It was raining.
Harry and the others splashed through the vegetable field on their way to their herbalism class, their magic robes billowing in the wind, the rain pelting the roof of the greenhouse like hailstones, and they could hardly hear what Professor Sprout was saying.
The afternoon class on Conservation of Exotic Animals had been moved from the outdoors to an empty classroom on the first floor. At lunch, Angelina told the team that Quidditch training was cancelled, to everyone's relief.
"Just in time," Harry whispered.
"Because we've found the place where the defence team will meet for the first time. It's eight o'clock tonight, on the eighth floor, opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Giant Monster. Can you inform Katie and Arya?"
She seemed a little surprised, but promised to inform the others.
Harry continued to wolf down his sausage and mashed potatoes.
When he looked up to drink his pumpkin juice, he found Hermione looking at him.
"What's the matter?" he asked vaguely.
"Well... Dobby's plans aren't always so safe. Don't you remember that he was the one who made you lose all the bones in your arm? "
Hermione's concern was not unfounded. The most important thing was that he had told Jon about it, but he had not received a response.
Generally speaking, not receiving a response meant that the plan was highly feasible, but she was still a little worried.
"This room isn't just Dobby's idea. Dumbledore knows about it too. He mentioned it to me at the Christmas Ball."
Hermione's face brightened.
"Dumbledore told you?"
"Just mentioned it in passing." Harry shrugged. In fact, he had overheard it when Dumbledore and Kakarov were talking about it.
"Oh, that's good," Hermione said briskly, and did not raise any more objections.
They split up with Ron to find the people who had signed the autograph at the Pig's Head and inform them of the evening meeting.
Harry was a little disappointed that Ginny had found Qiu Chang and her friends before he did.
But by the end of dinner, he was sure that all twenty-five people who had gone to the Pig's Head had been informed.
At half past seven, Harry, Ron and Hermione left the Gryffindor common room, Harry holding an old piece of parchment in his hand.
Although the fifth-graders could stay in the corridor until nine o'clock, they still looked nervously around as the three of them walked up to the eighth floor.
"Wait," said Harry warningly from the top of the stairs. He unfolded the map of the Resurrection Point. The magic on this map seemed to have been reinforced. It was more effective recently (Jon was the one who reinforced the Resurrection Point map. He used Helga's Earth Magic). He tapped the map with his wand and said softly, "I solemnly swear that I do not harbor any good intentions."
A map of the Hogwarts appeared on the blank parchment. The moving black dots were marked with names, indicating each person's location.
"Filch is on the third floor." Harry raised the map to his eyes and looked at it carefully. "Mrs. Loris is on the fifth floor."
"Where's Umbridge?" asked Hermione anxiously.
"In her office," Harry said, pointing to her seat. "Okay, let's go."
They walked quickly through the corridor to the place described by Dobby, facing a white wall opposite a huge tapestry in which the silly Barnabas was trying to teach the trolls a ballet.
"Here we are," whispered Harry. A worm-eaten troll stopped beating the ballet teacher and turned to look at them. "Dobby said to walk through this wall three times. Concentrate on what we need."
They did so, turning back at the window at one end of the white wall and turning back at the vase at the other end.
Ron narrowed his eyes and concentrated. Hermione whispered something. Harry clenched his hands and stared ahead.
We need a place to learn how to fight.
Give us a place to practice, he thought... without being seen..
"Harry."
As they turned around for the third time, Hermione suddenly called to him.
For there was a very smooth door in the wall.
Ron stared at it, wary, but Harry took hold of the brass handle, pulled open the door, and led the way into a spacious room lit by torches, like those in an underground schoolroom.
There were wooden bookshelves along the walls. There were no chairs on the floor, but there were large satin cushions. On the shelves at the other end of the room were speculators, detectors, and other instruments. There was also a big cracked mirror, which Harry was sure was the one that had hung in the fake Moody's office last year.
"These are useful for practicing Blackout Spells."
Ron kicked the cushions with his feet and said excitedly.
"Look at these books!" Hermione excitedly stroked the spines of the rows of thick, sheepskin tomes.
"'Common Spells and Antidotes..
'' Outsmarting Black Magic..
'' Self-Defense Spells... '"
She looked back at Harry, her face shining. Harry saw that the hundreds of books had finally convinced Hermione that they were doing the right thing.
"Harry, this is great. We've got everything we need."
She immediately pulled "Fight Poison With Poison" from the shelf and sat down on the nearest cushion to read.
There was a soft knock on the door. Harry turned and saw Ginny, Neville, Parvati, and Dean.
"Wow," said Dean, looking around. "What is this place?"
Harry began to explain, but before he could finish, more people came in, and he had to start from the beginning.
By eight o'clock every cushion was full. Harry went to the door and turned the key in the lock with a satisfying click. Everyone was quiet and looked at him.
Hermione carefully marked the pages of "Fight Poison With Poison" and put the book aside.
"Well..."
Harry was a little nervous. "This is the place we found for practice. Everyone — apparently it's not bad —"
"Wonderful!" said Autumn, and a few people murmured in agreement.
"It's strange," said Fred, frowning and looking around. "We hid from Filch here, George, do you remember? But it was just a broom closet... "
"Hey, Harry, what's that?" asked Dean, pointing to the speculum and the Demon-spotting Mirror from the back.
"Black Magic Detectors," said Harry, moving between the cushions. "They're generally used to show whether there's a Black Wizard or an enemy nearby. But don't rely too much on them. They can be fooled..."
For a moment he peered into the cracked Demon-spotting Mirror. There were faint figures moving, but he couldn't see them clearly.
He ignored them.
"Well, I've been thinking about what we should do first — er —" He saw a hand go up. "What's the matter, Hermione?"
"I think we should elect a leader first," said Hermione.
Hermione said. She started the experiment again. Anyway, it didn't take much energy. It was just a few words.
"Harry's the leader," said Autumn.
She looked at Hermione as if she had gone mad.
Harry's heart skipped a beat again.
"Yes, but I think we should elect him formally," said Hermione calmly. "Then we can give him a formal mandate. So — who thinks Harry should be our leader? "
All hands went up, even Zacharias Harding, albeit reluctantly.
"Ah. Thank you, "said Harry, feeling his cheeks burn." And... what, Hermione? "
"I also think we should have a name," she said clearly, her hand still in the air. "It would promote unity and strengthen the spirit of the group, wouldn't it?"
"Can we call it the Anti-Umbridge Alliance?" Angelina asked expectantly.
"Or the 'Ministry of Magic is Stupid' group?" suggested Fred.
"I think," said Hermione, frowning at Fred, "that it would be best to hide what we do, so that we can safely mention it outside."
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