Chapter 2

The book whizzed through the room into Harry's outstretched hand. He looked up at Remus, who was looking down at him with a smile on his face.

"Well done, Harry," he said, his voice sounding proud. "Now, how about you try something a little harder? A Summoning Charm is good for a warm-up, but it's a fairly easy spell. See if you can, say, vanish something."

Harry looked skeptical. "Vanish something?" he asked him, raising his eyebrows. "I can barely do that with my wand! How am I going to be able to do it using wandless magic if I have a hard enough time doing it with that?"

Remus shrugged slightly. "Well, it's still possible."

"I think I'll try something different," Harry said dryly, and Remus chuckled slightly.

"Okay," he said, still smiling. "Then why don't you try to reduce an object? That's something you haven't done yet."

Harry nodded, then placed the book he was holding into his left hand. He then held his right hand over it, and said, "Reducio!" The book shrunk down to the size of a square shaped gumball, and Harry picked it up between his two fingers. "I wonder if even Hermione would ever attempt to read this one," he said, clearly amused. Remus again chuckled, and said, "Probably."

Harry placed it back in the palm of his left hand, and held his right over it. Then he enlarged it back to it's normal size. "Seems a pity to walk all the way over to the other side of the room to put it back," he said. He kept his right hand where it was, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The book began to float in the air above his hand, and he directed it back over to it's place on the shelf.

"Wonderful job, Harry," Remus told him. "Very well done indeed. Now, I wonder if perhaps you could use an even more complicated spell. I wonder if – no, never mind."

"Never mind what?" Harry asked him, clearly curious as to what he was about to say.

"Well, I thought that maybe you could do the Patronus Charm, but I think that one may just be a bit too hard," Remus said with a slight apologetic note.

"What do you mean, too hard?" Harry asked him incredulously. "I learned how to do it with my wand in a few months time even though you said some full-grown wizards couldn't even do it! What makes you think I'm incapable of doing it now?"

"It's not that I think you're incapable of doing it," Remus said. "I'm just saying it may not work right away. Just because you've mastered it with your wand does not mean that you will be able to do it now. Besides, even if you could, as I've told you before: it isn't the same if you don't have a real Dementor present."

"Well, then let's get one!" Harry said loudly, and when Remus looked slightly shocked he continued. "For Merlin's sake – I don't mean a real one. I mean a boggart one; you know, like we did in my third year." Remus, once again, chuckled.

"And what, may I ask, is so funny?" Harry asked him.

"You just seem so eager to do this," he told him. "I don't think I've seen you this excited to do something since I told you I'd teach you the Patronus Charm for the first time. Besides, we are dealing with Dementors here, and we all know that those obviously aren't your favorite creatures if that's what a boggart turns into when it sees you."

Harry sighed. "Well, I want to learn how to do this. In the Prophecy, it mentions something about '...But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...' and I think this may just be that power that he doesn't know I have, especially because I didn't even know about it until last week. So, if that's true, then that means that I have to really get the hang of this thing before I'm up against him."

"Besides," he added. "Even if that's not what the Prophecy is talking about, I'm going to have to learn how to do it anyway, because if I only have my wand against him, then all we're going to be able to do is that whole 'Prior Incantatem' thing again, and as we already know, that doesn't accomplish much."

Remus appeared a little somber at Harry's last few statements. "Yes, I suppose that you're right, Harry," he said. "But we should still make this fun. Even if this does, as you assume, have to do with your destiny, it shouldn't be another thing to hold you down."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I s'pose," he said, and then let out a soft sigh. "Well, we better get to work then."

"Harry, why don't you just try the Patronus Charm right now?" Remus asked him as though wanting to make him feel better. "I know it isn't the same, but until I can round up a boggart, you might as well practice the general spell."

Harry brightened slightly at this news, and smiled a bit. "All right," he said, and he closed his eyes. He began trying to think of a happy thought. He could no longer use the one about Sirius being free, because that now turned into the thought that that would never happen for him, meaning that it became a bad memory. So he tried yet again to think of something else.

He immediately thought of 'befriending' Snape last week, but then the circumstances that had led up to that popped into his mind, and he knew that one wouldn't do either. He then thought of when he had given Fred and George his Triwizard money, and had helped them open up the joke shop. But once again, the events leading up to that appeared in his mind, and he decided that the memory wasn't going to be strong enough either.

Finally, he thought of something that really did make him happy. He thought of when Fred and George had escaped the castle the year before, and how they had defied Umbridge and had been responsible for Peeves giving her all the hell he had for the rest of the term. The thought actually brought a smile to his face now, and he thought it may just be strong enough for him.

So, he stuck his hand out in front of him, keeping his eyes shut to focus entirely on the memory, and to also focus on the spell which he was about to attempt to shoot out through his hand. Once he was sure he was completely focused, he shouted out, "Expecto Patronum!"

He felt the shivery sensation of something flowing through him, and then felt the breeze of the spell flying through the skin on his outstretched hand. He opened his eyes, and saw that a stag had indeed erupted from his palm, and was galloping to the other side room. It turned around when it reached the wall, and then came cantering back towards him, before vanishing into thin air.

Harry stood there for a moment, staring at the place where the stag had been. He had a sudden feeling of calmness inside of him after seeing the Patronus that resembled his father's Animagus form. He looked up at Remus and realized that he too was staring at the spot. Harry could only imagine what he was feeling seeing his old friend again, even if it was only in the form of a Patronus.

Remus let out a small sigh, and continued to look at the spot. "Once again proving how much of your father is still in you, Harry," he said, and finally turned to look at Harry. He smiled somberly, and said, "Well, I know we haven't done much tonight, but perhaps we should stop here. I'll see if I can round up a boggart before your next lesson then, shall I?"

Harry nodded, and gave him a small smile. He wouldn't be practicing his wandless magic until the day after tomorrow again, because tomorrow night he would be doing Occlumency with Snape. He was actually quite good at that now, and they didn't need to focus so much on it anymore, but Dumbledore didn't want him to get out of practice, so he switched off between his two lessons every other night.

Remus gave a light yawn, and then said, "Well, I think I might turn in for the night then. Good-night, Harry." He then walked over, gave Harry a very light one-armed hug, and walked from the room. Harry stayed there for a minute, contemplating what he was going to do. He wasn't really tired, even though it was after ten o'clock, and he knew he would just lie in bed and stare at the ceiling if he tried to sleep. So he decided to do something else. Ron and Hermione had already gone to bed, he knew, considering the time, and he couldn't talk to Remus since he himself had just gone to bed.

He searched the room for an idea, and his eyes locked on the bookshelf. I'm actually going to read, Harry thought to himself, smiling. Not something that I do very often, but it's the best I have now. At least Hermione will be proud of me.

He smiled a little more as he made his way over to the bookshelf. He scanned over the titles there, and found most were textbook style, and that most were on the Dark Arts. However, one caught his eye: Legilimency – The Art of Accessing Others Memories and Emotions, by Athena Woodrow.

Harry snorted. What a happy title, he thought to himself. It's really an art, then; breaking into people's minds without their will. He shook his head, and grabbed the book off the shelf. He then went over to one of the couches sitting in the room, sat down, and opened the book to read.

'Legilimency is the power to open another's mind and read or sense their emotions or thoughts,' the book read. 'Only very skilled witches and wizards are able to do it, as it is a very hard thing to learn. However, those that can do it often end up becoming very good, and some become so advanced in the art that they are able to create brand-new memories that they can place in another's mind. Not many can do Legilimency for a long period of time, since it is quite exhausting on the mind, and therefore only a small percentage of those people can perform it well enough to create the 'false images'.'

Harry was actually finding the book very fascinating, another thing that didn't happen too often with him. But the thing was, it was so close to him, he couldn't help but be fascinated. Voldemort was one of these people that could create 'false images', so like Dumbledore had said, he had to be very skilled at Legilimency. Of course, Harry should have known that already; he was, after all, the most powerful dark wizard in the world, and he had had enough power to break through the wards and spells at Hogwarts to break into Harry's mind. It only made sense that he was able to produce these 'images'.

However, Harry began to think about something else. If Voldemort could create these images, could Snape? Everyone, even Remus, had said how good Snape was at Occlumency. Now, although Occlumency was different than Legilimency, you still had to have a lot of power to be that good, so it would make sense that Snape had enough power to do Legilimency that well, too. And, Snape had been doing Legilimency to break into Harry's mind, so the fact that he could do it at all made him wonder if he could in fact produce these images.

And, just as though reading his mind at that minute, Harry heard a voice above him that shook him from his thoughts. "You're actually reading, Harry?"

Harry jumped suddenly at the voice, and looked up into the amused face of his Potion's Professor.

"Oh, Professor," Harry said, his heart hammering against his ribs. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Obviously," Snape said, and the amusement on his face shown brighter. "I didn't expect to find you reading, Harry. Not something you do much, is it? And certainly not after ten?"

"Err, well, I wasn't tired, and there was really nothing else to do, so I thought I'd read a book," he said, and Snape actually began to smile.

"Tell me, what book could you be enjoying so much that you wouldn't notice someone walking in?" Snape asked him, peering at the book in his hands.

"It's called, err, Legilimency – The Art of Accessing Others Memories and Emotions, by Athena Woodrow" Harry told him, flipping the book over to check the cover again.

Snape's eyes grew a little rounder. "Where did that book come from?" he asked.

"It was on the bookshelf over there," Harry told him. "Why? Is there something wrong with it?"

"No," Snape said, sitting down on the chair across from him, getting a glossy look to his eyes as he studied the carpet in front of him. "No, it's just, that was the book I used to learn how to do Legilimency in the first place."

"So you are an expert in Legilimency," Harry told him, and Snape looked up at stared at him. "Well, I mean, I knew you were one at Occlumency, but I wasn't sure about Legilimency."

"Yes, well, I had to be," Snape said, shuddering slightly. "It was part of my position as a Death Eater. I always had to get the information from people, and if they wouldn't tell me, I had to use Legilimency to get it out of them."

Harry knew he wasn't too keen to talk about the subject, but he had to ask him the one question that was taking over his mind. "Professor, can you create, err, 'false images'?" he asked him hesitantly.

Snape stared hard at him. "Yes," he said finally. "I can. And why do you ask?"

"Well, because it said only witches or wizards who were very skilled Legilimens could do it, and I was just curious if you could," Harry told him, looking down at his hands. He could feel Snape's eyes on him, and knew he was watching him.

"That was how the Dark Lord communicated to you about your godfather, wasn't it?" he asked softly. Harry just nodded, looking up at him with a defeated look on his face. Then, before he knew it, he was spilling to Snape once again.

"Which is why it's my fault that Sirius died," he said thickly. "If I would have worked harder at Occlumency last year, I never would have gotten that image and Sirius would still be alive today. He wouldn't be gone – he would be here with me right now."

As he finished, angry tears started to pour down his face. It was entirely his fault that Sirius died, he knew that. No matter what anyone said, it was all his fault. He buried his face in his hands for the second time that day, and started to sob. He felt the couch sink next to him, and then felt Snape put an arm around his shoulder.

"Harry, it isn't your fault," he said softly. "It is not your fault that Sirius died. Even if you would have studied Occlumency harder, the Dark Lord still would have had enough power to break into your mind."

"Besides," he added. "If that wouldn't have all happened, Voldemort's return wouldn't have been announced to the entire world, and you and I wouldn't have learned to accept each other. I know you'd rather have Sirius back than those things, but good things did come out of it, Harry. And good things will continue to come out of it."

Harry's tears slowly stopped falling, and he looked into Snape's face. "Professor," he said, "thank-you for helping me again."

"You're welcome, Harry," he said, and then, after seeing the boy was all right again, he slowly got up. "Well, I've got to be going now. I'll see you tomorrow for your Occlumency lesson. Good-night, Harry."

"Good-night, Professor," Harry told him for the second time, and then, feeling suddenly exhausted, he lie back on the couch and fell asleep.