Harry Potter, Heir of Gryffindor

Overcoming Imperio

Harry and Ginny shared a quiet dinner in his trunk that Sunday evening at a small table Dobby and Winky had set up for them next to the window in the conference room. As they talked Harry explained what he was doing with Remote Viewing and Ethereal Magic and, at her insistence, hesitantly described some of the carnage he had seen. He purposely didn't tell here about the some of the more gruesome attacks but he did hint at the fact that many of the Death Eaters were becoming increasingly more sadistic.

As the sun began to set Ginny glanced out the Wizard's Window and gasped in surprise when, in the distance, she saw a number of black, winged horses rise up out of the Forbidden Forest. "What are those?" she asked.

Harry looked out the window. "You mean those black, flying horse things?"

"Mm hmm."

"Those are Thestrals."

"They're beautiful," she whispered.

Harry bowed his head and closed his eyes. "Yeah. They are. But I had hoped you wouldn't be able to see them."

"Why not?"

"Because it means that you have seen someone die and grieved for them."

"Oh," Ginny said. "I guess a lot of people are going to be able to see them in a few years."

Harry stared down at his plate and sighed. "Yeah," he said. "I hope it doesn't take a few years but you are probably right: A lot of people a going to be able to see them."

They spent a lot of time talking that night. They talked about classes, the Order, dueling and the prophecy. Harry was hesitant to talk about the prophecy but Ginny was very supportive and for some reason Harry felt comfortable talking to her about it and he knew that he could trust her with his innermost feelings. They were just getting started on their discussion of the plans that were being made for the upcoming holidays when Winky appeared beside them. "Excuse me, Harry, Ginny," she squeaked, "but you is having company."

Harry looked in towards the sitting room and saw Remus coming down the ladder. Looking back at Ginny he reached out and squeezed her hand. "Don't get up," he murmured. "I'll be right back."

Standing up and walking around the conference table he met Remus at the suits of armor and smiled. "What's up, Remus?" he asked.

Remus glanced over Harry's shoulder and, seeing Ginny, waved. "Hi, Ginny," he said then turned back to Harry. "This won't take long, Harry, but we need your help. We are going to start teaching everyone from third year up about the Unforgivables starting Monday."

Harry was about to argue that their charm could defeat the Unforgivables when Remus held his hands up and shook his head. Then, putting his arm around Harry's shoulders, led him away from the conference room and into the study. "Harry," he said, "you know as well as I do that there isn't always time to even think about the charm, let alone activate it, in the heat of battle. I mean, look at what happened to Arthur Weasley. That is a perfect example of why there have been so many casualties. True, Arthur didn't have one on him but . . . um . . . I don't know if anyone's told you this or not but most of the casualties we are seeing are people whom have either been trained by us or have had the charms in their pockets. They have been fighting to save their property while ignoring the risks to their lives." Harry started to say something but Remus cut him off. "It's a hard lesson to learn, Harry, and some people never learn it. We can't force them to learn that life is more important than possessions but we can prepare them for what they might be faced with if this war drags on much longer."

Harry sat down at his desk and motioned for Remus to sit in one of the chairs opposite him. "So why do you need me to help you teach about the Unforgivables?"

Remus sat down in one of the comfortable chairs and leaned back. After studying Harry for a few moments he said, "Because you and Alastor are the only two of the five of us who have successfully thrown off the Imperious Curse when cast by someone of Tom's caliber and because you are still young. I almost hate to say this but the students respect you almost as much as they respect Albus which is a lot more than they respect any of the other teachers, except maybe Minerva, and they will listen to you more than they will listen to us."

Harry snorted at this but acquiest. "Alright," he said. "What do you want me to do?"

Remus grinned. "Who ever is teaching that day - we are going to be doing this over the next two weeks - will give the main lecture and then turn it over to you to describe the Imperious Curse in greater detail. Then they will cast the curse on you so that the students can watch you and observe. And since you are a very powerful wizard in your own right you will be helping us cast the spell on the students so that they can get a greater understanding of what it feels like."

Harry ran his fingers through his hair and hung his head. "Alright," he said with an air of resignation. "Who's first?"

"Monday is fifth-year Gryffindor and Ravenclaw with Alastor followed by fifth-year Slytherin and Huffelpuff."

Harry looked up. "After lunch, right?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry, Minerva will give you your homework assignments at dinner. That's why we are spreading it out over a two week period, so you don't fall behind in any of your studies."

"Gee, thanks," Harry said sarcasticly then stood up. "Alright. Tell Alastor I'll be there."

Remus stood up and pulled Harry into a brotherly hug. "You're doing fine, Harry," he reassured his young friend. "I know James and Lily and Sirius would be proud."

Harry smiled weakly at one of his parents' and godfather's best friends the followed Remus back out into the sitting room. Before Remus mounted the ladder he glanced over at Ginny, who was sitting patiently over by the window watching the candle flicker as she gently blew into its flame, and said "You might want to think about walking Ginny down to the common room because it's getting late and most of your roommates are already in bed."

Harry glanced over at Ginny and nodded. "Yeah. I suppose."

Remus chuckled as he started to climb the ladder. "Oh, and don't worry, Harry. I'll be sure to spread plenty of rumors about what you two are doing in your trunk."

Harry snatched a pillow up from the nearest couch and threw it at the retreating werewolf's back. "Don't you dare!" he threatened. "Or the next prank war will make the last one look like child's play."

Remus just laughed as he crawled out of the trunk. When he was out he turned around and smiled down at Harry with a mischievous glint in his eye. "See ya."

The notices went up the next morning.

ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS:

The war that is currently raging beyond
the boundaries of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
is of great concern to all.
As you know, every effort is being made on your behalf
to guarantee your safety while you are here
and to provide you with as normal a learning environment
as possible while school is in session.
Under the circumstances it has been decided
that Hogwarts will remain open over the upcoming holiday season.
Arrangements have been, and are being, made
for both Hogwarts and Hogsmeade to play host to any and/or all
students and their families who wish to spend the Christmas Holidays with us.
The Hogwarts Express will make its regularly scheduled run
to Platform 9¾ on Saturday, December 21st and will return to Hogsmeade
on Wednesday, January 1st for those who wish to return home for the holidays.
We do, however, encourage all students and their families
to take advantage of this opportunity, as we cannot guarantee your safety
once you leave the area.
Please register with your head of house
if you plan on remaining with us over the holidays.

Weather permitting, activities will include
inter-house snowball fights (no magic allowed),
snow sculpturing, sleigh rides and ice-skating
as well as Yule and New Years Balls and a number of concerts.

Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster,
Hogwarts School if Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry arrived late for lunch that day As Alastor had asked to speak with him after Charms so that they could go over what they were going to be doing that afternoon. Luna was the first to look up as Harry approached their traditional place at the Gryffindor Table. She was laughing at a joke Neville had been telling when she saw Harry and called out to him. "Hey, Harry!"

The others looked up, smiled and scooted over to make room for their friend. Placing his hands on their shoulders Harry stepped over the bench and sat down between Neville and Ginny. Tapping the center of his plate with his wand he asked Dobby for a bowl of soup with an extra helping of restorative draught and two bagels. Then, as Ginny slid her hand into his own, turned to look into his girlfriend's eyes. "Hi," he said softly.

Ginny looked into his tired eyes and seemed to feel the deep, underlying, emotional fatigue that was eating at his soul. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Harry smiled weakly. "Yeah, I'll be alright. I'm just getting a little tired of the war is all."

The others nodded, all but Luna understanding that Harry had a front row seat to some of the most horrific fighting that had been seen since the days of Gridelwald. "Why don't you take a few nights off?" Ron asked softly, the concern evident in his voice.

Harry looked up suddenly, fire flashing from his eyes. Hermione, sensing an explosion, raised her wand and cast a quick privacy charm. "I can't!" Harry snapped. "You remember what happened the last time I took a night off? We missed the plans for the attacks on the other villages."

"But, Harry," Hermione soothed, "look at what it's doing to you. True, you are sleeping and getting physically rested but emotionally it is tearing you apart."

There was silence while Harry thought this over. When his lunch appeared he looked up at the others and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry" he said. "You're right. I've got to stop trying to play hero. I'll talk to Albus and see what he says." Then turning to Ginny he said, "But I want to thank you for last night, Gin."

Ron looked up, his face suddenly red with rage. "Look!" he said, "I don't mind you going out with my little sister. I won't even mind if you get married; but you had better not be shagging her or I will be the first to hex you as soon as you have taken care of Tom!"

Harry shook his head and chuckled. "No, Ron. It's nothing like that. We just had dinner and talked."

"Then what's this about thanking her for last night?"

Dipping one of the bagels into his soup Harry said, "The way it was explained to me, when I was studying Spiritual Magic, is that there are basically three kinds of people in the world. There are people like Tom who are energy takers. They tend to drain the emotional energy from their surroundings. There are people like Albus who are energy givers. They tend to radiate energy and freely give of themselves when others are in need. And then there are energy sharers. These people share their emotional energy with others and grow stronger because of it. We are all actually energy sharers to a certain extent but some seem more inclined to draw energy from others and act as energy sinks while others tend to be more open and giving, more willing to share their energy with others. Ginny and I are energy sharers. We grow stronger just by being in each other's presence. Don't ask me to explain all of the technicalities of it because it would take too long and I'm not sure I understand it all that well. But suffice it to say that all Ginny and I have to do is talk to benefit from this exchange."

Ron blushed. "Oh, okay."

Hermione, who was seated across from Ginny, had been observing this exchange while carefully listening to Harry's words. "Harry," she asked carefully. "What all do you know about this exchange of energies?"

Harry glanced across at Hermione. "Not much, really. I know that the energy is the energy of life and that it gives us happiness and the willingness and desire to carry on. I know that it takes many forms and that the exchange takes place on a deeply spiritual level. Other than that I don't know all that much. Why?"

The look of intense concentration that had been masking Hermione's features lifted as a light of understanding came into here eyes. "From what you've described, it sounds like dementors are energy sinks. They may be a bit more complicated than that but the basic idea is there."

Harry thought about this for a minute then, sitting up and tiredly running his fingers through his hair, said, "Yeah, so."

Hermione scowled. "Don't you see?" she hissed. "This may be the key to defeating the dementors. If they are energy sinks then at least we have a starting point. I'm not saying that this will change anything because they may have already found a solution but then again maybe they haven't and this may be the piece of the puzzle they are looking for." Reaching for her bag she rummaged around for a bit and pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill and a half full bottle of ink. She wrote furiously for several minutes then, after examining her work, looked across at Ginny. "Could I borrow Henry?" she asked. "I want to send this off to the Babcocks as soon as possible."

The urgency in her voice, in concert with the fact that she was already getting to her feet, left little room for negotiation so Ginny took the easy way out. "Er, . . . yeah. Sure. I guess so."

Smiling merrily, as she always did when convinced that she was on to something, Hermione shouldered her bag and, parchment in hand, walked quickly out of the Great Hall headed for the owlry.

After reinforcing Hernione's privacy charm, to make sure no one could hear their conversation, Harry turned to Ron and asked, "So, do you think the security measures will be enough?"

"I don't know," Ron said, shaking his head. "I hope so, though. We've got a ten kilometer perimeter set up around both places and we are going to have air born patrols going on around the clock starting the second week of December. I just hope its enough."

"It will be," Ginny said reassuringly.

Harry glanced over at Ginny. "Yeah," he sighed. "But while they're here who's going to be guarding the other hot spots and who's going to be on call for random attacks?"

"Alastor and I have been working with Madam Bones on that for the past couple of weeks," Ron said in an attempt to reassure his friend that all bases were being covered. "In addition to the aurors and hit wizards we have several of our own agents stationed in and around all of the most obvious targets. There are no fewer than ten in any given location. Half of them are at there permanent stations while the other half are free to float, to go to wherever they are needed. I think we pretty much have all of the bases covered."

"What about the regular employees?" Harry asked.

"After the events of this past June," Ron continued, "all Ministry employees have been questioned extensively under Veritaserum. Several were even arrested. The same goes for Saint Mungo's. We're doing the best we can, Harry, and that's all anyone has a right to expect."

Harry was silent for several seconds. "Yeah, I guess." Then turning to Ginny he asked, "How is your work going with the pixies and fairies?"

"Some of the pixies are definitely on our side and will be helping with the patrols," Ginny said. "The Cornish Blues, however are causing some problems. I've met with the Fairy Queen several times and she assures me that they are on our side. She says I have a lot of your mother's qualities and that she believes in our cause. She says that they will never turn to the dark side. When I met with her yesterday she said that since the last pact they made was with your mother she would like to meet with you to reestablish that bond. Until then all they can to is serve as sentries and look outs. They will also be helping with patrols."

"What about the leprechauns?"

"They are currently remaining neutral. However, I do get the feeling that once the fairies come on board they will join our side as well."

"Who else?" Harry asked while rubbing his temples. "Who haven't we contacted yet?"

"We haven't talked to the High Elves yet," Ginny suggested. "I don't know what we can do about the house elves because they are so scattered but we can always try."

Turning to Neville Harry said, "How's it going on your front, Neville?"

Neville squirmed slightly before squaring his shoulders and delivering his impromptu report. "Luna and I have been working with the Department of Magical Transportation and we have established twelve secure apparation points in and around Hogsmeade and the portkeys are being arranged for the muggles." Turning to Ron he said, "And you might want to know that Percy can be very helpful when he wants to be."

Harry smiled. ""Good. How about you, Luna? Anything else to add?"

Luna nodded. "Most of the Floo Network is down but we have been able to rebuild small portions of it. So far we have access to Saint Mungo's as well as a few of the other major Wizarding Hospitals and government facilities in Scotland, Ireland, France and Spain. We are still working on Germany, Sweden and Portugal but we hope to have those up and running by the end of the month."

Harry nodded. "Good. I hope we won't need them but something tells me that we will before this is over. Is there anything else before I lift this charm?"

When no one said anything Harry flicked his wand and the Great Hall sprang to life around them as conversations and laughter filled the air and their fellow students discussed classes relationships and holiday plans, blissfully unaware of the roles six of their fellows were playing in their futures. "So what's up for you next, Harry?" Ron asked, acting as though their private conversation had never taken place.

Harry smiled grimly. "Moody and I are teaching the fifth years about the Unforgivables this afternoon," Harry said glumly.

"Oh, good!" Ginny smiled as she linked arms with Harry and leaned into his shoulder. "That means I get you next."

Harry smirked. "Yeah. You get the infamous Professor Potter for Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon."

Glancing at her watch Ginny said, "Well in that case, Professor Potter, I suggest we get moving. We only have about fifteen minutes before class starts."

Harry groaned and looked over at Ron. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

Ron laughed. "I think it's called love, Harry. And so far as I can tell there is no escaping it."

"You're probably right," Harry smirked.

"You had better believe he's right," Ginny smiled as she stood up and retrieved her book bag from beneath the bench and waited for Harry to thank Dobby for his meal. When they were walking across the Entrance Hall she turned to him and asked, "So what is this class going to be like?"

"Oh not much, really," Harry said offhandedly as Luna caught up with them. "Alastor is going to talk about the Unforgivables for a bit; then I am going to discuss the theory behind overcoming the Imperious Curse; then we will do a little demonstration; and finally we will be putting each of you under the curse so that you will know what it feels like. Hopefully at least a few of you will be able to fight it."

"Isn't that the curse the fake Moody taught you to overcome in your fourth year?"

"Yes," Harry said hesitantly. "And even though he was a fraud I do owe him a debt of gratitude. If it hadn't been for him I never would have been able to throw it off when Tom tried to control me in the graveyard that night."

Ginny looked over at him with concern as they approached the Defense classroom. "I'm sorry, Harry," she said. "I didn't mean to bring back any of those memories. It just slipped out."

"That's okay," Harry said smiling. "I've pretty much dealt with those memories. It's amazing what you can do when you are dead and can see things for what they really are. I'm not saying I'm perfect or anything but at least I can look at things from a broader perspective now. And a using a pensieve never hurts."

As they entered the Defense room Harry asked Ginny to meet him after class and turned towards Alastor who was standing in front of the teacher's desk while Ginny walked over and took her seat in the front row. "You ready for this, Harry?" Alastor growled when Harry joined him at the desk.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Harry said, resigning himself to being voluntarily put under the Imperious Curse.

"Good. I'll warm them up for you then."

Harry nodded and walked over to stand in the shadows while Alastor delivered his lecture on the three unforgivable curses. He didn't demonstrate them as his abductor had in Harry's fourth year but he did give them very accurate description of what the Cruciatus and Imperious Curses felt like.

Fifteen minutes later Harry found himself standing up in front of the class clearing his throat, preparing to deliver his portion of the lesson. Sitting back on the front edge of the teacher's desk he bowed his head and stared at a point on the floor roughly a meter in front of him. After several seconds of silence he looked up and locked eyes with Ginny who was sitting directly in front of him. She smiled warmly, giving him the strength he needed to go on. And with a sigh Harry pushed himself away from the desk and began describing how to overcome the Imperious Curse. "The first thing you need to know," he began, "is that the Imperious Curse is the magical equivalent of peer pressure. I'm sure you all know what it feels like to do something you normally wouldn't just to fit in and be a part of the crowd, a part of your chosen peer group. That's kind of what the imperious curse is like except that it is much more powerful and it will take every bit of resolve you have to be yourself, and act according to your own wishes, to throw it off. The more powerful the wizard casting the spell the more difficult will be your task.

"When the curse first hits you, you will experience a feeling of euphoria. All of your aches and pains and cares and concerns will seem to drift away and you will be very tempted to not only listen to but to obey the voices in your head because it is such a comfortable feeling and you will not want to fight. But you must fight because if you don't you may wind up killing not only the people you love but destroying everything you cherish and value and then, when the curse is lifted, you will have nothing but the memory of what you have done.

"The first voice you hear while under the Imperious Curse will be the voice of the person casting the spell and it will be either asking or telling you to do something. These requests or commands may seem harmless enough in the beginning but you must resist all - and I do mean all - of these whisperings because once you open up to this voice and give in, this person's power and control over you will only grow stronger.

"The second voice you will hear will be your own personal voice of reason. It will begin by asking the simple question as to why you should obey these commands. This is the voice you should listen to because it is trying to help you fight and resist the curse. But it cannot do it alone. You must listen to this second voice and ignore the other. It will require a determined effort to be yourself and to rid yourself of the effects not only of the Imperious Curse but of the lesser curse of peer pressure as well. And since most of us already know how difficult it is to overcome the subtleties of peer pressure, especially when we are still young and fairly impressionable, most of you already have an idea as to what kind of battle you will be facing when you are placed under the Imperious Curse. Whatever you do, don't give in. Fight for all you're worth because the Imperious Curse is a lot more direct and a lot more powerful than the subtleties of peer pressure but if you truly wish to rule your own lives then I can promise you that the battle will be worth it."

As Harry finished his portion of the lecture a blond haired Ravenclaw boy sitting behind Ginny raised his hand. "Yes?" Harry asked point to him.

"Uh, Professor Potter?" A few of the Gryffindors snickered and the boy blushed bright red.

"That's Okay," Harry reassured him. "My name is Harry but Professor Potter will do."

"Er, Okay," the boy blushed. "Who's the most powerful wizard to cast the Imperious Curse on you and were you able to throw it off?"

The room fell silent and all eyes turned expectantly towards Harry. Harry swallowed hard and turned towards Alastor for some sign as to what he should tell them. Moody nodded his head and sensing Harry's apprehension, softly said, "Go on, Harry, tell them the truth."

Harry turned back to the students and, taking a deep breathe said, "In answer to the first part of your question, the most powerful wizard who has ever cast the Imperious Curse on me likes to go by the name of Voldemort." As expected, almost everyone gasped and a few screamed. Only Ginny and Luna remained stubbornly silent. Once everything had settled down Harry answered the rest of his question. "To answer the second part of your question, yes. I did throw it off."

"Now," Moody said, stepping up to stand beside Harry, "I want you to gather round so that you can watch Professor Potter's eyes. That is where you will see the struggle. Harry is strong and can throw my curse off without much effort but he still has to throw it off. Watch his eyes and you will get some idea as to what you will be up against when we cast the spell on you." Ginny and Luna and their classmates came forward and gathered around Moody, positioning themselves so they could both see and watch Harry's eyes. When everyone was settled he asked Harry if he was ready. When Harry nodded his head Moody raised his wand, pointing it directly at Harry's head, and yelled, "IMPERIO!"

A sudden sense of euphoria filled Harry's being as all of his cares and concerns dropped away. Nothing mattered as he felt his mind fill with the fluffy, sweetness of cotton candy. It was hard to form a coherent thought in that world that would allow him to resist the curse as Moody's disembodied voice told him to start doing jumping jacks; and yet he resisted because he knew that these were not his thoughts.

Out of sheer force of habit he quickly dropped into a deep, meditative state, blocked Moody's voice out of his mind and threw the effects of the curse aside. As he did so, however, both Alastor and the students could see the look of fierce determination in his eyes and feel the waves of raw, magical energy radiating from his being. When he was free of the curse he shook his head and smirked at Alastor with an evilly defiant twinkle in his eye. "No thank you," he said with a wry smile. "I did enough of those this morning."

Several of the students watching him had moved back and Alastor had dropped his wand as if it were a hot iron. Moody's normal eye grew wide with shock and disbelief. His mouth fell open as his magical eye darted between his dropped wand and Harry. "Are you alright, Potter?" he asked nervously.

Harry took a deep breath and let the built up tension and magical energy fall away and shook his head to clear away the fuzzy feelings that still lingered in his mind. "Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?"

Moody looked at him curiously. "I'm not sure," he said nervously. "I've never seen such a rapid build up of magical energy. I had to drop my wand before it exploded. Has this ever happened before?"

Harry sighed heavily. "Yes. It's happened a couple of times in my Thursday night classes, when we were talking to Bane and while we were over in Romania. I'm getting better at controlling it but sometimes it just gets away from me."

"The ring?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, that's part of it."

Moody nodded his understanding then turned back to the class. "Well now, were you watching his eyes?" Most of the students nodded mutely afraid to take their eyes off of Harry and only hesitantly glancing at Alastor. "Good," the battle scarred ex-auror growled. "Then I suggest we get on with the rest of the lesson."

For the rest of the period Harry and Alastor put the students under the Imperious Curse. For most of the time the room was filled with students hopping around like rabbits or grousing around like gorillas. A few were spared the humiliation of acting like animals but wound up either dancing around the room or doing calisthenics. Luna had fought it off when Alastor cast it on her but didn't want to go up against Harry. Then there was one person left to be tested.

As Ginny stepped forward to stand before Harry, Alastor asked him if he would rather he, Moody, test her. Harry looked at Ginny. "What do you think, Gin?" Harry asked. "You have to be tested but I don't want you to get hurt. If I throw everything I've got into this curse . . ."

"Do it," she said, cutting him off. "You are a very powerful wizard, Harry. If you could throw Tom's curse off before the ring I hate to think what you could do now. But I was already controlled by him once and I want to be able to throw it off if it ever comes to it."

Moody looked at Harry and, shrugging his shoulders, hobbled back to stand beside the door. The other students all took their seats, some still suffering from the after effects of the curse, while Harry and Ginny took center stage. Harry reluctantly raised his wand and pointed it at Ginny's eyes. Ginny quickly nodded and set her jaw. Harry sighed then, taking a deep breath, bellowed, "IMPERIO!"

As the glowing stream of energy struck Ginny in the face her body relaxed and all tension seemed to melt away. But then she started to fight the curse and the tension returned. Her normally soft, chocolate brown eyes took on a steely glare of grim determination and beads of perspiration began to appear on her forehead. Her hands balled into fists and her body began to shake with suppressed rage.

Some of her classmates were beginning to mutter at the duration of her test, wondering how long she could hold out, when Ginny shocked everyone but Harry and Alastor by letting out a bloodcurdling scream followed by a resounding "NO!"

Harry quickly lowered his wand as soon as she threw the curse off and ran to her, catching her before she fell to the hard stone floor. "Are you alright?" He asked as the bell rang.

Ginny, breathing shakily into his chest, her entire body shaking from the strain of throwing off the powerful curse, nodded her head. "Yes," she breathed. "I'll be alright. That was a powerful curse, Harry. I don't know if I could have taken much more of it."

Harry hugged her to his chest and ran his free hand through her hair, brushing it away from her face. "You did good, Gin. It took me four times to cast it off completely and that was with a wimp like Crouch Junior casting the spell. I was pouring everything I had into that spell and you still threw it off on the first try."

Ginny smiled up at him. "Thanks," she said. "Now what did you want to talk about?"

"Huh?" Harry asked in confusion.

"You asked me to see you after class. What did you want?"

"Oh," Harry said, remembering their earlier conversation. "I . . . er . . . I was . . . Well, I was wondering if you would go to the dances with me over the Christmas Holiday. I'll understand if you don't want to but just in case you do I thought you might want to know that I'll need dance lessons." It had taken him a moment to get started but then it poured out in a rush.

When he finished Ginny was giggling softly. "Of course I will go with you, Harry," she said. "And don't worry about dance lessons. I'll teach you what I can but you couldn't be any worse than Neville. My feet still hurt whenever I think about the last Yule Ball."

Harry smiled at the memory of Neville stepping on Ginny's toes at the Yule Ball in his fourth year. After walking with her over to her desk where he helped her collect her books he escorted her to the door of the classroom. As they exited Alastor shoved a small blue bottle with a dark liquid sloshing around inside into her hand. "Here," he said gruffly. Ginny and Harry both looked at the ex-auror curiously. "It's a restorative draught," Moody said. "After that little demonstration you are going to need it to get through the rest of the day."

Ginny took the bottle, looked at it curiously then smiled. "Thank you," she said then turned and smiled at Harry. "I'll see you at dinner."

Moody stumped back into the classroom and sat down behind the teacher's desk. When Harry walked back in and sat on the edge of the desk, to await the Slytherin and Huffelpuff fifth year students, Moody growled, "You should be proud of her, Harry."

Smiling to himself Harry crossed his arms and leaned back slightly. "Oh, I am, Alastor, I'm very proud of her. She is going to be alright no matter what happens to me."