"He's really out there, isn't he?" Hermione said to Harry and Ron once Sirius had gone. "We've got to learn to defend ourselves. And if Umbridge refuses to teach us how, we need someone who will." She turned to Harry and Ron with the perfect idea...but neither of them would ever accept it. She knew that there was only one person in the whole school that would be good enough to teach a large group of their friends, but he wasn't in that group himself. So she went for the next best wizard.
"This is mad!" Harry exclaimed as they walked through Hogsmeade. "Who'd want to be taught by me?"
Hermione knew that Harry was almost as good as her first choice, and if that first choice wasn't available, as Hermione had planned to ask later, then Harry would surely make a wonderful instructor.
"I'm a nutter, remember?" Harry kept saying.
"Look on the bright side," Ron said, trying to support Harry, "you can't be any worse than old toad-face."
"Thanks, Ron," Harry sarcastically replied as Hermione mentally agreed with Ron's name for Umbridge.
"I'm here for you, mate," Ron said.
"Who's supposed to be meeting us, then?" Harry asked.
"Just a couple of people," Hermione replied. It was definitely way more than a couple of people, but she was afraid that Harry would run away if she told him that.
The three of them entered a small, desolate pub.
"Lovely place," Ron commented, his eyes scanning the cobwebs and the filthy floors.
"I thought it would be safer to meet somewhere off the beaten track," Hermione responded.
The three off them dragged chairs up to the front of the room as more people piled in.
"I thought you said we were meeting a couple of people," Harry whispered to Hermione.
She said nothing as all of their friends across the houses of Hogwarts, except for Slytherin, came into the pub. Fred had the same remark about the pub as his youngest brother had moments ago.
Once everyone had been seated, Hermione stood up.
"Um, hi," she started awkwardly. "So, you all know why we're here. We need a teacher--a proper teacher. "One who's had real experience in defending himself against the dark arts."
"Why?" a Hufflepuff named Zacharias Smith asked.
"Why? Because You-Know-Who's back, you tosspot!" Ron yelled at him.
"So he says."
"So Dumbledore says," Hermione defended.
"So Dumbledore says because he says. The point is, where's the proof? If Potter could tell us more about how Diggory got killed-"
"I'm not here to talk about Cedric, so if that's why you're here, clear out!" Harry stated firmly as he, too, rose from his seat." Turning to Hermione, he said, "Come on, Hermione, let's go. They're only here because they think I'm some sort of freak."
"Is it true you can produce a Patronus charm?"
Everyone turned to face Luna as Hermione mouthed "Thank you" to the fourth year.
"Yes," Hermione answered for him. "I've seen it."
"Blimey, Harry, I didn't know you could do that," Dean said.
"And he killed a basilisk in the chamber of secrets!" Neville pointed out.
"That wasn't m-" Harry started but he was cut off.
YOU ARE READING
Draco Malfoy and The Order of the Phoenix (BOOK 5 of 7)
Fanfiction*FULL SERIES COMPLETE* This is book 5 of the Draco Malfoy Series. I highly recommend that you read the first four before this one. Things get awkward when Voldemort decides to reside with the Malfoys. Thanks to Merlin, Draco's lessons with Snape are...
