Dumbledore’s Army

«Every great wizard in history has started out as nothing more than what we are now: students. If they can do it, why not us?«—Harry Potter

Dumbledore’s Army (also known as the D.A.) was a secret organisation initiated by Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley to teach their fellow Hogwarts colleagues proper Defence Against the Dark Arts in 1995. It was founded by Hermione, but taught and led by Harry.

This organisation was made necessary by the refusal of Dolores Umbridge, the subject’s professor during the 1995-1996 school year, to teach anything in her classes other than textbook theory. It was originally founded with twenty-eight members. The group was disbanded during the 1996-1997 school year following the appointment of Severus Snape as Defence Against the Dark Artsteacher, although several members heeded the call and participated in the Battle of the Astronomy Tower at the end of the year.

It was restarted by Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood during the 1997-1998 school year after Hogwarts fell under the control of Lord Voldemort in order to oppose Death Eaterprofessors Alecto and Amycus Carrow, who spread propagandaagainst Muggles and Muggle-borns and taught the Dark Arts. Dumbledore’s Army played a vital role during the Second Wizarding War, and members of the organisation fought in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, and the Battle of Hogwarts.

History

1995-1996 school year

Shortly after their fifth Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson during their fifth year, it soon became clear to Harry, Ron, and Hermione that practical defensive magic would not be taught in the class. Instead, under the stewardship of Dolores Umbridge a Ministry-approved course of theory only would be taught. Minister for MagicCornelius Fudge was afraid that Albus Dumbledore could use practical lessons to train an army of wizards and witches to oppose him and to try to take over the Ministry, since he refused to believe that Lord Voldemorthad returned. They claimed that Cedric Diggory‘s death was a «tragic accident«, and refused to admit that Voldemort had murdered him.

Concerned that they needed defensive magical skills to combat Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, Hermione proposed the formation of a practical study group to be taught by Harry as he had more experience than any of them with using actual defensive and offensive magic following his encounters with Lord Voldemort.^[5][6][7][8]Harry was initially reluctant but, after two weeks of dealing with Umbridge, and her appointment as the first Hogwarts High Inquisitor, he finally agreed. Hermione arranged a meeting in the Hog’s Head during the first Hogsmeade visit of the school year for anyone who wanted to learn, although Harry was sceptical that anyone would turn up. Since the Daily Prophetsmear campaign against him, many of the students considered him to either be a liar or insane.

In the Hog’s Head, Harry was surprised to see a fair number of students from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw turn up, although he harboured the suspicion that a few, such as Zacharias Smith, only wanted to hear about the night Cedric Diggory was murdered. After some initial scepticism, the students started to list Harry’s achievements — the survival of his parents’ murder at Voldemort’s hands in their family home and resulting defeat of the dark wizard himself as an infant (which earned Harry his fame from the wizarding community and the title «the Boy Who Lived»), rescue of the Philosopher’s Stone from a disembodied Voldemort in his first year, slaying of the Basilisk of Slytherin in the Chamber of Secrets with the Sword of Gryffindor in his second year, vanquishing of the Dementors of Azkaban at the Black Lake with a corporeal stagPatronus Charmin his third year, and winning of the Triwizard Tournament and duel with the resurrected Voldemort within the Little Hangleton graveyard in his fourth year.

The group agreed that secrecy would be vital — if Umbridge found out about them, they would surely be shut down and punished. However, each student signed, some rather reluctantly, a special piece of parchment to show their commitment. Unknown to any of them, Hermione bewitched the parchment to include a jinx. If any student should betray the D.A., then the word «SNEAK» would be written across their face in spots. The meeting broke up with the agreement that sessions were to begin once a suitable location in which to train had been found.

Unbeknownst to any of the D.A., they were being watched. Mundungus Fletcher, disguised as a witch with a thick black veil, was keeping an eye on Harry for the Order of the Phoenix, while Willy Widdershins informed Umbridge of the meeting in a plea-bargain to avoid punishment for a series of Regurgitating Toilet incidents. Umbridge used the information to implement Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four, which banned all student organisations that were not approved of by the High Inquisitor.^[ Although not revealed at that time, Aberforth Dumbledore also relayed information about the D.A. to the Order, as they were meeting inside his pub.

Initially, Ron thought that a student at the meeting had betrayed them, until Hermione pointed out that if they had, she would have known about it due to the jinx she placed on the parchment that they all signed. Despite the ban, Harry assured all the members that the meetings would go ahead once an ideal location was found. They would just need to be careful. Soon, Harry was informed the Room of Requirementby the house-elf Dobby, who occasionally used it to store the drunken house-elf Winky. After Dobby told how to summon the Room to Harry, Hermione, and Ron, the D.A. convened for their first practise session.

Training

During the first session, Cho Chang created the name Defence Association, but Ginny Weasley suggested to make the letters DAstand for a different name of their group, Dumbledore’s Army, to frighten the Ministry officials, since they were frightened that Dumbledore was creating an army to take over the Ministry; the members agreed upon their group having this name instead of Defence Association. Harry started them off slowly, practising the Disarming Charm (Expelliarmus). When Zacharias Smith scoffed at its simplicity and wondered about its effectiveness, Harry responded that it was the spell that saved him from Lord Voldemort in the Little Hangleton graveyard.

Aware that arranging meetings and passing the word about them verbally was not a secure method of communication, Hermione bewitched several coins with a Protean Charm, one for each member of the D.A. When activated by Harry, the numbers on each coin would change to inform the bearer of the time and date of the next meeting. When asked about it, she admitted to getting the idea from the Dark Marks. The class progressed at a fair rate, practising the Impediment Jinx, Reductor Curse, Stunning Spell, and various other hexes and jinxes before temporarily breaking up for Christmas break.

Lessons continued during the early months of 1996, and the mass breakout of imprisoned Death Eaters from Azkaban spurred them on to greater efforts, particularly Neville Longbottom, whose friends learned that three of the escapees had tortured Neville’s parents into insanity at the end of the First Wizarding War. The class mastered the Shield Charm, and began to work on the Patronus Charm. The class also welcomed a new member, Seamus Finnigan.

Despite being a Gryffindor in the same year as Harry, the two boys had argued when Harry insulted Seamus’ mother for believing the Daily Prophet‘s version of events. However, with the publication of an interview in The Quibbler, many, including Seamus and his mother, came to see the holes in the Ministry’s stories, and Seamus willingly apologised to Harry. He then proceeded to join the D.A being led to the room by Dean Thomas, although Seamus only was a member for the very last session when Harry Potter instead of Neville Longbottom was still the leader and teacher, because Umbridge finally found out about the organisation during this meeting.

Betrayal and discovery

Shortly before Easter, one D.A. member, Marietta Edgecombe, betrayed them to Umbridge. She was a reluctant member of the D.A., having been brought to the meetings by her friend, Cho Chang. Her mother worked in the Floo Network Office and was helping Umbridge to monitor the Floo Network at Hogwarts. Afraid that her mother’s job was in jeopardy, and not convinced by Harry’s interview in The Quibbler, she revealed the location of the D.A.’s meetings to Umbridge. Immediately, the jinx that Hermione had placed on the parchment that each member of the D.A. had signed activated, causing the word «SNEAK» to break out in boils across Marietta’s face.

Dobby the house-elf learned of this turn of events and rushed to the Room of Requirement to warn Harry and the D.A., even though the house-elf was under orders not to. Most members escaped, but Harry was caught by Umbridge and several Slytherin students who were members of the Inquisitorial Squad. A search of the room uncovered the parchment that each member of the D.A. had signed, entitled «Dumbledore’s Army.» Finally having what she considered «proof» that Dumbledore was building an army to challenge the Ministry, Umbridge immediately contacted Cornelius Fudge.

During a confrontation with Fudge and Umbridge, Dumbledore took full responsibility for the creation of Dumbledore’s Army in order to shield Harry and the students from consequences, arguing that the initial overheard discussions about the creation of such a group had taken place before the relevant Education Decree banning such meetings and they had no evidence that any meetings had taken place between then and that evening.

Kingsley Shacklebolt, an Auror and member of the Order of the Phoenix, used a False memory charm on Marietta to make her version of events tally with Dumbledore’s, exploiting the fact that Marietta had only mentioned the meeting this evening rather than revealing the months of classes that had preceded it. His «confession» led to Fudge attempting to arrest him. Dumbledore escaped with help from his phoenix, Fawkes, resulting in Umbridge being installed as the Headmistress of Hogwarts, though very few considered her position legitimate.

Disruption of authority

Members of the D.A., especially Fred and George Weasley, rebelled against the new authority at the school. On one occasion, the twins released enchanted fireworks through the school, which caused chaos, and with which the professors neglected to assist Umbridge. Fred and George took it easy during the Easter holidays, but then took their rebellion to a new level.

They turned a corridor of the school into a swamp to create a diversion for Harry to access the fireplace in Umbridge’s office in an attempt to contact Sirius Black, and were cornered by Umbridge and members of the Inquisitorial Squad. In a final act of defiance, the twins summoned their brooms, openly mocked Umbridge’s authority, struck the Squad members with a variety of jinxes, and escaped the school behind to pursue a career in their joke shop, with the money Harry lent them.

In the aftermath of Fred and George’s departure, the student body took up their mantle, releasing dungbombs, using Skiving Snackboxes, and, in the case of Lee Jordan, releasing Nifflers into Umbridge’s office. The Inquisitorial Squad also found themselves on the receiving end of the students rebellion; Cassius Warrington and Pansy Parkinson both reported to the hospital wing after receiving hexes which caused them to sprout horrible skin complaints and antlers, respectively. Even Peeves, who had never taken an order from any student, followed Fred and George’s request to «give her hell from them.» Peeves during the end of the school year proceeded to chase Umbridge out the castle with Professor McGonagall’s cane.

Despite this, the O.W.L. exams went ahead, and members of Dumbledore’s Army impressed the examiners during the Defence Against the Dark Arts practical exam, especially Harry, who produced his corporeal Patronusfor bonus marks.^[5] He imagined Professor Umbridge being sacked, looked her straight in the eye and did his Patronus. Though she looked smug on the outside when Harry finished his O.W.L., she was furious that he indeed had passed his Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.

As for the betrayer Marietta, due to her treason causing the organisation’s shutdown, she was deeply despised by almost all other members: Harry, Hermione, and Ron all found insults and criticisms to say against her, though her friend Cho was the only one who stood up for her. She still has scars from the «SNEAK» boils. 

Battle of the Department of Mysteries

On 18 June, 1996 after receiving a vision of Sirius Black being tortured by Lord Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, Harry vowed to rescue him. However, Hermione pointed out that he needed proof that Sirius was indeed in danger, and convinced him to use the fireplace in Umbridge’s office to contact 12 Grimmauld Place. As her fireplace was not being monitored. Harry and Hermione were to break into the office while Ron distracted Umbridge. Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood were to stand guard outside Umbridge’s office to ensure that no one caught them. However, during the attempt, Umbridge saw through their ruse and caught them all with the help of the Inquisitorial Squad. Neville attempted to help a captured Ginny, and was apprehended along with them.

Umbridge first attempted to interrogate Harry with the use of Veritaserum, but Professor Snape informed her that he had none left. She then threatened to use the Cruciatus Curse on Harry to make him talk, prompting Hermione to feign a breakdown in order to protect Harry. She pretended to cry and made up a story about the D.A. creating some kind of weapon for Dumbledore. Umbridge believed her, and Hermione and Harry lured Umbridge out into the Forbidden Forest, where she offended a herd of centaurs and was carried off. With some assistance from Grawp, Harry and Hermione made it back to the castle, where they were reunited with Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna. They had escaped the Inquisitorial Squad using a combination of the spells Harry taught and others, such as: Stunning Spells, Disarming Charms, and the Bat-Bogey Hex, thanks to Ginny Weasley.

The six members of the D.A. then flew to London on Thestrals, only to discover that Lord Voldemort had planted the vision in Harry’s mind to get him to remove his prophecy from the Department of Mysteries. During the subsequent battle, several of the D.A. members suffered injuries until the Order of the Phoenix arrived to rescue them. All the D.A. members survived the battle, and were treated by Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing upon their return to Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all lost their close friend and, in Harry’s case, godfather, Sirius Black. This battle exposed Voldemort’s return to the public, and signalled the beginning of open war.

Shortly after the end of term, several Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw members of the D.A. came to the rescue of Harry when he was ambushed on the Hogwarts Express by Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, cursing them so vociferously that the three were reduced to gigantic slugs. The Hufflepuffs in particular took great pleasure in this act, as a form of retribution for Malfoy’s unlawful deduction of house points from them.

1996-1997 school year

Practical gains

During the 1996-1997 school year, Dumbledore’s Army did not reform since there was no need to learn practical magic secretly, despite the wishes of some members to continue with the meetings — especially Luna Lovegoodand Neville Longbottom, who regularly checked the coins Hermione Granger had made. Severus Snape had taken over as the subject professor, and many of the former D.A. members benefited from their practical experience, finding lessons easier than expected.

Battle of the Astronomy Tower

Towards the end of the school year on 30 June, 1997 Harry had become convinced that Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater, and was planning something. However, he was due to accompany Dumbledore on a trip to recover one of Lord Voldemort‘s Horcruxes. He asked Hermione and Ron to watch Malfoy and the Room of Requirement, and to gather as many other members of the D.A. as they could. Only Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom (and possibly Ernie later on) answered their call, and they fought alongside the Order of the Phoenixduring the Death Eater invasion of the school that ended with the murder of Albus Dumbledore by Severus Snape.  

Neville was badly injured during the battle, but survived. None of the other D.A. members were injured because Harry had given Ron, Hermione, and Ginny the rest of his Felix Felicis, making all of the curses just miss the Order and D.A. members. However one member of the Death Eaters called Gibbon was hit by a rebounding Killing Curse (fired by fellow Death Eater Thorfinn Rowle intended for Remus Lupin). 

1997-1998 school year

Rebellion

On 1 August, 1997, the Ministry of Magic fell under the control of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Attendance at Hogwarts became mandatory and Muggle-borns were rounded up and imprisoned in Azkaban after biassed trials at the hands of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission. The school acquired a new headmaster, Severus Snape, and two new professors: Death Eaters Alecto and Amycus Carrow.

While Harry, Ron, and Hermione went on the run to hunt down and destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes, Neville Longbottom revived Dumbledore’s Army, alongside Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley. However, it was left deprived of some members; Dean Thomas, a suspected Muggle-born, was forced to go on the run due to his blood status. Actual Muggle-born members Justin Finch-Fletchley and Colin and Dennis Creevey would also most likely have been forced to do so as well or risk imprisonment in Azkaban.

The D.A. rebelled against the new authority, which spread venomous propaganda about Muggles and Muggle-borns and taught students the Dark Arts. D.A. members snuck out at night and painted slogans on the walls, and generally defied the authority of the Headmaster and the Carrows. The members would regularly receive punishments in the form of beatings from the professors for their insolence; some were even punished by being used as practise for the Cruciatus Curse by other students, such as Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe.^[10]

The D.A. also attempted to help Harry, Hermione, and Ron in any way they could, prepared to revolt against the professors when the trio returned. Ginny, Neville, and Luna attempted to steal Godric Gryffindor’s Sword from Snape’s office early in the year. Presumably, Ginny had learned that Dumbledore had left it to Harry in his will and since it would be important to whatever Harry had to face, and resolved to do anything she could to help him. The three D.A. members were caught, however, and sentenced to detention in the Forbidden Forest with Rubeus Hagrid.

Slowly, the movement died down, however, when Luna was taken by the Death Eaters after Christmas, 1997 to hold her father to ransom over his articles in The Quibbler, and Ginny never returned from the Easter holidays because her family had to go into hiding following the escape of Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Malfoy Manor. However, during this same escape, the trio, with the help of Dobby the House-elf, rescued Luna Lovegood, Garrick Ollivander and former member Dean Thomas and the organisation learned of this when Luna managed to send them a message about her rescue through her old D. A. coin.^[10] Finally, when Michael Corner was tortured by Alecto and Amycus Carrow for trying to free a first year boy from imprisonment, Neville realised he could no longer ask the students to risk their lives for the D.A, and scaled back the D. A.’s actions against the administration.

Several weeks before the Battle of Hogwarts, the Carrows came for Neville, since he had been identified as the ringleader. Originally, they had planned to hold his grandmother hostage to keep him in line, but when she escaped and went on the run herself, Neville became a target. Escaping from them, Neville came upon the Room of Requirement, and it turned itself into the ideal hiding place, including a tunnel linking it to the Hog’s Head in Hogsmeade. Aberforth Dumbledore, owner of the Hog’s Head, assisted Neville by sending food to him to allow him to survive. Eventually, more members of the DA started to turn up in the Room, hiding from the school authorities, and the Room accommodated them by growing larger and even adding a female bathroom when girls began showing up. Eventually, representatives from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw (the three Houses whose students made up the faction) called the Room home.

Battle of Hogwarts

When Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger returned to Hogwarts on the 1 May to find one of Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes, Neville took this as a sign that they had returned to fight for the school and used the D.A. coins to summon members who had left Hogwarts or had already graduated. It had not been Harry’s intention to engage in a battle, but Lord Voldemort was on his way with his army, and Harry needed time in the school to search for the Horcrux.

As former students, supported by members of the Order of the Phoenix, teachers of Hogwarts, and a few Hogsmeade shopkeepers began arriving to fight the Death Eaters. Harry was persuaded by Ron and Hermione that at this point a battle could not be avoided. Harry himself led an important group against the Death Eaters and aided by Luna Lovegood and Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, and Slughorn, retook the school in a short amount of time. Harry and Luna defeated the Carrows in Ravenclaw Tower and Professor McGonagalljoined them and summoned the other teachers once she learned what Harry was there to do and together they drove Snape from the castle. Dumbledore’s Army stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Order of the Phoenix, the Hogwarts staff, and anyone of age (and some who were not) who wished to fight against the forces of Lord Voldemort.

During the battle some members of the D.A. fought on the front lines throughout the school and its grounds, while others fired jinxes and hexes at Death Eaters from tower windows. Some members were wounded during the conflict, while others, such as: Fred Weasley, Lavender Brown and Colin Creevey, were tragically killed defending the school. The survivors then defeated many Death Eaters and watched their enemy Lord Voldemort die at the hands of their leader and teacher Harry Potter.