Neville and his grandmother emerged through the ticket barrier and onto the platform. Neville could, without doubt, sense a different atmosphere here; the stench of fear now blended with the puffs of smoke issuing from the Hogwarts Express and it felt chilling, despite the fact that it was the fresh birth of another September and the sun was shining brightly. Students young and old were bidding their parents farewell as they hopped onto the train, their trunks trailing behind them. He couldn't help notice that the adults looked subtly anxious as they waved goodbye; he couldn't blame them. After recent events, including the shocking death of Scrimgeour, not to mention Dumbledore's, people were exposed wherever they went. Pius Thicknesse, the new Minister for Magic, had passed the law that education for young witches and wizards was now compulsory.

There were hooded men in dark cloaks standing at intervals along the platform in front of the train. Each clutched a notebook of some kind and a quill – Neville had never seen these intruders before. Every so often, one would spring into life and grab a student, to their parent's dismay, but they didn't dare attack. Looking hugely alarmed, the student would appear to answer the guard's questions. Neville watched, appalled, as a mob of the hooded wizards Levitated one of the students and his parents and forced them back through the ticket barrier, cackling horribly.

Neville was suddenly grabbed viciously by the arm and pulled away.

'Excuse me!' Augusta called to the man, who stopped. It was one of the hooded men. Neville jerked his arm out of the man's grasp.

'What are you –?'

'Name?'

Neville hesitated, having not quite recovered from the sudden ambush. His grandmother marched over, wand aloft. The guard Disarmed her silently, and her wand cartwheeled in the air. Neville opened his mouth in anger –

'I asked for your name!' the man hissed menacingly. 'Answer or I'll do worse!'

'Neville Longbottom,' Neville said, filling his voice and expression with as much disgust as possible.

The man scanned his list.

'Pure blood,' he muttered, sounding satisfied, 'say goodbye and get on,' he added, jerking his head at the train and stalking off. Neville rushed over to his grandmother and picked up her wand for her.

'Well, really!' she said, taking her wand and looking at the man who had just walked away. Neville looked up at the clock; the train would be departing in three minutes.

'Goodbye Neville, dear,' Augustus whispered, pulling herself together and bringing her grandson into a hug, 'you've got everything you need?'

'Yes, Gran,' Neville said, trying not to sound exasperated.

'Trevor?'

'Oh no ... where's he gone?' Neville muttered, breaking from his grandmother's arms and scanning the floor. Why was that toad so keen to escape the whole time? He spotted the green blob and, scooping him up, smiled in spite of himself; perhaps Trevor needed a more reliable owner. He grabbed the handle of his trunk and boarded the train as the guard blew his whistle and another vat of steam billowed from the funnel.

'Bye!' Neville called over his shoulder.

'Bye, dear! Take care – stay in touch!'

The carriage doors closed behind him and he began looking for a seat. It was horribly quiet everywhere. He looked into full compartments as he stumbled through the carriage, noticing that everyone was bent forward and whispering to their friends. He spotted Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and Zabini in one compartment, but resisted the urge to burst in and say anything. He would never have thought it, but Crabbe and Goyle seemed more dangerous now than ever before, perhaps because their fathers were united in Voldemort's regimes again.

It was only then that he realised Malfoy hadn't been in there. This stunned him for a moment but he quickly recognised it was only a matter of time before Draco joined directly with his father; though Neville had to admit that neither of them looked too good last time he saw them. Cheered slightly by this thought, he traipsed into the next carriage and found three familiar faces ahead, also looking for spaces.

'Neville!'

Someone hugged him, but he recognised the voice.

'Seamus, good to see you! Hi, Ginny – Luna,' he grinned at the other two girls, who smiled warmly back. 'Seen Harry yet?'

Seamus and Luna shook their heads; Ginny hesitated, before saying, 'Neville, they're not coming to Hogwarts – Harry, Ron and Hermione.'

There was a short silence; Seamus scowled slightly. Neville didn't answer; he'd been half-expecting it, he supposed. He trusted that Harry knew things that he didn't, that he was working on a plan.

When the silence wouldn't stop increasing, Neville decided to break it. 'Shall we find a compartment then?'

There was murmured agreement, but they didn't have to look far: an empty one presented itself to them halfway down and they clambered into it, slinging their belongings on the racks above. Neville sat opposite Luna, who was sporting her Butterbeer cork necklace again and already staring out the window dreamily. Ginny's Pygmy Puff, Arnold, was perched on his owner's shoulder and Seamus had dug out a copy of today's Daily Prophet and folded it out.

'No ...' Seamus murmured, a disgusted look on his face.

'What?' Neville and Ginny said simultaneously. Neville didn't think he could stand any more significant deaths right now; he glanced at the huge title on the front page: SNAPE CONFIRMED AS HOGWARTS HEADMASTER.

'You're joking,' Neville said. He read on aloud:

'"Severus Snape, long-standing Potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was today appointed Headmaster in the most important of several staffing changes at the ancient school. Following the resignation of the previous Muggle Studies teacher, Alecto Carrow will take over the post –"'

'Burbage resigned?' Ginny asked.

'Not exactly a safe lesson to teach now though, is it? Not after the register, anyway,' Seamus answered.

'Register?'

'Yeah, the Muggle-born Register ... didn't you get checked for your Blood Status on the way in? I don't think they're letting Muggle-borns in at all.'

Neville said nothing again; it was disgraceful, no question about it ... and Snape, Headmaster! What had the other teachers said? Had they said anything at all? He didn't know how much authority Professor McGonagall might have now.

'This Carrow woman,' Ginny said, 'isn't she a –?'

'Death Eater, yeah,' Seamus finished, still reading the article, 'looks like her brother's taking up the Defence Against the Dark Arts post as well now ...' He folded up the newspaper and stared at the floor, thinking. Neville looked out the window, where cows could be seen munching on green fields of grass, without a care in the world.

'How have you been, Luna?' he asked.

It took Luna a good five seconds before she realised Neville had spoken to her.

'Oh, I'm very good, thank you,' she smiled. 'Daddy went to –'

Where Luna's father went to remained a mystery for now as she stopped talking, and the other three knew exactly why: the train had jerked suddenly and the rails below screeched piercingly; Luna stuck her fingers in her ears.

'What's going on?' Neville asked; Ginny just shrugged and stood up, but toppled down again as the train jolted for a second time. The only other time Neville could remember this happening was when Dementors had invaded the train, and he'd been just as confused and nervous on that occasion as he was now.

The train slowed and came to a standstill. Neville began to hear distant voices up the carriage and the opening and closing of compartment doors. Suddenly, their door was thrust open and Ginny shrieked. Neville and Seamus both drew their wands and stood up. A rough-faced, unshaven man with black eyes and wearing a long, travelling cloak stood at the door, looking down menacingly. Neville recognised him: he was a Death Eater by the name of Travers.

'He's not here,' Neville said coolly, looking Travers in the eye. Travers grunted and slammed the door before Disapparating.

The train gradually set off again and everyone sat down. Neville, however, stood standing, too deep in concentration. They were all looking for Harry, and probably Ron and Hermione too ... how long would it be until they got caught?

It took several hours to get to Hogsmeade Station, during which Luna and Seamus got a chance to provide full accounts of their summer holidays and Ginny recounted the dramatic events of her brother Bill's wedding. Neville bought a healthy supply of Chocolate Frogs from the trolley in an attempt to raise his and his companion's spirits.

The railings screeched loudly again as they approached the station. Now in their robes, Neville, Seamus, Ginny and Luna gathered their belongings and abandoned the train. As Neville stepped out, he found that the air was a lot frostier and, with a gasp, soon discovered why: a pack of Dementors was hovering behind the Thestral-drawn carriages, as well as more Death Eaters and guards. Neville insides churned, but his fear was nothing compared to that of the younger students, many of which were also gasping if they weren't screaming. Neville could see his own breath before him.

'Firs' years, over 'ere!' came the familiar cry of Hagrid; Neville felt utterly relieved to hear that reassuring voice.

'Actually, Hagrid, I'd rather keep them all together,' a Death Eater said coolly. 'Get the first-years in the carriages, too; hold them up for the Sorting when we get there,' Selwyn added to a group of Death Eaters, who all nodded and began gathering students together.

One of them tried to shepherd Seamus and Ginny but Seamus spat, 'I can get in meself, thanks.'

Neville and Luna joined them again and clambered into a carriage. The sun had set by now, though the carriages' lanterns illuminated the track ahead that led to the Hogwarts entrance. The hooves of the Thestrals pattered lightly on the gravel.

'Things are going to be a lot different this year,' Ginny said, 'it's just as dangerous in Hogwarts as it is anywhere else now ...' her voice tailed off and Neville wondered if Harry was on her mind. No one answered because they knew it was true; the mere tradition of the boat sailing for first-years had already been banished; Dementors were swarming around the school, though, admittedly, that had also happened four years ago. It was certainly going to be a thorny and difficult year to pull through.

The Thestrals came to a standstill at the tall gates. The magnificent silhouette of Hogwarts Castle loomed over them and the lake could be seen glistening slightly in the half-light. The winged boars stood either side of the gates, alongside two masked Death Eaters clutching wands. They raised them and the gates opened. Students hopped out their carriages, though the first-years were held back.

Neville grabbed Seamus' arm.

'Where's Dean?'

'Dean? Oh, did I not mention – he isn't coming back either ... he's Muggle-born, remember?' he whispered when Neville just narrowed his eyes in confusion.

'D'you know where he is now?'

'I – no, I – I never asked.' Seamus looked away quickly and Neville knew he was upset: Seamus and Dean had always been best mates, and now it looked as though they may not see each other again, not for a long time, anyway. Neville patted his arm and they trudged forward through the gates, joined now by Ginny, Luna, Lavender Brown and Ernie Macmillan.

'I must say, I'm not liking the look of things around here,' Ernie said, looking over his shoulder at the first-years being roughly ordered by the Death Eaters, 'who on earth allowed Snape to be Headmaster?'

'I don't think anyone did ... You-Know-Who's probably behind it,' said Neville, 'not surprising when there's two Death Eaters as teachers as well ... I doubt Professor McGonagall could have said much to stop them.'

They soon reached the oak doors, which burst open after Selwyn flicked his wand. The Entrance Hall had been completely replenished after the Death Eater invasion not three months ago, though Neville still felt as though he'd entered a contaminated building. The stone walls, as ever, were lit with torches, the flames dancing. Led by Selwyn, the students huddled together to squeeze through the doors to the Great Hall.

The five long tables, along with all the golden plates, cutlery and goblets, sat across the Hall parallel to each other, expect for the teacher's. The place was lit by, not a thousand floating candles, but by a mixture of torches and a rippling silvery light that Neville instantly recognised as that of a Patronus; the enchanted ceiling above showed the night sky, and he even thought he saw a Dementor or two ...

The four house banners draped from the back but in the middle of them, where the Hogwarts emblem would otherwise be, was a different crest, reading: Magic is Might. Clenching his teeth slightly, Neville took a seat at the Gryffindor table between Seamus and Ginny. The students flooded in, but Neville couldn't help notice that a large proportion of the usual pupils had been cut, even without the first-years. Well, for a start, there were no Muggle-borns apart from the lucky few that had somehow convinced the guards that they were still worthy enough to attend the school despite their unhealthy Blood Status, and there were undoubtedly more out in the open, hiding. Neville scanned the staff table.

There he was in the centre chair, looking as smug as anything: Snape. The teacher Neville loathed so, so much. The empty chair of Professor McGonagall, who was evidently attending to the first-years, sat on Snape's left, and Amycus Carrow on his right, whose sister sat alongside him also. Hagrid had already returned from Hogsmeade Station, looking rather hacked off. Neville's favourite teacher, Professor Sprout, was sandwiched between Trelawney and Sinistra, while Flitwick and Slughorn filled the other side of the table.

The atmosphere was horribly tense, and every student knew it. Given that the news of Snape and the Carrows had only been released today, nearly all the students were frowning, even cursing; Crabbe, Goyle and many other Slytherins, on the other hand, looked positively delighted.

Then the doors reopened and Professor McGonagall entered with the stool and Hat, looking even sterner than ever. A line of tiny first-years trailed behind her, looking awestruck by the richness of the Hall but also very apprehensive, perhaps at the scary sight of Snape at the front. McGonagall dropped the Hat on the stool and fished out a scroll of parchment. Everyone waited in silence. The Hat opened its brim:

"Time are changing, war is waging,

Yet still we –"

'Silencio.'

The student's eyes looked up rapidly as Snape half-stood.

'Can we get straight to it, if you don't mind, Minerva?' Snape said, a hint of danger in his low voice.

McGongall stared at him for a second in disgust, before saying, 'Certainly – Headmaster,' with deliberate force on the second word. Snape took his seat again and lifted the charm from the Sorting Hat; Neville saw Amycus Carrow smirk.

'When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,' said Professor McGonagall to the first-years, all of whom looked anxiously at Snape again as though he was about to curse them. Professor McGonagall unravelled the scroll.

'Baker, Patrick!'

A freckly boy barged through the line, sat on the stool and plonked on the Hat:

'GRYFFINDOR!'

Neville clapped half-heartedly with some others, though he felt embarrassed: at least a quarter of Gryffindor wasn't even there and Neville could hear his and Seamus' claps echo off the walls. Patrick ambled over and took a seat.

'Crabbe, Norman!'

Neville's heart skipped a beat as Vincent's thickset brother waddled through and assumed the position on the stool.

'SLYTHERIN!'

There was a much louder celebration from the far table, with plenty of goblet-banging and cat-calling – it was enough to make Neville sick; even Alecto Carrow was clapping.

'Unbelievable,' Seamus growled.

The Sorting took a good thirty minutes before McGonagall retrieved the stool and Hat and took them out the Great Hall, her lips pursed. She had no sooner returned and sat down right next to Snape, than the dishes and cloches filled with food, though, somehow, Neville thought it was considerably less magnificent than usual: one roast chicken was partially burnt. It made Neville wonder if a Death Eater had been positioned in the kitchens too. Most of it was still delicious however, and they were soon wishing they hadn't eaten so much. The puddings didn't vanish nearly as quickly, not least because the population of the school had simply decreased. Neville had an almost whispered discussion (as hardly anyone seemed keen to talk) with Seamus and Ginny about lessons and other simple topics, such as the state of the common room that may also have been affected by Snape's input. Ginny was on the verge of suggesting whether a Death Eater would be stationed outside the common room when Snape stood up. Just like in his lessons, he didn't need to say anything to cause silence whenever he wished to speak. Neville's loathing towards him augmented just at the sight of seeing him there, as Headmaster, knowing that he had complete control of the school.

As the last of the scraps of food on the dishes evaporated and the plates and cutlery vanished, Snape walked slowly and purposefully round the back of the teachers and stopped in front of the table facing the students. It seemed that no-one was breathing, so silent it was in the Great Hall.

'As Headmaster,' Snape began; his voice was barely a murmur but Neville could hear every word, 'it is my responsibility to make a few things clear.

'The wizarding world in which we live has changed, gaining strength and power. Every movement made by the Ministry now is being orchestrated by the Dark Lord. As I speak, your family members are being tracked, some of which being interrogated, so I strongly suggest ...' he raised his voice slightly before pausing, as there were noises of outrage from various spots on the tables, '... that you make your behaviour your priority while inside these school walls. Those of you who are stupid enough to misbehave, in whatever form, you will be punished so severely, you'll wish you'd never been born ...' Everywhere Neville looked, he saw gaping mouths of shock; McGonagall, and a couple of the other teachers, were almost shaking with rage: not, Neville realised, in an attempt to live up to the firm rules, but because they were struggling to suppress their anger towards Snape. The Carrows, however, were struggling not to grin.

'Be warned – if your parents or other family members refuse to take orders from the Ministry, or aren't up to scratch in their positions, you yourselves cannot guarantee safety. However – we, and the Dark Lord, do not intend to spill magical blood. The purer our race, the more beneficial for all of us.

'Owl post is being monitored, opened, read and verified. Dementors stand at every entrance, secret or not, to the school. No other form of communication is permitted: that regards Floo Powder, Apparition, flying or any other form of transport that may allow you to contact someone outside the school without me knowing. You may reunite with your families at Christmas, if permitted, but you will be tracked the whole time and ensured that you return on time. There are no Prefects, Head Boy or Head Girl; the teachers have total authority. The Quidditch House Cup will not take place: it is a foolish game and I see no reason to maintain its sentiments.

'You will receive your timetables tomorrow morning – for those in fifth-year and above, your lessons are subject to change as part of the school requirements, regardless of what lessons you are expecting. All examinations at the end of the year will be practical.

'Finally –' Snape paused, a different look in his eye; he began talking slower and even quieter, 'if anyone gains knowledge throughout the year regarding the whereabouts of Harry Potter, do not hesitate to find me; I shall be in my office. This is of vital importance. If we know you are hiding information, you will be punished. Those of you who are noble enough to discuss information on Mr Potter will be rewarded – unless we find out you are lying, of course ...'

He flicked his wand and the Great Hall doors banged open.

'Follow your Head of House to your common room. You may leave.'

It took a few seconds of stunned silence before anyone dared to move; evidently the deadly voice of Snape was still hissing in their ears. Professors Slughorn, McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick rose from their seats and quietly gestured their students to follow them out the Hall. Neville glared at Snape, who had started a conversation with Amycus Carrow on his right, for a few moments longer before getting up with Seamus and Ginny. On another night, Neville would feel tired after the feast, but pure fear of the morning had stimulated his senses, keeping him alert. He could well be in Azkaban for the amount of freedom he had now. His trepidation looked mutual: Seamus' jaw was tight and set in anger at the injustices surrounding him and Ginny looked whiter than a sheet.

The students trudged out the Hall, led by the Gryffindors, who climbed the many staircases; Neville took care in spotting the trick stair, though he still stumbled as he passed over it. The noise level gradually dropped as students from the other houses departed en route; Neville managed to give Luna a quick wave goodbye, wishing she could follow them into Gryffindor Tower instead.

Professor McGonagall brought them to a halt at the Fat Lady.

'Albus Dumbledore,' she murmured and the portrait swung inwards. McGonagall gave brief directions to the first-years for the location of their dormitories and stood at the portrait as the Gryffindors trooped in.

'Longbottom,' said Professor McGonagall, resting a hand on Neville's shoulder, 'make sure you stay safe this year ... nothing rash ... I don't want any excuses for the Carrows to harm you in any way – same goes for you Miss Weasley,' she added as Ginny made to manoeuvre round the two of them; her voice was slightly weak and almost pleading. 'I know we have no Head Boys or Girls this year, but it would be extremely helpful if you both kept an eye out for the younger students ... it would be wise to alert Mr Finnigan as well ...' With a feeble smile and small pat on Neville's shoulder, she departed briskly, leaving Neville and Ginny the last to clamber through the Fat Lady's portrait.

The common room was welcoming, Neville couldn't deny that; it was exactly how it usually was, which in itself was stupendously relieving. The squashy armchairs and hearthrug surrounded the crackling fire in the grate – Neville could almost picture Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting there as they always did, with Crookshanks on Hermione's lap, who would scratch him behind the ears ...

Blinking away the slight wetness in his eyes, Neville looked around the rest of the room. More chairs and spindly tables littered the rest of the space and the velvet curtains had been drawn; more than half the students had already headed to their dormitories. The only things that spoilt this warm, comforting scene were the notices on the notice board. Neville stepped in front of it and saw a photo of Harry glaring back at him with the words Undesirable No. 1 surrounding it. At the sight of this, Ginny hurriedly shot up the girls' dormitory, and Neville thought he heard a quiet sob as she left. Feeling rather nauseous himself, Neville scanned the rest of the board. His mood was somewhat lifted at the sight of a Weasley Wizard Wheezes advertisement and the date for the first Hogsmeade trip.

'Come on, Nev,' yawned Seamus, stumping up the stairs to the dormitory. With a final glance at Harry, Neville followed in Seamus' wake and undressed when he reached his bed. It felt very odd and empty with just the two of them. Their luggage had already been escorted up here, if not a little carelessly. Neville placed his wand and, once he'd dug it out from his trunk, his mimbulus mimbletonia, which swayed and crooned slightly, onto his bedside table. Wriggling into a comfortable position in his bed, wondering just how much sleep he was going to get tonight, Neville stared, glassy-eyed, at the moonlit cactus until his eyelids got heavier and heavier ...

Yellow sunlight broke through the fine gap in the drapings of Neville's bed. He blinked awake and lay there for several minutes. Anxiety slowly worked its way through him, gathering in his squirming stomach, as he realised what may lie ahead of him. He fumbled for his wand and drew back the velvet curtains to reveal his other room-mate, who started and twitched awake at the noise.

Unable to stay there for any longer and let the fear continue to engulf him like a virus, Neville pushed himself out of bed and pulled on his school robes. Just like last night, he felt wide awake again, almost prepared for what was waiting for him further down the castle. Bestowing his wand in his pocket he turned to the stirring shape of Seamus.

'No hurry, Seamus, I'll wait downstairs.'

Seamus grunted fuzzily.

Neville trudged steadily downstairs and the warmth of the common room met him, both in sight and smell. Ginny was seated in front of the fire, hugging her knees. Lavender and Parvati (who Neville hadn't seen at all until that point) had just walked through the portrait for breakfast and packs of younger students littered the room, muttering sleepily to each other.

The poster of Harry on the notice board grabbed Neville's attention again and he walked up to it, looking at Harry's defiant expression. Anger met Neville again at the words Undesirable No.1 and at the foolishness of someone placing the poster in the Gryffindor common room of all places. Tearing it from the board, he carefully ripped away the outside of the poster so that now just the face of Harry was left. He pinned it back up.

At that point, Seamus stumbled down the stairs in his robes. Ginny looked round at the heavy noise and stood up. Her eyes were red and puffy: she'd clearly been crying for a while and Neville wondered if she'd got any sleep.

'Breakfast, Ginny?'

She nodded and got to her feet. The three of them set off after the last few first-years departed in front of them.

'So,' said Seamus, 'what d'you reckon Sna– he – meant by 'changes in our timetables'?'

'No idea,' replied Neville, 'maybe there's a new subject?'

'But, I mean – this is our N.E.W.T. year!' Seamus burst out in frustration. 'How can they make us do lessons we haven't even chosen? If I have to go back and do something stupid like Divination ...'

The Great Hall was packed. Perhaps it was due to the bright sun glistening through the enchanted ceiling above, or because everyone was talking louder, or that Snape wasn't yet here, but it all seemed a lot more cheerful, more like it used to be. Neville couldn't stop the small smile but he also couldn't help but feel that his mood was going to change again within the hour. Nevertheless, he plonked himself at the Gryffindor and helped himself to bacon and eggs and ate hungrily.

'Ah, there you are –' Professor McGonagall trotted down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. 'Longbottom – Finnigan – here are your timetables ...' she lowered her voice, as she handed them their timetables, 'I'm sorry about the subjects that have been chosen for you, but it's a Ministry – I suppose you'll just have to work extra hard. I requested that you ought to have a few additional Herbology lessons, Longbottom,' she added with a smile.

'Thank you, Professor,' said Neville, accepting the slip of parchment. She bustled over to Ginny, who was a few seats along the table. Neville looked down at his timetable. There were plenty of free periods, but discovered that he had Muggle Studies this morning, which was two downsides: he had never favoured the subject, and the teacher was Alecto Carrow. Nerves flooding back by the second, he scanned the lessons below, but, fortunately, it didn't get worse. Herbology followed Muggle Studies and a free period came before Charms. He looked over Seamus' shoulder: they had similar lessons throughout the week, though Seamus had more Transfiguration and no Herbology.

'Muggle Studies, eh?' Seamus muttered through a mouthful of sausage. 'Not quite what I had in mind.'

'Me neither,' said Neville.

They finished breakfast and joined what appeared to be the rest of the seventh year. They all greeted each other warmly before heading up the staircase. Ernie MacMillan was one of the few students who had taken Muggle Studies before, so it was he who led them along the first floor corridor. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, then pushed open the door.

It was a bright, fairly small classroom, with twin desks lining the middle of the room, with the teacher's at the front. Ministry posters, including the Undesirable No. 1 notice, plastered the four walls, though they didn't quite cover the previous posters that would have been there last year. Neville could still distinguish annotated diagrams of strange Muggle contraptions, such as something called a 'television' and 'microwave'. Alecto Carrow was scribbling on the blackboard but turned round at the sight of her first students.

'Take seats,' she barked gruffly. She was rather stumpy and her face was rough and stern. The students obeyed; Seamus and Neville sat at a desk at the back. The tension was dense in the air and could almost be tasted. Alecto faced them.

'Welcome to Muggle Studies,' she said, and evil look in her eye. 'Professor Snape has ordered that this lesson is to be taught to all pupils in the school. However, there will be no need to sit a Muggle Studies exam at the end of this year – so consider yourselves lucky in that respect.'

Neville saw Ernie and Susan Bones frown questioningly. Parvati asked the question that was on everyone's minds.

'So why do we need to learn this subject? Shouldn't we be given more time for lessons that at least have exams, instead of –?'

'Quiet,' Alecto snapped, and Parvati was immediately silenced and bowed her head.

'The reason we feel it necessary to introduce – or, for some of you, reintroduce – you to Muggle Studies is because we have to make it very clear to all of you just what poses the major threat to the wizarding race: Muggles.'

A few students tutted, looking disgusted. Seamus yawned pointedly.

'Oh yeah?' Alecto said, dropping any hint of her business-like tone like a stone and glaring at Seamus. 'You got a problem with that?'

'This is just ridiculous,' Seamus spat, 'how can you expect the wizarding race to live without Muggles? So what if we have to marry them, what difference –?'

'SILENCE! How dare you suggest –? Muggles are dangerous, nasty and dirty; the Dark Lord –'

'Yeah, but what about when You-Know-Who and you Death Eaters die? No-one else would give a damn,' Seamus said with suppressed rage. Many students, particularly those from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, laughed at this, but quickly stopped as Alecto pulled out her wand and slashed through the air with it. There was a flash and Seamus cried out, holding his face. Lavender and nearly all the other girls screeched, clapping a hand to their mouths. Neville felt a fresh wave of ice-cold anger shoot through him and instinctively stood up, drawing out his own wand.

'And who might you be?' Alecto asked, an evil grin playing across her ugly face.

'Why do you care? It's only my blood you're bothered about isn't it? And yeah, I'm pure blood before you start having a fit,' Neville snarled, 'that's my friend you just attacked by the way.'

'Put your wand away, idiot, you're no match for me – now sit down.'

Neville stayed standing.

'I said SIT DOWN!' and she flashed her wand again. Neville felt his legs slip forwards, so that he landed brutally on his chair. Seamus was breathing deeply and Neville saw a long, deep cut across his left cheek, blood tricking down his jaw. Ernie looked outraged but he didn't dare say anything; nor did anyone else, for they knew what would happen.

'Now,' began Alecto, after also surveying Seamus' injury with satisfaction, 'let me make a few things clear:

'You are to learn the reasons why the wizarding race is under threat. Muggles are filthy animals, as are Muggle-borns. If anyone has a problem with this, or feels the need to shout out, you have already seen what will happen. We will now proceed with our first lesson: the history of Muggles.'

From then on, the lesson was contrastingly dull. Carrow gave them extensive lectures about how Muggles had sent wizards into hiding, evidently for just her own satisfaction. Neville found himself in deep thought, while Seamus was still busy tending his wound and cursing Carrow ...

What could they do? There was no escaping the injustice of everything, no chance of standing up for themselves without facing the punishment ... he wasn't going to listen to Carrow's ramblings on how dirty Muggles were all year, that he was sure of. He had to think of something ...

The bell rang throughout the school to signal the end of the lesson. Everyone picked their bags up in a matter of seconds and left the classroom before Carrow had a chance to hold them back.

'How is it?' Neville asked Seamus. Nearly everyone else had gathered round him, looking anxious.

'Just a cut,' Seamus replied with a grimace.

Neville had Herbology next, so headed through the oak front doors and across the vegetable patch and into Greenhouse Four, with Ernie, Terry Boot and a couple of others.

Herbology was a calm and quiet affair, but Neville preferred it that way. They studied Devil's Snare, which had been carefully potted by Professor Sprout the previous day, and they learned how to handle them without being attacked. Neville was the first to get the hang of it and departed the greenhouse after the hour unscathed.

Seventh year had a free period next, so Neville trudged up the seven staircases, panting slightly as he gave the password to the Fat Lady. No one else was here yet, so he rushed up to the dormitory and sat on his bed, his head in his hands. The experience so far was much, much harder to deal with than he'd first imagined. The image of Carrow slashing through the air with her wand was nightmarish, and her expression of hatred wasn't something he'd forget in a hurry.

He absent-mindedly rummaged through his trunk, perhaps for ideas. It was only when he lifted a pair of jeans and something small and gold dropped out with a glimmer, that he felt excitement, though he wasn't quite sure why at first. He bent to pick it up and registered what it was, his excitement much more authentic now. It was the fake Galleon, the Galleon that Hermione had so cleverly developed two years ago, the Galleon that every member of the –

He bolted downstairs, now grinning, and burst into the common room. The room was now partially full with the seventh-years, and they all looked up in mild surprise at the sight of Neville standing there rather strangely, grinning from ear to ear.

'I've got a plan!' Neville said, flicking the fake coin to Seamus, who caught it and examined it in confusion.

'Neville, what –? Wait, isn't that –? Dumbledore's Army!' Seamus exclaimed, evidently spotting he false dates and words. 'Why did we not think of this before?'

Parvati and Lavender also hastened towards them, excited, before shooting up to their dormitories to fish for their own coins. Now that the solution had arrived at last, Neville couldn't answer Seamus' question and he felt foolish for not thinking of the DA at all. But it didn't matter – in a way, it was very fortunate that he'd thought of it on the second day back, instead of facing weeks of hopelessness. He dug out his wand once Seamus returned the Galleon and carefully etched tiny words upon the coin. When satisfied, he rubbed it between thumb and forefinger – he couldn't count upon everyone to have not lost their coin but he would be seeing many of them at lunch soon at any rate.

Parvati and Lavender returned with their other two room mates, Ivy and Lizzie. Although they were in Neville's year and the DA, he'd never really spoken much to Ivy and Lizzie; but having said that, they went everywhere together and were closer friends with the Hufflepuffs.

'Hey Neville, it worked!' Seamus exclaimed happily, returning from upstairs. 'I'd forgotten it went hot like that, but you can see the writing – this is great!' The boys grinned and Neville gestured the girls to come over.

'We'll organise the first meeting at lunch when we see everyone,' said Neville. 'It's got to be as soon as possible, they'll see what Muggle Studies or Defence Against the Dark Arts is like soon enough.'

'It's going to be different without Harry,' piped up Parvati.

'I know ... it will be ... but as long as we set apart ourselves from the rest of the school, that will be something worthwhile.'

'Well said,' said Seamus.

They had little to do during the rest of the free period, so decided to go for a walk on the grounds. The Dementors in the distance sent a chill across the castle and nullified most of the sun's warmth and light. They discussed ideas for the DA. Since none of them had the combative skills of Harry, or Hermione's brains, they deemed it unwise to try and learn new spells, and therefore decided on doing their best to fix the terrible, Voldemort-influenced state of the school.

The lunch bell rang and they headed into the castle and through the doors of the Great Hall. It was hard to not look suspicious as they split up and started low-profile conversations with students from other tables, particularly with Alecto Carrow watching them over a chicken roll. Neville approached the Hufflepuff table and gestured them to lean in.

'Neville, I got your message!' Susan Bones whispered before Neville began. Ernie looked at her questioningly, but comprehension dawned on him as she displayed her coin.

'We're starting the DA again?' asked Ernie, adding, 'Brilliant,' when Neville nodded.

'First meeting's tomorrow evening, seven o'clock sharp, Room of Requirement. I'll be in there to let you in. Tell the younger Hufflepuffs, will you?'

'Of course, this is great!' Ernie said and bustled off with Susan and Wayne Hopkins. Neville looked up at the staff table and saw Alecto staring at him full of suspicion. Resisting the urge to wave and smile at her, Neville spotted Ginny enter the Hall with Luna and approached them without hesitation. Ginny looked a good deal brighter than yesterday, which encouraged Neville.

'Luna – Ginny – we're starting up the DA again.'

'Oh, Neville, that's great! When –?' Luna began to ask, but she was interrupted.

'We all seem very happy – what's going on 'ere?'

It was Alecto's sister, Amycus, and had crept up behind Neville, who jumped sideways at the sudden voice.

'Oh, are we not allowed to have fun?' asked Neville in mock wonder.

'Don't get cheeky with me, mate,' Amycus hissed, breathing down Neville's neck. 'Just checking that you're not ... up to something in secret ... tha' would be an extremely stupid thing to do, wouldn't it?' He strutted off, with a whip of his cloak. Neville brought his head lower and the girls leant in.

'Seven o'clock tomorrow, Room of Requirement. If you've got any ideas about undermining the Carrows and Snape, tomorrow evening would be a great time to mention it.'

The girls nodded quickly and helped themselves to some lunch. Seamus, Parvati and Lavender rejoined the Gryffindor table after speaking with Terry Boot, Michael Corner and the other Ravenclaws, each looking satisfied and grinning, as though they'd just closed a deal for a large broomstick order.

'This is fantastic,' said Seamus, clapping Neville on the back, 'can't wait to get started.'

Neville couldn't either.

His concentration wavered in Charms, he was too busy thinking about tomorrow. They were practising the Fidelius Charm, an extremely complicated spell that required a lot of meaning and emotional power. In demonstration, Professor Flitwick asked Anthony Goldstein to step up to the front. Flitwick removed a random book from his shelf and edited the title. He would then close his eyes, in deep concentration and cast the Fidelius Charm, which was like a silvery sheet that covered and clung to the book. He showed it to the class, after whispering to Anthony what its real title was.

'What is this book called?' Flitwick asked, after climbing back up his pile of books to see over his desk.

'50 Charms for Beginners,' the class read aloud.

Anthony then said, with Flitwick's encouragement, 'The book is called The Glossary of Wand Movement.'

The letters in the title slipped away and were replaced by its real title.

Now that they all knew how the charm worked, they all tried it for themselves, working in groups of three; however, Flitwick had made it look a lot easier than it really was, and they all departed the classroom tired after an hour of straining to concentrate, something which Neville had dismissed before the lesson had even started. Apart from the Muggle Studies lesson, the first day back had certainly been bearable. They had the DA to look forward to tomorrow and Neville lay in his bed that evening with higher hopes than he ever could have imagined.

'Take seats, no talking.'

The seventh years filed in to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. It looked near enough how Snape had left it when he'd taught this lesson the previous year. Little light entered through the dark curtains and it was fairly cold. This was the lesson Neville was looking forward to least. Muggle Studies was bad, but he had a feeling this was going to be worse. He and Seamus sat at the back again. When everyone had settled and quietened, Amycus Carrow turned round from the blackboard, which had the words Defence Against the Dark Arts written roughly in chalk, and spoke.

'Firstly,' he murmured, 'I need to clarify something.'

So saying, he pointed his wand at the blackboard and some of the chalk vanished, as though he were directing the movements of an invisible eraser. Now just the words the Dark Arts remained. A few students shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

'You are to learn the beauty of the Dark Arts and how it can be used in combat – or for persuasion,' he added with a devilish grin. 'I will be teaching you all my favourite method of punishment, and we'll see how well you can put it into practise yourselves. I daresay some of you will pick it up quicker than others. So – the Cruciatus Curse,' he said, rubbing his hands together. The class, already silent, was frozen in shock.

'I –' Ernie began angrily, but Amycus appeared not to hear him.

'Anyone who objects to the tasks involved in my lesson will be the object of the practised curses. If anyone would like to step forward now, feel free.'

No one did.

'Good – now ...' Amycus turned around and bent to pick up something. Neville had a spontaneous urge, in that moment when the teacher had his backed turned, to curse Carrow there and then but Amycus was already facing them again and dropped a cage inhabiting a strange creature on the floor '... to make this easier and more tempting for you, we will be torturing this little blighter, kindly –' he cut off, as uproar broke at the word 'torturing'. There was a deafening BANG! and silence fell once more.

'– Kindly provided by the oaf, Hagrid. Who's first?'

No one moved. Neville had never been a fan of the Blast-Ended Skrewts, but he was never going to use the Cruciatus Curse. He didn't care what Carrow said, he wasn't going to do it – and neither were most of the other students by the sound of it.

'Ah, well volunteered, young Vincent,' grinned Carrow as Crabbe rose a bit too eagerly for Neville's liking. More noises of indignation and shock rumbled through the room but Carrow was too busy unlocking the cage to notice. The Skrewt looked several months old, and was taller than the desks but not full-grown by any means. It scuttled out the metal cage, sniffing the air and snorting.

'You really need to mean it, Vince – when you're ready.'

Neville noticed how he treated Crabbe like he was someone whose education was to be nurtured, which Neville didn't think would be given to any other student in the school except for Goyle of course. Neville thought back to when he was on the train, comprehending how dangerous those two would be now ... which was ironic seeing as they were usually regarding at the stupidest boys ever.

A loud bang and scream brought Neville back to the present – it looked as though Crabbe's Cruciatus Curse had struck gold. The rest of the class, excluding the Slytherins (who were cheering Crabbe on) looked both disgusted and shocked at Crabbe's ability. This wasn't going to be a pleasant lesson at all, let alone for the rest of the year. Terry Boot, Seamus and all the girls were white in the face. Neville had warned them at breakfast this lesson wouldn't be the same, but none of them could have expected this.

It was a small comfort that Carrow ran out of time. All the Slytherins had had a go at the curse, and Carrow exclaimed clearly that the Ravenclaws would be next to try in tomorrow's lesson. The Skrewt, wheezing and jumping at the slightest movement around it, was forced back into its cage for tomorrow.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. One minute, Neville was leaving Transfiguration then sitting down for dinner in the Great Hall; the thoughts of Crabbe and Goyle's Cruciatus Curses had stuck with him throughout.

He set off up the staircases again until he reached the seventh floor. Walking down the corridor, he halted in front of the stretch of wall that he was looking for. Closing his eyes, he walked past it three times.

I need a place to fight and hide from the Carrows ... I need a place to fight and hide from the Carrows ... I need a place to fight and hide from the Carrows ...

He opened his eyes. The large double doors had materialised before him. He pushed them open.

It looked just how it had when Harry had led them two years ago. There were bookshelves filled to the brim with spellbooks. Detective equipment scattered small tables, including what Neville remembered as a Sneakoscope and Foe-Glass, both of which were inactive. Red-and-gold Gryffindor hangings draped from the pillars and walls, with benches below them to sit on. A large blackboard with chalk stood at the back. This left a hefty open space in the centre of the room for practising. Yet Neville couldn't help but feel that the Room was asking too much of the DA: did they really have both the brawn and brains to learn how to fight?

At that moment, the doors reopened and Luna wandered in, a trail of students behind her. They all looked around in admiration, some cheering and whistling appreciatively. Even as they walked in, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff banners appeared on the walls from nowhere. It was a good turnout: about thirty students had arrived, and when the last person (Terry) had closed the door, the Room was filled with excited chatter.

'Welcome back to Dumbledore's Army!' called Neville, and the cheering augmented. When it died down, he continued, 'So ... since Harry isn't here, I think we need a new – not necessarily a leader, but someone to keep us all together, organise strategies ... any volunteers?'

There was a short pause.

'But it's obvious isn't it? You, Neville!' someone shouted from the back, and there were many noises of agreement.

'Me?' Neville yelped. 'I – don't be silly, I can't –'

'Of course you can, Neville,' said Ginny, who for some reason was carrying a bulky plastic bag, 'it was your idea to start this up again anyway. No offense to anyone –' (Ginny glanced behind her quickly) '– but you're the bravest here, you can stand up for yourself.'

More sounds of agreement followed this. But only when a slow chant of 'Neville, Neville, Neville!' started, he realised that there was no escaping it: everyone wanted him to lead.

'OK, OK, I'll do it!' he said, and there was a loud cheer. 'So – has anyone got any ideas about – I dunno ... challenging the Carrows?'

Again, there was a short silence, before Neville heard a rustling noise. Everyone turned to see Ginny half-drag her black sack into view and dropped it on the floor for everyone to see.

'You're going to like this,' she said to the confused crowd, opening the sack. She drew out a thin, if not a little dusty, black cloak, almost like Harry's Invisibility Cloak. She tossed it to Neville.

'Great – er, what is it?' asked Neville, and a couple of people laughed. The laughter turned to shock, however, as Ginny drew her wand, pointed it at Neville and said, 'Stupefy!'

Neville was frozen in shock and didn't move. The jet of red light hit the cloak in Neville's hands and ricocheted off, hitting a far wall.

'Shield Cloaks,' answered Ginny with a grin, as Seamus roared with triumph. 'They're Fred and George's. They left some stock behind during the summer and I thought they might be useful for school in case You-Know-Who's taken over ... they'll be alright, they've got a load in their shop.'

'They're brilliant!' Neville told her, turning over the Cloak in his arms.

'They won't be much use against the Cruciatus Curse,' Ginny shrugged, 'but they'll do.'

'Never mind ... how many have you got?'

'Let's see ...' she began rummaging through the bag, 'Accio Cloaks!'

A large bulk of the cloaks emerged out of the bag and Ernie counted them as they hit the floor.

'Twenty-two,' he said, 'not quite enough to go around, but we can take it in turns.'

'Great,' Neville said again, 'what else is in there?' he asked Ginny, for he could tell the bag wasn't empty.

'Oh, all sorts,' she said as she began rummaging again. 'Extendable Ears, Decoy Detonators, some of that Darkness Powder ... I reckon if we share it all out and keep them during the day, just in case, we'll be ... well-equipped.'

There was a complete silence. Neville himself was also struggling to get over everything that Ginny had provided; it was the best he could have hoped for.

'Wow ... well done, Ginny!' said Neville, half-laughing in relief. Slowly, they all approached the contents strewn around the bag, picking them up with awe.

They spent the rest of the session testing the Shield Cloaks. It was very impressive. Seamus was the first to try one on and allow members to fire jinxes and hexes at him, but they all bounced off. It was only until he accidentally received three Stunners at the same time that the Cloak's power was penetrated and Ginny, laughing, brought Seamus round again. Another factor of the Cloaks was that they fitted perfectly under their school robes, completely unseen. The two hours went very quickly and, because all students had to be in their common room by nine o'clock, they walked out in high spirits at a quarter to. Neville, Seamus and the pack of Gryffindors headed up to the seventh floor, all still marvelling at the products they had, their pockets bulging with Decoy Detonators and Extendable Ears, the Shield Cloaks beneath their school robes. Ginny seemed a lot happier than yesterday and Neville couldn't help but smile at the memory of Luna beaming when jinxes bounced off her body. It was reassuring to see her look safe and protected like that, and Neville fell asleep that night with ease ...

Autumn was fast approaching. Brown leaves fluttered across the castle grounds and the grass became soggier and murkier as the rain arrived. The DA meetings, Neville soon discovered, were harder to arrange than he'd expected, mainly because seventh-years had been given so much homework; however, he'd resolved to organise meetings at least once a week, even if people simply wanted to do their homework in a safe, relaxing environment, as though they were expecting the Carrows to burst into their common rooms at any moment.

To Neville's (and probably the majority of the school's) disgust, Crabbe and Goyle had been hired by the Carrows to perform punishments on all years for those who had earned detentions. More often than not, Neville would be haunted at night by piercing screams from eight floors below in the dungeons, followed by nightmares of the same screams of his parents.

The DA had discussed 'the punishment situation'. However, the only thing they could think of to prevent it was to curse Crabbe and Goyle into oblivion, but they knew this wouldn't go unmissed, certainly not with the Carrows anyway. Meanwhile, Snape spent more time away from Hogwarts than he did in. Either that, or he shut himself up in his office for hours on end, perhaps comprehending, like Neville was, where Harry could possibly be.

Presently, the seventh-years were seated in Muggle Studies, listening to Alecto's rasping voice.

'We shall be examining your family trees today,' announced Alecto, waving a thick wad of parchment, which each had the Ministry logo stamped on the front.

'It's a shame that we're not all pure-bloods in here,' she continued as she finished dishing out the documents. 'But then again, we wouldn't have a chance to sort the undamaged from the scum, would we? For example ... Mr Finnigan – your father's a Muggle, is he not? Perhaps I should pay him a visit and –'

Seamus stood up. Neville bowed his head, eyes closed. That's right, just what we said in the DA ... stand up for yourself ... but he didn't want to see Seamus get hurt again either –

'You don't go anywhere near my father,' he hissed. The rest of the class had tensed. Crabbe and Goyle and a couple of other Slytherins guffawed stupidly.

Alecto grinned and, just like she had done on that first lesson, slashed with her wand like a sword, and another gash cut through Seamus' other cheek. He didn't cry out, but got his own wand out.

'Seamus, no!' whispered Parvati desperately. In Seamus' hesitation, Alecto cackled and shouted 'Stupefy!'

The whole class watched as the jet of red, as though in slow motion, flew towards Seamus' chest, before bouncing off. Alecto ducked just in time as the jet returned to her, missing her by a fraction.

'Oh yeah,' whispered Seamus, though his voice travelled easily across the silent classroom, 'not bad for a half-blood, eh?'

Alecto was shocked. Eyes wide, mouth half-open, she gaped at the spot on Seamus where the jinx had hit him, and then at her wand, as if she couldn't believe it had let her down. The Slytherins shared her expression, but the rest of the students knew exactly what had happened and were barely concealing grins. It looked as though their Shield Cloaks had been put to the real test for the first time.

'What's that you were saying about scum, Professor?' Michael Corner asked, his voice wavering as he struggled not to laugh.

'Yeah Michael, I swear You-Know-Who's a half-blood – and Snape,' Seamus called to him pointedly. 'D'you reckon we should tell them what this cow's been telling us?'

A class, as one, gasped. Seamus, sniggering, sat back down, as Alecto's eyes bore into his, but it was evident she still hadn't recovered from her failed attack.

'How – how dare you?' she breathed.

'So how much Muggle blood do you and Amycus have then?' asked Neville. The words had slipped out his mouth against the will of common sense, but he didn't much care – until she snapped out of her reverie and swiped through the air three times with her wand, each time producing a fresh cut on Neville's face, the third one being particularly deep in his cheek.

'I think a little trip to the Headmaster is in order, don't you think Longbo'om?' Forcing Neville out of his chair and through the class door with her wand, she yelled over her shoulder, 'And if anyone moves or touches anything, I'll Cruciate the lot of ya!'

She spun on her heel and directed Neville along the corridor and down the stairs. Neville had no control over his limbs, but his mind was racing, his footsteps in the empty corridor feeling like a pendulum. He couldn't even hear the countless curses and threats Alecto was throwing at him.

He felt more scared now than ever, more scared than either of the Carrows could make him. Snape, as well as hating Neville, was openly on the Dark side now. How would he treat Neville? Would he curse him into torture, or lock him up? He'd heard already that Amycus had at least threatened to lock misbehaving students up already.

'Evans,' said Alecto, and the ugly gargoyle leapt aside to admit them. Carrow directed Neville up the short staircase and she swung the door open without knocking. For the first time ever, Neville entered the Headmaster's office.

The room was circular and large. One window overlooked the unused Quidditch pitch and part of the lake could be seen through another. Rows of portraits of previous Headmasters covered the walls and strange silver instruments sat precariously on weak little tables. The dark figure of Snape lurked behind the Headmasters desk, and he looked round quickly at the sudden noise. His lips curled at the sight of Neville silently struggling against Alecto's invisible force.

'That will do, Alecto,' muttered Snape and Carrow released Neville, who glared defiantly up at Snape's face. 'You may leave.'

Carrow teetered on the edge of speech, perhaps to advise Snape to punish Neville severely, but she walked out the office without a word.

'Why are you here, Longbottom?' Snape asked when all was silent.

'Professor Carrow sent me.'

'I gathered that, you –' he cut himself short. 'What are you up to?'

Neville looked into those black eyes but looked away again quickly; he'd always had the impression that Snape could read minds. He didn't answer immediately, however, as his eyes met something else.

There was a large glass case above the Headmasters chair, containing a shining, ruby-encrusted sword. He knew, instantly, what it was. The sword of Godric Gryffindor. He had a sudden urge to jinx Snape and grab it, but he knew it was impossible. All the same, he couldn't stand being awake during the day knowing that Gryffindor's sword was in here under Snape's protection. It suddenly occurred to him that Snape was standing in the room of the person he had murdered, stealing his life, stealing his office.

'Nothing,' said Neville finally, still avoiding Snape's gaze; did he know about the DA? Surely not ...

'Go,' Snape said with a jerk of the head. Neville made to turn, but something held him back.

'I'm not doing the Dark Arts again,' he said to Snape defiantly.

'Don't be ridiculous, Longbottom, of course you have –'

'I'm not doing it. I'd rather have more Herbology lessons. If you can't organise anything for me, I'm going to the Greenhouses during that lesson anyway. There's not a chance in hell of me using the Cruciatus Curse, and I don't care if you half-kill me, I'm not doing it.'

Snape gazed at him again, perhaps surprised at the boy's uprising of bravery.

'I – I'll see what I can do. But be warned, Longbottom – if you misbehave again, I will half-kill you, is that clear?'

Neville nodded.

'Then go.'

Neville simply stood there, not quite believing. Snape hadn't even done anything.

'Not going to punish me then, Professor?' he asked politely but coolly.

'You do push your luck, Longbottom. I said, go, before I change my mind.'

Neville spun on his heel, and shot out the office before Snape did change his mind. He still couldn't understand why Snape had let him off so cheaply ... Carrow would be furious when she finds out. However, it wasn't the thoughts of Snape, or the Carrows, or the Dark Arts lessons that was on his mind as he ate during dinner and lay in his bed that night, but of the glinting hilt of the Gryffindor sword above that high-backed chair.

It looked as though the DA had its first mission.

A loud scratching, screeching sound rang through the Room of Requirement as Neville etched white words onto the blackboard, the members of Dumbledore's Army waiting silently. At last, Neville backed away so the DA could see what he'd written.

Get the sword of Gryffindor from Snape's office

The reaction was mixed: most students made noises of appreciation; the more enthusiastic cheered and clapped; on the other hand, a couple of students, primarily those in lower years, looked doubtful, even scared.

'The sword doesn't belong to Snape,' said Neville, turning to face them all. 'It belonged to Dumbledore and he left it in there ... and since we're his Army, we need to get it out.'

More cheers greeted this.

'So – we need a plan of action ...'

The room fell silent again.

'OK – Ginny, Luna, Seamus and I will be the ones to break into Snape's office. We know he is at dinner nearly every day, so we'll leave halfway through. We'll need lookouts in the Great Hall ... does anyone –?'

'We can do that,' said Michael, Anthony and Terry. Neville nodded.

'Then we need lookouts on the ground floor corridor –?'

Parvati, Lavender and Padma raised their hands.

'OK, thanks girls ... it would help if we had some sort of diversion, preferably in the Entrance Hall so that us four can get away when there's a riot ... it won't be easy taking the sword up seven floors without being seen though.'

'Sounds like something for us, Neville,' called Ernie, indicating himself, Zacharias Smith, Susan and Hannah.

'Good ... Ivy and Liz, could you take watch outside the office, if the worst comes to the worst. Then me, Seamus, Luna and Ginny will go in and –'

'Hang on, you don't know the password!' cried Anthony rather accusingly.

'I do, it's "Evans" – I went in there last week,' explained Neville. 'So we'll go into Snape's office and get back up here as soon as possible, with the sword. All clear?'

There were more enthusiastic nods and 'Yes's.

'Wait – when are we doing this?' someone asked.

'Tonight.'

'T – tonight, Neville?' Ernie stammered desperately, as muttering broke out; Seamus and Ginny cheered. 'But –'

'Ernie, we've got a plan, haven't we? It won't be any different if we go tonight or in a week, will it? I've just got a feeling about the sword ... the sooner we get it the hell out of there, the better.'

'Hear, hear!' shouted Seamus.

They spent the rest of the free period gathering and sharing out the 'Weasley Gear', as they called it, according to where they were placed in the mission. The Hufflepuffs had a stack of Decoy Detonators and Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, and the lookouts and four stealers were prioritised for using the Shield Cloaks.

'If you haven't got a fake Galleon, come over here!' called Ginny, who began duplicating her own coin with the use of a Geminio Charm and explained to each student in turn how the coins worked. Neville went over the plan with everyone again; they had to make sure everything was timed right.

Six hours later found all the students seated in the Great Hall in front of stacks of sausages, steaks, roast potatoes and vegetables. Neville was seated in between Ginny and Seamus. The Gryffindor girls had already left to take up their positions in the corridor and outside the Headmaster's office. Neville was facing the Hufflepuff table, barely aware of the existence of a potato on his fork, waiting for Ernie to make his move. He could somehow feel the eyes of Snape on him from the staff table, but he hoped he was just imagining it: he didn't want to check; the Ravenclaws would do that for him.

Ernie wiped his mouth with a napkin before getting to his feet and sidling out of the oak doors, followed closely by Susan, Zac and Hannah.

'C'mon,' Ginny said and the three of them also stood up. Luna had noticed and dreamily walked over from the Ravenclaw table. The foursome casually walked out the Great Hall. They had barely passed through the doors when a number of loud bangs went off, and Hannah's convincing scream pierced the Entrance Hall.

There was a huge movement from behind them. Students and teachers alike stood up and looked through the doors, wondering what could have possibly caused the sudden interruption. Then everyone began scurrying past the tables, crushing each other to get out the Hall.

'PEEVES!' roared Ernie, while throwing handfuls of the Darkness Powder around him, the air filled with the terrible stench of Dungbombs. By now, the whole Entrance Hall was infused with the black, acrid smoke and Ernie continued to loudly curse Peeves, who in fact was nowhere near the Entrance Hall.

Neville almost forgot about the rest of the plan: it was only when Ginny and Seamus each grabbed an arm and pulled him through the door on the left by the marble staircase that he finally took his eyes off the Hufflepuff's diversion. As Luna pushed the door open and strolled through, Neville's coin burned in his pocket. He fumbled for it as they walked briskly down the ground floor corridor.

McGonagall coming, ground floor – Lavender

Neville's heart raced. Holding Seamus and Ginny back, he bent down to pretend to tie his shoelace.

'Neville, what –?' Seamus began, but was interrupted by a familiar stern voice.

'Ah, there you are Mr Finnigan,' said Professor McGonagall, marching down the end corridor towards them. 'I require ten minutes with you in my office if you don't mind.'

'Sure Professor,' answered Seamus and followed her back the way he came, glancing apologetically over his shoulder to the other three. The moment the door closed, the trio wasted no more time, and hurried down, round the corner, until they were face to face with the gargoyle with Ivy and Liz nervously standing either side of it, pretending to look at their timetables.

'Evans,' Luna panted. The gargoyle's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but had no choice but to admit them. The spiral staircase lifted them up to the polished doors. They barged through; many of the portraits jumped awake at the noise, some muttering noises of indignation. But Neville wasn't listening, and had eyes only for the sword in the case. He rushed over to it and pointed his wand at the glass case, while the old headmasters and headmistresses made louder, angry sounds.

'Diffindo!' Neville whispered and the glass cracked and came crashing down. The sword toppled forwards and out of the case. Neville just about caught it by the ruby hilt, as his Galleon went hot again. He dug it out and read:

Snape coming, hurry! – Ernie

'Neville, come on!' hissed Ginny desperately. Heart pounding so hard against his ribs he thought they might crack, Neville bounded across the office in seven steps and they jumped down the stairs and smashed through the entrance door.

Neville tried desperately to stuff the sword beneath his robes as they trotted down the corridor, footsteps echoing from up ahead. They rounded the corner when –

Ginny swore.

It was Snape.

He was marching down the corridor, wand by his side. Anger and disappointment, sheer disappointment, welled up inside Neville and he wished, at that point, that he could drown himself in it; he hadn't even managed to get the whole sword hidden. Snape extended a hand, and Neville knew, as did Ginny and Luna, that the game was up and there was no point trying to run away from Snape.

'Well, well, well,' Snape murmured, snatching the sword from Neville's hand; his voice was calm and quiet but unbelievably deadly. 'I need a long hard think about your punishments. You will wait in your common rooms while I decide, and your Head of Houses will inform you.'

So saying, he walked past them with a swish of his cloak and disappeared round the corner. The three of them slumped down the corridor and up the marble staircase. Luna departed with a solemn goodbye as Neville and Ginny made the long trip up to Gryffindor Tower. Neville couldn't bear to look at Ginny, let alone say anything to her. He felt so disappointed; for one shining moment, he thought he was doing something right, something to get on top of Snape's regime, something that might make his parents proud. And as he sat in the common room next to Ginny in front of the fire, head in his hands, he couldn't help the hot, angry tears that slipped down his cheeks.

Ginny put her arm on Neville's shoulder.

'Don't worry, Neville ... at least we tried, right?' her voice was reassuring, but Neville could tell that she was disappointed too. He tried to say something, perhaps to agree, or to apologise for getting them both into this mess. He was now in no doubt that he, Ginny and Luna would get tortured by the Carrows, there was no question of it. Where was Harry when they needed him? He was their one and only hope of overpowering Snape and the Carrows. Some students may have called Neville brave, but he was a coward compared to Harry.

He was sweating, both as a result of his closeness to the fire and the ominous prospect of their punishment. Unable to stay still for a moment longer, he got to his feet, wiping the dried tears from his eyes and cheeks. Again, his eyes found the poster of Harry's face. He would be back soon, Neville knew it ... and he would get them all out of this nightmare when that time came ... Neville took the picture down and pocketed it.

Presently, the portrait door opened and Professor McGonagall emerged into the common room, her eyes flickering between Ginny on the squashy armchair in front of the fire and Neville, her expression stern.

'Well,' she began; she sounded rather flustered, 'it is apparent that my words to the both of you on the first day back have had no impact on you. That was highly irrational, surely you both realise that?'

Ginny said nothing but continued to stare determinedly into the fire; Neville bowed his head ashamedly.

McGonagall's voice was considerably calmer when she next spoke.

'Professor Snape has requested that you two and Miss Lovegood pay a visit to Hagrid tomorrow evening and he'll find some work for you to do in the Forest ... Professor Snape needn't know that Mr Finnigan was also involved in your schemes. But I must warn you both – your punishments could have been much worse – especially after some of the things I've seen,' she added with disgust, and Neville knew she was thinking of the Carrows. With a curt nod, she turned on her heel and swept out the common room.

Neville and Ginny looked at each other and, for the first time in weeks, started to laugh.

'Detention with Hagrid?' said Ginny, still chortling. 'I'm actually looking forward to it!'

Neville continued to snigger, more out of relief than anything. It didn't quite nullify the disappointment of failing to retrieve the sword but Snape's so-called punishment had caused him no discomfort whatsoever.

The portrait door opened again and revealed Seamus. His looked slightly disgruntled, but his expression turned to glee as he saw Ginny and Neville's faces.

'You got it?'he asked excitedly, 'I was waiting in the Room of Requirement for you but I didn't see –' but his face fell again as they shook their heads.

'But – why are you so happy?'

'Snape caught us in the corridor – another minute or so and we'd've done it.'

'And?'

'Well, his idea of a punishment for us is to go into the Forest with Hagrid ... dunno why he didn't get the Carrows to torture us.'

Seamus made a strange noise between a snort and a groan of disappointment. He slumped into the nearest armchair next to Ginny.

'Ah well,' he said in a strained never-mind voice, though it was clear he was peeved that he had been unable to help during the rest of the mission in Snape's office.

'So what did McGonagall want with you?' asked Ginny, and Neville was pleased she had changed the subject.

'Not much really, just warned me about annoying the Carrows – she'd obviously noticed all these,' he said indicating the cuts and scars on his face. 'She said it's my funeral if I carry on like it – which I will,' he added defiantly. Then he leapt to his feet.

'Oh, I nearly forgot – everyone's waiting in the Room of Requirement and I said I'd fetch you 'cause you weren't in there.'

Ginny stood up and she and Neville followed Seamus out the portrait, leaving it empty. They wandered down the seventh floor corridor and into the unlocked door of the Room of Requirement.

Neville felt as though he'd stumbled in on a funeral. Everyone was sitting on either the benches or the floor, gazing down at their shoes, barely talking. They all looked up as Neville, Ginny and Seamus walked in, some smiling weakly or grimacing. Seamus sat next to the Ravenclaw boys, Ginny with Luna. Now all eyes were on Neville.

'What happened, Neville?' Terry croaked.

Neville swallowed and drew a chair over to sit on.

'There wasn't enough time,' he said simply, 'we got your message Lavender –' she nodded '– and she took Seamus away. That might've wasted ten seconds or so. But we got in and out of the office fast enough but we ran straight into Snape down the corridor.'

'I think he knew you were up to something,' Anthony said. 'He watched you four as soon as you stood up and walked out the Hall.'

'So did anyone else get caught?' asked Neville, looking round at the rest of the students.

'No – Ernie's diversion was brilliant –' (Ernie gave a small, modest smile) '– all the teachers thought Peeves had done it and they couldn't see a thing. But I dunno ... Snape must've seen you go, or he wouldn't've followed you ...'

'What did Snape say?' whispered Ivy nervously.

'He wasn't even that angry,' answered Ginny. 'Just said he'll choose a punishment for us and walked off ... bet he wasn't too pleased when he saw the smashed case ... then again, who cares?' There were a couple of laughs.

'So what was the punishment?' Michael asked, his voice even lower and more fearful than Ivy's.

'Just to do some work with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest,' said Neville casually.

'Really? I thought he was going to kill you for that!' said Zacharias.

'So did I,' admitted Neville.

There was a long silence.

'Well, we'd better be off I think,' sighed Neville finally, checking his watch. He gestured Seamus and the Gryffindor girls to follow. 'I'll decide on the date for another meeting soon ... I'm – I'm sorry everyone,' he blurted out, 'you all put the effort in and I wasted the chance –'

'Don't be stupid, Neville!' Ernie said quite aggressively, while others shook their heads. 'If anything, it's my fault, I should have distracted Snape for longer –' More noises of disagreement followed this, and Neville felt almost outraged that Ernie could pin the blame on himself, but didn't have the heart to say anything more and his throat was bone dry. With a final wave, he backed out the Room with the other Gryffindors. Ginny patted him gently on the shoulder as they re-entered the common room and he relaxed at her touch. He was very aware of her will to rebel, especially since the fight at the Ministry two years ago and when the Death Eaters had invaded in June. Had he let her down? He hoped not, but then who was there to blame? He and Seamus slumped up the dormitory but Neville didn't feel like sleeping, and had only the thought of how happy he would be if they hadn't been caught to comfort him. But he couldn't escape the fact that he was filled with misery and disappointment.

If only they'd managed to get the sword, it would have been worth it ... if only ...

'Since we are already gathered here,' said Snape from in front of the staff table, 'I must bring something to your attention.'

The students in the Great Hall, who had been chatting noisily mere seconds ago, all turned to face the Headmaster as he stood in front of them all. The last meatballs, pies, vegetables and pumpkin juice dematerialised.

'Last night,' he continued, now pacing the length of the table, hands locked together, 'a group of students broke into my office – I know who they are ... and so do they. They have their punishment soon, but it is not a cruel one. I tell you this: the next person to break a rule, scheme against the school, backchat to a teacher, or do anything else that may cause irritation to staff shall be locked up in the dungeons and tortured. Also –' Snape held himself while the angry shouts and insults that rang through the Hall died down. 'Also ... there are to be no forms of societies or organisations including three or more people withstanding, without my permission. If you are found to have been part of a society thereof, you will be equally punished.'

Snape sat back down. Michael yawned and stretched pointedly before getting up with Anthony and Terry and leaving the Hall, while the rest of students did the same in small groups, most of them still in a state of shocked horror. Neville and Ginny, since they had their punishment, joined with Luna and headed straight through the Entrance Hall doors and into the grounds after bidding Seamus goodbye.

As ever, the atmosphere was frosty as a result of the distant Dementor's emanating chill, but it was good to get some fresh air all the same. It was a cloudless night and the full moon and stars sent silvery light across the grounds, but Neville lit his wand nonetheless. Since Neville spent nearly half his lessons in the greenhouses, he forgot for a second that they were heading to Hagrid's hut. The only time Neville could remember entering the hut was in his fourth year when he'd escaped the Blast-Ended Skrewts during a particularly frightening Care of Magical Creatures lesson; yet it was a warming sight nevertheless. Ginny knocked on the door when they reached the hut and they immediately heard Fang's barking and scraping on the other side. Hagrid opened the door.

'Arh, the scallywags!' he said at the sight of them and Neville couldn't stop the smile. 'Ginny – Neville, how are ya? – Luna, is it? Well, listen ... you be'er not be expec'ing ter be punished, bu' we should go into the Forest anyway, in case they're watchin' ... we could check on the Thestrals an' such if yer like, they need feeding ...' His face was heavily bruised and cut, slightly worse than Seamus' and he had a crossbow slung over his huge shoulder. He shut the door on Fang's nose, who evidently wanted to join them; Hagrid let him out rather reluctantly and Fang jumped up at Neville to lick his face.

'So wha' did yer get up to?' asked Hagrid as they entered the Forest, the floor a blanket of leaves, twigs and low branches. Ginny and Luna also lit their wands, casting bright light through the dark, tall trees. Neville remembered entering the Forest with Hagrid in his first-year when he'd tried to warn Harry and Hermione about something to do with a dragon.

'We tried to get the sword of Gryffindor from Snape's office,' answered Ginny, cautiously manoeuvring over a thick horizontal branch.

'You wha'?' Hagrid yelped. 'Blimey, Ginny, I though' you were clev'rer than tha' – and Snape caugh' yer?'

'Well, yeah, that's why we're here,' said Ginny rather brusquely.

'Hmph,' grunted Hagrid. 'Well, anyway –'

Hagrid suddenly stopped walking; Neville walked into him. He could hear distant footsteps, becoming louder and louder. Were they footsteps? There was a quicker rhythm to the sound, something Neville would usually associate with an animal.

'DOWN!' shouted Hagrid, grabbing the two girls and removing the crossbow from around his neck at the same time. Neville ducked just in time to hear something whistle past the top of his head, ruffling his uncut hair. He looked up but could only see the huge bulk of Hagrid's back.

'OI! Hold yer Hippogriffs!'

Neville thought it was safe to move only when Hagrid did and the four of them rose. He finally had a view of what was going on.

They were surrounded by centaurs, of all colours and sizes. Half-man half-horse, each of them clutched a bow, an arrow quivering menacingly next to it.

'Hagrid!' roared one of them. He was dark-skinned and had long black hair with a matching beard. 'How many times must I remind you?'

'Remin' me of wha'?' Hagrid shouted back. 'The Forest is no more yours that ours, Bane! Get out of it!'

Bane lowered his bow, and many of the others hesitated before doing the same.

'Who are the young ones?'

'From the school. You've seen wha' times are like at the momen'? Safer in here than back there,' said Hagrid, jerking his head behind him.

'We know the times are hard,' spoke another centaur, commandingly built with a chestnut-coloured torso, 'we've seen this coming for years, decades even ... only darkness lurks ahead, that we are sure of.'

'How do you know?'

There was a pause, during which Magorian looked upwards.

'Venus is unusually bright tonight.'

Hagrid looked as though he was straining to not roll his eyes.

'Great, thanks for tha',' he answered, though Neville wasn't sure they picked up on the sarcasm. 'Now if you don' mind ...' he began walking again and, hesitantly, the other three followed.

'Please make your visits infrequent, Hagrid. You know we don't like to be disturbed by humans.'

Hagrid grunted impatiently and the herd of centaurs trotted off again.

'Stupid things,' he said gruffly. They entered a small clearing with no canopy above and where a pack of Thestrals rested. Hagrid dug out from a huge pocket what looked like whole lamb and wandered over to the skeletal horses, with Ginny in his wake.

'They're beautiful aren't they?' Luna asked quietly.

Neville could sort of see what she meant; they were rather ugly in looks but there was a certain grace about the way they moved and they crooned at Hagrid's touch. He and Ginny were talking to each other quietly and Neville wondered if she was asking for any news on Harry.

Neville looked at Luna. She looked quite pretty in the twilight, with her long silvery-blonde hair and large eyes, where a slither of moon reflected. She had been rather quiet so far this year, he'd noticed, and he preferred her usual, bubbly, even funny, self that he'd seen before. But perhaps they had more in common than they thought.

'Are you OK, Luna?' he whispered. She turned her head to him at the question, a half-smile upon her face.

'I'm fine Neville.'

'You've been quiet this year, Luna,' said Neville, watching the Thestrals strip away meat from the bone, while Ginny and Hagrid walked further through the trees. 'I keep thinking to myself that something's wrong when I see you.'

She said nothing, but hid her face. Neville drew his eyes away from the Thestrals and looked at her, shocked to see tears glistening in her eyes.

'It's Dad,' she said, her voice wavering. 'I think he's going to get c-caught for everything he's writing in The Quibbler, about pr-protecting Harry and bringing down D-Death Eaters ... and what – what if he –?'

But her words were lost as Neville brought her into a hug; he closed his eyes as her head rested on his shoulder and her sobs became renewed. He had nothing to say to comfort her. Luna was the last person on earth he would expect to cry but, after all, crying was part of being human. They broke apart and Neville kept his hands on her shoulders and looked straight into her eye.

'He'll be fine, Luna, understand? ... and we're going to make his daughter proud, OK?' he said defiantly, and she nodded, brushing away the rest of her tears. She still looked pretty even with puffy, reddened eyes. They lay on their backs on the Forest floor together, gazing up at the millions of stars.

'I want to know all about you Neville,' Luna said after a while.

So he told her. He told her how little he'd known of his parents, how he'd been brought up by his grandmother in a house in Yorkshire, how he had always been fascinated by plants, his dream plans for the future. And he continued to tell her even as she fell asleep, her head next to his shoulder, because she was the first person to be interested in his life and he felt so comfortable talking to her, feeling less lonely than he'd ever done.

Neville woke up with a gasp on the Forest floor. All his extremities were numb with cold and he could barely feel his toes. It was freezing and a thin mist obscured even the closest trees. He could hear a strange and terrible rattling sound and he sensed what was in front of him before he saw it.

There were around ten Dementors in front of the mist, slowly gliding towards him and Luna. Their rasping breath was loud in his ear, even though they were a good fifty feet away.

He shook Luna's shoulders desperately.

'Wake up, Luna ... wake up ...'

Her eyelids fluttered open and she sat up, already shivering. He didn't need to tell her what the problem was; they both drew their wands and Neville frantically thought of when he'd Disarmed Harry in that first ever DA meeting.

'Expecto Patronum!' he cried, but only a pathetic wisp of silver came out. The Dementors were getting closer – he could hear his parent's cries of pain getting louder and louder. 'Ex – Expecto ... expect ...'

'Expecto Patronum!'

Luna's hare burst from the tip of her wand and bounded towards the Dementors: they immediately scattered and fell back, disappearing through the trees as the hare chased them.

'Hey, they're down here! I just saw a Patronus!'

Neville spun on his heel at the gruff voice, still panting in fear. More excited voices joined the first and Neville heard footsteps getting closer; Luna grabbed his forearm as they both raised their wands again.

'Expelliarmus!'

'Protego!'

Neville's Shield Charm was quick enough. Three men came into view.

'Easy, Stan,' one of them said to the man who had tried to Disarm Neville. As they moved into the moonlit clearing, Neville saw that Stan was quite young-looking and covered in pimples. He was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite put a finger on where he'd seen him before.

'Who've we got 'ere, hidin' in the Forest then, eh? Going for a romantic night-time stroll, eh?' said Stan; his expression was slightly hazy, his voice slurry.

'I recognise this girl you know, Stan,' said a third. 'And – oho, is that young Longbottom?'

'How d'you know, Selwyn?'

'They were at the Ministry with Potter couple years 'go.'

'Ah, Longbottom?' said the second, staring at Neville with a horrible, wry smile. 'Yes, I believe Bellatrix is friendly with his parents – wonder if –?'

'Stupefy!' shouted Neville, his temper overheating. The man was thrown backwards and landed with a thud twenty feet behind him.

'OI!' roared Stan. 'Incarcarous!'

This time it was Luna's swift Shield Charm that blocked the flailing ropes that flew out of Stan's wand.

'Stan!' warned Selwyn. He turned to Neville and hissed, 'You're gonna regret that – lower your wand, idiot.'

'What do you want?' asked Neville, his wand still raised. He tried to sound as brave as he could.

'You should be in bed, pal,' answered Stan. 'You've got a choice: we can take to back to the castle and pay a visit to our good friend Amycus, or we'll go to Lucius Malfoy's, where Bellatrix will be waiting to torture you, like she did to Mummy and Daddy.'

Neville gritted his teeth.

'Castle,' he muttered, but the word hardly came through his clenched teeth.

'What's that?'

'Castle,' he said clearly.

'Yeah, I thought so,' said Selwyn coolly. Neville glanced at Luna then back again.

'But you're not taking Luna to Carrow.'

'We'll do what we want mate, thanks –'

'YOU'RE NOT TAKING HER!'

He hadn't meant to shout, but it hardly mattered.

'Neville, don't worry about me –'

'No, Luna, I won't let this happen.'

'How dare you talk to me like that!' roared Stan; he looked quite deranged. 'Cruci–!'

'Stupefy!' Neville shouted again, and Stan flew and fell next to the other Death Eater, unmoving. But Selwyn was too quick this time. With a flash, Neville was trussed and bound in invisible ropes.

'We'll let your gelfriend go,' Selwyn hissed, 'if you take both your punishments – understood?'

Neville glared at him but nodded defiantly. By the sounds of it, Luna had also been bound, for he could hear her struggling slightly as Selwyn led them forwards. Where were Ginny and Hagrid? Was Ginny already in the castle? Had they looked for him and Luna, or assumed they would make their own way back later? Now it looked as though he was going to get the punishment he'd expected after all.

'Enervate,' muttered Selwyn, his wand directed at Stan and the other Stunned man on the ground. Nothing happened. Neville felt a grim satisfaction. His Stunners had been strong, but they would come round again within the hour. Selwyn grunted but didn't round on Neville again. The three of them stumbled through the trees until they approached the edge of the Forest and the remaining lights of Hogwarts could be seen from several tiny windows. An owl hooted.

The oak doors creaked lightly as Selwyn opened them; it was silent in the castle. Neville had lost track of time: it must have been the early hours of the morning. He hoped beyond hope that a teacher would come trotting down the marble staircase, but it was no use ... they were surely all in bed ... all except Carrow ...

'Go on then, girly,' said Selwyn, withdrawing Luna's restraints. She looked back desperately at Neville as she approached the staircase, looking fearful, but he nodded his head and he hoped she would understand, that he would be OK ... with a crack like a whip, he was forced to move down the steps leading to the dungeons. A door banged open.

It was cold, almost as cold as it was in the Dementor-infested Forest. It appeared to be an unused classroom, but there were no tables or chairs. It had been transformed into a prison, a miniature Azkaban. There were five 'cells', two of which containing two young, scared-looking students, hugging their knees. It was a sickening sight.

Selwyn left the room to fetch Carrow, leaving Neville, still trussed, and the two first-years.

'Hey guys,' said Neville. It was hard to breathe, let alone speak. 'D'you wanna get out of there?'

They nodded.

'OK – argh,' he gasped slightly as the invisible ropes clamped his ribcage. 'Get your wands out – you've got your wands, right? Good – point them at the padlock – that's it – and say Alohomora!'

'Alohomora!' they chorused and the padlocks detached with a loud click.

'No, don't get out yet!' said Neville as one of them laughed with relief and made to open their barred gate. 'Wait 'til I say, OK?'

'Well, I dunno where Amycus is,' came Selwyn's voice as he slipped through the dungeon door, 'but never mind ... I know what the new punishments are anyways.'

He released the ropes from Neville.

'It's gonna be a bi' diff'rent for you, Longbo'om. I 'eard young Crabbe and Goyle torture those who've earned detentions, so it's your turn now.' He grinned evilly at the two first-years, their eyes now wide with horror.

'Haha, I don't think so,' said Neville.

'Ah, you need persuasion?'

'I'm not doing it.'

Neville glared at Selwyn for a second, before the latter brandished his wand like a sword and slashed through the air and a gash, the worst gash yet, hacked through Neville's cheek. But Neville had had enough, again -

'Stupefy!'

With a shout of shock, Selwyn rose and was thrust backwards, smashing into the stone back with a gut-wrenching cracking noise. All the fight was gone from him and he lay there panting and moaning, unable to move. Already regretting his decision, Neville thought quickly: what would the Carrows do when they found one of their Death Eater friends alone in this dungeon with two escaped prisoners? Or maybe it didn't matter as long as Selwyn said nothing ...

Neville pointed his wand carefully at Selwyn's forehead. The Death Eater whimpered pathetically, and Neville was able to calm himself. They'd only learnt the complicated charm he was about to perform this week, but he had a good idea of how it worked.

'Obliviate,' he murmured and Selwyn's eyes went unfocused and dreamy, with silver wisps, neither gas nor liquid, leaking from his head, which vanished into thin air.

'C'mon boys,' he said quickly and the two first-years, looking relieved at Selwyn's downfall, quietly hurried out their cells and followed Neville as he ran out the room and up the stairs.

'What houses are you in?' asked Neville as they made their way up the many staircases to get to the seventh floor.

'Ravenclaw.'

'Hufflepuff.'

'Good,' Neville said, 'you can come into the Gryffindor common room for a while, they won't think you're in there.'

They nodded.

'Longbottom!'

It was Professor McGonagall. Neville jumped out of his skin as she walked briskly down the seventh floor corridor.

'What on earth are you doing at this hour?'

'Professor, please – long story, but I got taken to the dungeons and managed to escape with these two. A Death Eater, Selwyn, is down there unconscious, we had to get away quickly –' He stopped talking because McGonagall no longer looked angry.

'Very well,' she said, 'I didn't know you had it in you, Mr Longbottom – get to the common room quickly, I'll clear up the dungeon.'

'Thank you, Professor,' said Neville, relieved, and the three boys reached the Fat Lady. 'Oh - Professor.'

She looked back.

'There's two others in the Forest. I - I Stunned them but they'll be up again soon -'

'Very well,' repeated McGonagall, 'I shall attend to them respectively. Goodnight, Longbottom.'

'Goodnight, Professor,' said Neville and she trotted down the corridor again.

'Albus Dumbledore,' Neville muttered to the Fat Lady and they stepped inside.

It was beautifully warm and Neville was tempted to sleep by the fire tonight but he knew his bed was waiting for him upstairs.

'We've got spare beds in our dormitory, you can sleep there tonight, OK?'

'Thank you!' they said together and ran up the spiral staircase. Neville grinned. He was OK, Luna was OK, there were no current prisoners, he'd defeated a Death Eater, and, best of all, Snape and the Carrows knew nothing.

December replaced November with freezing winds that attacked the exposed skin of students as they trudged through the courtyard or to the vegetable patches for Herbology. Downfalls of snow paraded the Hogwarts castle and the black lake had completely frozen over so that students were ice skating on it. It was a relief for all students when the Christmas break arrived. There was a Hogsmeade trip on the first day of the holidays. Although Neville would be staying at Hogwarts for the holidays, he went to the station to bid farewells to Ginny, Luna and various other seventh-year students. When the train got lost in the mist and falling snow, Neville, Seamus, Ernie and Michael, wrapped in thick winter coats, scarves, gloves and hats, trudged through the High Street, snow crunching beneath their feet, and headed into the Three Broomsticks. Michael brought four Butterbeers to their table in the furthest corner from the door and they sat down. It was relatively busy; many of the tables were also full and Madam Rosmerta was bustling hither and thither to serve those who had ordered from their seats. A pack of dark, cloaked men took seats on the table next to the boys, blocking Neville's view from half the pub; he could still see numerous Christmas decorations, including a large, glistening Christmas tree in the opposite corner.

'So ... what're we doing this Christmas?' asked Michael.

'Not a lot,' said Neville, 'kipping out in the Room, I expect.'

'I still think we can do more,' began Ernie. 'To annoy Snape,' he added in answer to Neville's questioning look, 'I reckon there's a lot we can still do without getting caught.'

'Without getting caught?' Seamus repeated, mildly surprised. 'Do you really think they won't think it's us doing everything?'

Ernie shrugged and sipped his Butterbeer.

'Something to do though,' piped up Michael matter-of-factly.

Neville glugged down more Butterbeer, absent-mindedly watching a man on the adjacent table extract a colourful stack of paper. How much longer could they keep rebelling? Was it too risky?

'Harry'll be back soon,' he said finally, 'I'm sure of it.'

Ernie nodded in agreement

'Where is he d'you reckon?' Seamus asked. There was something different in his voice, masked by casualness; was it fear, doubt?

'I know what you're thinking,' said Neville. 'But he has to be still alive. The Carrows wouldn't waste a second in telling the whole school if he did die, they know it would be such a blow to us.'

Their table lapsed into silence again.

'What's that you've got, Stan?' one of the men from the neighbouring table asked. Neville's eyes flickered up at the name. With a sickening jolt in his stomach, he realised who else was on that table: Selwyn and the other man Neville had Stunned last month in the Forest. Selwyn caught Neville looking, but stared at him blandly, not recognising him.

'The Quibbler,' Stan answered.

'Aaah, isn't that Lovegood's rag? Yes, I heard he's getting punished for telling everyone to save Potter,' Selwyn finished with a cruel laugh.

'Yeah, that's right – Scab's taking her daughter from the train now, i'n'e? Taking her to Azkaban, that's what I –'

Neville and Michael choked on their Butterbeers and Stan looked at them.

'Easy boys, you know wha' 'appens when you drink too much of tha' stuff, eh?' he chuckled. His eyes bore into Neville's for a second. A hint of a frown appeared on the young man's spotty forehead but he looked away without another word.

'Yeah, that should teach old Lovers, right?'

It took several seconds for Neville to recover from his coughing fit but when he looked up he could see his own fear and repulsion reflected on each of the boy's faces.

The Christmas holidays were horribly unpleasant after that afternoon in Hogsmeade. Of all the things that had happened to Neville this year, with the Carrow's lessons, being tortured and injured, Snape himself, nothing frightened him more than the image of Luna being surrounded by Dementors in a lonely prison cell. The only way he was able to get to sleep at night for the next week or so was telling himself, time and time again, that she would be fine, that she would easily be able to resist the Dementors.

Christmas Day arrived with more snow but Neville, no matter how hard he tried, found that he couldn't enjoy the day knowing that Luna was in grave danger. He forced a smile as he opened stacks of sweets and chocolates from friends and family and the latest pair of high-quality dragon hide gloves from his grandma; he could tell this present would be extremely useful for handling those dangerous plants in the greenhouses, particularly Devil's Snare and the biting Mandrakes.

Thankfully, the Christmas lunch was as magnificent as always, though spoilt slightly by Snape and the Carrows not even smiling as they ate. The Great Hall was full to the brim with happy chatter among all students, explosive crackers and the chinking of goblets and cutlery as they all ate and drank greedily.

A few hours later found Neville trudging up the many staircases to fetch his winter gear to go outside, where it was rumoured that a big snowball fight would be underway. He'd just reached the third floor when Peeves came zooming round the corner, cackling madly, clutching handfuls of snowballs. Two fifth-year girls screamed as the poltergeist lobbed one, none to gently, at them and it exploded on their woollen jumpers.

'Hehehe,' crowed Peeves, 'ooooh, Bottomhead! Want some cold? Hahaha!' he lobbed one at Neville but he blocked it with a simple Shield Charm and the snow burst in a white puff.

'Do us a favour Peeves – find a Carrow and hit them instead.'

'Ooh, not causing more trouble are we, Longbo? We all know that's my job!'

'Who said somefin 'bout a Carrow?'

Neville heart dropped as he spun on his heel, to see Amycus Carrow marching up the stairs. Neville made to keep walking but –

'Not so fast, Longbo'om.'

'What did you ask me, Longy?' said Peeves dangerously, ignoring Neville's pleading look. 'Hit a Carrow with a snowball? I don't think that's a sensible suggestion, do you Amy?'

'Did you?' Amycus breathed.

Neville didn't hesitate. He ran down the third floor corridor, Carrow hot on his heels. Couldn't he go a day without getting himself into trouble? Carrow was laughing, probably only chasing Neville for the fun of it.

Neville bounded into a random room, yelling, 'Colloportus!' at the door and it locked shut. The room was completely empty but for a large trapdoor in the centre of the stone floor. He heard Carrow apparently run into the door before the teacher shouted, 'Alohomora!' and the door clicked open again. Without thinking, Neville yanked up the trapdoor and dropped through it, hoping that whatever was down here wasn't worse than what he had just left.

The drop was a lot longer than he'd expected but his landing was soft. Breathing heavily, he could hear quiet voices from up above.

'Did you get him?' asked Alecto.

'Nah,' Amycus answered, sounding disappointed, 'probably died though, haven't a clue what's down there.'

He heard the trapdoor shut with a clap and he took in his surroundings. He knew someone was wrong, for the plants he had landed on began to move, slithering closer to him. Neville swore.

Devil's Snare. And lots of it.

'Lumos solem!' he cried desperately and a strong beam of light issued from his wand. The tentacles backed away from the light and he felt himself slowly slipping down until his legs were dangling beneath the bed. Next moment, his body slipped through and his feet hit hard stone, his knees flexing. Wand still brightly lit, he began walking down the underground corridor, wondering where on earth he could possibly be.

The corridor terminated at a large, circular room, with four pillars shooting upwards. A huge heap of white feathers sat in one corner, gathering decay and dust. He opened the door at the end. He walked through one empty room, with a black-and-white checkered floor, two empty rooms, three empty rooms ... just as he opened the next door, wondering how long this would go on for, he brought himself to a halt.

True, it was another large room, but it wasn't entirely empty. Stairs as wide as the room led to a large open stone floor, where a pile of purple and black rags had been placed, or rather dropped. And at the very back, looking completely out of place, stood a magnificent, oversized, ancient mirror.

Neville stood there for a few seconds, in the cold silence, before descending down the stone steps. He stopped to observe the pile of clothing left on the floor. There were black robes with undergarments, and a large, purple turban. With a jolt, he realised it was his first Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher's, Professor Quirrell; Dumbledore's words echoed strangely in his ears, words he'd spoken in the Great Hall six years ago.

'I regret to announce that Professor Quirrell's remains were found yesterday evening in an underground chamber. The evidence suggests that he had been possessed by Dark Magic for some time. The witness, you may or may not have noticed, is not with us at this time, but is peacefully recovering in the hospital wing ...'

So this must have been the chamber where Harry had fought for the Philosopher's Stone. With a final glance at the turban, Neville looked up again at the huge mirror at the back of the room. Whether it was because it looked extremely old, or looked as though it should have collected more dust than it had, Neville could sense a matter here of foreboding and even excitement as he walked slowly towards the mirror. The closer he got, the more details he picked up: the words Mirror of Erised were engraved at the top of the frame, surrounded by more writing that ran down the sides in an unknown language, perhaps Latin, or even Gobbledegook; then the rest of the frame was covered in strange runes and little pictures.

At an arm's length away, Neville looked into the glass.

His reflection gazed back at him but the Neville in the mirror looked different to the boy standing in front of it. His face was more scarred and dirtier but he was grinning happily enough; he was carrying his wand in one hand and something long and shiny in the other: the sword of Gryffindor.

As though he thought his own body was playing tricks on him, Neville looked down and his hands but they were definitely empty. He looked back at the mirror and jumped out of his skin.

Two people had appeared from nowhere; he spun around.

There was no one there.

He looked back at the mirror, perplexed. With a pang of joy, he recognised the adults closest to him. They were holding hands behind Neville's back, smiling proudly. His mum and dad.

He turned around, not daring to believe his eyes, but, again, it was just him; the room was otherwise empty. His parents were simply standing there, smiling, finally recognising him. For the first time in his memory, Neville saw their perfect faces, full, coloured and unblemished.

He couldn't make head or tail of the image: everything about it was too good to be true; his parents happy and proud of him and Neville himself, standing in the middle of it all, the sword of Gryffindor marking his fresh bravery, beaming triumphantly ...

The Galleon in his pocket burned and he absent-mindedly fished for it with his numb fingers, not wanting to look away from the mirror in case his parents vanished. But he had to look down at the coin to see who had sent him a message:

Where the hell are you, I haven't seen you for ages! You're missing the fight! – Seamus

Neville sighed. He'd completely forgotten about the snowball fight, and even being chased by the Carrows was a distant memory. The only thing in the world that mattered to him right now was this mirror. But he had to admit, nothing was going to change, no matter how long he looked into it for. His parents were in St Mungo's, as ever; there was no chance of him possessing the sword, as Snape had had it delivered to Gringotts the day after Neville's attempt to steal it; but could it show the future, maybe? What if his parents could recover; after all, all curses like that must wear off at some stage? ... And he'd already been in possession of, if not in complete control of, the sword of Gryffindor ...

Perhaps ten minutes later, or maybe several long hours later, Neville, with difficulty, wrenched his eyes away from the enchanted mirror and glumly decided to go. There was a battered wooden door behind the large mirror; it creaked open at his touch and he stomped up a narrow spiral staircase, without the foggiest idea of where he might end up. A dark, hooded man, much like the one that had grabbed him on the platform a million years ago, was slumped at the end of the stairs; had he not been snoring, Neville would have thought him dead. Neville supposed he was meant to be guarding this secret passage, but he wasn't doing a fantastic job, and Neville passed through the back of the statue of Gregory the Smarmy unnoticed.

Neville tried to enjoy the snowball fight as much as he could; but the image of his healthy parents distracted him, costing him a faceful of snow on more than one occasion. He hadn't really noticed how many students had stayed at Hogwarts during the break; perhaps many of their parents were in danger, like Luna's father, and didn't have the privilege of seeing their children at home for Christmas. How many other students would be ambushed like that?

SPLAT. Ernie's well-aimed snowball found its target and Neville's face went numb with cold.

It was somewhat a relief when they all headed back indoors: Neville could hardly feel his nose and hands, and his toes appeared to have vanished completely. He, Seamus and the girls half-ran up the Gryffindor Tower to get changed, and sat in front of the roaring fire for a good half an hour before helping themselves to chipolatas and turkey sandwiches in the Great Hall for dinner.

Christmas had certainly been enjoyable enough, better, indeed, than Neville had imagined in light of what it had been like before. It was just the mirror that acted like a Dementor, seeping out some of the happiness, replacing it with doubt, dangerous doubt. And the worries of the mirror, the Carrows and Luna engulfed him once more ...

The days stretched into weeks, the weeks stretched into long months. Students began lessons again at the birth of January; Snape had decided to reintroduce the Dark Arts back into Neville's timetable after a combination of the stealing of the sword and his constant undercurrent of annoying the Carrows, giving the brother and sister a chance to give Neville a taste of his own potion, though on a larger scale, normally involving nasty curses. The DA members looked as though they were being put through a vigorous, slow motion fight with a dangerous beast: they continued to sustain cuts, gashes, burns and grazes as the Carrows treated them as relentlessly as ever. Ginny had been banned from Hogsmeade after jinxing Crabbe (who took refuge in the hospital wing for over a week) with her signature Bat-Bogey Hex in the High Street, which was probably the most lenient punishment after visiting the Forest with Hagrid. But this didn't stop them – if anything it spurred them on and the thought of giving up to avoid injuries never occurred to them.

Some nights they would sneak out into corridors and spray paint the walls with their wands, writing things like We all hate the Carrows and Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting. They never got caught, but Snape had his suspicions; many of them would return to their common room or the Room of Requirement with a new cut or burn, but they were so used to it, it hardly mattered.

'The Carrows have taken another prisoner into the dungeons,' Neville was saying during one DA meeting in February. 'Patrick Baker, a Gryffindor first-year, for swearing in class when he dropped his wand and nearly trod on it –' He wrote the child's details on the blackboard as he continued to talk to the DA. 'We know that Crabbe and Goyle will torture him before tonight. I can't really go down there for a second time, they'll kill me; Seamus doesn't need any more danger today, Ernie's been attacked by Amycus already this morning.'

'I'll go, Nev,' chirped Michael, getting to his feet. 'I've got to see Slughorn anyway ... what time do Crabbe and Goyle go down there?'

'About ten o'clock, but it could easily be up to an hour earlier,' said Ginny, rummaging through the notes, 'we know the Carrows don't go down there anymore, they trust them. So if it comes to the worst, you'll have to hex them,' she finished with an apologetic grimace.

'No problem,' said Michael with a wry smile, but looked apprehensive all the same.

Unfortunately, that plan went pear-shaped: it was with terrible luck that Alecto caught Michael down there as he was breaking Patrick's chains and he was tortured badly, he recounted afterwards. Neville found that a couple of students, only the youngest, left the DA, especially after Michael's bearing of the Cruciatus Curse. And then they decided to uphold Ernie's suggestion at Christmas: to give the Carrows hell.

They did their best. They continued to graffiti the walls along every corridor. Seamus suspended a bucket of Thestral dung mixed with Dungbombs over the Slytherin common room portrait and the bucket tipped as Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini exited the portrait, Pansy's screams ringing through the whole school until she reached the nearest bathroom. Ernie hid a juvenile Mandrake in a cupboard in Alecto Carrow's office, which shrieked as soon as Carrow opened her door; she passed out in her office at the noise, but the Mandrake made no noise as her brother, spluttering and cursing, lifted her up and took her to the hospital wing. After no less than six trips to Madam Pomfrey, an angry, tired, jumpy Alecto Carrow found the source of her enemy and chucked it through her window and into the lake; the Giant Squid lapped it up in seconds.

During one Herbology lesson, Alecto burst into Greenhouse Five (wearing small earmuffs and glancing at the sleeping Mandrakes with a terrified expression) demanding a Snargaluff pod of Professor Sprout. In questioning, Alecto said it was an antidote needed for her brother, who had mysteriously sprouted sultana-like boils all over his face. Neville had prodded his mimbulus mimbletonia (which was perched on a shelf near the door) and rapidly leapt back with a false yell as Stinksap erupted from the cactus. The ears alone of Alecto's face remained protected and she departed the greenhouse and a straight-faced Sprout with her face coated in the green, sticky slime.

Snape didn't know where to turn. Neville expected he half-knew who was causing the havoc, but the Headmaster seemed intent on punishing only the guilty and since there were so many different students creating chaos, he could only do no more than warn the whole school during one morning at breakfast.

'If any of you detect a hint of mischief from another student,' Snape had said, 'fifty points will be awarded to your house if you bring that person to my attention. It is high time that each and every one of you keeps to my rules, or you will be punished if caught.'

If caught ... those were the words that made Neville smirk from then on because they had rode their luck on that score. He knew the Carrows suspected him, but they walked cautiously down the corridors instead of strutting, becoming more wary of every object in sight. During their lessons, however, they took no prisoners, and continued to slash at anyone who made snide comments or answered back. Alecto was determined, every lesson, to emphasis again and again how stupid, useless, dangerous, and pointless Muggles and Muggle-borns alike are, while Amycus took it to a new level and began teaching them the most horrific, dangerous breaches of Dark magic, including FiendFyre, to which Crabbe and Goyle took a great liking and even strange things called Horcruckses, whatever they were, which caused a number of students to cringe in dismay.

However, Michael's attempted rescue wasn't the only thing that failed. Hagrid decided to hold a "Support Harry Potter" party in his hut. Neville and various other Gryffindors took refuge - however, the Death Eaters that took watch on the grounds gate-crashed. The students somehow managed to hide round the back of the hut unnoticed, while they had watched Hagrid run into the Forest after taking swipes at Stan and Travers. They hadn't seen Hagrid since and an uncharacteristically nervous Professor Grubbly-Plank took up the post of Care of Magical Creatures temporarily.

The Easter holidays approached and Ginny, along with a handful of other younger students, boarded the Hogwarts train; Ginny had hinted that she might not return, so all the DA members gave her each a very warm farewell.

'Take care, Ginny,' said Neville, the last person, as they hugged. Ginny's sudden departure of the school had disconcerted Neville slightly; she had been a vital, brave member of the DA and had sustained as much as any of the boys had. It was sad to see her go.

'Don't worry, I will – you too,' she said with a smile, adding, 'Oh – message me if Harry comes to the school ... I'll see you then if he does!' before dragging her trunk onto the train. They all waved goodbye until the Hogwarts Express rounded the corner, leaving a trail of billowing steam behind.

However, Neville's mood was lifted as he received a message that evening from Luna. She had written so much that the miniscule writing covered the whole coin and Neville took five minutes trying to work out where the engravings started:

Neville, I'm safe! I was only taken to Azkaban for a day, then they locked me in Draco Malfoy's cellar. I saw Dean, he was fine. Then the house elf Dobby saved us, but he was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange which was terrible. I'm at Ron's brother's house, Bill, and his wife, they're both really nice! – Luna

Neville had sighed with relief and slept very well that night, knowing that Luna was safe. And as he lay there in bed, his coin went hot again. His heart leapt with even more joy as he read:

Oh Neville, I completely forgot to say – Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dean are with me. They don't look too good but they're alive! – Luna

The DA had been elated to learn that Harry, Ron and Hermione, as well as Dean, were in a safe place. The fact that they still hadn't been caught seemed miraculous to Neville but then again, was he that surprised? Harry was the best wizard he knew at fighting Dark forces. Dumbledore's Army were convinced that Harry would be there soon, to overthrow the Carrows and Snape once and for all.

And then things changed.

Neville exited the Great Hall one morning at breakfast when he turned to see the front wooden doors burst open and Selwyn strutted in, travelling cloak flowing behind him, wand by his side. The Entrance Hall was fairly empty but those few students and ghosts in there turned their heads sharply, Nearly Headless Nick's toppling precariously on his shoulders. Selwyn strolled straight through and up the marble staircase as though he owned the place. Deciding on the spot to follow him, Neville wove past a pack of second-years and briskly pursued Selwyn through the corridor and up three flights of stairs. Selwyn turned around but Neville kept a low profile, and the Death Eater didn't recognise him anyway. He stopped halfway down the third-floor corridor and knocked on Amycus Carrow's office door.

'Selwyn? What're you doin' 'ere? Come in, quick.'

The office door snapped shut behind Selwyn. Neville immediately began rummaging his pockets when he found what he was looking for. He pulled the long reel of flesh-coloured string and slipped it under the crack in the door. The men's voices were immediately magnified, echoing slightly in Neville own ear.

'... causing a lot of trouble, I've heard.'

'He's a bleedin' nightmare,' came Carrow's voice, irritable and impatient, 'I've told Snape time and time again to let me punish him, but he wants proof! Who needs proof, it's bleedin' obvious!'

'Yeah, well ... that's why I'm here. The Ministry's putting a stop to it.'

'Yeah? How've they managed tha'?'

'You know Dawlish? That Imperiused Auror? They sent him to Yorkshire to capture his grandma. We should hear in an hour or so how he got on – well, it's not as if he'll get outdone by a little old witch living alone, is it?'

Carrow laughed harshly while Neville's heart raced and hot anger boiled in his stomach and head. He reeled in the Ear, not wanting to hear more, and headed up the corridor as Selwyn departed behind him.

He lay in the common room that evening afraid, not saying much. He shook his head firmly when Seamus asked how he was, giving Parvati and Lavender the same treatment when they asked too.

So they'd caught Gran, in an attempt to stem his flow of rebelling. Where would they send her to? How long would they keep her for? Surely only for a couple of months, as Neville would have left the school by then ... then again, these were Death Eaters he was talking about: mercy wasn't the term that sprang to mind when thinking about them ...

A sharp tapping noise woke Neville up. He was slouched in his armchair and straightened up as he looked for the source of the loud clicking and tapping. There was an owl at the closed window, flapping its wings to stay aloft, a letter clasped in its beak. Neville heaved himself out the chair and stumbled over to the window. The owl clambered in as he opened the window.

'For me?' asked Neville, surprised, as he saw his name on the envelope. The owl dropped it in his hand and soared through the window and into the night sky.

Neville hardly ever received mail, unless it was from his grandmother at the start of the year sending on stuff he'd forgotten. He slit his finger through it and pulled the letter out, straightening it out on a nearby table.

Neville dear,

I'm sure this will come as a surprise to you, but I was unceremoniously attacked this evening by a foolish Ministry gent, for all the trouble you've given to those treacherous Carrows. I must say, dear, I wouldn't have expected that from you, but you have made me and your parents proud – I daresay your father would have given them similar treatment had they been teaching that Gobbledegook like that in his day. Anyhow, poor Dawlish is in St Mungo's with tomatoes for eyes and one hand. I know he's Confunded or Imperiused but I had to treat him as a Death Eater. It would be best not to reply dear, as I'm on the run now, but I'm in no danger where I'm hiding. Take care, Neville dear, I hope to see you as soon as I can. Stay safe,

Gran

Neville found it hard to keep a straight face at breakfast the next morning. The Carrows looked sick after discovering they had failed to keep hold of Neville's grandmother as well as Neville himself. But this positive mood was quickly dispelled, again replaced with fear. As Neville got up to leave for first lesson, he sensed rather than saw the brother and sister make identical movements from the staff table. Jets of red light fizzed past Neville and crackled the back wall of the Great Hall. Neville didn't hesitate and sprinted through the doors; the Carrows were hot on his heels and he turned his head to see McGonagall flash her wand in fury, while students threw insults and brandished their own wands, but somehow the Carrows got through without a mark –

Neville only had one place to go, and he had the perfect short-cut to get there, but it couldn't guarantee definite escape from the Carrows. He burst through the secret tapestry, and almost flew up the steep passage, escalating past the seven flights of stairs that Amycus and Alecto would be rushing up. When he got to the Room of Requirement door, he sped past it once –

Loud footsteps echoed from round the corner. I need a place to hide from the Carrows.

Twice –

'Sectumsempra!'

Another jet of light missed him, crashing into the small door of the would-be broom cupboard, as he repeated the phrase in his head desperately. I need a place to hide from the Carrows!

Thrice –

I NEED A PLACE TO HIDE FROM THE CARROWS!

'Stop dancing, Longbo'om! CRUCIO!'

He escaped the spurt of light by inches. As the door formed, he crashed through it, and it locked itself. Neville toppled to the ground in his haste to get inside, hearing a distinct thud as the Carrows ran into the wall outside.

He didn't get up immediately, but lay there, panting, his heart bursting through his ribs and up his gullet, his left cheek cooled by the stone floor. It was completely silent but for his heavy breathing. He was alone.

He stood up and found that his right leg gave way slightly; his knee was very weak and he half-remembered smashing it on something as he'd fallen in. He straightened up and looked about him to see how the Room would surprise him this time.

It was fairly small, not much larger than a classroom, though with high ceiling. The red-and-gold Gryffindor hangings draped from balconies above and there was a bookshelf stacked against one wall. A wooden-cased wireless stood in the far corner, whirring ever so slightly. The door where Neville stood beside had reformed into a tall cupboard, rather like a wardrobe. And in the middle of the room, stretched and supported across two stone pillars, hung a grey, clean hammock for someone to sleep in.

Neville spent the whole day in there. He had to admit it was boring but he managed to indulge himself into some Herbology related books and tune into something on the wireless, but it was impossible to find a channel that wasn't Ministry-controlled, which all shouted out the same, exasperating messages, about capturing Muggles and Mudbloods, about the price tag on Harry Potter if caught.

He found it hard to sleep, yet the hammock was certainly comfortable enough. He would have to message Seamus at some point tomorrow evening, where he would be in the common room during the weekend. He had nightmares about being chased by a giant, screaming Mandrake and he ran and tripped into Amycus' office desk; he woke up with his ears ringing and knee aching.

He found it hard to occupy himself the next day. It was only until mid-morning, while he was reading the same sentence in Grunlock's Guide to Bubotubers for the sixth time that he realised how hungry he was. He was on the verge of contemplating whether to message Seamus to bring some food to him when a blank portrait appeared from nowhere on the back wall. He approached it carefully, wondering how it could have appeared so randomly and abruptly. He pushed it with a slightly shaky hand and the portrait swung gently inwards, revealing a tunnel, which could have passed for an aged corridor. Brass lamps lined the two walls, casting sufficient light a long way down the tunnel. The floor was stone but very smooth, as though it had only just been laid.

Cautiously, Neville began walking down the tunnel, even just for something to do. The roof was quite low and he had to angle his head sideways as to not scrape his scalp. The light of the flickering lamps played tricks on Neville's eyes and he kept looking behind him, certain a shadow had appeared. But the corridor remained empty.

Twenty minutes later, the darkness ahead became more solid, and a blank wall grew into the light. The wall wasn't made of stone but it seemed solid enough, and Neville felt a stab of anticlimax, doubtful if the wall would budge. But luckily it did.

He stumbled through the wall, quickly realising it was the back of a portrait, slightly raised from the rest of the room in front of him. He appeared to be in a kind of living room, with a rich, crimson carpet and a fairly dusty set of table and chairs. A man was seated on one of these chairs, a mug of steaming drink on the table. The man turned round to face the intruder. He had long, straggly, grey hair and ragged black robes. His faced was lined and behind the dirty lenses of spectacles were two electric-blue eyes, which pierced Neville ominously as the latter crouched unmoving in the gap in the wall.

The old man slowly pushed himself out his chair, his wand raised, looking at Neville with surprise and fear. Neville raised his hands in innocence and looked into the man's sparkling blue eyes. He was oddly familiar to Neville –

'Who are you?' said the man in a brave voice.

'Neville Longbottom.'

A flicker of understanding passed over the man's face.

'Longbottom, eh? Frank and Alice's son?'

Neville nodded, arms still raised. The man nodded too and lowered his wand.

'My name's Aberforth.'

They shook hands.

'You come from the school?'

'Yes, sir,' said Neville. He lowered himself from the gap in the wall and hopped to the floor of the room. He heard the small door close behind him.

'So you knew my brother then, I suppose?' he asked, his voice suddenly cold.

'Who's your brother?'

Aberforth grunted and turned away without answering.

'This is the Hog's Head?' Neville asked, peering through a hole in a floorboard, which showed the recognisable bar below. Then he realised who the man was: the barman here. Aberforth nodded again.

'How the bloody hell did you get in here?' he asked rather aggressively.

'I'm – not too sure,' Neville answered half-truthfully. 'Have you heard of the two Carrows that teach up at the school?'

'Hell yeah,' the barman grunted, gesturing Neville to take a seat at the table with him. 'Some of their Death Eater pals are keeping stock of stuff downstairs, potions and such. Only way I'm able to stay alive. But go on.'

'Well, they chased me up the whole school – the Carrows and I never really got on, you see,' Neville continued with a small smile. 'I found a place to hide and stayed in there for a day or so. I was beginning to get hungry but it was too risky to get my friends to bring me food. And then this passage opened up –' Neville broke off, looking behind him at the hole in the wall. He was surprised to see a large portrait there, of a young, blonde girl, no older than fourteen or so. She was in a simple, pale-blue dress and half-smiling; a long tunnel stretched out behind her.

'So I'm guessing you want some food,' muttered Aberforth.

'That would be very kind, sir.'

The barman got up and trudged down some stairs. Neville listened to him bustling around and looked back at the portrait of the blonde girl.

'My sister, Ariana,' Aberforth said, carrying a tray of ham and bread and a jug of pumpkin juice and watching Neville. 'Died a long time ago.' A hint of danger and anger appeared in his eyes but it was gone when he looked at Neville.

'I – I'm sorry to hear that,' Neville replied nervously, making a ham sandwich. He tried not to eat too quickly in case he was asked another question but he was ridiculously hungry all the same. Aberforth helped himself to some lunch as well, so the room was filled with the slightly nauseating noises of the men's munching and gulping.

'You said you had a brother, too,' said Neville.

'He died as well,' Aberforth said shortly. Neville spluttered on his bread in apology. 'Only last year.'

'I'm sorry,' said Neville again, feeling more humiliated by the second. He looked away, embarrassed.

'Well, you must have known him. He was the old Headmaster.'

Aberforth watched Neville's reaction.

'You – Dumble– you're Dumbledore's brother?' Neville blurted out loudly. Aberforth smirked.

'Indeed. I'll always be known as Dumbledore's brother, never Albus' brother. I hope you're not one of those idiots who worshipped him, Longbottom. Kept a lot of secrets, my brother did.'

Neville didn't know what to say; he wasn't even sure if Aberforth was talking to him or himself. He half-shrugged and took another bite of ham and bread to avoid answering. Aberforth was staring stone-faced into space.

'So you've had Death Eaters coming in here?' asked Neville, breaking the awkward silence.

'Yeah, just to stock their potions and poisons, like I said. A couple will come in once a week, to check if I haven't stuck 'em down the sink or anything. They've put a Caterwauling Charm and curfew on the whole of Hogsmeade. Anyone out in the village after nine, they appear outta nowhere.

'How're things at the school?'

'Not great,' said Neville, taking a swig of juice, 'the Carrows get us to torture students as a punishment –' Aberforth made a noise of disapproval but didn't look too surprised. 'Snape – well, Snape's Snape. He doesn't say much, but you can tell he's up to something. I'm going to get Dumbledore's – your brother's – Army into the Room where I came from and camp out there instead where it's safe.'

'My brother had an Army?' repeated Aberforth, interested.

'Has an Army,' corrected Neville patiently, 'well, sort of ... a group of the strongest students trying to plot against the Carrows and Snape – but it's hard. I don't expect walking into Hogwarts is any different from walking into the Ministry.'

Neville got to his feet.

'The Room I'm in doesn't provide any food for some reason – I'm sure it provides everything else. Would it be possible for me to pick up some food everyday, to keep everyone happy? I'm not sure how much I'll need; there are a lot of us.'

'I've got loads of food, lad, come down when you like. I like you, Longbottom. You've got spirit.'

Neville couldn't honestly return the compliment, so smiled and nodded.

'I'd better be off. Thanks for the food and drink. I'll take some back now, can I?'

Aberforth nodded and traipsed down the stairs again. Neville got out his coin and began etching out a message to the whole Army:

I'm safe everyone, can you all meet in the Room of Requirement as soon as possible. Make sure you take your trunks, there's some good accommodation now! Walkword is "I need a place to hide from the Carrows", or something along those lines - Neville

'There you are, Longbottom,' came Aberforth's strained voice as he emerged from downstairs supporting a large tray of meats, fish, bread and fruit and vegetables.

'Brilliant, thank you Ab.' He opened the portrait of Ariana and clambered into the mouth of the tunnel. Aberforth softened slightly at the nickname and placed the tray carefully into Neville arms.

'Take care now, lad.'

'You too – cheers.'

The portrait closed behind Neville as he straightened up. It would be a longer journey back with the marvellous platter of food but he was looking forward to what was waiting for him at the other end of the tunnel.

'Neville!'

Seamus ran up to embrace him as he dropped from the canvas, but, of course, he had to wait until Neville had laid the tray on a table, which groaned under its weight.

'We had no idea where you'd been, mate!' Seamus said loudly, clapping Neville on the back.

'I'm fine, I'm fine,' said Neville reassuringly, 'who else ...?'

It was just him and Seamus at that point, but even as Neville looked over to the entrance door, more boys emerged into view.

'Neville!' yelled Ernie happily, also running up to hug him, Terry, Michael and Anthony looking delighted over Ernie's shoulder. They had all wheeled in their trunks and stacked them on an oversized trolley at the back of the Room, rather like the food trolley on the Hogwarts Express. When Neville broke off, he saw that the Room had expanded seconds ago, and more hammocks appeared between the pillars. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff hangings materialised on the balconies aside the red-and-gold Gryffindor ones, just as they had done on the first DA meeting of the year. Zacharias and some of the younger boys came in, depositing their belongings and looking round and pointing at new artefacts, impressed.

'Where're all the girls?' asked Neville curiously, only just noticing their absence.

'Not sure, I think Lavender and Parvati possibly got caught running down the corridor with their trunks,' said Ernie. Neville felt worried.

'They'll be fine,' he said bravely, trying to believe it himself.

It was a whole hour before any of the girls arrived, during which Ernie sat beside the large wireless, whispering words into it and tapping his wand. Neville was on the verge of asking what he was trying to achieve, when the door opened again. Neville had lost track of how many doors there were now, but yet another appeared as the girls walked in, labelled Bathroom.

'Funny how that opens when a girl walks in,' Lavender smirked as she hugged Neville, who laughed.

'What kept you?'

'Snape,' answered Susan. 'He saw us on the top floor with our trunks.'

'And he let you go?'

'Told him we were going downstairs to see Alecto Carrow 'cause she wanted to examine our possessions. Snape just left us to it.'

'Nice,' said Neville with a grin. They were all in here now. It seemed odd to not have Ginny or Luna with them but at least they knew they were safe.

So the Army spent most of the hours in the Room. It would be suicidal for Neville to return to the rest of school, but as long as one person stayed, the Room remained unchanged. Everyone else attended their lessons, but for Muggle Studies and Dark Arts, during which they returned to see Neville. By day, Neville would visit Aberforth in the Hog's Head once a day, keeping them all stocked with food; Ariana would walk up her tunnel towards the Room whenever Aberforth wanted Neville, whether for food or news. The rest of the DA attended dinner in the Great Hall as usual, to avoid further suspicion.

Ernie and Terry spent the first two days desperately whispering words to the radio, which, Neville had been told, would tune them into a channel called Potterwatch, the only channel that wasn't angled towards the Ministry's input. Despite being on Harry's side, the channel wasn't reliable all the time and they occasionally heard the most ridiculous rumours, including one particularly strange report about Voldemort being attacked by wild centaurs and house-elves with broomsticks – something that Neville seriously doubted, but at least it made him laugh.

A couple of weeks into staying in the new camp, however, they picked up a more interesting report.

'Now, we have an exciting event to report on, this time from a reliable Gringotts insider,' the man on Potterwatch was saying, clearly struggling to hold back his excitement. The whole group was sat down round the wireless, listening intently.

'We have been informed that a dragon guarding the high-security vaults in Gringotts has broken out, yes broken out, from the bank. It's been rumoured that three humans were riding on its back, one of which, ladies and gentlemen, is none other than young Harry Potter –'

Neville laughed in triumph, while Seamus and Ernie both shouted 'No way!'

'The dragon has flown right over London it seems, but its current whereabouts are undetected.'

Ernie turned the volume right down on the wireless, beaming.

'Excellent,' he said, delighted.

Neville was restless for the rest of the afternoon, he was too happy about the image of Harry, Ron and Hermione escaping Gringotts on the back of a dragon. When everyone left for dinner that evening, he sat down, hoping that the trio would soon return, but he wasn't completely confident.

He was slightly put off, however, when Terry returned with a fresh cut on his cheek and Anthony explained that he'd shouted about the dragon in the Great Hall. Terry seemed fine though.

Half an hour later, everyone was back in the Room. Neville was teaching Lavender how to play wizard's chess, but it didn't help that he'd forgotten most of the rules himself.

'... and then bishops can only move diagonally, I think – then there's the rooks that can jump over any over piece – or is that the knight? I think it's the knight actually, yes –'

'Neville,' someone said.

'... yeah that can kill the pawn,' Neville said as Lavender moved the piece, shrieking slightly as the knight hopped down from his horse and began beating up the black pawn. 'Sorry Seamus?'

Seamus jerked his head to the portrait, where Ariana was silently waiting, looking at Neville with that permanent half-smile.

'OK,' said Neville, getting to his feet, 'see you in a bit, everyone.'

There were noises of farewell and Neville pushed the portrait gently open. He walked briskly down the tunnel, wondering what Aberforth could want. If Neville had to help identify the Death Eater's potions again ... he'd already told Ab how useless he was at that subject.

He neared the end of the passage. The back of the Hog's Head portrait was transparent now, as it was whenever Ariana came to fetch him from the Room. He could already see the thin figure of Aberforth, but he wasn't alone.

'You're joking,' breathed Neville, excitement and disbelief in equal measure escalating through him. He paused in the passage, fumbling excitedly for his coin. He addressed the message to both Luna and Ginny.

Guys, Harry's back! You need to Apparate DIRECTLY INTO THE HOG'S HEAD BAR, OK? Luna, make sure you bring Dean with you!

The three, younger people next to Aberforth looked up at Neville as he half-ran the last ten feet of the tunnel, bursting through the portrait. He leapt from the mantelpiece and shouted, 'I knew you'd come! I knew it, Harry!' before bringing him into a hug.

He heard Harry's spluttering of surprise but he was already hugging Ron and Hermione before Harry could string a sentence together.

'I knew you'd come!' he repeated, standing back after hugging Hermione and looking at them all. 'Kept telling Seamus it was a matter of time!'

As Luna had said, they didn't look great. Harry's face was grimy, his black hair long, his clothes torn and tattered; Ron red hair was just as long, and he looked dumbstruck at Neville's arrival. Hermione was half-beaming, perhaps unsure if he was really there at all. She also looked like she'd been through the wars, and was just as messy-looking as the other two, her hair as bushy as it had been during first-year.

'Neville, what's happened to you?' Harry blurted out.

'What? This?' asked Neville and indicating his face. 'This is nothing. Seamus is worse. You'll see. Shall we get going then? Oh, Ab, there might be a couple more people on the way.'

'Couple more?' Ab said aggressively; he looked rather uptight about something. 'What d'you mean, a couple more, Longbottom? There's a curfew and a Caterwauling Charm on the whole village!'

'I know, that's why they'll be Apparating directly into the bar – just send them down the passage when they get here, will you? Thanks a lot.'

He offered his hand to Hermione, who beamed as he supported her into the hole, Ron just behind her. Harry muttered something to Aberforth before following them.

'How long's this been here?' asked Ron as Neville began to lead them down the tunnel. 'It isn't on the Marauders Map, is it, Harry? I thought there were only seven passages in and out of school?'

'They sealed off all those before the start of the year,' Neville answered. 'There's no chance of getting through any of them now, not with curses over the entrances and Death Eater and Dementors waiting at the exits. But never mind that stuff ...' he began walking backwards to get another good look at them, hardly daring to believe his luck and his eyes. It was the best thing he could have hoped for ... finally, after months and months, they were going to thwart the Carrows and Snape once and for all.

Then he remembered the report on Potterwatch.

'Is it true? Did you break into Gringotts? Did you escape on a dragon? It's everywhere, everyone's talking about it, Terry Boot got beaten up by Carrow for yelling about it in the Great Hall at dinner!'

'Yeah, it's true,' said Harry and Neville laughed as he had done when he'd heard it on the radio.

'What did you do with the dragon?' he asked.

'Released it into the wild,' answered Ron. 'Hermione was all for keeping it as a pet –' he began, while Hermione spluttered indignantly.

'But what have you been doing?' enquired Neville, trying to sound casual instead of curious. 'People have been saying you've been on the run, Harry, but I don't think so. I think you've been up to something.' He knew he sounded nosy with that last statement, and he thought Harry noticed.

'You're right,' he said evasively, 'but tell us about Hogwarts, Neville, we haven't heard anything.'

'It's been ... well, it's not really like Hogwarts any more,' Neville said, failing to keep the sadness out his voice and feeling his grin slide away into nothingness. 'Do you know about the Carrows?'

'Those two Death Eaters who teach here?'

'They do more than teach: they're in charge of all discipline. They like punishment, the Carrows.'

'Like Umbridge?' Harry asked.

'Nah, they make her look tame,' Neville said with a wry smile. 'The other teachers are all supposed to refer us to the Carrows if we do anything wrong. They don't though, if they can avoid it. You can tell they all hate them as much as we do.'

They continued up the passage. This was certainly the most Neville had talked for some time, and it was a relief to do it to friends he hadn't seen in such a while.

'Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defense Against the Dark Arts, except now it's just the Dark Arts,' he continued. 'We're supposed to practise the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detentions –'

'What?' they all shouted together.

'Yeah. That's how I got this one,' Neville said, pointing at the worst scar on his face and remembering Selwyn in the dungeon. 'I refused to do it. Some people are into it, though; Crabbe and Goyle love it. First time they've ever been top in anything, I expect.'

Neville paused to look at their faces, each displaying expressions of dismay.

'Alecto, Amycus's sister, teaches Muggle Studies, which is compulsory for everyone. We've all got to listen to her explain how Muggles are like animals, stupid and dirty, and how they drove wizards into hiding by being vicious towards them, and how the natural order is being re-established. I got this one,' he said, pointing to another cut on his cheek, 'for asking how much Muggle blood she and her brother have got.'

'Blimey, Neville,' said Ron quietly, 'there's a time and a place for getting a smart mouth,' and Neville had to resist laughing.

'You didn't hear her. You wouldn't have stood for it either. The thing is, it helps when people stand up to them, it gives everyone hope. I used to notice that when you did it, Harry.'

'But they've used you as a knife sharpener,' said Ron but Neville simply shrugged.

'Doesn't matter. They don't want to spill too much pure blood, so they'll torture us a bit if we're mouthy but they won't actually kill us. The only people in real danger are the ones whose friends and relatives on the outside are giving trouble. They get taken hostage. Old Xeno Lovegood was getting too outspoken in The Quibbler, so they dragged Luna off the train on the way back for Christmas.'

'Neville, she's alright, we've seen her –'

'Yeah, I know, she managed to get a message to me.' He filched out the fake Galleon again and spoke to Hermione, grinning.

'These have been great. The Carrows never rumbled how we were communicating, it drove them mad. We used to sneak out at night and put graffiti on the walls: Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting, stuff like that. Snape hated it.'

'You used to?' asked Harry pointedly.

'Well, it got more difficult as time went on,' said Neville. 'We lost Luna and Christmas and Ginny never came back after Easter, and the three of us were sort of the leaders. The Carrows seemed to know I was behind a lot of it, so they started coming down on me hard, and then Michael Corner went and got caught releasing a first-year they'd chained up, and they tortured him pretty badly. That scared people off.'

'No kidding,' mumbled Ron, looking slightly scared himself.

'Yeah, well, I couldn't ask people to go through what Michael did, so we dropped those kind of stunts. But we were still fighting, doing underground stuff,' Neville continued, remembering how that hidden underground chamber had in fact been beneath the dungeons, enabling them to rescue students from below. 'Right up until a couple of weeks ago. That's when they decided there was only one way to stop me, I suppose, and they went for Gran.'

'They what?' the three of them shouted together again.

'Yeah ... well, you can see their thinking,' Neville proceeded, taking heavier breaths as the end of the passage sloped up. 'It had worked really well, kidnapping kids to force their relatives to behave, I s'pose to was only a matter of time before they did it the other way round. Thing was, they bit off a bit more than they could chew with Gran ...' Neville smiled in spite of himself, as Carrow's words returned to him. '"Little old witch living alone", they probably thought they didn't need to send anyone particularly powerful. Anyway,' he laughed, 'Dawlish is still in St Mungo's and Gran's on the run. She sent me a letter telling me she was proud of me, that I'm my parent's son, and to keep it up.'

'Cool,' said Ron, now also smiling.

'Yeah ... only thing was, once they realised they had no hold over me, they decided Hogwarts could do without me after all. I don't know whether they were planning to kill me or send me to Azkaban, either way, I knew it was time to disappear.' They approached the end of the tunnel, Neville's excitement mounting again.

'But,' stammered a confused Ron, 'aren't – aren't we heading straight back to Hogwarts?'

''Course,' said Neville, as they rounded the corner, up the short stairs and towards the back of the portrait. 'You'll see. We're here.'

Neville pushed the portrait forwards and climbed over into the Room. Everyone turned to look at his beaming face, slightly confused.

'Look who it is!' called Neville to the group at large, as some of them began to get to their feet. 'Didn't I tell you?' Neville stepped aside to reveal Harry, Ron and Hermione to them.

'HARRY!'

'It's Potter, it's POTTER!'

'Ron!'

'Hermione!'

Seamus and Ernie were the first to rush over to them, joined hastily by Lavender, Parvati and the rest of the girls and boys. They formed a kind of scrum at the portrait, all shouting and ruffling their hair and clapping them on their backs.

'OK, OK, calm down!' shouted Neville over the sudden tumult and they all dispersed quickly, but still staring at the trio admiringly.

'Where are we?' Harry asked, staring around at the colourful hangings and hammocks.

'Room of Requirement, of course!' answered Neville. 'Surpassed itself, hasn't it? The Carrows were chasing me, and I knew I had just one chance for a hideout: I managed to get through the door and this is what I found! Well, it wasn't exactly like this when I arrived, it was a load smaller, there was only one hammock and just Gryffindor hangings. But it's expanded as more and more of the DA have arrived.'

'And the Carrows can't get in?'

Neville opened his mouth, but Seamus answered for him.

'No ... it's a proper hideout, as long as one of us stays in here, they can't get at us, the door won't open. It's all down to Neville,' he ploughed on, grinning at Neville. 'He really gets this Room. You've got to ask it for exactly what you need – like, "I don't want any Carrow supporters to be able to get in" – and it'll do it for you! You've just got to make sure you close the loopholes! Neville's the man!'

'It's quite straightforward, really,' said Neville, trying not to look too pleased with himself. 'I'd been in here about a day and a half, and getting really hungry, and wishing I could get something to eat, and that's when the passage to the Hog's Head opened up. I went through it and met Aberforth. He's been providing us with food, because for some reason, that's the one thing the Room doesn't really do.'

'Yeah, well, food's one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elementary Transfiguration,' said Ron, and Neville raised his eyebrows, impressed. Seamus spoke again.

'So we've been hiding out here for nearly two weeks and it just makes more hammocks every time we need them, and it even sprouted a pretty good bathroom once girls started turning up –'

'– and thought they'd quite like to wash, yes,' interrupted Lavender and Seamus laughed.

'Tell us what you've been up to, though,' said Ernie, when nothing happened except that Harry looked around at them all again. 'There've been so many rumours, we've been trying to keep up with you on Potterwatch. You didn't break into Gringotts?'

'They did!' exclaimed Neville. 'And the dragon's true too!' There were more celebratory whoops and the Ravenclaw boys clapped appreciatively. Then Seamus asked the question that was on all of their minds.

'What were you after?'

None of them answered, but Harry turned suddenly faint, turning his back on them briefly, holding his head. Neville remembered how Harry's scar had always had some connection to Voldemort, and hoped the latter wasn't disturbing Harry.

'Are you alright, Harry?' he asked, moving towards him again. 'Want to sit down? I expect you're tired, aren't –?'

'No,' Harry interrupted, looking meaningfully at Ron and Hermione, to whom he muttered, 'we need to get going.'

'What are we going to do, then, Harry?' asked Seamus eagerly again. 'What's the plan?'

'Plan?' Harry repeated. 'Well, there's something we – Ron, Hermione and I – need to do, and then we'll get out of here.'

There was a confused silence. Neville knew they were misunderstood; they had obviously come here to get rid of the Carrows, surely ... what other reason was there?

'What d'you mean, "get out of here"?' he asked.

'We haven't come back to stay,' Harry continued impatiently, massaging his forehead still. 'There's something important we need to do –'

'What is it?'

'I – I can't tell you.'

But Neville knew where this was going: he'd heard Harry talk like this before and half-expected him to announce that he was heading alone to the Ministry to save Sirius. Everyone else was clearly thinking along the same lines, many of them muttering to one another or rolling their eyes.

'Why can't you tell us?' said Neville, trying not to sound too annoyed. 'It's something to do with fighting You-Know-Who, right?'

'Well, yeah –'

'Then we'll help you,' he concluded simply, while all around him came nods of agreement, and shuffling sounds as many of the boys got to their feet.

'You don't understand,' replied Harry, sounding weary. 'We – we can't tell you. We've got to do it – alone.'

'Why?' asked Neville, his impatience rising.

'Because ... Dumbledore left the three of us a job ... and we weren't supposed to tell – I mean, he wanted us to do it, just the three of us.'

'We're his Army,' said Neville quietly; didn't they realise how hard it had been for them at Hogwarts this year? 'Dumbledore's Army. We were all in it together, we've been keeping it going while you three have been off on your own –'

'It hasn't exactly been a picnic, mate,' said Ron, but Neville had found his new spark of courage at the beginning of the year and he was going to use it now. He straightened up, looking directly at them, feeling exactly like he had done in their first-year when he'd threatened to fight them if they went out to cause trouble again.

'I never said it had, but I don't see why you can't trust us. Everyone in this Room's been fighting and they've been driven in here because the Carrows were hunting them down. Everyone in here's proven they're loyal to Dumbledore – loyal to you.'

'Look –' but Harry's next excuse was cut short as everyone was distracted by figures emerging through the dark hole of the tunnel. On a better day, Neville would have been delighted to see Luna and Dean, but his annoyance and angst at being left alone had clouded over everything else.

'We got your message, Neville!' Luna said brightly, and Neville grinned happily in spite of himself, his heart rising again. 'Hello you three, I thought you must be here! Hi everyone! Oh, it's great to be back!'

Dean grinned down at everyone and Seamus ran up to hug his best friend with a shout of joy.

'Luna, what are you doing here?' asked a perplexed Harry. 'How did you –?'

'I sent for her,' explained Neville, showing them the Galleon again. 'I promised her and Ginny that if you turned up I'd let them now. We all thought that if you came back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows.' As he talked, the coin in his hand went hot and he read the message:

Great, we're on our way now, bringing Fred, George, Lee and Cho Chang! – Ginny

Suddenly struck by an idea, while Luna continued to talk to Harry, Neville hastily etched a reply:

Excellent, can you get Aberforth to alert the Order? We're fighting the Carrows off! – Neville

Whatever Harry, Ron and Hermione were deciding, Neville was positive that tonight would be the Carrow's and Snape's downfall.

'Listen,' Harry was pleading to Luna and Neville put the coin back in his pocket, 'I'm sorry, but that's not what we came back for. There's something we've got to do, and then –'

'You're going to leave us in this mess?' said Michael loudly and incredulously.

'No!' shouted Ron, just as annoyed. 'What we're doing will benefit everyone in the end, it's all about trying to get rid of You-Know-Who –'

'Then let us help!' Neville half-yelled. 'We want to be a part of it!'

Much sooner than he'd expected, he was cut off by the arrival of Ginny, the twins, Lee and Cho. How they had managed to alert Aberforth and reach the end of the tunnel in under a minute was beyond his comprehension.

'Aberforth's getting a bit ratty,' said Fred to Neville, when their reception had died down. 'He wants a kip, and his bar's turned into a railway station.'

'I got the message,' said Cho, holding up her own coin while smiling at Harry, and Neville was surprised she still had it. She went and sat next to Michael.

'So what's the plan, Harry?' asked George eagerly.

'There isn't one,' Harry answered evasively.

'Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favourite kind,' said the other twin.

'You've got to stop this!' Harry burst out and it took Neville a few seconds to realise that Harry had aimed it at him. 'What did you call them all back for? This is insane –'

'We're fighting aren't we?' piped up Dean, and Neville had to fight back a laugh. 'The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight! I'll have to get a wand, though –'

'You haven't got a wand?' began Seamus.

'The Snatchers took it,' explained Dean, as Harry, Ron and Hermione appeared to be conferring over something. Fred and George were demonstrating their Shield Hats and cracking jokes, while Lavender and Parvati laughed and squealed as the jinxes deflected off the hats. Then Harry gathered the group's attention again.

'OK ... there's something we need to find. Something – something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It's here at Hogwarts, but we don't know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone ever come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?'

'Well, there's her lost diadem. I told you about it, remember, Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Daddy's trying to duplicate it.'

'Yeah, but the lost diadem ... is lost, Luna. That's sort of the point,' said Michael and a couple of people laughed.

'When was it lost?'

'Centuries ago, they say,' answered Cho. 'Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked, but nobody's ever found a trace of it, have they?' she asked Terry and Michael, who shook their heads.

'Sorry, but what is a diadem?' asked Ron sceptically.

'It's a kind of crown,' said Terry. 'Ravenclaw's was supposed to have magical properties, enhance the wisdom of the wearer.'

'And none of you have ever seen anything that looks like it?' asked Harry, as Luna sounded to Neville as though she was on the verge of sharing one of her and her father's odd stories. But they all shook their heads.

There was a pause, during which Neville wondered why on earth Harry was looking for something of Ravenclaw.

'If you'd like to see what the diadem's supposed to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry?' suggested Cho. 'Ravenclaw's wearing it in her statue.'

Harry spoke to Ron shortly before agreeing to be escorted to the Ravenclaw common room, and Cho got to her feet –

'No, Luna will take Harry, won't you, Luna?' said Ginny quite angrily.

'Oooh, yes, I'd like to,' she said, getting to her feet while a disappointed-looking Cho sat back down.

Harry took a deep breath and turned to Neville.

'How do we get out?'

'Over here.'

Neville led Luna and Harry to the wardrobe-like exit door.

'It comes out somewhere different every day, so they've never been able to find it. Only trouble is, we never know exactly where we're going to end up when we go out. Be careful, Harry, they're always patrolling the corridors at night.'

'No problem,' said Harry. 'See you in a bit.' The pair shot up the staircase and out of sight. Neville turned back to the people in the Room again.

'Is Harry OK?' he asked Ron and Hermione quietly.

Ron made a strange movement between and shrug and a nod, before Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and began talking to him hastily. Everyone else broke into loud conversations and Neville heard the same questions crop up in all of them: What was Harry doing? Why was he looking for Ravenclaw's diadem?

'Neville – um, Ron and I need to go too,' said Hermione, pulling Ron over to the exit.

'But – you – what are we s'posed to do, just sit here and wait?'

'Mate, get as many people as you can in here, OK?' Ron said. 'Just in – in case You-Know-Who finds out what's going on, OK?'

Neville couldn't be bothered to argue any more.

'OK ... so where're you going, anyway?'

'Um, bathroom,' muttered Hermione distractedly, yanking Ron forward.

'Bathroom?' Neville repeated blankly, but Ron and Hermione were already through the cupboard and away.

'Neville, what's going on? Where did Ron just go?' Fred asked, only just realising.

'Bathroom, apparently.'

Fred, George and Ginny looked just as confused as Neville did.

'Right ... we need to get as many people in here as possible – can you see if Angelina, Katie and the rest of the older students have got their coins still?' Neville asked the twins. 'On second thoughts, send a message to every DA member, I'm bound to forget some people.' He turned to Ginny. 'You told Ab to alert the Order, right?' She nodded, while Fred and George dug out their fake Galleons and began sending messages.

'Good,' said Neville. 'I've got a feeling You-Know-Who might be coming soon – Ron gave it away when he said he might come here, because Harry probably saw it.'

Neville had barely finished talking when a large group of people walked in: his old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin, a bald, black wizard Neville recognised from the fight at the Ministry two years ago, followed by Ron's parents and what must have been one of his older brothers, who was hand in hand with a beautiful girl, who, with a jolt, Neville remembered from the Triwizard Tournament, and had no idea it was her whom Ron's brother had married. They all stumbled in, gazing round at the room they didn't recognise.

'Fred – George – Ginny,' said Ron's brother, briefly hugging each in turn. 'What's going on, we haven't heard anything –'

'That Hog's Head barman just told us to come here –'

'Harry's not here, is he?'

'Harry is here,' said Neville, approaching the members of the Order but talking mainly to Lupin.

'Neville, it's you! Harry's here, you say?'

'Yes, he left for the Ravenclaw common room just now. I think we'll have to wait in here for him to come back, see what the next plan is.'

'OK, OK ...' Lupin took a seat, while Mr and Mrs Weasley embraced their sons and daughter, squabbling over them. 'What are you all dong in here, then?' Lupin asked, gazing at all the students, evidently recognising some of them from his year of teaching even with their horrific injuries.

'We're Dumbledore's Army, Professor,' Parvati said.

'Please, call me Remus, it's been too long since I taught,' said Lupin with a dry chuckle. 'Dumbledore's Army, eh?'

'So saying,' said Ernie casually. 'You're all part of the Order of Phoenix I take it?'

'That's right,' Lupin answered. 'This is Kingsley Shacklebolt,' he continued, indicating the black wizard, who nodded, 'Molly and Arthur Weasley, Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour.' They each smiled as their name was called out.

Noises and movement came from the tunnel again, which hadn't bothered to close. With more enthusiastic greetings from the Gryffindors, particularly Fred, George and Lee Jordan, the old Quidditch team entered, looking both apprehensive and happy. Angelina ran up to Lee with spontaneous enthusiasm and, in front of the whole DA and Order, kissed him on the lips, and they swayed slightly, while many of the students cheered and wolf-whistled. Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell and Oliver Wood greeted everyone warmly. Then a few more students toppled in: Colin and Dennis Creevey, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and the rest of all the Muggle-borns that had been banished from Hogwarts at the start of the year.

'Good to see you!' George exclaimed after hugging Alicia.

'Great to be back!' replied Angelina, still in Lee's arms. The Room had again expanded itself to make space for the dozen or so new arrivals.

At that moment, a thundering noise could be heard from the exit door and Lupin swiftly got up and rushed over to the door. Harry and Luna had returned.

'Harry, what's happening?' Lupin asked and everyone fell silent to hear Harry's answer.

'Voldemort's on his way, they're barricading the school – Snape's run for it –' One down, two to go, thought Neville '– What are you doing here? How did you know?'

'We sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore's Army,' said Fred. 'You couldn't expect everyone to miss the fun, Harry, and the DA let the Order of the Phoenix know, and it all kind of snowballed.'

'What first, Harry? What's going on?' asked the other twin, and the attention of everyone was sharper than a needle again.

'They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organised. We're fighting.'

Harry's last word acted like a trigger; before Neville had realised, everyone was charging to the door where Harry stood, brandishing wands and giving a war-like roar. Neville saw Dean grab Luna's hand and tug her along with the rest of them, as she hadn't realised everyone had just vanished up the stairs.

Neville was caught in the huge bulk of students and they flowed like a river down the corridors and stairs. Everyone was tripping over each other's feet but they somehow kept together, as one, until they smashed through the oak doors of the Great Hall. The benches were still out, but nobody was sitting down and the enchanted ceiling was black and starry; Neville had completely lost track of time, but it must have been late evening at the least.

The chatter was deafening. Neville supposed that all the Hogwarts students had returned, whether, pure-blood, half-blood or Muggle-born. Nearly all of them had their wands out, prepared to fight. Even now, Neville thought with a shudder, Voldemort might be on his way, or even standing at the gates ...

All the teachers, led by Professor McGonagall strode into the Hall, cutting a path through the mass of students and reaching the podium at the back where the staff table would usually be.

'Your attention, please!' Professor McGonagall called loudly, and it took nearly ten seconds for the noise to die down completely. 'We need you all seated by houses, so you must take seats at your house tables before further instruction. Quickly!' she added sharply as everyone simply stood there. Neville clambered past everyone and slotted into the Gryffindor table with the rest of the house, the noise level rising again. Even the ghosts had joined the Hall. The rest of the staff had lined up solidly on either side of McGonagall, staring down at them all, but with a hint of fear in all their faces. The Carrows as well as Snape were now absent.

'As an aside, all of last year's prefects will return to their duties this evening and, I daresay, from hereon. For all of those who have not yet heard,' Professor McGonagall continued, as the Hall gradually returned to silence, 'He Who Must Not Be Named is approaching the school as I speak – however,' she had to raise her voice slightly as anxious muttering and even screams of fear broke out among the students. 'However – those who are too young will be led to safety at an evacuation point on the seventh floor corridor. Evacuation will be overseen by Mr Filch and Madam Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give the word, you will organise your house and take your charges, in an orderly fashion, to the evacuation point.'

At this point, Ernie stood up and asked loudly, 'And what if we want to fight?' Seamus amongst many other students cheered and clapped encouragingly.

'If you are of age, you may stay,' McGonagall said.

'What about our things?' asked a Ravenclaw girl. 'Our trunks, our owls?'

'We have no time to collect possessions,' said McGonagall firmly. 'The important thing is to get you out of here safely.'

'Where's Professor Snape?' shouted a Slytherin.

'He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk,' Professor McGonagall replied, and Neville cheered along with the others. She stepped down from the podium as a great movement took place in the Hall; the scraping of benches as students got up and the new, excited babble filled the Hall. But even above all the noise, a new voice spoke, a voice that Neville didn't recognise, a voice that was high and cold and seemed to echo all around them.

'I know that you are preparing to fight.'

Although Neville had never heard this voice before, he knew there was only one wizard to whom it must belong. Many of the students jumped or screamed in fright.

'Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood.'

The silence now was deafening, possibly louder than the voice that had caused it.

'Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed,' continued Voldemort's voice, colder and sharper than a shard of ice. 'Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight.'

The silence that followed was dense, pressing down on all the students and teachers and fighters of Hogwarts, even when the voice had ceased. All eyes fixed on Harry and Neville could feel his fear.

Then a girl from the Slytherin table pointed accusingly at Harry, and shouted to catch him; Neville experienced a unique feeling, somewhere in between anger and ashamedness. He did know, however, that this feeling was mutual with everyone down his table and even the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables, for three-quarters of the school rose from their seats, each staring menacingly at the only Slytherin standing, who seemed to shrink slightly, wide-eyed, at the sight of this huge attack. Without thinking, Neville was drawing his wand, and others did the same around him, preparing to curse the pitiful students of the house they all despised of -

'Thank you, Miss Parkinson. You will leave the Hall first with Mr Filch. If the rest of your house could follow.'

Pansy Parkinson gulped as the rest of Slytherin hastily got up from their table, apparently glad to depart the battle as well as the scene and followed the caretaker from the Hall and into the depths of the dungeons. Professor McGonagall's thin mouth twitched.

'Ravenclaws follow on!'

Most of the Ravenclaws departed, though a handful of seventh-years remained.

'Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors follow!'

The Hall was filled with the loud scraping of benches as the younger students left. Colin Creevey and Jimmy Peakes tried to hide themselves behind Lavender and Parvati, but they were no match for McGonagall's hawk-like eyes.

'Absolutely not, Creevey, go! And you, Peakes!'

Then the man called Kingsley stepped up to the platform alongside McGonagall and spoke to the large mob of fighters that remained.

'We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast! A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest Towers - Ravenclaw, Astronomy and Gryffindor - where they'll have a good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile, Remus, Arthur and I will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organise defence of the entrances of the passageways into the school -'

'- sounds like a job for us,' said Fred, indicating himself and his twin, and Kingsley nodded.

'Alright, leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops!'

The deafening scraping noise reverberated around the Hall again as the students and adults got to their feet, as McGonagall rushed over to speak to Harry about something. Neville joined the back of the line as they approached the teachers and Order of the Phoenix members, wildly reminding him of when the Sorting had taken place all those years ago. Kingsley began dividing up everyone, rather randomly it seemed, and the line became shorter.

'OK - then let's have you five here with Minerva -'

'Oh no, Kingsley, I'll need Longbottom with me I'm afraid,' said Professor Sprout. 'Deals with my plants better than anyone I know!'

Neville blushed crimson.

'That's fine - you four join Minerva, then, and head up to Gryffindor Tower ...' amended Kingsley, gathering the four Gryffindor girls. The Ravenclaw girls were also with their Head of House and all the boys were split between Kingsley, Lupin and Ron's father.

'We'll need immediate protection,' Kingsley said, speaking mainly to the most skilled teachers at spells, McGonagall and Flitwick, who both nodded and beckoned their students out of the Hall.

'Come on then, chaps!' said Sprout, and Neville, Zacharias Smith, Hannah, Susan and two other Hufflepuff girls whose names escaped Neville followed her out the Hall, the packs of fighters hot on their heels. They all barged through the front doors, though the fighters headed off to the main grounds. It was fairly chilly but only because, Neville thought, the fear and adrenaline of the upcoming fight was sending shiver after shiver down his spine. The moon was full and bright but they lit their wands nevertheless as they jogged across the grass.

'Professor, I thought Kingsley said to go the Astronomy -?'

'Oh, we will Longbottom, but we need to collect our weapons ... Mandrakes, Devil's Snare,' she added in response to Neville's questioning look. 'Then it's just a question of actually attacking ... I suppose there's something in lobbing them over the walls, see if the Death Eaters know how to deal with them. What d'you think?'

'Sounds good, Professor,' Neville said with a grin. Sprout led them into Greenhouse Five, where, Neville knew, lurked the dangerous plants.

'Earmuffs,' Sprout said, pointing at the box of them, 'and everyone take a Mandrake, the fullest-grown. Remember to Spellotape their mouth, we don't want the innocent to be killed. We'll return for Devil's Snare, Bubotuber pus, Snargaluff pods, Tentacula ... you get the idea ... let's go!'

They ran through the front doors and up the school. They nearly trampled Harry down one corridor, who was jogging in the opposite direction.

'Mandrakes!' Neville yelled over his shoulder. 'Going to lob them over the walls - they won't like this!'

Panting, they reached the top of the Astronomy Tower and laid down the pots containing the Mandrakes, all of which were attempting, and failing, to scream through the Spellotape but only a tiny, almost non-existent, screeching noise could be distinguished.

It took an additional two trips to the greenhouse before they could catch their breath in the Tower again. Looking down, they could see the vast battlefront of Death Eaters, giants and Snatchers, slowly penetrating the dome-like area of protection. The dome was holding powerfully, but it was only a matter of time before it was broken; there were far too many attempting to break through.

And then Voldemort stepped forward, his face shining pearly-white in the almost total blackness, evidently standing just beyond the boundaries of the protective dome. The whole school seemed to hold its breath, and Neville could tell there wasn't a soul who hadn't noticed him. Lupin, Arthur Weasley and the rest of the fighters retreated a few steps, yet still holding up their wands in defence. Neville watched as Voldemort shook his head, as though disappointed by the teachers' efforts, and had Neville been closer, he was sure a sneer would be playing on his face. He raised his own wand and, with a blinding flash of white light and ear-splitting noise of explosion, the forcefield began to crack and splinter, before burning and fizzing.

'Good grief ...' muttered Sprout, as the dome slowly melted into nothingness. With the raise of a hand, Voldemort shouted something and an almighty roar echoed to the four corners of the earth it seemed, and the huge clan sprinted forward, brandishing wands, spears, maces and in the case of the trolls and giants, huge, wooden clubs. Neville lost sight of Voldemort as he bent down to retrieve his Mandrake, his heart thumping, his stomach churning.

'Brace yourselves,' said Sprout quietly, also clutching a rather fat, quivering Mandrake. They all watched tensely as the two fronts met; the air was suddenly full of bangs, shouts, lights and sparks as wands twirled and swirled, their victims crumbling or shouting out in pain.

'Now!' shouted Professor Sprout and they pulled on their earmuffs.

Simultaneously, they ripped off the Spellotape and launched the Mandrakes high into the air into the midst of Death Eaters, their screams that Neville couldn't hear piercing the air. In a wide arc, they flew and landed amongst the evil witches and wizards. A couple of them fell in seconds, dead, killed by the deadly scream of the fully-grown Mandrakes, while many were simply knocked out by the younger ones' screams.

'And again!' barked Sprout, and they repeated the process, though launching them with their wands instead to get more distance. But there were far too many of them and they had always outnumbered the Order of the Phoenix and DA members.

'Nice one, Longbottom!' said Sprout as Neville's Mandrake brought Selwyn down, his fingers in his ears.

And then the statues of Hogwarts came into view, stone and metal: suits of armour clanged and clanked, waving their swords and spears; stone animals, including lions, winged boars and falcons, shot forwards, scraping at Death Eaters with their claws. Some of the statues crumbled into dust and rubble as they were blown apart, causing a smokescreen to form in random areas. Spurts of fire erupted haphazardly and the giants sunk their huge clubs into the walls and towers of Hogwarts, the stone tumbling and crushing both innocent and non-innocent, and Voldemort's Army came ever closer to the school walls.

'OK - Devil's Snare!'

With a flick of the wand, Sprout sent a stream of the deadly vines into the battle arena. Neville watched in awe as it wrapped itself around Death Eaters' and the giants' necks and torso, causing them to splutter and writhe as they struggled for breath. Neville spotted Bill Weasley fighting Stan Shunpike, Ron's parents with the werewolf Greyback, Luna and Ernie in combat with -

Neville's heart dropped like a stone. Luna was too young to be fighting and there was no way she could match the woman with black, straggly hair and sunken eyes that were wide with excitement.

Without another word, Neville dropped his two Snargaluff pods and raced down the spiral staircase before Sprout had even realised. He wrenched his earmuffs off and dropped them too as he drew his wand. The corridors were largely empty, but Neville knew they would soon be full with battle cries the moment the Hogwarts front was breached. His footsteps echoed as his heart bounded. He simply had to get to Bellatrix before something disastrous happened.

He entered the grounds, illuminated by a combination of the moon, the billowing fires and the lights issued from all wands. Shouts of panic, pain and instructions pressed against Neville eardrums as he scanned the area for Luna. Holding his wand tightly, he spotted her and Ernie and ran over - Bellatrix had gone and they were now fighting Crabbe's father; he keeled over as Ernie and Luna successfully Stunned him at the same time.

'Nice one, Ernie!' shouted Lupin, who was immersed in a fight with Dolohov.

'Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, Loopy?' jeered Dolohov. Lupin continued to assail him, the latter's evil grin dispelled as a gash flashed across his cheek, replaced by a snarl as he recovered himself.

'Avada Kedavra!'

Lupin was never ready for it: he had dropped his guard the moment he'd cut Dolohov. The flash of green light would have been the last thing he saw and Neville, Luna and Ernie watched, in spite of themselves, as their ex-Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher fell forwards, his legs and arms splayed at every angle, unmoving, eyes staring.

'NO!'

A young woman with bubblegum-pink hair came rushing over as Dolohov cackled. She shot a spurt of red light at Dolohov, who creased and fell, blood spurting from his face and through his robes.

Another cackle rent the air, a cackle that sent shivers down Neville. Bellatrix had returned.

'Say hello to Sirius, Dory!' she screeched to the young woman. 'Avada Kedavra!'

The pink-haired woman dropped as Lupin had, their bodies completely parallel, hands an inch from each other. Neville was frozen in shock and anger, and the rest of the battle was severed from his eyeline. Bellatrix hopped away, not noticing Neville, leaving nothing but an echoing, triumphant cackle behind.

'Get back here, coward! Get back I say!'

Through his cloud of misery, Neville turned round at the familiar voice and saw his grandmother jogging forwards, firing off a jink at Bellatrix but she was too far in the distance amongst the rest of the Death Eaters that Augusta's spell whistled just above head height.

'Gran!' croaked Neville, still kneeling beside the bodies of Dolohov's and Bellatrix's latest victims. 'What are you doing here?'

'Fighting, of course, dear!' she answered, sending a Stunner in the path of a skinny Snatcher, who was blasted backwards by the force of it. 'Come on, Neville dear, get up!'

He couldn't get up. He couldn't. They were outnumbered, the enemy was advancing and he couldn't even muster the strength to raise his wandarm -

But any action could be postponed for now, as that high, cold voice reverberated across the grounds and castle, perhaps across the whole world. The fighting stopped so suddenly that it was hard to believe it hadn't finished hours ago, and everyone halted to listen.

'You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.'

Like last time, many fighters gasped and jumped.

'Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat, immediately.'

As Voldemort continued to speak, each of his followers were whisked away in a puff of black smoke, one by one.

'You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.

'I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour.'

Silence filled the air again, and every burn, scratch, cut and bruise on Neville's body seemed magnified tenfold, digging into him like daggers, weighing him down. He forced himself to his feet with unbelievable difficulty, wincing and groaning. Already, students and adults around him were putting out fires with streams of water from their wands, bending down next to friends, carrying the dead in pairs.

Though nobody ordered or suggested it, the dead and injured were brought through the open front doors and into the Great Hall. Neville stood there, unmoving, watching everyone head into the smoking castle.

Someone placed a hand on his shoulder and he turned round to see Seamus there, looking as ragged and dirty as ever, but still upright, still strong, still as willing now to stand up for himself in Carrow's classroom as he had been eight months ago. In silence, they bent down and slid their hands under Professor Lupin's body before shuffling into the Entrance Hall and through to the Great Hall. It was quiet but for the solemn bustling of the alive, tending the injured or talking gently. Neville saw Madam Pomfrey tipping some potion down Michael Corner's open mouth, his leg already bandaged and resting on a bench.

The young woman with the pink hair had already been lain down near the doors, and Neville and Seamus carefully rested Lupin's body alongside hers. His face was pale and lined, but peaceful and painless. Neville gazed down at them for a moment longer before backing out the doors, hearing sobs from the broken marble staircase, and his stomach churned sickeningly; seven Weasleys were walking down, holding and surrounding one of the twins, who wasn't moving, arms draping from his horizontal frame. Without thinking, Neville strode over and helped them reach the Hall steadily, though unable to give words of comfort. They laid him down, Fred's family crying their very hearts out it seemed, and Professor McGonagall and Kingsley came over to comfort them.

Neville left the Hall again, now wondering and fearing how many more had died fighting ... the winds blustered across the grounds as he helped move the injured into the school, then back out to the grounds, and back into the school again, like a metronome, as though he was constructing a building with the bodies that were bricks ... there were more people, alive and dead, every time he returned to the Hall ... he vaguely recalled seeing Ron and Hermione join the mourning, with Luna, Ernie, Terry, Lavender ... again, he wasn't aware of the time, nor aware of how long it would be until Voldemort returned to fight, because he knew Harry couldn't sacrifice himself: he was their only hope.

Then he found himself holding the legs of little Colin Creevey, with Oliver Wood at the other end. Colin must have ignored McGonagall's orders and returned to fight ... the pain of knowing that he needn't have died, that he could have escaped through the Hog's Head safely, stung Neville as much as anything.

'You know what? I can manage him alone, Neville,' said Oliver, and he carefully hauled Colin onto his shoulder and strode into the Hall alone. Neville leant against the doorframe of the front doors, sweating, and he wiped his brow with his forehead before retracing his steps to the grounds yet again. He was about to pick up another casualty when he heard someone behind him.

'Neville.'

He jumped out of his skin and spun round. It was Harry.

'Blimey, Harry, you nearly gave me a heart failure! Where are you going, alone?' he asked suspiciously.

'It's all part of the plan,' Harry replied. 'There's something I need to do. Listen - Neville -'

'Harry!' interrupted Neville, a terrible thought occurring to him and he heard his voice step up an octave. 'Harry, you're not thinking of handing yourself over?'

'No ... 'course not ... this is something else. But I might be out of sight for a while. You know Voldemort's snake, Neville? He's got a huge snake ... calls it Nagini ...'

'I've heard, yeah ... what about it?'

'It's got to be killed,' said Harry quietly. 'Ron and Hermione know that, but just in case they - just in case they're - busy - and you get the chance -'

'Kill the snake?'

'Kill the snake.'

Neville nodded.

'All right, Harry. You're OK, are you?'

'I'm fine. Thanks, Neville,' said Harry, his brave tone sounding distinctly false. As he made to walk on, Neville grabbed his wrist.

'We're all going to keep fighting, Harry. You know that?'

'Yeah, I -' Harry broke off and swallowed - but Neville understood, and he patted him on the shoulder before turning to pick up the small student on the wet grass. He turned his head again, to tell Harry that they would beat Voldemort, that there was no need to worry ... but he had vanished.

He heaved the boy over his own shoulder and he could hear Ginny's calm voice not so far away, comforting another girl.

It seemed all the bodies had been returned by the time Neville and Ginny walked through the Great Hall doors again. Everyone, teachers, students, the Order and many other fighters, were either shifting bodies, treating the injured, mourning, or simply sitting in a corner in silence, head bowed. Luna rose from beside the injured Terry and walked over to him; she hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. He tried to smile but it must have only came out as a kind of grimace: smiling seemed such an impossible task now.

Then the clock struck one o'clock, a single chime from the bell tower ringing out across the school. All heads looked up in expectation, in fear.

Without warning, for the third time that evening, Voldemort's voice of death rang through the grounds and the school, echoing across the Great Hall for all ears.

'Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that you hero is gone.

'The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle, now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live, and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together.'

Everyone in the Hall stood up, even the injured. The words 'Harry Potter is dead' seemed to resonate around them, bouncing off the fighters' solid disbelief. And Neville was frozen in shock and fear, because there no way that Harry could be dead, it wasn't possible ...

Professor McGonagall, her face set and white, was the first to jog out the Great Hall doors and in groups the rest followed, many of them with blood and tear stains on their scared faces. Ron, Hermione and Ginny ran ahead of Neville and Luna.

'NO!'

Professor McGonagall's shout was ear-splitting. As Neville and the others entered the frame of the front doors, with the Death Eaters and Voldemort lined up thirty feet away, the huge figure of Hagrid in the middle, crying and clutching a body, the same word was echoed by the students, and Ron, Hermione and Ginny's voices were just as disbelieving, just as desperate.

'No!'

'NO!'

'Harry! HARRY!'

Then all of them were shouting Harry's name, or cursing and insulting the jeering Death Eaters; Bellatrix stood by her master's side, laughing madly and sneering; the snake Nagini slithered down from Voldemort's shoulders and onto the grass, hissing at the uproar of noise. Neville could hear Seamus behind him, swearing and cursing, until -

'SILENCE!' screamed Voldemort and a loud bang and flash filled the air, and Neville felt his own mouth clamp shut as though someone had glued his lips together. 'It is over! Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs!'

Hagrid, sobbing uncontrollably, lowered Harry to the grass.

'You see?' continued Voldemort, now striding back and forth in front of Harry's corpse. 'Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!'

'He beat you!' bellowed Ron, and the glue-like feeling in Neville's mouth vanished, and the Hogwartians were all shouting again, but a louder bang and brighter flash silenced them again.

'He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds, killed while trying to save himself -'

It was this lie alone that stimulated Neville into action. He shunted past Ernie and Anthony ('Neville, no!') until he was in clear vision of both armies and drew his wand, fury at Voldemort rising -

There was a third bang and white flash and Neville stumbled and fell. He felt as though he'd been winded, barely noticing that his wand had flown out his hand, now in Voldemort's possession. He hit the floor on his front, so that he was level with the snake. His eyes found those of Nagini, who wasn't ten feet away. She hissed at him but he barely heard it as Harry's last order returned to him ... 'Kill the snake' ... but he had no wand -

'And who is this?' Voldemort was saying. 'Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?'

Bellatrix laughed again gleefully.

'It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?'

'Ah, yes, I remember,' said Voldemort, as Neville pushed himself from the grass, catching his breath. 'But you are a pure-blood, aren't you, my brave boy?'

'So what if I am?' Neville shouted, straightening up, and Voldemort's mouth curled into a smile.

'You show spirit, and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom.'

This suggestion boiled more anger in him and he was shaking with it as he next spoke.

'I'll join you when hell freezes over,' he spat. 'Dumbledore's Army!' he shouted over his shoulder, and he heard Ernie and Seamus and Lavender with many others yell their approval.

'Very well,' said Voldemort dangerously. 'If that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head - be it.'

Voldemort flicked his wand and a crash of shattering glass sounded from behind Neville, in the castle. Voldemort had Summoned the Sorting Hat and he shook it down after he caught it.

'There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School. There will be no more houses. The emblem, shield and colours of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone, won't they, Neville Longbottom?'

And without further warning, he flicked his wand at Neville and his legs and arms snapped together and he couldn't move a muscle. He watched as the Hat, as though in slow motion, soared across the air and landed on his head. The brim fell over his eyes, but he could still see Nagini slithering on the grass close in front of him.

'Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me,' came Voldemort's slick voice and the Hat on Neville's head burst into flames.

And he was rooted to the spot, hands uselessly at his sides with no wand as the flames licked his whole head ... his very brain was on fire and he was surely going to die ...

But then the flames cooled, and they were cooler than the fire experienced when using Floo Powder. He distinctly heard cries of giants, hooves of centaurs, screeches of Thestrals.

Help me! he thought desperately to the Hat - Help me!

Then the Body-Bind curse was lifted but he was nearly knocked out as something heavy thudded on the top of his head. He saw stars, feeling as though his skull had cracked in two ... the Hat fell from his head, but he drew Gryffindor's sword before it hit the floor.

He didn't think twice - perhaps he didn't even think once, acting upon gut instinct. Without caring that, despite the war had reignited, every eye, good and evil, had turned to him, that Voldemort's had opened wide in astonishment, Neville grabbed the sword by the hilt and lunged forward, eyes never leaving the snake, which reared up in surprise it seemed, and with a single swipe through the air, he beheaded Nagini. Her head soared in a huge arc, purple blood spinning from it, and landed before the defenders of Hogwarts.

But it wasn't over yet and Neville's burst of satisfaction was dispelled and replaced by pulsating fear. Voldemort screamed in fury and raised his wand again, red eyes flashing, and pointed it directly at Neville, who still had no wand to defend himself with. Yet the spell never arrived, and he and Voldemort stumbled away from each other by the force of a strong Shield Charm ...

'HARRY!' Hagrid was yelling at the top of his voice. 'HARRY - WHERE'S HARRY?'

Neville had no time to ponder the answer to that question as everyone was buffeted backwards through the front doors as the enemy and allies advanced once more. Fresh curses and jinxes crackled through the light of the Entrance Hall and someone grabbed Neville's forearm.

'Accio Neville's wand!'

The thin stick cartwheeled in from outside; Voldemort must have dropped it earlier. Luna caught it and pressed it into Neville's palm.

'Let's fight, Neville!' she called over the roars of everyone. It was hard to aim, however, especially as it was so cramped and they were being shunted in reverse the whole time, stumbling and tripping. Arrows continued to rain through the open doors, causing Death Eaters to cry out in pain and fall, desperately trying to yank out the shafts from their backs. Giants punched huge wholes through the walls, causing mounds of stone to tumble inwards, crushing many fighters. More defenders of Hogwarts had arrived to fight: Seamus's mother rushed past him, as did Madam Malkin, Ludo Bagman, Gilderoy Lockhart (looking completely lost, as though unaware of how he'd got here), Amos Diggory, Mundungus Fletcher ...

Voldemort stood in the very centre of the Great Hall, duelling McGonagall, Kingsley and Slughorn at the same time, and Bellatrix was fighting Ginny, Hermione and Luna, again. Neville found himself alongside Ron, who was grabbed around the neck by a man with a mane of hair and fangs for teeth and Neville recognised him.

'Stupefy!' cried Neville, and Greyback was knocked off Ron, who spun round with his wand raised. He and Neville began fighting the werewolf, who snarled and growled.

'Incarcarous!' Ron yelled and ropes flew from his wand and bounded Greyback head to toe, and he fell backwards with a thud, writhing hopelessly.

'Nice one, Ron!' Neville shouted, but both their attentions were caught as a flash of green whistled past Ginny.

'NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH! - OUT OF MY WAY!'

Mrs Weasley barged through a gap of students to face Bellatrix and both immediately began to flick and twirl their wands, the spells colliding like fireworks of every colour.

'No! Get back! Get back! She is mine!' Mrs Weasley shouted as Ernie and Hermione raised their wands to help again. Voldemort and his three opponents had hitherto noticed nothing of the new fight.

'What will happen to your children when I've killed you?' jeered Bellatrix, eyes wide with excitement, even enjoyment. 'When Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?'

'You - will - never - touch - our - children - again!' Molly screamed, punctuating each word with a curse. On 'again!', a jet of red light shot from her wand as Bellatrix laughed ... the curse hit her in the middle of her chest and she dropped backwards, still laughing it seemed, as though in disbelief. Neville cheered with many of the others as Mrs Weasley grinned almost evilly, the body of Bellatrix Lestrange tumbling down, for once unable to fight.

Voldemort's scream of fury rent the air; his three duellers, Kingsley, McGonagall and Slughorn were all blasted from their feet with the force of it, and even Neville felt himself retreat, as though a large hand had simply pushed him backwards, still, miraculously, clutching the heavy sword in his hand. Mrs Weasley backed away, now looking positively terrified, as Voldemort turned on her and raised his wand, red eyes flashing murderously -

'Protego!'

Another, much more powerful Shield Charm swelled between Molly and Voldemort. The force of this, too, made everyone stumble backwards, leaving a large space in the middle. Voldemort stood stock still, eyes flickering everywhere, scanning for the source of that unusually powerful Shield Charm ...

And then Neville's heart skipped a beat as Harry emerged in the centre of the Great Hall, whipping the Invisibility Cloak from over him and stowed it in his robes. And Neville was cheering with everyone else and yelling his name again ... 'HE'S ALIVE!' 'HARRY!' ... he knew it, he knew Harry hadn't been defeated. But the celebrations were cut very short as Voldemort glared around at them in anger, then back at his would-be victim.

'I don't want anyone else to try and help,' called Harry through the sudden silence, his voice echoing off the Hall walls - he and Voldemort began to circle each other. Neville was at the front of the crowd and backed away instinctively as Voldemort passed within inches of him. 'It's got to be like this. It's got to be me.'

Voldemort hissed jeeringly, apparently recovering from this unexpected climax.

'Potter doesn't mean that ... that isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?'

'Nobody,' said Harry. 'There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and me. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good ...'

Somewhere in Neville's mind, the word 'Horcrux' stirred and he remembered Carrow lecturing them on the subject during a Dark Arts lesson. What had he said? Splitting the soul and sticking it in an object, so you'll never die ... was this really what Voldemort had done? And Horcruxes, as a plural. Perhaps the snake was one, thought Neville, which was why Harry had requested him to kill it ...

'You won't be killing anyone else tonight,' Harry was saying, as the powerful pair continued to circle each other, the tension slowly building up. 'You won't be able to kill any of them, ever again -' And Neville couldn't help but think Thank God - 'Don't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you hurting these people -'

'But you did not!'

'- I meant to, and that's what did it. I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. Haven't you noticed none of the spells you put on them are binding?' Neville realised Harry was referring to the failed Silencing Charms and when the Hat had been set alight. 'You can't torture them. You can't touch them. You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?'

'You dare -'

'Yes, I dare,' said Harry. 'I know things you don't know, Tom Riddle. I know lots of important things that you don't. Want to hear some, before you make another big mistake?'

'Is it love again?' Voldemort sneered after a while. 'Dumbledore's favourite solution, love, which he claimed conquered death, though love did not stop him falling from the Tower and breaking like and old waxwork? Love, which did not prevent me stamping out your Mudblood mother like a cockroach, Potter - and nobody seems to love you enough to run forwards this time, and take my curse. So what will stop you from dying now when I strike?' Neville couldn't help but notice that there was a nuance of longing in his voice as he asked.

'Just one thing.'

'If it is not love that will save you this time,' said Voldemort, 'you must believe that you have magic that I do not, or else a weapon more powerful than mine?'

'I believe both,' Harry replied, and Voldemort began to laugh, a high, cold laugh that caused the hairs on the back of Neville's neck to stand on end.

'You think you know more magic than I do?' he said loudly, as if Harry was the stupidest person he'd met. 'Than I, than Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?'

'Oh, he dreamed of it,' said Harry, a hint of a frown on his face, 'but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done.'

'You mean he was weak! Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!'

'No, he was cleverer than you,' said Harry, 'a better wizard, a better man.'

'I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!'

'You thought you did - but you were wrong.'

The silence of the anticipated crowd seemed to grow further at this disclaimer, though everyone seemed to draw breath at the same time.

'Dumbledore is dead!' shouted Voldemort, his wand still raised as ever. 'His body decays in the marble tomb in the grounds of this castle, I have seen it, Potter, and he will not return!'

'Yes, Dumbledore is dead,' said Harry, with so much patience that time seemed to slow as he said it. 'But you didn't have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant.'

'What childish dream is this?' said Voldemort, red eyes narrowed in apparent concentration for Harry's words.

'Severus Snape wasn't yours,' said Harry, who, unlike Voldemort, did not have his wand raised, but casually at his side, as if tempting Voldemort to attack. 'Snape was Dumbledore's, Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting down my mother.' Neville heard a small gasp from McGonagall from behind. 'And you never realised it, because of the thing you can't understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle?'

Voldemort said nothing, still listening intently.

'Snape's Patronus was a doe, the same as my mother's, because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were children. You should have realised,' Harry said with a small, pitying smile, 'he asked you to spare her life, didn't he?'

'He desired her, that was all,' sneered Voldemort, 'but when she had gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him -'

'Of course he told you that,' said Harry with the air of one trying not to laugh, 'but he was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you threatened her, and he's been working against you ever since! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him!'

'It matters not!' screamed Voldemort, nostrils flaring, yet forcing another humourless laugh. 'It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore's, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my way! I crushed them as I crushed your mother, Snape's supposed great love! Oh, but it all makes sense, Potter, and in ways that you do not understand! Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from me!'

Again, Neville's attention slipped ... the Elder Wand ... wasn't that just part of a child's story, something that his grandmother had read to him ... The Tale of The Three Brothers, was it? Yes, the eldest son had acquired a wand that made its owner the most powerful wizard ... did Harry think it actually existed? Had Dumbledore owned the Elder Wand?

'I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny is truly mine! Dumbledore's last plan went wrong, Harry Potter!'

The crowd broke into shocked mutterings again.

'Snape - dead?'

'He killed Snape?'

'Yeah, it did,' said Harry, unperturbed by this news. 'You're right. But before you try to kill me, I'd advise you to think about what you've done ... think, and try for some remorse, Riddle ...'

'What is this?'

For the first time that evening, Voldemort looked disturbed, even scared.

'It's your one last chance,' continued Harry, 'it's all you've got left ... I've seen what you'll be otherwise ... be a man ... try ... try for some remorse ...'

'You dare -?'

'Yes, I dare,' said Harry, 'because Dumbledore's last plan didn't backfire on me at all. It's backfired on you, Riddle. That wand still isn't working properly for you, because you murdered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore.'

'He killed -'

'Aren't you listening? Snape never beat Dumbledore! Dumbledore's death was planned between them! Dumbledore intended to die undefeated, the wand's last true master! If all had gone as planned, the wand's power would have died with him, because it would never been won from him!'

'But then, Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand!' Voldemort shouted, desperate to get a word in. 'I stole the wand from its last master's tomb! I removed it against its last master's wishes! Its power is mine!'

'You still don't get it, Riddle, do you?' said Harry; there, again, was pity in his voice. 'Possessing the wand isn't enough! Holding it, using it, doesn't make it really yours. Didn't you listen to Ollivander? The wand chooses the wizard ... the Elder Wand recognised a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realising exactly what he had done, or that the world's most dangerous wand had given him its allegiance ...

'The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy.'

Neville looked over to the three Malfoys, huddled tightly near the doors, blank shock reflected on all their pale faces.

'But what does it matter?' said Voldemort quietly. 'Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: we duel on skill alone ... and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy ...'

'But you're too late,' said Harry. 'You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took this wand from him.'

As Harry twitched the alien wand in his hand, comprehension seemed to dawn on every person in the Great Hall, Voldemort included, and his face turned an even paler white.

'So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?' whispered Harry. 'Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does ... I am the true master of the Elder Wand.'

And then the moment came. Just as the sun peered over the horizon to see what might happen, its golden rays streaming through the broken windows to illuminate the fighters, Voldemort and Harry in harmony shouted their incantations:

'Avada Kedavra!'

'Expelliarmus!'

The two spells collided in the absolute centre of the Hall with the bang of a cannon-blast, and the whole crowd shifted backwards, though not daring to take their eyes off the scene. Voldemort's wand, the Elder Wand, departed the hand of its false master and cartwheeled through the sunlit air. As Harry caught it with his free hand, the jet of green bounced the other way and hit its unarmed caster, who fell backwards with a loud thud, mouth still half-open with the scream of surprise that had never left him.

There was a second of silence, before Neville was rushing towards Harry with Ron, Hermione, Luna, Ginny, Ernie, Terry, Hagrid ... Neville, sword still hanging by his side, tried to hug him but there were far too many of them ...

The morning grew into huge celebration. After the dead were moved, including Voldemort's body, the tables were returned and everyone was jumbled up. Neville found himself aside Hannah, Michael and Ernie, listening to the news, both on the wireless and as Ministry officials strode through the Great Hall doors, handing Kingsley the Minister for Magic plaque. Neville set the sword on the table and many admirers came round to listen to Neville's own account of the story of slaying Nagini.

'And the Hat just gave you the sword?' asked Hannah in approbation.

Neville nodded and grinned.

'Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.'

He leant back in his chair as Harry slipped under his Invisibility Cloak, apparently unnoticed, and suddenly the image he'd witnessed in the Mirror returned to him ... he had the sword ... he felt excellent ... perhaps the Mirror really did tell the future after all ...

He would have to visit St Mungo's tomorrow - just to check.

Neville hurried through the last of the Forest trees, guiding half a dozen buckets behind him with his wand. He'd completely forgotten to prepare the compost for first lesson and now he was going to be late. He thought he could even see his students lining up outside greenhouse one, the bright sunshine reflecting off the glass. His robes were coated in twigs and thorns and he tried to pick them off as he ran.

Hagrid's huge figure emerged from behind his hut as he crouched low over his pumpkins, supporting himself with a thin tree trunk that he used as a walking stick. His white-grey, straggly hair spread over his shoulders and back, and he straightened up as Neville jogged by.

'Alrigh' there, Neville?' he called. 'How are yer?'

'Good, thank you, Hagrid,' answered Neville. 'No lesson this morning?'

'Nah, not 'til after lunch - I take it yer late for yours again though, eh?' he asked with a chuckle.

'Yes, yes, yes,' said Neville hastily, pulling on his dragon hide gloves as he walked. 'Oh, by the way, there's a Thestral calving back there ... I didn't want to agitate it ... must be nearly there though.'

'Oh, blimey, I'd best look over tha' ... see yer, then, Neville.'

'Yup, g'bye,' said Neville, and forced himself to run over to the greenhouses where his class were chatting loudly. They all began shaking their heads in an exasperated sort of way as he approached.

'Morning guys!' shouted Neville brightly. 'Greenhouse Three today ... if you'll follow me ...'

The students exchanged excited looks as they followed their Herbology teacher into the third greenhouse: they had only worked in Greenhouse One before. Neville led the buckets to the back table, where they clanged loudly. A number of potted plants lined the shelves, as well as an equal number of empty pots. The class continued to chatter and titter loudly, some still excited about moving to this advanced greenhouse, where, they knew, lurked much more thrilling plants. Neville spotted a familiar black-haired student waving his wand at a small black ball for the entertainment of those closest, bouncing it up and down.

'OK, calm down, calm down,' said Neville. 'James, if that pod breaks, it will explode and the liquid will burn your arm off in seconds ... I would leave it alone.'

James smirked and stowed his wand back in his robes after replacing the Snargaluff Pod back on its shelf. The class fell silent, looking up expectantly at Neville.

'Excellent. Well, today first-years, we'll be -'

'Second-years,' the class chorused back in a bored voice and Neville tried not to laugh.

'Second-years, that's what I said. Today we will be repotting Mandrakes, these little blighters -' he said, indicating the potted plants on the shelves. 'Can anyone tell me what a Mandrake is?'

A short silence followed before someone called out, 'A plant.' The class laughed.

'Yes, very good, Mr Goldstein, it's no wonder the Hat put you in Ravenclaw yesterday,' said Neville and the class laughed again. 'Mandrakes can be cut up and used to make a cure for those who have been Petrified, but their screams alone can also be extremely harmful to us, even deadly, which is why you need to listen carefully, Mr Potter.' Neville raised an eyebrow at James, who quickly retracted his hand from a swaying Tentacula and looked up at his teacher with false innocence.

'Fully-grown Mandrakes' screams will kill you in seconds, but we will only be dealing with the younger ones today; however, their screams could still knock you out for several hours, which is why we will be wearing earmuffs as a precaution. We will repot the Mandrakes, as their soil is dry and infertile and Mandrakes don't like being kept unhappy. The empty pots are up here with the Mandrakes, there's fresh compost behind me, and earmuffs are in the cupboard. Let's go.'

There was a great bustling as the class shunted hither and thither, and the thuds of buckets and pots, a couple of which smashed, rang through the thin glass walls of the greenhouse. Neville quickly remembered to show a demonstration when they had their equipment ready, giving them the thumbs up when he'd finished.

'OK, make sure you tip the old compost in this bag, remember to cover the heads entirely - James, don't do that, it'll have your fingers for breakfast - earmuffs on ... go!'

The silent screams of the Mandrakes vibrated the table and glass walls, though, fortunately, everyone was successful in repotting their crying plants, though James did end up getting his finger bitten slightly after all at the end of the lesson.

'Mum and Dad send their love,' he said quietly as Neville fitted a plaster over the boy's bleeding finger, the last students filing out.

'Good, good, I hope they're both well ... I haven't written to them for a while actually. Dad busy at the Ministry?'

James shrugged.

'Not really. I told him there was no point in being an Auror, when there're no Dark wizards to be caught - but he just says it's only a matter of time before someone like Voldemort turns up again.'

Neville gazed into the boy's face. If Neville plonked round glasses on it, he might just have been talking to Harry during their own second year in the greenhouse.

'Yes, well ... you can never be too sure ... your Dad would have them any day though,' he added with a grin, and James laughed.

'Off you go then.'

'Yes, Professor.'

Neville watched as his friend's son grabbed his bag and sprinted out the door in pursuit of his classmates. He stood there a little longer, thinking of those days in these greenhouses with Harry, Ron and Hermione, filching out the slippery pods in sixth-year. It had seemed comparatively stressful back then, what with Voldemort running wild and his Death Eaters on the prowl. But all was peaceful now, and he could pass on his plant knowledge at school to students, without needing to worry about - well, anything.

He cleared off the rest of the soil from the table with his wand before digging out the preparations for his next lesson.