Chapter 60
After Lily finished a second plate of salmon, Harry fire called the Weasleys and asked if they wanted to join him and his family for more memories. They all agreed since Ginny reminded them it was the year Harry started the DA and the fight at the Ministry. Harry let them know he'd be in the drawing room when they arrived and pulled his head out of the fireplace. He wandered upstairs to the nursery with his godson and got the babe ready for bedtime.
"Remus, Tonks, we'll be going over more memories tonight, so if Teddy wakes up, call Kreacher again like last time, alright?" he asked the portrait. Tonks smiled down at her son, and Remus replied.
"Of course Harry. What year are you reviewing tonight?" he asked.
"Fifth year; it's going to be hard what with the Ministry fight and Sirius supposedly dying. The Weasleys are joining us, so I've got to go find Hermione quick before we start," he finished. He cuddled Teddy for a few minutes and gave him a kiss on the head before laying him down. He turned on the musical Phoenix and dimmed the lights. He could already see Teddy's eyes drooping, which made Harry smile as he looked back from the doorway. The door clicked shut quietly and Harry headed for Hermione's room.
"Hermione?" he asked after knocking. "You in there?" He pushed the door open a crack and saw the dark room. Her bed was empty so he closed the door and went to the Drawing room. When he couldn't find her there either he went down to the Kitchen just in time to see Ron arrive. Ron and Ginny hadn't seen the brunette all day either, so Harry pulled out his wand and muttered a spell. His Patronus made the cramped kitchen gleam brightly.
"Tell Hermione, 'we're going over fifth year soon. Thought you might want to be here for that. Let us know where you are and when you'll be home,' end message." The Patronus nodded once to Harry before dissolving to mist and flying away through the northern wall. "Should I have added anything to that?" asked Harry.
"Nah. She'll understand. I wonder where she is, usually she tells one of us where she's going," replied Ron.
"Oh well, let's head upstairs. She'll respond eventually," said Ginny.
The three took off and raced for the stairs.
Ginny entered the Drawing room at a full run and blasted into Sirius who was standing several feet in the doorway, knocking them both to the ground. Seconds later Harry, then Ron burst into the room and fell into the pile of Ginny and Sirius. All four were laughing and trying to stand when Hermione's otter Patronus flew into the room.
"At Hogwarts; be home in a few minutes. Brining McGonagall with me," it replied in Hermione's voice.
"OW, Ron you're on my hair!" yelped Ginny.
"Well, maybe if your hair didn't reach your arse..." said Ron.
"Oh! Merlin that tickles!"
"Who's touching my knee?"
"Ow! Geroff me!"
"Bloody hell, that tickles! Stop it!"
The four continued to scramble around on the floor trying to escape each other's limbs while the other adults in the room just guffawed and remained where they were. It took a few minutes, but once Ginny's and Sirius' hair were untangled and Harry had finished his laughing fit after being tickled, the four found places to sit far from each other. Ron glaring at Ginny and Sirius rubbing his scalp.
"Well, that was…utterly embarrassing," said Harry.
"What was embarrassing?" asked Hermione as she walking into the room. Minerva followed her and sat next to Molly.
"Nothing," muttered Ginny, Ron, Sirius, and Harry.
"We'll tell you later," Lily whispered. James sniggered into his hand.
Harry blushed and picked up the notebook Hermione had filled up with all the timelines he needed to remember and scanned the page for his fifth year.
"Ahem, well, I guess I'll start with the summer before. I guess I was having a hard time what with Cedric's death and everything. I basically spent the first half of my summer trying to find news about both the Wizarding World and the Muggle world, hiding from my relatives by walking around the neighbourhood, and sleeping. Or, well, trying to sleep. I had a lot of nightmares about Cedric, and a strange recurring dream about a long, dark hallway that ended in a locked door.
"One evening I got into an argument with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and went to the park for a while. On my way home I ran into Dudley and his gang of idiots." Harry pulled the Pensieve to himself and started filling it with a couple strands of memories. Once he was done, he sat back in his chair.
"Let's go watch me kick some Dementor…bum," he finished lamely when Lily glared at him. The guys all sniggered as everyone stood and placed a finger into the bowl.
Many minutes later, the group of fourteen people was sitting back down.
"I cannot believe they were about to expel you for defending yourself! You saved Dudley's life and your own and they jump right to expelling you?" Lily ranted. Harry grinned. He never got tired of hearing his parents defend him for all the unjust things that happened in his life.
"What I can't believe is how you carried your fat lump of a cousin all that way by yourself," Ron said grabbing Harry's arm. "You must have some muscle in there after all!" he finished wiggling Harry's arm.
"I'll have you know, I'm much stronger than I look, thank you," replied Harry as he yanked his arm out of Ron's grip. George and Percy chuckled.
"What I'm surprised about is how much spunk ol' Figgy had! Did you see her whacking Dung with her bag? No wonder Dung was afraid of her after that night!" Sirius guffawed along with George and Bill.
"You think he was scared of Mrs. Figg you wait until you see how scared of me he was during my sixth year and last year," Harry replied darkly. Ron chuckled.
"So what happened after you received that last letter from the Ministry?" asked Ginny.
"Well I argued with my uncle some more and then Aunt Petunia got a Howler that said 'Remember my last, Petunia' and she told my uncle he wasn't allowed to kick me out because the neighbours would ask questions. Then she sent me to my room, and I wrote a couple of letters to Ron, Hermione, and Sirius demanding to know what was going on and when I'd get to leave Privet Drive."
"Yeah you told Hedwig to peck us until we answered you. Those pecks hurt, mate," Ron said while rubbing his hand.
"Who was the Howler from?" asked Lily.
"Dumbledore," was all Harry said.
He then told them all about his rescue from his relatives' house and meeting Tonks for the first time. Everyone who'd known Tonks had sad looks on their faces as he described her personality and her surprisingly endearing clumsiness. He thought for a moment.
"Professor?" he asked. "Is it possible I could save some memories of Remus and Tonks and when Teddy is old enough I could show them to him? I know when I was younger I would have loved to see memories of my parents," he said. Minerva looked at him thoughtfully.
"Yes, at some point in the future I'm sure I won't mind loaning you the Pensieve again. But until then I'll keep a look out for another one that might be for sale. They're frightfully expensive and very rare, but if I find one, I'll let you know, all right?" she said. Harry nodded and thanked her.
He went on to describe arriving at Headquarters, shouting at his friends, and the couple weeks leading up to his hearing. He made sure to mention the first talk he'd had with various Order members the first night at the house, the cleaning war they waged on the house (he made sure to mention the locket specially), and Mrs. Black's portrait. He got to the day of the hearing and emptied more memories into the bowl.
"I'm starting the memories when I walk into the courtroom so I'll explain quickly about that morning. Arthur and I arrived and had just sat down in his office when a co-worker arrived to tell us the hearing had been moved up to eight o'clock and was being held instead in Courtroom Ten. I was five minutes late by then so we rushed down to the Ministry dungeons. I think that about covers it," Harry said. They all stood up once again and were sucked into the memory.
When the large group came out of the Pensieve each took their seats fuming. Harry could almost see the steam coming out from people's ears, as if the whole group had taken several doses of Pepper-Up Potion all together.
"So let me get this straight," James spoke first. "They fired Dumbledore from the Wizengamot and spent several weeks defaming you and Dumbledore in the newspapers. Then when you were attacked by two dark creatures and successfully defended yourself and your Muggle cousin from the creatures, they charged you with breaking the statue of secrecy, decided to expel you and snap your wand without a trial or even coming to your house for an explanation or a chance to defend your actions?" he asked.
"Correct," Harry replied so James nodded once and continued.
"Then when Dumbledore reminded Fudge that the Ministry held no authority when it came to expelling students, they decided to hold a hearing, which turned into a full trial by Wizengamot where they called you a liar, a show off, and an attention seeker. Fudge tried to keep any evidence in your favour out of the courtroom by changing the time and place of the trial so you and anyone who could defend you might miss it altogether. Then they avoided actually addressing why you were there, merely addressing the fact that you were there in front of them after breaking the law, making you look even worse in their eyes," he stated. Harry nodded.
"Luckily Dumbledore anticipated Fudge's sneaky, unfair trick and showed up early. During the trial Dumbledore easily proved you innocent by providing a witness, and showing the other members of the Wizengamot how wrong the trial was for you. When he realized he was losing Fudge blatantly stated, and in doing so admitted, that he changed laws to work in his favour. After that they all voted to clear you of all charges." Again Harry nodded.
"What I don't understand is how that bastard ever held office, let alone for so long?" James yelled.
The other people in the room all started talking at once about how corrupt and utterly wrong the government was. Harry sat back and listened half-heartedly to all the shouts and anger on his behalf. As good as it made him feel to know he had people on his side, all the events they were getting angry over were in his past. He had mostly got over the unjustness of that trial and for the most part wanted to leave it in the past. He understood that his parents wanted to know more about his life but the simultaneous story telling yet withholding information was grating on his patience. He just wanted to be done with all the memories of his own past. Reliving it all just reminded him of how unfair his lack of a childhood was.
He sighed slowly and waited for the shouts to die down. Soon enough everyone was sitting quietly waiting for Harry to talk but someone else did instead.
"You know Harry, a lot of what was said about that summer and following school year was libellous. You could sue a lot of people and businesses for what they said about you since in the end you were telling the truth and their lies only made life harder for you and allowed You-Know-Who more time to gain power. You might even be able to go after the Wizengamot for stress and unjust accusations. Fudge broke laws to bring you to trial like he did; you could easily get him put in Azkaban," Percy said.
"I don't want to bring all this back up. They accused me once of being an attention seeker, I'd rather not prove them right. It's over and done with, I just want to move on," Harry replied.
"That may be true Harry but think of it this way. The Wizarding World was never told of that attack and subsequent trial. They don't know how corrupt the Wizengamot is and bringing it all back up now could open a lot of eyes. You could help change laws to be fairer and make it harder for the government officials to succumb to bribery, selfishness, bigotry, racism..." Hermione trailed off.
"There are some things you don't exactly know about either, Harry, things that the Minister said when no one else was around." Percy took a deep breath and looked straight into Harry's eyes. "The Minister was hoping he could snap your wand and extend your punishment to Azkaban," he said bluntly. Everyone gasped. "I overheard Fudge and Malfoy talking after the trial when I went to bring paperwork for Fudge to sign. I heard them talking about the upcoming school year and their plans to take over the school with Umbridge. I heard Malfoy getting up to leave and I hid in a supply closet near the Ministers office until he was gone. I'm not sure what would have happened if they'd caught me listening," Percy finished shakily.
"Son, can you show us your memory of this?" Arthur asked quickly. Percy nodded and pulled out his wand.
They all arrived in a small corridor with doors leading off into small cramped offices every couple feet. They could see a younger Percy standing several feet away.
"Wiggins, do you have an extra copy of Form 39-G?" asked a flustered Percy as he fumbled with a large stack of paperwork, a briefcase, and two cups of tea.
"Yeah," said a distracted man with a receding hair line.
Percy waited for a few moments before asking, "Could I get it from you please?"
"Sure," said Wiggins, his nose still in a book titled Laws and Why We Need Them.
Percy tried to readjust the pile of paperwork and dropped a large chunk of it. He sighed and replied to Wiggins, "Getting it today would excellent." He placed the tea cups on the flat end of the briefcase, waved his wand so it all floated in mid air while he bent over to restack the paperwork.
"Here," said Wiggins, nose still in the book and a packet of stapled paperwork in hand waving it in front of him. Percy stood up but in the process bumped his head into the floating briefcase which sent the tea cups and their contents flying into the office and drenching Wiggins, his book, and Form 39-G.
"Damn it Weasley! You clumsy sod!" Wiggins shouted.
"Oh calm down man," Percy mumbled as he waved his wand and siphoned up the tea. He plucked the forms he'd come for from Wiggins hand, pocketed the empty tea cups, and grasped the briefcase before heading off down the hallway, Wiggins' mumbling growing faint as they left the area.
"My apologies, I'd forgotten that incident else I would have skipped it," Percy muttered to the group.
"It's alright, Perce, we got to see you mess up at work. My life is complete now," George chuckled. The others smiled as Percy frowned at George and rolled his eyes.
"The next part is where I overheard the Minister and Malfoy talking," Percy said.
They watched as Percy made his way to the Minister's office and pause outside the door before leaning in cautiously.
"Damn that infernal Dumbledore! And damn Harry Potter! I cannot believe after all that work to get the damn boy expelled and he bloody well gets off scot free. I need a whiskey," Fudge said vehemently. The Percy that was eavesdropping frowned. He then waved his wand at the door and the group saw a one sided window appear in the wood. They could now see into the office and see exactly what was going on. Everyone was astonished that rule abiding Percy would know such a questionable Eavesdropper spell. At the look George and Bill gave him Percy shrugged.
"I had to learn something from all those years of being the butt of everyone's joke," he said.
"Our wittle Percy is so…naughty! I'm so proud," George said as he wiped a fake tear from his eye.
"Sh!" Hermione said as she saw Malfoy open his mouth to speak.
"Minister, I'm sure you understand why I'm here today. The, ah, funds I donated to your cause had specific guidelines that needed to be fulfilled in order for them to remain in your account—"
"Yes, yes, Lucius I know. The boy is free, his wand intact, and he's not in Azkaban where he's supposed to be. I'll write you a banknote in a moment," replied Fudge wearily.
"On the contrary, Cornelius, I have another plan. I'll just refrain from donating the usual amount and the previous funds can go for this plan as well," said Lucius smoothly. He swirled the liquid in his glass and peered at the Minister.
"And what does this plan entail, Lucius?" Fudge asked warily.
"Oh, just another way to further discredit Dumbledore and possibly take control of Hogwarts, but if you're not interested, I can just take my banknote and—"
"Now let's not be hasty. You know my terms. I hear your ideas and then have the opportunity to agree or not. So…let's hear it. Any chance to make Dumbledore more of a laughing stock I'm ready to hear," Fudge said with an evil twittering laugh.
"Of course Minister. Well according to my sources Dumbledore has had very poor results in hiring this year's buffoon of a Defence instructor. With the history of the position, no one really wants to risk their lives and futures by taking the job. The last several years have been testament to this. A werewolf, that autograph loving fool Lockhart, Quirrell the Stuttering mess, and let's not forget Adams who barely made it past the first week before he had that emotional breakdown and moved to Siberia to live with the penguins or some such nonsense. And last year's professor was a complete nut job. My son said Moody actually used Unforgivables on the students with Dumbledore's permission.
"I've also heard through gossip mongering of my wife and her friends, who learned this from their own children, that Dumbledore hasn't been inspecting any of the teachers. He allows them to teach whatever they feel like regardless of the OWL and NEWT exams. Classes like Divination, History of Magic, and Care of Magical Creatures have all become jokes. There used to be standards when it came to hiring, for example anyone wishing to work at the school in a teaching position must have an OWL and a NEWT in the subject they wished to teach. But Hagrid, for example, was expelled in his third year. He most definitely does not meet standard requirements, but because he is Dumbledore's pet he was given the teaching position. [Harry bristled at this and felt the desire to punch Lucius across the nose.] I looked up the records and the oaf didn't even apply, Dumbledore just asked him and then hired him.
"Also, did you know that in the last seventy years three classes have been cut from the curriculum? There used to be a Wizarding Customs class to teach the incoming students the customs and beliefs of Wizards. Think of how beneficial this could be to all those students coming in that have no knowledge of this world and laws?
"There used to be a Living skills class that taught household spells, cooking spells, home maintenance spells, and basic healing spells to the sixth and seventh years. The fifth years were taught sexual education just as they were entering into that age where the opposite sexes were getting interesting.
"Why were these classes cancelled? There are no explanations given to the Board of Governors for their records. The only thing I could discover was in the Hogwarts payroll records where it lists the teacher's reason for leaving the post. The last professor who taught Wizarding Customs left because he, and I quote, 'was tired of teaching Mudbloods about our customs when they don't deserve to be in our world.' The other two professors didn't give a reason for leaving other than personal matters. My guess is that the instructors left and Dumbledore never bothered to hire anyone new."
Lucius continued to ramble on for another twelve minutes about the falling standards at Hogwarts but the group started talking to each other when this new information coming to light.
"You know, if I didn't know what his hidden agenda was I'd actually agree with him to a point," Hermione said in disgust. "Why weren't we taught these things? I personally would have enjoyed learning more about the Customs of this world since I knew virtually nothing. And I know several girls who had pregnancy scares because they weren't taught the right potions." Minerva gave her a startled look and mouthed 'pregnancy scares' before shaking her head.
"I remember hearing about the Wizarding Customs class being cancelled when I was in school but it was before my time even," said Minerva. "I am shocked though that Albus would just allow such valuable classes to be discontinued. I'll have to speak with his portrait about that and perhaps think about starting them back up in the next few years."
"That would be wonderful for the new students but what about the people who never got to learn those things? Like us? We'd still be in the dark and have to stumble around without knowing what we're doing wrong!" Hermione said shrilly. Harry could see her burgeoning panic and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sure we can find a way to have an adult class set up for anyone who wishes to learn the Customs class. Right Professor?" he asked.
"Yes, that would actually be very beneficial. I, for one would enjoy hearing some things. Of course being as old as I am, I know a fair amount of our world's customs, but it would still be interesting. I'd of course have to make sure the person I hire isn't a bigot like the previous teacher," Minerva finished with a frown.
"Um, I think you all should hear what comes next," Percy said. They all turned back to the memory.
"Well Lucius you make some very good points but what is the plan you spoke of?" Fudge said.
"Well Minister, my thoughts were to give you some control over Dumbledore by hiring someone here from the Ministry to work at Hogwarts for this next year as Defence instructor. We could create various Educational Decrees so this person will eventually be allowed to inspect the other professors, sack anyone who doesn't fit the requirements, which in turn gives you power to hire more people in your favour to work at Hogwarts. They'd also be able to abolish certain rules and instil some new guidelines that protect our children and provide a more stable environment for their education.
"In a few short years, you could have control over Hogwarts and have Ministry approved curriculum being taught and prohibit practices that should never have been allowed to start. You will be the Minister that saved Hogwarts from disarray and stagnation," Lucius finished suavely. Fudge took a moment and was visibly thinking about what Lucius said. Finally a small smile appeared on his squat face. He tipped back his whiskey and downed it entirely before filling up his own and Lucius' glasses.
"A toast! To change at Hogwarts!" he cried. The two downed their shot and shook hands.
"I will be in touch with the requirements and step by step itinerary on how we will accomplish our takeover of Hogwarts. I'm sure that Potter and Dumbledore will try everything to stop this from happening and hopefully we will soon see a day where Dumbledore and Potter are gone from Hogwarts forever. Until next time Minister," Lucius said as he stood up. He bowed slightly and turned towards the door where the memory Percy quickly cancelled the Eavesdropping spell and bolted for a door several feet away.
Harry watched as Lucius walked through the door, paused, and then smirked before heading down the corridor. A moment later Percy poked his head out the door and looked around before exiting the stuffy closet. He composed himself before knocking on the Ministers door and they all heard Fudge shout "Enter" just as the memory started to fade and they were ejected from the Pensieve.
Harry sat down, thoughts running through his head at a mile a minute.
"Well," said Bill. "That was certainly enlightening."
"Yes, yes it was," replied Arthur. "Son was there any more incidents like this?" he asked Percy.
"None that I overheard, father. I know Malfoy generally visited the Minister's office at least once a week, sometimes more. But I never overheard another meeting." Percy looked at Harry. "Now do you understand? If you were to sue Fudge it would come out that he was taking bribes, illegally changing laws to further his own gains, and other various acts that Ministers should never participate in. The people should know that their previous Minister was that corrupt because that would help various laws be passed that make the people in higher positions be accountable for what they're doing every day. In the end, Harry, this is more than just you."
"And with Kingsley where he is, he could possibly help to keep it all quiet until it's beneficial to us for the public to know. Knowing the right people will help make you out to be the injured party instead of the other way around," Hermione added.
"I'll think about it," Harry replied dully.
"But Harry," Hermione started.
"I said I'll think about Hermione. I'm not ready to throw my life to those vultures willingly without thinking about it first. We're done with this. Let's move on to the next subject," Harry said vehemently. Hermione raised her hands in the air and zipped her lips shut. Harry simply frowned at her.
"This would be a good place to explain Umbridge," Ron said casually. Suddenly the other four kids who had experienced the wrath of Umbridge groaned in unison.
"That woman…I swear," Hermione grumbled angrily.
"Wasn't she the woman at your trial? The one with the ugly bow in her hair?" asked Lily.
Harry chuckled. "Yes, that's her. Ugly bow, looks like a fat toad, wears a lot of pink, annoying laugh. That's Dolores Umbridge. The bane of my existence and the only person I hate more than Voldemort," he said darkly.
"You heard what the Minister and Malfoy were talking about right? Putting someone from the Ministry at Hogwarts? That's who they put there. She was Fudge's lackey and hated children," said Hermione. "Her classes taught us nothing. She basically had us read the text book in class, and then copy it three times. If we didn't finish our three copies in class it was considered homework. Most people copied it once and then duplicated it twice.
"In class, she barely taught us anything, but when she did attempt to teach it was about the Ministry, how amazing Fudge was, and how we needed to show our loyalty to the Ministry no matter what. We weren't allowed to use our wands in class, and it got to the point where she'd confiscate them if she saw them out. And if anyone disrupted class," Hermione paused and glanced at Harry before continuing. "They'd be given detention," she finished ominously.
"Dun dun dun," muttered Harry. The Weasleys gave him a strange look, as did his father, Sirius, and Minerva. "Sorry, Muggle thing I guess," he said with a low chuckle.
"Anyway," Hermione said glaring at Harry. "Umbridge was made Hogwarts High Inquisitor. She was allowed to inspect her fellow professors doing their jobs, sack them if they didn't agree to the Ministry policies, and she was allowed to add and change the rules of Hogwarts with Educational Decrees," she spat.
"Educational Decrees? What are those?" asked James.
"Well, for instance 'By order of the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts: Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach. The above is in accordance with the Educational Decree Number Twenty-Six. Signed, Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor.' Usually they had a Ministry seal stamped next to her name as well. My personal favourite was number twenty-seven 'Any student found in possession of the magazine The Quibbler will be expelled.'"
"The Quibbler? Why the Quibbler? I love that rag," James replied in confusion.
"What I want to know is why Hermione felt the need to memorize them," Rom mumbled to Harry, who chuckled.
"You know, I think I have a copy of that Quibbler. I'll run home and see, while you guys explain," said Ginny as she ran out of the room.
"Actually the Quibbler article is getting a little ahead of ourselves. We'll get to it eventually though. Umbridge was allowed to inspect the teachers, so right away she started joining the classes and sitting there scribbling away on her notepad, interrupting certain teachers to ask questions and such. She always asked questions of the students who would give her the answers she wanted. Like in Care of Magical Creatures, instead of asking the Gryffindors anything she went to the Slytherins and was told all about Hagrid the oaf, and all the dangerous creatures he used to attack the students with. When in reality, Draco Malfoy constantly ignored Hagrid and ended up insulting a Hippogriff to its face. Of course Buckbeak was going to attack him!" Hermione said angrily. Ron laid a hand on her arm and she paused in her rant to cool off.
"She eventually tried to sack Professor Trelawney, but Dumbledore stepped in and said that while she could sack his teachers, she couldn't banish them from the castle. Then he introduced Firenze, a centaur from the forest, as the new Divination professor."
For the next twenty minutes the five kids ranted and complained about Umbridge, George and Ginny (who had returned with the article in her hand) shared their own experiences with the Toad, as they called her. Minerva had even jumped in a few times and shared her and the other Professor's opinion of the horrible woman. They explained the detentions and the blood quills to the indignation of the adults. Harry and George shared their scars and it took all the kids to get James, Lily, Molly and Arthur to sit back down and continue.
"I remember one time Fred woke me up after a particularly nasty detention," started George sadly. "He'd had a dream about Umbridge turning into a toad, and he said, and I quote, 'Best dream ever!' I asked him why, he said that Umbridge was an Animagus and could turn into a toad. When she was hopping down the corridor in the dream, the good professor here," he nodded to Minerva, "Changed into her cat form and…ATE THE TOAD!" he finished loudly. The kids, stunned momentarily, all burst into laughter. Minerva blinked a few times before looking at George.
"I can't even imagine the indigestion," she said before everyone was laughing loudly. After everyone settled down Minerva spoke again. "Please tell us about your study group, now. I've been very curious about this after seeing O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. results after that year." Harry smiled and started talking before Hermione could.
"Well we actually started the group after Hermione decided we weren't going to learn anything in Defence Against the Dark Arts. She and Ron came to me and asked if I'd be a teacher for a small group of students. It took them a while, but I finally agreed to meet up with some students during a Hogsmeade weekend." Harry continued on and explained the DA to everyone. Sirius had a wide grin on his face as he finally heard the details about the group. Minerva was astonished that Hermione had been able to craft the Galleon coins in such a clever manner. Hermione beamed at the praise.
"Harry could we see a memory of one of the classes?" asked James. He was jumpy and excited like Sirius. Finally, they were hearing some good memories of his son. Harry looked at Hermione and they held a silent conversation before he nodded.
"I'll show you the last two meetings. It'll kill two birds with one stone that way," he said as he stood up and began filling more memories into the bowl. A few moments later and the large group were standing in the middle of the Room of Requirements. Harry smiled at the view, remembering how much fun the meetings were and how hard everyone had worked. He worried about the Room of Requirement and whether the Fiendfyre had damaged the spells that made the room what it was. At that moment however people started arriving in twos and threes so he focused on the memory.
He'd been standing at the front of the room on a low platform he'd asked the room for, that way everyone could see him from their cushions around the room. He and Ron had been sending spells back and forth for fun while Hermione sat at the back of the room reading another book as the three waited for everyone to arrive.
Harry noticed people coming in and choosing pillows and bean bags to sit on and watch the duel. Ginny and her then boyfriend Michael Corner sat near each other, Padma and Parvati Patil arrived together with Lavender. Terry, Anthony and Cho all arrived together as well. Fred, George and Lee all came at the same time and watched the younger Weasley boy in the duel, probably hoping to tease him afterwards should he lose.
"Stupefy!" cried Harry. The red spell just missed Ron, who slid to his left and thrust his chest out to arch his back away from the spell, which sped right through the air where he'd been standing moments before. He'd recovered immediately and shot a return stunner at Harry, who blocked it with a shield.
"Tarantallegra!" shouted Harry. The spell connected with Ron's leg and he immediately started dancing a wild dance. Instead of de-activating the spell, Ron aimed at Harry and shouted, "Rictusempra!" Harry started giggling like mad and doing his own little dance trying to get away from invisible fingers poking his ribs.
"Fin-HE-HE-HE-tay!" Harry whimpered pathetically. Ron, by that time had ended the dance spell, and aimed at Harry again. "Stupefy! Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Stupefy!" He relentlessly shot spell after spell that Harry somehow managed to dodge. One however managed to get through and Harry's wand went flying into Ron's hand.
The red head whooped loudly but sent another stunner at Harry, who dodged once more then suddenly charged at Ron laughing maniacally. Ron, not prepared for that move, froze which gave Harry the time to tackle Ron and wrestle both wands away. He finally de-activated the tickle spell and stunned Ron in one breath before collapsing on the floor breathing heavily.
Applause, from both the DA members and the group viewing the memory, made Harry and Ron blush a deep rose colour.
"That was amazing!" said Sirius. James and Lily were grinning as were the Weasley matriarch and patriarch. George, Bill, and Percy were laughing loudly and Ginny was chuckling as well.
"Ron's face…when Harry ran at him laughing…HA! Priceless!" George muttered wiping tears from his eyes.
"Ron's face? Did you see Harry's? He looked bloody insane!" Bill howled. Percy simply hung on George's shoulder laughing so hard his face was turning a nice burgundy colour and tears streaming down his face.
Ron and Harry chuckled along with the others.
"You did look fairly mad, Harry. I wish we could get pictures from inside a Pensieve, because I'm pretty sure the media hounds would pay a fortune for that look," Ron teased.
Harry shook his head at the good natured ribbing and watched as his doppelganger finally leaned over and revived his friend. Ron woke up and looked at the ceiling before rolling over and punching Harry in the arm.
"Prat! Scared the bloody hell out of me there," he said angrily. Harry burst out laughing.
"Sorry mate. But you knew the rules. It only ended when one of us was stunned. You almost had me there at the end though," Harry said as he helped Ron to his feet. By that time the rest of the DA members had arrived so Ron left the raised platform and found a poufy ottoman to sit on.
"Good job Harry!" Cho cried from the front of the group. Both Harry's blushed as James and Sirius started laughing.
"Oh Harry! You're so wonderful!" cried Sirius.
"Oh Harry you're so manly," James said huskily.
All the males in the Pensive joined in on the banter, but were silenced by the women's glares.
"Either hush up, or leave the memory. Some of us are trying to watch," Lily said.
"Er, thanks Cho," the younger Harry said.
"When will we be duelling like that, Harry?" asked Dean. Several other students agreed loudly asking similar questions.
"Quiet!" Harry called out. "I think you'll all be ready to duel like that after we finish the Patronus charm, which we'll be starting today. Now the incantation is this, Expecto Patronum. Okay? Ex-pec-to Pat-ro-num. You need to enunciate it clearly, so everyone say the word a couple times, and Hermione, Ron, and I will go around and check your words."
They walked around the room, helping some pronounce the words more carefully, others they reminded which parts to enunciate. After ten minutes everyone had the word memorized.
"Now, I want you all to watch me. I'm going to cast my Patronus for everyone to see. Now remember, mine took me a long time to perfect. It's a very difficult spell, so don't expect to get it right on your first try. It took me several weeks and even then it wasn't Corporeal for a long time after that as well," he said loudly. He cast his Patronus and Prongs cantered slowly around the room around everyone's cushions. Many of the girls cooed at the magnificent creature. The guys all had wide eyes and some even reached out to touch the stag as it wandered by them.
"Now that you all know the incantation, you need to know a few more things, before you can all get started practising. First, in order to produce a Patronus you need to be thinking of a very happy memory. Something that made you happier than you ever remember being. If it doesn't work for you for a while, try thinking of a different memory. Try several and see if something in particular might work better than other memories. And don't be discouraged if it doesn't work and all you produce is a silvery mist. Even the mist can save your life in a bind."
Harry demonstrated the wand movements, and had them all move out to practise. He spent the next hour roaming around the room helping where he could and encouraging the students.
"What memory are you using, Hermione?" he asked his friend when he could see her getting upset.
"The day I got my Hogwarts letter," she murmured.
"I used that one too and it wasn't quite strong enough," he said as he looked at her. "Is there anything else you can think about? Maybe a memory of your parents would work better," he suggested. She screwed up her face and thought hard for a few moments.
"Oh!" she said abruptly. She attempted the spell again and they both could see a slightly more condensed form take place. "Oh! It worked! Thank you Harry!" she said excitedly, before hugging Harry. She let go and tried the spell again and Harry, chuckling, moved on.
"Harry. I can't seem to get much," Cho said as he moved closer to her. He stood next to her and repeated the same question he'd asked Hermione. She blushed and looked at her feet while mumbling something inaudible.
"I'm sorry, what?" he asked. He could see Zacharias Smith leaning in to try and hear as well, so he leaned in and she whispered something to him. They both blushed brightly as he pulled away quickly.
"Oh!" he said. "I, um…er, well I guess, uh, you could, um…er, keep trying that I guess. Uh, why, um, why don't you try one more time," he said fumbling over the words, obviously embarrassed.
"What did she say to you?" James asked with a wide leering smile.
"Nothing," Harry replied, his voice cracking to a higher pitch. The others laughed but saw Cho send out another Patronus, this time achieving a figure that floated around her before dissipating.
"Did you see it Harry?" she asked elatedly. They watched as he grinned and congratulated her before prompting her to keep practicing. He turned and continued on to a few others. By the end of the class Hermione, Cho, Luna, and George had all created nearly Corporeal shapes while several others had created somewhat defined mist and were close to that perfect memory. Other's like Neville, Lavender, Colin, and Dennis had barely produced any mist and were feeling quite disheartened.
"Okay, everyone, time to stop for the night. You all did wonderful, yes, even you Neville. Just remember to keep practising on your own, perhaps in the dorms or common rooms. For those of you who are still having problems think of memories you could use. Happier the better, remember. We'll continue this next time. Good job everyone!" Harry said happily. He stood at the door letting people out in twos and threes like they came, keeping an eye on the Map just in case. Once everyone had gone the memory faded into the next.
"I must say Harry; you did a wonderful job teaching them. I'm surprised so many were able to get so far in that charm in one night. I saw more smiles and enjoyment in this one class then I can say I've seen in my own classes in a long time. Not only were you able to teach them the spell and get results during the class, but they left with smiles on their faces and I'm betting many come back having practised despite not having it be assigned homework. I'll add not many people your age would have had the skills to control a class that large, and have the students have fun and learn. It's every teacher's dream to have a class like that," Minerva said, her thin smile showing her pride in her student. "I'm going to expect you at some point to return to Hogwarts and teach. I could see it in your face as you watched the memory; you enjoyed teaching them as much as they enjoyed learning from you. You miss it, I can tell."
Harry stared at her in shock. Yes, he'd enjoyed the DA and yes, he'd looked forward to it. He'd even had planned out about ten more classes for the future when it had been discovered. He even could admit to missing that feeling of camaraderie he had with his fellow students. He liked teaching them because it was fun, challenging but not too hard, and it was his friends. Would he enjoy teaching as a profession? He couldn't decide.
He contemplated this while they watched as the last DA meeting happened around them. When Dobby arrived panicked and out of breath he watched the faces of the people watching the memory.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? RUN!" Harry shouted to the students.
Minerva, knowing what was about to happen was frowning, as was Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and George. They had all safely escaped so they only had his description of what happened in the Head office that night.
They watched as Harry was tripped by Malfoy and then dragged by Umbridge to the Headmaster's office. This time around Harry watched Dumbledore very closely. Because he was watching he could see Dumbledore thinking hard about what he needed to do.
Hermione had gasped when she heard Harry blatantly lie to the Minister of Magic. She'd opened her mouth to question him, but beat her to it and said, "Just watch Hermione." She turned and did precisely that.
"I think, Minister, we might make better progress if I fetch our informant," said Umbridge.
Several long minutes went by which left Harry wishing he could fast forward the memories like a Muggle television, but it was impossible. Everyone watched for a long while, Ginny, Harry, and George all sitting down at one point.
"Yes, do let's hear the latest cock-and-bull story designed to pull Potter out of trouble! Go on, then, Dumbledore, go on – Willy Widdershins was lying, was he? Or was Potter's identical twin in the Hog's Head that day? Or is there the usual simple explanation involving a reversal of time, a dead man coming back to life, and a couple of invisible Dementors?" ranted Fudge. When Percy from the memory laughed and congratulated the Minister for his wit, the Percy from the present time cowered at the glares James, Lily, and Sirius gave him.
"Guys, don't blame Percy," Harry said with a chuckle.
"I don't deserve your good faith, Harry. I was a right old arse to you back then," Percy said with his head hanging in shame.
"Percy, everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is you learned from it and you're a better man now for it. Accept that and move on," Harry said firmly but with a smile. Arthur reached over and patted his son on his back and gave him a reassuring smile. Percy smiled and nodded his head.
At that point everyone was chuckling at the comment Dumbledore had made that left the Ministry people in the room stunned momentarily. Harry turned and watched Kingsley. The others saw him turn and they followed suit just in time to see the man mutter a spell aimed at Marietta.
Soon enough they watched as Umbridge handed Fudge the list of names.
"See what they've names themselves? Dumbledore's Army," Fudge said aghast.
"Oh Merlin! It's all my fault!" Ginny suddenly said. Everyone turned to her in confusion. "It was my idea to make the DA stand for Dumbledore's Army!" she said frantically. "It's my fault he was sacked and on the run that year!"
"It was not your fault, Gin. That would be like me blaming myself for lying about why I was there. I knew why, but when I said no, Dumbledore ended up taking the blame in the end. I could have told the truth and been expelled, but I didn't. You can't blame yourself for that one tiny thing, okay?" Harry said quickly. He spent the next several minutes reassuring Ginny that it wasn't her fault while everyone else continued watching the memory.
When the blast went off and Harry, Marietta, and Minerva were shoved to the ground everyone's mouth dropped open.
"Wow," George muttered. "That was…" he trailed off.
"Incredible?" Bill offered.
Fudge ranted for a few minutes but as the memory faded everyone heard Phineas Nigellus say, "You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts … but you cannot deny he's got style…."
a/n: Wow...this chapter kicked my ass so hard... It gave some major writer's block, and made me cry even since there was about 1,200 words that I just wasn't feeling, so I just deleted it in a frustrated rage. :(
Anyway for those of you who have stuck around, please check out my blog/homepage. It's linked on my profile but I'll do a long version here, just remove the spaces {firephoenix 86- fanfiction. webs. com}. I do updates about the progress on chapters there, so if you're ever wondering when the next chapter will be out, check there, and see if I've posted anything. I also copy and paste my blogs to my LiveJournal account as well, becuase I know my blog website doesn't allow email notifications to be sent out when I post, but LiveJournal does and I do believe that link is on my profile as well. After this I'm going to go clean up my profile page a bit, I've got a bit too many A/N updates on there... I've also posted quite a few pieces of my art on my blog page for y'all to check out as well. I know several people have recommended seeing some of the things that draw me away from fan fiction.
I've put up a new poll question, please answer it! Its in regard to the sequel I'm roughly planning and I could really use your guys opinion! Thanks!
Thanks to Teufel1987 for betaing this beast! You should all go check out his story, you can either copy/paste his username and search that or search his user id: 1729392.
I almost forgot, the whole 'Ate the Toad' thing was actually borrowed from a story called Harry's New Home by kbinnz. Story id: 4437151.
Well, sorry this a/n is so long. Please review and check out my blog! I made this chapter extra long for you all so, please no flames about the length of time it took to post.