Chapter sixteen
Occlumency
Snape dragged Harry downstairs by the arm and somehow managed to use his wand on the chain linking Spyro and Cynder to drag them with him. He brought the three of them into the hallway outside the Potions classroom.
"You wait out here" he told Spyro as he pushed Harry and Cynder inside and slammed the door.
Inside, Snape sat harry in a chair at the far end of the room and had Cynder sit as far away from the door as her chain would allow her.
"what's going on, sir?" she asked the professor who started pacing around them,
"it appears that there is a connection between the Dark Lord and Master's mind and your own," he told them as he pulled out his wand once more, "whether he is as yet aware of this connection is, for the moment, unclear. Pray he remains ignorant." Cynder knew what this meant: she and Harry were in serious danger!
"You mean, if he knows about it," Harry asked, "then he'll be able to read our minds?"
"Read them, control them, maybe even unhinge them" Cynder replied solemnly, "it's how he got me to do his bidding when he was trapped in Convexity"
"yes," Snape agreed, "in the past, it was often the Dark Lord's pleasure to invade the minds of his victims, creating visions designed to torture them into madness. Only after extracting the last exquisite ounce of agony, only when he had them literally begging for death, would he finally kill them." This made Cynder realise she was wrong: she could hate Voldemort more. "Used properly, the power of Occlumency will help shield you both from access or influence." Snape announced to the terrified duo, "in these lessons I will attempt to penetrate your minds. You both will attempt to resist. Prepare yourself Potter." He gave harry about ten second to prepare before flourishing his wand at him and shouting "Legilimens!" harry screamed and thrashed around as Snape invaded his mind. As soon as it started though, it was over. Harry gasped for breath, "concentrate, Potter." Snape told him before turning his attention on Cynder, "now you, Legilimens!" Cynder screamed as her recent memories suddenly flashed in front of her eyes! It was agony! She tried her best to block out Snape from her head, but it was as if Malefor had blown a hole in her mind and she couldn't stop the professor from stepping through that hole and rummaging around in her memories, she remembered Grimmauld Place, her reunion with Harry, showing Hermione Dragon Kata, Elora… NO! she promised her she would keep her secret! Cynder tried to redirect Snape to a different memory with all her power, until with one final shove, she had Snape looking at her recent failed prank!
Cynder gasped for breath and was glad to see Snape recoiling, "very good Cynder" he announced in his normal droning tone, "would you care to explain what you did there to Mr Potter so he may have a better chance?" Harry looked at Cynder questioningly, causing her to sigh,
"I made a promise to keep a secret for a friend, and you were about to see it, so I tried pulling the memory away from you and sending you into a different one," she explained, "but I can't prevent you from seeing anything"
"yes," Snape agreed as he straitened his cloak, "with you being controlled this way for many years, it was almost like there was a pre-made path into your mind that Malefor or anyone else could use to infiltrate your mind, you may think of how to solve that whilst Potter has another go" and so it went on for another hour, with Snape constantly trying to look into their minds and with them constantly trying to block him out. Cynder made a bit of progress with her "Mind Hole" as she called it, but Harry was constantly struggling and had made little to no progress when they left.
Cynder and Spyro sat on the roof of the castle, Harry and the Weasleys had left for Grimmauld Place earlier, but the dragons weren't allowed to leave, even though Sparx was permitted to go with them.
"so, do you think he knows?" Spyro asked, "about the connection?"
"with me, almost certainly," Cynder responded, "I just hope that Harry will be safe." She lent her head against Spyro, who nuzzled her back.
"I will never let you turn evil again Cynder," he promised, "and once you complete your Occlumency training, you will be a free dragon" and as if it had become a thing they did each Christmas, Spyro kissed her under the light of the moon.
