Chapter Three: Professor Longbottom

That afternoon, Harry was so full of nerves about the upcoming match that he apparated to the pitch two hours early to make sure he didn't miss the start of it. He couldn't help thinking about the time he had been late to his hearing at the Ministry of Magic in his fifth year, because the time had changed and he hadn't been informed.

But, when he got to the pitch, he was alone, but for the churning feeling in his stomach and a few lonely pigeons.

Harry Potter walked up to the Top Box and sat down in the same seat he had sat in twenty-one years ago, when he had watched Bulgaria lose to Ireland with the Weasleys.

'I wonder which team we're going to be' he muttered gloomily.

'Hello Harry,' said a cheerful voice from behind him. 'Mind if I join you?'

Harry's stomach lurched in surprise, his anxiety momentarily forgotten. He had not been expecting an answer- he had not seen anyone approach-and from the Top Box he had a good view of the pitch. He spun around in his seat, to see his good friend, Neville Longbottom, sitting behind him in the same seat as the house elf Winky had once sat in.

Today was getting weirder and weirder.

'Neville!' said Harry, surprised, but pleased at the same time. 'What are you doing here? Why aren't you at school?'

Neville Longbottom was the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts.

'I was passing by on the way to get some Mimbulus Mimbletonia,' he said happily. 'We're studying them in class and I can't grow them fast enough! Fascinating plants...' He trailed off, looking dreamily down at a pigeon, until Harry cleared his throat.

'Oh, yes,' said Neville, 'so I thought I'd stick around and see your game, you don't mind, do you?'

'Of course not!' said Harry 'How's the teaching going?'

As soon as he'd said it, Harry regretted mentioning Herbology. Neville was a great teacher, but he was extremely enthusiastic about his subject, and it was often hard to stop him talking about it once he'd gotten started.

'It's great! I haven't had so much fun since you started up the D.A Harry, and that was a long time ago wasn't it?' He nodded, and ploughed on before Harry had had time to answer. 'Some of the kids can be a bit of a handful, but on the whole they're pretty-'

'Is James being good then?' Harry asked. 'He says he really likes Herbology.' This was not true; although Harry's eldest son liked Professor Longbottom, he despised the subject of Herbology.

'They're plants!' He had moaned at Harry, who had patiently explained to his son that Herbology got a lot better in the second year, when you started dealing with more dangerous specimens. James had still not been entirely convinced.

'Yes, well...' said Neville uncertainly, his grin vanishing. 'James hasn't actually been attending most of his Herbology classes...' He trailed off, avoiding Harry's eyes.

'What do you mean, he hasn't been coming to class?' said Harry, confused. 'Is he sick?'

'Umm, I don't think so, said Neville. 'He just...'

But Harry had finally grasped what Neville was trying to say.

'You mean, he's skiving! Why didn't someone tell us earlier! Ginny will be furious!'

'Well, he hasn't been doing it long,' Neville said, 'just since the end of last year. I thought that maybe it was just because it was nearly the holidays, and he'd start coming again this year, but he had a lesson this morning I saw him walking across to the Quidditch pitch instead,' he fidgeted nervously, and, when Harry said nothing, added. 'I was going to tell you, I was just giving him a chance to, you know-'

'It's okay,' Harry interjected. 'I understand. Well, I'll write a letter to the Headmistress and she'll put a stop to it.' He knew that Professor Mcgonagall would be able to do something about it. 'I'll recommend that she stops his flying lessons, if that's what he's doing instead of attending class.'

'No, really,' Neville said, 'it's okay, I don't mind.' But Harry could tell that he did mind. Neville had sunk down into his seat, his smile vanished.

'If he's doing it in Herbology then he's probably doing it in other classes too,' said Harry. 'He likes Herbology, really, it's one of his favourite subjects.' He smiled at his friend, who smiled back. Harry could tell that this had been troubling Neville for a while. Even though what Harry said was a lie, it felt good to see Neville smile again and know that he had helped his friend.

'Okay then, thanks Harry!' said Neville cheerfully. 'Anyway, as I was saying, the Mimbulus Mimbletonia are growing really well, they're...'

Harry let Neville talk to him about plants until the first people started to gather outside the stadium. Feeling immensely relieved to be able to leave the conversation, he said goodbye to his friend and jogged over to wait in the changing rooms for the rest of his team.

The next chapter's where it all starts to happen! Suspense! Action! Drama! Keep reading and reviewing...