September 1944

Even by the end of the next day, it was painfully clear to Ro that this year would be unlike either of their previous years at Hogwarts. On the way down to the Great Hall for breakfast and the giving out of timetables, Professor Dumbledore summoned Minerva to his office without so much of an explanation. Irma was missing too when they arrived in the Great Hall, but when they both appeared minutes apart near the end of breakfast they seemed to be fairly happy.

Although she was curious about where they had both got to, those thoughts were dismissed immediately when the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw third-years arrived in their first lesson: Defence Against the Dark Arts. The atmosphere in Professor Merrythought's classroom was quite unlike the relaxed mood they were used to. Instead everyone seemed unusually quiet and solemn, which Ro immediately put down to the sombre expression on Professor Merrythought's face as she watched them file in and sit down.

"Well then third years, I'm sure I don't need to point out that we're all in for an interesting year." She said as a welcome, her arms crossed over her chest as she surveyed the class. "As Professor Dippet stated in his speech yesterday evening, danger could be just around the corner. You all know the precautions that the school is taking to minimise the chance of Hogwarts being invaded, but my job is to prepare you should the worst happen. We've worked on defensive spells before in between our other focuses and theory works, but until I have a letter in my hand signed by Mr Spencer-Moon stating that Grindlewald has been defeated, there will be no theory work in my classroom."

Excited murmurs started up following her last statement, but stopped immediately when Professor Merrythought hit her hand against her desk for quiet. "I can assure you that our current situation is no laughing matter!" she snapped, her uncharacteristically harsh tone startling Ro. She walked through the classroom, the click of her heeled shoes the only sound that disturbed the silence, stopping near the back of the room in front of the Ravenclaw girl who had started the talking. "Miss Dale, have you ever been in a duel?"

Bonnie Dale nodded hurriedly. "Harvey taught me a few spells in the Common Room last year, let me practise against-"

Professor Merrythought cut across her with a dismissive shake of her head. "I'm not talking about scuffles between siblings, Miss Dale. I'm talking about being faced with an opponent who really, truly wants to do you harm. When you're faced with not a friend, or a mentor, but an enemy." She paused for a moment before walking back towards the front of the classroom, though stopped when she was level with Ro, Minerva and Poppy's desks. "I think the only person in this room aside from myself who has been in such a situation is Miss Pomfrey, during the pantomime nearly two years ago."

Ro saw Poppy redden beside her, giving Professor Merrythought a shy smile.

"But Professor," a voice called from the back of the classroom, "Poppy was great against Druella, but would spells like that really protect us from Dark Wizards?"

"You would be surprised, Mr Sanders, how even the most simple of spells can mean the difference between winning and losing a duel. Take Petrificus Totalus for example; it may be a second-year level spell but that doesn't mean it is child's play. It would have exactly the same effect if you cast it on Gellert Grindlewald himself than if you cast it on each other. The only difference is that chances are he would block your spell with ease, but unless you've done any further reading you won't know how to cast any shielding spells." She paused, looking around at the class before asking "I don't suppose any of you have done any further reading over the summer?"

As Ro suspected she might, Minerva raised her hand. When Professor Merrythought nodded for her to continue, she said "Protego is the most basic shielding charm. It creates a magical barrier in front of the caster, protecting them from spells or flying objects."

"Fantastic Miss McGonagall, take 10 points for Gryffindor." With a swish of Professor Merrythought's wand, all the desks flew away to the furthest side of the classroom where they stacked nearly against the walls. "Everyone out of your chairs, wands out, and we'll begin by learning the Protego charm."

Ro was glad that Professor Merrythought gave them time to stand up before moving the chairs away. The wand movement she showed them was simple enough, but it was a long time before anyone could produce the translucent, shield that Professor Merrythought had hovering in front of her, only detectable due to the way that whatever behind it moved as if it were underwater. Minerva was the first, a burst of blueish white erupting from the tip of her wand which she was given another 10 points for. Gradually over the next few minutes, more and more people were able to produce the very beginnings of a shield. Entirely engrossed in trying to do the charm herself, Ro was taken by surprise when she felt something push into her back and knock her onto the floor.

"Ro are you ok! I'm so sorry!" It was Poppy's voice; Ro looked up to see Poppy's worried face peering down at her.

Getting to her feet and dusting down her robes, Ro nodded. "I'm fine, but what in Merlin's name did you do?"

"It's a pity you were on the floor, Miss Hooch, you just missed Miss Pomfrey produce a wonderful shield charm!" Professor Merrythought said with a proud smile. "20 points for Gryffindor, Miss Pomfrey, that truly was excellent. Keep trying, the rest of you, then we'll pair up to put it into action."

Sure enough, the next time Poppy cast the charm (once Ro was safely out of the way), a shimmery barrier could be see expanding out of the tip of her wand. As if Poppy's success had spurred them on, more and more people were able to create the shield which resulted in a few more surprise falls from people standing too close. After another 10 minutes of practising, Professor Merrythought called them to attention and paired them all up to put the charm into practise.

"Right then, what we're going to practise from now until the end of the lesson is trying to use your shield charms to defend against simple spells. Pick something that will be easy to defend against- Rictumsepmra or Tarantallegra should work well for this. Miss Pomfrey, would you care to come and do a demonstration? If I recall correctly you performed a marvellous tickling charm against Miss Rosier during the pantomime." As Poppy made her way to the front of the classroom, Professor Merrythought added "Now I do hope I can cast this right, or it may turn out to be rather embarrassing!"

Ro laughed along with the rest of the class reassured that the Professor seemed to have regained her signature sense of humour. She and Poppy faced each other with wands drawn, and when Professor Merrythought nodded, Poppy swished her wand around and shouted "Rictumsempra!"

"Protego!" Professor Merrythought said commandingly, and the silver light that had burst from Poppy's wand dispersed in a flash as it hit the magical barrier. "Now the other way round- are you ready Miss Pomfrey?"

Poppy nodded, and as Professor Merrythought cast the tickling charm Poppy raised her wand to conjure the shield. Ro could see it emerging from her wand, shimmering in the air between her and Professor Merrythought, but her smile fell when the silver light travelled straight through it. Poppy doubled over laughing for a few moments before Professor Merrythought used the counter-charm and motioned for her to return to her space.

"As easy as it can be to cast the shield charm, it is hard to cast one with any particular strength," She explained, "which is why, now you have proved yourselves able to cast a shielding charm effectively, that we must now work on pitting it against offensive spells. You have the rest of this lesson and your homework time to practise with your partner, and next lesson we'll see how much you've improved."

The rest of the lesson was filled with a mix of shouted incantations and laughter when the shield charms wavered, leaving the victims either rolling on the floor laughing or practically dancing their feet off. Professor Merrythought walked around the room offering advice and counter-charms where they were due, before they were off to their next lesson. For Ro, Minerva and Millicent this was Muggle Studies- or at least Ro thought it was, so was very confused when Minerva vanished the moment they left the Muggle Studies classroom and was next seen walking from the direction of the North Tower with Poppy and Septima. Despite her confusion she didn't mention it to Minerva, until a week later it had happened at least once every day.

"Call me insane," Ro began slowly, wanting to pick the right words, "but you seem to have been in two places at once since term began."

Minerva looked up sharply, startling her. "I am calling you insane, that's impossible!" she said, laughing quickly. "Come on, we're going to be late for Quidditch practise!"

Even Quidditch practises weren't the same as they had been the previous year. Although the Gryffindor Team hadn't changed, Mr Spinnet was hovering above the stands on his own broomstick looking in the direction of Hogsmeade. Ro suspected he was watching to ensure that the Auror Guard in Hogsmeade didn't mistake any of the Quidditch players for Grindlewald's Army, and was proved right when Fleamont addressed the team.

"Right team, never mind all this miserable business about wars," he said firmly once he'd explained why Mr Spinnet was there, "we've got a Quidditch Cup to win. I know we got a handle of it last year, but since this is the last year before Alastor and I are off into the world I'd quite like to get my hands on the entire cup without sharing. We proved that we're capable of winning the cup, this year we just need to put it into practise."

What with all of her Uncle Raymond's advice she and Minerva had got over the summer, it didn't take long for them to get back into the swing of things. She was surprised how different it was playing with her family than playing with her team; since they'd rotated around the positions during their games at Abbott Hall Farm, she'd forgotten how individual each of her teammates' playing styles were. Erika and Johnnie were so in sync with each other, having known each other since they were 11 and worked together for the past three years, that as Beaters together they automatically seemed to know what the other was about to do. In comparison, Nancy and Ernest weren't quite so in tune with each other tending to work as separate units rather than together as a pair. The Keeping was the most different though, as it had been Poppy who had substituted as Keeper most of the times they played in the summer. Whereas Poppy's lithe frame and quick reflexes meant she could reach for the Quaffle and just about push it away from the scoring hoop while gripping onto her broomstick handle with the other hand, Alastor's style was more along the lines of 'just get in the way and let the Quaffle fly into you'.

"I always thought of Hogwarts as a place to escape whatever was going on in the rest of the world." Septima said at the Gryffindor table for dinner that evening. "But it seems like we're more involved in these wars than we ever were at home."

Ro nodded, glad she wasn't the only one having those kind of thoughts. "I don't think I've had a single lesson that hasn't involved either one war or the other. All we've talked about in Muggle Studies is how bombs and rockets work."

"The first thing Professor Olwen talked to us about in Divination is looking for omens of impending doom." Poppy agreed. "And Arithmancy, now that I come to think of it."

"Well I'm not convinced that whatever shapes appear in our teacups will decide who wins the wars," Minerva said a little huffily, "But I know what you mean. We were almost completely safe from the bombings up in Caithness, this has got to be the most I've heard of it since the war broke out."

"And I haven't actually got a clue what this war with Grindlewald's even about!" Millicent said exasperatedly. "Ro, Septima, Irma, you're from wizarding families, got any ideas?"

Ro's stomach flipped at the question- exactly the one she'd been hoping to avoid for as long as possible. She looked to Septima and Irma first, and was very relieved when Irma started to speak. "From what I've heard people saying in the Common Room, Grindlewald wants to rule over Muggles."

"Kind of like pureblood supremacy then?" Poppy asked.

"Magical blood supremacy." Irma corrected her. "I don't think these wizards mind about blood purity, as long as you can do magic. So as far as I can see, if we were to be invaded like Professor Dippet says we might be, there wouldn't be anyone who was targeted especially."

Poppy and Millicent both sighed in unison. "Thank goodness for that, I don't think I could cope with another year of constantly checking over my shoulder." Millicent said in a relieved tone.

"Ro?" Minerva's concerned voice startled Ro slightly, and she looked over to see green eyes watching her worriedly. "Are you alright? You've gone very pale again."

Ro dropped her gaze so she was staring at her empty plate, hands clenched into fists as she took a deep breath. "Do you remember Professor Dippet saying there had been British Aurors fighting Grindlewald for nearly 10 years?" There were nods all around, so she continued in a shaky voice. "My father was part of the very first group of Aurors that went into Europe to face Grindlewald, back when no-one realised how powerful he was growing. Only two of the 15 Aurors that went made it back alive- Grindlewald personally killed all the others. My dad died because of him." Her throat constricted as she finished speaking; as she swallowed deeply she felt a comforting hand on her knee and looked up to see Irma smiling sympathetically down at her.

"Oh Ro, I had no idea." Minerva said softly.

Ro shook her head. "It's fine, really," she said, breathing slowly to keep herself controlled. She could tell just by her friends' faces that they knew it wasn't alright, but was thankful that they didn't press the matter.

"You know what I've noticed this year?" Ro flashed Septima a grateful smile as she changed the subject. "The House rivalries. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they seem much less noticeable this year."

Ro looked out over the tables, and was surprised to see that Septima was right. Although it wasn't unusual for people to sit at House tables other than their own, the mix of Houses across the tables was much more noticeable than usual. Even several Slytherins could be seen sitting with friends in different Houses.

A tap on her shoulder made Ro turn around to see that Emery had slid over to sit next to her, with Malcolm, the Grubbly twins and Imogen Farley just behind him. Before she could say anything in greeting, he had started speaking in a rushed tone that made Ro suspect he'd been waiting to talk to her for a while. "Atticus says that we shouldn't be friends with Slytherins because they only like purebloods, is he right?"

Surprised at his question, it took Ro a few moments to recollect her thoughts enough to think of an answer. "Were you listening in on our conversation?" she asked with a grin, but continued before he could respond. "Did Atticus say why he thought that?"

Emery shook his head, but Septima came to his aid. "There's always been hostility between the Weasleys and other pureblood families. The Weasleys are considered to be blood traitors because they don't believe in all the pureblood supremacy nonsense that most pureblood families live by."

"I remember a Weasley in Kurtis' Hogwarts year got married to a Black daughter." Ro said, her memory jogged by what Septima had said.

Irma nodded. "She was disowned for making a non-respectable marriage, much like our mother."

"My family aren't pureblood supremacists." Imogen said in an irritated tone. "My uncle married a Muggleborn witch, and none of my family minded. I'm not a Black, so Atticus needs to get over himself."

"What do you think?" Ro asked. She had asked herself this question many when she was his age and first getting to know Irma; she'd made her decision, and was curious to know his."

Emery looked behind him, where Imogen met his gaze with a small smile. "Imogen's my friend, so I don't think it matters. Do you?" Emery repeated his question, looking at Ro with wide, pleading eyes.

Ro couldn't help but roll her eyes as she put an arm around Irma's shoulder. "Emery Hooch, this here is one of my best friends. Her tie is exactly the same green and silver as Imogen's tie, and they sleep in the same part of the school. Do you really think I'm going to mind if one of your friends is a Slytherin?"

Emery fell quiet for a moment, before a sheepish smile appeared on his face. "I suppose not," he admitted, and they all burst into laughter.

Author's Note:
Very sorry about the extra waiting I made you all do, I managed to catch flu last week and I've only just managed to shake it off. I was tempted to push on and get the chapter done, but I thought it would be better to wait longer for a better chapter than get a rushed mess of spelling errors on time!

I know that in the series students didn't get taught proper defensive spells until fourth year or above, but there are several reasons why the girls will be learning a lot of them this year. For one thing, we're in a war so it makes sense that they would want everyone able to defend themselves if necessary, and secondly, Professor Merrythought is such a fantastic teacher I figured she'd want to teach her students to the best of her capabilities. We all know that there hasn't been a DADA teacher after the 50s that lasted longer than a year, so I'm guessing the standard of teaching must have fallen during that time.

And it's finally revealed what happened to Ro's father. She was only five years old at the time so wasn't affected by it quite as much as her older siblings, though she still finds it hard to really talk about. Since we don't know much from canon about the war against Grindlewald, I've taken it upon myself to invent the details so not much of it is canon.

Emery and his friends are good fun. I'm a very strong believer in 'not all Slytherins are Blacks', as you've probably guessed with two anti supremist Slytherin characters! They'll remain fairly important characters throughout the rest of the story now.

I should imagine that you've all guessed what secret Irma and Minerva have got hidden up their sleeves (or around their necks)! If not, all will be revealed next chapter (which will be out around this time next week due to being away from home this weekend).