WestHamFan
Sixth Year
Floo Ferret
DUNG DUNG…DUNG
Neville Longbottom carefully checked the potion recipe on the blackboard. He thought he had simmered the dragonfly wings for the right amount of time, but now he was not so sure. The mixture cooling within his cauldron was of a strange consistency, the liquid clinging to his stirring apparatus like thick honey. The colour was also off. Rather than the cool shade of blue that Professor Snape had described, the potion was a violent red.
Neville prodded the tiny flames below his cauldron with his wand. Perhaps, if he simmered the strange brew for awhile longer, it would improve. He hoped Professor Snape would not be around to belittle him for at least a few more minutes. Unfortunately, those hopes were immediately dashed.
“What is that supposed to be, Longbottom?” Snape asked, his tone as sour as an Acid Pop. “Surely that is not your potion assignment. A simple-minded Mountain Troll could have brewed a shrinking solution. Could it be that even a Troll has one up on you?”
The Slytherin students all began to laugh, familiar with the routine humiliation of Neville Longbottom. Neville hung his head in shame. No matter how he tried, it was never good enough for Snape. Neville knew he could take the abuse, as had many times in the past, as long as points weren’t taken from Gryffindor.
“Have you ever considered actually following the directions, Longbottom?” Snape continued, clearly enjoying making someone else feel as miserable as he was. “Rules were meant to be followed. Keep ignoring them and you’ll be in the same league as Potter.”
Neville searched the room for Harry and found him standing next to Hermione and Ron. The tips of Ron’s ears were red, a sure sign that he was very angry. Hermione appeared to be the same colour as she normally was, but looked ready to snap. Neville didn’t realise how ready, until a clump of dragon dung sailed through the air and hit Snape directly in the back of the head. Neville’s mouth dropped open in shock. Hermione would never dream of talking back to a teacher; she certainly wouldn’t throw something at one.
The voice of Neville’s grandmother rang in his ear “Never say never” just as a Hermione chucked a second clump of dung, hitting Snape again in the back of the head.
“Leave him alone!” Hermione yelled, enunciating every syllable.
But, Snape never heard her. When the second round of dung hit him, he pitched forward face first into Neville’s potion. Screams rang through the dungeon and even Hermione looked horrified at what she had done.
Snape stood up, pulling his head from the cauldron. The screaming intensified and Neville felt like he was going to faint when he saw what the potion had done. At first it appeared as if Snape’s head had disappeared. And then Neville realised, Snape’s head was still attached, it was simply, very tiny.
“It worked. My potion actually worked!” Neville said, shocked.
Professor Snape wobbled on his feet, his hands feeling the air in search of his shrunken head. Finally locating it, he screamed in horror when he felt just how small it was and ran from the classroom in a swish of robes.
Shortly after, Professor Dumbledore entered the dungeons. He walked with his usual regal air and stopped directly in front of Neville’s cauldron. Taking a second to wink at Neville, Professor Dumbledore eyed the contents of the pot. Aiming his wand, Dumbledore whispered an incantation familiar to everyone in the room- Wingardium Leviosa.
Something arose from the cauldron, covered with the thickened shrinking solution. Some of the students gasped when they saw what was hidden under the red syrup. It was the Wizard’s Box.
“How did that get in there?” Neville asked Professor Dumbledore, wondering who would have slipped the strange box into his cauldron.
“You have never seen the box before, Neville?” Professor Dumbledore asked him quietly.
“No Professor. What is it?” Neville questioned.
“It is a Wizard’s Box, Neville.” Dumbledore replied, swishing his wand over the box until it was clean and free of goo. “Seeing as it has found it’s way to you, I suggest you keep it. Perhaps, try to open it.”
Neville looked trustingly into Dumbledore’s twinkling blue eyes and nodded slowly, taking the box into his hands.
********************************************************************
Later that evening, alone in the common room, Neville tried every spell he knew to get the box open. Though he was not sure what a Wizard’s Box was, he hoped it may be something that could help his parents. Maybe that was why Professor Dumbledore had encouraged him to open it. There must be something useful inside.
Neville decided the box must be made of something really strong. It withstood every test he had put it through, including the shrinking solution. Staring into the fire burning cheerfully in the fireplace, Neville pondered the one thing he hadn’t tried. Was it worth the risk?
Feeling brave, Neville stood before the fireplace and threw the box into the flames. It didn’t appear anything was happening to it. The flames had no effect at all. Feeling foolish, Neville suddenly realised he had no idea how to retrieve the box from the hot fire. If he left it and came back early in the morning, the flames would probably be gone. The Metal box would then be cool and safe to touch. Deciding that was the best option, Neville headed wearily up the stairs to his bed.
Round Three - The Magic Box, Collaborative Fan Fiction
evlpez Round Three - The Magic Box Oct 23 2004, 01:44 AM
Each submission in this challenge must follow the previous one, so that all of them together make one continuing story. Please do not end your submission in such a way that it is impossible for another writer to find the Magic Box and continue the story.
Note to ferrets: Remember that you are writing fan fiction as though you are the Floo-Between user you've chosen. This means that if you've chosen Snape, you are writing as though Snape is writing fan fiction, not as though he is a part of the story. Each character may write as many submissions as they wish for this challenge, as long as each submission is significantly different from their others. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday December 1st.
