AUTHOR's NOTE-----I'll try to make this 'un a longer one.
"Sorry, Harry." Luna shrugged, and broke away. "How was your lot's holidays?"
"Oh...it was...the usual." Ron said, smiling shiftily. "Very eventful."
Harry suddenly realised that Luna was still on the pretext that Pig was still deceased.
"What?" she said, raising an eyebrow. Her eyebrows were naturally high anyways, and to Harry it appeared that the eyebrow was shooting up to her hairline.
For answer, Ron jerked his thumb over at the luggage in the corner. Pig was sleeping soundly in his cage, as was Hedwig.
"Oh my god," Luna said breathlessly. "How is this possible?"
"I don't know exactly," Ron shrugged. "But I'm still glad he's back with us though."
It was as though Malfoy had never faked Pig's death, that they were starting off from a clean slate. Even though only a few months had passed since the beginning of term, Harry felt like he had aged ten years.
He had noticed how much more mature everyone seemed to be; Hermione was more outspoken and confident than she had when she first came to Hogwarts, which seemed a decade ago. Ron was easy-going and had not changed much in his attitude, but over the years he had developed a strong self-confidence and the ability to react well to a situation.
He had never really quite considered himself, of course; It felt like only his physical appearance had ever changed: Harry still felt(and with some uneasiness) that his overall personality had not changed a bit.
Maybe it was meant to be this way; after all, fate had already chosen him to either be the victor or the vanquished in the bitter end, the duel to end all duels. Harry felt that he had a long ways to go yet, before that ever happened.
---CHAPTER SEVENTEEN------------
There was a noticable change in everyone's attitudes toward the start of classes; Hermione was rather more loosened off and easy-going, while Ron was sombre and soft-spoken. His dry sense of humor retained though, which gladdened Harry.
Most detectable was Neville. Neville still had the round face, but he had lost weight over the course of the year so far. Harry chided himself for not knowing all this, but he was probably more busy than ever during that time, with the DA.
And speaking of the DA, it was the concern of many to find out when their next meeting was going to be and what they were going to learn.
"Any more plans for our army, Harry?" Seamus had enquired at breakfast one day.
"Well...I've decided that we should ask Dumbledore to teach us once in a while. If he's not busy or something." Harry told him, over a plate of kippers.
Seamus, Dean, and Neville immediately brightened to the idea.
"It'll be excellent." Dean said. "He's the only one that You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. If we ever face You-Know-Who's minions, we would stand better if Dumbledore taught us some things."
"Have you asked him yet, Harry?" Neville said, eyes wide and anxious.
"Not yet, but I will soon," Harry assured them. "I'll see him sometime tomorrow evening."
"Fantastic." Seamus said heartily, and returned to his sausages.
Harry had been flicking through the unofficial DA textbook for any useful spells that they had not learned yet; he felt that it would be wiser to perfect the spellwork before they moved on to "ADAPTING TO YOUR CURRENT COMBAT ENVIRONMENT".
He had found a spell that was more melee-type rather than cast; however, it would be extremely effective in close-quarters duelling, and as an added bonus, it would enable the caster to cast other defensive spells while in use.
It was called the Marathian Spell, or simplified: the "Sword Charm". According to the book, it was difficult; but when casted, a sword would appear around the wand, entirely composed of magic and very powerful.
Of course, this would have to mean that they would need to learn swordplay and fencing techniques, but Harry was not really concerned about it. They were learners, after all, and would adapt to their own ways.