Harry Potter and the House Divided

Chapter Thirteen Occlumency, Educational Morality and New Maturity

The last week of Harry's summer holidays started slowly. Katarina did indeed spend a great deal of time with Fleur's family, who arrived shortly after the portkey dropped Harry and his guardians back in the kitchen of No.12 Grimmauld Place. Remus and Tonks took advantage of the time to push Harry to do his summer work in Potions and Transfiguration. They also drilled him in many of the counter curses that Bill had taught him, as the oldest of the Weasley children was unexpectedly called away in support of a large curse breaking team working in an Etruscan tomb in Northern Italy.

The evening meal on the day of Harry's trip to Diagon Alley proved to be the only event of the latter half of the day. Fleur's halfveela mother joined the group sitting around the kitchen table for dinner and Harry soon found that although her effect on him was powerful, he could keep his place in the conversation if he concentrated on eating, the flow of the talk around the table or Tonks' grass-green hair. It had been agreed that Mrs. Delacour would be the test for Harry's readiness to face Katarina unmasked and that this would happen just after his Occlumency lesson with Professor Dumbledore the following morning.

Katarina would greet him and would talk to him about their day on Diagon Alley. If they could carry out a conversation to her satisfaction and that of Tonks as well, they would continue to meet every day. If his ability to concentrate in her presence was sufficient, they would begin to work on his finances and possibly some lessons in the various forms of magic in which Veela were particularly skilled. Tonks freely admitted that she had some concerns about his ability to act normally around Katarina. She also told him that Professor Dumbledore thought that working with a full Veela like this would also help him with the parts of his Occlumency and spell work that depended on having a disciplined mind.

If Harry couldn't stand to be near Katarina when unmasked, she would wear the white robes that she had worn at Diagon Alley in the afternoon and they would work up to having her take the hood down or roll up the robes so that Harry would be exposed to her arms and legs before trying to withstand her full powers again.

Important though this was, Harry was more than a little angry that he was being forced to go through it at all. The kind of training in concentration that he'd had from Remus and Tonks was hard. Having to concentrate on anything at all while dealing with his hormones in the kind of state that Katarina would leave them in seemed utterly unfair and he resolved to talk to Professor Dumbledore about it when they met for Occlumency practice.

*-*-*-

Tonks' expectations for the following day were born out when Professor Dumbledore appeared at a few minutes before ten. The rest of the household quietly found reasons to be either on the upper floors or in the kitchen while Harry and Hogwarts' Headmaster worked in the same room that he had used with Remus when he had been shown the older wizard's memory of the day when James Potter had done so much to give the werewolf hope that he might have a fully normal life.

"How are things going with the order, sir?" Harry asked, deciding to test one of his headmaster's promises before plunging into some of the concerns that had arisen in his mind as school drew closer.

"Unfortunately, we are actually very concerned about Lord Voldemort's plans at the moment," Professor Dumbledore said quietly. "Our best sources of information have suddenly dried up and yet it seems that Tom is planning something major in the near future. We are, of course, trying to find out what it might be, but without more information, we are unable to prepare for any action that he might take."

Harry, who hadn't felt anything in his scar was also deeply worried.

"I've not felt anything more than the occasional slight prickle since my birthday," he said, torn between wishing that he could offer useful information and pleasure that the work that he had made such a belated commitment to, was apparently paying off.

"That is as it should be," the older man said, smiling. "Much as you were important to the work of the order early in the return of Lord Voldemort, you were at great risk from your connection to him. Ensuring that you don't do anything to open it has been a major part of your training this summer."

"I know," Harry said, reminded of one of his important questions for the headmaster. "And while we're on that, why have you had me doing so much work with Fleur and her family lately?"

"Well, Harry, to be honest," Professor Dumbledore said softly, "we have been having you work with Veela because they have a powerful ability to affect your emotional state, much as I fear Tom may have done last year. He almost certainly amplified the highly justified anger at the situation that you faced at that time."

"You mean that he was actively in my mind making me angrier?" Harry asked, fearfully.

"No," Professor Dumbledore said seriously. "But his ability to invade your dreams and encourage you to see the entrance to the Department of Mysteries suggests that he may also have been able to affect your state in subtle ways. One of these disruption of the sleep that all teenagers need in abundance. Any such disruption could have made you less able to control your emotions. This would mean that external stimuli could have had a far greater impact on you than they would have normally."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, a long list of things to which he'd overreacted last year coming to his mind.

"Some, such as Professor Snape have been a part of your life since your return to the wizarding world. Some, such as your loyalty to your friends have grown in power as you have grown as well. In either case, your ability to control your reactions to these external stimuli is an essential part of the self control which you must practice at all times this year. It will also add greatly to the power of your spell casting. This will improve your ability to affect the world around you on a daily basis, make you better able to defend yourself and others if you must do so and reduce the added homework that you are assigned because you were unable to perform to the exacting standards that Professors McGonagall and Flitwick will have for your classes this year."

"Right," Harry said frowning.

"Why does this make you unhappy?"

"Dunno for sure," Harry said, evasively. After all, he really didn't want to share the thought that it had been nice to be only a slightly above average student with his headmaster.

"Well, if you find something of which to speak, please feel free to talk to me or one of the staff whom you trust this year. Knowing yourself and recognizing why you do the things that you do is an essential part of readying yourself for living a full and happy life."

Harry glared, angry that there was so little chance that he would live a full life and even angrier at how unhappy it had been and seemed likely to be in the future.

"You're angry?" Professor Dumbledore prompted gently.

"Well, yeah," Harry muttered. "I know that I needed to know the prophecy and I would trade knowing it the day I started Hogwarts for Sirius being alive now but it seems like everything has suddenly come to turning me into a weapon capable of defeating Voldemort. That's not the best way to live a full and happy life, you know."

"Everything in your life has been about defeating Tom whether you knew it or not, Harry. The difference is that you now know why you have walked down the path that you have. The good parts and the painful ones have been part of making you the wizard that you now are. A young wizard to be sure and yet one whom dozens of students followed into significant danger because they believed that you could teach them things that they needed to know, though whether it was for defeating Lord Voldemort or simply having a better chance against the Wizarding Examinations Authority, we may never know.

I have already told you that you have overcome things that almost no adult wizard could. I know that Alastor and Nymphadora have told you that it will probably get much worse before it gets better and they are certainly right about this. It was the impact of your fate that I hoped to protect you from when I chose not to tell you the contents of the prophecy. It was this intent that I hope you will see represents my determination not to turn you into a weapon. Weapons, as I had to remind a number of people at the time you went under the somewhat dubious protection of your aunt and uncle, have a frightening tendency of turning on their makers and doing far greater damage to them than they do to those against whom they were originally used. Yes, it is essential that you be capable of defeating Tom at some point in the future but it is even more important that you do so because you want to, not because you must. If you go into your final confrontation with Tom feeling that you must beat him, you will most certainly lose it and the wizarding world will be destroyed as a result. If you enter that conflict wanting to vanquish Tom for the right reasons you will do so because then and only then will you be taking advantage of 'the power that he knows not.'"

"I know that you say that my ability to love and be loved by others is that power but I still don't see how that can help me defeat him after the fight you had last spring. He nearly beat you and would have if Fawkes hadn't got in the way of one of his spells."

"Oh, I wouldn't go so far as to say that Voldemort nearly beat me at that point, although the situation would have been more complicated without Fawkes' timely arrival."

"But that killing curse would have got you otherwise," Harry objected.

"Possibly, though apparition would have been an option and there are other methods for avoiding curses, many of which you've learned this summer. The important point, Harry, is that you can vanquish Tom in time, and preparing for doing so does not need to be painful. You've had an enjoyable time with Remus, Nymphadora, Bill and Miss Delacour this summer and I think you'll find that it will have benefited you greatly on your return to Hogwarts. You must live every day to its fullest. Enjoy your friends, play Quidditch, eat, be merry and chase a few girls. All of these things are important in life, and the more of them you do the likelier you are to find the key to the power that you will need."

Harry sat back, many thoughts swirling in his head, most of which he could hardly name or classify. Yet somehow he knew that doing so was one of the most important things that he would ever do.

After a few minutes' contemplation of his own, Professor Dumbledore seemed to shake himself slightly. Leaning forward, eyes twinkling as always, he inquired:

"Are you ready for your Occlumency lesson now?"

Harry stared for a moment, shocked that the professor could think him anywhere close to capable of shielding his mind after all that he had been told.

"You expect me to block my mind after all that?"

"Oh, yes," Dumbledore said quite seriously. "It is these times at which your skills as an Occlumans will be most seriously tested, times when your mind is clouded by frustration, fear, joy or love. For it is at these times Lord Voldemort will be most able to enter unnoticed."

"Right," Harry groaned, unsure how he could both live an unbounded life as the professor seemed to want, and yet maintain sufficient self-control to protect his mind at times of the greatest emotional stress.

"What I am asking you to do must seem very difficult," the older man said gently. "But I promise you that it is not nearly as impossible as it seems. You have already become fairly effective at blocking single attacks by a fairly strong Legilimens. Your work this week and much of your ongoing practice at school will be directed at adding to your active Defences while giving you the power to know when you are at greatest risk. Your scar will be a tremendous asset in this as it seems to give you an ability to know not only what Lord Voldemort is thinking but also when he is most attentive toward you. That information is something that we can build on and teach you the skills that will allow you to prevent him from touching your mind and seeing what is happening in your vicinity."

All this made sense to Harry and yet seemed utterly impossible as well. Professor Dumbledore seemed to see this in Harry's expression and his face became terribly serious.

"Harry, you are capable of doing this. You can protect yourself and yet live a full life. Those who care about you will understand if you have to take time to defend yourself and, where possible, your instructors will be asked to take account of times this year when you are inattentive in your lessons. Of course, the counter to this is that you will need to be particularly attentive the rest of the time in order to prevent any whispers amongst your faculty that you are taking advantage of this leniency. Optimally, you will also learn to tell your friends when you are being attacked as they can do much to help you when you are somewhat less able to help yourself."

Harry felt even more frustrated after this last piece of advice. He had not thought to ask for help last year and knew that asking for advice and assistance would have made a difference to the outcome of his fifth year at Hogwarts. On the other hand, he knew that asking for help would bring more people close to him, something that terrified him even though he was beginning to recognize the possibility that having people to support him as Lord Voldemort did might be the only chance for him to defeat his enemy.

He was so preoccupied by everything that he'd heard that he utterly missed the movement of Professor Dumbledore's hand and softly spoken "Legilimens".

The effects of the spell were immediately apparent to him, however. Suddenly he was in Professor Snape's office, the bat-like man saying something to him about the need for clearing his mind and then casting Legilimens against him. He remembered falling to the floor, then rising to his feet and being attacked again. Suddenly, however, another voice broke into his thoughts, quietly at first and then with greater strength:

"You don't want to see these memories," it said. The problem was that he was still off balance from everything he'd been thinking about and getting to the point where he was flying on his broomstick took some moments. Once done, however, he was able to hold a shaky image of the activity for some time, although the Quidditch game that he played during which Professor Snape had been the referee seemed to play a prominent role in his thoughts. The pressure to remember things about Snape grew overwhelming and soon they were in Harry's fifth year potions class, his recently completed sample vial crashing to the floor, accompanied by a smirk from the potions master.

At this, the memories stopped altogether and Harry returned to his surroundings with something of an emotional bump. After recovering for a moment, Harry glanced up at his headmaster and was not sure what to make of the mixed anger, frustration and..., was that pride apparent on Professor Dumbledore's face?

"I didn't do very well, did I?" Harry asked, depressed by what he thought must have been yet another failure in Occlumency.

"In actuality, Harry, I would say that you did quite well. You were distracted by everything that we have discussed and not prepared for my spell. I did use less power than usual but in all honesty, you gained better control of your mind and held it longer than you have in the past. All-in-all, a worthy performance. I am more concerned by the depth of the difficulties that exist between you and Professor Snape. Although I was aware of them from his perspective, I was not fully aware of his treatment of you. I try to leave instructional matters to my teachers but seeing what I have now demonstrates clearly why I was in error when I asked you to take Occlumency training from Professor Snape.

Unfortunately, as I have done far too often in the past, I have chosen to see the best in people rather than the truth of the actions that they take in their lives. Professor Snape's treatment of you has been unacceptable by any standard and Professor Trelawney's teaching methods are also probably in need of some adjustment given the reaction that you and your friends had to the events of last June. I give you my word that both Professor Snape and Professor Trelawney will be watched more carefully than they have been in the recent past."

Harry, who was shocked that Professor Dumbledore would discuss matters relating to the operation of Hogwarts with him, could only nod in agreement and appreciation.

Harry's performance during the rest of the Occlumency session was not as good as he might have hoped but as Professor Dumbledore seemed satisfied, he chose to be as well.

Of course, his morning was far from over and it was Tonks' knock on the door that reminded him of this fact.

"Katarina's ready whenever you are, Professor," she said when Dumbledore opened the door for her.

"Harry and I must discuss a few more matters first. Please ask Miss Stepanova to be ready for work in fifteen minutes. Harry and I should have completed our planning for his Defence group by that point."

"Aye sir!" Tonks chirped before closing the door with a snappy salute.

"Well, Harry, we should probably discuss your concerns and plans for yourself and your new teaching responsibility as I will not be able to see you before you return to school."

"I think I know what I'm going to do," Harry said, confident in himself and his abilities for the first time this morning. "I want to teach people to dodge spells like Tonks and Remus have done with me and I've learned a few new things that could really help if we ever have trouble like last spring."

"A good plan, and one that students would benefit from at many levels."

"One thing that I've been a bit worried about is who is going to get into the group. After all, teaching Malfoy how to curse me doesn't seem like a good idea."

"As a school sponsored society you must take anyone who wishes admission." the headmaster said, gravely.

"But sir..."

"You must admit anyone who wishes to be part of your group. Those are the rules that all school sponsored societies must accept and as you are a faculty member you are morally obliged to teach anyone who seeks knowledge from you. It is your responsibility to encourage them to use that knowledge responsibly but its use is ultimately up to each and every student," said the headmaster, eyes fixed on Harry's face.

"But sir, Malfoy and his followers won't use what they learn from us responsibly. It's likelier that they'll go straight to someone like Bellatrix Lestrange and tell her exactly what we've learned so that when the Death Eaters try to attack us they'll know how to do it so we can't defend ourselves."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," said Professor Dumbledore gently.

"I would," Harry shot back, yet again unconcerned that he was talking to his headmaster and the greatest wizard of the age.

"Why?" Dumbledore asked, gently.

"Because Malfoy's never shown any of us anything that would make me think that he's anything other than a nasty little git who wants to cause trouble. He threatened to kill me at the end of last term and I don't care what you say, I'm not going to teach him a thing that he can use against me. He's probably learning plenty from Lestrange and Voldemort as it is."

"But Harry," Professor Dumbledore said seriously, "when has Draco Malfoy ever done anything more than use words to try to hurt you or your friends?"

"How about when he tried to get Hagrid fired during third year, and nearly got Buckbeak killed?"

"But he was unable to get Hagrid fired and failed in his scheme to see Buckbeak executed."

"Well, yeah," Harry snorted. "Only because Hermione and I went back through time to save him and Sirius. If we hadn't, Buckbeak would've been dead for sure."

"Possibly," said the headmaster softly. "But it is also possible that some other agency would have saved Buckbeak's life."

"You don't think that, sir." Harry said, disgusted. "After all, you told Hermione and me that if we went back in time we could save more than one innocent life. Anyhow, it doesn't matter much because things did get that far in the first place. Maybe he doesn't do more than the trip jinx that nearly ensured that I'd be expelled last year but he's certainly ready to pass information about us on to people who would be happy to do a lot more than trip us next time we're in Hogsmead."

"You may be right, Harry." sighed the headmaster. "But I must insist that you allow anyone who wishes to join your classes the opportunity to do so."

"Whatever you say, sir," Harry said, knowing full well that once Hermione heard about this she'd have a set of hexes ready that would put last year's to shame. If Professor Dumbledore had problems with whatever might happen to someone who used them, well, he could complain about it after Harry reminded him of this conversation.

Knowing that nothing more would come of talking about who could get into the new D.A., Harry turned to other things.

"While we're talking about who's going to get into the D.A., I need to ask you about whether there's to be a cut-off on the age of the students that we let in since most of what the D.A. works with is fourth year in Defence or charms at the least."

"I think that you should allow fourth year students to join without any pre-screening. Mr. Dennis Creevey was somewhat effective if the letter I received from his parents is to be believed and so you may wish to test certain younger students to see whether they will slow your progress too much. I will encourage the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor to work with the younger students on simple protective measures like the disarming charm and stunners. I also want you to work with Professor Flitwick on things that he and his assistant professor can do in Charms. Possibly you can do this when you practice duelling with him."

"I'm going to be duelling Professor Flitwick?" Harry asked, interested.

"Oh, yes," said Professor Dumbledore. "He was national duelling champion for several years running and has beaten me more than once. He will provide you an excellent cross-training partner when you're not working with me or your students."

Harry nodded, pleased that he would have a chance to work with the old Ravenclaw. He might be a bit excitable but there was no question in Harry's mind that the charms professor was one of the best teachers Hogwarts had.

"And giving and taking points, sir?"

"I will put the necessary charms on you when you return to Hogwarts. You will have the power to give and take points when you are teaching, when you're in the corridors or the grounds and when you are in the great Hall. You may not give or take points when a full professor is able to take action on a situation directly. You will be prevented from giving or taking points in Gryffindor tower. You may be asked to patrol the castle by the prefects from your house and must do so if the professors ask you to."

Harry nodded, pleased that he would get the chance to help Ginny and her partner as well as Ron and Hermione in this way. It might also give them a chance to discuss things that couldn't be talked about in the common room.

"Do you have anything else that you would like to discuss with me?" asked Professor Dumbledore, while leaning back in his chair, unflappable as always.

"No sir," Harry said. "I suppose that we should get on with the rest, then."

"True, true," Dumbledore said, smiling. "I look forward to this practical demonstration of your ability to resist temptation. It is possible that had we given you this training earlier, you might even have remained awake for more of Professor Binns' lectures."

Harry, who didn't dare say that he doubted that anything short of continuous dosages of pepper-up potion laced with a strong consciousness concoction would be enough to keep him awake in Professor Binns' classes, simply gave his headmaster a wide-eyed look before glancing at the door which opened at that moment, revealing the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen.

Katarina fully unmasked had tremendous presence, glorious curves, incredibly deep blue eyes, silver hair that flowed down her back in thick waves and the odd silvery glow that the Bulgarian mascots had when he saw them at the Quidditch world cup. In a word, she was majestic. Harry struggled to stay focused on her face, knowing that by doing so he would have the best chance of keeping some sort of attention on what she was saying.

He barely heard Professor Dumbledore compliment him on his focus.

"Wery true," Katarina said, still standing in the doorway, watching Harry at least as intensely as he was staring at her.

Harry had only a limited sense of what she was agreeing to and the tremendous curiosity to know everything that she thought true was almost more than he could stand.

Katarina seemed to glide across the floor and settled into a chair with grace that Harry knew he had never seen before. Her long, slender legs were crossed demurely before her, slim arms flexing sensuously while she brought her graceful hands to rest in her gloriously curved lap.

The more Harry thought about her, the more he wanted to tell Katarina how impressive he truly was. How desirable he could be.

The problem was, he couldn't come up with anything truly amazing about himself. His battles with Lord Voldemort had been won on luck, not skill. Saving Ginny Weasley had been a team effort and his team-mate had been Ron whom he didn't want to give any credit to at all. Saving Sirius would never have happened without Hermione, and well, she was another woman. Not as attractive, successful or intelligent as Katarina but she was still competition, poor competitor though she might be.

In many ways, the most impressive thing about him was that well, he was Harry Potter. Not Harry Dursley as his relatives had hoped, not the "Boy-Who-Lived", not the "Boy-Whose-Mind-Was-Addled-By-Lord-Voldemort", just Harry Potter and somehow that didn't seem like very much when faced with a woman whose beauty could bring full-grown wizards to their knees. A brilliant, kind and thoughtful woman whose intelligence made her the financial advisor for one of mainland Europe's wealthiest wizarding families.

Though Hermione had given him some sense of this before, Harry suddenly saw with blinding clarity that beautiful women didn't need to depend on looks alone, and in fact were much the greater when they didn't. Despite his overwhelming focus on Katarina, he suddenly felt a little pity for women like Narcissa Malfoy who hadn't learned this important lesson.

Harry struggled to put this realization away for a time when he could analyse it further. For now, all he could do was focus on Katarina's beautifully accented voice as she told him about what it had been like for her to see Diagon Alley for the first time? Or was it Fred and George's shop? Honestly, he couldn't tell.

"Uh," he said weakly, "I can't concentrate."

"Gotta try, Harry," Tonks' voice came to him as if from a great distance. "You're doing a right good job of things so far, just keep focusing on what she's talking about."

"I'm trying," Harry groaned, eyes fixed on Katarina's lips, finding it harder and harder to keep his awareness locked on what she was saying. Instead of thinking about her description of the conversation that she had with Fleur last evening he was more and more aware of an overwhelming desire to know what it would be like to kiss her.

Moments before he would have dived off his chair in a desperate effort to find out, he wrenched his gaze from her and threw himself backward, flipping his chair over as he did so.

His head struck the floor and much as he tried to stay conscious, Harry simply could not keep the waves of blackness that threatened his vision from closing over him.