Chapter Seven – Capillago Secus
"Crucio!" Bellatrix Lestrange shouted, pointing her wand at Alice Longbottom. Alice fell to the floor, twitching. Her husband Frank struggled with the Death Eaters restraining him.
"Please! Leave her alone. We don't know anything!" Frank Longbottom cried.
"Where is our Lord?" Rodolphus screamed. Alice was still shaking on the floor.
"Stop this!" Frank yelled.
"Enough, place the curse on him," Barty Crouch, Jr. said.
"Neville!" a voice yelled at him.
Neville snapped awake. Harry was looking over him, concerned. "You were having a bad dream, mate. You were shaking like mad," Harry said quietly.
Neville sat up, breathing hard. What had he been dreaming about? He looked at Harry, "Thank you," Neville said softly.
Harry grinned. "No problem. You've woken me up from dreams like that before."
Neville smiled, but the smile didn't quiet reach his eyes.
-------------------------
It was halfway through the week and Neville was eating breakfast in the Great Hall with the other Gryffindors.
"Mail's coming," Ron said, yawning.
Neville took a bite of bacon and didn't think anything of it. His grandmother just sent him some cookies yesterday, so he wasn't expecting anything.
He was surprised when a small black owl dropped something in his lap. He eagerly unrolled the parchment, not knowing what to expect.
Neville,
Did you remember your jumper? –Luna
He had completely forgotten.
Neville ran up to the boys' dormitory without saying a word to anyone. He opened his trunk and picked out the first jumper he saw. Then he ran to the transfiguration classroom as quickly as he could. Neville was out of breath when he sat down, but he was just in time.
"Today, we're going to work on changing our hair colors," Professor McGonagall lectured from behind her desk. "Please bring up the jumper you brought to the front of the room. Please remember which one is yours so you can collect it at the end of class."
Neville walked up to the front of the classroom happily. He wasn't quite sure how he could thank Luna.
"Now get in your pairs," Professor McGonagall ordered. Neville went to sit next to Dean. She started throwing random jumpers to the different pairs.
"Most wizards have to use a spell to change their appearance. This spell can drain your energy. There are witches out there that can change their appearance at will. They are called Metamorphmagus. I say witches, since historically, most metamorphs have been women. In the last hundred years, there has only been one known metamorph. They are extremely rare," Professor McGonagall said.
Neville became lost in thought. How wonderful it would be to be able to change what you looked like whenever you want!
"The incantation is Capillago Secus," she said, "What you'll do is say the incantation while thinking of the color you want to apply. That's why we brought the jumpers. We'll switch them all through class so everyone can try lots of different colors."
Neville looked at the jumper in front of him. It was a girl's jumper, he could tell by the light blue color. He grinned at Dean, "This color might work well," he joked. Then he noticed Dean was holding a maroon sweater, one he had seen Ron wear a lot.
"Say the incantation together. One, Two, Three." The class repeated Professor McGonagall's words. "Good. Now try it with each other."
Neville pointed his wand at Dean's head and said the spell. Dean's hair started getting lighter. It took almost a minute, but Dean's hair changed into the color of the light blue jumper. Neville was almost panting afterwards. He noticed that other people who had performed the spell looked worn out as well.
"It's a very tiring spell for the caster," reminded Professor McGonagall. "Now switch, and then you can all look at yourselves."
Dean copied the steps Neville had used. Neville watched Dean's face scrunch up, like he was concentrating very hard. He wondered if Dean was doing the spell right, because Neville felt nothing. Suddenly Dean started laughing.
Neville looked around the room; everyone in the classroom had completely different hair colors. Hermione had dark purple hair. Ron's hair was black and Harry's was light pink. Professor McGonagall smiled, and then waved her wand. A dozen or so mirrors appeared on the wall. Everyone rushed to see themselves.
Neville laughed when he saw his maroon hair. What was even better was seeing Harry's face when he saw his pink hair. The class was told to switch jumpers and try different colors. Over the next hour, Neville had violet, navy and turquoise colored hair.
"Settle down!" Professor McGonagall scolded. The class went back to their seats. "Now we are going to try again using real hair colors." She started passing out parchments that seemed to have real hair attached.
"Real colors are harder to duplicate than colors from the rainbow," she said.
Neville looked at the sheet he had been given. "Begin," the professor told the class.
He pointed his wand again at Dean and said the incantation. "Capillago Secus," Neville said forcefully. After almost two minutes of concentration, Dean's hair transformed to a bleach blond color.
"Wicked," Neville said and waited patiently for Dean to do the spell on him. Dean said the incantation, and again, Neville felt nothing. After a few minutes, Dean said, "I give up. I only was able to change half your hair."
The class started crowding around the mirrors again. Half of Neville's hair was still Maroon, while the other half was a very bright red, even brighter than Ron's hair.
They spent the rest of class practicing. "Next lesson, we will work on changing your skin color," Professor McGonagall said. "Homework is a foot on the history of hair changing spells. Dismissed."
Neville started putting his books away, grateful that it was already time for lunch.
"Mister Longbottom, I'd like a word with you," Professor McGonagall called out.
Neville closed his eyes. He couldn't imagine what he had done wrong this time.
He stood up from his desk and walked to the front of the classroom. Professor McGonagall looked down at him seriously. "I had a discussion with Miss Lovegood yesterday," she started. Neville's stomach twisted. Had he upset Luna in some way? Why was she talking to Professor McGonagall about him?
"She asked me not to bring her name into the discussion, but I can see no other way. She told me that you read to her and you seemed to have a difficult time reading aloud," Professor McGonagall said, almost kindly.
"I was nervous," Neville stammered, feeling incredibly embarrassed.
"Please read this aloud, Longbottom," Professor McGonagall said, handing him a piece of parchment.
Neville looked at the parchment. "The Hogwarts' ceiling, I mean enchanted ceiling, is celebrated...one of the most celebrated ceilings in Britain. It bewitched, is bewitched to look like sky, I mean the sky..." Neville looked at Professor McGonagall miserably.
"Drink this, Longbottom," Professor McGonagall gave him a small light blue vial. Neville took it hesitantly. "For goodness' sake, Neville. I haven't given you poison. Drink."
Neville quickly drank the potion. It tasted fairly awful. "Now try reading the parchment again," she told him.
"The Hogwarts enchanted ceiling is one of the most celebrated ceilings in Britain. It is bewitched to look like the sky, or any type of weather the Headmaster of Hogwarts chooses," Neville read out loud, not stumbling on a single word.
"How did I do that?" Neville asked.
Professor McGonagall looked upset with herself. "Since the potion helped, that means you have a condition called dyslexia, Longbottom. I should have realized it before your sixth year," she said sadly.
"I'm dyslexic?" Neville asked. He didn't really know anything about it, other than it was a condition that affected reading.
"Yes. When you read, does it seem like the words get mixed up?" she asked.
"All the time," Neville admitted, "I just thought I was trying to read too fast."
She shook her head. She handed Neville a flask. "This potion can help for now. I'd like you to get a tutor, who can help you relearn how to read, so that you don't have to rely on the potion," she said, "The potion lasts about twenty-four hours. It's best to take one-fourth a cup when you wake up. When you run out, ask Professor Snape for more. He makes this potion for several students."
Everything sounded great until she reached the Professor Snape part. "Can't I get this somewhere else?" he pleaded.
"Professor Snape is the only one allowed to hand the potion out. We try to regulate it. Simply ask him for the Relectum Potion," Professor McGonagall told him. She must have seen his defeated face, and then added, "Longbottom?"
"Yes, Professor?" Neville sighed.
"If he gives you any trouble, come directly to me."
-------------------------
Neville almost ran out of the classroom. He walked briskly into the boy's bathroom on the first floor and into a stall. Sitting down on the toilet, he took out his Potions book. He couldn't believe it. He thought it was just a fluke, but the words were making sense! The instructions looked easy to follow, not jumbled up like normal.
He had to find Luna.
Neville was so excited that he ran straight into the bathroom stall door without opening it first. Rubbing his nose, he opened up the door. Once back into the hallway, he looked around wildly for her.
He went into the Great Hall, still searching. She wasn't at the Ravenclaw table. Disappointed, he went to sit down to eat some dinner.
Fifteen minutes later, she entered the Great Hall. Neville finished his cabbage quickly and stood up. She had already sat down at the end of the table by then. He stood across from her. Luna was staring resolutely at her plate. He had to clear his throat before she looked up and saw him. Neville's heart gave a little jump; he thought she looked happy to see him.
"Can I sit down?" he asked.
"May I sit down, Neville," she corrected dreamily.
"Oh," Neville said, embarrassed. "May I sit down?"
She smiled at him, and Neville quickly sat down. "I talked to Professor McGonagall today," he started.
Luna shifted in her seat. "I expect you speak to Professor McGonagall quite a lot. You are a student of hers."
Neville didn't want to beat around the bush. He wanted to tell Luna how thankful he was. "Thank you," he said quietly.
"What did I do to deserve thanks?" she asked serenely.
"I know you spoke to her. Professor McGonagall said you asked her not to bring you into it, but she did anyways. Thank you. She gave me a potion, and I could read normally. I don't know how to thank you," he said.
Luna nodded. Neville could tell she was embarrassed, so he decided to drop the subject. He would have to find another way to thank her.
"Oh, and thanks for the owl reminder," Neville grinned at Luna, "I had forgotten."
Luna rested her chin in her hand. "I'm glad. Not glad that you forgot, but glad that it helped. I was afraid you'd be insulted."
Neville gave a half laugh. "Hardly. That was better than a rememberall," he joked.
Luna's eyes grew wide. "You have a rememberall?" she asked.
Neville nodded. "Yep, but I forgot it on my nightstand this morning."
"Neville, those are bad for your health!" she told him. "The Ministry did a study and they found out that rememberalls can cause seizures! The company that make rememberalls, Fountain Creations, paid Fudge a huge sum of money to keep it quiet. Oh, Neville, please be careful!" Luna cried.
It took all of Neville's self control not to laugh. He really didn't want to hurt her feelings. Luckily, not a peep came out. "Thanks for the warning," he said after a minute.
Luna nodded peacefully, as if her job had been accomplished.
-------------------------
A/N – Capillago Secus: Capillago – Hair, Secus – Different
Relectum – To Read Again, Reread
"Crucio!" Bellatrix Lestrange shouted, pointing her wand at Alice Longbottom. Alice fell to the floor, twitching. Her husband Frank struggled with the Death Eaters restraining him.
"Please! Leave her alone. We don't know anything!" Frank Longbottom cried.
"Where is our Lord?" Rodolphus screamed. Alice was still shaking on the floor.
"Stop this!" Frank yelled.
"Enough, place the curse on him," Barty Crouch, Jr. said.
"Neville!" a voice yelled at him.
Neville snapped awake. Harry was looking over him, concerned. "You were having a bad dream, mate. You were shaking like mad," Harry said quietly.
Neville sat up, breathing hard. What had he been dreaming about? He looked at Harry, "Thank you," Neville said softly.
Harry grinned. "No problem. You've woken me up from dreams like that before."
Neville smiled, but the smile didn't quiet reach his eyes.
-------------------------
It was halfway through the week and Neville was eating breakfast in the Great Hall with the other Gryffindors.
"Mail's coming," Ron said, yawning.
Neville took a bite of bacon and didn't think anything of it. His grandmother just sent him some cookies yesterday, so he wasn't expecting anything.
He was surprised when a small black owl dropped something in his lap. He eagerly unrolled the parchment, not knowing what to expect.
Neville,
Did you remember your jumper? –Luna
He had completely forgotten.
Neville ran up to the boys' dormitory without saying a word to anyone. He opened his trunk and picked out the first jumper he saw. Then he ran to the transfiguration classroom as quickly as he could. Neville was out of breath when he sat down, but he was just in time.
"Today, we're going to work on changing our hair colors," Professor McGonagall lectured from behind her desk. "Please bring up the jumper you brought to the front of the room. Please remember which one is yours so you can collect it at the end of class."
Neville walked up to the front of the classroom happily. He wasn't quite sure how he could thank Luna.
"Now get in your pairs," Professor McGonagall ordered. Neville went to sit next to Dean. She started throwing random jumpers to the different pairs.
"Most wizards have to use a spell to change their appearance. This spell can drain your energy. There are witches out there that can change their appearance at will. They are called Metamorphmagus. I say witches, since historically, most metamorphs have been women. In the last hundred years, there has only been one known metamorph. They are extremely rare," Professor McGonagall said.
Neville became lost in thought. How wonderful it would be to be able to change what you looked like whenever you want!
"The incantation is Capillago Secus," she said, "What you'll do is say the incantation while thinking of the color you want to apply. That's why we brought the jumpers. We'll switch them all through class so everyone can try lots of different colors."
Neville looked at the jumper in front of him. It was a girl's jumper, he could tell by the light blue color. He grinned at Dean, "This color might work well," he joked. Then he noticed Dean was holding a maroon sweater, one he had seen Ron wear a lot.
"Say the incantation together. One, Two, Three." The class repeated Professor McGonagall's words. "Good. Now try it with each other."
Neville pointed his wand at Dean's head and said the spell. Dean's hair started getting lighter. It took almost a minute, but Dean's hair changed into the color of the light blue jumper. Neville was almost panting afterwards. He noticed that other people who had performed the spell looked worn out as well.
"It's a very tiring spell for the caster," reminded Professor McGonagall. "Now switch, and then you can all look at yourselves."
Dean copied the steps Neville had used. Neville watched Dean's face scrunch up, like he was concentrating very hard. He wondered if Dean was doing the spell right, because Neville felt nothing. Suddenly Dean started laughing.
Neville looked around the room; everyone in the classroom had completely different hair colors. Hermione had dark purple hair. Ron's hair was black and Harry's was light pink. Professor McGonagall smiled, and then waved her wand. A dozen or so mirrors appeared on the wall. Everyone rushed to see themselves.
Neville laughed when he saw his maroon hair. What was even better was seeing Harry's face when he saw his pink hair. The class was told to switch jumpers and try different colors. Over the next hour, Neville had violet, navy and turquoise colored hair.
"Settle down!" Professor McGonagall scolded. The class went back to their seats. "Now we are going to try again using real hair colors." She started passing out parchments that seemed to have real hair attached.
"Real colors are harder to duplicate than colors from the rainbow," she said.
Neville looked at the sheet he had been given. "Begin," the professor told the class.
He pointed his wand again at Dean and said the incantation. "Capillago Secus," Neville said forcefully. After almost two minutes of concentration, Dean's hair transformed to a bleach blond color.
"Wicked," Neville said and waited patiently for Dean to do the spell on him. Dean said the incantation, and again, Neville felt nothing. After a few minutes, Dean said, "I give up. I only was able to change half your hair."
The class started crowding around the mirrors again. Half of Neville's hair was still Maroon, while the other half was a very bright red, even brighter than Ron's hair.
They spent the rest of class practicing. "Next lesson, we will work on changing your skin color," Professor McGonagall said. "Homework is a foot on the history of hair changing spells. Dismissed."
Neville started putting his books away, grateful that it was already time for lunch.
"Mister Longbottom, I'd like a word with you," Professor McGonagall called out.
Neville closed his eyes. He couldn't imagine what he had done wrong this time.
He stood up from his desk and walked to the front of the classroom. Professor McGonagall looked down at him seriously. "I had a discussion with Miss Lovegood yesterday," she started. Neville's stomach twisted. Had he upset Luna in some way? Why was she talking to Professor McGonagall about him?
"She asked me not to bring her name into the discussion, but I can see no other way. She told me that you read to her and you seemed to have a difficult time reading aloud," Professor McGonagall said, almost kindly.
"I was nervous," Neville stammered, feeling incredibly embarrassed.
"Please read this aloud, Longbottom," Professor McGonagall said, handing him a piece of parchment.
Neville looked at the parchment. "The Hogwarts' ceiling, I mean enchanted ceiling, is celebrated...one of the most celebrated ceilings in Britain. It bewitched, is bewitched to look like sky, I mean the sky..." Neville looked at Professor McGonagall miserably.
"Drink this, Longbottom," Professor McGonagall gave him a small light blue vial. Neville took it hesitantly. "For goodness' sake, Neville. I haven't given you poison. Drink."
Neville quickly drank the potion. It tasted fairly awful. "Now try reading the parchment again," she told him.
"The Hogwarts enchanted ceiling is one of the most celebrated ceilings in Britain. It is bewitched to look like the sky, or any type of weather the Headmaster of Hogwarts chooses," Neville read out loud, not stumbling on a single word.
"How did I do that?" Neville asked.
Professor McGonagall looked upset with herself. "Since the potion helped, that means you have a condition called dyslexia, Longbottom. I should have realized it before your sixth year," she said sadly.
"I'm dyslexic?" Neville asked. He didn't really know anything about it, other than it was a condition that affected reading.
"Yes. When you read, does it seem like the words get mixed up?" she asked.
"All the time," Neville admitted, "I just thought I was trying to read too fast."
She shook her head. She handed Neville a flask. "This potion can help for now. I'd like you to get a tutor, who can help you relearn how to read, so that you don't have to rely on the potion," she said, "The potion lasts about twenty-four hours. It's best to take one-fourth a cup when you wake up. When you run out, ask Professor Snape for more. He makes this potion for several students."
Everything sounded great until she reached the Professor Snape part. "Can't I get this somewhere else?" he pleaded.
"Professor Snape is the only one allowed to hand the potion out. We try to regulate it. Simply ask him for the Relectum Potion," Professor McGonagall told him. She must have seen his defeated face, and then added, "Longbottom?"
"Yes, Professor?" Neville sighed.
"If he gives you any trouble, come directly to me."
-------------------------
Neville almost ran out of the classroom. He walked briskly into the boy's bathroom on the first floor and into a stall. Sitting down on the toilet, he took out his Potions book. He couldn't believe it. He thought it was just a fluke, but the words were making sense! The instructions looked easy to follow, not jumbled up like normal.
He had to find Luna.
Neville was so excited that he ran straight into the bathroom stall door without opening it first. Rubbing his nose, he opened up the door. Once back into the hallway, he looked around wildly for her.
He went into the Great Hall, still searching. She wasn't at the Ravenclaw table. Disappointed, he went to sit down to eat some dinner.
Fifteen minutes later, she entered the Great Hall. Neville finished his cabbage quickly and stood up. She had already sat down at the end of the table by then. He stood across from her. Luna was staring resolutely at her plate. He had to clear his throat before she looked up and saw him. Neville's heart gave a little jump; he thought she looked happy to see him.
"Can I sit down?" he asked.
"May I sit down, Neville," she corrected dreamily.
"Oh," Neville said, embarrassed. "May I sit down?"
She smiled at him, and Neville quickly sat down. "I talked to Professor McGonagall today," he started.
Luna shifted in her seat. "I expect you speak to Professor McGonagall quite a lot. You are a student of hers."
Neville didn't want to beat around the bush. He wanted to tell Luna how thankful he was. "Thank you," he said quietly.
"What did I do to deserve thanks?" she asked serenely.
"I know you spoke to her. Professor McGonagall said you asked her not to bring you into it, but she did anyways. Thank you. She gave me a potion, and I could read normally. I don't know how to thank you," he said.
Luna nodded. Neville could tell she was embarrassed, so he decided to drop the subject. He would have to find another way to thank her.
"Oh, and thanks for the owl reminder," Neville grinned at Luna, "I had forgotten."
Luna rested her chin in her hand. "I'm glad. Not glad that you forgot, but glad that it helped. I was afraid you'd be insulted."
Neville gave a half laugh. "Hardly. That was better than a rememberall," he joked.
Luna's eyes grew wide. "You have a rememberall?" she asked.
Neville nodded. "Yep, but I forgot it on my nightstand this morning."
"Neville, those are bad for your health!" she told him. "The Ministry did a study and they found out that rememberalls can cause seizures! The company that make rememberalls, Fountain Creations, paid Fudge a huge sum of money to keep it quiet. Oh, Neville, please be careful!" Luna cried.
It took all of Neville's self control not to laugh. He really didn't want to hurt her feelings. Luckily, not a peep came out. "Thanks for the warning," he said after a minute.
Luna nodded peacefully, as if her job had been accomplished.
-------------------------
A/N – Capillago Secus: Capillago – Hair, Secus – Different
Relectum – To Read Again, Reread
