Shifted: Book Two

Chapter Thirty Four - A Mind Invasion

Hazel and Harry had swiftly made their way back to the school, and sneakily crept into Snape's office, just in the knick of time.

"Sixteen seconds early...", Snape said slowly, turning his back to face Hazel and Harry as they clutched their knees, regaining their breath back.

"Sit", he said, pointing at Harry and placing him in the leather seat, meanwhile Hazel moved to the side and sat down on the ground by his desk.

The room caved them in, in an emerald, almost foggy, atmosphere. The scent of potions continued to linger, as it did before. Without hesitance, Snape swiftly proceeded the lesson.

"Focus, Potter...", he said, as he lifted his wand and brought himself into Harry's memories.

Though Hazel couldn't see what was happening, she could tell Harry was clearly in a lot of stress, his body jolted and shifted rapidly, and his neck strained as he tried to fight the temptation to let Snape take complete control. The process in Harry's mind lasted for a few minutes but, for Hazel, it ended within one.

"That's private", Harry said, catching his breath back and gripping onto the sweaty armchair as Snape left his mind.

"Not to me. And not to the Dark Lord if you don't improve", he informed seriously.

"Miss Jones, you're next", he said, directing her to the seat Harry was just in.

She took several seconds to sit comfortably before Snape reciprocated his behaviour.

"Prepare yourself. Legilimens!", he casted, sucking his subconscious into Hazel's mind.

She was back in the Room of Requirement, casting her Patronus with everyone else in the room. She didn't think anything was different, that was until, the blue, misty creatures around her started dropping dead, one by one. Then, Snape appeared from within the shadows. Hazel no longer felt stable, her body felt weak and she thought she was about to stumble.

"Concentrate, Jones", he said, circling around her as the, once bright cobalt murk, tarnished, and became intoxicated with darkness.

Her Patronus continued to follow around the dark room, it was the last living creature, but it slowly collapsed into thin air.

All of a sudden, the scenery melted away. She felt as though she was in a dream or hallucination; everything was real, but it was all a part of her imagination.

She was unexpectedly brought into a new illustration Snape hadn't discovered yet; the day she arrived at Hogwarts. Hazel found herself on the moving staircase, her knees slammed against the edge of the steps, until, a familiar hand helped her up. To her expectation, she looked up to Harry, picking her off the ground, like he did at that moment of time. Then, out of the blue, Snape appeared from behind, as though he had been stood behind Harry the entire time! Her attention was taken away from Harry, as he sort of froze in time, and she glanced over to Snape who just appeared beside him.

"Budding love, I see?", he asked slowly, tilting his head as he looked over to Harry.

Hazel furrowed her brows in confusion, then turning to Harry, or so she thought. Harry was replaced with an ominous figure of a Dementor, it reached out for her, grabbing her neck firmly, it dug its pointy fingers into her scar on her neck, agitating the wound into aching pain. Once again, Hazel had lost control.

The Dementor pushed her down the steps, and she landed on her back, only to be surrounded by perplexed students in the Great Hall. Also on her first day, she was back at the moment where it all began; the moment she miraculously appeared during the results of the Triwizard Tournament. She picked herself up, with a lack of steady balance, and was surrounded by frozen students all around her, not saying a word. The entire room was quieter than silences itself, that was, until Snape's whispers echoed through the walls.