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.