Hello readers! Yes, I know that it's been a while. I'm putting the old chapters together to make them longer. Despite the wait, I do know where the story is going and I have the ending planned in about 5 chapters whether there will be a sequel is currently undecided. Remember, all credit goes to J.K. Rowling. Happy reading!

In all of his years of teaching, Severus had finally decided on what he hated about it the most: the children (or brats as he liked to call them). It was only through experience that he had decided that the first years were the worst - alongside the Potter Spawn.

The best way he had discovered to keep them in line was always to make them fearful enough to keep them motivated and concentrating on their potions. After his usual start-of-year quiz in which he chose the most difficult questions on the first year curriculum, he organised them into pairs for their boil-removing potion. He had selected this potion for his first lesson with the greatest of care; it was simple enough to make, yet the effects of making a wrong step gave a brilliant demonstration to the rest of the class about what not to do and instilled a healthy sense of caution while working with volatile ingredients.

If only Potter and Longbottom had managed to learn that lesson in their first class, then he doubted he would have half as many accidents.

He swept his way through the potions lab, peering into their cauldrons as he went. Many were barely adequate, while one of the Gryffindors had even managed to get their potion to Longbottom-standard. Vanishing the vile mixture before it started to explode or melt the cauldron, Severus continued his rounds of the dungeon.

As he reached the front of the class, he noticed one of his Slytherins' potions starting to smoke, producing a nasty smell. Sighing, he was forced to vanish that potion as well, but he asked the girl to speak with him after the lesson, instead of giving detention and house points like he had done to the Gryffindor.

After class had finished, the first year Slytherin remained behind and Severus realised that he didn't even know her name. His brow furrowed. Surely he had seen her around the common room? He could vaguely recall her being in the background after the Sorting Ceremony, but that was all. Quickly, not wanting to be too obvious, Severus glanced down at his register.

Ah, Elowen Robins.

Finally with a name to the face, Severus proceeded to interrogate the girl about what she had done to make her potion react the way it did. The girl's answers came promptly and politely, no emotion could be read from her face or tone of voice. It was a rather common Slytherin technique and Severus wondered how she had become so adept at it. Curious, his remarks began to become more cutting in nature, but still no expression could be seen.

"Professor Snape," The first year said, her eyes still blank and emotionless. "Have you finished discussing my performance in class yet? I fear that I might be late for my next class." Severus fought the urge to blink in surprise. Had she really held out that long under verbal abuse? He really had to give her some credit.

"However, if you wish to continue this conversation Professor, I could always stop by your office after supper?" Miss Robins' voice was still carefully neutral and she showed no outward indication of what she was feeling after their... discussion.

Slightly unnerved by the girl, Severus attempted to gain an insight into her thought process. Not many students would pull that sort of move, let alone a first year. In a moment of rash impulsiveness, Severus looked into Elowen's eyes and sent a small probe of legilimency towards her mind. For a second, Severus thought he had entered her mind, when he suddenly found himself facing a brick wall.

"Thank you, Professor. I would love to continue this conversation after classes have finished and discuss my potions as well as your attempt to enter my mind. Although, I am currently running late for Charms, so I must bid you farewell." The first year collected her bag and left the dungeon.

It was only after she had left that Severus realised a first year girl had been using occlumency against him. It was only later, when he was 'teaching' his NEWT level students that he realised that although she had delivered her parting message in the same monotone as before, she had been openly mocking him.

Severus couldn't wait until dinner had finished. He was a master legilimens and he was not going to be beaten by a first year student.

Severus stormed down the corridor, his black robes billowing behind him. A scowl marked his face, as he opened the door to his office in all his dungeon-bat glory. Sitting there, patiently waiting for him, was Elowen Robins.

"Hello Professor Snape," the girl greeted him, her face still unnaturally devoid of emotion. "Would you mind closing the door?"

It was an obvious show of dominance. The girl was ordering him about in his own office! And the way she phrased it as a request meant that he couldn't even deduct points from her, even if he had been willing to dock marks from Slytherin.

"Miss Robins." Severus acknowledged. He shut the door behind him, activating the privacy wards he had added to his office in case confidential information was spoken between him and his students. Making his way to sit behind his desk, Severus wracked his brain thinking of some way to regain control of the situation.

"Five points to Slytherin for use of advanced mind magic." The first year didn't even react, let alone raise an eyebrow and look intrigued. Damn, Severus had been hoping to knock her off balance enough to make himself an opening. The two sat in silence, as Elowen didn't seem to think that comment dignified a reply.

"I don't usually make a habit of using legilimency on students, you must understand." Still, no reaction from the younger girl. Her lack of expression was starting to get to him. "Likewise, occlumency is also a rare gift that should not be abused. Therefore, I am most curious who taught you this art."

The poker face remained intact. Severus decided that he really needed to stop underestimating this first year. There was quite obviously a reason why she had been sorted into Slytherin. Elowen Robins was very tall for her age and could actually see over his desk, which was quite a feat for anyone under third year. Her brown hair fell to her shoulders and her unremarkable brown eyes did not betray her mood.

"With all due respect Professor, I view what I did today as more of a mindset than an art form."

Severus wondered how long it would take to get the answer to the question he had asked. If she was anywhere near as good at avoiding questions as she was at keeping her emotions in check, he could be here for quite a while.

"That is a true mark of a master occlumens, Miss Robins." Severus wondered idly whether flattery would work. Poor resistance to it was a flaw of most Slytherins that arose from great ambition.

It was only then that he saw emotion on the girl's face. It was the unexpected expression of resignation. "I would be flattered, Professor. If only I knew what a master occlumens was."

Shock radiated throughout Severus' entire being. If the girl didn't know what occlumency was, then it was highly unlikely that she had been trained. To be able to defend against his mental attack... Severus had heard about natural legilimens and occlumens before, but if the girl was already this powerful then she could likely become a danger to herself and others.

"You do not know what occlumency is?"

The girl's face was heavily guarded still, but Severus detected a distinct sense of longing from the rather tall first year. "If I did then I would have probably understood what a 'master occlumens' is, Professor. I am guessing the two terms are related?"

Severus sighed, running a hand through his greasy hair. "An occlumens is a person who practises occlumency. It is an obscure branch of magic involving the mind. Occlumency is essentially the reverse of legilimency, the art of determining another's thoughts." A ghost of an emotion flickered across Elowen, but Severus just managed to catch it.

He knew that legilimency and occlumency were two sides to the same coin, while he had originally learnt legilimency, he had gradually gained a thorough understanding of the other. However, to have accessed both at such a young age... Severus probably wouldn't have believed it possible except for the evidence in front of him. The question was, however, how much control she had over either of those abilities. Severus winced at the idea - he would most definitely need to talk to Albus.

"You obviously have some proficiency in both, but due to the fact that it is unlikely you had an instructor, I would like to ascertain how much control you have over them."

Her plain, brown eyes filled with steel. "I am sorry, Professor, but I am not going to let you rummage inside my head."

Severus fixed her with a glare of her own. "Miss Robins, until this issue has been addressed, you are a liability-"

He never got to finish. Elowen Robins had already stormed out of his office. The Potions Master sighed heavily: the Headmaster would definitely want to hear about this.

Severus knocked on the Headmaster's door and entered. He passed the phoenix, the sorting hat and a variety of peculiar trinkets scattered around the office. As he strode up to Dumbledore's desk, Severus noticed that he wasn't the only one who had wanted to attract the Headmaster's attention.

Sitting in front of Dumbledore's desk, like a naughty schoolgirl, Delores Umbridge sat in her trademark pink-toad fashion. Her hair was curled and styled, though it clashed horribly with all the pink she wore. Severus decided he hated her purely for the colour assaulting his eyes.

"Ah, Severus, my boy!" Dumbledore smiled, as his eyes twinkled, effectively cutting off whatever the new DADA teacher was about to say. "Do take a seat, I was just finishing up here with Dolores."

The pink toad glared in the Headmaster's direction, but Dumbledore ignored her irritation. "Your first week of lessons were alright, I hope?"

Severus nodded firmly, while Umbridge fumed silently. "But we haven't yet discussed-"

Dumbledore raised a hand to silence her. "Professor Umbridge, I greatly appreciate the time you took to share your opinion of the school with me, but as you can see I currently have other business to attend to. I trust you can find your own way out?"

Umbridge was practically seething as she turned towards the door, while Severus gave her (what he hoped was) a sympathetic look. It never hurt to gain a few more allies.

"Now Severus, my boy, what can I do for you?"

Severus ground his teeth at the fact he still called him 'boy' despite his insistence otherwise. "It has come to my attention that one of my Slytherin first years has become quite adept at both legilimency and occlumency."

Albus raised his eyebrows. "Well, it is relatively common for old families to at least attempt to teach their children occlumency, but rarely anyone even gains the basics these days."

"She was able to repel me from her mind and although I have yet to test her skill in legilimency, she is certainly quite powerful. An exceptional feat, especially as I suspect she taught herself." Severus felt a shot of smugness at his superior's expression to that, Albus was a thousand times easier to read than the first year in question.

"Who this girl, Severus? You have established how much control she has over her abilities, correct?" Albus got up from behind his desk and started pacing, his white beard swinging in time to his footsteps.

His ever-present condescending tone always made Severus want to fire a nasty curse in his direction, but once again, he restrained himself. "Her name is Elowen Robins. I tried to figure out how much control she has, but she refused to let me enter her mind and fled my office. Naturally, I thought it was time to contact you with this information."

Albus continued pacing and Fawkes the Phoenix watched him with a slightly concerned expression that didn't seem appropriate on a bird. "You have to find a way, Severus. Her gift needs to be controlled. She will need guidance to do that."

He suddenly stopped pacing and turned to face the younger man. "If she cannot learn control then she is danger, not just to herself, Severus, but the school. I cannot allow another young Slytherin to fall into the darkness that awaits those who fail to understand limits."

The motions of trying to gain Elowen's trust were beginning to wear on Severus. After much deliberation, they both decided to keep their lessons as private as possible, under the guise of "remedial potions" with potion-making only happening every other lesson, as there was no doubt that Elowen needed it.

However, Severus had still been unable to gain access to the girl's mind, as she would immediately push him out with her immense occlumency skills the second he tried to assess her skills in legilimency. Likewise, whenever Severus tried to test her occlumency shields, Elowen would form a counter-attack, causing the Potions Master to go on the defence.

Unfortunately, the Christmas holidays had now started and Severus felt that whatever progress he had made with the first year Slytherin would surely evaporate while Elowen was away from Hogwarts. To add to his misery, Umbridge had now been terrorising the castle, after discovering that Potter and the Weasleys had escaped under her very nose. The Dark Lord was delegating a mission to Lucius, leaving Severus with very little say in recovering that damned prophesy from the Department of Mysteries.

Severus had been beginning to wonder if things could get any worse, when Dumbledore ordered him to start teaching Potter occlumency, despite Severus' many protests. Now, even more of his free time was gone, as Severus refused to teach Potter at the same time as Elowen Robins, knowing that it would likely jeopardise what little trust he had already managed to build with the girl.

"So... how come Harry Potter also has to do 'remedial potions'?" You could practically see the quotation marks in the air.

The Potions Master closed his eyes briefly in despair. Could the son of his arch-nemesis really be that bad at keeping a secret? Severus scowled, knowing that he would have to explain the importance of keeping the occlumency lessons quiet - at this rate he would have twice as many brats wanting to learn the subtle art of mind-magics before the end of the year!

"I didn't think that Potter would be quite so vocal in his failings in Potions, but you may have noticed that it is his OWL year and I refuse to have any of my students get below an 'Acceptable' in my class."

Elowen did not show any sign of being convinced - in fact her face was back to showing no emotion at all. "One of the older Hufflepuffs ended up shouting it out in the Entrance Hall, Professor. I couldn't help wondering if he was going to be joining us tonight."

Her voice was neutral, but Severus could tell that with any other Slytherin, her tone would have a calculative edge. You did not spend much time in Slytherin before learning when someone was fishing for information.

"Mr Potter is currently in his OWL year, so is not at quite the same standard of potions making as yourself, therefore there is little advantage in you taking extra lessons with him. Also, I refuse to have two useless idiots brewing at the same time." Severus felt a small sense of satisfaction with his answer, before realising he had just insulted the girl again. He suppressed the urge to growl. Now he'd have to make it up to her in order to regain her trust.

"If you say so, Professor." Her voice was almost bored.

Severus sensed the legilimency probe just before it hit and reinforced his occlumency shields just in time, focusing his every thought on maintaining them. He was certain he had managed to prevent her from getting inside of his head, but by the time he had recovered enough from the attack to tell her off, he realised that Elowen had already left his office.

Severus had the horrible feeling that the young occlumens was planning something.