This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter universe, which are trademarked by J.K. Rowling. I do not claim ownership of these characters nor the locations such as Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, etc. that are Rowling's creations. This work also includes Pokemon, which belong to the Pokemon Company, and I again claim no ownership of these characters.

I thank both Rowling and the Pokemon Company for the universes they have created that allows me to do something like this for my own entertainment and, hopefully, the entertainment of the readers.

Andrew Kirke was chosen as the second Beater, Angelina announced the following morning having taken the night to think about it. A Gligar trainer, he had come out ahead of his fellows by being able to have a Pokémon that could both fly and move in a direction not one hundred percent determined by the wind, although even that was a stretch for the ground and flying type.

But still, that was better than nothing, at least it should be, and the team were more than satisfied enough by their other Beater choice to overlook the unspectacular new member of the team. And with that sorted Harry was able to turn his attention back to the matter at hand.

Doubt coursed through his mind all day, his eyes constantly seeking out Daphne Greengrass against his will, in ways he was sure must be suspicious. By contrast she did not look his way once. She was much better than him at this. He just hoped he'd been right to put all of his eggs in her basket.

The moment of truth would be after dinner where the fifth year Gryffindor boys dormitory became the location of two nervous and three confused students.

"Good, you're here," Ron muttered as Hermione quietly entered the room. She didn't say anything in response. The nerves were getting to her too.

"Seriously, what the hell is up with you guys?" Seamus had had enough. For fifteen minutes he had sat there watching Harry and Ron sit in silence, saying nothing and doing even less.

Harry, Ron and Hermione glanced at each other. None of them could agree on anything to say.

"Wow, this is serious, isn't it," Dean said, sounding half shocked and half impressed. "What are you up to? It's a bit early in the year to be fighting You-know-who isn't it?" Ron let out a strangled laugh.

"You'll see," Harry said simply, too nervous to be amused. "Any minute now, hopefully." Dean, Seamus and Neville shared a look. None of them had any idea what to expect.

The arrival appeared suddenly, at the exact moment Harry started to worry that his plan had all been for naught, and every person in the room jumped. For three of them the surprise ended quickly when they saw who had appeared. For the other three it was only beginning.

"What the hell?" Dean asked wildly, physically backing away on his bed as though confronted with some sort of monster. Seamus had a similar response, except his words came out as a string of coarse and unrepeatable swears. Neville was so surprised he fell off his bed, hitting the floor with a loud thump.

Daphne Greengrass raised an eyebrow at the scene, looking less than impressed.

"So much for Gryffindor bravery," she drawled, sounding eerily reminiscent of Malfoy. Beside her was floating an elegant Pokémon of green and white, a Gardevoir, that had been her mode of transportation into the room. The two of them watched the Gryffindors with barely concealed contempt.

Her words, at least, had the effect of snapping the three put upon Gryffindors out of it. They each climbed to their feet, approaching her warily.

"What's she doing here?" Dean asked, aiming his words at Harry, Ron and Hermione but not taking his eyes off Daphne.

"I asked her to be here," Harry said softly, rising to his feet too. He'd been tempted to warn his dorm mates what was about to happen but had secretly hoped they'd just leave when he started to act mysterious. It would have made the situation a lot easier for him.

"Shit's sake," Seamus swore. "You asked her? You actually invited her in here without our permission?"

"She's here to help us," Harry said quickly, stepping forward in the hopes of heading off the brewing confrontation. "She can help us with… you know, our thing."

While not groundbreaking Harry's words did have some effect. Dean noticeably backed off, the pieces starting to fall into place for his more calm and logical mind. Neville, who had been reaching for a Pokéball, let out an audible sigh of relief. Only Seamus was left unconvinced.

"I'm not buying it," he snarled, pushing past Harry and walking straight up to Daphne. They were of similar height, Daphne above average for a girl and Seamus short for a boy, and when Seamus stopped mere inches from her they met face to face.

"She's a snake," he said, talking to the others but not turning his face away from Daphne. "You know what they're like. Double crossing bastards."

"I think you mean bitch in this situation, Finnegan," Daphne said icily. Despite being face to face with an irate irishman she was not standing down. If anything she seemed to rise to the challenge. "And I'd like to point out I've never double crossed anyone in my life. If I turn my back on someone I do it to their face. Only cowards and the weak blame their failures on those who succeed." Seamus growled.

"Brave words for a snake in the lion's den," he shot back. "Takes balls to call someone out when they can pulverise you in a second."

"I've got Gardevoir," Daphne said simply.

"And I've got five Gryffindors at my back," Seamus retorted.

"I can Teleport right out of here," Daphne countered.

"And if you do we'll hunt you down wherever you decide to hole yourself up," Seamus spat. "In a battle between the lions and the snakes I don't fancy your chances."

They fell silent with those words, staring each other down, refusing to so much as even blink, while Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dean and Neville watched on in apprehension. Then Seamus stepped away.

"So, what's this all about?" He asked Harry, his voice devoid of any of the vehemence of before. The turnaround took him by surprise.

"Eh, yeah, well, Daphne here has a Gardevoir," Harry explained, gesturing unnecessarily to the psychic and fairy type Pokémon that floated at the shoulder of a slightly confused looking Daphne.

"And Gardevoir can teleport," Hermione continued. "We've got a place where we can practice in secret and now with Gardevoir…"

"We have a way of getting there without Umbridge knowing about it," Ron finished.

"So that's what you're doing," Daphne said, a slight note of realisation in her voice. "A practice ground. You're starting a battle club." Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a look.

"Yes," Harry said, seeing no reason to lie. "We're not learning anything from Umbridge and meanwhile Voldemort," the whole room shivered, "is getting stronger by the day. We need to be able to defend ourselves and if we leave it to Umbridge…" Daphne nodded.

"Makes sense," she admitted. "But I want no part of it."

"Why?" Dean asked, looking perplexed.

"Because if word gets out I'm cavorting with Gryffindors it won't just be my neck on the line," Daphne said sharply. "It will be tantamount to declaring war on the Dark Lord and my family will be shown no mercy. It's easy for some, so far on the other side, but if my family lose favour in their social circle there's no way out."

"Which is why we're keeping Daphne's involvement a secret," Harry said hastily. "The fewer people who know she's involved the better. I trust you guys, I know you won't say anything, but I don't know about the rest of the group who showed up in the Three Broomsticks. I don't know who might betray us and rat us out for favour with Umbridge or as petty revenge. The least we can do is not drag everyone else down with us."

There were some glances shared among the fifth year Gryffindor boys but eventually they all nodded.

"But what about Gardevoir?" Neville asked worriedly. "Won't people worry where it came from?" It was a good point, one Harry hadn't thought about in his quickly drawn up makeshift plan, but fortunately someone else had the answer.

"I'll take it," Seamus said, waving it away as though the problem were nothing. "I'll say me mam got it for me and I'm embarrassed because it's too girly or something."

"You can make it work?" Daphne said doubtfully.

"You don't trust me, Greengrass?" Seamus challenged.

"Not even slightly, Finnegan," Daphne countered. Again they stared each other down.

Harry decided to intervene.

"Seamus can manage it," he announced, drawing all attention in the room back to him and away from the bizarre chemistry between Daphne and Seamus. "Will you help us?"

Daphne looked uncertain. She turned her attention from Harry to his dorm mates, focusing an extra long glance at Seamus, before eventually looking to Gardevoir and then back at Harry. She nodded.

"Whereabout do you need Gardevoir to take you?" She asked. Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"To the forest," he answered. "There's a clearing there we can use. We can go there now…" Daphne shook her head.

"I don't want to know," she said simply. "The less I know the better. Gardevoir will take you."

"Okay," Harry accepted. He could see where Daphne was coming from. He turned to Gardevoir. "Gardevoir, can you sense where I want to go?" He asked. "Can you read my mind?" Gardevoir gave a small nod. One second they were in the dorm, the next they were outside.

The clearing was a lot different under the cover of night. The air was much colder than it had been when Hagrid had first shown them the spot and the rocky walls were nearly obscured by the darkness that hung in the air. Twigs crackled underfoot and a couple of Linoone bolted from their hiding place.

"We'll have to figure out how to get some more light," Harry said, speaking only to himself, but as he did crackling flames sprung into being and floated through the air before him. He turned to Gardevoir, whose Will-O-Wisp attack was now lighting up the clearing. "Thank you."

It was far from perfect, there were still so many things he had to figure out and even more that could potentially go wrong, but despite it all a sense of excitement was building inside him. For a month they'd been left stranded, an idea to aspire to but no way to pull it off, but now it was time. The battle club would begin.

The first session was decided for the very next day. Harry was tempted to wait longer, to allow word to spread more easily through those who had expressed interest, but he was too excited to wait. To that end Hermione had risen to the challenge, spreading the word for them to be alone in their dormitories at eight o'clock, and it seemed that everyone who had been at the meeting in Hogsmeade had managed it.

They appeared in the clearing in small groups, transported by Gardevoir and Seamus, looking impressed.

"Wow, where the hell are we?" George muttered as he, Fred and Lee Jordan appeared.

"That's something you don't need to know," Hermione warned him. "You're not going to be walking away from here. Teleporting only." A plan to ensure secrecy in more ways than one.

It took awhile for everyone to arrive. Given the fact that the students were being transported from many different locations throughout the castle Gardevoir was forced to make many trips, and Harry imagined Seamus had to fend off a lot of questions with each one.

Finally they were ready, all gathered together under the starry sky. The natural light in the clearing was minimal, the moon high above them barely casting a glow down into the valley, but with her primary role fulfilled Gardevoir set about using Will-O-Wisp until the group was surrounded on all sides by floating balls of burning fire.

Hermione stepped forward.

"Well," she said, her voice slightly high from nerves. Everyone was watching her. "We're all here. So, now we can start. Erm, this is the place we'll be practicing. Uh, it's safe, hard to find. Gardevoir will take you all there and back."

"'Mione, just get on with it," Ron muttered, rolling his eyes behind her back. Hermione blushed pink.

"Yes, well, we all know why we're here," she said, gaining some confidence. "And so I'll just pass over to Harry to start us off. Erm…" she hesitated. A hand was raised in the air. "Yes?"

Nerves had already started to set in for Harry as the group had steadily grown bigger and bigger. Now it was dread as Zacharias Smith made himself known. This couldn't be good.

"Yes, well, I had a question about leadership," he said in a drawling voice. "I would have thought that would be first item on the agenda, before we start." Hermione flushed. She was taking his comments personally.

"I don't see why we need to," she said shortly.

"How shortsighted of you," Smith drawled. "If we are going to be a group then we need direction. A leader is essential."

"But we have a leader." It was Cho Chang who had spoken up, looking confused. "Harry's leader."

"Well, I'm afraid I must have missed the discussion where we decided that," Smith said coolly. "Had I been at said discussion, if it ever took place, I would have voiced my objections."

"Oh yeah," Ron spoke up angrily. "On what grounds?" Smith smirked at him.

"Why, the obvious ones, of course," he said smoothly. "Potter is a fifth year. There are several students here with a greater education in this subject, and most of us have been through the exact same classes. And if I recall Potter has never made it far in any of the battling tournaments. I just feel it would be unwise not to look into… alternatives."

"Screw you, Smith," Ron spat. He'd been geared up for a fight from the moment Smith had opened his mouth. He wasn't alone either. Fred and George were glaring daggers at the back of Smith's head, Colin and Dennis Creevey were looking shocked and appalled, while Ginny's face was as red as her hair.

"I just think it is only right for all of us to have the chance to put our name forward," Smith said with fake reason. "I for one would like to put myself up for nomination, if no one else is."

Nobody spoke. Tension hung palpable in the air.

Hermione looked desperately to Harry. If they didn't do something quickly it would be a bloodbath. Harry sighed, and stepped forward.

"Okay," he said simply. All eyes turned to him. "You want people to vote on this?" Even someone modest like Harry knew well enough that he'd win a popular vote by a landslide. It seemed Smith realised that too. He shook his head.

"It is not popularity that should decide who is best suited to lead this group," Smith told him. "But ability, that does matter. I propose a battle, one on one, for leadership of the group." An intake of breath was heard around the clearing at the challenge. Everything was silent.

Harry nodded. "Deal," he said, stepping forward and holding out his hand. Smith, with an unpleasant expression on his face, shook it briefly before dropping it as though he had just touched something disgusting.

It seemed the new battle ground was going to get its first real test, and it would be against Zacharias Smith that the fate of their rebellion would lie. Harry walked away, finding a patch of bare soil and calling it his mark, turning on the spot to where Smith had done the same.

Now to choose his Pokémon. It was a difficult choice, especially since he had no idea what sort of Pokémon Smith had. He'd seen them, of course, in class and around the school, but he'd never thought to pay any attention. Now he was regretting it.

And so his choice came down to which of his Pokémon was right for the part. He could use Talonflame and attack with speed and power from the sky, or he could go with Pikachu and overwhelm Smith with shocking speed and electrifying power. But in the end there was only really one choice.

It would be Charizard. It had to be. His starter Pokémon, his most powerful, was the only one for the job. Smith needed to see why Harry was who he was, what gave him the right to assume leadership over them, and so too did the rest of the students, even if they did not doubt him. He'd never shown them his true power but they'd need to see it to understand what they were up against.

And they would.

"Charizard, lets go!" Harry called, summoning his ferocious winged beast as Smith released his Pokémon at the other end. For a brief moment Harry did not know what it was, his sight obscured by his Pokémon and his hearing by his own voice, but then Charizard shifted and Harry got a good look at his opponent.

An Electabuzz. So Smith knew what he was doing after all. Everyone knew what Pokémon Harry had, with his fame they were often thrust into the limelight, and Electabuzz was the perfect counter to Harry's team. Smith must have planned it all. He set up this situation where he was a battle away from control over the group and he'd given himself the best opportunity to succeed.

It wouldn't be enough. There was a reason Harry had chosen Charizard. Type advantage went out the window when faced with such power.

Hermione stepped up to be the referee.

"This will be a one on one battle," she announced, looking slightly nervous as she eyed up the obviously suboptimal match up. "The match will end when either Pokémon is unable to continue. The winner shall be chosen to lead the battle group. Are the battlers ready?" Harry nodded. Across the clearing he saw Smith jerk his head. "Then let the battle begin."

"Electabuzz, Thunderbolt!" Smith yelled right off the mark. The electric attack was powerful, and would have done major damage had it hit, but Charizard simply dropped to all fours, the electricity flying harmlessly overhead, and let out a growl.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower!" A stream of fire erupted from Charizard's jaws, steaming through the air towards its target.

"Electabuzz, Protect!" The shield was raised with time to spare and the attack dissipated into nothing. An attack each and it was back to the status quo.

"Is that all you've got?!" Shouted Smith. It surprised Harry, he hadn't expected that sort of taunting from the Hufflepuff, but he didn't react. Smith had no idea what was coming. His words were only making things worse.

"Charizard, use Slash!" Harry called, sending Charizard barreling forward. He roared, pulling back a claw in preparation for the attack.

"Electabuzz, Thunder Punch!" Electabuzz mashed his fists together, electricity sparking between them, before winding up with one immense swing and throwing himself, electrified fist first, straight at Charizard.

The two attacks collided with enormous power and both Pokémon were pushed back from the blast, straining against the debris.

"Thunderbolt!"

"Dragon Rage!"

Harry had known Smith would attack with Charizard in at close range and unable to dodge and it allowed him to counter perfectly. The ball of fiery death that sprung from Charizard's jaws held back the electric bolt and then some, almost seeming to absorb the power from the attack. That was until the ball exploded and smoke obscured the battling Pokémon from view.

"Grab him!" Harry instructed, unable to see but knowing what he would when the smoke cleared.

With his command he didn't need to wait. As the smoke started to disperse Charizard flew out from above, Electabuzz clutched securely in his grip.

"Haha!" Smith cried. "I've got you now, Potter. Electabuzz, use Thunder!"

The attack was incredible, Harry had to give Smith that. It was beyond anything Pikachu had managed and Pikachu was no mug when it came to electricity. Lightning sparked in the sky, surrounding the two airborne Pokémon, and Charizard roared in pain. There were gasps from the ground, fearful that Smith might actually win. That Charizard would lose.

Harry had no such fear.

"Now, Charizard!" He commanded calmly. For Charizard was tougher than that and Smith had shown his hand.

Charizard's roar of pain became a roar of determination and his eyes opened wide, focusing down on the Pokémon in his arms that was the source of his suffering. Electabuzz looked up, a mixture of surprise and fear in his eyes, as he realised that this monster was one far beyond his ability to defeat.

"Sky Drop!" Harry instructed and Charizard roared, looping through the air and plummeting to the ground, tossing Electabuzz as though he was a rag doll onto the dirt beneath him. Electabuzz hit the ground hard, back first, and bounced, but he wasn't quite beaten yet and landed back on his feet, panting heavily.

"Protect!" The barrier sprung up just in time as Charizard's Flamethrower attack coursed towards him, the flames eagerly licking at the shield as Electabuzz struggled to hold it. Charizard's full power was on show now and it was clear that Electabuzz was no match.

"Earthquake!" Charizard stomped on the ground, sending the earth rumbling and catching everyone, not just Electabuzz, by surprise. Many of the spectators lost their footing, unable to keep balanced, and the target of the attack, Electabuzz, was knocked off his feet to land sprawled on his back.

"Blast Burn!"

No one had ever seen Charizard use this attack before. Harry had only seen it once. So none of them were prepared for the destruction that reigned as the ground beneath Electabuzz seemed to open up in an explosion of fire and brimstone. Patches of earth went everywhere, the previously unbalanced spectators now forced to search for cover, and fire engulfed Electabuzz's prone form. He was not surviving that. No Pokémon could.

After a while the attack ended. The ground settled. The spectators dared to come out from their hiding spots.

Hermione cleared her throat. "Electabuzz is unable to battle," she announced, rather unnecessarily. Smoke was rising from Electabuzz's prone form. "Harry will be our leader." There was no applause following the announcement. Harry didn't want any. He wasn't here to win favour or make himself feel good. He was here to help protect them, and now they knew that this was no game. This was real and they had to be ready to fight.