Chapter Eighteen: Occlumency

The following Monday found Ron alone in the fifth year boy's dormitory with Douglas, the doors had been sealed and a privacy charm had been cast to prevent them being overheard. Ron was standing as Douglas was sitting on his bed.

'Okay,' began Ron, 'Harry told you that he had a plan for you to learn something important and here it is; I am going to be teaching you Occlumency.'

'Er, what's that?' asked Douglas.

'Occlumency is the little known but useful ability to defend your mind from attack – by attack, I mean Legillimency, which is a method of breaking into one's mind and using the victim's memories against them or to even plant often horrific thoughts and visions into the victim's mind making them beg for death, something Voldemort has been known to do on occasion,' Ron answered.

'You think he'll try to do this to me?'

'We do at some point, but after he becomes aware of the connection between your minds,' Ron said.

'You're going to be teaching me?'

'Yes, I am –'

'Why you?' asked Douglas, cutting across Ron.

'Harry didn't want to and neither of us trusts you with the girls –'

'Oh, come on, I wouldn't try anything with them!' exclaimed Douglas, cutting across Ron a second time before saying, 'anyone with any brains can see Ginny is all about my brother and that Hermione is completely devoted to you!'

Ron smiled and said, 'Good, I'm glad to hear it because I would hate to have to hurt you.'

Douglas grimaced and said, 'So, Occlumency?'

'Right, stand up and take out your wand,' said Ron.

Douglas complied and said, 'Now what?'

'Now close your eyes and try to sort out your memories, sort the good from the bad, and then try to empty your head of all thoughts, okay?'

Douglas said nothing as he tried to comply.

'Take your time, and tell me when you think you've accomplished it all,' said Ron.

After a short period of time, Douglas opened his eyes and gave Ron a nod.

'Okay, I am now going to attempt to break into your mind using wandless and wordless Legillimency, okay?'

'Er, okay, then what?'

'You will try to repel me using your mind.'

'How?' asked Douglas.

'Concentration is the key and don't let me get in too deep, now, are you ready?'

'Yes,' replied Douglas, looking Ron in the eyes.

Then, without another word, Ron began.

Unfortunately, Douglas could not stop Ron seeing his worst memories.

'Kill the spare!' said a high, cold voice before a flash of green light left Wormtail's wand and hit Viktor Krum, killing him instantly, as Douglas tried to fight the pain from his scar.

He was aware that Wormtail had tied him to a gravestone before watching the rat-like man take the bone of the father, flesh of the servant and then having blood taken from him and added to the cauldron of potion before seeing Voldemort rise again.

The memory changed to something else.

Douglas was looking at his parents as he tried so desperately to get their attention.

'Not now, Douglas, we're trying to figure out where your brother might be!' his mother scolded.

'But, Mummy, I need you!' he cried.

His mother seemed not to hear him as she fretted over Harry as his father and godfather were also too busy to pay attention to him.

The memory changed again.

'Stand aside, girl!' said a high, cold voice.

'Please, no, don't kill my sons!' a woman's voice pleaded.

'Stand aside now, woman, or die!'

'Please, no, I'll do anything, not my sons!' she pleaded.

There was a crash as something hit a wall before –

'Avada – no – crucio!' said the high, cold voice as the woman put herself between her infants and the man's wand, as the woman then screamed in agony before silence engulfed the room once more.

The memory changed again.

Douglas found himself standing in front of a blond girl, who was wearing robes with a silver and green trim.

'I suppose you're wondering why I wanted to speak to you?' he asked.

'As a matter of fact, I am,' she replied haughtily.

'Well, I was wandering if you wanted to come to Hogsmeade with me?'

'Why would I want to do that, Potter?' she replied.

'Because I like you,' he replied honestly.

The girl shot him a look of deep dislike before saying, 'I wouldn't go to Hogsmeade with you if you were the last wizard on earth, Potter, all you want is to claim that you've snogged another girl to impress that stupid, Irish ingrate Finnigan!'

'No, I promise you, I really do like you, and I don't care that you're in Slytherin, either!' he pleaded.

'What a load rubbish, Potter, the only person you really like is yourself, so go away and leave me alone!' she hissed at him.

'But, D–'

'No, you're not watching that, you've seen enough already!' said Douglas.

The girl then gave Douglas an almighty slap to the face and walked away.

Ron pulled out of Douglas' head and said, 'What happened?'

'It's none of your business!' Douglas snapped.

'I don't mean with the girl, what happened to you trying to repel me?'

'I don't fucking know, all right!' he raged.

'You let me in too deep and I was able to penetrate your mind far too easily,' Ron told him.

'Oh, right, sorry,' said Douglas calming down a little.

'Rest for a few minutes and we'll try again,' said Ron.

'Is that normally what Legillimency feels like?'

'No, with Voldemort it'll be much worse; he'll try to plant false visions in your head and I suspect your scar will burn too, not to mention Voldemort is more likely to use his wand …'

'How come you're not using yours?'

'It'll be more difficult for you to repel me if I use my wand, I'm starting you off slowly to train you up a bit before I go at you full throttle so to speak,' Ron told him.

Douglas did not know what to say to that so he stayed quiet.

'Who was the girl?' Ron asked.

'It doesn't matter; she wouldn't give me the time of day, which isn't surprising as a lot of people call her "The Ice Queen".'

'But you like her though?'

'You saw what I saw?'

'Yes.'

'Then you'll have seen how beautiful she is …'

'She's got fuck all on Hermione,' said Ron.

Douglas couldn't help laugh at that before Ron asked him if he was ready to try again, and Douglas told him he was so Ron told him how to build a wall around his mind before trying again. They continued for the next forty-five minutes before it was time for dinner.

Before taking down the charms for privacy Ron spoke.

'You got better as the session went on, but you still have a very long way to go before you're ready to try to repel me while I use my wand, so for homework, I want you to practice clearing your mind of thought every night before going to bed, and we'll have another lesson next week.'

'Right, I will, er, thanks, Ron,' said Douglas.

'No worries,' Ron replied before he waved his wand to undo the charms on the door before Douglas left.

Ron then opened the friend hub to mind-speak with Harry.

'Harry?'

'Yes?'

'We have a lot of work ahead of us to get him ready.'

'I thought we might, thanks, Ron.'

'No worries, I'll see you in a few minutes for dinner.'

'I'll tell your wife you're on your way so she'll save you a seat.'

'Thanks, mate.'

'No worries.'

Ron closed the hub before leaving the dormitory.

A/N: I feel I should answer a few reviews for this story so I shall.

To the reviewer who asked if the girls are going to get pregnant in this story, the answer is no. The odds of me writing a birthing scene for this or any other story are zero.

To the reviewer who has accused me of being a disciple of another author because I have a smart and powerful Ron in this and all my stories, I say I am my own man and I have a smart and powerful Ron in my stories because I have actually read the fucking books rather than just watched the films! Although I doubt that reviewer will get to read this response, but never mind.

To the reviewer who thinks quotation marks are speech marks, they are not. In every single book published in the UK, whenever dialogue is opened an inverted apostrophe is used, and dialogue is closed with a regular one. For example: 'Alright, pup?' said Sirius. So, just to clarify, these " are quotation marks. These ' are speech marks. Don't believe me? Go find a book published in the UK and see for yourself. JK Rowling uses them and Bernard Cornwell uses them. Cheerio!