Chapitre 27: Mindblown
DADA felt a lot better with the brown owl watching from his spot next to the window. Spinnard glanced a few times at him, rolling his eyes every time the owl would make a noise as if he was laughing.
As soon as class was over, Potter got ready to discuss their arrangement again. Unfortunately, Slughorn caught them right before they entered the Great Hall and asked Ophelia to stay back a bit.
"Extra classes again?" She whined, having a look of desperation.
"In my whole life as a potion master, I haven't seen such a lack of equal distribution between attention and practice. You need to memorize the information beforehand or else you won't be able to pass the first semester. Thankfully, Rabastan agreed to help you once more. Very nice student, I'm telling you. His name doesn't do him justice."
"Are yous serious?! Extra Potions with a Slytherin?" Cissney was as shocked of the news as she was when she first heard that Rabastan existed.
"He volunteered. He probably believes that I am a charity case."
"You are," Cissney mumbled and everyone agreed, "I have never seen someone so bad at Potions and my father works as a Potion Master assistant."
"It's because she doesn't take it seriously." Said a voice coming from behind Ophelia. She jolted in her seat as she felt Severus levitate something in her robes' pocket, the same one she put the picture of her mother.
That grabbed the attention of the whole group, especially Potter and Black. They turned to Severus faster than blinking, both wearing a sneer at the Slytherin.
"And what do we owe this pleasurable visit, Snivelly?" Potter started, getting a glare instantly from Lily.
Put in the center of attention, Severus' eyes widened as he started to fidget nervously. He wasn't good at speaking in front of lousy people who could backfire whatever he says.
"Um, I wanted to talk to Lily."
"Well, maybe she's busy." Potter insisted but it was obvious she wasn't.
Sighing heavily, Lily got up and threw one last glare at Potter before she followed Severus into the Entrance Hall.
"That was inadequate for a 12 year old." Ophelia commented before she searched for the piece of parchment thrown into her pocket. It was there, folded neatly just as the person that wrote it.
"I know right? How can a 12 year old just come to the Gryffindor table and ask to speak to a girl. A girl!" Potter continued, his eyes widening behind those round glasses.
Ophelia's head snapped towards him, still keeping her hand in her pocket.
"Oh, I was talking about you." She said, looking innocently at her housemate.
-------------------------------------------‐--------
"First time is always hard but I assure you it will get better. It's important to know that an experimented legilimens is able to enter your mind without you feeling anything."
That was the speech Cerberus started the Occlumency lesson with. It was so sudden, both the hour and the meeting. It was only Wednesday.
"I thought we'll have the lesson during the weekend." Ophelia added before anything else, rubbing her eyes sleepily after two hours of History of Magic.
"I heard that weekends need to be free for you to do your DADA homework and live a tad. I'm sure Luce gave you a lot to memorize."
Her groan was enough for an answer. Cerberus chuckled and took a few steps back before drawing out his wand.
"Legilimens," The owl man whispered as his eyes narrowed slightly.
Ophelia wasn't ready for the sudden attack on her mind. Her head was swirling with memories that were either confusing or from an hour ago. It was difficult to know which corners Cerberus would shake and what memories he'll draw into the light, but she didn't care about that at the moment. The pain was incredible. It was like a headache but a million times worse.
The first memory that Cerberus focused on was Aviemore. Flashes of the trip appeared clearly in her mind; when she went inside the forest and when she got scared by a dark cloaked figure. The pain intensified as the images became blurry and she screamed.
"Alright, alright. That was tough, right from the start." Cerberus mumbled, doing his best not to look surprised. "It seems there are a lot of memories you had buried but believe me, if you want them to remain personal, you have to block me out."
"It's not as easy as it sounds. I can't concentrate on both the memories and you." She moaned, her head still hurting. It was like her brain was buzzing nonstop.
"Again. Legilimens!"
The ache was just as bad as before but she tried to focus on one thing at time. Cerberus was more important than anything else at the moment so she searched for him. It wasn't easy as the man went deeper, reaching a corner of her mind where Peverell was hidden.
There was something else hidden in there as Cerberus dug further. When he reached the day when Lillian died, he felt his own mind vibrate. He stirred something, might have been her desire to block him out or just an intense wave of emotions, but it pushed Cerberus out with so much power that he literally fell back.
The tutor was in pain, that much was obvious. The student, on the other side, seemed speechless.
"O-Ophelia? Are you alright? I might have gone a bit too strong and-" He stopped seeing how she wasn't even looking at him.
That stir felt stronger in her mind and went out into her whole body, making her remember the fear she felt on that day. Her mother was murdered and Dumbledore came a few hours later but something was missing. As Lillian's face was getting clearer, so was something else.
For a fraction of second, she looked up at Cerberus and saw someone else. He wore a cloak over his head so she couldn't see much of his face but she could hear him; it was just like a snake hissing after his prey.
She blinked, and the image vanished. She could only see Cerberus, rubbing his back while staring at her in worry.
"It's hard," The girl mumbled.
"Back in the day, a lot of students would sign up for Occlumency and Legilimency lessons but only a few could actually finish them.At some point, I think Dumbledore taught it."
Ophelia's eyes furrowed, the ache in her mind still present.
"Dumbledore?"
Cerberus nodded, a smile forming on his lips as he remembered those times. He walked closer to his pupil and invited her to sit before he too fell on a chair feeling tired.
"Luce was very good at it, from the first lesson. Peverell was not as enthusiastic about it but circumstances forced him. But Gryffindors weren't the only ones interested and so students from every house would gather in the Great Hall and suffer together." He joked yet from the look in his eyes there might have been more truth in his words than he wanted to admit.
"And mum?"
"Lillian never took those lessons. She didn't seem interested."
"What was she interested in?" Ophelia asked curiously.
Cerberus rubbed his back again, thinking carefully about his house mate.
"It was obvious what she wasn't good at, which was everything about nature. It did look like Slughorn liked her so she was probably good at Potions." He answered, getting a loud snort in return, "I guess you didn't inherit that side of her, did you?"
"Not at all," Ophelia mumbled before she remembered the picture from the common room, "What about Transfiguration?"
"Now that you mention it, yes. She was doing well overall so it didn't catch my eye back then. Peverell was always asking her to help him with Transfiguration but I never understood why. He was better at it than her."
"You watched them a lot but you know more about your captain than mum."
Cerberus shrugged innocently.
"Quidditch was, and still is, important. I didn't speak much to Lillian until our fifth year. You seem friendlier than she was."
"I doubt that,"
----------------------------------------------------
It was the second time in a week when Ophelia couldn't close one eye. They had Potions again in the morning and she had to ask professor Slughorn when Rabastan wanted to tutor her. She hoped he changed his mind, truthfully.
"Ugh," She groaned, finally getting up and sneaking out into the common room. "Is it the food?" She mumbled while rubbing her stomach worriedly. But it was not coming from there but from her head.
The common room was silent and dark. No one was awake so late at night, not with Spinnard's lesson coming up on Friday. The black kitten wasn't there either and she didn't have her wand with her.
"Great," She sighed, barely missing the armchair.
Ophelia was sitting there, her legs spread lazily as her eyes were staring at the fireplace. She bit her lip and remembered the sparks that used to appear now and then. It's been a while since she last played with them and grew a bit worried when she realized she couldn't make them appear anymore as she pleased. The sparks were usually blue but on the night of Lillian's death, she saw a green light.
[Dreamstate]
"How did you find me?" Lillian asked in a very thick Scottish accent.
"I see you have been very busy, Lillian. This house has every possible protection around it." The man said, looking at the walls before turning his attention on her. "Very impressive, I must say."
"How did you find me, -? The Charm-"
"Your little friend, the Peverell, he told me where you are. You didn't choose your Secret Keeper wisely," He responded, his eyes narrowing at the woman.
"What have you done with Vernon?" She changed the subject.
"He might be still alive. Now-"
"Go back inside, Ophelia! This man-this man-"
[End of Dreamstate]
Ophelia jolted from her seat, her hand unconsciously going to her heart. She didn't know what came over her but those pieces just came onto her, overwhelming her with fear. But it wasn't enough; some parts were missing and some were muted.
The green eyed girl looked up at the fireplace only to notice a small flame, barely lit enough to draw attention. She got up and walked towards it, mesmerized because that small flame was green. She reached out but it didn't burn her; instead it crawled up her arm and into her head. Her eyes widened as she felt something new enter her, something dark yet at the same time illuminating. Ophelia screamed as the pain grew worse than anything she had felt before.
And then she opened her eyes. She opened her eyes and straightened up, noticing that she was in bed, in the dormitory. The witch frowned, shocked and confused if what happened was just a dream or not.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone