Chapter 25:
It was nearly midnight when the twins left Umbridge's office and Alicia was dabbing her bleeding hand as Harry wrapped more gauze around his, but the blood just seeped through with the severity of it.
Neither one expected the room to be occupied but it seemed Hermione and Ron had waited up for them. Hermione was sympathetic to Harry instead of critical.
"Here," she said anxiously, pushing a small bowl of yellow liquid toward them, "soak your hand in that, it's a solution of strained and pickled murtlap tentacles, it should help."
Alicia smiled at the girl and put her hand in the bowl beside Harry's and the feeling of relief washed over them. Crookshanks curled around Harry's legs, purring loudly, and then leapt into his lap and settled down. Alicia sat at his feet and leaned on his legs to keep her hand in the bowl with him.
"Thanks," he said gratefully, scratching behind Crookshanks's ears with his left hand.
"I still reckon you should complain about this," said Ron in a low voice.
"No," said Harry flatly.
"McGonagall would go nuts if she knew —"
"Yeah, she probably would," said Harry. "And how long d'you reckon it'd take Umbridge to pass another Decree saying anyone who complains about the High Inquisitor gets sacked immediately?"
Ron opened his mouth to retort but nothing came out and after a moment he closed it again in a defeated sort of way.
"Even if Umbridge didn't, what can McGonagall really do? And with Educational Decree number twenty-two," Alicia said in an mockingly "We can't get rid of Umbridge so Dumbledore can't do anything either."
"She's an awful woman," said Hermione in a small voice. "Awful. You know, I was just saying to Ron when you came in… we've got to do something about her."
"I suggested poison," said Ron grimly.
"No… I mean, something about what a dreadful teacher she is, and how we're not going to learn any defence from her at all," said Hermione.
"Well, what can we do about that?" said Ron, yawning. " 'S too late, isn't it? She got the job, she's here to stay, Fudge'll make sure of that."
"Well," said Hermione tentatively. "You know, I was thinking today…" She shot a slightly nervous look at Harry and Alicia who looked at one another confused before she plunged on, "I was thinking that — maybe the time's come when we should just — just do it ourselves."
"Do what ourselves?" said Harry suspiciously, still floating his hand in the essence of murtlap tentacles with Alicia.
"Well — learn Defence Against the Dark Arts ourselves," said Hermione.
"Yeah, great, let's just go read some books and wave our wands in the common room for someone to dob on us. That is of course on top of our homework, detention, Quidditch…" Alicia listed
"Come off it," groaned Ron. "You want us to do extra work? D'you realise Harry and I are behind on homework again and it's only the second week?"
"But this is much more important than homework!" said Hermione. Harry and Ron goggled at her.
Alicia blinked.
"I'm sorry, do you want to just run that by us again, for the sake of us questioning your identity?" she asked
"I didn't think there was anything in the universe more important than homework," said Ron.
"Don't be silly, of course there is!" said Hermione, and Harry saw, with an ominous feeling, that her face was suddenly alight with the kind of fervour that S.P.E.W. usually inspired in her. "It's about preparing ourselves, like Harry said in Umbridge's first lesson, for what's waiting out there. It's about making sure we really can defend ourselves. If we don't learn anything for a whole year —"
"We can't do much by ourselves," said Ron in a defeated voice. "I mean, all right, we can go and look jinxes up in the library and try and practice them, I suppose —"
"No, I agree, we've gone past the stage where we can just learn things out of books," said Hermione. "We need a teacher, a proper one, who can show us how to use the spells and correct us if we're going wrong."
"If you're talking about Lupin…" Harry began.
"No, no, I'm not talking about Lupin," said Hermione. "He's too busy with the Order and anyway, the most we could see him is during Hogsmeade weekends and that's not nearly often enough."
"So you want someone here? At Hogwarts, willing to go behind Umbridge's back, who knows the stuff and is willing, to teach us?" Alicia asked
"Who is there around here like that?" said Harry, frowning at her. He looked at Alicia but she was looking thoughtful as though trying to work out what Hermione was thinking.
Hermione heaved a very deep sigh.
"Isn't it obvious?" she said. "I'm talking about the two of you, Harry." and she looked at Alicia who was looking surprised.
There was a moment's silence. A light night breeze rattled the windowpanes behind Ron and the fire guttered.
"The two of us what?" said Harry.
"I'm talking about you and Alicia teaching us Defence Against the Dark Arts." Harry stared at her. Then he turned to Ron, ready to exchange the exasperated looks they sometimes shared when Hermione elaborated on far-fetched schemes like S.P.E.W. To Harry's consternation, however, Ron did not look exasperated. He was frowning slightly, apparently thinking. Then he said, "That's an idea."
"What's an idea?" said Harry.
"You," said Ron. "Teaching us to do it." Harry looked at Alicia but she was simply staring at Hermione with her eyes wide and her expression shocked. Words seemed to have failed her as she hand her hand on the bowl with Harry and was motionless.
"But…"
Harry was grinning now, sure the pair of them were pulling his leg. "But I'm not a teacher, I can't —"
"Harry, you're the best in the year at Defence Against the Dark Arts," said Hermione.
"Me?" said Harry, now grinning more broadly than ever. "No I'm not, you and Alicia have beaten me in every test —"
"Actually, I haven't," said Hermione coolly. "You beat me in our third year — the only year we both sat the test and had a teacher who actually knew the subject. And Alicia beats me in our homework and exams all the time. But I'm not talking about test results, Harry. Look what the two of you have done!"
Alicia looked down at her lap. That was true… Harry and her had done something incredible every year they'd been at Hogwarts so far. Add on what Harry had done in the Triwizard Tournament the previous year and they had learnt a lot more than your average fifth year.
"Add on Alicia and her knack for spells." Ron said to Hermione who nodded
"How d'you mean?" Harry questioned
"You know what, I'm not sure I want someone this stupid teaching me," Ron said to Hermione, smirking slightly. He turned to Harry. "Let's think," he said, pulling a face like Goyle concentrating. "Uh… first year — you both saved the Stone from You-Know-Who."
"But that was luck," said Harry, "that wasn't skill —"
"Second year," Ron interrupted, "you killed the basilisk and destroyed Riddle."
"Yeah, but if Alicia and Fawkes hadn't—"
"Third year," said Ron, louder still, "you fought off about a hundred dementors at once —"
"You know that was a fluke, if the Time-Turner hadn't —"
"Last year," Ron said, almost shouting now, "you fought off You- Know-Who again —"
"Listen to me!" said Harry, almost angrily, because Ron and Hermione were both smirking now. "Just listen to me, all right? It sounds great when you say it like that, but all that stuff was luck — I didn't know what I was doing half the time, I didn't plan any of it, I just did whatever I could think of, and I nearly always had help — Alicia did more than anything to keep her head straight and think rationally if anyone should be teaching us it should be her."
Ron and Hermione were still smirking and Alicia frowned. Did they really think the two of them were proud of what they'd done? When Alicia went through and thought deeply about it… Ron had gotten badly injured in their first year and the two had ended up in the hospital wing saving the stone. Harry had been poisoned and the two almost died by the basilisk as they tried to save Ginny's life force from bringing Voldemort back. Sirius had almost had his soul sucked out, dementors had almost killed the two of them and Lupin could have ripped them both apart in their third year, plus Wormtail got away. That lead to Harry being put into the Triwizard tournament and almost dying against a dragon, drowning amongst merpeople and he and Alicia almost being murdered after seeing Cedric die by Voldemort's hand…
Her expression had turned down and she lowered her head so her hair covered her expression.
No, none of that was anything to be proud of. They had put themselves and their friends, people they cared most about, in danger, terrible danger. And their actions had caused Voldemort to kill people over the last year and now was causing all this dismay this year.
It seemed Harry didn't think all the things they'd done over the last four years was anything to be happy about either for he was now talking to Hermione and Ron with anger lacing his voice.
"Don't sit there grinning like you know better than I do, I was there, wasn't I?" he said heatedly. "I know what went on, all right? And I didn't get through any of that because I was brilliant at Defence Against the Dark Arts, I got through it all because — because help came at the right time, or because I guessed right — but I just blundered through it all, I didn't have a clue what I was doing — STOP LAUGHING!"
The bowl of murtlap essence fell into Alicia's lap and soaked her robes as Harry was suddenly on his feet. Crookshanks streaked away under a sofa and both Ron and Hermione's smiles had vanished.
"You don't know what it's like! You — neither of you — you've never had to face him, have you? You think it's just memorising a bunch of spells and throwing them at him, like you're in class or something? The whole time you know there's nothing between you and dying except your own — your own brain or guts or whatever — like you can think straight when you know you're about a second from being murdered, or tortured, or watching your friends die — they've never taught us that in their classes, what it's like to deal with things like that — and you two sit there acting like I'm a clever little boy to be standing here, alive, like Diggory was stupid, like he messed up — you just don't get it, that could just as easily have been me, it would have been if Voldemort hadn't needed me —"
The two looked at Alicia but she had refused to raise her gaze.
"We weren't saying anything like that, mate," said Ron, looking aghast. "We weren't having a go at Diggory, we didn't — you've got the wrong end of the —"
"Guys, it's not something to laugh about." Alicia's voice was small as she spoke and Harry was surprised she wasn't angry like him, but she sat on the floor, having only jumped a little from the murtlap essence. "It was terrifying last year. Every fibre of me thought I was going to loose Harry or we'd both just be lost and gone and—" she broke off "And then when we got back, with the adrenaline gone—" she swallowed "And then to find Harry was gone again… you know for a split second it was like I imagined getting back with him and I'd lost him forever — I don't expect you to understand how much of a murderous blow that was, seeing as you guys haven't lost family members before and been alone most of your life…" she said and finally looked up for them to see her eyes were glistening to tears. "And it might sound impressive, everything we did, but look at how many people got injured, and how some — Wormtail mainly — led to more worse than good…" she stopped and looked down at her hands in her lap before fiddling for her wand to remove the liquid on her robes, cleaning it up with a tap of the end.
Ron looked helplessly at Hermione, the two shocked into silence more by Alicia's soft saddened words than Harry's yells. Hermione's face was stricken but she managed to find her voice as she looked at Harry who's face was still fuming as he was on his feet.
"Harry," she said timidly, "don't you see? This… this is exactly why we need you… We need to know what it's r-really like… facing him… facing V-Voldemort."
It was the first time she had ever said Voldemort's name, and it was this, more than anything else, that calmed Harry. Still breathing hard, he sank back into his chair behind Alicia and placed his hands around her neck to try and comfort her. She took one of his hands in hers and nodded to say she was alright as she took a breath.
"Well… think about it," said Hermione quietly. "Please?" Harry nodded absentmindedly as he put his chin on the top of Alicia's head. Alicia glanced at the girl and nodded too.
Hermione stood up.
"Well, I'm off to bed," she said in a voice that was clearly as natural as she could make it. "Erm… 'night." and she didn't bother waiting for Alicia, thinking she wasn't moving from her seat on the floor.
Ron had gotten to his feet too.
"Coming?" he said awkwardly to Harry.
"Yeah," said Harry. "In… in a minute." Ron nodded and left.
"Harry," Alicia said quietly after a few minutes of silence "Do you get the feeling she might be… kinda right?" she asked.
Harry said nothing.
"We have leant a lot… and…" she paused before she turned and Harry sat up to look at her face, both still sad and worried yet, calculating. "If we do this… we could help our class mates and — well we could stop anything happening, or give them a better chance…" she took a deep breath "So nothing like Cedric happens again." she said in a whisper.
Harry stared at her.
"With Umbridge, who knows how many more people will…" she stopped again "And especially if Voldemort succeeds in getting that… weapon." she said looking worried again "And we do know a lot. I mean, what we learnt last year for your tasks, and what the patronus… and even in our first year…" she said "And I have read a lot of advanced charm books…"
"We're talking about Hermione and Ron here." Harry said
"Well… yes… but…" Alicia said slowly looking down "Harry I saw Cedric die as well, and I never want to see something like that again." Her voice was so soft that Harry almost didn't catch the words. "I wouldn't mind… you know, helping a few others." she said.
"You could do it no problem." Harry interrupted "You helped distract the basilisk and you managed a patronus before me."
"Harry, I didn't do the Triwizard tournament last year." Alicia said strongly "What you used to get through what ever was in that maze last year didn't come from me. Hermione's right, you are good at Defence Against the Dark Arts. And no one's really faced the Dark Arts like we have. I couldn't do this by myself, not if we were to really teach what is needed."
"People wont want to be taught by us, Alicia. They think I'm an attention seeking boy and you're a lier sick of sitting in my shadow." Alicia pursed her lips. If she was honest she'd been doing a rather good job at ignoring any of the whispers and spits that followed her through the corridors and Great Hall, especially as she had Umbridge's detentions last week and all the homework to keep her occupied.
"Some people believe us." Alicia said "And if they like the idea of actually learning defence then I think it'd be a good idea to give them the opportunity."
Harry looked down.
"Of course, she did tell us to think about it, so it's not a decision that needs to be made now." Alicia reminded him "I just, wanted to make those few points." she said
"You don't sound opposed."
"Because, I can think logically." Alicia said carefully "And after what we saw and what we've done… if I can stop that…" she said nodding. "But I'm not doing it alone." she said looking nervous then "Cause the might be a bit…" Harry chuckled at the expression on her face and she hit him.
"Come on. We should probably get to bed." she decided as she stood up. Harry nodded and stood up beside her. "Night." and she turned for the girl's dormitory with a wave.