Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review, Love Moon x
Harry made his way down to the potions classroom, the information he'd read still fresh in his mind. Severus opened the door sneering heavily and ordered everyone to enter. Neville looked a hell of a lot different than he had this morning. Somehow he had this air of confidence he'd not had before and he was even walking differently. If Severus noticed this he did a good job of hiding it. Harry elected to sit next to Neville although people around him seemed surprised to see him do it. They weren't as able to hide their feelings as well as Severus could. It was something he really didn't understand.
"Everyone pay attention! Welcome to Potions. I do not expect you understand the fine art and subtle skill which is Potion crafting. In fact most of you will likely fail this lesson purely because you are not meant to use your wand in it. This does mean that there will be no foolish wand waving or stupid incantations in this lesson!" he said seriously. Harry faught hard not to laugh. How often had he said this speech he wondered.
He could see the terror on most people's faces. Neville however just looked exceptionally serious. He didn't look afraid but it could just be that he was good at hiding his fear if he had it. It would seem this would be the lesson he shared with everyone in first year.
"Most of you will fail this lesson because it takes precision and care to detail which not everyone here possesses. Potions is something which you are either excellent or terrible at. There is no middle ground with it. Because you do not have to learn any spells or wand movements people often presume wrongly that potions is easy but it is not. You have to follow a list of instructions exactly as they appear for if you don't you will get hurt and I have no sympathy for those who do this and get hurt. I do not say this to be cruel but to clarify your expectations for the year ahead" said Snape with a sneer as many people shrunk back a bit in fear something he got obvious enjoyment from. Harry saw the expression on his face and idly wondered if his dad had looked like that when he'd been hurting people. Thinking like this was causing him pain though so he stopped. Either way he was determined to be remembered for all the good deeds he'd done and not because he was the son of a jerk.
With a wave of his wand, Severus made a chalk piece very quickly write instructions on the board. He shouted at everyone to make the recipe on the board in relative silence. He had forgotten to tell them what it even was but the chalk had written it there for all to see so if you read it you would know what it was. Harry agreed for Neville to prepare the ingredients while he controlled the cauldron. They would work well together as a well oiled unit. This way they would become firm friends for life as well. This lesson would be the one which brought them closer together and kept them close too.
As they got the ingredients prepared Severus began walking around the room leering and shouting at many students making them jump. Remembering what Helga said Harry wandlessly made Severus' voice lower much to the ire and confusion of the man who continued to shout at people but now at a much lower volume. People jumped far less and there were far less accidents. Severus was furious completely he wasn't able to shout but even he could see less accidents were happening. He had looked at Harry who had seemed very wrapped up in making his potion so he hadn't been behind the lower voice Severus now had. This fact alone terrified Severus although he wouldn't admit it. Who in the hell had made his voice lower and why? If he couldn't raise his voice how would they know he was in control? How would they know he was to be feared at all times and disrespected at no time? This was a hot mess and something he hated so very much.
Harry tapped his wand on the cauldron in the way Helga's letter had taught him and not a moment too soon as when Draco Malfoy attempted to throw something dangerous into his cauldron it instead backfired ending up in his own cauldron which exploded all over him. Draco screamed as his own body erupted in severe boils which grew to a large enough size before bursting and spreading goo all over him. To be honest he looked more disgusting then sore. Severus screamed at Neville for using an illegal charm in his potions lesson and henceforth making Draco Malfoy ill. Harry looked at Severus with a challenging expression which said you really don't want to try me today and surprised Severus greatly. Why was he defending Neville who Severus had assumed had cast the spell and not Harry. Obviously he wasn't scared of Harry but was intrigued by this expression the young boy was wearing. "Thought you'd use an illegal charm in class did we Longbottom? Not here five minutes and already another student has been hurt. That will be twenty points from Hufflepuff for being reckless!" he thundered. Harry was intrigued to see how Neville would respond as the boy certainly didn't look as afraid as he would have before his core had been unblocked. He sucked in a breath at the point loss but readied his features before speaking.
"If Mr Malfoy had focused on his own potion he may not have gotten hurt trying to sabotage mine. He should learn to be more careful in future. I am allowed to protect my cauldron and was advised by my house prefects to do so in case someone like Mr Malfoy should try to sabotage my potion. You can take it up with them sir or better yet my head of house!" he said sternly as most students gasped at him in awe. Hermione looked torn between berating him for talking back to a teacher or scowling at Snape for how badly he'd handled the situation. Severus sneered down at him the vilest expression on his face. If looks could have killed Neville would have been dead. Severus was highly conflicted because he knew Neville was right but Draco was his godson and this put him in a weird position. Neville told Harry as soon as Severus had stomped off to the other side of the room that he had seen him cast the protection spell and wasn't about to allow him to get in trouble for it. He'd defended himself ably and well. He explained that his prefects had in fact told him he was allowed to use that spell in potions class and why as well. He explained however that they hadn't actually taught him how to cast it just what it was. He'd defended Harry without a second thought for the consequences nor did he care about them. No one had ever done that before.
Harry knew from that moment on that he and Neville would always be best friends. Something about the boy just felt right. Neville had only partly lied to Severus as he told Harry. Harry couldn't explain it but he could feel love for Neville welling up in him and he could feel that Neville the same way. It was like when you've met your soulmate best friend for the first time and you just know you'll always be in each others lives no matter what happens. Neville had, had Harry's back and Harry vowed internally to always do that same for Neville. Harry and Neville vowed to be best friends always and have each others back from that moment onward and were stunned when as they shook hands after saying it a golden glow surrounded them. It had been a wandless vow. If they had learned it had been wandlessly performed they would have been stunned. Harry who was exceptionally well versed in wandless magic would have found it fascinating he had done a wandless vow. Severus who saw the glow was stunned. He'd never seen it before and as nothing bad had happened he merely asked them to get on with their potion in silence. If others had noticed it they said nothing. In fact no one else did notice it as they were all hyper focused on getting their potions right.
Draco was told to go to the hospital wing and that he'd probably be fine in a while by a confused and distracted Severus. He complained that nothing more was being done but with Severus essentially ignoring him he left the room in a huff. He was very suspicious about Neville now and would surely watch his back. His father would be hearing about this and boy would Neville be in trouble afterwards. He didn't count on his father needing the truth of what happened and how stupid he might look after it was truly revealed how he got hurt. Lucius would be less than pleased especially when he would hear of how confident Neville was. It was no secret he'd been meek before he attended Hogwarts. It was safe to say his gran would be so impressed with how much more confident he was and indeed how well he performed magic that his sorting really wouldn't matter all that much to her. He'd be so confident that any house would be lucky to have him. Neville had looked ridiculous at the sorting but anyone could tell it had been extreme nerves. That was what they had assumed about him anyway. Neville had ably defended himself and because he really didn't think he was wrong he wasn't one bit afraid of any repercussions. He was more confident then ever and what's more Pomona would totally back him up.
Neville had been so terrified and nervous as a child that he'd never live up to the memory of his father. He was very scared Franks wand which he'd always been told he'd be using in school, wouldn't suit him. He was always terrified it would backfire horribly on him so he'd always secretly practiced wandless magic. He had practiced it when he'd been alone which was a lot of the time. He didn't want to get in trouble because his gran found out he could do that so he'd never told her. That was the old Neville however. The new Neville didn't care if she knew or not nor did he care to hear her opinion. She would accept him as he was or not at all. It would be a sincerely different Neville who came home that summer. She wouldn't know him he'd be so different. Now he was very proficient in the wandless magic something he'd told Professor Sprout that morning. She was delighted for him and rather stunned. He'd earned the same points for Hufflepuff Harry had earned for Ravenclaw when Professor Flitwick had found out he could do wandless magic. Pomona had given Neville a vow she'd never share his wandless abilities with anyone. He was highly relieved when she did so. Neville was very good at hiding his extreme fear and nerves when he needed to. It was for this reason she'd not really noticed how nervous and terrified of everything he was.
Harry was better then him at wandless magic but Neville could still hold his own and they would prove to make a fine pair. Not many would go up against the pair in the future and live to tell the tale. Neville might know less wandless than Harry but Harry was an exceptional case having practiced all of his life. Many people wouldn't have known wandless magic at the level of Neville who had only started practicing it as the age of five unlike Harry who had begun at the age of three himself. Neville knew things he could share with Harry and vice versa. He would teach him how to handle marriage contract requests which would become part of their lives as they were the last heirs to ancient and noble homes. He would teach Harry what to look for in a partner and how to be sure someone wanted to match with him for all the right reasons. Harry would teach him everything he'd learned about speaking and how to conduct himself and indeed business from Vernon. Vernon had been an idiot but he really did know what he was talking about in some scenarios. Harry loved that Vernon valued learning so much. It somehow made up for a lot of the crap they'd put him through growing up. At least they'd learned they were wrong and said sorry for it. His father hadn't and that unfortunately did speak volumes in a way Harry hated so much.
While Severus was preoccupied Harry quickly taught Neville the protection charm so he'd actually know it should anyone ask him how he'd cast it in class. It was very easy to perform and everyone else was so preoccupied with their own potion making that no one much noticed. Neville was hyper aware of everything he did now and reminded Harry to take the potion off the flames to add the porcupine quills. They added in the porcupine quills stirring clockwise twenty times and anticlockwise five times before returning their potion to the heat. As time wore on it went to the desired powder blue shade. They bottled the potion and Harry was sure to add protections to the glass when Neville brought it up to Severus who conveniently accidentally dropped it stunned when it didn't break.
"Ten points from Hufflepuff for being a smart alec. Get back to your desk and pack up now Longbottom!" he snapped quietly. He was stunned by the excellent quality of the potion and did award them full marks for it not that he ever told them that of course. Draco had gotten ten points to Slytherin for his bravery. They were informed they'd be partners all year long something which Harry and Neville loved. They'd be partnering in as many lessons as they could. By the end of the week everyone would see how inseparable they were. Neither Augusta nor Algie were ready for Neville and his changes. By the time Harry was done with him he'd be talking down to everyone the same way Vernon had taught him. He handed Neville one of his quills who was stunned as it made his writing much neater. They left the lesson and requested Professor Flitwick who they bumped into in the hallway to make several copies of it for Neville. The teacher was stunned but did as he was asked to do. Neville had ten copies by the end including the original and would protect them with all he had. Essentially Potions had been a huge success. Harry had made a soul bound best friend which he would have for life. It was a thrilled Harry which headed off for dinner that evening a huge smile on his face. What a great day.