Kingsley glanced round at them all and began to call out their names. Harry and Ron exchanged slightly apprehensive glances at their Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor’s words. Recently, Kingsley had given them no let up with regards to learning new spells. Their homework was always practical which was a relief to everyone except Hermione. When she had complained however, Kingsley came back with the most cutting answer Harry had ever heard a teacher give.
“Miss Granger, imagine that the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters walked into this classroom right now. You are well aware they are attempting to kill you. Are you going to pull out your quill and write them a two thousand word essay on how to resist the Imperius curse or are you going to fight back with every spell you can think of?”
Hermione had never challenged Kingsley again, especially as the sniggers which had come as a result didn’t die down for at least a month. Everyone divided up and Harry chose to work with Neville who had grown in confidence about his own abilities since last June.
“Go on Neville, you go first.”
Neville, a look of determination crossing his face, pulled out his wand and clearly said “Aegisidis”. A small spark of yellow emitted from his wand although when Harry directed a well placed tickling charm at him, the shield’s protection caved in. Quickly, Harry muttered the counter curse and Neville stopped laughing.
“Oh well, I guess I need more practice,” said Neville sadly. “Hey, maybe you could do a session in the DA for this. I bet it’d be useful…” he added, brightening up.
Harry laughed. “I better find out if I can do it first. I can’t teach something I can’t do myself!” Flicking his wand, Harry called the incantation and a flash of yellow erupted from his wand. Neville yelled ‘Expelliarmus!” and the spell bounced harmlessly off Harry’s invisible shield. Hermione, who had been watching with interest, knew her own spells would be stronger than Neville’s so she also tried to break Harry’s defence. Like Neville’s, her curse just bounced off harmlessly into the wall.
Kingsley, who had been watching Harry with a closed expression on his dark face, drew out his wand as Neville’s and Hermione’s second spells just dissolved into nothing as they hit Harry’s defensive cover at the same time.
Everyone in the class turned to watch with interest as Kingsley, who had looked very surprised that Harry’s shield had deflected the curses easily, raised his own wand and clearly intended to attempt to break Harry’s shield himself. Everyone’s interest turned to a stunned horror as Kingsley drew his own wand up to shoulder height and shouted “Crucio!”
Total silence enshrouded the room as the jet of red light flew towards Harry. Time seemed to slow down as it got closer to him and, when it struck Harry’s shield, the red light scattered all around the room in a million shards. Harry was left standing, unharmed thanks to his shield, looking fearfully at Kingsley. As soon as the spell hit the shield, Kingsley had pulled his wand away from the direction of Harry instantly.
“Professor, that’s illegal,” Harry stated bluntly, clearly wrong footed by the Ministry Auror. “That’s an Unforgivable…”
Kingsley shrugged his shoulders and appeared to blank out the rest of the class. “I wanted to see how strong your shield was. There’s no use for it if it can only withstand children’s magic. The Cruciatus curse is the strongest deflectable curse that is known to wizard kind. Although Avada Kedavra is stronger, it is unstoppable. Incidentally, I raised my wand the instant I cast it so, even if it had hit you, it would only have been able to knock you to the floor.”
Harry lowered his wand and accepted Kingsley’s explanation without comment. Very slowly, the class fell back into practicing the shield charm and Harry, unhurt from Kingsley’s attack, continued to help Neville.
At the end of the lesson, Kingsley unsurprisingly asked them to practice the spell for homework. As the bell rang, everyone left the classroom although many glanced back to see if Kingsley was going to hex them between their seat and the door. Harry, ignoring the stares of his class mates, picked up his bag and headed out of the room.
“Harry Potter, a word please.”
Hermione, looking fearful, lowered her voice as Harry turned around. “Harry, be careful. He could be a Death Eater in disguise.”
Harry shrugged and answered quietly. “I’ll be alright. Don’t worry,”
With a final glance, Hermione shut the door leaving Harry and Kingsley alone.
“How do I know you aren’t a Death Eater?” Harry asked directly. “That Cruciatus curse was a genuine one…”
Kingsley sighed and looked at Harry. “I can prove I’m not a Death Eater, Harry,” he said quietly. “Look at my arm.” He pulled up his sleeve and Harry clearly saw no trace of the Dark Mark.
“In that case, why did you want to try and torture me?”
“I didn’t,” Kingsley answered honestly. “It was just your shield was the most powerful one I’ve ever seen in my life. I wanted to make sure that it would be able to deflect two of the Unforgivables. Since the Cruciatus is the strongest, I used that one. Was that the first attempt you had at the charm?”
“Yes,” Harry responded slowly. “Why?”
“Because I wondered if you’d had any practice previously. The strength of your shield is astounding, one that even a top Auror would be proud of. Anyway, since you can do the hex so well, I wanted you to know this one too.” Kingsley drew out his wand and flicked the end in Harry’s direction. “Contego!”
Harry felt a shield surround him, identical to the one he himself had cast a few minutes earlier. Kingsley raised his wand. “You see, the Contego charm acts the same as the Aegisidol hex except it protects someone else instead of just the caster. It’s an Auror level spell but since you have a knack of getting other people into a bit of a mess…” he tailed off. “I thought it would give you peace of mind if nothing else, in case anything like last summer happens again.”
Unable to speak, Harry nodded his head in appreciation and left the classroom to find Ron and Hermione.
Harry walked aimlessly towards Gryffindor Tower, thinking of what Kingsley had said to him. Yes, he thought, I do seem to have a bit of a knack at getting a lot of people into trouble. But at least I might be able to protect them now…
When Hermione caught sight of Harry, she rushed over and threw her arms around his neck. “Harry! Ron and I were so worried. I was just about to tell Professor McGonagall to find out what was going on. Just in case Kingsley was, you know…”
“A Death Eater?” Harry finished. “And he’s not “ he showed me his arm and it didn’t have the Dark Mark on it.”
“But he could be using Polyjuice Potion.”
Harry paled visibly. Raising his wand he muttered “Accio Map” and the Marauders Map soared towards him from his dormitory.
“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” Harry muttered before unfolding the map. After several minutes of searching, neither Harry, Ron nor Hermione could spot Kingsley’s name.
“Ha!” Ron said in triumph. “I knew he’d be a fake…”
“Unless you count that person there,” Harry said, pointing to the bottom left hand corner of the map. A small dot, clearly labelled ‘Kingsley Shacklebolt’ was moving back up towards the castle. “The Marauder’s Map never lies,” Harry added, echoing Remus Lupin. “That is the real Kingsley Shacklebolt, not anyone impersonating him. Anyway, I’ve got to go to Remedial Potions.”
“Oh, I’d forgotten,” Hermione said quickly. “Good luck.”
“You’re getting as bad as Hermione,” Ron muttered in an undertone. “You know everything too…”
“Ah yes, come in Harry,” Dumbledore called after Harry had knocked at the office door. Harry walked in and smiled awkwardly at Dumbledore, Occlumency never was very high up his enjoyment list. Even so, this has to be better than with Snape…he thought.
Dumbledore smiled very slightly and Harry felt a relatively small amount of force pressing against him. For some reason, Harry remembered the conversation he’d had with Kingsley a few moments earlier. Slightly confused, Harry then remembered Professor McGonagall handing out the timetables on the first day. Slowly, it dawned on him that Dumbledore was using Legilimency and he was forcing Harry to remember these relatively random memories.
So much for a warning, Harry thought, as he collected himself together and prepared to fight back.
After around five minutes, Harry began to feel tired and, to his great relief, Dumbledore realised this and lifted the charm instantly.
“Well done, Harry. Sorry about the lack of warning, I wanted to see how you would react without notice. You were stronger and quicker on the uptake than I was expecting,” Dumbledore smiled as Harry blushed slightly at the praise. “Are you ok to have another go?”
“Ummmm, I think so,” Harry answered. “I just seem to get really tired after I’ve done it.”
“That is easy enough to sort out. Drink this.” Dumbledore reached down and pulled out a small vial of light blue liquid. Harry took it hesitantly and swallowed it. To his great surprise, it tasted very slightly of orange and was relatively sweet. Instantly, Harry felt himself feeling refreshed and relaxed.
“Good potion,” Dumbledore muttered more to himself than to Harry. “Professor Snape really is the most excellent Potions Master. It’s just a shame I have to alter the taste, otherwise it is undrinkable…”
Harry grinned and, as he did so, he felt a slightly odd sensation in his stomach, almost like there was something inside him. Assuming it was just after effects of the potion, Harry ignored it. “Ready then, Harry? Three…Two…One…Legilimens!
”
This time, Harry felt a new level of power building inside himself. When Dumbledore raised his wand and muttered ‘Legilimens’, he again felt himself put up a shield although it was done automatically this time. The shield was also stronger; far, far stronger than what Harry usually produced and for the first time, Harry felt Dumbledore waver. Instantly though, Dumbledore’s attack on him grew stronger as well. It was like an invisible, unyielding force pressing down on his brain. Again, before Dumbledore broke fully into his mind, Harry felt his own Occlumency shield increase tenfold in strength. If possible, Dumbledore’s attack appeared to get even more intense.
Inside himself, Harry felt a surge of hatred shoot through his body and, at last, he managed to block Dumbledore completely. Dumbledore staggered as his own spell was thrown back at him and Harry’s brain filled with memories and thoughts which weren’t his.
A small boy with auburn hair sat at a desk reading a heavy text book.
A taller wizard stood in front of a cauldron quietly stirring a shimmering blue potion.
Dumbledore was casting a spell at Lily and James, Sirius standing beside them.
Dumbledore standing in his office with Harry the night Sirius died, prodding the Pensive with the tip of his wand…
All of a sudden, Harry found that he couldn’t finish the rest of the memory and instead he was pulled away from it, forced instead to watch another of Dumbledore’s thoughts.
A younger Dumbledore fighting another wizard who shot the killing curse at him.
Dumbledore raising his wand, pointing it at Harry as he walked out of the Great Hall, and muttering ‘Trackus Consequor’.
At last, Harry found that he was no longer looking into Dumbledore’s mind and instead was staring into his white, unnerved face. Dumbledore didn’t say anything; he just gaped at Harry in amazement.
Harry also stood there in shock. His Occlumency shield was easily the strongest he’d ever needed, or been able, to produce. Facing his Headmaster, Harry let out a strong, vehement hiss, a feeling of immeasurable anger and hatred building inside him for no reason whatsoever.
“This is how you treat me, what you think of me, isn’t it?! I never wanted to be who I am, but this is the way my life has turned out, and I’m sick of it!” Harry’s voice rose to a shout, the anger building inside him and he didn’t know why.
“I trusted you! And you’ve been tracking me every day since I came here, eavesdropping on my life! I don’t have a life I can call my own! WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING FROM ME? FROM NOW ON, YOU TELL ME EVERYTHING, OR YOU STOP INTERFERING.”
Harry lowered his voice as he felt another strong, almost irrational, surge of anger. “From now on, Dumbledore, you tell me what you and the Order are doing. I will not put my own plans into action until I’m sure of what you know,”
Dumbledore, who had looked totally confused at Harry’s outburst, froze at these words and stared intently at Harry.
“If you would tell me, I would find the information highly useful. I want to know what you are planning for…”
“Get out, Tom,” Dumbledore answered, his eyes flashing. “Get out of my office and never, ever, come back.”
Harry swung round and walked out the office. After Harry had disappeared from view, Dumbledore thought he heard him cry out in pain. Walking over to the polished oak door, Dumbledore wrenched it open and saw Harry curled up on the floor shielding his head.
“Tom?” Dumbledore asked in a cold voice. Harry looked up, confusion sweeping his face.
“What?” Harry asked, genuinely confused. “What did you just call me?”
“Are you all right, Harry?” Dumbledore asked in a much gentler tone, crouching down next to him.
“Yeah, I think so. Why wouldn “”
“Harry, what just happened?” Dumbledore asked, his voice low.
Harry frowned at the question. “I dunno. I was just coming up here to have an Occlumency lesson and we had one go, you gave me that potion, and then I found myself out here.”
“How did you get out here?”
Harry frowned, thinking back. “I have no idea,” he answered eventually, looking thoroughly confused. Dumbledore held Harry’s gaze for a few seconds before he stood up.
“All right, Harry. We’ll leave it here for today. If at any time you find you cannot remember exactly what you have been doing, please, please come and see me immediately. Excuse yourself from which ever lesson you are in, or come at any time in the night, just please, let me know as soon as you can. Use your Stag if you need to.”
With that, Dumbledore turned around and made his way back into his office. Harry, still confused, made his way downstairs to meet up with Ron and Hermione. Absentmindedly, Harry reached up to touch his prickling scar while thinking back to the slight flicker which had lit Dumbledore’s eyes a few seconds previously.
He couldn’t know that at that moment, Dumbledore was wholly appreciating what Severus Snape was putting himself through in his role as a spy against the Dark Lord’s dominions. An Occlumency shield strong enough to deflect the Legilimency powers of Lord Voldemort, even when they were directed wandlessly through a sixteen year old boy, was close to being impossible.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed that “ I found it really hard to write this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think!
‘Contego’ and ‘Aegisidis’ “ different words for shield
‘Trackus Consequor’ “ to go after / follow.
JK mentioned in Chap 37 of OOTP that Dumbledore keeps track of where Harry is all the time. The tracking spell is my reasoning behind Dumbledore’s ability to have ‘watched you [Harry] from afar’ (OOTP, Page 739, UK edition).