Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 17: Title
The next morning.
Harry, Neville, Ginny, and Hermione were currently in the common room, while Professor McGonagall was giving them the scolding of the year.
"You are lucky that the year is near over. Otherwise, you were going to spend months cleaning the halls of the castle with Mister Filch," the professor said with a stern face.
"So… are we not getting expelled then?" Hermione asked with some hesitation.
"Are we still getting detention? I don't like Mister Filch," Ginny commented.
"It is better than detention with Professor Snape," Neville added
.
McGonagall cleared her throat. "No. Given the special…" Her eyes rested on Harry for a moment. "Circumstances… you will not be given any form of punishment, just for this time. Don't get used to it."
She took a moment to let the words sink in. "But I do want you to understand just how foolish and dangerous what you did last night was."
"We do know, professor." Hermione's face fell when recalling the scary situation they had been in.
When they got separated, she and Ginny ended up alone, facing that Death Eater. Ginny got hurt, and if Harry hadn't shown up, there was no telling what could have happened to them.
Hermione gave her old friend a side glance. He was still wearing that strange talking hat. Even after taking a shower and changing clothes, he continued to wear it.
She wished to know if it was something Harry had found inside the Department of Mysteries, since that place was filled with strange artifacts.
But if that was the case, it was strange that no one asked him to return it.
"Ehm… Professor?" Neville raised his hand. "How is Ron doing?"
"Ah… that's right!" Hermione exclaimed. Her mind had been so busy that she almost forgot that Ron was still in the infirmary.
"I spoke with Madam Pomfrey an hour ago, and she said there was nothing to worry about. The manipulated brains that he was exposed to didn't leave any permanent damage, and his leg is healing fast. He should be waking up soon… I'll let you know."
Ginny let out a loud sigh of relief.
"Thank Merlin," Neville said.
Hermione didn't say anything, but she was visibly relieved to hear this.
McGonagall turned her attention to Harry. "Mister Potter. The Headmaster wishes to speak with you in his office. If you are ready, I shall escort you there now."
Harry nodded. "I'm ready." He stood up from his seat.
"As for the rest of you…" McGonagall looked over the other students. "I want you to stay in the common room and think about what you did."
Once the professor and Harry left the room, Neville leaned back into the couch, feeling much more relaxed now.
"Man… that was crazy, huh?"
"It was more than crazy, Neville." Hermione had a stern expression on her face. "This was more than reckless. Someone could have died for real this time…"
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time," Ginny said. "You guys have been getting into wild, dangerous adventures since your first year."
"Yes but… it never felt so real like last night." Hermione felt a shiver when she recalled those masked individuals.
Ginny shrugged. "In my first year, I was possessed by a ghost and almost got eaten by a basilisk. I don't know… this wasn't so bad in comparison."
"I know it was scary," Neville spoke next. "But I don't regret doing it. Harry needed our help, so we went there. I would do it again if it were necessary."
"Nev…" Hermione glanced at her friend. Neville had changed so much since the timid boy he was in their first year.
"Mmm…" However, this reminded her of something important.
"Hermione? What is it?" Ginny noticed the change in her.
She looked over at Ginny's leg. "How is your ankle doing?"
"Ginny hurt her ankle?" Neville had not heard about this.
"My ankle?" Ginny was not expecting that question. She moved her foot a little bit. "It's fine. Doesn't hurt even one bit. Madam Pomfrey examined it when we came back and said there were no issues either."
Hermione pondered for a moment. "And don't you find it strange? When did Harry learn to do something like that?"
"Oh, that's what you meant." Ginny now realized. "I don't know… maybe he learned some healing magic on his free time. Don't you guys spend a lot of time in the library?"
"I am the one who makes them go there. Harry and Ron have little to no interest in books. They barely study the minimum to pass their tests."
"But Harry is really good at D.A.D.A.," Neville pointed out. "Wasn't that the whole reason he was in charge of our secret club?"
"Yes, he is good at practical magic," Hermione said. "But as someone who has spent many hours reading about the ins and outs of healing magic, I know how complex that branch of magic is. You need to really understand the human body. To fix a broken ankle, like how he did with Ginny, he needed to create a perfect mental image of her bones, muscles, and ligaments. One wrong step and he could make the injury much worse."
"Right! Like how Professor Lockhart did in our second year when he tried to fix Harry." Neville recalled how the professor had messed up Harry's arm by removing his bones.
Hermione nodded. "Harry did it in a moment, and with a borrowed wand."
"Hermione, you are overthinking this," Ginny said. "Harry is very talented in magic. After getting hurt so much last year, maybe he took an interest in learning how to fix himself."
"Maybe…" Hermione didn't seem too convinced. "But I still think that something had changed in Harry. When he appeared in front of us, wearing nothing but that strange hat…"
"Wearing nothing?" Neville raised an eyebrow.
"Hermione… you could have skipped that part." Ginny looked down to avoid showing the blush on her face.
"Hold on… now that you mention this," Neville started. "Something weird happened when I was with Harry."
"What happened?" Hermione and Ginny looked at him.
"He… well, he disappeared." Neville didn't know how else to say it.
Hermione's eyes became sharper. "Neville. Give us the details."
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