My gaze first landed on Christian.
My blazing blue eyes meeting his electric blue ones.
In that instant I entered his mind, but it was surprising to find how he made his defenses.
Unlike mine, which are set defenses with reactive counter-attacks depending on the intruders methods and abilities, Christian created a defensive world around his mind. What made me admire the set up was that it seemed to be made up of an untamed jungle made up of magical plants and trees.
These were part of his defenses as every plant was aggressive, poisonous, venomous, lethal or constrictive. One would constantly be assaulted by them as you tried to push further into his mind. It was a completely hostile world. Which unfortunately, was completely crushed by my flames as I copied the same principle I used during my ritual and what happened during my bonding with Sol, burning the place to the ground as I moved forward.
Then the second part of Christian's defenses kicked in as hordes of magical creatures and beings started to charge through the forest. I could see dragons, griffins, Hippogriffs, Nundus, Chimeras, Trolls, Giants, Veelas, Acromantulas, Lethifolds, Dementors and even some Basilisks. It was something any wizard would just give up in despair upon seeing.
This was more difficult not only because of how well made these were, but the teamwork they could exhibit between each other and the plants was extremely difficult to counter. It was the accumulation of Christian's knowledge, understanding and creativity in action. He replicated every single one of the most dangerous creatures and plants he knew, then added teamwork and strategy to their behavior, resulting in a deadly defense.
This is if you are able to breach through his preliminary defenses, which consists of the standard wall, fake memories and 'junk' images. Only then can you tackle the real defenses. But i just blasted through those to reach this place.
In all honesty, these defenses were incredible. I could only see someone getting through if they are so sneaky his mind didn't notice them. Something I believe only I am capable of. Or burst through with sheer power. Which I believe only Vol, Dumble, and myself should be able to achieve due to Christian's magical strength, his will, and mental abilities.
The onslaught of the horde only ended once i had almost scorched the entire jungle world which had been created. All that surrounded me was ash and bones as I stared into the hole leading to Christian's core. I could also feel a very real threat of death coming from that hole. My only explanation being that I theorized that this hole was actually the Charybdis, blocking the true entrance as a 'hole'.
But since I had a thorough understanding of my friends level of Occlumency, I decided to end the incursion here and retreat.
As I returned to the real world, I could see a panting and sweating Christian struggling to stay upright.
"You're defenses were very well thought out and creative Christian. I could only offer to improve it through more variety within your jungle. Maybe adding mountainous, swamp or water domains to help strengthen it. Aside from that, it is powerful." I say as I give out my evaluation.
"Merlin's saggy tits mate. That was ten times worst then what Master Scamander ever got me into." Declared the guy as his breathing stabilized.
"That bad?" Asked a slightly curious James.
"I could barely slow him down. It felt like he was peeling away layers of myself and stopped right before exposing me completely. Not something one experiences for fun." Christian explained with a shake of his head.
"James, ready yourself. You shall be next." I declare to my peaceful friend.
"I am ready. Come." He answered with a nod.
"Good, then look into my eyes." I ordered to begin.
I broke through the standard defenses with a bit more effort than with Christian, James having made it more flexible than our friend.
Once I was in his true defensive core, I was welcomed by the sight of great fortress walls, with soldiers manning the ramparts and throwing rocks, shooting arrows, dumping burning oil and shooting crossbow bolts at me.
'Looks like James made a castle to defend himself, but I doesn't feel like I am close to the center of his mind at all.' I mused as I understood the structure in front of me.
I decided to bust through the front on this one, using pure power. I wanted to see what would happen when I broke this castle of his.
After erasing it from existence, the area changed into another type of battlefield. This time i was on a mountain, as I was being besieged this time. I was alone facing an entire army this time.
I set them all aflame, but then the scenario changed again.
One battlefield or fortress after another was created as I rampaged through them without stopping. I then gained an understanding of how my usually peaceful and gentle friend developed his defenses. He used his ideals on combat, his goblin training and his education to create an unending series of battles to wear down the intruder until they can't sustain their presence. It is made to slowly whittle down the strength and endurance of the enemy.
This is very James like in all honesty. If he has to fight, he will do it in the most secure fashion to protect himself and others. He doesn't aggressively attack others, but he lets them exhaust themselves in the face of his absolute defense. What was interesting was his ideology for an absolute defense in Occlumency. He didn't need it to stop any and all intruders immediately. He just needed to gradually stop them bit by bit.
After some time barreling through the scenarios like the Juggernaut, I finally reached the last line of defense James had designed. I could feel him beyond it. And living up to its importance, the place was impressive. It was like seeing an even deadlier Death Star floating above you whilst all of its canons pointed at you. It was impressive because I'm guessing it also has a variety of troops within, probably some spaceships to stop me from entering, some ground forces and maybe even forces waiting above it.
Feeling satisfied from the effort it took to make it here, I smiled and retreated. Now seeing the drenched James trying to stay conscious.
Giving him some time to recover and a bit of magic and potion to help, I waited for him to be ok.
"Christian was right, not a pleasant time." He simply said with a depreciating smile.
"This is a good experience for you as well. Your set up is very in keeping with your style, but you need to make it more difficult for stronger people to wipe the slate. I think giving self-destruct commands or more powerful troops could help you along the way." I inform my blonde friend.
"I'll do what I can." He said resolutely.
"Good. Now you're next Tory. Are you ready?" I asked with no emotions in my voice.
"Do it. Do not insult me by going easy on me or faking it." She answered without any hesitation.
"Alright. Then look into my eyes." I simply say afterwords.
As I met her emerald gaze, I entered her mind.
What surprised me was that she employed a modified version of systematic Occlumency defenses. Usually it involves forming a barrier in front of your mind to keep others out, then forming fake memories to fool those who try to come in. What Tory did was use false and some real memories as a form of emotional traps. She made the intruder feel intense emotions and wanted them to lose themselves in it. These traps centered around anger, sadness, pain, loss, jealousy and greed, but you could also find happiness, contentment, acceptance, success, love and peace. It was a trap made to appeal to human desires of every kind.
Breaking through the surface traps only led to a defense I would call a wizard killer. Unless one used overwhelming power to break through the obstacles, they had to answer questions on every topic of magic and science Victoria knew. You either had to be so powerful you could dominate her, or you had to be smarter than her. It was simple in concept, but with her strength and intelligence, it was a near impregnable defense.
It followed the same logic Snape used to protect the philosopher stone a few years ago: knowledge and common sense. That is what wizards lack the most and what I wish to help them get. She used that concept without knowing it, and pushed it to its limits as an Occlumency defense.
I had to admit that Tory's efforts in muggle science and psychology have paid off phenomenally. She even had barriers which could stump me, leaving me impressed at my girls progress in the field of medicine. It made me want to help her become the goddess of her field, simply because I believe she could revolutionize it.
I had similar beliefs for Christian when it comes to helping nature thrive and towards James' potential to create things which will blow the minds of witches and wizards.
Back in Tory's mind, I found an interesting pattern emerging from the questions and problems: there was a increase in the fields where more time was taken or the obstacle was overpowered. This meant her defenses had a pattern recognition ability and adjusted the questions to make things more and more difficult for the intruder. In my case, an increase in muggle medicine from all over the world and human psychology questions. It was like her defenses were mocking people's lack of knowledge.
Oh well, the door explodes.
As I reached the core, the final question was revealed to me. It was surprising to see that it wasn't a straightforward question, but a riddle.
'I am a star guiding the lost.
I am a child full of wonder.
I am the bird who knows all.
I am the key to your questions.
I can shine the brightest light.
I know the darkest shadows.
I welcome those at my door.
I heal the wounded before me.
Who am I?'
With a warm smile, I ended my intrusion and returned to the cabin, finding a slightly sweating Victoria with signs of fatigue. But when she saw my warm gaze she responded with her own since she understood.
"Your defenses are brilliant Tory. Difficult, clever and adaptive. The only improvement would be something similar to what I advised James earlier." I say to her with a smile.
"Told you boys mine were the best." She gloated to the guys with a cocky smile.
"Yeah yeah. The Queen has proved her skills." Said Christian with a teasing voice.
"I would love to workshop some improvements with you two after this as well. We've mostly worked alone on this homework of ours." Added James with a calm smile.
"I do agree that everyone could improve through sharing their own experience. Even I got a few inspirations from your executions." I agreed with a bright smile.
"Yes, yes. Always learning and improving." Victoria dismissively said. " Now! You uphold your end of the deal. You said we all had great defenses, so talk." She Impatiently added.
My three friends were looking at me intensely, hoping to finally know my secrets.
"A deal is a deal." I agree calmly as a small smile hangs on my lips.