Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling. The members of the Secret Sealing Club are the creations of ZUN.

Chapter 14 – Extend Ash

"So this is where the magic happens, colloquially speaking?" Terry looked around the Divination classroom impassively, while Su did the same without comment.

From his tone of voice Harry gathered that Terry was not particularly impressed, and for some reason, he felt oddly defensive. "It's not about the room, but the people," he felt himself say. "In any case, there's a few things that I'm going to say before we start today, apart from announcing you both. Also," he brandished the Secrecy Scroll, "sign this."

"What?" The Ravenclaw boy snatched the scroll and examined it with a critical eye. "What does it do?"

"Makes it so that you can't reveal the club's existence accidentally, whether through speaking or being Legilimized."

"You really taking opsec quite seriously, huh?" Terry was about to reach for his quill, when Su reached out and placed a hand on his wrist. "Eh?"

The black-haired girl stared down Harry. "Potter, you do realize that we only have your word as to what it does, right?"

Harry debated arguing, or an appeal to emotion or honour, but he suspected that none of those tactics would work. Instead, he began by pointing out a simple fact. "You have the list. You know who signed and who's in. It would not be fair to those that have already signed for you not to."

"But," he held up a hand and continued, "that's not really an argument, so if you're still not certain, you should get some insurance. Write a note to yourself and pass it to someone who's not Terry, to be opened in case of emergencies, for example."

"But the mere fact that you are suggesting this contingency suggests that you could have accounted for it already, if you plan to deceive us." Su pointed out.

"Su, it's Harry Potter." Terry whined. "You don't think–"

"No, she makes a good point. There's no point in you joining if you cant trust me. So…"

"Oh, Morgana's sake." Terry reached over and signed, an oddly neat signature in contrast to his usual manner of thought.

"Morgana's sake indeed." Su rolled her eyes and followed suit, etching three blocky runes onto the page. "There. And if this is some sort of trick, may my ancestors strike you down."

"Duly noted." Harry rolled up the scroll. "And thank you." He added, more gently.

Just in time, too. He noted to himself as the Hufflepuffs began to enter. Susan raised an eyebrow at the two new additions, but said nothing.

Surprisingly, nobody raised any questions regarding the two Ravenclaws, not throughout the evening's entire session of Stunning Spell and Impediment Jinx practice. The pair blended in surprisingly well, which is to say that no big arguments occurred and a general air of cordial politeness was maintained.

Hopefully, everyone will warm up in time. The group needs to be cohesive for it to be an effective team.

…wait, why is it so important that the team is effective?

Harry shook his head and cleared his mind of the strange thoughts, then motioned to a tired-looking Neville to his right. "Want to see something funny?" he said, and Neville nodded.

"Hey, Sue!" he called. From the left side of the classroom Susan Bones looked over from where she was dominating Terry Boot, and from the right side of the classroom Su Li looked over from where she was deftly avoiding Hannah Abbott's rapid but inaccurate jinxes.

"What?" The both of them called out. This was then followed up by the identical change in expressions as both girls were struck by their respective opponents before they crumpled to the ground in Stupefy-induced unconsciousness.

Neville snorted. "Very amusing, Harry."

"I'm glad you appreciated it." Harry said dryly. "Let's go, we're up."

A few more rotations after saw the end of the session and the group seated in chairs roughly arranged in a circle.

Harry decided to answer the obvious, unspoken question, in a manner as direct as possible.

"Terry and Su will be joining us from today."

There were a few seconds of silence, and then Ernie spoke. "Really, Harry? That's it? That's the whole welcome?"

"Hey, this isn't any formal club or anything." Harry defended. "It's just supposed to be a few friends meeting up to practice Defence. But," he added, "there's one thing I would like to do."

He once again extracted the Sickle, the one that had been used to pass information to him, and flicked it in a vague direction. It flew a few feet before returning to his hand, a silver stringless yoyo powered by wandless magic.

"Enchanted coins. I had an idea about using mirrors, but in the end, it's suspicious if you're caught with a special mirror in your pocket, hence the coin instead. How it works: you link two coins with a Protean Charm, then changes made to one will be reflected in the other." He looked over at Terry. "Can you–"

The boy knew what Harry was thinking, for he was already counting. "Eight. I don't know, Harry, the Protean Charm is a NEWT-level spell, and I'm not sure if–"

"If Granger can do it, so can you, Terry." Su curtly cut in. "We'll get the coins ready by the next meeting."

The rest just watched the exchange bemusedly, before Ernie spoke up. "Why all the secrecy, Harry?"

"Because the Ministry of Magic is interfering at Hogwarts." Harry did not feel like saying Umbridge's name, because his hands always tended to curl into a choking grip whenever he thought of the foul woman. "They don't want Defence taught, for some asinine reason, which means that if anyone catches wind of us, even if it's not breaking the rule yet, we might get into trouble."

"And the other group of people learning Defence on their own time aren't being too subtle, either." Susan added.

"Exactly." Harry nodded. "It'll only be a matter of time before we'll be forced to do this illegally. And that brings me to the other reason, sort of, as to why I'm doing this, and it also ties in with what happened the past Monday."

There was a palpable sense of anticipation in the air. "The reason as to why I'm doing all this is simple: Voldemort is back." Harry saw the group recoil at the name, and pressed on. "It's not just about passing OWLs, though that'll be a nice bonus. It's because, even though I hope that none of you would ever need to fight, you need to learn how to defend yourselves."

"But what does this have to do with Monday?" Hannah asked.

Harry gave a tired sigh. "Because someone drugged me with Veritaserum, and under its influenced I confessed that Voldemort is back." Harry outlined the events of the duel, up until the end at which he was found and healed by Terry, omitting details about his nightmares and upbringing.

Instantly the diminutive girl shot to her feet and started speaking again, now in a much more agitated tone of voice. "You used the Wound-Healing Charm? Without any diagnostics first? Are you–that's dangerous!" Hannah exclaimed.

"Okay, counterpoints. Firstly, the wound was too big just for a single Episkey, and secondly, I only used it to close the thing and stop bleeding, and thirdly, I've had sufficient practice–" Terry defended.

"That's not up to you to judge!"

"Can someone explain to me why that was dangerous? Though now I do now understand why wizards don't just heal everything instantly." Harry spoke up.

"Magical contamination from external sources can cause arcane reactions that lead to infection of magical maladies and other problems." Hannah turned to him and summed up, speaking several degrees quicker than her normal self. "That's why healers always need good OWLs and NEWTs: they need to be very, very precise in their spellcasting so they don't accidentally make their patients worse off! It's easy to cast a Bone-Mending Charm to heal a fracture, but if you heal it wrongly you might–"

"All right, all right, I get the picture." Terry raised his hands in a gesture of supplication, and Susan laid her hand on Hannah's shoulder and gently guided her best friend back to sitting down.

"Hmm, I guess we learnt something today." Harry muttered to himself. To the group, he spoke. "Any more questions, while I'm taking them? After today I don't want to talk about it ever again, so get it out of the way here and now."

"Harry, do you need me to call my Aunt?" It was Susan, who still had a hand on Hannah's shoulder.

"What for?"

"You've been illegally drugged with Veritaserum, Harry. That's a very serious offence, which would probably get Marietta expelled, as well as start an entire inquiry–"

"And Umbridge would sooner expel me for duelling. No, it's fine." He looked over at Terry. "I want to trust you. You said that some sort of 'deal' was made, right?"

"Yes." Terry met his eyes. Mutually assured destruction, along with plausible deniability that a single Fifth-Year had not defeated several pureblooded Seventh-Years in a duel. That was how Padma had explained it to him, and he had accepted it; he did not care for the politics of the matter and he wasn't about to start now. "I think Padma Patil would explain it to you if you wanted. Besides, the whole 'Voldemort is back' confession kind of distracted everyone, so here we are."

Harry rubbed his temples. His head was beginning to pound from lack of sleep. "That seems fine…I think." Stupid little people and their stupid little games. See if it still matters when the Dark Lord comes to your doorstep.

To Susan, he just said: "And that's that, I suppose."

The girl tugged at her braid in an unconscious gesture, but seemed to accept his answer. And finally–

"How did you even find Harry in the first place? Did you know where he was going?" Luna piped up.

There was a moment of silence as everyone processed the gap in the tale, before the Ravenclaw boy spoke up, yet again.

Sorry to put you through the inquisition. Harry mentally apologised.

"Well..." he was more hesitant this time, "we sort of…put a Tracking Charm…on–"

And I immediately retract my apology.

"You put a Tracking Charm on the Sickle?" Harry exclaimed incredulously. Mad-Eye Moody would go mental if he knew I let myself get tracked so easily. "Why the hell–"

"Curiosity! Just curiosity!" Terry raised his hands in surrender yet again. "I'll take it off now–"

Harry sighed. "Just keep the damn thing. It did save me from a potion overdose, after all." Harry flicked the coin over, where it hit the boy with an audible thud on his chest. (Unconscious use of the Banishing Charm was not to be ruled out.) "And with that, I thinkwe can call today's meeting to a close. See you next week, same time."

As the members stood, Harry turned to leave. A sweeping gesture with his arms on the way out returned the chairs to their stacked positions by the wall, and he disappeared out the doorway.

"That was some welcome," Su muttered on the way out. "C'mon, Terry."

As Luna made to follow her fellow Ravenclaws back, Neville motioned for her to stay.

"Neville Longbottom," she spoke, when it was the two of them left. "What is the matter?"

"Luna." Neville said. He looked around one more time, to check that they were alone, then spoke quietly. "I think you know already, but Harry likes you, and not just as a friend." Not I think Harry likes you, but Harry likes you, as if it was fact and not conjecture.

The blonde turned her face downwards and away.

"I also know you're a more complicated person than you seem." Neville continued speaking. "But he fought ten Ravenclaws for you, and lately his eyes only seem to light up when he mentions you. He's also a straightforward person who'll step in to save anyone he sees in pain. So," and Neville tried to steel himself, "if you do anything to hurt him, I'll come after you." The threat was clumsy, but the intent was clear.

"I asked him to help." Luna said, still not looking directly at Neville. "And he said yes. The day right afterwards, right after his detention with Umbridge, I went and apologised to him, because I thought it was my fault, and he said it was fine, that he didn't care, that he would 'void it all'."

"Sounds like him." Neville nodded.

"I know you're his best friend now, after Ronald proved to be less than understanding of his destiny. And," Luna stared him down, "I like him too, and if you tell him that I'll show you the true terror of the Lovegoods. So if you let anything happen to him…"

Neville involuntarily took a step back. A pureblood's family magics were supposed to be kept hidden, either as trump cards or trade secrets, and the Lovegoods had been notorious for dabbling in unusual and arcane.

"Do you want help?" Neville eventually ventured, after a few moments of silence.

At this, Luna gave a short burst of laughter. "Somehow, that just feels unfair to me."

~~[q]~~

"Mr Potter, I see that a great weight seems to have lifted off your shoulders." Merry said conversationally.

"Uh, yeah." Harry gave a half-hearted reply. After all, it was true, in a sense.

"It is apparent in both your mannerisms and magic. After all, you seem to have abandoned your brute-force shielding of the past weeks for a wiser and more precise approach." Merry continued. "One wonders what secret you desperately wanted to hide previously which now no longer matters."

Harry began to sweat. Professor Merry's still a professor, but she seems pretty unorthodox. She wouldn't report me…right?

"Then I find myself hearing certain rumors this week. Which leads me to say…" Merry suddenly brought her palms down on her desk, a sharp slam that made her teacup jitter in its saucer and Harry jump in his seat. "…what were you thinking, Mr Potter? Were you even thinking at all?"

Harry flinched at the remark. The only other time I've seen her angry is when she cursed Umbridge.

"Ten students, Mr Potter. Ten students more advanced than you." Merry shook her head. "You survived through sheer, dumb luck. It was luck that the students you fought were more well versed in theory as opposed to the practical aspect of magic. It was luck that there were objects present for you to wandlessly summon. It was luck that individuals were interested enough in you to track you down."

Wait, she saw the whole thing? I thought I successfully kept her out of my mind this time–

"You are unused to precision after a long time spent on brute force," Merry said, as if reading his thoughts. "And you were more relaxed today. You left plenty of holes in your defense."

Harry's head drooped further.

"I expected better from you, Mr Potter. While it is true that you achieved what you set out to achieve, the fact remains that you simply just stopped thinking after you found your first acceptable solution. Then again, I am glad to see that you have already considered what you did incorrectly."

The last sentence took some out sting out of the disappointment expressed, which seemed to hurt more than any outright reprimand.

"I'm sorry, Professor." There was nothing else he could say.

"You don't need to apologise to me." Merry said, now more gently. "You just need to learn from your mistakes and keep moving forward."

Easier said than done, when everything is trying to kill you. Like you said, it's all –the escape was– because of luck, isn't it?

This cannot continue.

Harry's brow tightened, a gesture almost impossible to notice. All of a sudden, he felt the need to be alone. "Thank you, Professor. May I leave now?"

"Yes, Mr Potter."

However, as he was about to cross the threshold–

"Wait!"

"What is it, Professor?" Harry's voice lanced out, carrying a clear tone of irritation.

"Veritaserum is a powerful drug," Merry said quickly. "It can make you speak truths you're not even consciously aware of, and it plays havoc with the mind. If your nightmares persist, tell me."

Harry nodded and left.

~~[q]~~

"Well, Merry?"

"He's certainly improving in his Occlumency, that's for sure." Merry gave a swift reply.

"Stop it, I know you're worried. This is the first time you've actually asked me to deliberately observe a lesson." Renko made to get up and pour herself some leftover tea.

"Did you see anything?"

"No, Merry, I didn't. In any case, I'm not even as good as the body language thing as you are–"

"I can sense it." Merry paced the room agitatedly. "I know there's another presence, but there's also a dark undercurrent to his mood that makes picking things up harder, and I'm not sure if the undercurrent is caused by his normal state or the foreign presence or both." She took another sip of tea. "And I'm not joking about the Occlumency either. By the end of the school year he'll be able to keep me out completely." And even today I felt myself resorting to tweaking the border between my mind and his to see a complete memory of the duel.

"The end of the school year? That's not very fast, isn't it?" Renko replied.

"He doesn't have the potential to be a master, not like Tachibana-san or Natsume-san did, but he learns quickly, and it'll be enough to suit his needs." Merry summed it up. "The question is: do I report this or not?"

"Report to who? The boy's an orphan. From what you tell me, his guardians were downright abusive, too." Renko scoffed.

"The headmaster?" Merry suggested. "He's rumoured to have a special relationship with the boy, after all."

"Yeah, no." Renko shot her down. "We're not going based on rumors. Speaking of which, Dumbledore wants a chat soon."

"What, why?"

"He alluded to Legilimency and discretion. Oh, and he wants to talk to you, specifically, but there's no way I'm not going to be there."

"I can guess why." Clearly, bringing up the possibility of having your mind read to the general populace of Hogwarts' students was something that the headmaster was not in favour of. Not to mention that she had outright told Harry that both the old man and Snape were Legilimencers.

If Harry tells all his club members, and each member tells two other people, and those two people go on…well, I can see why Renko makes a big deal out of exponential growth.

"So, what about Potter?"

"Much as I would like to do something, it's too risky. Bringing the presence to his conscious awareness might backfire. Removing it is also beyond my expertise. Maybe I'll ask Potter if there's any adult that he trusts, and go from there."

~~[q]~~

Lastly, in the Slytherin Common Room:

"Potter did what?" Draco Malfoy's grating voice could be heard very clearly, and it irritated her.

Oh, there had been rumors since the end of the last year. Witnessing the Dark Lord's resurrection and all that. Fleeing from nearly the entire Inner Circle of Death Eaters.

That had been nothing more than luck. There was no way an inexperienced fourteen-year-old could have escaped otherwise.

Unless, of course, he wasn't entirely untrained, as some people had been whispering. Now, with this rumour…perhaps there was some hope, after all?

Yeah, fuck that.

No way she would entrust their fates to some savior child.

She looked over at the table, where a discussion was beginning.

Westcott and Malfoy and the rest of the purebloods are soft. They're brought up in luxury, too used to getting what they want.

Getting your wand early and having a few lessons during the summer would put you ahead of any Muggleborn.

But that wasn't the same as learning how to fight.

She opened her palm, and a flame flickered to life.

No, nothing had changed. She was still stuck, between a jagged rock and a particularly hard place.

And as always, it was up to her to fight her way out.

Thus ends the first proper arc of the story, which in my mind I call "Luna's arc". This is despite the fact that Luna doesn't really get much character development, but it is what it is.

The next chapter will tentatively be titled "Awakening of the Earth Spirits". Place your bets on who our mysterious Slytherin is.

Until then.

Review please!