Dumbledore's Army

From Hpwiki

Dumbledore's Army (also known as the Defence Association) was a secret student society formed in Harry's fifth year. It was formed by Hermione, Ron and Harry in an attempt to circumvent the efforts of Professor Dolores Umbridge to impair the Defence Against the Dark Arts curriculum. Dolores Umbridge had been appointed to the post of Defence against the Dark Arts by Minister Cornelius Fudge so that he could keep an eye on the ancient school, and on Albus Dumbledore. The plan enacted by Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge was to prevent the students of Hogwarts from actually learning how to use defensive magic, as they were worried that Dumbledore was attempting to seize control of the Ministry using the students. This included taking out any sort of practical methods and replacing the lessons practical learning with theoretical learning.

Members of Dumbledore's Army.

The groups aim was to teach students taught Defensive Magic correctly, and to ensure the students were able to defend themselves.

The meetings were widely attended by students of all years and houses, excepting of course, students in Slytherin. Members of the group were asked to sign a parchment that was jinxed (though unknown to the signees) upon agreeing to join the group. The purpose of the jinx was to spell the word "sneak" in pimples across the face if one of the students in the group should divulge the contents of their meetings to anyone outside the society. Following the initial meeting, Dobby helped Harry find a location for the group to meet: the Room of Requirement.

To be alerted of the date and time of each meeting, group members were given a fake galleon on which the numbers around the coin could be changed to the date of the next meeting. The galleons had a Protean Charm placed on them by Hermione so that if one was altered, the others would reflect the change. The group name was abbreviated to "DA", which originally stood for Defence Association (suggested by Cho Chang) but came to stand for Dumbledore's Army, thanks to Ginny Weasley.

Members of this group met and through careful teaching on Harry's part, practiced a wide variety of charms, jinxes, and other defensive spells. Unfortunately, during their last session before Easter, a member of the group, Marietta Edgecombe told Dolores Umbridge about the group and paid for it dearly. (There is actual controversy in the fandom about whether or not this punishment was too harsh.) After a warning from Dobby, the group members scattered, but Harry was caught and taken to Dumbledore's office. Cornelius Fudge was present, accompanied by aurors Kingsley Shacklebolt & John Dawlish, Dolores Umbridge and Percy Weasley, acting as scribe. The parchment containing the names of the members was found by Dolores Umbridge and shown to Cornelius Fudge. Upon seeing the name of the group (Dumbledore's Army), Cornelius Fudge immediately attempted to place Dumbledore under arrest for treason. Dumbledore, possesing prodigious skill was able to fight off all five of the ministry officials, and escaped with the help of Fawkes by disapparating.

There were no more meetings after this, although Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood accompanied Harry, Ron, and Hermione to London and took part in the Battle in the Department of Mysteries against numerous Death Eaters. None were killed, although there were several injuries and they were saved from further battle by the arrival of the Order of the Phoenix.

In sixth year Harry used the fake galleons to call members of the DA to help fight in an attack on the school, but Neville and Luna were the only ones to react to the call, as Ron, Hermione and Ginny were told by Harry in person.

The following students are members of Dumbledore's Army: