Ever since Snape became the new headmaster and the Death Eaters became the new professors, Hogwarts has been shrouded in a depressing and dull atmosphere. Especially after the rainy season in October, this atmosphere has become even stronger, making it hard for everyone to breathe.
"I heard that another first-year student was put in jail."
"It will probably be brought to the Dark Arts class for students to practice the Cruciatus Curse."
"They are just a bunch of lunatics."
The students who were enjoying breakfast in the hall were whispering about what happened yesterday. Everyone had unconcealable anxiety and fear in their eyes. The student who was tortured by the Cruciatus Curse last time was still lying in the school hospital.
Listening to the whispers of others around him, Neville sat down at the Gryffindor table, not knowing what he was thinking.
"This is a trap. They are trying to lure you into it. Don't leave any evidence." Seamus sat down on Neville's right and reminded him not to do anything stupid.
Today, Hogwarts is like a powder keg. The high-handed rule of the Death Eaters and the angry resistance of Dumbledore's Army are in fierce conflict, which may completely detonate Hogwarts at any time.
However, the current situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for them. Not only did the Defense Association not support them in confronting the Death Eaters head-on, even the professors at school were unable to provide them with any help. Most of the time they could only watch their own people being locked up in the dungeon and whipped, which made all the members of Dumbledore's Army quite dissatisfied with this.
No one likes to be weak, no one likes to be bullied, they want to fight back angrily, they want to drive all the Death Eaters led by Snape out of the school.
Neville ate his corn porridge in silence, looked up at Parkinson in the professor's chair, and said in a low voice, "I don't know."
He has been very confused recently, especially after what he did was euphemistically denied, and he has been thinking about what to do next.
Continue to fight, or go underground
Neville wondered if he could convince the others.
"What should we do next?" Seamus looked at Neville's gloomy face and asked worriedly, "Are you okay? You don't look very well."
"Sorry, I didn't sleep well last night." Neville made an excuse for himself.
He didn't know what to do either.
If they released the junior student from the dungeon, finding him a place to stay would become a big problem.
Let him hide in the Room of Requirement and play missing
This won't solve the problem unless he volunteers.
They need guidance.
Vaguely, Neville realized why Albert didn't want them to make a big deal out of it.
Because unless the two sides are completely opposed to each other, they will always be at a disadvantage.
But what’s the point of figuring this out now
"What did Ernie say?" Neville asked suddenly.
"He thinks he should ask the professors for help." Seamus smiled bitterly, "But how could the professors not know about this?"
"If Professor McGonagall wanted to, they would have done it long ago." Neville also knew that the professors had their own concerns, so he didn't expect the professors at the school to help them from the beginning.
"Where's Luna?" Neville asked again.
"Luna thinks that we can let the other party pretend to be sick. Maybe he will be sent to the school hospital. At least it is better than being locked up in a cell." Seamus agreed with Luna's method. In fact, he also came to discuss this matter with Neville.
"Maybe, we should send him some skipping candy. I remember we should have quite a bit of it in stock." Neville agreed with Luna's plan and thought it was a good idea, but he added, "We have to convince him that if Parkinson still uses him to practice the Cruciatus Curse with other students, he should just pretend to be dead."
Neville actually didn't trust the junior student, but he was still willing to help him escape. Otherwise, he would be in trouble if he was used to practice the Cruciatus Curse on students.
The last unlucky guy was bedridden for half a month and still hasn’t recovered. It is said that he has suffered serious psychological trauma.
Luna's plan was not difficult for them as they had mastered the Disillusionment Charm. The only trouble was Filch, but they only needed an Immobilization Charm to solve Filch's problem.
The whole thing went more smoothly than Neville had expected. He ran to the dungeon to meet the unfortunate Gryffindor junior and discuss a solution with him.
As expected, the other party chose to pretend to be sick. After all, no one wanted to drop out of school and leave just because they had just arrived at Hogwarts.
After eating the candy for skipping classes, the Gryffindor student developed a high fever and fainted while cooperating with the Cruciatus Curse in training.
Professor McGonagall was extremely angry about this and almost had a fight with Professor Parkinson. Although this did not make them give up testing dark magic on their students, it at least allowed the first-year student to enter the infirmary for treatment.
Overall, the plan went smoothly.
This greatly encouraged everyone.
To this end, they held a small meeting to discuss the next plan.
Without the Wesley twins' joke props and Peeves' mischief to distract them, they would likely become targets of the Death Eaters.
"We should temporarily abandon those dangerous practices and do some more covert underground work." Luna raised her hand and suggested.
"I agree with Luna. A head-on confrontation is unwise. We gather together mainly to train Defense Against the Dark Arts. Driving the Death Eaters out of Hogwarts is just a secondary goal to pass the time." Ernie knew that this was Albert's intention. He also knew that this was to prevent them from getting into danger, especially after the Defense Association's joke prop support decreased. This was undoubtedly the best option at the moment.
"I'm worried that I can't convince others. You should know..."
Just as Neville was about to say something else, he heard the door of the Room of Requirement being pushed open and Michael hurried in.
"Something happened."
"What's going on?"
All three of them had a bad feeling.
"Nick told me that Parkinson fed truth serum to the junior student who just woke up. They already know that it was Neville who was behind it, and they are ready to make trouble for you." Michael gasped and looked at Neville uneasily.
"Don't worry, at most you'll just be punished." Neville didn't take it seriously.
"No, they seem to think that Dumbledore's Army is related to you." Michael expressed his concerns: "If they use truth serum on you too..."
Several people present couldn't help but frown. If they really used the truth serum, the affairs of Dumbledore's Army would probably be exposed, and all the participants would be in trouble.
"Maybe I should disappear for a while." Neville was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "If I disappear directly, Dumbledore's Army will retreat and go underground. I think the Death Eaters will stop targeting us."
Everyone present looked at Neville, surprised by his choice.
"Are you really planning on... dropping out of school?"
Ernie couldn't help but widen his eyes, swallowed and looked at Neville, seeming surprised by the other's choice.
"I didn't want to come to Hogwarts in the first place," Neville consoled him. "It's just that Mr. Anderson wanted someone to come and organize Dumbledore's Army, so I returned to school."
Everyone was silent.
"Let's just leave it at that. This should be enough to calm everyone else down." Neville acted very calm, so calm that it was incredible to others.
There is a reason why Neville is so calm.
Fred had told him that if Hogwarts ever became untenable, they would be responsible for getting him out of the school.
"We got together and re-established Dumbledore's Army to teach everyone Defense against the Dark Arts so that everyone can protect themselves." Neville said softly, "If we have the level of Aurors, we can easily overthrow Snape and drive them out of Hogwarts..."
"You are here indeed." Seamus pushed the door open and walked in, looking at the people inside breathlessly and said, "Carrow and Parkinson are looking for you everywhere, and they almost had a conflict with Professor McGonagall."
"Oh, I already knew that," Neville said calmly.
"How can you still be so calm?" Simo was almost going crazy. "They won't let you go easily. What should we do now?"
"I'm going to disappear for a while," Neville said calmly.
"What do you mean, you plan to just hide in the Room of Requirement and not go out?" Seamus looked surprised.
"That's probably what I mean. You can talk to Professor McGonagall." Neville looked at Seamus and said, "Is that okay?"
"But... you really don't want to go..."
"Anyway, I had no intention of coming to Hogwarts." Neville suddenly thought of something, "You can seize the opportunity to spread some bad rumors outside, such as that I have been persecuted by Death Eaters. I believe no one wants their children to be in danger in Hogwarts."
Everyone was stunned by Neville's crazy idea.
"Are you really going to do that?"
"It's better to give them some trouble so that they won't have the mind to cause trouble to others." Neville thought his idea was really good.
"Okay, I'll go talk to Professor McGonagall," Seamus agreed.
The trick of playing missing is really useful.
The frustrated Death Eaters were helpless. They knew of course that Neville was hiding, and most likely in the Room of Requirement, but they just couldn't get in.
So angry!
To this end, they sent people to take turns watching the Room of Requirement 24 hours a day, waiting for Neville to come out and fall into the trap.
After a few days without any progress, people were surprised to find that there was no movement in the Room of Requirement.
Is Neville Longbottom really missing
Various versions of the story began to spread in the school. Some said that Neville was actually captured by the Death Eaters, some said that Neville was killed by the angry Death Eaters, and some even gave Neville a eulogy in the hall.
Neville's disappearance once again threw the entire Hogwarts into chaos.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Professor McGonagall's expression was extremely interesting after listening to Seamus' words.
"He said he never intended to study at Hogwarts from the beginning." Seamus shrugged, indicating that this was Neville's own idea.
"So, where's Mr. Longbottom?" Professor McGonagall asked, frowning.
"He has left Hogwarts."
"How did he leave Hogwarts?" Professor McGonagall seemed to have thought of something.
"Well, I don't know either. It seems that Mr. Anderson sent someone to pick Neville up." Seamus lied.
Neville was still in the Room of Requirement, studying Defense Against the Dark Arts every day. As for food and water, there were naturally other ways to get them in.
"Albert." Mag asked with a twitching face, "So, all this was done by Albert?"
"No, Mr. Anderson just wants us to receive training in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but the others... they want to drive the Death Eaters out of the school." Seamus felt a little embarrassed when talking about this, because he also supported overthrowing Snape and driving the Death Eaters out of Hogwarts.
"Okay, Mr. Finnigan, I already know about this." Professor McGonagall stopped Seamus from continuing, "This matter was caused by Mr. Anderson, do you understand?"
Seamus nodded confusedly.
"Mr. Anderson is the only one who is not afraid of the Death Eaters. It won't hurt to let everyone behave themselves. Learning some Defense Against the Dark Arts won't hurt either, but it's unwise to fall out with the Death Eaters now." Professor McGonagall sighed and explained helplessly, "As long as the You-Know-Who is still alive, we will never be able to drive the Death Eaters away, so don't make things worse. It won't do you any good."