I'd decided to take on three Fifth Years for the time being. With all I had to do, I didn't think that I would have more time than that to devote to more than that. Brenda refused to be tutored by her big brother, so it was three fifth years I didn't know. Just as I'd asked Romilda the year before, I had them meet me in the library. Two were blokes, and one was a girl.
The three of them met with me one late Sunday afternoon. The girl was a cute redhead in Slytherin, while the blokes were Gryffindors. I figured eventually I would tutor them one on one, but for the first meeting, I wanted to see where they were at for their strengths and weaknesses. The girl, Eileen, was behind every Potions assignment, while the blokes struggled with making proper potions, and they didn't put any effort into their essays.
"You don't seem so bad," Roy, one of the boys said as I explained their latest Potions assignment to them.
It had been a year since I'd done it, but I remembered the essay and I understood it really well. I felt as if I'd just written it a few weeks ago instead of a year ago. I looked up in confusion at his comment.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You're Brenda's older brother," he said. "I wasn't sure about having you as a tutor because she is such a-" I raised my eyebrows at him, "well, most of us can't stand her anyway," he said, looking away. His mate Jeff snorted and stared down at his essay while Eileen, the girl, hid a grin behind her hand.
"Brenda and I are nothing alike," I said. "Anyway, by the look of all your essays, it seems your biggest problem is that you're not even trying."
"I have more important classes to worry about than Potions," Eileen told me. "I'm just doing it because I have to. Snape told me I'd be in detention if I don't improve my marks, and well, we all know what detention is like these days. So I took Slughorn's offer up on being tutored."
"Potions is very important for a lot of careers," I told her. "Even if you don't plan to keep it past fifth year, they'll still look at what classes you got OWLs in. It's one of the core classes, and you should be trying for at least an A."
"But it's hard, and Slughorn never remembers my name," she protested. "He only cares about his precious Slug Club members."
"He never remembers my name either," Roy spoke up.
"Probably because you are a brat of a mudblood," Eileen muttered.
"I don't want to hear you say that word again!" I snapped. "I happen to be a prefect as well."
Eileen just rolled her eyes while the two boys glared over at her.
"Whatever," she said. "Transfiguration is my best class, so I plan to take any career that revolves around that class anyway. I told you, I'm only doing this, so I don't have to be tortured."
"Funny, you're scared to get detention by the very people you support," Jeff said.
"I never said I supported them," Eileen answered.
"Your mudblood comment said otherwise," I pointed out to her. "And I prefer to help students who are taking it seriously. You're wasting my time, and I have my own studies. So decide now what you want to do. I'm sure Slughorn can give me someone else who wants help."
She let out a loud, obnoxious sigh and then crossed her arms.
"I want help," she finally said. "Fine, I won't say anything that will offend you," she added, rolling her eyes.
"Good, and you'll take your schoolwork seriously from now on. I'm volunteering to help all three of you. I don't have to do this, and so I want people who want help."
"We want help," Jeff muttered.
And thankfully, there were no more arguments after that. By the end of the two hours, I had all three caught up on the latest essay. I decided after that it would be best to work with Jeff and Roy, but to tutor Eileen by herself. They obviously had their differences with each other, and I didn't want to spend most of the sessions breaking up fights. Thankfully, by the end of the two hours, I'd managed to help them make progress. I let the boys go first, but I kept Eileen behind.
"Going to lecture me more?" She sneered.
"No," I responded. "We're going to make a schedule because you have a lot more to catch up on. We may need to work together during the week as well, but I'm going to work with you for a couple of hours on Saturdays and Sundays too. That is until you're caught up."
She sighed.
"Oh, I don't know…" she said slowly, "I have a very busy social circle, and fifth-year is very hard. I'm not sure if I can spare more time than one day a week."
"Fine, we'll work two hours on Sundays before lunch, and then I'll work with the boys after lunch," I told her. "Remember, I don't have to help you."
"You've told me," she said coldly. "Fine, I'll work with you Saturday mornings as well," she said with a really loud sigh again. "Is that all?"
"Yes," I answered with annoyance. "And drop the attitude. I won't work with you if you keep giving me attitude the way a little kid does."
Eileen just shook her head before getting up and walking off. It was my turn to sigh, and I put my face into my hands. What had I gotten myself into?
With all I had to do, time did begin to go by swiftly. We were soon into October, and the weather was slowly getting colder again. Every morning, I would check the chalkboard to see if my parents had written anything to me, but if there was any bad news, they seemed to refrain from telling us anything. If they contacted us, it was through the usual way with Hooty. I figured this was to take suspicion off our family.
All I wanted was to know if they'd heard from Tasha or not. She didn't contact us through the coins anymore, but I was sure she was paying attention to them. I didn't want to send her a message on it as thirty or more people would get it as well.
Neville, Ginny, and Luna decided to make things more complicated for us during DA meetings. Instead of just having us aim at any opponent, they had people start running around, and those who weren't running had to try and hex those who were running. I'd mastered a lot of the spells that we'd been learning, but it was a lot harder when my target was running around. I rarely hit any of them, and apparently, they wanted us to go into mock battles eventually.
Half the time, they would join in with us, but other times, they would be on the other side of the room, making plans to break into Snape's office with their helpers.
"Blimey," Nick gasped as he tried to get me with the boil hex. "How are we ever supposed to hit anyone?"
He wiped a hand over his face before stopping to take a drink of water. Some people had brought pitchers of water and glasses for us in case we got thirsty. Most days, when we were practicing, we'd get really hot.
"I don't know," I responded, watching him. "I've only managed to get Philip once."
I, too, reached for a glass water wishing I knew the water conjuring spell. I knew we'd be learning it at some point that year; I just didn't know when.
"Suppose it's good practice, though, but look at Ernie and Terry, they're doing really well," Nick nodding in the direction of the two seventh years.
I figured it had to do with the fact that they'd been in the DA before. Their wands were whipping around so fast while they ran around the room, aiming hexes or jinxes at each other. They weren't even speaking while they tried. Finally, Terry managed to hit Ernie with the Levicorpus spell. Ernie let out a loud yell as he was suddenly in the air, upside down. A few fourth years were near them, and they began to giggle.
"Okay, that's it," Nick said. "We need to try harder, Barry. We need to get as good as they are. I think we're both scared to actually hit each other. From now on, there is no holding back. Are you ready?"
I nodded.
I saw Nick whip his wand out, but I was ready for it. I'd gotten good at using the shield charm non-verbally, so I was able to deflect before I ran. Nick chased me, trying to hit me with whatever, but I was able to dodge or deflect every spell. I was trying to think of him as the Death Eaters who had shown up at my home in the summer. It made it easier to send some of the harsher spells at him. Finally, one of his spells hit my shield and bounced back at him. He was suddenly covered in boils.
"Cool," I said as he paused to hold out his arms.
"Maybe for you," he said, and before I could stop him, he sent it at me again, and I was suddenly covered in boils as well.
"Thanks, mate," I said as I examined the painful boils.
"No holding back," he told me.
"Apparently not," I responded. "Getting me while I'm not paying attention."
"Your opponent would do the same," Ginny said as she walked past us. She grinned at us as she continued walking around.
"She has a point," Nick told me with a wink. "But now we need an antidote for this."
"Well, you're going to have to wait until we go back to the Common Room," I told him. "We can't go see Pomfrey, and there are none here. I don't think Room of Requirement will provide that."
"Shame it doesn't," Nick said, looking around with hope. "Considering it seems to provide a lot of things, you'd think it would be able to provide us with antidotes. It's provided some rather nice books since we talked about learning more hexes and jinxes," he added, nodding over at a bookshelf full of books.
It contained books about hexes and jinxes, but it also had books about duelling as well. I had a feeling that it was where our leaders were learning about duelling. I knew they'd fought by the Astronomy Tower, but the three of them seemed to have gained even more knowledge when it came to fights since the first meeting.
Neville suddenly blew into a whistle he kept around his neck, and everyone turned to look at him.
"Today was better than usual," he called out to everyone. "I see a lot of improvement with everyone. I think for our next meeting, we'll do a real mock battle. We'll divide everyone up into Death Eaters or Hogwarts fighters."
"But we might not have meetings for the next couple of weeks," Ginny continued and smiled a little at the disappointed groans. "We're going to put our plan into action this week, and we don't want them to be suspicious of what we're doing if we're caught. We want the blame to be solely on us three, and they might start watching this room if they think the DA has to do with it."
"What if they really hurt you?" Brianne asked. "They've already shown that they don't care about hurting us. Hilda couldn't come to a meeting tonight because Alecto really hurt her, and all she did was snort in class!"
"It's why we want it to be just the three of us," Neville told her. "We don't want to sacrifice other DA members."
"What if we're prepared to make that sacrifice?" A fourth-year Gryffindor boy called out.
"Well, we're not," Luna told him kindly. "The rest of you will get the chance to help out the DA eventually."
"We're going to try to recruit more members at the end of the month, or in November," Ginny continued. "Once a few weeks have passed, we'll start. We're going to try and lay low, so we're asking all of you to try and not rebel too much. I know it's hard, and I know you all want to stand up to them, but just for the next few weeks, try to behave. We're hoping they won't connect the two together."
"The Carrows aren't very smart after all," Neville added with a grin. "But Snape might put two and two together. So just watch your coins, but this might be the last meeting for a while. After that, we're going to be in the open a lot more. We'll write on the walls that the DA is still recruiting, but we're also going to start reporting some truths that the Daily Prophet refuses to print."
"Daddy prints it all in the Quibbler," Luna spoke up. "Snape's banned it, but daddy can send me copies without them being detected."
"We'll put posters out during Quidditch Matches, and any of us in the Sixth or Seventh year can try and put some out during our free periods," Ginny added. "And it might be really risky, but we want to put some out early in the mornings as well."
"Will there be truths about Potter?" A fifth-year girl called out as she waved her hand. "I heard a few weeks ago that he broke into the Ministry, but no one has said much since then. Is it true, or is that just a rumour?"
I hadn't heard about that one, and I wondered why mum and dad hadn't mentioned it to me. I glanced over at Ginny to see what she had to say about this.
"We think it's true," Ginny said. "Luna's dad printed it in the Quibbler, and we think that's why Snape banned the paper. He put the decree up almost twenty-four hours later. I don't think he thought anyone would think it was odd since he was reinstating a lot of her old decrees."
I put my hand up as I thought about the fact that I could probably provide news as well. I just couldn't tell them how. The Ravenclaws were one thing, but I didn't think it was a good idea to tell every DA member.
"I can probably find things out as well," I told everyone. "I can't tell you how because I promised, but my parents have a way of contacting us."
I hoped neither Brenda or Brianne would get upset that I stated this. I glanced over at Brenda first to see her reaction, but she suddenly stood up straighter. She usually did this if she wanted to seem more important. Brianne was nodding her head as if to agree with me.
"If anyone can provide us with News, that would be great," Ginny said. "Hermione told me that your parents are unofficial members of the Order, so they probably do know enough."
A few heads to turned to look at us in interest now. A lot of people knew who the Order of the Phoenix was by that point. They all knew just how important the group was now, and I knew there were plenty of people who wanted to be part of it. I could hear murmurs from some asking why our parents weren't part of it officially.
"They might be now," Brenda said in answer to the whispers. "They weren't before because they were scared of fighting with us around. Everyone is probably going to have to fight at some point now, though. Mum likely isn't because of our little brother, but dad probably is."
"Anyway," Neville said. "If any of you can find anything out by the next meeting, that would be great. Just keep looking up spells and read up what you can on duelling if it's possible. We want to make sure everyone is prepared, even if the younger students won't be fighting. Anyone in the fifth year and older should be ready to battle at any given moment. We don't know what Harry is doing or if he will show up tomorrow."
"Why are you so sure he is going to show up?" Zacharias Smith called out. "He seems to have disappeared, even if the Ministry story is true, we don't know anything. Maybe they killed him, and we haven't heard."
"No one is asking you to do fight," Ernie told him. "You don't have to come to these meetings."
"I just want to know why they're so sure he is going to show up," Zacharias Smith responded. "And I'm not the only one who thinks like that. There have been a lot more people than me questioning this."
"We think Harry is doing something big, and eventually, he'll need our help," Neville stated, "and I want us to be prepared. I think we should be prepared even if he isn't coming back. We're not always going to be at school, and we might have to fight someone at some point when we leave. Harry said two years ago that we should be prepared for the real world, and that's what we are going to do. If anyone has a problem with this, then they don't have to be here."
He paused as if waiting for Zacharias to say more, but the boy kept quiet. He just folded his arms and sighed. To be fair, I felt he made a good point as well. I understood what Neville was saying, but how did we know if Harry was coming back? I didn't believe he was dead. I think we'd all know that because You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters would want everyone to know, but why did the three leaders believe that Hogwarts was Harry's destination?
"If there aren't any more questions, everyone except our helpers is dismissed. If it all goes well, we'll have a meeting, and we'll need somewhere to hide the sword. If it doesn't… well, I think the whole school will find out," Neville said. "We'll see you at the end of the month if it doesn't work out."
I thought he sounded a lot braver than he actually felt. I thought I saw fear in his eyes, but it was only there for a moment before he looked at Ginny and Luna. I noticed Luna usually stayed quiet during the meetings. She only put in her opinions once and a while, but Neville and Ginny did the most talking.
Everyone began leaving, letting the younger ones go first, a few at a time. Nick, Philip, Darren, and I left together when we were given the signal. There was no one in sight, and I wondered how long we'd be able to keep this up. Would Snape reinforce the Inquisitorial Squad? Would they start spying to see if we were having meetings again? What if their plan went to hell?
The other three were talking about a Transfiguration essay we had due, but I was deep in thought. I felt like things were going too easy for us lately, and that something was going to happen.
My suspicions were confirmed a couple of days later. Nick and I were working on Arithmancy when Brenda rushed over to us, looking scared. Immediately, we both looked up and set our quills down.
"They were caught!" She whispered as she sat down at our table. "We were looking out for them as we were supposed to, but Snape must have security spells in the Headmasters office. I was pretending to be on patrol when I saw the Carrows and Snape rush down the corridor."
"Were they suspicious of you at all?" Nick asked her and Brenda shook her head.
"No, they barely noticed me," she responded. "I think it's why they didn't choose any of their friends. If Seamus or someone was there, they might have. Amycus Carrow told me that patrol was over and to get to my Common Room immediately. The others were hiding, but I'm sure they heard him say it. I just don't think it's going to be good. We know it won't be, but I think they were underestimating what would actually happen."
"Well, don't talk about it anymore out here," I told her as I glanced around the Common Room. "They don't want anyone else to get caught, and you never know who is listening."
Everyone was into their own thing, but that didn't mean anything.
"What if they get really hurt, though?" Brenda whispered. "I'll feel so guilty because I was part of it. I just wanted to do my part to help. I still feel guilty for being part of the Squad, and I felt if I helped the DA, it would make up for it."
"Brenda, you need to stop beating yourself up over that," I told her. "Let's just wait and see what happens."
"I hate to think what is happening to them right now," Nick muttered. "They've beaten up so many of us, but who knows what they're doing right now."
We stayed up late, waiting for Luna to return. What if she was beaten up worse than Nick? It had taken him most of the day to be able to get back to the Common Room, and what she did was much worse. After a while, the other Sixth Years joined us, as if knowing what we were waiting for. Brenda whispered quickly what had happened while she'd pretended to patrol.
It was close to midnight when Luna finally entered the Common Room. However, there was not a scratch on her. She walked in, serenely the way she usually did. Most people had gone to bed by that point, except a group of Fifth Years. Luna walked straight over to us.
"Hullo, how come you're all still up?" She asked as we all stared at her.
"What happened, Luna?" Nick asked. "You were gone for a long time, and Brenda said that the three of you'd been caught. Did they hurt you?"
"Oh no," Luna responded, and we all gaped at her in shock. "I think the Carrows wanted to very much. Amycus said we needed the Cruciatus Curse, but Snape said no. We have detention in the forest with Hagrid this weekend."
"What?" I asked with shock.
I was glad that nothing terrible had happened to them, but I didn't understand. Why would Snape stop the Carrows from beating them up, only to send the three of them into the forest with Hagrid? The others were looking at each other as well questioningly as well.
"Maybe Snape knows there will be an uproar if they go too far," Philip said. "That's the only thing I can think of, but why hasn't he said anything before now? A second-year was beaten up two days ago for fighting in the corridors. Breaking into Snape's office is the worst thing anyone could do!"
"Maybe they don't want to draw attention to it," Brenda said. "Maybe Snape doesn't want anyone to know that people broke into his office. If they beat up three students, it will probably get around that people tried to break in."
"But why did it take so long for you to get back?" Gretchen asked Luna. "You were gone for hours!"
"They argued for a good bit about how we should be punished, and then we were lectured for quite a while. They said some very rude things about Ginny's family and Harry Potter," Luna responded. "Once they decided on our punishment, they sent us on our way, but we talked before we separated. We were confused too. Neville thought we'd at least get cruciated."
"So what about, you know?" Darren asked her in a low voice though the Fifth Years weren't paying any attention to us.
"You'll just have to watch the coins," Luna answered. "But we're going to wait. If we do anything right away, Snape might get suspicious, and we're already shocked that we weren't hurt."
"Honestly, no matter how long we wait, I think they'll guess," Philip said and then stood up and stretched. "I'm glad to see that you're okay, Luna. I just hope there isn't anything worse waiting for you in the forest."
I wondered about this as well as I, too stood up. Maybe he was giving them a false sense of hope. We all knew that the Forbidden Forest was forbidden for a reason.
We went out to visit Hagrid that weekend. We were hoping he could tell us what was waiting for our leaders, but we also hadn't had the chance to visit him that year. I hadn't seen him at all the year before, and I was feeling guilty about it. Brianne decided to go down with us when she heard where we were going. We went after lunch on Saturday afternoon.
Hagrid was outside tending to his huge pumpkins; Fang was by his side. He didn't notice us until we reached the pumpkin patch.
"They look even bigger this year," Brianne commented, causing Hagrid to jump in shock.
He turned to look over at with a startled expression on his face. Once he saw who it was, his hairy face broke out into a grin. I wondered why he was so jumpy, and if it had to do with the detention, he had to serve later on.
"Was wonderin' when I'd see yeh lot this year," he said enthusiastically. "Haven' see yeh in a long time Barry."
"Barry cares too much about schoolwork," Nick told him as he grinned at me. He nudged me in the side with his elbow.
"He really does," Brianne said, grinning. "I think he is worse than Brenda sometimes."
"Give it two years," I told her. "You'll get it once you have to do OWL year. I did want to visit you," I added to Hagrid. "But with all I had to do last year, I just didn't have the time."
"Nick 'splained it to me last year," Hagrid said. "Would yeh three like a cup of tea?"
"Sure," Brianne said happily. "I've meant to see you too, but so much has been happening this year. I hope everything is okay with you. You seem kind of jumpy."
"Spect everyone is," Hagrid told her. "Don't worry about me. Tell me more about yeh lot, come on inside, it's gettin' cold out now."
The three of us happily followed him into his hut. Once we were inside, I realized just how much I missed visits with Hagrid. His hut was small, but it was warm and cozy. He was usually a good source of comfort, and it was a way to enjoy an afternoon at the castle, especially during these times.
"Heard yeh two were hurt by the Carrows," Hagrid said as he began heating up some water in his kettle. "What happened?"
"Carrow wanted me to cruciate Brenda, and I wasn't willing to do it," I responded, taking a seat. "So he used it on me instead, and then Nick hexed him."
"Mad thing to do," Hagrid told Nick was who examining a bunch of flobber worms for some reason.
Nick shrugged and then walked over to take a seat with us.
"It was worth it, and I'll probably do it again," he responded.
"Yeh don't what they are capable of, them Carrows," Hagrid told him. "So far they've been beating up kids, but yeh never know if they'll go too far and kill a kid just to prove a point. It's somethin' I'll be talkin' to Ginny, Neville, and Luna tonight. None of yeh should be takin' risks like that."
"It's hard to sit back and listen to them," Brianne told him. "I've heard they won't kill kids because they want to raise an army of Death Eaters."
"Unless yeh lot don't cooperate," Hagrid said.
"Surely, you aren't sitting back and keeping quiet," Nick said. "You probably support Harry more than anyone."
"I'm yer teacher," Hagrid responded. "I just think yeh lot should be more careful. Can't do much to hurt me, but yer all young and underage."
"What's happening tonight, then?" Nick asked him. "We know they have detention with them."
"Jus' gotta do some work in the forest tonight," Hagrid assured him. "Snape has some work as well, but I'll be lookin' out for all three of 'em and I'll be talkin' to 'em. Seems the moment Harry is gone, there are more people to take his place. I jus' don't want to see any more kids hurt. What about Tasha?"
"I can't tell you anything except that she is protected by a Secret Keeper," I told him.
"Bes' not to tell me that either," Hagrid told me. "Bes' to tell people she is in hiding, but they'll be goin' after your family if you keep tellin' people that."
"We have been," Nick said quickly. "We've only told a few people about the Secret Keeper. When most people ask, we just tell them that we don't know where she is."
"Good, good," Hagrid said. "Jus' be careful. So, what else have yeh lot been up to?"
Though it was nice to see Hagrid again, the visit wasn't as satisfying as I'd hoped. I worried he was just telling us what we wanted to hear when it came to the detention that night. Ginny and Luna were my friends, and I had a great deal of respect for Neville as well. He'd grown from a timid boy to a leader who'd fought in two battles so far. I remembered when people (including Nick and Philip) would question why Neville was in Gryffindor. I was sure that no one was questioning it now.
Everyone waited up for Luna again the night of her detention, but she didn't tell us very much. The most she would tell us was that nothing terrible happened, and we needn't worry. Nick and I talked about this in the following days, neither understanding what Snape was trying to pull.
"All their families are well known," Nick said. "You'd think the Carrow's or Snape would do something to them to make a point."
"I dunno," I said. "Only thing I can think of is maybe they don't want to do anything too big after taking over the Ministry. But that doesn't make sense either since they're still killing."
We discussed our theories with the others in secret as well, but no one could up with a sensible conclusion. It wasn't the same as before now that they were in the open. They weren't trying to hide, so why wouldn't they do more to Luna, Ginny, and Neville for breaking into Snape's office? So many students had been beaten up for a lot less.
We wanted to discuss it with all the DA members together, but our coins hadn't burnt in our pockets for weeks. I was sure that we'd be having another meeting soon as we were hoping to do something during the first Quidditch match.
"Perhaps they're afraid of a student uprising," Brianne whispered on Halloween. "Luna, Ginny, and Neville are popular right now. All the younger kids look up to them, and everyone else admires them because of all they've done. Maybe if they go too far with them, they're worried we'll all fight."
"But they've beaten Neville up for other things," I said. "And the Carrows like picking on Ginny the most in classes. They know she is Harry's ex, and they also know she has an explosive temper. They want to punish them."
"Maybe they're planning on going after them one by one eventually," Brenda said. "Maybe Snape is hoping everyone is imagining a lot worse happened during their detention. He's probably waiting until we've all forgotten about it, and that's when they're going to do it."
Out of the theories we'd heard so far, I believed Brenda might have been on to something. It wasn't even common knowledge that the three had been caught in Snape's office. Maybe they were planning something big, and so they were hoping that Luna, Ginny, and Neville would relax when they realized they got off easily. Once enough time passed, maybe that's when they would go after them, and all the Hogwarts kids would think it was completely unrelated.
Thankfully, an hour before the Halloween Feast, we felt our coins burn with a new time and date. We were to all meet in the Room of Requirement after breakfast the next day. It was a Hogsmeade day, and I wondered if that was the reason for why. I hoped that meant that we'd finally get some information about their detention, or if they knew anything new.
The Halloween Feast was disappointing. While the Great Hall was decorated with the usual pumpkins, and the live bats were back, nothing else happened. Usually, there was always excited chatter and a special show, but that year, people barely spoke. Everyone just ate and whispered among their friends. We didn't dare discuss anything about the DA or the detention during the Feast.
Both the Carrows had picked up an annoying habit to walk up and down the aisles of the tables during meal times. So most people just ate as quickly could, and then left the Great Hall most days. That night wasn't any different, though I did wonder if anything odd would happen. In previous years, something usually did happen Halloween night. However, it ended up being a quiet night for once.
The next morning, Nick, Brianne, and I ate quickly before rushing upstairs to the Room of Requirement. Brianne's friends wanted to go to Hogsmeade as it was their first year going. Philip and Darren were pretending to leave for Hogsmeade but would sneak back in. I wondered if many others were going to do the same.
We already knew to make sure the corridors were clear on the seventh floor. If we saw any other DA members hanging around, we were to wait until the coast was clear just in case people were watching. However, we didn't need to worry about it that day. The halls were completely clear when we arrived.
Nick paced three times quickly in front of the hidden entrance before the door appeared. Inside, we found that the room had changed considerably since the last time we'd been there. There were now low walls all around the room in the form of what I thought was a maze. I couldn't help but think of Tasha and how disappointed she'd be. This would have been her idea of fun. I had a feeling I knew what we were doing that day.
Just some seventh years, including Neville, were standing by the small entrance to the maze. Luna and Ginny were among them as well.
"Is this a maze?" Nick asked. "How did you do this?"
"Neville asked for it to set up a way for us to be able to do mock battles," Seamus answered him.
"It's not exactly the same as fighting in the corridors, but it could be helpful, I suppose," Ginny said.
"I think because the maze Harry had to fight through was on my mind," Neville said. "I think we can make it work. We don't know when the battle will be. I don't like Smith, but he has a point. This is about preparing us even if it's five years from now. We'll be better fighters in the end."
"Barry, if you can, we'd like it if you can start making antidotes in your free time," Ginny continued. "Ernie and Terry Boot made several for today, but if anyone who is good at Potion's could help us, we'd be grateful."
I gave a small shrug. I didn't mind doing this too much. Most antidotes were easy to make for the spells we'd be using. I knew that likely, the DA was going to be coming to me more often for help, and so I'd decided to embrace it. Mum and dad let Ben use the chalkboards now, and he'd pointed out to me very recently that I should be flattered that they did come to me. Though I knew he was glad that he was safe at home, he'd written that he wished he was there learning spells as well.
I didn't tell him too much about what we were doing, but just enough. I was just relieved that mum and dad were letting him communicate with us this way now. He promised he would deliver news if he overheard anything, and I promised him I'd tell him what he needed to know as well. I didn't want him to know the extent of our injuries, though. He didn't need to know how badly Nick had been beaten up, for example.
"So I take it there is no holding back today?" I asked.
"We'll tell you more when more people arrive," Neville told me. "Today is just a learning experience to see if it works."
"And will we learn more about what happened at your detention?" Nick asked.
"Not much happened," Ginny said. "I don't know what Snape is thinking, but it does worry us. We broke into his office, and the worst he's done is give us detention, and we're not allowed to visit Hogsmeade for the rest of the year."
"Won't this be suspicious then?" I asked. "What if they expect you to do this?"
"I think they expect us to do something either way," Ginny said.
More and more people began to arrive. There wasn't much sitting room as most of the room was a maze, so most people were standing by the time everyone was there. Many people began to question them what happened that night, but Neville blew a whistle to silence everyone.
"We're going to do a mock battle today," Neville said once there was silence. "Is everyone here. It looks smaller than the last time."
"My friends went to Hogsmeade," Brianne spoke up. "It's our third year, and they didn't want to miss out. I wanted to come here, though. Others might be there as well."
"We'll give them about ten more minutes before we start," Neville said. "We told you to learn as many hexes and jinxes as you could at the last meeting. Today, we want you to put them into use. We're going to divide half the people into Hogwarts students and Death Eaters. Remember, you have to forget the Death Eaters are your friends. Today, they are your enemy, and you're fighting for your life."
"We'll see how today goes, and then we'll see what we can improve," Ginny continued.
After ten minutes passed, Neville, Ginny, and Luna divided us up into Hogwarts students or Death Eaters. I wasn't too happy when I was chosen as a Death Eater, but I knew it was important, and I knew I couldn't always fight for the good side in these battles. Nick was a Hogwarts student, and so were Brianne and Brenda. When they were finished, they assigned themselves as Death Eaters or students as well. Luna joined me as a Death Eater.
The maze was in the middle of the room, and Luna led us to the other side, where I realized that there was another door.
"So, do you have any plans on what we're going to do?" I asked Luna as we headed to the other side.
"No, we're just learning as we go today. Neville and Ginny want to wait to see how today goes. Oh- but we do need to change our robes all black," she added quickly. "It's to distinguish from the Hogwarts students. Neville will blow his whistle when we are to begin."
Most people were still changing their robes all black when a whistle on the other side of the maze sounded. Luna began directing everyone who was ready to go inside the maze and start fighting. Unlike Tasha, I had no sense of direction at all, and so I was counting on the low walls to get me through.
Brenda wasn't too far from me, and not wanting to hurt her, I sent the tickling jinx at her instead.
"Can't just use that on us, Barry," Brenda responded as she giggled.
I was suddenly hit from behind with the boil curse, and I let out a yelp as they erupted all over my skin. I turned to see the source only to see it was Brianne grinning at me. Before I could even raise my wand, she took off running, sending a jinx as Luna as she went. Brenda took my distraction as an opportunity to hit me back with a tickling jinx.
"You'd be dead by now, Barry," Luna whispered to me as she arrived by my side. "You can't just stand in one spot distracted. Go on."
She wasn't wrong, and I vowed from that moment on to keep my head in the game. I had a feeling that Brianne and Brenda had planned this. They knew it would be hard for me to jinx them properly. I was going to remind them later that in a real battle, I wouldn't be worried about jinxing real enemies back. However, as much as she wanted to deny it, tickling jinx could be a good distraction as it was hard to move because you were overcome with laughter.
Thankfully, I wasn't the only person who made mistakes as we continued the battle. Many people weren't too happy with randomly hexing people they were friendly with, even if we did have antidotes on hand. I didn't want to hex my sisters or Nick, and it was hard to push that aside. I tried to see it as a Hogwarts Duelling club if we ever got one. Nick and I would likely duel a lot, and perhaps I would duel with my sisters too.
I wasn't sure how long we were in battle for before Neville blew his whistle. Luna had the antidotes on hand for anyone who needed one. Once we'd all taken some, we all grouped together to wait for more instructions.
"Well, that was…" Neville began.
"-a disaster," Ginny added. "But we know where we need to improve. I know it's hard to see friends as enemies, but if we want to be prepared, we have to do this."
"We could wear masks," Luna suggested. "Perhaps that will make it easier for us. We won't know who we're hexing."
That wasn't a bad idea at all, and many people agreed with her. There was a murmur around the group that many people liked that idea.
"But we also have to be careful about distraction after we get hit too," Neville said. "I noticed many of you stop. In a real battle, it's about continuing and trusting your instincts no matter what. It's literally life or death, and a Death Eater will not hesitate to send a killing curse at you."
"When we were fighting near the Astronomy tower, a big Death Eater was sending the killing curse all over the place. I think the only reason we survived was that we'd taken Harry's liquid luck. We won't have that on our side next time," Ginny told us. "We'll continue with these mock battles in the next meetings. Don't get used to your teammates as you won't always be paired up with the same people. It's always going to be random."
"I like these mock battles, but when are we going to start recruiting more people and everything else?" Philip asked. "Carrow tried to stun me yesterday for commenting on his looks. I'm tired of sitting back and doing nothing."
Gretchen suddenly giggled.
"That's not exactly laying low, though," she said.
"Well, he wanted me to hex a first year in detention," Philip said. "And that's another reason why I am tired of laying low."
"We were going to talk about that next," Luna told him. "The Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch Match is coming up soon. We need some volunteers to put posters and graffiti around the corridors. We'd have done it today, but the three of us would be suspects."
"Unfortunately, all three of us have to be at the Quidditch game," Ginny said. "I'm on the team, but they'll assume it's us if we stay behind anyway. They'll see it as a rebellion to getting caught."
"But surely you know they'll still know you're involved," Zacharias Smith pointed out.
"Yes, but they can't prove that as we were all at the game," Ginny told him. "We'd actually like to ask anyone who wasn't a former DA member to do this. They won't know who to go after if we're all there."
Nick and I volunteered instantly, and so did my sisters. I wasn't too surprised to see Brenda volunteer this time. She seemed intent on making up for her past mistakes. It said a lot as she was a prefect. I remembered a time when she threatened that once she was a prefect, we were all going to have to watch out. Philip and Darren did as well as the girls and several others. Brianne assured them that her friends would want in on it as well.
I knew it said a lot that Brianne was willing to miss a Quidditch game as well. She'd been looking forward to seeing the school games since Nick, and I had told her about our first Quidditch match. She'd volunteered without hesitation. I just hoped she realized that while she was part of these mock battles, she wouldn't be fighting in a real one anytime soon.
"Luna will tell the Ravenclaw's their tasks, Ernie will tell the Hufflepuffs and we'll tell the Gryffindors," Neville said.
"We'll have the next meeting soon," Ginny said. "The wait won't be as long, but we need to make sure that it doesn't interfere with Quidditch."
"I'm surprised you're still on the team," a girl said from behind.
"I think it's only a matter of time," Ginny said. "They probably want to leave something to punish me with now that I can't go to Hogsmeade. I don't really care. It's a good distraction, but it's the least of my worries right now."
"Just try to continue to find new hexes and jinxes," Neville told us. "We'll have a meeting where we can learn from each other. We'd also like you to think of creative ways to deflect hexes or jinxes besides the shield charm. It doesn't always work. The Death Eaters we fought used objects to block some of our spells. At the Ministry, Dumbledore used a statue to protect Harry. We should learn how to do that too."
"Maybe Barry could just brew us some Felix Felicis. He's Slughorn's golden boy," Nick said.
"That potion is complicated even for me," I responded. "Have you read how to make it? It takes six months to make, and I don't have the time for that. Maybe you oughta give it a go. You're doing well in Potion's this year."
"We're learning to conjure large objects," Terry said. "We could learn how to conjure boulders, maybe."
"You realize how hard that would be?" Ernie asked him.
"Good time to practice, then don't you think?" Terry asked.
"Anything that helps," Ginny said. "The Death Eaters are going to expect that we're beginners, even us. We weren't as skilled as them when we fought with them, especially at the Ministry. Most of us were taken out right away even after being in the DA. It's why we want to prepare all of you. Harry wasn't wrong when he told us that a lot of it was luck. You don't know what you're doing half the time except trying to stay alive. You lot were reluctant to hit each other with curses. It won't be the same if we fight."
"I still doubt Potter is going to show up here," Zacharias said.
"We still might have to fight," Neville told him. "None of us expected to fight when we did. Luna and I were the only ones to respond to the coins last year. Most of the DA didn't expect we would need them again. Even if Harry doesn't return, we might still need to fight."
"I think it should just be sixth and seventh years fighting," I said.
"Anyone in fifth year as well!" Brenda protested, and many others agreed with her.
"Third year," Brianne said, but I wasn't the only one to say no. Anyone fifth year and older protested this.
"I think fifth year and older, and maybe the fourth years," Lavender said.
"Then what is the point in even teaching us then?" Brianne demanded. "If I have to fight for my life or my friends, I will."
"Only if you don't have a choice," Ginny told her. "If there is a way to keep the younger years safe, we will do it if we have time. We're letting you learn this just in case you're in a situation where you don't have a choice but to fight."
"Then teach us Patronuses, please," she said. "Mum and dad tried to over the summer, but none of us could do it. We know you lot know how to do it."
"That's a good idea," Luna suddenly said. "We'll do that at one of the meetings too. They are quite nice. Maybe we can even start at the next meeting after our mock battle."
"It is a good idea…" Ginny said slowly. "The Order has a way to communicate with them. If we could figure that out, we could communicate with each other that way too, just in case."
"I can find that out," Michael Corner suddenly said. "I've been reading up on them anyway. There was a Dementor attack not too far from my place. I think we should learn it before the Christmas Break for those of us who are going home."
I was glad that he volunteered before anyone could look to me, but I was also glad Brianne brought it up. I still couldn't do it, and maybe with their help, I could learn. It would be great to learn how to communicate with them. I considered asking mum and dad, but I worried about their follow up questions, and I didn't want to lie to them either. Not in these times. It was one thing to keep the DA from them, but it was another to start telling lies. So I just kept quiet as Michael had already volunteered anyway.
"I don't see why we can't do both," Neville said. "We'll wait before we have long battles. We're not ready for that yet anyway. We'll start doing that stuff more after Christmas. That's enough time for all of you to learn as many spells as you can."
"And other ways to block spells," Luna reminded us.
The meeting broke up shortly after that. It wasn't until we were in the common room later when I realized that we still didn't know much about what happened in the Headmasters office. The trio had purposely kept the subject from coming up. I wondered if there was more to it than they were letting on.