Chapter 2- the letter
Neville Longbottom sat at his desk in front of the window in his room. He loved to sit here when he was home. He could see the sky and feel the wind on his face. However right now, Neville was working tediously on a potions essay entitled, "The properties of Aconite". He looked up and gazed out the open window. It was a moment before he noticed the owl flying directly towards… his bedroom window! The owl swooped in, dropped the letter on his bed and left. Neville picked it up and began to read.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Gran! Gran, come read this!" Neville shouted as he ran down the stairs.
"Is it a finished potions essay?" she inquired softly.
"No. It's a letter from Hermione. Remember her? We met her at the hospital. Here, read."
Dear Neville,
I hope you are well. I am fine. I wrote to tell you about something that I looked up in the library before we left. Maybe it will help you out.
Don't take this the wrong way, because I'm doing this to help you, but since I've met you, I've noticed you to be slightly more clumsy and forgetful than the average Hogwarts student. On the last day of term, I heard someone joke if they didn't know you were always so forgetful that they'd think it was some sort of spell. I went to the library to read and see how that could fit. The closest thing I got was a memory charm.
I'm terribly sorry if this opens old wounds, but is it possible that you witnessed the torture of your parents, and a grief-stricken relative put a memory charm on you so you'd forget? Ask your gran.
On a less painful note, removing the damage would be really easy. 12 therapy sessions over a 6-week period erase the memory spell and the after effects of it. They do the therapy at St. Mungo's. The sessions alternate between grief therapy for when the memory returns and spell therapy to erase the charm.
I hope this helps you. Good luck!
Hermione
Attached was a copy of the page from the book.
Neville saw a shadow of a tear in his gran's eye, before she quickly blinked it away.
"This must be one of the brightest girls I've ever met. She's gotten it right."
"Which part," asked Neville.
"You were there when Frank and Alice were tortured. Your uncle did put a memory charm on you. If I'd known the damage it could cause, I would've made him wait."
At this, Gran began to cry. Neville sat down next to her.
"I can't believe I've put you through this," she cried onto Neville's shoulder. Neville felt his eyes go damp. His gran, the only person he can remember living with, feeling such remorse for something that she had nothing to do with. This was the fault of one truly evil man, Voldemort. Neville hugged her as she cried onto his shoulder. After a few minutes he decided to try talking to her
"So are we going to try therapy?"
"Of course. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so emotional. We can schedule it today on our way to get you a new wand."
~*~*~*~*~*~
They set off for St. Mungo's by floo powder. They scheduled appointments for 4:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays for the next 6 weeks. The last appointment would be the day before returning to Hogwarts. He was to begin Saturday, the day after next.
The two arrived at Diagon Alley soon after.
"Let's get your wand, and then the rest of your school things," suggested Gran.
They went into Mr. Ollivander's shop.
"Boy, you aren't a first year, but I don't remember selling you a wand. Where is yours from?"
"My name is Neville Longbottom, sir. I'm a 5th year. I've been using my father's old wand."
"Yes," he replied softly, "your father's wand was maple, 12 inches, pheonix feather. Your mother's was cherry, 14 inches, unicorn hair. Let's see."
He set the tape measuring and began grabbing boxes off the shelf.
"Birch, 15 inches, pheonix feather. No? How about oak, 8 inches, dragon heart string…."
It went on like this for some time. Until…
"Sycamore, 13 inches, dragon heartstring."
Neville felt the wand grow warm in his hand. The warmth spread to his fingers and down his arm. He raised the wand and gold fireworks shot out the end.
"Bravo!" cried the shopkeeper.
They walked to the counter, paid for the wand and walked past the purple window display and back to the street to buy the rest of his school supplies.
A/N- The wand I gave Neville is the one I would want. If you don't remember in the end of book 5, Neville breaks his wand. It was a family heirloom. Maybe it was but I can't wait to see Neville with a wand of his own. Remember- a wizard never performs as well with another wizard's wand.
Next time- therapy! Woo!