I've Got to See a Man About a Horse

"Are you coming with us back to the dormitories?" asks Ava seeing that Lucien hasn't started packing up yet.

"No, not right this moment," comments Lucien. "Please let everyone know that I'll catch up with them later. Right now I've got to see a man about a horse."

Ava looks at him confused but just shakes her head and walks toward the group leaving the classroom. Lucien waits until everyone leaves before addressing Dumbledore.

"So professor, what was it you wanted to speak to me about?" he asks curiously.

"Ah Lucien my boy, I just wanted to have a little chat about your skill level. You see, where you are right now can be considered leagues ahead of your classmates. I'm just curious as to how this came about, whether via practice or other means..."

'Yep, still Dumbledore! Lucien my boy, are you going dark?! I better give him a satisfactory answer or I'll have him to start worrying about as well,' Lucien mentally notes.

"Well sir, I've always been talented with magic since I was younger. And not to toot my own horn but I've been tested using that new muggle intelligence test and scored remarkably high. I guess I'm just able to grasp things easier than most," explains Lucien.

"Mmm, yes, I actually heard you were quite talented from some friends of mine. I just wasn't expecting you to be performing fourth-year magic on your first day," continues Dumbledore.

'Crap! Crap! Crappity Crap! Okay, this is Dumbledore, think! He's not going to stop until he has some type of answer. HA! I've got it, blend the truth with the lies.'

"Well, I've always been really good at visualization and imagination, Sir. It's probably because of my occlumency. I've been training with my father since a very young age and have redesigned my defenses quite a few times. Right now it's pretty much second nature. DO you think that could be why Professor?" Lucien explains to Dumbledore, throwing the ball back in his court.

'Please let this work...'

"Oh, occlumency you say. Say, Lucien, would you mind me checking out your defenses? If what you say is true, mental visualization practice via occlumency can provide a huge boon to the subject of transfiguration."

'Ahhaha, this should be good!'

"Of course sir, thank you for asking. I'd be happy to let you take a look, but please be careful in there, it's quite dangerous!" warns Lucien.

Dumbledore chuckles, "Thanks for the warning young Lucien, I'll be sure to take things carefully. Now, are you ready?"

Lucien nods and Dumbledore starts the spell. First he begins scanning his surface thoughts to no avail.

'His shields are up nice and tight. He may be more proficient than he let on. Now, it's time for the invasion,' thinks Dumbledore.

With one last push, Dumbledore proceeds to enter Lucien's mind-scape. Albus looks around but only see the blackness of the void contrasting the light of the cosmos. At this, Dumbledore looks around again but this time with an air of wariness.

He begins floating through the large asteroid field, devoid of sound, dodging the frequent collision of space debris. At some point, Albus begins to lose his sense of direction and perception.

'This child's mind is truly terrifying. How easy it would be to get lost in here... I wonder where he's hidden his...'

[WHOOSH]

Albus narrowly dodges a vine trying to latch onto him from between two asteroids. With his mind now on alert, Dumbledore looks around to try and see what has targeted him. As the asteroids move, he finally gets a picture of his attacker.

'Nope... Certainly not a vine,' thinks Dumbledore as he stares as the grotesque tentacle monster eying him like prey.

The monster lunges, swinging its mass of tentacles trying to catch the man unaware. Dumbledore uses every bit of his awareness to dodge and block the tentacles with spell-fire and by transfiguring the asteroid shrapnel.

'I've seen enough, his protections are fairly advanced. It's also difficult to navigate without an efficient way to move around in this void,' thinks Dumbledore as he proceeds to remove his consciousness from Lucien's mind-scape.

*******

Lucien watches as Professor Dumbledore gauges his mental shield before fully entering his mind-scape.

'This should be very interesting, don't you think Aurora?'

'Yep! This was you can get an accurate assessment of your defenses and have a little fun at Dumbledore's expense,' giggles Aurora.

'My thoughts exactly! Say, do you think we should send in the whole monster squad or...' queries Lucien.

'Boss, we don't need to give away all of our capabilities... even though it would be absolutely hilarious to see...'

Lucien can't help but agree as both settle down to watch Albus' adventure through the asteroid field.

As Dumbledore exits his mind-scape, he can help but notice the tick mark on his forehead. Always the smart aleck, Lucien tries to see if he can get a rise out of his professor.

"Are you alright professor?... I did warn you it's dangerous in there..." admits Lucien.

"Dangerous!? By Merlin's Beard lad! What was that thing!?" exclaims Dumbledore.

"Him? Ah, that's Cthulu. He's an eldritch horror," Lucien says matter of factly. "You should give HP Lovecraft a read, he's a fictional horror writer. For a muggle he sure does have some crazy ideas. I mean why limit your protections to something that everyone already knows about, like a castle for instance."

A glint flashes in Dumbledore's eyes before he give Lucien an approving nod.

"I can see how practicing your occlumency has improved your visualization. It's a shame we don't teach occlumency as a subject here. Although important, it's not a skill that everyone's able to grasp, unfortunately."

Dumbledore continues, "Anyways, you have impressed me very much today Lucien my boy. How would you feel about me giving you advanced course work in place of the work your class will be given? You have a talent and I would prefer not to squander it."

'JACKPOT!' Lucien mentally exclaims.

"I would love that professor! I really appreciate you taking the extra time to help me," thanks Lucien with a bow.

"It's no problem my boy! Make sure to order the books from this list," says the professor handing him a list of new course books. "And please let me know if you are having some of the same issues in other classes. I would be happy to speak to the other professors about getting you on a more accelerated program."