His Father's Son

Neville woke up tossing and turning and covered in sweat.

He had been having the same nightmare for all those years since it had happened, red flashing lights from the wands, ear-piercing screams first from his Mum and then from his Dad, all coupled maniacal cackling in the background from Bellatrix Lestrange.

But then the screaming stopped, his Dad had lost the battle, and Barty Crouch Jr. and the three Lestrange’s pointed their wands at Neville who had been watching the whole thing traumatized with his little fists clutching onto the bars of his cot.

But that was when he woke up. That was when the Aurors had finally arrived and arrested the Death Eaters, but it was too late Alice and Frank Longbottom had been tortured all the way through the night, and their minds were gone.

It seemed that most of the Wizarding World had forgotten that Frank and Alice existed, nobody visited them apart from Neville with his Gran. Maybe people had just tried their hardest to put them out of their minds and forget because they didn’t want to think about two powerful Aurors like that wandered around the permanent ward in St. Mungo’s completely mad.

Neville had never forgotten that night, even though he had only been fifteen months old at the time, he remembered it at least twice a week in his dreams. It always gave him a chill, because he knew that if the Aurors had only been a few hours later, he would probably have been in St. Mungo’s with his parents now.

Neville took a deep breath and turned on his bedside lamp trying to put the nightmare from his mind. The best way to forget about the nightmares was usually to read for a while, sometimes if he read a few chapters of his book, he could slip back off to sleep.

He picked up the book from his bedside table, he had been reading it with his Gran yesterday, but Neville was sure she wouldn’t mind if he read just a few pages without her.

It was called Fantastical Tales From the Magical World- The Ancient World Gods and Monsters

Neville loved all these old stories, but A History of Magic, or Hogwarts a History had so much to cram into a short space that he felt that they didn’t have enough space to do the stories justice.

The Fantastical Tales From the Magical World books were more story books with pictures than anything else and were meant to be seven- or eight-year-olds, and at the grand age of ten years old and eleven and a half months, Neville was of course far too old for those books. Neville didn’t care though; he had every single one of the books in the series and had been reading them since he was only three or four years old.

Neville was just absorbing the story of the Greek God of Magic Hecate, complete with coloured illustrations, when he was pulled out of his book.

‘Neville!’ called Mrs Longbottom. ‘Neville, it’s time to get up dear!’

‘Coming Gran!’ called Neville putting away his book. He had been reading for hours and hadn’t noticed the sun streaming through his window as it was now half past seven in the morning.

He put the book down on his bedside table and started to run down the stairs barefoot in his pyjamas not wanting to be late for breakfast.

‘Slow down Neville,’ chuckled Mrs Longbottom shaking her head at him. ‘You’ll trip over something.’

‘Sorry Gran,’ chuckled Neville, kissing his Grandmothers proffered cheek before sitting down for breakfast. They had a large dining table, but Neville and his Gran usually sat at one end of the table so they could talk to each other properly.

Blinky, the younger of the two Longbottom house elves came into the dining room carrying two plates of scrambled eggs and toast, and a pot of tea.

‘Thanks, Blinky,’ beamed Neville, ‘it looks fantastic!’

‘You are most sincerely welcome Young Master Neville,’ squeaked Blinky blushing at the compliment, handing Neville his glass of orange juice. Neville did like pumpkin juice, but it was a bit too sweet for first thing in the mornings.

Blinky left to go and help her grandmother Minky with the washing up, leaving Neville and his Gran alone in the room.

‘You’re certainly awake this morning,’ said Mrs Longbottom, as Neville drank his glass of orange juice in one long drink.

‘I usually struggle to pull you out of bed before eight o’clock especially during the holidays.’

‘I woke up early,’ shrugged Neville tucking into his breakfast.

‘Hmmm,’ muttered Mrs Longbottom as she stirred her tea. ‘You had another nightmare, Neville?’

‘Maybe,’ gulped Neville, staring down at his own plate so he didn’t have to look at his Grandmother.

He knew she blamed herself for what had happened to Frank and Alice, if Mr and Mrs Longbottom had been there all those years ago, her son and his wife wouldn’t have been outnumbered, and they would have stood more of a chance. Neville probably would have been having breakfast with his parents this morning rather than his Grandmother. But Neville also knew deep down that it could have just as easily gone another way, his Grandparents could have ended up in St. Mungo’s too, and he would have had nobody left.

‘Did you get enough sleep dear?’ asked Mrs Longbottom taking Neville’s hand gently.

‘I could give you some dreamless sleep tonight so you can catch up on your sleep.’

‘I’m fine Gran really,’ Neville assured her, smiling up at her. ‘You just told me yourself I was very awake this morning, I just read for a few hours.’

‘Well, if you’re quite sure dear,’ said Mrs Longbottom, ‘eat your breakfast, I don’t want you wasting away on me.’

‘Yes Gran,’ said Neville rolling his eyes, and eating his breakfast.

There was no chance of him wasting away, he certainly wasn’t skinny, and he wasn’t the most athletic boy of his age and he preferred to work in the garden if he was outside, if anything he was slightly plump. As well as this was actually quite clumsy which is why he wasn’t allowed to fly broomsticks.

You wouldn’t catch Neville complaining though, he had been flying with his Great Uncle Algie once on the back of his broomstick when he was five, they had only flown a few feet of the ground, and were flying very slowly, but Neville had of course fallen off. He had bounced as he had landed in the grass, but he had started crying uncontrollably and hadn’t flown a broom since.

Neville was just finishing his breakfast as Blinky came back into the room with the post, which she passed to Mrs Longbottom. There was The Daily Prophet, and a few letters on the tray.

Neville was so busy thinking how he wanted to spend a nice day in the garden, that he almost didn’t notice that Blinky had handed Neville a letter.

Neville looked down at the letter, it was certainly for him the address was right.

Mr Neville Frank Longbottom,

Longbottom Lodge,

The Second Bedroom from the Left,

Ilkley,

Yorkshire.

He normally only got postcards occasionally from his Uncle Algie and Aunty Enid when they were on holiday somewhere, and every now and again he’d get a letter from his friend Susan, but he didn’t get those very often either as they saw each other two or three times a week.

He flipped over the letter and found the Hogwarts Crest sealing the envelope shut with wax. He looked up at his Gran, his mouth hanging open.

‘Well go on Neville!’ said Mrs Longbottom eagerly. ‘Open it, it’s not going to bite you.’

Neville gulped and pulled the letter open; he scanned the letter and equipment list quickly not really taking in what they were saying, he was still bewildered that he’d gotten a letter in the first place.

Mrs Longbottom was waiting patiently as Neville finished reading his letter, and she was smiling at him.

‘Well?’ she asked.

‘I’ve got in,’ said Neville in a quiet voice.

‘You’ve what?’ she stammered.

‘I’ve got in,’ said Neville, smiling as it sunk in. ‘I’m going to Hogwarts! I’ve got enough magic!’

‘Oh Neville!’ said Mrs Longbottom getting up to hug to her Grandson. ‘I knew you’d get in! I knew you had it in you!’

‘I never believed what Enid and Algie said,’ she said crying for joy as she hugged Neville. ‘I always knew that you weren’t a squib!’

‘Thanks Gran,’ muttered Neville.

To be honest, for a while Neville had believed Great Uncle Algie and Great Aunty Enid that he might actually be a squib. It wasn’t that Algie, and Enid wanted him to be a squib, Algie had been trying to force magic out of Neville since he was little.

Then one time about a year ago his Uncle had been holding him by the ankles from over the bannisters on the third floor. Neville hadn’t been scared, they both laughing, and it was a game more than anything. But Neville had been nearly ten, and if he didn’t show magic soon then he was almost certainly a squib.

But Aunty Enid had offered Uncle Algie at exactly the wrong minute, and Algie let go of Neville for just a few seconds. Neville fell through the air terrified, knowing that he was about to die, and he prepared himself to slam into the stone floor on the ground floor.

But instead of the cold hard floor, he hit something soft like a cushion, he had softened his own fall.

He had opened his eyes and looked up three floors to see Uncle Algie and Aunty Enid leaning over the bannisters to check on Neville. Algie’s eyes were popping out of the sockets, and Enid had her hand to her mouth mortified, thinking that they’d just killed Neville.

But Neville had gotten straight back up beaming and given them both a thumbs up. His Grandmother had been furious when she found out, but Neville and Algie now that it was all over found it simply hilarious.

‘Just you wait until I write to Enid and Algie about this!’ said Mrs Longbottom smiling broadly as she got up from the table to get up for the day.

Neville got dressed in a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt as he was wanted to work in the garden today. They lived in Yorkshire, so it rained every other day even in the middle of Summer like now, so he wanted to make the most of the good weather.

He hadn’t even made it down the stairs though when there was a frantic knocking on the front door. Neville ran down the last few stairs and pulled the door open wondering what the emergency could be.

Susan Bones was standing on the doorstep with her Mother. Susan like Neville was dressed in jeans and t-shirt as they both tended to dress in Muggle clothes, but Susan’s Mum was dressed in a pair of wizarding robes.

Susan was carrying a letter similar to the one Neville had gotten that morning, and she had clearly been so excited that she hadn’t redone her hair this morning. Her dark auburn hair was normally in a long plait, but it was falling out of the plait and she didn’t seem to care.

‘Neville!’ exclaimed Susan throwing herself at Neville. ‘Did you get one two? Please tell me you did! It won’t be anywhere near as fun without you!’

‘Um yeah,’ said Neville hugging her back, ‘we got the letter with the post.’

‘Congratulations Neville,’ said Mrs Bones, ‘we all knew you’d get in.’

‘Thanks Mrs Bones,’ blushed Neville as Susan finally stopped hugging him.

‘Is your Grandmother in dear?’ asked Mrs Bones.

‘I think she’s in the Study,’ said Neville.

‘Well done again,’ said Mrs Bones patting Neville on the shoulder and walking to the study.

‘Come on Nev,’ said Susan half pulling Neville’s arm out of his socket, as she pulled him out into the huge garden. ‘It’s too nice a day to spend inside.’

Neville was about to tell Susan that he hadn’t planned on spending the day inside in the first place, but he knew that there was no point. When Susan was in this kind of mood, there was no stopping her she was just so full of energy!

Susan and Neville had known each other for years, since they were tiny. Most children from magical families were home schooled, but some families especially when they had only children decided to educate their children together. So, Susan and Neville had been taught everything they knew by Mrs Longbottom and Susan’s Mum in the Longbottom’s library.

In fact, Susan was Neville’s only friend, not because she was a pure blood, the Longbottom’s didn’t care about people’s blood statuses and never had done. After the War had ended, the Bones’ and the Longbottom’s were in similar situations, both their families had been torn apart by the death eaters, so they had understood each other’s situations and the adults spent a lot of time together.

This had led to Susan and Neville spending a lot of time playing together when they were toddlers, and when it came to their home schooling, it was clear to both families that it would be easier to just teach them together.

The Longbottom’s had a vast garden, it was full of flowers in every colour imaginable, and fresh fruits and vegetables that had been enchanted to grow all year round so they could have strawberry’s in the dead of Winter or carrots and parsnips in the middle of August if they wanted them.

There were also of course magical plants, scattered around the garden, fluttering bushes, venomous tentacula, deadly nightshade, aconite. Some of them were used in Potions, but some of them like the fluttering bushes just looked pretty.

Susan and Neville weren’t allowed anywhere near the magical or poisonous plants on their own as they were dangerous. It had been drilled into them both from a young age, stay away from the magical plants unless they were supervised.

Susan helped Neville weed the garden for an hour or so, until they were all gone and then they went to play on their favourite tree.

There was a huge oak tree, that had been large when his Grandpa was a child that Neville and Susan had always loved to play with. There was a big rope swing hanging down from the branches which was big enough for two or three children to enjoy, and there was a ladder leading up to a wooden platform that Susan’s Dad had built, so Neville and Susan could climb the tree and watch the birds fly through the sky or watch the sheep grazing on the moor.

‘I can’t believe we’re actually going,’ said Susan as they swung back and forth gently on the swing. ‘We’re actually going to Hogwarts!!’

‘I know, it’s pretty cool, isn’t it?’ blushed Neville.

‘Do you know what house you’re going to be in?’ asked Susan. ‘I want to be a Hufflepuff, like Mummy and Daddy and Aunty Amelia, but Ravenclaw would be pretty amazing too.’

‘I don’t think I’m bright enough for Ravenclaw,’ mumbled Neville.

‘Push on!’ laughed Susan.

‘You’re always reading you History books, not just Magical History books, but Muggle ones too. Not to mention those books of your Dad’s you’re always reading; you’d have to be a Ravenclaw to know those from cover to cover! You must have read them fifty times!’

Neville smirked, his Dad had always enjoyed reading J.R.R.Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books, but they were Neville’s now. When he was little, he had always asked his Grandad to read him the books, so he could feel closer to his Dad, but now Neville loved them just as much as his Dad had always done because he loved the stories.

He usually took one of the books with him when they visited his Mum and Dad, and he’d read his Dad a chapter or two. Neville could swear that his Dad was smiling and actually listening, but he knew it was probably just his imagination.

‘I can’t be a Ravenclaw Sus,’ said Neville. ‘I’m practically a squib, I hardly got into Hogwarts. Ravenclaws are really good at magic!’

‘Neville Longbottom don’t say that!’ said Susan digging her heels into the grass to stop the swing and turning around to glare at Neville.

‘You’ll be a great wizard just like your Mum and Dad,’ said Susan, ‘just you want and see! I know you will!’

Neville sighed and looked down at his trainers.

‘Fine!’ sighed Susan. ‘What about Gryffindor then? Your parents were both in there.’

‘I know they were,’ grumbled Neville. ‘I won’t be brave enough for them, I know I’m a coward.’

Susan bit her lip as she thought this over. She knew Neville wasn’t a coward and had tried telling him a hundred times, but it was no use.

‘Well, that’s alright then,’ beamed Susan, ‘you can be a Hufflepuff like me!’

Neville looked up from his feet, and hugged Susan.

‘We’ll have a great time Nev,’ said Susan, ‘just you wait and see!’

‘Neville!’ called Mrs Bones coming out of the house. ‘Susie! It’s time for lunch.’

Susan skipped into the house, and Neville walked in after her to join his Gran and Mrs Bones for lunch.

That night, after Susan and her Mum had gone home Neville had just finished getting ready for bed and had brushed his teeth and hair. He was about to go to bed, when he stopped by his dresser which held two moving photographs.

Neville had hundreds of photographs but most of them were in photo albums, his two favourite though he kept on his dresser.

One was from his first birthday, and he was sitting on his Mum’s lap next to his Dad on the sofa. All three of them were beaming, Frank was pulling faces as he was trying make Neville laugh, Alice kept on doubling over with laughter because Frank was misbehaving, and Neville was smiling merrily at the chaos.

In the second one, Neville was about five and was curled up in a squashy armchair with his Grandad. Mr Longbottom was reading The Hobbit to Neville, and Neville was half asleep and leaning into his Grandad as he read.

His Grandad had died a few years back when Neville was eight, Neville still missed him of course, but it was alright because he still had Gran, and Algie and Enid.

At important times like this, he sometimes stopped to talk to the photographs, he knew they couldn’t hear him, but it was nice to think that they could.

‘Hey Mum, Dad, Grandad,’ said Neville awkwardly hoping that his Gran or one of the house elves couldn’t her him.

‘I um, got my Hogwarts letter today, I’m actually going to be going! Susan wants to be a Hufflepuff, I think I might too. It could be fun if I’m in Hufflepuff with Susan, at least I’ll know someone.’

‘I hope Gran brings me in to visit soon,’ said Neville looking at his parents, ‘I miss you, but you know that.’

‘Neville dear,’ said Mrs Longbottom putting her head around the open door. ‘It’s time for bed.’

‘Just one more minute,’ said Neville trying to stifle a huge yawn.

‘Bed young man!’ said Mrs Longbottom firmly.

‘Yes Gran,’ sighed Neville getting into bed.

‘Gran?’ asked Neville as she tucked him in.

‘Yes dear,’ she muttered.

‘Can we visit Mum and Dad tomorrow? I want to tell them about the letter.’

‘Of course, we can dear,’ she said nodding.

‘Now get to sleep,’ she whispered.

‘Night Gran,’ muttered Neville leaning back in his pillows, already half asleep.

Mrs Longbottom shook her head, and kissed Neville on the forehead and turned off his light on the way out of the room.