Quidditch Pitch, Hogwarts, 11/5/1995, 12:05
Harry was sitting in the Slytherin section of the quidditch stadium as students slowly began filling the seats around him. He was waiting for students to stop showing up before he could start the meeting. So far, everyone that had shown up were people he knew by face or was acquainted with in one way or another.
"Is this the Harry Potter sex club?" A familiar blonde asked as she took a seat beside him in the stands.
"What?" Harry asked as he looked over at Luna Lovegood in surprise.
"The Harry Potter sex club," Luna said, getting Hannah's attention from her place on Harry's right.
"Who told you that?" Hannah asked looking amused.
"Noone, I just thought the Defence group was a cover so that Harry could sate his animal desires," Luna admitted.
"It really is a defence group," Harry assured her, his face flushing a bit at Luna's words.
"Oh poo, it looks like I should have worn knickers after all," Luna said, pouting cutely as she smoothed down her school skirt.
"You're not wearing knickers?" Harry asked before he could stop himself and was rewarded with an elbow in the ribs from Hannah.
"I'm not and it's quite cool down there," Luna complained as five students in Slytherin robes approached the stands led by Daphne Greengrass.
"Oi, what are they doing here?" Ron protested from the seat behind Harry.
"This is the defence group, isn't it?" Tracey Davis asked, shooting Harry a questioning look.
"It is and you are more than welcome here, Davis," Harry said before Ron could reply.
"Thank you, Potter," Daphne said before she led a girl that Harry believed was her little sister to the seat in the back of the stands.
Besides the Greengrass sisters, there was a tall dark-skinned boy that Harry was pretty sure was named Blaise Zabini and a dark-haired girl named Lily Moon who wereboth walking with Tracy into the stands. The three of them took a seat with a group of Ravenclaws towards the back of the stands getting a suspicious look from Ron as they passed.
"I think that's all of them," Hermione said from her seat behind Harry.
"Alright, let's get this party started," Harry muttered as he stood up and turned to face the students in the rows behind him.
"Thank you all for coming this afternoon," Harry said, getting the attention of everyone seated in the stands.
"Harry wanted to teach me and Ron some basic Defence and duelling and I suggested he should teach you all as well," Hermione said as she too stood up and faced the others
"If you are familiar with Hermione, then you know she wouldn't let up until I agreed," Harry said, earning him quite a few chuckles and a look of annoyance from Hermione.
"So Harry is going to teach us some basic duelling techniques and get you all caught up to O.W.L level on your defensive spells," Hermione added.
"What about us?" Fred asked.
"Yeah, we already took our O.W.L in defence," George nodded.
"I think I know a few N.E.W.T spells and I can help you lot with silent casting," Harry offered.
"That would be useful, I still can't get the hang of nonverbal," Katie Bell exclaimed.
"Same here, George admitted.
"Anyway, today we're just trying to get a count of how many are interested and get you all to sign the contract," Hermione said.
"Contract?" Ernie McMillan asked looking slightly alarmed.
"Yes, a contract. The ministry seems determined to prevent us from learning proper defence. The last thing we need is for the ministry to get wind of this group," Harry explained.
"And what happens if we break this contract?" Daphne asked in a neutral tone.
"It will trigger some rather unpleasant consequences," Hermione replied.
"Everyone will sign the contract rather they agree to the terms or not, otherwise you will be obliviated to protect the rest of us," Harry said bluntly.
"I was so wrong about you, Potter," Daphne said sounding impressed.
"If you don't disclose information about the group you have nothing to worry about. The contract really is for all of our protection," Hermione said in a soothing tone.
"We'll sign," Fred said and got an affirmative nod from his twin.
That seemed to allay a lot of worries, soon the parchment was being passed around as the gathered students took turns signing their names. Hermione had the terms of the contract written underneath the header of the group's name so everyone knew what they were agreeing to
Harry and Hermione were the last to sign and they all watched as Hermione tapped the contract with her wand, causing the contract to flash bright gold. Harry took the contract from Hermione and looked it over for a minute getting a count of how many members they had.
Defence Association Contract of Membership
I swear on my name signed below, that I will not disclose any information about the Defence Association to anyone affiliated with Dolores Jane Umbridge or any other ministry official. I also swear that I will not betray this group or any of its members, its location or what is discussed during the meetings to anyone not on the list below without express permission from the group's leader.
If I violate the terms of this contract, I shall incur the consequences of this contract. I sign this contract with full understanding of what I am agreeing to.
Signed,
Fred Weasley
George Weasley
Lee Jordan
Katie Bell
Alicia Spinnet
Angelina Johnson
Demelza Robins
Romilda Vane
Ginny Weasley
Michael Corner
Colin Creevey
Dennis Creevey
Ron Weasley
Lavender Brown
Parvati Patil
Seamus Finnigan
Dean Thomas
Neville Longbottom
Cho Chang
Marietta Edgecombe
Padma Patil
Su Li
Mandy Brocklehurst
Lisa Turpin
Terry Boot
Anthony Goldstein
Blaise Zanini
Lily Moon
Tracy Davis
Astoria Greengrass
Daphne Greengrass
Zacharias Smith
Ernie Macmillan
Wayne Hopkins
Justin Finch-Fletchley
Megan Jones
Susan Bones
Hannah Abbott
Luna Lovegood
Hermione Granger
Harry Potter
"Excellent, now the first official meeting will be held next Saturday at noon," Harry said after rolling up the contact and passing it back to Hermione.
"We're not having meetings out here are we?" Lavender asked from her place next to Ron.
"No, I have a room we are going to practice in but I wasn't going to disclose its location until I knew our secrets were safe," Harry said as Hermione tucked the contract into her school bag.
"I think that is all for today. Meet us on the seventh floor across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy at one o'clock this coming Saturday," Hermione said in a brisk tone.
"Let's get back inside, it's bloody cold out here," Harry said as a particularly chilly wind blew across the stadium, making the students pull their cloaks tightly around themselves.
"Thought you'd never ask," Ron exclaimed as he pulled Lavender to her feet.
"That was very clever to have everyone sign a contract," Hannah said as he led her out of the stands.
"It never hurts to be cautious," Harry shrugged as Hermione caught them up.
"I think winter's here early," Hermione muttered as they crossed the lawn, noticing that it was starting to snow.
"So how late did the victory party go on last night?" Hannah asked curiously.
"Two o'clock, that's when the fifth-year girl prefect threw a fit and ordered everyone to bed," Harry answered as they approached the front steps of the castle.
"I needed my beauty sleep," Hermione shrugged.
"That was just after she threatened to castrate Cormac McClaggen if he smacked her bum again," Harry continued.
"While I like a good spank as much as the next girl, McClaggen makes my skin crawl" Hermione scowled.
"Well, it was quite amusing to watch him try and get away from you. He tripped over his own feet when you pulled out your wand," Harry beamed.
"Actually, I hit him with a tripping hex. His head was supposed to hit the coffee table but my timing was a bit off," Hermione admitted as they stepped into the entrance hall.
"I know a hex that is good for troublesome boys, it's called the bollocks squeezing hex," Hannah said with an evil grin.
"Personally I think I'd rather experience the cruciatus than have my bollocks squeezed," Harry muttered, shooting Hannah a wary look.
"It's a spell Susan's aunt invented back in her school days," Hannah explained.
"Sounds like dark magic to me. So what do you ladies want to do now?" Harry asked as they began walking up the main staircase.
"I have to read ahead for arithmancy and you two are going to go fool around until dinner," Hermione said as if it were obvious.
"That sounded like an order to me. Catch you later, Hermione," Harry beamed as he pulled Hannah off of the staircase on the second floor leaving Hermione to walk the rest of the way to the library on her own.
"I think she was being sarcastic," Hannah giggled as Harry led her down a deserted corridor.
"I know but it wasn't a bad idea," Harry said as he spun Hannah to face him and gently pressed her against the wall before leaning down and capturing her lips in a kiss.
'Having a girlfriend is amazing," Harry thought when Hannah's tongue slipped into his mouth as she deepened the kiss.
Room of Requirement, Hogwarts, 11/5/1995, 18:34
Harry entered the room of requirement to find Tonks seated on a chair facing an empty chair and tapping her foot impatiently. The two chairs were spaced a couple of feet apart, telling him that today was an occlumency day.
"So how did your meeting go?" Tonks asked curiously as soon as she saw him enter the room.
"I can't say... yet, other than it went pretty good," Harry said as he slipped off his outer robes and took a seat in the chair facing her.
"Whatever. As I am sure you know, today we're going to test your occlumency again. After that, we're going to go through some muggle self-defence techniques," Tonks explained as she pulled her wand from her forearm holster.
"Alright, just try and be gentle this time. You gave me a splitting headache the last time we practised this," Harry sighed as he began to clear his mind.
"Quit your bitching," Tonks smirked before she raised her wand and incanted, "Legilimens!"
Tonks caught Harry a little off guard today, she usually gave him a little warning before she cast the spell on him. Thankfully, he had already cleared his mind and could do so in a few seconds now. He had practised clearing his mind so often in the last few months that he could do it without conscious thought.
Curiously, his vision didn't go black when her spell struck him, unlike all the other times the spell had been cast on him. He could feel her trying to enter his mind and he reinforced that feeling of calm nothingness. He was able to push against her presence and hold her in place, bringing her assault to a stop. They both sat there two feet apart, staring into each other's eyes as Tonks tried her best to push past his mental defences.
"That is really good," Tonks praised through gritted teeth before she began pushing much harder, trying her best to enter his mind.
Harry could feel the pressure in his temples as her mental presence pushed into his with tremendous force. Harry began concentrating on only one thing, keeping her out of his mind. Harry grit his teeth in determination as he used every ounce of his willpower to push back against her mental presence.
They were stuck in a sort of mental shoving contest for what seemed like hours, neither one of them gaining much ground as they were locked in a stalemate.
"Come o-on Potter, push me out," Tonks gritted out, sweat pouring down her flushed face.
Harry gave a great heave, sending pain radiating through his forehead and pushing as hard as he could, catching Tonks by surprise. Tonks tried her best to push against this new force but Harry refused to let up.
"Get out of my head!" Harry growled, before giving one more powerful mental shove.
Tonks was forcefully thrown out of his mind, snapping their mental connection and relieving the pressure on them both.
Tonks slumped back into her chair, she was panting heavily as she tried desperately to catch her breath. Her face was flushed with sweat running down her forehead. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, looking as if she had just sprinted a mile.
"T-that w-was very good! A f-few more lessons like that and I won't be able to teach you anymore on occlumency," Tonks panted out, giving him a look of approval.
Harry was in a similar state as she was and was slumped back in his chair, his face covered in a thick sheen of sweat and his hair sticking to his forehead. Harry's head had started to pound in rhythm with his rapidly beating heart, a side-effect of the mental battle he had just fought... and won.
"I've b-been reading through that book you gave me. I actually started sorting through my memories," Harry confessed as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
"I may get mum to give you some pointers over break," Tonks offered.
"Is she any good?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Very, she learned occlumency from a very young age and is considered a master in the mind arts," Tonks assured him as she stood from her chair, the chair quickly dissolving into thin air.
"That would be great, I can't seem to get the outer barriers of my mental protections to take form," Harry admitted as he watched her close her eyes in concentration.
As Tonks closed her eyes, the room began to reform around them blurring in colour as it took on a new shape. Now the walls were a bright white colour, reflecting the light from the line of chandeliers overhead. The floor was covered in a thick blue foam mat and looked like something you would see in a muggle wrestling gym.
"I'll ask her to give you a few pointers. In the meantime, let's get started on the hand-to-hand combat training," Tonks said as she stowed her wand in her holster and shucked off her outer robes.
Harry was surprised to see that Tonkd was wearing a pair of skin-tight athletic black shorts and a tight-fitting tank top that stopped halfway down her midriff, showing off her flat stomach. She was dressed like she usually was during their morning PT.
Harry thought she looked a bit odd wearing combat boots with that attire but she soon kicked off her heavy boots before toeing off her ankle socks. Tonks left her clothes lying on the floor and walked towards the centre of the room, the mat sinking under her bare feet with every step she took. She came to a stop inside a white circle painted on the floor in the centre of the room and turned to face him.
With a wave of her wand, Harry's tee shirt and jeans were transfigured to resemble his usual workout clothes. He was now wearing baggy knee-length green athletic shorts and a black form-fitting tank top.
"Take off your shoes, we're going full contact for this," Tonks instructed as she began going through basic stretches.
Harry complied, kicking off his trainers and socks before he approached her inside the ten-foot circle, noticing the mat felt quite soft under his feet, yet it didn't interfere with his balance at all.
Once he joined her inside the circle, Harry decided it would be a good idea to stretch as well He began going through the same routine he usually went through before his morning run. After a few minutes, Tonks came to stand about three feet in front of him signalling that she was ready to start.
"We will be starting with one of the most basic manoeuvres to take an opponent down, the leg sweep followed by a simple pin," Tonks explained as she got into a fighting stance.
"Okay," Harry said, feeling a little nervous.
Harry barely had time to process what she was doing as she moved slightly to his right before she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his neck shifting his body weight to his right leg. At the same time, she brought her right leg behind him and kicked his calf with the heel of her foot. Using her body weight, Tonks took him to the ground as soon as she swept his leg out from under him. Tonks was still on top of him when they landed on the mat and she shifted her body slightly so her left arm was gripping his right arm and her hand gripped his elbow in a vice grip. Tonks' weight was concentrated on his right side, she had wedged her side in between his right arm and his armpit so that her body weight was pinning his shoulder to the mat. At the same time, her hip was pressing painfully into his lower ribs and her right arm was still wrapped around his head. Her right hand gripped his shirt and pulled the fabric tightly against his throat, cutting off his air supply.
Harry tried to roll to his left but she shifted a bit so her legs were spread wide and the sides of her feet were planted into the mat. She then used her legs to increase the downward pressure on his right shoulder making it impossible for him to move. Harry looked up at her and felt his breath hitch, he had never seen that look in her eyes before. He was also hyper-aware of her face inches from his own, the smell of her perfume filling his nostrils, and the feel of her breasts pressing into his chest.
"We will be practising these two moves tonight, the standing leg sweep and the scarf hold pin," Tonks said as she continued to pin him to the mat.
"This is really starting to hurt my ribs," Harry muttered as he tried to wiggle away from her with no success.
"I know, you're much larger than me so I am taking your size and strength out of the equation. The discomfort only makes things better for me. If I were interested, I could strangle you with your own shirt," Tonks explained, her breath ghosting across his lips.
"O-oh," Harry stammered out as his heart rate started to speed up a bit.
"This move is simply meant to restrain someone but it does have one weakness, can you figure it out?" Tonks asked, seeming to enjoy having him pinned to the mat underneath her.
"If I h-had a weapon in my left hand I could strike you in the back," Harry muttered, very aware of her chest pressing into his.
"Correct," Tonks agreed as she released the hold and got to her feet, a smirk playing on her lips.
"So why show me this if it has such a weakness?" Harry asked distractedly as he got up as well, his eyes lingering on her legs a bit longer than was necessary.
"Because I will be teaching you a technique to disarm an opponent later on but you should always be mindful of this weakness," Tonks explained as Harry stood in front of her again.
"Well start with the leg sweep and don't be gentle with me," Tonks warned.
"Alright," Harry said, a touch of hesitance in his voice.
"I did this in the academy, I'll be fine," Tonks assured him.
Something about the look she was giving him told Harry that she would make him suffer if he came at her with kid gloves. Stepping forward he tried to replicate what she had done earlier only for her to stop him.
"You're moving too slow, the trick to this is to take your opponent by surprise," Tonks corrected.
'This is harder than she made it look,' Harry thought as he got back in position to try again.
Harry rather enjoyed the lesson tonight, he was able to get the hang of the two techniques pretty quickly and got faster the more he practised. There was also the fact that Harry got to be in very close contact with Tonks every time he practised the pinning technique on her.
He felt a little guilty about how much he enjoyed being so close to Tonks and even more so that he kept having this urge to lean forward and capture her lips in a kiss. Harry had to keep telling himself that this was just training but the way Tonks' eyes met his every time he pinned her to the mat, had him second-guessing himself.
There was also the fact that he had to try and hide his body's natural reaction to being so close to a very attractive woman, the thin athletic shorts didn't do him any favours there.
The time seemed to fly by as Harry practised both moves over and over again. He was quickly getting in the habit of transitioning from the leg sweep to the pin in one fluid motion, almost like a dance move.
They were interrupted shortly after Harry pinned Tonks to the mat for the dozenth time that evening. They both heard the sound of a door opening from the other side of the room and turned to see Hannah step into the room. She had a look of confusion on her face at seeing her boyfriend on top of the pink-haired auror.
"Are you two snogging or something?" Hannah asked with a touch of amusement in her voice.
"We're practising muggle fighting techniques," Harry explained as he quickly got to his feet and offered Tonks his hand
"What are you doing here, Abbott?" Tonks asked, looking a bit put out.
"It's ten minutes til curfew and I have patrol tonight so I thought I would see to it that Harry makes it to his dorm," Hannah shrugged as Harry pulled Tonks to her feet.
"In that case, we'll call it a day, Potter," Tonks said as she flicked her wand at him.
Harry's transfigured workout clothes changed back to the tee shirt and jeans he was wearing earlier this evening.
"Thanks, but you don't have to rush off, Tonks," Harry said as he watched her slip on her socks and then step into her boots.
"Nah, I'll leave you lovebirds to it," Tonks said as she pulled on her outer robes over her workout clothes.
"Alright, I'll see you in the morning," Harry said as Hannah came up beside him and hugged his right arm to her chest while leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Sure we might integrate this into morning PT training," Tonks nodded, shooting Hannah a look of annoyance.
"Okay," Harry said a bit confused as to why Tonks was so annoyed with his girlfriend.
"Good night," Tonks said before sweeping out of the room.
"Good night, Tonks," Harry said before Tonks stepped out of the room and the door slammed shut behind her.
"I don't think she likes me very much," Hannah said thoughtfully.
"Why do you say that?" Harry asked, though he already knew Tonks didn't care much for Hannah.
"The way she glares at me," Hannah shrugged as she slid off her outer robes.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Harry said as he leaned down, placing a soft kiss on her lips
"You smell," Hannah giggled when they pulled apart.
"I can take a shower if you like," Harry offered as an open door appeared in the wall, revealing a full bathroom with a walk-in shower beyond the doorway.
"No, I kind of like the smell," Hannah whispered before pulling him into another deep kiss.
Harry was surprised when Hannah shoved him and he fell backwards onto a bed that wasn't there a few seconds ago. Hannah crawled over him so she was straddling his waist and leaned down to kiss him while grinding her crotch into his.
"Don't get too excited, Harry. I am not ready to go all the way just yet," Hannah whispered after she broke the kiss.
"W-whatever you want to d-do," Harry got out before she started kissing his neck and gyrating her hips again making him audibly groan.
The night passed in a blur for the two teens, both of them exploring and testing the water. They didn't go all the way but things did get pretty hot before Hannah's wand buzzed signalling she had to meet with the seventh-year prefect in ten minutes.
"I have to run and meet with Alicia," You had better get back to your common room," Hannah said before giving him one last kiss and getting off of him.
"You're evil," Harry muttered as he felt an ache in his lower region from all of her teasing.
"I am not, I'm a good girl. If you're having nasty thoughts about me, then take a hot soapy shower," Hannah suggested as she did up the buttons on her blouse.
"I was planning on it," Harry muttered as he got up and zipped up his jeans.
"If it helps, imagine you're soaping me up in that shower," Hannah said in an amused tone.
"When can we do that for real?" Harry asked hopefully as he retrieved his trainers.
"I don't know, maybe after Christmas," Hannah teased as she straightened her blouse.
"After Christmas," Harry muttered as he slipped on his socks and trainers.
"If you're good," Hannah giggled.
"I-I'm always good," Harry said dreamily, as the mental image of soaping Hannah up in the shower came to mind.
"I really do have to run. I'll meet you at your table for breakfast. Otherwise, we'll have to deal with Bones and all her nonsense," Hannah promised before giving him one last peck on the lips and darting out of the room, leaving Harry staring after her.
Harry stood there for a moment trying to clear his head before he began pulling on his outer robes.
After he had gathered his schoolbag, Harry crept out of the room into the deserted hallway.
Harry began going over what had happened tonight in his head as he made his way back to the common room. The fact that he could keep Tonks out of his mind was a great achievement as far as his occlumency was concerned. He still hadn't figured out a way to raise shields over his mind and had to resort to using his magic and willpower to push her out but it was still an achievement. He knew he had a long way to go and he wouldn't have a hope of keeping Voldemort out of his mind at the moment, but this was the first step towards mastering this branch of magic.
On the upside, now he knew enough about occlumency that he could cast nonverbal spells without broadcasting what spell he was using to a legilimencer. Harry suspected this was the main reason Dumbledore wanted him to learn the basics of occlumency, to begin with.
The muggle fighting techniques were something else he hadn't even considered. Muggle fighting could be very useful as an element of surprise in case he was ever disarmed or captured. If he could catch his enemies off guard, he could use these muggle methods to overpower his enemy and get himself a wand. He would definitely be paying attention in their future lessons. Fighting without a wand was not something most wizards could do very well, especially purebloods, so that could definitely be an advantage.
Harry walked all the way to the portrait hole lost in his thoughts as they wandered from his training to his conflicting thoughts about his instructor. Harry gave the Fat Lady the password and clambered through the portrait hole, intent on getting a hot shower before he turned in for the night. His arms and his right side were starting to feel sore from the repetitive training and he hoped the hot water could loosen up the tension in his muscles.
His plans were scrapped as soon as he entered the common room to find Hermione waiting for him and looking annoyed. She was the only one in the room and was dressed in her pajamas, she looked up as soon as he entered the room and gestured for him to come and take a seat.
"About time you got back," Hermione muttered irritably
"I got hung up a bit, what's up?" Harry asked as he took a seat in the chair across from her.
"I think that I have found a way for our group to communicate without drawing attention but I will need your help," Hermione said sounding like she had been dying to tell him this news.
"Alright, let's hear it?" Harry said, his curiosity peaked.
Harry listened as she pitched her plan and he couldn't help but be impressed with the simplicity of her idea. If they could master the spells required then the group could stay in contact right under the ministry's nose.
"Well, what do you think?" Hermione asked as she finished explaining her idea.
"It's brilliant, we can start working on mastering the spell tomorrow after I get back from my training," Harry promised.
"As long as you get back at a decent hour," Hermione huffed.
"I'll be back before curfew, Malfoy is on patrol tomorrow night," Harry pointed out.
"And he would love to throw you in detention," Hermione nodded.
"Exactly. Now, we have classes tomorrow and I really need to get a shower," Harry said as he got up.
"Alright, I'll see you at breakfast," Hermione agreed.
"Good night Hermione," Harry said before heading for the stairs.
Harry quickly made his way to the boy's dorm, feeling quite pleased with what he had accomplished that day. After grabbing his pajamas, Harry stepped into the bathroom and stripped out of his sweaty clothes.
'Now if I could just get Hannah to join me for that shower,' Harry thought longingly as he turned on the water and started washing away the aches of the day.
Room of Requirement, Hogwarts, 11/11/1995, 13:00
The door to the room of requirements closed and locked itself as the last person on the list arrived. Nobody not even Harry noticed the distorted outline of someone under a disillusionment charm in the corner near the door. The Defence Association had already picked up a spy of sorts, though luckily this person meant the group no ill will and was merely here to observe.
Tonight the room resembled the defence against the dark arts classroom crossed with a large duelling chamber. There were rows of cushions on the floor instead of desks as well as large shelves filled with defence texts that Hermione had gravitated towards as soon as he had shown her the room.
The duelling section of the room was heavily padded on the walls and floor so students wouldn't end up hurting themselves. The walls were a soft white while the floor was covered in a large padded blue mat like the one he and Tonks used in their hand-to-hand combat training
Both sections of the room were brightly lit thanks to the seven large crystal chandeliers casting the room in orange light. Each chandelier looked like it held at least a hundred candles.
The floor of the classroom was carpeted in plush cream-coloured carpet and the walls were panelled in a honey-coloured wood making the room feel light and airy. There were large arched windows on the west side of the room letting in the winter sunlight and casting the room in even more light.
In front of the rows of cushions was a small raised platform which was where Harry and Hermione were currently standing while they waited for everyone to arrive. Seeing the Greengrass sisters enter the room, Harry decided it was time to get started and gave Hermione the nod
"Alright, everyone please take a seat so we can get started," Hermione said in her usually bossy tone, gesturing to the eight rows of cushions on the floor in front of her.
It took a few minutes for everyone to take a seat but eventually everyone but Harry and Hermione were seated cross-legged on the floor watching them expectantly.
"Okay, before we get started on the actual defence part of this meeting, we have to cross some t's," Hermione said to the room at large.
"Like what?" Ron asked in confusion from his place in the front row.
"First off, we have to elect a leader of this group," Hermione said as if it were obvious.
"Why?" Zacharias Smith asked somewhat rudely.
"Did you not read the contract before you signed it?" Ernie McMillan exclaimed.
"Yeah, of course I read it," Smith said in annoyance.
"Then you saw that we can't disclose anything about the group without the express permission of the group leader," Ernie said slowly as if speaking to a child.
"So?" Zacharias huffed still not understanding where this was going.
"So how could we bring in new members if nobody can talk about the group, we need a leader to give us permission to do that, idiot," Daphne said somewhat impatiently.
"Oh," Smith said dumbly, shooting his housemate a dirty look.
"Exactly, we need a leader so we can bring in new members and disclose information about this group when necessary. So does anyone care to make a nomination?" Hermione asked before glancing at Harry hopefully.
"Ido, I nominate Hermione Granger to be our group leader," Harry said matter-of-factly.
"What!? You're the one that is going to be teaching these sessions," Hermione protested, looking a bit alarmed at the thought of leading the group.
"I am teaching the group but I think you should run it. Dumbledore is the leader of Hogwarts and he doesn't teach, he runs the school. Hermione, you can be our Dumbledore," Harry said grandly.
"I agree, though Hermione's way better looking than Dumbledore," George said, getting many nods of agreement from the males in the room.
"Agreed, though she would still look smashing with a long white beard," Fred added getting a few sniggers from the other students.
"Alright stick a sock in it, you twits," Ginny exclaimed, shooting her brothers a look of annoyance.
"I was serious in nominating Hermione, she is much better at organizing things than I am," Harry told the room at large.
"Alright, then all for Hermione as group leader?" Ginny called out.
Harry beamed as every hand was raised including his own making it unanimous.
"We now have a leader of the Defence Association, Hermione of Granger," Harry called out and received a round of applause from the rest of the group.
"Well since the leader business is sorted out, I might as well get to the second order of business," Hermione said as she pulled out a basket filled with galleons from her bag and cast a spell so the basket hovered in the air in front of her.
"Are we starting a treasury?" Terry Boot asked curiously.
"They're not real, Harry and I enchanted them with a protean charm so we can communicate with each other at not make it so obvious," Hermione explained.
"Where the date of manufacture is stamped on the coin, we enchanted the numbers to change reflecting the time and date of the next meeting," Harry explained.
"When a new date is added, the coin will get warm so you know a new meeting has been set," Hermione continued.
"That's N.E.W.T level charms," Terry Boot muttered, looking very impressed
"She is our Dumbledore, What did you expect," Harry pointed out.
"You helped me enchant them, what does that make you?" Hermione huffed, shooting Harry a look of annoyance
"Flitwick... on stilts," Harry suggested.
"Whatever, please take a coin and keep it on you at all times," Hermione said as she levitated the basket so everyone could take one.
"On to the final order of business. Is everyone happy with the name Defence Association?" Hermione asked shooting Harry a look of amusement.
"Fine with me," Harry shrugged and soon got murmurs of assent from the rest of the group.
"Good then I will pass things over to Harry," Hermione said before stepping aside.
"First things first, Hermione has a notebook for all of the O.W.L students," Harry said as he looked over at Hermione who nodded before pulling out a stack of composition notebooks from her school bag.
Harry waved his wand and used a spell to hover the stack towards his classmates, as the stack passed by fifth-year students, a notebook levitated off of the main stack and landed in their laps.
"Inside those notebooks are the spells, theory, and casting diagrams for every spell covered in the defence against the dark arts O.W.L. Hermione worked her ass off putting those together, so you had better bloody use them," Harry instructed, getting a thankful smile from Hermione.
"It looks like she still has a pretty nice ass to me," Seamus muttered only to jump when Ron punched him in the shoulder.
"This is awesome," Michael Corner exclaimed as he flipped through the notebook.
"Thank you, it's actually a copy of my own study guide," Hermione answered, her cheeks still pink from Seamus's comment.
"We are going to be starting at the beginning since some of our members are in the lower years but feel free to study and practice those spells on your own time. If you are having trouble, we will be covering them throughout the year," Harry continued.
"I am working on the N.E.W.T study guide but from what I gather, a lot of the exam is focused on theory and nonverbal casting," Hermione admitted before she took a seat next to Terry Boot in the front row.
"The first spell we are covering is the disarming charm, expelliarmus. I know the spell is simple, but it can be dead useful," Harry explained, glad to have finally gotten the formalities over with.
"We already know that spell," Smith muttered.
"Not all of us do, Dennis and Astoria are starting their second year and Umbridge hasn't taught anyone anything this year, so I doubt they learned it in class," Harry pointed out.
"Fair point, I never had much luck with that spell," Neville admitted.
"I'm sure you're not the only one," Hermione said consolingly.
"If you already know the spell then I want you to practice your accuracy with it. Just because you can cast a spell doesn't mean you can hit anything with it. We've used up enough of our time already, so I want everybody to pair off with someone," Harry instructed, he was a bit surprised when the other students quickly did as he asked.
"The younger Miss Greengrass, could you please pair up with the younger Mr Creevey?" Harry asked catching them before they could pair with their siblings.
"Then who am I going to work with?" Daphne asked, looking at him expectantly.
Harry noticed that Tracey and Blaise had already paired off and it looked like Lily Moon had already gone to work with Su Li so Daphne would have to work with a student from another house. Finally, he found a student without a partner and grinned, knowing Neville would owe him one for this.
"I believe Neville could use a partner," Harry said matter of factly.
"He'll do," Daphne said approvingly after a moment.
Harry waited until Daphne went to stand next to a blushing Neville Longbottom before he addressed the room again.
"Good, now that you are all paired off, I want everyone to face their partners and take turns casting the disarming Charm. As Smith said, you already know the spell."
"While the rest of you are practising, I am going to work with Dennis and Astoria and get them up to speed. If you have any questions let me know... or you can ask Hermione, she knows just about everything," Harry said, ignoring the glare Hermione shot his way.
"Dennis, Miss Greengrass," Harry said as he led the two second-years away from the rest of the group.
"Y-you can just call me Astoria," The second-year Slytherin stammered.
"I didn't want to presume, Astoria. Are either of you familiar with the disarming spell?" Harry asked.
"No," Dennis answered.
"Daffy taught me the spell last year," Astoria admitted.
"Excellent, you can help Dennis get the hang of this," Harry said with an encouraging smile, causing Astoria's cheeks to flush pink.
"The disarming charm is fairly simple, you give your wand a downward flick while saying the incantation and swirl counterclockwise stopping on your point of aim," Harry explained.
"What's the incantation?" Dennis asked curiously.
"Expelliarmus," Astoria answered.
"Exactly, now it's important not to overpower the spell or it can hurl your opponent across the room. Though in a fight that could be useful," Harry said as he thought about the time he and his friends hurled Snape into the wall of the shrieking shack.
"So if we overpower it, we can hurt our opponent?" Dennis asked warily.
"Yes, but the walls and floor of this room are heavily padded," Harry assured him.
"So should we give the spell a try?" Astoria asked nervously.
"Yeah, let Dennis go first though," Harry instructed as both of his students drew their wands from their robe pockets.
Harry watched as Dennis clumsily went through the wand motions and was mildly surprised when a red beam of light shot out of his wand, though the spell missed Astoria entirely and knocked a few books off of the bookshelf.
"Not bad for a first attempt," Harry said as he drew his wand and slowly went through the wand motions before saying, "expelliarmus".
Dennis's wand flew out of his hand and Harry caught it in his offhand before tossing it back to the younger boy.
When you cast the spell and make the counterclockwise turn, where ever the point of your wand stops is where the spell will hit," Harry explained patiently.
"Can I try?" Astoria asked softly.
"Yes, it's your turn," Harry nodded encouragingly.
"Expelliarmus," Astoria incanted as she waved her wand.
Harry watched as Astoria cast the spell, her wand motions very precise, Harry beamed when Dennis' wand shot out of his hand and landed on the floor at her feet.
"Very well done, if I could I would give you ten points for that," Harry beamed.
Little did Harry know that at that precise moment, ten emeralds were added to the Slytherin hourglass courtesy of their invisible observer.
"I think I will leave you two to practice, I'll be back to check on you in a bit," Harry promised as he began moving back towards the main group.
From what he observed, all of the others were moderately proficient with the spell, though their accuracy left something to be desired.
As he started helping his peers correct their aim, he was already coming up with the curriculum for their next meeting, accuracy.