A/N - Hello again everyone. In this newest chapter we continue on directly from where the previous chapter left off.
Disclaimer: The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and belong to Marvel Comics. Harry Potter was created by and belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this and the only thing that's mine are the original parts of the story.
"Normal Speech"
"Telepathy"
34) ANOTHER MAGICAL MUTANT (Continued)
"What else did you need to talk with me about?" Neville asked Dumbledore.
"Mr. Longbottom" said Professor Xavier drawing Neville's attention back to him, "did Lightning tell you why he was here at Hogwarts today?"
"He just said that you were old friends with the headmaster" said Neville, "that you had business with him today and that you brought Lightning and Marvel Girl with you."
"That's true" said Xavier, "We wish to tell you what that business was as it may have implications for you."
"Okay" said Neville wondering what it could be.
"Before we do that Mr. Longbottom" said Dumbledore, "I think it would be a good idea for your grandmother to join us as this will concern her as well. We can also inform her of your mutant status if you're willing."
"Sooner is better than later I suppose" said Neville.
"Good" said Dumbledore who stepped over to his fireplace, grabbed some floo powder and threw it on the fire which immediately turned green. He got down on his hands and knees and stuck his head in the fire before calling out "Longbottom Manor!" Marvel Girl gasped watching all of this.
"Is this the first time you've seen a floo being used?" asked Lightning.
"Yes" said Marvel Girl.
"The headmaster is talking to someone in another fireplace, presumably Lady Longbottom" said Lightning, "the floo powder makes it safe for him to do this."
"I see" said Marvel Girl. Dumbledore drew back from the fireplace and stood up. The fire turned back to its normal color again.
"Your grandmother will be with us momentarily Mr. Longbottom" said Dumbledore who also noticed the look of surprise on Marvel Girl's face.
"This is the first time she's seen floo communication" Lightning said to Dumbledore.
"It can be disconcerting if you've never seen it before" said Dumbledore, "did Lightning tell you that it can also be used for travel?"
"I hadn't gotten to that part" said Lightning, "the headmaster is right. If you step into the fire instead of just sticking your head into it you can travel to your stated destination as long as it has a fireplace too."
"Quite correct" said headmaster, "but when you do you must always say where you wish to go as clearly as possible."
"Merlin knows that's the truth" said Lightning, "the first time I used the floo I was supposed to go to the Leaky Cauldron at Diagon Alley. Instead I came out in Borgin and Burkes in Nocturne Alley. That wasn't fun I can tell you. Fortunately Hagrid found me before I could get into trouble."
"A good thing too" said Dumbledore, "Nocturne Alley is not a place for kids or even the casual visitor."
"Gran has never let me go there" said Neville, "not that I've ever tried."
"I should hope not" said Lightning.
The fire turned green again and this time they could see a body in the distance spinning in it, getting larger and larger as it approached before Augusta Longbottom stepped primly out of the fireplace into Dumbledore's office. She used her wand to remove the soot on her clothes before looking around and raising an eyebrow when she saw the current occupants of the office. Two of them she knew and three of them she didn't know although she recognized two of the unknown people as members of the X-Men having seen pictures of the team in the Daily Prophet.
"Thank you for coming Augusta" said Dumbledore taking her hand and kissing the back of it.
"You're welcome Albus," said Madame Longbottom, "why have you asked me here? All you said was that it had something to do with Neville but he wasn't in any trouble."
"He's not" said Dumbledore, "I think you'll find what we have to discuss to be quite interesting. First let me introduce you to my guests. This man here – " he gestured at Xavier, "– is an old friend of mine. You may address him as 'Professor X.' He is the founder and mentor of the X-Men. These other two people are two of his X-Men as well as being his students."
"How do you do?" said Madame Longbottom turning to Xavier and holding out her hand with the palm down, "I was unable to attend the feast here last April so I have not met any of the X-Men. It is a pleasure to meet their mentor now and two of his team."
"The pleasure is mine Lady Longbottom" said Xavier taking the hand and kissing the back of it, "may I introduce two of my students to you? This is Marvel Girl – " Marvel Girl stepped forward and nodded to Lady Longbottom who dipped her head in return, " – and this is Lightning."
Lightning stepped forward and kissed Madame Longbottom's hand just as Xavier had done.
"How do you do Lady Longbottom?" said Lightning.
"Very well, thank you" said the reply, "you're a well mannered young man."
"I am British" said Lightning, "I was born and raised here although I live in the Colonies now."
"I see" said Madame Longbottom nodding to Lightning before turning back to Dumbledore, "why have you asked me here headmaster?"
"I have asked you here for two reasons" said Dumbledore before gesturing at Professor Xavier who took over the conversation.
"Lady Longbottom" said Xavier, "what is your opinion on mutants?"
"I have nothing against mutants" said Madame Longbottom, "it seems to me that they are a new form of magical. I have heard my house elf refer to them as "new magicals" and that seems pretty appropriate."
"Our house elf says the same thing" said Lightning.
"I see" said Xavier, "as you know, my X-Men are all mutants. I'm a mutant too. In my case I'm a telepath, however you weren't asked here just for that." Xavier turned and nodded at Neville who stood up as straight as he could and faced his grandmother.
"Gran" he said in as steady a voice as he could, "I'm a mutant too."
Madame Longbottom stared at her grandson. The only indication of her surprise at his statement was that her eyebrows went up for a moment. Otherwise there was no change in her demeanor.
"Is that so?" she finally asked in a stern voice.
"Yes" said Neville with a gulp.
"And how long have you known this?"
"Only since today. Professor X confirmed it."
"That's correct Lady Longbottom" said Xavier, "your grandson is a mutant. His powers have just begun to manifest." Madame Longbottom looked sharply at Xavier and nodded before turning back to Neville.
"I'm glad that you told me about this immediately" she said, "what can you do?"
"So far" said Neville, "I can change the shape of a rock to whatever I want it to be just by willing it."
Lady Longbottom took out her wand and conjured a small square flagstone which she handed to Neville.
"Show me" she commanded him. Neville took the stone in both hands and concentrated. As the other people in the office all watched the flagstone began to change shape. Neville directed the stone to compact itself until he had a perfectly round ball of rock in his hands which he handed back to his grandmother. She took the rock and inspected it in detail before nodding her approval to Neville and vanishing the stone.
"I see" she said, "well done Neville. A skill like that could be very useful in the future. Is that the full extent of what you can do?"
"We don't know yet" said Xavier, "in order to discover that Mr. Longbottom will have to work and train with his powers to see how far they go. I can help him with that."
"Go on" said Madame Longbottom.
"As I was telling your grandson before you arrived" continued Xavier, "I run a school in New York that is dedicated to finding young mutants and helping them to control and use their powers. I offered Mr. Longbottom here a place at my school for the upcoming summer so that I may help him do just that. After the summer ends he will return to Hogwarts to continue his magical schooling. His being a mutant is separate from his being a wizard. He's not the first magical mutant that I've encountered.
"There's more though. Your grandson pointed out that the summer is still a few months away and he might need help before then. The headmaster reminded us that the Hogwarts Easter Vacation is coming up soon and suggested that Neville visit my school during that time so I can help him learn the basics before he returns for a full course in the summer."
"I would have him do it Augusta" said Dumbledore, "Professor X is an expert in his field. He knows what he's doing and he can definitely help Neville."
"He trained us" put in Lightning.
"And we think he did a great job" added Marvel Girl.
"Does this mean that he would become an X-Man too?" asked Madame Longbottom.
"No" said Xavier, "he's too young for that. He'd have to be at least 18 before he could join the X-Men. It's true that when the team was first formed several of them were not of age but now most of them are and I would prefer that future students of mine only join the team once they're adults. If he wants to be one when the time comes we'll consider it but being an X-Man is a rigorous job and it's by no means a requirement to join my school."
Augusta Longbottom thought over what she'd been told. This was a very unexpected turn of events for her family but she couldn't say it was a bad one. She had seconded the Wizengamot motion for Moody's magical Danger Room and she knew that the project was based on how the X-Men trained themselves. This might be good for Neville. She had often felt a bit disappointed in Neville by how little power he seemed to show. Now, however, he was exhibiting a new power and it might well be an important one someday. Yes, she definitely approved of Neville being a mutant, or a 'new magical' as she thought of it. She would encourage him in this.
"Do you want to do this?" she asked her grandson.
"Yes gran" said Neville, "I do."
"Then you will" she said before turning to the headmaster, "I trust you'll send me the details later?"
"Yes" said Dumbledore, "one of our professors also knows the X-Men pretty well. He can accompany Neville to their headquarters during the Easter Break."
"Who is that?" asked Madame Longbottom.
"Professor Lupin" said the headmaster and the Longbottom matriarch nodded. She knew Lupin was a werewolf but, unlike many of her fellow pure-bloods, had nothing against him. Furthermore her son had known him at Hogwarts and she had met him a few times. She nodded her acceptance.
"Now that we've settled that" she asked Dumbledore, "what's the other reason you asked me here?"
"Ah yes" said Dumbledore, "this other matter is one that may be closer to your heart. You know that Professor Snape disappeared in January and when he was returned to us some days ago he'd been tortured into insanity through overexposure to the Cruciatus curse?"
"Yes" said Lady Longbottom in a low voice, "he suffered the same fate that Neville's parents suffered over thirteen years ago. They've never recovered."
For a moment Lightning was surprised when he heard this but then he remembered that he actually knew this about Neville's parents. When his Account Manager, Sharpshard, had gone over his estate with him back in early summer of '93 he told Harry about the list of people his parents designated to take care of him in the event of their deaths. Frank and Alice Longbottom were on that list and Sharpshard told him that they had been tortured into insanity which was why they couldn't take custody of him. It was many months before he'd seen Neville again and when he did after the battle with Magneto at Hogwarts it was only in passing. Neville had never mentioned anything about his parents nor had Harry asked him about them. Thinking it over, now that he had been reminded of them, Lightning thought that Neville's case was worse than his own. His parents were dead and gone, never to return. Neville, however, had to suffer with the knowledge that his parents were alive but were completely insane. If they were like how Snape had been before he was cured not only would they not recognize Neville when he visited them but they probably didn't even know he was there. Lightning didn't want to think about what that must be like.
"What you say is true but there's been a change" said Dumbledore who was speaking again, "earlier today Professor Snape was cured of his insanity."
"What?!" Neville's grandmother exclaimed with a gasp showing visible surprise now, "how is that possible? No one's ever been able to cure a case of Cruciatus insanity before."
"Professor X is the one who did it" said Dumbledore causing Madame Longbottom to look at Xavier again.
"How?" she asked quite forcefully, "how did you do it? No legilimens has ever been able to cure such a case."
"As I mentioned earlier" said Xavier, "I'm a telepath. Natural telepathy is much stronger than legilimency. I was able to enter Professor Snape's mind and make contact with him despite his having withdrawn much further into himself than a legilimens could ever reach. Once I established contact with him I was able to bring him out of his mind and he woke up."
"It's quite true" said Marvel Girl, "I helped him do it. I'm a telepath too although I'm not yet as skilled or as experienced as the professor is."
"Could you, do the same, for my son and his wife?" Madame Longbottom asked Xavier in a halting voice feeling potential hope for her son and daughter-in-law for the first time in years.
"I can try" said Xavier, "you must understand certain things before you get your hopes up too high. Professor Snape was only catatonic for relatively short time, from a few weeks to almost two months at most. From what you told us earlier your son and his wife have been in that state for over thirteen years. It will be more difficult to help them. There's no telling how well their minds have held up during all of that time. It's possible that there's too little left of them to be healed – but I will try."
"Thank you" said both Neville and his grandmother together. Neville looked excited at the possibility of getting his parents back and no one could blame him.
"When do you want to do this?" asked Xavier.
"I would suggest after Easter Break" said Dumbledore before either Longbottom could answer, "if you cure them now I doubt Neville will want to leave them to head to your school for that week. Also that will give me time to have them transferred from St. Mungo's to Hogwarts where you'll have more privacy to do your work."
"I appreciate that" said Xavier, "I'd rather not go to St. Mungo's. My X-Men are rather noticeable and having any of them with me at St. Mungo's would attract too much attention for us to work well."
"So be it" said Madame Longbottom, "Frank and Alice have been catatonic for over thirteen years. I doubt that a few more weeks will make much difference to them."
"Can he really do it?" Neville asked Lightning as they were walking from Dumbledore's office to Gryffindor Tower. Neville's grandmother had already returned home and Neville had asked Lightning to come with him back to the tower as he thought it would be easier for him to tell Ron and Hermione about his being a mutant if Lightning was with him. When Lightning asked him what made him decide to tell them Neville said that he just wanted to have someone nearby with whom he could talk about his new powers and Ron and Hermione were already in the know.
"He can if anyone can" said Lightning answering Neville's question, "he cured Snape although I doubt Snape's going to be teaching again for a while. He still needs to fully get better."
"Good" said Neville, "I'm not looking forward to having him as a teacher again, not after I've been doing much better in the subject under Professor Tonks."
"Oooh! Two fresh targets!" they heard a voice from above. When they looked up they saw Peeves carrying a bunch of water balloons which he started to throw at them. Lightning threw up a telekinetic shield which the balloons hit and broke against splashing water all over the place although none of it touched either boy. Peeves was quite surprised by this but before he could do anything else Lightning zapped him with some electricity.
"Aaaah!" Peeves cried out before zooming away with a curse.
"It feels good to do that" said Lightning to Neville.
"It feels good just to see you do it" said Neville.
"Yes it does" said a new voice and the two boys turned to see Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch standing there. For once he didn't look grouchy and unpleasant. He was actually smiling!
"I don't often see someone get the better of Peeves" said Filch, "it does me good whenever it happens. I don't even mind having to clean up this water."
"Sorry about that" said Lightning.
"That's all right" said Filch who began to mop the floor, "you've given me a memory I will enjoy for quite a while. If I were a professor I'd give you points."
"If I were a student here I'd be glad to take them" said Lightning.
They left Filch to his work and continued on toward Gryffindor Tower.
"That's the nicest I've ever seen Filch be" said Lightning.
"I know" said Nevile, "but he had good reason. It's not easy to turn the tables on Peeves."
"Both of them are things I haven't missed about this place" said Lightning, "as well as Filch's cat Mrs. Norris." They reached Gryffindor Tower not long after that but before Neville could give the password the portrait of the Fat Lady spoke to Lightning.
"Hello again young man" said the Fat Lady.
"Hi" said Lightning, "nice to see you again."
"Thank you" she said, "do you have the password this time too?"
"No, but he does" said Lightning who gestured to Neville.
"Antidisestablishmentarianism" said Neville. Lightning looked at him in confusion as the portrait swung open.
"Antidisestablishmentarianism?" he asked, "where did that come for?"
"No idea" said Neville, "the passwords have been pretty odd lately. Two weeks ago it was 'Onomatopoeia' and before that it was 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.'"
"Okay" said Lightning, "whoever's making the passwords these days must have a weird sense of humor. At least it wasn't 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch' or 'Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingle-dangle-dongle-dungle-burstein-von-knacker-thrasher-apple-banger-horowitz-ticolensic-grander-knotty-spelltinkle-grandlich-grumblemeyer-spelterwasser-kurstlich-himbleeisen-bahnwagen-gutenabend-bitte-ein-nürnburger-bratwustle-gerspurten-mitzweimache-luber-hundsfut-gumberaber-shönendanker-kalbsfleisch-mittler-aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm.'"
Neville stared at Lightning like he was crazy.
"I don't how you pronounced that first one" he said, "and I really don't know how you remembered all of that second one! If they were the passwords no one would get into the tower, although the Weasley twins would love both of them."
"Excuse me" called the Fat Lady before Lightning could reply, "are either of you going to go in? Or are you just going to leave me hanging open all day?"
"Sorry" said Neville who told Lightning he'd be right back. He made his way through the entrance to the Gryffindor common room and the portrait shut behind him. Left out in the hall Lightning leaned back against a wall to wait. It was only a few minutes later when the portrait swung open again and Neville came out followed by both Ron and Hermione. As soon as he saw them Lightning put his finger to his lips in the universal "Shh" gesture which he held until the portrait closed again.
"Let's find a classroom" he said before either Ron or Hermione could say anything, "then we can talk."
Hermione led them to a nearby empty classroom. Once they were all inside and the door was closed Hermione cast a privacy spell so no one would overhear them. Lightning turned to his friends.
"Hi Ron, Hi Hermione" he said, "good to see you again."
"Harry!" said Hermione and gave him a bone crushing hug.
"Good to see you mate" said Ron, "we didn't know you'd be here today."
"Yeah, well I only found out yesterday that I'd be here" said Lightning, "there wasn't time to let you know."
"What brings you here?" asked Hermione, "not that we're not glad to see you of course."
"The professor had business with Dumbledore and he brought me and Marvel Girl along to help him."
"Is it anything you can tell us about?" asked Hermione.
"Sure" said Lightning, "although you probably won't like it very much. Neville already knows. Dumbledore invited Professor Xavier here to see if he could help Snape recover his sanity. Long story short, he succeeded."
"Oh no" said Ron making a face, "does that mean old greasy head is going to be teaching us again?"
"Eventually but not yet" said Lightning, "Snape still has some recovering to do before he's fully back on his feet."
"Too bad" said Ron, "the professor should have just left him that way."
"Sirius had similar thoughts" said Lightning, "Scott reprimanded him for it."
"So why did you want to meet in private?" asked Hermione.
"Neville has something he wants to tell you" said Lightning, "I'm just here to give him support." Both Ron and Hermione turned to Neville.
"What is it Neville?" asked Hermione. Neville glanced at Lightning who nodded at him. Neville turned back to Ron and Hermione and took a deep breath.
"I'm a mutant" he said. The two other students looked at him in surprise.
"Are you really?" asked Hermione who looked like she wanted to ask him a million questions but she restrained herself remembering Neville's usual shyness. He wouldn't react well to a whole bunch of questions thrown at him in rapid succession.
"Yes" he answered, "I just found out today. Professor Xavier confirmed it when I met him a short time ago."
"Wow" said Ron, "what can you do?"
"So far I can shape rocks into any form just by willing it" said Neville.
"Wicked" said Ron with a grin.
"I'm telling you two because you already know about Harry" said Neville, "I can't go about telling everyone this but I need to have someone to talk to sometimes."
"Of course mate" said Ron, "we're here for you." Hermione nodded.
"Will the professor be helping you?" she asked Neville.
"Neville will be at the X-mansion this summer" said Lightning, "but before that he's coming there for Easter Break to get started on controlling his power."
"You'll love it there" said Ron to Neville, "my family and Hermione were there back in August. It's a great place. You'll get to work with the professor, meet the other X-Men, maybe even see them train."
"Does this mean you're going join the X-Men?" asked Hermione.
"No" said Neville, "the professor says I'm too young."
"You know Professor Xavier imposed a minimum age requirement of 18 after he formed the team" said Lightning, "the rule doesn't apply to those of us who were already on the team when he imposed it. When we formed only Cyclops was 18. Since then most of the team has reached that age except for me and Iceman and he'll turn 18 pretty soon. Any future X-Men will have to be at least 18 though."
"Lightning" Professor Xavier was calling, "we're ready to return to the mansion. Please come back to Albus' office."
"Okay professor" said Lightning.
"And tell Ron and Hermione "hello" for me please" said Xavier.
"I have to go" said Lightning, "Professor Xavier just called me. We're heading back to the States. I need to meet him in Dumbledore's office."
"We'll go with you" said Hermione, "we can say "hi" to the professor and Marvel Girl."
"Yeah" said Lightning, "he asked me to say hello to you but you can say hello back to him yourselves."
The four of them walked to Dumbledore's office where Ron and Hermione greeted both Professor Xavier and Marvel Girl. By now Professor Dumbledore had removed the glamour from Xavier and he was back to his normal appearance. As Neville had not seen the real Xavier before it was a surprise to him but he quickly accepted it after he was told about the glamour.
"It's good to see you both again" said Xavier when he saw the two Gryffindors. Marvel Girl echoed the sentiment. They chatted briefly before the two X-Men and their mentor portkeyed back to the X-Mansion.
(To Be Continued)
A/N - 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch' is the name of a town in Wales made especially famous by a video on youtube of a weatherman reciting it properly. 'Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingle-dangle-dongle-dungle-burstein-von-knacker-thrasher-apple-banger-horowitz-ticolensic-grander-knotty-spelltinkle-grandlich-grumblemeyer-spelterwasser-kurstlich-himbleeisen-bahnwagen-gutenabend-bitte-ein-nürnburger-bratwustle-gerspurten-mitzweimache-luber-hundsfut-gumberaber-shönendanker-kalbsfleisch-mittler-aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm' will be familiar to any fans of Monty Python's Flying Circus.
That's all for this week. Next week the story continues. As usual please take a moment to leave me some feedback. Constructive comments are always welcome but no flames or trolls please. As always stay safe and well everyone.