Raise Hell → Harry Potter

053. Sign up for the Army Today!

"Well . . . erm . . . well, you know why you're here. Erm . . . well, Harry here had the idea — I mean I had the idea — that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts — and I mean, really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us" Hermione began to find her footing, speaking more clearly to the group, "because nobody could call that Defense Against the Dark Arts"

"Hear, hear," Anthony Goldstein cut through.

"Well, I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands. And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just theory but the real spells -"

"You want to pass your Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. too, though, I bet?" Michael Corner, who was Tracey's newest boyfriend, asked. 

"Of course I do, but I want more than that. I want to be properly trained in Defense because . . . because . . ." Hermione paused, almost fearfully, before continuing, "Because Lord Voldemort's back."

Frankie almost snorted, surprised the name was hard for even a muggle-born like Hermione to say. Frankie had never had a problem with the name, mostly because she'd never learnt about him growing up. Most muggle-borns were similar to Frankie, freaking out their friends by casually saying Voldemort's name because they would forget how scary it was. However, first-year Hermione knew more about the magical world than some half-bloods, so it shouldn't have surprised her if Hermione had accidentally scared herself by reading about him at eleven. 

"Well . . . that's the plan anyway. If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to —"

"Where's the proof You-Know-Who's back?" Zacharias Smith, a Hufflepuff from their year, asks. 

"Because it's true, Smith," 

Frankie turned towards the door, seeing Theo standing there with a scowl on his face. Grinning, she waved him over. 

"You believe that rubbish, Nott?" Smith sneered, watching as Theo stalked past him, "Wouldn't expect you to believe Dumbledore so blindly,"

"I believe the truth, jackass," Theo spat, sitting on the other side of Daphne, who immediately began trying to calm him down. 

Theo and Zacharias had never gotten along, and the hatred seemed to have started far before their first year, as Frankie could vividly remember the two having a shouting match on their first train ride to Hogwarts. 

"I just don't think it makes sense for us to trust just one person's account," Smith pointed out arrogantly, "we've got the right to know exactly what makes him say You-Know-Who's back,"

"You came," Frankie whispered to Theo, not taking her eyes off the front. 

"Yeah, don't bring it up," Theo muttered, chugging her butterbeer.

"Look," Hermione intervened, wanting to bring control back, "that's really not what this meeting was supposed to be about —"

"It's okay, Hermione," Harry said, finally speaking up for himself. Frankie grinned at the change of pace, thankful the meeting finally got interesting, "What makes me say You-Know-Who's back? I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him, you don't believe me, and I'm not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone."

Frankie nodded proudly at Harry, who nodded back at her with confidence. 

"All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Diggory got killed by You-Know-Who and that you brought Diggory's body back to Hogwarts. He didn't give us details, he didn't tell us exactly how Diggory got murdered, I think we'd all like to know,"