Hogwarts: Neville’s Insert Chapter 37

Hogwarts: Neville's Insert Chapter 37

Dumbledore raised his hand for silence. "Last, but not least—to Mr. Harry Potter… for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor twenty-five points."

There was a moment of stunned silence, and then the hall exploded. Anyone outside the Great Hall might have thought a bomb had gone off. The roar of celebration was so loud that Neville was sure they could hear it in Hogsmeade.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione leapt up, cheering. Neville quietly slipped back from the table a bit, watching the wild celebration unfold.

Dumbledore's voice rang out over the uproar. "Which means," he called, beaming, "we need a little change of decoration."

With a clap of his hands, the Slytherin banners draped high above them dissolved into the scarlet of Gryffindor. The silver snakes transformed into golden lions that roared from the cloth.

"And now," Dumbledore concluded, "let us eat!"

As the cheers finally diminished and everyone took their seats, the feast appeared: platters of roast chicken, mashed potatoes, buttered corn, and countless other delicious dishes.

Neville returned to sit beside Hermione, who was practically glowing. "Can you believe it, Neville? We won!"

Neville picked up a piece of chicken. "Yeah," he said quietly, taking a bite.

He could believe it.

He'd seen it coming all along.

…

Neville stepped into the first-year dormitory, towel slung over his head as he briskly dried his damp hair. He was dressed casually in a t-shirt and long pants, comfortable for the journey ahead. The room was still quiet, save for the occasional rustling of blankets and soft snores from Ron's bed.

Seamus let out a wide yawn as he stretched and nodded at Neville while grabbing his own towel. "Morning, mate," he mumbled sleepily before trudging off towards the showers.

Neville nodded back. "Morning, mate," he replied, watching as Seamus disappeared out the door.

Ron was still out cold, sprawled across his mattress, one arm draped dramatically over his face as he snored softly. Shaking his head, Neville walked over to his trunk and slung his towel over one shoulder. He reached for his wand from his nightstand and gave it a flick.

A warm breeze stirred around his head, quickly drying his hair. "Much better," he muttered in satisfaction. With another flick, he dried his towel before tossing it into his dirty clothes bag.

Just as he shut his trunk, Harry walked in from his shower, his hair still damp and sticking up in every direction as usual.

"All packed?" Harry asked, rubbing his neck as he grabbed his own bag.

Neville nodded. "Yeah," he said simply, then glanced over at Ron's still-sleeping form. "You better wake him up, or he might miss the train."

Harry let out a sigh and walked over to Ron's bed. He gave Ron's shoulder a shake. "Ron, mate, wake up," he called, keeping his voice level. "You're going to miss the train."

Ron groaned, shifting slightly under his blankets. "What train?" he mumbled, trying to bury his face deeper into his pillow.

Harry rolled his eyes. "The train from Hogsmeade. You're going to be late."

Neville smirked and chimed in, "And you haven't even packed yet, mate. Better hurry up, or you'll miss breakfast too."

That seemed to get Ron's attention. His eyes cracked open groggily, and he blinked blearily at them. "Right, right, I'm up," he muttered, stifling a yawn before stretching his arms. "Blimey, I stayed up too late last night."

Shuffling off his bed, Ron grabbed his towel and staggered toward the bathroom.

Neville chuckled and shook his head before turning back to his trunk. With a flick of his wand, he cast, "Reducio," shrinking it down to a size small enough to fit in his sling bag. He tucked it away and slung his sling bag over his shoulder.

"All done, I'm heading down. You coming, mate?" he asked, running a hand through his hair as he glanced at Harry.

Harry shook his head as he stuffed his clothes into his trunk. "No, I still have a few things to pack. I'll wait for Ron."

"Then I'll head down first. I'm starving. I'll wait for you in the Great Hall." With that, Neville gave him a quick nod and headed out the door.

The Gryffindor common room was still lively, though not as packed as usual. Most students had already made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast or were waiting by the carriages to head to the train. As Neville stepped inside, he spotted Hermione by the notice board, standing with a few older students who were peering at a freshly pinned parchment.

Curious, Neville walked over, rubbing a bit of sleep from his eyes. "Morning, Hermione. What are you up to?" he asked, stifling a yawn.

Hermione jumped slightly, turning around with wide eyes. "Neville! You scared me," she said, pressing a hand to her chest before letting out a small huff. "And good morning to you too."

Neville chuckled. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to sneak up on you." His gaze flicked to the notice board. "What's this about?"

"Professor McGonagall just posted the final rankings for the year," Hermione said, nodding toward the parchment.

At that, Neville perked up. "Oh, right—the end-of-year rankings." He leaned in to get a closer look. "So, I take it you came top?"

Hermione's face turned slightly pink with pride, and she nodded excitedly. "Yep! First place," she confirmed.

Neville scanned the list and let out a low whistle when he spotted her name right at the top. "Well done. Congratulations," he said, giving her an approving nod.

"Thanks, Neville," she said, beaming. "But you didn't do too badly yourself." She pointed at the rankings. "Look—you came in sixth!"

Following her finger, Neville's eyes landed on his name, ranked just below Susan Bones from Hufflepuff. "Huh," he muttered, surprised. "Not bad at all."

He read through the list quickly.

1 Hermione Granger – Gryffindor

2 Terry Boot – Ravenclaw

3 Daphne Greengrass – Slytherin

4 Padma Patil – Ravenclaw

5 Susan Bones – Hufflepuff

6 Neville Longbottom – Gryffindor

7 Anthony Goldstein – Ravenclaw

"Well, looks like Ravenclaw dominates the rankings," Neville mused.

"Well, of course," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "They are Ravenclaws."

Ignoring the other rankings, Neville moved his attention to his own subject grades.

Transfiguration – O (Outstanding)

Charms – O (Outstanding)

Potions – EE (Exceeds Expectations)

Defence Against the Dark Arts – O (Outstanding)

Herbology – O (Outstanding)

History of Magic – A (Acceptable)

Astronomy – A (Acceptable)

Neville raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Didn't think I'd get an O from Quirrell… and Snape actually gave me an EE? That's surprising. I expected him to mark me lower just out of spite."

"Not bad at all," Hermione said, glancing over his shoulder. "You aced all the practical subjects, and honestly, EE in Potions is impressive considering who teaches it."

Neville chuckled. "Yeah, I half expected to see a 'T' for Troll next to Potions."

Hermione giggled but then nudged him playfully. "You're just as bad as Ron sometimes," she said, though she looked pleased.

Neville smirked, rolling his eyes. "I'll take that as a compliment." Shaking his head, he glanced at Hermione's name and, as expected, saw a perfect row of O's next to her subjects.

Letting out a low whistle, he smirked and reached over to pat her on the head. "And, of course, you got all O's. Congrats, Hermione."

Hermione flushed, swatting his hand away with an annoyed huff. "Stop that, Neville," she scolded, though the pink on her cheeks betrayed her pride.

Neville chuckled at her reaction, but then Hermione glanced around, her brow furrowing. "Where's your luggage? Didn't you bring it with you?"

Grinning, Neville patted his sling bag. "Got it right here," he said smugly. "Shrunk it down to make it easier to carry."

Hermione's eyes widened in realization before she groaned and smacked her forehead. "Why didn't I think of that?" she muttered. "It would've been so much easier than lugging around a giant trunk."

Pulling out her wand, she quickly cast, "Reducio," and her trunk shrank down to a pocketable size.

Neville smirked. "Just remember to enlarge it before getting off at Platform 9¾," he warned playfully. "Or else you'll be stuck with a shrunken trunk for the whole summer. Hermione without books! That would be a tragedy."

Hermione shot him a glare and smacked his arm lightly. "Prat," she muttered, though a smile tugged at her lips.

Neville turned back to the rankings, his curiosity piqued. "I wonder where Harry and Ron placed," he mused aloud, scanning further down the list.

Hermione, who had already checked, answered, "They both passed. That's what matters, or they might have had to repeat the year."

Neville finally found their names—Harry was ranked 18th, while Ron was at 25th. He yawned, stretching his arms. "Well, at least they didn't fail," he said, grinning. "Could've been worse."

Turning back to Hermione, he rubbed his stomach. "Fancy heading to the Great Hall? I'm starving."

Hermione nodded, slipping her now-shrunken trunk into her pocket. "Let's go," she agreed.

With that, the two made their way out of the common room, ready for their last breakfast at Hogwarts before the summer break.

….

After breakfast, the students were escorted to Hogsmeade Station by the Thestral-drawn carriages. Neville fed an apple to one pulling his carriage when Harry, Ron, and Hermione weren't paying attention.

As the carriage came to a stop, Neville stepped down first and turned, offering Hermione a hand to help her down. She accepted with a small nod of thanks.

Ron, hopping off the carriage with a grunt, glanced at the two of them before his eyes narrowed. "Huh… I just noticed—where are your trunks? Did you forget them or something?"

Hermione patted her pocket. "Oh, it's all here, Ron. Much easier than dragging that great box around."

Harry, dragging his heavy trunk behind him, looked over and said, "Yeah, I saw Neville shrinking his trunk earlier."

Ron's jaw dropped. "What?! And you didn't do that for us? That's not fair—now both of you don't even have to carry your trunks!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ron, we are carrying our trunks."

Ron glared at her. "You know that's not what I meant! It's unfair that the two of you shrunk yours and we didn't!"

Hermione simply shrugged. "Well, whose fault is it that you two didn't join us when we were practicing the spell?"

Neville raised an eyebrow. "You know, even if you didn't know the shrinking charm, both of you could have just levitated your trunks with the Levitation Charm."

Harry blinked and sighed. "Huh, I didn't think of that…"

Ron threw his hands up. "Now you tell me—after I've dragged this thing all the way here?!"

Neville just shrugged, fighting back a grin. "You didn't ask, mate. Not my fault."

Hermione giggled at Ron's grumbling as they walked toward the train, Ron muttering under his breath the entire way.

As they stepped onto the platform, Neville spotted Hagrid standing off to the side, towering over the students with his usual warm smile.

Harry noticed too and turned to them. "You guys go on ahead—I want to speak with Hagrid for a bit."

"Yeah, sure, mate," Neville shrugged, giving Hagrid a wave as they passed by. Hagrid waved back at them before turning his attention to Harry.

Neville, Hermione, and Ron boarded the train and began walking down the corridor, peeking into compartments. Most were already filling up, but after a bit of searching, they found an empty one near the back.

Neville quickly slid the door open and grinned. "Dibs on the seat next to the window!" he declared, plopping himself down before anyone could argue.

Hermione rolled her eyes but took the seat next to him without complaint, while Ron flopped onto the seat opposite them, still grumbling after he heaved his trunk onto the overhead rack.

Hermione looked out the window, watching the platform bustle with students. She sighed softly. "Feels strange going home, doesn't it?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, I get you," he admitted. "It feels weird after spending almost an entire year at Hogwarts."

Neville shrugged. "I'd say the same, but for me, it's a bit different. You know… with the lost memory and all," he said, tapping his temple. "The only memory of home I really have is the one from winter break."

Hermione's expression softened. "That must be difficult," she murmured.

Neville gave a small, lopsided smile. "Eh, I manage."

A while later, the compartment door slid open, and Harry walked in, carrying a large book in one hand, Hedwig's cage in the other, while his trunk floated behind him.

Ron's eyes landed on the book Harry was holding. "What's that you've got, Harry?" he asked curiously.

Harry sat down next to Ron and lifted the book, flipping through the pages. "It's a photo album. Hagrid reached out to some of my parents' old friends and put this together for me."

Hermione smiled warmly. "That was really thoughtful of Hagrid, Harry."

Harry nodded, his fingers gently brushing over one of the photos. "Yeah… before, thanks to Neville I had pictures of my mum—but now I've got some of my dad too."

The train gave a long whistle as it started picking up speed. Harry glanced out the window and waved at Hagrid, who stood on the platform, giving them a broad smile and a wave in return. With a small sigh, Harry finally settled into his seat, placing the album carefully on his lap.

Neville stayed quiet, watching as the Hogwarts Express sped past Hogsmeade, the familiar sight of the village quickly fading into the distance. The rhythmic clatter of the wheels filled the air, a steady reminder that their first year was now behind them.

His gaze shifted to Ron, who was now animatedly chatting with Harry about Quidditch.

'Now's as good a time as any.' Without drawing attention, Neville slid a hand into his robes, and discreetly took out his wand, aiming at Ron. He flicked it slightly and whispered, "Stupefy."

A red jet of light shot out, striking Ron square in the chest before he could react. His body slumped back against the seat, completely unconscious.

Harry and Hermione gasped, their heads snapping toward Neville in shock. But before they could shout, Neville swiftly flicked his wand at them and muttered, "Silencio."

Both of their mouths opened, but no sound came out. Wide-eyed, they scrambled for their wands, panic flashing in their expressions.

Before they could react further, Neville quickly traced a few glowing words in the air using Flagrate,

"PLEASE DON'T PANIC. I WILL EXPLAIN. JUST GIVE ME A MOMENT."

Harry and Hermione hesitated, exchanging a look before reluctantly lowering their hands from their wands, though their wariness remained.

Neville wasted no time. He stood up, flicked his wand at the compartment door, and whispered, "Colloportus." The door sealed shut, ensuring no unexpected interruptions.

Then, he waved his wand and cast a quiet, "Revelio." A faint glow pulsed through the compartment, scanning for any listening charms or magical surveillance.

When nothing was detected, he followed up with "Muffliato." A subtle buzzing filled the air, ensuring their conversation stayed private.

Finally, he turned back to Harry and Hermione, and murmured, "Finite Incantatem."

The Silencing Charm on both of them lifted.

Neville looked at them both. "I know that looked bad," he admitted. "But I needed to make sure no one was listening before I said anything." He raised his hand in a non-threatening gesture.

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