Chapter 29

Imogen's return to Hogwarts after the Christmas holidays was in circumstances entirely different from her first trip to the school. Then, in September, she had been a confused and ignorant girl. Things were different now. Thanks to her hard work over the holiday (which had lasted a full three weeks) she was fully caught up in her chosen subjects, easily the equal of most Hogwarts' fifth years, and superior to many. This time on the train she brought with her no trunk, only her owl and her Christmas presents. But Imogen also brought tremendous confidence in her abilities, and she was looking forward to further improving her dueling skills. The only thing she regretted was that she was making the trip back to Hogwarts on the train, rather than on the Knight Bus. Traveling back on the bus had never been discussed, further proof to Imogen that her presence at Hogwarts had now significantly altered events in unexpected ways.

The holidays had ended on a high note for Imogen, for she had finally produced a patronus, a skill which hitherto had eluded her. It was also the biggest patronus any of her friends had seen, a massive, horned beast. On the train she shared a compartment with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny as they discussed the holidays.

"I didn't get a good look at your patronus," said Hermione, "but I think it must have been a moose."

"Why a moose?" asked Imogen. "For that matter, what causes a person's patronus to take a particular form?"

"No one really knows for sure," said Harry, "Although there's always been a lot of speculation. I've never heard of a moose patronus before. I've never even seen a real moose - not even in a zoo. Some say that your patronus may reflect your personality. I don't know if it's true, but suppose for a moment it is. What are moose known for?"

"They're vicious," said Imogen, "by far the nastiest creature in the forest. A moose will attack a human on sight, and kill without the slightest provocation. A wolf, or even a bear, will run away if it comes across a person, but not a moose."

"There are no moose in Europe," said Ron, "just in North America. How do you know so much about them?"

"Not really sure," replied Imogen. "It's one of those zillions of things I just know about without knowing why I know. I dream of moose sometimes, but I dream of other animals, too. Beaver, loons, wolves, wolverines, all kinds of things. I don't know why of all these creatures the moose is my patronus."

Over the holidays Imogen had told her friends about the strange dreams she often had, which repeatedly gave her glimpses of another place, cold and white, but never in enough detail for Imogen to identify the place. Another feature in her dreams, less frequent and far less welcome, was the fearsome blond witch who would first paralyze Imogen and then subject her to questions to which Imogen could give no satisfactory reply.

"Do you have any idea who she is?" asked Ginny, as Imogen again described the woman for them all.

"No idea at all. In my dreams I think of her as 'The Witch of the Letters, ' whatever that means. And boy is she scary!'

"I'm glad you've been able to explain my dreams," said Harry, "but I can't do the same for you. I've never heard of a 'Witch of the Letters'. How about you, Hermione?"

"No. But there is someone we can ask who might have some idea - Professor Binns."

Everyone groaned at the mention of Binns' name.

"If I'm really desperate to find out more about my dream witch, I'll ask him," said Imogen. "But if I really want to know more, I'll try the library first, thanks. I'll have a bit more free time this term, now that I'm caught up. The only demand on my time, other than regular classes, is the DA."

"I love it when you make predictions that are wrong," said Harry with a laugh. "But there's no way you could have known that the DA is dead, because I haven't told anyone yet."

To this unwelcome announcement Harry's friends began to make the strongest objections. Ron and Imogen loved the DA simply because it was so much fun. Dominant in Ginny's mind, and Hermione's as well, was the sense of betrayal they felt, and that they were sure the other members of the DA would share. Harry listened patiently to his friends' shouts of dismay, and when the noise finally died down, he gave them his reasons.

"Why did we form the club in the first place? To learn defence against the dark arts, of course. But what do we actually do when we meet? We duel. We learn various spells, yes, but the main thing we do is duel. There's a lot more to defence than just dueling, that's true, but the main thing we do is duel.

"And that makes sense, I know now, because in six months we'll be in the Department of Mysteries, dueling with Death Eaters. So it's dueling we have to focus on now, so that we'll be ready. So why is it we have a Defence Against the Dark Arts club, which is contrary to Umbridge's decree, when we could have joined the Dueling Club, a club that is allowed to meet, and is taught by Flitwick no less?"

"That's obvious enough," said Hermione. "Everyone knows that the dueling club's mostly made up of Slytherins. If we joined the dueling club, we'd be seeing Malfoy once a week, him and his nasty friends. There are a few from other houses in the club, but really it's basically Slytherin's club. I don't know that a Gryffindor has been in that club the entire time we've been at Hogwarts."

"That's going to change," said Harry. "The first day back at school, I'm going to Flitwick and joining the dueling club, and I want you all to join too, along with anyone else in the DA who cares to follow. It's true that I can teach you all curses, but it's Flitwick that will teach us all to duel."

"But he can't teach us the killing curse," observed Ron. "Have you forgotten about that?"

"No. We are going to learn that on our own, us and those who are joining us in the Department of Mysteries."

"And those lucky people are... ?" asked Ginny.

"Aside from us, it'll be Fred, George, Neville and Luna for sure. I haven't nailed down who else I want. It will depend on who decides to join the dueling club - obviously I can't take someone along who won't be prepared. I'll have to decide that later, but not too much later. I hope I'll know by the end of this month."

"How long have you known that we're joining the dueling club?" asked Imogen.

"Since before Christmas. When you told us about what was to happen at the end of term, I knew straight away that this called for a change in plans."

"Why didn't you tell us?" continued Imogen. "Why keep us in the dark?"

"Part of it was I just wanted to mull it over in my own mind for a while, to make sure I was doing the right thing. And it was fun, Imogen, knowing something about the future that you didn't." Harry sat back on the compartment bench, not wanting to give any more explanations. He pulled out the dagger Hermione had given him for Christmas, enjoying the feel of it in his hands. He pulled the blade from the scabbard, looking at the strange writing.

"Hermione, I've been wondering about this now for a few weeks. Is there something special about this dagger that you didn't tell me? You said you got it at a Muggle flea market, but I don't recognize the writing on it at all. What language is it?"

"I'm really not sure," said Hermione. "It caught my eye because it looked a bit like ancient Elvish. Maybe we can find out the answer at Hogwarts." Perhaps, thought Hermione, but not likely, for the dagger was a replica of one featured in a Muggle movie very popular a few years before, with faux Elvin writing engraved on it. She doubted very much that anyone at Hogwarts would have the faintest idea what it was. If Harry wanted to think it was an ancient weapon of some sort, that was just fine with her.

She'd been running out of money and ideas for presents the previous December, and had seized upon the dagger as a joke gift, thinking that Harry would immediately recognize it for what it was when he opened it Christmas Day. But much to Hermione's dismay, Harry had been thrilled with the gift, and lately had taken to carrying the dagger with him everywhere, as if it were a talisman. Hermione regretted not fessing up immediately when she had the opportunity, but now it was far too late.