As I promised here is the second chapter of D.A Teacher Susan Bones ahead of its usual (from now on) weekly schedule. In this chapter we will finally go to an official meeting of Dumbledore's Army and we will get to see our main characters working on their magic skills. So without further rambling please enjoy this newest chapter: Finding Strength.
It took a few weeks but the notice for the first meeting of Dumbledore's Army finally went out. The Hufflepuffs were excited about their first Defense lesson and the topic dominated conversations for days. Speculation on which spells they were going to learn and why the meeting was taking place on the seventh floor ran rampant. Everyone had their theories ready to share. Each more outlandish than the last.
When the group's patience had almost run out, the time of the meeting was finally at hand. It was with excitement that the six friends made their way to the top of the castle. "I bet we are up so high to avoid hitting first years with powerful spells." Leanne exclaimed.
"Maybe it's just that there are more rooms free here?" The ever-cautious Ernie hadn't given up on curbing the groups' enthusiasm. Though even he couldn't quite rid himself of the growing smile the closer they got to their destination. "Almost no teacher uses the seventh floor. For a reason."
"I heard it's because Umbridge hates walking up and downstairs. So she would never think to look up here." Off all the Puffs, it was Hannah that was looking forward to these lessons the most. The blond girl was visible struggling to keep the skip out of her step or to just run off ahead of her friends. "She even tried to have Dumbledore build her an elevator between the ground and third floor. Like the ones they have at the ministry."
Susan giggled at the antics of her friend, causing the blond's attention to turn towards her. "Alright then Susie. Why do you think Potter is making us walk all the way up here?"
"You think he actually thought this through?" Megan spoke up. "Most rooms on the sixth and seventh floor are going to be too small for all of us."
"Well, people rarely explore the upper levels. Maybe the teachers won't look for us here." With all the group's attention now on her, Susan was grasping for straws. "And maybe he found a hidden room? One that is big enough."
"You never know with Potter." Justin shrugged his shoulders as they arrived on the seventh floor. "But he better have a good reason for these weird instructions."
It turned out that Potter had a great reason. The group of Hufflepuffs looked on with awe when, after they walked three times past a rather gory painting, a hidden doorway emerged right before their eyes.
Entering the Room of Requirements, Susan let out a breath of amazement as she gazed at the sprawling room. Its open layout, walls lined with mirrors, and the dueling stage at the center of the room, reminded the girl of the Auror training centers she had visited with her aunt. But unlike those, this room was lit in an ethereal blue light that made it look like the full moon was hanging above them.
The room gave off a tranquil feeling, unlike anything she had experienced before. It was as if walking through those doors brought them into an entirely new world. Susan shivered. The calmness of the room felt like frost seeping into her skin.
As there was still some time before the lesson started, Susan and Hannah made their way towards the very edge of the room. Resting against the wall was a large marble fireplace. Yet another difference to the Auror centers she had seen before but a welcome one.
Stopping before the fireplace the redhead reached for her wand when a voice interrupted. "We should keep it unlit. It might get too hot when we are all practicing." Both girls jumped and twisted around to come face to face with the person they were here for. Harry Potter. The boy had at least the decency to try to hide his snickering.
"Don't sneak up on people like that Potter." Hannah exclaimed, trying to cover up how scared she was. "And stop laughing."
Harry muffled his laughter but the sides of his lips continued to twitch. Hannah scoffed while Susan looked away embarrassed. "Sorry Harry. I just thought it would be nice to have some more light. It's a bit... gloomy in here."
"Ohh... you think so?" The boy blinked in surprise. It wasn't until Hannah nodded that he continued. "I guess people might like some more light. Do you want me to..." He motioned towards the fireplace. Susan flinched.
Harry must have noticed because it looked like he wanted to say something before Hannah quickly jumped in and took him by the arm. "No need. Susie can take care of it." She winked towards Susan before turning the boy around and leading him to the dueling stage. "Come on Potter. You have a lesson to start. You better have some fun spells planned for us."
The redhead knelt beside the fireplace. It was already stocked with all-night logs just like the ones they have back in the common rooms. The charms placed on the wood were strong enough to keep a fire going throughout the night without people need to continuously watch it and weak enough to be reduced them to nothing but ash when dawn broke. It even came with a small pot of flue power and a bucket of fire kindling.
Susan released a sigh of relief as she spotted the bucket of fire kindling resting at the base of the fireplace. Most students learned fire spells strong enough to light logs on fire in the latter half of their second year. Until then the twigs functioned as kindling for the younger years. Counting her blessing that they were considered a set she grabbed a handful of kindling. She didn't want to ask someone else to light it for her. "Incendio" A handful of sparks shot out of her wand, setting the kindling alight. Making sure her braid didn't drop into the flames, Susan leaned forward placing the smoking twigs in between the logs.
Staring into the tiny flames, Susan frowned. Over the last weeks, she had time to think about what she wanted to get out of joining the D.A. Sure she had joined because it felt like the right thing to do but now, she needed a reason to stay.
Her grades were decent enough and it never took her long to get new spells to work. But that was where her skills as a witch stopped. Her friends would never say it out loud, but she knew that she was the weakest spell caster in Hufflepuff if not their entire year. No other fifth year still needed kindling after all.
The logs caught ablaze, casting a soft warm glow that drove away some of the frigid light. "Susie! Come on, you're going to miss everything." Pushing herself up, Susan brushed the dust off her knees before turning towards the group. Harry had already taken his spot on the stage and was explaining their lesson for the day. Looking up at him she felt a small sense of hope bubbling up.
Even with all the luck and friends in the world, Harry still needed to be a powerful wizard to be able to survive so many dangerous fights and monsters. If any student could help her become stronger it would be him. Maybe soon she wouldn't need those twigs anymore.
Susan sat down on the couch beside Hannah burying her face in her hands. Two sessions. They have been practicing non-stop for two sessions and she still needed those damned twigs. She swore she heard some of the third years snicker when her third Incendio only left a few scorch marks on the logs.
"Don't worry Susie it's only been a few weeks. You'll get it soon." Hannah patted the girl's shoulder in an equal measure sympathy and playful teasing. "Need me to stun those mean third-years for you?" Her suggestion only made the girl groan louder.
Over these last few weeks, the D.A had been going over the basics with disarming and stunning spells. Susan was sure she had never cast as many spells as she did over these last few weeks. Performing the wand motions and the incantations came easily enough. They had covered these spells in class years ago and they didn't bother her back then either. The problems began with actually doing any damage.
Whenever she disarmed someone, their wand would just lazily slip from their grasp and onto the ground. If she was lucky, they would make it about a foot away from their owner, but never more than that. Nowhere near enough distance for Susan to catch them in midair and win the duel. One time Justin even managed to catch his wand again before it even hit the ground.
But her most embarrassing moment came while practicing stunners. Facing off against Neville, Susan was able to outdraw the timid lion and hit him right in the chest. Only for the boy to shake off the spell's effects before he even hit the pillows on the ground. The timid Lion quickly caught himself and by sheer instinct shot a stunner back that send her woke up 3 minutes later with a pounding headache and a panicked Neville apologizing towards her over and over again. Ernie had been giving the boy the stink eye for days now.
"We have only just started." Seeing that teasing wouldn't get her friend out of her rut, Hannah turned to kindness. "It isn't that bad. You'll figure it out."
"You didn't lose to Neville." Susan pouted. She didn't hold it against the boy. Neville was the kindest boy in their year after all but still... she lost to Neville Longbottom.
"Did you ask Potter?" The blond said. Ever since the D.A's leader had helped Hannah to fully master Stupify the girl had been convinced by the Gryffindor's skill. "He should be able to help."
Susan sank back against the couch in defeat. "He said I should loosen the grip on my wand, or I might hurt my wrist."
"That's it?" Hannah stared at her in confusion. That was a far cry from the help everyone else got. "He took me aside for 10 minutes just to practice wand movements."
The Hufflepuffs had all laughed when the raven-haired boy had put their friend in the corner to practice mock cast the Stupify spell over and over again. That was until the blond had rejoined them and proceeded to wipe the floor with everyone. She even managed to knock out both Weasley twins within seconds of each other.
For all the help Harry gave her classmates the boy seemingly couldn't be bothered with Susan. That one wrist comment was the only time he had given her any advice at all and she almost had to beg to get it. She had seen him observe her work plenty of times so he must have known that she was struggling. Yet, he never made any incline of coming over to help her.
"Do you think he is mad at me? That has to be it. He always avoids us in the halls." Susan started to panic. Was he still mad about fourth year? Or did he remember their second year? "Of course, he still hates me for that potion class."
"What? Why would he even..." Seeing that her friend was starting to descend into one of her depressive thought cycles, Hannah quickly changed course. "You know what don't answer that."
Susan was grabbed by her arm and pulled from the couch by the blond. "Hannah where are we going? The meeting isn't for another hour."
"We are going early." Susan couldn't do anything about it as she was dragged along by her best friend. "Stupid Gryff thinking he can mess with my friend."
As the duo arrived at the seventh floor, Susan summoned the Room of Requirements. The pair stepped inside, finding themselves in an empty and changed practice time. This time the fireplace was already lit, and the normal blue light was replaced by warm, cozy candlelight. The girls felt more welcome than ever before.
Seeing as it might be some time before Harry would even show up Susan convinced Hannah to practice their stunners some more, instead of confronting the boy at the Gryffindor tower. With any luck, the exercise would help the girl cool off.
The two girls spend the next 40 minutes sending a barrage of spells at a pile of large rocks that had appeared in the corner. Finally, the heavy doors opened up and the Gryffindor golden trio walked into the room. Hannah immediately pounced, making the group jump in shock. "Potter!" 40 minutes turned out to not be enough time for the blond to calm down. Or maybe they made her irritation that much worse.
"We will go set up the targets." Ron quickly grabbed Hermione by the arm and dragged her to the side and out of range of the pissed Hufflepuff. "Good luck mate."
Harry watched with wide eyes as his friends left him to his fate. Turning back to the girls, the boy gave no signs of going over to them. Not even a Gryffindor dared charge forward towards an angry witch. Hannah again took Susan by the arm and marched up to him.
"Hey Hannah, Susan. Can I help you?" The boy timidly asked. Seeing Hannah grind her teeth together, Harry looked towards Susan hoping she would explain whatever it is he did wrong.
"Yes. Yes you can." The blond pulled Susan ahead of her and right in front of the boy. "You can start by helping Susie with her problem."
"What problem? Are you hurt?" His eyes immediately sharpened as he quickly scanned the redhead up and down for possible injuries. The girl in question couldn't help but blush at the close examination.
"Her spell casting of course." Her patience had ultimately run its course and Hannah exploded. "That's why you started this whole club of yours, isn't it? So help her."
Harry snapped out of his worrying as he turned towards the girl confused. "What's wrong with her spells? They are great."
"Huh?" Hannah instantly deflated. She and Susan stared at the boy with matching dumbstruck expressions. What was he talking about?
"You always master the spells within a few tries, and you never hit anyone harder than needed." Seeing their confusion Harry tried to elaborate. Unaware that in doing so he was hitting it right where it hurt. "I wish I could control my magic that well."
Susan wasn't sure how to feel as Harry kept talking about her spell work. Why was he just brushing off how weak her magic was? "But I am so weak."
Harry opened his mouth to reply when the tone of her voice registered in his mind. Forcing himself to take a breath he turned towards Hannah. "Can I talk with Susan for a second? Alone?"
The blond gave the boy one final glare that promised pain if anything happened to her friend. Giving Susan's arm a final squeeze, she walked over to Ron and Hermione. Both Gryffindors quickly adverted their eyes trying to cast the illusion that they were definitely not listening this whole time.
Susan tensed up as her friend left her side. Adverting her gaze from Harry's inquisitive staring, she forced him to take the lead. "I thought you were holding back." He said after a few seconds.
She balled her fist. Why is he taunting her like this? "No. I'm not." Susan looked up at him, expecting a mocking grin.
But all she saw was an embarrassed Harry, unwilling to meet her gaze. "I didn't... I..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I meant what I said. You have great control over your magic. Did you practice it a lot?"
"I used to practice with Lumos." She quickly cut herself. She was already saying too much. Only her Aunty needed to know about that. "But it really isn't anything special."
Harry shook his head as if he couldn't believe what she was saying. "Have you seen your stunners? No matter who you hit, they are always stunned for the exact same time." Seeing the confused expression of the redhead the boy searched for another way to explain it. "What I mean is... buggers. Hermione is always better at explaining this stuff."
Following his gaze, she saw him looking over to the other three students in the room. The other Gryffindors were locked in a mock duel against Hannah. The latter landed a strong stunner on Ron dropping him, before sending another one just as powerful towards Hermione sending the Bushy-haired girl flying. Susan jumped up as Harry snapped his finger. "Without using magic, who would be harder to tackle to the ground, Hannah or me?"
This is it? This is how Harry was teaching everyone? Giving his strange methods the benefit of the doubt, Susan glanced towards her friend as she considered the question. A wobbly smile formed as she looked back at the boy. "Well... she is quite tall and..." Susan trailed off with her words. All the while slightly bending her knees to no longer appear as tall compared to the boy before her.
Harry coughed in a vain attempt to move on. She was sure she saw him push himself up by his toes just a little bit. "Neville. I meant Hannah or Neville."
"Neville." "Would it be any different with magic? What if you wanted to lift them with Wingardium? Which one would need more power?" "Uhm... still Neville?"
"Yet your stunners affect everyone here for the same amount of time." Harry continued. "Nobody else here can do that so easily. That takes a lot of control."
Susan had spent years learning to manage her magic. She had to. People would get hurt again if she didn't. But she never thought that this control was anything special. How could someone who can't win a duel be a strong witch? How could someone who can't light a fire be special? How could someone who hurts their friends have control? No she wasn't special. But then why did she feel a sliver of hope? "You really think so?"
"I do." Harry gave her a kind smile. One filled with confidence in his words. One that reminded Susan of her Auntie. One she couldn't help but return. Harry was about to say something when their attention was drawn by the large stone doors opening with an ominous groan. The D.A session had begun.
"Susan, Hannah." Leanne called out to her friends as she and the rest of her friends walked into the room behind a group of Ravenclaws. The group of Hufflepuffs quickly made their way over to Susan. As she looked back beside her, Harry was already gone.
"Told you they just went early." Justin grinned towards an annoyed Ernie as more students filed into the room behind them. The blond boy in question grunted a reply as he took his place next to his girlfriend and slung his arm around her. "Did Hannah drag you along again?" Ernie asked.
"She did." Susan rubbed her arm in embarrassment. Again? She didn't get dragged around by people that much, did she? "We just wanted to practice some more."
"I need to put more work in my stunners if I want that O in defense." A grinning Hannah joined the group. The mischievous glimmer in her eyes made all of them shiver in fear.
"You like that spell too much." Justin took a step back in response, much to the amusement of the prefect.
"I do?" With an evil glimmer in her eyes, Hannah stepped forward forcing the boy another step back. Susan rolled her eyes and grabbed her best friend's arm. "Stop scaring him."
"Let's get started everyone." Right on time, Harry started the meeting. Forcing Hannah to limit her response to sticking out her tongue. Susan snorted at her friend's antics before turning her attention back to the lesson. "Today we will work on a new spell."
Ernie leaned in closer, whispering. "You know you don't always have to go along with Hannah, right?" He was fidgeting nervously beside her. He was probably worried about where she was again.
"I know." She looked up to Harry, her gaze narrowing in concentration and determination. "I needed to practice as well."
The new spell Harry wanted them to learn was Reducto. With the combined effort of the boy-who-lived and Hermione over half the students walked away that day with one more spell in their repertoire. Susan herself only needed a short time to get the wand movements right, leaving plenty of time to practice using it. The Hufflepuffs quickly moved over to the wooden mannequins.
The first spell she cast hit the mannequin right on target. Leaving a small hole in its chest as the wood turned to dust. Walking over to the target she ran her hand over the damage. The hole was large enough to fit two of her fingers. Susan furrowed her brow as she felt the damage or rather lack of damage her spell did. This wouldn't be enough to cut through a hedgerow. Would it be able to stop a dark wizard if it came at her?
"If you can't use a mannequin you can practice on one of the rocks in the corner." Hermione's voice echoed across the room. Susan turned towards the girl in surprise. There should have been more than enough mannequins for everyone to use. They always had plenty to spare after all. Looking past the bushy-haired girl she saw Harry looking directly at her.
"That's perfect." Hannah grabbed Susan by the arm again, she was sure that she would be bruised the next day. "Come on Susie, I still have some unfinished business with those rocks."
The duo made their way through the various practicing groups, dodging a few stray spells along the way. Hannah leaned in whispering. "Can you show me the movements again? I can't get the angle right."
Susan smiled at her friend's poor excuse to cheer her up. Reducto was a simple two-movement spell. There is no way top student Hannah Abbot could mess that up. "Sure."
Stepping up to the rocks they were quickly joined by the rest of their group. "Now these will be fun to break." A grinning Justin stepped up only to be held back by Hannah.
"Wait your turn. Susie is teaching me the spell first." Confused the boy looked towards the girl, but her threatening gaze quickly made him back down.
"Yeah, of course. Uhm, can you show me too Susan?" Shaking her head in amusement Susan stepped forward, leveled her wand, and took a deep breath.
"Reducto!" The blue spell shot out of her wand striking the heart of the rock. As the dust fell away a small hole was left in her target. Susan's shoulders sagged in frustration.
"Direct hit." "Wow, it's like a gunshot." "What is a gunshot?" Megan, Justin, and Leanne cheered on their housemate. The trio however quickly dissolved from a discussion around Susan's spell into a confused conversation on what a gun was and how it could work without magic.
While the rest of the group continued to question yet another muggle term from Justin, Susan ran her hand over the rock. Ernie came up behind her giving her shoulder a soft squeeze. "Don't worry Susan. Most can't even hit anything yet. Don't worry if the damage stays small."
Stays small? Intrigued by her boyfriend's words, she placed her hand directly on where the spell hit. The hole it left behind was big enough to exactly fit two of her fingers. Just like the mannequin. Control. Susan's mind started spinning from all the possibilities as she looked around the room for something to prove her suspicion. Her eyes landed on the decorative steel swords that hung on the walls. "Susan? Are you okay?" Dismissing Ernie's question with a simple yeah, Susan made her way over to the blades.
Reaching for one of the handles, she barely held herself back to turn towards the closest Gryffindor. "Ron can I take one of these?" Realizing what she just asked Susan quickly looked to the ground in embarrassment. Asking for a sword during spell practice, how weird could you get?
Before the bewildered Ron could even answer Harry spoke up from across from the room. "Sure. We have more than enough of them." The boy nodded towards her before he continued helping an annoyed Cho Chang with her spell.
Permission granted Susan took the blade back to her friends. "Susie what are you doing?" Hannah gulped as she watched her friend approach. The steel tip of the sword ominously causing sparks to fly around as the weapon was dragged along the ground behind the girl.
The redhead simply smiled at her friends but remained silent, sending the group's fear to new heights. Had their sweet, innocent friend finally snapped? Putting the blade against the rock Susan stepped back she leveled her wand. Taking a deep breath and cast. "Reducto."
A sizzling sound rose in the air as the blue spell struck the blade. "What did that sword ever do to you?" Leanne cocked her eyebrow at their friend's odd behavior as Susan nearly skipped towards the blade. Grabbing the weapon, she eagerly held it up for her friends to see.
The spell had hit the blade just above the hilt and cut straight through the metal. "It's the same size." Smiling Susan pushed her two fingers through the surprisingly smooth hole.
The group looked at each other confused, causing the girl to look away from her friends. Maybe that wasn't enough of an explanation. "And since steel is harder than rock..."
They turned back to the rock that the redhead blasted before. Their eyes widen as they began to put the pieces together. Each spell she cast did the same exact amount of damage. Despite hitting tougher and tougher targets. It was Hannah who reacted first. Pouncing on the girl with a large smile, she tackled Susan to the ground in a hug. "You did it Susie!"
"Hannah, the sword. Be careful." Susan, still holding her practice blade, tried to slip out of her friend's hug without cutting the girl. In return, the blond only tightened her hug as the rest of the group laughed. "Hannah!"
Pinned to the floor, Susan looked across the room where her eyes found Harry. The raven-haired boy gave her a nod and a smile. The redhead smiled back as his words from before played back in her mind. She wasn't quick like Leanne, knew as many spells as Ernie, or had as much power as Hannah. But maybe she had her own strength after all. Maybe she could be special too.
As promised this chapter contained a lot more Susan & Harry scenes and this will continue to increase over the next few chapters. Just like in this chapter most of the character conflict will come from these two characters and how they open to one another. Don't worry though there won't be anything like shallow misunderstandings or miscommunication we see in rather generic stories. The characters will move at different speeds in their relation (as you could catch some glimpses of here) but it won't be anything massive.
This chapter also contained plenty of teases about Susan's unique backstory in this universe. Both some of the events in her personal events and a few that are related to Harry personally. If you have any hunches or theories of what some of these might be let me know! Also what are you thoughts of Harry's teaching abilities and the use of magic in this chapter? Did it make sense? Was it lame? Do you wish he was your magic teacher?
So from now on I want to put the response to reviews down here at the bottom so that the people who don't like to read those can immediately jump into the story. Let me know if you like this or it's annoying because I can always change this down the line.
Kairan 1979: Yes you are completely correct! This was something I was puzzling a lot with during the outline but I ultimately came to this conclusion. Ernie will fulfill the Zach Smith role within the core group of Hufflepuffs I'm using in this story. The reason you need a character like that is to make sure that we won't just be following a group of yes men. We need some internal conflict within Hufflepuff. But instead of Zach who goes way out of his way to become almost an antagonist (who I can't see this group letting stick around and who I just won't enjoy riding) Ernie will fill this role in a more mellow and more methodical way.
Take his line from the last chapter where he states that "he doesn't know" once asked if Voldemort is back. He does know. They all do. Their friend and mentor figure died because of that man just a summer ago and the trauma hangs over the castle and the Hufflepuffs specifically. Right now for a lot of them, especially Ernie, it is too hard to face what actually happened. He knows a war is most likely coming but doesn't want to give up on the dream of peace. That's why he says that he isn't sure. He is trying to convince himself that it is all a bad dream.
My in universe explanation for this is that with his closer bond with Susan he has more to loose than in the actual books. So he rejects the signs of danger in hopes that they can escape it unscathed. This will be a large part of his character and the story. That's why I gave this "job" to a like-able character in Ernie instead of a hate-able one like Zach. Hope this word vomit makes it clearer to you and hope this divergent from canon won't cause you to enjoy the story less.
Have a great week everyone!