On Friday, Harry spent the majority of the afternoon daydreaming about his evening meeting with Katie. It took Umbridge's unexpected presence in his Charms class to shock him out of his reverie.

Umbridge, upon her appointment as High Inquisitor, had taken it upon herself to review the professors of Hogwarts and critique their teaching methods. It was obvious that Umbridge was seeking to disrupt the classes and then blame the incident on the professor who was teaching, and her efforts to create a disruption were proportional to her perception of the professor's loyalty to Dumbledore. Professor Trelawney and, more recently, Hagrid, were victimized rather flagrantly. Professor Snape and Professor Sinastra, by contrast, dealt with Umbridge using the same cool, reserved tone as they always had. The most notorious of all inspection incidents, surprisingly, was Professor McGonagall's—her terse interaction with Umbridge quickly became legendary among the students, and was spoken about in reverent tones even by Harry's classmates in Slytherin.

Harry had thought that the inspections were finished, and he was shocked to see Umbridge once again in the classroom when he arrived at Charms. Professor Flitwick paid her no mind; in fact, he seemed almost solicitous, offering to conjure Umbridge a more comfortable chair, or a cup of tea. Umbridge declined, and settled herself on a bench at the back of the classroom, directly behind Harry.

Flitwick scurried to the front of the classroom and climbed the small set of stairs hidden behind his podium. He tapped his wand and cleared his throat to gain the class's attention.

"Question for the class: what is a spell?" Flitwick spoke quickly, buzzing from topic to topic like a bee among flowers. His class was incredibly interesting, if you could keep up with his train of thought. "Answer: in its simplest form, a spell is focused magical energy. Current debate: from whence does magical energy flow? Is the magical energy within us, produced naturally by our bodies or minds? Or is there a greater wellspring of magical energy, for which wizards are simply crude conduits?"

Flitwick paused, and allowed his questions to hang in the air. Nobody answered, although several students appeared to be intensely interested. Draco, Tracey, Daphne, Theo… Harry saw that his classmates were literally leaning forward in their seats, waiting for Flitwick to continue. Harry noticed that he was eagerly leaning forward, as well, and forced himself to sit back in his seat, affecting casual interest.

Crabbe and Goyle were more interested in a nose.

"Alas, this great debate is yet to be resolved my magical scholars," Flitwick said. "Thus, it is not subject of today's class." Tracey audibly groaned, but Flitwick, buzzing along, did not notice. "Direct your attention to the other portion of the definition of a spell. What is a spell? Focused magical energy. Tell me: what are the methods we use to focus magical energy?"

Flitwick gestured with his hands, indicating that he wanted to students to simply call out answers. The usual suspects responded, the same that had been leaning forward to listen just moments earlier.

"Wands," said Daphne.

"Wand motions," said Tracey.

"Incantations," said Draco.

"Emotion," said Harry.

Flitwick began to nod, first slowly, then vigorously as each additional answer was given. "Correct! Correct, correct! In greater or lesser ways, these are all crutches which allow us to improve focus, and thereby our ability to manipulate magical energy. Think: when you learned to read, you could only read aloud. Later: your focus improved, and you are now able to read without speaking the words." Harry remembered this process distinctly, as it took place inside the cupboard, under his aunt and uncle's stairwell. Harry quickly learned to read quietly to himself, as any noisemaking was severely punished. "Reading silently was more difficult than reading aloud, yes? Yes. Thus, I expect that most of you will struggle with today's lesson. But, struggle leads to growth! Goal: by the end of term, you will all be able to cast at least three simple charms without reciting a verbal incantation."

Harry smiled, broadly. This was something that he had wanted to learn for quite a long time. He had asked Sirius during their dueling practice, but Sirius said that it was something Harry would learn with time, and that there were better things to focus on to improve his dueling in the short term.

"Questions? Questions? None? Question for the class, then: why do most wizards speak most incantations aloud, even though they have the ability to cast spells without verbalizing their intent? Example: Even Professor Dumbledore, widely acknowledged as the most powerful wizard yet living, speaks incantations aloud. Question repeated: Why?"

The students remained silent. Harry knew from experience that some were considering the question and its possible answers, while others were simply waiting for Flitwick to tell them the answer himself. Harry had, at various times, found himself in both camps, depending on whether or not he had done his reading the previous evening. Today, however, he simply wasn't coming up with a decent answer. Why would Dumbledore say a spell aloud? Laziness? But didn't it take more effort so speak than it took to remain silent?

Flitwick began to speak again. "Think: during your first year, you learned to cast a hovering charm. All together, please: what is the wand motion for the hovering charm?"

The class spoke in unison, several of the smiling. "Swish and flick," they said.

Flitwick nodded. "Correct, correct. A demonstration: Mister Potter, hold your wand steady and point to your Charms book. Focus your mind on the hovering charm, say the incantation, cast the spell, but do notmove your wand."

Harry did as Flitwick instructed. "Wingardium leviosa," Harry said. His book rose into the air, a few inches off his desk. Harry was surprised by how taxing the spell seemed; the Charms book almost immediately began to wobble in the air, and Harry was only able to keep it aloft for a few seconds before he had to set the book back down.

"Do you see?" Flitwick asked the class. "As first year students, you lacked the focus to cast a spell without a specific wand motion. Now, you are older! Suspicion: each of you could successfully cast a hovering charm without the swish and flick motion." Flitwick turned back to Harry. "Mr. Potter: again, please. This time, use the wand motion, and kindly hover your book to my desk. Set it atop the stack of books that is already there."

Harry cast the hovering charm again, this time using the wand motion. His book immediately rose into the air, and he was able to send it across the room and place it precisely atop the stack of books on Flitwick's desk, just as Flitwick had asked.

"Thank you!" Flitwick said. "Question, reiterated: Why might Professor Dumbledore speak aloud the incantation for a spell?"

"It guarantees success," Harry said.

"Quite. A related alternative: Professor Dumbledore says incantations aloud, because there is no reason for him not to." Flitwick raised his eyebrows and nodded at the various students in the room. Some of them nodded back, acknowledging Flitwick's point. "If there is no reason for silence," Flitwick continued, "then speaking the incantation will lead to a better casting." Flitwick paused. "Overly-obvious question to which I still expect an answer: why would a wizard wish to cast a spell without speaking the incantation? Miss Greengrass?"

"She might want to conceal the spell she's casting," Daphne said. "In a duel, for example."

"Quite right," Flitwick said. "In my days as a dueling champion, I cast the majority of my spells without speaking the incantation aloud. The reason: I did not wish to warn the opposing wizard of the nature of the incoming spell. The element of surprise outweighed the loss of power and precision." Flitwick raised his wand in the air. "An alternative: a wizard might wish to conceal the spell she is casting, because she is surrounded by students who might not have the maturity to use a spell properly!"

Harry raised his hand. "If we can cast spells without wand motions and without words, is it possible to cast without a wand?"

"Of course!" Flitwick said excitedly. "Accidental magic is the quintessential example. Raise your hand if you have ever performed accidental magic."

Every student's hand rose into the air. Flitwick, glancing at the back of the classroom, waved his hand in an upward motion. "Come now, Dolores. I doubt that you made it through childhood without performing accidental magic."

"I hardly think that this is relevant," Umbridge said churlishly.

"I am simply making a point for Mr. Potter," Flitwick said cheerfully. "Nearly every wizard performs accidental magic during childhood, and a wand is almost never involved. Am I correct, Dolores? Have I described your experience?"

Umbridge nodded. "Yes. Kindly move your lesson along."

"Indeed!" Flitwick exclaimed. "Madam Umbridge's wand was not involved—she was too young. And yet she produced some type of magical effect!" Flitwick glanced around the room. "Speculation: the result of Dolores's accidental magic experience was uncontrolled, unpredictable, and unrepeatable. Am I correct?"

Harry glanced back and saw Umbridge scowling. "Move along with your lesson, Professor," she snapped.

"I will accept your comment as an answer in the affirmative," Flitwick said briskly, refusing to allow Umbridge to ruin his relentless cheer. "It is obviously possible to perform wandless magic. To answer what I suspect is your true question, Mr. Potter, the performance of wandless magic it is not practical. Why? Answer: the better you learn to control your magic through practice and schooling, the less likely your magic is to 'boil over' and produce accidental wandless effects. Result: wandless magic is only displayed by the young and/or the untrained."

Harry raised his hand again. "Is it possible to say the incantation for one spell but cast another?"

Umbridge began to mutter in the back of the room. "Professor lacks control over excessively talkative students…"

Flitwick either ignored Umbridge, or had not heard her. "It is quite possible," Flitwick said. "But it is akin to speaking one sentence aloud while writing a different sentence with your quill. You must divide your attention, focusing both on actually casting the spell you intend, as well as not casting the spell you have incanted. Example: Wingardium Leviosa." Flitwick extended his wand, and a small trickle of water left its tip. "Commentary: you have just observed the most powerful conjuration of water that I can produce while speaking an incantation other than aguamenti. Statement of the obvious: This is an extraordinarily difficult task. Statement of that which you might not be aware: In the last one hundred years, only three wizards have been able to reliably split their attention as you have described, Mr. Potter, and one of them is Professor Dumbledore."

There was a heavy silence. Everybody in the class knew the identity of one of the other two wizards: Voldemort. Harry wondered, though, about the identity of the third…

The silence was broken by Umbridge's muttering. "Professor engages in rumor mongering…"

Flitwick's eyes tightened in annoyance, but he quickly erased the expression from his face. "We have allowed ourselves to become distracted. It is not surprising, however, that on the first day of studying non-verbal casting, our class lacks focus." Flitwick smiled at his pun. "Assignment: for the remainder of the class period, you shall practice the casting of non-verbal hovering charms upon your Charms book. Feel free to use the swish and flick motion, at first, but you must remain silent. If you wish to challenge yourself, hold your wand steady." Flitwick glanced past his students, to the back of the classroom where Umbridge was still writing with her quill. The corner of Flitwick's mouth turned upward, mischievously. "Goal: by the end of the year, I expect that you will be able to silently cast simple charms. Final demonstration: like so."

Flitwick waved his wand, and an enormous stream of water burst forth, arching over the heads of his students and striking the wall just above Dolores Umbridge. As the water splashed off the stonework, it doused Umbridge and her belongings, including her notes. Umbridge shrieked and raised her hands up to cover her head. Flitwick exclaimed in alarm—or possibly joy—and leaped down from his place at the podium.

"Dolores! I'm so sorry!" As Flitwick scurried toward the back of the room, he began casting drying charm after drying charm at Umbridge. Her clothes dried quickly, albeit in a horrible and wrinkled mess, and Umbridge's hair exploded outward from her hair in a frizzy storm that rivaled Hermione's hair at its worst.

By this time, Flitwick had made it to Umbridge's side. "I'm terribly sorry, all this talk of incantations and silent casting…" Flitwick was standing next to Umbridge's notes, which were lying on the ground in a puddle of water. The ink was already running, and the parchment was thoroughly soaked. "Let me dry those notes for you," Flitwick said.

Flitwick cast a drying charm at the parchment, even as Umbridge reached out with her hand and began to protest. The parchment, struck by the powerful drying spell, was shredded into a million pieces. Flitwick raised a hand to his mouth, ostensibly in shock, but Harry saw that his small professor was hiding a large smile. "Oh, dear…" Flitwick said quietly. "At least it's dry…"

Umbridge glared at Flitwick and stuffed her quill and clipboard into her pink satchel. "The Minister will hear of this!" she said loudly, before storming out of the room.

Flitwick waited until the door had closed behind Umbridge before turning back to the class. "Observation: the room is now clear of distractions. Please begin with your assignment." He was no longer attempting to conceal his smile.

*!*!*!*!*

When Harry finally left dinner, he very nearly ran to meet Katie in their Potions classroom. He was obviously excited to see (and snog) her, but he was equally excited to relate what had happened to Umbridge in Flitwick's class. Harry arrived before Katie, this time, and he nervously paced the length of the classroom, trying to bleed off some of his pent-up excitement.

When Katie finally arrived, Harry was at the far end of the room. As soon as she closed the door, Harry was almost charging toward her. "You wouldn't believe what happened in Charms today," Harry said. "Umbridge was observing classes again, and Flitwick doused her with water! It was brilliant! She was writing down the most ridiculous things in her notes, but Flitwick-"

Katie held up her hand and touched a finger to Harry's lips. "Less talking, more kissing."

"Sure, but—mphf—" Harry hadn't realized how quickly Katie had intended to implement her plan. "Ow!"

Katie pulled away. "Are you okay?"

Harry reached up and touched his mouth. He had still been talking when Katie had kissed him, and he had managed to bash his teeth against hers. As Harry ran his fingers across his teeth, one of them felt unusually jagged. "Would you believe that I just chipped a tooth?"

"Really? Let me see!" Katie grabbed Harry's cheeks and squeezed, turning his head left and right and forcing his lips apart. "They look fine to me."

"It isn't a big one," Harry said. He took Katie's hand in his own and pressed her fingers against the damaged tooth. "It's right here, feel that?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Katie grabbed Harry's chin again to hold him still, and moved so that her eyes were only a few centimeters away from Harry's teeth. "How could that even happen? Tooth hardening potions prevent that sort of thing…"

"I, er…" Harry felt himself turning red. Poor dental hygiene was not the sort of thing that one admitted to a girl if one hoped to continue snogging her. "Must have gotten a bad potion or something last year." Harry made a mental note to order teeth hardening potions for this year. Also, to never mention this event to Luna, lest she think that he was a victim of the Rotfang Conspiracy.

"Well, let's see if we can fix it." Katie drew her wand, and before Harry could say anything she blasted him right in the mouth with a charm. "Reparo!"

The bright light of the charm dazzled Harry, and he started blinking rapidly, trying to regain his sight. He felt Katie's fingers run across his teeth again.

"Wow, it worked!" she exclaimed. Harry heard Katie giggle with delight and clap her hands. As the world came back into focus, Harry saw Katie tuck her wand away and approach him once more. "I am going to kiss you now," Katie said. "Are you ready?"

"Absolutely," Harry said, holding out his arms. Katie slipped into his embrace, and a much gentler kiss ensued.

Harry was coming to realize that the time he spent with Katie was very different from the time Harry had spent with Pansy last year. With Pansy, Harry had always felt as if they were opponents in some strange game, except that Harry didn't quite know the rules. Pansy expected him to know things that she had never told him in the first place. Or, when they were alone, Harry would try to do something with his hands, and Pansy would push them lightly away. Harry would stop, but only a few minutes later Pansy would be irritated, grabbing Harry's hands and putting them exactly where he had wanted them to be in the first place. Then the next time Pansy would push Harry's hands away, he would try again only a few moments later, and Pansy would be angry with him because he wasn't respecting her when she said know. It had all been very confusing, but Harry had been willing to put up with it. That's what couples did, right? They put up with one another.

With Katie, things were different. She looked different from Pansy, for one thing. Pansy kept her dark hair short and neatly trimmed, while Katie's was long and brownish-blonde, and nearly always in a messy ponytail. Pansy was curvy and soft, while Katie was athletic and wiry. Pansy knew how to make herself pretty, and she had money to buy plenty of expensive clothes, but Katie looked good when she was sweaty and her hair was a mess, which is nothing that could ever be said of Pansy.

More importantly, though, when Katie kissed Harry, it felt like were on the same team, working together for a common goal. Not that you could call snogging "work," that is. After playing quidditch against Katie for several years, Harry had suspected that she had a great talent for physical activity, and the more time Harry spent with Katie, the more his suspicions were confirmed. And when Katie wanted something, like a kiss, she didn't hesitate to let Harry know. It was a fine arrangement, and Harry was enjoying it quite a lot.

As curfew approached, Harry and Katie finally forced themselves apart. That part, at least, was much more difficult than Harry remembered from his time with Pansy—every movement he made seemed to draw him closer to Katie, and thereby closer to a resumption of kissing.

"So…" Katie said.

"So…" Harry said, leaning in slightly. When Katie moved her lips, it made Harry want to kiss them.

"What, exactly, are we?" Katie asked.

"Hmm?" Harry asked, blinking slowly. He had been looking too closely at Katie's mouth, and hadn't been paying attention to what was coming out of it.

"I mean, are we a couple? Are we dating?"

"Oh! I… er…" Harry hadn't thought about that, actually. He had thought that they were snogging, but he hadn't considered the greater ramifications.

"You do fancy me, right?" Katie asked, drawing back slightly.

"Of course I do," Harry said. There wasn't any other answer he could give, really.

Katie smiled. She was exceptionally cute when she smiled. Then again, maybe that was just the sort of thing you thought when you had just finished snogging a girl, no matter who she was.

"Great!" Katie chirped. "I can't wait to tell Angelina and Alicia. They're always going on about Fred and George and how they sneak all over the castle. They won't even believe me when I tell them that I'm snogging Harry Potter in his private Potions classroom. Their jaws are going to hit the floor. I should hire Colin Creevey to take a picture for me."

"Katie… maybe that's not the best idea." Harry gave her a close-lipped smile that he hoped was equal parts sad and silly, in order to minimize her inevitable anger… or disappointment.

"Why not?" Katie asked quietly. She had chosen disappointment, and it was terribly effective; she looked as if her pet kneazle had just been run over by the Knight Bus.

"It's just… it's Umbridge," Harry said. "She's got this grudge against me, and against my friends. Like the twins—they wouldn't have gotten banned from quidditch if they didn't know me so well."

"She might have done that anyway," Katie said.

Harry shook his head. "If it had been a fight among Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, she wouldn't have left the stands, no way. She came down because I was in the middle of everything, and she was looking for a way to hurt me. The twins, they just happened to get caught in the crossfire."

"But…"

"I don't want that to happen to you," Harry said, placing his hand atop Katie's. "I couldn't live with myself if you became a target for Umbridge because of me."

"I'm a big girl," Katie said. "I can handle a little heat."

"What are you going to do after Hogwarts?" Harry asked suddenly. He didn't know what Katie's plans were, but he was certain that he could quickly imagine some way for Umbridge to ruin them.

"Er…" Katie turned red. "I've been thinking about professional quidditch…"

Too easy. "What are you going to do if Umbridge bans you for life?" Harry asked. "Scouts won't be able to watch you this year or next, you'll be out of practice… it would end your career before it even started."

"I guess you're right," Katie said sadly. "I'm sorry things had to end this way…"

"End?" Harry said. "Who said anything about ending things?"

"But you…"

"I said that I didn't want you to become a target," Harry said. "And if Umbridge doesn't know about us, then she can't do anything to you."

Katie's face brightened again. "A secret? For my protection? How brave…" She leaned forward and kissed Harry. Coming from Ginny, or Pansy, or Tracey, or even Hermione, Harry would have expected sarcasm in that last sentence. Katie was not so subtle, and her earnestness was endearing

When they parted ways that evening, Katie's pleasant mood had returned full-force. She reminded Harry of a puppy, sometimes; Katie was incredibly enthusiastic, easily saddened but even more easily cheered, and hungry for Harry's praise. She liked quidditch, she liked Harry, and she liked talking to Harry about how much she liked quidditch and how much she liked Harry. Time spent with Katie was easy; Harry didn't have to worry, and he didn't have to think particularly hard about anything. Their time, like Katie herself, was nice.

No matter how nice it was, though, it wasn't enough to make Harry openly declare their relationship. An official relationship with Katie was a risk, not just for Katie but also for Harry. If their relationship became public, Umbridge and Draco would target Katie as a proxy for Harry. Katie was brave enough—she was willing to snog a Slytherin quidditch player, after all—but Harry would be forced to respond to any attack upon her. Failure to respond would risk losing not only Katie but also his allies in Gryffindor (Katie's friends) and Hufflepuff (who lauded loyalty). Any time that Harry could be forced into action meant that Harry was subject to manipulation by his opponents. The last time Harry had exposed himself, he had wound up stripped of the quidditch captaincy and grounded for life. He wasn't going to make that same mistake again.

Harry felt only a little guilty about failing to answer Katie's original question, but she would probably never notice. They had labeled their relationship during the course of their conversation, that was true, but that label was "secret." Certainly not the label that Katie had been hoping for… but it was the only label Harry was willing to give them.

A/N: More Katie/Harry time, hooray! Next chapter, Defense Club starts meeting.

In other news, I am coming frightfully close to completing this book. I'm currently writing the last scenes of the school year. After that, I have to go back and clean up some transitions... and then I'll be moving on to Book 6. What does that mean for the updating schedule? More frequent bonus chapters, that's what it means!