Thanks for reading. Let me know if you spot any mistakes.
1. Mr Scamander & Mr Scamander
A first-year student, whose hair was atypically of two colours instead of one, some of its strands displaying a shiny silver blond colour and the remainder, utterly indifferent to the rest of it, being plain dull black, sat at the Slytherin table, having breakfast in the company of four classmates. Facetiously, he pointed at another boy, who looked exactly like him, the one noticeable difference being that this one's hair was entirely silver blond. Sitting alone next to the edge of the Ravenclaw table, he had been quietly burying his nose inside a book larger than his head, so absorbed in reading he didn't notice his toast had fallen out from his left hand.
"Look at him... could anybody be a bigger moron?" waving his wand behind the table, as his fellows chuckled, the Slytherin pointed at the heavy book and murmured, "Depulso!"
Abruptly, the book took off faster than a Firebolt and smashed hard against the blonde's nose, sending him flying away from Ravenclaw's table to crash violently to the ground. The majority of the students at the Great Hall instantly shifted their attention from their own breakfast to the unusual event. As the dizzy boy tried to get back to his feet, assisted by a Prefect who had just arrived at the scene, the ones gathered around couldn't take their eyes off the blood that fell lavishly from his nose.
Back at the Slytherin table, the group of five, covering their mouths with their hands, as hard as they tried to lay low, couldn't muffle enough the sound of their laughs.
"Malfoy!" as she helped the bleeding boy, the Prefect shouted, looking at the Slytherin table. "It's them again!"
A very blonde young man wearing a silver badge saying 'Head Boy' hurried to the group of guilty-looking but amused freshmen, who now tried unsuccessfully to pretend they were very engaged in eating their breakfast.
"Again, Scamander? Again!?" he scolded, exasperated. "Merlin's pants! He is your brother! Your twin brother! I've lost count of how many times you've been told to leave him alone! You think this is funny?"
"Well... I'm laughing..." talked back Scamander, as his housemates burst into laughter at the remark.
"Of course, Scorpius, it's indeed extremely funny, don't you think?" a young man that didn't wear a sumptuous badge as the former had just approached the group, his tone bitterly ironic. "I'll show you all how it's funny!" he said as he smashed the back of the head of the younger with a book remarkably lighter than the one that hit the Ravenclaw. All the surrounding people, including the boy's friends, laughed enthusiastically at the performance.
"Albus!" muttered Scorpius anxiously, the only one around who had not laughed, to the other. "This is not how we discipline here in Hogwarts! Above all, you don't have the authority to discipline at all! You can't hit first years with books, Albus! I'll have to take you to Professor Slughorn as well!"
"No, no, my dear Scorpius, no!" Albus replied, smirking. "Didn't you get the memo? According to the new rules of the school, bullying is now allowed, as long as the person is related to you! This cool guy here, Lorcan, is like a member of my own family. Mom and dad are his godparents. That makes him pretty much my little cousin," he mockingly impersonated a baby as he squeezed the kid's cheeks, "so, doing this..." he pushed the boy's face into his porridge, "...couldn't be more legitimate!"
"Albus!" a tall and much ginger girl from Gryffindor, wearing a badge much like that of Scorpius, though it said 'Head Girl' instead, ushered into the turmoil, staring severely at the young man.
"Oh, Rose! Hear the news! Brand new school rules: mocking your relatives is now permitted! Thank you very much, Lorcan, for letting all of us know! And, well, to my knowledge, you happen to be my relative... how should I offend you? You're a big nerd, for sure, but you're also very annoying, obnoxious, self-righteous... I can't really make up my mind..." the more he carried on with the ironic attitude, the harsher the girl's face would become. Nobody dared to laugh, though. "But I love you!" he theatrically brought his two hands to his chest. "And you can't deduce points from Slytherin, as what I just did is now in perfect conformity with the aforementioned new rules! Now, if you two excuse me, I have important business to attend to: I have to find my little sister Lilly and offend her too! I'll let you to two to your duty of authority, discipline, whatever. Farewell...!" he staged a jocular bow and headed out of the Great Hall.
"Lorcan, I'm very much disappointed at you!" preached Rose, turning to him. "You lot come with us! This can't keep going on! Let's go see Professor McGonagall at once!"
"Professor McGonagall!?" one of the little boys of the troupe panicked. "Don't you mean Professor Slughorn!?"
"Excelent idea, Mr Goshawk! Let's go see him as well. You'll hear from both!"
"You heard her, on your feet, now! And less 10 points to Slytherin for each of you, a sum total of 50!" Malfoy resolutely gestured for them to follow the ginger. They promptly complied, rushing to keep pace with a very agitated Rose Granger-Weasley as she stormed out of the Great Hall. Malfoy also hurried, almost running, towards her, to whom he whispered, "Please, don't deduce any points from Slytherin because of Albus, Rose. I promise I'll talk to him later."
"It's OK," she discreetly held his hand when he reached her. "I kind of was amused by that. But don't ever tell him that."
"Deception!" uttered Professor Slughorn. "Disgrace! Again you five bring shame to your house! You will all get yourselves at least one month of detention, oh, you will! And 50 points will be deducted from Slytherin!"
"Another 50, professor!?" one of them protested. "That makes 100! Scorpius's already made us lose 50 points!"
"Must I add you should have lost much more than that, Mr Hawthorne! Much more! Well done, Mr Malfoy!" Malfoy nodded as both he and Rose stood behind the five mischief-makers in the staff room. "Your house is on the verge of running out of points because of you! Don't you feel ashamed!?"
As Professor Slughorn's sermon went on, a knock on the door was heard.
"Come in."
"Excuse me, Professor Slughorn, Professor McKinnon, I bring Lysander Scamander," the same Prefect from Ravenclaw from before escorted the bleeding boy into the room.
"Merlin's beard!" cried out Professor McKinnon, a young woman not much older than 30, who had been standing beside Professor Slughorn. "What did you cast on your brother, Scamander? From what I can remember, I didn't teach first-years any jinxes that could get a person like this!" she knelt, carefully checking the boy's injury.
"Thank you, Thompson! Could I possibly ask you to get Filius and Minerva here as soon as possible?" the Prefect nodded, promptly leaving the room. Professor Slughorn, thus, reached closer to the boy. "Are you fine, boy? How are you feeling?"
"I..." he seemed a little confused. "I... need to go back! I left my book in the Great Hall... on the floor... Madam Pince is going to be very mad if I don't return it...!"
The group of five burst hard into laughter at that. Lysander, on the other hand, seemed very puzzled, unaware of what was really funny about what he had said.
Before an out-of-patience Professor Slughorn could resume his sermon, a man stormed into the room without knocking or being invited in. He knelt before Lysander before he took the time to acknowledge anybody else in there. Concerned, he stared at the boy and examined his bloody nose closely. Following that, he drew his wand and recited the incantation 'Episkey'. For a second, the boy was mildly startled by the sudden feel of his broken bones mending and going back to the way they had always been.
"Good fixing, Longbottom. It looks exactly as it was before! One can tell because it's exactly like his brother's!" Professor Slughorn said, examining both boys' noses. Lorcan frowned at the unpleasant reminder that he and Lysander were identical twins.
"Vulnera sanetur, vulnera sanetur, vulnera sanetur..." not yet shifting his attention from the boy to anyone else, Professor Longbottom began tracing his wand over his bloody nose as he chanted that incantation, which caused the wounds to knit and the residual blood to disappear. Afterwards, he stood up and, friendly, placed a hand on the youngster's shoulder. "Feel any better?"
"Very much, professor, thank you," the kid returned the smile, yet appeared to be a little confused still. "I'm just a little dizzy. I don't know, maybe my head's been infested by nargles..."
"Nargles?" asked Professor Slughorn, genuinely worried. "Nargles? What in the world are nargles? Malfoy, will you escort the boy to Madam Pomfrey right away? She will know what to do!"
Four members of the troop, once again, burst hard into laughter, to Professor Slughorn's utter dismay. Lorcan did not. He would never admit it out loud, still, deep down he also thought nargles were real.
"What are you lot laughing at!? Don't you see in how much trouble you already are!?" bellowed Professor Slughorn.
"Let's just get your ears cleaned up. It'll take care of it," Neville pointed his wand at the boy's head and muttered an incantation. "Better? Oh, and I went back to retrieve your things. Here they are..."
"Thank Paracelsus!" cherished the boy, grinning widely in relief as he opened his backpack to find out his gigantic book was there.
"Horace!" Headmistress Minerva McGonagall hurried abruptly into the room with Professor Flitwick on her heels. "McKinnon, Longbottom! Normally I would, first of all, ask what's going on, but since you lot set foot into this school it's not necessary to ask this anymore!"
"Cowardice! Treachery! Jinxing from behind his own brother!" frowned Professor McKinnon. "The boy's nose just a minute ago was completely covered in blood! Longbottom's just fixed it!"
Both McGonagall and Flitwick glanced briefly at Neville. Nobody else in the room had noticed anything unusual, but Neville knew it was a non-verbal sign of disapproval.
"So..." the aged woman focused her attention on the five mischief-makers. "What did you cast on your brother, Mr Scamander?"
"It was just the Levitation Charm we've seen in Spells class. I'm not very good, so it didn't go as I had planned. I just meant to make the book levitate a bit, just to startle him. It was just a prank. I didn't mean to hurt anyone, above all my brother..." Lorcan faced his twin with a fake apologetic expression. As for the remaining four, they were having a rough time trying to suppress their giggles. "I'm sorry, Lysander. I didn't mean to break your nose."
"Is this so?!" inquired Professor Flitwick with his squeaky voice. "I don't think this story comes together. You did master the Levitation Charm, Mr Scamander, all your classmates can attest that. In fact, it seems to me I didn't teach you much at all." He keenly shifted his glare from Lorcan to Professor McGonagall, the two again mutually exchanging non-verbal signs of understanding. "It's like you already knew everything from the start, Mr Scamander."
Everybody, particularly Lorcan, looked surprised by Flitwick's statement, except Lysander, who was now sitting on the floor with his massive book on his lap, indifferent to what else was happening, very invested in searching for bloodstains in it, casting 'Tergeo' quietly whenever he found one. As some uneventful seconds passed, the eyes of everyone (but Lysander's) seemed to be magnetically attracted to Lorcan. Following this, the scalawag recovered his attitude and arrogantly retorted,
"Do you have any proof?"
"Gallopin' gargoyles!" burst Slughorn in dismay. "Is this way to talk to Filius, Mr Scamander!?"
"I mean, do you have any proof, sir?"
"Well... there is a simple way to shed light on this issue, I suppose. May I have your wand for a second, Mr Scamander?" Professor Flitwick outstretched his hand. "If so, I can cast a Reverse Charm, which will enable us to see which spells you've cast. If so, everything will come clean."
"You're crazy, old man!" defensively, Lorcan stood back, hiding his wand in his robes, as the other professors witnessed it all with incredulity. "You can't force a wizard to deliver its wand, it's illegal!"
"Of course, you're absolutely right. I've never meant to force you to deliver your wand, Mr Scamander. I was just thinking you'd be thrilled at the opportunity to prove your innocence. If that's not the case, I'm afraid, Minerva, this is out of our hands... we'll have to appeal to other means to solve this matter."
"No, no, please, professor!" one of the boys threw himself on the ground, holding on to Professor McGonagall's legs. "Please, don't send us to Azkaban! I'm so sorry! I'd do anything!"
"Avery, what are you doing!? Get up!" urged her. "Who said a word about Azkaban!?"
"Mr Avery, nobody's sending kids to Azkaban. Please, stand up," clarified Professor Flitwick as Malfoy helped the boy off the ground.
"Professor," joined Rose, politely. "Malfoy and I have witnessed it all. They all were laughing and even dared to talk back at us. Thompson will tell you the same story. The boys looked very proud of what they had done. It's the same story every single day!"
The headmistress stared at the group in a stern way that suggested she expected an answer...
"It's OK, Professor McGonagall," ...but the one to speak was Lysander, shutting his book close and standing up. "No harm done. I'm fine. If Lorcan says he didn't mean to hurt me, I believe him. It was just a joke. It doesn't bother me that he and his friends pick on me sometimes."
She swayed to face the kid. Consternated yet warm-hearted, she patted his head briefly, then announced,
"Very well, you may go now. Will someone take Mr Scamander to see Madam Pomfrey?" she turned then to the group. "As far as I'm concerned, you five have been spending much time in detention lately, but it's not working at all. I have no other choice. I'll owl your parents right away and call them to the school. I will personally talk to them about your actions."
"Yay!" cherished Lysander. "It means I'll get to see mom!"
Lorcan didn't seem bothered when he heard about his parents being called, he just stood very still, staring at Professor Flitwick obnoxiously. As for his friends, Avery was still tearing up, his gaze fixed on his own feet; meanwhile, Goshawk was exchanging concerned looks with a short boy who had been quiet all along. Nonetheless, Hawthorne let slip a quick laugh at Lysander's remark, although, when his eyes met McGonagall's, he apologetically tried to explain himself, "Oh, come on! It's like he does that on purpose, it's not possible!"
"Come, Lysander, let's get out of here," Neville wheeled the blonde by his shoulder and set off with him towards the door.
"No!" Professor Flitwick's voice filled the room, even higher-pitched than usual, halting them. Shortly after, he regained his composure. "No, I mean, don't go, Longbottom. You're a witness... Granger can escort him instead."
"No, I'm not a witness, I was late for breakfast and rushed here immediately when I heard what had happened. Rose is a witness, she's seen it all," Neville said as fast as he could. Seeking to leave no time for anyone to reply, he resumed talking while Rose quietly nodded in agreement. "We will be going now, please, excuse us..." he deliberately hurried to the exit with Lysander before anyone could object, closing the door shut behind them.
He now made way through the corridors rapidly with Lysander following shortly after him. He knew very well why Flitwick and McGonagall had reproved his actions. After all this time, he was actually used to it. It has always been like this... since he'd lost her...
"Look, Neville, we need to talk..." as if it had happened yesterday, Neville could hear Ginny's voice clear in his mind. "They will be there tomorrow, you know... her children."
"Her... children? But won't she come along...?"
"No, just the kids."
"But why? She won't come because of me? No, Ginny, this is not right, she is your friend! I won't go, it's fine... she should go instead..."
"No, Neville, she won't come. We both agree it is for the best, don't worry. She'll drop the kids here and go. So, I ask you, don't interact with them too much. Be polite, but please keep a safe distance from them. Don't help to bring any more problems to Luna at home. Are we clear?"
"More problems...? At home? What do you me..."
She cut him off sharply. "Are we clear, Neville?"
"Professor Longbottom?" a dreamy voice snapped Neville out of his flashback. "I don't think I need the Hospital Wing. I feel excellent. Better than before, actually. All thanks to you, professor."
"Oh, no... it's not there we are headed to."
"Fascinating!" the boy exclaimed as they entered a well-lit and well-ventilated room crawled with potted plants. He immediately soared for a particularly eye-catching tree next to a window, of which stem was pink and the leaves displayed a mixture of red and green. "Is this an Alihotsy tree? From which one can make a Laughing Potion?"
"Sure it is," answered Nevill, as he showed the boy a small table with a tiny stool and, waving his wand, made some food that previously lay on the tables of the Great Hall appear on it. "Look, breakfast is almost over, you only have 10 minutes left. You have to eat properly, kid." He summoned a parchment scroll and, flicking his wand, he filled it with hand-written text. "Try not to be late for your class. I've written you a note just in case..." the note landed next to the boy. "Take it. I need to run. Have a nice meal."
Neville headed quickly to the door, once more trying to leave before one had a chance to answer. He had brought the boy here because he couldn't bear the thought of him being subject to all kinds of abuse; he knew very well from his own experience both as a student and a teacher that the students at the Great Hall would be all talking, looking and pointing at him after what had happened. However, he definitely did not have the intention of doing the exact opposite Professor McGonagall had told him to. Lysander, nevertheless, managed to speak before Neville could actually leave,
"Professor, you said back then you haven't eaten as well. You'll waste precious time on the way to the Great Hall. Wouldn't it be better if you just had breakfast here too? In fact, it would be nice to eat with someone else for a change. You know, maybe you haven't noticed, but I don't have many friends."
Merlin's honest truth, he intended to leave as soon as he could. He tried to listen to the Headmistress. He wanted to do the right thing. Flitwick and McGonagall had expressly, and on more than one occasion, stressed he should not get too close to the twins, not to mention Ginny. In fact, Ginny's request probably came from Luna herself, a thought that made him feel even worse. Though now he couldn't just say no to the boy. Not after this heart-breaking remark, stated in so straightforward and nonchalant manner he could be commenting about the weather. Something like that could only come from her... or her children...
"Alright. Good idea," after two unsuccessful tries, he somehow managed to conjure a stool for himself. So, he made some eggs and a cup of coffee appear on the table. "I was thinking of skipping breakfast, but I actually couldn't get through the entire day without a little bit of coffee..."
"That's nice," the boy smiled shyly before biting his toast.
Neville thought that if he could just eat quietly, on the pretext they were short on time, it couldn't harm anyone. So he just sat there and focused on the scrambled eggs he had on his plate.
"Ew!" but Lysander broke the silence. "This tea's horrible!"
"That's not tea," Neville couldn't help but let out a small giggle. "It's coffee."
"Oh, sorry, professor... that's not my cup..." he grabbed the other teacup on the table and sipped from it, smiling as he noted this one was indeed flavoursome. "By the way, coffee's horrible! How can you people drink that?"
"Who exactly is 'you people'?" asked Neville playfully.
"You know, you... grown-ups."
"Well..." Neville took a sip of his coffee. "You'll have to wait until you're a grown-up to find out."
"Oh, this isn't an answer, professor...!" the boy objected tentatively as the older chuckled amused.
"So..." ignoring completely the reproving voice in his head that sounded like Ginny, he carried on with the conversation, trying to bring it as far from Luna as possible. "What class are you going to have today? I'm mean, that you probably should have already left for..."
"Today we are supposed to have flying lessons with Madam Hooch."
"So it's a good thing I insisted you had a nice breakfast... I didn't like flying very much. I fell high from the broom in my first lesson and broke my wrist. Well, I figure what I'm saying isn't actually going to help you very much..."
"If I break my nose again today, can I search for you to mend it?"
"Well, you better go to Madam Pomfrey, kid. She'll fix it better than me."
"But I'm alright. I actually like flying. Although I'd rather fly creatures. But aunt Ginny taught us how to fly a broom as well."
"Seriously? She's taught me too! I was in my seventh year, when Hogwarts was packed with Death Eaters and Snape was Headmaster. She thought we might have to get away for some reason, so she pretended she was teaching me how to play quidditch... your mother suggested we'd take creatures instead because most of us didn't have a broom..."
There they were. They had reached the forbidden subject and it was all Neville's fault.
"That's actually clever. What did you tell her?"
"Well..." he stammered a little. "Well... I mean..." Lysander had put his tea down. He stared at Neville with keen eyes identical to that of his mother when she was pretty interested in something. "We said... I mean, Ginny said... she'd rather face the Death Eaters."
Neville was pretty sure people like Luna and Hagrid would be way offended by a remark like this; in fact, Luna did frown sharply at Ginny back then. Lysander, on the other hand, remained quiet for a moment, after which he just questioned politely,
"If you hated flying creatures, maybe... couldn't you have gotten broomsticks from the Room of Requirement?"
"Yes..." Neville thought about it for a second. It really made sense. Nobody had thought about it. He then stated in acknowledgement. "Yes, we could have done that. But it wouldn't matter anyway. I got caught."
"Caught?" he looked mildly surprised. "Mom and aunt Ginny never told me about it..."
"Oh, because they weren't tagging along... I actually..." Neville took a deep breath... "I freaked out when I arrived at school..." he couldn't tell the boy the truth, he'd have to improvise. "...and I found out your aunt Ginny wasn't there. Professor McGonagall told me she was on the run, hiding in her aunt's house, but I had to talk to her in person." He couldn't admit the real reason he sought to escape was to try to reach Luna after he heard she had escaped from captivity. "I was on a rampage. I didn't think anything through. I just summoned Ginny's own broom, that she'd left at the school, hopped on it and tried to fly away." None of the two said anything for some moments. Lysander still watched Neville thoroughly, drinking his tea. "But the school was too heavily protected, I didn't get close to escape. Ginny's broom was confiscated and broken into two parts after that. Not like she was going to use it much anyway, locked up in her aunt's house..."
The young one kept drinking his tea until it was finished, when he smiled, put the cup down and finally said in a dreamy tone identical to Luna's,
"That was nice, Professor Longbottom. It was a fascinating story. Unfortunately, I have to get going for my class now, or Madam Hooch may deduct points from Ravenclaw..."
"Let's go," Neville promptly jumped from his stool, once more steering Lysander by the shoulder, leading him quickly out of the room. "I'm also leaving the castle. I've got to get going to my class."
Lysander struggled to keep pace with the older man, whose legs were twice bigger than his', through the corridors. He almost had to run.
"Is your class with Slytherin?"
"What, professor?" Lysander asked, panting from physical exertion.
"Is today's flying class with Slytherin?" louder this time, almost screaming, the professor repeated.
"No!" the student shouted back. "Hufflepuff."
"Good," Neville sighed in relief. 'Fewer chances of getting knocked out of the broom,' he thought.
They proceeded quickly in silence until the blonde, still breathing heavily, broke it when they were almost reaching the gates to the castle,
"Can I... come another... day..." he ran out of air. "...to chat... like we did today... professor?"
'No, of course, no!' that was what Neville thought.
"Sure, kid," that was what Neville said, smiling kindly before they parted ways.
Lorcan had been sitting with Professor McGonagall in her office, glaring resentfully at her, without blinking. She, for her part, ignored the boy completely, entirely focused that she was on the paperwork she had before her. She only took her eyes off the papers when she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in."
The door spread open and two people came through it; Professor Flitwick and, following him, no other than Luna, previously known as Lovegood, Scamander. Lorcan looked over his shoulder, seeking his mother's gaze, but she didn't show him any sign of acknowledgement.
"Oh, it's you, Filius... and I see you bring Lovegood... I mean, Mrs Scamander."
"Thank you for calling me here, Professor McGonagall. Please call me by my first name if you may," the professor nodded at the woman, whose dreamy voice from back then was still recognizable, even among all the cracks that made her sound like she was on the verge of crying, although there were no sign of tears in her eyes as she displayed a grave facial expression. Flitwick turned around to leave, but she stopped him. "Professor, please stay."
Hearing her call, Professor Flitwick turned around a second time and stood still beside her, watching everything with interest. After that, Luna paced leisurely towards her son, still not looking in his eyes, but instead staring unseeingly at a random spot on the wall. She outstretched her right hand in his direction and wheezed, impassive, "Wand."
Yearning to meet his mother's eyes, he swayed his head to her, but her gaze never left that same fixed spot on the wall. Hence, he took his wand out of his robes and placed it in her hand. She took grasp of it, waved it briefly and muttered, "Prior Incantato".
A weak light started to come out of it, forming the image of a book skyrocketing in the air. Flitwick and McGonagall drew closer to examine it more carefully.
"It seems to me to be a Banishing Charm, Filius," Professor McGonagall broke the silence. "What do you think?"
"Definitely a Banishing Charm, Minerva," he nodded at her, decisively. "Depulso." He turned to the kid, saying, "It's not a Levitating Charm. I'm sure of that."
"Well, I told you I didn't know what I was doing, didn't I?" Lorcan shouted aggressively at Flitwick. "I don't even know what a Banishing Charm is!"
"You won't disrespect Professor Flitwick in front of me, Lorcan," albeit authoritative, she still didn't look at him or even raise her voice. In fact, her voice tone, if possible, had been even more silent than before.
"I... I'm sorry, sir."
"Look what has wakened me up from my deep slumber..." a sarcastic voice emerged in the room, but it didn't belong to anyone standing there. It belonged instead to one of the several portraits of past headmasters in the wall. "Is it you, Loony Lovegood? I'm honoured to have one of my favourite students standing before me. And there is more! You have actual permission to be here. Will Longbottom and Weasley join us on this auspicious occasion?"
"Severus, go back to sleep!" snarled McGonagall.
"And shall I presume this young man is your son?" Snape glared at Lorcan. "What a surprise! He was sorted into my house. May this mean you're going to distance yourself from the eccentric path others from your family have trodden, child. How did you say you were called again? How come he is not a son of Long..."
"Severus, enough," a calm but firm voice emerged in the room. It promptly made Snape swing around and quit his portrait.
"Thank you, Albus," said Professor McGonagall.
"He is indeed capable of much more than a Banishing Charm, professor," continued Luna as there had not been any interruption. "As you're both aware, professors, he's been for quite some time using magic illegally at home, without my permission, sometimes with my own wand, and he's even gotten himself in trouble with the Ministry of Magic."
"Oh, I see! You've been talking with all the staff of this school behind my back!" furious, Lorcan got up and was now inches from his mother. "That's why everybody here is out to get me! I should have suspected that!"
"Watch that behaviour, Scamander!" Professor McGonagall got up as well, shocked by the boy's outrageous actions. "Respect your mother!"
Several past headmasters in their portraits also expressed reproof at this behaviour, with remarks such as "Outrageous!", "I've never seen something like that!", "Apologize to your mother!". Phineas Nigellus Black, for his part, moaned, "That's why I always hated teaching!". Snape had returned to his portrait, watching with much interest, but remained silent.
"I'm actually relieved it was just a Banishing Charm, Professor McGonagall. I fear he'd be capable of much worse," Luna turned to Professor McGonagall, still determined not to look at her furious son. "So, Professor Flitwick's already told me everything. How he is constantly assaulting my other son, how he's talked back at Prefects and how he's disrespected several professors of the school. I would not like to hear it again, as I think I any further disappointments would be unbearable to me," she sighed. "But might I suggest the penalty? Could he be suspended and return home with me right away?"
"What!? No, mom, you can't be serious! This is a..."
"Sure, Luna. I think this very appropriate," McGonagall interrupted Lorcan's objections. "From this moment on, Mr Scamander, you're suspended from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for an entire week. This decision is irrevocable. You may now accompany your mother back home."
"This is unfair! Will the others be suspended too? I wasn't the only one!" he exploded with rage, tackling fiercely the chair he had been previously sitting on. "It's always you, mom! You always ruin my life! You have always liked Lysander better and never gave a..."
"Enough." Although she still didn't raise her voice, this time, Luna stared fiercely at him. "Professor McGonagall, thank you. We'll be going now," she nodded at Minerva, who acknowledged her gesture. "I'll keep this to myself until you prove you can be trusted with it." She slipped the boy's wand into her robes, grabbed her child by the hand and headed to the door. "Thank you for standing beside me, professor."
"How many times I have to tell you, dear? Call me Filius!" he smiled widely at Luna. "I will escort you both out."
A few steps away from the gargoyle, after the three had already left McGonagall's office, they met Lysander, who had been waiting there for his mother. The moment he spotted her, he dashed straight in her direction and joyfully hopped into her arms.
"Mom!" cheered him, embracing her tight as she knelt to be on the same level as the shorty. "Rose told me you were here! I wanted to see you so much! I miss you."
"I missed you more, lizard," she squeezed him, kissing him on his temple. Lorcan, for his part, frowned at the scene. Luna, then, took some distance to examine Lysander's nose. "How are you, dear? Are you fine?"
"I'm alright. Professor Longbottom fixed my broken nose in a second! It's as good as new!"
She sought to act normally at the mention of Neville and forced a gentle smile. Flitwick, in his turn, very concerned, sighed.
Lively, Lysander took his mother's hand, as if he wanted to bring her somewhere. "Come, mom, stay with me for a while, let's take a walk! Let's go outside, Hagrid is raising a lot of..."
"No way, Mr Scamander, it's almost dark outside! You must not wander school grounds this late!" interrupted Flitwick, distressed.
"But I won't be alone, professor. Mom will be with me..."
"Sorry, this is my final word. Did you have dinner already? If so, I suggest you go back to your house right away, Mr Scamander."
"Lysander, mom can't stay. I'm sorry. I'd like to very much, but I have to go back home with your brother..." she switched her tender expression to a very serious one. "He's been suspended from school."
"Sus... pended?" puzzled, Lysander asked.
"You're happy, aren't you!?" Lorcan scornfully laughed at his brother. "I bet you're radiant! And you too, mommy..." he said, sarcastically. "Since the life goal of you both is to make my life miserable, could you be more delighted!? Congratulations!"
"I didn't want that, Lorcan!" objected his brother. "You said you're sorry, that you didn't mean to hurt me! I've forgiven you."
"Well, then tell her that!" he shouted hatefully at his mom. "Why didn't you let me and my dad leave to never come back like we wanted to? You always have to ruin our lives!" he was screaming so loud that now passers were stopping by to watch the scene, including an utterly shocked Neville.
"Please, Lorcan, stop now," Luna's voice came out cracking one more time, though now she was really fighting back her tears. She had given up being authoritative and sounded now like pleading. "It's over. Let's just head home."
She reached out for his hand, but he shook her off.
"Lorcan Scamander!" screeched Professor Flitwick, drawing his wand out. "If you don't want to be expelled from this school, this is your last warning!"
"Expel me, then!" he roared.
"You will come with me by hook or by crook!" crying with anger, Luna sought to drag her son with her forcefully.
"Let go of me, you bitch!" he struggled to get out of his mother's grasp, freeing himself as he smashed his clenched fist against her jaw.
Having witnessed that, the crowd openly and loudly expressed their shock. Neville, for instance, couldn't believe his eyes, he felt like he had been jinxed with Petrificus Totalus. Professor Flitwick, for his part, aimed his wand decidedly at Lorcan's wrists and cast the spell 'Incarcerous', which caused a thick rope entangle his wrists, tying them together. Luna took this chance to wheel him with one of her hands, keeping her wand pointed at him with the other. Hence, a second time she attempted to drag him with her, yet he resisted harshly still, on the verge of a complete rampage.
"I said let go, you bitch!"
As Lorcan thrashed around violently in a fit of rage, fighting his mother's grasp, without any warning, Luna was roughly knocked off by a rowdy pitch-black force that emanated from the child's body. She fell brutally to the opposite wall, irresponsive, as everybody watched in awe.
Trembling heavily, Lorcan felt like he had electricity flowing through his body, unaware of what had happened, terrified of what he might have had done. His brother, on the other hand, sobbing, screeched sharply as he dashed towards his mother. However, Flitwick intercepted him with 'Impedimenta'. "Stay there!" the professor squeaked as he stormed towards Luna. Professor McGonagall, for her part, had just gotten out of the gargoyle, seeking to understand the commotion.
In the very moment Luna had hit the wall, Neville snapped out of the feeling of petrification. Before he could take note of anything, he was already on the ground holding her, shedding tears, his face completely red, his heartbeat at the speed of light. Desperate, he seized her arm and checked her pulse. She had fully passed out but, gladly, seemed to be alive.
"She is alive!" he shouted. People in the crowd could be heard sighing in relief. Carefully holding her with both his arms, he got to his feet. Seconds later, Flitwick and McGonagall reached them. "Hospital Wing," he added, not looking at their faces, for he was already climbing up the stairs carrying her in his arms.