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"Now," I looked around at the crowd. "I'll explain the point. You, Harry, have gone against the Minister's opinion and policy. This is unacceptable to Umbridge on the one hand, but on the other, it is exactly what she expects. Anything we do that goes against the Ministry's position will be perceived as rebellion and treason. Our job is to pull ourselves together and not give a reason."
"And what if," Dean, who was sitting across from Seamus at the table, spoke in a serious tone. "As a theory, suppose what the Daily Prophet says is true?"
Judging by the quiet discussion that immediately arose, the opinions of the students were divided.
"Hey, I'm not lying!" Potter tried to jump up, but the twins pulled him back to where he was sitting with his hands on his shoulders.
Silence quickly fell around, and the students, who were sitting and standing where they had to, were again ready to listen.
"I'm in a hurry to upset everyone. The Dark Lord's return is true. I've had the dubious pleasure of dealing with blood purity radicals, Death Eaters, and others who have joined the Dark Lord or are just about to do so. I even beat one of them in a duel, although he initially underestimated me and only wanted to beat me up, throw some Crucio at me, and show me my place."
While everyone was looking at each other in bewilderment, I looked at Potter.
"I also saw one person there who is known to you and me. Hmm, even two. The Dark Lord is gaining supporters. Those who escaped from Azkaban are recovering intensively and already now do not look like those who have been sitting in this terrible place for many years."
The guys were quiet, and many turned pale. Neville, standing a little further away, looked terrible in general — white as a sheet.
"But then all the more reason for all of us to practice!" Potter spoke up eagerly. "We should be able to defend ourselves."
"Pfft..." snorted Hermione and tried to cover her smile with her hand.
"What did I say that's so funny?"
The girl moved slightly, getting more comfortable, and without lifting her head from my shoulder, she spoke with a completely insane grin inherent in her "battle mask."
"Do you want to compete with an adult experienced wizard?"
"Do we have a choice?" Harry looked around at everyone. "It is clear to me that the Ministry is not going to acknowledge Voldemort's return. We're all in danger, and there's nowhere to wait for help. I'm not saying we should fight. I'm saying we should be able to defend ourselves."
It's amazing sometimes how a spark of intelligence erupts in Potter.
"Suppose so," I nodded. "And what do you plan to do? Get a group of like-minded people together? Who will be the teacher? Where will you study? I bet that when... Notice not 'if' but 'when'... When Umbridge finds out that under her nose, a large group of students is obviously breaking her rules and practicing protective magic... Oooh, what will happen!"
Everyone was dejectedly silent.
"Let's do this," I slapped my free hand on the knee. "Gather like-minded people from all the Houses. Think about how to make sure that no one blabbed about you. Look for someone to teach you. I'll show you the room. It's pretty secret, only a few people know about it, and getting into it is a non-trivial task."
"And what is your benefit?" one of the twins asked a very reasonable question.
"I want to see what you will get out of it."
After these words, our impromptu meeting of the House began to dissolve, breaking up into companies based on interests, and Harry and Ron clearly lit up with the idea of gathering a group of students to learn various spells together.
"Why would you want to do that?" asked Hermione, not removing her head from my shoulder.
"I want to see what they'll be capable of and what they possess at the moment."
"You're not thinking of teaching them, are you? We'll kill a lot of time for that, and it'll be little more than zero use."
"No, not at all. I'm thinking of attending their classes when we need to learn theory or do other mental research."
"Then that's fine."