A/N) Thank you to all those who have reviewed! I am currently writing chapter 47, so this story is coming along very well, which I am immensely pleased with! Enjoy!

Chapter Forty-Four: Answers and Attacks

Two days later, Harry received a reply from Sirius. He had not been expecting a reply that quickly since he knew his godfather was very busy at the Ministry. Every other day there had been a new death, or someone else had gone missing. The Aurors had their hands full. In fact, Harry had been so surprised to see Hedwig land in front of him that he dropped his spoon in his cereal, splashing his milk everywhere. Ron scowled at him as he pulled the piece of parchment from Hedwig's leg. He unrolled it and began to read:

Harry,

What Professor Snape means is that once you have mastered the basic art of Occlumency, you are capable of blocking out memories that you do not want an experienced Legillimens to see. To do that you have to think of a wall, a blank one but if you do not supply the Legillimens with a false memory then they will detect the wall. It is difficult to explain in a letter and I only have limited training myself, however a blank wall can be exactly what you need, so that you can continue to think.

Sirius

Harry frowned. He had to hold a blank wall in place of the information that Voldemort required while creating a fake memory that would fool his enemy? He had told Ron and Hermione about sending a letter to Sirius about this and he passed the letter to them both, allowing them to read it. Ron finished with a very confused look on his face; Hermione on the other hand was smiling broadly.

"I'm still slightly confused," began Harry.

"Oh, but it is so simple!" said Hermione.

"Is it?" interrupted Ron, earning a dirty look from Hermione.

"Harry told us that his mind created those happy memories without any conscious thought. He's got to train himself to do that all the time, depending on the circumstances. When we are at peace, at calm with the world our minds are blank. We think of nothing. Harry, you can do that, right?"

He nodded.

"Then try it," urged Hermione.

Harry looked around the Great Hall. "Here, Hermione?" He felt aware of all the people in the hall. What would they think if they saw him acting oddly in front of Hermione?

"It doesn't matter. Just trust me."

Harry swallowed and closed his eyes, calming his mind and thought of nothing: his mind completely blank.

"Imagine a wall and place it at the forefront of your mind," instructed Hermione.

And he did, but as soon as the words were spoken, a steel wall clamped into place around his whole mind.

"And create," said Hermione softly.

It was as if it was an automatic reaction. Despite no spell being performed on him, his mind had already crafted a memory that had not happened. Instead of seeing Hermione helping him, he saw Hermione and Ron arguing over Sirius's letter. But the memory he had unconsciously created was outside the wall of steel.

"It's an unconscious reaction..." whispered Harry. "I put the pieces together, I make sure the wall is there but I don't consciously create what I see. My mind behind the wall is doing it all for me and thrusts the images out. The only thing I have to do is be calm and my mind clear. And that is what Snape means?"

"Not exactly," admitted Hermione. "Your mind is creating random images, but when you are under extreme pressure you wouldn't be able to do that, so you've got to train yourself to do it consciously without being noticed. Do you see what I mean? You have to limit that wall you create to shield what he wants to see, while making up an image that would fool him. Your defence mechanism wouldn't work while you are under pressure. Here at Hogwarts you aren't, so you have to learn to do that before you are in that position."

And Harry finally understood. At the moment the wall he had created, was blocking his entire mind from view. He had to calm a certain part of his mind and then 'wall' in the information, but his mind would still be free, so he would be able to then create an image – a memory – that would fool Voldemort. He had to keep the wall up and that part of his mind calm and clear while actively attempting to defend himself. It sounded difficult to him at that moment, but Harry had a feeling that once he stood in front of Snape that night, he would be able to employ what he had just discovered against his Potion's Professor.

Like Sirius before her, Avril Leverg was a very competent Auror, one that had been with the division for years but was a few years younger than Sirius. Her experience was invaluable to the students and she had quickly become a success among the student body. Enthused by the student's reaction to her, Avril had set up a Duelling and Defence club scheduled for every Friday night. The first meeting was on the 10th September, and she had asked students to put their names down. Harry, Ron and Hermione had quickly joined the list.

That night Harry walked down to Snape's office, feeling confident about his ability to fend off the Potion's Master. Before he knocked, he centred his mind and breathed calmly, consciously putting in place a wall around the most sensitive information he was partial too. As soon as he walked in, Snape bellowed the incantation and attacked his mind, but because he had been prepared, Harry was ready and succeeded in throwing up a defensive memory that threw the Professor off-guard.

Snape lowered his wand as Harry moved further into the room. "Well done, Potter. You have been practicing." He pointed to a chair. "Sit."

Harry did so, placing his school bag at his feet and waited.

"You have succeeded in the basic use of Occlumency, however you must now learn to work under pressure and how to think while keeping your mind clear. You cannot be under pressure here but once I see that I can no longer teach you anything, I will set you a test, but I will not tell you when. It will come when you least expect it. It is the best way to test your reactions when you are not expecting a Legillimens to prey through your mind."

"Yes sir," said Harry. He had figured that Snape wouldn't let him get away that easily without some test of some sort. He swallowed a lump in his throat. "How do I keep my mind clear while thinking Sir?"

"You must lock away the information that the Legillimens seeks. In this case the Dark Lord is after information concerning the Prophecy and the whereabouts of your irksome godfather. It is that, you must keep protected all the time. Through your link the Dark Lord can effortlessly see into your mind – which means the usual rules of Occlumency do not apply. He does not need to be looking you in the eye to do so... You have already worked out that a wall is needed to hold back information. I could see that wall. Now you must work out how to make it unnoticeable. You can continue to think once you have mastered the art of holding back information unconsciously."

"How do I do that, sir?" asked Harry, although he figured that Snape wouldn't give him a straight answer. He was right.

"Let's see if you can work it out, Potter," Snape sneered as he lifted his wand.

Harry stared defiantly up at his Professor, waiting. He could do this.

Snape cast the spell and Harry – on instinct – threw up a wall even as he felt scratching inside his head. He hadn't even thought of what to shield, he just had and to his surprise the wall he had crafted suddenly became visible to him. Gasping with shock and surprise, Harry lost his concentration and the wall dropped and Snape dove for the memories that Harry had been protecting.

Heart beating fast in his chest, Harry attempted to throw up the wall again but Snape was already inside the memories, and true images circled through his mind even as he fumbled to throw up the wall once more. He didn't know how long it lasted until Snape ended the spell. Harry bought his hands to his head and groaned loudly.

"Concentration, Potter, is essential to mastering this skill. You threw up a shield but you were surprised that it was invisible. It seems that you do not need to learn how to make it invisible, you just need to understand that making it visible is not the best idea," explained Snape.

"I didn't know I'd done that..." said Harry, slowly. His mouth was suddenly dry. "It was instinct... but I have to learn how I can make it invisible again if I slip..."

"Concentration," said Snape again.

"I know that, sir!" shouted Harry, feeling frustrated. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. With his mind he created a wall around memories that he did not want Snape to access, and imagined himself locking it away and throwing away the key. Instantly the wall vanished but he knew it was there... He couldn't help grinning at his new found discovery. Glancing back up at Snape, he steeled himself for another attack.

And this time, he was ready.

"SIRIUS! Look out!"

Sirius ducked as red light whooshed over his head. He flattened himself against the floor, hiding behind an overturned chair. When they had received a call from Augusta Longbottom about suspicious activity outside the ancestral home, the Aurors had been quick to gather a small force and investigate. As soon as they had Apparated into the area, they had found seven Death Eaters torturing the old woman, who was the grandmother of Neville, one of Harry's friends at school.

"You'll have to try better than that, Bella!" he laughed, summoning a shield as another stunner was directed towards him. Sirius had been given the task of being the distraction. Considering it was evident that Voldemort was after him, Sirius had volunteered to play as a distraction while the other members of his team concentrated on rescuing Augusta Longbottom. The ploy was working – obviously the Death Eaters had been given instructions to detain him if he arrived on the scene, but he was proving too difficult to capture. He was darting all over the place, throwing curse after curse after curse at the opposing side. Hestia Jones and Tonks fought beside him while Kinglsey Shacklebolt led the other five Aurors to the shaking body of Mrs Longbottom.

"You won't always be so careful, cousin!" sneered Bellatrix, as she fired a killing curse at Tonks who ducked and sent one in retaliation. No Auror liked killing but sometimes it was necessary, however Bellatrix was too fast and had already moved by the time the purple-haired Witch had returned her curse.

Sirius moved forward – only slightly out of their line – casting an Impediment Jiinx which careened into another of the masked Death Eaters. Bellatrix was the only one unmasked – she was the only one who dared to openly confront him. But then, she hated his guts and would probably enjoy bringing him before Voldemort and she knew how much he despised her. He was risking a lot by even fighting her, but he had to.

Spells flew over his head, and he ducked. He twisted his body as a killing curse came close to him.

"DON'T KILL HIM, YOU FOOL!" That was Bellatrix. Clearly she was in charge of this operation.

"Sirius, they've gone!" shouted Hestia Jones.

He risked a brief look and saw that the Aurors tending to Mrs Longbottom had gone. He sighed with relief. "Fall back!"

Together he, Tonks and Hestia moved back in a line towards the door of the living room which was hanging off its doorframe, practically shattered in two. The Death Eaters were advancing, and Sirius signalled for both Tonks and Hestia to get behind him. He knew if he was protecting them, the chances of a killing curse being cast were low. They reached the door: Hestia ducking around the corner, quickly followed by Tonks, and then Sirius.

As soon as he rounded the corner, Sirius raised his wand, spun on the spot and Dis-apparated, leaving behind the Death Eaters amongst the wreckage that was the home to one of the most purest Wizarding families left in the world. Within seconds, Sirius was back at Auror headquarters, sending a message to Hogwarts, explaining that Neville Longbottom needed to be told about his grandmother. He could only hope that Neville would not lose another member of his family to the torture curse.

To be continued...

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Coming up next: Family Ties - coming soon

Until next time,

the-writer1988