Callidora ☆ Fred Weasley

[chapter 40]

The Scar

Nott Manor felt colder than winter.

Callidora stood in the middle of her bedroom, staring at the desk that had been prepared for her arrival.

Books were already stacked in neat piles as if someone had planned every moment of her holiday before she even arrived.

Several titles immediately caught her eye.

Hex compendiums.

Advanced jinx theory.

Volumes on dark offensive magic.

And two particularly unpleasant books on Dark potions.

Calli exhaled slowly.

For a moment she wished she were back at Hogwarts Castle.

Or even surrounded by Dementors again.

At least then she'd know what she was in for.

The next morning confirmed her fears.

Severus Snape arrived precisely at ten.

Her father, Cantankerus Nott, greeted him like an honored guest.

"Severus." He said smoothly. "Shall we resume?"

Calli already knew what that meant.

Legilimency.

The study began quietly enough in the manor's drawing room.

Snape sat across from her, wand resting lightly in his hand.

"Clear your mind." He said in his usual flat tone.

Calli tried.

She really did.

But the moment he cast the spell-

"Legilimens."

Her mind exploded into memories.

Her childhood ones.

Her mother's laugh.

The Hogwarts grounds.

The Gryffindor Quidditch pitch.

Red hair-

Fred's grin-

Cedric-

She slammed mental doors shut as fast as she could.

But Snape was already moving through the memories.

Again.

And again.

And again.

By the fifth time he had reached deeply buried memories, Calli's patience snapped.

She couldn't get her mind blank.

Her thoughts were too loud.

Too crowded.

Too alive.

The only thing she managed to do successfully was hide the most dangerous secret she carried.

Her attempts at becoming an Animagus.

Those memories she buried behind layers of others.

Faces.

Laughter.

Quidditch matches.

School corridors.

Anything.

Anything to keep Snape from reaching the truth.

The next two days went exactly the same.

Legilimency.