Hogwarts starts with stealing power.

Although the main characters made the promises easily, Mikel didn't dare to completely believe them.

Especially after learning that the professor who taught them Occlumency was Professor Snape, he became even more suspicious of whether the professor would allow two more unofficial students to learn.

Mikel asked, “Ron, Harry, I would love to go with you to study, but Professor Snape might not agree, since he is only responsible for teaching Harry, and it was Professor McGonagall who made the request to him.”

Ron couldn't help but look at Harry.

Harry was also worried that Professor Snape might abandon the job, so after hesitating for a few seconds, he said, "You can come with us when it's time for training. If Snape makes it clear that he doesn't want you, you can leave then."

Ron muttered to himself, seemingly lost in thought, "Given Professor Snape's personality, he probably won't stop us from continuing our studies. Instead, he'll probably make sarcastic remarks, saying that we bad students like to daydream and try to learn such difficult spells."

He only needs to teach Harry, is responsible only to Harry, and explain the key points of the lesson to him. As for the two of us… I guess we'll stay if we understand, and leave if we don't. He won't give us any extra guidance.

Mikel thought about it carefully and realized that things might be going in the direction Ron had said, which was indeed very much in line with Snape's style of doing things.

No wonder they say "the one who knows you best is often your enemy." Ron had been scolded by Snape so much that he gradually began to understand him.
-
Because learning Occlumency requires taking time out of students' study time.

Harry did not participate in the evening assessment, and Ron and Mikel also did not participate in that round of testing that evening.

The professor was somewhat surprised to see them all requesting leave, but after learning that it was to learn another kind of magic, he considered it for a while and then approved it.

The evaluation of the knowledge-based puzzle game is almost complete.

The testing is still ongoing, just to fix some bugs that are hidden deep inside.

This stage doesn't actually require that many people to participate in the testing, and it also allows students some time to relax and rest.

But the professor felt it was better to finish it in one go to avoid any problems later, so he never gave the students a chance to relax.

Harry and the others had legitimate reasons for requesting leave, and the professor couldn't very well stop them.

Seeing this, the others did not feel jealous.

Because the evaluation pace has slowed down a lot now, they are not under as much pressure as before, and it is okay for them to slack off occasionally.

Harry received a letter from Snape this morning, arranging to learn Occlumency in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

In the evening, Harry, Ron, and Mikel went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom together.

The classroom was located on the second floor of Hogwarts Castle, not far from their laboratory; it was just a few turns away.

Harry recalled that in the summer, the arched stone windows offered views of the castle courtyard and the edge of the Forbidden Forest, with sunlight casting diamond-shaped dappled patterns on the ground.

Unfortunately, the professor would often draw the curtains during class, creating a dim teaching environment that made the classroom stuffy.

It wasn't until Lupin came to be their teacher that he saw several students showing signs of heatstroke due to poor air circulation, and then he opened the curtains.

Analyzing dark magic in a brightly lit environment, Harry found it less terrifying than he had imagined, realizing that each type of magic had a countermeasure.

"Squeak-"

The oak door creaked open with a dull thud, and the thirty desks cast jagged shadows in the flickering candlelight. Harry smelled the musty odor of parchment mingling with the air to create a strange, unpleasant smell.

He gripped his wand tightly, resisting the urge to unleash a "Cleanse" spell.

Snape had his back to them, his short, black hair so greasy it looked like it hadn't been washed in ages, the strands so oily they seemed to reflect their shadows.

He turned around, his black robe sweeping across the corner of one of the tables, and first looked down at Harry, a scrutinizing glint in his eyes.

When he noticed Ron and Mikel following behind Harry, a faint, mocking smile appeared on his lips.

"I thought Harry's limited brain capacity was a way of facing reality, which is why he wanted to challenge Occlumency. I didn't expect that two more people would come along who overestimate themselves. Perhaps their intelligence has been corrupted by the trolls, and they think they can learn and resist Legilimency?"

Snape walked with measured steps to Ron's side, and said in a critical and arrogant tone, "Of all these people, you are the hardest to understand, Ron."

"Who gave you the courage to think you could learn Occlumency? Do you know the concept of this spell? Do you know how difficult it is to learn? Or do you think that the almost faded wizard robes you wear have an anti-magic barrier that can resist Legilimency?"

"This robe is quite interesting. Is it a family heirloom of the Weasley family?"

Ron's face immediately turned bright red.

“Professor, we’re here to learn,” Mikel broke the silence.

Snape glanced at him and said slowly, "These days, no one knows the power of a lot of magic. All sorts of Tom, Dick, and Harry think they can come and learn it."

"Forget it, what's the difference between your brains and those of trolls? Teaching one idiot is teaching, teaching a group of idiots is teaching too. Just listen to us all."

He paused, then said coldly, "Remember, I'll only say it once!"

He turned around, his back to the crowd, and his footsteps clattered loudly.

"Occlumency relies purely on mental power rather than magic. It does not require wand movements or incantations. This is not a quick-learning magic; it requires lifelong study."

"When you first try to learn, what you need to do is clear your mind, actively clear all the distractions and emotions in your brain, and keep your consciousness 'blank and calm'. If you don't enter a calm state, you can't perform successfully."

Snape sat on the platform, looking at them with a cold gaze.

The others exchanged glances, and now they felt their minds were at peace.

Blank and calm?
What kind of state is this?
Under Snape's almost murderous glare, Mikel asked, "Professor, how do I determine if I've entered a state of mental clarity? Are there any methods to help me enter this state?"

Snape looked at him as if he were a hopeless idiot and said, "Can't you tell whether there are impure thoughts in your own mind?"

"What are you all thinking about? I can see from up here that you're all restless."

"I thought that using breathing regulation to quickly enter a calm state of mind was a method that everyone could do. Using diaphragmatic breathing, the abdomen expands when inhaling and slowly sinks when exhaling, which helps to quickly stabilize the mind."

"By the way, aren't you good friends with Lin Xia? Why don't you learn more from her? I know she often practices meditation, which can also help you focus your thoughts."

The first day of lessons ended amidst Snape's relentless barrage of questions. When Ron returned to his dormitory, his head was spinning, Snape's mocking face constantly replaying in his mind.

"Are the Weasleys all trolls? Or are your wizard robes some kind of heirloom?"

The words kept echoing in his mind, causing Ron's face to alternate between pale and flushed.

Mikey and Harry were already used to Snape's sharp tongue and quickly adjusted to his newfound composure.

They sensed that something was wrong with Ron, exchanged worried glances, and looked at each other.

Snape's earlier remarks were very offensive; he shouldn't have said that to Ron.

Not every family is wealthy; there are many Hogwarts students whose families are poorer than the Weasleys.

Even if the clothes fade a little, it doesn't prevent me from continuing to wear them.

Mikel went to wash up first. Harry thought for a while, then sat down on Ron's bedside and said to Ron, who had been sitting there in a daze since getting into bed:
“Ron, don’t take Snape’s words to heart. I think there’s nothing wrong with what you’re wearing. I also have a lot of old clothes that I haven’t thrown away, but I wear them underneath so no one else can see them.”

Ron snapped out of his daze and said, "Harry, thank you. I, I am—"

He said with some shame, "My family's situation has improved a lot in the past few years. We don't lack food, clothing, or shelter anymore. I've also saved some Galleons myself."

I'm just used to saving money and don't spend much. I thought my old clothes were still wearable, so I continued wearing them. When school starts, I'll buy a brand new wizard's robe.

Harry said somewhat awkwardly, "Ron, my thought is that we shouldn't care too much about the professor's opinion. Just do what you want."

Ron: "But wearing old clothes is a bit unsightly, isn't it?"

He said somewhat irritably, "I'm used to it, and you're used to it too. If you had told me earlier, I could have changed immediately."

After Mikel came out of the shower, he heard Ron say this and interjected, "Ron, even if you changed into brand new clothes, Snape will still have other reasons to attack you."

"The old clothes aren't the most important thing; the real issue is that we simply can't please everyone."

"Harry, Hermione, Lin Xia, and Draco play with you not because of your appearance, but because of your character. Why should you look down on yourself?"

Mikel felt that the Ron in this world was much better than the Ron he remembered from the original books and movies.

The Weasley family was not as poor as depicted in the original books. Even Dumbledore, who was known for his integrity, became Minister of Magic. The Ministry of Magic was not as ineffective as one might imagine.

Ron doesn't need to feel inferior.

Moreover, the current Ron is much better than the Ron in the original work; he has even joined Lin Xia's laboratory to help with the paper presentation.

He had read those papers, and he believed he couldn't possibly answer them so fluently.

The fact that Ron was able to answer shows that he does real work, rather than just loafing around.

While this is a form of comfort, ultimately it's up to Ron to figure things out for himself. If he can't figure it out, no amount of advice from others will help.

The next day, when Ron went to class, he thought about it for a long time and finally changed into a brand new wizard robe.

You can buy the clothes at the general store in the school. The sizes for the little wizards are all pretty similar, so just buy the standard size for a third-grade boy.

When Snape returned to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, he seemed to have forgotten what he had said the day before, and looked at them with a mocking gaze as he continued the lesson.

They couldn't even manage the first step of clearing their minds, and Snape was already talking about the second step: maintaining mental stability.

Snape: "Occlumency requires controlling emotions and eliminating intense emotional interference, such as love, hate, and fear... to restrain thought processes with a high degree of self-discipline."

If you notice intense emotional fluctuations, you need to stop practicing immediately and readjust your state. This step is difficult and requires repeated practice to develop self-control.

Now that the second step had been mentioned, Snape went on to explain the third step as well.

"The third step is to concentrate your willpower to resist the invasion. When the practitioner uses Legilimency, you need to concentrate your mind to build a psychological barrier to resist the invasion of other people's thoughts."

If you successfully resist, you can prevent the other party from reading your true memories. Those who excel at using Occlumency can also release false information to the outside world through Occlumency.

The practitioner is misled into believing they have successfully performed the ritual and gained genuine memories, but these memories are actually deliberately projected onto others to mislead them into making incorrect judgments.

Harry and the others were confused, feeling that Occlumency seemed to involve a relatively high level of resistance.

Otherwise, given their status as junior wizards, what wizard would be so idle as to cast Legilimency on them?
Normally, no one would think that a junior wizard could shoulder such a heavy responsibility and know so many secrets, right?

Thinking this, Ron and Mikel glanced at Harry simultaneously.

No, there are still some young wizards who are particularly noteworthy, such as Harry.

He was able to kill Voldemort right after he was born. Who knows what secrets he's hiding? What is his true power?
Besides Harry, Lin Xia and Draco had already earned their honor badges early on and learned many secrets about Hogwarts.

If outsiders want to uncover the secrets of Hogwarts, it's possible to capture them and use Legilimency on them.

Especially for aristocratic scions like Draco, once they learn his secret, they might not only know his personal secret, but also potentially gain access to the secrets of the Malfoy family.

What secrets is hidden by an aristocratic family?
This is something many people are curious about; even among nobles, they would be curious about the rise of other noble families.

However, mind control is not something that can be easily performed, nor can it be used on people indiscriminately.

If a wizard carries an item that resists Legilimency, the caster will suffer a backlash and face severe aftereffects, ranging from bleeding to blindness.

While everyone was pondering, Snape suddenly shouted, "Practicing Occlumency requires long-term commitment. Each training session must maintain a high level of concentration, starting with short periods of resistance and gradually extending to a stable defense."

His sinister gaze swept over the three young wizards: "If you hadn't experienced Legilimency, you wouldn't understand the terror of this spell, nor would you want to bother learning Occlumency."

"So," he paused, then said arrogantly, "who will be the first to try?" (End of Chapter)