4 DA meeting

As time passed, Dumbledore began to worry. He knew that young people liked to extend their free time, and he didn't even tell them when to return. As a Lord and a Lady, they couldn't be told. He could only suggest or advise. Still, he expected the young couple to return in time for lunch, or at most – for dinner, but lunch was long over and dinner time had come, yet there was no sign of them returning. They probably went for some shopping, he told himself, or may have even chosen to go to her parents and inform them of the big change in their lives. And yet it was not at all like Miss Granger – now Lady Potter – to act this way.

–..–

Dinner was already over when the Floo flared and the two exhausted teens appeared in the headmaster's office.

"What happened?" he asked worriedly. "I was already contemplating to go and start looking for you. Have you visited your parents?" The last question was evidently directed at Hermione.

She let Harry lead her to a chair and he then plopped down on the adjacent one. "We've spent the whole day at the bank. I thought we'd only be there less than an hour, but…"

"Have you eaten?"

Hermione shook her head. "We weren't even aware of the time. There was so much to see, so many vaults, so many books… Had the goblins not alerted us, we could have spent the night there as well."

Dumbledore didn't seem to think that the vaults he was aware of would have made Hermione respond that way. The teens were clearly not ready to answer questions in their current condition, though. Despite their titles, they were still quite young. His responsibility as the headmaster seemed to take precedence.

"You should eat then. At your age, skipping meals is not recommended."

A few minutes later, the house elves brought a substantial meal for the couple. Dumbledore conjured a table and the two ate heartily, also drinking several glasses of pumpkin juice. Dumbledore waited patiently, only looking at the couple and seeming to enjoy seeing the two resume their liveliness, as the meal took care of their hunger and thirst, helping their young bodies recuperate quickly from the fatigue. He waited until they finished their dessert. Once they were sipping their tea, it was evident that he could wait no longer.

"Care to tell me about your visit to the bank?"

Harry looked at Hermione. There was no discernible movement, yet it was clear that they were conversing silently. He then turned back to Dumbledore. "As soon as we said our names, we were led to an office where an old goblin presented himself as the Potter account manager. He first had us both take the ancestry test, as requested by their regulations. It was no surprise that I was the Potter heir as well as Gryffindor and Peverell since these lines merged long ago. We were quite surprised to find that I was also the Slytherin heir. Then there was Black and a few minor houses that merged with Potter throughout the generations."

Hermione took over. "It turns out that Harry is Slytherin's heir both by conquest and by ancestry. As he hasn't inherited that line from his father, it's probably through his mother's line, although that could not be fully verified. Yet my ancestry gave us a much greater surprise. Although there was no magical person in my line for almost a millennium, I still have a very respectable ancestor."

"Hermione is Ravenclaw's heir! Isn't that fantastic?!" Harry shot in.

The headmaster was clearly surprised. It was evident that he didn't expect such news. Hermione tried not to show it, but she felt quite smug. Her decision and her actions turned to make a bigger change in both their lives than she could have expected, and seeing that surprised expression on the headmaster's face was a reward all by itself.

Dumbledore seemed to think of the new information for a bit. Then, as he lifted his eyes back to Harry, he seemed to get another surprise. "Harry, what happened to your scar?" he asked, quite alarmed.

Hermione answered, looking very happy. "After we took our ancestry tests, Sharpclaw – our account manager – noticed that Harry's scar was still looking quite raw. He called for a healer to check Harry. They then took him to a ritual room and removed a dark entity that resided there. It was a simple matter to then heal that wound completely."

"Do you know what that dark entity was?"

"It was a fragment of Voldemort's soul, residing there since he tried to kill me," Harry explained. "They said it couldn't go any deeper due to the protection my parents had given me. They are also going to use that fragment to help them find all other fragments and destroy them. Their heritage doesn't allow them to let such dark magic exist."

It took Dumbledore a moment to think that over. "That may be the best news I've heard for quite a long time. If they take care of the Horcruxes, then it makes our task, of defeating Voldemort for good, quite a bit easier. You've also given me an idea of how to handle another dark curse. I feel we were underestimating the goblins for too many generations."

–..–

Dumbledore was not seen at school for the next two days, but that was not unusual. Hermione thought it could have something to do with their conversation after visiting Gringotts, but she couldn't be sure. She also had some other plans to put in motion. She first taught Harry the Nudo spell and all its variations. He seemed to enjoy practising it on her. The chance of seeing her nude seemed to give him the right motivation, although she let him enjoy her nudity each night. She certainly enjoyed his.

Harry didn't need more than a day to achieve complete control of the spell and all its variations. This didn't mean that he didn't practice some more, whenever they were alone in their apartment. Sometimes Hermione practised it too. Before the end of the week, they decided how to pass this new knowledge to other members of the DA.

They called for a DA meeting on Saturday. As usual, they assembled in the room of requirements. Although they didn't need to hide any longer, it was the best room they could find, as it changed and supplied whatever they needed for the practice, and also kept the contents of their meetings secret from all those who still contemplated joining the dark lord.

Hermione was the one who opened the meeting. "As you all know, Voldemort has some kind of fixation on Harry, trying to kill him since he was a baby. Since I don't fancy losing Harry, I've been trying to find new ways for him to survive what seems to be inevitable – a confrontation with the dark lord. I was looking in a book of some combat spells when I found something interesting. While not lethal, and possibly quite entertaining at other times, this spell is unstoppable and could make a difference in a duel. Let me demonstrate."

Hermione turned to face the row of dummies, all wearing different clothes. She waved her wand at one, making all its clothing disappear, falling in a heap nearby. She could hear some giggles and a few rowdy remarks in her audience before she turned back.

"You may have noticed that I didn't shout the spell. That's actually what we should all learn to do – say our spells as quietly as we can, not to give our opponents a chance to learn what we're doing until it's too late. You don't need to master silent casting for that. All you need is to whisper the spell. It's just as effective."

She could see that most of her audience had their thought on something else. She couldn't really blame them. Unlike Harry and her, who now had an easy way to discharge the sexual tension, most students had none. Still, she couldn't allow turning her lesson into something else. "We shall now separate. Harry will teach the boys and let them practice on each other, while I do the same with the girls. Please note that using this spell on unsuspecting others when not in combat is strictly forbidden."

Some frustrated groans were all the reply she had for that.

Soon enough, a partition appeared in the middle of the room. Hermione took all the girls to one side, while Harry led the boys to the other. The partition was long enough and high enough to assure the privacy of each group.

Facing the girls, Hermione went into more detail. "This spell, besides removing all one's clothes, may actually remove everything that is not a part of the human body and is not securely attached. Bracelets, rings, chains and other jewellery are removed too. Only items attached by piercing may stay, although I can give you no guarantee about them. Some rings, like Lord rings, enchanted to stay on one's fingers, may possibly stay as well. I suggest you take all your jewels off before we start practising, or you risk losing them. Also, for the safety of your clothes, I suggest you put on some conjured robes after we all disrobe for the first time."

She waited for all the jewels to be put safely aside.

"Now, who has a really good magical shield, one she's proud of?"

Some girls lifted their hands. Hermione chose Ginny, Padma and Susan. "Let's test them first. I'll use some stunning, cutting and blasting curses on them, so keep them strong, to be safe."

All three shields held under her powerful attack, making the girls smile proudly.

"Now, try to hold off this attack," Hermione said, casting Nudo at the three of them.

All three were suddenly naked. Both Ginny and Susan blushed as red as their hair. Padma's colour changed only slightly, as her blushing could barely be discerned on her darker complexion. All three stood proud of their bodies, nevertheless.

Hermione let her audience appreciate the new spell for a moment, then cast the counterspell on the girls, sparing them additional embarrassment and making them clothed again.

"As you can see, in this simple form, one can just use the counter-spell and return to the previous situation, yet even that takes time. Add this to the surprise and embarrassment caused by becoming naked unexpectedly, and you gain a big advantage on your opponent, one you could use to make the final blow or to gain further advantage, at least."

She then taught them the spell that folded the removed clothes nicely. With all the girls naked, she conjured colourful robes for everybody to wear, before explaining the variation that also vanished the clothes. Luna volunteered to help. Hermione first cast the regular spell, and Luna was quick to counter it, staying naked only for as long as it took her to say the spell. Hermione then cast the vanishing variation. Luna tried the counter-spell, and then some others, but none helped, her colourful robes vanished never to return. She didn't seem too bothered by her nudity, though.

An hour later, all participants could cast the combat version successfully. Some, like Padma and Luna, could already cast it almost silently as well. Hermione felt satisfied. She let the girls return to their own clothes and dismissed them. Yet some girls didn't hurry out.

"Is that the spell you wanted Harry to learn last weekend?" Ginny asked her.

"Yes. I didn't expect it to have such a tremendous effect on us, though," Hermione admitted.

"Well, we all had a chance to see what he saw, and it became very clear to me how that could affect him. You really are lucky, you know."

Hermione smiled. "Yes, I know."

Luna approached, still naked, holding her clothes in her arms. "I think there must be some more unstoppable spells like that. You should look for them, maybe even craft a few yourself. The Nargles tell me you're capable enough for that."

She didn't wait for a reply. She just pulled her robes over her head and walked out, still holding her shoes and her other clothes in her arms.

The last to approach her was Susan. "I've heard you're now married. Congratulations to both you and Harry for finally becoming a couple. Everybody seems to have expected this for the last two years, at least."

Susan looked tense, and it didn't take much intelligence to notice that she had something else in mind. Hermione noticed, of course. "Thank you, Miss Bones. We're really glad to have finally become a couple, yet I believe you didn't stay only to congratulate us. What's on your mind?"

Susan blushed. "There are rumours that you're the heir of Ravenclaw. Is that true?"

Hermione shrugged. "I was just as surprised as anybody when the goblins told me, yet it brought me a bit of money and some very rare books. Is there anything else?"

Susan took a deep breath as if getting ready for a lengthy explanation. "Well, in itself, being the heir of a founder is not much. There's the vault, of course, with the books and other stuff and also a bit of money, but that's about it. You theoretically own a quarter of Hogwarts, but it has no implications in real life unless the heirs of all four founders put their act together, and that's highly unlikely."

"Why do you think so?"

"Well, until recently, only Gryffindor and Hufflepuff heirs were known – Potter and Bones. It meant nothing in practical terms, as nobody thought Ravenclaw had any heirs and the Slytherin line reached its end with Vo… Voldemort. Now, with you being Ravenclaw's heir, it doesn't change much, as I can't see the dark lord cooperating with us to make Hogwarts better."

Hermione thought for a moment and smiled. "You have a mistake there. By vanquishing Voldemort as a toddler, Harry became Slytherin's heir. The resurrection doesn't count in this. It also seems like the Evans family descended from another branch of Slytherin, making Harry the heir from that side too."

Susan's face lighted with interest. "If Harry is Slytherin's heir, then we may have a chance to bring some long-overdue change to Hogwarts and the magical community. I believe that you, Harry and I can be a great team!"

"I believe we can, but we should talk with Harry first."

Harry had evidently sent the boys away, as they heard him call over the partition, "May I come to your side now?"