Dumbledore's Army Recruit

She couldn't believe she was finally here. After all the planning and scheming she had made it to Hogwarts. It was just like her brother had told her. She was gliding across a lake in a boat with all the other students who were starting their first year and the castle, which would be her home for the next nine months, was getting larger as they sailed towards it. It was massive, tall and wide, with ancient walls and warm glowing lights shining from the many windows. It was breathtaking. Butterflies flickered in her stomach. She was finally here. Melissa could not help but remember the journey she took to arrive here from when her hands shook when she first reached for the heavy parchment letter sealed with purple wax. This was it! She remembered when her brother had received his letter. He had been so excited and their father had been so proud. He could not help but tell everyone he bumped into that his son was starting at Hogwarts in September.

Melissa was brought back to the present when a couple of the other first year students in her boat squealed as something moved beneath the boat. She smiled. She knew it was the giant squid. Cedric had told her how friendly it was. With this thought, the smile fell from her lips and her stomach felt like she was going to lose the chocolate frogs she had eaten on the train. She thought of the many letters he had written to her. She had always been excited to receive them and hear about latest news at Hogwarts, about the classes, the Quidditch matches and the visits to Hogsmeade. She always looked forward to when he would come home and tease her about how Peeves would pick on her when she arrived here. But thinking of his name brought his face to her mind and the knowledge that he was gone and never coming back.

An enormous hairy man ushered them out of the boats and up a pathway to the castle. The large entry doors swung open to reveal a warmly lit entry hall and a severe looking woman, who the man referred to as Professor McGonagall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "Shortly, you will shortly pass through these doors and join your classmates but before you do, you will be sorted into your houses. There are four houses, and they are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. We will start momentarily."

The Professor looked over the group until her eyes landed on Melissa which made Melissa feel even sicker. Were they going to send her home, or worse still to Beauxbatons? They couldn't, not after all the hard work she had put into getting here!

"Ahh, there you are Melissa, I will inform your mother that you have arrived safely. Now, you will wait here quietly for a moment." Melissa let out a small sigh of relief. Beauxbatons, she grimaced at her memories. Her father had not been so pleased on hearing the news of her letter.

"What?!?!?" Amos had yelled, standing up so quickly that he knocked his chair over and jarred the table, shaking all the dishes on it. "No! Absolutely not! Under no circumstances is she going to Hogwarts." Melissa sighed; her father had been reacting a lot like that over the last year, ever since the Triwizard Tournament. Once her father had finished his tirade he had arranged for her to attend Beauxbatons. She did not even speak French!

Melissa was snapped out of her thoughts by the jostling of the students around her as they pairs and followed McGonagall into the hall. This was it. It was exactly how he had described it, with the enchanted sky above, the floating candles and the dusty faded old hat sitting on a stool. This is when she would be put into Hufflepuff, just like her brother, mother and father were before her. They walked down to the front of the great hall, down the middle of the four house tables arriving in front of the staff table. A tall thin silver haired man stood at the head table and addressed everyone.

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin I have a few term notices. I wish to announce: First years should note that the dark forest is forbidden to all students." He paused and with a small smile on his face looked to the faces looking up at him from the tables before continuing. "Our caretaker, Mr Filch has asked me to remind you all that magic is strictly prohibited in the corridors and the list of forbidden objects is posted on his door. Furthermore, the extra curricular DA club will be continuing this year. All those who wish to try out may sign up on the lists in each of the Common Rooms. Thank you ... now the sorting ceremony!"

Professor McGonagall stepped forward and unrolled a piece of parchment and called, "Adams, Christopher." Melissa sighed to herself. Through an unspoken agreement Melissa and her mother had planned and organised her departure to Hogwarts, although it was against her father's wishes.

"Alder, Roger." Melissa watched another boy sit on the stool. There were times when she was worried that she wasn't going to make it. The last being at King's Cross Station, due to the secrecy, her mother had been unable to accompany her, so she was alone in dragging her trunk and carrying her owl, Wittouch, in his cage towards the platform. She had been moving slowly and she had only ten minutes to go before the train would leave. Melissa had felt the panic rising up in her at the thought of missing the train when a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Excuse me? Can I help you?" she looked up and saw a tall man with long red hair. Melissa blushed, "I'm not allowed to accept help from Muggles, but thank you" she lowered her eyes and started dragging her trunk again. The man laughed loudly which made her jump with fright.

"First year at Hogwarts?" he asked, "my youngest brother and sister are in their fifth and sixth years."

"How did you know?" the words tumbled out of her mouth. The man pointed at Wittouch who responded with a bu-whooh,

"Not many Muggles have owls as pets. Here, let me help, you are going to miss the train if we don't hurry." With a quick movement the man whisked a wand out of his coat pocket and tapped the trunk, Melissa felt the trunk lose its heavy weight.

"I'm Bill Weasley," he said as he took the trunk from her and lifted it over his shoulder, "The barrier is just over here. Do you know how to get onto the platform?" Melissa had to jog to keep up with Bill's long strides.

"Yes, my mum told me how." Bill glanced around for any evidence of someone seeing this girl off. Melissa continued speaking, "She said just to run at the column separating platforms 9 and 10, to just think of platform 9 and ¾ and it was best if I closed my eyes as I run through." Bill smiled down at her.

"Yup you got it alright! Let's go!" With his help she had made it.

"Diggory, Melissa" Professor McGonagall called out. Melissa's heart skipped a beat, she stepped forward and sat down and Professor McGonagall placed the sorting hat on her head.

A voice filled her head "Another Diggory! Very much like your brother, loyal, hard working", the hat chuckled "not quite as honest as he was, though very courageous, took a lot of guts to get here, I can see it all" Melissa's stomach froze, dishonest people went to Slytherin. She was not going to be a Slytherin. Even Beauxbatons was better than being a Slytherin! "Never fear child, you are not Slytherin, but you aren't a Hufflepuff either. You are a GRYFFIDOR!" Her stomach fluttered, as she ran to join her new housemates. She realised with some trepidation that this was Harry Potter's house.

The rest of the feast passed in a blur. Names flew past as students introduced themselves and food was swallowed. Melissa did not remember anything she ate or heard. She was just so tired. It had been a tough summer but she was finally here.

"Miss Diggory" Professor McGonagall's voice broke through the haze, "Come with me please." The panic rose up again. She wasn't safe after all; they were going to send her away!

Melissa followed Professor McGonagall down a corridor and into an office,

"You have had quite an adventure," the Professor said as she turned to a desk and sat behind it, indicating for Melissa to sit at one of the chairs placed before it. "I know the whole story. Your mother has been in contact. Your father, however, wishes to have a few words with you. He shall be popping in shortly."

"WHERE IS SHE?" A head from the fire shouted.

"Now, now Amos there is no reason to shout, she is right here." Professor McGonagall told the head sternly. Melissa stood up and walked around the desk so she was in front of the fire.

"Hello Dad."

"You ... how ... you ..." Amos' head spluttered, Melissa interrupted

"How could I go anywhere else Dad?" Melissa interrupted in a pleading voice. "You, Mum, Grandma, Cedric, everyone in our family has come to Hogwarts." Amos's eyes flashed with fury at the sound of his son's name.

"HOGWARTS IS NOT GOING TO TAKE ANOTHER OF MY CHILDREN" Amos yelled, his face turning purple in anger.

"Dad," Melissa whispered "Hogwarts didn't kill Cedric, Voldemort did."

"FINE!" Amos yelled at the top of his voice "Unfaithful and ungrateful child! If you want to be part of Dumbledore's cannon fodder, I won't stand in your way any longer!" With that and a pop, Amos Diggory was gone. It was too much for Melissa. Feeling both physically and emotionally exhausted, she burst into tears.

She wasn't exactly sure how the rest of the evening went. Everything seemed like a dream, a bizarre memory, perhaps a hallucination: like being wrapped in Professor McGonagall's arms. She didn't think that this thin, severe looking woman had any compassion in her. A soft tap at the door allowed Melissa to draw back.

"I expect that is Hermione Granger. I asked her to come by and show you the way to the Gryffindor tower when we were done. Are you alright?" Professor McGonagall asked. Melissa was able to nod and received a small smile from the Professor in return. "You will be safe here, despite all that has happened." Melissa's emotional exhaustion was washed away with the thought of why she so desperately wanted to come to Hogwarts rather than any other school.

"Professor, I did not come to Hogwarts to be safe. I came to learn." She received a sharp glance from the Professor,

"And you will learn Miss Diggory. Just don't go do anything" Professor McGonagall paused, searching for the right word, "rash," she finished. The person at the door knocked louder this time.

Melissa looked up and answered the Professor quietly and sarcastically, "Like my brother?"

Hermione Granger entered the office just as the Professor turned to Melissa and gave her a stern glare. Then the Professor said, "I strongly recommend you owl your mother as soon as possible, Miss Diggory. That will be all. Miss Granger will show you to the Gryffindor tower."

Melissa followed Hermione along the corridors and up the stairs, she was only half listening to her introductory talk about Hogwarts, its moving stairs, and the secret entrances to each of the House rooms. Melissa had heard about all this before from her brother's letters. She was just so tired and was still reeling, not only from her father's words but from her calm response. She never thought she would have been able to stand up to her father, when he was in one of his rants, let alone be so calm about it. Her brother use to joke that she was emotional like their father, while he took after their mother who had always been the calm steady lighthouse in the stormy waters of the Diggory household. Melissa felt a little bit of pride at the thought of for once being more like her mother and less like her father.

"Umm." Melissa's attention was drawn to Hermione when she hesitated for the first time, "I couldn't help notice the tension in Professor McGonagall's office," Said Hermione. Melissa continued to look at her, wondering exactly what she was asking. "You aren't going to lose us too many points are you? I mean, are you a trouble maker? Running away from home isn't a great start and I am a prefect and I don't want to take points off our own house." Hermione rambled on.

"I'm here to learn," Melissa responded. "My father believes that I ran away, but it was all organised and planned with my mother."

"That's good," Hermione relaxed, "Why wouldn't your Dad want you here? I mean Hogwarts is the best. Oh!" she sighed. "Don't tell me he is one of the people who still believes that Dumbledore has lost his mind?"

"No, I think he respects Professor Dumbledore. It's just that Hogwarts ..." Melissa tried to think of the words. "... well Beauxbatons would be safer." Hermione smiled at the memories of all the unsafe situations she had been in over her years at Hogwarts.

"Well, not everyone is involved in the unsafe part of it. Some people even manage to avoid it all together! It's just a matter of keeping your head down. Also, staying out of the DA might be an idea!"

Melissa sighed, "From what I understood, even those who aren't involved get killed. Are we here?" Melissa said as she pointed to a portrait of a fat lady,"I'm really very tired."

Hermione took Melissa into Gryffindor's common room, letting her know the password and showed her where her dormitory was. Melissa thanked her and went up and changed for bed. She was exhausted; she was so tired she wasn't sure if she would even be able to string letters together to make the word hello. She hopped into bed and while falling asleep smiled at the thought that she had made it to Hogwarts and that she was staying.

"Hey, Harry, Ron" Hermione said as she collapsed on the couch in front of the fire.

"Did Dumbledore talk to you about the DA?" She knew that Dumbledore had requested Harry's presence after the feast.

"Yeah he did. He basically suggested that it be run as before, but rather than being a replacement for the Defence Against the Dark Arts class, it should be advertised as a practice club. He suggested that we could use the teachers as a resource and have them 'guest' lecture us in spells. He said he has already had offers from a lot of the teachers. He also firmly emphasised that it should be open to everyone."

"Everyone!" exclaimed Ron, "Not the Slytherins!" Harry nodded sadly.

"However," he did say that we are allowed to have our own sort of sorting ceremony. "Hermione, can you think of something?"

She frowned as she thought about it, "I suppose I could extend the spell on the join up sheet. Make them be compelled to write why they want to join, the true reason of joining. Are we limiting it to any years?" Hermione asked. "It might be a bit advanced for first years."

"No, I don't think so. If your spell doesn't worm out those who don't belong, then the hard work will," Harry said grimly thinking of all he had gone through since his first year.

Ron yawned as he asked "So, it isn't going to be an easy year then! Do you think that Cedric's sister?" Both Ron and Harry looked at Hermione.

"I'm not sure, although she looks like him. She told me that her father didn't think it was safe for her to come here. He'd planned for her to go to Beauxbatons. The more I think about it, the surer I am that she is his sister." Hermione yawned. "It's getting late, see you both tomorrow."

......................

It was a warm summer afternoon and Cedric was teaching her how to fly. Her hands were so small that they were barely able to grip around the handle, but she had mastered the toy broom so Cedric was letting her try his broom.

"Once you have mastered this, we can start playing Quidditch together!" He said, smiling at her.

"Oi! Wake up! Its time to get up!" A girl's voice woke her up, shattering her dream.

"You don't want to be late on your first day, do you?" the voice repeated.

Melissa lay there, not wanting to let the dream go, not wanting to let the world in which he was still alive go and not wanting to function in a world which he wasn't going to be in. Melissa hated waking up, for months after Cedric's death, all she wanted to do was sleep. She just didn't want to be within a reality where things like that could happen; she just wanted to dream of him. Eventually, Melissa opened her eyes and remembered she was at Hogwarts.

Melissa got out of bed and readied herself for her first day at Hogwarts. She met her room mates and set off to breakfast with them. Breakfast was just as impressive as the feast the night before with plenty of good, hearty food appearing before her. The schedules were handed out and she and her new circle of friends overheard some fifth and sixth years talking excitedly about the DA club. Melissa was urged to ask one of them about it.

"Excuse me," Melissa addressed a tall, friendly looking sixth year boy, "I was wondering if you would be able to tell us what the DA is?" Neville jumped in fright when he heard Melissa's voice

"Ahh ... it's a defensive spells class. You ... ahh ... learn how to defend yourself and fight with magic," he stuttered. He couldn't quite get over how small the first years were, he couldn't remember either himself or his friends ever being that small. "It might be a bit advanced for first years, but it would be good for your Defence Against the Dark Arts work." He finished on a more confident note "Best to ask Harry, Ron or Hermione, they started the club last year. Hey, wait for me Dean!" Neville raced off after his friends.

Melissa's friends weren't really all that interested in the club, saying it was "too advanced", but Melissa did not care. This was why she was here, to learn how to fight.

Melissa revelled in her first week of classes. She liked Charms most of all and was looking forward to learning more about Potions, even if she did find Professor Snape a bit scary and mean. She had heard that he hated Gryffindor and it seemed that the rumour was right. Melissa found History of Magic was a bit boring but had decided that knowing how wizards had fought in the past could only help with the future fight. When Melissa returned to Gryffindor Tower on her first night, she saw the sign up sheet for the DA Club and signed it herself without hesitation. She then spent the rest of the week counting down the days until the first meeting on the Friday.

Friday arrived, and Melissa was nervous. She had overheard that there would be a test before they would let anyone join the DA. She hoped it wasn't going to be too advanced; after all, she had only been at Hogwarts for a week! It was being held in a very large lecture hall; one that she hadn't been in before. She took a seat while noticing that she was the only First Year student there and that there were very few second years.

"Pipe down everyone, I think we may as well start," Hermione Granger said, standing at the front of the lecture hall. "Welcome to the first meeting of Dumbledore's Army for this year." There was a group who sat near the front and cheered at this. One of them was the boy, Neville, who had told Melissa and her friends about the DA. Hermione smiled before continuing on a more serious note "As you know this is the beginning of dark times. Voldemort has returned and the Ministry for Magic has finally acknowledged this." Melissa, along with everyone else in the room, flinched at the use of the naming of 'he-who-must-not-be-named'. "In times like this it is essential that we know how to defend ourselves against the dark arts and fight if need be and this is where the DA comes in. However, given the enormous response to the invitation, we have devised a test." The students groaned. Hermione smiled and continued "Unfortunately we are unable to have 277 students in this club. What ! we are looking for are your reasons for being here: we will be measuring your determination and your dedication. We will be calling you, in alphabetical order, and you will be asked to hold this," Hermione raised a red feather, "while you tell us your reasons for being here. Only we," Hermione pointed to herself, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley who were seated in the front row, "will be able to hear your responses. All decisions are final. Ok, let's get started."

Melissa sighed in relief. This was a test that she should be able to pass. However, that relief did not last long. By the time they reached a boy called Davenport, they had only accepted seven of the twenty three students who had applied. Finally they called her name. Melissa thought of her brother, took a deep breath and walked to the front of the lecture hall.

"Hi Melissa," Hermione said, handing Melissa the red feather as she stood in front of the three friends. "Could you tell us, in your own words, why you would like to join Dumbledore's Army?" Melissa took a deep breath. She was rather shy by nature, moreover this was a sensitive topic for her.

"I am a bit unsure where to start." Melissa took a deep breath, "I could mention my brother, but I don't want revenge." Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered her brother, "My father didn't want me to come Hogwarts. Although he admits that Voldemort is back, he seems to think that just by keeping our heads down and hands clean, nothing will happen to us. He was furious when he found out that I had managed to get here without his knowledge and you can image what he said. But the one thing that stuck out in my mind was that by being here, I could be Dumbledore's cannon fodder - to use my father's words. I wanted to come to Hogwarts to learn how to fight, how to defend myself. I don't want another Diggory to be cannon fodder; I want to learn how to be the cannon." Melissa took a deep breath, amazed that she had just said all that. She looked down at the red feather with suspicion. "What is it about this feather?" she asked. The three friends looked at each other and then Harry stood up and held out his hand to Melissa who took it and shook it in amazement.

"Welcome to Dumbledore's Army, Melissa." Harry said to her, smiling.