Voldemort grinned and rubbed his hands (a sight that would have caused even Severus Snape to faint). Everything was going as per his plan, and best of all, no one could sabotage his plan this time. He didn't trust anyone completely - not even Severus and Bella, his most trusted servants.

"Greyback, prepare the werewolves for attack tonight. We are taking Hogwarts; I don't care that it's the middle of the year - everything is right where it needs to be, my Death Eaters are stationed at Hogsmeade, and best of all, no one will

suspect me. They think I'm waiting, or they don't believe I'm back at all."

"Yes, sir," Greyback bowed and walked out of the room as fast as he could while still being respectful.

At Hogwarts, it was just another normal January morning. Harry, Ron and Hermione were headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts with the rest of the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins, and everyone seemed very excited about the next class because of the roaring success that had been Holly Rebus's first class.

"Sit down, class," said Professor Rebus (or Holly as she liked them to call her). "Today's class will be a bit less humorous, although we will be reading out our homework at the end of class and roleplaying it, so I hope you've done it." There was an excited murmuring of voices at this statement.

"Now, today, we will be learning about curses, jinxes and hexes - especially some that would be very useful to you in battle." The silence was almost immediate, as everyone sat up in their seats in anticipation.

"Now, who can tell me the difference between a jinx, a hex and a curse?"

Hermione's hand shot up. "Yes, Booksy?"

"A curse is the worst form of a spell, with intentions to severely harm your opponent, while hexes are slightly milder with intentions to injure, while jinxes are the most trivial, and aim to inconvenience your adversary temporarily," she said, as if she'd memorized the textbook.

"Very good. Now…" she tapped the board. The words 'curse', 'hex' and 'jinx' appeared there in a table, with a column each. "There is a very fine line between curses, hexes and jinxes. We will be sorting them into categories, and then attempting them in the second half of the class, on the dummies over there." She waved her wand, and a velvety, dark red cloth swept off of a row of straw dummies and neatly folded itself. "My sister taught me that one," she grinned.

Harry vaguely remembered that Tonks had said that her mum was supposed to be good at spells like that one. What was it that Sirius had said about Holly being Bellatrix Lestrange? Weren't Tonks's mum and Bellatrix sisters? He shook his head slightly to clear it. That was something he'd write to Sirius about later; he needed to focus on the class now.

"Hairy Harry? Have we lost you under that great mop of hair? Hairykins?" she was saying.

"Oh!" said Harry. "Sorry, I was…er…thinking…er…Sorry, Professor, what was the question?" Harry thought he saw a very, very brief flash of panic go over Holly's face.

"Can you tell us what it is that really separates hexes, jinxes and curses?"

"Oh…er…" Hermione had said something about intentions, hadn't she? "The intent and the force that you use to perform the spell?"

"Yes, Sir Hairy (the class dissolved into giggles). It is indeed the intent and force that separates the three, and you could, theoretically use curses as jinxes with the right control on the force that you use, and vice-versa," explained Holly. She went on to collect examples from the class and sort them into the columns, instructing them to copy the table down.

"Now, I know that you had the Unforgivable Curse covered last year, and don't worry, I will not be casting them on you." But Harry thought that he saw a flash of…longing?…in her eyes. He realized that by watching people, you could really tell what they were thinking.

"However, I would like to say that unless you really mean them, you can't do anything to your opponent. If you all pointed your wands at me right now and said 'Crucio', then nothing would happen, unless you really hated me, (which you hopefully don't) apart from a brief headache."

Neville raised his hand. "Have you…you know, ever, well, do you have any experience with them?"

A dark shadow crossed her face. "I'm not sure if I can say anything about that."

Everyone in the class looked at each other.

"Now!" she said a bit too brightly. "Pick a dummy everyone, and start with the Knockback Jinx everyone. They can be very useful, especially when used defensively."

Hermione grinned. She had said something very similar to Umbridge at the beginning of the year.

All of the members of Dumbledore's Army were very good at both the jinxes and hexes, even Neville, and they all soon progressed to curses. Soon, though, there were only ten minutes left for class to end, and Holly sent purple sparks into the air to get everyone's attention.

"Very good, everyone. Keep practicing jinxes on objects - do the Knockback jinx and the Oppugno jinx on pillows or sheets, for example. That's your homework for this week, and speaking of homework, everyone, quickly make pairs, pick one insult each, and roleplay them on each other. Weaselbee and Booksy, let's have you first."

Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. It had been four years, really. Did Ron have to go and bring it up again, now?

"Oy, Voldy!"
"What, blood-traitor scum?" said Hermione in her best Voldemort impression (based on what Harry had described to them. Holly was impressed - she really did sound like him.

"I just thought," said Ron, in a slightly bad imitation of Hermione (well, he had practiced. You had to give him credit for trying), "Honestly, your pronunciation is all wrong!"

"WHAT?" roared Hermione. Quite a few people chuckled.

"It's 'Crucio'," said Ron, "Not 'Cruccccccccccio!'"

"You dare question me? Crrrrucccc-"

"Ah! There it is again!"

Hermione grumbled and shook her head. The whole class was in fits.

"That was a very good impression, Booksy and Weaselbee. Tell me, how did you know how he sounded? That was very accurate," said Holly, before she realized what she'd just said. She hoped no one had noticed. No such luck.

"Have you been in a battle against him, then?" asked Quillbro Thomas, impressed.

"I have fought with him before," she said neutrally. It wasn't a lie, technically, because she had fought with him. As in alongside him. And 'with' and 'alongside' were synonyms, were they not?"

"Cool!" said Neville.

Draco snorted. Holly Rebus had fallen in his estimation. So she was a blood-traitor, then? He went next with Harry - his memory was slightly hazy, What was it exactly that had turned them into allies? He couldn't remember very well, but he vaguely remembered that it had something to do with the DADA teacher…

They had a Dumbledore's Army meeting that evening (which Draco was invited to).

"Alright, everybody," said Harry at the end of a successful meeting where they were practicing Patronuses. "So, this is our first meeting since we've got our new teacher, Professor Holly Rebus, and well, she seems competent. And this was basically created because of Umbridge, so, if you wanted to stop-"

"No way, Harry! We need this to fight against Voldemort as a team - and - and I have friends here!" said Neville.

"Yes, he's right," said Cho. "I've loved these lessons."

"Well," smiled Harry, "That settles it, then. We can continue them. Great job with the Patronuses today; we'll move on to methods for resisting the Imperius curse in the next class. So, next Monday, then?"

At that moment precisely, a silvery wolf patronus whooshed into the room and spoke with the voice of Remus Lupin: "The Death Eaters are attacking Hogwarts tonight in an hour; The Order's coming; tell Dumbledore in case he doesn't know, and GET AWAY FROM HOLLY REBUS!"

There was a shocked silence.

"What?" said Colin.

Harry burst into action. "Ron, pass me a broom! I'm going to Dumbledore's office; you and Hermione - get everyone out of here and to somewhere safe-"

"We're staying!" said Ginny.

"Yeah, we want to help!" said Neville.

"What - no - you-"

"Harry, this is why we made Dumbledore's Army. Or was it all a joke?" demanded Luna, uncharacteristically fierce.

"What - oh, alright!" said Harry, taken aback. "Okay, Ron, Hermione, organize the battle groups and lead with the formations we practiced. Fred, George, Lee - set up a trap for Professor Rebus - I don't know why, but if Remus is saying it, it must be important - Draco, erm, I mean, Malfoy - take the Ravenclaws and set up an evacuation system. Go, everyone, GO!"

A/N: And so it begins. Which side will Bella - or Holly - choose? Will she blow her cover? Who will win? Thank you to MyWriterBlock, Yaw6113, and Lady Shalpha for reviewing the previous chapter.