About a month after being assigned a job to watch Umbridge and
anyone looking to rebel against her, Scott made his way back to Dumbledore's
office. The night before, he had overheard Terry Boot and Michael Corner
discussing what he understood to be a rebellion of sorts against Umbridge and
her classes. Scott knocked three times on Dumbledore's door. Dumbledore said
his usual "Enter" and Scott strode into the office, taking his usual
seat in front of the Headmaster.
"Good morning, Scott. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
Dumbledore asked pleasantly.
"I think I have found out about a possible rebellion,
Headmaster," Scott replied.
Dumbledore smiled. "Excellent! What did you find out?"
"Well, I overheard some students last night saying how they
were going to get to the seventh floor to meet with a group of students who had
joined something called the 'D.A.' they kept talking and from what it sounds
like, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are in charge of the group of students."
"I see. Thank you for telling me this Scott. Now, to continue
your mission, you will need to do two things. Firstly, you need to inform Harry
himself that you overheard fellow students discussing this group and that you
are interested in joining them. Next, you need to tell Dolores that you have
found out about a secret defense group, but you cannot give any specific
details. If she questions you about that, tell her that something dreadful will
happen if you do tell her anything that would give away what the group is
doing. Can you do all of this for me?"
"Of course, Professor Dumbledore. I will go speak to Harry at
once. After today's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, I'll speak to
Umbridge as well."
"Very good, thank you for informing me of what you heard and
good luck with your task."
Scott left the office and headed to the Great Hall, where
breakfast was just following. He made his way to the Gryffindor table and found
Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting together, grabbing their food."
"Hi Scott," Hermione said when she saw him stand next to
them."
"Morning Hermione. Harry, could I ask you something?"
"Yeah sure," Harry replied.
"Well, last night, I overheard Terry and Michael whispering
about the D.A. and I was wondering if I could join it."
"What?" exclaimed Ron. "Those prats were blabbing
about the D.A.?"
"No, no, they were just talking about how they were going to
get there and what they thought of Harry being in charge. Nobody else could
hear them but me."
"And what did they say about Harry?" Ron demanded.
"They said that they agreed with Hermione that he is the man
for the job."
"Well, I think you can join the group, Scott," Hermione
said, smiling. "We'd be happy to have you." She pulled out a piece of
parchment and scribbled down Scott's name. "There we go, now you're
officially a member."
"Thanks. And there's something more."
"Yes?" Harry said.
"I'm joining you because I'm going to be spying on Umbridge
for you. She's going to think that I'm spying for her, but I'm going to leak
her false information about what we are doing. I won't tell her anything that
gives us away or anything; I won't tell her who's in the group, where we meet,
or exactly what we do." Scott explained.
"You're going to be spying on Umbridge for us?" Ron
asked, clearly confused.
"Yeah, Ron. I'm going to be making sure that she stays away
from us while we are trying to work. She'll be fed such false information that
it'll be a wonder if she doesn't eventually catch on."
"Well I think you'll do really well," Hermione said.
"The first meeting's tonight and it's on the seventh floor in the Room of
Requirement. Just meet Nigel in the seventh floor corridor and he'll let you
in."
"See you tonight then."
Later that afternoon, Scott slowly packed away his items shortly
before the bell rang at the end of his Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.
Once all of his things were packed, he approached Professor Umbridge's desk.
"Yes, dear?" she asked in her falsely sweet voice.
"Professor, there is something I have to tell you about a
possible illegal group."
Umbridge smiled evilly. "Do tell me what you know Mr.
Peck."
"Well, I cannot give you exact specific details or something
dreadful will happen to me, I'm sure of it. I believe that the leaders have
taken extensive measures to cover-up what they are doing and who is
involved."
"Ingenious of them," Umbridge said, still smiling.
"Well, try to tell me what you can, Mr. Peck."
"All I know is that it is a secret Defense Against the Dark
Arts group of some sort that is aiming to practice practical magic rather than
theoretical."
"I see. It could also be Dumbledore's way of raising an army
against the Minister's wishes," Umbridge said.
"And I informed the leaders that I am prepared to spy on you
for them. In actuality, my intentions are to spy on them for you."
"You intend to work with them, and all the while spy on them
for me?"
"Yes, I believe I will be able to hide my true intentions
from them very easily."
Umbridge smiled again. "Very well, Mr. Peck. You now have my
permission to work with them group while providing any information on them you
can. You may go now, thank you for all you have told me."
Scott got up and left Umbridge's office, making his way to the
seventh floor corridor. As he made his way to meet Nigel, he thought to
himself, "She actually believes that
I require her permission to join this group? Ha! I already knew I'd be doing
this job starting tonight and she thinks that I was just assigned it moments
ago. Oh I can't wait until she discovers I was never loyal to her!"
Scott reached the seventh floor and made his way around, eventually finding a
second-year student standing in the corridor by himself.
"Hi there, are you Nigel?"
"Yes, Nigel Wespurt" replied the boy. He had flaming red
hair and almost looked like he could be a Weasley.
"Hi Nigel, I'm Scott Peck," Scott said, shaking Nigel's
hand. "Harry asked me this morning if I could come to this meeting."
"Cool. Well, everyone else is inside. You're the last one to
show up. Follow me and we'll go in."
Nigel led Scott to a wall. Without warning, a door suddenly
appeared in front of them where the wall was. Nigel opened the door and Scott
followed him in. The door closed behind them and Scott looked around. All
around him, students were practicing disarming each other. Harry looked over
and walked over to Scott.
"Hey Scott, glad you could make it," he said. "What
kept you?"
"Umbridge. I was telling her that I was going to be spying on
us for her when of course I'm doing the opposite."
"How did she react when you told her?" Harry asked,
frowning slightly.
"She seemed excited. Of course, I told her nothing but that I
knew that a secret defensive group had been started right under her nose."
Harry laughed. "How did she take that news?"
"Seemed to think that it was Dumbledore's way of rebelling
against the Ministry."
"Well, that makes the name of Dumbledore's Army even more
appropriate. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to help some people. How about
you work with Nigel, we're just working on Expelliarmus now."
For the rest of the meeting, Scott and Nigel practiced all of the
spells that Harry instructed the group to perform. They worked on Expelliarmus, Stupefy, and Protego. Once the practice was over,
Harry blew a whistle and told them all to hurry back to their common rooms. As the
group scattered about collecting their items, Scott helped Nigel grab his
books.
"Thanks for being my partner, Scott. I really think I learned
a lot from you." Nigel said.
"No problem, Nigel. I hope to work with you again at the next
meeting. See you later."
"I hope that too. Good night, Scott."
With that, Scott made his way to Ravenclaw Tower, leading the rest
of the D.A. members in his house back to their common room. Once in Ravenclaw
Tower, Scott made his way up to his dormitory and lay down in his bed. He
thought to himself that he had successfully started his new job for Dumbledore
and as he drifted off to sleep, thought it would be a breeze compared to the
one he was doing with Snape…
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