บท 116: Playing With Fire
Neville tumbled aside a bolt of fire, closing the distance between him and Hermione. With a quick flick of his sword, he deflected another spell. An arm of stone reached out from the ground, but he cleaved through it and vaulted off its remains.
A wave of Hermione's hand sent a burst of wind at him. He tossed the sword and pulled himself out of the path of the spell. The moment he was free, he flung the sword at her. She swiveled towards him, then knocked the sword away.
Neville smirked, then whipped the sword into Hermione.
"Ah!"
She went down, but got to her feet before Neville had the sword in his hand. She flung her hand out and turned the ground to ice before he'd had a chance to get closer. He quickly adapted to the unfamiliar terrain and slid towards Hermione. Crouching low, he kept his gaze fixed on her.
Hermione took a step back and slid on her own ice. He saw sparks forming at the end of her fingertips and hurled the sword to a wall. The vine wrenched him out of the blast zone before Hermione sent an explosion through the Room of Requirement.
When the smoke cleared and he could hear again, Neville heard not the sound of frustration, but laughter.
"You're mad."
Hermione picked herself up and dusted the soot of her clothes. "I nearly had you."
"Only because I'm not used to ice," he replied. "Still, that was good thinking."
"Let's see the Ministry try to come after me!"
One look at the triumph in her eyes gave Neville a bad feeling.
"It's been months, but the Ministry hasn't made a move yet," he said. "Are you sure they're going to?"
"Of course! They sent a Dementor after Harry and I. Umbridge is spreading lies about Rose. She tried to scare Luna into being quiet! They're afraid of us! It's only a matter of time before they come to silence us for good, and we've got to be ready!"
It'd only been a few weeks since their first practice session. In that time, Hermione had become far less afraid of her potential, and taken up silent casting. It didn't surprise Neville that she'd nearly mastered it. All she did was sleep, study, and train. He'd even heard her complaining that she had to lose two hours every day to sleep.
"I guess you're right," Neville said, thinking of Luna. "I'm glad we've got you on our side." He stretched for a moment, catching a glimpse of his watch, then started for the door.
"Already?" Hermione asked. "But we're just getting warmed up."
"Another explosion like that, and we certainly will be," Neville said. "I'm meeting Luna in a few minutes, so I've got to get going. She found some obscure detail of the Ministry's policies on magical creatures that she thinks will help our investigation."
"So long as that's all you're doing with her."
Neville frowned, convinced he'd heard her wrong, and spun on his heel to face her. "Care to explain?"
"You heard me. She's naive, and I don't want you taking advantage of her. She's my best friend's little sister, and I'm not—"
"Rose is my friend too, probably the best friend I've ever had, although Luna comes in at a close second. Why would you even think I'm trying to take advantage of her?"
"Because," Hermione said, smirking like she'd never been wrong in her life, "it's my job to keep her safe."
Neville blinked, then shook his head and left the Room of Requirement.
"Harry's right, she's losing it," he muttered.
"Who's losing what?"
Neville smiled and turned to Luna.
"Nothing to worry about. What was this thing you found?"
Luna stood up from her spot in front of the troll tapestry and motioned for him to follow her.
"It was in an article in the library," she said. "Madame Pince wouldn't let me check it out… or touch it, but I grabbed it when she wasn't looking. It's a good thing Illumians don't get any Perception bonuses."
"Illumian?" Neville asked, certain he'd heard the word somewhere.
"They're from De'rok, but I think there might be some here, too. Rose says they love books, but they're awful possessive of them. I think Madame Pince might be one."
Luna shrugged. It made an awful lot of sense. Why else did the librarian of Hogwarts refuse to let anyone check out books?
"I memorized where it is, so…" Luna's voice trailed off, and Neville heard the familiar sound of Luna smelling the air. "Hello, Melody."
They rounded a corner and found Melody, standing stalk still and staring at them.
Luna took another whiff of air. "Don't be afraid, it's just us."
"I… I…"
Neville realized he hadn't seen Melody at meals in weeks. The more he thought about it, the more he realized the exact time she'd stopped sitting with them.
"It's alright," he said. "I know why you're afraid."
At their feet, Tutela's ears perked up. She glanced at Neville, then started trotting off to the side of the corridor.
She's gonna run for it, Neville thought. It's all over her face. I'd rather not make a scene, but if necessary, Tutela can outrun her.
"I… I didn't mean to!" Melody cried. "I'm… I'm sorry!"
She turned around and tripped over Tutela. Neville lunged forward and grabbed her before she fell to the stone floor.
"It's alright," he said. "Melody, it's alright."
Neville hauled Melody to her feet, then stepped back to give her space.
"I…" Melody's head whipped between Tutela, Neville, and Luna, sending her black braids flying around her face. Tears welled up in her eyes. "I…"
"Oh!" Luna exclaimed. "You told Umbridge about us."
"That's right," Neville said. "She stopped sitting with us just around the time Umbridge found you, and she was the only other person who knew about our investigation."
"I didn't mean to! But she brought me to her office, and told me that bad things might happen! Happen to my parents! It was bad enough when they split up, but if either of them were sacked, it'd be horrible! I didn't want to talk to her, honest! It's not that I believe the things she says about Rose! I promise!"
Neville glanced at Luna, who still smiled as serenely as ever. If anything Melody had done bothered her, it wasn't showing.
"Why'd she talk to you?" Neville asked. "Did she say?"
Melody shook her head. "No, I swear she didn't!"
"Melody, calm down," Neville said. "We're not mad."
Melody wiped tears out of her eyes. "You're not?"
"Should we be?" Luna asked.
"I… I thought…"
"We can't tell you about anything else going on, but we're not mad," Neville said. "Not even a little."
"But… but…"
"I'd do anything to make Daddy happy."
Melody stopped crying and wiped more tears out of her eyes.
"You're not mad."
"Neither of us can fault you for wanting to help your parents," Neville said with a smile on his face.
"Thank you!��� Melody said, trying not to cry.
"We've got to be off," Neville said, stepping aside so Melody wouldn't feel crowded. "We'll see you around, alright?"
"Okay!" Melody squealed as she ran off.
Neville, Tutela, and Luna watched her leave, then Neville turned to Luna.
"I think Brain's wrong. The Ministry might be coming after us, but they're not going to do it with force."
"Rose always hated it when they did that," Luna said. "It's a lot harder to solve."
"Maybe for her, but not for us." Neville motioned down the corridor. "Come on. We've got a mystery to solve."
"Today, we're all going to try something a lot more complicated than the stuff we've been doing," Harry said. "First, how many of you are in your third year or above?"
Most of his students raised their hands.
"Anyone not raising your hand, look around. These are the people that were here two years ago. Also on the grounds two years ago were a lot of Dementors. They're the guardians of Azkaban, charged with keeping the prisoners inside. They can fly, aren't affected by most forms of magic, create frost wherever they go, and feed on happy memories."
Several of the students — mostly those who had raised their hands — shuddered.
"It's also worth noting that Muggles can't see Dementors. The easiest way to notice them is by the frost on the ground that spreads out around them. If you see one, the best thing to do is to get away as fast as you can. Like I said, most spells don't work on them, but there is one that does."
Harry brandished his wand, and called out his happiest memories: the Christmas he'd gotten his Firebolt, telling Ellie he loved her, and sitting and talking with Sirius, Remus, and Alavel. The warmth spread through his body, making him feel as if he were about to fly.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A brilliant light filled the Room of Requirement, and a shining stag leapt out of his wand. It pranced around the air, hypnotizing the students, before finally settling down beside him.
"This is called a Patronus. It's hard to cast a fully-formed one, even for seventh-years. I've seen few other students do it while I've been here. It always takes the shape of an animal, and it's different for everyone. For me, it's a stag, but for Hermione, it's an otter. Professor Flitwick's is an owl, Professor Dumbledore's is a phoenix, and a former student called Alex has a grizzly bear."
There were some snickers from her cousins, while Harry allowed his Patronus to vanish.
"The hard part of casting a Patronus Charm is that you need a happy memory. The happiest memory you've got. If you can only see it, but can't feel it, it won't do. You've got to feel the warmth of it filling you up. At first, I thought of flying, but that wasn't good enough. It could be talking with your friends, or some special day with your parents. Before we go any further, I want everyone to take a moment and come up with their happiest memories. It's alright if it's not powerful enough; I don't expect anyone to get this on their first try. It took me years to get it right."
He sat back on the desk, glancing out over the students. Once again, Hermione and Neville stood up front with him. He knew Neville couldn't get it, although he'd have loved to see what his patronus would be.
After a few minutes, he added another important part of the lecture.
"The reason we're going over this is that this is one of the hardest spells to cast in the field. When you're surrounded by Dementors, they're going to try taking every happy memory you've got. It will leave you feeling hopeless, empty, and that makes this spell that much harder to cast. We may not be able to have an actual Dementor here — or Professor Lupin taught my friends and I with a boggart — but it's good to have at least some practice."
One of the first-year girls, Loretta, raised her hand.
"Yes, Loretta?"
"I thought Dementors didn't leave Azkaban except to hunt down evil wizards."
Harry pressed his lips together before continuing. He'd become familiar with Loretta's matter-of-fact way of talking, but it still made him laugh how much she sounded like Hermione had their first year.
"That's how it's supposed to work." He paused for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts before saying something against the Ministry. As much as he was at odds with them, Alavel had pointed out that saying anything against them wouldn't do anyone any good. Despite what Hermione thought, and despite their name, their club wasn't a movement against the Ministry. "But that's not how it always works. Like I said, the Ministry sent them here two years ago while trying to hunt down Sirius Black. Sirius was innocent, but he wasn't given a trial, so they never knew. No one stopped and thought about it, they just decided—"
Alavel, posted near the door as always, cleared his throat.
"Anyway, on the train ride here, one searched the Hogwarts Express. It ignored its orders and went straight for my friends and I, who were a concentration of negativity. Dementors draw out negative emotions. It's how they hunt, so to them, we were all easy targets. You're right, Dementors are only supposed to go after criminals, but they don't always follow orders. Anyone here that year can tell you all about the Quidditch match they interrupted when they sensed the concentration of happiness and excitement. In case you ever encounter a rogue Dementor, it's best to be prepared."
Another hand went up, this time from Colin.
"Colin?"
"What about the Dementor's Kiss?"
Harry paused for a moment, wanting to avoid the subject after what the knowledge of it had done to Sally-Anne. He also knew the danger of keeping people in the dark.
"Before I tell you all what it is, you should know that it's… upsetting. A friend of mine was in a bad state after she found out about it." He saw a few glances towards Hermione and added, "No, not that friend."
With a few giggles to indicate that they were relaxed, Harry took one last look at his students' faces. They all looked curious, apart from those who clearly already knew. He could tell by looking that Cedric, Angelina, even Max all already knew.
"The Dementor's Kiss is when a Dementor lowers its hood and sucks out your soul. No, that's not a figure of speech, it literally sucks out your soul from your body, leaving you a shell. They don't do it often, but it's best to avoid getting too close to Dementors, if only to avoid this."
Harry looked out and saw discomfort in most faces.
"It's alright to feel uneasy about this. Like I said before, a good friend of mine is uneasy talking about them, and— Yes, Loretta?"
"Is it Sally-Anne Perks?" she asked as she put her hand down.
Harry realized he shouldn't have given them a definitive answer about whether it was Hermione, then gave the answer he should've given.
"Whoever it is, I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate people talking about her behind her back. As I was saying, even if Dementors make people uncomfortable, they're still something we've got to know how to handle. So everyone, try practicing." Everyone started getting up and talking, forcing Harry to raise his voice to be heard. "Remember, it's complicated, so don't worry if you can't get it."
He watched them all for a moment, then got up and walked over to Neville.
"I told you that you didn't have to come today," he said.
"No, it's fine," Neville said. Harry followed his gaze, and found it shifting between Ginny, Hermione, and Luna.
"It is nice having an extra set of eyes," Harry said. "You sure you'll be alright against a Dementor?"
"Remember, Rose gave me the sword in third year. She put ghost touch on it."
"And of course by 'gave you the sword', you mean 'stole it from Professor Dumbledore'."
"I offered to give it back to him when I found out," Neville said, "but he insisted that I hold on to it."
Flashes of bright white light lit up the room as a myriad of shining animals flew through the air.
"That's amazing!" Harry exclaimed, looking around for the owners. He was certain they were coming from the seventh-years, but it was still impressive.
"Expecto Patronum!"
He caught the distinct sound of Ginny's voice and looked to her just in time to see a phoenix erupt out of her wand. The fire bird (Of course her patronus has fire in it) flew through the air for just a moment, then vanished.
"Ginny, well done!"
Ginny grinned at him, then turned her attention to the group of boys flocking towards her to congratulate her.
Neville watched in amazement as more and more animals filled the room. Part of him was jealous that they could do something he'd resigned himself to never doing, but all the same, it was brilliant to see the students really work hard.
He turned his attention to Luna and saw her idly watching everyone else. Every few minutes, she would give the Patronus Charm another shot, but she didn't get much more than a faint wisp of light. While Ginny had natural talent, years of practice, and determination that bordered on insanity, Luna had foregone the practices with Professor Lupin two years ago, claiming that she simply couldn't do it.
He'd always found it odd that Luna, the most positive person he knew, couldn't cast the Patronus Charm. He couldn't cast it because he was bad at magic, but Luna was good at it.
Hermione stepped into his field of view, moving towards Luna. Neville exchanged glances with Harry, then nodded towards the pair of girls.
"I'd be worried if it were anyone else, but I think Luna can handle herself," Harry said.
Neville frowned at Harry. "You don't know her very well, do you?"
Harry shrugged. "No, but I know Hermione, and I don't think she'll get too carried away with Luna."
"I'll give you that one."
Neville kept his focus on the girls, but he noticed Harry drifting around to the other students.
"I've got them covered," Neville said.
"Thanks."
Harry went around to the other students, leaving Neville on his own to keep tabs on Hermione and Luna.
"Look, it's easy," Hermione said. "You must be able to find a memory happy enough. Even I can find one happy enough."
Neville balled his fists and started towards the girls.
"I just can't," Luna said softly.
"Come on, it's easy," Hermione said.
"Leave her be, Brain."
"I'm helping, which is the only thing I'm allowed to do!" Hermione snapped. She turned back to Luna. "Watch."
Hermione closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She reached out her hand and a shining light flew out of it. The light formed into an otter.
Except with two heads.
"What is that?"
"That's an odd looking animal."
Hermione herself had one hand on her head, but lowered it after a moment.
"See?" she panted. "Easiest thing in the world."
"Hermione!"
Harry came running over to them.
"I specifically told you not to do that," he said. "After last time, you—"
"I'm fine!"
Anyone that heard Hermione's voice could tell she was wrong. Her own voice came out as a distorted shriek, a sound mirrored by her patronus. Both heads started screeching, causing several other animals and balls of light to vanish.
"Just let me help! I can help!"
Luna backed away from Hermione and closer to Neville.
Above them, the patronus flew in chaotic circles through the air. Its two heads started fighting, and the white light started to change to gray.
"Hermione, dismiss the spell!" Harry ordered.
"I'm just trying to help! I've got to help!"
Hermione brought her hands back to her head. People started moving away from them. Most of the students looked terrified of the monster floating through the air above their heads.
"Hermione!" Harry shouted again.
"I'm fine, really,��� Luna said, now standing next to Neville. "I… I…"
Alavel pushed his way through the crowd, keeping a close eye on all of them.
"Lady Brain, if I may, you—"
"I'm fine!"
The otter turned black and dove at Luna. Neville had the Sword of Gryffindor in his hand and raised in attack before it reached her. The sword cleaved through the monstrosity, but the otter split into two pieces. Both pieces fell to the ground, and tentacles sprang up from them.
People screamed and ran for the door. Harry's head darted between each of them, then he started ushering the students away from the scene. A purple fog spread from Hermione herself. She fell to her knees, but kept her gaze fixed on Luna. She groaned something that sounded like the word "help".
The tentacles shot towards Luna. Neville held his position by her side. He sliced through one group of tentacles, but more sprang up from the floor and wrapped around Luna. Neville tried cutting through them, but they regrew faster than he could manage them.
THWACK!
Alavel delivered a blow to the back of Hermione's head. She went down in a heap, and the tentacles turned to sludge. No one spoke a word as the fog cleared, leaving an eerie silence over the Room of Requirement.
"Alright, everyone," Harry said. "That's enough for today. Is everyone alright?"
Students shakily nodded or asked questions that Harry refused to directly answer. Luna collapsed next to Neville and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Never mind what just happened, we'll sort it. Everyone did a great job today. Really, it's not an easy spell, so good work. Same as always, Taltria will help you all get out."
Neville turned to Alavel. "Tell Taltria to—"
"Tutela is already on her way."
On cue, the door flew open, and Tutela bolted inside. She went straight for Luna, barreling through anyone in her way, including a concerned Cedric heading for Hermione.
"Is she…?" he asked Alavel as Tutela settled next to Luna and Neville.
"I merely stunned her. She'll come to in a little while."
"Are you alright?" Neville asked, crouching down to be closer to Luna.
Luna squeezed her eyes shut and clung to Neville's shirt. He put his arms around her, and Tutela nuzzled against them.
"It's alright, Moon. You're safe."
Neville held Luna in his arms as she shook with tears. The more she cried, the tighter he held her. He only looked away from her when he heard more commotion.
"I just want to make sure she's alright," Cedric said to Cho. "I'll catch you up at dinner."
Cho glared at Hermione before leaving. She was replaced shortly by Harry.
"What happened?" Cedric asked. "She mentioned she'd had problems over the summer, but that was…"
"New," Harry said. "All she did last time she tried that was pass out, but that was… what was that?"
"We should take her to Madame Pomfrey," Cedric said. "Make sure she's alright."
"Take who were?" Hermione mumbled as she stirred. "What's…" She sat up and her eyes went wide. "What… what?"
"Take it easy," Cedric said. "You… I don't actually know what you did."
Hermione looked around and spotted Luna crying in Neville's arms. Neville glared back at her and held Luna tighter.
"Luna! I'm—"
Luna took one look at Hermione and pressed closer to Neville. Neville took one look at the fear in Luna's eyes and glared at Hermione.
"You've done enough, Brain," Neville said.
"Rest for a minute," Harry said, "then Alavel and I will take you to Madame Pomfrey."
"No!" Hermione shouted. "I don't—"
"Yes, you do!" Harry shouted back. "Next time you lose control like that, we might not be so lucky. What if it hadn't stopped when Alavel knocked you out? What if you had sealed the room? Then what?"
"I'm fine!"
"No you're not!" Harry screamed. "You haven't been since Rose died! So here's your choice: Either let us take you to Madame Pomfrey, or I find Sally-Anne and Professor Vector, and you can talk to them!"
Luna shrank into Neville. He held her head in one hand and rested his own head on hers.
"It's alright," he whispered. "We won't let anything happen to you."
"We can't tell anyone what we're doing here!"
"Why not? It's not against the rules!"
"She'll make it against the rules!"
"Then we can go to Vector! Between the three of us and Alavel, she'll listen! It never has to reach Umbridge!"
"It won't, because no one's going to say anything!" Hermione screamed. Before anyone else could say a word, she turned and stormed out of the Room of Requirement.
"You're right," Cedric said. "She hasn't been well. She seemed fine at first, but it's like everything's gone wrong. What happened to her?"
"She's trying to be Rose," Harry said, collapsing on the ground.
"Rose always did everything on her own," Luna whispered. "She didn't need anyone."
"What was that?" Cedric asked.
"Luna said Rose always did everything on her own. Maybe Hermione's trying to do the same."
"Two years ago, Lady Rose had difficulty communicating with her family. She told Lady Brain that she proudly refused help, and then refused to talk about it any further."
Neville, Cedric, and Harry wore similar frowns as they all contemplated Alavel's words. Neville thought back to Hermione's actions over the past few months. She'd charged headlong into a fight with Umbridge for little reason. Even if Umbridge had delivered a slap in the face to Rose's memory, she was just another NPC. Neville figured people would be like Melody: conflicted about it, but they'd ask if they really cared. Nearly everyone in Hogwarts knew Rose, and knew who her friends were. It didn't matter what Umbridge said.
Hermione had declared war on the Ministry. She'd tossed Ron, the boy who had spent literal days trying to impress her, aside for her pointless war, become obsessive about learning to fight, and had insisted on helping — no, training others for her war. She'd even insisted on "helping" Luna, Rose's little sister, as if it were only she who could.
"She's not my sister," Luna said, loud enough for everyone else to hear. "She's supposed to be Brain. I miss Brain."
"Me too," Cedric said.
"We could use her," Neville said, "if she weren't trying so hard to be Rose."
"How could we 'use' her?" Harry asked. "We can't stand up to Voldemort, and he's the only real threat. If he came after any one of us, we'd lose. All we can hope to do is defend ourselves until real help arrives."
Harry glanced at Alavel, who nodded at him.
"Lord Skyeyes is right."
Neville opened his mouth to protest, but Alavel cut him off.
"Lord Toad, you are a formidable combatant—"
"No arguments here," Cedric muttered.
"—but even you cannot take Voldemort on your own." He turned to Cedric. "My apologies if that name makes you uncomfortable."
"It's only a name," Cedric said shakily with a crooked smile and a shrug.
"Of course I can't," Neville said. "But she's still right. We can't count on the Ministry defending us from him."
"You are doing all you can," Alavel said, then nodded towards Luna. She'd settled down, but she still clung to Neville. "I believe your time and efforts would be better spent on other endeavors."
"Are we safe?" Luna asked. She opened her eyes and looked at Alavel. "What if we need Rose?"
"I can assure you all, so long as Professor Dumbledore remains within Hogwarts, no one is going to come here that you all can't handle. The only concern right now is the well-being of Lady Brain."
"We should talk to Professor Vector," Cedric said. "She asked me about Hermione the other day. She knows something's going on."
Neville and Harry gave him concerned looks.
"I didn't tell her anything about this, just that I was worried about her too. If there's anyone that cares about Hermione, it's Professor Vector."
"Agreed," Harry said.
"We should write to her parents," Neville said, "and talk to Sally-Anne. She'll know what to do. I know Hermione said not to get her and Ron involved, but—"
"Dürah," Harry said, pointing to Cedric. "The Head Boy's pretty involved, and he's just fine. I don't know what Hermione's problem with Ron and Sally-Anne is, but we could use them. Ron's the best at summoning, and Sally-Anne could probably beat a squad of Death Eaters just by talking to them."
An image of Sally-Anne sitting with a bunch of Death Eaters around a campfire singing songs popped into Neville's head, and he stifled a laugh.
"You're right, we could," Neville said.
"I'll go talk to Professor Vector," Cedric said. "I know where she is now, so I think it'd be best to find her soon."
"Good luck," Harry said as Cedric ran off. He turned back to Neville and Luna. "Luna, are you alright?"
Luna looked up at Neville. Neville looked back at Luna.
"I think so," she said, smiling. "I… I think so."
"Alright." He turned to Alavel. "Would you mind coming with me to talk to Sally-Anne and Ron?"
"I'd be delighted, Lord Skyeyes. Although, perhaps you should open with an apology to Lady Princess. You didn't exactly leave her on good terms."
Harry frowned.
"I suppose not." He shrugged. "Well, between that and whatever enchantment Hermione put on that parchment I signed, this will be interesting." He ran his hand through his hair. "I hope my hair doesn't catch fire or something."
He and Alavel laughed as they left the Room of Requirement, leaving Neville and Luna alone.
They weren't alone six seconds before Luna started crying again.
"It's alright, Little Moon," Neville said softly, stroking her hair. "It's alright."
"I wanted to try," Luna whimpered. "I was trying, I just… I get so confused, so I couldn't."
"It's not your fault. You were trying your best, but Hermione was pushing you too hard. Even Rose knew not to push you too hard."
Luna nestled into Neville again, and an idea struck Neville.
What were the words? I can't remember the words. I think I know the tune though.
Neville started humming, quietly at first. His tone shook, but after a few tries, he got the hang of it.
And so the two of them sat there for a time, with only the sound of Rose's Lullaby to break the quiet.
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