Ninja Wizard IV: Goblet of Fire 03
By David
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. JK Rowling has that honor.
Author's Notes: these marks [] indicate Japanese spoken.
Ninja Wizard IV: Goblet of Fire 03
'Alistair Moody Teaches'
The first defense lesson was one that Harry was unlikely to ever forget. Once they settled down in their seats the class looked at the scarred man and wondered what kind of teacher he was going to be. Harry, however, had inside information from the Weasley twins.
"He's awesome!" George grinned, his eyes shining bright.
"He used to be an Auror," Fred said. "Dad told us about him, and now he's here at Hogwarts!"
"He's gonna teach us great stuff," Fred smiled.
That had been good enough for Harry. He took a spot in the third row and looked at the man as he took the roll. He put the book away and then regarded all of them for a few minutes. He glanced at Harry and gave him a little nod and moved on. A moment later he stood up and looked at all of them.
"I am here to teach you how to defend yourselves," he said a moment later, looking very serious. "I know what kind of instructors have been here in the last three years. The only one I have a respect for is Remus Lupin, because he made an effort to teach all of you something."
"But he was a werewolf," Malfoy complained.
"So? Did he teach you anything?" Moody asked.
"He did," Hermione spoke up. "He was a lot better than Quirrell and Lockhart."
Moody nodded. "Good for him then. I am going to start out with the three curses that are called the Unforgivables, and they are called the Unforgivables for a good reason. Any one care to tell me why?"
Moody glared around the room as people moved nervously in their seats.
"Because they are the worst sort of curses to cast?" someone piped up.
Moody nodded. "Yes, they are. Name them."
"Imperio?" someone asked.
Moody slapped a jar on the desk in front of a student. "That's one."
The unfortunate student shivered at the sight of the spider inside the jar.
"Just a wee spider, not gonna hurt you," Moody chided.
"Crucio?" Neville shivered as he offered the second Unforgivable.
Moody slapped a second jar on the desk in front of another student. "You would know about that one, Longbottom, as it was used on your parents."
Harry looked up at Moody. "Avada Kedavra. The killing curse."
Moody nodded as he slapped a third jar on the table. "Yes. Avada Kedavra. The killing curse, of which there is no known counter to, and nobody, has ever survived it with the exception of one person. You, Mr. Harry Potter. You are the only person known to have survived it. I have secured Dumbledore's permission to teach you what they are and how they work. So pay attention."
Moody turned to one of the jars and opened it, tossing the spider within it out onto the desk. It must have known what Moody was going to do because it took off running.
"Imperio," Moody intoned as he pointed his wand at the fleeing spider.
The spell hit the spider and it came to a screeching halt.
The class looked on with amazement as Moody casually waved his wand, making the spider to all kinds of gymnastic tricks. Then he cancelled the spell and scooped the spider back into the jar it had been in and Moody capped it.
"It's easy to tell if a person is under the influence of Imperio," Moody said. "Look into their eyes. If they are glazed over and they act stiffly, that is your clue that they are under the influence of Imperio."
"You can defeat Imperio," Harry spoke up, "because you know about it."
Moody smiled. "Indeed I do. It is a simple matter of your will being stronger than the caster. "Thank you for being my first volunteer, Potter."
Harry nodded and then stood up. He walked down the steps and right up to Moody. He stood there and looked at the man as he waved his wand at Harry and cast Imperio. Harry felt a warm feeling come over him. A few people including Hermione came up to Harry and looked into his eyes. Then Moody took their place.
"Jump, Harry, jump," a soft melodic voice whispered seductively inside of his mind. "Jump up and down."
Harry heaved a sigh and relaxed, using his mental defenses to fight the spell. The voice got a bit more insistent. Harry slowly cracked his neck. The voice got more persistent but Harry didn't move. Finally he raised his head and looked straight at Moody.
"You jump, old man!" Harry snapped, shaking his head and clearing his mind with one last push.
Moody roared in laughter. "Very good, Potter! You fought the curse and won!"
People in the class applauded as Harry took his seat. Moody grinned at the rest of the class and people shivered at that smile.
"Who's next?" he asked brightly.
Moody tested everybody, and out of those present, only Hermione, Neville, and Luna were able to fight it off. Moody made people do interesting things, and he took great delight in making Malfoy act like a chicken. Harry enjoyed that one.
Once the class settled down once more, Moody turned to the next jar. The spider within started quaking and Harry had the feeling it knew what it was about to experience.
Neville gulped nervously as he knew. Hermione laid a hand on his shivering shoulders.
"The Cruciatus Curse," Moody said as he glared at all of them, "is the pain curse. It causes the victim very intense pain. If they are held under it long enough, they will lose their minds."
So saying he pulled the lid off the jar and tossed the spider across the desk and pointed his wand at it.
"Crucio," he intoned, and the class watched as the spider started rolling around on the desk in obvious pain.
Harry glanced at Neville and watched him go completely pale at the sight of the spider rolling around in pain. He started shaking as he dug his fingers into the wood of the desk in front of him. It was too much for Hermione.
"STOP IT YOU BASTARD!" she yelled, jumping to her feet and pointing her wand at Moody. "Can't you see what you're doing to Neville?"
Moody broke off the curse and the spider relaxed. He scooped up the spider and threw it back into the jar it came out of. He placed the jar back on his desk and then went to stand in front of Hermione. Harry moved to stand in back of her, drawing his wand. Moody stopped when the tip of Hermione's wand was at what was left of his nose.
"You're a brave lassie for pointing your wand at me, Miss Granger. Got some serious brass. And you, Mr. Potter, for standing with her," Moody nodded.
Harry glared at him. "I stand with my friends and look after them."
"As you should," he said.
Moody went back to the first row and opened the last jar. He tossed that spider across the desk. It didn't wait for anything, it flat out took off running. Moody got it before it could leap off the desk.
"Avada Kedavra!" Moody called and Harry flinched when the green colored spell flew to hit the spider.
The spider didn't even react to the spell. It simply slid off the desk as it's momentum kept it moving. There was total silence in the room until a Ravenclaw broke the silence. Harry recognized him as Evan Bridges. He walked down from the fifth row to stand in front of the spider. He carefully picked it up and set it back on the desk in front of a girl in the front row. He then turned to Moody.
"What did it ever do to you to deserve such a fate?" Evan snarled.
"It was something needed for a demonstration," Moody said. "All of you needed to know what the spell is capable of doing."
Evan was angry now and he raised his wand to point it at Moody. People could see the start of tears in his eyes.
"Tell me, have you ever watched people die from it?" he asked, trying to keep a grip on his emotions.
"A few times," Moody answered.
"Were you a little boy, huddled under a couch, watching those mother fucking bastard DE's kill your parents with it? Tell me, you motherless cold hearted bastard!" Evan yelled at Moody. "TELL ME!"
Hot tears of rage flowed down his cheeks as he stood there, his wand trembling. Harry moved up behind him.
"Evan, this bastard isn't worth your anger," Harry said. "Voldemort is. He will pay, him and all of those who follow him."
Harry put his hands on Evan's shoulders and began massaging them, trying to get him to calm down. He very subtly found a nerve he was looking for and deftly manipulated it, causing Evan to go weak and slump down. Harry picked him up in his arms and glared at Moody. Then he carried Evan out of the classroom.
Word got around about what happened in DADA. Harry met up with Hermione at dinner as the great hall buzzed with the latest, discussing the DADA class. Neville looked shell shocked and Harry made a point to sit down with him.
"How are you doing?" Harry asked him.
Neville stared at his plate for a few minutes and then looked up at him. "I… I think I'm going to be okay. Ah, Hermione was great… in standing up for me… she's a great friend, isn't she?"
Harry smiled. "The absolute best, Neville. You're a great friend too, Neville. Did you know we played together when we were very little? I've got pictures in my album that Hagrid put together for me. He gave it to me after first year. You can come and see them with me later."
Neville looked up. "Gran's got pictures of us too. In fact, she wants to send you pictures of your folks."
"I would be glad to have them, Neville. I can make copies and send the originals back to her," Harry offered.
"That would be cool," Neville said, a slight smile on his face.
Harry knew that Neville would be just fine. He had dinner there at the Gryffindor table with Neville and Ginny. The Weasley twins proceeded to carry out a comedy sketch of various teachers that had people laughing. Harry could see McGonagall nodding her approval at the twins' antics as she had heard about what happened in DADA class. She had a few words with Moody, tearing a strip off the old man. Flitwick followed up with a rant of his own, and Harry wondered just how Moody could sit there so calmly. He decided that Moody must not care about who he hurt. He decided to go up to the hospital to see Evan after dinner to check up on him and make sure he was okay. He wrapped up a bit of dessert for Evan knowing what hospital food was like. He headed out of the great hall with Hermione following him. Evan was sitting up when they arrived. Pomfrey nodded to them and she went into her office leaving the three teens alone. Harry set the plate of pecan pie down on the table at the foot of the bed.
"Brought you a bit of pie," Harry said.
Evan nodded. "Thank you Harry. Thank you for stopping me from making a really big mistake. I would have done something."
"I know you would have, Evan. That's why I came up behind you, to stop you from doing something you would regret. He's not worth it. He's not the one who is responsible for your parents. It's Voldemort. Voldemort is responsible for every death for the simple reason is that he did it or ordered his DE's to do it. That's why they have to be stopped if they ever come back," Harry said.
"The Quidditch World Cup," Evan said.
Harry shook his head. "Those silly bastards paid the price for their actions. The Daily Prophet and the ministry wants us to believe that was just a coincidence, a one time thing. I'm not convinced."
"Why is that?" Evan wanted to know.
Harry sighed and sat back on his chair. "I think their appearance there was some kind of warning. I get the feeling down deep in my soul that something big is going to happen. I hope to God I'm wrong."
"What do you think is going to happen?" Hermione asked.
Harry sighed as he frowned. "I don't know, Hermione. I just don't know. I do think that we should be aware of everything that's going on in the wizarding world. I get the feeling there's things the Daily Prophet is not telling us."
A strange look appeared on Evan's face as his eyes took on a far away look. "I was six when it happened. It was just after dinner, and my parents were in the kitchen cleaning up the dishes. Daddy was joking around being funny and Mum was laughing at him. I was in the living room riding around on my toy broom. I was right next to the couch when there was a loud banging on the front door. It scared me so I got off my broom and rolled underneath the couch with it. Daddy went to the door and opened it. A bunch of people in black cloaks and white masks ran into the house and Daddy pulled his wand and tried to fight them off. I saw a green light from a wand reach out and touch Daddy. He fell backwards onto the floor, his head inches from the couch. I saw the light go out in his eyes."
Hermione gasped and Harry closed his eyes and shook his head as his own memory came back. Voldemort had a lot to answer for. Harry heard something and looked up into Moody and Dumbledore's face. Both of them wore grim looks.
"Mum came running into the living room. They grabbed her and took her wand from her and shoved her down on top of Daddy. She started screaming at them. One of them pointed his wand at her and the green light touched her too. She never made a sound. Then they walked out the door. I crawled out from under the couch and tried to wake them up. I couldn't so I got on my toy broom and went flying out the open door and into the street. I really don't remember much after that," Evan said as he slowly broke down once more.
Harry and Hermione reached out to him and hugged him. Evan kept going until he wore himself out. Pomfrey handed Harry a vial of potion and Harry got Evan to drink it. The fourth year Ravenclaw slowly calmed down and went to sleep. Hermione and Harry pulled the covers up halfway and turned to walk out of there. Harry paused long enough to glare at Moody and then followed Hermione out.
Nothing was said between them for a time as they walked. Hermione took Harry's hand into hers and Harry smiled at her and then looked forward once more. Harry wasn't sure of what to say so he kept quiet. They found themselves at the front door of Gryffindor tower.
"Come in for a bit, Harry. I can get us a cup of tea," Hermione suggested.
Harry nodded and Hermione turned to the portrait and gave the password. People looked up when Hermione entered with Harry behind her. Both of them went to the far corner where Hermione asked for service. Bustah popped up.
"Can we have tea please?" Hermione asked.
The elf nodded and popped away. He returned a few minutes with a pot of tea and a pair of cups and biscuits.
"Thank you," Hermione said and Bustah popped away.
She poured Harry a cup of tea first and then herself. Harry sipped at his and then set it down. He sighed and Hermione looked at him with concern on her face.
"He's going to need friends," Hermione said.
Harry nodded. "I know. But what do you say to someone who lived through that?"
Hermione sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. I just don't know."
Harry leaned back and sighed once more. "He has a lot to answer for."
"And he will," Hermione said. "They all will."
Harry leaned forward. "The one thing we can do is to fight him if and when he pops up again. The attack at the cup proves that they are up to something. What, I wish I knew."
Hermione lowered her voice. "Perhaps you need to write a letter to a certain someone."
Harry nodded. "I'll do that. Perhaps they would know what to do. I'll talk to Professor Flitwick when I get back to Ravenclaw and see what he says."
"Good idea," Hermione said.
They sat there for a time until it was nearly curfew. Harry stood up and smiled at her.
"I'll see you in the morning," Harry said and kissed her on the right cheek.
Hermione saw him to the door and sighed as it closed behind him. She turned to see Neville behind her.
"Is Harry going to be okay?" he asked.
"I don't know, Neville. He's… a bit out of sorts after talking to Evan in the hospital wing after dinner," she told him.
Hermione debated on telling the Gryffindors Evan's story and then decided not to. It was his to tell and she felt that she didn't have the right to.
"Was… Evan hurt… like I was?" Neville asked.
Hermione closed her eyes for a moment as she felt pain in her heart. "He was."
Neville turned away from Hermione, his thoughts racing as he thought about what Hermione had said and not said. He made an instant decision to go see Evan in the morning. Evan would need a friend and to know he wasn't alone in his pain.
Professor Flitwick was waiting for Harry in the Ravenclaw common room. Harry stood there for a moment looking at the man. Flitwick stepped forward and reached up for Harry's right forearm and guided him into his personal office. Harry followed the small man into his office and took a seat as Flitwick closed the door. He went to his desk and stood there for a moment, gazing at the bottom drawer. He nodded to himself and opened the drawer. He reached in and pulled out a bottle and a pair of glasses. Flitwick floated to the top of his desk and poured out half glasses of the fire whiskey and pushed one glass to Harry.
"This one time only," Flitwick said.
Harry accepted the glass and sipped at it. It burned going down and made him feel a bit better. He sighed as he stared at the amber colored liquid in the glass he held.
"How many has that… bastard hurt? How many more will he hurt before he is truly stopped? Neville and Evan. They didn't have to go through that. How many families have they destroyed? Why do they do it?" Harry asked bitterly.
"Too many, Harry. Far too many," Flitwick said. "Evan told you his story."
Harry took another drink. "He did. His parents did nothing wrong. Nothing!"
Flitwick nodded. "I know. They were good people. It would be easy to say that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time but I can't say that. There was no reason for the attack on them. That's how… he operates, Harry. He did things like that to put the fear into people so it would be so easy to take over the Wizarding world. We lived in fear of them coming to our door every day. There were very few people who were willing to stand up against them. Your parents. Your Godfather Sirius. Professor Dumbledore. Me. Other witches and wizards. We were willing to go and fight him. But there were so few of us. People were too scared to join us and fight back."
"Then how come the ministry didn't fight back?" Harry wanted to know.
Flitwick smiled as he considered the contents of his glass. "Because there were too many cowards in there, and still are."
"That's not right," Harry said.
Flitwick nodded as he looked up. "As long as some of us are willing to fight back, there is hope. When there is hope, things happen."
Harry nodded knowing that Flitwick was right.
Harry slipped into his trunk later that night and began writing letters. Sirius was the first as he had the most experience fighting the DE's. He needed advice, but mostly he needed to talk to somebody. He thought of possibly popping into Potter House and meeting Sirius for a conversation. The next letter went to his parents, one to Hiroshi, one to Kazuya, and the last one to Ragnock. He leaned back in his chair and glanced at the time. He needed to get to bed or he would be no good in class. He headed topside to his bed and got into it. He managed three hours and then went back into his trunk for his morning workout. He headed down to the great hall for breakfast and met Hermione, Ginny, the twins, and Luna there. Neville wasn't there.
"Neville left Gryffindor tower early," Fred said. "Don't know why."
Luna looked concerned. "I hope he will be okay."
"I bet he went to see Evan," Hermione said. "They do have something in common. Both of them lost family to the DE's."
George shook his head. "I can't ever imagine that kind of pain."
"I hope that all of you will never ever find out," Luna said. "It changes you."
They sat down at the end of Ravenclaw house table as other people filed in. The noise level grew as the chatter started. The mail owls flew in and Harry paid the Daily Prophet owl for his paper and read the front paper. He noted the item about a Bertha Jorkins having gone missing. He handed the paper over to Hermione.
"There's something about a ministry employee named Bertha Jorkins having gone missing. Other than that, there's nothing else worth mentioning," Harry said.
Hermione took the paper and began to read it as she ate. Halfway through breakfast Neville showed up with Evan. Both of them looked like they had been through some emotional confrontation. They sat down with the others and Harry turned to Evan.
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked.
Evan nodded. "I will be in time. I met the psyche that is working with Madame Pomfrey, the one who is teaching muggle studies. He's cool. Neville and I talked and… and I know I'm not alone."
Harry nodded as Luna smiled and patted Neville on the left arm. "You know you can talk to me too. I… I lost my parents to that… bastard."
Evan nodded to Harry. "Thanks. I appreciate that."
Evan turned to his empty plate and began to load it up with breakfast. Harry turned back to his, and the day went from there. Snape was unusually quiet. Moody discussed other spells that were just as deadly as the Unforgivable three. The other classes were just as quiet, nobody saying anything. It was obvious that word of Evan's confronting Moody had gotten around. The rest of the week was quiet, nothing else happened. People eventually turned their attention to something else when some new teenage drama popped up. Friday night came around and there wasn't any replies to the letters he had sent out. Harry decided that tonight would be a good time to head up to Potter's Bar for a jam session. He was working on the intro to a song when he heard footsteps coming towards him. He looked up to see Tad, Kathy, Riley, and Toby coming up to him.
"Hey, let's have some fun," Riley said. "We could use a bit of it."
Harry stood up from the chair he had been sitting on. "Okay, what do you guys want to play? I'm game for anything."
The others laughed and took their places. They relaxed and did light rock most of the evening, each person doing vocals, something that they had decided on as it wouldn't be fair for just one person to do all of the vocals. Perhaps that's why they worked so well together. Harry let him self go in the music and for a time he forgot everything that was going on. Hermione had come up and was sitting at a table listening. She enjoyed hearing Harry play, and tonight he seemed to be enjoying it. Hermione wondered if Harry would mind if she invited a few people to come up and listen in. She considered the idea and decided to ask Harry first. She was sure that having a place to go and dance to good music and unwind a bit just might benefit people.
"That is an interesting idea, Hermione," Kathy said during a break and Hermione presented her idea. "We could do it once a month. A Friday or Saturday night."
Riley leaned back in his chair, tapping his legs with his sticks. "I'm cool with that. Be fun to have an audience."
"My only problem is exposing the room of requirement to Hogwarts. What if we were to set up in the larger classroom a few doors down that's not being used anymore?" Harry proposed.
"But that would mean moving gear around," Toby complained.
Harry sighed. "Didn't think of that."
"Could we conjure up the gear?" Hermione suggested.
Tad nodded. "Great idea. The only problem is how long would the spells last?"
"The only way to find out is to try it," Hermione said. "If we did try to move stuff out of here it could all disappear the moment it got out of the door. We could pass this room off as an unused classroom."
Harry cracked his neck. "Okay. We give Hermione's idea a try. If it works, then we can do it. If not, well, it was a good try."
It was voted on and agreed to. They would meet in an unused classroom tomorrow night and give it a shot. If it worked, great. If not, then they would open the room for that one night each month to play for those who would show up. They went back to the stage and did a second set for another hour and then called it a night.
Harry went into his trunk later that night to check for responses and found a few letters in his letterbox waiting for him. Sirius was the best response and told Harry that he planned on being at Potter House about the first of October, a few days away. The response he got back from his family was nearly identical, all of them saying nearly the same thing, that it was why they did what they did.
"It is important that these people and people like them do not succeed in destroying the world that we live in. It is why we are ninja," Hiroshi had written.
Harry believed in what he was doing was the right thing, and reading what his family said to him reinforced that belief. He tucked the letters away into his desk and wrote short notes of thanks and sent them off. Harry began to plan his escape from Hogwarts to go see Sirius the first of October. He hoped that Sirius could help him with what he was feeling. He hoped that Remus would be there as well. He checked the calendar in front of him and nodded when he saw the first of October fell on a Friday. Dumbledore would never miss him as Harry planned on being gone for at least three hours. He just had to get through the week. Harry went up out of his trunk and to bed. Having read the letters from family had helped a bit and now he wasn't feeling so bad. He was looking forward to talking with Sirius again. Before he knew it Friday had come around and he planned on leaving right after lunch as he had a few period, and had to be back in time for his three o' clock class. Hermione would cover for him. Harry made it into the Forbidden Forest and then port keyed into the reception room at Potter House. Sirius was waiting for him and after hugs were exchanged they sat down and spent the next two and a half hours talking. Remus wasn't there as he was chatting up the werewolf packs he knew was out there, hoping to turn them away from Fenrir Greyback's influence.
"Ah pup, that's a heavy burden for anyone to carry," he said once Harry was done telling him about recent events. "Moody should have known better to spring those curses on you kids. Yes you kids should know about them but not this soon. You and I have had experience with them in our lives, but not the other kids. Good of you to befriend Evan, even better for Neville to befriend him too. Neville has been hurt by those bastards too. I do remember the Evan Bridges case. I read about it in one of the papers I managed to get a hold of while… in there. According to the paper, a neighbor who happened to be a witch found him floating along the road. She wondered why he was by himself and in pajamas. She went out to find out and he wouldn't respond. She said that he sat on his broom looking like a zombie, his eyes wide open. She got him into her house and called for the Aurors. They found his parents in the living room. According to the paper I got hold of two weeks later, Evan went to live with his grandparents. Unless his situation's changed he should still be there."
"I can ask Flitwick as Evan is in my house. I don't know if Dumbledore and Moody have talked to him yet. Moody did approach Neville a few days afterwards and invited him to tea in his office. He gave Neville a book on magical plants of the Mediterranean. Interesting book," Harry said.
"That was good of him then. Perhaps he did realize that he did go a bit too far. I hope he apologized to Evan," Sirius said.
"I can find out and let you know," Harry said.
Sirius sipped his tea. "Try to be discrete when you do, Harry. If Flitwick tells you it's not your business then back off. Don't upset the man by pushing for information. Do be his friend, do listen to him, and share your feelings with him. Perhaps you should start some kind of support group for kids who have been victims of Voldemort and his DE's."
"I can pitch that idea to Flitwick," Harry decided.
"That would be a good move on your part pup," Sirius nodded. "As for the TriWizard's Tournament, keep your ears and eyes open. I've been hearing whispers in dark places about the tournament."
"Good or bad?" Harry asked.
"Not sure yet. I need to do some more sneaking around," Sirius said. "In the meantime you need to get back."
Harry and Sirius exchanged hugs at the reception room. "Be careful out there."
"And you, pup. I love you," Sirius said.
Harry felt warm as he left Potter House.
Nothing more happened for the next two weeks as the castle underwent a cleaning in preparation of the impending guests that would be arriving for the tournament mid October. Harry did pitch his support group idea to Flitwick and got support from him when he pitched the idea to the psychiatrist that Dumbledore hired. He got behind it and the three of them went to see Dumbledore about it. Dumbledore liked the idea and the news of the group quietly got around. Naturally Draco Malfoy heard about it and laughed at the news and derided it every chance he got to Harry's face. Harry ignored him and that infuriated Malfoy. He did his best to disrupt the group and harassed those who went until Snape put a stop to it and assigned him a detention cleaning the many bathrooms in the castle without the use of magic. Word was that Malfoy was a very unhappy chappie. Harry got an unexpected visit from Dumbledore one evening as he was playing with his band in Potter's Bar. It was Riley who spotted him first.
"Headmaster's here," he said to Harry.
Harry turned and saw Dumbledore sitting in the far corner. They called a break and Harry went over to see what Dumbledore wanted.
"You and your friends are indeed very talented," Dumbledore said as Harry took a seat. "Do not give it up."
"Thank you sir. It was you that said that music is a magic all it's own," Harry reminded him.
"And so I did. Harry, I came here with the intention of asking all of you for a favor," Dumbledore began as the others joined them. "As our guest are arriving on Saturday night, I decided a little dance would be appropriate. But when I started looking for a band to play the dance, I was unable to find one. I was finally able to hire one unseen and unheard. Another mistake on my part."
"Who were they?" Toby asked.
Dumbledore smiled. "I believe they called themselves the Magical Misfits."
Riley choked on his can of soda. "The Magical Misfits? Those guys are totally nuts!"
"I found that out after taking in one of their shows. I think my ears are still bleeding," Dumbledore sighed. "They had a group of young men in front of them running into each other."
Riley winced. "And you walked out of there in one piece? Man you got so lucky. The guys in front of the band slamming into each other were in what is called a mosh pit. That's hard core stuff, man."
"Ah, yes, as I found out. I met the man who promised me the band and he wasn't so very nice with his language. I informed him I had another band for the dance and let him keep the money I paid for his troubles."
"So who is going to do the dance then?" Kathy asked.
"You want us," Tad said.
Dumbledore smiled, the twinkle in his eyes bright. "Yes. I liked the music you were playing. More appropriate for a dance."
"When do you need an answer?" Harry asked.
"As soon as possible," Dumbledore said.
Harry nodded. "We need to discuss it."
"I expected that you would," Dumbledore said as he rose from his chair. "Thank you for hearing me out."
Harry turned to the others as the door closed behind Dumbledore. Tad took a chair.
"I say yea," Riley spoke up.
"I'm in," Kathy agreed.
Toby nodded. "Here too. What kind of material are we going to do?"
Harry smiled. "Well, we can start with this…" and the planning got underway.
Harry went looking for Flitwick later that evening and found him talking to one of the Ravenclaw prefects. They looked up as Harry approached them.
"Good evening Mr. Potter," Flitwick said.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Harry said.
Flitwick nodded. "Not at all. We were discussing the possibility of doing a charms demonstration in the near future hoping to foster some kind of discussion with our guests and hopefully some kind of exchange."
"Good idea," Harry said. "I do need help. Dumbledore has asked me and my band to play a dance the Saturday night they arrive and I had an idea for the show."
Flitwick looked interested. "Would it involve the use of charms?"
"Oh yes. Lots of charms," Harry grinned as he unrolled a scroll in front of them. "Lots of very awesome charms."
Flitwick studied what Harry had written down and smiled. "I can put four of my best students on this and will personally supervise the efforts."
"Thank you sir. I look forward to seeing your masterpiece," Harry grinned.
Harry left them alone and headed to his trunk as he wanted to check his mail and write a few letters home. Things were about to get interesting.
To Be Continued