Chapter 3
"OK Ginny and Susan, it's time to show yourselves."
The girls took the disillusionment spells off of each other and said, "Hi Remus. What's new?"
Slightly embarrassed, and knowing that he would hear from Moody about Constant vigilance, he recovered by offering the witches a butterbeer. "Congratulations. Your stealth lessons seem to be going well. Harry did you know that we had company?"
Harry smiled at Susan and Ginny. "Yup. Ginny scratches her ear from time to time, and Susan's nose twitched a few times. Otherwise they were pretty much silent for the whole hour. They came in when Winky had brought the sandwiches. I shuffled a book or two to cover the noise of their footsteps."
Remus looked impressed. "Well done. I see that you all work very well together. I need to visit with Dumbledore for a few minutes before your afternoon lesson. It was good to finally see you again. Say hi to Hermione for me."
"Say hi yourself," giggled Susan. "She's right over there." She walked to the corner by the bookcase and tapped their brilliant friend on the forehead to make her reappear.
"Hi Remus," said Hermione, obviously pleased with herself.
"Hello Hermione. Your parents send their greetings. They're doing well, as are yours Ginny. I'll see you later."
"Bye Remus," they all said together. After he left, they all gave each other a group hug. It had been a hard conversation for all of them.
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A week before Halloween, Dumbledore visited the teens after their evening lesson. Softly knocking on their door and entering when asked, he walked in. "Good evening. I wanted to talk with you regarding your progress and the examinations. First, I believe that each of you are making outstanding progress and are to be commended. Miss Granger, I have personally examined your work in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy and have found it to be exceptional." She beamed at him. "Miss Bones, your work in Herbology and Potions has been remarkable." A tear welled in her eye. Dumbledore had rarely complimented her work in front of people that she really cared about. It felt fantastic. Dumbledore continued, "Miss Weasley, you too have proven yourself to be an outstanding witch. I am proud of all of you." They all smiled at him. Dumbledore was not exceptionally generous with praise directly to students and hearing it meant a lot to them.
He continued. "That said, Miss Weasley, which OWL examinations would you care to sit for?"
Ginny replied, "Defense, Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Potions, Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes Professor."
Dumbledore was slightly surprised. "If my recollection is correct, you never took Muggle Studies or Runes."
Ginny gave him a determined look. "I have been extensively tutored in both topics Professor." She glanced at Hermione and Harry, who both nodded at her.
Dumbledore replied, "Yes, I expect that you have. Looking over at Susan and Hermione, he asked, "Are the three of you ready for your NEWT Examinations in Defense, Charms and Transfiguration?"
"They replied, "Yes Professor."
He nodded. "Excellent. You will be able to sit for any of the others in the spring. As such, we will cancel your regular classes for the week and begin on Monday. I have contacted the examiners. Miss Weasley, you will take Arithmancy and Muggle Studies on Monday, Care of Magical Creatures and Runes on Tuesday. Each of you will take Defense on Wednesday, Charms on Thursday, and Transfiguration on Friday."
He continued. "Harry, Alastor has offered to take your classes for you on Monday and Tuesday if you wish to have the extra time to study."
Harry replied, "No, but thank you Professor. I like working with the students."
Dumbledore smiled. "I thought as much. They very obviously like working with you as well. Miss Weasley, the examinations on Monday and Tuesday will be held in the reception room off of the Great Hall. The examinations on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for all of you will be held in Mr. Potter's classroom." They each nodded at him.
He continued. "On a different topic, you may have heard that there is a Hogsmede visit scheduled for the students next Saturday. I was hoping that the four of you would be willing to go and keep watch on the students. I have also asked Kingsley and Remus to go. Would that be acceptable?"
"Of course Professor," said Hermione with the others nodding in agreement.
Harry asked, "Professor, are you expecting trouble?"
Dumbledore looked at Harry and said, "Quite honestly, I'd be surprised if nothing happened. You may wish to bring your staffs with you if they are finished. After the students return to the school, perhaps you could try them out." Looking at his pocket watch, he said, "I didn't mean to stay so long. Please have a wonderful weekend."
"You too, Professor."
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Objectively, the teens were nearly at NEWT level in Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense by the end of the summer, and had only been accelerating the rate of their study since. Each of them in turn, took time to help Ginny. Hermione worked with her an hour each on Runes and Arithmancy, while Susan helped her with Potions and Herbology. Harry helped her with Charms, Care of Magical Creatures and Transfiguration.
Monday and Tuesday went by quickly. Harry was quite glad to be teaching his Defense class. He'd conjured a hundred balloons and asked the class to shoot sparks at them to improve their accuracy. After about half of the balloons had been popped, Harry charmed the air so there was a light breeze and the balloons were moving. Everyone in the class was nearly even with Hanna getting the most at eight, while everyone got at least three each.
In the second year, Harry did more or less the same exercise, except that the students also had to dodge tennis balls that Harry tossed at them. Harry was pleased that no one had allowed themselves to be hit with a tennis ball.
They were eating dinners at the staff table that week. Harry generally sat by Professor Flitwick. They really seemed to enjoy each other's company and found that they had a lot of common interests. Other times he sat by Poppy. They'd grown quite comfortable with each other after the Tonks discussion.
Hermione tended to sit by McGonagall, who was glad that the young woman who she viewed as a protégé had been offered the opportunity at an accelerated program. Just as Harry was enjoying his teaching work, Minerva was positively thrilled to be in a position to be challenged on a weekly basis by the four. Hermione had such obvious talent in the subject. Minerva prayed each evening that the young witch would survive the war.
Ginny tended to alternate – sometimes sitting by Hagrid, sometimes by Sprout and Susan. Most frequently, she sat by professor Daily, delighting each other with stories about dragons, professional Quidditch, or kangaroos.
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday passed fairly quickly. Each was certain that they'd received top makes on Defense on Wednesday. The OWL level examination was a demonstration of skills. The NEWT examination was similar, but also had a one on one duel, which they each won easily.
Charms was perhaps the easiest examination if the week. They'd all received bonus points for each having fabricated a working staff. Transfiguration was perhaps the hardest subject. Several of the examples that the examiner had asked to see were things that Harry had never tried before. By chance, he was also asked to transfigure some sand into marble, and did that perfectly. They each received more than a few bonus points for their skill at conjuring objects. After they'd finished, they were told that they would receive their results that Sunday evening.
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Friday they'd invited some of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs over for the evening. Neville, Shamus, Lavender, Parvati, Ernie, Justin, Hanna, and Michael arrived at seven. The Apprentices had been careful to put away any of the controversial items which they had such as their staffs, swords, and other weapons, as well as their armor.
Winky had made snacks and several deserts for them. Dobby had brought several cases of cold butterbeers, lemonade, and flavored tea. Neville spent much of the evening quietly talking with Harry. He asked Harry if he knew what had happened with Umbridge and Bellatrix. Harry knew that Neville had the right to know, and told him what had happened, as well as the truth about how Ron and Luna had been murdered.
School was going quite well for Neville this year. It seemed that the removal of Snape and a few of the Slytherins had made a huge change in his confidence. He was doing very well in potions, well in defense, and of course continued to excel in Herbology. His only concern at the moment was his Gran's failing health.
At ten minutes to ten, Hermione suggested that it was time for the others to get going so they'd get to their common rooms by ten PM.
After they left, Susan mentioned that it was nice to spend time with their school friends again. Laying out the sleeping bags, Ginny commented that it was nice to see them, but better to be here.
Harry opened up four butterbeers and handed one to each of them. Hermione, noticed the changed look on his face and asked, "What's wrong Harry?"
"I'm worried about tomorrow. Voldemort could attack, the dementors could come, a dozen Death Eaters could grab some of the students, or any combination could take place."
Susan said, "I wouldn't be surprised to see a dozen of the Aurors there as well."
They sat there for ten minutes in comfortable silence. Ginny collected the bottles, while the other witches put on their nighties. Ginny turned down the lights, and the dancing flames from the fireplace illuminated them. "Good night Harry," they said.
"Goodnight angels."
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Hermione woke up first. She had come to enjoy the weekend slumber parties, as she referred to them. As it turned out, Harry'd had his arms around her for a good part of the evening. It was like magic. Her stresses seemed to melt away and the world was at peace when he was with her. She even felt better. Looking over she saw that he was curled up next to Susan now with Ginny behind him. The level of trust among the four was incredible.
Whether it was love, trust, friendship, or something else, she couldn't tell. The adjectives seemed to melt together. If her parents asked her about Harry using any of them, she would have answered yes. After showering, she slipped on a pair of red silk knickers. Looking at herself in the bathroom mirror, she was quite satisfied with her looks. She seemed to be a bit bustier than she'd been last year, surprising herself given all of the exercise and physical training that they'd had. In reality, she knew that she was quite strong for a young woman, and exceptionally so for a witch. Few if any of the young witches at Hogwarts outside their group had even considered physical training as a worthwhile activity.
Her dragonhide vest went on after her bra. One reality of the fire at her parents' home was that she had a lot of nicer new intimate wear. She smiled, considering that Harry'd gotten those things for her.
Smiling at her Mum's mistaken concern that she'd gone Goth, she looked at herself in the mirror. Wearing only a dark green dragonhide vest and red knickers, she looked like a heroine from one of the fantasy novels that she's seen at Harrods. She smiled as she put on the matching pants. They fit very well. In one of his rare randy moments, Harry'd probably think that they looked like she'd been poured into them. In spite of being tight, they offered remarkable freedom of movement.
Looking over at the fireplace, Susan seemed to be melting under Harry's handwork. She was certain that he was asleep, and equally positive that Susan was wide-awake enjoying the experience. Contrasting the years of nightmares that he'd had to endure, she couldn't be happier for him. He really was her best friend.
She saw Ginny nuzzle and kiss the back of his neck before getting up herself. Moving over to let the athletic redhead into the shower, Hermione finished drying her hair. With Susan and Ginny's help, it was less fly-away frizzy this year, and much more accurately described as thick and healthy. Hermione glanced as Ginny got out of the shower while she was brushing her teeth. Ginny was beautiful. Five foot four, thin, slightly busty with the flattest stomach that Hermione'd ever seen, her auburn haired, adopted sister was gorgeous. Noticing that Hermione was looking at her strangely, she asked, "What?"
Hermione smiled and replied, "Nothing. I was just thinking how happy I am to be here with the rest of you."
"Me too. Now budge over so I can fix myself up and look half as good as you do."
Hermione looked up, surprised at her words.
Ginny repeated, "Scoot. See if Winky can bring us some toast, tea, coffee and a diet coke for Susan."
POP. A minute later, Winky had arrived with everything that Ginny had thought about. The others were already up. Harry knew that he'd never see the inside of the bathroom for at least half an hour, and went to his room to get his things. He hoped that the fog they'd seen last night would lift. He began his routine of sit-ups, stretching exercises and pushups.
In the meantime, Susan had found her way into the shower. Like the others she'd gotten up well rested, even if she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. Talk about magic hands. Like the others she'd never trade her apprenticeship back for the traditional curriculum. In all likelihood, she'd already earned three NEWT certifications only four months into the program. She felt so lucky to be here. She liked the program, liked being really close to the other witches and Harry. More than having the best friends of her life, she felt that she'd started to make a difference in the world. Helping bring down Umbridge was a lot more important than finding out what was in Ernie's pants like Hanna had seemed so intent on learning the night before.
She opened the Harrods box that she'd received on Tuesday evening. It contained an assortment of silk sleepwear, bras, and knickers. Each item was gorgeous, and they fit perfectly. Harry'd never said a word, but knew that she'd seen similar items on the other witches and longed for the same. She smiled to herself. He took such good care of each of them.
A soft pounding on the bathroom door got her attention. "Come on Susan. It's been twenty minutes. Give a guy a break, will you?"
Susan walked out, wearing only her form-fitting dragonhide pants. She smiled at him, and said, "With pleasure, Mr. Potter, with pleasure."
Dumfounded, Harry walked into the bathroom carrying his armful of clothing and closed the door behind him. Confronted with the evidence, Harry realized that the summer had been very kind to Susan. She'd lost inches in her middle and kept them in the – well, she'd lost some weight, was stronger, a lot more agile and had a fantastic smile. He felt as lucky to know her as he did with Hermione and Ginny. They'd taken great care of each other, and were working as a great team.
He used the toilet, showered, and brushed his teeth before going back to his room. He knew the witches weren't done yet and he could stand in front of his bedroom mirror just as easily as the one in the bathroom. His thoughts went to Tonks for a moment, remembering the two of them standing in front of the mirror together. He hoped to see her again in the next week, and wished that she was all right.
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If someone wanted to attack the village of Hogsmede, there were several possible strategies. There was apparating into the center of the village, hurting a few people and leaving. Three or four people could do it and be gone in about thirty seconds. Without a large force of light-side witches and wizards defending the village, it would be a difficult attack to defend against. Fortunately, it did not seem like a strategy that Riddle's Death Eaters had frequently elected to use.
Harry was more concerned about an actual attack on the town. Hogsmede was a village of about a thousand inhabitants. Most of the villagers lived within a mile of the Three Broomsticks Pub. Half of them lived either in the four row houses, above the shops or in the cottages that surrounded the village. The others lived a bit farther away, mostly to the south or west. Some worked in London, while most did something in the village. Commute time really wasn't a consideration for an adult witch or wizard, so the idea of travel time as the muggles measured it really didn't exist in the wizarding world. As many of the residents would be gone visiting friends this Halloween weekend as would be home. For the shopkeepers, it was a big shopping day with about 350 eager shoppers descending on the three dozen or so shops for four hours before returning to the castle.
What the villagers didn't know, nor couldn't have known was that ninety or so dementors had staged themselves in the forbidden forest, north west of the castle, far enough from the road connecting the castle and the village to avoid being detected.
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