Harry Potter and the Way of Reason

J.K. Rowling, if a guy is trying to bother you, you can think blue, count 1, 2, or look for a red shoe. [1]

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It was Sunday, November 11rd.Soon, the academic year's Big Three of Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger will begin their quest for supremacy.

(Harry is a little annoyed that the Boy Who Lived has fallen from supremacy to one of three equal competitors simply because of his participation in the contest, but he's confident he can get it back soon. )

The battle was set in a heavily wooded area of ​​the Unforbidden Forest, because Professor Quirrell thought it boring, even for the first battle in his life, to have all the enemy in sight.

All the students who weren't actually in any of the first-year armies were camped nearby and watched the battle from a screen placed by Professor Quirrell.Only three fourth-year Gryffindors fell ill and were confined to the hospital bed by Madam Pomfrey.Other than that, everyone was there.

Instead of the usual school robes, the students wore Muggle camouflage that Professor Quirrell had sourced from nowhere, and he provided ample quantity and variety to suit everyone's needs.Not because the students were worried about their robes being stained or torn, that's what the charms were for after all.Rather, as Professor Quirrell explained to the astonished group of pure-blood wizards, elegant and dignified attire is not very good for hiding in the forest or dodging among the trees.

And on the chest of each uniform, there is a piece of cloth with the name and badge of the army to which it belongs.A small piece of cloth.It's all up to you if you want your soldiers to wear, say, colored ribbons or something so they can recognize each other from a distance, while risking enemy troops getting the ribbons.

Harry tries to name his army "Dragons".

Draco threw a fit over it, claiming that it was going to cause total confusion and confusion for everyone. [2]

Professor Quirrell ruled that Draco had the first choice of the name, if he chose.

So now Harry became the opponent of "Dragons".

That doesn't seem like a good sign.

In their choice of insignia, Draco didn't use the bland flame-breather, but the flame itself.Elegant, understated, deadly: this is the only thing left.Very Malfoy.

After considering other options such as the "501st Temporary Battalion",[3] or "Harry's Scourge Minions", Harry decided to name his army the simple and dignified "Legions of Chaos".

Their emblem is a hand in a snapping gesture.

Everyone thought it was a bad omen.

Harry earnestly advised Hermione that her young boys were likely to be nervous that she was a girl known for being friendly, so she should choose scarier names to prove she was strong and to evoke their feelings for her. Pride of the troops you lead, like "Blood Commandos" or something.

Hermione named her team the "Sunshine Corps".

Their badge is a smiley face.

After 10 minutes, they will enter combat mode.

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Harry was standing in the bright glade that had been their designated starting location, an open field of old, rotting tree stumps, cleared for some unknown purpose, covered with scattered leaves, and Gray hay stalks withstood the sweltering heat, with the sun pouring down brightly from the top.

Around him stood the 23 soldiers assigned to him by Professor Quirrell. Of course, almost all Gryffindors signed up, more than half of Slytherins, less than half of Hufflepuffs, and a few Ravenclaw.In Harry's army, there were twelve Gryffindors, six Slytherins, four Hufflepuffs, and one Ravenclaw besides him...couldn't tell by looking at the uniforms where they belonged college.No red, no green, no yellow, no blue.Only the Muggle camouflage pattern, and the "snap fingers" pattern on the chest.

Harry watched his 23 soldiers, all in uniform, with no group identification other than the badge.

And, lo and behold, Harry smiled, for he understood what Professor Quirrell was up to with this part of his master plan; Harry was going to make good use of it for his own purposes, too.

There is a legendary episode in the field of social psychology called the Robles Cave Experiment.This experiment was designed in the chaotic downturn after World War II, with the purpose of studying the motivation and elimination methods of conflicts between groups.The scientists put together a summer camp of 22 boys from 22 different schools and made sure they were all selected from stable middle-class families.The first phase of the experiment aimed to investigate the dynamics that motivate intergroup conflict. The 22 boys were divided equally into two groups of 11 each——

— that's enough.

Animosity was born the moment the two groups of boys became aware of each other's presence in the state park, leading to verbal abuse at their first meeting.They named their teams the Eagles and Diamondbacks (no need for a name when they thought they were the only group in the park) and began to develop diametrically opposite collective images, the Diamondbacks seeing themselves as brutish and foul-mouthed, and the Eagles The team accordingly decided to position itself as a gentleman.

Another part of the experiment was to test how to resolve intergroup conflict.Gathering the boys together to watch the fireworks show is completely ineffective.They just yell at each other and stay divided.What worked was to warn them that the park might be infested with vandals, and the two groups had to work together to fix the problem with the park's water system.A common mission, a common enemy.

Harry strongly suspects that Professor Quirrell is well aware of this law, since he has chosen to create three armies for each year.

Three armies.

Not four.

And definitely not by house...with one exception, no other Slytherins were assigned to Draco other than Crabbe and Goyle.

It was details like this that convinced Harry once again that Professor Quirrell, despite his apparent darkness and pretending to be neutral in the conflict between good and evil, was actually secretly supporting the good side. Dare to say this out loud.

Harry decides to take full advantage of Professor Quirrell's scheme to define group identity in his own way.

The Diamondbacks, once they met the Eagles, started to define themselves as brutal and behaved accordingly.

The Eagles characterize themselves as just and legitimate.

In the bright glade, General Porter and his 23 soldiers were scattered around the old decaying tree stumps, outlined by the bright sunlight pouring down from the sky, General Porter and his 23 soldiers It looks nothing like the reorganized army.Some soldiers are standing, some are sitting, and some stand on one foot to make a difference.

After all, this is the Legion of Chaos.

If there was no reason for them to stand in neat little lines, said Harry scornfully, then there would be no neat little lines.

Harry divided the army into six squads of four each, commanded by a squad advisor.The entire army was given strict orders, and that was the right not to obey any order, including the order itself, if disobedience was a good idea in the circumstances...unless Harry or the squad advisor prefixed the order with "Merlin said",[6] In this case, these orders are really for you to obey.

The main attack method of the Chaos Legion is to attack from multiple directions in pieces, change directions randomly, and cast sleep spells as frequently as possible under the conditions of sufficient mana.If you find an opportunity to distract your enemies and throw them into chaos, take it.

Act quickly.Be creative.unexpected.do not tend to be the same.Don't just follow orders, use your brain to see if what you're doing makes sense.

Harry wasn't as sure as he'd pretended to be for optimal military efficiency...but he'd had a golden opportunity to change how some students thought of him, and that's how he planned to exploit it.

According to Harry's watch, there were only five minutes left before the combat time.

General Porter walked (not marched) to the place where his air force was waiting, the broom was already firmly in their hands.

"All departments report to me," General Porter said.They had already rehearsed it in a training session on Saturday.

"Captain Red stands by," Seamus Finnigan said, though he didn't understand what that meant.

"Stay on Red Friday," replied Dean Thomas, who had been waiting his whole life to say those words. [5]

"Captain Green is on call," Theodore Nott responded bluntly.

"Green 41 is on standby," Tracy Davis said.

"I want you to take off into the sky the moment you hear the bell," General Porter said. "Don't join the battle, I repeat, don't join the battle. Once you are attacked, please retreat and avoid it immediately." (Of course, you can't cast the sleep spell on the broom, but cast a spell that makes the thing you hit temporarily emit a red light .If the broom or the rider is hit, you're out.) "Captain Red and Red Five, fly to Malfoy's army at full speed, fly as high as you can while you can see them, and return as soon as you are sure of their actions. Green Captain, do the same with Granger's army. Green 41, fly above our army and keep an eye out for any approaching broomsticks or soldiers, you and only you are allowed to cast spells. Remember, I didn't prepend those orders just now "Says Merlin. But we really need this information. For the Legion of Chaos!"

"For the Chaos Legion!" The four echoed with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

Harry expected Hermione to blitz Draco, in which case he'd order troops to move into position and start supporting her, but that would be after she'd lost a lot and done some damage.If possible, he would frame it as a heroic rescue operation; after all, it is not advisable to make the Legion of Sunshine think that the Legion of Chaos is not an ally.

But in case she didn't...well, that's why the Chaos Legion decided to sit still until Captain Green returned to report.

Draco would act entirely in his own interest.Unsurprisingly, he would prepare the army for Hermione's attack, as predicted.He may or may not have realized that Harry had been lying about waiting until the battle was over before attacking.Harry sent two broomsticks to the Dragons anyway, just in case they made a move, and also in case Draco or Goyle or Crabbe were strong enough to shoot straight into the sky on the broomsticks.

But General Granger was an unpredictable leader, and until Harry knew where she was going, he couldn't act.

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In the center of the forest, the dense canopy swayed high in the sky, and the shade patterns danced on the ground. General Malfoy stood where the trees were relatively sparse, watching his army with calm and satisfaction.Six squads of three each, four-man aviation (including Gregory), and the command, himself and Vincent.They had only practiced briefly last Saturday, but Draco believed he had the basics covered.Stay with your teammates at all times, stick to their backs and trust them to stick to yours.Unity moves as one.Follow orders without fear.Aim, attack, move, aim again, attack again.

Six squads formed a defensive perimeter around Draco, watching the forest outside warily.They stood back to back, wands held low, until they had to strike.

They looked very much like the Aurors Draco had seen training with his father during his visits with his father.

The Legion of Chaos and the Legion of the Sun would never know what kind of attack awaited them.

"Attention all," said General Malfoy.The six squads broke up and turned to face Draco; his broomstick riders turned and stood facing him, broomsticks already clutched in their hands.

Draco decided to wait until they had won their first battle before asking for a salute, at which point Gryffindor and Hufflepuff would be more than willing to salute a Malfoy.

But his soldiers were straight enough, especially the Gryffindors, that Draco wondered if his waiting was necessary.Gregory had overheard and reported to him that when Professor Quirrell taught Harry how to throw in the towel in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Draco stood by Harry's side, which made him a recognized commander .At least for those who happened to be assigned to his army. "Not all Slytherins are the same. There are some Slytherins and there are other Slytherins." Gryffindor in Draco's army was quoted to his classmates.

Frankly Draco was amazed at how incredibly easy this was.Draco initially protested not being sorted into Slytherin, but Professor Quirrell told him that if he wanted to be the first Malfoy with total control of national politics, he had to learn how to manage the other three-quarters of the population .It was little things like this that reassured Draco that Professor Quirrell had more sympathy for the good side than he let on.

The actual fight would not be so easy, especially if Granger did attack the Dragons first.Draco had wondered whether to attack Granger with all his forces in the first place, to strike first, but his concerns were two (1) that Harry was misleading him about Granger's possible actions, and (2) that Harry The statement that he would wait for Granger's attack to end before joining the fight was misleading him.

Although Dragon Warrior has a secret weapon, three to be exact.Even if they are immediately attacked by the other two teams, they may win...

It was time, and that meant it was time for Draco to make his pre-battle declaration, which he had written and memorized.

"The war is about to begin," Draco said.His voice was calm and clear. "Remember what I and Crabbe and Goyle have shown you. The army is won by its discipline and deadly offensive. General Potter and Chaos lack discipline. Granger and the Sunshine Corps lack offensive. We're disciplined, we're offensive, we're Dragons. The war's about to start, and we're going to win."

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(General Porter's impromptu pre-battle speech to the Chaos Legions, minutes before their first battle, 1991 November 11, 3:2pm:)

My warriors, I will not hide from you that the circumstances we find ourselves in today are grim.The Feilong team is undefeated.And Hermione Granger... had a great memory.The truth is, most of you will die in war.And the dead are more enviable than the survivors.But we must win this war.We have to win so that someday our children can enjoy chocolate again.Everything is at stake today.everything.If we lose, the entire universe will go to eternal night like a light bulb going off.I can see that most of you don't understand what a light bulb is.But, trust me, that would be pretty bad.But if we must go down, let us go down in battle, like legendary heroes, so that when the darkness falls we can say to ourselves: at least we had fun.Are you afraid of death?I know I'm scared.I could feel the chill and shudder of fear, like someone sprayed ice cream on my shirt.But I also know... history is watching us.It watches us change into our uniforms.It most likely also took pictures.History, my warriors, is written by the victors.If we win the war, we can write our own history.A history that records the founding of Hogwarts by four defected house-elves.We can make every latecomer study this history, even though it is far from the truth, and, if they don't answer the questions as we say when they take the exam...fail them.Isn't it worth our lives to fight?No, don't answer this question.Some things are better not to know.None of us know why we are here fighting.None of us knew what to fight for.We simply wake up in this enigmatic forest in uniform, knowing that victory is the only way we can get our names and our memories back.Those students in other armies...they are just like us.They don't want to die either.They fight to protect each other, to protect the only friends they have left.They fight because they know there are loved ones who miss them, even if they can't remember them at the moment.They might even be fighting to save the world.But we have better reasons than they do.That's what we can't buy, I am willing.We fight to please xenomorphs beyond time and space.We fight because we are the legions of Chaos.Soon, the final battle will begin, and let me say it now, because I will never have the opportunity to say it later, it is an honor to be your commander, no matter how short the time.Thank you, thank you all.Remember, your goal is not just to annihilate your enemies, but to make them fearful.

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A loud and deep gong echoed through the forest.

The Sunshine Corps began to march.

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The atmosphere became increasingly tense, and Harry and nineteen other soldiers waited for the Air Force to report the situation on the front line.It shouldn't be too long, the broom is very fast and the distance in the forest is not too far.

The two broomsticks approached at full speed from the direction of Malfoy's tent, and all the soldiers tensed up.They did not make the flying maneuvers that represent friendly broomsticks today.

"Scatter, fire!" growled General Potter, and he did as he was told, trotting quickly into the cover of the forest; as soon as Harry was inside the trees, he turned sharply, raised his wand, and tried to Find that broom—

"Get out of the fight!" a voice yelled. "They retreated!"

Harry shrugged mentally.There was nothing they could do to stop Draco from getting this information, but all he knew was that they had been standing still.

The soldiers of the Chaos Legion slowly emerged from the jungle——

"Broom from Granger's direction!" bellowed another voice. "I think it's Captain Green, he did a fall and roll!"

After a while, Theodore Nott swooped down from the air and hovered in the middle of the soldiers.

"Granger's split!" yelled Nott, who was circling on his broom. "She's attacking two armies at the same time! Each army is covered by two broomsticks, and they're chasing me half way!"

She split up, what happened——

When a strong army concentrates its firepower on a weaker army, it can quickly defeat the opponent without taking much damage.When twenty soldiers fight ten soldiers, there will be twenty sleep spells aimed at ten soldiers, and vice versa, only ten shots.So unless all the sleep spells of the batch hit their target, the small army will lose more people than they can eliminate.In military terms, after dividing the troops, they will be defeated one by one.What the hell is Hermione thinking...

Then Harry understood.She is seeking fairness.

This year's Defense Against the Dark Arts class is going to feel like years.

"Okay," Harry said aloud so the army could hear. "We'll wait until Red Wing comes to report,[6] and then we'll go and block some of the sun like a cloud."

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Draco listened to the pilot's report with a calm face, all his shock hidden in his heart.What the hell was Granger thinking?

Then Draco understood.

She was babbling.

One of the two armies of the Sunshine Corps will turn around, and they will converge in one place...

Who will be the target?

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Neville Longbottom marched through the forest towards the approaching sun troops, occasionally looking up at the broom in the sky.Beside him marched at the same time his comrades from the same squad, Melvin Coote and Lavender Brown of Gryffindor, and Alan Flint of Slytherin.Alan Flint was their group advisor, although Harry had privately told Neville that the position was his if he wanted to.

Harry said a lot to Neville in private, "You know, Neville, if you want to be as good as the Neville you imagined in your head, but you can't move because of fear, then you really need to sign up for Quirrell." The Professor's Army." Begin.

Neville was now certain that the Boy Who Lived could read minds.Harry Potter has no other way of knowing this.Neville had never mentioned this to anyone, nor had he shown any signs of it; there was no one else like him, at least not that Neville had ever found out.

Moreover, Harry's promise was fulfilled, which is indeed different from the drill in Defense Against the Dark Arts class.Neville had hoped that the drill would correct his flaws, but, well, that didn't happen.Even if he can cast some spells on another classmate with Professor Quirrell watching over to make sure nothing goes wrong, even if he can do it with the professor's permission and everyone else thinks he should be able to, and if he can't he will Dodging and fighting back while staring at him oddly doesn't quite count as standing up for yourself.

But being part of the military...

When his uniform was embroidered with a badge that snapped his fingers, and he walked through the forest side by side with his comrades, a strange feeling stimulated Neville's heart.

He's allowed to walk if he wants to, but he feels he'd prefer to walk in unison.

On his side, Melvin, Lavender and Allen seemed more willing to walk in unison.

Neville sang softly the Song of Chaos.

Muggles can recognize the tune as John Williams' Imperial March, also known as "Darth Vader's Theme"; and, Harry's words are very easy to remember.

disaster disaster

disaster disaster disaster disaster

disaster disaster

disaster disaster disaster disaster

disaster disaster

disaster disaster disaster disaster disaster disaster disaster disaster

disaster-disaster-disaster

Disaster disaster, disaster disaster.

Others joined him in the second verse, and soon the same soft chants were heard coming from a nearby part of the forest.

Neville marched shoulder to shoulder with his Chaos comrades,

The strange feeling stirred his heart,

fantasy come true,

At the same time, a terrible ballad that brought disaster came out from his lips.

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Harry stared at the fallen people in the forest.He felt a chill inside, but he tried to remind himself that those people were just asleep.There were girls among the fallen soldiers, which somehow made things worse, and he had to be careful not to mention that in front of Hermione, or the Aurors would find his remains in a small teapot.

Half of the Sunshine Legion failed to deal too much damage to all the Chaos Legion.Nine Army soldiers ran away screaming inarticulately, raising their improvised shields, the round barriers protecting their faces and chests.But you can't shoot while holding the shield, and Harry's soldiers aim directly at the legs to cast spells.In the resounding "sleep!", the soldiers of the Sunshine Corps were wiped out except for one.

The last soldier disarms the shield and eliminates one of Harry's soldiers before being hit by a second sleep spell (multiple hits with the sleep spell are safe).The two Sunshine Corps brooms were far more difficult to shoot down, and three Chaos soldiers were disabled before being wiped out by heavy land fire.

Hermione was not among the fallen soldiers.Draco must have grabbed her, which made Harry inexplicably angry, not sure if he was protective of Hermione, or felt cheated because it wasn't him, or both. Both.

"Okay," said Harry, raising his voice. "Everyone must be clear that this is not a real battle. General Granger made a serious mistake in her first battle. Today's real battle is against the dragon team, and that will have nothing to do with this battle. Similarities. That's going to be more interesting. Here we go."

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A broom had plummeted from the sky, approached at terrifying speed, then circled its tail and slowed so sharply that the shriek of air protest could almost be heard, before finally coming to a stop right next to Draco's. side.

This is not a dangerous show off.Gregory Goyle was just good at it, and he didn't want to waste his time.

"Potter approaching," said Gregory, without the usual faux draw. "They still have the four brooms, do you want me to shoot them down?"

"No," Draco said sharply. "Fighting above their troops is too much of an advantage for them, they'll fire at you from the ground, and you won't necessarily be able to dodge all of them. Wait until the troops engage."

At the cost of four Dragon Warriors, Draco wiped out twelve Sunshine Soldiers.Obviously General Granger was incredibly stupid, but she wasn't among the attackers, so Draco didn't have a chance to taunt her or ask her what the hell was going on in Merlin's name.

They all knew that the real battle would be with Harry Potter.

"Get ready!" Draco growled to his soldiers. "Don't disperse with your comrades-in-arms, act as a whole, once the enemy comes within range, attack immediately!"

Discipline versus chaos.

Nothing to start with.

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The adrenaline kept pumping into Neville's blood, gradually making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

"We're close," General Porter said in a voice just loud enough for the entire squad to hear. "It's time to disperse."

Neville's comrades had left him.They'll still support each other, but together, enemies will be easier to hit; attacks aimed at comrades may miss you.Spreading out and moving as fast as possible will make it harder to hit.

One of the first things General Porter did in training was have them attack each other while both were running fast, or both stood still and took time to aim, or one moved while the other stood still - sleep The dispelling spell of the curse is very simple, but it is not allowed to be used in real battles.General Porter took careful notes of what happened, drew some pictures and did some calculations, and declared that it made more sense for them to move quickly to avoid getting hit than to slow down and aim carefully.

Not being able to march shoulder to shoulder with his comrades still bothered Neville a little, but it more than made up for it with the dreaded battle cries they had learned already thundering in his head.

This time, Neville quietly swore to himself that his voice would never turn into a soft scream.

"Stand up the shield," said General Potter, "charge the forward deflector shield."[7]

"One shield,"[8] muttered the army, as rings of barriers suddenly appeared over their heads and chests.

A pungent taste filled Neville's mouth.General Potter wouldn't have ordered them to cast their shields if they weren't nearly within range.Neville could see the uniformed figures of dragons weaving through the dense jungle, and Dragon Force would see them—"

attack! "There was a distant command, Draco Malfoy's voice, and General Potter growled, "Charge—"

All the adrenaline in Neville's blood was released. He walked like flying and hit the enemy directly. He didn't need to look to know that all his comrades were like him.

"Blood sacrifice!" Neville yelled. "Skull offering![9] Yay! Shab Nicholas![10] The enemy's gate is on the side![11]"

A sleeping spell dealt a silent blow to Neville's shield in vain.There may have been other spells cast, but none of them hit.

Neville saw the fleeting fear on Wayne Hopkins' face as he stood beside two Gryffindors Neville didn't know, and—

—Neville drops the improvised shield and attacks Wayne—

--Miss hit--

—his running legs straight through the enemy line, toward the other three dragon warriors, their wands pointed at him, lips parted—

——Without even thinking about it, Neville fell headlong into the forest floor, and at the same time three "Drowsy!" sounded.

It hurts.Hard rocks and thick twigs dug into Neville's skin as he rolled, which wasn't as bad as falling off a broom, but he still hit the ground hard, and then Neville had a sudden, Lying still, he closed his eyes.

"Stop!" a voice screamed. "Don't shoot at us, we are Dragon Warriors!"

In a moment of blissful satisfaction, Neville realized that he had ducked between two enemy lines when a group of wyverns attacked him.Harry had talked about it as a tactic to keep the enemy from firing, but apparently reality worked better than theory.

Not only that, but the Dragons believed they had defeated him because they saw Neville fall when they cast a spell.

Neville counted to twenty in his head, then opened his eyes a narrow slit.

The three soldiers of the Flying Dragon Squad were very close to him, and they quickly turned their heads to look around amidst the shouts of "sleep!"All three erected simple protective shields.

Neville's wand was still in his hand, and he pointed it effortlessly at a boy's boot, whispering "sleep".

Neville quickly closed his eyes and let go of the boy's hand as he heard the boy fall.

"Where did the spell come from?" Justin Finlaye screamed, and Neville could hear the rustle of fallen leaves as the two dragon warriors turned to search for the enemy.

"Regroup!" Malfoy growled. "Everyone gather to me, don't let the enemy distract you!"

Neville heard in his ears that the two dragon warriors had indeed jumped over his prone body and gone away.

Neville opened his eyes, stood up with some effort, then raised his wand, chanting the new spell that General Potter had taught them all.They can't cast serious illusions to confuse their enemies, but even at this age they can—

"Vetriloquy"[12] whispered Neville, pointed his wand at Justin and the other boy, and shouted, "For Cthulhu and Glory!"[13]

Justin and the boy stopped suddenly, pointing their protective shields in the direction of Neville's disguised battle cry. At this moment, several sounds of "Sleep!" sounded, filling the surrounding air, and the boy was Neville fell before he could take aim.

"Leave the rest to me!" Neville yelled, and he started sprinting straight at Justin, the boy who had been aggressive with him until the senior Hufflepuff gave him a lesson.

Neville was surrounded by his comrades, which meant