Beta: No one, because of my own poor time mismanagement
Original release date: 11/27/2020
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the canon Harry Potter universe or any other canon universe, in addition to any references to things in the real world that currently exist. AU.
Chapter Seventy Four - Hope Reborn
"Hermione, what were you thinking?!" exclaims Harry angrily, after having put up privacy spells in an unused classroom.
Cocking her head to the side, Hermione answers, "Well, Ginny did tell you that you should allow others to shoulder the burden of gathering proof. So I obviously volunteered."
"But…equipment! And what's your plan to gather any evidence of her doings and not to mention getting caught?"
"You know how you can record audio and video, like the necklace that you got from Daphne? My plan is similar to that, using magic to record audio and video and store it on the Omni Connect. Or that is where the data is stored, correct?" answers Hermione calmly.
"Uh, yes. Though its only able to be stored locally for a short time depending on recording medium you have inside it. We're still developing a better storage medium for such content though. But don't you think that is a bit risky, even for you Hermione?"
Cocking her head to the side, Hermione remarks, "Do you think that Professor Umbridge is really going to look at items that the Marauders Emporium uses and has utilized and try to base any form of defense, especially when she preaches a textbook and theory based defense to classes? You and Neville have taken on Voldemort together and managed to survive at least twice and then you managed to survive despite facing Voldemort in his new body surrounded by Death Eaters. You two shouldn't shoulder the entire burden especially something like a certain teacher being a complete rubbish bin."
Opening his mouth to speak, Harry is interrupted by Hermione, "If you're done, I do need to be on my way for an important meeting."
"Fine. Just please watch yourself" Harry states with concern.
"I will, don't worry" answers Hermione as she exits the classroom.
Looking at the door closing behind Hermione, Harry takes a chair and sits, ignoring the dust and muses. After several long minutes of silence, Harry stands up and takes down the privacy spells before exiting the room.
/*elsewhere*/
"Do you both understand my design and budget for this device?" asks a familiar female voice.
Glancing over the parchment, one of the pair answers, "We do. We will let you know when we've got it ready for you" before all parties slide deeper into the shadows, leaving no trace that a meeting had occurred.
/*back in the common room*/
"Harry, I need to talk to you" states Daphne coming aside Harry.
Turning to Daphne, Harry asks, "Ok."
"So we've determined that at the next Hogsmeade visit that we will host a small meeting of interested students at Hog's Head Inn" whispers Daphne.
"What time?" asks Harry quietly.
"One o'clock" answers Daphne before heading up the dormitory stairwell. Pausing slightly, Harry mutters quietly, "Should I prepare a speech? Probably" before sighing and heading to his dormitory.
/*several days later in Hogsmeade*/
Looking around at the roughly two dozen students gathered, Hermione stands up from her seat at the booth shared with Neville and begins, "So Professor Umbridge isn't teaching us as we can all agree and we're fed up. What we are proposing is an underground club of sorts that is taught by Harry and Neville, by learning incantations and actually using them in a controlled environment."
"What kind of spells would be taught?" asks a female student.
"Spells such as but not limited to the Patronus Charm, Disarming Charm, and of course Protego for defense alongside more advanced versions of said spell" answers Harry standing up from his position at the table.
"Where is this 'controlled environment'?" asks a female student.
"In a location where teachers won't be able to easily snoop" answers Neville quickly as Harry's eyes start to get a faraway look.
"And what about Dumbledore's improved security measures? How will you get past those?" asks a male student.
Eyes becoming like freshly glazed doughnuts on the conveyor line, Harry's mind wanders into the deep abyss.
/*flashback/memory*/
Examining the Marauders Map on his Omni Play, Harry quickly switches his attention to a camera feed on the left hand side of the tablet showing a familiar redhead and then back to the map on the right hand side of the screen before making a quick swipe right on the camera view to a list of occupants in the hallway. Reading over the list, one 'Ron Weasley' was missing while the student out of bed after hours was definitely on the list. Brows furrowing, Harry continues to watch silently as Ron says something to the student before swapping from camera to camera until Ron nears the portrait hole and any feed is useless.
Less than a minute later, Ron quietly enters the room and begins to prep for bed when Harry slides back the curtains to his bed and whispers just loud enough for Ron to hear, "Ron, can we talk?"
"Yeah" answers Ron quietly stepping closer to Harry's bed.
"How are you able to show up on camera and the map, but not on the list of people in a hallway?" asks Harry bluntly.
Pausing, Rona answers, "Sirius gave me a gift, over the summer break, and it helps me not show up on the list or something. Said it would help me in my prefect duties."
"Did he give any more specifics?" presses Harry.
Scratching his head, Ron answers, "Not that I can think of."
"So basically you show up on an actual video feed, and appear on the map though the professors have a modified one that shows you on the map and the out of bed list, unless you hold one of these passes." muses Harry aloud.
Shrugging his shoulders, Ron answers, "I guess so. Haven't really tested anything."
/* end flashback */
"Don't worry about the after curfew and professors, we've got that covered." answers Harry coming back to reality to answer the question.
"Any other questions?" interjects Hermione quickly looking over the small gathering of students before continuing, "then please make a single file line to sign the registry."
"Registry?" asks a student perplexed.
"Yes. A registry for a fake galleon that will update with meeting dates and times when we select the next meeting" answers Hermione calmly.
"And why are we signing?"
"That you agree to keep the meeting times and locations to yourself and to not inform others" answers Daphne crossing her arms across her chest.
"Oh ok" replies the student before signing the parchment.
Twenty minutes later after everyone had signed the parchment, Hermione neatly rolls and magically seals the scroll before putting it into her bag as the students disperse. Hooking her left arm through Harry's right, Daphne steers Harry towards the door and says, "I'm kidnapping Harry for a few hours, see you all later."
"Don't manage to kill him unlike Voldemort" calls out Neville laughing.
"It was good to see you Susan" remarks Harry with a smile as Daphne pulls him towards the door and past the redhead.
Arm still linked with Daphne's, Harry teases a few minutes later as they continue walking, "Where are you 'kidnapping' me to?"
"I want to spend some time, just you and I. We can exit the castle and roam a bit more freely than the halls. Especially out of sight of those annoying cameras that Dumbledore has kept up. A bit of invasion of privacy, but I guess at one point they did have a use." Answers Daphne still leading Harry into the village.
/*next day*/
Staring at the exceptionally large font size notice tacked to the notice board, Harry re-reads before stalking off a distance as others congregate to read. "Educational decree twenty four forcing groups of students to reform under her permission. She needs to be taken down a peg or two."
"Potter! I need you to sign this form in accordance to the educational decree for student groups so we can officially resume as a Quidditch team" states Angelina crossing the room in record time and holding out a piece of parchment.
Looking over the parchment for his name, Harry takes the offered quill by Angelina and signs his name before having it snatched out of his grip and before watching Angelina's back disappearing through the portrait hole. Sitting in a corner of the common room an hour later switching his attention between the mountain of coursework and devising a lesson plan for the yet as of unnamed Defense Against the Dark Arts organization, Harry is startled when his name is called out from across the room.
"POTTER! You've done it this time!" exclaims a furious looking Angelina.
Blinking in confusion, Harry replies, "Please calm down and start from the beginning."
"We can't have the Quidditch team with you because you've been in trouble with Professor Umbridge" states Angelina through clenched teeth.
"Oh"
"So now we can't have a team."
"That...is why Ginny is able to step in as seeker for the remainder of the year or until Umbridge leaves, correct?" suggests Harry coolly, trying to defuse the situation.
"Potter!" hisses Angelina, eyes flashing dangerously narrowing the gap, "THAT is not the primary reason for substitutes and you know it!"
"Then what do you propose, if I am the only one ineligible to play this season?" replies Harry unflinching at the hairs breadth between him and Angelina.
Glaring at Harry who stares back, Angelina finally speaks after several long moments, "This issue better be resolved by next year. Or we will be replacing you….permanently" before crossing the room to Ginny who looks bewildered briefly before signing.
Resuming his seat at the table, Harry remarks quietly, "That simplifies a few things, regretfully."
Looking between Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Daphne worriedly, Ron brings up quietly, "Do you think SHE knows about yesterday?"
"If she does, we will know who did it and will be very….obvious" chuckles Hermione quietly.
"Well, what happens?" asks Ron curiously.
"Why don't you snitch and find out" retorts Daphne with a smirk turning back to her own homework.
Turning to Harry and then Neville who both shake their heads, Ron turns back to his homework and quietly resumes.
/*elsewhere in the castle*/
Looking at the screen in front of him, Fred exchanges a look with George before touching the directional pad on the left hand side of the Omni Play, making the camera move forward briefly. Thumb hovering over the directional pad on the right hand side of the screen, Fred touches a few of the arrows, making the camera look up, down, left, right until the screen would not show anything more. Resuming the movement of the device they are remotely controlling, Fred simply asks, "Tracking?"
"Tracked."
A button press later, Fred asks, "How about now?"
"Invisible" replies George smirking.
"Excellent. That has been achieved successfully. Task 2 is done. Now for the last task" remarks Fred looking down at a piece of parchment.
Putting on his head a pair of headphones, George stares intently at his Omni Play for several minutes in quiet before removing the headphones and smiling, "Brother, those tasks have also been achieved successfully. I think it is time for a field test before delivery of the product."
Author note: Thank you all for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following, especially here on the 7th anniversary! Short chapter, yes, but I will be planning chapters much better, in my opinion (as I had ideas, not a more chapter specific plan, something that I've learned that I REALLY need over the past seven years). Special thanks to blackangel150 and many others for reading and reviewing for almost every chapter that I've been releasing, despite the long periods of time between releases. In general for this series I wanted to add technology in some semblance to the magical world but try to make it achievable but also not as...advanced as muggles have it. The magical equivalent but still having limitations like magnetic tapes not being a good storage medium since magic can disrupt it (I think I saw somewhere that was a side effect? I know that muggle equipment wasn't going to work, so a hybrid system needed to be made).
Guest reviewer(s): Thanks, I know I started this years ago, and I want to make it well written but also finish it and not leave it hanging. The original series holds a special place in my heart, and I definitely know my writing leaves much to be desired. The dogfather part was originally an intentional part that my cousin (before they said they didn't have time to look over) suggested but some people said that they found it odd.
-FateTheNightWing: Regarding the quotes, I was taught, if I remember correctly (and it's been a decade plus) that dialogue didn't need punctuation if you were continuing with text after it. However, I'll take a look online before I release this chapter with some sources to see if I've just written almost all dialogue wrong and no one has pointed it out to me. I also write some of these notes before writing other parts of the chapter. After searching, I've apparently been wrong. ( [dot com]/blog/fantastic-dialogue-tips/ and [dot edu]/tutoring/docs/br/english/grammar/Rules_for_Writing_ ).
-ginnypotter1710:"Professor McGonagall asked for Oliver Wood when he was taking charms with Professor Flitwick not Defence against the dark arts with Professor Quirrell". I'll double check the texts on that because I enjoy learning from my mistakes so I can move forward better (and I do try to review the texts to verify who said what if I use quotes, and other questionable pieces that I'm trying to keep more canon).
-Guest: "I havent liked a fanfic this much since one i read on wattpad. but this is better im sure" - Thank you, I am trying, despite my more lackadaisical attitude towards doing things in the real world.
-Guest: At this point regarding a Harry/Ginny pairing, I don't think I'll be doing that. Looking at my dialogue and mannerisms, I think I am failing a bit and while I'm working to differentiate that all more and more towards the books, I don't think I could do Ginny justice. Though I like the Harry/Ginny pairing in canon, and did try (and failed miserably) in a different fanfiction. Honestly, looking at this series and how I've done things, I wish I had much more of an outline/plan for things before I had started even chapter one.
