Neville Longbottom and the Boy Who Lived

Chapter 13 - Punishment

"I'm disgusted. Four students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before!" Professor McGonagall was directing her indignation at Harry and Hermione. Neville was glad not to be underneath her direct gaze. "You, Miss Granger," she went on, "I thought you had more sense. As for you Mr. Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All three of you will receive detentions."

Neville tried to interrupt. "Yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous." Neville didn't think it was fair, but it got worse. "And fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

All three students let out a gasp. "Fifty?" Harry cried.

"Fifty points each." Neville's jaw fell slack. And it looked like Hermione and Harry were trying to make it worse. At least Neville knew enough to shut up.

"Professor - please -," started Hermione.

"You can't -," began Harry.

That set Professor McGonagall off again. "Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter." Neville had never heard a teacher other than Snape address a student improperly before. "Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."

Neville was at the door and through it before the professor could change her mind. His brain raced as he hurried back to Gryffindor Tower, Harry and Hermione on his heels. It can't be real. It has to be a mistake. She's just teaching us a lesson and in the morning she will tell us differently. Yet as the three students passed the Great Hall, they noticed the Gryffindor hourglass was significantly emptier than it was only a few hours before. The reality of the punishment was just beginning to set in and Neville was unprepared for the emptiness in his stomach and the pain in his heart.

When they reached the common room, Harry grabbed Neville by the shoulder and spun him around. "What were you doing, Neville?" he demanded.

"I...I...," Neville tried to speak as the tears started down his face.

"Harry, calm down," Hermione interjected. "It's not his fault, you know. It's ours."

Neville was still trying to overcome his emotions. "I...I heard Ma...Malfoy say he was going to get you. I was trying to stop him and I wouldn't have been caught if I hadn't forgotten to jump the trick stair. Was it true? Was there really a dragon?"

"Does it really matter, Neville?" asked Harry. "Does it make any difference?"

Neville stared at Harry who in turned looked at Hermione and then back to his own feet, just like he had in front of Professor McGonagall. "Fine. Don't tell me. I understand. If you told me, I probably would have messed it up anyway. I'm sorry, Harry. I was only trying to keep you from getting in trouble." The tears were coming hard and fast now, and Neville was choking on the words. "I should have known better than to think I could've done anything to help you. I'll leave you alone now."

As Neville turned towards the staircase, he thought he saw Hermione tear up. But very quickly he fled to his dormitory. Once there, he changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed.

Neville laid awake the better part of three hours. His mind couldn't stop replaying the events of the night, and every time he relived Professor McGonagall taking the points from him, he started to sob, and wouldn't stop until he ran out of tears. He would stop crying just long enough to take a few deep breaths, and the incident would play again. Finally, he dozed into a fitful sleep.

*****

He was standing in a room. He was frozen in place, and the only thing he could move was his eyes. He saw his mother lying on a bed, and his father standing above her. Both were in their hospital gowns. He looked to the left and saw four people in dark hooded robes start towards his parents. He tried to scream a warning, but no sound came out. The four pulled wands, and shot spells at the helpless couple. He couldn't hear the screaming, but could see his mum and dad were in agony. Then the screaming stopped, and he could hear again.

Three of the people reached up and removed their hoods. One was a crotchety middle-aged woman who moved with the gracefulness of a cat. The second was a short, scruffy man who looked like he hadn't washed in ages. The third was a tall man with greasy hair and hook shaped nose. The trio approached him.

"Disgraceful" the woman said. "I would have thought you knew better." The hook-nosed man replied, "What do you expect from an idiot boy who can't even properly boil water." "Give him to me," said the shorter man. "I have detentions that will force him to learn or he will never be heard from again."

"No!" came the voice from the still-hooded fourth figure. "I will deal with him. Crucio!"

He expected something to keep the spell from hitting him, as he had always escaped before. But this time the spell struck. He was held fast, and as the spell continued to bore into him, it began to tear pieces of him away. Each part looked like a tiny "1" in red or gold. The numbers seemed to come directly from his heart; that was where he hurt the most from their loss anyway. They began to fly above him where each one was tallied onto a giant scoreboard. When the total read one hundred and fifty, he screamed, and woke up.

*****

The next three weeks tortured Neville in ways his dreams could only begin to approach. When the rest of the school had learned of the one hundred and fifty point loss given to the three Gryffindors the reaction was so harsh, Neville began to fear for his safety. Only Harry, Ron and Hermione would hold a conversation with him, and he wasn't to keen to hear anything Harry had to say anyway.

If Neville was lucky, the older Gryffindor students ignored him. If he wasn't, he would endure harsh name-calling and "accidental" bumps and shoves. On the worst occasion, four of the sixth year boys sent a string of jinxes and curses at him, preventing him from so much as crossing the room. Eventually, Percy put an end to it, but Neville could see in Percy's eyes that what he was doing was out of duty, not friendship.

Everyone left Hermione completely alone. Rumor had it she was wound so tight, the smallest provocation could set her off. And considering how formidable a student she was, no one was brave enough to see just how many years of work she had put in as she prepared to end her first year of school.

Harry had it worst of the three, however. He had become known school-wide for being both the Boy-Who-Lived and his natural Quidditch skills. What Neville received from Gryffindor, Harry received from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw as well. But possibly the most insulting thing he had to face, was the constant applause and shouts of appreciation directed at him from the Slytherin table.

Ron still hung around, though. Indeed, when Hermione was helping Neville prepare for his exams, Ron and Harry worked together. Neville no longer felt jealous when the three students whispered together at the back corner of the library. Instead, he wished he had never found out about the things they kept to themselves. It would have kept him out of trouble.

To top it all off, Neville knew more consequences still awaited him. Not only did he still have a detention to serve, but sooner or later his grandmother would find out about the entire incident. He dreaded every meal when the owls swooped down with the post. Every day he expected to see Gran's tawny owl bearing a red envelope.

*****

But Gran's owl never came. Instead, the Tuesday before exams were due to start, a school owl brought him a note.

Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall.

Professor M. McGonagall

It was worse than he'd thought. Detention with Mr. Filch? And why so late at night? Neville's mind raced with possibilities, and each and every one ended with the mangy Squib laughing while torturing the students.

He didn't know how he made it through the day, but dreading the night didn't prevent it from coming. Just before eleven, the three students made their way down to the entrance hall. There, Neville saw something that perked his spirit a small amount.

Draco Malfoy had also received a detention.

Caretaker Filch lit his lamp and bade the students to follow him out the door. As the small group walked in the direction of Hagrid's hut, the Squib continued to rant about what detentions were like in the old days, and how he was prepared to bring them back. Thinking about the old-styles of "teaching" terrified Neville and he fought back the fear, and the tears that were ready to accompany it.

The group came to a stop outside of the hut, and Hagrid came out in an apparent bad mood. The whole group was set on edge when Filch cautioned Harry about enjoying himself. "It's into the forest you're going," he said, "and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."

At the thought of going into the forest, Neville gave an involuntary yelp and hid behind Harry. And he wasn't the only one who was uneasy. "The forest?" Malfoy started, unable to hide the terror in his voice. "We can't go in there at night - there's all sorts of things in there - werewolves, I heard." At the word 'werewolves', Neville grabbed hold of Harry's arm.

As the group closed the remaining few steps to Hagrid, Filch continued to bask in the students' fear. And when Hagrid tried to ease their concerns, Filch broke in again. "I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid. They're here to be punished, after all."

Hagrid was upset at the caretaker but kept his anger carefully reigned in. "That's why you're late, is it? Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."

Filch couldn't resist a parting shot. "I'll be back at dawn for what's left of them." Neville was so scared he hardly registered Malfoy challenging Hagrid, and the journey into the forest. But when Hagrid had all the students follow him down the path to the edge of the dark forest, Neville paid attention.

"Look there," Hagrid pointed to a discoloration on the forest floor. "See that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday." Neville could feel the goose bumps rise across his flesh. "We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

Malfoy asked the question the rest of the students were thinking. "And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?"

Hagrid tried his best to comfort the four students. "There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang. An' keep ter the path." He then detailed his plan, which scared the students even more. "Right, now, we're gonna to split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've been staggerin' around since last night at least."

"I want Fang," said Malfoy. It was clear the young Slytherin didn't want to go with Hagrid, and figured the boarhound offered the best protection.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward." Neville had to bite back a snicker at Hagrid's comment. But as Hagrid continued, Neville's laughter quickly evaporated. "So me, Harry, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right?" Draco nodded as if the green sparks for success was a given. "Get yer wands out an' practice now." After several efforts Neville was able to produce the sparks. "That's it - an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an'we'll all come an' find yeh - so, be careful - let's go."

Neville looked at Harry and Hermione as the groundskeeper-led party started down the left path. "What are you waiting for, Squib?" Malfoy sneered. Neville ignored him and motioned for Fang to start down the path, Neville a step behind, with Malfoy trailing. "I can't believe I got stuck doing this with you, Longbottom. Not that Potter would be any better. Why couldn't I have got Granger?"

"Why," Neville asked. "What do you want with Hermione?"

"I wanted to find out about her family. I don't recall seeing any Grangers in the bloodline. Obviously a witch of her talent has to be pureblood. I was interested in where her family was from. It could be America, I suppose, or maybe from the Mediterranean."

"She's from London, and her parents are dentists. Are you happy, now?"

"Dentists? Are you telling me she's a Mudblood?" Draco asked incredulously. "Bloody hell. There's no way a Mudblood has that kind of talent."

Neville exploded. "Stop calling her that! She may be Muggle-born, but if I'm worth twelve of you, she's worth twelve-hundred!"

Malfoy was caught mid-chuckle. "I get it. You like her. Longbottom likes Granger." Malfoy's laughs echoed down the path. "What would your family think if they found out that pureblood Longbottom was in love with a Mudblood?"

Neville turned beet red. "I'm not in love with her. She's my friend. And if you call her that name again, I'll break your nose like I broke Goyle's."

After a couple of deep breaths, Malfoy's laughter subsided. "Fine, fine. I'll lay off your little girlfriend for the moment. But don't think this is over. This is too rich."

As Neville turned his attention to Fang, the boarhound broke into a trot. Neville raced after the dog who stopped, looked around at the trees, and turned back to the students. "I wonder if he smells a werewolf," Malfoy said.

Neville tried to ignore the Slytherin. He walked up to Fang, gave the dog a couple quick pats on the head, and the boarhound started up again. After another couple of moments of silence, Neville tried to ask a question. "How do you know there are werewolves in the forest?"

No answer came from behind the Gryffindor. Neville spun quickly around, only to realize he had lost Malfoy. "Fang! Stay put!" Neville cried and he backtracked along the path a few feet. Fang looked at the boy with curiosity but obeyed. Neville continued a few more feet.

Without warning, Neville heard a growling sound as the underbrush seemed to grab him from behind. Neville fought to get out of the grasp of the plant and immediately sent not only red sparks flying in the air, but actual cinders which landed on the moist forest floor and began to smolder. "Werewolf, werewolf!" Neville cried as he tried to get away from the ambush. That's when the laughter started again.

"Longbottom, that was the funniest thing I've seen since your first flying lesson," Malfoy said. "What, no Gryffindor courage? I tell you..." Suddenly, the brush in front of the two students began to shake, and Neville sent up more red sparks. "Werewolf!" Draco screamed as an extremely large creature emerged from the undergrowth.

"Now, what's with yer makin' all this fuss?" It was Hagrid. Neville recognized the groundskeeper and let out a sigh of relief.

"It was him, Hagrid," Neville said. "He thought it would be funny if he made it seem like he'd gone missing, and when I went to look for him, he pretended he was a monster and grabbed me."

Malfoy was furious. "It. Was. A. Joke. Merlin, Longbottom, I was just fooling around."

Now it was Hagrid's turn to be angry. "D'ya think we're all out 'ere for a laugh? This is serious. Yer on detention and that means no funny business. Now I'm gonna have to change these groups. Come wi' me."

Very quickly the two groups were joined together, and Hagrid explained what had happened. Neville was very glad to see both Harry and Hermione shooting daggers from their eyes at Malfoy. The groups were changed with Neville and Hermione continuing with Hagrid, and Harry joining Draco and Fang. The two parties separated once more.

Neville's new trio set out again in silence. Hermione alternated watching the trail of blood before them, and stealing guilty glances at Neville. Finally, the suspense got the better of her. "Are you really all right, Neville?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Malfoy was going on and on about werewolves. With that on my mind I suppose I was an easy target for his prank."

"We were so worried about you. Both Harry and I blame ourselves for your being here. If we hadn't sneaked out, you never would have tried to save us. If something had happened to you, we never would have forgiven ourselves."

"S'not really yer fault either Hermione," Hagrid interrupted. "I should've taken responsibility for you and Harry. After all, you were 'elpin' me with wut I got into with the dragon and all."

Neville's eyes went wide. "So there really was a dragon?"

"Yes. A Norwegian Ridgeback Hagrid named Norbert," Hermione answered.

Hagrid sniffed. "Charlie says 'e's all right, but I know 'e misses 'is mummy. Poor Norbert."

Neville didn't know whether to console Hagrid or fall down laughing. It was both very funny, and extremely touching all at the same time. Neville thought it best to change the subject. "So, did you find anything before my screaming?"

"Not really," Hermione said. "We came across a centaur who made a strange remark about Mars. Supposedly centaurs have a talent for divination. I think it's a highly suspect form of magic."

"But how do you know about it? My Great-Uncle Algie says we don't start Divination until electives in third year."

"Well, all of the teachers are listed in Hogwarts, A History, including Professor Trelawney, the current Divination teacher. Divination is the least precise of the disciplines. Unlike potion-brewing which demands concentration and precision, and wand work which requires coordination and a clear voice, Divination normally requires interpretation of other elements. So even the best diviners use a combination of intelligence and intuition, and the degree of success will always vary from both person to person and element to element."

That made sense to Neville. But he also stored away the knowledge that Divination didn't require coordination and precision. That gave him hope he could do it.

The search party reached the end of the trail and began to head back. About ten minutes into the return trip, they noticed red sparks shooting along the path well in front of them. Hagrid broke into a run, Neville and Hermione doing their best to keep the large man in sight. They could hear Fang barking, and as they caught up with the dog, the form of a student became visible down the path. Only one student.

"It's after us," cried Malfoy. "It was drinking the unicorn's blood and it started to crawl towards us like a creature stalking its prey. The last I heard was Potter screaming about his scar. I didn't dare to look behind or it might have caught me too."

"Yeh mean yeh just left 'im there by 'imself?" Hagrid queried. "Yeh damn fool! If 'arry is dead it'll be yer fault, yeh bloody coward!"

Neville and Hermione began to panic, but Hagrid motioned them to quickly follow, and Malfoy, at this point afraid to be left alone, followed as well. The group raced down the path, all the time fearing for the safety of The-Boy-Who-Lived.

The entire party breathed a sigh of relief as the centaur came into view, bearing Harry Potter on his back. "Bloody 'ell," Hagrid said under his breath as Hermione ran towards the odd couple. "Harry! Harry, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," said a bewildered Harry. "The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."

Firenze the centaur said his goodbyes as Harry rejoined his classmates and the groundskeeper. The entire group counted themselves fortunate as they made their way back to the castle in silence. As they reached the castle, Malfoy bolted for the dungeons without a word or a glance.

Upon reaching the common room, Neville left Harry and Hermione to fill in Ron on the night's adventures and climbed the stairs to the dormitory. Hermione had told him how she and Harry were upset for what they had done, and Hagrid had also owned up to his role.

Now it was his turn.