White Heather for Protection

Duelling Tactics

"Wow, sounds pretty thorough," Hadrian said, amazed.

"But what happens after that? If we have a turncoat?" Fred asked astutely.

George frowned worriedly. "Is the pain life-threatening?"

"No, if it progresses to the stage that the person passes out, all memories of the DA will be wiped from their minds upon waking."

Everyone turned silent as they stared at her. Heather firmed her lips, waiting for their reactions.

"A little harsh, isn't it?" Hadrian eventually said, putting himself out there.

"This isn't a game, Rian. Voldemort wants to wage a war. This might just be a little group formed by teenagers, but, like it or not, you are more than that to the deranged wizard. You're the Boy-Who-Lived. You need all the advantage you can get, with Voldemort gunning after you. If any of our proficiency with magic gets leaked, it would beat the element of surprise." By the end of her impassioned speech, she found herself on her feet, panting slightly.

Of all people, it was Ron Weasley who broke the silence eventually. "She's right." He sighed at his still-stunned friends and siblings. "It's like a Quidditch game, innit? All about strategy. Say Snakeface thinks Hadrian's just a little pest that needs to be crushed. He uses a fly swatter. Hadrian destroys the fly swatter, totally obliterates it. Snakey is so stunned Hadrian can get the drop over him. If You-Know-Who knew Hadrian wasn't just a fly, but a dragon with a fleet of other dragons..."

"Then he'd use all his effort to attack Hadrian," Ginny finished.

"Is that why you don't tell anyone about your wandless magic, Hadrian?" Hermione asked.

Her brother shrugged. "Actually, it's more of a habit now because of how secretive Heather is." Frowning, he looked at her. "Come to think of it, why was that? Besides the Dursleys, I mean. We didn't know Voldemort was still alive until the end of your third year."

"You'd already had so much attention on you, you didn't need more. Besides, there is never any harm in having a secret ace up your sleeve," Heather said simply.

"Slytherin," all the Gryffindors in the room muttered.

"And where would you be without me to temper your recklessness?" she asked smartly.

"By George, she's right," George exclaimed.

"Indeed she is, Fred," Fred replied.

She chuckled at their familiar antics. "Right, anyway, don't worry about Veritaserum and Legilimency either. At least, where the DA is concerned. Any other deep, dark secrets, you're on your own."

"Vera-wha and Legi-huh?" Ron mumbled.

"Truth serum and mind reading," Heather explained, cringing at the overly-simplistic descriptors. Professor Snape would likely tear into her for saying Legilimency was mere mind reading and not the intricate mental magic it was.

Nevertheless, she laughed at the scared look on Ron's face, wondering what he had to hide. On second thought, knowing what she did about puberty and adolescent boys, she was better off ignorant.

"Come on, everyone stand in a circle and repeat after me." They all shuffled into position, the parchment with the contract lying on the table in the centre. "By the way," she said perkily, "get ready to shed some blood."

The pale faces she was greeted with had her smothering cackles.

~~~

After some discussion, they had decided that each DA member would take turns to hold onto the contract and secretly get the new members to sign it. It was subtler than organising a meeting of all potential candidates, which had been their original plan.