Chapter Four – The Hogwarts Express

"Neville! There's an owl from Hogwarts for you!" Neville's grandmother yelled from downstairs. Neville sighed and put down his quill. He was just about to write a good sentence for his Potions essay and now it was gone.

He ran downstairs and saw the large barn owl that delivered the letter fly out the window. His grandmother was holding a rolled-up parchment. Neville took it eagerly. He had no idea who would be writing.

The letter was from Professor Sprout. Neville had so many projects in the Greenhouse right now that he had been very worried leaving them over the summer. Luckily, Professor Sprout said she was more than willing to look after the plants for him. The letter was simply an update of how the plants were doing. Neville hoped she was talking to them everyday.

"Would you like to practice?" his grandmother asked. Neville groaned inwardly. His grandmother had been making him practice Apparation every single day since they had the first practical lesson.

"Okay," he said timidly. There had been a class last night. Neville had somehow managed to splinch off his baby toe. Luckily, Mister Quirke had been right there and put Neville back together easily. It had been the strangest sensation though. He kept trying to move his baby toe, but it simply wasn't there.

Neville wiggled his toes, happy that all ten were back. He was determined not to let one little mistake make him even more afraid of apparating. His grandmother would be able to help him if something went wrong.

He walked to the corner of the room and closed his eyes. Neville concentrated as hard as he could on his bedroom upstairs. He was still at the point where he liked to mutter the location to himself. Mister Quirke assured him that eventually Neville will just be able to think these details.

"Longbottom House. Neville's bedroom. Standing up next to the twin sized bed with a navy blue quilt on top. Also next to the pile of pyjamas on the floor," Neville muttered.

"How many times do I need to tell you to put your pyjamas away?" his grandmother scolded.

Neville's eyes opened quickly. "Gran!" he exclaimed. "You just ruined my concentration! Now I have to do it all over again."

"Pick up you pyjamas when you get upstairs," his grandmother ordered.

"Yes, Gran," Neville sighed. He closed his eyes again and said the location out loud once more. Mentally, he pictured a light switch and turned it on.

There was a loud crack and Neville found himself in his bedroom, just not between the bed and pile of night clothes. He was next to his desk, which was six feet away from where he wanted to be.

"Not bad," Neville said proudly to himself.

"Pick up your pyjamas!" his grandmother called from downstairs.

"I will, Gran!" Neville shouted. Rolling his eyes, he picked up his pyjamas and put them on the bed. Then he sat down and went back to his Potions essay. He ran out of ink after ten minutes, and realized he didn't have any more at his desk.

Neville was just about to run downstairs when he closed his eyes and pictured his grandmother's desk in the living room. The light switch appeared in his mind and he ended up only two feet from the desk.

He started to open up one of the drawers when a piece of parchment with his own handwriting caught his eye. Picking it up, he saw that it was the letter he had written to Harry almost a week ago. Written, but not sent. Neville had completely forgotten.

"Great," Neville muttered as he sat down and picked up a quill. "Now Harry will think I'm a complete prat." He gently sucked the end of the quill and added.

PS. Harry, I wrote this right away when I got your letter. But then, go figure, I forgot to send it until I saw it today. So…Happy Belated Birthday!

Then he gave the letter to his grandmother's owl and let her out the window.

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Two weeks later, Neville found himself at the actual Apparation Test Center at the Ministry of Magic. Several times he had to stop himself from tapping his foot too loudly. He was in the lobby, with several other Hogwarts students, and even a few adults, all waiting to be tested.

Thanks to his Gran, Neville arrived a half an hour early for his test, and tried to pass the time by reading one of the magazines in the lobby. But he hadn't taken his Relectum Potion, and the words just wouldn't stay put.

Last year, thanks to Luna, Neville had discovered that he was dyslexic. Everyday before class, Neville took a potion called the Relectum Potion, which helped him read. The potion did wonders, and he also worked with a tutor so that he could lower his dosage of the potion. However, over the summer, Neville had only taken the potion for Apparation class and when he knew he was going to work on homework. He hadn't even thought of taking it for the actual test. Neville could feel a bead of sweat on his forehead.

Susan Bones came out of the side door, from the back of the Test Center. She had a grin on her face.

"Did you pass?" Neville asked, quickly wiping his forehead with the arm of his robe.

"I did!" Susan said happily. "Good luck." Then she made a quick stop to the reception desk and left the Test Center. Neville started biting one of his fingernails.

Fifteen minutes later, a witch came into the lobby and called, "Neville Longbottom."

Neville looked up quickly. He hadn't expected to be called so soon. Taking a deep breath, he stood up and walked over to the witch. "Follow me."

He gulped as he stepped into the actual Test Center. Against one wall, there were three large 'X's on the floor. "Step on the middle X," the witch said kindly. Neville looked at her name tag, and saw her name was Dorothy.

"Yes, ma'am," Neville said timidly. Neville mustered his courage and stepped on the middle X.

"First is an easy test," Dorothy said, sounding somewhat bored. "Apparate to the back of the Leaky Cauldron, at the entrance of Diagon Alley. You have five minutes to get back here. Extra points if you land on the same X you left on."

Neville nodded and closed his eyes. He concentrated as hard as he could of the brick wall, picturing the Leaky Cauldron in the background. Neville flipped the switch…

And crack! Neville opened his eyes and found himself at the back doorway of the Leaky Cauldron, facing the brick wall. A young wizard, whom Neville thought might have been a Gryffindor Neville's first or second year, held a clip board and told him, "Full marks for part one."

Neville couldn't help but smile. That had been easy! Trying to look casual, he wiggled his fingers and toes, making sure none of them had been splinched. So far, so good. He closed his eyes again, but this time thought of the test center, and the large Xs on the floor.

Crack!

He opened his eyes and saw that he was on an X, just not the middle one. The bored looking witch looked up from her paperwork and said, "Good work. Time for the blind test."

This was the test that scared Neville the most. The witch led him to screen on the wall. She tapped the screen, and a large field appeared. There was a forest to one side and one the ground, there was a large red X.

"Memorize as much detail as you can about the field," the witch warned. "You only get one look at the picture, and only for a minute."

Neville saw that there was a small hill in the background. One of the trees at the edge of the forest had fallen down. Neville took in every detail that he could.

"Step back to the middle X," Dorothy ordered, as she tapped the screen again. Neville sighed. Already, the picture was fading. He'd never pass this part of the test.

"You have five minutes to get back here," Dorothy said, not bothering to look up from the paperwork.

Crack!

He looked down, and saw that his right foot was just touching the edge of the top of the red X. He'd done it! A different witch appeared with a crack. "Well done," she said kindly. "Apparate back for your scores."

Neville took a deep breath. He must have apparated a long distance, because he was winded. He took almost two minutes to regain his breath and apparated back to the Test Center.

He wasn't as accurate this time. Neville actually apparated into the Test Center lobby as opposed to the Test Center itself. Neville sighed and walked back into the Test Center. Dorothy was writing something and a minute later, handed him a sheet of paper.

"You've passed," Dorothy said. "Barely. You lost a lot of points for not making it back to the Test Center and into the lobby instead. But at least you were just a room over. I've seen much worse."

"I really passed?" Neville said excitedly. He couldn't wait to tell Luna and his grandmother.

"Yep," Dorothy said. "Go back to the reception desk, pay fourteen sickles, and you're on your way."

"Thanks!" Neville said brightly. He quickly paid the witch at the reception desk and took his license. It was good for twenty years, and then he'd have to get re-tested.

Neville practically dashed outside and headed towards a nearby alley. With a resounding crack, Neville found himself back home, quite pleased with himself.

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"Hurry up!" his grandmother yelled from downstairs. "You don't want to miss your last train to Hogwarts!"

"I'll be right down!" Neville yelled, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. "Trevor, where are you?"

He got on his hands and knees and took one last look underneath his bed. Trevor was there, hiding behind one of the legs of the bed. "Why do you always run away?" Neville asked. "I'm nice to you."

Trevor simply gave a loud ribbit as Neville placed him in his robe pocket. "Stay," Neville scolded. "Or I'll put you in my trunk. I swear I will."

"Neville!"

Neville didn't bother to answer, and instead ran downstairs. "I'm ready," he said.

"About time, boy," his grandmother said sternly. She handed him the bowl they kept floo powder in. "Go on."

Neville pushed his trunk in front of him and threw the floo powder over the flames. A minute later, Neville was at the King's Cross Station. His grandmother took the led and together they walked towards platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

A sinking feeling in his stomach appeared. This would be his last September First. He wasn't sure if he was happy about that or not.

He quickly said good-bye to his grandmother and walked through the barrier. His eyes instantly went to look for Luna, but she was no where to be found.

Neville dragged his trunk to the rest of the luggage and saw Hermione Granger directing things, a Head Girl badge pinned proudly to her robes.

"I knew it'd be you," Neville grinned.

"Neville!" Hermione said. "How was Africa?"

"Great. I'll tell everyone about it on the train," Neville promised.

"Deal," Hermione said, but then quickly switched gears. "Please don't add another trunk to that pile!" And she ran towards the offending trunk.

Neville stopped himself from calling out and asking who the Head Boy was. He thought it might very well be Ron. He walked up the steps and started the process of finding a compartment. Neville glanced at his watch. The train would be leaving in just a few minutes. Luna usually arrived early, so he assumed she already had a compartment.

He walked down the aisle, glancing into the different compartments. Neville had to stop himself from staring when he saw Draco Malfoy sitting next to Pansy Parkinson. Draco's head was practically shaved and he looked even thinner than usual. But the biggest difference was that he was wearing a Ravenclaw tie. Neville thought he made a mistake at first, but Draco was definitely wearing a blue and bronze stripped tie.

Shaking his head, Neville continued on his search for Luna. He found her all the way down at the end, staring out the window, while Harry and Ginny were talking eagerly.

Neville let himself in. He basked in the 'How are you's?' and 'How was Africa? Luna's not talking.' Neville sat down next to Luna, and she turned and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then she went to stare out the window again.

Neville looked her over quickly. She was most certainly in what he called her 'serious' mood, which meant, she didn't really talk to anyone and kept to herself. Her hair was piled up on her head, and her wand was behind her ear. She was already in her school uniform, and it took Neville a moment to realize that she was wearing her tie around her waist, like a belt.

"So who's Head Boy?" Neville asked.

"Anthony Goldstein," Harry said quickly. "I thought it'd be Ron, for sure."

"Don't let him hear you say that," Ginny said. "I think Ron decided he really wanted to be Head Boy. He was pretty disappointed when we got our Hogwarts letters."

"Too bad," Neville said. "He's still a Prefect, though, isn't he?"

Ginny nodded. "Luna, what are we going to do next year, without everyone?" she joked. "It'll be just you and me."

"And every other student that's still at Hogwarts," Luna said dreamily, her gaze not leaving the window. Neville felt her take his hand and give it a squeeze.

"Well, Neville and I will be leading exciting lives by then, I'm sure," Harry joked.

"Right, working everyday for a living," Neville smiled.

"And joining the Order," Harry said. "You're going to join when we're done with school, won't you?"

Neville blinked quickly. "I hadn't thought about it, honestly," Neville said.

"That's assuming You-Know-Who's not defeated this year," Ginny said, trying to sound casual.

Harry and Neville shared a dark look. Last year, Harry had confided in Neville and told him that only Harry had the power to defeat the Dark Lord. And that it could have easily have been Neville.

"It's hard to know the future," Luna said peacefully, finally turning from the window and looking at the group.

The train lurched, and they were suddenly on their way. The group talked easily and shared the sweets that Harry bought off of the trolley. Luna kept looking out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Kifern Faeries, in case they hadn't migrated at all.

Ron and Hermione joined them and a game of exploding snaps started. Hermione surprised them all and joined in. She normally wouldn't play that game. However, she did quite well and ended up winning two of the three games they played.

Before he knew it, the Hogwarts Express stopped. Hermione sighed. "I can't believe this is our last year," she said softly, as Ron put his arm around her.

"Remember, we're the seventh years now," Ron said. "We get to push everyone around."

"Ron-"

"Just kidding, love," Ron grinned, as Hermione shook her head. "Just kidding."

Neville's heart skipped a beat, like it had every year when he saw the Threstals. They always reminded him of his grandad. Neville had only been eight when his grandad passed away suddenly from a Heart Attack, but it still hurt. His grandad had been much more easy-going than his grandmother.

Luna took his hand, and he could tell that she was thinking about her mother. Neville kissed her cheek, and together they went inside one of the carriages. Harry and Ginny followed, complaining loudly that Ron and Hermione were hoping to get a carriage of their own.

Neville looked ahead and saw the castle looming in front of him. He was really to start his seventh and final year at Hogwarts.