Protection: The Sword and the Shield

The Recovery

......Longbottom Manor, Durham

It had been over a week since the break out and Neville had thrown himself into his training with a passion. Despite the obvious anger and frustration that hung around him and his family like a cloud he had impressed many of the people around him over the last week. Despite his obvious desire to go out find and kill the four escapees, his decision making and attitude had remained calm and calculated.

It had been explained to Soga Yoshisada, the crime that had been committed by these escaped convicts against the House of Longbottom and Neville personally. He had prepared himself for a hotheaded student ready to apply his prodigious skill to cleaving people in two with a katana. Instead his student remained humble when he arrived in his training and calmly continued on the path of learning his Sensei had set before him.

He had invited another sword master to practice against Neville that day. It was another in a series of opponents designed to help Neville refine his skill. The opponent this time was magical and fought with a rapier. The man had heard of the sword fighting prodigy and was eager to put the upstart in his place. Yoshisada had chosen this opponent to give Neville an opportunity to purge some of his anger. The man's opinion of himself was vastly higher than his actual skill.

Surprisingly it was the guest that lost his temper first as Neville beat him for a fourth time. The man challenged Neville to face him with sword and magic. After getting acceptance, the man started to dual wield with his sword and wand. He was not foolish enough to throw any dangerous curses but he did start throwing powerful stunners and jinxes.

It would have been an awe inspiring and very impressive show of skill if not for Neville dancing around the magic and disarming the man of both his sword and wand. The man finally conceded that Neville was indeed a master, gathering his remaining dignity before bowing quickly and leaving.

They had purposely not required his training partners to swear oaths of secrecy and unsurprisingly, and as they had wanted, Neville's reputation was growing far and wide. They knew for a fact that word of him had reached around the magical world. It had even penetrated the historically tight information veil of the Asian magicals. Representatives from around the world had challenged Neville, but no Asian swordsman had appeared. His sensei told him that they probably hadn't deemed him worthy, yet.

At the end of the session it was Yoshisada that broke his composure when he asked the young man how he managed to keep his temper. Neville didn't really have a good answer except to say that he knew that despite his fast advancement, his training was about years, not months and wasting his practice time complaining about things he could not control would not help him do anything but annoy his Sensei. He also said that he knew the pompous master was there to help him get better even with his attitude. The Japanese man laughed at that and let the mature young man leave.

For the leadership of the Berserks, Neville's maturity showed in his reactions to their failure. The Berserks had been tasked with tracking down the escapees and were actively investigating within the wizarding world. They did not have the authority of the Aurors but they did represent a Prima Potentia family who had a justifiable vendetta against the escapees.

Some of their members were acting openly on behalf of House Longbottom in the search. They wore dueling robes with the Longbottom Crest on their shoulders and the symbol of the Berserks (two crossed Viking axes) over their chest. They operated completely above board and within the constraints of the law. They passed out flyers and spoke to shop keepers and citizens. Most, including the Aurors officially investigating, were happy with the additional security their presence brought to public areas like Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and even Grimmauld Commons.