章 88: Chapter - 89 : A Plan for Progress

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Decision made, Harry turned to Neville and gave the boy a comforting smile. Over the past few weeks he'd done his best to raise Neville's confidence, but so far nothing had helped to decrease the number of near-explosions during every lesson.

"Look, how about you let me add the ingredients this time?" Harry suggested quietly.

Neville nodded miserably and stood back from their bench with his hands clasped tightly behind his back. "I won't touch anything, I promise."

He kept his word, but their potion still skirted the edge of disaster more than once. Harry managed to rescue it enough for Snape to pronounce it acceptable, but he was still frustrated by the near-failure.

"I don't get it!" Harry exclaimed as soon as he and Neville were out of the door at the end of the lesson. "I know how to brew that potion. It should've been perfect."

"It's my fault," Neville said immediately.

"You didn't do anything, Neville," Harry reminded him.

Neville shook his head stubbornly. "It was me," he insisted.

"What do you mean?"

"Can we…" Neville tugged on Harry's sleeve to get him to hang back and let their classmates pass by them. As soon as they were the only ones left in the corridor, Neville turned to Harry with a look of panic on his round face. "It's me, I know it is! My magic's all messed up and makes things explode, just like in that story you told us about Dumbledore's sister."

"Ariana?" Harry frowned. He wished he'd never mentioned the girl when writing that essay for Footswitch - not if it got Neville so upset.

"Yes, her! You said people tried to force her to do magic, and her powers were damaged, and she couldn't control them, and then she died!" Neville was close to hyperventilating. "Orion, what if the same thing's happening to me? Am I going to die?"

"You're not dying," Harry said firmly, before pausing to gather his thoughts. "Neville, are you saying someone hurt you to make you perform magic?"

Neville nodded. "Yeah, all the time. Dad and Uncle Algie really wanted me to show some sign of accidental magic. They pushed me off Blackpool pier once - I almost drowned."

When Harry had first heard that story while sitting at the Gryffindor table, he hadn't paid it any attention except as an amusing anecdote. Now it horrified him. "He was wrong to do that. Really wrong. You know that, right?"

Neville shrugged nervously. "People always say it's better to be dead than a Squib."

"Yeah, well, people are idiots," Harry said. "And anyway, you're not a Squib. You've got lots of magic."

"How can you say that?" Neville wailed. "I haven't been able to cast a single spell right. Not one! All I've managed to do is make things explode or go up in flames. Yesterday, I set fire to Professor Footswitch's hair!"

Harry grinned. "Did you? Good for you."

"But I didn't do it on purpose," Neville said, wringing his hands. "I was just trying to send up sparks, but I couldn't even manage that."

"It's all right, Neville. We'll work this out." Harry considered everything Neville had told him. In his old world the Gryffindor had simply been incompetent, not destructive. It had taken a few years, but he'd eventually grown into a powerful wizard. Unfortunately, things didn't seem to be quite as simple for the eleven year old Neville in front of him. Harry wondered if the boy was right - maybe his magic was damaged. With not only his Uncle, but also his Dad pressuring him to perform magic (under life threatening circumstances by the sounds of it), more than just Neville's confidence could have been harmed. His magic being too wild and chaotic would explain a lot, not least why Harry had never managed to successfully brew a potion in Neville's presence.

"Orion?" Neville questioned uncertainly.

Harry knew he had to do his best to reassure him. "Remember when I told you how Ariana was never able to attend Hogwarts?"

"Yeah," Neville mumbled.

"Well, you are able to, Neville. You wouldn't have got a letter otherwise," Harry pointed out.

Neville shuffled his feet. "I suppose so."

"I think the problem is that for you, performing magic is linked to being terrified," Harry said, working things out as he went along. "Whenever you try to cast a spell your accidental magic kicks in and attacks whatever you see as a threat, be it a cauldron or Footswitch or anything else."

"That… sounds as if it makes sense," Neville said slowly. He'd calmed down a lot, but looked pale and depressed. "I just don't know how to keep it from happening."

"I'm sorry," Harry said.

"It's not your fault," Neville said.

Harry wished he knew how to comfort the boy. As much as wanted to, he didn't think heaping insults on Neville's relatives would be the way to go, more was the pity. "Your magic's confused, chaotic and maybe a little bit damaged. But remember - you wouldn't be here at Hogwarts if you didn't deserve to be."

"But what do I do? I can't keep setting people on fire."

"You practice," Harry said with forced cheerfulness. "The most important thing is that you remain calm and don't push yourself. You'll get there, just don't rush. Your magic is a part of you - if you panic, it panics."

"A-all right." Neville nodded shakily. "Will… will you help me? Please?"

"I will, I promise," Harry said immediately. "And Neville?" Harry waited until the other boy made eye contact. "You are not going to die. You're going to grow up to be an amazing wizard - I've Seen it."

Neville let out a ragged breath and stood a bit straighter. "Thanks, Orion."

"You're welcome." Harry was honestly happy to help, though some of his reasons were less than completely unselfish. He wanted Neville to grow in confidence and become the brave and talented wizard Harry knew he could be. So far so good, but Neville wouldn't be the only one to benefit. Harry needed powerful friends if he wanted to influence people away from Pureblood ideologies and towards more tolerant views. Neville was the heir to an old wizarding family and a Gryffindor - his support would be invaluable.

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