CHAPTER 12: How To Win Friends & Influence Gryffindors (Part 5)

Hogwarts Grounds

September 30th, 1995

8:55 a.m.

Harry felt his body slightly shiver as the group of Slytherins, led by Professor Snape - who was sporting the nastiest scowl he had ever seen adorn his face - marched down the entrance hall in a single file line. Light snow slowly fell from the sky, gradually covering the ground, rooftops, and carriages that were in its path, as well as the two figures that were currently waiting for them in front of the numerous horseless carriages.

The first figure, a short, purple-clad woman with a beaming smile, whiter than the snow itself, stood beside the tall, lanky man with squinted eyes and a revolted expression as he stared at the incoming group - holding a board with four pieces of parchment.

They were the first of the four groups to arrive, as they took the place to the far left of the open space. Due to one of the myriad of mandates from the High Inquisitor, not a single word had been uttered in the way, nor was anything said as their Head of House formed them in ten rows of seven people each. His glare promised many nights of scrubbing cauldrons and cleaning floors if they dared to even blink before he walked away from them and took a spot besides Professor Umbridge and Argus Filch.

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long for the rest of the groups to arrive. Professor Flitwick waddled behind them a mere minute after they had been waiting, Professor McGonagall following two minutes later with Professor Sprout trailing behind her. Each Head of House quietly arranged all the students into position - the Ravenclaws taking their place beside the Slytherins, the Hufflepuffs to their right, and the Gryffindors at the other far end - before they too joined Professor Snape in the front.

None of the teachers looked particularly happy, McGonagall's expression screamed disapproval, while Flitwick and Sprout were more sullen than usual, being the two most cheerful Professors in the whole castle, barring Dumbledore. Not a single Professor seemed to like Umbridge, which was probably the first time in which all the students and staff agreed on a subject of this magnitude. Though McGonagall had been the only one to express her displeasure with all the changes Umbridge had made in the past five days - only for her to be shut down by the High Inquisitor, and after a (not so) secret meeting with Dumbledore, she grudgingly complied with all of Umbridge's demands.

The sound of the chilling wind was the only thing heard in what seemed to be all of Scotland as the High Inquisitor looked at all the students before her. Her twisted smile grew with every second as the entire student body was forced to wait for her to begin - and Harry easily spotted over seventeen students from various houses fidget under her gaze.

After about a minute, the professor raised a hand to her mouth and dramatically cleared her throat.

"Hello children," she addressed them in her squeaky voice, pacing around in a predatory fashion. "Today will be your first Hogsmeade trip of the school year. In the previous years, there were only four trips per school period to the historic town of Hogsmeade, something the Ministry has come to consider an extreme waste of potential from the Headmaster's part. There is no better way to experience and fully integrate into Wizarding culture than to fully experience it in all its glory, and with such a worldwide renowned, all-wizarding village like Hogsmeade so nearby to Hogwarts, it should be taken advantage of to its fullest potential. For this reason, I am proud to introduce Educational Decree Number One Hundred and Seventeen, which states that every weekend, students shall be granted permission to visit the village on the days of Saturday and Sunday."

Umbridge stopped her monologue and looked expectantly at the students. "You may clap," she informed them after a period of silence, creating a series of awkward clapping from less than a third of the student population.

"Now," she said, as if noticing that some students were beginning to feel any sort of elation. "There is one notable rule that must be followed for students to be granted permission. Firstly, any student that is caught breaking one of the Educational Decrees will not be allowed to access the village until their detention has been fully served with me. However, I will allow for an exception to all the students currently being disciplined by me, since I had not announced this earlier in the week. As of now, everyone will be allowed to go to the Hogsmeade village so long as they have their guardian's permission, but from this moment on, anyone caught breaking any rules will have their Hogsmeade privileges been revoked. This includes every single Educational Decree, whether it's a simple breakage of the uniform or a more serious crime like smuggling any banned products into the castle or having any public displays of affection while inside the grounds of the school - there will be no exceptions."

And there it was, Harry thought to himself. It all seemed too good to be true.

"Mister Filch will start collecting your permission slips," as she said this, the caretaker of Hogwarts strolled towards the Slytherins and began collecting the slips from the third-years in front. "After this, you'll be allowed into a carriage in groups of five and ride towards Hogsmeade. You are expected to ride the carriage back with the same group of people at exactly six in the afternoon. I will take this time to remind you that any student late will be breaking Educational Decree Number Thirty-Seven, so I'd recommend all of you to make sure to be in time." She giggled.

Umbridge began talking more about the wonders of Hogsmeade and how it would be a waste to miss out on all the opportunities it brings, but Harry began to tune it out as he waited for Filch to finish with the fourth-years and reach him.

He'd been impatiently waiting for this day to arrive ever since he finally convinced Granger to allow him into their secret group. Not because he was so excited to learn about just how right he was at how bad of a teacher Longbottom would be, though seeing him fail would definitely add a little flavouring to the cake. But because he needed to start working on a way to get Umbridge out before she gained any more power. While she didn't yet have the ability to expel a student or anything as drastic as that, the way she had vociferously been taking most of Dumbledore's power without the Headmaster seeming to care, and turning the school into her twisted image of how Hogwarts should be run.

Harry handed in his permission slip, one he'd managed to procure with a bit of blackmail and a bit of threats to the Dursleys, before he stepped into the carriage that had parked the nearest to them. The moment he stepped in, he forced himself not to laugh as he spotted Greengrass and Malfoy already inside.

"Well," Harry grinned as he took his place beside Daphne. "Isn't this awkward?"

Pansy and Theo quickly followed inside, the former actually laughed at their new predicament, while the latter waved awkwardly as the rest of them. The door was abruptly closed behind them, and after two loud knocks on the door, the carriage began moving. Pansy pulled Theo down by force - Daphne and Draco glared at the three of them, while Harry stretched his arms and gave a content sigh.

The other Slytherins didn't seem to take Theo and Pansy's defection very well. Sure, Blaise still hung out with Theo a big portion of his day, with Malfoy joining them from time to time, and Pansy was her same old loner self, disappearing throughout the day and keeping to herself. But there was a certain tension, it made the air heavier, and you could almost feel it clashing against your skin. A quick, irritable look during class, an extended silence that filled the dormitory, or even just a hostile aura as they walked the halls.

This was no clearer than with Greengrass. The others masked their anger fairly well, it was something that was unofficially practised at Slytherin house. Even people who absolutely hated each other and had even fought before usually made small talk or even worked together at times. Even in their year group, Harry's anger towards his classmates and vice versa never stopped them from collaborating when they had to - they didn't like it, but they did it. It was just the smart thing to do, business and personal just didn't seem to mix with the Slytherins.

Greengrass had always been a master at this and had always practised it, until now. She didn't bother hiding her anger at him anymore, from just looking at her face you could see her dripping desire to tear him to shreds in the most vile way possible. Not that Harry cared much about it, Daphne wasn't even a threat to him, though adding a bit of security to his bed and possessions didn't hurt anyone. Her loathing of him also seemed to spill at Pansy and Theo, though to a lesser extent - but it was clear she didn't approve their choice of siding with him.

It wasn't a mystery to him why she was like this, the threat towards his sister, while mostly empty, had made things personal with Greengrass. He'd known it was stupid when he made it, but at this point he couldn't really care less about it. Did he regret it? Absolutely fucking not. But it wasn't a smart decision. He'd gone straight for the heart, and Harry wouldn't be surprised if Greengrass wasn't watching over her sister even closer now.

Draco had also sided with her, surprising no one in all of Magical Britain. He was spending pretty much all of his time with Daphne, and Harry could sometimes even make out a bit of drool sliding down his chin as he gazed at her. It was honestly a bit pathetic, but his respect for Draco had plummeted recently. It seemed that the more time you spent with people, the less impressive they seem, and that was not truer to anyone than Malfoy.

With the house year-group divided like it hadn't been since their first year, all the Slytherins knew that the following weeks would be critical for someone to finally take leadership of the group. Draco had previously taken that title when they first arrived, though no one acknowledge it, and it had bounced between Daphne, Theo, and sometimes even Pansy as the years went on, but it had never been defined. In other houses, the leader of the year group was clear as day and had been since the first year, though it didn't seem to matter as much in them.

Longbottom was the clear leader of the Gryffindors, and Harry would even grudgingly admit the leader of the year, even when he was an outcast of the school like he was at the moment. There was no better example than still being able to gather a whole crowd of people to meet at the Hog's Head during their first Hogsmeade trip of the year, even though he is the most hated individual in the castle, besides Umbridge. But Neville rarely used his status to actually gain anything, and Harry even doubted that Neville knew how much people looked up to him.

Padma Patil was the smartest Ravenclaw of the year, and the clear leader of her house. Her study group was the most popular in the entire year, and even some Slytherins like Theo, Blaise, Draco, and Daphne tried to get into it. Patil, unlike Longbottom, actually knew of her status and used it to gain favours from other people in exchange for help or a spot in her study group. He'd even heard that Draco and Daphne each owed her a favour for allowing them into the study group last year before the final exams. Harry had never actually talked to Padma, but he couldn't deny he admired her intelligence and cunning.

On the Hufflepuff group, Susan Bones was the clear leader. Hufflepuffs were very… tame, they were too nice in Harry's opinion. Now, nice didn't mean they were pushovers, as Longbottom found out last year when the Hufflepuffs went against him for allegedly stealing Diggory's thunder. They were the most united house of the four, and the leader, while given a certain power over the others, was also expected to take care of the pack. They were the most… healthy of the four houses, in terms of the group family concept that McGonagall explain to them the night they arrived at the castle. Which only made Harry more suspicious of them than of any other house.

It was only the Slytherins that hadn't found a true leader of their group yet, but with this cold civil war between them, that would no longer be the case when it came to its end.

The ride seemed to take two and a half of Binns' classes, and not a single word was spoken, but Harry never stopped smiling.

In the previous years, Harry had mostly refused to go to Hogsmeade, except for one or two times per school period. He had never seen the point of going, he rarely spoke to people, and the few times he did were always inside a classroom. Unless he wanted to buy some sweets from Honeydukes, add some more of Zonko's products to his inventory of prank items needed in case of some plots and schemes he might have, or buy the odd thing from any other shop, he rathered spend his free days in the castle.

So Harry had been pleasantly surprised at how breezy his day at Hogsmeade with Theo and Pansy had been.

The village was extraordinarily beautiful, something he'd always admired about it. Harry had been a fan of wizarding architecture since he was introduced to the world, the ageless feeling of it gave it character, and Hogsmeade was no exception. The village was composed by countless tall brick houses - all of them built with slight creaks and oddities that exuded ethos - their roof covered in snow and the smell of burning wood made Harry feel as if he had been transported into a Christmas film. The snow-filled road was packed with people laughing and talking, and a thick feeling in the air of pure magic made the village seem to be something that exists in a pocket outside the normal world.

There was a certain feeling of comfort to the village, the same way Harry imagined a childhood home or old playground to have. He could feel a sense of nostalgia for the village, even though he had barely stepped foot in it.

The three of them first visited Honeydukes and each bought a load of sweets, however just small enough quantities for them to finish them before their return to Hogwarts so that they wouldn't break Educational Decree Number Eighty-Nine. After that, he went on a quick trip to Zonko's with Theo while Pansy bought some quills from Scrivenshaft.

Theo was the most talkative of the three of them, and Harry even wondered at times if he could talk by himself for days on end. He rambled about everything that came to his mind; his excitement over the new Quidditch season, how Umbridge was spoiling his chances with Ginny Weasley, his desire for there to be another Yule Ball, he even teased the two of them about getting a reservation for Madam Puddifoot's for the next Valentine's Day - eliciting a glare from Harry and a not-so-friendly shove from Pansy.

He didn't talk much during the whole time with them, only saying the few odd comments sporadically to remind the two of them he was still conscious and not sleep-walking. Pansy talked more than him but was still relatively quiet - at least compared to Theo.

At first, Harry thought that he would get annoyed with all the talking from his fellow Slytherin - he had always preferred the silence to having to make small talk with other people. But with Theo, it just felt natural. The boy just had a way to make you laugh at the most stupid comments, someone with less personality would have made him roll his eyes and maybe even jinx him slightly, but Theo just had this presence to him that made it work. Even Pansy stopped glaring at him every once in a while before she remembered she was supposed to be angry at the world.

After idly walking around the old village with no purpose, admiring, the three of them finished their day in The Three Broomsticks with a couple of butterbeers each as they ragged on Umbridge for what felt like the hundred time that day. And when Hermione discreetly entered the pub and made eye-contact with him, Harry couldn't help but feel a pit in his chest as he was forced to leave his two new allies.

"I have to go," he told them in a hushed voice. "I'll tell you how it went."

"Don't do anything stupid," Pansy told him seriously. "And remember, play nice."

"Yes, ma'am." He said with a mock salute, earning a rolling of eyes from Pansy. "Got any other advice for me, captain?"

"Not that I can think of," Theo replied.

"Oh, don't forget to use… you know." Pansy said before he could leave.

"Do I look like someone who'd forget?" He stood from the table. "I studied it all night."

After the two of them wished him luck, Harry made his way towards the Gryffindor girl who was waiting for him near the entrance to the pub.

"Where's dumb and dumber?"

"Don't call them that," Hermione rebuked lightly, grabbing his arm and pulling the two of them out of the establishment. "Put your hood on," she ordered. "Neville and Ron are waiting in the Hog's Head and welcoming the ones that are coming."

"Oh, that's bound to go well," Harry said chipperly. "With how much the students hate Longbottom and how aggressive he has become in the past month, I'm sure we might get there right before the Hog's Head bursts into flames."

"Alright," Hermione bit out, before pulling him into an alley and pressing him against a wall.

Harry laughed. "If this is foreplay, then I'm all in."

"Quiet," she snapped. "You promised you'd play nice, and I'm going to make sure you do. Ground rules, you don't insult any of my friends, you don't make a scene to make them look bad, you know what - you don't even get to look at them."

"But then how will I be able to show my support when Longbottom gives his heart-wrenching speech?" He asked innocently, but Hermione ignored him.

"I'm taking a chance with you, Potter, don't make me regret it."

"Fine," Harry raised his hands in the air. "You win, can we please just go before an actual fight starts. I promise, if we reach the pub in time, I might consider helping your friends."

Granger glared up at him before letting him go. "Come on."

"I do have a question, though," Harry told her once they were back on their way.

"I'm sure you do."

"How exactly are you planning on making our little meetings with how tight Umbridge is making security at the school. I mean, she's forcing all of us to be escorted by a prefect or teacher, it'll be impossible to gather like fifty people inside the Room of Requirement if we can barely stray away from our respective houses."

"Don't worry, I'm on it," Hermione told him confidently. "All you have to do is make sure the room opens for us, and we're good."

"But-"

"Potter," she turned to him. "I got this, if I need your help, I'll ask."

"And I'm the rude one," he muttered to himself, and Granger shook her head in front of him.

When the two of them reached the Hog's Head, Harry opened the door for Hermione to step inside before he took a good look at the building.

The Hog's Head was how The Three Broomsticks would look like in three-hundred years if no one bothered to use the simplest cleaning spell in the place. The scent of tobacco and liquor was the first thing that hit him as he entered the large pub, but it was nothing compared to how the place actually looked. Layers of dust covered every surface, and the ceiling was adorned by numerous cobwebs housing small spiders. The bartender was an old, tall man with a dirty white beard that reached his stomach and who seemed like he hadn't showered in various weeks. The three other adults in the building looked like the posters the teacher's in the muggle world showed kids of what happened to people who didn't pay attention in school.

"Lovely place, Granger," Harry told her with a gentle pat on her arm. "You sure know how to pick them."

"Shut up."

"Where are the others?"

"We rented a private room," she said as she led him through the pub, and Harry was suddenly glad he had his hood on when everyone turned to look at them.

Hermione was just about to open the door when Harry stopped her by pulling her back slightly.

"What?" She asked, annoyed.

"Who's in there?"

"A lot of people, do you want me to list them all?" She asked sarcastically.

"No, just… let me stay behind you and see who's there. I want to make sure that no one inside would sell us out to Umbridge."

"They won't," Hermione said vehemently. "Besides, they're going to sign the same contract you will, they won't be able to betray us."

"We both know there are always loopholes in contracts, Granger," Harry insisted. "But if someone in there has family with ties to Umbridge, I want to know, so we can kick them out."

"We're not kicking anyone out!" Hermione hissed. "Do you have any idea how bad that would look?"

"Pretty bad, I know. But I rather you look bad than all of us being betrayed and put on Umbridge's hit list. I'm doing my best to get out of it, and I won't risk it. So either you let me check, and you kick anyone suspicious out, or I walk."

"Even if we kick them out, if someone's going to tell Umbridge everything, the meeting doesn't even need to start. We're screwed either way."

"Fuck," Harry muttered. They were already screwed, he should've gotten involved before they even picked out who to invite. But if they didn't kick out the bad roots now, they'd be even more fucked. "Alright, I have an idea. Just follow my lead."

He followed Hermione as she entered the room, quickly making his way into the shadows, so he could observe everyone unperturbed. There were a lot of people, more than he expected. The whole Gryffindor Quidditch team was there, as well as almost everyone from our year. There were various upper years and even younger years. In total, there were over fifty people crammed inside a small room, their murmurs too loud to actually hear anything. As he analysed all the students, he found three targets.

"Psst!" Harry signalled at Hermione to come towards him, making the other two boys to stare at him suspiciously. "Marietta Edgecombe, Cormac McLaggen, and Lisa Turpin. Those three, their families either work for Umbridge or they owe her a few favours. The rest are clear."

"And how do you know?" She challenged.

"I have friends at the Ministry, I made some calls."

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" Granger hissed.

"Just, find a way to leave the room, I'll take care of them."

Before Hermione could complain, Harry quickly left the room and stood waiting, hidden from view. After a couple of minutes, the door opened and the three of them stepped outside, followed by a hesitant Hermione. Faster than any of the four, Harry cast three silent stunning charms that easily hit their targets, though due to the low power he'd applied, they merely fell over rather than being violently thrown around.

"What did you do!?" Hermione exclaimed at him, but he ignored her. He shut the door using his wand before adding a silencing charm to it, making sure to incantate all his spells loudly.

"Saving our arses," he told her as he knelt down and cast over ten confundus charms at each of them. The thing about this charm was that it was cumulative, the more confundus charms you were hit by, the harder it would hit you. Harry didn't doubt that they'd forget what happened in the past three days, and they for sure would end up in the infirmary, but he didn't particularly care about it.

"We'll deal with them after the meeting," Harry told Hermione. "We'll fill them up with so much alcohol that the teachers will just think they got drunk and were being stupid teenagers."

"This was not part of the deal!" She almost shrieked. "This is extremely irresponsible, and don't even start with how illegal and immoral this was! What in the world were you thinking!?"

"I was thinking that any of these three could snitch to Umbridge and get us expelled, Granger." Harry snapped back. "Umbridge isn't playing around and neither am I. And if it had been one of your precious boys that did this, you'd be cheering them for their quick wit - so don't give me that look. I did what I had to, and the three of you will thank me later, I promise."

"But-"

"Look, do you still want my help or should I just return to The Three Broomsticks?"

Hermione opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water for a couple of moments before she sighed. "Just, tell me next time before you do something as stupid as that."

"Cross my heart…" Harry rolled his eyes and stepped past Hermione, entering the room and taking his hood for the first time. This immediately caught Neville's appearance, who launched at him instantly, but Harry had seen this coming.

"Immobilus!" He whispered, freezing the Gryffindor and catching him before he could make a mess.

"Harry!" Hermione hissed.

"Calm down," he told her, motioning her to stop Weasley before whispering in Neville's ear. "Don't make a scene if you don't want me to kick your arse. I'm here to help, whether you want it or not, Hermione will explain. But be warned, you ever try to sucker punch me again, I won't give a damn if I put you to shame and make everyone side with Umbridge, I will take you down."

Harry propped Neville against the wall, sticking his feet to the ground so that he wouldn't fall, and noticing Hermione before he made his way to the back of the room with the others, where he could see Hermione arguing with both Neville and Ron, his smile broadening when she shut them both down.

Longbottom took a second to scowl at him before he addressed the group.

"Everyone!" He shouted, a bit meekly in Harry's opinion. "Everyone!"

"Hey!" Ginny Weasley shouted, silencing the whole place up.

"Umm, thanks." Neville said. "Alright, everyone…" He trailed off, looking at Hermione for help.

Granger looked back at Longbottom helplessly, and after a few seconds of staring at each other, she stood up from her chair, a loud creaking sound filled the room as she did.

"Sorry," she muttered an apology, glaring at Neville one more time before clearing her throat and standing up straighter. "We're here, well, we all know why we're here…"

"Because Umbridge sucks?" someone shouted from the back, earning a quick cheer from almost everyone.

"I mean… yeah, but also. We need a teacher, a proper teacher, one that has experience in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Umbridge isn't really teaching us anything, and we need to learn this… now more than ever."

"Why?" A blond Hufflepuff asked, standing up. "Why now?"

"Well, this should be fun," Harry whispered to himself, wishing he had brought his butterbeer.

"Why?" Weasley mocked. "Because You-Know-Who's back, you tosser."

"Says he."

"Says Dumbledore," Hermione rebuked.

"And Dumbledore also says a ton of wacky shit every time he speaks, sorry if I don't take him seriously."

"Dumbledore is a great wizard," Neville defended with a raging passion. "If he says Voldemort's back -" The whole room gasped except for Neville and Harry. "Then you should believe him. Far more than a minister who hasn't done a thing right."

"You expect us to just believe your word and Dumbledore's?" The boy asked with hostility.

"Shut up, Smith!" Ginny snapped at him.

"Why!? I mean-" He gave a helpless laugh. "I'm not asking for much! I just want some sort of proof that someone came back from the dead. You can't really expect us to buy something that has been denounced as impossible, even to wizards!"

"What more proof do you want!?" Neville bellowed. "Isn't Cedric' body enough!"

Hermione immediately grabbed his hand and tried to calm him down. The group of students watched as Longbottom visibly relaxed before slumping his shoulders.

"If you want me to talk about Cedric, I'm not going to, so you might as well just leave now." He turned to Hermione. "I told you this would be a waste of time"

"Look," Harry said quickly, standing up to gain everyone's attention before Neville could abruptly end the meeting. What he didn't expect was how everyone would look at him once he began speaking. "We're going off-topic. Whether you believe Voldemort - oh, shut it, if he's dead then you shouldn't be afraid to say his name, and if he isn't then you shouldn't be claiming he is! Whether you believe he came back to life is irrelevant, the truth is, Cedric Diggory died last year, and Neville over here got kidnapped and tortured - those are facts that even the Ministry stands by! We all saw Cedric, we all saw how talented a wizard he was, and he still couldn't beat whoever killed him. With Sirius Black escaping two years ago and now this, no one can say that the Wizarding World isn't becoming more dangerous, and we need to learn how to defend ourselves. Umbridge isn't teaching shit, we're more likely to get killed with what she's teaching than with what we learned in Lockhart's stupid books! And even if you don't think that, there's OWLs you have to pass and won't be able to if you don't study from outside Umbridge's curriculum, because the OWLs have a worldwide standard that Umbridge has no power over. And even if you don't care… well, then consider this a fuck you to Umbridge - surely we can all sympathize with that! Personally, that's why I'm here."

There were a few chuckles from the crowd, which Harry was thankful for since he was shit at speaking in public. He looked over and saw Hermione giving him a grateful glance, while Ron and Neville had maintained their scowls throughout his whole gambit. Everyone turned to Longbottom expectantly, and Harry prayed to all the Gods he knew so that the idiot didn't fuck it up.

"Ummm…"

Fucking perfect.

"As Harry said," Hermione stepped in. "This is something we need, even if it's just to spite Umbridge. What she's doing, she's stripping Hogwarts of everything that made it special, she's abusing her power and even torturing other students!"

Harry ignored the itch in his right hand as Hermione grabbed Neville's, showing them his scars. I must not tell lies.

"This is what Umbridge is doing! And not just to Neville, but to everyone! Your friends, your family, the people we've grown to call our family while at Hogwarts! And if she's doing this now, imagine once she becomes more and more powerful!"

"But if Umbridge finds out," Macmillan interrupted. "If she finds out, then we're all screwed."

"And if we do nothing, we're also screwed. I'm not saying this isn't risky, but I'm - we're - taking as many precautions as possible to make sure that each and every one one of you is safe. I won't blame you if you don't want to join, or if you're scared, I'm scared too. But I know that if we don't do anything, a lot of people will pay the price for it, and I'm not willing to let that happen."

"You're talking about creating a resistance against Umbridge by starting a study group," Roger Davis pointed out. "Somehow, I don't think that will change how much power Umbridge gains or how ruthless she becomes."

"The blaze of resistance begins with a single spark when someone has finally had enough." Harry said quietly, but everyone managed to hear him.

"This isn't just a Defence Against the Dark Arts study group," Hermione stepped in again. "That's a big part of it, but it isn't what it's about. This group is a way to stand against the people who want to oppress us - together, and making sure no one has to go at it alone. Because no one should."

A silence filled the room and Hermione took her seat once again. The sound of wood creaking outside sounded so clearly as everyone waited for something to happen. And just as Harry was about to give up hope, Susan Bones stood up and walked towards the trio.

"Where do I sign up?"

And the spark of a revolution was ignited.

A slightly longer chapter to make up for Monday's chapter.

Hopefully you liked this chapter, and it didn't get too corny in the end. I didn't want a repeat of the canon conversation, so I made my own (though with an obvious inspiration of canon at the beginning). Maybe it was a bit corny, I can't tell, it's like 4AM, I'm dying of sleepiness, and if I didn't post this today, I wouldn't have had time until like next Wednesday.

I want to thank all of you for continuing reading my fic, favouriting/kudos-ing it, and commenting on it!