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“Ginny,” Hermione said as she gently shook her sleeping dorm mate. “Ginny, wake up.”

“Wha…” Ginny said as she sleepily opened one eye slightly to survey exactly where she was.

“Wake up or you won’t have time to find Harry before breakfast,” Hermione said.

As her head cleared and the reality of the situation began to seep into her, Ginny sat up and said, “Oh my goodness, Hermione. I was going to try to wake up early enough to go to the room of requirement with Harry. You should have woken me up sooner.”

“I tried,” Hermione said with a shrug. “You were really out. You must have stayed up too late last night. You should have gone to bed when Harry did.”

“I was just so sure he was up to something,” Ginny said as she changed into her school robes. “I don’t know what it was. I just had a feeling he was going to try to sneak out last night.”

“What reason would you have for thinking that?” Hermione asked.

“I didn’t have a reason,” Ginny answered. “I told you, it was just a feeling. When he went off to bed, I got the strangest feeling he was hiding something.”

“Harry?” Hermione asked with a grin. “Now when have you ever known Harry to have a secret that he doesn’t let the rest of us in on?”

“I see what you mean,” Ginny responded with a grin of her own. “I guess I was just being paranoid. It doesn’t stop me from wanting to know what all of his secrets are though.”

“I think that may be one of the things about Ron that I love so much,” Hermione said. “He never keeps anything a secret for long.”

“Except, of course, his secret of how he felt about you,” Ginny teased.

“Let’s not even get into that one,” Hermione said with a smile. “Still, he didn’t hide his feelings for me as well as Harry hid his for you.”

“To tell you the truth,” Ginny said, “I don’t know if Harry did hide his feelings for me. Up until this past summer, I don’t think he had ever bothered to look at me as anything other that Ron’s little sister. I’ll never forget the look on his face when we went to pick him up from the Dursley’s. I think I knew right then that he loved me. That was when I knew that, if he gave me the chance, I was going to love him to the end of my days.”

“So, have you heard anything about that lately?” Hermione asked.
“Are there going to be wedding bells chiming for the two of you any time soon?”

“Not that I’ve been made aware of,” Ginny said with a smile. “I think we both want to get married some day though. It’s just a matter of finding the right time. I do still have another year here at Hogwarts you know.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Hermione said. “You two will have to spend the entire school year apart from each other. That won’t do at all. He’ll have too much time to come up with new secrets. You’ll never get caught up on all of them.”

“Speaking of that,” Ginny began as she put down the brush she had just ran through her hair, “I had better go and find him before he makes a new one.”

Ginny and Hermione walked out of their dorm room smiling and began to descend the stairs into the common room. Ginny was the first to emerge into the common room, and what she saw there made her stop in her tracks.

“Mum?” Ginny asked. “Dad? What are you doing here?”

“Good morning, Ginny dear,” Molly said with a smile. “Did you rest well?”

“Fine,” Ginny responded as she noticed that her parents were both wearing their dress robes. She also noticed that a small crowd was gathered there to watch whatever was going to happen. It wasn’t every day that parents visited their children at Hogwarts, and nearly unheard of that they would be in the house common room.

“Ginny, your mother and I have something that we need to discuss with you,” Arthur said with just a hint of a grin.

“What is it?” Ginny asked. “No one has been hurt have they?”

“Oh no,” Arthur said quickly. “It’s nothing like that. You’ll have to forgive us. This is just a bit awkward.”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Ginny said.

“We’ve come here this morning to inform you that we have spoken with a young man named Harry Potter…” Arthur began.

“Since when is he Harry Potter to you instead of just Harry?” Ginny asked cutting him off.

“If you will let me finish I’ll tell you,” Arthur said a bit impatiently. “Now where was I? Ah yes. …a young man named Harry Potter and we have given permission for him to begin a formal courtship with you.”

“What?” Ginny asked, confused. “Isn’t that what we’ve been doing already?”

“Oh no dear,” Molly said, barely able to contain her excitement. “A formal courtship will be very different. If you want it to be that is. You see, what Harry has done by requesting this courtship, is to put your relationship with him completely under your control. He has agreed to do anything that you ask of him to prove his love for you. When you feel like you have got all that you have asked for, and you still want the relationship, it is up to you to tell him when you are ready to get married. It is his responsibility then to offer you a formal proposal.”

“What?” Ginny asked, amazed as whispered conversations broke out all over the common room.

“There hasn’t been a wizard enter into this type of an agreement in more than one hundred and fifty years,” Arthur said. “You can imagine why that would be. Apparently, women would sometimes get to asking a bit too much from the men. Keep that in mind young lady. I think Harry was a brave man for entering into this kind of thing.”

“I would just ask you to keep in mind that part of our agreement in this matter,” Molly began, “is to pay for your wedding, if you should decide to marry him that is. I would just like to point out that we are currently in the middle of plans for your brother’s wedding. If possible I would like to get that one out of the way first.”

“Wait a minute,” Ginny said, still not believing what she was hearing. “Are you telling me that I could marry Harry while I’m still in school?”

“You could do it this morning if you wanted it,” Arthur said. “Special rules apply in this case that would override the age limits for marriage. I would strongly advise against it though, if that was what you were thinking. You’re poor mum would fall to pieces.”

“Don’t worry, dad,” Ginny said still in a bit of a daze. “I won’t get married until sometime after Ron and Hermione.”

“Good,” Arthur said relieved. “I’ll have to make a trip to Gringotts to check on our finances, and I’ll let you know what we’ll be able to do by that time.”

“I’m so happy for you, Ginny,” Molly said, failing to hold back her tears any longer as she hugged her daughter.

“I just keep thinking that someone is going to wake me up,” Ginny said.

“I’ve already done that,” Hermione said. “Unless we’re both dreaming.”

Fifteen minutes later, Ginny found herself, still in a daze that she couldn’t seem to snap out of, walking down the last flight of stairs that would take her to the Great Hall. She couldn’t think of why she was going there, but Hermione was somewhere near by talking about how wonderfully the day was starting out. All Ginny could do was to nod numbly as her brain tried to make sense of what she had learned.

Ginny’s mind cleared almost instantly, as she stopped and looked at the black-haired green-eyed boy who stood outside the Great Hall waiting on her. She was going to marry Harry Potter. As she looked into Harry’s eyes, she felt a warmth flood in her body, and she knew that it would indeed be hard to wait until after Ron and Hermione were married.
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Harry walked over to where Ginny stood staring at him, and grinned as he stuck out his arm and asked, “May I escort you to breakfast Miss Weasley?”

Ginny grinned back and put her arm though Harry’s as she said, “I would be delighted Mr. Potter.”

Harry escorted Ginny to the table and held her hand to assist her as she sat down on the bench before he asked, “May I join you, Miss Weasley.”

“Only on one condition, Mr. Potter,” Ginny responded. “You have to drop the formality and just call me Ginny.”

“As you wish,” Harry said with a slight bow.

“Any pet names you may think of may be used as will as well,” Ginny said with a smile. “Now sit down Harry so we can eat.”

Harry sat next to Ginny as Hermione and Ron sat across from them and giggled quietly.

“I’m sorry, Harry,” Ron said with a smile. “You must have gone nutters to have agreed to something like this.”

“Oh, Ron,” Hermione said. “It’s only the most romantic thing a man could do for the person he loves. You really have to trust that person to do it though. I have to admit that. What made you think of doing this Harry?”

“Actually, I didn’t know anything about wizard courting until I talked to Professor Dumbledore yesterday,” Harry said. “I told him that I was planning to ask Ginny’s parents for permission to marry her, and I asked him if he had any advice as to how I should go about it. He told me that it was a custom that not many people followed any more to ask the parents before they asked the woman. He started telling me about how things used to be done, and explained about the whole courting procedure. It was perfect for me. It was exactly what I wanted to say. From the day she came to pick me up at the Dursley’s, I knew that I would give her anything she wanted if I could. This is my chance to prove that I mean it.”

“You are a fool, Harry,” Ginny said, “a big lovely fool. You didn’t need to do this to prove your love to me. I felt it the first time we touched this summer.”

“So did I,” Harry said. “I just want you to know everything about me that you want before you make a decision about our future.”

A light went on inside of Ginny’s head and she smiled as she said, “I don’t believe it. You did this so I would have access to all of your secrets. You knew that I would ask about all of the things you keep hidden from us. Are you really ready to spill everything?"

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” Harry said. “I’m ready to do anything you ask of me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ginny said as she squeezed Harry’s hand. “Actually, there is one thing that I’d like for you to agree to do for me right now.”

“Name it,” Harry said.

“Start teaching the D.A. again,” Ginny said. “Tuesday’s were for third, fourth and fifth years if memory serves me correctly. You can start tonight.”

“Consider it done,” Harry said as he bit off a bit of his bacon. “Hermione, I trust I can leave it to you to let everyone know that the old schedule is back on.”

“Sure,” Hermione said. “I’d say there will be quite a few people who take you up on the classes now, Harry. Maybe even more than before as people start to realize how soon the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. tests are coming up.”

“I’ll be ready for it,” Harry said. “We’re going to need all of the help we can get fighting the death eaters. I think it’s about time to turn this club into a real army. We’ll be dueling tonight, so I could use all of your help with it.”

“You can count on us, Harry,” Ron said. “Word has gotten around about what you did in your dueling test the other day. I don’t know if you’ll have much luck making the sixth and seventh years wait until Sunday for their lesson.”

“Just let them know that the Sunday class will be a double one to get them caught up on where they need to be,” Harry said.

“Just don’t forget about your tutorials on Sunday, Harry,” Hermione said.

“I haven’t forgotten,” Harry said. “There’s plenty of time for both. I owe it to them, Hermione. I should have been teaching that class all year long, but I seem to have had one thing or another that took me away from Hogwarts. Now that I’m here, I plan on using what time I have left to prepare them for what is coming.”

Throughout breakfast, word spread beyond the boundaries of the Gryffindor table of the situation Ginny and Harry were in. It didn’t take long for Ginny, who wasn’t as used to the stares as Harry, to want to leave the Great Hall.

“I had better be running along to class,” Ginny said. “I’ve got double transfiguration this morning.”

“Would you mind if I walked you to class?” Harry asked. “I could carry your books for you if you wanted.”

Ginny smiled and said, “This is going to take some getting used to, Harry. I’m not used to someone following my every command. I would be very pleased to have you walk me to class. On the way there, I have a couple of questions you can answer for me.”

“Anything you say, Ginny,” Harry said as he stood and took Ginny’s books and began to walk away with her. “What would you like to know first?”

Ron and Hermione had to laugh as they watched Harry and Ginny walk away. They both had the feeling that Ginny would soon learn more about Harry and his secrets than they could imagine. They were still laughing when Neville and Luna sat down where Harry and Ginny had been.

“Is it true what they’re saying about Harry and Ginny?” Neville asked. “Has Harry really agreed to do anything she asks him to?”

“Yes,” Hermione said. “It’s true.”

“I always knew he was brave,” Neville said, “but I never thought he was that brave.”

“So you’re saying that you wouldn’t have that much trust in me then?” Luna asked.

“Uh…” Neville stammered. “No. I mean yes. I mean… I would trust you is what I mean.”

“It’s okay, Neville,” Luna said with a smile. “I love you anyway.”

Neville blushed deeply and said, “I love you too. It’s just that my Gran would freak if I did something like that. I don’t have any secrets from you anyway. I’ve told you things I’ve never told anyone before.”

“I may have to have a talk with Harry about this,” Ron said with a grin. “He’s making the rest of us look bad. Every girl in the school is going to be asking their boyfriends if they would do it for them. Now how is a guy supposed to answer a question like that?”

“At least you don’t have to worry, Ron,” Hermione said. “You’re already getting married.”

Ron’s grin turned into a wide smile as he said, “I couldn’t be happier about it either.”

Professor McGonagall walked into the Great Hall, and walked quickly to where the four Gryffindors sat laughing. Hermione saw her coming and had a sudden fear that something had happened, and she was looking for Harry.

“Mr. Longbottom,” McGonagall began, “the Headmaster needs to speak with you in his office right away.”

Neville swallowed hard, trying to think of what he could have done as he asked, “W… W… Would it be alright if Luna came with me?”

McGonagall looked as if she was about to say no, but she stopped herself and said, “Perhaps it would be a good idea if Miss Lovegood accompanies you after all.”

“I’ll be late to transfiguration if I do, Professor,” Luna said. “It’s my first class today.”

“I think you should plan to miss all of your classes today,” McGonagall said. “I will inform your other teachers about your absence.”

Ron and Hermione sat there and watched until Neville and Luna had followed Professor McGonagall out of the Great Hall.

“That was strange,” Ron said. “I wonder what that was about.”

“There’s only one thing it could be,” Hermione said, the sadness evident in her voice. “He can’t be in trouble for anything. If he were, Professor McGonagall never would have allowed Luna to go with him. Did you see her reaction when he asked if Luna could go with him? She was about to say no, and then she thought better of it. Why else would they be gone for the entire day? It’s Neville’s grandmother. Something must have happened to her.”

“I hope you’re wrong, Hermione,” Ron said. “I don’t know if Neville could take something like that even if Luna was at his side.”
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Harry and Ginny walked hand in hand into the Great Hall for dinner, and were not surprised to see that many of the heads of those already there turned to watch them. Harry had learned to tune such a thing out through years of practice, but Ginny was still dealing with it as best she could. She had been pressed for details of what she was planning to make Harry do all day, as well as had an assortment of tortures proposed by those who thought it would be funny to see any guy squirm a bit. She had no need of them though, Harry had done everything she had asked of him all day long without complaint. By dinnertime, she thought that she must certainly know almost every secret Harry had kept hidden from them all.

“Well, I see that you’ve survived the first day, mate,” Ron said to Harry as he and Ginny sat down.

“Of course I have,” Harry said.

“I told you she wasn’t going to torture him, Ron,” Hermione said.

“Well I couldn’t very well rough him up before the D.A. meeting tonight,” Ginny said with a grin. “He’s missed too many of them already, and I’m going to make sure he doesn’t miss another one.”

“I assume you’ve already passed the word about the meeting tonight, Hermione,” Harry said.

“Everything is set, Harry,” Hermione said. “As we expected, several of the sixth and seventh years didn’t want to wait until Sunday for their class. I think we convinced them with the double class though.”

“Great,” Harry said.

“I hope Neville is back in time, and in a condition to get to the class on Sunday,” Ron said. “I know that he’s been looking forward to it starting up again.”

“I wouldn’t worry about Neville,” Ginny said. “Luna will take care of him.”

“I wish we knew why he left today,” Ron said. “I just feel like there should be something we could do for the poor guy. I heard a rumor that he had to floo over to St. Mungo’s.”

“I’m sure they’ll let us know if there’s anything we can do for him,” Harry said. “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions though. It may be nothing.”

Hermione and Ron sat and stared at Harry for a few seconds before Hermione said, “You know something don’t you, Harry?”

“What makes you think that?” Harry asked.

“Because you just answered my question with another question,” Hermione said. “You only do that when you’re hiding something.”

“Go on, Ginny,” Ron said, “make him tell you what he knows.”

“Harry has told me all he needs to for now,” Ginny said with a grin.

“Oh come on,” Ron said. “You know whatever it is too? Maybe it isn’t such a good thing that you two spend so much time together. You hang around him for too long, and you start keeping secrets with him?”

“Harry has told me quite a few things that I asked him about,” Ginny said. “Now that I know some of the things he’s been keeping from us, I don’t blame him at all for not telling us about them. Some other things I choose to keep quiet about just to annoy you, dear brother.”

Harry left the Great Hall early enough to give him time to conjure everything he would need for the D.A. class. Ginny had wanted to walk Harry to the class, but Harry reminded her of the Potions essay she needed to get done. So, he left her in the care of Hermione and Ron to make sure she got back to the common room.

Minutes later, Harry was standing at the head of the room he had conjured, and he looked out at the faces of the students who had come to learn what he had to teach. He briefly wondered if they had any idea what he had in store for them that night. It was a night that would certainly determine if they really wanted to be there or not.

“Many of you have attended the D.A. classes before,” Harry said. “Tonight we’ll move beyond those previous classes. Outside the walls of this school there is a war raging. Voldemort and his death eaters are spreading fear throughout the wizarding community once again. From now on, this class will be concerned with one thing and one thing only. I will do what I can to prepare you to fight in this war. By the time I’m done with you, you will have learned how to work together to defeat your enemies. You will need to work together, because none of you are ready to fight one of the death eaters one on one. You have to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and use them to your advantage in a battle.

“The first thing I can tell you, is that you need to know as much about your enemy as you can before you ever duel. Tonight we’ll learn about three of the most dangerous death eaters you may face.”

Harry waved his hand, and all of the students took in a sharp breath as three death eaters appeared next to Harry. It was several seconds later before they realized that the death eaters were as still as statues, as if they were frozen in place.

“Allow me to introduce you,” Harry said. “Lucius Malfoy. He’s the brains of the death eaters. If you meet a group of them, he’ll be the one giving the orders. Don’t let that fool you though. He can still duel with the best of them. He’s ruthless. He would kill you with the killing curse without giving it a second thought. His weakness is his arrogance. If he gets the upper hand on you in a battle, he’ll stop to gloat about it before he finishes you off. It may only give you a couple of seconds to escape, but, if used wisely, that can be more than enough time.

“Antonin Dolohov, probably the most consistent fighter among the death eaters. His power is not to be underestimated. You can’t depend on him to make a mistake, because he won’t. He can be just a cruel as Malfoy, but he won’t spend time talking to you. He’ll go for the quick kill every time. You’ll have to be on your toes if you get near him. The very focus and determination that make him such a formidable opponent can also be used against him. He’ll focus in on one target and fail to notice an attack from his flank or rear. Working as a team is the only way that you may be able to survive against him.

“Last but not least, Bellatrix Lestrange. She’s an extremely powerful and knowledgeable witch. She was trained in the dark arts by Voldemort himself. Out of them all, she is the one that you should fear the most. Her loyalty to Voldemort is absolute, and any insult of him will set off her extremely quick temper. Unlike Dolohov, who likes to go for the quick kill, Bellatrix enjoys causing pain to her victims before she kills them. She’ll toy with you until you think you have a clear shot, and then she’ll strike. Her favorite spell to use if she’s only trying to cause you pain is the Cruciatus Curse. Believe me, you don’t want to feel the pain she can inflict with that curse. She’s driven people mad with it in the past. One of her greatest assets can also be one of her greatest weaknesses. She is extremely quick. She can toss out two spells in the time it takes most people to do one. You will spend much of your time against her just trying to defend yourself. She can be too quick for her own good though. It may be possible to lead her into a trap before she has time to realize one is being set for her.

“You will come to know these and other death eaters very well over the next few weeks. While in this class they will act as your main dueling partners. In the past I have had you partner against each other, but it is now time for you to get a taste of what dueling in a battle is really like. It won’t be easy, and it will be just a bit dangerous, so if any of you want to, you can leave before we get started.”

Harry looked around the room at the excitement on the faces of the young students before him. None of them moved at all. By the end of the class, he knew that some of them would wish that they had.

“We’ll get started then,” Harry said as he waved his hand and all of the death eaters except Malfoy vanished. “We’ll start with Malfoy. I need five volunteers to go in the first group.”

Harry grinned as five times the number he needed raised their hands instantly. He pointed to five of them in the front of the class and motioned for everyone else to step back and give them plenty of room. Harry put up a shield charm that would protect those not participating in the exercise, as the chosen five spread out in a straight line in front of Malfoy with their wands drawn.

“Begin,” Harry said.

An instant later, Lucius Malfoy came to life, and reached inside his robes for his wand. Less than ten seconds later, Malfoy went as still has he had been before the duel began.

“Ennervate,” Harry said as he pointed his wand at the five students sprawled out on the floor. “I guess it was a good idea to start by only allowing him to use stunning spells. If this had been the real thing, I would have some really angry parents on my hands.”

“I thought you said Bellatrix Lestrange was the quick one,” one of the fifth year volunteers said as he shook his head in an attempt to clear away the fog.

“She is,” Harry said. “Welcome to the real world of dueling. There is no marching off of ten paces in a real battle. There won’t be anyone to check to make sure both sides are ready. Your opponent may be two hundred meters from you, or he may be two centimeters away. You have to be ready to fight under any circumstances. Does anyone have any idea what they did wrong?”

A small third year girl shyly raised her hand and said, “They didn’t have a shield up?”

“Exactly,” Harry said with a smile. “I would have thought you all would know by now to always keep a shield up when there is a possible danger. Hasn’t Professor Bane stunned all of you enough yet? Still, if this had been an actual battle, your shields wouldn’t have helped you much against the killing curse anyway. I’m sure you all remember the attack on Hermione Granger earlier in this school year. What many of you may not know is that it was the killing curse that she was hit with before she fell over the railing. The only reason she wasn’t killed instantly was the fact that she put up an exceptionally strong shield in time to deflect a portion of the spell’s potency. I’ll teach you that shield charm later on once we’ve gotten past the stunning level.

“Another thing you all may want to keep in mind, is that the easiest target is one that stands still directly in front of you. The last group met their attacker in a straight line, making it easy for Malfoy to identify the extent of the threat immediately, and decide on a course of action very quickly. Remember that a moving target is more difficult to hit than a stationary one, even for an experienced wizard. Also, spread out to attack from different angles all the way around your enemy. Having to turn around to search out a target should slow his attack considerably. Now, do I have five more volunteers that want to give it a try?”

Harry looked out and noticed that, the number of hands that went up immediately were fewer in number than the last round had been. Harry picked another five, and they stepped forward cautiously. Harry backed away along with the remainder of the students. He was pleased to see that they were taking his advice about surrounding their opponent.

“Begin,” Harry said once again with a wave of his hand.
Once Malfoy came back to life and began firing stunning spells at the students, Harry watched as the students ran all around Malfoy slowing down his response time. The students were proud that they had withstood the attack this time using their shields, but became frustrated when they discovered that Malfoy had his own shield to protect him from the stunning spells they were sending at him. Malfoy too noticed that his efforts were wasted, and resorted to a tactic the other students were not expecting.

Before any of them had time to react, Malfoy dashed straight at a fourth year Ravenclaw, and grabbed her from behind as he put the point of his wand to the girl’s temple. The rest of the students were so surprised, that they stopped what they had been doing and stared at the frightened girl being held roughly by the death eater.

“Are you having trouble believing that someone would resort to such a thing?” Harry asked as he walked back to the center of the room. “Always expect something like this if you have a death eater losing a battle with a group of attackers. You have to expect the unexpected. The thing you can’t do, is exactly what you did. Be aware at all times if you get into range for them to attack you like this, and do your best to make sure you don’t give them the chance to grab you. The tactic worked for him unfortunately. There may come a time in the midst of battle when one of your friends may fall or be captured as one was here, but you can’t afford to stop your attack. That was exactly what he was counting on. You stop your attack, and you are suddenly a stationary target once again. Don’t be fooled just because we’re only using stunning spells right now. If this were a real battle most of you would be dead right now just because you stopped and presented him with a target. Once most of you were dead and the rest were diving for cover, he would have killed his hostage and used her body as a shield against whatever attack you may still try to mount.”

“Uh, Harry?” Rachel, the girl being held by Malfoy, said. “Is it okay if I move now?”

“Sure,” Harry said with a grin. “He isn’t going to harm anyone for a few minutes. I have to tell you that, although most if not all of you would have just died in a real battle, this last attempt was a marked improvement over the last one. Don’t feel too bad about it though. I didn’t exactly do a stellar job the first time I faced off against the death eaters myself. By the time I’m done with you, I dare say that you will do much better.”

The rest of the evening was spent letting everyone in the class have a go at Malfoy. Harry pointed out the good and the bad things from each turn, and began letting the students use spells other than stunning spells to subdue their enemy. Time after time they tried and failed, but each time they tried brought them closer to their goal. It really threw them when Harry gave Malfoy the ability to use a shield disrupting charm so that his stunning spells were able to get through their shields. He explained to them that it was very unlikely that they would be facing a stunning spell from a death eater, and they needed to practice not being hit by whatever spell they had thrown at them.

By the time they all left, they were exhausted and sore from being stunned so many times, but their spirits were high. Harry had been right. They were getting better. By the time they left, almost every group had succeeded in capturing Malfoy. It was true that they had yet to do so with all of their original team still standing, but they listened to Harry’s advice, and they were starting to anticipate the moves of their teammates. They left knowing that they were on their way to becoming a significant force that few would be able to stand against. Though it would likely take them until the next Tuesday to recover, they all made plans to return to the next class.

The thing that Harry was most pleased with was the way each group began to work together as a cohesive unit without regard to what house colors they wore. He was especially pleased to see the way that the students from the other houses accepted the four Slytherin students so easily within their ranks.

The door to the room of requirement disappeared behind Harry as he walked down the stairs. He felt a great satisfaction with what he was doing. He had so many things he wanted to teach the other students, but knew that he would have to focus his efforts for the short time he had left at Hogwarts. He began his trek back to Gryffindor tower knowing that he had a completely different dueling structure in mind for the other D.A. classes. He had several days to plan them, so he would be sure to be ready when the time came.

By lunchtime the next day, word of Harry’s training of the third, fourth and fifth year students had gotten around to every corner of the school. He wasn’t worried though. He didn’t have to keep it a secret the way he did back in the dark days when Delores Umbridge stalked through the halls of Hogwarts. As long as no one was permanently injured, there was nothing anyone could do about it to stop him. So far, none of the teachers seemed interested in trying to. Even Snape failed to comment on it one way or the other when he had seen him earlier that morning. Professor Bane was elated. It turned out that the special project he had wanted to propose to Harry was to tutor some of the students in preparation for their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s.

Harry had gotten a heads up from Cassidy that Draco was furious about Harry’s use of his father in the D.A. training. So far, Draco had yet to make his feeling on the matter known to Harry in person. Harry knew that that likely wouldn’t last though. He was making sure to keep a shield charm active at all times just in case.

“So where is Hermione anyway, Ron?” Ginny asked. “It isn’t normal to see you two apart during meal times.”

“Oh, she spilled some ink on her robes and went to change them,” Ron said as he piled food on his plate. “I offered to walk with her, but she told me to go ahead and eat since it wouldn’t take her that long to change.”

“So, Harry,” Ginny began, “have you planned what we’re going to do in the D.A. class on Sunday? You seem to have caused quite a stir with the one last night.”

“Actually, I know exactly what I’m going to do with the class on Sunday, Ginny,” Harry answered. “It will be considerably different from the other one.”

“It sounds as though you may be creating a monster with those third, fourth and fifth years, Harry,” Ron said as he swallowed a bit of food. “They’re walking around the school as if they were ready to take on the world.”

“I wouldn’t worry about them too much, Ron,” Harry said unable to hide a grin. “They won’t feel quite so cocky after their next class session. Last night was just a warm-up.”

Hermione ran into the Great hall and over to Harry, Ron and Ginny and said, “I can’t believe I was so wrong. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.”

“Slow down, Hermione,” Ron pleaded. “What are you talking about?”

“Neville,” Hermione answered. “It wasn’t his grandmother at all. An owl delivered this to me while I was upstairs changing into fresh robes.”

Hermione put the copy of the Quibbler down onto the table for all of them to see the story on the front page.
You Can’t Keep a Longbottom Down


St. Mungo’s has chalked up another miracle recovery to it’s history book. Just over one month after the astounding recovery of Harry Potter from his incredible injuries, the healers of St. Mungo’s have announced the recovery of Frank and Alice Longbottom from injuries sustained more than sixteen years ago at the hands of well known death eater Bellatrix Lestrange. Previously thought to be unrecoverable due to the extensive damage done to their minds after being tortured with the Cruciatus Curse, healers are now expecting a full recovery to be imminent.

Details are still sketchy as to the reason for the sudden turn around of the Longbottom’s condition. Healers tell us that it was accomplished using a new regimen of treatment that had not been attempted before. They have refused to reveal any details about the treatment fearing that it could prove dangerous in the wrong hands.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any stranger, though that is what we specialize in here at The Quibbler, it seems that there may be some connection with this case to Harry Potter. There is a rumor floating around some of the portraits lining the halls of St. Mungo’s, that it was none other than the-boy-who-lived himself that first proposed the new mystery treatment. Healers have refused to comment on that rumor in any way other than to say that Mr. Potter did inquire about the health of the Longbottoms while he was hospitalized there. Healers insist that he was simply checking up on the condition of the parents of friend and fellow Hogwarts student Neville Longbottom.

Neville learned of the recovery of his parents yesterday morning, and has remained at their bedside ever since. He described the moment when he learned the news of his parents condition change as, “the happiest day of my life”.

“Wow,” Ron said amazed. “And here we were feeling all sorry for Neville. Little did we know that we should be having a party for him.”

“I think that would be a great idea, Ron,” Hermione said. “We should start planning it tonight if we want to have it ready by the time he gets back, whenever that may be.”

“I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more,” Ginny said.

“So, Harry,” Ron began with a sly look as if he was about to pry into something, “is it true? Did you tell the healers how to cure the Longbottoms?”

“You always have been a sucker for rumor, haven’t you, mate,” Harry said. “You heard what the paper said. I was just asking about the parents of a friend.”

“What about the letters you’ve been sending to Healer Snagprat?” Hermione asked.

“So who says I still have to be in St. Mungo’s to inquire about them?” Harry asked in response.

“You’re answering a question with a question again, Harry,” Hermione said. “Ginny, make him tell you the truth.”

“Actually, I asked him about that yesterday morning,” Ginny said with a grin.

“And?” Hermione asked anxious to hear what he said.

“And I heard all I needed to hear,” Ginny said unable to control her smile.

“Oh, you two,” Hermione said in frustration. “You two were definitely meant for each other.”

“I like to think so,” Ginny said still smiling.

Ron just looked at Harry with a knowing grin and said, “You’re a good man, mate. You’re a good man.”

Later that evening, Harry sat in the Gryffindor common room with Ginny, Ron and Hermione trying to plan an appropriate celebration for Neville’s return. They were just finalizing their plans when an excited fifth year girl who had been in the previous day’s D.A. class stepped into the common room and walked over to where they sat.

“Hi, Meagan,” Harry said as she neared where he sat. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Meagan responded. “I just thought you would want to know that Luna Lovegood just got back.”

“Is Neville with her?” Harry asked.

“No,” Meagan said. “I asked her if he was coming back tonight, but she said he was going to stay at St. Mungo’s until his parents were released.”

“I guess we can’t really blame him for that,” Ginny said. “He’s grown up his entire life without his parents. If I were in his position, I wouldn’t be quite ready to leave them either.”

“She said they were expecting to release his parents by next Monday,” Meagan said.

“Well that should give us plenty of time to set up for his party,” Ron said.

“It’s a shame really,” Harry said surprising them all. “I was hoping he would be back for the D.A. class on Sunday.”

“Well, if it’s anything like the one yesterday,” Meagan began, “he’ll be sorry he missed it.”

“I take it you enjoyed the class then,” Hermione said.

“I wasn’t enjoying it much when I first woke up this morning,” Meagan said with a smile. “Most of the soreness wore off as the day went on though. I’m ready for another class tonight if Harry wants to teach one.”

“Sorry, Meagan,” Harry said with a grin. “I’m going to be busy tonight. I’m still trying to answer all of the get-well cards I got when I was in St. Mungo’s.”

“Oh,” Meagan said as she blushed suddenly. “Well if you get to the one I sent you, you don’t need to send me a response. I’m just glad you’re back. Well, I’ll leave you all alone now.”

“You don’t have to,” Ginny said. “You’re welcome to stay if you want.”

“Oh, no,” Meagan said blushing even deeper and beginning to fidget. “I think I’ll just… uh… turn in early.”

They all watched as Meagan nearly ran for the stairs to the girl’s dormitories, and Hermione said, “You had better watch out, Harry. I think you have another admirer.”

“I know,” Harry said. “I opened her letter earlier today. I was just trying to think of how to respond to it.”

All of the sixth and seventh years spent the rest of the week growing more and more anxious to find out what Harry was planning for their Sunday D.A. meeting. They had all heard about what he had done with the younger students, and couldn’t wait to know what they would be up against.

The students in the room of requirement stood trying to control all of their pent up anticipation as Harry stepped to the head of the room and said, “By now I suspect that you have all heard about the D.A. class on Tuesday. Most of you are probably wondering if you are in for the same training. I will tell you right now that what we do here tonight will be very different in some ways, and similar in others. I have begun to train the younger students to work efficiently in small groups to take on the death eaters. Most of them are not yet skilled enough to think of fighting a death eater on their own yet, so they will combine their talents to make them more effective. For you however, I have something different in mind. I will train you to fight the death eaters one on one. We don’t have much time to train before Voldemort attacks, so we will be having double D.A. meetings every Sunday until the end of school.”

There was a collective gasp from the group at the mention of Voldemort’s impending attack and Cassidy was the first to step forward and ask, “How do you know Voldemort will attack soon? And what makes you think he would attack us here at Hogwarts?”

“I know he will attack soon because I can feel it,” Harry said as he reached up to touch his scar. “He’ll attack here, because that’s where I am. The thing he wants more than anything in the world is to kill me.”

Just then, they all jumped as the door to the room creaked open. They all relaxed when they saw who it was.

“I heard there was going to be a D.A. meeting tonight,” Neville said as he closed the door. “I hope I didn’t miss it.”

“You’re right on time, Neville,” Harry said with a smile. “Welcome back.”

“Thanks, Harry,” Neville said looking at Harry. “Thanks for everything.”

Neville walked over to where Luna was standing just as Cassidy said, “I still don’t get it, Harry. I’m just as aware as anyone how much Voldemort must hate you, but why would he risk everything by attacking Hogwarts while Professor Dumbledore is here, just to get to you?”

“It goes beyond hate, Cassidy,” Hermione said. “You’ll just have to trust Harry. There are things you don’t know.”

“But I think the time has come,” Harry began, “when she should. You all should know why I am so certain that Voldemort will come after me. When Voldemort was at the height of his power years ago, there was a prophecy made that concerned the two of us.”

Harry spent the next few minutes telling the stunned group everything he could about the prophecy, how and why his scar had hurt over the years, and the details of their past meetings. Once he had stopped his tale, it was several seconds before anyone moved to speak.

“I can’t believe you suffered through that for so many years and you never told us, Harry,” Seamus said. “We’ve slept in the same dorm for seven years now and none of us knew. God, half of the time I thought you were just crazy, but all those times your scar was hurting.”

“I didn’t want anyone to know, Seamus,” Harry said. “Ron and Hermione were the only ones who knew about it along with a few of the teachers. I didn’t want to get the rest of you involved. I didn’t want to give Voldemort a reason to hurt anyone else. I wouldn’t have told you tonight, but the time has come when you all needed to know. The battle is coming, and I’m going to need your help if we’re going to win it.”

“You can count on me, Harry,” Neville said. “I’ll stand beside you.”

“No you won’t,” Harry said. “I want to make that clear to everyone right now. I’m going to train you to fight the death eaters, but under no circumstances are any of you to attempt to fight Voldemort. That will be my fight. That is what I’m training for. I don’t want anyone even close by when Voldemort and I meet.”

“Then we had better get to the training if we’re going to fight the death eaters,” Cassidy said with a slight tone that made Harry wonder if she was really giving up so easily.

“Then let’s begin,” Harry said with a wave of his hand that caused the room to change into the same forest setting Harry had used for his dueling test with Professor Bane.

Four hours later, a weary and humbled group of students, some with some minor burn marks on their robes, emerged from the room of requirement. They had heard about what Harry had done with the class earlier in the week, but what they had just been through made that class look like a cake walk. They all just hoped Professor Bane didn’t ask them to do anything on Monday morning that would require them to be alert and agile.

The next evening, Harry found himself back in the room of requirement facing a very nervous group of first and second year students. They had all seen the condition of their housemates that had attended previous classes, and they were slightly scared that they wouldn’t survive the night.

“Welcome to the D.A.,” Harry said with a gentle smile that served to relax some of them somewhat. “I know that you all may be wondering what might be in store for you tonight. The first thing I need you to do is to relax. Take a few deep breaths and calm your nerves. You won’t be dueling as fiercely as the other two D.A. classes, so you don’t need to worry about any stories you may have heard. I am going to train you to perform a very specific task. I won’t be asking any of you to try to battle a death eater. You can leave that to the other two classes. Let them do the fighting. What I need you to learn to do is to protect. I am going to be teaching you some of the most advanced shield charms ever devised. Some of them haven’t even been made known to the general wizarding world. Don’t think you are getting off easy though. These charms won’t be easy for you by any stretch of the imagination. Many of them are difficult for fully trained wizards, but if you work hard at it, you’ll be able to block any spell thrown at you.

“Your job, should the death eaters attack, will be to spread out among those not involved in the battle and conjure a shield strong enough to protect them. I’ll teach you how to band together to combine your shields to protect large areas. Don’t think of yourself as the last line of defense. For those innocent people you will be saving, you are their first line of defense.”

“But what if we can’t produce a strong enough shield, sir?” a first year Hufflepuff boy asked meekly.

“You can call me Harry, David,” Harry said with a smile, surprising him that he knew his name. “I’m not a professor. I’m just a student like you. You just give me a chance to teach you, and I’ll guarantee that you’ll produce a shield more than strong enough. Is it a deal?”

“Deal,” David said with a smile and eyes full of trust.

“Great,” Harry said. “That goes for all of you. Even if you’ve had trouble with your shields in other classes, I’m willing to bet that there will be an improvement for all of you by the end of this class. If there isn’t, you can call me an idiot and we can move on to anything you like.”

“So where do we start?” David asked, all anxiety gone and replaced with excitement.

“Why don’t we start with one that I developed myself over the summer,” Harry said with a smile. “I can tell you that no one below seventh year has seen this one. You will be the youngest wizards and witches to ever attempt it. Even better than that, it isn’t difficult to do, and it is as strong as any shield ever taught in a class here at Hogwarts. You master this shield, and even the killing curse won’t be able to touch you.”

Gasps and mutterings erupted from the students to match their wide eyes. They knew then that Harry had saved a very important duty for them. They may not be dueling like the older students, but Harry was about to teach them something that even they would be envious of.

“I do have to ask one thing of you before I teach you this spell,” Harry said, bringing their attention back to him. “I need all of you to agree not to mention this spell to anyone outside of this room. If word of this spell should reach the ears of the enemy, it could prove disastrous to our cause.”

David looked around the room and gauged the affirmative nods of his classmates before he turned to Harry with a new confidence and said, “You can count on us, Harry. We won’t let you down.”

“Then lets get started,” Harry said as he drew his wand. “Spread out a bit, and draw your wands. You are about to create a magic circle. Listen to what I say and watch very closely. Then give it a try.”

Two hours later, the first and second year D.A. students walked out of the room of requirement with a confidence they had not felt since they got to Hogwarts. Not only were they members of a secret army, they were a secret unit within that army that none of the other members would ever be aware of. They were so happy, it didn’t even bother them that they couldn’t tell anyone about what they were preparing for.

They weren’t the only ones that were happy though. Harry paused at the door and looked back at the room behind him, and smiled. He was as happy as he had been since the last time he saw Ginny. Sharing his knowledge with the students and seeing the look of accomplishment on their faces was something he would treasure forever.
Kafli 35
The Tuesday D.A. class met in the room of requirement once again to see what Harry would teach them that time. Some of them were a bit disappointed to enter the room to find Harry waiting on them standing next to the frozen figure of Lucius Malfoy once again.

“What’s the matter?” Harry asked the class. “You all look disappointed. I had heard that you were all looking forward to this class.”

“We dueled Malfoy last week,” Rachael said. “We were kind of hoping for something different this time.”

“Are you all sure?” Harry asked in mock surprise. “I thought you may want to master this death eater before we moved on to someone else. I’ll tell you what, lets start with Malfoy just to get warmed up and then I’ll see if I can bring something new into the class.”

Everyone in the class nodded their agreement, but some of them caught the look in Harry’s eyes and thought that perhaps it may have been a mistake to ask him to make things more difficult.

“I’ll need five volunteers,” Harry said as five people immediately stepped forward from the pack. “You will be the lucky group that gets to duel Malfoy first. Before we get started, I need another group of five to join in the fight later on.”

The students looked around at each other in a moment of surprise. He had never let a second group join in a duel before. Rachael stepped forward with her group to take up the second position.

Harry waved his hand and they all found themselves standing in a much different room. Harry gave them all a few seconds to look around the room and take in their new surroundings.

“You will notice that we have switched locations,” Harry said. “You are now standing in a room within the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. A couple of years ago, I was unfortunate enough to find myself here dueling with death eaters. If you look down the steps you will see the stone dais in the center if the room. In the real room of requirement there is a mysterious veil standing there. If you fall into the veil… Well, actually it is not known exactly what happens to a person who falls into it. Suffice it to say that the person leaves this world, and there, as yet, is no way to get them back. Obviously, I’m not going to have the veil present for our class, because of the danger to you all. Just know that anyone who falls onto the center dais will be considered dead and will not be allowed to continue with the exercise. Is everyone ready?”

“Harry,” Rachael began before he had told them to start, “when do we join in?”

Harry looked back at her with a grin that made them all cringe slightly and said, “You’ll know when. Trust me. You’ll know. Begin.”

The first group of five fanned out around the stepped room and aimed their spells at Malfoy, who ducked below the edge of a lower step to avoid the onslaught. Malfoy popped his head up and hit two of the students with spells that made their movement slow considerably before he ducked to avoid a barrage from the other three. There was nothing the remaining three students could do to stop Malfoy from popping up once again as he took aim at the two students struggling to move and knocked them out cold. The three remaining students were ready for him once he popped up and prepared to strike, when they heard a noise on the other side of the room. It sounded like voices talking from behind a door.

The next thing the students knew, the door exploded and Dolohov and Lestrange ran through it. The students had to lay down flat on the top step to avoid the incoming spells from the two unexpected death eaters. They were pinned down. They couldn’t move thanks to the constant stream of spells heading in their direction, and the two new arrivals were circling to close in on them.

“I would say that would be the cue you have been waiting for,” Harry said to the five students staring in disbelief.

A couple of seconds later, the five new students entered the fight and almost immediately two of them fell unconscious. One of them tripped as he tried to jump down the steps while firing off a spell. The three that had been pinned down took their opportunity to join in the fight again only to realize that they had been so concerned about the new death eaters that they had forgotten about Malfoy. A couple of seconds later another student went down as Malfoy found his mark.

Rachael had managed to make it around to where the first two students who had been stunned were laying and said, “Ennervate.”

They were dazed at first, but a couple of seconds was all it took to remind the recently revived students of where they were. One of them was able to launch a stunning spell that hit Malfoy in the back and took him out of the fight, only to fall stunned again after Bellatrix spotted his head pop up.

“Next five,” Harry said just as Dolohov hit Rachael with a spell that made her slip and tumble down the steps. “You had better get in there if they’re going to stand a chance.

Another group of five jumped forward and began to run into battle, but before they could scatter, Bellatrix hit them with a spell that knocked them all backwards and off of their feet. They scrambled to stand up, but Dolohov stunned three of them before they could get out of the way.

“Another five,” Harry said over the taunts that Bellatrix was yelling at the students she was battling.

Five more students joined the battle, but waited for a time when they knew that the attention of the two death eaters was focused somewhere else before doing so. They revived the three stunned from the previous group as they passed, and they felt that they may finally have sufficient numbers to mount a decent attack. It was only seconds later though, that they heard more voices coming from behind a door opposite the one Dolohov and Lestrange had entered through. They all braced for the worst as the door exploded as the other one had, and eight more death eaters they did not recognize ran in to join the fight.

“Okay class,” Harry said turning to those who still stood behind him, “I think perhaps all of you had better get in there now.”

Less than five minutes later, everything in the room went quiet as Rachael pushed herself up to a sitting position. She was acutely aware of the pain in her left shoulder that she had landed on when she had fallen to the bottom step at the base of the center dais. If her spirits were not low enough already, they sank even lower as she looked up and surveyed the steps around her. All of her D.A. classmates were lying unceremoniously draped over the steps throughout the room. She also could see the still figures of the death eaters standing around the top rim. A quick count showed her what she already feared. The entire class had entered into the battle, and other than Malfoy, they had only succeeded in stunning one other death eater. It was plain that they had let Harry down. They were not even close to being up to the challenge.

Rachael looked up once again to see Harry walking around the top levels and reviving students as he came to them. Once everyone had been revived, the room changed once again, and Rachael found herself sitting in a bed in the hospital wing. Several of her fellow students were also in beds nearby.

“Patch them up as soon as possible, Madam Pomfrey,” Harry said to the woman who had walked in to survey her new patients. “Class isn’t over yet and we have a great deal more to learn before it is.”

“I’ll do my best, Mr. Potter,” Madam Pomfrey said. “I don’t see anything too serious so far. To have this many students injured in one class would tend to suggest that perhaps the lesson was a bit too dangerous.”

“That it was,” Harry said. “I’ll try to take it easy on them from now on.”

“See that you do, Mr. Potter,” Pomfrey said. “I would hate to have to report something like this to the Headmaster.”

Harry grinned, having heard similar threats from the conjured Madame Pomfrey nearly every day over the past summer. Little did she suspect that he had little to fear from her threat. She would disappear from the room as soon as Harry was sure that all of the injuries had been mended.

“So,” Harry said as he walked over to Rachael’s bed, “how are you feeling?”

“I think my pride hurts more than anything else,” Rachael responded. “I’m really sorry, Harry. I know we let you down.”

“Not at all,” Harry said. “You all actually did better than I expected you to. I knew you weren’t ready for a fight like this yet. The only thing was that none of you knew it. All of you walked around ready to take on the world ever since the last class. This dueling exercise was just to show you that you may not be as ready as you think.”

“Will we ever be ready for a fight like that though?” Meagan asked as she and several other class members walked over to Rachael’s bed.

“In time, even a single group of five will be able to defeat all of the death eaters you faced today,” Harry responded surprising those who heard him. “That is, you will if you’ll trust me to know what you are all ready for when it comes to your training.”

“I certainly will,” Rachael said. “Anything to keep me from falling down any more steps.”

“I can’t promise that you won’t get a few more bumps and bruises during this training though,” Harry said. “At least there won’t be any more today. As soon as Madame Pomfrey releases everyone, we’ll go back to our usual room and I’ll teach you all a few new spells that will serve you a bit better when dueling against greater numbers.”

Later that evening, after the D.A. class had been dismissed, Harry walked down to Hagrid’s hut to see if he had been able to procure something from the forest that Harry was in need of. He was pleased to see that Hagrid had found more than he would be needing. Still keeping his latest project a secret from everyone except Ginny, who had agreed to help him where she could, Harry decided that it would be safest to let Hagrid keep it until he found time to come back for it.

Harry walked through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room, and spotted Ginny sitting with Ron and Hermione near the fire.

“My goodness, Harry,” Ron said as Harry walked over. “I don’t know what you did to the class tonight, but they sure seemed changed over last week. Last week they strutted through here like they were royalty or something. Tonight, they were a somber lot. Not one of them said a word to anyone. They just walked straight through and up to their dorms.”

“I suspect they were still smarting a bit from class,” Harry said. “I don’t think I’ll have any more problems with overconfidence from now on.”

“Just to let you know, mate,” Ron began with a smile, “I don’t feel confident at all after the last class. You don’t need to prove any points to me.”

“I’m not worried,” Harry sa