Trying to disguise her own worries and guilt, she tried to explain in the simplest of
terms, "It's a little bit like the Sorting Hat, which is actually charmed with the skill to dig
into our heads. Unfortunately, when a witch or wizard uses it, it can be painful, especially
when resisted. And I'm really sorry about that ahead of time. I'll try to be as gentle as I
can."
Frank swallowed hard. "Will you see, umm, everything?"
"Memories and thoughts are a lot like layers. It's not very organised, and you have
to peel them away to reveal what you're looking for. I'll warn you, whatever is at the
forefront of your mind, I'll probably see," she said and watched as Frank's eyes widened
slightly as what she assumed were a slew of embarrassing memories flashed across his
consciousness. She was suddenly very grateful to not have been assigned to teach her
brother.
"It's best to focus on putting up the barriers. Think maybe about building an
intricate brick wall hidden behind cement, encircled by Devil's Snare, and warded. Just keep
adding layers upon layers and empty yourself of all emotion. To help with the motivation,
however, I will be asking you to seclude very specific and possibly... intimate memories."
Alice blushed fiercely. "You're going to what?"
Mia shrugged her shoulders. "It's either me, Dumbledore, Edgar, or Emmaline; and
let's be honest, I lived in the tower with you for seven years. You two weren't as subtle as
you'd like to think you were, so what I'll be looking for might not have been seen, but could
have been... heard."
Frank's cheeks turned bright red. "Oh, Merlin."
Mia exhaled and reached for her wand. No time like the present; defences already down.
"Occlude your mind, Frank," she warned him and raised her wand. "Legilimens!"
It was two hours later when Alice collapsed to the floor, sweat beading across her
forehead. She looked almost as pale as Frank had before Sirius was able to slip an
Invigoration Draught down his throat. The training had been hard, brutal almost, as Frank
severely lacked the ability to fight off Mia's invasion, which led to several very awkward
memories of her friends that she had never wished to see. Alice did only slightly better. It