Chapter Twenty-Two

The Return of Dumbledore's Army

Harry went into Dumbledore's office first while Malfoy stood outside with Tabitha and Hagrid. He sat in the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk, waiting and worrying. Fawkes was sleeping on his perch when Harry walked in, but now he gave Harry a puzzled look.

"I've done it, Fawkes," he said. "I've messed up badly."

He heard Dumbledore come in and walk quietly to his desk. He sat down across from Harry and sighed heavily. His face looked very thin and worn under his beard, and his blue eyes were practically dull.

After a long, silent moment, Harry blurted out, "I'm sorry. I know that was very stupid."

Dumbledore drummed his long, thin fingers on the desk. "I simply do not know what to say, Harry. Fighting is one thing, though you should know by now not to give in to Draco Malfoy's bait. But your accusation-- " Dumbledore sighed again. When he spoke, he couldn't hide his anger. "Do you know, Harry, that if you had said that fifteen years ago, I would have been forced to arrest Mr. Malfoy and turn him over to the Ministry for trial? On a mere accusation! Harry," Dumbledore's voice softened, "who told you Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater?"

Harry looked down. Tabitha would get into a lot of trouble, but Harry wasn't about to lie to Dumbledore. "Tabitha," he said. He added quickly, "But it was an accident, I swear. She didn't mean to tell me."

Dumbledore nodded. "Of course she didn't. But she did." He stood up and began pacing around his desk. "You two are both too headstrong and impulsive. I feel like I'm teaching your fathers again." He paused to stroke Fawkes' feathers. "You need to keep yourself in check, Harry. Draco Malfoy now knows that we know he is a Death Eater. He isn't a stupid boy. He'll guess that we've been keeping a close watch on him."

"I'm sorry, sir, really." Harry didn't think he could feel more awful than he did at that moment.

"Eighty points from Gryffindor," Dumbledore said.

"Is that all?" Harry turned red. "I just meant, I thought-- "

"I'm disappointed in you, Harry. I only hope that will start to put a little thought behind your actions."

Harry lowered his head. He wished Dumbledore would just let him leave.

"Send Mr. Malfoy in. And tell Tabitha I want a word with her."

"Yes, sir."

Harry shuffled out of Dumbledore's office. Tabitha was standing in the corridor gripping Malfoy's wand arm tightly. He was wincing in pain. Hagrid was standing across from them, glaring at Malfoy.

"Dumbledore wants Malfoy," Harry said. "And then he wants to speak to you," he told Tabitha.

She nodded. "I'll go then," Hagrid said. He and Harry began to walk away from the office as Malfoy went in.

"I'd've knocked the stuffin' outta him, too, Harry. Yeh done good, far as I'm concerned," Hagrid said after a moment. "Did yeh see? He's already got a face fulla black an' blue."

Harry could hardly take comfort in that fact. "I shouldn't have let him get to me," Harry said. "And now I've gone and gotten Tabitha in trouble."

"Tabitha wasn't supposed ter tell yeh abou' Malfoy. 'Course, I've tol' yeh stuff before that were top secret, so I can' blame her much. Come on down to me hut, we'll have some tea an'-- "

"No, that's all right, Hagrid. I should probably go back to Gryffindor tower and get some sleep. I'm going to be busy with homework and Occlumency and Quidditch, and now detention-- "

"And the, uh, well …" Hagrid gave Harry a sharp look.

Harry groaned. "And now the DA, too," he said. "Good night, Hagrid."

"Right, best rest up fer tomorrow's class with Norbert. G'night, Harry."

Harry groaned again. How had he forgotten about having class with that beast? He turned into another corridor and ran up to Gryffindor tower.

Hermione, Ginny, and a handful of other Gryffindors were waiting for Harry when he climbed through the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Bloody brilliant, Harry," Danny Flanagan squeaked. "Me brother used to get into fights, but none so exciting!"

"You're not banned from Quidditch, are you?" Katie Bell asked anxiously. "We can't beat Ravenclaw without you."

"Is it true, Harry? Is Draco Malfoy a Death Eater?" Dean Thomas asked. The room got quiet, the same frightening quiet Harry heard in the Great Hall during his fight.

"Of course not, it's rubbish," Hermione said sternly. "Harry was just angry and blurted out whatever stupid thing came into his head. Now, come on, leave us alone so we can talk." She shooed everyone out of the common room. "Come on, Ginny and I are both prefects, and we need you out!"

Everyone left grudgingly. Ginny and Hermione sat down on the sofa with Harry.

"Where's Ron?" he asked.

"Asleep," Ginny said.

"He's not angry with me, is he?"

"He shouldn't be. You didn't ask him to jump into that fight. I think he's just a bit sore from taking on Crabbe and Goyle while you were pounding Malfoy's face," Hermione said. She sighed. "That was really stupid, Harry."

"I know!" Harry snapped. "Listen, I've already heard it from Dumbledore, okay? And I'm sure I'll hear it from Tabitha, and Charlie, and McGonagall, and Ron's mum and dad—"

"Calm down," Ginny said. "What punishment did Dumbledore give you?"

"Eighty points from Gryffindor."

"That's all!" Hermione cried.

"You're lucky it wasn't much more than that," Ginny said.

"I know. Believe me. Please, just let's leave it at that, all right?"

Hermione and Ginny both pursed their lips; Harry knew they wanted to say much more, but he was glad they didn't.

"We've got DA lessons to start soon," Harry said softly. "Tabitha's taught me a bunch of new curses and jinxes to start off with. We need to let all the old members know we're starting lessons again soon."

"I'll make sure everyone knows," Hermione said.

"And we have to be careful letting new people know," Harry said. "After what Tabitha told me about Malfoy and his mates—"

"It's true? Are they really Death Eaters?" Ginny asked.

Harry nodded grimly. "Tabitha's in trouble with Dumbledore. She wasn't supposed to tell me."

"Well, I'll be careful," Hermione said. "Only old members, and maybe a few new ones that we know can be trusted. When are we going to start meeting?"

Harry shrugged. "I'll have to ask Tabitha," he said.

The following day's Care of Magical Creatures class was anti-climactic. Harry's class was only allowed to observe Norbert from a distance of five hundred feet, because Charlie said Norbert would have to get used to everyone before he would let them get closer.

Though Harry still felt awful about starting a fight, he could barely suppress his laughter when he saw Malfoy the next day. Harry had only a small bruise on his cheek, but Malfoy was sporting a shiny black eye and a dark, puffy bruise below a split lip. He tried to give Harry a menacing look, but his features were practically indistinguishable beneath the swelling. Pansy Parkinson was fawning over him, making sure he was comfortable.

"Good job," Ron muttered to Harry when he saw Malfoy. He had escaped Crabbe and Goyle's curses pretty much unscathed, but Harry had seen the two brutes earlier that day, and Crabbe was limping from the hard kick Ron had landed on his shins.

"You didn't do too badly yourself," Harry said.

"You two shouldn't be too proud of yourselves," Tabitha said, not even bothering to look up as they passed by her desk. "Mr. Potter, we need to talk after class."

"Might as well get it over with," Harry muttered.

The lesson dragged on. They were learning theory out of the book; Tabitha absolutely forbade them to even practice the powerful spells without a thorough base knowledge.

"Dragons are powerful creatures," she said. "I had to train for three months before I worked in the field with them; you'll be meeting a Norwegian Ridgeback face-to-face in just a few weeks. At least you'll be under controlled circumstances."

After class, Harry stopped by Tabitha's desk. As soon as the last student he left, he blurted out, "I'm sorry."

"I know, Harry. That was an unfortunate outburst, but I know it was accidental. I never should have told you about Malfoy. Now," she said. "The DA."

"What about the fight?" Harry cried.

Tabitha looked at him blankly. "What about it?"

Harry was so frustrated he could just yank out his hair. He thought back to his third year, when he accidentally inflated Uncle Vernon's sister Marge and was personally excused from using magic outside of Hogwarts by the Minister of Magic himself. That was back when everyone thought Sirius had escaped Azkaban to kill him.

"Dumbledore only took eighty points from Gryffindor," Harry said. "That doesn't seem fair. Not that I think Malfoy should get off any easier, but—"

"You are learning, aren't you? You're right; it's not fair. You started a fight with Malfoy, and you get off with a few points shaved off your houses. Meanwhile, he and his friends are going to spend the next two weeks scrubbing every inch of this castle clean, without magic, and they lost more points than you and Ron. Believe me, none of us is pleased about this. You deserve the same punishment as Malfoy, but the truth is, you haven't got the time. Occlumency and the Defense Association are far more important. But as far as Malfoy—and Snape—are concerned, you and Ron are serving detention with Hagrid."

"You're not taking away Quidditch, or anything?"

Tabitha smirked. "You really are dying for some punishment, aren't you?"

"I just feel really guilty about starting a fight and … and getting you in trouble with Dumbledore."

Tabitha waved her hand. "It was nothing. Don't worry about it."

"But—"

"Harry, any other time, a fight like that would have been grounds for expulsion. But with Voldemort taking control of the Ministry, and Death Eaters taking any opportunity they can to take advantage of us, we need to be prepared. The DA lessons and your Occlumency lessons are far more important than any detention we could make you serve, but you need to promise to keep your head in the future. Ignore Malfoy. Now, get out of here. I'll see you after dinner for Occlumency."

Harry held the first DA meeting one week after his fight with Malfoy. Last year, they'd held meetings in a secret room called the Room of Requirement, but Malfoy and his friends knew about the room, and Dumbledore didn't want to take the chance that Malfoy would happen upon them and find out what they were up to. Instead, everyone met in Charlie and Tabitha's flat on the sixth floor.

"'The Weasleys?'" Parvati Patil read as she and Lavender Brown were let in by Ron. "Your family doesn't live at Hogwarts, does it?" she asked Ginny.

"It's Charlie and his wife's flat," Ginny answered.

Parvati and Lavender's faces fell. "You mean your brother is married?"

Tabitha walked in from the kitchen with a cup of tea. "He certainly is. Go on, girls, everyone's in the sitting room."

Parvati and Lavender whispered furiously as they walked toward the sitting room. "She isn't his wife, is she?" Lavender hissed.

"She isn't that pretty," Parvati said.

Tabitha rolled her eyes. "Petty little things, aren't they?" she said to Ginny.

In the meantime, Harry was in the sitting room, which was emptied of furniture and was quickly filling with new and old members of the DA. Even Cho Chang, Harry's crush from last year, was there. At precisely eight o'clock, Tabitha, Ron and Ginny entered the room. Harry glanced at Cho as Ginny sidled up to him and squeezed his hand. He felt some satisfaction when he saw Cho looked away.

"Portrait's closed," Tabitha said. "The knight won't let anyone in until I tell him he can. Are you sure you're ready?"

Harry looked around. There were nearly forty people in the room. He nodded. "We're good, Tabitha."

"Okay. Charlie and I will be in the kitchen. I'll let you out in one hour."

"Let us out?" Terry Boot said. "But isn't the door—"

Suddenly, the room was encased by the same blue mist Dumbledore had created in the Weasleys' kitchen after Percy's funeral. It covered the walls and doors, so they were trapped in an imperturbable blue cocoon. Some of the students touched the mist, trying to push through it.

"What is this?" a third-year Hufflepuff asked.

"Insurance that no one else can get in," Hermione said.

"Or out," the Hufflepuff squeaked.

"Well, that too," Hermione said. "All right, most of you were with us last year. We're as top secret as ever, even without Umbridge around—"

"Because Draco Malfoy's a Death Eater?" someone asked in a hushed voice.

Hermione looked at Harry uncomfortably. Harry cleared his throat. "Well, uh," said. "The truth is, I haven't got proof or anything that Malfoy and his friends are Death Eaters, but I do know their fathers are."

"How do you know that?" said a familiar voice. Harry winced; it was Zacharias Smith, who had opened his big mouth to question Harry far too many times last year during DA meetings.

"Because I saw them," Harry said. "The night Voldemort"—there was a shudder around the room—"came back, and again, last year, at the Ministry of Magic, when we"—Harry indicated himself, Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood—"were attacked by a whole group of Death Eaters."

"You were attacked by Death Eaters?" Danny Flanagan said, awestruck. "And you all survived?"

Harry tensed up; Ginny put her hand on his arm. "Yeah, we did. Some people weren't so lucky," he said. "Listen," he continued. "I know a lot of you read the Prophet, and they've been printing rubbish about me again. Me, Dumbledore, and Professor McNoira—"

"Is she really Sirius Black's daughter?" Susan Bones asked.

Harry nodded. "But Sirius wasn't behind that attack at the Ministry before Christmas, and Tabitha had nothing to do with it, either."

"How can you be sure Sirius Black had nothing to do with it?" Zacharias Smith taunted.

"Because Sirius Black is dead!" Harry yelled. The room hushed.

"Did—did he die at the Ministry of Magic last year?" Parvati Patil asked quietly.

"We are not here to talk about Sirius Black," Harry said through gritted teeth.

"But how are we going to be prepared for anything if we don't have any idea what's going on out there?" a burly-looking seventh-year Ravenclaw demanded. "And you seem to have all the answers, Potter, so you should let us know."

"Harry doesn't have to tell you lot anything," Ron said. "You're here to learn defensive spells, and that's all."

"That isn't all," Zacharias Smith said. "I'm with Ted; either you tell us all, or we're leaving."

"No one's keeping you here!" Ron shouted.

"Oh, really?" Ted the seventh year said, tapping the blue mist. Ron turned red.

"What Ron means," Hermione jumped in, "is that you don't need to know everything we know to learn these spells. It might be easier if you don't know."

"That isn't true," Luna Lovegood said dreamily. She was drawing patterns in the blue mist with her fingers. "You should always know who your enemies are."

Harry sighed. "The thing is, I can't tell you lot everything. And I can't tell you why I can't."

"Tell us what you can," Dean Thomas implored.

"Yes, Harry, so we at least know what's coming," Padma Patil, Pavati's twin sister, said.

Harry looked at Hermione. Her manner at once became very brisk. "Before Harry says anything," she said, "you all have to sign this." She held up an ordinary-looking piece of parchment labeled 'Dumbledore's Army,' the other name for the DA. "I'll warn you this time—there are a number of terrible jinxes on this parchment. Once your name is on it, you cannot breathe a word of the DA to anyone outside of this room. The DA exists during this one hour, one night every week. Every other time, you have never heard of the DA, do you all understand?" Everyone nodded, though a few new members looked terrified. "Anything Harry tells you must be kept completely secret, and he needn't tell you everything. If you can't handle this, Harry will get Tabitha, and she'll let you out. She'll probably put a Memory Charm on you as well, so you won't remember being here tonight. Does anyone want to leave?" The room remained quiet. "Good. Now form a line to sign the paper."

The line snaked around the room. One-by-one, the students signed the parchment. After they signed, Hermione handed them an enchanted Galleon. "These will warm up and flash the date and time of each meeting every week. Don't spend these; if you lose it, that's it. If you miss a meeting, it's your own fault."

Once everyone had signed, they turned an eager ear toward Harry. He launched into a quick history of his encounters with Lord Voldemort, as all of the new members and many of the old didn't know half of what he'd done in his life. He told them about the Sorcerer's Stone and how he defeated a basilisk; how Sirius Black had been framed by Peter Pettigrew, who was alive and had facilitated Voldemort's rebirth; how he and his friends faced Voldemort and Death Eaters at the Ministry of Magic, how Sirius died before his name could be cleared. He didn't tell them about the prophecy connecting him and Voldemort, nor about the top-secret potions the Order would be brewing. He didn't let them know there was such a thing as the Order of the Phoenix.

A lot of people murmured sympathies to Harry over losing Sirius, and to Ron and Ginny about Percy. But …

"What about that attack at the Ministry?" Ted demanded. "If Sirius Black wasn't behind that, who was?"

"We don't know for sure," Harry said, "but we think it was Fudge."

"The Minister of Magic himself?" Zacharias snorted. "The Prophet said the attack was aimed at him."

"It wasn't," Ron said firmly. "It was aimed at my brother, because he had information about Fudge's connection to You-Know-Who."

"And at Nymphadora Tonks. She's an Auror," Ginny said. "And she's Draco Malfoy's cousin. They attacked her and tried to get information about the O—"

"Ginny, shh," Harry said.

"What? What are you keeping from us?" Ted asked.

"It's one of those things you just can't know about," Harry said. "But Tonks is on our side, and Malfoy was using her to get information."

"Are you all satisfied now?" Ron asked. Ted and Zacharias nodded grudgingly; everyone else seemed to have been satisfied with the little information they began with.

With only fifteen minutes until Tabitha would be lifting the imperturbable mist, Harry paired old members of the DA with new members. They practiced the spell to disarm, the very one Harry used against Malfoy the week before. Neville had gotten very good; his speed and aim were impeccable.

"It's the new wand," he beamed when Harry told him how well he was doing.

Wands were flying through the air when the blue mist suddenly lifted. Michael Corner's wand struck a photograph of Charlie. It fell to the floor, shattered glass everywhere.

"Sorry, Professors," his partner, Terry Boot, said as Tabitha and Charlie rushed in. "I lost concentration when you-- "

"It's all right," Charlie said. "My ugly mug ought not to be framed up anywhere."

"Stop it," Tabitha laughed, swatting his arm. She flicked her wand at the frame and broken glass, and the picture flew back up onto the wall, unscathed. Hermione and Ginny began leading people out in groups of five, so as not to arouse suspicion of anyone who could be walking in the corridor.

"Uh, did you leave something out, Harry?" Ted asked, distracted by Charlie and Tabitha.

Harry shrugged as he pushed Ted out with the last group of five. "Didn't you read the door? Figure it out yourself."