Lily's Plan
By: Sheltie
I don't own Harry Potter at all
Chapter 37
"So what do you all think?" Harry asked.
Around him was wife, all of his friends and his mother. He had just told them about what Godric had told and suggested to him.
"Well, with the other founders' blessings you could get rid of the toad quicker" Neville said.
The others groaned at this. Neville was really wanting to push the toad out. Hopefully off the astronomy tower or some other very tall structure.
Padma's detention was her writing lines repeated the words, 'I'll not talk back to a teacher' over and over again. Her hand was really cramped from doing this. The toad watched on gleefully though it looked like she had hoped for something more. This only made them all the more wary when Padma told them.
"Okay, I guess that's a good reason" Susan said.
"What do you think mom?" Harry asked.
"I think this could you help in many ways, but I fear what the Ministry would do or say if you do this. They will paint you worse than they already have" Lily said.
"It might mean we might lose some students because parents might not want the school run by you" Padma said picking up Lily's train of thought.
Harry mulled over these two new thoughts.
"But it could be a real help to us. You'd have total access to the school and this would be a strong base for when Voldemort attacks" Daphne said.
"Wait, what about Dumbledore. I know you don't care for him, Harry. But he won't like this and he still has a lot of clout. He could help the Ministry in the smear campaign because of this" Susan said.
This really made everyone think really hard. This could be a problem if they made an enemy out of Dumbledore.
"I think you should do it Harry. This would help us all in the long run. We can deal with Fudge, Dumbledore and the Ministry as they come. With you taking over Hogwarts think of all the good you can do. And we'll all be by your side helping you" Hermione said speaking for the first time.
"Fine, lets go portrait hunting" Harry said.
Luna, who sat there quietly the whole talk began humming a tune and swinging her legs.
/Scene Break/
So the great portrait hunt began. It was very hard since Godric wasn't too much help.
"We all hide our portraits and didn't tell the others. We wanted our heirs to look for them using their own brains to do so" Godric said.
"So we have no place to start" Susan said crestfallen.
"To the library!" Hermione called.
She, Daphne, and Padma rushed out as the others played various Brainy trio theme music in their own heads.
The Brainy trio began looking everything about the founders hoping it would provide a clue. They jotted down everything they found and then would give the others the info, which would give them some sort of direction. Most of the leads were false and it lead to many wild goose chases. But they all kept at it.
They also kept up their class work too. This was an O.W.L. year and that meant it was an important year. The others had no idea how they did it.
/Scene Break/
They kept their distance from the toad as much as they could. They said nothing in class so not to get detention. With that Umbridge ignored them. So it was kind of a peace agreement between the two sides, though how long the peace will last was anyone's guess. Luna did the same in her fourth year class since she had no one there to watch her back like the others.
/Scene Break/
Their first encounter with the new Ginny was enlightening. She came up to them with her hands out. She was holding her wand handle out to show she wasn't a threat.
"What do you want Miss Weasley?" Hermione asked coolly.
"I wish to apologize for my behavior last year. I wasn't myself and I wish we could start anew" Ginny said honestly.
Hermione and the others looked at one another. Could this be a trick of some kind?
"How do we know we can trust you?" Daphne asked.
"I guess you can't given who I am and the past we have and certain members of my family. But if you want I will make a vow" Ginny said sincerely.
"We don't need a vow Miss Weasley, but you must work towards earning our trust and friendship. It will not happen over night" Susan said.
"I understand, I just wanted to apologize for all the trouble I have caused" Ginny said.
"We accept" Hermione said.
Ginny nodded and left.
Once gone the group turned to one another.
"What do you think, was she honest?" Padma asked.
"I think she was, but who knows? I've heard she can be sneakier than the twins" Neville said.
"We'll have to take it day-to-day" Daphne said.
"Ginny has seen the error to her ways, but she has a long road to redemption and she only took the first small step" Luna said.
"Thanks Luna" Hermione said.
Luna beamed at Hermione then got back to work on her essay.
/Scene Break/
Luna wandered the castle hoping to find a founder's portrait. She blinked when she saw a passage she didn't remember seeing before. She decided to check it out. Her wand was tucked behind her ear so she was ready. She moved in slowly and frowned. It looked very dusty and had cobwebs everywhere. She waved her wand to get rid of them and found many relics. She looked them over in a glance, but nothing of value. She wandered through with nothing catching her eye til she saw a hint of yellow.
She followed it and found a portrait. The woman in the portrait was stout and a bit plump. You could tell she had a gentle face even when she slept. Her gown was a canary yellow and there was a knife on her hip.
"Helga Hufflepuff?" Luna asked.
There was no response.
Luna frowned and tapped her wand to the portrait. That awoke it.
"Huh, what, what's going on, who are you?" the woman asked bewildered.
"Forgive me my lady, but I have awoken you for it is time for Hogwarts to become great once again" Luna said.
"What is your name child?" Helga asked.
"My name is Luna Lovegood, my lady. I am friends with Godric Gryffindor and his heir Harry Potter" Luna said curtseying.
"Godric you say, take me to him" Helga said.
Luna nodded and with some instruction Luna was able to take the portrait off the wall and shrunk it down. She then skipped off to tell her friends that a leg of the journey was complete.
/Scene Break/
"Luna, are you saying you found one of the founder's portraits?" Susan asked shocked.
They were in the Potter quarters. Luna had gathered them all there and now they had just heard the news Luna was dying to tell them.
"Yes, but I shall let her introduce herself" Luna said in her usual airy tone.
She then took out the shrunken portrait enlarged it and place it on the wall beside Godric's. Helga looked at her surroundings before walking from her portrait to Godric's. They hugged each other like long lost friends.
"Helga, it's been so long. You look radiant as ever" Godric said smoothly.
"Godric, your lines never worked on me before and they won't work now. Tell me what's going on here?" Helga asked.
It took sometime, but they got the founder of Hufflepuff up to speed on things going on. She was shocked at what her house had turned into. Sure, her house was for those who were loyal and hard working, but never to be known as the house of weaklings.
"Many things have change I see, but I can see that this generation will be the one to make up for the past ones" Helga said.
"We're starting it with gathering up yours, Rowena's and Salazar's portraits and have Harry take control over Hogwarts. He's a noble lad with all the traits that we treasured. He's very loyal to his friends and family, he's quite smart, and he's ambitious" Godric said.
Helga agreed with Godric. She had only met with Harry for a few moments and could see the lad had everything. She was happy that he surrounded himself with friends from all the houses. Yes, the boy could be the one to bring Hogwarts to the golden age.
"This all quite amazing, but I think I need to know more" Helga said.
"Brainy trio, you're up" Harry said.
Hermione, Daphne and Padma stepped up ready and willing.
As Helga asked the three witches questions the rest settled back.
"One down two to go" Neville said.
"Yup, nice going Luna" Harry said.
Luna smiled.
"It was my pleasure milord" she said as she curtseyed.
"Luna, you don't have to do that" Harry said blushing a bit.
"It is proper in the old ways" Luna said.
Harry sighed.
/Scene Break/
There was a high of finding the first portrait, but that only lasted a bit since they weren't having any luck finding the other two. There weren't many clues to them no matter how many books the Brainy trio digested.
"How in the world did Luna do it?" Daphne asked out loud.
"She just wandered about the castle and stumbled upon it" Padma said.
"She has luck, she has almost as much luck as Harry does" Hermione said.
"We can't give up, there has to be something in these books" Daphne said.
"I guess, if anything we're gathering a lot of info about the founders" Padma said.
"Yeah, I guess" Daphne sighed.
/Scene Break/
Umbridge's reign of terror started to begin as she was announced as High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. She then created her own good squad, which was made up of Malfoy, Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott. There were other dark families too. The goon squad or the Inquisitor Squad as it was supposed to be called had the same powers as the prefects really though they only answered to Umbridge.
"This is insane, she's getting a stranglehold on the school" Susan said.
"Yeah, there has got to be a way to stop her" Padma said.
"Can't do anything til we find the last two portraits" Harry sighed.
"So we just keep low?" Neville asked.
"Yeah, I mean, what can we do. We can't stir up any trouble since it could be damaging to our cause right now" Harry said.
"Wait, wait, there might be something we can do" Hermione said.
"What has you lovely brain cooked up my dear?" Harry asked.
Hermione smiled and kissed Harry on the cheek.
"My idea darling is we start up and underground defense program. Since the toad won't teach us, we'll have to do it ourselves" the Lady Potter said.
"Brilliant, but who'd join us?" Daphne asked.
"We'll sound out our houses. It should be easy" Hermione said.
"But we can say anything about it less it get back to the toad" Susan said.
"We won't give any vital information out. We'll just listen in and chat with others and see where they stand. If they are with us then we'll let them know more" Daphne said catching on.
"Absolutely brilliant" Neville said.
"It's a plan then" Harry said.
/Scene Break/
In the Hufflepuff house Susan moved in. Hannah had helped her out in sounding out their own house and found that there were many that were on Harry's side. Cedric helped this since he was pro Harry. But there were others that listened to the Ministry and could not be swayed.
"So Hannah, what's the number?" Susan asked her friend.
"Well, there are several that I can see willing to join. Cedric would be the one leading them" Hannah said as she was consulting her parchment.
Susan nodded.
"Good, he could the ambassador for the Hufflepuff" she said.
"Why not you Sue?" Hannah asked.
"I'll be too busy, and besides, I haven't been in Hufflepuff really. I've been with Harry so I'm not as connected to my house like he is" Susan said.
Hannah nodded.
"But Cedric is on his last year here, who'll will take over when he leaves?" she asked.
"Hmmm, we'll need to think of that one" Susan said.
"Well anyone, but Ernie would be good" Hannah said.
They both agreed on this. Ernie was a good guy, but he was pompous and had an arrogance about him that annoyed those who knew him. He'd try to take over the whole thing and that wasn't what they needed.
/Scene Break/
In the house of the smarts Padma and Luna were doing their own list. They found that though Ravenclaws were supposedly to be smart they were swayed easily by words. They didn't even use their heads.
Padma was disgusted by her house's moronic ways.
Luna just blinked and eavesdropping. She seemed to have a knack for it since no one seemed to notice her at all. She could silently move from one chatting group to the another with none of them being the wiser.
Padma shook her head. Her house was so in trouble if they ever crossed Luna and she actually did something about it. She knew things about everyone that they'd never want let out. Heck, Luna could probably write a tell a book.
"So what do you got Luna?" Padma asked.
Luna glided over and sat down.
"It seems that Cho is on the outs with her little posse since she is Cedric's girlfriend. She sides with him as a pro Harry, but the others are siding with the Ministry, which is being led by Marietta Edgecombe, whose mother works at the Ministry" Luna said in one breath.
Padma was amazed at the scope of Luna's intel.
"Okay, what about our year?" she asked.
"They are more of a mixed bag. When I hinted at defense lessons they were all for it, but only because they could get a better grade on their O.W.L's. They didn't seem to care about Harry's cause or the Ministry's" Luna said.
"I see" Padma said.
"I have also heard that Terry Boot fancy you something rotten. He's said to have a picture of you from the Yule ball that he keeps under his pillow" Luna said.
Padma felt heat rise in her cheeks.
"Luna, that doesn't help us at all" she hissed.
"Why not, if you could get Terry then that would help get others follow us" Luna said.
Padma frowned. When did Luna get to be so Slytherin?
"Okay, Cho could possibly be the head of Ravenclaw group" Padma said after shaking her thoughts free.
"Yes, she is trustworthy, but only if Cedric takes the first step. She seems quite submissive to him" Luna said in a certain way.
Dirty thoughts ran through Padma's mind at Luna's last comment. She had to shake her head again to get free of them.
"What else?" Padma asked hoping she didn't need a cold shower afterwards.
/Scene Break/
Hermione and Neville were in charge of the lion's den. Though it wasn't too hard to find those who wanted the toad out. Everyone in the whole tower hated the vile woman. What was the problem was to keep things quiet so a certain loud mouth bottom less pit redhead. If word got around then their idea would be doomed.
"Report Neville?" Hermione asked.
"Talked to the Weasley twins. They are in. They also want to talk to Harry about some investments" Neville said.
Hermione nodded.
"I got the three Chasers too. They want to help" Neville said.
Hermione jotted down the names in her charmed notebook.
"How about our year?" Hermione asked.
"Dean and Seamus are on board and they promised not to say a word to Ron" Neville said.
Hermione nodded.
"Lavender and Parvati are bit trickier. I'm not sure how we can trust Lavender to keep her mouth shut about it" Neville said honestly.
Hermione nodded. That was another big worry. Lavender Brown was known as the gossip queen of Hogwarts.
"What about Parvati?" Hermione asked.
"I think she's fine, but want Padma to talk to her. I think it will come off much more of a serious thing if it was between sisters" Neville said.
Hermione jotted this down.
"I, uh, also, um" Neville mumbled.
"What is it Neville?" Hermione asked.
"Ginny, Ginny somehow must've overheard something and asked to join in" Neville said.
"She did, What did you tell her?" Hermione asked.
"I, uh, I told her that I'd get back to her" Neville said.
"You did alright Neville. We'll need think long and hard about admitting her" Hermione said.
Neville nodded.
/Scene Break/
In the Snake pit Daphne was with Astoria and Tracey.
"Well?" Daphne asked.
"Not many I'm afraid" Tracey said.
"What about Blaise?" Daphne asked.
"He's a fence-sitter. He's hard to read, but I think I have a way in" Tracey said with a smirk.
"Tracey is going to show him what broom closest are really used for" Astoria giggled.
Tracey shot a glare at the younger Greengrass sister, who just kept giggling.
"Really?" Daphne asked with curiosity.
"Moving on" Tracey said with red tinted cheeks.
They found that Malfoy somehow still had a loose grip on Slytherin though every snake knew that Daphne held the power. The problem was that Daphne was rarely ever there that there was no real order in the snake pit. So Malfoy swooped in claiming it. It wasn't a good hold though and Daphne could knock him down anytime she liked.
"So there will only be us and possibly Blaise?" Daphne asked.
"Yeah, that's it" Tracey said.
Daphne sighed. It was better than nothing.
End of Chapter
A/N: the end of another chap. Okay, the DA is being formed and a founder's portrait has been found, only two to go. Next chap will have them finding another one or maybe both. Haven't thought that far ahead yet. Will have more of the toad and her froggy wrath. Thanks for reading and please review.