Even though Sirius had said that they would come up with something, a whole month had passed and Sirius had come and gone, but no solutions can be made so they decided to stick to the original plan and fight. Despite the frustrations however, there was still room for some good news.
"Welcome back!"
"Good to see you back with us mate!"
"Look who decided to show up!"
"Glad to see you're alright!"
Assorted cheers and applause rung out in the Room of Requirement as Dean Thomas stepped through its secret doors, being helped by Seamus. Harry and the gang beamed as Dean took his spot amongst the others as if nothing had happened. Rox, who was still leaning against the pillar gave a relieved smirk (yes it is possible).
The DA quieted down as harry began to speak, "Well…I guess you all know the big news today," In response, everyone began cheering and clapping," I might as well say it anyways, Dean Thomas is now back here with us!" The cheering intensified before Harry raised his hands and everyone went quiet again, "How are you feeling there Dean?"
"Never better," Dean said grinning.
"Glad to have you back mate," Harry said smiling before looking at everyone else seriously again, "As you all know, the attacks by the MH on the DA have been going on throughout the entire month, and though we, the DA, have been there every time to stop it; it has gotten harder to stop the attacks," Everyone looked at Harry grimly. Everyone in the DA had been involved in at least one attack and barely survived each encounter, "…Well I'm done…I'm done watching us all get attacked…It ends here….Our defensive ends here… The choice is still yours, but I now call for frequent, regular DA meeting to truly train so that we can take the fight to them. So that we can begin our offensive and also-"Harry paused mid speech to remember the information he gained.
"Harry we need to talk," Hermione said gravely, Luna and Ron nodding behind her while Rox and Ginny had just walked up to them.
"About what?" Harry asked.
"The teacher's, they're not themselves, they act like how they normally would, but there are holes and mistakes in their behavior," Hermione continued, "Ever since the night they were at Rosmerta's,"
"Maybe they just realized something that made them uneasy about something, maybe it because they know about the MH, because of Umbridge, they can't do anything about it," Harry suggested.
"I reckon we should shadow one of the teachers to see if they do anything out of the ordinary," Ron said showing once again that he's not that stupid.
Harry nodded at him and looked around, he saw Filch walking across from them, so Harry turned his back to him and pulled out the Marauder's Map. He looked at it and his eyes went wide. He swiveled his head to Filch then back at the Map, then back at Filch again.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Ginny asked.
Harry looked up at her, his face had grown pale and his eyes were still wide," …Filch isn't here…"
"He's right over there…" Luna said pointing to him.
"No he's not…look," Harry said showing them the map. Sure enough there was no Filch in proximity of them, "The map is never wrong, so whoever that is, it not Filch….it's not anybody….there isn't supposed to be anyone there…"
"-we absolutely CANNOT tell any of the teachers," Harry finished.
"Why? Are they with the toad?" Seamus asked narrowing his eyes.
"Worse…We have reason to believe that the teachers right now aren't really the teachers, but are just imposters,"
"What! What reasons? How do you know," a voice asked from the crowd followed by a quiet uproar of multiple people wanting to know the reason.
"I'm sorry, but the reason I know has to do with a secret that's very personal to me. I know I have never asked this from any of you, but please just trust me on this," Harry said with a slight tone of pleading in his voice.
The members of the DA looked skeptical, but they understood. Harry was their leader; he never misled them before and they were sure that he would not now.
"Thanks every one. Now then we need to train the best as hard as possible so everyone line-," Harry began saying before he was interrupted by Luna.
"Excuse me, but I don't think we should train together for the time being…" Luna said dreamily.
Harry looked at her oddly before asking, "Why? Don't we need to work together?"
"Yes…" Luna answered, "However, we have just been learning the basics; the stuff that everyone can do you know. I think that we should train by ourselves so that we can uncover, discover, or create new things that only we can do…"
"She has a point mate," Ron piped in, "It would give us a great advantage if we knew things that not only the enemy doesn't know, but other people themselves don't know,"
After thinking for a bit Harry asked, "I think that would be terrific. Did you all hear that? We aren't gonna have meetings for awhile, but during the time, I want you to come up with your own original stuff. It doesn't even have to be spells, it can be application, or ways to duels; it can be anything. Set your imagination loose,"
Harry expected everyone to be disappointed that they would not be able to learn anything anymore, but to his surprise, everyone cheered. It seemed like they had many ideas in their minds.
"Just be sure not to let anyone else see you!" Hermione said hotly before Harry dismissed everyone.
After everyone left, Hermione said in an excited voice, "It's going to be really interesting to see what everyone can come up with!"
"Definitely, but it not just them either!" Ginny said smiling.
"That's right, we're gonna have to develop some new stuff as well though that won't be too hard," Harry said chuckling.
"For Mione you mean," Ron said tiredly, "I reckon it will be hard for some people to use their imaginations. By the way, what gave you that idea Luna?"
"Oh everyone looked like they were getting bored of your lesson, that's all," Luna said smiling causing Harry to wince. Even when Rox is around, Luna still says the truth as bluntly as possible.
"What do you think about this Rox?" Ginny asked as all eyes turned to the blondie leaning against the pillar.
-It will definitely be interesting to see what happens. I know for a fact that this will set them above average wizards even if we are just students. Also, Hogwarts holds many secrets so I won't be surprised if we find a book or something that can teach us new spells or ways to use them-
Without waiting for another word, Hermione raced out of the room.
"Five galleons says that she is heading towards the library…." Ron sighed as he slowly followed her out of the room.
"I'm just afraid that there might be some people who stumble upon…dark magic," Ginny said as Harry nodded his head in agreement.
Rox looked at her; -Spells aren't categorized as light and dark; people are. I think magic should be more classified as black and white.-
Ginny looked at him thoughtfully before walking out of the room with a lot to think about.
-Harry, you look like you're gonna pass out. Get some rest. No, get a lot of rest- Rox smirked as a weary eyed Harry nodded his head dumbly before dragging himself out of the room.
The only people left in the room was Luna and Rox; -So…big meeting today huh-
Luna nodded, "Yes, it looks like we're making great progress…"
-Yeah…Are you uh…tired at all? You know, or sleepy…?-
She shook her head, "Nope, I managed to get all my work done early so I had time to take a nap. Why may I ask?"
Rox blushed; -Well I was gonna do something tonight, but…it would be…you know… better if there was someone with….me-
Luna smiled at Rox's red face, causing it to turn even redder, "What did you have in mind?"
-The night is completely clear and I just wanted to…you know…look at the stars and the moon. If you don't wanna go then I completely understand-
"I would love to, but we can't be on the grounds at night and it gets really chilly up on the bell tower," Luna said shivering slightly at the thought of the biting cold outside.
Rox held out his hand; -Well I had something else in mind-
Luna took his hand and he led her out of the room. Once out of the room, Rox stopped and waited for about six seconds. He then smiled, turned around and reopened the door. When they entered, Luna gasped at the change in scenery. The walls and roof were transparent so that only the outside can be seen. The ground was now a yard of fresh green grass and the air was crisp and cool, but not biting.
'Always loved this room' Rox thought as Luna ran in and looked up happily before laying down on the grass. Rox did the same and together, Luna and Rox spent the night under the stars.