Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 118

As it was planned, Harry, Hermione, and Ron met the others in Hog's Head, and decided to form a secret society called Dumbledore's Army in order to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts, taught by Harry himself.

Jenna noticed that among their friends — including Ginny, Fred, George, Lee, Neville, Luna, and others — Lexi Hooper was the only who didn't participate in the Dumbledore's Army and hadn't signed her name on Hermione's list.

Jenna thought that Lexi had a good reason for doing so, seeing as she was actually a Muggle and was incapable of practicing magic in these secret classes. If she joined them and did nothing, it would seem suspicious to others.

Although Jenna wasn't sure if she really agreed with this whole Dumbledore's Army thing. It could've caused more trouble for Harry, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Jenna tried to remain quiet about this and keep her opinion to herself, but she reached her breaking point when Umbridge put up a new notice on the Gryffindor wall. The new sign was printed in large black letters and there was a highly official-looking seal at the bottom beside a neat and curly signature.

— ʙʏ ᴏʀᴅᴇʀ ᴏғ —

The High Inquisitor of Hogwarts
All Student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs are henceforth disbanded.

An Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.
Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge).

No Student Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.

Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-four.

Signed:
high inquisitor

Having had enough, Crookshanks walked up into the girl's dormitory and waited for Hermione to show up. It was Jenna's luck that the girl came up to the dorm all alone in an hour, there to pick up her books.

Although Hermione was startled when Jenna leaped forward and suddenly transformed back to her human form. Before Hermione could get the chance to even react, Jenna placed a finger over her lips to silence the girl, and then she took out her wand to cast many protective charms upon the room.

Then, with a frown on her forehead and her hands on her hips, Jenna turned to face Hermione sharply.

"Dumbledore's Army, huh?" Jenna raised a brow at her.

"I — I thought you'd like the idea," Hermione muttered, avoiding Jenna's gaze.

"No! Of course I don't!" Jenna then sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Hermione, you can all get in serious trouble for this. I don't want any of you to get hurt in any way."

"Oh, you're one to talk!"

"Excuse me?" Jenna took aback.

"Weren't you the one who told me all those stories about getting into trouble when you were young?"

"Yes, but that was different —"

"Exactly!" Hermione nodded firmly. "The difference was that you used to make risks just for the sake of fun. But this is different. This is necessary. we need to learn how to defend ourselves!"

Jenna fell silent. She knew that this was essential for them, because of what was awaiting them all out there. But she was feeling like a mother all of a sudden who was worried sick about her children.

     Jenna cared so much about all of them, and even the thought of them getting in trouble with Umbridge made her anxious. Specially now that Umbridge had proved to be capable of way worse, including physical punishments.

"Well, if you're worried, you could come along, you know," Hermione suggested with a sheepish smile. "I actually had this thought for some while and — well — I thought that maybe you could teach us as well."

Jenna's eyes widened. "What!?"

"I mean, think about it!" Hermione went on excitedly. "You know so much more magic than all of us put together! And you must be really good, too! We can use your help!"

"Hermione, I appreciate the thought, but that's insane!" Jenna chuckled. "There will be questions coming from many of your friends. Do you think they can trust a random person who shows up at the castle to teach you every week? It will be hard to explain to them. I could blow my cover. And if there's one thing I've learnt from the last war, is that you can't trust anyone."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Last time, in the Order of the Phoenix, we couldn't think of a single person that would betray us. We were like a family. No one expected Pettigrew to become a filthy traitor," Jenna explained. "How can you guarantee that no one inside the Dumbledore's Army would snitch and tell Umbridge about this?"

"I had it all worked out," Hermione said proudly. She then took out a parchment from her bag, showing it to Jenna. "This is a list of the names of those who have signed up for Dumbledore's Army. I've put a jinx on it, which means that whoever tells someone our secret, we'll know when they get the word 'Sneak' written on their face with pimples."

"I — wow, that's actually ingenious," Jenna told her, sounding impressed. Although she then shook his head, saying, "But that won't stop them from telling someone. It just shows us who they are."

"Well... then I guess that's a risk that we should take," Hermione said firmly.

Jenna just sighed in defeat, mumbling under the breath, "Stubborn teenagers."

Hermione giggled, but then she suddenly remembered something and her expression changed quickly. "By the way! We received a letter from Sirius today."

"What!?" Jenna's attention was quickly caught, and she forgot about everything else. "What did he say?"

"He had written 'Today, same time, same place'. That was all," said Hermione, looking rather worried. "Harry thinks he wants to meet us in the Gryffindor fireplace tonight, at around midnight. But... there was a slight problem."

"What?" Jenna asked with a frown, her heartbeat picking up.

"Well, we were in class when Hedwig arrived with the letter, but she was injured badly," Hermione explained. "We assumed that someone had caught her to see what was written in the letter."

"Oh, Lord..." Jenna sighed deeply, dropping herself down on the bed and running a hand over her forehead. "With this amount of stress, I'll be surprised if I make it to forty."