"Professor Snape..." At this moment, Kael, who had remained silent, suddenly stepped forward, "I think as a competent teaching assistant, it's necessary for me to demonstrate to Harry how it's done."
Snape initially didn't understand what this meant until he saw the eager expression on Kael's face and the wand in his hand.
"I clearly disagree with you; a competent teaching assistant doesn't need to act without permission," Snape said with a dark expression, feeling the urge to scold.
He naturally spoke to Harry however he wanted; after all, the little magic Harry knew wouldn't affect him.
But Kael was different... Snape had no plans to change his office anytime soon.
At this moment, Harry finally noticed that besides Snape, there was another person present.
"Kael, what are you doing here?" he exclaimed in surprise. "Are you also here to learn Occlumency?"
For a moment, Harry was quite excited; having a familiar face was far better than facing Snape alone.
Before Kael could explain, Snape interjected:
"Potter, if you realized you still had ears, you would have noticed we just mentioned the term 'teaching assistant.'
"Teaching Assistant?"
"I'm truly glad you heard it this time. I shouldn't need to explain the meaning of 'teaching assistant' to you, right?" Snape taunted, glancing at Kael before fixing his gaze back on Harry.
"If your Occlumency skills were even half... no, even just a third as good as his, we wouldn't be wasting time here now."
Harry felt another wave of shame.
"Alright, enough chit-chat." Snape lifted his eyes.
He did not immediately cast a spell on Harry; instead, he first took out a Pensieve from the cabinet, placed his wand against his temple, and extracted a strand of silvery memory, letting it gently fall into the Pensieve.
He repeated the same action three times in total.
Kael squinted his eyes; he finally realized what Snape intended to do with the Pensieve.
Snape's method of teaching Harry Occlumency seemed to involve using Legilimency to invade Harry's mind, forcing him into constant practice.
Although this method was the most effective, it also had certain drawbacks; for instance, during the use of Legilimency, if the other party suddenly managed to master Occlumency, even by accident, there's a chance the Legilimency could rebound.
Kael speculated that when Snape first taught Harry Occlumency, such a situation likely occurred.
No wonder Snape was so furious a few days ago; now it all made sense.
Harry accidentally rebounded Snape's Legilimency curse and took the opportunity to glimpse some of his hidden secrets.
If that's the case, even a fleeting glance would be enough to make Snape livid.
The solution to this problem is simple: just remove the memories you don't want others to see from your mind.
And the Pensieve serves as a repository for those memories.
It seems these three memories are very important to Snape... What could they be?
Kael felt some curiosity and couldn't help but glance at the Pensieve, now placed back into the cabinet, though it was locked by Snape, giving him no chance to open it.
"Now, get ready..." Snape pointed his wand at Harry, "Legilimency!"
Harry's wand could only emit a white light before his body stiffened and he uncontrollably fell to the ground.
"Debilito!"
Kael waved his wand, and the hard ground instantly became as soft as a cushion, cushioning Harry's fall.
Simultaneously, Snape let out a muffled groan, withdrawing his hand holding the wand.
There was a red swollen mark on his wrist, looking like a burn.
"Stinging Jinx?" Kael raised an eyebrow.
One must admit Harry's response was quite decent.
Legilimency is a continuous magic, requiring a constant connection between one's magic power and the person's mind being invaded...
In the absence of a way to counter the spell, finding a way to break the opponent's magical connection could be a good strategy.
Besides the Stinging Jinx, there's the Disarming Spell, the Knockback Jinx, The Blasting Curse, or even the Patronus Charm.
As Snape lowered his wand, Harry gradually opened his eyes.
He was first surprised at not feeling any pain from the fall, then looked warily at Snape.
"Is this all you know, these little tricks?" Snape coldly asked, rubbing his wrist.
"I..."
"Legilimency!"
Just as Harry was about to speak, Snape extended his wand once more.
Harry's body again became rigid.
"No, stop..." he shouted, collapsing to the ground.
This time, however, Snape stopped Kael from softening the ground again.
"Suffering some injuries will help him grasp this magic faster."
"Then what should I do?" Kael asked.
"Do nothing," Snape glanced at him, "just watch from the side."
Kael shrugged, remaining silent.
Meanwhile, Harry was awakened by the pain of his knee hitting the table.
"You're ambushing me," he shouted angrily at Snape. "I wasn't ready yet."
"Your enemies won't let you prepare in advance," Snape reprimanded. "It's hard to believe if you're truly taking this seriously, you've made no progress after all these days."