Alright, this one also needs some notes.

It was initially (back in the days of the first draft) meant to be a short filler, that ended up far longer than expected because I introduced some backstory elements that I had found in the works of a fellow writer called Phoenix_Song. She had this long ongoing saga of Lily's years in school, and I had decided I liked it so much that I would use this backstory to stand as the Marauder era of my continuity. It was a complex story, but since it was meant to be strictly canon (at least up to book five at the time), so I felt safe I could use those. She agreed with me, and, almost as a favour, she introduced Damien Lockenburn, Alexander's father, in her own story.

Of, course now that both canon and my own continuity have evolved, it can't stay like that. But there are still traces on the elements of the past that we get a glimpse of in this chapter.

So yes, when Lily was in school, her two closest friends were Alice Parker, soon-to-be Longbottom and Amelia Bones. It does divert from canon a lot, but, hey, it's AU, right? Even if I changed a lot of things in the story, I still wanted to acknowledge the input. So, Beth, you got your due credit. Thanks a lot for the ideas!

The Defence Club

Here it moved, graceful like nothing else, the light shimmering on its pure white coat. There was a glowing around it as it trotted slowly out of the woods into the clearing. In its eye, there was kindness, wisdom, infinite innocence. The pearly horn stuck out of its forehead, catching the reflections of the sun.

It came to a halt, with a slight neigh that was softer than music. The vision was enthralling. One of the purest things she had ever seen.

The Knight stepped closer, hesitantly, feeling unworthy. Their eyes met. He bowed his head. The Unicorn bowed as well, something its kind rarely did before a man. When the knight reached to caress the silky coat, the Unicorn allowed it. And they exchanged mutual respect in a moment of pure magic.

Julie opened her eyes, grateful that she wasn't torn from a nightmare for once. Yet she was puzzled. What did this dream mean? Why was she dreaming of Unicorns, all of the sudden? Aside from the very notion that it was very cliché for a girl to dream of Unicorns in the woods, it did strike her as very odd, considering the violent nature of her recent dreams.

Stirring in her bed, she made her way out of it, making her way out of the dorm quickly to get a shower. As she washed herself, her mind rushed back to the day before. The game was nothing but a blur and the only thing that kept coming back to her mind was the vision of Kenneth falling on the ground, with that awful scream of pain.

She shook her head under the stream of water. She needed to be stronger than this! If she was starting to doubt her decision to distance herself from him each time he was in trouble, she would never succeed in saving his life. It was simple. Kenneth simply couldn't risk his life for her. And if she started to show that she cared...

She had no illusion. She knew that he had jumped in the ritual of life to save her out of love. But there was also something she knew about Kenneth. He wouldn't only risk his life for someone he loved. He wouldn't hesitate much for the sake of a friend. And she couldn't afford that.

So, no matter how much she worried about him, she just couldn't let it show. And it was killing her, not knowing how Kenneth was. The spell that had hit him had looked pretty nasty. No, no, she had to be firm. He was fine, she knew. Had he not been, Kalindra would have said so, even if Kallie wasn't really talking to her, these days. If anything serious had happened to Kenneth, Kalindra wouldn't have kept it from the rest of the House, even her.

Kenneth just had to be okay.

As she regained control of her worry, her thoughts wandered back to the dream she just had. The Unicorn... It did seem weird to be dreaming of something as peaceful and serene as a Unicorn. But what was puzzling her most was the Knight that was bowing to it. How could she know only from a silhouette that this was a Knight? Still, the impression had been clear.

What did this mean? Was it a vision or just a simple dream? It had been so long since she had a real dream, without any meaning... Maybe she was overthinking this. Maybe after the complete craziness of the previous day, maybe the unicorn symbolised the peace she sorely had lacked in her life, lately.

Her shower finished, Julie hurried to dress, in order to clear the bathroom before her dorm-mates would need it. She had to admit that, these days, she preferred to avoid the girls as much as she could. After the scene with Kalindra, she didn't want to force the other girls to pick a side.

Breathing in deeply before she stepped out of the bathroom, she headed for the Great Hall. It was time to see what the consequences of yesterday's fight would be.

Contrary to Harry's fears, the confusion after the fight did not last very long. Harry had thought that sorting out the culprits from the one who had been simply caught in the madness would be tricky. But yet again, he had underestimated Dumbledore's impressive cunning and skill. Sometimes, since the Headmaster tended to keep a low profile, people were quick to forget that Dumbledore was one of the greatest wizards in History. And it wasn't only for teaching great men. The man was a powerful, incredibly skilled wizard by his own right.

And so, the Headmaster had used a spell that Harry had never heard of before. He highly suspected the old man to have simply devised the spell himself. It was cast on the room the staff used for the interrogation of all the students that had been involved, even remotely, in the fight. It had been fairly easy to find out who had been, since all their wands had been in Dumbledore's possession.

So the Teachers had questioned the students one by one, knowing by the spell cast on the room who was lying, and who was being truthful. It quickly appeared that only a few students had really intended to have the situation escalate into an open battle. Many among the participants had been caught in the movement or had tried to separate some fighters.

Also, most of the culprits hadn't really intended to do any harm, so only detentions were given to those. Ten points were taken from the Houses for each student involved in the fight. If you added the ones Slytherin had lost thanks to Venansius, there was a sense of finality to the current standings in the House Cup for the year. At least for Slytherin, it seemed that the Cup was settled even before Halloween, which would be an absolute first.

Soon, only two delicate cases remained: Wilfrid Venansius and Jeffrey Walters.

Venansius had been caught jamming the snitch during a Quidditch Game, an action that broke so many rules in Quidditch that when they heard about it, the British federation had considered suing the culprit for what they called a 'deadly offence to sportsmanship'. Harry, although he had been a professional player, didn't share the need to dramatize of his former employers. Besides, Venansius was a minor, so a suit in court was out of the question. But the offence to the school rules, and the fact that his treachery had started the whole riot on the pitch, made it clear that Venansius had to be punished.

The case of Jeffrey Walters was even clearer. He was the one who had cast the Shocking Spell on Kenneth, inflaming the whole thing into a general fight. He had broken one of the most important rules of the school. Never use dangerous Magic on another student. Of course, one could object that the Shocking spell, when cast by a teenager, was a minor Spell. That may have been true, but Harry knew enough about the Shocker to know it was dangerous, and Kenneth had been hit by two of those. The use was deliberate, aimed at his back, in pure cowardice, which was not a tolerable behaviour for a student.

Harry had stated these arguments in front of Dumbledore, three days later. The school was back into normality. Most of the black eyes and the bruises from the fight were gone. Only Kenneth remained in the Hospital Wing, under Madam Pomfrey's surveillance. His state wasn't really worrying, but after two Shockers and nearly being trampled to death by an angry mob of students, she wanted to ensure that he was fine before to let him get out.

"You have to understand that we don't expel students lightly," said Professor Sinistra.

"Of course not," said Harry. "But still this is a very grave offence to the rules and the ethics of this school. A school fight happens. But Walters has Shocked Kenneth with the real intention of harming him, and maybe to start this fight."

"I agree," said Alexander. "Both Venansius and Walters have gone too far, this time."

"Yeh should kick out these two as quickly as yeh can, Professor Dumbledore, Sir," said Hagrid.

"Again, you speak with this frankness we all appreciate," said Snape.

Dumbledore raised tired eyes on him, and raised an eyebrow. Harry knew he hadn't slept very well, since he had spent most of the recent days and nights interrogating the students. Harry had the feeling that Dumbledore would have very little patience with Snape's support of the Slytherin, in this occurrence. Still he had to be heard.

"Severus, what is your opinion?" asked Dumbledore.

Harry was half expecting Snape to try and reject the fault on someone else than his students. The Slytherin Head turned to Harry. Harry could almost read the pain his answer was giving him.

"Despite the differences between us, I think that, in this case, Professor Potter is correct," he said. "Try not to faint, Potter," he added with a slight smirk, when Harry made a show of his surprise. "I don't think we can allow Mister Walters to continue with his studies in this school. Attacking a student is one thing, and wouldn't be able to give you a count of how many students I have caught doing so. But this was unacceptable."

Harry had to give it to Snape, on this occasion. He was being fair, so, Harry only nodded to him.

"As for Mister Venansius…" Snape went on.

"May I interfere with this meeting, Headmaster?" asked a voice, from the door.

Furious to be interrupted, Harry turned to the new visitor. It was a tall man, dressed in elegant silk robes. He was reminding Harry strongly of someone else. Someone Harry didn't like too much. He was very much like Devin Stiller, only he was older, and seemed to be a little less cordial.

"It depends on who you are," he said coldly. "We are discussing a serious matter, here."

"Professor," said Snape with an unctuous voice, and a warning look. "May I introduce Terrence Macke, from the board of Governors."

Harry felt immediately that something was about to go very wrong. And, for once, Snape didn't sport his triumphant smile across his face.

Mr Macke walked toward Dumbledore's desk, looking very confident. Harry disliked this man at first sight. Now he could maybe understand the feeling his father and Snape had shared at their first encounter.

"What can we do for the Board, Terrence?" asked Dumbledore, on a neutral tone that, in Harry's mind, expressed loathing more than anything.

"I see that you already are discussing the case of these two students, Mr Walters and Mr… Venansius," said Macke, looking at a parchment, as if trying to remember the name.

Harry rolled his eyes. Macke knew Venansius far too well. His son was never walking out of their dungeon without him. And Harry had heard Macke Junior and Venansius discuss of their summer together at Macke Manor.

"Well, I'm charged by the Board to tell you that, given the will of the families to deal with the offence on their own, the Board has decided that these students wouldn't be expelled from the school."

"Excuse me?" said Harry his eyes widened in disbelief.

"After all, school fights do happen all the time," said Macke, without acknowledging him. "And as far as I know, there hasn't been any serious damage. This would be quite disproportionate to expel these two students, even if they were involved in this."

"Even if?!" choked Harry. "We caught the two of them in the act! And as for school fights, we're not talking a brawl with three or four students, here. There was nearly a hundred kids on the pitch, and it was all caused by these two! I have a sixth year still in the Hospital Wing because Walters aimed a Shocker at him. And you find that expulsion is disproportionate? What will it take to deserve expulsion? An Unforgivable?"

"You exaggerate the damages to this student, Professor. I heard Mr Lionheart has seen quite worse," said Macke, with disdain in his voice.

"Yes," countered Alexander, "from crazy fanatic Warlocks from Atlantis, not from a fellow student."

"Of course you're right," said Macke. "But still, the families will be able to deal with this on their own. Will this school deprive these boys of education, just because of one mistake?"

"This is not Venansius' first offence," said Harry.

"And the record states that he has been punished for the previous ones," said Macke. "You can't deny that you have been in a quite decent amount of trouble yourself, in your school years, Professor Potter."

Snape narrowed his eyes, apparently torn between smugness and annoyance.

"What if the staff had expelled you?" asked Macke.

"To my knowledge, I've never sent a Shocker to hurt either a student or a teacher!" protested Harry.

"You have proof that it was Mr Walters' intent to harm Mr Lionheart?"

"He cast two Shockers!" said Hagrid, forcefully, as if trying to underline the obvious, there.

"I seem to remember some report, over a particular project of yours, Professor Potter, where you intend to teach these spells to your students," retorted Macke.

Harry and Alexander exchanged a look. As much as it pained him to admit, it, Macke had a point, there. With the help of Hagrid and Dumbledore, Harry and Alexander had been working on an idea for months, for a more practical approach of Defence. The Project still awaited approval, and of course, as member of the Board, Macke would throw this right into his face. But Harry kept his composure.

"First, practical lessons are not an open fight. Second, there would be teachers at all times to monitor the lessons, and the spells would be dulled," he said. "I certainly hope you have really read my proposal more attentively than that."

Macke had a snort of disdain.

"In any case," he said, "the Board has passed his decision, and those two students will not be expelled for this. They'll be punished, yes, but they will stay in school."

"Fantastic," said Harry, bitterly. "How are we supposed to work our discipline efficiently if parents themselves step in to prevent us to do so?"

"It is strange that one of the students of the school who had broken quite a respectable amount of rules in his youth, should now stand as the defender of discipline," noted Macke.

"If you allow me," said Harry coldly. "There's a difference between sneaking out of the Common room and shocking one fellow student in the back, in order to start a general fight."

"Harry," said Dumbledore, softly. "That will be enough. If the Governors have taken their decision, we must comply with it."

Harry had the consolation to see that neither Dumbledore, nor Snape were glad of this decision. He shook his head, and headed to the door.

"Well, you won't need me to decide what award you should give those two backstabbers," he said. "I'll be in my office."

He stopped near Mr Macke, and the next sentence was only heard by him.

"I wonder if you would have been so enthusiastic to defend their rights if one of the culprits wasn't one of your son's best friends," said Harry.

"What am I supposed to understand?" said Macke with haughtiness.

"That your son has attempted to catch me into a magical trap, last year, but that the whole thing had been hushed up, except for the points it had lost the House. Maybe Venansius could have decided to talk, if threatened of being expelled. That would have been quite an embarrassing mark on his educational record, wouldn't it? I'm just speculating, here…"

"And your point is?" said Macke.

"My point is that I know what you're trying to do," said Harry. "And I want you to know that as long as I'll be teaching here, your son and his cronies will be under constant watch. The very next offence and I'll make sure that even you won't be able to prevent them to be kicked out of this school."

"Do not presume of the time you'll be teaching here, Mr Potter," said Macke between his teeth.

"Terrence!" called Dumbledore from behind his desk. "You'd be kind enough not to presume of the way this school works. You may have the right to prevent this expulsion, but you don't rule this place. And you don't decide who the teachers are."

Macke fought the urge to shoot him a terrible look. He smiled unctuously. Then he nodded in false apology to Harry, who walked out of the headmaster's office, his footsteps ringing loudly in the stairs.

Kenneth saw Professor Potter walk through the corridor. The way he was looking, Kenneth was sure that he shouldn't get in his way. But Potter stopped when he saw him and he headed to him.

"How are you feeling, Kenneth?" he asked.

"I'll be fine, Sir," said Kenneth. "I should have gone out of the wing two days ago, but you know Madam Pomfrey."

"Oh, I do," said Potter, smiling. "Well I'm sorry to tell you that the Governors of the school have decided that neither Mr Venansius nor Mr Walters would be expelled. I'm sorry about that."

He seemed far from sorry. Furious would have been a far better word for it.

"I'm not really interested in Walters, Sir," said Kenneth. "I'm looking for someone else."

"Could you be more precise?" asked Potter.

"Somebody did teach him this spell," said Kenneth. "It hasn't been covered in sixth year, yet, and I know you don't really step out of your schedule. So, how did Walters know how to shock me? My guess is that I have to turn to another student."

"Any idea?" asked the teacher.

"A pretty good one, yes," said Kenneth. "But, for now, I don't have proof."

"Well, If you get some…" said Professor Potter.

"I'll let you know," said Kenneth, with a smile.

Then he headed for his tower, still thinking hard of his suspicion. Of course, Walters wasn't smart enough to learn how to perform a Shocker on his own. So someone had to have taught him how to do so. The thing was to find proof that Donahue had been behind it.

Kenneth pushed away the thought of being just paranoid. He had seen the way Donahue had looked at him and this little wave wasn't just over his scoring points with Julie.

No, Donahue had known Kenneth was about to be struck. He just had to be part of it.

Kenneth entered the Portrait Hole. And he was greeted by Kalindra, who started to check if he had any more wound.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked.

"Pomfrey wouldn't have let me go if she hadn't made sure of that," said Kenneth, with a grin.

"I guess so," said Kalindra.

"Aren't we due to lessons?" asked Kenneth.

"You must have lost count of time," said Kalindra with a smile. "It's six o' clock. Lessons are over."

Kenneth looked through the window, and saw that dark was coming down outside. He must have dozed off the afternoon, without noticing.

"Kenneth?" said the voice of Julie, behind him.

He turned to her and saw that she looked a little concerned.

"You're alright?" she asked.

Kenneth nodded.

"You got out of that in time?" he asked.

"Yes," said Julie. "I tried to get back when the fight started but Sinistra stopped me. Sorry you had to be caught in the middle of that mess."

"It was my idea," said Kenneth, with a shrug.

"Okay," said Julie, looking clearly uncomfortable, now. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

And on that she strode away. Kalindra was looking at her, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"First real civilized conversation between the two of you in the year, so far," she noted. "Think it means anything?"

"No idea," said Kenneth. "Frankly, I don't care that much. If I'm right, her boyfriend set me up to be shocked by Walters, so…"

"You think Donahue was behind this? Why?" asked Kalindra.

"Walters is just way too stupid to be able to learn the Shocker on his own," said Kenneth.

Kalindra had a wince.

"Fair point," said Kalindra. "You think she's involved?"

"I don't think so," said Kenneth. "I certainly hope not."

Kenneth suddenly spotted Thierry, who was sitting with Will, and apparently crushing him in a game of Chess. He walked to them.

"Thierry," he called.

The Novice raised his eyes from the chessboard, and smiled.

"So, back on your feet, I see," he said simply.

"Yeah," said Kenneth. "Thanks for that. To have blocked the third spell, I mean."

"Well, I can't stand backstabbing cowards," said Thierry. "Somehow, I would have missed you if you had to stay in the Hospital wing for too long. So, are you any good in Chess?" he asked, dismissing his thanks and changing the subject.

"I can defend myself," said Kenneth, grinning.

"Then maybe you could help Will. He's in a very bad situation," replied Thierry, with a smile.

Kenneth laughed and sat beside Will, who gave him a grateful look. And Kenneth began the difficult task to try and save him from the trap he was about to fall in.

However, Thierry seemed to be quite good and even with Kenneth's discreet support, Will got seriously crushed. But at least, he saved some moves and took some very precious pieces from Thierry. All in all, he stood up a better fight than alone, but still he went to the ground as if it had been his fate.

"Don't feel sorry, Kenneth," Will told him. "I'm hopeless in Chess."

"Yes, you are," said Kalindra.

"I don't believe in hopeless cases," said Thierry.

Kenneth raised his eyes from the disaster of the chessboard to look the Novice in the eye. He was smiling and he was discreetly moving his eyes toward Julie, who was sitting on the other side of the room. Kenneth was thunderstruck by the implication. Had Thierry guessed everything about what he felt for her?

But what troubled Kenneth even more was the faint hope he felt that maybe he was right, and that not everything was lost with Julie.

Don't think like that, he told himself. She's made her choice. Deal with it.

In the end, Venansius got three months of detention, instead of one. And the same went with Walters. The amount of points taken from Slytherin had just ruined their hope for the House Cup, unless all the Houses would suddenly lose three hundred points in the next term.

Trouble for Gryffindor was that they had lost many points on their own. Ravenclaw was way ahead in the run, especially because most of their students had been absent of the fight, except for a few who had tried to stop it.

Days passed quickly after that, but Harry's anger wasn't calming at all. He was outraged by the fact that Venansius had escaped serious punishment, and thus would soon be able to do it again. This was frustrating. But for once, this frustration wasn't caused by Snape. Harry had to admit that the Head of Slytherin was at least having a decent attitude on the issue. He was now watching Venansius with a very dark eye, which prevented the young Slytherin to show off too much. The same went for Walters, who didn't even try to boast over it.

Whether it was because Venansius and Walters had put the entire House to shame, by going too far, or because they had been caught, Harry didn't care, as long as Snape was supporting the Headmaster's position.

But this time, the pressure had come from above, since this Macke guy had enough influence or enough glibness to reverse the decision of expelling Venansius. This was nonsense. How were they supposed to educate children if they hadn't any right to punish the offences to rules?

Someone knocked at his open door. Harry raised his eyes from the essay he was correcting, with some relief, given the level of the work. Some Gryffindors were so brave they were forgetting to be smart, he sadly often told himself.

Professor McGonagall was standing in his doorframe.

"Harry, do you have a minute?" she asked.

"Of course," said Harry. "Come in," he added, standing up.

McGonagall entered his office, followed by a witch that Harry had seen before, although she had changed a lot.

"I believe you already met Ms Bones," said McGonagall.

"Er… yes," said Harry, remembering far too well their first encounter.

She had been nearly the only support he had gotten in the disciplinary Hearing Cornelius Fudge had him go through, when he was fifteen years old. She had been impressed by the fact he could produce a corporeal Patronus.

Amelia Bones had been head of the Law Department during Fudge's years in the Ministry. Disgusted by his attitude facing Voldemort return, and his own paranoia, she had resigned to join the Order of the Phoenix, at the beginning of the second War. At the high point of the war, she had fought alongside Kingsley Shacklebot against thirteen Death Eaters and had been seriously injured. Thankfully, she had survived, but she had retired for some time.

Recently, after Devin Stiller had almost got the Minister killed with his political manoeuvres, she had been called back into the Law Department Head Office. As the new Head of Wizarding Law, she answered only to the Minister and was often consulted by other high authorities, such as the Wizengamot.

If Harry knew her niece Susan quite well, from his days at school and the fact she was a very good friend of both Hermione and Ginny, to the point that Susan would be one of the bridesmaids at his wedding, he only had very distant contacts with Amelia. As such, the change he saw in the witch was striking. When he had last seen her, she had been a broad witch, with a strong jaw and short grey hair.

Now, she seemed to have melted. Sure, she was still a strongly built woman, but clearly she had been taking care of herself more. Even her jaw line had softened little. She had long hair, still iron grey, but arranged in a complex bred. She also wore little square glasses, in a very elegant fashion that contrasted with the severe monocle she had sported more than ten years ago. She seemed to have gained ten years in age, and she looked like she was, let's say, ten years older than Tonks, maybe fifteen, but no more.

"I must say that I regret not to have been able to meet you since the last time, Mr Potter," said Ms Bones, with a voice that was still strong, even if it hadn't this booming quality anymore.

"Amelia came here to discuss about your project," said McGonagall. "She has all authority to grant you permission to get it on its way."

"I see," said Harry. "Then I really have to be nice with her."

Ms Bones smiled.

"It is true, then," she said. "He does have some sides of James."

"Not exactly the best sides, in my opinion," said McGonagall with a stern smile. "I'll leave you to discuss with our young teacher, Amelia."

"Thank you, Professor," said Ms Bones.

McGonagall left the office after a little nod to Harry, who invited Ms Bones to take a seat.

"It's been a very long time," she said. "You were fifteen, last time I saw you."

"May I say that you have really changed, since then?" said Harry.

"You may," said Ms Bones. "I think you heard that I went through hard times."

"I did," said Harry. "I'm glad to see you better."

"After our fight with Dolohov's clique, I spent four months in St Mungo's. I lost quite an amount of weight, a a result. After that, I decided to take care a little more of myself. So this challenge had brought me something in return. There's only a few who can say that."

Harry nodded sadly.

"I heard some crazy rumours," she said. "No matter my level of clearance, I still can't confirm them. People in the alleys of the Ministry say that the Longbottoms have been cured. Most of authorities deny it, but the most persistent rumours state that Hogwarts' teachers had to do with this. Maybe you can enlighten me."

Harry pondered his answer. Both the Longbottoms and St Mungo's had decided not to announce the news officially. Neville and his family wanted to have some time on their own to recover and to reunite. The trial of the Longbottoms' torturers had been a National Event. For their part, the Healers in St Mungo's wanted to remain cautious on the question of their cure. They were still studying the ritual to make sure their success wasn't just due to luck.

But Harry was certain that Ms Bones could remain discreet. She was entrusted with many state secrets, and she seemed to have a personal interest in the answer. Harry remembered that Alice Longbottom had asked after her, right after waking up.

He nodded deeply.

"Yes, Alice and Frank Longbottom have been cured by an ancient ritual," he said. "Professor Weasley has translated it from an old Atlantean Language. She tested it on the Longbottoms, as we're old friends of Neville. For cautiousness reasons, we were asked not to spread the news. As a member of the Order of the Phoenix, I'm surprised you didn't get any confirmation."

"I resigned from the Order a long time ago," said Ms Bones, her voice cracking a little, her eyes suddenly brightened by tears. "And until recently, I was keeping myself out of the loop. Now, that I'm back to the affairs, I didn't get in touch with them. But I was a very close friend of Alice and of your parents, as well."

"I heard about that," said Harry, with a smile. "Alice mentionned it, when We saw her at the Hospital."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, when you needed support," said Ms Bones.

"You had your own fights," said Harry. "I always consider you to be an ally in the War."

"Maybe, but I was so busy trying to enforce the Law I lost contact with most of my friends," said Bones, with a twinge of regret in the voice.

"Alice asked about you," said Harry, wanting to stop that flow of self-accusations. "She wanted to know if you were alive."

"I'll have to visit her as soon as I can," said Ms Bones. "Thanks for these news, Professor Potter."

"Please," said Harry. "Call me Harry. Friends of my parents don't call me Professor Potter."

Ms Bones smiled.

"So, Harry," she said, straightening her face. "Let's get down to business. You were about to tell me about your project."

"Yes," said Harry. "I'm sure it would be a great opportunity for the students, and that it would help us prevent the creation of clandestine associations of Duel, Defence and stuff like this."

"Tell me what you have in mind," said Ms Bones.

"You realize that there is some risk?" said Ms Bones, a little later, once Harry had explained his whole project.

"Well, I would say that given the fact that I'll have only the best students, and that all the sessions would be under the surveillance of Alexander, the risk of an accident is minimal," said Harry. "I'm not saying the sessions can't get rough, but any serious accident is unlikely. If they want to learn, they have to taste a little of what a failure means. Any serious accident would mean the immediate end of the project."

"Seems like you gave it a real thinking," said Ms Bones.

"I thought I had to be ambitious to make this project as attractive as possible for the students, if we can gather enough of them that could be an incentive for the others."

"Well, I must be honest with you, the board of Governors is hoping that I would stop this whole thing," said Ms Bones. "Mister Macke seems to have convinced them that it wasn't a good project."

"On what basis?" asked Harry.

"According to what he says or what he thinks?" asked Ms Bones.

"I guess that he says that it is too risky for the students," said Harry.

"Of course," said Ms Bones. "But my guess is that he wants to stop anything coming from you, Professor Lockenburn or Professor Weasley."

"Because we pushed his cousin out of your chair?" offered Harry, absolutely certain of the answer.

Ms Bones nodded with a smile.

"The governors don't want to openly oppose him, but they don't want to be a part of a personal revenge," she said. "So they asked me to make the final decision, as an expert of the Law. I have a reputation of cautiousness that may have led them to believe that I will refuse your project because it's too dangerous."

Harry nodded in understanding, hiding his anxiety.

"But after a long study, I think we can give it a try," said Ms Bones. "Therefore, you have my authorisation to start that Official Advanced Defence Group."

Harry sighed in relief and smiled. Now he could show his group of students some thing more interesting than the simple practical lessons he had been giving since he was in Hogwarts.

Ms Bones signed some formulary, one copy for him, and another for herself. Harry stood up and shook hands with her.

"Will you make us the pleasure of staying for dinner?" asked Harry.

"Well, why not?" said Ms Bones, with smile. "It might be interesting to have a dinner at the Teacher's table for once."

"Let's find Professor Dumbledore for the arrangements, then, Ms Bones," said Harry.

"Please, Harry," said Ms Bones. "Now that the business question is settled, it's Amelia."

Harry smiled, and opened the door, bowing a little for her to precede him.

The dinner was a joyous affair. Ginny and Hermione knew Amelia a little more than Harry, since they had been friends with Susan Bones for quite a long time, so they made it easy for her to feel comfortable.

Before the beginning of the meal, Dumbledore rose from his seat and called for attention. The students, who were expecting another lecture over the fight on the pitch, lowered their eyes a little. But Dumbledore didn't mean to speak about the fight.

"As you see, we have a guest tonight," he said. "Her presence allows me to make an announcement. Thanks to Miss Amelia Bones' approval, Professor Potter has been allowed to start an official defence club in the School. It will be more intensive than the practical lessons that every student is attending with him. I must precise immediately," he said as cheers were starting in the Hall, "that only students in sixth year or seventh year will be allowed in this club."

There was a collective groan from the students. Harry smiled.

"Moreover, this club will only be open to a select few students. There will be a very strict examination of the candidatures. The main criteria will be marks, of course, but the teachers involved in this Club will also select by the behaviour and attitude you will have toward Magic. You're welcome to apply by placing your name in the box which will be standing tomorrow in front of Professor Potter's Office. Of course all the people who had been punished for the fight on the Quidditch pitch won't be allowed in the club before next year."

"And also," he went on. "I want to announce that if the First Hogsmeade Week end and the First Quidditch Game had been displaced, it was to clear the way for an excursion, which will be opened to all student over fifth year. The rest of the students will be allowed back in Hogsmeade, while their classmates will go visiting the home of our guests, the Forest of Brocéliande. And this expedition will be repeated in the years to come."

This time the cheer was more enthusiastic. Dumbledore sat back and the feast began.

As they were eating, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny were having a friendly chat with Amelia, who was quite keen on sharing her memories of the school.

"How did you meet my Mother?" asked Harry, eager to hear some happy memories from his parents' days.

That was really important for him, as if it was a way to build himself an image of his parents' life, out of the shadow of Voldemort. Remus wasn't speaking too much about it, as it was only enhancing his loss of his closest friends.

Amelia didn't seem to mind the question.

"I was getting on the train," said Amelia. "I got in the compartment. I was fleeing from a group of Slytherins, and I ended up in the compartment where Lily and Alice were eating. They were immediately friendly to me. At this time, Alice was still a Parker. And I remember Lily only waved to me because she was discovering the chocolate frogs. We started to talk immediately. Lily was curious about the Houses. Alice was quite sharp regarding Slytherins. She was convinced she couldn't end up there, since she had the slyness and cunning of a turtle. She was sure to be in Gryffindor, like her Grandpa who was an Auror. I remember I was quite impressed by that. And she was already aware that something brewing in the world out there. Mr Parker, her Grandfather was sure that something odd was going on. I recall that Lily was worried about that. She was new in our world and to be greeted by the threat of a Dark wizard… well that wasn't a really good start."

"I guess I can understand her," said Hermione, smiling. "That's why I've been so impressed by meeting Harry on the train to Hogwarts. He was some kind of phenomenon, at the time, having defeated the darkest wizard of the century."

"Thanks, Mione," said Harry, gloomily, but then he smiled.

"So you three just met on the train?" asked Ron.

"Yes," said Amelia. "And, from then on, we never got really far from each other."

"Like three sisters," said McGonagall, with a strange light in the eye.

"Reminds me of something," said Ron, turning to Hermione and Harry, with a wink.

They both smiled back at him.

"I was sure, on my part, to be sorted in Hufflepuff, as the rest of my family. Lily then asked how we would be sorted. Neither Alice nor I did know. My brother had told me that nobody had died in the sorting in 20 years. But he was just teasing me."

"Fred had told I had to wrestle a troll," said Ron.

"This is a tradition among students and family, so that the children don't come in the school over-confident," said McGonagall, with a smile.

"Lily heard the same wrestling thing, but with a werewolf," said Amelia with a smile. "When we got to the Great Hall's door, she shared that with the boy next to her, saying she didn't believe it at all. It happened that the boy had quite a good knowledge on the werewolf question."

"Remus," said Harry with a smile "How did you meet my Dad?" he then asked.

"On the train too," said Amelia. "He was engaged in a Dung bomb throwing contest with Sirius."

"Wow," said Ron. "Fred and George were always saving the Bombs for Filch."

"After that, we all ended up on the same table," Amelia went on. "Sirius was the first to join Gryffindor. That didn't please his family. He got a Howler for this. For my part, I was so sure to be in Hufflepuff that when the Hat said Gryffindor, I headed to the Hufflepuff table for some seconds. After that, the rest of the gang joined us. Lily, Frank, Remus, Alice and then Peter…"

Her voice darkened at the name.

"And after him, there was James. I remember Sirius muttering "Come on, Jamesy, Gryffindor, Gryffindor, think Gryffindor, Jamesy, Gryffindor…"."

They all laughed at that. Amelia smiled softly.

"Jamesy?" repeated Ron, choking on his laugh.

"Yes, they were all using nicknames," said Amelia. "Jamesy, Siri, Remmie, before they changed them into Prongs and stuff like that. They were unbelievable. They dragged us in so much trouble. Lily was always telling them off. And despite this, she was always the one in the core of the action. And if you want to know, Harry; we were all certain that Lily and James were meant to be together someday."

"Really? Why?" asked Harry.

"The way they were bickering all the time," said Amelia. "Lily acted like she couldn't stand him. At some point, I think she truly believed it. But Alice and I knew better. We never told Lily, of course. Sirius found this very amusing. Remus was always trying to fix up things between them. The first years were a little hard for Lily, as James was always teasing her. It as his way to express his interest in her. When Lily couldn't stand it anymore, Remus was always trying to calm down James a little. I remember I was jealous of that. I really liked him."

She smiled at the memory.

"How is Remus, these days?" she asked. "I know that he's been named Operation Director, recently."

"Remus is the best we have," said Harry.

It mays seem, curious, but Harry still thought of the Order as a group he was part of. For him, the Order of the Phoenix was something he was involved in forever.

"But to answer your question," said Harry. "He's very well. He's finally recovered from his ritual, getting him rid of his lycanthropy."

"Yes, I heard about that," said Amelia. "How deep is the change? Is the Wolf really gone?"

"More exactly, the wolf was dissolved inside of him," explained Hermione, "so he retain some abilities, but he never shifts shape anymore. And of course, he never loses his mind. It took him a lot of time to recover, but now he's got a new life."

"That's wonderful news," said Amelia. "If someone needs some peace, it's him."

"He was here, maybe a week ago," said Harry.

"Too bad I missed him," said Amelia. "I'll have to pay his a visit, as well. I think I have a lot of catching up to do. I suppose that he's burying himself in work, as usual."

"You can say that again," said Harry.

"He was already like that, back in school," said Amelia. "I remember Alice kept pestering him about that. But Remus is nothing if not a stubborn man."

"He hasn't changed much," said Harry, with a wince.

The first session of the Defence Club was held the next week-end. Despite Dumbledore's warning about the selection, many students had tried to get into the Club. So Professor Potter had had a large choice of students. It came out with a rather large group of students which didn't include a lot of seventh years, who were quite busy with the NEWTs tests and couldn't be very involved.

Julie looked around her and saw that most of the Club was out of the Sixth year, with quite an equal proportion of the different Houses. She was standing with Mandy, Kalindra, Rob, Will, and Jennifer. Kenneth was also in the club, although he had hesitated. From the other Houses, Julie recognized Robert, of course, and some Slytherins among his friends. From Ravenclaw, there was also Gillian Crawley, and some of her friends, including Eamon Clark, the Prefect.

Professor Potter and Professor Lockenburn stepped on the stand that had been raised in the middle of the large training room that Dumbledore had given the club.

"Welcome to the Defence Club," said Professor Potter. "Here, you will learn how to protect yourselves and others from attacks. What you must remember is that, in this place, there is no place for competition. You are here to learn. And therefore, you must all behave responsibly. For now, I must delay the use of the Maze I'm developing to test your skills, since it's not complete, but we still have to begin with something. So before we go outside for the Maze training, I would like you to learn of the effects of two spells that are common in duelling: the Striker and the Shocker spells. I know that some of you are already familiar with it."

The students started to look at each other with eager eyes.

"Don't get too excited, only two of you will be allowed to practice it, since it is very delicate," said Professor Potter.

The enthusiasm lowered to a more acceptable level.

"Very well," said Harry. "I'll need two volunteers."

Robert raised his hand, and some Ravenclaw girls started to giggle lightly. Julie rolled her eyes. Professor Potter seemed to hesitate, and then he nodded. Donahue stepped on the stand, with a cool assurance.

"Another?" asked Professor Potter.

Robert threw a look around, as if daring anyone to step up and suddenly, Kenneth stepped on the stand, with his face rather closed.

"Mr, Lionheart?" asked Professor Potter.

"I just wish to check on something, Professor, so I'm volunteering," said Kenneth.

"Alright, but then I must ask you not to resort to your specific spells," said Potter. "You two take your positions," he then said after Kenneth had nodded.

Kenneth and Donahue faced each others.

"Both the Striking Spell, or 'Striker' for short, and the Shocking Blast, or 'Shocker', are two variations of the same principle," explained Potter. "They focus static electricity of the air into an energy burst that hits the target. The Striker is invoked by the formula "Extario". Don't ask me why," he added with a smile. "There is no particular meaning, but the man who invented it just used this formula. I don't suppose you'll have to use the Shocker in this first exchange, so we'll get to it, later. Now, the stand is yours, gentlemen."

Kenneth saluted, and so did Donahue.

"Extario!" shouted Robert with two elegant waves.

"Protego! " countered Kenneth and the spell exploded on his shield charm.

"Excellent!" said Potter. "Now, without his good reflexes, Mr Lionheart would have been thrown on the ground. Go on."

Robert then made three different waves.

"Elastare! " he shouted.

"Protego" countered Kenneth.

But the spell out of Robert's wand struck him full-force. He suddenly was thrown off the ground, and fell on the floor, the body shocked by little lightning.

"Wand away, Mr Donahue," said Professor Potter, frowning. "Are you alright, Mr Lionheart?"

Kenneth struggled a second, but succeeded in getting back to his feet, panting heavily. The spell had been, through various enchantments placed on the room, weakened, so he had felt none of the pain he had experienced on the Quidditch pitch.

"I'll be fine, Professor," he said. "And I've got my answer."

"Good, that will be all for the practice," said Professor Potter. "Now, what exactly happened?" he said turning to the students.

"Kenneth's shield failed," said Fields. "How is that possible?"

"When the Shocker is well executed, the shield charm or any protective spell is powerless to block it," explained Potter. "This is why it is used so often in duels."

"Professor?" asked Kalindra. "On the pitch, Thierry has blocked the spell aimed at Kenneth."

"Yes, he did," said Professor Potter. "But the spell cast against him was incomplete, which explains that it was blocked by the shield. Besides, Mr De Vannes is using a Staff, which is a complete different matter, and a weapon that none of you can use, as it has to be in perfect harmony with its bearer. In theory, you can take someone else's wand and cast a spell. You can't take a Staff and use it just like that. You may step down, now," he told the two students.

Robert got off the stand with a satisfied look on his face. Kenneth shot him a very cold look. He was looking as if ready to kill. Julie found his reaction a little worrying. What had really taken place, here?

Professor Potter went on with his speech on the Shocking Blast and why it was so dangerous. He concluded by a warning to Robert. This spell shouldn't be used lightly.

"Of course not," said Robert, with a nod to the teacher.

Julie felt like Kenneth was now chomping at the bit. She saw Kalindra begin to whisper something to him, and then Kenneth started to calm down.

After a few exchanges between students, to enhance the power of their shields, Potter dismissed the session. At the exit of the hall, Jennifer came to find Julie, and ask her about her astronomy essay. She had promised to help Jennifer. So she walked away with her.

"You've got your answer, Lionheart?" called Donahue.

Kenneth looked around.

Oh, very surprising, he thought sarcastically. Julie's not around.

Kalindra put a hand on his shoulder and whispered to him to stay cool.

"Don't waste your breath on this guy," she said.

"So what was your question, Kenneth?" asked Donahue, still speaking very loudly, to make sure all the students were hearing him. "That you can't face me in a regular duel? That I'm actually stronger than you?"

Kenneth turned to him and walked straight at him, his face very cool. He came very close to Donahue and said only in his ear.

"Actually, now, I know who taught that idiot Walters that Shocker that got me twice in the back," he said. "More exactly, you confirmed it. Next time you want to score against me, try to do it to my face, Donahue. Because if I catch only one more spell like this, all the teachers will find left of you will be a giant pancake incrusted in the dungeons' wall."

"You've got a big mouth, Lionheart," said Donahue. "But the fact remains, I've beaten you."

"You are quite pathetic, Robert," said Kenneth. "You're playing the big boy because you sent a weakened Shocker at someone in school. If you're proud with that…"

He let his sentence trail off, and turned to walk away. Donahue caught his arm one more time. Kenneth's reflexes reacted immediately, and he sent him a little hit in the arm. Donahue let go of him, and rubbed the arm, wincing in pain.

"What did I say the other day?" he said. "You don't get to touch me. Ever. Bye, Robert."

He strode away followed by Kalindra.

"One of these days, I'll redecorate the Castle with his worthless face," he hissed.

"I'll give you a hand," said Kalindra. "You think he did that to impress Julie?"

"Maybe," said Kenneth. "Anyway, now, he will use it with her."

"What?"

"I hit him," said Kenneth gloomily. "I'm sure to hear about it, one way or another."

Okay, that's it! Next, the Defence Club takes a turn for the funnier and Kenneth reminds everyone who's the badass...