Chapter 4
Magicians Unite
AN: Took longer to write this chapter than expected, world belongs to JK Rowling!
At breakfast the next day, Harry was sitting with Neville in one corner. News about Arthur's passing had come as a shock to the Gryffindors, and the mood was pretty bleak. The Weasleys' were the foremost family of Gryffindors; all of them had been Gryffindors, with friendships among everyone. Even the Twins, for their pranking ways, were popular across Hogwarts (except among Slytherins). Ginny had made strong friendships across the younger years after her own first year fiasco. But not everyone was sad.
Draco had taken one glance at the paper and laughed loudly. The blonde ferret had been in high spirits since the start of the year, constantly pestering everyone with his Prefect privileges. Harry had been reliably informed by his Slytherin friends that he'd been trying to make trouble for everyone in the house not openly supportive of blood purity, and even gone far to harass Tracey, with Snape's silent approval. Pansy was throwing her weight around the girls' dorm, high on power herself. If not for Umbridge, Harry would have done something to the blond bast :ard, but right now she was just waiting for an opportunity to pounce on Harry. Her Inquisitorial Squad was causing problems among everyone, but especially among the younger ones as well as the Muggleborns, themselves being Umbridge's favourite pureblood elite.
Hermione was sitting by herself, puffy eyed. Harry didn't know what to say or do with her. She'd not taken the news well last night, first acting like Harry was pranking her, then asking whether Sirius was mistaken, finally, after some time, she'd believed him. Grief was only natural at the sudden death of the man who had pestered her with tepelones and ekelticity; the man would inquire no more.
After breakfast, he walked off to Dumbledore's office. He'd need the Headmaster's permission to visit the funeral. The Gargoyle he managed to convince with Ice Mice after trying a bunch of sweets, and finally gained an audience with the Headmaster. But his hopes were ruthlessly dashed by Grindelwald's defeater; apparently it was not safe to go to the funeral to prevent undue attention! The Minister would be there, so would the media, and he didn't want Harry to have an argument with Fudge again! No matter how hard he tried, the man refused to budge. He even blackmailed Harry that Umbridge would be more likely to interfere with the Weasley children if he went off to the funeral!
Harry ended up storming off angrily. Just what did the man think! And to think his temper had been cooling down at the Headmaster! What was wrong with a funeral? And had he not handled himself properly at the trial, a memory which had no doubt been shared with the man by Moody?
He skipped History of Magic and went off to blast some steam in the Room of Requirement. Voldemort's snake had murdered Arthur. For guarding Dumbledore only knows what. And he could do nothing He was weak, a nobody, against a dark lord with years of knowledge and the greatest of skills! What if it was Sirius in the place of Arthur? Like it had been Lily and James Potter? And if he wanted to spend time grieving with his extended family…the Headmaster refused him? He could go off illegally, but with no way of interacting with the Weasleys in Dumbledore's presence, what good would that do?
And he had declared 'war'. Sometimes, it was hard to stay motivated. The fight was hard. It was depressing, knowing that his entire family had been murdered. That he wouldn't get to live properly because Voldemort was obsessed with him, his greatest failure. That he would chase him to the ends of the earth. He wouldn't get to live, laugh and love, until that pest of insanity was dead!
With Harry's luck, History was followed by Potions. Snape took no small pleasure in goading Harry today, and although he came close to exploding a couple of times, he pulled back from cursing Snape in the back. Why did that ba*ta*d of a Headmaster trust this man? Whose side was he even on?
Angelina had cancelled Quidditch practices for that evening, so after bearing up with another Double Umbridge Torture Lecture, where she tried making veiled insults to people interfering where they shouldn't, (a clear barb at Arthur), he went off to take an early dinner. He needed to find a place to host the study group meetings, secure enough to not be found, central enough to be easily accessed, and with enough avenues of escape so they couldn't be pinned down. He had the map, but only the house elves were fully aware of the current state of every room. Dobby knew a fair bit, but he'd only spent 3 years at the castle, and it was humongous.
He spoke to Mipsy, one of the senior elves at the Hogwarts kitchens.
"Mipsy, can you help me with something?"
"What does master Potter desire my aid with?" the elf replied cautiously.
"Well, some of us students, from all four houses, are thinking of conducting a study group to learn practical spell applications and self-protection. We wanted to know if there is a place in the castle that is close to all four house dormitories, accessible through multiple routes? Also, the activities that we conduct will be fully legal and non-harmful to Hogwarts or any of the students. We are even thinking of taking Professor Flitwick's permission for the same. I don't think the Headmaster would mind the cooperation between the Houses, either."
Mipsy eyed Harry shiftily. The boy had improved massively this year, looking fitter than ever, and he'd finally bonded and taken that crazy house elf Dobby off her hands! He'd even spoken to the brown-haired hat-knitting-menace from Gryffindor, and resolved that whole issue! And he wasn't as mischievous as Master James had been, back in the day!
So his request could be looked into. While the Come-and-Go-Room was ideal, it was not centralized, accessible only through two paths, and thus it would be easy for that horrible pink professor to trap them! The elves were well aware of the way that Umbridge was torturing students with her nasty quill, and she'd even told the Headmaster, herself! But the tortures continued. If this was against that one's wishes, she'd help master Potter. There was also the fact that it would promote inter-house cooperation, which was a good outcome all around.
"Mipsy knows a room in the deeper echelons of Hogwarts, Master Potter. Formerly, it was a combat chamber to train in Martial Magics, before the class was cancelled. It's walls are reinforced magically, so it can take substantial spell damage. It is located just off the armoury, which is currently locked. There are multiple ways to get there, and there are multiple unused classrooms along the way. There are also passages to exit and reach all four houses quickly, to ensure quick transit in the event of some accident or injury to the training students."
There was but one catch; to get access to the room, you'd have to convince the guardian portrait of your intentions, and as far as Mipsy knew, no one had managed to do so for a long time. The guardian of the chamber was really, really stubborn. But then, Harry Potter was very stubborn too, as everyone knew quite well.
"But there is a portrait guarding the room that needs to be convinced of your intentions within the room. I'd be happy to guide you to it, sir."
Harry asked the elf to meet him at the Trophy Room in twenty minutes. The elf could easily apparate there. But they were forbidden from taking along students unless in an emergency to save someone from harm. He decided to take along a few Hufflepuffs with him, to look up the proposed room. He knocked on their barrel entrance and sent up a message with the first year to call Ernie. He could have called up Susan or Hannah, but that would set the tongues wagging, really wagging if he asked for both! Ernie promised to tell the other two and meet up at the
Trophy room, so he went off to wait for them. While on the way, he met Neville going back to the dorm, and pulled him along. Ernie brought Susan and Hannah with him, and once they were gathered outside the Trophy Room, Harry called for Mipsy.
The path to the room was a bit confusing, and after a few turnings, really dusty.
Filch rarely set foot here, in these old unused sections. Harry was reminded of the room that had housed the Mirror of Erised, back in first year; it gave off the same dusty unused feel. Mipsy showed them various entrances to the combat chamber's corridor, along with the locked door of the armoury. The corridor in question seemed to be doorless, but in Hogwarts, such things were not rare. Not all doors led to rooms either.
Mipsy led the five, i.e., Harry, Susan, Ernie, Neville and Hannah upto a large portrait of a man dressed in silvered armour, with dull golden coloured greaves. He was sitting on a grand throne-like chair, but got up immediately on seeing them approaching. He seemed to be young, but again, seemed to be old. He gave off a feeling of 'in charge'. There was a visible wand holster on his right arm and his left hand rested on the pommel of his sword. Looking at him, Harry felt the same feeling of danger he'd gotten when facing Voldemort at the graveyard. The man was strikingly similar in his posture and appearance to Charlus; the way his eyes danced from one to the other, and then finally to the elf, were like Dumbledore taking charge of a room.
Mipsy curtsied low in her tea towel, and spoke: "These students wish to speak with you regarding the combat chamber, sir." The man stood still, only his eyes moving from one to the other. He seemed to be taking stock of them, specially looking at their house crests.
"Leave us, house elf. Thank you for showing them the way. I shall speak with them." he commanded Mipsy. Then turning to the others, he said, with a voice that was strong, even if it was not that loud. "What do you want, students of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff?" he asked in a commanding way. Then he took his seat again.
It was funny, really, how much tremor he'd managed to put into their hearts. The Hufflepuffs were really awestruck with his appearance, and at a loss for words, while Neville was looking at his appearance and specially his sword. Thus the onus fell on Harry to make their case.
"Greetings, sir. I am Harry Potter, fifth year student of House Gryffindor. These are my fellow students, fellow Gryffindor Neville Longbottom, and Hufflepuffs Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan. I asked Mipsy for help regarding our requirements for the combat chamber."
The man's eyes seemed to glint a little, and his voice gained a bit of steel, "And why do you wish to access the Combat Chamber, Master Potter? If it was for an official reason, I would have been visited by a Professor, or even a Headmaster. But I was of the opinion that the Martial Magics course was discontinued?"
"You are right, sir. And yes, I wasn't even aware that there was such a class called Martial Magics, having never heard of it. And no, there is no official sanction for our use of the room, yet." The steely glint was slowly turning into a rather scary glare.
"But we do need access to the room. There are various reasons for this, and we'd like you to hear us out."
"Go on, then, child" the man whispered.
"The primary reason, then: we wish to conduct a study group to train ourselves in combat magics, specifically with a focus to defending ourselves. Why so? Because the Ministry of Magic has saddled Hogwarts with one of its stooges, who refuses to teach students how to protect themselves. The other professors are also not willing to help us for fear of Ministry punishment. The Professor in question has also gotten herself named High Inquisitor, a position that allows her to interfere with the Headmaster's decisions."
"Secondly, due to a suspected curse on the position of Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts, Hogwarts has been unable to retain a professor for the subject for over a year, for the last 28 years. This means that most of the students have very scattered knowledge about defending themselves against dark creatures or other attackers."
"Our aim in starting this group is to correct that anomaly. This would not only help us in the exams, but might also save our lives."
The man's posture had stiffened as Harry described the situation, specially the part about the curse. He was holding his chin with his left hand, at which point Harry saw something that thrilled him and shocked him at the same time.
The warning bell for curfew rang, and with only fifteen minutes grace, Harry asked his friends to leave him. If he managed to get permission and entry to the room, he'd bring them up here. And he had a cloak and a map to guide him back safely, unlike the others.
The armoured man was striding about the ends of the hall within the portrait. It really was one of the largest portraits Harry had ever seen, and although he'd been initially confused, he wasn't confused any longer.
"Who would be teaching this group, son?" the portrait inquired.
"That would be me, sir. Primarily. But if the numbers were high, there would be multiple individuals helping the students with their spell practice."
"And what makes you think you are qualified to do so?" the man groused.
"I don't mean to be boastful, sir, but I have survived multiple attempts on my life, sometimes through combat, sometimes by luck, sometimes by fleeing. I have fought trolls, acromantulas and even dementors. I am the winner of the Triwizard Tournament, although the guy I shared it with was murdered. Following which I duelled the Dark Lord I told you about, and only survived because of the brother wand effect. I even managed to kill a basilisk with your sword, although I had the help of your hat, and the Headmaster's phoenix for that, Lord Gryffindor" Harry cheerfully told him.
The man seemed to goggle. "What! How did you know who I was? The elves are forbidden to…you recognized the sword, boy? Which means the hat gave it to you? But that must mean Hogwarts was in danger, and the basilisk was, SALAZARs ! That fucker's basilisk was still alive! And how am I supposed to believe you, boy? You say you are a fifth year, and yet have done so much. Tell me more." the man requested, with full attention.
So Harry told him. Told him everything, exactly as it had happened; with his childhood with the Dursleys, Hagrid's introduction, the events surrounding his parents' death and the first war, his actions over the years, including Quirrell's death, Lockhart's memory fiasco, the Dementor problem, about his godfather, the events of the Triwizard Tournament, his problem with the ministry, his trial, and his ascension to Lord Potter, as well as the declaration to war.
Godric Gryffindor, this was the man's portrait, eyed him throughout his account. Following which he asked Harry to demonstrate his Patronus, to which Harry happily acquiesced. He seemed to be pleased to see Harry wearing the Lordship ring. Interestingly enough, he asked him to think about his own sword with his eyes closed, and see if he could summon it. Harry decided to humour the portrait, and was pleasantly surprised to find that suddenly the pommel of the basilisk venom encrusted blade was in his hand!
According to Godric, he'd managed to put a spell that once the blade was wielded by someone found worthy, anytime he was on Hogwarts grounds, he could call it to him! An interesting situation. The blade could also be sent back the same way! This way, the goblins couldn't take it back with their ridiculous creator's right clause.
He waited for the man to think; after careful consideration, the man turned to Harry and said:
"I'll think about your situation, child. Meet me here tomorrow, alone if possible."
With a small bow, Harry left him to his intriguing thoughts.
Godric Gryffindor paced in his room. Well, in his portrait. He knew he wasn't alive, his real self was long dead. But the four creators had poured their magic into the making of the castle. This room had been his own creation, and thus, he'd poured a lot of his magic in here, so his personality was really close to his real self. He'd been surprised to find the five students here, with a house elf guiding them, no less. The house elves had been long instructed to only lead someone really trustworthy up to his portrait, someone who Hogwarts magic itself trusted. Then the boy had managed to recognize him, and even that due to his sword! His sword that he'd already used in the past! There was a blood connection to the boy, as his daughter Isobel had married into the Potters (not that he'd tell the boy that).
He'd consider the boy's request carefully. But before that, he'd go out to visit his castle. He'd have to see whether the entire matter was true as stated. He couldn't give anyone shady access to the combat chamber.
Harry managed to slip past the guardian Inquisitors and put in some practice in the Room of Requirement. He hoped Godric Gryffindor would accept the request. At first he'd not recognized the sword, but once the pommel was visible, it was instant recognition of the sword that had saved him from being eaten by a basilisk!
His practice was going along nicely. His dodging continued to improve, and with the new athletic training he was doing every morning, his stamina and ability to dodge for longer periods was increasing. Even his flying had improved due to the same. He'd have to see if he could convince Neville, and even Susan (early running date with the Hufflepuff, so he could see her huff and puff, heh). But that would have to wait.
He mirror called Sirius again, and gained some news. Arthur's funeral had occurred today, in the evening. It had been attended by a large contingent from the Ministry, with even the Minister making an appearance. Percy had showed up, thankfully. Then they had gone to Headquarters, for a debrief; too many memories of Arthur at the Burrow.
Apparently Ron had been hurt and angry that he'd been missing, so there was that to be handled tomorrow. If Ron allowed him to speak, he'd try to explain.
As expected, the Weasleys showed up after breakfast. Ginny had puffy eyes with dark circles, and the Twins were the quietest he'd ever seen them. He gave them all hugs; there was nothing to be said.
Dumbledore's excuses were no platitudes. Ron had refused his hug, however; he even refused to speak with Harry. He told the Twins about Dumbledore's edict, but didn't think Ron would come around. Still, he'd give him time.
Hermione had given Ron a hug and refused to let him go. Good that Ron had someone with him in this moment. A small part of Harry was jealous of Ron; who was with him when Cedric died? But he quashed those feelings quickly. Such comparison was the destroyer of happiness. What need was there for it? His friend had just lost his father.
Godric had spent the time visiting his beloved castle. He'd spoken to the portraits about the events of the past years. Yes, this Umbridge seemed to be a real menace. The house elves had told him about her torture of students with a bloody blood quill, of all things. He'd skewer her on his sword if he wasn't a portrait, but unfortunately that's what he was. Through careful inquiry with the various portraits and house elves, he obtained a clearer picture: yes, Harry had fought his polyjuiced Defense Professor, driven off almost a hundred dementors with the patronus, fought the acromantulas, won the Triwizard Tournament. He'd even visited Rowena's portrait, who told him that the boy had begun training for war, in her own chamber. But that didn't have the location advantages accorded by the Combat Chamber.
The Founders had created their portraits to be a guiding influence to the spirit of Hogwarts. But in the past, a certain Headmaster had pestered them so much that they'd gone into hiding to escape the incessant requests for aid. They had come together and decided to let the living humans fend for themselves, and managed to hide their portraits with the help of the House Elves. They could access the portraits within the castle, but no one could find their portraits. The house elves obeyed their portraits on principle, as did the other portraits.
He'd gone and given Salazar a piece of his mind! Imagine a thousand year old basilisk getting loose and killing everyone within the castle! The travesty was wholly possible!
According to everyone he spoke to, the lines within the houses had become fences. Specially a few years back, at the height of the war. Now this proposal, with a common enemy in Umbridge, could unite them. Harry seemed to be charismatic enough to pull it off.
According to some young house elves, the group in question seemed to meet in another, smaller chamber right now, and was composed of all houses. So it was a good gamble to make.
And he wouldn't reveal every single one of the room's amenities all at once.
Padma knocked on Professor Flitwick's door. Her Head of House was always welcoming towards his students, even the non-Ravenclaws! But today she had something a bit more than house issues or classwork to discuss. Her fellow prefect Anthony Goldstein was with her. But surprisingly, to the Professor atleast, there was an assorted bunch of students from all the Houses entering his suddenly tiny seeming office alongside his fifth year prefects.
"Take a seat, all of you. What seems to be the matter?" dropping his quill in its holder and closing off the ink bottle, Flitwick looked over the motley collection. Daphne Greengrass, Ernie Macmillan, Susan Bones, Lisa Turpin and surprisingly, Neville Longbottom were there with Ms. Patil and Mr. Goldstein.
Padma took the initiative. "Good evening, professor. Some of us have decided to create a group of like-minded individuals to learn and practice our charms together, sir."
"Have you? That is a good idea. What seems to be the problem?"
"What with OWLs approaching and other calamitous events occurring outside these walls, we wanted to know if we can do so with your permission. Obviously together we can learn from each other and improve much faster. We'd like your permission in case Filch causes problems, sir. What with his attitude towards spell-work and all."
Flitwick looked at all of them carefully. Oho, a fine coup. No doubt the 'charms' they would end up practicing would have a rather defensive lean! But the shocking part was how the one boy he'd expected to be part of such an initiative was missing.
"And is this the lot of you? Are there any others?" he inquired meaningfully. He'd seen their study group sitting in the library, and he'd even followed them once under a disillusionment charm, only to find that Mr. Potter was teaching the boys defence, and doing so with great skill too! Lily's son was coming into his own this year!
Anthony spoke up "Yes sir, there are a couple more of us. There's Terry and Fay and Harry and a couple of upper years and some lower years too."
Well, he didn't have a problem. If it annoyed that pink toad the better. She'd not stopped her nasty comments about his heritage till now.
"Well, I'll write out a permission slip for you. The OWLs are important for your future, and thorough practice is the only way to gain expertise. I'll also speak to Professor McGonagall about giving you one for Transfiguration. Have to prevent Mr. Filch and his cat from causing you problems, after all." the tiny man grinned.
Umbridge must be really irritating. Even Lockhart hadn't generated this level of antagonism in the professors. With thanks in gratitude, the group trudged off.
One problem solved.
Harry was told about the affair when they met for dinner. While he wouldn't mind doing it illegally, knowing that he was doing something within the law was satisfying. Hell, even his quidditch try-out had been a punishment of sorts.
Daphne had come up with a cool safety mechanism to keep their secret, which was a written contract she'd drawn up with Susan and Anthony's help; which was simple and straight to the point. It stated the foundation of MUSE, viz, Magicians United for Scholarly Enlightenment. The clauses included one stating to not use the knowledge to maliciously harm members of the group, nor to betray knowledge about members of the group to outsiders without permission, the creation of a administrative council composed of 2 chairs for each house, and other protective matters. She'd charmed the contract to alert them in case of betrayal, and be invisible to non-members unless revealed. While the contract itself was serious, the punishment would only be a few marks (on the forehead, like Cain from the bible, Harry thought), but the betrayal would be reported in the contract next to the sign. In this way, they'd keep it safe and secure simultaneously.
Harry had told them about a story he once read, wherein conspirators called in an individual but he ended up betraying them; the tale of General d'Epinay from the Count of Monte Cristo was taken into consideration while designing the safety precautions. So they decided to approach and interview, one at a time, people interested in joining the group.
They themselves signed and completed the formalities first. Thus the pioneers of MUSE included Harry, Neville, Daphne, Susan, Ernie, Anthony, Terry, Padma, Tracey, Lisa and Fay. Each had approached a few others, and they would surreptitiously interview them and explain the parameters, one on one, before allowing them to sign. Obviously, the interview would be taken only by two members, preferably close to the candidate, so that he/she wouldn't get an idea about the group's membership before actually promising to not betray the secret.
Now all they needed was a place to practice and learn!
Harry went off to meet Godric with hope and trepidation in his heart. Hopefully the Founder would be in a good mood. The man seemed to be waiting for Harry to show up, as with a silent "Lord Potter" in response to his own "Lord Gryffindor", he opened up the portrait-door into the room.
The room was vast, slightly smaller than the Great Hall. There were antechambers that contained training dummies, wooded target blocks, swords and shields hanging on the walls, and even a few paintings.
Godric walked up to a painting, this one a larger frame than the one of Godric. And waiting inside were three others. Any other time he might have missed them, but here it was rather obvious; the Founders were here.
For what? Harry's first ever job interview. It seemed that while impressing Godric was important, impressing all four of them was even more so. They'd gone over the events again, in a gist; Slytherin had even thrown him a trick question in Parseltongue that he managed to answer the same way even before understanding he was speaking in a different language! They'd checked up on his knowledge of spells, specially the Patronus Thunderbird, which Rowena had gushed over, calling it cute. Rowena seemed to know a lot about him, and he felt that she must have asked around (unbeknownst to him, the Room of Requirement was her creation, and her portrait there had been tracking his actions, including his discussions with Sirius). Salazar had been disappointed when he'd been told the real identity of Lord Voldemort, and even more so when he heard about the death of Myrtle Warren at his hands! His basilisk had been a safety mechanism for the school, no matter what rumours now seemed to claim.
After discussing further, they agreed to his demands. They went over the proposed contract, liked the title MUSE, and were eagerly waiting to see the first session. But they did promise Harry not to tell anyone about their real identity, not wanting future headmasters and students to pester them again. So they would be watching from the walls, with their portraits spelled invisible by the elves.
The recruitment and interview process for MUSE was going on well. They'd first approached trustworthy, interested individuals only. A few had rejected the approach when they realised Harry would be with them; this included Seamus, Dean and Michel Corner. Harry had recruited the Twins, after giving them a few days to mourn in peace. They all agreed that if Harry wanted to keep news of it away from Dumbledore, then it was a bad idea to involve Ginny, Ron and Hermione.
They'd brought along Lee Jordan, as well as a few of their trustworthy 'product testers' from the younger years. A few guys, like Zacharias Smith and Cormac McLaggen, had been outright blacklisted by the group due to their well-known behaviour. With the help of Colin Creevey and Demelza Robbins, one of the reserves on the team, Harry had managed to get in good membership from the fourth and third years. It had already been decided to make membership third year and up, to ensure a stable knowledge base.
The number of Hufflepuffs was huge, specially due to the fact that Cedric's death had hit them hard. The fifth years had all signed, with the exception of Zacharias Smith who was a member of the Inquisitors. Ravenclaws also, were there in huge numbers. But choosing among the Slytherins was tricky business. They'd only managed to convince a few; Shawn Morris and Aaron Ogden, a fourth year from a neutral house allied to the Greengrass family named Sylvia Melville; a couple of half-bloods from third year who were on Malfoy's hitlist, and Nerissa Brody, another third year who was friends with Tracey, for now. The Ravens, ever thirsty for knowledge, had joined in with gusto. A few were skipped for their ties to the Dark Houses and their bad behaviour. Luna was asked about her bullies and those were not invited.
Most of them had already signed the contract, but a few were considering. Harry didn't want any leaks to Umbridge, but you can't keep news like this secret forever in a gossip palace like Hogwarts. Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad were already acting up; Harry especially was almost certainly being spied upon at all times. But fortunately for him, one of the charms he'd learnt recently was the disillusionment charm, and while it wasn't as good as the cloak, it was good enough to give those clowns of Inquisitors Pansy, Cormac, Zacharias, Nott, Draco and his dumb-twins the slip.
Their evil queen Umbridge, her commander-in-chief Filch and his royal steed Mrs Norris, were all on the prowl, waiting for the slightest opportunity to pounce on Harry.
Albus Dumbledore was having a bad year. First Tom had obtained a body, killing a promising young man needlessly for it.
Then Fudge had decided that Dumbledore wanted his job, and so alienated him, getting him removed from his various positions. He'd used the free time obtained to scramble the Order and look after the 'object' in the Ministry, but the Order was no longer the same. In the past, they'd had talented young wizards like the Potters, the Longbottom's, Marlene, Dorcas among many others. But now he barely had a handful of new members.
The old members had decayed, with age, and even he himself wasn't the wizard he'd been 10 years ago!
His alliances in the Wizenagamot, formed over decades, had collapsed through entropy. The exposure of events at Hogwarts, such as the Chamber of Secrets fiasco, and the fake Moody's betrayal, only diminished public trust in him.
And then there was Harry. What would he speak about him? In a matter of months he'd gone from a magically weak, trusting boy to a Lord of an Ancient House! He'd ripped Fudge apart during the dodgy trial, and even learnt impressive Occlumency shields. Which would have been good, but Dumbledore couldn't help but doubt: had Tom managed to get the remnants of the scar to possess Harry? He was behaving eerily like a young Tom Riddle; charming, making friends and alliances, learning everything at twice the speed and better than anyone, improving exponentially every day! The way he had escaped and gone into hiding at the start of the summer was pure Slytherin behaviour.
He hoped Harry was still Harry; if Tom had taken root in him, he'd kill the boy himself! His mistakes wouldn't let another Tom Riddle rise!
That Saturday, as there was nothing scheduled in the morning, Harry took the main members to the Combat Chamber. He needed their help to set up the place, as well as guide the members to the secret location!
They'd managed to locate secret passages in and around the room to quickly get to each of the Houses! Obviously, they'd spent some time cleaning the room, specially the duelling platform in one corner. That would have to wait.
They'd scheduled the meeting already, for the coming Saturday. The trick would be to get everyone of the members here without anyone else being aware of it! It would be easy enough for the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs, and even the Ravenclaws, but the challenge was escaping the Inquisitorial Squad, specially for the Slytherin members.
He'd asked Dobby to help him by being a guard. With his elf magic, he could constantly monitor the different passages and ensure proper warning. Plus the map was a proper advantage.
Once the cleaning work was done, they held a council meeting.
Here they decided on the structure of MUSE. As the name suggested, they would focus on improving in all areas of magic with practical training, not just defence. But for now, the three core wanded magical subjects were the key focus. With primary being Defense, as the others had quality professors.
Each subject was assigned a Secretary, of sorts, responsible for teaching the group as a whole. Harry was appointed Defence Secretary, Terry Boot was named Charms Secretary, and Ernie Macmillan was the Transfiguration Secretary. For the non-wanded subjects, Padma Patil was the Potions Secretary and Susan was the Runes Secretary.
The chairs for each house would be decided during their first meeting, in everyone's presence.
Finally, the day was here. They'd decided to hold their first meeting early on Saturday because most students woke up late that day, and thus the professors wouldn't notice anything. Without curfew, it was much easier managing the students from various years, who'd been instructed to follow the members from their own house who knew the way. The Slytherins, being the smallest bunch, all came together with Daphne leading the way. The Hufflepuffs split into 3 groups, with Susan taking the upper years, Ernie bringing up the large fifth year contingent and Hannah bringing along the younger years. Harry went alone, drawing off the Inquisitors who were awake on a wild goose chase as the Twins and Fay used the window obtained to guide the Gryffindors. The Ravenclaws came along in one large contingent.
Once everyone expected had appeared, Susan took the stage.
"Welcome, everyone, to the first meeting of MUSE: Magicians United for Scholarly Excellence! I am Susan Bones, one of the founding members of MUSE, and I would like to clarify what our aims and objectives are going to be."
"We founded MUSE because we became aware of the startling lack of expertise in our current batch of students when it came to wand-work. Particularly in Defence Against the Dark Arts, wherein the successive line of incompetent or evil teachers have managed to jeopardise our level of preparation to step foot into the real world with the capability to defend ourselves."
"Not just that, even in Transfiguration and Charms, very few students actually manage to complete the assigned tasks to their full scope, merely doing the basics. This is because there is a lot to be learnt."
"While the Charms club exists, its focus has largely been on discussing the theoretical advancements in the field, more than actually learning and practicing the spells."
At this point, Terry Boot joined in, as planned. "Earlier this year, we were conducting a joint study session including members of all four houses. We found that with easy access to domain experts, relatively, we could learn twice as fast than normal. And I for one found it a lot easier to go to Ernie with my doubts about Transfiguration than I would going to Professor McGonagall." A few students laughed. "The same way I could approach Susan with my doubts in Runes and Harry for help with Defence."
"It was one such encounter that kickstarted MUSE. We, i.e., Neville Longbottom and Ernie, asked Harry for help with Defence, for which he thankfully accepted. And we found that learning from him was much easier than with our pinky professor."
Susan continued, "So anyway, we decided to form MUSE to ensure that like minded students could come together and learn from each other. Unfortunately, due to the current environment here at Hogwarts, specially the attitude to learning magic shown by our High Inquisitor, made us use secrecy measures. Which is why we had to take your promises and signatures."
"For now, the founding members have decided that the subject we need guidance the most is Defence. Does anyone object?" she inquired politely.
A few students asked questions if only Defence would be focused upon. Terry replied, "No, defence is primary, but not only thing to focus on. We will also be discussing charms and transfiguration; Harry has even accepted our challenge to teach you the Patronus Charm, in a few months."
Most were okay with the focus on Defence, specially fourth years and above, who knew that exams were impending, as was the real world. But the Patronus carrot had hooked the others too.
They further ended up discussing the secrecy measures. Few wanted to make the group's existence public, but after some discussions, most agreed that Umbridge would surely stop the initiative. There were already some discussions going on about another decree proposed by Fudge to allow Umbridge to be the sole arbiter of any group gatherings within the castle; nobody wanted her interference, so everyone agreed to keep it silent as possible. If anyone wanted to introduce new members, they'd have to approach the council; but first they'd have to vote their council.
With two chairs for each house, they needed to split and choose. Each house would vote while the others sat and waited. The Gryffindors went with Harry and Katie Bell. The Ravenclaws appointed Lisa Turpin and Terry Boot, while the Slytherins went with Daphne Greengrass and Aaron Ogden, a fourth year. The Hufflepuffs ended up going with Susan Bones and Ernie Macmillan.
"Now that the formalities are out of the way, I call up Harry Potter to hold court!" Susan said and stepped down.
Harry bit back the nervousness and stepped onto the duelling platform.
"Hello, everyone, greetings. I am Harry Potter, fifth year Gryffindor. Some of you I have the pleasure of being friends with, others know me only from afar. Let me start by saying thank you, for agreeing to our proposal. Welcome to MUSE!" the council clapped vigorously.
"Now, some of you must be having doubts, rightfully so. Having been at the receiving end of some rather abysmal teaching in Defence Against the Dark Arts, along with, I admit, some good instruction for the last two years, you must be wondering how I am qualified to teach anyone, anything."
"I will not claim to be all knowing and all seeing. That's for Dumbledore. I am just a student, like all of you. However, I have been unlucky to have been on the receiving end of life threatening actions from creatures like the Dementors, Acromantulas, and even Hagrid's Blast- Ended Skrewts! I have been lucky to survive, with the little knowledge I possess, "
"Onto some sadder discussions. You must be aware of the tussle going on between Dumbledore and the Ministry ever since the events of the 3rd Task. Most of you must be curious. I will say that Cedric died, only because he'd been kind enough to share the trophy with me. I told him to take it alone. But he said that both of were Hogwarts's winners; that we should share. "
"He died, and I was used in a horrifying ritual. I fought, and barely escaped with my life; only to have the Ministry hide the evidence and vilify me in the press."
"I cannot force you all to believe me. You all have the right to make your own decisions. I only ask that if you don't believe me, okay, but don't let that prevent you from learning what you can. I will not hate you for your independence."
"I thank the founding members of MUSE for the opportunity to impart my knowledge. I hope you will give me a chance. Thank you."
"Now, onto our first lesson."
"Defending yourself is important no matter who you are, or what you may be. The real world is a harsh place, and knowing how to keep yourself and your family safe is paramount. Even the non- magicals practice various measures for self-defence. But us magicals are blessed and cursed with magic. Blessed because magic is a great gift that simplifies and enhances our lives. Cursed because the dangers we face are all the more deadly!" "From spells thrown by our enemies, enchanted objects trying to harm us, like rogue bludgers, plants like the Devil's snare, magical creatures small and huge trying to harm us, or even Peeves trying his usual tricks; the onus is on us to defend ourselves admirably, take out our opponents if we can or perform a strategic retreat if we can't. "
"To know what the right decision is in the heat of the moment is hard, and so, the only way to get better at it is practice."
"And that is what I plan to teach you. Because we are a spectrum from third years to final years, each will have our own challenges. But the urge to survive is universal."
"I will be demonstrating a series of spells initially. Maybe a mock duel to demonstrate. Then, you can pair up and practice the spells. If you have any trouble, ask for help."
"If you wish to practice spells, or have a mock duel, tell us during the break. We can hold one, acting as sort of entertainment for everyone."
"We cannot procure magical creatures like boggarts and the like, yet, but if we do, we can train on those."
"The key things in a magical duel aren't knowing more spells than your opponent. They are : "
1. Not getting hit. So two ways are shielding and dodging. We will be practicing both.
2. Hitting your opponent. So your aim has to be good. This can only happen through practice. There are targets available, on which you can practice. Try performing this exercise with the simple tickling hex, which has no specific wand motion, but you can try it with different ones so your aim for all types of wand movements increases.
3. Incapacitating your opponent. The simplest way to do this is the disarming spell, which I will teach you now. It might seem too easy, but it is not enough to just know the spell; you need to master it. If you know it, practice it silently. Master your aim. You should be perfect at this spell. Another spell is the stunner, Stupefy, which we can look into at the next meeting.
"Once the basics are clear for everyone, we can move onto more advanced topics, like the Patronus Charm, which is rather cool, and at the same time, likely to get you an O in Defence or Charms, if my sources are correct. There is also the usage of transfiguration in combat, both for attack and defense, that I will try to cover with Ernie's help. Terry will also be teaching us how to use animation charms, to use objects to attack or defend.
For the upper years, along with the basics, we can focus on duelling with non-verbal spells. Reacting to non-verbal attacks is a skill in itself, reacting to spells with the correct choice of shield or dodging.
Later on, we can cover basic runic schemes and wards to protect ourselves. Susan Bones will help with that. "
"For now, let's start our session with a friendly duel. Anyone interested?" he asked.
Daphne didn't want a rematch for now, so he ended up duelling Alicia Spinnet. Susan refereed the duel.
His seventh year team-mate was lithe and quick on her feat, honed Quidditch reflexes helping her dodge easily. Her aim was as good as it was in Quidditch, but Harry was pretty good at dodging himself. She was also rather good at Transfiguration, but not that great in silent casting during duels. Harry ended up defeating her, but had to really work for it.
Harry then split the group into two, those who knew the disarming charm, and those who didn't. He asked the ones who knew it to initially perform some aiming and target practice, and then pair up to duel each other at disarming only.
The ones who didn't know he explained the mechanics of the spell. The motions were simple. Neville was now getting a correct spell, even if it was too weak. But he was getting a new wand tomorrow, the first Hogsmeade visit, so no problem there. Harry was helped by Susan, Daphne and Terry, who knew the spell well. Colin and Dennis were bouncing around in excitement, having hit each other countless times. Aaron Ogden had quickly learnt the spell and joined up with the ones doing target practice, as did Demelza Robbins and Shawn Morris within another ten minutes.
Within 45 minutes, most of the group could perform the spell, with good, if not great, aim.
Wanting to end the meeting on a high note, Harry called everyone up. With their help, they cleared the benches onto one side of the chamber. With the help of the Twins, he taught everyone the paint-ball spell. Then divided them into four groups, randomly chosen to have equal yearly distribution but different house members. He choose to be the judge, this time. The teams were named Cobra, Dragon, Giant, Nundu. Shields were not permitted. The aim was to NOT get hit by the paintball spell, but the catch was that everyone would be firing together chaotically. The team with the last surviving members won.
Team Cobra defeated Team Dragon, with the Twins managing to end the resistance provided by nimble Alicia and crafty Greengrass. Team Giant's Susan and Lisa combo managed to outlast and defeat Lee Jordan and Megan Jones.
But learning from the first round, the Cobra-Dragon fight went differently. Team Giant had planned specifically for the Twins, and ended up taking them out Fred in the opening salvo with targeted attack from all quarters, while George reflexively used a shield and was disqualified. Jacob Macdonald from Hufflepuff and Tracey managed to hold fort for for a considerable time as others fell, but finally fell to Lisa, Terry and Nerissa Brody of Slytherin.
It was a good exercise, a gentle introduction to the chaos of battle. Satisfied with the first meeting, they dispersed, each house splitting into their passages, but some going to the showers to get the paint off, while others merely used Scourgify and went off to lunch.
Harry had stayed behind to seek feedback from the Founders, and found them, specially Godric, smiling with approval. Salazar looked a little sour at the relative numbers of Slytherins, even more so when Harry explained that most of them were the outcasts within the House because of blood purity reasons. The poor man was really angry at how much his teachings had been bastardized; he'd proposed taking in magical children from muggle backgrounds from their parents, not killing them!
They all had tips to give him. Ravenclaw, ever the educator, had proposed setting up assistants to deal with the third and fourth years, due to their level. It could be one of the fifth years, who would get the opportunity to revise their concepts with the simpler spells for the OWL. They also told him to set up a few materials, such as the duelling dummies currently in storage in an antechamber, a chalkboard to write his plans and spells to be taught. Harry would do it for the next class, scheduled for next Saturday, at the same time.
Helga had been pleased with his teaching methods, and had further discussed his plans for the future. She'd also been adamant that he increase the frequency. Even if that was slightly tougher due to the fact that all four houses needed an open slot at that time!
The first Hogsmeade visit was a lively affair. It was fun to be out of the castle and blow off some steam. A lot of his year-mates had gathered together as couples, but a lot of them were alone, too. His extended friend circle had decided to meet up in the Three Broomsticks for lunch, and gone their own ways. Harry had sent Neville off with Dobby after giving him the appearance- changing necklace; that way no one could spot Neville in Hogsmeade. Dobby would bring him back once he was done.
He himself went off with Kreacher to visit Sirius. The man had been acting restless for some days according to Dobby, and he needed to drive home the point about his safety to Sirius. He'd grown closer to his godfather this year and didn't want to lose him. They spent some time discussing Umbridge and her rising stature within the castle, as well as Dumbledore's weird refusal at Arthur's funeral. For all his pranking ways,
Sirius didn't want Umbridge to do something bad to Harry. He did suggest that Harry go on the offensive against the Inquisitorial Squad himself, instead of waiting and hiding. The more he allowed her a firm footing, the more she would dominate the discourse. In the long run, if the Ministry was successful in showing itself capable, fewer people would believe in Voldemort's return. After a hug and some entreaties to not do something foolish, Harry returned to Hogsmeade with Kreacher.
Neville had arrived already, and so they took their seats, which Daphne and Tracey had reserved for the group, as they'd been the first to arrive. Padma, Ernie and most of their other friends were on dates, so they were joined by Susan, Hannah, Neville and Harry. Their discussion topics were not so heavy, what with the risk of being heard by anyone. They ended up discussing pending work, Quidditch and homework, for the most part.
Harry did end up surreptitiously inquiring with a smiling Neville about his wand; the boy was beaming from ear to ear! After their lunch, he didn't wait too long, rushing off to the school well before the others…now he'd have no problems performing spells with his new unicorn-hair cherry wand with the amount of improvement he'd made his father's wand itself!
Umbridge herself hadn't showed up in Hogsmeade, but her Inquisitorial Squad was out in full swing! Specially Draco Malfoy's troupe of monkeys, who had even gotten time to approach and attempt to mock Harry. Well, the hat had wanted to put him in Slytherin, and maybe it was time to show Draco why!
By Tuesday, news about their group had begun leaking out. While the group members couldn't explicitly betray MUSE, they did ask around for potential recruits, and while that yielded a few more willing members like Parvati and Lavender (by Padma), a few more 4th years due to Colin's funny attempts at silent recruitment, and now the entire school knew that something funny was going on. Thankfully no one knew exactly MUSE was about, as none of the members had talked, but they knew it was some sort of secret group. Umbridge had panicked, as expected.
By Thursday, another educational decree had been passed saying that student organisations were disbarred and had to seek her express permission to reform. Which prompted Harry and the MUSE council to call an emergency meeting composed of at most one member per house per year. This meant they could meet much more safely due to fewer numbers.
It was disheartening to be challenged like this, but their discussion led to a few solutions. If some member of MUSE wished to stay on the side-lines this year, no problem. On the other hand, MUSE would continue operating, but the operation would be tricky.
Umbridge had said to seek her permission. It was simple, really: seek her permission. But who would bell the cat?
To convince her, they would need to prove to her that they were meeting for a purpose other than Defence.
Umbridge's weaknesses were old family British purebloods with connections in the Ministry. She would be much more tempted to give into them, instead of say someone like Harry or the Weasleys. So they split into sections. Daphne went to her with Terry, Anthony and Aaron Ogden, asking for permission for practicing Transfiguration together with members of their Houses. Umbridge relented in face of Daphne's flattery (and her father's influence in the Neutral faction). Then Susan took along with her Neville and Ernie, asking for the same in Charms. She wouldn't say no to Susan to prevent questions from Amelia, and it wasn't an unreasonable request. But unfortunately for her, she'd signed both their request forms without clearly reading the terms.
While they named the purebloods, nowhere had they specified that these would be the only people they would be practicing with! Although this would only be required in case they got caught, which wasn't very likely with the House elves on their side and the portrait guarding their room so aloof to strangers.
And hence Saturday saw them yet again practicing their spells under Harry. This time they'd improved and almost perfected, as far as possible, their disarming charm, so Harry first spent some time showing them a few basic spells he'd learnt for Triwizard preparation.
But after half an hour of preparation, he needed to teach them something different. So he asked them to do 10 pushups, showing them how to do one. Funnily enough, most couldn't do even five without falling on their stomach. Wizards relied on magic a lot, and this made them easy targets. Even though their magic protected them from harmful diseases, most of them lived sedentary lifestyles.
To be good at dodging, they needed to be physically fit. After some exercises and stretches, which were reluctantly done, he set the juniors to paired duelling under the supervision of Susan, Daphne, Terry and Lisa, and himself took the seniors to teach them some more stuff. He didn't want anyone to get bored and leave, and so needed to keep them hooked.
He'd brought out a few of the training dummies as requested by the Founders. He gave each of them one try at it, setting it to a challenging but not impossible level. They enjoyed that massively, the constant stream of targeted dummy-spells providing good practice for dodging.
They ended up discussing the Patronus charm, and he showed everyone his own, at which point all eyes turned to him again.
Similar to the first meeting, they played a paintball game again. But this time, he made only 3-member groups, taking care to put George and Fred in different groups. Like last time, most people enjoyed the smashing game.
Once they were done, the winners, Susan, Aaron and Dennis Creevey, challenged him to a game.
Well, three on one was certainly going to be a challenge. And against the best team so far, too! Angelina decided to be the arbiter for the duel.
The rest of them converged and took their seats to watch the mock-duel. Harry had shown them his advanced spell knowledge, but this would give a hint of his real capabilities. And he didn't disappoint. Although initially kept on the defensive by the paintballs sent at him by the three, he managed to snag Aaron with a quick riposte while dodging, which made it much easier for him to take down Dennis easily. Susan lasted some time, but without the option to use shields, she eventually got hit by one due to Harry's faster spells due to his silent casting.
With a request to keep working on their physical weakness, and a meeting set for the next day, they dispersed to their respective houses.
Intrigued by the communication mirror, Harry had proposed making a similar medium for MUSE members. Constraints were cost, as they needed to afford one for everyone, simplicity of use, so anyone could use it, secrecy so they wouldn't be caught, and portability so they could keep it on their person. The project was taken up by the students of Arithmancy and Runes within MUSE; both subjects dealt with spell creation, modification and assorted domains. Harry, Lisa, Terry, Susan and Ernie and Lillian had looked into the matter.
Lisa and Terry paired up to work on a charmed galleon, working on a Protean charm, capable of changing the characters on the edges and the middle of the coin, allowing for messages to be either broadcasted or passed to each individual coin holder.
Ernie and Moon came up with a simpler but no less effective idea; they charmed a piece of foil, one Ernie had obtained from Justin; (the posh boy usually bought some sweet or another wrapped in it), charmed it to be wrinkle free, and recreated a few features of the communication mirror. The fine nature of the foil meant it could be added as an additional page in a notebook, and easily camouflaged.
Harry and Susan had come up with something cool themselves. The idea was actually inspired by Draco Malfoy, of all people. See, Quidditch was popular in the Wizarding World. Quidditch fanatics were common. Something Harry had noticed at the World Cup last year were the large amount of support merchandise; badges to support one team or another, bracelets with chimes and team slogans, etc.
Another motivator for Harry were the James Bond movies, those he'd managed to watch with his abusive relatives, that is. The common theme was the number of gadgets that managed to be emulated by 007's watch; laser, magnet, communication to bomb; limitless ideas. The common theme was secret utility.
So they'd come up with a plan. A line of support bracelets for Quidditch, with the ability to charm different flags and logos onto its face. For now, the badges would publicly, when triggered, play the recorded anthem of Hogwarts.
But the bracelets had a secret utility. On pressing the wand to the face and uttering a password (unique for everyone and tied to their own identity), the bracelet would display a message. Draco had done something similar with the 'Potter Stinks' badges. Except his had been aimed more towards causing Harry problems.
The MUSE council ended up rejecting both the coins and the foil. The coins were accepted to be effective, but making a galleon made it too easy to lose or give it as payment, in which case prosecution for counterfeiting would bring down goblin outrage. The foil, on the other hand, could not be carried around easily because most students didn't use books for writing like muggleborns! That and the fact that carrying around a book everywhere would soon become cumbersome.
Once they'd finalized on using the quidditch badges, the rest teamed up to work together. The badges weren't the only type: there were bracelets, and the girls had even managed to charm a couple of pendants for them to hang onto their neck! The best part was that the badges could be worn in plain sight without anyone being the wiser! The Twins had added their own touches, and even promised to add it to their own product line: mere badges would be given away to non-MUSE members, and the MUSE members would keep using their own, with no one the wiser.
To ensure proper communication, they'd managed to etch the runes to simulate the Protean Charm onto the devices. But they'd left the connection manual, so even if a device was created, it needed to be manually connected to another to work properly. Otherwise it would just be like a normal bracelet or badge, with no clue to its real use-case.
Only problem was, the complicated nature of the devices meant you couldn't just clone them with magic. There was considerable work to be done; designing the parts with magic (reshaping existing materials), etching the runes, finalizing the charms work, adding the chosen Quidditch team logo and so on. So for now only the council members had gotten theirs. They did spend some time on it, so soon every member would have one.
The prospective new members had been interviewed and the ones deemed worthy had been allowed to join. They told the rest that they were cancelling due to Umbridge, thus retaining the secrecy without memory charms.
Harry had spoken to the Twins about Sirius's suggestions, and they'd decided to accept Sirius's challenge. Umbridge was going to be swamped with trouble soon.
AN: Went a lot longer than expected. Writing FF is difficult work, and I now have lots of respect for writers with full time jobs and multiple 200k-400k word stories.
Do review!