Last time...

"Potter, are you really telling me you didn't suspect something was up when you were still taking tests long after exams were over?" Snape asked in disbelief.

"You do remember I was running on fumes during all that, right?" Hera pointed out. "I was pretty much on auto-pilot. You could have asked me for the secrets of the universe, and I would have blurted out a diatribe of knowledge that would have made scholars the world over spring a nose bleed."

Snape looked both annoyed and amused, an odd look for him.

"…You really mean it?" Hera asked, still uncertain. "I don't have to go to class anymore?"

"I never said that." Snape pointed out, instantly deflating her hastily gathered plans. "Your professors have discreetly been ramping up your courses at a rate that far exceeds those of your peers, something they stopped hiding from me when it became known that I was taking you on as an apprentice. I do believe I made mention of this before the tasks truly began, something I should have reminded you of, it seems. It was a rather stressful year. At this point, Potter, you're taking the wizarding equivalent of muggle university classes."

"So…I don't have to go to her class anymore?" Hera hazarded a guess. "You know…since I'm sort of planning on teaching it myself anyway?…"

"Oh?"

Hera couldn't have hidden the snort if she'd wanted. "That was the worst attempt at an innocent 'Oh?' I've ever heard in my life, either of them. You should work on that. How on Earth were you ever believable as a double spy?"

"The people I spied on thought they were the smartest ones in the room, knew that I was a spy, knew that the other side knew I was a spy, and still figured they could use that to their advantage anyway." Snape quipped dryly. "Now, what do you plan to do?"

"You remember that multiple me thing I did?" Hera asked, to which he nodded. "That. There are tons of unused classrooms all over the place. She can't do that, so she can't catch everyone breaking the rules at once, and I can keep tabs on all the me's so I can warn the others should she find one of us."

"Or you can just schedule different years to visit the Room of Requirement at alternating times, still do the multiple thing, with less risk of getting caught." Snape suggested, and Hera paused.

"I'm sorry? Room of Requirement?"

Chapter 73

"So he knows?" Ron asked, watching as his friend paced in front of a blank wall past the moth eaten troll trying to club a ballet dancer. "He's the one who told you to pace around like this? Doesn't he know you do this already?"

Her sharp glare was warning enough, as was Hermione's, while Luna just laughed lightly at his predicament, and Draco snorted in amusement; scary, these friends of his. Just when he was going to say something again, however, a highly polished door appeared in the wall. Hera thought nothing of taking hold of the handle and pulling open the door, but Ron thought she needed to practice some of that self-preservational wariness that she was always harping on them about; then again, with her magic sensing thing, she might have already checked on things. When she lead them into the room, he saw that it was spacious, lit with flickering torches like those that illuminated the dungeons eight floors below. The walls were lined with wooden bookcases, and instead of chairs there were large silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors, and a large, cracked Foe-Glass.

"These will be good when we're practicing Stunning." He noted enthusiastically, prodding one of the cushions with his foot.

"And just look at these books!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly, running a finger along the spines of the large leather-bound tomes. "A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions…The Dark Arts Outsmarted…Self-Defensive Spellwork…wow…Hera, this is wonderful! There's everything we need here!"

And without further ado she slid Jinxes for the Jinxed from its shelf, sank onto the nearest cushion, and began to read.

"When will the others get here?" Draco wondered, sounding hypnotized as he too was drawn to the bookshelves.

There was a gentle knock on the door, answering his question. They all looked around; Ginny, Neville, Lavender, Parvati, and Dean had arrived. It wasn't long before others began arriving, some from other parts of the room, as there was more than one entrance to the place. It made sense; if the Chamber of Secrets had more than one entrance, surely the Room of Requirement would as well, and they'd asked the house elves about the others. Once every name on the list had lit up faintly, Hermione gave the signal to Hera, nodding to her that it was time. Hera moved across to the door and turned the key protruding from the lock; it clicked in a satisfyingly loud way, echoing in the other doors, and everybody fell silent.

…

"Alright, now this is the only time I can see us all needing to meet all at once like this, but when there is a class for your Year, it will be here. Understand?" Hera began, though she turned when she noticed a raised hand. "What, Hermione?"

"I think we ought to elect a leader," Hermione stated promptly.

"This isn't an army." Hera pointed out, though she was quickly drowned out by agreement from all quarters.

"I thought Hera was leader." Cho objected. "I mean, she's the one teaching the class. Right?"

"True," Hermione agreed, unperturbed. "but it makes things formal, gives her authority. So…Everyone who thinks Hera ought to be our leader?"

Everyone put up their hands.

"Thank you, all of you, really, but this isn't an army. I'd like to remind you all this is a class." Hera sighed, already getting a headache. "And — what, Hermione?"

"I also think we ought to have a name." she suggested brightly, her hand still in the air. "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"

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

"Or the Ministry of Magic Are Morons Group?" suggested Fred.

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

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

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

There was a good deal of appreciative murmuring and laughter at this.

"We are not naming this Dumbledore's Army!" Hera snapped, finally getting their attention. "What part of 'This is not an army' did you all not understand? This is a class, not a bloody boot camp. Besides, that man's head is fat enough from all the ego he's got. It gets any bigger, and he won't be able to leave Hogwarts anymore."

"But, Hera-" Neville began.

"No! I am not training you to be child soldiers! Do you know how horrific that is?" Hera demanded. "I will teach you how to fight, because you're going to need to know that, but more importantly I am going to teach you how to defend."

"So, the Defense Association then?" Draco went back to Cho's suggestion with a nod to her. "She's right. We're not going out looking for a fight. We're defending the people we care about, should the time ever come for that; our fellow classmates, our friends and families. We don't need to be an army to do that."

"Alright then. Defense Association it is." Hermione nodded, frowning in thought for a moment, before writing the words at the top of the paper.

"Alright, everyone pair off. We're going to brush up on shielding and disarming charms. Protego, the shield charm, is only as good as the will you put into it. An Expelliarmus could cut through a shield if the person who cast the shield charm hasn't put enough will into it to counter the spell. Expelliarmus, while a rather easy spell to master, is often overlooked because of its simplicity." Hera began. "This is a mistake-"

"Oh, please," Zacharias Smith scoffed, rolling his eyes and folding his arms. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?-Hey!"

Everyone watched as Smith's wand was pulled out of his hand, sailing through the air, before being caught by Hera.

"Cast a spell often enough, and you won't need to even say the words for them to become real." Hera informed them, causing a bubble of excitement to skitter across the room. "Did I forget to mention learning wandless nonverbal magic was also on the table?"

…

While Blaise had never really got on with Hera Potter before, and he couldn't understand Draco's near obsession with the girl, he'd never been uncivil to her either. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she walked about the room. She was patient, kind, and never had a cutting word to say. The First Years were already well on their way to learning wandless nonverbal magic in a way he hadn't thought possible before seeing it like this.

It was basic shield and disarming charms, something many of them had already gone over thanks to her actions, but this was different. It felt powerful. It felt like olde magick. He realized this was coming from Potter, that in her desire to focus on bringing out the best in her students, she wasn't focused on shielding the power she had. Draco caught him watching Potter, and made his way over to him.

"How is it no one else notices?" Blaise asked, gesturing back to her; Potter was currently trapped by First Years surrounding her as if they were her very own swarm of little ducklings. "I mean, the Zabini family has always been sensitive to magic, but this? The others should definitely have noticed by now."

"They're already too drawn in." Draco admitted with a shrug. "When she's so enthusiastic that her wish to share something she's learned overtakes her desire to hide the power she holds, it leaks out. This is just who she is."

"Alright, everyone, we should probably call time. Any longer, and we'll risk curfew." Potter's voice carried over them. "I'll find a way to let you know the next meeting time for your Year, counting for classes, practices, and such. Good job, everyone!"

"Whatever it is you're thinking, Blaise, drop it. She isn't going to think of you, or anyone, like that; not while he's still a threat." Draco warned, already sensing where his mind was going. If there was one thing Zabini's were enraptured by, it was power, and Potter had it in spades. "She won't want to risk them, even if they can protect themselves."

"You're assuming she wouldn't be interested in me?" Blaise objected in offense.

"I'm just telling you not to get your hopes up." Draco stated, hands raised in surrender. "You want to make a fool of yourself, be my guest, but I figured I should warn you."

…

When everyone was finally out of there, Ron and the others began making their way out as well, only for the door to close most firmly.

"Oi! What happened to the door?" Ron wondered, trying to budge it.

"I did."

A shiver went down his spine at tone in those words, and he turned back around to face the music.

"You wanted to follow me during my riskier adventures, because you wanted to have my back. Well, that means training, and that training starts now." Hera revealed. A box appeared on the table next to her. "Who here thinks they can dodge?"

"Why?" Draco asked, looking morbidly curious.

"Because we're about to find out." Hera replied, right before flinging some sort of metal thing at him. Draco barely managed to dodge in time. "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a spell*. Besides, spell damage leads to Pomfrey, which means questions. The twins have bruise paste."

"What do you mean – Bloody hell!"

He'd not been so lucky, and the wrench ended up hitting him square in the forehead. Soon the air was filled with pieces of metal being flung at them. Hermione managed to dodge some of the time, but he could tell she'd be sporting quite a few bruises later. Draco was a bit better about dodging, not sporting nearly as many welts as the rest of them. Luna, however, simply caught a wrench that had been flung her way, and threw it back.

Had it not been for Hera's Seeker reflexes, Ron doubts she would have caught it on the return, as surprised as she was. Slowly, while somehow still flinging wrenches at the rest of them, Hera ramped up her efforts with Luna. The two ended up looking like they were performing some kind of deadly dance; there was even music to accompany the not quite deadly display. When the wrenches stopped coming towards them, focusing more on Luna now, Ron and the others were only able to watch on in shock and awe. Finally, Hera caught the wrench without throwing it back, signaling the end of it, and the music stopped.

"Luna, where in the bloody hell did you learn to do that?" Hera asked, dumbfounded and breathing a little heavily.

"Oh, my father and I went to visit our cousins across the pond, and they taught me." Luna shrugged, obviously thinking nothing of it as she smiled. "They called it the Mamushka. I am sure they will be delighted to hear that there is another of the clan with me."

"…What?" Hera looked confused. "…Luna, who are you talking about? As far as I know, the Dursleys and Tony are my only related blood kin."

"Family is not always blood, Hera." Luna reminded her, giving a knowing look to them all. "Is it alright if I tell them about you? For them, more family is seen as a joyous occasion, and I am sure they will be delighted to get to know you."

"I…" Hera was still looking quite confused, but nodded in the end. "Sure, Luna. Just be careful what you send."

"Oh, I doubt even Umbridge could stop Grandma Frump from seeing what she wished." Luna shrugged.

"Something tells me it isn't Grandma Frump I should worry about."

A little over a week later, the Pink Menace is out of the infirmary, and Hera is back to sitting next to Snape at the Head Table. She wonders what the woman would do if Hera were to step into the Teachers Lounge, or joining a Staff Meeting. She's tempted to find out, but restrains herself, content in the knowledge that the entire student body is sending that atrocious woman the two fingered salute with both hands with every chance they can meet up. Already Neville was able to disarm Hermione, Colin had mastered the impediment jinx in no time flat, Parvati Patil had cast a Reducto so powerful that the table holding the Sneakoscopes had been reduced to dust. Hera wondered if this is what her teachers felt like when they saw their students succeed.

The after hours training with her shield-brethren was also going well, and Luna had taken to teaching the others the Mamushka with the blessings of the Addams family. Their reasoning was that they were Luna's shield-brethren, and thus family. That Hera somehow already knew the Mamushka certainly helped pave the way as well, though she had no memory of Loki having ever learned the dance. Luna had reported that the family was nigh ecstatic at meeting a part of the family they weren't aware they had, even going so far as to consider waking the old ones up. While Hera had a feeling that meant something more than what she was hearing, she insisted Luna tell them that there was no need in interrupting the sleep the 'old ones' had well earned.

Last class of the day, Charms, and Hera gets a note delivered to her via Filch.

"Potter, a word, if you would."

"How's classes going, Mr. Filch?" She asked quietly, walking up to him, aware that the other students were likely to be listening in. "They did agree to them, right?"

"They did. I'm learn'n a lot, thanks to you." He replied, gruff and uncomfortable, before handing her the note. "You'd best be careful around this one, you know. She's after you. Got a grudge, but I can't tell what for."

"Any number of things, really." Hera shrugged. "You're being careful too, yeah?"

"Aye." Filch nodded, with a frown. Hera wondered what he'd heard the woman say, but didn't ask. "Well, best be off. Potter. Filius."

"Good to see you, Argus." Professor Flitwick called out in farewell.

"Professor, is it alright if I go now? I know there's still a few minutes left, but Umbridge wanted to see me, and I have a feeling this is a meeting I should probably have my Head of House for." Hera asked politely.

"He's actually supposed to stop by here with the latest charms articles for me, if you would like to wait for him here instead." Professor Flitwick suggested instead. "We swap subscriptions, and then compare notes."

Suddenly those articles she saw him carrying that morning made more sense.

"I appreciate it, Professor." She smiled, and went back to her friends.

If she were being honest with herself, Dolores hated children. She was only here because Cornelius had asked it of her, afraid that Dumbledore was planning to overthrow the Ministry, and she'd fed those fears in her effort to gain more power. She was not expecting Potter to be as well mannered as she was, had been expecting a fight, and she'd not entirely been wrong. It was only that the manner in which Potter chose to fight was not one she could easily combat herself. Potter chose to fight within the confines of the rules, something Dolores herself could appreciate, but did not like having used against her.

Potter showed up to the meeting on time, but with an unexpected guest. Severus Snape stood with her, looking unimpressed, and like he knew exactly why she'd called this meeting. He didn't, surely, but the feeling remained. Neither teacher nor student touched the sandwiches she'd set out, though they did accept the tea. Each added things to their taste, though neither of them took a sip; pity that, because she'd poured a liberal amount of veritaserum into the tea to ensure full compliance, which was why she herself had not taken a sip.

"This is most unusual." Dolores objected sweetly, once everyone was settled, hoping this would get rid of the man next to her objective. "There's no need for Professor Snape to be here."

"It's really not, and I think there is." Potter countered. "If a student feels the need to ask their Head of House to sit in on a meeting, they can."

"But surely there are more important things your Head of House could be doing." Dolores offered, though the smile she offered was tight.

"It is no matter, and I am already here." Severus reminded them, blunt as always. "Let's get on with it. I do, as you say, Professor Umbridge, have more important things to do than listen to whatever baseless problems you have with my apprentice."

"B-baseless?!" Dolores objected, fuming. "She's not attended a single class since I finally got out of the hospital wing!"

He looked at Potter through the corner of his eyes, and she smiled just a touch, before he looked back to her.

"Nor is she required to do so." Severus pointed out, leveling her with a look that clearly conveyed he thought this was a waste of time. "Potter is taking courses through her other professors that far surpass that of Hogwarts. If you look through the Ministry's records, I'm sure you will come across her O.W.L. and N.E.W.T scores. The only reason she is here now is because her guardian and I felt it best to keep her surrounded by peers her own age."

"I was not informed of this! No submissions of such tests for Potter were put before my desk!" Dolores objected again. This was an outrage! How was she going to make the little brat submit now?

"Weren't you trying to keep me out of your classroom anyway?" Potter asked, arching an eyebrow at her, and crossing her arms as she sat back in her seat. "You should be happy you don't have to put up with someone you consider to be another filthy half-breed."

"That language is uncalled for, Potter, and beneath you." Severus reprimanded the young girl, and for a moment Dolores thinks he might be on her side, before he continues. "If you feel the need to insult someone with their own words, I advise you to be more eloquent about it."

"Of course, Professor." Potter agreed, subdued but clearly fighting down a grin. "My apologies. I'm sure there will be opportunities to correct this in the future."

"I was wondering when we would be getting to your treatment of our princess." Came a voice from behind her, scaring her into giving the most dreadful shriek of fright as she bolted out of her seat to face the man…creature before her; her seat tumbling over and onto its side. Tall, eloquent, regal, and wild in a way she can't quite describe; the man that stood before her was decidedly not human, and that was all the confirmation she needed to make herself feel superior again.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you are trespassing, and I demand you leave at once!" She shouted, giving a smug and prim grin for emphasis.

"Does that ever actually work for you?" The man asked idly, and with little concern. His smile turned sharp and cruel, and she shivered in revulsion that a being such as this had so much power when it didn't belong to his kind. "As for who I am, I am the Goblin King, and you will show me the proper respect, or you will spend the rest of your mortal life as an ugly little pink frog instead of being encased in that pink amber solution I helped inspire a certain mortal to create."

So this was the one that she'd seen in those awful dreams she'd been plagued with while trapped and healing in the hospital wing.

"Now, as to why I am here." The man continued, ignoring her like some insignificant insect as he walked around her desk and to Potter, bowing to her with his arm outstretched as if he were a waiter. "I believe someone has missed you, my friend."

The snowy white owl she'd tried to detain earlier was now perched on his outstretched arm, where it had most certainly not been before.

"Hedwig!" Potter happily exclaimed, and the bird hoped over to her own outstretched arm, rubbing her beak against the girl's nose. "Glad to have you back, my clever girl."

"I believe we are done here, Professor Umbridge, unless you wish to tell the king exactly how you have been treating his princess." Severus stated, making to stand. "I am certain he would love to know how you've been making attempts to use magic to keep her out of your classroom, or objecting to her even being taught in this school because of what she is, or how you've been trying to undermine her apprenticeship with me."

"All misunderstandings!" She insisted when the king turned his full attention to her; even the snowy owl glared at her imperiously.

"I'm sure." The king…this foul creature…replied snidely. He turned his attention back to Potter. "Should you need me, my friend, you need only call for me, and I will answer."

*Play on words with a Quote from Dodgeball – the movie. No idea why the plot bunnies wanted that in there, but it is, and it lead to a thing.