Fifth year classes were difficult. Ari was eager to make his snails vanish in Transfiguration, but he didn't really want to get close enough to the table to do the spell. He tried to convince himself that snails were a lot less scary than death eaters and forced himself to go closer than he was comfortable with.
Ari was eager to go home for Shabbos. He told his family what an idiot Umbridge is. He explained that she works for the ministry and wants to make sure nobody believes that the rasha was back.
On Monday morning, Ari found out that Umbridge was the high inquisitor. The whole Ravenclaw table was talking about what that could mean. Ari told them about the Spanish Inquisition and the many Jews who were tortured and killed. While some people looked worried, others seemed to think that Umbridge may do a good job inspecting the teachers.
Transfiguration was spooky, as now the class had to vanish mice. Ari wondered if anyone at Hogwarts ever got bitten by a mouse.
Ari realized with frustration that he wasn't learning anything in defense this year. He didn't think there was a solution until the beginning of October.
Everyone was talking about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend. Once again Ari didn't care as it was on Shabbos and didn't concern him. That changed on Monday night when Michael called Terry and Ari upstairs to tell them something important.
"I asked Ginny to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend," Michael started.
"You know I don't care," Ari interrupted.
"You will care when you hear what I have to say," Michael reprimanded.
"Whatever," Ari said.
"Ginny told me that Hermione convinced Harry to teach people defense. They're meeting at Hog's Head on Saturday," Michael told them.
"My grandmother said I should join any defense group," Ari said, "But it's on Shabbos so I don't know what to do."
Ari told his family about the defense group when he was home for Yom Kippur. His grandmother had the perfect solution for going home for Shabbos and attending the meeting. He should floo home as usual, and from the house, they will floo to Hog's Head, where they will book 2 rooms for Shabbos.
Ari felt funny spending Shabbos at the Hog's Head. Mommy and Oma packed up food for Shabbos, but there would be no cholent as there was no electricity for any muggle cooking devices. All the food for Shabbos would be cold. There was also no shul, something that Ari felt guilty about. He and his father davened in their room. They stayed in the room until Hogwarts students started coming on Shabbos morning.
Ari stepped out of Hogs Head wearing his Shabbos suit and shirt. His father and grandmother were both sitting at a table near the window wearing hoods so they won't be recognized.
Ari quickly found Michael and Terry and they walked into Hog's Head together. A redhead ordered butterbeers for everyone, but Ari didn't take one since they're not kosher. He also didn't pay any money as it was Shabbos.
Hermione started her speech and when she said that nobody could call what Umbridge is teaching Defense Against Dark Arts, Ari couldn't resist saying, "Hear, hear." He was getting quite frustrated with the school's poor defense staff.
Hermione continued talking but was interrupted by Susan asking if it's true that Harry could produce a patronus. Terry asked about the basilisk that Harry killed with Gryffindor's sword. Neville brought up the philosopher's stone in first year, and Cho mentioned the tournament. Michael was impressed with the way Harry outflew a dragon. Susan mentioned that Harry fought off dementors independently. Hermione explained that Umbridge is concerned that Dumbledore will form an army using students from the school and that's why they're not learning defense. She's scared Dumbledore is trying to take over the ministry.
Ari cracked up when Ginny imitated Umbridge. He suddenly understood why Michael liked her, at least as a friend.
Hermione wanted everyone to sign a parchment, agreeing not to tell anyone about their club. Ari whispered to Michael that he can't sign since its Shabbos. Michael said he'll deal with it, and while passing the parchment and quill to Ari, he slipped his hand between Ari's and did a good impression of Ari's signature. Ari and his friends walked out, but after the place emptied, they went back upstairs with Ari's father and grandmother.
"I'm pretty sure that parchment you were supposed to have signed was hexed," Oma said. "Hermione seems like a smart girl who won't take chances of anyone telling on this club. Even though you didn't sign, you allowed Michael to be your representative. Therefore, you better not tell us anything about this club."
Ari agreed.
"You're also not due back at Hogwarts until Tuesday night since Sukkos starts tomorrow night," Oma reminded him. "If anything is happening over the next few days for your group, you need to be informed. As it will be yom tov, not Shabbos, someone can always apparate you over."
"There's no apparition in Hogwarts," Ari told her.
"Well, I could take you to the gates at least," Oma said.
"The gates are kept locked," Ari responded. "There's no way to get in without permission."
"But you're able to floo back and forth," Oma tried again.
"Professor Flitwick unlocks the floo in his office whenever I need to come home or get back," Ari explained.
"Maybe one of you could convince Professor Flitwick to unlock it if Ari is needed," Oma told Michael and Terry. "Of course, you can't tell him why, but you should be able to think of something. The only problems would be that Ari needs to know what's happening, and he can't put floo powder in the fire on yom tov."
"I could come in and fetch him," Michael offered, "while Terry gets Flitwick to unlock the floo to let us through."
They all agreed. The rest of Shabbos passed quietly.
Ari was getting ready for shul on the first day of sukkos when he saw Michael's head in the fire.
"They banned the club!" Michael called. "Come quickly so we can ask Harry what to do."
Ari followed Michael through the fire where Terry and Professor Flitwick were engaged in a serious discussion on how to protect a fireplace. Michael and Ari snuck out of the office unnoticed, and waited impatiently for Terry.
"I now know the passwords for Flitwick's floo!" Terry told them excitedly. "I pretended to be interested in knowing how to protect the floo in my own house. Professor Flitwick showed me how to set a password and remove it. He also showed me the enchantments on the school's network that doesn't allow anyone to leave or enter the school. When I asked how Anthony goes home for Shabbos, he showed me how to bypass it! I'm sure that by next week the latest, Flitwick will change his passwords, so we need to be quick."
Michael and Terry led Ari into the great hall where they started walking toward the Gryffindor table, Ari being careful not to be seen by staff.
"Not here!" Harry mouthed. They went to the Ravenclaw table. Ginny came over and told them that Harry will try to figure something out, but defense is still on.
Terry and Michael helped Ari sneak back through the floo. Michael stood guard outside Flitwick's office while Terry opened the floo for Ari to get him home.
When Ari came back on Wednesday, it was to a lot of new material that he missed with the constant yamim tovim.
When Professor Flitwick taught silencing charms, Ari was still thinking about defense.
"Wouldn't a silencing charm be effective for keeping people from hexing you?" Ari asked.
"Many adult wizards are able to hex silently," Flitwick told him, "But for those who don't, it's a good defense."
That didn't make it easier for Ari as they were doing the spell on frogs and birds. Ari kept running away from his frog, to the amusement of his classmates.
Harry managed to get a message to Ari, Terry and Michael telling them to meet him at night on the 7th floor. The first thing they did at the meeting was vote for a leader, but of course everyone voted for Harry. Next was coming up with a name for the group. Everyone liked Ginny's idea of Dumbledore's Army. Next, they practiced disarming each other. Ari didn't really get much practice, as he partnered with Zacharias Smith, an annoying boy who kept arguing with Harry, and a pair of redhead twins kept disarming Smith for him. Ari noticed that Michael wasn't doing much either, and that Terry seemed to be good at it, so he figured they could get in some practice later.
Over the next few weeks, Ari mastered the disarming charm, impediment jinx, and reductor curse. Ari was relieved that he was finally learning Defense Against Dark Arts.