Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 183, Section 181: The Longbottoms at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries

"Mom, have some apple."

At bed number 2 in ward 49, Neville, who appears clumsy and dull to outsiders, carefully peeled an apple and used a fork to feed a woman on the bed, whose expression was blank and who was drooling from time to time, in small bites.

Alice Longbottom, Neville's mother.

Although Alice no longer recognized Neville, she instinctively felt a liking for him. After eating a piece of apple that Neville fed her, she stared at him and kept grinning foolishly.

Neville gently wiped the drool from his mother's mouth with a handkerchief, then fed her her a second piece of apple.

He comes here every year to visit his parents.

They have never been absent.

Neville's parents went to the front lines of the fight against Voldemort shortly after his birth. They were the pride of the Longbottom family and the elite of the Aurors, and were widely welcomed by other wizards for their powerful magic and their fight against evil.

Unfortunately, just before the dawn of Voldemort's fall, the couple was captured by Voldemort's loyal followers. They were tortured repeatedly with the Cruciatus Curse by the Death Eaters until their minds could no longer withstand it and they were driven insane by the torture.

Neville was also traumatized by witnessing the tragic state of his parents.

Finally, he was cursed with a forgetting spell by his own grandmother.

Neville's parents have been like this, mentally challenged, ever since he was a child.

While others were pampered by their parents, he never knew what maternal love was, let alone paternal love.

You asked if Neville envies others?

The answer is definitely envy.

But at least he still has his parents, even though they can't remember who he is.

Neville was raised by his grandmother from a young age. Mrs. Longbottom was a very great and strong wizard who not only endured the fact that her son and daughter-in-law had gone insane, but also raised her grandson alone as both father and mother.

After feeding his mother an apple, Neville gently and carefully tidied his mother's increasingly gray and disheveled hair, a hint of heartache in his eyes.

Neville looks just like his mother, Alice, in both face shape and hair color. However, ten years have passed, and her hair has turned from blonde to gray, and her face shows signs of age.

The three Unforgivable Curses are called unforgivable not only because they possess immense power, but also because they are extremely evil dark magic. Although the Imperius Curse and the Cruciatus Curse do not have the instant-death attribute like the Killing Curse, they are still extremely harmful to the human body.

"hey-hey."

Alice grinned and handed Neville a bubble gum wrapper.

This was her only possession, which she gave to Neville as a gift.

Neville carefully put it away as if it were a precious jewel, gently placing it in his pocket.

Almost every time he came to visit his parents, his mother would give him a card as a gift.

Day after day, every single time.

To date, Neville has collected nearly four hundred of them.

To outsiders it might have seemed like nothing more than trash, and Mrs. Longbottom had told Neville to throw this "gift" in the trash can more than once, but Neville always insisted on putting it in his pocket and keeping it safe.

This was a gift from his mother, and it was his most precious possession.

Dudley and Hermione stood quietly at the door, silently watching everything unfold before them without making a sound. Hermione learned about the Longbottoms' story from Dudley, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears. She gently buried her head in Dudley's arms; that's how sentimental girls are.

At this moment, Neville seemed to sense something, turned around, saw Dudley and the other man, immediately stood up from his stool, and opened his mouth: "Sorry, Brother D, I..."

"Neville, no need to apologize." Dudley shook his head slightly. "I know about the Longbottoms; they were very great wizards."

Neville was somewhat at a loss, unsure of what to say.

"May I see your parents?"

"Yes, that's fine." Navee.

Dudley first checked Alice Longbottom's condition, then looked at Frank Longbottom.

He frowned slightly.

The results were all quite pessimistic.

Dudley was referring to the physical aspects, not just the mental ones, as he had little involvement in that area.

Although the Longbottoms are only in their 40s, they are in physical condition comparable to 60-year-olds.

This result is partly due to the aftereffects of the three unforgivable curses, and partly simply due to insufficient nutrient intake.

"Nawi, come visit your parents more often, and bring them plenty of food."

Dali gave a reminder.

The body has self-repair capabilities, provided that it receives sufficient nutrition.

"Brother D, is there anything my parents can do?"

Suddenly, as if possessed, Neville asked.

Looking at Neville's round face full of expectation, Dudley, though reluctant, sighed and said honestly, "I can't do anything about it for now."

Curing the Longbottoms, who were suffering from a mental breakdown due to the Crucifixion Curse, one of the three unforgivable curses, was far more difficult than curing the two old wizards who had cured the Oblivion Curse.

The Forgetfulness Curse can be forcibly broken by other spells. In the original story, Voldemort once used it on Bertha Jorkins, who was under Barty Crouch's powerful Forgetfulness Curse, and successfully broke its effect. Although this violent method had huge aftereffects, it at least showed that there was a solution.

However, being struck by the Heart-Rending Curse and suffering a mental breakdown is simply not on the same level of difficulty.

It's not that there's absolutely no hope.

But Dali cannot do that yet.

He needs to study further.

As for using the Philosopher's Stone, firstly, it is not omnipotent. It can only serve as a pass that ignores the principle of equivalent exchange. In particular, its effect on souls and emotions is much smaller. For example, it cannot make others fall in love with you, nor can it resurrect the dead.

Using the seven Dragon Balls to summon Shenron or winning the Holy Grail (untainted) to make a wish is more reliable.

"temporary"

Neville, who usually seems a bit simple-minded, actually picked up on this word very quickly.

The flame of hope that had been extinguished in my heart was rekindled.

Although he was very excited, he didn't ask Dudley when it would be okay. He knew that Dudley would tell him when he thought it was time.

He didn't even consider the possibility that Dudley might lie.

Brother D never says he can't do something; if he does, it means he's confident he can do it.

"Neville, Hermione and I are waiting for you outside. Spend some more time with them."

Dudley patted Neville on the shoulder and said a few words of encouragement.

"Study hard and become a better version of yourself. I think when the Longbottoms are sober, they would want to see a better version of you."

Of course, if the Longbottoms were to wake up one day, they would prefer to see a healthy, growing Neville.

Except for a very small number of scoundrels, most normal parents hope this way.

(End of this chapter)