ROUND 12
Main Prompt: You'll be writing about two characters in an employee/employer relationship
Characters: Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom
Optional prompts: 2 - (scenario) a quidditch accident, 3 - (quote) In a world gushing blood day and night, you never stop mopping up pain. – Aberjhani, 12 - (phrase) A man is known by the company he keeps.
The chubby, awkward, clumsy boy who was always forgetting things wasn't supposed to grow up and be a teacher at Hogwarts. He himself didn't believe that. Neville Longbottom grew up thinking very little of himself and blaming himself for it. It was his fault when he forgot things, when things went wrong, and because of that he spent most of his time thinking that nothing great—or even good—would come out of him. The people that surrounded him weren't much help either; no one was surprised when he messed up, they even expected him to. Some people bullied him, and many of his teachers tended to scold him for every small mistake.
However, his mistakes and his behavior made him who he was. It was a part of him, even when in his seventh year at Hogwarts, his awkwardness and forgetfulness were pushed aside to be replaced by the famous Gryffindor leadership and bravery. After the war, he knew he had to cling to his better qualities, the ones that surfaced because of the war. And although his bad qualities couldn't simply disappear, he wanted to push them aside. Neville felt like he did make progress from then on, his biggest proof of that was when he met Professor McGonagall a few years after the war and she offered him a teaching position.
A year after he took the position as the school's Herbology teacher, he still wasn't used to walking through the castle as a professor. He didn't feel like a student, but not a professor either—it was odd to think of himself as the latter when he was used to seeing McGonagall and Snape in that position. However, he believed that if McGonagall asked him to join the school's staff, there was a good reason for it. He reminded himself of that as he walked down the hallway and smiled at anyone who made eye contact with him.
Walking down the corridor, Neville noticed a student who he sympathized with; Toby Walker. The boy was thirteen years old, only in his third year, and reminded Neville of himself at that age—quiet, an easy target for bullies, and a bit awkward. To the man's disappointment, he saw Toby walking behind a small group of boys. The group reminded Neville of Draco's group of friends back in the day. Only in Toby's case they pretend to be his friends and mistreat him, instead of simply bullying him like Draco did to Neville.
The young professor watched as Toby tried to be a part of a conversation, but got ignored by the others, who walked close to each other, leaving him to follow them like a puppy. Toby tried to smile and act normal, but Neville could tell the smile was fake. He noticed the way one of the boys glanced at Toby, only to put out his foot and cause the quiet boy to stumble and fall. The group continued on its way, while Toby got up and brushed the dust off his robes. His gaze met Neville's, who opened his mouth to say something, anything that could have made the boy feel better, but Toby hurried on to follow the boys who mistreated him.
Left with a bitter feeling in his chest, Neville decided to make a stop along his way. When he reached the stone Gargoyle that guarded the Headmistress' office, he muttered the password and made his way to a pair of heavy, wooden doors. One of the doors was half open, but he still knocked and glanced inside. Across from him, he saw the Headmistress sitting at her desk, her head bowed as she wrote something. Then, she stopped and her gaze met his.
''Come in, Mr. Longbottom,'' she said, setting her quill in her ink.
Quietly, he closed the door behind him and crossed the room until he was standing a few feet away from her desk. The Headmistresses office had always made him nervous, with all of Hogwarts' previous Headmasters watching from their portraits. He tried to ignore the eyes on him as he focused on the woman in front of him, who was watching him curiously behind her glasses.
''I was hoping to get your advice on a certain subject, Professor. A student, to be specific,'' Neville explained.
The headmistress gestured at him to take a seat and he did so with a hint of hesitation. He played with his fingers as he began to regret coming to her, but he quickly recovered and told himself that since he had made it this far, he couldn't back down. Instead, he wondered where he should start.
Slightly frowning, the man began to explain, ''There is a third-year student that I have been paying attention to, his name is Toby Walker—''
''Yes, a very nice boy,'' Minerva commented, yet her facial expression made it obvious that she was wondering where the conversation was heading.
''And I noticed he tries very hard to be friends with this group of boys,'' he continued and named the five boys. ''The thing is, they aren't friendly towards him at all, rather the opposite. They make fun of him a lot, sometimes verbally, other times by tripping him in the hallway or making something spill on him in the Great Hall. Who he chooses to befriend is obviously his business, but I hate seeing him being treated like that. I was wondering how I can approach him without making him upset.''
The Headmistress' lips slightly turned upwards in an almost invisible smile, which confused Neville, but he waited for her to say something.
''I understand where you're coming from, but, unfortunately, I believe there is very little you can do to the group you mentioned unless they use verbal or physical violence against Mr. Walker. From my experience, students like them can get away with the things you mentioned by simply making an excuse to make them look innocent. However, my advice to you is to find an opportunity to talk privately to Mr. Walker. Advise him. Sometimes we can't help people because they don't think they need help, but it can't hurt to try.''
Slowly, he nodded, although he was still frowning. Neville thought he understood what she was trying to say; people need to get burned to realize that they shouldn't touch the fire. Her words kept running through his head as he stayed silent in his seat.
''You have a good heart, Neville,'' the professor added with a rare smile, surprising him by using his first name. ''I'm sure you'll find a way to help him. And if you don't, remember that in a world gushing blood day and night, you never stop mopping up pain. We all need to go through bad things that make us who we are.''
''Thank you, professor,'' Neville said with a nod as he finally pushed himself up.
His steps echoed through the big office as he headed for the door. The conversation left him relieved; when he opened the door and walked down the steps, he felt like he was on the right path of helping Toby. The man just hoped he would truly be able to help him.
It was three days later, right after lunch, that Neville came across a bleeding Toby Walker. The Ravenclaw was holding his wand and a stack of books in one hand, while the other was pressed to his nose, covered by a few drops of blood. His classmate was following close by, wearing her Quidditch uniform and holding her broom.
''Miss Holt,'' Headmistress McGonagall, who happened to be a few steps behind Neville, immediately addressed the girl. ''What happened?''
The curly- haired blonde looked shakenlike a deer caught in a headlight and finally looked away from Toby.
''It was an accident, Professor,'' Tessa Holt explained. ''We were finishing practice when someone suddenly threw a Quaffle at me. I didn't have time to think, so I used my bat to just get it away from me. It ended up hitting Toby in the face.''
Unable to stop himself, Neville asked, ''Who threw the Quaffle?''
Quietly, she turned around and named one of the boys that Toby was trying to be friends with. Neville wasn't surprised even one bit, he simply glared at the mentioned boy, who was too busy laughing with his friends to notice his angry look.
Coming to a stand next to Neville, Professor McGonagall said, ''Why don't you two head over to the infirmary with Professor Longbottom, while I have a chat with him?''
When he glanced at her, the woman raised her eyebrows at Neville. He remembered her advice and realized what she was doing. His gaze moved to the two students in front of him and motioned for them to follow him.
''Put pressure on your nose, it's supposed to help stop the blood flow,'' he advised Toby, who wasted no time and did so.
Aside from checking on the injured student twice, Neville kept quiet as they walked through the castle. He listened to the small talk that Tessa was having with Toby. While he felt sympathy towards Toby, he was rather amused by his blonde companion. Tessa made sure to scold Toby whenever he moved his head, but otherwise tried to distract him by asking about the books he was holding. When she thought Neville wasn't listening, she even told Toby that she hoped she could miss History of Magic because she was accompanying him.
At the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey assured Toby and his company that his nose could be fixed with simply a spell. Tessa and he seemed a bit upset that they would be free to go within thirty minutes, so Neville convinced the Matron to give the boy ten more minutes to recover from the hit. And so, the two students sat on one of the beds and waited as the blood stopped flowing from Toby's nose. They whispered to each other and glanced at their professor more than a few times—Neville guessed it was because they weren't used to being alone with him and because the silence in the infirmary made any sound seem louder than usual.
After thanking Madam Pomfrey, Neville pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and made his way towards his two students. Tessa stopped talking and two pairs of eyes looked at him. Smiling at their behavior, the professor offered the handkerchief to Toby.
''To wipe away the blood,'' he explained when the boy looked at him with surprise.
While Toby busied himself with cleaning his face and his hands, Neville pushed his hands into the pockets of his trousers and turned to the bubbly blonde.
''Tessa, would you mind giving me a minute alone with Toby?'' he asked kindly.
Shaking her head, she stood up and took a few steps, but suddenly stopped. He looked at her with curiosity and she met his gaze.
''Professor, I'm not in trouble, am I? I never meant to hurt Tob—''
Sending her a soft smile, he said, ''No, of course not.''
With that, Tessa left, allowing Neville to turn his attention back to the boy in front of him. He watched him for a moment, watching as his handkerchief became painted in red, leaving Toby's skin almost completely clean. The man tried to keep everything he wanted to tell Toby organized in his head and took another moment to go through the pointers he had in mind.
''Toby, I often see you around this group of boys. Tessa mentioned one of them earlier when she was asked who threw the Quaffle,'' Neville began, and the boy nodded at him. ''Are they your friends?'' he asked carefully.
As if he knew where the conversation was heading, Toby hesitated before saying, ''Ye… Yeah. I'm friends with them.''
Not surprised by the answer, the professor nodded.
''Are they friends with you, too?''
The question increased the Ravenclaw's hesitation and he averted his eyesbit the inside of his cheeks as he seemed to get nervous.
''I think,'' he mumbled.
Neville felt almost bad for asking those questions and doing what he was doing, but he quickly reminded himself of what he was trying to achieve.
''Are you sure? Because I don't think they would answer that question with a 'yes','' he said carefully. ''I'm only asking this for you.''
After pulling his sleeves down so they would cover the palms of his hands, Toby said, ''I'm not… one of them, and they aren't always nice, but…''
''Then, are you sure you should consider them your friends? I mean, friends should be nice to each other, right?''
Looking conflicted, Toby scratched his nose and said, ''I guess. But I don't think they're bad people…''
Crouching in front of the boy, Neville gave him an encouraging smile and asked, ''I understand. But think about the phrase 'A man is known by the company he keeps'. All I want to say is, wouldn't it be more fun for you to spend your time with nicer people whose company you enjoy?''
As a small hint, the professor nodded towards Tessa, who was sprawled on one of the beds and was swinging her feet back and forth. He saw Toby's gaze had followed his and stayed on the girl for a few seconds.
''They don't like me. I don't think Tessa would,'' Toby said, frowning.
Chuckling at how clueless the boy was, Neville said, ''She came here with you, and she talked to you all the way to here and ever since Madam Pomfrey finished with you. I think that means quite the opposite.''
Toby still seemed hesitant, but his professor didn't hold it against him. Instead, he made a suggestion.
''Why don't you go and talk to her? She looks bored there alone.''
It took him a couple of seconds, but eventually, Toby nodded and got up. Neville watched as he went across the room, wiping his hands on his school robes. When he got to the curly-haired girl, he said something quietly that Neville couldn't catch from his place. However, the two students sat side by side again, and about a minute later, they laughed at something.
At supper, Neville kept glancing at the Ravenclaw table, wanting to see if the new friendship that formed because of the Quidditch incident lasted even outside of the four walls of the infirmary. He spotted Tessa sitting alone in one end of the table, but couldn't find Toby anywhere. The man feared that the latter would stick to his old ''friends'' and that his efforts were for nothing, yet he chose to have faith.
It seemed like an eternity passed by until Neville saw the no-longer injured boy walk into the Great Hall. Holding his breath, he watched as Toby made his way to the dinner table and smiled at Tessa. Neville sighed in relief when Toby took a seat next to his new friend. Happy, the professor tried to hide his smile, although not very successfully. When a pair of eyes caught his gaze, he saw Professor McGonagall, who must have noticed what happened as well, smiling at him and nodding in approval. It was one of the only times he saw her look at him with pride.