Mr. Longbottom cleared the dust off Harry, who had just stepped out of the fireplace, and said cheerfully,"Welcome to Longbottom Manor, Harry. I hope you'll be happy here.”
"Thank you." Harry handed the Shrinking suitcase to the waiting house-elf. They were currently in Mr. Longbottom's private living room. The entire living room was mainly beige in color, and the decorations were elegant yet warm. Avery, who was being held by Neville, looked around for a moment, then suddenly buried his head in Neville's arms, his ears drooping as though he were sleepy, and Harry suspected that he was crying quietly.
At Bellatrix? Sirius must have suffered for a long time after Lestrange and the others had been imprisoned, when the Longbartons had been driven mad by the Cruciatus Curse, and now he could not even say hello to his old friend, who was safe and sound. It had been to this place before, right? Perhaps there would be many beautiful and interesting memories. Things remained the same, but people had changed. Sometimes, when one thought about it carefully, it was actually very cruel.
A woman in a light green robe walked up to him. Her blue eyes were especially large on her thin face. She was staring at him without blinking.
"Mom?" Neville whispered.
She came back to her senses and smiled rather rudely."Welcome, Harry.”
"Thank you, Mrs. Longbottom. It's a pleasure to meet you.”Harry looked at the man in front of him and sighed. The terrible experience in the past did not cast a shadow on her. Instead, it made her smile calm and firm.
"Neville's grandmother went to visit Algie, who's very ill, and before she left, she specifically asked us to take good care of you.”"You can call me Alice, Harry," she said gently."Lily and I are very good friends. We almost became your godmother.”
Neville looked surprised; he had never heard of it. Harry gave a slight start and smiled widely.”
" Then you have to call me Frank." Mr. Longbottom laughed heartily." You can't be biased.”
Alice gave him a funny look."Harry, don't listen to him. You'll have to call him Professor Longbottom."”
Harry's mouth fell open, doubting his ears.”
"Frank will be teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts next term.”Alice smiled at him, quite pleased with his surprised reaction.
"Hey, Dad, you never told me!”Neville jumped to his feet.
"Hehe, I wanted to give you a surprise.”Mr. Longbottom patted him on the head in a familiar gesture."Alice, I was going to let them know at the start of the term dinner.”He looked at his wife with a resentful expression that said," You're ruining my fun."
The corner of Harry's mouth twitched, and his brain spun quickly.
Frank? Longbottom, the famous Auror, an elite of the Order. Although his body had not recovered to its peak condition, with his rich theoretical knowledge and combat experience, it was more than enough to teach a few students. At least in Dumbledore's eyes, it was safer for him to be a professor than to hire a werewolf. As for Lupin, let's hope Dumbledore finds a place for him, it's not going to be easy for him to get a job in his condition.
"So, Professor Longbottom," said Harry, relaxing his thoughts and winking at him,"you wouldn't mind teaching future students during the holidays?"”
said Mr. Longbottom with a serious face,"Of course, Mr. Potter, twenty points from Gryffindor for your eagerness.”
"You are so generous." Harry gave a dramatic bow and laughed with them.
――――――――――――――――――
Longbottom was a very old family. Although they were not as wealthy as the Malfoys, the number of books in the study would not disappoint anyone who loved to read. Harry had received several books from Neville's grandmother and had been eyeing their study for a long time. This time, he had the opportunity to borrow books at any time. He was so happy that he wished he could move in directly.
Not sure whether Avery's identity would be discovered under the noses of two experienced Auror, Harry asked the house-elf to take care of him and let him play on the lawn or garden, while Avery himself was careful not to appear in front of them. Harry himself kept pestering the Longbottoms with questions, who were more than happy to be with the children than interested in his pets.
Mr. Longbottom seemed to want Harry and Neville to follow in his father's footsteps and train them to be qualified Auror, so he often taught them some practical knowledge in addition to preparing them for their lessons. Auror was a very dangerous profession, and it had very high requirements for the wizards who applied for it. They had to do well in at least five of their advanced wizard level exams, and they had to pass the stealth and disguise exams. Mr. Longbottom very seriously taught them how to distinguish the hand gestures before casting offensive spells, how to judge the direction of evasion, how to use the surrounding environment in battle, how to flexibly use the transformation spell to solve problems at critical moments, and how to distinguish whether food was mixed with magic potions.
A few days before school started, Mr. Longbottom was explaining the Unforgivable Curses in the drawing room."The Imperius Curse can control a person to do what the caster wants, the Cruciatus Curse can cause the greatest pain to the whole body, and the Avada Kedavra Curse can kill.”"These three curses are what we call the Unforgivable Curse, and if you use them on anyone, you'll be imprisoned in Azkaban for life.”
Neville asked curiously,"They couldn't resist?”
"The Imperius Curse can still be resisted if your will is strong enough," said Mr. Longbottom,"but the other two can't. The only thing you can do is try to avoid them.”He smiled." So, agility training is also an important part of Auror training.”
"Frank, isn't it too early to teach them this?”Alice's face was full of disapproval as she walked in with the newspaper and two letters.
Mr. Longbottom grimaced at Neville and Harry. Alice, is that letter from Hogwarts?”
"Yes." Alice sat down next to him and handed the letters to Harry and Neville.
Neville tore open the envelope, pulled out the parchment inside, and read. Please note that the new school year begins on the first of September... On certain weekends, third years will be permitted to visit Hogsmeade. Please hand the enclosed consent form to your parent or guardian for signature-"He put down the parchment and looked at Harry with sparkling eyes. Harry, I hear Honeydukes has a lot of good candy, you'll love it, like Buzzbee Gum, Pepper-Kid, Drooble Super Bubble Gum..."His voice trailed off under Harry's plaintive gaze.
"I can't go." Harry looked frustrated."They won't sign it for me.”
Neville looked surprised."What do you do-perhaps you can get Professor McGonagall to sign it for you?”
"I don't think she'll agree." said Harry gloomily.
"Dad," said Neville, turning to his father for help,"could you sign Harry's consent form?”
Mr. Longbottom looked at them regretfully." I'm sorry, children. I'm afraid my signature is invalid.”
"Ask George and Fred, they must know some secret passage that leads straight to Hogsmeade.”Neville made another suggestion.
"Neville, don't give me ideas."”She looked at Harry and said quietly,"Harry, if you have any sweets you like, you can ask Neville to bring them to you. Don't ever sneak out of the castle, you know... Black's still out there, and it'll be dangerous if you sneak out of school.”
"Hogsmeade's full of people, the fugitive wouldn't dare show up. Mom, just pretend you don't know.”Neville tugged at her sleeve coquettishly.
Alice and Mr. Longbottom looked at each other helplessly, their faces heavy. Harry knew they were hesitating whether to tell him about Sirius, so he said,"It's okay. There will be opportunities to go in the future. I'll do better next summer and get Uncle Vernon's autograph.”
The two adults breathed a sigh of relief. Neville let go of his hand gloomily and looked at Harry sympathetically." Well, Harry, if there's anything you want, you must let me know. I'll bring it for you."”
"Thank you." Harry smiled gratefully.
"Merlin-Dementors at Hogwarts?"”
"What kind of joke is this?" Mr. Longbottom shivered as if he had been stung by a bee. He snatched up the newspaper and read it for a few minutes, then shot to his feet, waving his hand angrily. Was the safety of the students not more important than arresting little…Black?”
"Frank, calm down. There are children here.”Alice pulled him back to his seat." It's already like this. There's no point in getting angry.”
Mr. Longbottom threw the newspaper angrily on the table."Well, the Ministry of Magic has always been so brainless, and Dumbledore agreed..."
Neville looked puzzled."Is it really that scary? I mean, they're from the Ministry, they can't hurt us, can they?”
Harry explained to him,"I've read about dementors, they don't have to do anything, they just walk right past you and suck all the joy out of you.”
"I don't know how long the dementors will stay at Hogwarts," said Alice, looking worried."They're very bad for people. Frank, I'm afraid you'll have to teach them the Patronus Charm in advance, you know, those monsters from the Ministry of Magic might not-"
Mr. Longbottom interrupted with a cough. Harry, Neville, we'll be going to Diagon Alley to buy this term's new books later, and I'll be teaching you Patronus Charms from this afternoon on, some theory first, and you'll be practicing when we get to school.”
"Yes." They agreed in unison.
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