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"I don't think you can just listen to their side. You need to understand everything that happened."
"For example... ask Harry."
Professor McGonagall nodded. Getting a clear picture of what had happened was, in fact, the most important thing.
"Professor! Potter is his cousin. Of course he's going to take his side!"
The suggestion had barely been made before someone strongly objected.
Professor McGonagall said, "Then... Miss Granger!"
"Beaver Girl and the Half-Giant are on the same side!"
Hearing that, McGonagall frowned without meaning to. Whether it was "beaver" or "half-giant," neither nickname could be called pleasant.
But at that moment, the group no longer cared. Since the situation had already gotten this big, they needed to drive Dursley out no matter what, even if that meant offending Professor McGonagall.
"I think perhaps we could ask someone else."
This time, it was Snape who spoke, in his usual slow, measured way, before shifting his gaze to Neville, the one who had gone to call McGonagall.
"For example, Mr. Longbottom."
In the next instant, every eye turned to Neville.
Faced with so many people staring at him, Neville looked a little frightened.
The moment they heard Neville had been chosen, many of the Gryffindors present let out sighs of relief. There was nothing to worry about. Neville was a Gryffindor. He was one of them.
"I... I..."
Shy, timid, always hesitant in front of anyone or any situation, with a demeanor that made him seem easy to pick on. That was the image Neville gave people.
Because of that, he was never valued much even within Gryffindor. Even the meaning behind his surname, Longbottom, was close to "always at the bottom," so he was mocked with names that carried the same sneering tone behind Hermione's know-it-all nickname. At first glance, it might not sound like much, but underneath it was pure ridicule.
The fact that he had gone to call Professor McGonagall at all was already an incredibly rare act of courage for him.
"Come on! Tell Professor McGonagall it was Dursley, that violent maniac, who attacked us!"
Seeing Neville refuse to point the finger at Dudley, the group began to grow anxious.
Dudley merely watched in silence.
Neville started frowning. His lips trembled nonstop. It looked as though an intense struggle was taking place inside him.
"Just say it already, Longbottom! What are you still thinking about?"
"Tell Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape it was that idiot who attacked us!"
"You coward, how long are you going to stand there like that?!"
"Longbottom, you wouldn't want later to..."
"..."
When Neville still didn't answer, the five of them began pressuring him again, trying to guide his words and even threatening him in low voices.
But the more they spoke, the harder Neville's body shook.
And the tighter his fists clenched.
No... no, it shouldn't be like this!
Neville had never had a good memory. In daily life, he forgot all sorts of things, even lessons he had just learned in class. In all of Gryffindor, Hermione was the only one willing to teach him patiently, even if she usually ended up going off on all sorts of side tangents.
But the truth was, thanks to her, he had stopped falling too far behind in class.
And it had also been Harry who gave him a set of experimental equipment and personally showed him how to use it, which helped Neville stop getting scolded by Snape in Potions afterward, even if he still struggled badly whenever they had to work in pairs.
On top of that, every time he ran into Dudley, he was always greeted warmly. Dudley was one of the few people who had never called him crybaby. On the contrary, he always treated him with respect and called him Mr. Longbottom. Funny as it sounded, that was the first time in his life anyone had ever addressed him that way.
Neville remembered all of it.
His heart was full of gratitude.
If they were good people, then why were they being treated like this?
Because they didn't fit in? Because he was from Slytherin?
No.
That was wrong.
When they hid Hermione's shoes, Neville said nothing because he was too timid and too afraid.
When they hid her books, he still stayed quiet because he didn't want to cause trouble.
Even when they shoved her and knocked her down, he stayed silent because he was a coward.
But when they surrounded Dudley and Hermione, Neville finally couldn't endure it anymore. That was why he had gone to get Professor McGonagall.
And now... they still wanted to force him to lie.
At that moment, the round-faced boy felt a flame begin burning in his chest, growing hotter and stronger until it finally exploded.
Neville breathed heavily through his nose as he glared furiously at those housemates who wanted to hide the truth.
"It was you! You were the ones bullying Hermione!"
"You were the ones who hid her shoes and her books!"
"And you were the ones who shoved Hermione on purpose. I saw it! I saw it with my own eyes!"
Neville spilled out everything he knew in one breath.
And all of those things had centered around that same small group of Gryffindors.
Everyone stood stunned. Absolute silence fell over the room.
Every young witch and wizard present stared at Neville in shock.
Even Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape were no exception.
They had never expected Neville, who normally seemed so hesitant and timid, to say something like that.
Was Neville timid?
Maybe.
Was he hesitant?
Probably.
Maybe his memory was poor. Maybe he forgot a lot of things. But he was more attentive than anyone. He remembered every person who had ever been kind to him. He remembered every person who had ever helped him.
In truth, Neville's heart was stronger than anyone else's.
And kinder too.
Neville knew very well that after saying those words today, he himself might end up being rejected within Gryffindor. He might even be treated the same way Hermione had been.
But even so, he still had to speak.
Courage does not mean charging forward in every situation or being afraid of nothing.
Courage means standing up when it is time to stand up. It means feeling fear and still facing hardship anyway.
That was true courage.
That was a true Gryffindor.
Dudley looked at Neville with deep admiration. From the very beginning, he had felt the boy was someone dependable. And now... he was even more certain of it.
As for Neville's hesitant personality, that didn't matter.
A person's nature could change.
Exactly as it was changing that day.
Neville's courage proved it.
"Apologize... all of you should apologize to Hermione. All of you should apologize to Dursley."
Neville shouted at the other Gryffindor students around him.
Since he had already said so much, saying one or two more things made no difference.
As his testimony came out, the students who had known nothing before lowered their heads in shame. As for whether that shame was genuine or not, only they themselves knew. And lowering their heads was about all they did. Maybe they felt a little guilty, but it would probably pass soon enough.
Apologizing and admitting you were wrong also took courage.
And unfortunately... even though they were in Gryffindor, the house of courage, many of them clearly did not possess that kind of courage.
Dudley's gaze swept across all of them. Under his stare, not a single one of them dared meet his eyes. Every last one kept their heads down, silently waiting for the two professors' decision.
It was dull.
And disappointing.
Neville, on the other hand, was a true Gryffindor.
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