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There sat Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville.

Seeing that it was Harry that entered the doorway with Hermione, the boys jumped to their feet and rushed over to their friend.

"Harry how are you…"

"Mate that was intense…"

"You should have seen it! I have never seen a sloth bounce…"

"The sloth? … I have never seen McGonagall so furious; she began yelling at Moody. But once she found out what happened to you, she absolutely tore into Worthington. I have never felt sorry for a Slytherin before … and even after what he did, I almost felt sorry for him…"

Harry laughed and held up his hands and pleaded, "One at a time guys, one at a time."

With that Harry and Hermione joined the boys on the couches as Ron proceeded to recite, step-by-step, what had occurred once Harry and Hermione had left. Once he finished his retelling of events, Harry explained what had happened and what the curse was.

The severity of the curse caused all four boys' faces to blanch. After a second, it was Neville who broke the silence. "You are ok right, Harry?"

After assuring him that he was fine, Harry told them he was exhausted and was ready to wash up and head to bed. With that Harry and Hermione got up and headed to the staircases to their respective dorms.

"Thanks again Hermione, I really appreciated having you there."

With that he turned and headed up to his bed ready to put the entire day behind him.


The next morning when Harry woke up, he was relived to find that Madam Pomfrey's prediction was accurate and his cheek had fully healed. Leaving behind only a slight tingling serving as a reminder that he was in an altercation the previous day.

As Harry joined his friends for breakfast, he noticed that a significant proportion of the students in the Great Hall appeared to be trying to look over at him; he was further thankful of Madam Pomfrey's skill, that he had not been left with an additional scar.

"Feeling better this morning Harry?" asked Ron, as Harry sat down and proceeded to fill his plate.

"Much better," Harry nodded before subtly indicating to the students trying to sneakily look at Harry, "Although I could do without all the additional attention. I get enough of it as is."

Ron and Hermione both nodded as they looked around the Great Hall.

As they were about halfway through their meals, Harry watched as the twins got up from where they were sitting with Angelina and walk over towards the trio, sitting on either side of Ron, who was sitting across from Harry.

"Harry, my boy, looks like you are the center of attention..." Fred said.

"We heard what happened yesterday…"

"Although it appears the usual trusty rumor mill at Hogwarts let us down…"

"Ya…we were hoping to see the most gruesome …"

"… and frightening…"

"…that's right, the most gruesome and frightening facial deformity that the wizarding world has ever seen."

"Apparently according to the rumors you would have lost a beauty competition with Mad-Eye."

"But yet here we are stuck with the same old boring, normal looking Harry Potter."

Harry could not help but laugh at the twin's antics, although he noticed that their routine had served to lessen the interest that had continued in his direction.

Harry looked over at the twins, "Thanks you guys."

The twins looked back and forth and grinned, before George replied, "Think nothing of it Harry, we are just glad you are alright. Although if you were as hideous as the rumors made you out to be I am sure we could have worked that into our Quidditch strategy for next year. Our loss I suppose…"

Harry let out another chuckle and shook his head a smile still on his lips, "I am sure we will make do."

The twins smiled. Then Fred looked around the room and seeing that there was no one within earshot of a quiet conversation, he leaned into towards Harry, "Now, we heard that McGonagall had deducted 150 points from Worthington…after transfiguring him back of course…and he was assigned a month of detention that he will have to serve with Moody, as he was first on the scene,…"

George quietly laughed, "I can't imagine that will be enjoyable for Worthington, although McGonagall made Moody promise that he would not transfigure him within detention."

Fred smiled, "Oh I am pretty sure Worthington will not enjoy spending time with Moody. But what we are saying is that our pranking services are available to you free of charge, if you require them…"

"…for any reason, related to Worthington…"

"…whatsoever."

Harry smiled at the twins before looking over to Hermione who was studying him intently, "Thanks you, you two. I promised I would not do anything foolish. Maybe we will see if Worthington and the Slytherins learned their lesson from this. I personally would not enjoy the thought of having to serve a detention with Moody, especially if my parents were Death Eaters or supported Voldemort."

Harry shook his head as he watched all four of his friends present cringe.

"However, if anything else happens I think it would only be reasonable to enlist your aid, I hear you have some candy that still does not have all the kinks worked out yet and might be thoroughly unpleasant at this stage …"

Harry leaned back, as he saw the twins smile, and turned towards Hermione. "Does that sound alright, Hermione?"

Hermione smiled and nodded, "I am sure they will learn their lesson though."

Harry, however, was less certain that no further altercations would occur between himself and the Slytherins, especially with the Triwizard Tournament coming up. However, he was rather pleased to have heard about the punishment that Worthington had received. Wondering if it was due to the fact that he had been injured or if perhaps Snape had stepped in previously to protect Draco from punishment.

Turning back to the twins Harry smiled, "Well, … we will see if lessons are learned but for now I am alright."

If the twins were disappointed, they did not let it show. They got up before Fred looked at Harry, "No worries at all Harry, you are practically a Marauder after all. And an attack on one of us, deserves payback from the others. Just let us know."

With that they turned around and headed out of the Great Hall, heads together, whispering.

Ron looked between the retreating forms of the twins and Harry and Hermione. "You know if I was willing to bet... I would imagine some incredibly weird accident might just happen to befall Worthington."

This caused Harry and Ron to laugh as Hermione stood up and informed that they better head off to Potions, letting them know Professor Snape was unlikely to be in a good mood after one of his students had received such a significant punishment and had been personally visited by Professor Moody.

When Harry entered the Potions room, he noticed two things immediately. The first was that Draco was sitting by himself in the back of the room rather than with Crabbe and Goyle, near the front. The second was that Professor Snape was standing near the desk Harry usually sat at, with his eyes actively scanning every student who entered the classroom, as if he was looking for …

"Ah Mr. Potter. We are so relieved to see you are not as permanently disfigured as the rumors portrayed. It would have been an unthinkable tragedy to see Hogwarts' favorite celebrity with a scarred face…well with an additional scar."

This brought out a laugh from most of the Slytherins, as Harry was making his way to his desk.

As Harry walked in front of Snape to get to his seat he turned to Snape.

"Thanks for your concern, Professor Snape. Madam Pomfrey said that had the attack been a little higher it would have damaged my eye and that would have been something she was unable to fix. I would have been incredibly disappointed about that. Everyone keeps commenting on how I have my mother's eyes, and these were the only things I got from her, before being shipped off to live with my her sister…" Harry replied quietly, appreciating the frozen look of shock on Professor Snape's face. He continued, "I am not my father, you know."

If Snape had looked like he was shocked before, it looked like he had been slapped now.

Before Snape could recover, Harry immediately averted his eyes, so that he was unable to look into Harry's thoughts.

After sitting down Harry looked over to Neville, saying that he would be his partner today rather than Hermione.

Neville very cautiously approached Harry's desk, as Snape had not left yet. "Ummm…are you sure Harry…it's one thing to want to be my partner in Herbology…but in Potions?…I am the worst student, even with Hermione's constant help I constantly melt cauldron bottoms…and sorry Harry but no offense I don't think you are as good at potions as her…if she can't help me how will you be able to?..."

Professor Snape scoffed at the last remark before turning around with a flourish of his cloak and storming back to the front of his class.

Harry looked at Neville before once again urging him to site down. "Neville, I do not think your potions knowledge nor your magical ability is the problem."

Neville scoffed at this, "Do you even pay attention to me in this class…no matter what I try with the potions …I never seem to be able to do anything. And honestly, you have seen me in other classes trying to cast spells …I just do not think I have a very good connection with magic…Might not be a squib but pretty close." He finished dejectedly looking at the desk in front of him.

Harry smiled sadly at Neville, "Neville, I am serious I do not think knowledge is your problem." Ignoring Neville's repeated scoff, he continued. "I think you need to calm down. I think you put so much pressure on yourself that you can't possibly meet your expectations and then you stress and that causes you to fail."

Seeing that Neville did not immediately respond and had a hint of a thoughtful look in his eye, Harry took this as permission to continue. Looking around Harry leaned in and whispered, "In this class specifically, I also believe the pressure you put on yourself is compounded with your fear of Snape. You honestly need to try and ignore Professor Snape, he will likely always be that way. I think you just take your time and maintain your composure. Potions is not that much more complex than some of the things we have done in Herbology and you are consistently the best under Professor Sprout, … who just happens to be a very supportive professor."

Seeing Neville start to slightly nod, Harry smiled.

"I am not sure how much of the truth about my childhood is really known but after my parents were killed I was sent to live with my aunt and uncle. They were incredibly strict individuals and decided to put unfair expectations on everything I had to do. If the outcome of anything I did was anything less than perfect, it was a failure, and I was often punished for that. Even if it was perfect, I received no praise. However, I very quickly learned that I preferred the lack of praise to being punished. Therefore, I had to learn how to cope with the expectations. I learned that while it does not always work, if I take a second to calm myself when I am getting stressed or starting to worry, to stop what I was doing and take several deep breathes. I found whatever I was doing would improve. The breathing served to calm me and help me out. I think it would help you as well Neville." Harry offered.

Neville looked at Harry contemplatively, "I don't know Harry…"

"What is the worst that can happen?"

Neville did not answer immediately, instead his gaze alternating between his cauldron and Professor Snape who was writing out the instructions for the day's potion at the front of the class.

Hesitantly, almost reluctantly, Neville finally responded, "I will try Harry…although I do not …"

Harry cut off his friend, "Do not focus on the potential negative outcomes Neville, either it will work, or it will not."

Neville nodded and looked at his cauldron in front of him before taking two deep breathes and reaching for the first ingredient.

Over the course of the class, while Harry was working on his potion, he noticed that true to his word Neville would often take little breaks to stop and take breathes before continuing on. As the class went on, Harry noticed that the frequency of the breathes was decreasing, although Neville seemed to retain his composure.

At the end of the hour, when Snape called on all of them to bottle their potions, Harry reached into his cauldron with a vial to get a sample. Pulling out the lilac purple potion Harry set it on the desk noting that the potion was not exactly the violet purple that the board told them to expect or the violet purple that indeed Hermione had managed to brew. However, looking over he smiled seeing that it was almost exactly the same color as the vial in the hand of a very surprised looking Neville.

When Professor Snape reached Harry's desk he looked at the potions as he picked them up. "These are … adequate."

While his face remained emotionless, Harry was positive that the pause was largely as a result of Professor Snape's surprise at receiving a potion of this quality from Neville. And he was certain that if Professor Snape was not such an accomplished practitioner of the mind arts his face would be showing shock.

Apparently recovering from his surprise, Professor Snape found his form, "of course, if you two had actually managed to read how long you were supposed to heat your samples in the cauldron as a final step …"

Harry looked over to Neville to see how he was handling the feedback and smiled when he saw Neville subtly taking in deep breathes until Snape finished his tirade and headed off to collect the rest of the samples.

Heading out of class together, they bumped into Hermione and Ron who were standing right outside the doors to the classroom waiting for them. With Hermione starring at Neville.

"Neville … how did you do that…"

Harry smiled and looked to Neville who proceeded to start getting flustered. "Well…I just followed the instructions…and made sure to breathe…"

Harry chuckled at the expression of confusion on Hermione's face.

"Oh ok…well …congratulations on that Neville. I am off to the library; I will see you guys for our next class." With that, Hermione turned and headed down the hallway in the direction of the library.

Harry turned to Neville and Ron, "Actually I have to head to the library as well to finish catching up on Ancient Runes, do you two want to come with?"

Neville was looking contemplatively about the suggestion before Ron laughed, "There is not a chance we would want to head to the library this early in the year for the sake of it. Neville, would you rather head off to the common room and play Exploding Snaps until lunch?"

Neville looked back and forth before nodding sheepishly at Ron, "Sure Ron, see you later Harry."

Shaking his head slightly, Harry realized he might have a little more work cut out for him than he originally assumed in making Ron a better student. However, that was a problem for another day. With that he turned and hurried down the hallway catching up to Hermione as she was climbing the stairs to the library.

"Hey Hermione, there are some things I wanted to look up in the library as well. Are you alright if I tag along?"

"Oh…hey Harry. Ya of course…" Hermione answered surprised at Harry's appearance and decision to go to the library. After answering, she looked behind them to make sure no one had come with Harry, "What was going on with Neville? I have been his partner in Potions on and off again for the last three years, and I had tried everything I could think of to help him understand the instructions, and never has he brewed a potion so close to what was expected. And then suddenly he partners with you and almost nails it on the first attempt."

Harry looked sheepishly at Hermione, "Well, I had been chatting with Neville before class and I told him that I did not think that his brewing was the problem…"

"What do you mean you did not think his brewing was the problem? Harry, he had melted 5 cauldrons in the previous three years. Last year, he brewed a potion so volatile that Snape had to evacuate us all from the room and even two weeks later we could still smell the burning frog gut smell."

Harry cringed at that memory, "I meant I don't think his understanding of the instructions were the problem. The processes behind the potions we have brewed so far are not that much more difficult than the instructions we have to follow in Herbology and even you have to admit that Neville manages to perform flawlessly in Herbology."

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, before pausing, reflecting on his words, and nodding.

Harry took that as a sign to continue. "Basically, I just told him to focus on calming himself down when he felt himself starting to get stressed or nervous under Snape's pressure."

"Well…I…that…that is actually quite smart Harry. I can't believe I never thought he was preforming poorly because of the stress caused by the teacher."

Harry smiled at Hermione, "That is probably because you thrive under pressure from your professors and enjoy nothing more than the challenge from making them happy."

This caused Hermione to look at Harry with a serious look on her face, a look that Harry could not help but laugh at in response. This in turn led to Hermione losing control of her serious gaze and crack a little smile.

A smile that refused to disappear from her face for the remainder of their walk to the library, as they talked about their first couple of days, back at Hogwarts.

After entering the library, Harry excused himself from Hermione, letting her know he would join her in a second, as he needed Madam Pince's help finding some books.

Reaching her desk, he quietly knocked on the edge of the desk to catch the attention of the librarian, who had her head buried in a particularly large volume, "Excuse me, Madam Pince. I was wondering if I could have some help looking for some books."

Her head shot up, having not heard Harry quietly approach. "Oh hello Mr. Potter. Which class are these books for?"

"Oh…umm…actually not looking for books related to classes. More for personal study."

This elicited a smile from the librarian. "Well, that is terrific to hear, most students only use books to complete their homework and never visit the library unless they have to. It is nice seeing a student interested in a topic that interests them beyond having a need to know it to pass a class. What are you looking for today?"

"I was wondering if you had any books available on Occlumency? It sounds like a very interesting topic and just wondering what information was out there. I understand it is not something taught in Hogwarts."

Madam Pince smile faltered slightly. "Hmmm…give me a second Mr. Potter... That might be difficult request, as that is an extremely obscure branch of magic. I am not sure if we would have any books on the subject. I would honestly be surprised, if more than 1 in 500 witches or wizards had any familiarity with the topic and even more surprised if more than 1 in 50 of them would have even the littlest amount of skill in it. It is disappointing, in theory it is an incredibly helpful area of study. Give me a second, I will be right back."

Harry felt a little dejected as he waited there in front of her desk, as she headed off into the aisles. While he certainly was not expecting to find a book that detailed the exact steps in order to become a master of Occlumency, he was unsure where else he would look at this point to find out what he needed. Harry hoped there were other ways to learn Occlumency rather than the way Snape had tried to teach him, knowing that he had learned nothing from Snape and likely his mind was even more vulnerable than it had been at this point previously.

Harry must have waited for five minutes and was just about to give up, before Madam Pince appeared from a different row than the one she had disappeared into, carrying a large, ancient-looking, and extremely dusty book.

"You seem to be in luck Mr. Potter. It appears that we do indeed have one book on the topic of Mind Arts. Not sure into what detail it will go, relating to Occlumency specifically, but at least it should have some basic information and perhaps if you read this you will have a better idea of what you are looking for and you would be able to send a letter to Flourish and Blotts requesting information on whether they would have a book that meets your needs."

Harry had a huge smile on his face as he picked up the large book, "Thank you so much Madam Pince and that is a good idea, I will definitely send off a letter if I need."

With that Harry turned around and searched the aisles until he found the table where Hermione was sitting at, with no less than five textbooks open and spread out in front of her. Quietly joining her, Harry received no more than a feeble wave of her hand acknowledging his presence.

Harry put the large volume down in front of him and starred at the cover.

A Wizards Greatest Defense and Their Greatest Weapon: A Study of the Mind Arts by Ogidus Aphelion.

With a smile, Harry opened the book and started flipping through the pages, happy that he was finally able to start on the process of learning Occlumency, knowing it was important in the short term if he was to interact with Professors Snape or Dumbledore. Especially if he was going to try to find a way to ask Dumbledore for help with the Horcruxes.

As he was flipping through the pages he saw many interesting topics that he planned to come back to, however, Harry stopped on a chapter titled, 'An Introduction to Occlumency – The Different Ways to Protect Your Mind' and began reading.

Finding himself caught up in the book, Harry was not aware of the passage of time and was unaware of Hermione getting up from her seat and coming around the table to look over his shoulder. Indeed, it was not until she spoke, incredibly close to his ear, that he finally realized that she was there.

"Occlumency? What is that?" she asked.

Harry startled. "AHH! Hermione!"

She smirked, "Sorry about that, usually it is me getting so caught up in books I am unaware of my surroundings." Pointing at the book again, she repeated her question, "What is Occlumency? Something for class, I don't think I have ever heard of it?"

"I doubt we need to learn it for class, but it is apparently a branch of magic that relates to ordering the mind. I have just started reading about it. But it seems beneficial to help with managing thoughts and emotions and can even protect a wizard from reading your thoughts."

Hermione looked at Harry in shock, "What?"

Harry realized that was probably a big knowledge drop. "Well … I have not made it very far into the book, but sounds like some wizards are capable of being 'Legilimens' and can feel the thoughts or emotions of other wizards and if they are skilled enough they could actually see them."

Hermione dropped into the seat next to him, as she grabbed the book and began flipping through the pages, "That can't be true Harry, that is such an invasion of privacy, there is no way that would not be mentioned to every wizard and witch…Right?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know why this book would lie about it. Compared to everything else we have seen in the wizarding world, this doesn't seem so farfetched."

Harry looked over and saw that Hermione was so focused on the chapters that she was unlikely to have heard what he had just said.

"Umm…Hermione?"

"What?" She said irritatedly as she looked up, "…Sorry. This just seems pretty serious. Is this regulated? Why don't they teach everyone how to protect their minds, surely not everyone who reads minds would be a good person."

Harry grimaced remembering that his experiences with Snape and the knowledge that both he and Voldemort were expert Legilimens.

Hesitantly he replied, "Probably not, but from the sound of it, Legillimancy is incredibly rare and being skilled enough to actually read minds is rare even among those who have some skill in this."

Looking partially mollified Hermione lowered the book and looked at Harry, "Ok…I still think this is important and should probably not be ignored." A look of suspicion crossed her face, "How did you hear of this? I do not remember it being mentioned in any of our classes."

"I…" Harry froze not having expected the question and frantically tried to think of an appropriate reply, "Well… it was something Lupin mentioned to me last year during our private studies but it never seemed as important as learning the Patronus charm. I guess it never came up while worrying about everything else that was going on last year…and then slipped my mind over the summer until I had the dream about Voldemort…I feel as if I am more stressed and my emotions are all over the place since then, so when I remembered the topic I thought I would look into this to see if it would help."

Hermione starred at him as if weighing his response before her stern look finally shifted into one of compassion. "Oh Harry, I am sorry, I did not even think about what you had been going through lately. How have you been? Have you received word from Sirius yet?"

As Hermione asked her question, he internally smiled, knowing that if things happened as they had before, he was bound to receive a message from Sirius tomorrow in the evening.

Harry still remembered the sight of his godfather falling backwards through the Veil and knew with absolute certainty he would do everything in his power to save him. The loss of Sirius was the start of a long chain of losing people that Harry knew he was still dealing with and doubted he was strong enough to lose all those people again. Beyond that Harry really hoped he would have the chance to form and develop a bond with Sirius, someone who knew and loved his parents.

Harry shook his head, "Not yet, but I predict I will probably hear back from him … any day now. As for me …I think I am doing alright…I have just been through a lot and was thinking this might help a little."

Hermione looked at him thoughtfully and finally released her grip on the book, "As long as you are sure Harry, I am always here to talk to. You have gone through a lot. But we should probably get ready for our next class. Although I will need to add this to the list of things I need to look into and learn now."

With that, Hermione stood up and headed to pack up her books, parchment, and quills which had managed to overtake even more of the table than they had when Harry had originally sat down.

"Sounds good Hermione, I'll just go talk to Madam Pince and see if it is alright if I borrow the book. Meet you at the front door."

Without waiting for a response, Harry picked up the large volume and walked over to Madam Pince's desk near the entrance to the library, reflecting on his thoughts on Occlumency.

He was aware that the main reason for his Occlumency interest was in order to protect his secrets during conversations from the expected encounters with Dumbledore, Snape, and Voldemort. Although Harry could see that the ability to manage his emotions would have other benefits and could help him deal with everything that had happened in his life up to that point; knowing that there were still some things that he had not fully come to terms with.

While Harry knew that the ability to compartmentalize his emotions had been essential in allowing him to keep going after he had lost friends, mentors, and family; he knew that eventually he would need to process everything that was going on within him and realized that if some of the things he read about Occlumency were correct, it might just give him an advantage and allow him to come out stronger.

For now, however, he knew he was not at the point where he could or desired to deal with the emotions. From his readings today, he had at least learned that it was possible to learn Occlumency several different ways and that while the way Snape had tried to teach him was the quickest and most widely accepted, it had a low success rate in situations where personal emotions existed between the individuals, as these emotions made the practice of mastering the emotions significantly more difficult. Harry had been particularly relieved upon reading this passage, as it meant that there was a chance for him to learn Occlumency, as he had concerns about ever managing to master it if indeed Snape had been teaching the only way.

Arriving at her desk, Harry knocked on it to catch the attention of the librarian, "Hello Madam Pince, thanks for finding this book. It is definitely what I was looking for."

"No worries, Mr. Potter."

"I was wondering if it would be possible for me to borrow it for a couple weeks."

Madam Pince pause before responding, "I suppose that is alright…that book indeed does not seem to be read very often." She looked at him over the edge of the desk, "You are aware of the penalties for mishandling one of the library books…correct?"

Harry nodded, realizing that Madam Pince could be almost as frightening as Filch when it came to her books.

"Well alright then, I will just need to get the sign out sheet for the book," She said as she waved her wand and an aged piece of parchment from a large stack floated towards her. "Ah yes…wow…looks like I am right, Mind Arts are rare and this book is apparently not popular, looks like this book has not actually been taken out of the library for almost twenty years. Hmmm…yup looks like it was borrowed in 1976 by someone called … The Half-Blood Pince…what a foolish name…I do not know why…"

Harry looked at the book in shock, as he tuned out Madam Pince.

'Well at least if Snape found this book worth taking out it must be helpful.' Harry thought.

Harry was roused from his thoughts by Madam Pince.

"Mr. Potter, I just need you to sign your name here, please no silly nicknames."

After signing, she took the parchment back and confirmed he had written his name before nodding at him.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. Feel free to keep that book for up to two weeks if you need to. However, at that point check in with me to see if anyone else has requested it. Have a good afternoon."

And with that she turned and headed back to what she was doing. Leaving Harry Potter starring at the book until Hermione finished packing up and joined him at the front. The two of them heading off to their afternoon classes together.

Kind Regards,

FavoriteAuthor


hunzbookwyrm - Thanks for the feedback!

major wallace - Thanks! Glad you are enjoying it!

shizkane - Thanks so much! He just might have, I think even Draco was capable of change and Harry's intervention might have just shocked him

Guest - Glad you like the pairings, I thought the personalities would help acheive what I wanted to, ... and the goblins will definitely end up playing a part coming up ...

NiebieskLis - This is not solely a Harry and Hermione story without giving away spoiler there will be others Harry gets ... close to. Tried to balance different personalities to help elicit the change in Harry I wanted to see

MidnightForest168 - Haha thanks, Obviously wanting to have Draco change I needed to change up the scene but it was just too enjoyable to get rid of

zega606 - Oh the Harry of this story will definitely realize he has work to do before he becomes strong enough to protect those he cares about

jkarr - Thanks so much!

Mark1 - Glad you liked it!


Thanks to those of you out to those of you who enjoy my stories, I promise to keep updating the stories as long as you enjoy them, and a special thanks to those of you who have taken the time to leave feedback or reach out to me directly.