3. A study group?
The next day, Friday, Professor McGonagall asked Ron, Hermione and Harry to stay after class. She looked more serious than before, but Harry didn't have long to worry what was up as she came straight to the point.
"The Headmaster wants a small group of trusted students to take extra lessons in defense, and more. You will be told the details in the first class, tomorrow afternoon. The others, most Prefects, a few others, are all asked to volunteer, but for the three of you I will not pretend to give you a choice. Harry of course is our main concern but I'm afraid you have all three drawn more than enough attention of You-Know-Who."
Harry nodded, so did Hermione. Ron turned a little pale, although Harry knew his friend would never back out.
"Officially, the class is a study group. Even so, I don't expect it will be possible to hide the entire purpose of the lessons. What is allowed to get out is that all of you will be learning how to watch, maintain, and if necessary restore the wards on the school. There will be a number of other projects, which we hope to keep from prying eyes. No one is to know, not even your closest friends or family members, nor any of the staff apart from the Headmaster, Professor Flitwick, Professor Snape, Professor Figg and myself."
"I understand, Professor," Harry replied solemnly.
Ron and Hermione nodded.
"Charms classroom, seven o'clock tonight," Professor McGonagall said.
For the rest of the afternoon, Harry was both eager and anxious to find out what the extra lessons would entail. It seemed every day he learned the situation was a little more serious yet.
The three of them entered the classroom together, and were the first students there. Only the Headmaster, Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall were present.
"Ah, Harry, Hermione, Ron, good to see you," Dumbledore greeted them heartily. "How are your classes so far?"
"Fine, Professor," Harry replied. "Thank you."
"Fine, thank you," Hermione added.
"Great, Professor," Ron looked uneasy. "Who else is going to be here?"
"You'll see," Professor McGonagall berated him. She seemed edgy, as if she wasn't happy to be here at all.
None of their teachers seemed inclined to tell them more, not until everyone was present. Which didn't take long. To Harry's chagrin, Mrs Figg –no, Professor Figg- came in, but of course she would be there, she was the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher after all, and Professor McGonagall had named her as one who was involved. Then most of the other Prefects joined them, a sixth-year Slytherin, two seventh-year Ravenclaws, the Head Boy and Head Girl. Finally Professor Flitwick came in late followed by a large, black dog. Sirius!
Knowing that Sirius wasn't officially cleared, Harry glanced at the Headmaster before greeting his godfather by name, instead grinning broadly as Sirius bounded over to him and jumped up against him. Hermione caught on and merely said 'hi', then kicked Ron before he could say anything more.
"In just a moment, Harry," Dumbledore cautioned him. "Is everyone here?"
"I believe so," Snape replied, sounding sour.
Harry looked around and noticed only three Slytherins, the two sixth-year Prefects and another sixth-year he hardly knew, Joey Highmoon. Draco and Pansy weren't present, nor were either of the seventh-year Slytherin Prefects. So Snape didn't trust most of his Slytherins, Harry realised. Were they really all Death Eaters and sympathisers?
Professor Flitwick cast a spell Harry had not heard before, but he assumed it was a warding spell, for as soon as he was done he nodded to the Headmaster and Professor Dumbledore started to speak. He, too, sounded solemn and his eyes didn't have the usual sparkle.
"First of all, I am glad all of you have agreed to come. You all know what you see, hear and learn in this room is not to be discussed outside this room, nor with anyone not currently present. Now I know not everyone here may get along," Dumbledore looked pointedly at Snape, and also threw a warning glance at Barin, the sixth-year Gryffindor Prefect who had been eyeing the Slytherins, "but I can assure you, everyone in this room can be trusted. Including someone who has graciously offered his help, Sirius Black."
Sirius changed into his human form to the gasps of most of the students.
"Harry, good to see you!" he said, and hugged him. That draw more shocked gasps, but also seemed to put the other students at ease. Harry wondered if Dumbledore had planned it that way, while he returned his godfather's hug.
"Great to see you too, Sirius. Sorry I wrote so little over the summer." Harry hadn't dared write Sirius in any detail. He liked Sirius a lot, but also was a bit afraid of his godfather's temper. There was no telling what he'd have done to Uncle Vernon if Harry had told exactly how he'd ended up at Hogwarts. And he didn't think he could explain how he'd managed to work things out with Snape, either. He could see Snape's scowl across the room even now.
"I won't go into all the details, suffice to say Sirius Black is completely innocent of the crimes brought against him. Unfortunately, I can not provide proof sufficient for the Ministry, so his presence here will remain a secret. He will be helping with some of your lessons," Dumbledore told them.
"I regret having to ask students to become involved, but I see no other way short of closing the school. We do not have enough staff to hold off an attack and protect the students, and as long as the Ministry refuses to see the gravity of the situation and send us some Aurors, that means I have to rely on you. When the attack on Hogwarts comes, the Prefects will lead the students out, and I want you all to be able to defend yourselves in any way necessary. That includes using the Killing Curse."
Harry felt queasy at the thought. He'd known he was to face Voldemort, and he had wondered if anyone would teach him the Killing Curse or that they'd assume he'd find a way to make kill the Dark wizard another way. Or perhaps they expected it work for him at first try. But in spite of all that, he still disliked the idea of using Avada Kedavra, and he certainly hadn't expected it to be taught to this entire group.
From their reactions, Harry was certain the other students had been told this much before, probably when they were given the choice to join or not. Only Ron turned white. Hermione simply nodded, like she had done in Defense class when they were told they'd have to practice the Imperius spell. Harry felt a little jealous, if only he could accept everything with such cool logic as she seemed to be able to!
"Something rather more pleasant, but a lot more difficult as well," Dumbledore continued. "You will be learning to be Animagi. Several recent events have shown me how useful it can be to be an Animagus. Now not everyone may succeed, and I'll be surprised if anyone manages to successfully transform within a year and a half, perhaps two, but I hope that we will be in time for it to make a difference."
This time Harry felt excited. He would love to be an Animagus, regardless of the reasons! He grinned, suppressing the urge to whoop out loud. He didn't think the other students had been told about this, for this time, they looked more surprised than he and his friends. Ron grinned widely, and Hermione looked enthusiastic as well.
"If it takes that long, do we still participate in the Animagus training?" Sonya, a seventh-year Hufflepuff Prefect, asked.
"We will be happy to assist you after you leave, and it will almost certainly be an advantage to you at one time or another, but it is a long-term project. Any seventh-years who do not want to may be exempt from those training sessions," Professor McGonagall replied.
"Thank you, but I was just concerned I'd not be able to finish. I'd like to learn," Sonya replied, and the other seventh-years agreed.
Professor McGonagall nodded, looking quite satisfied.
"And of course you will learn to work with the wards on the castle," the Headmaster said finally. "Which is the only goal of this class that is allowed to become known, although of course only in a general sense. Now, for today we will not be starting any of these lessons. Instead, I want you all to brainstorm. You've just heard those things we came up with, but some of you may have an idea we did not come up with yet. Say whatever comes to mind, don't be afraid to feel silly."
As usual, Hermione was the first to put up her hand. "I know Muggle items don't work at Hogwarts, but won't it work to set up an extra line of Muggle security cameras outside the wards? They would work there."
"They are very easy to fool using magic, Miss Granger," Snape replied immediately.
Hermione looked put down, but the Headmaster nodded at her encouragingly. "Don't worry, it was a good thought. Anyone else?"
Snape snorted, and McGonagall glared at him.
"What about patrolling the castle grounds on broomsticks?" Yoni, a Ravenclaw Prefect, asked.
"You'd make a perfect target for any curse," Barin replied. Several others nodded and Yoni shrugged as she realized they were right.
Harry looked at Sirius, not sure he wanted to bring up his own idea. A lot of people knew about the Map, now, but Harry didn't think anyone but the Headmaster –and Ron and Hermione, of course- knew it was currently in his trunk. Hm, he could phrase it so he didn't actually tell he had the Map in his possession.
"Would it be a good idea to monitor the map of Hogwarts, or to make copies of it?" he said carefully.
Dumbledore smiled briefly, but shook his head. "The wards will do any monitoring just as well, and it's too dangerous to make more copies. The more copies there are, the more can fall into the wrong hands. It's better the one we have remains where it is now."
This time, the Headmaster's eyes did twinkle, and Harry nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Could we use Muggle weapons to defend the castle?" Taniya, a Muggle-born Hufflepuff suggested.
"Your wand can be used for both offensive and defensive spells," Sirius replied. "And it would be difficult to use both at once."
"Would it help if more people learned Parseltongue?" Hermione wondered.
Harry stared at her, open-mouthed. He hadn't thought of that, was it even possible?
"Parseltongue is a talent, it isn't learned," Professor Snape said shortly.
"Has anyone ever tried?" Hermione asked.
Snape looked taken aback. "No, of course not."
"Then how can you know it's impossible? It's a language, made up out of sounds. Even if we can only learn certain phrases, without really understanding what it means, it could be used for passwords for example, that no one but us and You-Know-Who himself could ever find."
Snape frowned, then looked at Harry. "Do you know any useful phrases or words in Parseltongue?"
"I can't write it down or anything, I just… think what I want to say and if I'm speaking to a snake it comes out in Parseltongue. But I don't know why someone who listens carefully couldn't imitate the sounds. Maybe that is possible."
"Would Voldemort's snake listen to anyone who speaks Parseltongue?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Snape shook his head before Harry could. "It's too intelligent for that, however, it may be momentarily confused if it were told to back off in its own language. If a short phrase could be learned accurately, then it might be worth the trouble. I don't see what use it will be to learn more of the language."
Dumbledore looked at Harry and his friends. "Well, we have to find out if it works and 'sod off' seems as good a phrase as any. Why don't you three work on this during the next week and see if it's feasible. We can decide if it can be used for any other purposes depending on your results. Harry, do you need a live snake or will a painting do?"
"I think a painting will be fine, sir, thank you," Harry replied. He still wasn't sure if it would work –he didn't know if he shaped the Parseltongue with his mouth or that some magic was involved in that, too. But he was quite willing to give it a try.
Dumbledore nodded. "Good. Anyone else?"
One after the other, everyone shook their heads.
"Then, if there are no further questions, this meeting is concluded. We will meet again next week, same time. Harry, I'll find you a snake and a place to work and let you know."
When Dumbledore was sure no one had anything else to add, he dismissed them all.
"We'll find some time to talk next week, Harry," Sirius promised, then transformed back into his Animagus form.
Professor Flitwick took out his wand and spoke another spell, and everyone filed out of the room. Harry, Ron and Hermione went back to their common room, and Harry regretted they could not risk talking about what they had just heard. He couldn't wait what kind of Animagus form he'd be, would he be a stag like his father? That would be wonderful, although perhaps it was not the most practical form, a cat or dog or even a rat could more easily sneak into places. No, not a rat, no matter how easy it would be to get around. Anything but a rat!