Ten: Dumbledore's Army, redux
When she entered the Potions classroom Nott was still in the Hospital Wing on Wednesday and Astoria was already sitting with Harper, refusing to look at her. Colin was all too happy to sit with her and continue working on stage 2 of their Strengthening Solution, his own concoction from Monday having ended up as an awful-smelling, near solid goo. Slughorn just watched the house divide with sad eyes, though he gave Ginny and Colin as well as Astoria and Harper five points each, despite the Slytherins' potion being clearly superior.
Ginny tried to approach Astoria after class, but she just walked past Ginny as if she was air. Ginny bit her lip, swallowed her pride and hurried after the gaggle of Slytherins, calling out to Astoria. Instead, Harper detached himself from the group and blocked her way.
"She's not interested in talking to you, Weasley. Take a hint."
"Move aside, Harper," she said, standing on her tiptoes to catch Astoria's eye. At least they had stopped.
"Or what? You're going to send me to the hospital wing too, Weasley? You're a menace and if you weren't one of Dumbledore's pets, you'd have been expelled by now!" he spat.
They walked away in group, Astoria not once glancing her way. Ginny just stood there as if she'd been punched. A menace? Maybe they were right. Maybe she'd always been one. In her first year, she'd been Tom's tool as he terrorised the school and almost killed Harry. Now she'd almost killed a student herself. Had that been because of Tom's whispers? Or because her scars didn't just run on the surface?
The Room of Requirement had taken its traditional D.A. shape again. Dark detectors, practice dummies. If the dummies looked a bit more like Death Eaters than before, no one mentioned on it. Ginny wondered if she wasn't just seeing things again. Astoria on the other hand was nowhere in sight, leaving Demelza as the sole new recruit for now. She was standing alone at the edge of the group, looking rather uncomfortable but determined.
Much to her surprise, the Patils and Lavender had been right. Apart from Edgecombe, everyone still at Hogwarts was there. Smith still sported the same look of unimpressed boredom, Chang looked like she could burst into tears any second - no change there - and Dean and Seamus still didn't dare to meet her eye, but they'd come. They'd all come and were waiting for her to say something. She cast a look at Padma who was standing next to her. Padma just shrugged as if to say 'it's your show now'.
Ginny supposed it was. She took a deep breath and pushed all her doubts away, all the whispers about her being a menace, even Tom's. Danger to others or not, she owed it to Harry to at least try.
"Nice work, Gin. I'm glad you're here."
She held on to those words and could sense Harry's presence in the room with them. She could feel all of them. Luna, Neville, Ron, Hermione and Harry, all watching and waiting, nodding in approval. She pulled out her wand and focused on that feeling.
"Expecto Patronum!" she shouted and a large horse burst forth. It looked a bit shy at first, and confused that there were no Dementors, then galloped through the room. She could still do it.
"Okay, now that I have your attention, welcome to this year's first meeting of the D.A. For those who have forgotten, that stands for Dumbledore's Army," she said, the room's acoustics accommodating her so that she barely needed to raise her voice to be heard.
She remembered the first time she'd come up with the name. It had seemed so fun then. Now, it was no longer funny. It had become a declaration of intent, rather than a joke. She could read it in everyone's eyes too, the knowledge that they were here in the hope of learning how to survive a war.
"In case you don't recognise me anymore, I'm Ginny Weasley," she said, pointing at her scars. "You may have seen my face in the Prophet." A nervous laughter ran through the room. "I've been asked to take charge here, but if anyone has any complaints, in light of my skillset or… or recent events, let's hear them," she said, her eyes lingering on Smith. But no one spoke.
"Last year, we were preparing for an invisible war. That's no longer the case, you've seen and read it all. We've lost friends to the war. Some have fled the country," she said, her eyes lingering on the empty place next to Ernie Macmillan. Hannah Abbott had been sent to Beauxbatons by her parents. From what she'd gathered, Hannah hadn't wanted to come back either. She had always had a soft spot for Neville.
"Others we've lost forever," she continued, looking at Susan Bones, whose aunt Amelia's murder had been relegated to a footnote following the battle at the Department of Mysteries.
When she met Susan's eyes, she realised she couldn't give the speech she'd had have in her mind. The plucky one so reminiscent of Dumbledore's hollow promises, speaking of love and friendship that would conquer all. It hadn't helped Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna one bit; if anything, love had gotten them killed. Most of the students before her hadn't witnessed the war up close yet, but they would. And then they'd know her for a liar. So instead, she took a deep breath and forced herself to be truthful.
"We'll probably lose more people. Friends and family. And what we're doing here, it's no guarantee that it will be enough. Voldemort," she said, her voice finally no longer shaking when she said the name, though a ripple of nervous fear still ran through the room. "Voldemort and his Death Eaters are out there. They don't hesitate like we do. They just…"
Rip… Tear… Kill… She could still hear the basilisk in her mind sometimes.
"But that just makes it all the more important that we fight back. And that's what we're here for."
Luna collapses and her mind goes blank. She doesn't know what hex she uses on Mulciber, all she knows is that she screams it with all her strength and it sends him careening into the wall. He doesn't get up again. Travers is still admiring his handiwork when her second hex speeds towards him. He bats it aside and grins.
"That eager to join your friend, Weasley? Don't worry, I'll make it quick," he hisses and tendrils of dark smoke snake out towards her. Her wand slashes downwards and dispels them, but like a hydra, two new ones form for every head she eliminates.
Travers' expression is one of pure concentration, muttering under his breath as his assault intensifies. The tendrils creep ever closer and begin to wrap themselves around her ankles, chilling her to the bone. Is she going to die?
"Petrificus Totalus!" She's never been quite so relieved to hear Neville's voice. Travers stiffens and falls forward, the smoke disappearing as if it had never been there to begin with.
"To learn how to defend ourselves. Together. The Sorting Hat's a ratty old thing, but it was right. Divided we fall," she said, not quite capable of uttering the first part of the phrase.
Neville steps over Travers' stiff form, visibly proud. He's done it. After a lifetime of jokes and sneers, he's taken down a Death Eater. Then he sees Luna and goes deadly pale. He runs towards her and shakes her, but their friend doesn't move. The red stain has covered most of her chest by now.
"Luna," he begs. "Come on, Luna." Ginny puts her hand on his shoulder and tries not to cry.
"I'm sorry, Neville. I… I was duelling Mulciber when it happened."
"It's not your fault. Let's stick together from now on."
"And that also means we'll be looking to expand our numbers, especially with how many of us graduated last year. We already got Demelza," Ginny said with a wave towards her friend, who instantly turned a deep shade of red as all eyes focused on her. "And we're looking for more. We'll have to be careful though. While we're no longer an illegal organisation strictly speaking, I think there's something to be said for keeping a low profile. But I'll leave that part of the explanation to you, Padma," Ginny said, stepping aside and handing the floor to the Ravenclaw who seemed a lot less perturbed by all the attention.
Ginny dropped down in one of the chairs nearby. That had been worse than playing Quidditch in front of the whole school. She felt as if she'd run ten laps around the lake, breathing heavily as Padma launched into her explanation. Her screening process sounded rather complicated to Ginny, but Hermione's cursed parchment clearly hadn't done the trick last time. She wondered if Edgecombe still had those boils. Ginny kind of hoped she did. That way at least one monument to Hermione's intellect would be preserved.
Parvati had taken the word now, explaining they were going for a multidisciplinary approach this year, which was a fancy way of saying all the sixth and seventh were expected to chip in with their expertise as well. They would be starting off with a refresher on stunners and shield charms though, as Snape's instruction method had been deemed lacking so far, or at least too terrifying to be pedagogically responsible.
It wasn't long before everyone was paired up, with one half of the room throwing up shields and the other half throwing stunners at them. Ginny watched on, arms crossed in front of her chest, feeling like a general surveying the troops.
"Going well so far, don't you think?" Padma said, standing next to her. "No complaints, no major injuries."
"Yet," Ginny said, eying Smith suspiciously. "Give it a few sessions, especially when we start expanding."
"We'll handle it. Thanks for doing this, Ginny."
"It seemed more productive than just hexing all aspiring Death Eaters to pieces," she said, stepping aside when a wayward stunner came streaking past. "Aim still needs work, Denis!" she shouted at the younger of the two Creevey brothers.
"What happened there anyway? The Hogwarts rumour mill has been spreading contradictory tales," Padma said.
"Harper, Nott and Zabini ambushed me after the Slug Club meeting. I fought back and lost my head. It won't happen again," she vowed, though she didn't even believe the promise herself.
'Menace,' she could hear Tom hiss.
"Did you read the Prophet this morning?" Padma said, proffering a copy without waiting for an answer. She must have seen Ginny skipped breakfast this morning, having felt too nervous for the confrontation with Astoria in Potions. Ginny took it and unfolded it, stifling a gasp.
DUMBLEDORE DUELS DEATH EATERS IN DIAGON ALLEY
Underneath the headline was a picture of Dumbledore warding off the assault of four Death Eaters, with more Death Eaters and Aurors in the background.
"I suppose the reporter was rather miffed it isn't called Diagon District," Ginny remarked as her eyes skimmed the text. Apparently, Death Eaters had gone after a few Muggleborn stores and had been carving a path of destruction through the Alley until Dumbledore had shown up. After some token resistance, they'd rapidly Disapparated.
"They're getting bolder," Padma remarked.
"It does look like it," Ginny agreed. "Arresto momentum!" she yelled, pointing her wand at Justin Finch-Fletchley who toppled backwards when Susan Bones' stunner pierced his shield. He floated softly to the ground. "Nice stunner, Susan. Cast a Rennervate on him and then put some cushions down, would you?" Ginny yelled. "That goes for the rest of you too!" she added.
Harry had thought of putting those down in advance. Or probably Hermione. They still had quite a bit to learn.
"I got a letter from my father this morning as well," Padma continued. "He's considering pulling me and Parvati from school and leaving the country. We'd discussed it this summer as well, but I thought we'd talked him out of it. Apparently not," she said with a sigh.
"Because of the attack?" Ginny said with a wave of the Prophet.
"The attack. Or maybe the regular reports of families killed in their beds. Or maybe the rising casualty rates among Aurors," Padma shrugged. "From what I've heard, it's the First Wizarding War all over again."
"The First Wizarding War. So it's officially the Second Wizarding War now?" Ginny asked.
"Looks like it. I'm safe here at Hogwarts, but I think I'm not the only student afraid to be pulled out of class and told that I've lost someone. Your family's all fighting, aren't they? Aren't you afraid?"
"Every day," Ginny admitted. "I know they're all talented wizards and witches, but that's not really reassuring. That just means they'll be on the frontlines. While I'm here."
"Hey, at least we're doing this," Padma said with a wave at the D.A. "We're doing the best we can."
"And that's more than can be expected of teenagers, really," Parvati interjected, joining them at the front. "The atmosphere is different from last year, isn't it?" she said.
"Yeah," Ginny agreed. Last year there bad been an air of gaiety and rebellion. Half of the people present hadn't probably even believed that Voldemort was back then. They had just enjoyed thumping their nose at Umbridge. None of that remained now. "What are we doing next time?"
"Patronus charm?" Parvati suggested. "I'd really like to get it down. Yours is beautiful, Ginny."
"They all are, that's why they're Patronuses," she said, thinking of Snape's doe. It didn't suit him at all. She'd expected a snake, or a bat. No doubt there was a story behind that, though not one he was likely to share. She hadn't really understood why hers was a horse either. At first she'd felt disappointed, hoping for something similar to Harry's. But she'd grown to like her horse. It looked a bit like Perceval.
"So, Patronus?" Parvati asked again. Ginny couldn't help but grin.
"Sure, Patronus. But don't be upset if it doesn't work at first. It's a tricky charm." She wondered if she couldn't get Lupin to help with that. He'd taught Harry successfully. Perhaps she should write to him as well. He'd looked so lost as he'd helped escort her to King's Cross.
The three of them spent the remainder of the training wandering the room, adjusting grips, correcting pronunciations and wand movements. It was good they ended practice half an hour later with a loud whistle from Parvati, who had somehow found a whistle; if she'd had to duck one more errant stunner, she was sure she'd have snapped. Padma had impressed the importance of being subtle on them yet again and then the meeting broke up, people drifting back to their common rooms. Ginny lingered, studying the almost-but-not-quite Death Eater dummies.
"You coming, Ginny?" Demelza asked, dawdling at the door.
"Go ahead without me, I'll be down a bit later. You enjoyed yourself?"
"Yes, you were a lot more helpful than Snape," she said and then hesitated. "Mind if I wait here for you? After what happened, it's maybe better if we stick together."
"Thanks Demelza, I appreciate it," Ginny grinned. At least she still had one friend for sure. "It won't take long. I'd just like to let loose at these dummies. Keep the reflexes sharp."
She approached the five dummies, inhaled, exhaled and drew her wand.
"Stupefy!" she screamed, instantly following it up with the banishment charm and an impediment jinx. She ducked, crouched, jumped and hurled spell after spell at the dummies. After a while, she stopped thinking, acting on instinct. The dummies began to look more and more like Death Eaters. She screamed out a cutting curse and followed it up with a fire-making charm and another one of Dolohov's, sending a streak of purple flame at the furthest dummy. She rolled and then rose in front of the last one, the one that looked the most like Malfoy.
"Pleaga!" she yelled.
The shimmering wave didn't so much nick the dummy as shred it. Where the curse had passed, nothing remained but a few tufts of black robe. She took a step backwards, panting and covered in sweat, and took in the other dummies. One had been cut in half, a second was charred, the third was still burning with purple fire and a fourth lay scattered all over the room. In her mind, she could hear Tom applauding enthusiastically.
'Encore! Encore!'
She lowered her wand and turned around. Demelza was watching, mouth open, her expression caught somewhere between awe and fear.
"Wow," she muttered.
"Let's just go," Ginny said, feeling her cheeks burn with shame. She wondered if McGonagall still wouldn't have expelled her if she'd seen this.