Harry Potter and the Scabbard of Excalibur [AU]

A Motion to Proceed

After the furor of the first week, the confusion and wonder of exciting new subjects and classes, Harry found that September was almost humdrum; not in the ordinary sense, but magical sense. There was a certain, ritualistic and courtly, everydayness to the classes they were taught, and the constant march from class to class.

As the second week of September concluded, and its weekend began, Harry woke up one Saturday a couple of minutes after dawn, only to find the Hufflepuff Common Room in an uproar of activity. Almost the entire House was loudly discussing some issue in what seemed to be, almost, a public forum.

All of the Inner Circle members from the seventh year that Harry recognized, including Gareth - now the Head Boy - and several prefects were in a heated discussion with Dusty, Nova, Asmund, and several other Hufflepuffs. It was completely unlike the normal atmosphere of the Hufflepuff Common Room; busy and full of sprightly movement, but welcoming and open nonetheless. At the moment, it was closed and choked off by amassed crowds of arguing people and small cliques throwing in their opinions.

"What's happening?" he asked Neville upon seeing him.

"Uh, I'm not sure yet," Neville replied.

"A bunch of cocky Gryffindors in the fourth year hexed one of our First-Years," replied Alistair Thaxted, a boy several years above them, peering at Harry curiously through his spectacles. "Viciously, or so I'm told. He's in the medical wing. He's been there since last night."

"And they slipped him some potion to make him forget who did it, but Gareth figured it out," a girl that Harry didn't know, one year older, added, with a nasty frown on her face. "The issue is, Gareth reported them to the faculty members, but McGonagall doesn't believe the students involved could be responsible. And maybe normally that's fine, it's nice for teachers to have faith, but what she's doing is... absurd. She won't even check their wands. It's like there's no way a Gryffindor could be responsible."

"Blatant favoritism." Alistair scowled.

"Who are they?" Harry asked, frowning himself.

"Gareth won't say," the girl replied.

"That's pretty bad," Neville said. "Does that happen?"

"Less often than you'd think, but more often than you'd hope." Alistair moved a hand to his waist, lifting an eyebrow at their nosiness. "It's none of your business, though, is it, Firsties? Move along. Let Gareth and his pack sort this out."

As they moved carefully and slowly along the outer rim of the room, in order to get to the exit door, they could overhear some cut-away snippets of the heated, boiling discussion at the center of the room.

Apparently, Nova and Asmund were in a vengeful mood - they wanted to go after the ones responsible and show them how it feels when someone older than yourself casts volatile magic on you. Dusty and Gareth were in disagreement with them, alongside most of the others - it was regrettable that it happened, and that the professors didn't believe them, but Gareth had faith that Headmaster Dumbledore would find the incident as meriting a thorough investigation. There was no purpose to risk the entire House and possibly have several people expelled over something like this.

Harry, on the other hand, wasn't sure what to think of the incident. He definitely wouldn't like for something like that to happen to himself or Neville, and from the sounds of it, the Gryffindors in question had targeted a completely innocent boy.

Already sensing that Harry was about to ask, Geist provided his opinion, A typical incident, sadly. A thing of this sort usually happens many times a year to multiple students throughout. Sometimes, it's dealt with; sometimes, it's not. It's not something we can prevent, however - much as fire is the natural consequence of excessive heat, an incident of this sort is the natural consequence of giving magical powers to young children with no solid mechanism to prevent abuses. At least there's a certain assurance there are limits - several times before, entire Houses were stripped of their wands as punishment, and given them back only during lessons.

"Any news on the, uh, potion investigation?"

"I've told Dumbledore," Neville said with a truly profound shrug. "He's assigned one of the ghosts, Nearly Headless Nick, to watch over that corridor and report."

The Hogwarts ghosts were a fascinating bunch, and their activity in the castle even more so. A part of the ancient agreement that allowed them to haunt the castle stipulated they were to act as indentured servants for the Headmaster and faculty. They also had to provide commentary on history lessons if required. A similar clause applied to most of the portraits hanging about, as the portraits had to provide students with directions upon request and to answer questions about past events truthfully. It was apparently rather useful for Mr. Filch to keep track of any students who might be skulking about at night.

Maybe the only exception to any of this was the Bloody Baron. But no one talked about him.

Anyway, there wasn't much solid grounding to studying history from textbooks and estimating what might've occurred in a particular event or time period, when you could simply invite those who personally participated in its formation for afternoon tea and crumpets.

"Alright. Uh, I'm gonna find Ron, Hermione, and Daphne. We're planning to hang out in the courtyard and study together for the Potions test next week," Harry said. Already, several days ahead, he could feel the test was going to be a nightmare. "Wanna come with?"

"Nah." Neville shook his head. "I'm gonna check the dungeons for any clues."

Sad idiot. There won't be any clues in the dungeon.

"Are you sure?" Harry insisted, inspired by Geist's comment. "There's probably nothing down there, you know? Come on, you can always check tomorrow. I'll even help you out. Since it's a Sunday, there's no problem."

"No, I have to do this now." Neville noticed Harry's raised eyebrow and laughed sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm just, uh, really into this spying stuff."

"Didn't Dumbledore tell us not to do anything dangerous? The dungeons are infested with monsters and they're especially active on the weekends," Harry replied dissatisfiedly. They reached the staircase that led down into the dungeons and stopped there to keep arguing.

"Come on, Harry, I know the Knockback Jinx." Neville sounded dismissive and confident. Almost cocky. "I'll be fine."

"The Knockback Jinx doesn't work on everything," Harry felt the need to point out.

Neville's expression dripped subtle exasperation as he rolled his eyes and sighed out a deep breath of air. "Yes, pa, I know, I know. I'll be careful at school and keep my wand close to my hand. Tell ma I love her, okay?"

Harry, in response, glared at him slightly through his round glasses. He sighed out, in surrender, and pinched the bridge of his nose, massaging it. "I can't believe I asked you for advice on talking to people, mate. You can be seriously infuriating sometimes."

"I'll be fine, Harry. Alright?" Neville put a hand on Harry's shoulder and smiled. "I'll be back in time for breakfast."

"You're taking this mission from Dumbledore too seriously."

"I'll see you later," Neville merely replied, stepping away.

An instinct tells me that we'll next hear of Neville Longbottom in four, long weeks from now. His melted remains will be found in the stomach of a happy Acromantula resting in a nook in the dungeon's ceiling.

---

[ ] Hufflepuffs Stick Together - Sorry Ron, Hermione, and Daphne. House loyalty comes first. Accompany his dumb ass lest he gets himself killed by a troll that spawns out of nowhere to swing a giant club around. And besides, you can always study tomorrow. ++Neville, -Your Other Friends,
+Dudley Dursley. "I'm sorry I didn't save you, cuz. I should've saved you."
[ ] Study Instead - If you don't pass this Potions assessment, you'll be in hot water in terms of grades for this semester; it's pretty much an examination of all the lesson topics for early September; everything you've learned so far. Although you're confident that you have decent fifty-fifty odds of passing as it is, you really don't want to retake this.

Also, due to your focus on learning Astronomy, you're now two months ahead of the curriculum in the subject. As such, you've learned the following topics to sufficient proficiency that you may discuss them with someone equally knowledgeable or explain their concepts to a novice: "The Formation of the Universe, what Muggles call the Big Bang," "Age and Origin of the Solar System," "Planets of the Solar System - Basic Overview," "The Sun," "The Moon of Earth - Lunar Phases," and "Earth."

All other subjects are learned as per normal description in the previous chapter, though Harry is less confident in his proficiency when it comes to Potions. His own hard work is an excellent multiplier, and Geist is an awesome cheat, but the former can't solve everything due to time limitations, and the latter wants you to be independent of itself.

Auspicious Incidence - Alongside the promised lessons, you've also managed to learn the Jelly Fingers Curse from Professor Flitwick. It's... not exceptionally good or useful, but it'll do in place of a Disarming Charm until you're good enough to cast one, you suppose.

As a reminder, Focus Astronomy won last time. Although that should be obvious given the above.