Angelina wasted no time starting practices. The very next day was their first Quidditch practice of the year. Ron and Harry were the last members of the team to join everyone else in the changing room.
"Alright, Ron?" George asked teasingly, winking at him.
"Yeah." Ron answered quietly.
"Ready to show us all up, Ickle Prefect?" Fred asked, popping his head out of his Quidditch robes, hair tousled and grinning maliciously.
Anna paused in pulling her shoes on, her eyes fixed on Fred's hair. It looked…sexy messed up like that. Blushing at her sudden thoughts, Anna lowered her eyes and finished getting ready.
"Okay everyone." Angelina called, entering from the Captain's office already changed. "Let's get to it; Anna and Fred, if you can just bring the ball crate out for us. Oh, and there are a couple of people out there watching but I want you to just ignore them, alright?"
Anna and Fred exchanged a look as they each grabbed a handle on each end of the crate. Angelina's tone suggested one thing.
Slytherins.
Sure enough, when they all stepped out into the bright sunlight on the pitch, it was to catcalls and jeers from the Slytherin Quidditch team and a few others, all sitting halfway up the stands.
"What's that Weasley's riding?" Malfoy called over the others. "Why would anyone put a Flying Charm on a moldy old log like that?"
His friends all cackled and guffawed. Anna glanced at Ron as she and Fred set the crate down and mounted their brooms. As Ron did the same, she noticed his ears were turning red.
"Ignore them." Harry called as he caught up with the rest of the team. "We'll see who's laughing after we play them…"
"Exactly the attitude I want, Harry." Angelina told him approvingly, flying around them with the Quaffle tucked under her arm. She slowed to a stop to hover in front of the rest of the team. "Okay, everyone, we're going to start with some passes just to warm up, the whole team please-"
"Hey, Johnson, what's with that hairstyle anyway?" Pansy Parkinson shrieked from the stands below. "Why would anyone want to look like they've got worms coming out of their head?"
Angelina swept her long, braided hair over her shoulder and continued calmly, "Spread out, then, and let's see what we can do…"
The team flew off in different directions around the pitch. Angelina lifted the Quaffle with one hand and threw it hard to Fred, who passed to George, who passed to Anna, who passed to Harry, who passed to Ron, who dropped it. The Slytherins burst out laughing while Ron shot toward the ground and caught the Quaffle before it hit the ground. He pulled out of the dive messily, almost slipping sideways off his broom, and returned to his post blushing. Anna glanced at the twins, who exchanged a look, but thankfully they didn't say anything. Probably because the Slytherins were already embarrassing Ron enough.
"Pass it on, Ron." Angelina told him as if nothing had happened.
Ron passed the ball to Katie, who passed it to Harry, who passed it to George…
"Hey, Potter, how's your scar feeling?" Malfoy called. "Sure you don't need a lie-down? It must be, what, a whole week since you were in the hospital wing, that's a record for you, isn't it?"
Fred passed to Ang, who reverse passed it to Harry, who caught it and quickly passed to Ron, who barely missed.
"Come on now, Ron." Angelina nearly scolded him as he dove once again for the Quaffle. "Pay attention."
They passed the Quaffle around again, and Ron luckily managed to catch it this time. Unfortunately, he passed it so enthusiastically that it slipped through Katie's hands and hit her right in the face.
Anna winced in sympathy for her friend.
"Sorry!" Ron groaned, flying forward to check the damage. Anna went to do the same, but Angelina called them back.
"Get back in position, she's fine!" she snapped. "But as you're passing to a teammate, do try not to knock her off her broom, won't you? We've got Bludgers for that!"
Katie's nose was bleeding. Fred and George flew toward her.
"Here, take this." Fred suggested, handing her something small and purple from his pocket. "It'll clear it up in no time."
Anna smiled slightly at them.
"Alright." Angelina called. "Fred, George, go and get your bats and a Bludger; Ron, get up to the goalposts, Harry, release the Snitch when I say so. We're going to aim for Ron's goal, obviously."
The twins zoomed off down to the crate with Harry on their tails while the others waited patiently for their return. They got the Snitch and a Bludger out of the crate and flew back into the air. Angelina blew her whistle, causing Harry to release the Snitch and Fred and George the Bludger.
Angelina instantly passed the Quaffle to Anna, who bolted at her top speed toward the goals that Ron was nervously guarding. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and rolled in midair, barely missing a Bludger. She passed the Quaffle to Katie, whose face was still covered in blood. Katie threw the Quaffle at the right goalpost. Ron barely caught it with the tips of his fingers and threw it sloppily toward the other end of the pitch.
They did this for a few more minutes, but Ron didn't save the following four goals, and Anna wasn't that surprised when Angelina blew her whistle after his fifth fumble.
"Stop-stop-STOP!" she screamed. "Ron-you're not covering your middle post!"
Anna grimaced in both sympathy for Ron and agreement with Angelina. He'd been hovering in front of the left-hand hoop for a while now, which had lead Anna and the other Chasers to aim for either the middle or the right.
"Oh…sorry…"
"You keep shifting around while you're watching the Chasers!" Angelina continued. "Either stay in center position until you have to move to defend a hoop, or else circle the hoops, but don't drift vaguely off to one side, that's how you let in the last three goals!"
"Sorry…" Ron repeated, his face bright red and almost blending with his hair.
"And Katie, can't you do something about that nosebleed?" Ang ranted, clearly annoyed at the whole world.
"It's just getting worse!" Katie complained thickly, covering her nose with her sleeve.
Anna's head snapped around to look over her shoulder at the twins, remembering the small sweet Fred had given the sixth year. Her eyes fixed on Fred, who looked as anxious as she felt. He was checking his pockets frantically before he pulled something purple from one pocket. He stared hard at it for a second before lifting his eyes to look at Katie, his expression horrified. Anna felt her stomach drop and she suddenly felt nauseous.
"No…he didn't…" she whispered to herself, looking back around at Katie.
"Well, let's try again." Angelina ordered firmly, making a show of ignoring the Slytherins, who were chanting, "Gryffindor are losers," over and over. She was very tense, though.
"But, Ang-" Anna tried.
"Now!" she snapped impatiently, passing the Quaffle to Anna, who barely caught it. Anna sighed and flew toward the goals to try and score.
Anna only lasted three minutes before she decided enough was enough. She caught a look at Katie, who was ghostly white with blood covering her nose, mouth, chin, and chest. Her broom was trembling and she looked about to pass out.
"Angelina! Look at Katie!" she screamed, bolting down the pitch toward the brunette. She heard Ang blow her whistle and caught sight of Fred and George flying toward her. Anna jerked to a stop and gently took Katie's arm, leading her carefully toward the ground so she didn't fall. They were soon joined by the rest of the team as their feet touched the ground. Katie barely remained standing, her broom still under her, while Anna didn't release her arm in fear she'd fall over.
"She needs the hospital wing." Angelina stated tensely.
"We'll take her." Fred volunteered. "She-er-might have swallowed a Nosebleed Nougat by mistake-"
"Well, there's no point continuing with no Beaters and a Chaser gone." Angelina said gloomily as Fred and George zoomed off toward the castle on their brooms, supporting Katie between them. "Come on, let's go and get changed."
Anna sped through changing and hurried to the hospital wing as fast as possible. When she got there, she found Fred standing just inside the doorway, his arms crossed and leaning his shoulder against the door as he stared into the room.
"How is she?" Anna asked quietly, stopping next to him and peaking inside. Katie was laying in a bed, her face clean of blood yet still pale as she talked sleepily with George, who was sitting on the edge of her bed.
"Madam Pomfrey says she'll be fine. She just needed to take a Blood Replenishing Potion and has to stay here overnight." Fred admitted quietly so they didn't disturb the other two.
"I can't believe you gave her a Nosebleed Nougat by mistake." Anna whispered, shaking her head.
Fred winced. "I know, I know. I already feel bad enough, don't rub it in."
Anna smiled softly up at him, wrapping her arm around his lower back. "Don't feel too bad. Your heart was in the right place. Katie isn't mad, is she?"
"No. She understood." Fred answered, uncrossing his arms to wrap one around Anna's shoulders. "She even thanked us for trying to help."
"Sounds like her." Anna admitted. "So,…that was probably the worst first practice of the year we've ever had, if not the worst in general. Think it's an omen?" she asked ruefully, almost partially teasing.
"Probably."
XXX
"What is she doing in here?" George asked in a disgusted whisper. Anna glanced over her shoulder and saw that, sure enough, George was referring to the ugly pink toad sitting in the corner of their Charms class.
"I take it you didn't read the Daily Prophet this morning." she guessed, turning back to him and talking in a low whisper.
"Of course not." George told her, scrunching up his face. "Why would I waste time reading that rubbish?"
"I didn't either," Anna admitted, "but Katie told me this morning. Apparently Umbridge has been given the position of Hogwarts' High Inquisitor."
"High what now?" Fred, George, and Lee all repeated in confusion.
Anna shrugged slightly. "All I got out of it is that she gets the right to inspect all the teachers. I guess Flitwick's inspection is today."
Fred pouted, plopping his chin onto his palm.
"What are you pouting about?" Anna asked in amusement.
"I don't know, it's just that…we get to sit through an inspection and it's Flitwick?" he whined slightly. "He won't do anything funny or interesting. Now, McGonagall on the other hand…" he trailed off pointedly.
Anna snorted, covering her mouth with her hand to muffle any laughter. "Oh my gosh, you're right. I wish we could sit through McGonagall's inspection. She'd tear Umbridge apart." she whispered quietly.
They talked quietly for a few more minutes before Flitwick entered the room, standing on his desk so he could see all of them.
"Good afternoon, class. Before we start today, I'd like to welcome a guest, who will be joining us for our class today. Professor Umbridge, welcome." he said warmly, clapping his hands. The class slowly and hesitantly joined him in clapping, though no one was enthusiastic about it.
The class was spent mostly doing review from the year before, like turning vinegar to wine.
Anna turned her bottle of vinegar to wine on her first attempt and glanced around the room, waiting for Flitwick to move on. Her eyes landed on Umbridge, who had gotten up from her seat to approach Alicia a table over.
"Dear, could you tell me what your classes are normally like? Is this how you usually spend your class time?" she asked in her sugary sweet voice that made Anna grimace.
"Yeah, they're really good lessons. He usually demonstrates the spell, tells us what to do, and lets us practice." Alicia answered easily.
"I see." Umbridge nodded with a smile, making a note on her clipboard.
XXX
"I got a P." Anna, Lee, and the twins overheard Ron say as they entered the common room. "Happy?"
"Well, that's nothing to be ashamed of." Fred told him, reaching their table in the corner. He sat on Harry's right, and Anna sat next to him. "Nothing wrong with a good, healthy P."
"But doesn't P stand for…" Hermione started to ask.
"'Poor', yeah." Lee answered. "Still better than D, isn't it? 'Dreadful'?"
Anna noticed Harry's face go red before he started coughing.
"So top grade's O for 'Outstanding'," Hermione started thinking out loud, "and then there's A-"
"No, E." George corrected her, "E for 'Exceeds Expectations'. And I've always thought Fred and I should've got E in everything, because we exceeded expectations just by turning up for the exams."
Anna snorted and laughed along with the others, except for Hermione, who continued their conversation.
"So after E, it's A for 'Acceptable', and that's the last pass grade, isn't it?"
"Yep." Fred answered. "Then you get P for 'Poor'," Ron raised both his arms in mock celebration, causing Anna to grin sympathetically, "and D for 'Dreadful'."
"Don't forget T." Anna reminded him.
"T?" Hermione repeated, sounding appalled. "Even lower than a D? What on earth does that stand for?"
"'Troll'." George answered promptly, causing Harry to laugh.
"You lot had an inspected lesson yet?" Fred asked the younger trio.
"No, have you?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Just now. Charms." George answered.
"What was it like?" Harry and Hermione asked at the same time.
Fred shrugged. "Not that bad. Umbridge just lurked in the corner making notes on a clipboard. You know what Flitwick's like, he treated her like a guest, didn't seem to bother him at all. She didn't say much. Asked Alicia a couple of questions about what the classes are normally like, Alicia told her they were really good, that was it."
"I can't see old Flitwick getting marked down, he usually gets everyone through their exams alright." George admitted.
"Who've you got this afternoon?" Fred asked Harry suddenly.
"Trelawney-"
"A T if I ever saw one-"
"-and Umbridge herself."
Anna grimaced, worried about how that lesson would go, given Harry's history with the new Defense teacher.
George clearly thought along the same lines. "Well, be a good boy and keep your temper with Umbridge today. Angelina'll do her nut if you miss anymore Quidditch practices."
"And you're not the one who has to share a dormitory with her." Anna added warningly, making them laugh again.
XXX
Harry didn't keep his temper with Umbridge. Nope, not at all. Anna didn't know all the details, but he once again landed himself in detention, a weeks worth of detention, which included during one of their practices. Angelina was pissed. So pissed, in fact, that she cornered him Tuesday morning when Harry arrived at breakfast and yelled at him in front of everyone. McGonagall had to approach them from the staff table to shut them up.
The following two weeks went a little bit better, depending on how one looks at it. They had four more Quidditch practices, and Harry made it to some of them, and Ron was actually getting better at his new Keeper position.
The twins were still testing some of their completed products on first years, which Anna did her best to help with. However, she was also swamped with studying for her NEWTs, so she didn't have as much free time to help Fred and George as she would like. It was about as stressful as her fifth year, and it had only been about a month into the school year.
And of course, Defense Against the Dark Arts was a huge waste of time. Every class period, they spent the whole hour with their wands in their bags and their books on their desks, reading a new chapter each time. It was so boring Anna had almost dozed off a couple times. Fred's book even had a drool stain from the one time he managed to fall asleep with his face in his book.
"Come on, Anna. Put the book away. We need your help making a batch of Fever Fudge." George pleaded, trying to pull the Charms book from Anna's hands. Anna pushed her annoyance down and yanked it back, glowering up at her boyfriend and his twin.
"Back off, both of you. Unlike the pair of you, I need to get these NEWTs, and I can't by helping you all the time. I helped you yesterday, now I need to do my homework. You'll be fine making your Fever Fudge without me."
"But-" Fred started to beg again.
"Anna?"
Anna looked over her shoulder and saw Hermione rounding the couch to sit next to her.
"Hey. What's up?" Anna asked curiously.
Hermione glanced carefully over her shoulder. "I was hoping I could talk to you. All three of you, if that's alright." she added, looking up at the twins.
"We didn't do anything." the twins quickly stated defensively.
Hermione gave them a look. "Not what this is about, though I doubt that statement is completely honest. This is about Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"What about it?" Anna asked in confusion.
"Well, you all have to admit we're not learning anything from Umbridge. Her idea of Defense Against the Dark Arts is absolutely rubbish." Hermione explained in a low whisper.
Anna, Fred, and George all nodded slowly in agreement.
"Yeah. Okay, you're right, but what are we supposed to do about it?" Anna asked uncertainly.
"Well, aside from possibly failing our exams, Umbridge is also depriving us of being able to defend ourselves should we get attacked. So I was thinking…what if we started our own Defense Against the Dark Arts group?"
Anna glanced up at the twins, who were glancing at each other curiously.
"A group?" Anna repeated. "Like…a club?"
"Kinda." Hermione admitted. "I'm talking Harry into teaching it. But it has to be top secret, we can't let it possibly get back to Umbridge."
Anna once again glanced up at the twins, feeling excitement start to rise inside her. Their expressions showed the same emotion as they glanced at each other, her, and then looked back at Hermione.
"Harry's going to teach us defensive magic?" they asked in excited whispers.
Hermione nodded slightly. "I think so, yes. But remember, top secret. Only tell people you're positive you can trust. We're going to have a meeting in the Hog's Head at the next Hogsmeade weekend."
"Could we tell Lee?" George checked.
Hermione thought for a second. "Yes, I think so. If you trust him, that'd be fine."
"Great." Anna grinned at her. "We'll be there."
XXX
The first weekend of October couldn't arrive fast enough. Anna, Fred, George, and Lee ate breakfast very fast so they'd have time to stop into Zonko's before going to the meeting.
The Hog's Head Inn was on the far side of Hogsmeade. When they walked in, Anna glanced around cautiously, her eyes taking a moment to adjust to the limited light. The pub was small and dingy, smelling very strongly. The bay windows were encrusted with grime so very little daylight could actually get in. The little light in the room also came from the little stubs of candles on the tables. The stone floor was also covered in decades worth of dirt and dust.
From what Anna could see, dozens of people were already there. She saw several Gryffindors she recognized, like Katie, Alicia, and Angelina, as well as Neville and Dean, and Lavender Brown and the Patil twins. She caught a glimpse of Colin Creevey and his brother, and Ginny. She also recognized people from other Houses like the Ravenclaw Seeker Cho Chang and one of her friends, as well as a dazed, blonde girl she'd seen around. There was also Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, a couple other Hufflepuff girls, and a few Ravenclaw boys. And of course, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were there.
Anna approached Ginny to wait while Fred approached the bar.
"Hi." Fred greeted the bartender, who had frozen at the sight of so many people in his bar. Fred turned to quickly count the number of students. "Could we have…twenty-five butterbeers, please?"
The barman glared at him before throwing down his rag irritably and passing out dusty butterbeers from under the bar.
"Cheers." Fred told him, starting to hand the butterbeers out to everyone. "Cough up, everyone. I haven't got enough gold for all of these…"
Anna took the bottle Fred passed her and dug around in her robe pocket for four Sickles to pay for her own drink, as well as Ginny's. Everyone else did the same until soon everyone had a drink and the barman was paid.
Neville sat across from Harry, who was sitting next to Hermione at a table. Everyone else grabbed chairs and gathered around the table Harry was sitting at. Most people looked excited, a couple curious, and a couple doubtful. After a few moments, all their chatter died down and everyone was staring curiously at Harry.
"Well," Hermione spoke up, her voice higher-pitched than normal, "-er-hi."
Everyone focused on her, but Anna noticed a few people still kept glancing over at Harry.
"Well…erm…well, you know why you're here. Erm…well, Harry here had the idea-" Harry threw her a sharp look, "I mean, I had the idea, that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts-and I mean, really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us," Hermione voice became stronger now, like she was drawing confidence the more she spoke, "because nobody could call that Defense Against the Dark Arts-"
"Hear, hear." one of the guys muttered in agreement.
"-well, I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands."
She paused and glanced sideways at Harry for a moment. "And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just theory but the real spells-"
"You want to pass your Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL too, though, I bet?" guessed a guy who Anna thought was named Michael Corner. He was sitting next to Ginny and watching Hermione closely.
"Of course I do." Hermione answered promptly. "But I want more than that. I want to be properly trained in Defense because…because…" she took a deep breath and finished firmly, "Because Lord Voldemort's back."
The reaction to that statement was so predictable, Anna almost laughed. Cho's friend shrieked and spilled butterbeer down herself, a few people flinched, twitched, or shuddered, and Neville yelped. A second later, however, they all turned to stare at Harry expectantly.
"Well, that's the plan anyway." Hermione continued as if nothing had happened. "If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to-"
"Where's the proof You-Know-Who's back?" a blonde Hufflepuff guy asked aggressively. Anna thought she recognized him from the Quidditch team.
"Well, Dumbledore believes it-"
"You mean, Dumbledore believes him." he interrupted Hermione, nodding toward Harry.
"Who are you?" Ron asked him rudely.
"Zacharias Smith," he answered. "and I think we've got the right to know exactly what makes him say You-Know-Who's back."
"Look," Hermione cut in quickly, clearly wanting to prevent an argument, "that's really not what this meeting was supposed to be about-"
"It's okay, Hermione." Harry told her.
"What makes me say You-Know-Who's back?" Harry repeated, looking Zacharias right in the eye. "I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him, you don't believe me, and I'm not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone."
Anna nodded once in agreement, giving Harry a supportive smile.
"All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Diggory got killed by You-Know-Who and that you brought Diggory's body back to Hogwarts." Zacharias said dismissively. "He didn't give us details, he didn't tell us exactly how Diggory got murdered, I think we'd all like to know-"
"If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone I can't help you." Harry told him angrily. "I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, alright? So if that's what you're here for, you might as well clear out."
It was silent for a moment, but no one left their seats.
"So." Hermione broke the silence, her voice high-pitched again. "So…like I was saying…if you want to learn some defense, then we need to work out how we're going to do it, how often we're going to meet, and where we're going to-"
"Is it true," interrupted a girl with a long braid down her back, "that you can produce a Patronus?"
There was a murmur of interest among the group. Anna was tempted to answer the question, since she'd seen Harry perform the Patronus herself a couple years before, but she let him answer himself.
"Yeah." Harry answered in a defensive tone.
"A corporeal Patronus?" she pushed.
Anna wasn't sure what the difference was. Harry, however, looked like he recognized the term.
"Er-you don't know Madam Bones, do you?" he asked.
The girl smiled. "She's my auntie. I'm Susan Bones. She told me about your hearing. So, is it really true? You make a stag Patronus?"
"Yes." Harry answered honestly.
"Blimey, Harry!" Lee exclaimed, looking impressed. "I never knew that!"
"Mum told Ron not to spread it around." Fred admitted, grinning at Harry. "She said you got enough attention as it was."
"She's not wrong." Harry muttered, making a few people laugh.
"And did you kill a basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office?" another guy demanded. "That's what one of the portraits on the wall told me when I was in there last year…"
"Er-yeah, I did, yeah." Harry admitted.
Justin Finch-Fletchley whistled, the Creevey brother exchanged amazed looks, and Lavender Brown whispered a quiet, "Wow." Anna smothered a smile behind her hand. Harry's face was dark red at the attention.
"And in our first year he saved that Sorcerous Stone-"
"Sorcerer's." Hermione corrected Neville.
"Yes, that, from You-Know-Who." Neville continued excitedly.
"And not to mention," Cho added, "all the tasks he had to get through in the Triwizard Tournament last year-getting past dragons and merpeople and acromantulas and things…"
There was a murmur of agreement, several more people sounding impressed by Harry's many feats.
"Look," Harry spoke up, sounding awkward, "I…I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be modest or anything, but…I had a lot of help with all that stuff…"
"Not with the dragon, you didn't." Michael Corner interrupted. "That was a seriously cool bit of flying…"
"Yeah, well-"
"And nobody helped you get rid of those dementors this summer." Susan Bones pointed out.
"No," Harry admitted, "No, okay, I know I did bits of it without help, but the point I'm trying to make is-"
"Are you trying to weasel out of showing us any of this stuff?" asked Zacharius.
"Here's an idea," Ron spoke loudly, "why don't you shut your mouth?"
Anna smirked slightly when Zacharius blushed.
"Well, we've all turned up to learn from him, and now he's telling us he can't really do any of it."
"That's not what he said." Fred snapped angrily.
"Would you like us to clean out your ears for you?" George asked, pulling a long, metal object from his Zonko's bag, which he'd bought from the joke shop.
"Or any part of your body, really, we're not fussy where we stick this." Fred finished viciously. Anna quickly reached over to grab George's wrist of the hand holding the mysterious weapon, shoving his hand back down.
"Behave." she hissed to both of them.
"Yes, well," Hermione spoke quickly before the situation could escalate, "moving on…the point is, are we agreed we want to take lessons from Harry?"
There was a murmur of agreement from everyone except Zacharias. He was sitting with his arms crossed, his eye warily watching George's new toy.
"Right." Hermione sighed in relief that there was finally some agreement in the group. "Well, then, the next question is how often we do it. I really don't think there's any point in meeting less than once a week-"
"Hang on," Angelina interrupted, "we need to make sure this doesn't clash with our Quidditch practice."
"No," Cho agreed, "not with ours."
"Nor ours." added Zacharius.
"I'm sure we can find a night that suits everyone," Hermione assured them all impatiently, "but you know, this is rather important, we're talking about learning to defend ourselves against V-Voldemort's Death Eaters-"
"Well said!" Ernie Macmillan exclaimed. "Personally, I think this is really important, possibly more than anything else we'll do this year, even with our OWLs coming up!"
He looked around with his head high, as if expecting everyone to loudly agree with him. However, no one spoke, and he swept on, "I, personally, am at a loss to see why the Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher upon us at this critical period. Obviously they are in denial about the return of You-Know-Who, but to give us a teacher who is trying to actively prevent us from using defensive spells-"
"We think the reason Umbridge doesn't want us trained in Defense Against the Dark Arts is that she's got some…some mad idea that Dumbledore could use the students in the school as a kind of private army. She thinks he'd mobilize us against the Ministry."
Anna, who'd spent the summer in the headquarters of the Order, didn't find this too shocking. After all, Umbridge came from the Ministry. She worked closely with Fudge, who was being really paranoid lately. However, nearly everyone else looked shocked.
"Well, that makes sense." a faraway voice spoke up. Anna glanced over and found a blonde girl with radish earrings. "After all, Cornelius Fudge has got his own private army."
"What?" Harry asked, completely shocked.
"Yes, he's got an army of heliopaths." she admitted solemnly.
"No, he hasn't." Hermione snapped, a bit more harshly than Anna thought necessary.
"Yes, he has." the girl countered calmly.
"What are heliopaths?" Neville asked.
"They're spirits of fire." the girl answered, her eyes widening. "Great tall flaming creatures that gallop across the ground burning everything in front of-"
"They don't exist, Neville." Hermione interrupted curtly.
"Oh yes they do!" the girl exclaimed angrily.
"I'm sorry, but where's the proof of that?" Hermione snapped.
"There are plenty of eyewitness accounts, just because you're so narrow-minded you need to have everything shoved under your nose before you-"
"Hem, hem."
Anna jumped, along with several others, her head snapping to the side to stare at Ginny, who smirked. She'd done such a good imitation of Umbridge that several people looked around in terror before laughing.
"Weren't we trying to decide how often we're going to meet and get Defense lessons?" Ginny asked pointedly to get them back on track.
"Yes." Hermione agreed at once. "Yes, we were, you're right…"
"Well, once a week sounds cool." Lee announced.
"As long as-"
"Yes, yes, we know about the Quidditch." Hermione cut Angelina off tensely. "Well, the other thing to decide is where we're going to meet…"
There was several moments of silence, as no one could think of anywhere that would work.
"Library?" Katie suggested hesitantly after a few moments.
"I can't see Madam Pomfrey being too chuffed with us doing jinxes in the library." Harry pointed out.
"Maybe an unused classroom?" Dean suggested.
"Yeah." Ron agreed. "McGonagall might let us have hers, she did when Harry was practicing for the Triwizard…"
"But would we all fit in a classroom, much less be able to properly practice certain jinxes without accidents happening?" Anna pointed out hesitantly.
"Right, well, we'll try to find somewhere." Hermione agreed. "We'll send a message round to everybody when we've got a time and a place for the first meeting."
She looked around in her bag for a moment before pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill. She seemed hesitant for a moment before she spoke again.
"I-I think everybody should write their name down, just so we know who was here. But I also think," she took a deep breath, "that we all ought to agree not to shout about what we're doing. So if you sign, you're agreeing not to tell Umbridge-or anybody else-what we're up to."
Fred reached for the parchment without any hesitation and cheerfully signed his name. Anna noticed several people looked hesitant or slightly defiant as she signed her own name. She passed the parchment to George, who quickly signed his name below hers.
When George tried to pass it to Zacharius, he seemed hesitant. "Er…Well…I'm sure Ernie will tell me when the meeting is."
"I-well, we are prefects." Ernie burst out. "And if this list was found…well, I mean to say…you said yourself, if Umbridge finds out…"
"You just said this group was the most important thing you'd do this year." Harry reminded him.
"I-yes, yes, I do believe that, it's just…" Ernie trailed off uncertainly.
"Ernie, do you really think I'd leave that list lying around?" Hermione asked testily.
"No, no, of course not." Ernie quickly assured her, looking a bit reassured at her point. "I-yes, of course I'll sign."
Nobody argued again after Ernie, and everyone at the meeting signed their names before handing the parchment back to Hermione, who carefully slipped it into her bag. There was a moment of almost tense silence as they all sat there. It felt like they were all bound together by something, despite some dislike among certain people.
"Well, time's ticking on." Fred broke the silence with a brisk voice, standing up from his chair. "George, Lee, Anna, and I have got items of a sensitive nature to purchase, we'll be seeing you all later."
Anna rolled her eyes, getting up to follow the three boys from the pub. They stepped outside into the sunny, yet chilly, afternoon, followed gradually by the other students who'd attended the meeting.
Anna walked between the twins and noticed George glance over his shoulder. He did so a few more times before Anna called him on it.
"George, what are you looking at?" she asked.
"That guy Ginny's walking with." George answered, his brow furrowed suspiciously.
Anna glanced over her shoulder, as did Fred and Lee. Sure enough, Ginny was several meters back, walking with a pale Ravenclaw boy with black hair. They were talking and laughing, walking very closely side-by-side.
"What was his name again?" Fred asked, now looking as suspicious as his twin.
"Don't know." Anna lied smoothly.
"I think it's Michael Corner." Lee answered.
"Maybe we should talk to him." Fred suggested.
"Noooo." Anna drew the word out, wrapping an arm around Fred's elbow so she could pull him along the path. "Leave them alone."
"But why is our baby sister walking with a boy?" George demanded, not liking the situation.
"They're probably just friends." Anna assured them. She didn't mention that Ginny had told her and Hermione over the summer about how she met Michael at the Yule Ball, and they started dating a few months later. She wanted to last as long as possible without any of her brothers finding out, knowing how they would act. The fact that Anna now had to drag both twins along the path was further proof of that.
"Guys, just forget it." Anna told them firmly. "We need to go buy more knarl quills from that guy."