Neville Longbottom and the Order of the Phoenix

Chapter 20: The Weight of the World

In a strange turn of events, Neville was the one waiting for someone to awaken. Moody had been struck by more than one Stunning Spell, so it was after noon the next day before he awakened fully. The strangest part - the agonizing part - was knowing that Dumbledore's body was under a sheet across the room. Neville's heart felt simultaneously empty and squeezed in a vice.

"He's dead, isn't he?" was the first thing that Moody said. His good eye was still closed, and Madam Pomfrey had replaced his Magical Eye with a plain eyepatch.

"Yes, he is," although Neville had practiced it in his head a thousand times, he couldn't admit it out loud without a sob of sorrow. "Madam Pomfrey said he was hit with a Killing Curse."

"By Snape, I know." It was only because he had spoken with Moody so much that he could recognize the emotion in his voice. "What happened after I went down?"

"Most of what they did was just a distraction," Neville explained. "Their primary goal was to kill Dumbledore, so they left once that was done."

"How'd they get in unnoticed?"

"Remember about Malfoy and his strange behavior?" Neville asked. "Well, he was repairing a Vanishing Cabinet. The Death-Eaters just entered its twin and came out of the one he fixed here in the Castle."

"Hold on," Moody scowled, "how do ya know this?"

Neville suppressed a smile and said, "We caught two of 'em - Gibbon and McNair. By the time the Ministry sent Aurors to collect 'em this morning, Flitwick and Slughorn had already questioned them . . . thoroughly."

Moody closed his eyes and gave his creepy smile, which was only a little less creepy with the eyepatch.

He told Moody how it all started with his dream, and pointed out all the differences that suggested it wasn't like the dream with Mr. Weasley. And he explained that the Ministry was attacked as a distraction, but Lily wasn't there. The dream must have been bait to draw as many as possible away from Hogwarts and the real target.

"So it was just dumb luck that you and Dumbledore came back when you did." Neville paused before asking his own question. "Where were you and Dumbledore anyway?"

Moody checked for privacy, then took his Wand from the side table and said, "Muffliato."

All sounds around them became muffled, but he could hear Moody clearly when he spoke. "We destroyed one of the Horcruxes!"

"Really, which one?" Neville blurted out. He suddenly felt like destroying the Horcruxes wasn't so impossible afterall.

"Check the pocket of my clothes," Moody instructed. Neville took his folded clothes from the basket in the side table and checked the pockets. Moody continued to explain, "Dumbledore had been tryin' ta locate anythin' that could be the Horcrux. When we found out there was more than one, we started lookin' into who his victims were - ya know, no victim, no Horcrux. But then he figured out where the Ring was an' we knew that was one fer sure. Well, he wanted ta destroy the first one ta see what the effects were - actually, it was the second one."

"Do you mean second one he made?" Neville asked as he examined the Ring.

"I'll get to that," Moody said raising his eyebrows. "I'm not sure how, but he found it, an' he brought me along ta help get through the Protective Magic 'round it. It was buried in the ruins of the old Gaunt home, so we broke the Curse, dug it up an' destroyed it. . . That's where we was last night."

"How?" he asked. "How did you destroy it?"

Moody nodded toward the Sword of Gryffindor which was leaning against the side table. "What do ya know about things crafted by Goblins?" When Neville shrugged, Moody continued, "They're inherently Magical and absorb anything that makes 'em stronger . . . like Basilisk venom."