A/N: I wished I owned Harry Potter. Alas, I do not. Ms. Rowling, I'd be happy to take it off your hands

Chapter 2: Yet Another Train Ride

September 1st, 1995

Susan looked at Hannah who was next to her, anxiously wringing her hands. She could tell her best friend was uneasy simply from the look at her face. Her tensed legs and swinging arms were an obvious sign to any who knew her, but the face was the dead giveaway to even a casual acquaintance. Sitting across from them Daphne kept glancing at Hannah nervously. Knowing the seriousness of the situation, Cedric and Jason sat fairly silently, sans jokes and quips. They didn't know exactly what was going on, but Susan was sure that Daphne had told Cedric to keep the jokes to a minimum until the deed was done, and he had told Jason just like a good boyfriend should.

Susan cursed Neville in her head. She had given him simple instructions! Just write to Hannah constantly over the summer. She knew he was in Japan and that writing wouldn't be easy. But after he figured out a way, he had sent 4 letters in July, all multiple pages filled with amazing details. It wasn't surprising he got busy at the end of the summer, but still.

August had been the death knell. Two letters, both significant time after Hannah's, both less than a page, promising great stories in person, but full of "can't put in a letter." After a year of "can't tell you," from Harry and knowing what Neville had done this summer, Hannah had been angry. She and Neville wouldn't be like that, she had told Susan. Susan and Daphne had counseled patience.

But then had come Ernie. Susan really couldn't be mad at Ernie, despite his somewhat devious actions. Ernie was around, attentive, and didn't push. An excellent example was how he agreed to not sit in their carriage today, since Neville was part of the friend group anyways. He was a good guy and he had chosen his timing well. Susan expected something more real soon, but for now she was just mad at Neville.

"Hey, I hope you saved room," a large boy said as he opened the door, lugging in a large trunk and another bag.

"Sorry, we are reserved," Daphne said flatly. The boy looked at Daphne confused, and Susan stared at him in surprise.

"Neville?"

"Yeah?"

"Oh my god!" Susan could tell from how Daphne rocked back that her friend was as shocked as she was. The voice was definitely Neville, even if it was an octave lower, but there were only bare similarities. Of course the hair was the same, but everything was different, and could be best be described as more mature.

"Nice to see you guys," Neville said, easily tossing his trunk above the seats. "How was your summer?"

"How was our summer?" Daphne almost screeched. "You are a totally different person!"

"Come on," Neville replied with an easy smile. "I'm no different than the change Harry went through in between summers."

"Sure, but we didn't know Harry," Cedric pointed out. "Seriously man, you looked like you gained 2 stone and 4 inches."

"Closer to 3 and 5," Neville said, grasping Cedric's hand warmly. "You look good too Cedric. Jason, nice to see you." Jason gave him a half wave. Daphne got up and Neville took the extended hand and kissed it. "Daphne, always a pleasure." He turned to Susan, who was having none of that and swept him into a hug. Hannah was sure to be less than pleased, but Neville was still one of her closest friends and always had been, regardless of other events.

"Seriously, Neville," Susan said as she stepped back. "You look really different. I'm not that surprised given your summer, but still."

"Good different or bad different?" Neville asked, looking at Hannah hesitantly, as she had not gotten up to greet him. She gave a small wave, and before Neville could sit next to her Susan filled in the gap. She saw Neville give an almost imperceptible sigh and sit next to her.

"Primarily weird," Daphne said. "But definitely good." Susan saw Daphne's eyes narrow as she studied Neville, and then looked at Hannah pointedly. Neville did look awfully good. But then Hannah's glance twitched to Daphne, and she shrugged. Susan's heart deflated. There had been a second where Neville entered the cabin and Susan had seen the changes and had a false inch of hope. But looks had never really been the thing that brought the two together.

"Hey Hannah," Neville said, leaning over to say hi."

"Hey Neville," Hannah said. This one really hit Neville, as she had almost exclusively called him Nev the last few months of the year. "Can we go talk for a second?" As they stood, she saw Neville's eyes resigned. At least it wouldn't be a total blind-side. That was always a good thing, even if the conversation promised to be nasty.

"Um, this may be out of bounds, but why does Neville look like a Greek god walking to the gallows?" Jason asked.

"He looks like a Greek god because he spent the summer in Japan with Professor Hayashi training," Daphne explained. Jason's eyes widened in understanding. "As for the gallows, the summer was tough for him and Hannah. They obviously didn't see each other, and communicating across thousands of miles isn't easy.

"Just leave it ok?" Susan asked. "It will be all over school in less than a day." Again, understanding showed in Jason's eyes.

"Train ride is going to suck," he said, and Cedric elbowed him.

"Just act like normal, ignore it," Susan advised him. "They probably won't talk to each other when they get back, but we aren't going to kick Neville out or anything. He's still a good friend." They heard a commotion on the platform and saw a flock of red-haired children racing towards the train. "Ah, looks like it is almost time to head off."

As the train slowly started to move, Cedric reluctantly waved to his parents who were almost tearful seeing their son leave for the last time. It wasn't a surprise to Susan. Cedric's father was almost painfully proud of him, and according to Cedric and Hannah, his father had become near insufferable after Cedric's battle to the death with a horde of acromantula. Cedric had confided in Susan that it was not his father's bragging that bothered him, but rather that Harry's role in the tournament was seemingly forgotten. Only a few people knew that he would never have escaped the chamber without the intervention of the now deceased champion of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

When Neville and Hannah returned a few minutes after departure, Susan saw the sorrow in her friend's face. Neville looked resigned, but there was something else in his face. A sort of grim determination that she had never seen before. Granted, after his eulogy at Harry's funeral and the mandate Harry had given him, he was bound to change. But breaking up with a girl he had professed to love? She expected sadness, not determination. It would bear some investigation when they had time.

"Well, time to get going," Cedric said as he slid his badge on. Neville's eyes fixed on the badge and he smiled. Cedric was an easy pick for Head Boy. The remaining Hogwarts champion, prefect, and Hufflepuff quidditch captain was an easy choice to take the top spot. He was well respected by all the houses for his academics, tournament performance, and overall leadership. His fight with the Slytherins during the day of three battles had only increased his reputation. Hannah slid on her prefect badge as well and followed Cedric out of the cabin, not looking back at all. Jason slid his badge on and with a smile was the last out of the cabin, leaving the three fifth years alone.

Cedric was initially elated. Even if his path had deviated slightly at times, this was where he had set his sights on at the young age. Jason was happy for him too, but horrified that with Cedric no longer as prefect, that Professor Sprout had chosen him to get the honor. There were many worthy wizards his age, but he had been chosen by Dumbledore and McGonagall, living legends, as the most complete wizard in his age group, despite being in the often overlooked Hufflepuff. Daphne was pleased too, and despite the horrific ending to the Tri-wizard only two months prior, things seemed to be turning around. But as they often did, Amos Diggory's pride reared its awful head.

It had gotten worse after the Hogwarts letters arrived. It was not a surprise when the Head Boy badge popped out, and Cedric's mom had almost fainted. Hannah's father, who normally worked closely with Amos Diggory in the Wizengamot, said that occasional debate and legislation meetings were actually bogged down by the older man's long-winded speeches about his son. It was worse for Cedric, who had taken to occasionally staying with Susan in France to avoid his father.

Normally, Amos would not have let Cedric do something like that, but with a bald-faced lie that stunned all his friends, Cedric said he was working towards the defense mastery with Amelia Bones, and Amos accepted it as a matter of fact. Cedric did indeed do some work with the old Head of the DMLE, but her pregnancy was advancing quite nicely and the last two weeks of work had been primarily with Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.

Cedric soon suspected he had not known what he was getting himself into. It was no surprise that Remus was knowledgeable about more than creatures. He had an impressive spell repertoire and everything he cast seemed to break though Cedric's shields with ease. Evasiveness was often the only course available when facing the werewolf. But that was often doomed to failure as well. Remus had shown more than a few magical martial artist skills over the summer, and Cedric had not managed to gain an upper hand in over 10 spars with his ex-professor. Eventually he turned to sparing Sirius in a hope to gain some pride back.

Susan's soon to be uncle-in-law was surprisingly skillful as well. Of course he knew from Susan that Sirius had been an auror before going to prison. Sirius had also told a few stories about the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's vigilante group, during the war against Voldemort. He had been free for two years now, the last 6 months in France. He had taken on the practical aspect of Cedric's training after Remus proved to be out of his league, and had smacked the soon to be head boy up and down the dueling strip with ease. He was groomed like a proper pureblood lord, and no matter what you might think of the Blacks, all of Sirius's generation were powerful wizards and witches.

Technically, Harry was part of the black line too. Dorea Black had been his grandmother, and Amelia had told her niece that when Dorea Black and Charlus Potter were married it had been quite a scandal. The Potters had always been on the light side of grey, but the Blacks had been darker than dark, and many expected Dorea's brother and the last Lord Black, Arcturus Black to call for Charlus's head. But surprisingly the Black Lord let it pass and two of the most powerful bloodlines mixed to create the talented wizard that was James Potter. One generation later and Harry was created, and Susan did not doubt that at the time of his death, Harry was undoubtedly a year or two away from being the strongest wizard in Britain.

Still, Fleur's absence the entire summer in France was concerning. Her family had the Blacks over a few times since they lived nearby, and Amelia and Laurent Delacour were fairly close from their work together in the war with Voldemort. Gabrielle was often a handful and put a smile on faces. But if Harry was noticeably absent, the blonde Veela who had graduated was a gaping hole in the family. Susan suspected there was more going on than a "trip" Fleur was taking to get over the loss of her mate, but what happened after Harry grabbed the cup was unknown. Dumbledore had told everyone Harry had died, and while Sirius was convinced Harry couldn't have passed away, Susan knew that if he was alive, his friends would know by now.

But there was no point thinking about Harry now, Susan concluded. She was knocked out her thoughts by a nudge in her side, and she looked over to see Daphne subtly gesturing with her head to Neville. The prefect meeting would last a little while and 5th years normally had the first patrol, so now was the time to weasel answers out of Neville, before he left to find his housemates, which seemed inevitable now.

"So, what did Hannah want to talk about?" Susan asked, trying to portray innocence. From the look of incredulity on Neville's face, Susan figured it had not succeeded.

"Really?" Neville scoffed a little. "Susan, you know she broke up with me."

"You did kind of deserve it," Daphne pointed out. Neville glared at her. "You sent her what, two letters in August? Didn't Susan instruct you to be more attentive? McMillan was there for her all summer, and they are prefects together. You have been gone, and she thought you weren't interested anymore."

"Can I be honest for a second?" Neville asked. Susan gestured for him to continue. "I like Hannah a bunch, I do. But I'm not cut up about our breakup, because it was inevitable. I know I've never been one for adventure…or I wasn't. I was happy in the greenhouse and it's where I belonged until the day of the three battles. That day I realized that while the shy and quiet kid happy to tend to his plants was still there, the work I had done all year with Harry and Akira created a different side of myself. A more active, powerful, and frankly dangerous side."

"This summer was a chance to see what it looked like when I let that side of myself take control." Neville sighed and drummed his fingers on his legs. "You know, I never really understood Harry. Why did he always take it on himself to take on insurmountable odds? Voldemort multiple times, a basilisk, hordes of dementors and Sirius Black when we thought he was the worst wizard alive. But it was always Harry against the world. Sure, Hermione helped more than she didn't, but when it came time to show indomitable courage or cast that final spell, it was always Harry Potter who took that last step."

"But after this summer, I get it. I'm not Harry, for a whole host of reasons. I would never pretend to be. There will be hole in our year in Gryffindor, in the school, that will never be filled. Like I said at his funeral, he will never be forgotten despite his wish to be, and he was certainly larger than life. But two months of intense training, always having to fight against the odds against people who had years more training than me? Adventure can be fun, rewarding, challenging, a whole host of things. And all of that, I get it now."

"So what, you are going to be the focus of Malfoy's ire?" Daphne shot back. "I bet he's a prefect too."

"I doubt Malfoy will be too much of a problem," Neville said. "Lucuis is slimy and quite the politician, but the dark mark is gone. The spectre of a return from the real power is gone now. Draco should be manageable. All Slytherin's should be calmer…" Neville saw the skepticism on Daphne's face. "You know something."

"I don't know anything, not at the moment," Daphne related. "But I do know that while what Harry did was great, the finality of the death of Voldemort is the best thing to happen to the pureblood movement in Great Britain."

"Now you've lost me," Susan confessed. "He might have been pyscho, but only two wizards could match him, and it was clear they were at odds most of last year. One is not getting younger-"

"And the one who beat him vanished, supposedly dead," Daphne snapped back. "My parents are grey, and proud of it. The one thing that stopped them from forming more solid contacts with some of the darker wizards was the inability to diagnose what really happened at the end of the war. Was Lucuis Malfoy truly under the imperius? Is it true that the dark mark could only be taken after rape and murder? But now the past doesn't matter as much, because Voldemort is dead, and the deeds people did for him are forgotten."

"My parents would have spit on Malfoy's business before. But now he is just a normal pureblood, like we are. The "pureblood" movement was dangerous because of the threat of Voldemort, but his wanton killing and destruction of pureblood families drove more neutral families away from him. My dad didn't tell me anything specific, but the Wizengamot has seen a shift over the summer. The neutral families are generally more accepting to what might be seen as a more pro-pureblood agenda, now that they can't be tarred as potential supporters of Voldemort by Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore was always the rallying cry for light families and neutral families who wanted to seem light. But he took quite a few hits last year. The fact that a lot of senior students had equal respect for a fourth year and Dumbledore certainly made its way home. Harry was the natural successor, and then he was also named Lord Peverell. Even though the tri-wizard tournament declared him an adult, he couldn't be named Lord Potter until 17. Then at the will reading it turned out he was officially tied into the Black family as well? He was set up to be one of the most influential wizards in English History."

"And don't pretend you didn't notice the people around him," Daphne continued. "Neville, Susan, Hannah, Lavender, Cedric, and myself will all sit on the Wizengamot in the future. I'll let you in on a secret of Harry's." Daphne leaned closer. "When we were dating, he told me the hat wanted to put him in Slytherin. You can ask Hermione and she'll confirm it. If it was anyone else but Harry, I'd say he was intentionally courting possible allies for the future."

"But that's not Harry," Neville hotly replied.

"Dean called him Hurricane Harry because he brought the storm whenever he returned from his trips, and that's true. But a hurricane also sucks things in. A lot of us were sucked into his orbit. He was powerful, charismatic, a genius, and no matter what your thoughts on him were, he was a really good guy." Daphne took a deep breath and leaned back in the seat. "He will be missed."

"Got it all off your chest now?" Susan asked gently. Daphne just huffed. "So whatever happened to your sister? I heard a rumor she disappeared with that Eagle woman this summer." It was a blatant change of subject, but Daphne's thankful look showed she recognized the bait and happily took it.

"I don't know exactly what powers she showed to be chosen, but yeah, Astoria is gone. We visited her for a day in August, and she is loving it. My dad got the chance to see a training session, and he said Astoria will be more powerful than him by Christmas. That's when she will supposedly be done with her training, and should be able to return to Hogwarts for the spring semester. Though she may choose not to. She's always been a little flighty, but she seems grounded and happy there."

The door was flung open and Lavender Brown and Hermione Granger were standing there. Hermione's hair was the mess it always was, but her body language was worse than it had been in July. It wasn't really Neville's place to worry, as they were at best tentative friends, but as Neville thought about it for a second, almost all of Hermione's friendships were through her bond with Harry. She had also spent a lot of time with the French champion last year. It might not be his responsibility, but he could keep his oath to Harry by keeping an eye on his best friend, check in on her now and again, because she did not look like the witch who went along with Harry on his adventures, but rather more like the friendless girl before the troll incident.

However, the one who looked slightly unusual was Lavender Brown. Her eyes were blazing and her whole body looked taught. She looked like she was about to explode, and Neville suspected he was the target of her ire. It took him a moment to pick out the prefect badge on her shirt, and his eyes widened in surprise. He managed to stay quiet, but Susan couldn't stop herself as a gasp escaped her mask.

"Sit down!" Lavender yelled, pushing Hermione down next to Neville. It was not a hard shove, but it made a point. "I have a serious bone to pick with the two of you! Hermione, I get the summer was hard for you, but I should not be a prefect! That badge has had your name on it since we were first years, but you turn it down because you are sad? Get over it, and take the stupid badge. But no, you are sad and have to study for O. and I am stuck with this stupid thing."

"And Neville, what in the world were you thinking turning it down?" Susan and Daphne turned and stared at Neville accusingly.

"Yeah, you were the obvious choice," Susan stated thoughtfully.

"Well, Harry was the obvious choice," Lavender countered, "but he won't be around anymore. But apparently, according to one Minerva McGonagall who visited me this summer, her top two choices for prefects turned it down. She also told me that I certainly deserved the position based on my improvement across the board last year, but I think we all know I was second choice."

"How do you know she didn't ask Dean?" Neville countered. Lavender just leveled him with a death stare. "Yeah ok, she asked me. I had to say no."

"Neville Longbottom, if the word O.W.L comes out of your mouth I will throw you off this train!" Lavender yelled. "I'm paired with Ron freaking Weasley!" Daphne couldn't hold back a snicker. "Oh, you think I won't toss your blonde ass off the train, huh Greengrass? Don't test me, not today!" Lavender grabbed Hermione, hauled her back into the corridor and slammed the door behind her.

"You were actually the clear choice," Daphne said. "Sure, Lavender improved, but you are the poster boy for improvement. Don't even get me started on how hot you look now."

"Daphne!" Neville cried, blushing heavily. "Aren't you dating Cedric?"

"Happily, but I have eyes," Daphne replied. "You will certainly be able to reap the broom closet benefits of being single if you so choose."

"You are being ridiculous," Neville answered, calming himself slightly.

"She's right," Susan chipped in. "I'm not surprised that Hannah dumped you, but I'm a little surprised she didn't drag you into a bathroom first. Daphne is dating her own pretty boy, and I've known you forever, but I'd put five galleons on your being propositioned for some snogging times before Christmas break." As she finished the last sentence the door swung open again. Lavender might have been mad, and Hermione depressed, but the new visitors were even worse.

"Longbottom's only hope for friendly contact is from an over-amorous plant," Pansy Parkinson, one of the new Slytherin prefects said with a sneer. Her boyfriend and fellow prefect stood next to her, and Draco's sneer was just as pronounced. "A loser is a loser even if he dresses in better clothes. Longbottom has been and will always be a loser of the highest magnitude."

"Maybe the pathetic mudblood-"

A sense of calm descended over Neville. Normally this would have enraged him, but he had a weird feeling wash across his body. He could ignore Pansy and Draco, and they would certainly go away in short order. Responding would only exacerbate the situation. But, although he could not describe how he knew, Neville realized this was a pivotal moment.

"Shut up Draco," Neville snarled, drawing his wand and leveling it at the Slytherin. The speed was so quick no one even registered the movement until the wand was in Draco's face. The tip glowed ominous orange. "Just leave, or I swear your father will find himself in another blood feud." Draco just glared down Neville's wand, and the orange glow started to pulse. Pansy grabbed Draco's arm and dragged him away. Neville slammed the door behind him and threw himself down in his seat.

"Woah," was all Daphne said as Neville shut the door and found his seat again. "Seriously, what in the world do you and Harry do in your off time?"

"You saw his impromptu presentation on physical magic last year after Victor lost it. I spent a decent chunk of the summer learning how to harness it without hurting myself or burning out." Neville calmly explained. "What I just did was some of the most basic enhancement out there. Simple speed and strength booster. I was learning from guys who move like that without an ounce of magic. Just years of exposure to physical magic boosts your natural talents. It's not really my specialty in a fight."

"And what is your specialty?" Susan questioned.

"You'll have to wait to find out with everyone else," Neville said. Susan made a small snort of discontent. "Oh, don't worry. I doubt there will be too many life or death situations this year. Regardless, I don't want to be arrogant or anything, but Harry thought false modesty when it comes to your skill is unbecoming, and I happen to agree. What he thought about his fame was different, even if he could back it up by year's end. Sometimes you only need to make your point once."

"That's what that show with Draco was?" Daphne realized. Neville silently applauded. She might not be in Slytherin anymore, but she still clearly had that streak that realized that it hadn't really been Malfoy's slur that set him off.

"A little bit of a performance, yes," Neville admitted. "Like you said, no Harry to keep him in check. And say what you will about Lucuis's unsavory tendencies and rhetoric, he is a consummate politician. I'll be in Britain the rest of my life, and will have to deal with Malfoy when I take my seat. Better to neuter the pup and sent the man notice without making any lifelong enemies."

"That's positively Slytherin of you."

"I have my moments," Neville replied. "It's time to grow from petty childhood rivalries anyways. As it so happens my grandmother gave me a quick dossier on the ministry when I met her this morning. Even though Malfoy doesn't have a seat, he is far from neutered. Apparently he and the Minister had a hand in appointing a defense professor this year? Something about the public not trusting Dumbledore to find a competent instructor after a string of failures? Despite the fact that the last two years were the best defense instruction we've ever had."

"Well, when it came out Lupin was a werewolf Dumbledore couldn't defend that," Susan admitted. "Also, Professor Hayashi was technically not a Dumbledore decision, but rather a decision made by Mahoutokoro. He just rubber stamped it. According to the Daily Prophet, Fudge actually made a cogent argument, said if the school was allowing for visiting professors, it showed Dumbledore was not capable of finding the appropriate talent, and without another visiting professor it was up to him to make sure educational standards did not drop after the exceptional O.W.L. and N.E.W.T scores last year courtesy of Professor Hayashi."

"So did we get an auror or something?" Neville asked hopefully.

"I doubt it," Daphne said. "My dad doesn't know for sure, but he suspects that with Dumbledore in a weak political position, Fudge is trying to land a blow to get him weakened at Hogwarts, which until now was an unassailable power base for the Headmaster. If Fudge's move goes well, he may even be able to get him off the Wizengamot. For some reason he thinks Dumbledore will try and survive the loss of his supposed protégé by taking the minister position. He's an idiot and power hungry, but he has clever advisors with a lot of money. A few names were tossed around, and none of them will be half the professor that Quirrell was. Something more than a poor defense professor is going on."

"We can't have one normal year?" Neville groaned. "My gran never had stories about insane stuff while she went to school."

"I wouldn't worry about it," a voice chirped from the door. The three fifth year's could help smiling as Luna stuck her head in. "Hello Neville. You seem to have a nasty case of nargles."

"That's too bad," Neville said. "How was your summer Luna?"

"Oh, wonderful," Luna said. She held out her hand and all three eyes widened at the ring on her finger. "Of course Victor and I can't get engaged now, but he gave me this pretty ring. Of course he will replace it in two years, and then again in three, but he's such a good kisser I guess I'll have to forgive him."

"Luna, he gave you a promise ring?" Daphne managed to splutter out.

"He might have called it that, but his tongue tasted a lot like pudding, so I forgot," Luna said, and Susan almost spit up at that. "Of course you don't know he'll be in England occasionally the next few years. It's awful nice of him to make sure we can see each other when he isn't playing. Ah, that supposed to be a secret," Luna moaned. "Well, don't tell anyone about my future husband ok? Don't tell him either." Luna looked around conspiratorially. "He doesn't know." And with yet another bombshell she skipped out of the room.

"Did I just have a minature stroke?" Daphne asked after a moment of silence. "Because I think I just hallucinated that the world's most famous seeker gave Luna Lovegood a promise ring and is taking his limited free time from quidditch spending time in England so they can date, despite a 4 year age gap."

"Just another year for us," Susan managed to get out before she dissolved into laughter. Daphne wasn't far behind, and Neville tried his best to stop from laughing, but the nervous energy in the cabin had turned into humor, and they were still laughing when Cedric arrived back in the cabin.

"What did I miss?" Was all the Hufflepuff seeker managed to get out before the three burst into laughter again.

"Nothing much," Susan managed to tell him once the laughter stopped. "This is going to be a hell of a year though. Full of surprised."

"One question," Neville asked. Cedric inclined his head. "Do you have any idea who will be teaching defense?" Cedric made a face at that. "That bad, huh?"

"Well, compared to Akira everyone is bad," Cedric said. "And my dad has been full of useless information about how people are reacting to my being head boy and not much else. I assume Noah would know, right honey?" Neville's eyebrows shot up as Daphne smiled at the term of endearment instead of setting Cedric on fire. They must have really been serious about each other, though Neville did have to concede that they made a much better match than with either of their previous partners. Harry was too headstrong, and Hermione too timid. Sometimes things had to fall apart to make way for better things.

"My father did indeed inform me. All the choices were just a bevy of bureaucrats," Daphne reaffirmed. "Apparently no aurors can be spared. If it turns out that the instruction is really a nightmare, I'll let my parents know at Christmas, and maybe they'll be able to get a coalition together. But at the moment Fudge is looking to mobilize the Wizengamot against a common enemy and he seems to have chosen Dumbledore. My dad said he is keeping his head down, and he suggested I do the same for now. I'll know more when I actually see the teacher. Fudge's flunkies are on differing levels of danger. But most of them are loyal to him, so even if he doesn't realize it, the moves the new DADA teacher make will tip his hand out his strategies going forward. But it is exciting that I get to do some real life politicking this year."

"Have I told it how much I love it when you go all sneaky and clever on me?" Cedric said, leaning over and kissing his girlfriend. It took a supreme effort from Neville not to make fake gagging noises. Eventually, the fact that he had just lost his snogging partner appeared in his mind, and he sent a plaintive look at Susan, who just shrugged and slid a charms book out of her bag. Neville grinned to himself as he withdrew a herbology book himself.

Sure it was a little silly, he realized as the thought flew through his head. And more than a little self-centered. But it sure seemed like this was going to be another crazy year for him.