Casey's memory presented a memory with an initial struggle against his probing, and Ignan found himself observing a very clear memory, as if he'd stepped into a pensieve for a moment - set at the train station in London. The trouble with legilimency in this sense was that he was asking for information, rather than homing in on particular detail or background on a given event.

If he wanted particular information about how Casey had been requested to have his wand returned to the family, he would have been able to narrow down and force that particular event out of him, but instead, he'd seen a far older memory about it in general, and his father. Still an answer somewhat to the question posed.

"You gave in." The Professor remarked, an edge of minor disappointment to his tone. O'Doherty had been putting up a fun fight until then.

"But you did manage to keep throwing things at me in the beginning, so not an entirely lost attempt." He shrugged and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Any reflection on what just occurred?"

Rather than launching into another attack, which had been his father's methods when trying to force his son to learn occlumency, Ignan gave Casey the time to think about his choices, learn from them. Only as a teenager, he wasn't perhaps able to describe them as eloquently as Ignan had to his instructor at the German Ministry decades back when he'd finally got to grips with the skills. Then again, this was O'Doherty - the boy could give the appearance he'd swallowed a thesaurus when in full flow.

It was when Casey thought he was going to be perfectly fine, if just a little strained from the effort of rebuffing Storm in his mind, that his head suddenly felt like an axe had be cleaved into his skull.

"You gave in," Storm said disappointedly. So had he not noticed the--?

Casey's nostrils quivered. He was trying very hard to appear normal under pain that felt like one thousand searing red hot nails were separating the lobes of his brain. The back of his neck, following his spinal cord, changed temperature rapidly. His head deviated two degrees from being straight and it did little to alleviate the pain.

When he felt Storm had completely withdrawn Casey thought very quickly. Casey's other self was no longer accessible to most Legilimens, unless Storm had a more powerful technique. Was the inverse ever true? Could Casey ever hide behind the other self well enough?

Would it always hurt this much to have separate realms of the mind that couldn't be viewed in whole by an outsider?"

"It..." Casey was breathing through his nose. It had a reedy quality. "It feels like whatever phrasing the Legilimens uses instantly brings up related memories to mind. Or rather, they gravitate towards it. I felt I couldn't block out everything, stop it all from being revealed, but I set aside something that was the least damaging." Another memory sacrificed to Storm's growing knowledge of Casey as a person.

"Interesting," The Professor replied, nodding at Casey's words. "You selected something to show me that you thought would satisfy my demand as well as be less revealing, yet you gave away something to satisfy the deal." He tapped his fingers to the desk. "In time, as you grow stronger, you'll be able to just shut me out, not even give me any ammunition," He explained to the Slytherin. "Because giving me something causes curiosity, causes me to map out a little more of your mind and find other routes to the memory I want."

The older wizard sighed and fell silent, looking thoughtful.
"If I knew of a certain situation, event that I needed, I could push through to focus you on that one event. As it happened, the question was open to showing me anything. However, it'd be very easy to return to that memory, now I know my way..."

As one trail of thought ended the Professor focused on Casey's expression and leaned forward ever so slightly,
"So did the wand take to you, after your father's warning? I assume its the wand you've been using in all the time I've taught you?"

Casey prevented himself from visibly gulping as Storm praised the pros and cons to Casey's method of 'sacrificing' memory. Though it seemed mild at the time, Storm could use the memory as a starting point to work past Casey's differences even further. More about his father, more about his first day of school perhaps. More about the wand.

Unless Casey satiated the curiosity poised in the question.

"It has been the wand I've used my whole schooling until this point," Casey said. "Only today has my allowance of it been suspended for an indefinite length of time."

The throbbing in his head barely diminished but Casey kept his tone to his usual moods to suggest nothing hurt. "I adapted to the wand very well. I've never been held back by it to produce whatever magic I wanted. Well, save one personality quirk it has developed over the ages. It's stubborn to release counter curses." Which hadn't bothered Casey at all, letting a hex linger on an opponent until it was through rather than performing a counter right away.

"My father's history with the wand is a sullen one." Flat out jealousy. "Not only is it powerful amongst many wands but it's a symbol of power within the family itself."

"I've never been held back by it to produce whatever magic I wanted. Well, save one personality quirk it has developed over the ages. It's stubborn to release counter curses." The Professor gave an amused sniff from the other side of the desk, having seen this at first hand. Ignan doubted it was all down to the wand, O'Doherty seemed the sort to enjoy that bit of power over others.

"My father's history with the wand is a sullen one. Not only is it powerful amongst many wands but it's a symbol of power within the family itself."

"So he's taken it back as a statement?" The Professor asked, reaching for his mark book to record a few notes of the work they had been through so far that session, in the back of the book. His gaze lowered a moment to note a handful of words, the quill scratching on the paper.

"But it might not take to him as well as it has you? Well, you can only hope, so it might be returned. First wands are special to each of us, but it is not uncommon for them to fall into other hands, be broken. I've regrettably had quite a number in my lifetime. With luck you'll have time to get the measure of a new wand before the winter examinations next month." Leaving the pages open to dry, Ignan inspected the progress with a nod.

"Well, O'Doherty, you're making progress, not that either of doubted it."

Casey was trying very hard to imagine himself not being affected by Storm's pause to write. It surely had to just be notes on Casey's Occlumency progress, wasn't it? He couldn't be writing himself a note about Casey's family with so few words, could he?

Casey brought up a few fingers to his neck, masking the intent of feeling just how much his head and spine hurt by checking his pulse. Quicker than normal from the strain but nothing alarming. "He's probably enjoying that bit but I doubt he put Grandfather up to revoking the terms of the wand loan. No, Grandfather is getting anxious about the Goblins. There's their appeals to the Ministry about the Tournament, for one. And Gringotts has been in increased communication with Chrysopoeia."

And an old drunken fool felt that the goblins would be coming for his manor because he knew that they knew only half the O'Doherty fortune was entrusted to goblin protection. The family nearly had the power of a small bank itself and with their own overseas investing it could be seen as rivalry. But Casey had his own theory. "Chrysopoeia services many of the countries that attend Durmstrang, does it not? It can't be a coincidence if the goblin banks are talking during an International Tournament."

Casey knew Storm was speaking from experience when he talked about how wizards often outlived their wands. And true, a few times, Casey had adapted to other wands with no problems. But they were weaker. Dare he say it, it wasn't fair that his first wand had to be one he legally didn't own. Though it would take quite the ordeal to break the wand of Leprechaun hair and Hornbeam, Casey would have wanted the experience of having the wand all his ears of schooling and early adulthood before he had to get another. Misapplied pressure from his fingers sent a jolting pain along a nerve in his neck. Casey jerkily lowered his hand.

"Thank you Professor," Casey said. That was true, neither of them doubted it.

"No, Grandfather is getting anxious about the Goblins. There's their applies to the Ministry about the Tournament, for one. And Gringotts has been in increased communication with Chrysopoeia."

The Professor's gaze snapped up from having settled middle-distance on the desktop.

"Is this something you've covered in History of Magic?" He asked quietly.

"Chrysopoeia services many of the countries that attend Durmstrang, does it not? It can't be a coincidence if the goblin banks are talking during an International Tournament."

"They do." Ignan confirmed, he had his own money there, though kept bank account at Gringotts to receive his Hogwarts wages and make day to day payments in the country. Far less temptation to cut into the monies that were accumulating a quiet interest deep underground somewhere.

He watched the boy lower his hand with a shake.

"You have been observing the goings on in the family business with success then?" The Professor asked. "Continuing to invest your time and abilities into understanding it for the future, good to hear."

Back in May when Casey had been a third year, he'd explained the situation with the family business to Ignan, and the Professor, unwilling to commit to the lessons on the spot, had encouraged the boy to spend the summer taking an active interest in the business to become better informed.

"Both of the banks employ goblins from what I know, and have seen. But, I know only what is in the Prophet about matters. But it is intriguing how wizard and goblin relations sit, isn't it?" He snapped his markbook shut, the ink dry. Casey wasn't looking as well as he had when he'd arrived, this wasn't an uncommon event in their lessons, but fuelled by his own memories of lessons as a student, he didn't push O'Doherty to continue just yet.

"Incidentally, if you were to be of suitable age, I could see to negotiate you a short internship in Frankfurt. Unless your name alone would be considered espionage."

"Jowd's mentioned it," Casey said, referring to the History professor with the 'muggle sneakers.' "Not in depth but his lessons have been focused on the international culture given the tournament. At least in our year."

Another part of his brain clenched but Casey again did not flinch. He swallowed. Ah yes. Professor Storm had initially rebuffed Casey's inquiries last year to focus on the family business. Beyond this snafu with the wand there was little additional for him to observe. When it came down to it only his father, Martin, did anything more complex with lobbying at the Ministry.

Casey wondered how much further the relations of goblins and wizards would escalate. The Tournament seemed to stir up further sour relations. It probably didn't help that the last political supporter of a Tournament, Ludo Bagman, had swindled several goblins out of his gambling debts, adding an extra layer of suspicion of what the wizards would do.

Then the professor said something almost funny. Casey's face took on the facsimile of a smile. "If grandfather aggresses Gringotts any further all of goblin kind may consider my work anywhere to be espionage." Not that you would catch Casey in an internship. He knew what that meant. Being made to work as a clerk without pay. Had there been any espionage, well...

Even as he worked against it, Casey's breathing had a thin quality that betrayed his fatigue.

"If grandfather aggresses Gringotts any further all of goblin kind may consider my work anywhere to be espionage."

The Professor gave a snort, Casey had such wonderful role models to look up to, at least he was able to describe them with the same scathing tone that was quite probably hereditary to the O'Doherty family.

"Let us hope not." He replied, and sat forward, observing Casey was now somewhat relaxed from his previous attempts. Fingertips to his wand, he uttered the word firmly.

"Again."



End