"I will personally handle Britain's magic communication network, so there's no need to worry about that. The trouble now is Germany; Andre also signed a contract with us." Alan lowered his head in thought for a moment, then continued, "It seems we can only ask for outside help. I will write a letter to Bones, asking her to return and assist. With her alchemy skills, she should be able to take over smoothly after seeing me set up a base station once."
"That's all we can do now," Shalltear pouted helplessly. She had originally thought she could travel abroad with Alan again, but instead, she received news of returning to Hogwarts.
After sending Shalltear away, Alan quickly tidied up and immediately left for the company headquarters. Since he was going to teach personally, he needed to prepare some things. Alan no longer lived in Diagon Alley but had purchased a manor in Godric's Hollow as his residence.
Upon returning to his residence, Alan heard a commotion outside. When he looked out the window, he saw Neville, Ginny, and Thor playing in the yard.
"This Thor…" Alan shook his head speechlessly at the sight. "I told him to supervise these two young ones during their training, but he ended up playing with them instead."
When he went downstairs and outside, the two children were still playing so engrossed that they didn't notice Alan's presence.
"Fallen Prince Lasombra! You damned vampire, your conspiracy has been discovered by me, the Herald of Doom! Surrender obediently, or I won't be polite!" Ginny, already covered in dirt, held a training longsword woven from rattan, striking a pose of righteous indignation and shouting loudly.
Across from Ginny, Neville also held a rattan sword, muttering helplessly, "Uh… didn't we agree to a one-on-one duel? But why are you riding a Thunderbird?"
It turned out that Ginny was majestically sitting on Thor, talking to Neville from a condescending position.
"Neville, why aren't you following the script?" Ginny pouted unhappily. "I am the embodiment of justice, the Herald of Doom, a knight! Of course, I must bring my mount."
"Then what's the point of fighting? I… I'm not an idiot!" Neville jabbed his rattan sword into the ground speechlessly. "I surrender, alright? Justice Bringer, you have won."
"No, why aren't you following what we agreed on?" Seeing Neville give up, Ginny immediately grew anxious and quickly urged the Thunderbird beneath her, "Let's ignore him, Thor, go, bite him!"
However, Thor, who had already reached adult size, let out a disdainful squawk from beneath Ginny's legs and remained lazily sprawled on the ground, completely ignoring Ginny.
"Why are you like this too? So boring." Seeing that she couldn't command Thor, Ginny unhappily picked up the rattan sword and poked the Thunderbird's neck. To her surprise, Thor didn't get angry but instead let out a comfortable groan, as if Ginny were giving him a massage.
"Ahem!"
Just as the two children and the bird were playing, a cough came from nearby. Ginny and Neville turned their heads and saw that Alan had arrived beside them at some point.
Seeing that he had been caught slacking off, Neville immediately picked up the longsword he had thrown aside, grinning awkwardly. Ginny, however, leaped off Thor's back with a look of pleasant surprise and quickly ran to hug Alan.
"Godfather! Why are you back so early today? Neville and I were reenacting your duel with the Fallen Prince Lasombra. Do you think we acted it well?" Ginny giggled, holding Alan's arm, while winking at Neville.
"Don't make slacking off sound so high-minded." Alan immediately saw through Ginny's plan, mainly because it wasn't the first time.
When he returned to Britain, he often brought his goddaughter with him. Also, due to the Longbottom family's relationship with Alan, he occasionally brought Neville along. Thus, both children often received basic training from him. Originally, Alan intended to give them a basic foundation, but Ginny was more playful and always tried to slack off when he wasn't looking. Neville, however, was much more honest, but because he was too simple and honest, he was always dragged into slacking off by Ginny.
"We didn't! Really!" Ginny shook Alan's arm like a spoiled child. "Aren't we all sweaty? We've only been playing here for less than ten minutes. If you don't believe me, ask Neville!"
"Oh?" Alan smiled upon hearing this and looked at Neville, "Tell me, how long did you actually train in total?"
"Uh…" Although Ginny was constantly winking at him, Neville was not good at lying. "I'm sorry, Uncle Wilson, we only practiced for less than an hour in total."
"You… you're so stupid!" Ginny stomped her foot in anger, seeing that Neville had just sold them out.
"That's enough!" Alan looked at Ginny reproachfully. "Your every move is seen by Thor. Even if Neville didn't say anything, do you think you could fool me?"
"Oh, so! Thor, you're a traitor too!" Instead of admitting her mistake, Ginny, exposed by Alan, pouted and glared at the Thunderbird, as if Thor were the one who had done wrong.
But Thor haughtily rolled his eyes at Ginny. If it weren't for Ginny's massage being somewhat comfortable, he probably wouldn't have let her climb on his back.
After scolding her, Ginny transformed back into a good girl, leaning on Alan's arm and putting on a pitiful expression, "I know I was wrong, Godfather, please don't be so stern, okay?"
"Sigh…" Seeing Ginny like this, Alan shook his head helplessly. He truly had no way to deal with his goddaughter. "Alright, hurry up and clean yourselves up, then come back inside with me."
"Yes, Godfather!" Seeing Alan's expression change, Ginny immediately reverted to her true self, then pushed her luck, asking, "Godfather, how was my stance just now? Did I have the same demeanor you had when you faced the Fallen Prince?"
"Not good." Alan rolled his eyes at her in exasperation. "Talking nonsense to your opponent in battle is practically seeking death. True combat requires surprise and concealing your intentions as much as possible."
*And Lasombra was clearly ambushed and killed by me. Besides, how am I an embodiment of justice? If it weren't for that vampire Prince having a grudge with Shalltear, and his substantial wealth and generous bounty, why would I bother him?* Alan silently complained to himself, then turned his head to look at the quiet Neville. "By the way, Neville, how are your parents doing lately? Two months have passed, their symptoms should have improved, right?"
"Mm!" Hearing Alan mention his parents, Neville became much more talkative. "Your potion is very effective. When Dad and Mom see me now, I can feel that they seem to have recognized me. One time, Grandma and I even heard Mom call out my name! And according to Healer Stroud, they occasionally regain their memories for short periods. Grandma even cried with joy when she heard this news. Thank you very much, Uncle Wilson!"
"It's what I should do. I'm just fulfilling our promise." Alan shook his head indifferently, then specifically cautioned, "However, Frank and Alice's treatment will require a very long course, possibly one to two years. You and your grandmother should not be too impatient."
Through years of continuous experimentation and attempts, Alan had gradually come to understand the Longbottoms' condition. Frank and Alice did not simply suffer from amnesia; their souls had been severely damaged. Their previous amnesia was merely a visible symptom, akin to the body's self-protection mechanism, which, by sealing memories, allowed them to forget the pain of a torn soul. To treat their illness, one actually needed to heal their soul wounds!
Fortunately, six months ago, after consuming more than ten experimental subjects, Alan finally found a method to treat the Longbottoms. While traveling in Africa, he had found an unnamed potion recipe. This potion had the effect of slowly healing the soul, and after more than a dozen modifications, Alan finally found the final product with the best therapeutic effect and fewest side effects.
Of course, healing the soul is not that simple, and the time required is also very long. But with a means of treatment, there is hope. Moreover, according to Alan's estimation, once the Longbottoms recover to a certain extent, their bodies' self-healing abilities will also be activated, and the recovery speed will definitely accelerate then.
Thinking of this, Alan glanced at Neville beside him. The boy, at such a young age, bore so much pain. Coupled with his grandmother Augusta, who was not a very good-tempered person, this caused Neville to gradually become somewhat self-conscious and introverted. Augusta even said that the child had become a bit forgetful.
This was also the reason Alan often brought him out after returning to Britain. Due to his constant travels abroad, he hadn't paid much attention to his friend's son and hadn't even noticed Neville becoming somewhat timid and meek until it was too late.
*Perhaps returning to Hogwarts isn't a bad thing. At least I can take better care of this child,* Alan thought, nodding silently.
Alan then smiled and looked at Neville, "By the way, you should be old enough to start school this year, right? How about it, are you looking forward to your future Hogwarts life?"
"Ah? Oh!" Neville seemed a bit nervous when Alan asked this. "I wouldn't say I'm looking forward to it, but Grandma said that if I don't get sorted into Gryffindor, I'll bring shame to the entire Longbottom family."