The Defense Club Part 2
Summary: Continuation of the Defense Club Part 2. The first meeting and what they decided to name the Defense Club.
AN: Contains content from the book and the movie.
To say Harry was nervous was a bit of an understatement. He was worried about how the other students would react when they found out that Harry would be teaching them. Sure, there were a few who believed his story, but what about the others. He also wondered if there was going to be a problem for James. His role on the Board of Governors for Hogwarts was one his Dad held before him.
He had gotten the seat when Harry started Hogwarts. Usually, that's how one got the Parent's seat on the board, but since James's dad held a seat, he was given it a year before Harry started Hogwarts. James had assured him he had no problems with the board, although there was a handful that felt Harry shouldn't be teaching them.
When James confronted them, he found out it wasn't because of who Harry was, rather, they were uncomfortable with the idea of another student teaching students. James said, in Harry's defense, that this would be no different than tutoring sessions and had invited the Board to watch a lesson once the club was up and running.
While the board wasn't going to be there tonight, it was the first meeting and Harry felt nervous.
He stood at the table in the Room of Requirement, looking over the plans for the first lesson. Remus had suggested of starting out simple and assured Harry that he, James, and Sirius would be there in case anything went wrong.
Harry hoped nothing went wrong as he wanted not to give the board any reason to disband the club, an act they would do by going over Dumbledore's head.
So concentrated on studying his notes, he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"It's me, Son," James murmured. "Sorry if I scared you."
"It's okay, Dad," Harry said, laying the papers down. Ron and Hermione were sitting out cushions, while Remus and Sirius were looking over the equipment they had asked the room for.
"What time did you tell everyone?" Remus asked, sending a mannequin across the room.
"Six, right?" Sirius inquired, turning to face his godson after he had closed the cabinet where they were storing the supplies they didn't need right now.
Harry glanced at Hermione as she was the one who had told everyone the time. Hermione nodded.
"They should be here soon," She assured them. "I thought if we had it earlier, it would allow the younger students to come and be back at their respective dorms before their curfew."
"Right," Sirius agreed. Turning to Harry, he added, "We'll be here in the corner if you need us. Need help use the signal we decided on."
Harry nodded, swallowing thickly.
As James passed his son to join Sirius and Remus, he padded his son's shoulder.
"Good luck," he whispered.
"Thanks," Harry replied.
There was a gentle knock at the door and then it opened to reveal Ginny, Lavender, Parvati and Padma, Dean, and Seamus arrived.
"What is this place?" Dean asked, looking around. Hermione explained it to him and the others who were interested while Ginny approached her boyfriend.
"Harry, I thought you would wait for me," Ginny said.
Realizing he said he would wait for Ginny before coming down here, he slapped his forehead, letting his head fall back.
"I'm sorry, it had slipped my mind. I'll make it up to you," he said.
"How?" Ginny asked, smiling.
Harry smirked down at her. "I'll think of something."
Hermione had started over the explanation of the room when more people entered the room.
By six o'clock, every cushion was occupied, and Harry moved across to the door where he met Sirius. Harry pushed the door close and Sirius turned the key protruding from the lock. It clicked, telling them that the door was secure.
"Well," Harry said, slightly nervous. He caught Ginny's eyes from the front of the room and she smiled at him encouragingly. "So, this is the Room of Requirement. The reason why we had picked this room to practice in as opposed to the classroom is if you ask the room for something, it would give you to you. For example, we need a dummy."
One appeared out of thin air, causing some of the younger students to grasp and the others to jump. Harry banished it to the corner to use later.
"I thought this was a broom cupboard!" Fred exclaimed, looking around. "Remember George, we hid from Filch here once." Turning to Sirius and Remus, he added, "That was a long time ago, professors."
"What is said in this room, says in this room," Sirius said, smiling at him.
"What is that, Harry," Dean asked, pointing to the pile of Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass.
"That is dark detectors. They all show when Dark wizards or enemies are around. But I wouldn't rely on them too much as they can be false. Anyone wants more information on them can direct their questions to Auror Potter," Harry said, pointing to his Dad.
James nodded, "I'll be here as well as Professor Black and Professor Lupin if you have any questions."
"Thank you…" Harry trailed off.
"Harry, we all know he's your Dad," George said.
"Thanks, George," Harry murmured, before turning to James. "Do you anything else to add, Dad?"
"No," James replied.
"Alright, then I've been thinking about what we should to first….." Harry trailed off at a raised hand. "Seriously, Hermione what?"
"Do you think we should tell them you're the leader?" She asked.
"Dumbledore asked you for a reason, Mate," Ron added.
"Does anyone have any objections to Harry leading us?" Ginny inquired.
Thankfully, no one said yes.
"Alright then, we'll get….." Harry trailed off again when Hermione waved her hand. "What now, Hermione?"
"Shouldn't we have a name for this or are we calling it the Defense Club?" She asked.
"The Defense Club is the official name," James explained. "But I don't see why you couldn't have a second name."
"And it would promote the feeling of team spirit and unity as well," Sirius added.
"Anyone have an idea?" Harry asked.
"I do," Ginny said before anyone could say anything.
"Go on," Harry encouraged.
"What about Dumbledore's Army," She suggested. "Since this was his idea and it would be a way to honor Professor Dumbledore?"
There were murmurs and nods of approval. Harry glanced at Sirius, Remus, and James who nodded approvingly. James approached Harry from behind whispering in his ear.
"I'd listen to her if you want an ounce of peace, Son."
Harry nodded.
"Alright, all in favor of Dumbledore's Army?" Harry asked. "Hermione and Ginny count the votes."
They counted the votes, whispering to each other for a second and then Hermione announced, "That's a majority. The motion passed!"
"Can you fix a piece of parchment?" Harry asked her. "We need to turn in the names for those who joined the club."
"Is this being treated as a regular club?" Susan Bones asked.
"Yes, it is," Remus confirmed. "And if someone else wants to join us, they're more than welcome to come."
Hermione passed around the parchment that had DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY on the top.
"As everyone signs the parchment, pick a partner and we'll get started," Harry called. "Gin, Nigel, come with me for a second."
Ginny and Nigel followed Harry to a corner of the room.
"First, Ginny do you mind if you do a demonstration with me? We're doing the Disarming charm first and…" Harry trailed off.
"Are you afraid I might do it better than you, Potter?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms over her chest, giving Harry a bemused expression.
"No, it's not that at all, Gin, it's I wanted to make sure that you're okay with it," Harry explained.
Ginny thought for just a second before nodding her head. "Let me know when we're going to start."
She walked over to sign the parchment, leaving Nigel and Harry.
"You probably know why I called you over here don't you?" Harry asked.
Nigel nodded. Remus had made a list of students who would need help if they joined the defense club. Nigel's name was at the top.
"You can stay," Harry assured him. "One of us, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, or myself will help you. Professor Lupin has also asked me if I would tutor you if that's okay with you."
"Yes, it would. Thank you," Nigel said.
"You're welcome. Professor Lupin will give you the time and place after your next class," Harry informed him.
When they joined the group, Harry began the first lesson.
"Tonight we'll be going over and practicing the Disarming Charm. The incantation is Expelliarmus, for those who don't know. This charm is a handy, even life-saving spell for removing an object from an enemy's grasp, forcing whatever an opponent is holding to fly out of their hand. If this spell is used in a duel, it can be used to disarm your opponent, hence how it got its name."
A hand shot up and it wasn't Hermione.
"Yes…" Harry trailed off as he couldn't remember the girl's name.
"Myra," She supplied. "Is it a hard spell to learn?"
"For some, it can be," Harry replied. "But nothing a little practice wouldn't fix." Harry realized what he said. "Where have I heard that?"
"Me," Remus said.
"Right," Harry stammered. "Ginny, can you come up here."
As a lot of people knew Harry and Ginny were dating there were whooping and catcalls.
"Now, for when we break into pair to practice keep in mind to have a little distance between you and your opponent. Now, the wand movement is simple." He motioned with his head for Ginny to move over. "A flick of the wrist and….Expelliarmus!"
James, Remus, and Sirius's wands came flying and Harry caught them, making everyone in the room gasp.
"Wow," a few of the younger students said.
"Can you disarm more than one person?" Someone asked.
'If their standing close together," Harry replied, handing Remus back his and James and Sirius's wands.
"Nice job," Remus whispered.
James was still slightly shocked. "I warned you I might use you for demonstrations," he reminded them.
"Alright Ginny, try and disarm me," he directed his girlfriend.
Ginny smirked at her boyfriend. Then with a flick of her wrist, she called out "Expelliarmus!" Harry's wand came flying towards her and she caught it.
There were a few shocked gasps. But Harry smiled with pride.
"Good job, Ginny," He said, accepting his wand back when she handed it to him. Turning to the others he said, "Now that we've seen how the disarming charm is done, break into pairs and try it out yourselves."
It felt very strange to be issuing instructions. If Harry thought that felt strange, it was nothing compared to the strange feeling of seeing the instructions being followed. Everyone got to their feet and divided up. Ginny volunteered to work with Neville.
As there were enough people for only Harry to be left without a partner, he took the opportunity to walk around, assisting when needed.
"You're flourishing your wand too much," Harry directed Neville.
Meanwhile, wands flew in all directions, missed spells hit books on the shelves, sending them flying into the air and cleaned up by Sirius and Remus. James observed his son as he went from one student to another, helping them and giving them advice.
As he approached James, he said, "I think you were right to suggest starting with the basics. I'm seeing a lot of shoddy spellwork, some are not succeeding in Disarming their opponents."
Suddenly, Neville shouted, "Expelliarmus!"
Ginny's wand flew out of her hand, over her head and was caught by Harry as he came over.
"I did it!" Neville said, gleefully. "I can't believe I did it. I've never done that before, but now I've done it."
"Good job, Neville," Harry said encouragingly, as James walked by him, giving him a high five.
Harry moved off to the middle of the room, correcting those who were doing the spell wrong. Ernie Macmillan was flourishing his wand unnecessarily, causing his partner to be unable to get under his guard. Colin and Dennis Creevey were enthusiastic but erratic. They were ones who were the main cause as to why the books kept leaping off the shelves around them. Luna was similarly patchy, occasionally sending Justin Finch-Fletchleys wand to spin out of his hand, other times causing his hair to stand on end.
"Alright, stop," Harry shouted. Then when he couldn't get everyone's attention, he stuck his two fingers in his mouth and whistled.
Everyone lowered their wands.
"That wasn't bad," Harry said. "There's definitely room for improvement." He caught Remus waving at him. When he looked his direction he saw him pointing to his watch. "Almost curfew?" he asked.
Remus nodded.
"Alright, that's it for the night's lesson. We'll pick up where we left off next time. I think we might meet next Wednesday, same time. Quidditch captains, don't worry, we'll schedule them around practice, I swear Angelina I will."
"You better," Angelina said. "The season begins….."
"We know Angie," Fred said, cutting her off.
"Anyone have any questions?" Harry asked. A hand went up. "Yes?"
"How will we know when the next meeting is?" A girl in Hufflepuff robes asked.
"I'll send word by the Prefects if that's alright with you Hermione until we work something else out. If there are no other questions we'll see you next week. Good job everyone."
As everyone left, Ron and Hermione began cleaning up while Ginny helped Remus and Sirius put the supplies up. James approached his son.
"You did a great job. I'm proud of you, my son," James said, feeling a little choked up.
"Thanks, Dad," Harry murmured.
"That was really, really good, Harry," Hermione stated when it was just her, Ginny, Harry, and Ron with James, Sirius, and Remus.
"Yeah, it was," Ron agreed. They followed Remus and Sirius to the door, slipping out and watching as it melted back into stone behind them.
"Good lesson, tonight, Harry," Remus commented. "I think it was a good idea to start with the basics and it's given me an idea of how some of the students are really doing when using the spells and charms we're teaching them in real life."
"And we've seen with some we got a lot of work to do," Sirius added.
"Did you talk to Nigel?" Remus asked Harry as they walked towards the stairs.
"Yeah," Harry replied. "We can discuss that after class."
"Alright." Remus smiled. "I'm proud of you, Cub. You did well."
"Thanks," Harry stammered. Sirius patted his shoulder as he passed.
"See you in the morning, goodnight."
"Night," Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Harry chorused.
"I'll be off too," James said. "I'm going to see if Mum can join us for a lesson and see how well you're doing."
Harry nodded. "Okay. Goodnight, Dad."
"Goodnight, Son." James hugged his son, bid Ron, Hermione, and Ginny goodnight and headed down the stairs in the same direction as Remus and Sirius.
Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione headed towards Gryffindor tower, discussing how well the first meeting went.
"Did you see me disarm Hermione, Harry?" Ron asked, giddy with glee.
"Go ahead and gloat why don't you," Hermione grumbled as she led the way up the steps to the Fat Lady's portrait, telling her the password.
They entered the common room, noticing everyone in the common room were talking about how well the first meeting of Dumbledore's Army went. Ron and Hermione headed to the chairs by the fire, while Ginny pulled Harry to the chairs in the corner.
"I thought it went well, didn't you?" Ginny asked, sitting down in the chair, only to be pulled into Harry's lap.
"I thought so," Harry agreed. "I think we might cover the Disarming charm a few times and then move on. We'll be covering Stunning after we've fully covered the Disarming charm. One thing I do want to teach is the Patronus charm."
"Does Remus know?" Ginny inquired.
"I gave him a rough outline of the lessons, not an exact schedule," Harry explained. "He approved of everything I had written down and added a few himself. He said this had also helped him to see who needs help in doing the basic spell work.
Ginny nodded, leaning her head against his shoulder. They sat quietly, listening to the sounds of the different conversations around the common room.
Harry was happy with how the first meeting went and hoped that Dumbledore's Army continued to do well.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
"You should have seen him, Lily. He was amazing," James said, as he and Lily sat in the bed in Lily's quarters.
"I think I might sit in on a lesson one night," She murmured. "Do you think he's taking on too much?"
James shook his head. "No, he's a smart kid. He knows when he can't handle everything."
"And you made him promise to tell you if it got too much."
James smiled, knowing Harry would keep his promise. He was too noble not to. James also knew his son. While Harry would try to keep his promises, he also wanted to prove everyone wrong, even if it cost him.
"I did," James confirmed. He took off his glasses, setting them on top of the book sitting on the bedside table on James's side of the bedroom. He leaned over to kiss Lily goodnight, something after all these years of marriage he could do with and without glasses. He sighed when Lily's lips, soft and recently dabbed with lip balm, and they kissed.
"Goodnight, Lily," He whispered. "I love you."
"Goodnight, James," She murmured, softly. "I love you too."
They went to sleep, arms wrapped around each other, snuggled as close as they could possibly get.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Harry was slightly confused at the note Nigel had given him that morning from Professor Dumbledore. He had an inkling of what the meeting was about. He figured Professor Dumbledore wanted to know how the first meeting went. Word of the first meeting was still whirling around the stoned corridors, everyone who had attended was still buzzing about how good it went and some gloating how they disarmed their friends.
Walking up the spiral stoned staircase, Harry just hoped that Professor Dumbledore was happy with how things went.
He raised his hand to knock, only for the door to open and the headmaster was standing there.
"Harry, I was wondering when you were going to come," the headmaster said.
"I was held up with Professor Lupin, scheduling a few students who need tutoring," Harry explained.
"That's fine, Harry. I was wondering how the first meeting went," Dumbledore explained.
"It went well," Harry said, telling Professor Dumbledore how things went, adding the comments Remus and Sirius said.
Professor Dumbledore nodded as Harry talked, knowing he would be having the same conversation with Remus, Sirius, and James, also adding to James to repeat everything to the board. A letter came that morning from a concerned board member, questioning why he was having a student teach students, despite James explaining the reason why.
When Harry finished, Dumbledore asked, "Do we have a date for the next meeting?"
"Not yet," Harry answered, "I told everyone that I would let everyone know by the Prefects, telling Hermione and Ron to pass the word to the others to tell everyone. Hermione is going to work on something to spread the word to everyone."
"Good," The headmaster said. "Good."
When Harry left Dumbledore's office, he felt lighter, relieved that everything was going well. He walked down the stairs towards the first floor, the location of Lily's quarters near the hospital wing.
He had reached the portrait hole to Lily's quarters when he heard, "How did the meeting go?"
Harry jumped. His mother laughed.
"Sorry, sweetheart," Lily murmured, hugging him to her side. "I didn't mean to cause you to jump."
"It's okay, Mum," Harry said. "It went good."
Lily nodded, opening the portrait hole. Once inside, Harry told Lily about how the meeting went and about the tutoring schedule Remus came up with. Harry only had two students who needed tutoring: Nigel and a second-year Gryffindor girl. She would have the option to work with Hermione if she chose and depending on how much work needed.
Harry was the master of the defense spells and Hermione was the book work master. Combined together, the students' success in tutoring increased.
"Just remember what your father and I talked about with you. I don't want you to fall behind or to stress yourself out over all of this," Lily said, running her fingers through his hair, which she noticed, needed a cut.
"I will Mum," Harry promised.
Lily smiled at her son, noticing how grown up he looked. She wished time would slow down, it was going too fast. She felt like if she blinked, Harry would be grown and out of the house.
"Alright, don't you have you a class to get to?" She asked.
"Potions," He supplied. "I'll go in a minute. Did I leave my Ancient Runes…" Harry trailed off when Lily pointed to the table. It was sitting where Harry had left it for Lily to check.
"I'm impressed. I also asked Professor Babbling about how you were doing in class and she's scheduled a parent-teacher conference for next week," Lily explained. "She'll meet with you before to see you have any questions."
"Okay," Harry murmured, collecting the papers and putting them in his rucksack.
"And I'm going to give your hair a cut this weekend, it needs it," She added.
"Can we do that on Saturday evening?" Harry asked. "I'm going over the month's lesson plan for the Defense Club with Remus and Sirius on Saturday."
"We can," Lily confirmed. "Now go before you're late."
"I'm going. Bye Mum, love you," Harry said, stopping to kiss Lily on the cheek as he headed out the portrait hole.
"Love you too, have a good day," She called. "Learn something."
When the portrait hole closed, Lily began collecting the paperwork she had left on the table in the kitchen she needed to return to the hospital wing and made a note of the parent-teacher conference with Professor Babbling in her calendar, making a note of some questions she wanted to ask the professor when she met with her, but mostly wanted to know how Harry was doing in class. She was proud that Harry had decided to drop Divination and take Ancient Runes.
The only thing she worried about was if Harry was stretching himself too thin.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
James entered Lily's quarters on Friday evening. He had flooed to Remus and Sirius's shared quarters as he wanted to discuss something with them, an idea for a surprise he was planning for Lily. He had told Lily he had something he needed to talk to Sirius about and would floo to his quarters straight from the office, or that was the story he had come up with as to why he was flooing to Sirius and Remus's quarters instead on hers.
Their wedding anniversary was coming up and James wanted to do something special for Lily. He had decided to take Lily to London for an overnight stay at a hotel they had stayed at once. Remus and Sirius liked the idea and all James needed to do was to get Minerva on board to get Lily time away from the castle.
Upon entering his wife's personal quarters, he found Harry, lying on the couch, surrounded by defense books and parchment paper. James picked one of the parchment papers sitting on the coffee table, noticing Harry was making detailed notes for the spells and charms he planned on using in the Defense Club.
Sirius had told him that Harry was meeting with them tomorrow afternoon to discuss the Defense Club lesson plans for the next month.
James picked up a book, recognizing it from his own collection at the house. Lily must have allowed Harry to floo home to get the books.
"He's asleep," Lily whispered when she came in the sitting room. "Ginny mentioned he had stayed up late last night reading the defense books Remus had given him for his birthday and fell asleep on the couch in the common room. She brought him breakfast since he was running late and when I asked Remus, he barely made it to class in time."
"At least it was last night and not on Monday or Tuesday," James commented.
Lily agreed. "I know this is only one time, but I just hope he doesn't make this a habit."
"He wants to make sure he's doing the best job he can," James said, bending down to take Harry's glasses off. He sat them on the coffee table. "He's afraid of letting people down. Or that's what Sirius said."
Lily picked up the book Harry was still holding, using a piece of parchment to mark Harry's place and closed the book, setting it down on the coffee table with the other books. "I hope he puts this much effort in revising for OWLs."
"We've talked about that, Lily," James reminded her. "We're not pressuring him, remember."
"I know," Lily said, reaching for the blanket on the back of the couch and covered her son. "We'll let him sleep until I have dinner ready and then we'll wake him up."
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Harry stifled a yawn as he sat at one of the tables in the common room. James had told Harry before he left to go back to London Monday morning that the Board of Governors were wanting a report of how the first meeting went. Harry had made an outline of what was covered in the first meeting and what was planned for the next three meetings. He included the progress the students had made which included how Neville had successfully disarmed Ginny, how Colin Creevey had mastered the Impediment Jinx after his third try, and how Parvati Patil had produced such a good Reductor Curse that she had reduced the table carrying all the Sneakoscopes to dust.
It was two in the morning. Harry knew he should be in bed. But, he couldn't sleep with this on his mind. He had already completed the day's homework, dropped off the essays for Lily to read over and picked up the ones he had dropped off to her the night before, seeing he only needed to make a few changed to. Thanks to some spell Hermione showed him, it had helped make the necessary changes and saved Harry from completely rewriting the whole essay. Lastly, he had dropped off the copy of the curriculum for the Defense Club to Sirius and Remus.
"What are you doing up, mate?" Ron asked as he shuffled towards the table Harry was sitting at.
"Couldn't sleep," Harry explained. "The board wants a progress report on the Defense Club by the next meeting. I thought why not get that done before I forget."
Ron nodded. "Want me to tell Professor Williams you're sick so you can sleep in the morning?"
"Sure," Harry murmured. "If Mum asks tell her I have a headache and that I'm sleeping it off."
"Of course, mate. I got your back," Ron said, giving Harry's shoulder a squeeze.
"Thanks, Ron." Harry looked up from his work for a moment. "Can you tell the same thing to Ginny, so she won't worry?" He asked.
Ron nodded. "Sure mate. Goodnight, Harry."
"Goodnight, Ron," Harry murmured, watching him head up to the dorm before returning to his work.
If there was anything Harry wanted to do, it was to prove everyone whoever said it shouldn't be him teaching the students, including the Board of Governors, wrong.
AN: Please feel free to let me know you have anything you like to see in this series either in the review or by private message. Part 3 of If We Didn't Have You should be up soon.