Harry and Ginny walked hand in hand into the Great Hall for dinner, and were not surprised to see that many of the heads of those already there turned to watch them. Harry had learned to tune such a thing out through years of practice, but Ginny was still dealing with it as best she could. She had been pressed for details of what she was planning to make Harry do all day, as well as had an assortment of tortures proposed by those who thought it would be funny to see any guy squirm a bit. She had no need of them though, Harry had done everything she had asked of him all day long without complaint. By dinnertime, she thought that she must certainly know almost every secret Harry had kept hidden from them all.

"Well, I see that you've survived the first day, mate," Ron said to Harry as he and Ginny sat down.

"Of course I have," Harry said.

"I told you she wasn't going to torture him, Ron," Hermione said.

"Well I couldn't very well rough him up before the D.A. meeting tonight," Ginny said with a grin. "He's missed too many of them already, and I'm going to make sure he doesn't miss another one."

"I assume you've already passed the word about the meeting tonight, Hermione," Harry said.

"Everything is set, Harry," Hermione said. "As we expected, several of the sixth and seventh years didn't want to wait until Sunday for their class. I think we convinced them with the double class though."

"Great," Harry said.

"I hope Neville is back in time, and in a condition to get to the class on Sunday," Ron said. "I know that he's been looking forward to it starting up again."

"I wouldn't worry about Neville," Ginny said. "Luna will take care of him."

"I wish we knew why he left today," Ron said. "I just feel like there should be something we could do for the poor guy. I heard a rumor that he had to floo over to St. Mungo's."

"I'm sure they'll let us know if there's anything we can do for him," Harry said. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions though. It may be nothing."

Hermione and Ron sat and stared at Harry for a few seconds before Hermione said, "You know something don't you, Harry?"

"What makes you think that?" Harry asked.

"Because you just answered my question with another question," Hermione said. "You only do that when you're hiding something."

"Go on, Ginny," Ron said, "make him tell you what he knows."

"Harry has told me all he needs to for now," Ginny said with a grin.

"Oh come on," Ron said. "You know whatever it is too? Maybe it isn't such a good thing that you two spend so much time together. You hang around him for too long, and you start keeping secrets with him?"

"Harry has told me quite a few things that I asked him about," Ginny said. "Now that I know some of the things he's been keeping from us, I don't blame him at all for not telling us about them. Some other things I choose to keep quiet about just to annoy you, dear brother."

Harry left the Great Hall early enough to give him time to conjure everything he would need for the D.A. class. Ginny had wanted to walk Harry to the class, but Harry reminded her of the Potions essay she needed to get done. So, he left her in the care of Hermione and Ron to make sure she got back to the common room.

Minutes later, Harry was standing at the head of the room he had conjured, and he looked out at the faces of the students who had come to learn what he had to teach. He briefly wondered if they had any idea what he had in store for them that night. It was a night that would certainly determine if they really wanted to be there or not.

"Many of you have attended the D.A. classes before," Harry said. "Tonight we'll move beyond those previous classes. Outside the walls of this school there is a war raging. Voldemort and his death eaters are spreading fear throughout the wizarding community once again. From now on, this class will be concerned with one thing and one thing only. I will do what I can to prepare you to fight in this war. By the time I'm done with you, you will have learned how to work together to defeat your enemies. You will need to work together, because none of you are ready to fight one of the death eaters one on one. You have to learn each other's strengths and weaknesses, and use them to your advantage in a battle.

"The first thing I can tell you, is that you need to know as much about your enemy as you can before you ever duel. Tonight we'll learn about three of the most dangerous death eaters you may face."

Harry waved his hand, and all of the students took in a sharp breath as three death eaters appeared next to Harry. It was several seconds later before they realized that the death eaters were as still as statues, as if they were frozen in place.

"Allow me to introduce you," Harry said. "Lucius Malfoy. He's the brains of the death eaters. If you meet a group of them, he'll be the one giving the orders. Don't let that fool you though. He can still duel with the best of them. He's ruthless. He would kill you with the killing curse without giving it a second thought. His weakness is his arrogance. If he gets the upper hand on you in a battle, he'll stop to gloat about it before he finishes you off. It may only give you a couple of seconds to escape, but, if used wisely, that can be more than enough time.

"Antonin Dolohov, probably the most consistent fighter among the death eaters. His power is not to be underestimated. You can't depend on him to make a mistake, because he won't. He can be just a cruel as Malfoy, but he won't spend time talking to you. He'll go for the quick kill every time. You'll have to be on your toes if you get near him. The very focus and determination that make him such a formidable opponent can also be used against him. He'll focus in on one target and fail to notice an attack from his flank or rear. Working as a team is the only way that you may be able to survive against him.

"Last but not least, Bellatrix Lestrange. She's an extremely powerful and knowledgeable witch. She was trained in the dark arts by Voldemort himself. Out of them all, she is the one that you should fear the most. Her loyalty to Voldemort is absolute, and any insult of him will set off her extremely quick temper. Unlike Dolohov, who likes to go for the quick kill, Bellatrix enjoys causing pain to her victims before she kills them. She'll toy with you until you think you have a clear shot, and then she'll strike. Her favorite spell to use if she's only trying to cause you pain is the Cruciatus Curse. Believe me, you don't want to feel the pain she can inflict with that curse. She's driven people mad with it in the past. One of her greatest assets can also be one of her greatest weaknesses. She is extremely quick. She can toss out two spells in the time it takes most people to do one. You will spend much of your time against her just trying to defend yourself. She can be too quick for her own good though. It may be possible to lead her into a trap before she has time to realize one is being set for her.

"You will come to know these and other death eaters very well over the next few weeks. While in this class they will act as your main dueling partners. In the past I have had you partner against each other, but it is now time for you to get a taste of what dueling in a battle is really like. It won't be easy, and it will be just a bit dangerous, so if any of you want to, you can leave before we get started."

Harry looked around the room at the excitement on the faces of the young students before him. None of them moved at all. By the end of the class, he knew that some of them would wish that they had.

"We'll get started then," Harry said as he waved his hand and all of the death eaters except Malfoy vanished. "We'll start with Malfoy. I need five volunteers to go in the first group."

Harry grinned as five times the number he needed raised their hands instantly. He pointed to five of them in the front of the class and motioned for everyone else to step back and give them plenty of room. Harry put up a shield charm that would protect those not participating in the exercise, as the chosen five spread out in a straight line in front of Malfoy with their wands drawn.

"Begin," Harry said.

An instant later, Lucius Malfoy came to life, and reached inside his robes for his wand. Less than ten seconds later, Malfoy went as still has he had been before the duel began.

"Ennervate," Harry said as he pointed his wand at the five students sprawled out on the floor. "I guess it was a good idea to start by only allowing him to use stunning spells. If this had been the real thing, I would have some really angry parents on my hands."

"I thought you said Bellatrix Lestrange was the quick one," one of the fifth year volunteers said as he shook his head in an attempt to clear away the fog.

"She is," Harry said. "Welcome to the real world of dueling. There is no marching off of ten paces in a real battle. There won't be anyone to check to make sure both sides are ready. Your opponent may be two hundred meters from you, or he may be two centimeters away. You have to be ready to fight under any circumstances. Does anyone have any idea what they did wrong?"

A small third year girl shyly raised her hand and said, "They didn't have a shield up?"

"Exactly," Harry said with a smile. "I would have thought you all would know by now to always keep a shield up when there is a possible danger. Hasn't Professor Bane stunned all of you enough yet? Still, if this had been an actual battle, your shields wouldn't have helped you much against the killing curse anyway. I'm sure you all remember the attack on Hermione Granger earlier in this school year. What many of you may not know is that it was the killing curse that she was hit with before she fell over the railing. The only reason she wasn't killed instantly was the fact that she put up an exceptionally strong shield in time to deflect a portion of the spell's potency. I'll teach you that shield charm later on once we've gotten past the stunning level.

"Another thing you all may want to keep in mind, is that the easiest target is one that stands still directly in front of you. The last group met their attacker in a straight line, making it easy for Malfoy to identify the extent of the threat immediately, and decide on a course of action very quickly. Remember that a moving target is more difficult to hit than a stationary one, even for an experienced wizard. Also, spread out to attack from different angles all the way around your enemy. Having to turn around to search out a target should slow his attack considerably. Now, do I have five more volunteers that want to give it a try?"

Harry looked out and noticed that, the number of hands that went up immediately were fewer in number than the last round had been. Harry picked another five, and they stepped forward cautiously. Harry backed away along with the remainder of the students. He was pleased to see that they were taking his advice about surrounding their opponent.

"Begin," Harry said once again with a wave of his hand.
Once Malfoy came back to life and began firing stunning spells at the students, Harry watched as the students ran all around Malfoy slowing down his response time. The students were proud that they had withstood the attack this time using their shields, but became frustrated when they discovered that Malfoy had his own shield to protect him from the stunning spells they were sending at him. Malfoy too noticed that his efforts were wasted, and resorted to a tactic the other students were not expecting.

Before any of them had time to react, Malfoy dashed straight at a fourth year Ravenclaw, and grabbed her from behind as he put the point of his wand to the girl's temple. The rest of the students were so surprised, that they stopped what they had been doing and stared at the frightened girl being held roughly by the death eater.

"Are you having trouble believing that someone would resort to such a thing?" Harry asked as he walked back to the center of the room. "Always expect something like this if you have a death eater losing a battle with a group of attackers. You have to expect the unexpected. The thing you can't do, is exactly what you did. Be aware at all times if you get into range for them to attack you like this, and do your best to make sure you don't give them the chance to grab you. The tactic worked for him unfortunately. There may come a time in the midst of battle when one of your friends may fall or be captured as one was here, but you can't afford to stop your attack. That was exactly what he was counting on. You stop your attack, and you are suddenly a stationary target once again. Don't be fooled just because we're only using stunning spells right now. If this were a real battle most of you would be dead right now just because you stopped and presented him with a target. Once most of you were dead and the rest were diving for cover, he would have killed his hostage and used her body as a shield against whatever attack you may still try to mount."

"Uh, Harry?" Rachel, the girl being held by Malfoy, said. "Is it okay if I move now?"

"Sure," Harry said with a grin. "He isn't going to harm anyone for a few minutes. I have to tell you that, although most if not all of you would have just died in a real battle, this last attempt was a marked improvement over the last one. Don't feel too bad about it though. I didn't exactly do a stellar job the first time I faced off against the death eaters myself. By the time I'm done with you, I dare say that you will do much better."

The rest of the evening was spent letting everyone in the class have a go at Malfoy. Harry pointed out the good and the bad things from each turn, and began letting the students use spells other than stunning spells to subdue their enemy. Time after time they tried and failed, but each time they tried brought them closer to their goal. It really threw them when Harry gave Malfoy the ability to use a shield disrupting charm so that his stunning spells were able to get through their shields. He explained to them that it was very unlikely that they would be facing a stunning spell from a death eater, and they needed to practice not being hit by whatever spell they had thrown at them.

By the time they all left, they were exhausted and sore from being stunned so many times, but their spirits were high. Harry had been right. They were getting better. By the time they left, almost every group had succeeded in capturing Malfoy. It was true that they had yet to do so with all of their original team still standing, but they listened to Harry's advice, and they were starting to anticipate the moves of their teammates. They left knowing that they were on their way to becoming a significant force that few would be able to stand against. Though it would likely take them until the next Tuesday to recover, they all made plans to return to the next class.

The thing that Harry was most pleased with was the way each group began to work together as a cohesive unit without regard to what house colors they wore. He was especially pleased to see the way that the students from the other houses accepted the four Slytherin students so easily within their ranks.

The door to the room of requirement disappeared behind Harry as he walked down the stairs. He felt a great satisfaction with what he was doing. He had so many things he wanted to teach the other students, but knew that he would have to focus his efforts for the short time he had left at Hogwarts. He began his trek back to Gryffindor tower knowing that he had a completely different dueling structure in mind for the other D.A. classes. He had several days to plan them, so he would be sure to be ready when the time came.

By lunchtime the next day, word of Harry's training of the third, fourth and fifth year students had gotten around to every corner of the school. He wasn't worried though. He didn't have to keep it a secret the way he did back in the dark days when Delores Umbridge stalked through the halls of Hogwarts. As long as no one was permanently injured, there was nothing anyone could do about it to stop him. So far, none of the teachers seemed interested in trying to. Even Snape failed to comment on it one way or the other when he had seen him earlier that morning. Professor Bane was elated. It turned out that the special project he had wanted to propose to Harry was to tutor some of the students in preparation for their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s.

Harry had gotten a heads up from Cassidy that Draco was furious about Harry's use of his father in the D.A. training. So far, Draco had yet to make his feeling on the matter known to Harry in person. Harry knew that that likely wouldn't last though. He was making sure to keep a shield charm active at all times just in case.

"So where is Hermione anyway, Ron?" Ginny asked. "It isn't normal to see you two apart during meal times."

"Oh, she spilled some ink on her robes and went to change them," Ron said as he piled food on his plate. "I offered to walk with her, but she told me to go ahead and eat since it wouldn't take her that long to change."

"So, Harry," Ginny began, "have you planned what we're going to do in the D.A. class on Sunday? You seem to have caused quite a stir with the one last night."

"Actually, I know exactly what I'm going to do with the class on Sunday, Ginny," Harry answered. "It will be considerably different from the other one."

"It sounds as though you may be creating a monster with those third, fourth and fifth years, Harry," Ron said as he swallowed a bit of food. "They're walking around the school as if they were ready to take on the world."

"I wouldn't worry about them too much, Ron," Harry said unable to hide a grin. "They won't feel quite so cocky after their next class session. Last night was just a warm-up."

Hermione ran into the Great hall and over to Harry, Ron and Ginny and said, "I can't believe I was so wrong. I don't know why I didn't think of it before."

"Slow down, Hermione," Ron pleaded. "What are you talking about?"

"Neville," Hermione answered. "It wasn't his grandmother at all. An owl delivered this to me while I was upstairs changing into fresh robes."

Hermione put the copy of the Quibbler down onto the table for all of them to see the story on the front page.

You Can't Keep a Longbottom Down

St. Mungo's has chalked up another miracle recovery to it's history book. Just over one month after the astounding recovery of Harry Potter from his incredible injuries, the healers of St. Mungo's have announced the recovery of Frank and Alice Longbottom from injuries sustained more than sixteen years ago at the hands of well known death eater Bellatrix Lestrange. Previously thought to be unrecoverable due to the extensive damage done to their minds after being tortured with the Cruciatus Curse, healers are now expecting a full recovery to be imminent.

Details are still sketchy as to the reason for the sudden turn around of the Longbottom's condition. Healers tell us that it was accomplished using a new regimen of treatment that had not been attempted before. They have refused to reveal any details about the treatment fearing that it could prove dangerous in the wrong hands.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any stranger, though that is what we specialize in here at The Quibbler, it seems that there may be some connection with this case to Harry Potter. There is a rumor floating around some of the portraits lining the halls of St. Mungo's, that it was none other than the-boy-who-lived himself that first proposed the new mystery treatment. Healers have refused to comment on that rumor in any way other than to say that Mr. Potter did inquire about the health of the Longbottoms while he was hospitalized there. Healers insist that he was simply checking up on the condition of the parents of friend and fellow Hogwarts student Neville Longbottom.

Neville learned of the recovery of his parents yesterday morning, and has remained at their bedside ever since. He described the moment when he learned the news of his parents condition change as, "the happiest day of my life".

"Wow," Ron said amazed. "And here we were feeling all sorry for Neville. Little did we know that we should be having a party for him."

"I think that would be a great idea, Ron," Hermione said. "We should start planning it tonight if we want to have it ready by the time he gets back, whenever that may be."

"I can't think of anyone who deserves it more," Ginny said.

"So, Harry," Ron began with a sly look as if he was about to pry into something, "is it true? Did you tell the healers how to cure the Longbottoms?"

"You always have been a sucker for rumor, haven't you, mate," Harry said. "You heard what the paper said. I was just asking about the parents of a friend."

"What about the letters you've been sending to Healer Snagprat?" Hermione asked.

"So who says I still have to be in St. Mungo's to inquire about them?" Harry asked in response.

"You're answering a question with a question again, Harry," Hermione said. "Ginny, make him tell you the truth."

"Actually, I asked him about that yesterday morning," Ginny said with a grin.

"And?" Hermione asked anxious to hear what he said.

"And I heard all I needed to hear," Ginny said unable to control her smile.

"Oh, you two," Hermione said in frustration. "You two were definitely meant for each other."

"I like to think so," Ginny said still smiling.

Ron just looked at Harry with a knowing grin and said, "You're a good man, mate. You're a good man."

Later that evening, Harry sat in the Gryffindor common room with Ginny, Ron and Hermione trying to plan an appropriate celebration for Neville's return. They were just finalizing their plans when an excited fifth year girl who had been in the previous day's D.A. class stepped into the common room and walked over to where they sat.

"Hi, Meagan," Harry said as she neared where he sat. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Meagan responded. "I just thought you would want to know that Luna Lovegood just got back."

"Is Neville with her?" Harry asked.

"No," Meagan said. "I asked her if he was coming back tonight, but she said he was going to stay at St. Mungo's until his parents were released."

"I guess we can't really blame him for that," Ginny said. "He's grown up his entire life without his parents. If I were in his position, I wouldn't be quite ready to leave them either."

"She said they were expecting to release his parents by next Monday," Meagan said.

"Well that should give us plenty of time to set up for his party," Ron said.

"It's a shame really," Harry said surprising them all. "I was hoping he would be back for the D.A. class on Sunday."

"Well, if it's anything like the one yesterday," Meagan began, "he'll be sorry he missed it."

"I take it you enjoyed the class then," Hermione said.

"I wasn't enjoying it much when I first woke up this morning," Meagan said with a smile. "Most of the soreness wore off as the day went on though. I'm ready for another class tonight if Harry wants to teach one."

"Sorry, Meagan," Harry said with a grin. "I'm going to be busy tonight. I'm still trying to answer all of the get-well cards I got when I was in St. Mungo's."

"Oh," Meagan said as she blushed suddenly. "Well if you get to the one I sent you, you don't need to send me a response. I'm just glad you're back. Well, I'll leave you all alone now."

"You don't have to," Ginny said. "You're welcome to stay if you want."

"Oh, no," Meagan said blushing even deeper and beginning to fidget. "I think I'll just… uh… turn in early."

They all watched as Meagan nearly ran for the stairs to the girl's dormitories, and Hermione said, "You had better watch out, Harry. I think you have another admirer."

"I know," Harry said. "I opened her letter earlier today. I was just trying to think of how to respond to it."

All of the sixth and seventh years spent the rest of the week growing more and more anxious to find out what Harry was planning for their Sunday D.A. meeting. They had all heard about what he had done with the younger students, and couldn't wait to know what they would be up against.

The students in the room of requirement stood trying to control all of their pent up anticipation as Harry stepped to the head of the room and said, "By now I suspect that you have all heard about the D.A. class on Tuesday. Most of you are probably wondering if you are in for the same training. I will tell you right now that what we do here tonight will be very different in some ways, and similar in others. I have begun to train the younger students to work efficiently in small groups to take on the death eaters. Most of them are not yet skilled enough to think of fighting a death eater on their own yet, so they will combine their talents to make them more effective. For you however, I have something different in mind. I will train you to fight the death eaters one on one. We don't have much time to train before Voldemort attacks, so we will be having double D.A. meetings every Sunday until the end of school."

There was a collective gasp from the group at the mention of Voldemort's impending attack and Cassidy was the first to step forward and ask, "How do you know Voldemort will attack soon? And what makes you think he would attack us here at Hogwarts?"

"I know he will attack soon because I can feel it," Harry said as he reached up to touch his scar. "He'll attack here, because that's where I am. The thing he wants more than anything in the world is to kill me."

Just then, they all jumped as the door to the room creaked open. They all relaxed when they saw who it was.

"I heard there was going to be a D.A. meeting tonight," Neville said as he closed the door. "I hope I didn't miss it."

"You're right on time, Neville," Harry said with a smile. "Welcome back."

"Thanks, Harry," Neville said looking at Harry. "Thanks for everything."

Neville walked over to where Luna was standing just as Cassidy said, "I still don't get it, Harry. I'm just as aware as anyone how much Voldemort must hate you, but why would he risk everything by attacking Hogwarts while Professor Dumbledore is here, just to get to you?"

"It goes beyond hate, Cassidy," Hermione said. "You'll just have to trust Harry. There are things you don't know."

"But I think the time has come," Harry began, "when she should. You all should know why I am so certain that Voldemort will come after me. When Voldemort was at the height of his power years ago, there was a prophecy made that concerned the two of us."

Harry spent the next few minutes telling the stunned group everything he could about the prophecy, how and why his scar had hurt over the years, and the details of their past meetings. Once he had stopped his tale, it was several seconds before anyone moved to speak.

"I can't believe you suffered through that for so many years and you never told us, Harry," Seamus said. "We've slept in the same dorm for seven years now and none of us knew. God, half of the time I thought you were just crazy, but all those times your scar was hurting."

"I didn't want anyone to know, Seamus," Harry said. "Ron and Hermione were the only ones who knew about it along with a few of the teachers. I didn't want to get the rest of you involved. I didn't want to give Voldemort a reason to hurt anyone else. I wouldn't have told you tonight, but the time has come when you all needed to know. The battle is coming, and I'm going to need your help if we're going to win it."

"You can count on me, Harry," Neville said. "I'll stand beside you."

"No you won't," Harry said. "I want to make that clear to everyone right now. I'm going to train you to fight the death eaters, but under no circumstances are any of you to attempt to fight Voldemort. That will be my fight. That is what I'm training for. I don't want anyone even close by when Voldemort and I meet."

"Then we had better get to the training if we're going to fight the death eaters," Cassidy said with a slight tone that made Harry wonder if she was really giving up so easily.

"Then let's begin," Harry said with a wave of his hand that caused the room to change into the same forest setting Harry had used for his dueling test with Professor Bane.

Four hours later, a weary and humbled group of students, some with some minor burn marks on their robes, emerged from the room of requirement. They had heard about what Harry had done with the class earlier in the week, but what they had just been through made that class look like a cake walk. They all just hoped Professor Bane didn't ask them to do anything on Monday morning that would require them to be alert and agile.

The next evening, Harry found himself back in the room of requirement facing a very nervous group of first and second year students. They had all seen the condition of their housemates that had attended previous classes, and they were slightly scared that they wouldn't survive the night.

"Welcome to the D.A.," Harry said with a gentle smile that served to relax some of them somewhat. "I know that you all may be wondering what might be in store for you tonight. The first thing I need you to do is to relax. Take a few deep breaths and calm your nerves. You won't be dueling as fiercely as the other two D.A. classes, so you don't need to worry about any stories you may have heard. I am going to train you to perform a very specific task. I won't be asking any of you to try to battle a death eater. You can leave that to the other two classes. Let them do the fighting. What I need you to learn to do is to protect. I am going to be teaching you some of the most advanced shield charms ever devised. Some of them haven't even been made known to the general wizarding world. Don't think you are getting off easy though. These charms won't be easy for you by any stretch of the imagination. Many of them are difficult for fully trained wizards, but if you work hard at it, you'll be able to block any spell thrown at you.

"Your job, should the death eaters attack, will be to spread out among those not involved in the battle and conjure a shield strong enough to protect them. I'll teach you how to band together to combine your shields to protect large areas. Don't think of yourself as the last line of defense. For those innocent people you will be saving, you are their first line of defense."

"But what if we can't produce a strong enough shield, sir?" a first year Hufflepuff boy asked meekly.

"You can call me Harry, David," Harry said with a smile, surprising him that he knew his name. "I'm not a professor. I'm just a student like you. You just give me a chance to teach you, and I'll guarantee that you'll produce a shield more than strong enough. Is it a deal?"

"Deal," David said with a smile and eyes full of trust.

"Great," Harry said. "That goes for all of you. Even if you've had trouble with your shields in other classes, I'm willing to bet that there will be an improvement for all of you by the end of this class. If there isn't, you can call me an idiot and we can move on to anything you like."

"So where do we start?" David asked, all anxiety gone and replaced with excitement.

"Why don't we start with one that I developed myself over the summer," Harry said with a smile. "I can tell you that no one below seventh year has seen this one. You will be the youngest wizards and witches to ever attempt it. Even better than that, it isn't difficult to do, and it is as strong as any shield ever taught in a class here at Hogwarts. You master this shield, and even the killing curse won't be able to touch you."

Gasps and mutterings erupted from the students to match their wide eyes. They knew then that Harry had saved a very important duty for them. They may not be dueling like the older students, but Harry was about to teach them something that even they would be envious of.

"I do have to ask one thing of you before I teach you this spell," Harry said, bringing their attention back to him. "I need all of you to agree not to mention this spell to anyone outside of this room. If word of this spell should reach the ears of the enemy, it could prove disastrous to our cause."

David looked around the room and gauged the affirmative nods of his classmates before he turned to Harry with a new confidence and said, "You can count on us, Harry. We won't let you down."

"Then lets get started," Harry said as he drew his wand. "Spread out a bit, and draw your wands. You are about to create a magic circle. Listen to what I say and watch very closely. Then give it a try."

Two hours later, the first and second year D.A. students walked out of the room of requirement with a confidence they had not felt since they got to Hogwarts. Not only were they members of a secret army, they were a secret unit within that army that none of the other members would ever be aware of. They were so happy, it didn't even bother them that they couldn't tell anyone about what they were preparing for.

They weren't the only ones that were happy though. Harry paused at the door and looked back at the room behind him, and smiled. He was as happy as he had been since the last time he saw Ginny. Sharing his knowledge with the students and seeing the look of accomplishment on their faces was something he would treasure forever.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form