"Umbridge must be reading your mail, Harry. There is no other explanation." Hermione said.
"You think Umbridge attacked Hedwig?" Harry said, outraged.
"I'm almost certain of it." said Hermione grimly. "Watch your frog, it's escaping."
Harry pointed his wand at the bullfrog that had been hopping hopefully towards the other side of the table, "Accio!" and it zoomed gloomily back into his hand.
Charms was always one of the best lessons in which to enjoy a private chat, there was generally so much movement and activity that the danger of being overheard was very slight. Today, with the room full of croaking bullfrogs and cawing ravens, and with a heavy downpour of rain clattering and pounding against the classroom windows, Harry, Ron, Y/n and Hermione's whispered discussion about how Umbridge had nearly caught Sirius went quite unnoticed.
"She has not made her dislike of me or Harry very secret. It would not surprise me if she was using any method in her means to try and find an excuse to punish one of us." Y/n said now.
"I've been suspecting this ever since Filch accused you of ordering Dungbombs, because it seemed such a stupid lie." Hermione whispered. "I mean, once your letter had been read it would have been quite clear you weren't ordering them, so you wouldn't have been in trouble at all...it's a bit of a feeble joke, isn't it? But then I thought, what if somebody just wanted an excuse to read your mail? Well then, it would be a perfect way for Umbridge to manage it, tip off Filch, let him do the dirty work and confiscate the letter, then either find a way of stealing it from him or else demand to see it. I don't think Filch would object, when's he ever stuck up for a student's rights? Harry, you're squashing your frog."
Harry looked down, he was indeed squeezing his bullfrog so tightly its eyes were popping, he replaced it hastily upon the desk.
"It was a very, very close call last night." said Hermione. "I just wonder if Umbridge knows how close it was. Silencio."
The bullfrog on which she was practising her Silencing Charm was struck dumb mid-croak and glared at her reproachfully. "If she'd caught Snuffles..."
Harry finished the sentence for her. "He'd probably be back in Azkaban this morning." He waved his wand without really concentrating, his bullfrog swelled like a green balloon and emitted a high-pitched whistle.
"Silencio!" said Hermione hastily, pointing her wand at Harry's frog, which deflated silently before them. "Well, he mustn't do it again, that's all. I just don't know how we're going to let him know. We can't send him an owl."
"I don't reckon he'll risk it again." said Ron. "He's not stupid, he knows she nearly got him. Silencio."
The large and ugly raven in front of him let out a derisive caw.
"Silencio. SILENCIO!"
The raven cawed more loudly.
"It is the way you are moving your wand Ron." said Y/n, watching Ron. "You do not want to wave it, it is more a sharp jab."
"Ravens are harder than frogs." said Ron through clenched teeth.
"Fine, let's swap." said Hermione, seizing Ron's raven and replacing it with her own fat bullfrog. "Silencio!" The raven continued to open and close its sharp beak, but no sound came out.
"Very good, Miss Granger!" said Professor Flitwick's squeaky little voice, making Harry, Ron, Y/n and Hermione all jump. "Now, let me see you try, Mr. Weasley."
"Wha...Oh...oh, right." said Ron, very flustered. "Er...silencio!"
He jabbed at the bullfrog so hard he poked it in the eye, the frog gave a deafening croak and leapt off the desk.
"You need more practice Mr Weasley..." Flitwick said before moving on to Harry and Y/n.
Y/n took out his wand now. "Accio." He said summoning Ron croaking frog from the floor and placing and placing it in front of him. "Silencio..." He then cast and the frog went silent.
"Show off..." Ron muttered.
"Excellent Mr Grindelwald, though I dare say I already knew you could cast the charm." Mr Flitwick said. "Now your turn Mr Potter."
"Silencio." Harry tried to cast but like Ron he failed.
"A nice try Mr Potter but some more work is needed." Flitwick said now.
It came as no surprise to any of them that Harry and Ron were given additional practice of the Silencing Charm for homework.
They were allowed to remain inside over break due to the downpour outside. They found seats in a noisy and overcrowded classroom on the first floor in which Peeves was floating dreamily up near the chandelier, occasionally blowing an ink pellet at the top of somebody's head. They had barely sat down when Angelina came struggling towards them through the groups of gossiping students.
"I've got permission!" she said. "To re-form the Quidditch team!"
"Excellent!" said Ron and Harry together.
"Very good news indeed." Y/n said.
"Yeah." said Angelina, beaming. "I went to McGonagall and I think she might have appealed to Dumbledore. Anyway, Umbridge had to give in. Ha! So I want you down at the pitch at seven o'clock tonight, all right, because we've got to make up time. You realise we're only three weeks away from our first match?"
She squeezed away from them, narrowly dodged an ink pellet from Peeves, which hit a nearby first-year instead, and vanished from sight.
Ron's smile slipped slightly as he looked out of the window, which was now opaque with hammering rain. "Hope this clears up."
But Y/n noticed Hermione did not look too happy. She, too, was gazing at the window, but not as though she really saw it. Her eyes were unfocused and there was a frown on her face.
He took her hands. "What is wrong?" He calmly asked her.
"Just thinking..." she said, still frowning at the rain-washed window.
"About Siri... Snuffles?" said Harry overhearing the two.
"No...not exactly..." said Hermione slowly. "More...wondering...I suppose we're doing the right thing...I think...aren't we?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other.
"Well, that clears that up." said Ron. "It would've been really annoying if you hadn't explained yourself properly."
Hermione looked at him as though she had only just realised he was there. "I was just wondering." she said, her voice stronger now. "Whether we're doing the right thing, starting this Defence Against the Dark Arts group."
"What?" said Harry and Ron together.
"Hermione, it was your idea in the first place!" said Ron indignantly.
"I know." said Hermione, her fingers rubbing against Y/n's own. "But after talking to Snuffles..."
"But he's all for it." said Harry.
"Yes." said Hermione, staring at the window again. "Yes, that's what made me think maybe it wasn't a good idea after all..."
Peeves floated over them on his stomach, peashooter at the ready, automatically all four of them lifted their bags to cover their heads until he had passed.
"Let's get this straight." said Harry angrily, as they put their bags back on the floor. "Sirius agrees with us, so you don't think we should do it any more?"
Hermione looked tense and rather miserable. Now staring at her own hands, she said. "Do you honestly trust his judgement?"
"Yes, I do!" said Harry at once. "He's always given us great advice!"
An ink pellet whizzed past them, striking Katie Bell squarely in the ear. Hermione watched Katie leap to her feet and start throwing things at Peeves, it was a few moments before Hermione spoke again and it sounded as though she was choosing her words very carefully.
"You don't think he has become...sort of...reckless...since he's been cooped up in Grimmauld Place? You don't think he's...kind of...living through us?"
"What d'you mean, 'living through us'?" Harry retorted.
"I mean...well, I think he'd love to be forming secret Defence societies right under the nose of someone from the Ministry."
"You mean because he is not able to help the..." Y/n began then dropped his voice low. "order."
"Yes, I think he's really frustrated at how little he can do where he is...so I think he's keen to kind of...egg us on." Hermione nodded.
Ron looked utterly perplexed. "Sirius is right." he said. "You do sound just like my mother."
Hermione bit her lip and did not answer. The bell rang just as Peeves swooped down on Katie and emptied an entire ink bottle over her head.
The weather did not improve as the day wore on, so that at seven o'clock that evening, when Y/n, Harry and Ron went down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, they were soaked through within minutes, their feet slipping and sliding on the sodden grass. The sky was a deep, thundery grey and it was a relief to gain the warmth and light of the changing rooms, even if they knew the respite was only temporary. They found Fred and George debating whether to use one of their own Skiving Snackboxes to get out of flying.
"...but I bet she'd know what we'd done." Fred said out of the corner of his mouth. "If only I hadn't offered to sell her some Puking Pastilles yesterday."
"We could try the Fever Fudge." George muttered. "No one's seen that yet..."
"Does it work?" enquired Ron hopefully, as the hammering of rain on the roof intensified and wind howled around the building.
"Well, yeah." said Fred. "Your temperature'll go right up."
"But you get these massive pus-filled boils, too." said George. "And we haven't worked out how to get rid of them yet."
"I can't see any boils." said Ron, staring at the twins.
"No, well, you wouldn't." said Fred darkly and Y/n grimaced. "They're not in a place we generally display to the public."
"But they make sitting on a broom a right pain in the..."
"All right, everyone, listen up." said Angelina loudly, emerging from the Captain's office. "I know it's not ideal weather, but there's a chance we'll be playing Slytherin in conditions like this so it's a good idea to work out how we're going to cope with them. Harry, didn't you do something to your glasses to stop the rain fogging them up when we played Hufflepuff in that storm?'
'Hermione did it." said Harry. He pulled out his wand, tapped his glasses and said. "Impervius!"
"I think we all ought to try that." said Angelina. "If we could just keep the rain off our faces it would really help visibility...all together, come on."
"Impervius!" The team all chanted wands in hand.
"Ok. Let's go." Angelina said now.
They all stowed their wands back in the inside pockets of their robes, shouldered their brooms and followed Angelina out of the changing rooms.
They squelched through the deepening mud to the middle of the pitch, visibility was still very poor even with the Impervius Charm, light was fading fast and curtains of rain were sweeping the grounds.
"All right, on my whistle." shouted Angelina.
Y/n kicked off from the ground, spraying mud in all directions, and shot upwards, the wind pulling him slightly off course.
He had no idea how he was going to see the Quaffle in this weather, In fact it was only when the Quaffle was inches away was he able to see it and quickly catch it. How on earth were they going to play Slytherin in conditions like this?
Y/n threw the Quaffle in what he hoped was Katie Bell's direction. He could not see her, Harry, Ron...anyone. The wind was picking up, even at a distance Y/n could hear the swishing, pounding sounds of the rain pummelling the surface of the lake.
Angelina kept them at it for nearly an hour before conceding defeat. She led her sodden and disgruntled team back into the changing rooms, insisting that the practice had not been a waste of time, though without any real conviction in her voice. Fred and George were looking particularly annoyed, both were bandy-legged and winced with every movement. Y/n could hear them complaining in low voices as Harry towelled his hair dry.
"I think a few of mine have ruptured." said Fred in a hollow voice.
"Mine haven't." said George, through clenched teeth. "They're throbbing like mad... feel bigger if anything."
"OUCH!" said Harry. He pressed the towel to his face.
Y/n and Ron quickly took notice.
"What's up?" said several voices.
Harry emerged from behind his towel. "Nothing." he muttered. "I...poked myself in the eye, that's all." But he gave Ron and Y/n a significant look and the three of them hung back as the rest of the team filed back outside, muffled in their cloaks, their hats pulled low over their ears.
"What happened?" Ron asked, the moment Katie had disappeared through the door.
"Was it your scar again?" Y/n asked.
Harry nodded.
"But..." looking scared, Ron strode across to the window and stared out into the rain. "He...he can't be near us now, can he?"
"No." Harry muttered, sinking on to a bench and rubbing his forehead. "He's probably miles away. It hurt because...he's...angry."
"Angry?" Y/n repeated the word concerned.
"Did you see him?" said Ron, looking horrified. "Did you...get a vision, or something?"
Harry sat quite still, staring at his feet for a few moments. "He wants something done, and it's not happening fast enough." he finally said.
"But...how do you know?" said Ron.
Harry shook his head and covered his eyes with his hands, pressing down upon them with his palms. Y/n and Ron sat down on the bench either side of Harry.
"Is this what it was about last time?" Y/n asked now. "When your scar hurt in Umbridge's office? Was Voldemort angry?"
Harry shook his head.
"What is it, then?" Ron asked.
"Last time, it was because he was pleased." Harry said. "Really pleased. He thought...something good was going to happen. And the night before we came back to Hogwarts..."
He looked round at Y/n who still looked concerned and Ron, who was gaping at him.
"You could take over from Trelawney, mate." Ron said in an awed voice.
"I'm not making prophecies." said Harry.
"No, you know what you're doing?" Ron said, sounding both scared and impressed. "Harry, you're reading You-Know-Who's mind!"
"No." said Harry, shaking his head. "It's more like...his mood, I suppose. I'm just getting flashes of what mood he's in. Dumbledore said something like this was happening last year. He said that when Voldemort was near me, or when he was feeling hatred, I could tell. Well, now I'm feeling it when he's pleased, too..."
There was a pause. The wind and rain lashed at the building.
"Harry I think you should tell someone about this." Y/n said now.
"I told Sirius last time." Harry said back.
"Well, tell him about this time too!" Ron urged.
"Can't, can I?" said Harry grimly. "Umbridge is watching the owls and the fires, remember?"
"What about Dumbledore?" Y/n asked.
"I've just told you, he already knows." said Harry shortly, getting to his feet, taking his cloak off his peg and swinging it around him. "There's no point telling him again."
Ron did up the fastening of his own cloak, watching Harry thoughtfully. "Dumbledore'd want to know." he said.
Harry shrugged. "C'mon... we've still got Silencing Charms to practise."
"You two do at least." Y/n sighed putting his own cloak on now.
When they arrived back into the common room they could see Hermione was waiting for them with Noctis and Crookshanks curled in her lap in a nearby chair and an assortment of knobbly knitted elf hats lying on a table by the fire.
"I thought you would have gone to bed." Y/n said surprised to see her still up.
"I have been thinking more about this Defence Against the Dark Arts idea..." She admitted.
Y/n just moved forward now and couched down in front of her. "You are still worried?" He asked her quietly.
Hermione looked down at him and nodded. "Yes."
"The idea is a good one Hermione or I would not have agreed to do it. I understand you think Sirius had become more reckless in his confinement and maybe he has, But he also said my Grandmother gave her approval and you can trust her judgment." Y/n reminded her. "The others are relying on us to teach them now and I assure you the room we will practice is well hidden."
"But can you guarantee that Y/n?" Hermione asked.
"I used the room last year when I was preparing for the tournament and...avoiding you." Y/n admitted. "I was only found by Professor Dumbledore who I believe is the only one who knows that the room exists, Umbridge will certainly have no way of knowing where we practice."
"Dumbledore knows about it?' Hermione asked.
"Yes." Y/n nodded.
"Oh, well, that's all right then." said Hermione briskly and raised no more objections.
"Then why don't we start tomorrow?" Ron said now from behind Y/n.
"What about Quidditch practice?" Harry pointed out.
"Angelina's mad if she thinks we can practice in this." Ron said.
"I will skip practice tomorrow for the first lesson if needs be...we have finally agreed a place and a time Angelina can be mad at me all she likes." Y/n said. "Now it is time to spread the word to those involved." Y/n put his hands on her knees now. "Hermione you do not have to do this if you have reservations but I am still going ahead."
Hermione put her hands on Y/n's now. "This is important and you said only Dumbledore knows about this room."
Y/n smiled and nodded. "Tomorrow tell the others to meet you outside the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls." Y/n said.
"Where you going to be?" Ron asked.
"Preparing the room before hand." Y/n said.
Their robes billowed and swirled around them as they splashed across the flooded vegetable patch to double Herbology where they could hardly hear what Professor Sprout was saying over the hammering of raindrops hard as hailstones on the greenhouse roof. The afternoon's Care of Magical Creatures lesson was to be relocated from the storm-swept grounds to a free classroom on the ground floor and, to their intense relief, Angelina had sought out her team at lunch to tell them that Quidditch practice was cancelled.
The four had spent most of the day seeking out those people who had signed their names to the list in the Hog's Head and telling them where to meet that evening. Somewhat to Harry's disappointment, it was Ginny who managed to find Cho Chang and her friend first, however, by the end of dinner he was confident that the news had been passed to every one of the twenty-five people who had turned up in the Hog's Head.
Y/n had left the common room earlier than the others and at half past seven Harry, Ron and Hermione left the Gryffindor common room, Harry clutching a certain piece of aged parchment in his hand. Fifth-years were allowed to be out in the corridors until nine o'clock, but all three of them kept looking around nervously as they made their way along the seventh floor.
"Hold it." Harry warned, unfolding the piece of parchment at the top of the last staircase, tapping it with his wand and muttering. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
A map of Hogwarts appeared on the blank surface of the parchment. Tiny black moving dots, labelled with names, showed where various people were.
"Filch is on the second floor." said Harry, holding the map close to his eyes. "and Mrs. Norris is on the fourth.
"And Umbridge?" said Hermione anxiously.
"In her office." said Harry, pointing. "Ok, let's go."
They hurried along the corridor to the place Y/n had told them to meet, a stretch of blank wall opposite an enormous tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy's foolish attempt to train trolls for the ballet.
"Harry!" said Hermione sharply, as she pointed out something to him and Ron.
A highly polished door had appeared in the wall. Ron was staring at it, looking slightly wary. Harry reached out, seized the brass handle, pulled open the door and led the way into a spacious room lit with flickering torches like those that illuminated the dungeons eight floors below.
The walls were lined with wooden bookcases and instead of chairs there were large silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors and a large, cracked Foe-Glass that Harry was sure had hung, the previous year, in the fake Moody's office.
The three could hear what sounded like calm classical music drifting through the room. Hermione began to recognise it, it was a song Y/n and her dad had listened to on the radio together back in the summer.
"Where is Y/n?" Hermione asked now and they began to look around. They followed the sound of music behind the large set of shelves. There they saw Y/n who was now casting several spells at a set of training dummies with quick succession.
"Stupefy!"
"Flipendo!"
"Confundus!"
The three watched in shocked silence as Y/n cast spell after spell. They had always known he was talented with Magic but he had never really had a chance to show it off before. It was not in his nature to be boastful and he always approached his duels with a level headed mind the best he could. Today however he looked calm and composed. Like he knew exactly how he wished to control his magic.
He finally stopped casting spells and stayed still looking at the dummies for a moment before sighing to himself. "Still not good enough..."
"Not good enough?" Ron repeated and Y/n turned around to notice the all now.
"Oh...my apologizes. I did not hear you come in over the music." He pointed his wand to a nearby Gramophone and the music stopped.
"What's not good enough Y/n?" Hermione asked now.
"Oh, my casting time. I am trying to cast faster but my mouth cannot seem to keep up with my mind I am afraid. It would be easier if I could cast non verbal spells but it will be difficult to learn."
"I already think you're quick enough mate..." Ron said looking at the dummies.
Y/n just smiled. "Welcome to the Room of Requirement."
"The room of what?" Harry asked.
"The Room of Requirement." Y/n repeated. "Contains what that individual needs at that time."
"So...say you really needed the toilet..." Ron began.
"Lovely Ron...but yes, it would make a bathroom for you." Y/n said. "So, what do you think?"
"Well these will be good when we're practicing Stunning." said Ron enthusiastically, prodding one of the cushions with his foot.
"And just look at these books!" said Hermione excitedly, now running a finger along the spines of the large leather-bound tomes. "A Compendium of Common Curses and their Counter-Actions ...The Dark Arts Outsmarted...Self-Defensive Spellwork...wow..." She looked around at Y/n, her face glowing, and he saw that the presence of hundreds of books had finally convinced Hermione that what they were doing was right. "Y/n, this is wonderful, there's everything we need here!"
And without further ado she slid Jinxes for the Jinxed from its shelf, sank onto the nearest cushion and began to read.
"Harry." Y/n called his attention. "Considering tonight is the first meeting I thought it would be best to start everyone off with a simple spell so we can assess their levels." Y/n suggested.
"Yeah...that's fine by me." Harry said. "Did you have something in mind?"
"Well, I notice you like to use the disarming spell quite a lot, perhaps we could teach them that." Y/n said and there was a gentle knock on the door. Harry looked round. Ginny, Neville, Lavender, Parvati and Dean had arrived.
"Whoa." said Dean, staring around, impressed. "What is this place?"
Y/n began to explain, but before he had finished more people had arrived and he had to start all over again.
By the time eight o'clock arrived, every cushion was occupied. Harry moved across to the door and turned the key protruding from the lock, it clicked in a satisfyingly loud way and everybody fell silent, looking at him. Hermione carefully marked her page of Jinxes for the Jinxed and set the book aside.
"Well." said Harry, slightly nervously. "This is the place we've found for practice sessions, and you've...er...obviously found it ok."
"It's fantastic!' said Cho, and several people murmured their agreement.
"It's bizarre." said Fred, frowning around at it. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then."
"As I explained, the room changes to suit the needs of the user." Y/n said.
"Hey, Harry, Y/n, what's this stuff" asked Dean from the rear of the room, indicating the Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass.
"Dark detectors." said Harry, stepping between the cushions to reach them. "Basically they all show when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you don't want to rely on them too much, they can be fooled..." He gazed for a moment into the cracked Foe-Glass, shadowy figures were moving around inside it, though none was recognisable. He turned his back on it. "Well, We've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and...er..." He noticed a raised hand. 'What, Hermione?"
"I think we ought to elect a leader." said Hermione.
"Harry's leader." said Cho at once, looking at Hermione as though she were mad.
One of Y/n's brow raised, He did not mind Harry being the leader at all but Cho's behavior had caught him off guard.
"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly." said Hermione, unperturbed. "It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So...everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?"
Everybody put up their hand, even Zacharias Smith, though he did it very half-heartedly.
"Er...right, thanks." said Harry, who could feel his face burning. "And...what,Hermione?"
"I also think we ought to have a name." she said brightly, her hand still in the air. "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"
"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" said Angelina hopefully.
"Or the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group?" suggested Fred.
"I was thinking." said Hermione, frowning at Fred. "More of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings."
"The Defence Association?" said Cho. "The DA for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?"
"Yeah, the DA's good." said Ginny. "Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army, because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"
There was a good deal of appreciative murmuring and laughter at this.
"All in favour of the DA?" said Hermione bossily, kneeling up on her cushion to count. "That's a majority...motion passed!"
She pinned the piece of parchment with all of their signatures on it onto the wall and wrote across the top in large letters.
'DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY'
"Right..." started Harry, when she had sat down again. "Look...I've never taught spells to anyone before...but Y/n has, In fact he helped teach me some of things I know how to do and he will be a far better teacher than I can be for you. I know a lot of people in this room distrust him just because of who his family is...but he didn't choose that. You need to put any thoughts you have of him to the side because he really is the best teacher you will get this year."
Y/n was slightly taken aback by Harry's speech but he no less appreciated it. "Thank you Harry, for those kind words. While you have not taught anyone yet I still think you will make a very good assistant at the very least." Y/n joked and chuckled slightly, but only Ron, Fred, George, Ginny and Hermione seemed to laugh a little at this.
"Does anyone have anyone have any objections to your leader's suggestion of me taking the lead of teaching you?" Y/n asked the crowd now and they stayed silent as he waited a moment, he was certain he could see uncomfortable looks in a few of them but pressed on.
"Today is your first lesson for the real world, Can anyone tell me what the most effective spell you can use that could end a duel before it even starts?" Y/n asked them now and Hermione's hand shot straight up.
"Oh...you do not have to put hands up, This is not a classroom and I am not Umbridge after all." Y/n said and this did get a few chuckles. "If you know the answer then please feel free to say."
"The disarming charm." Hermione said.
Y/n just smiled, whether it was simply because she had overheard him earlier or because she knew the answer he didn't mind.
"Precisely." Y/n said. "The disarming charm is a basic but very useful..."
"Oh, please." said Zacharias Smith, rolling his eyes and folding his arms. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"
"I've used it against him." said Harry quietly. "It saved my life in June."
Smith opened his mouth stupidly. The rest of the room was very quiet.
"If you think the disarming charm is beneath you, you can feel free to leave Mr Smith." Y/n said.
Smith did not move. Nor did anybody else.
"As I was saying...The disarming charm is basic yes." He looked to Smith. "But that does not make it any less useful, If you can successfully disarm your opponent they lose their opportunity to curse and Hex you. Perhaps a demonstration would be useful for you all so you can see what the desired effect is. Harry?"
Harry looked at Y/n and stammered for a moment before agreeing." Right... sure."
Both boys got up now and the crowd moved to form a half circle around them. Y/n and Harry drew their wands now and bowed to one another as custom before walking a few paces and turning to face one another.
"Since I asked you to assist me I shall allow you to disarm me Harry." Y/n said. "Whenever you are ready."
Harry and Y/n raised their wands and Harry immediately cast. "Expelliarmus!"
Y/n's wand flew from his hand and could be heard clattering along the floor as the others all watched.
"Perfect Harry." Y/n said. "Now as you can see I am now wandless and unable to defend myself from any attack Harry may throw at me, Thankfully I have full faith in my friend not to do such a thing." He said and retrieved his wand. "However even armed with the ability to cast spells like the disarming charm that does not mean you are always going to be able to disarm an opponent as we will now demonstrate. Once more If you would please Harry." Y/n said raising his wand.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry cast once again.
"Protego!" Y/n immediately cast in defense as Harry's spell bounced off an invisible shield causing the crowd to gasp in surprise, they were shocked, Harry included but Y/n was not finished. "Silencio!" He cast and Harry found that his voice was gone, he tried to cast but nothing would come out.
"Using the Shield Charm you can protect yourself from such spells and surprise your opponents buying you valuable seconds of casting time to launch a counter offensive. As you can see I have cast a silencing charm on Harry who is no longer able to cast to disarm and I have turned the tide of the duel." Y/n explained to the group who were stunned into silence.
"Finite." Y/n cast on Harry and his voice returned.
"Didn't realize you were going to cast a silencing charm on me." Harry said.
"My apologies but I thought a genuine reaction to being countered was needed." Y/n said and the two turned back to the group now. "I hope that little demonstration was satisfactory to you all."
"Wow Y/n... that was brilliant!" Dean spoke up impressed and most of the crowd nodded.
"Thank you Dean, It is my hope with time and practice that you will all be brilliant as well." Y/n replied. "As I said before, for now we are going to focus on the disarming charm, You need to be able to perform the basics consistently before you move on to the harder spells, So we shall have you divide into pairs and practise, Harry and myself will monitor your progress and give feedback as appropriate."
Everybody got to their feet at once and divided up. Several people actually tried to make their way over to Y/n but Hermione was very quick to her feet as she put her arm through Y/n's.
"Wishing to partner with me?" Y/n asked her.
"Of course, Is that even a question?" Hermione said.
Y/n looked to see the disappointed stragglers. "Hmm, First time I have been even slightly popular." He said as he moved with Hermione now.
Predictably, Neville was the only one left partnerless.
"You can practice with me." Harry told him.
"On the count of three you may begin taking turns on disarming one another." Y/n called out. "One, two, three!"
The room was suddenly full of shouts of Expelliarmus. Wands flew in all directions, missed spells hit books on shelves and sent them flying into the air.
Y/n stood in front of Hermione his wand raised but she quickly cast and disarmed his wand as he stood looking impressed. "Well done, Perhaps... I should try something more advanced with you."
"What did you have in mind?" Hermione smiled confidently.
"Do you think you can cast a shield charm?" Y/n asked her.
"I've never cast one." Hermione admitted.
"It is a very useful spell and...It is something I would be comforted knowing you knew how to cast." Y/n said avoiding her eyes.
"Are you worried about me?" Hermione asked.
"I am worried about everyone Hermione." Y/n said. "But especially you. You are very important to me." He admitted and Hermione felt herself go red.
"Anyway...The incantation is 'Protego', try to defend using that while I try to disarm you." Y/n instructed and Hermione nodded.
Harry meanwhile was too quick for Neville, whose wand went spinning out of his hand, hit the ceiling in a shower of sparks and landed with a clatter on top of a bookshelf, from which Harry retrieved it with a Summoning Charm. Glancing around, he thought Y/n had been right to suggest they practise the basics first, there was a lot of shoddy spellwork going on, many people were not succeeding in Disarming their opponents at all, but merely causing them to jump backwards a few paces or wince as their feeble spell whooshed over them.
"Expelliarmus!" said Neville, and Harry, caught unawares, felt his wand fly out of his hand.
"I DID IT!" said Neville gleefully. "I've never done it before...I DID IT!"
"Good one!" said Harry encouragingly, deciding not to point out that in a real duel Neville's opponent was unlikely to be staring in the opposite direction with his wand held loosely at his side. "Listen, Neville, can you take it in turns to practise with Ron for a couple of minutes so I can walk around and see how the rest are doing?"
Harry moved off into the middle of the room. Something very odd was happening to Zacharias Smith. Every time he opened his mouth to disarm Anthony Goldstein, his own wand would fly out of his hand, yet Anthony did not seem to be making a sound. Harry did not have to look far to solve the mystery. Fred and George were several feet from Smith and taking it in turns to point their wands at his back.
"Sorry Harry." said George hastily, when Harry caught his eye. "Couldn't resist."
Harry walked around the other pairs, He could see Y/n was hard at work trying to teach Hermione more advanced magic ahead of the others but he trusted his friend's judgement. Harry went around instead trying to correct those who were doing the spell wrong. Ginny was teamed with Michael Corner, she was doing very well, whereas Michael was either very bad or unwilling to jinx her. Ernie Macmillan was flourishing his wand unnecessarily, giving his partner time to get in under his guard, the Creevey brothers were enthusiastic but erratic and mainly responsible for all the books leaping off the shelves around them, Luna Lovegood was similarly patchy, occasionally sending Justin Finch-Fletchleys wand spinning out of his hand, at other times merely causing his hair to stand on end.
"Ok, stop!" Harry shouted. "Stop. STOP!" I need a whistle, he thought, and immediately spotted one lying on top of the nearest row of books. He caught it up and blew hard. Everyone lowered their wands.
"That wasn't bad." said Harry. "But there's definite room for improvement." Zacharias Smith glared at him. "Let's try again."
He moved off around the room again, stopping here and there to make suggestions. Slowly, the general performance improved.
He avoided going near Cho and her friend for a while, but after walking twice around every other pair in the room felt he could not ignore them any longer.
"Oh no." said Cho rather wildly as he approached. "Expelliarmious!I mean, Expellimellius! I...oh, sorry, Marietta!"
Her curly-haired friend's sleeve had caught fire, Marietta extinguished it with her own wand and glared at Harry as though it was his fault.
"You made me nervous, I was doing all right before then!" Cho told Harry ruefully.
"That was quite good." Harry lied, but when she raised her eyebrows he said. "Well, no, it was lousy, but I know you can do it properly, I was watching from over there."
She laughed. Her friend Marietta looked at them rather sourly and turned away.
"Don't mind her." Cho muttered. "She doesn't really want to be here but I made her come with me. Her parents have forbidden her to do anything that might upset Umbridge. You see...her mum works for the Ministry."
"What about your parents?" asked Harry.
"Well, they've forbidden me to get on the wrong side of Umbridge, too." said Cho, drawing herself up proudly. "But if they think I'm not going to fight You-Know-Who after what happened to Cedric..." She broke off, looking rather confused, and an awkward silence fell between them, Terry Boot's wand went whizzing past Harry's ear and hit Alicia Spinnet hard on the nose.
"Well, my dad is very supportive of any anti-Ministry action!" said Luna Lovegood proudly from just behind Harry, evidently she had been eavesdropping on his conversation while Justin Finch--'Fletchley attempted to disentangle himself from the robes that had flown up over his head. "He's always saying he'd believe anything of Fudge, I mean, the number of goblins Fudge has had assassinated! And of course he uses the Department of Mysteries to develop terrible poisons, which he secretly feeds to anybody who disagrees with him. And then there's his Umgubular Slashkilter..."
"Don't ask." Harry muttered to Cho as she opened her mouth, looking puzzled. She giggled.
"Harry." Hermione called from the other end of the room and he looked in her direction to see Y/n pointing at his wrist indicating a watch.
Harry looked down at his watch and was shocked to see it was already ten past nine, which meant they needed to get back to their common rooms immediately or risk being caught and punished by Filch for being out of bounds. He blew his whistle and everybody stopped shouting "Expelliarmus!" as the last couple of wands clattered to the floor.
'Well, that was pretty good." said Harry. "But we've overrun, we'd better leave it here. Same time, same place next week?"
"Sooner!" said Dean Thomas eagerly and many people nodded in agreement.
"The Quidditch season's about to start, we need team practices too!" Angelina, however, said quickly.
"Let's say next Wednesday night, then." said Harry. "We can decide on additional meetings then. Come on, we'd better get going."
He pulled out the Marauder's Map again and checked it carefully for signs of teachers on the seventh floor. He let them all leave in threes and fours, watching their tiny dots anxiously to see that they returned safely to their dormitories, the Hufflepuffs to the basement corridor that also led to the kitchens, the Ravenclaws to a tower on the west side of the castle, and the Gryffindors along the corridor to the Fat Lady's portrait.
"That was really, really good, Y/n and Harry." said Hermione, when finally it was just her, Y/n, Harry and Ron who were left.
"Yeah, it was!" said Ron enthusiastically, as they slipped out of the door and watched it melt back into stone behind them. "You two were bloody brilliant! If you were still only thinking about going into teaching Y/n then you should definitely go for it."
"I agree." Hermione beamed proudly. "You did excellent."
Y/n just smiled happy with how the first group meeting had gone.