A Magic Stronger Than Darkness ~ Book 2: Forever & Always

Chapter 9 ~ Practice Makes Perfect

As the weeks continued to whiz on by, Harry called Dumbledore's Army together for several meetings. There were around twenty-odd members in our group now, consisting of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Fred, George, Colin Creevey, Dean Thomas, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Cho Chang, and some other Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs I was not as familiar with.

Within a short time, Umbridge had made what felt like a billion more unnecessary changes around Hogwarts. She'd been formulating new school rules and policies, interrogating students as though they were criminals, and banning everything that brought us any sort of joy. It was awful really. She even barred the Gryffindor Quidditch team from playing this season until they received her approval. Yet, it seemed as though the Slytherins could do no wrong in Umbridge's eyes. Now on the receiving end of house discrimination, I could fully understand why Draco and the other Slytherin students would get so angry about the favoritism sometimes shown toward the Gryffindors and other houses.

Speaking of Draco, he continued to be a great boyfriend through all of the craziness we were experiencing. I couldn't ask for anything more in a significant other. I'd never fallen so hard for anyone before, and I knew without a doubt that I was truly in love with the Slytherin Prince. Could he be a git to pretty much everyone else? Yes. Did he insult my friends a lot? Yes. Was the animosity between them ever going to disappear? Probably not. But he was such a different person when we were alone together. So sweet and gentle, never saying or doing anything to intentionally hurt me.

Along with all this newfound training in Dumbledore's Army, I also read up on a load of new spells. The one I yearned to try the most was a patronus charm. I had certainly heard about every spell that Harry had been teaching us during our meetings, but before the formation of Dumbledore's Army, I had never tried most of them. In fact, before now I hadn't really had the opportunity, space, or serious need to do so. Even though I was probably an amateur compared to Harry, I am proud to say that even he was impressed by the strength of my magical skills and my vast knowledge of the subject matter.

In saying that, I was definitely not the only one who'd been surprising our housemates. Several members of Dumbledore's Army were rapidly learning and getting the hang of these new defensive magic techniques. With Harry demonstrating everything for us first, even the most difficult spells appeared easy to conjure and master. Yet, one student in particular seemed to be struggling the most with trying to grasp some of the more foundational spells. Neville. My kind-hearted friend was having a hard time casting even the simplest Expelliarmus charm. Every time that he attempted the defensive spell, something would go wrong with it and he would sigh dejectedly. To me it seemed that his misfortune stemmed from his lack of self-confidence, and I felt a pang of sympathy for him whenever I noticed him falter in the midst of waving his wand.

However, when Neville began practicing the way that Harry showed him to and when he started listening to the encouragement that my friends and I were providing, my tall friend finally nailed the disarming spell. It was unbelievably satisfying to see the expression of bewilderment and pride that crossed his face as he comprehended his own accomplishment. Cheers rang out around the chamber as everyone congratulated Neville, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed Luna staring at him with quiet admiration. I smirked and glanced back at Neville, then to Luna once again. Yep they would definitely be a cute couple!

Despite the fact that I greatly enjoyed attending our meetings for Dumbledore's Army, my attention was not always entirely on Harry's lessons. I couldn't help but wish that the Slytherin Prince could be here with me and the others, sharpening his skills in defensive magic and proving to everyone else what kind of person he really was. I wished that my friends could learn to trust him as I had. Not all Slytherins were bad, certainly not my boyfriend. He could be a valuable asset to Dumbledore's Army, if given the chance...