Neville's Determination

Harry's POV

They were just about to finish lunch when Luna made the comment, "You know, Harry, Occlumency is a wonderful art to practice. It might even help you find your memories." She then gathered her books, kissed him on cheek and left with a skip.

"Occlumency?" he turned and asked Hermione.

"It is the art of shielding one's mind from invasion. You have to learn to do some deep meditation and organize your memories, which means you might have an easier time getting started, what with you only remembering the last week or so," she said, tapping her finger on her chin in thought.

She came across the book in first year and had practiced it to help with her memory retention. Her mindscape was a non-magical library with an AI librarian, card references and computers. It aided her a lot when taking test. She didn't think the boys would sit still enough to practice, so she never told them. Well, she mentioned it to Harry once, but he had other things on his mind.

"Are there books?" Harry asked, thinking he could split his time between his mum's diary and that subject. If it could help him get his memory back all the better, but he was worried that he might revert to his former personality, which everyone said was shy and introverted.

He liked this him and didn't want to go back. Well, maybe he could add a filter to his mouth, which seemed be like a sieve. It was something he was seriously going to have to ponder.

"I found a few in the library in our first year, since you are not attending class you should go and check them out," his bushy-haired friend said as she too gathered her bag and got up from the table.

"If you don't find what you need there, I'll ask Gran. I already know it, being an heir and all," Neville offered as he grabbed a muffin and stood.

"Alright. Thanks, Nev. I'll check out the library while you guys are in class," Harry said as he finished his afters and nodded to Fred and George and walked the other two out of the Hall. They separated at the stairs and Harry followed his map to the library.

The lady behind the desk, whose name was Irma Pince according to his map, took one look at him and pursed her lips. "Mr. Potter, what are you doing out of class?" she asked the boy.

While he was not an unruly child, he did have a tendency to get into argument with his friends here in the library. That was not something she could overlook. He seemed to be alone today, so maybe it would be alright.

"I have amnesia and I've been excused to do self-study," Harry said with a charming smile, which was lost on the old woman.

"Keep yourself quiet and don't ruin my books," the possessive librarian said firmly.

"Right," our champion said, wondering what he had done to cause such disdain. "Could you please tell me where I can find books on Occlumency?" he asked politely.

"Fifth row, middle of the aisle," was the sharp answer that was accompanied with a pointed finger.

"Thanks," he said and went to the fifth aisle. He trailed his fingers along the titles to find what he was looking for. In the middle there were five books on the subject, so he pulled them all down and took them to a nearby table.

He tried not to thump them, but they were heavy, so when they made what seemed like a large bang in the quiet room, he just sheepishly smiled at the old crow and sat.

It took a half an hour just to read a small part of one of those dry books, and then his brain felt like it would die of boredom, so he pulled his mum's diary out of his TARDIS pocket and started from the beginning. This went on for the rest of the afternoon, a half an hour between each subject.

The diary started when she was around nine, going on ten. She had just been told she was magical. He learned that his mum was a very happy girl, who loved everyone she ever met, even, much to his shock, that creepy Snape guy. She felt he was like a brother she never had and was her best friend for years.

She loved both of her parents dearly. She spoke sadly of her sister, Petunia, and how they fell out when Snape told her she was a witch. She waxed poetic over all the things 'Sev' showed her and would go on and on about how she couldn't wait for her letter.

There were a few passages about how she as worried about 'Sev'. She thought that he was being abused and would cry that there seemed to be nothing her family could do about it.

She talked about all the times her sister called her a freak. This made his brain jerk, like a memory that he couldn't quite grasp, so he put it aside and read more about his mum. Harry didn't get very far into the diary, it would take days to finish it, but that was enough to completely floor him for now.

It struck Harry as weird that when she was young, she and Snape had great control over their magic. They made flowers grow for pity's sake, but then they got a wand and couldn't do that anymore. That made him more determined to not attend classes if that was the result.

From the Occlumency books, he learned how to meditate and create a mindscape. He wondered if he could build the Enterprise in his mind and have a mishmash crew of the first two series. There was also the one that just came out, Deep Space Nine, but he really didn't know much about it.

He did wonder how many shows they were going to make. But for right now, he would go with what he knew. He could have Picard for the captain, and Scotty for the engineer—yeah, he decided he like the guy— with Data and Spock to help keep him logical, and of course Uhura and Troi, for the hot babe effect. Oh, and Bones for a doctor. It would be cool.

It was getting close to dinner time, so he put the books away that he didn't need and checked out the three he hadn't read. His head rang with the warning the librarian gave him as he quickly walked through the halls to the Great Hall.

The girls and Neville were waiting for him and they all went in together. People still stopped talking and gawped at him, until he glared back. They went to the Gryffindor table again, this time sitting away from Ron.

Harry didn't feel like fighting with the boy. As they ate, they talked about their day and what lessons they had. Harry brushed a bit on what he read but kept most of it private. He did let them know how much he admired his mum for the kind person she was.

"It's great that you are getting to know your mum, I don't know much about mine. Gran only talks about my dad," Neville commented sadly as he scooped up some vanilla ice cream and put blueberries on it. He did wonder if his mum left a diary in the family vault, it was something he was going to have to explore this summer, if he could get his grandmother to let him.

"Where are your parents, Neville?" Hermione asked kindly, but with a great deal of curiosity.

"Oh, well, you see, they're in the long-term care ward at St. Mungo's. They were cursed by some Death Eaters when I was the same age as Harry was when he lost his parents," the shy boy said, hanging his head. It wasn't that he was ashamed, like Gran accused him of being; he was more upset that they didn't seem to be getting better.

"Oh my, I am so sorry I asked," the bushy-haired witch said remorsefully, reaching out a hand and patting his arm.

"No, it is okay, Gran says I should talk about them," he waved it away as he pulled back his arm, but he didn't raise his head.

Harry laid a hand on his other arm and inquired, "Do you get to see them?"

"Yeah, they don't really know who I am, but I am determined to find a cure," Neville answered, lifting his head and showing his Gryffindor spirit. It was one of the reasons he was into Herbology. He lamented that he was pants in potions but figured that he could pay someone to do that part. His theory was good; it was the execution that held him back.

.....

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