Occlumency

The experiment to culture Snape's cells was progressing quite smoothly!

Wizard cells seemed far more vigorous than those of ordinary mammals.

Jon had worried that the tiny sample he had taken might fail to grow in the culture flask, or that it would need more time. The facts proved that he had worried for nothing... After only a dozen or so hours, Snape's cells had completely filled the flask.

Next, Jon carefully digested and passaged the cells...

Over the following week, Jon came to check on the cells once every day.

Limited by the conditions, he could not clone even a small piece of Snape's epithelial tissue in such a crude environment... He could only let these epithelial cells multiply in large quantities, then continue culturing them after passaging.

Of course, he still tried to return to the Hufflepuff common room before nightfall every day.

Although he already knew the Basilisk would not appear again for the time being, it was still necessary to take precautions just in case.

After a week of cultivation, the tiny initial sample had filled more than ten culture flasks.

On the Friday afternoon of the second week of February, Jon felt that he had enough cells.

He carefully collected the cells from more than ten flasks, digested and centrifuged them, then gathered them together. Of course, he also left two flasks behind for continued cultivation, in case they were needed later.

Looking at the fingernail-sized clumps of white "minced flesh" piled together... They were rather ugly, but they had indeed once been part of Snape's body!

Hopefully, this would work!

Once everything was ready, Jon took out some of the "minced flesh" and added it to a cup of Polyjuice Potion he had prepared earlier.

The cup immediately began to hiss and bubble... After only a minute, its color turned dark red.

As he looked at the cup of dark red Polyjuice Potion, Jon's previously uneasy heart settled somewhat.

Pinching his nose, he downed the entire cup in one gulp... It tasted fairly good—slightly bitter, but not as disgusting as he had imagined.

It felt just as it had the last time he drank it... His insides immediately began to churn, as if he had just swallowed several live snakes!

Jon bent over and swiftly, skillfully changed into an oversized robe.

Then a burning sensation spread rapidly from his stomach throughout his body. He felt as though his body were melting, as though every inch of his skin were bubbling like scalding wax... He dropped to the floor and watched his hands grow larger, his fingers thicken, his nails widen, and his shoulders stretch outward!

A minute later, he rose to his feet...

A gaunt frame, greasy, limp hair, sallow skin, a large hooked nose... and those utterly indifferent eyes.

Severus Snape had appeared in the Room of Requirement.

He had succeeded!

Jon suppressed his excitement as best he could.

The cells he had cultured before were not numerous enough to maintain the transformation for long. He had to make the most of his time.

Compared to that old Russian special forces soldier, Snape's body was much frailer—one could even call it sickly... But for a wizard of his caliber, that simply did not matter.

Jon quickly sat down and closed his eyes... At the same time, he began to sense Snape's instincts when using Occlumency.

"Concentrate and lock the mind..."

"Restrain your thoughts..."

"Do not think, do not remember, do not feel..."

Ten minutes later, Jon opened his eyes again.

Just as he had expected, this method was extremely effective... By experiencing Snape's instincts and understanding how Snape used Occlumency, ten minutes had been almost more efficient than three months of blind, grueling practice.

Jon hurriedly closed his eyes again and continued his contemplation.

The human mind was not a book that could be leafed through at will; thoughts were not engraved inside the skull for others to crawl in and read... Legilimency was not merely Memory Reading. It relied on the contradictions and feelings within another person's memories, then interpreted them correctly...

Occlumency had to do the opposite: seal away feelings and memories that contradicted one's lies, preventing others from making correct judgments about one's thoughts. At the same time, hide one's true memories in the deepest recesses, shielding them with falsehoods. Even the most powerful wizard would be unable to discover the truth.

An hour later, Jon Hart's somewhat slight body reappeared in the Room of Requirement.

He gasped for breath, easing the pain brought on by the Polyjuice Potion transformation... But he could feel that his mind had never been more solid than it was now! He was practically within reach of completely mastering Occlumency.

He needed to rest first. Fortunately, he had gone to the Kitchen a few days ago and taken plenty of chocolate.

Jon first ate a large piece of chocolate, recovering a little of his strength.

Then he hurriedly took out the Polyjuice Potion he had prepared earlier and hidden in the Room of Requirement, adding Snape's cells once again... This time, he drank twice as much!

After transforming into Snape once more, Jon continued his practice.

Several more hours passed, and Jon's face had turned somewhat pale.

But the effects were undeniably obvious... At one point, he had the Room of Requirement create countless noises in the room, yet while within them, he was completely unaffected. His mind did not become unsettled in the slightest.

Although he still could not completely lock his mind and prevent others from invading it, he could now actively hide all those "shameful" memories deep within his mind behind falsehoods, making them impossible to discover!

Jon ate several more pieces of chocolate to regain a little strength, then stood up and prepared to return to the Hufflepuff common room.

However, he discovered a problem.

Without realizing it, he had spent more than six hours in the Room of Requirement... It was already past nine in the evening, Greenwich Mean Time, and night had fully fallen.

Hogwarts Castle had long since been under curfew.

Jon pursed his lips. This seemed rather troublesome.

Although the Basilisk was unlikely to appear in the school at this time, he still had to prepare for the worst. And aside from that, it would not look good if Filch caught him!

After all, wandering around the school at night violated school rules.

Jon thought carefully for a moment, then took out a small bottle of yellowish-brown Polyjuice Potion.

Soon, Soviet agent Sergei Pavlov appeared outside the Room of Requirement.

With Pavlov's skills, even if he encountered Filch, he should be able to shake him off easily... After all, Mr. Filch was only a Squib.

He had taken enough to transform for ten minutes, which was enough time to walk from the Eighth Floor to the Hufflepuff common room.

Pavlov put on an oversized black wizard's robe, covered his face with the hood, walked out of the Room of Requirement, and vanished into the lights of the night.

Thanks to readers zxh1973 and Li Xing Ke Guan for their tips.