Post by Deleted on May 28, 2022 2:01:08 GMT -7
It had taken him years to perfect his abilities as an occlumens. Years of guarding his mind and emotions against others. Years of making sure absolutely nothing or nobody would get past his borders. He wasn't quite secretive by nature, more reserved. He just hated the idea of people prying and prodding around in his brain, especially uninvited. While the less trained could not seem to enter the mind without a vocal spell, the more well trained didn't require such visible passage. They tried to sneak in.
When he'd come to realise this, he'd gotten quite annoyed and had begun a process that he still didn't fully understand himself. He'd begun to weaponise the protective layer around his mind, so that any who did try to invade and extract secrets would not do so without his knowledge at least. It had begun with a more subtle change whenever people tried. They flinched. Except that some of them could clearly take a bit of pain, so they kept pushing. As they did, their discomfort increased.
By now, any that tried to invade his mind experienced the physical pain that came along with it. So as he was sitting in the ministry, simply reading his newpaper while enjoying his cup of coffee he wasn't fully surprised when he heard somebody gasp in pain. He'd sensed the very subtle starting intrusion after all. It was kind of like a fly buzzing around his brain. Not much later, the gasp of pain had followed. He turned in his chair and looked at the young recruit that had obviously hoped his old mind was frail. Either that, or he'd heard of his reputation. He simply stared at the young man, watching the slight terror cross his face. No, there was a reason that Stephen had survived both wizarding wars and it wasn't just sheer dumb luck. Strategy, planning, training, and a lot of discipline.
