Post by Bianca Alia Rivera on Dec 29, 2020 1:29:25 GMT -7
2022
As a relative outsider in the magical world, Bianca had always valued the observations of others more well-versed in its culture and history. In the end, her judgment was final and relied on her own intuition, but part of her acknowledged the occasional need to accept the help of others. Or she had, at one point – the more time passed, the more intractable she seemed to become. But her first day at the Ministry, she had been told no less than three times that Occlumency was a worthwhile skill to learn. First by the wizard checking her wand (after she’d regurgitated her entire life story culminating in her decision to become an Auror), then one of her fellow trainees who had heard the advice from an older sibling, then finally from a seasoned Auror who had been passing by and overheard the comment. There seemed to be value to the information, if it had been verified by three wildly different sources, so Bianca had resolved to ask her mentor and begin what she was sure would be an easy-breezy process.
Easy-breezy wasn’t the way she’d describe it now. She was persistent, and showed a talent for picking up new habits quickly. But there was something about Occlumency that she had never quite grasped, that need to empty your mind and drain your emotions as if reflecting the surface of a still pond. Bianca had always had trouble with that – her emotions could run wild at times (and why wouldn’t they, when she was finally accomplishing everything she’d ever dreamed of?). But now she understood. Several years later, several scars later, and sitting behind her desk scanning through reported breaches of the Statute of Secrecy. Her unfocused gaze seemed to be piercing right through a document detailing some Muggles in Scotland who had reportedly seen a ‘monster in Loch Ness’ although she didn’t see the paper at all. Instead her gaze had turned inward, as she sorted through every emotion, examined it from all angles, and then placed it properly in its place. Her mind was tranquil, calm, her inner turmoil finally silenced if only for the briefest of moments.
Bianca had never come across anything that she couldn’t learn eventually. Natural talent had always meant less to her than a strong will and dedication, but she had more than once contemplated whether Occlumency was an ability beyond her. How ironic that it had taken the necessity of being confronted by her own shortcomings, her own inability to defend herself, in order to grasp the concept. But Bianca couldn’t muster more than grim amusement at the thought. Her eyes had fluttered closed as she practiced settling into a protected mental state, and Bianca opened them now to scan the report with a new vigor. There was work to be done, after all – never-ending work that needed her.
