Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe is NOT mine, it all belongs to JK Rowling aside from the few spells that I might create. I am not one of the few who was worthy to garner a piece of Harry Potter.

The next day saw Harry and the others seated at the Gryffindor table having breakfast when the doors to the Great Hall flew open. A tall, statuesque blonde woman walked through the doors and made her way over to the Gryffindor table. Harry grinned and rose from the table.

"Hello Mrs. Tonks, and thank you for coming," Harry said. "I thought that you would just send me an owl, not grace us with your presence."

Quite Mr. Potter," Andromeda answered with a soft smile. "I was planning on coming up to Hogwarts this weekend but after my office was inundated with owls from students here, begging me to allow them entry into by class, I decided that a personal visit was more appropriate."

"There shall be no transfers," Dumbledore said, rising from his seat at the staff table. "Severus Snape is the Potions Professor of Hogwarts, and you will all proceed to your classes. Andromeda, if you would please follow me to my office."

"Headmaster, you know that if Mrs. Tonks agrees to teach, you can't bar her," Harry said. "Mrs. Tonks, do you have a schedule in mind for classes?"

"At the moment no Mr. Potter," Andromeda said. "I need to see how many students would be attending, and then I could come up with a schedule. I should know by the end of the week."

"That sounds brilliant, perhaps if you sent that schedule to the Heads and myself when you finalize it, we can post them in the common rooms."

"That would be most acceptable," Flitwick said. Sprout nodded while McGonagall looked timid, she chanced a glance at the Headmaster who was frowning deeply.

"Then I look forward to your letter," Harry said. Andromeda gave Harry a wan smile before walking out of the Great Hall. Harry glanced at the Staff Table and saw Snape looking livid much like Uncle Vernon, the same vein throbbing in his forehead. Dumbledore was frowning down at Harry.

"Come on, we should get going," Harry said to his friends. The other Lions nodded and rose from the table.

The first class of the day for the fifth year Lions was their first Defense class of the year, with the Slytherins. Harry knew that he was going to have some jeers and glares coming his way from the Slytherins. And he was right; the vast majority of the Slytherins who entered the classroom were openly glaring at him, though he did spot three Slytherins watching him with an expression that made Harry feel as if his character and motives were being judged.

Umbridge appeared from her office just as the bell rang signaling the start of the period.

"Good morning class," she said. There was a sporadic. "Now that won't do," Umbridge simpered. "I think we should try again, now, good morning class."

"Good morning Professor," rang through the room, though Harry and the others only answered in whispers.

"There you go," Umbridge said. "Now I have received some notes from your previous Professors and found that aside from Professor Quirrell, that your previous Professors didn't follow the Ministry proscribed syllabus at all. And the fact that you were also taught be a dangerous half-breed…" Umbridge trailed off as she saw Harry stiffen. "Do you have something to say Mr. Potter?"

"No Professor," Harry growled.

"Very good. Now because of your uneven tutelage of this subject, we shall be starting over," Umbridge said. "Open your books to chapter one and read the chapter, there will be no need to talk."

There came a rustling of book bags as the class pulled out their textbooks. Harry glanced up at Umbridge who was now seated at her desk watching him like a hawk. He pulled out one of Sirius' old Hit Wizard manuals from his bag and hit it in the Defense text.

"Mr. Potter, may I ask what you are doing?" Umbridge's voice shattered the silence of the room. Harry looked up and nearly jumped out of his chair when he saw that Umbridge was standing right in front of his desk.

"I was reading Professor," Harry said, palming his wand and quickly casting an Invisibility Charm on the manual.

"I could see that Mr. Potter," Umbridge said. "But it wasn't the assigned reading was it?"

"I don't understand Professor, I haven't been reading any other books during class," Harry said. Umbridge frowned.

"That will be detention this evening Mr. Potter," Umbridge said before turning away.

"What for?" Harry asked.

"For lying to your Professor."

"But Professor I didn't lie, I wasn't reading another book."

"That might be true but you were not reading the assigned book," Umbridge snapped. "Tonight, my office, 7pm."

Harry grit his teeth but kept his mouth shut.

"Professor you can't do that!" Hermione spoke up. "Harry wasn't lying, you can't give him detention just because you feel like it."

"Silence Miss Granger!" Umbridge cried. "I am your Professor and what I say goes. Now another word from any of you, and you'll be joining Potter in detention. Now you are all here to learn, and despite what you might have been told that a certain Dark Lord has somehow returned from the dead. Well I am here to tell you that that is a lie."

"Professor, how do you know that Voldemort is dead?" Hermione asked. "From what was reported, a body was never recovered from Godric's Hollow, aside from James and Lily Potter."

"Ms. Granger…" Umbridge began but Neville cut her off.

"Hermione's right, how can you be sure that You-Know-Who is really dead?" he asked.

"Children, despite what you have been told by Professor Dumbledore and Mr. Potter, there is nothing to worry about," Umbridge said, trying to regain control.

"Then why won't you allow us to use magic?" Ron asked. "Your course aims say nothing about using magic. If we can't practice magic, what's the point of even being here? This is a school of magic, if we aren't going to use magic then we are just like muggle students."

Umbridge's eyes bugged out at this.

"What!" Malfoy shouted. "I will not act like a muggle, they are beneath us! We have magic, we should be using it!"

As much as it pains me to agree with Malfoy, he's right," Harry said. "At least about using magic, if I'm not going to learn defensive magic, I might as well study up for my GCSE's or my A levels."

"Isn't there a practical part on our OWLs? If we can't practice the spells, then how will we be able to do them during the Exams?" Padma asked.

"If you have studied the theory enough, you will be fine for your exams," Umbridge said. "Now I will not hear another word, the Ministry has come up with this lesson plan, and you will follow it. Now continue reading, and if I hear another word from anyone, it will be detention for a week."

The rest of the period was spent in silence, as no one wanted to get on Umbridge's bad side. When the bell finally rang, signaling the end of the double period, the class quickly gathered up their bags and left the classroom.

"Who does that bitch think she is?" Hermione growled.

"Calm down Hermione, its just a detention," Harry said, trying to soothe his irate girlfriend.

"That's not the point Harry, and you know it!" Hermione snapped. "You didn't lie to her, she's just trying to get you in trouble."

"Harry mate, what was that about agreeing with Malfoy?" Ron asked. "You hate Malfoy."

"I don't hate Malfoy," Harry said. "I do think he's not worth thinking about and is a bigoted, bullying bastard. But I wanted to get the pureblood bigots to our side, sort of. If they write to their folks the Umbridge treating them like muggles, because she isn't allowing them to use magic then…"

"Their parents will put pressure on Umbridge from her biggest supporters," Hermione exclaimed. "That's brilliant Harry!" She pulled him into a heated kiss that caused the others to look away. Harry had a glazed look when Hermione pulled back. Hermione stifled a giggled at the effect she had on Harry. It took Harry a couple of minutes before he had regained enough cognitive function to speak.

"You know what else is interesting, while Umbridge said we can't practice magic in class, she never said anything about practicing outside of it," Harry said. "We just need to find a place to practice."

"I don't think that McGonagall will let you use an empty classroom like she did last year," Ron said.

"You're probably right Ron, we'll just have to find a spot that we won't be interrupted. And I know just the perfect people to ask," Harry said. "Also we shouldn't keep this to ourselves, we should find out who else would be willing to join our practice sessions."

Hermione and Ron nodded.

"Hey Hermione, what do you know about Daphne Greengrass, Tracy Davies and Blaise Zabini?"

"Why do you want to know about them? They're Slytherins!" Ron snapped.

"Well they weren't glaring at me when they entered the DADA classroom unlike their housemates," Harry said. "So Hermione, what can you tell me about them?"

"Not a whole lot," Hermione said. "They' re always together in Runes and Arithmancy. Also, they seem to keep abreast of Malfoy. I think it would be risky to contact them but if we could get them in, we'd have an in with the Slytherins."

Harry nodded. "That's what I thought, try and get them talking during class Hermione," he said. "Sound them out about joining our group."

Hermione nodded before giving Harry a peck on the cheek and heading off to Arithmancy while Harry, Ron and Neville headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"So Harry, what were you doing in Defense?" Ron asked.

"I was reading one of the old manuals that Sirius gave me," Harry said. "That Slinkhard book is complete rubbish, Voldemort is back and I'm not going to just stick my head in the sand and ignore it."

"So it is true, You-Know-Who is back?" a thick Irish voice asked. It was Seamus.

"Yes Seamus, he's back," Harry said heavily. "I wish to Merlin that he wasn't but wishes have little bearing on reality. The Ministry is perfectly willing to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the obvious. Voldemort is going to stick to the shadows until he is ready, and we need to do the same thing. If we don't take advantage of this lull and get stronger, Voldemort will just waltz in and take over."

"But we're just kids, what can we do?" Lavender asked.

"We buckle down and learn how to defend ourselves, properly," Harry said. "We also start making people realize that agreeing with Voldemort's philosophy is wrong, and that we won't stand for bigotry and bullying in this school."

"You're talking about taking over the school Harry?" Padma gasped.

"No, I'm talking about enforcing the rules and not standing for those who break them?"

Harry made his way down to Umbridge's office for his detention after dinner; his wand was in its arm holster and his cloak and map were stuffed in his bag. Harry knocked on the office door and heard Umbridge bid him entry.

"Good evening Mr. Potter," Umbridge simpered. "Now I know that you know why you are here?"

"I am here because you believed that I was lying to you but Professor…"

"No buts Potter," Umbridge snapped. "You are a lying boy who is only trying to make trouble for the Ministry and the Minister."

Harry frowned. "I don't see how telling the truth is making trouble," he said. "You were in the Great Hall when Dumbledore accused me of killing Cedric Diggory, my oath should have wiped out any doubt that my story was false, away."

"The Dark Lord is dead, he has been dead for nearly fifteen years and he has not returned," Umbridge screamed. "Now it seems drastic methods must be taken to make sure you stop spreading these vicious and nasty lies. Tonight, you will be writing lines for me, I have already prepared a quill and parchment for you."

Harry noticed the desk facing Umbridge's own desk, a long black quill was laying on a blank piece of parchment. Harry raised a hand to his glasses, and rubbed his brow. As he lowered his hand, Harry brushed a finger along the silver frame of his glasses. The quill and chair began to glow a malevolent red. Harry cancelled the Mage Sight feature on his glasses before looking back at Umbridge.

"Well Mr. Potter, I'm waiting," Umbridge sneered.

Harry sat down at the desk, and instantly felt an effect similar to being near a Dementor.

"What is this?" Harry asked sharply.

"What is what?" Umbridge simpered.

"This chair isn't from Hogwarts isn't it?" Harry growled. "This chair seems like it belongs in a courtroom or a holding cell."

Umbridge snapped her fingers and chains erupted from the chair pinning Harry in place.

"Umbridge, what is this!" Harry shouted as he felt the Dementor effect increase.

"Silence Potter," Umbridge snarled. "You are in no position to demand anything. You don't think I know why you had that bumbling fool Weasley put a Silencing Charm on you last month. You had something to do with Sirius Black's escape from Hogwarts two years ago, and you are going to tell me." Umbridge rose from her desk, pulling something from a drawer. Harry saw that it was a glass phial. "I know you are familiar with this potion Potter. Now it is illegal to use on a minor, as well as without the approval of the Wizengamont, so it will only be my last resort. First, we will try this!"

Umbridge waved her wand at Harry, and the chains holding Harry in place crackled and Harry felt tiny charges of electricity surges through his arm and legs. Harry grit his teeth to keeping from shouting his discomfort.

"So, you still won't talk?" Umbridge asked. "Very well, let's up the voltage." A stronger surge of electricity raced across Harry's nervous system.

"Ah!" Harry cried in pain. The surge ended just as suddenly as it came, causing him to slump in the chair, panting.

"Are you ready to talk yet?" Umbridge asked.

"Sod off you bitch," Harry snarled. "I'm not going to tell you shite! You think this hurts; Voldemort hit me with a Cruciatus three months ago, this is nothing compared to that."

Umbridge snarled in return. "So it seems that you can take some pain," she said. "Very well then, then I guess we'll have to use Veritaserum." She walked over to Harry's side, slapped Harry's face and grabbed his hair, wrenching it back.

Suddenly she froze when she felt the tip of a wand poking her neck.

"Drop that phial," Harry growled. The phial slid from Umbridge's stunned grasp and shattered on the ground. Harry rose from the chair, the chains fading into smoke. "Did you really think that you could make me betray my godfather? Did you really think that you would get away with trying to torture me and dose me with Veritaserum? Now sit!"

Umbridge fell into the seat that Harry had vacated. Harry strode around to face Umbridge, chains wrapping around her.

"Now, I could legally kill you," Harry said lightly. "I mean you did just torture a Lord of a Most Ancient and Noble House." Umbridge's eyes bugged out at Harry's admission. "But that won't do, people will ask too many questions if you just up and vanish, so this is what we are going to do. You are going to help me."

"I will never help you Potter," Umbridge sneered.

"We'll see," Harry said. "Now I could Obliviate the last hour of your memory but you see, I'm not so good at Memory Charms. In fact, I've never tried one, so I would most likely wipe your entire mind clean, and we don't want that, do we? So, it looks like the only remaining option is this. Imperio!"

Umbridge stiffened as Harry's spell took effect. "Now you will continue on yours and Fudge's plans for Hogwarts but you will keep me abreast of those plans. Every two weeks you will give me a detention, and during those detentions you will tell me those plans. You also will not remember who put you under this spell, and if anyone attempts to find out you will do whatever it takes to stop them."

Harry placed Umbridge back at her desk and put his wand away. "Professor, Professor Umbridge, are you all right?" Harry asked.

Umbridge blinked and looked around the room before seeing Harry sitting at the desk in front of her. "Potter, what the hell are you doing here?" she snapped.

"I'm sorry Professor, but you seemed to zone out as I was leaving and I wanted to make sure that you were ok," Harry said.

"I'm fine Potter, now get out of here," Umbridge said, waving a dismissive hand at Harry. Harry bade Umbridge goodnight and left the office, a feral smile appearing on his face.

The next morning Harry met with Hermione, Ron and the twins.

"So Hermione, did you manage to speak with those three Slytherins?" he asked.

"I tried but Malfoy is in our Arithmancy class, so I couldn't talk to them without tipping him off," Hermione answered. "Malfoy isn't in our Ancient Runes class, so I'll try to speak to them then."

"Very good, now, since Umbridge is going to bar us from practicing spells during class, we will have to do it ourselves."

"You told us this yesterday Harry, and you said that you were going to talk to Sirius and Remus," Ron said.

"I did talk with them last night and they said they would think about places but also told me about another being that probably knows more about the castle than anyone, even the Marauders."

"Who?" Hermione asked.

"Dobby."

With a CRACK, the ever-excitable house elf appeared, his mismatched clothing nearly gleaming in its colorful intensity.

"Harry Potter sir!" Dobby cried. "What can Dobby do for you?"

"Hello Dobby," Harry said. "We were just wondering if you or any of the other Hogwarts house elves know of a place where we could practice spells without being spied on?"

"Oh yes Harry Potter sir," Dobby exclaimed. "I know the perfect place. The elves call it 'the Come-and-Go Room'. It is truly a magical room; it is always equipped for the users' needs."

"That sounds perfect Dobby, can you tell us where this room is?" Harry asked.

"Yes Harry Potter, you need to walk in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and the trolls three times while thinking about what you need."

"Thank you Dobby, you've done brilliantly," Harry said with a warm smile.

"Harry Potter sir is much too kind," Dobby cried, tears welling up in his tennis ball size eyes. With another sharp CRACK, Dobby vanished, leaving an amused Harry and friends.

"So when should we check this room out?" Harry asked.

"Harry, are you sure that you should be trusting Dobby with something like this?" Hermione asked. "I mean, he's nice and all but don't you remember second year, how he tried to save your life by shutting down the portal at King's Cross, and that rogue Bludger at the Quidditch Match?"

"Sure Dobby has been a little overzealous in protecting me but his heart is in the right place," Harry said. "And besides, Dumbledore mentioned it in passing at the Yule Ball."

"All right but I still think we need to be cautious."

"Don't worry Hermione, we will be but we still need to find a time to check this place out."

"Well Ron and I have patrols tonight, if you want to tag along under your cloak, I'm sure we could find ourselves patrolling by there," Hermione said.

"Brilliant," Harry said.

"So how did your detention with Umbridge go?" Ron asked.

"Ok, she just made me do lines the whole time," Harry said.

"That doesn't sound too bad," Fred said. Harry shrugged.

That night, Harry was sitting in a cushy armchair with Ron, who was playing chess against Seamus. Hermione walked down from the dorm and made her way over to the boys.

"Ronald, did you forget that we have patrols tonight?" Hermione snapped when she saw that Ron only in street clothes, not his school uniform.

"Oh sorry Hermione, I'll be right there," Ron said as he put Seamus in checkmate. The redhead rushed past Hermione, up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

"I'm going to head up as well, I'm knackered," Harry said. He rose from the armchair, gave Hermione a peck on the cheek and headed up to the boys' dormitory as well.

"Hey Ron, you better hurry up mate, Hermione doesn't look happy that you are making her wait," Harry said. Ron cringed as he clasped his robes around his neck. "Night mate," Harry said as he climbed into his four-poster.

"Right Harry," Ron called back as he left the dorm.

Once the dorm was empty, Harry quickly left the confines of his four-poster, pulled his Invisibility Cloak from his bag and flung it around him. Harry's wand flashed as he cast a Notice-Me-Not Charm on the bed. He then snuck back down the stairs to the common room and quickly walked through to catch Ron and Hermione as they exited the portrait hole.

"You were cutting it pretty close there, Harry," Hermione whispered as she, Ron and an invisible Harry turned the corner from the corridor leading to the Fat Lady.

"Sorry but I made it, so what do we do now?" Harry asked. "What do you guys do on prefect patrols anyway?"

"No clue," Ron said. "This is our first one remember Harry."

"Well we're supposed to just go around the castle, making sure that students aren't out after curfew and such," Hermione said.

"Ok, any idea what type of route you two should take?" Harry asked. "Because I do have the Map."

"Oh the Marauders would be rolling over in their graves if they heard that the Map was being used to root out troublemakers," Hermione giggled.

"Probably but also if we go to the seventh floor, I can use it to keep an eye out for others."

"All right, why don't we go up there at the end of the night, we can say that we were on our way back to the common room," Ron said.

"That should work," Harry said. "Hey, are you two the only prefects patrolling tonight?"

"Well, the seventh year Ravenclaws are patrolling as well," Hermione said. "Why?"

"Because Malfoy and his goons just left the Slytherin common room," Harry said.

"What?" Ron and Hermione shouted.

"What is he doing out of their common room?" Hermione asked.

"Don't know, it looks like he's headed toward Snape's office," Harry said watching the tiny black dot labeled 'Draco Malfoy' make its way toward Snape's office.

"Keep an eye on them Harry," Ron said. "As much as it pains me, Malfoy could have a legitimate reason to visit Snape." Harry and Hermione nodded, somewhat stunned at how Ron acted when Malfoy's name came up.

The Trio spent the next two hours wandering the castle, and with the aid of the Marauders' Map, sent happy couples sulking back to their common rooms. As the trio made their way back toward the Gryffindor Common Room, they took a detour to the seventh floor corridor where the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy hung.

"Ok, here we are," Harry said. "Why don't I try it first while you two keep an eye on the Map." Hermione and Ron nodded. Harry handed over the Map and turned to face the empty wall.

'We need a place to practice magic, a place where no one can find us,' Harry thought as he paced in front of the wall three times. When he turned back on his third pass, a door appeared in the wall. Harry drew his wand and cautiously opened the door. What was inside stunned and amazed Harry, the room had several large bookcases filled with books, there were several training dummies leaning against the opposite wall and there were dozens of cushions or large bean bags that were littered around the room.

"This is amazing!" Hermione gasped as she and Ron followed Harry into the room. "Look at all this stuff, there are training manuals, dueling edict books and even books by muggles on war. How is this possible?"

"Magic," Harry chuckled. Ron laughed at the adorable pout that Hermione gave Harry at his response.

"All right, I think its time that we head back to the common room," Ron said. "Our patrol is about to end."

Hermione huffed as she put down an Auror manual from France. Harry chuckled at his girlfriend's absolute thirst for knowledge. The Trio left the room and the door vanished into the wall as they left.

"What do we have here?" drawled a hated voice as Ron, Hermione and a hidden Harry came around the corner. It was Malfoy, flanked by Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle.

"You are out after curfew Malfoy, you all are," Hermione said sharply. "If you leave now, Ron and I will leave this little night-time wandering out of our report."

Malfoy chuckled darkly and snapped his fingers. Four more Slytherins appeared from the shadows behind Ron and Hermione. "Please Mudblood, you are in no position to be making threats," Malfoy sneered. "Now drop your wands and kick them aside, or we will take them from you."

Suddenly three red bolts of magic spat from thin air, causing three of the older Slytherins to slump to the floor.

"What the!" Malfoy cried as Hermione's and Ron's Stunner impacted Crabbe and Goyle. The remaining older Slytherin dropped from another Stunner.

"I believe that the tables have turned Malfoy," Ron growled. "Now you can drop them."

"What is going on here?" a silky, hated voice asked from the shadows. Snape appeared. Ron and Hermione scowled. "What is this, two prefects attacking students?" he said with a feral sneer. "Well, well, well, this is quite a predicament. I think two hundred points from Gryffindor and detention for the rest of term will do as punishment."

"And what about Malfoy?" Hermione asked. "He and these Slytherins are our after curfew, and they tried to ambush us."

"Mr. Malfoy and his friends had my permission Ms. Granger," Snape said easily, his black eyes shining malevolently. "And all I saw was two prefects attacking unarmed students without warning."

"And what may I ask was the permission for Severus?" a sharp voice from behind the group asked. It was McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout flanked her. Snape's face flickered in surprise but he quickly mashed it.

"They were returning from the library, I assume," Snape answered.

"Then why were they all the way up here?" Flitwick asked. "The library is on the second floor, and the Slytherin dorms are in the dungeons."

"I am counteracting your punishment Severus, it seems that your students' ambush failed," McGonagall snarled. "And each of you Slytherins have just lost twenty-five points EACH from your house, and you all will be serving two weeks detention with either Professor Hagrid or Mr. Filch. Now get out of my sight!"

The Slytherins looked to Snape but McGonagall caught it. "And don't look to Severus for help, Pomona, Filius, would you mind escorting these students back to their dormitories, so that they don't get lost once more."

"Of course Minerva," Filius said. "Come along, now!"

The Slytherins slouched and followed Professor Sprout down the hallway, Flitwick trailing behind, his wand out. Once they had vanished around the corner, McGonagall slowly turned to Severus, looking much like her Animagus form.

"Never in all my life have I seen such a blatant display of unprofessionalism," she hissed. "If it were up to me Severus, you would be out on your arse tonight, and the Aurors would be waiting at the gates. However, since that pleasure only resides with the Headmaster, I am limited in what I can do to you. But don't look so relieved Severus, I am still your superior and from this day on, you no longer have the ability to add or deduct points from any student, and while you may give detentions, the cause and duration will be monitored and agreed upon by the other three Heads."

"What!" Snape shouted. "You go too far!"

"Silence," McGonagall roared. "If you have any common sense, you will be silent and gracious that is it only just that. Now back to your quarters Severus!"

Snape looked livid and his eye twitched rapidly but he spun on his heel, and stalked off, his cloak billowing behind him. McGonagall turned to Ron and Hermione, both who looked relieved to see the Potions professor leave.

"You may come out now Mr. Potter," McGonagall said. Ron and Hermione looked stunned at the fact that their Head of House knew that Harry was there. But Harry didn't look surprised. "Well done in alerting us to the situation Mr. Potter, and I must apologize for ever doubting that Severus would stoop that low. I hope that in future, you will see that I am worthy of your trust."

"What you just did has gone a long way Professor," Harry said. "Just continue doing what is right, and you'll get no problems from me."

McGonagall nodded. "Now while you were helping Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, you were out after curfew and therefore I must take ten points from Gryffindor. However, due to your calm reactions in the face of overwhelming adversity, I award twenty points each to Mr. Weasley and you, Ms. Granger."

"Thank you Professor," Hermione said.

"Now you three should get inside before someone else comes along," McGonagall said. "Goodnight you three."

"Goodnight Professor," the trio chorused.

"Harry, how did you get McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout to get here so quickly?" Ron asked when the trio had settled into three armchairs by the common room fire.

"After we left the Room of Requirement, I noticed that Malfoy, his goons and Snape were around the seventh floor corridor," Harry said. "So I sent a Patronus to each of the other Heads of House to ask them to come to the Gryffindor corridor for prefects' assistance."

"That was brilliant Harry," Ron laughed. "Did you see Snape and Malfoy's faces?"

"You know that they won't take this sitting down, especially Snape," Hermione pointed out.

"I know but there was no way that I was going to let Snape and Malfoy get away with trying to ambush you two," Harry growled. "We should keep this under wraps, I don't want anyone to know that I was with you guys. Let the Slytherins think that you two are that powerful."

"Are you sure that's wise? I mean you are a lot stronger than both of us Harry," Hermione said.

"Not it's a good idea," Ron said. "Even if it were true, Malfoy and his goons wouldn't want this getting out. I mean, eight pureblood Slytherins being beaten easily by a blood traitor and a muggleborn."

"He's got a point," Harry said. "Malfoy would lose quite a lot of face and standing if this got out, it will be bad enough when the Slytherins see their point total in the morning. And with McGonagall's punishment of Snape, they can't quickly make up those points. Come on, let's get to bed, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Hermione asked.

"Why, we're going to take over the world of course," Harry answered with a cheeky grin. "I'm joking of course, but tomorrow I'd like to get the first of our friends practicing." Hermione and Ron nodded.

The next day the main topic of gossip around the Great Hall was the amount of points that had been deducted from the Slytherin hourglass, there were no emeralds in the large counter. Harry, Ron and Hermione all hid grins as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"What are you three smirking at?" Neville asked.

"You all look like the cat that caught the canary," Fred said.

"Oh let's just say that we might have an inkling of why the Slytherins have no points," Harry said with a mischievous smile.

"Oh I smell a prank," George said excitedly. "Do tell."

"Sorry mate but this one is best kept quiet," Harry said. "But let's say that Malfoy and his goons won't think that Ron and Hermione are easy marks."

Eyes swiveled to Ron and Hermione but they just shook their heads.

"Look, we've found a place where we'll be able to practice," Harry said. "Let anyone know who you know is trustworthy. We will meet at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy at 8pm tonight."

Fred and George nodded, their faces set and serious.

That night found Harry, Ron and Hermione as they made their way up to the Room of Requirement. Harry summoned the room. After five minutes, the twins, Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Neville, Ginny, Dean, Seamus, the Patil twins, Lavender and Luna entered, all of them except Luna looked absolutely stunned and amazed at the room.

"Wow," they all exclaimed when they entered.

Once everyone had settled onto cushions or beanbags, and Harry had explained the Room, the lesson began. Harry had the group first work on their spell casting speed as well as their accuracy.

"Speed and precision counts more than just pure power when it comes to dueling," Harry said. "If you are able to cast spells faster and more accurately then your opponent, that gives you the advantage. Also, it gives you the chance to get away."

"You're asking us to run away, like cowards?" Seamus asked.

"No, I'm tell that you should not throw away your lives," Harry said. "Make no doubt that there will be deaths during this war. What I'm trying to teach you will hopefully allow you all to make sure that you survive. There are several absolutes rules regarding war; in war, people are going to die and there's nothing you can do to change that, and second is that the point of war is not to die for your cause, but to make the other guy die for his."

"You want us to become murderers?" Lavender cried.

"No!" Harry snapped. "Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat this for you all, I am training you to take the lives of Death Eaters, men and women who have forsaken their humanity when they joined Lord Voldemort." The room, aside from Ron and Hermione, shivered. "Look you all better get over this pathetic fear of a name. Voldemort is not even the bastard's real name. Instead of using that pathetic 'You-Know-Who' crap, call him Tom or Riddle, since his given name is Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"How do you know that?" Dean asked.

"He told me, during that Chamber of Secrets fiasco," Harry said. "He was the one who was causing all those attacks that year."

"But we heard…" Lavender began but a cold glare from Harry shut her up.

"Ok, now every meeting we have, for the first hour we will continue working on spell casting speed and accuracy, then it will be either dodging practice, learning new spells or talking about situations that we might find ourselves in during this war."

At the end of the two-hour meeting, Harry gave the signal to stop and called everyone together.

"All right guys," Harry said. "That was a very good start for everyone. Now unfortunately, our time has come to an end. Hermione has something to give you." Hermione went around the room, handing out a piece of parchment to each of the group. "Now each of you has been given a very special piece of parchment, that piece has been enchanted by Hermione to respond to my master parchment. This will allow me to set the time of the next meeting without someone we don't want overhearing listening in. Until next time."

The group left the Room in high spirits and made their way back to their dormitories.

"That was brilliant Harry," Hermione gushed. "You really are a great teacher Harry." Harry blushed under the praise from his girlfriend.

"Come on Hermione, I didn't do that well," Harry said. "You saw that everyone aside from you, Ron and the Twins, looked stunned that I was training them to take lives. I am training them to become soldiers, and they are afraid of that fact!"

"Ok, so you might be training us to be soldiers but you yourself said that this is war, and in war, you need soldiers," Ron said. "I mean, you aren't telling everyone to use your training to harm innocent people, you are training them to defend themselves and their families against murderers, rapists and thugs."

"And if we are the soldiers, then Harry, you are the general," Hermione said. "It's like you said, the only way to win this war is to destroy Riddle and his Death Eaters, without mercy. Because they won't show us any in return."

A/N: Well there you have it, the fourth chapter of 'Rise from the Ashes'. Hope you all like it, it was a fun chapter to write. I liked delving into Harry's darker side, and I hope that I did a decent job of it. If you have any suggestions or comments, don't hesitate to leave me a review or a PM. I'm going to try and keep up with this posting pace but more likely, chapter will be either weekly or every other week. Also, check out my 'Vengeance Or Justice' story, the people have spoken and I will be writing an epilogue to wrap everything up, I plan on having that up by the weekend of Sept. 27th, so cross your fingers.

S.R.W.M.O