Resistance

Chapter 4 - The DA Reforms

The Hog's Head, as usual, was badly lit and full of rather shady looking clientele. Neville, Ginny and Luna selected a secluded corner away from the bar, and Neville bought them all butterbeers. The past two weeks had not been a great deal of fun. Amycus Carrow's seventh year Dark Arts lessons had continued to focus on curses. He now taught them from written instructions, in what appeared to be Snape's handwriting. Carrow struggled with some of the longer words and screamed insults at any student who tried to ask a question.

Muggle Studies was no better. Despite her trollish appearance, Alecto was impressively inventive when it came to ways of twisting the facts about Muggles. Seamus was so infuriated by her lessons that he'd started 'anti-Muggle Studies' speeches after the classes to anyone who would listen. Despite this, Neville could see that Carrow's teaching had started to influence some of those pure-bloods who had previously been neutral towards Muggles.

Now the leaves were turning on the trees and the first Hogsmeade weekend was upon them. Neville felt his palms getting sweaty every time he remembered he was about to have his first taste of public speaking. He had considered getting one of the girls to do it, but Ginny was prone to moments of despair and Luna was... well, Luna. There was nothing for it but to do it himself. He tried to distract himself by listening to the girls' animated conversation about the baby unicorns they were helping Hagrid with.

Soon other students began filtering in and made their way over. Anthony Goldstein, Padma Patil, Terry Boot, and Ginny's ex-boyfriend Michael Corner all arrived together. Only three Hufflepuffs remained; Ernie, Susan Bones and Zacharias Smith. From Gryffindor, Lavender and Parvati were there, along with the two other Gryffindor seventh year girls who hadn't been in the original DA, and of course Seamus. Ginny's classmate Colin Creevey and his younger brother Dennis, looking as keen as ever, took seats near the front.

As well as the former members, there were several new faces. Demelza Robins, Jimmy Peakes and Richie Coote, who knew Harry and Ginny through Quidditch, had all come along. There was also an impossibly small girl with curly brown hair, sitting next to an equally tiny blonde. Neville wasn't sure that he recognised them.

When it looked like no one else was going to turn up, Neville rose to his feet uncertainly. He felt suddenly very cold despite the roaring fire, and beads of sweat appeared on his brow. How on earth had Harry managed to stand up in front of people and talk? He could feel his face reddening and knew they must all be thinking how stupid he looked.

'Hi, thanks for coming,' he began, his voice unusually high pitched and wavering. His mouth had gone completely dry and stuck together, making every word an effort. 'Um... some of you know that Dumbledore's Army started up in fifth year, when Umbridge was at the school. The idea was to learn defensive spells, which Harry Potter used to teach us.' He hit a sudden blank and stared around at the upturned faces, all listening and waiting for him to speak. His throat seemed to dry up and he didn't think he could get another word out. The longer the silence went on for, the worse the feeling became. The quiet and the expectant faces

Zacharias Smith said loudly,'Where's Harry Potter now? The Prophet says he had something to do with Dumbledore's death.'

Anger loosened Neville's tongue again. 'The Prophet also spent a whole year telling us You-Know-Who wasn't back and that Harry had made it all up! I don't think I'd trust anything the Prophet says. Those of us who know Harry also know he'd never have hurt Dumbledore.' He looked at the faces in front of him. Some were nodding and looking like they agreed, but others were still doubtful. He felt desperate, how could he convince them Harry was not a killer?

Somehow, words came into his head and he forced them out of his mouth. He knew his hands were shaking so he put them behind his back. 'Harry would love to be with us today but he is busy carrying out a mission that Dumbledore gave him, something that will help him defeat You-Know-Who. But just because Harry is gone, it doesn't mean we can't carry on learning better defensive magic and doing what Dumbledore would have wanted. I don't know about you, but I reckon Dumbledore would be pretty gutted to see what Snape and the Carrows are doing at the school.'

A few people said 'yes' out loud, and he got the feeling more of them were in agreement now. 'You've fought the Death Eaters for real, Neville, do you really think we would stand a chance?' asked Peakes, twiddling his wand nervously.

He gave this careful consideration before answering. 'Anyone who's been in classes with me will tell you I'm not someone who learns new spells easily, but if you work hard you can learn anything. I won't pretend it's easy and I don't suggest we start looking for fights, but we can do our best to defend ourselves and our classmates. And we can try to remind the other kids that there are still people in the world who are trying to fight You-Know-Who. We don't want people to give up.'

Ginny broke in now. 'Everyone who was in the original DA will know that we all signed up to say we'd keep the organisation secret and not tell anyone what we were doing. Now I think it's even more important that we do that.' She produced a piece of parchment, quill and inkpot from her bag. 'And like the original parchment, I've put a curse on it. Anyone who breaks the trust of the DA will have more than a few pimples to contend with. I'm not as soft as Hermione.' Ginny said this so fiercely that everyone looked rather alarmed.

Seeing the anxious faces, Neville clarified. 'As long as you don't betray the organisation by telling people about it, you won't have anything to worry about. If you want to leave at any time, that's OK, as long as you don't put the others in danger.'

'Look, Neville,' came an unpleasant voice again; Zacharias Smith hadn't finished. 'What's the point of all this, really? I mean, if any of us got faced with real danger, I don't think you're going to be able to teach us how to overcome it. We all thought that Potter might have come back to lead us.'

Smith had voiced exactly what Neville was thinking inside his own head and he found himself lost for words. Before Ginny could defend him however, Luna spoke. 'Harry will return to lead us all when he's finished his mission, then we'll overthrow Snape and the Carrows and reclaim Hogwarts for Dumbledore's supporters. Until then, Harry trusted Neville to make sure everyone is ready for when he returns. If you don't want to be part of it, the door's just over there.' She delivered this in her usual gentle voice, but her face was hard.

Zacharias reddened. 'Fine,' he said, standing up. 'I think you're all mad. This isn't a game anymore! When it comes to a real battle, you'll all be wiped out.' He turned and stalked out of the pub with his nose in the air.

'Good riddance!' said Ginny angrily. 'Does anyone else want to join him?' She glared round at the DA. No one moved. 'Right then.' She handed round the parchment and quill and everyone signed up. They handed out communication Galleons to the new members, which Luna had managed to charm with some help from a nervous Professor Flitwick. The tiny third year turned out to be Sophie Bell, younger sister of former Gryffindor chaser Katie. She was in Hufflepuff and her friend was Morwena Jones. Neville felt a whole new wave of anxiety wash over him at how small and helpless they both looked.

They agreed to meet in the Room of Requirement on Tuesday evening. 'Make sure you don't all arrive at once,' Neville reminded them. 'Come in twos and threes, a couple of minutes apart, and from different directions. Luna will coordinate the Ravenclaws, and Ernie the Hufflepuffs. Gryffindors need to come to me or Ginny. Keep your Galleons in your pockets all the time, and make sure you check them. If the date or time changes, they will let you know.'

As everyone left the pub for the nicer bits of Hogsmeade, he felt weak with relief. 'You were great,' said Ginny encouragingly.

He shook his head. 'I wish Harry was here. He was so good at getting everyone to follow him.'

Ginny laughed. 'Harry was terrified the first time they held a DA meeting. He really didn't want to do it, Ron and Hermione talked him into it. Most people are scared of speaking to a big group, it's just they cover it up. Just remember Neville, you've fought Death Eaters twice and survived. They look up to you now just like we looked up to Harry when the DA began.'

'I wish they didn't,' he muttered, thinking again of the tiny Hufflepuffs. He felt the weight of responsibility and expectation on his shoulders, and for the first time realised how Harry must feel.

Someone placed a heavy hand on his shoulder and he nearly yelled in fear, grabbing for his wand. 'Easy, easy!' laughed the newcomer, pushing back a big hood to reveal a shock of red hair. For a second, Neville thought it was Ron, but then realised it was one of the twins. He seemed to be missing an ear.

'Fancy seeing you three here,' he continued jauntily. 'Starting up the old DA again? Good for you. How's life at our dear alma mater?' Seeing their blank expressions he added, 'Hogwarts!'

George bought another round of butterbeers and they filled him in on the events at school. He looked grim. 'Umbridge was bad enough, this is even worse.'

'The worst thing of all is look of smug satisfaction on Snape's ugly, greasy face every morning,' said Ginny vehemently. 'He's got it all his own way, he killed Dumbledore and now he gets to play at being Headmaster. I hate him.'

'Nice to see you're as easy going as usual, little sis,' teased George. He leaned in closer. 'Listen, Lee Jordan's setting up a radio show that tells the truth about what's going on. Not the Ministry crap that's currently playing. First show's Thursday night at about eight, password to tune in is 'Potter'. Spread the word!'

'We will. I don't suppose anyone at home has heard anything?' asked Ginny, in an even lower voice.

'Well, not exactly.' George hesitated and looked around again. 'There's a rumour going round though that Harry might have freed a load of Muggle-borns from the Ministry.'

All three of them jumped in excitement. Ginny nearly fell of her chair. 'Really? When? Was it definitely him?'

'Last week some time. Whoever did it was Polyjuiced, but apparently it was two wizards and a witch, and an unnamed Ministry source swears she heard one of them call the other 'Harry'. They got in, disrupted a trial being run by Umbridge, knocked her out, and let out everyone in the cells awaiting trial. Most of the Muggle-borns got away.'

'That's exactly the sort of thing Harry would do!' cried Ginny, her eyes shining, before forcing her voice back to an excited whisper. 'It must have been them, it must have! So brave - typical of Harry, going right into the middle of the Ministry to rescue people, no matter how dangerous it was! And Ron and Hermione too! I knew they were still out there, alive and doing things. They haven't given up!'

'Did they escape OK?' asked Neville, more cautious by nature than Ginny.

George nodded. 'As far as we know. If they'd been caught you can guarantee the Prophet would have told the world by now. No one's reported any sightings since. The Ministry came round again to check up on Ron, they took one look at the ghoul and ran a mile, so his cover story's safe for now.'

They remained in the Hog's Head for another half an hour, reminiscing about happier days at Hogwarts, until George had to leave them. He didn't say where he was going or why, but promised to try and meet them again at the next Hogsmeade visit and wished them luck with the DA.

The three friends walked back to school feeling more cheerful. 'I always knew they were out there somewhere, but it makes me feel better to hear it for real,' said Ginny, walking arm in arm with Luna.

'Yeah,' Neville agreed, trying to imagine Harry, Ron and Hermione huddled together in a cave somewhere, planning. 'And I still believe Harry'll come back to Hogwarts eventually. Harry loved Hogwarts way too much to leave it the way it is now - especially with Snape in charge. Harry really hated Snape.'

'Of course, Snape's probably part of the Rotfang conspiracy,' added Luna cheerily.

'But do you know what the best thing is? They haven't given up. They have a plan, they must. They're not only surviving and staying hidden, but they're actually doing things and succeeding.' Ginny suddenly grabbed Luna's hands and spun her round. Shrieking and giggling, the two girls ran dizzily along the path, kicking up the first autumn leaves. Neville couldn't help but smile, it was so nice to have something to feel happy and hopeful about. He wanted to hold onto the feeling and keep it forever. If only life could always feel that way.

****

After the first meeting in the Hog's Head, the DA met regularly twice a week. Neville split the class into two groups - the older students who had already had tuition from Harry and knew most of the basics, and the younger ones who didn't. His Dad's books proved invaluable; generally he set the older ones an exercise from the books, and then devoted most of his attention to the youngsters.

To his surprise, he found he was quite good at teaching. From having struggled himself for so many years to learn, he had found a variety of tricks and techniques to remember things. No matter how slow even the slowest student may be, he managed to remain patient. Any time he felt exasperated by Sophie's slowness to learn a Shield charm or Dennis Creevey's complete inability to cast more than two simple spells in a row, he remembered how horrible he'd felt when Snape mocked his Potions making or McGonagall sighed impatiently at another Transfiguration disaster, and bit his tongue.

Outside of the DA though, their world seemed to crumble in tiny increments every day. Each week, news filtered through of deaths and disappearances around the country, whilst inside Hogwarts the contrast between the 'old' Hogwarts and the new grew more and more obvious. Even Fred and George's first 'Potterwatch' radio show couldn't completely cheer them up, although plenty of the Hogwarts students tuned in. Throughout the school, little groups sat in dormitories or in the corners of common rooms, clustered round crackly radios.

The following day, every wall had sprouted notices declaring that students were forbidden from listening to 'illegal radio broadcasts'. Many students returned to their dormitories to discover their radios were missing, no doubt connected to the large sack Filch had been seen carrying around the corridors that day. A furious Ginny cornered Professor McGonagall that evening outside the Common Room.

'They can't just steal our things! Radios aren't forbidden items, they can't take them away.'

McGonagall looked uncomfortable, but remained stern. 'Miss Weasley, the Headmaster of Hogwarts has always had the right to remove from students any items which he deems pose a threat to their wellbeing.'

'Snape is hardly a great advert for wellbeing, have you looked at him?' snapped Ginny. 'Since when did you go along with what Snape wanted?'

Neville winced and tried to inch Ginny away from McGonagall. The teacher drew herself up to her full height, eyes flashing. 'Miss Weasley, that is Professor Snape to you. And since Professor Snape is the Headmaster of Hogwarts now, I am obliged to go along with what he asks.'

'So if he starts killing students like he killed Dumbledore, you'll help out, will you?' Ginny threw back. Neville cringed in horror and Seamus tried to blend in with the wall.

'Miss Weasley,' whispered McGonagall, so angry now the Gryffindors could feel it come off her in waves. 'How dare you speak to me like that? We are talking about radios. Whilst I appreciate that it probably seems intolerable to you to live without the incessant background wittering of whatever large-mouthed nitwit presents the music shows these days, I can assure you there are far worse things. You may not have heard of the concept of choosing your battles, but I suggest you acquaint yourself with it. Fast.'

Ginny stared at McGonagall, dumbfounded. The teacher continued, 'Twenty points from Gryffindor. Yes, my own house Miss Weasley! And det...' she caught herself and changed mid-sentence. 'Two sheets of parchment on the fifth Goblin rebellion. By Friday.' McGonagall swept away, leaving Ginny almost as red as her hair.

'It's still stealing,' she muttered rebelliously, although only once McGonagall was out of hearing distance.

Two days later, Neville overheard a group of first years in the library earnestly discussing Harry Potter.

'...they say he's a Parseltongue and he can get snakes to do whatever he wants. Once, he set a snake on a boy he didn't like, right in front of everyone. He didn't even care that they saw. I heard the boy got bitten and nearly died.'

His wide-eyed friend gave a squeak of nervous excitement and looked around as though expecting to see Harry Potter bearing down on her with a whole host of snakes in tow. 'My Dad says he got possessed by You-Know-Who and that's why You-Know-Who's come back.'

'That Neville boy in Gryffindor says he's coming back to Hogwarts one day!' said another girl, also looking around anxiously. Neville stepped back further into the shadows of the Herbology aisle. No one noticed him - Neville spent most of his life going unnoticed. He was a master at it.

'Well, I wouldn't worry about that. Professor Snape would never let him back into the Castle, he'd get rid of him straight away!' The group fervently agreed with this, looking relieved, and started discussing what was for dinner before Madam Pince shushed them all out.

That evening in the Common Room he relayed his story to Ginny and Seamus. 'The trouble is, these youngest kids never knew Harry, they never saw him or met him or realised he's normal. They've only heard of him - he's as much a bogeyman to them as You-Know-Who.'

'It's not just the first years,' said Ginny gloomily. 'Even some of the older ones who were here when Harry was are starting to believe the Prophet.'

Seamus shifted rather uncomfortably. 'They don't know any better,' he said. 'They read these things in the newspaper, they hear the Minister of Magic saying so, their own parents too... It's no wonder they believe it.'

'Yeah, some people believe anything,' said Ginny nastily, with a meaningful look at Seamus.

Neville shifted so that he was between them. 'We need to get some good publicity out there, something to counteract the Prophet. Xeno Lovegood is doing a good job with the Quibbler...'

'That's exactly what we don't need!' Ginny interrupted. 'People automatically believe the opposite of anything they read in there!' She blushed. 'Obviously don't tell Luna I said that, but it's true.'

'We can't do anything about the papers, but there must be something we can do in the school to raise Harry's profile. Remind people that he's still out there.' Neville sighed. 'I wish Hermione was still here, she'd have thought of something.'

'What, like her House Elves thing? That went really well,' snorted Seamus. 'Just how many house elves have claimed their freedom thanks to her campaign?'

'It's going to take more than a few badges and leaflets, that's for sure,' said Neville quickly, as Ginny looked like she was about to hit Seamus. 'Anything like that will just get confiscated. We need something that gets around the castle, and that isn't easy for them to take away and destroy.'

'And something that isn't too easy to trace back to us,' added Seamus. 'No offence, but if I can keep out of detention at least one night a week I'd be grateful.' He rubbed at his hand, which bore the marks of one of Umbridge's detention quills.

None of them had any inspiration, and all fell into a subdued silence. Ginny took out a rune translation and began to work on it half-heartedly. After a few minutes she threw down her quill and glared up at the poster of Snape on the wall above them. The red hangings had been removed from it once more and no one had had the willpower to cover it up again.

'How am I meant to concentrate with that horrible thing glaring down at me? He's got stupid pictures of himself everywhere. 'Severus Snape, Headmaster of Hogwarts'. Ugh. I bet he says that to himself in the mirror every night.' She did a passable impression of Snape. 'Hello, Headmaster. How are you, Headmaster? Very well thank you, Headmaster. Might I say your hair is looking exceptionally limp tonight, Headmaster? Why, thank you, Headmaster. It must because I, Severus Snape, am Headmaster of Hogwarts.'

No one laughed, so Neville managed a chuckle. 'Greasy git,' he commented.

'Hey, that's an idea,' said Ginny, looking thoughtfully at the poster.

'What? Turn Snape's own grease against him?'

'No... I mean as a way of raising Harry's profile. What's throughout all the Castle, in virtually every room? Portraits. They're everywhere, and they can move from one to the other. If you could get something into the portraits, it would be really hard to wipe out. They couldn't destroy every picture in the Castle.'

'They could,' pointed out Seamus.

'But they wouldn't,' said Neville, warming to the idea. 'Portraits are part of Hogwarts heritage, and one thing that lot are keen on is tradition.' He turned to Ginny. 'How would it work though?'

'Well... badges aren't such a bad idea - they worked when we had the Triwizard Tournament. What if we painted a picture of a load of badges and put it on the wall - technically the portraits would be able to collect them and put them on, right? The pins might be hard to paint though... or flags! Little pennant flags like we have for Quidditch. Anyone could paint those.'

'Do you think it would work?' Neville couldn't believe it was so easy.

Ginny shrugged. 'It's worth a try. We'd need to find out a bit more about how portraits work - there must be books in the library that would help. You have to use special paint and that doesn't come cheap - although the Room of Requirement might be able to produce some, or failing that Fred and George.'

Neville grinned. 'Sounds like a plan.'

*****

The Room of Requirement had decked itself out as an artists' studio, complete with benches, big windows and lots of supplies. The DA were happily engaged in painting little flags bearing the legend 'Support Harry Potter' and 'Dumbledore's Army - Say No to Muggle Persecution!' Neville surveyed the painting students, and smiled. Ginny and Luna were giggling with Lavender over a lopsided flag. Colin and Dennis Creevey were trying to jazz up their flags with animated lightning bolts. The Patil twins were telling a story about their father's encounter with a ghoul, and those around them were laughing so much they'd had to stop painting.

Only Seamus was quiet, sitting slightly away from the rest at the end of a bench, hunched over his work. Neville moved over to him. 'All right mate?' he asked quietly.

Seamus barely looked up. His left fist was clenched. In his right, he wielded the paintbrush awkwardly. 'I can't seem to get the damned things right,' he muttered. 'They end up too narrow, so the words don't fit in.' He threw the brush down, splattering paint. 'It's so bloody stupid! If Dean was here...' He didn't manage to finish the sentence.

Neville put a hand on his shoulder. 'Come on, I could do with a hand at phase two. You coming?'

Seamus nodded and got up, rather red in the face. He followed Neville out of the Room and along the corridor. 'Where're we going?' he asked after a minute, sounding calmer.

'Down to Gryffindor, to see the Fat Lady,' Neville explained. 'Once the flags are painted, we need the portraits to start getting hold of them. My plan is to get the Fat Lady and Sir Cadogan to help hand them out.'

The Fat Lady sat serenely in her portrait, wafting an ostrich feather fan. 'Password?' she asked, without looking up.

'Excuse me,' said Neville, as politely as he could. 'We were wondering if you could help us?'

She looked up. 'Don't say you've forgotten the password again, Neville Longbottom?' she asked sniffily.

Seamus stepped in. 'No, it's not that, we were hoping you could help us with something else. We need an influential portrait you see, someone the others look up to and listen to.'

The portrait preened. 'Well, I suppose I could be considered something of an authority amongst my peers,' she admitted.

'That's what we thought,' said Seamus. 'And we know how you love Gryffindor, since we trust you to keep us safe. None of us have forgotten how you protected Harry Potter and us from Sirius Black, refusing to let him in even when he threatened and attacked you.'

'Guarding Gryffindor tower is my duty,' she responded, 'even when faced with a knife wielding maniac.'

'We all appreciate your courage, Ma'am, especially in these dangerous times. We can sleep easy in our beds knowing you will protect us. Now if we could ask you just one more favour, we would be most grateful to know we can rely on you.'

'What is this thing you want doing, boy?'

Seamus explained about the flags. The Fat Lady looked sceptical, but Seamus continued. 'What better way to spread a message than through the Castle's portraits? Everyone looks at the portraits, everyone knows what a wealth of experience you represent. Let's admit, you portraits are Hogwarts. Students come and go but you remain, always. Please, Ma'am, I know you loved Dumbledore like we did. He was a Gryffindor too. I know you and your venerable colleagues don't want to see Snape - a Slytherin - destroy the school by banning some of the most talented witches and wizards from studying here, and terrifying the rest out of learning anything useful. It's time Hogwarts fought back.'

A smile spread across the Fat Lady's painted face. 'Very well, boy, you are a persuasive young man. I will go and speak to some of my friends. Where should we collect these flags from? I do hope they are tasteful.'

'Very tasteful,' Seamus assured her. 'We're planning to hang the portrait in the disused part of the sixth floor. We're hanging it in about two hours' time. It will just consist of flags, properly painted. We've spelled the canvas to have open entry, as there isn't anything sentient painted in it.'

The Fat Lady sounded impressed. 'You've read up about your art, that's for sure. Very well, leave it with me.'

Once they were out of sight of the portrait, the two boys allowed themselves a brief celebration. 'I knew you were the man for the job!' laughed Neville. 'Blimey, you laid it on thick though.'

Seamus shrugged. 'Shame it doesn't work on all the ladies,' he commented wryly, but he looked very pleased, his earlier gloom gone. 'Come on, let's go back and spread the good news. Snape is not going to know what's hit him!'