Chapter 59

New Powers

Note from J.M. Jackson: Sorry to everyone for not updating last week, Christmas Prep really is a nightmare! Merry Christmas to all of you. Another year gone, and I think some of us will be glad for that. Because I missed updating last week, I'm updating with two chapters this week. Both Mystic Dodo and I are so thankful for all of you, our readers and supporters. You have made writing this story feel so good, and without you, it wouldn't have gone this far, so thank you.

Angelina, now the Gryffindor Quidditch team Captain, had arranged for try outs for the day after Lily's detention, not wanting to make Lily miss the try outs. Ron, on Wood's advice last year, tried out, and made the team as Keeper, having outflown everyone, including McLaggen, who looked angry at the fact he had lost to Ron.

There had been articles in the prophet about a member of the Order of the Phoenix being arrested for something related to the Ministry, which Lily knew had to be because of White. The more Lily read in the Prophet, the more convinced she was that White had to be working for Voldemort.

What made things worse for Lily and the others was how Umbridge was now monitoring several classes, apparently grading the teachers and looking for faults. She knew Aunt Minnie would pass any test, because of how amazing she was, and Lily was right. The one teacher that Lily heard was in trouble was Professor Trelawny, who taught Divination. From what Lily had been told by Hermione, she was glad she hadn't taken Divination.

No, the worst lessons for anyone were, by far, Defence Against the Dark Arts, which were now all about copying from the textbook that they had been assigned. Lily did her best to stay quiet, but several lessons included Umbridge baiting Lily. Unfortunately, Lily did rise to the bait, and as such, spent several more evenings in detention with Umbridge.

After each session, Lily would soak her hand in the Murtlap solution, thanks to Hermione. Even Fred and George were interested in Hermione's solution, although they refused to say why.

By the time Lily, Ron, and Hermione had managed to round up enough people for Dumbledore's Army, and by extension, the Order of the Dragon, Lily was more than ready to start an army against Umbridge. As she sat in the Room of Requirement with Ginny, whilst Ron and Hermione were testing the defences to ensure they couldn't be intruded upon, Lily leant back on the chair and looked at Ginny.

"And the headaches don't last for long?" Ginny asked.

"No, thankfully. It feels like… well, like when Uncle Sirius was testing our Occlumency, but not as intense. Even then, it's just… I dunno, it's easier to block it out," Lily replied.

"You think Voldemort is trying to read your mind? Using the connection?" Ginny asked.

"Maybe, but if this is as difficult as it is, then I'm not concerned. I mean, I know Uncle Sirius said Voldemort was powerful, but I think the connection weakens it, so he can't do much about it," Lily surmised.

"I want you to tell me the second it gets any worse," Ginny said. "I think we should let Ron and Hermione in now, we've managed to keep them out long enough."

Lily nodded in agreement and concentrated on the door. Moments later, a door appeared, with Ron and Hermione entering the room.

"Looks like the defences work," Hermione smiled at the two of them. "We've got the group arriving in about thirty minutes, so we should start getting everything ready."

It didn't take long to prepare for the group's arrival, and by the time everyone was in the room, Lily was feeling much more anxious about what was going to happen. She stepped up to the front of the crowd, who were sitting on various stools and chairs.

"T… thank you for coming here. I know we covered some things last year, but this year, we have a lot to go over. The first thing is… is Umbridge. If… if she finds out about this, we could all be in trouble, and I don't want any of you to go into this without knowing that. She isn't afraid to hurt us to get what she wants. If… if anyone wants to leave, they can," Lily started. She looked out at the group, none of whom were moving.

"Come on Lily, we're waiting," Fred teased.

"We're not worried about that old hag," George added, eliciting a round of laughs from everyone. Lily smiled, the joke helping Lily feel a little more relaxed.

"Okay, so I want us to start with Shield Charms again. Right now, we need to make sure that we can perfect them," Lily said.

"No offence Lily, but why?" Dean Thomas asked. Lily nodded.

"A fair question. There's a saying in the muggle world that Uncle Sirius told me. It goes; I fear not the man who practises ten thousand kicks once, but the man who practises one kick ten thousand times. The stronger we are, the better," Lily replied. Everyone in the room seemed to agree, smiling at her.

"Okay, so let's all pair up," Hermione said. It wasn't long before everyone was in pairs, with Hermione pairing with Ron and Lavender as there were an odd number of students in the room. Lily had paired up with Ginny, of course.

As Ginny threw up her shield, Lily threw a Jelly legs curse at her. It bounced off the shield, and in retaliation, Ginny shot a curse at Lily, who, instead of creating her shield, leapt out of the way of the curse.

"That was quick!" Lily exclaimed.

"That was the point. So, using dodging as well?" Ginny asked, ignoring the looks from the group. The room had grown larger, giving Lily and Ginny room to move. Lily threw another curse to Ginny, who dodged it, and threw a curse at Lily. She leapt up, and without realising, she was able to stay in the air for two seconds, just hovering, before landing.

The whole of the group were watching Ginny and Lily as Ginny threw another curse towards Lily, who, this time, managed to erect a shield charm, as well as jumping to the left, and firing a curse at Ginny, who deflected it with a curse of her own.

Neither Lily or Ginny was aware that they were now the centre of attention as they continued to leap out of the way of each other's curses and shields, until finally Lily and Ginny were both on the floor, panting and gasping for breath. As Lily looked up, seeing the shocked faces of the group, she then realised what had happened.

"Okay… so… that…" Lily panted, but Hermione cut them off.

"Was incredible," Hermione gasped.

"Yeah, when do we learn to do that?" Neville asked, looking at the two of them as they got up, with Lavender and Parvati helping them.

"I… I didn't even think about that," Lily commented.

"You mean the fact that you were floating in the air for two seconds?" Ron asked.

"I was?" Lily asked. Hermione nodded.

"Right… well, for now… let's get back to shield charms," Lily said. The group, understanding Lily's wish to rest, went back to their groups, letting Lily and Ginny rest.

"This is like when you were in the lake, and you managed to create that stun wave," Hermione commented.

"How did you even do that?" Ron asked. "Do you think it's because of the two of you being together?"

Lily immediately knew what Ron was hinting at; Dumbledore had told them both that their relationship was forming a bond between them, something they had told Ron and Hermione about as soon as they had been told.

"It might be. I mean, when I'm with Ginny, I feel stronger, like…" Lily started.

"Like you can do anything you need to do?" Ginny asked. Lily nodded.

"You too?"

"Yeah," Ginny confirmed, smiling. "It's… maybe we should try more things together?"

"Alright, we can work on that later. Right now, let's test the shield charms," Lily said. She walked around the room, watching everyone casting their charms, and giving pointers. When she was happy that everyone had managed to make decent shields, she blew a whistle and called the group back together.

"Okay, so you've all made amazing progress with the shield charm. The next spell I want you to work on is going to be a difficult one, but it's important, especially since we know Voldemort has, in the past, used Dementors. The Patronus Charm is a simple incantation, but it needs a lot of power behind it, and a lot of happiness," Lily explained.

"Is it true you can cast a corporeal Patronus?" Susan Bones asked. "A lot of adults struggle with the spell."

Lily answered by casting her spell, with her Doe coming out of her wand, and galloping around the room, with some of the younger students clearly entranced by it. As it faded, the entire room cheered.

"I learnt the spell in the third year. Now, every Patronus is different, and unique to the caster. Normally, I wouldn't try teaching you yet, but I think it might be important. Before I do, however, we want to explain more about what we're going to be doing with the group," Lily said.

"All of you know that Voldemort is back," Ginny began, "and facing him is going to be difficult. That's not for us to do, of course. Dumbledore is handling that."

"He leads the Order of the Phoenix, a group dedicated to fighting You-Know-Who," Hermione continued. "And only adults can join them."

"But we're in a position to help. We think, and this isn't something we can say for certain, but we think that the new Minister is a Death Eater, and it's possible that Umbridge is as well," Lily continued.

"Why did Dumbledore let her work here then?" one of the students asked.

"It wasn't his choice; the Minister of Magic passed a law so that he could put Umbridge here. She was, previously, the Minister's aide," Lily explained.

"Which means we can't trust her," Fred replied.

"As if we didn't already know that," George added.

"So, we have two intentions for the group. Obviously, Umbridge doesn't want us learning to defend ourselves properly, so we'll be learning new skills here. I might not know everything, but we'll do what we can together. It won't be all spells, some will be about potions, and other methods of defence. However, we'll also be learning other things, like spells for cooking and actually cooking with muggle methods," Lily explained.

"The reason for that is we need to have these skills more in the real world, and also so we have a cover if anyone finds out what we're doing, so if Umbridge finds us, we'll be able to show her that we're doing things like baking cakes and making things, nothing that the ministry could consider dangerous," Hermione explained.

Lily heard the group muttering, but a few moments later, everyone agreed with what they had in mind.

"Here, we're known as Dumbledore's Army, but when any of you are ready, we'll be moving up to a new group, the Order of the Dragon. When you leave the school, you'll move up to the Order of the Phoenix, if you want to," Lily hoped her speech would be well received, having spent so much time working on it.

"There is one thing I want this group to stand for though. Something that I learnt is that Voldemort will want to try and tear us all apart. When we're together, we're stronger, so we have to be united, no matter what. We're not just students, we're friends, and we need to stick together," Lily looked at everyone, who returned her look with a smile.

"Just remember, we're all here together," Hermione added. Lily felt the warmth of joy through the room, knowing that they were united. She didn't know how long they would be together, but she just hoped they would last.


As the next few sessions went past quickly, Lily felt that the group was coming together nicely, although they were struck with a harsh realisation when a new Educational Decree was posted, which banned any groups that weren't authorised by Umbridge. Lily, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron all knew somehow, Umbridge had found out about the group. They didn't know how, but they'd find out.

Unfortunately, it also meant the Quidditch teams needed permission to reform, and although the Slytherin team was given immediate permission to play, the other teams weren't. It was only when Dumbledore intervened that the teams were allowed to reform.

"We need to know how she found out. Could she have a spy?" Ron asked as they sat together in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"No, if she did then she'd know where we were, what we were doing, and she'd come down harder than banning groups," Hermione countered.

"Maybe she just figured we were doing something by luck? I mean, she could have seen several of us together and just managed to figure out we were doing something, but not knowing what?" Lily asked.

"It's possible," Hermione replied, sighing. "We do need to be a lot more careful."

"How can we start letting everyone know about meetings without making anything look suspicious?" Ron asked. Hermione smiled and showed a bag full of Galleons.

"I came up with these. Obviously, they're fake, but when I change the numbers on the edge of mine, they all change, so we can use them to let the others know when each meeting is," Hermione explained.

"That's bloody brilliant," Ron complimented her. "You really are incredible at what you do."

"Thanks, Ron," Hermione blushed at the compliment.

"Alright, so we'll get these handed out to the DA. Now we've got that sorted, we need to find a way to make sure we can still play Quidditch," Lily saw Angelina smiling as she approached them.

"No need. We got permission, as did all the teams. I think Professor McGonagall went to Professor Dumbledore about it," Angelina said. "Lily, you need to be careful. I know you hate her, and with good reason, but Umbridge is going to be looking for any excuse to get you off the team."

"She's right about that," Hermione agreed. "The question is, how do we prepare for whatever it is Umbridge is planning?"

"There's also another problem," Lily spoke softly as she looked at the ground. "I… I'm kinda struggling with my… well, with my emotions. Every time I see Umbridge, I want to just launch at her and curse her with everything I have."

"Because of the potions. Is it worse than last year?" Angelina asked softly, holding Lily's hand. Lily nodded.

"A lot worse," she agreed.

"Why though? Umbridge isn't messing with the potion, is she?" Ron asked, concerned. He got his answer in the form of a slap to the back of the head from Ginny, who had arrived moments earlier.

"Don't be stupid, Ron," Ginny replied. "You can't understand this, but it's happening because the potion is working properly."

"Okay, I'm confused," Ron frowned as he rubbed the back of his head. Angelina simply chuckled.

"Ron, you're a guy, and you don't have the same issues we women do. Our bodies are different, and our hormones can change quickly, especially during certain times of the month. Lily might not have all the right parts yet, but her hormone levels are going to be all over the place," Angelina explained.

"Oh. I never knew that," Ron replied, looking suitable apologetic.

"Not your fault, Ron. You never needed to know because you'll never go through it," Lily replied.

"But I want to know. Hermione, can you and Lavender teach me? I know I won't go through it, but you don't need to deal with it alone," Ron said. Hermione, Lily, Ginny, and Angelina, all rewarded him with a look of affection and a smile.

"That's probably one of the sweetest things any guy could ever say," Angelina commented. Ron simply blushed at the compliment.

As Hermione handed Angelina and Ginny their coins for the DA, Lily looked at her friends, grateful to have them. She hated feeling so emotional, but she hoped she could contain her emotions, especially with Umbridge now on the warpath.