7 Occlumency

"Dear, maybe we should just start his education a bit sooner. It is better than him trying to learn it alone without our counseling. He seems to be determined to learn magic one way or another." Helen tried to compromise between his son and husband.

"I know, but, can he really handle it? He's just 5 years old. There is a good reason for most witch and wizards to not get their kids a wand before the age of eleven. It is not because they can't, but they don't because a kid isn't reliable to handle magic." Joseph was just afraid of rushing things, he didn't want his son to hurt himself trying to learn magic this early.

"You are right. But as you know he is more mature than most kids his age. I'm not telling we should start teaching him magic immediately. Maybe we can start with the subjects that are related to magic, but doesn't really require for him to cast spells." Helen didn't want to entirely cut off Dean's interest in magic.

"You mean?" he wanted to hear more about his wife's idea.

"I mean subjects like astronomy, herbology, and history of magic. He will need to learn these eventually and he will have an easier time in Hogwarts. They don't require for him to cast any spells. We can set a condition where he needs to learn these before he could start learning spellcasting. Isn't it better to direct his passion like this, providing a goal for him to achieve?" She suggested what's been in her mind.

Joseph just stared at his wife. "You are amazing. You are a much better parent than I am. I can't get my head around this kind of ideas at all." He adored his wife. She was a smart and elegant woman, perfect loving wife and a caring mother. He always felt lucky to have her.

"You are wrong. You are really doing a good job of being a father. I know you are just thinking the best for our son." Helen gave him a hug before the sweet kiss.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dean was currently sitting in front of his father, expecting to be reprimanded for his earlier actions.

"Starting from today, you will be studying with me and your mother. These are the books you will need." Joseph pointed to a pile of books. "You will have two hours daily study in weekdays, with me or your mother. Other than that you can study yourself too, but it can't take all your day. You are still a kid, you can't bury yourself in books all day long."

Dean's eyes shined. "You mean I can start learning magic, really?" He didn't expect his father to change his mind so quickly. He couldn't sit still and wanted to know what those books were about and what spells he could learn from them.

"You are right, you will be 'learning', definitely." He almost laughed at his son looking so excited. "You will be learning these three subjects: Astronomy, herbology, and history of magic. These three are included in the seven core subjects you would normally learn in Hogwarts for the first 5 years. But, since you are so eager to start your education about magic, we will help you learn them. Also, you can forget about casting spells before you finish all the 5-years syllabus for them. Any questions?" Joseph tried to look serious to leave the impression that there will be no further changes to his decision.

'Astronomy, herbology, and history of magic don't sound like I will get to practice magic. Sigh, whatever. It seems like I would have studied them in Hogwarts anyway. I should just try to learn them as fast as possible, then he will not have any more excuses to not teach me some spells.' "Okay. But can't I even learn one simple magic that I can practice with?"

As Joseph was just about to refuse him, he remembered something. "Okay, I will teach you Occlumency. It just so happens our family has some mastery in it. That would be really good practice for you."

"Occlumency? What is that, father? How can I practice it?" He didn't wanna have his hopes up, but couldn't help but be excited.

"You can learn it through meditation." Joseph saw that Dean was about to object and added "Before you complain, that is just the first step. Occlumency is the act of putting up magical barriers around your mind, so you can shield your mind and thoughts from someone that uses Legilimency to penetrate your mind. If they are successful, they can get access to your memories and thoughts, you wouldn't really want that. In our family, we practice Occlumency in three stages. You will know the next step when you can maintain the meditation while I attack your mind."

After this discussion was over, Dean started his boring days of studying astronomy, herbology and the history of magic.