As the Sister of Harry Potter

Two weeks after Umbridge was instated High Inquisitor, October hit, nice and stormy. She had reviewed everyone except Hagrid because he was still missing. I mean, our N.E.W.T. class certainly wasn’t complaining having Grubbly-Plank for a teacher, but still, I missed Hagrid. And it was bad enough with having Umbridge as a teacher, but seeing her in other classes… it was enough to drive anyone up the wall. The only funny part was when she tried to inspect Binns, because she ended up falling asleep. I stole her inquiry papers and flushed them down Moaning Myrtle’s toilet before she woke up. It was a great laugh.

We had another good laugh when the Twins and I hung back after practice one night and broke into the shack where Madame Hooch keeps all the school brooms. We hexed every one in sight and left in a hurry. The next morning during our free hour, we went to watch the first years at their flying lessons. Some of them got bucked off, some couldn’t rise very high because their brooms would start vibrating violently, but most flew in the direction opposite they wanted to go. Some days, it’s fun to torture firsties.

A few days after the broom incident, I was coming back to my dorm quite late. I had left the Head Dorm late because Cedric insisted upon stealing and hiding all my school books. I was in a good mood, however, because of Ophilia and George’s announcement over dinner. They were reminding everyone that protected sex was the way to go and that Madame Pomfry was now dispensing condoms. Since then, just about every sixth and seventh year boy was going to the Hospital Wing only to be throw out disappointed.

I entered the commonroom to find Harry, Ron and Hermione in a heated discussion. “Hello fifties, what’cha discussing?” I asked, throwing myself down in an armchair across from Hermione.

“Jennifer,” she started, “if you had the most horrible teacher in the world and you knew you would never learn anything from them, what would you do?”

“Well, drop the subject. But if I couldn’t, I guess I would just teach myself. Or find another teacher,” I answered, yawning. “What are you on about Hermione?”

“Well, Ron and I were just thinking… if Umbridge isn’t going to teach us, then we’d better do it ourselves… and we want you and Harry to teach us.”

Harry was shaking his head; apparently he thought this was mental. I, however, was interested. “Why?” I asked coolly.

“Well, you’re both the best in your year at Defense, and you’re done so much!”

“Fighting Basilisks, You-Know-Who, and Dementors to name a few,” added Ron.

“I already told you two!” Harry snapped. “It’s not just memorizing a bunch of spells! It’s nothing like class! When you’re a second from being murdered, or tortured, or watching someone die, all you’ve got are your brains and guts… and… whatever! You don’t get it!”

Hermione looked hesitant. “Exactly Harry… we need you both… to teach us what it’s like to face V-Voldemort…”

When silence followed, I said, “Look, you both have a point. Harry’s right, a lot of it’s luck and it’s nothing like school. But Harry, they’re right too, we have done a lot of fighting the Dark Arts, and we and everyone else have got to defend ourselves.” I yawned again. “Look Hermione, I’ll teach you if you want. Harry, you really should think about it, because I think it’s an excellent idea.” I stood up and grabbed my bag. “Night all, let me know when you make a decision.”

-

Mid-October hit. Quidditch practice was going fairly well, Launa and Katie were getting the hang of the Hawkshead, and Ron was improving every day. As the first Hogsmead visit approached, Hermione cornered me in a corridor. “Harry’s agreed. We’re going to have a meeting in the Hogs Head while we’re in Hogsmead.”

“Meeting?” I asked.

“Erm, yes… well, I thought it would be fair if you taught anyone who wanted to learn…”

I sighed. “Alright, but Cedric’s coming, because we already have a date.”

The Hogsmead trip came soon enough. I wrapped myself up in my faithful Gryffindor scarf and trooped down to the Entrance Hall. Cedric was waiting for me, smiling amazingly, and we left, arm in arm. “N.E.W.T. year is hell, isn’t it?” I asked as we walked across the frosty ground to the carriages.

“Yeah, it is. And I thought O.W.L. year was bad… Umbridge doesn’t help either,” he added as an afterthought. I laughed.

We were to meet Hermione in the Hogs Head at eleven, so a quarter to, we entered. It was a dingy place and the barman didn’t look much better. The trio was already there, so we sat down. They nodded greetings to Cedric. “How many are we expecting?” I asked testily.

“Oh, a fair few,” said Hermione airily. In came Launa and Hyden, laughing and grinning, then Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, Lavender Brown and the Patil Twins. The Creevey brothers followed, and Luna Lovegood wandered in. A boy with an upturned nose who I’m pretty sure was named Zacharias Smith followed Jared, Stacey and Colin. Cedric left to sit with them as Cho Chang entered with one of her giggly girlfriends. When our eyes met, we exchanged fierce glares. A group of Hufflepuff fifth years came in, though the only one I recognized was Ernie Macmillen. Brittany Chang came alone. Ginny showed up with Michael Corner and two other Ravenclaw boys. Finally, Katie Bell, Sophia, Ophilia, Lee and the Twins showed, clutching Zonko bags. Sarlanda brought up the rear and placed herself as near to me as she could.

“A fair few?” Harry hissed. “A fair few, Hermione?!”

“Well, the idea seemed popular,” she said brightly. I felt sick. I hope they really weren’t expecting me to speak, because I felt extremely queasy. I hate public speaking.

Fred ordered everyone Butterbeer and when everyone had settled, Hermione stood up. “Erm… hi,” she said, her voice rather high. “Well, you all know why we’re here. So, we had an idea, I mean, I had an idea, that well, since what Umbridge is teaching us is absolute rubbish, it might be a good idea if we took Defense into our own hands.” Everyone looked at her expectantly, so she continued. “I mean, of course I want to pass my O.W.L., but I also want to be able to defend myself, because… because V—Voldemort’s back.” Many people twitched or squeaked; Cho’s friend actually spilled Butterbeer down herself.

“Where’s the proof he’s back? All Dumbledore said last year was Cedric Diggory got attacked and the Potters brought him back to the castle,” said the Hufflepuff (supposedly) named Smith.

“Look,” said Harry, “if you don’t believe Dumbledore, then you don’t believe myself and Jennifer. Or Cedric, for that matter.”

“Maybe if you’d give us some details—” said Zacharias in a stuck-up manner. I opened my mouth to speak, further endangering my nausea, but Cedric spoke first.

“Do you want to know what it’s like when Voldemort’s torturing you, or would you rather see my scars?” he asked Smith sharply.

That shut him up.

Hermione looked nervous again. “So, erm, if we want to learn defense, we need to figure out how—”
“Is it true you can both produce full Patronuses?” asked a Hufflepuff girl, cutting across Hermione.

“Yes,” said Harry slightly defensively. “Do I know you?”

“I’m Susan Bones. My auntie ran your trial,” she said proudly. “So—is it true? You make a stag Patronus Harry?”

“Yes.”

“Blimey Harry!” said Lee, impressed.

“And the sword in Dumbledore’s office! Didn’t you kill a Basilisk with it?” asked a Ravenclaw boy.

“Um, yeah… that was me…”

“And he saved the Sorcerer’s Stone our first year,” injected Neville. Most everyone looked at Harry in amazement.

“Plus,” said Cho Chang, “he had to get past all those tasks last year.” Harry seemed to float an inch off the ground.

Zacharias Smith was looking at me scornfully. “And what do you do? What have you done?”

“Are you kidding me?” asked Ophilia distastefully. “She’s the best dueler in school! Even Moody admitted it!” She shook her head. “And I thought Cormac was thick…”

“She’s dueled Death Eaters,” added Cedric. “Not to mention protected me from Voldemort’s Avada Kadavra. She even had the guts to punch him in the face.”

“And in second year, she fought off that vampire we had for a Defense teacher,” Sarlanda said quietly, making nearly half the room jump. But they all soon started whispering again excitedly.

Feeling the need to speak to these people, I slapped some silver down on the counter in front of the barman. “Give me a shot of Firewhiskey.” He filled a small glass and handed it to me. I took it and stood up. The room went silent at I threw the substance into my mouth. It lit my throat on fire, but it did the trick and momentarily killed my nausea. “Okay, look. I don’t want to be modest, but a lot of those things, we had help or helped each other. Sure, some things, like the Dementor attack this summer, we didn’t have any help. We can teach you, but you lot need to understand that a lot of it is luck.” And I sat down, shaking slightly.

“So, we all agree that we want to take lessons from Harry and Jennifer?” Hermione asked hesitantly, after a sort of awkward silence. Everyone nodded.

“Well,” I started, “we’ve got to plan around four separate Quidditch practices. And we’ll have to find a place to hold it.” Everyone murmured in agreement.

“I just think it’s very agitating that in our O.W.L. year, the Ministry give us an incompetent teacher!” said Ernie Macmillen.

“It is because ze Ministry and Umbridge ‘ave zis mad idea zat Dumbledore will mobilize us against zem,” said Launa grouchily. Many people’s jaws dropped.

Hermione dug around in her bag and produced a roll of parchment and a quill. “Alright, so I think everyone should sign this, so we can keep track. And by signing it, you’re agreeing not to tell Umbridge or anyone else what we’re up to.” Harry, Ron, Hermione and I signed first. Some people were rather reluctant, but we eventually got everyone’s signatures.

Cedric and I were among the last to leave. Cedric was chuckling as we walked past Dervish and Bangs. “What?” I asked him.

“It just feels good, rebelling does,” he answered, grinning.