Noir Evans

Chapter 2: Felix Felicis

"Where do you think you're going!?" Hermione nagged as Harry was about to leave the common room. He was dressed in a plain grey hoodie and jeans with a backpack slung loosely over his shoulder. He was just going to go straight to the Chamber after dinner that day to read or even just take a nap but he needed to get changed onto something more comfortable. He regretted that.

"Harry?!" she paused, "Talk to us," she added in a softer tone. They seemed to think that Harry had blamed himself for Sirius' Death as they made it a clear point to tell him that it 'wasn't his fault'.

Harry shook his head, he didn't have the energy or willpower to deal with a bushy-haired know-it-all. He adjusted his backpack so that it would not fall and stepped out of the Gryffindor Common Room.

As he made his way down the winding corridors of Hogwarts, he came face to face with none other than the Dungeon Bat himself.

"Professor Snape," he greeted cordially. He had just turned a corner and found the man only two metres away from him and they both stopped in their tracks, "Good Evening."

"Mr Potter," he sneered in his usual drawling tones. Harry had found a newfound respect for the man. The Dark Arts were fascinating. Addicting, almost. There was no shame in being a Dark Wizard nor pursuing the Art. The man just blended in with the wrong crowd and was tricked with a false sense of power. He had suffered the loss of his only friend and turned to the only people that made him feel wanted. A perfectly normal human trait.

Throughout the summer, Harry couldn't bear to be without magic so instead of lazing on his bottom all day, apart from chores, of course, he had learnt and perfected his Occlumency Shields as well as perhaps learnt Legilimency. It was dangerous, yes, but what damage could make Dudley's mind any worse. The boy had the mental calibre of a pig. Soon, Harry had perfected the Art of Legilimency as well. It was easy if you had the right teacher - or a better teacher at least, in Snape's case, it was a book.

"I trust you had a fine summer, Sir," he tried to be polite only for Snape to return it with a confused and rather intrigued look and Harry found out why only seconds later. He felt a presence in his mind. Severus had found his Occlumency shields - masterpiece if his inner-Lockhart could say so himself. Unfortunately, he couldn't as he was still suffering severe memory loss.

Snape, lost in his rather lengthy exploration of the perimeter of Harry's mind, didn't respond so Harry, quite annoyed at the man, shoved the Potions Master out of his mind and then he remembered that Dumbledore had told him that Snape was one of the most skilled Legilimens in the World. He just shoved Severus Snape out of his mind. Good, he wasn't being over-confident.

"It is rather rude to use Legilimency on someone without their permission, Professor," he raised an eyebrow - a very Slytherin move, "Tut, tut."

"You insol-" Before he could get any further than that, Harry returned the favour by infiltrating Snape's mind. He was faced with rather fortified walls but a quick burst of magic soon made it easy for Harry to get through. At first, he came across rather boring thoughts that had happened that morning - like grading papers and sneering at students until he found what he was looking for, his true allegiances. The Dark Lord.

He pulled himself out of the ex-ex-Death Eater's mind and he came back to the real world, finding a very confused Snape. Then, he understood why. The magic that Harry had used to break through Snape's mind barriers had been very Dark.

There was no going back as he was not very well-versed in Memory Charms so he decided to play it cool. Something that he had to do when faced with something on his escapades to Knockturn Alley.

"I won't tell Albus if you don't," he walked closer to the Potions Master. The man backed up a step before finally staying still - a very confused look on his face.