Author's Note

Well, I got the chapter done. I've been a bit distracted lately as I've just started playing Marvel Heroes as Ghost Rider just burning all the bad guys to hell. If some of you guys play, I'd take friend requests and play with ya, I'm MasterQwertster on there too. Besides hoping for a couple of gaming buddies, the chapter fought me some and I was rereading parts of Bleach for fun.

Anywho, I got through my distractions and stuff to bring this to you, so enjoy!

Edit: This chapter has had a minor face lift in the light of mechanics/events of chapter 676.

"Harry Potter, sir!"

Harry awoke with a start at the sound of the squeaky voice. He had fallen asleep in an armchair in the common room after trying to practice Quidditch in the ongoing storm outside and then attempting to write his potions essay while ignoring his most recent scar ache. The candles were all extinguished, leaving only the dying embers in the fireplace to light the common room. Whoever had spoken was hidden somewhere in the room's shadows.

"Whozair?" Harry questions blearily, sitting up slightly to get a better look around the dark room.

"Dobby has your owl, sir!" came the high pitched reply.

"Dobby?" Harry asks, wondering if he's somehow still asleep as he peers through the gloom to find the elf. He spots Dobby near the table where Hermione had been leaving hats, wearing what appeared to be a stack of every hat she'd made piled atop his head, Hedwig serenely hooting from the top of the stack.

"Dobby volunteered to return Harry Potter's owl!" the elf explains with worshipful joy. "Professor Grubbly-Plank says she is all well now, sir!" Dobby then sinks into a low bow, the two or three foot stack of hats somehow managing to stay perched upon his head. Hedwig, however, removes herself from the precarious hat stack with an indignant hoot and settles herself on the arm of her master's chair.

"Thanks, Dobby!" Harry says, stroking Hedwig distractedly as he tries to erase another vivid dream of that door from his mind. As he surveys the elf more, he notices that hats are not the only thing the elf is wearing in multiples. His neck was surrounded by multiple scarves and his feet were encased by so many socks that Harry wondered for a moment if the elf was wearing a cast on each foot after punishing himself harshly. And then a thought occurred to Harry.

"Er… have you been taking all the clothes Hermione's been leaving out?" It wasn't a particular concern for the elves still in bondage, but rather a curiosity at how Hermione's S.P.E.W. actions might be foiled by those it was aimed to help.

"Oh no, sir," Dobby happily replies, "Dobby has been taking some for Winky too, sir."

"Yeah, how is Winky?" Harry asks, remembering how devastated the she-elf had been upon release from her family's service.

The change of subject noticeably brought down Dobby's mood, causing his ears to droop and a sad light to form in his eyes. "Winky is still drinking lots, sir. She still does not care for clothes, Harry Potter. Nor do the other house-elves. None of them will clean Gryffindor Tower anymore, not with the hats and socks hidden everywhere, they finds them insulting, sir. Dobby does it all himself, sir, but Dobby does not mind, sir, for he always hopes to meet Harry Potter, though he has been more nervous with the creature living here, and tonight, sir, Dobby has got his wish!" Dobby gave another deep bow. "But Harry Potter does not seem happy." Dobby timidly says, having come up from his bow. "Dobby heard him muttering in his sleep. Was Harry Potter having bad dreams?"

"Not really bad." Harry replies, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "I've had worse." Worse being the dreams that were not dreams, but memories, memories of death and near-death experiences.

Dobby observes Harry before saying very seriously, "Dobby wishes he could help Harry Potter, for Harry Potter set Dobby free and Dobby is much, much happier now…"

Harry smiled at the elf's kindness. "You can't help me, Dobby, but thanks for the offer…" It was as Harry picked up his fallen Potions book, the scars on the back of his hand catching the dying light of the fire, that he realized that the statement wasn't quite true. "Wait a moment… there is something you can do for me, Dobby." Harry says slowly, an idea coming forth.

Dobby smiles happily, ready to help his hero. "Name it, Harry Potter, sir!"

"I need a place where thirty-one people can practice Defense Against the Dark Arts without being discovered by any of the teachers. Especially," Harry's hand clenches, bringing the scars into pearly white relief on the back of his hand, "Professor Umbridge."

Harry had half expected Dobby to have no answer at the time like Sirius, so he was pleasantly surprised when Dobby gave a happy skip, wiggling his ears and clapping his hands, happily saying, "Dobby knows the perfect place, sir! Dobby heard tell of it from the other house-elves when he came to Hogwarts, sir. It is known by us as the Come and Go Room, sir, or else as the Room of Requirement!"

"Why?" Harry asks curiously.

"Because it is a room that a person can only enter when they have real reed of it." Dobby explains in a serious tone.

After hearing Dobby's full explanation about the Room of Requirement, Harry was convinced that it would work for their club. He almost had Dobby take him to see it that night, but a little voice in his head, sounding very much like Hermione, told him that it was a reckless idea, something he couldn't really afford to risk doing. Realizing this, he instead had Dobby give him instructions on how to get to the Room of Requirement.

Having a place to meet, the next day was spent letting the others know about the newly planned meeting. It was an ideal day for it seeing as the storming weather outside made Quidditch practice impossible. Harry didn't notice as he informed the Japanese that Uryu had a speculative look upon hearing the meeting's location. By dinner time, Harry was fairly certain that all who had signed up were aware of the meeting at eight o'clock.

At half-past seven Harry, Ron, and Hermione departed for the meeting, Uryu saying he would get there later and Orihime saying she would wait for Ichigo, who had disappeared shortly before the others finished dinner saying something about extra punishment lessons. The trio cautiously made their way to the seventh floor where they consulted the Marauder's Map before attempting to summon the Room of Requirement.

We need somewhere to learn to fight… just give us a place to practice… somewhere they can't find us…

After three passes by the empty section of wall a door appeared. Harry warily opened the door, revealing a room lined with bookcases, silk cushions instead of chairs ranged around for seating, a set of shelves at the far end covered in Dark Detectors, all lit by flickering torches like the dungeons. And there was one more thing of note in the room, a second door besides the shelves.

"What do you reckon the second door is for?" Ron asks as the three of them head for it by unspoken agreement.

"Dunno." Harry replies, noticing the door tremble slightly once they'd gotten closer.

"Maybe there's a boggart in there." Hermione says, remembering how the creatures rattle the entrances of places in which they hide.

"Maybe." Harry says, thinking a boggart could be useful, but not really sure they need one. "You two get back. I'll open it up and see if it's a boggart." Harry was fairly confident in dealing with boggarts since he had worked with one plenty in his third year. "Okay, in three…two…one!"

Harry flung the door open and stepped back, ready for something to come out. Instead there was a loud crash and a strong gust of air came through the door, carrying some dust into the room. Harry didn't think, he simply rushed through the door to see what had happened, Ron and Hermione on his heels, ready to back him up.

What they find beyond the door is unexpected. It looks as if they're outside, but it's certainly not outside on the castle grounds or anywhere near the castle, for the place they find themselves in an arid landscape, the ground an empty dusty stretch, boulders and rock formations jutting up into the clear blue sky with the occasional withered tree. A large plume of dust is before them, masking whatever crashed from sight. The air is heavy and it's harder than it should be for them to breath. The trio can hear a faint chanting, the words unintelligible, though they can't tell if it's because of the distance from the chanter or if it's a foreign language.

They don't have long to ponder the appearance of the place they find themselves in because a figure comes jumping out of the dust cloud, back facing the three of them.

"Ichigo?!" Harry says because there's no one else it could really be, no one else had hair like Ichigo's. Though the outfit Ichigo is wearing is not the one he left in. Instead of the school uniform minus the tie, Ichigo is wearing a black shirt with large, bell-like sleeves, a white cloth with black stripe-like marks was fashioned around his waist, and flowing black pants beneath that.

Ichigo glances back over his shoulder, eyes widening in surprise. "Nani?! Sannin wa – (What?! You three –)"

" –ni michiru! HADOU ROKU JUU SAN RAIKOUHOU! ( -fills the empty castle!*end of chant so not a direct translation, Japanese always ends sentences in verbs* Way of Destruction 63 Thunder Roar Sear)" a female voice shouts, cutting Ichigo off and causing his head to whip back around.

Then they can feel it, a charge of electricity in the air, like lightning about to strike.

Suddenly, Ichigo is right in front of them, left hand dragging down before his face, a crackling yellow light bursting through the still settling dust cloud, a dark feeling of thick and gritty terror incarnate, more dust kicked up as the crackling mass of what can only be electricity gets closer, red light gathering in Ichigo's raised right hand, they close their eyes and wait for impact.

"Cero."

There is a screaming sound and heat as something happens, whipping up winds that tug at their clothes and cause the trio to reflexively raise their arms before their faces in defense. They wait for something to happen, but there is only a slight, distorted panting in the silence, leaving them to cautiously lower their arms and open their eyes.

Ichigo stands before them, shoulders rising and falling in time to the pants, looking none the worse for wear from what they can tell, but there is something different about him. His right arm raised and pointing forward with his left arm bracing it look… white and there appears to be a horn protruding forward from the left side of his head. Their eyes widen as they see that starting a meter or two ahead of Ichigo the ground is smoothed into an oblong crater, as if the ground was simply cut away, wisps of dust floating upwards from the edges.

"Are you three alright?" Ichigo asks and the three flinch at the question because his voice sounds so much like Zangetsu's. Ichigo turns to face them and Hermione can't help but gasp as all three step back. His skin has been bleached white as bone, except for the deep red, nearly black, stripes that run down the left side of his face and neck and there is indeed a large, sharp bull's horn coming out of the left side of his head. The three also fearfully notice that his left eye is no longer a warm brown but a predatory gold in a pool of black, just like Zangetsu's.

Ichigo winces, eyes tightening as he watches the fear set into Hermione, Harry, and Ron's faces. He had forgotten that friends would react like that to his hollowfication. Their expressions reminded him of when Orihime had first seen his mask, like they didn't realize it was still him. Ichigo softly sighs as his powers rebalance themselves, his skin turning back to tan and his horn crumbling away into nonexistent pieces.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry find themselves unconsciously relaxing as Ichigo reverts to his old self, the stifling feeling of danger going with it. They notice that Ichigo's eye has reverted back to its normal chocolatey brown.

"Gomen (sorry), I didn't mean to scare you like that." Ichigo apologizes, rubbing the back of his neck. "You guys aren't hurt, are you?" he asks softly, concern showing in his eyes. The trio is still too shocked to speak, so they just shake their heads. "That's good. I would have felt really bad if you guys got hurt." Ichigo says, a relieved smile on his face.

"What are you doing in here? What was that?" Hermione quietly asks, shakily gesturing at him.

"Eto…" Ichigo says, eyes shifting away, rubbing at the back of his neck again. "I was doing some extra lessons as punishment for screwing up the regular ones, had to work on my control and hand-to-hand combat. That was…" he pauses, looking unsure of what to say, "well, it's just kind of a skill I've got."

"Just a skill you've got?!" Ron asks in faint disbelief. Just how many random, deadly tools did he possess?

"Can the others –?" Harry asks, trying to imagine sweet and kind Orihime changing like that.

"Iie (no). Well, Shinji can do something similar, but it's just me and him. It's a really, really rare ability." Only nine people in all the worlds can hollowfy, including me. "So what are you three doing in here? Is it time for the meeting?"

"Not yet, no." Hermione answers, still on an autopilot of sorts. "We came early to make sure the Room of Requirement worked and we noticed that the room it made for us had a second door. The door led to this place." Harry and Ron bob their heads in agreement.

"Huh. You know, I thought about suggesting this place," Ichigo gestures to the barren field room, "for the meetings, but I kind of figured you'd want something less… harsh. It's not exactly ideal for classroom learning, more of a simulated battle setting, which I didn't think you guys were going for. But if you didn't turn anything up in a week or so, I'm sure Inoue, Ishida, or I would have said something."

"You do realize that the Room of Requirement makes itself fit whatever use you require of it, right?" Harry asks.

"Yeah, I got that from your explanation at breakfast, but I didn't know that's what this place was." Ichigo says. "I thought it was just another training room Geta-boushi built. He's got one just like this under his shop back home."

"You're kidding." Ron says, voicing the disbelief they all feel at the idea.

"Nope. Although this one is nicer, it actually has a clock so you can keep track of time." Ichigo says, pointing to a clock that hangs on the wall next to the still open door. "Speaking of time, shouldn't you guys be waiting out there in case others arrive early?"

"Um, yeah, I guess so." Harry responds.

"Then go on." Ichigo says, shooing them towards the door. "I'll catch up with you, just need to clean up a few things in here." He practically shoves them out the door and before they have the chance to turn around and protest Ginny, Neville, Parvati, and Dean arrived.

"Whoa!" Dean says, looking around highly impressed. "What is this place?"

The trio are quickly derailed from any attempts to ask Ichigo more questions as they are left explaining what the Room of Requirement is to the continually arriving club members.

While Harry, Ron, and Hermione were talking to the arriving club members, Ichigo was talking with the training room's second occupant.

"I'm surprised you managed to get them out of here without answering more questions, Ichigo." Yoruichi says, a smug grin on her face.

"I just got lucky that they were in too much shock to ask any hard ones." Ichigo replies. "They'll probably just interrogate me later or something."

Yoruichi laughs, amused by the prospect. "Just hold out as long as you can and don't forget that good lies are half-truths."

"What do you think I've been telling them when I get caught?" Ichigo grumpily says.

"I know, but it doesn't hurt to remind you. You're so thick-headed sometimes." Yoruichi teases. Ichigo just growls in reply. "Anyway, before you go running off to illegal meetings, let's do a quick review of your performance…"

"…I was surprised you pulled that cero off at the end. Think you could do it again?"

"Uh, maybe? You know me, when push comes to shove I manage, but it probably only worked so well since I had to counter your kido or Harry, Ron, and Hermione would've gotten really hurt, maybe died."

"Hmm." Yoruichi hums thoughtfully. "Well, it's given us something to consider for when you want to hollowfy without using excess amounts of Quincy reiatsu to force it. That's also the first time I've seen you fire a cero from your hand, so that's something else to work on. And I do apologize for not noticing them, but your reiatsu is rather effective at hiding weaker presences." Ichigo nods, taking what little apology there is for the lapse of attention. "Well, you better hurry off to your illegal club meeting."

"Right." Ichigo takes a turns towards the door before a thought occurs to him. "Aww crap." Yoruichi tilts her head quizzically at the released curse. "I left my wand back at the dorm and I don't think there's enough time to run back and grab it like a normal person. Not to mention that the others will find it odd that I came here without it. Dammit."

Yoruichi just shakes her head at Ichigo's thoughtlessness. "It feels like Orihime's waiting up for you, so I suppose I could slip out of here and get her to bring your wand when she comes."

Ichigo looks surprised before letting out a grateful smile. "Thanks, Yoruichi-san. That'd be great."

"I'm not doing this for free, you know." Yoruichi reprimands with a mischievous smile.

"What do you want?" Ichigo warily asks, ready for something that is likely embarrassing. Yoruichi just smirks. Make that something that is highly embarrassing, leaving Ichigo's face to redden at the thought.

"A nice, cool bottle of milk would be highly appreciated. I don't think the house-elves are very partial to serving cats." Ichigo lets out a sigh of relief, something Yoruichi doesn't miss. "What did you think I wanted? Go on, spit it out." She watches Ichigo splutter and grins wickedly. "You little pervert." Yoruichi mockingly scolds.

"What?! No! I wasn't thinking anything like that!" Ichigo quickly retorts, cheeks red from the accusation. "Quit teasing me, dammit!"

"Only when your reactions stop being so much fun." Yoruichi says with a cheerful smile.

"Don't you have something to go do?" Ichigo asks grumpily.

"I need you to open the door so I can shunpo straight out of here."

"Okay, fine." Ichigo goes over to the door and opens it, leaving the Goddess of Flash to blur past him and out the other door as Zacharias Smith walks in. Ichigo exits the training room at a normal pace, closing the door behind him. He notices that the door melts into away into the wall, sealing off, if not outright erasing the room that was there before. Good thing I left Zangetsu with my body back at the dorm, Ichigo thinks. That in itself may not have been the wisest of choices, leaving his body and zanpakuto on his bed, trusting the curtains to hide them from sight and his roommates not to go poking behind them, but all of them except Seamus were here now and Seamus had been avoiding the dorm room anyway.

Ichigo sat on one of the cushions that passed for seats in the room and ignored the stares he was getting for wearing his shinigami attire. He didn't have to explain his choice in clothes to them. About ten minutes after he had taken a seat, Orihime and Uryu showed up, Yoruichi trotting in after them in cat form, and Orihime discretely slipped him his wand as she took a seat at his side.

The Creevey brothers were the last to arrive, shortly after Orihime and Uryu, and once they were seated Harry turned the key in the door, locking it with a loud and satisfying click that quieted the room's occupants.

"Well," Harry says nervously, "this is the place we've found for practices, and you've –er –obviously found it okay –" Harry really hated being in situations like this where he felt like he should be saying something more profound, not saying what people kind of already knew.

"It's fantastic!" Cho says, getting a general murmur of agreement. None of them knew that there had been a place like this in the castle.

"It's bizarre." Fred says, frowning as he looks around at the room. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then…"

"Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first," Harry says, steering things back towards the meeting's true topic, "and… er…" He notices a raised hand. "What, Hermione?"

"I think we ought to elect a leader." Hermione states.

"Harry's leader." Cho instantly replies, looking at Hermione as if she's gone mad. Her show of support sending flutters of happiness through Harry's stomach.

"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly." Hermione says, completely unruffled. She hadn't meant any insult, so she wasn't going to be insulted when someone questioned her motive. "It makes it formal and gives him authority. So… everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?"

All hands went up, even if some weren't quite as enthusiastic as others.

"Er… right, thanks." Harry says, face burning in embarrassment from the one-sided and, in his opinion, rather unnecessary vote. "And –what, Hermione?" If she had more to say, why didn't she say it earlier?

"I think we ought to have a name." Hermione replies brightly. "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?" Harry had to agree with this point once it was made. All the other clubs and teams had names, so why not theirs?

"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" Angelina hopefully suggests.

"Fight Club?" Orihime throws out.

"Or the Ministry of Magic Are Morons Group?" Fred suggests, a trickster's grin on his face.

"I was thinking," Hermione says, frowning at Fred, "more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings."

"Toad Bashers?" Ichigo suggests, receiving a few snickers and a pointed stare from Hermione.

"The Defense Association?" Cho says. "The D.A. for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?"

"Yeah, the D.A.'s good." Ginny says." Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"

Appreciative murmurs and laughter went around at the idea. Uryu, on the other hand, opened his mouth to speak out against it. They were taking precautions not to be found, but there were no guarantees and feeding the Ministry's delusions if they got caught would be detrimental to Dumbledore. He didn't think it was the best idea in light of that, but the slight dig of claws from the cat that had crawled into his lap, along with a pointed stare from said cat, kept him silent. Yoruichi was also well aware of the problems if they were caught with such a name, but throwing a wily old man to the sharks was better than doing the same to the assembled naïve children.

"All in favor of the D.A.?" Hermione says bossily, getting up to her knees to count hands. "That's a majority, motion passed." Having confirmed the name, she wrote DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY in large letters across the top of the member list and pinned it to the wall.

"Right," Harry says once Hermione is reseated, hoping there isn't something else she wanted to bring up, "shall we get practicing 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." Zacharias Smith interjects, rolling his eyes and expressing his general disdain for such an exercise. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

Ichigo snorts. "Usotsuki wa dorobou no hajimari." Orihime and Uryu nod in agreement while the others look confused.

"What's that even supposed to mean?" Zacharias says.

" 'Telling lies is the thief's beginning' is the literal translation." Uryu says, pushing up his glasses. "It's a Japanese proverb that can be taken to mean that one has to start small before doing greater things."

"Expelliarmus doesn't build up to anything, it's just itself and I still don't think it would do us any good against You-Know-Who." Zacharias replies, not willing to back down to such an argument. He thought he was above the spell and had a right to demand something more substantial.

"I've used it against him." Harry quietly says, giving Zacharias a serious look. "It saved my life last June." Harry pauses, watching Zacharias's jaw drop while the rest of the room silently watched. "But if you think that's beneath you, you can leave" No one moved, not even Zacharias.

"Okay," Harry says, slightly relieved no one was walking out, but nervous with everyone giving him their absolutely undivided attention, "I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practice."

It felt odd to Harry to be issuing instructions, even more so to see them unquestioningly followed. At first Harry was surprised that Neville ended up paired with Orihime. The surprise passed as he realized that Ichigo and Uryu's friendly rivalry would pit them against each other to see who was better while the veteran Hogwarts students wouldn't pair with Neville if they could avoid it, leaving him to the kind healer.

"Right… on the count of three, then –one, two, three –"

And so the practice began.

Wands flew around and the occasional stray spells hit the books, sending them flying through the air as well. As Harry looked around he was rather glad he had decided to start simple because there was plenty of shoddy spellwork going on. Seeing this, Harry started moving around, pointing out and correcting mistakes as best he could. Fred and George were disarming Zacharias Smith every time he tried to cast a spell instead of practicing with each other, Michael Corner was doing poorly or possibly unwilling to jinx Ginny, Ernie Macmillan was performing unnecessary flourishes with his wand, the Creevey brothers were aiming poorly in their enthusiasm and knocking down the most books, Luna Lovegood was occasionally sending Justin Finch-Fletchley's hair up on end instead of knocking away his wand, and while Ichigo and Uryu were casting their spells just fine, their tendency to dodge each other's spells led to the spells hitting others. It actually surprised Harry how much work he had to do.

"Okay, stop!" Harry shouts, but he receives little to no reaction as his voice is drowned out by all the others. "Stop! STOP!"

I need a whistle, Harry thinks. He spots one sitting on the nearest shelf, so he scoops it up and gives it a blow, bringing a stop to the spell casting going on.

"That wasn't bad," Harry says now that he has their attention, "but there's definitely room for improvement." Zacharias glares at him and Harry is tempted to give examples of what could be improved, particularly what Zacharias did wrong, but resists the urge. "Let's try again…"

Harry sets off around the room again, stopping and giving suggestions every now and then, and he slowly sees the overall performance in the room improve. After stopping by all of the other groups twice, Harry finally took up his courage and checked in on Cho and her friend. He was pleasantly pleased to find that his presence seemed to make Cho as nervous as her presence made him. Unfortunately, her friend, Marietta, didn't seem to like him much, though Cho didn't seem to be affected by Marietta's negativity, passing it off as her forcing Marietta to come even when the other's parents had forbidden such actions.

"Hey, Harry," Hermione calls from the other end of the room, interrupting Harry's conversation with Cho, "have you checked the time?"

He hadn't and upon looking at his watch, was shocked to find that it was ten past nine. Time had slipped away from them and now they would have to leave immediately or risk punishment by Filch for being out after curfew. Harry blew his whistle, once more bringing a stop to activity in the room.

"Well, that was pretty good, but we've overrun, we'd better leave it here." Harry says. "Same time, same place next week?"

"Sooner!" Dean Thomas calls out to much agreement.

A meeting is set for next Wednesday and the plan is to see how things went from there as far as scheduling went. With the help of the Marauder's Map, Harry sees all of the D.A. members off in threes and fours until it was just him, Ron, and Hermione heading back.

"That was really, really good, Harry." Hermione compliments him.

"Yeah, it was!" Ron agrees with enthusiasm.

Author's Note

I was surprised that no one called me out on not having the Karakura group suggest the room, but as you saw, I explained why. And don't worry, I checked all the Room of Requirement info and the accidental discovery scene is totally possible. As for not moving the trio out of the way with shunpo, you'll notice in manga (the truest of canons, anime is for fun) no unpowered humans get moved via high-speed techniques. Know, my loyal readers, that I take the time to check if things follow canon universe rules, that there is always a method to my madness, because to me that's just good writing for non-super-AU fanfiction. If you want the references and credits for rules I abide by and why stuff works, drop a PM or something and I'll give you an answer.

Please comment/review to tell me how I did.