DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
The next morning he awoke with the momentary cheer of finding himself in his familiar bed in Gryffindor Tower. It felt much more like home that Number Four Privet Drive, or even Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Harry looked out of the window, enjoying the view of the grounds. For a moment, he was content and happy.
That moment passed, however, as he noticed something different about the grounds. A number of small figures standing or walking about in cloaks. There weren't many of them, but after years of training his eyes to find the glint of the Snitch in the afternoon sun, the cloaked Aurors were easy to spot. At first they seemed to move about randomly, but it took only a minute for Harry to realize what was going on. They were systematically searching the grounds.
This brought the realization of his current situation back to the front of his mind. They were searching for dark wizards. They were searching for people who were coming after him. He had classes to go to today, just like any other day, but at the end of the day, he had a meeting with the Headmaster to set up a club that would be helping the Aurors. There was a war starting, and tonight, he and his friends would be joining the fight.
The thought sobered him, and he finally turned from the window to go and clean up. Ron was already up and mostly dressed, and after a few minutes, so was Harry. They joined Dean, Seamus and Hermione in the common room, and together, they all walked down to the Great Hall. Dean kept giving Harry and Hermione worried looks. When they got back to Gryffindor tower, they kept their word to Dumbledore and said nothing. This seemed to worry the various ex-members of the D.A. more than actually knowing what might have been said.
When the group of them reached the Great Hall, they saw more of the same. Luna and Cho were sitting together for the first time in Harry's memory. Ernie and Hannah were sitting together as well, surrounded by a number of Hufflepuffs from the D.A. They all seemed more somber than normal, and many of them gave Harry quick glances as he walked to a table.
The whole hall seemed slightly more tense than normal. The D.A. was fairly small, but there were enough members that many of the younger students were keeping quiet out of some sympathetic respect for their prefects and friends.
The only jubilant faces in the room were found at the Slytherin table, where a number of Inquisitorial Squad members were clustered around a smirking Draco Malfoy.
Neville and Ginny were sitting at the head of the Gryffindor table, and had kept a large spot open for the rest of them. Seamus took a seat next to Neville, and Dean sat across from him, next to Ginny, leaving plenty of room for Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ginny frowned slightly at Dean and Seamus. It seemed as if she'd wanted to be able to talk about what was going to happen that night.
They all were fairly quiet as they ate breakfast, making a show of light conversation while they exchanged significant looks between themselves.
"How long is this going to last then?" Seamus finally asked. Hermione repeated the same thing she'd said last night: They had promised they wouldn't talk about it.
"We promised we wouldn't talk to anyone else about it," Ron corrected with a look toward Dean and Seamus.
"Well you should be happy that we're here, then," Dean responded in a harsh whisper. "If we weren't you'd have every student in the room trying to hear what you were saying. How long do you think it would take? Just take a look around right now."
Harry took a quick look around the room and saw at least twenty people who were watching the group of them. Dean was right. It wouldn't have been a secret for long. As his eyes scanned the crowd, Harry caught Hannah walking briskly toward the Gryffindor table. Hermione saw her as well.
"What does she think she's doing?" Hermione whispered as Hannah approached them.
"Hello," Hannah said cautiously as she saw the glare Hermione was giving her. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I was hoping one of you would have some spare money to lend Susan. She's expecting a message from a friend today, but it's going to cost her a Galleon."
"A Galleon!" Ron shouted, then shouted again, in pain this time, and scowled at Hermione. "What was that for? A Galleon is outrageous! Is the message written in dragon's blood on gold parchment?"
"She'll pay you back tonight, I promise."
"Then why not wait until then to send it back?"
With a heavy sigh, Hermione reached into one of her pockets and drew out a single Galleon, and handed it to Hannah. "Tell Susan she can keep it."
"You're mental," Ron said as Hannah walked away just as purposefully as she had walked up. "At least let Harry do it. He's got plenty."
"Er... come to think of it," Dean stammered from beside Ginny, "I was going to buy my mum a gift, but I, er— I dropped it out the window last night. I don't suppose—" Dean stopped talking when he saw Ginny sliding something shiny toward him on the table. He pocketed it quickly. "Thanks."
Ron glared at Ginny, and she glared back. He looked at Hermione and finally Harry. His eyes opened suddenly and he nodded his head. "Right.
Seamus looked warily at the others. "What's going on? Do I get a Galleon, too?"
Hermione looked at Ron and Harry. Harry didn't have his Galleon on him, but he was pretty certain he could find it. Ron shook his head, too. "I guess not," she told Seamus, "but maybe Dean will have something for you tonight."
Seamus looked even more suspicious, but he didn't ask any more questions. Eventually, McGonagall dropped off the students' schedules. Harry groaned at his. His first class would be Advanced Potions with Snape. Hermione would be with him, but not Ron. He gave Harry a sympathetic look.
Harry wondered if Snape even knew that Harry would be attending the class. In his mind, he weighed the possibilities. If he knew, then he might have been stewing over it for weeks. If he didn't, there was a good chance that he'd get detention for merely setting foot in the room.
Neither sounded encouraging to Harry, and Hermione had sensed his reluctance to go to class. When the time came, she half dragged him back to Gryffindor Tower to fetch his books and supplies, and then led him to the Potion's classroom.
It was obvious that Severus Snape had not known that Harry was in the class. However, Snape did not start shouting at him immediately. Instead, he simply stood completely still, staring directly at Harry as he took a seat next to Hermione. After some time, he seemed to finally regain his voice.
"I'm afraid you have the wrong class, Potter."
"Er... You can look at my schedule, if you like," Harry offered, hoping that it wouldn't break whatever spell was keeping Snape from shouting at him.
"Why would I want to do that?" Snape replied coldly. He held up a piece of parchment. "I have a list of students in this class. Anyone not on the list does not belong here. Your name is not on the list." Snape strode forward to the table Harry and Hermione were sitting at. "Now, you can either leave now, or serve detention after I remove you. On your way back to Gryffindor Tower, perhaps you should complain to Professor McGonagall for giving you an incorrect schedule."
Harry didn't know what to do. He looked to Hermione for advice, but she seemed as confused as he was. He'd gotten an O in Potions. He was supposed to be here. Dumbledore had given him the text at the start of the holidays. "Are you sure my name isn't there?" Harry asked.
"I assure you, I would have noticed if your name were on this list. If it were, I would not be able to take ten points from Gryffindor for your disobedience. As it still is not, I will ask you to leave before I take an additional fifty."
Reluctantly, Harry stood and started gathering his things. He leaned over to pick up his bag, and when he rose he had to immediately duck to avoid a large barn owl which seemed to be flying directly at his head. The owl dropped a roll of parchment, circled the room, and flew off.
Harry looked down at the roll sitting on the table in front of him. What now, he asked himself as he picked it up and opened it. Snape waited impatiently while Harry read it. When Harry realized what it was, he felt both triumphant and terribly worried.
"Well, Potter?" Snape prompted him. "What does it say?"
"It's a class list," Harry answered.
"I already have the class list," Snape shot back.
"Well, I'm on this one."
"And that is still meaningless. This list—" he said, brandishing the parchment in his hand "—is from the Headmaster."
"So is this one," Harry countered, "but it's also signed by Professor McGonagall and Professor Marchbanks." Harry slowly handed the parchment to Professor Snape, who snatched it violently from his hand.
As he read the list, Snape's lip curled and the muscles in his jaw clenched and twitched. He stuffed the parchment into his pocket and scowled at Harry. "That will be another ten points from Gryffindor for opening post not meant for you. Now sit down and open your book to the first chapter."
Snape's mood had hardly improved by the end of the class, and he had assigned them a surprisingly long essay on the purpose of studying advanced potion-making in modern wizarding society. When they left the room, Hermione seemed to be the only person not scowling at him.
Hermione tried to convince him that it was only bad because it was the first day, and that no matter what happened, Snape was going to be in a foul mood having Harry there. While Harry agreed that his presence was certainly the cause for Snape's current mood, he wasn't so certain that the next class would be any better, or that the Snape would ever be in anything but a foul mood with him there.
Harry was unable to shake the memories of the Advanced Potions class from his head, and before he realized it, he'd finished both Charms and Care of Magical Creatures. Both had been rather uneventful compared to his first class, which didn't really say much.
Instead of introducing any creatures which might later turn on the students, Hagrid had spent the time explaining about the care of the gloves, boots and other equipment they would be using. For the first time he could remember, he'd felt bored in Hagrid's class.
As he walked back to the castle with Ron, Hermione, and Neville, they saw Ginny and Colin waiting for them near the front door. They were trying to make it seem as if it were completely natural for them to be there, but they both looked uncomfortable, and they both were avoiding any eye contact with everyone else in the area, including Harry and the others.
When they got closer, Ginny said something to Colin, and with a nod, he turned and walked through the door. Ginny turned to stare into Harry's eyes. Even if she would have said something, they wouldn't have been close enough to hear her. Before they could get much closer, she scuffed her shoe on the ground, picked up her bag, and turned to walk into the castle behind a group of students.
"Er... Did that mean anything to anyone?" Hermione whispered as they continued to walk toward the spot Ginny and Colin had been standing. No one answered, but they kept walking. When they got to the spot, they all stopped and looked at each other.
"Is there something we were supposed to see?" Ron asked.
"There must be," Hermione said as she looked around lazily.
"She just sort of stared at us, then kicked at the ground and left. What could that mean?" Ron continued. "Maybe she was just upset at you two for making Snape so angry. I think she had him after you."
"I'm sure she was fine, Ron. And she didn't look at us, she looked at Harry, and then she moved something on the ground. We should— Don't all look at once!" she scolded them.
It didn't matter. No one had seemed to even notice they were there, and in the brief glimpse Harry had of the ground, he'd realized what Ginny had done. In the dust covering the stones in the corner, she'd drawn a single wavy line with her foot.
Harry walked over it, scuffing it with his own feet. Hermione gave him an annoyed look, until she realized that he was leading them inside. Without saying anything, they followed him.
Harry walked purposefully ahead of the rest of them. After a few turns, they were walking down a deserted hallway. Neville walked up next to Harry.
"Where are we going?" he whispered.
Without pausing, Harry replied, "Somewhere private. Ginny wants to talk."
"How do you know that?" Neville asked in a slightly louder voice as he fell behind.
Harry paused briefly to answer him. "I'll tell you when we get there. It's not far."
Neville didn't ask any more questions, and fell in place behind Ron and Hermione. A few more turns and they suddenly came upon Colin, alone in the middle of the hallway, kneeling over a pile of books, parchment, and quills. He gasped in surprise when he saw them, but relaxed immediately.
"Hullo Harry," he whispered. "It's all clear."
"Thanks, Colin."
Ron gave Harry an odd look, but kept his mouth shut and followed him through a door he'd been hoping he could avoid. Neville was next, and finally Hermione.
As soon as Harry got in the room, he turned toward a sink that used to lead to the Chamber of Secrets. Leaning against it was Ginny.
"They removed it," she said clearly. "Probably took out the passage as well, but I figured you'd remember."
"Wish I couldn't," Harry responded. He'd recognized the rough shape of the snake which used to mark the sink Ginny was leaning against as the entrance to the Chamber. "What do you need?"
"We need to send out the message that there is a meeting tonight. We can't wait until an hour before the meeting like we wanted." Ginny answered immediately. Harry realized there was always a chance that someone would walk by, and that they should speak as quickly as they could. "Dean wasn't the only one who tried to ditch his Galleon when he heard that the D.A. was being broken up. Too many people won't get the message in time."
"How are we supposed to tell them all?" Harry asked. "We can't just walk around telling everyone at dinner, and it'll never stay a secret if we have to spread it person to person."
"We won't have to," Ginny replied, "Luna talked to me during Care of Magical Creatures. Most of the Hufflepuffs know something is up, and Luna and Cho are trying to let everyone know to expect something. We think that everyone either has one of the Galleons, or will be near someone who does."
"We should still do it now," Hermione added. "It'll only make it harder for everyone if we wait until after dinner."
"Alright then," Harry said as he fished his Galleon out of his pocket. He pulled his wand from another and pointed it at the Galleon in his hand. "What time should we meet?"
"It might take a while, so how about eight o'clock?" Hermione answered.
"Very well." With a wave of his wand, Harry spoke clearly: "Eight o'clock tonight!" The Galleon glowed briefly, and faded. Harry shrugged and put it back in his pocket.
"It worked," Ron chimed in a moment later as he pulled his out of his pocket. "Can we leave and go eat like everyone else, now?"
"Let's see how many of them got the signal," Harry said as he followed Ron and Ginny out the door. Colin was still there, waiting for them, having made little progress in picking up the mess he'd made. However, with a quick wave of his wand, everything on the floor packed itself into his bag (though quite messily) and he joined them as they walked toward Gryffindor Tower.
As they ate dinner, Harry took whatever opportunity he had to try and find the various members of the D.A. Occasionally, he'd get private nods from them, acknowledging that they'd gotten the signal. Other times, he'd get confused looks, as someone suddenly realized that something was happening and that they'd missed it. When the meal was finished, Harry watched as the students filed out of the Great Hall. Most of the D.A. members left in groups with other members, giving him some hope that everyone would get the message.
Now all he had to do was to show up. He still wasn't sure exactly what Dumbledore had planned. He was hoping that he hadn't forced everyone else into something they hadn't wanted to be a part of. It was possible that many of the members would show up just to learn what had happened with Harry, Ron and Hermione, and figure out what they could do to help with whatever punishment they'd gotten. What if they wanted no part of Dumbledore's new D.A.?
When the time came to leave for the meeting, Harry still hadn't found a suitable answer to any of his questions. He'd decided that he'd just have to trust Dumbledore. However, there was such a thing as too much trust, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to have an Invisibility Cloak with him just in case.
It would take some time to walk to the room, but Harry wanted to leave early just so he could be certain that everything was going to be alright. When he went for the portrait hole, however, he found Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville waiting for him.
"You lot stay here," he whispered. "I'm just going to make sure there aren't any problems."
"Well, you're not leaving if you plan on going alone," Ginny whispered back as she stood between him and the door. Harry tried arguing with her, but Ron and Hermione felt the same way.
"Fine," he said, finally giving up. "Hermione and Ginny can come with me, but Ron and Neville stay here."
"Why do I have to stay here?" Ron replied in a voice that was the loudest whisper Harry could remember hearing. "I'm a prefect, and I'm older than Ginny." Ginny's eyes flared, but Hermione stepped between them and explained the situation to Ron in a soothing voice.
"We're on the Council —whatever that is— and we need someone to make sure everyone doesn't just leave all at once," she said. "When it gets closer to eight o'clock, start letting people leave —only in pairs, and with some time between them. The younger students will know something is happening, but it will be too late by time they start guessing."
Ron was disgruntled, but he seemed pleased that he at least had some job to do. Neville looked mostly disappointed. It was a little surprising to Harry how much Neville seemed to want to help out. He still remembered Neville as the boy who stood up to him, trying to keep him from breaking any more rules his first year at Hogwarts.
As he walked with Hermione and Ginny toward the Room of Requirements, he tried to think of when Neville had changed so much. Certainly he'd been much more outgoing last year, but it had been a surprise to Harry then, so it must have started before then. Of course, he was pre-occupied with the Triwizard Tournament, the year before that. Perhaps that was when it started.
When they were almost there, Harry stopped and pulled the Marauders' Map from one of his pockets. He checked the corridor for anyone who might see or hear them, and seeing no one, tapped it with his wand.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
Lines and dots and labels stretched across the parchment, and he took a moment to locate the dot labeled "Ron Weasley" in Gryffindor Tower. He and Neville were next to Dean and Seamus. Colin and Denis Creevey were standing next to the doorway, eager to leave and find Harry, no doubt. Next he searched for his own dot, and the location of the Room of Requirement. The whole corridor was empty, and there was no sign of any students or professors in the area. Filch seemed to be in the Library talking to a pair of Aurors.
"It's all clear," Harry said to Hermione and Ginny. Together they walked off. They only had to turn at the end of this hallway, and walk a short distance down the next to reach the door to the Room. Harry kept an eye on the map, in case someone might suddenly turn to walk toward their destination. It was only a short way now. They turned the corner and stopped short. Before them stood Albus Dumbledore, smiling lightly.
"A bit early, aren't you Harry?" Dumbledore commented as he turned and walked toward the space in the hallway where the door should be. Harry stood where he was as if his feet had been stuck to the floor. He tared down at the map which had the same three dots he'd been watching before, but also a new dot, labeled "Albus Dumbledore" moving slowly away from them.
"Next time, I'll take the map," Ginny said with a little annoyance. "I'd rather not run into anyone else because you can't read a map you've had for years."
"I can read it," Harry shot back. "I swear the hallway was empty a moment ago, and now it's not."
"A wonderful creation, that map of yours," Albus said as he stopped just past the spot where the door would be. He turned and walked back toward Harry. "James and Sirius always were always quite good at Charms and Transfiguration. Better than many of us even knew, I should say." He stopped again, looking as if he were trying to solve some riddle.
"But not good enough to make it see where you are?" Harry offered, wondering just how Dumbledore had even known what time they had set the meeting for.
"Oh, they were quite good enough for that," Dumbledore said with a nod. He turned and walked back away from them. "I cannot think of a wizard who I would wager could actually trick that map of yours." He stopped after only a few steps and turned to back to stare at Harry. "And that should be some comfort to you."
Harry understood immediately. Wormtail certainly would have told Voldemort that Harry had the Map. Perhaps that was why Voldemort had tried so hard to keep Harry from coming back. "But I still didn't see you," Harry countered.
"As I said, that map is a wonderful creation, but one cannot look at the map, and the world at the same time, and there are many ways of being someplace without being anywhere." Dumbledore walked back toward them again. "It is a excellent tool, but it is not a substitute for caution, vigilance, and intuition." Harry nodded, a bit confused at the impromptu lesson.
"Ahh!" Dumbledore called out as he turned. "Just what I needed."
Harry looked at the wall, and recognized the door, just where it always showed up. Dumbledore opened the door and ushered the three of them inside. The room was fairly empty, but contained a number of tables surrounded by simple but comfortably cushioned chairs.
"We should have some other guests shortly," Dumbledore said as Harry took a seat at a nearby table. "I assume that you were able to contact the other members?"
Harry nodded. "The Gryffindors will be coming gradually. It would have looked odd to have them all walking through the halls together. I assume that the others will have thought of the same thing."
So they waited. He hadn't expected Dumbledore to even show up, though he knew that it had been foolish of him to think he could keep the meeting a secret from him. Still, all three of the students jumped as they heard the door swing open.
They had expected to see Cho or Ernie, but instead watched as four Aurors walked into the room and sat at one of the far tables. Despite Harry's opinion of the chairs, the Aurors seemed uncomfortable. After sitting for less than a minute, they stood up and went to stand closer to the door and farther away from the three Gryffindors. Harry only recognized one of them, Kingsley Shacklebolt, who stood facing Harry. They seemed to be arguing about something, but Harry could only pick up bits and pieces of words.
So far as he could tell, they seemed to be talking to Kingsley about whatever had kept Filch in the Library. He caught Filch's name, and the words "dark magic". While Harry couldn't say that he truly enjoyed Filch's company, he could say without a doubt that Argus Filch was not a Death Eater, and wouldn't be performing any dark magic. Surely the Aurors would have known that he was a Squib, wouldn't they?
The Aurors stopped talking suddenly and turned as one to stare at the door. Slowly it opened and Cho poked her head through. She saw Harry and walked in. As she closed the door, she saw the Aurors and froze. Her eyes shot over to Harry, Hermione and Ginny. Hermione waved her over and explained to her what had happened when they showed up.
"So what are they here for?" Cho asked quietly.
"Well, Professor Dumbledore did say the new D.A. would be helping the Aurors," Hermione whispered. "I'd guess they are just here for introductions."
Cho took a seat at the next table, claiming that she would save it for the rest of the Ravenclaws. A few minutes later, Ernie and Hannah showed up together, with similar reactions to Cho. Next was Luna with a pair of Ravenclaws. Both looked very nervous about having the Aurors in the room.
And so the pattern continued as students showed up in small groups, older students mixing with younger ones. Neville showed up with Colin and Denis, and said that Ron would be coming in the last group. The more students that showed up, the more comfortable they felt in the presence of the Aurors. It seemed less likely that they were being tricked into admitting they'd broken Ministry Decrees.
It didn't stop a pair of Hufflepuffs from turning at the door and bolting from the room. Hannah jumped from her table to try and catch them, but succeeded in stopping only one of them. She shrugged and frowned at Harry. There wasn't much they could do.
Finally, Ron showed up with Katie and after some quick checking they decided that everyone was present. Harry stood up, and the few conversations which had been taking place came to abrupt halts. It didn't even take a second to realize that there were more students there than had ever shown up at a real D.A. meeting. There were quite a few students who had decided to show up to learn what had been going on. Many of them seemed less eager to be here now.
"Is this all of them, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked. Harry nodded.
"We're missing Marietta Edgecombe," he said quietly, "and there are a number of new students who weren't part of it."
"I see," Dumbledore said, stepping toward the tables. "Nonetheless, they will be treated the same as the rest." After hearing that, a number of students looked to the door as if they were trying to figure out how fast they could reach it. Dumbledore gave them no more time to think about it.
"Secret societies are not allowed at Hogwarts," the Headmaster announced. "The establishment and attendance of such groups on school grounds is a violation of the Ministry Rules for the governing of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Last night, those responsible for organizing the group were suitably punished for their actions, given they would organize a meeting of the rest of the members."
At this point, eyes from around the room turned to glare at Harry and the rest of the people at his table. Harry wanted to say something, but Dumbledore continued speaking.
"Now then, since that has been settled, if you would please form a queue and sign this parchment." He held up a long piece of parchment with several inches of dense writing at the top, and a large empty space for names underneath. The room was silent, except for some muffled laughter from Kingsley Shacklebolt and another one of the Aurors. Some of the students looked as if they were going to be ill, and none of them made any move toward the parchment.
"I'm sorry," Dumbledore said as he set the parchment on the table, "Sometimes I lapse into different languages. Perhaps you didn't understand what I said. I would like all of you to sign this parchment."
"You'd like us to sign it?" Anthony Goldstein remarked. "We don't have to sign it?"
"Certainly not," Dumbledore said with a smile.
"What happens to us if we don't sign it?" Justin Finch-Fletchley asked from another table.
"Absolutely nothing," Dumbledore replied brightly. "Now who is first? Harry? Your name truly should be at the top." Dumbledore held out the parchment and a quill to Harry, and he reluctantly took them.
"What happens if he does sign it?" asked Susan Bones.
"If he signs that parchment, he will become the very first official member of the Hogwarts Defense Association."
A murmur ran through the room as everyone attempted to understand what was happening. Hermione leaned toward Harry to read through the paragraphs of script at the top of the roll. The wording was very specific, and it seemed both highly legal and nearly unintelligible. Hermione seemed to be having an easier time than he was.
"Do it, Harry," she said with a bright smile. "Sign it."
Harry took a deep breath, and scrawled his name across the top of the empty space. Hermione took the quill after him, and wrote her name in flowing script beneath his.
"To be fair, the next names should be Miss Chang, Mr. MacMillan, Miss Bell, Miss and Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Longbottom," Dumbledore added while producing another quill and handing it to Cho. "After all, it was your agreement last night which allowed use to draw up the paperwork."
For some time the room was filled with an excited bewilderment. Eventually a queue formed and everyone in the room had their chance to enter their name and become one of the original members of the now-official Defense Association.
When that was complete, Dumbledore summoned large pitchers of butterbeer for everyone to drink as he went about explaining how this new Defense Association would be run.
As Harry listened, he realized that the two groups really weren't as similar as he had expected them to be. As Dumbledore took many minutes to explain, it was not to be a secret as the rules required, but they could choose who could and couldn't join, and they would not be required to allow non-members to attend or even know when they held any meetings. They could even keep their meetings secret from other Professors, with the exception of Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore himself.
This was quite a bit more than Harry expected, but the trade off was that they would not be allowed to prohibit entire houses from joining. The membership would be controlled by a council of members, most of which had been picked the night before by Dumbledore himself. The only two remaining spots would go to a pair of Slytherin students.
Ron groaned at the news, and by the sound of it, many of the other members agreed. "I can't even think of one Slytherin I'd trust," said Ron.
"Zabini's not bad," Cho said above the murmurs of the other students.
"And that Greengrass girl —Daphne, I think— She doesn't seem like the rest of them," offered one of the new members, a seventh-year Hufflepuff girl.
No one seemed to have any big complaints against them (other than Ron, who disliked the whole idea), and no one was able to think of any other better candidates, so it was settled. Dumbledore scribbled a quick letter and handed it to one of the Aurors who left immediately.
"Due to his previous position, Harry Potter will act as the leader until your next meeting where you will formally select a leader." The different council members looked around at each other, nodding in silent agreement. Dumbledore ignored them and continued explaining that the leader would be the one in charge of meetings and any actions they took, but that he could be overruled by the council, and the council had total control over membership.
Next, the Aurors introduced themselves, and explained what they were going to be doing to keep Hogwarts safe. They planned to station a few Aurors at various locations, and let most of the rest patrol the grounds and castle. They told the students that they were going to be using sparks to signal other Aurors. If they ever saw something suspicious, they were to send up red sparks to let Aurors know. If they ever saw green sparks, they were to stay away, since that was the signal for emergency assistance.
There was quite a bit of other information that Dumbledore talked about. For the most part it was terribly boring: What to do if there was some dispute over rules, the reserving of various school areas, and a number of topics that seemed completely irrelevant.
"Harry," Ron whispered as Dumbledore continued talking, "Why would we ever want to register a mascot?"
"I don't know," Harry answered, but he listened half-heartedly as Dumbledore droned on for some time. Finally, in the middle of explaining what they should do if they wanted to change the name of the group, he was interrupted by three people walking through the door.
The first was the Auror who had left, and behind him were two students Harry recognized as Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass. They seemed terribly confused about where they were. Dumbledore took a couple minutes to explain why they had been brought there. Once everything was explained, they looked at each other, and seemed to reach some decision.
"Does our house have to know?"
"It is up to the council to decide that," Dumbledore answered with a nod toward the tables most of the council was sitting at.
"We'll do it so long as only members know that we're part of it, and we take appropriate measures to keep it that way," Blaise said, aiming his request directly at Harry. Harry simply shrugged and pointed him toward Hermione and the rest of the council. It would have to be up to them.
Cho gave Hermione a few quick nods, and a few looks around the room seemed to leave everyone in agreement. Cho stood up and handed the quill to Daphne, saying, "No one has to know unless you tell them."
As Harry walked back to Gryffindor Tower, he felt happy but thoroughly exhausted. The meeting had lasted much longer than he'd first expected, and they were running dangerously close to the time when Filch would start asking questions.
The tension of that morning was shattered, and now the members of the newly re-formed Defense Association walked away with confidence and pride. Even the two Slytherins seemed genuinely glad to be part of it.
It had been a long day, and now Harry needed sleep. There would be another meeting the next day, with just Harry and the Council, so they could work out all sorts of details. But that was tomorrow. Tonight he could sleep.
Harry was frustrated. In the past, Hermione had always helped him perform whatever spell McGonagall had assigned them, but this time he'd succeeded in conjuring a quill before anyone else in the class. Instead of helping him, Hermione was giving him strange looks while she tried to help Ron.
That was pretty much how most of his classes had gone. Professor Flitwick was so impressed that he'd made Harry stand in front of the class to demonstrate a pair of new charms. He'd singed the parchment he was supposed to be drying a little, but the mop was pleasantly soaked with water on the first try.
Harry had stopped practicing the spell. There was a list of items to try on the board, but after conjuring a few rolls of parchment and an inkwell (which had a dark red ink, not the assigned black), he stopped in order to end the looks Ron and Hermione were giving him.
"Mr. Potter?" he heard McGonagall call from the back of the room. Harry turned to see hear walking toward him.
"I've already done the first three, I'm just taking a breather—"
"I can see that, Mr. Potter, but you'll have to leave."
"Why?" Harry asked. "I haven't done anything wrong! No one else has even gotten the ink—" Harry stopped talking when he saw McGonagall's face. With a nod she directed his eyes toward the back of the room, where Albus Dumbledore stood quietly in the doorway.
"Move along now," McGonagall said quietly. "You'll not have to write the essay."
Ron and Hermione gave Harry worried looks as he gathered his things and tried to attract as little attention as someone walking down the center of a room could. At the door, he met Dumbledore who nodded and gave him a quick smile.
"Don't worry, Harry," he said quietly as he waved to Ron and Hermione who were looking more relieved. "Just some business we need to attend to, but first, you'll be needing your father's cloak."
Harry didn't understand why he needed his cloak, especially since he was supposed to go to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore had told him the password, and instructed him to wait there, under the cloak. "I will explain everything to you when it is finished, but you must not say anything until I tell you," he ordered, before walking off away from Harry.
Typical, Harry thought to himself. Everyone always wanted him to do things without knowing why they should be done. Still, Dumbledore seemed urgent, and he wanted Harry to be concealed in his office. Perhaps he was meeting with someone, and Harry would get to listen in.
With that thought to keep his spirits up, he raced up to Gryffindor Tower and fetched his cloak. As the Fat Lady swung closed, he looked about before pulling the cloak over his head. Everyone should still be in class, but Harry checked the Map quickly. Just as he expected, the halls were empty. He dashed off down the halls, unsure of how long he had before he had to be hidden in Dumbledore's office.
After giving the gargoyle the password, and peeking in the door to make sure the office was empty, Harry crept into the Headmaster's office. He'd been there on many occasions. Harry walked about the office for a moment, searching for a good place to hide.
Fawkes watched him curiously from his perch. The Sorting Hat was in its normal location as well. The collection of silver instruments still sat on the spindle legged tables, including the one Harry remembered smashing. The only thing that looked different was a small table near Dumbledore's desk. Harry didn't remember seeing it before.
He walked to the table and saw a piece of parchment on it. Scrawled across the top in immaculate script were the words Writ of Guardianship. Harry scanned the parchment quickly. It was a temporary agreement for someone to act as a student's guardian. Several people had already signed it, including two Ministry officials, and Dumbledore himself.
Is this about me, Harry wondered, Do I get to leave the Dursley's? That thought made him even happier than the idea of listening in on some secret meeting. He started reading the writing more closely, hoping to find out something more before Dumbledore showed up. He had just about finished the second paragraph when the door suddenly swung open.
Harry's heart stopped and he immediately tossed himself to the floor behind Dumbledore's desk. He heard a pair of feet walk in, and then the door closed.
"What was that?" asked a young girl's voice. When she got no response, she called out. "Is someone here?"
"Oh, quite sorry, my dear," a second voice said. It seemed to be coming from the wall. "My frame, you see. The elves haven't dusted it in ages. I've been sneezing for weeks now. Albus, you really must get them to clean up here. Lazy things hardly do more than light the fires these days."
"I'll see to that, Armando," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Have a seat, Miss Goldwater." Dumbledore walked around behind his desk, stepping nimbly over Harry. He snatched a quill from his desk, wrote a quick note and then made to put it in one of the drawers, but missed and let it fall to the floor.
When Dumbledore walked away, Harry picked up the note. In quick, messy writing it said:
Invisibility Cloak
Harry groaned to himself and then sheepishly stood. He'd used the cloak too often, and was starting to forget when he was wearing it. Dumbledore was standing near the parchment Harry had been reading, and the girl was sitting uncomfortably in one of the chairs. Harry quietly backed up to the wall and listened.
Harry only vaguely recognized the girl. She was in Ravenclaw, and was a few years younger than he was. He didn't know her name, yet there was something about her that seemed familiar. She had straight, golden hair, and light green eyes, but beyond that, there was little for him to recognize about her.
"As you may have guessed, this is about your parents—"
"My parent, you mean" the girl interrupted.
Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "Yes. Yes, I suppose that is correct."
"Is she getting better?" the girl asked.
Dumbledore looked back at the girl. "She will get better. Whatever happened to her, I do not believe it is permanent."
Harry listened as Dumbledore relayed the most recent opinions and observations that the wizards at St. Mungo's had about this girls mother. It took only a moment before Harry realized that he knew what Dumbledore was talking about. This is Capella York's daughter, he said to himself. This is the girl that Voldemort threatened. The one I have to protect.
"So you don't know what happened to her?" the girl asked.
"No one is certain."
"Why them? What did they do? Why was I in danger?" she asked. Dumbledore said nothing at first. He merely gave her a sympathetic look. She got visibly annoyed and stared back at him. "Well? Why didn't they kill my mother?" When Dumbledore still didn't answer, she sat back and crossed her arms. "You still don't know anything! Why am I even here?"
"Your godfather," Dumbledore said calmly.
"I don't have a godfather anymore. He was... They were both there, too."
"Your mother has named someone else. The staff at St. Mungo's agree that she was quite explicit about it." The girl stared back at him. "Why didn't he come for me then? Why didn't he bring me to Hogwarts? Why are you taking his spot?"
Dumbledore picked up the parchment and sat down in front of her. "I'm afraid that the person your mother chose isn't able to take full responsibility for you yet. He has other obligations, and as your Headmaster, I have volunteered to take on the rest of this responsibility."
The girl narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "Do I at least get to meet him? Or is he too busy to even introduce himself." Harry felt a chill go down his spine. He was her godfather. Her mother chose him. Her screams had already added themselves to his nightmares. He should have seen this coming.
"You will meet him," Dumbledore said, trying to calm her. "But not today. First you must sign this," he said, indicating the parchment. "If you do not, I'm afraid the Ministry will take responsibility for you."
The grimace on the girl's face showed her feelings on that matter, though they didn't seem much less favorable than her opinion of signing the parchment. Finally, she grabbed the quill and parchment and signed her name.
"Now, we just need one last signature," Dumbledore announced. He stood and placed the parchment on his desk and placed the quill next to it. He turned to look at Harry. "Sign here, please," he said in a low voice.
Harry carefully walked forward and picked up the quill. He heard a gasp from the girl as he started to scrawl his name across the line. Harry finished and set down the quill. Above his name, written in elegant but shaky script, was the name 'Claire Goldwater'.
Dumbledore quickly took the parchment and rolled it up. Fawkes leapt from his perch, grabbed the parchment, and was out the window before Harry understood what was going on. Dumbledore turned back to the girl. "Thank you, Miss Goldwater. I understand if you're upset—"
"He's HERE?" Claire roared. Even Dumbledore seemed surprised by her sudden anger. He tried to calm her, but she ignored him. "He's here, but you won't even tell me who he is! Why?"
"It's for the best. You must—"
"For the best? What is he? A criminal? Is he horribly disfigured? Is he some monster? Or is he just a COWARD?" she yelled as she charged toward Dumbledore's desk. "What's the point of having a godfather if he doesn't want anything to do with me? What good is it if he doesn't even have the courage to show his face?"
Harry backed away to the wall as Claire reached out blindly for him. "Where are you? Why are you hiding?" she shouted as she worked her way toward Harry.
"Stop this, Miss Goldwater!" Dumbledore said as he stepped between Claire and Harry. "You must trust my judgment on this. You will be safer not knowing who your mother chose to protect you."
Claire stopped and glared at Dumbledore. "And why do I need protecting?" she said in an accusatory tone. "What am I being protected from? My family is dead. I'm all that's left. Where was he when my family was being killed?" Her face was crimson with rage. "Was he hiding then, too?" She picked up a small silver object off an nearby table, and sent it flying at the wall behind Dumbledore.
Harry ducked and heard it smash against the wall where his head had just been. When Harry looked up again, Claire was at the door.
"Where were you when my family needed you!" she shouted back at the room, knowing Harry was there somewhere. "Where will you be when I need you? Hiding? Watching like some coward?" She wrenched the door open and scowled back into the room. "I have no godfather!" she shouted back through the door before she slammed it behind her.
Albus Dumbledore walked slowly to his desk and slowly sat down in the chair. He rubbed his eyes and let out an exhausted sigh. With a lazy wave of his hand the silver shards around Harry's feet reassembled themselves on a nearby table.
"Sit down, Harry."
Harry pulled the cloak off and sat down in a nearby chair. He felt cold and self-conscious. "Was that what it was like with me?" he asked.
"No, Harry," Dumbledore said quietly, "I'm afraid you were much more angry than Miss Goldwater, and rightfully so. Her anger is due more to the feeling of being alone. She's not so different from you, now, but you've had fifteen years to accept the loss of your parents."
"Why not tell her who I am, then? Wouldn't she feel better knowing someone was nearby?"
"She might," agreed Dumbledore. "But I am certain that Voldemort intended for her mother to choose you as her guardian. While I cannot stop her from doing that, we must make it appear that we have. No one must think you are responsible for her."
"She lost her family because of me," Harry reminded him.
"She and her mother are still alive because of you," Dumbledore corrected him. "And they may yet make it. Tom Riddle has never known compassion. Claire and her mother are alive because Voldemort wanted them to live. I believe that he wants to lure you away from Hogwarts, away from those who can protect you. Without my intervention, you would have needed to sign those papers at the Ministry. That was perhaps only the first try."
Dumbledore looked directly at Harry, "We must be very careful. You do not need to protect Claire Goldwater. She is safe here. Her protection is now as important as yours. Indeed, they may be much more linked than I had first thought. If you were to put her protection above your own, you would sacrifice both your lives for nothing."
Harry tried to convince himself that Dumbledore was right as he walked back to Gryffindor Tower. By the time he was walking back down from his dormitory he was trying to tell himself that he would have decided the same thing. He sat alone in front of the small fire.
He'd lied to himself. He knew it wasn't what he'd have done.
He was doomed. If he tried to help her, he'd put her in more danger. Yet, he couldn't just sit around and wait for Voldemort to do whatever he was planning. It seemed there was no correct answer, and so Harry sat and stared into the fire, waiting for his friends to return.
Harry gloomily picked at his food during the meal that night. Ron and Hermione had stopped asking questions after realizing Harry's frustration was due to his inability to tell them what was bothering him. Instead, they made small talk, which didn't make him feel much better. Ginny remained mostly quiet during supper as well, and Harry knew that she would be expecting an explanation later.
Harry left the Great Hall early that night. Ginny left shortly after him, getting a suspicious glance from Hermione and a farewell muffled by mouthful of pudding from Ron. She found Harry sitting silently in a corner of the Gryffindor Common Room. He quietly told her what had happened in Dumbledore's office.
"He's probably right, you know," Ginny said reluctantly.
"I know. I guess I was hoping that once I got back here... well... you know.."
"That it would stop?" Ginny said skeptically. "I wish that were true."
Harry sighed and just sat in the corner for some time. Before long, other students started returning, including Hermione and Ron. Hermione immediately sat down to begin working on her Transfiguration essay. Ron joined her, no doubt hoping he could get a little help on his own essay.
Harry sat loyally beside them, reading through his Potions text yet again. The chapter had been painfully boring the first time, but the second and third times were simply mind numbing. Ginny was sitting across the room playing with one of her friend's cats. She was using her wand to turn it various colors and the cat seemed to be enjoying the attention. Ginny noticed him and smiled lightly.
Harry turned back to his book. He was getting nowhere. He couldn't concentrate. Surely reading the chapter twice would be enough. It's not like it would do him any good. Snape would find a way to ridicule him.
That night Harry had trouble getting to sleep. His mind kept replaying what had taken place that afternoon. It had been his first chance to speak with the girl who's parents he'd seen attacked, and Dumbledore wouldn't let him talk to her.
He'd been right to. It probably was better that she not know her godfather was Harry Potter. She'd be safer if no one else knew. No one else knew why her parents had been attacked. The Ministry had kept it quiet, fearing attacks on the other wizards on the panel. No one else knew Harry's connection to the attacks. It was just another Death Eater attack, and she was just another child orphaned by one.
The thing that kept him awake, however, had been her reaction. Her anger had surprised him. That was, perhaps, the only good result of his hiding. He might still be able to talk to her so long as she didn't know that he was the one she'd been yelling at. He made up his mind at that moment to try and find a way to talk to her. If he couldn't be her godfather, he could at least be her friend.
As he drifted off to sleep, he relived the meeting again and again. In his dreams Harry wasn't under his Invisibility Cloak, and she was yelling directly at him. Every time she would run off, slamming the door behind her. Sometimes Harry would run after her, sometimes he slump into a chair. It didn't seem to matter. She would always end up back there, yelling at him, blaming him for not being there for her parents.
The dream repeated itself throughout the night, until it changed. He was back under the cloak. She couldn't see him, but it didn't stop her from saying horrible things about him. When she turned and made for the door, Harry bolted after her. As she ran down the stairs, he kept up with her, but after she leapt off the last stair she steadily sped away from him. He followed as quickly as he could.
He just needed to talk with her, to tell her that there was nothing he could have done. He knew she wouldn't want to talk to him. She'd been angry at Dumbledore's unwillingness to answer her questions. Why her parents? Why them out of everyone? Why had her mother been spared but taken from her? Even Harry couldn't answer them all.
He saw her slip into the Great Hall, closing the giant doors behind her. As he reached them, he heaved them open and dashed into the Hall. He stopped immediately. It was almost completely dark. There was no moonlight coming from the enchanted ceiling. In fact, it looked completely ordinary. In the murky darkness he could only barely make out the rough, domed ceiling. The only light in the Hall came from a small torch near a hooded figure leaning over a book.
Harry approached slowly. He could feel that something wasn't right. This wasn't the Great Hall, and the figure wasn't Claire. The room was empty except for the figure in the center, and Harry couldn't find the door he'd entered through. Harry crept toward the figure, trying to identify it. As he inched closer, pale, bony fingers snaked out of the robes to turn the page of a book in front of it. Harry froze. he'd seen that hand to many times to mistake it. He began to back away as quickly as he felt he could without making noise.
"Good Evening, Potter," echoed a cold, high pitched voice. "You should know by now that it is foolish to try to sneak off."
Harry stopped. He mastered his fear and stepped forward. Voldemort couldn't hurt him in his dreams. That was why he was here. Voldemort couldn't get to him. He was safe at Hogwarts. He walked forward until he could almost read the book over Voldemort's shoulder. He gathered as much confidence as he could, hoping to sound almost arrogant.
"Why did you bring me here?"
"I haven't brought you anywhere," came the response. He continued to read the book, almost ignoring Harry. "This is simply a means —a method for me talk to you— and it was not me who brought you here. Though I was expecting it, you chose to come to me willingly."
"Fine. Why did I come here, then?" Harry asked impatiently.
"Answers," Voldemort replied nonchalantly as he turned another page. "You seek answers to questions no one understands, and information that Albus Dumbledore won't give you. I know such things and you know that, even if only in your unconscious mind."
"Right, I've just recently taken up chatting with murderous cowards so I'm sure this will be brilliant."
Voldemort's head bowed a bit and rocked slowly side to side. "I would have thought Albus and his followers would have at least taught you respect for your superiors by now." Then his head straightened and looked to the darkened ceiling. "But perhaps you are beginning to finally see it."
"I see more than you realize," Harry said, though he had no idea what Voldemort had been trying to hint at. The last thing Harry wanted was to be led through this conversation like some lost puppy.
"Of course you do," Voldemort replied as he looked back to his book. "You came to me because you know I won't lie to you like that fool. I do not see you as some weapon to keep locked safe when unneeded and wielded only when necessary. To me, you are much more."
Was that his game, Harry wondered. Was he trying to convince Harry to join him? Harry let out a short laugh. "I won't follow you. I won't be one of your spineless slaves."
"Of course not," laughed Voldemort in agreement. "And I would not allow it. You would make a most unacceptable servant. No, I see you as a true rival. Even now you are quite powerful, and can accomplish many things you don't yet understand. I regret that in my youth I had no adversary who challenged me as I challenge you." Voldemort paused as he turned another page. "There are a number of similarities between us."
"Yeah, you've already told me that. Right before I destroyed you."
Voldemort's head looked up briefly, then nodded. "The Diary, is it? Of course, it would have been more apparent then. I had not progressed as far as I have now." His voice became more conversational as he continued. "I hear Lucius gave it a small girl? I must assume you saved her."
Harry stayed quiet. He didn't want to talk about Ginny at all. Getting no response, Voldemort nodded his head again and gave a hissing laugh. "Of course," he said with a dismissing wave of his skeletal hand. "Perhaps some other night. We were talking about Albus Dumbledore. Each day he grows older and weaker, and each day his fear grows."
"He doesn't fear you," proclaimed Harry.
"Perhaps not, but he does fear you, Harry Potter. He fears the power you hold. He sees the similarities as easily as you and I," Voldemort said. His eyes flashed as he stared off into the dark. "He's afraid that one day you'll awaken and realize your true power. It's inside you now and it's growing every day. You may walk a different path, but your destination is no different than mine."
"No!" Harry shouted as he backed away. "I'll never be like you!"
Voldemort closed up the book and stood. "No, you won't," he said as he turned about, as if trying to find Harry. His face was covered in shadow, but the torchlight glinted off his crimson eyes. His face broke into a sneer.
"You'll be dead, and the shackles of Albus Dumbledore will be your downfall."
"Then I'll die!" Harry shouted as he kept backing away. "I'd rather die than end up like you!"
Voldemort stood in place as Harry retreated. "Foolish boy!" he shouted to the ceiling. "You already are like me. You must see it. Why do you fight it? You are only fighting yourself."
Harry searched the black for a door. He needed to leave. His mind swam in doubt and fear. He wasn't like Tom Riddle. He'd fight. Voldemort was making him doubt himself. He needed to leave, but everywhere he looked he saw only solid stone.
"This is what futility is, Potter. You found your way in, but only I know the way out. Remember that, Potter. The only way out for you is through me."
Harry turned to look at Voldemort. The book he had been holding was dropping to the floor. It landed with a thunderous noise which echoed throughout the enormous chamber. As the book flopped closed, Harry felt the world swirling about him as pain ripped through his forehead.
He leapt awake with a shout. His head was burning and throbbing. After pulling open the bed curtains, he stood and walked to the window, rubbing his scar.
"Harry?" Ron asked groggily, "What's the matter?"
Harry paused for a bit. "Nothing, Ron. Just a bad dream," he finally answered.
"What kind of dream? Should we talk to Dumbledore?"
Harry was silent as he tried to decide what he should do. Did Dumbledore know he could talk with Voldemort? What would he say? He'd deny it, of course. But that's what Voldemort would say he'd do. It would accomplish nothing. Maybe he could talk to Ginny about it, but Harry couldn't see how help would come from telling Dumbledore.
"No, Ron. Just a normal bad dream. Go back to sleep."
Author's Notes:
For those of you waiting to see more action from Hermione, you'll finally get what you're waiting for. Well, a little bit at least. Make no mistake: I didn't forget about Hermione. I was very conscious of the fact that they haven't played very large parts yet. I had plans for both of them, and you'll read them in time.
As for this chapter, those of you who've been thinking there is something odd and important about Harry's dreams hopefully have a little more of an answer. This is a very important chapter story-wise. This is one of the points where the story shifts along a different course. Most important is the conversation Harry has with Voldemort. This isn't the last you'll be seeing of some of those themes.
I hope everyone enjoys the upcoming chapters.