Chapter 991: Harry's Style
Chapter 991: Harry's Style
Neville's parents' situation was resolved perfectly, fulfilling Kyle's long-held idea.
Although Kyle himself didn't pay too much attention to this little incident, it didn't mean others didn't care.
Early that morning, while Kyle was having breakfast, he was surrounded by more than a dozen owls. Letters rained down like a shower, and several nearly fell into the pitcher of pumpkin juice.
One of the owls, either too tired or unable to stop in time, crashed straight into the plate in front of Kyle, also knocking over a large chunk of butter.
"I think you're taking this a bit too seriously," Kyle casually cleaned the butter and breadcrumbs from the owl's wings before taking the letter from its claws.
"There have been letters coming in since earlier," Conna leaned over from the side, asking curiously, "What did Rita Skeeter write this time?"
"Probably not," Kyle said, while also brushing away some butter that almost touched Conna's hair.
"Normally, she should still be in the forest looking for material at this time, and she doesn't have time to publish anything."
But indeed, there were more letters today.
Kyle usually received letters from various people, but he had never received so many at once.
From morning till now, there have been about twenty or thirty letters, and they all came from different places.
"Where is this one from?"
"Let me see..." Kyle looked down at the envelope. "Yorkshire, Algernon from the Greenhouse Cottage."
"Who is this Algernon?" Conna asked in confusion. "Do you have a pen pal in Yorkshire too?"
"I don't know," Kyle spread his hands, "I don't know this Algernon at all. In fact, I don't recognize any of the senders today."
"And I don't know if they coordinated, but none of them wrote their surnames, they all just wrote a single name."
"Have you opened any?"
"No," Kyle said.
Since he didn't recognize any of the senders, Kyle was cautious and didn't tear open the envelopes, intending to prevent any curses from being slipped inside. He planned to ask the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to check them when he returned.
As for why he didn't do it himself... Such dangerous work must be left to professionals. What if a Death Eater who slipped through the net wanted to avenge their master and sent a cursed letter?
Kyle threw the letter aside.
To avoid further interruptions and allow the others to finish their breakfast in peace, Kyle simply stood up and left the Great Hall.
He planned to visit Snape first, and then prepare for his next Alchemy class.
However, just as he arrived in the entrance hall, someone else rushed in from outside.
"Neville?"
Kyle looked at the other person, "Why are you in such a hurry... Wait, are your parents still asleep?"
"No, it's not that..." Neville panted, seemingly out of breath from running. He supported his knee with one hand and waved the other hand repeatedly.
"They... they're awake... completely awake. My mom... she recognized me... she called my name! This is the first time she's called my name!"
"That's great. You can take your time, don't rush. I'll be here," Kyle said to the incomparable Neville, extending his hand towards the Great Hall.
A pitcher of pumpkin juice flew over from the Gryffindor table.
He handed the pumpkin juice to Neville.
"I thought you'd want to spend more time with them. Don't worry about your assistant duties, I've already asked Professor Sprout for leave on your behalf.
"She understands your situation, and said you could stay with them for a while."
"Thanks." Neville took a big gulp of pumpkin juice, and only then did he feel much better.
"I do need to take some time off, but I came to see you today."
"Me?"
"Oh, no... my grandmother wanted me to express the Lombard family's gratitude to you.
"My uncles and aunts already know about this. They're also very happy. They've been going to St. Mungo's since yesterday.
"The room was packed with people... many had to stand in the corridor... later, the Headmaster came and shooed them out."
Perhaps due to his excitement, or maybe thinking of something amusing, Neville couldn't help but laugh at this point.
"Sorry," he continued, "My grandmother didn't give me the formal invitation, but my uncle said he'd already sent it... oh, I see it."
He suddenly pointed to the stack of floating letters behind Kyle.
"What?"
"That's Algernon."
"Neville pointed to the topmost letter," he said.
"You mean, this letter is from your uncle?" Kyle asked, picking up the unopened envelope.
"Yes, Algernon is my uncle," Neville nodded. "When I first received the Hogwarts acceptance letter, he also gave me a toad as a gift, it's Lefou, you know."
Of course, Kyle knew that the toad followed Neville around and was arguably the most free-roaming pet at Hogwarts.
Because Neville often forgot about it.
Under the desks in the classroom, in flower pots in the greenhouse, outside the window of the Astronomy Tower...you could see the toad anywhere but in Neville's hands.
"So this Algernon, is actually called Algernon Longbottom?"
"Yeah," Neville nodded.
Kyle pulled out another envelope. "Annie..."
"She's my aunt."
"Frederick..."
"He's my uncle, but we rarely meet, only two or three times." Neville said earnestly.
Kyle took out more letters.
As expected, these were all from the Longbottom family.
"Neville..." Kyle couldn't help but ask, "Does your family have any special traditions?"
"Special traditions?" Neville thought carefully, "I don't think so..."
He was a bit uncertain, mainly because his memory wasn't great, and even if there was one, he couldn't remember.
"Let me put it simply," Kyle pointed to the names on the envelopes, "When your family writes letters, do they usually leave out the surnames?"
Neville then realized that all the signatures on the envelopes lacked surnames.
But he didn't know how to explain it.
Because now that he thought about it, Uncle Algernon had only written his name when writing to him, and this had been the case since he was young.
Looking at it this way, it could indeed be considered a family tradition...
"Maybe...they were too excited." Neville stammered, trying to explain.
But his voice was too soft, and Kyle didn't hear him.
However, it didn't matter.
After learning that these letters were from the Longbottom family, Kyle put his mind at ease and casually opened the envelope.
It was the letter from Algernon Longbottom.
Inside was a sheet of gilt-edged parchment, the most expensive kind sold in the stationery store at one Galleon.
It seemed the Longbottom family was quite wealthy.
Thinking about it, this seemed normal.
The Longbottoms were also one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight Pureblood Families, and although they couldn't compare to the Blacks and Malfoys, centuries of accumulation would surely not be too shabby.
Kyle glanced at the content.
This was a very formal invitation letter.
It was evident that the writer was a bit excited, as some parts were crooked, but the content was sincere.
Just as Neville had said earlier, the Longbottom family decided to hold a Christmas dinner on Christmas Day to celebrate Neville's parents' recovery.
This letter was an invitation for Kyle.
"My uncles originally wanted to come to Hogwarts to thank you..." Neville continued, "But Grandma thought that too many people might affect the students' classes, so they changed it to writing letters."
"It's good that your grandma has foresight." Kyle's lips twitched.
People who don't include surnames when writing to strangers are probably not very reliable, and if they all came to Hogwarts, Kyle wouldn't be surprised if they caused a scene.
Oh, right, he suddenly remembered that Neville had once said that when he was young, an uncle had thrown him out of the attic window to confirm if he had magic.
Kyle didn't know if it was Algernon, as Neville hadn't mentioned the name back then.
But throwing a child under ten years old out of the attic window...normal people probably wouldn't do such a thing.
If they came to Hogwarts, it would be quite a scene.
"But my dad and mom are here."
Neville's voice brought Kyle back to the present.
"They're in Hogsmeade right now and want to personally express their gratitude to you."
Kyle initially wanted to refuse.
Without thinking, he knew they would be full of gratitude, and whether he went or not, it was the same. He might as well send a few real curse letters to Snape to save him from wandering aimlessly around the castle every day.
But with Neville's insistence, Kyle was dragged away.
Neville, who moved flower pots in the greenhouse every day, was quite strong.
And a sentence of his caught Kyle's attention.
He mentioned that his father, Frank Lombard, was acting a bit peculiar.
Despite his strange expression when he said this, Kyle decided to pay them a visit, considering it a post-treatment follow-up.
The two arrived in Hogsmeade together.
This time, it wasn't at The Three Broomsticks.
Perhaps the healer didn't want them drinking, so Mr. and Mrs. Lombard were waiting at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.
When Kyle and Neville pushed open the door and walked in, the couple stood up as if they were students in class, almost in unison.
However, before they could speak, Kyle took the lead, saying, "If you want to express your gratitude, Neville has already done so on your behalf. As a family, there's no need to repeat it."
"That's not the same," Mr. Lombard shook his head. "We must always express our thanks. You know how we were before, unable to do anything. You essentially saved our lives."
"Haven't you saved others, too?" Kyle asked. "As members of the Order of the Phoenix, it's not something to be surprised about."
"The Order of the Phoenix..." Neville's mother couldn't help but speak up. "Are you also a member of the Order? You must be the new generation, I should've guessed. A talented wizard like you is bound to join the Order."
"Actually... that's all in the past now," Kyle shrugged. "There's no more Order of the Phoenix. It's been disbanded."
The Lombard couple's smiles froze on their faces, and their faces quickly turned pale.
"You must be joking, right...?"
"How could the Order of the Phoenix be disbanded?"
As they had just regained consciousness, their memories were still from a decade ago, and they were unaware of the current situation in the wizarding world.
Neville's mother was a bit better off, as she had moments of lucidity where she would catch up on recent events, albeit in fragments.
But usually, Neville wouldn't take up such precious time to discuss the state of the magical world with her.
So, she didn't know much either.
"I never said the Order of the Phoenix was disbanded, or that Dumbledore disbanded it himself," Kyle calmly picked up the freshly delivered tea, took a sip, and then put it back down.
"Oh, and by the way, Dumbledore is dead, and the new Headmaster of Hogwarts is Minerva McGonagall."
"Boom, boom!"
The couple's faces turned even paler, and when Kyle mentioned Dumbledore, they fell to the ground, one after the other.
"Neville, didn't you tell them?" Kyle asked, turning to him.
"No, I didn't."
Neville's face turned red, and he quickly went to help them while also briefing them on the events of the past few years.
From Voldemort's return, to the Order of the Phoenix joining the Ministry of Magic, and the Battle of Hogwarts.
Kyle had never seen Neville speak so fluently, without stuttering at all.
The Lombards, on the other hand, were shocked by the recent events they had just learned about.
They wanted to ask for details, but now wasn't the time, so they had to hold back.
Kyle sat across from them, nodding in satisfaction.
This strategy of diverting their attention seemed to work, as they were no longer going on and on about their gratitude.
"By the way, Mr. Lombard," Kyle took the opportunity to say, "I heard from Neville that you've been applying aloe vera to your body. Could you tell me what's going on?"
"Oh, this..."
Mr. Lombard snapped out of his daze, shaking his head. "It's nothing, just a minor issue. Don't worry about it."
"It's okay, you don't need to feel embarrassed."
"It's really not what you think," Mr. Lombard said again, and then he thought for a moment before rolling up his sleeve to point at a scar on his arm.
"This is it. I don't know when this appeared, but I wanted to try aloe vera to see if it would help."
The scar wasn't large, but its shape was unique, resembling a lightning bolt.
Neville saw it too, and he opened his mouth as if to speak, but then stopped.
He had seen a similar scar, on Harry's forehead.
Wait a minute!
Neville had subconsciously glanced at his father's forehead, but in that moment, he noticed the familiar scar again.
It was also on his forehead, mostly hidden by his hair, making it hard to spot unless you were looking closely.
That's odd, why does his father have the same scar as Harry, with the same shape and even a similar location?
Did he have it before? I don't think so...
In an instant, Neville was completely dazed, sitting there blankly as his face changed colors.
(End of Chapter)
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