Memories by ChemPrincess

“Why did you have such a dangerous object in your office, Headmaster?” Severus asked, the next morning in Dumbledore's office.

The headmaster sighed, his wrinkled hands folded in front of him on the table. “That globe was created by a student, years ago while she was dabbling in dark magic. Minerva confiscated it when she came upon it. We couldn’t destroy it, so I had it locked in a heavily warded chest...Until now.”

“If it was locked away...securely,” Snape raised an eyebrow, Dumbledore answered the silent question with a nod. “then how did Potter get his hands on it? He said it was right here.” He tapped at the table in front of him with his index finger.

“The wards were casted years ago, they were getting weak so, I removed the globe while I was restoring the wards. Harry must have gotten here when I went to consult my old notes for the wardings. I apologise for everything you and Harry had to go through.” Dumbledore said, the regret so clear in his voice that Severus felt a pang of guilt for even thinking that the Headmaster had left the globe out there on purpose just when he was expecting Potter and Severus to visit his office. Not that Severus’s doubt was unfounded, Dumbledore had done some questionable things for greater good. But Severus believed him, Dumbledore wouldn’t lie about it.

“You thought I left it here on purpose.” Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling with amusement for the first time since the previous night when Severus had stumbled out of the globe with an injured Potter.

“I thought you were meddling, as you are often known to do. I never thought that you would put our lives in danger on purpose.” Severus replied, looking in his bespectacled eyes.

“Of course, my boy, and I appreciate your faith in me.” Dumbledore said, patting Severus's hand.

Severus cleared his throat. “We never got the chance to discuss why you summoned Potter and I yesterday.”

Dumbledore sat back in his chair. “Harry’s and Voldermort's minds are connected, we don’t know to what extent. And now that he has returned, it is imperative that we do everything we can to help him shield his mind from Voldermort.”

“You want me to teach him Occlumency.” Severus concluded.

“Yes. I can’t do it myself because of my responsibilities as a headmaster as well as a member of the order and also I can't take the risk of opening my mind to him. I am aware that it could put you in grave danger since you would be returning to your duties as our spy, but it has to be done. Harry must learn to protect his mind.”

“Of course, headmaster, I understand.” Severus would be in close contact with Voldermort, he had no doubt that Voldermort was going to use Legilimency on him, but he could Occlude. Potter will have to master Occlumency, but Dumbledore cannot teach him, Dumbledore will know about every plan they come up with to defeat Voldermort. Severus on the other hand will only know his part in the plan to defeat Voldermort. If somehow Potter manages to break through Severus’s barriers he would only have limited access to the Order's plans, so even if Voldermort were to riffle through Potter’s memories he won’t gain enough information to sabotage their plans.

“So, are you willing to teach him?”

“I am.” Severus replied, and smirked at Dumbledore’s expression, it wasn’t easy to catch that man off guard.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t expecting you to agree so easily.”

“Well, Potter needs to learn Occlumency. Only you and I can teach him. You can’t, for obvious reasons. So?” Severus said casually.

“Severus, I know you will do what needs to be done, no matter how unpleasant the task, but you have fought tooth and nail, to do everything in your power so that you don’t have to spend anymore time with Harry than necessary. What changed?”

“I saw him defeat a giant troll by sticking a wand up his nose. Potter can’t always survive an encounter like that with sheer dumb luck.” Dumbledore chuckled at that.

“And Potter will also need to learn to duel.” Severus continued.

“Well, if you are willing to teach him.” Dumbledore shrugged.

“I am.” Severus said, getting up from the chair. “I have to inform Potter about it first.”

“Alright, let him know that I will drop by the Hospital Wing later to see how he is doing.”

“I will, headmaster.” He said, before leaving.

When he reached the hospital wing Potter was in bed, propped up by pillows. He sat down on a stool next to the bed.

“Good morning, Mr. Potter.” He greeted, casting a quick glance over Potter’s injuries. He had a faint burn mark on the left side of his face, it was covered by what Severus assumed was a salve for healing burns. Potter had burns on most of the left side of his body. But they were healing, it would take a week or two for them to heal completely but Potter would be fine.

“Good morning, Professor.” Potter replied.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah, Madame Pomfrey said that the burns would be gone in a week or so. And she also said that she will give me a potion after I am completely healed, for scars.” Potter replied.

“Good” Severus said.

“You must be wondering why I used the memory that I did.” Severus said, after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

“No. I mean I know why. You used the memory that made you feel the strongest positive emotion.” Potter shrugged . “When I realised that I was a wizard, I felt like I finally belonged. I believed that things would be better, that I wouldn’t be just an orphan, a freak that my family hate, it gave me hope and hope can be stronger than love.” Potter stopped and then looked up at him. “That’s what you felt when you became a death eater, right?”

Potter had caught him off guard, Severus had seen the look on the boy’s during that memory. He had looked horrified. He wasn’t expecting him to be so understanding about it.

“Umm, actually” Potter hesitated, shifting a little. “I was wondering about the memory in the graveyard, what was it about?”

“It was my mother’s funeral.” Severus replied. He wondered how long Potter was waiting to ask that.

“I’m....I am sorry about that.” Potter said, sincerely.

“Sir, what happened to the globe?” Potter asked, changing the subject, Severus almost snorted at Potter’s attempt at being subtle about it.

“It was destroyed by your magic. It was infused with a lot of dark magic, when you used more magic it became unstable and then shattered.”

“Oh.” Potter looked at a chess set that was lying next to the bed on a table. His friends must have visited him.

“Did you tell your friends about the globe ?”

“Yeah, but Dumbledore had already told them about it. They don’t know about the memories though.”

“It’s Headmaster Dumbledore, Mr. Potter.”

“Yea.. sorry. Did you talk to Headmaster Dumbledore?”

“Yes. Apparently the globe was made by a student few years ago. It was locked in Headmaster’s office for a long time, he accidentally left it out a few minutes before you went to his office.”

Potter nodded. “Why did the Headmaster call us to his office anyway?”

“He wants me to teach you Occlumency.”

Potter frowned. “Occu- what does that mean.”

“It is a magical method of defending one's mind from external penetration.”

“Penetration!” Potter exclaimed. “You mean mind reading, we can do that?”

“Yes, it is called Legilimency. We can discuss that later. First you need to learn Occlumency, so that you can defend your mind from the dark lord. Your minds are linked in some way, that’s the reason why you suffer from headaches in his presence.” Severus explained.

Potter nodded. “So, will you teach me?”

“Yes, if you are willing to learn.” He held up a hand when Potter opened his mouth to say something. “But to master Occlumency, the student must trust the Legilimence and also the other way around. I will be able to see all your memories, any memory that I wish to see.” Severus let that sink, before continuing. “But before you make your decision, I want you to know something. I can’t expect you to trust me knowing that I am hiding something from you.”

Severus took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to do. It could change everything, he just hoped Potter wouldn’t refuse to learn Occlumency. “As you know I was a Death Eater. I joined Voldermort’s cause right after I graduated from Hogwarts. While I was serving him, I overhead a prophecy. It was about someone who would defeat Voldermort...."