Chapter 397: Change of fate, Harry and Neville
Dreams, perhaps in the eyes of many people, are just a complex and mysterious physiological phenomenon.
The reason for such an evaluation is probably just because everyone has had dreams more or less.
Anything may become common, and naturally it will no longer be mysterious.
Of course, this is just the view of ordinary people.
In some mystical theories, dreams are not only a sign of the future, but also interpreted as the entrance to some parallel worlds.
But these are still too far away for the little wizard.
Most people in the castle just think that they have had a bizarre and happy dream.
Like Harry, like Neville.
…
Gryffindor common room.
In everyone's satisfied face, Harry and Neville are a little different.
In fact, to some extent, these two people are really similar. They were both born in July and did not enjoy the love of their parents since childhood.
But in comparison, Neville is more fortunate. Although he has no fame, he can see his parents, even if his parents lie in St. Mungo's Hospital all year round.
Harry is different. If he wants to see his parents, he can only see them through photos or the Mirror of Erised.
...
However, after just one night, the two people's state was completely different from what it was before yesterday.
In the old house in Godric's Hollow, Harry saw the figures that haunted him in his dreams. Although his parents looked older than in the photos, he couldn't control his tears the moment he saw them.
Harry had also imagined that if he saw his parents one day, he would tell them all the grievances he had suffered over the years.
Tell them that he was bullied by his hated Uncle Vernon and Cousin Dudley since he was a child, tell them the excitement of receiving the owl letter for the first time, and the nervousness after meeting Hagrid for the first time...
But after actually seeing them, Harry suddenly realized that he had thought so much, but in the end he couldn't say a word.
The three of them hugged each other, and with their parents by their side, it seemed that all the grievances in the past were so light.
This kind of ease was just like the breeze in Godric's Hollow, passing through the branches outside the window without taking away any fallen leaves.
...
This time, unlike the Mirror of Erised in the first grade, Harry was very clear that the people in front of him were his parents, not the imaginary mirror images.
After the initial embrace, Harry also experienced what he had dreamed of - a family birthday party.
Although his birthday was July 31st, and now it was early October, who would care at this time?
The cake cooked by his mother, his father opened the treasured Ogden aged flame whiskey, and the lit candles were extinguished after making a wish...
The happiness of reunion after a long separation not only washed away the past sadness, but also accelerated the flow of time.
It was obviously a whole night, but Harry felt that only a moment had passed.
...
It seemed to be the inertia of fate.
Similarly, Neville also experienced the same thing as Harry.
In the dream, Neville's birthday party was at St. Mungo's Hospital.
In the ward, Neville looked at his parents with silver hair. They were obviously less than 40 years old, but they looked as old as 70 years old.
However, after seeing the two awake, a dramatic scene happened in the ward.
Neville saw that his grandmother, who was always strong and strict, was now hiding behind him and crying carefully.
The cycle of fate.
This reminded him of his childhood. It seemed that when he encountered anything in his childhood, he would quietly hide behind his grandmother, holding his grandmother's robe with one hand and looking out timidly.
But Neville knew that his grandmother was not really timid now. She was afraid that she would wake up from her dream after making a sound.
"Neville... you have grown taller again!" Mrs. Longbottom looked at her son seriously.
And this slightly hoarse voice sounded, and tears instantly appeared in the eyes of Neville, who had always been resolute.
He just suppressed his excitement because his grandmother hid behind him and he had to be strong. But with his mother's call, his heart could no longer hold back.
Three steps and two steps, Neville quickly ran to his mother's side, gently knelt beside the bed, and looked at his mother sitting on the bed with a haggard face.
"Mom..."
"Silly child! Although I can't speak, I feel it every time you come!"
Mrs. Longbottom stretched out her hand and gently stroked her son's cheek.
"I have prepared a gift for you, wait for me."
As she spoke, Mrs. Longbottom reached out to open the drawer at the head of the bed.
On the side, Neville quietly watched his mother's actions. He knew what was in the drawer. There were dozens of candy wrappers of various colors hidden there.
Once he and his grandmother came to visit his parents, when they left, his mother would always secretly put a candy wrapper in his hand.
A beautiful candy wrapper seemed to be all the love that his unconscious mother could express.
A moment.
As the drawer opened, Neville saw the most beautiful flower in the world, a gorgeous carnation made of candy wrappers of various colors.
Next to the bouquets, there are small objects made of candy wrappers, colorful wizard chess pieces, jumping paper frogs, flying paper cranes, colorful little stars...
Unlike the quiet bouquets, after the drawer is opened, the colorful paper cranes and little stars, as if endowed with magic, begin to fly around the white ward...
Red, yellow, blue... The candy wrappers of different colors seem to glow at this moment, making the entire ward look like a dream.
"Sorry... I've always wanted to fold it and give it to you, but my body is always out of control, and I'm too awake..."
Mrs. Longbottom's words made Neville's tears flow like a spring.
He didn't know, he really didn't know that his mother could still be awake, and no one had ever told him this.
If he had known all this earlier, he would rather do nothing and stay in this ward forever to accompany his parents.
At the same time, Mr. Longbottom also came over with his elderly mother.
Three generations of grandparents and grandchildren, the family sat quietly in the ward surrounded by thousands of paper cranes and stars.
Soon, at the suggestion of Mrs. Longbottom, they also held a birthday dinner for Neville.
This was also the only birthday dinner that Neville had with his parents and grandmother.
There was no cake, no champagne, only a bunch of carnations folded from candy wrappers.
...
The dawn broke.
It was dawn, and the dream was awakened.
In the Gryffindor dormitory, Neville and Harry opened their eyes at the same time.
For a moment, the two's bright eyes shone like stars. If it weren't for the thick bed curtains, few people would dare to look at each other.
Soon, the light in their eyes gradually faded.
Although separated by the bed curtains, the two of them made a unified movement as if they had discussed it - slowly opening their palms.
Neville held a wrinkled candy wrapper in his hand, and Harry held a wooden whiskey bottle stopper in his hand.
...
However.
Neither of them knew that the moment they opened their eyes.
In the distant London Ministry of Magic, the Prophecy Hall of the Department of Mysteries, on the vast and traceless shelves, an ordinary crystal ball quietly disappeared.
The sudden disappearance was like the snow meeting the rising sun, the kind of silent sublimation and dissipation.
But no one cared about this, after all, there were too many prophecies stored here.
...
Gryffindor Dormitory.
As the bed curtains were raised, everyone in the dormitory of five people was full of energy.
And the most special among them were Harry and Neville.
Neville looks more stable, which has nothing to do with his height and physique. Even though he looks really strong, this stability comes from the inside out.
Just one glance can make people think of the heavy mountains and rivers, tough, stable and reliable.
Similarly, Harry has also changed a lot.
After waking up, Harry is no longer in the listless and depressed state before.
Now he looks energetic, as if he is protected by mysterious magic.
