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The following Sunday, the five children snuck off through a much beloved secret passageway that was included in many of Sirius' stories about Hogwarts. The secret passageway from the One-eyed Witch to Honeydukes. With the invisibility cloak they were able to slip into the statute and out into the shop with little problem. It was a Hogsmeade weekend for the older students, so a few more students turning up wasn't a surprise. Harry couldn't resist loading up on candies that he could give away as gifts of appreciation or to share with his friends. They each bought a sackful to share. Poor Neville was out of cash, but Dudley was glad to treat him.
"Let's walk to the Shrieking Shack. No one will suspect anything if we leave from there," said Harry.
They quickly arrived at the shack and called for the Knightbus. The bus took them to a Saint Mungo's in just a few short, jarring moments.
Neville led the way into the hospital.
"My parents' room is up this way," Neville said, excited. He hoped this would work.
They arrived at the room and went inside. Neville's father was laying on a hospital bed, staring straight up at the ceiling. His mother was pacing the length of the small room in a never-ending circuit. Neither of them acknowledged the group that entered.
Hermione locked the door behind them. "Best be quick about it," she said, bravely.
Harry nodded and jumped forward. He took the small stone and broke it in half. Then, he stared at the two adults, unsure how to get them to swallow the shards of stone.
"Just put it in their mouth. I'll help them swallow," said Neville. He led his mother over to the chair and helped her sit. She didn't resist. Harry put the stone in her mouth. She stared blankly through him.
Neville held a cup up to her mouth and helped her swallow by rubbing her throat, gently. The woman drank several gulps of water before Neville stopped. He hurried over to his father. Harry followed. Dudley watched the door while Hermione and Daphne starred in hope, watching the proceedings.
The man's head had to be lifted slightly. Harry again placed the stone on his tongue and stood back to watch as Neville poured the water down his throat. Harry unconsciously licked his palm to get the oily dust off. He gagged a little at the taste. He grabbed his eyes when a shooting pain ran through them.
"Ah!" he said. Taking his glasses off and rubbing his itching eyes, getting the dust from the philosopher's stone in them. The burning feeling increased for a moment, then stopped. Harry looked up in wonder. He could see perfectly without his glasses.
"I can see!" Harry proclaimed.
"You weren't blind, dummy," said Dudley. Harry made a rude gesture.
"I can see without my glasses," said Harry. "My eyes are healed!"
Just then, the two adults started seizing and foaming at the mouth. The children panicked. Hermione ran and called for the nurse. Neville and Harry tried to stop the adults from violently banging themselves around.
The nurse ran in the room and pushed the boys away. The boys jumped back. Neville was openly crying. The two adult Longbottoms looked like they were trying to swallow their own tongues. Just as suddenly as it started, the violent outburst stopped. All was quiet for a few moments before the two adults gasped loudly.
"Where am I? Alice?" the man said, looking over at his wife. She wasn't looking at him though, she was staring at her son.
"Neville!" she shouted suddenly, jumping from the bed and whisking the boy up into her arms. "My baby. I saw you every time you came to visit but it was like I was trapped! I couldn't reach you or force myself to speak. All I could do was hand you those damned bubble gum wrappers," said the woman, choking on a sob, holding her son as close as possible.
"Neville?" the man said, uncertainly. The face that looked up at him was definitely his son's. He'd know those blue eyes anywhere.
"Neville!" the man said, joining the hug. The entire family was crying and hugging. The nurse ran for the doctor who ran back in the room, forcing Neville aside and examining his patients. They were fine. A little atrophied but nothing a little exercise wouldn't cure.
"I don't believe it. How did this happen?" asked the doctor, flabbergasted.
"We don't know. They just started having seizures. We ran to get you," said Dudley, the best liar amongst them.
The doctor went and got two more doctors. Everyone checked the Longbottoms over and no one could find anything wrong with them.
"It's a miracle," said the nurse, her eyes also filled with tears. She took care of this couple almost every day. She was so happy to see them well.
The children stayed for a few more hours, the adults getting to know all the children but especially Neville. Finally, it was just an hour until dinner time. Hermione hated to break up the reunion but they needed to go.
"Neville?" she said, gently. "I hate to say it but we need to go. Dinner is in only an hour."
Neville looked at his parents, forlornly.
"Go where?" asked Alice, distraught.
Frank gently disentangled her from Neville. "Back to school, I reckon?" he asked, looking at the children.
They all nodded. "I'm assuming you snuck away? You're first years, so you don't get Hogsmeade weekends?" Frank inquired.
They nodded again, chagrined. Frank made sure no one was listening at the door.
"You really do know how we were healed, don't you?" Frank asked.
Alice looked at the children. They nodded slowly.
"Will you tell us?"
Neville winced. "We can't. It's a secret but I'm so glad you're okay," he said sincerely.
Alice just grinned and hugged him tightly. "As long as you didn't sell your soul to a demon, I'm okay with whatever you did. Thank you so much. All of you," she said, hugging each of the children. Frank shook all their hands. Neville gave them one more clinging hug then the children left. Just in time, too. They heard Neville's gran yelling, "My baby!" as they turned at the end of the hallway.
They hurried back to the Knight Bus and back to Hogsmeade.
The miracle of Frank and Alice Longbottom was all over the papers the next morning. Dumbledore's mood became even more sour.
He glared at Neville's happy face, and all the congratulations that came his way. Albus meant to have Neville as his backup weapon, in case Harry Potter failed. Now, that would be so much harder. Frank and Alice were not good soldiers who did whatever Dumbledore said without question. They were instead stubborn, loving, and protective when it came to their child. They also knew the prophecy, if their memories were still intact.
Dumbledore looked as grumpy as he felt. The New Marauders noticed. "Seems someone isn't happy for your parents," said Harry, suspiciously. Neville looked up at the Head Table and agreed.
"He certainly doesn't look overcome with joy," said Neville, who couldn't stop smiling, even through his frown at the Headmaster.
"At least our names managed to stay out of the papers," said Hermione, thankfully.
"Yeah, it seems they attributed the miraculous recovery to the staff at Saint Mungo's," said Blaise, reading the paper.
"I don't care as long as my parents are alright," said Neville, grinning. He had a letter from each of his parents already this morning. He was itching to write them back. He'd have to wait until lunchtime, at least. Everyone was staring at Neville, and whispering if they were polite or downright talking about Neville if they weren't. It was driving Harry mad.
"Let's have lunch out of the public eye, shall we? Lunch in my rooms?" Harry asked his friends.
They all agreed. The rest of the day flew by. The chatter about Neville and his family didn't settle down but his happiness and his friends mostly shielded him from the nasty things some of the darker students were saying.
"When will you see your parents again, Neville?" Daphne asked.
"I expect I'll see them during Easter Break. I'm very excited. It's only a few weeks away now," said Neville, grinning. He was grinning more often than not these days.
Saturday was upon them before they knew it. The students went to Professor Flitwick's classroom with an extra bounce in their step. They were all quite happy.
"Excellent! You all seem to be in a good mood. Let's meditate together, then we'll try the spell. Grab a seat on the floor. Ready?" Flitwick asked. The students settled into their meditation positions and got ready to follow procedure.
The slightly glowing students stood and took turns casting the spell. The first to take a turn was Neville. He literally beamed as he cast the spell. A great ram jumped from the end of his wand. The family-oriented beast would take on any foe to protect his flock. The gold-tinted silver beast trotted around the room, looking for danger. It came back to Neville, looked him in the eyes, consideringly, then bowed and faded away. Everyone cheered for him.
"You did it Neville! You were first to do the spell properly!" said Hermione, grinning at the boy.
"Great job, mate," said Dudley, slapping Neville on the back. The children each congratulated the beaming boy.
Hermione was up next. She pulled up the joy she felt at seeing Neville's crying mother hug her son for the first time in 10 years. She cast the spell. A large doe jumped out of her wand. It had a strange bushy main on the back of her neck. Hermione reached out to touch the beast. Her hand passed through though she felt the doe smiled at her antics.
Blaise had his turn. A large wolfhound appeared out of his wand. The dog ran around the room then bounded over to Blaise, its ghostly tongue striping his face before it faded away. Tracy's animal was a swan. It flitted around the room before winging a figure 8 around Blaise and Tracy.
Daphne's turn was next. She cast and another doe, this one almost albino like Daphne's hair. It shone with silver light while Hermione's had shined almost bronze in color. The girls looked at each other with wonder in their eyes. Dudley went next. A giant Kodiak bear popped out of his wand. He gasped at the giant beast. It was the largest animal to appear, by far.
The final person to have their turn was Harry. He concentrated on the joy he felt in giving the philosopher's stone to Neville's parents; at seeing it work to bring them back to good health. His heart felt like it would burst. A giant golden stag burst from the end of his wand.
All the students and Professor Flitwick gasped at the sight of the huge animal. It was almost as large as the bear had been. Its rack was easily a 14 pointer. It looked almost solid as it walked around the room, inspecting each person and accepting them before he moved on to the next one.
He finally stopped in front of Harry. He leaned forward and bumped his forehead against Harry's. Harry swore he felt the thump of skull on skull. He grinned as the stag faded away.
"That was magnificent, Mr. Potter. All of you, excellent work. That stag certainly was something special. I've never seen a golden Patronus before," said Professor Flitwick in awe.
"What can they be used for, Professor?" asked Hermione. She itched to pull out her parchment and quill and begin taking notes.
"Well, the Patronus Charm can be used to ward off Dementors but they can be used to carry messages. They can be used in the place of a cheering charm to bring happiness and calm to a person or a group of people, depending on the strength of the Patronus. I don't think we'll learn any more uses today. One more meeting and we should be able to get you sorted. Then, you'll be able to use the Patronus as a messenger, as well," said Flitwick.
The New Marauders grinned at each other. This was something to celebrate. They went back to Harry's room and ordered some treats from Oddment. They chatted and had biscuits and punch for the rest of the night.
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