It's been a few weeks. And so far, the kids hadn't learned anything from Umbridge. Hermione was more than furious with the teacher. Although she hadn't received detention from her, she was still as upset after discovering her friends' new scar.
"We have to learn to defend ourselves!" Hermione shrieked.
"Agreed," Elijah chimed in.
"Why are you here again?" Harry asked in an annoyed tone.
It's safe to say, Harry and Elijah are not the best of friends. Harry's reason for not liking him was pure jealousy, and Elijah just treated him coldly in return. Elijah just rolled his eyes in response.
"Melody could teach us," Ron suggested.
"Very funny."
"Wait... no, he has a point. I mean, you spent a lot of last year training and learning. It could work," Hermione agreed.
"Are you sure? Something bad could happen," she replied.
"What's the worst that could happen?" Asked Ginny to no one in particular. After the room spread with 'get real' looks, Ginny replied by saying, "never mind."
"You all know how this could backfire, right?"
"Look, I'll arrange everything. You-show up," Hermione ordered.
--
Everyone was now at the Three Broomsticks with the group Hermione arranged. It was silent for a few seconds before Hermione spoke up.
"Hi. So... you all know why we're here; we need a teacher," she said. "Proper teacher," Hermione corrected. "One that's had real experience." Hermione gestured towards Melody.
"Hasn't she like... killed four people?" a student yelled out.
"That was self-defense!" Melody objected.
"Are you going to teach us to kill people like you?" The same student said.
"She said it was self-defense, genius!" Elijah intervened.
"Look, if you're here to judge me, just leave a letter," she said sarcastically. "I get plenty of them every day," she muttered.
Which was true, for the record. Over the summer, she had gotten about two hundred letters about it. And the sad fact was, she opened each letter hoping it was from Harry.
"If you'd like to join, sign here," Hermione said, quickly changing the subject.
Melody peaked over Hermione's shoulder and saw a piece of parchment labeled: "Dumbledore's army."
"Why is it Dumbledore's army?" Elijah asked.
"Got any better ideas?" Said Hermione
"McGonagall's army sounds way better. Plus, what does Dumbledore have to do with this? He quit to become a model," said Melody.
"Dumbledore gave me the idea. We have tea on Sundays sometimes," Hermione said lowly. The whole room signed the parchment. Melody breathed in a little, unsure if this was a good idea.
-
Neville found the Room of Requirement, and they decided to do the meetings there. Today was their first meeting, and Melody was very anxious about it.
As of now, Melody was attempting to teach the students how to disarm themselves, but she was a worse teacher than she thought, so Harry took over.
"Expelliarmus!" Neville called. Neville's wand went flying back. Everyone ducked their heads before the wand could hit them. "I'm hopeless," Neville said lowly. Melody just sat on a stool in the corner of the room. She felt useless.
"You're just flourishing your wand too much. Try it like this:" Harry started. "Expelliarmus!" The wand knocked out of the dummy's hand.
The next meeting, Harry was teaching the stunning spell.
"Stunning is one of the most useful spells in your arsenal," he explained. "It's sort of a wizard's bread and butter, really."
How did Harry know so much, you may ask-Professor Lupin was a professor at Hogwarts, even after he resigned, he still taught Harry a few tricks.
"So, um, come on then, Nigel!" Harry called. "Give me your best shot."
"Stupefy!" Nigel called.
Harry went flying back, almost landing in the fireplace. Haylee stifled a laugh as Harry got up.
"Not bad at all, Nigel. Well done." Ron was partnered with Hermione, everyone knew Hermione could best Ron in any situation, but they decided to test their luck.
"Don't worry. I'll go easy on you," Ron whispered.
"Thanks, Ronald," Hermione responded in a sweet-phony voice.
Ron walked to the opposite side of Hermione. Fred and George were both betting on who was going to best who. Ron raised his wand and was about to call out a spell before Hermione beat him to it.
"Stupefy!"
Ron went flying back. Ron rubbed his back and stood up. He went over to where he saw Fred and George exchanging gallons. "I let her do that," Ron said. "It's good manners, isn't it?"
Meanwhile, Hermione was giggling with her friends. Ron made an utter fool of himself. Melody didn't even know why she was attending these meetings anymore, she knew everything, and it's not like she was teaching.
"Elijah. You and me," Harry said.
For the first time in the whole meeting, Melody looked up. "You know what, I'll go," Melody announced, trying to avoid a conflict between Elijah and Harry.
"No. I'm sure Elijah doesn't mind. Right, Elijah?" Harry asked bitterly.
"I don't mind. But if this is personal, just spit it out already."
Harry ignored him and walked to the opposite side of the room. "Stupefy!"
Elijah flew back and groaned, "I take it that was personal," he joked.
Melody shot Harry a glare, to Which he responded with a smirk. "Bad day?" Harry joked. Haylee shot Harry a glare, telling him to shut up.
-
Right now, Melody and Elijah were walking side by side in the hall after the meeting. Elijah tried to find a subtle way to ask about Harry and why he hated him so much.
"Umbridge is really dictating the whole school," Elijah pointed out. The two were watching Filch hang another rule.
"I know," Melody sighed. "At least we're learning to defend ourselves."
"About that, could you maybe talk to Harry," he stammered. "I don't know why he hates me so much. Ever since I got here, he's had it out for me."
"Yeah, I'll talk to him." Melody knew she would have to at some point, but she didn't think this soon. "We should probably get to The Great Hall." McGonagall had an announcement, so she called everyone to The Great Hall. Elijah and Melody separated once they entered.
"Thank you all for gathering on such short notice," she cleared her throat. "This year, we are hosting our traditional Yule Ball. I'm sure you all know the rules so that I won't waste your time. Thank you," McGonagall dismissed.
"Wait!" The familiar voice of Dolores Umbridge shrieked. Every student either wanted to roll their eyes, or they did as they sat back down. "I just wanted to say how lovely it has been to teach all of you so far," she giggled.
McGonagall had already fired her three times, but Fudge just reinstated her. McGonagall was disgusted with the woman.
"I know a lot of students are coming up with silly stories about my punishments, but I assure you, it's all in good discipline."
"You left a fucking scar on my hand, lady!" A student called out.
"You all are dismissed," McGonagall said quickly.