You told me you wanted to learn about legilimency, not those silly little hexes and jinxes you've been practising all this time,' Salazar complained from the spot on the floor.
'I need to know them for my OWL exams at the end of the year and to be able to teach Neville, since our current teacher is more interested in keeping us helpless and under the sway of the Ministry.'
'None of them are even remotely useful,' Salazar pointed out, 'why use something like the Impedimenta Jinx when you know how to splinter bones?'
'Because if I use the bone-splintering curse in my exam I'm liable to be expelled, or fail,' Harry remarked, dryly.
'This school has gone downhill,' Slytherin griped, 'I blame the Ministry, they were created to uphold that Statute of Secrecy that Tom Riddle told me was made to keep our worlds separate and safe, not restrict the types of magic wizard and witches can use or learn about.'
'Umbridge won't last long,' Harry smiled darkly, 'Riddle cursed the position she's holding, nobody's ever lasted a whole year, and she's made enemies of the entire school, Dumbledore and myself.'
'You're part of the school,' the portrait reminded him.
'I'm quite a bit more dangerous than your average fifth year,' Harry remarked. 'You're more dangerous than any other student here since Riddle,' Salazar agreed proudly, 'and you're probably more powerful than he was then, if decidedly more moral.'
'All the more reason not to have to worry about Umbridge being here for more than a year,' Harry grinned.
'You have plenty of other things to worry about,' Salazar pointed out. 'That prophecy, Riddle, Dumbledore, the Ministry,' his serpent bobbed its head every time he added another problem, 'and that's just the big ones you know about.'
'I'll figure it out,' Harry assured him, 'I have a plan.'
'It's vague, and you are running out of time. Voldemort is biding his time while he gathers his strength, but soon he'll be back to trying to kill you, probably because of that prophecy, and Dumbledore will be doing his utmost to make sure he's successful. No doubt he thinks you'll make a great sacrifice, and an even better martyr.'
'All the more reason to master the Impedimenta Jinx,' Harry quipped. Salazar shook his head in disgust and Harry relented before he was on the receiving end of a full blown rant. 'I'm finished with them,' he decided. 'I can perform them all well enough.'
'Then it's time you learned about legilimency,' the portrait ordered. 'No heir of mine will be anything less than a master of it and you don't have long left before you need to leave.'
'You were a whole lot more agreeable before I brought that clock,' Harry told him. He'd managed to get one from the Room of Requirement, which seemed to have an unlimited supply of things, but Salazar had taken to using it to schedule his days for him.
'Have you thought of a way to practice your legilimency?'
'I've had a couple of ideas, but particularly practical yet,' Harry admitted.
'What have you come up with?'
nothing
'I considered using it on someone who's asleep or stunned,' Harry began, but Salazar was shaking his head in exasperation.
'If they're stunned they won't be thinking much about anything, and there's not a lot a novice can do with a sleeping mind. I suppose it would give you some practice of using the spell and might help you learn control over it,' Slytherin decided, 'but largely it's useless, there would be no practice of actually confronting a defended mind.' 'I could find someone to attack?' Harry suggested, his mind torn between the idea using it on Umbridge or Snape.
'Very bad idea,' Salazar snapped. 'What if they know how to repel you? Legilimency is a very rare skill, but occlumency is known at a basic level by many, since it helps with magic in general.'
'I could offer to teach Neville occlumency,' Harry mentioned finally, expecting to be shot down once more.
'That might be useful,' Slytherin remarked, 'but he would have to keep your ability to use legilimency a secret and needs to know about and want to learn occlumency for his own reasons.'
Harry raised an eyebrow, fairly sure he could just offer to teach Neville it like he had already been doing. 'He'll be suspicious of your motives otherwise,' the portrait explained. It struck him as slightly paranoid. 'Worth trying, though.'
'So what can you teach me?' Harry asked, growing sceptical. 'This isn't like the blood magic where you could only teach me the principles, is it?'
'I haven't taught you half of what you need to know about blood magic before the end of this year,' Salazar replied sombrely, surprisingly melancholy. 'After legilimency, that's what I'll be teaching you as well as a painting can.'
'And legilimency?' The portrait hadn't actually answered the question.
'I am a little limited in how much I can teach you,' the founder confessed, 'but I can tell you how it works in as much detail as possible.'
'I know you form a connection and can then somehow follow emotions,' Harry told him.
'From when Voldemort managed to use it on you?'
'Yes, he didn't get anything particularly important, no more than I glimpsed from him,' Harry realised.
'Then it doesn't matter,' Salazar decided, 'you are similar enough that you will come to understand each other well enough anyway. The spell forms the connection, allowing you to see anything that's currently in the mind of the victim. What Riddle did requires a very strong connection. He latched onto one particular feeling and dissected it, glimpsing some of the memories and thoughts that created it.'
'How can I do it?'
'If your will is stronger, or you can make sure that your opponent can't clear their thoughts so you're unchallenged,' Slytherin informed him simply. 'Legilimency is one of those branches of magic that comes down to some quite plain principles, but can be applied in an infinite number of complex ways.'
'Your favourite,' Harry noted sarcastically.
'Yes,' the founder either ignored or didn't notice his sarcasm. 'You need to practice casting the spell, to get the hang of the scale over which it can be cast. The more magic, the stronger the connection and the harder it is for you to be thrown out. Occluding the mind actually has no affect on the connection itself, simply rendering it meaningless, but you can be expelled by strength of will in a manner similar to throwing off the Imperius Curse.'
'So lots of magic makes the connection hard to break,' Harry summarised, 'but doesn't affect how much I can actually see.'
'Exactly,' Salazar nodded approvingly. 'Once you've got the hang of casting it, you can work on casting it without a wand or an incantation, and then with as little eye contact as possible. The intricacies of legilimency all come once the connection has been made except for passive legilimency, that creates too weak a connection.'
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