Undefined

Chapter 12

The Talented Legilimens

It took another month for Draco to advance to Legilimency, after which time he'd perfected nonverbal spells to the point he no longer put thought into performing them. Once, as he sat in the common room, he'd summoned his text without realizing it.

Crabbe turned to him and asked, eyes wide, "How'd you do that?'

"Magic, you moron," Draco said, opening his book.

By Snape's next lesson, Draco could efficiently and quickly block spells verbally and nonverbally with amazing speed and accuracy. This, he knew, had mostly to do with the practice sessions he and Harry engaged in during their evenings together.

***

"Concentrate," Harry had said when they met up in the Room of Requirement one night, "but not to the point it distracts you. Try again."

Draco raised his wand and effectively deflected Harry's curse.

"Better," Harry said, jumping out of the way.

"You're not bad at this," Draco said.

"Well, I can't exactly afford to perform poorly, can I?"

"Guess not," Draco said.

"We should go over disarming as well," Harry said thoughtfully.

"I can disarm," Draco said proudly.

"Can you? How quickly?" Harry asked, and then, next breath, Draco's wand flew out of his hand and clattered several feet away. Draco looked from the wand to Harry clearly impressed. "You should have seen that coming."

"I should have," Draco said, retrieving his wand.

"It seems elementary, but it's actually quite effective; it saved my life when I faced..." Harry's voice trailed off.

"Faced him?" Draco finished.

Harry nodded.

"What exactly happened?"

"I'm sure you heard all about it from your father," Harry said, his voice full of loathing.

"No, actually I didn't. Father doesn't tell me anything of his dealings with the Dark Lord."

"Good for you," Harry said darkly.

"Are you going to tell me?" Draco asked.

"Tell you what?"

"What happened that night?"

"No."

"Why not?" Draco asked, put off.

"I didn't tell anyone. Ron and Hermione don't even know. It's not something I particularly like to talk about," Harry said icily.

"You told me about the Order," Draco pointed out.

"That's different," Harry said.

"Seems worse to me; you could have sold them all out and you didn't hesitate when it came to that."

"You won't tell anyone," Harry said.

"How do you know?"

"Because you immediately told me about your meeting with your Order," Harry said.

"How do you know I didn't lie?" Draco asked.

"I don't," Harry said, "but I choose to believe that you didn't."

"It comes down to that doesn't it?" Draco asked, taking a seat on the overstuffed couch.

"What?" Harry sat next to him.

"Choosing who you want to tell, who to confide in, who to trust." Draco looked up and saw that Harry was looking at him quite tenderly.

"Yes," he said simply.

"I didn't lie to you about the O.S.," Draco said.

"I know," Harry said. "And I also know you won't tell anyone what I've told you about the Order."

"Given that, why won't you tell me what happened last year?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably.

"You know you can tell me."

"I know, but I don't want to."

"Oh," Draco said, unable to hide the hurt in his voice.

"It's nothing against you," Harry said. "It's just that I don't like to think about it, to be honest. If I could put it out of my mind forever I would."

"You saw Diggory die, didn't you?" Draco asked softly.

"Yes," Harry said.

"Right in front of you?"

"Yes."

"Right after you'd touched the cup?" Draco asked.

"Pretty much," Harry said quietly.

"Why was he there, anyway? There's only supposed to be one--"

"BECAUSE I OFFERED TO SHARE IT WITH HIM!" Harry suddenly screamed. "Because when we got there, I told him we could take it together and he agreed, and look what happened to him!"

Draco stared at Harry for a moment before saying, "He didn't have to take it."

"I know," Harry said miserably.

"He could have let you take it," Draco said.

"I know."

"You didn't make him do it."

"I know!" Harry said, irritated.

"It's not your fault."

Harry said nothing.

"It's not your fault; you didn't make him go. You didn't make him take it."

"YOU DON'T GET IT!" Harry screamed. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANY OF IT! YOU WEREN'T THERE!"

"I wasn't," Draco admitted.

"If I'd just been more selfish, or more competitive, or more anything, I never would have considered sharing it with him! I never should have said it, I should have kept my mouth shut, and I should have been a bit more...a bit more like you!"

"Me?" Draco asked, looking at him.

"Are you honestly going to tell me that if you were standing there at that moment you would have done the same?" Harry asked incredulously.

"I wouldn't have, no," Draco said. "But that doesn't make it your fault. You didn't kill him, Harry."

"YES I DID!"

"No," Draco said, leaning towards him, but Harry stiffened and leaned away. "You didn't."

"Directly no, but indirectly yes, I did! I killed Cedric!"

"Indirectly doesn't matter in the scheme of things," Draco said simply. "My father taught me long ago to never lament over that which happens outside of your control, only those things that you have caused directly." Harry said nothing, staring straight ahead. "Don't you see? You didn't directly cast the spell that killed him, and you didn't directly send him to his death; it was an accident. Are you listening to me?"

"Yes," Harry said stubbornly.

"It wasn't your fault!" Draco said, shaking him. "But if you want to sit around and think it was and live miserably, then that's your business. I don't see the point in wasting the time or energy on such thinking."

"You really think that?" Harry asked, finally turning to him.

"Yes."

"Must be nice."

"Don't be so moody about it; what's done is done. You can't change it."

"You really don't worry about anything, do you?"

"Not really." Draco shrugged. "Only those things I can control."

"Is that the benefit of being a Slytherin?"

"What?"

"Not caring about anything unless it directly affects you?" Harry asked.

"Other people besides those in Slytherin are like that, Harry," Draco said. "Open your eyes."

Harry didn't say anything for a long time. Draco sat next to him, knowing better than to bring up the subject again. Instead, he turned to Harry and asked, "Does Granger suspect anything between us?"

"Probably," Harry shrugged. "Hermione's annoyingly observant about things."

"Has she said anything to you?"

"She's just asked where I go at night," Harry said, leaning back. "I guess Ron's told her I've been out."

"Has she said anything to Weasley?"

"I don't know," Harry said. "But he hasn't said anything to me. Are you worried about them finding out?"

"No," Draco said, only worried what it would mean for Harry.

***

Confident with the ease with which he had mastered defensive magic, Draco strode self-assuredly into Snape's office the following evening.

"It seems you have a superb grasp on nonverbals, which leads us naturally to Legilimency," Snape said. "Legilimency is one of the--"

"I know all about it," Draco said, his father having explicated the subject quite verbosely when Draco was younger.

"By all means, go right ahead and spare me the energy," Snape said, folding his arms.

"It's the ability to extract emotions and memories from someone else," Draco said lazily. "It's not mind reading, but it's beneficial because it allows you to access a person's emotional state, and determine whether or not they're lying."

"Excellent," Snape said. "And what is the most important factor when employing Legilimency?"

"Eye contact," Draco said.

"And if the target should look away..."

"Manipulate them in any way to obtain it."

"Yes!" Snape said, looking very pleased. "I am, as you know, gifted in Legilimency, even above the Dark Lord; which is why I am able to lie effectively in his presence. It is your task to become as gifted a Legilimens as myself and my job to teach you how to go about this. Let's begin."

Draco proved much more proficient at Legilimency than his first Defensive magic lesson on nonverbal spells.

"Excellent," Snape said after Draco's third try. "Excellent! Again!"

"Legilimens," Draco said, and his surroundings blurred into a great chasm of darkness as he invaded Snape's mind, extracting memories of the latest O.S. meeting and classes earlier that day; all carefully prearranged memories Draco knew, but the fact that he so easily penetrated Snape's mind astounded even himself.

"Do you see the importance of keeping eye contact?" Snape asked as Draco lowered his wand. "It's imperative as a skilled Legilimens to know exactly how to evaluate the target's emotions. Let's move on to the emotive aspect of the mind."

Snape explained the intricacies of the mind in relation to emotions, describing each one ad nauseam. "Guilt is easily discernable by the urgency apparent in the target's thoughts regarding the suppression of certain emotions including, among others, doubt and secrecy. Liars are easier to discern as these types exhibit certain physical traits, including the avoidance of eye contact, jerky body movements, and shortness of breath. Mentally, targets exhibit rapidity in changing certain events to legitimize what they are saying, or if they are unaware they are in the presence of a Legilimens, they do not try to hide it, in which case it is much easier to discern. Do you understand?" Draco nodded, his eyes glazed over in boredom. "It will do you no good if you don't pay attention."

"I am paying attention to the bits I find interesting enough!"

Snape smiled slightly. "You remind me very much of myself; you should make quite the talented Legilimens, Draco."