Now? Snape straightened up. Had he been right to suspect a trap? His thoughts were unravelled, plain for Dumbledore to see. The man could hardly have picked a better time to access his mind. Snape paused for a moment, concentrating hard. Yes. He could sense Dumbledore's presence, picking through the disordered contents of his head. Carefully, Snape began shuffling his thoughts, bringing certain ones forward, letting others fade into the background. He created decoys, imitations of the sealed-off areas he had just explored. Without seeming to, he led Dumbledore on a guided tour of his mind. He was puzzled. Was this occlumency? It didn't seem hard enough. The connection was broken. Snape's mind was his own once more.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore smiled, lowering himself back into his chair and retrieving his glasses. "Most impressive, I must say. I think we can safely call you an Occlumens, Severus."
"So that was occlumency," said Snape, thoughtfully, pacing around the circumference of the room. "Not so very difficult to learn, after all."
"But rather ... unpleasant to teach, unfortunately," said Dumbledore. Snape raised an eyebrow. "The instructor has to – ah – encourage the learner to take his own mind to pieces, to examine all the contents. Understandably, the learner is generally reluctant to embark on such a procedure, and the use of force is often necessary. I will admit that I find it quite tiring these days."
Snape stopped pacing momentarily and asked, "Is legilimency similar? Could I learn it now, after going through ... now that I am an Occlumens?" Just saying the word out loud made him feel triumphant.
"The art of mind-investigation does have similarities with occlumency, yes," Dumbledore replied, warily, "but we have done enough for one night. Yes, yes, we should leave legilimency for another day. You must be tired."
It wasn't a question. And Snape, with his new self-awareness, could also sense that Dumbledore was keeping something back. So he didn't want Snape to become a Legilimens? Did Dumbledore think he would not be able to do it? Or was he trying to keep Snape from exploring other people's minds? Did he still not trust Snape, even after this long night? He was tired, it was true. Very well. But he would learn Legilimency, eventually. He would give Dumbledore no choice. After all, as a spy, Snape was now an important man. A new thought occurred to him, and his lips curled in a private smile. There would be no harm in trying to learn Legilimency on his own. It couldn't really be very different from Occlumency. He could practise on unwitting subjects -- Crabbe and Goyle sprang instantly to mind. Dumbledore interrupted his thoughts.
"The weather has turned to rain, Severus. Not a particularly tempting prospect if you were considering walking to the edge of the school grounds and Disapparating. You will be drenched."
Snape had no idea how he was going to get home. Disapparation seemed the best solution. Floo powder -- he still had his pouch. But although he was sure that Dumbledore's hearth was not being monitored by Ministry spies, once he joined the public network they would be sure to spot him. Even though they did not know he was a Death Eater, it would look very suspicious to be travelling at four o'clock in the morning. No, floo powder was only to be used in desperate situations.
"Would you like to use one of the school brooms?" asked Dumbledore.
"No! Er -- thank you," said Snape, immediately. He'd never had much luck with brooms.
"Then might I suggest that you use Fawkes?" At the sound of its name, the phoenix awoke and gently glided onto the desk. "He could easily carry you, if you held onto his tail-feathers."
Snape felt a little uncertain about this, but nothing better occurred to him. So, having made arrangements for future contact -- how to keep it secret, what codes to use for time and place -- Snape followed Fawkes to the open window, took one last look around the room, and gingerly seized a handful of feathers. Before he had a chance to say goodbye to Dumbledore, he was speeding through the air. On his way home.