Hindsight

All Seems Quiet

Harry and Hermione arrived late to the Great Hall the following morning. The moment they entered, they felt that a strange, sombre mood had descended over the student body.

When they reached the Gryffindor table, they found that Luna, Susan, and Daphne were all huddled over Neville and Ginny. Harry knew at once that something had happened the previous night.

'What's going on?' Hermione demanded tensely when they reached their group.

Neville slid a copy of the Daily Prophet across the table without a word. Harry snatched it up at once.

AZKABAN SACKED

DEMENTORS IN FULL REVOLT, GUARDS MURDERED, 37 PRISONERS ESCAPED, SUSPECTED INVOLVEMENT FROM YOU-KNOW-WHO

Harry and Hermione shared a look. Her face was ashen and colourless, her lower lip was trembling slightly. Harry suspected that his own face much resembled hers. He took her hand under the table and squeezed tightly.

'Bellatrix Lestrange escaped,' Neville murmured. 'So did Rodolphus and Rabastan.'

'Rodolphus is a squib at least,' Ginny supplied, attempting to console him.

'I almost hope they attack me tomorrow,' Neville said through gritted teeth. 'I want nothing less than to rip Bellatrix apart, limb from limb. I know it's silly, but…'

'It's anything but silly, Neville,' Hermione rebutted firmly. 'We know what that…animal…did. If I were in your position, I would wand her head, too. And with the way you've improved, you'd be more than capable of standing up to her when the time comes.'

'Thanks,' Neville muttered. 'The dementors are the bigger issue, though, Gran says…they can't be killed…and they suck your soul out…'

'We can teach you the Patronus Charm,' Harry offered.

'That's seventh year material!'

Harry shrugged. 'I learned it in my third. Hermione learned in her fifth. I'm sure you're all more than capable of it, if your ability to cast other spells is any indication.'

'Still, it's supposed to be one of the hardest N.E.W.T. level spells to master!' Ginny said.

'Everything else you've mastered is probably just as hard or harder,' Harry pointed out. 'We'll try it tonight. I'm sure you guys can do it.'

That evening's meeting in the Room of Requirement was fraught with tension, in no small part caused by Daphne's account of what was happening in the Slytherin House.

'The entire House is split down the middle,' she said after she had charged through the doors, flushed in the face. 'There's a large group who's cheering on the Death Eaters. They literally threw a party in the Common Room at the news of what happened last night. Three guesses who those people are. The other half of the House either doesn't want anything to do with them or wants them sent to Azkaban. Battle lines are being drawn. I'd not be surprised if Slytherin has its own war soon.'

It was with that grim sentiment that practice on the Patronus Charm began that night. Unsurprisingly, the results were less than desirable. Though every one of the five had managed incorporeal 'shield' Patronuses by the end of the night, not one managed anything more than formless mist. Even Harry and Hermione's own casting seemed a little subdued. The stag and otter did not shine as brightly as they did the night they faced down Umbridge's dementors.

'It's okay,' Harry consoled everyone as they left, 'It took me weeks to finally get the spell down when I first learned it. You're already doing better than I was, especially considering what's happening…out there.'