Head Games
A/N: I struggled for a long time to find a song to use for year 5, and in the end this one isn't used for the end of the year confrontation like the other songs, so I may still try to find something for that. But in the meantime, I think this works pretty well.
A/N #2: No direct quotes from the books this time.
Harry's return from his latest Occlumency lesson with Snape was accompanied by a blistering headache, along with that weird tickling sensation in the back of his head that he sometimes got. Making his way over to his friends, he plopped himself down into a chair and groaned as he felt his brain rattle around inside his head. "
Rough night, mate?" asked Ron.
"You could say that, Ron," replied Harry, rubbing his temples.
"Have you made any progress?" asked Hermione, careful not to say anything while in the open common room.
"How could I?" grumped Harry, "all he ever does is shout, 'Clear your mind' before attacking me. It's almost like he wants me to fail."
"Well, that's Snape for you," said Ron, "he's always playing head games with us, and especially you."
"Ron, I'm sure he's just teaching Harry the best way he knows," interjected Hermione, but Harry wasn't paying attention anymore.
"Head games," he mumbled, not really paying attention to his friends, but neither of them noticed as they had started arguing with each other once again about Snape. After a few minutes, Harry excused himself to go to bed, claiming truthfully that his head was still rally hurting. But as he lay in bed, just before he fell asleep, a fragment of a song flitted through his head. "If you want to win you've got to learn how to play…"
The following Monday, as Harry stepped into the Potions classroom, his mind was still mulling over the idea that had been born as he fell asleep after the last lesson. He'd thought about the words of the song carefully, and while he wasn't sure he could make it work for him, he figured it was worth a try. If only he could remember how it started.
Snape looked up as he closed the door, carefully put down the potion he'd been inspecting, and intoned, "Good, you're on time. Have a seat and clear your mind," while drawing his wand. Harry stepped over to where Snape was working and sat down, just in time to hear, "Legilimens."
As it had many times before, Harry's head began to hurt as Snape began leafing through his memories and berating him, but after a moment something sparked and Harry focused on pushing a memory forward as the opening riff of the song started to play in his head.
/* Foreigner "Head Games" Head Games (1979) */
At first it seemed like only Harry could hear the music, as Snape kept sifting through Harry's mind while telling him to try harder. But then there was a pause, and Snape demanded, "Why are you thinking about music?"
Harry didn't answer, but instead focused on the music and using it to push Snape out.
/* 0:52 */
With a mental grunt, he gave a final shove as the first chorus crashed down, expelling Snape from his mind.
Snape reeled back at Harry's unexpected success, then looked at him quizzically, as he realized Harry was silently mouthing words. "What are you saying, Potter?" he asked.
Harry just shook his head, continuing to silently sing along with the song in his head while he further focused his mind on blocking out Snape's next inevitable intrusion.
"Cease your mindless babbling at once and clear your mind!" commanded Snape, who promptly attacked again.
/* 1:10 */
He wasn't able to keep Snape out completely, but it was clear that the Professor was having more trouble than usual pulling up Harry's memories. It was as if every time Snape grabbed a hold of something, Harry would be able to make him drop it, but this tug of war went on for 20 seconds or so before Harry noticed another feeling, a pricking in the back of his head that he'd felt many times towards the end of his Occlumency lessons. But as he tried to focus on it he felt Snape gaining traction, and so refocused on expelling the immediate threat. He marshaled his strength until the next chorus gave him another burst of strength, once again pushing the Potions Professor out of his head with unexpected force.
This time Snape actually recoiled physically as if struck, and needed a few seconds to collect himself. During that time Harry focused on the pricking in the back of his head while the front of his head wasn't under attack, and found what he was afraid of. There, connected somehow, was Voldemort, passively watching as Harry's mind was attacked.
"So there is a connection," thought Harry. "Well, let's see if we can do something about it." He knew where the song was leading now, it was just a matter of making it work against both Snape and Voldemort at the same time.
/* 2:07 */
"I don't know what you're doing Potter, but it's not Occlumency. Now clear your mind like I told you to!" He then attacked once more, but this time Harry was ready.
As Snape attacked, he cause his mind to sidestep and avoid the probes, as he built up his final response. He dodged two or three more attempts, before he sang out loud.
/* 2:33 */
"It's so clear, I'm sorry to say, that if you want to win you've got to learn how to play... Head Games!" As he sang, he visualized a shield around his mind, cutting off all attackers and growing in strength until the final chorus crashed down and the shield turned solid. In that moment, he felt Snape's probe snap and the Professor stumbled backwards as though shoved away. At the same time, the pricking stopped completely, followed by a ringing sound as the shield around his mind vibrated as though struck. While Snape recovered, he searched his mind for any sign of the connection to Voldemort, but it was gone.
"What was that, Potter?" Snape bellowed, once he had recovered his balance. "Legilimens!" he tried one more time, but once again Harry heard the ringing sound and felt his shield vibrate again, more strongly, as once again his Professor recoiled backwards. "How are you doing that?"
Harry smiled, the first time he had done so in any of these lessons. "I finally figured it out, Professor. You've been playing head games with me, and now I've learned how to do it too. It's as I said a moment ago, if you want to win you've got to learn how to play." As the song petered out in his head, the shield faded until it was almost completely transparent, but he could still feel it there, and knew it would be there again if he needed it, song or no.
"That's not how it works, Potter," Snape snarled. "I will teach you how to protect your mind, and you will do things my way or not at all."
"I'll tell you what, Professor," replied Harry. "I'll give you one last shot, free and clear. If you can get into my mind, I'll keep trying to learn your way. But if you can't, as I believe will be the case, you will tell Professor Dumbledore that I have successfully learned to protect my mind and that your lessons are no longer needed. I'm sure you'd rather not have to spend time with me anyway, so it's a win-win for you."
"Fine!" spat the Professor, "Legilimens!" This time, Harry didn't even try to block the attack, trusting that his new shield would work (even if it was more hoping than anything). But he needn't have feared, the attack bounced off as the shield flared in his mind for just an instant, causing Snape to take a step back to avoid losing his balance. Glaring briefly at his most hated student, Snape growled, "Get out!" before whirling and stalking into his office.
Harry stood there for a moment, doing his best to avoid grinning like a fool before saying, "Goodnight Professor," and making a hasty exit. After all, there was no telling what an angry Snape might do if he didn't follow directions.
Ron and Hermione were surprised that Harry not only was in a good mood when he returned, but his head wasn't hurting. "Are you sure you went to your lesson?" asked Hermione, clearly not convinced that he had.
"Yes, Hermione, not only did I go but I'm finished with them. I've finally gotten it sorted," said Harry.
"But Harry, what about You-Know-Who?" she asked.
"I've taken care of that too," replied Harry. "Somehow he had a connection, but when I figured things out it cut that off too. And I don't think he has a clue how to get back in."
"How -" she started asking, but Harry cut her off.
"It was actually Ron that put me on the right track," he said.
"Me?" asked Ron, clearly startled by Harry's proclamation.
"Yes, you," replied Harry. "You said that Snape was always playing head games, and you were right. All I needed to do was figure out how to play them myself. Huh, what do you know? Just one more thing that Snape is gonna hate me for being better at than he is." With that, Harry rose and headed for the stairs. "I'm gonna call it a night before I run out of good karma." The last thing they heard as he headed up the stairs was Harry whistling a tune they didn't recognize.
A/N #3: Yes, this does leave a slight plot hole for hot to get to the end of the year, but I'll deal with that if I figure out an end of the year song.
