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Harry shook his head and handed the Rememberall to Neville, but he was surprised when the orb immediately turned a very dark and angry red that almost seemed to shimmer and pulse angrily in Neville's hand.
"Um, has it been doing that?"
"Yeah, for the last few days" said Neville quietly. "Makes sense. I forget more than I remember, it seems."
"Come on, Nev. Don't let Jim get you down," said Harry.
"He's not, Harry," Neville said curtly. "You two are."
Harry and Hermione looked at one another. "Um, excuse me?" Harry said.
He exhaled in frustration. "Jim just did a Fifth Year spell, which was impressive enough even if he had upperclassmen teach it to him. You two? You just learned it yourselves just from watching him do it once! And you do it better than him! Meanwhile, I can't do anything in the First Year spell book!" He started walking away from the other two. "I'm thinking maybe I should write to Uncle Algie and see if there's a way for me to voluntarily step down as heir and just pass the lordship directly to him. Jim was right. I am a squib in every way that matters."
"Neville!" exclaimed Hermione. "You can't give up!"
"Look! I'm grateful for all you've tried to do for me, both of you. But ... I just can't deal with this anymore. And I'm tired of feeling ... pitied! From now on, just leave me alone and concentrate on the others in the group. They might actually get something out of it." And with that, he left. After a worried look passed between them, Harry and Hermione followed their friend towards the castle. Neither noticed Theo Nott standing at the corner of the greenhouse, a look of deep concern on his face.
Neville didn't show up at lunch, but Hermione sat next to him during Charms, which the Gryffindors shared with the Hufflepuffs. His hour spent revising helped a little – he was able to perform most of the very basic charms that the class had learned in September, although clearly not at the same level of power or control that his classmates had. Problems started when Professor Flitwick introduced the new charm of the day – the Levitation Charm. The incantation was "Wingardium Leviosa," which Neville got after a single whispered correction from Hermione, and she assured him that his wand movements were correct. Despite all that, however, the feather sitting on his desk resolutely refused to move.
Unsurprisingly, Hermione was the first to achieve a proper result – her feather floated up gracefully and then danced around the ceiling in response to her wand movements. The small gaggle of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff girls (for whom Hermione had become a role model) all clapped, and Flitwick awarded Gryffindor three points. Across the room, Jim and Ron rolled their eyes. Then, Flitwick turned to Neville, who swallowed and then looked down at his feather as if it were a poisonous snake. He raised his wand cast the spell – perfectly, as far as Hermione could tell – and focused all of his will upon the feather. Nothing happened.
But Neville didn't release the spell. Instead, without taking his wand off the feather, he concentrated harder and poured more and more of his magical power into the spell he'd cast. He gritted his teeth painfully, and a bead of sweat appeared on his forehead. The feather shook slightly. His face contorted into a mask of concentration and even pain, causing both Hermione and Flitwick to become alarmed. Neville paid them no mind. All of his attention was bent towards the feather, which had started to rock slightly as if striving to become airborne. When Hermione called out his name rather loudly, he ignored her. He also ignored the tickling sensation just below his nose and the strange coppery taste on his lips. Finally, as his vision began to blur, the feather slowly began to rise off the table – one inch, two inches, three – before it suddenly burst into flame, causing him to lose the spell. He sat back in his chair, exhausted and shaking. Instinctively, he rubbed his hand over his mouth and was startled to realize that his nose was bleeding. Then, he looked up and saw the whole class was staring at him, including a visibly shaken Flitwick.
"Are you quite alright, my boy?" he asked gently.
Neville swallowed deeply and wiped his nose again. "I'm ... I'm not feeling very well, Professor. May I be excused for a bit?"
Flitwick hesitated and then nodded. "Take as much time as you need. And if you don't feel better quite soon, I want you to go to the Infirmary. Understood?"
Neville nodded, snatched up his bookbag, and fairly fled the classroom. Just before he walked out, though, he turned back to look at his classmates. Jim Potter was looking right at him, smirking. And then, the Boy-Who-Lived mouthed a single word that Neville didn't need to hear to understand. "Squib." Neville walked out the door and did not return to class that day.
Hours later, Theo Nott stepped into a restroom to wash his hands before dinner and was surprised to find Neville sitting on the floor in the corner staring vacantly at his wand. His face was clean from his earlier nosebleed but it was obvious he'd been crying. Theo looked around to make sure no one else was in the room before he tentatively spoke. "Are ... are you alright?"
Neville didn't even look up. "I'm fine. Just leave me alone."
Theo started to leave but then hesitated and turned back towards other boy. "I, uh, noticed your Rememberall this morning, after Herbology. It was ... red. Very red. And also pulsing."
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