The quill he had set on the other side of the compartment didn't so much as quiver. He frowned and tried again. Nothing. He might have actually singed it a little.
He tried once more, and it might have wiggled, but only just. He decided that it was just his imagination that it moved at all. Was he already going to fail?
He did it again, desperately and nothing happened. He was losing focus.
He cleared his mind and focused on lifting the quill. He performed the incantation and wand movement flawlessly. The quill rose to meet the elevation of his wand tip.
He grinned excitedly and almost jumped at his success until his excitement turned the quill to ash.
Oops!
He frowned and brought out another quill. This time he levitated it perfectly and directed it about the compartment easily. He had time to try out a few other spells too.
The first few charms, some of the transfiguration basics, and one of the defense spells. However, without a target, he wouldn't know if his lightly powered stunner actually worked.
He didn't want to try it on Hedwig, who had been softly hooting at his success.
Hedwig hooted again as someone stopped outside his compartment. Harry pulled out The Mind, The Maze for some comfort. He jumped when the person knocked politely.
"Hello?" A girl's voice.
"Oh, it's not locked," he replied nervously.
The person outside opened the door and looked at him. She was pretty, which didn't help him much, with Scandinavian features, honey colored hair and blue eyes.
"Are you studying?" She asked politely. "Do you mind if I sit?"
"Make yourself comfortable."
He stood and placed her trunk for her. He sat back down afterwards and immediately returned to his book to try and escape.
She sat down opposite him and just stared at him for a moment, her eyes naturally gravitating to his forehead.
He saw her eyes widen and felt his heart race as he promptly panicked. He did his best to stay composed and cleared his mind.
He relaxed. The train pulled away from the station.
It was one girl. He could leave if he wanted.
"Can I do something for you?" He asked.
She returned her gaze to his eyes and he saw through her. He spread his touch across her mind gently.
He didn't want her to notice if she knew anything about Occlumency. She knew he was Harry Potter, but she was also nervous and trying to calm down, which made him feel slightly better.
At least he wasn't alone in that regard.
She wants to ask me something. But she won't.
True enough, she didn't. She extended her hand instead.
"I'm Daphne Greengrass. Thanks for inviting me in and helping with my trunk."
Polite and cold. She wants to…
He took her hand.
"I'm Harry Potter and it was my pleasure," he spoke clearly, enunciating each word like he was tasting them.
He could see her hair stand on end.
I make her uncomfortable. The way I talk. I am speaking too softly.
He would speak louder, then. Harry's fingers on the inside of Daphne's skull rested gently on the surface. He was unwilling to dive deeper, and wasn't even sure if he was able.
The mind of a witch seemed different than the mind of a muggle. His own ability was likely too clumsy and while he felt certain an accomplished Occlumens would have noticed by now, that doesn't mean she knew nothing about the mind arts.
Pureblood…Sacred twenty eight…Potter Ring…
He felt the words in her thoughts. He resisted the immediate urge to withdraw his hand to look at the ring and settled for merely withdrawing his hand.
He felt impressions of nervousness, a desire to find something, a desire to make things move.
He cocked his head at her.
Am I puzzle to her? Or do I merely puzzle her?
He decided that she wouldn't hurt him and turned his gaze back to his book. Daphne glanced at it and read the title.
"The Mind, The Maze?" She looked at him for a moment, his eyes moved away from the description on sending impressions to coax out potentially valuable memories as she explained, "My father had a copy in the family library."
"Have you read it?" This was definitely a more interesting turn in the conversation.
She shook her head and he felt disappointed, and relieved, of course. He turned his gaze back to the words. There was a means to send pain through the link to another mind.
To use emotions and feelings to find what one desired. The book described a probe for deeper thoughts as well. He frowned. He had always felt like a bird flying through the skies of another mind.
Or a fish through their thoughts. Perhaps he had never been deep enough.
"Where did you get it?" She asked, maintaining the conversation.
To be fair, there hadn't been enough silence to break the dialogue truly, but he had hoped from her nonverbal answer that she was done with him.
"It was a birthday present," Harry answered softly, with a touch of happiness.
She grinned back, "From who?"
He frowned, the question was slightly personal but there was nothing illegal about Legilimency or learning it.
It was difficult to prove that it was being used and it was more about the rudeness and invasion of privacy it represented than anything else for common wizards. Wizards who had powerful secrets to keep might react strongly to the breach and defend themselves – both directly and legally – but the vast majority of the population knew little about the mind arts and wouldn't detect the breach at all. It wasn't like he would get Dumbledore in trouble if he was honest.
Not illegal, just obscure. There were of course exceptions so that the ministry could keep secrets but, aside from that, it was just magic.
He rubbed the crease in his jawbone where he broke it. Or had it broken, he supposed.