SMILE » n. longbottom

xxiv

"THE YEAR'S ENDING"

Neville Longbottom had not seen Alana Wallace during the time after a day he had last seen her. Madam Pomfrey was not in the Hospital Wing, as no one was. He wondered the halls of Hogwarts, walking on the brick flooring of hallways he once had seen crowded many times before. He wondered why everyone had been; Calling out for anyone, sometimes for professors ... sometimes rarely for the Headmaster, himself — Dumbledore. No one answered his plea, as he had greeted the silence warmly: ended his plea and stared out the stained glass of a nearby window that overlooked the front of the school.

Neville had then noticed that all the people of Hogwarts had been outside, watching the two schools that had visited for the tournament take their leave off of the school's campus. The end of the year had presented itself, and Neville was as confused as ever. He had not heard word of where Alana Wallace could be.

Anything could mean something, and something could mean nothing.

So had Alana's disappearance meaning have more value that it presented, or less — if he was overthinking things. He had decided that he had not, he had to speak with someone who knew of what had happened. The three people whom definitely knew must have been Professor McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, or the head of the school, Dumbledore.

Neville practically ran to where everyone had been, he had not feared for someone to hear him. If someone were to hear him now, they would have heard him when he was calling out for anyone. Maybe, in truth, Alana was down amongst everyone below. Maybe Neville would be able to finally say to her that he favored Alana's presence, as the Gryffindor boy had fancied the Hufflepuff girl long ago.

As he reached the outside of the Hogwarts castle, the doors of the school were opened — revealing students running across the yard, some watched the other schools take their leave off of the school grounds. The closest group of people nearby him were two: Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey, whom both appeared to be exchanging words.

Neville did not notice this, and he had approached them both and spoke to the nurse that he had frequently seen in the Hospital Wing, "Madam Pomfrey, I — I cannot help but wonder what has happened to Alana Wallace."

They both had stayed silent, as something had seemed to bother them both. Madam Pomfrey's mouth opened, gaped like a fish, and closed; And Neville had expected for the nurse to speak words, but no words were spoken.

Professor McGonagall spoke, answering for her friend, "Mr. Longbottom, your friend — Alana Wallace, had returned to her family early than the other students."

"But wh—"

"Mr. Longbottom, her parents instructed of it," Professor McGonagall interrupted Neville's outburst. "That is all that I can speak of Alana Wallace. I trust that you ask no more questions on this matter."

Neville turned a bright pink and quickly nodded, and turned towards a large crowd that gathered to watch the other students leave. He watched silently as the large ship of Durmstrang sunk underneath the lake, and the large carriage with pegasuses flying to the distant skies — pulling the carriage, owned by the Beauxbatons, along with them.

The Gryffindor boy realized that the students of Hogwarts would now be taking their leave of the school, as some professors, too, might've planned to leave for summer as well. He knew what happened last year, when he forgot to pack and left his things in the Gryffindor boys common room. When he found Trevor, he had been eating of off bugs in the shadows and was almost starved. He had to pack his bags now, Gran would not appreciate him returning empty-handed with less luggage than from when he arrived at the start of the school year.

He cursed himself and began his way towards the Gryffindor boys dormitory where he had been ready to pack his things into its luggage. Neville had been ready to leave this school, but he had wished to say farewell to his Hufflepuff friend, Alana Wallace.

Neville's vision had turned pale and gray, and he had crawled into a feeling that he recognized instantly upon the second of experiencing it. The clumsy boy recognized this feeling to be the same from when Professor Alastor Moody had given a lesson on the three Unforgivable Curses. He found his way to the carriages where the other students had also gathered. He rode his way back to the Hogwarts train station where he boarded in the back of the train. The loud shouts coming from the train marked the end of the year as the Hogwarts Express left swiftly to Platform 9 3/4.