#851 - School starts

"This is as surprising as seeing Harry again! I love surprises like this!" Sirius stared wide-eyed, then ran towards them like a child, giving them a hard hug.

Harry, on the other hand, was meeting the Longbottoms for the first time. He didn't recognize them, but judging from Sirius's reaction and the fact that the couple appeared with Neville's grandparents, he roughly guessed who they were.

However, to avoid the embarrassment of misidentifying them, Harry first approached Neville and asked cautiously, "Are these your...?"

"Yes," Neville said, his eyes filled with brightness and joy. "They are my mom and dad."

"Oh… why haven't you mentioned them before?" As Neville's friend, Harry and Ron often shared their family situations with each other. Even though his parents were long gone, Harry never avoided the topic.

But among them, only Neville never talked about his parents, often mentioning his grandmother Augusta instead. So Harry used to think Neville's parents were like his, already deceased. Turns out they were still alive.

"That's… a long story," Neville said with a wry smile. "My mom and dad were both Aurors during the war. They were badly injured by Death Eaters, which caused them to become mentally unstable, so they've been in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for years.

"I see," Harry said, nodding in understanding. No wonder the Longbottoms looked more haggard than Sirius. Sirius had been to Azkaban, which naturally made him look more weathered than others, but the Longbottoms were in even worse shape than his godfather. It turned out they had suffered serious injuries.

"So your parents have finally recovered?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yes!" Neville nodded heavily. "It's all thanks to Uncle Wilson. My parents' condition was very complicated. If Uncle Wilson hadn't been constantly searching for ways to treat Mom and Dad over the past decade, they probably wouldn't have recovered so easily.

"Actually, Uncle's treatment for my parents has been going on for several years. It only fully recovered two days ago. I really didn't expect to be able to bring them home so soon."

Neville's words were full of joy and excitement. The Longbottoms had always been the biggest obstacle in his heart. The disaster that befell his parents was largely responsible for his introverted and timid personality. The things weighing on his heart were too heavy.

Fortunately, Anduin intervened in time a few years ago, giving the Longbottoms hope for recovery, which gradually opened up Neville's mind, preventing him from continuing to sink after entering school.

Now that his parents had fully recovered, Neville suddenly felt like he had awakened, and his entire mental outlook had changed.

Harry naturally noticed Neville's change, so he became even more curious about the Longbottoms.

Soon, Sirius finished catching up with Frank and Alice, then took them forward to introduce Harry to them.

When the Longbottoms saw Harry, their expressions revealed endless emotion. Because of the relationship between Harry and Neville, they and the Potters were as close as family back then. Seeing the son of old friends again after so many years was inevitably sad.

Speaking of which, although they had also suffered a lot, they were much luckier than the Potters. At least they were still alive, and their child could be by their side.

"Harry, you've suffered so much over the years. Don't worry, from now on, we'll be your family, just like Sirius!" Although Frank's hair was now gray and he looked very haggard, his eyes were bright and clear, indicating that the negative effects of the Cruciatus Curse had been completely eliminated.

"Thank you, Mr. Longbottom!" Harry said, feeling a warmth in his heart upon hearing Frank's words.

Afterwards, Sirius led the Longbottoms to settle down in the manor, and after seeing Anduin return from his busy work, they couldn't help but exchange pleasantries.

With the Longbottoms around, Sirius no longer clamored to go back, spending all his time with Frank and Alice, reminiscing about their past, during which he often mentioned the Potters and Anduin.

Taking this opportunity, Harry and Neville also learned a lot about their glorious past. It turned out that the Longbottoms and the Potters had fought side by side many years ago.

They had even experienced very thrilling and exciting crises when they were young, and Anduin was also involved.

For safety reasons, Sirius and the Longbottoms stayed at Anduin's place for a long time.

At the same time, perhaps because of Neville's missing childhood, the Longbottoms were very intimately by Neville's side every day, which made Harry feel a little envious.

Of course, the two former Aurors also gave Neville and Harry a lot of guidance in their magical studies. This harmonious life continued until the eve of the start of Hogwarts.

By this time, no matter how reluctant the Longbottoms were, they could only personally send Neville and Harry to King's Cross Station.

In fact, it wasn't just the Longbottoms. This year, Neville wasn't as eager to go to school as he had been in previous years, and the time spent reuniting with his parents was clearly hard to let go of.

However, the train to Hogwarts waits for no one, and after Neville reunited with Ron and Hermione in the carriage, the sadness of parting eased a lot.

"Hey, have you heard? There seems to be a big change at school this year!" Ron muttered impatiently as soon as he reunited with everyone.

"A big change? Is it related to those fugitives? Is the Ministry of Magic going to deploy guards around the school?" Hermione was experiencing this kind of wizarding world event for the first time, and she seemed more excited than the others.

"No!" Ron shook his head. "My dad said that Hogwarts has Uncle Wilson's security system, so the Ministry of Magic doesn't need to worry about security. I'm talking about exchange students!"

"Exchange students?"

The other three widened their eyes, obviously hearing the news for the first time. Although Harry and Neville lived with Anduin, Anduin was usually too busy, rarely appearing in front of them except during dinner.

"That's right!" Ron raised his chin triumphantly. "Percy has become a prefect this year and joined the student council. He heard that a group of students from other magic schools will be coming to Hogwarts this year to study and live with us!"