Miss Quinn

131 ~ Gryffindor vs Slytherin

Two days later at breakfast, Hermione told Emma, Dean, Venus, Fred, George, and Lee to meet in the seventh floor corridor that night for the first meeting of the Hog's Head group. She told them there was a room called the Room of Requirement that would reveal itself to them in a time of need, and just to think about a place to practice defensive magic while walking past the entrance three times. Emma felt her heart sink as she realized someone else must have known about the room and informed Harry about it. She hoped Draco wouldn't stop by that night.

The group split into threes so that if anyone was watching them they wouldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Emma, Dean, and Venus left the common room after Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and were the first group to make it to the Room of Requirement.

A highly polished door had appeared in the wall. Dean was staring at it, looking slightly wary. He walked up to it and knocked three times. Harry opened it, and Dean and led the way into a spacious room lit with flickering torches like those that illuminated the dungeons eight floors below.

The walls were lined with wooden bookcases and instead of chairs there were large silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors and a large, cracked Foe-Glass.

It looked nothing like Emma's Arena. Which she supposed was a good thing. If people saw targets lining the walls and dummies hacked to pieces with unknown weapons, they might be concerned.

"Whoa," said Dean, staring around, impressed. "What is this place?"

Harry began to explain, but before he had finished more people had arrived and he had to start all over again. By the time eight o'clock arrived, every cushion was occupied. Harry moved across to the door and turned the key protruding from the lock; it clicked in a satisfyingly loud way and everybody fell silent, looking at him. Hermione carefully marked her page of Jinxes for the Jinxed and set the book aside.

"Well," said Harry, slightly nervously. "This is the place we've found for practice sessions, and you've – er – obviously found it okay."

"It's fantastic!" said Cho, and several people murmured their agreement.

"It's bizarre," said Fred, frowning around at it. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then."

"Hey, Harry, what's this stuff?" asked Dean from the rear of the room, indicating the Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass.

"Dark detectors," said Harry, stepping between the cushions to reach them. "Basically they all show when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you don't want to rely on them too much, they can be fooled . . ."

He gazed for a moment into the cracked Foe-Glass; shadowy figures were moving around inside it, though none were recognisable. He turned his back on it.

"Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and – er –" He noticed a raised hand. "What, Hermione?"

"I think we ought to elect a leader," said Hermione.

"Harry's leader," said Cho at once, looking at Hermione as though she were mad.

Emma hid a smile at the look on Harry's face. He so fancied her.

"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly," said Hermione, unperturbed. "It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So – everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?"

Everybody put up their hand, even Zacharias Smith, though he did it very half-heartedly.

"Er – right, thanks," said Harry, whose face was red. "And – what,Hermione?"