𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸, harry potter

˗ˋ 70

 CHAPTER SEVENTY
✧
-: fifth year :-

── IN WHICH THE MEETING 
COMES TO A CLOSE

. . .

Now came the trickier part. They had all managed to agree on one thing, that Harry certainly should be teaching them Defence Against the Dark Arts for the rest of the year, but as always, the devil was in the details, and with such a broad group of people before them, it would be hard to organise them all.

"Right," Hermione nodded, looking relieved that something had at last been settled. "Well, then, the next question is how often we do it. I really don't think there's any point in meeting less than once a week-"

"Hang on," Angelina said. "This can't clash with our Quidditch practice."

"No," Cho agreed. "Nor with ours."

"Nor ours," added Zacharias.

"Yeah, mine neither." Aviana looked particularly uncomfortable then, perhaps with the fact she had just had to agree with a group of people she vehemently disliked. "I mean you could, I can keep blackmailing Montague to have it on different days."

"We'd also appreciate if you lot stopped turning up to the pitch to practise after ours." Angelina leant forward. "It's severely off putting."

Aviana scoffed, shaking her head. "You can't expect me to do everything around here. I'm not the captain, Montague is, and if I'm making him have practise on the weekends then it's not like I can stop when he schedules other practises." She said, as though it was the most obvious days in the world. "Either way, I'm sure Malfoy forced him to do that and I'm already working on something with him." She paused, her voice lowered in a murmur of contemplation. "Although... hm, no, this is already too funny." Ron nudged Harry, smirking. Her voice raised again. "You have to take Slytherin practises into consideration as well, Granger."

"Thought so." Hermione hummed. "I'm sure we can find a night that suits everyone," Hermione said lightly, yet slightly impatiently, "but you know, this is rather important, we're talking about learning to defend ourselves against V-Voldemort's Death Eaters -"

"Well said!" Ernie Macmillan barked, the vigour in his voice taking the group aback. "Personally I think this is really important, possibly more important than anything else we'll do this year, even with our O.W.L.s coming up!"

"Still bitter about not making the team, then." Aviana murmured.

Harry bit back a laugh.

Ernie looked around impressively, expecting some kind of response from the group.

"Well, you see," Aviana shuffled on her seat, "Umbridge is going to be gone by the end of the year, I would still quite like to have a chance at studying my N.E.W.T.s."

"Odds on her personally getting rid of her?" Ron murmured to Harry.

"A galleon." Harry replied.

"Ah, a sure thing." Ron looked pleased with himself.

Ernie's gaze rested on Aviana for a moment, before deciding against responding. Perhaps a wise choice, Harry thought. "I, personally, am at a loss to see why the Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher upon us at this critical period. Obviously they are in denial about the return of You-Know-Who, but to give us a teacher who is trying to actively prevent us from using defensive spells -"