Apprenticeship (Keiba Namid & Humphrey Williams)

"Hello Professor Nocte. I am Humphrey Williams, here for the Occlumency apprenticeship." he said in a bold voice. He sounded much more confident than he actually was. Inside, he was a bundle of nerves. Then he took a seat in one of the chairs. "So, what exactly will we be doing Professor?"

Keiba quickened her pace towards Professor Nocte's office, not wanting to be terribly late for her first apprenticeship lesson. She swung open the door and it hit the wall with a noisy thump. "Oops," she said, grimacing at it before turning around and facing the room again. She stopped short.

Keiba's eyebrow shot right up into her hairline. Humphrey was there! She felt happiness and then a bit of anger bubble up inside of her. Boy, did she have a bone to pick with him!

She decided to leave it till after class, and sat down next to him. "Hello, Professor," she said calmly, leaving no trace of her surprise at Humphrey's sudden return.

Humphrey's mouth literally dropped open in shock. Keiba Namid, who had been his best friend first year, and here she was. Taking the exact same apprenticeship as he was, Occlumency. Surprisingly, she completely ignored him, took her seat, and said "Hello, Professor."

He was stunned, partly because she was here, and partly because she was acting as if he wasn't there. "Hello Keiba, how have you been? Have a good second year?" he asked her, trying to be friendly. Maybe she wasn't intentionally ignoring him, just surprised.

Keiba pursed her lips and didn't look at her once-best-friend as he tried to be friendly with her. Wouldn't he like to know how her second year had been. He could have been there! Seeing as it was her, she wasn't very good at the silent treatment, not at all; so she had one thing to say to him before the Professor started the lesson.

"You," she said under her breath, in a tone more icy than the coldest point in winter, "Are in so much trouble." Keiba spared him a glare from the corner of her eyes before they flicked back to Professor Nocte.

Humphrey was scared of Keiba, she had always been a friendly easy-going person. One of the absolute nicest people he had ever met. But, as soon as she had stared at him he knew he was a dead man. Then she said you are in trouble, and he knew that he was about to get chewed out by his old best friend. All he could do was stare back at her with a pained look on his face. He just looked at her and whispered, "I know I am." Then he turned back to the professor he was now the apprentice of along with Keiba.

Humphrey gulped, nerves beginning to bundle up in the pit of his stomach. Oh no, Keiba was mad at him, and a professor had just given her leave to unleash the full power of her mind on him. He was in hot, hot water.

Deciding that his only chance was to weather the attack, he tried to form a barrier around his mind. To do so, he imagined a gigantic brick wall. And, he allowed the thought to fill up his mind. Then, he looked Keiba straight in the eyes, cringing at the thought of what would happen.

Keiba stood up and readied herself against Humphrey. She knew that the professor had just given her a chance to get her own back on him - if she got there first. Which she was damn well going to do.

"One... two... three!"

Keiba pushed her mind forwards with as much force she could muster. She hit a brick wall and then grimaced. That wasn't going to stop her. Keiba pushed harder, imagining her mind was like a wrecking ball, tearing down Humphrey's defences.

He felt Keiba's mind probe his, and stop at his big brick wall. Then, he felt the full force of her mind slam into his like a hammer driving in a nail. She broke through into his mind, and he struggled to imagine the brick wall again. Humphrey would not let her win this easily.

Deciding offense was more important right now, he launched his mind against hers. Forgetting about the brick wall entirely. The wall wouldn't keep her out. So he had to go on the attack. He stared deeply into her eyes, and focuses his thoughts on one word, sorry. All he attempted to do was launch the word sorry into her brain, hoping to catch her off guard.

Keiba felt his defences break and immediately she drove right into his mind. She felt his own mind reach out for hers in an attempt to attack it and Keiba stared Humphrey down. She realised she wasn't blinking but didn't let it cross her mind more than a fleeting thought.

Humphrey's mind seemed to be echoing with one word, but she couldn't quite make it out. Keiba had a feeling she didn't want to. She focused her entire conscious on breaking into his head, possibly leaving a few scars here and there. She wanted him to know how much he hurt her.

Try as he might, Humphrey couldn't withstand Keiba's onslaught. She was furious with him, and that fury gave her a drive that he didn't have. His mind couldn't withstand the attack made by his angry friend and he broke eye contact. "I can't take any more Professor Nocte. Keiba defeated me, I couldn't keep her out." he said, trying to gather his thoughts together again. He knew that Keiba hadn't held back at all. His old best friend had been very forceful, and he realized, not worrying about leaving a scar or two on his mind.

Humphrey's brain felt like it had been run over by a truck. Now he had a splitting headache, and it was difficult to focus for longer than a second or two. Hoping it would pass, he turned to his professor and waited for her to instruct them.