Author's Note: What single quality do you think defines a hero? Sure there are lots to choose from, but if you had to pick one that is essential to being that person, what would it be?

I thought the last chapter was a bit…. Lacking. It just wasn't what I was trying for. I think some parts of this chapter are better, I hope anyway.

Thanks to loony, BlueAdonis, Rayah Papaya, SarahS, smiley, Yumemirohito Neko, blued moon, and silly seal for all the reviews. I appreciate the encouragement. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Jeremy

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter or any characters or places in this story, they belong to JK Rowling. I am making no money from this story.

Chapter 16 Dumbledore's Army

The sense of peace that Harry had found in reading the letter from Sirius was short lived. The school awoke to news of attacks the night before. Rumors of the latest Deatheater strikes quickly spread at breakfast. Many of the students were struggling with the anxiety over the danger their families were facing. The Daily Prophet reported some thirty deaths during the weekend of both wizards and muggles. There was also mention of two Ministry employees who had gone missing and were presumed captured or murdered. Blazing on the front page was a photograph of the dark mark, hovering over the burning remains of a home. It seemed that most were unable to eat anything upon hearing the news, and only short whispers broke the silence that surrounded the meal, with the exception of the Slytherin table Even the teachers were unable to offer any reassurances.

Dark circles beneath his swollen eyes were evidence of the horrors of Voldemort's work. Harry had no need to read the articles, as he had witnessed many of the atrocities the previous night. He too found he had no appetite, despite the lack of sleep that resulted from the visions. Harry had struggled through the night trying to stay awake, and performing occlumency to shut out the images of torture and death. He had managed small degrees of success, but could not maintain the necessary focus the entire night. The pain in his scar greatly reduced his ability as well, as it was not a thought or vision, but rather the actual connection to Voldemort. This caused him to suffer an unbearable headache and made him feel nauseous. The lightning bolt cut blazed red upon his white skin, and his friends and dorm mates could only look at him with a mixture of sympathy and respect for what he was going through. Harry didn't notice any of those looks though, for he couldn't lift his head to look at anyone. He felt tired and alone, no matter how many people surrounded him.

Towards the end of the meal however the silence was broken. A group of Hufflepuff students approached the Gryffindor table, watching Harry reluctantly. "Excuse me Harry," spoke Susan Bones, who seemed to be leading them, "We were hoping to ask you something if you have a minute." All eyes were on him now, and still he did not look up. Instead he nodded his head for her to continue. "Well Harry, this is Clare Baxter, and Brian Steward. I told them about the DA that you ran last year, and we were wondering, hoping really, that you might continue this year. Their families were both attacked over the weekend, and, well," But she couldn't finish, though at this point she didn't have to. Harry knew what had happened, and he finally looked up.

"I wish there was something I could have done. I'm sorry you have to suffer this." he spoke softly.

"It's not your fault Harry. They just want to lea.." Hermione tried to interject, but Harry cut her short with a glance.

His eyes were alight surpassing the fatigue that enslaved him. Yet he remained somber. "If you want to learn more then I'll try to teach you. I can't promise that it will make a difference, but it will give us some hope." His voice stayed even as he tried to control the feelings of remorse and anguish. Even as he did so a power flowed about him. It was something that few there had experienced, and to some small degree seemed to resemble Dumbledore when he was angered. "We can start tonight at seven o'clock on the seventh floor. If you know anyone else who wants to come bring them as well." The power yielded yet the glow in his eyes remained. "If there is anything else I can do to help you please just ask. I know this can't be easy for you to go through. I'm sorry."

Clare and Brian stared in astonishment at his face, nodding their heads. They both looked quite shaken, and had obviously spent some time mourning for their families. The pity Harry felt squeezed at his heart. He felt useless, and doubted that he could make much of a difference. No action could ever bring back those who were gone, something he knew well. But he also knew that he had to try.

As Susan lead the two younger students out of the hall Harry turned to his friends, "Hermione, do those coins from last year still work?"

"Yes Harry, that charm won't wear off. You just need to set yours for all the others to work," she replied.

"Good. I'll set it right after breakfast. Will you both be coming? I'm going to need some help getting ready, and I think we should get there early."

Ron looked affronted at the statement. "Are you insane?" He paused for a moment and stared at Harry, who felt slightly disappointed with Ron's reply. "Of course we'll help you. We can go right after dinner," he continued with a small grin. "Although I'm not sure how much help I'll be."

"I think it would be a good idea to review some of what we learned last year, especially if there are a lot of new people." Hermione piped in. "And don't be ridiculous Ron, you're very good when you want to be, and Harry's going to need all the help he can get. By the way I've found some really interesting spells that we can work on this year, and they might give us an extra edge. After what happened at the ministry last year I realized we were overmatched by the spells the Deatheaters were using. I researched some more powerful hexes, but we'll definitely need to practice them a lot before we try teaching them to any of the other students. What?" she finished as she caught sight of Ron shaking his head in disbelief.

"Nothing, you're right of course. It's just that, well sometimes you can be a bit scary Hermione. Come on, we better get a move on if we're going to make it to class on time." The three friends left the Great Hall followed closely by some fellow students all trying to get to their classes.

In the wake of the reports the school soon became abuzz with students speculating on everything from the ministry's reaction, to the possibility of attacks at the school. By lunch the news of the DA meeting had spread and Harry, Ron, and Hermione could hardly eat as students from all houses asked questions about the group. Even some Slytherins stopped at the Gryffindor table seeking answers. Today was turning out to be really tiresome for Harry who had barely slept. Somehow he had forced himself through his morning classes. By the time lunch ended however, he was utterly exhausted. Hermione had to pull him up from the table so they could make it to the dungeons in time.

"Oh Harry I know you're tired, but we don't want to give Snape a reason to take points. Hurry up now." Hermione said as she tugged on his arm.

Snape thought Harry. The last thing he wanted to do was attend double Potions, but there was no way around it. Wishing he had a pack of Skiving Snack boxes, Harry grudgingly dragged his feet along the corridor that lead to the dungeons. His scar had not stopped burning all day, and now his head was pounding, all in addition to the pictures that played over in his mind from the night before. It seemed that his limited success with Occlumency over the summer was slowly slipping away. He couldn't understand how or why, but he was definitely getting worse. Harry wondered whether Voldemort had not been as active in the past few months, or had there been so few visions because of the grief that Harry had been going through. Perhaps it was something else entirely, but either way the result was the same. Still all he wanted was to close his eyes.

That was not to be however. They arrived in class and took their seats. A moment later Professor Snape stalked into the classroom, eliciting silence as his robes billowed behind him. Harry prepared his supplies for the days lesson quickly, and opened his book to the appropriate page. He then focused his attention to the front of the room to await instructions from the greasy haired professor.

"Today class, we will be brewing a simple pepper up potion. This batch will used by Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing. Tell me what are the potential dangers in brewing this particular Potion?" To no ones surprise Hermione's hand was in the air. They were however sharing the class with Ravenclaw, so her hand was not alone. Recently Harry had been putting in a lot of extra effort, and normally he would be trying to answer as well, but exhaustion had settled in and he did not have the desire to do anything at that moment. A point which Snape immediately picked up on. "Lets see then, Mr. Potter, the answer to the question if you please," Snape said, with the trademark silky malice lining his voice.

Harry stifled a yawn as he began to answer, "Sir, the danger would be in adding too much powdered salamander scales. Doing so would cause the potion to burn the throat and stomach of any person to take it, and is potentially fatal. It is particularly difficult to notice that type of mistake in this potion as it looks the same regardless of the amount of scales added. Therefore it is necessary to test the completed potion by placing a drop into a vial of stewed rat spleens to see if it incinerates them or not."

Snape looked quite disappointed that Harry had given a completely correct answer to his question. "Very well Potter. One point to Gryffindor. You may begin to brew your potions, the instructions are there," Snape said as he pointed his wand toward the board where the directions appeared. "Supplies are in the cupboard and you will all have this completed by the end of the class. Any noise will not be tolerated." And with that the class began.

Harry went through the process of preparing his ingredients carefully and adding them, double checking the instructions at each step. Soon his potion was simmering just as it should be, and Harry adjusted the flame to allow it to set for the proper amount of time. He checked his watch to be sure of the time he had left. All he had to do now was wait.

He sat staring at the bright yellow flame beneath his cauldron, and noticed the heat rising around it. What seemed like a moment later, he saw the haze rise and turn to a purple steam rising out of his potion. He knew that wasn't supposed to happen, and he started to panic. He moved to stop the potion from exploding, only to find that he couldn't move at all. He struggled, but some invisible force was holding him back.

"Potter! What is the meaning of this?" came the sharp voice of the Potions Master. Harry sat up with a jerk and looked around blearily. He felt Hermione's hand on his shoulder, and when he fixed his glasses noticed that she looked mildly afraid.

"Potter, I asked you a question. Perhaps you think that these lessons are beneath you. Just because you answer one simple question does not mean you are so advanced in Potions that you can fall asleep in this class. Twenty five points from Gryffindor, and you will see me after class to discuss your detention."

"Yes sir," Harry replied before looking to see that his potion was still good. It appeared that there was nothing wrong with it, he had simply fallen asleep and dreamed it all. He looked back to Hermione, who was shaking her head at him.

"Sorry Harry, I tried to wake you, but then you started moving and say something I couldn't make out. You were too loud though and he heard you." she said in a whisper.

"It's ok Hermione, it wasn't your fault, I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I'm just glad my potion is alright, I dreamt that something had gone wrong." Harry grinned a little as he explained what had happened.

Class ended without further incident, and Harry waited afterwards to face his doom. At least he thought I got full credit for my potion.

Snape looked like he had just been awarded the Order of Merlin. "So Potter, care to explain yourself?" he said in his deadliest tone.

Harry knew that it would be impossible to convince his Professor that it was unintentional, but figured it was worth a try. "Actually sir, there isn't really an excuse for falling asleep in class. I didn't mean to, but I did not sleep well last night, because of the attacks. I tried to block them out, but it was working as well as it did over the summer. I don't know why though. And also," Harry figured that he might as well be completely honest, "a lot of the other students have been following me around today asking for help learning more defense. I, I'm sorry for falling asleep in your class sir, it was disrespectful, and I'm ready to accept the responsibility."

Harry expected Snape to refute his claim, or otherwise berate him, what he got was something entirely different. "What of your lessons with the Headmaster? Does he know of your dreams?"

"Actually sir, the lessons have only involved me reading. We haven't done any practical work yet. I haven't told Professor Dumbledore about last night yet, I honestly have not seen him today. I haven't had much trouble in blocking most visions, usually if anything I see a brief glimpse, and have some pain in my scar. It's been getting more difficult lately though. Do you by any chance know why sir?"

"I have some ideas, but I would prefer to speak to the headmaster. Perhaps he will understand more. You will leave now, as for your punishment I believe that whatever you saw last night is more than sufficient. You will not however be so lucky should you allow this to happen in my class again. Do I make myself clear?"

Harry nodded his head, "Yes sir, I understand perfectly. Good Day." With that Harry left the dungeons. He soon found his friends waiting for him in the common room. They were amazed that Harry got away without further punishment, as he explained the story on the way down to dinner. They ate quickly so they could leave to set up for the meeting. Ron still managed to finish second helpings of everything.

As the three friends exited the Great Hall to go to the Room of Requirement, they were surprised to have Neville join them. He asked if he could tag along to help them out, and Harry readily accepted. Neville had proven himself as a good friend at the Ministry last year, and was steadily improving as a wizard. Harry knew that Neville had as much reason as anyone else to train hard. Both of Neville's parents had been tortured, at the hands of Deatheaters, until they had lost their minds. All because they were believed to have knowledge of Voldemort's location after he had fallen to Harry nearly fifteen years ago. When news of the Deatheater escape was released last year, Neville had been consumed with a fire to learn, and his will had pushed him to succeed where he had always been deficient before. The DA had given him confidence, and Harry helped him to learn, helped him to be a better wizard.

As they finished setting the room up at twenty minutes to seven students started to show up. At first it was just the original members, but soon new students from every house were arriving. Harry was concerned that a few Slytherins had even come. Though he didn't really know them, as they were mostly from the lower years, he was unsure of what to expect. He considered for a moment that Malfoy might even have sent them to spy. It was a thought that Ron shared as well. In the end Harry decided that it wouldn't make much of a difference, either they were there to really learn, or to spy. Regardless, nothing that happened at the meetings was secret anymore, so they wouldn't be gaining any extra information from being there. Also Dumbledore did want him to allow all the houses to join. Perhaps it was a good way to establish some trust between the houses.

The commotion from all the gathered students made it difficult to hold any order. Many of the witches and wizards gathered stared at Harry expectantly, including one large pair of eyes that went unnoticed at the back of the room. These particular eyes watched not only Harry, but his closest friends as well. They were intent upon every movement and word that was exchanged between the group surrounding Harry. Intent, but without a sign of malice or goodwill, completely devoid of any emotion other than curiosity.

The size of the group had nearly tripled, a fact that astonished Harry. There were many complaints about the lack of space, as the students greeted each other and discussed what they would be doing. Only when he used the sonorous charm to make himself heard over the noise did everyone settle down. As soon as he had control Harry concentrated on the space they would need and the room seemed to stretch to allow for the number of students. Hermione had everyone sign a sheet (one that was not hexed) so that they knew everyone who was present.

After explaining what the purpose of the DA was, and setting down some ground rules they began to review some of the spells that had been taught last year. A few of the students even ventured to ask questions about what had happened at the Ministry in June, and other things that Harry had done.

Seeing his discomfort his friends took it upon themselves to answer. Ginny, Ron, and Luna fielded the queries while Harry and Hermione continued to aid those who were having problems with the spells. At quarter to nine Harry stopped all the different activities to end the meeting. It was decided that they would meet again the following week at the same time, in order to give Harry a chance to prepare for the amount of people who would be attending. With that the other students filtered out of the room, each heading back to their own common rooms, while Harry and his friends straightened out the room.

Once they returned to the Gryffindor common room Hermione immediately started to compile a list of spells they should work on at the next meeting. Ron engaged Harry in a game of chess, as Ginny and Neville set about doing their homework.

"I think that went fairly well for having that many people. What about you Harry? You might want to think about splitting it up into different abilities, or maybe having two meetings, one for the lower years, and one for the older students." Hermione said pensively.

Harry answered as his knight took one of Ron's pawns, "I'm not sure Hermione. I mean it's a good idea, but two separate meetings would be a lot of extra work, and I'm not sure if I'll have enough time between classes and Quidditch. Maybe we can separate by ability, and then alternate teaching, that way we all get a chance to practice, and the new people can still learn at their own pace. That is if you guys are willing to help."

Ron snorted at this idea. "I don't know about that mate, having me teach might not be such a great plan. Besides, I need all the practice I can get."

"Well I think you'd do just fine Ron. Think about it, have you ever tried to show someone else how to do something? It gives you a completely different understanding of what you're doing. Makes you see it in another way. It might actually help." Harry replied.

"I never thought about it like that. I guess I could give it a try," Ron said as he told his queen to take Harry's bishop. "That's check by the way."

Neville looked up from his parchment and added, "You can count me in, I could use the extra work."

There was a small explosion across the room as the Creevey brothers seemed to have been trying out a new spell. A round of laughter spread through the room as everyone looked to see the two purple haired brothers grinning at each other.

"Well, I think that will work out Harry," said Hermione who had finished her list. "This should be enough to get us started. What about you Ginny? Do you think you could help out as well?"

Ginny had been intent on a foot long essay for Transfiguration. She nodded her head as she continued to write. "Yeah, I'll do whatever you need, just let me know ahead of time. Of course, with O.W.L.s this year it will be a little tough. I might not be a lot of help towards the end of the year, but I can help out for now."

Hermione stood up. "Then it's settled. I think I'm going to bed now. See you in the morning."

Everyone said goodnight to her as she headed up to the girls dormitory. Soon Ron had beaten Harry, and Neville finished his work. He too went to bed. Harry and Ron sat by the fire for awhile talking about Quidditch, and what the team looked like this year. It was getting late and they decided to turn in.

Ron looked at his sister as they stood up. "Hey Ginny, did you want some help with that? I know I'm not Hermione, but I might know what you're working on."

Ginny shook her head, "No, thanks Ron, but I'm just about done."

"Are you sure, I mean we really could help. I know the teachers pile it on during O.W.L. year," Harry added.

"That's ok, I'm doing good so far. Don't worry, if I need help I'll ask. There, I'm all finished," she grinned as she put her books back into her bag. "Thanks a lot you guys. Well I'm going to bed too. Goodnight."

"Alright Ginny, see you in the morning then," Ron said as he and Harry made their way up the stairs to the boys dorm.