CHAPTER 9: STRATEGY SESSION
"You must be barking mad if you expect us to try and sneak past a bunch of aurors."
O'Bannon cranked an eyebrow as he regarded the tall skinny blond boy with an upturned nose. He searched his memory from his year at Hogwarts, but couldn't remember ever running into him.
"Well how else are we supposed to tell Professor Dumbledore about this Longathian Tunnel?" asked Dean Thomas.
The boy whipped his head toward the tall, dark-skinned Gryffindor. "How do we even know it's real? How do we know he's not making the whole thing up?" He jabbed a finger at O'Bannon.
"Oy!" Fred stepped forward, his narrow eyes targeting the blond boy. "Where do you get off saying that, Smith? Jimmy's always been cool with us. If he's says the American Death Eaters are shipping over a bunch of dark creatures to help You-Know-Who, I believe it."
"I'd expect you to say something like that, Weasley." Smith scowled at Fred. "You lot believe everything that comes out of Potter's mouth, so I guess you're all gullible enough to believe anything this Yank says."
"Then let's not tell Dumbledore." Ginny Weasley clenched her tiny fists as she glowered at this Smith jagoff. "We'll just let these wendigos and reptoids and dark fairies run loose all over England. Would that make you happy?"
"I'm with Fred." Lee Jordan piped up. "Jimmy's a good guy. He wouldn't lie about something like this."
"Yeah," Angelina Johnson nodded in agreement, as did Terry Boot and Alicia Spinnet.
"B-Besides . . ." Neville Longbottom spoke in a rather hesitant manner. "Isn't this why we formed the D.A.? So we could, you know, f-fight You-Know-Who?"
Smith snorted. "I'm only here because Umbridge is incompetent and this is probably the only way I can pass the Defense Against the Dark Arts portion of OWLs."
"Well you won't have to worry about OWLs if You-Know-Who gets those reinforcements from America." Hermione's bushy hair shook from the emphatic snaps of her head. "In fact, you won't worry about anything ever again if one of those creatures gets hold of you."
Smith responded with a dismissive wave. "You want to talk about worry, Granger? Maybe you should worry about this." He rotated his head, taking in as many D.A. members as possible. "Your American friend admitted he and his mates assaulted a bunch of aurors. Do you understand that? They assaulted aurors! The Ministry won't stop looking for them until they're caught. And what do you think will happen to anyone who harbors them? Like us. Forget detention or expulsion, we're talking a trip to Azkaban."
O'Bannon noticed Padma Patil swallow nervously. Marietta Edgecombe hung her head, squeezing her left hand with her right. The Creevey brothers exchanged uneasy looks.
Frustration pounded O'Bannon's insides. His jaw clenched so tight he thought his teeth would implode. Hermione's bit of paranoia over whether or not he was really Jimmy O'Bannon he could understand. But this? This Smith dickhead seemed to make it his mission to divide the D.A. His own team! In all his years in organized sports, there was one type of athlete O'Bannon despised more than any other. The one who willingly ripped apart a team for his own selfish reasons.
He'd be damned if he'd let it happen here with the fate of an entire country, possibly the whole Wizarding World, at stake.
"Dude, what's your name?"
"Zacharias Smith," he responded with an air of self-importance. "Hufflepuff House."
O'Bannon scanned the other Hufflepuffs. Ernie MacMillan, Hannah Abbott, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Susan Bones all shifted their gazes away from Smith, looking embarrassed at having to claim the jagoff as one of their own.
"Well, Zach. Can I give you some advice?"
"What?"
"In the words of one of my favorite pro wrestlers, Chris Jericho . . ." O'Bannon threw his head back. "'Would you please, shut . . . the hell . . . up!'"
Smith's eyes bulged from their sockets. His jaw quivered as he kept his gaze locked on O'Bannon.
"Who do you think you are to tell me to shut up?" Smith shook with anger. "You think you can just sneak into my school and order me around like . . ."
"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Rosa blurted. "Petrificus Totalus!"
Smith suddenly went rigid, like a military cadet standing at attention. Moments later he toppled backwards, striking the floor with a dull thud.
Rosa glanced at the others, her wand still aimed at Smith's immobile form. "Sorry about that, but he just got on my last nerve."
"You don't have to apologize for that." Ron Weasley gave a look of approval to Rosa. "I don't think anyone here likes that little toerag."
None of the other D.A. members contradicted him.
O'Bannon gazed at Smith and shook his head. "How did someone like that get into this group?"
"What can I say?" Fred shrugged. "We had low standards when we started recruiting."
Fred and George chuckled. Hermione folded her arms and shot invisible knives from her eyes into the twins' chests. O'Bannon sensed that she had something to do with Smith's being in the D.A. and probably regretted that decision. Hermione struck him as the type of person who despised making mistakes.
"So," Harry spoke. "Can we get back to figuring out how we're going to tell Professor Dumbledore about the Longathian Tunnel?"
"Yeah." O'Bannon nodded. "It's gonna be a nightmare for me and my friends to get to the headmaster's office with all these aurors around. Hell, after our little run-in with that Umbridge hag, they probably have a whole squad of aurors camped outside Headmaster Dumbledore's office."
"Wait a minute, Jimmy." Hermione held up her hand. "You're not going back out there, and neither are your friends."
O'Bannon did a double take. "Da'hell?"
"Excuse me," Jared said. "But it's gonna be kinda hard for us to tell your headmaster about the Longathian Tunnel when we're cooped up in here."
Hermione sighed loudly. "Think about it, Jared, is it? Every auror at Hogwarts is on the lookout for you. You barely escaped them the first time. Do you think you can get past them a second time?"
"Actually, I'd be surprised if any aurors are still here."
Hermione gave Ron a perplexed look. He continued. "I mean, you really think Dumbledore's going to let a bunch of aurors stomp around the school? Fudge and Toadface be damned. He'd find a way to send them all packing."
O'Bannon bobbed his head back and forth. "Actually, Ron's got a good point."
Shock exploded across Ron's face. O'Bannon figured the youngest Weasley boy didn't hear a compliment like that too often.
He continued. "Okay, I was only here a year, but I got the sense that Headmaster Dumbledore was in firm control of this place. And he doesn't seem afraid one bit to tell Fudge or anyone else from the Ministry to go piss up a rope."
"Yeah!" George nodded emphatically. "He's found ways around all the other rubbish the Ministry's pulled. I bet by now he's done something to make Hogwarts auror free."
"I wished he'd find a way to make Hogwarts Umbridge free," grumbled Angelina Johnson.
"I don't think we can take that chance," Hermione said. "We have to work on the assumption the aurors are still here. I'm sorry, Jimmy. You and your friends have to stay here for the time being."
O'Bannon opened his mouth to protest.
"Jimmy."
He stiffened when a hand grasped his arm. Tonks' hand. He looked down at the fingers wrapped around his bicep, then up to the heart-shaped face of the disguised auror.
"Hermione's right. We'd never get to Dumbledore's office. Or McGonagall's for that matter."
"Well I don't see the problem." Lee Jordan looked around at the D.A. "One of us can deliver the message to Dumbledore."
"There is a problem with that, Lee," Hermione noted. "If the aurors are looking for Jimmy, they're going to be suspicious of anyone who was friends with him. Especially anyone from the Triad hockey team."
"Then how about we use someone who wasn't on Jimmy's team?" Rosa eyed Harry, Ron and Hermione. "I don't recall you three being on it."
Harry shook his head. "Forget me. As far as Umbridge is concerned, I'm the school's number one troublemaker. If I get caught wandering the corridors, she'll figure I'm up to something."
"She probably already thinks you're plotting to overthrow the Ministry in Dumbledore's name," Ron scoffed.
"Ron and I are out as well." Hermione looked from the redhead to Harry. "Guilty by association."
"Okay," O'Bannon groaned. "So who does that leave us with?"
He scanned the rest of the D.A. Who hadn't he been that close with? More importantly, who hadn't he been close with who he could trust to get past the aurors with raising any suspicion and deliver his message to Dumbledore or McGonagall?
Neville Longbottom? No way. The guy would forget his ass if it wasn't attached to him. He also crossed Marietta Edgecombe off the list. She never forgave him for cutting her from the Triad. But then, she wanted on the team more to look cool than to beat Slytherin.
Who else? The "giggle twins," Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil? He'd never considered either of them particularly bright.
What about Parvati's sister? Padma was a Ravenclaw. She had to have a good head on her shoulders. O'Bannon also noticed the very hot Cho Chang. She could be another possibility. He probably hadn't said more than ten words total to either girl during his year at Hogwarts. He doubted anyone would associate those two with him.
O'Bannon turned to Harry, ready to give his suggestion. He held his tongue when he saw him staring intently at something. Furrowing his brow, O'Bannon followed Harry's gaze to a girl with long dirty blond hair, protuberant eyes and large radish-shaped earrings.
Neck muscles clenched, he sidled over to Harry and whispered, "Dude. You're not serious about using her?"
"Yes I am." Harry nodded.
O'Bannon's entire body sagged. He closed his eyes and sighed. Had things become so desperate they had to resort to her?
XXXXX
Luna Lovegood skipped down the steps to the sixth floor, trying to hum a happy tune. However, she found it hard to be happy when she thought of all the creatures Jimmy O'Bannon mentioned. The reptoids concerned her the most. Like dragons, they were greatly misunderstood.
Luna stopped at the bottom of the steps and cocked her head. She reconsidered the word "misunderstood." Feared would be more accurate. She remembered the story Daddy ran in The Quibbler a couple years ago on how the reptoids had a thriving civilization throughout North and South America thousands of years ago, only to have it fall victim to some mysterious cataclysm. Now wizards and witches throughout those continents did everything in their power to restrict their territory and keep them at the most primitive stage of development so their once-great civilization could not rise again and challenge humanity.
Perhaps that's why they sided with Lord Voldemort. Maybe he promised them an empire of their own.
Luna shook her head as she continued down the torch-lit corridor. The poor reptoids. She had a feeling Voldemort would betray them and enslave them like he wanted to do with the rest of the Wizarding World. Perhaps when she told Professor McGonagall about the Longathian Tunnel, she would ask her to find a way to help the reptoids. Luna sighed, wondering if it would be a lost cause. Professor McGonagall was not the most open-minded person at Hogwarts. Luna would probably have a better chance of convincing Dumbledore. But the D.A. deemed going to his office too risky. No doubt aurors had it well guarded after Jimmy O'Bannon and his friends tried to enter it.
A warm smile spread across her face. It was so nice seeing Jimmy O'Bannon again. Even though he always acted awkward around her, he possessed a kind soul and never hesitated to help her. He'd proven that when he gave her all those pucks to help keep wrackspurts away.
Speaking of which, she had to remind him . . .
"You there! Stop!"
Luna halted and slowly twirled, still smiling. Two men, one balding and heavy-set, the other lean with wavy brown hair, strode toward her, wands drawn.
"What are you doing here?" demanded the heavy-set man.
"I was walking," Luna responded serenely.
The large man grunted. "I can see that. Aren't you aware all students have been confined to their houses?"
"Really? What for?"
"There are dangerous criminals on the loose here. Americans . . ."
"Why would Americans be at Hogwarts?"
The auror's face tightened. He probably didn't appreciate being interrupted. "They're foreign mercenaries trying to contact Dumbledore. Their leader's a young man named James Michael O'Bannon. He attended Hogwarts last year as an exchange student." The man hardened his gaze at Luna. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about him, would you?"
"Actually, I do."
"Oh really?" The heavy-set man's eyes widened. "Such as?"
"Well, he formed a hockey team here that beat Slytherin House."
"Everyone knows that," the young auror said. "What we mean is have you seen him recently?"
"No." Luna felt her insides go all twisty. She didn't like lying, but considering what was at stake she really had no choice.
"Then why are you roaming the corridors while the other students are back at their houses?" The heavy-set auror drew a deep breath, his narrow eyes locked on her.
"Well, I wanted to make sure the wulkimbles are all right."
The auror blinked. "Th-The what?"
"The wulkimbles. There are a few that live in the castle. They're very timid and delicate creatures. And well, with all you aurors stomping around, they could be in danger. I wanted to make sure no harm came to them."
"There are no such creatures as wulkimbles."
"Yes there are. My father has written extensively about them in The Quibbler."
"The Quibbler?" blurted the young auror. "Wait a tic. Is your father Xenophilius Lovegood?"
"Why yes."
"Who's that?" The heavy-set auror turned to his partner. "What's The Quibbler?"
The young auror chuckled softly. "It's a load of rubbish is what it is. A magazine that goes on about made up creatures and daft conspiracies, like Minister Fudge killing goblins by baking them in pies."
"Sedition!" The heavy-set auror whipped his head toward Luna. His face wrinkled with disgust.
"Sedition? Oh please." The young auror laughed harder. "It's all nonsense. My cousin loves the stupid thing, though. Of course, she's just as barmy as this girl's father."
"My father is not barmy." Luna straightened her back and lifted her chin proudly. "He exposes all the truths the Ministry wants kept quiet."
"Sure he does." The young auror turned to his partner. "Somehow I can't see this girl knowing anything about O'Bannon. She looks cut from the same cloth as her father."
The heavy-set auror stared at Luna thoughtfully for a few seconds. "You're probably right. Get back to your house." He ordered Luna before turning back to his partner. "Come on. We still have a lot of rooms to search."
The aurors barely gave Luna a second glance as they strutted past her and down the corridor. She waited until they disappeared from sight before continuing on.
She soon ran into another pair of aurors. Again she explained her concern over the wulkimbles, which really wasn't a lie. They were very fragile creatures. All this activity by the aurors could drive them away from their nests. Then there'd be no one to care for their young.
Not that these two aurors believed her. In fact, they appeared rather annoyed with her and told her to go back to Ravenclaw Tower before going on their way.
Luna, instead, descended the stairs until she reached the floor for the Transfiguration classroom, and McGonagall's office. She hadn't run into any more aurors, thankfully. Such rude and narrow-minded people. At least the ones patrolling Hogwarts. Perhaps she could suggest an article to Daddy on how the Ministry should train aurors to develop better social skills.
She spied a moving portrait of a group of stuffy-looking white-haired wizards sitting in a study reading books or playing Wizard's Chess. Luna smiled. Just around the corner lay Professor McGonagall's office. She started forming the arguments she wanted to make on aiding the reptoids should they . . .
"Miss Lovegood! Stop!"
She halted. A small frown creased her lips. She immediately recognized the voice.
She turned to find Professor Umbridge stomping down the corridor toward her. Two students flanked her, a tall blond boy with a pinched face and a short dark-haired girl with a compact face.
"What are you doing wandering the corridors?" Umbridge put her hands on her hips. "All students are supposed to be in their dormitories. Five points from Ravenclaw."
"I'm sorry, Professor. I just needed to see Professor McGonagall."
"Oh really?" Umbridge leaned closer to Luna. "Now why would a Ravenclaw student wish to see the head of Gryffindor House?"
"Well, with all the sudden activity going on here, I was worried about the wulkimbles. I wanted to see if Professor McGonagall would help me transfigure some parts of the corridors into safe habitats so they wouldn't be disturbed while nesting." Luna had meant it as a lie, but now that she thought about it, it did sound like a good idea.
Umbridge's face tightened. "Miss Lovegood. You know I do not tolerate your lies in my classroom. I will certainly not tolerate them during a crisis. Five points from Ravenclaw."
"What sort of crisis? Will it affect the wulkimbles?"
"Idiot girl! There are foreign mercenaries loose in this school led by Jimmy O'Bannon. He was here last year as an exchange student from America. You wouldn't happen to know him, would you?"
Luna's lips parted. Before she could deny it, a superior-sounding voice cut her off.
"She does know him, Professor." Draco Malfoy sharply nodded toward her. "She was O'Bannon's little girlfriend."
"Really?" Umbridge folded her arms. Her gaze hardened. "Well now, Miss Lovegood. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I'm afraid Draco's mistaken. I never had a romantic relationship with Jimmy O'Bannon. See, our auras just aren't . . ."
"Oh, she's lying," Pansy Parkinson hissed. "That Mudblood was always coming to her rescue like some knight in shining armor. Don't tell me there was nothing between you two."
"Well, nothing romantic. And there were just a handful of times Jimmy helped me, like giving me pucks to drive away wrackspurts, or when you two," her eyes flickered from Draco to Pansy, "took my books and dropped them on my head."
Umbridge took slow, deliberate breaths as she hardened her gaze at Luna. "So you have not seen Jimmy O'Bannon at all within the last hour?"
"No." Luna shook her head.
"What about the other prefects?" Draco insisted. "It's rather peculiar, I think. When Professor Umbridge called the prefects to help search for O'Bannon, we were the only Fifth Year ones to show up. No sign of MacMillan and Abbott from Hufflepuff, or Goldstein and Patil from Ravenclaw, or Weasel and that Mudblood Granger from Gryffindor. You wouldn't happen to know where they got to, would you?"
"Why would I? Prefects are the most responsible students at Hogwarts. They certainly don't need me to keep an eye on them."
"Argh!" Pansy scowled. "This little idiot's useless. She couldn't find lint in her bloody pockets, much less the other Fifth Year prefects."
"Oh. Are you done with me? Can I see Professor McGonagall now?"
Luna started to turn.
"No, Miss Lovegood. You cannot see Professor McGonagall."
"But the wulkimbles. I'm so worried about them. I have to see her and tell her . . ."
"I'm afraid you don't understand." Umbridge glared at her. "It is impossible for you, or anyone else, to see Professor McGonagall."
TO BE CONTINUED
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The references Luna made regarding Jimmy O'Bannon helping her with Malfoy are chronicled in my fanfic "The Luna Effect."