Chapter 15 - Sharpen your mind

The next few days were quite uneventful and mainly consisted of schoolwork and revision. Most of the sixth years were already seventeen and so were able to take Apparition classes now. It made me feel left out and even a little lonely. I barely saw Ominis, understandably he was enthused by having the ability to see and he was preoccupied with his new environment. Even at breakfast he was distracted with the newspaper he was engrossed in. He barely looked up as an owl dropped a letter in his cereal bowl. I grabbed it before he could reach for it.

"Riley, give my letter back please?"

I smirked at him.

"I will in exchange for some conversation, perhaps even a kiss?"

He put the newspaper down and leaned over and gave me a peck on the cheek before snatching the letter from my hand.

"Is that it?" I could hear the whininess in my voice, but I didn't care.

"Riley, please. I told you that I needed some time, I've got a lot going on at the moment."

I rolled my eyes and continued with my breakfast, although my appetite had faded.

"Who is the letter from?" Ominis turned the envelope over and opened it.

"Would you mind reading it to me? I'm still quite reliant on braille."

I nodded and took the letter and read it aloud.

Dear Ominis

I am so glad to hear from you, it has been such a long time and I realise that is my own fault. I couldn't believe it when you wrote saying that you had your sight restored. It must be such an amazing feeling to be able to see things for the very first time. I bet you were surprised at how gloomy the Undercroft looked. You must continue to explore Hogwarts and take it all in, I miss Hogwarts so much. I'm currently staying with some friends, I've not been back to Feldcroft since I buried Uncle Solomon. I am sorry that I haven't written to you sooner. As much as Solomon was a hard man, he didn't deserve what happened to him. My health has not improved, yet thankfully the curse has not gotten worse. I just try to take one day at a time, some days I can do more than others. Only yesterday I was able to walk the full length of my friend's farm before I was exhausted.

Your letter could not have come at a better time. I wanted to reach out as I am concerned about Sebastian. He has been writing to me almost daily begging for forgiveness and wanting to see me. I wasn't ready to respond to him, I needed time to grieve and to forgive him. However, these past two weeks I've not received any letters from him. He mentioned that he had left Hogwarts and was still trying to find a cure for my curse. His last letter said that he was near Clagmar coast and had encountered some dark wizards. I was hoping that you had heard from him. Please do let me know, I am worried. As much as I hate him for what he did, he is still my brother, and I will always care for him.

It's so good to speak to you again Ominis. I've missed you.

Yours,

Anne Sallow

I read the last sentence with a sour taste in my mouth. I felt angry and jealous about Anne's letter, but her words also made me worry about Sebastian.

"Riley?" Ominis was looking at me intently now.

"So, you told Anne about me healing your eyesight?" Most of the other students had left breakfast for classes and so I could speak freely.

"I didn't tell her it was you, I used our cover story." He looked nervously at me and tried to hold my hand. I pulled away and threw the letter at him.

"Riley please, let's talk about this?" His words made me even more angry.

"Now you want to talk?" I stood from the table and left the Great Hall.

I could hear Ominis calling after me, but I walked on. To make matters worse I passed Natty near the entrance hall, and she completely ignored me as I walked past. I hated not being able to speak to my friend, I could've used her guidance right now.

I spent the rest of the day avoiding Ominis. I tried to focus on classes but the words from Anne's letter kept replaying in my mind. I knew Ominis, Sebastian and Anne were all very close in their initial years at Hogwarts. I had always suspected that there was something between Ominis and Anne, her affectionate terms in the letter confirmed that. I also couldn't stop thinking about Sebastian now. Was Anne right to be concerned with his silence? He was always capable of finding trouble, but perhaps he had just given up trying to reconnect with his sister. He had been writing to her for months, yet he didn't write a single letter to me. My negative thoughts were so loud that the eerie voice just hung in the back of mind, silently enjoying my anger. My hand was clenching so hard around my quill that it made Poppy lean over and place a hand on my shoulder.

"Riley is everything ok?" Poppy was always a calming presence, and she brought me out of my dark spiral.

"Yes, I'm ok Poppy, thank you. How have you been?" She beamed at me as she spoke quietly.

"I actually have something to tell you. I've met someone."

I wasn't expecting that.

"Who?"

"His name is Oliver Wright, he's a seventh year Ravenclaw student. He approached me after Beasts class last week and we've just really connected. We have a lot in common."

I hadn't seen Poppy this giddy since we found the golden snidgets last year.

"That's great to hear Poppy, I'd love to meet him."

Professor Ronen cleared his throat and looked over at us. Apparently, our whispering didn't go undetected. Poppy and I exchanged smiles and went back to our notes. I could see Ominis sitting on the other side of the classroom where he kept trying to make eye contact. I deliberately avoided his gaze and returned my attention to Professor Ronen who was talking about nonverbal spells. "Performing spells non-verbally is very difficult and requires a good deal of practice, as it requires concentration and mental discipline alone."

As the lesson came to an end, I made my way to Professor Sharp's classroom for our Occlumency practical session. I was well versed in my theory and understood that Occlumency was the magic of closing one's mind against Legilimency. It was ancient and had existed since medieval times. It could prevent a Legilimens from accessing one's thoughts and feelings or influencing them. No amount of theory or meditation could've prepared me. Professor Sharp explained that he was going to attempt to break into my mind and that I needed to resist. The sensation was like that of pensieve memories, except that it resulted in a severe headache. I saw snippets of fighting trolls and dark wizards, Ranrok in his dragon form and Fig passing away in my arms.

"Please stop!" Professor Sharp ceased his spell immediately. I had tears in my eyes from the stirred memories.

"Miss Dagworth it is far too easy to penetrate your mind, you need to control your emotions." I wiped away the tears as he spoke.

"I'm trying, it's not easy to put aside such traumatic moments."

Sharp looked at me intently as he spoke, "It is not a case of putting aside the emotions, they will always be there. You need to master them, not let them fester inside. Again."

He raised his wand at me again.

This time I saw Anne and Ominis hugging when I visited Feldcroft for the first time. I could hear the eerie voice whispering in the background. The image then shifted, and I was in the library, Sebastian was holding me and saying his final goodbye. He had left me, and I was on my knees crying. Seeing the scene from this third person perspective made me look at myself with pity. Seeing myself so broken made me angry.

"Enough!"

I raised my wand at Sharp and the spell broke. My head was pounding with a headache, but Sharp smiled at me.

"Better. Well done Miss Dagworth. You were able to cease my spell, with practice you will be able to defer it altogether."

I nodded and sat down on one of the stools nearby, the headache was starting to make me feel dizzy. I was wondering why Sharp didn't ask me about the whispering voice, perhaps he didn't hear it? Then again, this was already a sensitive situation with him being able to see into my mind, it would've been weird if he started asking me questions about my inner thoughts.

"We shall continue again next week, keep practising your meditation as Occlumency requires a high degree of mental and emotional discipline."

I nodded and started to leave his classroom, but I turned back to him at the door.

"Thank you, Professor. Thank you for helping me and also for respecting my privacy." He nodded at me silently, no further words needed to be exchanged.