Harry Potter and the Ritual of Love's Memory

Chapter 46

As Harry and Ginny climbed the stairs out of the Defense Chamber, he did his very best not to allow his minor frustration with their newly-collected third wheel to show on his face. The Fourth Years had shown some real promise during their first breakout session under the watchful eyes of their two leaders. Harry had been pleased to realize that several new students had been added to the group in the wake of their successful first meeting, including Slytherins.

Luna had surprised him with a few very well-cast spells while they were practicing. He wasn't entirely sure if she wasn't paying close attention to the explanations that he and Ginny gave or if she'd simply decided to cast with her own little flourishes, but it seemed to be working for her. Her shields were particularly sturdy.

When a Ravenclaw student pulled on Harry's sleeve and pointed to Demelza, who was practicing alongside Colin Creevey, all he could do was shrug. He didn't have the heart to send her away and thought she was easily better than at least some of the Fourth Years despite being a year behind.

Colin, on the other hand, was less adept with his spellwork. His shields lacked power and he had trouble casting an Expelliarmus consistently. Harry had spent several minutes going over the basics with the eager younger boy. Every tiny modicum of progress elicited such an enthusiastic excitement in Colin that Harry felt slight embarrassment at the boy's sheer earnest joy.

Once the session ended, Harry had hoped for the chamber to clear out so that he could find a more roundabout path back to Gryffindor Tower. Unfortunately for Harry and his plans, Colin waited gleefully with the two of them for everyone else to leave, energetically helping put away supplies and peppering Harry with various questions. Throughout the entire walk to the Common Room, Colin asked Harry incessantly about all manner of completely unrelated-to-Defense questions. Sometimes, he even stopped long enough for Harry to answer one of them.

Ginny was silently laughing at the spectacle as they arrived in their Common Room, where Harry quickly excused himself to catch up with Ron over a game of Chess. Harry was relieved when Colin didn't hug him as he bid them goodnight and intertwined his fingers with Ginny's as they approached Ron and Neville by the chess board that was set up next to Hermione's study area.

"I promise he won't always be that intense," said Ginny through a snicker. "He's just been really wound up since he learned that you'd be helping out with our year's sessions. He thinks you're a bit of a big deal."

"Kinda wish he didn't. I'd been thinking about swinging by the kitchens with you after we left, but that went out the window by the time we got up the stairs. Any chance you could convince him I'm just a normal bloke?"

"Not likely. I'm sure your humility and down-to-earth nature will only endear you to him more!"

Harry rolled his eyes as he plopped down next to Neville and across from Ron. "Think our session with the Fourth Years went pretty well, wouldn't you say?" Hermione left her book open but moved from the table to sit on the arm of the couch as Ginny nodded emphatically.

"Absolutely. Everyone there was at least able to produce a shield by the end of it, and some of them even held up against the Stunners we practiced. Glad Cho and Hermione gave us the warning about going over how to use Rennervate before we started using the Stupefys." She smiled at her bushy-haired friend. "Not everyone could cast it right, but having a few others to revive someone who was knocked out saved Harry and me a lot of time."

"Glad the advice helped," said Hermione brightly. "I was thinking that it might help to schedule our year's session first next time. That way the three of us can all see what works and what doesn't and then can use what we learn in the other sessions."