Neville awoke quite early the next morning, feeling as awake as though he had slept for years. The sun had barely begun to rise, and only the slightest rays of weak light were visible, peering out over the thick dense trees of the Forbidden Forest. Neville lay comfortably on his back, staring out the window, as the sky filled with the warm, inviting colors of a new day. He felt it to be a most auspicious beginning for a first time back at Hogwarts.
At last, the sun now high over the trees, its brilliant glow illuminating the Hogwarts grounds, the other boys began to wake. They pushed themselves wearily upright, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes and complaining about the bright sun Neville had just been enjoying so much. He joined them in preparing for them in preparing for the day ahead by dressing in his customary black robes and Gryffindor tie, trying very hard to ignore the many creases they had obtained while inside his trunk.
Neville was just leaning over to find his books among the multitude of items in his trunk when the other boys began to leave. Harry and Ron stood in the doorway, waiting.
"C'mon Neville, I'm starved!" Harry exclaimed, groaning and clutching his stomach in a most hungry sort of way. "You can come back for your books after! We don't know what subjects we'll have anyways, so what's the point? You'd have to bring everything!"
Neville considered this statement. He had not realized they had not yet received their schedules. Harry was right, as usually. Neville stood up, dusting off the bottom of his robes as best he could. "You're right." He said, smiling and rolling his eyes, privately cursing the slightly smug look Harry wore upon his face.
Harry let out a very brief whoop of elation, then hurried down the steep stone staircase to the Gryffindor common room. Ron and Neville shared a brief moment of mild frustration, then followed quickly behind. They were, after all, quite hungry.
The three boys tore through Gryffindor Tower, which, thankfully, was quite empty at the time. Several older students sitting wearily by the fire shook their heads in annoyance and confusion as the boys passed, not understanding how they could ever be so chipper so very early in the morning. In the past, Neville would have felt extremely self-conscious by participating in such antics, but today he felt carefree. He was back at Hogwarts, and although there were still rules, they were enforced much less strictly than at home, and there were much less of them.
Just minutes later, the boys arrived outside the Great Hall. Neville was breathing heavily, for he was not as fit as the other boys, having been cooped up inside for much of his holiday. He trailed behind Harry and Ron as they entered the gargantuan room, feeling a bit frustrated with his apparent lack of stamina. He sat down at the table beside his friends, vowing privately to get in better shape.
"I've missed the Hogwarts food!" Ron exclaimed as he munched a large piece of toast, his plate piled high with bacon and eggs.
Harry nodded. "You can always count on Hogwarts to have good food. Meals at home are fine, of course, but there aren't nearly as many options." He speared a kipper enthusiastically, quite ravenous.
Neville sat a bit quietly. After such a terrible display of fitness on the way to the Great Hall, he felt as though he ought to eat a bit less, perhaps. However, Neville reasoned, it was the very first day back at school. There would be plenty of meals in the future at which he could diet slightly. Neville filled a plate with bacon and toast and began to eat enthusiastically. As he did so, he looked up and down the Gryffindor table for familiar faces that he had not seen the previous night. He caught a glimpse of long red hair and nudged Ron.
"That's your sister, isn't it?" He asked, swallowing a bit of toast as he stared at the girl. She looked quite a bit like Ron, with the same famous bright red hair and freckles. She appeared to be a bit quiet, but overall content with her surroundings.
Ron nodded. "Yeah, that's Ginny. Mum's made me promise to keep an eye on her, but she looks fine to me." He turned back to his food. Neville stared at the girl for another moment, feeling as though she did not seem quite happy. However, after a loud prompt from his stomach, he too turned back to the meal at hand.
Soon after, Professor McGonagall descended from the staff table to distribute the new schedules. Neville scanned his eagerly, his legs fidgeting slightly with excitement.
"Excellent, we've got Lockhart today!" Neville exclaimed, looking up at his friends and beaming. Though he had not thought much of the flamboyant man when they first met, his reputation did precede him. Neville was quite fascinated by Gilderoy Lockhart's many books filled with fantastical adventures, and almost longed to have such exciting experiences himself.
"Yeah, but then we've got Binns." Ron grumbled, his face falling. "So overall, not the best first day." He stabbed a last remaining bit of egg with considerable force, dispelling a bit of his anger.
Harry looked up. "We'd better get going, classes'll be starting in ten minutes, and we still need to get our books!" He stood up at once, the bench scraping loudly against the floor as he did so. Ron and Neville followed suit, feeling extremely excited.
It took the full ten minutes for the boys to collect their books and hurry to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. They had not realized it would take much more time to descend flights of stairs while carrying a tall stack of books. Despite several dropped volumes, however, they still managed to arrive on time. Harry sat down in the second row, Ron and Neville right behind. Neville had wished to sit in the front of the classroom, so as to see better, but he did not want to sit with Hermione Granger, who had already claimed a seat there. Neville stacked his books neatly and waiting quietly for Gilderoy Lockhart to enter.
The class waited, an anticipatory silence among them, as the bell rang, signifying the start of classes. They then continued to wait, looking around at one another in a confused manner, for teachers were not generally late to class.
At last, a good ten minutes into the lesson, Gilderoy Lockhart entered the room. His robes were long and lavender, and they trailed on the floor as he walked through the rows of desks, clearly under the impression that he would be revered for arriving fashionably late.
"Welcome," he said in a loud, clear voice, "to the wonderful art of Defense Against the Dark Arts." Lockhart paused for dramatic effect as he turned around at the front of the room, beaming at the now-slightly skeptical second years that sat before him. "I, as you all well know, am Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and, of course, five-time winner of Witch Weekly's most charming smile award!" He paused again as though to give the class time to appreciate his smile. "I daresay, had You-Know-Who himself come to kill me, I would have escaped with not even a scar on my forehead." He smiled again at the students, all of whom were wearing confused expressions. Was he really implying he was more powerful than Voldemort himself?
Neville looked at Harry and Ron, who wore disgusted expressions upon their face. The three boys clearly felt the same way; this man was delusional.
"Alright now!" Lockhart exclaimed, looking perkily at the class. "I see you have all bought my complete set of books! I have prepared a very easy quiz for you all, just to see how well you read them. No need to worry, it's quite easy!" He waved his wand, and a stack of papers distributed themselves. Neville noted that they did not arrive as cleanly on the desk as in Professor McGonagall's class, and began to doubt the famous wizard slightly. He looked down at the sheet of paper and found himself growing angry. The first question read:
What, in your opinion, is the greatest aspect of Gilderoy Lockhart? (Topics to consider: Smile, hair, eyes, complexion, physique, dress sense, wizarding abilities)
Neville was immediately repulsed. He knew only the most narcissistic of people would ask such egotistical questions as Gilderoy Lockhart. He began to work reluctantly, despising every question.
At last, not a moment too soon, Gilderoy Lockhart shouted. "Alright now, time's up! I'll collect your papers now!" He waved his wand, and the papers flew off each desk, forming a pile, pell-mell, in his hands. Lockhart sat down at his desk and began to grade them quickly. Neville took the moment of peace to look at Harry and Ron, who appeared annoyed as well. Clearly, none of them were impressed.
Lockhart then stood up abruptly. "I'm sure you all have been most anxious," he said, smiling indulgently, "to hear your scores. Well, I regret to tell you many of them were quite disappointing. Only one of you remembered by very favorite color, Lilac! But Miss Ganger did, of course. Well done, a perfect score! Where is Miss Granger?" Hermione's hand shot straight in the air, quivering slightly. Neville rolled his eyes at Harry and Ron. "Very very admirable, Miss Granger!" Lockhart exclaimed one last time.
"Now." He said turning around abruptly. "I thought I would give you a bit of a taste of what it's like to deal with dark creatures. Of course, I will not give you anything so challenging as a banshee, but all the same…." He turned and whipped a cloth off of a curious shaking object to reveal a large brass birdcage filled with small electric blue creatures, which began shouting and squealing at once.
Neville heard someone laugh. "Cornish Pixies?" He heard Seamus exclaim, convulsing with mirth. "Cornish Pixies are dark creatures?"
Gilderoy Lockhart smiled in a frustratingly patronizing way. "I'll have you know that these are freshly caught Cornish Pixies! Now, let's see what you can do with them!"
With that pronouncement, Gilderoy Lockhart unlocked the cage, and the pixies flew out in a large blue cloud. "Go on, round them up now!" he called in a thoroughly too-happy voice. The pixies rampaged around the room, causing mayhem. Several seized copies of Lockhart books and began tearing them apart, or worse, bashing them against people's heads. Neville felt a few pixies buzzing around his head, but they were promptly smacked away by Ron, brandishing a book of his own. The pixies flew about the room, upending tables, smashing bottles of ink, and tossing quills and other personal belongings out the window. The entire class had sought safety under their desks, to no avail.
"Round them all up now, come on!" Lockhart shouted joyfully. "Bit scared now, are you? Never fear!" He whipped out his wand, waved it around foolishly, and shouted "Peskipiksi pesternomi!" Neville fought the urge to laugh as a pixie, clearly unaffected by the spell, nabbed the professor's wand straight out of his hand. Lockhart lunged after it, tripping over a desk and falling onto the ground. Neville watched curiously as the professor looked up at the cowering students, who were quite amused. He scowled and stood up just as the bell rang.
The class fled for the door at once. Harry, Ron, and Neville gathered their books and began to follow when Gilderoy Lockhart stepped in front of them, scurrying towards the exit. "You four can just nip the pixies back into their cage for a bit of extra practice!" He exclaimed nervously, hurrying out and shutting the door behind him.
Neville looked around at the havoc of the room. Harry and Ron did the same, looking annoyed. Hermione Granger, who had also been too slow in leaving the classroom, began immobilizing pixies at once. Harry started towards the door.
"What are you doing?" Neville asked curiously. He did not want to stay either, but did not feel comfortable disobeying a teacher.
"Oh come on, Lockhart's the one who set the pixies loose, it isn't our job to put them back. Let's go eat, I'm starved." Ron and Neville considered this idea for a moment, then shrugged and followed Harry out the door. As he left, Neville glanced back at Hermione, who remained in the room. She was looking at the three fleeing boys, her expression cross. Neville felt guilty, as though he ought to stay and help, or tell her to come along and leave, but he did not do either. After all, he reasoned, she was clearly capable of stopping the pixies, even if the famous Gilderoy Lockhart was not.