Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 115, page 113: Hopefully it won't be like Quirrell's case last year.

Neville and his grandmother, Augusta Longbottom, lived in the Longbottom House, an old building no less than the Potter House. However, unlike the dilapidated Potter House, the Longbottom House was kept very clean.

Unlike the Potter family, which only has Harry as its sole heir, the Longbottom family has many other members, such as Neville, who has an uncle and a great-uncle.

However, none of them lived in the old house; they all left one after another after they came of age.

Only Neville and his grandson remained in the ancestral home.

Madam Augusta is a witch who appears quite stern, but she is very kind to Dudley and Hermione.

"You must be Mr. Dursley and Miss Granger. Neville often mentions you."

Dudley said respectfully, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Augusta."

Dali felt genuine respect for the seemingly stern old man in front of him.

Neville's parents, driven insane by Bellatrix's Crucifixion Curse for opposing the Death Eaters and Voldemort, have been receiving treatment at St. Mungo's Hospital for eleven years.

Over the years, Mrs. Augusta has been both father and mother to Neville, raising him single-handedly and supporting the family and the entire Longbottom family.

"You are the first friends that Neville invited to our home, and I was extremely surprised when he invited you to our house."

"I'm glad he made friends at Hogwarts."

It's clear that Ms. Augusta is genuinely happy.

"Neville is too timid. I'm worried he'll be bullied at Hogwarts. He learns things slowly, and I'm also worried he won't be able to keep up with the pace of learning at Hogwarts."

Ms. Augusta talked on and on.

His deep concern and earnest expectations for Neville are evident in every sentence.

"Grandmother!" Neville blushed.

I don't know if it's because I'm embarrassed or shy.

"Neville is excellent," Dudley said with utmost seriousness. "He is brave, has a strong will, and is a true Gryffindor."

Ms. Augusta hadn't expected Dudley to have such a high opinion of Neville.

Meanwhile, Neville's cheeks turned even redder.

Finally, Dali added, "And his grades are sixth in the grade this year."

"Yes, yes, I heard it from Neville," Mrs. Augusta exclaimed again. "He said it was all thanks to the help of Mr. Dursley and Miss Granger."

"He's changed a lot after a year of study. Especially physically, he's gotten much stronger."

When the topic turned to strength, Ms. Augusta's gaze involuntarily fell on Dudley.

I thought it was an exaggeration to say that he had a grandson, but it turns out it wasn't an exaggeration at all.

Is this really a first-year wizard? Even a half-giant wouldn't be this good, would they?

Dali shook his head: "That's all the result of his own hard work. If a person doesn't work hard, it's all in vain no matter how many people help him."

After a brief conversation, a few words were enough to make Ms. Augusta beam with joy.

Few elderly people dislike others praising their grandsons; they're happier when others praise them than when they praise themselves.

Moreover, she was truly grateful to Dudley and Hermione; she knew Neville's personality all too well a year ago.

He's already a little man now.

After arranging Dudley and Hermione's rooms and instructing Neville to study diligently under their guidance, Madam Augusta left, allowing the young people to interact on their own.

She is the head of the Longbottom family, so she has a lot to do.

And so, Dudley and Hermione settled down in Longbottom’s old house.

Life returned to normal: training, self-cultivation, and learning—a simple routine.

However, Hermione now has the option of consulting with Madam Augusta, and Dudley has the option of exploring alchemy and magical armor modification.

Madam Augusta was a very powerful wizard, no less so than Professor McGonagall of Hogwarts Gryffindor House, especially her superb Transfiguration skills, which amazed Hermione.

Unfortunately, compared to her Transfiguration Charm, Madam Augusta was far less skilled in Charms. This was because she had failed Charms in her OWLs class and was prejudiced against it, believing that the course was not worth learning.

Although the Longbottom family has never produced any great figures in its ancestors, its family tradition has never been broken. It has preserved many rare copies of magic books. Although they cannot directly enhance strength, many of them have given Dudley great inspiration.

Many days passed peacefully like this.

These past few days have given Dali two new decorations.

A ring with a red gemstone (Philosopher's Stone) and a blue gemstone (Magic Crystal).

"If I got eight more rings, I could probably cosplay some Marvel villain."

That's what Dali said.

The peace was broken when three owls brought with them the requirements of the Hogwarts second-year textbook.

"Breaking Up with a Female Ghost," "Traveling with a Ghoul," "Vacationing with a She-Devil," "Walking with a Troll," "Boat Trip with a Vampire," "Wandering with a Werewolf," and "A Year with the XZ Snowman."

"Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook? A set of seven novels?"

Hermione stared at the list of books on the parchment with a strange look on her face. The most eye-catching item was the textbook for Defense Against the Dark Arts, which required almost more books than all the other subjects combined.

Moreover, these are not proper Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks; they are all novels.

In terms of novels, none of them are as good as Dudley's.

Hermione has read Dudley's Lord of the Rings and Dragonlance Chronicles more than once, and has become a loyal urger for more chapters, frequently asking Dudley for more information.

"It seems our second-year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is this guy named Lockhart."

Dudley tapped the name Lockhart on the parchment with his knuckles.

All ten novels were written by the same person. If the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher isn't Lockhart, then he must be a fanatic of his novels.

Upon hearing this, Hermione let out a mournful cry: "I hope I won't end up like Quirrell last year, learning nothing at all."

"Perhaps it's not just that I won't learn anything," Dudley murmured to himself.

Of all the subjects last year, she was most dissatisfied with Quirrell; her classes were practically pointless.

The only thing I learned was how to deal with giants.

How can I help Dudley if I can't learn anything?

Hermione took out a pen and began to write and draw on the parchment.

She plans to purchase relevant Defense Against the Dark Arts books to study on her own, based on her previous Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.

Back when she was at Oxford Dragon Primary School, she would use this method to study when she encountered teachers who weren't good at teaching.

Clearly, she had given up all hope for Professor Lockhart.

I must say, as expected of Hermione.

(End of this chapter)