Persuasion

"When will the gathering start?"

"What gathering?" Albert asked, puzzled.

"Of course, the Defence Association gathering. Don't tell me you deliberately forgot about it?" Shanna stopped walking and turned to stare at Albert, practically leaning her head right into his face as she demanded to know whether he had intentionally forgotten.

"After hearing about it, everyone said they planned to attend the gathering," Shanna said as they walked. "They've all been asking when you'll start."

"Don't tell me by 'everyone,' you mean a huge group of girls?" Albert asked tentatively.

Shanna let out a snort and burst into laughter. "Is it so bad to be popular with girls?"

"They can be troublesome sometimes."

"If the girls heard that, I don't know how hurt they'd be." Shanna looked at him as though he had no idea how lucky he was.

"You definitely won't go around telling them."

"Well, naturally, some of them are girls." Shanna quickened her pace to walk alongside Albert and continued, "Most are fifth year students. The Defence Association is mainly meant to help everyone get better results in the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam."

"That's good. But... I can't find a suitable place for the gathering at the moment." Albert sounded rather helpless. "I'm not sure whether Professor McGonagall would agree to let us use an Empty Classroom in the castle."

"What are you going to do if she doesn't?" Shanna frowned, trying hard to think of a solution.

By the time they reached the door to the Defence Against the Dark Arts office, she still had not thought of anything suitable.

"What about the Great Hall?"

"Definitely not. We need enough room to practise magic." Albert shook his head, rejecting the suggestion. "Trust me, if we practised magic in the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall would