Here's the new chapter, a bit later than I'd have wanted to, but had a lot to do lately. Not much action for now, but it's coming, don't worry. Anyway, enjoy and review if you have anything to say.
Chapter 7
Several weeks later, yet another reason was added to Harry's 'why to kill Umbridge' list. It was incredible how much out of her way the woman went to make herself disliked.
With her new position of High Inquisitor, she quickly made life less tolerable for not only the students, but the teachers as well.
It was a week before the first Hogsmeade weekend that the seeds of rebellion were planted in Hogwarts.
"That woman is impossible. Her book is useless drivel, and even I don't think I can cast a spell successfully on my first try." Hermione almost growled as she was writing her DADA homework.
"Yeah. It's a good thing I have my own room, or I'd never get any practice with the DADA spells." Harry joined in.
"You practice on your own?" Hermione turned towards him, her homework forgotten.
"Yeah. Theory is all and good, but I came here to do magic, not learn about it." Harry replied, not saying that their magical theories had more holes than Swiss cheese. Applying advanced energy principles to the spell theories actually allowed him to improve a great deal of spells. Not for the first time, he was grateful he only needed six hours of sleep every two days. It took more blood to keep going, but it gave him the time to handle both schoolwork and his own projects.
"How far are you?" She asked.
"I just started on the fourth year material. I haven't covered everything, of course, just what I felt was the most important to help me understand what the teachers are saying in class." Harry grinned.
"That's incredible." Hermione gasped, both amazed and slightly envious.
"I've always learned fast. We can add some practice sessions to our private study time, if you'd like to." Harry offered her. Adding another hour to their reading time would not be too much of a burden.
"I'd like that, but…" She paused in thought for a moment. "What about others? Umbridge is crippling all of us, not just one or two students."
"Well, theoretically, we could do something about it. I don't know too many spells, but I can learn them quickly. If you take care of the theoretical part, I could take care of the demonstrations. Also, I can teach you other things. I once met an old SAS member. He taught me a lot about tactics and other such things." Harry grinned.
"Still, that would be very difficult to arrange. We would need a place to meet, contact people and organize schedules…" Hermione drifted off.
"Not to mention making sure no one involved talks to people they shouldn't. So, do you think we should do this?" Harry asked with a wide grin.
"Well, it would be for a good cause…" Hermione paused before getting a determined look on her face.
"Let's do this. I'll get a spell list ready and start spreading the word. I think we should tell people to meet us in Hogsmeade this weekend. There's a pub called the Hog's Head that's a bit out of the way."
"Bad idea. Students rarely go there, and it's not that busy during the day, from what Hagrid told me. Tell them to go to the Three Broomsticks. No one will question a large group sitting together there, and we can cast privacy charms to make sure no one eavesdrops. I'll start working on a contract for the group, and I already have the perfect location for the meetings. Let's go to the common room and spread the word. Remember to only speak with people you're certain won't sell us out." Harry stood up, following Hermione out of his room.
The week passed in a flurry of preparations, trying to get everything organized and ready for the coming weekend.
It was early in the morning when Harry and Hermione headed towards Hogsmeade, along with Ron and Ginny.
"Get us a table; I'll go get some drinks." Harry told them and headed towards the bar, carefully making some changes to his appearance.
"What'll it be?" Madam Rosmerta, the proprietor asked.
"Three butterbeers and a bottle of Firewhisky with a glass please." Harry handed her the coins and was soon handed his order.
"Is that Firewhisky? How did you get that?" Ron's eyes grew wide when he saw what Harry set before himself.
"Just got to know how to ask." Ignoring Hermione's scandalized look, he poured himself a glass, gulping it in one go and shooting a stream of smoke from his nose.
"Nice. Has an interesting aftertaste." Harry grinned.
"Have you been drinking before?" Hermione asked reproachfully.
"Just the occasional Nova Blast." He shrugged. "Now that will put hair on your chest."
In truth, the potent mix of synthetic toxins used for the drink would more likely kill a human after the first sip. A powerful immune system was both a curse and a blessing, and it took the Lantrisi three centuries to invent something that would actually let them get hammered when they felt like it.
Slowly, people began to trickle in, taking seats on Harry's table or those around it, even moving them around so that they'd all be able to listen.
Once it seemed that no one else would be showing, Harry and Hermione cast a few spells to reduce the noise from the full inn around their tables as well as ensuring their privacy.
"You all know why you're here, so I'll get right to the point. Umbridge is teaching is squat, and we've decided to take matters in our own hands. Before we proceed, everyone please sign this. Don't do it lightly. Once you do, there's no backing out." Harry pulled out a sheet of parchment.
"This is a magical contract?" A Ravenclaw girl asked.
"Yes. Nothing harmful, but any contract breaker will be punished harshly. You can still back out, Umbridge can't punish us for talking." To their credit, not one person stood up.
Several minutes later, everyone had signed, and the contract was back in Harry's coat.
"Now, let's talk about organizing this thing. My knowledge about magic is incomplete at best, so I'll leave the research on the theories to people more inclined to those matters. I do however have a knack with the practical side of magic and I think I can help you with that. Also, I have studied combat tactics extensively. I'd say that if you study hard, you'll be a cut above even the best Death Eaters." Harry's words rang solemn in their small group.
"He really is back, isn't he?" A Hufflepuff boy asked nervously.
"Hope for the best and prepare for the worst, I always say." Harry did not want to reply to such a loaded question, so he gave a reply he felt everyone would accept.
"Sounds good to us. So, all that's left is the where and the when." The Weasley twins joined in.
"Meet me at the seventh floor near the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy tomorrow at six. We'll schedule the next meeting then. If we keep the dates random, it will give us a less chance of getting caught, plus, it won't cut in the practice time of those of you on the Quidditch teams. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to buy myself an obscene amount of chocolate before I head back." Harry stood up, light and steady on his feet and was out of the tavern at a brisk pace, Hermione following close behind.
Fred took the bottle of Firewhisky next to him and tipped it over, letting a single drop fall out.
"He didn't even wobble." He whispered.
The next morning, the students woke up to find an unexpected addition to their notice boards.
BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS
All student organizations, societies, teams, groups and clubs are henceforth disbanded. An organization, society, team, group or club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.
Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge). No student organization, society, team, group or club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor. Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an organization, society, team, group or club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.
The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty‐four. Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor.
"Do you think she knows?" Hermione turned towards Harry.
"No, we would have already been expelled if she did. It's more likely there was someone in the pub that was working for her or the Ministry. Now, I doubt they overheard us, but a meeting of a large group of students from different years and houses would raise some eyebrows." Harry had noticed every single person spying on them, but knew they had nothing concrete, thanks to their privacy charms.
"Are we still doing it?" George asked.
"Yeah. Tell the others as well." Harry replied and followed the small crowd of Gryffindor students down to breakfast.
That night, Harry went ahead to prepare the room and also set several Lantrisi perimeter trip wards. They were unknown magic in this world, so he doubted anyone would notice them in a place so saturated with magic.
The first circle alerted him when someone was on this floor, which was just to tell him someone was in the area. If the second ward was tripped, then the person was definitely heading towards the RoR, and they had until the third ward was tripped to get out using the side passages he discovered and would tell the others during the meeting.
"Welcome everyone. This is a very special room I learned about from one of the house elves working here. It has everything we need for our purposes. Now, to win in a fight, you need three things. Stamina, speed and accuracy. I will give you exercises that will help you improve the first two and I want you to train every day. They will also be very beneficial for those of you who play Quidditch. Accuracy we will practice here, and we will not stop until you can hit a human at twenty feet ten out of ten times while standing still and at least eight out of ten while moving around." Harry began.
"We won't be learning spells?" One boy asked quickly.
"Of course we will. We will cover every spell that comes on the OWL and the NEWT as well, but that will be an integral part of the accuracy training, not a separate lesson. Now, line up against a target. You will be using the Disarming charm at ten feet. Ready, fire."
"Expeliarmus." The group shouted loudly, and red bolts of energy rained all over the targets, but only a handful hit. Harry had charmed them to glow when a spell hit them so that everyone would know if they hit or not.
"Not bad. Keep casting, it takes hard work if you want to be any good." Harry gave them all a grin and spent the evening correcting casting stances, wand movements and aiming techniques.
An hour and a half later, he felt that the newly dubbed Defense Association, or as they called it, Dumbledore's Army after they learned that this was the reason Umbridge was here in the first place, had greatly improved their accuracy.
Of course, it would take weeks before it became instinctual, and even longer to get as good at casting while moving, but they showed progress.
"I'm exhausted. It was fun, though." Hermione grinned as they parted ways near Harry's room.
"Yeah. Looking forward to the next meeting." Harry grinned and walked away. He still had several hours of work before he could go to bed. Grabbing a feeding unit, he took a long draw from it and went to his desk where his book on magical theory was being written.
Taking a brief look at the long sheet of parchment filled with vertical rows of strange letters calmed him somewhat.
Picking up his quill and a fresh sheet, he continued his work, occasionally consulting a book or one of the many other parchments on his desk, or delving into the collective memory of the Great Link when it was necessary.
Life sank into a routine at Hogwarts. The DA meetings continued regularly, and the members were always eager to learn, even if they grumbled when Harry described the physical training regime to them. Even if they hated the workouts, they did them, knowing that they would benefit in the end.
It became easier to schedule meetings when Hermione demonstrated her brilliance and came up with a bunch of fake Galleons that she had enchanted to display the date and time of the next meeting, giving the master coin to Harry.
Harry felt comfortable in his routine as the months moved on, and when he fell asleep the night before the Christmas break, he didn't expect things to change.