It was a strange day in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Their new Professor has not arrived yet, and usually any unsupervised meeting of the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses meant a disaster. It typically begins with a trade in snide insults that ultimately always leads to a barrage of jinxes flying from both sides. Today, to the frustration of the Slytherins, their best insults to the other side of the aisle went completely ignored. The fourth year Gryffindors, having just come from their first History of Magic lesson of the year, are too busy chatting animatedly in their seats to notice. What an experience they just had with the new Professor Turatine! To discuss the great magic duel between Herpo the Foul and the White Witch, Professor Turatine used a rare giant penseive, one he managed to purchase during his travels to Greece, to enable the whole class to enter at once into the memory of muggle peasant who had observed the battle first hand. As Professor Turatine explained, Magic Historians participate in the thriving trade to collect memories from people who manage to observe important magical history events first hand. Professor Turatine has promised the class more viewings of famous magic battles, and he hinted to the class he might even have one between the Dark Wizard Grindelwald and their Headmaster.
The Gryffindors are so excitedly recounting each moment they experienced in the pensieve that they fail to notice the arrival of the new DADA Professor who strode quietly into the room from the door by the front of the room. The Slytherins do notice, and they all immediately sit straight in their seats. None of them know too much about their new DADA Professor, but it is always important to make a good first impression. It is especially important to make sure the new Professor notice the difference between them and the noisy bunch of Gryffindors across the aisle.
Severus Snape stands in front of the chalk board and looks with narrowed eyes to the class. He catches the smirk of the Slytherin students, and he knows they are eagerly awaiting whatever punishment this new Professor might bestow on that particular half of the class that was paying no attention to his arrival.
Severus Snape does not disappoint. With a quick wave of his wand and the quiet muttering of a spell, the room falls silent.
The Gryffindors turn around in their seats, eyes wide in shock and alarm, clutching their mouth. They can not speak. A silencing charm has been cast on them. Finally, only then, do they notice the imposing dark form of their Professor standing in front of the class.
"When I was a student here, we had respect for our teachers."
Snape draws himself from the front of room and begins to walk slowly down the aisle.
"When a teacher arrived in class, I stood up to greet the Professor."
Quickly, the Slytherins stand up from their chairs. In unison, they quick cite a proper greeting to their Professor.
Snape nods his acknowledgement, and then he and the Slytherins look over to the stunned and silent Gryffindors.
Slowly, one by one the Gryffindors stand up. Some meekly nod their head in recognition to their Professor, some others try to mouth words silently, while others stand up but not really knowing what else to do.
"So I see the Gryffindors fail to offer the courtesy to greet their Professor properly. 10 points off for each Gryffindor."
The Gryffindors eyes open in shock, some gesturing wildly in protest. It was not fair! They are silenced, they cannot speak. The Slytherins are grinning from ear to ear with glee, feeling vindicated that they were earlier ignored.
"Let that be a reminder to all of you how to show proper respect for your teachers from now. Now sit down."
Snape waved his wand once again and the silencing spell is quickly removed.
"That is bloody unfair!" Ron shouts loudly.
"We were silenced!" Harry protests.
"Ron! Harry!" Hermione hisses.
At the sound of that name, Snape turns his head slowly at the three students seated in the second row.
"I see we have three volunteers for my first lesson today. Or perhaps that was a request for another thirty points off for the Gryffindor House?"
Ron and Harry look ready to shout in protest, but a fierce glare from Hermione stops them in their tracks. She has already lost 10 points for their House, and she is not going to lose another 10 because they cannot keep their temper.
"We have an understanding then. Up to the front of the class." With a swish of his robes, he marched back to his desk.
Hermione leaps from her seat and follows him quickly to the front of the class with a rush in her steps. She is determined to excel in the first demonstration of the class, even if it was assigned as a punishment. Harry and Ron rise with more hesitation before joining their best friend in the front.
"I have looked at the curriculum of your previous instructors and it seems your education in this subject has been….lacking. Pixies, Vampires, Boggarts, do they really expect this is what Voldemort will unleash on you?"
The class gasps in shock as some students cringe to hear the name of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
"Voldemort, if he doesn't kill you at first sight, is going to attack your greatest weakness and asset. Your mind. With Legilimency He will read your deepest darkest thoughts. He can find out all your secrets. You need to be trained on how to secure your mind from invasion. You will know when your mind is entered. What I will teach you is how to protect it. Our volunteers today will get a sense of what it is to have their minds invaded."
Harry hears Hermione gasp beside him. He sees several other students gasp as well.
"But Sir," whispered Parvati, "Isn't that an illegal spell to use on students?"
Snape narrows his eyes at her until she slinks down in her seat. He snarls, "If I only teach you about the legal spells, this wouldn't be a Defense Against the Dark Arts class, would it?"
Snape turns his attention to the students in front of him. It has been his intention to do this ever since his meeting with the Headmaster yesterday. The small uprising by the red headed boy and the brown haired girl managed to give him just the perfect excuse to single him out for the demonstration. He has been troubled every since his discussion with the Headmaster. He needed to know. He needed to understand. Why him? Why this boy? This was the only way.
"Legilimens"
Severus Snape plows into the mind of Harry Potter.
Albus Dumbledore is keeping busy in his office. It is standard that in the first week of school, he will receive an increase in owls. There are the general letters from parents who wish to express their concern about the progress of their child. Some of these letters sought advice for what they can do to help their child, and then there are those with thinly veiled suggestions that the Headmaster and the school might receive substantial financial contributions if their child is rewarded for academic excellence. Dumbledore always choose to write back courteously to these letters, all with the same response: The teachers at Hogwarts will work hard to instill the best magical education they have to offer. The parents can help just by being generally encouraging and attentive towards their children.
Dumbledore also receives letters with more personal requests, these typically arrive from parents who recently just sent their first child to Hogwarts. He picks up a particular letter from a set of parents who carefully detailed the nighttime ritual of their child. As he reads the contents, he chuckles to learn that the parents are particularly concerned that their child needs a nourishing glass of milk, reheated on the stove for exactly 2 minutes, each night before he goes to bed. He also requires to be tucked in properly, and the parents wondered if a teacher could perhaps kindly sing to him each night, as it was the only way he is able to fall asleep. Knowing this boy was sorted into Gryffindor, Dumbledore feels his heart lightened slightly as he tries to imagine Professor McGonagall responding to the request to sing an 11-year old child to sleep. He knows with a certainty that this child was in fact managing to sleep very well every night in his new surroundings in Hogwarts. This is due to the request of his roommates for a silencing charm to be cast on this particular student's bed at night as his snores were keeping everyone else awake.
He wishes all such letters from parents were as innocent and simply solved. On his desk sat another letter. It was from the parents of a student who was killed in the raid on Diagon Alley back in June. Their younger child, a third year student in Hogwarts, has written five letters to them since the start of school begging to be allowed to return home. She has not been able to accept the death of her older sister, and has not been adjusting well to the separation from her parents at school. Her parents write to Dumbledore seeking advice. What should they do? Should they let their younger daughter to return home temporarily until she gets better? Is she safe at Hogwarts?
Dumbledore sighs at the empty parchment before him as he struggles to write his reply. It is his duty, his burden, as Headmaster to always know the right answer. There is a need to show a strong front for parents and students. His own doubts about his abilities and decisions must always be hidden and shielded away. They are only permitted to reside in the dark recess of his mind, untouched by anyone else. It is a burden that has weighed heavily on Albus Dumbledore. More so in recent years than ever before.
His task is interrupted by the arrival of his visitor from the previous evening.
Severus Snape marches into the Headmaster's office, and before the latter has the chance to offer any greetings, Snape spats out, "There is nothing special about him."
Albus Dumbledore looks into the dark eyes of his trusted companion, and pauses for a moment before speaking.
"I have also been observing Mister Potter. From his birth, and more so since his arrival at Hogwarts. Yes, I concur, he has not displayed any extraordinary talents. He appears to be a student just slightly above average in his academic career, though I imagine his efforts have been aided greatly by his friendship with Miss Granger."
Dumbledore paused again and leans back on his chair, motioning to Snape, who stands before him, to take up a seat as well.
"But yet, it is a prophecy. It is a prophecy that perhaps I would not have given such serious consideration if I did not hear it with my own ears. It is a prophecy I would have liked to discard, if not for the state of the War that surrounds us. If we were still strong, if his power has weakened."
Dumbledore sighs.
"We are losing this War. You know this as well as I do. With each day, his power grows and ours weakens. If this continues, it will not be long before we fall to Voldemort."
Snape clenches his fists. He does know this. As a member of Voldemort's inner circle, he knows that the recruits have increased in number, and their strength has increased. However, he dared to hope that there were still many chances for a change, that there was still hope that something will happen that will tilt the scales to the Light once again.
As though reading his thoughts, Dumbledore says aloud "I believe Harry is our last hope."
Harry pokes at the chicken on his plate, lacking any appetite for food this evening. His experience earlier in the DADA class continues to trouble him greatly. He still feels great indignation that so many points were removed from the Gryffindors since they were all silenced, and the angry murmurs along the Gryffindor table that evening suggests that he was not alone in his anger. However, Harry was more troubled by the "demonstration" by Professor Snape. When the Professor performed Legilimency on him, he felt the Professor peer through every single one of his memories and thought. Harry feels a chill down his back just recalling the experience. The experience left him feeling completely exposed and vulnerable. After the class, he tried to talk to Hermione and Ron to see if they felt the same thing, but they seemed not wholly bothered by the experience. Ron shrugged and said he felt barely anything, and Hermione reported the same. When they asked if it was different for him, Harry did not feel like responding that he felt like his very soul was examined by the spell.
Harry glances up at the head table, and sees Professor Snape staring into his plate, apparently also not possessing a good appetite. Harry has always liked his Professors in school, even Professor Binns. Now, he finds a resentment towards his new DADA Professor growing within him.
Later in the evening, Harry walks silently through the halls of the castle, trying to sort out his thoughts.
Even after dinner, he continued to feel conflicted about the events earlier in the day. He found himself unable to concentrate on his studies and feltsuffocated by the people in the common room. To get out of their normally clad-in-stone study schedule, he told Hermione he wanted to head to the library to get additional reading. This is the only valid reason that Hermione would possibly accept, and she dids with a smile and an approving nod, happy that Harry seemed eager to extend his studies. Ron, however, knew Harry too well. He was pretty sure his best friend just wanted to break free from the study schedule, and so he tried to tell Hermione he too needed a book from the library. Unfortunately, Ron's eagerness to extend his studies was a bit too unbelievable for Hermione to accept.
Harry feels relieved that he managed to get free on his own. Though he imagine he can try to talk to his friends about it, he was still too confused and frustrated by his thoughts to explain it to himself, much less to someone else.
After an hour, Harry finally decides he has to go to the library to pick up a book to at least make his excuse seem believable. Just as he was turning the corner to head to the library, a tall figure steps into his path. Harry looks up, and quickly takes a small step back.
"Headmaster!"
The Headmaster smiles at the youth. "Mister Potter. Am I interrupting you in something?"
"Umm, I was just on my way to the library to take a book for my studies."
"How fascinating. For what class are you doing research for?"
Harry has never spoken to the Headmaster one-on-one before, much less in a situation where the two of them are alone without any possible distractions that can help to interrupt the conversation. Hermione hadn't asked what subject he was doing extra readings for, so Harry didn't have a ready answer for reply. He tries to think quickly to come up with an answer. "Potions?" He half answer.
Dumbledore smiles again, and Harry is feeling quite sure that the Headmaster sees through his response.
"Is your research quite urgent, or would you be available to walk with me to my office? I have been hoping for a chance to talk to you Mister Potter."
A slight panic grows in Harry's eyes and questions start to flood his mind. It isn't curfew yet, so his presence in the hall shouldn't be a cause for punishment, should it? He isn't doing anything suspicious is he? Why is he being asked to go to the Headmaster's office?
The Headmaster tries to calm his fears. "You are not in any trouble Mister Potter." Dumbledore feels that he is telling a lie as he said those words. "There is, however, a serious matter I wish to discuss with you. If you will, my office this way. He gestures to the right corridor and proceeds to take a few steps, before stopping and looking back, waiting for the still immobile Harry.
Harry takes a breath and steps forward to follow the Headmaster.
How much more can go wrong today, he wonders.
