enchanted • draco malfoy

Year 5: Dumbledore's Army

Felicity's POV

The next day, the four of us walked down to Hog's Head, an inn on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. "This is mad," Harry said for the millionth time, "Who'd want to be taught by me? I'm a nutter, remember?" Ron joked, "Look on the bright side: you can't be any worse than old toad face." I swatted his arm sharply, shaking my head. Harry narrowed his eyes. "Thanks, Ron," he retorted. Ron nodded, a little sheepishly. "I'm here for you, mate," he said.

"Who's supposed to be meeting us, then?" Harry asked. He sounded nervous, so I gave him a pat on the back and lied cheerfully, "Just a couple of people." We rounded the corner, and the ramshackle building came into view. "Lovely spot," Ron muttered, opening the door. A man, a bartender, by the looks of it, was chasing a goat in the back of the pub. Hermione said, "Thought it would be safer off the beaten track."

I forced a smile and tried to be positive. "Let's get on with it, shall we?"

There were already a few people gathered on the main floor of the bar, and more and more students kept flowing in, students of all years and all houses, some of which I didn't even recognize. I dragged four chairs to the front of the room and nudged Harry towards the one in the middle. Once the flow of people stopped, and everyone was staring at us expectantly, Hermione stood up, looking a little awkward.

"Um," she started, "Hi." I cringed and joined her in standing. "You all know why we're here," I stated, looking around the room. I tried to make my voice as serious as possible. "We need a teacher." Hermione chimed in, "A proper teacher." I nodded, agreeing. "One who's had experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts."

"Why?" a pale boy with blue eyes and half his head concealed under a beanie asked challengingly. "Why?" Ron scoffed, "Because You-Know-Who's back, you tosspot." I gave him a look. "Tact, Ronald," I said under my breath. "So he says," the boy said, ignoring me and motioning to Harry, who sat in silence. "So Dumbledore says," Hermione said, her voice brittle and impatient. "So Dumbledore says because he says," he responded, "The point is, where's the proof?"

A boy with shaggy black hair sitting next to Ginny spoke up. "If Potter could tell us more about how Diggory got killed..."

I dropped my pleasant facade and hissed, "Mind your own business, you rat." Ginny shot me a look and Harry just shook his head as he stood. "I'm not gonna talk about Cedric, so if that's why you're here, clear out now." He turned to Hermione and me. "Come on, guys. They're only here because they think I'm some sort of freak." He turned to leave before a distinctly dreamy voice stopped him. "Is it true you can produce a Patronus Charm?" Luna Lovegood asked, head tilted. When Harry didn't reply, I answered for him. "Yes." Next to me, Hermione vouched for Harry as well. "I've seen it," she said.

"Blimey, Harry," Dean Thomas said, "I didn't know you could do that." Beside him, my brother spoke eagerly, "A-And he killed a basilisk, with the sword in Dumbledore's office." People were murmuring now and Ginny nodded, saying, "It's true."

"And third year, he fought off about a hundred Dementors at once," Ron chipped in. It was silent, everyone now staring at Harry in awe. "Last year," Hermione said in midst of the quiet, "he really did fight off You-Know-Who, in the flesh." Harry interrupted, "Wait."

He didn't seem to know what to say before all his words came flooding out. "Look, it all sounds great when you say it like that, but the truth is, most of that was just luck. I didn't know what I was doing half the time. I nearly always had help."

I rolled my eyes and Hermione voiced my thoughts. "He's just being modest-" "No, Hermione, I'm not." He turned back to the group of teenagers assembled. "Facing this stuff in real life is not like school. In school, if you make a mistake, you can just try again tomorrow. But out there, when you're a second away from being murdered, or watching a friend die right before your eyes... You don't know what that's like."