Interlude: Neville

The reflection looking at him from the mirror was a far cry from his reflection before the summer. Gone was the fat that he had accumulated over the years, gone was his meek posture. What stared back from the mirror was a muscular youth with a new outlook towards life.

Being a part of the DA had kick started this process, but the month after his birthday was the most crucial stage in his metamorphosis. Those insufferable bastards had dared to attack his home, trying to kill him and his gran. As if those wankers hadn't already taken enough from him. He had poured all his anger and frustration into training his mind, body and magic. All that effort paid dividends. He would continue to do this as long as he was able to.

They even had the gall to send someone snooping into St. Mungo's where his parents previously were. Cowards, the lot of them. Willing to finish off people who were barely even alive for more than a decade. These were the people who were supposed to be paragons for pureblood superiority. What a joke.

Thankfully, his gran was on the lookout for such nonsense and managed to smuggle his parents to a safe house before they could even make an attempt. Elves were awesome like that. He had always been cordial to their family elf Jasky, but only after seeing the kind of shenanigans that Harry got to with his elves, he truly realized how resourceful the little ones were.

The Squib of House Longbottom, they used to call him. Now, he would like to see the look on their faces when he showed them what he was capable of. Over the years, he learned that people were not kind. His own family used to try to trigger him in rather extreme ways to perform accidental magic. His own house mates often mocked him for anything and everything. True, he was nothing great as well. But that had changed. He would make his parents proud, he would make himself proud.

He quickly started getting dressed for the journey up ahead. Due to his rapid growth, he had to replace almost his entire wardrobe. Harry had told him that they were cheaters for getting the kind of gains they did in just a months. Apparently muggles toiled for several months on end to reach his current physique. Crabbe and Goyle were huge, but they had too much fat. Neville right now was strong enough to wrestle both of them to submission with the strength training he had undergone. Of course, when magic came into play, he would easily wipe the floor with them. He got pushed around by those two a lot during the years, he would like to see them try now.

Harry had introduced him to several books on nutrition and muscle building. More than vanity, their training was for performance. Neville had undergone a rigorous strength training routine twice a day, aided by potions. Initially, his training was geared towards getting rid of the excess fat. Then he focused on building mass. Harry on the other hand had gone with a focus on endurance. Harry was no longer skinny and was fairly muscular. He had more definition than size though. The girls also focused more on endurance, but nobody spent so much time training their bodies like Neville did. To him, it was addicting. The burn he felt during the exercise, burning away his weakness, building something greater in its place. The whole experience was cathartic.

Apart from looking and feeling good, the greatest boon of all this exercise was the ease with which the magic within him responded to his wishes. For a boy plagued with confidence issues compounded by his body issues and issues with his magic, this was a massive change of pace.

He owed his friends a lot. Harry and Hermione had always been supportive of him. Harry taught him how to fight back. He trusted Neville to cover his back a few months ago in the Ministry. He sent Winky to their aid and provided them a safe place to lay low in. Harry had done a lot for him. So he resolved to help him to the best of his ability.

It came as a massive shocker to him that he could have been the subject of the prophecy. But like he told Harry, regardless of any prophetic bullshit, he would fight back. Voldemort and his Death Eaters were a disease. He would not stand back and watch the disease ravage his home anymore.

Hermione, she had been the latest one close to him who suffered due to those cretins. She had always been so nice to him. The moment they met in the train, she had offered to help him find Trevor. Then year after year, when his confidence was down in the dumps, she tried to help him out. She often told him how he needed to stand up for himself against all those bullies at school. When he fucked up during classes, she would almost always help him try to get things right. Her efforts were not in vain though. He was going to stand up for himself, he was getting better. She had supported him throughout the years, now he would do the same for her when she needed him. It hurt him to see her go through such pain.

Once he was ready, he left his room. Harry had told them all to leave their luggage behind and only take a backpack and their pets with them. He said that the elves would directly bring it to the Hogwarts gate. Apparently there was supposed to be a screening of the luggage this year due to safety concerns. Harry's reasoning was that lugging the trunks around in the platform would severely reduce their response time if there was an attack. Sure, pets were a liability in such conflicts as well, but Crookshanks hated magical transport, and Hedwig would follow them from the skies anyway. Trevor would stay inside his backpack until they got inside the train.

He reached Harry's room and knocked on the door. After a couple of seconds, the door opened wide on its own. Inside stood Harry, a sharp contrast to the Harry that he saw at the start of the term every single year. No longer underfed, no longer wearing oversized clothes. He was dressed sharply in a light blue shirt and black chinos. His hair was trimmed close on the sides and the rest of it was a couple of inches longer. Enough to look stylish and not like his usual bird's nest.

"Come in Neville," said Harry from the middle of the room. He was staring at a portrait opposite to him. A portrait Neville had once seen inside the Headmaster's room at Hogwarts.

"That's it then. I will see you at Hogwarts boy," the man said and walked off the frame.

"Who was that?"

"Phineas Nigellus Black. Least popular former Headmaster of Hogwarts. Although, I suppose dear Dolores has usurped that position. Even if she named herself as such and wasn't accepted by anyone as one. Imagine if she had gotten a portrait."

"If she got one, it would have been burned off by anyone who came across it." Neville snorted. He then hesitated and asked, "Can we trust him? He spends all of his time in Dumbledore's office after all."

"Well, Phineas respects Dumbledore's skill. But that's it. He doesn't agree with his views, nor does he agree with the way he does things. There are two things he is loyal to though- Hogwarts despite how much he disliked his job, and his family."

"But then doesn't that mean that he is loyal to Lestrange and Malfoy's mum?"

"Not necessarily. He cared for his family and its legacy. He may be a blood purist, but he does not agree with how Voldemort has been going about things. One of his sisters married a muggle and was cast off the family tree. But he never stopped caring for his sister despite it. And if lunatics like Voldemort had a say, his sister should have been killed off for marrying a muggle. Funnily enough, Andromeda did something similar to his sister. Narcissa and Bellatrix on the other hand, have shamed the Black name according to him. Apparently mere terrorists and psychopaths do not fit his vision for members of a Noble lineage. Also, Bellatrix killed off Sirius and Regulus died because of Voldemort as well. He is a man from an archaic time period. To him, the scions of the house were more important, and they are gone now."

"So we have his allegiance?"

In response, Harry took out his Aspen wand and twirled it in his fingers.

"Aspen, White River Monster core, twelve inches. The White River Monster core, often produces spells of force and elegance, according to the crafter. Aspen, making it exceptional for charmwork and combat. A wand for revolutionaries, it is said," he smiled at the accuracy of that last statement before continuing.

"It used to belong to Belvina Burke née Black before her demise. She was his only daughter. Before her death, she made it clear that she wanted the wand to go to someone worthy. She favored this wand a lot. The family often used the ancestral wands to train up the young before they got wands of their own. All these years, this wand hadn't chosen anyone. Now it chose me."

Neville understood the sentiment immediately. To wizards and witches, a wand was the extension of themselves. That is why his gran was so adamant that he use his father's. That way at least some part of him would be kept alive. She hoped that he would become more like his father. Even though it was some twisted logic, he could understand the sentiment behind it. After all, he himself spent the longest time trying to emulate his parents from what he heard about them.

After he got his new wand, he had read a bit about wandlore. Most wands, especially those of dead masters would be very picky with new possible owners. Apparently, with what limited sentience they had, wands of dead owners would try to look for similar qualities in their new masters. When he read it, he realized that his father's wand was still waiting for him. It made sense that Phineas would favor Harry if he was the one to master Belivna's favored wand. It was the last fragment of his daughter, and her wish was for it to go to someone worthy. According to Neville, Harry was plenty worthy. He had a sneaking suspicion that some part of Phineas agreed as well.

"He also wants me to give sanctuary to the last members of the family who haven't tarnished the name, even if they don't carry the name itself- Andromeda and Tonks. Which I would give them regardless."

Neville hummed in agreement and pointed towards the door, not wanting to be late.

"Nev, just a second," Harry said as the door closed, locking them inside. He could feel the privacy charms of the room activate at once.

"Yeah?"

"I thought long and hard about it. I am hunting monsters, yes. But a wise man once said that 'Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.' In retrospect, most of what I've done is necessary. If left as is, those pieces of shit would go around, destroying countless more lives."

"This is about Pettigrew isn't it?" asked Neville. Harry hadn't told anyone what exactly he had done to the rat. But they could guess. Torture was a sore spot for Neville mainly because of what had happened to his family. He could not condone Harry, but he could not condemn him either. Mainly because he was not sure if he would hold back if he had Bellatrix in a similar position. It was not moral, it was not right, but festering hatred did that to people.

"Yeah. It is not like I did not get anything from him in return. There was the knowledge of the animagus transformation which helped clog the holes in the Lovegood method. So it was not senseless torture. Or that is what I say to myself. I went through the memory again and again, and I realized that all that I said to Pettigrew was not for his benefit. I was just trying to convince myself."

"Do you regret it then?"

Harry was silent for a few seconds, deep in thought.

"I don't know. You see, despite the burning hatred I had for the rat, any satisfaction I had from his pain was gone a minute or so in. The sniveling rat just kept crying and begging and it woke me up. After that, I just felt like shit. In the end, I trapped him in an illusion and let him succumb to the cursed wounds. I just gave into my rage and went way overboard. I should have finished him off early, not sat and tried to inflict pain when I already got the information I needed from him."

He took a deep breath and looked at Neville with burning eyes, "If, at any point, I start losing myself to my emotions, I need you to stop me. I won't lose any more sleep over this because the rat directly and indirectly killed so many innocents. Heck, everything that's happening now is because of him. I will be better than these scum though. Doesn't mean that I will spare them and try to redeem irredeemable pieces of shit. They will get what they deserve. But I refuse to bring myself down to their level and take pleasure in inflicting pain."

Neville too was silent for a few moments, contemplating what to say.

"These two months really messed you up eh?" he asked as Harry nodded tiredly. Fighting alone for so long had taken a toll on him and it was palpable.

"I will be candid Harry, I do not like it. But if you are making calls like this, you shouldn't be making it alone. This past week, you have been distant due to this mess. We decided that we will fight this war together. If you had told us what you were about to do, we would have found a different way of doing it like you said. There is no more proper law and order enough to punish or hold them in this war. So it is not like we would have let him go."

"I know Nev. There won't be a next time. If at all we need to resort to torture, we get the information and put them out of their misery. No need to emulate these lowlifes."

"To be honest, I am not sure if I will be this rational if it came to Bellatrix or her oaf of a husband. I pray it ends in a battle and I don't have an opportunity to give into my darker side."

"Amen. Hopefully, now that everything is set up, we will have some time off from all this nonsense. From what intel we have, it looks like he is focusing more on his ministry takeover at the moment. Although I am sure that there will be the occasional raids to ignite fear."

"How messed up are we? Not even of age, yet plotting this kind of shit," snorted Neville. The old Neville would have been horrified with the way this conversation had been going. Now though, he had almost died twice, he almost lost his gran. He even almost lost his parents, again. A person could only take so much before striking back.

"That's why we are fighting isn't it? To make sure that the next generation doesn't grow up like we did. Alone, unloved, fighting wars when we're teens. Imagine a generation of witches and wizards growing under Voldemort's rule. That is not something that would end well for anyone."

"True. Remember that you are not alone Harry. We are here for you. This is our fight. Don't try to do everything alone, it will not end well. We all should also be ready by now for thwarting the raids I reckon."

"Yeah, although sneaking away from Hogwarts will be a hassle with the increased scrutiny this year. That is why I did my best to decimate their numbers this summer. They won't go on raids if they don't have the numbers and are shit scared about their own lives."

"You're speaking as if they would stop you from sneaking out."

They just laughed at that and Harry got ready to leave. He quickly donned a black overcoat and slung a leather satchel over his shoulder. As he hid his Aspen wand, he smiled sardonically.

"And this was just the rat. I don't even know what to do about Snape."

"What do you mean? You're gonna torture the bat for making classes hell for us?" asked Neville. Harry stilled at that and looked at Neville in deep contemplation.

"Nev, who do you think told Voldemort about the prophecy?"

Neville froze at that moment and looked at Harry with building confusion. "What?" he asked.

"Think Nev, think. Trelawney gave that prophecy to Dumbeldore. But apparently, Voldemort knows not only about the prophecy, but even half of the exact wordings. There were two spies that were inside the order. One was Pettigrew, the other was Snape. And I can guarantee this, Pettigrew did not know of the prophecy before my parents went into hiding. Heck, he didn't know what the prophecy said till the very end."

Neville's brain shut down for a moment. Then he was immediately consumed by the kind of rage that only Bellatrix and her ilk induced. What angered him was the fact that his boggart was Severus Snape of all things. So scared, so afraid of a man who might possibly be the reason his parents went into hiding and were singled out after the war ended. He wondered what was about him that made Death Eaters responsible for his misery taunt him so much. Crouch Jr of all people was the one who took a class about the unforgivables. Most likely laughing inside due to the irony of teaching the son of his victims about the cruciatus. Then there was Snape, who had the gall to belittle and bully him year after year, class after class without an ounce of guilt for what he had done.

"Are you sure about it?" asked Neville after he managed to regain a little bit of his calm.

"Pretty sure."

"It is going to be an interesting year for us then," said Neville. For a second, he thought that he would not be able to interact with the man since he did not qualify for the potions NEWTs. Then he remembered Harry telling them that Dumbledore was trying to recruit old Slughorn. And if Slughorn was back, then Snape would most likely teach DADA at last.

Over the summer, relations between Harry and Snape had been worsening. Especially since the wards flung the man out and the twins made a toy out of that memory. And recently, once Snape's house got burnt down, the order had tried foisting him here, to keep an eye on everyone. Ironic, considering Harry was the one who blew up the house. To Snape's ire, Harry flat out told them that the bat can stay at the castle as usual and was not welcome here. Things were going to come to a head for sure, and he would not want to miss it. Maybe take a potshot or two of his own when the situation occurred.

##################

Soon, they were gathered at the dining room, preparing for their departure.

"I have portkeys to take us all to a cordoned area directly on the platform. It is an exclusive entry point for aurors. Can't get into the train directly due to protective measures on it," informed Madam Bones once they were done with the breakfast.

"Better than taking cars and walking through the barrier in sight of everyone. Nitwits," snorted Hermione. Dumbledore had tried to prepare measures of his own for them to get to the train. He wanted to arrange an auror guard for them throughout the way. It was immediately shot down by Madam Bones when he went to her office for approval. She had told him how stupid that plan was and came up with a better one.

Of course, he did not know that all of them were staying here because the order didn't have access to the upper floors, where they were holed up in.

Within a few minutes, they were all walking in formation on the platform. People all around were staring at them, especially at Harry. Throughout their walk into the train, Neville was tense, expecting some death eater to jump out and attack them, but nothing of that sort happened.

"Come, let's find a cabin quickly," urged Hermione as she led the way through the train.

Neville noticed that now that they were inside the train, Harry was not the only one the other people were ogling at. Harry, Hermione, Neville and Luna, they were all being scrutinized. It must have had something to do with the fight at the Ministry, he mused. Many people did a double take when they finally recognized him as well. He just snorted in response and kept following his friends, wand at the ready.

Midway through, Susan and Hannah joined with their Hufflepuff group while the rest of them kept walking until they found an empty cabin.

"Hermione, I have a question," asked Harry once they were settled in.

"Yes?"

"Are you glad that you don't have to go on rounds the moment the train departs?" he asked.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't. But I suppose that is more to do with the company I would have to put up with. Helping the younger students isn't a chore Harry," she said as she plucked a book out of her backpack and got to reading.

"Did you find out who replaced you as a prefect?" asked Neville.

"Nope. Not like I care anyway. If I had to take a guess, Fay would be a good fit because she is serious about her academics and is very diligent. The problem is that she is not outgoing at all. That would count against her. So it is honestly a tossup between either Lavender or Parvati."

"We'll find out soon enough, I suppose," said Harry as he leaned back in his seat and stretched, ready to sleep.

A couple of minutes before the train was scheduled to take off, they saw the usual Weasley rush from the windows.

Right on cue, the train started its journey towards Hogwarts. Luna was lost to the world as she was engrossed in her mother's research notes and Hermione was doing the same with her book. Harry on the other hand was just leaning towards the window and looking out at the passing scenery. Neville switched his focus to the door and just kept watching as people walked by, often stopping to get a look at Harry and then leaving. Before he could ask him why he hadn't put up one of his illusions, someone stood in front of the door and tried to open it. When it failed to open, she knocked.

Harry just flicked his wand towards the door and it unlocked the next instant. A gaggle of fourth-year girls stood at the door, uncertain on what to do. Especially when Hermione scowled at them something fierce for disturbing her reading time.

"How can we help you ladies?" asked Harry.

"Hi Harry. I'm Romilda Vane, I was just wondering if you wanted to join us in our compartment," she started out strong, but tapered off near the end when everyone inside, sans Luna looked at her incredulously. She winced when she got a good look at Hermione and realized who exactly was sat in the compartment.

Harry scoffed at them and turned around, once again looking out the window.

"And why would he want to sit with strangers when his best friends are right here?" asked Hermione with a chilling tone.

"Oh don't mind them Hermione. It's just an infestation of wrackspurts in their brains," said Luna, not once looking up from her reading material.

Hermione unceremoniously shut the door and cast a locking charm on it.

"Why haven't you placed an illusion on the door Harry?" she asked once the disappointed group walked away.

"Apparently Slughorn has a habit of gathering well connected students for a luncheon. I am supposed to make nice with him. Dumbledore told me that much. Amelia said that he often sent random students with an invitation. So we wait," he said.

"More politics, peachy," she grumbled as she got back to her book.

"It's more networking than politics, but I can see what you mean."

"Semantics. In any other situation, it can be benign networking. In our current climate though, everything will tie up to politics of some sort."

Before Harry could say something, there was another knock on the door. Standing on the other side was a nervous Ron and a curious Lavender. Well, they got the answer for the female prefect at least. Neville knew that this had the potential of getting nasty real quick. Yet, he could only watch as the door opened once again and Ron stepped in nervously.

"Hey guys," he mumbled, shifting on his feet.

"Hi Ron," said Neville as Harry waved at him.

"Umm, can we talk?" he asked.

"Depends on what you want to talk about," said Harry, looking apprehensively at Hermione, who was busy ignoring Ron in favor of her book.

"I just wanted to apologize," he said, not taking his eyes off Hermione.

Harry sighed and straightened himself. "What is it going to be Ron? A real apology or something like what you told me during fourth year? I might have let you off the hook easily, but you are not apologizing to me are you?"

Ron shook his head vigorously. "Hermione. I am sorry about what I said," he breathed out.

"Are you apologizing because of what you said, or because your mum told you to?" she asked, finally looking up from her book. She shut it with a snap and raised an eyebrow as Ron sputtered indignantly.

"How can you even ask that?" he said as his face was already red with anger or embarrassment, Neville would never know.

"Oh because it is a pattern isn't it? Troll, Scabbers, Yule Ball, and now this. You speak your mind, we get hurt, then you realize that you don't have any other friends, and you come back to us with a halfhearted apology," she said frostily.

"No! You are just making too much of a deal about it," he shouted. Neville sucked in his breath as he massaged his forehead. That was a wrong thing to say.

"Too much of a deal? You insinuated that protections for 'proper' witches and wizards was more important than my parents and you dare say that I am making too much a deal about it?" she roared as she stood up and pointed her wand at him, the tip glowing a sickly turquoise. Neville stood up and got between them at once. It was a nasty bone breaker and if she cast it, she would be in trouble before the year even began.

"Ron, leave for now. Find some other way to mend things," he whispered as he tried to drag Ron out of the compartment.

"What about you Harry? You are just going to sit and watch as she curses me?" he shouted once more, trying to get past Neville.

"Honestly, I am not going to do a thing. Sorry mate, this is between you two. It's not like you don't have a wand," he said in a disinterested voice.

"But you are taking her side aren't you?" at this point, he was just pushing his luck. And Neville was proven right in his thought process when the spell shot out of her wand and almost grazed Ron. He had pulled him away from the path, but Neville knew that if Hermione wanted to hit him, she would.

"I won't miss the next time. Get out, don't speak to me again," she said, still not moving her wand away.

This time though, Ron was focused on Harry, waiting for what he would say or do. Harry sighed once more and ran his hand through his head.

"Yes, I suppose I am. She has always taken my side. And this time, you've gone a bit too far," he waited for a bit before talking again.

"Look, Ron. We've been through a lot yeah? And you know what kind of bullshit we have to deal with. Right now, Hermione is in pain. I know her pain, everyone here knows her pain, we've all felt it. To you, it might seem like we're all choosing her over you. Yet, there are only so many times we let you off the hook without any repercussions. I will be taking Hermione's lead on this. I think it's better if we had some time for things to cool down before seeing if we want to even mend whatever it is that we all had."

He scowled in response, but then all fight left him all of a sudden. He deflated and looked at his two friends once again. A part of Neville wanted to feel bad for him. But he had done this to himself. He just hoped that Ron grew up after all this and took care about what he said and how he said it.

"Alright," he said and then walked out without a word. Neville let out a breath of relief and closed the door behind him. Although, given that Lavender now knew this, word would soon get out that the trio was on the outs once more. He didn't understand why Ron couldn't have come alone when he was not doing his prefect duties.

Everyone settled down and Harry gripped Hermione's shoulder, an unspoken gesture that he would be there for her. Neville patted her other shoulder and took his seat, glad that it did not devolve into something much worse. As they all sat in silence, Luna started humming a happy tune. Everyone looked at her once and couldn't help but smile.

##################

Neville woke with a start, wand in hand and a spell ready to be cast.

"It's alright Nev," said Harry as he walked towards the door and spoke to a blushing third year girl. Neville looked around and saw that nothing much had changed. While he had dozed off, Hermione had moved on to a different book and Luna was writing something on her own journal.

"Nev, look sharp. We have an invite to Slughorn's cabin for lunch," Harry said as he held up two scrolls of parchment tied up with fancy ribbons.

"Ugh, finally. Put an illusion on the door when you leave, will you?" asked Hermione.

Neville quickly opened his parchment, ignoring the byplay.

Dear Mr. Longbottom,

I would like to invite you to join me and some of your peers for lunch in compartment C.

Sincerely,

Professor H. E. F. Slughorn

"Is yours as formal?" he asked Harry, showing him his letter.

"Nah. We're already acquainted. Even though I did not talk much at all, he seems to be cordial enough."

"Why is it just us two?" he asked, thinking that Hermione would be a better choice than him.

"Oh these are just tryouts Nev. From what Amelia told me, his club will change rosters as the year progresses. The more important the student is, the more talented they are, they will get in and stay in. Others will be weeded out. Right now he mostly only called students whose family he is somewhat familiar with. Or so I think. Let's go and see for ourselves," he said as he straightened his jacket and walked out.

Neville groaned and followed him outside.

"Call Winky for lunch," Harry called out to Hermione as he closed the door and waved his wand over it.

When they reached compartment C, he was sure that Harry was spot on. Inside the compartment were McLaggen, Zabini, Belby, and strangely enough Ginny.

A few minutes into the conversation, Slughorn had told them that he had invited Ginny after he saw her hexing Smith. Once again, Amelia's information had pulled through. It was quite obvious by now that he liked surrounding himself with people who had good connections or the potential to be something great themselves.

Slughorn seemed to be looking for something when he spoke to Harry and Neville, and apparently he had found whatever he was looking for. Neville felt annoyed when he was asked several questions about his parents, but he managed to soldier through it without snapping. Harry on the other hand just smiled when required and gave minimal details.

Despite that though, it seemed like Slughorn hung on every little thing that Harry said. Neville wondered if he would have had to put up with such pandering if he was the subject of the prophecy. He thanked his lucky starts that he was not saddled with it. Being a possible candidate alone had ruined his life.

"Dear Merlin, it is time already. Get going all of you. You need to get changed. We will reach in a while," Slughorn said after hours of nonsensical talks which lead nowhere.

They made a quick exit and walked out after Zabini.

"Where were you?" Neville asked Ginny as he did not see her with Ron either.

"I was with Dean. But Ron came into the compartment and spoiled that too. Would have hexed him along with Smith if Slughorn did not arrive at that moment," she said.

"Nev, you go on ahead, yeah? I need to visit the loo," said Harry all of a sudden when they were about to reach their cabin, nodding towards Zabini subtly.

Understanding what he wanted, Neville nodded and diverted Ginnu's attention. After a few seconds, he turned around and could not see Harry anymore. He so needed to learn that trick from him.

Almost half an hour later, Harry walked back into their compartment. By this time, they had already been dressed in their uniforms. Luna and Hermione had returned their study materials back to their backpacks and were waiting for Harry.

"What did you find?" asked Hermione.

"We'll talk in the carriages. I need to get changed. We'll reach Hogsmeade station in a few minutes," he said hurriedly as he grabbed his uniform from his satchel and headed towards the loo.

As they finally disembarked the train, they walked up to the carriages in a hurry. Once they reached an empty carriage, Luna petted the thestrals before getting in. Neville shuddered and immediately boarded the carriage. He had been able to see the creatures ever since his grandfather passed away all those years ago. Despite how much the thestrals helped them last year, he was still spooked by the creatures associated with death.

"So, what did you find?" asked Neville once they were all inside the carriage and a privacy charm was up.

"Well, we have Voldy sympathizers in Slytherin. Nothing new. What is new is that Malfoy got marked. I checked his memories as well as the mark itself."

"Are you kidding me?" asked Hermione.

"Nope. Git got marked. And he has an important mission. Apparently the ferret is supposed to kill Dumbledore," Harry snorted.

"Stop joking Harry," he said.

"Oh I kid you not. Riddle is punishing the Malfoy family by giving him such an impossible task that would get the idiot caught."

"But that means we have a confirmed Death Eater among the students," said Hermione.

"Yup, for now, it is just him. I suppose, depending on the current state of things, others might get marked during the Christmas break. We will have to keep an eye on them."

"Even if it is an impossible task, he must have something planned right? Even a bowtruckle gets aggressive when threatened" said Luna.

"The dumbass has plans for sure. He was planning on some half-arsed attempts that would likely get other students caught in the crossfire. Fortunately, some subtle suggestions will keep him on track and focus on his main attempt. That way nobody else would get caught up. Cursed necklaces and poison, honestly. It's like they think Dumbledore is some wet behind the ears kid."

"Why are we not handing him over to Amelia? Why even give him the chance?" asked Hermione.

"It is quite simple Hermione. We know what he is doing, we know when he will be doing it, and we would know how to stop it. If we get rid of him right now, they will saddle someone else with his mission. That would be problematic."

"I thought he was being punished with this mission. Why would anyone else be getting the same treatment?" asked Neville.

"See, the main plan of Draco is to repair a vanishing cabinet in the room of requirement to lead Death Eaters into Hogwarts," Neville's blood ran cold upon hearing that. Death Eaters on a kill mission roaming Hogwarts. They wouldn't even hesitate to kill the kids if anyone came in the way of their mission. The more time went on, the more he found out about them that disgusted him.

"If we know when he will be doing it-" trailed off Hermione.

"We trap the mice in a mousetrap of our own making."

"So they will be walking into their deaths," stated Neville.

"Quite literally, my friend," said Harry with a grin.

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