FF: Harry and Neville

Mon Dec 23 17:04:38 UTC 2002

No: HPFGUIDX 48722

"Neville, are you in here?" Harry glanced around the darkened dorm,
muttered "Lumos" to light his wand, and crept toward Neville's bunk.

"Yeah."

"Can I talk to you for a minute?  But let's go down to the common
room.  This is just between you and me."

Neville stumbled out of bed, clumsily pulled on his robe, and followed
Harry into the common room, where they sat down in matching armchairs.

"Listen, Neville," Harry began. "I just talked to Dumbledore. He told
me about what happened to your parents. I'm terribly sorry about that.
But listen. How come you never told me? I mean, we're pals, we share
the same dorm, yet you never said a word."

"Huh?" Neville blinked.

"Your parents," Harry demanded. "Tell me about your parents!"

The blood drained out of Neville's face and he began to tremble.  "I
don't know what you mean," he whispered.

Harry couldn't tell if Neville was lying or if he was just startled
because of the late hour.  "I heard about the four people who went to
Azkaban because they tortured your parents," Harry persisted.

Neville's eyes unfocused.  His lips began to move, and Harry barely
made out the words: "Someone tortured my parents?"

"Well, that's why they're in St. Mungo's isn't it?"

Neville didn't answer for awhile.  He seemed to be staring at
something far away, and his fists clenched around his robe.  "They're
in St. Mungo's because they're sick," he said, as if reciting a line
from a script.

Neville never had been the most alert person Harry had known, but this
was weird even for Neville.  It occurred to Harry that Dumbledore
wasn't kidding when he said that Neville would tell him when he was
ready.  "Never mind, Neville," Harry whispered.  "Let's go back to bed."

"Huh?" said Neville, his eyes refocusing on Harry.

"Come on."  He led Neville back into the dorm, returned to his own
bed, and heard Neville lie back down.  Harry lay awake for a long time
after Neville's rhythmic snores filled the dorm again.  Something
about the mention of Neville's parents seemed to have triggered
something in Neville that made him go all goofy.  Had Harry run
headlong into a Memory Charm?  But as far as Harry knew, people who
had Memory Charms only acted strangely right after the charm, like the
Muggle at the Quidditch World Cup.  If Neville had been charmed, it
would have been years ago.

On the other hand, what if he had been *forced* to remember? As the
sole witness of his parents' torture, Neville would have been able to
identify his parents' attackers.  What if the Longbottoms' attackers
gave *Neville* the Memory Charm, and the Ministry of Magic had to
break it to get the necessary information?  

Harry began to feel dizzy.  What if.  What if.  He turned over and
fell asleep, resolving to enlist Hermione tomorrow in finding out more
about Memory Charms and Reverse Memory Charms--and if possible, more
about the attack on the Longbottoms.

But the next morning when Harry woke up, he decided not to pursue the
matter further, to leave Neville alone.  Dumbledore was right--he'd
tell him when he was ready, and not a moment before.

*********

See, if Neville had a Memory Charm, he wouldn't remember *anything*
about the night his parents were tortured, as Cindy's fic showed.  But
the Crucio'd spiders and the wailing Egg show that Neville remembers
*something* on *some* level about that night.  Whether it's a Memory
Charm cracking open or an amplified memory or a suppressed memory,
Neville isn't totally oblivious to the events of that night.

--Dicentra, who will not be having a white Christmas this year <sigh>

**************

For the best in fanfic, check out: 
http://www.fictionalley.org//fictionalleypark/forums/showthread.php?&threadid=312

For lots more on Memory Charmed Neville, check out Messages 36772 and
38398 ("Still Life With Memory Charm") and 38812, 38813 and 38848
("Memory Charm Symposium").