Harry Potter and the Book of Shadows

Small Changes

On their way to Hagrid's for their morning Care of Magical Creatures class, Harry and Ron made a quick stop to collect their brooms, Hermione resigned to using one of the ancient school brooms. As they neared Hagrid's hut, Ron, urged by a less-than-gentle nudge by Hermione, brought up Harry's early departure that morning. They'd been surprised to find him halfway through a bowl of oatmeal by the time they arrived.

Ron cleared his throat. "So...got an early start this morning, huh?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered, "Smooth, Ron."

"Dumbledore wanted to see me about the Hogsmeade attack." Harry almost frowned at the not-quite-lie. He was getting too good at this.

Hermione did frown. "He wanted to see you that early?"

Harry was saved from responding by the fact they'd arrived at Hagrid's, obviously one of the last groups of students. Hermione's sharp eyes immediately sought out the location of Malfoy and his cronies. Ron followed her look and exchanged glaring sneers with Draco.

Harry, knowing the school was still talking about Malfoy's 'disappearing act', wondered if the reason he seemed especially hateful was that he couldn't bring up anything that had happened on Halloween without someone laughing about his little episode. Having one of his favorite pastimes, taunting Harry, replaced by his own humiliation was surely pricking at his already volatile temper. He made a mental note to thank the twins for the unexpected side effect of diverting all the gossip away from him.

As the last of the stragglers arrived, Hagrid addressed the class, "Well, Free here'll probably be leavin' sometime soon, so I thought this class we'd take a last look at some of the behaviors we've talked about and if he's willin', maybe Free'll show yeh a bit of what he can do in the air." They looked past him to the paddock to see Persephone, already astride an obviously eager to be out Free. She seemed to be using a good deal of effort to keep him in one place.

"All righ', get on yer brooms and when he takes off, yeh can try to follow. Don' get in his way, not that yeh'll be able to keep up," Hagrid chuckled. He spotted Draco and his expression hardened a bit. "And don' try any funny stuff. Yeh hurt him and Persephone won' be the only one yeh'll have to answer to. Righ'. So, off with yeh!"

As soon as Hagrid was out of the way, Free and Persephone took off though the gate. Free galloped along the ground as Harry and Draco, on the fastest brooms, nearly caught up. With one powerful wing beat, Free took off in flight, easily outdistancing them both. Almost like chasing the Snitch, Draco and Harry tried to outmaneuver each other to get closer. The rest of the class was a good distance behind, realizing they couldn't keep up and only trying to stay within sight of Harry, Draco, and Free.

Harry looked toward Free when he whinnied, sharply changing direction and heading back towards the forest. Harry's Firebolt, having a tighter turning radius than Malfoy's Nimbus 2001, wheeled around to follow, leaving Draco to make a wider turn and fall behind. Persephone glanced behind her, and slowed Free's breakneck speed. Urging his broom faster, Harry managed to come up alongside them.

She grinned wickedly at him as Free cantered in the air, snorting his frustration at being held back. "Wanna race?" she called over the rush of wind.

Harry looked over his shoulder. Draco was quickly catching up, though the rest of the class was still trailing behind. Forgetting his concerns in the excitement of the chase, Harry grinned back. "To where?"

"Over the forest, 'round the castle and back to the paddock. See you when you get there!" She laughed and Free took off at top speed, soaring over the treetops.

Harry leaned far forward and they raced past the Great Hall windows and over the greenhouses. While Harry was never far behind, he quickly began to doubt his ability to overtake them. It's a good thing I didn't let Ron try to follow yesterday, he thought. As they passed the Astronomy tower, Harry saw a few windows had faces peering out. Risking a glance behind him, he saw Draco had almost caught up, hardly more than a broom length behind. Luckily the race was pretty much over and Free touched down outside the paddock, breaking into a trot. Harry closed the short distance.

Persephone turned to him, eyes still glittering with excitement. "You're pretty good on a broom. I didn't think you stood a chance." Free slowed to a walk, breathing hard. Persephone patted his neck. "Good boy, Free. Good boy! I'm going to walk him a while, Hagrid."

Hagrid waved in reply as Persephone and Free walked down the path toward the forest. Harry and Draco jumped off their brooms as the rest of the class caught up and dismounted. Ron and Hermione ran up.

"I thought you had him, but bloody hell, that horse is fast!" Ron exclaimed.

Hagrid was beaming at the class. "Amazin' ain't he?"

Most of the students spent the rest of the class comparing brooms, instead of discussing Granian flight, as they were supposed to be doing, but Hagrid didn't seem to mind.

Harry, Hermione, Ron and most of their classmates were still laughing over Hannah Abott's profession of undying love to Justin Finch-Fetchly as they left the greenhouses later that day. Professor Sprout had declared the Red-tailed Ichneumon swarm eradicated mere seconds before Hannah had been stung. Realizing the Demon Vine, now grown to astonishing proportions, would have to remain longer, Professor Sprout had let the class out early.

Harry was slow to gather his things from the entryway, still mulling over his conversation with Dumbledore that morning. His concerns over the Book of Shadows temporarily pushed aside, the other part of the dream nagged at him now. Who was Wormtail talking about? Was it a new member that had gone missing, someone Harry wouldn't know? Or someone of the inner circle Harry had seen in the graveyard after the Triwizard Tournament? Had Draco's father gone into hiding? Or had he been caught again? Harry's train of thought drifted to other related questions. How was the Order doing? How was Ron's family holding up? Being at Hogwarts had taken away the connection to the goings-on at the Ministry they'd been privy to over the summer. The Daily Prophet, of course, reported various events connected to the Azkaban breakout and the subsequent rumors, but it was clear they were not sensationalizing a possible Voldemort return. Hermione had hinted she thought the Ministry was controlling what went to print, but there was no way they could know for sure.

Harry didn't realize he'd stopped gathering his things and had been staring into space for some time until Ron jabbed him in the arm. "We've still got History of Magic. Come on."

Harry shook himself back to the present. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Hermione looked anxious, probably because they might be late, but to Harry's relief, kept her irritation to herself. The rest of the students were already through the castle doors by the time the trio stared walking through the gloomy afternoon toward the castle.

Harry, still lost in thought, looked toward the Hogwarts gate and the road to Hogsmeade, spotting someone walking along the path, not far from them. Recognizing them, he waved.

Jogging to catch up, Persephone greeted them. "Hey! Isn't there one more class? I didn't think I'd been gone that long."

Hermione nodded. "One more. History of Magic for us."

Persephone wrinkled her nose in distaste. Ron laughed. "Were you out with Free this whole time?"

"No. I was down in Hogsmeade." She reached to pull the wand out of her hair. "New wand. Willow and thestral tail hair." It seemed to be more delicate that her other, and of a slightly lighter colored wood. They all made polite comments about its appearance.

"That's an unusual combination," Hermione noted.

Persephone smiled ruefully. "Mine always are. It takes forever to find one that works equally well in both hands, too."

Ron looked impressed. "Have you tried it out yet? For real, I mean."

Turning toward the open area in front of the castle, she seemed to consider which spell to try.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Silver light exploded from the end of her wand, filling the space in front of them with brilliant light, a stark contrast to the dark, heavy clouds above. The trio watched, stunned, as they tried to figure out what the large, amorphous shape was. The cloud expanded with what looked like great silver-white wings, and for a second they thought it might be a Granian. But the size of the animal was far too large. As it coalesced into an almost solid-looking form, they realized it was an enormous dragon. Turning toward the figures on the ground, it beat its enormous wings and lifted its head in a silent roar.

Harry looked out of the corner of his eye and caught a glimpse of Persephone's expression. It almost looked as though there were tears in her eyes as she concentrated on the charm. As it lowered its head almost level with Persephone, Harry thought he heard her whisper "...free." Slowly, she lowered her wand and the dragon started to fade, the edges almost sparkling as they tuned to mist and floated away. Hermione and Ron stared openmouthed at the Patronus-dragon. A sudden gust of wind blew and the charm scattered into nothing, leaving only the cold, steel grey of the sky behind.

Ron turned, bewildered. "Why didn't you do that in Hogsmeade?"

Persephone's poignant expression vanished in an instant. Without a word, she turned and strode through the castle doors.

Ron turned to see Hermione glaring at him. "What?"

As they walked to Professor Binns' classroom, Harry had to agree that, while it was not the most sensitive way to ask, it was a valid question. Varied possible explanations drifted through Harry's mind, each more ridiculous than the last. The thoughts swirling through Harry's head were beginning to give him a headache. Eventually they reached the classroom, each dutifully dragging out parchments and ink they knew they weren't really going to use.

Leaning on one hand as professor Binns droned on, Harry stared out the window, tired of worrying about things. Seeing the leaden sky had changed from a drizzle to a steady rain, he was glad they had already had Hagrid's class. From the way the leaves in the trees were shaking, it looked like the wind was picking up, too. A faint whistle sounded as air blew through a tiny gap in the window casement and Harry felt his eyelids sinking down.

"...Book of Shadows."

Harry snapped to attention. Quickly turning to Ron, who was nodding off, he poked him in the arm, hard.

"Ow! What?" Ron rubbed his arm. Hermione looked over, then yawned and went back to faithfully scratching away at her parchment.

"What was Binns saying about the Book of Shadows?" Harry tried not to sound overly interested.

Ron looked back blankly. "I dunno. Something about the clans fighting over some moldy old book that doesn't even exist. Ask Hermione, she's taking notes. Why?"

"It was in that book I was reading, A Warrior's Will. I was just surprised to hear it come up again," Harry said nonchalantly.

Hermione pressed her lips together as she looked over at the two boys. "He's mentioned it several times, if you two would ever bother to stay awake though a class."

"What happened to 'better in class that not at all'?" Ron countered. Not waiting for her answer, he yawned and put his head on his arms

Hermione rolled her eyes. Harry leaned behind Ron, who appeared to already be asleep. "Can I borrow your notes later?"

Hermione blinked, but quickly recovered. "Of course."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, as Harry made his way to the dungeons and Occlumency, he wondered if it was even worth it. It didn't seem to matter what he read or reread, or how many times he practiced clearing his mind or visualizing things, he hadn't gotten any better than his initial progress earlier in the fall. He stopped in the middle of the dungeon corridor, wondering what would happen if he just didn't show up. Just as he was about to give in to the urge to go back to Gryffindor, a small voice in the back of his mind compelled him onward. No, he could do this. He had to do this. With a resigned sigh, Harry walked through the Potions classroom to Snape's office.

As usual, Snape was ready and waiting. They bounced spells off one another for a full ten minutes, neither breaking through. Suddenly, Harry realized what had taken so much concentration and effort before, such a conscious clearing of his thoughts, was now almost second nature. His surprise was enough for Snape to catch him off guard.

Forcing Snape out of his thoughts once he did break through was still something he had to work on, Harry realized as he struggled to oust Snape from his memory. But the revelation he had made progress gave him newfound determination.

Harry's next spell landed full force and dead on-target.

A dim alleyway. Faint light spotty next to the storefront window. Sunlight rarely dared an attempt at illuminating that street. There was something in the window. A shiny metal contraption sat in the center of the display, a faded sign next to it proclaimed it the 'Vortex of Villhera'. Remembering the shop he was looking into, he realized whatever it was, it had to be fascinating. Suddenly, he wasn't alone. Resisting the urge to jump, knowing there was no way it was his parents, not that they would care anyway, he turned to see a boy about his age, looking through the window with the same fascinated look.

Some part of Harry realized he was watching another of Snape's memories, but somehow, he was seeing it from Snape's point of view, not as a third person. The dim awareness that this was an important step was enough for Harry to force the memory to continue, though Snape was certainly putting up a fight. He and the other boy seemed to be conversing, but Harry couldn't make out the words. The boy looked so familiar. Harry concentrated harder and words came through, fuzzy but audible.

"I gotta go. Maybe I'll see you on the train?"

"Yeah."

Harry heard Snape answer, and felt the same slight hope he'd felt. His vision went dark for a second as Snape finally forced him out. Blinking as though he'd just woken up, Harry raised his wand defensively, expecting immediate retaliation for his invasion. Snape glared at him, but seemed to realize Harry hadn't known who the other person was, and this, for some reason, made him less angry.

They volleyed spells for the remainder of the lesson, neither breaking into the other's thoughts again. Harry was exhausted by the end, but even so, had found a newfound resolve to improve.

Turning to his desk, Snape picked something up and threw it at Harry. Unprepared, Harry still somehow managed to catch it without dropping his wand.

"Read that."

As he'd obviously been dismissed, Harry turned and left. He pondered as he made his way back to Gryffindor. Who had the other boy been? Someone Snape had been friends with at Hogwarts? Not Lucius, he didn't have the same white-blond hair and cruel expression Harry would have expected. It was someone Harry knew, he was sure. Who would Snape had made friends with? Another Death Eater? Lost in thought, he made his way back to the Gryffindor Tower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Weasley!"

Ginny stopped as the exclamation echoed down the hall. She recognized the voice and her heart skipped since the hallway was empty. On her way back to the common room from the library, she suddenly wished she had waited for one of the other Gryffindors to walk with her. Fred and George, what have you done?

"What is it, Malfoy?" she said with bravado, turning with what was, she hoped, a haughty look.

He was alone and only about ten feet away. Ginny discreetly reached for the wand in her pocket. Glaring at her, Draco seemed to be having some kind of internal debate. By now, Ginny's heart was pounding. Telling herself he wouldn't try anything in the middle of a corridor two turns from a library full of students, she kept the proud tilt to her head and waited, though her hand was now clenched tightly around the wand in her pocket.

Narrowing his eyes, Malfoy scowled at her. "I wasn't aiming for you."

After a moment, she realized he was impatiently waiting for her reply. Ginny blinked. All she could manage was, "Oh."

Before she had to think of anything more to say, Malfoy spun on his heel and stalked back the way he had come.

The sound of hurried footsteps headed her way from the other direction caused Ginny to whirl around, wand out and ready. She breathed out in relief when she saw it was Harry rushing toward her, although he did look rather concerned.

Harry stopped beside her, but continued to watch where Malfoy had gone, as though expecting him to come back, wand blazing. "What did he want? Did he threaten you?"

Looking down, expecting Ginny to be gazing at him in relief, Harry was taken aback to see her looking down the hallway with a sort of dreamy half-smile on her face. "I think he just apologized."

It was all Harry could do not to stare at her openmouthed. He didn't know what Malfoy was up to, but he was sure it couldn't be good. With a less than gentle nudge, Harry ushered Ginny back to the common room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If you're finished lurking in the doorway, I'd like a word," Persephone said without looking up from the cauldron gently bubbling in front of her.

Snape scowled, but entered, silently waiting for her to continue.

Watching the potion in front of her, Persephone added a pinch of dried leaves. "What, exactly," She stirred the liquid gently, "did you hope to accomplish with that note?"

The look she shot him told him she already knew the answer, and so he said nothing.

She turned back to her potion. "I thought as much."

Refusing to let her bait him, Snape indicated her cauldron and scattered ingredients. "What is this?"

Persephone added the contents of a small, unlabeled jar to the potion, placing the empty container to her left when she was done, alongside the other ingredients she had already used. "Madame Pomfrey asked me to try that out." She waved toward a parchment under a jar of unidentified green goo. Snape picked it up, frowning as he read.

Reaching for one of only three jars left, she added a quantity of powdered dragon scales, slowly stirring them into the mixture. Snape watched her for a moment then put the parchment back down.

Intently focused on the potion, she watched for the next slight color change. "Hand me the Essence of Heartsease, please." She held out her hand as she stirred.

When she didn't feel a bottle being passed she looked up in irritation, not believing Snape would be so petty as to refuse a simple request. Before she could snap at him, she saw Snape had hesitantly reached for one of the two remaining bottles, the one filled with the bright green goo, more commonly known as Mugwort.

She wrinkled her forehead in confusion. Heartsease was red. Bright red. And Snape should have known that. Snape saw her look and stiffened.

"You haven't labeled your ingredients," he said coldly.

She swallowed an exasperated sigh, thinking of the store room. "This obsession with labels..." Persephone stopped stirring. "One is bright red and one is bright green, I don't need a label to tell the difference."

Snape's face colored and he glared at her. For a second, he looked absolutely livid, but quickly tried to cover it up. Persephone stared in confusion, baffled at his reaction. Looking back to the jars, she couldn't fathom what could possibly have offended him. Mugwart was gree. Heartsease was red. As Potions Master, he should have been well aware of those basic facts. Red. Green. Beyond simple. And then it dawned on her, her mouth forming a small 'o' of surprise. He's color-blind!

Suddenly, several things she'd wondered about made perfect sense. After her first day in the storeroom, he had told her to just throw away potions she wasn't sure about. At the time, she had thought he just didn't want to be bothered with them, much like she thought he just didn't want to take the time to clean out the room himself. Now it was obvious it was because he couldn't tell what was beyond salvation. The way he had insisted she meticulously label what could be kept also made sense now. No wonder inept students irritate him so much. If he can do it, then they should have no problem. Not taking any but the best students after fifth year probably saved him innumerable headaches as well. She still didn't agree with that, but now she knew why Dumbledore had allowed it.

Even the fact he rarely donned his House color, or any color for that matter, was abundantly clear. She wondered how many times he'd mixed colors up. Probably no more than once, she surmised. "Can't go wrong with black," she murmured to herself. The sound of a wet bubble popping brought her out of her thoughts.

Grabbing the jar of Heartsease, she added it to the cauldron and stirred, hoping she hadn't just ruined two hours' worth of work. Checking the recipe, she thought it would probably be all right. After the bubbling stopped, she put out the flame under the cauldron and added the final ingredient.

Snape had watched the realization and subsequent expressions cross her face. As the potion cooled, he waited for her to say something.

She looked up at him. "Let's test it and see if it works."

If nothing else, Snape appreciated her subtlety. He inclined his head.

After the test vials had turned the appropriate colors and reacted in the correct ways, Persephone turned to Snape with a brilliant smile. "It works!"

"I'm sure Madame Pomfrey will be pleased," he agreed. At her expression of feigned annoyance, Snape allowed himself a small smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ron was still grumbling about his Wit-Sharpening potion essay as they made their way to double Potions the next day. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw Persephone headed in the same direction.

"You're still cleaning out the store room?" Hermione asked, surprised. Unlike Harry, she hadn't seen the interior of the room and had no idea what an utter disaster it was.

Persephone sighed. "There are more old bottles, jars and piles of dust in there than you can possibly imagine. And without magic..." She shook her head. "I'm hoping I'll be done by Christmas. After Free leaves, I'll have some more time, anyway."

"Hagrid said he'd be leaving soon." Ron looked up from the parchment in his hand.

A touch of sadness reached her eyes. "In the next week or two, I'd say. There's a herd of winged horses moving through the forest. I think that's where he's been going lately." She noticed the papers they were all examining as they walked. "What's that?"

"Potions essay. Snape said if we could improve the Wit-Sharpening potion we could use it before the next test," Harry replied.

Persephone stopped for a second, a look of surprise crossing her face then burst into laugher. "He told you..." She couldn't finish as she laughed harder.

Ron and Harry exchanged bewildered looks. Hermione 'tutted' at them, obviously understanding Persephone's amusement. She was still laughing as they entered the classroom. Catching Snape's eye, she looked at him with amusement. "You told them if they improved the Wit-Sharpening Potion, they could use it before the next test?"

He nodded suspiciously. She burst into laughter again and headed for the store room. Harry saw Snape smirk as she passed. Though Hermione seemed to know what was going on, he, Ron, and most of the students already seated, were still missing the joke. It suddenly dawned on him as he and Ron sat down.

Leaning over to Ron, he whispered, "If you can improve it, you obviously don't need it."

Ron threw his notes on the desk in frustration and glared at Hermione. "Why didn't you say something?"

"Because for once, you actually concentrated on your homework, that's why!" she shot back.

The rest if the class arrived and they began to work on their potions, using the notes they had come up with from their homework assignment. Ron didn't feel so bad when several of the Slytherins whispered about using the potion before the test, obviously not getting the joke either.

Though the reason driving them to improve their potions was gone, the trio found themselves almost enjoying the class. Glancing toward the front of the room, Harry surmised it may just have been the fact Snape wasn't prowling around the class making snide comments as usual. For once, he seemed content to sit at his desk and grade while they worked.

Suddenly, a loud bang followed by the tinkle of glass showering stone broke the idyllic quiet. Everyone in the class froze, not knowing what had happened and afraid to draw attention, and therefore blame, onto themselves. Harry caught Draco looking toward Snape's office with a smirk before whispering something to the person next to him.

Realizing the noise had come from that direction, Snape swiftly rose. "Continue!" he barked at the students.

Striding to the storeroom door, Snape pushed it wide to reveal Persephone staring back at him with wide, stunned eyes. Shards of glass covered the floor around her and glittered all over her clothes and hair. A thin trickle of blood ran down her cheek from a small cut and bits of glass stuck out at odd angles on the left side of her neck. Too startled to move, she had frozen in place.

"Don't move." The slight irritation that sparked in her eyes was enough to assure Snape she was probably fine. Glass crunched under his feet as he entered the storeroom. A quick assessment of the damage told him one of the glass jars had exploded, shattering everything that had been close. There was no way to tell what it had once contained, though luckily most of the contents of the damaged containers hadn't sprayed very far.

Turning to Persephone who seemed to be recovering, Snape carefully removed the larger shards from her neck and hair.

Her initial shock over, Persephone plucked a few bits of glass from her robes. "Which one was it?"

Snape stopped. "You don't know?"

"I wasn't looking that way." Luckily, she thought. Snape raised an eyebrow and Persephone knew the direction his thoughts were headed. Frowning she amended, "Considering the age of some of these jars, I can't say I'm surprised." She turned to face him and a shower of powdered glass fell from her hair.

"Go to the hospital wing." Snape prepared for her resistance, but to his surprise, she turned to leave. Gingerly catching her sleeve, he stopped her. "Leave that here."

Without argument, she shrugged her robe off, letting it fall to the floor. Pulling her wand out, she shook her hair out, a shower of glass bits adding to the blanketing of shards already covering the stones.

The class curiously watched her leave, sans robe. Snape demanded their finished potions as soon as he walked back into the room. Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged looks after they had handed in their potions and exited the classroom.

"I wonder what happened," Hermione said as soon as they were away from the Slytherins. Ron and Harry looked at each other and shrugged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That evening, Harry trudged back to the Gryffindor common room, surprised to find it mostly empty. He'd left the library after he'd finished his Divination homework, Ron and Hermione leaving long before him for yet another prefect meeting. Wondering where everyone else was, he spotted a group of first and second years writing essays and Ginny sitting by herself by the fire, building a house of cards with her Exploding Snap deck.

She had just placed the final two cards on the top when Harry walked up slowly, trying not to disturb the fragile structure.

"Nice job," he said quietly.

Ginny smiled up at him from her cross-legged position on the floor. "Thanks. I-"

BANG! One of the cards near the top exploded and the whole structure fell to the floor in a heap.

Harry winced. "Sorry."

"Not your fault." Ginny shrugged. "Bound to happen sooner or later."

"Where're Ron and Hermione?" Ginny asked as Harry sat on the floor facing the fire, leaning on the couch.

"Prefect something-or-other. Probably about a new password or the holidays or something." Harry answered as Ginny gathered the cards together.

Harry stared into the fire, his thoughts wandering the same way they had gone as he was walking back alone. The holidays were coming and it seemed almost a given he'd be spending them at Hogwarts. Not that he minded, Christmas at Hogwarts was better than anywhere he'd spent it before...except maybe the previous year. But Sirius was gone and Harry was sure, even if the Order still used Number Twelve Grimmauld Place for meetings, they probably wouldn't want him staying there. He'd probably just get in the way. Not that he was sure if he could face Lupin after hearing what he'd said before leaving for the summer anyway. Not to mention he hadn't heard from Lupin since the one letter he'd gotten earlier in the fall. Did Lupin still blame him? Did everyone else? Harry was slowly coming to the conclusion he'd been hoping if he avoided thinking about it long enough, everything would go back to the way it was. He'd always known it wouldn't work, but as facing the truth loomed closer, he found it even more difficult to bear.

Watching Ginny shuffle her cards, he made a decision. "Ginny..."

"Yes?" Sensing from his expression it was something important, she scooted closer.

"That night..." he paused, but forced himself to continue. He had to know. "That night, we all decided to go, right? You didn't think it was my...I mean...do you think ..." Harry stopped and turned when loud voices sounded from the direction of the portrait hole.

"Why do you always have to question every little thing?" Ron said, exasperated. "It wouldn't take nearly as long if you didn't debate every tiny issue with McGonagall."

"Ron, it's important that we be aware of what's going on. I had to be absolutely sure they'd considered what could happen!" Hermione shot back.

"It was obvious they had thought of all that! You're the one who complains about these meetings taking up 'valuable study time' and then you make them twice as long! I don't get it." Ron threw up his hands.

Hermione just huffed and headed up to the girls' dormitories. Ron flopped onto the couch by Harry and Ginny. "Honestly! She makes it take forever." He noticed Harry looked upset and Ginny was giving him an exasperated look. "Why're you sitting on the floor?"

"We were...playing cards." Harry stood up. "I, uh, have to finish the Divination homework."

After Harry made his escape, Ginny glared at her brother.

"What?" Ron asked.

"He was finally going to talk about that night and you two had to barge in here and ruin it! Why do you have to argue all the time?" Ginny snapped.

Ron's eyes widened. "What? He...bloody hell. I didn't know!" Ron leaned forward and ran his hands through his hair. "It's just she's so...so..." He glared at the stairs Hermione had gone up, then turned back to Ginny. "If he brought it up once he'll probably do it again, right?"

Ginny continued to shoot daggers at him. "I hope so. And you'd better not ruin it next time, either. Could you two try not going for each other's throats for just one day?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ron, Harry, and Hermione arrived early to Defense Against the Dark Arts the next day and headed to the corner of the classroom to claim protective equipment, as they had for every class in the last month. Someone had started the rumor Dumbledore had instructed Dunn to make sure that all students were capable of some defensive spells. Though the reasoning behind the course schedule varied between tellings. The trio had looked at each other knowingly when they'd first heard, each assuming Voldemort's return had to be the main motivation.

After Dunn had filled in what he considered blanks left by previous professors, covering offensive and defensive spells, legal and illegal alike, he had moved on to teaching the students to defend themselves and disarm their opponents. Most of the students loved the class, the hands-on dueling was usually fun and only a few minor accidents had occurred. Harry thought it was like DA club, only much better since they had someone experienced to help them out instead of just books.

When everyone had suited up, Dunn addressed them, "All right so today we're moving on from practicing our Advanced Shield Charms and Disarming Spells, to more active offensive spells. I have these targets," He held up a cage holding several small circular disks, flitting around inside it, "that Professor Flitwick has kindly placed a Flutter Charm on, and we'll start by trying to hit these with the Stupefy spell. If you'll kindly line up in the back, please."

As they waited their turn at the targets, students chattered about how Professor Dunn had hinted he'd be arranging some kind of treat for the holidays. Harry had a feeling Ron and Hermione knew more than he let on and that some of their prefect meetings involved part of whatever Dunn had planned. So far, Harry hadn't been able to get anything out of either of them.

Hermione walked back toward them as Dunn called Harry up. Harry glanced back to see Ron congratulate Hermione on hitting all her targets, then help adjust her positioning when she asked how she had looked compared to the diagrams Dunn had sketched on the board.

Harry used his mind-clearing focus techniques to tune out the chatter in the room and concentrate on the erratic movements of the disks. Realizing they were much slower and larger than the snitch he was so used to spotting, he dispatched all of them quickly.

"Well done, Harry!" Dunn exclaimed. "Top speed in the class. Though, I suppose we should expect it from you, yes?"

Harry mumbled something noncommittal in response. He still felt uncomfortable whenever his supposed abilities were brought up. He rejoined Ron and Hermione as they watched Neville try to hit the targets. For the first time, he managed to get them all, only breaking one window in the process.

When the class was over, Dunn called out to the exiting students, "Homework- practice your wand movements and pronunciation. I cannot stress enough how important accuracy is! Practice makes perfect everyone."

Harry caught the look that passed between Ron and Hermione, annoyed they understood something he didn't. Knowing it was useless to ask again, Harry didn't try to bring it up as they made their way to Charms.

After they had all settled into their seats, Flitwick began, "Today we'll be moving from the basic glamour charms to the more advanced versions. Now, as we've learned, the Basic Disillusionment Charm lasts for a few hours, or until it is removed. It's the most commonly used, but for some instances, a more long-term or variable effect is needed."

Harry thought back to when the Order had taken him to Number Twelve the first time. Mad-Eye Moody had used a Disillusionment charm on him. He quickly shook off the thoughts, knowing where they would end up.

"The first modification we'll be trying is Variant Disillusionment Charm. Now, this is similar to the Basic in longevity, but, instead of mimicking whatever is surrounding the object, the object appears to be something that would belong in that environment and will change if moved. For example, if you would kindly come up here, Mr. Weasley." Professor Flitwick gestured for Ron to join him at the front of the room.

Ron nervously stood next to Professor Flitwick, who had climbed onto his chair in order to be able to reach Ron's head. Ron winced as Flitwick rapped him smartly on the top of his head. "Verable Disenchantus."

All of sudden, Ron was gone. The whole class exclaimed in surprise. Harry wondered what he was disillusioned as. Had that stack of books been on Flitwick's desk at the beginning of class?

"As you can see," Flitwick chuckled, "well, not see, but Mr. Weasley now blends in perfectly with his surroundings. Walk over to those potted palms, if you would, please."

The class tried to follow where Ron as he moved, but it was difficult, as the Charms classroom was always packed full of disorganized books and knickknacks Flitwick used in his classes. The regular Disillusionment Charm they had practiced created a ripple-type effect whenever the person moved, if you watched closely. Hermione strained to see any changes as Ron moved though the room, thinking she spotted a globe appear and disappear at one point.

Harry counted the palms quickly. Ron's disembodied voice announced he was standing somewhere near them, but the number of plants had not increased. There was an empty bronze planter Harry was pretty sure hadn't been there before, though.

"So, you see? As he moved through the room, he assumed the appearance of different objects along the way. Very hard to keep track of, and since there's no 'ripple' effect, like with the basic charm, much more effective in concealing movement. Of course, if there's an empty or sparse background, this won't work." He removed the charm and the class realized Ron had appeared as an extra frond of the palm in front. "Give it a go, then!"

They had fun the rest of the class, Disillusioning each other and trying to figure out which objects were actually objects in the room and which were their fellow classmates.

That evening in the common room, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione sat, discussing Dunn's class, comparing it to the previous professors they'd had.

"I think he's pretty good. I was a little surprised he's almost teaching the same thing to all his classes." Ginny turned to her left where Harry sat next to her. "I think you're right about Dumbledore mentioning something about wanting all the students to have some defensive skills, no matter their year. Of course, first years aren't Stupefying each other, but I know they're working on simple disarming spells and Shield Charms."

Hermione looked miffed. "We didn't get that level of spell work our first year."

"Hardly matters now." Ron replied.

"Any thoughts on what the surprise is?" Harry was looking at Ginny, but even she knew the question wasn't directed at her.

Even so, she leaned forward and lowered her voice. "I heard it's a student against student duel."

Harry looked surprised. "What do you mean? Like dueling club?"

"Too bad we don't have that class with the Slytherins. I'd love to see Harry take on Malfoy again," Ron grinned.

Ginny shook her head. "I think it's within Houses."

"How do you know so much about this anyway?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes at Ron suspiciously. Ron shook his head and tried to look innocent. Ginny just smiled and didn't answer.

Conversation trailed off as Hermione pulled out her enormous Arithmancy textbook and Ginny went to get her homework. At a stern look from Hermione, Ron sighed and dragged out his potions notes. Harry, for once caught up on most of his work, pulled out A Warrior's Will.

Ginny glanced at the book as she resumed her seat next to him. "Where's the one Snape gave you? I thought you finished this one a while ago."

Harry looked up. "I did. I was just rereading parts. For comparison." Ginny seemed to accept his explanation and turned to her work.

As he had waited while the others practiced in Defense Against the Dark Arts earlier that day, Harry thought about Voldemort's search for the Book of Shadows. While he knew Dumbledore and the Order were also aware of it, Harry was intent on doing his own research. He hadn't mentioned it to Ron, Hermione, or Ginny because, for some reason he didn't think they would think looking for the same thing Voldemort was after would be such a great idea. So far, the only book Harry had that even mentioned it was A Warrior's Will. Going back and reading between the lines, Harry had a feeling that Ziegerdorff had been searching for it during his travels. Looking to Hermione, diligently working away, he decided to ask for her History of magic notes another time.

It was late when everyone decided they had had enough homework. Papers were shuffled and yawns were stifled as Ginny and Hermione got up. Ron had fallen asleep on his notes. Prodding him with her wand, Hermione managed to rouse him.

"Whazat?" Ron looked up blearily.

"Go to bed, Ron," Hermione said.

He stumbled towards the stairs, abandoning his notes, save for the one sheet stuck to his robes. Ginny snickered.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry could you..." She gestured to Ron's scattered potions notes.

Harry looked up from his book. "Yeah, I'll bring it all up when I'm done."

"It's late, aren't you tired?" Ginny asked, pausing at the bottom of the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

"I just want to finish this bit," Harry replied.

The girls bid him good night and headed to bed. Harry was the only one left in the common room. He shut his book and stared into the low, glowing embers of the fire. How could he learn more without anyone finding out? He was pretty sure the library wouldn't have much on the Book of Shadows, and Dumbledore might discover what he was up to. Harry looked to the girls' stair and it suddenly dawned on him. The Room of Requirement! While he was positive the actual Book itself wouldn't appear, surely anything that mentioned it would. At least it was a place to start.

Harry got up, determined to begin his search right then. After gathering Ron's scattered papers, he crept up to his room, careful not to wake Neville, Ron, Dean, or Seamus. He took his invisibility cloak from his trunk and crept back down the stairs. It wasn't too late, and he wasn't going to start major research. He just wanted to see if his plan would work at all, knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep until he did.

Pacing in front of the wall, he concentrated on the Book of Shadows, on seeing stacks of books that held information about it. The door appeared and Harry's anticipation grew. It was a good sign, right? Looking carefully up and down the hallway, Harry silently turned the knob and entered.

He took off the invisibility cloak and set it on what he had come to think of as Ginny's chair. His heart sank when he saw the almost empty bookshelves. There were maybe two dozen books total, haphazardly tossed on one of the sections of shelves nearest the fire. Harry picked one volume up and thumbed through it. Placing it back on the shelf, he picked up and flipped through several others, his spirits lifting slightly. True, there weren't many, but on a cursory first glance, the few he had examined looked to be helpful. Feeling bolstered, and suddenly quite tired, he headed back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Harry?"

Harry froze at the end of the hallway. He had heard footsteps but only made sure not to make any sounds as he continued walking. He turned and saw Persephone walking towards him. How could she see through his invisibility cloak? Looking down, he suddenly realized he hadn't put it back on. It was still on Ginny's chair in the Room of Requirement. Swearing softly, he realized he had been wandering around in full view. He figured he was lucky he hadn't run into Filch first.

"Harry, what are you doing out at this time of night?" Persephone asked as she came up to him.

"I was..." Researching the Book of Shadows? He couldn't say that, but he was tired and couldn't think of a good lie.

"Thinking again?" Persephone supplied. "Harry, it's dangerous to be out by yourself. You, of all people, should be extra careful, especially now."

Harry felt a bit of guilt at her chiding. "I was going back," he said lamely.

"Harry, you have to understand-"

"Mr. Potter! Miss Hade! What is going on here?" McGonagall's angry voice sounded down the hallway. Persephone winced. They'd both just come from the weekly poker match in the dungeons and McGonagall was not in a good mood, as she'd just lost to Snape. Badly.

Her expression hardening, Persephone turned to her. "I was just giving Harry detention for being out past curfew." She turned back to Harry, ignoring his look of surprise. "My office, tomorrow morning. We'll arrange it then."

McGonagall glared at them. "I trust you will dispense an appropriate punishment. Mr. Potter has developed a bad habit of being out after hours."

"And I have reminded him how dangerous it is. Hopefully, detention will help drive that point home." Harry was surprised at the stern tone of Persephone's voice.

McGonagall left with a humph.

Before Harry could ask, Persephone spoke. "She's right, Harry. Just be glad she didn't see you first, the mood she's in, you would have lost fifty house points and gotten a week's worth of detentions. Come see me tomorrow and we'll work something out. Now go back to bed!"

Harry didn't need telling twice.