Menacie

Chapter - 22 : New Divulgence

Ava found herself at the entrance of the Great Hall where Professor Dumbledore stood patiently, waiting for her to arrive.

"Ah, Miss Harlow! Good evening! Shall we?" he said as he directed her outside the castle.

"What did I do Professor?" Ava asked nervously as they headed out of the castle.
Dumbledore laughed.

"Nothing at all, my child." he answered. "But we are going to discuss about a class that you must take in addition to your regular school classes; there won't be any exam or homework but it would require you to free yourself for 2 hours each week and constant practice. And no one must know about it. Do you think you'd be up for it, Miss Harlow?"

"Please call me Ava, Professor. And yes, I think I'd like to do it if it can make me better at magic. What would I be taught, though? And more importantly, why me?"

"Ah! Ava, if I'm not wrong, Hagrid explained to you in Diagon Alley that you are a Legilimence. But I found something more about you today - you are an Occlumence, a person who can shield their mind from being penetrated, as well. Very rare combination, but very powerful.

"Today when you tried to penetrate Mr Malfoy's mind, I tried to penetrate yours. But you, being an Occlumence, deflected it without even focusing on it and my force hit poor Mr Malfoy and as you saw, he got nearly knocked out because of two powers trying to forcefully penetrate his mind."

"So your a Legilimence too?" Ava questioned.
"Yes, but not like you. I wasn't born with such powers, I've learnt it. The ones who have learnt it, need their wands to actually use it for it is not a part of us. But just so that you know, a person who is naturally a Legilimence and an Occlumens is called a Menacie. If your powers are reigned and controlled, they would make you exponentially more powerful."

"But what good would that do, Professor?" she continued.

"I'm afraid I can't tell that to you right now, but when the time comes, you will know. But tell me, will you be ready to accept my offer?" he asked.

"Yes, of course Professor! If you think that it's right, then it must be." Ava smiled. She trusted him because she knew that he was much wiser and learned than her. He would have a better judgement. If he's talking to her about it the first day here, then it must be of great importance.

"Thank you for your faith in me, Ava. I shall expect to see you in my office on select Friday evenings after dinner. I shall send you the notice one day prior." said Professor Dumbledore.

"Sure, sir!" she confirmed.

"Also, Ava, I couldn't help but notice that you are friends with Mr Potter, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger."

"I don't know, Professor. When I got sorted into Slytherin, Ron was horrified, Harry was sad as though we won't talk again and Hermione won't look at me. Even Hagrid didn't like it, though he tried to be optimistic about it, internally, I could see that he was a little disappointed." Ava sighed. She didn't know why, but she felt comfortable sharing this with him.

"Well, why don't you just talk to them Ava? In my opinion, all friendships are based on communication. Try to talk it out. If it doesn't work, you can always make friends in Slytherin." he said with a smile.

"You're right, sir. I'll try that first thing in the morning tomorrow." she obliged.

"Well it's late now, you better get going, you're classes begin tomorrow. Best of luck!" Dumbledore wished her.

"Thank you, Professor! Good night!"
And with that she quickly made her way back to her dormitory to find the three girls sleeping soundly, her belongings beside her bed and Nessie in her cage, longing to deliver a message.

Ava quickly and quietly took out a piece of parchment, a quill and an ink bottle and went up to the common room where she quickly drafted a letter to Leah, telling her about all that had happened that day - all except the stroll with Dumbledore. She tied it to Nessie and sent her away as she went to bed.

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Hi! I hope you enjoyed today's chapter! Thanks for reading! I'm incredibly grateful that we've hit about 350+ reads! I cant believe it! But, thank you! Thanks for sticking around!

Always,
Ana