Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Chapter 970: List and Curse

“Of course I’m here to learn from Mason, so he should at least show some magic,” said Zacharias.

“Do you think this is a sideshow or a performance? Evan doesn’t need to prove anything anymore!” Fred said angrily, “Is there anyone in school who doesn’t know his strength? And yeah, you really need to stay away from Ginny, The distance between you makes me uncomfortable.”

“What, I…”

“Hufflepuff, you’ve got too many questions. Would you like us to clean out your brain for you?” inquired George, pulling a long and lethal-looking metal instrument from inside one of the Zonko’s bags.

“Or any part of your body, really, we’re not fussy where we stick this,” said Fred.

Looking at the instrument in George’s hand, Zacharias hummed a few words, did not dare to speak, and did not explain his relationship with Ginny.

Speaking of which, the two of them had just started dating, and they’d barely even held hands. He didn’t want to lose such a beautiful girlfriend over this. Ginny was one of the best in school, and she had never promised to date anyone before.

What’s more, he also felt that there was no way to continue to question Evan; the difference in their abilities was clear!

“Okay, right!” Hermione said quickly, “To get to the point, since you all agree that Evan will teach everyone magic, the next question is how often we do it. We used to have lessons once a week, so I don’t think having them less frequently than that would be useful.”

“No,” said Cho, “nor with ours.”

“Nor ours,” added Zacharias Smith.

“I’m sure we can find a night that suits everyone,” said Hermione, slightly impatiently, “but you know, this is rather important, we’re talking about learning to defend ourselves against future dangers, Not to mention Quidditch, this matter is even more important than our O.W.L.s coming up.”

Hermione paused, but no one contradicted her, and everyone seemed to think that what she said made sense.

But even so, they couldn’t afford to neglect Quidditch training. It was a contradiction.

“You’re right, Granger!” said Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff. “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. In my opinion, they’re crazy. It’s a waste of time. Any High Inquisitor is purely superfluous.”

“As Evan said just now, the Ministry of Magic will of course oppose our practice of Defense Against the Dark Arts, which is not surprising at all,” said Hermione. “You may not know, but Umbridge’s got some … some mad idea that Dumbledore could use the students in the school as a kind of private army. She thinks he’d mobilize us against the Ministry.”

Nearly everybody looked stunned at this news; everybody except Luna Lovegood, who piped up, “Well, that makes sense. After all, Cornelius Fudge has got his own private army.”

“What?” said Harry, completely thrown by this unexpected piece of information.

“Yes, he’s got an army of Heliopaths,” said Luna solemnly.

“Impossible,” snapped Hermione.

“It’s absolutely true.”

“What are Heliopaths?” asked Neville, looking blank.

“They’re spirits of fire,” said Luna, her protuberant eyes widening so that she looked madder than ever. “Great tall flaming creatures that gallop across the ground, burning everything in front of them.”

“They don’t exist, Neville,” said Hermione tartly.

“Oh yes they do!” said Luna angrily.

“I’m sorry, but where’s the proof of that?” snapped Hermione.

“There are plenty of eyewitness accounts. A lot of people have seen them. They’re hiding underground at the Ministry, and just because you’re so narrow-minded you need to have everything shoved under your nose before you.”

“Hem, hem,” said Ginny in such a good imitation of Professor Umbridge that several people looked around in alarm and then laughed. “Forget about Heliopaths. Weren’t we trying to decide how often we’re going to meet and get Defense lessons?”

“Yeah, let’s get back to the serious stuff,” said Evan. “These guys are way too opinionated!”

If Hermione and Luna were allowed to continue, they could argue all day, and in the end, no one would convince the other.

As for Ron and Zacharias, if no one else was around, they would probably start fighting right away.

As long as Cho was here, Harry couldn’t speak at all, and just kept stealing glances at her.

Neville was pretty much believing whatever was said and was earnestly discussing with them. The Creevey brothers were similar.

Fred and George were entirely focused on the prank products they had just bought. Zonko’s Joke Shop didn’t need to sell them anything anymore; the twins had cracked all their core products and were producing even better prank items. If this continued, Zonko’s would close!

As for Angelina, she hadn’t given up on persuading the Frobishers to join the Gryffindor team.

And the other girls on the team chatted enthusiastically with the boys from Ravenclaw, and the boys from Hufflepuff seemed to be very interested in the seniors.

If it continued like this, this discussion would completely turn into a dating meeting. Ginny was probably the only one who was still somewhat normal.

“Yeah!” said Hermione, “we’re talking about serious business now, do you have any good advice on timing?”

“No problem, once a week sounds cool,” said Lee Jordan.

“As long as —” began Angelina.

“Yes, yes, we know about the Quidditch, we’ll make sure it won’t clash with your Quidditch practice,” said Hermione in a tense voice. “So, let’s settle on once a week for now. As for the meeting place, we used to use an empty classroom or the Gryffindor common room, but obviously that won’t do. We’re deciding on the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor of the castle.”

“Never heard of such a room.”

“Because it’s hidden and only appears when needed!” Hermione said simply, “When we confirm the time for the first meeting, we will notify everyone. Now …” She rummaged in her bag and produced parchment and a quill. “I think everybody should write their name down, just so we know who was here. But I also think,” she took a deep breath, “that we all ought to agree not to shout about what we’re doing. So if you sign, you’re agreeing not to tell Umbridge — or anybody else — what we’re up to.”

Hermione seemed a little hesitant, and Evan knew that it was time to say the following words himself!

“To ensure the secrecy of the organization, I’ll cast a spell on this parchment. Anyone who personally signs their name on it should uphold this point – they mustn’t discuss this matter with outsiders,” said Evan. “Once leaked, you’ll face a dreadful curse, I promise, a magic you’ll be remembering forever.”

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