Incredible.
Spectacular.
Truly an inspiration to them all.
Danny destroying Umbridge so thoroughly and getting away with it would surely go down in Hogwarts history; if the applause he received in the Great Hall and then the Gryffindor common room that evening was anything to go by. (He may have even seen some of the Professors give a quick few claps of approval when the toad wasn't looking.)
There was a bit of a damper on their high spirits as Angelina told him and Ron that quidditch practice was cancelled since she hadn't been able to get permission from Umbridge to reform the team yet.
"But that's not fair!" Ron exclaimed.
"I know, I know! I went as soon as I could this morning to ask, but she said she needed to think about it." Angelina said scowling, but her expression broke into an amused smile as she looked at Danny. "Well done telling her what for Danny, she needed to know that we won't be pushed around. I'll go to McGonnagal tomorrow if she refuses me again."
"Good thinking." He agreed. As they walked to their favorite squashy armchairs in front of the fire, he debated with Ron and Danny if they could just fly down and practice on their own, like they do after most practices anyway.
Hermione had to remind them that it wasn't a good idea, especially now that Umbridge would look for any reason to get Danny into trouble now that he'd dragged her through the proverbial mud.
Now, sitting in the common room and waiting for their secret meeting with Sirius, Harry was watching as Ron played a game of wizards chess with Danny. Hermione was reading beside them while throwing sidelong glances at the Weasley twins who were preparing to showcase a new joke product, other Gryffindors gathering in preparation for the display.
He huffed a laugh as Danny lost spectacularly to Ron's ever unbeatable strategic plays.
"Nice try mate, maybe next time."
"Ugh. You could've given Vlad lessons on strategy. I don't think I can take another harrowing loss; you win Master Weasley, you win!" Danny said good naturedly in a fake posh voice, as he flopped sideways over the squashy armchair he was seated in.
He and Ron chuckled, Ron straightening his shoulders with a touch of pride.
Just then, explosive laughter and applause reached them as Fred and George began to demonstrate their newest product; Puking Pastilles.
"Ew. That's gross, and yet… I can't look away. Did they make those?"
"Yep. Every summer we heard all sorts of explosions and stuff coming from their room, but we never knew they were actually making things, though."
Hermione harrumphed, and closed her book.
"Hermione thinks that they're wasting their talent in making joke stuff, when they could be applying that talent to other things. Plus, she can't stop them from testing their stuff on themselves." Ron made no effort to disguise his rather loud whisper to both him and Danny.
She shot him a half hearted glare, to which they responded with innocent smiles.
"Is it difficult to make magic candy that makes you puke? Because, we have something called Ipecac that does the trick, but I guess we don't have anything to immediately make you stop and feel better afterwards…" Danny said absentmindedly as he watched Fred vomit spectacularly into a bucket after eating the orange half of the chew, and then stop and smile triumphantly as he was made better by eating the purple half. The crowd in the common room went wild and began placing orders, while George collected the pre-payments.
"Yeah, and I bet it doesn't taste like sweets either. I heard that those pastilles are orange and grape flavored." He chimed in.
"Man, that's pretty cool. You know, I may have to introduce Peeves to Fred and George's brand of jokes and pranks, I think it would be good for everyone."
"I don't think you quite understand the meaning of the word 'good.' Utter chaos is what you would unleash if you did that." Ron said with a shudder.
They all chuckled at how true that statement was, and then settled into comfortable silence, as they waited for the room to clear.
The display of joke product and pre-orders lasted well into the evening, and it was very amusing to watch, but he, Ron, Hermione and Danny were content to enjoy the applause and laughter as a background to their relaxing evening after such a busy day.
No wonder Hermione got her homework done so quickly, it was much nicer not having to worry about it so much at the last second, (He said that but he would most likely be back to putting off assignments until the last minute anyway. Ah well…)
Finally, the sun set, the twins' audience dispersed, and the twins themselves finished counting their earnings and headed up to their dorm, leaving the common room empty.
Danny had transformed and begun flying on his back, his hands behind his head, and his legs merging to form a misty tail that trailed after his lazy circles above them. Ron sat dozing and Hermione was petting Crookshanks while he was looking out the darkened window, watching the lazy clouds drift passed the moon when Danny suddenly gasped sharply, making him jump and causing Ron to wake up with a snort.
"Wha- What happened!"
"Sirius!" Harry and Hermione cut Ron off and the three of them crouched on the hearth rug in front of the blazing emerald fire, where Sirius' head had appeared.
He felt the soft chill of Danny's ghost form behind him, and turned to see the amazement on his friends face.
"Harry!" Sirius beamed, "Ron! Hermione! Good to see you lot again! And you-" Sirius swiveled his head around to look at the astonished Danny, "must be this half-ghost I've heard about."
Sirius grinned mischievously at Danny. "Ha! Moony owes me two galleons now! He said you couldn't possibly be real; thought Dumbledore had finally lost it when he told us of a muggle that was a human-ghost hybrid!"
Danny, coming back to himself, rubbed his neck in embarrassment.
"My name's Danny, nice to meet you."
"It's certainly a surprise meeting you!" Sirius said with a hint of accusation in his voice, no doubt aimed at Hermione, Ron and himself.
"Dumbledore is quite interested in you, and wanted to find a way to introduce you to our cause himself; but it seems that Harry, Ron and Hermione has beat him to it. Well done Harry." Sirius' praise brought a bright grin to his face, and a mess of emotion swirling in his gut at the mention of Dumbledore. He just didn't know how to feel about the Headmaster's behavior or decisions towards him anymore.
"We figured that it would be good for Danny to know what he's gotten himself into, now that he's hanging with us." Ron's wry tone broke into his spiraling thoughts.
"Crazy people set on destroying the world and corrupt government schemes? Nothing I'm not used to." Danny chuckled and transformed with a bright flash of silver. Sirius blinked the light from his eyes and looked bewildered for a moment before barking out a loud laugh.
"Ha! Now I get to brag that I'm the first one in the Order to see your transformation and ghost form up close! You lot are fantastic at breaking up Dumbledore's grand plans!" He grinned, eyes sparking with pride.
"Now, how've things been?"
"Umbridge is unbearable! She's started inspecting classes again, and she's pushed through another decree banning-"
"Defense training groups?" Sirius interrupted.
They all looked at each other, before turning back to Sirius with surprised looks.
"How'd you know about that?" He asked.
"Dung, of course. He was in disguise at the bar while you were having your -not-so-very-secret- meeting. You may want to rethink your meeting places." Sirius said with a grin.
"What was Mundungus doing there?" Ron asked.
"Following you lot of course."
"I'm still being watched!" He accused, a touch of his old anger rising to the surface.
"Voldemort is still at large, Harry." Sirius said with understanding.
"Then what is he up to? Does the Order have any new information?"
He could feel his friends attention sharpen, all wanting to know the same. Sirius sighed.
"I'm not supposed to tell you anything, especially since Danny's here and he shouldn't really know any of this, but… We have intelligence that the Ministry is trying to cover up a massive breakout from Azkaban. We think it may have happened as early as the end of the summer, and the Ministry is still trying to quietly catch all the escaped Death Eaters before having to tell the public. I'm telling you all this because I think knowing will help you understand why we're being so cautious in making sure you are well protected." Sirius gazed at him steadily.
He understood, he did; but he still would've liked to have been told that he was still being followed and watched.
"Speaking of telling you things," Sirius turned to Ron with a glint of amusement in his eyes, "You're mother insists I tell you that under no circumstances are you to join a secret Defense training group in an act of rebellion against the Ministry."
Sputtering, Ron's ears tinged red in his embarrassment. "I can join if I want to! I'm helping organize it!"
Sirius chuckled, and then turned back to him and Hermione, Ron still grumbling under his breath.
"She also wishes for me to tell you two that even though she doesn't have any say in what you do at Hogwarts, she would rather you didn't blatantly break the rules in a way that could get you into such serious trouble."
"I suppose you want to tell me to not do it, either." He said in a dry voice, remembering how uptight Sirius had been last year during the tournament.
"What? I think it's a brilliant idea!"
"Wha- You do? But last year you said-"
"Last year we didn't know who the enemy was, or what they were planning by entering you into the tournament. This year we know who the enemy is, but can't do much of anything to stop them. If you think practicing Defense will be useful to you and your classmates, who am I to stop you?"
That- wasn't what he was expecting. It was nice to be trusted to do something for himself for a change.
"Well, that's all well and good, but we still need a place to practice, and with thirty-four people, it won't be easy to find somewhere private enough to keep it from the toad."
"Hmmm, the shrieking shack?" Sirius proposed.
"No, that's much to small." Hermione said thoughtfully. "Maybe the Forbidden Forest?"
"Not likely. I don't think making a bunch of noise in a forest full of dangerous creatures is a good idea." Ron said with a suppressed shudder.
"Yep, I've only been in there once and I saw stuff that still confuses me. How about somewhere in the castle? This place is huge, there has to be somewhere we can use." Danny said.
"Like a spare classroom? It worked for when I was training for the tournament, but with all of us it would be too easy for Umbridge to find us."
"Well what about-" Sirius cut off suddenly and turned his head to face the side of the fireplace, eyes narrowed and suspicious.
"What-" Before he could finish asking what was wrong, Sirius' head vanished with pop. Before they could react to his sudden departure, the fire lit up green once again, Hermione gave a horrified gasp as a hand appeared, groping and grabbing the air where Sirius had been but a moment before. A stubby fingered hand adorned with old fashioned rings set with pink stones.
They ran for it, scrambling for the dormitory stairs.
He spared one second to look back, and saw Umbridge's hand still searching.
.
.
.
With the excitement of Monday, Harry had hoped for a more peaceful Tuesday, but he wasn't sure he got it.
They'd all debated through the day about how much Umbridge may have heard. Had she heard their entire conversation, or had she just come to try and catch Sirius?
They couldn't figure it out, but they avoided the toad anyway, glad that they didn't have her class that day.
It helped that Danny's showdown with Umbridge had the whole school against her as well, finally finding the courage to stand up a bit against her ridiculous power trip. He heard that even the other Professors were refusing to call her 'Professor,' instead calling her 'Mrs. Umbridge.'
Danny was a malicious genius.
Angelina eventually found them and told them of their reinstated quidditch team, and the practice scheduled for that night. Danny had told him and Ron that he wouldn't be coming to fly with them after practice that day though, and looking at the sheets of rain and wind whipping the windows, Harry didn't blame him.
Practice turned out to be a mess. The storm completely blinded them all despite charming their flying goggles to repel water. Harry could barely hear Angelina's whistle when the first flash of lightening split the sky. Angelina called practice off in light of the lightning storm and they all got ready to head back up to the castle.
Then, of course, his scar had to burn painfully while he was changing.
He tried to hide his cry of pain, passing it off as a result of him poking himself in the eye, but Ron saw right through him. When they were alone in the changing rooms, he tried to answer Ron's questions as best he could, but blatantly refused to tell an adult about his scar hurting again and the fact that he could somehow read Voldemort's emotions. He'd heard it all before when he'd told the adults, even when he'd told Sirius about his scar hurting during his first detention with Umbridge; 'Nothin we can do about it Harry,' 'Sorry, you'll just have to grin and bear it,' 'It's to be expected with Voldemort at full power again.'
They'd finally made it back to the dorms, found that Danny and Hermione had already turned in for the night, and followed their example, exhausted after the hard practice in the terrible storm.
He wasn't sure when he'd started dreaming after getting to sleep, but he was very familiar with the long underground corridor, the fire brackets lining the stone wall, the black door awaiting him at the very end.
He was getting closer and closer, anticipation was building in his chest. Excitement pulling at his every nerve as he stretched his hand forward, close enough to finally touch the dark wood, so close to seeing what was beyond-
But wait.
There's something else.
He sensed the cold creeping up his spine before seeing green light reflect off the black sheen of the door before him. He turned, the unnatural chill forcing his breath to condense, obscuring his vision of what was causing the tremble of fear beginning in the back of his throat. But it didn't block out the eyes.
A glimpse into eyes the color of oncoming death; sudden and terrible.
A crack of lighting jolted him back to consciousness, and the ensuing thunder rattled his very bones as he sat up panting, his scar prickling unpleasantly.
That was… He didn't know what that was. Why on earth had the dream changed? It had always just been the door, the need to open it and understand the mystery behind it. But the cold presence, those eyes…
Harry looked quickly at the new bed within the dormitory only to find it empty. Danny wasn't there. He tried to even out his breathing to calm himself down, but found that he was feeling too restless at the moment.
He got up quietly and made his way back down to the common room so he didn't disturb the peaceful sleep of Ron and the others in the dorm.
He settled in his favorite squashy armchair and calmed him racing thoughts.
He was not afraid of Danny. He hadn't had a nightmare about the flash of green curses and his mothers screaming voice ever since he'd been hanging out with Danny. It helped him get over the stigma his mind pinned to the color when he saw Danny's eyes and green energy as he practiced using his powers. He'd begun associating the color to friends and protection rather than… ugh.
He shouldn't be having a nightmare about Danny. He was completely comfortable around Danny in both of his forms, and was beginning to realize that death, in and of itself, wasn't a bad thing. It was tragic, and devastating and sad, of course; but it was also a part of life. He wasn't afraid of death, and he was definitely not afraid of Danny for having experienced something it himself.
Which is why the dream he'd just had made no sense. Maybe the green eyes weren't Danny's? Hmmm.
Harry was snapped out of his musings when Danny himself phased into the common room. His green eyes tired, white hair messy and frazzled.
"Oh my gosh Harry! I thought you'd be sleeping! I didn't wake you up did I?"
"No, no, it was the storm. What are you doing up?"
"Umm, I couldn't sleep. Decided to explore the lower levels of the castle to work off some energy." He shrugged nonchalant. It may have convinced Harry a week ago, but he knew Danny better now.
"That's not the whole truth is it?"
"Wha- …Well…" Lightning flashed, briefly illuminating the darkened common room, and showing Danny's sudden flinch in stark relief.
Oh.
"The lighting." It wasn't a question.
Danny sighed resignedly, rubbing his neck and looking away, but not denying it.
"Then why did you come back up? The storm is still going strong."
Danny looked relieved at the change in subject, and quickly answered. "I found a whole bunch of stuff tonight! I met Myrtle and she showed me the bathroom she haunts and the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets you were telling me about. I went to check that out and immediately regretted it." Danny's face morphed into one of disgust, and he could only guess what he might have seen down there.
"The giant snake-thing is still down there and my gosh! You fought that thing?! When you were twelve! How even?!"
It was his turn to sheepishly rub his neck, a habit he was beginning to mimic. Danny thankfully continued after a moment.
"Then, I went to explore the other dungeons and stuff, didn't find much except for the Slytherin common room I think. When I began flying up to see if the storm had blown over, I found this giant room that looked like the Great hall but wasn't. There were all these elves in there and took them a while to calm down after seeing me, but when they did I met one who's named Dobby. He says he knows you, and he has something for you. He didn't want to disturb you here though, so I told him I'd come and see if you were awake."
"Dobby has something for me? What is it?" Harry sat up quickly.
"He wouldn't tell me. Said it was for him to deliver to 'his Harry Potter sir' himself." Danny adopted the high pitched mimic of Dobby's voice, with an amused look. Glad for the distraction and for the fact that Danny was coming back to himself as well, he smiled.
"Well, then let's go and say hello, shall we?" He said, getting up to go and fetch his invisibility cloak.
"Want to fly down?" Danny asked, holding out a hand.
He turned to the ghost with a look of surprise. Danny had told them how his powers were transferrable, but none of them had wanted to push him and so never asked for him to show them. A flash of lightning, and the subsequent flinch and rumble of thunder cemented his decision.
Grinning widely, he grabbed Danny's hand and felt gravity lift off of him like a cloak he hadn't realized he'd been wearing. He floated up beside Danny, flailing his arm a bit to try and regain balance.
Danny's tension eased as he chuckled. "Don't worry it takes some getting used to. Now, I'm going to turn us invisible okay? I'm told that it feels cold and tingly whenever I do that so, fair warning."
Harry was still trying to comprehend the feeling of complete weightlessness so only nodded his understanding. A heartbeat later, and he was soaring through the castle corridors.
He'd traveled the halls of Hogwarts at night before, but this was something entirely different.
He felt the cool rush of power as they passed through walls and floors, unseen and unheard by the portraits lining the walls.
He smiled and had to suppress the urge to whoop in excitement. No wonder Danny loved to fly like this!
It may not be the same as flying on his broom, but this was still exhilarating!
Soon, they made it into the kitchens. They were immediately bombarded by the sounds of surprised squeaks and yelps from the Hogwarts house elves who weren't expecting their sudden appearance.
He picked Dobby out immediately, running forwards with a mountain of knitted hats on his head and at least a dozen pairs of socks cushioning his feet. As Danny set them down, he could see tears of happiness in the elf's eyes as he sprinted towards them.
"Harry Potter sir! So wonderful to see you again!" Dobby rammed into his middle, giving him a tight hug.
"Dobby! It's good to see you too! How are things going? Is Winky here, too?"
At once Dobby's ears drooped, his eyes saddened, and he took a step away to sniffle.
"Ah, Harry Potter sir, Winky… Winky took the news of her masters deaths very hard. She… is no longer among us, sir."
"Oh."
That's right. Winky was there while Barty Crouch Jr. confessed to killing his father, and was there when the Minister came in with the dementors. She saw Crouch Jr. get kissed.
Shaking the horrible image out of his head, no matter that it was of Crouch Jr., and put a comforting hand on Dobby's small shoulder.
"I'm so sorry Dobby." There wasn't much else he could say, so he looked to Danny, still hovering close by. He may have learned for himself to accept death as a part of life, but… death was still tragic. He couldn't force that understanding on others. He'd support Dobby as much as he could, but Dobby needed to find that understanding for himself.
After a few moments Dobby came back to himself, and gave Harry a teary smile.
"Thank you, Harry Potter sir. I'm so glad that you are awake, and Danny-ghost sir was bringing you here!" Came the elf's squeaky, if still a bit shaky, voice.
"Danny-ghost?" He looked at Danny, who gave him a shrug.
"Yes! Yes! I have something for you, Harry Potter sir! I was told by the Professor to return her to you specially!"
"Her? Her who- Hedwig!"
Dobby had bustled back over with Hedwig perched on the tower of hats that swayed precariously on Dobby's head. She looked healthy, and she cooed at him happily as she flew to him and settled on his shoulder.
"Thank you so much Dobby! But why didn't you just come up and give her to me in the dorms? Danny said that you had to give her to me yourself?"
Shaking his head so hard that his ears flapped up and down and his hats threatened to topple off, Dobby quickly adopted a more serious tone.
"Harry Potter sir is to have a message."
"A message?"
"Yes sir. You are not to contact your Paddy anymore. Watched. Everywhere is being watched."
"Paddy? You mean Padfoot?" He asked, his heart sinking. He knew already, what with their close call Monday night, that communication with anyone outside Hogwarts would be difficult. But to not speak to Sirius at all?
"Yes, Harry Potter sir." Dobby confirmed sadly.
He sighed in frustration, feeling another stab of pain through his scar, just adding more fuel to his growing irritation.
He looked to Danny when he heard the sound of his friend's feet meeting the ground. An odd sound, seeing as how he was still in ghost form. But the look on Danny's face pushed that from his mind. Utter confusion had pulled Danny's face into a frown, but his eyes held the fringes of something else…
"What's-"
"But sir! If there is anything I can do to help you, please let Dobby know! Is there anything you need to help you feel better?!" Dobby's shrill cry distracted him from Danny's odd look. The elf looked distraught at giving him upsetting news, so Harry was quick to reassure him.
"Thanks Dobby but there's nothing right now that… wait…" He looked to Danny again, but his friend was hovering again, his confusion either resolved or hidden for the moment; he'll ask later.
He looked around quickly to make sure they were far enough away from any fire places before asking his next question.
"Dobby, you wouldn't happen to know of somewhere that thirty or so people could go and train in Defense Against the Dark Arts without getting caught, do you?"
Danny gasped in surprise, then looked to Dobby, grinning with excitement while waiting for the answer.
Dobby grinned toothily and bounced in excitement. "Oh! Yes! Dobby knows the perfect place sir! We elves call it the Come and Go Room, or the Room of Requirement!"
"Why is it called that?" Danny asked.
"It is what the room functions as, sir. The Room only appears to those who have need of it, and it will be equipped with anything the user needs at the time." Dobby answered seriously.
"How many people know about it?" It wouldn't be much of a hideout if everyone could find it.
"Very few, sir. Most just happen across it by mistake and never have need of it again."
"This sounds perfect Dobby! Where is the entrance and how does it work?"
And with that, Dobby was happily explaining where the entrance to this Room of Requirement was, and how to gain access to it. By the time he and Danny said their goodbyes, Hedwig had nipped his ear in farewell, and flew out of a nearby window into the still drizzling, but thankfully non-stormy night. Danny flew them back to the dorm, and they both headed to bed readily.
He barely spared a thought to the strange dream he'd awoken from earlier, as the promise of finally beginning their Defense training group right under Umbridge's nose carried him into unconsciousness.
.
.
.
By the time the morning came, the sky had decided it wasn't done with the rainstorm just yet. The grounds were swamped, the Black Lake swelled against it's banks and threatened to flood. It wasn't a lightning storm anymore (thank goodness), but the afternoon Care of Magical Creatures class was canceled regardless, as well as all evening quidditch practices.
Which allowed for the perfect opportunity to have their very first Defense meeting in their newly found hideout.
After getting the word out to everyone where to go for the first meeting, he, Ron, Hermione and Danny went to set the room up before everyone else arrived.
Hermione was skeptical at first, thinking of the times when Dobby had tried to help Harry before, but when they reached the seventh floor, and faced the wall across from the tapestry of the Barnabus the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet, Danny gasped dramatically.
"This! This is the wall that I smashed my face into! I couldn't phase through it while I was exploring during my first tour of this place!"
"It is?" Hermione sounded fascinated, while Danny continued to grumble about stupid magic walls trying to break his face, and Ron tried to hide his laughter.
Shaking his head in amusement, he remembered Dobby's instructions. They all began at one end of the stretch of blank wall, and thinking hard of what they needed, walked back and forth three times.
Harry, opening his eyes first, gasped in awe at the newly constructed and ornate looking door that had materialized before them.
He pushed the door open and was greeted with a wide open space, bookshelves lining the side wall, soft pillows stacked up in one corner, and shelves upon shelves of different tools and devices that they could use. He saw Sneekoscopes and Secrecy sensors, even the cracked Foe Glass that he was sure he saw in fake Moody's office last year. There were even some stand-up targets, and mannequins with bulls-eye marks on their chests.
"Wow." Danny breathed, as he moved gingerly over the threshold. After ensuring that he wouldn't be blocked from entering, he went to admire the Dark Detectors, Hermione made a beeline for the bookshelves, marveling at the variety. Ron followed Danny to admire the Foe Glass and the shadowy figures that had appeared beneath its surface.
Soon enough, others from their meeting in the Hog's Head began to arrive, taking seats on the pillows and admiring the strange room. They had loads of questions, but Ron suggested it may be better to just wait for everyone to arrive before explaining everything. He agreed with a grateful look, and took out the Maurader's map to check that no teachers, specifically Umbridge, were anywhere near them.
It was then that he found that not only was Umbridge in her office on the other side of the castle, but he couldn't find his own name or any of the others in the Room on the map, either. It looked like the Room was unplottable, just like Grimmauld Place! He owed Dobby every mismatched sock pair under the sun for giving them the absolute perfect place to train.
When the last of their group made their way into the Room, the doors shut and locked, and their first official meeting began.
"Er, hello again everyone." He spoke up while standing in front the quiet crowd. "I'm glad you were all able to find this place."
"Speaking of this place," Fred broke in with an impressed tone, "where are we? What is this room exactly?"
"It's brilliant is what it is!" Cho said in awe, her friend, who he now knew was called Marietta, rolled her eyes in irritation.
"This is the Room of Requirement. My friend Dobby told me about it. This way, we'll have a perfect place to train in, with Umbridge none the wiser to what we're doing." He answered Fred.
"And what are we doing today?" Zacharias spoke up with a sneer. "If we're just going to sit and chat then I'll be leaving early."
"Well you can just-!"
"I thought we could begin our first meeting by deciding who our leader is." Hermione broke in before Ron could get worked up into a rage.
"Why would we do that? Harry's the leader." Chloe spoke with such assurance that he felt a rush of pride and appreciation that she was so accepting of him being the leader. There were murmurs of agreement throughout the room at the Slytherins claim.
"But this way we can all decide as a group and make it more official." Hermione said matter of fact. "All in favor of Harry leading this group?"
Every single hand was raised into the air, and he felt his face heat up in embarrassment and he rubbed the back of his neck just to do something with his hands.
"Excellent. Motion passed." Hermione said brightly.
"Hold on a second. I, for one, would like to have something to call his group besides 'this group' you know? What are we going to name ourselves?" Danny asked, opening up a quick discussion that devolved into a debate amongst the members.
"What about the We Hate Umbridge Squad?"
"The Ministry is an Idiot Alliance?"
"How about something that won't tip Umbridge off to what we're up to?"
"So, more practical. Maybe the Defense Association?"
"That's not bad, but what about Dumbledore's Army? It's what the Ministry is most afraid of, isn't it?"
"I'm pretty sure that would still tell Umbridge that what we're doing is illegal in her eyes."
"Not if we call it the DA for short."
At Ginny's suggestion the room quieted and then agreement rang out amongst the group. Dumbledore's Army; the DA was born.
"Alright, now that that's all settled, lets get started." He strengthened his voice and brought everyone's attention back onto himself. "Since it's the first day we'll be starting with something simple and effective. Expelliarmus."
"The disarming charm?" Zacharias scoffed. "Like that baby spell could help us against someone like You-Know-Who."
"I've used it against him." He said quietly, pinning the Hufflepuff with a steady gaze. "It saved my life in June. You never know what spell will help you in a dangerous situation; but, if you think the basics are beneath you, then clear off."
Silence greeted his declaration. No one moved, and Zach was open mouthed and red in the face at being shut down once again. He wasn't very good at learning from his mistakes in the Hog's Head it seemed.
"Right then. Pair up and take turns disarming each other." It felt extremely strange to be giving orders, but it was even more bizarre to see them actually carried out. Everyone paired up and moved into the large space. Soon, shouts of Expelliarmus! filled the Room and red jets of light scattered throughout, many missing their targets and impacting the walls or bookshelves, sending books flying.
He walked amongst his peers, giving advice and tips to those who needed it or asked for it. Soon enough he'd made two whole circuits around the Room, and decided to stand aside and watch from afar for a little while.
Danny stood beside him to watch the controlled chaos.
"You know, I don't know much about magic or casting spells, but… even I can tell that the basics was a good place to start."
Harry agreed wholeheartedly. Many weren't even able to properly disarm their opponent, but simply blasted them back a few steps, wand still in hand. That was saying nothing of the general disregard for aiming.
"How does magic even work?" Danny's quiet question caught him off guard a moment, as it was asked in a way that made him think that Danny hadn't meant to ask it out loud.
"What?"
"Ah, well, it's just that it looks like there may be some who are having issues with powering the spell or charm or whatever this is. You said it was a disarming charm? So I assume it's supposed to take your opponents wand away from them, right?"
"Yep." He nodded towards the nearby pair consisting of Tracy and Daphne, Daphne having just disarmed Tracy. The Slytherin's wand flew out of her hand, but not close enough to Daphne to catch. Tracy retrieved it easily.
"So, the times where the opponent isn't disarmed even when they're hit with the spell means the spell wasn't powerful enough to do the job. I just wondered how you guys power your magic? Is it a mental thing, or do you actually feel that power physically, and control the output?"
"You know… I've never really thought about it before." He answered slowly. "I suppose… It's more of a mental control. A lot of magic deals with focus and knowing how the magic works to be able to perform it in the way you want." He explained slowly.
"Hmm." Danny looked thoughtful as he expertly dodged a stray spell without even looking.
Harry was about to ask what was on his mind, when a look of sudden realization came onto his friends face.
"Hey Harry, I think I might have an idea, but first I have a question for you."
"A question?"
"Yeah. Say you're in a battle, or duel or whatever you call it, with another wizard and they use this spell," He gestured out to the still practicing pairs, "to disarm you. What would you do then?"
Harry made to answer, but then had to stop and think.
"I… wouldn't be able to do anything. I'd have to run away and hope I could dodge anything else my opponent threw at me."
"But what if you were in a situation where running away wasn't an option?" Danny asked seriously.
Harry could only stare. He'd been in countless dangerous situations, many of which he wasn't able to run away from, and in all the times he'd lost or didn't have access to his wand, he'd floundered and had only saved his skin by getting his wand back with help from those around him. Fawkes and the sorting hat had saved him in the Chamber of Secrets, Professor Lupin had just given his wand back in the Shrieking Shack, Winky had held onto his wand after he'd lost it during the Quidditch World Cup, Voldemort had given his wand back to him so that he could put on a show of killing him in front of his followers... What would he have done if he hadn't had help? What if he hadn't been able to get his wand back when...
"Alright, I can see I've dropped you into 'what if' scenarios from your past. Sorry, that wasn't what I was trying to do." Danny pulled him out of his spiraling thoughts with an apologetic look.
"Then what are you trying to do?"
"Harry, my powers and your magic may be different in a lot of ways, but I think that focus is the key point in learning how to control both. What helped me to learn to focus, and get better at using and controlling my powers may be just the thing to help you guys."
"What do you mean?"
"What would you say to learning how to fight without using magic?"
"How can we fight without magic?" Both he and Danny startled at the new voice, and they turned to see that the rest of the Room had gotten quiet to listen in on the conversation without them noticing.
"And how would learning to fight without magic help us to better defend ourselves with magic?" Susan Bones asked in confusion, many of the others nodding along with her question.
"Well," Danny began, "when I first became half-ghost I had a lot of trouble focusing and using my abilities. I had no idea what I was doing and no one to teach me, so I made a bunch of mistakes." Danny paused here to shake his head sadly.
"Eventually though, I started to learn some martial arts and close quarters combat techniques from my Mom. At first it was just a way to help me learn how to fight off the other ghosts without tiring myself out so quickly, but soon I realized that focus is a huge part of learning how to fight in close quarters. I was able to translate that same focus I used while fighting into focusing my powers as well. Of course, it still took a lot of practice and trial and error on my part, but I think it may be just what you guys need if you want to try it out. Plus, it's another weapon in your arsenal, especially if I'm guessing correctly that it's not common for witches and wizards to know how to fight without their wands, and magic is generally used as a long distance weapon."
Harry was stunned. The entire Room was stunned. Danny finished his explanation and looked around the Room a moment before the silence seemed to get to him; heat rose to his cheeks and he hunched his shoulders in some form of retreat.
"Danny," Ron began, "that sounds like a brilliant idea!"
Danny perked up a bit at that.
"Really?"
"Of course!" Hermione began excitedly. "Learning how to defend ourselves with and without magic would be incredibly useful! Not only that, if you're right, and we can use this as way to teach ourselves how to focus properly, not just our defensive magic will benefit, but all of our magic will!"
"Ah yes! Let's go Danny!-"
"And Harry! Turn us into lean-"
"Mean-"
"Magic machines!"
Fred and George high-fived and the Room erupted into excited chatter at the prospect of Danny teaching them all how to fight without magic.
"You're sure you're alright with this, Harry?" Danny's quiet question caught him off guard once again. "I don't want to, like, take over the training or anything. I still know nothing about magic."
"Oh, don't worry Danny, I think this is a fantastic idea. I hope you don't mind teaching me as well?"
Danny looked relieved at that and smiled at him.
"Right then." He looked back out over the chattering crowd, wishing he had a way to grab their attention without yelling. No sooner had the thought entered his mind, a silver whistle appeared on a little table nearby. Huh. Convenient.
The shrill whistle abruptly quieted the DA, and allowed for him to speak once again.
"Alright. Now that Danny's going to be teaching us too, we're going to change it up a bit. Why don't we split the Room into two; half will go with Danny to start training with him, while the other half will be with me over by the targets so we can practice our aim. We'll switch groups in half an hour."
The group split up obediently; the targets were arranged and they began taking turns aiming and firing the Disarming charm. Danny's group put their wands away and awaited their instructions.
"All right then," Harry heard Danny begin on the other side of the Room, "Lesson one: how to throw a punch without breaking your hand."
He grinned. Oh, what a fantastic way to prove Umbridge right.
.
.
.
By the time the evening had crept up on them, Harry had his groups competing for whoever could hit their target the most times in succession, while Danny's groups were in pairs, going through a very slow and deliberate sparring drill.
By the time they needed to start making their way back to their dorms for the night, the entire DA was alight with excitement and anticipation for the next meeting. They decided that they would have another meeting the next week when everyone was free, but sooner if they could manage it.
Harry used the Maurader's map once again to allow pairs or trios of students out of the Room with enough time between each that made it seem like they hadn't come from the same place. He noticed a bit of an event taking place with Cho and her friend, Marietta, as Marietta was insistent that they leave quickly while Cho tried to dawdle. Eventually, they made it out the door too, and he was left in the Room with Hermione, Danny and Ron.
"That was… it was…" Hermione struggled to find the words.
"Brilliant is what it was. Bloody brilliant! One of the best classes I've ever been in. And it was only our first one! I can't wait to see what you two will be teaching us in a few months!"
"Yes! Oh, and Danny! What a stroke of brilliance to suggest martial arts! I'd never considered not using magic as a a way to strengthen our magic. It's such a contradiction, but I really think it will work! And Harry! Splitting us up and then switching us out, not to mention focusing on a simple and effective spell that would allow you to gauge exactly where everyone is in terms of skill level, and then basing your teaching off of that! Brilliant!" Hermione was gushing, excitement lighting up her eyes, Ron nodding along appreciatively.
He looked over to see that Danny looked as bashful and quietly proud as he felt.
"Well, I'm just glad that the first meeting went so well. But you know, I would've thought at least one person would know how to throw a proper punch. Although, all you quidditch types took to the sparring drill really quickly." Danny added.
He and Ron grinned proudly.
"But everyone learned loads from you Danny, you are an excellent teacher as well." Hermione nodded approvingly, but suddenly looked a bit worried. "But are you sure you're alright with teaching us? It happened to quickly after you made the mere suggestion. Do you even want to teach us?"
"Of course! There's a chance that you learning this stuff will help to protect you and strengthen your magic. Not to mention, teaching this stuff to you helps me to keep in good fighting form. I'm gonna need to be ready for anything if I'm helping you take on wizard nazis and corrupt governments." Danny assured her with a grin.
After watching the ornate door meld back into the stone wall as if it were never there, they trekked back to the common room in companionable silence.
"Speaking of quidditch," Ron spoke up as they were rounding the corner to the Fat Lady's portrait. "You think the rain will clear up enough for us to play the match this weekend?"
"Ineamus" He spoke the password to the Fat Lady before answering Ron, "Let's hope so." He said, looking dubiously at the rain drenched grounds past the window as they entered the common room. He didn't need another quidditch match like the one he'd had in third year.
"Oh! I can't wait to see you guys play! This is probably the first time I've actually wanted and been excited to go to a sports game!"
"Sports game?" Ron asked confused. But Harry just shrugged and watched as Hermione talked Danny through where they would go to get the best seats and where they should meet up with the them after the game.
Finally, they said their goodnight's and made their way to bed. Harry went to sleep happier than he'd been in a long time.
And for the first night in ages, he slept peacefully; with dreams void of empty corridors, mysterious doors, and chilling green eyes.
Hello everyone!
Thank you all for your patience, I'm trying to find a way to write regularly but it's a work in progress, so bear with me.
Before I say anything else though, I just have to say that I was blown away by the response to the last chapter!
It turns out I'm not the only one who needed the cathartic release of having Danny obliterating Umbridge with nothing more than cool wit and cunning words.
Really, thank you all so much for your comments, questions and feedback. I appreciate all of you so much!
Also! I have a tumblr (silk-nettle) that I'll try to keep updated on when I think I'll be able to post the next chapter. I'm also more than happy to answer any questions and stuff, so feel free to check it out if you want!
Otherwise, I'm still getting settled, but hopefully it won't take me as long to the get the next chapter to you! Again, thank you all so much for reading and enjoying my story!
Love you guys!