Part 16 : Into the Room

It was nearly seven by the time Harry made it into the Great Hall. If meals weren't extended for finals he'd have missed dinner. Most of the hall and head table including McGonagall were gone already. Neville gave Harry a relieved smile when he entered. Harry sat a book on the Fidelius Charm on the table, and set his bag on the floor next to him, as he sat across from Neville. Dean and Seamus appeared to be on their second desserts, and were arguing about football and rugby again. Harry wondered if tonight they'd actually spear each other on their forks, they were gesturing with. They nodded to Harry as he sat down.

"So Neville, what did you do today?"

Neville blushed, "Luna stopped by the greenhouses today. Professor Sprout and I were setting up the automatic watering systems for the summer, so I didn't notice her right away. Then Luna somehow got caught in some Devil's Snare, and I had to stun her to free her without hurting the plant. When she was free and I revived her she wouldn't accept my apology. I should have used incendo or lumos to make the plant retreat. But she wouldn't accept an apology. She kissed me on the cheek and called me a, "Gallant Botanist."

Harry smiled, "That's Luna. Did you get a chance to visit the hospital wing?"

Neville smiled, "Apparently right after you left. Hermione explained the Patronus Pals as soon as I got in the door."

Harry laughed, "Probably was afraid that you'd make fun of Ron. Had you ever heard of them before?"

Neville shook his head, "Wouldn't be anything my Gran would go for though. Nothing soft and cuddly as a toy for a boy."

Dean interrupted, "What's this then?"

Harry replied, "So what was it that stopped the dueling forks?"

Seamus smiled, "Heard Ron's name."

Harry nodded. "I've been looking for defense stuff. Things I could use without getting in trouble again for Underage Magic use, again. Last summer dementors attacked my muggle cousin and I, but I got put on trial. Anyways, I found you can store a patronus in a plushie that has crystals in it."

"So you're saying Ron has a brand new plushie from his friend Harry?" Seamus' eyes twinkled with mischief.

"I'm saying Ron has a Patronus Pal, that can help heal the injuries he got from the Death Eaters faster and could help defend him if a dementor attacked him."

Dean leaned closer, "So are you going to call the DA together? Sounds like these could help everybody."

"I hadn't thought about that. I am hoping the Weasley Twins might make them, and sell them in their shop. A lot of people can't do the patronus, and you have to do quite a few of them to charge the crystals. And if parents get them for their little kids..."

Dean nodded, "Protect the innocent, but recoup the costs."

Harry shrugged, "And reassure the parents. I'm sure that since Voldemort," his roommates winced, "Made his debut at the Ministry there are bound to be people eager for anything they think can keep them safe. And I bet most of those things are going to be fake. These are real, a bit more expensive, unless I can figure out a cheaper crystal to hold the charm."

"Hermione said the ones you gave them were transfigured."

"Yeah, Neville, but the charm has enough power that it will eventually undo the transfiguration. If you take non-magical crystals and plushies, they can hold a more powerful charm for a longer time."

"But if the point is to take care of the summer, then transfigured materials might work," Seamus pointed out.

Harry sat back, his unease written on his face.

Dean chimed in, "We can warn everybody that they might not work or last long, but people are worried what will happen this summer. If nothing else, it will give people a chance to practice their patronus. The Inquisition Squad kept us from really spending time on it."

Harry gave in, "People will need supplies, if you could get the word out. Make it open to anyone who is interested. They'll need a piece of clothing destined for the rag bin. You might try to especially tell people with little brothers or sisters."

Dean and Seamus nodded.

"Neville, I think we need to visit the house elves and see if they have any coal or any discarded crystals we could use." Harry turned back to Dean and Seamus, "When should we do this? Day before we leave?"

Dean answered, "You want to make sure Ron and Hermione can join us, right?"

Harry nodded, "Also we'll need to do some prep work for this to work, transfiguring crystals and plushies as examples, and we need to see if you guys could do a full patronus repeatedly."

Seamus looked hesitant, "I have no clue if I could cast one. I'm sorry I bailed on you guys."

"We'll try to do this in the muggle way, assembly line. So people will do the parts they are strongest at. If any of the girls or younger years had their parents shove a plushie in their trunks, ask them to bring them as well as a old piece of clothing."

Harry took a sip of water, "Hey, Neville, do you know if there is a children's ward in Saint Mungo's?"

"Yes, I think my Gran said there were about twenty kids in their long term care ward."

Harry smiled, "Write her. Maybe we could make this a competition - to see whose Pal lasts the longest."

"So we'd tag the Pals with a number, and the Pal that lasts the longest, the person who transfigures the Pal gets a prize."

"The Prophet would eat that up, wouldn't they?" Neville broke off, to look at Harry, a bit stunned.

Harry laughed, "The wrongly persecuted DA meets again and helps children in need, have a brighter day."

Seamus shook his head, chuckling, "And Malfoy will pop a vessel."

"So tonight, Neville and I will go to the kitchens and see if the elves can help with supplies, and you guys will ask the others if they want in. And tomorrow night, after dinner, we do a test run of some Pals. Agreed?"

The other three boys assented. And with that Seamus and Dean left for their task, Neville pulled out parchment to write his Gran, and Harry got some food on his plate.

oOoOo

After stopping by the Owlery and the Kitchens to speak with Dobby, though Harry had been tempted to call him out when the elf started cleaning the area he was watching them from in the Owlery. The elf had promised to put aside his other work, and look for the things Harry Potter needed right away. Neville and Harry then went to the Room of Requirement.

As Harry had hoped, the ghosts were already waiting on them when they entered the room, which had the same configuration as the day before. "Take a seat, Neville." Harry stood in front of the wall, and after a bit of concentration activated the time ratio hourglasses.

Harry then sat in his chair before addressing the ghosts. "Good evening, sirs. How did the search go?"

Sir Nicholas smiled, but Professor Binns looked as giddy as a child after half a bag of Halloween candy. "We found dozens of tomes thought lost!"

"Young Heir, we discovered many of Hogwarts and your family's books spelled and labeled by Dumbledore. Most were kept at his Hogsmede home." Sir Nicholas handed Harry a roll of parchment. "We grouped the books by owner and this lists the titles by location they were stored, and notes if he had added bookplates."

The Baron then spoke, "Is this boy worthy to be trusted, Heir?"

Harry looked over to Neville, who had gone quite pale, and nodded. "Yes. He's a great friend to have at your back. Did the professors do something today that I need to know about?"

The Baron replied, "I've occupied my day with ensuring that nothing tips off Dumbledore. Many of the paintings, and some of the ghosts have difficulty concealing their returned strength."

"I quite forgot that carrying something for the Heir meant I'd have form enough to run into things. Chide if you must, but I doubt you remember all we can do after fifty years of barely existing!"

Harry looked on, amused as the Slytherin and Gryffindor ghosts began to bicker in earnest, and Professor Binns began to read. Neville looked quite confused, and Harry took the time to explain, "Apparently the Headmaster can bind the ghosts, portraits, and Hogwarts herself to his rules. But any Heir of a Founder has an inheritance of extra help from Hogwarts, if they know how to call on it. I learned how yesterday."

Neville's eyes went huge. "So you are a Heir of a Founder! Who?"

"Gryffindor, apparently. Wish I'd known that second year. Would have been a hell of a lot nicer..."

"So what's up with the ghosts?"

"Well, the Founders left extra helpers for their Heirs- extra books and the like. And somehow an heir being in Hogwarts strengthens the magic of the school."

Neville's eyes grew huge. "And the heirs are to be buried here, too, right?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Harry, I knew you were strong, but… Wards that strengthen from the heirs leech magic off you whenever you are in the castle."

"So, the extra books and stuff might be more compensation for the drain over the school year…"

"But if you are right about this magic draining and then rebuilding stronger thing… You shouldn't need to do anything special at all!"

Harry shook his head, "No, I don't feel drained or weak like I did after we got back."

"We need more information on this, Harry. We need to know how long it takes to fully recharge your magical core. If you force a tulip, it only blooms once. If you plant it deep when it's cool, it will bloom for years."

Harry laughed, "Tulips!"

Neville smiled, "Gran just got around to sending me spring pictures of my gardens. I got some tulips that had defensive spells against deer on them, and this year she caught one attacking a deer!"

"Cool. You'll have to show me the pic."

"It's in the dorm. Gran thought I should try to get it published. Professor Sprout was so proud!"

"So was this an invention of yours?"

Neville nodded, "Most repelling spells are on garden statues and fences and the like. Means you have to respell the garden once or twice a year, not to mention the added magic draws gnomes. Well, I found a way to do the charm on the bulbs themselves, after crossing them with a magical flower from Africa."

"Wow. Sounds like you did a lot of work."

Neville smiled, "Well... it took a lot of time and many trials, but it was too interesting to call work."

"You're lucky, you know. To know what you want to do, rather than what you think you should do."

"Are you saying you don't want to be an auror?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't know. I know I need the training an auror gets, but I have no idea what they do daily. Umbridge was there for my counseling session, and it basically ended with McGonagall and Umbridge yelling at each other."

Harry pulled his packages out of his bag, and opened them. A bunch of plushies shot out of the box, which fell to the floor as Harry ducked to avoid the stream of stuffed animals.

Neville was nearly rolling with his laughter. Harry just shook his head, and picked up the toys, piling them in his chair. When Harry opened the Dazzlers box, he stood as far from the box on the table as he good, flinching as the flaps came free. This reignited Neville's laughter. Harry simply smiled as the jewels and enchantment kits stayed in the box.

"So what do you want to do?"

Neville sighed, "I don't have the Potions scores to do what I want to do, and I'll be lucky to get an A on my OWLs… So I'll probably go for my mastery in Herbology."

"What do you want to do?"

"Develop helpful herbs and plants for healing potions."

"And you can't do that without Potions."

"Harry, without even an OWL in Potions, anything I would discover wouldn't be taken seriously. I'd have to partner with someone, and in discovery, those partnerships usually only last until the first big discovery."

Harry started rooting through the pile of books, when the room plopped the Hogwarts Charter on top for him open to the page Harry had wanted. "Read this." He handed the book to Neville. "If I read that right, we can challenge our Astronomy OWL, which would mean that we would have to retake all of our OWLs, and we could even take additional subjects."

Neville looked up when he finished reading, "They wanted it to be a disincentive, after all you'd have to be batty to want to re-sit all your OWLs or NEWTs. Do you think we could do it?"

Harry smiled, "In here we've all the time in the world, all the resources of the castle, and no Snape. We'd have to place our challenge as soon as we got out of here, but we wouldn't have to decide to take the tests until the day after we got our scores."

Neville nodded.

"The only downside is that I don't know if I brought all the ingredients for the Animagus Potion."

"What? You'd knew I'd agree?"

Harry shook his head, "Not that at all. My Father and Sirius learned how to change when they were in school, so they could be with Remus, Professor Lupin, on the full moon."

"You mean he really is a werewolf? I thought that was just the Slytherins making up stuff again." Neville had a wry smile on his face, and it took Harry a minute to realize Neville was joking.

"Sirius sent me my parent's diaries, and though I'm not done yet, in my dad's he was moaning over how much sooner they could have changed if they had known about the potion."

"So, you want us to relearn everything for the OWLs, picking up Runes and Arithmancy along the way, learn Auror level defense and wards, make a ton of Patronus Pals, and become animagii."

"How'd you…"

Neville gestured to the table, "The room has already made us schedules."

Harry picked his up. "The room suggests we take the potion at the end of the first week, and take," a beaker holder full of potions appeared on the table, "these athletic enhancing potions now."

Neville grabbed the first of his share, "It says we'll burn off all the room made material in the week. Bottoms up."

And next time, after a long, long time in the Room of Requirement, Harry begins to challenge the system & curry some good press.