Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Professor Monroe	By : Athey1024 Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 15724 -:- Recommendations : 8 -:- Currently Reading : 25
Disclaimer: I am not J. K. Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter. This is a work of fanfiction and no profit is being made. It is a for-fun endeavor and no infringement is intended.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Harry's foul mood persisted until the following morning, although it was lightened somewhat by the vague impression of pleasant dreams. It was Monday morning and as had become the norm, Harry got up bright and early – far earlier than any of his dorm mates – and made his way to the hall outside of the Defense classroom for the morning jog and calisthenics class.

Harry felt awkward and nervous, but tried to hide it. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't refrain from looking at his professor with what was probably a stupid look of adoration, as soon as the man arrived. Maximilian was as professional as ever, and there was only one very brief moment when their eyes met and Harry saw a glimmer of a grin appear on the man's face before it was wiped away and the group was called to get started.

Harry probably pushed himself harder that day than he ever had before – and he'd honestly been pushing himself pretty hard for the last few weeks. It wasn't like he had only just suddenly wanted to impress the man; he'd been wanting to impress him all term; but now it was more like he wanted to prove to him that Harry really was worth his time and the not-inconsiderable risk that the man was taking. It wasn't really a conscious choice on Harry's part, so much as something he just felt the need to pursue. He needed to be stronger – to be quicker – to be better.

But even without the motivation of impressing his love interest and professor, Harry had found over the last week that he was very much starting to enjoy the results of his morning training regimen. He could see the difference it was making, and he liked what he was seeing. He felt like he was finally starting to get beyond that gangly awkward stage where he looked like certain bits of him had grown at a different rate than the rest of him, and other bits were underdeveloped, most likely due to consistent malnourishment in his youth and summers. He liked how he was starting to fill out a bit, and while he'd probably always be a bit on the short side, at least he no longer looked so scrawny.

He was developing some nice brawn on him that regular Quidditch training couldn't really put on a person by itself since so much of that time was spent on a broom. The sit-ups and crunches were giving him a rather appealing stomach, and the pull-ups were helping his arms and shoulders to develop and broaden. Ever since having become aware of his growing appreciation for the masculine form, Harry found that he was a lot more interested in making sure that he looked nice, which was something he'd never concerned himself with before this year.

The workout class ended with Harry puffing and out of breath, but feeling enthusiastic and a lot more high spirited than he had the night prior when he'd done little more than brood. The fact that he'd also gotten the opportunity to observe Professor Monroe – no, Maximilian – working out in form-fitting cotton trousers and a sleeveless undershirt, certainly didn't hurt his mood any. The good mood was slightly spoiled when Harry had little choice but to leave with everyone else when the class was over. Maximilian had given him a small parting smile, but nothing more.

Harry didn't get another opportunity to speak with Maximilian again until later that afternoon when he had Defense. He tried to distract himself through the course of the day by trying to pay attention in his classes. He was trying to pay his school work more attention in general, but with as crazy as his weekend had been, he'd only skimmed the pre-reading for for Potions and Snape caught him with several questions he didn't know the answers to, so Harry left Potions feeling as frustrated and annoyed as ever.

The rest of the day was a bore until Defense, which was as brilliant as ever. But afterwards when Harry hung behind as the rest of the students filed out of the room, Maximilian came over with an apologetic look and told Harry that he couldn't stick around this afternoon because there was a staff meeting.

Harry was disappointed, but tried to hide it as he gave the older wizard a weak smile, said it was fine, and saying goodbye.

Harry was nearly done translating the parselscript book and he considered working on that with his unexpected freetime, but his mind lingered back to yet another potions class filled with public humiliation and felt a sense of determination fill him. Next time Snape started bombarding him with questions, he was going to be ready. He'd show that greasy bastard. He could just imagine the shocked look on Snape's face if Harry actually knew the answers to his ruddy questions.

Ron found Harry in the common room with his Potions book and two of the 'companion texts' that Hermione was always going on about – one was a reference book about ingredient properties and the other was a book that apparently went over the best techniques for good brewing habits, ingredient preparation, and taking care of your tools. He took one look at Harry with his nose buried deep in a book with a notebook filled with scribbled notes on his lap, made a disgusted sort of noise and announced that he was going out to the pitch to get in some more practice.

Harry hummed and waved him off, without even looking up. Hermione was clearly proud of Harry's new determination and rolled her eyes at Ron's obvious lack of said focus.

The following day at breakfast Harry got another letter from Mr. Jennings and once again cut his meal short for the sake of some privacy to read before classes. This one was fairly short with some responses to a few specific PR issues they'd discussed, an update on the goings-on with suing the Prophet, and outlining what Harry could expect from the emancipation process they they really started to move forward on it.

Then he covered the visit to the Department of Mysteries. Mr. Jennings had already managed to arrange for Harry to visit and it would be kept very hush-hush. The visit was scheduled for for the morning of October 13^th – the coming Saturday, and also the morning after the Gryffindor/Slytherin Quidditch match. The trick was going to be getting Harry out of the school without Dumbledore noticing.

Harry frowned, wondering how exactly he was going to do this – getting out of the school was actually pretty simple, since he knew of a couple tunnels he could use to get down to Hogsmeade, and he had his cloak to avoid being seen – but the issue of getting from Hogsmeade to London... that he wasn't so sure about.

He finally decided to just ask Maximilian for help that afternoon and write back to Mr. Jennings when he had an answer. After his last class of the day he parted from his friends and dropped by the Defense classroom but it was empty. He made his way up to the sixth floor and knocked on the door to Maximilian's office.

He stood there, butterflies stirring up chaos in his stomach for inexplicable reasons. It was weird, but he'd never actually been to the professor's office without having been brought there by the professor himself or being invited ahead of time. He always met up with the man in the Defense classroom.

He almost jumped when the door suddenly opened, but when then filled with irrational glee as he was faced with the object of his affection.

“Hello Harry,” Maximilian said in a low, welcoming tone as he smiled down at Harry. “Come in,” he continued as he stepped back and motioned for Harry to enter the room. The door was closed behind him and Harry only hesitated for a moment in the space beyond the door before just walking over to the arrangement of chairs and couch that was placed by the large hearth and waiting.

Maximilian waved his hand towards his desk and a messy pile of parchment there seemed to suddenly order themselves into a neat stack while an ink well capped itself and moved off to the side.

“Am I interrupting?” Harry asked hesitantly.

Maximilian smiled at him, “I can always make time for you, Harry.”

Harry flushed, but couldn't stop himself from grinning widely.

“Now what do I owe the pleasure of the visit?” Maximilian asked as he joined Harry by the hearth, took a seat on the short couch and then motioned for Harry to sit beside him.

Harry tried not to smile too widely in obvious pleasure at the seating arrangement, and instead just sat down. He hesitated and then decided it was probably best not to get too close just yet. He needed to talk about some stuff first and he didn't think his mind could stay focused enough if he touched the other man at all.

“I got another letter from Mr. Jennings. He's arranged for me to go to the Department of Mysteries Saturday morning! He wants me to come to his office and from there he's going to get me into the Department of Mysteries through a more private entry so I'm not seen by a lot of people at the Ministry, but I've got to find some way to get to London first. I know a few ways I could sneak into Hogsmeade but I wasn't sure what to do from there. Best I could come up with was to use Madam Rosemerta's floo, but I know she'd report me to the school if she caught me.”

“Ah, well that's an easy enough problem to solve. You can just use my floo,” Maximilian said smirking and motioning his hand towards the large hearth.

Harry's eyes widened and his head turned to look at it.

“I could use that?”

“Correct.”

“Really? And Dumbledore wouldn't know?”

“Not if we go through at the same time. Mind you, it's a bit disorienting to try and floo with someone else in your arms and it requires close contact, but it is possible. My presence will mask yours from any aspect of the floo network's wards that the Headmaster might be able to monitor in some way. I use the Floo in here rather frequently – I tend to prefer sleeping in my flat in Hogsmeade rather than the quarters supplied here at the school, and I make regular trips into Hogsmeade for business. I wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to occasionally check on the floo activity of his teachers – especially Defense professors given the track record – but I doubt he's keeping tabs on every single trip I make with it.”

“Oh, wow. Well, that's brilliant then. I don't even have to sneak into Hogsmeade.”

“We can floo directly to Mr. Jennings office from here,” Maximilian confirmed with a nod.

Harry grinned widely, hugely relieved for the solution being so easy.

“Now, since you're here – how much time do you have available right now?” Maximilian asked twisting slightly in his seat so that he was leaning more against the arm of the couch and facing Harry.

“Oh, er... well I don't really have to leave until dinner, I guess. I wasn't really planning on doing any serious homework study until after dinner. Why?”

“Well, I mentioned to you on Saturday that I would like to teach you occlumency. I was thinking that we could perhaps take an hour right now and go over an introduction and work on laying a foundation.”

“Oh! Yeah, that'd be fine. Although, I still don't totally know what it is,” Harry added sheepishly.

“At it's most basic, Occlumency is the magical defense of the mind against external penetration and influence. It is very obscure these days as the Ministry has made many attempts over the years to ban it. They have yet to make practicing it illegal, because it is a defensive form of magic – the only defense, in fact, against anyone practicing Legilimency, which they have made illegal – not that anyone who practices it cares. Dumbledore certainly doesn't,” Maximilian muttered sardonically. “But in addition to being the only defense against Legilimency, a skilled Occlumens would also be able to defeat a number of truth serums, lie detectors, and a few other investigation tools that the Ministry often makes use of – thus their attempts to ban the practice.”

“Wait – what's that other thing – the Legi-whatever thing?”

“Legilimency is the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's findings. Laymen sometimes refer to Legilimency as 'mind-reading,' but those who practice the art generally disdain this term as naïve, as it's far more complicated a process than the term 'mind-reading' suggests.”

“And there are people who can do this?” Harry asked in horror – then another thought registered, “Wait – Dumbledore can do this?!”

“Yes. He can and he does on a regular basis. I've witnessed him doing it to students, in fact. Not that I could prove it. Of course, unless a wizard or witch is trained in some level of Occlumency, they rarely even know that Legilimency is being used against them, so the victim doesn't even know that their privacy has been violated. As for other bystanders who might have witnessed these incidents with students, few know how to identify the signs properly, and anyone else here who might have come to recognize them tend to be loyal enough to the Headmaster that they would likely lie for him if he were ever accused of it publicly.”

“Well, I may not like that the Ministry is trying to ban occlumency, but I don't exactly mind the idea that people aren't legally allowed to go around reading my mind – er, or navigating it,” Harry said with a grimace.

“Mmm, yes. However, making Legilimency illegal was really just one of the Ministry's steps in preventing people from learning Occlumency.”

“Wait, what?”

“You cannot learn Occlumency without an instructor who knows Legilimency. If it is illegal to perform Legilimency at all, then it's impossible to teach Occlumency, and therefore, impossible to learn Occlumency. It wasn't until the Ministry began taking steps to ban Occlumency and encountered roadblocks that they finally made Legilimency illegal – which obviously, was much easier to ban as it's a very offensive practice to use against the defenseless.”

Harry gaped at him, incredulously. “But that's – that's crazy! I mean – if anything, Legilimency against anyone unwilling should be illegal, and those who are Occlumency instructors should have permission to use it, so that more people could learn to protect themselves! Why would the Ministry care more about stopping people from defeating truth potions, but not care about stopping people from randomly reading people's minds?”

“Most people within high positions in the Ministry have long ago learned Occlumency on their own, so they can already protect their minds against any Legilimens' – not that there are many of them anyway since it's so difficult to master. Ministry officials of high enough office can also get Occlumency lessons, taught by one of the Unspeakables who has a pass for using Legilimency. Those who practice Legilimency don't really cause the Ministry's officials any trouble, and there's so few of them, why make a fuss about it? But people who practice Occlumency, in contrast, do give them trouble because they are able to get around some of the most common tools that the DMLE uses when investigating accusations of crimes.”

“But what about the people!? About the public! They're the ones that the laws are supposed protect and benefit! I – argh! Merlin, I hate the Ministry!” Harry growled out in frustrated anger.

Maximilian hummed sympathetically while nodding his head and looking at Harry sadly. “I remember when I first became truly disillusioned by how utterly corrupt and selfish our government is. It's certainly not an enjoyable realization to endure – they say that ignorance is bliss for a reason, after all. Its so much easier to just not know the truth – to go on living your life in a small world that's simple and doesn't result in worrying about bigger-picture problems that you often feel helpless to do anything about. It's frustrating, but I don't think the simplicity of ignorance is worth it. Too many people are complacent – happy to be ignorant. And as long as they go on letting the Ministry do as they please, nothing will ever get fixed.”

Harry was nodding in agreement and his face was stern with determination. Maximilian smiled at him, obviously pleased.

“Now, I think it's time we got back on track,” Maximilian said after several moments silence had passed, allowing Harry more time to think and stew. “I have a theory that may assist in you learning Occlumency.”

“Oh?” Harry said, his interest perking and his focus returning to the older wizard.

“Yes. Generally, people such as yourself – people who 'wear their heart on their sleeve' as it were – have a lot of trouble mastering Occlumency. I believe that you are actually very in-touch with your feelings about the things that you've been through – you're not repressed at all about them. You face them, head-on, and that is actually a very healthy approach, mentally, so I commend you for that. However, it also means that you would likely have trouble suppressing your emotions, which is the approach most people start with when learning Occlumency.

“An alternate approach to take is to magically compartmentalize your thoughts, memories, and emotions, ahead of time so that when you come under attack from a Legilimens, you can more easily 'put things away' and deny them access to it. This is also the most ideal approach to take for what we're also wanting the Occlumency for – the ability for you to subdue the strength and influence that our contact has on your ability to think clearly.”

Harry nodded, although he still looked a bit lost and unsure. “Okay, so how do I magically compartmentalize my thoughts?”

“That is where I think we might have an unusual advantage. Our identical magical signatures might allow me to better guide you in the process. Usually the process of compartmentalizing the mind cannot be performed until the person has learned how to suppress all of their thoughts and emotions and totally clear their mind. A totally suppressed mind prevents a Legilimens from getting at your thoughts, memories, and emotions, however it is also blatantly obvious to the Legilimens that you're doing it. After all, all they find is a vast empty nothingness when they enter your mind.

'The act of compartmentalizing the mind allows an Occlumens to only put away the memories, emotions, and thoughts that would reveal to the Legilimens that they are being lied to or deceived. A truly skilled Occlumens can let a Legilimens into their mind, hide what they want hidden, and lie to the Legilimens, while deceiving the Legilimens into thinking that they're telling the truth. There are truly only a handful of Occlumens powerful and skilled enough to do such a thing against someone like Dumbledore, and I rather doubt there are any who could fool Voldemort.”

Harry's lips were parted in something akin to amazement and horror, all mixed-up. Then a dawning new horror filled his eyes. “Wait, so Voldemort is a Legilimens too?!”

“Of course. There are those that say he's the most skilled Legilimens to have ever lived. No one could lie to him and get away with it,” Maximilian stated, and the corner of his lips curled up, ever so slightly.

“Oh Merlin,” Harry whispered hoarsely before groaning and sinking back into the corner of the couch. “I guess that doesn't matter too much right now. I just need to learn enough so that we can touch without me going all loopy... and I guess I'd also like to make sure I can keep Dumbledore from reading my mind. Do you think I'd have any chance of pulling that off? I mean, he's probably the most powerful wizard in Britain, after Voldemort.”

“After Voldemort?” Maximilian asked with a tinge of amusement in his tone.

Harry flushed and shrugged. “Or maybe before. I don't really know, I guess. Everyone has always said that Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort feared to duel but... what does 'everyone' know, anyway? That's hardly a source.”

Maximilian smiled proudly. “Very good Harry. You're right. The idea that 'everyone' says something is true, makes it true, is a very common fallacy – one that many people fall into quite regularly. I'm glad that you've realized that for yourself.”

Harry flushed, ducking his head with pleased embarrassment as pleased warmth rushed through his chest.

“It's difficult to say which of the two was truly more powerful during the war in the 70's,” Maximilian said then, in a musing tone. “As for which one is more powerful now – well, we can't know that at all, can we? Seeing as how we don't know what state Voldemort is in now. Is he still insane? Or has he perhaps regained some of his senses? I suspect that Voldemort may have always been the more powerful wizard, but he had done things to himself – terrible things that no man should ever do to themselves, and he paid a price that even he had not foreseen. I believe that the price he paid was not just his good looks and charisma, but most notably, his sanity, his logical reasoning, and his sense.

“He became irrational and lost the ability to differentiate between what would achieve his goals and what would just cause havoc and chaos. While his insanity made him more unpredictable and dangerous – more feared – it also made him more susceptible to trickery and manipulations. Dumbledore's cunning was able to win in the end – and it was no battle of power or skill, but a battle of wits and luck.”

Harry was staring at the older wizard sitting opposite on the small couch with a slightly gaping mouth, and at a total loss for words. He'd certainly never heard anyone say such things before, nor had he read any such thing before – but then again, no one ever wanted to talk about 'You-Know-Who', let alone write anything useful about him. It was a wonder whenever Harry found anything about that time at all.

“How... how do you know all that? Did you read it somewhere?”

“Well, I was alive during the time,” Maximilian said with a grin. “I suppose you could also say that I've made something of a point to study the man and the events of the war. To understand what all went wrong.”

Harry nodded his head wordlessly.

“So – again, we've been side-tracked,” Maximilian said with a chuckle. “How about we at least attempt some of this Occlumency stuff, hmm?”

“Oh, sure. Erm... what do I need to do?”

“I am going to cast Legilimens on you and enter your mind. I'm not going to go sifting through your memories or anything like that, however. Instead, I'm going to see if I can help you form a mindscape by copying the foundation for my own to your mind. Since our magical frequencies are the same, I think that this might actually work. Normally, it would be impossible because everyone's magic works differently and everyone's mind is structured differently. Our minds are, no doubt, quite different, but the identical nature of our magic should allow me to lay a foundation for you. It will likely feel very strange at first – maybe even uncomfortable or disorienting. I would ask that you maintain eye contact for as long as you can. If you feel a tug, close your eyes, focus on my presence, and follow it. Are you ready?”

Harry sat up straighter, turning so that his knees were nearly brushing up against Maximilian's and he nodded. “Okay, I'm ready.”

Maximilian gave him a short nod and grinned approvingly for a moment before pulling out his wand and shifting to an expression of determination. He aimed his wand at Harry and softly spoke the incantation, “Legilimens!”

At first, Harry didn't feel anything at all, and wondered if it had worked, but then, ever so slowly, he began to feel a pressure building behind his eyes. His forehead felt especially pressured, and he broke out in a mild sweat, blinking several times to try and clear the sharp waves of dizziness that crashed over him every few seconds.

Maximilian, remained sitting opposite him, perfectly still, and with his eyes still open, staring at him. But he had a rather vacant look to his eyes, and his expression was one of a man in deep concentration.

The pressure in his head began to grow, significantly, and Harry found himself fighting to remain sitting upright. His torso wanted to curl into itself, and his hands went up to grip as his head, trying to endure the pressure a bit longer. Something in his head felt like it was being shifted, forcibly, and uncomfortably. It felt unnatural and despite his best efforts, and his now tightly clenched teeth, a small keening whine managed to escape his throat as his eyes finally fell closed and he doubled over, curling into something of a ball; still clutching at his head.

Then, he gasped as something seemed to snap into place. The pressure and discomfort was gone in an instant, and everything in the world seemed to turn on it's side, metaphorically speaking, anyway. Everything just felt, different somehow. Weird and a little foreign. And yet, in start contrast, there was a small feeling of rightness to it too. Almost a familiarity. Like some long distant, forgotten memory of a home that only the tiniest part of him remembered.

Another gasp escaped his lips and he felt a tug. Quickly he pulled his eyes back closed and tried to make sense of the instructions he'd been given to 'focus on Maximilian's presence in his mind'. At first, he had no idea how to do that, but as soon as he actually concentrated a bit, he was instantly aware of the feeling of someone else being with him. There was another presence in his mind, and it was comfortable, familiar, and warm. He focused on the welcoming presence and felt as if he were falling. That feeling you get sometimes when dreaming of falling; where you're not afraid.

And just as suddenly as the feeling had started, it stopped. He felt as if he'd just instantly found himself standing, and the sense of vertigo disappeared. He opened his eyes and blinked several times against the glare.

He wasn't in Maximilian's office anymore. The space was just... vast. And white. There was nothing. He turned in a circle, searching for any signs of anything else and came to a sudden halt as he found Maximilian standing directly behind him, grinning quite smugly.

“I knew it would work,” he stated simply.

“Max!” he exclaimed in surprise, feeling disoriented. “Where are we?”

“In you're new mindscape. You'll have to do something with it now, as it's obviously quite blank, but I did the initial construction and suppression of the old contents for you, so the rest will be much easier. Meditation exercises each night will do most of the rest.”

“Wait – this is my mind?”

“Yes, of course.”

Harry looked around again, bewildered by the obvious lack of... well, anything.

“I would have expected it to be a bit more... cluttered.”

Maximilian snorted. “Oh, believe me, it was. Outrageously so. And the mess is definitely still there, it's just tucked away right now. I suppressed it all into a contained spot and you'll have to sort through it yourself and organize things into compartments of your own design. You'll probably feel a bit off kilter until you can get things 'unpacked' a bit.”

“Oh,” Harry said, wondering if that explained how off balance and detached he felt at the moment. He felt sort of like he was turned off upstairs, and he wasn't entire sure if he liked it or not. He wasn't sure he felt anything about it at all. “So... how do I unpack and sort stuff? There's nothing here.”

“There's a box at your feet,” Maximilian stated simply.

Harry frowned, because he was absolutely sure that there was no box at his feet a moment ago, but when he looked down, one suddenly appeared. He blinked at it. “Oh. So there is.”

“It's has no limit or bottom. It's not a real box, obviously. Just a representation of a container and right now everything is inside it. Here, in this place, all you have to do is believe it and it's true. What you'll need to do is create a system by which you can place things into protected categories. It's up to you how you want to do this. The visual representation isn't really important outside of how important it is to you. Some people get extremely elaborate, while some stick with very simple representations. I've seen minds where the Occlumens had constructed a giant castle filled with locked doors, and surrounded by a motte filled with monsters to keep people out – honestly, I think that's a bit over doing it, honestly. Not to mention obvious, since it's a huge fortified building clearly designed to keep people out. No Legilimens would come across that and not suspect you were hiding things.”

“What does yours look like?” Harry asked, suddenly curious.

“A vast library, filled with books,” Maximilian said simply, smiling. “Many, many books. And most of them don't contain any memories or thoughts of value at all. They're just there to make it harder to find the ones that are important.”

Harry grinned, feeling it was appropriate. “So even in your mind, you horde books?”

Maximilian grinned cheekily and shrugged.

“But with your books...” Harry started hesitantly with a thoughtful pucker in his brows, “how do you protect your memories and stuff from intruders? Sure, they'd have to find the right book, but they could just stumble across one of the important ones right away by fluke. The castle and motte and stuff sounds like a better defense.”

“The mindscape only has to keep your thoughts, feelings, and memories hidden from the intruder for a short time. And the more subtly you can do this, the better. Once a person has established a mindscape that they are consciously in touch with, as you now should be since you are in it, the moment a Legilimens intrudes upon their mind, they will instantly feel it. Someone who has not been trained at all, in any way, can be fooled by a Legilimens who is delicate and gentle in their intrusion. They won't even know that it's happening. But, now, you will. You can actually force the attacker out of your mind, forcefully, but they will obviously know that you've done this.

“The trick will be not letting the attacker know that you're aware of their intrusion, but still getting rid of them just the same. What you need to do, instead, is break the connection as gently as they made the initial intrusion. Give them the boot without them realizing that you've done so.”

“How do I do that?” Harry asked, frowning slightly.

“Break eye-contact,” Maximilian said with a smirk.

“That's it?” Harry asked almost incredulously.

Mximilian grinned. “That's it. Eye-contact is required for the initial connection, and it must be maintained while the Legilimens is sifting through the person's mind. We have a unique connection, so I'm not convinced that we have the same limiting requirement, but I would have to test that later on to be sure.”

“Oh... okay, so if I'm with Dumbledore and he actually looks me in the eye,” Harry muttered this part rather bitterly, “and I suddenly feel like there's someone in my head... what should I do? Just look away? That's it?”

“For now, that would be best. You may find it difficult to look away at first, but I think that you're stubborn and willful enough to manage. Most Legilimens place in the compulsion to maintain eye contact and not blink when they first enter a mind.

“You'll want to find some way to look away and do not look back in his eyes. Avoiding eye contact repeatedly, however, would become obvious after a while. He would realize that you were purposefully avoiding his eyes to prevent him from getting into your mind and he would grow suspicious. After you've started sorting your thoughts, I'll cover how to generate triggers that will instantly 'put away' the clutter that constantly floats through a person's conscious mind.

“You'll also need to prepare a few sets of 'safe' thoughts and memories, or else the overly clean state of your mind would make it obvious that you're hiding things. You could have a book, or a filing cabinet, or a box, set aside with just the 'safe' public thoughts and memories, and whenever you feel like someone has intruded upon your mind, you put away everything else while pulling out the safe ones. The initial intrusion into a person's mind is very disorienting, since the Legilimens has to adjust to the way the foreign mind works, and set the compulsion to maintain eye-contact. If you act quickly enough, you can get this your clean-up and prep done before the disorientation ends, and they won't even suspect you've done anything.”

“Alright. And you'll show me how to do all this?”

“Of course,” Maximilian said with a reassuring smile. “Now – what do you think you'd like to do with your mindscape?” he asked, motioning his hand around the vast white space.

Harry looked around, although there really was nothing to look at, and pondered that question. He found himself leaning towards the library idea, too. It felt right. Like, this space was designed for it – even though the space was big, empty, and clearly not designed for anything at all. But the idea of a big, vast expanse of books in this space just felt natural and familiar somehow.

“Books,” Harry finally said with a nod.

“Then you'll need bookshelves.”

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Professor Monroe