Chapter 4: Oh Where, Oh Where

"Where's Neville?" Hermione asked the others as they started eating breakfast at their regular spot at the Gryffindor tables.

He's probably sleeping late," offered Ron. "I imagine he'll be along."

"Why are you asking?" said Harry.

"Don't you remember?" she replied. "He fainted during Herbology. He wasn't at lunch after that."

"He probably didn't feel like eating after that," said Ron.

"Maybe," agreed Hermione. "But I don't remember seeing him at all after that. Did any of you see him later in the day?"

There was hesitation among those listening as they tried to recollect any late-in-the-day encounters. No one could recall seeing him.

"That is strange," said Seamus. "He's not one to go wandering. I wonder what he could be up to?"

"I think someone needs to check back in the dorms to see if he is there. I'm worried, even if you aren't," said Hermione.

"Go ahead then," said Ron, not wanting to make that long walk up the tower stairs. "Go check, ya nutter."

"You know I can't go in the boy's dormitory," said Hermione in a curt manner. "One of you boys needs to do it."

"Ya, right," said Ron, not liking it. "C'mon, Harry. Let's go check so we can relax."

"Why me?" asked Harry, still eating some eggs and sausage. "You can do it?"

"Just c'mon, Harry," pleaded Ron as Seamus, Dean, and several others looked on, most of them smirking. Ginny smiled at Harry.

Ron got up and made a sandwich of sorts from a couple of pieces of toast and some sausages. Harry took a few fast bites of his remaining food and rose up to accompany Ron on their mission.

"Thank you," said Hermione.

Ron and Harry walked off toward the stairway munching their last bites of breakfast. As they started to ascend the stairs, Ron said, "Hermione can be a bit annoying when she gets onto something like this."

"Yes," agreed Harry. "I guess we might as well just do this and be done with it. We'll never hear the end until we do."

They continued climbing until they finally reached the landing with the portrait of the fat lady. "Flibbertigibbet," said Ron. The portrait opened they made their way inside the common room.

The common room was vacant. The only sounds were the crackling of the embers in the fireplace and the constant winds of the upper castle against the windows. They checked the couches and chairs to see if he had curled up in one. He was not there.

They made their way to their dorm. He was not in his bed, which curiously did not appear to have been slept in last night. They checked all around the room, then went into all of the other dorm rooms and checked, just in case. Neville was not in any of them.

"I am starting to worry a bit," said Ron, the growing concern evident in his voice.

"Maybe Hermione is onto something," agreed Harry. "It is strange for Neville to be missing like this. It is rare for him to go off on his own."

They exited the dormitory and walked to the nearby lavatory. It was vacant, except for Peeves, who started throwing soap at them. They tried to ask Peeves if he had seen Neville. Peeves, being Peeves, never gave them a direct answer, but they got a pretty firm feeling that he did not know Neville's whereabouts.

"What are we going to tell Hermione when we get back down there?" asked Ron.

"We tell her we couldn't find him."

"You know that won't satisfy her. She will have more ideas for us to do."

"Where else might he be, then?"

"He spends a lot of time in the library looking at plant books," offered Ron.

"Okay, let's check there on the way back. Maybe that will satisfy her for now."

When they arrived at the library a few minutes later, no one was there except for Irma Pince, the librarian. "They asked her if she had seen Neville.

"He was here a couple of days ago," she said. "I haven't seen him, recently. "Now that you ask, that seems a bit odd. He is usually here for at least a few minutes every day."

They left the library and made it back to the great hall just as everyone was leaving for class.

"Well?" said Hermione, walking up to them.

"We couldn't find him," said Ron, the concern in his voice missed by Hermione, who continued her questions.

"Where did you look?"

"Everywhere," said Ron, irritated at her tone, like she was talking to a pair of little kids who couldn't find a favorite toy.

"Where is everywhere, may I ask?"

"Common room, ALL of the boy's dorm rooms, the lavatory, the…"

"…We need to check the library," she said as they walked toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"We already did," said Harry with a self-congratulatory look.

"Really?" she answered, taken aback. "Brilliant."

"We are getting worried, too," said Ron, his voice sounding that way. "We kind of thought you were overreacting at first. But now, we are thinking something is wrong, too."

They made their way through another misguided session with Professor Lockhart. Several students received Doxy bites requiring quick trips to the hospital wing for a dose of the antidote. Lockhart fled the room when his attempt to jinx them failed, leaving the class to fight them on their own. It was a chaotic scene, reminiscent of the Cornish pixie fiasco on their first day of class.

Fortunately, Hermione had read about the Knockback Jinx. "Flipendo! Flipendo!" she shouted several times as she pointed her wand at the fleeing, biting fairies. Once the doxies were finally caged the remaining students who were bitten were hurried off for medical attention.

"We need to tell Professor McGonagall," said Hermione as they were exiting the class.

"Tell her about Lockhart?" asked Ron.

"No, Neville," she said, looking at Ron with a "how dim are you?" expression.

"Oh, Yeah. Right," he replied sheepishly.

"I think she is already onto Lockhart," added Harry. "Everyone is starting to see he is a bit off."

The hallways were full of students scurrying between classes. It was always loud, frenzied chaos during class change. Many students had to make it from the top of one tower to the top of another in the time allotted. There was not a lot of time for socialization or courtesy. Even Peeves ignored this time of day. There was too much competition for him to enjoy his antics.

Professor McGonagall was outside her Transfiguration classroom trying to direct traffic when they spotted her. They approached her with Hermione in the lead.

"Excuse us, professor," she said.

"What is it, you three," she smiled, having experienced the three of them coming to her about any number of things.

"It's Neville, professor. He's missing.

"Missing?" she said, giving them a serious, but curious look. Whatever are you talking about?"

"He fainted yesterday in Herbology class," began Hermione.

"Yes, I heard about that. It is common when repotting young mandrakes if you are not careful with your earmuffs. You just leave them on the floor until they come back around. It is not serious."

"Yes, ma'am," replied Hermione, trying to get to her point. "That is not the concern."

"Go on, then, Miss Granger," she said, looking over her glasses.

"We left him be and went outside to look at some open plantings. When we came back, he was gone."

"Perfectly normal if he came to and found himself alone. He probably thought the class was over and left."

"That is what we told her," said Harry. Hermione glared back at him, wanting him to be quiet so she could continue.

"We went to lunch and afternoon classes. No one in his Arithmancy or Divination classes remembers him being there in the afternoon. He was not at dinner, either."

"That is unusual. He was not at breakfast this morning. Harry and Ron searched the dormitories, lavatory, and library. No one can find him."

"This is serious, indeed," said Professor McGonagall, the tone of her voice changed to a tone more serious than her normal, serious tone. "We need to look into this. I will go see Professor Dumbledore. We will start an investigation at once."

They parted company, scurrying to make their next classes. Professor McGonagall headed off in the direction of the headmaster's office.