Hidden Wings - Part I

Just an idea...

More than once when Mioha snuck back into the castle, she would see Harry leave Professor Umbridge's office with his hand bleeding severely. And every time, she would follow him disillusioned into the Gryffindor Tower to heal his hand.

One night at one in the morning, the Gryffindor common room was empty beside Hermione, Harry, Mioha and Ron. They were sitting in the cozy red armchairs before the crackling fireplace, the fire casting a warm glow on their faces. A soft glowing shield surrounded them, hiding them from view and securing that no one could eavesdrop.
Crookshanks had curled around Harry's legs, purring loudly, then the cat leapt into his lap and settled down.

"Thanks", he said gratefully, scratching behind Crookshanks's ears with his left hand.

"I still reckon you should complain about this", said Ron in a low voice.

"No", said Harry flatly.

"McGonagall would go nuts if she knew-"

"She knows", said Mioha quietly.

"What?", exclaimed Ron baffled. "But-"

"They can't do anything about it, right?", said Harry dully. "How long do you reckon it'd take Umbridge to pass another decree saying anyone who complains about the High Inquisitor gets sacked immediately?"

Ron opened his mouth to retort but nothing came out and, after a moment, he closed it again, defeated.

"She's an awful woman", said Hermione in a small voice. "Awful. You know, I have been thinking already for a while. . . we've got to do something about her."

Mioha looked up in surprise.

"I suggest poison", said Ron grimly.

"No . . . I mean, something about what a dreadful teacher she is, and how we're not going to learn any Defence from her. If it weren't for Professor Snape, we wouldn't learn anything at all", explained Hermione.

"And what can we do about her?", asked Harry tiredly. "It's too late, isn't it? She's got the job, she's here to stay. Fudge'll make sure of that."

"Well", said Hermione tentatively. "You know, I was thinking today...", she mumbled something.

"What?", asked Ron.

"Well - teach Defence Against the Dark Arts ourselves", said the Gryffindor.

"Come off it", groaned Ron. "You want us to do extra work? D'you realise Harry and I are behind on homework again? And we have to train with Snape!"

"This is much more important than homework!", said Mioha.
Harry and Ron goggled at her.

"I didn't think there was anything in the universe more important than homework!", said Ron surprised, glancing at Hermione.

"Don't be silly, of course there is", said Hermione firmly. "It's about preparing ourselves, like Harry said in Umbridge's first lesson, for what's waiting for us out there. It's about making sure we really can defend ourselves. Which is why we have to take Professor Snape's training seriously."

"And what's your point about learning extra stuff?", asked Ron in a defeated voice. "Snape is going to train with us in the evening, and we can go to the library to look up stuff-"

"No, we've gone past the stage where we can just learn things out of books", said Hermione. "And the others don't have the advantage we have. Since we can't tell them about our private training, we need a way to share our knowledge with them. They need a teacher, a proper one, who can show them how to use the spells and correct them if they're going wrong."