read my new story : American Fast & Furious NSFW
After saying goodbye to Harley and Cho on Platform 9¾, Neville found Lynn.
Standing beside Neville was a stern, unsmiling elderly woman with a commanding presence. She wore a hat topped with a stuffed vulture and a long green dress, accessorized with a large red handbag.
It wasn't hard to guess—this was Neville's grandmother, a strict woman whose personality mirrored Professor McGonagall's.
"Hello. I am Neville Longbottom's grandmother, Augusta Longbottom."
The old woman extended her hand elegantly, greeting Lynn formally.
"Hello, Mrs. Longbottom. I'm Lynn. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Lynn shook hands with Augusta Longbottom, neither humble nor arrogant. At this moment, her expression seemed less severe, and a hint of a smile even appeared on her face.
"Neville owes a lot to your care. You've helped him become as outstanding a person as his father."
Mrs. Longbottom glanced at Neville beside her, a faint look of approval in her eyes.
"I know that without your help, Neville might have struggled to overcome certain things from his past. As his grandmother, I am grateful for your selfless assistance. I once thought he might spend his whole life muddling through, but your help changed his future."
"On behalf of the Longbottom family, I extend my highest respect to you."
Mrs. Longbottom spoke solemnly.
"A small gift. I hope you will like it."
She took a beautifully wrapped small box from her red handbag and handed it to Lynn.
"Please do not refuse."
As she offered the gift, Augusta Longbottom spoke earnestly. "No one deserves it more than you."
"With you putting it that way, I'm genuinely curious about what this is."
Lynn accepted the small box with both hands. Under Neville's curious gaze, Lynn opened the gift box. Inside lay a seed about the size of a thumb, shaped like a date pit.
Intricate patterns resembling plant roots swirled around the seed, forming a complex design.
But no one would mistake it for an ordinary seed. Upon opening the box, a breath of fresh air, like the scent of wet earth after rain, seemed to waft out, refreshing the senses.
Lynn looked up inquiringly, but Mrs. Longbottom only smiled slightly.
"The banquet is ready. Please, follow me."
Lynn and Neville exchanged a look. Neville didn't seem to know what it was either, so they followed Augusta Longbottom. Further down the platform, an ancient, luxurious carriage waited quietly.
Pulling the carriage was a type of winged horse Lynn had never seen before—powerfully built and deep brown all over. In the magical world, there were many species of winged horses. Depending on their habitat, there were hundreds of sub-species; unless you specialized in magizoology, it was hard to identify them all clearly.
They boarded the carriage. The winged horses beat their wings and took off. Aside from a jolt of acceleration at the start, the journey was incredibly smooth. Within ten minutes, the carriage landed on the grounds of a luxurious manor located in an old district of London.
Hidden and protected by powerful magic, the nearby Muggles couldn't see it at all.
The footprint of this ancient manor wasn't huge, but long-established wizarding homes typically used Undetectable Extension Charms to expand the space. The Weasleys' Burrow was genuinely ramshackle because it wasn't the ancestral Weasley manor; Arthur Weasley was from a branch of the family, and with so many children, they had been quite poor for the last decade or so.
The carriage stopped steadily in the small garden in front of the manor. As they stepped out and approached the main entrance, the heavy doors bearing the Longbottom family crest opened silently. The interior wasn't dim; vine-shaped wall sconces and chandeliers illuminated the large entrance hall and living room brightly.
Stepping inside, the Longbottom home's decor leaned toward natural scenery, with exquisite woodwork visible everywhere. They didn't have the Black family's bad habit of mounting house-elf heads on the wall. In fact, a house-elf wearing a uniform was acting as a butler.
Compared to Dobby wearing a pillowcase, working for the Longbottoms was much more dignified than working for the Malfoys.
"Neville!"
As soon as they entered the house, several voices rang out from the living room.
"Great Uncle Algie, Great Aunt Enid, Uncle Tom..."
Neville called out their names one by one, stepping forward politely to greet them. Mrs. Longbottom had raised Neville with strict discipline.
"Hannah, you're here too?"
Lynn recognized her immediately. The blonde girl with pigtails was the first student called during the Sorting Ceremony—Hannah Abbott, also known as the Iron Lady of the unbreakable Hufflepuff throne.
"Yep!" Hannah smiled at Neville. "Dad said there would be good food at your place today, so I came over!"
Wizarding family networks were generally very extensive. Centuries of intermarriage made their connections intricate and deep-rooted. Even rival families today could usually find some relation if they went back a few generations—Sirius Black and Molly Weasley were cousins, after all.
It was perfectly normal for Hannah and Neville to be related.
Of the nearly twenty people in the room, only four or five actually bore the surname Longbottom. The rest were in-laws who maintained close ties with the family.
If not for the tragedy that befell this generation's pillar—Neville's father, Frank Longbottom, who was tortured into insanity—the Longbottoms would have had the strength to go toe-to-toe with the Malfoys.
Frank had been extremely popular and highly respected within the Ministry of Magic. If he were safe and sound today, he would certainly have been a contender for the position of Minister for Magic.
The house-elves had already prepared the luncheon. After greeting the guests, Mrs. Longbottom had the elves commence the feast.
It was a celebration of Neville achieving seven 'Outstandings' at the end of the school year, and a celebration of him becoming as fine a boy as his father.
Lynn and Neville feasted heartily. Both boys had good appetites. The uncles and great-uncles drank aged wine, chatting about the past in a slightly tipsy state. When they spoke of Neville's parents, they lamented the tragedy while praising the fact that the Longbottom line now had a worthy successor, simultaneously denouncing the heinous crimes of the Death Eaters.
This only solidified Lynn's resolve.
Hogwarts' antiquated educational model could produce elite wizards, but for the vast majority of students, it hadn't kept up with the times.
Those who didn't study seriously or had average talent would only be wasted under such a system. After all, self-discipline was a rare trait in children.
Without strict requirements and supervision from teachers, slacking off was the norm.
After the luncheon, Mrs. Longbottom, who had also had a few glasses of wine, led Neville and Lynn to a room on the second floor of the Longbottom manor. This appeared to be their family library.
Although it couldn't compare to the Hogwarts library, it could certainly rival the Ravenclaw common room's collection.
She brought them before a massive tapestry—the Longbottom family tree.
"Since you now have the ability to shoulder the burden of family responsibility in the future, there are some things Grandma needs to tell you, Neville."
"Sit down, both of you."
Mrs. Longbottom drew her wand and gave it a wave, conjuring two soft armchairs behind them.
"You might be curious about what that gift actually is, right?"
Mrs. Longbottom looked at Lynn. "This is actually a secret shared by pure-blood wizarding families, though some families have declined and lost their heritage, and others simply used theirs up."
"Look at this. Does it remind you of anything?"
Her wand pointed to the massive tapestry in front of them, densely packed with the names of generation after generation of Longbottoms.
These names formed a huge tree-like diagram. If one studied it carefully, they would see that the Longbottom family had branches, but Neville's line was the main trunk, albeit a thin one. Neville and his father were both only children. Neville's Great Uncle Algie actually had offspring, but their names were crossed out with horizontal lines, usually indicating premature death.
"It looks like a tree?"
Neville stared at the family tree, speaking uncertainly, "But I kind of feel like it looks like a person?"
"It is the Earth Vein Spirit nurtured by the World Tree, Yggdrasil. Also known as a Heart-of-Stone Treant."
Mrs. Longbottom gave the answer.
"But isn't the World Tree, Yggdrasil, from Norse mythology?" Lynn had some knowledge in this area; he had even designed a World Tree card back when he was making character designs for his card game.
"And Earth Vein Spirits... I remember those being from Celtic mythology?"
"Where do Muggle myths come from?"
Mrs. Longbottom looked at Lynn. "They can't just be products of their imagination, can they?"
"Myths, religions... all these Muggle legends, rituals, and beliefs containing mysterious power actually originate from the wizarding world."
"Wizards don't believe in so-called Muggle deities because most of those 'miracles' can actually be achieved through magic."
"And those mysterious lands, artifacts, and creatures in legends are just a wondrous corner of the magical world."
"The World Tree truly exists, though not quite as exaggerated as Muggle legends say. It is simply an ancient and colossal magical tree. Around it, a magical realm similar to the Hogwarts Forbidden Forest formed, suitable for magical creatures to live in."
"Its powerful magical field can even form a natural magical barrier. There are many such areas in the world. The largest one is in Africa; it's said to be a moving landmass where tens of millions of magical creatures live."
"The founding of Uagadou was initially to guard this massive treasure from discovery by Muggles."
"In the era when wizards and Muggles lived together, Muggles tried to use secular power to control mysterious magic, leading to countless wars between wizards and Muggles."
Mrs. Longbottom told stories Lynn and Neville had never heard before, but she soon brought the topic back on track.
"Almost all pure-blood wizarding families received a magical gift from powerful magical creatures through their ancestors. Of course, some wizarding families chose to intermarry with humanoid magical creatures."
"For example, half-giants born from the union of giants and wizards, though that's rare now as giants are strictly confined to certain areas. There are also wizards with Veela, high elf, or wood nymph blood. This is rare in England, but in France, there are several famous wizarding families: the Delacours with Veela blood, the Descancourts with high elf blood, and the De Québriacs with wood nymph blood."
"As for the Longbottom family, our ancestors once received a gift of magic from a Heart-of-Stone Treant while exploring the World Tree's magical realm. Its magic merged into our bloodline, stabilizing the Longbottom heritage."
"That seed is actually a crystallization obtained from a Heart-of-Stone Treant. It isn't a seed for reproduction, but a magical core condensed after death."
"The Longbottom family still maintains a connection with them, but there aren't many wizarding families left in England that haven't severed such ties."
"As far as I know, only the Ollivander family and the Borgin family still maintain their connections."
"Many wizarding families have even forgotten this history entirely."
"This gift..."
Mrs. Longbottom took out another small box and handed it to Neville.
"It won't give you any immense power, but undoubtedly, it can strengthen your connection to magic. After all, these powerful magical creatures are more favored by magic itself than wizards are."
"The rise of wizards was never because we had magical power that crushed magical creatures. Quite the opposite—the magic within human wizards is far inferior to those creatures. We relied on wisdom and heritage to get where we are today."
"I hope both of you can find help in this gift."
Mrs. Longbottom affectionately stroked Neville's hair. "Grandma is very sorry for using the Memory Charm on you back then, Neville. I just couldn't bear to see you immersed in that pain and torture, unable to extricate yourself. I was also worried that you... because of that overly intense pain... Obscurials are monsters born from the darkness within one's heart."
"During periods of magical instability, oppression, shock, hatred, and other factors from the outside world can lead to this terrible disaster."
"But you've grown up now. Your shoulders can bear this responsibility and burden."
"If one day, if there is a chance!"
Mrs. Longbottom's gaze was firm, her voice powerful. "Avenge your parents! Grandma will always stand by your side. Don't worry about anything else. As long as Grandma is here, you can go ahead and do whatever you want to do."
"You are the man who will inherit the Longbottom family and bring it to glory. Grandma will always believe in you."