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Hogwarts: Neville’s Insert Chapter 9
🕑 Added 2024-09-04 18:07:16 +0000 UTCHogwarts: Neville’s Insert Chapter 9
Neville felt a warm sensation flowing through his hand and into his wand as he touched the matchstick. As soon as his wand made contact, the matchstick shimmered and transformed into a shining needle with engravings, just as Neville had imagined it.
Neville stared at the needle, then at his wand, wondering, “Was it supposed to be that easy?”
Hermione, from beside him, exclaimed, “Well done, Neville! You managed to do it on your first try!”
At that moment, McGonagall arrived next to Neville, took the needle from his desk, and examined it. “Well done, Mr. Longbottom. It seems you just needed a change of wands. This is the finest piece of Transfiguration I’ve ever seen a first year perform. Five points to Gryffindor for Mr. Longbottom,” she said, handing the needle back to him.
Neville smiled and scratched the back of his head.
….
Neville was jolted awake by a gentle but persistent shaking, accompanied by a voice calling his name. “Neville, wake up. Neville, come on, wake up!”
Slowly, his eyes fluttered open, and he blinked at the person standing beside him. It took a moment for the blurry figure to come into focus, but when it did, he saw it was Hermione, looking down at him with an expression of exasperation.
“Has the class finished?” Neville mumbled, still groggy as he rubbed his eyes. He glanced around the room, and sure enough, students were gathering their belongings and making their way toward the door. It was clear the lesson had ended without him realizing it.
Hermione’s expression shifted to one of disapproval. “Yes, of course, the class has ended. Honestly, Neville, you’d know that if you hadn’t slept through the entire thing,” she scolded, her voice tinged with frustration.
Neville stifled a yawn and gave her a sheepish grin. “I did try to stay awake, Hermione, I really did. But you can’t blame me, can you? That lecture was unbearably dull,” he said, as he started to gather his things, trying to sound more innocent than he felt.
Hermione huffed and crossed her arms. “Boring or not, you should have at least made an effort to listen. Now you’re going to have to start from scratch,” she replied, turning on her heel to leave the classroom.
Neville hurried after her, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “I can still catch up, Hermione. I’ll read the chapter in the textbook. It’s not the end of the world,” he reasoned, trying to keep up with her brisk pace. “But right now, I’m absolutely starving.”
As they walked out of the classroom, Neville paused at the junction of two corridors, looking a bit lost. He turned to Hermione with a sheepish smile and asked, "Erm, which way’s the Great Hall again?"
Hermione sighed, with exasperation. "This way, Neville. Just follow me," she said, leading the way.
As they descended a flight of stairs, Neville suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Hermione, I forgot to ask earlier, what other classes do we first-years have to attend?"
Hermione answered promptly. "Well, there’s Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, and Herbology. Then there’s Potions, which we have after lunch today."
Neville stifled another yawn and asked, "How many spells have we learned so far in Charms?"
Hermione replied, “Only one so far—the Lumos spell. It’s only been two weeks since the term began. We spent the first week on theory, and this week we’ve finally started with the actual spellwork.”
Neville hummed thoughtfully as they reached the entrance to the Great Hall and pushed open the door to step inside.
The hall was buzzing with activity, filled with students seated at their respective house tables, chatting and eating. Even some of the professors were present at the head table, keeping a watchful eye on the lively scene.
Hermione and Neville made their way over to the Gryffindor table and found seats among their fellow first years. Neville slipped into an open spot next to a boy he recognized as Seamus Finnigan—Professor McGonagall had called him “Mr. Finnigan” in class.
Hermione sat down beside Neville, just as Seamus turned to him with a friendly grin. “Hey, mate, where were you last night? We didn’t see you in the dorm this morning either.”
Neville, who had just reached for a piece of roast chicken, paused and hesitated. “Umm, yeah, I left earlier with Hermione. Your name’s Seamus, right?” he asked, playing the amnesiac.
Seamus frowned, looking a bit puzzled. “Huh? Of course, I’m Seamus,” he replied, sounding slightly offended. “What d’you mean ‘my name's Seamus’? Have you lost your memory or something?”
Before Neville could come up with a response, Hermione leaned in and said matter-of-factly, “That’s exactly it. He’s lost all his memories. He doesn’t remember a thing.”
A blonde girl sitting opposite Hermione perked up, her curiosity piqued. “Really? Did he actually?”
Meanwhile, an Indian girl sitting beside the blonde shook her head, looking skeptical. “Surely not?”
Hermione let out a small sigh, as though she’d been through this before. “Yes, it’s true. Neville lost all his memories after hitting his head in the nasty fall he had during yesterday's flying lesson,” she explained.
The group of students around Neville exchanged glances, trying to process the news. Parvati leaned forward, her expression a mix of curiosity and concern. "You’ve lost all your memories? What’s the last thing you remember?"
Neville nodded. "well I remember waking up in bed, and then meeting Madam Pomfrey," he said, his voice uncertain.
Further down the table, Ron chimed in, "It’s true, guys. The bloke was wandering around the castle last night, looking for the common room."
The group fell silent for a moment. Seamus glanced at Neville. “Blimey, mate. I didn’t know. Are you alright?” he asked, his voice softer. "So you don’t recognize any of us?"
Neville gave a helpless shrug. "Sorry, I don’t remember anyone’s name. I didn’t even know my name until Madam Pomfrey told me."
Lavender Brown, who had been listening quietly, asked, "Surely Madam Pomfrey has some way to help you get your memories back?"
Neville shook his head again. "She said I might get them back, or I might not. She wasn’t sure."
Dean, sitting beside Seamus, spoke up. "So that’s why you seem… I don’t know how to put it, but more confident, maybe?"
The others nodded in agreement, noticing the slight change in Neville’s demeanor.
Seamus, after a moment of reflection, extended his hand to Neville with a friendly grin. "Well, I’m Seamus Finnigan," he said, offering a handshake.
Neville accepted the handshake, feeling a bit more at ease. "Nice to meet you, Seamus."
Dean then did the same, and one by one, everyone around the table introduced themselves to Neville,
After the introductions, everyone returned to their lunches, occasionally asking Neville questions or answering the ones he had about Hogwart's life. The chatter around the table was lively, but Neville felt a bit more at ease now that he was beginning to put names to faces.
As they ate, Neville looked up and was surprised to see a massive owl soaring into the Great Hall, carrying what appeared to be a stack of books. The owl swooped down gracefully and landed right in front of Neville, placing the books on the table with a soft thud.
Neville blinked in surprise, then realized what this must be. "These must be the books Gran said she would send me," he thought to himself.
Spotting a letter attached to the bundle, he quickly opened it and confirmed it was from his grandmother, Augusta Longbottom. The letter explained that she had sent these books to help Neville readjust to the wizarding world, especially now that he was back at Hogwarts.
Grateful, Neville offered the owl a piece of bacon as a thank you. The owl took the bacon, gave a soft hoot, and flew off back through the open windows of the Great Hall.
“Who sent you those books?” Seamus asked, eyeing the package curiously.
Neville glanced up at him and replied, “I asked my gran yesterday to send me some books about the wizarding world. Looks like she came through.”
Curious, Neville unwrapped the package and began to sift through the books. There were four in total, each one looking well-worn and full of knowledge: "Ages of Enchantment: A History of the Wizarding World" by Bathilda Bagshot, "The Noble Wizard's Path: Etiquette and Duties of Heirs" by Ignatius Prewett, "Magical Society and Its Unspoken Rules" by Septimus Burke, "The Essential Spells for Every Witch and Wizard" by Miranda Goshawk
As Neville read through the titles, a few of his housemates leaned over to get a closer look. "Blimey, those look proper serious," Ron remarked, his eyebrows raised.
Hermione leaned over and read one of the book titles, “Magical Society and Its Unspoken Rules.” Her brow furrowed in curiosity. “Hmm, I haven’t seen this one before,” she admitted, her tone tinged with intrigue.
Neville, aware of Hermione’s reputation as a bit of a bookworm, offered the book to her. “Here, you can read it if you want,” he said, hoping it might interest her.
Hermione’s eyes brightened with genuine excitement. “Really? You don’t mind?”
Neville nodded. “Yeah, I can’t get through all four books at once. Might as well let you borrow it while I read the others. Maybe you can give me a summary when you’re done?”
Hermione’s enthusiasm was palpable as she nodded eagerly. “Absolutely! I’d be happy to.”
With that, Neville’s attention shifted to the next book in his stack, “The Essential Spells for Every Witch and Wizard” by Miranda Goshawk. He opened it and began leafing through the pages, discovering a range of practical spells. There were useful ones like the cleaning spell and the umbrella spell, which Neville noted with interest.
As he scanned through, he thought to himself, “These spells could come in handy.” The book seemed to offer practical knowledge that would be useful in everyday magical life.
After lunch, all the Gryffindor first-years walked together in a group toward their Potions class. On the way, Neville turned to Hermione, who was deeply engrossed in the book he had lent her. "Where’s the classroom, Hermione?"
Without looking up from her reading, Hermione replied, "It’s in the dungeons."
Seamus, walking beside Neville, added with a hint of concern, "Just be careful with Professor Snape. He seems to always pick on Harry and you the most."
When they arrived at the dungeon, they joined the other students waiting outside the classroom. As they stood there, a blonde kid, flanked by two others, walked over. "I hear you’ve lost all your memories, Longbottom," he said, his tone dripping with disdain.
Neville, seeing the blonde kid, recognized him as Draco Malfoy. playing along, he responded, "Yeah, sorry, but I don’t remember you."
Malfoy sneered. "How pathetic. You really lost your memories, Longbottom?"
Ron and Harry immediately stepped in to defend Neville. "Oi, Malfoy, leave him alone!" Ron said, his voice edged with anger.
Seamus and Dean also jumped in, "Yeah, piss off, Malfoy. Mind your own business!"
Just as the situation was starting to escalate, Snape's dramatic entrance interrupted them. The Potions Master flung open the dungeon door, his eyes narrowing at the commotion. "Ten points from Gryffindor for shouting outside the classroom," he intoned coldly before instructing them to enter.
As they entered the Potions classroom, Neville turned to his friends and said, “Thanks, guys. You really didn’t have to, though.”
They waved off his gratitude, clearly more concerned with the situation than accepting thanks. “Don’t worry about it, mate” Seamus said, giving Neville a reassuring pat on the back.
The class settled into pairs, and Neville asked Hermione if she minded working together again. “Of course not,” she replied.
As the class settled into their seats, Snape addressed the students with his usual cold disdain. “I will not be explaining everything again. You should have learned what I’ve taught so far.”
His gaze swept across the room before landing on Neville. A sneer crept onto his face. “I hope you’re not as much of a dunderhead as before, Mr. Longbottom.”
Neville thought to himself, “This git is already picking on me.”
With a final, dramatic slam of the classroom door, Snape strode to the front of the room and announced, “Hand in your assignments.”
Neville, glanced around at his classmates handing in their work. He hadn’t a clue what the assignment had been, He sat there, clueless, as the others submitted their papers.
Noticing Neville’s hesitation, Snape’s eyes narrowed. “Are you waiting for an invitation, Mr. Longbottom? Where is your assignment?”
Malfoy and his cronies sniggered from their seats, clearly enjoying Neville’s discomfort.
Neville stammered, “Um, I didn’t… I don’t remember what the assignment was.”
Hermione, sitting beside him, jumped in to help. “Professor, Neville lost his memories. He doesn’t remember anything from before yesterday afternoon.”
Snape’s eyes flashed with irritation as he turned to Hermione. “Five points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger. I didn’t ask you for an explanation, did I?”
He then turned back to Neville with a cold, calculating look. “That’s no excuse for not completing your work. You will serve detention for failing to hand in your assignment.”
Neville really loathed Snape. The git was incredibly selfish, he even begged the Dark Lord to kill a toddler and spare Lily just so he could swoop in and win her over. On top of that, he was a terrible teacher. People only like Snape because of Alan Rickman’s portrayal of him.
They might defend him as a good person and a double agent, but they conveniently forget that he only became a double agent after Voldemort went after the Potters. And let’s not forget, Snape was the one who told Voldemort about the prophecy the moment he overheard it. In Neville's eyes, Snape was nothing more than a bullying git who never grew up, and he wasn’t about to let Snape push him around.
Neville raised an eyebrow and said, “You expect me to remember your assignment when I’ve lost all my memories and couldn’t even remember my name at first?” His comment elicited a few chuckles from the Gryffindor students.
With a touch of sarcasm, Neville added, “Next time, I’ll be sure to write myself a reminder not to forget your classwork before losing my memories.”
Snape’s face darkened. “Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Longbottom. And you will serve two days of detention.”
Neville thought to himself, “Yeah, right. Like I’ll actually show up for your detentions.”
Snape flicked his wand and announced, “Today, you will be brewing the Forgetfulness Potion.”
He then turned to Neville with a sneer. “I hope you don’t mess everything up as badly as you did in the last class.” The Slytherins around him snickered.
Hermione, clearly uncomfortable with Snape’s mocking, opened her mouth to speak. But Neville gently placed a hand on her arm, signaling her to stay quiet.
Neville and Hermione worked together to brew the Forgetfulness Potion. Their combined efforts resulted in a potion that Snape inspected with a critical eye. After a moment, he grudgingly said, “Passable. It seems losing your memories has made you a bit more competent.”
Relieved but still frustrated, Neville and Hermione submitted their potion vials. As they prepared to leave, Snape called after them, “Hand in an essay as long as two and a half feet before our next class.”
With that, he dismissed them, and the students shuffled out of the dungeon.
