Poisoned Youth | ✓

26- Official D.A.

Taking out their books, Harry and Ron started to do their homework and essays while Hermione and I read up on all the different spells Harry could teach. Then later in the night, Harry, who was making very little progress with his Potions essay, decided to give it up for the night. As he put his books away, Ron, who was dozing lightly in an armchair, gave a muffled grunt, awoke, looked blearily into the fire, and said, "Sirius!"

Harry whipped around while I snapped my head to the fire; Sirius's untidy dark head was sitting in the fire again.

"Hi," he said, grinning.

"Hi," chorused Harry, Ron, Hermione, and me, all four of us kneeling down upon the hearthrug. Crookshanks purred loudly and approached the fire, trying, despite the heat, to put his face close to Sirius's.

"How're things?" said Sirius.

"Not that good," said Harry, as Hermione pulled Crookshanks back to stop him from singeing his fur. "The Ministry's forced through another decree, which means we're not allowed to have Quidditch teams—"

"— or secret Defense Against the Dark Arts groups?" said Sirius.

There was a short pause.

"How did you know about that?" I demanded.

"You want to choose your meeting places more carefully," said Sirius, grinning still more broadly. "The Hog's Head, I ask you..."

"I told you, Hermione!" I scolded.

"Well, it was better than the Three Broomsticks!" said Hermione defensively. "That's always packed with people—"

"— which means you'd have been harder to overhear," said Sirius. "You've got a lot to learn, Hermione."

"I TOLD YOU!" I narrowed my eyes at Hermione.

"Who overheard us?" Harry demanded.

"Mundungus, of course," said Sirius, and when we all looked puzzled he laughed. "He was the witch under the veil."

"That was Mundungus?" Harry said, stunned. "What was he doing in the Hog's Head?"

"What do you think he was doing?" said Sirius impatiently. "Keeping an eye on you, of course."

"I'm still being followed?" asked Harry angrily.

"Yeah, you are," said Sirius, "and just as well, isn't it, if the first thing you're going to do on your weekend off is organizing an illegal defence group."

But he looked neither angry nor worried; on the contrary, he was looking at him with distinct pride.

"Why was Dung hiding from us?" asked Ron, sounding disappointed. "We'd've liked to've seen him."

"He was banned from the Hog's Head twenty years ago," said Sirius, "Oh! Before I forget, Ron— I've sworn to pass on a message from your mother."

"Oh yeah?" said Ron, sounding apprehensive.

"She says on no account whatsoever are you to take part in an illegal secret Defense Against the Dark Arts group. She says you'll be expelled for sure and your future will be ruined. She says there will be plenty of time to learn how to defend yourself later and that you are too young to be worrying about that right now. She also" — Sirius's eyes turned to Harry, Hermione, and me— "advises Harry, Hermione, and Iverson not to proceed with the group, though she accepts that she has no authority over any of them and simply begs them to remember that she has their best interests at heart. She would have written all this to you, but if the owl had been intercepted you'd all have been in real trouble, and she can't say it for herself because she's on duty tonight."