Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Bloody Skies	By : TokiMirage Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 44836 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: JKRowling owns Harry Potter. Everything else is mine. I do not make any money writing this fic.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
Bloody Skies
oOo
Chapter Three:
oOo
“The first thing you need to know about Occlumency, is what the phrase, ‘clear your mind’, actually means. To do this, you must find your mindscape without assistance, and to do that, you must meditate.”
Harry frowned. “How does meditating help someone find their mindscape?”
“It relaxes your mind. Since you are not thinking of anything, eventually you will be taken to your mindscape.”
It still didn’t make much sense to Harry. How did closing your eyes and thinking nothing magically transport you to your mind? The mechanics didn’t quite make sense to him. How did it happen?
“Is this how you learned it?”
Snape nodded, taking a sip from his wine glass. In the dim lighting, Harry couldn’t figure out if it was blood or not. “Close your eyes and clear your mind. You must know where your mindscape is if you are to defend it.”
Harry did as he was told.
And ten hours later, he was still sitting in his chair, across from Snape, trying not to get pissed off about the ‘meditation’ not working.
Eventually, his stomach complained loudly enough that Snape actually stopped the lesson with a snide comment about not wanting to hear the grumbling anymore (vampire senses and all that). Harry made a quick dinner for three and nearly stuffed the food into his mouth once he was done.
The days continued in this manner for a week before Harry finally got fed up with it. He’d thought perhaps the meditation thing was all about patience, but he had no bloody intention of sitting on his ass for another single day. He’d had it.
“Snape, it isn’t bloody working. Isn’t there some other method to finding your mind? I just don’t understand how it all works! You just shut your eyes and your mindscape appears to you? Isn’t there something you have to do, or whatever.” He was scowling. Okay, he was pouting, too, but damnit he was sick of this lack of progress!
The vampire, on the other hand, seemed amused and irritated at the same time. Only Snape could pull that all off in one scowl. “There are few methods for Occlumency, Potter. Meditation worked for me, so the master of the art who taught me only vaguely explained a few other options.”
Harry ran a hand through his hair. “Well, let’s hear it. Anything’s better than this.”
“Very well. When some wizards learn wandless magic, the place in which they find their core is closely connected to their mind. Some wizards must find the mind first, and then follow the connection to their magic in order to access it, while other wizards function the other way, as they have a stronger affinity to their magic than their mind.” Snape got up from his plush chair to get another glass. “Since you seem to lack much intellect, we’ll take the other route.”
Harry bit his tongue. Where did he get off insulting Harry? But then, he reasoned to himself, Snape had been positively amicable in comparison to how he had treated the adolescent at school. He could suck it up, considering the vampire didn’t have to do anything for Harry. Actually, a good question would be why Snape was helping in the first place. Was it because of Remus? Or did he hold a grudge against Dumbledore like Harry himself did?
“So what do I do?” Harry finally asked.
Snape’s lips actually twitched slightly upward although it could have been Harry’s imagination. “You must learn to find your magic and access it.”
“And how do I do that?”
Snape answered with a cruciatus curse. Harry, eyes bugging out, jumped to the side and barely managed to avoid it. Heart beating almost twice as fast as before, he stared dumbly at Snape. A stupefy came next. Having very little room in which to work, Harry fell over his own chair in an attempt to dodge it. It got him in the leg, and he found himself becoming drowsy.
“Fight it, Potter, or a crucio will be what wakes you.”
Harry gave his head a shake and awkwardly fell to the floor. He tried to stand, but his energy was fading. Blackness consumed him.
And the next thing he knew was the most intense pain he could ever experience. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it felt like a life-time, and left his nerves frayed and torn. Green eyes stared up at Snape blearily. Why was the vampire doing this? He didn’t understand.
“Get up Potter, and defend yourself.”
When Harry failed to move in a few seconds, Snape crucioed him again. This time he left the curse on longer. The pain quickly got to the point where Harry was screaming in agony, his entire body on fire, yet Snape still didn’t remove it.
In fact, he was timing it with a watch. “A victim can handle the cruciatus curse for a total of three minutes before they go insane. Some break faster. For your sake, Potter, I hope you aren’t a quitter.” He sneered.
Agony. The most intense pain. The combination of all methods of torture bundled into one. It felt like knives raked his skin, pins stabbed to the bone, and fire melted his flesh. He just wanted it to end. He wanted it all to END!
Snape went inhumanly still when Harry’s eyes suddenly flashed open, glowing, pupiless, and emerald green. The creepy eyes focused on him, and yet didn’t seem to see him. Snape took a step back and prepared a wandless stupefy in his free hand.
Harry could see pretty lights. And ribbons. Ribbons of pretty red runes flashing around him and connecting to Snape’s wand. They danced and danced, to a song unheard, ripping into his body without remorse. Instinctively, he mentally grabbed the runes like he had the blood wards, and squeezed. They shattered instantly, sparks of red magic swirling, dancing through the air before fading from existence.
Harry finally knew peace.
Glowing green eyes closed, relaxing as the pain faded from heavy limbs. He was going to be aching for a couple days.
Snape.
Green eyes snapped open again and Harry slowly and painfully climbed to his feet. He was angry. No, he was pissed. He was fucking FURIOUS! Power burst through his limbs like a potion, giving him strength, washing the pain away. It was like liquid fire, pleasantly burning at his insides, warming him in this cold house.
His eyes burned through Snape like a force of nature. He asked, his voice but a whisper as he tried to contain his anger, “Why the FUCK did you do that to me?” His eyes bore into Snape’s own, trying to understand the vampire’s reasoning, or lack thereof. “Why did you crucio me!”
Snape smiled. It sent Harry reeling backwards as if it had been a physical blow. “Remember this feeling, Potter. Remember the sensation of your power flowing through your body, enabling you. Search for the source.”
Tears of rage and frustration stung Harry’s eyes. “Why? Why?”
“Hurry, Potter. I’m sure you don’t want a repeat experience of the past ten minutes. Find your core, now.”
It stung. That Snape had cast crucio on him, after being bearable for the past week, it stung his heart like betrayal, yet some small part of his mind reasoned that it had done some good. He had his magic, now. Shoving down his emotions to focus on the task at hand, but still remaining aware of Snape incase the vampire tried to attack again, he felt the fire burning under his skin. He reveled in it. He felt its ebb and flow until he found the pool. The core. The swirling mass of power that screamed to his soul, that felt more right than anything had ever felt before. He felt… complete.
“Now remember this sensation, your core’s location. Don’t forget it.”
Harry looked into Snape’s eyes and found no hatred there, no mild dislike or distaste. He found an emotion that he couldn’t quite describe, couldn’t quite place, because he had never before seen it on the Potions Master’s face. He flinched back when the vampire walked towards him, a lip quirked in amusement. He placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder and gave him a small nod.
Then the moment was gone, and Harry was left standing in the living room as Snape went into the kitchen and to the door. “Rest upstairs. We’re done lessons for today. You may do whatever you like until tomorrow.” And with that said, he left the house without a backwards glance.
Harry watched him go.
oOo
“How’s practice been going?” Remus asked amicably as he ate dinner, which was delicious. Where had Harry learned how to cook like this? His taste buds were melting.
The piece of creamy lamb paused inches from Harry’s mouth. Slowly, he put his fork back on his plate. The dinner table was suddenly quiet. The young wizard kept his eyes stubbornly on his plate, not wanting to meet Snape’s eyes. He hadn’t forgiven him for his methods, even if they had been effective.
It was Snape who broke the silence. “He has finally made a modicum of progress. He seems to respond better to action rather than words.”
Remus shot Snape a sharp look. The vampire made no reaction. The werewolf instead turned his attention to Harry. “I suppose it would be stupid to ask if you were having a good time. Are you learning a lot, Harry?”
He shrugged. “I managed to find my core. Snape said we’ll work on finding my mind tomorrow.”
It looked as if Remus was about to say something else, before he stopped himself. “I see. Snape and I have decided that tomorrow, after dinner, you will start learning how to apparate.”
Harry nodded.
Awkward silence. It was to be expected, he figured. He had never been very good at small talk, Snape was a dampener on any conversation, and he wasn’t used to the company of these two adults yet. They seemed to mean well enough, but did they expect Harry to suddenly trust them with his darkest secrets or something? He frowned slightly as he watched Remus and Snape. They were eating. In fact, they looked rather relaxed together in the same room. How long had they said they’d been together? Ten years? Such a long time. How did they manage to pretend to hate each other for so long? If it had been Harry… it would have killed inside. Pretending to hate something he cherished, pretending to loath the presence of the person he cared about the most… Of course, he could only imagine being in such a situation. He had never actually loved someone before.
It was a depressing thought.
Would he forever be without a companion? Someone who would never judge him, who would support him no matter what he decided to do in his life or in the world? His life thus far had seemed like forever, and the lack of any form of affection from the Dursleys succeeded in leaving him with a low opinion of love. And yet…
Remus laughed at something Snape had sniped about. The vampire had been working himself into quite a tizzy, complaining about the incompatibility of such and such a potion ingredient with some herb during the new moon.
“I’m sure you’ll figure something out, Severus.” Remus smiled and covered Snape’s hand with his own. “You always do.”
Snape didn’t smile, but the slight twitch of his mouth and the thawing of his eyes conveyed more than a turn of the lips could have. He looked content, and happy, sitting at Remus’s side. Harry had never seen the man so peaceful.
Perhaps love had its merits.
oOo
“Now that you’ve found your core, you simply have to find whatever connects your mind to your magic, and follow the connection back to your mindscape. Once you manage that, we can start working on weeding Dumbledore’s influence out of you.”
Harry nodded, and felt for the ebb of his magic. It was slow to come, but soon he could feel the warmth flowing through his limbs, under his skin, but at the same time not really there. It wasn’t like his blood, it didn’t exist physically, but it was still there. He closed his eyes and let himself fall into that warmth, that light.
Light exploded around him from behind his eyelids as he mentally submerged himself in the river of light. Not so much seeing as feeling, knowing, what path to take to find the pool. The source of his magic. The core.
It felt like home, Harry absently noticed as he floated in swirling current. The magic wrapped around him made him feel a sense of belonging, of purpose. It enabled him. Allowed him to do whatever he wanted. And right now, he wanted to find his mind.
As if in response to his need, his magic surged around him and propelled him out of the core and into a dark space, a nothingness that existed in between the arteries and veins of magic. He could see the entire web from where he floated, where it formed his arms, legs. He looked up, or at least what seemed like up, and followed the magic to where his head would be. What he found there was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen. It was almost as bright with magic as his core, and occasionally he could make out rings of runes circling it, flowing through it… He propelled himself forward, into that mass of energy, and once he broke its surface, he found himself in a very strange place indeed. Was this his mindscape? No, that couldn’t be right. It wasn’t the graveyard. This was an infinite web of light.
Snape had said something about them being different. His mind and his mindscape. Was this his mind? What was a mindscape then? Not understanding what to do next, he let himself come back to his body. It was an uncomfortable landing at first, experiencing sensation and space again, but he adjusted quickly.
Snape was watching him carefully.
“I found my mind, but I don’t know what to do from there.”
The vampire frowned. “You found the graveyard?”
Harry shook his head. “No, I found my mind, not my mindscape. It was like a huge web of light. I didn’t know how to get to my mindscape from there.”
Two dark eyebrows rose. “A web of light?”
Harry sat down in a nearby chair, inexplicably tired. A glance out the window showed him that it was already well into the evening. His eyes widened. Had he been in his magic for that long? His grumbling stomach answered that question. He brought his attention back to their conversation. “Yeah. I think it was magic. I mean, I followed my magic, and then I was outside of it, and I saw where the magic flowed to my head… When I went into it, I saw the web.”
Snape looked thoughtful. “In truth, I have never experienced what you have. Meditation took me straight to my mindscape, and my teacher only gave me basic theory on the only other method he knew.” He frowned. “Perhaps if I take you to your mindscape via legilimency, you will be able to make the connection. Look at me.”
Harry tore his eyes away from the window to look into black depths. A whisper later, and the world faded to black around him.
“Potter. Wake up.”
Harry grumbled and rolled over, expecting to find warm blankets and a pillow, but instead his mind scraped across dirt and rocks. Wincing, he opened his eyes and found himself once again in the graveyard. Oh yeah, Snape had cast legilimens on him.
“Try to find the web of light, Potter,” Snape said from where he was leaning against a headstone, absently plucking brambles off his black clothes. Whenever one tried to latch on to him, he wilted it as if it were simply a minor nuisance. And whenever one tried to latch onto Harry, he did the same. Harry frowned in confusion, before remembering what Snape had done when he’d seen Dumbledore after destroying the blood wards. He had repressed the manipulations on his mind, the bramble things. Harry didn’t quite understand it all yet, but he knew he would soon, once he and Snape started repairing the damage to his mind. Harry still didn’t comprehend exactly what that entailed.
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he thought back to the web. Nothing happened. Er… ‘Try something else,’ he coached himself. He felt around for his magic, and it responded to his call. The graveyard around him began to flicker, like an illusion that was losing its power. Every time it faded, Harry could see lines, and those lines connected to become a gigantic web. It almost seemed like they had created the mindscape. That they had forged the wiring, and then an illusion of coloured cloth had conformed to the wiring to create tombstones, gray skies, the blackened and dead trees… It was a projection! His mindscape was like a projection of his mind! It was the way his mind presented itself to him in physical form so that it made more sense. After all, the first time he had seen the elaborate web, he had been confounded. He hadn’t known left from right, but as a graveyard where physics and laws remained, he could make sense of it.
He stopped feeling for the web, the magic, and the illusion strengthened and gained back its pigment. He grinned. “Alright. I think I got this.”
Snape raised an eyebrow. “I won’t ask how, because I wouldn’t understand anyway.” The vampire pushed off the tombstone and started walking farther into the graveyard. Harry followed, and Snape explained his plan along the way to wherever it was they were going. “I’m going to show you how to contain the brambles so they don’t influence you, but it will be up to you to destroy the remnants of Dumbledore’s compulsions. The old man did a very thorough job. It will be like trying to destroy a field of Fireweed. No matter how many times you burn it, it will always grow back from its root system.”
When Harry nodded his comprehension, Snape pried a bramble off the nearest tombstone. “The difficulty with destroying these brambles is that they are very much like a weed. They grow back often more durable and in larger numbers than before you destroyed them. When you eradicate them, you have to make sure we take out the root system, not the branches.” He demonstrated this by following the bramble down to its root and tugging it a few inches out of the ground. The root glowed even brighter than the bramble. “For now, I want you to track the root system, try to find the core, or the seed. I cannot help you with that, as you are the one with power over your mind and I am not. I will observe and make sure nothing… untoward occurs.”
Harry raised an eyebrow. “Untoward?”
Snape smirked. “Making sure you don’t screw up.”
“Ah.”
Harry relaxed and closed his eyes. Track the root system, huh? He opened them again and the world was written in code, kind of like a movie he’d seen Dudley watch one time. What was it… Matrix? Not that it really mattered. He visually sifted through the runes of the graveyard illusion and searched through the webs for the runes that made up the brambles. It was kind of cool, actually, he could zoom in and out and see past things as if he had X-ray vision. Totally wicked.
He spent what felt like forever just learning to navigate the root system, let along actually finding the core, or ‘source’ of it. When Snape finally told him it was time to stop, it was well into the evening. And if he weren’t so damn hungry, it would have been too late for supper.
Remus was already home, reading a newspaper at the kitchen table, sipping at some tea. “So, how did your day go?”
Harry sighed explosively as he sat down in one of the chairs. He was too tired to make anything, but his stomach was too angry at him to ignore. Absently, he waved his hand at the counter, and an apple came flying at him. He managed to catch it before it smacked him in the face. He blinked, looked at the counter, and then at the apple, and then at the counter, and then at his hand. Magic. Huh. He was reeeally tired. Either that, or all that time in his magic had really connected him to it. He figured it was a bit of both. It was just so natural to do…
“I didn’t know you were teaching him wandless magic, Severus,” Remus said pleasantly, as if it weren’t all that surprising. From what Harry remembered from his Hogwarts education, wandless magic was supposed to be really hard, and only the most powerful of wizards could do it.
“I am not.”
The werewolf looked up from his paper. He stared at the two of us for a moment before going back to it.
“What is so interesting in this Daily Prophet, Remus?” Severus asked, walking over to glance over the werewolf’s shoulder. His hand rested, relaxed, on the back of Remus’s neck. And it was playing absent-mindedly with his hair. Harry looked away.
“The hunt for Harry Potter is on. It seems that finding Harry is more important to Dumbledore than the knowledge that he is missing. Voldemort will know now, as well. Probably not the wisest move, but they wouldn’t have been able to keep it secret come September.”
As the two continued to muse over the paper, Harry finished off his apple so he would have enough energy to actually make himself something to eat. From the dirty plate a foot away from Remus, he figured the werewolf had already eaten, so he made just enough for himself.
He didn’t really know what to think about the Harry Hunt. He was just glad that he was safe from Dumbledore for the time being. He was safe at Spinner’s End. He was also stuck here until he mastered Occlumency. But aside from the crucio incident, he didn’t really mind staying here. Hell, a dungeon cell would have been better than the Dursley’s.
oOo
“Apparating is actually a rather simple concept. You imagine yourself in another location, and your magic takes you there. Of course, it’s easier said than done. The fact that you already have a good grasp on wandless magic helps.”
Harry raised an eyebrow. He wouldn’t call it a good grasp on wandless magic, but he could access his magic. And seemingly make it follow his wishes. Seemingly. He hadn’t actually told it, or asked it, to do anything the day he summoned that apple. It had just done it for him. It was like an extension of himself, really.
“So, I just shut my eyes and wish myself to be somewhere else?”
Remus frowned for a moment at the logic. “Wish?”
Harry nodded. “Yeah.”
The werewolf looked thoughtful, not immediately dismissing the idea. “Our magic often responds to our wants or needs. Did you wish for things when you were a child?”
“Well, there was this one time I was running away from Dudley when he and his friends were Harry Hunting, and I made a wrong turn into a dead end. I wished I was anywhere but there, and the next thing I knew I was on the top of a nearby building.”
Remus’s eyes widened. “You apparated at that young an age? Usually children just wish for their broken toys to be fixed, and that’s the extent of their accidental magic.”
Harry shrugged. “Weird things always happened around me. A teacher I hated in elementary school once had their hair turned blue, and when Dudley shoved me away from looking at this snake in the zoo, the glass to the cage disappeared, and this one time my aunt tried to cut my hair and totally destroyed it, it was grown back the next day.”
Remus didn’t know what to think. “Er… well, try ‘wishing’ yourself to be in your room.”
Harry blinked, shrugged, closed his eyes, and disappeared with a pop.
Remus was left gaping in the kitchen.
And that was the end of Harry’s apparation lessons.
oOo
Harry spent the next week working with Snape and his brambles. The progress was slow and painful, mapping out the root system, as they had to make sure they didn’t miss a single branch, or it’d grow back twice as tenacious. It didn’t help that he was still not a natural at Occlumency. Sure, he could control his mind and stuff, but his method was so far from Snape’s the vampire didn’t even know where to start. Harry was basically on his own. It wouldn’t be until after they got rid of Dumbledore’s brambles that they found out if Harry could even defend his mind from outside attack with his knew knowledge and experience.
At the end of the week, Harry finally found the seed, or the source. It took a full day for Harry to fry it, and then take out the rest of the brambles before they grew minds of their own. Snape and he were both pretty optimistic that they had gotten it all. It had been a rather simple extermination, over all, and now Harry knew corners of his mind’s framework that he hadn’t even known existed before.
“Don’t forget, Potter, that this is Dumbledore we’re talking about. He may have devised a contingency plan. Just because we outsmarted one of his tricks does not mean that this is the end of them.”
Harry nodded, but he still couldn’t help but revel in the feeling of cleanliness. It’s like finding out you have a rat infestation in your house, and the exterminator just came to deal with it. Sure, you can smell the rat poison, and there are a few chips in the paint job here and there, but the rats are gone. For the most part. There’s always the possibility of finding a dead carcass somewhere.
“If you ever experience any disorientation of any kind concerning Dumbledore, Voldemort, or the war, come to me immediately. It will be easier for me to detect the brambles, as I won’t be under their influence, understood? And I will be able to suppress them again until we take care of the infestation.”
Harry smiled at Snape as he collapsed into one of the armchairs in the living room. “Thank you, Snape.”
The vampire looked almost taken aback. After an awkward pause, he muttered, “You’re welcome,” before locking himself up in his office.
oOo
Harry was allowed a small reprieve as his mind settled after the extermination, and Snape examined him for any signs of regression. In that time, the vampire let him into his study and actually let him read some of the books there. Although surprised, Harry was glad for the distraction, as he didn’t have much else to do in Spinner’s End. Actually, he had nothing else to do, except brood. His school books were gone, after all. Perhaps he could ask Remus to go shopping for him at Flourish and Blotts…
But the books Snape had were fascinating. Sure, there were a lot on potions, and he really didn’t understand much of that, but he had a plethora of Defense Against the Dark Arts books, as well as some more shady volumes. So he spent as much time as he could, reading up on spells, and practicing his wandless magic in his room – Snape would kill him if he broke anything in the house.
The evenings, however, were the best part of his day.
After cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, Harry excused himself and went up to his room for the rest of the night. Once he seated himself on his bed, he cast a tempus charm, noted the time, and then closed his eyes and let himself fall into his magic. He counted sixty seconds and returned to the real world. A tempus charm revealed that five minutes had actually passed. At least now he knew the approximate time difference. He didn’t want to stay in that state for too long, because he had to sleep in about five hours.
So he let himself fall into his magic again, and just relaxed. Floated. Zenned out. He always felt mentally rested after he soaked himself in his magic for a while. It was like a drug. You didn’t want to leave once you got there, but if you stayed for too long the real world came knocking, whether by a grumbling stomach or another person.
He let his magic carry him to his core, and from there he shot up through the empty space to reach the complex magical web, or matrix, that was his mind. He turned around just before entering it to see the magic flowing through his body. It was beautiful, really. It danced through his limbs and then returned to his core, like a solar prominence shooting off the surface of the sun, only to get pulled back into it.
He floated into his mind, careful not to disrupt the webbing. He could see where the brambles used to be, like scars on his mind. Hopefully they would fade with time.
Reluctantly, he returned to the real world. He cast a tempus. It was already 9pm. With a sigh, he lay back on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He held up his hand and summoned not a lumos specifically, but a ball of light. He floated it up to the ceiling of the room and mentally stuck it there. It stayed obediently. With a smile, he created another one, this time red. The first one wavered, and Harry strengthened his connection to it. It steadied, but the red one had gone out. Frowning curiously, he tried again, this time enforcing the first one while forming the red one. It was hard, splitting his concentration like that, but eventually he had the two glowing strong and floating on his ceiling. He closed his eyes and felt the tiny threads of magic that connected him to them. He thought about that time he had destroyed the blood wards on the Dursley house. Phantom pain shot through his body and his eyes, and then his eyes began to sting. Startled, he opened them and saw a gigantic dome. Again. Except this one was a deep purple, and in the middle of it floated two balls of light, one red, and one white. He gaped. Focusing his eyes, he found multiple chains of runes floating around the dome. Actually, come to think of it, it was a lot like how he saw his mind, before it projected his mindscape. Runes, webs, domes of light… it was all magic?
It made sense now. Well, not why he could see like this, but what he saw. It was all magic, and spells. The runes were like… the math that made the spells! Huh.
He closed his eyes again and let whatever it was that made him see this way release, and the lights faded with it.
He grinned as he let his magic lights flicker out. He could destroy spells with this weird ability, as proven by the dome incident and Snape’s cruciatus. But what if he could make stuff with it?
That’d be kinda cool.
oOo
“Legilimens.”
Harry was somewhat prepared for the intrusion, but he didn’t really know what to do to prevent it. And neither did Snape. Their mind methods were so different, all the vampire could do was offer suggestions like ‘Imagine a barrier around your mind’. Very not helpful.
It felt like batting at a bee. He could feel Snape rifling through his mind. Every time he brushed a web, Harry could feel it, but he didn’t know how to get rid of him. He’d tried swatting him away, but Snape had dodged expertly. ‘Bloody bugger… Oh hell that was a bad pun. With the bees and the… other… Okay, shut up internal voice.’ Harry closed his eyes to blot out the stupid visions and memories pelting his retinas and almost growled when it didn’t work. Of course, they weren’t light images, they were memories. With a frustrated grunt, he collapsed into his magic in order to get a reprieve.
He came back to himself to the sight of a very concerned Snape shaking him by the shoulders.
“What?!” he snapped. He didn’t like being pulled out of his happy place.
“Don’t scare me like that, Potter!”
Harry looked at him funny. “What are you talking about?”
“Your mind vanished, you fool! Where did you go? I thought your mind had been destroyed under the pressure!”
Harry paused, and just stared at Snape. There was worry in those black pits. Actual concern for Harry’s well-being. He felt a little guilty, but not much. “I retreated.”
Snape glared at him. “Retreated where, Potter?”
The ‘Potter’ came like a physical blow. Harry glared back. “To my magic! The only bloody place I can seem to get any peace in this bloody house!”
Snape was silent for a moment, the anger on his face morphing into interest. “You retreated into your magic? What are you insinuating, exactly?”
Harry frowned and ran a hand roughly through his hair. “When you were trying to teach me how to access my magic. I found it, felt the flow, and then ‘fell’ into it. It was like… floating in the well of magic. It was by floating there that I found my mind.”
Snape looked as if the concept was completely foreign to him, and it probably was. The vampire functioned daily on a set of rules that, when interrupted or proven wrong, made him rather… touchy. He liked to know everything, and when he didn’t, it either irked him or fascinated him. He leaned away from Harry, and seemed to contemplate his next words. Luckily, he seemed more fascinated with Harry than irked.
After a time, he finally spoke. “I have come to the conclusion that this is something you will have to use wisely. When you retreat into your magic to avoid mental attack, it puts your body at risk, as you are almost completely unaware of the real world. I would only use this tactic if you had no other option.” He paused. “When you suddenly disappeared like that, your mind was suddenly gone. Well, it was there, it was where it was supposed to be, but it was like it wasn’t real anymore, like it had become a shadow. There was no substance to it.” His eyes were serious. “I could have searched for your mind for hours and not find it, Potter, but I could just have easily cast Avada Kedavra. Be wary of this ability.”
Harry nodded, and looked at the floor. He was back to square one. Again. He wanted to scream, to voice his frustration in some way, but Snape would just tell him to shut up. Instead, he gritted his teeth and steadied himself for another attack. Hopefully, he would figure out some way of protecting himself. If not, he’d be stuck in this house for the rest of his life.
That wasn’t a very pleasant thought.
-Toki Mirage-
Sorry again for the long wait, people. I know half of you hate me, and the other half reluctantly like me. T-T Once I get past the next chapter, though, the chapters will be quicker until I’m up to date with where I left off around chapter 12.
Thanks for waiting!
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Bloody Skies