Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 386, 380. Ancient Mandrake

"Brother D... Is it really... possible?"

Walking down the pristine white corridors of St. Mungo's Hospital for the Injuries of Magic and Wounds, Neville looked at Dudley beside him with a nervous expression and asked...

"Navie, this is the 378th time you've asked me this question."

"It really can."

Dudley answered in this way, because he could understand Neville's feelings at this moment. If it were him, he would probably be even more excited than Neville.

"I tried many methods and tested various herbs. Finally, I successfully developed a medicine."

During this time, Dudley was not only developing his special potion, but also testing another potion in his spare time. This potion might be irrelevant to Voldemort or the upcoming war, but it was the best potion in the world for Neville.

"While it's not 100%, we're more than 80% confident we can awaken them."

"Brother D, it's me."

Neville spoke with a slight sob in his voice, unsure of what to say. Since he started training with Dudley, he had never shown this vulnerable side, but today he simply couldn't hold back.

"Thank you."

"Navie, your parents are unsung heroes who have made silent contributions behind the scenes and fought on the front lines against organized crime. I believe they should not be forgotten by the world, and they deserve a happy and fulfilling family life."

"It shouldn't be that only bad people are happy and fulfilled, while good people are ruined and die."

"I think this is unfair."

As they talked, they arrived at ward number 49, gently pushed open the door, and went inside.

"So I will heal them."

Dudley looked at the two adult wizards sitting on the hospital bed, playing like children.

This is why Dudley and Neville came here: to cure the Longbottoms.

This marks their fifteenth year at St. Mungo's Hospital.

The Longbottoms were both Aurors and elders of the Order of the Phoenix, fighting on the front lines against the Death Eaters. They escaped from Voldemort three times, thwarted countless Death Eater plots, and made numerous contributions to the Order of the Phoenix. They sought no reward (the Order of the Phoenix is ​​a civilian organization with no pay or benefits, purely driven by love), all for the sake of justice and to prevent dark wizards from continuing to harm others.

Later, due to a moment of carelessness after giving birth to Neville, they were captured by Bellatrix and his Death Eaters. The couple were tortured to the point of mental breakdown by the Cruciatus Curse in front of Neville, who was only a little over one year old at the time, and spent more than ten years in St. Mungo's Hospital.

It can be said that Neville's cowardice, timidity, and submissiveness in the early part of the original story were largely due to the fact that he lost his parents' care at a young age.

Although he eventually grew into a heroic figure, his parents remained at St. Mungo's Hospital and were never cured.

Fortunately, Dudley believes that the Longbottoms' condition is not incurable.

Dudley had also seen the treatment plans that the St. Mungo's therapists had devised for the two, which mainly focused on neurological issues.

The physicians at St. Mungo believed that the Cruciatus Curse only affected the body and was not a curse. They reasoned that the patient's nerves must have suffered irreversible damage, which is why they focused their efforts on the nerves.

However, the two are currently experiencing a mental breakdown rather than a nervous breakdown, so simple physical therapy is useless. All their organs are functioning normally; they just lack the thought patterns of ordinary people.

However, this cannot be blamed on the healers here. The main reason is that there are indeed no good methods for treating mental illnesses in the entire wizarding world. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many mentally unstable wizards in the wizarding world.

However, according to Dudley's understanding, the Longbottoms are currently in a state of unconsciousness, trapped in an excessive self-protective mechanism.

What Dali needs to do is to suspend the protection mechanism, thereby awakening their dormant consciousness.

It's quite complicated to explain, and even with the help of magic, it would take a lot of effort to awaken them.

There is no such thing as mind magic in this world.

If Dudley had a Mind Stone or something, it would be much easier; he could just hold the stone above their heads and restore them.

Unfortunately, Dudley didn't have it, and the system didn't give it to him either. The key point is that even if he did, whether he could use it in this universe is another matter. According to the Marvel Universe's setting, the Mind Stone is just a beautiful gem outside their universe.

Therefore, he could only treat it with a magic potion.

"The first step is to appease them."

Dudley pulled a fluorescent green vial from his pocket.

"The sap of the mandrake!"

Neville, with his exceptional knowledge of herbal medicine, immediately recognized the main ingredient in the potion.

"That's right, it's mandrake."

Mandrake is a very magical plant. In ancient legends, it usually looks like an ordinary plant. When it encounters danger, it will use incredible power to disappear into the soil. It will only take human form and move freely at dusk on the night of the full moon. Its cry has terrifying killing power, and close contact can even lead to death.

The above is excerpted from the book "The Mysterious Plants That Cannot Be Ignored," whose author is unknown. It is said to be a herbalist master from more than a thousand years ago, during the same period as Hogwarts.

However, this book is no longer recognized because the mandrake in the wizarding world today is not like what is described in the book. Although its cries can cause people to faint, it does not have the power to disappear into the soil, and it is even difficult to move. It cannot transform into human form and move freely. Most of the time, it disguises itself as an ordinary plant.

Therefore, the book "The Mysterious Plants That Cannot Be Ignored" has been labeled a forgery by many masters of herbal medicine.

But Dali didn't think so, because his mandrake, which he called "Walking Grass," had the same power described in the book. It could move quickly in the soil, act automatically in human form, and had many other magical powers that could accelerate the ripening of plants.

Dali suspects that the author of "The Mysterious Plants That Cannot Be Ignored" recorded an evolved form of mandrake, or rather, an ancient mandrake.

According to the book "The Mysterious Plants That Cannot Be Ignored," Mandrake also has an important function—it is the main ingredient in a potion that cures "stiffness."

The symptoms of catatonia are similar to those of a person in a vegetative state. In the same way, the body is caught in an excessive self-protective mechanism. The person has breathing, heartbeat, and blood pressure, but lacks higher self-awareness such as intelligence, thought, will, and emotions. This is very similar to the current situation of the Longbottoms, which is why Dudley said he was confident.

Dudley had consulted many books on mandrake potions (thanks to the vast collection of books at Black’s old house and Grindelwald’s help) and made countless attempts before finally managing to concoct this small bottle of potion.

This is the key to saving the Longbottoms.

(End of this chapter)