A Light in the Darkness (The “Wish I Were a Hero” Remix)
Yeah, finally getting around to posting this. This was actually my submission for the Remix Madness, instead of the regular Remix (though that one will be coming up soon, too). I’ll post my thoughts on this story in a comment, to keep things separate.
This story is a remix of grav_ity’s story, “ The Boy Who Stayed”.
***
In the previous six years of school, Neville had worked hard to stay out of detention, and barring a few instances, had succeeded quite well. Harry and Ron and Hermione had a knack for finding trouble and getting into the thick of it - mostly Harry, and he dragged the other two with him because that’s what friends did. Neville had a knack for staying out of it, even if people got annoyed with him easily, and he didn’t really have friends to drag him into it. Luna had put her finger on it at the end of his fifth year when she’d said that that year had been almost like having friends.That sentence could basically sum up all of Neville’s whole life. He didn’t have friends before coming to Hogwarts, and on the train that first year, he’d daydreamed about what it would be like to finally have friends. And then reality had kicked him in the teeth, because nobody wanted to be friends with the clumsy, pudgy, useless boy who couldn’t do anything right. Well, not entirely true, because Ron wasn’t any better than Neville at most things, but he was popular by sheer dint of riding the coattails of The Boy Who Lived.
No, Neville hadn’t spent a lot of time in detention before his seventh year. But that year, even though he still didn’t really have friends, because The Golden Trio - and yes, it was a bit hard to not be bitter that there wasn’t room for a fourth or fifth or sixth member of that elite friendship - had decided to once again do something crazy and stupid and completely necessary, even though he didn’t really have friends other than Luna Lovegood and no one to drag him into stupid scrapes, he spent more than enough times in detention to more than make up for the previous six years’ lack of it.
He’d even managed to not deal with Umbitch’s detentions, and found himself longing for something as simple and painless as writing lines with his own blood.
The Battle of the Students began the first day of September, with Ginny smuggling Luna into Gryffindor Tower, because only three Ravenclaw girls came to school that year, and both of them had sisters in other Houses. Padma was accepted into Parvati’s room, and Cho stayed with her little sister in Hufflepuff. Luna had no siblings to stay with, and Ginny stepped up and declared to Professor McGonagall that Luna was her close cousin. Of course, it was ludicrous; Luna’s hair was as blonde as moonshine, and Ginny’s hair was as red as Weasley hair could get. It was quite obvious the girls weren’t related, except maybe possibly very distantly, but McGonagall also knew the two girls’ bloodlines and they both knew she did. But Professor McGonagall merely nodded and said that it was good for family to take care of each other.
As far as battle victories go, it was a small one, but one no less fought for nor celebrated than the others.
The second battle happened the next day, when Ginny informed Neville and Luna that she’d learned from the twins how they’d created the swamp, and had been practicing to be able to duplicate it. The three students had put their own spin on it, causing the entire dungeon levels to be flooded. The resulting detention was for the three of them to be sent into the Forbidden Forest without wands.
Since that day, many small battles had been fought in the halls and classrooms of Hogwarts. Surprisingly, the first House to join Neville and Ginny and Luna hadn’t been the brave Gryffindors or the logical Ravenclaws. No, the first House to join the fight unquestioningly and wholeheartedly had been Hufflepuff. The Gryffs and the Claws had done their best to lie low and not stick out because “the nail that sticks out the most is the first to get hammered”. Hufflepuff, the House that was frequently overlooked for not being brave or smart or ambitious (it was frequently referred to as the House you were placed into if you weren’t good enough for the others) prized one thing over everything else: loyalty. Loyalty, that oft-overlooked virtue, can make a coward perform an act of bravery, a fool come up with a complex plan, give motivation to someone who has no ambition. Harry was The Boy Who Lived, and the other students respected him for it. But Neville was The Boy Who Stayed and the students of that last year loved him for it. Both boys were The Boys Who Fought. The students put as much stock in Neville’s title as in Harry’s, if not more. His refusal to back down, and determination to continue fighting no matter the cost to himself, earned the Puffs’ loyalty by the second week of September. Within a week of the Puffs allying themselves with The Scrappy Trio - a title bestowed on Luna, Ginny and Neville, and that was as revered by the other students as The Golden Trio was - the Gryffs and Claws joined in, because the brave Gryffindors would be damned if they would allow it to be said that the squishy Hufflepuffs fought while the brave Gryffindors stood idly by, and the Ravenclaws didn’t trust the foolhardy brave idiots and the soft loyal marshmellows to come up with plans that wouldn’t get any non-Slytherins in trouble. So Neville stayed and planned and fought.
There are four kinds of fighters in this world.
There are the Heroes, like Harry, who were born for greatness and thrust into it. They are the people who shine bright and carry light into the darkness for people to see by. They fight the dark with everything they have, illuminating the night with their light. Heroes are so very rare, and so very necessary.
There are the Soldiers, like Ron, who fight because they can’t stand idly by and watch darkness win, but they need to be told what to do because they can’t see how their actions fit into the big picture. They will obey orders unhesitatingly because they know they’re needed and they trust their leaders to be able to see what they themselves can not.
There are the Tacticians, like Hermione, who are able to make the plans and three backup plans for when things go wrong and hit the fan - and they will go wrong and hit the fan.
And then there are the Commanders, like Neville (though he can’t see it in himself), who will do whatever is necessary. Heroes are born for greatness, but Commanders choose to take on the responsibility because someone has to. They will be the Hero when none is around, and be a shining beacon of hope, because it is needed. They will be the Soldier if someone is around to lead them, and they will happily follow that person. They will be the Tactician, and make plan after plan after plan, leading people through blood and pain and even death because it is necessary, even if they hate doing it, and they will never ask of people what they’re not willing to do themselves, and they’ll cry with and for their people afterwards. They will be the Leader, because people need someone to rally behind when hope seems gone. They will be the Healer and the Encourager and whatever else is necessary, because someone has to do it. They are even more rare than Heroes, and even more needed
Neville could never understand why he was placed in Gryffindor. Gryffindor was the House for Heroes, like his parents. Not for him.
Even as he and some of his fellow rebels were placed on the wall in front of a handful of Slytherins and held there by a Sticking Charm, Neville knew without a doubt that he was not a Hero.
As he was already thinking of what Battle they’d fight tomorrow, and as the Crucios were cast and the pain-filled screams filled the air, his own included, Neville knew with cold certainty that he was not a Hero, and he despaired because the other students needed one.
He was not a Hero.
But he was the closest they had, and he wished, he wished, he wished he could be the Hero that his fellow students and comrades-in-arms deserved.
This story is a remix of grav_ity’s story, “ The Boy Who Stayed”.
***
In the previous six years of school, Neville had worked hard to stay out of detention, and barring a few instances, had succeeded quite well. Harry and Ron and Hermione had a knack for finding trouble and getting into the thick of it - mostly Harry, and he dragged the other two with him because that’s what friends did. Neville had a knack for staying out of it, even if people got annoyed with him easily, and he didn’t really have friends to drag him into it. Luna had put her finger on it at the end of his fifth year when she’d said that that year had been almost like having friends.That sentence could basically sum up all of Neville’s whole life. He didn’t have friends before coming to Hogwarts, and on the train that first year, he’d daydreamed about what it would be like to finally have friends. And then reality had kicked him in the teeth, because nobody wanted to be friends with the clumsy, pudgy, useless boy who couldn’t do anything right. Well, not entirely true, because Ron wasn’t any better than Neville at most things, but he was popular by sheer dint of riding the coattails of The Boy Who Lived.
No, Neville hadn’t spent a lot of time in detention before his seventh year. But that year, even though he still didn’t really have friends, because The Golden Trio - and yes, it was a bit hard to not be bitter that there wasn’t room for a fourth or fifth or sixth member of that elite friendship - had decided to once again do something crazy and stupid and completely necessary, even though he didn’t really have friends other than Luna Lovegood and no one to drag him into stupid scrapes, he spent more than enough times in detention to more than make up for the previous six years’ lack of it.
He’d even managed to not deal with Umbitch’s detentions, and found himself longing for something as simple and painless as writing lines with his own blood.
The Battle of the Students began the first day of September, with Ginny smuggling Luna into Gryffindor Tower, because only three Ravenclaw girls came to school that year, and both of them had sisters in other Houses. Padma was accepted into Parvati’s room, and Cho stayed with her little sister in Hufflepuff. Luna had no siblings to stay with, and Ginny stepped up and declared to Professor McGonagall that Luna was her close cousin. Of course, it was ludicrous; Luna’s hair was as blonde as moonshine, and Ginny’s hair was as red as Weasley hair could get. It was quite obvious the girls weren’t related, except maybe possibly very distantly, but McGonagall also knew the two girls’ bloodlines and they both knew she did. But Professor McGonagall merely nodded and said that it was good for family to take care of each other.
As far as battle victories go, it was a small one, but one no less fought for nor celebrated than the others.
The second battle happened the next day, when Ginny informed Neville and Luna that she’d learned from the twins how they’d created the swamp, and had been practicing to be able to duplicate it. The three students had put their own spin on it, causing the entire dungeon levels to be flooded. The resulting detention was for the three of them to be sent into the Forbidden Forest without wands.
Since that day, many small battles had been fought in the halls and classrooms of Hogwarts. Surprisingly, the first House to join Neville and Ginny and Luna hadn’t been the brave Gryffindors or the logical Ravenclaws. No, the first House to join the fight unquestioningly and wholeheartedly had been Hufflepuff. The Gryffs and the Claws had done their best to lie low and not stick out because “the nail that sticks out the most is the first to get hammered”. Hufflepuff, the House that was frequently overlooked for not being brave or smart or ambitious (it was frequently referred to as the House you were placed into if you weren’t good enough for the others) prized one thing over everything else: loyalty. Loyalty, that oft-overlooked virtue, can make a coward perform an act of bravery, a fool come up with a complex plan, give motivation to someone who has no ambition. Harry was The Boy Who Lived, and the other students respected him for it. But Neville was The Boy Who Stayed and the students of that last year loved him for it. Both boys were The Boys Who Fought. The students put as much stock in Neville’s title as in Harry’s, if not more. His refusal to back down, and determination to continue fighting no matter the cost to himself, earned the Puffs’ loyalty by the second week of September. Within a week of the Puffs allying themselves with The Scrappy Trio - a title bestowed on Luna, Ginny and Neville, and that was as revered by the other students as The Golden Trio was - the Gryffs and Claws joined in, because the brave Gryffindors would be damned if they would allow it to be said that the squishy Hufflepuffs fought while the brave Gryffindors stood idly by, and the Ravenclaws didn’t trust the foolhardy brave idiots and the soft loyal marshmellows to come up with plans that wouldn’t get any non-Slytherins in trouble. So Neville stayed and planned and fought.
There are four kinds of fighters in this world.
There are the Heroes, like Harry, who were born for greatness and thrust into it. They are the people who shine bright and carry light into the darkness for people to see by. They fight the dark with everything they have, illuminating the night with their light. Heroes are so very rare, and so very necessary.
There are the Soldiers, like Ron, who fight because they can’t stand idly by and watch darkness win, but they need to be told what to do because they can’t see how their actions fit into the big picture. They will obey orders unhesitatingly because they know they’re needed and they trust their leaders to be able to see what they themselves can not.
There are the Tacticians, like Hermione, who are able to make the plans and three backup plans for when things go wrong and hit the fan - and they will go wrong and hit the fan.
And then there are the Commanders, like Neville (though he can’t see it in himself), who will do whatever is necessary. Heroes are born for greatness, but Commanders choose to take on the responsibility because someone has to. They will be the Hero when none is around, and be a shining beacon of hope, because it is needed. They will be the Soldier if someone is around to lead them, and they will happily follow that person. They will be the Tactician, and make plan after plan after plan, leading people through blood and pain and even death because it is necessary, even if they hate doing it, and they will never ask of people what they’re not willing to do themselves, and they’ll cry with and for their people afterwards. They will be the Leader, because people need someone to rally behind when hope seems gone. They will be the Healer and the Encourager and whatever else is necessary, because someone has to do it. They are even more rare than Heroes, and even more needed
Neville could never understand why he was placed in Gryffindor. Gryffindor was the House for Heroes, like his parents. Not for him.
Even as he and some of his fellow rebels were placed on the wall in front of a handful of Slytherins and held there by a Sticking Charm, Neville knew without a doubt that he was not a Hero.
As he was already thinking of what Battle they’d fight tomorrow, and as the Crucios were cast and the pain-filled screams filled the air, his own included, Neville knew with cold certainty that he was not a Hero, and he despaired because the other students needed one.
He was not a Hero.
But he was the closest they had, and he wished, he wished, he wished he could be the Hero that his fellow students and comrades-in-arms deserved.