star shopping ✰ d.m.

CHAPTER TEN

"So," Arabella began, "I'm sure we're all aware of the new staffing changes?"

Everyone said they did, except for Luna, who said, "Daddy and I don't get the Daily Prophet. Of course, we knew You-Know-Who would take over control of Hogwarts, but we didn't know Professor Snape had been made headmaster until we heard some people talking about it on the platform. Disturbing, isn't it?"

"Aye," Fraser and Duncan agreed.

"That's not all, Luna," Ginny informed the girl. "We've got new Defense Against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies teachers as well. The Carrows, brother and sister. They're Death Eaters."

"Suppose it won't be Defense Against the Dark Arts for long," Neville said.

"Muggle Studies definitely won't be what it was either," Duncan said.

"If any of those ass-wipes think I'm going to comply, they've got another thing coming," Seamus practically growled.

"Exactly," Arabella said with a grin, and then with all eyes on her, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her enchanted coin from the DA. "Do we all still have these?"

Catching on to what she was saying, the others grinned and said they did all have their own coins in their trunks somewhere.

"Arabella, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Neville questioned, a happy smile playing on his lips.

"You bet your ass I am," Arabella replied. "And just call me Bella, I know Arabella's a mouthful. Or Ari. Anything works, really. Just not Belle."

"That's a pretty nickname. Why don't you like it?" Luna asked curiously.

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just..."

"It's what Malfoy calls her," Ginny clarified impatiently.

"Oh," Luna said slowly, understanding. "It's not meant for friends, then."

As Arabella sat there blushing and unable to make eye contact with anyone, Ginny apparently thought they were wasting precious time. "Anyway," she said, "Bella and I were talking back at home, and we think it's about time we start up Dumbledore's Army again."

"I'm in," Neville said immediately.

"Me too," Luna said.

"Me three," Seamus said. Arabella was pleased to hear that he was much more enthusiastic than the last time Dumbledore's Army was formed.

"But what would we do?" Evelyn asked. "I mean, last time it was about teaching defensive spells because Umbridge wouldn't..."

"We'll still be doing that," Ginny answered. "We'll have to. You think a Death Eater is going to teach us how to defend ourselves against Death Eaters?"

"That Crouch bloke did when he was pretending to be Moody," Fraser pointed out.

"Wasn't Quirrell a Death Eater too?" Seamus added.

"Merlin's beard, how many Death Eaters did Dumbledore employ?" Duncan asked, a bit horrified. "Maybe he was a bit senile after all..."

"Don't let Harry hear you say that," Ginny said with a chuckle.

"Well, Quirrell and Crouch both had to pretend not to be Death Eaters, didn't they?" Arabella said. "Besides, Quirrell was mediocre at best. So, yeah, Ginny's right, we'll still have to teach and practice defensive magic behind the scenes, because no doubt the only magic Carrow will be teaching is Dark magic. All the while, we'll be undermining authority, just like last time, which is always fun."

"So I suppose you will be teaching us?" Fraser asked her.

"Of course! And so will Ginny, and anyone else with experience that's up to it." She looked around at Neville, Luna, and Evelyn, all of whom were nearing the end of their Hogwarts education, had been apart of the original Dumbledore's Army from the beginning, and had fought bravely at the Department of Mysteries and at the end of the previous school year when Dumbledore died. Smiles broke all three of their faces, and Arabella knew she could count on them to assist her.

"It won't just be practicing spells, though," Ginny said. "We want to help out Harry, Ron, and Hermione in any way we can. Now, I know the Gryffindor common room always has a wireless in it, but what about the others?"

"Same for Ravenclaw," Evelyn said.

"Same for Hufflepuff," Duncan said.

"Excellent," Ginny said. "I'm not sure if you all know, it's pretty new, but there's a program called Potterwatch. It reports news, the real news, not the rubbish the Daily Prophet puts out. It's like what Luna's dad is doing with The Quibbler, but in radio form and more extensive. Lee Jordan is the main host, but there are others as well. We'll need to tune into that every day, and I mean every day, because you need a password in order to tune in, and a new one is given at the end of each broadcast to be able to listen to the next."

"However, I will say, the passwords thus far have been pretty easy to guess," Arabella mentioned. "If you have any knowledge of the Order, they are, at least."

"Right, well," Ginny continued, "we want to listen to that so we can have some idea of what the three are up to, so if there's anything we can do to help them out, we can. Plus, it'll be the fastest and probably the only way we'll be able to get news of the world outside Hogwarts, seeing as sending letters back and forth is unsafe and the Daily Prophet is no longer reliable. Not that it ever fully was, but still."

"I'm sure Daddy will keep reporting whatever news he hears as well," Luna said.

"Yeah, that, too."

"And as for informing the other members of the DA of what we're doing," Arabella said, "we'll have to wait until we get to the castle; we don't know if the Death Eaters are still wandering about the train, and we don't want to be found out before we even start. With most of us being in Gryffindor, it should be fairly easy to inform the lot of them, but those of you that are in other Houses will have to help out as well."

"We'll have to do some recruiting as well," Ginny said, "seeing as a lot of our members have left school since the last time."

"And as for making Snape and the Carrows regret ever stepping foot into the castle," Arabella added on with a devious grin that made it more clear than ever that she was related to Fred and George, "our brothers and Olivia have kindly gifted us, and I think you three as well," she looked around at Evelyn, Fraser, and Duncan, "some of their products. And Fred kindly told me exactly how he and George put that swamp in the corridor two years ago that none of the teachers seemed to know how to get rid of. So... I'm sure you all know how that's going to play out."

[word count: 1131]
[written: 12/5/20]
[published: 12/5/20]
molly to bella and ginny: stay safe!
bella and ginny: we will :)
also bella and ginny: leading a rebellion