A/N: This chapter and the rest of the story, for that matter, is dedicated to Allen Pitt.--Rita

Chapter 10

Harry received the sixth owl of his life that morning at breakfast. The only owls Harry had every received were his Hogwarts letters. The first owl came and he found out for the first time that he was a wizard and had been invited to attend Hogwarts. The letter had contained a map and enough odd looking gold coins that the letter said would buy what he needed for school.

The Dursley's put up a fuss, but Harry suspected it was only an act. They wanted to get rid of him as badly as he wanted out of their house. He couldn't figure out for the life of him how he got stuck with the Dursley's but he figured that since these were his only relatives, who else would have taken him in? It bothered him that no wizard family wanted him either.

Everyone at the Slytherin table stared at the screech owl as it circled slowly, finally landing in front of Harry. He carefully removed the parchment from its leg. Students at his table were scrambling to see who would send Harry a note. He unrolled the parchment and smiled. The letter was from Ginny. She invited him for a walk by the lake after class today. He wrote a quick note telling her he was looking forward to seeing her and attached it to the owl's leg and watched as it took off and then landed in front of Ginny. She grinned as she read the letter, and Harry watched as she handed the note over to that Longbottom fellow. He was slightly disappointed that she didn't keep the letter like he did.

He looked up at the head table and saw Dumbledore talking to Snape. Whatever they were talking about looked serious. Snape was shaking his head and Dumbledore looked like he was getting frustrated. When they saw that Harry was looking at them, Dumbledore's face slightly reddened and Snape's expression turned to stony indifference. Was Snape resisting teaching him Occlumency? Why was Dumbledore so insistent?

The classes that day were just a blur and Harry almost risked detention with Professor Umbridge when he inadvertently gave her a cheeky answer to a question from the Defence Against the Dark Arts book. He humbly apologized which make the professor blush and giggle, causing several students to snicker behind their books. Poor Professor Umbridge didn't realize he was mocking her; she thought he was mindlessly captivated by her charm.

Harry raced to the Merlin's Oak by the lake after the last class of the day. Ginny was sitting under the tree and Neville was standing next to her looking out at the lake. He felt a slight pang of jealousy as the two were obviously old friends. Neville was kind of swaying to an unheard rhythm as Ginny watched him. She turned when she her Harry and smiled a warm smile. Neville looked in his direction and then quickly looked down at the ground nervously. There was something about Neville that Harry couldn't figure out. He was as abused as he when it came to the professors and students picking on him, but Harry saw something in him that probably no one else saw; a different kind of strength that came from someone who had suffered. He at that moment felt a kinship that would remain and he knew that the two of them would become great friends or at least devoted allies.

"Harry!" Ginny said smiling as she stood up. "You remember Neville Longbottom, of course."

Harry nodded and smiled weakly. Neville stuck out his and Harry shook it. At that moment they created a bond. Harry knew that there were two people at Hogwarts he could trust with his life: Ginny Weasley and now Neville Longbottom. It was a feeling deep inside his soul that he would never be able to explain to anyone. Something he didn't need to explain to Neville because he had the same revelation at the same moment.

"Neville found a place where we can practice the spells."

"Brilliant!" Harry said.

Neville blushed slightly and licked his lips nervously. "It's an old, old spell I came across called nascondere in pianura vista. My uncle Guido used it against my Gran when they were growing up. It means 'hide in plain sight'. It works inside Hogwarts because I've tried it."

Harry looked intrigued. "How does it work?"

"Well, I can show you easier. We hold hands and chant the incantation and we become invisible, sort of. We see what's going on around us, but no one can hear or see us. The spell only lasts for an hour, sometimes less, but it really works.

"The only drawback is if someone from outside the spell bumps into it by accident; it's like walking into a plate glass; it's a barrier."

"Oh," said Harry. "I guess we should do it in an open field like the Quidditch pitch."

Neville grinned. "That's what I was thinking."

"How big is the barrier?"

"It depends on how big the circle is to begin with. We hold hands in a circle, and the invisibility is as large as the circle to the tallest person plus three feet."

"What if someone sees all of us in the circle and then we disappear at once?" Ginny asked.

Harry nodded. "Good point."

"Oh, well, that may be a problem, but I don't think so. I'll have to think about; I'm sure there's a way."

"Well, it's a brilliant idea, Neville," Harry said. "Do you think you can have it figured out by Sunday?"

"Absolutely. I have a couple of ideas that I...oh! There are disillusioning charms or stealthy charms we could use to get each individual to the Quidditch pitch."

"Of course," said Ginny. "My brothers know great disillusioning charms; used them on our mum for ages."

"Excellent!" Harry said. "It wouldn't be that hard to teach the charm individually; that would less conspicuous and then we will meet in the Quidditch pitch on Sunday afternoon after the game. Everyone in school should be there anyway, right?"

Neville and Ginny looked at each other and nodded.

"So everyone just hangs around, then uses their disillusioning charms just in case someone we don't want hangs around."

"Like Filch," Neville and Ginny said together.

"My thoughts exactly." Harry was grinning. "Well done!"

Ginny said shyly, "I can teach you the charm, Harry, in case you don't know one."

"That's okay," he said suddenly regretting not taking the chance to get some one on one alone time with Ginny. "I have an invisibility cloak."

Neville and Ginny looked at each other and then at Harry. "Are you serious?" Neville asked. "A real invisibility cloak?"

Harry nodded. "Sure. I've had it since I got to Hogwarts." Truthfully he hadn't figured out most the contents of the beat up trunk that Hagrid had given him during his first year at Hogwarts. The trunk was his 'trust' from his parents. It contained, among other things, the cloak, the key to his parents' vault at Gringott's, photo albums, and a blank piece of folded up parchment that he no idea why his father would give him. There was a note attached to the piece of parchment that read, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.'

"Harry, invisibility cloaks are very rare."

"Really? I thought everyone had one." He shrugged. "So, we're set, then? You teach the disillusioning charm to those who don't know it and we meet Sunday afternoon after the match. Oh, Neville, do you want to demonstrate the spell now? Just to get an idea how it works?"

"Um, sure, Harry. We join hands; go round in a circle clockwise three times, chanting 'nascondere in pianura vista' four times; then round four times counterclockwise chanting the phrase three times. The thing is everyone has to chant or it doesn't work so good."

"You'll have to teach that spell as well, won't you?"

"We'll do it, Harry."

The three of them formed a circle and circled and chanted and at the last word of the chant, there was a soft 'pop' and they could see the dome that covered them.

They were able to move around and the dome stayed in place. The ceiling was only about three feet above them, but that was more than enough room.

"Can we move the whole thing?" Harry asked.

"Not really," Neville said, "so we'll have to make sure we are where we want to be."

"I just hope a fog doesn't roll in while we're under it. That'll look strange, won't it?"

Neville and Harry laughed. "We can't do this early in the morning or during a snow storm either," Harry said. "How do you release the spell?"

"We say, 'Mostrare!' at the same time and that's it."

"Excellent," Harry said. "Okay, one, two, three…"

They chanted the word together and there was another soft 'popping' noise and the dome disappeared.

"Outstanding," said Harry. "Okay, then you know what you need to do, right?"

Neville and Ginny nodded. Neville shook Harry's hand again and Ginny held back until Neville had left.

"This is wonderful, Harry."

He nodded in agreement. All of a sudden every thought of the invisibility dome had slid to the back of his brain and all he wanted to do was kiss Ginny the rest of the afternoon. Ginny must have been reading his thoughts because she grinned mischievously. "Want to try the spell again, Harry?"