The Clown and The Grim

Chapter 24

Claire sat in the Great Hall with Fred and George, the trio on the other side of the table. For weeks they had been scouring the castle looking for somewhere that they could start doing lessons. Claire had no luck finding anything in the dungeon, shockingly as she was almost certain there would be something there.

"I guess we could always use the Chamber of Secrets." Claire rested her chin on the palm of her hand as she joked, but she quickly brought the idea back as everyone glared at her unamused. "Okay, okay. Bad idea."

There was a silence for a moment before Neville ran into the Great Hall, slamming his hands on the table, and panting as he tried to catch his breath. "I've found it!"

"Found what Neville?" Harry glanced at him.

"Follow me! Come on!"

Everyone got up from the long table and chased after the excited Gryffindor, skidding to a halt as he  stopped, closing his eyes and staring at a wall.

"Neville, what are you doing? It's just a wall." Claire glanced at him, confused.

He waved his hand shushing her while he closed his eyes and paced three times in front of what seemed to be an ordinary wall. "Shh, no it'll come, hold on."

The group waited patiently, double doors finally appeared on the wall, and everyone but Neville stepped  back. "See! I told you." He pushed one of the doors, opening it as everyone quickly followed him in. The walls were covered in mirrors, making it appear as though there were several of them in the room and not just seven and a  battle dummy stood in the middle.

"Neville, I can't believe you've found it." Hermione looked over at him, as the rest of the group glanced around the room taking it all in.

"I'm sorry Hermione, but found what exactly?" Ron's mouth hung open.

"The Room of Requirement. It appears as whatever the user needs the most. I read about it in Hogwarts A History."

"Hermione, remind me to check that book out of the library." Claire walked forward slightly. She turned around, her hair whipping around with her. "So when do we start?"

Harry glanced around looking at everyone. "Now. Hermione alert everyone. Neville and Ron stand in the corridor and show everyone how to enter." Harry instructed excitedly.

Neville and Ron stood watch outside the Room of Requirement waiting for the rest of them to arrive, and one by one they entered the room. Harry stood in front of the excited group as everyone settled down, waiting patiently for him to address them.

"Right. So, first lesson. Disarming. Everyone divide up into two lines." The group quickly moved into two lines facing each other. "One of the greatest tools you can have is being able to disarm your opponent."

"Expelliarmus." Harry flicked his wand as he spoke, the wand the dummy in front was holding flying out of his hand. "Now you guys try. Disarm the person in front of you."

Claire folded her arms looking at Fred, who was standing in front of her. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Let's go snow angel." A smirk curling across his lips as he holds his wand at the ready.

Multiple disarming spells echoed around the room. "Expelliarmus!" Claire yelled as she flicked her wand Fred's wand flew out of his hand, his eyes following it up in the air and behind him before landing on the floor.

"Brilliant!" Fred smiled at her as he went to retrieve his wand, jogging back to place.

"Great job everyone!" Harry clapped. "Now the other side."

Fred stared at the girl in front of him. Claire readies her wand, nodding. "Expelliarmus!" Echoes from every way, another set of wands flying through the air.

Neville sulked as he was unable to disarm his opponent. "I'm hopeless."

Claire patted him on the back. "No you're not.  Try it with more force in your voice."

"Excellent lesson everyone! We have to make sure we enter one at a time and in intervals. We can't let Umbridge catch us, and just. Keep practicing."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The group continued to meet in secret, arming themselves with skills that were being held from them by the Ministry of Magic. Fred moved ahead of George and Claire, entering the room first. George moved to enter next, followed shortly by Claire.

The group divided themselves into two separate lines. "Today we will work on the stunning spell. One at a time, step forward. Wand up, 'stupefy'"

Ron and Hermione went first. "Don't worry. I'll go easy on ya." Ron looked at her, rubbing the back of his neck.

"One sickle." George leans over and whispers to Fred.

"You're on."

"Must you two bet on everything?" Claire leaned forward glaring at the twins.

Hermione and Ron stood silent for a moment, quickly raising her wand. "Stupify!" A bolt shoots out from the tip of her wand throwing Ron backwards. The embarrassed boy gets up, brushing his clothes off as a group of girls surround Hermione hyping her up.

Fred groaned,  passing a sickle to his brother, staring at Ron walking towards them. He stops and clears his throat. "I let her do that."

Claire folds her arms over her chest, chuckling. "Sure you did Ron."

Over the weeks Umbridge's decrees and rules filled the wall outside the Great Hall. She had instituted The Inquisitor's Squad, student's who would patrol and look out for any suspicious activities or group gathering. Malfoy and his goons were first to volunteer.

Fred and George sat in the Great Hall, Claire sitting next to Fred as usual. "I will be conducting interrogations." Umbridge's voice echoed through the castle. "Everyone will be subjected to these interrogations, whether willingly or by force."

"Is she allowed to do that?" Claire leaned forward, glaring at the twins. "She can't possibly be allowed to do that."

The twins both scowled. Fred shook his head before getting up from the table. "I don't know, but we need to get to lessons."

Claire waited a few minutes before a copy of the Daily Prophet was thrown down on the table in front of her. 'MAJOR BREAK OUT FROM AZKABAN' she read the headline. Her eyes followed down the paper reading more of the article. 'Believed to be the work of killer Sirius Black, supporters of Voldemort have escaped the maximum security facility.'

She looked up to see Adrian staring at her. "Great article in the Daily Prophet, don't you think? Ya know,  if I were a blood traitor like Weasley, I don't know if I would be happy about this." He whispered in her ear as he braced himself with one hand on the table. "What was it, huh? Did you use me to make you feel better about yourself?"

"What did you do Adrian?!" Claire growled.

Adrian chuckled. "Oh nothing." He folded his arms over his chest. "I'm sure it will make it where it needs to go. You really thought you could keep it a secret, didn't you?"

Claire quickly got up. "You couldn't just leave things alone could you?"

"You honestly think I would just let him win?" There was a small hint of satisfaction in his voice. "Fat chance. I told you you would regret it. Hope Weasley is happy with a pathetic liar."

Claire took off, sprinting to the Room of Requirement as fast as she could As she stumbled into the room, everyone was formed in a circle around Seamus who was holding a copy of the same Daily Prophet she had just seen. Slowly the group turned around, all eyes glued to the dark haired girl and her heart sank, she couldn't hide anymore. Her secret was out, and Fred looked at her as if she was nothing more than  a stranger.