This Monday night was the start of Harry's Occlumency lessons. He wasn’t particularly dreading it but he definitely was not looking forward to doing it. Snape always told him to close his mind or his mind would be easy for the Dark Lord to look into.

"Potter it is time to begin your Occlumency lessons, once again." Snape said as he entered the kitchen.

"I have a question." Harry said.

"Go ahead and ask, but I don’t promise any answers."

"How am I supposed to do Occlumency. All through the school year you told me to close my mind but you never told me how. How am I supposed to do something I have no idea how to do?" Harry asked.

"That is a valid question. Occlumency came easy to me, I never truly had to learn how to do it. Seeing as our lessons failed miserably before, I purchased a few books for you that we help in your Occlumency, potions and dueling. Accio books."

Five books came flying across the room. The top one was titled Occlumency: A Beginners Guide, the next one was Advanced Occlumency: For the Skilled Occlumen, the next one was All About Potions, the next one was Hexes and Curse, and the last was Dueling 101.

"Tonight I simply want you to read the first two chapters in Occlumency: A Beginners Guide we will discuss what you read on Wednesday. Start reading."

Harry opened the book to the first chapter and started reading.

Chapter 1: What is Occlumency?

Occlumency is the ability or skill to prevent others from penetrating the mind. The skilled Occlumen will be able to Occlude others from their mind without appearing to do so. For many people this skill comes naturally but others have to be taught.

The text continued to talk about Occlumency and what skilled Occlumens could do. After finishing chapter one he moved on to chapter two.

Chapter 2: What is the Purpose of Occlumency?

Occlumency allows you to hide thoughts, emotions, and memories from other people. Occlumency is generally used to keep things from people who have a tendency to go into other people's minds.

Well that really told me something I didn’t know. Harry thought bitterly. What was the point in reading that? I just wasted an hour of my time.

Harry looked at the clock, just now realizing how late it was getting. He went upstairs to his room and fell asleep.

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While Harry was sound asleep, Snape was in his room pacing. He wasn’t sure what he could do to best help Harry. He decided to ask Dumbledore the next day. Even after deciding this he still couldn’t sleep. He was thinking about what had happened before he was sent back to this time. He had looked into Lily's eyes one last time before he thought he was going to die. He could never look at Harry without thinking about Lily, or worse James. Will he ever see Harry for the person that he is? Could he ever learn to care for Harry like he once did for Lily? Will he be able to change the course of the future? Finally with none of these questions answered or problems solved, Snape slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

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Harry didn’t wake up until lunch time on Tuesday. He woke up and looked at the clock. Oh wow I slept late today. I should probably do some of my homework. Harry sat up and grabbed his History of Magic Book. He looked at his assignment-  write a twelve inch essay on the Goblin Rebellions of the 1600's. I am definitely not taking this class next year. I don’t need it to become an Auror. He opened his book and started reading. After about it hour he finished his essay and sent it off to Hermione, asking her to proofread it and change anything that isn't right.

He went downstairs for dinner and Snape was not there. There was food on the table and he ate. When he finished eating Snape walked into the room.

"I want you to read the first chapter in the dueling book, then come downstairs to the library and we will do some dueling practice." said Snape.

"Yes, sir." Harry replied.

Harry opened the Dueling 101 book and began reading. In a duel, the most important thing is to protect yourself. Defensive spells generally aren't hard to learn, but have been known to save lives. You should use offensive spells mainly when you catch your opponent off guard. Shields are the most important types of defensive magic. A list of shield spells can be found on page R2; the purpose of each spell is listed next to it. He finished reading and proceeded down the stairs and into the library.

"That was fast Potter. We'll start off with a simple duel only jinxes can be used."

"Okay, sir."

They dueled for what Harry thought was hours. When they finally finished, they were both exhausted and covered in sweat. They silently walked up the stairs and into the kitchen and got water.

"That wasn’t bad for a first time, but you have a lot of work to do." Snape said finally.

"Yes, sir." Harry said. "Thanks."

"You're thanking me why?" Snape asked.

"Oh, nothing its stupid."

"What is it Potter?"

"I, uh, well, I think that is the first time you've ever complimented anything that I've done."

"Ah, I see. Well, stranger things have happened." And with that Snape walked out of the room and Harry just sat there amazed at what had just happened.

Harry, extremely exhausted, walked up to his room and found two letters. One was from Ron and the other from Hermione.