The Granger Son
Harry; Hermione; Dr. Grangerx2
Rated T
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling
The Granger Son
Chapter 22
Harry, Hermione, and Draco were all walking to the greenhouses for their Herbology class the next day, the three of them having met near the Great Hall before doing so. As they went, Hermione decided to fill in her brother and friend about the dream she had had the night before. As she told them what she had dreamed about, believing it to be one of her dream visions, she asked, "What do you think? Do you think I could be wrong?"
Draco tilted his head in thought for a moment before answering, "I suppose it could be plausible. After all, we all know Umbridge is starting to stick her nose into our business, and that she has Filch breathing down our necks as well. But also, I wouldn't be too worried about if it were a vision or not."
"But you wouldn't discount it?"
"I suppose not, but it sounds to me like a problem that can be dealt with later."
Harry frowned and looked at the blond wizard. "What makes you say that?"
"Because if this dream is actually a vision of the future, it gives no definitive time of when it could happen. You heard Hermione yourself, Harry. All she saw in her dream was that it was daytime, that's it. There was no indication of the pink toad possibly finding out about Potter's Army in the near future or after. Therefore, I think it best to worry about it later and not right now. After all, the term just started; it's too early for her to already be on the prowl again."
Hermione wasn't too sure about that. It didn't sit well with her that Draco wanted to put her dream on the backburner and just ignore it until they could no longer. But at the same time, she understood his reasoning. Like he had said, there was no definitive time of Umbridge discovering the Room of Requirement or Potter's Army.
A gentle hand placed itself on her shoulder, and she looked to see green eyes behind round frames looking at her with a reassuring smile. As he smiled at the brunette, Harry told her, "I believe you, Hermione. I always have about your dreams, even when we were just young kids. Your visions are rarely ever wrong, so I'm also going to be on my toes about it, especially if it spells trouble."
Smiling at her brother, Hermione nodded in thanks before they moved to catch up with Draco, reaching the greenhouse for their Herbology lesson. The dream could be set aside for now, but they would still be on alert just in case.
A week had passed before Harry was summoned back to Professor Snape's classroom to resume his lessons in Occlumency. Harry was surprised that he hadn't been summoned to resume his lessons earlier by the brooding Potions Master. After all, he and his friends had resumed their secret defense sessions in the Room of Requirement. Perhaps Snape had wanted to give him a reprieve before starting up again, but who was to say for sure. But he knew it wouldn't be long before he was called back, and he had been right.
Sitting in a chair prepared for his lesson to begin, Harry watched Professor Snape twirl his wand in his hand before sharply pointing it at him. Black eyes looked into green before his deep voice commanded, "Prepare yourself, Mr. Potter."
Taking a deep breath, Harry gave a nod as he looked at the wand pointed at him. Snape looked at the boy for a brief moment before incanting, "Legilimens."
As they went about the lesson, the Potions professor found himself to be rather impressed. Potter was much better at blocking him from his mind than he had been upon first starting Occlumency. While his outer walls in his mind were still weak and easily able to be forced down, his inner walls were rather impenetrable, standing strong against his probing. The memories that the Fifth Year were determined to keep hidden away from him were being hidden, the boy not allowing him entry.
This discovery was somewhat surprising to Snape. Not the fact that he was able to keep some of his mental walls up; no, that wasn't a surprise at all. It was the fact that the mental walls that were standing strong already were the ones deeper into his mind. For most beginners of Occlumency, the outer walls stood the strongest, as most wizards and witches' determination to keep others out started with the outer wall. It was their first line of defense and therefore had to stand the strongest. But it seemed like Mr. Potter's mind and training had settled for the inner walls to be the ones that stood the strongest and the outer ones the weakest as a beginner. Truthfully, this was actually a good practice to do, and Snape commended him for it. After all, the thoughts and memories that were the most important to keep to one's self had to be protected the most.
Breaking off the spell, Professor Snape looked at the bespectacled boy before nodding and saying, "Impressive, Mr. Potter; your progress, I mean. You have indeed gotten much better in keeping me out of your mind, though I can still get through a few walls. With further continuation of practice, you will soon be a…adequate Occlumens."
Harry couldn't help but chuckle at little at the older wizard's words, wiping sweat from his forehead as he did. That had to be one of the highest praises from Snape he had ever gotten in his whole student career at Hogwarts. Therefore, he was going to take that praise with a grin on his face. As he caught his breath, he said, "Thank you, sir. Are we done with the lesson for tonight?"
"Not quite. I bring up your improvement with Occlumency for a reason, and not for a boost in your ego or morale. I bring it up because I believe that with your progress, you just might be ready to attempt Legilimency."
"Legilimency? Do you really think so, sir?" Harry asked.
Snape gave a nod before doing a quick reminder on Legilimency and its relationship to Occlumency. He also reminded him of how some magical people were naturally gifted in both practices—he and Professor Dumbledore being prime examples—and others by learning, just like Harry was doing. Once the recap was over with, Snape looked at his House student before asking, "Are you ready to attempt to enter my mind, Mr. Potter?"
Nodding, Harry answered almost enthusiastically, "Yes sir."
"This should be interesting," the Potions Master mumbled to himself before allowing the boy to point his wand at him.
Taking a deep breath, Harry looked at his professor and incanted, "Legilimens!"
For the next hour, Harry attempted to breach Professor Snape's mind, though failed multiple times. Snape's mind was too strong, and the first wall of defense in his mind just wouldn't budge. If that wasn't the case, it was because the spell wasn't working on Harry's end. Either way, Harry found that he liked doing Legilimency on his professor; he much preferred it over having his brain invaded all the time. That, and it was another useful tool to have in his arsenal when time came to use it. But first, he had to get a hang of it.
She didn't know when it finally came to her, but she was glad that it had. Dolores Umbridge finally figured out how she was going try and figure out what Potter's secret activities were, as illegal as they probably were. The answer? Veritaserum. Yes, that was the solution to her problem. Of course, using Veritaserum on students, or underage witches in wizards in general, was illegal as well as immoral, but she was willing to do so. She was going to have order if it was the last thing she did at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dolores was not going to allow Potter and his friends to continue to make a fool out of her or the Ministry any longer.
Sipping her tea, Umbridge thought about how she should proceed with her plan. Naturally, she would love to just go to the source of her problems and deal with it then and there, but she was smarter than that. No, she couldn't just start with Potter and his friends, close or surrounding; it would be too obvious what she was doing. Instead, she was going to start out and work her way in. And hopefully, she wouldn't have to going too far inward before discovering the truth about Potter's unseen activities.
It was an excellent plan; indeed, it was. Now it just needed to be executed. Firstly though, she would have to acquire some Veritaserum. She could simply ask Severus to give her some, but she somehow doubted that he would, even with a threat from her if she mentioned the Ministry, at least without some definitive proof of why she needed it. That meant she was going to have to raid his private stores. It was fine, though; what Severus didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Happy with herself and her plan, Umbridge took another sip of her tea, giggling as she congratulated herself on such a fantastic idea.
Author's Note: I apologize for leaving you all hanging on this story. Life has been busy for me with wrapping up last year at work and dealing with a lot in this new year already. Not to mention I'm having a rough bout of insomnia from stress again and thus very tired, but I came back with another chapter, and I hope you all liked it. Hopefully I will be uploading sooner that I have been lately and that you all will continue to follow along. Thank you so much for your patience, and I hope you stay tuned for more to come. Love, SehunsBae37.