Hindsight

Realizations

Thursday night, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna were gathered in the Room of Requirement for their first training session. Harry noticed that Neville looked determined and focused. He thought he knew why. Silently, he was cheering Neville on. He deserved the chance to avenge his parents, and Harry was glad to help him do it.

'Alright, since this is the first lesson, I think we should start with something simple. Without wands,' he addressed Ginny, Neville, and Luna. 'Neville, I wrote to Mister Ollivander this morning asking him to come up to Hogsmeade this Saturday. I've already paid for everything in advance.'

Neville blushed deep red. 'Th-Thank you, Harry.'

'Don't mention it. Anyway, I thought we should start off with dodging spells,' Harry continued. 'There's no reason to waste time and energy on a Shield Charm if you can just dodge the spell coming at you. Anyway, if you're on the receiving end of a Killing Curse, there's nothing a Shield Charm can do. Dodging is probably the most important skill you can possibly learn.'

'I was thinking Harry and I could cast Disarming Charms on you,' Hermione picked up where Harry left off, 'And you can practice dodging them. It won't be a powerful Expelliarmus, so don't worry about getting knocked off your feet or anything. Your wand will just fly out of your hand if you're hit. It's safe and it won't be painful at all. I think this is far better than what Harry suggested. He was going to have you dodge Stinging Hexes.'

Harry felt himself blushing. 'Right. Hermione's idea is better,' he muttered.

For the next hour and a half, Harry and Hermione cast Disarming Charm after Disarming Charm at the other three. Ginny was the best at dodging them. Harry remembered how excellent she was as a Quidditch Chaser in her 'old' fifth year. He supposed that this required much the same skill set.

Neville was clumsy at first, but got better at reading when the spells were being cast and where they would fly as they practiced. By the end of the night, he was almost as good as Ginny. He remembered how determined he had become in their DA sessions, and Harry admired the effort that he was putting in. Harry knew what Neville's thirst to avenge his parents felt like.

Luna was a natural, just like Ginny, even if she was not as good as her. She did not improve as much as Neville did in the course of the evening, but there was still a lot of time and opportunity to practice.

When the three were all drenched in sweat and red-faced from the constant movement, Harry and Hermione called it a day and conjured some goblets of water for them.

'Good work, everyone,' he complimented them sincerely. 'You're all getting really good at this. Keep working on your Occlumency. We'll see meet again some time next week.'

'Neville, don't forget to meet Mister Ollivander at lunch at the Three Broomsticks on Saturday,' Harry reminded him, knowing Neville's forgetfulness. 'Also, I was wondering if you could do Hermione and I a small favour.'

'Sure, anything,' said Ginny immediately.

'We're going to Gringotts again this Saturday. We'll go into Hogsmeade and sneak out from there. Would you be able to make up a cover story for us that we were with you the whole day?'

Neville nodded. 'Sure, but you'll have to be seen in Hogsmeade first before you leave.'

'We'll take the carriages into the village with you.'

'You can trust us. We'll make up something,' Ginny promised.

Harry doubted less and less with each passing day his confidence in the three of them.

When Ron Weasley saw his sister return at ten-to-nine that evening – with Neville Longbottom of all people – he pulled Ginny aside, wanting to tell her that she was too young to be with boys. Besides, Ron tried to tell her, she could do so much better than Neville Longbottom – Harry, for example.