Project Management for Beginners

by snuffly22

Harry had never really properly planned anything before. The fact that his first ever plan was risky and filled with assorted dangers was not actually deterring him as much as it should. (This story explores how Harry's third year at Hogwarts might have played out differently if a little project management and an ambitious plan had been thrown into the mix.)

11. All hands on deck

All rights to the Harry Potter universe belong to JK Rowling. I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: Hello all – I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks to everyone who's reading the story and has commented on it. Those who've said Blaise isn't a realistic teenaged boy; I'm sure you're right, but I'm a middle-aged woman and I don't know any teenagers, which probably shows in the writing! I have taken on board the feedback people have given about him just telling Harry the answers, and I quite see the wisdom of that - so I've written a scene which will appear in a future chapter (chapter 14 or 15, I think) which addresses this point; Blaise is going to start to encourage Harry to find his own answers.

Nyx Muirinn – thanks for your suggestion about writing a scene from Blaise's POV. I thought this was a good idea so I've written that over the past couple of days – it'll probably be in chapter 13.

Chapter 11: All hands on deck

An integral part of any project is the management of risk.

Lunchtime finally arrived, and Harry was a twisted wreck of nerves. Percy was in much the same state; he was very pale, and kept muttering his speech to himself feverishly. The common room rapidly emptied of students, all trying to look casual and relaxed and really not part of a major conspiracy.

"I don't know how people ever commit crimes," Ron said. "I mean, we're not even doing anything wrong, and I still feel so guilty that I'm sure everyone for miles will notice!"

"I know," Hermione agreed. "I keep trying to remember how I normally look when I go to the Great Hall and then I could try to look just like that, but I can't. I'm sure that I'll appear too tense, or too preoccupied, and I just hope nobody from another House stops me to talk on the way because they're sure to notice something's amiss. Well, come on, we'd better get on with it."

"Harry, a moment," Percy said as they were about to head out. "Whatever happens, you need to stick to the plan – is that clear?"

"Yes, but – what do you mean, whatever happens?" Harry asked.

"Oh, nothing specific; I just wanted to give you a reminder," Percy said quickly. "Off you go now. I'll be down shortly." Harry nodded, and left with Ron, Neville and Hermione.

"That was weird," Ron said as they walked down to the Great Hall. "Oh, but of course, I expect Percy's practicing his brotherly love on you. Did you tell Neville about that, by the way?"

"Oh no, sorry Neville - most people haven't heard yet. Percy's now my honorary big brother."

"That's really cool, Harry," Neville said sincerely. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, Neville."

"He'll regret it sooner or later," Ron said, speaking with the voice of experience. "It'll be 'Harry, have you done your homework?' or 'Harry, you need to take more OWLs!' or 'Harry, why is your trunk so untidy?' all the time, until he gets fed up and stops the whole thing."

"It won't be like that," Harry said tolerantly. "And by the way, Ron – have you done your homework? And are you going to take more OWLs, and why is your trunk so untidy?"

"Idiot!" Ron said, while the others giggled. Harry grinned, glad to have his friendship with Ron back to normal.

They walked into the Great Hall, which was already looking fairly full. The Headmaster had just arrived, and Professors Snape, McGonagall and Flitwick were all there too. Each of the students strolled to their appointed place at the Gryffindor table with a reasonably well-faked air of relaxation and innocence. Mind you, Harry couldn't help but think that things would look strange if anyone from the other tables was properly taking notice, because a lot of people weren't sitting next to their friends. Since he, Ron and Hermione were all slightly different heights, they weren't either - there were a number of other students between each of them. However, nobody at the other tables seemed to be looking across so he hoped they were getting away with it. Harry pretended to drink some pumpkin juice, although in reality he was too anxious to consume a thing.

Five minutes later, and everyone at the Gryffindor table was twitchy and desperate to make a start. Food had been served and the other tables were tucking in, but they were waiting for Professor Sprout to show up before they could begin. Fortunately, she arrived with Professor Sinistra two minutes later, which meant that all members of staff and most of the students were present. It was time.

Harry gave Percy a nod, and Percy stood up at the end of the table. He had the Charter and the petition in his hands. "Stand," he instructed. The entire Gryffindor contingent rose as one and stepped behind the benches. He gave the order to march, then turned his back and started to lead the Gryffindors out.

The rest of the school immediately realised that something unusual was happening and stopped eating. There were whispers, which turned into rapid conversations, as the other students tried to work out what was going on. Many of them called out questions but the Gryffindors followed orders and didn't respond. Soon they were all marching down the centre of the room between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables with a rising storm of speculation and gossip surrounding them. Even more smoothly than they'd practiced it, the two lines of students walked calmly towards the front of the hall. None of the Professors stepped in or challenged them, though Harry could see some of them turning to each other in urgent conversation.

As they drew closer to the staff table, the students from other Houses quietened down, clearly not wanting to miss what might happen next. Percy stopped in front of the Headmaster and everyone else flowed smoothly behind him to the left and right. None of the Gryffindors messed it up – everyone walked calmly and silently to their place. They didn't speak. They didn't look anywhere except straight ahead. They acted almost as one being. Soon everyone was in position, lined up in a long row facing the staff table. The room fell into silence as everyone watched and waited. All Harry could hear was the rapid beating of his own heart. After some thought, they had decided that Percy should not use the Sonorous Charm to amplify his voice; it turned out this was the correct decision, as in the deep silence he could be clearly heard across the hall.

"Headmaster Dumbledore - I, Percy Weasley, as leader of this group, do seek your acknowledgement of our right of lawful protest against an injustice," he said forcefully.

Harry, along with the rest of the Gryffindors, waited for Dumbledore's promised acknowledgement of their right to protest – but it didn't come. He started to panic as the seconds passed; he counted them; one, two, three, four, five… and still, the Headmaster remained silent. Harry didn't know what to do next. He was too far along the row to see the Headmaster without turning his head, which he didn't dare to do. Harry was furious with himself for not thinking more about what would happen if their protest was not declared lawful. Why hadn't he asked Percy, or Hermione? Why hadn't he led this protest himself? Percy had said at the Gryffindor meeting that as leader, any disciplinary action would be applied to him alone – and he hadn't even asked Percy what that could mean in practice! But Percy had known it might lead to this, Harry realised with a jolt of shock. This was what Percy had meant by whatever happens.

After about ten seconds, Percy clearly decided that no acknowledgement was coming, but he pressed on regardless. "We students of Gryffindor House do most greatly value the teaching that we receive here at Hogwarts. We consider most of our Professors to be competent and effective at their jobs. However, there are exceptions." There was a slight ripple of sound across the Hall at this point, quickly stopping as Percy continued. "We believe that a greater degree of protection against poor teaching standards is needed. We do not seek to add to the workload of our Professors, and for many of them our proposal will lead to no change. However, we are concerned that there are Professors who fall below an acceptable level in their teaching, and such may be the case in the future as well. Therefore, to ensure that every Hogwarts Professor teaches to a good standard, we have developed a simple Hogwarts Teaching charter and we are asking for this to be implemented. I will now read out the Charter."

Percy unrolled the Charter with hands which were badly shaking and held it up in front of him. He read out the eight measures which it comprised, as everyone in the hall listened intently.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, Professors and students of Hogwarts, please be assured that this proposal is submitted with the utmost respect, and with a wish to help maintain and improve the standards of this fine school. Headmaster, I will give to you in a moment a copy of our proposed Charter and a petition signed by every Gryffindor student supporting it. Before I do, there is one more matter to mention." Harry frowned in puzzlement as he listened; that should have been the end of Percy's speech. "Headmaster, as you have not acknowledged this protest as lawful then I know that disciplinary action will be taken against me as its leader. I expect that such action will involve my removal from the role of Head Boy. I was deeply honoured to be appointed Head Boy of the school this term, and it means the world to me. However, I have recently come to realise that as important as being Head Boy is, there are things that are more important – and standing with my housemates, family and friends to fight for a righteous change is definitely one of them. That being so, I willingly surrender my Head Boy badge rather than have it taken from me."

Harry could barely come to terms with what had happened. He felt sick as out of the corner of his eye, he saw Percy step forward and place the badge, the petition and the Charter onto the table in front of the Headmaster. Percy stepped back into line, and then the awful silence returned. Harry felt tears hovering in his eyes and he had to fight hard not to let them fall. Then, finally, Dumbledore reacted. He stood and started walking to the end of the staff table – but to Harry's frustration he'd gone the other way, so he could not see the Headmaster's expression. Surely, surely, Dumbledore would do the right thing? If ever Harry had relied on him to do so, this was the time.

The Headmaster came to a stop in front of Percy. "Mr. Weasley, I believe that I owe you a great apology," he said, and there was both warmth and sincerity in his voice. "I should have replied right away to your initial declaration, but I was so shocked at what I believe to be the first formal Hogwarts school protest for well over a century that I did not respond as I should. Let me now put that omission right. I, Albus Dumbledore, do acknowledge your right of lawful protest."

There was a large, collective sigh of relief among the Gryffindors. "Thank you," Percy said, though his voice was so choked with emotion that the words were a mangled mass of syllables - and barely understandable, Harry thought as he allowed his own feelings of relief to wash over him, unless you guessed what he was trying to say in the first place.

"You are very welcome," Dumbledore said. He picked up the Head Boy badge. "And having taken care of the formalities, I believe that this should be put back in its rightful place, don't you?" He pinned the badge back on to Percy's robes. Percy made a sound that was half way between a groan and a sob.

Dumbledore leaned forward, patted Percy on the shoulder and whispered a few words into his ear. Then he stepped back and raised his voice. "Students of Gryffindor, thank you for what you have done today. Your protest has come as a very great surprise to me, but I promise that this proposal will be most carefully and seriously considered. I will discuss it as soon as possible with the other Professors and with the Board of Governors, and also with the Minister for Magic, as a courtesy. That will all take a few days, but I promise that this Charter will be my highest priority, and as soon as we have made a decision about this matter then I will relay it to you all. And now, if you are willing then I suggest that you return to your table and partake of the food and drink which I imagine you were all far too nervous to sample much of before!"

"Yes Sir," Percy said, the joy that he clearly felt echoing in his voice. "Thank you again. March!" He swung around and led the triumphant, relieved, thrilled Gryffindors back through the centre two tables. They had not got very far before the school started to react.

Harry thought it was amazing, how suddenly the Great Hall went from total silence to massive, spontaneous waves of noise. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were yelling congratulations, stamping their feet, thumping the table, clapping and whistling their support. There were sparks shot from wands, flashes of light, fireworks whooshing overhead and it all felt totally wonderful. The Gryffindors streamed in triumph back to their own table, grinning madly. Harry was overcome with joy and he couldn't hold back a couple of tears as he walked, but it didn't matter because they'd absolutely done it!, and nothing could make him feel anything other than glorious just then. He smiled across at Neville who walked next to him; Neville looked the happiest that Harry had ever seen him. At the head of their procession, Harry saw Percy wave his wand and then copies of the Charter, along with the petitions for the other houses to sign, starting flying to the other tables.

Once they'd returned to their table, Percy – who looked tremendously elated – picked up a goblet. "Students of Gryffindor, I give you a toast!" he shouted. "To a job well done!"

"A JOB WELL DONE!" they roared back, raising their goblets to him and laughing with delight.

"Thank you all," Percy said. "And now, feel free to re-join your friends and let's all have lunch!"

The Gryffindors, still overwhelmed at what they'd achieved, chaotically rearranged themselves to sit with their friends. Percy was about to sit down himself when the twins walked across to him. Harry had never seen them look at their big brother as they did then; it was with a sincere mixture of admiration and respect. They bowed ceremonially to Percy, and then grabbed him in an awkward kind of triangular hug. Ginny ran to them and pushed into the middle of the hug, and Ron quickly did the same. After a minute or so, Percy leaned his head to the side and shouted, "Harry – come and join us!"

Harry went over, a little nervous about intruding on a Weasley family moment, but Percy pulled him into the middle of the scrum and gave him a determined hug too. "You're one of us now Harry, the hugging comes with the territory!"

"Well done, Percy," Harry said, when the hugs stopped and he was able to step back. All of them were grinning. "You were amazing! But I couldn't believe it when you took your Head Boy badge off. You told us all that nobody would get into trouble because of this!"

"And you told me there'd be no chaos and anarchy, yet here we are," Percy said with a grin, waving his hand towards the raucous students. "I didn't say anything about it because I didn't want to worry you. Still, it's all right now. Everything worked out for the best."

"Could you see Dumbledore's face when you spoke to him?" Ron said. "I was too far over to get a look at him. How did he react?"

"He was just staring at me," Percy said. "I couldn't read his expression at all. In the end I just thought, let's keep going and take the consequences!"

"If you don't mind me asking - what did Dumbledore say to you, when he whispered in your ear?" Harry said.

Percy looked a little embarrassed. "Only four words, Harry: Never forget this moment." Harry smiled with satisfaction – now that was more like the Dumbledore that he knew.

"Wow," Ron said, impressed. "The Headmaster really can make you think sometimes, can't he?"

"Indeed he can. Now go and eat, all of you."

"We'll all eat together," Ginny declared, so they did, joined by Lee, Neville, Oliver, Colin and Hermione. They were interrupted many times by Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students who came over to express their support, congratulate them and ask questions about the protest and the Charter. It was the noisiest and most chaotic meal that Harry had ever experienced, and he loved it.

"Can you believe it," Ron exclaimed at one point, "what Dumbledore said? He's going to talk to the Minister about this – it'll be taken right to the top!"

"I wonder what Minister Fudge will think about it," Hermione mused. "I hope he'll back us up. The Minister is closely linked with Lucius Malfoy, after all, and I'm sure we can't count on his support."

"Well, Dumbledore said he was only speaking to Fudge as a courtesy, so it might not matter either way," Harry said. "Mr. Malfoy's not on the Board of Governors any more, thankfully. By the way, did anyone notice how the Slytherins reacted to our protest? I couldn't see them when we were marching back because there were people in the way."

"They weren't happy," Lee said gleefully. "Lots of muttering and glaring and grumbling to each other. Maybe they see this as an insult to their Head of House or something, although why they'd think such a thing, I really can't imagine."

Harry grinned and took a quick look across to the Slytherin side of the hall. Lee was right; there was no sign of the cheerfulness that could be seen at the other three tables. The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw petitions had quickly been returned with masses of signatures to Percy – who'd already handed them proudly to the Headmaster – but nobody on the Slytherin table was signing their petition.

"If you think that's bad, then look at Professor Snape!" Hermione said.

"He's fuming," Ron declared as he did so. "And, I don't know – shocked, maybe?"

Harry turned to glance at the staff table. He'd been so overwhelmed with everything that he hadn't even thought to see what their reactions were before now. As it turned out, they made a very interesting contrast. Hagrid looked downhearted and nervous, whereas Professors Sprout, Lupin and Flitwick were thoroughly cheerful, chatting away to each other; Harry saw Flitwick point to the Charter as he spoke. Professor Sinistra had a thoughtful expression, while Professor McGonagall was obviously both happy and proud - Harry was relieved to see such a positive reaction from his Head of House. Madam Pomfrey was apparently unconcerned, while Madam Pince and Professor Trelawney looked somewhat bemused and Filch was grumpier than ever. Madam Hooch seemed amused and the Headmaster was studying the petitions thoughtfully, while Professors Vector, Burbage and Babbling spoke to one another intently. Which only left… Snape. Professor Snape was staring down at his food, but not eating any of it. Nobody was talking to him. On his normally pale face there were angry blotches of red, and his expression was twisted and fierce.

"We should all make every effort to stay away from Snape for as long as possible," Harry said to the others.

Neville followed his gaze and nodded. "That's a really good idea."

"I should probably go and chat to Hagrid this afternoon," Ron said thoughtfully. "He looks a bit down and he might need some reassurance about the Charter. I would've liked to warn him before we did this but of course I couldn't. I'll ask the other Danger Club members to come along as well."

"Yes, that should help," Hermione agreed. "I'm sure that Hagrid will be fine, once it's explained to him - especially when he learns that it was your idea in the first place, Harry."

They left the Great Hall in a cheerful bunch around thirty minutes later. Fred and George stayed close to Percy. They'd told him that as a precaution it would be better for him not to go anywhere on his own for the next few days, just until the Slytherins had a chance to get over their offence at him leading the protest. There was no immediate threat from that quarter, though – the Slytherin table was now completely empty, and their copy of the petition had been ripped into several pieces and thrown onto the floor.

- IIII - IIII - IIII - IIII -

Most of the Gryffindor students spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and congratulating themselves on their accomplishment. Although of course they had no idea whether the Charter would be adopted or not, it felt wonderful to have made a daring strike against Professor Snape (and against bad teachers everywhere!) which none of the rest of the school had seen coming. Percy received so much praise for his actions that he looked extremely smug; the shock of nearly losing his Head Boy position had now worn off and he was jaunty and cheerful. However, he still regularly reminded people that the whole thing had been Harry's idea, "But don't tell anyone else that - you know we don't want the Slytherins to find out!" For his part, Harry went around the room to thank people for their participation; he had some special words of praise for Natalie and Jason, who were delighted that their own role in the day's events had worked out so well.

After an hour or so, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville headed off to see Hagrid, along with the rest of the Danger Club members. Ron had graciously given his friends permission to join them – he described this (much to their amusement) as a special concession, since by rights it should have been Danger Club members only. During the walk over to Hagrid's house, Ron told Padma, Parvati, Ernie and Justin the tale of how the lunchtime protest had been planned and prepared for. They all laughed at learning about the secret early morning rehearsal, a story which Ron relayed with great enthusiasm. Harry, Ginny, Neville and Hermione - who were walking a little behind them - all rolled their eyes as Ron continued to show off about their protest.

"Danger Boy over there does know the whole thing was your idea, doesn't he?" Hermione muttered in annoyance to Harry. "And has he forgotten that he only became a proper member of this quest group a few hours ago?"

He grinned back at her tolerantly. "Let him boast if he wants to. Anyway, we were all in it together."

"Some more than others," Neville murmured, making Harry and Ginny chuckle.

Hermione clearly wasn't amused, however. "But Harry, this is your quest and to listen to Ron talk, anyone would think he invented the whole thing!"

"I know, Hermione; but after how well it all turned out, I don't think I want to get angry about anything today. And you know, for weeks now Ron's stood on the outside and refused to get involved. Now he's a part of it. If he feels proud enough to show off about what we did, well, I can't bring myself to mind. We've got our best friend back, and I really wanted that to happen."

She sighed, but calmed down somewhat. "Very well Harry, but I don't suppose he'd like it if we took credit for everything that he's doing with the Danger Club!"

"I'll deal with him if he takes it too far," Neville said, to Harry's surprise. "Don't worry, Hermione."

She glanced across at him and after a moment, nodded her head. "Okay, Neville. I know I can rely on you." He smiled and blushed a little.

It turned out to be a good idea to visit Hagrid, as the man became immensely cheered up on hearing that the Charter had been written by Harry - "This is your work, Harry? Well then, I was worrying about it for nothin'!" - and he relaxed even more when they talked him through it. Padma took the lead at this point, explaining to Hagrid how each of the clauses in the Charter could best be applied to his Care of Magical Creatures lessons. Harry was quite impressed by Padma's insight; she'd had a copy of the Charter for less than two hours, but in that time, she must have studied it intently. The others chipped in with useful advice too, and Harry was amused to see the way that Ron was fussily directing proceedings. It was the first time ever that Ron had reminded him of Percy; he clearly took his role as Danger Club leader very seriously.

"Of course, there's no guarantee that the Charter will be adopted," Harry said towards the end of their conversation, "but even if it isn't, I still think the changes that Padma and the rest of the Danger Club suggested are brilliant."

"Thanks Harry," Padma said, blushing slightly.

"Oh, I bet you'll get yer' Charter," Hagrid said cheerfully. "I'll support it, fer' one. Dumbledore's already set up a staff meeting for us Professors all to talk about it at seven o'clock tonight." This was welcome news to Harry and the others.

"He's made a quick start," Ernie said. "I wish you luck, Harry – I try really hard at Potions but Professor Snape never seems to say anything very nice about my work."

"It's not just about Snape," Harry said, sticking to their official line on this. "I mean, History classes are long overdue for improvement too."

"Ah, Professor Binns can be a bit dry, like," Hagrid said. "Poor fella."

"Poor us, having to sit through his lessons!" Justin said. "So, do you have any other questions about the Charter, Hagrid?"

"No thank yer', I'm all clear on it now. So, how about some more rock cakes?"

"No sorry, I think we have to go back to the school now," Ron said, and got up quickly. The others rapidly jumped up as well.

"That's a shame. Never mind, they'll keep 'till the next Danger Club meeting," Hagrid said, making Ron wince. "Tomorrow, right?"

"Yes," Ron said with a sickly grin. "See you then. And the rock cakes." Hermione giggled. They said their goodbyes to a much happier Hagrid and strolled back to the castle.

Back in the Gryffindor common room, everyone settled down for an easy, lazy afternoon. Harry popped upstairs the dorm after a while, when it occurred him that he should check his memo to see if Blaise had left him any feedback on the protest. Which, as it turned out, he had.

In all honesty, I've rarely seen a power move as cleverly planned and executed. Well played, Harry. Very, very well played.

And also, Theo asked me to pass on his congratulations. He says that using PW as your leader was an inspired idea. I agree. You must tell me how you talked him into it next time we meet. Did you blackmail him? Confund him? Was it the Imperius? Did you kidnap one of his many thousand family members and hold them hostage? Eager minds want to know.

And also (part 2), without going against my rule of not sharing any Slytherin secrets, I believe I can mention that it's total raging disorder over here right now, and that's ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT.

But even so, well done from your small but perfectly formed Slytherin fan cub. (You still suck at duelling, though).

Harry chuckled. Sorry I didn't reply sooner – been a bit busy here. Don't have time to write much now, so just a quick note until later. Thanks for the compliments, and apologies for the raging disorder. You should go and see Madam Pomfrey about that, she'll probably have a spell or a potion you can take for it.

Back in the common room, Harry was handed a letter from Seamus who said that Dumbledore had asked him to pass it on. He opened it nervously; it was an invitation to visit the Headmaster any time that afternoon, with a note added stating that the password had recently changed to 'Fondant Fancies'.

Harry showed the letter to the others. "Time to face the music."

"Are you worried about what he'll say?" Ron asked.

"No. Well, yeah, maybe a little bit. Still, at least he won't make me eat rock cakes."

"That's right, always look for the silver lining," Hermione said with a teasing smile.

Harry grinned back. "I'll go now, get it over with. See you all later."

- IIII - IIII - IIII - IIII -

"Thank you for coming to see me again," the Headmaster said gravely after Harry had sat down. "Although if you had refused to do so, then I would not have been at all surprised."

Harry looked at the Headmaster nervously. "Well, I knew you'd be angry about what we've done. You wanted me to let the whole thing go and I wasn't willing to."

"I am not angry Harry, except with myself. You see, when I was informed by Professor McGonagall that you had submitted a complaint about Professor Snape, I immediately thought two things. Firstly, that your complaint was absolutely justified and secondly, that I could not possibly allow it to succeed."

Harry took a minute to process this. "Because of… him, you mean?"

"Voldemort? You can say the name, Harry. Yes, because of him. But I was wrong. I should have listened to you, instead of sending you away with evasions and put-downs and dismissals. You deserved better."

"It's all right Sir," Harry said, rather embarrassed. "You had your reasons."

"Even so, I was wrong and I apologise. I would also ask your forgiveness, if you feel able to give it."

"Yes, of course I forgive you."

"Thank you, Harry," Dumbledore said softly. "That is most kind."

"I just think, Headmaster that… well, if Snape needs to stay here at Hogwarts, that's fine. I don't have a problem with that. But there's no reason why he can't be a better teacher while he is here. And as well, he's not the only bad teacher we've had. I mean, Professor Lockhart last year and Professor Quirrell the year before were both awful - and nobody ever learns anything in History of Magic lessons."

Dumbledore nodded sadly. "I cannot deny the validity of those examples, Harry. And since you have proved your point most effectively today, I promise that I will do everything possible to facilitate the introduction of the Teaching Charter. I hope you will accept that as my attempt to make up for my previous lack of support in this matter."

"Wow, that's great," Harry grinned. "I really appreciate it. Thanks, Headmaster. But what about Professor Snape?"

"That remains to be seen," Dumbledore replied sombrely. "For now, please leave matters in my hands and I will attempt to put everything right."

"I will," Harry said cheerfully. As far as he was concerned, if Snape was so infuriated by the Charter that he either chose to resign or was sacked as a result, then that would be the icing on an already delicious cake. However, he decided it was best not to say so.

"Excellent. And now Harry, if you can spare the time, could you indulge me by sharing the story of how today's protest came into being? I would be most interested to hear the background to it."

"The whole thing? That might take a while."

"Take as much time as you need," Dumbledore said genially.

"Okay. Well, it all started on the first day of term, during the train journey back to school…"

- IIII - IIII - IIII - IIII -