Learning to Vanquish

Chapter Five

Start of Sixth Year

When Harry woke up the next morning, he heard his name being called from the mirror. He finally walked over and picked it up. "Morning, Sirius," he answered listlessly.

"You look like hell!" Sirius said. "What's gone wrong?"

Harry proceeded to spend the next several minutes telling Sirius about all the restrictions, about how he hated that Hogwarts was beginning to feel like a prison and about how the adults, especially Dumbledore and Snape, were treating him like he'd done something wrong.

Sirius sat there for a minute before he answered. "First, the adults in your world are going to have to cope with the fact that forbidding a teenager from doing those things he dearly wants to be doing, even if it is for the kid's safety, is going to be resented. You're accepting it, you're following their rules and the next time someone hexes you because you don't want to make nice, either hex them back or get Dumbledore to come down on them. It doesn't sound to me like he approved of Snape's actions at all."

Harry could feel half of the tension draining out of him. Sirius understood.

"Secondly, though," Sirius said reluctantly, "from what I know of the situation there, they're right. Going to a known location at a known time if someone wants to hurt you is a truly bad idea. The one thing I don't understand is why they couldn't get you to that shop. That could have been done at any time, with full precautions. It probably could even have been done off hours."

"I didn't tell them what I wanted to do, other than the train," Harry admitted. "I don't want to put anyone into danger just for fun."

Sirius nodded. "Thought so. Next time, make up a list of what you want. You may not get any of it, but a reasonable list they can't grant gives you more bargaining power later. And they might have been able to set something up safely for the shop and a way to get you clothes that fit." He thought for a minute. "From what you've said, other than being the bearer of bad news, Remus wasn't giving you a hard time about your reactions, am I right?"

Harry thought about it. "Yeah. He gave me the news and tried to talk to me a couple of times, but he left me alone when I asked him to." He started feeling bad when he realized how he had been treating Lupin. "I reckon I owe him an apology."

"That's between the two of you. Remember, Remus understands what it's like to live with unfair restrictions; he's been doing it all his life. He should understand and be sympathetic to what you're feeling and he may be able to help you get those things you want that are possible. I'd write him a letter. The other thing about Remus is that he always forgives people treating him badly."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "It's the rest of us who get mad for him."

"You got it," Sirius smiled. On the final thing, you've pretty much cooped yourself up in the Chamber for the past few days, right?" When Harry nodded, Sirius shook his head. "That was probably the worst thing you could do. When you're feeling like you're imprisoned because of your restrictions, the best thing you can do is to get into the most open place you can. If you have time today, go out to the pitch and fly or ask Hagrid to take you for a walk to meet that brother of his. But get into the place you feel the most free. It isn't a solution, but it'll help."

"One more questions for you and I'll let you go to do whatever. This Chamber, is it the Chamber of Secrets? Where is it? It was believed to be a myth." Sirius was leaning forward in fascination.

"I can tell you where it is," Harry smirked, "but you may have trouble getting there. You need to speak Parseltongue."

"Parseltongue," Sirius repeated, his eyes wide. "I didn't realise you had that gift, too."

"Yeah," Harry said sourly. "Another legacy from Tom Riddle."

Sirius was quiet for several moments, looking utterly stunned. "You didn't get it from Riddle," he finally said in a very choked voice. "We're not sure where it came from but it wasn't from Riddle. Our Harry's a Parselmouth, too. We've kept it very quiet because no one knows where it came from and it has awful associations. In fact," he continued, his voice getting a little stronger, "apparently the Sorting Hat wanted to put him in Slytherin on that basis."

"It did me, too," Harry said. "I begged it to put me anywhere else. I'd already met Draco Malfoy and he reminded me too much of Dudley. Why did it put your Harry in Gryffindor?"

"Yes, that spoiled git would turn anyone off anything," Sirius agreed. "As for why the Sorting Hat put him in Gryffindor, he told it that he was a Gryffindor to the core and, if it didn't believe him, either set him a test or prepare for him to fight it. It announced that he was obviously Godric Gryffindor reborn and he'd better be put in that house."

Harry had a good laugh over that story and then told Sirius exactly how to find the Chamber. He had a feeling his counterpart was going to be doing some exploring soon. Sirius told him they'd be sending some more documents for Snape through that day and to get out into the fresh air. Harry decided this sounded like a great idea and spent the rest of the morning out on the Quidditch pitch flying.

When Harry came back to the tower for lunch, he found a note asking him to join the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor in his office after lunch. He ate quickly and headed to the Defence Against the Dark Arts office quickly, curious to meet this new teacher.

Wondering what he would see, Harry knocked on the office door. He heard a distracted, "Come in!" from within the office and pushed the door open. Harry had now been in this office for four of its occupants. The office was already neat, with several large bookcases packed full of books, several certificates stating that Robert Ambrosius Gillespie had various certifications and titles, charts on the walls demonstrating specific curses and their defences and, on a reading stand in the pride of place, a leather-bound book with the title An Exploration of Defence Against the Unforgivable Curses and Other Dark Curses by Robert A. Gillespie. It actually looked like a Defence Against the Dark Arts office, especially if the professor was the scholarly type.

"Hello, Professor Dumbledore said you wanted to see me?" he said. "I'm Harry Potter."

"Of course you are," came the response, as the new Defence Against The Dark Arts professor stood up from behind his desk. He was tall, with thinning brown hair and glasses. He smiled at Harry a little distractedly, and held out his hand. His handshake was dry and firm. "I did mention to Professor Dumbledore that it would be nice to meet you before the hordes arrive," the man said, "but I wasn't certain he'd heard me. I'm Professor Robert Gillespie. Won't you have a seat?" He waved a hand at the chair in front of his desk. After Harry sat, so did he. Professor Gillespie removed his glasses, cleaned them thoroughly and put them back on. "Ah, good. Moving in is dusty business. What did you want to see me about?"

"Er, I thought you wanted to talk with me," Harry answered, a little nonplussed.

"Ah, yes, of course," Gillespie said. "I understand you ran a study group in my subject last year. A rather successful one judging by the OWL and NEWT scores. Do you intend to continue it this year?"

"I hadn't made a decision yet," Harry answered carefully. The DA, after all, had been an illegal study group; he wasn't sure he wanted to admit his plans for it this year.

"Oh." Gillespie looked disappointed. "I was rather hoping you would do so. I have found that students with your apparent ability do better putting that ability to good use. A study group would, er, channel your energies productively while assisting students in need of help. I had hoped I could recommend those students who need extra help to your group. Would you consider that?"

Harry thought about it. It wasn't exactly what he wanted to do, but having Gillespie on his side had to be a plus. "That group is pretty advanced; it might be better to start a second group for those students you think need extra help. I could probably get members of the DA to help me with the second group."

Gillespie smiled. "I suppose that would work. What was the last subject you were covering before the group was disbanded last year?"

"We had started on conjuring Patronuses," Harry said. "They're pretty hard; only some of the group could produce them."

Gillespie seemed startled. "Yes, a bit on the advanced side." He was silent for a moment, but then looked up smiling. "That should work beautifully, Harry. If you should ever need help, or a test dummy, let me know. I must admit, I'm quite curious as to how the group works."

Although he was being perfectly polite, something about Professor Gillespie made Harry's skin crawl. He decided the best way to deal with it was to learn more about his new professor. "Could you tell me a little about your background, sir?" he asked.

It was the right question to ask. Gillespie's hazel eyes lit up, he pulled off his glasses to clean them again, and then answered, "I was born in England, of course, Oxford. My mother died when I was quite young and, as my father worked all over the world, I was well travelled before I started school. I received offers from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Because Father was working in France at the time, I began at Beauxbatons. Later, I transferred to Durmstrang and finished my education there. Although the Dark Arts aren't taught here, I was thoroughly trained in them; I have found that Defence is better when you understand what you defending against. After I finished my secondary education, I travelled a bit on my own, and then took an apprenticeship at the Salem Institute in the United States. I have taught at all three schools I studied at; this will be my first assignment at a school I have not attended." His gaze focused on Harry. "I have heard a great deal about you in the past two years from former colleagues; you are reputed to be quite the remarkable young man."

"Professor McGonagall seems to think I'd make a good teacher," Harry said. "How do you think I should make that decision?"

"Your study group is a good start. Admittedly, everyone is there because they want to be there, which always makes the job easier, but it's a good place to start. Tutoring is another step," Gillespie continued.

"She told me she'd be having me help some of the younger students," Harry offered.

"I will, too," Gillespie said. "You might try paying attention not just to the content of your lessons, but also the style. What works, what doesn't, that kind of thing." The man grinned. "One of the best lessons I ever learned was a negative one: how not to handle an unruly class. My Transfiguration professor used to transfigure particularly unruly students and they were always looking for ways to get back at him. I've tried to find more, erm, subtle punishments." At Harry's puzzled look, Gillespie told him, "I will be able to continue eating and drinking what's in front of me instead of drinking from a flask."

"And no one will think you're taking Polyjuice Potion," Harry muttered.

"Quite," Gillespie agreed. After several more minutes of small talk, Gillespie informed Harry he had a meeting with Dumbledore shortly, and promised to talk with him later.

Harry headed back to the Tower and changed into his school robes to wait. He sat on the windowsill, writing a letter to Lupin and waiting to see the carriages arrive from Hogsmeade Station.

It was hours later when he finally saw the carriages arriving, pulled by the strange, reptilian horses Harry now knew were thestrals. It was sad, he thought, that Sirius's death wouldn't allow anyone to see them; the only people who saw him die were already able to see them. He sighed, and walked down to the Great Hall.

He was disgusted to find that the first person he saw was Draco Malfoy. The Slytherin was walking next to Pansy Parkinson, with Crabbe and Goyle walking right behind. "Scarhead," Malfoy greeted him. "Think you're too good to come on the train with the rest of us," he taunted. "Just wait till my father hears about this; he'll be sure to have words with the governors."

"I'm sure those words will be heard with the respect they're due," Harry retorted, "coming from Azkaban. How is he enjoying the accommodations?"

"I'm sure you think that's funny," Pansy shot back. "Taunting someone who's in such great pain."

Draco's mouth twisted; he didn't seem to appreciate Pansy's contribution. "Things are changing, Potter, and I don't think you'll like the changes. Still," he looked around at the other students now filling the Great Hall, "I don't think that now is the time for that discussion." He swept off to the Slytherin table, trying to look as is Harry didn't concern him.

Harry decided he didn't need to spend any more time worrying about Malfoy. It didn't appear that much had changed. Since he could see Ron and Hermione walking into the Hall, along with Ginny and Neville, we walked over to join them. "Harry," Ginny greeted him. "We were all disappointed you couldn't join us on the train; did you have a good day?"

"Boring," he told them. "I'm really glad you all are here. I did get to meet the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"What's he like?" Hermione asked quickly. She looked a little paler and a little thinner than she had the last time he saw her, and there were now black circles under her eyes.

"Seems all right," Harry told her. "He wants me to keep up the DA, but he's thinking of it as more of a study group. "Are you okay? You don't look well."

"Thanks," Hermione answered wryly. "It was just tough with my parents; they're still pretty upset." She then had to fill Neville in on what had happened with her parents over the summer; he looked appropriately concerned.

While Hermione was talking to Neville, Harry noticed that Ron didn't look well either. He was pale and looked very unnerved. As they sat down, Harry asked him quietly if there was something wrong.

"Not as such," Ron answered. "Do you remember those brains?"

"Yeah. That was scary," Harry said.

"Apparently, they left, erm, memories behind," Ron told him quietly. "I'll be going along like normal and, all of a sudden, I'll be hit with someone else's memory. Weird, and it's getting stronger and more common as time goes on."

Ginny put her hand on her brother's arm. "One of the memories is of watching someone die."

"My wife. Well, the brain's wife," Ron added. "She was old and died peacefully in their bed. I remember thinking I'd be right behind her." Ron was quiet for a minute, staring off into space.

Harry suddenly realized why Ron looked so unnerved. "And you saw the thestrals, didn't you?" he asked.

Ron nodded. "Weird. I was really glad Neville was with me; he could tell me they were real." He was quiet again.

Harry wanted to say something that would help, but couldn't think of anything. He clapped his hand on Ron's shoulder, hoping his friend would feel the support. Ron looked up and gave him a weak smile. "It's okay, mate," Ron said. "Just really weird."

The five of them continued talking while the other students filed in. Luna waved as she walked over to the Ravenclaw table; Harry was able to give her a bright, happy smile. Once they were all seated, while McGonagall was leading the first years in, Harry's scar felt like it was on fire. He saw the living room in Riddle's house, a fire in the fireplace. Nagini was curled up in front of the hearth and he heard himself chanting something quietly. Harry couldn't make out the words. He tried Occlumency but it didn't seem to work. Eventually, he found himself back in his seat with a splitting headache. Other than those of his friends sitting right next to him, no one else seemed to have noticed what happened. The first years were into the P's; those already sorted seemed to be pretty evenly distributed.

Hermione and Neville were looking closely at his face and Ron had a hand on his arm. "Are you okay, Harry?" Neville asked quietly.

"Yeah," Harry answered. "I guess I kept quiet that time?"

"What did you see?" Ron asked. "Anything bad?"

"No," Harry told them. "Just Tommy and his pet snake. It was actually kind of sweet. I just wish I knew if I'm not good enough at Occlumency to stop it or if Occlumency just doesn't work on it."

"Send a note to Dumbledore," Hermione advised. By this time, the Sorting was finished and Dumbledore started the Feast.

Conversations broke out up and down the table. People were discussing their summers, the coming school year and the strange quiet coming from the Ministry. Harry felt drained and was relieved that his friends weren't forcing him to talk. His appetite returned and he tucked into the food gratefully.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could hold, and then some, Dumbledore stood and began his normal start of the year speech: that the Forbidden Forest was, in fact, forbidden; that the list of forbidden items could be found on Filch's door, and that it now included several of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and his introduction of their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Judging from the reactions of the girls around him, Harry gathered that they considered Gillespie attractive. He hoped that didn't mean the man was another Lockhart. Thinking about the book he'd written made him wonder.

On the way up to the tower, Harry pulled Neville aside. "There's something I have to tell you." He then proceeded to tell Neville the prophecy, that it still needed to be kept secret, and that it could have been Neville who fit it.

"I think it's a good thing he came after you first," Neville said, wide-eyed. "Can you imagine me trying to defeat him? We'd all be under his power now."

"I don't know," Harry argued. "Maybe he'd be dead and none of us would have to worry about him."

"I'm sorry," Neville said, laying his hand on Harry's arm. The gesture touched Harry and he gave Neville a grateful smile. They continued up to the tower in a comfortable silence. When they got to their dorm room, Dean and Seamus were already there. "You look terrible, Harry," Dean greeted him. "Don't you get to rest during the summer?"

"It was a busy summer," Harry told them. Dean and Seamus looked worried at his appearance. "Don't worry about it," he told them, "I'm fine. I just have to write a note to Dumbledore." He scratched out the note and considered. If he were to go to the Owlery, he would be out after curfew, which he didn't want. Hedwig had no way of knowing he needed her, though, so asking her to take the note was out.

Ron walked in while Harry was still thinking. "Dumbledore?" he asked, looking at the note in Harry's hand. When Harry nodded, he walked to the window, pulled out something that looked like a whistle, and blew on it. There was no sound, but several minutes later, Pig flew into the room. The tiny owl was so excited that it took the five boys almost half an hour to catch him; once they did, he allowed them to tie the note to his leg. "Take it to Dumbledore?" Ron told his owl, and who flew off. Raising the whistle, he said, "Gift from the twins. It scares me to think what they're planning now. You need to get into bed, mate, before you fall over."

Harry managed to pull his clothes off and his pyjamas on before collapsing on the bed. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Harry was awakened the next morning by the normal noise of four boys trying to get ready for the day. Neville was crooning at his Mimbulus Mimbletonia, Ron was trying to find his shoes and Dean and Seamus were arguing about whether or not the windows should be left open at night. When Harry sat up, he was briefly greeted with "Good mornings" before everyone went back to what they were doing. He got himself dressed and his things together for the day.

He managed to make it down to the common room before Hermione did. Since Ron appeared to be waiting for her, he was able to go to breakfast with them both.

Conversation over breakfast was centred on what people thought Voldemort's plans were. His inaction over the summer was puzzling everyone; some people thought it meant he had decided it was too dangerous for him to take any actions, but more people were unnerved, suspecting that his next actions would be devastating. Harry, when asked, stated he believed Voldemort had something in motion that did not yet involve public action. While the conversation continued, Professor McGonagall walked around the Gryffindor table passing out timetables.

Harry looked down at his and smiled. "Care of Magical Creatures first thing, and double Charms. That's not so bad."

Most of the NEWT classes turned out to be with more than one house. Care of Magical Creatures was with all four houses; Charms was with the Ravenclaws. Harry was tense during Care of Magical Creatures, waiting for Malfoy to say or do something to harass Hagrid. However, Malfoy and his friends were quiet through the class. They weren't paying particular attention to Hagrid's lesson on runespoors, but they didn't bother him either.

Professor Flitwick started the class by reminding them that NEWT classes were a privilege that could be lost. He then informed them that, although there were certain subjects that would be covered and others that would not be covered, he would consider any topics that particularly interested the class. He asked them to write down these additional topics they were interested in and pass them in. Harry wrote down "Mapping and Tracking Charms". He looked over at Ron's paper to see he'd written "Detection and Protection Charms".

After lunch was double Defence Against the Dark Arts with just the Gryffindors. Everyone was waiting quietly to see what kind of teacher Professor Gillespie would be. He walked into the room, set a stack of books down on his desk and called the roll. He then opened a ledger on top of the stack of books. "From the information I have been given, you have had a rather spotty instruction in this subject. In addition, you are not trained in the Dark Arts in order to understand what you are learning in Defence. Headmaster Dumbledore has informed me that this will continue; this is unfortunate, but we will try to overcome this handicap. This is the class that has the best chance of overcoming it; your OWL scores were truly remarkable. I have spoken with Mr. Potter and I hope he can prevailed upon to continue your study group. Now, if you will all open your texts to the first chapter, we will begin our discussion of the theory behind Defence."

The lesson was an exciting one, but Harry noticed a pattern that disturbed him. When Gillespie asked a question, everyone usually raised his or her hands, but he wouldn't call on Hermione, Lavender or Dean. He seemed to prefer calling on Parvati, Ron and Neville. After class, Harry, Ron and Hermione went to the library to start on their homework.

"So, what do you think of him?" Harry asked.

Hermione looked down at the table but said nothing. Ron said nothing for a moment, and took a deep breath. "He's a good teacher, but I don't like that he believes that pureblood rubbish."

"The question is whether he'll grade the Muggleborns in the class fairly," Hermione said quietly. "I, well I guess it is good practice for later."

"You can't believe that!" Harry demanded.

"It's horrible!" Ron agreed.

"If he treats us fairly," Hermione said, "we can handle the rest. You two don't understand; you didn't get the letters the rest of us did this summer. If the worst we have to deal with is not being called on in class, it's liveable."

"What kind of letters did you get this summer?" Harry asked. "We haven't heard anything about it."

"I didn't want to worry you," Hermione said, "and they don't write about this kind of thing in the Daily Prophet. I don't know if all the Muggleborns got them, but a lot of us got letters over the summer. They were, well they were pretty awful. And I wasn't going to tell my parents about them,"

"Hermione!" Ron and Harry both scolded her.

"Calm down," Hermione told them. "They got their own. It was, well they were pretty upset. Professor Dumbledore spoke with them and calmed them down. He's told them I'm safe here at Hogwarts. They've agreed to let me continue here, but I have to stay on the grounds. No Hogsmeade weekends for me this term."

Harry and Ron exchanged looks. "I don't get Hogsmeade weekends this term, either," Harry told her.

They didn't have their first Potions class until Wednesday morning. Snape swooped in. "You have all proved you can handle the basics of potions. If you cannot keep up without my holding your hand, you will be out of this class. We begin by discussing components, specialized ingredients with specialized uses. Many of these are too valuable to be used by students such as yourselves; however, you do need to understand them." He sneered at Harry and Ron as he introduced the lecture, but then ignored them for the rest of the class. Discussing it afterwards, they agreed that, although it wasn't going to be easy, Potions would probably be easier than previous years. Due to Snape's strict requirements, the NEWT Potions class was small and contained students from all four houses.

Throughout September, things got back to normal. Classes and homework took up much of their time. It quickly became obvious that, although it wouldn't be the all-consuming struggle it had been last year, the work was still getting progressively harder. Ron and Hermione spent a good bit of time on prefect duties. Most of the time, Ron treated them as he had last year: doing the absolute minimum he had to. Every once in a while though, especially when it involved one of the younger kids getting hurt, he would take his duties very seriously indeed. It turned out that Ginny had also been made a prefect this year. She handled her duties with a grace, and style, of her own. Her Bat-Bogey hex was soon talked about throughout the school and no one would dare interrupt her studying after Seamus had to be taken to the hospital wing the first week. The boils on his face had been bad enough, but there had been others elsewhere that had been truly painful.

The new Quidditch captain for Gryffindor, Katie Bell, was thrilled to be told that Harry's Quidditch ban had been lifted for this year. They still had to replace two Chasers and one Beater. Everyone on the team agreed that Ginny should get one of the Chaser positions. They had tryouts the first Saturday of term for the other two positions. Seamus got the other Beater position; he wasn't the best flyer, but he could hit a Bludger to do serious damage. Dennis Creevey got the third Chaser position; his brother Colin had also tried out but Dennis was better at both flying and goal scoring. After their first practice, Harry decided that the position of Gryffindor Quidditch captain created a personality change; Katie was at least as focused as Oliver and Angelina had been.

All of the original members of the DA still in school, except Cho Chang and Marietta Egdecomb, came up to ask Harry to start it back up again. Even though it was a legal club this year, Harry decided to continue as they had last year. He did let everyone know that they could bring friends along without the cursed sign-up sheet they had used last year, since no one would be getting into trouble for joining. After discussing it with the other members, they decided to wait until October to begin the meetings.

Several weeks later, Snape told Harry to stay after Potions. Harry didn't understand why; his potion had been perfect. Once the other students left, Snape closed the door, then locked it and cast several spells on it. Harry recognized Silencio and Imperturbable but the rest were new to him. Only then noticing Harry's expression, Snape said sourly, "Relax, Mr. Potter. For once you're not in trouble. I wish to discuss something with you. You may be able to help me with a situation in my House."

Harry stared wide-eyed. How on earth could he help Snape with anything in Slytherin? "Sir?"

"You are reforming Dumbledore's Army, is that correct?" Snape asked, with the air of a man who already knew the answer. When Harry nodded, Snape continued, "Last year, there were members from three of the houses in the group, but not from Slytherin, correct?"

Harry nodded warily. "Last year, it was a group of friends helping each other out. None of us have friends in Slytherin."

"That's not entirely true," Snape disagreed, without rancour. "However, that's not the point. Will you be expanding the membership?"

"We haven't met yet," Harry said, feeling very confused. Why did Snape need to know any of this? "It's not my group, you understand. They chose me to lead it last year; that's all."

"Gryffindor to the core," Snape muttered. Then, in his normal voice, "If it were your group, and you had sole control over its members, would you expand the group?"

Harry had been thinking about this and had been discussing it with Ron and Hermione. "If it were my decision, I would open the membership to the whole school. However, anyone who wanted to join would need to get two sponsors from the original members from two different houses. I also think Professor Gillespie wants me to work with some students; that will probably be a different group."

Snape was quiet for a few moments, looking at Harry intently as he traced his lips with his finger. The whole conversation was making Harry very nervous; it was the most pleasant Snape had ever been to him. "It is an unfortunate fact," he finally said, "that Slytherin House has a higher percentage of Death Eater's children than the other three houses put together. That said, however, there are many students in my House who do not support the Dark Lord. Some of them . . . " Snape took a deep breath, a pained expression on his face. "Some of them will likely be attacked for their disloyalty. And I'm certain you understand why I cannot protect them. Not if I want to continue being useful to everyone. I had hoped you would be willing to accept some of those at the highest rise, those who would benefit most from the group."

Harry stared in shock, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. "Would we have to keep them secret?"

"No, their politics are known," Snape said. "There have already been . . . incidents." At Harry's start of surprise, Snape snapped, "No matter what you believe, Slytherin doesn't mean evil. Our defining characteristic is ambition. Many of the students here are as appalled by, as willing to fight, the Dark Lord as the bravest Gryffindor. Unfortunately, they haven't the support your housemates do."

"Who?"

Snape smirked. "If I said Draco Malfoy?"

Harry glared. "I don't believe it."

"I wasn't serious," Snape said tiredly. "For the initial experiment, I was thinking Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greenglass. Mr. Zabini, especially, has been given a difficult time in the dorms."

Harry knew Blaise by sight, by that was it; Daphne he didn't know at all. "I wouldn't mind having eyes and ears in Slytherin," he finally agreed.

Snape rolled his eyes. "I doubt they'll be of much help with that as things stand. You'll stand sponsor for them?"

"I want to talk to them first," Harry said. "And they're on their own for the second sponsor."

Snape nodded. "An appropriate test, if nothing else," he agreed. "Will there be any more jinxes if they are indiscrete. They will ask."

After thinking a moment, Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. That was just to keep us all out of trouble. The group may overrule me on that one."

Snape stood, removed the silencing spells and opened the door. "I'll let you know." As Harry walked out the door, Snape said quietly, "Thank you, Mr. Potter." Before Harry could react, the door was closed.