Mass Collision

23. Occulumency

After classes on Monday, Natalia had left her friends and headed for Snape's office. She found Harry outside the door. "Hey Harry, ready for the lessons?" She asked him with a smirk and he gulped hard.

He nodded and took a deep breath, he knocked and entered with Natalia behind him. The shadowy room was lined with shelves bearing hundreds of glass jars in which slimy bits of animals and plants were suspended in variously colored potions.

Natalia's attention was drawn towards the desk where a shallow stone basin engraved with runes and symbols lay in a pool of candlelight. She walked closer to it, but stopped when Harry jumped at Snape's cold voice coming out of the shadows.

"Shut the door behind you, Potter."

Harry did as he was told. When he turned back into the room, Snape had moved into the light and was pointing silently at the chair opposite his desk. Harry sat down and so did Snape, his cold black eyes fixed unblinkingly upon Harry, dislike etched in every line of his face. Natalia took the only other seat available and watched the two. It seemed like everyone had some sort of beef with Snape.

"Well, Potter, you know why you are here," he said. "The Headmaster has asked me to teach you Occlumency. I can only hope that you prove more adept at it than at Potions."

"Right," said Harry tersely.

"This may not be an ordinary class, Potter," said Snape, his eyes narrowed malevolently, "but I am still your teacher and you will therefore call me 'sir' or 'professor' at all times."

"Yes... sir," said Harry.

Snape continued to survey him through narrowed eyes for a moment, then said, "Now, Occlumency. As I told you back in your dear godfather's kitchen, this branch of magic seals the mind against magical intrusion and influence."

"And why does Professor Dumbledore think I need it, sir?" said Harry, looking directly into Snape's eyes and wondering whether Snape would answer.

Snape looked back at him for a moment and then said contemptuously, "Surely even you could have worked that out by now, Potter? The Dark Lord is highly skilled at Legilimency -"

"What's that? Sir?"

"It is the ability to extract feelings and memories from another person's mind -"

"He can read minds?" said Harry quickly, his worst fears confirmed.

"You have no subtlety, Potter," said Snape, his dark eyes glittering. "You do not understand fine distinctions. It is one of the shortcomings that makes you such a lamentable potion-maker."

Snape paused for a moment, apparently to savor the pleasure of insulting Harry, before continuing.

"Only Muggles talk of 'mind-reading'. The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing, Potter - or at least, most minds are." He smirked. "It is true, however, that those who have mastered Legilimency are able, under certain conditions, to delve into the minds of their victims and to interpret their findings correctly. The Dark Lord, for instance, almost always knows when somebody is lying to him. Only those skilled at Occlumency are able to shut down those feelings and memories that contradict the lie, and so can utter falsehoods in his presence without detection."

Whatever Snape said, Legilimency sounded like mind-reading to Natalia. She had read a lot about her family in the past couple months and knew that they were powerful at Necromancy, Legilimency, and Occlumency. They kind of went hand in hand. You had to be in touch with life and everything around you for Necromancy or you could drag yourself into the underworld. "So he could know what we're thinking right now? Sir?" Questioned Harry.