Synopsis: The dimensionally-travelled Neville is in his second year of Hogwarts. Though the general flow of the plotline was still in place, his arrival had already caused ripples inside the school: Hogwarts now had a Student Council, with Draco as the vice-president; Hermione's crush on Ron is her and Neville's mutually shared secret; and, even if Neville was unsure, the fissure between Harry and Snape showed promises of not being a lost cause? Either way, the second year must go on!
Christmas holiday is here and Neville goes home to enjoy a well-deserved break from all the worries throughout the year so far at Hogwarts. Just as last year though, the Drakuls and Elena had unsuspectingly sprung on him to share the holidays. He was doing fine by busying himself discussing plans for a new Hoglake business until he was dragged to a Christmas Market, where Elena and Cho had a run-in. Hilarity does not ensure because Neville was caught in the middle of two curses…
Chapter 34 – Longbottom senior's inheritance." I'm… really, really, really sorry!" Cho clamped her eyes shut and apologised with her hands clapped together. It was such a typically cute apology expression from those animes… I would appreciate it more if I wasn't lying in a bed at St Mungo's though.
" It's okay Cho, it's not your fault." Neville reassured, " It was really quick charmwork on your part however... You sure we need to continue your tuition –"
" Yes, I'm sure Neville." Cho shook her head good-naturedly.
" I'm really sorry again dear for what our daughter did to you." Mrs Drakul was also at the bedside, but she frowned at the doorway as she added, " We've really spoilt our daughter too much."
" No, no. I'm sure it was a mistake since Elena thought I was someone else." Cho's politeness shone like a beacon to the head of Beauxbatons PTA. If Mrs Drakul had a son, Cho would definitely be the type she wished the son would bring home. Neville knew better.
" Oh Cho dear, I really want to make it up to you in some way…" Mrs Drakul continued to swoon for Cho while the young girl countered flawlessly. Neville turned his attention to the shadow behind the ward doors' window, where Elena had banished herself to stand.
Neville, who had been practicing Dracula's floating magic too much, shot in between the two girls' spells with a bit of miscalculation and was simultaneously hit by both. The two curses alone were probably nothing significant, but since the spells originated from two different branches of magic, and hit simultaneously, they mixed into something complicated. At least that was the reason a Healer gave for Neville's admittance to the ward for a night of examination even if he felt fine.
Spending Christmas Eve in a hospital… If I feel fine then I should be free to go wherever I want! If they think I'm some weak foal that'll collapse after two spells from two little girls, then how am I ever going to help Harry with Voldemort? I fought a troll last year! How many Healers here fought a troll, huh? Restraining me to a hospital bed! The nerve!
As if hearing Neville's thoughts, Gran gave him a stern stare as if to say if he tried anything, he would have one hell of a retribution for it. Neville avoided glancing at Gran and looked at Old Al, the person who immediately apparated the fainted Neville here in his arms. I only blacked out for about… a moment or something. They're making too much of a fuss… Why do wizard hospitals smell as bad as muggle ones anyway?
" Neville, is there anything you need brought to you from the manor?" Old Al asked and Neville shook his head.
" We'd better go now, visiting time is almost over." Enid pointed out and the group prepared to leave.
Cho turned back for the last time and apologised again, " I'm really sorry Neville. I hope you get better soon."
" I'm fine! There's no need for me to be in a hospital at all!" Neville grumbled but Cho laughed as if she was playing him like a Tickle-Me-Elmo. She leaned into his ear and whispered without the adults hearing.
" Wait until we get back to Hogwarts and I'll make it up to you, okay?" Cho's smile as she left gave Neville a lurch in his stomach. Not that clichéd 'butterflies in my stomach' type lurch, but the 'this is going to cost me' type that was a lot closer to dread and wary.
" And I was just wondering when was the next time I see another girl – ahem, female friend of yours." Gran was the last to leave and she had a glint in her eyes that rivalled Dumbledore, forging a sigh, " But to think you're being fought over by two girls already –"
" Gran. If they were fighting over me I won't be the one who got hurt." Neville tried his luck for the last time, " Can't you ask again if I don't have to stay the night? I feel fine!"
" No." All humour in Gran's expression was gone and she lectured, " I will not have you risking your health just because you're scared of sleeping alone in a ward."
Neville rolled his eyes, frustrated that Gran thought he was some kid when usually she trusted his maturity. " You know it's not that Gran…"
" Then why do you hate staying at the hospital so much Neville?" Gran asked, concern in her eyes.
Neville looked away out the window at the dull sky and surrendered, " Fine. I'll stay. I just don't like it."
Gran sighed and left after waiting for a second or two for an explanation that never came. Just as Neville thought he could charm the curtains around his bed close, heedless of underage magic laws in the public eyes, a small figure with elaborate hair shuffled towards his bed with her head bowed.
" Hey. Are you alright?" Elena asked without looking up. Neville could tell she really was sorry this time, but her pride just got in the way of apologising. Cho is almost a year younger than you so how come you're the one that acts so immature? Seriously, you're just going to get shouted at by Mrs Drakul later…
" I'm fine Elena. Just remember don't be so quick to draw your wand next time. Actually – ever." Neville recalled their initial meeting and let out a laugh, " What's with you and duelling people you meet for the first time? It's not some vampire tradition is it?"
Elena clearly remembered how they met as well and stammered, " Of course not! Vampires are the most elegant and graceful –"
" Don't forget proud, arrogant, and brash." Neville cut off her steam and she looked as if she would hit him but stopped when she remembered she had still to apologise.
" I… I just want to say… it's just…" The little girl's face was getting redder by each word, and Neville put her out of her misery as he spotted her fiddling with the bracelet he gave her, now on her wrist.
" Just give me back the bracelet and we'll call it even." Neville said with a smile and Elena expectedly jumped back in shock.
" What? You can't! You can't! You already gave this to me and… and… You just can't!" Neville never thought his joke would drive the little vampire almost to tears and he quickly straightened up on his bed.
" I was just kidding Elena. Don't look like I'm going to murder you." Neville tried to pacify the young girl, which was something he was never good at doing. " I know you're sorry. Just don't do anything like this again, okay?"
" O-okay…" Elena hiccupped, but her hand was gripping the bracelet on her wrist tightly. " I'm sorry Neville… And thank you for your present…"
" Wow… That… actually sounded genuine." Neville put a hand on his heart as if he had just suffered a stroke and that seemed to relight the fire in her.
" That was the first time I said sorry in my life and you… you…"
" You've been stammering a lot since I've met you again. You really should try harder at learning English." Neville really should not have said that because Elena gave him quite a knock on the head before she ran out of the ward.
Now that's the little vampire pain of a cousin I have.
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Neville jumped out of bed with an aggravated frown and stormed out of the ward. He had worked himself up mentally, while he was futilely trying to fall asleep, at how he really should not be stuck in a hospital like some sick animal. He decided to walk off his huff and if anyone were to say roaming the halls on Christmas Eve was not allowed, then whoever it was would help him vent quite efficiently. One of the perks of being twelve years old was that I can be unreasonable with minimal consequences.
Neville roamed about St Mungo's, the emergency room too far away downstairs to be of that much noise. He was just wandering around the corridors, thinking when he could run into some hot nurses when a sign caught his eyes at the end of the corridor. Spell damage…
Neville recognised this place from the few times he was here, and knew who resided behind those double doors. The last times he was here, it was just half an hour of awkward silence, smiling politely and avoiding anyone's eye contact. After all, although the original Neville really loved his parents, it was simply impossible for him to act exactly the same now, especially to someone out of their minds. He took a few trying steps in the other direction, berating himself internally, when a patient somewhere started bellowing Jingle Bells down the hall. It is Christmas Eve after all… And I'm here seldom enough as it is…
Neville took a deep breath and headed for where Frank and Alice Longbottom would be, treading lightly since some of the other patients were already asleep. Pulling past the white curtains, Neville stepped into the bed spots of his parents in this world. It was next to the windows and actually had quite a scenic view of the garden below, but neither of the occupants here looked out of it very much. At that moment, the pale winter moon shone through the glass and highlighted the white hairs on the two elderly-looking faces in front of him.
Frank was in his wheelchair, idly staring into the wall with a drip suspended magically in the air. Alice sat on the edge of her bed, her mouth hanging open for the candy she took from the bag on her lap, still wrapped. Even the moonlight did not bring out the same blue spark present in Neville's that should be in their eyes, for theirs were doomed to remain dull and lacklustre for the pain they had to endure in the last war.
Neville refrained from sighing in front of them, and made his way closer to Alice to help her with her eat her treat. It was a sort of wafer candy and Neville gently pried it from her hands, but she was not about to put up any resistances anyway. He unwrapped the candy and fed the candy to her mouth, and was most relieved that she managed to at least understand that she should chew on the candy with her untidy set of teeth.
Just as Neville straightened himself up to stand, Alice stretched out her arm with her palm faced upwards. He instinctively searched her gaze, but they were unfocused as usual. He wondered what it was that she wanted, deducting it must be another sweet from the bag, and was just about to bin the wrapper still in his hands when she emitted some sort of screeching noise. He followed her line of vision and this time he understood.
" Oh… Yeah, the candy wrappers." Neville never really connected with these two people before, whom he should refer to as parents in this world, but remembering the books, somehow he still felt a pang of disappointment. As he surrendered the wrapper over to Alice, grasping her hand around his, she stared at Neville blankly for a few moments. She then returned a slight smile as if Neville had helped pick up some of her fallen oranges off the ground. A stranger's gratitude.
" Alice. And Frank too." Neville turned and called to the frail man not far way, who turned to look their way probably more for the noise than recognising his own name. " There is something I have to tell you… And as you seem to know Alice… I am not your son, Neville Longbottom.
" The truth is, my name is Ness and I am from another universe. About four years ago, your son unfortunately… drowned in Blackpool during an accident. It was not through my intention and I've still to understand why, but somehow I have taken over his body. It might be possible that he can be living in my body in the other world, but I really don't know... I am sorry you lost your sole heir, and if you are conscious you might hex me right now for using his mouth to speak to you like this – but I must keep this identity. You two are both famous Aurors who lost your sanity due to Voldemort. I know he's coming back, and I'm going to help stop a second war from breaking out if I can help it. That is why… I must borrow this identity in order to do so… I can't promise I can leave the Longbottom name in history as anything great – but I will definitely live the life that I would have lost otherwise to its fullest. If I had not came here… I know your son Neville would have grown up to be a great man."
Neville stopped there, feeling as old as he should again for one of these rare moments. He released Alice's hand and at that same moment, a distant cheer could be heard from another part of the hospital. Glancing at the nearby clock, it showed that the time was midnight.
" Ah yes. I forgot. It was Christmas Eve…" Neville stood up and scratched the back of his head. He looked at the Longbottoms and said, " It's probably not the best atmosphere here, but Merry Christmas. It's my first Christmas with you two – sorry about that. Most of the time outside Hogwarts I hardly even leave the manor with me busying myself trying to find some traces of Arcane magic –"
" Water the Cat." Neville almost jumped when he heard the rasping voice. He turned his wide eyes at Frank, who was staring out the window towards the moon.
" D-did you say something?" Neville hesitantly approached the hunched over old man who should look a lot younger, Neville's gaze trained on his dry and cracked lips.
" Water the cat …" Neville whispered to himself. He would have bet anything that was what he heard from Longbottom senior's mouth, but it made so little sense. The Longbottoms usually lost the ability to speak due to their mental illness, but at their rare moments of verbal capability, they were able to quote things they had said before with great precision. At least, that was what Gran told him. You can either water the plants or feed the cat… but this contraction just doesn't work.
" Nev…ille…" Neville was in for another shock when Alice nudged him from behind. He blinked as she had her fist stretched out towards him.
Not knowing what to do and wondering if what he confessed was so much of a shock that even they would assault him for it, Neville took a step back. Alice only advanced though and stared insistently at her fist. In one of the few great gambles he had made since he arrived in this world, Neville reached out his own hand under hers.
Alice released the contents in her hand and the candy wrapper, as plain as any, with a big yellow 'Wafer' printed on its side, drifted onto Neville's palm like the first fall of winter snow when he was a kid.
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The dew that gathered on the grass since morning remained frozen and white. Just as a shadow loomed over them, and the expected crunching sound of the brittle needles was supposed to come, they were merely grazed by a drift of gentle breeze. Amidst the rest of the flora temporarily slumbering underneath the frosty blanket of winter, a young girl exhaled a gleam of breath sparkling in the pale daylight. It was the picture of a fairy gliding through paradise, with her hair caressing her pale cheeks as she turned her head back behind her…
Only for Elena to see a panting little boy ungracefully kicking at the air as if he was a monkey learning to swim in the ocean, fighting to stay afloat. Neville's motions in the air were far less fluid than Elena's and he looked as if he was riding an invisible clown bicycle. They were in the manor's garden, supposedly playing a game of 'tag' outside while Neville practiced his floating magic. Of course, his aptitude in the spell compared to Elena was like comparing the flight of a hawk to a chicken. Gliding while falling down was one thing, but actually floating a distance through the air…
" Seriously! Why did dad even teach you our magic? You're obviously too stupid to ever do it properly!" Elena's smile had a superior twist to it as she looked down on Neville, who had by now squashed the grass underneath him as he sat to catch his breath.
" Just… just… just you wait!" Neville gasped, wrapping Dracula's Cloak tighter around him. As mentioned before, it served to adjust his body temperature: it was cooling his warm limbs from the exercise while he could use the collar to warm up his numb cheeks from the wind that blew on his face as he flew.
Elena frowned at his actions, " Stop that! That's a vampire's cape! You really have the sophistication of an ape."
" So quick to forget how apologetic you're supposed to be?" Neville growled, standing up again to his full height.
Of course, it was still shorter than Elena as she stepped closer to him just to emphasise that fact. " The healers said you were fine and you came home right the next day!"
" You sent me to hospital Elena," Neville stated flatly.
" Where did you get to know that Cho girl anyway?" Elena crossed her arms and looked away, blatantly trying to change the subject. Changing the subject is never subtle. If it is, then you're speaking to some very professional politician.
" I tutor her." Neville took a last deep breath as his gaze travelled out to the sea just beyond his garden. The manor's garden was enclosed by a low white stone wall, and housed both magical and non-magical plants. Neville never spent much time here of course, even for his physical training, as expected from his lack of Herbology talents.
" How can you tutor her? Isn't she a year above you?" Elena asked disbelievingly.
Neville figured it would sound even more ridiculous to tell her that Cho did not really need tutoring and spent their time instead arguing whether she was interested in Harry Potter. " Well, I'm just smart."
" Ha." Elena faked a laugh and pointed her wand at a nearby flower of some sort. It changed from a pale green to a luminous purple colour and started dancing on its stem. " Bet you can't do that."
Neville waved his wand at the silly plant to preserve whatever was left of its plant-like dignity then turned to the small pond. He first sliced the ice frozen over the pond into rectangular slabs and then stacked them into a house of cards on top of the water surface. All this was done with only a few swishes and stabs of his wand of course.
" Is that the best you can do?" Elena rolled her eyes. " Moving objects and simple cutting magic."
" Okay, we'll do it your way." Neville rolled his eyes and pointed at the iced deck of cards again. The ice slabs quickly rearranged itself into the shape of a boom box and started blasting out music in time with water shooting out of the pond like a fountain. " And for the last touch."
The boom box was turned into a purple colour. Practicing hard this year sure paid off… At winning a game of showing off with my cousin – but it's a start.
" Pppleease!" Elena did a quick motion with her wand and set Neville's work on fire. " Now if you're ready to see some real magic –"
" Actually I would like to put out the cattails that caught fire because of you destroying my display." Neville growled and Elena gave a loud laugh to mask her own chagrin. " Aguamenti!"
Neville shot a jet of water at the burning plant and since the fire was on the pond to start with, the flame was quickly extinguished despite them being magical. He stared pointedly at Elena, who adamantly avoided his gaze.
" What a nice garden this is! I bet your grandmother put a lot of time in here," Elena commented, nodding as she surveyed around her.
The acting ignorant tactic did not work with Neville. " Actually, it's just the house elves. But that doesn't mean you can set our plants on fire."
Elena took a few quick steps away and he could tell she was fighting to retain her neutral tone of voice. " Nice foxgloves you have here. We have a beautiful botanical garden with a long stretch of greenhouses in Beauxbatons. The flowers in there –"
Neville offhandedly spiked, " So, what about those showy magic?"
" Okay! I screwed up! Happy?" Elena pointed her wand at the aforementioned foxgloves and sliced it with a Severing Charm. " And I suggest you drop it before I give you a new hair cut like I did with these foxgloves."
" I'm so glad you're not really a princess or else a lot of people are going to get innocently beheaded." Neville shook his head and was just about to walk back inside for a snack when he halted at the sight behind Elena. " Hey… you said before you liked plants right?"
" I didn't say I like plants. I said I was good at Herbology." Elena scoffed at Neville as if he was a remedial student and rattled on, " I'm even better at Potions. Those two subjects go hand in hand really. You need to know how to acquire the perfect ingredients for precise potion-making after all –"
" Yeah very nice." Neville cut her off, wondering how much the original Neville would agree with her. She gave him an irritated frown but he had a very interesting observation to share, " Do you know of plants that… you know, morph? Like morphing from one plant to something completely different?"
" Morph? Like an Animagus?" Elena quirked her eyebrow. " How bad are you at Herbology again? You can't just make species up."
" Then please explain how the cattails that were on fire turned into foxgloves, then are sliced to grow back into… Well whatever other weird name they've got, I know they belong in a Western movie."
Elena turned round dubiously but gasped at the sight of the morphed plant. " A rabbitbrush? I can't believe you're right Neville, rabbitbrush only grows naturally in America."
" Hey! I didn't get a zero in Herbology you know! Not very good marks, but it's something," Neville reminded her. " Well, back to this. Why does the plant do that?"
" The plant's clearly been charmed Neville." Elena turned back and asked, " You're really bad at Herbology, aren't you?"
" A moment ago you were about to set my garden on fire." Neville waved her away and plucked one of the rabbitbrush to examine. " It looks… completely normal."
Elena came back with, " Could you even tell the difference between normal and abnormal?" I'm this close to snapping her head off.
" Well is it normal rabbitbrush?" Neville asked.
" Oh yeah. It's normal." Elena risked his wrath anyway and decided to try the Severing Charm again, but the rabbitbrush stayed cropped this time on the ground. " So fire?"
Many different spells were tried on the poor rabbitbrush after that to satiate Elena's curiosity, with Neville on the side trying his best to preserve some of it. It seemed as if that patch of plants was indeed charmed and it just kept growing back, given enough time. It was a solid half and hour before Elena got bored – and Neville convinced her that Gran would probably know.
Turned out Gran did not though when they asked her in the drawing room. Neville walked back to his room after the snack Gran lured him into eating, and thought about the strange plant again. Who would enchant some random plant by the pond to change species? If one of my ancestors liked the different plants they would've just planted them! It's not like we don't have room… Neville walked into his bedroom and slumped himself down on his leather chair, head still down in contemplation.
Possibly it's just a test or something… Like the Weasley twins probably did to random objects at the Burrow. Or it's all together just a random stray spell that turned out weird? Neville studied the wafer wrapper Alice Longbottom gave him in the hospital as it caught his eyes lying on his desk. Yeah as if. If this plant did not have a story behind it then there would be no murder mysteries or suspense novels in this world.
" You know, this place really is empty." Neville jumped right off his chair at Elena's unexpected voice from behind his chair.
Glaring into those big red eyes that would probably get a few Rei-loving otakus crazy, Neville growled, " I see you have followed me back."
" Obviously," Elena went to lean against his desk as she continued to look around her. " I'm surprise you didn't go to the Study. You know, cooping yourself with books as always. Anyway why the change today?"
" I figured it won't be long till I go back to Hogwarts, oh and you guys back to Bulgaria, and I can afford a few days off until then." Neville thought back to the things that awaited him back at Hogwarts and he took a long breath.
" And now you have nothing to do except for staring at an empty candy wrapper." This girl's always one to lift your spirits, isn't she? " If you want wafer candy I suggest the kitchen."
" Wait. Say that again." Neville leapt out of his chair and asked. Funny how words sounds so different with an accent.
Elena replied shrugging, " The kitchen?"
" No, before that."
" Wafer candy?"
" That's it! I've got it." Swiping the wrapper with him Neville hurried out of the door.
" I know you love to eat by now, but why are you suddenly so excited about wafer candy?" Elena hurried after him, hesitating a bit as they missed a turned. " The kitchen's the other way."
" I know! I'm talking about the… weird – morphing plant," Neville could not find a better word to describe it at the moment. Arriving back by the pond, the rabbitbrush was no longer there, its position replaced by the original cattails. " I knew it."
" You expected it to turn back into cattails? Well… obviously. I did too."
" Do you remember how you set fire to –"
Elena snapped, " Accidentally! Are you ever going to let it go?"
" Well, you know how I put out that fire?"
" I asked are you ever going to let –"
" 'Water the cat' means water the cattails. Aguamenti!" Neville shot the jet of water again at the cattails and as he expected, they turned into foxgloves. " Diffindo!"
" Okay fine. You found out what you did to get us back to square one." Elena harrumphed, but she was obviously just frustrated that he showed her.
" I got this at the hospital. From my parents." Neville handed the wafer wrapper to her and she gingerly took it.
" Neville, I know your parents are – What are you doing!" Elena put her hand over his to try and stop him, but he already finished the incantation to ignite the rabbitbrush. As the plant burst into flames, the smoke quickly cleared and a completely different set of plant grew from the ground before their eyes. " Goatsbeard this time? Neville, how did you know?"
" There should still be one more," Neville tapped his wand on his other palm and asked, " What modern magic spells do you consider… well, Earth elemental?"
" I don't know. Maybe… maybe… a Reductor Curse?" Elena suggested.
" Good as any I can think of. Reducto!" Neville directed his wand at the goatsbeard plant. After the dust settled, no new plant came up to take its place and Elena fumed.
" Look what you did! You broke it! And I thought you knew what you were doing!" Elena was just about to make a pull at his ear but Neville hastily scrambled forward and stared down at the inconspicuous hole that presented itself on the ground.
He could not hear anything from underneath except for the waves below the cliff, which he could have heard in the garden anyway. It did not seem completely dark at the bottom of the hole either, though it might be quite a fall. Of course, Neville had enough confidence now with this floating magic to land safely unless he jumped out from the height of a flying plane. He turned back to Elena and said, " Stay here."
Neville was just about to jump in when his Cloak was grabbed and choked him from behind. The spoilt girl exclaimed, " Hey! You're not leaving me here!"
" Elena, we don't know what's down there. It could be dangerous." Neville straightened the collar of his Cloak and turned back with a frown. " I suspect this has something to do with my parents and Arcane magic so –"
" Hey look over there!" Elena pointed somewhere behind Neville, but he just stared back at her with a stone face.
" Oh yeah. The oldest trick in bo –" Elena tried to take advantage of Neville in his mid-rant to jump down the hole right beside him first.
" Whoa!" Unfortunately, in her rush, she tripped and fell head first through the opening in the ground.
" Damn it!" Neville immediately jumped in after her, but worked up his floating magic in order to accelerate in his fall.
In the next few seconds Neville could only see darkness around him, but managed to grab hold of Elena as he had purposely sped up his own fall to catch up. He could feel Elena's voice getting caught in her throat at his unexpected touch as she stopped screaming, and in a flash of light they exited the small 'tunnel' from the garden and were freefalling in a spacious underground cavern.
The cavern seemed naturally formed, and was lit from the opening not far away out into the ocean. They were probably at the bottom of the cliff that the manor stood on, and some protective enchantments were used to keep the ocean waves from flooding the cavern. Amongst the mixture of stone spires and smoothed out rocks that were like sculptures from a temple, a large waterfall spanning the height of the cavern wall created a small clear lake in the middle, which led back out into the ocean. By the side of the lake was an artificial plateau of some sorts, where it was magically cleared to house various furnishings such as desks and bookshelves.
Neville gradually descended from the ceiling of the cavern alongside the waterfall, his Cloak billowing around him as Elena and him spiralled through their descent, Neville trying to keep balance and control over his floating magic in case them plummeted. After a quick browse of the state of the cavern, Neville looked down to find two sparkling ruby eyes glinting back at him, as tranquil as the light reflecting off the clear lake surface that he had just touched down upon with one slight ripple.
He guessed Elena probably wrapped her arms around his neck when they were still in the dark part of the entrance tunnel while she was falling, and he did not receive any auxiliary floating help from her after he caught a firm hold under her shoulders and knees. She was currently being carried across his chest just as any maiden would after being rescued from the tower. Of course, Elena was no maiden and Neville was no knight in shinning armour as he lost balance at that exact moment with his floating magic, and the two plunged into lake in contrast to their prior graceful descent.
" I – I… Blurgh… I hate – hate you Neville Longbottom!" Elena tried to shout at him and get out of the chilly lake at the same time, which had her swallowing a few mouthfuls of water.
Neville was much wiser and only started countering her screams after climbing out of the lake, " Why didn't you float down yourself? You're the one who was boasting how you can fly a mile if you had to!"
" Are you even a man? You can't even carry a little girl like me?" Elena coughed as she sprawled, in quite an unladylike manner, on top of a rock by the side of the lake.
Neville decided to ignore her and walked towards the plateau with the old and dust-covered bookcases that were not far away. He browsed through the random pieces of parchment and messy stacks of books here and there. There were also spell dummies not far away, some of which were already broken by signs of burning or whatever other spell damages. Picking up a random book, squinting his eyes as he blew off a thick cover of dust, Neville flipped through the pages and his eyes widened with every word. He frantically picked up another book, then some other parchments lying around as well to verify his findings.
" What are you doing?" Elena said, her wand currently acting as a hair dryer as the rest of her clothes had been magically dried. " You look like you've just found a pile of money."
Neville could not keep a smile off his face as he turned back to the peeved girl. " Money? Oh I've inherited something much more useful."
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A/N: Was this a lame idea? It didn't feel so when I wrote it down… Either way, it's still early days and there'll be more magic as the years go on. And not just for Neville, because I have plans for Harry and Ron too. Frankly, I feel I could've done a better job at descriptions and things for this chapter, but it's getting quite long already.