Twisted Tales

Dumbledore's Army

Harry snatches me coming out of Charms. Tugging at the sleeve of my robes, he drags me down a nearly deserted corridor. His hair is more disheveled than usual, his eyes full of frantic excitement, "I think we've found a place. Can you meet us outside the Gryffindor common room tonight? Half-past seven."

"I – Slytherin is having Quidditch practice tonight. I promised Draco I'd go."

"I think this is a little more important that watching your pompous boyfriend fly around," Harry huffs back, an edge to his tone.

Sighing, I let my bag drop further off my shoulder, threatening to fall, "Alright."

At around seven-fifteen, I leave the Quidditch Stadium, making my way back up to the castle. Practice was pretty much winding down by then anyway, Montague pulling everyone out of the air to talk more strategy. I'm at the end of the hall leading to the Gryffindor common room when the Fat Lady's portrait swings open, Ron, Harry, and Hermione stumbling out of it.

"Hold it," As we all go to round the corner to mount the steps, Harry throws an arm up, pulling a folded bit of parchment out of his pocket. He touches the tip of his wand to the center of it, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

I peer over Harry's shoulder, curling red ink bleeds across the parchment. Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present The Maurder's Map, "Wait, Padfoot as in – "

"Yeah," Harry whispers back, now scanning over what appears to be a map of Hogwarts, little ink dots moving about the various corridors.

Curious, I lean in closer, every single person in the castle seems to be accounted for, "Does he know you have that?"

"Professor Lupin's probably told him by now," Harry answers absentmindedly, going back to examining the map. "Filch is on the second floor and Mrs. Norris is on the fourth."

"And Umbridge?" Hermione inquires anxiously, now pouncing on the balls of her feet, peering out around the corner as if Umbridge is going to be lurking there, waiting to catch us red-handed.

"In her office." Harry taps the map again, tucking it back in his pocket. "Okay, let's go."

Fifth-years are allowed to be out in the corridors until nine o'clock. Despite being well within our rights to go wandering, all four of us seem to be checking over our shoulders the whole way up to the seventh floor. I wouldn't put it past Umbridge to decide we look like we're up to no good and give us detention. Once on the right floor, Harry leads us through a couple hallways, stopping when we reach the right one. We've arrived at a corridor with a long stretch of blank wall. The opposite wall is almost completely covered by a tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy attempting to train trolls for the ballet.

As a troll's club nearly misses Barnabas's head, Harry turns to us, "Okay. Dobby said to walk past this bit of wall three times, concentrating hard on what we need."

Fighting off the feeling of looking like a complete dolt, I stride up and down the hall. Ron's got his face screwed up in concentration, Hermione's low whispers echoing up the deserted hall. I stare at my feet as I walk, silently repeating what we need. A room to practice the Dark Arts. A room to practice the Dark Arts.

"Harry," Hermione interrupts my silent chanting as I go to make a fourth pass down the hall. Where there was once just blank wall, a door now sits. It's brass doorknob sparkles in the candlelight, almost daring us to open it. With a resolute nod, Harry steps forward, pulling the door open and ushering us all inside.

The room is spacious, lit with torches in heavy brass holders along the wall. The back wall of the room is lined with bookshelves, full of titles meant to instruct a student on mastering the Dark Arts and various jinxes and spells. Stacked in a corner are dozens of silk cushions. Another secret of Hogwarts' to mark off my list; I'm pretty sure this puts me two ahead of Draco. As Hermione settles on one of the cushions with a book, there is a knock on the door. A few seconds later, a group of Gryffindors slide inside. They stare in awe at the room, spinning around in slow circles, trying to take everything in. Over the next thirty minutes, more students arrive in groups of twos and threes, all showing equal pleasure in the practice spot Harrys discovered.