~20~

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As the weeks went on Umbridge became more and more controlling, not only taking magic out of Defense Against the Dark Arts, but out of other classes as well. Not only was she heartless to students, she was heartless to teachers.

“She can’t do that to Professor Trelawney,” Jasmine said quietly, before looking up at Fred. “Can she?”

“Well she is part of the ministry,” Fred said, before McGonagall pushed past them and intervened. She walked over to a still begging Trelawney, pulling her into a comforting hug. She tried to calm the crying professor, while glaring at Umbridge.

“Is there something you’d like to say dear?” Umbridge asked, in a condescending tone.

“Oh there are several things I would like to say,” McGonagall said. But before she could give Umbridge one of her famous tongue lashings, Dumbledore intervened. Dumbledore scolded Umbridge for trying to throw Trelawney out of her home.

“Minerva, could you kindly take Sybill back inside?” Dumbledore asked.

“Oh, thank you, Albus,” Trelawney said tearfully, walking back inside with McGonagall. The students watched as Dumbledore and Umbridge briefly argued, before Dumbledore snapped at everyone to get to class.

“Let’s go,” Jasmine said, walking with Fred and George. “Harry,” she said, watching Harry jog after Dumbledore, calling for him. She shook her head and walked to Snape’s class with Fred and George.

~A few weeks later~

“This sucks...I can’t believe they put that old bat in charge, and she’s favoring the Slytherin students,” Jasmine said, pacing back and forth in the Gryffindor common room. “She’s making ridiculous rules, she’s redecorating the entire school, she’s performing unfair punishments, and she won’t let us perform magic. We’re sitting ducks!”

“Jasmine stop pacing, you’re making me dizzy,” Harry said, rubbing his temples.

“I’m sorry, I’m so nervous right now,” Jasmine said, plopping down onto the floor. “We have to do something. Voldemort is out there, and we need to prepare for his attacks.”

“Yeah, but how?” Ron asked, sitting next to Fred and George.

“We need to prepare, right? So we will practice magic ourselves...we just need to find someone who’ll teach us,” Hermione said.

“Yeah, but who?” Harry asked, before looking at Jasmine, who was tapping her fingers nervously against the table in front of her. Everyone else began looking at her as well. Jasmine looked up at them and stopped tapping.

“Well if the tapping was that annoying just say something,” Jasmine said.

“Jasmine,” Hermione said.

“What?” Jasmine asked, before looking at the group, once she realized it she shot up. “No.”

“Jasmine,” Harry said.

“I don’t even know the first thing about teaching one person, let alone a whole group of people,” Jasmine said.

“You’re the only witch I know who isn’t a teacher that has the most experience with defense spells. Your father is an auror and literally taught Defenses Against the Dark Arts,” Harry said.

“I...fine. Okay I’ll do it. Only if you guys find the recruits and a place to practice,” Jasmine said.

“Done,” Hermione said. “We’ll work on it after class.”

“Okay. Let me know when you guys find something. I need to come up with a training plan while you guys are working on that,” Jasmine said.

“Okay. Thank you, Jasmine,” Harry said. “We really appreciate this.”

“Well if this gets us closer to getting this lady out of here. I’m all for it,” Jasmine said, standing up. “I’m going to class. Don’t be late.” The group nodded and went back to discussing, Fred and George listening in for a bit, before following Jasmine, walking to class with her.

~Days later~

“Huh, this seems like a good turnout,” Jasmine said, walking into the back room of the Hog’s Head Inn. She walked up to the front of the group and looked around the room. “Well, here we are. We are all here today, because we don’t like how Umbridge has changed Hogwarts. We need to defend ourselves now more than ever, and she’s basically taking all of our resources away. We are basically sitting ducks here, and I don’t know about you guys, but I will not stand for this.”

“Can you tell us what happened to Cedric that night?” Cho Chang asked.

“No, I will not talk about Cedric’s death. I don’t want to look back at that night. And if you’re here just to hear what happened that night, then you can leave now. You’re wasting precious time,” Jasmine said.

“Is it true that your dad was a Defenses Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts?” Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw student, asked softly.

“He was. He taught her everything she knows,” Harry said, standing beside Jasmine.

“He did, and he’s taught me many other defense spells since he resigned from Hogwarts,” Jasmine said.

“He’s really back, isn’t he?” another Ravenclaw student asked.

“Yes, and he’s forming an army. So we need to prepare for it, by forming our own. If you want to be a part of this, then sign up on your way out. If not, then this meeting is dead to you. You speak of it to no one. You saw nothing. We can’t risk getting caught,” Jasmine said. “Thank you for your time.” She sat down with Harry at a table, which had a signup sheet on it.

“You did good,” Harry said to her.

“You think so?” Jasmine asked, looking at him. Harry nodded and looked over at the line of students who were signing up. Everyone who attended the meeting was signing up. “Merlin’s beard,” she said, sounding surprised.

“You really spoke to them,” Hermione said.

“I did, didn’t I?” Jasmine smiled a little. She felt proud of her little accomplishment, never being one to speak in front of groups of people. ‘Maybe this won’t be so bad,’ she thought.

~Days later~

Harry hurried down the hall with Neville, Hermione, Ron, and the twins, while dragging Jasmine along.

“What is it? What is it?” Jasmine asked, trying to keep up with the group, bumping into Ron once they stopped abruptly.

“Neville found the Room of Requirement,” Hermione said.

“Well done, Neville,” Jasmine praised, patting Neville’s back.

“Thanks,” Neville said, giving a shy smile.

“Room of Requirement? What's that?” Ron asked. Hermione rolled her eyes and began explaining what the room of requirement was. “Oh, so if one were to need to use the loo...”

“Exactly,” Hermione confirmed with a disgusted look etched on her face.

“Let the others know. Our first meeting starts after class. Try to recruit more students, but keep it secret. We can’t risk getting caught,” Jasmine said, earning nods from the group. “Okay, now get to class, and try to act normal.” They nodded again and separated, heading to their classes for the day.

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