Occlumency is, in the fictional realm of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, a branch of magic involving the practice of closing one's mind against outside penetration, thereby preventing others from reading one's thoughts. One who is practiced in occlumency is known as an Occlumens. This nonexistent word was created by joining the word "occlude" (which means to close or block off) with the suffix "-mens" (which means mind).
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, former Death Eater Severus Snape attempts to teach student Harry Potter occlumency in order to defend against mental attacks from the evil Lord Voldemort. Albus Dumbledore is an expert Occlumens as well.
The opposite of the Occlumency is the art of Legilimency, the ability to read another personīs mind.
