Written for Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

House: Thunderbird

Class/Task Number: Arithmancy. If Neville had been the one Voldemort attacked

Word Count: 816/1000

Written for The Houses Competition

House: Hufflepuff

Class: CoMC

Drabble/Standard: Drabble (EXTRA)

Prompts: (time–first line) 3:29 pm. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

Word Count: 816/1000

The Boy-Who-Lived

Neville Longbottom is the Boy-Who-Lived. He gets his first Hogwarts letter.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Neville Longbottom had had a good enough life—even if he had been orphaned at the age of two.

He glanced at the recognizable letter tied to the owl's leg and smiled softly. His best friend, Harry Potter, sprinted into his room, waving a similar letter over his head.

"Did you get your Hogwarts letter yet, Nev?" Harry yelled at the top of his lungs excitedly. His messy black hair was, as usual, tussled to perfection.

Neville smiled at him and nodded. He pointed to the letter tied to the owl's leg and Harry hurried over to untie it for Neville.

"Isn't this exciting? We're finally going to Hogwarts!" Harry squealed.

"Yeah, we are…" Neville whispered as he glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. 3:29 pm.

"Hey, you okay?" Harry knew something was wrong with Neville. Neville was usually a very jovial boy, but now he couldn't muster up any enthusiasm.

"It's just—this is great, Harry, isn't it? We're going to Hogwarts—the place where our parents met and became friends and had so many wonderful adventures…" Neville trailed off as tears formed in his eyes, and Harry understood what Neville was trying to say.

Neville's parents had been killed by Lord Voldemort when he was barely two years old. The Dark Lord had even tried to kill Neville, but rumour was that Neville had managed to survive the attack; it was a feat that had never been managed by any wizard before. Lord Voldemort had surprisingly disappeared into thin air when he had attempted to murder Neville, and Neville had become insanely popular in the Wizarding World by the name of the Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry's family had always been close with the Longbottoms, and the two boys had been best friends since they were in nappies.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm sure your parents must be so proud of you right now! You're going off to Hogwarts! Think of all the mischief we'll get into! Dad said we'll be able to see all sorts of magical creatures and plants at Hogwarts!" Harry tried to encourage Neville.

Neville smiled softly as he gazed at the letter in his hands. He nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm just sad that they aren't here to see me get on the train…"

Harry snorted and said, "Are you kidding me? You know Uncle Sirius and Dad are going to embarrass us so much at the station, right?"

Neville chuckled and grinned at the thought. Uncle Sirius and Uncle James might be in their early thirties, but they were still kids at heart—and they were Marauders. There was no way Neville and Harry were getting on that train without the two men crying their hearts out.

"That's true, Harry… Hold on, let me write the time down, and then we'll go show our letters to Grandmother," Neville said, pulling out a small diary from the drawer.

Harry nodded and watched Neville jot the time down on a blank page. He knew Neville kept the diary to write down the time of all important occasions—and getting his Hogwarts letter was one of the most important occasions of all.

The two boys then went to show their letters to Augusta Longbottom. She was in her study reading a revised book about Care of Magical Creatures.

"Grandmother! We got our letters today!" Neville said happily.

Augusta Longbottom put her book down and smiled at the boys. She murmured, "That's good, my dears. Would you like to go out for an ice cream?"

Harry grinned and asked, "Are you going to take us, Grandmother?"

Augusta lightly smacked Harry's head for his insolence and said, "Of course. I have other reasons to go to Diagon Alley..."

"Aah, I knew it was too good to be true," Harry teased as he placed his hand on his chest dramatically. "You wound me, Grandmother."

Neville laughed at Harry's cheekiness; he knew Harry was trying to make him feel better—and it was working.

"Do you need another Care of Magical Creatures book from the bookstore?" Neville asked his grandmother, amused.

Augusta bristled with mock-indignation, but finally nodded and grumbled, "Yes, they've got a couple of new books about Hippogriff-breeding and Porlocks' behaviour during mating season."

Harry and Neville laughed at Augusta's predictability; she was an avid reader and preferred magical creatures and their study over any other genre.

"Sure, let's go get some ice cream then!" Harry said happily, tugging on Neville's arm.

As the three of them went to get ice cream—and Augusta's books—Neville knew that though he may not have his parents by his side, he had another family to always support him and encourage him to be the best version of himself. He had his grandmother, Harry and the Marauders with him.

It surely was the best of times and the worst of times for Neville Longbottom.

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