Mind Magic 101

Godric's Hollow, June 22 nd

Getting Professor Snape to Godric's Hollow was more difficult than convincing him to give the lessons themselves. Since the Potters' floo was only connected to one other floo, Albus Dumbledore's, and one needed to know the location of the Potter's home under the Fidelius charm to be able to floo there, Professor Snape had to take a portkey specially created by Professor Dumbledore.

Another problem that had to be negotiated was that Snape refused to enter the Potter home as long as James, Sirius, and Remus were on the property. There had been a bit of an argument about that condition, until Dumbledore managed to convince Snape to let Remus remain during the lessons. Harry had felt a little guilty that his lessons would essentially kick his father and godfather out of the house, but his mother pointed out that his father, Sirius, and Nathan, who also didn't want to be around Snape, would use the time to go to Diagon Alley or maybe to a Quidditch match, which they all would enjoy.

So, at half past twelve, James, Sirius, and Nathan all floo'd to Sirius' house, and a few minutes later, the surly-looking Potions master standing in the sitting room of the Potters home.

"Severus, thank you for coming," Lily said, giving her old friend a hug.

"Yes, well, I could hardly turn down the opportunity to get my hands on some powdered Romanian Longhorn horn. I was unaware that there would be any more produced for the rest of the year, you must tell me your suppliers' name, Lily," Snape commented.

"Maybe, Severus, maybe."

"It's good to see you again, Professor Snape," Harry said respectfully.

Snape appraised Harry very carefully before nodding. "I do hope you know what you are asking for, Mr. Potter. Occlumency is not a subject learned by the faint of heart or the weak of will. It will be uncomfortable, unpleasant, and at times painful. I will give you no leeway, and I have no interest in having my time wasted."

"Always the rainbow of optimism, Severus," Remus said entering the room.

"Lupin," Snape sneered in response.

"Enough. Let's not fight. Severus, would you like anything to drink before you begin?" Lily offered.

"Perhaps later, Lily. For now, I require only privacy with Mr. Potter for his lesson."

"Alright. Remus, let's leave them alone. Good luck Harry," Lily said, planting a kiss on his cheek before leaving the room.

Once Lily and Remus had left, Severus turned to Harry, his expression darkening. "Your mother went through a lot of trouble to get me to give you these lessons, Potter. I hope you don't decide to back out after you realize what you've asked for."

Harry's resolve grew. "I'm not going to back out. I need to learn Occlumency."

"Very well, Potter," Snape said. "Before we begin, tell me what you know of Occlumency,"

"Very little, sir," Harry admitted. "I understand it's some form of mind magic; however, I'm not sure what its purpose is."

"And yet you feel you need to learn it? How very curious," Snape commented, causing Harry to curse himself for his slip. "Occlumency, Potter, is a defensive form of mind magic. It is used to prevent a practitioner of Legilimency from penetrating your mind. A strong Legilimens can navigate through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpret their findings. The naïve call this mind reading, but make no mistake, Potter, the mind is not a book to be read. A truly exceptional Legilimens does not even require a wand or incantation. He merely needs eye contact to judge a person's surface feelings and intentions. This is what Occlumency protects you from."

Harry knew his face had paled by the time Professor Snape was done speaking. Mind reading! Calypso was trying to warn him about someone reading his mind! That's why she couldn't tell him what was on that piece of parchment. Because the very information could be taken from his mind without his knowing!

"Potter!" Snape snapped. "Are you paying attention?"

"What?" Harry asked, starting from his thoughts. "I'm sorry, Professor. The reason my friend wanted me to learn Occlumency just became clearer."

"Indeed. Had you been paying attention, you would have heard me explain how the most basic form of Occlumency involves clearing one's mind to prevent a Legilmens from perceiving one's emotions and thoughts. More advanced Occlumency involves suppressing only the thoughts, emotions, and memories that the invading Legilimens is seeking. A strong Occlumens can thus make the Legilimens believe he is telling the truth when he is lying or lying when telling the truth. This requires a great deal of will power and practice; however, the benefits of Occlumency are vast. A master Occlumens has a great deal of control over his or her emotions and is even capable of resisting Veritaserum."

"Now, clear your mind of emotion and prepare yourself," Snape said, drawing his wand. "Legilimens!"

The spell struck Harry in the head and he felt his vision swirl and become replaced with a familiar scene.

"Wait. Just wait, Harry," Calypso said, grabbing his arm. "I can't tell you what it is because...Merlin, this is hard."

"Just tell me the truth, Calypso," Harry said simply.

"I know what it looks like, but I'm not trying to spy on you or your family. If you believe anything, please believe that. I've never asked you any questions about your brother besides what you've volunteered, and you know I could care less if he's the Boy Who Lived."

Calypso let go of his arm. "That said, I can't tell you what that parchment is."

"Why not?" Harry demanded impatiently. "Just be honest with me."

Harry fell to the floor gasping for air. He felt like he had just run a marathon, and he was completely exhausted. What had happened? How had he ended up on the floor?

"Pathetic, Potter," Snape said darkly. "That was a rather poor first attempt at clearing your mind."

Realization dawned on him, and Harry struggled to sit back into his chair across from Professor Snape. "That was Legilimency?"

"Yes, the most blunt approach." Snape answered. "Were you not prepared for it, you would have likely only felt like you were recalling a memory. Now, are you prepared to go again?"

Harry wanted to say no. He wanted to tell Snape never to cast that spell on him ever again, but Calypso's voice echoed in his head. 'Learn Occlumency and I'll tell you everything.' Nodding his throbbing head, Harry did his best to not think of anything, and signaled for Professor Snape to cast the spell again.

"Legilimens!"

There was nothing at first, and then Harry felt a building pressure on his mind, and before his eyes the room fell out of focus.

"Read this and stop making me look like an idiot," Calypso snapped.

Glancing at the large book, Harry looked up and read, "Befuddling, Breaking, and Bashing: A Guide to Questionable Magic. Are you trying to tell me something?"

"I didn't tell my father that you were smart only to have you nearly lose your first few duels. I'd start reading that if I were you.We're going to have a few practice duels to get you back into shape after class today."

"It's not like I lost..."

Harry saw the sitting room slowly swim back into focus, and he moaned, grabbing his head in pain.

"That was slightly better," Snape said grudgingly. "You were able to stop my initial attack, but you let your guard down, and I was able to project my anger into your mind to affect your emotions. I was able to use my anger to find a memory of someone else showing anger toward you."

"How do I stop you from doing that when I don't even understand how to clear my mind?" Harry asked. "Isn't there some sort of technique you can teach me?"

Snape sneered. "I can only teach you the way Professor Dumbledore taught me. I received no book or instruction of any kind. In Albus' own words, "the best Occlumentes are self-taught."

"Should I be feeling nauseous?" Harry asked weakly.

"Are you too ill to continue? Good. I'll go get that drink your mother offered instead of wasting my time working with you," Snape said, starting to stand up.

"No," Harry blurted out. "I-I can go again. I can do it."

Snape sat back down and looked penetratingly at Harry. For a second Harry thought Snape was going to leave, but the man quickly whipped out his wand and shot a spell from its tip. Reacting instinctively, Harry used his wand and tried to deflect the spell away from him. He managed to, partially, but the spell stayed on the tip of his wand for less time than any curse he had ever seen. Before Harry could move the spell far enough away from himself, the spell ran off his wand's tip and struck him in the side. Harry tried to fight the dizzying feeling, but once again he felt his vision swim.

"...wearing Grindelwald's mark," Harry said.

"Idiots, I hope someone cursed them for it. They probably thought they would look cool by wearing it."

"Dirk and Heinrich's families supported Grindelwald, much like yours did R–"

"NO!" Harry heard himself shout as if from a thousand miles away as the pressure on his mind immediately lessened and then disappeared.

Once again, Harry found himself kneeling on the floor and feeling completely exhausted. His body hurt. His mind hurt. Looking up, Harry was surprised to see Professor Snape also on the ground a few feet away from him. The man slowly stood up, and, after a moment's hesitation, offered a hand to help Harry stand. Harry gratefully took it, and slowly stood as well.

"You tried to deflect the spell," Snape said in amusement.

Harry blushed. "Um, yes. I worked on spell deflection with a friend, and it was just instinct."

"You also managed to generate a weak shield charm to throw me out. Was that intentional as well?" Snape asked.

"No," Harry admitted tiredly. He hadn't even realized he'd cast a spell.

"I believe we are done for the day, Mr. Potter," Snape said after a moment. "Practice clearing your mind before you go to sleep at night, and I will return next week."

"That's all we're going to do?" Harry asked, trying to hide his relief.

"Mr. Potter," Snape said exasperatedly, "I don't know if you are aware, but it has been almost an hour since we began, and I have no intention of being around when your father returns. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll see about getting some tea before I leave."

Harry nodded his head and went upstairs, intent on getting some sleep. He was halfway up the stairs when he decided some tea sounded very nice. Turning around, Harry walked back downstairs.

"Do you have any idea why Harry is so interested in Occlumency, Severus?"

Hearing his mother's voice, Harry froze just outside the kitchen, his heart beating very hard in his chest.

"No," Snape replied after a moment. "However, from what you've told me, I believe I saw the person who mentioned Occlumency to him. The same girl was present in each of the three memories I saw."

"Harry mentioned he had a friend named Calypso," Remus remarked. "Could it be her?".

"I believe that was her name," Snape said, doing his best to ignore the werewolf. "However, why she wants Harry to learn Occlumency, I do not know."

"How did his first lesson go?" Lily asked hesitantly. "We heard him scream. I know you said Occlumency could be intense, but...but surely there is an easier way."

"If there was an easy way, I suspect more witches and wizards would take advantage of the benefits that come from being an Occlumens," Snape replied. "As far as his first lesson, it went as I expected. His first attempt was horrendous, and I was able to see a fairly important memory. It was recent, and it was some sort of argument between him and the Calypso girl. I won't lie to you, Lily. The girl was claiming that she wasn't spying on Harry or your family. She went on to say that she didn't care if Nathan was the Boy Who Lived. It was an unusual memory that, I admit, I wish I could have seen the end of."

"Spying? Should I be concerned about Harry at Durmstrang, Severus?" Lily asked worriedly. "He seems so much happier there, but if his friends feel the need to tell him they aren't spying on him..."

"I honestly don't know," Snape admitted. "The memory was important, but I felt many different conflicting emotions coming from Harry, and I didn't see it in its entirety."

"And I suppose if I confront him about it, he'll just tell me it isn't important." Lily sighed. "He's becoming so closed-off at times. It worries me."

"He is about to become a teenage boy, Lily. Of course he is going to become closed-off and rebellious about certain things. I would be worried if he wasn't," Remus joked.

Lily laughed. "I guess I am a little sad that my two boys are growing up."

"Yes, well," Snape said uncomfortably, "I suppose I should be leaving before Potter and Black come home."

"Thank you for doing this, Severus," Lily said honestly. "I know we have the same potions supplier, so you must not need any more powdered longhorn horn. You're a good friend."