chapter - 71 : Strained Alliances

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While through Harry's efforts no cauldrons exploded, Snape still found plenty of other things to criticise. After the Potions Professor took two points off Seamus just for holding his knife wrong and another five from Ron for wearing scruffy robes, Harry knew for certain that Snape's blatant favouritism was one of the constants in both worlds.

Yet as Harry watched Snape swoop around the classroom barking out instructions and belittling the Gryffindors, he was again struck by the feeling that something was different, just like he had the day before during Snape's speech in front of the first year Slytherins. It took a while for Harry to put his finger on just what the difference was, but eventually he realised it lay in Snape's attitude. The man's actions were the same, but he didn't appear to derive the same level of vicious satisfaction as his counterpart had.

His black eyes didn't gleam with proprietary pleasure when praising one of his Slytherins, nor did they flash with malicious amusement when ruining Gryffindor's chances for the House Cup. The more Harry observed him, the more he realised that inwardly Snape was totally apathetic and lacking any passion for his subject. It seemed to be habit and nothing else that had the Potions Master snapping out scathing remarks and glaring his students into submission.

The intensity that the Snape from Harry's old world used to exude was muted if not entirely missing. This Snape seemed to be devoid of the spiteful energy that had motivated his counterpart's behaviour. He seemed… empty.

That startling realisation kept Harry preoccupied for the rest of the lesson, so it was lucky that he had several years of brewing experience since otherwise he would have been sure to blow something up due to his lack of concentration. He managed to escape the class with no more than a sneer from Snape as the man grudgingly pronounced their potion to be 'adequate', and then automatically began heading towards the upper levels of the castle.

"Orion, is something wrong?" Hermione caught up with him near the first floor Charms classroom. "You seem distracted."

"It's nothing," Harry said immediately, but then reconsidered. He didn't want to tell Hermione the whole truth about himself, but that didn't meant he had to hide everything from her. "I was just thinking about Snape. He seems like a very… unhappy person. In fact I'd almost say he's devoid of any positive emotions whatsoever."

"Is that another thing you've Seen?" Hermione wore a doubtful expression. "Well, I have to wonder whether your divination skills are working properly. Professor Snape seems to me to be just a rather unpleasant man who enjoys upsetting his students. I saw no signs of depression or anything else."

"On the contrary, Miss Granger, young Mr Black here has the right of it," Professor Dumbledore unexpectedly spoke up from directly behind the pair. They spun round in surprise, Harry's eyes narrowing as he gazed up at their Headmaster. Beside him Hermione blushed in embarrassment. She was clearly overawed by the Headmaster and Harry suppressed a sigh as he realised that her respect for authority figures was still strong.

"Oh…" was all Hermione said before lapsing into a self-conscious silence.

"Hello, sir," Harry said warily. Up close he noticed that the much older wizard looked almost as worn and exhausted as his counterpart had after Voldemort's return. The rumours of Dumbledore's declining influence might have some truth to them.

"I must say, Mr Black, your ability to read people's characters is most remarkable," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling behind his spectacles. "The little performance you gave during the Sorting quite impressed me."

"How do you know about that?" Harry frowned. "Sir," he added more respectfully when he remembered he was supposed to be just another student.

"You drew a lot of attention to yourself that evening, my boy," Dumbledore said. "I admit my curiosity got the better of me. I hope I didn't intrude."

Harry wondered whether Dumbledore made a regular habit of listening in on conversations at the Slytherin table. If he did Harry couldn't entirely disapprove, although it was rather inconvenient since he'd hoped to remain mostly unnoticed by the Headmaster. He supposed that had been rather too much to expect given his usual luck, however.

"Right, well, my ability isn't actually that impressive." Harry tried to appear bashful as an excuse to not quite meet the man's eyes. He had managed to learn Occlumency - which had become much easier once he was no longer a Horcrux - but he didn't want to test his abilities against a wizard as skilled as Dumbledore. "It's not really under my conscious control," Harry added, hoping to downplay his imaginary talent.

Dumbledore hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose it occurs when you look at certain people? Perhaps it is most pronounced with physical contact?"

"Er, yeah." Harry hoped his lies wouldn't be exposed for what they were. Fooling teenagers - even if they were Slytherins - was easy. Dumbledore would be much harder to deceive. Harry didn't even know if the so-called Seer talent he possessed was a real ability or not. He was relieved to find that Dumbledore seemed to think it was.

"Then it is as I expected." Dumbledore smiled genially at Harry. "You, my boy, appear to have a talent for Assessing."

"Sorry, what?" It sounded to Harry as if Dumbledore thought he would make a good accountant.

"I am not surprised you have not heard the term before," Dumbledore said calmly. "It is quite a rare skill within the already obscure branch of Divination. As the name suggests, an Assessor is someone who can gauge - or assess - other people's strengths and weaknesses, as well as glimpse their possible futures. It is a very useful ability; to look into the depths of a man's soul and see what secrets lurk therein... an Assessor often knows us better than we can know ourselves. Hmm, perhaps you might like to have a few lessons with Sybil Trelawney - our Divination Professor here at Hogwarts - to help you refine your skills?"

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