Occlumency (4th/5th/6th/7th years)

Kiera stood behind the table, tapping her fingers lightly on the mahogany wood. First day at Hogwarts, first class. She wasn't all that concerned, to be absolutely frank. She hadn't taken up this job to actually find 'joy in teaching' and all that crap. She was simply going to be plain and professional. She had to curb her biting manner of speech though, they were just students after all.

Kiera looked towards the blackboard and waved her wand, the words 'Emotion Control' forming on the black slate in crisp writing. She languidly sat down on the chair, inclining her head back. Hopefully the students who were going to turn up weren't going to be utter idiots.

Humphrey walked into Occlumency, happy that they actually had a professor for it again. He knew that Kiera wasn't used to teaching, and it might take her a while to get used to it. For him it would be a bit easier, since he already knew her. She wasn't going to seem as scary to him as to people who'd never met her before.

The important thing was that Humphrey was confident in her abilities. Whether she could explain them well he had yet to find out, but he was guessing she would do a good job. Being the first one there, he took a seat at the front of the class. "Good morning, Professor Auvergne. I wonder who else is going to show up."

Tabi walked into Occlumency class because she knew this was one class that she was going to have to take. With everything going on in her head at the moment she needed to learn how to block things.

Once she entered the classroom she saw that Humphrey was taking the class and since he knew her secret she decided she would go and sit next to him.

"Hay Humphrey." she said trying to sound cheery.

Kiera cast a glance around the class. Two students had arrived, Humphrey and another blonde Slytherin girl. Kiera presumed that no other students were going to turn up, hence it was time to begin the lesson. If anyone else wished to turn up, they were welcome to sneak in at any time. Kiera got up from the chair, and started speaking in an emotionless, professional voice, somehow simultaneously maintaining eye contact with both students in the classroom, “Good morning to you. I am Professor Auvergne, and I’m here as you already know, to instruct you in the fine art of Occlumency.”

Kiera started pacing up and down, her clear voice echoing in the room, “Since you belong to the upper years, I’m taking the liberty to assume that you already possess a rudimentary idea of Occlumency. Whatever you do know though,” Kiera turned, voice sharper, “I suggest you forget it. I’m here to make you relearn the basics. And I do not believe in teaching Occlumency as it has been taught, probably as a way to build walls around your mind and throw out any invaders. The delicate art of Occlumency is not about stopping people from entering your mind, its about convincing them, fooling them to believe they have learned your mind and all its secrets, when in reality all they saw was false thoughts, and false memories. That is what I’m going to teach you.”

“Now, back to the topic for today. Can anyone tell me why controlling your emotions is so vital for Occlumency?”

He waved at Tabi before the lesson begin. "Hey Tabi, I'm glad somebody else showed up for today."

Humphrey couldn't help but smile a little bit hearing her professional tone of voice. She was still intimidating, though not as much as usual. He listened to what she had to say, not surprised by it in the least. Kiera would be one to teach them with her own style. It sounded like a difficult skill to learn, incredibly useful as well.

This was one question that he knew the answer to. "Emotional control is important because if you let them run wild it creates opportunities for your opponent to exploit your defenses. If you can't control them you'll never be able to keep somebody out, let alone force them to see what you want or create false images." he answered.

"Well-phrased Mr. Williams, five points to Gryffindor." Kiera stopped with her pacing, pausing just in front of her table. "However, many people wrongly believe emotional control to be the same as emotional control. They believe in suppressing emotions, in trying to dull them down, to be 'calm'. Now I know that's difficult, especially for teenagers like yourself."

Kiera leaned forward, caught in her passion for the subject, "What I want is for you two not to clear your emotions, but to control them. Use your emotions to fight against your opponent. Its not easy to suddenly clear your mind of all emotion, especially if you're facing against someone you share a history of emotional turmoil with. So use that anger, that frustration, that sorrow. Now, can you think of a way in which emotions can actually be utilized in Occlumency, in stopping someone from invading your mind?"

Rabi listened to the two of them talk about found it very interesting. Tabi had no clue who this professor was but obviously Humphrey knew her.

Tabi always thought that completely clearing your mind of everything was the best way to shield your mind, but she was wrong. The more she thought about what the professor was asking she got to thinking.

"Professor when you push your emotions onto someone else they will feel what you were feeling, like pain. Causing someone pain can push them out of your mind."

Humphrey nodded to what Tabi was saying, it was a valid point. Kiera was right that clearing your mind completely was a very difficult thing to do. Forcing your emotions on somebody could definitely be an excellent tactic in defending yourself. It was obvious that she was an accomplished Occlumens, he suspected she knew some Legilimency as well if he had to hazard a guess.

He decided to add something on to the end. "Also, let's say you used anger. If you became angry you could use that to push somebody out. Plus if you can get them angry as well it can cause them to lose their concentration and make them sloppy in their efforts to invade your thoughts." he said.

"Correct, five points to both Slytherin and Gryffindor." Kiera started getting into the mood, so as to speak. This job wasn't half bad, atleast if the students were like these, people who actually bothered to use their grey matter. Kiera really didn't know what she would do if she had to teach idiots. "When someone enters your mind, you need to remember that their existence depends upon their ability to separate their thoughts from your thoughts. If you can force your emotions on them, they would practically lose their existence inside your head. This is why Legilimency is such a difficult art. People can stay lost inside other people's minds for a lifetime. Instead of being thrown out, they are captured in and not allowed to escape."

"Now, I want both of you to close your minds and concentrate on a chosen memory.....anger, sorrow, it could be anything. I'm going to attempt to break into your mind." Then anticipating any possible objections, "I swear on my magic not to delve into your secrets. If you have a problem, you can leave right now. Occlumency is impossible without practical practice."

Humphrey grinned widely, both at the points he had earned and the fact that Kiera was doing a good job on her first day. She really wasn't too scary when she made an effort not to scowl all the time. He listened, trying to understood what she was getting at. It made sense that Legilimency would be riskier than Occlumency. Part of him wondered if Kiera had ever invaded somebody's mind and took what she wanted. The woman was probably capable of it. He pushed the thought from his mind and returned his thoughts to their lesson.

"Yes, Professor Auvergne." he replied. Humphrey trusted Kiera to keep her word and not look at memories he didn't want her to intentionally. Focusing on a memory that had pain, sorrow, and anger wrapped up in one, he lost himself in it. It was the memory of the night he'd been told by the police his parents had died in a car accident. There was so much pain and sorrow in it, the most he'd ever felt in his life. Not to mention the anger at how unfair it was, at the other driver, at his parents for not being more careful. "I'm ready." he said quietly, not losing his focus.

Tabi sighed a little as she thought about what she wanted to focus on. It was like with one thing you have to learn to clear your mind completely and in the next breathe you have to find a memory and push it forward.

She closed her eyes first and then she worked on clearing her mind first and then thought about something that she could use. Anger towards her father is the perfect feeling to bring forward. Let someone else feel all the pain her father had put her through. The hatefulness she had when told her sister was dead, even though her father said it was an accident, but Tabi wasn't stupid.

"I am ready ma'am." Tabi said

Kiera turned to Humphrey first. With a non-verbal 'Legilimens', she found herself, or rather her consciousness, propelled into Humphrey's mind. It was remarkably organized, having the quiet feeling of serenity echoing throughout. Then Kiera concentrated on the aura of the memory that was at the forefront of the mind. At once, waves of pain and grief with undertones of anger that didn't belong to her washed over her. Kiera resisted it with a bit of effort. The impact was dulled down a bit because the grief was for loss of parents, and Kiera never really felt parental love, so distinguishing between her and Humphrey's emotions was not difficult.

Kiera withdrew from Humphrey's mind and then threw herself into that of the Slytherin girl, Tabitha. She was at once surrounded by chaos. Feelings, emotions, memories......everything was in turmoil. The vibes of pure, distilled loathing for a parent filled her, and Kiera had to work harder to resist because of how well she empathized with the emotion. Kiera withdrew herself haltingly, and breathed deeply.

"Well done, both of you. That was quite intense. You'll need more practice though. Now I will attack your minds aggressively, and try to capture one memory. You will attempt to stop me. Ok?"

Tabi was not looking forward to the intrusion of her mind by the professor. She had so many things in there that she did not want anyone else to see so she was going to have to work very hard at keeping the teacher out.

Tabi took a few moments and cleared her mind the best way that she knew and waited for the teacher to come to her.

Kiera this time targeted the girl first. Rather than sneaking into her mind and stealthily withdrawing her memory, Kiera made an abrasive entrance on purpose, so that the girl would be able to distinguish a foreign presence in her brain. Then she could make an effort to throw her out.

Kiera latched on to the first memory that came her way, of Tabitha and another girl who looked similar to her. Without actually invading the memory, Kiera simply lingered around the surface, then waited for Tabitha to retaliate and make an effort to defend her mind.

Tabi felt the professor enter her mind and saw her looking at the images of her that sister. She really didn't want that memory brought to the forefront of her mind.

Tabi tried really hard to fight the professors intrusion she thought about how her father killed her sister and the hatred that she felt towards him wanting this woman to hurt like she had been hurting.

Next thing Tabi knew her head started to pound and felt a headache coming on.

Humphrey prepared himself to be attacked by Kiera's powerful mind. He thought about a single thing and focused on it, the face of his dead best friend Keiba Namid. If she could pull anything else out of his mind he would be surprised. She had been the most important person to him for a long time, and he missed her terribly. The pain would be hard for her to get around, he hoped.

"Professor, I'm ready. Please take a turn forcing your way into my mind." he said, noticing Tabi clutch her heard. She seemed to be getting one of her bad headaches and he didn't want her to be being attacked while that happened. It was bad enough without somebody forcing their way into her mind during it.