Chapter 9 - The Three Urgent Tasks
The formation of Dumbledore's Army rekindled a fire in the hearts of the young wizards. They promptly fulfilled the tasks assigned to them, much to the annoyance of the other people in the room who seemed to think that they were just wasting their time (In which Ron angrily retorted with a nasty, "Oh, yeah, you think so? Why don't you just go out there and die willingly?") and within 48 hours, another meeting was called to finalize the plans.
"Listen, comrades-in-wands," everyone groaned at the term. Harry smiled. "Just joking but hey, I like the sound of that. Let's hear the outcome of your tasks first. Hermione?"
Hermione stood up promptly and read clearly, "Patronus kiss should only be administered to the King of Dementors, in our case it was called 'Demeter'. The spell is 'Patrono Halkum' but only the chosen one could do that. The essence of the kiss should then be incorporated with a special power revival potion which Cho and I will be working on. The only tricky part is locating all those victims and finding the wizard village where they came from for the potion to work. As of now, we don't know the name of the village yet and even Professor McGonagall has already forgotten the place."
"Professor McGonagall also said that those wizards had their memories modified so they might not even be willing to do it. The village was magically wiped out from the books and since the place was unplottable, it is quite impossible for us to go there" added Cho.
"No, it's not." said Harry quietly. "You're forgetting what I said earlier. My Aunt Petunia was one of them. She lived in that village and the memory charm was lifted when she took me."
"Oh!" was all Hermione and Cho said.
"That's ok, guys. What about your group, Lee?" said Harry, noticing that the four boys were already itching to report.
"Hey, the task was harder than we thought but.....of course, we're geniuses!" exclaimed Lee triumphantly. Seamus, Colin and Dennis were grinning from ear to ear, clearly proud of their accomplishment.
"Yeah, who would have thought that the house-elves could do so much...." said Colin.
"Wicked! I ---" Dennis suddenly stopped when he noticed Hermione's cold expression.
"Chill out, Hermione. It's not as if we're exploiting them or something. They wanted to help...they really do...and they chose to do it. We did not force them." said Seamus cautiously. He knew that Hermione was quite touchy about elf rights but it was different if the house-elves themselves chose to help them. Hell, they need every help they can get, he thought.
"Ok, then. So how exactly are they helping us?" Hermione asked, not entirely convinced of their logic yet.
"Well, from talking to Dobby, we figured that the house-elves can be turned into a very effective spy network. There are house elves all over the world and their own brand of magic allow them to communicate with one another without alerting the wizards. Aside from that, they can also get past any anti-apparition barriers. You get the picture?" Lee paused before continuing. "We then requested Dobby and some of his trusted friends to locate the remaining members of the DA and personally give them the letters informing that DA has returned and that if they still wish to be part of us again, they have to give their reply immediately to the house-elf that delivered the message."
"And?" prompted Harry.
"Why do you think we're so excited? Of course, we got them all!" said Seamus eagerly, signaling Colin and Dennis to show them the letters. "Apparently, they were also hiding in some underground unplottable safe houses built during the previous reign of Voldemort."
"WHOA!" exclaimed the astounded DA members.
"Wicked!" said Ron.
"How come there are only 15 of them? We have 29 members, the letters should be 16." said Hermione, trying to recall who among the previous members, except Ginny, had not replied.
"Er ---um....." All turned at once to the small boy awkwardly wringing his hands. "We sort of....uh---forgotten to include Marietta Edgecombe in the list we gave the house-elves." muttered Dennis quickly. "Since she umm.....snitched on us last year......we figured it would be best if she's not here for now." he added hastily.
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "What do you think, guys?" he asked the group, carefully eyeing their reactions.
"I think whatever she had done last year, we should give her a chance." said Hermione firmly.
"NO WAY!" Ron vehemently said. He couldn't quite forgive her yet.
"We think Hermione's right." said Lavender and Parvati.
"It's quite hard to decide. After all, detention is not the only thing at stake here but she's my friend." said Cho weakly. Padma also nodded in agreement.
"So that's 5 votes for 'yes; and 5 votes for 'no'. Luna, what do you think?" asked Harry.
Luna looked taken aback for a moment before she replied, "I think Hermione's right. We should give her a chance but.... not right now. We have to observe first and make sure that she will not betray us a second time before we approach her again."
"Brilliant! Do you all agree?"asked Harry, smiling at Luna. The others reluctantly nodded. "So, that brings us to the last group. Parvati, what have you got so far?
"Not good. The polite ones just ignored us but the others downright insulted our efforts. There is one from Durmstrang and two from Beaxbatons who seemed interested but they are not feeling too brave at the moment though. Maybe we just have to wait." explained Lavender, feeling more downhearted as she read her report.
"That's okay, Lavender. We should have expected that. They will refuse to join us now because we have not proven anything yet. To them, we are just a bunch of foolish kids pulling a very dangerous prank. Don't worry, they'll come around. We just have to be patient and explain some more." said Harry, consoling the disheartened member.
"You're right, Harry. It's just that so many rejections were quite traumatic for us." moaned Parvati.
"We'll just continue to convince the three who were interested and then leave the others for later. By the way, here is the list of the most useful spells that we need to master as soon as possible." said Padma, handing each of the members a copy of the spells complete with the incantantions, correct wand movements and their uses.
"Thanks!." said Harry, putting a copy in the pocket of his trousers, "All of your reports will be very helpful to the general plan that Ron, Luna and I had drafted last night. The plan had been streamlined to three urgent tasks. First, we must bring Aunt Petunia here immediately. I need at least two other people who could already do some advanced magic to go with me. We reckoned it would be best if we always work collectively, in a group of 3 people or more. Who would be willing to join me?" he saw all of them raise their hands. "No, not all of us yet. It shall be carried out tomorrow morning already. No time to train first that's why I need those who can perform advanced magic already. Lee and Luna can go with me. Sorry, Ron." He apologized quickly to his bestfriend who seemed hurt that he didn't choose him to join the first team.
"Why Luna? She's one year younger than us..." Parvati pointed out.
"Yes, I know but after arriving at our house without so much of a scratch, I think she's up to the challenge." said Harry.
"Oh! Okay."
"The second task is to bring all the other members here, target schedule is next week. We all need to train religiously before that date because all of us will be going....unless someone wants to stay, of course." he grinned as the others groan in mock protest. "Ron will unite all the teams later after we have studied the report of Lee's group."
"As for the third task, we will all undergo another extensive training on battle related spells including advanced apparition..." he paused. "...and wandless magic..." The others gasped in wonder.
"But who will teach us?" asked Hermione.
"Is it really possible?" asked Colin.
"Yes, it is possible. Aunt Petunia will assist me in teaching you. She's more familiar with it. Actually, she was the one who taught me how." said Harry, levitating a chair without a wand to demonstrate.
"Cool! Why didn't you use that when we were at Grimmauld Place?" asked Luna suddenly.
"Because I don't want them to know yet and ----" Harry was suddenly interrupted by Madam Hooch's shout of "Dinner's ready!" "....it seemed that dinner's ready so we have to stop this meeting right now. I'm starving!" he playfully ran to the make-shift dining place. Several 'so-am- I's' followed him and one very large foot almost crushed his foot in haste.
"Luna, Lee, please meet me after dinner tonight at that part of the room." Harry whispered to them as they sat on their respective places. He pointed to the sofa near Professor McGonagall's table but discreetly hidden behind a shelf of books. "We'll finalize our rescue plan for tomorrow, okay?"
"Are you out of your mind? Of course, it's okay!" said Lee excitedly while Luna just nodded and smiled gently at Harry who suddenly felt lighthearted and cheerful despite of everything.
The formation of Dumbledore's Army rekindled a fire in the hearts of the young wizards. They promptly fulfilled the tasks assigned to them, much to the annoyance of the other people in the room who seemed to think that they were just wasting their time (In which Ron angrily retorted with a nasty, "Oh, yeah, you think so? Why don't you just go out there and die willingly?") and within 48 hours, another meeting was called to finalize the plans.
"Listen, comrades-in-wands," everyone groaned at the term. Harry smiled. "Just joking but hey, I like the sound of that. Let's hear the outcome of your tasks first. Hermione?"
Hermione stood up promptly and read clearly, "Patronus kiss should only be administered to the King of Dementors, in our case it was called 'Demeter'. The spell is 'Patrono Halkum' but only the chosen one could do that. The essence of the kiss should then be incorporated with a special power revival potion which Cho and I will be working on. The only tricky part is locating all those victims and finding the wizard village where they came from for the potion to work. As of now, we don't know the name of the village yet and even Professor McGonagall has already forgotten the place."
"Professor McGonagall also said that those wizards had their memories modified so they might not even be willing to do it. The village was magically wiped out from the books and since the place was unplottable, it is quite impossible for us to go there" added Cho.
"No, it's not." said Harry quietly. "You're forgetting what I said earlier. My Aunt Petunia was one of them. She lived in that village and the memory charm was lifted when she took me."
"Oh!" was all Hermione and Cho said.
"That's ok, guys. What about your group, Lee?" said Harry, noticing that the four boys were already itching to report.
"Hey, the task was harder than we thought but.....of course, we're geniuses!" exclaimed Lee triumphantly. Seamus, Colin and Dennis were grinning from ear to ear, clearly proud of their accomplishment.
"Yeah, who would have thought that the house-elves could do so much...." said Colin.
"Wicked! I ---" Dennis suddenly stopped when he noticed Hermione's cold expression.
"Chill out, Hermione. It's not as if we're exploiting them or something. They wanted to help...they really do...and they chose to do it. We did not force them." said Seamus cautiously. He knew that Hermione was quite touchy about elf rights but it was different if the house-elves themselves chose to help them. Hell, they need every help they can get, he thought.
"Ok, then. So how exactly are they helping us?" Hermione asked, not entirely convinced of their logic yet.
"Well, from talking to Dobby, we figured that the house-elves can be turned into a very effective spy network. There are house elves all over the world and their own brand of magic allow them to communicate with one another without alerting the wizards. Aside from that, they can also get past any anti-apparition barriers. You get the picture?" Lee paused before continuing. "We then requested Dobby and some of his trusted friends to locate the remaining members of the DA and personally give them the letters informing that DA has returned and that if they still wish to be part of us again, they have to give their reply immediately to the house-elf that delivered the message."
"And?" prompted Harry.
"Why do you think we're so excited? Of course, we got them all!" said Seamus eagerly, signaling Colin and Dennis to show them the letters. "Apparently, they were also hiding in some underground unplottable safe houses built during the previous reign of Voldemort."
"WHOA!" exclaimed the astounded DA members.
"Wicked!" said Ron.
"How come there are only 15 of them? We have 29 members, the letters should be 16." said Hermione, trying to recall who among the previous members, except Ginny, had not replied.
"Er ---um....." All turned at once to the small boy awkwardly wringing his hands. "We sort of....uh---forgotten to include Marietta Edgecombe in the list we gave the house-elves." muttered Dennis quickly. "Since she umm.....snitched on us last year......we figured it would be best if she's not here for now." he added hastily.
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "What do you think, guys?" he asked the group, carefully eyeing their reactions.
"I think whatever she had done last year, we should give her a chance." said Hermione firmly.
"NO WAY!" Ron vehemently said. He couldn't quite forgive her yet.
"We think Hermione's right." said Lavender and Parvati.
"It's quite hard to decide. After all, detention is not the only thing at stake here but she's my friend." said Cho weakly. Padma also nodded in agreement.
"So that's 5 votes for 'yes; and 5 votes for 'no'. Luna, what do you think?" asked Harry.
Luna looked taken aback for a moment before she replied, "I think Hermione's right. We should give her a chance but.... not right now. We have to observe first and make sure that she will not betray us a second time before we approach her again."
"Brilliant! Do you all agree?"asked Harry, smiling at Luna. The others reluctantly nodded. "So, that brings us to the last group. Parvati, what have you got so far?
"Not good. The polite ones just ignored us but the others downright insulted our efforts. There is one from Durmstrang and two from Beaxbatons who seemed interested but they are not feeling too brave at the moment though. Maybe we just have to wait." explained Lavender, feeling more downhearted as she read her report.
"That's okay, Lavender. We should have expected that. They will refuse to join us now because we have not proven anything yet. To them, we are just a bunch of foolish kids pulling a very dangerous prank. Don't worry, they'll come around. We just have to be patient and explain some more." said Harry, consoling the disheartened member.
"You're right, Harry. It's just that so many rejections were quite traumatic for us." moaned Parvati.
"We'll just continue to convince the three who were interested and then leave the others for later. By the way, here is the list of the most useful spells that we need to master as soon as possible." said Padma, handing each of the members a copy of the spells complete with the incantantions, correct wand movements and their uses.
"Thanks!." said Harry, putting a copy in the pocket of his trousers, "All of your reports will be very helpful to the general plan that Ron, Luna and I had drafted last night. The plan had been streamlined to three urgent tasks. First, we must bring Aunt Petunia here immediately. I need at least two other people who could already do some advanced magic to go with me. We reckoned it would be best if we always work collectively, in a group of 3 people or more. Who would be willing to join me?" he saw all of them raise their hands. "No, not all of us yet. It shall be carried out tomorrow morning already. No time to train first that's why I need those who can perform advanced magic already. Lee and Luna can go with me. Sorry, Ron." He apologized quickly to his bestfriend who seemed hurt that he didn't choose him to join the first team.
"Why Luna? She's one year younger than us..." Parvati pointed out.
"Yes, I know but after arriving at our house without so much of a scratch, I think she's up to the challenge." said Harry.
"Oh! Okay."
"The second task is to bring all the other members here, target schedule is next week. We all need to train religiously before that date because all of us will be going....unless someone wants to stay, of course." he grinned as the others groan in mock protest. "Ron will unite all the teams later after we have studied the report of Lee's group."
"As for the third task, we will all undergo another extensive training on battle related spells including advanced apparition..." he paused. "...and wandless magic..." The others gasped in wonder.
"But who will teach us?" asked Hermione.
"Is it really possible?" asked Colin.
"Yes, it is possible. Aunt Petunia will assist me in teaching you. She's more familiar with it. Actually, she was the one who taught me how." said Harry, levitating a chair without a wand to demonstrate.
"Cool! Why didn't you use that when we were at Grimmauld Place?" asked Luna suddenly.
"Because I don't want them to know yet and ----" Harry was suddenly interrupted by Madam Hooch's shout of "Dinner's ready!" "....it seemed that dinner's ready so we have to stop this meeting right now. I'm starving!" he playfully ran to the make-shift dining place. Several 'so-am- I's' followed him and one very large foot almost crushed his foot in haste.
"Luna, Lee, please meet me after dinner tonight at that part of the room." Harry whispered to them as they sat on their respective places. He pointed to the sofa near Professor McGonagall's table but discreetly hidden behind a shelf of books. "We'll finalize our rescue plan for tomorrow, okay?"
"Are you out of your mind? Of course, it's okay!" said Lee excitedly while Luna just nodded and smiled gently at Harry who suddenly felt lighthearted and cheerful despite of everything.