"So," said Hannah seriously, "I think our biggest priority needs to be to study and practice fifth year defensive spells that often come up in O.W.L.s,"
"I wholeheartedly agree with you, Hannah," said Susan seriously, "It's important to keep in perspective that we MUST pass our Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.s in order to be allowed to take Defense Against the Dark Arts at N.E.W.T. level."
"In light of Lord Voldemort's return," said Harry bluntly, "N.E.W.T. level training in Defense Against the Dark Arts is more important than ever."
"It's also worth noting," added Luna wisely, "That Defense Against the Dark Arts, much like Charms, is a subject where practice and repetition are of the utmost importance."
"Which is why, " pointed out Harry, "If we're going to achieve our goals of properly preparing ourselves and properly educating ourselves, we need to meet regularly. I'd say twice a week on Tuesday nights and Thursday nights."
"And where would we meet?" asked Susan.
"Classroom Eleven is always unused and people rarely go into the History of Magic classroom outside of class hours," pointed out Luna.
"I'd say always unused is best," piped up Hannah, "Classroom elven it is. We'll meet up from 10 P.M. until 11 P.M. on Tuesday nights and Thursday nights. Because Defense Against the Dark Arts is a subject that requires a significant amount of effort, I don't think going to ninety minutes is ideal."
"I think we have a good plan," said Harry confidently, "The question now becomes who to invite other than ourselves?"
"Personally," said Hannah honestly, "I think it might be best for just the four of us to meet in classroom eleven tonight, which is a Wednesday, to develop a feel for how these meetings are going to go. We can then stick around in the eleven o clock hour to discuss who we will invite. We could then invite people to the first full meeting on Thursday night. I will take the responsibility to function as the leader of this Defense Against the Dark Arts club, but we will only invite people who all four of us approve."
Harry, Susan, and Luna all nodded their approval to this.
"That's settled then," smiled Hannah.
"Hannah?" asked Harry, "Are you feeling better now? Susan said you missed the Welcoming Feast and the weekend because you were sick."
"I was NOT feeling well on Friday or Saturday," admitted Hannah, "I had a one hundred degree fever, had headaches, was tired, had a runny and stuffy nose, and just didn't feel well in general. I felt a LOT better on Sunday, but mom decided that she would wait until Monday to set up a portkey for me to come back to Hogwarts. Mom turned an empty Liveliness Potion bottle into a portkey that took me here to Hogwarts the nanosecond I touched it."
"I'm sorry to hear you weren't feeling well Hannah," said Harry gently, "Though you aren't showing any ill effects now."
"Thank you, Harry," said Hannah appreciatively.
Hannah then took a very deep breath and said uncomfortably, "Harry, there is something I need to say to you."
"You mean to us, or to me specifically?" Harry asked Hannah to clarify.
"To you specifically," said Hannah seriously, "Harry, I need to take this moment to apologize to you for my behavior during the Triwizard Tournament after your name came out of the Goblet of Fire. More specifically, I need to apologize to you for my wearing of the degrading Potter Stinks badge. The wearing of the badge went against everything Hufflepuff house is supposed to represent; friendship, loyalty, fairness, and respect."
"Well," said Harry slowly, "On the loyalty part, your loyalty was to Cedric and that's completely understandable. I could understand your attitude even if I didn't like it. You had your own champion to support."
"There were better ways to support Cedric than demeaning you," acknowledged Hannah, "My mom was ashamed of me when she found out that I had worn that badge."
Susan and Luna both looked on calmly, although Luna looked more surprised by the conversation Harry and Hannah were now having than Susan did.
"Hannah," said Harry graciously, "I accept your apology, and I forgive you for the transgression in question. It was very frustrating for me when so many people wouldn't believe me. But I understand that things looked fishy and I certainly why Hufflepuffs would have felt done dirty by, whether it was my fault or not. The night Cedric's name came out of the Goblet of Fire was supposed to be a joyful night for Hufflepuffs and it got soured and overshadowed when my name came out of the Goblet of Fire as well. You weren't right to wear the badge, and you may not have been right to have had the attitude you did, but under the circumstances, it's understandable and it's forgivable."
"Thank you, Harry," said Hannah softly, "I respect your ability and willingness to look at things from the other person's perspective. And I appreciate that you accepted my apology and are willing to forgive me."
Harry and Hannah shook hands and smiled at each other.
"Now," said Hannah clearly, "Returning to the topic of Defense Against the Dark Arts, I'll just say that I think this club may need to be a year long thing. I doubt we'll actually get a new teacher anytime soon. Umbitch did deserve her removal though.'
"Someone needs to look into why Dumbledore can't seem to hire and retain Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers," said Harry firmly, "The fact that we haven't the same teacher in such an important discipline of magic in back to back years in a blue moon should raise lots of red flags with regard to both Dumbledore and Fudge."
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