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Neville – An Unexpected Sorting
The big moment was finally here. The group of 1st years headed down the long tables, all looking at the mass of stars and floating candles which was the Great Hall's ceiling. The older students whispered as they walked in and Neville couldn't help but feel subconscious of his every move.
Mimb rumbled within him, alert, ready for the fight or flight response that would release him. The small group finally reached the end of the hall and stood in front of a stool and its accompanying Sorting Hat.
As Professor McGonagall spoke Neville found himself getting more and more distracted, and more and more nervous. Due to this distraction both her words and the Hat's mysterious song were lost to him. His collar tightened.
What if he wasn't magic enough? What if Mimb was an anomaly and he didn't count as a true wizard? He couldn't shame his family this way. He couldn't end up like the countless pureblood squibs, abandoned to the muggle world, never to be heard from again.
As the thoughts swirled in his head, he felt his temperature rise. Mimb was growing desperate and was clawing at his mind, trying to escape.
"Mr. Longbottom!" A voice called through his thoughts, breaking Mimb's grip and sending him back to Earth. Some older students giggled quietly.
"Mr. Longbottom, would you care to join us please?" Professor McGonagall asked curtly, clearly irritated with his lack of attention.
He tentatively approached the Hat. Don't trip. Don't trip. Don't trip.
Placing the Hat on his head, all the noises of the Great Hall disappeared, and a new voice made itself heard to him alone.
"Neville Longbottom, is it? Hmmm, your parents were both wonderful fits for Gryffindor, but would you….." the Hat paused. "Who else is here?! It sounds like the mind of some sort of feral beast."
And with that the green creeped into his vision, clouding his anxious thoughts with those of anger and resentment for the wizarding world.
IS MIMB TOO MAGICAL FOR WIZARDS?! The voiced yelled furiously.
Mimb's… no… his mind raced, desperate to express all that he had hidden for all the years. Years of being treated like a second class citizen, considered a squib. How was is it in a society with slavery, the worst fate for a pureblood family was birthing a squib. He was not magical enough as Neville, but was he now too magical as Mimb?
He sighed, the irony was strangely calming.
The voice quieted, bitterly grasping at straws, trying to latch onto the residue anger still stirring within.
"Ah," the hat spoke again, "You are surely an interesting young man, aren't you?"
"Please, just choose a house" he silently begged the hat. He could hear the whispers emanating from the long table. He was taking too long!
"Show strength, Neville," the hat said solemnly, "If you can beat that monster, you can beat the other monster in your head".
"What other monster," he asked, confused. "Was there another monster….?"
His thoughts were interrupted by the only word he wanted hear.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
A wave of relief and calm spread. He stumbled away, embarrassment briefly returning as he found himself wandering away with the hat still upon his head. He sat among the other Gryffindors not listening to the quiet whispers still being passed around. What had the hat meant by the other monster within? What else could be wrong with him? His introspective thoughts were broken by the call of the hat once more.
"Ravenclaw!"
He looked toward the front of the hall to see his friend, Luna Lovegood, start skipping toward the Ravenclaw table. It was bittersweet, he was glad she was in the house she had been hoping for, but he had hoped to already have a friend in his house. She waved at him from across the hall and he returned in smiling. Ravenclaws and Gryffindors must occasionally share classes; they wouldn't be separate for long.
The rest of the sorting went by quickly. No one was surprised with Draco Malfoy's sorting; he was the fastest sorting of the group, the hat only brushing his hair before proclaiming Slytherin. The two boys he and Luna had boated in with also were sorted into Gryffindor, Neville learned their names to be Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas. When Dean rejoined Seamus their conversation resumed, only to be quieted by a stern look from Professor McGonagall. Harry Potter and the younger Weasley twins were all, unsurprisingly, sorted into Gryffindor.
Dinner was delicious and very filling, and conversations spread around the table about various topics like the upcoming school year, the summer shenanigans, or as his fellow first years discovered, the existence of partially decapitated ghosts.
But, in what seemed like no time at all, Neville was tucking into his new bed in the first year Gryffindor dormitory. The others fell asleep quickly, likely feeling the effects of a full stomach and a very busy day. Although he wanted to work out what the hat was talking about during the sorting, his eyes became heavy as well. The frayed nerves of day apparently were no match for a large turkey dinner.
BREAK
Neville opened his eyes. The room was dark and cold. The other beds in the dormitory were missing, along with their owners.
"Hello?" he called nervously. "Is anyone there?"
Thud. He was on the floor now, his bed had disappeared. But the thud was not from him… at least not entirely him. He stood up and walked warily toward the sound. Noises from the darkness become louder.
More violent.
A voice yelled its fury at him.
Through him.
A light flashed on.
The empty room was occupied by a singular body mirror. There was writing at the top, "erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi". Maybe it was Latin?
Looking into the mirror, he quickly realized it was magical. Although it was him in the mirror, he wasn't facing himself. Mirror Neville was facing away, leaning over something on the ground in front of him.
Reaching forward, Neville attempted to touch mirror Neville's back. Other Neville turned and stood up straight. He was the same in every way except one. Mirror Neville had bright green eyes that narrowed while looking across at him.
Or at least he was originally looking across at him.
Mirror Neville was growing larger and greener by the second. The green beast before him let out an inhuman yell and Neville fell to the ground in horror.
"MIMB ANGRY! MIMB ANGRY! MIMB ANGRY!" the beast repeated, hitting his fist against the glass. The glass cracked in violent shapes.
Both Neville's and Mimb's eyes were drawn to the longest crack along the center. It was shaped almost like a lightning bolt. One final punch shattered the mirror and Neville closed his eyes and raised his arms to protect his face.
BREAK
Neville woke in a cold sweat, under his heavy maroon comforter. He shook fearfully and rubbed his face. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. He repeated to himself.
Glancing around the room, he was relieved to see that his dreams had not disturbed his roommates. He didn't want his secrets to be revealed to people he's known for less than 24 hours. Looking out the window, he saw that the vast grounds of Hogwarts were still very dark. He rolled back over, willing his mind to fall back asleep and no longer think of the dream or the sorting.
But in this task he was unsuccessful.
