The Broken Prophecy

Chapter 11: The Clue

How could Neville do this?

He's my best friend.

He knows Luna is my girlfriend.

But Neville would never do this to me.

He's too loyal for this.

That leaves only one possibility.

Merlin's thoughts started to race as he saw his best friend Neville Longbottom kissing his girlfriend Luna Lovegood. Merlin knew how loyal his best friend was and that he would never betray him. Merlin knew the only possible explanation for Neville's actions had to be that someone had taken control of him using the Imperius Curse.

"Neville, stop this! Merlin is your best friend!" Luna screamed.

"You know you love me!" Neville replied.

"Neville, stop that now!" Merlin cried out.

"What are you doing here?" Neville sneered.

"Who's gotten to you?" Merlin asked.

"What are you talking about?" Neville grunted.

"Who used the Imperius Curse on you?" Merlin demanded.

"You don't deserve Luna!" Neville screamed.

Neville punched Merlin in the nose and he fell to the ground in pain as his vision went slightly blurry. His nose started to bleed rapidly.

"Oh, no! Merlin!" Luna cried out.

"When you're gone, I'll have Luna all to myself!" Neville croaked.

"NO!!!" Luna screamed as she jumped on Neville. Neville pushed Luna to the ground.

"Avada..." Neville chanted.

"Stupefy!" Hermione yelled. A red blast from her wand hit Neville and knocked him to the ground.

"I can't believe Neville would do this!" Ron cried out as he ran to Merlin.

"Wake up, Ron! Someone used the Imperius Curse on him!" Merlin replied sharply.

"Oh!" Ron whispered while blushing.

"Honestly!" Hermione chided.

Hermione healed Merlin's nose with a spell and Luna wiped off his nose with one of her handkerchiefs.

"Are you all right?" Luna asked Merlin.

"Yes, is Neville all right?" Merlin questioned back.

'Where... Where am I?" Neville whispered as he woke up.

"Are you okay, Neville?" Merlin asked as he helped him up.

"Yes, but I don't know how I got here," Neville replied.

"Do you remember anything from today?" Merlin inquired.

"Yes," Neville answered.

"Neville, I want you to show us everything that you have done today," Merlin ordered. "Where did you go first?"

"I bought my potion ingredients," Neville responded.

"Okay, we'll go there first. I still need to buy my potion ingredients," Merlin commented.

Merlin and his friends went into the potion shop. After Merlin bought his potion ingredients, he looked around the store to see if anything looked out of place. He watched the people to see if there was anyone that didn't belong there. After talking with the attendant to see if Neville had done anything odd, Merlin and his friends left the shop.

"What did you do next, Neville?" Merlin asked.

"I went to Mr. Ollivander's to have my wand checked out," Neville replied.

"What is the purpose of all this, Merlin?" Ron questioned.

"I am hoping to discover the time and place where Neville lost his memory," Merlin replied. "If we're lucky, we'll find the person that did this to him."

"Good idea!" Ron complimented.

Merlin led his friends into Mr. Ollivander's shop.

"Why, hello Merlin!" Mr. Ollivander said cheerfully. "It's not often that I get to see a customer twice in the same day."

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander," Merlin replied. "Do remember when Neville came into your shop today?"

"Why, yes I do!" Mr. Ollivander responded.

"Did he do anything unusual while he was here?" Merlin inquired.

"No, I'm afraid not," Mr. Ollivander answered.

"Have you noticed anything odd happening in Diagon Alley today?" Merlin asked.

"Sorry, I haven't," Mr. Ollivander reported.

Since Mr. Ollivander's shop was empty except for Merlin and his friends, there wasn't very much to examine. Merlin said good-bye to Mr. Ollivander and everyone left.

"Where to next, Neville?" Merlin inquired.

"I went into Madam Malkin's shop to have my robe repaired," Neville answered.

Merlin and his team examined Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions thoroughly. They looked under every robe and in every corner. Merlin looked in every place where a person might hide. He talked to everyone that he knew to see if anyone had noticed anything strange happening in the shop or around Diagon Alley. Merlin got quite frustrated when his search turned up nothing. Merlin knew that the person that used the Imperius Curse on Neville was somewhere in Diagon Alley. Merlin wanted more than anything to catch the culprit because the person had used the Imperius Curse to make his best friend hit on his girlfriend and almost kill him.

"Next," Merlin ordered after they left Madam Malkins.

"I went to the ice cream parlor for some ice cream," Neville answered.

"Since that was where I was when all this started, I don't think we need to examine that place," Merlin commented.

"Did you notice anything odd?" Ron inquired.

"Um, well... I did notice something," Merlin stated as he blushed. "Where to next, Neville?"

"The last thing that I remember was chasing my toad into an alley," Neville replied.

"Neville, why don't you take better care of that toad of yours?" Merlin admonished.

"Sorry," Neville whispered.

"Okay, show us the alley," Merlin ordered.

What Merlin saw when he and his friends got to the alley startled him greatly. Merlin saw the same elderly witch wearing a flower on her coat that had ridden the Knight Bus when he had visited Luna.

"Hey, you! Stop right there!" Merlin shouted at the witch.

Merlin tried to chase the witch, but she disappeared.

"Rats!" Merlin yelled.

"What's wrong?" Luna asked.

"Do you remember when I visited you at your house?" Merlin questioned back.

"Yes," Luna replied.

"That elderly witch rode the Knight Bus with me!" Merlin stated.

Chapter 12: Back To Hogwarts

Merlin spent the rest of the summer cooped up in The Burrow. No one wanted him to venture out of the house because of what happened to him in Diagon Alley. Members of the Order visited the house frequently to make sure that he was protected. Merlin dreamed of the day when he would be able to board the Hogwarts Express and come out of hiding. The one thing Merlin liked about this experience was the time he spent with Ron. Merlin thought that Ron was being nicer to him because he had gotten him together with Hermione, but he didn't care.

When Merlin wasn't spending time with Ron, he thought about who his attacker might be. He wanted to catch his attacker very much because he didn't want his friends to be in danger. Before Merlin's trip to Diagon Alley, he had been the only victim. Now the attacker was hurting Merlin's friends. Now it was personal. Merlin suspected the witch that had been wearing the flower on her coat to be involved with the attacks. She rode the Knight Bus with Merlin on the day someone had thrown a rock through Mr. Lovegood's window and she had also been in Diagon Alley when someone used the Imperius Curse on Neville.

On the last day of August, it was finally time to board the Hogwarts Express. The atmosphere was very hectic since everybody in the house was trying to use the stairs at the same time. Merlin loved the hectic atmosphere because he knew that freedom was nearly upon him. After everyone had packed, the Weasleys and Merlin got into a car that Mr. Weasley had borrowed from the Ministry and headed for Kings Cross Station. It took some time to board the train because everyone had to be sure that no Muggles saw them going through the barrier. When Merlin passed the barrier, he took his first breath of freedom.

"I'm here! I'm really here!" Merlin exclaimed.

"I can see you're happy!" Ron replied. "You have been cooped up in the house for a long time."

"Children, I don't want Merlin to be sitting by himself on the train," Mrs. Weasley ordered. "I want you all to look after him."

"Okay mum," Ron answered.

"I do believe it's time to see someone about a ball," Merlin declared with glee.

"You don't waste any time do you?" Mr. Weasley asked with a smile.

"No, sir. Not when it comes to matters of the heart," Merlin replied. "Ah, there's Luna now."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley helped their children load their trunks on to the train. When Merlin boarded the train, he sat in a compartment with Harry, Neville and Luna.

"Hello, Luna," Merlin said happily as he kissed Luna on the cheek.

"Hello, Merlin. I missed you," Luna replied.

"I missed you too," Merlin commented. "There's something I want to ask you."

"Will you go to the ball with me?" Merlin and Luna asked together. Harry and Neville laughed.

"I can see you two are perfect for each other," Harry commented. "Merlin, do you know who's been attacking you yet?"

"No, I don't," Merlin replied. "However, I do know something about that person's character."

"What's that?" Luna inquired.

"The attacker is very stupid," Merlin replied. "That person used the Imperius Curse to make my best friend hit on my girlfriend. Anyone who knows Neville would have to know that the Imperius Curse was being used."

"You're right. That was stupid," Neville agreed.

"If I was going to use the Imperius Curse to make someone do something, I would only have that person do something they would ordinarily do," Merlin added.

"Did you have a nice summer?" Harry asked.

"I had a nice time at The Burrow despite the fact that I felt like a prisoner there," Merlin replied. "I don't like hiding."

"Why were you at The Burrow?" Neville questioned.

"I had several nightmares during the summer so Dumbledore sent me a letter saying that it wasn't safe for me to stay at my house," Merlin answered.

"That's odd. I wonder why he would do that," Harry commented.

"Maybe he thought that someone was causing you to have those nightmares," Luna suggested.

Merlin and his friends spent the rest of the train ride talking about the summer and who Merlin's attacker might be. Ron and Hermione entered the compartment as they were patrolling the train holding hands. Merlin asked Ron and Hermione if they had noticed the Slytherins doing anything strange. When he had found out that neither of them had seen anything odd, he was disappointed. As the train approached Hogsmede Station, Merlin and his friends changed into their school robes preparing to arrive at Hogwarts.

When everyone arrived at the castle, Peeves came from out of nowhere carrying a load of balloons.

"What is he doing now?" Ron asked.

"Perhaps Loony Lovegood would like some paint," Peeves chortled as he hit Luna with a balloon covering her hair with blue paint.

"You'll pay for that Peeves!" Merlin yelled. He clapped his hands causing every balloon Peeves was carrying to burst at once which totally covered Peeves with his own blue paint.

"HA! If you ever mess with Luna again..." Merlin screamed.

"That will be enough, Mr. Black," Professor McGonagall lectured as she opened the door to the Great Hall.

"You're no fun anymore!" Peeves yelled as he flew away.

Professor McGonagall led the students into the Great Hall after she cleaned Luna's hair with the scouring charm. All of the students sat at their class table waiting for the sorting to begin. Professor McGonagall led the First Year students into the Great Hall and sat an old hat on a stool. The hat sang a song.

Oh, I am the sorting hat of old.

You will go where you are told.

Will you go to Gryffindor so strong of heart?

Will you go to Ravenclaw shrewd and smart?
Will you go to Hufflepuff with all the rest?
Will you go to Slytherin who all think they're best?

I will pick where you belong.

You will know who you are as soon as I finish my song.

The sorting began as soon as everyone finished clapping. When Derrick McMillan was sorted into Gryffindor, Merlin looked dreamily at Luna.

"I wonder if I could sneak into the line and get sorted into Ravenclaw," Merlin mused.

"Professor McGonagall would never let you get away with it," Hermione replied. "Even if you could get away with it, the hat would probably put you back in Gryffindor anyway."

"Sigh! I guess I'm destined to have my heart torn between two tables," Merlin grunted as he put his hands over his eyes.

"That sounds like it hurts," Neville stated.

After Patricia Young got sorted into Hufflepuff, Professor Dumbledore started the feast. The meal featured kippers and treacle fudge. Dumbledore came to the Gryffindor table as Merlin was eating.

"Hello, Mr. Black," Dumbledore said cheerfully.

"Hello, Professor," Merlin replied.

"After I have finished giving announcements, I would like you and Mr. Longbottom to meet me in my office," Dumbledore ordered.

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