Resistance

Chapter 5 - The Sword of Gryffindor

The portrait idea worked better than the DA had dared hope. Within a couple of days, virtually every portrait in the Castle could be seen brandishing a pennant flag with a look of cheerful insubordination. Neville realised that for many, this was the most exciting that had happened in their 'lives'. Rather than merely watching events unfold before them, they were able to participate.

It wasn't long before the students started noticing and remarking. The mood in the Castle became perceptibly more cheerful and excited as students whispered and giggled. Some took to touring the building looking for the flags. Meanwhile the portraits seemed to be having a private competition to see who could find the most inventive placement for the pennants. Soon there were little flags sticking out of vases of flowers, laying in fruit bowls, hanging from the topmost branches of trees, and even atop a painted version of Hogwarts Castle. Sir Cadogan wore one in his helmet in place of a plume and charged from painting to painting yelling out pro-Potter slogans.

Snape was furious, and the students endured a fifteen minute long dressing down on the subject of 'besmirching the venerable antiquity of the school'. However there didn't seem to be much he could do about it. He sent out some of the Slytherin Headmaster portraits to try and collect the flags, but the pennants kept popping up again in unexpected places. The portraits became adept at hiding them and then bringing them back out to wave as soon as Snape's back was turned. Paints were added to the list of banned items, and Dumbledore's Army was also officially banned. But thanks to the Galleons, the Room of Requirement, and everyone's silence, the group was still able to meet up.

The Carrows were increasingly unpopular with the students. Even some of the Slytherins who'd initially been in favour of them, changed their mind as they discovered the Carrows enjoyed giving out harsh punishments too much to spare their old house. Detention, never exactly popular, had become something that was feared. All detentions were held with the Carrows, who didn't seem to mind giving up every evening to supervise wrong-doing students. Most students returned bearing injuries of one kind or another.

They met up with George again in the Hog's Head to share news. There had been no further signs of Harry although George reported that the Order had managed to help several Muggleborns out of the country. 'Not that they have a great time once they hit France; there are massive refugee camps on the borders and conditions aren't good, but at least they're not about to get killed.'

One Saturday Ginny, Luna and Neville headed down to visit Hagrid. They had an ulterior motive - Hagrid possessed a radio, the only one they could access since the ban, and there was a Potterwatch broadcast due. The gamekeeper was pleased to see them. 'It's meh two favourite NEWT students!' he beamed, welcoming Ginny and Luna in. 'An' Neville! 'Ow yeh keepin' Neville?'

The Potterwatch didn't contain much information, but it was good to hear the voices of Fred, George, Kingsley and Lee Jordan. When the broadcast was replaced by static, Hagrid brushed tears out of his beard. 'They never said nothin' about our 'Arry, nor Ron and 'Ermione,' he rumbled. 'Oh, I do 'ope they're safe!'

Neville could see Ginny wasn't coping well with this line of conversation, so quickly said, 'I'd love to see the baby unicorns you've been helping with. Would I be allowed to see them, Hagrid?'

'Oh yes!' exclaimed Luna. 'Do let us show Neville, Hagrid! They're growing so well, little Peverell is nearly up to my waist now!'

'Peverell?' asked Neville. 'Isn't that out of a children's story?' He had a vague recollection of his Gran reading it to him as child, usually finished off by declaring what utter nonsense the whole thing was.

'It's from the Tale of the Three Brothers,' explained Luna. 'I always liked the name.'

It was a beautiful day, probably one of the last sunny days of the year, and although it was cold the trees looked splendid with their red gold leaves. Lots of students had headed into the grounds to make the most of the good weather, and to avoid the oppressive gloom that seemed to have settled over the Castle.

Hagrid seemed brighter as he led them to the edge of the Forest, where the unicorns lived in a quiet glade. 'It's a righ' shame you never took Care of Magical Creatures for NEWT Neville, Luna an' Ginny have been havin' a great time, ain't yeh?' Ginny nodded, trying not to look surprised. 'Course, I wish 'Arry had carried on with it.' The big man's face darkened. 'He'd 'ave loved to see these baby unicorns, always had a soft spot for animals did our 'Arry.'

'When the war's over he can come and see them then, Hagrid,' said Neville. He blushed as soon as the words were out. He was so used to sticking strongly to this line with the students, but it felt a bit odd with a teacher - even if the teacher was Hagrid.

To his great alarm, Hagrid clapped him on the back, sending him flying a good five feet forwards. 'Yeh right, Neville, course yeh are! Wha' a loyal friend yeh are, 'Arry'd be so glad if he could hear yeh!' The huge man removed a handkerchief the size of a tea towel from one of his pockets and dabbed his eyes. 'If only I knew where 'e were!' he sobbed. 'Out there somewhere, and Ron and 'Ermione too! All on their own! And everyone out to get them!'

Fortunately they had reached the glade, and Neville interrupted Hagrid's wailing by exclaiming loudly over the babies. They were very appealing, with jet black coats and tiny stumpy horns. Their mothers were so white they seemed almost blue, glowing even in the shady Forest.

Ginny also seemed relieved to have something to break Hagrid's monologue. 'This one's the one I've been looking after, I've called her Hedwig.' She indicated one of the foals. 'Like Harry's owl,' she added more softly. 'He loved Hedwig, so I thought he'd quite like the idea of the name living on.'

The two little unicorns tottered over, watched closely by their mothers. They were reluctant to approach Neville at first, but eventually the bigger of the two, Peverell, allowed Neville to stroke his fuzzy neck.

They spent a happy half hour, petting the unicorns and talking about happier times. Hagrid invited them back to his hut for tea, and left them to put the kettle on. Neville felt truly relaxed for the first time in weeks. The trees blocked out the Castle from view, and he could almost believe he was in another world, insulated from the all the pain and responsibility of the real one. At least until a figure emerged from the trees, beaming round at the little group.

'Hello Neville! Hi Ginny, hi Luna!' It was Colin Creevey, armed as always with his huge camera. Neville looked instinctively to Colin's side and sure enough, there was Dennis, staring entranced at the unicorn foals.

'Hi Colin, hi Dennis,' he replied, feeling the peace and serenity melt away like a dream. 'What are you doing?'

'We were taking some pictures and Hagrid said you were here. Are those unicorn foals? They're amazing! Do you think they'd let me touch them? Hey, Neville, have you heard anything from Harry? I heard that he's playing in the Bulgarian Quidditch league in disguise! I've looked at some pictures of their Seekers and I reckon he's probably Andrei Polovsky!' Dennis bubbled with enthusiasm, whilst Colin smiled indulgently and fiddled with his camera.

Neville felt as he always did when faced by the Creeveys, exhausted. On the other hand, there was something gratifying about them. They were so darn excited about everything in the world. Even four and six years of Hogwarts hadn't yet knocked out their sense of wonder at being wizards.

Colin was already busy with his camera again. 'Can I take a picture of you all?' he asked eagerly. 'I can give you a copy to keep! And I'll send one to my Dad, he'd love to see real unicorns! Muggles think they're made-up!'

Before Neville, who hated having his picture taken, could protest, Luna had thrown an arm around his shoulders and drawn him into a picture with Ginny and the two foals. He managed to grin awkwardly.

Colin and Dennis managed to get a touch of the unicorns, before the mothers started pawing the ground. 'They're getting restless, they don't like all the people. We ought to go back to Hagrid's,' said Luna regretfully.

They all piled into Hagrid's hut, where the gamekeeper handed round huge chipped mugs of tea and put out a plate of cakes that looked like pebbles. He hit it off straight away with Colin. The two found they had a topic of conversation in common; Harry. At one point Ginny muttered to Neville, 'It's like the first meeting of the Harry Potter fanclub. They ought to invite Dobby.'

'Course, it was me who took him to his Aunt and Uncle's, after that awful night - tiny little thing, he were, didn't look like nothing special. But I knew, even as a baby, there were something about him - some hidden power. Just to think, it were nearly sixteen years ago!' Hagrid's eyes were misty as he reminisced.

'Of course, the anniversary is on Halloween,' said Ginny, her face brightening. 'Hey, Nev, I've got an idea. Why don't we hijack the Halloween celebrations - make it a celebration of the sixteenth anniversary of Harry's defeat of You-Know-Who?'

Everyone agreed enthusiastically with that idea. Halloween was the most important event in the school calendar and Snape was bound to use it as a chance to show off. 'Actually, now yeh mention it, Snape were goin' on about it at the last staff meeting,' said Hagrid, leaning forward eagerly and getting his beard in his tea. 'He's invited some bigwigs to the school - Minister of Magic, load o' Death Eaters - for the feast.'

'Even better!' Ginny's face was glowing, though that may have been from the clammy atmosphere in the cramped hut. 'This is a chance to really show them we mean business. Luna, d'you reckon we could cast a spell strong enough to change the decoration in the hall?'

Luna considered carefully. 'Not alone, but if a few of us got together we could. Snape might just change them back of course.'

'He can do what he likes to them - once everyone's seen them, he can't make them unsee it!'

'Unless he Obliviates them all,' suggested Luna.

'Come on!' Ginny had jumped to her feet. 'Let's see if we can track down Anthony and Michael, start working on it!'

Neville and Luna also got up to leave. Hagrid had got out his photo album to show the Creeveys and as he opened the first page Neville caught sight of a picture of Harry, Ron and Hermione, in the first year, looking ridiculously young and babyish. His stomach clenched around the mouthful of rock cake he'd managed to force down, and he hustled Ginny out before she could see it. Fortunately Colin and Dennis' craning necks obliterated it from view.

The cold air hit them like a fist as they left the overheated hut, saying goodbye to Hagrid and the Creeveys, who looked like they'd quite happily spend the rest of the day poring over pictures of Harry. They made their way back to the castle, with Ginny chatting nineteen to the dozen about her plans for Halloween. Neville hung back slightly, not wanting to spoil Ginny's good mood. The picture of his three friends, smiling and waving from the picture, had stuck at the front of his mind. Would he ever see them again?

*****

Preparations for the Halloween feast were started two days before the day itself. Filch was seen buffing up the suits of armour in the Entrance Hall, and in the Great Hall elaborate decorations were being charmed into place by Professor Flitwick. Amidst all the bustle Snape prowled around like an extremely smug bat, glowering at everyone and barking orders.

The DA also prepared, communicating via the coins. The Galleons were good but only worked in one direction, which was a pain when the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs needed to get a message back to Neville. To get around this, Luna had managed to set up a Sickle and Knut which could pass messages in the same way, to copies kept by Neville. They agreed a simple code of one number per letter of the alphabet, and they soon got good at communicating what they wanted in short simple words.

The Ravenclaws took the lead in setting up the spells. Neville felt a glow of anticipation which carried him through the miserable Dark Arts and Muggle Studies classes. At breakfast on the day before Halloween, Snape announced that the meal would be dress robes only, causing a groan from the boys and a lot of excited whispering in the girls.

'I don't think mine even fit any more,' grumbled Seamus, as they made their way to their first lesson. 'I'll have to see if someone's any good at Extending charms.'

In the event, Neville and Seamus spent most of the time between the last lesson and the start of the feast, trying to charm Seamus' dress robes into a bigger size. They met with mixed success. 'Dean would've been great at doing this,' said Seamus morosely, as he sat in his underpants reviewing his robes. They had managed to increase the amount of material, but it was thinner and paler in colour, making it look as though he had chiffon cuffs. 'Oh well, they'll have to do.'

Neville had had new robes for Dumbledore's funeral, so his fitted quite well. If anything he'd lost weight since then, with all the training he'd been doing. They joined the girls in the Common Room. 'I can't believe you took longer to get ready than we did!' exclaimed Lavender, who looked pretty in a pale blue gown. Her face had disappeared under a thick layer of make-up. 'It's not even like you've got much to show for it.'

'Wow, thanks Lavender, we feel so much better to hear you say that,' snapped Seamus, who was still in a bad mood from his ill-fitting robes and being reminded of Dean's absence.

However all of them cheered up a bit at the sight of the Great Hall - it was decked out even more splendidly than at any time in their Hogwarts lives. Pumpkin lanterns floated above their heads, whilst animated skeletons walked jerkily amongst the students bearing trays of drinks. The hall was bedecked in the colours of the Founders, with the big banners animated. There was even a half decent band set up in the back corner, playing what Neville thought of as background music.

'You've got to admit, it's pretty impressive,' said Lavender happily, looking around.

'Nothing Snape does is good,' replied Ginny flatly. She looked very pretty as always, but her sullen expression spoiled the effect.

'Never mind, it'll be different soon,' whispered Neville, linking arms with her. 'Look, there's Luna!'

It was hard to miss her. She was wearing robes of brightest red, with a traditional pointed hat to match, with what appeared to be live bats hanging upside down from each earlobe. She came over to greet them, apparently oblivious to the sniggers and startled looks that followed in her wake. 'Hello Ginny, Hello Neville. You look nice.'

'So do you,' said Ginny, without missing a beat.

'Well, I was going to wear silver but then I just had a feeling that red was a better option, to reflect the strength of Mars. Professor Sinistra says he's never seen it so bright.' She leaned in closer to Neville. 'It's all ready. Four of us are going to actually cast it, me and Anthony on Ravenclaw, Ernie and Susan on Hufflepuff. We're going to sit at opposite ends of the tables.'

'What about Gryffindor? Why can't I do it?' Ginny's eyes were bright and dangerous.

'Because they'll suspect you and Neville,' replied Luna calmly.

'I don't care if they catch me,' said Ginny hotly.

'Well, we do,' responded Luna, turning slightly away from Ginny as if to signal the conversation was over. 'Actually, I'd better get going - we don't want them to see us together too much. I'll see you later.'

'Good luck,' Neville managed to say before Luna was swallowed up by the crowd.

'I can't believe they've cut us out,' muttered Ginny. 'What's Luna thinking? It's me that' s Harry's girlfriend, me that's got a brother and a best friend missing-'

'I thought Luna was your best friend,' said Neville rather coldly, feeling a bit fed up of Ginny's constantly precarious mood.

At that moment Snape rose to his feet and announced it was time for students to take their seats. Ginny glared at a man with long black hair and a pointy beard who was sitting to Snape's right. 'That's Pius Thicknesse,' she whispered to Neville, perhaps to try and make up.

Snape raised his hands for silence. 'Welcome to the Hogwarts' Halloween feast. Today, I am extremely honoured to welcome some very important guests into our midst. I am sure that he needs no introduction, but we are joined today by Pius Thicknesse, Minister for Magic.' There was a smattering of rather unenthusiastic applause. Some of the teachers were staring at Snape and Thicknesse with barely concealed dislike on their faces. 'Perhaps the Minister would be good enough to say a few words?'

Thicknesse rose to his feet, somewhat unsteadily. His face had a frozen, confused appearance. 'Imperius'd,' whispered Ginny again.

'Thank you to Professor Snape for inviting me to your feast.' He spoke in an odd, stop-start way, as though each sentence had to be translated from a foreign language before he could utter it. 'Hogwarts is very dear to the Ministry. Nothing can be more important than the education of the next generation of wizards. You are the country's future!' He sat down abruptly, looking relieved. There was some even less enthusiastic applause, and Snape got back to his feet, glowing smugly.

'Inspiring words, Minister,' he fawned, before launching into his own interminable speech. The students shifted in boredom as Snape listed the many triumphs of Thicknesse's Ministry and banged on about how Britain was a stronger nation for having rid itself of Muggleborns. Ginny and Neville gave up even on pulling faces at each other, and joined the rest of the school in slumping dazed over their empty plates. They were so stultified that it took a couple of moments for everyone to realise Snape had finally said, 'And now, let the feast begin!'

Something changed in the air. In the same instant as the platters filled with an array of mouthwatering food, there was a shimmering and a shifting. The banners bearing the house emblems changed to bear a familiar face, with untidy black hair, round glasses and a lightning bolt scar. Every banner bore the words, 'Celebrating sixteen years since Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord!'

A gasp rustled round the hall, and Snape jumped to his feet again, this time looking angry and flustered. 'Silence! Silence!' he roared again. He waved his wand, then tried a second time, muttering a spell out loud. Finally the pictures of Harry disappeared, to be replaced by the snake, badger, lion and eagle once more. Neville felt a glow of pride in his fellow DA members that their spell had held even that long.

Snape was looking around at his charges with an expression of utter hatred. 'No doubt that last contribution was from our resident troublemakers. How very touching that you still persist in supporting a boy who fled this school on suspicion of killing my predecessor and hasn't been seen since. However, the educator in me must point out the flaw in your assertion. Harry Potter did not defeat the Dark Lord sixteen years ago. The Dark Lord, in case you weren't aware, is alive and well. Which is more than any of us can say for Harry Potter.' He spat the name with such contempt that Neville's hands curled into fists. 'If I track down the perpetrators of this, I will ensure they learn the meaning of the word 'defeat'.' He glowered round at the students, and then sat down very slowly.

After a moment, some nervous whispering resumed, and everyone turned their attention to the feast. Neville had no appetite. The last thing he needed was the whole school being reminded of Harry's absence and Voldemort's presence. He caught Ginny's eye and she pulled a face, he wasn't sure what it was meant to mean. Gloomily, he helped himself to some roast potatoes, but was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.

Amycus Carrow was standing over him. 'Follow me Longbottom,' he muttered. 'Come quiet or else.'

Neville rose to his feet and followed Carrow out of the Great Hall, feeling the eyes of every student on him as he left. The band played louder. Snape was obviously trying to move on from the incident with minimum fuss. Outside the Hall, Carrow pushed him hard against the wall, knocking the breath from him. 'Think you're clever, don't you, with your Dumbledore's Army? Silly boy.' He snatched Neville's wand from his robe pocket. 'Quick, Alecto, w'as that spell tells you what spell a wand done last?'

'That will be Prior Incantato,' said another voice, sharp and Scottish. Neville's heart leapt. McGonagall!

'Oh yer, I knew that,' muttered Carrow looking at Neville's wand as though he'd never seen one before.

'Perhaps you require my assistance, Professor Carrow?' asked McGonagall icily.

'Perhaps you should get back to the feast, you-' began Carrow, but his sister cut him off.

'If you wouldn't mind doing the spell for us, Minerva,' she said in a sickly tone, with a simper that was probably meant to be friendly.

McGonagall looked him in the eye, a hard, steely look. She raised her own wand and tapped Neville's, saying, 'Prior Incantato!' A ghostly grey shape rose from the wand, of something stretching out. The Carrows looked bemused. 'Extending charm,' said McGonagall. 'Performed multiple times.'

'Wa's that mean then?' asked Amycus. 'Weren't an extending charm caused them banners to change!'

'Precisely, Professor. Which suggests the spell that changed the banners was not performed by Longbottom.'

Carrow spluttered. Finally he managed, 'That don' explain why he were doing Extending charms!'

Before Neville could answer, McGonagall cut in. 'In that case, you haven't been teaching teenage boys for as long as I have.'

'If he didn't do it, then who did?' demanded Alecto.

'I have no idea, Professor. Unless you intend to drag every student out here to check their wands, which I don't think Severus would be very pleased about. He's trying to make a good impression for the Minister, after all. Since Longbottom doesn't appear to be guilty of any wrongdoing, perhaps we should all return to the feast.' She took a step towards the doors, indicating for Neville to walk in front of her.

He returned to his place at the Gryffindor table, and relayed what had happened to Seamus, Ginny, and the other girls. When he got to the bit about the extending charms, he went rather red, and Ginny laughed out loud. 'McGonagall's brilliant!' she exclaimed.

'We were charming Seamus' robes,' Neville added to explain, and Seamus held up his poorly extended cuffs as evidence.

Once the feast was over, the band played louder and the tables were cleared away to allow for dancing. Neville was reminded painfully of the last time he'd been at a Ball, back in the fourth year. If he closed his eyes, he could imagine Harry sitting at the High Table as one of the four champions, looking awkward, and Hermione on the arm of Viktor Krum. Ginny was obviously thinking along the same lines because she put her hand on his arm and said, 'Remember the Yule Ball?'

He smiled nostalgically. 'Yeah, I was just thinking of it myself. Seems like a really long time ago now.'

She nodded. 'Who'd have thought then we'd have ended up here now. Harry, Ron and Hermione gone, Snape in charge-' she shuddered, then pulled a determinedly cheerful look back to her face. 'Still, we had fun that night, didn't we?'

'Yeah, we did. Once I'd got the hang of not stepping on your toes.' He smiled at the memory of the gawky, awkward boy he'd been then - even more so than he still was.

'That was partly my fault, I was too busy trying to see what Harry was doing to pay attention. When he pushed off I relaxed a lot more.' She suddenly looked aghast at what she'd said. 'I don't mean I wanted him to be gone...' she added quickly.

'I understood what you meant, Gin. Back then you used to go completely strange every time he was in the room. You grew out of it though. We had fun that evening, anyway. Those tasks were mad though. Harry flying round that dragon is something I'll remember for a long time. He was awesome!'

'D'you remember Fred and George going over the age line and growing beards!' asked Ginny, her face becoming animated as she remembered.

'Who could forget? Or Hermione knitting stuff for the house elves, her organisation for freeing them. What was it she called it?'

'SPEW! I think I've still got a badge somewhere. She was so earnest about the whole thing,' Ginny's voice trailed off. 'You know, sometimes I think I miss Hermione even more than the boys. We used to talk a lot; I never had a girl to talk to growing up. Hermione was my first real female friend, before I got to know Luna.'

'Talking of Luna, where is she?' Neville looked around, but it didn't take much to see Luna, whose bright red outfit stood out like a tomato in a cabbage patch. She was dancing, alone and uninhibited, waving her arms around slightly out of time with the music. A little space was clear around her and several people were laughing.

Ginny grabbed Neville's hand and dragged him to his feet before he had a chance to protest. 'Come on, let's join her,' she said, hauling him across the floor. Luna's face lit up when she saw them, and she moved to include them in her bizarre dance. Neville felt hopelessly self-conscious, but managed to join in half-heartedly. He wasn't helped by Colin Creevey taking photographs from the sidelines.

As early as possible, he left the girls to it, and rejoined Seamus at the edge of the dancefloor. Ginny and Luna continued, Ginny relaxed now and laughing. As he watched, Ginny caught her friend's hand and spun under her arm, before Luna did the same. For a few minutes, they both looked so happy and carefree.

After a while, the girls returned, out of breath and red faced. 'Get us a butterbeer, Seamus,' asked Ginny, throwing herself down next to Neville.

'It's been such fun,' said Luna, her voice brighter and less dreamy than usual. Her cheeks were red from exertion, and clashed with her bright red robes. The little bats were still clinging to her earlobes. 'What happened when you left the hall Neville?'

He briefly explained what had happened again. 'But you ought to do some other spells Luna, just in case they do decide to check,' he added.

'Look at Snape, fawning all over the Minister,' said Ginny, looking resentfully at the High Table. 'It would have worked just fine if he hadn't come out with all that crap. And I don't know how he's got the nerve to imply that Harry killed Dumbledore.'

'I wish Dumbledore was still alive,' said Neville sadly, following Ginny's gaze to where Snape sat in the Headmaster's chair, flanked by the Carrows and Pius Thicknesse. 'He'd know what to do.'

Suddenly, Ginny grabbed his arm. 'Neville! That's a brilliant idea!'

'What is?' he asked, baffled.

'Dumbledore would know what to do, you're right. All we'd have to do is ask him!'

'Yes, but Ginny, he's dead,' he pointed out.

'I know that, but it doesn't matter. Every Headmaster has his or her portrait on the wall in the Headmaster's office. All we have to do is get into Snape's office, and we can talk to Dumbledore, ask his advice. We are his Army, after all,' she added in a lower voice.

'All we have to do is get into his office?'

'It can't be that hard - Harry was in and out of it all the time. It's guarded by a gargoyle, I know that much, and I bet it doesn't like Snape any more than we do. Come on, let's go now!' She actually got to her feet.

'But... Ginny,' he began to protest.

'There'll never be a better time than now, Snape is busy schmoozing the Minister, he won't be back for ages. Everyone else is busy too. It's ideal. Come on!'

'Where are we going?' asked Luna vaguely, who'd apparently been in a daydream during most of the conversation.

'To Snape's office,' said Ginny. Luna merely smiled and got up obediently, as though it was perfectly normal for them to sneak into the Headmaster's office.

Sensing he was outnumbered, and beginning to think it wasn't such a bad idea - and certainly better than dancing - Neville also got up and followed the girls out of the Hall. Ginny led them around the back, so they were hidden amongst the crowds of students. Outside in the Entrance Hall it was chilly and seemed very dark and quiet.

They made their way quickly to the entrance to the Headmaster's office. No one was around to stop them, everybody was still enjoying the Halloween celebrations. The gargoyle stood at the foot of the staircase, eyeing them suspiciously. 'Yes?' it asked, in a raspy stone voice.

'We're here to speak to Dumbledore,' said Neville, and to his utter amazement, the gargoyle slid aside at the last word. 'Er... thank you,' he said, passing quickly before it changed his mind.

The three climbed the stairs together, glancing around nervously as though expecting Snape and the Carrows to jump out at any moment. 'I can't believe we're doing this!' whispered Ginny at one point.

At the top of the staircase was a big polished oak door. Tentatively, Neville pushed against it, and it opened into the most incredible room he'd ever seen, full of magical devices. Snape seemed to have stamped very little of his personality onto it; at least, there didn't seem to be anything slimy in jars. The walls were covered in portraits of elderly witches and wizards, in various versions of old fashioned clothing. Most were snoozing, but several eyed him suspiciously.

'Where's Dumbledore?' he whispered to Ginny, looking around. There were wizards of every shape and size, but nowhere was the familiar face of Albus Dumbledore. Some of the frames were empty. 'D'you think he might have gone somewhere else?' he asked Ginny, still in a whisper.

'Maybe they haven't painted him yet,' said Ginny, sounding disappointed. 'I suppose he died really unexpectedly.'

A querulous voice interrupted them. 'I take it you are looking for Albus Dumbledore?'

'Yes, sir,' said Neville, looking round and finally finding the portrait responsible. It was a thin wizard with a little black beard, dressed in green robes. 'Does he have a portrait here?'

'Oh yes,' said the portrait wizard, 'not that he deigns us with his presence very often. Dumbledore has portraits everywhere. He graces us with his presence but occasionally.'

'You mean he's not here?' Neville's heart sank.

The portrait gave an exasperated sigh. 'Isn't that what I just said? Goodness, you students just seem to get more stupid as time goes on.'

'Hello Phineas,' said Ginny, surprising Neville.

'You know this... man?' he asked, at the same time as the portrait snapped, 'That's Professor Black to you!'

'His other portrait hangs in a house I used to know,' said Ginny. 'He goes between the two. I suppose we should have thought of that, Dumbledore having more than one picture.'

'You'd think with everything that's going on here he might stick around a bit!' said Neville hotly.

Ginny shrugged. 'Maybe that's why he's not here - perhaps he can't bear it. There's nothing he can do, is there? He's just a painting.'

'Just a painting!?' Phineas Nigellus looked outraged at this.

'Neville! Ginny! Come and look at this!' Luna's voice came from the left of the office. They turned to see her standing in front of a glass cabinet, in which the sword of Gryffindor stood, the ruby encrusted hilt glinting in the candlelight.

'Gryffindor's sword!' said Ginny. 'Harry used this to defeat the basilisk, in the Chamber of Secrets. He pulled it out of the Sorting Hat... I was unconscious at the time, but that's what he said.'

'Goblin made,' said Luna approvingly. 'With a sword like that, you could defeat any number of Snapes and Carrows.'

Ginny's eyes had lit up again. 'Let's steal it!' she said, eagerly.

'Steal it?' repeated Neville, increasingly alarmed by how fast they'd moved from breaking and entering to theft.

'Yes, why not? It's the sword of Gryffindor - what right does Snape have to it? He's a Slytherin. We've got more right to it than he has; in fact, he's the one who's stolen it. He must have taken it from Dumbledore.' Ginny was examining the glass case as she spoke.

'Theft from a Hogwarts Headmaster? Unthinkable!' exclaimed Phineas from the wall behind them, and Neville couldn't help but agree.

'What are we going to do with it once we've got it?' he asked reasonably, as both girls puzzled over the cabinet.

'Put it in the Common Rroom. It's a symbol, isn't it? Not just of Gryffindor, but of Harry - it's Harry's sword more than anyone's now. It'll give people hope, remind people of how Harry saved me from the Chamber of Secrets, saved the whole school from being shut down. No one else could, not even Dumbledore.' Ginny was trying to prise the lid off with her fingers. Luna meanwhile, was holding out her wand thoughtfully. 'Alohomora!' she whispered, but the case stayed firmly shut. She shrugged. 'It was worth a try.'

Ignoring the protests of Phineas Nigellus, all three tried everything they could think of to open the case. Luna ran through an impressive gamut of unlocking charms, and Ginny and Neville covered the case with smears and fingerprints as they tried to find a place to open it. Eventually, all three stood back wearily, looking at the still intact case. 'I suppose... we could just smash it?' said Ginny doubtfully, then before Neville could stop her, she reached for a paper weight in the shape of doxy and hurled it at the case.

The glass shattered inwards with a crunch followed by a tinkling sound. They all stood and stared for a minute, then Ginny used the paperweight to break it down some more. Shards of glass glinted brightly on the carpet as Ginny leant forward and carefully removed the sword. It was very large and looked rather out of place in Ginny's hand.

None of them knew what to do for a moment, but the sound of the smashing glass had woken some of the dozing portraits, who were tutting disapprovingly. 'I think we need to get out of here,' said Neville.

'We need to disguise the sword somehow - we can't just walk through the castle with it.' Ginny looked around for inspiration. 'Luna, quick, take your hat off and shove the sword into it. If you hold against your body and we sort of gather round, hopefully it will just look like you're carrying your hat.'

Luna complied, although it didn't work very well. No matter how carefully they stood, it looked odd and the eye would soon be drawn to the scabbard. 'Come on, we'd better go now, let's just hope no one sees us.'

The three left the office, pushing the door shut, and began their cautious way down the stairs, gripping the sword between them with Luna's hat covering the top part.

They were barely halfway down when they heard footsteps coming the other way. They tried to retreat back up the stairs, but it was hard with three of them, and a moment later they found themselves face to face with Severus Snape, who stared at them as though he'd never seen students before.

'What precisely is going on here?'