The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 104: The Battle of Hogwarts

*CW: Extreme Violence*

Neville and I had talked for only a minute or two before they started to flood the barriers of the school.

In the distance, there was a small cliff, and hundreds of deatheaters emerged upon it — we could tell from their cloak-shaped silhouettes. Of course, with how far most of us were standing from it, we were unable to tell which ones were present, but it was safe to assume all of them, including my mother and cousin, were there. Although, at the other end of the bridge, it was quite clear who (or what) had all gathered there.

Snatchers.

Trolls.

Ogres.

Giants.

And several hundred of them.

Evidently, Voldemort had sent his lower forces to do his initial dirty work for him, considering that bridge was one of the only entrances onto the school's grounds. Nothing much had changed from my time in the ranks. My father always sent the snatchers to do his dirty work for him since they were daft enough to believe that it would've eventually increased their rank. Truthfully, Voldemort didn't care about them at all.

The silence between those gathered on both sides of the bridge was deafening. The only thing that separated the small group of D.A. members and the hundreds of snatchers was a flimsy protection field, which could've broken at any given moment, but the snatchers didn't know this. Two snatchers separated from their quiet group, sprinting towards the bridge. And as they reached the protection shield, they disintegrated on sight.

Those around me gasped, taking a few steps back. Even I'd admit that I was a bit caught off guard by the whole situation. There were soft cries behind me as well — apart from me, Ginny, and Neville, the others had probably never witnessed a person die before now. On the other side of the bridge, the group of snatchers quickly halted. None of them dared to approach the protection field after witnessing two of their own disappear from the Earth. Both groups stared at each other, anxiously anticipating the other's next move.

And then suddenly, Neville let go of my hand and started walking towards the other end of the bridge.

"Nev..." I whispered sharply, "Nev... What are you doing? Get back here!"

Neville held up a finger, ultimately telling me to hush, as he continued towards the end of the bridge. I had no idea what he was doing. Annoyedly, I ran after him, catching up to him on the bridge and grabbing his arm.

I inhaled sharply, "Longbottom, if you don't tell me what you're doing right this instant-"

"Go back and stand guard," Neville ordered, cutting me off, "I can handle this on my own."

"What are you trying to handle?" I protested, "You're going to get yourself killed-"

"Go back, Dawn," Neville said coldly, cutting me off once again, "Just trust me."

I sighed disappointedly and let go of him, heading back. Neville continued towards the snatchers; I watched him apprehensively. Moments after, I felt a hand on my shoulder, causing me to jump slightly. To my right was Ginny, watching Neville as well.

"At least the protection shield's holding well, right?" she shrugged.

I didn't respond to Ginny. I merely sighed deeply and faced my boyfriend again. I think that I was just waiting, waiting for something to happen. Neville stood at the edge of the bridge arrogantly with his arms crossed, snickering at the seemingly defenseless snatchers. He must've said something because suddenly one of the snatchers lunged at Neville, causing him to flinch and take a step back. Then, said snatcher's hand touched the protection field and disintegrated on sight. By the echoing of Neville's obnoxious laughter, he found amusement in this.