This is a fanfiction written in Neville’s perspective as he enters into his seventh year at Hogwarts. I always wondered what Neville was going through while Harry, Ron, and Hermione searched for Horcruxes, so I decided to write about what his experience might have been like. I’ll most likely be adding to this story in future posts. Hope you enjoy 🙂

“Neville, you had better not have forgotten anything else!”

Neville winced. He had nearly left his wand on his bed this morning. His wand. And then there had been his robes which he’d left in his closet. He’d thought he finally had everything gathered, until they arrived at King’s Cross Station, and he’d lost his herbology book.

“Honestly,” his grandmother had said, shaking her head. “How does someone lose a book that was in a trunk?”

She was a bit exasperated by now, which was saying something. Neville’s grandmother had grown accustomed to his unusual knack for misplacing nearly everything he touched. She was now rifling through his trunk with a frown, making sure he hadn’t somehow lost something else.

“Neville!” He spun around to see a head of flaming red hair making its way toward him.

“Ginny!” He sighed, somewhat relieved. He’d be spared from a full-blown reprimanding from his grandmother.

Ginny came into view, after shouldering her way through the crowded platform. She was wearing an olive-green sweater and simple jeans. She looked weary, and her eyes were slightly red, as if she’d been crying. She smiled genuinely at him nonetheless.

“Hey Neville! Do you happen to be missing a toad?” She asked, holding out her hands.

Neville’s eyes widened. His grandmother’s head jerked up.

“But — ,” he touched his shoulder where he could’ve sworn Trevor had been moments earlier.

His grandmother’s nostrils flared, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Thank you, dear,” she said kindly to Ginny, taking the toad from her hands.

“Of course,” Ginny replied, looking as if she was about to burst out laughing.

Neville’s grandmother placed Trevor firmly in his free hand, and gave him a stern look. She didn’t have to voice anything; the message was clear.

“You two should get going,” she said, nodding toward the train and closing up Neville’s trunk. “It’s nearly eleven o’clock.”

“Right,” mumbled Neville.

He carefully placed Trevor in his pocket and quickly hugged his grandmother.

“You be careful,” she said, patting his back.

He grimaced. Augusta Longbottom wasn’t one for mushy goodbyes, but given the times … Her behaviour only confirmed his worries.

“Bye, grandmother,” he called, heaving his trunk toward the train, while Ginny followed in toe.

Neville and Ginny boarded the train, and had no trouble locating an empty compartment.

“Bunch of parents probably pulled their children out of school because of Snape,” Ginny said, voicing Neville’s thought. “Mum was reluctant to let me go, but I insisted. I couldn’t just stay at home all day, you know?”

Neville nodded and smiled faintly at the thought of his own grandmother making him stay home. She’d never do such a thing.

He placed Trevor haphazardly onto the windowsill and, with the help of Ginny, hauled his trunk up onto the rack above the seats. Then, remembering his venomous tentacula, brought the trunk back down to retrieve it from the side pocket where he kept it. After laboriously returning his trunk back to its place upon the rack, he and Ginny finally settled down on the plush, maroon seats of the Hogwarts Express. Neville glanced out the window, and could just barely make out the bird on his grandmother’s hat. He watched it grow smaller and smaller as the train pulled away from the station and started picking up speed.

-Elina T.