Kindred Spirits

by Tailkinker

This is a work of fan fiction based on the Harry Potter series and the Sailor Moon franchise created respectively by J.K. Rowling and Naoko Takeuchi. The characters and settings belong to their respective owners and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered as part of the official canon of either series.

Defiance in the Shadows

"Will you look at this?" said Hermione in disgust.

Posted on the bulletin board was a notice:

Educational Decree #24

By Order of the High Inquisitioner, all student organizations, societies, groups, clubs and teams are henceforth disbanded. Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitioner.

An organization, society, group, club or team is defined as any regular meeting between three or more students.

"Someone must have dobbed us in," remarked Harry.

Hermione shook her head. "If they had, you'd have already been pinched by Umbridge. Besides, I put some rather...strict...protections on the contract. If someone dobbed us in, we'll know who it was."

"So what do we do?" asked Ron.

"We carry on," said Harry grimly. "But now we need a way to pass secret messages even more urgently."

"I've got them ready," said Hermione. She held up a stack of parchment. "Each club member gets one of these." She pointed to the top right-hand corner of the stack. "Note the green ink-stain here. That's to ensure people remember not to use this piece for actual notes."

"So what do they do?" asked Harry.

"Simple." Hermione pulled an identical sheet from her own bookbag, along with a quill and ink-pot. She quickly scribbled 'Umbridge is a clown!' on her parchment.

The top sheet of parchment immediately displayed the same words, in the same handwriting. Harry quickly looked through the stack, confirming that each page had changed to match. His eyebrows rose. "Most impressive."

"They're charmed to resist water and tearing," said Hermione. "Unfortunately, that means regular ink won't stick to them." She pointed her wand at the top parchment. "Mischief managed."

The parchments blanked themselves.

Harry grinned. "Nice touch, using the incantation from the Map."

"I had to use the same incantation," admitted Hermione. "It's how Professor Lupin crafted the original charm, after all." She frowned. "So we just have to get one of these to each person in the club. Since they're scattered across all four Houses and four different years, that might be difficult."

"Of course it isn't," said Ron. "You're forgetting something that you two have, that no other student at Hogwarts has." He grinned at their blank expressions. "You two have your own personal House Elves."

"I'm glad that you all were able to find the place," said Harry. He glanced around the Come and Go Room, currently configured as a Japanese-style training room. Hotaru had asked to be the one to open the room, and had created this environment.

"Once the door is closed," he continued, "it cannot be opened from the outside. Dobby or Winky will check to make sure the corridor is clear before we leave. And we'll leave in ones or twos," he added. "A sudden surge of students from this corridor is bound to attract some attention."

"This is the spot, isn't it?" Fred was looking around the Come and Go Room. "The one we told you about two years ago, that we couldn't find again."

"I expect it is," agreed Harry. "So. I've been considering, and I think we should start with—"

"Wait," said Ginny loudly. "There's something else we need to do first." She looked around the room. "We need a name for the group."

"I figured just calling it the Defence Club was enough," said Harry.

"It's not really just about learning Defence anymore," said Ginny. "The Ministry has set this Umbridge woman on us, and she's trying to destroy the school. Just to get rid of Dumbledore."

"She's afraid that Dumbledore is training a secret army," agreed Hermione. "That he's going to try to take over the Ministry."

"An army that could overcome Fudge's army of Heliopaths," added Luna.

Harry considered asking what a Heliopath was, but decided that the answer was likely to be more confusing than the question. "So what do you suggest?"

"Let's make ourselves exactly what they're afraid of," said Ginny. "Let's call ourselves Dumbledore's Army."

Harry considered that, then glanced over at Hotaru. He grinned, and turned back to Ginny.

"Not quite," he said. "We're not just lashing out against the Ministry. In Japan, there's a group of witches who fight for justice. They call themselves senshi, which means soldier. I suggest we honour them, and call ourselves Dumbledore's Soldiers."

"She hasn't given permission to the Gryffindor team to re-form," raged Angelina. "We can't even hold practice until she does, and our first game is in less than three weeks! Every other team has been given permission. Why not us?"

"Because I'm on the team," said Harry. He set down his fork. "I'll resign. Then you'll get your permission."

"And how well are we going to do against Slytherin without a Seeker?" asked Katie.

"Get Ginny Weasley," suggested Harry. "She's got the right size and build for a Seeker. I know she's an excellent Chaser, but she should do well as a Seeker as well. Just don't recruit her until Umbridge gives permission to re-form."

"I've got to have try-outs for a new Keeper," mused Angelina. "Might as well open the competition for Seeker as well."

"Whoever gets it, they can borrow my Firebolt," added Harry. "But be sure not to mention that until you get permission, either!"

"All right," said Angelina. She stood up, and loudly said, "I'll accept your resignation, Mr Potter. You'll be missed." Her words echoed around the Great Hall, causing murmurs to spring up. Harry noted the catty grin on the Toad's face, and suppressed a smirk.

Let her think she's gotten one in on me, he thought.

"Mighty noble of you," observed Ron. "I just hope it doesn't wreck our chances at the Cup."

"We have more important concerns," said Harry.

"You and I do," admitted Ron as he picked up his tea. "But Angelina's hoping to get picked up by the Harpies when she graduates. She'll have a lot better chance of that if she brings the Quidditch Cup home."

"Then she'll need the best Keeper she can find as well," said Harry. He grinned. "You ought to try out."

Ron almost inhaled his tea in shock. "Me?"

"You're a lot better than you know," said Harry. "Pick-up games at the Burrow, you never miss a Quaffle."

"That's at home," objected Ron.

"Mate, that's against your brothers—two of whom are Beaters on the Gryffindor team," Harry reminded him. "Plus, that one time we played with Bill and Charlie, after the World Cup. I know Bill's no slouch, but you've said Charlie could have played for England. And you still never let a shot past."

Ron considered this, then nodded. "Yeah. I suppose...nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?"

"The Disarming Jinx?" Ernie MacMillan sneered. "That's second-year stuff!"

"And who was teaching in your second year?" asked Harry.

Ernie now looked rather uncomfortable. Unless Gilderoy Lockhart was a lot less useless when teaching Hufflepuffs, which Harry doubted, then they clearly hadn't learned that jinx at all.

"Besides," he continued. "The majority of witches and wizards can't cast wandlessly. Take away their wand, and they can't fight at all."

"Plus, it's on the OWLs," added Hermione.

"Yes, thank you." He grinned at Hermione. "However, the Disarming Jinx has one rather large weakness. It's fairly slow to cast. Five syllables in the incantation, and the wand motion is rather complex—a half-twirl, twist, jab and flick combination that isn't terribly natural. Because it's so slow, it's easy to defend against. The solution is to cast it as quickly and as accurately as possible. So once everybody's mastered it, we're going to move to speed-casting it."

He glanced around the room, and his eyes settled on Neville Longbottom, who looked as lost and frightened as ever.

"Nev. Come up here, will you?"

Neville pointed at himself, as though confirming that Harry had said his name, then walked to the front of the dojo.

"And Draco."

Draco grinned, and stalked to the front. He turned to face Neville, his wand held high.

"All right, Neville. You've seen the wand motions, yeah?"

Neville nodded.

"Let's see, then."

Neville went through the motions of the spell, and Harry nodded.

"Good. But make the flick a bit stronger when you cast. The harder you flick, the better the chance to disarm your foe. But remember that it's a flick, not a pull."

"Got it," said Neville, though he sounded uncertain.

"Draco, you're just a target right now. Got it?"

"Understood," said Draco.

"Go ahead and cast, Neville."

"Expelliarmus!" Neville mis-timed the flick, but Draco's wand still slipped from his grasp and tumbled to the floor. Neville and Draco looked equally surprised at his success.

"Not bad," said Harry, a hint of pride in his voice. He couldn't help but recall the days when he was the student learning these spells, and now, he was the one teaching them. "Your wand looks old. Much older than five years."

"It was my father's," admitted Neville. "Gran thought I should use it."

Harry shook his head. "The wand chooses the wizard, Nev. That was the first thing Ollivander ever said to me. Next Hogsmeade weekend, we're getting you a new wand. But for now, I want you to work on the timing of the wand motions."

As he stepped back, a sense of fulfillment washed over Harry. He realized that he felt right in this role—like he'd been meant to teach.

I guess Hotaru was right after all, he mused, a warm smile on his face. I should have expected that; she usually is.