I have no idea who you are, Mystery Author, because I'm rubbish at guessing these things, but I'm certain we must know each other because otherwise how could you write something so perfect for me (something that requires a key at the end, no less!)?
This is simply wonderful. This is the thoughtful, quietly determined, beautifully mature Neville whom I adored in the last book, and here are those glimpses of the secret lives of the adults of Hogwarts that made me fall in love with this fandom.
Your prose is simply beautiful: carefully constructed, each word perfectly chosen, not even so much as a comma wasted. But more than that, I'm in awe of the structure, because you really have created a bouquet here, a perfectly arranged garden of story. I've always been a fan of works made up of discrete scenes and vignettes, but they're so difficult to do well. This works, and effortlessly it seems, each section its own blossom, complementing its neighbours while maintaining its own charm. Here, the whole is indubitably more than the sum of its parts.
If I started pulling out lines I loved, I'd go through them all like daisy petals, but at the end of it all, this...
Taking a deep breath, Neville tosses the bouquet aside, letting it fall in with the flowers of the garden, before raising his hand to knock.
...won and broke my heart in the best of ways.
Thank you so much, Mystery Author. I can't wait to find out who you are.
P.S. Don't you dare apologise for skimping on smut when you gave me something as absolutely delicious as section VII.