Defense Against the Dark Arts class was just about to get started when Professor Rasbutinoff walked in. As the bell rang, he cleared his throat, and spoke out loud. He had a strong Russian accent.
"Velcome to sixth year Defense Against the Dark Arts. I am Professor Rasbutinoff, and I will be teaching you how to repel unfriendly spells during our time together. Professor Dumbledore finds it imperative that you learn how to defend yourselves properly against the Dark Arts as the Dark Lord has returned to power. After Christmas break, we will return and learn how to fight off with spells that can hurt your attacker."
That day, Harry and the other sixth years learned the basics of how to fight off the Conjunctivus Curse. They left, and luckily, Professor Rasbutinoff had not given them any homework. Harry headed down to supper, and afterwards, headed towards the Room of Requirement to prepare for the D.A.'s first meeting of the term.
Hermione, Ron, and Ginny walked in early, and Harry was careful not to catch Ginny's eye. He didn't want to have to explain himself about the kiss last night. However, he didn't have to worry about it, because others were starting to filter into the room. Neville, Seamus, Parvati, Dean, and Lavender walked in, followed closely by the Creevy brothers. Next came the Ravenclaw's, Padma Patil, Michael Corner, Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, Luna Lovegood, and to Harry's horror, Cho Chang. Slipping in at the end of the Ravenclaw's tails were Ernie Macmillan, Justin Flinch-Fletchy, Hannah Abbot, and Susan Bones. Zacharias Smith was no where in sight.
The meeting was about fifteen minutes into the practice when Zacharias barged in, his usually smug expression a ghostly white. "I just saw some of the Slytherins attack some of the first years with all kinds of hexes. I tried to stop them, but they were coming after me. I ran here as fast as I could. We have to stop them!"
Harry grabbed his wand, and as a group, the twenty-two wizards followed Zacharias towards the corridor he had seen the first years being tortured. There, they found nearly thirty Slytherins, all shooting different hexes and curses at the now captive first years. Harry didn't dare attack Malfoy again. Instead, he sent the prefects to take care of Malfoy, while the others shot various spells and charms at the Slytherins. Ron, Hermione, Ernie, Hannah, and Terry were shooting green sparks at Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson.
When the Slytherins had finally retreated, and the first years had been escorted to the hospital wing, Harry warned the D.A. to be on the lookout for any Slytherins torturing students or creating havoc.
That night, Harry sat down in front of the common room fire with Hermione and Ron, and discussed the leadership of the D.A. It didn't seem right for Harry to have sole leadership over his fellow students. His idea was to have four students from each of the three houses on a sort of senate or council that would plan the meetings and what the D.A. would do. They agreed that Harry had a good idea, and spent the rest of the evening coming up with candidates to sit upon the D.A. masthead. Finally, the master list was decided on.

Gryffindors- Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley
Ravenclaws-Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot, Luna Lovegood, Cho Chang
Hufflepuffs-Ernie Macmillan, Justin Flinch-Fletchy, Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones

Harry had been hesitant about the last name on the Ravenclaw list. He didn't know what to think about Cho being a Ravenclaw representative to the D.A. leadership. However, Hermione had pointed out that every house needed two boys and two girls on the council. Besides, she was one of the few who had produced a real Patronus, and she was the only seventh year in the D.A. So, Harry had agreed to the advancement of Cho.