The Room of Requirement, Forming the Defense Association

Gryffindor Common Room.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were gathered around the fireplace when, after midnight, a face suddenly appeared in the red flames.

"Sirius Black." Harry looked at him excitedly.

"How are things?"

"There are pros and cons!" Hermione said with a sullen face. "Aaron agreed to teach us Defense Against the Dark Arts, but... there were about thirty of us, and he was so angry that he almost turned on us on the spot."

"He doesn't like trouble, and it's understandable that he can't stand it when you've bothered so many people."

"The people aren't ours," Ron said.

"Shut up!" Hermione said irritably. "I didn't expect there to be so many people."

"But Umbridge has issued a new law prohibiting group activities of more than three people," Harry said with a troubled expression. "The Quidditch team has to reapply, and our Defense Against the Dark Magic team also..."

"So you should be more careful when choosing a party location." Sirius Black grinned. "Hog's Head, how did you guys even come up with that? Even the Three Broomsticks would be better than that place."

"How did you know?" Harry asked in a deep voice.

"While you were having the meeting, Mundungus was drinking there."

He was dressed as a witch wearing a veil; it's normal that you didn't recognize him.

"Is he... is he spying on me?" Harry asked angrily.

"This is necessary, Harry," Sirius Black said seriously. "Molly knows you guys almost tore the house down when you were setting up the Defense Against the Dark Magic team."

She made me swear that you would deliver the message, especially you, Ron.

Gollum!

Ron swallowed hard and asked with difficulty, "What is she going to say?"

"Under no circumstances should you join an illegal Dark Magic defense group; if you get caught, you'll definitely be expelled."

"What are you thinking?" Harry asked.

"On the contrary, I stopped you from the very beginning."

"But what if... we really get expelled?" Hermione asked with some worry.

"Personally, I think being expelled for self-defense is better than doing nothing," Sirius Black said. "Besides, Umbridge wouldn't expel thirty students at once; it would affect her reputation."

"Did you hear that, Hermione?" Ron said casually. "It's not a big deal. At worst, I'll just get put in solitary confinement."

"Solitary confinement is quite terrifying," Harry said sheepishly. "I'm more qualified to speak on this."

"We have another problem now," Hermione said. "We don't know where we can go."

"How about the spittoon hut?" Sirius Black excitedly suggested. "James, Lupin, and I often meet there."

"No, there are thirty of us, that place is too small."

"I see... there's a pretty big secret passage on the fifth floor..."

"I'm afraid that won't work either." Harry sighed slightly. "That place collapsed two years ago."

"Okay! I'll think about it some more."

As soon as he finished speaking, his face turned extremely frightened, and he nervously turned his head away.

The next moment he disappeared into the fireplace. The three of them stared at the flames for a moment, and before they could react, a large hand covered with rings reached out from the flames as if grabbing something.

The three of them stared wide-eyed, and without saying a word, they took off running.

This hand belongs to Umbridge, and the ring on it is sufficient proof of its owner's identity.

The next day, in the Charms Class classroom.

Professor Flitwick gave each student a frog and asked them to practice the Silencing Charm with the frog.

At this time, the classroom will be quite noisy, and no one will listen to you if you talk.

"You three... didn't sleep all night?" Aaron teased, looking at the dark circles under Harry's eyes.

The three nodded in unison, and then he recounted what had happened the previous night.

After hearing this, Aaron was speechless and retorted, "Is he crazy, or are you all crazy, or are you all crazy?"

Knowing full well that their communication channels and the Floo Network are being monitored, they still talk to each other. There's no way they're going to play this game just for thrills!

"We don't know either!" Harry said weakly.

"Come on! You probably don't even believe that yourself," Aaron said irritably. "It's okay to deceive yourself, but there's a limit."

"Umbridge might have read his letter," Hermione guessed.

"Be more confident, and put the word 'maybe' in your head."

However, he probably didn't arrest Sirius Black; she's likely giving a press interview right now, having apprehended a notorious serial killer.

"He's not," Harry said angrily.

"But to most people who don't know the truth, that's who he is," Aaron said patiently. "After what happened last night, he should be more restrained."

Have you found a training location yet?

"Not yet." Hermione shook her head. "Do you have any recommendations?"

"Uh... I mean you'd better hurry up, because I'll be giving Draco and Xilin their third lesson this week."

The three looked at each other, opened their mouths but didn't know what to say.

We can't just stop Malfoy and the others from training because they haven't found a place to go!

Aaron was greatly surprised by their efficiency. He thought it would take at least ten days to half a month to find a suitable training location, but they found a secluded location enough for thirty people to train by the afternoon of the second day.

"The 'Come to the 'Hogwarts' room?" Draco looked at Aaron suspiciously. "That's what they said? You must have been lied to. How could Hogwarts have a place like this?"

"They wouldn't joke about something like this."

Besides, there are indeed rumors circulating at Hogwarts about Room of Requirement.

"But isn't that a bit too much?" Xilin said, somewhat puzzled. "A house that can grant all wishes is simply impossible."

"It's impossible to fulfill every wish, but some simple wishes are not so certain," Aaron. "Don't forget that the founders of Hogwarts were the four greatest Great wizard of that era."

It's not impossible for them to create a house that can read thoughts and materialize them using their magical water.

There's a limit to how much we can fulfill Room of Requirement, but if all you need is a classroom, we can definitely do it.

Hearing Aaron say this, the two no longer had any doubts.

"When is the time set?" Draco asked.

"Seven o'clock tonight, Seventh Floor, opposite the Troll tapestry." Aaron said, staring seriously at Draco. "I only have one request for you: keep your mouth shut."

"What's the meaning?"

"Because your mouth is too easy to offend people." Xilin rolled her eyes speechlessly. "There's Harry Potter, the Weasley, and about twenty Warlock from different houses at the party."

If you insist on acting superior and bossing everyone around, when they hit you... I'll just stand by and watch.

"That's what I mean." Aaron nodded solemnly.

Draco has always lived a life of ease, never having to lift a finger and rarely having any worries.

However, his humble origins, the deep influence of Lucius, and his limited experience, coupled with his lack of exposure to the harsh realities of society, meant that his rich young master personality was difficult to change overnight.

Draco's lips twitched slightly, and he said dejectedly, "I promise I won't provoke anyone, okay? But what if they provoke me?"

"Not venturing into trouble doesn't mean being afraid of trouble."

"Oh, I don't understand."

At 6:30 p. m., Aaron left the common room with Abei and two Slytherin.

When they reached the Seventh Floor of the castle, Harry was standing in front of a white wall with the Marauder's Map in his hand, Hermione and Ron were standing next to him.

"You've arrived," Harry greeted them simply.

"Where is the Room of Requirement?" Aaron asked as he opened the door to God. "Don't tell me it's behind the wall."

"Dobby said we have to walk across this wall three times. What do you think we need?" Harry said, then walked along the wall, muttering to himself.

"Dobby?"

"It's your house -House Elf," Ron said with amusement. "He's quite something, isn't he?"

Upon hearing this, several black lines immediately appeared on Draco's forehead.

To be honest, he wasn't upset about the House Elf leaving, since house- House-elf. However, he couldn't accept that his former servant was helping his nemesis.

Just as Draco was about to curse, Xilin glared at him fiercely, "Don't forget what you promised."

"I... I'll endure it," Draco said, sounding aggrieved.

Ron's eyes widened immediately, as if he had discovered a new continent.

"Did I hear that right? You really are Malfoy?"

Haha, are you under Imperius Curse or have you lost your mind?

"Ron," Hermione glared at him, "Don't forget we're in this together now. Let's put our past grudges aside for now."

"I understand." Ron waved his hand, then looked at Draco. "For now, pretend we're strangers. If you see him, just act like you've never met him."

"Zhengren, that's what I think too."

"The door is open!" Harry shouted, sounding slightly excited.

A large, dark blue door slowly appeared on the blank wall. Harry took a deep breath and led the way inside.

Inside the door was a spacious room, even larger than a classroom, more than enough to accommodate thirty people for training.

Two rows of torches lit up, illuminating the room.

After the group entered the room, a row of bookshelves suddenly appeared in the empty room, piled high with books related to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Large silk cushions covered the floor, and various detectors were displayed on the shelves at the other end.

"The legend is true," Hermione said excitedly. "We can find what we're looking for here."

"To correct you, it's not one," Aaron said. "It's just meeting basic needs."

"What do you want?" Hermione asked curiously.

"A Dragon Egg, but this room clearly doesn't meet my needs."

"Uh... even if it's the Room of Requirement, it can't just conjure up life out of nowhere!"

"Perhaps!"

A knock sounded at the door, and Gryffindor entered.

They looked around the room in amazement and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

After that, the others came in one after another. Once everyone was there, Harry closed the door, and the blue door gradually disappeared into the wall.

"This is the training location we found, the Room of Requirement."

"Secret, safe, and most importantly... it has everything." Harry said somewhat reservedly, then looked at Aaron, "Would you like to say a few words?"

Aaron rolled his eyes. "I'm only responsible for teaching, not for motivating students."

"I think we should have a name before we start formal classes," Hermione said. "It will strengthen our mental fortitude, and it will be easier for us to mention it when we're out in the world."

"How about the ' Anti-Umbridge League '?" Angelina asked.

"Idiot," Draco sneered.

"What do you mean, Malfoy?"

"That's just how he is, don't mind him," Aaron said wearily. "A name is just a code, so keep it as secret as possible and don't let others know what we're doing."

To be frank, the more idiotic our names are, the safer we are.

"Exactly," Draco nodded. "' Anti-Umbridge League' —if she hears that name, she might just bring her men to arrest us."

"Then let's call it the ' Ministry of Magic is an Idiot' team," Fred suggested.

"This is even worse. This is even less reliable than the ' Anti-Umbridge League '."

"How about the ' Defense Association '?" Qiu Zhang asked.

"Yes!" Harry clapped in support.

"What do you mean, 'what... '' (meaning 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean,')" Aaron rolled his eyes at him speechlessly. Cedric was still alive and well. Even if you wanted to take advantage of the situation, you didn't have to be in such a hurry!

"' Defense Association ' is really something!" Harry said seriously.

"The words directly revealed the essence of our organization, and people could immediately tell what we were doing."

"Um... Aaron, what I meant was to take the abbreviation of two words," Qiu said somewhat embarrassedly. "The abbreviation is DA, and with only two letters, no one should be able to tell the difference."

"This..." Aaron hesitated for a moment, "If everyone else agrees, I have no objection."

"DA is good," Ginny said. "It can also represent Dumbledore's Army."

"I object," Draco said indignantly. "Why should I join Dumbledore's Army?"

"I almost forgot that we also have a Slytherin in our group who doesn't like Dumbledore," Fred said sarcastically. "Then let the minority follow the majority, Malfoy."

"Raise your hand if you agree that it should be called DA."

George shouted, then was the first to raise his hand.

Of the remaining thirty, only three Slytherin did not move; the others slowly raised their hands.

"It's about nine to one, so let's call it DA."

Draco's vision blurred. He had always thought that Dumbledore becoming headmaster was Hogwarts' biggest mistake, but he never expected that he would inexplicably join Dumbledore's Army today. It was too ironic.

"Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!" Draco muttered, "What's so strange about this name?"

Aaron patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "That's what they call being forced by circumstances; you have to back down when it's time to follow your heart."

Besides, it's just a code name, nothing serious.