"What now?" Theo asked as they found a group of upset students in the entrance hall on their way to breakfast.

"Looks like something on the noticeboard. Should we look?" Millie asked.

"Probably should," Theo said, stepping in to take the place of the group of lower years who had just left.

Rachel stepped up next to him and stared blankly at the large notice for Educational Decree 24. It was wordy, but the message itself was simple - anyone found meeting in groups of three or more without Professor Umbridge's permission would be expelled.

"Are you sure-" Millie began, but Theo quickly shook his head.

"Not here, this is not the place for this discussion," Theo said quickly in a hushed voice.

Rachel knew exactly what Millie had been about to ask, but as far as Rachel knew there was no way that Professor Umbridge could know about the DA. Their next meeting was this evening. "Teams. This means Quidditch teams too, I think."

"Probably. Come on, let's go have breakfast and we will try to figure things out," Theo said.

She followed him into the Great Hall. She was concerned about the Quidditch team, and the DA, but what really worried her was the study group. She had the sneaking suspicion that Professor Umbridge would refuse to approve any group that had her as a member. In the meantime, she'd have to do what she could. As soon as she reached the table, she pushed away her plate and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill.

'We are petitioning Professor Umbridge to request that the Slytherin Quidditch team, consisting of Rachel Snow, Draco Malfoy, Miles Bletchley, Adrian Pucey, Scarlett Lympsham, Stephen Higgs, and Martin Urquhart be allowed to reform. Our practice times are on Wednesday from 4:30-6:00 pm and Sundays from 1:00-3:00 pm.'

Rachel paused as she tried to think of what else she wanted to say.

Draco sat down across from her, Adrian and Miles at his shoulders.

"Practice is cancelled today, I guess?" Miles asked.

"For the time being. Unless, for now I guess either Adrian or Draco can go out with Martin for half the practice, and then Scarlett can take Stephen out for half the practice, that way we're under the three person limit," Rachel suggested. "Miles, assuming we're still doing this on Sunday, you can take Timothy for half the practice time and whoever didn't train with Martin today can train with him on Sunday for half the time," Rachel decided.

"Let's do that. Draco, can you take Martin today and I'll take him on Sunday?" Adrian asked.

"I can do that. Also, let me handle Umbridge," Draco said.

"But I'm the captain," Rachel said, looking down at her note.

"But my father knows Umbridge. Minister Fudge sees my father on a regular basis, and Umbridge knows it. Leave her to me," Draco said firmly.

While she hated the idea of nepotism and all the old moneyed families trading around political favors, she did think Draco had a better chance of getting Professor Umbridge to approve the team than she did. "I'm not sure she's going to approve the team while I'm on it," she admitted. She wasn't sure Draco's political influence could override that.

Miles looked uncomfortable but it was Adrian who spoke. "You can't leave the team. Don't even think about it."

"I don't want to leave the team and I'll bring it up with Professor Dumbledore if it reaches that point. Just don't expect this to be a quick resolution," Rachel said.

"Are we…" Miles trailed off, one eyebrow raised.

"Yes," Rachel answered. They were still having their DA meeting tonight. Even with the threat of expulsion.

"You're sure?" Draco asked.

Rachel nodded.

"It will be fine," Theo said.

Draco didn't look convinced but he turned his attention to his breakfast.

"Draco, can you tell Martin when to meet you and tell Scarlett and Stephen what time they have the pitch?" Rachel asked, stuffing her half finished note back into her bag.

"Sure. Martin and I will take the first half, Scarlett and Stephen can have the second," Draco said.

"Thank you." Rachel took a glance at the staff table. Severus wasn't in attendance, but Professor Dumbledore was. Professor Umbridge was in her usual seat and looked perfectly content as she ate her breakfast.

Abruptly, Rachel remembered that she was supposed to be putting aside her worries at breakfast so she could actually eat. She stared at the serving bowl of porridge, trying to decide if she could actually force herself to eat it.

"Something wrong with the porridge?" Millie asked after a moment.

"No. They should invent a breakfast food that you can drink. You can't really drink porridge," Rachel said, deciding that she couldn't stomach it this morning. She'd have to try tomorrow.

"Milk or juice, maybe?" Theo suggested.

Rachel shook her head. "I'll eat at lunch." She didn't miss the way that Theo and Millie traded glances, but she really didn't have anything more to say about it. Tapping her fingers against the table, she tried to come up with ways that the study group could still meet without attracting anyone's attention.

Hermione and Neville joined them as they were leaving the Great Hall.

"Obviously this is a problem, but I think that either Theo or Neville should be the one to plead our case to Professor Umbridge," Hermione said as they began to walk in the direction of the dungeons.

"I'd be glad to, but why us?" Theo asked.

"You're both pure-bloods who have families with political influence. I'd say Ginny, but her father doesn't actually have that much influence, and Luna's father is considered a little out there despite being pure-blood. The only potential problem with Neville doing it is that his Gran votes with Professor Dumbledore in the Wizengamot," Hermione listed.

"I'm not sure it's going to matter, Hermione, unless you submit the list of names without me on it," Rachel said.

"If it becomes necessary, we will, but we have to at least try," Hermione said.

"We will?" Millie asked, sounding upset.

"Obviously we would sneak Rachel into our meetings if we had to do that," Hermione said patiently.

Both Millie and Neville looked relieved.

"Can we duck further down the hallway for a moment and use a privacy ward?" Hermione asked.

"Sure, we have another ten minutes before class starts," Theo said. "Rachel, can you cast it, your wards are bigger than ours right now."

"Alright," Rachel said.

They went a short ways past the classroom and into one of the small side hallways.

"Gather close," Rachel said. She cast the privacy ward once everyone was standing just about shoulder to shoulder.

"We've had a few people approach us asking if we're still meeting tonight. I've been telling them yes. I assume that's right?" Hermione asked.

"We've been telling them yes too, but tonight we really have to get people to understand they can't just ask these questions out in the open, even if they think they're being subtle," Theo said, shaking his head.

"We should have a solution to that relatively soon. I won't have it finished by tonight, but within the next few days," Hermione said.

"And you're not going to tell us?" Theo asked.

"You'll like it, I promise, I just have to finish them first," Hermione said. "Anyway, I just want to check in, because if we get caught, we'll be expelled."

There was a silence after that as everyone seemed to think about what the consequences of that would look like.

"I imagine most of us could go to Beauxbatons if we were expelled," Millie said hesitantly.

"Probably," Hermione said. "I think this is important, I really do. And I do think we can keep it a secret."

"I think so too, but I also understand if there's anyone who doesn't want to take that risk," Rachel said. It was a little nerve wracking, but she did think that what they were doing was important. It wasn't just about their OWL scores, it was about people being prepared to protect themselves.

"I agree," Millie said. "It's possible we'll lose a few people because they won't think it's safe, but I think overall we all knew that this was dangerous when we signed up."

"We did. And while my Gran would have a fit if I was expelled, I think I could get her to understand that it was important. She didn't want my dad to join the aurors, but after he did, she was proud of him," Neville said, nodding.

"It is important. We just have to be careful and encourage everyone else to be careful," Theo said. "If we're all on the same page, we should get to class. I'll put together a petition to allow our study group and let you all read it before I bring it to Professor Umbridge."

"And, I think, it's also important that we don't let Professor Umbridge see that she's getting to us. We have to look serene and unconcerned," Hermione said.

"We can try," Millie said, sounding a little doubtful.

Rachel ended the privacy ward with a stroke of her wand. "Let's get to class." She thought by the end of the school year they would all get very good at walking around pretending they weren't hiding anything.


"Do we have everyone?" Hermione asked as she looked around.

Rachel quickly grouped people together in her mind: The Slytherin and the Gryffindor Quidditch teams - who were studiously ignoring each other. The Slytherin prefects, along with Blaise, Daphne, and Astoria. Cedric and his friends, accompanied by Cho and Roger. Then the handful of Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs who weren't affiliated with anyone else. "I think we do. I'm a little surprised, I thought some people might be worried about the decree."

"Apparently not," Theo said. "I think we need to address that first, and then we can start the lesson."

Hermione nodded and took a step forward. "I'd like to thank everyone for coming."

"Does Umbridge know about the DA?" Tristram called.

"I was just getting to that," Hermione said, raising her eyebrows at the Slytherin prefect. "At this time we have no reason to believe that Professor Umbridge knows about the DA. If she knew, she certainly would have begun to identify and question us. Has anyone here been singled out by Professor Umbridge in the last two weeks?"

Scarlett raised her hand and everyone looked at her.

Rachel stepped forward. "Can you tell us what she asked you? Did she offer you tea?"

"She asked me about you, actually," Scarlett said, shifting in place. "This was today, just before lunch. I was going to tell you but I haven't seen you alone since then. She kept me after to talk to me about my essay, which apparently wasn't very good, which is fine because I wrote it during breakfast. She asked if you were telling people that You-Know-Who had returned. I told her you didn't and that you wouldn't speak about what happened after the third task."

Everyone was now looking at Rachel. Rachel shifted uncomfortably. "Thank you. Did she suggest that you were meeting with me in some way or anything like that?"

"No. It didn't seem like she knew about the DA," Scarlett said.

"Obviously we will be keeping a close eye on the situation," Hermione said firmly. "If Professor Umbridge asks to speak with you privately, it would be a good idea to let one of us know. If she's asking everyone in the DA, then we might have a problem."

"What was that about tea?" Roger asked.

Hermione glanced at Rachel and Rachel nodded - they needed to know. "We believe that Professor Umbridge attempted to give Rachel Veritaserum in order to question her about the night of the third task. If you are questioned by Professor Umbridge, or even just invited in casually, consider any food or drink she offers you suspect. Either politely refuse, or pretend to consume it and then dispose of it in some way," Hermione instructed.

"But that's illegal," Susan said, looking worried.

"It is, but we have no proof. So use an abundance of caution. Additionally, I'm working on a way for us to communicate the dates of the DA meetings without us having to disseminate them directly. Do not approach us in a public place to talk about the DA, even in a coded way. It's too risky right now. Does anyone have any questions?" Hermione asked.

"How did you get an obstacle course in here?" one of the Weasley twins asked.

Rachel smiled. This had been her idea.

"Magic," Hermione said evasively. "As you've guessed, today we're not exactly doing an obstacle course. It's more of a purposefully versatile environment for you to use to climb, hide, and use in whatever way you can to your advantage. Two spells will be allowed, the Target Practice spell, which we'll teach you now, and the Shield charm. We'll do three bouts of fifteen minutes each. The idea is to be hit by the Target Practice spell as few times as possible. Feel free to make alliances or partner up. The first session will be fifth years and under. The second session will be sixth and seventh years. And then we'll do a free for all. And now, Theo will teach you the Target Practice spell."

Theo stepped forward with his wand drawn. "As you may guess from the name, this spell is really only useful in training - you'll never use it against a real opponent. The effect is that a small dot of chalk will appear on your target. The incantation is creta. The wand movement is simple. Hold your wand up and bring it straight down so it's pointed at your target. Take a moment to partner up with someone and we'll practice it now."

There was a quick bustle while everyone tried to find a suitable partner.

"Alright, creta on three. One. Two. Three," Theo said.

The spell was cast all around the room. Rachel paid close attention to the lower years, but even Dennis and Astoria seemed to get the charm on the first time around.

"Good. The rules are pretty simple. Only use the Target Practicing spell and the Shield charm. Do not physically attack anyone, which includes shoving or pushing. Do not intentionally cause another person harm. Stop when the whistle is blown. You can leave the field if you want to stop. Questions?" Theo looked around the room, but there didn't seem to be any questions. "Upper years have a bit of an advantage here, they get to watch us go first. I suggest you make use of it. Fifth years and under, find a starting place in the obstacles. Upper years, find a good place to watch."

There was a scramble as people went running to go find a place to hide among the obstacles. Rachel noticed that some of the seventh years were dragging some of the tables near the side of the room toward the course so they could stand on them to get a better view.

"Partners?" Millie asked as they stepped onto the course.

"Sure," Rachel said, smiling at Millie. She felt a little nervous, it reminded her a little of the maze in the third task, but it helped that nothing was taller than the top of her head. And at least this time she knew no one was trying to hurt anyone else.

They looked around, hearing whispers and giggles as people took their places. Most of the obstacles were padded, as was the floor, and there were a variety of nooks and crannies and pathways.

"Over here?" Millie asked, pointing out what looked a little like a shelf with a crawl space under it.

Rachel hesitated, but finally nodded. As long as she didn't stay in there long, and she kept her head near the open area, she thought she'd be okay. "We should have taken off our robes for this," she said as they crawled under and readied their wands.

"Maybe. But I suppose we should get used to fighting in them. We'll be in them most of the time when we're adults," Millie said.

"I guess." She didn't really like the idea that they were training to fight Death Eaters, but she knew that's what the entire study group had in mind when they'd made this club. If not fight, then survive.

"On my whistle," Hermione called. There was a brief, silent moment of anticipation, and then the shrill call of the whistle.

Rachel heard someone shout "creta! Protego!" and the sound of running feet. It didn't take long after that for chaos to unfurl.

"Let's trade off for shield and casting," Millie said.

"Okay. I'll shield first and drop it when I hear you cast the spell," Rachel said, knowing that the shield would stop the spell going forward. "Protego." It was a little weird to cast while she was on her knees and elbows.

The first person ran by too quickly for them to do anything about, but the person following them paused long enough for Rachel to drop the Shield charm, Millie to cast the Target Practice spell, and Rachel to put the Shield charm back up again before Anthony could aim at them. He took a spell from behind and took off running again.

Millie giggled. "I think the lesson is to stay out of sight and let people come to you," she whispered.

"If you can," Rachel agreed. She knew from practicing with Severus that wasn't always possible.

They waited and listened as people called out incantations, occasionally shouting or yelping. There were thuds from people jumping down from or over obstacles, and the sound of footsteps running in every direction.

By the time Hermione blew her whistle again they'd managed to use the Target Practice spell on six more people, and they hadn't been hit even once. They crawled out and joined the people leaving the course. Some only had a few dots of chalk, others looked like someone was about to play a game of connect the dots on their robes.

"Does anyone want to share anything they learned before the upper years go?" Hermione called once everyone was assembled. She had quite a few chalk spots on her robes.

"Partner up!" Colin called.

"Find a place up high to hide," Luna said. Her robes were spotless.

"Keep moving, staying in one place makes you an easy target," Draco said. He only had a few dots on his robes.

"Stay near the edges," Hannah said.

"Very good. Let's watch the upper years while they get in place," Hermione said.

The upper years hurried down into the course, calling out to each other as they made alliances.

Rachel boosted herself up onto one of the tables so she could see better, followed by the rest of the study group.

"How are you two so clean?" Neville asked.

"We hid and cast spells at people's shins," Millie said proudly.

"Not as much fun as running around though, you should try it next time," Ginny said with a grin as she rubbed at the chalk dots on her robes.

"It's probably good to get practice at both," Rachel agreed. She spotted Cho climbing up into a shoulder high alcove and readying her wand. No one could see her unless they passed on one of the two paths in front of her or were high on the obstacles themselves. "Is that where you hid, Luna?"

"Yes, it's a good spot. Did you have that in mind when you asked the room to make the obstacles?" Luna asked.

"No, I just asked for a small short maze that had hiding spots as well as the training space and this is what it came up with," Rachel said.

Hermione looked thoughtful. "I wish there was a way to somehow magically examine the room and figure out what was happening. I haven't the slightest idea how we would do that, or what information we would even get from it."

"Might as well try to examine the magic of Hogwarts itself," Theo said. "The castle itself has some level of awareness, if what we've read can be believed."

"More than awareness, considering the room," Millie said. "I think everyone's in place, Hermione."

"Alright, I'll blow the whistle on three. One. Two. Three!" Hermione blew her silver whistle.

The first thing Rachel noticed was how much quieter the upper years were. All of them were experienced with non-verbal magic now and she saw that even the Weasley twins were taking a stealthy strategy. Cedric and his study group were slowly making their way through the maze as a team, two facing forward and two facing backward. The Slytherin prefects, along with Miles and Adrian, had set up an ambush area where Tracey and Tristram could lure people into the crossfire.

Katie Bell let out a small yelp when Roger jumped out at her and the two of them chased directly through the center of the maze, taking fire from Cho, who was still sitting virtually unnoticed, and then changing direction to avoid Cedric's group and running directly into the Slytherin ambush.

"They're better than we are," Millie said, watching as Angelina and Alicia traded fire with Martin and Heidi.

"Good. That's to be expected when they're NEWT students, and it means we can learn from them," Theo said, his attention focused on where Lee Jordan had run afoul of the Slytherin trap.

Rachel glanced over the students watching and thought about ways they could change this up next time they wanted to use an obstacle course. Maybe they could do an actual obstacle course and have people on the sidelines firing off the Target Practice spell. Or, maybe something with more place to hide but there was a place you had to make it to. There were lots of options.

Hermione blew her whistle and the upper years made their way out of the obstacles, laughing and chatting and talking about what they'd done. None of their robes were as spotted as the lower years had been.

They hopped down from the tables, accompanied by the rest of the lower years, and everyone gathered in a rough circle.

"So, do any of you have any advice you want to impart before we do this one last time?" Hermione asked.

"Teams can work even better than partnerships, but they also cause you to move pretty slow," Heidi said.

"And there are advantages to being on your own if you're in the right spot," Cho said, smiling at Cedric. There was at least one chalk spot in his hair from her.

"Have a plan," Cassius suggested.

Hermione smiled. "Alright, we're going in for the last time, so it's going to be a little crowded. Lower years, consider teaming up with an upper year and learn from them. Upper years, this is also good practice for if you ever are in a situation where you have to protect someone you're with. We'll start in five minutes, so find your starting spots."

Chaos was unleashed again as people called out to each other.

"Rachel?"

Rachel turned and found Dennis standing near her. "Yeah?"

"Would you partner with me this time? I'm not very good with the Shield charm yet, it takes a lot of concentration, but if you can shield, I can cast the Target Practice spell," Dennis asked.

"Sure. We can do that," Rachel said. "Let's go find a spot. As for the Shield charm, I would suggest taking five minutes out of your day, at least once a day, and practice casting it. The more often you do it, the easier it will get."

"I can do that," Dennis said eagerly as he followed her into the course.

Rachel looked around, seeing people crowding into hiding spots. When she looked up she found that Astoria had climbed up into the hiding spot that had been favored by Luna and Cho. "Do you want to hide and fire at people as they come by or do you want to be moving around?"

"I think we should find a spot that's around a corner, but also be ready to go if we need to," Dennis said.

It didn't take them too long to find a corner where people would have to come by if they wanted to reach the other edge of the maze without going over obstacles. She realized that both of them were so short that they barely had to crouch down to avoid being seen. Dennis and Astoria were the only people in the DA who were shorter than her, and Colin was about her size.

There were the sounds of whispers and giggles as people finished taking their places. "On my whistle!" Hermione called from somewhere to the left, followed by the sound of the whistle.

"Protego," Rachel whispered, holding her wand so that it would cover both her and Dennis.

It didn't take long for Daphne and Pansy to come running through and Dennis caught Pansy in the back as soon as Rachel dropped the Shield charm. She put it back up again but neither of the girls stayed to fire back. Next to stumble across them were Hannah and Terry, both of whom turned to fire back, but Rachel kept Dennis pushed against the corner and covered them with her Shield. Terry gave up first and took off running, leaving Hannah to run after him.

"This is a little scary, but kind of exciting too," Dennis whispered. "Not scary like something bad is going to happen, but scary in that it makes my heart race."

"Mine too," Rachel admitted. Her heart was racing a bit, and when Terry and Hannah had turned to fire back at them, she had automatically protected Dennis like they were firing hexes instead of a training spell.

"Is this what the tasks felt like?" Dennis asked.

"No, not at all." She was very grateful for that. She wasn't sure she could do another year like last year.

Cedric, Cho, Susan, and Katie rounded the corner and Rachel held her Shield steady. Cedric was too fast for her to be willing to drop it for Dennis to fire. She supposed that was a lesson too - know when to defend.

"Alright there?" Cedric asked.

"We're fine, but you're in range of Astoria, you probably want to duck," Rachel said.

Cedric ducked and held his wand up higher just in time for a Target Practice spell to crash against his shield. "Thanks for the advice. We hear there are Slytherins up ahead."

"Good luck with that," Rachel said with a smile. She watched as they slowly made their way down the path and realized that was another lesson to take from this - defending and casting offensive spells at the same time was difficult, even when paired with another person.

"Are you and Cedric friends?" Dennis asked.

Rachel paused as she thought about it. "I suppose we are. Not close friends, but we got to know each other a bit last year."

"Even though you were competing and you keep beating him to the Snitch?" he asked.

"Cedric's not the kind of person to hold that against someone. He's actually a really nice person from what I've seen," she said, thinking of all the times he'd checked on her to make sure she was alright. "The year before you started at Hogwarts, he saved my life at a Quidditch game."

"Wow," Dennis said, looking suitably awed.

Scarlett came running through the path, going too fast for Dennis to get a spell off. A moment later Ron came through running after her.

Rachel decided that this was a good lesson too. "If you can help it, don't run into an unchecked area like that."

Dennis nodded. "If we'd been bad guys, we could have cast a spell at their backs."

She decided she was glad that he'd left it at 'bad guys' rather than saying Death Eaters.

Roland and Heidi came through next, much more slowly, and with their Shield charms covering them.

"I hear there are Slytherins up ahead," Rachel said, deciding she could give them fair warning of an ambush.

"Good to know, keep that Shield up," Roland said. They continued on their way.

Rachel did notice that it was getting a little harder to hold the Shield charm. She dropped it and recast it. It helped for a moment, but she felt that same sort of pull of tiredness again before long. She wondered if she could mention it to Severus and ask what was happening without him asking why she'd been holding a Shield charm for fifteen minutes.

She was a little relieved when Hermione blew the whistle for the last time. "There we go, we made it through," Rachel said, lowering her wand.

"That was kind of fun. Are we going to do it again for another lesson?" Dennis asked as they started walking toward the exit.

"Probably later, but we've got lessons planned for a while. There are plenty of important things to learn outside of the Shield charm," she said. "You're probably the only second year with a Shield charm."

Dennis smiled eagerly at that.

"We're running a little late, so let's wrap up," Hermione said.

Rachel went to her bag to get out her spy scope. They hadn't run into problems in the hallways yet, but after the Educational Decree she thought it was more important than ever to make sure they didn't bump into Professor Umbridge. Millie joined her without having to ask and they left the room.

"Rachel, wait up."

Rachel turned and found that the Weasley twins had followed them into the hallway. "We're just checking to make sure the way out is clear, it should only be a few minutes and then you can leave."

"We know, we want to help," Fred said.

"Was there a specific way you wanted to help?" Millie asked after a moment.

"We want to offer you a temporary trade. We thought about it for a long time and the notice today kind of sealed the deal," George said with a nod.

"What sort of trade?" Rachel asked, a little confused.

Fred and George looked at each other and smiled. "The secret to our success for most of our years at Hogwarts. This, ladies, is the Marauder's Map. Simply tap your wand against it and say 'I solemnly swear I'm up to no good'," Fred said, producing a piece of worn parchment. "Go ahead."

Wondering if this was a prank, Rachel pulled out her wand. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." Words started to appear from the tip of her wand and she read the message, smiling at the nicknames of her father and his friends. "I know them."

The twins hesitated, looking from the map, to each other, back to Rachel, and then back to each other. "You know the Marauders?" George asked.

"Sure. I can introduce you to some of them over the summer, if they say it's okay," Rachel said, smiling briefly at them before examining the map. It was pretty incredible. Each of those dots represented a person going about their business. The library was starting to clear out as people got ready to head back to their common rooms before curfew.

"Yeah, alright then. Let us know what they decide," Fred said finally. "Anyway, you can check on Umbridge, Filch, and any prefects who might cause problems with this. To clear the map when you're done, say 'mischief managed'. We recommend keeping it clear. And safe."

"You said it was a trade? What do you want?" Millie asked.

"We would like to borrow your spy scope. At the end of the year, we'll trade back," Fred said, smiling again.

Rachel felt that she pretty much couldn't say no. The map was a much better tool for keeping the DA and the study group safe. "Alright. Thank you. I really appreciate it. This will help a lot." She handed George the spy scope.

"As will this. The map is good for knowing, but it's not so good for seeing," George said.

"So Professor Umbridge is in her office, Mr. Filch is on the second floor. Does Mrs. Norris show up on here?" Millie asked.

"She does, and the ghosts too," Fred said.

"It doesn't show the training room," Rachel said, finding the four of them standing in a pile of overlapping dots in the hallway.

"I guess the Marauders never found it. And here we thought they knew everything about Hogwarts," George said.

"Well, I think we're good to send people back, but we should still send them in small groups. Thanks again. I think this club is really important and I'm glad you do too," Rachel said.

Fred looked slightly bashful and George shrugged. "It's a pretty good club, but the real trick is keeping it a secret, especially from Umbridge. I suggest you keep the map a secret too."

Rachel looked over it again. Professor Umbridge was still in her office, and she was their main concern. "Mischief managed." The parchment went blank. That was convenient. She needed to see if she could get Hermione or Sirius and Remus to teach her that trick.

They all went back inside the room. "We're clear, let's start with the lower years in groups by House," Millie told Hermione.

About ten minutes later it was only the study group left in the room.

"I think that went pretty well, though I felt it was more instructive for the lower years than the upper years," Hermione said.

"Still good practice. We've got to leave soon so we don't miss curfew. What do we want to do about the study group tomorrow?" Theo asked

"I think we should meet up here," Luna said. "We can even ask the room to look like our study room."

"It's pretty far away from Professor Umbridge, especially if we split up and come from different directions," Neville said.

"We need to check if we can lock that door, otherwise I'd say that's a good plan," Theo said, frowning.

"Let's check that tomorrow then. I'm a little concerned Professor Umbridge might have me followed or have someone spy on me, but I have a general plan for that as well," Rachel said. Between her invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map, slipping away should be relatively easy.

"Do you think Professor Umbridge has asked other students to watch you?" Ginny asked.

"I wouldn't put it past her, not if she's asking around about me." Rachel had hoped that the visit of the Auror and the Unspeakable would put that to rest, but it seemed like it hadn't.

"Who would agree to do that?" Millie asked. "Who doesn't hate her?"

"She likes some of the students. Students with influential family members," Luna said.

"Well, we all have to be on our guard then," Hermione said. "Rachel, Millie, and Theo should leave first because they have further to go, and we'll walk Luna back to the entrance to Ravenclaw tower. Goodnight."

They all said goodnight and Rachel, Millie, and Theo started their walk down through the eight levels of the castle to the dungeons.

"If people are watching you, we're going to have to be more careful. We need another route to the seventh floor. We need to figure out a way to tell if we're being followed," Theo brainstormed as they walked.

"Well, I think we can solve a few of those problems, but we'll discuss it more tomorrow," Millie said.

Rachel nodded. It was going to be tricky, but they had some good ideas to start with.


"I think we can take it off now," Millie said quietly once they were in the hallway on the seventh floor.

"Let me check the map," Rachel whispered. She peered down at it, taking a moment to find where they were, and then checking the hallways around them. It showed that no one was on the seventh floor - which was obviously wrong since the rest of the study group was already in the Room of Requirement - and no one was on the staircase between the sixth and the seventh floor. "Okay, I think we're okay. Mischief managed."

"Whew," Millie said, slipping out from under the cloak. "I understand why we need to do that, but it's a little weird."

Rachel nodded and put the map and the cloak away in her bag. The door was already in place from across the tapestry of the trolls doing ballet. She tried to turn the handle but found that it wouldn't move. "I guess they found a way to lock the door." She knocked, wondering if sound would transfer from the hallway into the Room of Requirement.

"Maybe we can get it to lock with a password, like the common room," Millie suggested.

"Maybe. I suppose it depends on how they got it to lock in the first place," Rachel said.

The door cracked open and Ginny peered out before opening the door further. "We hoped it wouldn't take you too long."

They went inside and found themselves in a perfect copy of the study room on the third floor.

"You weren't seen?" Theo asked, looking up from his book.

"We weren't," Rachel said as she took her seat.

"We were nearly felt, but we weren't seen," Millie added.

Hermione looked up at that. "Do I even want to know what that means?"

"We were invisible," Rachel said. "We went into the library and disappeared into the history shelves. No one was following us."

"That's a good idea, maybe we should all use the Disillusionment charm when we come up here?" Neville asked.

"Or stop in our common room first, which should prevent most people from following us further," Ginny said. "Rachel, did you say something to the twins recently?"

"Like what?" Rachel asked, a little bit confused as to what she might have said that would prompt that question.

"They asked me if it was true if you knew the Marauders. I told them I didn't know who the Marauders were. Then they asked me if I thought you would play a prank on them, and I said that I didn't think you would. They didn't really seem convinced though," Ginny said.

Rachel smiled. She hadn't realized that she'd thrown the twins so far off. "It's not a prank. As for the Marauders, I assume you all can keep a secret?"

"From the twins? Definitely!" Ginny said eagerly.

"Of course we can," Luna said.

"Alright, I'm intrigued now, what is it?" Theo asked.

Rachel pulled out the Marauder's Map and set it in the middle of the table. "Watch the text and tell me if you recognize any of the names. I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," she said, holding the tip of her wand against the parchment.

Everyone leaned in and watched.

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," Hermione read. "Should they sound familiar?"

"I think you're missing the bigger picture, Hermione. This is a map of Hogwarts. With people on it," Theo said, his eyes wide as he looked at the parchment.

"Where are we?" Luna asked as she leaned closer to the map.

"We're currently off the map. They never discovered the Room of Requirement. I'm not sure how you'd put it on a map anyway given that the size and shape keep changing," Millie said. "I don't recognize the names either."

"I'll give you a hint, everyone in this room has met two of them and one of their names is particularly appropriate. Or, mean actually, depending on how you interpret the nickname," Rachel said, wondering how Remus felt about being called 'Moony' given everything.

"Moony!" Hermione said suddenly. "Remus. Which makes one of them Sirius. By the names and his animagus form, I'd guess Padfoot."

Rachel nodded. "Prongs was my dad, his form was a stag. And Wormtail was Peter Pettigrew, the rat."

"Still missing the bigger picture," Theo said. "Look at it. It recognizes the ghosts. How is this even possible. Worse even, if they made this during their student days, almost none of the same people would even be here. How is it recognizing us?"

"I don't know, I suppose we'd have to ask them," Rachel said.

"Theo's right to be concerned, no matter how amazing this thing is. If they could make this while they were students, what is stopping anyone else from doing it? It would make an excellent spy tool to be used against us," Hermione said. "And, I really want to know how it was done. It makes what I was going to show all of you look downright childish in comparison."

"I think we have to operate under the assumption that there isn't another map that's being used against us. The DA would have been found out by now," Theo said, his gaze still roaming the map.

"And, it's a really good tool for us. It was given to us so that we could make sure that people were able to safely leave the DA meetings. I don't think this is a bad thing," Millie said.

"I don't think it's a bad thing either, I think it will help us stay safer," Ginny said. "Fred and George just gave this to you?"

"Traded it, just for this year," Rachel said.

"I'm not going to even ask what they wanted in return," Ginny said, shaking her head. "But it explains a lot about how they've been able to sneak around the school these last six years."

"What were you going to show us, Hermione?" Luna asked, looking up from the map.

"Oh, it feels silly now," Hermione said, looking away.

"Hermione, I'm sure this was not created in two weeks. Whatever you did is just fine, I'm sure, though you can always let us help with things," Theo said patiently.

"I wanted to wait until I had them working right." Hermione bent down and pulled a small pouch out of her bag. "I came up with these so that we can discreetly let people know the date and time of DA meetings. I have the master coin here, and everyone else will have one of these." She poured out a small pile of Galleons. "Using the same charm that connects our two-way books, I made it so that all the coins are connected to my master one. The serial number on the edge indicates which goblin cast the coin, and I use my wand to change the numbers on the master coin, and it changes it on all of the other coins. And it warms up, so people can feel it in their pocket and know there's been an update."

"That's brilliant, Hermione," Neville said.

"It really is. No one will think anything odd about people carrying around a Galleon in their pocket. Professor Umbridge could order us to turn out our pockets and bags and she wouldn't see anything worth noting," Rachel agreed, smiling at Hermione.

"I think it's very smart," Luna said, getting a nod and smile from Ginny.

"And sneaky, are you sure you shouldn't have been a Slytherin with us?" Millie asked.

"Well done, Hermione. An elegant solution to the problem," Theo said with a nod of approval.

"Well. This is a little bad, but I kind of got the idea from the Death Eaters," Hermione said, looking a little embarrassed by all the praise.

"How so?" Theo asked.

"Their Dark Marks. Obviously we wanted something a little less permanent than a tattoo, but doing this also made me think of a way to communicate over the summer in case of an emergency. I think we could get relatively cheap jewelry that we can charm to do something similar to this, though I'll have to figure out how to make it go multiple ways, like our books do," Hermione explained.

"We'd need to find a way to make it specific to each person, so that we know who is in danger. Maybe a small gemstone of different colors representing each person?" Theo suggested.

"Or we could do engravings, like on the coins," Ginny suggested. "Maybe we each pick a rune to represent us, and then if that symbol appears, we know who is in danger."

"Maybe on a piece of metal, like a small dog tag," Millie suggested.

"I am not wearing a dog tag," Theo said firmly.

"I said like, not that it would be an actual dog tag," Millie said. "I don't particularly want to go around wearing a dog tag either."

"A ring, or a solid bracelet, or a necklace with a pendant would all be options, we don't have to all use the same thing. In fact, it's probably better if we don't," Luna said.

Neville nodded. "I think matching jewelry would attract more attention than we'd want."

"Well, let's keep brainstorming on it for now. I'll see if I can get an owl order catalog for a jewelry store so we can each pick something that will work but that we feel suits us. In the meantime, I'm going to give coins to each of you to distribute. I was thinking Tuesday for our next DA meeting?" Hermione asked.

"That should work, it will take us a few days to privately distribute the coins," Theo said.

"I'll mark them with the date and time now then," Hermione said. "After that, let's get started. I think we have Charms homework to start with, then a Defense OWL review."

Rachel picked the map back up. "Mischief managed," she told it.

"I have to say, the passwords for the map sound very much like something Sirius would pick," Theo said.

"They do," Rachel agreed. A younger, happier Sirius. She hoped that as time passed he would get back some of what he'd lost in Azkaban. She tucked the map away and pulled out the books she needed for homework.


"You're alone?"

Rachel smiled down into the mirror. "I should have at least thirty minutes before Pansy and Daphne come in for the night and Millie is waiting in the common room for me. We're alone for now."

"Good. Tell me everything," Sirius said, his grey eyes watching her intensely.

She glanced away, even knowing that all he could see of her was her face and shoulders. "There's not a lot to tell. On Wednesday it was announced that all of our clubs and teams were disbanded and they're only allowed to continue with Professor Umbridge's approval. It even includes our study group."

"Teams? Quidditch too?"

Rachel nodded. "I have the team practicing in groups of two, but I know for a fact she already approved the other three House teams."

"She hasn't approved the Slytherin team because you're on it." It wasn't a question.

"That's my assumption as well. I'm sure if I left the team she'd approve it right away." She didn't want to think about that too closely. She was the captain, which meant she had to do the right thing for the team, but at the same time they definitely couldn't train a new Seeker in the middle of the season.

"You're not leaving the team." That wasn't a question either.

"I'm not planning on it unless there are no other options. It's not fair of me to stop the entire team from playing."

"And Dumbledore can't do anything about this?" he asked.

"I don't know. We haven't gone that far yet." She wasn't sure she wanted to either. If Professor Dumbledore was fighting not to be ousted from the school, he didn't need a problem like Quidditch teams being brought to him.

"Bring it to him before you quit the team. Exhaust your other options first, but don't just roll over and take what Umbridge has to dish out," Sirius said with a nod. "What else is going on?"

"Do you know of a good way to tell when someone's following you?" She didn't exactly expect him to have an answer, considering Professor Moody only had limited advice last year, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Is someone stalking you?" He sounded a little alarmed. "Is it the Death Eaters kids?"

"No, no one is stalking me. I just don't want to get caught meeting with my study group since that could get us expelled. Professor Umbridge already tried to give me Veritaserum, so I'm not putting it past her to have me followed," Rachel explained.

"She did what!"

Rachel winced. She'd forgotten that she hadn't told Sirius about that. "It's alright. It didn't work. I figured she was trying to give me a potion of some sort in the tea and secretly dumped it under my robes while she wasn't looking and pretended that I'd been given Veritaserum. Well, I guessed what it was like to be under Veritaserum, because I didn't really know much other than it makes you tell the truth."

Sirius stared at her for a moment and then started laughing.

Rachel waited, feeling a little bit uncomfortable. It sometimes seemed like Sirius had big emotions. He was either very happy, or bitterly angry, or sullenly depressed. He didn't seem to have much neutral ground. She didn't know if that was just the way he was or if it was a side effect from being exposed to the dementors for so long.

"You know, you remind me more of Lily than you remind me of James, but sometimes it is very clear that you are James' child," Sirius said when he'd stopped laughing. "He always had a knack for getting himself out of situations. I swear, he could even charm Filch and McGonagall when he had to."

"I wouldn't say that I charmed Mr. Filch, but he's always been nice to me," she said. "Professor McGonagall is too."

Sirius smiled. "I think that's a little bit of Lily and a little bit of James. Lily wasn't often a troublemaker, but she had most of the staff wrapped around her finger. She could get away with just about anything if she wanted to. Slughorn adored her. McGonagall was a little bit more savvy with James, but she was very proud of both of them."

Rachel smiled as she imagined her parents at school. She knew they'd done well in school, and it was nice to imagine them in the same classrooms as she took lessons in. She wondered if Professor McGonagall would tell her about her parents if she asked.

"What is your plan for Umbridge?" he asked.

"Stay out of her way as much as possible."

"That's a little difficult when you have class with her every week." Sirius raised his eyebrows. "What are you going to do when you can't avoid her?"

"Be polite and try to get away from her as soon as I can. Severus said that I should tell him if she tries to meet with me privately again, but I'm not sure what he can do," she said with a shrug.

"Well, obviously you're aware not to accept food and drink from her, which rules out most of the possibilities of her dosing you with a potion. If she's willing to illegally give you Veritaserum I'm not sure we can discount any possibility at this stage. Obviously the biggest danger would be her stunning you and removing you from school grounds, but I'm not sure what her motive would be," he said, looking thoughtful.

"To bring me to Minister Fudge, maybe, but I don't think that's likely. It's easy to give someone Veritaserum and not leave any evidence. Kidnapping me would be much harder to hide. My friends also know to send Severus a Patronus message if I don't show up within an hour," Rachel said. She didn't think it was likely that Professor Umbridge would kidnap her. Or try to kill her. "I think the only real danger would be her trying to use a spell of some sort on me, but I don't know how that would get her what she wants either."

"What does she want? If you had to pick what her top goals are here, what does she want?" Sirius asked.

"She wants me to say that the Dark Lord didn't return, and she wants to remove Professor Dumbledore from his position as Headmaster. I think that's part of what the article about memory charms was about - if they'd believed that he'd memory charmed a student, that would probably be grounds for forcing him to step down."

Sirius nodded. "We saw in the Daily Prophet that those charges were cleared. Were you involved in that?"

"Yes, I showed them my memory of the third task in the Headmaster's pensieve. They were positive it wasn't fake, but Professor Umbridge wasn't very happy about that. I think she was actually more unhappy about that than she was about what I said while I was pretending to be under the influence of Veritaserum. She refused to watch the memory." Rachel shrugged.

"That's not surprising. Some people are like that. They have an idea in their mind of what they want to believe and they will look at absolute proof that they're wrong and they will deny it until their deathbeds. You can't reason with her, Rachel. Don't try."

"That's what Severus said too."

"Good. I can't believe I'm saying this, but listen to him. And be careful. And don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it. Anything else going on?" he asked.

"I had a weird question, actually. Have you ever noticed getting tired while holding the Shield charm for a long time, like fifteen minutes? Am I running out of magic or something?" Rachel asked, figuring that she could ask him without arousing as much suspicion as she would with Severus.

"Putting aside the question of why you're trying to hold a Shield charm that long," Sirius said, pausing to wink at her, "the first thing to know is that you can't run out of magic. Magic isn't a well that is drawn from or a container that can be emptied. Magic is more like a muscle. You've probably seen this yourself. In your first year you had to concentrate really hard and try over and over to cast spells. Every time you cast a spell you had to try. Now, you pull out your wand and you cast Lumos without thinking about it. Your magic and your body recognize that spell. Not only that, but it recognizes how to reach for your magic and draw it out. Just like muscles, the more you practice, the stronger you get. Also like muscles, it's not just practicing standing around and walking, it's practicing really drawing from your magic. This was a better metaphor than I thought."

"So it gets tiring because I'm not used to flexing my muscle for that long in a single go?" Rachel asked.

"Exactly. If you went around holding a Shield charm for fifteen minutes on a regular basis, it would get less tiring, though I really don't see why you would want to do that. No battle is going to leave you holding a Shield charm that long. Most fights are over in five to ten minutes except for professional duels."

Rachel frowned as she thought. "Are some people naturally more magically powerful than other people? Like, Professor Dumbledore for example? Could anyone learn what he can do?"

"Yes and no. Dumbledore has spent his life devoted to powerful magic. A lot of what he can do is because he spent the time learning to do it and practicing channeling magic to the point where he is calling upon much more magic than the average witch or wizard. And, at the same time, no, not everyone can learn to do that. To go back to our muscle example, not everyone is cut out to be a champion bodybuilder, but more people could do it if they really wanted to. The fact that you could cast a Patronus at thirteen tells me that you are quite strongly connected to your magic and that you have the willingness and dedication that it takes to study difficult magic. If you truly wanted to spend the next sixty or seventy years of your life devoted to practicing and learning powerful magic, you could probably get somewhere in the range of what Dumbledore can do, if perhaps not exactly to where he is."

"I don't think I want to do that," Rachel said, shaking her head. "It's weird, but I kind of think that Professor Dumbledore is lonely. And he has a lot of people who either look up to him or who hate him. I don't really want that for my life."

"And that's fine, most people don't. Most people who are well connected to their magic tend to focus on one or two areas and excel there. While we're talking about this, how is the fourth animagus mediation going for you?"

"I can call up the feeling pretty much instantly while I'm holding my wand, but I can't get it at all without it. I've been stuck like that for about three weeks now. Do you have any ideas how to move past that?" she asked.

Sirius nodded. "Start by channeling magic with your wand and then use your other hand to take your wand away. You should be able to still feel it for a moment. Work on doing that over and over, until the feeling is lasting for longer. Then try to call that same feeling up without a wand directly after you let go of it."

"I'll try that, and I'll tell the others too," Rachel said, glad for a way to move forward. "How is everything where you are?"

"Other than the attic and the meetings, it's pretty quiet. A little too quiet. We're watching the Death Eaters closely and it's clear they're trying to very subtly consolidate power in the Ministry. Fudge is the linchpin. Right now he's willing to be influenced by Death Eaters, but there's going to reach a point where he has to take a side and pretty much either choice he makes is going to lead to his death." Sirius looked a little grim.

"The Death Eaters will kill him no matter what he decides?" Rachel asked, a little confused.

Sirius shook his head. "The Death Eaters will kill him if he renounces them and begins to direct the Ministry and the aurors against them. If he goes full Death Eater, then one of us will have to take him out to force an election. We can't go to war with both the Death Eaters and the Ministry."

Rachel paused while she processed the idea of the Order deciding to kill Minister Fudge. It was a scary proposition. "How will they make sure another Death Eater won't be elected Minister?" she asked, deciding to skip all of the intermediate steps for the time being.

"We'll rig the election. The Death Eaters will try too, but we've got this covered. Likely Scrimgeour would take the position in the interim and we'd make sure he kept it."

"What's stopping the Death Eaters from just killing him?" she asked, wondering where it all stopped.

"Scrimgeour is head of the aurors and he fought in the last war. Death Eaters would have a hell of a time bringing him down," Sirius said. "Look, don't worry about this. Keep yourself safe in Hogwarts and let us handle it."

Rachel nodded. This was definitely more than what she wanted to be involved with. "Do you think that you and Remus will be able to come to Hogsmeade on Saturday, December 16th?"

"Barring emergencies, we'll be there. Same time and same place okay for you?"

"That should be fine," Rachel said.

"Alright. I'm going to let you go. Take a break this weekend. Try not to work yourself so hard, your friends too," Sirius said, with what seemed to be a forced smile.

"We will. It was good to talk with you, Sirius. Tell Remus hi from me."

"I will. We'll talk again soon. Take care of yourself."

"You too." Rachel watched as Sirius' image faded and it turned into her own reflection. Maybe she shouldn't have asked him about the war. She needed to put aside the thoughts of murders and assassinations and all of that, at least for now when there wasn't anything she could do about it. It seemed a given that people were going to die. She only hoped they could stop it from becoming a lot of people dying.

The door opened and Pansy peeked in. "Rachel, can I come in?"

"Sure, sorry. I didn't mean to keep you out," Rachel said, turning on her bed so she could see Pansy.

"It's alright, Millie said you were probably just saying goodbye to your godfather. Is that going well?" Pansy asked as she came over to her own bed and started pulling things out of her bag.

"Yes. It's good to get to know him. We talked about my parents a little bit," Rachel said.

Pansy looked sad for a moment, but she nodded. "Are you alright to check this letter before I send it to my parents? I wrote it with Professor Snape a few hours ago."

"That's fine, I can look now," she said, getting up and going to Pansy's bed.

Pansy handed her the letter and continued sorting through her books and parchment.

Rachel unrolled the letter and skimmed it. There was the usual list of what they were covering in class, along with notations that Rachel had performed the spells well in Transfiguration and Charms. Pansy had noted that Rachel had been awake early on Monday and Thursday, which meant Severus knew as well, which was a little annoying. Pansy had also noted that Rachel's study group had stopped meeting and now Rachel was going to the library after class with their roommate Millie. "You noticed I went to the library?" she asked.

"Is that alright that I wrote that? Professor Snape didn't seem to think it was too revealing," Pansy said.

"No, it's alright. I just didn't realize you were watching."

"I wasn't really. I was a few steps behind you on Thursday after Defense because I was also going to the library to get a few assignments done. You're worried about people following you?" Pansy asked.

"A little. I think Professor Umbridge might ask people to follow me," Rachel said, not seeing the harm in revealing that.

"I promise you, if she asked me to do that, I would have told you," Pansy said, her expression entirely serious as she met Rachel's eyes.

"I know. And I appreciate that. You're going home for the holidays?" she asked, handing Pansy back her letter. She'd noticed that Pansy had put the date down for the train back to Kings Cross.

"Yes. I'm worried about my mother. I want to check on her," Pansy said, gripping her letter tightly.

Rachel nodded, she could understand that. "Do you think it will be safe for you there?"

"I don't expect the Dark Lord to come calling for Christmas, so I think it will be safe enough. Given my parents' responses to the letters, I don't think they'll press me for more details either," Pansy said.

"Okay. I just want you to be safe," she said, wishing there was an easier way to protect people.

"And I appreciate that. I think Millie is waiting for you still in the common room, I just wanted to deal with the letter without an audience," Pansy said.

Rachel got the hint that Pansy wanted to be alone for a moment. "Thanks. I'll see you in a bit." She put away her mirror and headed out to the common room to sit with Millie and Theo for a while, and hopefully she could get her mind to stop worrying so much in the process.


Rachel had her planner spread out on her lap, a quill in her hand, and her History of Magic OWL guide was opened to the Goblin Rebellions. She wasn't paying attention to any of it. It was after curfew, but it was also a Saturday, which meant the common room was fairly boisterous. Someone had left a Quaffle lying around and the upper year boys were tossing it from place to place. The Wizarding Wireless was playing a song she didn't recognize and a small group of girls were sitting around it occasionally singing along and giggling. She could see where the Carrow twins were quietly conferring with Avery and Jacob, and she noticed them looking in her direction every so often. Rachel was pretending not to notice.

Most of the prefects were in front of the fireplace, though Diane was notably absent. Rachel had already made excuses to talk with most of the prefects to give them their DA coins, though she still needed to pin down Draco. She scanned the common room again - Draco wasn't with Pansy and the other prefects, nor was he with any of the Quidditch team members. Maybe he'd already turned in for the night, but that would be unusual for him.

She spotted a group of first and second years in the corner playing gobstones. Near the window, Scarlett was on her feet motioning broadly with her arms as she recounted some story or event to some of the fourth years. A small group of third and fourth years were gathered around a table watching a game of chess. Crabbe and Goyle were sitting by themselves and seemed to be puzzling over something on a piece of parchment. Daphne and Astoria were also sitting together - it looked like Daphne was helping Astoria with her homework.

All in all, it was about as peaceful as the common room got on a weekend.

"I'd say take a break from studying, but I think your head is off in the clouds," Millie said, leaning over to peer at Rachel's planner.

Rachel blinked down at her planner where she'd been marking off what was done and checking what needed to be done still. They were mostly caught up - there was a history essay to write tomorrow and a Transfiguration assignment, and OWL studying of course, but otherwise they were ready for the next week. "Yeah, just lost in thought. Or, lost without thought, I think."

"Might be bedtime," Theo said, looking up from the book that was open on his lap.

"Maybe. How is it only November?" Rachel asked. It seemed like they'd squeezed a lot in the past two and a half months.

"Good question. Might be bedtime for me too," Millie said, covering up a yawn.

"I wanted to talk to Draco. Have either of you seen him?" Rachel asked.

Theo twisted around in his seat and leaned to the side. "He's in that armchair, right where the bookcases form a bit of a nook. He goes there when he doesn't want Crabbe and Goyle bugging him. He probably wouldn't mind a visit from you. He likes you."

Rachel and Millie exchanged glances. "He likes me? But he's dating Pansy."

Theo sighed. "Not like that. At least, I don't think he likes you like that, I've never asked. But he likes you as a friend, which is not something a lot of people can say about Draco. In fact, given everything, it's not something he should say at all."

"Would it be safer for him if I avoided him in public?" Rachel asked, not quite sure what to do with that information.

"No, you have the excuse of Quidditch stuff. If Lucius Malfoy had told Draco to stop talking to you, he would have done it already. I'm a little surprised he didn't," Theo said. "In fact, it might be more concerning that he didn't, now that I think about it."

"First, should we discuss this here? Second, what do you mean?" Millie asked.

"No. We probably shouldn't discuss this here. And what it boils down to is be careful around Draco," Theo said, concern furrowing his brow.

"I don't know what Draco could possibly do to me here at Hogwarts. He can't apparate or portkey me off grounds and there would be no point in him attacking me, the Dark Lord wants to kill me himself," Rachel said quietly, not wanting to attract attention, but doubting she could be heard over the music from the wireless anyway.

Millie flinched. "I know it's true, but I wish you wouldn't say it like it's bound to happen."

"Obviously we're going to do whatever we can do to prevent that from happening," Theo said, pitching his voice low. "But look at it this way: if Lucius Malfoy didn't tell Draco to stay away from you now that the Dark Lord is returned and he's grooming his son to be a Death Eater, then there has to be a reason why. I can't think of any good reason that Lucius would want Draco to be close to you."

"Maybe. But Draco's not a Death Eater yet," Rachel said, shaking her head.

"Lucius Malfoy would sooner kill his own son than see him betray his family, and there's no way Draco doesn't know that. Rachel, I know that you're friends with Draco, but I don't see a way where this ends well for either of you," Theo said. "And I don't want to see you hurt by Draco."

"I don't want that either. We're not saying you have to stop being friends with Draco, we're just saying be careful around him. While we probably can't trust Draco, we know for sure we can't trust Lucius Malfoy. So be friends with Draco and Quidditch buddies with him, but don't let your guard down either," Millie said, glancing at Theo.

Rachel frowned. Everyone seemed convinced that Draco was going to become a Death Eater. Maybe she was the one who was wrong and she just didn't want to see it happening? But in the meantime, Draco wasn't a Death Eater. When he became one, she could stop being friends with him, but until then, they were friends, even if he was sometimes aggressive, selfish, and inconsiderate. "I will. I'm going to go to talk to him about the team's practice tomorrow."

"Alright. I'm going to go check on Blaise. He got a letter from his mother today and I don't think it was good news," Theo said, closing his book and getting to his feet.

"I'm going to go shower, I'll meet you in our dorm, Rachel," Millie said, shoving the parchment that she'd been drawing runes on into her bag.

"Alright, I'll see you there. Goodnight, Theo," Rachel said. She put her planner, her OWL study guide, and her quill back in her bag and stood up and stretched. Maybe while the individual parts of the team were practicing tomorrow she'd go flying on the grounds.

"Do you have a moment to talk?" she asked when she reached Draco.

He looked up from the book he was studying, a parchment with notes on it next to him. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you too."

"Mind if I put up a privacy ward?" Rachel asked.

"That kind of talk, huh? Go ahead, but the Carrow twins are in the room." Draco put his parchment in between the pages of the book to mark his place and set it aside.

Rachel made sure her back was toward the Carrow twins. They couldn't read her lips if they couldn't see her face. With the privacy ward in place she knelt down, wishing there was another chair nearby. She reached in her bag and pulled out the last enchanted Galleon that she had to hand out. "This will tell you when the DA meetings are. Check where the serial number is for the time and date. It will heat up when it's changed, so if you put it in your pocket, you should feel it."

Draco examined the Galleon. "Nice bit of spell work, simple, but effective. Was that you?"

"No, that was Hermione," Rachel said, deciding to leave out the fact that the Dark Mark had been the inspiration for the coins.

"Figures. She has more books than common sense," Draco said, pocketing the coin. "How sure are you that Umbridge doesn't know about the DA?"

"Pretty sure. I'm certain she'd suspect me, and all I've been getting from her is stuff about the Dark Lord returning."

Draco frowned and looked away. "Do you think this decree is just a coincidence then? The timing of it?"

"I think she couldn't do it before, because she wasn't the Head Inquisitor before. I think this is her trying to take control of the students before she takes control of the teachers, and eventually of the Headmaster's position. I really don't think she knows about the DA. If I thought that she did, I would have stopped meetings for a few weeks while we came up with a new plan. I promise you that we're not playing around or taking this lightly," Rachel said, not sure what else she could say to convince him.

"You'll tell me, if you think she knows?" he asked, watching Rachel closely.

"I will. The first sign that she knows we will discreetly warn everyone. I promise. And, you can always say that you were spying on us. They'll probably believe you," she offered.

Draco nodded. "I absolutely am using that excuse if we get caught."

"Good. We do want you there, but it's okay if you think it's too risky. You can decide what feels right to you, no one is going to hold it against you." She nodded, hoping that he would believe her.

His mouth twisted slightly but he nodded once. "I assume you're having Adrian and Martin out for half the session tomorrow and Miles and Timothy out for the other half?"

"Yes. I'm going to go flying on the grounds though, out of team uniform, if you want to come with me. It's not the same as practicing, but at least it gets us in the air."

"I'll think about it. You know that she gave permission for all the other teams to reform, right?" he asked.

"I know. I'll talk to Professor Snape tomorrow and see if there's anything he can do. When did you submit the request?"

"Wednesday afternoon, right after lunch. She should have said yes immediately. She knows who my father is." Draco scowled at that.

"I think she hates me more than she wants to curry favor with your father," Rachel said ruefully.

"We'll see about that. Go through Professor Snape first, but if he can't do anything I am writing to my father, and he will do something about it."

"Alright, let's give her until Wednesday at least before you write to your father. That gives Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore some time to work." She would actually prefer not to involve Lucius Malfoy if she could help it.

"Do you think Dumbledore actually has any power over Umbridge? He can't fire her. He can't tell her what to teach in her classroom. What is it that he can do?" Draco asked, a little sourly.

"Make her follow the school rules, I guess. I don't know, exactly, but I think it's worth trying."

"Fine. But if we're not back by Wednesday at dinner, I'm writing a letter. Anything else I should know?" he asked.

"No, I think that's everything. Meet me after lunch tomorrow if you want to go flying together," she said, getting back to her feet and dismissing the privacy ward. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Draco said, returning to his book.

Rachel went back in the direction of the girls dorms and noticed that the Carrow twins, Jacob, and Avery were all watching her. She pretended that she didn't see them and made a mental note to tell Severus about it tomorrow. She was officially done for the day.


The breakfast table was less crowded on weekend mornings. Some students took the opportunity to sleep in and didn't bother with breakfast at all. Other students came a little later, since it was served until nine on the weekends. Rachel had looked through the newspaper, but nothing had stood out to her as being particularly relevant or like it was hinting at Death Eater activity. She had considered the toast on the toast rack, the serving bowl of porridge, the fruit bowl, and the plates of eggs and bacon before simply going with pumpkin juice. It wasn't exactly eating, but it was closer than it had been before. She'd try again at lunch.

"History essay first, I think? Get the worst one out of the way?" Theo asked, setting aside the newspaper he'd been perusing.

"Might as well. I can't wait until we can drop History. Just think, no more History lectures, no more History essays, no more History end of year exams," Millie said, sounding enthused.

"And no more being up at midnight for Astronomy lessons," Rachel pointed out. That was what she was looking forward to the most about dropping classes.

"Six and a half months," Theo said as he turned and stood up. "Hermione?"

"Hagrid's back!" Hermione said with a smile. She was accompanied by the rest of the group.

"When?" Rachel asked, looking up at the staff table, though she thought she would have noticed when she came into the room if he'd been there. Hagrid was hard to miss.

"We saw the lights on in his house from Gryffindor Tower last night, but we didn't think it was a good idea to sneak out to see him," Hermione said.

"Hermione didn't think it was a good idea, I was all for it," Ginny said.

"Neville and I are prefects," Hermione said pointedly.

"Which makes it much easier to sneak out," Ginny said, not without a smile.

"Anyway," Theo said. "Do you think he'd mind if we went to see him this morning?"

"I hope not. I know we have homework to do-"

"We can do homework later, we haven't seen Hagrid since June," Rachel said quickly. She wanted to see for herself that Hagrid had returned alright. "Let's go now?"

"Yes, I'd like to see Hagrid as well," Luna said.

"Yes, let's go. We can spend an hour or two there and still have time for our History essay before lunch," Millie said as she got up.

The group made their way out of the castle and Rachel immediately wished she'd had her cloak with her. It wasn't raining yet, but the sky was dark with clouds and there was a cold wind. She wrapped her arms around her chest, pulling her fingers inside her sleeves to keep them from freezing. Winter was almost here.

"Where do you think he's been all this time?" Neville asked as they walked quickly down the path.

"I don't know. Maybe he'll be able to tell us," Rachel said. She was glad to see the little trail of smoke coming from Hagrid's chimney. No one else would be in Hagrid's house. She was shivering by the time they reached the front door and she knocked before stepping back so she wouldn't immediately be jumped on by Fang. They could hear the sound of Fang barking and Hagrid's heavy footsteps. The door opened and Rachel couldn't help but gasp. "Hagrid!"

Hagrid, despite his obvious injuries, smiled at them. "Didn't take you lot long. I suppose I should be glad you didn't show up when I got in last night. Fang, down! Come on in, I've got him."

"Hagrid, what happened?" Ginny asked, staring at Hagrid's face.

"Nothing much, come on now, before the heat gets out," Hagrid said, pulling Fang further back by his collar.

They went inside and took seats around Hagrid's kitchen table. Rachel kept watching Hagrid, even when he released Fang and Fang eagerly shoved his head and paws onto her lap. Severus had told her that Hagrid would be alright, that his giant blood would protect him, but Hagrid looked like he'd been severely beaten, and that was just his face. Who knew what other wounds were beneath his clothes.

"Hagrid, you're hurt. Your eye is all swollen and your lip, and you've got cuts and bruises." Millie looked upset.

"That's what the raw dragon steak is for," Hagrid said, pointing at a slab of greenish meat. "Let me put the kettle on and we can talk. Mind, I can't tell you much."

"Professor Dumbledore sent you to the giants, as a sort of envoy, to help with the war. To ask them, if not to join us, to at least not join You-Know-Who either," Hermione said, her gaze fixed on Hagrid.

"Too smart by half, that's our Hermione for you," Hagrid said, shaking his head as he went to fill his kettle.

Hermione blushed and looked away.

It made perfect sense, but Rachel thought if Hagrid's face was any indication, negotiations had gone very badly.

"Did it work?" Neville asked.

Hagrid sighed, hung the kettle over the fire, and sat down heavily. "I see there's not keeping much from you. Before we left, Dumbledore taught us how to approach the giants-"

"We?" Theo asked.

"Me and Olympe, that's Madame Maxime to you." Hagrid paused and settled the greenish meat slab over his swollen eye. "We brought the leader of the giants gifts, the Gurg, magical gifts. And, it seemed to be working too. But then the Death Eaters, they showed up too. Next thing we know, the Gurg is dead, with a new leader in place, and he's being given gifts by the Death Eaters."

"The Death Eaters killed a giant?" Hermione asked, sounding skeptical.

Hagrid shook his head. "Nah, that'd be a tough one, even for the Death Eaters. They got the new Gurg to gather up a gang to do it."

"And then the giants came after you and Madame Maxime?" Luna asked, her eyes wide.

"No, no, none of that. We were staying hidden. We tried to recruit the giants who fell out of favor with the new Gurg. Took a while, lots of hiding in caves, but they came around. We had a group of four of the smaller ones. Mind you, smaller meaning around 18 to 20 feet tall. We come back one day, and they've been killed. Torn apart." Hagrid shook his head again, sadly this time. "Took us a while to get back out and away from the Death Eaters. We had to sneak and travel by night."

Rachel frowned. "But you were attacked? By the Death Eaters?"

"No, we snuck away alright," Hagrid said, getting up to collect the kettle from where it was whistling.

Rachel looked at the rest of the group and found them looking equally puzzled and uncertain.

"But Hagrid, who attacked you?" Ginny asked when he returned with mugs.

"Got into a bit of a blow out on the way out, nothing to worry about," Hagrid said, setting out the mugs. "I haven't any milk, haven't gone up to the kitchens yet."

"Was Madame Maxime hurt too?" Hermione asked.

"Nah, Olympe's fine. She's gone back up to Beauxbatons. Plenty to be getting on with there, though she said she'd write me." Hagrid began pouring cups of tea.

"Were the giants far away?" Rachel asked. She realized that she didn't even know if Hagrid could apparate, but at the very least he could probably get a portkey.

"Ah, there's no giants left in Great Britain. What didn't die in the war with Grindelwald were killed by aurors in the years after. They're up in the mountains now, living in tribes, but they're a dying breed. Giants aren't meant to live all together like that, causes killings." Hagrid sounded remarkably calm about this considering he was half giant himself.

"Can't anything be done about it?" Hermione asked.

"Convince the wizards to give them more space, stop trying to gather them and keep them there. They worry about muggles running into them and getting killed," Hagrid said as he sat back down and put the meat back over his eye. "Truth be, it might be too late. Used to be a hundred tribes of giants, now it's less than ten, and the one we saw, there were only about thirty giants left in the tribe before the Death Eaters started getting them killed."

Rachel didn't know almost anything about populations and breeding and that sort of thing, but she remembered from her muggle school when they talked about animals and plants, the animals they bred had to be from different families or they had problems. If there were less than three hundred giants left, and they were stuck in tribes of about thirty giants, then that didn't leave them that much room for marrying and having children.

"Do you know if the Death Eaters are bringing the giants here to fight?" Theo asked.

"Ah, well, I'm sure they're planning to, but that will be a tough bit of work for them," Hagrid said. "Enough of that. What's been happening around here?"

They looked at each other again, each of them seeming to try to figure out what they could say to explain Professor Umbridge.

"Well, we have a new Defense professor," Hermione began.

"And she's an enormous bitch," Ginny said, getting a look from everyone. "Well, she is. She's banned clubs and study groups, she keeps harassing Rachel over You-Know-Who returning, she doesn't teach us anything, and she acts like we're all small children."

"And she was sent by Minister Fudge, she now has the power to assess and even fire professors," Theo said. "Are you going back to teaching Care of Magical Creatures?"

"Sure am. As for this Professor Umbridge, I met her last night. She sure seemed keen to know where I've been," Hagrid said.

"She probably suspects you're a member of the Order," Millie said.

"And none of you should be talking about that business," Hagrid said firmly.

"We don't," Rachel said. "I think the point we're making is that Professor Umbridge will probably try to make life hard for you. If she can find a reason, she'll fire you."

"Or even if she can make up a reason," Neville said.

"I'm not too worried about that. She said she'd come see one of my classes, it will be fine," Hagrid said confidently.

Rachel did not think Professor Umbridge would approve of Hagrid's classes, and from everyone else's expressions, it seemed they felt the same way.

"Maybe you can do a lesson about the Fire Dwelling Salamanders again, that was nice," Luna suggested.

"Bowtruckles would be a good pick, as long as they were out here and not in the forest," Millie said.

"Or maybe just a lesson from the book," Hermione said.

"Don't you worry about my lessons, I've got it under control. Lots of good things to show you this year. Wilhelmina treating you well?"

"Who?" Ginny asked.

"Professor Grubbly-Plank, of course. She doing my classes well?" Hagrid asked.

"Oh, yes. We've missed you though," Rachel said. A secret part of her preferred Professor Grubbly-Plank's lessons, but she had missed Hagrid.

"Ah, good. Well it's good to be back," Hagrid said.


Rachel was lost in thought as she entered Severus' office. It had been another busy day. They'd done homework, OWL reviews, and she'd gone flying with Draco while the pairs from the team practiced. Tonight, after dinner, they had a break, and she thought she was going to use some of the time to go through their Arithmancy homework again before class tomorrow. Professor Vector had taken to giving them quizzes after tricky assignments. They only had five more weeks before the Christmas holiday and she was already looking forward to taking a break.

She found Severus in his armchair with the last of what looked like a pile of graded essays. "How much red ink do you go through?" she asked as she set her bag on the couch and sat down.

"You do not wish to know," he said as he drew a line through something and made a note on someone's essay.

"You don't do that to my essays." Rachel occasionally got comments on her essays, but not too often. Professor Flitwick liked to put exclamation points when he particularly liked a sentence or a paragraph, and Professor Sprout would draw a star at the top of an essay that she felt was excellent.

"That's because you know how to write a sentence properly and how to do research rather than writing down the first idea that comes into your head. I'll be done in a moment," Severus said, his eyes still focused on the essay in front of him.

"No rush," Rachel said. She didn't mind taking a moment to just sit in the quiet of Severus' quarters. Sometimes Hogwarts felt like a mishmash of noise and people that never ended. It was nice to step away, even if it was just for an hour.

A few minutes later he set aside the essays and his quill and looked at her. "How was your week?"

"Not bad. Professor Umbridge still hasn't given the Slytherin Quidditch team permission to practice, even though she's allowing all the other teams. And she hasn't approved my study group either."

"I'll see what I can do about the Quidditch team. As for your study group, I will try, but you may have to ask them to reform without your name on the request and then you can potentially stagger your arrivals and departures so that it's not obvious you're meeting with them. I'd still like you to keep one of your friends with you if you choose to do that. Are you still meeting on the third floor?" he asked.

"No, we've moved." Rachel paused, wondering if it was a good idea to even bring this up. "I know you told me to keep my invisibility cloak put away-"

"Never mind that," Severus said immediately. "Obviously you are now in a situation where you need to conceal your movements. I would not be surprised if Umbridge is conspiring to have you watched or followed."

"That was my concern too," Rachel said, glad that they were arriving at the same conclusions.

"Make certain that you keep it a secret. Quite a number of people knew that James had an invisibility cloak because he flaunted it while he was at Hogwarts. One of the best protections an invisibility cloak can offer you is no one suspecting that you have it." A deep frown crossed his features momentarily before he retreated to a more neutral expression.

"With that in mind, is there a way to make a secret compartment in my bag, so that I can keep the cloak in there but no one can find it, in case Professor Umbridge asks me to show her my bag?" she asked, reaching the true reason she had told him about wanting to use the cloak.

"Yes, a hidden space extension charm should work nicely. Has Umbridge asked to see the contents of your bag?"

"No, but she could. That happened to a boy in my primary school, he got caught with sweet wrappers and the teacher dumped his whole bag out in front of the class," Rachel said. Amazingly, it hadn't been her cousin who had been caught, but she was sure Dudley had learned to hide his sweets better after that.

"Given what little I've heard of your primary school, I am not impressed with it," Severus said, shaking his head slightly. "Empty your bag and bring it to me and I'll do the charms."

"Everything or just the big stuff?" Rachel asked as she began pulling books out of her bag.

"Just the books should be fine, you can leave your quills and parchment. Is it necessary for you to carry that many books on the weekend?"

Rachel looked at the books she'd pulled out. She had her two-way book, her History book, her Transfiguration book, and two of the OWL guides. "That's everything we studied today, we didn't want to take the time to come back to our dorms to change books." She set her invisibility cloak down on the books and brought Severus her bag.

Severus examined the satchel, running his hands along the inside and turning it this way and that. "I think a slit along the top of the back lining should do it. Is that accessible enough for you?"

"That should be fine," Rachel agreed. She watched him as he worked, first making the slit with his wand tip, then opening it and beginning the work inside. His wand seemed to flow from spell to spell, all done silently. She was always impressed by Severus' magic - he seemed to do things that were well beyond what they were being taught at Hogwarts.

"Run your wand tip across here," Severus said once he'd finished.

Rachel pulled out her wand and did has he said, and the slit immediately opened again. "Cool."

"You have about a foot of space inside, when you've put the cloak in, just run your wand tip along the seam again and it will close back up."

"Thank you," she said. She returned to the couch and slipped her cloak inside. She'd wait to put the Marauder's Map in there later. She reached her hand inside and felt the cloak after a few inches. "Perfect. Is this something that's taught at Hogwarts?"

"No, but it is easy enough to learn. I can teach you those charms while you're studying for your NEWTs. You'll need a good grasp of conjuration first," Severus said, his gaze on her as she put her books back in her bag. "I'm a little concerned about how much you are studying."

Rachel sighed. "You needn't be, we reduced it because it was driving everyone a little nuts. I did two homework assignments today and two OWL study sessions. About four hours total. I also took an hour and went to see Hagrid with my study group, and I went flying for an hour and a half with Draco."

Severus nodded once. "That seems reasonable. How are you sleeping?"

She knew that was a trick question because she'd seen Pansy's letter. "Not bad. I woke up early twice this week, but otherwise it's been okay."

"Good. Do you feel like you've increased the amount you're eating as Poppy has instructed?"

"Yes." Mostly. Well, a little bit. But she was trying.

"Alright. And your scar and your dreams?"

"Scar has prickled on and off, mostly in the evenings. It twinged once on Thursday during Astronomy class. No dreams of the hallway this week. Can we have dinner now?" she asked pointedly. She was just about done with this.

"We can. Take a seat and I'll floo call the kitchens," he said, apparently getting the message.

Rachel went to the dining table and sat down in her usual spot. A few moments later a plate of shepherd's pie appeared for each of them, with a side of buttered peas and a bread roll.

"I suppose I'll just ask you if there's anything else I should know," Severus said as he sat down.

"Actually, now that you mention it," she said after running through the week in her mind again. "Yesterday in the common room the Carrow twins, Jacob, and Avery were all sitting together and they kept looking at me."

Severus' frown deepened. "Did you notice anything from any of the other students who we've been watching, or just those four?"

"Just those four. Hestia and Flora were sitting where they usually do, but Jacob and Avery don't usually join them. And they would talk to each other, and then look at me. And then look away and talk to each other again." Rachel frowned. "It probably doesn't mean anything, but it struck me as being a little weird. Like, I think they were talking about me."

"It stands to reason that they were, though in a manner that is deplorably unsubtle. I think my advice remains the same. Keep your guard up, stay close to Millie and Theo when you're in the common room, and ensure that you're not alone with any of them. I still doubt that they will attack you, but I think it's wise to use an abundance of caution." He picked up his fork. "Do you wish for a Stomach Soothing potion?"

"No, I'm alright," Rachel said, picking up her own silverware. "Like I said, I don't think it's a big deal, just something you should know that's happening."

Severus nodded. "Indeed. Please tell me if it continues or if there is any other suspicious behavior."

"I will," she said. She took a moment and tried to tell herself she could worry after dinner. For right now, she was taking a break and eating dinner.


"You wished to see me, Headmaster?" Umbridge asked with her false simpering voice.

Severus grit his teeth. It had already been a long Monday - first year Hufflepuffs, two overboiled cauldrons, and one third year sent to Poppy with breathing difficulty after she misbrewed and then leaned directly over her cauldron and inhaled. Now he was in the Headmaster's office trying to fix his Quidditch team.

"I did, thank you for coming, Dolores. Would you care for a lemon drop? They're a muggle sweet I'm fond of," Albus said casually.

"No, thank you for the offer. I find I dislike lemon and other sour things," Umbridge said, glancing at Severus but returning her attention to Albus. "Did you have a question for me?"

"Yes. I'm aware of your most recent educational decree. It has come to my attention that three of the House Quidditch teams have been approved to resume practices, but the Slytherin Quidditch team has not been approved. Can you enlighten me as to why?" Albus asked, his tone still casual, but his gaze was direct.

"Actually, this seems like it would be an ideal time to speak to you on this matter, particularly since Professor Snape has joined us as well in his capacity as Head of Slytherin House," she said, inclining her head in Severus' direction.

"As it is my House Quidditch team in question, I am indeed present," Severus said when it became clear she was waiting for him.

"I believe that it would be in the best interest of the Slytherin Quidditch team if Miss Rachel Snow was removed from the team captain position, and in fact, removed from the team as a whole." Umbridge smiled as if she expected to be applauded.

"And why is that, Dolores?" Albus asked.

"Miss Snow has shown utterly deplorable effort in my class. I am also concerned for her behavior outside of my class. She seems to have a great deal of influence over the student body and I believe she is using it to ill purposes and rumor mongering."

"Before Miss Snow is removed from the Quidditch team due to her grade in your class, I request that her work be reviewed by another professor at Hogwarts to be independently graded," Severus said. "As to Rachel's behavior outside of class, I have heard no complaints from any students or any other staff members, have you, Albus?"

"I have not. I have been under the impression that Rachel is somewhat shy, particularly outside her group of friends. Speaking of which, I understand you have not approved the request for Miss Snow's study group to resume meeting, either?" Albus asked.

"No, and I will not approve it either. It is clear to me based on their class conduct, their essays, and their past reports that they are cheating. I will not tolerate it."

Albus shook his head. "I am aware of the academic achievements of Rachel's study group and neither I nor any of my other professors have found any evidence of academic dishonesty from any of them over the past four years. I know you do not have much experience in school environments, but it is common for ambitious study groups to have all of their members score at the top of their class."

"My experience has nothing to do with it and I will not allow them to continue," Umbridge said firmly. "Is there anything else you needed of my time?"

"The Slytherin Quidditch team," Severus said, keeping his tone neutral.

"The Slytherin Quidditch team cannot resume with Miss Snow as one of the team members. She has undue influence on the younger members and I am quite sure she is corrupting the older ones as well."

Severus raised his eyebrows, hoping for Umbridge's sake that she was not implying what it sounded like she was implying.

"Can you tell me why you are so concerned about Miss Snow, Dolores?" Albus asked.

Umbridge looked flustered for a moment before composing herself. "I do not know if Miss Snow is being manipulated or if she is simply a malicious child, but I will not allow her to spread vile rumors and corrupt the minds of innocent children."

"I presume you mean the rumors that Voldemort has returned."

Severus gritted his teeth again but found that he rather enjoyed Umbridge's violent flinch.

"Precisely."

"Has any student reported to you that Miss Snow is making such claims?" Albus asked steadily.

"No," she said after a moment.

"Severus, has any of your prefects or your students mentioned to you that Rachel has claimed as such?" Albus asked.

"No. And I assure you, I am very aware of what is happening within my House. Rachel is a shy and obedient child. She does not have sway over the Slytherin House, or over the students as a whole. She has a small group of friends and otherwise does not speak to almost anyone. She declined the prefect position, despite having the highest grades among the Slytherin fifth year girls, because she felt uncomfortable with the leadership role. Rachel is not spreading rumors or other propaganda." Severus stopped himself before he said that Rachel was an ordinary student - that was going a bit beyond believability.

"Indeed, that is my experience of Rachel as well. Has she been anything but polite to you, Dolores? Do you find her charismatic or see leadership qualities in her?"

"No. In fact, she is a bit of a dull child," Umbridge said.

Severus bristled internally.

"After I interview the members of the Slytherin Quidditch team, and if I find no evidence of malfeasance or interference, I will provisionally reinstate the team," Umbridge said finally.

"Thank you, Dolores. I appreciate us coming to an understanding," Albus said impassively.

"Was there anything else, Headmaster?"

"No, that is everything. Thank you for speaking to us so frankly," Albus said.

"Good day to you then."

They watched as Umbridge left and then Severus sank down into a chair opposite Albus. "I do not trust that woman with my child. We must do something to protect her. I do not believe she will not go beyond attempting to dose Rachel with Veritaserum."

Albus steepled his hands. "Trust was never on the table. Please warn Rachel to take additional precautions, both in Dolores' presence and as she travels through the castle. It would be wise to advise Rachel to warn her friends as well."

"She is already doing so, but I will warn her again. She and her friends cannot be seen meeting. There must be something more we can do."

Albus looked thoughtful for a moment and then he took a piece of parchment from a pile and began to silently work with his wand.

Severus watched in silence as Albus transfigured and sculpted a small phoenix medallion that looked very much like Fawkes, who was sitting nearby on his perch.

After about three minutes of work, Albus opened a drawer in his desk and after a moment of searching pulled out a thin gold jewelry chain, which he threaded the phoenix medallion on. "Instruct Rachel to wear this at all times. She need only clasp the phoenix in her hand and say 'help me' and I will come to her immediately. I trust that she will be judicious with its use."

Accepting the medallion, Severus found that he couldn't quite name the emotion he was feeling. It was a profound gift to Rachel - the promise of immediate assistance from the most powerful wizard in Britain. "Thank you. You believe the threat to Rachel is dire enough to warrant this?"

"I believe in the past I have misjudged how dire the threat to Rachel is. In her third year, if Sirius had truly been a loyal Death Eater, we would have lost her entirely. Last year, if she'd had such a method to summon me, we may have prevented the resurrection of Voldemort. I would not make the same mistake again, only to find Rachel taken from us and in urgent need of assistance. While I judge Dolores to be more of a threat to me than she is to Rachel, I am not willing to stake Rachel's well-being on that judgement."

Severus nodded. "Thank you. Rachel also has a portkey that will take her to the Hogwarts gates, it will not function within Hogwarts, but should we find trouble without, she has a safe method to return here and enter the protection of the wards."

"That is wise. While we will do our best to protect Rachel, it is also not in her best interests for us to hover and intervene at every moment. Is she currently well?" Albus asked.

"She's indicated no new dreams and her scar seems to be maintaining what has become a new normal. Otherwise, she is stressed, but well enough," Severus said, not wanting to go into the specifics of Rachel's difficulties.

"Good. Was there anything else you cared to discuss?"

"Not at this time," Severus said, standing up. "I'm sure we'll speak again at the Order meeting."

Albus nodded. "Very well. Keep me apprised."

"Of course." Severus left, intent on meeting with Rachel after dinner and providing both warnings and the medallion. It was the best he could do for now.