Chapter 8: Dumbledore's Army

Tom had initially been a bit disappointed to be sorted into Slytherin. He didn't know much about the Hogwarts houses and didn't really have a preference going into the sorting ceremony, but after both James and Lily had both been sorted into Gryffindor, he couldn't help wishing that he could join them. But as it turned out, there was some benefit to being in Slytherin. Severus, the boy who Lily had been speaking to as they lined up in the Entrance Hall, had also been sorted into Slytherin House. Tom had soon learned that Severus was Lily's brother, and they seemed to have a close relationship. It then stood to reason that, if Tom were to befriend Severus, he would then have an in with Lily. The only problem with this was that Severus didn't seem to be very interested in making friends.

On this particular morning, Severus was sitting alone at a table in the Slytherin Common Room, his eyes never leaving the book that lay open before him. In fact, Severus did this a lot. He didn't seem to look up for anything, regardless of what was going on in the room around him. Just the week prior, a game of exploding snap had gone awry with playing cards exploding much more violently than expected and in rapid succession. The players had run from the playing area screaming while a continuous stream of exploding noises sounded off behind them, and Severus hadn't so much as flinched. This made it difficult for Tom to approach, as he didn't want to come off as an annoyance. But considering how he acted when Lily was around, it seemed that Severus likely had a friendly side to him somewhere. Perhaps it just took the right person to bring it out of him. Tom really hoped that he was the right person.

"Hi, Severus," Tom said pleasantly as he approached. For once, Severus actually stopped reading, but it took a few seconds before he actually turned his head to face Tom.

"Hello," Severus said slowly.

"I'm Tom, we've spoken a couple of times?" Their conversations had mostly consisted of Tom asking 'Which page did he say to turn to?' during one of their Charms classes and 'Oh, sorry, you go ahead,' when they were trying to enter the Transfiguration classroom at the same time, but still. They'd been friendly enough interactions.

"I know, we share a room."

"Right." It was also true that Tom and Severus shared a dorm room with the other first year Slytherin boys, but Severus didn't spend much time in their shared quarters. "You're pretty good at keeping your things organized, I might need to get some tips from you sometime." Severus only blinked. "What are you reading?"

Severus paused before answering, as if trying to figure out why Tom was talking to him. Finally, he lifted the cover so that Tom could take a look. "Advanced Potion Techniques," he said.

"Woah," Tom said, genuinely impressed. "That doesn't sound like something we'll be covering in class any time soon."

Severus shrugged. "I read about the things I like in my spare time. It turns out I like brewing potions."

"I was kind of surprised about how much you can do with potions," Tom said as he pulled up an empty chair and sat down. "When Professor Dumbledore told me I was going to go to a school to learn magic I was expecting the spells and stuff, but there's a lot more going on with the potions than I realized." It was true; there was a lot more to all of this magic stuff than Tom realized. He could hardly believe how much there was to learn. Sure, several of their classes centered around spellcasting, but then there was Potions, Astronomy, History of Magic, Herbology, and even Flying. "I didn't know anything about magic before I was accepted into Hogwarts," Tom clarified.

"I didn't either," Severus said. "My parents are both 'muggles' as they refer to non-magic folk around here."

Tom's eyes widened. "You're the first person I've spoken to that didn't grow up around all of this magic stuff! How have you been processing all of the ghosts that have been flying around all the time?"

The boys continued to talk for a while and, while Severus continued to mostly speak in short sentences, at some point he stopped looking like he was desperately trying to find a way out of their conversation. Tom was just happy to find someone he could relate to about growing up in the muggle world, and Severus seemed willing enough to talk about potions with someone who was just as new to learning about their existence as he was. And after a time, Tom managed to circle around to the reason he'd approached Severus in the first place.

"So, you have a sister, right? She's in our year, too."

"Lily," Severus said by way of confirmation.

"It must be pretty cool having a twin."

"It has its advantages."

"So… What kinds of things does she like?"

"Lily?"

"Yeah."

Severus shrugged. "Lots of things. She likes art."

"Art," Tom repeated. "So if I wanted to become friends with her, I could… draw her a picture?"

"Well, do you like art?"

"I haven't had many opportunities to find out," Tom admitted. "The orphanage didn't exactly spend a lot of money on decor. There was a painting of a barn that I think Mrs. Cole bought at a flea market. And there was a wall with some framed group photos through the years. Rarely any art supplies, though. They run out and you have to keep buying them, we mostly were given things that were reusable."

"What do you like?"

"I guess I don't really know. Everything we had growing up was so limited that I never really got a chance to figure that out."

"Well, Lily likes to talk to people about what they're passionate about. Something about the way people's eyes light up when they talk about their favorite things. So, maybe figure out what you're passionate about first?"

"I guess I could try that," Tom said, though he had no idea how to go about figuring that out.

"Why the sudden interest in my sister, anyway?" Severus asked.

"I don't know," Tom said quickly. "She seems… really nice. I just thought I might like to get to know her, that's all."

Severus stared at him for a beat before answering. "She is really nice. So… you'd better be really nice."

"I promise," Tom insisted, respecting the sudden flash of a protective brother that was showing through Severus's passive exterior. And Tom meant it. He had no intentions of hurting Lily. He had hardly spoken to her, but he could already tell that she was one of the most special people he'd ever met.

This week, Harry had gone into the journal memory a bit more emotionally prepared to see younger versions of his parents, but instead had gotten quite a long look at what his uncle had been like as a new Hogwarts student. Sometimes he forgot that Uncle Severus and his mother hadn't known anything about the Wizarding World before turning 11 and receiving their Hogwarts letters, an event that had changed their relationship with their older sister forever.

It seemed that his uncle had always been the stoic, quiet person that Harry had always known him to be. He sometimes wondered if there was a reason that he never had much of a connection with his one living magical relative, but it was clear that, even when he was a child, Uncle Severus was simply never very good at connecting with children. Tom had still managed to get him to talk, though, by asking him about his interests. Harry supposed he'd never made the effort to engage his uncle in a riveting conversation about potions. Perhaps he would give that a try sometime. One thing that was very clear about his uncle was how much he cared for his sister. Neither Uncle Severus nor Aunt Petunia had ever wanted to discuss his mother with him, but after hearing his uncle discuss her with Tom, Harry wished they would. He would love to hear stories about his mother from his uncle, to feel like he could get to know her if only through his uncle's eyes.

Harry thought it was interesting how his uncle seemed to be getting along fairly well with Tom and wondered how much he remembered about the boy from his school days. Probably quite a bit considering they were in the same house and the same year. But even more than that, it was interesting that Tom seemed to have a big crush on his mother, at least in his younger years. He wondered how these feelings would evolve over time, and when his father would begin to express his feelings, and how that would impact his and Tom's friendship. Only the other memories could tell him, but they would have to wait.

Fred and George had a plan. Harry had never seen them so organized. They declared that their plans would be revealed at a secret meeting at the Hog's Head, a pub in the magical village of Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade was walking distance from Hogwarts, and students were allowed to visit on a few designated days out of the school year. With the first visit of the year only days away, it was the perfect opportunity to hold a secret planning session, off of school grounds and away from prying eyes. In the meantime, Harry was helping to recruit students to their cause, inviting anyone he felt they could trust not to snitch.

The next person on Harry's invite list had been a personal suggestion of his. It was someone he hadn't known long, but was someone he already trusted. Someone honest who wasn't afraid to go against the popular belief.

"Hi, Luna," Harry said as he approached the library table she was currently occupying.

Luna looked up from the book she was reading and smiled. "Oh, hello, Harry. I was just trying to look something up about wrackspurts, but I'm having trouble finding an anthology of magical creatures that includes them."

"Wrackspurts?" Harry echoed, having never heard of such things.

"Yes, you know those little creatures who fly in through your ears and make your brain go all fuzzy?" Harry did not know what Luna was referring to, but nodded politely. "I think we're starting to get an infestation of them in the Ravenclaw Common Room. At home my dad and I dry out slices of the dirigible plums from our dirigible plum tree to keep them at bay, but I don't have access to them here. I recall my dad mentioning that a certain type of flower can keep them away as well, but I can't remember which one."

"And then you couldn't find anything about them in those books," Harry concluded.

"Exactly," Luna said with a nod.

"Well, I hope you find what you're looking for," Harry said despite being pretty sure that she was looking for information on creatures that didn't exist.

"That's kind of you to say."

"So, Luna, I actually had something I wanted to talk to you about if you have a minute."

"Oh, sure, Harry. I always have time to talk to a friend."

Harry smiled as he took a seat next to Luna. He glanced around to ensure that there was no one else in the general vicinity, and lowered his voice for good measure. "It's about Umbridge."

Luna's eyes widened, and she lowered her voice down to Harry's level as she said, "She's doing terrible things to the school. She's also the one trying to cover up the dementor attacks isn't she?"

Harry nodded. "She's just going to keep getting worse unless someone does something. And it doesn't seem like Dumbledore is able to do anything, so-"

"So we have to do something," Luna finished.

"Exactly," Harry said, relieved at how she was already including herself in the 'we.' "Fred and George Weasley have something planned, but they need as much help as possible. I know this is a big thing to ask, I'm sure we could all get in a lot of trouble if we're caught doing whatever it is those two have come up with. But if you're willing, we're meeting at the Hog's Head this weekend during the Hogsmeade visit to go over the plan."

"I'll be there," Luna insisted. "You can count on me."

Harry smiled. "I know I can."

"Have you considered asking your uncle about Tom?" Hermione asked. The day of the first Hogsmeade visit of the year was upon them, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were on their way to the big meeting at the Hog's Head.

"Absolutely not," Harry said, shaking his head.

"Well, maybe you should think about it," Hermione said. "I know you two have never been very close, but we now know that they knew each other. He probably knows more about what kind of relationship Tom had with your mum."

"I don't even know if he'd be willing to talk about it. He almost never mentions my mum."

"I'm with Harry," Ron said. "Tom was pretty adamant that Harry shouldn't mention him to anyone."

"We don't know the reason why he said that," Hermione pointed out. "We don't know much about him at all. What if we can't trust him?"

"My mum trusted him," Harry said. The note she'd written him seemed to indicate a significant level of trust. "What if he has a good reason?"

"Fair enough," Hermione conceded. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to hold off on mentioning anything to your uncle until we have more information."

Hermione changed the subject and soon she and Ron were engaged in a conversation speculating about what Fred and George's big plan might be. But Harry walked mostly in silence as he wondered exactly how much his uncle knew about Tom and the story he had to tell.

There was a pretty good turnout at the Hog's Head, a fact that made Harry hopeful that they could actually make meaningful change. Just about everyone they'd talked to had made it. It was mostly Gryffindor students; the Weasleys, just about all the Gryffindors from Harry's year, and Fred and George's and Ginny's as well. But there were a few Ravenclaw students mixed in, including Luna and Padma Patil, twin sister of Gryffindor student Paravati Patil. And Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, and Justin Finch-Fletchley had been persuaded to join, representing Hufflepuff House. This was to be a school-wide effort.

"Thank you all for coming," Fred said once they were pretty sure that anyone who was coming had arrived. "As we all know, Umbridge is a menace and a danger to the school."

"So we're going to chase her out, and all of you are going to help us do it," George chimed in. This sent some intrigued murumers through the group of students that were all huddled around the few tables in the back corner, away from prying ears. This location had been selected due to the fact that the Hog's Head was often mostly empty, with the Three Broomsticks being the much more popular pub in the village.

"Here's what we're thinking," said Fred.

"We're going to pull a string of pranks," said George.

"But not just any pranks at any old time."

"We're going to be organized. Strategic."

"Spread them out amongst her different classes."

"Pull off larger pranks outside of class at the most inconvenient times."

"She won't know when the next prank will happen or what it will entail."

"She'll never know a moment's peace, she'll drive herself mad."

"Complete psychological warfare."

"She'll have no choice but to leave the school for the sake of her own sanity."

"So that's the gist of it."

"We'll all be risking getting in a lot of trouble."

"But the more people we have, the more pranks we can pull off and the more likely it is to work."

"Thoughts?"

There was silence for a moment as the twins finished their spiel, but then Hermione said, "That's brilliant."

The twins smiled. "Thank you, Granger," George said as he and Fred sketched a bow, getting an eye roll from Hermione, though she was smiling. And it truly was brilliant. If they could pull this off with the level of strategy they described, Umbridge would be out of her mind in no time. Harry still didn't know why she was so insistent on her involvement in the school, but surely it wouldn't be worth the levels of psychological torture that were about to rain down upon her.

"How do we get started?" Seamus Finnigan asked. Several other students echoed the sentiment.

"Here's what we need," said Fred.

"We're going to need a lot of prank ideas. Big ones that can be pulled off at the right moments for a larger impact, smaller ones that can be sprinkled into any situation, and everything in between," said George.

"So everyone, start brainstorming. Get your ideas to George and I as soon as possible."

"And we'll need our more research-inclined folks to hit the library. Find as many books on magical pranks and jokes as you can."

Hermione locked eyes with Luna. "Want to go to the library with me?"

Luna's eyes seemed to sparkle as she smiled and said, "Absolutely."

"Good initiative," George said approvingly.

"Next we need to get organized," said Fred. "We'll need everyone's schedules so we can coordinate pranks for maximum impact."

"I can put together a timetable of everyone's schedules," Angelina Johnson volunteered. Angelina was the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and loved a good schedule.

Fred nodded. "Everyone, get your schedules to Angelina."

"We also need as many people as possible to spy on Umbridge outside of class. We need to know what she does, where she goes. But don't be obvious and don't get caught," said George.

"Also, we're going to need safe places to meet up in the castle. We can't just rely on the occasional Hogsmeade visit for meetings, so be thinking about that as well."

"Do we have a team name?" Ginny asked.

"Not yet," said Fred. "Any suggestions?"

"Harry, you said that we have to do this because Dumbledore is powerless to stop Umbridge, didn't you?" Luna piped up.

Harry nodded. "That seems to be the case, yes," he said.

"So if we're fighting because he can't, why don't we call ourselves Dumbledore's Army?" Luna suggested.

"Very militial," said George.

"I like it," said Fred.

"Me too," said George. Luna beamed. "Okay, Dumbledore's Army. You have your assignments. Be on the lookout for an owl with further instructions."

"And while you're here in Hogsmeade, try to stop by Zonko's for some useful supplies," Fred suggested. Zonko's was a magical joke shop in Hogsmeade Village that was very popular with Hogwarts students.

"But don't go in all at once," George warned. "We don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Stagger your shopping."

"Company dismissed," Fred said. He and George saluted. They seemed to be having a lot of fun with the 'army' nomenclature.

As Harry left the Hog's Head to enjoy the rest of his Hogsmeade visit, likely with a trip to Zonko's included, he felt the most hopeful that he had in a very long time. Umbridge wasn't going to know what hit her.