Courage {Neville Longbottom} (ON HOLD)

Chapter Twenty Four

Neville nearly knocked his prized plant to the ground as Kefira had stated her suspicions brutally blunt. At first, he thought she was just trying to make a joke and he waited for her to burst into giggles so that he could relax and then scold her for making such a horrible joke. However, as she sat before him, her expression did not change. She continued to wear the same frown and after her eyes scanned over him, she looked away to focus on the table.

"I know it sounds a bit far-fetch-" She began twiddling her thumbs in her lap. 

"A bit?" Neville nearly screeched. "Kefira, do you realize what you're accusing her of? That's not something to take lightly at all. Where is all of this coming from suddenly? You told me just the other day that you still were not sure what was happening and that even Madam Pomfrey couldn't figure it out."

"I know," Kefira said. "But I spoke to Godric's painting and he told me a lot of information, Nevs. All of which makes sense and I'm pretty sure it links back to me and I think part of it links back to Faye."

"Kefira, Godric is just that...a portrait, now. The paintings say all sorts of things, that doesn't make it true."

"But it can be true!" She argued. "I learned it from Elizabeth that the person who has a portrait done spends a great deal with their painting so that it adopts their mannerisms and the information that the person wants the painting to have. Obviously, Godric wanted someone to hear the story-"

"Then that means he would have told someone else besides you, right?"

"Okay, let me rephrase that, he was waiting for the right person to come along and hear the story," she said but her frown only became bigger as Neville shook his head for a moment before running a hand through his hair.

"What did he tell you, Kefira, that would make you think that it's Faye poisoning you in your sleep? I just...you know, you were sick when you were younger and maybe this is coming back-"

"That might be very well connected to what I'm about to tell you if you would just listen to me! Please!"

Kefira had been bottling the information up for quite some time, realizing that Neville's reaction is what she expected everyone to say if she told them. However, there was such a desperation to her voice that Neville couldn't resist allowing her to tell him her "findings" despite how ridiculous they sounded. He couldn't believe that Faye would be getting away with poisoning Kefira during the night, especially when they were in the dorms with three other girls. 

"Alright," he sighed, moving his plant away, fearful that he would knock it down during Kefira's storytelling at some point. "Go ahead."

She could hear the disbelief in his tone and it wasn't the most comforting. Normally, when she started off telling a story of any kind, Neville wore an eager and excited expression but it didn't seem to be the case that day.

"Godric and Salazar had a falling out, which I'm sure you know because Salazar didn't want muggle-borns to be taught at the school. He left the school angrily and did his best to get others in the Wizarding world to follow his ideals. One of his best students had been Merlin, but unfortunately for Salazar, Merlin didn't agree with the man's ideas on blood purity. In fact, he was against them. But there was someone who wasn't and that was Morgana, otherwise known as Morgan Le Fay. She was the half-sister of King Arthur, who at the time was dear friends with Merlin and she absolutely hated Merlin. She sided with Salazar during the whole purity thing...and because Merlin sided with Godric, a whole mess came to be."

She gave a moment for Neville to register all the information she had given him and waited for him to nod so that she could continue. Even if he didn't believe it, he was still curious to hear the rest of the story as he urged her to continue.