Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 191: Two Wands

"I can't say that? Ha—just consider it as you and your..."

Malfoy paused, still not uttering the last few names. He was increasingly unable to fathom Snape's thoughts, but that didn't stop him from mocking this Gryffindor coward before him.

"Help me test that spell, Longbottom! Locomotor Mortis! (Leg-Locking Curse!)"

Malfoy waved his wand. Neville's eyes widened instantly, his legs clamped tightly together, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Malfoy smirked and raised an eyebrow at the two men behind him, who then burst into laughter.

The corridor was dimly lit. In the next room, the black cat that had been squeezing its head through the crack in the door quickly pulled its head out.

It tilted its head, its whiskers trembling, and quickly fixed its gaze on the direction of the corridor.

When the black cat looked up, it met the gaze of the tabby cat, whose whiskers were also trembling. The tabby cat's eyes revealed a human-like suppressed anger, and it walked out the door in front of Sheen without expression.

The conflict in the corridor was not over. Neville shakily picked up his wand:
"Finite! (Stop the curse immediately!)"

Neville instinctively cast the spell and then closed his eyes. When he opened them, the Leg-Locking Curse had been broken.

I...I think I can, just like Sheen said...

He stared blankly at the wand, a smile playing on his lips for a fleeting moment, before straightening up by leaning against the wall.

Looking up, he saw an enraged Malfoy charging towards him with Goyle and Crabbe.

"Grab his hand!"

Neville heard Malfoy roar.

Neville was too frightened to move by the two men who surrounded him. His mind went blank, but Justin's words flashed through his mind – the words Justin had said when he saw him, Ron, and Malfoy fighting in the yard:

“Well done, Neville. My father said—fists are very effective for people who have no morals or character.”

When Goyle grabbed Neville's left arm, Neville, knowing what was about to happen, punched Crabbe in the face.

"what--"

Crabbe clearly didn't expect Neville to fight back, and instantly screamed as he was knocked to the ground.

Neville stared at his fist, utterly incredulous that he had done such a thing.

"Yes, I'm sorry..."

He subconsciously apologized, his voice trembling.

"Grab him and teach him a lesson!"

He heard Malfoy's roar.

The young wizards' commotion rose at the end of the corridor, and two dark figures flashed by.

When the black cat reached the end of the corridor, he saw Malfoy and his two companions closing in on Neville. They cornered Neville and then pointed their wands at him menacingly, muttering some evil curse.

The black cat's ink-black fur stood up involuntarily, and its ears, with strands of white, bent backward and disappeared.

The tabby cat was stunned for a long time upon seeing this scene—was this the first time the cat had ever bristled?

In the black cat's line of sight, Neville had nowhere left to retreat.

"Alright, I only wanted you to test a spell on me, but now you'll have to do more for me!"

Malfoy drew his wand:
“rictusempra! (Grinning widely!)”

"Finite! (Stop the curse immediately!)"

Neville acted faster than he thought; he released the spell that Sheen had been teaching him to use alone, and the effect was surprisingly good.

But soon he realized he was doomed. If he resisted, Malfoy would only get angrier—oh God, he was doomed!
Sure enough, a voice suppressing anger rang out:
"You want to duel me, Longbottom?! Then come on!"

Malfoy seemed furious, relentlessly unleashing minor curses at Neville, but Neville reacted quickly, using his spell to dispel most of them.

Before he could even feel secretly happy, Crabbe and Goyle, realizing what was happening, rushed up and knocked Neville's wand away in an instant.

The corridor lost the fleeting light of the spell and instantly became dark.

Neville stared blankly as his new wand fell to the ground. He felt his swallowing slow a hundred times more than usual, his body stiffening, his heart pounding, and his courage vanishing with the fall of the wand. A few seconds of silence followed in the corridor before Malfoy let out a sneer:
"Locomotor Mortis! (Leg-locking spell!)"

Neville immediately put his legs together and leaned against the wall.

"I think you've just learned a spell from that Sheehan Green. You should really look at yourself, a big oaf, a coward."

He then burst into laughter.

"I am not a coward..."

Neville was surrounded by the three men, watching helplessly as they took his wand and played with it.

He felt that his tears must have flowed, otherwise how could he not even see his beloved magic wand clearly?

"I am not a coward..."

He muttered to himself, but his body gave him no strength whatsoever.

"You're a complete coward!"

He heard someone shouting.

"I am not a coward..."

His voice grew softer and softer as he recalled the expectant and encouraging looks in everyone's eyes inside the Hope Hut...

Sheen spoke in a single day what he spoke in a week...

His heart isn't made of stone, how could he be without feelings?

"Nawi, there is only one kind of hero in this world: the one who fears and overcomes fear."

Neville Longbottom, you're no worse than anyone else.

He heard someone talking, and when he looked up, he saw a black cat rushing towards him like lightning.

Is that... Sheen?

In his moment of vulnerability, this name was the first one that came to mind.

“…Sheen said, I’m no worse than anyone else…”

A wand, a wand with a sleek and sharp blade, sprang from his waist.

Neville gripped the wand and, to the astonishment of Malfoy and the others, roared:

"Flipendo! (Retreat the enemy three feet!)"

"what--!!"

Gore screamed and flew high into the air before crashing to the ground.

Just as the terrified Crabbe was about to control Neville, a fist loomed large in front of him.

"what--!!"

Then he collapsed as well.

Neville could hardly believe what he had done. He looked at his fist—was it really that powerful?

Looking at the wand that had just been flicked out, he knew that tears must have flowed again.

Malfoy stood in fear on the stone slab, while Goyle and Crabbe lay sprawled on the ground.

Neville's sudden outburst also made Sheen stop his claws. He silently transformed back in a corner of the corridor and saw Professor McGonagall, who had also transformed back, nodding slightly.

In the corridor, Neville picked up his new wand and put his father's wand back at his waist.

He then left the place, trembling.

Sheen watched the wand from the corner; he knew. The lifeless wand had been given life by a father.

(End of this chapter)