Antithesis

Chapter 26: 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.