I've run into a bit of a block with my fic. Based on canon, are the mind arts rare or are they common? I know that Rowling has said that Veritaserum can be defeated through Occulumency but that merely implies a method and not that the majority of the wizarding world do know of it and are capable of practicing it. We haven't seen it in the regular curriculum which I figure means that it might be something a bit more advanced or simply not covered. I can't recall what reaction Hermione and Ron had to it. While I could spin it one way or another, I realize now that it has potential for affecting my story on the "power level" or skills of the common witch or wizard.

So I'm wondering if the mind arts are something common or perhaps, more arcane.

 

I was of the opinion it was an uncommon skill. As in people heard of it but didn't know what the fuck it actually did. I mean didn't Hermoine find a book about it in the Hogwarts Library or is fanon fucking up my memory? Also consider the people who knew of it Voldemort, Dumbledore, Snape, Harry, Malfoy, and Bellatrix.

 

Uncommon+ I would say, you have to be an above average wizard/witch. More common than animagi at least. Legillimens I would say is rarer and I would say it is probably considered 'dark arts'. And as far as I can remember Hermione did not find a book about it in canon.

 

Rare, as Snape and Dumbledore are the only professors in Howgwarts to practice the art. Or, I suppose, good enough to teach it.

 

Just because there was no book in the library does not mean it's rare art it just could mean that the professors don't want the students reading each others minds, remember it's just a school library.

 

It is an "obscur branch of magic". But based on the number of people who practice occlumency (Snape, Dumbledore, Voldemort, Bellatrix, Draco, probably Moody, Slughorn...), I think that the knowledge of the art is uncommon, but no one practice it unless they are sure they will need it.

I'm not very clear, am I ?

 

Dumbledore says something along the lines of, "Horace is an extremely able wizard, and he will be expecting both" when Harry suggests veritaserum or legilimency, but that doesn't mean he knows occlumency.

Same with Moody. Being an Auror we assume he practiced it, but we can only guess.

And who the hell is Rogue?

As for Occlumency and Legilimency, I'm guessing it's fairly rare, at least in case of the latter. If everyone could do Legilimency Voldemort's aura of always knowing when someone lies would be less impressive. Plus I imagine that if Legilimency were common, then everybody would study Occlumency as a must.

Imagine a government where everyone could read your mind? Yeah, you'd have to learn Occlumency as early as in school. And we know that doesn't happen.

 

That's why I said probably. We are not sure if they did or didn't know it.

Snape's name in the french translations. I have edited my post to correct the mistake.

 

...Snape's name in the french translations is Rogue?

/dies a million times.

 

Well, considering the fact that the Hogwarts Library had books on how to create Horcruxes before Dumbledore removed them, I don't think Occlumency would be left out just for safety reasons. The Hogwarts library has plenty of other dangerous books in the Restricted Section, including plenty of books on the Dark Arts themselves.

I would have to agree with the other posters that Legilimency must not be a very common skill, and consequentially not many people know Occlumency. It's entirely possible that Snape, Dumbledore, and Voldemort were the only wizards in Magical Britain capable of using Legilimency,

 

There's nothing in canon to suggest that the other professors didn't know Occlumency. Everything in canon suggests that there must have been some sort of reference manual on the art in the library - unless you want to accept the "natural Occlumens" fanonfaggotry.

And nobody wants that.

Riddle clearly learned it somehow: Dumbledore definitely didn't teach him (see "Wizards Don't Share: A Rant"), and Slughorn was rather hands-off when it came to his favored students. Chances are, he pointed Riddle in the right direction or discussed Occlumency at a high level, as they did with the subject of horcruxes. Or perhaps there was a bit of incentive...like, "Learn this obscure art, and I'll give you a bottle of Felix Felicis" or something along those lines.


That said, I think Occlumency is more obscure than Legillimency. There's a vocal component to Legilimency and it's inherently more useful.

 

The fact that Snape was the only professor to be able to teach indicates the other professors do not know the art. Also, how did you reach the conclusion that "no instruction manual in the library = natural Occlumens"? There are other sources of knowledge beyond the Howgwart's library, you know. I doubt Riddle learned how to make a horcrux from the kiddies library.

Also, usually a counter is better known than the original attack. It makes sense, as everybody who wants to attack someone's mind would want to protect his own, though not necessarily the other way around.

 

This is speculation, but there might be some prohibitively expensive 'cost' associated with learning Occlumency or Legilimency. Probably not monetary, but it may be excessively time-consuming or effort-requiring to learn one or both of the mind arts.

Harry certainly had a heck of a time trying to learn Occlumency in the fifth book, I recall. While Snape wasn't really helping, and while Harry was only half-heartedly learning because of his dislike for Snape and the fact that he half-wanted to see the visions that plagued him, he didn't get much further than detecting an intrusion, even after months of work.

I had a thought: Snape's canonical description of Occlumency is that it 'seals the mind against magical intrusion and influence,' but he doesn't mention anything else about it. It may or may not confer any extra benefits, such as the popular fanonical powerups of 'eidetic memory' or 'mindscape construction' or as Sesc so neatly put it, 'separate thoughts into trunks.'

If Legilimency is as obscure as it's made out to be, and if Occlumency takes a lot of time/effort to learn with no extra benefits beyond 'protection against outside influence,' then it's probably no wonder why no one bothers to learn it.

 

Severe Rogue. Tell me that's not a pornstar's name XD

Eh, that just indicates that he was the most accomplished. Or that Dumbledore had enough pull over him to make him do it:

Dumbledore: Teach Harry Occlumency
Snape: Nowai
Dumbledore: I'll tell Harry that you masturbate to his mother
Snape: Fuuuuuu-

Like where ? The bookstore ? Riddle was poor.

His family ? Muggles, or poor with no resources.

And he did learn about horcruxes from the library (the Restricted Section, not the "kiddie library hurr durr"), seeing as the books had only been removed from the library when Dumbledore suspected Riddle's use of horcruxes - which was in Harry's second year.

...why would someone develop a specific bit of magic that simply protects the mind for no reason ?

That's exactly what I was thinking. Legilimency seems to be the easier of the two arts.

 

Aurors and Hitwizards at least would probably be required to be proficient in both techniques. Otherwise, any dark wizard off the streets that can learn the basics of Legilimancy would utterly trounce any Aurors sent to take him down.

 

Who says there is such a thing as basic Legilimancy? Seems to me it would be the sort of thing that takes years to learn, not to mention master.

 

I didn't claim that everyone knew it, just that there was nothing indicating the teachers didn't know it. Snape was tasked for it because he was, in Dumbledore's opinion, best suited for it.

There doesn't seem to be more to it, because Snape is a bit of a tit. And he's always held back, despite his knowledge on a subject (again: see rant from HPatBWL thread).

Harry mastered it when Dobby died. And there was an obvious difference between tutelage and their states of mind (their affection for their respective teachers, and the link established by the cursed scar).

This I agree with, to an extent. If you can focus enough to think about nothing (lol, give it a try right now, it's seriously hard), then you should have an above-average focus for memory recall. Not to the level that fanon abuses it, but still.

EDIT:

Harry vs. Snape at the end of HBP. He was able to block Harry's spells because...he knew he was lying...? That scene indicates a bit of, I dunno, projection on Harry's part that an accomplished Legilimens could benefit from in a duel.