Chapter 319: Occlumency

"So conversely, a Muggle-born who can grow up to be so excellent without any resources only further proves her extraordinary talent." Neville said. "So Slughorn will favor Muggle-born geniuses even more."

"Very easy to understand." Harry shrugged.

"Your reputation is well-known, so Slughorn will definitely spare no effort to win you over, so you are a vested interest." Neville said while shaking his head. "But for those ordinary students, a professor like him is no good."

"He must be standing up for Hannah." Luo En whispered.

Without thinking more about Slughorn, Harry took out his homework. He noticed that Luo En seemed to be still somewhat restless, but soon, he was also forced by academic pressure to take out his homework and start scribbling on it intermittently.

The next morning, they saw Hermione again when they were eating breakfast; she was still with Ailiya, and both of them had smiles on their faces. And, just like what happened when looking at the bulletin board on Monday, Hermione greeted them generously, while Ailiya only waved.

"I bet there's something wrong with them." Luo En said dissatisfiedly.

"Yeah, I think it must be because of Charms class." Harry didn't pay attention at all; he was a bit afraid of Hermione, just as he was afraid of the Focused Rainbow.

"Hermione might be, but I think Ailiya is the one who's not right." Luo En said again.

"Who knows, I don't understand girls' minds. Zhang Qiu might understand; wait until evening study," Harry said, suddenly getting a bit angry. "Damn it, I have to go to Snape's for remedial Potions today!"

"Why?" Luo En was a bit surprised, but he soon read from Harry's eyes that there were other things behind "remedial Potions," so he didn't get to the bottom of it in public.

At noon, Harry couldn't stand Luo En's wild imagination all morning, so he waited for Zhang Qiu at the entrance hall; she was happily talking about some girl-to-girl topic with Marietta.

"Ah, Harry, you look like you have something on your mind?" She said with some surprise.

"To be precise, it's Luo En who has something on his mind." Harry turned to the side so that Zhang Qiu could see the even more preoccupied Luo En. "It's about, feelings."

"Emotional consultation?" Marietta excitedly leaned over, looking like she also wanted to listen.

"Let's find another place to talk." Zhang Qiu glanced at her best friend. "At least not here in the entrance hall."

Both of them tacitly knew that it was inconvenient for anything related to Donald to appear in this conversation.

They found a place on the lawn to sit down; Marietta rarely interacted with Harry, and at this moment she also looked a bit nervous.

"I mean, I think Hermione and Ailiya are not right." Luo En repeated his worries again. "I used to get along quite well with Ailiya, but after she came here, I feel like she was quickly assimilated by Hermione."

"Perhaps, they were like that to begin with?" Before Zhang Qiu could express her opinion, Marietta spoke first. "Krum told me that Ailiya is a quite hardworking person; she just pretends to be playful and lazy, but actually she will study very hard behind the scenes."

"Krum isn't necessarily right; he's a bit slow himself." Zhang Qiu shook her head. "And, does such a person really exist? More should be like me, seemingly hardworking and involutional on the surface, but actually not having their mind on academics at all."

"Different circumstances." Marietta shook her head. "We actually can't understand them. For those people, they have no way out, and the only way out is to study."

Luo En revealed a confused expression.

"If Mary is right," Harry felt he understood a bit. "At least it's a good thing for you; you don't have to think about those random things anymore, just know that they are studying hard."

"Valentine's Day is coming soon, you should try to invite her." Zhang Qiu suddenly said.

Luo En's confused expression didn't diminish at all.

"Perhaps he doesn't even know who to invite himself." Harry smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Alright, mate, this afternoon is Care of Magical Creatures class, you can relax a little."

When they walked far away, Zhang Qiu shrugged and pulled Marietta to start walking back without saying a word.

"But Harry at least knows who he should invite!" Marietta said indignantly.

"Forget it, he has enough to worry about." Zhang Qiu revealed a slightly helpless smile.

Sending out a Valentine's Day invitation a month in advance meant that this person only had Valentine's Day on their mind. In fact, Harry had many things to worry about; he didn't know what agreement Snape had reached with the Ministry of Magic, nor did he know what Snape's own plan was. He only knew that he had to go to Snape's to learn Occlumency today and the day after tomorrow, perhaps go to the Ministry of Magic for an internship on Friday, and observe the situation at the meetings of the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters on Saturday and Sunday to ensure that everyone would start peace talks but couldn't really talk it through—indeed, he had enough to worry about, so much so that going to Torchwood was already considered a pastime.

After dinner, Harry arrived at the Potions classroom as promised. Snape put up a cauldron in a pretentious manner and then said: "Close the door, Potter."

Harry did as he was told, and then Snape spoke again: "If anyone asks, just say you were learning Draught of Living Death today."

"Alright, sir."

"I hope your talent in Occlumency... can be as good as your talent in Potions." He said in a low voice. "Your Potions might be inherited from your mother, but your father couldn't learn Occlumency, and it could even be said that he did very poorly in this regard."

Harry, who didn't have a deep understanding of the stories of the previous generation, didn't realize this was a sarcasm and was still worried about whether he really didn't have talent for Occlumency.

"Occlumency is a technique to prevent the mind from being invaded and influenced by magic. Both the Dark Lord and Deng Buliduo were very proficient in Legilimency, and it is precisely by relying on this technique that I have been able to... live until now."

"Legilimency can read a person's feelings and thoughts, and even, if you have no ability to resist, it can see your memories." Snape explained slowly. "If you want to resist it, there are two methods: you can discard all feelings and thoughts and empty yourself, so that others will read a blank space."

"But then others will also know that you are resisting him." Harry said thoughtfully.

"Very smart, Potter." Snape narrowed his eyes. "When we face a figure like the Dark Lord, blankness alone is not enough; we must weave a false memory. But of course, for the current Death Eaters, you only need to let them see blankness, and I am sure this is much simpler than the latter."

"Alright, Professor." Harry nodded; he had already started trying to empty his mind.

"It seems you are already somewhat prepared, then... one, two, three... Legilimens!"

Harry's thoughts began to slide uncontrollably; he originally imagined himself looking at a vast expanse of white mist, but things soon appeared in this mist: the exploding TARDIS and the Doctors... Deng Buliduo and Voldemort... the warm Time-Space Moment in his hand... Barty Jr. stiffly saying "I don't want to go"...

Then he saw Zhang Qiu's Astral Projection; she was in the Orthodox Unity Jiangsheng Wei Alliance Talisman, that goose-yellow cheongsam with black patterns, the folding fan half-covering her face—when she lifted the fan, countless golden torrents poured into her body, and the energy of time converged and gathered beside her, whistling past...

"No————!"

Snape knelt on the ground all of a sudden; he supported the edge of the table with his left hand and covered his head hard with his right hand holding the wand, his expression ferocious and extremely painful.

"What, is that," he said through gritted teeth, "that is not, within the scope of magic—"

Harry was also at a loss; he didn't know that the so-called "Astral Projection" also had the ability to deter strangers. However, looking at it from another angle, that incantation involved all time and fate throughout history, and it could be said that looking directly at Zhang Qiu in the Orthodox Unity Jiangsheng Wei Alliance Talisman was no different from looking directly at Death.

"Professor, are you alright?" Harry couldn't help but say.

"You don't seem to need me to teach you much." Snape rubbed his temples, which were still throbbing. "However, this can only prevent you from having your memories read by others using Legilimency, but it cannot help you disguise yourself as Hoffa."

"Uh, yes. Sorry, Professor." Harry scratched his head a bit embarrassedly.

"Let's stop here for today; you go back and fabricate some memories for Hoffa, and we will start the next stage of practice directly next time." Snape waved his hand; he looked like he hadn't recovered yet.

When Harry left the Potions classroom, it was not yet seven o'clock; he hesitated slightly and chose to go straight back to the dormitory.

Sure enough, Luo En was sitting at the table in the dormitory, scratching his head and trying to write his Charms homework. Harry glanced at him and then sat down to take out his own homework.

"How did you do with the old bat?" Luo En asked.

"It was alright, he actually made a big fool of himself." Harry shrugged. Seeing Snape go from being arrogant and high-and-mighty to suddenly breaking down, although he shouldn't laugh, he still couldn't help but want to laugh.

"Hahahahaha, ah ha," Luo En didn't hold back at all. "I knew it, he still thought he had some tricks better than yours, but actually there's nothing left to teach!"

"That's not quite it." Harry said seriously. "The things he proposed are still very meaningful, it's just that he is too confident in his own abilities. He does his thing, I do mine; I do need to practice that technique well."

"So which technique is that technique?"

"It's," Harry recalled the definition of Occlumency, "the magic that allows you to lie without changing your expression in front of anyone."

"Then how is Snape qualified to teach you?" Luo En said in surprise. "It would be about the same if it were Humphrey." ===== CHAPTER 320 =====