by DrT - Sahits

"Have you ever heard of Legilimency?"
Hermione's frown deepened. "It's some sort of mind-magic. . . ." After that, she came up blank.
"A novice can break into your mind with the spell," Harry said. "An expert can read your surface
thoughts without verbalizing the spell. A master can use that as an entrance to direct your thoughts
to some particular set of thoughts. You can fight it, and if they want to remain undetected, you can
win easily. If they don't mind being detected, it's harder to fight than the Imperious."
"And?"
"And both Snape and Dumbledore are masters, and constantly practice it. Dumbledore's giveaway
is that damn twinkle, Snape's is that little movement he does with his eyebrow."
Hermione face-faulted, and then demanded, "You mean . . . you mean they've been reading our
minds?"
"Yes," Harry said. "Snape from that first day in class. So, anything you know, they will know."
"There must be some way to counter it," Hermione protested.
"It's called Occlumency, clouding your mind. I could probably teach you at least the basics in the
two weeks we have before class starts," Harry offered. The older Hermione had easily learned the
basics, since she had a very organized mind, and Harry was betting this Hermione could as well.
"But not here," Hermione said.
"If you trust me, and prefer to help me, yes," Harry said. "If not, believe me, I'll understand. This
must look very odd from your point of view."
"When do we leave?" Hermione asked without hesitation.
"Pack Hermione's things," Harry commanded, and instantly Hermione trunk was perfectly packed.
"I wonder how the magic knows what's yours?" He shrugged off the problem. "I'm going to silence
your footsteps, disillusion you, and then do the same to myself, plus mask our scent, after you take
my hand. Then I'm going to slip some notes under doors, and then we're leaving."
"I wish I knew why I always let you talk me into these things," Hermione said with a sigh. "Let me
leave a quick note so they know I wasn't kidnapped. I'll have to owl Mum and Dad later." Hermione
frowned. "Harry, you packed all my clothes."
"I didn't pack your slippers, and you'll want to go back to sleep, anyway. I promise, you won't be
cold."
"Oh, very well." She paused. "There is one thing you should know."
"Let me guess," Harry said with a small smile. "Dumbledore sent out the prefect badges, and while
you of course got one, Ron got the other."
"I'm sorry," Hermione said. "You deserved it, not Ron. He's been quite the prat about that."
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