In the previous lessons, Snape was eventually able to hammer his way through into Harry's mind. Harry was always able to expel the man before he was able to see anything of importance, but that was beside the point. This time the man was unable to even accomplish that much. After 15 minutes of continuous mental battering, both were fatigued. Snape dismissed Harry but did not confirm a meeting for the next week. Harry was going to ask but thought better of it. Any conversation at all with the man was liable to escalate into a duel with how aggravated they both were at the moment.
Harry was tired afterwards, but he was in high spirits. He found it hard to believe how far he had progressed in his Occlumency skills in such a short time. If only things had been different last year…. He refused to dwell on that now. What's done was done and wouldn't be changed. So he concentrated on the here and now and let his success bolster him.
Despite his successes in Occlumency, he still experienced scar pains and the occasional flash of emotion from Voldemort. This fact troubled him because his Occlumency was supposed to block out his connection to Voldemort, but it didn't seem to have any effect on their connection whatsoever. He hadn't had a vision since the one preceding the attack on his friends in Diagon Alley, but he had no idea whether that was a result of his Occlumency or not. There was nothing he could do but wait and see what happened.
He was worried though. It had been a long time ago that he had witnessed his first vision of the summer, where Voldemort promised a party to announce his return to the world. The only attack Harry was aware of since then was the one on his friends, and he was sure that was not related to the party Voldemort was planning. Whatever it was, if Voldemort was taking this long to plan and prepare for it, then it must be something big. But there was nothing they could do but do their best to prepare for the war ahead and wait for it to begin.
His personal training was advancing well. The training dummies that the Room of Requirement provided were a godsend. He still trained with Sirius at night, but they mostly concentrated on perfecting new spells that Harry was learning. Sirius was just unable to keep up with Harry in an all out duel at this point. But the training dummies were more than able to accommodate his needs. They weren't able to simulate a real life encounter with Death Eaters, but they were able to continue to improve his dueling skills.
His ability to dodge spells improved a little every day. He was coming to a point where he didn't even have to by sustaining a shield spell over himself at all times with one hand while still being able to cast spells with his other hand. Maintaining a spell for a length of time was incredibly draining, as he quickly learned the first time he tried it. He was only able to hold a continuous shield for a minute the first time he tried it while casting offensive spells at the same time. And he was left exhausted. But after rigorous practice, he was steadily improving. He noticed a small improvement almost every day.
It was just like working a muscle to become stronger. You push yourself to your limits, and the muscle responds by growing to handle the stress. He continued to push his magic to its limits in his training, and it was growing to meet the demand. He was now able to sustain the shield while casting offensive spells for almost two minutes, which had been enough time for him to dispose of several opponents. But he wasn't satisfied yet. He planned to continue to push himself. As long as he continued to see improvement, that was all the incentive he needed to continue his efforts.
Friday finally rolled around, and after his Defense class, he waved his friends goodbye to wait for the 7th year class. He walked up to Professor Caldwell's desk and asked him what he had in mind for the class. The Professor was going to lecture for a bit on the theory behind the spell. He would call for a demonstration from Harry. Then the two of them would work with the class on conjuring Patronuses. This sounded easy enough for Harry. It was more or less just repeating the lesson he gave the HA on Patronuses.
There were a couple HA members in the class: Katie Bell, Cho Chang, Walter Gatton, Rob Bankston, and Stephen Cornfoot. Cho was the only one able to conjure a fully corporeal Patronus. Katie was close, but her mist was unable to fully take form. The others had all managed a strong mist the last time he had seen them all try to the charm. Professor Caldwell was shocked to find that two of his students were already capable of conjuring corporeal Patronuses. Harry was only mildly surprised to find that Katie had managed to get her mist to take the form of a hawk.
When those two students explained that Harry had taught them, the professor's gaze flicked over to Harry. He wasn't sure, but Harry thought the professor seemed to be quite impressed. The rest of the class flew by rather quickly with Harry moving in between the various students offering tips and advice on how to improve upon their performance. The class ended soon enough, and Harry remained behind as the rest of the students exited. He wasn't sure if anything else was expected of him or if he was free to go, so he thought it best to wait and let the Professor tell him.
"I must say, you really know your stuff," Professor Caldwell praised as the last student left the classroom. "I was a bit skeptical at first, but Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall both vouched for not only your Defense skills but your teaching skills as well. I didn't know that you had already covered Patronuses in your club. It's a very advanced spell, beyond NEWT level even. The only reason I'm even teaching it is because of the threat of You-Know-Who."
"Yes," Harry interrupted, "that is why I made sure to cover Patronuses as well. We actually began work on them last year before the DA was shut down."
"And when did you learn the charm yourself?" the professor asked him.
"I learned it my third year here. There were Dementors guarding the castle then, and I was affected pretty badly by them, so I asked Professor Lupin, the Defense professor that year, to teach me how to defend myself against them. We started our lessons in January, and I conjured my first corporeal Patronus at the end of the term," Harry explained.
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