Next thing we knew, all clubs and activities were banned by the so-called High Inquisitor, which included quidditch and the new defence club. That toad. Someone must have blabbed to her. Angelina was devastated, but still determined to get permission to reform the team, so all we had to do was wait. In the meantime, the weather gradually grew worse, and part of me hoped the team didn't get reformed so that we wouldn't have to fly out in this. Unfortunately, such wishes were not heard. The team was given permission by Umbridge, though we suspect at McGonagall's and Dumbledore's urging, and we were soon out on the pitch in the pouring rain, generally miserable and the twins were complaining about the rather uncomfortable boils on their private parts.
Of course I found their suffering hilarious, and once I'd dried off, I teased them for their discomfort before I then sobered up and promised to help get rid of them, though I refused to inspect them when they offered, turning the joke back on me. Their Skiving Snackboxes were doing excellently, already having made a fair few galleons back from selling them as I gave the final go ahead for them to be put on the market after inspecting them closely to make sure they weren't dangerous in any way, shape or form. In fact, I rather fancied the idea of slipping Umbridge a puking pastille.
Some of them I had to tell them to change the dosage as they were just too extreme, like with the puking pastilles, the vomiting went on for too long if they couldn't manage to swallow back the antidote fast enough and medically, they ran the risk of becoming severely dehydrated so they needed to make sure that it wore off on its own as well as providing the quick remedy. The fever fudge was another one, as it literally gave people severe fevers so I had them alter it a bit so that it didn't raise the temperature too high. One of the testers got dangerously ill and the twins had panicked and shouted over to me to help as the first year had fainted and were scalding hot so I'd sprinted across the common room.
It was a bad reaction, but I fixed it in time by stuffing a puking pastille down their throat and they vomited up the fudge before I then gave them the remedy, then treated the residual fever before escorting them to Madam Pomfrey so that she could give them a check up. Other than being a little dazed, they were fine and actually wanted to try it again, so I'd laughed and told them to maybe take a break for a while. Hermione disapproved thoroughly, and disapproved more of the fact that as Head Girl, I was helping them so I pointed out to her that there was no way that they were going to stop, so the best I could do was to oversee them and make sure that no one was in actual danger. She accepted this and just carried on as normal.
Other than quidditch, there was also our defence club to worry about. We were determined to see it through, as Harry had told me they'd managed to talk to my dad as he'd stuck his head through the fire with floo powder to talk, and he was all for it. None of us really knew of an ideal place to practice, not even Fred, George and I had anywhere that was completely out of the way, though I had mentioned the Chamber of Secrets. It was immediately tossed aside and I had to agree. There was no way I was going back down there, and besides, only Harry could open the entrance.
Instead, it was actually Harry's friend the house-elf who found the perfect place for us, Dobby. He told Harry about an amazing room which I was shocked that myself and the twins had never found, as it was perfect. The Room of Requirement, literally provided you with anything you wanted. Harry gave us the directions to get there so I turned up with Fred, George and Lee. "This is crazy, how did we never find out about this place?" I marvelled as I sat down on a cushion between the twins. "I wish I'd known about it before, the amount of things I could have needed…shame." That was when Harry stood up to face us, looking rather nervous and fidgety.
"Well, this is the place we've found for practice sessions, and you've…er…obviously found it okay." One of the Ravenclaw girls, Cho Chang from the opposing quidditch team, said that it was fantastic which earned a general murmur of agreement.
"It's bizarre." Fred announced as we looked around. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember George? But it was just a broom cupboard then." Dean Thomas had spotted a load of instruments and asked Harry what they were so he stepped on over to point at them.
"Dark detectors. Basically, they all show when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you don't want to rely on them too much, they can be fooled." He'd started to say without even thinking about it before he stopped and turned a little pink. Aw, he was so adorable when he's self-conscious. "Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and – er – what, Hermione?"
"I think we ought to elect a leader." She said immediately as everyone turned to look at her. Cho answered that Harry was leader, like it were obvious whilst glaring slightly at Hermione but she took no notice. "Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly. It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So, everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?" Everyone put up their hands, though I joked loudly that Harry better watch out in case someone decides to overthrow him. "I also think we ought to have a name. It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"
"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" Angelia requested cheerfully. I guess she was still miffed with Umbridge for not immediately reinstating the quidditch team.
"Or the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group?" Fred offered, making me chuckle.
"I was thinking, more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside of meetings." That was a rather excellent point. Knowing half of us here, someone was bound to let it sleep.
"The Defence Association? The DA for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?" Cho reasoned but Ginny threw her a quick, irritated look which caught my attention. Seems like Ginny, although dating someone else, wasn't all that happy about the fact that Harry was crushing on Cho Chang. Perhaps I should talk to her about it later.
"Yeah, the DA's good, only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?" I love the way that girl thinks. Thus, we were all dubbed as members of Dumbledore's Army which was titled across the list that everyone had signed to become a member, though when I went to add my name, I realised almost immediately that there was a jinx on it so I whispered to Hermione what it was, but she assured me it was just a jinx that would let everyone else know if someone snitched on us. Perfectly fine with it, I signed my name with an enthusiastic flourish.
"Right." Harry said finally, now that the administration was all in order. "Shall we get practising then? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic, but I've found it really useful…"
"Oh please." One of the boys, Zacharias Smith drawled cynically. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"
"I've used it against him." Looking him dead in the eye, Harry spoke bluntly and coldly. "It saved my life in June." Zach's mouth dropped open as I kicked him in the back to silently tell him not to be a prat. "But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave." Good on you, Harry.
"Besides, we all have to start from somewhere." I added brightly, getting up and dusting myself off before drawing my wand. "And basics is the perfect place to start. So Harry, would you to show them how it's done? I'll be your dummy." Giving me a grateful smile, Harry and I partnered up in order to demonstrate the disarming charm. My wand flew out of my hand and into the air, right into Harry's hand before he grinned and tossed it back to me. The moment I caught my wand, it felt warm in my grasp once more as if glad to be back. After that, we all broke off into pairs and I partnered Neville, who was left to last so I gave him a confident smile.
I disarmed Neville first then we took it in turns, though when he got it on the first try, he shouted in shock and grinned from ear to ear. "I DID IT! I DID IT!" Harry congratulated him, giving him a clap on the back before sending me a nod which I returned.
"Alright Neville, let's see how quick you can be. Shall I count?" He looked slightly alarmed at first but nodded, determination appearing on his face as he concentrated thoroughly on my wand. The next few turns he missed, but I told him to stay calm and focus his flourish with a small wrist movement rather than trying to use his entire arm. "It's not a grand move, it's simple and concise. Here, practice the wrist movement with me." I helped Neville until he was confidently disarming me time and time again before we were all asked to change partners, so I gave him a smile and faced someone else.
We ended up practicing for an hour until Harry called time as it was getting late and we needed to get out of their before we were caught by Filch. Some of the younger students such as the Creevey brothers grew nervous at that point, so I pointed out that I was Head Girl and so long as they were with me, I could simply say that I was escorting them back to the common room and that I would deal with punishment but just let them off. George grinned. "Guess having that badge has it's uses, eh? We have someone on the inside now." He said whilst punching me on the shoulder so I punched him back.
"Yes well, don't temp me to put you in detention anyway just for a laugh. I'll set you up with Filch, or maybe even Snape." That promptly shut him up. So we all left in teams, scurrying back to our common rooms and thankfully, no one got caught. Fred and George were eagerly discussing what Harry might have in store for us next lesson, even turning around to ask if I would help them practice in secret, making me laugh lightly. Things were definitely looking up, and the fact that we were completely defying Umbridge made it all the better, and as I rubbed the scabby writing on the back of my hand, I grinned all the more wickedly.
I will not be obedient.