106 Mind Games

Grindelwald's Chambers, Feb 2nd

Softly rubbing his temple, Harry did his best to dissipate his growing headache. "How do you stop it?"

"Practice," Calypso said succinctly. "You have to practice the talent or else you'll have those random bouts of uncontrolled Legilimency."

Harry had been walking up the main staircase when he randomly locked eyes with a jumpy passing first year. After idly wondering what had made the girl so nervous, he, unintentionally, entered her mind. Immediately, he was mentally bombarded with the girl's feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt surrounding an upcoming Transfiguration class. It was practically oppressive, and Harry had been so overwhelmed that he walked into a group of sixth years.

This was the sixth time, including the instance with Calypso, that Harry had inadvertently used Legilimency on someone, and he was really getting sick of it. Over the holiday, Harry had accidentally read the surface thoughts and emotions of his brother, and he hadn't been able to look Nathan in the eyes for a week – he didn't ever want to feel his own brother's arousal and desire to go wank!

"So, I have to practice Legilimency to stop using Legilimency?" he clarified.

Calypso nodded. "Yes, but you already knew that. I'm actually surprised that it's taken this long for you to experience so many frequent bouts of Legilimency. With your skill in Occlumency, it should be far more common. Typically, the more skilled the Occlumens, the more uncontrolled bursts of Legilimency you experience."

"Can I practice on you?" Harry asked.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Harry. Right now, I'm trying to build up my Occlumency, and father is periodically testing me, and I don't want to let down my guard for Occlumency right now. It might be best if you just practice on random students. Just concentrate on knowing what they are thinking and you'll eventually bring the ability under your control."

"I guess I don't have a choice." Harry muttered as the door opened and Kira and Viktor entered.

"Potter," Kira greeted neutrally.

Curious to see what had Kira in such a good mood, Harry decided to test out his fledgling talent in Legilimency. He looked Kira right in the eyes and willed himself into her mind. He felt the uncomfortable disorientation, which caused him to feel momentarily lightheaded, before he felt a single strong emotion from Kira. Disgust. Before Harry could sense anything else though, he was forcefully ejected from Kira's mind.

"Protego!" Someone shouted to his left.

Shaking his head slightly, Harry saw a puke yellow curse bounce off a shield charm that was placed directly in front of him. The spell redirected and impacted a nearby chair, causing it to splinter into a thousand pieces. Glancing around the room, Harry saw that both Kira and Calypso had their wands out while Viktor seemed to be in a state of shock at the impromptu duel.

"Bitch!" Calypso roared, raising her wand – a dark purple spell glowing at the tip.

"NO!" Viktor exclaimed, casting a shield charm and putting himself between the two girls. "What is going on! Kira, why did you attack Harry?"

"Because she's an unstable, talentless, whore!" Calypso spat, enraged.

"Shut up you cunt!" Kira snarled. "The brat used Legilimency on me, Viktor."

"Harry, is that true?" Viktor asked, turning to look at Harry.

"I was practicing with Calypso. When Kira walked in, I was about to cast the spell, and accidentally used it on her." Harry lied, cursing himself for forgetting that Kira knew some basic Occlumency. When she sensed his probe, she must have broken eye contact, and he was forced from her mind. Kira then retaliated by firing a curse at him, and Calypso cast the shield charm to protect him.

"He's lying!" Kira exclaimed. "The little half-blood is a fuc–"

"He said it was an accident." Viktor barked out, stopping Kira . "Harry, please apologize."

"I'm sorry," Harry said tensely. "It was an accident."

Kira simply glared at him before walking to a table far away from Harry and Calypso.

"She was in such a good mood too," Viktor bemoaned before going to sit over by his temperamental girlfriend.

"Good job." Calypso smiled happily. "I knew what you were doing the second your eyes lost focus. You must have caught her off-guard to get her that mad at you. Did you learn anything interesting?"

"No," Harry said, "only that she really doesn't like me."

Calypso snorted. "No surprise there. Perhaps that's enough Legilimency for today."

"How long has Kira been an Occlumens, again?" Harry asked curiously.

"I wouldn't call her an Occlumens. Not like you are in any case," Calypso replied. "She learned during our second year that I use some Legilimency during duels. Apparently, someone in her family isn't completely useless, and they explained the basics of Occlumency to her. She's been trying to improve for a while now, but without someone to help her, I doubt she'll ever actually become a true Occlumens."

Frowning, Harry looked over to where Kira was sitting. Said girl looked up and sent him a very dark glare that promised retribution. The two held each other's gaze for a moment, and Harry instinctively knew that he had crossed a line with Kira, and that she would not be forgetting any time soon.