Ever since Snape became the new headmaster and the Death Eaters became the new professors, Hogwarts has been shrouded in a depressing and dull atmosphere. Especially after entering the rainy season in October, this atmosphere has become even stronger. It's going to be so overwhelming that everyone can't breathe.
“I heard that another first-year student was imprisoned.”
“Probably it will be taken to the dark arts class and used by students to practice the Cruciatus Curse.”
“They are just a bunch of lunatics.”
The students who were having breakfast in the hall were whispering about what happened yesterday. Everyone had unconcealed anxiety and fear in their eyes. The student who was tortured by the Cruciatus Curse last time was still lying in the school hospital.
Listening to the whispers of other people around him, Neville sat down at the Gryffindor table, not knowing what he was thinking.
"This is a trap. They are trying to lure you into the trap. Don't leave any evidence." Seamus sat down on Neville's right hand and reminded him not to do stupid things.
Today's Hogwarts is like a powder keg. The high-pressure rule of the Death Eaters and the angry resistance of Dumbledore's Army are fiercely confronting each other, and Hogwarts may completely explode at any time.
However, the current situation is becoming more and more unfavorable for them. Not only does the Defense Association not support them in confronting the Death Eaters, but even the school professors cannot provide them with any help. Most of the time they can only watch their own people being imprisoned in the dungeon. He was whipped inside, which made all the members of Dumbledore's Army complain about it.
No one likes to be weak, and no one likes to be bullied. They want to fight back angrily, and they want to drive all the Death Eaters headed by Snape out of the school.
Neville sipped his polenta in silence, looked up at Parkinson on the professor's seat, and said in a low voice, "I don't know."
He has been very confused recently, especially after what he did was euphemistically denied, and he has been thinking about what to do next.
Continue to fight, or go underground?
Neville didn't know if he could convince the others.
"What to do next?" Seamus looked at Neville's gloomy face and asked worriedly, "Are you okay? You don't look in good spirits."
“Sorry, I didn’t sleep well yesterday.” Neville made an excuse for himself
He didn’t know what to do either.
If they release the junior student from the dungeon, placement will become a big problem again.
Let him hide in the Room of Requirement and play missing?
Unless he volunteers, this will not solve the problem.
They need guidance.
Vaguely, Neville realized why Albert didn't want them to make things worse.
Because unless the two sides completely oppose each other, they will always be at a disadvantage.
But what’s the use of figuring this out now?
“What did Ernie say?” Neville suddenly asked.
“He thinks he should seek help from professors.” Seamus smiled bitterly, “But how could the professors not know about this?”
"If Professor McGonagall was willing, they would have done it long ago." Neville also knew that the professors had their own concerns, so he did not expect the school's professors to help them from the beginning.
“Where’s Luna?” Neville asked again.
"Luna thought that she could let the other party pretend to be sick, and maybe he would be sent to the campus hospital, which would be better than being locked up in jail." Seamus agreed with Luna's approach. He actually came to Neville to discuss this matter.
"Maybe we should give him some truant candies. I remember we still have a lot of them." Neville agreed with Luna's plan and thought it was a good idea, but he added, "We still need to convince him." He, if Parkinson still uses him to practice the Cruciatus Curse on other students, just pretend to be dead."
Neville actually didn't trust the junior student, but he was still willing to help him escape from danger. Otherwise, he would be in trouble if he was asked to practice the Cruciatus Curse on the student.
The last unlucky guy stayed in bed for half a month and still hasn't recovered. It is said that he also suffered from a serious psychological shadow.
Luna's plan is not difficult for them who have mastered the Disillusionment Spell. The only trouble is Filch, but they only need a Holding Spell to solve Filch's problem.
The whole thing went more smoothly than Neville expected. He ran to the dungeon to meet the unlucky Gryffindor junior student and discuss a solution with him.
The other party really chose to pretend to be sick. After all, he had just arrived at Hogwarts, and no one wanted to drop out of school and leave.
The Gryffindor student started to have a high fever after eating the candy that skipped class, and passed out in a gorgeous manner due to the training of the Cruciatus Curse.
Professor McGonagall was extremely angry about this and almost got into a fight with Professor Parkinson. Although this did not make them give up testing black magic on students, it at least allowed the first-year student to successfully enter the medical room for treatment.
Overall, the plan went smoothly.
This greatly encouraged everyone.
To this end, they held a small meeting to discuss the next plan.
Without the distractions of the Weasley twins' joke props and Peeves' mischief, they would likely have become targets for Death Eaters.
“We should temporarily abandon those dangerous practices and do more secretive underground work.” Luna raised her hand and suggested.
"I agree with Luna. Head-on confrontation is unwise. We gather together mainly to train defense against the dark arts. Driving the Death Eaters out of Hogwarts is just a secondary goal to kill time." Ernie knew this was Albert also knew that this was to prevent them from being in danger, especially after the Defense Association's joke prop support was reduced, this was undoubtedly the best choice at the moment.
“I’m worried that I won’t be able to convince other people, and you should know…”
Just as Neville was about to say something else, he heard the door to the Room of Requirement being pushed open forcefully, and Michael hurried in.
"problem occurs."
"what happened?"
"Nick told me that Parkinson gave Veritaserum to the newly awakened junior student. They already knew that Neville was behind it and were preparing to cause trouble for you." Michael gasped and looked at Neville uneasily.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a little punishment at most.” Neville didn’t agree with this.
"No, they seem to think that Dumbledore's Army matter is related to you." Michael expressed his concerns: "If they also use Veritaserum on you..."
Several people present could not help but frown. If they really used Veritaserum, the matter of Dumbledore's Army might not be kept a secret, and everyone involved would be unlucky as a result.
"Maybe I should disappear for a while." Neville was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "If I disappear directly and Dumbledore's Army is restrained and goes underground, I think the Death Eaters will not continue to target us. .”
Everyone present looked at Neville, surprised by his choice.
“Are you really going to… drop out of school?”
Ernie couldn’t help but widen his eyes, swallowed his saliva and looked at Neville, seemingly surprised by the other person’s choice.
"I didn't want to come to Hogwarts in the first place." Neville comforted him. "It's just that Mr. Anderson wanted someone to come and organize Dumbledore's Army, so I returned to school."
Everyone was silent.
“Let’s leave it as it is, it should be enough for everyone else to calm down.” Neville acted very calmly, so calm that others found it incredible.
There is a reason why Neville is so calm.
Fred had told him that if he really couldn't stay at Hogwarts, they would be responsible for getting him out of the school.
"We got together to re-establish Dumbledore's Army, just to teach everyone defense against dark magic and give everyone the ability to protect themselves." Neville said softly, "If we have the level of Aurors, we can easily overthrow Sneijder. Pu, drive them out of Hogwarts..."
“You are indeed here.” Seamus opened the door and walked in. He panted and looked at the people inside and said, “Carlo and Parkinson are looking for you everywhere, and they even almost had a conflict with Professor McGonagall.”
“Oh, I already know that,” Neville said calmly.
"How can you still be so calm?" Simo was almost driven crazy with anxiety. "They won't let you go easily. What should we do now?"
“I’m going to disappear for a while,” Neville said calmly.
“What do you mean, you’re just going to hide in the Room of Requirement and not leave?” Seamus’ face was filled with astonishment.
"That's probably what I mean. It's up to you to tell Professor McGonagall." Neville looked at Seamus and said, "No problem!"
“But…you really don’t want to go…”
"Anyway, I didn't plan to come to Hogwarts." Neville suddenly thought of something, "You can seize the opportunity to spread some bad rumors outside, such as that I have actually been persecuted by Death Eaters. , I believe no one wants their children to be in danger at Hogwarts."
Everyone was dumbfounded by Neville's **** thoughts.
“Are you really going to do that?”
"It's better to give them some trouble, so that they don't have the idea to trouble others." Neville thought his idea was a good one.
“Okay, I’ll go talk to Professor McGonagall.” Seamus agreed.
The trick of missing is really useful.
The furious Death Eaters were helpless. Of course they knew Neville was hiding, probably in the Room of Requirement, but they just couldn't get in.
So angry!
To this end, they sent people to take turns watching the Room of Requirement 24 hours a day, waiting for Neville to come out and throw himself into the trap.
After a few days without any progress, people were surprised to find that there was no movement in the Room of Requirement.
Is Neville Longbottom really missing?
Various versions of the story began to be spread randomly in the school. Some people say that Neville was actually captured by the Death Eaters, while others say that Neville was killed by the angry Death Eaters. Some people even gave Neville a eulogy in the hall.
The disappearance of Neville once again made the entire Hogwarts a mess.
“What the **** are you doing?”
Professor McGonagall had an extremely wonderful expression on her face after listening to Seamus' words.
"He said he had no intention of studying at Hogwarts from the beginning." Seamus shrugged, indicating that this was Neville's own intention.
“So, where is Mr. Longbottom?” Professor McGonagall asked with a frown.
“He has left Hogwarts.”
“How did he leave Hogwarts?” Professor McGonagall seemed to have thought of something.
"I don't know about this. It seems that Mr. Anderson sent someone to pick up Neville." Seamus lied.
Neville is still in the Room of Requirement, studying Defense Against Dark Arts every day. As for food and water, there are naturally other ways to deliver them.
"Albert." Mag asked with a twitching face, "So, is this all caused by Albert?"
"No, Mr. Anderson just wants us to receive Defense Against the Dark Arts training, but others... they want to drive the Death Eaters out of the school." Seamus was a little embarrassed when he talked about this, because he also supported the overthrow of Snape. The one who drove the Death Eaters out of Hogwarts.
"Okay Mr. Finnigan, I already know about this." Professor McGonagall stopped Seamus from continuing, "This is Mr. Anderson's fault. Do you understand?"
Seamus nodded confusedly.
"Only Mr. Anderson is not afraid of the Death Eaters. Let everyone stay calm and learn some defense against the dark arts. It does not hurt, but it is unwise to fall out with the Death Eaters now." Professor McGonagall sighed, He explained helplessly, "As long as the mysterious man is still alive, we will never be able to drive away the Death Eaters, so don't make things worse. It will not do you any good."
(End of this chapter)