Chapter 2 ~ Finding Out The Hard Way
"Good morning class."
"Good morning Professor Deesia," the class intoned. Professor Deesia glanced up with a look on her face that was at once amused and revolted. "That," she said, matter-of-factly, "will be Umbridge's influence. Please refrain from doing that ever again." Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown giggled.
"Let's see, you've had several teachers in this class, I believe. Professor Lupin would surely have gone over most of the dark creatures with you. Crouch would have taught you all the things you need to know that I am not allowed to teach, and Lockhart? Well, perhaps he will be of some help to you this year, even if he was useless as a teacher."
Professor Deesia stopped at Draco Malfoy's desk, and looked down at the book he'd just brought out. "Most unsuitable," she said, suddenly humorless. "We will use these instead." She flicked her wand almost carelessly and the book covers all changed. Gilderoy Lockhart was now seen blinking stupidly up from each desk. The class groaned. "Read the title, please, before you pass judgment." She replied mildly.
Seamus Finnegan read aloud, "How it was really done: The True Heroes of Lockhart's Stories by Muriel Deesia."
"Mr. Potter, you may add this to the list of books you are already in," Professor Deesia said as a smile played around the corners of her lips. "Mr. Weasley, I believe you will want an extra copy, as it is your debut." She flicked her wand again, and another copy appeared in front of Ron as the class tittered appreciatively. Ron grinned as he looked from the books in front of him to Hermione's proud expression and back again.
Malfoy scowled back at Harry and Ron, as Professor Deesia waved her wand in the direction of her desk, and scrolls came whizzing through the air to land in front of each student. She was pleased to notice that Malfoy was so interested in the scroll that he forgot whatever rude thing he'd been about to say. She heard him whisper, "Wow," and was pleased to see him bend over his scroll immediately.
"One of my better enchantments, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked kindly. The rest of the class looked puzzled, but he was nodding. "Perhaps you can explain it to us, since you figured it out so quickly." She smiled at him, and he smiled back.
"It's a test paper that reads your thoughts and writes what you know about each question for you." He held his up. "See, mine is finished. If you want to know what someone knows, this is the way to do it. I haven't even read all these questions yet!" His voice was as close to awe as Harry had ever heard it. Looking down, he saw that his paper was complete as well.
"Excellent, Mr. Malfoy, 20 points to Slytherin. Pity we won't be using these for your finals, unfortunately we must also test your ability to access the information you learn. Now then," she said, summoning the scrolls back to her desk. They landed neatly in an open desk drawer, which closed with a click. "This evening, please read the first 2 chapters in your text book. For now, though, you may put your books away and pull out your wands." The class whispered excitedly, and Harry and Ron grinned at each other as they reached down for their bags.
Harry, digging for his wand, pushed aside the knife Sirius had given to him, and his grin faded. Looking up, he saw that Ron's grin had also left his face, though for a different reason. Harry followed his gaze to see that Professor Deesia had stepped backward and was leaning heavily against the blackboard. Her face was flushed red as she stared at Harry with a look of horror.
"Oh no," Harry thought, looking wildly for an escape route, "not another teacher predicting my death!" Professor Deesia was breathing shallowly, but was able to gasp, "Class Dismissed," weakly. No one moved.
At that moment, to everyone's surprise, Professor Snape appeared in the doorway. "Class Dismissed," he hissed, nearly as softly as she had, but with better effect, as the entire class left the room almost instantly.
As they made their way through the hallway, a single voice rang out. "How could you not tell me?" It was Professor Deesia, and from the sound of it she was extremely angry.
"What was that all about?" Ron asked Hermione as they walked down the hall. She shook her head. They now had a quarter of a lesson period free to contemplate the strange illness of what looked to be their best Defense against the Dark Arts teacher yet. They felt strangely sad, and wandered aimlessly in the general direction of Hagrid's cabin. Around them, other students were also walking with their heads down. Outside the front door, two girls were crying quietly together.
* * * * * * *
"Surely you are aware of why I would not speak of it last night." Snape said, exasperation tingeing his voice.
"But to let me find it out from the boy!" She exclaimed in reply.
"Muriel, please. You know now, isn't that enough?" He turned away. Muriel hesitated only a moment before she hurried toward the door. Snape glared angrily at the blackboard. "Will you go to see Lupin, I suppose?" he shot fiercely at the door as she passed through it. She didn't answer, but instead made her way down to the grounds, looking for Harry Potter. She had promised the headmaster that she would speak with him.
"Mr. Potter," she called, in the happiest voice she could muster, "If you have a moment, would you see me in my office?"
Ron and Hermione looked anywhere but at Harry as he muttered, "See you later," and followed Professor Deesia back into the castle. He was pretty sure he wasn't in trouble for anything, since term had just begun. When they reached her office, he was surprised to see that it was entirely empty. Professor Deesia smiled apologetically, "The sorting hat didn't give me time to pack. In fact, it didn't give me any warning at all. I was simply whisked all the way from Massachusetts to here. It explained my new position to me on the way. It turns out," she added, almost as an afterthought, "that I am not here just to be the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, but also to teach you Occlumency. I understand that your previous teacher was," here she paused, as though making up her mind, "unable to continue in that regard." She finished, rather quickly, with a look out the open office door.
Harry's heart fell. Of all the things he thought she might want to discuss with him, this was the least welcome. She seemed to sense this, because she smiled a tight smile at him and went on. "Don't worry. There will be no set time for our lessons. You will have plenty of time to study for your classes and even to play Quidditch."
He looked up, confused. "But if we don't have a time to practice - " He trailed off uncertainly, and she explained.
"Do you recall the best lesson the imposter of Moody taught you?" She frowned slightly, and then continued, though not loudly, "Constant vigilance, Mr. Potter, that is what I will require of you. You have surely noticed that I myself am not excellent at hiding my emotions." Harry nodded, his eyes widening somewhat. "Let me assure you that I am more than sufficient at hiding my actual thoughts."
"I was brought here for two reasons. Firstly to teach you to defend yourself against intrusions of the mind, and secondly, to perform the task of watching Riddle's mind - an ability which proved helpful, I believe, in the case of Mr. Weasley." Harry wondered fleetingly how she could know so much of what was going on, before remembering the whispered conversation he'd overheard on the stairs the night before.
"Ah, Professor Snape mentioned to me that you were well known for finding out such things." She startled him, and he glanced up in horror. "Yes, I expect that he did tell you that the mind is too complex to be read like a book," she said, responding to the first thought that had jumped into his head. "I am an anomaly because even without a spell, I can generally tell what people are thinking as they are thinking it. I must actually perform the spell, however, when the person is out of my eyesight. That, I think, is how you and I will practice. I will choose times randomly throughout each day to test your ability to throw me out of your mind. I will use the same means that Professor Snape did, however, in my case, you might actually be kissing Cho Chang when I choose to test you." Her gray eyes twinkled mischievously as Harry turned a shocking shade of scarlet.
"We will evaluate your progress weekly, following our Defense against the Dark Arts classes," she said. "And we will review whatever you have already read, and see about providing you with some of my father's books, if Professor Snape has not done so already."
"Books? There are books about Occlumency?" Harry looked confused. Professor Snape had never given him anything to read.
Muriel was silent. Was it possible that Severus hadn't given the child a single book to learn from before he started casting spells on him? "YES, books. Go to the library," she jotted her signature quickly on a slip of parchment and handed it to him. "Take out every book in every section that even MENTIONS Occlumency or Legilimency. Read them all. We'll base your final this year on those books."
She stifled a sigh as he looked at her, wide eyed, and took the parchment. As if the boy didn't hate Severus enough already! She gathered her things.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe I only have a few days left to visit with an old friend before he 'leaves town'." She winked at Harry, and left, throwing a black, fitted jacket with what looked like tails, over her obviously muggle outfit of jeans and a tee shirt. Harry peaked out the doorway in time to see her receive a little note from Professor Dumbledore. He was sure it was the address to Grimmauld Place, but pushed it from his mind. He didn't want to think about Sirius just now. He was going to be taking Occlumency lessons again, and NOT with Professor Snape!
"Good morning class."
"Good morning Professor Deesia," the class intoned. Professor Deesia glanced up with a look on her face that was at once amused and revolted. "That," she said, matter-of-factly, "will be Umbridge's influence. Please refrain from doing that ever again." Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown giggled.
"Let's see, you've had several teachers in this class, I believe. Professor Lupin would surely have gone over most of the dark creatures with you. Crouch would have taught you all the things you need to know that I am not allowed to teach, and Lockhart? Well, perhaps he will be of some help to you this year, even if he was useless as a teacher."
Professor Deesia stopped at Draco Malfoy's desk, and looked down at the book he'd just brought out. "Most unsuitable," she said, suddenly humorless. "We will use these instead." She flicked her wand almost carelessly and the book covers all changed. Gilderoy Lockhart was now seen blinking stupidly up from each desk. The class groaned. "Read the title, please, before you pass judgment." She replied mildly.
Seamus Finnegan read aloud, "How it was really done: The True Heroes of Lockhart's Stories by Muriel Deesia."
"Mr. Potter, you may add this to the list of books you are already in," Professor Deesia said as a smile played around the corners of her lips. "Mr. Weasley, I believe you will want an extra copy, as it is your debut." She flicked her wand again, and another copy appeared in front of Ron as the class tittered appreciatively. Ron grinned as he looked from the books in front of him to Hermione's proud expression and back again.
Malfoy scowled back at Harry and Ron, as Professor Deesia waved her wand in the direction of her desk, and scrolls came whizzing through the air to land in front of each student. She was pleased to notice that Malfoy was so interested in the scroll that he forgot whatever rude thing he'd been about to say. She heard him whisper, "Wow," and was pleased to see him bend over his scroll immediately.
"One of my better enchantments, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked kindly. The rest of the class looked puzzled, but he was nodding. "Perhaps you can explain it to us, since you figured it out so quickly." She smiled at him, and he smiled back.
"It's a test paper that reads your thoughts and writes what you know about each question for you." He held his up. "See, mine is finished. If you want to know what someone knows, this is the way to do it. I haven't even read all these questions yet!" His voice was as close to awe as Harry had ever heard it. Looking down, he saw that his paper was complete as well.
"Excellent, Mr. Malfoy, 20 points to Slytherin. Pity we won't be using these for your finals, unfortunately we must also test your ability to access the information you learn. Now then," she said, summoning the scrolls back to her desk. They landed neatly in an open desk drawer, which closed with a click. "This evening, please read the first 2 chapters in your text book. For now, though, you may put your books away and pull out your wands." The class whispered excitedly, and Harry and Ron grinned at each other as they reached down for their bags.
Harry, digging for his wand, pushed aside the knife Sirius had given to him, and his grin faded. Looking up, he saw that Ron's grin had also left his face, though for a different reason. Harry followed his gaze to see that Professor Deesia had stepped backward and was leaning heavily against the blackboard. Her face was flushed red as she stared at Harry with a look of horror.
"Oh no," Harry thought, looking wildly for an escape route, "not another teacher predicting my death!" Professor Deesia was breathing shallowly, but was able to gasp, "Class Dismissed," weakly. No one moved.
At that moment, to everyone's surprise, Professor Snape appeared in the doorway. "Class Dismissed," he hissed, nearly as softly as she had, but with better effect, as the entire class left the room almost instantly.
As they made their way through the hallway, a single voice rang out. "How could you not tell me?" It was Professor Deesia, and from the sound of it she was extremely angry.
"What was that all about?" Ron asked Hermione as they walked down the hall. She shook her head. They now had a quarter of a lesson period free to contemplate the strange illness of what looked to be their best Defense against the Dark Arts teacher yet. They felt strangely sad, and wandered aimlessly in the general direction of Hagrid's cabin. Around them, other students were also walking with their heads down. Outside the front door, two girls were crying quietly together.
* * * * * * *
"Surely you are aware of why I would not speak of it last night." Snape said, exasperation tingeing his voice.
"But to let me find it out from the boy!" She exclaimed in reply.
"Muriel, please. You know now, isn't that enough?" He turned away. Muriel hesitated only a moment before she hurried toward the door. Snape glared angrily at the blackboard. "Will you go to see Lupin, I suppose?" he shot fiercely at the door as she passed through it. She didn't answer, but instead made her way down to the grounds, looking for Harry Potter. She had promised the headmaster that she would speak with him.
"Mr. Potter," she called, in the happiest voice she could muster, "If you have a moment, would you see me in my office?"
Ron and Hermione looked anywhere but at Harry as he muttered, "See you later," and followed Professor Deesia back into the castle. He was pretty sure he wasn't in trouble for anything, since term had just begun. When they reached her office, he was surprised to see that it was entirely empty. Professor Deesia smiled apologetically, "The sorting hat didn't give me time to pack. In fact, it didn't give me any warning at all. I was simply whisked all the way from Massachusetts to here. It explained my new position to me on the way. It turns out," she added, almost as an afterthought, "that I am not here just to be the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, but also to teach you Occlumency. I understand that your previous teacher was," here she paused, as though making up her mind, "unable to continue in that regard." She finished, rather quickly, with a look out the open office door.
Harry's heart fell. Of all the things he thought she might want to discuss with him, this was the least welcome. She seemed to sense this, because she smiled a tight smile at him and went on. "Don't worry. There will be no set time for our lessons. You will have plenty of time to study for your classes and even to play Quidditch."
He looked up, confused. "But if we don't have a time to practice - " He trailed off uncertainly, and she explained.
"Do you recall the best lesson the imposter of Moody taught you?" She frowned slightly, and then continued, though not loudly, "Constant vigilance, Mr. Potter, that is what I will require of you. You have surely noticed that I myself am not excellent at hiding my emotions." Harry nodded, his eyes widening somewhat. "Let me assure you that I am more than sufficient at hiding my actual thoughts."
"I was brought here for two reasons. Firstly to teach you to defend yourself against intrusions of the mind, and secondly, to perform the task of watching Riddle's mind - an ability which proved helpful, I believe, in the case of Mr. Weasley." Harry wondered fleetingly how she could know so much of what was going on, before remembering the whispered conversation he'd overheard on the stairs the night before.
"Ah, Professor Snape mentioned to me that you were well known for finding out such things." She startled him, and he glanced up in horror. "Yes, I expect that he did tell you that the mind is too complex to be read like a book," she said, responding to the first thought that had jumped into his head. "I am an anomaly because even without a spell, I can generally tell what people are thinking as they are thinking it. I must actually perform the spell, however, when the person is out of my eyesight. That, I think, is how you and I will practice. I will choose times randomly throughout each day to test your ability to throw me out of your mind. I will use the same means that Professor Snape did, however, in my case, you might actually be kissing Cho Chang when I choose to test you." Her gray eyes twinkled mischievously as Harry turned a shocking shade of scarlet.
"We will evaluate your progress weekly, following our Defense against the Dark Arts classes," she said. "And we will review whatever you have already read, and see about providing you with some of my father's books, if Professor Snape has not done so already."
"Books? There are books about Occlumency?" Harry looked confused. Professor Snape had never given him anything to read.
Muriel was silent. Was it possible that Severus hadn't given the child a single book to learn from before he started casting spells on him? "YES, books. Go to the library," she jotted her signature quickly on a slip of parchment and handed it to him. "Take out every book in every section that even MENTIONS Occlumency or Legilimency. Read them all. We'll base your final this year on those books."
She stifled a sigh as he looked at her, wide eyed, and took the parchment. As if the boy didn't hate Severus enough already! She gathered her things.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe I only have a few days left to visit with an old friend before he 'leaves town'." She winked at Harry, and left, throwing a black, fitted jacket with what looked like tails, over her obviously muggle outfit of jeans and a tee shirt. Harry peaked out the doorway in time to see her receive a little note from Professor Dumbledore. He was sure it was the address to Grimmauld Place, but pushed it from his mind. He didn't want to think about Sirius just now. He was going to be taking Occlumency lessons again, and NOT with Professor Snape!