NEVILLE LONGBOTOM AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS
Chapter 2: Neville's silence
.
The most dull days in Neville's life were spent and he was only able to leave the room to buy his school supplies. When he reached Diagon Alley, he met Hermione.
“Neville, how are you!” the girl said with a smile.
“I’m okay Hermione," he blushedly replied, "listen Hermione, I wrote to you...” In that moment the untimely Harry and Ron appeared and took the girl with them.
“Who was that girl, Neville?” his grandmother asked him very interested.
“It's my friend Hermione, she's the smartest one in my house.”
“And your friend has a last name, right?”
“Last name Granger, Grandma.”
“Humm... Granger, Granger.... Doesn't ring a bell, is she foreign? Although her accent indicates she's English.”
“No, she's not a foreigner, her parents are Muggles.”
“Of course, they had to be Muggles," said the old woman who had apparently lost interest in the girl.
They entered a store to buy books but it was crowded with customers, mostly women. The old lady stepped in and shoved herself and pulled her grandson out of his clothes.
“What the hell is going on here?” the angry old woman complained.
“Augusta, dear, are you also coming to see Gilderoy Lockhart?” said a short, chubby woman with red hair.
“Oh, hello, Molly, Arthur," said the woman. “Who is this Lockheart?”
“Lockhart, Augusta, his name is Gilderoy Lockhart and he's right here signing his books... Oh, you must be Neville," Mrs. Weasley said with a broad and sincere smile.
Neville introduced himself to the Weasleys and saw the man behind all this fuss. The boy was impressed, he understood why women were all gawking at the subject. Gilderoy Lockhart looked like a movie star, and he had the charming smile of one.
“What stupidity, let's go Neville, we'll come back when this dyeing is gone," his grandmother told him.
“Neville? Neville Longbottom?” said Lockhart when he heard the name of our hero.
“But look! If it's nothing less than Neville Longbottom," said Lockhart to the four winds. That's when he grabbed the boy and had him pose next to him for some photographs. Neville couldn't do anything about it, just like his grandmother, and finally after the photographs were finished, Lockhart revealed that he would be the new teacher Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.
In the end, Neville and his grandmother headed out of the store (Lockhart gave Neville all the books he would be carrying in Hogwarts this year, well Lockhart's books), as he approached the exit, the boy saw Mr. Weasley and a blonde long-haired man arguing. Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Weasley both started hitting each other, but fortunately they were separated by Hagrid.
“Take my dear," Lucious Malfoy told a redheaded girl, "don't lose your book.”
.
.
After the incident, Neville and her grandmother returned to their mansion and the day they were due to return to Hogwarts something strange happened: the main door of the mansion was not opened for some reason, it was necessary the help of the domestic elves for this one to give way. Neville and her grandmother arrived with just the right time (the old woman was an enemy to appear anywhere, as she said, her clothes would wrinkle), first the old woman passed by and when Neville was about to cross, the boy crashed into the wall.
“You really are clumsy Neville," said someone behind him and laughing.
Neville got up, and he saw Potter and Ron looking at him in mockery.
“Away idiot," Ron ordered, and tried to cross the wall, but like Neville, he crashed into the hard wall.
Potter also tried and could not pass, the three boys exchanged nervous looks.
“Ron, when I spent the holidays at your house you told me something about a flying car your dad had.”
“It's true! Let's take the car and go to Hogwarts.”
“What about our parents?”
“They're on the other side of the wall, I don't think they can help us, let's go!”
“You too, Neville," Potter said.
“I think it's best if we stay here and wait for...”
“Hurry up!” Ron ordered him while both boys were pulling his clothes. When they hit the street, Potter and Ron got in the car, Neville was still hesitant.
“Hurry, Neville!” He was urged by the boys and Neville decided
When Neville wanted to get in the car, Ron went a few yards.
“What a slow Neville, well, are you coming in or not?” Ron laughed.
Neville also laughed and tried to get in, but the same thing happened, Potter and Ron were laughing their heads off.2
“Well, this time it's serious, get in the car Neville," Potter said with a face of innocence.
Neville opened the door but this time the car went off to heaven with the two boys laughing.
“Wait, don't leave me!”
Neville disheartened, decided to return to the station and found several adult magicians there, including his grandmother, Arthur and Molly Weasley; James and Lily Potter, who screamed for their children.
“Neville, what happened!” his grandmother shouted.
“Grandma, the wall didn't let me through!”
“I know, when I tried to come back to see why you hadn't crossed, the wall didn't let me pass either.”
“Neville, did you see Ron around?” Arthur Weasley asked him
“Yes, he and Potter got into a flying car and headed for Hogwarts," Neville told them, explaining how the kids took the car and left him abandoned.
“What will we do now?” Lily asked anxiously.
“At least we know they're safe," said Arthur, his wife looked at him angrily.
“Augusta, the best thing would be for you and Neville to show up at Hogsmeade and from there to school, you know very well that no one can show up on Hogwarts' land," James suggested.
“But I am so tired... My heart...”
“I'll take Neville," said Molly. “Arthur, you have to go to work, just like Lily and James.”
“I hope nothing else happens," Lily told the boy and Neville blushed a lot, Potter's mother was very pretty.
“Thank you, Mrs. Potter," Neville said nervously and looking down.
Neville said goodbye to her grandmother and the other adults, then thanks to Molly's help he was able to appear at Hogsmeade. The woman asked for the services of a village carriage and they went to school.
“Why don't we all make apparition at Hogsmeade? Why do we have to take the train every year?”
“Not all adult magicians know how to make apparitions Neville," the woman said affectionately.
After a while they arrived at Hogwarts and were greeted by McGonagall, the woman explained the situation to her and Neville corroborated every word of her. She sent Neville to their common room until the other students arrived.
Neville was resting in the common room when Dumbledore came in and asked him a few questions about the incident with the wall. Satisfied Dumbledore said goodbye to the boy, but as he was about to leave the room Neville called him.
“Excuse me director, but I just remembered something else," excused Neville and proceeded to tell the director about Dobby and the incident at his home.
“And this elf Dobby did not tell you what the threat was?”
“No sir, I couldn't find out who his master was either.”
“I see, thank you Neville for telling me all this, I ask that everything related to Dobby and what he told you stay between us, do not tell anyone else about this.”
“Yes, headmaster.”
.
.
Already at night, Neville and the students who arrived on the train were in the large dining room. Hermione asked the boy why he had arrived earlier and Neville told her about the incident with the wall (avoid telling her about Dobby as Dumbledore asked). Everyone was amazed that Harry and Ron would soon arrive in a flying car, but in the end they had to go back to their common room and the duo still didn't show up.
“Neville you're just a liar” everyone criticized him and the poor boy had to go to sleep with the reproachful looks of his classmates.
.
.
The next morning, Harry and Ron corroborated Neville's words. Turns out they couldn't get there early because they got lost on the road and eventually crashed into the boxing willow, breaking Ron's wand in the process.
During the explanation, Harry and Ron receive their families' respective howlers. The boys open the letters and the voices of the parents of the two boys echoed in the large dining room, not only do they hear the reprimands for having gone in the flying car, but also for having treated Neville badly. The two boys looked at him with intense hatred, poor Neville knew that nothing good would come of it.
.
.
“You ratted us out!” Ron shouted in the common room as he knocked poor Neville flat on the floor with a heavy punch to the face.
“Stupid, now you will know what is good!” Harry yelled at him, and both of the boys with Seamus and Dean's help gave him a huge beating, which caused Neville to collapse and lose consciousness.
“I think we've gone too far," Seamus said nervously.
“We'd better get him to the infirmary," Dean moaned.
“Harry, what are we going to do," Ron said this time.
“I'll take care of it," said Harry and grabbed Neville. Then he poured water on his face and Neville regained consciousness, then, with the help of the invisible cloak, took him to the infirmary.
“If you tell someone what passed you'll be worse Longbottom," Harry threatened him.
Neville nodded and entered the infirmary.
“Mrs. Pomfrey...”
“Who is it at this hour?.... Mr. Longbottom, for Merlin's sake!”
“I fell... I fell...”
“Tell me the truth, Mr. Longbottom.”
“I fell...”
The nurse treated the boy and in the end she couldn't get any more words out of him. On returning to his common room he was caught by Filch but the janitor did not punish him for having been in the infirmary. Neville reached his bed and collapsed into it.
.
.
The next day Neville addressed his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes and crossed paths with Pansy. The boy wanted to tell the girl that it wasn't his fault about the accident with the cake at home, but the Slyterin showed supreme indifference, a cold supreme indifference.
Lockhart, despite what his books said about him, proved in class to be useless and poor Neville was left hanging from the ceiling.
“Well, let's go to recess," Ron told Harry.
“Wait for me to come, let's go Hermione.”
“You must be joking, we can't leave Neville hanging up there," the girl told them.
“Well, then help him," said Harry, raising his shoulders and the two boys went out for recess.
Neville was brought down by Hermione but she got angry when Neville complained about the teacher, according to her friend Lockhart only wanted the kids to demonstrate practical skills when dealing with the little elves.
Hermione stood Neville up to go to the quidditch camp, apparently Harry had been elected seeker for the second consecutive year, Neville decided not to go to praise that hateful.
.
.
One night, Neville was getting ready to sleep, but as often happened, his four "friends" moved his bed shouting earthquake and shoving their wands up his ass.
“Stop it, stop it, Dad, mommy help me," Neville shouted inside while he closed his eyes tightly and held his head firmly with both hands.
All this made Neville very tense and difficult to fall asleep. By three o' clock in the morning the boy heard a mysterious voice.
“Kill, tear, kill.”
Neville got nervous but attributed it to stress and gave it no importance.
TO BE CONTINUE...
ns 15.158.61.20da2
