"The essence of Occlumency is actually the linkage of will with magic power, building a wall in one's mind. This wall can block the entry and prying eyes of magic. Those who are proficient can even construct false memories outside the wall. This is used to confuse the memory stealer, so that there is no way to tell whether the memory he sees is true or false."
While explaining to Jon, Slughorn did not forget to take a piece of pineapple preserves from the paper box on the side and put it into his mouth.
"The learning of Occlumency has always relied on two methods. One is to simply and rudely break into the learner's brain, allowing him to constantly remember the feeling of being broken into. His body will Subconsciously resisting, and the will will actively mobilize magic power. This is the most primitive way of learning Occlumency. But I don’t like this. It is too rough, and it peeks into other people’s memories too frequently. For a wizard, It’s not a good thing to say.”
When he said this, he set his eyes on the stone basin on his desk.
"So I will use the second, less rough, and much more dexterous way to teach. I borrowed this basin from Dumbledore. In fact, I also had one before, but it was just that I bought it once When I moved, I forgot where I left it. The stupid thing is that I actually kept the memory of where I hid it, and it was in my pot, but I couldn't get it if I couldn't find the pot. Memory, if I can’t get the memory, I can’t find the basin..."
Slughorn shrugged self-deprecatingly.
"I can never find that basin again. Fortunately, Dumbledore's basin was brought out of the castle by him. Otherwise, I don't know how to start teaching you. Pensieve, a kind of pensieve used to store thoughts and memories. magic items."
Jon looked at the empty stone basin and couldn't help but ask doubtfully.
"Then how do we start? Teacher."
Slughorn cleaned his hands of the icing from his snacks and took hold of his wand.
"Now you have to recall it in your mind. Any memory will do. I will extract the memory you are thinking about."
Jon took a set of deep breaths and began to search for a scene in his mind that impressed him deeply.
"Are you ready?" Slughorn asked.
"Okay, teacher."
He pointed the tip of the wand at Jon's temple, and then, as if some thread was connected to the tip of the wand, Slughorn rotated the wand, drawing a bright silver thread from Jon's mind. Taken out!
Jon felt very strange now. He could clearly feel that there was a force pulling his memory away. This experience was not a good one. His body instinctively resisted this behavior.
Although his body didn't move at all, the feeling of resistance in his mind was very strong, as if some robber had robbed the things in his hands in front of him. His first reaction was to chase his things away. return.
Just when Jon had this thought, the silver thread that had been pulled out of his mind suddenly seemed to have taken root, and the movement of pulling out became difficult and slow.
But in the end, the wand still pulled out the silver wire completely.
Slughorn stored the memory extracted from Jon's mind into the pensieve. He smiled and looked at Jon who was a little absent-minded at this time, as if he was recalling the feeling just now.
"Are you not liking this feeling? Your body is resisting it?"
Jon nodded and said with a frown.
"My body wants to interrupt this process uncontrollably, and... seems to have already taken action?"
"It's not like that." Slughorn said with admiration, "Your body's instinct of self-defense is very strong, and you did spontaneously resist, and this resistance also produced a certain effect."
"This is a very good start, Jon. When Occlumency was first created, someone recorded the feeling of being forced to read memories, strengthened this body's instinct, and finally evolved into magic. Some people are not naturally sensitive to the act of reading memories, and it will be extremely difficult for such people to learn Occlumency. You obviously belong to the opposite category."
Slughorn looked pleased.
"This is the best thing. It shows that our future progress should be smooth." As he said that, he looked at the bright silver mist-like memory in the pensieve and asked Jon, "Can this memory be viewed by others?"
Of course, Jon had no reason to refuse. He and Slughorn entered the memory extracted from his mind.
The waves under the night sky are as peaceful as a sleeping baby lying in its mother's arms.
On both sides of the long table filled with delicious food, students and teachers all stood up. The old man with gray hair and beard took the lead in singing the opening melody of the school song, followed closely by a melodious chorus. .
Jon stood on the beach, watching silently as he was infected by the atmosphere at the dinner table three weeks ago and joined in the chorus.
Slughorn, who was standing next to him, suddenly sat on the beach and looked at all the teachers and students of this small Hogwarts with a calm expression.
"What's your favorite memory from the night?"
After hearing his question, Jon also squatted down. He grabbed a handful of gravel on the ground. The things in his memory slipped from his fingers, but his eyes were always fixed on those happy and full of things. Students and teachers were sad and singing.
"This may be the most memorable day in my life, teacher."
Slughorn put his left hand on the back of his right hand and put his arm on his knees. He raised his head and looked at the bright night sky.
"I'm like you, Jon. I'll never forget the night when Dumbledore first brought me to Hogwarts, before I agreed to be a professor here, that cunning old man. When you ask me to come, you don’t have to give him an accurate answer. You just need to follow him to take a look and attend that year’s welcome dinner.”
"That day was just like the night you experienced. In despair, there was also the last bit of hope that people couldn't bear to see. Just like that, I was pulled by him to sit down at the table. There were students around me who happily asked me Is he the new professor? He said that there are too few teachers in our school. He is really grateful that I am still willing to teach them. I was actually thinking at that time that maybe Dumbledore arranged to be around me on purpose. But my nose just can’t help but feel sore.”
"When the dinner was over, Dumbledore took my arm and stood up without any prior notice, and announced to dozens of children that I was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic professor. I was still very angry and thought I must scold him loudly on the spot, lose his face, and then turn around and leave. But in the end, all I can say is, 'Hello children, I am your Professor Slughorn. .'"
His voice was very soft, but full of extremely heavy emotions.
"After I said that, I thought I would regret it, but actually what I was thinking at the time was that it would be nice to just agree to stay and become a professor."
