Tomorrow was the first day of term at Hogwarts. At half past five in the morning, birds kept chirping outside the window, over and over again. Lying in bed, Neville Longbottom irritably rolled over and pressed his ear into his pillow to muffle the noise, but the birdsong only seemed to draw closer. After muttering, "Bad birds," Neville simply pulled the blanket over his head. "Mm-huh?!" But the moment he realized something, he snapped wide awake and shot upright-his grandmother had cast bird-repelling spells all around their house. The only bird noises he could hear were the hoarse coughs of the stuffed vultures on her hat... so where had this birdsong come from?
"Coo, coo-"
Neville turned his head impatiently and saw a round-faced little girl standing beside his bed, puffing out her cheeks as she tried to imitate a pigeon. She really was very short, like the potatoes piled in wooden crates at Hogwarts. Even sticking straight up, her braid only reached the bedside table's second drawer, and this little girl's true identity was...
"Mum, so it was you making bird noises-good morning!"
Neville gave a simple, honest smile, all his irritation at being woken up vanishing at once.
"You look a little taller again. That's wonderful-Professor Brian was right. You grow at least a centimetre every day. I remember your braid couldn't even reach the second drawer yesterday morning!"
Yes, this little girl was Alice Longbottom, his mother, who had spent ten years lying in a hospital bed. The morning before last, two Healers had carried his sleeping mother and father into the treatment room. Then Madam Strout had carried them out, one in each arm. Not only had they kicked and squirmed restlessly, but they had also bawled without stopping.
Neville had to admit that his head