Chapter 10: New Recruits

Abby caught her breath so that it made it hard for her to breathe. She had heard of the secret organization in Hogwarts from her older brother, when he was on his school breaks, but she had never really believed him, since he had a tendency to joke around.

Yet, she had always hoped that she would be chosen to join. The way he retold some of his adventures, which she had thought were made up, made it impossible to recline an invitation to join if you were to be asked.

"You mean, you brought us here to join the DA?" she asked incredulously.

Maurice nodded, giving her a smile. "Guess we have a leak somewhere, though."

Chad interrupted by clearing his throat. "Naturally, you do have the right to choose wether you want to join or not. If you accept this offer, then there's no going back unless you want to write your name on the wall of dishonorables and have all of your memories regarding the DA erased."

Patton and Bartie looked extremely excited about this, but Virginia was a bit reluctant.

"What exactly is the DA anyways? I want to know what I'm getting into before I make any decisions," she said, her eyes narrowing as if she was suspicious of what Chad was planning to do with them.

Rachel stepped forward, bouncing as she asked Maurice, "Oh can I please explain this time? I'm really stoked that I got this far last year."

Maurice rolled his eyes in amusement, but let her explain anyways. Rachel started talking straight away.

"Thirty-three years ago, the very own Harry Potter founded Dumbledore's Army in the Room of Requirement just after the return of You-Know-Who when one teacher in particular started giving them a hard time. He dedicated a lot of his time to train other kids for the worst, since he knew that dark times were drawing ahead for them at Hogwarts."

"The group only lasted a year, and the Room of Requirement was destroyed in a magical fire only two years later, but an unknown student rebuilt the room for, once again, unknown reasons. Only twenty-five years ago did a student named Montgomery, last name secret, re-founded the organization because of hardships at school."

"Ever since then, the students who are a part of the DA have dedicated themselves to improve the school when things have gone wrong. Three years ago, in fact, one of the school's many Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers was poorly chosen, and had students punished severely for any misbehavior. Dumbledore's Army, however, took care of that quickly."

"In other words, if you choose to join, you'll be helping everyone create a better Hogwarts environment. Missions can be potentially dangerous to yourself though. Being caught by a teacher is unevitable, but the number of times you are caught is up to how you handle the types of situations you are in."

"That is why not everyone is chosen to join. Students must have certain qualities to even be considered. And those few are you guys. Every year, we gather the first years with the most potential to join our ranks. It is usually a few from every house, but Gryffindor hasn't showed much promise this year, and Slytherin wasn't fit either."

Abby could barely see it but Chad lowered his eyes when Rachel mentioned this. Nigel did also, but not with as much passion as Chad did.

"So now you have the final choice. Is it a yes or a no? We need an answer soon because we're keeping the crowd waiting."

Virginia nodded, her eyes shining as she high-fived with her two Hufflepuff comrades. Hoagie seemed eager and Abby was too, but she wanted to make sure Nigel was in too.

"What do ya say? We in or not?"

Nigel frowned. He looked uneasy, as if he really didn't have a clue. "I don't know. It sounds kind of dangerous. Besides, I feel kind of guilty, leaving Kuki and Wally out of this."

Hoagie jumped up and slung his right arm over his friend's shoulder. "C'mon, bud! This our time to bloom! See what I did there?" he giggled, covering his mouth. "I called him a bud, and you know, buds bloom?"

Abby slapped him with her hat and left him there to rub his head. She patted Nigel on the back and said, "Abby's not accepting without ya, and this means a lot ta her, so ya better say yes. This the opportunity of a lifetime."

Nigel smiled. "Well... if my answer is gonna get in your way, then okay."

Abby was about to thank him when someone behind her shouted, "I wanna join too!"

Abby turned around to see Kuki jump out from the shadows. She was bouncing with excitement, which made strands of her long black hair spill onto her face.

"Hey, what are you doing here?!" Chad yelled, pulling out his wand and pointing it at her, his eyes bearing into her skin. "You weren't invited."

Kuki's eyes shook for a moment but then calmed down.

"Well, when you asked for Virginia and never came back, I got suspicious. When I saw that guy taking Abby and Hoagie, I decided to tag along. Then I saw you guys make a door appear and I went through it before it disappeared. I followed you through the crowd, and I heard the story. And I want to help too," she stated matter-of-factly.

Rachel groaned, as if this was going to be painful. "Not just anyone can be in the DA. You have to be good at something or have valuable traits..."

"I can do a lot of things!" Kuki retorted, sticking her tongue out like a child.

Abby didn't want to dissapoint her friend, but she knew that she wasn't the brightest and that she wasn't capable of great acts of magic. Her grades were pretty average, and she hadn't done anything special like she and Virginia had done.

"Listen, if you don't leave right now, then I'll be forced to use a memory charm on you!" Chad warned, poising his wand dangerously.

Kuki smiled evily, shaking her finger in the process. "If you don't let me join, then I'll report your little club to Proffesor McGonagall right away."

Chad laughed. "I could easily wipe your memory at this very moment."

Kuki stared at him for what seemed like hours, then swiftly took her wand out and and cried, "Expelliarmus!"

Chad's wand flew out of his hand and into Kuki's which was gradually holding Rachel's and Maurice's wands as well.

"I've been practicing," she said once she saw the surprised faces of everyone.

Chad clenched his fists and started to advance on her, but Maurice held him back.

"Hey, what's the big deal?" he demanded, turning on his superior.

Maurice seemed amused by Chad's behavior, so Chad untensed his muscles, wondering what was so funny. Abby couldn't understand it either.

"Let her join. She does have the upper hand to wizards that are older than her. I think she's earned her spot in Dumbledore's Army just by having the nerve to follow us here. I mean, not one of us noticed, did we?"

Rachel shook her head, and so did Chad after a while.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Let's just get them on stage, shall we? I have business to attend to and I don't intend to waste any more time."

Kuki clapped triumphantly, returned everybody's wands, and joined her three friends as they were lead onto the stage.

"Best day ever!"