Author's Note: *Obligatory Denial of Ownership* This chapter was a major pain in the ass.
Chapter 35: The Defense Academy
Harry was surprised by how many people had shown up in the Room of Requirement just to be taught by him.
All the Weasleys were standing together, Ginny flanked by Susan Bones, and Lavender Brown clinging to Ron's hand, with the Twins standing behind their younger siblings. Dean and Seamus stood to the right of the twins, Lee Jordan on their left, with Colin and Dennis Creevey standing next to Lee.
Neville was holding hands with Luna and sneering at two Ravenclaw girls to the right of them. One of the Ravenclaw girls was Cho Chang, but Harry didn't recognize the girl standing beside her. Angelina Johnson was standing with her fellow chasers, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet.
He took a deep breath to steady himself. "Alright, everyone knows why we're here. Umbridge isn't a teacher and we're on the brink of war." There were nods all around. "Obviously secrecy is the most important demand I am making of you all. But we have a small problem." Everyone looked around, trying to figure out what the problem Harry was referring to could be. "Some of you, I would trust with my life, but others I'm either not as close to or just plain don't know. So how do I trust that you'll keep our meetings secret from Umbridge? Thankfully, Hermione has devised a clever solution."
Hermione gestured to a piece of parchment on the circular table behind her and Harry. "Everyone who wants to be taught by Harry needs to sign their name on this parchment. Harry and I have already signed it ourselves. Signing your name is a written promise that you will keep this group safe by keeping what we're doing secret. If you aren't serious about this, leave now. If you are, prove it." She crossed her arms under her bust and sized everyone up.
Neville and Luna walked up together first, and each signed their names without hesitation. Five minutes later they had a decent-sized list.
Harry Potter
Hermione Granger
Luna Lovegood
Neville Longbottom
Lavender Brown
Ron Weasley
Susan Bones
Ginny Weasley
Fred Weasley
George Weasley
Lee Jordan
Dean Thomas
Seamus Finnegan
Colin Creevey
Dennis Creevey
Cho Chang
Marietta Edgecombe
Angelina Johnson
Alicia Spinnet
Katie Bell
Harry couldn't deny how impressed he was that no one backed down from Hermione's challenge, but the way Cho had to coerce Marietta unnerved him. He planned on keeping a very close eye on her. "Alright, now that that's concluded, I thought we could start off with something basic but undeniably useful, just to get a feel for properly practicing. The disarming charm."
Seamus chuckled. "Basic for sure," he scoffed. "What's disarming going to do when faced with an unforgivable?" He asked with another laugh.
Harry grinned. "That's an excellent question Seamus! Why don't you come up and help me demonstrate the uselessness of disarming?" He asked. Seamus hesitated, but walked up anyway, drawing his wand. "Alright, now go ahead and try to stun me," Harry instructed. "Go ahead," he insisted, seeing Seamus's further hesitation.
Seamus nodded slowly, still not eager to be an example, but also unwilling to back down from a challenge. "Stu-"
"Expelliarmus!" Harry cast and not only did Seamus's wand fly from his hand, the force of the spell colliding with his body knocked him off his feet, leaving him thoroughly winded on the ground. "A wandless opponent can't cast spells. If you want to remove a threat without causing lasting damage, learn to value disarming!" Harry announced to the crowd of students. He held out a hand to help Seamus to his feet, and once the wizard was standing again, Harry gestured to the wand on the floor. "Pick it up and grab a partner. I want everyone to practice."
Everyone paired off into dueling partners, leaving Harry paired with Hermione. Harry quickly learned that while Hermione was a fast learner and an invaluable walking library's worth of information, her weakness was speed. But after a good five tries, she successfully disarmed him before he could disarm her. After congratulating his girlfriend, he had her try ten more times and was satisfied that she was faster on eight of them. At that point Harry encouraged Hermione to take a break and began to walk through the room to check everyone else's progress.
Although a few corrections had to be made in a few places, everyone seemed to be getting the hang of it. After a half hour had passed, Harry shot up red sparks to regain the attention of his 'class' and it worked wonders. "Alright, for the second half of this lesson, I want everyone to alternate between the disarming and shield charms, back and forth. I'll demonstrate with Hermione before you resume practicing."
Hermione stepped up and threw up a shield halfway through Harry's attempted attack, successfully maintaining her grip on her wand. "Excellent," he complimented her, then turned to the crowd. "Get to it."
For the rest of the hour, they practiced disarming and shielding until it became second nature. Three nights later, the second meeting occurred and the group, which had named themselves the Defense Academy, or D.A. for short, added the stinging and knock-back jinxes to their arsenal. Hermione also handed out fake galleons to the D.A.'s members so that they could more easily communicate with each other.
As the winter holidays approached, Harry and Hermione grew more confident, the badge of running a secret defense group keeping Umbridge's negativity at bay. Their relationship had never been stronger. Every member of the D.A. sharpened their skills to near perfection, learning stunning charms, exploding charms, the reductor curse, and the bat bogey hex, then mastering them each in turn.
Finally they reached their final meeting before the break. "I thought I'd try something different this time," Harry announced, and was glad to see eager smiles from everyone in response. "Since this is the last time we're meeting before the holidays, I was thinking we could review everything we've done so far by watching everyone take turns dueling. Sound good?" Harry asked, and was answered with enthusiastic cheering followed by volunteering partners.
Colin Creevey and his brother Dennis came up first. They traded spells back and forth for several minutes, almost perfectly matched, and coming to a draw as Colin sent a disarming charm at his brother seconds before Dennis's stunning spell hit. Dennis didn't get a chance to celebrate his victory before his wand went flying out of his hand.
Fred and George followed and they wowed everyone by casting silently, which also resulted in a chaotic duel that ended with an explosion between the twins that sent them both flying backward into the walls behind them.
Time seemed to fly by as each pair of partners tested their skills, and for the last ten minutes of their meeting, the members of the Defense Academy simply celebrated their advancements together. Cho and Marietta were the first to leave, closely followed by Ron and Lavender, who looked eager to find somewhere more private.
Eventually the only people left in the Room of Requirement were Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Susan. "So you really think I'm getting better? It's hard for me to tell, Ginny's a very skilled dueling partner," Susan asked of Harry.
Harry nodded. "Absolutely. You've been lasting longer and longer in your duels since the beginning. I'm incredibly impressed with everyone," Harry assured her.
Hermione noticed that Ginny was blushing bright red, and took note of how twitchy the redhead was as well. She caught on quickly and suggested to Harry that they leave to get some sleep. He didn't argue and they left together, giving Ginny privacy with Susan.
"Well, it's getting late, we should probably head out," Susan mentioned and began to move to the door to leave.
"Wait a minute," Ginny whispered, "please," she added in an effort to not sound aggressive. She couldn't remember a time when she was this terrified, excluding her first year at Hogwarts when she spent almost the entire year in a state of panic.
Susan turned to face Ginny and was suddenly very confused. Ginny looked as though she was about to faint. "Is something wrong Ginny? You look like you're gonna be sick or something."
Ginny shook her head. "N-No, nothing wrong exactly… I just… I wanted to tell you something," Ginny attempted to explain.
"And what's that?" Susan asked.
Ginny closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Susan… I really like you… and I don't mean like friendship, I mean I really like you. I think you're beautiful and sweet and I really fancy you." Ginny opened her eyes to be met with Susan's stunned expression.
"Well… ummm…" Susan was temporarily lost for words, having never expected anything like this. "Well… I'm flattered, honestly. But… Ginny I genuinely wish I could say that I feel the same way, but I don't. I'm straight." The admission felt like a physical blow to Ginny, but she held herself steady. "I really am sorry Ginny, you're really a wonderful person and I truly value our friendship."
Ginny nodded and took another deep breath. "I value our friendship too Susan," she stated softly. "And you were right, it's late and we should be heading out to get some sleep."
"Gin," Susan said softly. "Are you mad at me?" She asked, her bottom lip drawn between her teeth and her eyes glued to the floor.
Ginny shook her head. "No," she assured Susan, her tone even and calm, hiding her disappointment. "No, I'm not mad at all. I want us to stay friends."
"Me too," Susan agreed and the two girls hugged before casting disillusionment charms on themselves and leaving the Room of Requirement.
As upsetting as it was to be rejected, Ginny couldn't deny that Susan had been incredibly kind and compassionate about the whole thing, and at least she had closure now, no further need to spend entire days pining for someone who just didn't want her the way she wanted them. As the girls split up to go their separate ways, Ginny decided that no crush was worth losing a good friend over.
Minerva McGonagall heard knocking on her office door and grinned before walking forward to open it and let her two favorite students in. Harry and Hermione were quick to hurry inside before McGonagall shut the door. "So, how did the latest meeting go?" McGonagall asked.
Hermione's eyes brightened and she bit her lip. Harry smiled at his teacher. "It was amazing! I think I can finally say that we have possible recruits for the Order now. Fred and George for sure, and if they graduate before the war ends, Neville, Luna, the Creevey brothers, and Ron and Ginny. They're all doing amazingly, better than everyone else. Except Hermione of course."
McGonagall's heart swelled with pride. "Well done my little lions!"
Author's Note: Okay, I've reached my pressure limit. With my new job, crazy moving situations, barely having enough time to breathe, and having no energy to even lift a pencil half the time, I can't handle trying to get new chapters out to everyone in a reasonable time limit. So, I've decided to take a real break from posting. No, I am not abandoning this story, I'm still incredibly excited for things that aren't going to take place until the end of fifth year and later, and I have every intention of finishing this story. But, I'm going to properly prepare myself to post regularly before I put the next chapter up. And, when I come back I'll be able to post for 3 stories. This one, and two more that I've been trying to work on at the same time. Wish me luck everyone, and when I've got enough material, I'll prove it's been worth the wait.