Chapter 410: Detention
Because he had lost the slip of paper with the passwords, Professor McGonagall banned Neville from going to Hogsmeade again. Perhaps she feared he might lose something else... She'd long suspected that Sirius Black had been in Hogsmeade when he'd found Neville's misplaced password list.
So, when the next Hogsmeade visit rolled around, Neville watched the others leave the castle happily before silently turning and heading back up the stairs. Neville didn't complain, though. He actually thought Professor McGonagall was right. He was always losing things and making mistakes—maybe it really was better if he didn't know the passwords, which he'd just forget anyway. Sure, it'd be inconvenient not to come and go freely from the common room, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about causing any more disasters.
To be honest, knowing that Sirius Black had broken into the Gryffindor common room because of him, and had nearly killed Ron, had shaken Neville to his core. His blood ran cold every time he thought about it, and for days afterward, he'd been plagued by nightmares.
In these dreams, Ron had turned into Gryffindor's new ghost, with a nickname of his own: Poorly-Headed Weasley. There was nothing he could do about it; since Nearly Headless Nick was the ghost Neville knew best, he couldn't help but picture Ron as some version of him. In his dreams, Ron kept questioning him angrily, demanding to know why he had written down the password and handed it over to Sirius Black.
Each time, just as Neville tried to explain himself, he'd be interrupted, waking with a start, often with a yell that frightened not only himself but his roommates—especially Ron. To be honest, Ron felt like Sirius Black's break-in was less of a shock than Neville's nightmares.
Lately, the dormitory had felt like an extension of Divination class. Ron hadn't had a solid night's sleep in days; every time he managed to doze off, he'd be jolted awake by Neville's frantic shouts in the bed next to him: "Ron, I didn't mean to kill you!" or, "Poorly-Headed Weasley, it was Black who did it, not me..."
The worst part was, he was still alive, eating, sleeping, and even doing his homework. And what on earth was "Poorly-Headed Weasley"?
He didn't remember having any family connection to Sir Nicholas, thank you very much. Once or twice might've been tolerable, but hearing it every single night? That was enough to send chills down anyone's spine.
Despite telling Neville many times that he forgave him, it never seemed to help. If it hadn't been for Harry, Ron might have seriously considered switching dormitories.
Lately, though, things had finally begun to calm down a bit. Neville was determined to keep his nightmares from becoming reality, so he'd decided he didn't want to know the passwords. That way, Black would never be able to use him to get into Gryffindor Tower again...
Hmm?