

It was exhausting, yet rewarding to track his exponential knew that by the quickly approaching school year, Adrian would be miles ahead of his classmates.

The rigorous schedule was broken by the heavy weight of Nagini crushing him to the charmed mattress under a loud mantra of 'Hatch day! Hatch day!'

Adrian didn't understand how a python with a poor grasp on human behaviour was so excited for a birthday, but Nagini's mood was infectious, her loud feminine cries lured Lutain into repeating the mantra with the sparse storytelling of Adrian's prior birthdays.

Adrian padded down the stairs and into the kitchen of the large estate dressed solely in his sleeping clothing. His slightly too long trousers dragged on the floor and collected dust in a way he knew his father would hate. It was comfy, so that was all Adrian had to say.

"Master!" Lutain cheered, slithering his way up onto the counter from a haphazard collection of empty boxes Adrian had stacked just for his friend. Lutain yawned largely, his scaled lips flapping in a way which never ceased to make Adrian smile, "Gifts? Gifts for the hatch-day?"

"Probably," Adrian blinked, fishing around for an apple, "although considering Bellatrix isn't here, I may not actually get anything. Don't worry, you'll still get to lounge around."

Lutain yawned again, showing off his brightly yellow belly and his strangely sandy brown scales.

Adrian didn't have any training or spellwork. He didn't have anything extra to read or assignments to complete. Best yet, he didn't need to do anything.

Which is how his father found him buried deep into a book about the magical animal species of southern Africa, nursing a cup of warm butterbeer and wearing two mismatched socks. The best part was that Adrian was sitting sideways on the chair, wearing the ratty sleeping garments he knew his father hated, still coated with the fine crumbs of messy breakfast pastries.

Voldemort's nose wrinkled in distaste the moment he laid eyes on Adrian's posture and appearance, "I'm not sure what I am most aghast by."

Adrian peered up over the book, blinking silently and waiting for the hailstorm to begin.

His father opened his mouth, poised for the verbal thrashing, before his jaw closed with a click. The red eyes conveyed all the disgust needed, although it was amazingly reigned in.

"Come along," Voldemort grunted, losing his image of a father-figure with how his shoulders slumped in annoyance, "Nagini is excited to see you open your gifts."

He had gifts?

This was beginning to be one of the most surreal experiences in Adrian's life.

He did have gifts. Stacked in tiny piles in one of the rooms nearest to to where the post delivered. All of the packages likely had been delivered and thoroughly checked by the wards. He spotted the trademark embossed silver wrapping paper from the Malfoys, something reddish brown signed by Theodore Nott. Boxes from Pansy and shockingly enough, Hermione nestled themselves around other boxes and packages.

Draco sent him books, as well as Hermione and Pansy. It appeared books were the best default present for him. Theodore Nott tried a step further, gifting him an elaborate set of ink sticks used to create custom coloured inks of varying viscosities.

At that point, all of the gifts became better.

He had been gifted a larger cage for Lutain, nearing the size of a full sized trunk with realistic canyon walls and sandy plants growing in the substrate. It would be perfect to display his friend in his dorm room, while also granting the illusion of control. He was gifted a collection of books as well, a designer set each autographed by Newton Artemis Fido Scamander back in the early 1900's. A few even had hand drawn illustrations in the margin- ink smeared on the cover with handwritten note to a Lestrange.

The real golden snitch of Adrian's gifts, was the single crystal vial with a Animagus Transformation potion inside of it.

"I hope you know how to use that," His father sniffed, eyeing the contents with a bored expression, "In the rare occasion it is something useful, you are permitted to practice the transformation."

Adrian had the Animagus Transformation potion, he had it and he hadn't needed to even buy it.

For a split second, Adrian forgot completely that his father was Lord Voldemort.

He could hear the distant childhood laughs and cries of a birthday party, the late summer sun warm his skin as children played quidditch and he sat on the porch. He could almost taste the sweet lemonade and feel the stifling heat vanish with the slightest breeze.

This time it was his party, it was his.

He couldn't remember James Potter in his childhood memory. He remembered someone walking to the porch, seating themselves beside him and talking with a gentle lilting voice as the breeze once more rose and stirred the air.

Red eyes looked downwards curiously and a slightly amused smirk tilted lips as Adrian leant against his father with the muffled imagination of what it should have been.

Lutain jolted in surprise when Adrian nearly threw the boxes from his lap. He clutched the crystal vial in his left hand tightly as he jumped the small gap and wrapped his small arms around the waist and black coat of the imposing figure that had suddenly changed his world.

Voldemort was hit with a metaphorical freezing hex.

It was the best birthday Adrian ever had.

In some countries the age of thirteen was the age of adulthood in the magical world. It was obviously the age where his father assumed Adrian could start proving his worth.

It was ridiculous to send Adrian out on the field of battle with such inexperience. Adrian had abilities and skills most of his Death Eaters didn't- the pure fascination and desire to learn about magical creatures. He wasn't an experienced dueler; if he believed the scathing insults, then he was mediocre at best, with no imagination during a fight. He relied too much on a flimsy base ability for accidental magic, which was pathetic at best.

Adrian did know various species of merfolk, which also was pathetic. His father mused on sending Adrian out on a peace relation with various creature species in the future, although the prospect of meeting and trying to intimidate a vampire seemed horrifying.

If that's what his future was, then Adrian was going to try his best at that. He jumped into learning as much as he could from the various books he had received from Bellatrix a while back, reading and struggling to memorize all of the information he could on werewolves, vampires, giants, and any creature he likely would encounter.

The more Adrian read about Dementors and other wraith-like creatures, the more he felt something stirring deep within him.

His father had explicitly told him before that he shouldn't concern himself with Dementors. He assumed that it was because there were plenty of people locked within the depths of Azkaban, it was unrealistic for Adrian to focus his attention on something that was impossible to penetrate.

Adrian also suspected that his father didn't want him to think of Bellatrix. He had heard stories that those who went to Azkaban, no matter how long, never came back the same. All because of Dementors.

He wanted to know more, how did these shadowy beings live? How did they function? How were they so mysterious but imbued with such power?

He wanted to know everything.

(And from there he was gone.)