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When they ask Neville what's happened to him, he dismisses his injuries and then tells Aberforth a couple more people are on the way. Aberforth protests, because it is after curfew and the whole village has a Caterwauling Charm on it. Neville counters that the people will apparate right into the bar. Neville leads Harry, Ron and Hermione through the tunnel behind the portrait. The passageway looks like it has been there for years. Ron asks about it and says he thought there were only seven passages in and out of Hogwarts. Neville informs them those passages were sealed off before school started and now there are curses over the entrances with Death Eaters and Dementors waiting at the exits. Neville then asks them, did they really break into Gringotts and escape on a dragon? Harry confirms both as true. Neville is happy to hear this and asks them what they've been doing. Rumor had it Harry was on the run, but Neville didn't believe it. He thought Harry was working on something. Harry tells Neville he's right and then asks about Hogwarts. Neville tells Harry about the changes at Hogwarts, mainly the Carrows. Neville says that they like punishment to the point of making Umbridge look tame. Amycus Carrow and his sister Alecto teach Defense Against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies, respectively. Defense Against the Dark Arts is now "just the Dark Arts." The students are now supposed to practice the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detentions. Neville received one of the gashes on his face for refusing to do curse people. In Muggle Studies, which is now compulsory for everyone, they have to listen to Alecto telling them how "Muggles are like animals, stupid and dirty, and how they drove wizards into hiding by being vicious towards them, and how the natural order is being re-established." Neville received one of the other gashes on his face for asking Alecto how much Muggle blood she and her brother had. Ron comments that might not have been the right time and place to have a smart mouth. Neville says he had to, because it helps when people stand up to the Carrows; it gives people hope. Neville learned that from watching Harry. Also, Neville explains that mouthing off won't get the students killed, just tortured. The only students who are really in danger are the ones whose friends and families are causing trouble. He mentions Luna's kidnapping. They tell Neville Luna is safe. He already knew she was, because she sent him a message. He holds up one of the fake galleons the D.A. used. Neville says he, Ginny, and Luna were the leaders of Dumbledore's Army. The D.A. was resisting the Carrow cruelty. They had done overt things like graffiti and unchaining people, but that led to D.A. members like Michael Corner getting "tortured pretty bad," so they'd changed to more "underground stuff." The Carrows knew Neville was one of the main instigators and, in an attempt to control him, the Death Eaters went after Gran. Neville proudly relates how the Death Eaters "bit off more than they could chew." Dawlish is still in St. Mungo's and Gran's on the run. Gran sent Neville a letter saying how proud she is of him. They exit the tunnel and wind up in the Room of Requirement, where everyone is excited to see them. Harry asks if the Carrows can get in. Seamus says no. As long as one of them stays inside the door won't open. Seamus gives Neville the credit for securing the room. According to Seamus, Neville "really gets" the room and uses the right wording to close all the loopholes. Seamus even exclaims that "Neville's the man!" Harry feels pain in his scar and sees Voldemort inside a stone shack. Voldemort knows the Horcrux he left there is gone. Harry lets Ron and Hermione know they need to get moving. Problem is, the rest of the D.A. is ready and willing to go with them. Harry objects, explaining how Dumbledore left the three of them, him, Ron and Hermione, a job to do. Neville counters that they're Dumbledore's Army and everyone in the room had been fighting and had proven their loyalty to Dumbledore. and to Harry. Just then, people start showing up in answer to Neville's message. Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas, Ginny, Fred and George Weasley, Lee Jordan and Cho Chang come in. Harry finds Ginny more beautiful than ever, but he really didn't want to see her right then. (The roaring beast in Harry's chest from Half-Blood Prince was apparently on mute for the moment. ^_^) George asks Harry what's the plan. Harry says there isn't one. Fred says "make it up as we go along my favorite kind." Everyone misunderstands why Harry has returned to Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione question Harry's decision to not let the D.A. help. They argue that time is short and they don't even know what they're looking for. Ron says they don't have to tell the others the object is a Horcrux, adding, "You don't have to do everything alone, Harry." Harry thinks about Dumbledore and what Aberforth said about him and secrets. Dumbledore was the one who told Harry not to tell anyone except Ron and Hermione about the Horcruxes. Harry decides to trust the D.A. to help him. He asks everyone, especially the Ravenclaws, If anyone has seen anything that could have belonged to Ravenclaw, perhaps something with an Eagle on it. The lost diadem of Ravenclaw is brought up. Harry decides to check it out, even if it is a stretch. Harry sees through Voldemort's eyes again and knows Voldemort is flying either toward the lake or the castle. Luna takes Harry to the Ravenclaw common room to see the diadem Ravenclaw is wearing on her statue. Harry uses the Marauder's Map and his invisibility cloak to get him and Luna to the room without being seen. To enter the Ravenclaw common room, you have to answer a question. There isn't a simple password. Luna gets them in by giving the door a "well reasoned" answer to the question, "Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?" Harry steps out from under the cloak and Alecto Carrow appears behind him. As he raises his wand, she presses her finger to her Dark Mark to alert Voldemort that Potter is at Hogwarts. 1) Why would Neville and Seamus look so bad? Shouldn't they have been healed by the school nurse or even by themselves or another student? 2) What do you think about Voldemort making his very biased version of Muggle Studies compulsory for the students? 3) Despite the source (Alecto Carrow, a Death Eater) could there be some truth about Muggles driving wizards "into hiding by being vicious towards them"? 4) Neville says "...it helps when people stand up to them, it gives everyone hope. I used to notice that when you did it, Harry." What does this say about how Neville and the others see Harry? 5) In Half-Blood Prince only Neville and Luna were still carrying around their fake galleons that the D.A. used in Order of the Phoenix. Judging from how many people show up to answer Neville's message and how active the D.A. has been in fighting the Carrows, this is no longer the case. What caused the change? 6) In the seventh book, the trio of Neville, Ginny, and Luna were the leaders of the D.A. Can we compare this new trio with the trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione? 7) Neville says he couldn't ask people "to go through what Michael Corner went through." Compare Neville as a leader to Harry. (I realize we do not see or hear very much about Neville as a leader. Feel free to "fill in the blanks" using what we already know about Neville from books 1-6.) 8) A "Little old witch living alone" gave the Death Eaters more trouble than they would have thought. Do you feel that the Death Eaters should have known better? 9) Gran was hard on Neville; however he did turn out the way she always expected him to. What were your feelings of Gran pre-DH and post-DH? Were they very different from each other? 10) Harry only sees banners for three houses represented. Why haven't any Slytherins stood up to the Carrows and joined the D.A.? Was it unrealistic to hope that any of them would? 11) Seamus says that "Neville's the man!" There is no doubting that Neville came into his own in Deathly Hallows; however, do you feel that this was plausible or not? Do you feel that Rowling presented Neville's change well? 12) Why didn't the room of requirement give them a passage into the Hogwarts' kitchen instead of to the Hog's Head Bar? 13) After girls starting moving in, the Room of Requirement sprouts "a pretty good bathroom." What did the boys do before then? 14) Neville quickly latched on to Harry, saying that Dumbledore had left them a job to do. Neville and the others truly consider themselves Dumbledore's Army. Neville states that the D.A. had proven their loyalty to Dumbledore... and to Harry. Before reading this did you feel that the D.A. was loyal to Harry or simply a group that was united against Umbridge and Voldemort? 15) To enter the Ravenclaw common room you have to answer a question, not simply remember a password. What does this say about the way Ravenclaws learn and how they apply their skills and knowledge? 16) Would any of you be interested in reading about what happened at Hogwarts during Deathly Hallows? ("Neville Longbottom and the Rebellion at Hogwarts" sounds like a good read to me ^_^.) Yolanda ------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: For more information on HPfGU's chapter discussions, please see "HPfGU DH Chapter Discussions" at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/database Next Chapter Discussion, Chapter 30, The Sacking of Severus Snape, on Sept. 29.