The Girl Who Vanished

Chapter 29: "You Stopped Me."

"Focus, Bibiana. Do you think the Dark Lord became the world's greatest Legilimens by not taking this seriously?"

Ana had been practicing for hours at this point, no matter how hard she focused on tearing down Snape's shield, she could not see into his memories. The young girl had no idea why her father wanted her to learn how to perform Legilimency after Snape explained what it was. But it must be important if he decided to kick her out of the house on Christmas morning, she figured.

The shower she took before showing up to the vacant DADA classroom felt absolutely pointless as she wiped the sweat of her brow. Earlier she was freezing from the frozen tundra but now she was burning up after her multiple failed attempts at breaking into her teacher's head.

"I've been focusing, Professor! What else do you think I've been doing this whole time?" Ana snapped back at the man who was squinting at her with annoying judgment. Somehow he was perfectly calm and not an overwhelmed mess like she was. He waltzed around the dark room like he was unaffected by how mentally draining the training was. The skillful man was more powerful than she had given him credit for, she recognized as sat down at a desk that was pushed to the side of the room.

The time of day was completely lost on her, but at the sound of the girl's growling stomach Ana could tell that she definitely missed lunch. All she could think about was a sandwich at the moment, not trying to pry into the mind of her morose professor.

"You are not trying hard enough. Maybe your father was wrong. Maybe he was in denial about your abilities. Surely there was no way an unpracticed twelve year old would be able to invade the mind of an already seasoned Legilimens. You're just as hopeless as he was; your father was unsuccessful in learning the skill as well. Must run in the family."

Ana knew what he was doing, trying to anger her into feeling compelled to continue training; and she hated the fact that it was working. If there was a way to impress her father, she was going to do it. Not to win his favor, but to at least get him off her back. She also enjoyed the idea of being able to accomplish something her detestable father couldn't ever do himself.

"Please just explain how to do it again, being thrown into it like this is doing nothing to actually teach me," Ana pleaded with the man as she started massaging her sore calf muscles. She wasn't going to stand up until she absolutely had to.

"You have to want it. There is no way to master this skill if you half your efforts. Have no other want, no other desire than to break my spell, Ms. Malfoy. This is all about intention. Your wand alone will know if your focus is not where it should be."

With a feeble huff, Ana stood from her seat, trying her hardest to pay attention to nothing but the man in front of her, no matter how displeasing he was. From everything Ana had learned about wands, it was that they have a mind of their own. The sticks of varying woods and cores were practically sentient, owning a personality and loyalty all on their own. Ana's wand resembled her fathers, the one that was the handle of his walking stick brandished with the heavy snake at its end. The one that he wanted to use to harm Draco just the day before. At the reminder of her poor brother sitting home alone, Ana's face grew stern and still as she grounded herself to the moment in front of her.

"Now, direct you attention to the spell and what you want. If you do not want this desperately, it will refuse to work."

Ana nodded once as she pointed her wand strongly at the man who had been yelling at her for the whole of Christmas Day. She thought she had been focusing before, but as Ana emptied her mind with thoughts of Draco's loneliness, her father, and her furious stomach, she recognized that she had been distracted the whole time. Now, her mind had no other intention other to perform this incantation.