CHAPTER 8: THE QUARTET AND THE D.A.
"Jimmy Boy?"
Surprise numbed O'Bannon. That voice. Could it really be . . .
He scanned the group in front of him more closely. His eyes widened as he spied familiar figures, especially two lanky twins with blazing red hair.
"Fred? George?"
The Weasley twins looked to one another, then to O'Bannon, and beamed.
"Jimmy Boy!" Fred cried out.
"I don't believe it!" George blurted.
The two rushed forward.
"Wait!" A girl with bushy brown hair jumped in front of them.
"Hermione?" Fred fixed her with a bewildered gaze. "What the hell?"
"How do we know that really is Jimmy O'Bannon?" She whipped her head toward him.
"Oh for Merlin's sake." Fred rolled his eyes. "Quit being so paranoid."
"Considering what we're doing and what's going on outside this school, we need to be a little paranoid. And let's not forget last year, that Death Eater we all thought was Professor Moody."
O'Bannon held his breath as he watched Fred and George stare at Hermione. Both their faces screwed up in thought. Several other students behind them turned to one another with uncertain looks.
Oh jeez. Are they actually buying this crap?
"Hermione. It's really me." O'Bannon jabbed himself in the chest. "You want me to prove it? Hockey is awesome! The Bruins rule! The Yankees suck! There, happy?"
"Jimmy's love of American Muggle sports wasn't a secret. Besides, why are you even in Britain? You should be back in America, at Salem. And how do you even know about this room?"
O'Bannon shut his eyes tight and clenched his teeth. You have got to be friggin' kidding me! He expected resistance from Fudge's cronies. He didn't expect it from his friends at Hogwarts.
"Here, I got it."
O'Bannon opened his eyes when he heard Fred speak.
"If you really are Jimmy, what did I say when we decided to make Cormac McLaggen a member of our hockey team last year?"
"What?" O'Bannon canted his head. "McLaggen wasn't on the Triad. We cut his ass. Then you said that a constipated goblin would be more fun to be around than that wanker."
Huge smiles spread across the twins' faces.
"Ladies and gentlemen." George thrust out his arm toward O'Bannon. "That is most definitely, the genuine article . . ."
"The one and only," Fred added.
The twins glanced at one another, then said in unison, "Jimmy O'Bannon!"
A stampede of students overwhelmed O'Bannon. Fred and George pounded his back until all the air had been driven from his lungs. Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell wrapped him up in crushing hugs. Terry Boot rubbed his scalp energetically as Michael Corner nearly ripped off his arm with a hearty handshake.
He just released Susan Bones from a tight hug when a skinny boy with mussed black hair, glasses and a lightning bolt scar walked up to him.
"Jimmy. I can't believe it's really you." Harry Potter smiled and shook his hand.
"Hey, I can't believe I'm back here."
He broke the handshake and noticed Jared gawking at Harry. His friend's mouth hung open. Instead of words, he could only produce short, awed gasps.
For the first time, O'Bannon gazed around the spacious, torch-lit room. Wooden bookcases lined the walls and large silk cushions were spread out on the floor.
"What is this place?"
"The Room of Requirement," Harry answered.
"Brilliant place." Fred grinned.
"Yeah," said George. "It only appears to someone who really needs it."
O'Bannon slouched to the left as realization dawned on him. "Like if you really need a place to hide."
"Exactly!" The twins nodded.
"Jimmy. Is your friend here all right?"
He looked over to find Hermione striding up to Artimus, still being supported by Rosa. O'Bannon bit his lip as guilt slithered through him. He'd been so caught up in this sudden reunion he completely forgot about his injured friend.
"It's my knee," Artimus said in a strained voice. "I hurt it when we were fighting those aurors."
The jaws of several Hogwarts students dropped. Others silently mouthed, "Whoa."
"You guys were fighting aurors?" A stunned expression lit up Ernie MacMillan's face. "Why were you doing that?"
"Nevermind that." Hermione gave the stout, blond Hufflepuff boy a dismissive wave. "Lavender. Your parents are healers. You said they've taught you healing spells."
"A few." The pretty raven-haired girl shrugged. "I'll see what I can do."
Lavender Brown headed over to Artimus and Rosa.
"Here. Let me give you a hand." Anthony Goldstein, one of O'Bannon's former Triad teammates, followed Lavender. He took Artimus from Rosa and helped him over to one of the cushions. Lavender knelt beside him and examined his swollen knee.
"So, Jimmy. Are you going to introduce us to your friends?" Even though Lee Jordan had used the plural "friends," his eyes focused entirely on one friend. Rosa Infante.
O'Bannon introduced Rosa, Jared and Artimus to the "Hoggies." He was about to use Tonks' name, but decided to call her by her alias, Katerina Ponce. He didn't think it wise to broadcast her real name while she still officially worked for the Auror's Office.
"So, Jimmy," Harry said as Rosa and Hermione joined them. "What exactly are you doing at Hogwarts?"
He gazed at the group. Jared's awestruck look still hadn't faded from his face. O'Bannon leaned forward until his head was inches from Harry's ear. "Official business. Like O-O-T-P business if you know what I mean."
Judging from Harry's reaction, he knew exactly what O'Bannon meant.
"Guys!" He turned to the group. "If you could give us a minute, there's something I need to discuss with Jimmy and his friends."
Without waiting for a response, Harry led O'Bannon toward the far corner of this Room of Requirement. Jared, Rosa and Tonks/Katerina Ponce followed, as did Hermione, the twins and the other Weasley siblings, Ron and Ginny.
"Can you believe this?" Jared, who walked behind O'Bannon, clutched Rosa's arm. "That's Harry Potter. The Harry Potter."
Rosa stared at the famous young wizard, shaking her head slowly. "I never imagined I'd actually be in the same room as Harry Potter."
"Man, I can't believe you got to hang with Harry Potter for a whole year," Jared said in an excited, hushed tone as he slapped O'Bannon's shoulder. "People who down a whole jug of Felix Felicis could never be as lucky as you."
"What?" O'Bannon shrugged. "I never made it a secret I got to be friends with Harry. Okay, he's world famous because of what he did to You-Know-Who."
"And don't forget the Tri-Wizard Tournament." Rosa held up a finger. "I kept up with it all last year in The All-Seeing Eye. I was so jealous that you were here for that whole thing."
"The point is . . ." O'Bannon glanced at Harry, making sure he was out of earshot. "When you get to know him, he's just a regular guy."
Jared choked on his own breath. "'Regular guy?' Dude, regular guys do not vanquish the most evil dark wizard in history when they're one-year-old."
"Not only that." Rosa aimed an appraising eye at Harry. "He's pretty damn cute, too."
O'Bannon frowned. He couldn't think of any other way to convince Jared and Rosa a real person existed behind the celebrity that was Harry Potter.
He turned forward, and nearly bumped into Hermione.
"Sorry about what happened back there," she said. "About not thinking you were really you. It's just, well, after what happened with Peter Pettigrew and Professor Moody, you sometimes can't be too sure of who's really who around here."
"Forget about it. Besides, you're right. These days you can't be too careful."
O'Bannon looked back at the other Hogwarts students, all of whom followed him and his little group with curious stares.
"So what are you guys doing here? Study group? Party?"
"Mate," Fred responded. "You have the privilege of being in the presence of Dumbledore's Army. Or the D.A. for short."
"'Dumbledore's Army?'" Jared gave the Weasley twin a perplexed look.
"I know. I wanted to call it the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group, but no one listens to me."
O'Bannon couldn't help but smile. Rosa chuckled loud enough for all to hear.
Hermione sighed in consternation. "We formed Dumbledore's Army . . ." She narrowed her eyes at Fred, who responded with a Cheshire Cat grin. " . . . in response to Umbridge's useless Defense Against the Dark Arts class. With You-Know-Who out there, we had to do something to teach ourselves practical defensive spells."
"So you doing the teaching?" While she might be the epitome of the Type A personality and annoy everyone by constantly broadcasting how much she knew of the Wizarding World, O'Bannon couldn't deny that Hermione was in a whole other universe when it came to her talents as a witch. She'd certainly be the logical choice to lead this group.
So it surprised him somewhat when she replied, "Actually, we voted Harry the leader of the D.A."
Jared gasped and turned to Rosa. "Merlin's beard, is there anything that guy can't do?"
O'Bannon sighed and rolled his eyes. If they get any more excited over Harry, I'm gonna start thinking they're distant relatives of Colin Creevey.
"By the way, Jimmy Boy." George's eyes flickered between him and Tonks. "Who's this Katerina Ponce you've got here? I don't recall you mentioning her before."
"Finally stopped pining over Mireet and got yourself a girlfriend now, have you?" Fred waggled his eyebrows.
"It's me, you pillocks." Tonks took off her horn-rimmed glasses. "Tonks."
"To-!" Ginny covered her mouth before she could blurt out Tonks' full name. "What are you doing here?"
"Helping Jimmy and his friends." She put her glasses back on.
"Disguised like that?" Fred's face contorted in a quizzical look. "No offense, Tonks, but in that get up you look like the typical mousy librarian."
"Fred's right." George nodded. "You look like you could be the illegitimate daughter of Madam Pince."
The twins fell on one another in hysterics. Ron also chuckled. O'Bannon bit his cheek to hold back the burgeoning tide of laughter.
Tonks scowled at the twins, no doubt unhappy at being compared to Hogwarts' horrid head librarian. "If I didn't think your mother would hex the stuffing out of me, I'd give you both mole faces and hippopotamus arses."
"I say do it," Ginny said, "Knowing how Mum feels about these two gits she'll probably thank you for it."
"Shut your gob, runt," Fred snapped.
"Shut yours."
O'Bannon smiled and shook his head. "Times like this make me glad I'm an only child."
Once they reached the far corner, Harry turned and stared directly at O'Bannon. "So, Jimmy. What brings you back to Hogwarts?"
O'Bannon drew a breath and told Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys about the American Death Eaters plan to use a Longathian Tunnel to reinforce Voldemort's army in Britain. He noticed Ron turn pale at hearing the names of different dark creatures. Any sign of humor vanished from the twins faces. Ginny's eyes widened.
"Wendigos!" Hermione shivered when O'Bannon mentioned that monster. "I don't want to think about what a few dozen of those creatures would do if let loose in England."
"What are Wendigos?" Ron asked.
Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Ron. We covered them last year in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Malevolent spirits native to North America that possess people who engage in cannibalism, thus turning them into cannibals."
"Cannibals?" Ron cringed. "You mean, like, eating . . . people?"
"That is the definition of cannibalism."
"Anyway," O'Bannon said, having no desire to witness Ron and Hermione argue for the twelve thousandth time. "Headmistress Esmeralda sent us here to tell Headmaster Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall so they could warn the Order of the Phoenix. If we couldn't get to the Longathian Tunnel in time, we wanted to make sure you guys had fair warning."
"I'm surprised you were able to get into the country at all," Harry noted. "The Ministry's keeping a close eye on the Floo Network and port keys."
"Actually, we came by airplane."
The twins gawked at O'Bannon.
"You flew on a Muggle airy-plin?" Fred exclaimed.
"You have to tell us all about it," George demanded enthusiastically, "so we can tell Dad. Airy-plins are one of his favorite Muggle things."
"Fred, George. Focus." Hermione folded her arms, a stern look plastered on her face.
"That sounds like a brilliant idea," said Ginny. "The Ministry would never think to check Muggle transportation."
"Wanna bet." Rosa frowned. "Your Ministry had an auror undercover at Glasgow airport. Apparently they have people watching every airport in England."
Fred and George looked at one another, stunned.
"I guess ol' Fudge must have some wizards with actual brains around him," said Fred. "That imbecile certainly couldn't think of that on his own."
"So that's how they found you?" Harry looked to O'Bannon.
"Yeah. Musta figured we'd make straight for Hogwarts, because there were aurors popping up all around Hogsmeade as soon as we Disapparated there. Thankfully, Tonks showed up to pull our asses out of the fire." O'Bannon held his breath. Fear saturated his insides. "Oh crap. We had aurors chasing us all over the castle. They can't get in here, can they?"
"I doubt it," said Hermione. "If they come by here, all they'll see is a plain old wall. You should be safe here."
The tension melted from O'Bannon's muscles. Safe. After the last hour "safe" seemed like a foreign concept.
"We'll help however we can, Jimmy," Harry stated.
Hermione and the Weasleys nodded in agreement.
"Thanks, guys. Now, let's go tell the others."
O'Bannon turned on his heel.
"Hang on."
He stopped when he heard Harry's plea. Brow furrowed, he looked back at the famous "Boy Who Lived." "What?"
Harry chewed on his lip. "It's just . . . Jimmy, not everyone in the D.A. knows about the Order of the Phoenix, especially how close we are to it."
O'Bannon sighed. Harry had a good point. But . . .
"Okay, then. We'll just tell them about the Longathian Tunnel and that we have to tell Headmaster Dumbledore about it. That's it. Nothing about the Order or the Guild of the Light."
"I still don't know." Harry shifted his feet. "I just feel the fewer people involved the better."
O'Bannon stiffened. He aimed a puzzled gaze Harry's way. Why the hell didn't he want to share this with the rest of the D.A.?
"Harry, this is something that involves everyone in this country. If You-Know-Who gets those reinforcements, he's got a good shot of taking over England."
Harry said nothing. The corners of his mouth twitched as he turned away.
"Look." O'Bannon marched over to him. "You may have known most of the people in this room a hell of a lot longer than me, but they're my friends, too. And they deserve to know what's coming down the pike. And if you're not gonna tell them, I will."
Harry snapped his head forward. He stared directly into O'Bannon's eyes, green orbs ablaze with anger.
O'Bannon didn't back down.
"Harry . . ."
O'Bannon sensed more than saw Hermione approach.
"I think Jimmy's right."
Harry quickly shifted his gaze from O'Bannon to Hermione.
"Isn't this one of the reasons we formed the D.A.? To get ready in case we have to fight V-V-Voldemort? In a way, that's what we have here. Harry, if all those creatures from America reach Britain, no one will be safe from them, including everyone in this room, and their families. We have to tell them what's going on."
Harry gazed around the little knot of teens. So did O'Bannon. Ron nodded in agreement with Hermione. Fred and George, for once, wore serious expressions. O'Bannon could read it in their eyes they thought the entire D.A. should be told. Ginny and Tonks wore similar looks. Rosa and Jared, however, appeared absolutely flabbergasted for some reason.
"Fine." Harry sighed loudly and slumped his shoulders. "Let's go."
He stalked past O'Bannon and the others and headed back to the rest of the D.A.
O'Bannon shook his head as he watched him leave. He still couldn't understand why Harry was so upset at the prospect of telling his own group about this situation.
Or maybe he feels like I stepped on his toes with that little pissing contest we just had.
Well, too bad. Like he said, they were his friends, too. While the Triad may not be an official team any more, the bonds they created during that time remained. If something endangered them, no one would keep him from telling them, not even one of the most famous wizards of the modern era.
O'Bannon and the others fell in line and followed Harry back to the group.
"I don't believe it," Jared said breathlessly.
"What?" O'Bannon turned to him.
"You, man. You just told Harry freakin' Potter to go pound sand."
"What, there a law against that?" O'Bannon quickened his pace to pull away from Jared.
The Weasleys, Hermione, Rosa and Jared filtered in with the rest of the D.A. Artimus also arrived under his own power, though with a noticeable limp. Lavender and Anthony trailed him, with the latter dragging a cushion.
"How's the knee, Art?" O'Bannon asked.
"It feels a lot better, thanks. Lavender did a great job with those healing spells."
"It was more to ease the pain than anything else," she explained. "He still needs to get to a proper nurse or healer."
"What you did was still great." Artimus gently lowered himself into the cushion. A grateful smile formed on his lips. "You're awesome."
"Thank you." Lavender grinned back. O'Bannon swore the girl blushed briefly.
"All yours, Jimmy," Harry muttered and stepped to the side.
O'Bannon faced the D.A. and ran down everything about the Longathian Tunnel and their battle with the aurors from Hogsmeade to within the castle itself. Many listened to his tale with wide eyes. Parvati Patil shuddered at the mention of Wendigos. "Wicked," Dean Thomas blurted when he heard about the exploding ice wall. The entire group applauded and hooted when O'Bannon told them how Jared nailed Umbridge with a Stunning Spell.
"Jared Diaz for Minister of Magic!" Fred shouted.
"I second that!" Lee Jordan added.
"Here, here!" Michael Corner pumped a fist.
Jared smiled and took a little bow as several hands slapped his back.
"So that's the skinny, gang." O'Bannon held his hands out to his side when he finished. "We gotta tell Headmaster Dumbledore about this. He's sure to know how to shut down this Longathian Tunnel."
"That won't be easy," said Ernie MacMillan, "what with all these aurors crawling around Hogwarts."
"Ernie's right." Hermione detached herself from the rest of the group. "So we'd best come up with a good plan to get around them."
TO BE CONTINUED