Lessons in Legilimencey

Audrey bit back the heat of anger she felt at one of her elder's obvious disbelief, but didn't question it. She knew empathy was a rare, but it flared her temper to be questioned so bluntly about it. Audrey knew well that she'd inherited it from her grandmother, a gentle woman, due to the power that had almost grown to control her. Audrey kept her gift in control, for the most part, but she knew its effects well.

"I assure you, Ms. Rookwood, I know where my power lies. I am young, and learning, but I'm nothing if not self aware." she commented, keeping the air of respect that she kept around her elders. Audrey knew her place here, as a student, but the whispers of pride that she'd been raised to have demanded at least a small amount of respect. Soon after her comment, what seemed to be a newly intrigued Katrina was extending her hand toward her, in what seemed to be a rare moment of curiosity and consideration. The young girl nodded towards the other dark haired witch, and let the Du Hunt's cool hand linger on her neck for a few moments, knowing very well what she was doing.

It came as a welcomed shock to Audrey at her teacher's aversion of eyes and the tilt of her head, both signals that she wasn't prying Audrey's mind, only feeling her magic. The Slytherin girl respected Katrina-Carlotta more for that, though she knew it was most likely an attempt to gain her trust. Audrey concluded the result was as anticipated, hearing her instructor declare her honesty, and was quick to hush back a smug smile.

After the European woman sat down, Audrey relaxed in the decreasing tension. "My father said it should strengthen my ability, or help me learn it slightly. But he didn't sound sure. The other Empath in our family passed away, and she never needed to learn legilimency..." she said, slightly quieter, as she remembered her grandmother's death. She shook it off, for the most part, and her voice regained its confidence. "So I assume we'll mostly find out as we go along." She finished, slowly letting her mind drift in new thoughts.

Audrey had been waiting for an opportunity to let down the walls she built around her power, and really test it out and practice more. Most of the time, Empathy could drive you crazy, but practicing with masters might give her opportunities she may never have again. The longer she was here, the more reasons she found to stay. Instead of dread, something close to excitement had the majority of Audrey's emotions.

As her dread faded away, she took more notice of her elders. Athena, an obvious pureblood, dolled up in rich attire, stood near the fire. The younger girl couldn't understand the need of luxury in this of all places, but wrote it off willingly. The Rookwood woman almost definitely had a kinder face, but it wasn't to be assumed that everyone here fit appearances. In Katrina, on the other hand, something more caught her attention. The sitting woman had a distinct European air, and her voice hinted at quite a few accents. Russian stood out the most to the Montague girl, after her months in Russia and her love for the language, but something else masked the finer details of her accent. German, perhaps? Maybe Ukrainian? Any of the above suited Audrey just fine, given her being fluent in all of the above.

Empaths were rare; to the point of extinction. The sudden feelings welling in Athena’s stomach were evidence enough of spending too much time with her business-savvy family members. Part of her wanted to exploit such a talent and cultivate it into something that could be used for her family and for the Death Eaters. For a moment, Athena allowed herself to mentally scold Augustus’ inability to provide Cordelia with any more sons; Audrey would have been the right fit and certainly close enough to keep an eye on.

What excited Athena was the fact that Audrey knew very well about her powers and though Athena did not grasp such abilities as Katrina to understand and deduce magic, Athena could feel it well enough and knew talent when she saw it. Granted, she had been hesitant but it was too good to be truthful. If anything, exploring the powers of an empath was much more interesting than mind magic.

“Good for you,” Athena appraised with a smile. “Confidence as opposed to arrogance, my dear, is something we need more of.”

Athena left the window-side and moved over to take a better look at Audrey. Athena pursed her lips briefly before looking at the girl with gentle eyes. Truly, motherhood had softened Athena and Hogwarts felt like a world away from her. It was a strange feeling, ultimately, but Athena knew that if she was going to teach anyone – bar Damien – this girl was a better choice than most.

“What exactly is the extent of your abilities?” Athena inquired, her curiosity becoming too great within her.

Regarding Athena with a small smile, Audrey prepared herself to finally be open about the power she'd kept under wraps for so long. Oh, yes, she knew it was there, Audrey felt the effects and she'd practiced with her grandmother as a child, but since then, it'd been almost impossible to find anyone to talk to about it.

Empathy, being as rare as it was, had limiting factors. A main one in Audrey's life, was the lack of anyone around to help her learn about it. Before her grandmother's death, they'd talked for hours about her power, and how to harness it. But without the wiser woman, Audrey was trying to learn on her own, which was hard to do when the power she wanted to harness needs

"From what I understand, I'm the most powerful in my line so far, but I don't know what exactly that means. From what I understand, some Empaths can only use their power when they're touching someone. I, on the otherhand, can get a general idea of about a whole room. The closer the person, the more I feel, along with the intensity of the original emotion." she said carefully. She'd always been bast with more direct questions. This was broad to her.

"But you must understand, I've only known one other Empath in my life, and I was young when she passed. I don't have much to compare my power too. You both would probably know as much as me about the "magical standard" in Empaths." Audrey sighed in exasperation. That fact had bothered her severely for years. Though she hoped her elder witches could give some further information, she doubted it.

Katrina-Carlotta nodded slightly and remained silent as Audrey verbally affirmed what the woman had figured about how the girl's empathy would affect things. Purposely remaining quiet as Athena accepted the abilities of their student, the woman wondered how Athena's Occulmency would hold up against her Legilimency. She had no plans to try it, the other woman would certainly sense a presence in her head at the very least, and the argument that would be sure to commence was hardly worth it.

When Audrey explained that she could feel the emotions of a room, Katrina-Carlotta slammed her mental shields up, strengthening the ones that were already there. The reason she'd started with Mind Arts, was due to a phobia of anyone ever getting inside her head. They had fascinated her, and so she had continued. "How well does Occlumency block it?" the dark witch asked sharply, someone reading her emotions was almost as bad as reading her thoughts.

Taking a calming breath, the woman figured that her purely theoretical knowledge of Empaths may be of help here. She'd never met one before, and would not be of help in a practical aspect due to that, being only able to estimate based upon her knowledge of magic and the mind. However, she did have a small amount of theoretical knowledge.

"I could always help you test how powerful your empathy is. It sounds to be at least slightly above the recorded average, but such knowledge is usually passed down from generation to generation. The only practical test I can think of is to see how much you can sense as I force myself to go through a range of emotions," Katrina-Carlotta informed the student, still a bit tense due to the fact this girl in front of her could very well be the only person she'd ever met that was capable of getting inside her head.

Audrey felt a sudden shock through her, stemming from her power. The feeling caught her completely off guard, and she didn't understand the nature of it until she saw the look in Katrina-Carlotta's eyes as she asked how Empathy withstood Occlumency. Taking a deep breath, Audrey let the surprise fade. There was one thing she'd been wrong about, that did take her off guard.

The Du Hunt hardly seemed like the type of witch to let her emotions take over so easily, so she could only assume it came from something greater. "It's strong enough that I could feel your walls go up, and your emotions during that. Usually, I can suppress it, but strong emotions break through that sometimes. I've never really tested it against Occlumency." she added, hoping to reassure Katrina.

Her power had always been a wonder to her. Only rarely did she fully let her walls of suppression come down to fully read someone, and whenever it's happened, she'd never needed to worry about Occlumency. The peers in her classes and several friends hardly had the training of a professional like either of the two in the room. Though Audrey trusted herself, she didn't know enough to make any assumptions either way.

Audrey nodded slightly, "If you wouldn't mind, that'd be fantastic." She said, a hint of excitement in her voice. But still, she remembered the feelings she felt from Katrina-Carlotta, and thought twice. She wasn't sure how the elder witch would feel if Audrey could, in fact, read her emotions. If she was to test her power here, she wanted everyone as comfortable as possible.

Katrina-Carlotta nodded briskly at her student's explanation, this test would be just as much for herself as for Audrey, it would seem. Quickly conjuring parchment and a quill, the dark witch set to work on a possible experiment that would test the extent of her student's abilities. As she scribbled away, parchment resting on her left knee, the woman informed the other occupants of the room what she was doing, "I am devising a quick test, a moment if you please." For a time the only sound filling the room was the scratch of a quill.

Finally resting the writing utensil on the arm of her chair, the woman glanced down at the finished product. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it would do for now. Looking up at the Hogwarts student, the dark witch parted her lips to give a brief run-down, "I will run through a cycle of four emotions six times, allowing approximately twenty seconds for each emotion. Our first three cycles will be at the distance we are now, each cycle with a different amount of my Occlumency shields in place. The last three cycles will be the same, but I will allow you a hold on my wrist." Pausing for a moment to conjure up more parchment, the woman rested it upon her lap before continuing.

"You should be taking notes during this exercise, labeling this parchment with the numbers one through twenty-four. This way, afterwards, we will be able to compare both how the distance, Occlumency, and type of emotion effects you," she said briskly. The woman was not too pleased with the idea of lowering her mental shields, but it was the most convenient way to test the young girl, and Katrina-Carlotta would be aware of and controlling her emotions besides.

The woman paused, before passing the parchment she had written on to Athena. It wasn't the neatest, but she knew the other woman would understand. It read:

6 Foot Distance:
Full shield (happy, sad, angry, calm)
Half shield (happy, sad, angry, calm)
No shield (happy, sad, angry, calm)

0 Foot Distance:
Full shield (happy, sad, angry, calm)
Half shield (happy, sad, angry, calm)
No shield (happy, sad, angry, calm)

"Any thoughts, Athena?" the witch asked, before leaving the pureblood woman to examine the black-inked words.

To finally have a contrast was very interesting for Athena to observe. She’d taken her time and had weighed her options with the other Empath. Katarina’s best friend was certainly not the most outwardly demonstrative creature and did not showcase the skills she possessed though she was an incredibly talented young witch. The underlying power there and the change in the girl when emotions and tensions peaked had brought Athena to the conclusion that the girl was an Empath and if Audrey’s testament was anything to go by then it would be certainly worth mentioning to Augustus whenever he came home.

Until then, Athena was determined to discover as much as possible about the little empath that she and Katrina had on their hands. Certainly, the girl could be quite the asset in the event that she could be swayed to the proper way of thinking.

Athena’s eyes remained fixed on Audrey, truly mesmerised by the potential the girl had. The concentration broke briefly to glance over at Katrina who didn’t seem at all keen on the girl’s abilities being what they were. Athena allowed the smallest of smirks to appear on her mouth before looking back at Audrey.

The girl appeared to freeze, briefly, and Athena cast a look back at Katrina, considerably unimpressed that the Occlumency had worked. Athena tsked derisively and breezed past Audrey, her interest having waned just like that, and with a flick of her wand, transfigured a layabout bit of wood into an arm chair by the fire. Athena settled herself down, reclining in it with ease, and crossed on leg over the other, content just to watch the girl and the woman converse.

“Interesting, isn’t it?” Athena drawled, tossing her legs over the arm of the chair and pressing her back up against the opposing side. “It shouldn’t work. It should only take the edge off, if Occlumency does anything at all.” Athena had read enough about Empathy in the past. But of course, the game was always changing and the blood was never as strong. The magic was getting weaker. “But then, who am I to judge? Of course, it probably doesn’t weave quite as well through the body as it once did this ... power; if it can be called that. There is nothing particularly inspiring about something that can be stopped by Occlumency. There has to be something else, something better. Where’s the fun in tapping into people’s emotions if it’s so easily stopped?”

Athena tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair as she thought and watched Katrina idly, wondering truly why it was necessary. She took the sheet of paper regardless and shook her head, shrugging her shoulders only briefly before saying, “Go on, if you wish.”

It was a true testament to the fleeting wills of Purebloods. In a moment, Athena’s entire concentration had abated and she’d grown bored with the girl before her. She could teach Leglimency to Augustus’ daughters and implore with their magic to feed upon emotions as well as thoughts. It was no good if the powers were not separate. If one manifested itself first without the other, it was a power in itself. Yet not if it was stopped by mind magic. Emotions were only tempered by the mind but could not be controlled as they did not stem from there, only perhaps indirectly if you wanted to be pedantic about it. The additional power was no good. With Leglimency, it would wane and would not be as wild as to present itself in such a way. Athena was disappointed; though granted, there was still potential.

Audrey didn't see a need to take notes, but she took out a piece of parchment and ink from her bag to write with, and smiled widely. She hadn't let down her shields completely in years, so the eager feelings she had were mixed with laces of anxiety. What if her power wasn't as strong as she'd been led to believe? But Audrey knew with no doubt that the only way to find out was to let the women before her test her abilities, in the best way that any of them knew how. After the Montague shook off her hints of worry, she let her excitement take over. She let her own mental walls fall, and everything changed.

In that one moment, Audrey Montague could feel everything. The elder, dark haired witch's emotions were tinted with fear, an almost unfathomable thought by the look of the witch, but her emotions showed it clearly. She retained the calm she usually had, trying to think logically and efficiently, but there was a prominent shade of anxiety about the younger girls abilities. Audrey smiled, and her confidence was renewed. Somehow, she knew that even with the walls of Occlumency, her ability would remain. Currently, she could feels the walls of the Du Hunt's mind still up, but she saw through them. Still, she was eager to test it.

Audrey couldn't help but be thrilled at using her power. It had been years since she'd used it freely. Until this moment, she had no idea how her power would feel, and how it would hold up to anything. The girl had only used it several times in fours years, all of which were against peers with no need of mental defenses. There were moments where her walls that kept in her power had fallen, like earlier. Moments were emotions around her were so strong that they broke through, but she hadn't just freely used Empathy in ages. The feeling was fantastic.

The emotions in Athena, however, were very different from Katrina's. The other witch's mind was filled with doubt and glazed with only disappointment. There were hints of curiosity still present, but only vaguely. Audrey closed her eyes in relaxation and smiled calmly. "So quick to loose faith, Athena?" she asked, with a friendly smile, and she opened her eyes.

Audrey felt relaxed without having to worry and hide her power. It was incredibly freeing, and she was eager to try to work with it more. Her curiosity was growing, and she loved it.

When her student sent her a curious glance, the woman knew. Knew that this girl could get through her shields, knew that this girl was aware of her emotions. The witch took in a deep breath in an attempt to keep her emotions from becoming too strong and alerting the girl. That wouldn't do. That really wouldn't do.

It had been a very long time since Katrina-Carlotta had been afraid, not just the adrenaline rush of battle, but truly afraid. The witch was now though. Her instincts were singing out that this girl was a threat. In Katrina-Carlotta's world, all threats needed to be eliminated. The dark witch wouldn't be able to do anything here though. Athena was witness, and her Memory Manipulation might be sensed by the trained witch.

The woman figured that the girl could be disposed of easily enough later, but it was a bit of a pity. The Montague had power and if the young witch could learn to harness it... Yes, Katrina-Carlotta wouldn't dispose of this girl, her kind was rare after all. The European decided instead that she would teach the Hogwarts student, learn as much about empathy as she could. If possible, perhaps even guide the child in the ways of the dark. Finally relaxing fully into calm, the Du Hunt smiled softly.

"Since your ability can permeate Occulmency, I think it would be safe to remove the part of our little test designed to see how different levels of mental shielding affect you," the witch stated simply.

She and Athena had been practically ignoring each other since that little squabble after the girl arrived. The two were just comfortable enough with the other to know when they wished to speak or step forwards, or when something was not their forte. Even though Katrina-Carlotta had asked for Athena's opinion on the test, the elder woman hadn't been looking for a response. Neither had even spared a glance at the other witch. They were locked in what was almost an intricate dance, both twisting out of the way to avoid, and helping the other out. The Du Hunt figure it was only a matter of time before they crashed.

Audrey nodded at Katrina lightly, and tried to act innocuously. Katrina's emotions had flashed with a sting of fear that had shocked the young girl, but had given her knowledge she assumed was rather unknown about her teacher. She was starting to realize the older witch, that potrayed herself as a sneaky, confident leader, was afraid of anyone knowing what she was really thinking. It was interesting, considering her training enabled her to do exactly that too others. But of course, it makes sense. If you can't defend yourself against it, become the threat yourself.

The dark haired woman quickly adjusted her thoughts to the calm, controlled demenor that she usually contained, but under that mask were restless emotions, waiting to surface. Audrey became acutely aware of the awkward chemistry between the three witches in the room. The elder two were caught in their own strange mix, and Audrey was just another, unexpected element in everything. The mix of emotions in the room were somewhat disorienting, strangley. Audrey knew that would go away with practice, but in the moment, it was comepletely shocking.

"What else are we planning to test? Just distance?" She asked curiously. The main reason for the test had been to test it against Occulmency, so she'd thought.