Well, here's number ten - enjoy. :)
Stepping Up – "Why would your Patronus change?" Lupin took his time chewing his turkey and swallowing before saying slowly, "Sometimes...a great shock...an emotional upheaval..."
"Potter's Army?" Harry demanded. "Are they insane?"
He was sitting upright in his bed in the Hospital Wing; Hermione, who stood before him, let out an exasperated sigh.
"It's just like the DA," she said, "except that now they've shifted their focus to you. You're a leader to them – you're their hope."
"And what if I don't want to be?" he said roughly. As if he didn't have enough to deal with already…
Hermione shook her head. "You know the truth about the world, Harry. Usually it doesn't care what you want or don't want. Besides, would you back away from them and leave them with nothing? This gives them something to concentrate on. It helps keep Voldemort out of their minds."
Harry wrung his sheets in frustration. "But what good is it? We've got a decent Defense teacher now. Won't they have enough to learn from him?"
"It's not the same thing, Harry, and you know it," Hermione admonished. "Look, just give them a chance. Ron and I went to one of the meetings with Ginny yesterday, and they're really into this. It's not just a bunch of ragtag little kids that don't have anything better to do."
"Hermione!"
They both turned to see Ron in the doorway. He waved to Harry before continuing on, "We'll be late for class, hurry up!"
Harry raised an eyebrow. "He actually wants to go to class?" he asked dubiously.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "As if. Professor Blackthorn said he'd be showing us how to transform people into animals; Ron's been going on about ferrets all morning."
Harry snorted.
"Anyway, I've got to go," Hermione said as she picked her bag up. "Think about it, all right?"
Harry grumbled under his breath as she turned to leave. Merlin be damned if he was going to spend precious time teaching a bunch of second-years how to Stun six-foot-tall, bloodthirsty Death Eaters.
Three days later, he found himself in the Room of Requirement instructing a group of eager third-years on how to raise a shield.
"Right, so you go like this" – he flicked his wand in demonstration – "and the incantation is…"
"Protego," one of the girls supplied.
"Good," Harry said, nodding. "You can go practice it now. And don't use potentially dangerous spells – stick with Tickling Charms or something."
The third-years nodded excitedly and bounded off. Harry watched them go with a faint sense of amusement. He'd been genuinely surprised to see how many people took part in the meetings, and rather impressed by the amount of skill, potential, and willingness that everyone shared. Colin, Dennis, and Luna had done a remarkable job in rounding up skilled and determined students.
He even found, at one point, that he was enjoying himself – he tried not to let it show too much though, lest it prompt another "I told you so!" from Hermione.
It was she who arranged meeting times so that they were convenient for everyone; she also took charge of attendance and recruiting – it was thanks to her that nearly everyone from their year was a diligent participant – which left Harry with little to do aside from showing up.
"Harry," someone said, tapping him on the shoulder. "Can you help us?"
He turned around slowly, dreading who he would see.
Romilda Vane stood before him, with two other girls at her back. She gave him a sweet smile.
"We can't figure out this Stunning Charm," she said innocently. Harry had seen her immobilize a sixth year from Hufflepuff not five minutes ago.
"Er, all right," he said, thanking Merlin Ginny was on the other side of the room. "So, you hold your wand like this…"
He cursorily went through the steps and watched one of her friends perform the charm while inconspicuously attempting to pry Romilda's fingers off his arm. He gave the girl a hasty nod of approval before quickly edging away. He heard them giggling as he joined Neville, who was practicing the Patronus Charm with Luna and Ron.
"I almost had it once, Harry," he said brightly, sweeping the hair out of his eyes. "I think it's some kind of bird."
"That's great, Neville," Harry said, grinning.
He spent another hour wandering around, encouraging and helping where he could. He felt slightly disappointed when Hermione finally announced that the meeting was over.
"Excellent work, everyone," she said, beaming. "I think we'll be more than capable of defending Hogwarts with the progress we're making. What do you think, Harry?"
"Definitely," Harry said. "It's brilliant that you're all working so hard on this, because Hogwarts is one of the more obvious priorities after Horcruxes and Voldemort."
He frowned to see the sudden flinching Voldemort's name generated.
"Don't say his name!" someone hissed.
"If you keep this up," Harry continued, staidly ignoring the white faces, "we can keep Death Eaters away for sure. I don't think Voldemort will be targeting Hogwarts himself, so we won't have to worry about a full-scale war on the grounds or anything."
There was more whispering and blanching; a short, stocky boy tentatively raised his hand. "Er, Harry? Can you not, you know, say his name?"
Harry faced him; the boy faltered but held his gaze. "Are you scared?" Harry asked him.
"No!" the boy said indignantly. "I'm not scared, I just – "
"I am," Harry interrupted quietly. "I'm scared as hell right now. Scared of what'll happen to my friends, to you, to everybody I know. Scared of what everyone expects of me and scared that I might die. Scared that I'll fail – that I won't be able to find a Horcrux, that Hogwarts might fall, that someone else I love will die. I'm scared of loads of things right now, but you know what? Voldemort's name isn't one of them."
"Yeah, but – "
"But what?" Harry said. "How are you going to fight him if you can't even say his name? Do you want to be on the same level as Death Eaters, who are so fearful of him that they have to add 'My Lord' at the end of every sentence? You guys are better than them. I've faced Voldemort five times so far. He killed my parents and gave me this bloody scar. And if, after all that, I can say his name without flinching, I think you lot could do the same."
"We're not like you, though," the boy said sadly. "It's true you've faced You-Know-Who before, but you had the power to stand up to him. We don't. He's not as fallible to us as he is to you."
Harry felt himself losing his patience. "But it's just a name. Just some stupid word that a sixteen-year-old kid took a fancy to. It's no different from Ron, or Hermione, or Colin – listen. If you honestly can't say Voldemort, call him something else. Call him – I dunno, the Dark Dork or something. Just stop saying You-Know-Who."
There was a moment of stunned silence after Harry's outburst. Suddenly, a group of boys started snickering. Their mirth soon spread to their friends and the people around them until the whole room was laughing, repeating the name.
"Harry, that was brilliant!" Hermione whispered to him excitedly.
"Was it?" Harry asked bemusedly.
"Of course," Ron scoffed, joining the two of them. "Dark Dork?"
Hermione agreed with a wide smile. "It's a perfect parody on what the Death Eaters call him, and people don't stop to think of the fear it connotes because of the sheer absurdity of how it sounds."
"I suppose we'll want to call Death Eaters Death Gobblers too, then?" Harry asked dryly.
Hermione beamed and hugged him tightly. "Harry, you're a genius!"
"Yeah, watch your back Hermione, or I'll catch up to you," he said, grinning.
Hermione rolled her eyes as she released him. "Don't push it," she warned with a smile.
He received a message from Lupin that following Thursday, informing him that he should be at the Room of Requirement by nine A.M. for his first private lesson. Ginny unfortunately had a Charms class so only he, Ron, and Hermione made their way up to the seventh floor after breakfast.
They warily approached the wall opposite Barnabas the Barmy's tapestry, double-checking that no one had followed them. Ron and Hermione kept watch on either side of the corridor as Harry paced before the blank stretch of wall three times. They hurriedly ascertained that the corridor was empty before pulling the door open and stepping inside.
"You're late," growled a voice by way of greeting.
They jumped and spun around to find Mad-Eye, Lupin, and Tonks sitting on table on the opposite side of the room.
"Only by two minutes," Ron protested. Lupin smiled faintly.
Harry looked around the room; it was large and spacious, filled with cushions of various sizes, chairs, tables, a cabinet containing what looked to be torture instruments, and a bookshelf packed with books that Hermione was already eyeing eagerly.
"I could take down half a dozen Death Eaters in two minutes in my day," Mad-Eye said, glaring at Ron.
"Sure, Mad-Eye," Tonks said, grinning. "Too bad your day was a little farther back."
Mad-eye grumbled something under his breath as he stumped to the center of the room. "What are you waiting for, let's get started," he said.
The three of them wasted no time at all drilling home the grim fact that time was running out. Lupin warned them that any controversial mention of Snape would not be tolerated – it was neither the time nor place to debate a divisive topic.
But Snape was easily forgotten as they delved deeper into the rules and strategies of duels and wizards' war.
"What we're going to teach you is of the utmost importance – you must practice and master these skills if you're going to face Voldemort," Lupin said firmly.
"Or else I'll have you writing theories for everything," Mad-Eye growled. "And don't think I won't."
Ron shuddered; they'd had to do theories in Transfiguration last year and the year before. To say the least, Hermione had not enjoyed the late-night common room sessions.
"Speed, skill, cunning, and vigilance," became Mad-Eye's new mantra. He stressed the importance of quick reflexes, which he exemplified when he rounded unexpectedly upon Ron and cast a Silencing Charm on him. Ron hadn't even had the chance to look surprised as he stood there, mouthing wordlessly. "If I'd been a Death Eater, you'd be dead," Mad-Eye informed him as he restored Ron's voice.
Tonks emphasized precision – she showed them a chessboard sitting on a table some twenty feet away and proceeded to topple the line of black pawns one by one with short jets of blue light.
"Wicked," Ron breathed as the disgruntled pawns resumed their places.
Lupin reminded them that there were no real rules in war – Wizard or Muggle. Acts normally considered "dirty tricks" such as tripping, throwing objects, and so on were highly encouraged. Dueling in wars was not a matter of honor, and it required thinking as much as power.
With that, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were paired up with Mad-Eye, Lupin, and Tonks respectively and sent off to be "assessed."
"Your aim is to disarm me," Mad-Eye told him before they began, but Harry didn't get anywhere near disarming. He found that it was all he could do to keep from being killed – and to keep his temper in check once Mad-Eye decided to add taunts to the murderous spells he rattled off.
"Big weakness of yours, Potter," Mad-Eye told him calmly when he had made a recklessly furious lunge after an acidic crack at Sirius.
Harry gritted his teeth and dived out of the way of a Stinging Hex. A minute later, he found himself measuring his length on the floor, staring up dazedly at a cackling Mad-Eye – he had just delivered an uppercut to Harry's chin.
"Physical contact," he said, grinning down on Harry. "Don't be afraid to use it. Most won't expect it. Now get up."
Just as Harry was beginning to get the hang of it – he had ducked behind a chair to avoid a Tickling Charm and retaliated with a Full-Body Bind – Lupin called quits.
"Well done," Lupin said, nodding approvingly as they reconvened in the center of the room. "You're all in good shape and you know the basic spells. We'll be dueling like this at the beginning of every lesson to see how much you improve."
Ron groaned.
"Now, today we'll be focusing on Patronuses," Lupin said, rolling up his sleeves. "Your final goal will be sending messages with them."
"You can do that?' Ron asked, furrowing his brows.
"It's not something you're taught here," Tonks said. "It was Dumbledore's idea. We use it in the Order to communicate."
"Patronuses are more efficient in sending messages than owls or the Floo Network; it's especially useful now because of all the restrictions the Ministry's put on them," Mad-Eye went on.
"And each Patronus is unique, so you can always tell who sent the message, right?" Hermione said. "You also can't conjure anyone's Patronus but your own, so no one can send false messages."
"Very good," Lupin said, looking pleased. "It's also an anti-Dark Arts device, which makes it naturally resistant to interference from Dark wizards. Being ethereal, of course, also means it can't be hindered by physical barriers."
"But first, you need to know how to do the Patronus Charm," Mad-Eye said. "You all know the incantation?"
"Expecto Patronum," Hermione supplied.
"Good, now we know Potter can do it, so let's see you two try it."
"And fifty Galleons to Ron if he can do it on the first try," Tonks said with a grin.
Hermione managed to conjure her otter Patronus on the second try. Ron only managed to conjure a wisp of silvery smoke ("Don't worry, Tonks doesn't even have fifty Galleons," Lupin smirked.)
They split up again – Ron went with Lupin to practice the Patronus spell, while Mad-Eye and Tonks proceeded to teach Harry and Hermione how to send messages with their Patronuses.
From what Harry could gather of Mad-Eye and Tonks' instructions, the process was very similar to putting memories into a Penseive. There was no incantation besides that of the Patronus Charm, and once the message and recipient were given to the Patronus, it would vanish and do the rest.
"Just think of what you want to say, and who you want to send it to," Tonks said, pointing the tip of her wand to her temple, "and…pull it out." When Tonks removed her wand-tip, there was a silver strand attached to it. She then handed the strand to her Patronus, which accepted it by – well, eating it, as far as Harry could tell. It then vanished – and reappeared by Harry's side, making him jump.
"Touch your wand to it, and you'll hear the message," Tonks said.
Harry reached out and tapped his wand on the werewolf's head. Almost immediately, he heard Tonks voice inside his head.
::See? Very simple.::
"If you give it two or more destinations, it'll just deliver the same message to those people in the order you list them," Tonks said as her Patronus disappeared again and rematerialized beside Hermione. "As you get better at it, you can skip the step where you pull out your thought first. That's just a sort of middleman at this point."
"Well?" Mad-Eye demanded of Harry. "Are you going to try it or are you going to write me a theory?"
Harry hurriedly raised his wand. "Expecto Patronum!"
His large, silver Patronus burst out of his wand, galloping -
Only it wasn't galloping.
It was flying.
Everyone stopped and gaped at his Patronus, which was now soaring around his head.
"Harry," Hermione said tentatively, lowering her wand, "I-I thought your Patronus was a stag."
Harry nodded mutely. So did I. Were they all hallucinating?
"It's a phoenix," Tonks whispered in awe.
Mad-Eye was looking at Harry strangely. "Potter, when's the last time you conjured your Patronus?"
The last time...? Harry couldn't remember having cast the charm at all last year; he hadn't come in contact with dementors since...
"I don't - "
"Was it before or after Dumbledore's death?" Mad-Eye asked bluntly.
"B-before," Harry stammered. What did Dumbledore have anything to do with -
Dumbledore. His Patronus was a phoenix! But then...
"Mad-Eye," Lupin said. "We don't have time." Harry could almost hear the unspoken message: We'll talk about this later.
Mad-Eye still had a strange expression on his face. "Right, get back to work," he barked at Tonks, who hastily turned back to Hermione's Patronus. "Now, Potter, a message. Tell me your name and date of birth."
Harry took a deep breath and tried to think of his message, but the silver phoenix hovering before him proved to be incredibly distracting.
Harry James Potter. Why did my Patronus change? July thirty-first. How can it be a phoenix, when that was Dumbledore's? 1980. What does this mean?
When he pulled his wand away, there was a silver strand at the end of it. He held his wand out to the phoenix, which took the strand in its beak. It then vanished and reappeared beside Mad-Eye, who tapped the phoenix and cocked his head.
"Put it out of your mind, Potter," he snapped. Harry grimaced; apparently he'd sent all his thoughts with his Patronus. "Focus. Do it again."
Harry spent another half-hour relaying various messages to Mad-Eye, who pushed him to complete the process faster and faster. By the time Lupin and Ron rejoined them, Harry could convey messages of any length in less than five seconds and was so worn out that he had forgotten about the phoenix.
"How did it go?" Lupin asked them, followed by a dejected-looking Ron.
"Excellent," Mad-Eye said, giving Harry a crooked grin. "They learn fast." Tonks nodded in agreement.
"Well, that's it for today, then," Lupin said. "Remember; practice this one on your own. We'll be working on a different spell every week."
Tonks pointed her wand at Harry and Ron. "And we need you two to practice Apparition," she said with a wink.
"Yes," Lupin agreed. "We'll notify you sometime next week."
"Now get out," Mad-eye growled.
Tonks made a face at him. "You're horrible," she said, shaking her head. "Enjoy your weekend!" she added to them as they made their way toward the door.
"Thanks," Harry said as he waved and stepped out of the room.
Ron groaned as he pulled the door shut and started back toward Gryffindor Tower. "Did you see my Patronus," he muttered despondently. "Flimsy little cloud of nothing…"
"It takes practice, you know; it's a hard spell," Harry said, brushing his hair out of his eyes.
"Or maybe that's just what your Patronus looks like," Hermione smirked. "It does reflect the caster, after all."
Temperatures dropped so steeply the following day that students took to wearing gloves and scarves in the corridors. Hermione had an Arithmancy class right after breakfast, while Harry and Ron retreated to the library to look for more books on the Founders. They staggered out an hour later, both laden with heavy tomes.
"This is ridiculous," Ron grumbled. "It'll take forever to pick out relevant stuff from all these pages."
Harry grunted. "Too bad we can't shrink these," he muttered.
"Harry! Ron!"
They turned around slowly, careful not to lose their precarious grips on any of the books, to see Ginny running toward them.
"What is it?" Harry asked, alarmed. He set down his books on the ground. "Did something happen?"
"It's Hagrid!" Ginny said breathlessly, stopping before him. "He's come back – I saw the lights on in his hut this morning."
"Hagrid?" Ron asked dubiously. "Back?"
"Yes, Hagrid, half-giant, gamekeeper, about three times my height?" she said impatiently.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Well then, we've got to go see him!"
"Now?" Ron said in dismay, looking down at the books in his arms. At the same time, Ginny said, "Me?"
"Well, you don't have to if you don't – "
"'Course I do," she interrupted briskly. "Let's go."
"What about the books?" Ron demanded.
Harry blew his cheeks out. "I dunno, shove them behind a suit of armor or something," he said impatiently.
"And have Madam Pince murder you in your bed?" Ginny snorted.
"Fine," Harry growled. He whipped out his wand and tapped the books, which promptly vanished. "Satisfied? Now let's go."
Ron and Ginny exchanged astonished looks as Harry disappeared down the stairs.
"What did he just do?" Ron asked slowly.
"Bugger if I know," Ginny shrugged. "C'mon, or Harry'll go by himself."
Ron and Ginny caught up to Harry in the Great Hall, where he had just received permission to go outside from Professor Flitwick. It was another quarter of an hour, however, before they could find an Auror to take them down to Hagrid's.
He was a grim-looking, scrubby-bearded fellow whose dark eyes darted from here to there as they tramped through the snow. Harry suspected he was convinced they'd be attacked by a horde of Death Eaters that were hiding behind a bush.
They made it to Hagrid's door unscathed, however, and the man stiffly told them that he would wait by the pumpkin patch until they were ready to return.
Harry was just about to pound on the door when it swung open to reveal Hagrid bundled in a large overcoat, restraining a drooling Fang by the collar. "No, Fang, I told yeh – git back, yeh great – Harry?"
"Hi Hagrid," Harry said with an uncertain smile.
"What're yeh – is that Ron? Ginny? Where – yeh didn' come by yerself, did yeh?" he asked suspiciously.
"There's an Auror back there," Harry said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at the Auror standing nearby, apparently impervious to the weather. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Got ter tell the Headmistress summat," Hagrid grunted. "Down, Fang. What're you two doin' down here? An' where's Hermione?"
"She's got Arithmancy," Harry said. "We just came to visit since you – uh – haven't been here in a while."
"Yeah," Hagrid panted, still struggling with Fang. He finally managed to get the door shut before the boarhound could get out. "Damn dog. You three've got ter be freezin'. Let's go."
"We're going back," Harry told the Auror as he, Ron, and Ginny retraced their steps to the castle, Hagrid stomping along beside them.
The Auror looked slightly disgruntled at having been dragged from his post to take three students down to a hut they spent barely a minute at, but nodded wordlessly.
"So where have you been?" Harry asked. "Everyone was wondering why you weren't here at the beginning of the year."
Hagrid cast a guarded look at the Auror, who seemed to be paying no attention whatsoever to their conversation. "Went ter see the giants again," he said confidentially.
"You what?" Harry and Ron exclaimed, just as Ginny, who didn't know about Hagrid's first attempt two years ago, said, "Again?"
"Quiet!" Hagrid whispered fiercely, his eyes still on the Auror, who seemed completely disinterested.
"For what?" Harry demanded in softer tones. "I thought you said the Death Eaters persuaded the Gurg to join Voldemort!"
"Tha' was two years ago," Hagrid said dismissively.
"Dad said the Ministry was debating whether or not to send some envoy to see if they could work out an alliance," Ginny put in, "but most people thought there weren't enough giants left to make much of a difference in the war, so it never happened."
Hagrid nodded sadly. "Aren' too many left, tha's fer sure," he agreed. "But giants can be very useful."
They had reached the entrance doors, which their Auror escort signaled for to be opened. He then gave Harry a curt nod and disappeared around a corner.
"So what happened? Who's 'we'?" Harry inquired as they made their way toward the marble staircase.
"Olympe offered ter go again, o' course," Hagrid shrugged. "But she's got enough ter worry 'bout with 'er school an' all. I took Grawp."
Harry stopped short. "You took Grawp?" he said incredulously. Ginny was looking at him quizzically; neither he, Ron, nor Hermione had told her about Hagrid's half-brother.
"You're mad," Ron said grimly.
"Well, 'e's a giant, isn't 'e?" Hagrid said nonchalantly. "Taught 'im some more English and a bit o' magic over the summer, so I thought 'e could help."
"You taught – he went – well, did it work?" Harry demanded. "Did the giants…"
Hagrid smiled for the first time, his beetle-black eyes crinkling. He was faring well, Harry thought, considering the blow Dumbledore's death had dealt him. "Yeah. Yeah, they did. Now I've got ter talk to the Headmistress, I'll see yeh later."
Harry and Ron watched Hagrid stump down the corridor with their mouths hanging open. "He got – the giants – "
"Either of you mind telling me what – or who – Grawp is?" Ginny asked a bit impatiently.
"What? Oh, Grawp…" They started off toward the common room as Harry explained Hagrid's half-brother – and the failed mission Hagrid and Olympe had embarked on two years ago – to her.
"So that's who he was," she said thoughtfully. "He was at the funeral, but I didn't think it was the time to ask who he was."
"Yeah. But that's brilliant, that is, getting the giants… Wonder how he did it?" Ron mused.
"Does it matter? Mind you, Bill's said it's hard to trust giants," Ginny said doubtfully as they reached the seventh floor. "They kill each other so often it's hard to know which one's in charge and what they believe."
Harry furrowed his brows at this – it was precisely what had happened the last time around, when Golgomath had killed Karkus, who had seemed to favor Hagrid rather than the Death Eaters, and decided to join the Dark side. "If Hagrid says we've got them, he must have persuaded them somehow," he settled for saying. "He wouldn't have told us, or come back at all, if he didn't think he could trust them." It was also a good indication that Hagrid had returned without the motley collection of bruises and cuts he had acquired last time.
"I suppose," Ginny said, still sounding a bit noncommittal. "He was a bit vague on how he knew the giants were up for trading sides, though, wasn't he? I mean, he couldn't have just walked up to them if he'd known they were still loyal to Voldemort."
They had approached the portrait of the Fat Lady, who appeared to have been dozing until she heard their footsteps.
"Hello, dears," she said with a wide yawn.
"Everlasting Icicles," Harry told her.
"Right nuisance they can be, too," the Fat Lady said conversationally as she swung open. "Everlasting, yes, but not drip-free – "
"Harry!"
The exclamation was accompanied by loud, hurried footsteps, and Harry craned his neck around the Fat Lady's portrait in surprise. Hermione came flying down the corridor, arms flapping in her excitement.
"Harry, I've been looking for you everywhere," Hermione said breathlessly as she skidded to a stop before him. "Oh, hi, Ron, hi Ginny. Listen," she continued without waiting for any replies, "I overheard Professor McGonagall talking to Professor Blackthorn and Professor Flitwick after breakfast, and apparently they'd sent someone out to the Forbidden Forest as an envoy of sorts – Parvati thinks it's Firenze, but I don't know – because they just received news that some of the centaurs have agreed to fight for Hogwarts, and the merpeople will, too, in Dumbledore's honor, and probably because they'd want to defend the lake…"
"Wow," Ginny said.
"That – that's great," Harry said, still a bit shocked at the deluge of information. "But the centaurs – how did they manage to convince the centaurs?"
He could still vividly recall their reaction when he and Hermione had led Umbridge in to the forest in fifth year, mistakenly thinking they would happily get rid of her for them. They were like giants, Hagrid had told them, in that they were mistrustful of wizards and magic. Harry supposed that they had sufficient reason to, of course, but considering the choice was either them or Voldemort, he couldn't quite fathom why they were so reluctant.
He could see that Hermione remembered the Umbridge incident, too; she gave him a shrug. "I've no idea, really, but as long as we've got them, it's one thing less to worry about, isn't it?"
"Sorry to interrupt your lovely conversation, but are you planning to go in, or shall I just hang here?" the Fat Lady asked irritably.
"Oh, sorry!" Hermione said. "I didn't see – let's go in, shall we?" She climbed through the portrait hole after Ginny, and Harry clambered in after them as the Fat Lady grumbled about "ungrateful students."
"Well, I suppose it's an improvement on the situation," Harry sighed as he collapsed into an armchair near the fireplace. Ron and Ginny flopped down on the couch across from him. "So now we've got the centaurs, merpeople, Aurors, the Order, and some students against Voldemort and his bloody Death Eaters, not to mention Dementors and werewolves and who knows what else."
"Oh, don't be so sour," Hermione admonished, perching on the arm of his chair. "It's actually not as bad as it sounds."
"It isn't, is it?" Harry growled. "Face it, if Voldemort wants Hogwarts, he isn't going to let a bunch of students and a handful of the Forbidden Forest's creatures stop him."
"Don't forget, we've got the giants, too," Ginny reminded him.
Hermione turned on Harry. "What? What giants?"
"Hagrid's back, and he told us he'd just come back from another envoy mission with the giants," Harry explained.
Hermione's mouth became a big 'o'. "By himself?" she demanded.
"No, with Grawp," Harry said, shaking his head. "Dunno how he did it, but he got them on our side."
"Well, that's wonderful!" Hermione said, beaming. "See, we have a chance against Voldemort!"
"Hermione, just because – "
"Hey, isn't that Hedwig?" Ron said suddenly, pointing to the window.
Sure enough, there was a snowy owl tapping its talons against the ice-encrusted panes, a scrap of parchment tied to its leg.
"Hedwig!" Harry leapt off the armchair and strode quickly to his owl, yanking the window open to let her in. Hedwig gave a disgruntled hoot as she landed on Harry's shoulder, ruffling her feathers as she stuck out her leg.
"Who's it from?" Ginny inquired, leaning over the back of the couch.
"I dunno, but I don't remember sending Hedwig to anyone," Harry said, frowning. He freed the parchment and stroked Hedwig's head before letting her fly back out the window. Walking back toward the fireplace, he slowly unfolded the ragged note. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione huddled around him to read it.
Harry, we couldn't reach Professor McGonagall so we need you to tell her, Hagrid, and Professor Drake –
Beauxbatons has been attacked.
Lupin
Up Next: What's up with Harry's Patronus? And is Sirius still alive? Lost eyebrows aren't only Ron Weasley's problem, but Christmas can always cheer everyone up.
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