Whose side is truly the dark one?

Rebuilding shields - 29

   Hadrian woke up feeling warm and groggy. Two sets of arms were wrapped around his body and he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep and snuggled in them more. A content sigh slipped out his nose and the body to his left leg out a chuckle. "Comfortable Hadrian?" "Yeah," he mumbled into the blanket. "Ready to talk about it?" His brother asked from his other side. "Dumbles used Legilimency on me..." Draco and Blaise comforted Hadrian for the next hour and his sobs eventually turned to sniffles as he calmed down enough to fix up his shields.

Now alone in his bed, Hadrian sat cross crossed applesauce in a meditation pose and closed his eyes. He was hit with the sight of the Dursley's house and the door blasted to pieces. Taking a deep breath, Hadrian breathed in deeply and pictured the door all back in one piece. It slowly reformed and he placed several protection and anti unlocking charms to strengthen the door. He washed his magic over the house as a whole and walked over to his cupboard. The house may seem to be his mindscape but it was truly his wall. The house was filled with some of his less personal memories and some fakes as well. He willingly lets most in as a trick to make his magic seem weaker while the real memories were hidden behind the wall of his cupboard like the wall to get into Diagon Alley.

Hadrian placed his hand on the back wall of his cupboard and it peeled away as it recognized his magic. The wall scanned your magic and only if he accepted them or someone tore it down, no one was getting in. However, if one tore their way in, all the magical creatures Hadrian had placed in his mindscape would attack you. Due to his creature inheritance, Hadrian has a strong love for the creatures and his love of outside only increased that love. As he enters through the cupboard, he smiles at the sight that greets him. A dark forest based off the woods behind Malfoy Manor and the forbidden forest at Hogwarts surround him. Hogwarts castle appears far in the distance, standing tall above all the water around it. Mountains can be seen in the far back as well.

   Unfortunately, Dumbledore's attack weakened this beautiful image. Despite him not reaching the true mindscape, his destructive presence tore up trees, left cracks in the ground, and everything shaken up just as it had shaken up Hadrian in real life. So Hadrian continued the repairs and decided to begin with the forest first. He placed his hands on the ground and focused on the trees regaining their healthy color and the roots going back deep into the ground. Hadrian was pleased with the result and so were the little creatures he had living there.

   The forest itself was created as a maze but as a home to many as well. Little Bowtruckles and Fairies lived amongst the trees and flew to Hadrian chirping happily at their fixed homes. Many birds called out in thanks as well, while Hippogriffs, Threstrals, and Acromantula relax farther into the woods. They protected the woods from intruders and the memories Hadrian had infused inside many of the trees that grow as his mind and magic grows. The very forest portrayed his power as it was quite large and Hadrian would add more memories of magic and various spells constantly to help keep his mind in order.

   Hadrian walked through the forest and later emerged from it as he reached the lake surrounding Hogwarts castle. A single bridge led across the water to the castle but Hadrian wasn't going to make the entrance that easy. In front of the bridge was a wise, old Sphinx. She recognizes his magic and bows her head, allowing him to walk past without threatening his life if he fails to answer her riddle correctly. Inside the lake holds no memories but it is full of Merpeople and Grindylows like the ones in the black lake Hadrian loved to see from the windows in Slytherin's dorm. It also held the Giant squid and a Basilisk which was a surprisingly good conversationalist.

What anyone outside of himself didn't know was that they would attack anyone uninvited inside his mind. The dark lord had once mentioned to him of a trap full of Inferi that attacked all who touched the water they dwelled in. Hadrian used this idea and only for those he accepted into his mindscape would the boats used to transport first years appear and safety cross. Hadrian considered using Inferi as well but despite his connection with death, he hated the idea of permanently trapping a dead soul in a decaying body as even if destroyed, they would never reach peace.

Upon reaching Hogwarts castle, Hadrian felt at peace. The castle had been build by his ancestors and technically belonged to him as heir to all four founders. Many Pixies and Boggarts protected rooms of memories within chests and curtains. Personal memories Hadrian wanted to remain unopened were implanted inside books in the restricted section of the library and had some nasty hexes placed on them. Other books simply held fun memories with friends as torches contained information on his Phoenix inheritance and elemental magic. Some memories were further down in the dungeon as well and guarded by Fluffy.

The last area to hold memories and in need of fixing was the mountains. They were the hardest and took the longest to reach. Hadrian easily flew up there but most would have to fight past the beasts hidden deep in the forest first. The caves held Hadrian's worst memories of abuse and nightmares and increasingly got darker the further into the caves one went. Hadrian only entered these caves when in need of adding a new memory and preferred to avoid this space. However, he did not leave it unprotected. Trolls and Giants lived around the caves as Manticores, Chimeras, and Hinkypunks lived inside them. A few caves remained memoryless and instead held the nasty surprise of a territorial dragon. The mountains in general had a thunderbird or two and wampus cats to defend it as well. The hippogriffs could occasionally be found up there too as they loved to fly around.

All in all, Hadrian was extremely thorough as he originally created his mindscape and it only got bigger and stronger as he constantly improved it. Happy to see everything back together and in one peace, Hadrian opened his eyes and wandlessly cast a tempus. He had spent all day up in his head and was exhausted. One house elf call and meal later, Hadrian layer back and was asleep in minutes dreaming up Dumbledore's demise and finally being free of all his tormentors forever!