Dumbledore's Solution (2)

After explaining the 'reason' for Harry's behaviour, Dumbledore remained silent for the next few minutes.

He probably wanted Harry to take some time to come to terms with the new information Dumbledore had just imparted. Whatever, he had told was a significant thing and was not something which could be taken lightly.

Meanwhile, Harry maintained a slightly perplexed, confused, and somewhat anxious expression. He was 'reacting' as the Harry without his 'future knowledge' would have reacted- confused and clueless and ignorant.

"Harry," Dumbledore muttered softly, finally breaking the silence.

"I know it does not make a lot of sense," he continued, "and I also know that it is unfair for you to bear all this and to go through all of this… but such is life."

"Life is like this, Harry," Dumbledore continued in an encouraging tone. "Full of trials and tests and hardships."

"And yet we continue… we have to move forward," he added.

Harry nodded, though the expression on his face remained largely unchanged.

After another few moments of silence, Dumbledore spoke in a serious voice, "Harry, I am going to teach you something- a certain method that will help you take control of your anger and emotions."

Harry felt slightly intrigued. Was Dumbledore going to teach him occlumency? And would he even do it properly?

Harry clearly remembered his past life. Dumbledore had tasked Snape with teaching occlumency to him after he begun to sense a connection with Voldemort and started to view some of Voldemort's memories. Voldemort had learned about the connection and planned to use it as a trap to lure Harry out.

And what had that man- the death eater servant of Albus Dumbledore had done?

He had constantly invaded Harry's mind and tormented him. The man had constantly breached whatever natural defenses Harry's mindscape had in the name of training.

Not only had those constant intrusions left Harry's mind in a miserable state and had destroyed his natural defenses, but they had also made it much easier for Voldemort to project his false memories- his trap onto him, ultimately resulting in Sirius's death.

The whole ordeal had not been a mistake on Dumbledore or Snape's part. Both wizards were masters of the mind arts, and it was inconceivable that they did not know what Snape was doing. It was all a ploy to weaken Harry's natural defences and make it easier for Voldemort to achieve his aims.

And now Harry was curious to know which method the man was going to use this time.

"Harry," Dumbledore said, "what I am about to teach you is a very sensitive matter—a very obscure branch of magic related to the mindscape."

"Remember," he added gravely, "under no circumstances are you allowed to discuss this kind of magic with anyone."

"Can I trust you on this?" Dumbledore asked, and Harry gave a nod.

"Good," Dumbledore replied.

"Now, as I told you, the mindscape is the place where a person's memories are stored," Dumbledore explained. "And since memories can be stored, they can also be stolen."

"In ancient times, great wizards, evil but powerful, discovered a method to read, or rather extract and steal, the memories of another person," he said. "It is a terrible and foul practice, and we will not discuss it further."

"But because such malevolence existed," Dumbledore continued, "wizards and witches eventually discovered and formulated methods to shield their mindscape from such invasions, thereby protecting their memories."

"This branch of magic is called occlumency," he said.

Up to this point, Harry felt quite intrigued. Dumbledore had done a fine job explaining everything, unlike in his previous life when Snape had offered no explanation at all, merely invading Harry's mind.

"Over time," continued Dumbledore, "occlumency continued to evolve. Originally developed to protect one's memories from being stolen, it eventually evolved into a means of organising your mindscape, helping you control your emotions and maintain desirable behaviour."

"Although you are still very far from learning all these advanced techniques, I hope you understand what occlumency is," he said.

"Yes, Headmaster," Harry replied.

"Good. Now, you are going to start learning the basics," Dumbledore said as he pulled a booklet from his robe and handed it over to Harry.

Harry glanced quickly at the booklet and was somewhat surprised by its contents. It was nothing too special—just the basic meditation method that every wizard or witch begins with when learning occlumency.

The meditation technique described what one had to visualise and how to proceed, enabling a person to calm their mind and take control of their emotions. Learning the next phase—the true art of occlumency—would come later. Children from magical families- the pure bloods practice this from a very young age.

"This is a meditation technique," said Dumbledore, after which he offered a brief explanation of what it was and how Harry was to proceed with it. Although the old man did not go into extensive detail, he did not say anything incorrect.

"Do you understand, Harry?" Dumbledore asked after his explanation.

"Yes, Headmaster," Harry replied.

"Good," smiled Dumbledore. "Practice this, and when you are proficient enough, we will discuss the next step."

Harry nodded, and Dumbledore's expression softened into that of a warm and lively grandfather.

"Off you go," said Dumbledore. "You have already missed your Defence Against the Dark Arts class."

"Hopefully, this will help you," Dumbledore added.

Harry nodded and got up to leave when Dumbledore called after him, "Oh, and you have your Ancient Runes test after dinner tonight!"

Harry gave a final nod and left the classroom for his next class- Potions. And he was quite interested to meet Snape.

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