The first thing that came to Jake's mind when the Umbridge woman walked into their Transfiguration class was how to interrupt Potter's eventual outburst before he landed himself in more detentions with the little crone. What he hadn't predicted was Professor McGonagall's retaliation to her usual comments and obvious questions. It only took a few short responses from the Head of Gryffindor House to set the pink toad in her place, scribbling furiously on her clipboard in the corner of the room opposite from the dragons.

McGonagall set the students about trying to vanish their mice and was walking around making observations when she passed near the dragons. She stopped midstride and looked in their direction, a thought seeming to cross her mind. Lao Shi had been describing the details of their own method of "vanishing" objects when McGonagall approached them, the two of them immediately giving her their full attention. It was the first time one of the professors had paused during their lesson to converse with them, and frankly it was quite surprising.

"I never did properly thank you all for Saturday," she said to them softly, trying not to draw attention toward them.

The two dragons looked to each other, a bit confused, when Jake answered, "Well it's really Fred you should be thanking, I mean he was the one that saved Harry…"

"I was referring to the practice they all gained when you humored them with a Quidditch match," McGonagall clarified. "I can assure you, they haven't given a game that much effort in quite some time." Before the dragons could think of a response, she continued, "I was hoping, if it's not too much to ask, that you could show me your technique that removed the window panes at the First Feast last week."

Jake turned to his master, asking, "What do you think, G?"

"We are here to share our hearts and minds," he referenced his original response at the First Feast Ceremony. He reached into his cloak and removed a toy ball that they frequently used for their manipulation exercises and held it in an outstretched palm. He waved his hand over it once with the ball fading to nothingness, only empty air remaining. Another wave of his hand and the ball had reappeared in his clawed fingers untouched, as though it had never left.

McGonagall had watched intently and seemed supremely satisfied by the demonstration. "And do you have an incantation that you recite, either verbally or silently?"

"No, our use of Old Magic is not based on a language component like your spells," Lao Shi explained.

"Indeed," she mused, "And could you perform the same 'vanishing' on a live creature like we are practicing today?"

Lao Shi looked unsure of how to answer, eventually admitting, "I've never attempted it. I suppose we've always believed it too dangerous, or rather just unnecessary, to use on a living creature, but I see no reason that it could not work." He looked at the box on the professor's desk and manipulated a single mouse out of it, floating it across the room into his waiting hand. Some of the students had been drawn to the flying, squealing little thing and watched with interest as the blue dragon first hovered his spare hand over the mouse, eyes closed in deep focus. After a moment, he waved his hand over the rodent, which seemed to have little effect. Lao Shi wasn't surprised and again gathered himself and attempted the technique, this time the mouse fading out of existence in a second.

"It would appear that the vanishing can be done, however…" Lao Shi seemed to be trying to touch something in front of him, gently moving his claws through the empty air and making probing motions, "…I am not certain that returning the creature is possible." He continued searching for a few more minutes before resigning and lowering his hand. "I apologize, Professor McGonagall, but I am afraid you are now short one mouse."

If she cared remotely about the loss, she did an excellent job of hiding it. "Not a problem at all. Thank you for sharing your skill; it has given me much to think on." She turned and continued her rounds amongst the students, most of which had been watching their exchange and quickly returned to their still very present mice. Lao Shi retrieved the ball once again and handed it to his grandson, who began tossing and twirling it in the air with a single extended claw.

"No, young dragon, I think you've practiced free movement of objects enough. It's time you learned to remove them instead, as I just demonstrated." Jake gave a reaction of exasperated dread, earning a scold from his Dragon Master. "Again, the beginning to any use of magic is to find your intent in using it, in this case your desire to make the object disappear."

Jake heard a little huff of frustration from Umbridge in the far corner, who still looked quite peeved about her inspection so far.

Now there's something I'd like to make disappear, he thought.

Despite the diagrams of kneazles that Hermione was waving in his face, Harry kept his eyes trained on Dolores Umbridge, who had been walking around to the students in their Care of Magical Creatures class and asking them each questions about various creatures, gauging their knowledge on the subject. Thankfully, no one had made a fool of themselves yet, reassuring Harry that Hagrid's lessons, while impractical, were at least doing their job.

Umbridge had finished with Dean and walked past the two dragons, which stood a bit away near the tree line of the Forbidden Forest. Jake was still holding a little blue ball and swiping his claws over its surface, looking more and more annoyed as it stubbornly refused to leave his hand. Lao Shi's ability to vanish a mouse on his second try had amazed them all, especially Hermione, yet Harry could tell the feat still remained very difficult as he smiled at the steam rising between Jake's clenched teeth.

"Now, I hear there have been injuries in this class?" Harry twitched at just hearing her voice, though her words in particular helped him find his familiar scowl. Umbridge was addressing Goyle, however Malfoy had overheard and quickly rose to put in his two knuts at Hagrid's expense.

"That was me, I was slashed by a hippogriff," he boasted, as though he were a war hero flashing scars earned in some courageous battle. The High Inquisitor looked incredulous and scribbled notes furiously. The scratches set Harry's teeth on edge and he shook off the hand Ron had latched onto his shoulder the moment he'd taken a step toward the group of Slytherins.

"Only because he was too stupid to listen to what Hagrid told him to do," Harry accused, ignoring the exasperated groans of Ron and Hermione behind him. Though Harry couldn't see him, Jake had just overheard and promptly dropped his head into his heads, realizing he was too late to save the loud mouth Gryffindor.

Umbridge looked at him slowly, her satisfied smile spreading all the while. "I thought you'd learned your lesson, Mr. Potter. Hopefully detention tonight in my office will help reinforce it." She gave a last nauseating giggle before bidding farewell to Professor Grubbly-Plank. Harry turned away from the laughing Slytherins and gathered his belongings before stomping off toward the greenhouses as the class ended. Ron and Hermione had to hurry to catch up to him, trying their best to get his attention but receiving only silence in return.

Herbology passed quickly (Jake thankfully keeping a much better cool than the previous week), and the trio were heading up to the Great Hall to grab dinner, their long night of homework weighing heavy on their minds. Harry, however, also had another session of 'writing lines' with Umbridge to look forward to, and it was clear he wasn't entirely pleased by it as he snatched his food and refused to acknowledge either of his friends sitting across from him.

"At least we don't have Quidditch practice tonight, or Johnson might've sent you to the infirmary," Ron joked lightly, though it seemed to do little in the way of cheering up Harry.

"And it's only one night," Hermione added, "but honestly, Harry, you're only giving her the satisfaction of forcing detention on you, there's no point to retaliating like this…"

"Yes, Hermione, there is a point," he interrupted, not at all in the mood for a lecture from her. His voice was steadily getting louder as he continued, "Hagrid's our friend, unless you've forgotten he exists like everyone else, and I'm not about to…"

"Bro," Jake soothed, clapping a large hand onto his shoulder as he took the seat next to him, "you've really gotta chill. You know we all hate toad-face just as much as you." He started piling food on his own plate, adding, "Sorry, by the way. I wasn't paying attention and didn't notice Umbridge until it was too late. Otherwise I would've tripped you, or maybe given you a wedgie…" Harry's eyes flashed dangerously, Jake understanding his poor humor hadn't been well received. "Yo, I've only been trying to help keep you out of her office…"

"Well, I didn't ask for your 'help', and I don't need it. Just stay away from me," Harry huffed, immediately standing and heading for the entrance doors. He didn't look back at the table he'd left and didn't really care what the others thought. It was almost time for his detention to begin, so he quickened his pace until he was standing outside the door to the hag's lair, waiting until the last moment to knock. The following "Come in" immediately filled him with dread at what was likely to be another bloody, painful night.

"Tch, so much for Quidditch, that boy's trippin' hard…" Jake sneered, his dinner becoming much less appetizing after Harry's storm off. Hermione and Ron seemed less surprised and more exhausted than anything.

"Don't mind him, he's just being a git," Ron sighed, shaking his head slightly as he finished the meal in front of him. He grabbed his bag and looked to Hermione expectantly.

"Go on without me, I want to stay for a bit longer. I'll meet you back at the common room," she instructed. Ron shrugged and waved goodbye to them before leaving the hall. Hermione watched him leave before heaving another sigh, rubbing the side of her head as though staving off a migraine.

"Same here," Jake said, taking a swig from his cup. Hermione gave a short laugh, looking now more bewildered than annoyed.

"I just wish he'd see sense," Hermione pleaded. Jake didn't need a name to know she was talking about Harry. "Why he's wasting so much energy on Umbridge is beyond me, he's acting like a child."

"You know him better than I do," Jake reminded her. "I probably sound like a broken record, but it's been a tough few months for him."

"I know," Hermione responded, fed up with the excuse at this point, "but still…ugh, this is going to make convincing him that much harder…"

"Convincing him of what?" Jake asked. Hermione bit her lip, frustrated that she'd apparently said something she rather wished she hadn't.

"Well…" she hesitated

"Mmm-hmm?" Jake prodded, resting his head on his arms over the table, giving Hermione a look of deep, wide-eyed interest and knocking aside most of the plates and dishes away from him noisily in the process. She rolled her eyes in turn, smiling at his act.

"Well I was thinking that…that since Umbridge isn't teaching us how to defend ourselves, we should…well, find someone who will," she said carefully, dancing around what must have been a sensitive topic.

"That's a sick idea!" Jake complimented. "I'd be down for replacing Umbridge."

"Not replace her," Hermione corrected. "She's in with the Ministry, she won't be going anywhere. No, I was thinking more along the lines of a club, or society."

Jake considered that, slightly less excited knowing that Umbridge wouldn't be thrown out of the castle, ideally at least from the third floor. "And who did you have in mind to be the teacher? McGonagall? Flitwick?"

Hermione shook her head once again. "None of the professors would ever agree to it, mostly because Umbridge would never allow it. The Ministry thinks Dumbledore's trying to raise an army." Jake cocked an eyebrow at that. "I'm not lying!" Hermione said defensively. "Regardless, I was thinking about one of the students teaching us, someone with experience in using defensive magic. Someone like…well…like Harry," she finished, her cheeks turning slightly pink as she looked away from the dragon in front of her.

Jake didn't think the idea ridiculous, as Hermione had suspected, but he wasn't convinced either. "I don't know, Hermione, not to crash your party but Harry isn't exactly the most…er…stable person in the world right now. Not to mention he might be the most unpopular Gryffindor in the school…" Hermione looked saddened at his answer, knowing deep down what he said was true. Jake kicked himself for crushing her ambitions, however, and continued, "But you know, he did win that tournament last year, and he's kicked that Volde-whatever's butt, what, twenty times now?"

"Precisely!" Hermione agreed excitedly. "Harry's the most experienced student in Hogwarts when it comes to fighting You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters." The fervor that had suddenly filled her ebbed just as quickly while she looked around and noticed that they were now almost alone in the Great Hall. She started to gather her things and Jake stood to leave as well. "It was just a thought, though, probably a stupid one…" she mumbled as they left.

"Talk to Harry and Ron about it," Jake said. "And Hermione?" She took her disheartened glance off of the floor to look Jake in the eyes. "I don't think it's a stupid idea."

She gave him a genuine smile and he returned it before unknotting his cloak and flying out through the open doors to the grounds. He hadn't known exactly what to say, and he was surprised that he felt so eager to make her happy. Bringing some joy to her, no matter how fleeting, had given Jake immense satisfaction, an engulfing feeling that he hadn't felt in years. Not since…

He shook his head violently in the air. He'd managed to avoid that train of thought for quite some time now and he was somewhat disappointed in himself for almost bringing back those memories. His old crush was living her life a world away from him. She was probably happy and content with her own family and friends, in a world that didn't have room for Jake. He had to remind himself that his held no room for her either, which helped him to bury her deep down into the recesses of his mind, dragging his attention back to this new 'defense club' that Hermione was planning.

Lao Shi caught him as he entered their meeting chamber, seeing that Jake was lost in his thoughts. "Ready for your afternoon lessons, young one?"

Jake didn't immediately register his grandfather's question and had to shake himself awake before answering, "Sorry gramps, what's up?"

Lao Shi tilted his head with an upturned eyebrow. "A lot on your mind, I see?"

Jake chuckled lightly, his thoughts trailing back to Hermione once more. "G, you have no idea."

As always, if you have any opinions or advice (positive or negative), PLEASE review and comment! Any feedback is great feedback, and it lets me know you at least cared enough to respond! This is my first fanfic, so I'll take what I can get.