"I'll miss you too."
"It's gonna be lonely sleeping by myself again."
"At least you're going to have a bed."
"Well..."
"No."
"Aw c'mon..."
"Sorry."
"C'moooon!"
"Nymmy..."
"Harry, c'mon. How is sleeping distracting?"
"Have you seen your legs?"
"Harry."
"Okay, okay. Sorry. But seriously. I need to get going."
"Yes, please do. You're going to make the rest of us vomit if you keep this up." Came the bored voice of Pansy Parkinson. "Get going or shut up and sit back on the couch, Potter."
"Aw, but they're having a moment!" Fred cooed.
"They're going to be apart a whole week, Parkinson!" George added. "That's like an eternity for a pair of lovebirds."
"We can do without the commentary." Harry said, his voice dry.
Harry had gathered his friends together in the Pit to tell them of his decision. Everyone thought the idea was fine, though the twins were still sad they wouldn't get to hear Harry dressing down Umbridge again. Harry had been saying his goodbyes to Tonks for almost ten minutes while everyone else watched on in varying degrees of amusement or annoyance.
"I'm just saying. Let's throw him into the room and haul her outta here." Pansy said, shrugging. "Otherwise this is never going to get off the ground."
"As much as I hate to agree with her, she's right." Solieyu said. "You should get in there and get to work, Harry."
"Yeah, I know." Harry said, making a face. "Okay, let's go over it once more, yeah? I dunno if the frogspawn is a Legilimens or not, but never have eye contact. At least for this week, okay?"
"I'm still amazed Flitwick managed to convince the other members of staff to cover for you." Tonks stated.
"Yeah, me too. How he convinced Snape is beyond me. I think he hates Umbridge more than he hates me." Harry said. "...Gotta say, I'm not feeling a whole lot different. If I had to choose one of their sides in a battle, I'd easily choose to side with Snape."
"You realize, of course, that I'm going to grill you about your experience once you emerge, don't you?" Asked Hermione.
"Naturally." Harry said, glancing her way. "Terribly sorry you can't sit in and take notes."
"Horrifying as it is to say, I've actually got enough on my plate for a change." Hermione said. "I've been looking ahead at the kinds of things we'll be going over for our O.W.L.s and while it's fascinating, it's also ridiculously past where we should be."
"Where most of us should be, you mean." Ginny said. "You and Harry are, shall we say, a bit smarter than the rest of us."
"Oh, don't be silly." Hermione said.
"You've memorized most of it already." Harry stated, smirking at Hermione, who blushed.
"I haven't." She said.
"Ninety percent?" Harry asked.
"Eighty-five. Roughly. Shut up." Hermione mumbled, blushing further.
"Damn. You're ahead of me by like thirty. I blame the frogspawn and my need to go through with this." Harry said. "Anyway, yes. I need to get going. Nymmy, try not to drive our friends out of their minds in my absence, please."
"I'll try." Tonks pouted.
The two kissed and, after lingering for a bit longer, Harry pulled away from the girl and headed into the training room. He closed the door behind him and promptly spelled it to remain that way. Next, he warded the room so that no outside noise got in. This also helped to ensure no noise inside broke out. He wasn't sure what Boris had planned, but if it involved Harry crying out in any way for any reason, he didn't want anyone in the Pit to barge in. He had to buckle down and concentrate on his goal.
He had to seal away his emotions. His emotions and most everything else, really. He didn't want anyone looking into his mind for things to use against him. And now that he knew Dumbledore could jump into his head, he really didn't want him doing so either. Not that he didn't trust Dumbledore. They had their arguments and differences, but Dumbledore was still an amazing man. Completely off his nut, but amazing.
Boris, who had been curled around Harry's neck, finally started to speak again. He had been silent for the whole storytelling bit and Harry saying goodbye. "That took awhile."
"Sorry. He was right, though. This is going to feel like an eternity to me." Harry said, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "So... what are we going to do? I mean... no offense, Boris, but you're a snake. How exactly are you going to teach me the inner workings of complex mental magic?"
"Repitition?" Suggested the taipan.
"Yeah, because drilling something into my head's gonna work." Harry scoffed.
"Point. Seriously? I'm basically just going to go over everything Master Whitechapel told me. The man was out of his mind by the point he told me his secrets. He too was a Parselmouth and told me a great many things, most of which I could've gone my whole life without wanting to know. It seems, at the very least, that some of his teachings will be useful again. I'm not entirely sure how well you'll take to the methods he spoke to me of, but knowing you? I'm sure it won't even take the entire week before you're capable of blocking someone out."
"Which brings up the point of where I'm going to get a subject capable of testing me. Do you think Dumbledore would run a scan and check?" Asked Harry.
"Quite possibly. He seemed impressed back at your relatives' house, anyway. Imagine how he'll look if you manage to keep him out entirely." Boris said.
"This is true." Harry said, smiling. "Okay, so... talk to me, Boris. What do I need to do?"
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Tonks sighed, watching the door close behind Harry. Shoulders slumped, she walked back over to the couch and flopped down on it. Luna, who had been staring at the fire for most of Harry and Tonks' goodbye speech, put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"You'll both be fine." Said the blonde softly. "He's strong and you're stubborn. You'll find some way to kill time."
"Yeah, I know. And I know I'll see him at least once a day. But still. I don't like being apart from him. It just seems like every time we're apart, something bad happens to him." Tonks said, sighing. "I'm actually kinda wishing the O.W.L. stuff was happening now, just so I'd be too busy to think about it too much."
Solieyu leaned over the back of the couch. "I'm sure Hermione could set you up with her studying regiment..."
"No! No. No no no." Tonks said, eyes wide. "Uh... no offense or anything, Hermione."
"None taken. I know perfectly well how ridiculous my schedule can be sometimes." Hermione said. "Tell you what, though. I can come by and help you on your homework in the evenings."
"I'm sure Luna and I could, too." Ginny said. "Only I think we'd be asking more questions than providing more answers..."
"And if Luna's here, Leon'll be here." Fred said, waggling his eyebrows at the vampire, who scowled in response.
"The two of us, however, have lost our laboratory!" George lamented, clutching his chest. "So we will have to seek out another place to fiddle with ingredient combinations!"
"And, as I have no deep ties to anyone, I'll be keeping to myself as well." Pansy stated. "Let me know when Potter comes out, though. I'd love to see what this Occlumency stuff does to him over the course of a week."
"Speaking of deep ties. Have you talked to Malfoy?" Asked Ginny.
"I have." Pansy said. "He... has been acting odd, though."
"Even for Malfoy?" Asked George.
Rolling her eyes, Pansy blandly replied, "Yes, even for Malfoy. As I was saying - he's acting really odd. Crabbe and Goyle are staying away from him and keep sending him these death glares whenever they're in the same room together. I dunno if Draco dismissed them from guard duty or insulted their heritages or what, but they hate him now. The only people Draco has talked to this year are me and Blaise. And I've talked to Blaise - he said Draco isn't being as open and talkative as he normally is. So even around us, the two people he actually considered to be true friends, he isn't saying a lot."
"And that's very bothersome." Fred said. "When Malfoy is quiet, something bad's certain to happen."
"I think he's considering what happened over the summer. He told me - all of us - what Potter said to him on the train ride home last year. He came back positively fuming about it, in fact." Pansy said, brushing some rogue hairs away from her eyes.
"We deduced he was sitting alone on the way here this year." Solieyu said, glancing across the room. "How correct were we?"
"Incredibly. Draco didn't want anyone in his compartment for some reason." Pansy said, letting her head thump against the back of the chair she was in. "He's never told us why, either. As far as I knew, no one else was in there with him the whole trip. What did he do, though? Sit and talk to himself? Think? If so, what about?"
"Harry's words must have been sinking in. Harry was right and Malfoy couldn't deny it anymore. His world was basically rocked at the foundation level and he's having some kind of existential crisis. He thought working for Voldemort would be something to be proud of. Instead, he saw his parents bowing before him. He was hit with the Cruciatus Curse for trying to keep his head high. He found out that no one has honor before the Dark Lord. If I were him, I know I'd be rethinking my stance on things." Solieyu said.
"I wish he'd talk to me." Pansy said, staring down at her lap. "...I think I'm going to go try again. Excuse me."
With that, Pansy Parkinson quickly slipped out of the Pit. Tonks let out a bitter chuckle once she'd left.
"We're both having boy problems. Mine's locked himself away willingly. Hers is torturing himself because he's too stupid to play for the winning team." Tonks muttered.
"Now now. No thinking like that." Said Fred. "George, do you think our friends here would enjoy a demonstration on a few things we've been working on?"
"Oh, I've no doubt they would!" George exclaimed, reaching into his robes and pulling out a small box. Opening it up, he pulled out a small, two-toned piece of candy. An absolutely feral grin crossed over his face.
"We're going to be cleaning some kind of fluid up, aren't we?" Hermione whispered to Ginny.
"If we're lucky, it'll only be blood." Ginny whispered back.
"...And if we aren't?"
"...Don't ask."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Two years before his death, Master Whitechapel started confiding in me. I had been in his. service, shall we say, for over twenty-five years by then. Despite this, rarely did I ever bear witness to the horrors he committed. Those I did see still remain with me all these years later. As I said, he was a Parselmouth. He spoke to me in my own language, explaining why he did the things he did. He was completely insane, Harry. The only reason I remain alive is because he was planning to use me once he got found out. Through his madness, he knew it would happen one day.
"In this way, he would be able to pass along his teachings while keeping them secret from almost everyone else. You can't extract memories from an animal like you can a human. It meant that unless another Parselmouth just happened to be working for the authorities, his secrets would remain just that. And since Parselmouths are considered to be intrinsically evil, no proper magical law enforcement agency would hire one.
"However, despite knowing that I was a snake and therefore mostly safe in regards to holding his secrets, he still taught me of Occlumency and Legilimency. Master Whitechapel, in addition to being insane, was horribly paranoid. He wanted to ensure that no matter what happened, I wouldn't be able of revealing his secrets to anyone unless I chose to do so of my own free will.
"Strange as it might seem, this time with him was almost therapeutic. It was so relaxing the way he taught me. It's the single positive thing that came out of his lab. I don't think he planned on me teaching Occlumency to another Parselmouth half a world away many years in the future. It's just as well that he didn't. His spells on me that have kept me alive this long would've been removed. I never would have met you. But I'm getting off topic and, for that, I apologize. This isn't going to be painful, Harry, but it WILL be tiring and irritatingly long. Truly mastering Occlumency is difficult. It took almost two months of his teachings before I was able to keep him out of my mind. And, as he considered himself the most powerful wizard on the planet, he assumed that if HE couldn't break in, no one else could either."
Harry nodded slowly as Boris told his story. And, once finished, Harry let out a sigh. "I'm going to need to take another week off to recover from this one, aren't I?"
"It's entirely possible, Harry." Boris replied. "This is going to wear us both down. We're going to wind up fighting and being generally irritable. We're going to break this training down into two parts. The first three days we'll work on clearing and sorting your mind. Only then will I attempt to break in. When you can keep me out, you'll be done. You'll be better trained this way than if you were to train with a wizard."
"Why's that?" Asked Harry.
"Because your training would begin, most likely, with an attempt to break into your mind right off the bat. To test for potential innate ability. I won't be doing this. I know you've made progress due to the meditation over the summer, but I don't feel right in trying to enter now. It would be too easy still. Your mind is still cluttered. Think of your mind as your bedroom. You wouldn't leave things laying about there, would you? Anyone who walked in would be able to look around at whatever was out. You want to have your 'room' clean, so to speak, so that the only thing someone sees is what you WANT them to see." Boris explained.
"Makes sense. I kept trying to sort my thoughts back at the Dursleys. I guess I succeeded to some extent since I cooled off during that fight with Vernon." Harry said, leaning back on his hands. "So where do I start?"
"You start at the beginning, of course." Boris said. "The first exercise is merely being able to picture the things within your mind. Only once you know what's there can you begin to sort and put away the things you don't want out. Put them behind doors, in chests, anything you'd like to envision so long as the thoughts and memories and emotions aren't out in the open. Store them away in a place that only you have access to. Allow them out only when YOU feel the need to. Your mind is in disorder at the moment. Once you're capable of working out how all of the things in your mind feel, you can start to put them in their own, separate piles. Memories in one, emotions in another, and so on. After you do this, you begin to tuck them away behind whatever form of barrier you want."
"Hermione would be soaking this in." Harry muttered. "Okay, let's get down to business then, Boris. Time's wasting."
"As you wish. Sit up straight. ...That's it. Now, close your eyes and begin taking slow, deep breaths. You need to relax, Harry. I don't need to peek into your head to know that you're still nervous about this." Boris hissed softly.
"Can't help it. I'm only human." Harry said, letting his eyes slip shut as he cracked a grin.
The taipan's tongue flickered out a few times and a sort of snakelike grin spread across his face. "We'll see if you still make that claim by week's end."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
The first day, Harry didn't think the training was that bad. If nothing else, he wound up being more relaxed than he had in weeks. He was starting to get the hang of making mental images for each type of thing that was bouncing around his head. He pictures memories as wizarding photographs, each one surrounded in a frame of varying elegance depending on the memory it contained. The night he had confessed to Tonks at the Yule Ball, for instance, was held within the biggest, most elaborate frame he could think of. On the other hand, the night that Dobby had entered Number Four before the start of his Second Year at Hogwarts was held within a tattered, cracked frame that looked to be seconds from falling apart.
Emotions, on the other hand, were simpler. Boris had suggested he use colors to determine those, as it was the easiest way to sort through them. Sure enough, Harry had rounded up a few emotions by the first day's end. His calm was a soothing green color in a spherical shape. He also managed to find his anger. It was spiked on all sides and pulsating a deep crimson.
His thoughts and other miscellaneous things were still up in the air. Harry figured it would be easy to keep track of recent thoughts, but found them to be the hardest. By the time he was ready to go to bed, Harry had two or three thoughts as the base of what might become a towering pile of them. He was annoyed with himself for being unable to properly contain them.
Boris suggested, more than once, that Harry use jars and vials to contain his thoughts, making some sort of bizarre potion's shelf of them all. Harry had deemed this to be ridiculous, figuring that if Snape could read his thoughts, the Potion Master would end up laughing himself into a coma. Boris had argued that, if Harry successfully mastered Occlumency, Snape wouldn't be able to get to his thoughts. Harry had relented in the end, bottling the few thoughts he had come across in wide jars, as though they were moths.
Boris hadn't been kidding, either. It was tiresome work. Harry was physically drained by the time midnight rolled around. After transfiguring one of the practice dummies into a bedroll, Harry was asleep in a matter of minutes. Boris watched as Harry drifted off, wondering how well Harry would do in the long run. Occlumency could do strange things to a person, especially if that person was obsessive about keeping others out of his head. Being in control of one's self was perfectly fine. But Jaeger Whitechapel hadn't been in control of himself to begin with. Boris often heard his former master muttering to himself as he flopped about in bed. Whitechapel thought everyone and everything could look into his mind and kept reworking how to store things within it. With each revision, the man slipped a bit further into madness.
By the time of his death, Boris guessed that his master had gone through hundreds of revisions to his mental filing system. How he hadn't turned into some kind of gibbering mess was beyond the taipan's explanation.
Boris woke Harry at six in the morning the next day, minutes before Dobby brought up a large breakfast (as well as some well-cooked pork for Boris). Harry wolfed down his food at such a quick rate, Boris feared he might choke at some point. But neither student nor teacher choked on their meals, despite the taipan also finding himself eating quickly. It took the snake a little longer than Harry would have liked to digest to the point where he didn't feel sick moving around, but he forgave him. Boris would only be eating twice over the week, despite needing an almost equal amount of energy to Harry.
That day's training went as smoothly as it could, with Harry choosing to work more on his memories and emotions than his thoughts, leaving them for last. Boris allowed this, as he knew how difficult thoughts were to wrangle. And, once the boy's other issues were kept under lock and key, it would be easier to focus on what remained.
Harry amazed Boris in how fast he was able to pick up and alter techniques the snake was passing along. Boris suggested Harry put his 'pictures' somewhere. Harry told him that he created a room, not unlike the Pit in its design, where his memories hung on the walls. When Boris suggested something simpler to contain his emotions, Harry decided on lockets. Each one could be opened or shut at will, allowing Harry to turn on and off his emotions as he saw fit.
It was progressing much faster than Boris had expected, which was good. The more time before the third day ended, the better prepared Harry would be. He would have time to secure his barriers better. Boris had no doubt that Harry would be able to keep him out to some extent upon his first attempt in.
When 7PM rolled around that night, Dobby brought another meal in. Harry once more wolfed down the food brought for him, keeling over backwards and sprawling out after he was finished. It wasn't good to work constantly, and Boris knew this. They took short breaks every hour. In addition, they had decided that after Harry ate dinner, he and Boris would discuss the day's progress. Once Harry had digested, he would leave the training room for a bath and return between thirty and forty-five minutes later. After that, it was reviewing the day's lessons again and practicing further until midnight.
Apparently, no one had been in the Pit when Harry let himself out to bathe that night. The taipan felt this was for the better. Harry didn't need distractions this early into the game. And Tonks, sweet and well-meaning as she was, was a massive distraction. Harry still hadn't gotten his mind into order. Seeing the girl could very well throw off everything he had accomplished so far.
By midnight, Harry was quite confident in being able to keep both his memories and his emotions locked up. When Harry was asked how he planned to keep the emotion-sealing lockets safe, he replied that each one had a type of lock on it. One that couldn't be broken open without the proper thought. His anger, for instance, would be kept within its blood-red locket until Harry thought about the Ministry of Magic's idiocy and unwillingness to believe that Voldemort had returned. When asked how he planned to repress this thought given the current situation, Harry had merely shrugged and stated that his thoughts were kept hidden under a trap door, in bottles and vials, in shelves that lined the walls of the room he had thought up.
The storage area for his memories, Harry had stated, now looked more like a museum than the Pit. Boris approved of this as well, though he wasn't sure how well the locks on either of these doors would hold. Harry hadn't mentioned how he planned to keep his thoughts locked up. Boris assumed there was a system being dreamed up, however, and left the issue alone.
On the third day, Harry was mostly left to his own devices in order to set his barriers up more properly in preparation for the impending second half of their training together. Harry got his first proper test when he went to take his bath that evening. Boris heard a commotion outside when Harry left. Upon his return, Harry told the taipan of what had been going on.
The twins, in their wisdom, had taken over the dining room as their new experiment testing grounds. This didn't sit well with anyone else, who often stayed for at least one meal per day. Harry said he had merely raised a hand in greeting as he headed into the bathroom. When he left, the twins had gone and only Tonks, Solieyu, and Luna remained. He had given them a smile, not answered any of their questions, and slipped back into the training room.
Boris was impressed. To brush off chaos and then a feeling of warmth so easily, he had clearly progressed. The question was how far he had. Not rising to meet the cacophony that Fred and George Weasley had caused was one thing. But not going to sit and talk with your closest friends in front of a warm fireplace after three grueling days of almost constant mental training? Harry was committed, if nothing else.
The remainder of the night was spent in meditation for Harry. Boris had noticed a change in the boy's scent late the previous day. He wasn't sure what it meant yet, however, and didn't bring the matter up. By the time midnight rolled around and Harry slipped off to dreams, Boris had a good idea of what it was. It wasn't a simple thing to bring up, either. Harry had matured in some way over the previous handful of days. This was a good sign to the taipan. It meant that Harry was coming to terms with things he had locked away. Painful memories. Unwanted thoughts. Rampaging emotions. Harry had done his best to collect these things and sort them. They were still there, still hurtful in their own ways. The only difference was that now Harry was able to look at them, accept that they were there, and not break down in some capacity.
Harry didn't eat breakfast the following day. He wanted Boris to immediately attempt to break into his mind the moment he had brushed away his grogginess. Boris had suggested Harry hold off until after he had eaten, but Harry insisted. When Dobby came, Harry apologized for not eating, asking the eager house elf if he could instead have a large dinner. Dobby had, of course, readily agreed. The fact that Harry was even able to speak to that uppity little creature was amazing to Boris, who found the house elf to be quite irritating.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Boris asked.
"I'm positive. I can't grow if you baby me. Let's begin." Harry said.
"Very well. I'll count down from three and then say 'go.' On 'go' I will attempt to break into your mind. You'll need to learn how to not only hold your barriers but also how to recognize the intrusion as well as how to force me out again." Boris explained. "I'll go easy on you the first time. I'll watch to see how you do certain things and, once I have a feeling for your methods, I'll back out. I won't choose any painful things, nor will I tamper with your emotions."
"I'm ready." Harry said.
"We shall see."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Seven days had passed. Seven long, depressing, and thoroughly boring days. Tonks had found herself horribly upset the first night Harry had passed through on his way to and from the bathroom. He barely acknowledged anyone on either trip. She had looked at him hopefully as he walked back towards the training room that day, but he had merely smiled at them and sealed himself up again. That was the last time he even did that much. Every day following that, he paid less and less attention to things that had gone on around him. The sixth day, he had seemed annoyed about something or another, but his fuming was silent and withdrawn. When he headed back from his bath, he had replaced his look of annoyance with one of absolute indifference.
Everyone was gathered in the Pit. Harry would be leaving his self-made tomb within the next few minutes, if his schedule was any indication. Everyone was on their feet. The twins were off near the dining room door, occasionally peering in to check on something or another that was brewing inside. They wouldn't say what it was.
Pansy was in her usual spot in one of the back corners, idly glancing through a book that Tonks recognized as being one of Sirius'. Ginny and Hermione were also in one of the back corners of the room, but they were in a quiet argument over the contents of some of the things Harry had brought from Grimmauld Place. Solieyu and Luna were leaning back against the couch and were satisfied with merely watching the training room door.
Tonks was standing directly out from it, however. Whatever plans Harry had for himself for the rest of the night, he would acknowledge that she was there, dammit all!
Harry's entrance came without fanfare or even any greetings. He looked tired. Hideously so. He had noticeable, dark bags under his eyes and walked with his shoulders slumped. It was a vast change from how he had looked the previous day. He stopped when he saw Tonks standing there, not ten feet away. His eyebrows raised slightly and, as though he had forgotten, only then did he look around the room. His eyes slipped shut after taking in that everyone was there. Straightening himself up, he smiled faintly as his eyes opened once more.
"Hello, Nym." He murmured, opening his arms.
Tonks ran over and threw hers around him, burying his face against his shoulder.
"Hey, hey... it's only been a week." Harry whispered into her hair, his arms closing around her. "What's wrong?"
"Missed you." Came Tonks' quiet voice.
"You saw me almost every night." Harry said.
"Not the same." Tonks mumbled.
Harry chuckled quietly. Glancing around at everyone again, his expression never changing, he asked, "What have we missed?"
"Not a lot. Flitwick apparently ran with the idea that you were off visiting a terminally sick relative of yours." Fred said. "Even Snape was going along for the ride."
"I'll have to thank him sometime." Harry said, glancing up thoughtfully.
The twins started to snicker, but stopped when they realized that Harry was being completely honest.
"Oh, that's an omen, that is." George said.
"Harry thinking of thanking Snape?" Fred said, looking at his brother.
"Why shouldn't I?" Asked Harry. "He didn't have to comply. In fact, I would have assumed that he would've taken great pleasure in ousting my plan to Umbridge. He didn't. That has to say something for the man's character."
"Merely that he hates her more than he does you." Ginny said.
"Perhaps. Or perhaps he merely plays the part of a jerk in order to help keep face in front of those from his House. Pansy?"
Pansy glanced up from her book. "If it's an act, then Snape is a fine actor."
"He was a Death Eater." Harry said, shrugging one shoulder. "And yet here he is, working in a school. Dumbledore trusts him. There must be a reason."
"Dumbledore does a lot of things." Hermione said. "Most of which, if you'll recall, you've had some kind of issue with."
"True. Ah, that reminds me though. I'm not quite done." Harry said. "Nym, let go for a sec, would you? I need to make a call."
"A call?" Tonks asked, letting go of Harry and taking a step back.
"Mm. Boris said I should have a final exam." Harry said, walking over to the fireplace.
"Where is Boris?" Asked Tonks.
"Sleeping around my right arm. He's exhausted. To be perfectly honest, so am I. Ever since yesterday afternoon, he laid into me pretty hard. He wasn't holding back on me." Harry said. And, taking a handful of Floo Powder from the pouch above the fireplace, he threw it into the dancing flames and said, "Dumbledore's Office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
A few moments later and the headmaster's head appeared in the fire. He glanced around before smiling at Harry. "Ah, Harry! Good to see you. Filius told me of your little plan. Have you finished your training?"
"That depends. Could you drop by and try breaking into my mind, sir? Boris did his best, but he wanted me to go up against another wizard. You're the only one I'm currently aware of who can do that."
"I'd be glad to, Harry. I've been wondering of your progress. Give me a moment and I'll be right here." Said Dumbledore.
Harry stepped back and, a few seconds later, Dumbledore came stepped out of the green flames that flared up. After cleansing the soot off of himself, he glanced down at Harry. Harry returned the look, his gaze unwavering.
"We can begin whenever you're ready." Dumbledore said.
"Any time is fine." Harry said. "Though, if you don't mind, I'd like you to do this twice. I'd like another opinion on the way I've done this. Though if you manage to get in the first time, it obviously won't be needed."
Dumbledore chuckled. "As you wish, Harry. I must say, I'm impressed with your resolve to learn Occlumency. I'm not entirely sure that skipping your classes was the best route to take, but if you can keep others out of your mind, a bit of homework won't mean anything in the long run. Voldemort himself is a very skilled Legilimens, at least on par with myself. If you are able of keeping me out, or even of keeping your memories away from my prying eyes, then you won't have to worry about him."
"One more request, sir, if I may?" Harry said.
"You may."
"Don't hold back."
Dumbledore bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment. And, as he lifted it, his eyes began to twinkle madly. To everyone else in the room, the two seemed to be finished with their exercise in under half a minute. To Harry and Dumbledore, however, it was a different story. The headmaster bore forward at full power, as he had been requested to do. He met with a surprisingly fierce resistance and more than one level of it. He broke through the first barrier with little effort. The second, however, held him up a bit longer. He didn't feel he broke through it so much as Harry allowed him in.
Dumbledore found himself looking at a small, square room with two exits - one in the floor and one directly ahead. Along either side wall were glass cases that held beautiful, colored lockets. He stepped towards one of the lockets, feeling a sort of warmth coming off of it. Assuming it to hold either some form of emotion or a particularly pleasant emotion, the headmaster tried opening the case it was in. The case, however, would not move, though the door on the far end of the room clicked open of its own accord. Smiling, and thinking that Harry was trying to tell him something, Dumbledore walked towards and through the now-open door.
He was surprised to find himself in an utterly massive structure. It looked very much like a museum, though Dumbledore had never seen one quite so large before. After walking around a bit, glancing at the various memories in their photographs, he came across a small one in a simple, elegant frame. Bending over to glance at it, he couldn't help but smile. With one more look around, he headed back towards the small room he started in. Walking over to the glass case he had tried to open before, Dumbledore found himself able to lifting the glass now. The locket within was green and was still giving off warmth. It would not open, however. And this time, when the headmaster heard a noise, it was the trap door popping up.
With a chuckle, he went over to inspect the newly-opened room. After climbing down a rather long ladder, the headmaster found himself in a cave-like environment. There were countless shelves that seemed to go on forever in either direction. Each one was crammed with small glass jars, bottles, and vials. Within each was a purple-blue mass that floated around. And again, Dumbledore was drawn towards one in particular. Knowing what it meant this time, he was quick to leave this place.
And, sure enough, the locket now opened for him. A green ball of light flew out and floated around him for awhile before returning to its place within the locket, which Dumbledore then closed.
It was only after he had set the locket back down that he was jarred as a sudden, powerful force slammed into him. Fight though he did, he was unable to keep himself from being pushed away from the room. Up he flew, past the second barrier and through a newly-reconstructed first barrier. The first seemed to shine as he passed by it.
Both Harry and Dumbledore blinked when the test was over with. Dumbledore put a hand on Harry's shoulder, beaming at him. "I am highly impressed. You have managed in a week what could take fully-grown men and women years to accomplish. I've not come across a defense system quite like that before, either. But I must ask - how do you keep the doors locked?"
"Doors?" Hermione asked.
"I can't say. Or, rather, I won't say. There's more in that room besides two doors and the lockets, though." Harry said, a sly grin on his face. "Maybe you just didn't notice it."
Dumbledore laughed at this. "Ahh, I see, I see. Well, Harry, I do believe that you have passed your test with flying colors. I felt that you let me in after I got through the initial barrier. And it was no coincidence that you pulled me towards the things I needed to open that locket. I admit to being caught off guard at the force of which you threw me from your mind."
"Boris caught that last night, too." Harry said. "He went prying where he shouldn't have."
"I see. Your snake is asleep, I take it."
"Yes, sir."
"When he wakes up, pass along a message from me. Tell him that he has done an outstanding job in teaching you Occlumency and that I give you full marks. I have no doubt in my mind that you will be able of keeping Voldemort out." Dumbledore said.
"Thank you, sir. I'll be sure to tell him. And thanks for stopping by." Harry said.
"Not at all, Harry. I always enjoy seeing my students grow and expand their knowledge. And now, I believe, you should relax. Do you really need to keep that up amongst friends?" Asked the headmaster, his voice very quiet.
"I can't build my stamina in regards to it otherwise." Harry said, his smile fading somewhat as he replied in an equally soft voice. "I give myself plenty of time to unwind, however. Don't worry. I haven't changed that much, sir."
Dumbledore nodded slowly. "I see. Very well then, Harry. I shall leave you to your own devices. Remember not to push yourself too hard, however. Trying too hard oftentimes leaves one more vulnerable than if one wasn't trying at all."
"Boris said something similar." Harry said.
"Then I will not worry myself on the matter. Clearly, your snake has a good head about him. If you'll excuse me, Harry, I was in the middle of some very fine tea when you called."
Harry grinned. "Sorry for interrupting."
"Not at all, not at all." Dumbledore said, walking back towards the fireplace. The green flames jumped to life again as he stepped in and he was gone in a flash. Before the flames died down, he stuck his head back in and added, "Ah yes, I almost forgot. We have planned ahead, assuming your training would leave you quite tired. You are excused from classes tomorrow, if you so desire."
"I...really appreciate that, sir. I have a feeling I'll sleep half the day and spend the rest of it doing homework. But given what I went through, it'll be a cake walk. Thanks again for stopping by." Harry said.
Dumbledore merely smiled. And that was that. His head pulled out of the flames and the fire turned back to its normal color and size, crackling away as though it hadn't played host to magical teleportation.
"So..." Harry began, fishing Boris from up one of his sleeves and gingerly placing him atop the fireplace. "I know you all have questions - Hermione especially - but I ask you not ask until tomorrow."
"Aww." Hermione pouted.
"I really am tired, guys. So, while I appreciate everyone turning up to greet me, I think I'm going to head for bed. My back also wishes for this. I probably should have transfigured a better place to sleep. Fred, George, get that eldritch thing out of my dining room, please. You have your lab back for the time being." Harry said, shooting the twins a look.
"Aye, captain!" Replied the twins in unison, saluting Harry.
Rolling his eyes, Harry turned and headed towards the bedroom door. "Nym?"
"I'll be in in a minute." Tonks said, smiling as Harry nodded and vanished into the bedroom. When the door was closed, she looked around the room.
"He seemed... different." Ginny said, her voice low.
"After what I put him through, he better." Hissed Boris in a groggy voice.
Ginny turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Said Boris, turning his head to look at the redhead. "That I damn near destroyed his mind yesterday. I put him through hell. He got complacent on me so I decided to show him what a real mental attack would be like. Not a simple training exercise, not the theory of it - the real thing. I dismantled his defenses and forced him to relive every nasty thing he'd gone through in the past few years. That made him sober up. After he got back from his bath that night, he was more serious again and finished without any further problems."
Ginny gaped at him. There were a few words she couldn't understand still, but she got the basic idea. "But... what if that had, y'know, done something to him?"
"What? What the hell are you two talking about?" Asked Tonks.
"Boris decided the best way for Harry to not get over confident in his own abilities was to fully attack Harry's mind. Didn't you say he looked mad about something when he was en route to the bathroom?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, I did." Tonks said, turning to glare at the taipan. "You better not have caused him any lasting damage."
"Tell her not to worry. Harry's fine. But he needed a shot of reality. It helped to toughen his defenses up. I was just awake enough to listen in on his conversation with your headmaster. If he was capable of pushing that man out, then he's surpassed my training. And, as was noted, he seems different now. You're going to have to learn to accept that that's who he has to be. At least until Voldemort is taken care of." Boris said.
Ginny relayed what was being said to everyone else in the room. Tonks blew out a sigh and shook her head. "I think I'm gonna turn in early, too. Would you guys mind..."
"Of course." Said Hermione. "Go to him."
"Thanks. Oh, and Fred? George? I told you he'd make you move that thing." Tonks said, smirking as she headed for the bedroom.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Harry?"
"Nn?"
"Haaaaarryyyyyy?"
"G'way."
"Haaaaaaaaaaaarryyyyyyyyy..."
"Whaaaat?" Harry whined, cracking an eye open.
Tonks, in her nightshirt, grinned down at him. "You aren't allowed to fall asleep yet."
Harry whined again, lifting his head long enough to pull the pillow from underneath it and put it over his face. "Bugger off. M'sleepy."
"Yes, as am I. But you aren't going to get away with not holding me now that you're back, mister." Tonks said, poking Harry's chest.
Without moving the pillow, Harry opened his arms. Tonks grinned and lifted the pillow up. Harry groaned, raising his head long enough for her to stuff the pillow back under it. Arms wrapping around Tonks when she curled up against him, Harry whispered, "Sorry for all this."
"You had to. So no apologizing, okay? M'just glad to have you back." Tonks said, nestling her nose against Harry's neck.
"'Kay." Harry murmured. "Nymmy?"
"Yeah?"
"Wasn't the only thing I was apologizing for."
"Oh?"
Harry's eyes opened slowly. "Yeah. Was apologizing for the way I'm gonna need to act in public now. When I'm alone with you... there's no need to keep that going. You're not going to betray me. At least I hope you aren't. Meaning the only time I can truly relax anymore is when I'm alone with you..."
"Sounds draining." Tonks said.
"Astoundingly so." Harry said. "You ever get a really bad sinus headache? One of the kind that sits behind your eye all day? Maybe drains down so your jaw hurts later? It's kind of like that. Only constantly. And letting all of that go and lowering my barriers is like taking fast-working medicine for it. There's still a faint buzz, but Boris warned me that there would be until I got used to it."
"You can't let your guard down around the others?" Asked Tonks.
"Can't. I need everyone to think I've changed somehow." Harry murmured. "I know that may sound strange, as why wouldn't I include you in that, right? Simply put, I refuse to. Boris said I should, but I won't. At least in this room, I can act like my old self again without having to worry that someone or something will come along looking for things they shouldn't. I can be myself around you and you alone, Nymmy."
"That... Are you sure? I don't want anything bad happening because you decided to lower your defenses in here..." Tonks said, tilting her head up slightly.
"I'm sure. He can't get me in here. No one can." Harry murmured, his hold on Tonks tightening for a moment. "And... I want to be able to let go of the headache at least for awhile every day. It would drive me crazy if I didn't."
Tonks nodded a little, kissing Harry crookedly on the chin. "Just be careful, alright? What's the plan for tomorrow?"
"Rest. Lots of rest. And lots of food." Harry said, grinning. "I'm both tired and hungry as hell."
"Cake?"
"Long as it isn't of the pan variety."
Swat.
"'Kay, I deserved that."
"Yes. Yes you did. Okay, I've kept you awake long enough. Get some rest." Tonks said, snuggling up to Harry again.
"Mmm, sleep..." Harry murmured.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Author's Notes: PLOT!
Oh man, this one was long. This took foreverlong to write. And I did most of it in one sitting. My right arm hated me the rest of the night for it, too. But it's done and Harry has taken another step forward. I know people will ask about the other things that might have been in Harry's mental room with Dumbledore. I have notes on his defenses. Anyone who guesses correctly gets a cookie. It's not difficult to work out, really.
Anyway, I really don't have a whole lot to say about this chapter. It was long and a bit of a chore to write since it deals with mostly-boring stuff. I know I certainly find Occlumency boring as all hell. But I figured it was good to set up Harry's training as an important time just because of what it means.
Uh, let's see... looking through the chapter guide, the next couple are mostly padding. One sets up an important plot point not in book 5 but in book 6. The Pit's guardian subplot. The next really big BIG chapter is 20. And the only thing that I'll give away about that is the title: 'Amen'
Draw your own conclusions.