"No, no, we're all fine," Ron said, waving his hand hurriedly in response to Neville's concern. "It's my dad; he was attacked before and came for a follow-up checkup today."
"Mr. Weasley? Is he alright?" Neville looked at Ron with concern, and Neville's grandmother also turned her gaze toward Ron.
"My dad is fine," Ron nodded somewhat nervously. "If there are no problems with his checkup today, he'll basically be considered back to normal."
Merlin, why is Neville's grandmother's gaze so frightening? She's so authoritative... "Your father is a truly heroic warrior," Neville's grandmother nodded slightly, "just like my son and his wife."
Neville's grandmother turned back to look at her son and daughter-in-law, who were lying on their hospital beds staring blankly. "They were tortured to insanity by Death Eaters, but they would rather die than surrender."
"Grandmother..." Neville pursed his lips, not really wanting his grandmother to talk about this.
"Neville, you shouldn't be afraid to mention this; you should be proud of your parents!"
"You should strive even more to be like them!"
Neville's grandmother's voice rose slightly, and Neville shrunk his neck, saying nothing more.
"The Potter boy, Miss Amanda, Miss Granger, and the Weasley child—I've heard much about you all. You are all brave, good children."
"Thank you, Madam," Amanda spoke expressionlessly as she looked at the cowering Neville. "Neville's courage is actually on par with ours. His grades in Herbology Class are among the best in his year at Hogwarts."
"He always manages to get the highest marks in Herbology Class."
Neville paused, looking up blankly at Amanda. She didn't take Herbology Class with him; how did she know?
After looking at Amanda, he looked at Hermione beside her and understood instantly. Hermione must have told Amanda; then there was no problem.
But... would Grandmother really be happy about that?
Neville stole a glance at his grandmother. The old lady shook her head gently. "He's still not brave enough. It would be better if his Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration were a bit stronger."
As expected... Neville pursed his lips and silently lowered his head.
"Neville's courage is already no less than any of ours here."
Amanda spoke as she stepped forward slowly, her gaze fixed intently on the face of Neville's mother.
"If a Death Eater, or even a group of them, were before him now, I believe he would fight them to the end without hesitation."
"At the same time, Herbology Class actually possesses power that is not inferior to Defense Against the Dark Arts or the Transfiguration Spell."
Not to mention things like devils snare and Mandrake; if encountered by someone who can use herbs skillfully, combined with some magic, they can definitely work wonders in a battle against Death Eaters.
For example, if a Herbology Master first calms the devils snare, throws it into a crowd of Death Eaters, and then several Wizards cast Engorgement Charms on it, the effect would surely be excellent.
"Neville still needs to grow."
Neville's grandmother shook her head. Since her son and daughter-in-law became like that, she only had one grandson left.
So she was impatient for her grandson to grow up and become as excellent as his parents. On the other hand, the old lady understood very well in her heart that Voldemort's disappearance was only temporary; he was definitely not completely dead.
Even if he were truly dead, there were still Death Eaters wandering outside, just like the ones who attacked her son and daughter-in-law.
Weren't they attacked by Death Eaters right after Voldemort's 'death'?
For that reason alone, she had to be even stricter with Neville for his own safety, cultivating his courage to fight and his ability to fight well.
She had already lost her son and daughter-in-law; she must not lose her grandson.
And the events of last year proved she wasn't wrong; Voldemort had not truly died—he was back.
While Neville's grandmother was speaking, Amanda had already walked to the bedside of Neville's mother. Neville watched this without stopping her.
He trusted Amanda completely; she would never hurt his mother. In fact... as he watched Amanda approach his mother, an irrepressible surge of intense hope rose in his heart.
A hope that felt like an extravagant wish.
"Mrs. Longbottom, Mrs. Longbottom?"
Amanda reached out a hand and waved it in front of Neville's mother, Alice Longbottom. "Can you hear me?"
"Yes." Alice tilted her head like a child, looking at Amanda with innocent confusion.
She still has basic cognitive and communication skills, Amanda's brain quickly judged the condition of Neville's mother. She just didn't know how much cognitive ability was left, though judging by the situation when they first entered...
Alice should still remember her son; that is, a mother's instinct remained in her mind.
But she still needed to confirm. "Mrs. Longbottom," Amanda turned slightly, gesturing toward Neville behind her, "do you know who he is?"
Alice blinked, staring at Neville for a moment before uttering a word, "Son, son! Have a sweet!"
She reached out to take a candy wrapper from the nightstand and pressed it into Neville's hand.
"Thank you, Mum." Neville took the wrapper habitually and tucked it into his pocket, avoiding his grandmother's gaze.
Watching Neville's mother hand him the wrapper, Amanda's heart skipped a beat. She thought of Rowena and Helga, her two mothers, who also loved her so much that they traveled across the UK for her plans. Maternal love... is truly great.
Maternal love allowed Alice to not forget Neville, her son, even after her mind was destroyed by Crucio. And it was this same maternal love that preserved a final sliver of hope for a turnaround.
"Amanda," Neville took a deep breath, looking nervously at Amanda's back, "can you? If you can't, it's okay. I—I'm used to it."
He was used to the healers at St Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries telling him time and again that they were powerless. He was used to his parents sometimes recognizing him and sometimes not.
Turning back to Neville, Amanda curled her lips slightly. "Why wouldn't I be able to, Neville? Your mother has worked very hard to remember you; this is the chance she left for herself and for you."
"I will help you seize this opportunity," Amanda said with a firm voice, turning back to Alice.
"Mrs. Longbottom, please raise your head and look into my eyes."
As Amanda spoke the firm and powerful words, Alice seemed to suddenly recover, raising her head without any hesitation to stare into her eyes.
Neville's grandmother, Augusta Longbottom, opened her mouth as if to say something, but Hermione caught her first.
"Madam, don't worry, let's just watch for a moment." She comforted Augusta in a soft voice with a smile, patting her arm and leading the old lady to sit on a nearby hospital bed.
With eyes that mixed humanity and mechanical precision in their depths, Amanda stared intently into Alice's innocent eyes. She carefully controlled her magic, entering the other's mind bit by bit with Legilimency.
The root of Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom' insanity from the Crucio was the damage to their brains. After so many years at St Mungos, their physical bodies had actually mostly recovered.
The only thing that couldn't be recovered was their clear consciousness.
This required Legilimency at a'surgical' level, or even finer than surgery, which was why the healers at St Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries were at their wits' end.
In fact, aside from Amanda, whose mental calculation and focus far exceeded ordinary people, there were basically no Wizards in this world who could refine Legilimency to such a degree.
Even the Legilimency master Headmaster Dumbledore and Voldemort, who was also extremely skilled in this area, could not do it.
Their calculation abilities were insufficient, so they couldn't determine exactly how much magic to use at any given time. Use too little, and they couldn't enter Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom' minds; use too much, and they would cause secondary damage.
Similarly, their magic was insufficient to sustain such consumption. According to Amanda's estimation, to awaken Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom' consciousness without damaging their brains at all required no less magic than completely removing a Blood Curse from a Blood Curse Beastman.
Constantly calculating the amount of magic needed in her mind, Amanda carefully used her magic to slowly delve into Alice's brain.
She stared into Alice's eyes without blinking, and Alice's eyes didn't move an inch either. Despite her mind being like a child's, she sat there steadily, showing no signs of uncooperativeness.
Entering Alice's mind layer by layer, Amanda saw her shattered memories bit by bit. She controlled her magic to gently envelop these memory fragments, then slowly reassembled them to restore their original form.
How many memories does a person have from childhood to marriage and parenthood? And how many would there be when those memories are shattered into pieces?
Amanda could answer that: when those memories are shattered, they are as vast as the sea.
There were a massive number of memory fragments, each lasting only an instant. After enveloping them with magic, Amanda quickly examined them, her brain analyzing them simultaneously to piece the fragments back together.
Doing this, even with mental strength as great as Amanda's, who was long accustomed to high-intensity mental work, she couldn't help but feel a bit of a strain.
The memory fragments were too numerous and too brief; reassembling them was incredibly difficult. In just over ten seconds, fine beads of sweat began to appear on Amanda's forehead.
And Alice's memories were already forty percent reassembled.
As she gently pulled in another memory fragment, Amanda paused slightly. This was a very well-protected memory; although it had been scattered like the others, the fragment itself hadn't suffered any damage.
Carefully checking the content of this fragment, she saw Neville just after he was born. It was a joy that even Amanda could feel through the memory fragment.
After merging this fragment, the progress suddenly jumped to forty-two percent.
Taking a deep breath, Amanda continued the careful reassembly work. Neville's mother had already given her all; now it was up to her.
Such heroes shouldn't stay in St Mungos for the rest of their lives, nor should they spend their whole lives unable to look at their child with clarity.
Not to mention Neville was her friend, and helping a friend was something she was very willing to do.
The sweat on her forehead grew into larger drops. Amanda felt that long-lost state of mental exhaustion from doing math problems for hours on end.
By the time the sweat on her face dripped from her chin and her back was soaked, she had finally completely reassembled Mrs. Longbottom's memories.
Her breathing remained steady as Amanda tried to control her magic even more gently to awaken Alice's brain.
Her memories were all repaired; what was needed next was to stimulate and awaken her self-consciousness.
And the best way to prompt her to regain consciousness was naturally to use Neville to help her wake up on her own.
"Mrs. Longbottom, please look closely at your memories. The child in your memories, the child you once held and laughed with, the child you once fought desperately to protect, the child who has come to see you every year for all these years—he is waiting for you to wake up."
Amanda's voice still lacked any emotional color, yet it seemed to carry a magic that influenced hearts, making Neville, standing nearby, unable to stop his eyes from reddening.
"Mum... I really am waiting for you."
Neville murmured softly, taking his mother's left hand.
The moment he grasped Alice's left hand, Amanda's magic jolted. A smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, and she slowly and gently withdrew from Neville's mother's mind, blinking her already bone-dry eyes.
"Throw away the wrapper, Mum will take you to Honeydukes to buy new ones."
A slightly raspy but incredibly gentle voice sounded from above. Neville looked up to see Alice's eyes gazing at him with deep affection.
"Mum, Mum!" Neville threw himself into Alice's arms, and Alice held him tightly, stroking his back.
"Good boy, you've suffered these years."
"No," Neville shook his head, sobbing. "I know, I understand everything—your resistance, your persistence, your greatness..."
"Thank you." Alice held Neville and gently closed her eyes, clear tears slowly sliding from the corners. Her child had grown up, grown up well; it was wonderful.
Watching the scene, Amanda's pale face broke into a smile. She still had more than half of her magic left, but her mental capacity was completely overused. Dull pain and sharp stabs alternated in her brain. The next second, a pair of warm, soft hands appeared on her temples, gently massaging them.
"Headache, isn't it?" Hermione leaned down and kissed Amanda's cheek. "Close your eyes and rest well; I'll massage them for you."
"Mm, thank you, Hermione." Amanda closed her eyes, feeling Hermione's hands. The brain that was aching from mental exhaustion began to relax, and a warm feeling rose in both her mind and her heart.
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