The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

160. The First Meeting

Althea was utterly horrified the following morning when her friends relayed to her everything that had happened the previous night.

"She has to have been reading your mail, Harry," she said, looking pale and anxious. "He can't do that again, ever. She'll probably start monitoring the fire now too. Oh, imagine if he'd been caught."

Harry, having already exhausted the topic with Hermione and Ron during Charms while she had been talking to Neville said, "But that's not the point at the moment, I just wanted to make sure you're in the loop. You said you knew a place we could all meet for our meetings?"

"Yes," she said, instantly brightening. "I found it the third year when I was hiding from you all during Christmas break. It's called the Room of Requirement. It adjusts itself to the seeker's needs."

"Brilliant," Harry said. Frowning, he asked, "Why were you hiding from us?"

"Oh," Althea said with a small smile. "It was when you wanted to murder Sirius and I was terrified you would find out he's my cousin."

"Oh," Harry said. "That makes more sense. We just thought you were with your mum."

They spent the rest of the day spreading the news for the first meeting until at long last dinner had come and they were all sure everyone knew.

As they were eating, Harry said, "So, Thea, first lesson. What are you thinking?"

"Something critical, but simple," she replied automatically. "I was thinking disarming. Then after that perhaps stunning. That way we can ensure they know the basics before moving on to anything harder."

"I agree," Harry said. "That's what I was thinking too."

.

When they reached the Room of Requirement, Althea crossed back and forth along the wall three times while Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched her sceptically. On the third passing, however, it instantly revealed a door. When they went inside, they found a large room filled with books on one wall as well as Dark Detection Devices and a pile of cushions.

"This is brilliant," Harry said, looking around with a smile.

Harry and Althea remained standing as everyone arrived, taking a cushion and sitting down. When at last everyone had arrived, Althea answered all their questions about how she had found the room.

"Well," Harry said nervously once everyone had arrived. "This is the place Thea found to practice, and you've - er - obviously found it okay-"

"It's fantastic!" Cho exclaimed with a smile.

"It's bizarre," Fred said, frowning. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then..."

"Well, Thea and I were talking about the kind of stuff we ought to do first, and - er - What, Hermione?" Harry asked as her hand went up.

"I think we ought to elect a leader," she said.

"Harry's leader," Cho said at once, looking defensive.

"So's Althea," Neville countered.

Althea blushed, pursing her lips as she shifted her gaze to the floor, fully aware that Neville's eyes were on her.

"Yes, but I think we need to vote on it properly," Hermione explained. "It makes it formal and gives them both authority. So - everybody who thinks Harry and Thea ought to be out leaders?"

Every hand went up.

"Er - right, thanks," Harry said. "And - what, Hermione?"

"I also think we ought to have a name," she explained. "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"

"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" Angelina suggested hopefully.

Smiling in amusement, Althea said, "While I like your spirit, Johnson, it might be better to do something that doesn't give us away." After a moment's thought, she suggested, "What about the D.A. short for Dumbledore's Army?"

"I like that," Ginny said with a grin.

"All those in favour of the D.A.?" Hermione said. "That's majority. Motion passed."

"Alright," Harry said. "Would you like to explain our plan, Thea?"

"Sure," she said shyly. Clearing her throat she began in a louder, strong voice, "The most important part about magic is knowing your basics. Big and showy magic doesn't do you any good if you don't know simple spells and simple spells can be just as effective as the more complicated ones. That's why Harry and I decided to begin with the Disarming Charm."

"Oh, please," Smith scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I don't think expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

"I've used it against him," Harry said coolly. "It saved my life last June. But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave."

"Let's divide into pairs to practice," Althea suggested when it became clear Smith wasn't leaving.

Althea paired first with Neville, helping him to get the gist of the spell first before trying to disarm quicker than her.

"I DID IT!" Neville exclaimed excitedly as he caught Althea's wand. "I've never done it before. I DID IT!"

"Well done, Neville," Althea said, taking back her wand with a smile. "Go work with Ron and Hermione while I walk around for a bit."

Overall, it was a great success. By the end of the night, there was such an improvement that Althea and Harry were both beaming with pride.