94 hp Diagon Alley

Hole.There were smooth stone steps on the other side, and it seemed that this passage had existed for many years.Brass lamps hung on the walls, and the dirt floor was well-trodden.They walked in the passage, and the shadows cast on the walls swayed like fans.

"Are you with us, Gwen?" Hermione asked, poking her head out of the hole.

"I'll discuss it with other people when they arrive." Gwen shook her head. "Unless you need help, we won't enter Hogwarts easily—that would cause unnecessary trouble."

In the secret passage, Neville started to walk backwards, looking at them carefully with a smile on his face. "... Is it true? Did you really break into Gringotts? Did you escape on a dragon? It's getting around and people are saying that Terry Boot was yelling this in the Great Hall at dinner. What happened, I was beaten up by the Carlo brothers and sisters!"

"Yes, it's true," said Harry.

Neville laughed happily.

"Then what did you do to that fire dragon?"

"It was released in the wild," said Ron, "and Hermione's all about keeping it as a pet—"

"No exaggeration, Ron—"

"But what are you doing? People say you're running around, Harry, but I don't think so. I think you must be doing something."

"You're right," said Harry, "tell us about Hogwarts, Neville, we don't have any news."

"School... Well, it doesn't look like Hogwarts anymore." Neville said, the smile on his face faded, "Do you know the Carroll brothers and sisters?"

"The two Death Eaters who teach here?"

"They don't just teach," said Neville, "discipline is also their thing. These two Carlos like to punish students the most."

"Like Umbridge?"

"Well, Umbridge is mild compared to them. If we do something wrong, the other teachers will have to hand us over to them. But the teachers don't do it as long as they can get away with it. You could tell they hated those two as much as we did."

"Amycus, that guy, who taught that Defense Against the Dark Arts class that used to be, and now it's literally Dark Arts. We're supposed to practice the Cruciatus Curse on the inmates—"

"what?"

The chorus of Harry, Ron and Hermione's exclamation echoed throughout the corridor.

"Yeah," said Neville, "that's how I got this injury." He pointed to a particularly deep gash on his cheek. "I wouldn't do it. But some people are interested, and Crabbe and Goyle like it. It's probably the first time they've made a fuss about something."

"Alecto, Amycus' sister, taught Muggle Studies, which is now compulsory for everyone. We all heard her say that Muggles are like animals, dirty and stupid, and cruel to wizards , driving the wizard into hiding, and saying that normal order has now been re-established. This wound," he pointed to another gash in the face, "cause I asked her and her brother how much Muggle blood was on their hands left behind."

"My God, Neville," said Ron, "there's a time and a place for talking too much."

"You didn't hear her," said Neville, "or you wouldn't be able to take it. The point is, it's useful for someone to stand up to them. It gives hope to everyone. Harry, when you did that, I noticed."

"But they're sharpening your knife," said Ron.As they passed under a lamp, the light made Neville's wound even more shocking, and Ron shuddered at the sight.

Neville shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. They don't want to spoil too many purebloods, so they only torture us a little when we talk presumptuously, and it won't really kill us."

Harry didn't know which was worse, the things Neville said, or the indifferent tone in which he said them.

"The real danger is that students who have relatives and friends who are causing trouble outside will be taken hostage. Old Shane Lovegood was too frank on The Quibbler, and they went back to Luna for Christmas snatched her from the train at the festival."

"Neville, Luna is fine, we saw her—"

"Yes, I know, she sent me a letter."

Neville pulled a gold coin from his pocket, which Harry recognized as the fake Galleons that Dumbledore's Army used to pass messages between each other.

"This thing is great," Neville said to Hermione, grinning. "The Carrows never found out how we communicated. They were going crazy. We used to sneak out in the middle of the night, 'Dumbledore's Army still recruiting' was scrawled on the wall. Snape hated it."

"At that time?" Harry asked, noticing that he was using the past tense.

"Well, it got tougher then," said Neville, "lost Luna at Christmas, Ginny didn't come back after Easter, and the three of us were pretty much the leaders at the time. The Carlos seemed to know a lot It was all planned by me in the background and started to punish me so badly that Michael Corner was found out when he went to release a freshman who was locked up by them and they tortured him so badly. They all ran away."

"I can't believe it," Ron muttered under his breath, as the passage started to turn uphill.

"Yeah, I can't ask someone else to go through what happened to Michael, so I dropped those dangerous practices. But we were still fighting, doing some underground work, until two weeks ago. At that time, they probably decided that there was only one way to do it." Tell me to restrain myself and go find my grandma."

"What?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione asked simultaneously.

"Yeah," Neville said, the passage was very steep, and he spoke slightly panting, "Hmph, I can tell what they're thinking. Kidnapping children to make relatives follow the rules has always worked well, and I guessed they Sooner or later it was going to be reversed. The problem was," he turned to them, and Harry was surprised to see him grinning, "they were overwhelmed. Granny, a humble old witch, was alone. Living alone, they probably thought they didn't need to send someone special. In the end," Neville laughed, "Dawlish is still lying in St. Mungo's Hospital, and Granny escaped. She entrusted Aberforth to me. Sent a letter," he patted the chest pocket of his robe, "telling me that she was proud of me, and that I was worthy of being my parents' son, telling me to persevere."

"It's amazing," said Ron.

"Yeah," said Neville cheerfully, "the problem is, they realized they couldn't threaten me, and they decided that Hogwarts could have no more of me. I don't know if they're going to kill me or send me to Azkaban, no matter what, I know I should disappear."

"But," said Ron, who seemed completely bewildered, "we - aren't we going to Hogwarts?"

"Of course," said Neville, "you'll understand. Here we are."

They turned a corner and walked to the small square like a cave.There were seven doors in all, and Neville had somehow identified one of them.stride forward.Neville pushed open the door and climbed in.Harry also followed, only to hear Neville yelling at some invisible people: "Look who's coming! How did I tell you?"

As soon as Harry was in the room at the other end of the passage, he heard several people screaming and shouting—

"Harry!"

"It's Potter, it's Potter!"

"Ron!"

"Hermione!"

Colorful curtains, lamps, and many faces dazzled Harry.Then he, Ron and Hermione were surrounded by about 20 people.The people hugged them, shook their hands, punched their backs, rubbed their hair like they just won a Quidditch final.

"Okay, okay, be quiet!" Neville yelled, and the crowd receded, allowing Harry to see his surroundings clearly.

Harry didn't recognize the room at all.It was huge, and looked like a fancy tree house or the cabin of a big ship.Hammocks of various colors were hung from the ceiling and around a balcony surrounded by dark, windowless, wood-panelled walls covered with bright tapestries, and Harry saw the golden lion of Gryffindor, Standing out against the bright red background were Hufflepuff's black badger on a yellow background, and Ravenclaw's bronze eagle against the blue, except for the silver and green of Slytherin.There were overcrowded bookshelves, a few broomsticks leaning against the wall, and a big wooden radio in the corner.

"Where are we?"

"House of Requirement, you don't need to ask!" said Neville. "It performed beyond the standard, didn't it? The Carrows were chasing me, and I knew there was only one chance to find the hiding place: Fortunately, I finally entered. Opened the door and found this place! Of course, it was not like this when I first came here, it was much smaller, and there was only one hammock, only the Gryffindor curtain. Later, as more and more DA members joined Come in, and it expands."

"Can't the Carlos come in?" Harry asked, looking for the door.

"No way in," said Seamus Finnigan, whom Harry only recognized when he spoke.Seamus' face was swollen and bruised. "What a perfect hideout, as long as one of us is here they can't get in, the door can't be opened. Thanks to Neville. He really has the room. You have to ask it for what you really need— -like, 'I don't want followers of the Carrows to be able to get in' - it will do it for you! Just make sure you plug the loophole! Neville