Chapter Twenty-Six: Control
Following the return of Seamus, Gryffindor Tower had pretty much been a permanent party. Anyone who wasn't too injured to stand was taking part (which was everyone but Seamus, somewhat ironically). Even so, he still managed to be the center of attention, sitting on one of the squashy armchairs in the middle of the room with Demelza.
When Neville stumbled in after treatment from Madam Pomfrey he and Hannah were practically pulled into the center of things with a resounding cheer. Almost everyone from the previous night was there, excepting for the teachers, Anthony, and Padma; Draco had done a real number on the latter two.
"There's even a little more good news," Michael said. "They might not even realize Seamus is gone. The trolls aren't likely to tell, are they? The dementors neither. We're in the clear as long as Seamus stays out of sight. And he could use the time to recover, anyway."
"I don't think so," Neville said. "Draco was there. He'll tell."
"Oh." Michael's face darkened a little.
"Don't worry about it right now," Neville said, looking around at the crowd. "No need to bring everyone down yet."
"Right," Michael said. "Come on, Seamus is over here. He's been asking about you."
Neville turned to Hannah. "I'm going to talk to Seamus. I'll find you later."
"Alright." Hannah smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you." She spotted Ernie and some of the other Hufflepuffs and went over to them.
Seamus was sitting in one of the squashy armchairs near the stairs to his dormitory. A lot of students were gathered around him, with Demelza actually perched on the arm of the chair, an arm slung around Seamus's shoulder. She looked happier than she had in weeks. And Seamus him was grinning too, though he was still thin and dirty. But he brightened even more when he saw Neville walking toward him. It made him look almost back to normal.
"Help me up," Seamus said to Demelza. She got to her feet and helped pull Seamus up while the crowd around him gave him room to stand. Seamus kept an arm around Demelza's shoulder and Neville could tell she was taking most of his weight.
Before he'd even thought about it Neville had pulled Seamus against him. Demelza got pulled in too but she managed to disentangle herself. They were both still injured and the hug hurt but Neville didn't care. He eventually loosened the hug but Seamus renewed it and they didn't part until Seamus actually groaned a little.
"I'm glad you're safe," Neville said softly as he let Seamus go.
"Me too," Seamus said with a smile.
"I wasn't sure how much longer I'd be able to keep this up without you."
"Seems like you did just fine."
"I was close to falling apart." Even so Neville managed a small smile in return.
"I won't be able to really… do much for a while," Seamus said. He gestured to Demelza. "I can't even stand up without her." Neville noticed that Demelza had slipped back in and was again supporting Seamus.
"Doesn't matter," Neville said. Seamus nodded in reply. He looked over to Demelza. "Why don't you use a levitation charm or something?"
"They did something to him. Most spells fizzle out when they touch him. The helpful spells, anyway. Michael's trying to figure out what it might be."
"I'm sure he'll find something."
"He will," Demelza said matter of factly.
By now the small crowd he dissipated so as to give Neville and Seamus some privacy. Seamus took advantage of that fact when he learned forward and spoke. "So where were you last night? You didn't come into the room, and I think I saw you walk in with Hannah."
Neville felt his face grow warm but he was, at the same time, relieved. Just having Seamus ask him about Hannah was reassuring in a way that simply seeing him wasn't. It was like he knew it was really Seamus, and that Seamus was ok.
"I was hurt. We were. Hurt, we were both hurt," Neville stammered. "Her room was closer than the Hospital Wing or, here so we, we just, everyone else was here, but just stayed in her room." He was hoping Seamus wouldn't press it.
"So you two are an item now, huh?" Seamus said. "Glad you finally got the guts to do something about it."
"It was mostly her, actually," Neville said.
"Well, go on, tell me about, I can tell you want to."
Neville filled Seamus in on everything that had happened with him and Hannah over the last few weeks. The celebration was starting to die down a little by the time he wrapped everything up.
"We need to get you to Madam Pomfrey," Demelza said, looking at the thinning crowd. "I think they'll finally let you leave now."
"Alright, I'll go," Seamus said, weakly throwing his hands up. "Nev, can you give us a hand?" Demelza nodded in agreement and together they got Seamus to his feet and across the room. Getting him out of the portrait hole was a tricky prospect but soon enough he was well on his way to the Hospital Wing.
The Wing proved to be far from empty. Besides Anthony and Padma, a few others were laid up with some injuries from their detentions. Michael had to come to see Anthony and Padma, sitting up in two beds near the door; he must have slipped out while Neville had been talking with Seamus. He waved to them just as Madam Pomfrey swept down on them.
"Great Merlin, you don't look like you've eaten since… oh, your face! And your leg, oh, it looks like it's been broken! Get in this bed you shouldn't be standing." Madam Pomfrey pulled him away from Neville and Demelza and put him in the nearest bed. Neville moved to follow him over but Michael's voice stopped him.
"Neville," he called from the side of Anthony's bed. "Hey, come here a second."
"Hey," Neville greeted as he walked over. "I was going to come say hi but I wanted to make sure Seamus was alright first."
"It's fine," Padma said with a small smile. Anthony simply waved his hand.
"I'm sorry you got hurt," Neville said. "I didn't really think anything would happen. If I had…"
"We all knew there were risks," Anthony said.
"And anyway, it's no worse than a detention," Padma agreed. "We could have left hours ago, but you know how Madam Pomfrey is."
"That's good, then," Neville said. "Well, I'm going to go check on Seamus but I'll come back in a minute."
"There's something else, Neville," Michael said.
"Let me show you. Try to stay quiet." He led Neville to one of the bed closed off by curtains. He took a quick look around to see that Madam Pomfrey was occupied and ducked inside the curtain. Neville followed.
Professor Flitwick was laying out on the bed, unconscious and bruised. There were bandages wrapped around one of his shoulders and legs. "Merlin's beard…" Neville said softly. "What happened?"
"Anthony and Padma saw him brought in about an hour ago," Michael explained. "Filch found him outside his office like that."
"The Carrows… or Snape," Neville muttered. "I thought you said they wouldn't find out."
"I didn't think they would," Michael said. "I don't know… maybe they needed more information from him. I figured we had at least a day or so."
Neville suddenly got a sinking feeling in his stomach. "McGonagall," he said. "And… everyone. Merlin… I have to tell them. Everyone." He looked to Michael. "Don't leave alone, without Demelza. Both of you stick together and tell everyone you can. I'm going for McGonagall and Sprout."
Michael nodded. He and Neville ducked out of the curtains. Madam Pomfrey said something to Neville as he left the room but he didn't look back. He wanted to say bye to Seamus but he knew he didn't have time. He might already be too late, if Flitwick had been attacked at least an hour ago. But he had to try anyway. He began to sprint toward the Greenhouses, figuring Professor Sprout would be tending to the plants.
He left the castle he saw Amycus and Alecto walking back toward it. He swore under his breath and ducked back inside and into a broom closet.
"Last one now," he heard Amycus said. "They've been thorns in our side for far too long, but now they will know they cannot cross us."
"Whatever," Alecto's voice said.
Sprout. They got to Sprout. McGonagall's next. Did he go see Sprout, or try to catch up and help McGonagall? He decided on McGonagall. Anyone could tell Filch or Madam Pomfrey about Sprout but McGonagall would need him fast. He tried to think if there was a faster route to McGonagall's office but his mind pulled a blank on the castle layout. He would just have to follow them. He has just reached the stairs when he voice called out to him.
"Neville!" He turned to the sound of Hannah's voice and saw her coming down the stairs on the other side.
"Hannah!"
"Michael told us what was going on," she said between breaths. "I came to help."
"Go to the Greenhouses," Neville said. "They already got Sprout."
Hannah stopped dead, her face going pale. "They…" she trailed off. "Merlin."
"I think they're going for McGonagall next. I'm going to help her."
"I'll come with you," she said, taking a step forward.
"No," Neville said with a shake of his head. "Sprout needs help. Go! Now!" He turned to run up the stairs and didn't hear Hannah follow.
When he reached McGonagall's office he found it deserted. The door had been forced open and her desk had been pushed back against the wall. But it didn't really look like there had been a fight though. More like they had been frustrated they hadn't found her.
Where were her personal chambers? Had he ever been there? He didn't think so. Then Alecto's voice drifted from down the hall and Neville took after it. Soon he caught sight of them rounding a corner and slowed down. His chest was hurting and he was breathing hard. He didn't think there was much point in trying to get ahead of them anyway since he didn't know where they were going. He would just have to come at them from behind once they got there. And if he didn't catch his breath it would be hard to cast spells properly; he never really gotten the hang of non-verbal incantations.
He finally caught up with them just outside McGonagall's door. Amycus tried opening it by hand but it was locked.
"Allow me," Alecto said. "Reducto!" The door shattered into splinters. McGonagall shouted something from within as Alecto rushed inside. Amycus walked more slowly, apparently wanting to make an entrance.
"Stupefy!" A red jet of light shot from Neville's wand. Amycus looked to him and snarl came over his face.
"Protego!" Amycus called back with a swipe of his wand. Neville's spell bounded harmlessly away.
"You. Longbottom." Amycus' snarl became more of a smile. "We were going to see to you today as well. You've been a problem for far too long!" Amycus cast a spell that Neville didn't recognize. Neville ducked behind as suit of armor and it sailed past. "I don't know what else I can try!" Another spell struck the armor, knocking it to pieces and leaving Neville exposed. "Nothing worked! Everything I tried, every trap I laid and you refused to give up, you stupid little boy!" More spells came at him as Neville fired off a few of his own. He threw up a Shield Charm just in time to deflect a purple spell.
"Dissimate!" Amycus shouted. An orange spell hit Neville's shield and instantly destroyed it.
"Pyrus!" Neville shouted. A stream of fire shot from his wand. Amycus backed away. "Aguamenti!" Water shot from his wand, dousing Neville's flame.
"Foolish child, you- ag!" A suit of armor struck Amycus into the chest and knocked him to the floor. Neville held it magically in place to stall him but he couldn't think of what to do next.
"Eagh!" Amycus blew the armor apart, scattering the pieces around the hallway. "You'll have to do much better than that, boy." Amycus got to his feet, an animalistic snarl on his face.
"Pyrus!" Neville tried again out of desperation. This somehow seem to infuriate Amycus even more.
"Cyro!" Amycus countered. Ice shot from the tip of his wand this time. It extinguished the fire and then travelled up Neville wand and covered it and his arm in a solid block of ice up to his shoulder. He couldn't move his arm, let alone cast a spell.
"Ha," Amycus said weakly. He looked tired and a bit singed from the last fire spell. "You see? You can't do anything. You're just a child. And I still have a few lessons to teach you." Neville almost groaned at the remark, in spite of his situation.
"I am not a student." Amycus and Neville's head turned toward the sound of McGonagall voice. A trickle of blood ran from a cut on her cheek and there was no sign of Alecto.
Amycus' wand shot toward her but McGonagall was faster. A blue spell struck Amycus in the chest. He flew against the wall and stuck there, frozen in place.
"Mr. Longbottom," McGonagall said. "Are you alright?" She took a step toward him and her leg buckled under her. She caught herself on the wall and straightened herself out.
"Professor," Neville said. He could movie his arm as he walked toward her and the ice and starting to weight him down. McGonagall was fine, however. She tapped her wand on his arm and the ice began to melt. She stood straight as the last of the ice melted and she inspected his arm but she favored her bad leg.
"Thank you, Mr. Longbottom," McGonagall said softly. "I think it is time for both of us to visit the Hospital Wing once again."
"Good idea," Neville agreed. He looked back at Amycus as they walked away. "What about them?"
"I daresay Filch will come along," she said with a small smile. "Eventually." Neville laughed out loud. "What?" she asked.
"You just reminded me of Professor Dumbledore."
.
For the next week all the students were on guard. They were expecting some sort of fallout. Neville, in particular, was expecting any minute to be jumped by Draco or Ted Nott and a crowd of Slytherins at every moment, or perhaps simply by Amycus and Alecto themselves.
But nothing happened. Not to him, not to anyone else. Only Nott commented when Seamus returned to class a few days later (though the looks Draco gave them two of them could have killed.) Neville wasn't sure if the Carrows were licking their wounds or if they were planning some sort of revenge… and he decided to not find out. He called a very small DA meeting with a big plan in mind.
"The Desensulator," Neville said to the gathered students. "I want to destroy it."
"Great idea," Seamus agreed from a bed the Room had supplied for him. He was still not fully recovered.
"It is," Neville went on. "It's a symbol of their power over us. The pain from detention fades, or you get used to it. Everything except for that. It sticks with you for days, or… longer."
"Yeah it's a good plan but how will you get it?" Lavender Brown asked.
"We're going to walk right into their room and take it," Neville said. "Their room, or wherever they keep it. I'm tired of all this hiding. It makes it seem like we're afraid and we don't need them thinking that."
"Besides, you did get in a fight with Amycus Carrow the other day," Seamus pointed out, "so it's not really a secret anymore."
"Good point," Neville said with a smile.
"Hey, I have a question," Michael said. "Is this place safe?"
Neville looked around the room.
"The truth is, I'm not sure. That's why I only have the six of you here." Two from each house, plus himself. "We're not completely sure how the Room of Requirement works. But I think if we specifically need it to keep the Carrows and whoever out, it will. I think that whoever's in the Room takes precedence. And if someone else were already in the Room, we wouldn't be able to get inside." Neville paused to let that sink in. "However, keep in mind that Draco, at the least, knew about the Room before the start of this year but they weren't able to get in until they were disguised. So I think that means they won't be able to get in. But really, all we can do is wait."
"That's comforting," Padma Patil said wryly.
"I know," Neville said. "But that's the best we can do for now." He looked over them. "Take the word back to your houses. This could be very dangerous, or it could be a walk in the park. It depends on if the Carrows are around when we come calling. Make sure everyone knows that."
After that there were no other questions so Neville ended the meeting. Hannah came up to him as they were leaving and took his arm.
"How do you feel?" he asked her. He was having a hard time reading her expression.
"I dunno. It's exciting, but in a nerve wracking kind of way."
"Well, that's what we're all about, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Hannah said with a small laugh. "So what are you up to till then?"
"I don't know. I'm kind of bad at waiting." He scratched the back of his head.
"Want to go down to the kitchen and see if we can convince the House Elves to give us some early dessert?"
"That is an amazing idea," Neville said with a huge grin.
.
Neville was a little sad to see that several of the younger DA members hadn't shown up. It was possible that some of them just had homework- Neville had been adamant about the younger students keeping up with their studies- in the classes that weren't run by the Carrows anyway. He was hoping they would grow up into a world where they wouldn't have to fight, he supposed.
All day he'd had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. Draco had said that Harry was dead. Malfoy couldn't be trusted, of course, but he didn't always lie either…
In the end, he'd elected to keep it to himself. Hannah hadn't mentioned anything about it and he'd assumed she'd been too out of it after hitting her head to make sense of what Draco was saying and Seamus still half-thought he was dreaming it all at that point.
Eventually, though, the appointed hour came and they all met outside the Room of Requirement. While he was waiting, he thought that they should set up schedule to watch the Room and see if anyone else ever went in, and what happened when they did.
The others showed up soon after. Anthony and Padma were still a bit off from Draco's attack so Michael and Terry attached themselves to Neville and Lavender; Parvati had stayed behind to look after Seamus.
Along with the four of them were Hannah, Ernie, and Susan, all looking eager. Susan especially looked ready to fight, which was difficult for her. There were also several younger students from all the houses, most of whom Neville recognized but couldn't name.
"Alright. The plan is pretty simple. We hit their private chambers. I can't imagine that they'd keep the Desensulator anywhere else. But if it's not there, we'll try their office." He looked over the DA members, about twenty-five in all. They'd never moved in a group this large before, but they'd never actually been looking for a fight before either. "Any questions? No? Alright, let's get going."
Terry and Susan donned invisibility cloaks to scout ahead and behind but Neville didn't really expect to run in to anything besides Filch. As they walked through the dark halls of Hogwarts, Neville wished that Seamus was at his side. Seamus and Ginny, and Luna, and Harry and Ron and Hermione.
"A real fight with the Carrows," Michael whispered as they walked. "I'm excited."
"Only if we're unlucky," Neville said. In spite of their numbers, Neville was still quite nervous.
"Fighting the trolls and Dementors wasn't much fun," Lavender pointed out.
"But it was exciting," Michael replied.
"Fair enough."
Neville chuckled a little. "I know what you mean though."
"I think we all do. The trolls and Dementors were one thing, but I've actually had dreams of hitting Alecto Carrow in the face with a Stunning Charm," Michael said. "Among others."
Neville understood the feeling. He'd been somewhat shocked during his fight with Amycus. But, though he did not consider himself a violent person, the memory of the fight had quickly become sweet.
Hannah came up beside Neville while they had been talking. She tugged on his arm and he fell back a little to walk alongside her.
"I know what you're going to say," she said, "but I have to ask. You know I do. Are you sure this is a good idea? Right now, I mean? With Padma, Anthony, and Seamus still out we're not at full strength. And you're still hurt."
"I'm fine," Neville insisted.
Hannah poked him in the side where his rib was still a little bruised and he winced noticeably. "No, you're not."
"Ok, I'm not," Neville agreed.
"But we still need to do it tonight."
"Yes," Neville said. "They've tried to break us so many times. We need to let them know that even when we're down… we're not down for good."
"I know," Hannah said, smiling a little. "I just worry. It's what I do."
"Someone should. Gryffindors don't worry nearly enough." Hannah smiled a little wider and wrapped her arms around his.
She only pulled away when they got close to the Carrows chambers. Terry and Susan took off and stowed their cloaks while everyone drew their wands. He made a quick head count to make sure nothing had happened along the way before marching up to the Carrows door.
He didn't bother listening in or knocking, just raised his wand. "Reducto!" The door shattered the splinters and the DA poured in. Their room was deserted. Looking at it, it was clear which Carrow occupied which side of the room. The left side had an unmade bed, clothes strewn about the floor and a bottle of Firewhiskey tucked under the bed. The right side, by contrast, had a neatly made bed with clean sheets, a spotless floor, and a corked bottle of shimmering cider on the bedside table (though Neville spotted a bottle of oakmeade not so cunningly concealed under his bed.)
Ernie and Terry had already gone forward, searching the room. The Desensulator was not well hidden; Ernie found it almost instantly in the top drawer of Amycus' bedside table.
"Careful!" Neville said as Ernie was reaching for it. "It might be hexed!"
"Oh, right," Ernie said, pulling away. Neville walked up it and looked it over. Even stuck in a drawer with old papers and a few things Neville tried to not look at, it still seemed menacing. He tapped it carefully with his wand, nonverbally casting a counter-jinx that Flitwick had taught them. There was no reaction, but Neville didn't think there was supposed to be. He tried to sense any other trace of magic on the device but he didn't feel a thing. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the Desensulator.
Nothing happened. Neville let out his breath and heard others do the same behind him. It almost seemed like it had gone too smoothly but Neville didn't want to think about that. "Let's go," he said.
The DA quickly filed out into the hall. Susan and Terry quickly donned their cloaks again. Neville heard their footsteps off down the hall, followed the two knocks on the wall that indicated it was clear.
"Everyone back to your own Houses. We don't have enough cloaks to go around so just be careful," Neville ordered. The DA members broke up into their Houses and scattered, heading back to their towers. Neville was joined by Lavender and some of the younger Gryffindors. Neville had the Desensulator tucked under his arm, at once both happy to have it and not wanting to touch it.
'This is just so great," Lavender said. "I hate that thing so much. What are you going to do with it?"
"I'm not sure," Neville admitted. "I'll probably stow in the Room of Requirement for now. Then maybe drop it out my window or something."
Lavender laughed. "The rest of the year is going to be great. I can feel it," she said. But Neville found it hard to share in her giddiness. He felt like it had been too easy. Not like it was a trap or anything; he had the feeling Amycus was done with traps. More like that he just didn't care about the Desensulator anymore, and that worried Neville in a way that was hard to voice.