Disclaimer: I own none of the things you already know of.
Disclaimer: Last Chapter, for those who skipped it, Fleur showed Harry her true Veela form and marked him as her own. He now has a wing shaped mark on his right collarbone, a sign to other Veela of their connection.
Harry Potter and the Smallest Change.
Chapter 44. Fifth Year, Part 3. 1995.
On Tuesday night, Harry stood in the middle of an abandoned classroom on the eighth floor that he'd warded using a handful of wards Fleur had taught him over their extended weekend in the Room of Requirement around their, other, activities.
With him in the abandoned classroom stood Holly, Susan, Hannah, Daphne, and Luna.
Hannah looked around the classroom with a frown.
'Are we waiting for Hermione and Ginny?' she asked, and Harry nodded.
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but the door opened to reveal not only Hermione and Ginny, but behind them came two disgruntled boys, Neville, and Ronald.
'Did you have to bring the two of them?' Daphne huffed, and Hermione gave her a helpless shrug.
'They wanted to know where we were going, especially with Umbridge on the warpath.' Hermione said and Daphne's lip curled.
'You could have told them they aren't welcome.' Daphne snapped.
Ginny stepped in front of Hermione.
'Listen here-' she started.
Harry snapped his fingers and used his wandless magic to amplify the sound.
A simple trick, but effective.
'Stop it.' He said, his voice strong and clear, which drew all eyes to him.
'We don't have time to fight amongst ourselves.' Harry paused, meeting each of their gazes.
He settled on Neville.
'We know Voldemort has returned and, for some reason, is lying low. While this is worrying, it gives us a little more time to prepare.' Harry said and turned toward the stone wall on the far side of the abandoned classroom.
'We are here to learn how to defend ourselves and each other. Some of us wanted to open this group to everyone, but for now, it will be just us.' Harry said and met Hermione's gaze.
She looked like she wanted to speak, but held her tongue.
Harry flicked his wand and conjured nine simple wooden targets, white with a red dot in the centre. With another few flicks, he levitated each one to the wall and stuck it there with a wandless Sticking Charm.
The others stared at him.
'This group, the DA, or Defence Association, will run twice a week on Monday and Thursday nights.' He paused and fired a weak stinging hex at Ronald, who was trying to look down Hannah's open robes.
'Do try to pay attention Ronald.' Harry sighed and quirked an eyebrow.
Ron's face turned red as the others in the group turned to look at him.
Hannah stepped away from the redhead and crossed her arms over her chest.
Harry cleared his throat, and the group turned back to him.
'We will start with the basics and move up from there. I suggest you all join me on my morning runs around the Black Lake.' He said and Ronald frowned.
'Running? Why would we do that for?' the redhead asked, and Daphne glared at the boy.
Harry looked around the group.
'Does anybody else want to answer that question?' he asked, and Holly rolled her eyes.
'Because running will make us more fit, so that we can fight for longer without getting tired.' Susan said, drawing Ronald's frown.
'But we can just use better spells and win a fight, can't we?' he asked.
Neville sighed and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.
'Ron, mate, we'll talk about this later. Just agree and we can get started on the spells.' Neville whispered, and Ron shrugged.
'Sure, okay.' Ronald said, then turned to Harry.
'When will you teach us the cool spells?' he asked, and Harry's eyebrows rose.
'When you can handle them, and when we've gone through the basics.' Harry said and Ronald frowned again.
Harry turned around and pointed his wand at the target on the wall.
'Stupify.' He called and a Stunner shot out of his wand and hit the red dot in the centre.
He turned back to the group.
'First things first, the Stunning Spell. We are going to cast it until we can hit the red dot in the centre of the target, say, five times in a row.' Harry said, and his friends nodded.
Holly walked to stand in front of the target Harry had shot and Susan took the one to her left while Luna took the one to Holly's right.
Ronald looked at Neville, then Harry.
'Stunners? What about the cool stuff? This is a waste of time.' Ronald growled and Harry sighed.
'If it's a waste of your time, feel free to leave. I'm not forcing you to stay. I called this part the basics, not the end goal.' Harry said.
Ronald looked at Neville, who sighed and walked over to stand in front of a target, beside Hermione.
Harry turned back to Ron.
'So, what are you going to do?' Harry asked, and Ronald's face turned red before he stomped over to stand next to Neville.
'STUPIFY' Ronald roared.
His Stunner shot out of his wand and missed his target entirely. It splashed harmlessly against the stone wall.
Harry quirked an eyebrow and Ronald lowered his beet-red face.
Harry turned to see how the others were doing.
He watched as Holly and Susan consistently hit their targets, but only got the red dot every third time.
Daphne and Hannah hit the red dot every fourth time, while Ginny hit her red dot every second time. Hermione hit her red dot every third time, while Neville hit his target every second time.
Luna and Ronald seemed to struggle to hit their targets at all.
Harry watched for another few minutes until most of them started to hit their dots each time, or in Luna and Ronald's cases, every second, or third time.
'Good work. You have the basics under control. Now, take three decent steps back and do it again. Then we'll try something else.' He said, and the group did so.
Again, after a few minutes, most started to hit the red dot with regularity.
'Excellent, now, I want you all to show me your best Protego shield.' Harry said.
Each member of the group cast the shield spell, though Ron's and Hannah's flickered as they held them. Harry blinked as he saw Luna's shield glow strong and bright. She gave him a wide smile, which he returned before moving on.
Holly and Susan had the strongest shields he could see, but he wasn't surprised. The three of them had been trained the summer before last by Aurors and other skilled fighters.
Neville had the next strongest shield, which Harry peered at for a moment before he narrowed his eyes.
'Neville, cast it again, but this time hold your wand in the middle.' Harry said, and Neville huffed.
Neville cast the shield again, but this time it shone brighter than both Susan and Holly's shields.
'Good work, that's much better.' Harry said and moved past the Boy-Who-Lived, who stared at his wand.
Hermione and Daphne seemed to compete over their shields, judging by the glares they sent to each other.
Harry shook his head and moved in front of the group.
'Okay, good work to all of you. Now we'll try something that some of you might remember from a few years ago.' Harry grinned.
'We're going to partner up, and using only these two spells, try to incapacitate your partner. But before we do that, I'm going to make sure you know the Ennervate spell. Who knows it?' Harry asked.
Holly, Susan, Daphne, and Hermione raised their hands.
Harry smiled.
'Good, now us five will teach the others who to use it.'
It took about five minutes before the five were confident everyone knew the spell.
Harry clapped.
'Okay, pairs for this are: Daphne and Hermione. Hannah and Ronald. Susan and Holly. Ginny and Luna. Neville and myself.' He said, and he didn't notice the determined looks on both Hermione and Daphne's faces.
Harry moved opposite Neville.
'Now remember, only the Stunner and shields. I don't want another Lockhart-style issue here.' Harry called and earned a few chuckles.
'Go.' He called, and the room filled with Stunners.
Neville fired a Stunner at Harry, who moved aside, avoiding the spell.
Neville glared and fired two more Stunners, Harry avoided one and shielded the other. Then fired a Stunner back, which Neville shielded, but his shield flickered.
Neville's lip curled, and he fired Stunners one after another, which Harry sidestepped or shielded.
Harry fired three Stunners, back-to-back, which Neville shielded.
The first stunner made the shield flicker, the second broke the shield, and the third knocked Neville unconscious.
Harry looked around and saw both Holly and Susan dodging each other's Stunners, with barely a shield being used.
Daphne and Hermione seemed to take turns throwing spells and shielding, resulting in a stalemate.
Ginny knelt beside Luna to revive her, and Hannah did the same with Ronald.
Harry revived Neville and clapped his hands.
'Okay, stop everyone.' He called, and each group stopped.
Holly and Susan looked like they were having fun while Daphne and Hermione glared at each other.
Harry winked at Holly and Susan.
'Okay everyone, before we finish up for the night. We're going to try something else.' He said, and watched as Ronald and Luna stood, helped up by their partners.
'Holly, Susan, Hermione, and Daphne. Can you come here while everyone else stand over there against the wall please?' he asked, and Neville glared at him as he walked past to stand beside Ronald.
Harry turned to the four girls in front of him. He smiled and turned to the others, who stood by the wall.
'Okay, this will be a two-on-two duel. Same rules as before, only Stunners, Ennervate's and shields. Hermione and Susan against Daphne and Holly.' He said and watched as the girls turned to their partners and held whispered conversations.
'Get ready, girls. Everyone else, pay attention.' Harry said.
'Go.' He called and a moment later, Holly and Daphne fired at Hermione.
Three Stunners hit her hastily cast shield, the first two broke the shield, and the third stunned her.
Susan's eyes widened, and she struggled to both shield and dodge the Stunners sent from Daphne and Holly.
She no longer looked like she was having fun.
Susan cast an Ennervate on Hermione in between shields, then she leapt away from Hermione's side, drawing her opponent's attention.
Daphne shielded a Stunner from Susan, but she fell a moment later from a Stunner sent by Hermione, who stood on shaky legs.
Harry smirked at Holly, who stepped back, away from her two opponents. She Ennervated Daphne, but Susan stunned her again a moment later.
Holly shielded and dodged Hermione's Stunners, and Harry's grin faltered as Holly turned to face the bushy haired girl full on. Susan moved behind Holly and stunned her from behind.
Harry clapped and sent silent Ennervate's toward Daphne and Holly.
'Great work. The four of you showed a wonderful example of teamwork.' Harry said as Holly and Daphne stood on shaky feet.
'Did any of our audience notice anything they could have done differently?' Harry asked.
'Holly should have kept both of her opponents in front of her, instead of turning to face one and leaving the other out of her sight.' Luna said.
Holly blushed and looked down at the floor.
Harry nodded.
'Agreed. She could have done that. But can anyone tell us why that might not have worked?' Harry asked.
'She had two opponents, and Susan was moving to flank her. She was at a disadvantage regardless of what she did.' Neville said and Harry nodded.
'Anything else?' Harry asked, and Neville frowned.
'If they could use different spells, she could have evened out the battle with distractions or a smokescreen or something?' Neville more asked than answered.
Harry nodded.
'Very true. Now, who noticed what Susan did first?' Harry asked, and Ginny grinned.
'Susan Ennervated Hermione while distracting her opponents, which gave Hermione a chance to get back in the fight.' Ginny said, and Harry smiled.
'Exactly. Now why didn't that work for Holly?' Harry asked.
'Because Susan was ready for that and didn't give her a chance to revive Daphne.' Luna said.
Harry clapped.
'Brilliant work, everyone. Now, I can see that some of you are a little short on breath right now, that's fine. But I'm inviting you to join me on my morning runs from now on. Six in the morning, we'll meet outside the castle doors. We'll start off easy and work up from there.' Harry said, grinning at the looks of dismay on most of their faces.
'Our next training session is on Thursday night. Same time, same place. Great work tonight everyone. I'll see you tomorrow morning, bright and early.' He said and laughed as most of the group grumbled on their way out of the room.
All except Holly and Susan, who had been exercising with him for years.
Harry called Fleur once he climbed into bed that night.
''Arry. I'm so glad to see your face.' She beamed at him, and he couldn't help the smile on his face.
'Me too. How was your day?' he asked, and she smirked.
'I was called into my supervisor's office today. William, the one who kept trying to convince me to go on a date with him, was sent back to Egypt today after my complaint. The Goblins have no patience for that sort of thing.' Her smirked widened.
'He seemed a decent enough man, despite our first impression of him in the pensieve. But no means no.' she laughed, and Harry rolled his eyes.
'Remind me not to get on your bad side.' He said and her eyes twinkled.
'Oh, you would like my bad side my love.' She whispered, and Harry felt his heart skip a beat.