RELATIONS

Chapter XIII

The DA settled in to meeting two hours every late Sunday afternoon. Dumbledore had arranged for them to meet in an abandoned dungeon that had once served as a medieval combat practice area. The House Quidditch teams drew lots for the afternoon practice times (3:30 - 5:30), Gryffindor drawing Tuesdays -- each had sworn to forgo Sunday afternoons.

Hermione had been refining her Protean-charmed Galleons over the summer. Each Galleon now became charmed to match each member. More importantly, that member could now send a short message, up to 25 characters, back to Harry, and to a large disk which Hermione gave to Dumbledore. ("Leave it to Hermione to make the thing big enough for Dumbledore to see without his glasses," Ron had said admiringly.) In both cases, the name of the student would also appear.

What Hermione didn't tell anyone, other than Harry and Dumbledore, was that she had incorporated several security charms into the process. Because each Galleon was activated by having the student hold it and use their wand, if someone was holding the Galleon other than the student, or if someone was using a different wand, that would also show.

Hermione had produced an even more-sophisticated version for the Order of the Phoenix. Since Professor Snape had reduced his point-taking from the Houses other than Slytherin (he took points as often, but not in as high a number as he had reached the previous autumn), Gryffindor was in an early lead for the House cup thanks to Hermione.

While there had been many murmurings within the DA when Harry asked them to consider the new Slytherin members (he kept to the agreement, and each Slytherin was sponsored by a different DA member), all the DA students seemed to be trying to be on their better behavior. Marietta Edgecombe had dropped out of the DA, but only Cho had followed her; all the other students from the year before who hadn't left school returned to the group. The remaining Ravenclaws ignored the subject, and Harry encouraged everyone else to do the same.

The eight Slytherins were all capable, and none made the snide remarks certain other Slytherins were infamous for. Millicent Bulstrode had been the hardest to get into the group; Harry and Hermione had pled long for her, and she made it only by the exact vote. She kept her head down and her end of the work up. The Slytherins were slowly integrated into the group.

Since there were eight Slytherins in the group, the other Slytherins didn't give them too hard a time. The small group that looked to Malfoy for leadership had shrunk -- some had left school, Crabbe and Goyle were dead, and a few others were now wavering between Draco on the one side and either neutrality or even Zabini and Bulstrode on the other. It helped that most of the remaining students from hardcore Death Eater families were either Seventh years worried about their N.E.W.T.s, the Sixth years other than Zabini, or Second years. The three other hard-core supporters were isolated in the First, Third, and Fifth years.

Pansy and Draco had lost their prefect status because of their involvement with the Inquisitorial Squad. Even the most biased Slytherin admitted, since that was the only punishment meted out by Dumbledore other than a few detentions, that the House had little to complain about in that regard. Dumbledore had even allowed Slytherin's win of the House cup to stand, and had allowed the appointment of a Slytherin Head boy (Carl McCloud, who had not taken a direct part in the Inquisitorial Squad).

Harry's Occlumency lessons continued on Monday nights. Edward, Snape, and Dumbledore all worked with him. There had been no repeats of the type of contact there had been on the train, and Harry had no desire to create a connection. (Snape had told them that Voldemort was more controlled now -- he had no desire to connect to Harry at the moment, either.) The five students closest to Harry knew what he was doing, and so had no need to question him. If anyone else noticed he was missing Monday nights, or was curious, they were wise enough not to mention it.

The rest of the school seemed quiet. Grawp was still somewhere in the Forest, but the creatures there seemed to have learned to avoid him. The giant had also calmed to some degree, and Hagrid was no-longer sporting injuries that were as serious as those of the year before. (Fortunately, Hagrid had not found Grawp a giant girlfriend -- Madame Maxime, however, had a younger, less-refined sister who had taken to visiting, which no doubt accounted for his quieting down to a great degree.) The centaurs had retreated even further from Hogwarts, and seemed unlikely to interfere with what went on near the school again, for good or ill.

Outside of Hogwarts, six individual Ministry workers, who had all lived alone in isolated settings, had been attacked and killed in mid-September through early October. Voldemort was still obviously gathering his forces, unready for any major confrontations. While Fudge had admitted to Voldemort's return, he still wasn't asking for direct aid from the International, the Warlocks, or the other Ministries. Until Voldemort again attacked outside of Britain and Ireland, those bodies were not inclined to put stronger pressure on Fudge.

Fudge was walking a political tightrope. Having convinced the International and the other Ministries Voldemort was not back and that Dumbledore and Harry mistaken at best, they were waiting for one more mistake on his part before dislodging him from office. Fudge had to hope he could contain Voldemort within Britain and Ireland; failure to do so would be the type of event those groups were waiting for.

Voldemort, who certainly was in no hurry to find the Ministry led by someone competent, was therefore waiting as well. He would not launch the type of attack that would drive Fudge out of office until he felt powerful enough to withstand a well-organized opposition. Snape reported that there were some murmurs against this policy from many directions, and that Voldemort's unidentified associate was gathering support. To what end, no one on the outside was certain.

The Order was busy trying to make certain security was tight around members' families and Hogwarts. At least, that was all Harry or his friends could learn. Anything else was 'classified' and not for their ears.

The biggest change to Hogwarts came in late September. After dinner on the last week night of the month, Dumbledore stood to address the students. They instantly quieted, fearing bad news. "As most of you no doubt remember, Death Eaters attacked the Ministry Annex for Long Term Care earlier this month. While fifteen of the caregivers were killed, there were two other weekday shifts as well as two weekend shifts. We are hiring six of the remaining seventy-two caregivers to come and work at Hogwarts. Mister Filch has turned in his resignation. . . ."

All the students united in cheering the news for well over a minutes.

Once the cheering died down, Dumbledore went on. "Mister Filch has worked very hard, but has always refused additional help. Mister Filch will train these replacements over the next three months, and then retire as of December Thirty-first."

The students cheered again.

"We are also hiring six of the guards. We will be erecting two cabins, one at the other end of the grounds from Professor Hagrid's, one just on the edge of the grounds on the way towards Hogsmeade. We are, of course, making these changes to increase the level of our security."

That quieted the whispering students a great deal.

"On a brighter note," Dumbledore was not so unkind as to refer to Filch's leaving as good news, "we have decided to have a Halloween dance this year, rather than just a Halloween Feast." The murmuring started again. "This will not be a formal affair, like the Yule Ball nearly two years ago. All students may attend. The Feast will be from Six until Seven, and the Dance from Seven-fifteen until Ten."

"The hall shall be laid out with tables for eight. The best tables shall be reserved for groups of eight students where there are no more than five from any given House. Tables for less than eight students, or with six to eight members from any given House, may be reserved starting the Twenty-eighth. Those wishing to reserve a table, please see Doctor Potter."

Snape and Remus both made some comment to Edward, which made him grimace.

"To help prepare for the celebration," Dumbledore continued, "the first Hogsmeade weekend shall be October Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh. All students, Third year and above, who have permission may visit Hogsmeade between Nine a.m and Four a.m. on the Saturday. Fifth through Sixth years may also visit Sunday, Eleven through Two-thirty. Please note the new return times! Mister Potter and Miss Bell will meet with me tonight after dinner, and they will in turn meet with the Head Boy, Prefects, and Security prefects at Eight o'clock."

"Our immediate future will have hardships," Dumbledore added, serious again. "Having a bit of gaiety does not degrade anyone's grief. It reminds us to live, even in times of trouble." He looked out over the young faces. "Please resume your dinner," he concluded simply as he sat.

After a moment of silence, Ginny told her friends, "I'll take care of the table. Don't worry." She started wolfing down her food.

Ron smiled. "I'll notify the twins. I'm sure we can come up with some appropriate farewell gift for Filch."

Many of the Gryffindors turned towards Hermione. "If he hadn't backed Umbridge like that, I would feel sorry for him," Hermione told them, "but he did, so I don't."

At the head table, Professor Vector was asking, "Are we really so likely to be attacked that we need security guards, Headmaster?"

"Oh, no, absolutely not!" Dumbledore assured all the staff. "However, I do hope to try and continue the Hogsmeade weekends; at least twice before the Christmas break. We will need the extra security then."

"Then why the six caretakers?" Sinistra asked.

"Mister Filch really has always needed help, as have all the caretakers in my memory. They have always refused, and we have always backed down. Now we shall have an adequate number, and, I hope, with the greater number there shall be at least slightly less cause for antagonism on the level Mister Filch feels towards the students."

"Students and caretakers are to some degree natural antagonists," Remus pointed out.

"True, true," Dumbledore agreed. "Like I said, I merely hope the level is less intense." He shook his head. "Imagine, wishing to whip the students!"

"I completely understood the desire," Snape said sardonically, "but he was going to actually act upon it! That was something entirely different."

"I wonder what the Weasley twins will send him for a farewell gift?" McGonagall pondered.

"And, if we subscribe, will it be bigger and better?" Edward asked.

"If this is the level of conversation, I believe I must retire," Dumbledore teased his staff.

"Does that cat go with him?" Remus asked as Dumbledore stood up.

"Yes, indeed," Dumbledore said. "He was most worried about that. I went so far as to promise Mrs. Norris her own pension, to make certain she retires with him."

Dumbledore basked in their congratulations.

Saturday, October 26, 1996

While an Auror's family had been attacked and killed while the Auror was on duty, mid-October had been otherwise quiet. Dumbledore had therefore allowed the Hogsmeade weekend, to the delight of the students and worry of the staff.

Luna's dorm mate Amber was dating Justin Finch-Fletchley. Ginny had quickly recruited them to make up the dance table for eight. The eight students therefore went into Hogsmeade together on the chilly October morning.

"Shall we meet at the Three Broomsticks for lunch?" Hermione asked.

"What time shall we make it?" Justin asked.

The group looked at Harry, who flushed a bit. "How about Eleven-thirty?" Luna suggested, removing the attention from Harry. "That would be right before the lunch crowd wanders in."

The group agreed and split off towards different destinations.

"She's doing that more often," Hermione said to Ginny before their pairs split.

Ginny nodded her head, while Neville asked, "Doing what?" and Ron asked, "What, acting normal?"

"In a sense, she is acting normal," Hermione said. "She's so . . . dreamy and seemingly disconnected at times, I thought she might have a condition Muggles call Autism. Yet I've noticed, whenever Harry is put on the spot, and under times of stress, she can show she's amazingly in-tune with what's going on around her."

"I noticed that last year," Ginny said, "although you're right, she's doing it more and more often. I used to think she was just plain eccentric, but the more I get to know her, the more I think she's so in tune with everything around her that what we see is almost nothing in comparison."

"So that's what she meant," Neville mused.

"What did she say?" Hermione demanded.

"She told me once that she sees the world in more colors than most people, and can hear the underlying music. That sometimes she gets distracted by what other people can't sense."

"If it were anyone else, I'd say they were crazy," Hermione said, remembering that most of the previous year, she had thought Luna a bit past sanity.

"Professor Trelawney is a fraud most of the time, but Luna has the Gift," Ginny stated. "She really can see things we can't."

"Maybe that's another reason she believes all that tripe her father prints," Hermione reasoned. "If she can see things most people can't, it must be harder to tell fiction from reality. I hope she doesn't grow up into another Trelawney!"

"Harry will keep her grounded," Neville said.

"Never thought you'd be part of the 'all she needs is a good shagging to be normal' school of thought," Ginny teased.

Neville blushed, and Ginny dragged him off towards Honeydukes.

"The mouth on that girl gets worse by the week," Ron said. "One day, she'll slip in front of Mum, and get skinned alive." Ron noticed Hermione wasn't saying anything. "What?"

"What that means is, then, when Luna seems tuned into the real world, she's tuning out most of her reality?"

"That's how it works for seers," Ron said. "That's why we figured Trelawney is mostly a fraud; her mistiness is more of an act. She should act more like Luna."

"Wow," Hermione said.

The Three Broomsticks was crowded, as usual. Harry seemed pensive, and when asked said that while the students seemed as happy to be in town as usual, the shop keepers had looked concerned. After lunch, the octet revisited most of the shops. The shop keepers were putting up a brave front, but all were obviously worried.

Even though they were getting all the public news (The Daily Prophet, The Truth, and even The Quibbler), the students were still somewhat isolated from the fears of the general public, most of whom could easily remember the terrors of the previous war, and even those from Grindelwald's time.

That night, Harry was one of the prefects on patrol duty. As he was circling near the Ravenclaw common room, he could hear shouting.

Moving quickly, Harry came across a strange sight: Cho and Marietta were cornered by seven Fourth, Fifth, and Six year Ravenclaw girls, with Padma Patil trying to keep the two groups separated.

"What's all this, then?" Harry demanded.

"These two were stealing Luna's stuff again," Amber said hotly.

"Oh, like you never did it, too!" Marietta huffed.

"Just because you never grew up doesn't mean we can't!" one of the Fourth years shouted.

"Quiet!" Harry insisted. "Cho, do you have anything to say?" Cho, her eyes on the ground, shook her head 'no.'

"That's one point off each of you two and you seven," Harry stated. "The rest of up to your Ravenclaw prefect here, and your Head of House." Harry's face hardened in real anger, and the entire group cringed. They could actually feel the power of Harry's anger, and it frightened them all. "What do you say, Padma? You know everyone; shall we send this lot off and take these two and Amber to see Professor Flitwick?"

Padma recovered first. "Yes, I think that's a good idea."

"You didn't have to do that, Harry," Luna said the next morning at breakfast.

"I know, but it just seemed like petty harassment to me. And what else could I do? I even penalized the crowd trying to help you." Harry was also pleading.

"I know, Harry. I meant frightening them like that." Luna looked at him. "You have powers you haven't fully explored yet."

"I have?"

"It's not the fact that you feel that makes you more powerful than Voldemort," Luna told him, for he had of course told her all about his talks with Dumbledore over the past few weeks, "that merely make you the better person. Somehow, you can channel what you feel into power."

"Maybe, but if so, why aren't they teaching me that?"

"I think," she said slowly, thinking through the idea, "you need to learn to control yourself more. That goes along with your Occlumency lessons, doesn't it?"

"That's true," Harry admitted.

"So, when you've come closer to mastering Occlumency, and have started Legilimency, you can start learning how to harness that power."

"It's supposed to be what allows me to beat Voldemort," Harry whispered, "what if I don't learn in time?"

Luna leaned against him and hugged him gently. "You can learn, Harry; I know you can."

Thursday, October 31, 1996

The Halloween Feast and Dance went nicely. Most of the students managed to arrange themselves in integrated tables; even more than half the Slytherins managed to find some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs to sit with them, especially the younger years.

There had been no news of any attack for more than a week at that point. Most of the students, except those around Harry on the one side and those around Draco on the other, were able to put aside all their worries. So far, the war was still low-keyed for most of the students.

Hagrid had provided an excellent array of pumpkins, larger than usual now that he could legitimately use magic. The band was a local combo, who played a very eclectic array of tunes, from gavottes to heavy metal (or as close to it as two pianos, a drumset, and two marimbas could get).

Nearly two years older, and more secure with their dates, Harry and Ron enjoyed this dance much more than the Yule Ball. Despite her declaration of the year before, Luna decided she rather enjoyed the slower dances. Neville, it turned out, had taken dance lessons during the previous two summers, and Ginny didn't get stepped on once.

As Harry and Ron got ready for bed, Ron remarked, "Nice having a normal Halloween, wasn't it?"