Sea of Stars

At the sound of knocking, Snape glared furiously at Harry for a moment—

Harry glared back at Snape without yielding an inch.

"Humph!" Only when the knocking sounded again did Snape shoot Harry a vicious glare, flick his wizard robe, and turn to open the door.

Before the third knock could sound, Snape yanked the wooden door open violently.

"Good evening, Professor Snape."

The person outside was the one person Snape least wanted to see besides Harry—

Tierra.

Tierra gave a slight bow, looking thoroughly polite, then peered past Snape and spotted Harry inside Snape's office, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.

"Aha, Harry's here too," Tierra said, though he already knew.

"Then perfect, Professor Snape. Do you have some time? There's something I need to discuss with you." Tierra smiled. "It's mainly about Harry's Occlumency. I've noticed that after two months of study, his progress still seems rather slow. Perhaps the two of us could have a little meeting and discuss whether we should change the teaching method?"

"Humph—" Snape snorted disdainfully and glanced at Harry.

Still smiling, Tierra followed Snape's gaze.

Harry felt utterly ashamed under the scrutiny of both men.

"All right, Harry. Go back to your dormitory first. Take a shower and get some proper rest." Tierra smiled. "Professor Snape and I will discuss your training plan going forward."

Harry looked at Snape, then gave Tierra a grateful look before jogging out of the dark, damp office.

"What exactly do you want?" After Harry had gone far enough away, Snape slammed the door shut, turned, and snarled furiously at Tierra. "You wanted me to teach him Occlumency, and I agreed. But I also hope that while I'm teaching Harry, you won't keep showing up and interrupting whenever you please!"

"How is Harry progressing?" Tierra asked,