Learning to Vanquish

Chapter 10

Lessons

Harry asked Hermione about the Quarter and Cross-Quarter days Snape had mentioned. She had given him a forty-five minute lecture about what they were, their meanings, their significance and, finally, when they were. The next one, Candlemas, was the first Tuesday in February. That day, Harry talked to Blaise and Daphne and was unsurprised when Blaise told him that day that Malfoy had had to go home for "family business" until the next day.

During their Care of Magical Creatures class that afternoon, Hagrid came out beaming. "I have a special treat for yeh," he told the class. "Now, most o'the creatures we study here aren't intelligent. They mebbe canny or cunning, but they're not like us. Today, I thought I'd introduce yeh to somethin' a bit more like us." He turned to the Forbidden Forest and called, "Grawp!"

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged looks of pure horror. Grawp was unpredictable at best; he might be on his best behaviour, or he might give an example of why giants had been driven from England. Noticing their reaction, Blaise sidled over. "What's a Grawp?" he asked quietly.

Ron took a deep breath. "He's Hagrid's half-brother. They have the same mum."

"Wasn't his mum the giant?" Blaise asked, his eyes widening. "Does that make . . ." He didn't get to finish the sentence because Hagrid had finally convinced Grawp to come out of the forest.

Harry hadn't seen Grawp since the summer and the change was stunning. Grawp was neatly groomed, in the same kind of horrible hairy suit Hagrid wore when he dressed up, and his hair was neatly combed. As the class gasped, he stomped into the clearing where class was held and held up his hand. "Hi," he said.

The class was silent, staring up at the giant. Before they could start to panic, or Hagrid could say anything more, Grawp saw Hermione and smiled, calling out, "Hi, Hermy!"

"Hi, Grawp," Hermione answered, beginning to recover her normal calm. "We, the class, have never met a giant before."

Grawp smiled at her and sat down. The resulting crash knocked a couple of the smaller students down, where they were quickly joined by the students left standing. Hagrid turned to the class and said, "Grawp is my brother and, as yeh can see, he's a giant. What c'n ye tell me about giants?"

The class that followed was actually one of Hagrid's better lessons. First, he lectured about where giants now lived and their social structure. Then, he let the class ask questions of Grawp, who answered as best he could, although he was frequently confused by what they wanted to know. Without Malfoy there, the other Slytherins didn't try to give Hagrid a hard time; they mostly just stared.

After the lesson was over, Daphne joined Blaise. "That was a surprisingly good lesson," she said. She looked a little hesitant. They discussed the lesson and giants all the way back to the castle.

In Charms class, Professor Flitwick began teaching about mapping charms. He started with basic Mapping Charm, Graphio Cartos. Harry immediately tried to map Hogwarts with it, but it didn't work; his paper remained as blank as when he started. Professor Flitwick came over to check what had gone wrong. When Harry explained it, he smiled kindly and asked for the class's attention. "Mr. Potter has tried an experiment which highlights one of the chief limits of this spell. This Mapping Charm cannot be used on a Disillusioned, Warded or Unplottable location. That is much more complex magic which we will not be covering." He turned back to Harry. "That was a very good try. Why don't you try something simpler? And, perhaps, smaller?"

After the frustration of Charms, their next Defence Against the Dark Arts class was much simpler. As they entered the room, they found all the desks had been stacked and pushed to the edges of the room. Professor Gillespie smiled as they walked in and announced, "Set your books with the desks and gather in the centre of the room with your wands." As soon as the class sorted itself out, Gillespie asked, "How many of you have ever seen or experienced a Dementor attack?" When the entire class raised their hands, he looked startled. "Er, all of you? That's a little unusual; what were the circumstances?"

He was rattled enough to call on Hermione for the answer. "Three years ago, during our third year, the Minister of Magic assigned Dementors to guard the school. They also went through the Hogwarts Express when it brought us here for start of term. They mostly stayed outside the gates, but they did come in for one Quidditch match."

Gillespie cleaned his glasses while Hermione spoke. He thought a moment, and then asked, "Well, I scarcely need to teach you of its effects then. Does anyone in the class have an, er, unusually strong reaction to them? Most people just feel dreadful in their presence, but some react so strongly that they can actually faint."

Harry sighed, but raised his hand. Gillespie smiled ruefully. "Yes, of course, Mr. Potter; that's to be expected. Anyone else?" No one else raised their hands, although the class was shifting uncomfortably. "That's good to see, at least. Dementors can be protected against, but the spell is very difficult to perform against a real Dementor. Can anyone tell me what it is?" Everyone in the room raised their hands, which caused Gillespie to blink in surprise. He pulled out a stack of parchment and glanced through it. "I don't see this charm being taught by any of your previous instructors." He looked up and saw everyone in the room looking at Harry. "Ah, this was taught in your Defence club, is that it, Mr. Potter? Have you ever performed it against a real Dementor?" His expression said he thought the answer would be no.

"Yes, on two occasions. And, when I learned it, we used a Boggart to practice against."

"Your greatest . . . Never mind. That's impressive All right," he turned back to the class, "how many of you can perform the spell?" Most of the class dropped their hands. He looked a little more at ease. "Mr. Potter, have you gone over the theory behind Expecto Patronum, what it does and why it works?"

"I know it works as a kind of guardian, but beyond that, I don't know."

"Well, then, let's start there." He waved his wand and moved the desks back where they belonged. Once everyone was seated, he began a lecture on the theory and history of both Dementors and Expecto Patronum. Harry found the information fascinating, taking notes with Hermione-like interest. At the end of class, Gillespie held them up for a minute. "Mr. Potter, Miss Granger and Mr. Thomas indicated they were able to conjure Patronuses. Would you three demonstrate? One at a time, please."

Harry was able to conjure his stag, Hermione her otter and Dean conjured a panther. Gillespie shook his head, looking impressed. "Corporeal patronuses. Should I ask how many of you can produce some silver mist?" The rest of the class raised their hands. He smiled and nodded to Harry. "Fine work, Mr. Potter. It looks like this will be a much shorter section than I expected." Harry walked out of the classroom, feeling terribly proud of his DA members.

On Wednesday, Harry woke up feeling tired and off. He went to his classes, but had a difficult time concentrating on the teachers or his own work. By the afternoon, when his head had been aching for several hours, he felt the first sharp pain in his scar. Telling Ron and Hermione that he was feeling ill, he went back to the dorm, closed the curtains around his bed and lay down, closing his eyes and trying to will the pain away. He could feel a growing sense of triumph from Voldemort, but nothing else.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been lying there, when Ron came in with a damp, cool flannel. "Hermione went for the Headmaster," his friend said. "You've been up here moaning for an hour and we haven't been able to wake you. Are you feeling any better now?"

"Worse," Harry said. His voice was nothing but a hoarse croak. As he was putting the flannel on his head, he felt something like the Imperius curse, telling him to hex Ron. "No, I won't," he thought to himself, resisting the urge. Ron was talking to him, but Harry shut it out in favour of fighting the nearly irresistible urge to hurt Ron, with magic or his bare hands. He didn't know how long he lay there fighting, but after what felt like hours the urge faded away, as did the pain in his scar.

Opening his eyes, he saw Dumbledore and Hermione had joined Ron. His friends both looked pale and scared while the Headmaster looked concerned. "Harry," he said, "how are you feeling now?"

"A little better," Harry answered. His voice was still rough and it hurt to talk. "The pain in my scar is gone, but my head is still aching. Do you have any idea what just happened?"

"I have an idea," Dumbledore said, "but I'd like someone else to check as well. Let's take you to the Hospital Wing and have Madam Pomfrey look you over?" He helped Harry to stand and led them out of the dormitory.

Ron, obviously thinking that Harry was still feeling ill, put his arm around Harry and supported him as they walked. By the time they got to the Hospital Wing, Ron was more carrying Harry than Harry was walking. Harry lay down on one of the beds and was asleep immediately.

It was hours later when he finally woke. The Hospital Wing was dim and quiet, but Ron and Hermione were still sitting next to his bed. Harry smiled as he realized they were completely oblivious to his having woken up, being too busy snogging. Finally getting tired of waiting for them, he cleared his throat.

Both of them jumped. Hermione started to explain what Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore had decided, but she was talking so fast Harry couldn't understand her. Harry looked at Ron. His face was just as red as Hermione's, but he was able to talk normally. "Madam Pomfrey said you can leave as soon as you wake up and she checks you out. She'll be back in a minute; she went to get something to eat. In the meantime," Ron lowered his voice, "it was Snape Dumbledore wanted to talk to. They both did something . . . "

"Legilimency," Hermione interrupted.

"Yeah, and decided that Voldemort tried to take control of you through your link."

Harry stared at him. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Of course not," Hermione said briskly. "It took him hours and hours to get through enough of your barriers to do anything and then you threw him right out. Professor Dumbledore thinks that your headache is nothing on the one Voldemort has." She gave him a satisfied smile. "He also doesn't think he'll try again, but Professor Snape will be keeping an ear out if he says anything about it."

"Snape knew he was going to try something," Ron added, "but he wasn't sure what. He actually seemed almost impressed with your shields and Occlumency."

It was shortly after that that Madam Pomfrey returned. She examined Harry, told him he was fine, but should take it easy for the next couple of days and released him from the Hospital Wing.

Throughout the next day, Harry discovered he was feeling much calmer than he had in what seemed like forever. He went to his classes and discovered that he was picking up the lessons much more quickly than he had before. As he was drawing a picture of a nightshade plant in Herbology, he asked Hermione why she thought it was.

"I don't know, it's a good question," she said.

"Maybe," Ron answered, "he's pulled far enough away from you that you're not feeling him. After all, you feel what he feels and, a lot of times, that's how you act. Maybe, if he's leaving you alone, you're coming out."

Harry thought about it. There was a certain rightness to the explanation, but it didn't feel perfectly right.

"After classes," Hermione said, "I'll go to the library and see if I can find any answers. I know where most of the books on soul bonds are now, and Professor McGonagall gave me a pass to check them out of the Restricted Section."

Harry smiled at her assurance that the library would hold the answers and went back to his drawing.

In Transfiguration later, they were trying to transfigure a chair into a number of different objects. Harry discovered that he was actually pretty good at it. Not as good as Hermione, of course, but he was doing pretty well. That's why he was so surprised when Professor McGonagall asked him to stay after class.

Harry gathered up his books as the rest of the class left, feeling nervous. He couldn't remember having broken any rules in quite a while. He could see Ron and Hermione waiting just outside the door. McGonagall looked up, noticed them and beckoned them in, scowling. "You may as well come in," she said. "And you can relax, Potter; you're not in trouble."

"Good," Harry said.

"Due to reasons of security, you haven't been allowed to attend any Hogsmeade weekends this year, "she said. "You've been quite understanding about this restriction, and we've decided to reward you." Ron and Hermione were exchanging a triumphant look as McGonagall continued. "You will be permitted to go to Hogsmeade this weekend. There are three rules. First, you will go straight to Hogsmeade and straight back and you will not leave the town for any reason. Second, you will not be alone at any time. If your friends need privacy," she smiled thinly at Ron and Hermione, "you will find someone else with whom to visit. Third, there will be members of the Order present to ensure your safety. If they come to you and tell you to do something, you will follow their instructions immediately. Can you do that?"

"Right," Harry agreed. Then, a possible problem occurred to him. "What if I don't know my guard?"

Professor McGonagall seemed quite satisfied with his question. "The only people being considered are those you do know," she assured him. "Right now, it looks like it will be Remus or Tonks. Or both," she added. Then she turned to Hermione, "Have you received the permission from your parents to go as well, Miss Granger?"

Hermione smiled happily. "Yes. Mum agreed that going into the village with my boyfriend the day after Valentine's Day is worthy of their giving me permission. Especially since you told her the Order would have watchers there." Hermione dug into her book bag and pulled out a note. "Here it is."

The three of them headed to the library. Ron looked nervously at Hermione. "Tomorrow's Valentine's Day," he said. "I, er, I completely forgot about it. I didn't get you anything."

"That's all right," Hermione smiled. "I thought you might forget. You can take me to Madam Puddifoot's for lunch instead."

Ron's expression said he wasn't sure Madam Puddifoot's was any better than an angry girlfriend on Valentine's Day, but he kept quiet about it. Harry was sniggering to himself over Ron's meek acceptance of their Saturday lunch plans. "I reckon I'll see who else is going and if they mind me tagging along for lunch," Harry said, partly to distract Ron.

"Seamus, Lavender and Parvati are going together," Hermione said. "Maybe you can go with them."

Saturday morning turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun was shining and, although it was quite cold, there was no wind to keep the students inside. Hermione, Lavender and Parvati had decided between themselves that they, Ron, Seamus and Harry would go together with Dean, Ginny, Neville and Luna. The walk into town was great; everyone was laughing and just having fun. Harry and Parvati wound up walking together since the others were paired up. When Harry realized this, he was a little nervous; he still remembered the conversation he'd had with Luna. As the others drew away from him, he leaned down and quietly asked Parvati, "Is Luna trying to set us up?"

Parvati smiled at him. "She said you were worried about putting anyone else in danger," she answered just as quietly. "You worry about so much and you have to, I know," she cut Harry off from saying anything, "but somebody needs to worry about you. I'm not seeing anybody, you're not seeing anybody and, if we have some fun, where's the harm?"

"Did she mention the whole 'Anyone I care about could be used by Voldemort' thing?" Harry asked. "It's not a stupid concern; my godfather died because Voldemort used him against me. I can't, I won't let that happen to anyone else."

"Harry," Parvati said patiently, "I'm not talking about eternal love. I'm talking about spending the day together. And before you say anything else," she continued, her face firming into resolve, "I know it could be dangerous and that's a chance I'm willing to take. So, where do you want to go?"

It was a good day. They visited all the different shops, laughing about how strange they all seemed when they first came here in their third year. Harry and Parvati had lunch in The Three Broomsticks while the others went to Madam Puddifoot's. While they were lingering over their butterbeers, Harry saw Tonks walk into the pub and start looking around. He stood up, worried, until she saw him, relaxed, and walked over.

"Wotcher, Harry," she laughed. She then turned to Parvati and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Tonks. I'm a friend of Harry's."

"And this is Parvati Patil," Harry said. "She and I aren't seeing anybody, so we're keeping each other company." Harry turned to Parvati. "I met Tonks over a year ago; she's one of my godfather's cousins."

"Nice to meet you," Parvati said with a smile. "Hermione's mentioned you a few times. Are you the watcher Ron and Hermione said would be here?"

Harry felt his cheeks flush. "Yeah. They told you about that?"

Parvati and Tonks exchanged a look and Tonks sat down. "Patil? Is your dad a mediwizard?"

Parvati nodded and the two of them started talking to each other. It turned out they knew a lot of the same people. Tonks could tell them stories Parvati had never heard and they were all laughing in no time.

Finally, Harry looked at Tonks. "Why did you come in here? I thought you were going to stay out of sight?"

"When all the others you were with went into Madam Puddifoot's, and you didn't, I decided to make sure you were all right," Tonks said.

Harry laughed. "I went to Madam Puddifoot's once. It was a disaster and I'll never go in there again."

Parvati gave him a funny look. "Do you feel the same way about dances?"

Harry flushed. "Er, I had an all right time. I was a bit of a prat to you, though; I'm glad you've forgiven me?"

"Oh, I'm not so sure of that," Parvati said, while Tonks laughed.

She then looked at her watch. "Harry, I hate to do this to you, but it'd be a lot easier if you went back to the castle now. Could you . . .?"

Harry looked at Parvati, who smiled back. "It's fine with me," she said. "I still have that Charms essay to do."

They walked back together, talking about school and their friends. When they got back to Hogwarts' grounds, Harry turned and waved to Tonks. As they walked back to the castle, Parvati smiled. "I'm glad you could come today," she said. "I had a really good time."

"Me, too," Harry agreed. They walked up to Gryffindor Tower, where they went to work on their homework. Sitting next to Parvati felt good. Harry tried to convince himself that this was a bad idea, but he couldn't seem to walk away.

When the others got back, Seamus started to tease them, until he saw them deep into homework. "That's no fun," he complained. Parvati gave Lavender and Hermione a look, and the three girls went up to the girls' dorm. "Do you ever wonder what they talk about when they do that?" he asked.

Ron shook his head. "I'd go mad. Hey, Harry, are you up for a game of chess?"

That Sunday, the first of Rita's stories was published. A large barn owl dropped two papers in front of Harry while he was eating his breakfast. The first Harry opened was The Quibbler. Blazoned across the front page was the headline, FUDGE TRIES TO DESTROY HOGWARTS. Underneath was a picture of Fudge staring straight into the camera looking furious. Harry handed that paper to Ron while he picked up the Sunday Prophet. A little more restrained than the Quibbler, its headline read CORRUPTION IN THE MINISTRY?

Harry spent the rest of the morning reading both papers front to back, trading pages back and forth with Ron and Hermione. They had found a quiet area and weren't disturbed by other students. That was fortunate; the papers were disturbing enough.

Mr. Lovegood had asked Rita to interview Harry and investigate Umbridge's Blood Quill detentions. During the interview, Harry had mentioned a few other matters, so Rita started investigating. Every time she'd get confirmation of something, though, it led to something else. Rita had been able to get some Ministry employees to talk, under the promise of anonymity, and they painted a picture of corruption throughout the Ministry, especially in the Minister's office. She had been unable to link anything directly to Fudge, but every other member of his office, with the glaring exception of Percy Weasley, was implicated.

The Quibbler's story was primarily about Hogwarts. They printed all of the Educational Decrees in full, including the circumstances that created them. They told of how Umbridge and Fudge had tried to arrest Dumbledore for what the paper described as "an extracurricular study group devoted to learning Defence in these difficult times". Harry's interview was printed, as were interviews with Dumbledore and McGonagall as Deputy Headmistress under both Dumbledore and Umbridge. Harry was impressed at how McGonagall would imply Umbridge's incompetence without actually saying so bluntly.

The Prophet, on the other hand, relegated the Hogwarts portion of the story to the back pages. It concentrated on the events in the Ministry. Rita Skeeter, and another regular reporter on the Prophet's staff, had found evidence that members of Fudge's staff would take bribes to "fix" anything--no matter how serious or dangerous the crime. One man known to be a Death Eater, a Henry Stuart, had paid to have his entire record wiped. That record included two families of Muggle-born wizards killed after Voldemort's return. In fact, they were able to prove that Fudge knew Voldemort was back but was refusing to admit it to keep himself in power. The articles stated that there were no other instances recorded in which Dementors were used to keep Fudge's enemies under control, or anyone attacked with Cruciatus for defying Ministry personnel. At the same time, there was no evidence that either of those things had been done to Harry and the paper assumed he was telling the truth.

When he had finally finished reading both papers twice, Harry sat back feeling stunned. Both the Prophet and the Quibbler were taking a huge chance on nothing more than his word. He was thrilled that his word was considered good enough, but worried about what the papers had left them open to. When he said that out loud, Hermione was quick to argue with him.

"The reporters and editors know what they can and can't say," she said firmly. "They seem to have decided that Fudge won't decide what they print any more. Not that Mr. Lovegood ever let him get away with it," she said, picking up the Quibbler to read McGonagall's interview again.

After skimming the Prophet for the fifth time, Ron leaned back and sighed. "Mum and Dad will be relieved," he said when Harry looked at him. "I never thought I'd be grateful that Percy refused to break rules, but I am now. I'd hate to see him get in trouble; Mum and Dad would never get over it."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other unnoticed by Ron, who was staring out over the lake. It didn't look like Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were the only ones relieved by Percy's absence in the papers.

When they returned to the Great Hall, the noise level dropped dramatically. It felt like every eye was on Harry and his friends as they walked to the Gryffindor table. Once they sat down, most people stopped looking at them, but Harry suspected he'd be answering questions about his interview for days. He looked up to see the teachers' reactions and was relieved to see that most of them looked cheerful. Snape was glowering, but Harry expected nothing else from him. Not only did he glower on the best of days, but the Inquisitorial Squad had been thoroughly disgraced although the blame was placed more on Umbridge than the students.

The next morning, a flock of owls delivered the post to Harry while he was eating breakfast. Ron shook his head at the pile of letters. "D'you mind if we help you open them?" he asked as he reached for a stack that was about to topple over. When Harry shook his head, Ron ripped open the first letter. "This one wants to know what else Fudge is hiding. Nice if we knew."

Hermione had gathered her own stack. "This one's useless," she said after quickly reading the top one. "Thinks you shouldn't disagree with the Minister. Of course, he's allowed to make you look deranged." Harry grinned at her support.

Ginny and Neville had come over and asked if they could help. By the time they were finished, all of the Gryffindor Sixth Years were opening letters. The others had made it a bit of a game, making stacks of letters that agreed and disagreed with Harry. It was heartening to see that a lot more people seemed to be agreeing with Harry.

Classes that week were especially interesting: Neville suddenly started doing better. A lot better. He wasn't able to do better than Hermione, but his Revealing Charm revealed an older example on the parchment Flitwick had given him in addition to the one he was supposed to reveal. In Transfiguration, where they were reviewing Switching Spells, Neville was finally able to perform his perfectly. And in Defence Against the Dark Arts, where Gillespie had them duelling, Neville knocked Harry out by blasting him across the room--right through Harry's shield. When Hermione asked him if he knew why he was suddenly doing so well, Neville nodded happily. "They're still not entirely sure what the Death Eaters did to me that day, but they've been able to clear part of the curses. The curses they cleared were set to deliberately inhibit my magic; apparently, they were testing them. St. Mungo's is going to be keeping an eye out for them; they're nasty."

The Prophet had been promising more information on the events in the Minister's office, but something more shocking took its place. The day before, there had been an attack on the village nearest Azkaban Prison. It was clear the reporter didn't know much--the Ministry was still investigating--but what was made public was chilling. Seventeen people were dead, five people were Kissed and two people, including one child, were injured. The Great Hall was quiet at breakfast that morning; the attacks were serving the purpose of terrifying the Wizarding world.

As Harry, Ron and Hermione stood up to go back to the common room, Professor McGonagall came up to them. "Mr. Potter, Professor Dumbledore needs to see you in his office immediately," she said in a low voice. "Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, you'll see him later." She walked with Harry up to the Headmaster's office, but left him at the foot of the stairs. "Go on up; he's expecting you."

Harry walked into the office to see Remus sitting in the chair opposite Dumbledore. He looked exhausted and rather ill. Harry thought the full moon had just passed. "Harry," Dumbledore greeted him, "please come in. This morning's news has a very disturbing aspect and Remus wished to tell you about it himself."

"You know last night was the full moon?" Remus asked, his voice hoarse.

"Sort of," Harry said.

Remus smiled. "It was; that's why I look so terrible today." He took a deep breath, seeming to steel himself for something. "The attacks last night . . . Those Kissed were attacked by dementors. The rest were attacked by werewolves, and two people were transformed."

Harry was stunned. "The werewolves have gone to Voldemort?" he asked in a hushed voice.

Remus smiled faintly. "Some werewolves have gone to Voldemort; Umbridge's laws are so restrictive that they'll do anything for freedom. Most have not, but I can't say for how long that will hold."

"We're telling you this," Dumbledore said, "because we've found you do better with more information than less. From what we can tell, the Ministry is not releasing this information. They're afraid of the terror which would grip our world."

"One of the people killed last night was also a werewolf," Remus added. "From what we can tell, there were a few with the Dementors and two fighting on our side. We're trying to get that news out; it should make things easier."

Dumbledore nodded, looking tired as well. "This information needs to be kept very quiet, Harry," he said. "You may tell Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, but only somewhere where you cannot be overheard. We don't need panic and that's all that would result."

Harry nodded, feeling numb. "Remus, has Voldemort approached you? Do you know how . . .?"

"Not this time," Remus said. He smiled. "My answer the first time around pretty much insures that they won't try again. They may try to capture or kill me."

"What did you do?" Harry asked.

"I reported the Death Eater to the Aurors. Trying to hire a werewolf to kill or injure someone is the same as arranging a murder. His emissary went to Azkaban and died there a year later." Remus sighed. "Harry, sometime soon, you and I need to sit down and have a long talk, but today's not the day. They are improving the Wolfsbane Potion, but the transformation is still painful and tiring. Can you wait a bit for the rest of your questions?"

Harry nodded. "I may write them to you," he threatened.

Remus laughed. "Sounds wonderful," he said as he left.

Harry pulled Ron and Hermione to the Room of Requirement. On their way, they bumped into Ginny and Neville. When Harry tried not to let them come along, Ginny gave him a look that reminded Harry strongly of Mrs. Weasley. "We're not letting you go off alone," she told him firmly. "Unless you truly believe you can't trust us . . . "

"OK, you can come along," Harry interrupted. He really didn't want Ginny telling him off. When they got there, Harry locked the door and put up silencing and barrier spells. "That should be enough," he said and told the others what Dumbledore and Remus had told him.

"That's horrible," Neville said. "They're making things worse for themselves, not better."

"Maybe that's what they're trying to do," Hermione said thoughtfully. "If there's enough of a backlash, especially if people start killing werewolves just because of what they are."

"Or locking them all up," Ron added. "That makes a horrible kind of sense."

The only additional piece of information the Prophet was able to report over the next week was that there were Dementors back in Azkaban and there were no more sightings of them anywhere else. No one knew what was happening at Azkaban.

When Harry walked into the training room on Friday evening, Snape told him that they would be doing things differently. "The Dark Lord has made it clear that no one else is to kill you. In fact, if you're irreparably harmed, the punishment will be severe."

"Irreparably harmed?" Harry asked. "Does that mean they're just supposed to capture me?"

"Whoever manages it will be highly rewarded," Snape confirmed. "I'm believed to be at an advantage because I'm here at school, but the Dark Lord knows I must be careful of Dumbledore. You must be extremely careful; your trip to Hogsmeade was ill advised. You are not to even leave the castle except for classes and that accompanied. Do you understand?" When Harry nodded, Snape continued, "The techniques for capturing a victim without causing permanent harm are different than those for killing or incapacitating him. So are the techniques to defend against them. We will start learning them."

They worked for over an hour on the new skills. By the end, Harry was dripping with sweat, but had been able to stay out of Snape's control for over fifteen minutes. "Next time, we'll add magic to the mix," he said. "You have an army, do you not?"

"It's really just a study group," Harry said.

Snape sneered. "Of course. I want a list of everyone in your little study group and how much you, personally, trust them. I don't want Miss Granger's opinion, or Mr. Weasley's or Nearly Headless Nick's, for that matter. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, sir. Can I ask why?"

"You just did," Snape said, smirking. When Harry glared, he relented. "It's time for you to begin building your own allies. Much as I despise it, you are being made to carry a major role in this war; it's about time you started acting that way."

Although he didn't tell Ron or Hermione about the list he was making, he did mention the last comment Snape had made. Hermione looked shocked, but Ron just nodded. "He's right. You need to know who's on your side and who you can depend on," Ron said. "For the record, you can include me."

Harry laughed and went up to wash off the sweat.