As he lie in bed that night, he heard those words in his head, repeated over and over. "Just kill them, Harry. Just kill them." "No! I will not just kill them! That's what Voldemort wants me to do! It'll make me weak, and leave me free to be attacked at any moment. I will not kill them!" he thought. "But then why was Dumbledore telling me to do so? Jealousy? Is he jealous that I might be the one to take care of the Dark Lord and not him? Nah, Dumbledore's never jealous." Harry was still trying to come up with an explanation when he heard a tapping on his window. He looked up to see Pigwigdeon with a letter tied to his legs. He opened the window and let the wet bird inside. After untying the letter, he let the bird fly down to the Owlery to get some rest. Harry picked up the letter and read it to himself.
Harry
Kingsley tells me that you guys won the quidditch game without me and Ginny! Nice job! I will be coming back in about a week. Don't worry. Everybody's fine right now. Just a little upset about the untimely death of Bill. Make sure Hermione's doing alright for me. I'll tell her everything that has happened when I get back. That way she'll know I'm alright. I don't want her worrying about me.
Ron
He placed the letter in a box under his bed and laid back down on top of his covers. He was rather hot, so he did not sleep under the covers, that would just make him sweat even more. He listened to the sound of the rain drops falling from the sky as he closed his eyes and drifted asleep, dreaming about the day to come when the D.A. would hopefully be started up again.
When he awoke, Neville was standing above him, prodding him gently with his finger. "C'mon Harry! You slept through breakfast! It's time to leave for Hogsmeade!" Neville told him, his face brightening up. Harry sat up in his bed and pushed his hair out of his eyes. His hair was becoming quite greasy, but not anywhere as greasy as Snape's. He hopped out of bed and pulled some clothes on, not bothering to worry about what he was wearing. He grabbed some money before leaving. As he walked down the stairs to the common room with Neville, he saw Hermione and Lavender talking on the sofa, no doubt waiting for Harry. "Hey guys," Harry greeted them, walking over to Hermione's side. "Hey Harry," the two girls both replied. "Ready to go down to Hogsmeade?" he asked them. "Of course!" Hermione told him, jumping up from her seat. Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Lavender all headed out to Hogsmeade, stopping briefly at the gates to assure Filch they had permission.
Their first stop was Honeyduke's. Hermione was having a craving for chocolate for a reason unknown to Harry. While there, he decided to buy some more chocolate frogs and a few bars of Honeyduke's chocolate. He had always loved it. It was absolutely the best chocolate he had ever tasted before. The Dursley's, when they were still alive, had fed him chocolate on rare occasions, and he had managed to sneak to his cupboard under the stairs with a few pieces of Dudley's birthday chocolate one time. But the chocolate he had tasted while with the Dursley's wasn't even all that great; it was nothing compared to the rich taste of Honeyduke's chocolate. His collection of chocolate frog cards was getting quite extensive, and he thought it wouldn't hurt to buy a few chocolate frogs to see if there were any new cards he could find. When he was satisfied with the amount of chocolate he had bought, they left the store, and headed off for the Three Broomsticks.
To Harry's knowledge, there wasn't even anywhere else he really wanted to go. Zonko's was closed now, but even if they were open, Harry wouldn't shop there. He would much rather order pranks from Fred and George; those pranks were of higher quality, and plus, he got a discount. As they entered the Three Broomsticks, they found a seat near the fireplace, and sat down. Madame Rosmerta came over moments later, and took their order personally. Of course, the only thing Harry, Hermione, and Neville ordered was three bottles of butterbeer; one for each of the three friends. "There's just something about this stuff that always seems to cheer me up. It tastes so warm as it slides down your throat, and it makes you feel all happy inside. It's a wonderful thing, don't you think?" Hermione said. The others agreed, and they each took a big gulp from the butterbeer bottle.
Only about ten minutes later, hoards of Hogwarts students came piling into the Three Broomsticks, all gathering in a circle around Harry, who was surprised at the number of people who had turned up. He felt like the main character of a major broadway show. Everyone's eyes were upon him, and he was more nervous than he had been in a long time. "Um...As you know, I'm thinking of starting up the D.A. again," Harry began. "So, we'll be meeting in the Room of Requirement again. Those of you who are new, you can just follow one of the other older members to the place of meeting in order to find your way inside. I hope the others remember how to get there. Right now, Hermione's handing out fake galleons. If there is a meeting coming up, you will feel it get warm. Inscribed around the edges is the time and date of the meeting to take place. We will be starting next Saturday, as I feel that will give me, your instructor, and Hermione, a sort of co-teacher, a chance to plan the first lesson, which will be on disarming spells. Now, I do believe that's all, so I'm going to go get some rest. I'm still kind of tired from the quidditch game yesterday," Harry told everyone before getting up from his seat and walking back towards the school. "Geesh...I'm glad that's over with," he thought to himself, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.
He arrived at the common room, and found Ron and Ginny waiting for him to arrive. "Ron! Ginny!" Harry yelled, running at them with a huge smile on his face. "You're back! I'm so glad you're back!" he shouted. "Geez Harry! Calm down," Ron told him, seeing how hyper Harry was, "Everybody's all right. Fred and George are back at their store, dad's back at work, and mum's back at the house. Kingsley took care of the death eaters that were after us. Dumbledore thinks that Voldie's gonna stop comin' after us, and start worrying about the bigger problems, like you and Dumbledore." Harry was satisfied with Ron's statement, so they sat down on the sofa in the common room, and began chatting about what had been happening with Ron's family. Ron left some parts out that he didn't want to tell Harry. There were some things Ron thought were better off if Harry did not find out about. "Hermione's down at Hogsmeade. So is basically the whole school. I just got done re-opening Dumbledore's Army. We're starting it up again next week," Harry caught Ron and Ginny up with what had been going on in school. He handed them the galleons Hermione had enchanted. "Thanks Harry! I'm glad you decided to reinstate the D.A.! That was so much fun last year!" Ron told him. "Yeah. I figured it would help the kids be better prepared if there was an attack here on the school," Harry agreed.
They left the common room when it was time for dinner, and they met Hermione down at the Great Hall. "Ron!" she exclaimed, jumping up from her seat at the Gryffindor table and wrapping her arms around Ron. "I'm so glad you two are back! I've been so worried about you!" she told them. Harry thought he saw a tear drop from her eye, but when she turned around to walk back towards the table, her face was perfectly happy. They chowed down on the food as fast as they could, stopping only to talk about things like school work Ron had missed, and the quidditch game. Harry wound up giving Ron a play-by-play of the game, describing every dive with great detail. Ron was rather amazed that they had even won without him and Ginny. He was very happy though; he really wanted to win that quidditch championship. His eyes were upon the trophy they had won the previous two years, and he was not about to lose this year. "Well, I'm going back to the common room. I've had a long day today travelling back here," Ron told his two friends as he got up from the table. "Alright, Ron. I'll see ya when I get up to the dormitory," Harry said. "I'll see you in the morning! Be ready for classes!" Hermione called after him. Only about ten or fifteen minutes later, Harry and Hermione made their way back to the common room as well.
Ginny had already left as well, and she was avidly talking with some of her fifth year friends about something. They were asking where she had been, and she had told them something about going to America to visit some relatives who were having troubles with something, but Harry had known she was lying. He knew the real reason she wasn't here. Harry didn't stay in the common room for long. He was dead tired, so he went straight up to his dormitory where Ron was already fast asleep. The following few days went by very quickly, and Ron fit right back in the group. It wasn't until Wednesday night that Harry and Hermione planned the D.A. meeting out to the very minute. They were to teach the Disarming Spell, Expelliarmus. Ron was very interested in the D.A., and said that he would definitely be going to the meetings, since he really wanted to learn how to defend himself if Voldemort or his Death Eaters came after him or his family. Ginny, too, was very interested, mostly for the same reasons as Ron, but also because she wanted to become an auror when she was out of school, and she knew she needed to learn these simple spells in order to even attempt the more difficult ones.
The next few days passed in a blur, and before Harry knew it, it was time for the first D.A. meeting of the year. He and Hermione were already in the Room of Requirement, setting things up for the lesson they had planned just a few days prior. Students came in the room in bunches. The first to arrive were Harry's friends from Gryffindor, Ginny, Ron, Lavender, Parvati, Dean, Seamus, Neville, and some fifth and fourth years whom Harry did not know. They were all piled in the room within ten minutes, waiting for Harry to start the meeting. "Silence!" he yelled over the tiny conversations spread throughout the room. The whole room got silent, and Harry began to feel very powerful over these people. They were listening to him; they were doing everything he told them. "Heh...This should be called the P.A. Potter's Army," he thought to himself, a smirk glowing on his face. "Alright, where should I begin? Ah, yes. The disarming spell. I'm sure many of you have learned this spell, Expelliarmus, before in your D.A.D.A classes, but I'm not really sure a lot of people are capable of it. Here, let me demonstrate," Harry told the kids who were gathered. He turned to Hermione and shouted out, "Expelliarmus!" Her wand flew out of her hand, and Harry caught it with his right. He turned to the group and asked if they had any questions. It turned out nobody had any, so he split them up into pairs, and they practiced on each other for a little while.
The meeting lasted for a little while, and ended with Harry testing each person individually. They were free to leave once they had gone through Harry's test. Everybody seemed to be able to do the spell perfectly, even Neville, which really impressed Harry. "Geesh...Hermione and I must've done a great job teaching them tonight! Either that or they had already learned it pretty well before the meeting," he thought to himself. The last person to be tested was Ron, who passed with flying colors. Harry and Hermione cleaned up the room, with a little help from Ron, before leaving to go back to the common room. "So, Ron, what did you think of the first lesson? Did you learn a lot?" Harry asked Ron. Harry wanted Ron to evaluate his performance as a teacher. "You did an excellent job, Harry. What's going on with the next meeting?" Ron inquired. "Well, I was thinking next meeting we'd do some simple jinxes like the Jelly Legs Jinx, Wingardium Leviosa, and a few others along those lines," Harry told him. "Really? Awesome!" Ron replied. "Well, I'm glad you had so much fun," Harry laughed. Harry was very happy with his performance, and knew that he had done a great thing by helping these kids learn more about defending themselves.
Harry
Kingsley tells me that you guys won the quidditch game without me and Ginny! Nice job! I will be coming back in about a week. Don't worry. Everybody's fine right now. Just a little upset about the untimely death of Bill. Make sure Hermione's doing alright for me. I'll tell her everything that has happened when I get back. That way she'll know I'm alright. I don't want her worrying about me.
Ron
He placed the letter in a box under his bed and laid back down on top of his covers. He was rather hot, so he did not sleep under the covers, that would just make him sweat even more. He listened to the sound of the rain drops falling from the sky as he closed his eyes and drifted asleep, dreaming about the day to come when the D.A. would hopefully be started up again.
When he awoke, Neville was standing above him, prodding him gently with his finger. "C'mon Harry! You slept through breakfast! It's time to leave for Hogsmeade!" Neville told him, his face brightening up. Harry sat up in his bed and pushed his hair out of his eyes. His hair was becoming quite greasy, but not anywhere as greasy as Snape's. He hopped out of bed and pulled some clothes on, not bothering to worry about what he was wearing. He grabbed some money before leaving. As he walked down the stairs to the common room with Neville, he saw Hermione and Lavender talking on the sofa, no doubt waiting for Harry. "Hey guys," Harry greeted them, walking over to Hermione's side. "Hey Harry," the two girls both replied. "Ready to go down to Hogsmeade?" he asked them. "Of course!" Hermione told him, jumping up from her seat. Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Lavender all headed out to Hogsmeade, stopping briefly at the gates to assure Filch they had permission.
Their first stop was Honeyduke's. Hermione was having a craving for chocolate for a reason unknown to Harry. While there, he decided to buy some more chocolate frogs and a few bars of Honeyduke's chocolate. He had always loved it. It was absolutely the best chocolate he had ever tasted before. The Dursley's, when they were still alive, had fed him chocolate on rare occasions, and he had managed to sneak to his cupboard under the stairs with a few pieces of Dudley's birthday chocolate one time. But the chocolate he had tasted while with the Dursley's wasn't even all that great; it was nothing compared to the rich taste of Honeyduke's chocolate. His collection of chocolate frog cards was getting quite extensive, and he thought it wouldn't hurt to buy a few chocolate frogs to see if there were any new cards he could find. When he was satisfied with the amount of chocolate he had bought, they left the store, and headed off for the Three Broomsticks.
To Harry's knowledge, there wasn't even anywhere else he really wanted to go. Zonko's was closed now, but even if they were open, Harry wouldn't shop there. He would much rather order pranks from Fred and George; those pranks were of higher quality, and plus, he got a discount. As they entered the Three Broomsticks, they found a seat near the fireplace, and sat down. Madame Rosmerta came over moments later, and took their order personally. Of course, the only thing Harry, Hermione, and Neville ordered was three bottles of butterbeer; one for each of the three friends. "There's just something about this stuff that always seems to cheer me up. It tastes so warm as it slides down your throat, and it makes you feel all happy inside. It's a wonderful thing, don't you think?" Hermione said. The others agreed, and they each took a big gulp from the butterbeer bottle.
Only about ten minutes later, hoards of Hogwarts students came piling into the Three Broomsticks, all gathering in a circle around Harry, who was surprised at the number of people who had turned up. He felt like the main character of a major broadway show. Everyone's eyes were upon him, and he was more nervous than he had been in a long time. "Um...As you know, I'm thinking of starting up the D.A. again," Harry began. "So, we'll be meeting in the Room of Requirement again. Those of you who are new, you can just follow one of the other older members to the place of meeting in order to find your way inside. I hope the others remember how to get there. Right now, Hermione's handing out fake galleons. If there is a meeting coming up, you will feel it get warm. Inscribed around the edges is the time and date of the meeting to take place. We will be starting next Saturday, as I feel that will give me, your instructor, and Hermione, a sort of co-teacher, a chance to plan the first lesson, which will be on disarming spells. Now, I do believe that's all, so I'm going to go get some rest. I'm still kind of tired from the quidditch game yesterday," Harry told everyone before getting up from his seat and walking back towards the school. "Geesh...I'm glad that's over with," he thought to himself, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.
He arrived at the common room, and found Ron and Ginny waiting for him to arrive. "Ron! Ginny!" Harry yelled, running at them with a huge smile on his face. "You're back! I'm so glad you're back!" he shouted. "Geez Harry! Calm down," Ron told him, seeing how hyper Harry was, "Everybody's all right. Fred and George are back at their store, dad's back at work, and mum's back at the house. Kingsley took care of the death eaters that were after us. Dumbledore thinks that Voldie's gonna stop comin' after us, and start worrying about the bigger problems, like you and Dumbledore." Harry was satisfied with Ron's statement, so they sat down on the sofa in the common room, and began chatting about what had been happening with Ron's family. Ron left some parts out that he didn't want to tell Harry. There were some things Ron thought were better off if Harry did not find out about. "Hermione's down at Hogsmeade. So is basically the whole school. I just got done re-opening Dumbledore's Army. We're starting it up again next week," Harry caught Ron and Ginny up with what had been going on in school. He handed them the galleons Hermione had enchanted. "Thanks Harry! I'm glad you decided to reinstate the D.A.! That was so much fun last year!" Ron told him. "Yeah. I figured it would help the kids be better prepared if there was an attack here on the school," Harry agreed.
They left the common room when it was time for dinner, and they met Hermione down at the Great Hall. "Ron!" she exclaimed, jumping up from her seat at the Gryffindor table and wrapping her arms around Ron. "I'm so glad you two are back! I've been so worried about you!" she told them. Harry thought he saw a tear drop from her eye, but when she turned around to walk back towards the table, her face was perfectly happy. They chowed down on the food as fast as they could, stopping only to talk about things like school work Ron had missed, and the quidditch game. Harry wound up giving Ron a play-by-play of the game, describing every dive with great detail. Ron was rather amazed that they had even won without him and Ginny. He was very happy though; he really wanted to win that quidditch championship. His eyes were upon the trophy they had won the previous two years, and he was not about to lose this year. "Well, I'm going back to the common room. I've had a long day today travelling back here," Ron told his two friends as he got up from the table. "Alright, Ron. I'll see ya when I get up to the dormitory," Harry said. "I'll see you in the morning! Be ready for classes!" Hermione called after him. Only about ten or fifteen minutes later, Harry and Hermione made their way back to the common room as well.
Ginny had already left as well, and she was avidly talking with some of her fifth year friends about something. They were asking where she had been, and she had told them something about going to America to visit some relatives who were having troubles with something, but Harry had known she was lying. He knew the real reason she wasn't here. Harry didn't stay in the common room for long. He was dead tired, so he went straight up to his dormitory where Ron was already fast asleep. The following few days went by very quickly, and Ron fit right back in the group. It wasn't until Wednesday night that Harry and Hermione planned the D.A. meeting out to the very minute. They were to teach the Disarming Spell, Expelliarmus. Ron was very interested in the D.A., and said that he would definitely be going to the meetings, since he really wanted to learn how to defend himself if Voldemort or his Death Eaters came after him or his family. Ginny, too, was very interested, mostly for the same reasons as Ron, but also because she wanted to become an auror when she was out of school, and she knew she needed to learn these simple spells in order to even attempt the more difficult ones.
The next few days passed in a blur, and before Harry knew it, it was time for the first D.A. meeting of the year. He and Hermione were already in the Room of Requirement, setting things up for the lesson they had planned just a few days prior. Students came in the room in bunches. The first to arrive were Harry's friends from Gryffindor, Ginny, Ron, Lavender, Parvati, Dean, Seamus, Neville, and some fifth and fourth years whom Harry did not know. They were all piled in the room within ten minutes, waiting for Harry to start the meeting. "Silence!" he yelled over the tiny conversations spread throughout the room. The whole room got silent, and Harry began to feel very powerful over these people. They were listening to him; they were doing everything he told them. "Heh...This should be called the P.A. Potter's Army," he thought to himself, a smirk glowing on his face. "Alright, where should I begin? Ah, yes. The disarming spell. I'm sure many of you have learned this spell, Expelliarmus, before in your D.A.D.A classes, but I'm not really sure a lot of people are capable of it. Here, let me demonstrate," Harry told the kids who were gathered. He turned to Hermione and shouted out, "Expelliarmus!" Her wand flew out of her hand, and Harry caught it with his right. He turned to the group and asked if they had any questions. It turned out nobody had any, so he split them up into pairs, and they practiced on each other for a little while.
The meeting lasted for a little while, and ended with Harry testing each person individually. They were free to leave once they had gone through Harry's test. Everybody seemed to be able to do the spell perfectly, even Neville, which really impressed Harry. "Geesh...Hermione and I must've done a great job teaching them tonight! Either that or they had already learned it pretty well before the meeting," he thought to himself. The last person to be tested was Ron, who passed with flying colors. Harry and Hermione cleaned up the room, with a little help from Ron, before leaving to go back to the common room. "So, Ron, what did you think of the first lesson? Did you learn a lot?" Harry asked Ron. Harry wanted Ron to evaluate his performance as a teacher. "You did an excellent job, Harry. What's going on with the next meeting?" Ron inquired. "Well, I was thinking next meeting we'd do some simple jinxes like the Jelly Legs Jinx, Wingardium Leviosa, and a few others along those lines," Harry told him. "Really? Awesome!" Ron replied. "Well, I'm glad you had so much fun," Harry laughed. Harry was very happy with his performance, and knew that he had done a great thing by helping these kids learn more about defending themselves.