Chapter 104: 31st October 1991, Thursday: Part 6

George thought about Neville's problems and came up with a solution he'd been brewing over a week ago in the Library. The rock was just meant to serve as a gauge of Neville's ability so he threw it aside to Neville's surprise. George didn't bother to explain as he pulled out a notebook from his enchanted sack, it was one of the many Amanda had purchased for him and he hadn't needed to use it so it was empty. He also pulled out a big green permanent marker and pulled the lid off with his teeth. He needed to make sure what he was about to write was easy to read even from a distance.

Just as he was about to start writing, Neville asked, "is that another one of your cool pens?"

George looked up at Neville and saw that he was pointing at the green marker in his hand. George used various muggle stationary equipment all the time when he was helping Neville complete his homework and the boy's interest never seemed to fade. Neville asked constant questions about the function and application of every pen, pencil and marker simply because he was used to the extremely limited supply of quills from the Wizarding world. Pure-bloods, like Neville, didn't know about the innovations of the muggle world since they were stuck in the dark ages, they didn't even understand the concept of oil and plastic.

Therefore, George taught Neville about the equipment he used to study and encouraged Neville to integrate those muggle techniques into his learning. Neville was so attached to the concept of a highlighter that George gifted him a set so he could highlight his notes in his own time. George just had to remind him not to ever do it inside one of the Library books or they would both get in trouble.

George spat out the lid and said, "this pen is a permanent marker, you want to be careful with this one. As the name implies, it doesn't come off. You would have to visit Pomfrey if you ever wanted to wash it off."

Neville looked very intrigued as George started writing with the permanent marker on the first page of the notebook. He wrote in large letters 'WING-GUAR-DEE-UM LEH-VE-OH-SA', across the top, taking up about a third of the page. George paused and mimed casting the Levitation spell in his head with the marker instead of his wand, he needed to make sure he got this right the first time. Once he felt like he was imitating the movements of the spell perfectly, George repeated the process except whilst pressing the marker against the notebook.

He left a large green squiggly line below the 'WING-GUAR-DEE-UM LEH-VE-OH-SA' that looked a bit like a seven that had fallen over to the right. Then he drew arrows pointing from the syllables to different points along the squiggly line, these arrows indicated where Neville should say that part of the word during the wand-waving. George looked at the page and felt this illustration was a concrete way of ensuring the correct wand movements and incantation of the Levitation Charm, Neville should gel well with this 'spoon feeding' approach to learning magic.

George put the marker away and turned the notebook around to face Neville, the boy didn't appear to be very impressed. Neville looked at the nonsensical words and the scribble below it with an expression of pure befuddlement.

George pointed at the letters while saying, "don't you get it? Wing-gaur-dee-um Leh-ve-oh-sa. It's how you say Wingardium Leviosa in eight easy steps, I've just broken it up into the syllables for you. As long as you say the syllables like this then you'll do fine."

George then reached forward and grabbed Neville's hand which was holding his wand. Neville's arm was so feeble that it was like wielding a noodle, George had to be careful not to squeeze too hard or risk breaking his wrist. He guided Neville's hand so that his wand was pointing directly at the far left end of the seven, Neville put up no resistance as he continued to look at George like he had gone insane.

George started to move the wand along the sideways seven like it was a race track as he explained, "the squiggly line is a path your wand has to follow to cast the spell correctly. When you get to this point…"

He tapped Neville's wand against a curly part of the seven, "you say the GAR part of Win-Gar-Dium. And at this point…"

He tapped Neville's wand against the peak of the seven, "you say the OH part of Lev-Oh-Sa. Then you finish by moving the wand back down the line as you say SA. Dead simple, right?"

Neville looked to be using every brain cell he could muster to concentrate on George's instructions, if he strained his brain any more then smoke would be coming out of his ears. It was nice for George to see Neville putting his all into understanding the technique, it was further proof that he wasn't wasting his time with this boy. Whilst still grabbing Neville's wrist firmly, George repeated the movement along the squiggly line while saying the incantation slowly.

Then he abruptly let go of Neville's wrist and said, "now it's your turn. Just remember; it's not Wingardium Leviosa anymore, it's Wing-gaur-dee-um Leh-ve-oh-sa. We can worry about saying it faster later."

Neville nodded at George and stared at the squiggly line, he appeared to be repeating the incantation in his head over and over again in preparation for saying it out loud. After a few seconds, Neville brandished his wand and pressed it against the notebook.

He slowly and hesitatingly waved his wand along the line while saying, "Wing-gaur-dee-um Leh-ve-oh-sa!"

Nothing appeared to have happened, suggesting a failed spell casting, but George still clapped his hands whilst being careful not to drop the notebook on the wet grass. Neville was clearly disappointed in himself for failing, but he was also confused about why George was acting as if he had succeeded.

He asked him, "what are you clapping for? I still messed up. Even with your help, I'm useless."

George shook his head and stopped applauding, "you said the incantation correctly and made the right wand movements, it was a massive improvement from your last attempt. I was clapping because you're progressing far faster than I anticipated, you should be happy as well. The spell only failed because you hesitated and performed it too slowly. Just give it a few more attempts and I'm sure you'll succeed in no time."

A glimmer of hope appeared in Neville's eyes as he asked,  "really, you're not just saying that to make me feel better?"

George winked with a smile and said, "really really. Now come on, we've only got another fifteen minutes before lunch ends and it's freezing. I want to see you outperforming the rest of your class by the end of the day and uprooting trees by the end of the week."

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And so George and Neville stood opposite each other whilst Neville attempted to cast the spell repeatedly, the boy slowly made improvements to the flurry of his wand and the pronunciation of the incantation. George had come to anticipate a certain degree of resistance from Neville, as anyone would get annoyed after repeatedly failing the same thing over and over again, but he was pleasantly proven wrong. With only a little motivation, Neville had become a workhorse as he grinded away without complaint. Even though from Neville's perspective he wasn't improving, he kept his head down and never stopped trying.

Soon the monotony of repeating the same spell over and over again was broken by the sound of the bell chiming in the clock tower signalling the end of the lunch hour. Neville had been so determined to successfully perform the spell that he completely lost track of time which made hearing the bell all the more disheartening. Neville finally lowered his wand after hearing the bell and appeared to be incredibly disheartened as he looked toward the ground shamefully, he must have thought he had let George down. On the contrary, George's smile did not waver as he still held onto the notebook tightly.

He asked Neville sarcastically, "did you find something interesting on the floor?"

Neville slowly raised his head and murmured, "I couldn't do it, even after all the help you gave me. You were wrong about me, I am useless."

George merely tutted before retorting, "I wouldn't be so sure."

He then let go of the notebook which had been fighting against his grip, it instantly shot up into the air like a rocket. It must have reached over twenty feet into the air before it slowly fell back down to the ground, George made sure to catch it so it didn't get wet from the grass. Neville's miserable expression was exchanged for astonishment as he witnessed the magical event transpire.

He asked George in a high-pitch voice, "what just happened?"

"Come on Neville, have you not been paying attention? You've been casting the Levitation charm for the past fifteen minutes, what did you think was going to happen?"

A new wave of shock seemed to overcome Neville as he pointed at the notebook, "I did that?"

George nodded, "yep, that was all you. I was really struggling to hold on, I guess I was saved by the bell. That book was probably charged with about twelve minutes worth of Levitation charms."

Neville looked extremely excited by this revelation that his efforts hadn't gone to waste, he now knew that he could cast the spell just like George said he could. The boy looked as if he was about to start dancing but suddenly his expression changed as a new thought dawned on him.

"Wait a minute, does that mean you've known that I was casting the spell correctly for the past ten minutes and didn't tell me? Why?", Neville asked with a hint of betrayal in his voice.

George wasn't fazed as he shook his head, "it was twelve minutes but yes, I did hide it from you."

The look of betrayal on Neville's face only got worse after George's confession, but the secrecy wasn't without purpose. Now that Neville had met George's high expectations, he could be honest and tell him why he didn't say anything until the bell rang.

George held up his hand to Neville before continuing, "sure I could have told you the moment the spell first worked, that way we could have wrapped this up early and gone back to the Great Hall. Then you would be just like everyone else, plodding along at the rate the school deems acceptable. But, I saw that look of determination on your face and I knew that you were capable of far more, that if you push yourself you could exceed the low expectations everyone else has come to expect from you.

You must have heard them talk behind your back. Hopeless, a failure, a disappointment, a waste of space; this is what currently defines Neville Longbottom to them. I can tell that you're already starting to believe it yourself, that they're right about you. But this isn't the truth, they are all wrong. If you push yourself, then you can reach heights they could only dream of.

That's why I didn't tell you that your spell worked twelve minutes ago, so you could see that fact for yourself. And I wasn't wrong, was I? I bet even Hermione couldn't launch a notebook that high. I just want you to realise what I have known since the very first day I met you. You, Neville Longbottom, are destined for greatness."

Neville's brain didn't seem to compute very well when it came to an oversaturation of compliments, his expression was somewhere between befuddlement and joy. It was a lot of information to take in so George was satisfied with leaving his sappy motivational speech there for now. The plan demanded that he make a warrior of this boy, but it didn't have to happen overnight. Today was just the start of restoring a decade's worth of destroyed self-confidence. The important thing was that Neville didn't lose his motivation to improve early on in his education, that way he would be stronger when Voldemort came back.

George gave the notebook to the still-unresponsive Neville and said, "we both have Flying lessons now so we better make our way over before Professor Hooch gives us detention."

All Neville did was nod his head in response as he slowly put away his wand, the boy almost looked like he was in shock. George used his signature smile as he wrapped his arm around Neville and guided him towards the Flying lesson field. Once they walked a dozen yards away from their original spot, the watermelon-sized flame suddenly fell out of the air like a transparent cable suspending it in the air was cut. The flame hit the ground and exploded, sending embers in all directions. All evidence of the fire vanished moments later except for a few glowing embers slowly gliding to the ground.

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