The Potions Master's Daughter (Book Four)

Chapter 24

Oh gosh so sorry I haven't updated in this long, I had finals and whatnot. now they're over and I can finally update but as it is the end of the year I might have trouble finding time to update, but I'll definitely try!

People began to arrive just before and around 7 which made me pleased to see that everyone got the message. We all sat around on chairs in the middle of the room waiting for everyone to show up.

Once everyone had we awkwardly welcomed them all there then Hermione suggested, "I think we need a name, to like make us seem like a group."

"How about Dumbledore's Army?" Ginny suggested with a laugh.

Hermione nodded, "Does that sound good with everyone?" everyone nodded and murmured agreement so she nodded and said, "Well then we will be Dumbledore's Army, or the D.A. for short."

"Well let's get practicing," Harry said, "We were thinking we should perfect our disarming spells first. Granted it's basic, but it's needed for everything else. If you can't defend yourself from basic attacks you're not going to be able to do any of the other stuff."

When no one objected, not even the obnoxious boy from the Hog's Head I clapped my hands and said loudly, "Okay well then everyone partner up and begin practicing. Help each other out and we'll come around to help you too."

Everyone got up and moved the chairs to the side of the room then got into pairs to work on the spell. Hermione and Ron wanted to practice so they paired up and Neville wanted to practice so Harry went with him. Harry was pretty good at the spell already, as were some other people but practicing it in a real battle-like situation was a good idea."

I walked around and repositioned people's arms and told them to articulate better. Soon everyone was well on their way to being able to perform the spell well. Fred and George got it right away, but some others were still struggling. Cho was having a hard time but Cedric was helping her so I wasn't concerned. Her friend with the curly brown hair who's name I learned was Marietta seemed as uninterested in being here as she had the other day. The Creevey brothers, Colin and Dennis were having some trouble with the hand motions but I was confident that everyone could do this.

Soon our time was up so I called everyone back to the center and said, "Okay well I saw a lot of good work today, everyone here is well on their way to becoming very good at this spell. Okay well then we will see everyone here the same time next week I suppose, perhaps earlier if we can find time."

"Earlier yes!" someone shouted in the back.

I laughed and said, "Okay well just keep an eye on your galleon and I'll let everyone know but I think Wednesday would work too."

Everyone left in small groups with the Marauder's Map helping us to make sure no one was coming that we could get in trouble from. Neville, Hermione, Ron, Harry and I were the last ones to leave. Once back in the common room I announced I was going right to bed so I went upstairs with a sigh. This weekend had been very busy for me, I was definitely exhausted.

For the next few weeks Dumbledore's Army operated without Umbridge knowing anything. Seamus and Dean finally told me and Harry that they believed us after I got in trouble for fighting with a Slytherin about it. They told us that if we believed it that much and thought that trouble was close enough, they wanted to help, so they both joined the D.A.

Everyone improved tremendously. The meetings were sporadic, and different people would show up to different ones depending on their schedule but we made sure at least me or Harry or Hermione was at every meeting. Most of them had all of us but sometimes Harry and I would have Quidditchpractice or Hermione wanted to study for an important test. Everyone was slowly moving onto more difficult material and were taking long strides in their achievements. Everyone started to work with their partners on whatever they wanted instead of a certain thing as a group so we would just go around and help with whatever spells people wanted to do.