𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸, harry potter

˗ˋ 149

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED
AND FORTY NINE
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-: fifth year :-

── IN WHICH THERE'S A 
SURPRISE VISITOR

. . .

Firenze's warning of a war proved more worrying than useful. It dwelled upon the students' minds, and alongside the slow forgetting of the joy formed from the more than positive response to The Quibbler article, March passed and April arrived in a confusion of heavy showers and bright, sunny days, the newfound colour replacing the dull grey of winter.

Harry had some message to give to Hagrid that made sense to nobody, and it was clear he was stressed as week after week Care of Magical Creatures came and he got the chance (neither he, Ron nor Hermione dare visit Hagrid out of school hours now), Umbridge would come tottering along with her clipboard and various pink clothing to observe the lesson. As Aviana kept reminding him, it was very well and good that he had a message for him, but he'd best be glad that Hagrid hadn't yet received the same treatment as Trelawney had, and he was still only on probation.

That didn't go down particularly well, because it seemed Firenze's message, given to Harry just moments after their very first lesson, was of the utmost importance, more than all else.

Nonetheless, with March behind them and April well in now, it seemed stress only continued to mount. There were consistent reminders, from both Hermione and their teachers, that their O.W.L.s exams were drawing ever nearer. Hannah Abbott became the first to receive a calming drought from Madam Pomfrey after she burst into tears during Herbology and sobbed that she was too stupid to take exams and wanted to leave school right at that very minute.

The only joy came from the hours spent in the Room of Requirement. Despite Umbridge, who had found a new source of self-centred power and belief in everything she did and decreed, the D.A. meetings persisted regardless of the heightened vigilance she imposed upon the students and teachers alike. Harry would arrange the meetings a little more often as O.W.L.s came all the more near, and amongst select Quidditch practises and hours of homework and revision, and the members would descend upon to the hidden door on the seventh floor and disappear for time at length, the only time away from Umbridge and her sharp, watchful eye.

Thankfully, they had begun on Patronuses in the weeks following Trelawney's particularly public firing, which seemed to brighten the mood of all the members. Not to mention, it had been that which had confirmed many of the members initial joining, and it was a form of magic that didn't require it being cast on anyone, like shield and immobilisation charms, so nobody, not even Zacharias Smith, had anything to complain about.

Instead of the usual defensive charms, the Room of Requirement was filled with pearly blue light, swirling from the tips of wands and surrounding the members in light. It had been difficult at first, to manage to get a few corporeal Patronuses, like Harry had demonstrated, but through the many sessions that followed, it seemed more and more of them had managed to magic up an animal form, and all kinds of creatures were scrambling around the Room of Requirement, as he parroted back to them everything that Remus had told him and Aviana two years ago, with the additional reminder that the circumstance under which they were casting them was very different than when they should actually be used.

And, just like two years ago, nothing which Aviana tried worked. Harry kept a careful eye on her as he wandered around the brightly-lit room, but it seemed no matter what she tried, there was no figure forming within the blue mist. "Harry, this is ridiculous." She complained, as he neared her once more. "I've told you before, like I told Remus, that there is simply no point in even trying."

"I thought you wanted to confirm that it wasn't going to be a ferret." Harry rose his eyebrows.

"There is nothing in my life to be that happy about." Aviana told him. "I have gone through so many memories that I don't actually think there's any left for me to try, and yes, I would like to know if, in anyway, it resembles a certain person who has previously been in my life, however I am perfectly happy to leave it with not knowing, rather than being disappointed."

"Happy enough to cast a corporeal Patronus?" Harry grinned. "Try again, most people have got it now so we can move on soon."

"Brilliant." Aviana rolled her eyes as he walked away.

"They're so pretty." Cho said, as he walked by. Her swan-shaped Patronus soared around the Room of Requirement above them. Aviana glared.

"They're not supposed to be pretty, they're supposed to protect you." Harry replied, at an attempt of patience, but that seemed to be the overwhelming comment, and people certainly weren't grasping the concept at which Patronuses were usual cast, and how difficult it would be in the presence of an actual Dementor... or at least something that resembled it. "What we really need is a boggart or something; that's how I learned. I had to conjure a Patronus while the boggart was pretending to be a dementor-"

"But that would be really scary!" Lavender said, who, like Aviana, was only managing to produce shooting puffs of silver mist. "And I still – can't – do it!" She added angrily.

Neville was having trouble too, his face screwed up in concentration, but only feeble wisps of silver smoke appeared.

"You've got to think of something happy." Harry reminded him.

"I'm trying." Neville replied miserably, trying so hard his face was shining with sweat.   

"Harry, I think I'm doing it!" Seamus yelled over, who had been brought along to his first meeting by Dean just a few days after the publishing of The Quibbler article and had been coming along ever since. "Look - ah - it's gone... But it was definitely something hairy." He sighed in disappointment, and went about trying to cast another. Over his shoulder, Aviana was leant against the wall, clearly in thought as she twiddled with her wand.    

Hermione called out to him, pleased, as a shining silver otter gambolling around her. "They are sort of nice, aren't they?" She said, looking at it fondly. 

The spell was broken just a moment later, when the door into the Room of Requirement opened and closed again. Each looked up, but there didn't seem to be anyone there. Harry left Hermione behind, shuffling past people and emerged into the small ring around the door.   

And when he saw Dobby stood there, panting as he tried to catch his breath, Harry's heart dropped.

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