Chapter 6: Making a Stand
Hermione looked around the room, smiling a little as a small feeling of pride welled up inside her. The DG, as they now called themselves, had grown drastically over the past few months. Now, more than thirty students came to each meeting, with members from all years and every house except for Slytherin.
The students were gathered in pairs, practicing a broad-area banishing spell that Hannah had just taught them. Beside her, Neville and Dean were trading off, one casting the banisher while the other shielded, an intense, almost angry expression on both their faces. A little further away, Colin Creevey, the Gryffindor boy in the year just below her that was so obsessed with Harry, was trying to cast the spell at a familiar-looking blonde Ravenclaw his age, though his wand movements were so sloppy that she doubted he would be successful. Lavendar and Parvati had both joined the group as well, though Hermione and Lavendar were still barely speaking to each other.
Hermione turned her attention back to the task at hand. Several paces away, Susan was watching her, wand at the ready. Trying to provide as little warning as possible, Hermione brought her wand up into the 'sweep and jab' motion that Hannah had demonstrated earlier. The soft blue light of the banisher sped toward the red-haired girl in front of her, who was already beginning to cast a shield charm. Susan completed her spell just in time, and Hermione's banisher dissipated against her friend's magical protection.
"Good one," the Hufflepuff commented.
Hermione raised an eyebrow, but made no response, watching carefully for when her partner retaliated. She didn't have long to wait. As Susan began to cast, Hermione concentrated on the effect she wanted, and pushed her wand forward, just as she had practiced. To her relief, the shield charm sprang into being around her. It wasn't nearly as solid as when she used a verbal incantation and used the associated wand movements, but it was still a decent shield nonetheless.
"Wow, silent point casting? You've been practicing," the buxom red-head said with a small pout.
"I'm just glad I got it up in time. I'm still only successful about 30% of the time," Hermione admitted.
"That's still more than…" Susan cut off with a small yelp as she dodged out of the way of Hermione's disorientation hex, a useful spell that Ernie had presented to the group last week.
"Trying to curse me while I'm giving you a complement?" Susan cried in mock indignation. "Gryffindors!"
Half an hour later, Hermione called an end to the practicing so that the students would have enough time to return to their dormitories before curfew.
"Everyone did very well tonight. Keep practicing, and we'll see you all on Friday," she said.
She had planned on staying for a few minutes to help Hannah tidy up the room, but a loud argument in the hallway just outside the room drew her attention. She pushed her way through the crowd to see a young Ravenclaw girl in glaring in tears at Colin's younger brother Dennis.
"It's not like it's going to matter," the girl bit out. "Potter ran away. There's nothing the rest of us can really do."
Taking a closer look at the Ravenclaw, Hermione suddenly realized why the girl, Orla Quirke, was so emotional. Her aunt had been the latest in a string of 'disappearances' for which the Ministry had no explanation. Everyone suspected that these people were dead, but there was no proof.
"We just need to keep practicing so that when Harry comes back, we're ready to help him," Dennis countered.
It pained Hermione to see that very few people in the group shared the young Gryffindor's optimism. To be honest, even Hermione was little skeptical that she would ever see her raven-haired friend again.
"This isn't about Harry," she interjected, drawing all eyes to her. "I don't know for sure what Harry will do in the future, but we all need to learn to defend ourselves. If you're attacked, if you have the necessary skills, you might be able to escape. That's the important thing here. We'll leave the fighting to the Aurors," she concluded firmly, making sure that both of the Creeveys got the message. At times, they were a little too Gryffindorish, frequently bemoaning the fact that they couldn't just rush out and confront the Death Eaters right now.
"Now everyone needs to get back to their common rooms. And go quickly. I don't want to hear about anyone being caught out after curfew," Susan said in a no-nonsense tone as she exited the room.
The crowd dispersed, and Hermione and Susan shared a look as they checked to ensure that Hannah didn't need any more assistance.
"Do you think Potter will come back?" Susan asked in a soft voice.
Hermione gazed levelly at her friend, unable to keep the lingering anger out of her voice as she replied, "I don't know. After how he was treated last year, and in second year, and even in first year, I'm not sure how much he wants to come back." Her glare softened, and she looked down sadly. "Though I will admit that part of that is also due to some poor decisions on the part of myself and Ron over the summer."
Susan looked a little surprised but didn't press the issue as Hannah swept out of the room, and the three girls went their separate ways.
The worst of winter had passed, and spring was drawing near when their luck finally ran out.
The door flew open, and several people shrieked in surprise.
"Caught in the act!" Umbridge yelled as she walked (or rather, waddled) into the room, accompanied by several members of her hand-picked goon squad.
The others backed away from the woman, forcing Hermione to push through the mass of startled students to the front. Though she was slightly concerned at the malicious grins on the faces of the Inquisitorial Squad, and the fact that they already had their wands in hand, she forced an innocent expression on her face.
"I'm sorry, Professor, but I'm not sure what you're referring to. What act have we been caught in?" Hermione inquired.
"Practicing skills which the Ministry has deemed unacceptable," the toad-like professor shrieked. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"
"When were these skills deemed unacceptable?" Susan asked innocently. "We are practicing basic skills for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Surely you, as the professor of such an important subject, would approve of us preparing for our tests."
"You're not preparing for your tests, you're preparing to fight against the Ministry. Nothing here follows what I have been teaching you in accordance with the official Ministry guidelines!"
"As I understand it, Hogwarts has always urged the students to excel. We are encouraged to go above and beyond the minimum requirements for class," Hermione pointed out. "Thus, we haven't broken any laws or school rules."
"We'll see about that," Umbridge vowed in as threating a voice as she could (which, Hermione thought, really wasn't all that frightening) before storming out of the room.
It didn't take long for the rumor mill to figure out what had happened. Two of the members had been careless while discussing the group in the library, oblivious to the fact that Pansy Parkinson had been listening to every word from one aisle over.
While the group was not punished, Umbridge did manage to force through a decree banning all unapproved organizations, societies, teams, groups and clubs (defined as a regular meeting of three or more students). Fred's suggestion that they bypass the decree by changing the group's name to the Defense Association and requiring all members to behave very oddly (such as hanging tinsel from their noses) to make the meetings as irregular as possible was ignored. Of course, that didn't stop him and George from skipping class the next day on the grounds that Educational Decree Number Twenty-four had disbanded all classes as well, and they had not been informed that the High Inquisitor had granted permission for said classes to be re-formed. To the surprise of absolutely no one in the Great Hall, the professors ignored the twins' claims that they were just trying to follow the rules.
In the end, though, the members of the Defense Group decided it was best to lay low for the time being. It was clear to everyone monitoring the political situation that Fudge was in desperate straits. More and more unexplained attacks were being reported, and even the Daily Prophet, which had previously supported the Ministry in their persecution of Harry, was now beginning to ask uncomfortable questions, questions for which Fudge and his lackeys had no good answer.
With less than a month to go before OWL's, Hermione was actually somewhat grateful for the extra time to prepare. That all changed one morning when the Daily Prophet appeared, announcing the most devastating Death Eater raid yet. With fourteen people dead, six of them children below Hogwarts age, the attack was a true tragedy, and yet, Minister Fudge continued to bury his head in the sand, refusing to even consider the possibility that Voldemort had returned.
As she looked up at the paper, Hermione turned her eyes to the Hufflepuff table, where Susan was staring at her intently. Both girls nodded, not needing words to confirm what the other was thinking. In this dangerous environment, learning to defend themselves was more important than bowing to the whims of a tyrannical educator.
They would just have to find a way to ensure that the toad-like teacher didn't discover what they were doing.
"Fake galleons?" Hannah asked, her voice filled with horror. "Do you have any idea what the goblins would do if they caught wind of that?"
Hermione paused. "That's a good point," she admitted, and it was. Counterfeiting was illegal in the muggle world as well, and at least the muggles didn't have to worry about accidentally triggering another one of those goblin rebellions that Binns loved to drone on about.
"What about just putting it on a bracelet or a ring?" Susan suggested. "And how would we use these protean charms anyway?"
"My original thought was to use it to send a message of when and where the next meeting would be, but I came up with a different idea while I was thinking about it last night. If we create, say, half a dozen of these and give them to people who are standing around in the hallways, they can give us a warning to disperse if Umbridge or her goons get close. As long as they don't catch us in the act, they can't prove that we did anything wrong," Hermione explained.
"They could check to see what spells we've been casting," Hannah argued.
"It's not the spells that are against the rules, we're fine to practice those by ourselves or in pairs. It's meeting as a group that has been banned," Susan countered. "I think that having guards should work well enough. It's better than anything I've been able to come up with."
To Hermione's great relief, the first meeting of the re-formed Defense Group was a great success. With the attacks outside of Hogwarts intensifying, everyone was determined to learn the skills that may one day save themselves and their loved ones. The classroom they had chosen was in a deserted part of the castle on the fifth floor, accessible through only three corridors. The Weasley twins had pledged that one of them would always be on guard duty (since they were almost always joined at the hip, whichever had been keeping watch could just learn from the other on their own time) while Hermione set up a rotation to cover the other two positions. Today, Neville was guarding the west passage, while Luna Lovegood, the eccentric fourth year Ravenclaw, guarded the east.
To ensure that nobody noticed the same people always disappearing at the same time, they'd decided to arrange a system of smaller groups meeting at varying times, with people switching which group they met with each week. Different times, different people… it made coordination a nightmare, but if it kept Umbridge from learning of their defiance, it was all worth it.
As the students slowly trickled out of the room, careful to spread out their departures so as not to form an obvious group, Hermione couldn't suppress a grim smile that spread across her face. While her parents had taught her to be respectful of authority, and she had always had a natural inclination to respect her teachers, she couldn't deny that this sort of defiance felt good. She truly, completely and utterly loathed Dolores Umbridge, and finding a way to strike back was incredibly cathartic, even though the foul excuse for a professor would hopefully never know about it.
The approaching tests brought another source of stress for the bushy-haired girl. A black market of goods that would supposedly help promote understanding and retention had sprung up, requiring even more time from the prefects to ensure that the students were not being swindled. And wasting their money on useless "potions" was not the only risk. Some of the supposed memory aids were actually quite dangerous, something that Justin Finch-Fletchley discovered firsthand when he had to spend the night in the infirmary after taking some of the powdered dragon claw Harold Dingle was selling. Though, to be fair, he hadn't been all that sick until Madam Pomfrey had informed him that what he had eaten was actually dried doxy droppings, at which point he vomited all over the floor.
So much was riding on the outcome of these tests, and yet, Hermione had difficultly caring. While normally she prided herself on her scholastic performance, now, she was largely apathetic. Oh, she still strove to do her best, but in her quiet moments late at night, she wondered if she even wanted to remain a part of the wizarding world. Her parents had strongly encouraged her to keep up on her non-magical studies as well, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get the necessary credentials to get into a decent university if she chose to return to the society she had grown up in. Before, she would never have imagined such a thing, but with how dangerous things were becoming with Voldemort's return, that might be best.
No, that was a lie. The danger from Voldemort was only an excuse. The truth was, if Harry were still here, she would be standing by his side come hell or high water. But with him gone…
Hermione pushed that thought away, turning her focus back to the charms assignment Flitwick had given them earlier that day.
Hermione looked around the room, watching to ensure that there were no problems as the defense group practiced the sound dampening spell Neville had just taught them. With a much larger area of effect than a standard silencio, this spell could be very useful for hiding or sneaking away without being heard. Unfortunately, it still required care not to make any loud noises, as the sound was merely dampened, not eliminated completely. But still, it was better than nothing.
She had just glanced at her watch, wondering if it was about time to dismiss the group when George burst into the room, his face a mask of determination and resolve.
"Umbridge is right outside," he announced as he spun around and cast a spell at the door.
Silence filled the room as everyone stared in horror. They could hear the professor's shouts of anger as she tried ineffectually to enter the room.
"How did she find out?" Neville asked. Hermione was wondering as well, but wasn't really sure this was the time.
"I think Edgecombe told her. She certainly didn't warn anybody when the toad walked right past her," George snarled.
"So, what do we do?" a small Hufflepuff asked in a scared voice.
"Relax, George and I have this under control," Fred responded as he walked over to a box in one corner, one that Hermione had never really noticed before.
"We figured that Umbridge might figure it out eventually, so we decided to prepare some surprises," George explained as he joined his twin.
Hermione and Neville shared a glance. So much for us being in charge here, the girl thought.
"So, what can we do to help?" she asked, keeping her voice steady with some effort.
"Pass these out," Fred replied as he handed her a stack of… hats?
Pushing her confusion aside, Hermione took one and passed the stack on to one of the other students, then began to study the object in her hands. It was indeed, a small, pointed hat, with a fluffy, pink feather stuck in the brim.
"What are these for?" she inquired.
"Headless Hats," Fred said. "Put it on, and it makes your head invisible. If they can't see your face, they can't prove you were here."
With no small amount of trepidation at the idea of trusting the notorious pranksters, Hermione carefully placed the enchanted hat on her head.
Beside her, Neville gasped. "It worked," the boy exclaimed in wonder, before quickly donning his own hat. Precisely as promised, Neville's head vanished from view, leaving just his body. Soon, all of the other students were similarly headless.
A heavy thud at the door echoed throughout the room, drawing everyone's attention. "Wow, they really want to get in here," Fred remarked in an incredibly casual voice.
"Yes, they certainly do," his twin agreed, just as calmly.
Fred turned to look at the defense group. "Now, my less handsome twin and I are going to go cause some minor bits of mischief to lead the illustrious Inquisitor away. Hide in the corners for a few minutes, then make a break for it. Once you're far enough away, get rid of the hat and pretend like you've been doing something perfectly innocent for the past hour. We've still got plenty of time before curfew, so they have no reason to punish you if they find you wandering around."
Hermione knew that Umbridge likely wouldn't care about such unimportant issues as 'proof of guilt' when trying to assign punishments, but she didn't raise that concern. In truth, she was probably the one Umbridge was really hoping to discipline. And if it came down to it, Hermione was determined to face what came like a true Gryffindor.
Another loud bang sounded, Hermione looked over to see that the door was beginning to break. Unconcerned, Fred and George walked over to the door, wide grins on their faces.
"Who is it?" Fred called in an innocent voice.
The only response was muffled yelling. Glancing over at his twin, who had his hands full of… something that Hermione couldn't quite make out, Fred held up three fingers, then slowly counted down. When he hit zero, he wrenched the door open, and George tossed whatever he had been holding out into the corridor. Before anyone could react, Fred slammed the door shut again.
Bangs, booms, whistles and tweets sounded, along with what Hermione thought might be a cowbell. The noise was almost deafening even through the door, so the girl could only image how bad it had been for the people outside. Not that Hermione had any sympathy for Umbridge and her little squad of bigots.
The door flew open once more and the Weasley twins rushed out, identical voices raised in a battle cry of "Down with the Inquisitor!" Umbridge's indignant shrieks could be heard getting fainter and fainter. Are they dragging her away? Hermione didn't have time to contemplate this thought, for an all too familiar face appeared at the door. Hermione's wand was moving before she even had time to think.
Draco Malfoy had just opened his mouth to shout something when the stunner hit. He fell to the ground, his head hitting against the door frame, though Hermione couldn't bring herself to care. She rushed to the door, looking for any indication that other members of the Inquisitorial Squad had remained behind, but it seemed Malfoy had been the only one.
"Let's go," she ordered. "Split up, and get rid of the hats once you think you're safe," she repeated Fred's instructions.
The students raced out of the room without complaint. Once she had confirmed that everyone had left, Hermione followed suit, dashing down a side corridor that led to a rarely used spiral staircase. Dropping the hat down the center, she darted up the stairs, exiting one level up, then paused for a moment to compose herself.
Doing her best to appear nonchalant, she walked over to the main staircase and began to make her way to the Great Hall. It was, after all, almost time for supper.
As she walked, she took the opportunity to look around, and found herself unwillingly impressed at just how much chaos the twins could cause when they really wanted to. Swirling orbs about the size of a basketball were bouncing around the halls, leaving paint marks wherever they hit. Large birds, red with yellow bellies, were divebombing any Slytherin they saw, cawing triumphantly whenever they managed to peck one of their targets. An unholy eldritch abomination with far too many limbs and mouths was creeping down a corridor, leaving a disgusting trail of slime behind. And that was just the beginning.
As Hermione drew closer to the Great Hall, she could see a large crowd gathered down near the main Hogwarts entrance. With a glance over at Neville, who had emerged from a side corridor just ahead of her, she began to make her way over to the throng.
Umbridge was standing there, covered in feathers and furiously kicking at a large toad which just managed to avoid her foot each time. Finally, she gave it up, and concentrated on the two Gryffindors who were standing between her and the door. "You two will beg for mercy when I am done with you," she shouted.
"I highly doubt it," Fred said unconcernedly. "What do you think, George?"
"I think it's time we go out there and see if we can make our way in the real world," George responded.
"I couldn't agree more," the other boy replied.
Both raised their wands in eerie synchrony. "Malumaria," they cried, their voices matching perfectly.
A thick, pink cloud emerged from the wands. All the spectators, student and teacher alike, fell to the ground, trying to protect themselves from the unknown spell, but it was unnecessary. The bright cloud hovered in front of them, gradually coalescing into a shape, which Hermione finally recognized as three W's, the pink color shifting gradually to blue, then green.
Taking advantage of the distraction, the twins had produced their brooms from somewhere and were now hovering about fifteen feet above the crowd.
"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, for all your pranking needs!" Fred called out. "Come visit us at number ninety-three, Diagon Alley!"
"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who promise to use our products on the pink toad!" George added.
"GET THEM," Umbridge roared, but not a spell was cast.
Both boys turned to fly out the door, but at the last second, Fred stopped and looked back into the school.
"Give her hell from us, Peeves."
Peeves saluted crisply, then began to cackle madly. As she watched her… friends? Yes, Hermione decided after a moment of introspection, her friends fly out the door and into the magnificent sunset beyond, she couldn't help but laugh.
I guess that's what happens when you back two crazy pranksters into a corner. It was a lesson that Umbridge would certainly never forget.