Hermione had been pretty upset lately. First, she had to witness that horrible incident with Winkey, but at least her friends agreed that it was horrible. Once they got to Hogwarts, Nearly—Headless Nick revealed that there were house-elves working in the kitchen. Hermione almost went on a hunger strike, but Jane had pointed out that that wouldn't help the house elves.
Hermione, Neville, Jane, and Luna tried going to the library and doing some research on house elves, but they couldn't find much. Luna suggested that they might have better luck going down to the kitchens and asking what the house-elves wanted, but the house-elves said they didn't want anything other than how they already had it.
"But, surely you must wish you weren't enslaved," Hermione said.
Suddenly, the house elves started throwing food at them.
"Winky committed suicide," one of them yelled. "That's how much we will never turn on our masterers."
Hermione was stunned and trying to hold back tears, while Luna grabbed her hand and led her out of the kitchens. Hermione wondered what happened to Neville and Jane, only to find them on the other side of the door.
Jane paced back and forth.
Neville looked at Hermione and Luna. "I hope you don't mind us leaving. Jane was starting to freak out, and it looks like things didn't get any better."
"Sorry guys," Luna said. "That was a bad idea."
"It was my bad idea to help the house elves in the first place," Hermione said.
"Would you like a hug?" Neville asked.
Hermione nodded.
Neville hugged her.
Hermione hugged him back and then burst into tears.
The next day, Hermione and Neville were sitting next to each other, in Defence Against the Dark Arts class, learning about curses.
Hermione watched the spider, under the Imperious Curse. She didn't really mind it. She hoped that he would not do the Cruciatus Curse, for Neville's sake and the spiders.
"Anyone know another one?" he asked. "Another illegal curse?"
Hermione raised her hand, wanting to give Advada Kadavra, but Neville raised his hand too.
Professor Moody looked straight at Neville. "Yes," he said?
"There's one – the Cruciatus Cruse," he said, very nervously.
"Your names' Longbottom?" he said.
Neville nodded.
Moody reached into a jar and pulled out the next spider. "The Cruciatus Cruse needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea. Engorgio," he said, pointing his wand at the spider.
The spider grew bigger. Hermione was glad that Ron wasn't here, but at the same time really wished Neville wasn't.
Moody pointed his wand at the spider. "Crucio," he said.
Hermione did not even look at the sider. She just looked at Neville.
Neville was soon staring at the spider, his hands clenched atop his desk, frozen in terror.
"Stop it!" Hermione yelled.
He did.
"Pain," said Professor Moody. "You don't need knives or thumbscrews to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse … That one was very popular too.
"Right … anyone know any others?"
Hermione was so upset that she didn't even bother to raise her hand. She just looked at Neville. She wanted to comfort him, but she feared that if she tried she might accidentally startle him, or draw unwanted attention to him.
She thought about how Neville would sometimes comfort Jane, and she figured it was unlikely that anybody would notice or care if they just held hands. She carefully reached out and stroked his hand.
Neville grabbed hers, tightly.
Hermione was pretty pissed at Professor Moody, but something he said minutes later made her feel a little better about him.
"You've got to know. You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. Constant Vigilance!"
After class, Hermione and Neville got stopped by Professor Moody.
He looked at Neville. "It's alright soony," he said. "Why don't you come up to my office? We can have a cup of tea?"
Hermione glared at Professor Moody.
"I won't frighten him again," he said. "I know it seems harsh, but you've got to know. No point pretending … well…. Come on, Longbottom, I've got some book you might like."
Professor Moody put his hand on Neville's shoulder and steered him away.
Hermione went into to great hall, where she was approached by Jane.
"Where's Neville," Jane asked.
"Um… Professor Moody asked him to have tea with him," she explained. "I'm not sure why." She was pretty sure that he was going to apologize to Neville, at least she hoped so, but she did not tell Jane that. She didn't want to have to explain what happened to Jane, and she doubted that would do anyting but upset her.