"Whatever." Harry refused to rise to their bait. He really didn't have any feelings left for Cho, so their teasing didn't have much effect on him. She was just another friend and HA member.
They seemed to realize this as well for they dropped the subject entirely, although that could also have been because of Luna's next comment as well. "It's good to see that you finally managed to fight off the Bluebelled Glazers that were damaging your vision, Harry. I imagine that's why you don't need glasses any more and why you were able to spot her hips swaying." She said all of this very matter-of-factly while staring over Neville's shoulder at something only she could apparently see.
Neville glanced at the others before replying with a simple "Oh."
Ginny broke the silence that followed this pronouncement. "What say we all get out of here?" She led them over to the door.
Luna went her separate way to the Ravenclaw common room as the rest headed toward the portrait of the fat lady and the Gryffindor common room. As they walked through the halls, Harry spoke up. "Well I noticed your otter made another appearance toward the end of class Hermione. How were you two faring at the end of the lesson?" he asked of Neville and Ginny. "I don't think I went by either of you toward the end."
Ginny was the first to respond. "I'm still just getting mist. I'm not sure what the problem is, to be honest. I don't think I'm doing anything wrong, but I just can't get anything more than that."
"Maybe you need to find a stronger thought or memory," Harry supplied. "That really is the biggest key to the charm, stirring up a strong enough emotion to power the Patronus. I had a lot of trouble finding anything that would work until I tried using something that wasn't a memory. You don't necessarily have to concentrate on a solely happy thought or memory either; any positive emotion can work if it is strong enough: happiness, hope, pride, relief, love…" he ticked each one off on his fingers. "Any of those can work in the right circumstances. We'll be doing a little more work on them Sunday. Try to come up with more thoughts and memories to use beforehand and see if they help. What about you Neville?"
"Oh, I'm in the same boat, I guess," he replied. "I'll try to come up with some better memories for Sunday."
"Sounds like a plan," Harry returned.
By the time breakfast was finished the next morning, Ron was back to his normal self, his anger at Harry completely forgotten. As they both had the morning off, they decided to retire up to the common room for a bout of wizard's chess. To no one's surprise, Harry was thoroughly trounced by Ron's chess prowess.
Harry's mind was not in the chess game, nor was it in any of his lessons that day. The entire day he could only think of the Occlumency lesson with Snape he'd be having that night after dinner. After lunch, he only had Transfiguration followed by three hours of free time. Since both Ron and Hermione had Herbology afterward, Harry had little trouble sneaking back up to the Room of Requirement for another training session.
He began the session as he always did, with the training dummies. He spent time dodging spells and fighting back, as normal. With an hour still left before dinner, though, Harry decided to try something a little different. He wanted to find some way to settle his nerves which had been on edge all day in anticipation of the Occlumency lesson that evening. So he asked the Room for a punching bag. Not an ordinary punching bag, mind you. No, this was a very specific punching bag. It was shaped like a human, male to be exact. The dummy was taller than Harry, probably about six feet tall. It was shrouded mostly in black and had a very distinct face with a hooked nose. Greasy, life-like hair sat on top of the dummies head. Yes, beating the stuffing out of Snape was definitely one way to relieve some tension.
When he made his way to dinner, he was feeling much better than he had all day. He had a secretive smile on his face throughout the entire meal, thinking about the guilty pleasures he had just indulged in. He took the time at the dinner table to do some mental organization and preparation. Ron and Hermione didn't seem to notice as they were caught up in an argument about something or another. Harry didn't really pay much attention to what it was they were arguing over. He was sure it didn't really matter. He noticed that Ginny was giving him some pensive looks. She had probably noticed that he was quiet and withdrawn. He gave her a smile to let her know that he was okay.
He made sure to leave with plenty of time to make it to the dungeons by 6:00. The last thing he wanted to do was show up late on the first day. Snape had made it abundantly clear that tardiness would not be tolerated in these lessons at all. And he really needed Snape to test the strength of his mental barriers. Even after he had started studying Occlumency, he still experienced pains in his scar, and he still had that one vision and the occasional flash of Voldemort's emotions. He thought he was able to block Dumbledore's mental probing after the start of term feast, but it was hard to tell with his Headmaster. Tonight he would know once and for all whether or not any of his summer preparations had worked.
He knocked on the door to Snape's classroom at five minutes to six. There was no response. He knocked again, loudly, and rubbed his knuckles as he pulled his fist back. Perhaps he had knocked a little too forcefully. The skin looked a little raw, but he hadn't used enough force to break the skin, so he wasn't too concerned about it. There was still no response from inside the classroom, so Harry stood to the side of the door, leaning against the wall.
He glanced at his watch after a time. Four minutes had passed and still no sign of Snape. He wondered if it was possible that the Potion's Master had just forgotten about the lesson when he caught a glimpse of a figure approaching. Black robes billowing out behind him, Professor Severus Snape strode purposefully down the corridor. He threw open the doors to the classroom and entered.
Harry wearily followed after his least favorite professor, already beginning to regret his decision to pursue these lessons with Snape. He quickly quashed those thoughts and reinforced his mental barriers. He did not want to be caught off guard. "Close the door," the man barked at him. Unaffected by the harshness or volume of his tone, Harry did as he was told.
Snape, as he had done the year prior, began siphoning thoughts from his head and inserting them into a pensieve. Guilt crept into the back of Harry's mind as he remembered the last time he had seen that pensieve in this classroom. He had witnessed the cruelty of his father towards Snape firsthand, and he didn't like it. It had been much too reminiscent of his own experiences with bullies for his liking. Harry had been putting up with bullies his entire life. Before he became a wizard, he went to school with Dudley and other kids from the neighborhood. Dudley and his gang had scared off anyone who might have considered befriending the scrawny, bespectacled boy that was Harry Potter. They had been intent on making that boy as miserable as possible. They humiliated, tormented, and abused him for their own entertainment time and time again.
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