Chapter 87: The many rumors about Neville Longbottom

Disclaimer: 

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 87: The many rumors about Neville Longbottom

"This is amazing!" Lyra had her eyes opened like plates. She had seen images of the castle, but looking at it in person was a completely different experience.

"Look at that ceiling, is like a real sky…there is even the moon there!" Ginny pointed up.

"That's an enchantment made by Rowena Ravenclaw almost a millennia ago. There are thousands of runes carved onto the ceiling to create that effect. And they need to be maintained every decade." Hermione got closer to the first years and told them.

"Hermione, stop killing the first year's sense of magical wonder." Lavender scolded her.

"I'm not doing that. I would love to have someone explain those things to me in my first year, and learn more about the castle." She responded.

"I personally like to leave some things unexplained. It makes the world seem more mysterious and romantic." Parvati said.

"But not everyone wants to remain as an idiot, like you." Her twin sister, Padma joined their conversation.

Parvati was getting ready to respond to his sister when Professor McGonagall called for everyone who was not a first-year to go take a seat at their table. The sorting ceremony was about to begin.

"What house do you think your sister is going to end up in?"

Hermione asked Harry when it became Lyra's turn to put on the hat.

He had considered what house would be better for her. But as long as she doesn't go to Slytherin, she would be fine. Not that he believed that they were all evil. But he was afraid that the other kids would be less than welcoming to a half-blood with a brother in Gryffindor.

"Any house will be good, but I would like to have her here in Gryffindor." He responded.

"Oh!, are you the overprotective brother type, Harry?" Asked Lavender.

"She is very pretty, with those striking green eyes and her red hair. You are going to have a lot of work in the coming years, chasing boys away from her." Commented Parvati.

"She can do the chasing away herself. Lyra has a strong personality, like our mother." 

He said that, but if any boy were to cross the line, he would be teaching them a lesson.

"Gryffindor!" The hat proclaimed.

Harry let out a sigh of relief that he didn't know he had been holding.

People at the table clapped for Lyra as she approached the table, making her fell somewhat embarrassed by the sudden attention.

"Here!, come sit here, we'll make room for you." Lavender waved at her and pointed at the seat.

Hermione moved a bit and let Lyra sit between her and Harry.

"Thank you, em…" Lyra was unsure how to address her.

"Hermione and these are Lavender and Parvati, we are friends of your brother." 

"Really?" Lyra was surprised. Harry never mentioned any school friends to her, and she had never seen him send a letter to anyone. She thought her brother was a bit of a loner.

Harry felt his sister gaze upon him and he turned his head to meet her eyes.

"Yes, well…wellcome to Gryffindor, Lyra."

"You are going to love it here!, this is the best house," Lavender commented with her usual high energy.

"I hope my friend Ginny gets sorted here too," Lyra said.

"Which one is Ginny?." Hermione asked as she looked at the few remaining unsorted students.

"That one, the red-haired girl. Ginny Weasley." Lyra indicated.

"A Weasley? Then she is definitely coming here. All of her family is in Gryffindor." Parvati informed her.

After a few more sortings, it was finally Ginny's time.

The hat had barely touched her head when it clamored the name of Gryffindor.

"See?" Parvati remarked.

Ginny went to sit with them, only stopping for a moment to greet her brothers and another one to stare at Neville, who was sitting close by with Ron and Seamus.

"He is here! I just saw him!" Ginny said with excitement as she arrived at Lyra's side and sat down between her and Hermione.

"Saw who?" Asked Hermione.

"She is talking about…Neville Longbottom." Lyra spoke in a low voice. She didn't want the entire table to know what they were talking about.

"Ah…him. There was a lot of commotion with him last year. But now, things have calmed down a lot." Said Hermione, remembering the beginning of their first year.

"Are you a fan of these books with his name on them? We had so many of those last year, including Mione over there." Lavender added.

"I was not a fan of the books….I just read a few of them and became curious about him." Hermione was not particularly proud of how she acted the first time they met.

"So how is here in real life?, he seems a bit different than I expected…" Ginny commented while looking to her left, trying to catch a better glance at him.

"Is he chubbier than you expected?" Lavender chuckled. 

She had heard that comment many times before.

"Well…but that's not important. He must be very impressive with his magic, right? I mean…he defeated You-Know-Who when he was just a baby after all." Ginny said with a tone of admiration in her voice.

"Actually, a lot of students thought he was a fraud last year." Recalled Parvati.

"A fraud? how so?" Asked Lyra.

"That's because… let's just say he was not…" Hermione had a hard time finding the words.

"He sucked in class. He couldn't even perform the simplest spells, and that was in first year..." Lavender helped her.

"He also blew at least a dozen cauldrons in potions class. Professor Snape tried to ban him from his class. Or at least that's what some people claim." Parvati said.

"Yes, but then, most students changed their minds when those rumors started to circulate," Hermione said.

"Rumors? what rumors?" Ginny leaned forward and listened with interest.

"Yes, what rumors?" Lyra did the same.

"During our first flying class, he fell down from his broom. He was at least a hundred feet in the air!" Lavender exclaimed.

Ginny and Lyra gasped.

"Did he get hurt?" 

"No, that's the thing…something happened before he hit the ground…it became softer like rubber and he just bounced a bit before stopping. Didn't even get a scratch." Said Parvati.

"The professor saved him?" Lyra asked.

"No!, that's what was weird. We all were there and saw it. The professor was still fumbling to get her wand out, she could not have cast the charm. And everyone else was first years. No one knew how to cast magic that advanced." Lavender added.

"No one?..."

Lyra looked at her brother for a moment. Harry didn't seem to be paying attention.

"So after that, rumors started to circulate that Neville himself must have created the spell without knowing it. Like his magic acted on its own to protect him." Hermione explained.

"Yes…I wonder who started those rumors." Parvati gave Lavender a side glance.

"It doesn't matter…" Lavender snapped.

"But then another thing happened during his first Quidditch match"

"Ah yes, I heard Ron mention he played one game of Quidditch. But it didn't go well." Ginny recalled one of the few things her brother said in front of her about Neville.

"You could put it that way…he was thrown off the broom by a bludger when they were playing against Slytherin." Said Parvati.

"He fell off the broom again?" Lyra asked. 

"Yes…but then, a powerful gust of wind appeared out of nowhere and he was saved again," Hermione explained.

"The rumors got more elaborated after that. Saying things like he was the reincarnation of Merlin or that he had so much magic that he could not control it so it only went off during times of need."

"Yeah, and I was not the one who made those up!." Lavender made a brief remark.

"I found it funny how Malfoy stopped bothering him after that. He would never admit it, but he was scared." Said Parvati.

"Then, the acromantulas happened!" Lavender exclaimed.

"My brothers told me about that!. Some acromantulas got into the school, right?" Ginny said. 

"Yes, no one knows for sure how that happened and a few hours later, the professors informed us that they were gone. But that night, Neville was not at the Great Hall. Then…he was seen leaving the infirmary. So the students started to speculate that it was him and not the professors who took care of the nasty spiders." Parvati commented.

"All of this happened during your first year?." Lyra glanced at her brother.

"You never told me any of this!." she complained.

A.N - I did consider having Lyra in a different house. But given her personality, her most fitting houses were either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. I don't have anything interesting for her to do at Hufflepuff, so in the end, this was the decision. By having her in the same house as Harry, I can have them interact more often, include her in some of his adventures, and also have someone for Ginny to talk to. It just made more sense, even if it could be seen as the most boring option at first glance. -

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