Kael frowned. To be honest, when it came to magic involving memories and thoughts, he really didn't want anyone else to teach him—even if it was Dumbledore.
And it wasn't just him; a lot of wizards felt the same way. Chris should know that, too.
But judging by Chris's expression, he seemed to trust the person completely.
Kael hesitated for a moment. He didn't say no right away, deciding to check out the situation first.
If it didn't feel right, he could always make an excuse to bail out later.
After they'd discussed it, Chris originally planned to wait until after Kael's birthday to take him to meet the teacher, but Kael had other ideas.
Birthdays come every year—it didn't matter to skip just one day. Plus, he was really curious about this so-called Occlumency teacher and just wanted to confirm their identity as soon as possible.
If it didn't feel right, he'd have more time to think of another way.
Since Kael had made the request, of course Chris had no objection.
The two of them came to a patch of open ground outside the house. Chris held out his arm and said, "We'll Apparate straight there, just grab onto my arm."
Kael took a deep breath and grabbed the arm Chris extended.
"Alright then, let's get going!"
With a loud crack, they both vanished on the spot.
When Kael opened his eyes again, he was already standing in front of a red-roofed wooden house.
The house wasn't big, but it felt warm and inviting, every corner thoroughly clean. There was a low fence around it, and an elderly couple was standing to the side, grinning at them.
"Grandpa Newt?"
"Grandma Tina?"
Kael looked at the two people in front of him in surprise.
He hadn't expected that the teacher Chris mentioned was actually Newt and Tina, but if it was them, then there was no problem at all.
"Little Kael, aren't you here to learn Occlumency? What are you waiting for, hurry up and come in."
Tina came over and pinched Kael's cheek, leading him into the house, and brought out tons of cookies and homemade bread for him.
Kael sighed inwardly—even though he'd just finished breakfast, he still ate a lot, stuffing his cheeks until they were puffed out.
Only when he couldn't eat another bite did Kael rub his belly and ask, "Grandma Tina, are you the one teaching me this time?"
Among everyone here, Tina probably had the strongest Occlumency skills.
Well, she kind of had to—her sister Queenie was a natural-born Legilimens. If Tina wasn't good at Occlumency, she wouldn't have any secrets in front of her own sister.
Tina shook her head with a smile and said, "I'm only responsible for teaching you the basic theory, but after that, it's none of my business."
"Not you?" Kael was stunned for a second, and turned to look at Newt, puzzled.
"Not me, either, kid," Newt placed an open case on the floor and said with a grin, "Follow me, I'll take you to meet your teacher."
Uhh…
Seeing the case, Kael immediately had a bad feeling.
But by now Newt was already inside, so Kael had no choice but to follow.
The space inside the case was huge—really huge. There were trees everywhere, even several complete rivers and lakes; it looked just like a real forest.
Newt walked ahead, leading Kael to a clearing near a lake.
After seeing them, a Wampus Cat walked over from not far away, looking like it had been waiting for them.
Its bright blue eyes stared at Newt and Kael, and it dipped its head slightly.
"This is Natalie," Newt scratched the Wampus Cat's chin gently and smiled, "Remember, Kael, every Wampus Cat is a natural-born Legilimens."
"Of course... I remember."
Kael's lips twitched. That bad feeling in his chest grew stronger.
At this moment, Chris also walked over. He patted Kael on the shoulder and said with a grin, "Well? Not bad for a teacher I picked, right?"
"So my teacher really is Natalie the Wampus Cat?"
"That's right," said Chris. "If you want to learn Occlumency as quickly as possible, you've got to have enough pressure, because only then will you bring out the intense feelings deep inside you. So, after discussing it, we all agreed that Natalie should be your teacher—and she agreed, too."
"Once you master the basic theory, we'll put you here, and she'll attack your mind. All you have to do is try your best not to get totally wrecked."
"If you can hang on for five minutes without a scratch, that means your Occlumency training was a success."
"Wait... five minutes?" Kael suddenly cut Chris off, speaking in disbelief. "This is a Wampus Cat! Even if I master Occlumency, I'll still be no match for her!"
A six-legged Wampus Cat was one of the fastest Fantastic Beasts out there. Truth be told, if she wanted to beat the tar out of Kael, she wouldn't even need Legilimency—it'd be overkill.
"Relax," Newt reassured him, "Natalie is very smart. She knows exactly what to do."
"But..."
Kael wanted to say more, but Natalie the Wampus Cat walked over and rubbed his face gently.
"Mrow..."
"Of course I trust you," Kael quickly scratched her chin. "I just feel like this method might be a little bit… unreliable…"
"On the contrary, I think this is the best way," Chris said seriously. "If we were teaching you ourselves, we'd also have to use Legilimency to put you under pressure—it's not much different from facing a Wampus Cat.
The only thing is, a Wampus Cat can train with you anytime, anywhere. That's something we just can't do.
Plus, she won't go blabbing your little secrets around, either."
Kael thought it over and realized Chris did have a point.
Getting your mind read by a Legilimens isn't exactly pleasant, but if it's a Wampus Cat, that's way easier to accept.
"Alright, I'm in," Kael nodded.
The Wampus Cat let out a satisfied purr, then lifted her front paw and gave Kael a textbook-perfect kick in the butt.
"Whoosh!"
No surprise—Kael spun through the air and landed in the lake nearby.
Chris and Newt jumped in fright, but quickly figured out what was going on.
"Looks like we won't need to teach him the basic theory," Newt said with a cheerful smile. "I'm going to check on Anar—she just gave birth to a litter of little Nifflers and is still weak.
What about you, heading back to the Ministry of Magic?"
Chris shook his head, "I'll go with you. I happen to be off today."
Newt nodded and headed toward another area.
Chris followed, but after a couple of steps, he suddenly stopped, turned back and shouted, "Remember, no Charms!"
A hand stuck up from the lake and waved at him.