Your Brain Is Like Your Mom's (Seeking Reads)

Ron looked at Hermione in panic.

The other young wizards who had begun to catch on, vaguely guessing what kind of person Lockhart was, also wore complicated expressions.

Miss Granger was always clever.

How could she...

"The other students are all very regretful," Lockhart said, putting down the test papers in his hand. "If you could be as excellent as Miss Granger and Mr. Potter, and know all my secrets."

"Then you would surely be able to become as excellent as them."

The young wizards hesitated.

Granger and Potter were undoubtedly the two most excellent young wizards in the first year; could it be that what Lockhart said was actually true?

Was the purpose of this test not his narcissism, but a genuine trial?

"For your first lesson of the term," Lockhart bent down and pulled a cage covered by a cloth from under the podium, "I am going to show you the most dangerous, most wicked, and most terrifying creatures in the wizarding world."

The young wizards held their breath.

Those sitting in the front row tried to shrink backward, fearing they would be splattered with blood in a moment.

"Please remain quiet and do not provoke them," Lockhart lowered his voice, slowly lifting the cloth from the cage to reveal the creatures trapped inside.

A group of pixies.

They were only seven or eight inches tall, with iron-blue skin and faces that looked like smashed-in melons. Their personalities were as nasty as their appearances; the moment they saw the light, they began to chatter and shriek angrily, their voices sharp and piercing.

"Pfft." A young wizard couldn't help but laugh.

Ron rubbed his face, muttering discontentedly, "Bloody hell, I actually believed him."

Harry remained expressionless.

He felt...

Defense Against the Dark Arts did not require learning this kind of content.

Pixies—some wizards called them "Cornish Pixies," though in reality, that prefix only existed because they were frequently spotted in Cornwall.

They were not Dark creatures and were almost harmless, merely overly mischievous.

They were essentially shrunken, ugly versions of the Weasley brothers.

"Listen, I know what you are thinking," Lockhart said with a serious expression, "but they are a '3X' rated magical creature; do not take them lightly."

"They are agile, cunning, and full of energy; they will be excellent practice targets for you."

He reached out his hand, ready to open the cage.

Harry picked up his textbook and shoved it into the Sorting Hat.

"Wait, you can't do that!" the Sorting Hat cried in panic. "There are too many, we had a deal, the textbook is off-limits..."

Harry didn't listen; he picked up Ron and Hermione's books and stuffed them into the hat as well.

Creak—

The cage opened.

The pixies inside went mad, darting out with a whoosh, clawing and flying everywhere.

Some grabbed the young wizards' textbooks and threw them around, others tore down Lockhart's posters from the walls, shredding them until the room was filled with paper scraps, while a few smashed through the glass and charged outside.

"Quick, subdue them, they are only pixies..." Lockhart cried out, his heart aching for his posters.

But no young wizard paid him any mind; they were all busy in the panic, protecting their books, hats, robes, or themselves.

Lockhart raised his wand.

He chanted a spell of unknown origin, but nothing happened.

Just as he prepared to cast a second spell.

A pixie rushed over, snatched his wand, threw it out the window, and made a mocking face at him.

Lockhart didn't speak; he looked at Harry with a mix of panic and expectation.

Harry was about to draw his wand, but Hermione pressed her hand on his. "Harry, let me and Ron handle this."

"These aren't hard to deal with."

"We need to test what our current level is."

Harry nodded and remained seated.

Hermione stood up, casting a Freezing Charm to freeze two pixies, then followed with a Petrification Charm to immobilize a particularly aggressive one that was charging at her to steal her wand.

Compared to Hermione.

Ron's spell accuracy wasn't as high; after several spells, he hadn't managed to hit a single pixie and had even nearly had his wand snatched away.

This made him very angry.

He simply took off his robe, used a Transfiguration Charm to turn it into a fishing net, and with a Levitation Charm, he swung it around, catching a whole sackful in no time.

The other young wizards also regained their senses and began casting spells one after another.

Soon, the entire room of House-elves was captured.

They were roughly shoved back into their cages.

"Very good." Lockhart applauded them. "I believe your studies from the previous school year have had some effect; you handled that brilliantly."

"That was the purpose of my feigned panic—to put you to the test."

"Especially Miss Granger, and..."

Ron hesitated before stating his name: "Ron Weasley."

"And this Mr. Weasley." Lockhart continued, "I shall award ten points to each of you for your outstanding performance!"

The bell for the end of class rang right on cue.

Lockhart offered a few dry words of self-praise before sending the young wizards on their way.

Seamus walked beside Harry. "Can you believe it? The first class was just filling out a stupid questionnaire and getting toyed with by a bunch of House-elves."

"Yeah, I'm almost not used to it without an explosion caused by you." Harry nodded.

Seamus gritted his teeth. "Hey, you can't say that. My spellcasting is much more stable now; I haven't had many mishaps in Transfiguration."

As he spoke, he paused and looked at Hermione. "Granger, you aren't a fan of Lockhart's, are you?"

Hermione shook her head. "How could I be!"

"Then you..." Seamus hesitated. He didn't think she was, either; Hermione lacked the fanaticism of the other young witches, but the matter of getting a perfect score...

"He is a professor, after all." Hermione said earnestly. "Look, how many points has he awarded us in just this one lesson?"

She held up her left hand and spread all her fingers; Harry offered an index finger to complete the count: "Sixty! A full sixty points!"

"Last year, earning sixty points took more than an entire school year."

They walked toward the Great Hall, passing the house point hourglasses—the rubies for Gryffindor were far in the lead, totaling more than the other three houses combined.

"Is there any professor easier to earn points from than Lockhart?"

"As long as we are slightly nice to him and act like model fans, there will be a steady stream of points."

Seamus was convinced, nodding his head.

This seemed... quite logical.

Although Lockhart's self-important face bothered him, the moment he thought of those points—those Gryffindor rubies—he immediately felt the man looked kind and benevolent.

After finishing dinner, they returned to the common room.

Seamus gathered the other Little Lions to discuss how to more efficiently earn points from Lockhart—they could be reckless, without having to worry too much about other professors deducting them.

Harry didn't linger.

He still had detention with McGonagall, and it wasn't until nearly curfew that McGonagall finally found an excuse to send him away.

Saturday remained a busy day.

Harry holed up in his dormitory to process materials, only heading out to find Snape in the evening.

His office had been cleared out in advance, leaving a large open space; the rare specimens that were previously visible were nowhere to be seen.

"Potter." Snape stood waiting. "Have you finished the notes I gave you?"

Harry nodded. "Of course."

He had read them carefully during Lockhart's class.

"Very well, but I don't mind reminding you once more." Snape's tone was eerie. "Occlumency is a branch of magic that requires one to control their own mind, thoughts, and emotions."

"That might be quite difficult for you Potters."

"Was Mrs. Potter the same?" Harry countered.

Snape gritted his teeth. "You still have the heart to be sharp-tongued; it seems you are underestimating today's lesson."

"Take out your wand."

Harry drew his and aimed it at Snape.

"You may use any method you can think of to defend yourself." Snape's voice was low. "You must be capable of resisting..."

He hadn't even finished his sentence.

He struck suddenly.

"Legilimency!"

The office swayed before his eyes, light and shadow flickering, and a corner of the Witcher fortress, Kaer Morhen, appeared in his vision...

That was indeed Kaer Morhen.

The House-elves of Hogwarts would never let the paths become overgrown with moss.

Axii!

Harry raised his hand, instinctively casting the Sign.

A muffled grunt escaped Snape.

Back in the office, Harry took a deep breath, cold sweat dripping from his forehead—was this Legilimency? Not only current thoughts, but even past experiences could be peered into?

"I never expected you to love Hogwarts so much," Snape said, waving his wand. "The most profound memory in your mind is actually the place you are currently staying?"

"Because you have no home, you've decided to treat this place as your own?"

Harry remained expressionless. "That is indeed my home."

"Using that little wandless trick of yours to stop me from casting was certainly a clever idea," Snape sneered. "But if the Dark Lord wanted to influence your mind, would you be able to cast a little trick on yourself then?"

"Next, try using only your brain."

"Do not harbor any emotions, discard all thoughts, restrain yourself—Legilimens!"

Memories flickered before his eyes.

Photos found in Potter Manor—Lily and James beaming as they held their newborn son; their wedding ceremony, kissing passionately in front of a lake...

Almost the entire album was nearly viewed.

Harry shook his head, finally breaking free.

Snape gripped his wand tightly, his knuckles white and his face dark. "It seems using your brain is a difficult task for you; it took you this long to manage even that."

"In fact, it took about the same amount of time as before," Harry panted.

Snape gritted his teeth. "Again!"

They remained panting and exhausted until curfew.

"Very well." Snape glanced at the time. "You should be grateful you had a good mother, which left you with a reasonably normal brain. The progress is decent; perhaps I will be rid of this foolish face of yours sooner than expected."

"Next Thursday, we continue the practice."

Harry nodded, walked out of the office, and after reaching the Great Hall, headed toward the first-floor lawn.

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