MISS SNAPE || George Weasley Fanfic

25- OCCLUMENS

"You ready?" Lia asks, setting up the potions classroom. We put down blankets and pillows on the floor, moving desks and chairs, and set food and drinks on the table.

I sigh. "As I'll ever be, I suppose."

The four boys were the first to arrive, all wearing either sweats or pajama pants and hoodies. The girls shortly followed, wearing about the same.

I walk up to Pansy, leaning in close to her. "How are you today?"

She gives me a weak smile. "Hopefully more prepared than yesterday."

I smile back at her, squeezing her shoulder before I walk to face the rest of my pupils.

"Cordelia and I will be alternating between the groups. You three are only a few hours behind the rest, and I am confident that most of you will be perfecting the skill. Another meeting may commence tomorrow for those who aren't successful today, but I would like to meet with all of you again sometime soon to sharpen your skills."

The class nods tiredly.

Cordelia stands up from where she was sitting and places herself next to me, facing the group. "Goyle, Parkinson, Bulstrode, you will stay with me for a bit and practice what we were doing last night. The other four will go to the back of the classroom where all the blankets are."

Theo, Draco, Blaise, and Daphne follow me to the back, and I gesture for them to take a seat on the floor. A few of them pour cups of water before sitting down. I cast a silencing spell so as not to distract the other group.

"So our first exercise is to combine the two activities from last night. You're going to detect an invasion and you're going to clear your head as soon as you feel me entering your mind, since you know what it feels like and how to detect it. Like I said last night, it is impossible to read thoughts that aren't there."

I close my eyes and I begin with Daphne. It takes her a few seconds to notice, but I am able to see everything on her mind being masked, leaving me to only see darkness.

"Nicely done, Daphne!" I exclaim. "You can sit back for a bit while I work with everyone else. We'll play some games with it after.

Draco is next. He is smart as a whip, immediately feeling the extremely subtle pressure of someone penetrating his mind. His mind quickly turns blank. I congratulate him and he sits back with a smirk. The other two also do well, though Daphne was thinking about the pain they will be feeling in a few hours, which was harder to mask. But she eventually gets it.

"I'll give you guys a break before I switch with Lia, and I'll be back for the painful part. Again, I am so sorry you have to go through this." I give them a sad smile before undoing the spell and tapping Lia out. She undoes her spell before we switch, recasting silencing charms.

"How's it going?" I ask them, specifically toward Pansy.

"Good," she responds. "Lia told us that we're all getting much closer."

I straddle a chair backwards, and I examine them for a while.

"The important thing to remember is that you shouldn't be putting a lot of effort into it, that would make it worse. Pretend you're a sink drain, or you could just solely concentrate on the color black. But only black, no other color."

"Why not any other color?" Goyle asks.

"Because black is what I see when I invade a mind that is drained of emotion." They nod and try again. Lia was right, they were getting better.

"I want to try something," I say after a few moments.

"What's that?" Daphne asks, referring to a large brown bag behind me.