Several of us, including Nick and Brianne, were giving the task of writing: Dumbledore's Army: Still recruiting! On the walls during the Quidditch Match. Others such as Brenda were given the task to put up offensive posters about Snape, the Carrows and some pureblood families need for incest to keep their blood pure. Other defended muggles and muggleborns as well as some making fun of the muggleborn regime.
I knew some of the posters were definitely going too far. I understood now why they wanted to make sure all the known DA members had an alibi. Some of Brianne's friends, including Hilda, were given the task to distract Filch and Peeves from noticing what we were doing. Philip shut Mrs. Norris in a broom closet to keep her from going off to find Filch.
"We'll let her out later," he said to Brianne's protests. "She'll be fine. We have a cat at home, and sometimes we have to lock her up when some guests come over. Besides, that cat always rats students out."
"But it's not her fault, you know," Brianne said. "It's the way she was trained. She's just doing what Filch taught her. She's an innocent animal. She's already been petrified. It's not fair to keep being mean to her. Take it out on Filch."
"We're not being mean to her," Philip said kindly. "Damn, you're almost like a mini Tasha. I've missed her nagging."
I had as well, and I did my best not to think about her. While school was very unpleasant, it was a distraction, and I could be grateful that she was somewhere safe. From what dad had told me so far, no one found it suspicious that his cousin was in hiding, and none of the Death Eaters had come looking for him. So Tasha was safe.
"I just hate seeing the way everyone treats her," Brianne said. "She's a cat. She doesn't know any better. Make sure you let her out. I'm learning some good hexes and jinxes now, you know."
Philip chuckled and gave her a pat on the head.
"I'll let her out," he told her. "Now we should all get going. The game will be starting soon, and we know they can last for twenty minutes. The girls might not be able to distract Filch and Peeves for long either."
We all knew we didn't have much time, so as soon as he said this, we all departed. Brianne had fun writing on the wall in flashing colours. It was certainly going to get noticed. Nick not only wrote: Dumbledore's Army: Still Recruiting, he wrote curse words as well as offensive things about the Carrows.
"That one is disgusting!" Brianne told him as she read his latest message. "You're going to get expelled."
"They won't expel me, they'll just beat me up again," Nick said. "I'll never forget what they did. They deserve it and let's face it; they're too close as a brother and sister to be natural. Besides, they have to prove it was me, and this isn't in my handwriting."
"Still," Brianne said with a smirk. "We should go just in case. We don't want to be caught near that."
We'd done most of the castle's most used corridors and secret passages, so we decided to depart for the Quidditch game just in case. Brianne had peeked out the window to see that it was still going on. I just hoped the others would make sure they were somewhere that people could vouch for them. People might remember who wasn't at the game.
The Carrows were furious about the graffiti on the wall. They were out to get anyone who might have anything to do with the messages. As Ginny predicted, they tried to go for anyone who was a former DA member. As they all had an alibi, they couldn't pin it on anyone. Instead, they began stopping students in the corridors and forced them to empty their pockets and bags to exam their galleons if they had any.
As I was a rich boy to them, I made sure I kept it locked in my trunk during the school day and only brought it out in the evenings unless I went to the library. I knew there was a good chance that I could miss a message, but the Carrows were targeting me and anyone else who had money. They thought we'd be the ones to try and hide it among normal galleons the most. I'd been searched three times in one day.
"How long do you think it can go on for?" Brianne asked me in late November as she joined Nick, Brenda and I in the common room. I quickly cast the muffliato charm just in case.
She'd just been searched not only in the library by Amycus but then on her way to the common room from Alecto. She looked close to tears, but she kept them back. I wanted to go find them and hex them for putting the tears in her eyes.
"As long as we remain active," I said. "We'll just have to chance leaving it behind and hope someone will tell us. They need to slow down soon, and there isn't any more evidence. I see why Ginny thought it was best to lay low."
"Well, I wasn't the only one to write offensive messages about Alecto and Amycus," Nick said with a chuckle. "Almost everyone has noticed how close they are. I wish I'd been as creative as that one written in the Entrance Hall. Whoever did it is my hero."
"And the funny thing is, Snape seems more angry about the graffiti about the DA. He hasn't even said a word about the other ones at all. I overheard Alecto complaining to him about it today, and he just waved it off," Brianne said, laughing as well. "He probably knows it's true too."
"But they're not even watching the Room of Requirement," Brenda said. "That's the odd thing. Why aren't they watching it? I do patrols up there a lot of the time, and I don't even see any Slytherin's up there."
"Maybe they don't want to be obvious about it," Nick said. "They want to catch us at it, and if they hang out up there all the time, we're not going to try anything. I think they're going to try and do what Umbridge did and try to catch us at a meeting eventually. They're waiting for us to let our guard down."
"That's probably what it is," I said. "We might have to bring that up at the next meeting."
"They've probably already figured it out," Nick said.
We didn't have a meeting right after the match. It was until the beginning of December when we had another. Luna's father had just printed a very controversial article in the Quibbler about certain pureblood families. Most of the Quibbler articles printed the truth that the Daily Prophet wasn't willing to print these days. Between her part in the Headmasters Office, the graffiti (even though she was seen at the game supporting Gryffindor), and the articles, she was being watched a lot more.
The trio decided we would have a battle first and then work on our patronuses before we discussed anything. This time I was a Hogwarts student, but we were also given a mask with the Hogwarts crest on it. We turned our robes all black so no one would see what house we were in. Ernie had managed to make masks that looked similar to the Death Eater ones. They, too, turned their robes all black.
While I knew that none of these people genuinely wanted to hurt me (at least I was sure of it), it was much easier to attack them with the masks. The only thing that worried me was that I could end up attacking Brenda without knowing it. She was a Death Eater this time, but I couldn't find her in the crowd.
Our second round went a lot better than our first round. It did make it easier with the walls were low. Neville, Ginny, and Luna were already trying to figure out a way to see if they could ask the room to make them a bit higher so we could see each other. They were still worried that we could end up in battle at Hogwarts rather than outside, where we would always see our opponent.
"We can't forget about secret passages as well," Zacharias Smith pointed out after the battle. "Most of the Death Eaters came here, so they probably know where they are."
"Yes, we do need to remember that they can be an advantage and a disadvantage," Neville said, agreeing with him. "We should always expect that they could be hiding in one if it ends up being here."
"Maybe we could ask the room to provide those too," Luna said thoughtfully.
"Well, let's start on patronuses and then we can discuss all that later," Ginny said. "We do need to be careful in case they are hoping to catch us a meeting. Neville is trying to figure out to make the room more secure."
"Well, I think our problem is solved for higher walls," Brenda suddenly said.
We'd all been standing with our backs to the maze when she said this. We all turned to see that at some point, while we were distracted, the walls rose higher. It was now taller than even the tallest students, which included me.
"Do you think it made the secret passages as well?" Luna asked.
"We'll check that out later," Ginny said. "Let's make it so that this is always here when we come here. We'll just need more room for meetings. Now the incantation for the Patronus is Expecto Patronum-" and she went on to explain that we needed to use a happy memory.
I'd never been able to do it in the summer, and I didn't expect to be able to do now. I wasn't wrong. Somehow while we were all dividing ourselves up to practice, the room had made itself larger without us noticing. I wondered exactly what it would do for us. It didn't seem able to provide water for when we needed breaks. Someone always had to make sure we had pitchers to fill with water.
"Are you sure you're using your happiest memory?" Luna asked. "What about memories with Tasha? Are there any from last year?"
"Why last year?" I asked, wondering if she knew.
I had a feeling she did, and she was implying that I should use the memory from when Tasha and I kissed. Before it ended, I'd been thrilled that it was happening. I'd been avoiding the memory so far not only because of how it made me felt but because the aftermath hadn't been the best. And lately, I was wondering if Nick was right. What if she did like me back, and I'd left her hanging? So I wasn't sure if it was the best memory.
"It won't hurt to try," she said in response. "The worst that will happen is that it won't work."
And then she walked off. Was she right? Would the memory of kissing Tasha be the one I could use to make it work? I waited a few moments before trying it. I thought of the moment when we kissed and said: "Expecto Patronum!"
To my surprise, it finally worked. A small piglet appeared and flew around the room. Many people stopped to admire it as they did with other patronuses. They watched its progress as it came over to me. I smiled as I reached out to touch it. I wasn't sure what to think of having a piglet as a patronus, but I liked it. It disappeared before I could even touch it.
"And that's the memory that worked," Nick said to me. "That should tell you something right there."
I didn't say anything. All I knew was that I missed her a lot, and I wished I'd taken my chance when I could have. I was going to do whatever I could to take it when we were back in each other's lives. I'd used our friendship as an excuse for long enough. If she wasn't interested, she would never end our friendship. I just needed to man up and do it.
I just continued to practice on my patronus instead of responding to anyone else's comments who'd overheard Luna and I. I wasn't displeased with them, and I was glad that they could have something to tease me about. Still, I was deep in my thoughts about Tasha and the last Christmas party. Slughorn was still going to host one before we left for the holidays. I wished more than anything that I could go back to last year and change everything about the memory. It may have helped me produce a patronus, but it reminded me of what an idiot I was as well.
By the time Neville blew his whistle, I was able to produce it every single time. I just hoped I'd be able to do it in front of a real dementor.
"That went surprisingly well," Neville said at the end. "More of you were able to produce it. As for the rest of you, please try to practice when you can. I overheard that they might put Dementors around the entrances of the secret passages. They were already sealed up, but apparently, some third years tried to use the one-eyed statue last week, and they were caught the moment they tried to take the jinxes off."
"So they're going to set Dementors at it just because a couple of kids might sneak into Hogsmeade?" Seamus asked. "Do you know how many times we snuck into Hogsmeade through there after we found out about it?"
"I think they're worried the DA might try to sneak Harry through," Ginny said. "It's common knowledge now that he knew where they were, and that he has an invisibility cloak."
"I don't think the Dementors will be in the school, but there might be Death Eaters," Luna said. "They're already guarding the entrances. I bet the Dementors will be outside."
"Not really any better, Luna," Terry Boot said.
"As bad as it will be to have them there, they won't do anything," Brenda said. "The Death Eaters will be here under You-Know-Who's orders, and they are probably the lower tier people. They're still dangerous, but most of us could probably take them on, and they won't act unless Snape, the Carrows, or You-Know-Who tells them to. They'll just be very unpleasant."
"I'd still be alert around them," Neville said. "If they're willing to put Dementors back at Hogwarts, they'll use them to attack us. They've been easy on us. Things are just warming up. I heard Carrow telling Filch the other day to bring out the shackles. Filch always has them ready. He was going to whip Fred and George under Umbridge's orders. He's not stupid; he knows they'll kill him in a moment. The only reason he is still here is because he hates students, and he wants to hurt them. If it weren't for that, he'd have been murdered the first day I bet."
"But is this for sure?" Hilda asked. "You said you only overheard; maybe it's a last resort."
"Maybe, but I don't think so," Ginny said. "I have a feeling they're going to make a lot of changes once the Christmas holidays start. For any of you who are staying here, please practice and keep safe. We plan to have more meetings before Christmas, but in case we don't, I ask that of everyone. I've just- I've had a bad feeling about these holidays. They've been cruel in classes and detentions, but I still feel like they're just letting us get away with this."
Lately, I'd been feeling the same way, and I wondered if everyone else did as well. Things did almost seem too easy for us. And we all knew they were watching our three leaders, but mainly Luna. What if they set Dementors around the entrance of the Room of Requirement?
"What if they plan to set them outside of this room?" Michael Corner asked my unanswered question.
"I'm trying to figure out if there is a way around that," Neville said. "We've already seen that it will do what we ask it do. It's provided us with books, a place to fight in, and this area here. It doesn't seem to be able to provide snacks or water."
"I've wondered about that," Luna asked. "Perhaps we're not asking for water the right way. Maybe we need to ask it to provide a way for us to get water."
"As in a sink?" Zacharias asked.
"Yes, maybe we just-" Luna began but stopped as sink formed against the wall to the right of us.
Ginny strolled over to test the taps.
"It works, well, that is another problem solved," she said, coming back to us. "And I've been thinking; maybe we could set up some obstacles in the maze as well — nothing as big as what Harry had to get through, but enough that will stop us. The Death Eaters, as well as our side, will use objects as well. We've all seen what McGonagall can do. I hate to bring up the Fake Moody, who helped bring this all on, but he was right. We need to be on our guard, and we need to learn how to be on guard."
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Nick shouted, which caused several people to laugh.
"People might get angry with me for saying this," Gretchen began. "But maybe we should take what the Carrows are teaching us seriously, but not on each other. Maybe none of the three unforgiveables, but a lot of those hexes and jinxes they're showing us are ones they might use on us. I don't mean on each other, or other kids, but we should maybe remember them."
"We could make targets for that," Michael said. "It's not a bad idea at all. We can't be afraid to use darker hexes and jinxes. They'll be able to fight the boil curse, no doubt. Whatever that curse Harry used on Malfoy was really bad, and likely more of them know it."
"We've been thinking of that as well," Neville said. "Luna brought it up when we first began talking about starting up the DA again. We just didn't want you lot to use them against each other. I don't know why we didn't think of targets. We need to be careful with them though. Some of them are very dangerous. We'll need to read up on all of their counter curses before we do."
They began giving out some assignments to some DA members before they started to let us go a few people at a time. We were given instructions to keep an eye on the coin at all times, but to be sure not to carry them on us between classes. Neville was hoping they would think we abandoned the coins for another source of communication, and they would stop searching us.
"We'll be sending more messages between now and Christmas," Neville had said. "We want to prepare ourselves for the holidays, just in case. You never know if our families will be attacked when we're at home. We'll be able to protect them as well, even the younger kids. But we're also going to ask people to keep spreading the word between now and then as well."
Brianne complained for days afterward that Neville's view on how she could protect the family was fine, but she couldn't join in with us if Harry Potter joined up.
"What difference does it make if I fight with the family or if I fight in a battle here?" She kept asking.
"Because Brianne, you won't have a choice if they attack our home," I finally said after getting annoyed by her constant complaints. "There is no way we are going to send a bunch of eleven to thirteen-year-olds willingly into battle! If I had it my way, Brenda wouldn't be going either."
We'd had a few more recruits at our meeting who our leaders had sworn into secrecy the moment they entered. Two were first-year Gryffindor girls, and the other was a second-year Gryffindor boy. No doubt, we'd end up having more of the younger ones join in.
"Barry, if you were my age, you'd want to fight as well," she said. "You and Nick would be planning to figure out a way, just as you did when you wanted to join the Goblet of Fire. Don't be such a hypocrite, please."
"And Chester, Ralph, and Garth wouldn't help me," I said. "They knew we were going to sneak in, but they wouldn't put our names for us. They just looked the other way, and this is different."
"I don't see how," Brianne said. "A student died, remember?"
"It's still very different, Brianne," I told her. "You can't compare a bunch of kids making an aging potion to willingly letting fourth years and younger into a fight with grown-ass people! Stop fighting about this, and be glad you're learning to fight so you can be prepared."
For the first time in a year, Brianne and I were having an actual fight. She stood up, angrily and walked off.
"She'll get over it," Nick told me. "She'd be against it if Ben was in first year right now."
"Deep down, she even knows it's different, and she knows why she can't fight," I said.
It still didn't stop her from avoiding me for days afterwards, though. I knew she was fine, though, so I let her be and focused on my school work. I was seriously considering dropping the kids I was tutoring as none of them were taking it seriously, and I had enough on my plate. It was frustrating when people didn't want to learn, and I didn't envy the teachers one bit. I had to give credit to McGonagall, who'd seen it all.
I broke the news to the three of them one evening in a back corner of the library before another DA meeting, but none of them seemed put out about this.
"Wait, we wanted to ask you something," Jeff said once Eileen left. I'd been about to go as well. "We've been trying to talk to some of the older students, but it's hard who to trust and who not to. We know we can trust you. We just hope you feel the same."
"About what?" But I had a feeling I knew what they wanted to ask.
"Write it down," Roy told Jeff. "And then burn it after. We don't want to be talking about it in here."
Jeff nodded before writing something down on a piece of parchment and then pushing it toward me. Sure enough, it read:
Are you part of the DA? We'd like to join.
While the secrecy spell prevented me from telling untrustworthy people, it did give me lenience to recruit people. Ernie MacMillan had pointed out that we needed to be able to tell people to recruit them. Not everyone knew about the Room of Requirement, or it's location, and we expected for students to ask us. So we'd adjusted the spell so that we could tell people in order to recruit them. They were sworn into secrecy the moment we told them. Ernie had figured out a way that once we told them, they were part of it temporarily until we brought them into it for real.
I quickly wrote down the location of the Room of Requirement and the time we'd be meeting at the next day. I also noted that they should be very cautious as anyone could be watching. Most of us still expected Snape to bring back the Inquisitorial Squad. I'd noticed Harper watching us a lot more lately.
Don't tell anyone else. I added at the bottom. If you want more people to come, tell me, otherwise keep it to yourselves.
I didn't bother to tell them that they were secretly bound, but I wanted to give them the warning just in case. They weren't given any leniency with the spell as they could rush off right away and tell someone. Ernie indeed was smart, and it seemed he'd never been given much credit before. I didn't understand how he managed to change parts of the spell, but it seemed something Hermione Granger would do.
I burnt the piece of parchment quickly and then stood up.
"Well, I'll see you two around," I said.
"Thanks for the help… and everything," Jeff said.
I walked off, feeling happy to have helped the DA, but I did worry that they were spies. I knew they were against You-Know-Who, but this was a world where it was every man for himself and his family. Some people would sell out others just to protect themselves and their families, even if they didn't want to. I knew I was likely overly paranoid for no reason, but it was still there.
The leaders of the DA had put in a lot of work since the last meeting. The space provided for us was even more extensive than the previous time. More sinks had sprouted out along the walls with glasses near them, as well as towels and even soap. The maze now rose to the ceiling with targets along its outside walls for us to practice some of the darker spells. Someone (who I would later learn was Terry Boot) had created Death Eater masks that looked realistically like the real thing. He'd also created simple masks with the Hogwarts crest on them for those who would be Hogwarts students.
We were all to wear our hoods up, and Luna requested the girls wear their hair up under their hoods so no one would know their gender.
"I've noticed boys are more hesitant to hex girls," she explained when Padma Patil asked why. "We all want to be anonymous to each other."
"She's right," Ginny said. "I've noticed the boys go easier on the girls too. We need to disguise ourselves as much as we can, and we need to pretend that we're in a real battle. Today's fight is going to be harder than usual. There are some obstacles in there, some we created, and some the room created. Not even we know which ones the room made. So remember, Constant Vigilance! It's the same thing the real Moody would tell us, too, if he were still alive. Luna and I will divide everyone up while Neville brings our new members in on the secret."
Jeff and Roy weren't the only new kids there. Three Hufflepuff first years were there as well. They seemed nervous as the attention went on them, but Luna reassured them that things were fine before leading them over to Neville. Brenda was eying Roy and Jeff with dislike, and I hoped she wasn't going to make things hard for them. She still didn't get along with a lot of the people in her year.
I was a Hogwarts student again, but Nick was among the Death Eaters with Brenda. Brianne still really wasn't talking to me, but she came over to stand by my side as she was named a Hogwarts student. Once we all had the masks over our heads, and our hoods up, it truly was hard to see who was who.
There were more than two entrances around the maze now, and we were told to all go in different entrances one at a time by Luna or Ginny. When I entered the maze in an entrance to the far left of the maze, I found that it was completely different than the other times. While it always had castle walls, this truly felt like I was in the school corridors. There were torches, different doorways, paintings, and statues along the walls. I was so busy gazing at all this as I walked down the corridors that I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings.
A statue suddenly jumped out in front of me.
"Fuck!" I shouted as I jumped back.
It began walking back and forth in front of me, not allowing me to go around it or back. Whenever I did, it would move faster just to block my way, no matter how fast I went. I knew I had to stop it; otherwise, I was open season for any Death Eater who came this way.
Finally, it came to me: "Impedimenta!" I shouted as I heard footsteps coming in my direction.
The statue stopped in its tracks just as someone ran around the corner. Immediately, I pointed my wand at them but lowered it when I realized it was just a Hogwarts student.
"I was hoping you were a Death Eater," they said. "It trapped me earlier. I think that's the Room of Requirement trap. It's already gone back to its niche."
I knew the voice well enough to know that it was Gretchen. I turned to see that she was right, indeed. The statue had already moved back into position for the next person. It could have been one of the DA members, but I had a feeling it was a Room of Requirement trick as well. It seemed very advanced.
"Let's go before they do come," I told her. "Was there anything that way?"
"I've been hiding out in a passageway, pretending to be a wall," she responded. "Barry, I'm not good at this. I don't think I'll do well in a real battle. I'm always taken out, and I think sometimes it's from people who still dislike me."
"That's when you fight back harder, and be careful about names. If you found a passageway to hide in, no doubt a Death Eater did as well," I told her.
"Anyone who knows you will know it's you," she said. "And I bet you know who I am."
"Doesn't matter, I think we're supposed to be careful about that in here," I told her. "Anyway, I'm rubbish as well. I can't fight as fast as some of these people can."
"But you are improving," she said and then she put her finger to her lips before sticking her head in the wall. "No one there," she added before pulling back out.
"Is that the one you were hiding in?" I asked her.
"No, it was further down, but I heard you yell fuck. You can tell it's there just by looking at the wall. It's much darker than the castle walls. The Room of Requirement is great, but it doesn't do too well at hiding them. It's nice that we spot them, but so can others. I wish they looked more realistic."
And as she said this, the fake wall blended right into its surrounding walls.
"I've always been around magic, but I'm always amazed by what it can do," she said as we began walking again with our wands out. "Anyway, I'll admit when we first started all this, you were terrible, but you and Nick have improved so much. You'd do well in a real battle. I might end up dead."
"It's why we're doing this, Gretchen. All these meetings are preparing us. You got past the statue, and using the statue as a way to go after your opponent is smart too. So is hiding in a passageway. You've always been good at sneaking around for gossip or stealing Luna's things. Use your evil to your advantage for once."
"My evil? Really? Whatever. I guess it's not bad advice, but I'd still like to be a better dueller," she said.
She didn't have much longer to guess how she'd do in a real duel. Just as we were about to turn a corner in the maze, two Death Eaters stepped out from behind a large blue tapestry. We didn't have time to think, we both cast shield charms as they cast some kind or orange jinx at us. It meant they were either sixth or seventh years, as not too many people knew how to do non-verbal spells.
If there was one thing I was mastering, it was non-verbal spells, and I was about to see how well I could use them in a fight. Both Death Eaters jumped back as their curses bounced back at them. I took the time to take down my shield charm and to shoot a stunning curse at the Death Eater closest to me. They, too, used a shield charm to deflect it. Gretchen surprised me, though, she moved the statue closest to us in front of us as it bounced back.
I took advantage of the others' distraction by the statue and shot a stunner at them that hit them. The other Death Eater tried to run once they realized their mate was down, but I waved my wand, and they were lifted up by their ankle and were left hanging upside down.
"What were you just saying? That statue trick worked!" I told her as we walked off. "You're clever in a battle."
"So are you," she said. "But come on, let's go find more Death Eaters. Should we let that other one down?"
"They'll know the counter curse, we learned it," I said. "Let's go before more sneak up on us again. We were distracted last-"
Gretchen let out a shriek as one of the stones from the castle wall shot out across from us. The two of us exchanged glances before we made our way forward slowly in case more rocks shot out. We both knew that we had to stop our conversation now. If we'd been more alert, we might have noticed the Death Eaters before they'd surprised us.
We right to be alert as we would have walked right into a group of Death Eaters a few turns later. We turned into another corridor instead, where we found a few Hogwarts students who raised their wands at us but lowered them when they realized who we were.
"Are the Death Eaters still over there?" One of them whispered.
"We're trying to figure out how to get them," another added.
"They're still there," Gretchen whispered back. "But they were whispering together too. Maybe they're planning to attack you lot too."
"Probably," another said, who sounded a lot like Hilda. "They saw us first, but the other way is a dead end. We have no choice but to go to them."
"But maybe it's a secret passage," I whispered back.
"No, we tried," another Hogwarts students said. "We're trapped here. But how did you get down here this way without them noticing?"
"They seemed really into their conversation, but I also put a silencing spell on our footsteps, but it wore off. I've never been good with silencing spells, but it's harder non verbally," Gretchen explained.
"But we can do that! Why didn't we think of that? It's so obvious," someone else said excitedly.
I was going to have to tell Gretchen later again never to doubt herself. She knew strategy, and she could probably help the DA with that. I would talk to Luna later as well. Gretchen would tell me later it was because she felt more confident in a group, but I didn't care. If she was fighting for her life, she'd know what to do. We all knew this wasn't real, and while it was easier to see the Death Eaters as enemies, we all knew we weren't going to die.
We all put silencing charms on our shoes and helped those who could do it before we made our way down the hall. I was just hoping they weren't thinking of doing the same. It was an obvious thing to do, after all.
They were six Death Eaters altogether and nine of us. We'd all agreed on stunning them all at once as it would be easier to take them all out, and to get by. They all looked up in surprise before our stunners hit them all. We all hugged and gave each other high fives as we walked passed them and to a different corridor.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Someone, a male, asked as we rounded the corner.
There were even more Death Eaters grouped together with their wands pointed at us."
"Shame, they all went down, but we figured we'd need back up just in case," the Death Eater continued.
One of the Hogwarts students sent a spell at him though this was a terrible idea. The other Death Eaters reacted quickly, and soon enough, we were in a real duel. No one knew who was who, and now I understood what Ginny had meant when she'd said it had all been luck. I was keeping up, though I didn't understand how.
Gretchen tried her statue trick again, but this time, it was a bad idea. Just as the statue jumped in front of one of the smaller Hogwarts students, the wall began to make loud snapping sounds as cracks appeared and snaked up the wall. Everyone screamed as the wall started to crumble, and it truly was every man for himself as we all scattered.
I managed to escape down a secret passage by sheer luck. I could see the corridor was clear as day inside, but not for long as the entrance suddenly blocked from all the fallen stones. I had no choice but to go the other way, and I truly hoped I wasn't trapped inside. Surely the room would eventually help me find a way out, even if I could potentially get trapped in a real battle.
There was very little light in the passage, so I lit my wand and continued down it. It felt very cold and damp, and I wondered where it was taking me too. Ahead of me was a turn, but I also thought I saw some light, so I switched off my wand and made my way forward. Once I turned, it was to see some dim lighting at the far end. I felt as if the passage was much longer than the actual maze itself as I made my way to the light. I was relieved as I got closer to see that it was indeed a way out.
When I stepped out, I had no idea where I was. It was a completely different part of the maze. With my wand out, I began making my way down the corridor slowly. I felt very vulnerable without anyone on my side. What if I walked into another group of Death Eaters?
I let out a yell as a painting suddenly fell down onto the floor in front of me. I wanted to ask the Room if it was trying to kill us or something. It seemed to have come up with some obstacles that could truly hurt us.
My yelled drew attention to a Death Eater ahead of me, but remembering what Gretchen had done, I used the painting to my advantage. I quickly used it as a shield as they shot a stunner at me. The painting let out a loud sizzle before it exploded, behaving almost like fireworks as sparks flew everywhere.
"Brilliant," the Death Eater said. "I never knew that could happen."
I used the levicorpus curse on him before walking off. I heard his wand clatter to the floor as I moved.
"Hey come on, don't leave me like this, I dropped my wand!"
I was almost certain it was Philip, but it sounded as he'd use a voice disguiser spell, so his voice sounded gruffer than usual, almost as he heavily smoked or something.
A whistle suddenly blew, so taking pity on him, I turned and used the counter curse on him. He fell to the ground and then stood up, rubbing his head as he did so.
"Couldn't have done it, gentler?" He asked, pulling his Death Eater mask off, and indeed, it was Philip smirking at me.
"My bet is you're Barry, you're about his height," he said. "Battle is over, Barry. Time to reveal yourself."
I lowered my hood and pulled my mask and grinned down at him.
"I knew it was you the moment I saw you," he said. "You did that to me earlier too, you know. At least you didn't leave me this time."
"You were a Death Eater, and you'd do the same to me," I responded. "Funny, I got you twice, though. Who was with you?"
"I don't know. We didn't tell each other our names. Ginny told us all to use voice changer spells, so we did. We had an advantage over you lot," Philip said.
"I could tell it was you still," I said. "You just sounded like you smoked heavily."
"Ah, really? I was hoping to sound like an old man. I'll have to work harder on that," Philip said. "We overheard Gretchen saying she wouldn't win in a battle, but I don't know who she is kidding. She did really well. Where is she?"
I explained about what happened when we ran into the pocket of Death Eaters.
"Yeah, Ginny told us to do that. She had some of us go alone, but she had most of us group together. She figured Luna would send in the Hogwarts students one of two as a time. The Room of Requirement really outdid itself, though. I think that painting trick was one of theirs, but the rocks falling down? Didn't that happen last year? And I had two statues attack me. I think the one was humping me, but I'm not too sure," Philip said.
I laughed at this. Ahead of us were large red arrows showing us the way out. They'd suddenly appeared there, and I wondered if someone asked for help to get out. They certainly did make it easier to follow, and moments later, we were back into the regular part of the room. I was relieved to see Gretchen exiting just ahead. She saw me as well and quickly ran over to hug me. I'd never thought I would see the day when we would embrace in relief this way.
"I thought you got crushed by the walls at first!" She said.
"I thought you did as well," I said. "I lost track of you the moment it fell, and I only found a passageway by mistake. The stones all blocked the entrance."
"Well, I kind of was," Gretchen said as she began brushing out her hair. "But they didn't hurt us. They felt really light. Olivia, you know your weird ex? She was crushed right under the stones, she was a Death Eater, but she was fine. She said she was buried underneath them all, but they all felt very light, like pillows, and she had no problem breathing. So the Room at least protects us from its obstacles."
I was relieved to hear that. We noticed quite a few people were injured as they joined the crowd at the front of the maze. No one was put out though. Everyone was talking excitedly about it. Several kids were cheering Brianne on for saving two people from some Death Eaters. She'd used the statues to her advantage as well, but she'd made them trap the Death Eaters so the others could escape. She sent me a superior smirk as a few seventh years told her how amazing she was.
"She's going to be rubbing that in your face," Nick said as he joined us. "I was one of the few she caught. I wasn't expecting her to trap us with them."
"She's been reading ahead in my textbooks for years," I told him. "I'm sure she picked something up on her own. She's top of her year. Both her and Ben will always have that advantage."
"Well, I'm doing the same for Noah when he's old enough then," Nick said. "Brianne does seem to know some really good spells."
"Well, they practice in their dormitory too," I said. "And I've seen them practising on the grounds a few times, even though they really shouldn't. They're determined to prove they can fight in a battle."
Nick shrugged. "Hey, if it helps them to defend themselves better, let them. We won't always be there, Barry. And there is a chance that they might have to fight because we might not be able to evacuate the castles. Sure, we can hide them in the Common Rooms, but the Death Eaters could figure out a way in. It's the same with this room. We're always trying to think of more ways to make it secure."
I knew he was right, and I was glad she was learning the spells, it was why I let it go when I saw her in the grounds. However, I still was not going to change my mind about her willingly fighting in a battle. If she had no choice, that was one thing, but she was leaving if it was possible.
Neville blew his whistle, and everyone fell silent.
"Well, today was the best so far. We're going to continue to do it this way," he told us. "The Room of Requirement really surpassed itself today. Anyone have stories to share, and ways they think things could have gone better?"
Everyone began talking at once, which caused Neville to blow his whistle again, and everyone fell silent. Ginny let out an ahem, which sounded a lot like Umbridge.
"Hands are up please," she said in a sickly sweet voice similar to Umbridge's, which caused everyone to laugh.
"Seriously," Neville said, but he was smiling. "We still want to have time to practice our patronuses."
"Daddy is printing an article in The Quibbler tomorrow about the Death Eaters and Dementors guarding the secret passages," Luna said.
"So we're almost certain it's true. So let's just talk about what went right and wrong today, and then we can practice the Patronus," Neville said.
Some people had more exciting stories to share than my own. Some were in battle for a long time; others were able to trap people both Hogwarts students and Death Eaters. Brenda was part of a group of captured Death Eaters.
"We put the silencing spell on our shoes," Hilda spoke up. "We were able to sneak up on a group of them, and we stunned them, but then that didn't end well. Some Death Eaters were waiting for us. We got into a fight, and we were buried under rocks."
"Yes, you need to expect the Death Eaters might do that," Ginny said. "And the silencing charm on our shoes is a good idea."
"I used a disillusionment charm on myself, and then I trapped several Death Eaters with the statues," Brianne said. "They never saw it coming. So even though I am a third year, I am still a great fighter as you can see!"
"Oh, let it go, Brianne," Isabella called over to her. "We'll probably get our chance anyway, and won't be too happy about it."
"She's right you know," Luna said. "
I know everyone wants to fight, but I don't think some of you realize what can really happen," Ginny added. "Even after today's fight. It is very noble and brave that several of you want to fight. I would feel the same way, and I know Harry Potter did as well, but most of the time, he didn't have a choice. That's something a lot of you don't understand."
"Oh come off it, Ginny, Harry would have fought in the first year even if he had the choice," Seamus said. "And he could have let Quirrel steal the stone, but he didn't. I don't want them to fight either, but telling them that they don't understand will frustrate them. It did for us."
"But it's all I can say because most of you don't know what it's like in a real battle," Ginny said. "That's what these mock battles are all about."
"And I did learn something from it," Brianne said. "Once you don't know who is who, it is easier to fight them. I could have been fighting my brother or sister for all I knew. I trapped Nick with a statue even though under normal circumstances, I wouldn't. I know there is potential to die, but it's a cause I'd be willing to give my life for."
"You sound like a Gryffindor more than a Ravenclaw," a fifth-year Hufflepuff boy said.
"Well, the hat seriously did consider sorting me there, but in the end, it decided Ravenclaw," Brianne answered. "But wanting to fight has nothing to do with house traits obviously. Three houses are here right now, and if we knew what Slytherins we could trust, I'm sure some of them would be in here too."
"But our answer doesn't change," Neville told her. "You're very brave for your age, and I can see the Gryffindor in you right now, but you're still too young. You and everyone fourth year and younger will not fight unless you don't have a choice. I don't care what Harry Potter did at your ages, so don't bring him up."
Brianne wasn't the only one who let out an annoyed sigh, but no one else protested. Sometimes she could be more like Brenda than I'd ever realized. She was very stubborn. Neville took advantage of her annoyance to ask more people what they'd learned from their fights. Gretchen and Hilda had already spoken up for me, so I kept quiet as the others talked.
Soon enough, we moved onto Patronuses. I could use any happy memory to produce one now, but I figured the Tasha one would be needed for a real Dementor. I mainly helped Nick and my sisters, who were still having a hard time with it. Brenda finally produced a crow, though she looked upset by this.
"Aren't they bad luck?" Brenda asked.
"Crows are ambitious birds, you know," Luna told her. "They're also cunning and resourceful. That's just a superstition that they're unlucky. It's silly to believe in things like that."
"Silly?" Brenda asked once she wandered over to talk to someone else. "She believes that Crumple Horned Snorkacks exist, but she thinks superstitions are silly? Sometimes I don't understand that girl."
"I don't think anyone does," I told her. "Just relax, all animals have good and bad meanings. I have a piglet for a patronus."
"But it's cute," Brenda said.
"I just can't do it," Brianne said.
"Why not use today as a good memory?" I asked her. "It's something to be proud of, Brianne."
"Maybe…" she said slowly.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A smile formed on her face and then she shouted out:
"Expecto Patronum!"
A tiny hummingbird exploded out of her wand.
"Well, that one is cool," Brenda said as we watched it take flight.
"So is yours," Brianne told her. "Seriously, crows are very clever animals, and your patronus is here to protect you. Don't forget that if you feel ashamed. It will protect you from a fate that's worse than death!"
"I know," Brenda muttered.
She turned away and began practising again. Ginny ended the lesson not too much longer after that.
"We're going to try and have one more meeting before the Christmas holidays. We're thinking the night before Slughorn's party. Everyone will be distracted by that; they won't be paying attention to us." she told us. "Keep an eye on your coins in case we have messages for you."
"Are we going to do anything else to rile up the Carrows?" Zacharias Smith asked.
"Possibly, just keep an eye on your coins," Ginny told him. "We're trying to think of a way to stop their detentions."
"Are you mad? Wait, yes you are, you did break into Snape's office after all," he responded. "We try to stop their detention, and we'll be in detention. I don't know how you expect anything good to come from that. I saw we just keep resisting on hexing students in detention."
"Well, now that Filch is allowed to whip kids or hang them up by shackles, we were thinking we could at least help them," Neville said. "For now, just keep standing up to the Carrows and watch your coins. We don't have anything big planned for the Christmas holidays. We have a feeling that things are going to get stricter around here, and we don't want to give them more reason to add more."
"And we think we'll need to plan something big for after the holidays anyway," Ginny said. "If we're right that something is going to happen, we can start planning something soon."
Zacharias gave a small nod, which was rare from him, and he didn't say anything else. We were dismissed a few people at a time. It was close to curfew, and so because of this, many students were in the corridors with us, returning to their Common Rooms. It wasn't until we were with the second year Ravenclaws when we figured it out.
"What happened to you two?" Susie, whom I hadn't really spoken to since the end of last year, asked us. "Did the Carrows do that?"
Nick and I glanced at each other. We hadn't bothered to clean up after the battle as there'd been a line up at the sinks. We figured we'd do it after the meeting with scourgify, but we'd both forgotten about it. I wasn't sure how I looked, but Nick was covered in boils, and he had a cut on his cheek.
"Detention, you know?" Nick answered quickly. "It's okay; we have antidotes upstairs. We've been making them ever since the Carrows decided Madam Pomfrey isn't allowed to heal us after a punishment."
Susie, Sasha, and Margaret didn't say anything, they just glanced at each other and then continued on. We immediately went up to our dorm to wash up as soon as we were inside the common room. When we came back downstairs, later on, it was to find the three girls waiting for us at our usual spot.
"We're flattered, but you're still too young," Nick told them and then winked, making all three giggle.
Sasha, who was still shy, turned red and looked down as she giggled.
"No, we just think-" Susie began and then stopped herself. "Muffliato!"
"How did you know that spell?" Nick asked, impressed.
"Brianne taught it to us," Margaret said. "We were bad-mouthing You-Know-Who in the Great Hall, and she told us we should be careful and then taught us that. Anyway, we think you're in the DA, and we want to join."
"We don't know when the next meeting is, but we will tell you when we know," Nick told her. "Don't tell anyone else outside yourselves."
"We don't trust our dorm mates," Susie said. "Sasha's parents are both in hiding because they each have a muggleborn parent, but they sent her here with us because they wanted her to still get her education. She's staying with me during the holidays. Our dorm-mates like to make fun of her about it, and we don't talk too much to the boys. I mean, they're friendly, but we don't tell them secrets."
"But isn't she in danger by being here?" Nick asked.
"She barely made it through," Susie said. "But dad was prepared to protect her anyway. She can trace some of her lineage as there are some half-bloods, and her parents are half-bloods too."
"But they're still in hiding," I said. "Won't they try to go after her for information?"
"I think her half-blood relatives are still going to work, aren't they?" Margaret asked Sasha, who nodded.
"My dad still goes to work," she said in a small voice. "But he still wants me at Hogwarts or with Susie's family. They can protect me better than he can, and he's ready to be a secret keeper at any moment. When he does, I probably will leave school."
"But we want to learn to fight," Susie said. "We know what Dumbledore's Army is."
"Well, we'll let you know, but don't tell anyone anyway," Nick said. "And don't tell anyone who is in the club either."
"Is there some kind of spell that prevents us from speaking up?" Margaret asked.
"Possibly," Nick said.
"Only we heard what happened to that Marietta girl," Susie said.
"Well, if you don't want to find out, keep the secret," I told them. "But if that's all-"
"That's all, don't worry Barry, I have a boyfriend now," Susie said as the girls stood up to leave.
Nick snorted with laughter.
"Little girls certainly love you," he said.
"It's not just me, you know," I said and then recasting muffliato just in case she'd taken it down, I continued. "I think that little Sasha girl has a crush on you. I wonder if we'll end up with everyone in Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor soon."
"I don't think so. I think some want to but are too scared to or their parents told them not to," Nick said. "Our parents told us not to even though I think they know we are in it. I'd say close to half maybe. But that's good, isn't it? It makes those battles easier."
"Sometimes it's harder when they're smaller, though," I said. "I went easier on the smaller Death Eaters over the bigger ones."
"I did too, but I still didn't care about hitting them with a boil curse, and one certainly didn't mind doing the same to me," Nick said. "You know, if we can meet up at least once a week, we'll all be really good duellers by the end of the year."
I was thinking the same. I was already trying to think of strategies for the next battle. Now that I knew what the Room was capable of doing, and how it was fighting the fake Death Eaters, I could be better prepared. Who knew what the future would bring, but I felt if a battle broke out tomorrow, I would be ready.