_____________________________________ He tried to smile amid the laughter, trying to gracefully rise to his feet without stumbling again. "Left, right, left, right, left right. Just a few more steps. Left right, left, right left right," he muttered under his breath. The laughter had stopped and all eyes were on him. What had Gram told him? "Don't think about what House you want, the hat will decide for you." So that's what he did, tried to keep his mind clear. But as he jammed the worn and ratty hat onto his head, the four who started Hogwarts flew into his head. Put me where they'll like me. Hufflepuff. Isn't that supposed to be good? "Hufflepuff? Yes, that sounds good indeed. Are you trying to hide something? I can sense it..." He squeezed his eyes shut, even though he couldn't really tell if they were closed or not. I'll be fine there. I'll be alright. No one will ask about anything and I'll just suffer through the bad things. I could try a Memory Charm if things get to bad... "That was almost intelligent Longbottom, but not enough to get yourself into Ravenclaw. I can sense potential there, you could be more than average, but Ravenclaw is for those who are already smart, not the ones trying to become smart." His fingernails dug into the underside of the stool. The wood chipped into his fingers, but he ignored it. Hurry up, they're staring. I don't want attention, he thought, ready to rip the hat off his head. "Don't want attention? But you've always attracted it, no matter where you've been..." The Sorting Hat said nothing for a while, and he began to grow worried, began to think that maybe he wasn't going to be chosen. Maybe he'd be forced to go home to Gram: he'd told her that the Hat wouldn't choose him. That he wasn't a real magician. The Hat spoke up again. "How can you say that? You've used magic before... Almost got expelled before you even came to Hogwarts... Maybe Ravenclaw is good for you... smart enough to know when to use a Memory Charm." He was going to take the Hat off even though he hadn't been Sorted yet. He didn't want to remember when he'd used the Memory Charm. Didn't want to remember what it was supposed to block. "Neville! Where are you? We've got a meeting to go to!" She was at the bottom of the stairs, calling to him. She hadn't gotten the stern voice yet, the one that made him do whatever she said. "I know!" He shouted back, rereading the spell. Charms usually didn't take words, but if one was doing a Memory Charm on themselves, they needed a little specification. He whipped out his wand; the one Gram had bought his a few days ago. He wasn't supposed to do magic without Gram calling the Ministry ahead of time and telling them she was going to teach him a bit. He knew what was coming after the meeting. She'd talk to a few of her old friends and they'd offer him some dried fruit that tasted like bacon grease. But then, they'd go the hospital. The hospital that he hated. When he was little, he couldn't remember why they wouldn't remember him. He couldn't understand why they talked worse than his four-year-old neighbor. He couldn't understand that they were crazy. And it was only last year that Gram had told him they were his parents. He raised his wand to do the spell, but Gram's old cat, Whiskers (he never did find out her real name) jumped at him, and the wand hit the mirror, bouncing back something at him. "Neville!" She was at the door now, hands on hips and glaring at him. He blinked a few times. "What?" Why was she angry at him? What had he done? "And you've been forgetful ever since... touching story Longbottom. Definitely not Hufflepuff now... now with that kind of power. But where? There is a house that specifies in using power..." Slytherin, he thought. He resisted from shaking his head. Gram would yell at him so bad if he'd gotten himself into Slytherin. The Hat had paused again and he was desperately trying to repel the thoughts of his parents, who he'd been seeing during the Christmas holidays. "Not Slytherin... they'd tear you apart. That only leaves Gryffindor. But you aren't brave enough for that House." He slouched a bit, ducking his head. He knew. I'm not, he confirmed. "Brave people don't use spells to forget the hard times. Brave people don't have those spells go wrong and make him forget most everything." He wanted to get away, wanted the Hat to yell something, anything for him. If he could get away, he could deal with the teasing and use a Memory Charm again if he needed to. Or have that nice girl who'd been helping him with his frog do it for him. Just hurry! I want to go... He was whining now, trying to speed up the stupid Hat's choosing. "But you could be brave Longbottom, braver than you know. So it'll be GRYFFINDOR!" So overjoyed that the Hat had finally chosen, he sprang from the seat and ran to where he thought the Gryffindor table was. "Hey! Take me back! I need to Sort some more people!" Feeling red stain his cheeks, Neville ran back to the stool, slipping the Hat off and giving to the boy now waiting patiently on the stool. There was laughter again. But he was used to people laughing. He sat at the table, not that close to anyone. He tried to remember the Memory Charm that he had been using. A little voice in the back of his head spoke up; "You better do it after Christmas. Remember, you're going to see them again." Them. His parents. Thinking about it, he couldn't remember their names. But that was okay. They couldn't remember his either. |
