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"Yeah," Neville laughed bitterly. "Apparently, I'm very forgetful."
Theo bit his lip anxiously. Then, he moved a bit closer and knelt down to the floor so he could make eye contact. "Longbottom ... Neville ... has anyone ... ever explained to you what a Rememberall is actually for?"
Neville just stared at him without comprehension. "Oh dear," Theo thought to himself.
At dinner that evening, Harry was digging into some cottage pie when Malfoy nudged him slightly. "Your Mudblood friend is making a spectacle of herself trying to get your attention."
Harry glared at him. "I don't appreciate the use of that word, Malfoy."
Draco glared back. "I don't appreciate house mates who have greater loyalty to Gryffindors than Slytherins. And yet here we are."
"It's interesting that you're so concerned for my loyalty to the house when you've worked so hard to isolate me within it, Malfoy."
Before Malfoy could respond, a paper airplane landed on the table between the two of them, narrowly missing the gravy bowl. The words "To Harry! From Hermione!" were written on it. The two boys looked up from the airplane's direction to see Hermione waving at him.
"That's it," said Malfoy with a sneer. "Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy. We're moving. It's getting a bit too ... muddy around here." The four Slytherins relocated to the far end of the table. On the other side, all the other First Year Slytherins save Theo moved as far away from Harry as was possible. Harry frowned. He had hoped to lay low within Slytherin House for a while longer and continue learning the house's secrets before he made any sort of power play. Unfortunately, Malfoy seemed bent on forcing the issue, so a confrontation would likely happen quite soon. It was ... annoying.
Harry turned his attention to Hermione's airplane which he unfolded to reveal a blank page. To his surprise, words in Hermione's elegant script faded into view.
"Harry, do you know where Neville is? I'm very worried about him. Tap the parchment three times and whisper your response and then tap the parchment twice more to send it back to me."
Harry eyebrows shot up in surprise, and then he replied.
"I haven't seen him since Herbology. How are you doing this?"
"A modified Switching Spell linking your parchment to the one I'm writing on. It's out of the Third Year curriculum, though I think this adaptation is from Fifth Year."
Harry chuckled. How these idiot Purebloods could even pretend to be superior while Muggleborn prodigies like Hermione stalked the school was a mystery to him.
"What is that?" asked Theo.
"Oh, just Hermione, once again proving that everything Draco thinks about blood purity is bollocks. By the way, have you by any chance seen Neville recently?"
Theo coughed nervously. "I saw him about an hour ago. He was in the first floor boys' bathroom. He was very upset."
"Yeah. I heard something happened in Charms and he had to leave class, but I haven't gotten any details."
Theo chewed his lip again. "It was more than that. Harry, do you know what a Rememberall is for? Because Longbottom didn't until I told him earlier. I ... I realized he didn't and thought he ought to know. I hope I didn't make a mistake by telling him."
Harry was confused but also suddenly concerned. "Neville told me that a Rememberall lets you know when you've forgotten something important."
"Yes, but it's more than that." Theo looked around conspiratorially. "In the mid-1700's, a spell came into widespread usage called the Memory Charm, followed soon after by its close relative, the False Memory Charm. The former creates a targeted amnesia in someone. The later replaces the erased memories with new ones of the spellcaster's choice. They caused a lot of problems at first, until the Ministry passed laws heavily regulating them. In fact, they were nearly declared Unforgivables, but they were deemed too valuable for use on Muggles in preserving the Statute of Secrecy to ban so completely. They aren't taught at Hogwarts and you're supposed to get licensed by the Ministry to learn and use them, but there are plenty of old families which have preserved them in grimoires so they're still available to learn illegally if you have the right contacts."
"And the Rememberall protects against them?"
"Not exactly – it just lets you know when you've been hit by one. It's kind of a tradition in wealthy old Pureblood families, especially the paranoid ones, to gift them to children starting at Hogwarts. Only the rich ones, though, because they're pretty expensive. It's to hopefully prevent children from being mentally manipulated until they're old enough to develop psychic defenses. They turn a pale red if you've forgotten something naturally, a dark red if you've had memories erased or altered through magic," Theo swallowed, "and a very dark red if you've had lots of memories affected that way."
Harry paled. "Like Neville's did earlier today. Can these memory alterations be reversed?"
"That's another thing Rememberalls do. If you carry one with you at all times, it can gradually reconstruct memories that have been erased or altered by magic. It may take a long time depending on how extensive the alterations are and how powerful the wizard was that cast the spell. That's what the glow meant this afternoon. Longbottom's Rememberall has finally reconstructed his true memories and is ready to restore them."
Harry inhaled sharply. "Did you tell Neville how to do that?"
Theo grimaced. "Yes. For what it's worth, I did tell him that he should probably have someone with him when he restored his memories in case they were traumatic, but he insisted on doing it alone. I guess I should have come and told you anyway, but it seemed kind of ... personal to him."
"Maybe so, but you still should have come and told me."
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