It was as if the world had stopped moving forward once he saw the body of Hermione Granger. His breath caught in his chest as he rapidly tried to deny what he saw in front of him, after all this couldn't be real…right? There was no way that someone as vibrant and full of energy as Hermione Granger would just up and die to a acromantula, she'd most likely be able to take it on with no trouble like she did with Pettigrew! Even though he tried to deny what he saw in front of him, the truth hit him like a sack of bricks.
Hermione Granger was dead, and it was all his fault…
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The days passed by him in a blur as classes resumed as though nothing had happened. To be honest, he still felt as though he was still in shock, and as a result his grades in all of his classes began to slip. Some of his professors were understanding about this and had given a firm warning to at least study up for his classes in order to make it to the second year, others weren't so understanding of his situation.
"Mr. Longbottom, are you planning on flunking out of Hogwarts on your first year?" Professor Snape had said one day when he had called him to his office, "I understand that the death of someone you knew is hard, but it has been two months since then, I expect you to stop moping."
"…Yes professor." Neville said as he clenched his fist.
"Feeling guilty about the death of someone who brazenly got herself killed won't help anyone," Professor Snape continued, "At most you'll just be a hindrance to everyone else, so get your act together."
"…" Neville simply nodded and left the office, anger boiled up inside of him as he replayed Professor Snape's words over and over again. How did he expect him just to get over it, it was impossible for him to do! Every night, whenever Neville went to bed, he kept dreaming up ways Hermione had met her end in the Forbidden Forest. Was she terrified when she was caught by the acromantula? Or did she plan to go out in a blaze of glory, fighting as long as she could in order to stay alive? He didn't know the answer to his own questions, and so he started to avoid sleeping, and stared at the ceiling of the dorm room until morning came.
Harry and Ron had tried to cheer him up, and in their words they wanted to get him away from turning into,
"A gloomy version of a Ravenclaw."
And it was nice that they wanted to at least try to help him out, but honestly it didn't really help him at all. The only time he felt somewhat normal was when he was working with plants during Herbology. One day though, he learned something rather interesting.
"Today class," Professor Sprout had said, "We're going to talk about the Horse of Odin, does anyone know what I'm talking about?"
Silence reigned throughout the students, as it seemed that no one had any idea as to what Professor Sprout was talking about. Then someone hesitantly rose their hand into the air.
"Yes, Mr. Potter?" Professor Sprout asked.
"You're talking about Yggdrasil, right?" Harry said, "The tree based in Norse mythology that protects the nine worlds?"
"Very good Mr. Potter!" Professor Sprout clapped her hands, and Harry rubbed the back of his neck, "You seem rather knowledgeable about Yggdrasil, did you read it in a book?"
"No, my uncle and my cousin are really into Norse mythology," Harry explained, "My cousin really likes seeing it in the games he plays, and my uncle just likes to talk about history."
"That seems rather wonderful!" Professor Sprout said before she continued, "Yes, is correct, Yggdrasil was seen as a holy ash tree, which protects the nine worlds."
"It was also a meeting place for the gods, in order to meet to discuss the things that had come up during their rule." Professor Sprout said.
Another student rose their hand, and Professor Sprout called on them.
"Aren't the leaves used to bring people back to life?" the student said. "I think in the game I played, you could bring people back to life by using the leaf?"
"Well…Yggdrasil is imbued with the power of the gods," Professor Sprout said, "So I believe it may be possible to bring someone back to life using the power of an Yggdrasil leaf."
"Oh that's cool, it's too bad that Yggdrasil doesn't really exist though."
"Well I wouldn't say it doesn't exist," Professor Sprout said, "I'd say that we just haven't been looking hard enough, it could be in the place we expect the least…"
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"Hey Harry," The next day, Ron was talking to Harry about another rumor he had heard, "You know this is just a rumor, but I heard that Yggdrasil's in the Forbidden Forest."
"I doubt that Ron," Harry said, "If it was in the Forbidden Forest, wouldn't they have found it by now?"
"Well they haven't searched everywhere," Ron said, "Maybe it's like Professor Sprout said and it's in the place we expect the least."
"I don't think it works that way Ron," Harry said.
"Well if you think about it, doesn't it make sense?"
"What makes sense?"
"It explains why that girl went into the forest, she must've been looking for Yggdrasil!"
"Ron be quiet!" Harry hissed as he looked over at Neville who was picking at his food. "What if Neville heard that, he might do something rash!"
"Harry I'm pretty sure Neville knows better than to go run into the Forbi-"
"Troll!" Professor Quirrell shouted as he ran into the Great Hall, "There's a troll in the dungeons!"
After that, utter panic broke out as people began to run for safety, and amidst all the confusion, Harry didn't notice Neville slip through the door that lead outside…
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Neville took a deep breath as he looked at the entrance to the Forbidden Forest. It was a long shot, but if that rumor was true…if Yggdrasil was really in the forest somewhere…he was willing to take the risk. He'd be fine…hopefully, he thought to himself as he began his quest to find the Yggdrasil leaf…