Umbridge has been reading your mail, Harry. There's no otherexplanation."
"You think Umbridge attacked Hedwig?" he said, outraged.
"I'm almost certain of it," said Hermione grimly. "Watch your frog,it's escaping."
Harry pointed his wand at the bullfrog that had been hoppinghopefully toward the other side of the table — "Accio!"— and itzoomed gloomily back into his hand.
Charms were always one of the best lessons in which to enjoy a private chat: There was generally so much movement and activity thatthe danger of being overheard was very slight. Today, with the roomfull of croaking bullfrogs and cawing ravens, and with a heavy downpour of rain clattering and pounding against the classroom windows,Harry, Percy, Ron, and Hermione's whispered discussion about how Umbridge had nearly caught Sirius went quite unnoticed.
"I've been suspecting this ever since Filch accused you of orderingDungbombs, because it seemed such a stupid lie," Hermione whispered. "I mean, once your letter had been read, it would have been quite clear you weren't ordering them, so you wouldn't have been introuble at all — it's a bit of a feeble joke, isn't it? But then I thought,what if somebody just wanted an excuse to read your mail? Well then,it would be a perfect way for Umbridge to manage it — tip off Filch,let him do the dirty work and confiscate the letter, then either find away of stealing it from him or else demand to see it — I don't thinkFilch would object, when's he ever stuck up for a student's rights?Harry, you're squashing your frog."
Harry looked down; he was indeed squeezing his bullfrog so tightlyits eyes were popping; he replaced it hastily upon the desk.
"It was a close call last night," said Percy. "Let's hope Umbridge didn't see him. Oh shut up Silencio!"
The bullfrog on which he was practicing his Silencing Charm wasstruck dumb mid-croak and glared at him reproachfully. Percy glared at it back
If she'd caught Snuffles . . ."
"He'd probably be back in Azkaban this morning," Harry said waved hiswand without really concentrating; his bullfrog swelled like a greenballoon and emitted a high-pitched whistle.
"Silencio!" said Hermione hastily, pointing her wand at Harry'sfrog, which deflated silently before them. "Well, he mustn't do itagain, that's all. I just don't know how we're going to let him know. Wecan't send him an owl."
"I don't reckon he'll risk it again," said Ron. "He's not stupid, heknows she nearly got him. Silencio!"
The large and ugly raven in front of him let out a derisive caw.
"Silencio! SILENCIO!"
The raven cawed more loudly.
"It's the way you're moving your wand," said Hermione, watchingRon critically. "You don't want to wave it, it's more a sharp jab."
"Ravens are harder than frogs," said Ron testily.
"Fine, let's swap," said Hermione, seizing Ron's raven and replacing it with her own fat bullfrog. "Silencio!" The raven continued to openand close its sharp beak, but no sound came out.
"Very good, Miss Granger!" said Professor Flitwick's squeaky littlevoice, and Harry, Percy, Ron, and Hermione all jumped. "Now, let me seeyou try, Mr. Jackson!"
"Already done it professor" Percy replied showing his mute bullfrog. "Gosh I hate frogs," mumbled Percy.
"Excellent! Just like your mother. Mr. Weasley?"
"Wha —? Oh — oh, right," said Ron, very flustered. "Er — Silencio!"
He jabbed at the bullfrog so hard that he poked it in the eye; the frog gave a deafening croak and leaped off the desk.
It came as no surprise to any of them that Harry and Ron weregiven the additional practice of the Silencing Charm for homework.
When the four were in a noisy and overcrowded classroom on the first floor in which Peeves was floating dreamily up near the chandelier, occasionally blowing an ink pellet at the top of somebody's head. They had barely sat down when Angelina came struggling toward them through the groups of gossiping students.
"I've got permission!" she said. "To re-form the Quidditch team!"
"Excellent!" said Ron, Percy, and Harry together.
"Yeah," said Angelina, beaming. "I went to McGonagall and I think she might have appealed to Dumbledore — anyway, Umbridge had to give in. Ha! So I want you down at the pitch at seven o'clock tonight, all right, because we've got to make up time, you realize we're only three weeks away from our first match?"
She squeezed away from them, narrowly dodged an ink pellet fromPeeves, which hit a nearby first year instead, and vanished from sight. Ron's smile slipped slightly as he looked out of the window, which was now opaque with hammering rain.
"Hope this clears up . . . What's up with you, Hermione?"
She too was gazing at the window, but not as though she really saw it. Her eyes were unfocused and there was a frown on her face.
"Just thinking . . ." she said, still frowning at the rain-washed window
"About Siri . . . Snuffles?" said Harry.
"No . . . not exactly . . ." said Hermione slowly. "More . . . wondering . . . I suppose we're doing the right thing . . . I think . . . aren't?
Harry and Ron looked at each other. Percy was eyeing her.
"Well, that clears that up," said Ron. "It would've been really annoying if you hadn't explained yourself properly."
Hermione looked at him as though she had only just realized he was there." I was just wondering," she said, her voice stronger now, "whether we're doing the right thing, starting this Defense Against the DarkArts group."
"What!" said Harry and Ron together.
"Hermione this was your idea!" said Percy indignantly.
"I know," said Hermione, twisting her fingers together. "But after talking to Snuffles . . ."
"But he's all for it!" said Harry.
"Yes," said Hermione, staring at the window again. "Yes, that what made me think maybe it wasn't a good idea after all. . . ."
Peeves floated over them on his stomach, peashooter at the ready; automatically all three of them lifted their bags to cover their heads until he had passed.
"Let's get this straight," said Harry angrily, as they put their bags back on the floor, "Sirius agrees with us, so you don't think we should do it anymore?"Hermione looked tense and rather miserable. Now starting at her own hands she said,
"Do you honestly trust his judgment?"
"Yes, I do!" said Harry at once. "He's always given us great advice!"
Percy snorted. Harry and Ron looked at him. Percy raised his hands. "No offense, but that's like asking Fred and George on how to pass your N.E.W.T.s. Seriously, Harry, he is and still is a trouble maker. Look what happened in your third year! Barging in your dorm at midnight."
An ink pellet whizzed past them, striking Katie Bell squarely in the ear. Percy snickered but stopped when Katie glared at him.
it was a few moments before Hermione spoke again and it sounded as though she was choosing her words very carefully
"You don't think he has become . . . sort of . . . reckless . . . since he's been cooped up in Grimmauld Place? You don't think he's . . .kind of . . . living through us?"
"What d'you mean, 'living through us'?" Harry retorted.
"I mean . . . well, I think he'd love to be forming secret defense societies right under the nose of someone from the Ministry. . . . I think he's really frustrated at how little he can do where he is . . . soI think he's keen to kind of . . . egg us on."
Ron looked utterly perplexed." Sirius is right," he said, "you do sound just like my mother."
Hermione bit her lip and did not answer. The bell rang just as Peeves swooped down upon Katie and emptied an entire ink bottle over her head and Percy couldn't control his laughter this time.
The weather did not improve as the day wore on, so that at seven o'clock that evening, when Percy, Harry, and Ron went down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, they were soaked through within minutes, their feet slipping and sliding on the sodden grass. To make it worse, Percy couldn't use his powers. The sky was a deep, thundery grey. This means that either Zeus is in a bad mood or he's going to kill him with a lightning bolt. When they entered the changing rooms, they found Fred and George debating whether to use one of their own Skiving Snack boxes to get out of flying.
"— But I bet she'd know what we'd done," Fred said out of the corner of his mouth. "If only I hadn't offered to sell her some PukingPastilles yesterday —"
"We could try the Fever Fudge," George muttered, "no one's seen that yet —"
"Does it work?" inquired Ron hopefully, as the rain on the roof intensified and the wind howled around the building.
"Well, yeah," said Fred, "your temperature go right up —"
"— but you get these massive pus-filled boils too," said George, "and we haven't worked out how to get rid of them yet."
"I can't see any boils," said Ron, staring at the twins.
"No, well, you wouldn't," said Fred darkly, "they're not in a place we generally display to the public —"
"— but they make sitting on a broom a right pain in the —"
"All right, everyone, listen up," said Angelina loudly, emerging from the Captain's office. "I know it's not ideal weather, but there's a good chance we'll be playing Slytherin in conditions like this so it's a good idea to work out how we're going to cope with them. Harry, didn't you do something to your glasses to stop the rain fogging them up when we played Hufflepuff in that storm?"
"Hermione did it," said Harry. He pulled out his wand, tapped his glasses, and said, "Impervius!"
"I think we all ought to try that," said Angelina. "If we could just keep the rain off our faces it would really help visibility — all together, come on — Impervius! Okay. Let's go."
Percy put on his goggles, shouldered their brooms, and followed Angelina out of the changing rooms.
They squelched through the deepening mud to the middle of the pitch; visibility was still very poor even with the Impervius Charm; the light was fading fast and curtains of rain were sweeping the grounds.
"All right, on my whistle," shouted Angelina.
Percy kicked off from the ground, spraying mud in all directions, and shot upward, the wind pulling him slightly off course. He had no idea how he was going to see the quaffle in this weather; not to mention his teammates and the goalposts.
Angelina kept them at it for nearly an hour before conceding defeat. She led her sodden and disgruntled team back into the changing rooms, insisting that the practice had not been a waste of time, though without any real conviction in her voice. Fred and George were looking particularly annoyed; both were bandy-legged and winced with every movement
"I think a few of mine have ruptured," said Fred in a hollow voice.
"Mine haven't," said George, wincing. "They're throbbing like mad. . . feel bigger if anything . . ."
"OUCH!" said Harry.
"What's up?" said several voices including Percy.
"Nothing," he muttered, "I — poked myself in the eye, that's. . . ."But he gave Percy and Ron significant looks and the three of them hung back as the rest of the team filed back outside, muffled in their cloaks, their hats pulled low over their ears.
"What happened?" said Ron, the moment that Alicia had disappeared through the door.
"Was it your scar?" Percy asked.
Harry nodded.
"But . . ." Looking scared, Ron strode across to the window and stared out into the rain, "Hehe can't be near us now, can he?"
"No," Harry muttered, sinking onto a bench and rubbing his forehead. "He's probably miles away. It hurt because . . . he's . . .angry."
"Did you see him?" said Ron, looking horrified. "Did you . . . get a vision or something?"
"Or was he talking to you," Percy added?
Harry sat quite still, staring at his feet
"He wants something done, and it's not happening fast enough," he said.
"But . . . how do you know?" said Ron. Harry shook his head and covered his eyes with his hands, pressing down upon them with his palms
"Is this what it was about last time?" said Ron in a hushed voice."When your scar hurt in Umbridge's office? You-Know-Who was angry?"
Harry shook his head.
"What is it, then?" Percy said softly.
"Last time, it was because he was pleased," he said. "Really pleased. He thought . . . something good was going to happen. And the night before we came back to Hogwarts . . .He was furious. . . ."
Percy stared at him.
"You could take over from Trelawney, mate," he said in an awed voice.
"Bad idea," said Percy.
"I'm not making prophecies," said Harry.
"No, you know what you're doing?" Ron said, sounding both scared and impressed. "Harry, you're reading You-Know-Who's mind. . . ."
"No," said Harry, shaking his head. "It's more like . . . his mood, I suppose. I'm just getting flashes of what mood he's in. . . . Dumbledore said something like this was happening last year. . . . He said that when Voldemort was near me, or when he was feeling hatred, I could tell. Well, now I'm feeling it when he's pleased too. . . ."
There was a pause. The wind and rain lashed at the building.
"You've got to tell someone," said Ron.
"I told Sirius last time."
"Well, tell him about this time!"
"Bad idea Ron," Percy said. "Umbridge is watching the owls and the fires, remember?"Well then, Dumbledore —"
"I've just told you, he already knows," said Harry shortly, getting to his feet, taking his cloak off his peg, and swinging it around himself.
"There's no point telling him again."Ron and Percy fastened their own cloaks,
"Dumbledore'd want to know," Ron said.
Harry shrugged."C'mon . . . we've still got Silencing Charms to practice . . ."
They hurried back through the dark grounds, sliding and stumbling up the muddy lawns.
"Mimbulus mimbletonia," said Ron, and he Percy and Hary clambered through the portrait hole into the common room
It appeared that Hermione had gone to bed early, leaving Crookshanks curled in a nearby chair and an assortment of knobbly, knitted elf hats lying on a table by the fire. Percy plopped down on the couch and lied next to the warm fire. It reminded him of Hestia's hearth. Warm and peaceful.
"Harry Potter, sir!"He awoke with a start.
The candles had all been extinguished in the common room, but something was moving close by.
"Whozair?" said Harry, sitting upright in his chair. The fire was almost extinguished, the room very dark. Percy took out his wand.
"Dobby has your owl, sir!" said a squeaky voice.
"Dobby?" said Harry thickly, peering through the gloom toward the source of the voice.
Dobby the house-elf was standing beside the table on which Hermione had left her half a dozen knitted hats. His large, pointed ears were now sticking out from beneath what looked like all the hats that Hermione had ever knitted; he was wearing one on top of the other so that his head seemed elongated by two or three feet, and on the very topmost bobble sat Hedwig, hooting serenely and obviously cured.
"Dobby volunteered to return Harry Potter's owl!" said the elf squeakily, with a look of positive adoration on his face. "ProfessorGrubbly-Plank says she is all well now, sir!"
He sank into a deep bow so that his nose brushed the surface of the hearthrug. Hedwig gave an indignant hoot and fluttered onto the arm of Harry's chair.
"Thanks, Dobby!" said Harry, stroking Hedwig's head and
"Er . . . have you been taking all the clothes Hermione's been leaving out?" Percy asked.
"Oh no, sir," said Dobby happily, "Dobby has been taking some forWinky too, sir."
"Yeah, how is Winky?" asked Harry.
Dobby's ears drooped.
"Winky is still drinking lots, sir," he said sadly, his enormous round green eyes, large as tennis balls, downcast. "She still does not care for clothes, Harry Potter. Nor do the other house-elves. None of them will clean Gryffindor Tower any more, not with the hats and socks hidden everywhere, they find them insulting, sir. Dobby does it all by themselves, sir, but Dobby does not mind, sir, for he always hopes to meet Harry Potter tonight, sir, he has got his wish!" Dobby sank into a deep bow again.
"But Harry Potter does not seem happy," Dobby went on, straightening up again and looking timidly at Harry."Dobby heard him muttering in his sleep. Was Harry Potter having bad dreams?"
That caught Percy's attention. "Was he now?" He said staring at Harry.
"Not really bad," said Harry, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "I've had worse."
The elf surveyed Harry out of his vast, orblike eyes. Then he said very seriously, his ears drooping, "Dobby wishes he could help HarryPotter, for Harry Potter, set Dobby free and Dobby is much, much happier now. . . ."
Harry smiled.
"You can't help me, Dobby, but thanks for the offer. . . ."
He bent and picked up his Potions book. "Come on Perce..."
But Percy's mind sparked a brilliant idea.
"Wait a moment — there is something you can do for Harry, Dobby," said Percy slowly.
The elf looked around, beaming.
"Name it, for Harry Potter, sir!"
"We need to find a place where twenty-nine people can practice Defense Against the Dark Arts without being discovered by any of the teachers. Especially," Percy saw Harry clench his hand on the book, so that the scars shone pearly white, "Umbridge."
"Dobby knows the perfect place, sir!" he said happily. "Dobby heard tell of it from the other house-elves when he came to Hogwarts, sir. It is known by us as the Come and Go Room, sir, or else as the Room of Requirement!"
"Why?" said Harry curiously.
"Because it is a room that a person can only enter," said Dobby seriously, "when they have real need of it. Sometimes it is there, and sometimes it is not, but when it appears, it is always equipped for the seeker's needs. Dobby has used it, sir," said the elf, dropping his voice and looking guilty, "when Winky has been very drunk. He has hidden her in the Room of Requirement and he has found antidotes to butterbeer there, and a nice elf-sized bed to settle her on while shesleeps it off, sir. . . . And Dobby knows Mr. Filch has found extra cleaning materials there when he has run short, sir, and —"
"— and if you really needed a bathroom," said Harry, suddenly remembering something Dumbledore had said at the Yule Ball the previous Christmas, "would it fill itself with chamber pots?"
"Even better," Percy said grinning. "An arena full of equipment and spells for us to train and learn."
"Dobby expects so, sir," said Dobby, nodding earnestly. "It is a most amazing room, sir."
Bot black haired boys looked at each other
"How many people know about it?" said Harry, sitting up straighter in his chair.
"Very few, sir. Most people stumble across it when they need it, sir, but often they never find it again, for they do not know that it is always there waiting to be called into service, sir."
"It sounds brilliant," said Harry, his heart racing. "It sounds perfect, Dobby. When can you show me where it is?"
"Anytime, Harry Potter, sir," said Dobby, looking delighted at Harry's enthusiasm. "We could go now if you like!"
He turned towards Percy who shook his head. It was too dark after all, very late, both boys are exhausted, and had Harry had Snape's essay to finish.
"Not tonight, Dobby," said Harry reluctantly, sinking back into his chair. "This is really important. . . . I don't want to blow it, it'll need proper planning. . . . Listen, can you just tell me exactly where this room of Requirement is and how to get in there?"
Percy woke up early, much more early than usual. After dinner, he took his invisibility cap and went to the mysterious room. He knew that they would meet at eight pm but he could now safely train his swordplay. True there was the forbidden forest, but he was worried whether Hagrid or those spiders would come. He
Percy was now standing right in front of the entrance that Dobby had described to Harry and Percy. A stretch of blank wall opposite an enormous tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy's foolish attempt to train trolls for the ballet.
"Okay," he said to himself. He walked past it three times, thinking about what he needs.
One
Two
Three
A polished door had appeared in the wall. Percy hurried inside it. Behind him, the door began to shrink and continued until it was no longer visible. The room was large and spacious lit with flickering torches. It reminded Percy of Camp Halfblood. In fact, it looked like camp halfbloodThere was an archery range (not that he needs it, he's terrible at it.) a mini canoe lake, Zeus fist (he's going to call it Poop Pile), the lava wall, and the sword fighting arena, an amphitheater filled with straw dummies with Greek armor scattered around. On one of the walls was a flask filled with nectar, a bar of ambrosia, and a first aid kit.
And so, he got to work. He uncapped Riptide and his trustee bronze sword appeared. He went to the nearest one and then to the other. He slashed the dummies' heads right off, stabbing through their straw-stuffed guts, and even dived and chopped their legs.
His expression was so intense that his life might've really been in danger and the speed was so great that he looked like he was dancing. By the time he was done, he had disemboweled over two dozens dummies reducing them to a pile of straw and armor. Some were headless, while the others had missing legs or limbs.
By the time he was done, it was seven. He took a dip in the lake, dried himself up, and went outside waiting for the others. When he exited, the door shrunk and disappeared.
He waited outside whistling and Percy saw the trio come. They were rather surprised at seeing the fifth year.
"You're early," Hermione said
Percy shrugged. "I was... practicing." he clapped his hands. "Okay, walk past this bit of wall three times, and concentrate hard on what we need. Got it?"
They nodded, turning sharply at the window just beyond the blank stretch of wall, then at the man-size vase on its other side. Ron had screwed up his eyes in concentration, Hermione was whispering something under her breath, Harry's fists were clenched as he stared ahead of him.
"Harry," said Hermione sharply, as they wheeled around after their third walk past.
The same polished door that Percy saw had appeared in the wall. Ron was staring at it, looking slightly wary. Harry reached out, seized the brass handle, pulled open the door, and led the way into a spacious room lit with flickering torches like those that illuminated the dungeons eight floors below.
But it didn't look like Camp Halfblood. It looked much different.
The walls were lined with wooden bookcases, and instead of the grassy floor, there were large silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors, and a large cracked Foe-Glass.
"These will be good when we're practicing Stunning," said Ronenthusiastically, prodding one of the cushions with his foot." And just look at these books!" said Hermione excitedly, running a finger along the spines of the large leather-bound tomes. "A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions . . . The Dark Arts Outsmarted . . . Self-Defensive Spellwork . . . wow . . ." She looked around at Harry, her face glowing, and he saw that the presence of hundreds of books had finally convinced Hermione that what they were doing was right. "Harry, this is wonderful, there's everything we need here!"
And without further ado, she slid Jinxes for the Jinxed from its shelf, sank onto the nearest cushion, and began to read.
There was a gentle knock on the door. Percy looked around; Ginny, Neville, Lavender, Parvati, and Dean had arrived.
"Whoa," said Dean, staring around, impressed. "What is this place?"
Harry began to explain, but before he had finished more people had arrived, and he had to start all over again. By the time eight o'clock arrived, every cushion was occupied. Harry moved across to the door and turned the key protruding from the lock; it clicked in a satisfyingly loud way and everybody fell silent, looking at him. Hermione carefully marked her page of Jinxes for the Jinxed and set the book aside
"Well," said Harry, slightly nervously. "This is the place we've found for practices, and you've — er — obviously found it okay —"
"It's fantastic!" said Cho, and several people murmured their agreement.
"It's bizarre," said Fred, frowning around at it. "We once hid fromFilch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then. . . ."
"Hey, Harry, what's this stuff?" asked Dean from the rear of the room, indicating the Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass.
"Dark Detectors," said Harry, stepping between the cushions to reach them. "Basically they all show when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you don't want to rely on them too much, they can be fooled. . . ."
He gazed for a moment into the cracked Foe-Glass;
"Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do firsthand — er —" He noticed a raised hand. "What, Hermione?"
"I think we ought to elect a leader," said Hermione.
"Harry's leader," said Cho at once, looking at Hermione as though she was mad.
"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly," said Hermione, unperturbed. "It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So —everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?"Everybody put up their hands, even Zacharias Smith, though he did it very half-heartedly.
"Er — right, thanks," said Harry, his face red."And — what, Hermione?"
"I also think we ought to have a name," she said brightly, her hands still in the air. "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"
"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" said Angelina hopefully
"Or the Ministry of Magic Are Morons Group?" suggested Fred.
"I was thinking," said Hermione, frowning at Fred, "more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings."
"The Defense Association?" said Cho. "The D.A. for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?"
"Yeah, the D.A.'s good," said Ginny. "Only let's make it stand forDumbledore's Army because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"
There was a good deal of appreciative murmuring and laughter at this. Although Percy seemed worried. If they get caught, Dumbledore would get a one-way ticket to Azkaban.
"All in favor of the D.A.?" said Hermione bossily, kneeling up on her cushion to count. "That's a majority — motion passed!"
She pinned the piece of paper with all of their names on it on the wall and wrote DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY across the top in large letters.
"Right," said Harry, when she had sat down again, "shall we get practicing then? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic butI've found it really useful —"
"Oh please," said Zacharias Smith, rolling his eyes and folding his arms. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"
"I've used it against him," said Harry quietly. "It saved my life last June."Smith opened his mouth stupidly. The rest of the room was very quiet.
"But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave," Harry said.
Smith did not move. Nor did anybody else.
"That'll shut him up," Percy whispered to Hermione who was trying not to smile.
"Okay," said Harry, his mouth slightly drier than usual with all those eyes upon him, "I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practice."
.Everybody got to their feet at once and divided up. Neville was partnered with Percy.
"Right — on the count of three, then — one, two, three —"
The room was suddenly full of shouts of "Expelliarmus!": Wandsflew in all directions, missed spells hit books on shelves, and sent them flying into the air. Percy's spell was exceptionally powerful because his Disarming Charm sent Neville off his feet. Percy summoned it non verbally and gave it to its owner.
"Expelliarmus!" said Neville, and Percy caught unawares, felt his wand fly out of his hand.
"I DID IT!" said Neville gleefully. "I've never done it before — I DID IT!"
Percy chuckled. Neville reminded him of a ten-year-old Nico. "Good job Neville, but in a real duel situation, your opponent is unlikely to be staring in the opposite direction with his wand held loosely at his side."
Neville blushed but nodded.
"Alright. Let's start over." And they dueled again.
After a while, Neville seemed to improve. His disarming spell was getting stronger by the second.
"Okay, stop!" Harry shouted. "Stop! STOP !"
"That wasn't bad," said Harry, "but there's definite room for improvement." Zacharias Smith glared at him. "Let's try again. . . ."
Harry moved around the room. This time, Neville would try to disarm it while Percy blocked it. Most of them were blocked or rebounded but finally, he broke Percy's shield and disarmed him.
"Good job Neville," he said patting his back. Neville was left speechless. Not many people complimented him.
"Hey, Harry," Hermione called, "have you checked the time?"
Percy checked his time. It was ten past nine. They have been shouting spells for more than an hour. They needed to get back to their common rooms immediately or risk being caught and punished by Filch for being out-of-bound. Harry blew his whistle; everybody stopped shouting, "Expelliarmus!" and the last couple of wands clattered to the floor.
"Well, that was pretty good," said Harry, "but we've overrun, we'd better leave it here. Same time, same place next week?"
"Sooner!" said Dean Thomas eagerly and many people nodded in agreement.
Angelina, however, said quickly, "The Quidditch season's about to start, we need team practices too!"
"Let's say next Wednesday night, then," said Harry, "and we can decide on additional meetings then. . . . Come on, we'd better get going. . . ."
Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map again and checked it carefully for signs of teachers on the seventh floor. He let them all leave in threes and fours, watching their tiny dots anxiously to see that they returned safely to their dormitories
"That was really, really good, Harry," said Hermione, when finally it was just her, Percy, Harry, and Ron left.
"Yeah, it was!" said Ron enthusiastically, as they slipped out of the door and watched it melt back into the stone behind them. "Did you see me disarm Hermione, Harry?"
"Only once," said Hermione, stung. "I got you loads more than you got me —"
"I did not only get you once, I got you at least three times —"
"Well, if you're counting the one where you tripped over your own feet and knocked the wind out of my hand —"
They argued all the way back to the common room with Percy laughing.
