A Neville SI

A Neville SI Chapter 12

Neville and Hermione watched closely as the professor executed the wand movement, and then they tried it themselves.

"Ah, that's right! The half-circle at the end," Flitwick encouraged. "Now give it another go."

Neville nodded and tried again, this time using the wand movement that Professor Flitwick had shown him. "Accio pillow!" The pillow didn't just shake; it moved towards him before falling to the ground.

Beside him, Hermione attempted the spell as well, calling out, "Accio pillow!" while making the necessary wand movement. One of the pillows on the shelf shook and moved a bit, but that was all.

"Excellent, excellent!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed. "As you can see, it was just the wand movement. With a bit more practice, both of you will be able to perform the spell flawlessly!"

…

Flitwick flicked his wand, and the pillow on the ground floated back to the shelf. Turning to Neville and Hermione, he said with a smile, "Well done, both of you! With a bit more practice, I'm sure you'll both manage the spell perfectly." He slipped his wand back into his pocket.

Neville stood with his wand resting by his side, watching the pillows float back to the shelf. Beside him, Hermione lowered her outstretched wand arm, looking a little worn out. "It's harder to cast this spell than the others," she remarked, slightly breathless.

Flitwick chuckled softly. "Well, there's a reason it's taught in the later years. It's far more demanding on your magic. I'm surprised you're both able to manage it at all! Oh, you two would've made excellent Ravenclaws," he added with a wistful sigh, mourning the loss of such talent to another house.

For the past half hour, Neville and Hermione had been practicing Accio. Neville had managed to move the pillow a bit further than before, while Hermione had successfully moved it from the shelf, dropping it to the floor.

Glancing at the clock, Flitwick exclaimed, "Oh my! Look at the time—it's nearly 8:45. Class is about to start, so you'd better find your seats."

He returned to his desk and handed Neville back his book.

"Thank you for your help, Professor," Neville said gratefully, taking the book from him. Hermione, still slightly out of breath, nodded her thanks as well.

Neville stuffed the book back into his bag and went to the top seat at the back of the classroom.

Sitting down, he placed his sling bag and wand on the table before he stretched his back by leaning on the chair. Hermione sat beside him in the open seat, then turned to ask, "How far along are you in the other subjects?"

Neville rested his head on the desk and thought for a moment. "Well, let's see... I've got all the Charms we're meant to learn this year sorted, and all the Transfiguration spells too. I've covered everything in the book up to the Summoning Charm. So, that's about it, I think." He glanced at Hermione.

She bit her lip, clearly mulling something over. After a moment, Neville added, "Like I said, Hermione, I don't mind helping you catch up if you'd like."

Hermione nodded and sighed. "Well, if you need help with your assignments, I'll give you a hand—though you'll probably still end up doing them wrong," she added, wrinkling her nose slightly at the end.

Neville chuckled. "I might take you up on that," he said, knowing full well how much it bothered her that he never did his assignments the way she thought he should.

As they chatted, the classroom began to fill up with other first years from all the houses, forty students in total.

when the classroom filled up, the diminutive Professor Flitwick began, "Ah, glad to see you've all made it today! We'll be working on the Levitation Charm, but first, I want to divide you into pairs."

The class immediately started chattering, shifting towards their friends. Flitwick chuckled and said, "I can see you're all excited, but I'll be assigning your partners myself." With a wave of his wand, the names appeared on the chalkboard, randomly pairing everyone up.

Neville glanced up and saw he was partnered with Harry Potter. Meanwhile, he heard Hermione groan. Looking over at the board, he spotted why—she had been paired with Ron Weasley of all people.

Neville couldn't help but chuckle. "Looks like you'll have to talk to him, then," he said with a grin.

Hermione shot him a glare before standing up and heading toward her new partner, clearly less than thrilled.

A few moments later, as everyone shifted to sit with their assigned partners, Harry walked over and sat in the seat Hermione had just vacated. "Hey, Neville," he greeted.

Neville smiled back. "Well hello there, Harry."

Over the past month, Neville had been trying to get closer to Harry, being friendly and offering his help when he could. But Ron always seemed to wedge himself between them, dragging Harry off to play chess or do something else. It was almost as if Ron was determined to keep others from getting too close to Harry.

Once everyone had taken their seats, Professor Flitwick began the lesson. "Alright, now that everyone's settled, let's start by practicing the wrist movements. Repeat after me," he instructed, demonstrating a delicate flick of his wrist. The class followed along, trying to mimic his motion. "Ah, just like that—swish, then flick," he repeated, showing them again. "Swish, then flick. Now, the spell is Wingardium Leviosa."

The class echoed him, practicing the incantation while Neville lazily held his wand, waiting for them.

Satisfied with their progress, Flitwick said, "Well done! Now, try the spell on these feathers." With a flick of his wand, a feather floated onto the desk in front of each pair. "Take turns casting the spell, and don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!"

Perched on top of his usual pile of books, Flitwick added with a squeak, "Swish and flick, remember! And make sure to say the magic words properly—don't be like Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and ended up with a buffalo on his chest!"

Harry gave his wand a swish and flick, chanting, "Wingardium Leviosa," but the feather didn't budge. He blinked in surprise, then tried again. Still, nothing happened. With a sigh, Harry turned to Neville and said, "Your turn, Neville."

Neville shrugged and gripped his wand casually.

Noticing how Neville was holding it, Harry asked, "Er, why are you holding your wand like that?" pointing at Neville's unusual grip.

Neville paused, confused, and glanced down at his hand before shrugging again. "Umm, it just feels comfortable, I guess."

With a casual flick, Neville muttered "Wingardium Leviosa" under his breath, and the feather floated gracefully into the air, following the movement of his wand.

Professor Flitwick squeaked in delight. "Well done, well done, Mr. Longbottom! Five points to Gryffindor!" he praised, watching the feather rise smoothly.

Lowering the feather back down, Neville turned to Harry and said, "Your turn."

Harry looked at him, astonished. "How did you do that on your first go?"

Neville smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Well, that wasn't exactly my first time using the spell. I, er, learned it about a month ago."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "You learned it a month ago?"

Neville nodded. "Yeah, during the first week after I lost my memory."

Harry looked curious. "How many spells have you learned?"

Just as Neville was about to answer, Professor Flitwick called out, "Mr Longbottom, you've been summoned to the Headmaster's office. Please follow Mr Smith here."

Neville glanced to the front of the room, where a prefect stood next to Flitwick's desk.

'Why would Dumbledore want to see me?' Neville wondered, his mind racing.

Harry broke his thoughts. "What do you reckon the Headmaster wants with you?"

Neville shrugged. "Only one way to find out," he said, starting to pack his bag. "Well, I'll see you later, then, Harry," he added, slinging his bag over his shoulder and walking over to the prefect waiting by the door. Harry simply nodded as Neville left.

Neville nodded to Professor Flitwick as he walked past him.

As he approached the prefect, the older student nodded and said, "Alright, follow me."

Neville simply nodded back and followed as they made their way up the stairs. It took them over 15 minutes, weaving through the castle from one end to the other until they reached the seventh floor. They walked down a corridor that ended with a statue of a gargoyle.

The prefect looked at the gargoyle and said, "Iced mice." Instantly, the gargoyle began to rotate, revealing a spiral staircase that ascended beneath it, carrying the statue upwards like a screw.

'So this is where the office is,' Neville thought.

The prefect turned to him and said, "Well, I'll leave you to it then. Just head up the stairs, and you'll be let in."

Neville nodded in thanks and began walking up the spiral staircase. Upon reaching the top, he saw a door. Just as he raised his hand to knock, he heard the Headmaster's voice call out, "Come in."

He must have some sort of wards to alert him when someone's here, Neville thought, as he opened the door to step into the office.

As Neville opened the door, he saw that the Headmaster wasn't alone. Standing with him were his Head of House, Professor McGonagall, and the ever-dreaded dungeon bat himself, Severus Snape.

Seeing them, Neville immediately knew what this was about and thought to himself, 'So, he's gone and complained, has he?'

Dumbledore smiled warmly upon seeing him. "Come in, come in, my boy."

Snape sneered as Neville entered, but Neville ignored him, keeping his focus elsewhere.

He closed the door behind him and walked over, bowing slightly to McGonagall and Dumbledore. "Good morning, Professors."

Looking up, he addressed the Headmaster, carefully avoiding direct eye contact by focusing on Dumbledore's nose instead. "You asked for me, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore smiled kindly. "Ah, yes. First, I'd like to ask how you've been over the past month—particularly after the accident. And how are you finding your classes?"

Neville returned the smile and replied, "I'm doing well, Professor and the classes are fine."

Dumbledore chuckled softly. "Yes, yes. I've heard from a few of your professors that you're doing particularly well with your spell work. Minerva here," he gestured to McGonagall, "says you're quite the prodigy in Transfiguration."

Neville sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure about that, Professor, but thank you," he said, nodding to McGonagall, who gave him a kind smile.

He could almost feel Snape's sneer without even looking at him. "If you're done with the pleasantries, Headmaster," Snape drawled, his tone dripping with disdain, "I believe we called him here for something far more important."

Dumbledore's expression grew more serious as he turned back to Neville. "Ah, yes. The reason we've called you into my office is that Professor Snape has lodged a few complaints against you. He claims that you're not completing your assigned work properly and that you've been disregarding his authority."

Snape, clearly relishing the moment, placed a stack of papers on the Headmaster's desk. "The boy completely ignores the assignments I set for the class, handing in barely half of what's required. When asked to redo the work, this is what he produces—absolute nonsense." He practically threw the papers onto the desk. "And every time I assign him detention, he simply doesn't turn up."

Dumbledore calmly took the papers and glanced over them before handing them to Professor McGonagall. She read through them, stifling a laugh as she returned the papers to the Headmaster, much to Snape's irritation.

Snape's glare intensified as he looked at Neville, who remained standing there, seemingly unfazed. "I want him expelled," Snape hissed, his voice full of venom.

The assignment in question was for the Herbicide Potion that they had learned to brew a week prior. It required students to define all the uses of the ingredients and the order in which they were used. When Neville handed in a rather short assignment, Snape had ordered him to rewrite it, demanding that it be the same length he had specified.

Neville thought to himself, You want padding? I'll give you padding. So, he wrote about how each ingredient smelled, where he sourced it, why he chose it, and how he sliced and crushed some of the ingredients—answering questions like, "I don't know; it says so in the book." He filled his parchment with complete nonsense just to meet the exact length Snape had requested. This led to the loss of numerous Gryffindor house points and several detention sessions he didn't attend, all culminating in this meeting.

Dumbledore placed the papers back on the table and looked at Neville. "Can you explain this, Mr. Longbottom?"

Neville nodded. "Sure, but I'd like to ask you a question first, Headmaster."

Dumbledore inclined his head, granting him permission to continue.

"What is the purpose of assigning work to students?" Neville asked.

Before Dumbledore could respond, McGonagall chimed in, "To determine how well the lessons are being understood by their students."

Neville nodded and said, "So what's the point of writing 2 to 3 feet of parchment when it could be conveyed in just a few paragraphs? Especially if most of what's written won't even be read in the first place. It's just a complete waste of time, Headmaster."

He doubted that all the professors could possibly read through the assignments of all 600 students at Hogwarts.

Turning to Professor McGonagall, he added, "Professor McGonagall, when I handed in my assignment to you, you said that as long as I understood what I'd learned, that was enough." She nodded in agreement.

Neville then turned back to Dumbledore. "Most of the professors don't really have a problem with it as long as I grasp the material, do they?"

He pointed at his Herbicide Potion assignment. "That's what Professor Snape requested: 4 feet of unnecessary wording."

"You heard him, Headmaster! The brat thinks he knows more than us. You should expel him before the others start doing the same—set an example!" Snape sneered, his disdain evident.

Neville quickly responded, "I never said I knew more than any of the professors. I just don't want to waste my time working on something that will be completely disregarded."

Albus sighed and said, "While I understand your perspective, Mr. Longbottom, that doesn't give you the right to completely disregard Professor Snape's authority. As such, you will hand in the required length of his assignments, and you will serve detention under him."

McGonagall interjected, "Actually, Professor Dumbledore, I think Mr. Longbottom should serve his detention under me. I'm afraid that if they are left alone together, things might get worse."

Dumbledore acquiesced. "Very well. You will serve your detention under your head of house. Am I understood, Mr. Longbottom?"

"Yes, Headmaster." Neville nodded, thinking, 'That piece of work. Well, it's not like I didn't anticipate this anyway.' He opened his bag, pulled out all the potion assignments he had completed, and handed them over to Snape. "Well, here you go, Professor. All the assignments are at your required length. I was going to give them to you in our next class, but I might as well hand them over now," he said, watching as Snape reluctantly accepted the papers.

Then Neville took out two vials of potion and placed them on the desk. "While we're here, Headmaster, could you and Professor McGonagall please tell me what's wrong with these potions? Professor Snape gave me a troll for both, but he didn't explain why they were faulty. I'd like to learn what mistakes I made."

Snape's scowl deepened as Neville asked the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall to examine the potions.

McGonagall took one of the vials, uncorked it, and sniffed it, followed by Dumbledore, who let out a sigh—he knew this was just Snape being petty.

After examining the potion, McGonagall remarked, "I don't see anything wrong with this potion, Professor Snape. It's a perfectly good potion. Why did you grade it a troll? It's at least an Exceeds Expectations." She shot a pointed look at Snape.

Snape glowered and opened his mouth to respond when Dumbledore interjected, "It seems that Professor Snape's judgment might have been clouded by anger during that particular lesson."

McGonagall glared at Snape, stating firmly, "He shouldn't let anger interfere with his teaching or impact students' grades. I would expect this sort of behavior from a new graduate, but not from a professor at Hogwarts."

Dumbledore stepped in again, "I'm sure Professor Snape won't let anger cloud his judgment in the future."

Snape merely glared at Neville, then nodded curtly before stalking out of the office, his cape billowing behind him.

Sighing, Dumbledore turned to Neville. "Well, that should be all. You may return to your classes, Mr. Longbottom."

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