Harry could feel all of his muscles tense up as he was slithering against the floor. "Almost there. Almost there." he felt himself say. He kept slithering towards the door that he's been dreaming about for months, and he felt excitement and anticipation flowing through his body. At least until he "smelled" the air through his tongue, and found somebody's scent. He slithered towards the wizard's scent, and saw the wizard walking through the corridor with a lit wand. He saw the wizard turn around and look at him, and he started attacking. Everytime he attacked the man, his veins tightened up. The man was helpless under the attack, and his face was bloodied by the end of the attacked. Harry noticed that the man was Mr. Weasley, his best friend's dad.
With a start, Harry woke up in sweat and was gasping for breath. Ron was looking at him in worry, and Harry told Ron in a shaky breath "Ron, your dad's just been attacked at the Ministry of Magic. We have to go tell Professor Dumbledore." Ron stared at Harry in fear, hoping that what his friend just told him wasn't the truth. They both went downstairs in a hurry, and were stopped by Professor McGonagall. "Where are you two heading off to after hours?" she asked them both. "Professor, I just saw Mr. Weasley getting attacked at the Ministry. I need to tell Professor Dumbledore now." Harry told his Head of House. She gave him the same look Ron did when he told him, then escorted Ron and himself down to Professor Dumbledore's office. "Professor, I saw Mr. Weasley get attacked in one of my dreams. It wasn't really a dream, but I was there and I was sleeping when I saw it." Harry told Dumbledore. "Minerva, can you go get the other Weasley children, and Professor Black as well?" Dumbledore asked McGonagall. She quickly left the office, leaving Harry and Ron with Dumbledore. "In the dream, were you standing next to the victim or were you looking down at the scene?" Dumbledore asked Harry. "Neither. It was like-. Professor, will you please tell me what's happening to me?"
"Everard, Arthur was on guard duty tonight. Make sure he's found by the right people." Dumbledore told one of his portraits. The portrait nodded it's head, and left to its other portrait in the Ministry of Magic. "Professor, can you please tell me what's happening?" Harry once again asked Dumbledore. The portrait of Everard returned, and it told Dumbledore "It was close Albus, but they found him. What's more, they failed to acquire it." Dumbledore looked at the portrait "Ah, that's good." All of a sudden, the burst of rage that's been bottling inside of Harry was just let loose. "LOOK AT ME!" he yelled at Dumbledore. Everyone in the room ended up looking at him, even the ones who just entered. "What's happening to me?" Harry asked Dumbledore. Harry felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked to see it was Sirius' hand. "You called Headmaster?" Sirius asked. "Ah Sirius, I'm afraid it's time to start Mr. Potter's Occlumency lessons now." Dumbledore told him.
Sirius nodded at the Headmaster, and told Harry "Come on Harry, we're going to my office right now." Sirius told Harry. Harry knew it wasn't an offer, but a quiet order, and so he followed it. He was still filled with rage like he has been ever since the summer, and he couldn't figure out why he was so angry all of the time. It was a few minutes walk to Sirius' Office, and Harry could see that Sirius had a lot planned for his Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons. "Sirius, why do we have to start my Occlumency lessons a day earlier?" Harry asked his godfather. Sirius pulled a chair aside for Harry to sit in, and indicated so before giving his answer. "Dumbledore believes that there is a connection between Voldemort's mind and your own. Now whether he is aware of this connection, I don't know, but I sure hope he isn't." he answered. "So i he was aware, he could read my mind?" Harry asked him. "He could do so much more than read it. It was often Voldemort's specialty to drive people insane by showing them their worst memories over and over and over again. He wouldn't stop until he had his victim literally begging for death, then he would kill them personally." Sirius replied. Harry looked at the floor, while processing this information. "That's where I come in so it doesn't come to that. Occlumency is magical defense of the mind, that'll stop anybody from having access to it. Of course, there are factors to it, like how skilled you are at Occlumency for one matter. And how good your opponent is at Legilimency, the magical invasion of the mind." Sirius explained to Harry.
"Now Harry, I want you to clear your body, heart, and mind of all emotion, because it's hard to perform Occlumency when your mind isn't clear." Sirius told Harry. Harry found it easy to clear his mind, since he wasn't angry at the moment. "Is your mind clear Harry?" Sirius asked him. Harry nodded and looked at his godfather. "Keep your mind clear, and try to keep me out. I'm sorry if this hurts at all." Sirius told him. He pointed his wand at Harry "Legilimens!" Sirius casted at Harry. Harry felt something poking his mind, but just like Sirius had instructed he kept the force out. "Well done Harry. That was extremely well for your first time. I saw a few of your memories, but you managed to keep me out. Your parents would be proud." Sirius told him. "I have a feeling this would've went a lot differently if I would have taken these lessons with Snape." Harry told Sirius. "Why do you think that Harry?" Sirius laughed as he asked. "It's just that Snape is always looking at me with loathing, and I'm always angry at him and always hate him. I don't think I would've gotten past the clear your emotions part with him. It's much easier with people you care for." Harry explained to Sirius.
Sirius walked over to his godson, and hugged him. "That's all for tonight. Just remember to clear your mind every night, before going to sleep and you'll be perfectly fine. Alright?" Sirius asked Harry. Harry smiled and nodded his head. Then Harry started walking towards the office door. His hand was on the handle, when he stopped and told Sirius "I was the snake. I didn't see Mr. Weasley get attacked. I was the snake that attacked him." Sirius then replied to Harry with a smile "We all know it wasn't you. You were in your bed in Gryffindor Tower. Don't worry about it Harry, Mr. Weasley is safe." Harry smiled then walked out of the door, and started heading toward Gryffindor Tower. It took him fifteen minutes to get there, and he told the Fat Lady the password. He walked in, and despite it being past midnight, everyone was up and it seems they were waiting for him. "What happened Harry?" Seamus asked him. "Yeah what happened Harry?" Hermione asked him. Harry looked at everyone, and once again he found himself uncomfortably as the center of attention. "I had a nightmare, but it turns out that it wasn't a nightmare, but an event that was happening at that time. I saw somebody get attacked, and the right people found him. That's all." Harry told them. He went back to the Boys Dormitory. He sat on his bed and just stared out of the window. "It looks like a perfect night to go flying." Harry thought to himself. He instead laid his head back on his pillow, and cleared his mind. He then slowly went back to sleep.
The months passed, and Harry, Ron, and especially Hermione, were feeling the pressures of their O.W.L. year, and it was only December. "Between Transfiguration, Astronomy, and Potions, those three are going to cause me to not get O.W.L.s in those classes." Harry told his two best friends. Hermione looked irritable at everybody, as she took her usual seat by the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room. Harry felt sorry for the First and Second Years that were talking at the time, because Hermione used her powers as Prefect to give out detentions to them. "Hermione was that really necessary? They were just talking." Harry asked her. Hermione looked at Harry with death in her eyes, and Harry instantly stopped talking. They started doing their homework for Transfiguration, well at least Ron and Harry did. Hermione started working on her Astronomy homework. "Do you have any idea on how you're supposed to make a rat vanish?" Ron asked Harry. Harry replied "I have no idea. Remember, I'm struggling too. Fred and George were not kidding about how stressful this year is. Between Quidditch, Prefect Duty, and all of this homework, I'm on the verge of collapsing." Harry said. "Me too mate, me too." Ron agreed with his best friend. Hermione scoffed at them, and they both took it as her agreeing with them. "Speaking of Quidditch, aren't you due at the Quidditch Pitch for practice in...ten minutes?" Ron asked Harry, as he checked his watch.
Harry looked at Ron in horror as he packed his homework, and headed upstairs to grab his Firebolt. He had to dig through his trunk to find it, but when he did, he started dashing like his life was in danger towards the Quidditch Pitch. He was out of breath as soon as he ran inside of the locker room of the Quidditch Pitch. "HARRY POTTER! YOU'RE LATE!" a female voice yelled at Harry. "I'm sorry Angelina. I forgot we had practice today. Won't happen again." Harry told Angelina in a rush to appease her anger. "Make sure you see that it doesn't happen again." Angelina told him aggressively. Harry gulped in fear, and quickly changed into his Quidditch uniform. He went onto the field, and started flying on his Firebolt. After about two minutes, Angelina released the Golden Snitch, and immediately Harry flew after it. It took him a minute to catch the Snitch, and that made Angelina happy. They kept this up for another two hours, before Angelina told them they could head back to the castle.
Harry stayed behind in the locker room, because he was inspecting his Firebolt. He felt that it wasn't running like it was supposed to, and so he decided to inspect it. All he saw out of place were a few bent twigs, and that the handle needed to be polished. "What's wrong Firebolt? I need to take you to Quality Quidditch Supplies soon to get you fixed up. Until then, I'll clip your twigs and polish your handle." Harry told his Firebolt. He could've sworn that he felt his Firebolt vibrate in his hands in reply. It took him awhile to get back inside of the castle, since he was worried about his Firebolt. By the time he entered the castle, he saw that it was dinnertime, but he wasn't really hungry so he headed back up to the Gryffindor Common Room. He was on the Third Floor, when he saw Nearly-Headless Nick. "Hello Nick. How've you been for the past couple months?" Harry asked the ghost. "I've been well young Harry. Better off than you Fifth Years, I assume. These O.W.L. exams are murder." Nick replied. "That's for sure." Harry muttered under his breath. "Why aren't you down at dinner, Harry?" Nick asked him.
Harry looked at the Gryffindor ghost, then looked down at his Firebolt. "I'm worried about my Firebolt Nick. It's not running as well as it usually does, and I need to take it to Quality Quidditch Supplies in Diagon Alley." Harry told Nick. "Why don't you ask Professor Dumbledore if you can travel to Diagon Alley for that?" Nick asked Harry. Harry shook his head at Nearly Headless Nick, and told him "No, Dumbledore is too busy to give me permission to leave the castle grounds. Besides, I was going to ask Sirius if he could do it for me." Nick looked at Harry, then nodded his head. "Farewell young Harry. I hope your Firebolt becomes fixed." he told Harry, while floating away. Harry continued his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room to get ready for Prefect Duty. He put his Firebolt away, as soon as he entered the Common Room. He then went to sit by the fireplace to wait for Hermione and Ron. He started back on his Transfiguration homework again, while he was waiting for them. "So if I wanted to make a rat or a cat vanish, I would have to do what?" Harry asked himself. "I should just ask Hermione how she does it." he told himself. "You honestly think I'll tell you that?" Hermione asked from behind him.
He looked at his best friend, and gave her a sheepish smile. "Please Hermione? It'll greatly help me out for McGonagall's class." Harry pleaded with her. Ron wasn't laughing at his best mate, because he already begged for Hermione's help. "Come on, we have to go do Prefect Duty." Hermione told Harry. He groaned as she just blew off his pleading. "Oh well, it was worth the try." Harry thought to himself, as he got up to go on Prefect Duty with Hermione. About ten minutes later, Harry and Hermione covered all of the Seventh Floor and half of the Sixth Floor. "So how are you and Daphne doing?" Hermione asked Harry. "We're doing good. Our first year anniversary is next week on the 10th. The day I asked Daphne as my date to the Yule Ball last year." Harry replied. "Oh yeah, you did start dating Daphne on the tenth. The exact day Ron and I started dating. I guess we all made good decisions on that day." Hermione said with a blush on her face. "Yeah, I guess we did." Harry replied.
They finished doing Prefect Duty a half an hour past midnight, then headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room. "I'm exhausted, and it's a Hogsmeade visit later on today. I might not wake up in time to go." Harry told Hermione. "Ron and I are going to the Three Broomsticks tomorrow. If you do wake up, maybe you and Daphne can join us." Hermione suggested. "That'll be nice. It'll be just like the last time." Harry replied. They entered their Common Room, and headed straight towards their Dormitories like they usually did. As soon as Harry's head hit the pillow, he thought to himself "I'm resigning as Prefect after this year is over." He fell asleep without even clearing his mind of emotion, but he didn't care if he suffered for it. Right now, he just wanted to go to sleep, and that's exactly what he did.