Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I am writing this fanfiction for my own amusement and make no profit, all recognizable characters in this story are the property of J.K Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, etc.
AN: Not much Tonks in this chapter, unfortunately. She will get a lot more screen time next chapter but I had to get some things out of the way first.
Great Hall, 11/30/1995, 08:39
Harry took his usual seat at the Gryffindor table and groaned in discomfort due to the corner of the bench pressing into a bruise on the back of his thigh.
Harry was feeling very sore from the hand-to-hand training with Tonks earlier that morning. Tonks knew quite a few different techniques for hurting someone with her bare hands and seemed to enjoy proving this by demonstration.
This morning they had been going over the different pressure points in the body which was a very uncomfortable lesson and Harry prayed there wasn't a revision anytime soon.
On other fronts, The defence association or the D.A for short had been going very well. The group had only met twice so far (not counting the meeting on the quidditch pitch) but things seemed to be going smoothly for the most part.
The other students seemed to be taking his instructions on board, though that Zacharias Smith prat always found something to bitch about.
Harry had been running the group through accuracy drills for the past two lessons. He had his student practice hitting training dummies from varying distances with stinging hexes and disarming charms.
This seemed to be helping a lot as three-quarters of the D.A couldn't hit the broad side of the castle when they first started the meetings. Over the past few lessons, the group's accuracy had improved to the point that Harry felt they could start practising in pairs again.
Harry and Hermione were actually having fun setting up the weekly lessons. Hermione really seemed to enjoy organizing things and already had his lesson plans drawn up until the new year. Harry was thankful for this, now all he had to do was show up and explain what the spell they were working on and set the group to work.
"Harry, are you listening?" Hermione asked as she looked up from the morning paper.
"Sorry, what did you say?" Harry asked as he looked over at Hermione.
"I was telling you that Dolores Umbridge was appointed a seat on the Hogwarts board of governors yesterday evening," Hermione answered somewhat testily.
"Damn, I guess she hasn't given up on Hogwarts after all," Harry muttered as Ron took a seat beside him.
"No, she hasn't. It says here, that she's already appointed a full-time ministry representative at Hogwarts," Hermione answered.
"Who?" Rom asked through a mouthful of eggs.
"A man named Albert Runcorn," Hermione continued.
"You're joking, wasn't that the bearded bloke from two weeks ago?" Harry exclaimed as he remembered the name Runcorn.
"That's him, he was a right jerk of a professor," Ron piped in.
"Well if anyone is an authority on jerks, it's you, Ronald," Hermione muttered.
"Don't start fighting, you two," Harry sighed before Ron could retort.
"What I can't figure out is how she got a position on the board of governors, to begin with," Hermione muttered, shooting Ron a victorious grin.
"She claims kinship with the Selwyn line," Hannah said from directly behind Harry and Ron.
"She what?" Harry asked in confusion as Hannah took a seat beside him.
"She claims she is related to the Selwyn family," Hannah explained as she fixed herself some French toast.
"Is she?" Hermione asked.
"Nobody really knows for sure. It is possible, though Susan's aunt believes she has made a deal with Lord Selwyn," Hannah shrugged before tucking into her breakfast.
"I know for a fact that she's a half-blood Harry snorted.
" What?" Hannah asked in surprise.
"Umbridge is a half-blood. She's actually lower than us on the pecking order because her mum was a muggle and her brother's a squib," Harry explained.
"How do you know this?" Hermione asked with interest.
"I looked up her file in the school archives a few months ago," Harry smirked.
"If that ever got out it would destroy her reputation," Hannah exclaimed
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked with interest.
"She claims that she's a pureblood, that's the only reason she got her ministry position," Hannah explained as she looked at Hermione curiously.
"I figured it was smomething like that. She certainly didn't get the job on merit, her O.W.L scores were atrocious," Harry sniggered.
"They were?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, she barely passed her charms exam, and failed defence and Transfiguration entirely," Harry answered.
"And they appointed her as a professor?" Hannah asked sounding incredulous.
"Well in fairness, she didn't bother teaching us anything," Ron cut in.
"We could go public with this information," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"I thought about it, but I'm stumped about how I could get the information out. I doubt the Prophet would print it," Harry said before he dug into his own breakfast.
"I may have an idea about that but it will take me a bit of time to put everything together," Hermione said absentmindedly
"Good luck, the ministry is leaning on the prophet pretty hard. Fudge can't afford any more bad publicity," Hannah warned.
"The Daily Prophet isn't the only paper out there," Hermione shrugged, a familiar look coming over her face.
"You can't mean The Quibbler, surely?" Harry asked, looking at Hermione in alarm.
"I think that it might be worth a shot," Hermione shrugged before taking a sip of her coffee.
"Alright, but that Lovegood girl gives me a headache," Harry grumbled.
"She's a bit odd but she really is a sweet person," Hannah said shooting Harry a reproachful look.
"She's also kind of cute," Ron pointed out.
"I'll give you that but she doesn't have anything on Hannah," Harry said between bites of his eggs.
"You're just saying that because I'm sitting beside you," Hannah said, shooting Harry a look of amusement.
"I would say it even if you weren't here," Harry assured her.
"He would, you should hear these two bragging about how fit their girlfriends are," Hermione cut in.
"I don't know if I'm flattered or insulted," Hannah sighed.
"I assure you it's meant as a compliment," Harry said, hoping Hermione would leave it at that.
"So you two arguing about whose bird has the nicest bum is supposed to be flattering?" Hermione asked innocently.
"Harry, you should be ashamed of yourself," Hannah exclaimed, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.
"I meant it in the nicest possible way and Ron started it," Harry defended, shooting Hermione a look of annoyance.
"Did he?" Lavender asked from behind him and Ron.
"Well, I-
"Won Won, I hope I mean more to you than just my looks," Lavender huffed, sounding a bit hurt.
"Of course you do," Ron assured her.
As Ron started trying to dig himself out of the hole Hermione had gotten them into, Hannah got up and went over to the Hufflepuff table, shooting him one last whithering glare as she left.
"I hope you're happy with yourself, Granger," Harry scowled as he watched Hannah take a seat beside Susan.
"I have my moments," Hermione smirked.
"I will remember this and I-
"You won't do anything unless you want Hannah to learn about all the flirting you do with Ginny in the common room," Hermione said with a smug smile.
"You have got to get yourself a bloke, Hermione," Harry muttered.
"I pity the poor sod that gets landed with her," Ron snorted after Lavender had stalked off to got talk to Parvati.
"That's just rude, any man should be honoured to be in my presence," Hermione said in a haughty tone.
"Oh boy, that leadership role has finally gone to your head, Hasn't it?" Harry asked shooting Hermione a look of concern.
"If it has, you only have yourself to blame for volunteering me," Hermione rebutted.
"It must have gone to her head. I think Hermione has gone barmy, telling the girls something like that," Ron exclaimed, glaring at Hermione.
"True, though she is our Dumbledore. I suppose a little eccentricity was to be expected," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Personally I wish she had just stuck with sucking lemon drops and wearing barmy robes," Ron muttered.
"Or started growing a long white beard," Harry added.
"What is wrong with you two?" Hermione muttered.
"We're the normal ones, you're the one who acts like she's eighty," Ron rebutted.
"I act like an adult," Hermione countered.
"Of advanced age," Harry agreed.
"You two are starting to get on my nerves," Hermione sighed.
"If you hadn't got us in it with our girlfriends, you wouldn't have to put up with this," Harry pointed out.
"Yes, I'm starting to come to that same conclusion," Hermione sighed.
"So how are you going to get that article in the Quibbler?" Harry asked getting back to the original topic.
"Just let me worry about that," Hermione answered cryptically.
"As long as I don't have to be the one dealing with Lovegood, knock yourself out," Harry nodded.
"I will also need to see what you have on Umbridge," Hermione said after a moment's thought.
"Okay, I'll let you see the file this evening," Harry said.
"That file you have should work for research purposes but we will need a certified copy from the ministry department of education to print in the article," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"If you hadn't run Hannah off, you could have asked her to talk to Bones about getting you those records," Harry pointed out.
"She's not mad at me, I can just ask her this afternoon," Hermione smirked.
"Why did you have to tell them about what we talked about, anyway?" Ron exclaimed, still looking upset with their bushy-haired friend.
"Because it's degrading and I'm sick of you two acting like uncouth barbarians. If I can't civilize you, then maybe your girlfriends can," Hermione replied in a haughty tone.
"Plus, I reckon she's upset we weren't talking about how nice her bum looked in those jeans she was wearing last night," Harry added and was rewarded when Hermione's cheeks flushed pink.
"Well McClaggen sure liked it, berk was like a bobblehead when you walked up to the dorms last night," Ron guffawed.
"Sometimes it's like you two forget that I am a girl," Hermione huffed, ignoring Ron's comment.
"We do see you as a girl. To me you're like a sister or an annoying cousin," Harry defended.
"You could have left out the annoying part," Hermione said, shooting Harry an exasperated look.
"After you snitched on us to the girls, annoying sums it up quite nicely," Harry said, smirking at the look Hermione gave him.
"Whatever, we had better get to charms," Hermione said as the bell rang.
"Yeah, I think I'll walk with Lavender," Ron said as they got up.
"Getting some last-minute grovelling in?" Harry asked in amusement.
"Well, it can't hurt. You'll be doing the same thing later today" Ron predicted before he wandered over to Parvati and Lavender.
"So how are things going with you and McDonald?" Hermione asked as soon as Ron was out of earshot.
"Great, we're way ahead of the D.A," Harry said in a quiet voice as they were jostled around by the other students leaving the hall.
"I must admit I am a bit envious of all the extra practice you're getting. Do you think I could join you two?" Hermione asked, giving him a pleading look.
"It isn't up to me," Harry admitted.
"Then you can talk McDonald into it," Hermione pressed.
"I don't see why I should after this morning," Harry said as they began to climb the grand staircase.
"She isn't upset with you, she just wants you to beg a little bit," Hermione said knowingly.
"How do you know that?" Harry demanded.
"Just trust me on this," Hermione said confidently.
"Fine, I'll see what I can do but no promises," Harry relented, hoping Hermione was right about Hannah.
"Thank you, I'll put in a good word for you when I talk to her at break," Hermione offered.
"Thanks," Harry nodded as they came to the door of the charms classroom.
As Harry took his seat next to Hermione, he couldn't help but wonder what the chances were that Tonks would let Hermione train with them.
Tonks didn't seem to like Hannah coming around in their lessons so he doubted she would be very receptive to the idea. Harry hoped he could sway Tonks, Hermione really did need to know how to defend herself.
Sure she would learn with everyone else in the D.A, but it would be nice if she was well ahead of everyone else as she was the leader of the D.A.
Harry knew that Hermione was in more danger than most simply because of her blood status and her connection to him. He didn't want to think of anything happening to Hermione, especially if it was because of her association with him
'I guess I might as well ask," Harry thought to himself as Ron took a seat on the other side of him, looking to be in a better mood now.
Room of Requirement, Hogwarts, 12/1/1995, 18:39
Harry entered the room to find it in the wack-a-mole configuration. The room was much larger than normal looking to be roughly the same dimensions as the great hall. Tonks was casting spells on training dummies that kept popping out of holes in different places around the room, some of them more than fifty feet away.
Harry was impressed at how fast the dummies popped out of the floor. They were popping up much faster than when Harry went through this same exercise. Tonks' wand was a blur, sending red lights out in an almost constant stream of red light, her spells hitting the dummies before they had completely risen out of their holes.
Tonks was good, there was no doubt about that, the way she moved looked almost like a dance. She shifted from foot to foot gracefully as she transitioned from one target to the next. She was constantly in motion, her stunning spells striking their target every time.
Harry still wondered how a woman who couldn't walk five steps without tripping over her own feet could be so graceful when duelling. He knew she was good but he had never seen her go all out like this. Watching her now made him realize he still had a way to go before he could match her in a duel.
Tonight Tonks was wearing her school skirt and blouse, instead of the standard mary-janes, she wore dragonhide combat boots that went halfway up her calves.
The bulky footwear didn't seem to slow her down a bit, even when two dummies started popping up at the same time. Now she was firing spells at one dummy, while the other one fired jets of red light at her.
Tonks was forced to dodge and attack at the same time, weaving in between incoming spells while returning spells of her own that always seemed to hit their mark
Harry continued to watch as she practised, amazed that having to dodge spells didn't seem to affect her in hitting the dummies. It must have been five minutes after Harry arrived in the room, that one of her spells missed and the dummies stopped rising out of the floor.
"Were you paying attention?" Tonks asked as she glanced over to where he was standing by the door.
"Yeah, that was amazing," Harry exclaimed, a hint of awe in his tone.
"Thanks, that was a combination drill that focuses on accuracy and situational awareness," Tonks explained smiling a bit at the compliment.
"So it's like doing the accuracy drill and dodging practice at the same time," Harry said thoughtfully, dropping his school bag on the floor next to the door.
"Exactly, this drill should really test you. It's the same as the accuracy drill except two dummies will pop out at a time. You have to hit one and dodge the spell from the other one," Tonks explained.
"What spell will it be casting?" Harry asked warily.
"The dummies can't cast a real spell, they just send coloured lights that simulate a spell," Tonks said as five more holes appeared in the floor.
The holes in the floor were spaced in random places around the room. The closest hole was about twenty feet from him, and the furthest holes were over a hundred feet away, making him wonder if he could even hit those dummies.
"This is going to be hard, isn't it?" Harry asked as he slid off his outer robes and tossed them so they landed beside his school bag.
"Yes, and if you don't take the simulated spells seriously, I'll start casting stinging hexes at you," Tonks threatened as she smacked the tip of her wand against her palm.
"You look for any excuse you can get to hurt me, don't you?" Harry grumbled as he came to stand beside her.
"These training sessions have to be fun for me too," Tonks shrugged before going to stand by the door.
"Typical," Harry muttered to himself as he drew his wand from his forearm holster.
"Are you ready?" Tonks asked in amusement.
"As ready as I'll ever be, let's do this," Harry sighed.
The first dummy popped up clear on the other side of the room, just slightly to his right. Harry had barely cast his first spell when he saw a flash of green light out of the corner of his eye and rolled away from the simulated killing curse on instinct.
"Oh, I forgot to mention that I've set them to simulate the unforgiveables," Tonks chuckled
"I noticed," Harry growled as he sent a spell at another dummy and had to roll to avoid a twisting red beam of light from a simulated cruciatus curse.
"Good, that's two for two," Tonks exclaimed as she saw his spell hit its mark on a dummy fifty feet away.
"Thanks," Harry muttered as he rolled onto his stomach and sprang back onto his feet just as the next dummy popped up from a hole twenty feet away.
Harry sidestepped the simulated killing curse from a dummy to his far left as he pegged the other dummy with a stunner.
"Now try and stay upright," Tonks instructed.
Harry tuned her out and focused only on his simulated opponents readying himself for the next target to appear.
The rest of the evening played out in this fashion with Harry slowly getting the hang of dodging and attacking at the same time. He did catch three simulated cruciatus spells when he was a tad slow in dodging them but for the most part, he thought he did pretty well.
Harry was starting to get the hang of things when the warning bell rang and had even noticed that the dummies were rising out of the floor much faster than when he had started.
"Alright I think that's it for tonight," Tonks said causing the two dummies rising out of the floor to stop halfway out.
Harry was breathing heavily, his face and chest were covered in sweat, and he could tell that he had picked up a few bruises on his knees from rolling out of the path of incoming spells.
"H-how'd I do?" Harry panted out, looking back at his instructor.
"You did better than I expected," Tonks praised as she did up the buttons on her outer robes.
"That was actually kind of fun," Harry admitted as he grabbed a towel that appeared at his feet and wiped the sweat off of his face.
"I agree, it's a lot better than the drill we had in the academy," Tonks said as the room shrank back to normal.
"What drill was that?" Harry asked as he tossed the towel on the floor only for it to vanish.
"It was similar to this drill except the instructors were the ones shooting spells at us," Tonks explained.
"That sounds awful," Harry muttered as he slipped on his outer robes.
"It was, Mad-Eye Moody was my instructor," Tonks snorted.
"Listen I was wanting to ask you something," Harry said hesitantly as he turned to face her.
"Judging from the look on your face, I'm not going to like it," Tonks said, giving him a questioning look.
"Probably not," Harry agreed as he came to stand a few feet away from her.
"What is it?" Tonks asked warily.
"Can I bring someone in to train with us in the evenings?" Harry asked nervously.
"Listen up Potter, this training is serious! we are not using it so you can spend more time with Abbott!" Tonks exclaimed, looking very annoyed.
"It's not Hannah that wants to join us," Harry assured her.
"Then who?" Tonks demanded, crossing her arms under her chest.
"Hermione, she really does need to learn to defend herself," Harry explained, a bit taken aback by her reaction.
"Let me think about it," Tonks sighed, sounding much calmer than a few seconds ago.
"She wanted me to ask. She still doesn't know who you really are, though," Harry admitted as he picked his school bag off of the floor.
"So Abbott is the only one who knows who I really am?" Tonks asked incredulously.
"Yeah, and I wouldn't have told her if she hadn't caught us coming out of a bloody broom closet together," Harry pointed out.
"I really would have liked to hear the rumours going around after that," Tonks giggled as she shifted into her alter-ego.
"She thought I was buggering you," Harry said, his cheeks reddening.
"I figured as much," Tonks nodded as she led him out of the room.
"So what's new with you?" Harry asked as they made their way to the stairs.
"Not much, Bones wants me here for an indeterminate amount of time," Tonks answered, sounding a bit upset about this.
"Because of Susan?" Harry asked.
"Pretty much. She wants me here as Susan's personal bodyguard," Tonks admitted as they made their way down the empty hallway.
"Well it is nice to be able to see you every day," Harry said seriously.
"I am surprised to hear you say that," Tonks said, sounding taken aback by his statement.
"When you're not finding ever creative ways to hurt me, you're alright company," Harry admitted as they approached the stairs.
"Thanks, I'll see you in the morning," Tonks said as she threw her arms around him much to his surprise.
"G-good night, Wendy," Harry stammered when she pulled back from the hug.
"Night Potter," Tonks called over her shoulder as she descended the stairs.
"Still running around with her, I see," Ron said as he came up the stairs, looking to be in a bit of a rush.
"What have you got there?" Harry asked as he noticed the cardboard box in Ron's hand.
"Chocolate eclairs for Lavender and Parvati," Ron shrugged as he fell into step beside Harry.
"Ah damn, I meant to find Hannah an apology present," Harry muttered realizing he had almost forgotten about the incident this morning.
"Zonko's has a mail-order catalogue now," Ron suggested only half-jokingly.
"Mate, girls don't like Zonko's," Harry snorted as they approached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Ginny does," Ron pointed out as Harry gave the password.
"Hannah doesn't," Harry sighed as they stepped through the portrait hole, a second before the final bell rang.
"Neither does Lavender," Ron admitted before he made his way over to Lavender and Parvati.
Harry wandered over to where Hermione and Ginny were relaxing near the fireplace. Ginny was sitting crosslegged in an armchair reading a magazine, she was already in her night clothes wearing a pair of cotton shorts and a Holyhead Harpies tee shirt.
Hermione was also in her sleepwear, tonight she was wearing long flannel pajamas and fluffy wool socks. She was laying across the couch by the fireplace, reading from her charms textbook.
As Harry got closer, Hermione looked up from her book and smiled widely.
"I need to get you in trouble with Hannah more often. You're actually back on time for a change," Hermione beamed.
"I am still mad at you for that," Harry scowled as Hermione lifted her legs so he could sit down.
Harry got comfortable on the other end of the couch, scowling when Hermione placed her feet in his lap and gave him an innocent smile.
"You really should learn to forgive people," Hermione sighed.
"I think it serves you and Ron right. What were you two thinking, debating whose girlfriend had the better bum in the middle of the common room?" Ginny exclaimed, looking up from her Teen Witch Weekly.
"Oh like you girls don't do the exact same thing, talking about a bloke's wand size," Harry protested.
"We do not," Hermione exclaimed looking scandalized.
"Well, that's not exactly true," Ginny corrected, shooting Hermione an apologetic look.
"Told you," Harry smirked.
"Well I never do it," Hermione said haughtily.
"That's not true either. I believe Seamus is suffering from bad leprechaun puns because of you doing exactly that in the middle of the great hall," Harry rebutted.
"He's got you there," Ginny giggled.
"Alright fine, girls do it too" Hermione conceded, looking like it pained her to admit this.
"So, has anything exciting happened this evening?" Harry asked, searching for a change of topic.
"Nope, quidditch practice went smoothly. We're going to Flatten the puffs in March," Ginny said a look of excitement crossing her features at the prospect of another game.
"I completed my arithmancy homework and read ahead in Transfiguration," Hermione added as she lounged back and went back to reading from her charms book.
"Lavender is making him work for it," Ginny sniggered, as she focused on something on the other side of the common room.
Turning to his right, Harry saw Ron sitting on a couch on the other side of the common room. Sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of him, was Lavender. Harry couldn't help but chuckle as he saw that Ron was brushing her long blond hair with a pink hairbrush while Lavender chatted with Parvati.
"I got to give him credit, he knows how to grovel," Hermione said sounding impressed.
"I just hope Hannah doesn't get wind of this," Harry muttered to himself.
"You can't honestly be that dense, Potter?" Ginny exclaimed as she looked away from her brother.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked warily.
"A girl likes to brag when they have a bloke under their thumb like that poor sod over there," Ginny said as she gestured to Ron with her thumb.
"Lavender and Parvati are the two biggest gossips in Gryffindor and you're dating the biggest gossip in Hufflepuff," Hermione explained looking highly amused.
"You can bet that Hannah will have heard of my brother's emasculation by breakfast tomorrow," Ginny predicted.
"And yours will be worse because she'll want to one-up Lavender," Hermione smirked.
"Oh bloody hell," Harry muttered as he had no doubt they were right.
"Finally," Ginny exclaimed as she saw Demelza come down the stairs from the girl's dormitory.
"I need a word with Robins, I'll catch you two later," Ginny said before she hopped up and rushed over to her friend.
"So did you talk to Wendy?" Hermione asked as soon as Ginny was out of earshot.
"I did, she said she'll think about it," Harry replied.
"Thank you," Hermione said softly.
"You're in a lot more danger than most it's a good idea for you to get a bit more training," Harry admitted.
"I'm not the only muggleborn in the school, Harry," Hermione said giving him a curious look.
"You're the only muggleborn known to associate with me and you're an easy target because there aren't wards over your house," Harry pointed out.
"There is that," Hermione agreed in a strained voice.
"I'll let you know when she gives me an answer," Harry promised.
"I hope she agrees," Hermione said as she closed her book and slipped it into her bag.
"I think she will," Harry predicted.
"I've been practising all the spells in that notebook we made so hopefully I won't slow you down," Hermione said nervously.
"I wouldn't worry about that. I think that I'm going to turn in," Harry said after checking the clock and seeing it was already ten thirty.
"I think I will too," Hermione said as she stood up and stretched her arms over her head before.
"I'll see you at breakfast," Harry said as he got up from his seat.
"Good night, Harry," Hermione called back, already on her way to the stairs leading up to the girl's dorms.
Harry moved a bit slower as he felt the aches in his muscles from his practice earlier. He noticed that Ron was cuddled up with Lavender on the loveseat near the wireless. It seemed Ron's penance was complete and Harry just had to hope his own wouldn't be too bad.
Harry slowly climbed the stairs and found the dorm empty, deciding to take advantage of the privacy, Harry grabbed his pajamas and headed to the bathroom to get a quick shower before bed.
Twenty minutes later as Harry crawled under his covers, he couldn't help but wonder if he should ask Sirius to place some wards around Hermione's home.
Harry hadn't really thought about it until this morning but Hermione's family was extremely vulnerable. The Grangers would make an easy target for the death eaters since they were completely unprotected from magicals. Making a note to give Sirius a call on the mirror tomorrow to ask him about Hermione's family, Harry began the nightly process of clearing his mind.
Harry didn't even realize he drifted to sleep until he fell into a familiar dream of running after a woman with pink hair on a white sandy beach.
Great Hall, Hogwarts, 12/2/1995, 08:38
Harry took his normal seat intent on enjoying a large breakfast after his morning workout. Tonks had them doing their regular P.T first and then hand-to-hand training after. Harry was still getting used to this increase in his training as his aching muscles could attest.
Tonks still hadn't given him an answer about Hermione but he thought it best not to press her on it.
Today there was another D.A meeting after lunch and he was really looking forward to it.
He planned on going over the stunning spell today as it was a very useful spell to know. It was relatively simple to cast so even the younger years shouldn't have too much trouble with it. Plus after doing accuracy drills for the last two weeks, the class would enjoy learning a new spell.
Harry was surprised he had made it to the great hall before Hermione today, usually she was down here when he arrived.
Harry loaded his plate full, going for waffles, bangers and eggs with a large glass of juice (he had worked up a real appetite in training) and began to eat with gusto.
He was halfway through his second waffle when he saw Hannah and Susan enter the hall. Hermione was right for the most part, Hannah had forgiven him once they has talked things out. Though Harry had been forced to sit at the Hufflepuff table during dinner a few times while she and Susan chatted about topics he'd rather not hear about.
Harry was a bit surprised when the two puffs made their way over and took a seat on either side of him. Hannah was at the Gryffindor table quite often but this was the first time Susan had joined her.
"Good morning ladies," Harry said, shooting Hannah a curious look.
"Morning, Harry," Hannah said as she fixed herself some waffles
"What's good about it?" Susan scowled.
"What's got you in such a bad mood?" Harry asked, surprised at the scowl on Susan's usually cheerful face.
"My boyfriend is a two-timing jerk," Susan huffed.
"You have a boyfriend?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Not for long! The bastard was snogging that Robins tart in the middle of the fifth-floor corridor," Susan muttered as she loaded a plate with a lot of bacon and eggs.
"That was rather stupid of him," Harry muttered.
"Yeah, I caught them on my patrol last night," Hannah sighed between bites of her waffles
"Just wait until I get my hands on the little worm," Susan growled before taking a bite out of her bacon.
"Who is she dating?" Harry asked Hannah.
"Zacharias Smith," Hannah sighed.
"I could have told you he"s bad news. He's like the Hufflepuff version of Malfoy," Harry snorted.
"I see that now," Susan muttered before she let out a soft sob and broke down in tears.
Harry put his arm around her without thought and gently rubbed her back, letting her cry on his shoulder, not noticing the tender look Hannah was giving him.
"Calm down Susie, you can't have tears in your eyes when Smith gets down here," Hannah soothed as a confused Ron sat down across from them
"What's up with Bones?" Ron asked, shooting Susan a wary look.
"Apparently, Smith is a wanker," Harry answered, idly noticing the flowery scent of Susan's perfume filling his nostrils.
"He's also a cheating bastard" Susan mumbled, her voice muffled in Harry's shoulder.
Harry continued rubbing circles in her back noticing she had stopped crying and had started to snuggle into his side.
"Alright Bones, quit hamming it up and let Harry eat his breakfast," Hannah said, a teasing note in her voice.
"I liked being held," Susan mumbled as she sat up straight, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her robes.
"Are you feeling better?" Harry asked in a kind tone.
"No, I'm furious," Susan growled as she took another bite out of her bacon.
"You'll get a chance to give him a piece of your mind soon," Hannah soothed.
"Nice little gathering we have this morning," Hermione said as she sat down beside Ron.
"Hermione, where have you been?" Ron asked.
"Library, I had to double-check the library archives on Umbridge," Hermione explained as the post owls flew into the hall.
"Thank you, Harry," Hannah whispered in his ear.
"For what?" Harry asked in confusion.
"For being nice to Susie," Hannah answered before placing a kiss on his cheek.
"Are you okay?" Hermione asked as she got a good look at Susan.
"I'm fine though Zac won't be," Susan muttered as Hermione paid the delivery owl.
"Don't ask," Hannah muttered, giving Hermione a meaningful look.
"What's in the paper?" Harry asked, hoping to get away from the previous subject.
"Let's see," Hermione said as she unfurled the paper.
Hermione stared at the paper for a moment, gasping loudly as she processed what she was reading.
Harry didn't have to ask to know it was bad news and leaned forward so he could read the upside-down headline.
Ministry Addresses Failing Standards at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!
Albert Runcorn Takes New Post as Hogwarts' New High Inquisitor!
"Oh damn!" Hermione muttered as she read the article, her eyes moving back and forth rapidly.
"What is it?" Ron asked as he looked over her shoulder at the paper.
"Professor Runcorn has been made Hogwarts high-inquisitor," Hermione muttered.
"What is a high-inquisitor?" Harry asked in confusion.
"It's like an inspector. He'll be inspecting other classes and reporting his findings to the ministry. If a professor fails the inspection then the board of governors will have grounds to fire them," Hermione explained.
"This has that pink toad's name written all over it," Susan muttered.
"My thoughts exactly, I bet anything that Umbridge is behind this," Harry said, giving Hermione a pointed look.
"I'll talk with Luna this afternoon," Hermione promised.
"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said gratefully as Susan jumped to her feet, getting all of their attention.
Harry watched as Susan marched toward Smith who was entering the hall with Ernie McMillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley. Justin noticed Susan stalking towards them first and nudged Smith.
Smith froze like a deer when he saw Susan approaching, giving him a murderous glare. His two mates quickly scattered making a beeline for the Hufflepuff table.
"H-hey S-Susan," Smith stammered his nervous voice carrying around the silent hall as most people had stopped to watch.
"Hannah told me she caught you with Robins last night," Susan said evenly.
"It's not what you think we were just messin-
Zacharias was cut off mid-sentence when Susan rared back and punched him in the face. Her tiny fist slamming into the boy's nose with considerable force. Harry heard a nasty crack before Smith dropped like a sack of potatoes, his hands coming to clutch his nose.
"You bwoke my nowse!" Smith groaned from his place on the floor.
"You're lucky it's not your neck," Susan exclaimed as she raised her foot, preparing to aim a kick at his groin.
"Susan Bones, stop that at once!" Professor Sprout yelled as she marched up to the two teens.
Susan froze before she reluctantly lowered her foot to the floor, shooting Smith a scathing look.
"That'll be a detention, Miss Bones," Professor Sprout said as she looked down on Smith who was clutching his bleeding nose.
"Yes, Professor," Susan said unabashedly.
"And a detention to you Mister Smith for not upholding the standards of our house," Professor Sprout continued.
"But Pwofessor, I-
"Miss Abbott already turned in her report from last night, Smith. You were out after hours last night. I was going to give you detention after breakfast anyway," Sprout said, the usually cheerful woman's eyes narrowed at the downed boy.
"Yes ma'am," Smith muttered.
"Now go see the matron, she'll get you fixed up, Mister Smith," Sprout instructed.
Justin came over and helped the slightly dazed Zacharias Smith to his feet and guided him out of the hall.
"Miss Bones, we do not settle our grievances in such a public setting," Sprout said, sounding much more like her old self.
"Yes, Professor," Susan nodded, looking somewhat sheepish now
"Oh, and five points to Hufflepuff for throwing a proper punch," Sprout said before turning on her heel and heading back to the head table.
Harry turned back to Ron who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Is it wrong that I found that hilarious?" Ron asked when he made eye contact with Harry.
"No, Smith had that coming for all his whinging in... well you know," Harry said giving Ron a meaningful look.
"I think I'll take Susan down to the kitchens and get her some chocolate," Hannah said as she got up and went over to Susan who had almost made her way back to her seat.
"Note to self, never piss off Susan Bones," Harry muttered, getting a nod of agreement from Ron.
"The red hair should have been a giveaway," Ron snorted.
"Now that the show is over, we need to get some work done before lunch," Hermione said in a brisk tone that reminded Harry strongly of Professor McGonagall.
"Ugh, we shouldn't have to hear anything about homework on a Saturday,?" Ron exclaimed.
"If we knock it all out today, we can laze around all day tomorrow," Harry pointed out.
"Exactly, tomorrow you can be as lazy as you wish," Hermione agreed as she cleaned her plate.
"What do we got?" Harry asked.
"The potions essay on the essence of hellebore," Hermione said.
"Hannah helped me finish that yesterday," Harry smirked.
"Transfiguration essay on complex vertebrate Transfiguration," Hermione said, looking surprised.
"Finished it last night," Harry said before taking a bite of his bacon.
"Defence essay on chapter seven of that ridiculous book," Hermione added, shooting Harry a look of annoyance.
"Finished it a week ago when I had some downtime," Harry chuckled.
"Bloody hell, you're getting as bad as she is," Ron said as he gave harry a look of horror.
"Did you get the charms essay done?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ron.
"No, I saved it for last... well that and the astronomy chart," Harry corrected.
"Good, I haven't done those either," Hermione beamed.
"I haven't done any of them," Ron muttered.
"Then it's a perfect time to get started," Hermione pointed out as she stood up.
"Let's get this over with," Harry sighed as he popped his last banger into his mouth and stood up as well.
"Fine but I don't want to hear a word about homework tomorrow," Ron said firmly.
"Fine but if you don't get yours done, that's on you," Hermione warned as she led them out of the hall.
Harry chuckled as they started bickering wondering if Ron and Hermione would ever stop arguing like this.
'Some things never change,' Harry thought wryly as they made their way up the grand staircase.
Entrance Hall, Hogwarts, 12/4/1995, 08:39
Harry was surprised at the crowd gathered in the entrance hall, there seemed to be a large group blocking the doorway into the great hall. After a few moments, the students near the great hall doors began to enter and the entrance hall slowly emptied.
It took about five minutes before Harry made it to the great hall entrance when he saw what had caused the backup.
Hanging on the wall to the right of the doors was a placard, it was framed like a portrait, with a document behind a pane of glass. The document was very official looking and had the Ministry seal in the top right corner. Harry's stomach dropped as he read the document and was secretly thankful the D.A had taken precautions to keep the group secret.
Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four
All Student Organisations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs are henceforth disbanded. An Organisation, Society, Team, Group, or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students. Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Runcorn). No Student Organisation, Society, Team, Group, or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor. Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an Organisation, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.
By order of the Hogwarts board of governors and the ministry of magic.
Underneath the decree were the names of all thirteen governors, the high inquisitor, and the minister of magic in block letters.
"Unbelievable," Harry muttered as he entered the hall processing what this new decree would mean for the D.A.
They would have to change the time of their meetings, instead meeting every Saturday after lunch as they had been.
Meeting every week at the same time could cause them problems if the members were observed. The contract only gave them so much protection, they still had to take precautions to ensure they weren't discovered.
Harry would bring this up with the group leader but if he knew Hermione, then she had already reached the same conclusion.
As it was Monday, the Gryffindors would be having a class with Runcorn for the first time since he had been given the post as a permanent defence professor. Harry suspected that Runcorn's classes would be similar to Snape's.
Runcorn was a very tall dark-haired man with a thick beard and a gravelly voice. Harry had only been in one class taught by Runcorn and he was very rude reminding Harry strongly of Snape in his mannerisms, though thankfully, Runcorn didn't try and single Harry out. Runcorn had simply stalked into the classroom, and glared at the class before telling them which chapter to read in that useless book. He was more attentive to them than Umbridge, snapping at students who weren't reading the assigned chapter and had ended up giving Seamus detention for not completing the assigned task.
Harry was pleased to learn that Runcorn had dumped the detention on Filch as he seemed to be too busy to oversee the detentions personally.
As Harry stepped into the hall, he saw Runcorn seated at the head table next to professor Sinistra. The large man was eating his breakfast, seeming to be unconcerned about all the chattering going on about the ministry decree.
"Harry, we need to talk," Hermione said as soon as he had taken his seat.
"Yeah, I know. This new decree changes everything," Harry agreed as he fixed himself a cup of tea.
"We'll talk after you get done tonight," Hermione said, looking relieved he had caught on so quickly.
"I'll make sure and be back by curfew tonight we have until Saturday to figure this out," Harry whispered as he took a sip of tea.
"Figure what out?" Ron asked.
"We'll explain later," Hermione said dismissively.
Harry went quiet as Ron and Hermione had a whispered conversation Harry pondered how he was going to go about setting up the D.A at random times between multiple year levels while working around three different quidditch team practices.
'When in doubt, let Hermione figure it out,' Harry thought as he fixed himself some breakfast, tuning out all of the conversations going n around him.