After saying goodbye to Harley and Cho on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Neville sought out Lynn.
Standing beside Neville was a stern, unsmiling, and imposing old woman wearing a hat topped with a stuffed vulture, a long green dress, and carrying a large red handbag.
It wasn't hard to guess that Neville's grandmother was a strict person, similar in personality to Professor McGonagall.
"Hello, I am Neville Longbottom's grandmother, Augusta Longbottom."
The old lady extended her hand elegantly and greeted Lynn very formally.
"Hello, Mrs. Longbottom. I am Lynn. It is a pleasure to meet you here."
Lynn shook hands and greeted old Mrs. Longbottom neither humbly nor arrogantly. At this moment, her expression seemed less severe, and a hint of a smile appeared on her face.
"Thanks to you for taking care of Neville, and for helping him become as outstanding a man as his father."
Mrs. Longbottom glanced at Neville beside her, a look of faint appreciation in her eyes.
"I know that without your help, it would have been difficult for Neville to break free from certain past events. As his grandmother, I am very grateful for your selfless assistance. I originally thought he would spend his life in a daze, but your help has changed his future."
"On behalf of the Longbottom family, I extend my highest respect to you."
Mrs. Longbottom spoke solemnly.
"A small gift. I hope you will like it."
She took a beautifully packaged small box from her red handbag and handed it to Lynn.
"Please do not refuse."
As the old lady handed over the gift, she spoke earnestly, "No one is more deserving of it than you."
"Now that you say that, I'm actually quite curious about what this is."
Lynn took the small box with both hands. Under Neville's curious gaze, Lynn opened the gift box. Inside lay a thumb-sized "seed" shaped like a date pit.
Patterns resembling plant roots spiraled around the seed, forming a complex design.
However, no one would mistake it for an ordinary seed. Upon opening the box, a gust of fresh air, carrying the fragrance of damp earth after rain, seemed to blow against their faces, leaving them feeling refreshed.
Lynn cast a questioning look, but old Mrs. Longbottom merely smiled slightly.
"The banquet is ready. Please come with me."
Lynn and Neville exchanged a glance; Neville didn't seem to know what it was either. So, the two followed Mrs. Longbottom's footsteps forward. Deeper into the station, an ancient and luxurious carriage was quietly waiting.
Pulling the carriage was a type of winged horse Lynn had never seen before. It was majestic and deep brown all over. In the magical world, there are many species of winged horses. Depending on their habitat, if categorized in detail, there are hundreds of types. Unless one is a wizard specializing in winged horses, it truly isn't easy to identify them all.
They boarded the carriage. The winged horses flapped their wings to take off. There was only a slight jolt of acceleration at the start; the rest of the journey was extremely smooth. In less than ten minutes, the carriage landed within the grounds of a luxurious mansion located in the old city district of London.
This place was concealed and protected by powerful magic; nearby Muggles couldn't see it at all.
The area of this ancient mansion wasn't actually that large, but long-established wizarding homes usually employed Undetectable Extension Charms to expand the space. The Weasley family's Burrow was truly dilapidated—that wasn't the ancestral Weasley mansion. Arthur Weasley belonged to a branch separated from the main family, and due to having too many children, they had been quite poor for the past decade or so.
The carriage came to a steady halt in the small garden in front of the mansion. After stepping out and walking to the main entrance, the door bearing the Longbottom family crest opened silently. The interior was not dim; vine-shaped wall sconces and chandeliers illuminated the ground-floor lobby and living room brightly.
Stepping inside, one could see that the Longbottom home's decor leaned towards natural scenery, with exquisite wooden ornaments visible everywhere. They did not share the Black family's vicious habit of mounting severed house-elf heads as wall decorations. There was even a house-elf wearing a uniform, acting as a butler providing service.
Compared to Dobby wearing a pillowcase, working in the Longbottom household was far more dignified than serving the Malfoys.
"Neville!"
Several voices rang out in the living room after they entered.
"Great Uncle Algie, Great Aunt Enid, Uncle Tom..."
Neville called out their names one by one and stepped forward politely to say hello. Mrs. Longbottom's discipline of Neville was very strict.
"Hannah, you're here too?"
Lynn recognized at a glance that the blonde girl with twin ponytails was the first student to appear at the Sorting Ceremony: Hannah Abbott, known as the woman of the Unshakeable Iron Throne.
"Yep!" Hannah smiled at Neville. "Dad said there was good food at your place today, so I came over!"
Wizarding family networks were generally very extensive. Centuries of intermarriage made their connections intricate and deep-rooted. Even among families currently hostile to each other, if one traced back a few generations, they could inevitably find kinship ties. Sirius Black and Molly Weasley were cousins, after all.
It was perfectly normal for Hannah and Neville to be related.
Among the nearly twenty people filling the room, only four or five actually bore the surname Longbottom. The rest were in-laws who maintained contact and had good relationships with the family.
If not for the fact that the pillar of this generation—Neville's father, Frank Longbottom—had been tortured into insanity, the Longbottom family would have had enough strength to wrestle with the Malfoys.
Frank, who had excellent popularity and high prestige in the Ministry of Magic, would have been capable of contending for the position of Minister of Magic had he remained safe and sound.
The house-elves had already prepared the luncheon. After exchanging greetings with the guests, Mrs. Longbottom ordered the elves to begin the banquet.
It was to celebrate Neville achieving seven 'O's (Outstanding) at the end of the school year, and to celebrate Neville becoming a child as excellent as his father.
Lynn and Neville feasted at the banquet; both had hearty appetites. The uncles and grandfathers drank aged wine, chatting about the past in their tipsy state. When speaking of Neville's parents, they lamented that the Longbottom family finally had a worthy successor while simultaneously denouncing the notorious crimes of the Death Eaters.
This also made Lynn even more firm in his own ideas.
Hogwarts' archaic educational model could cultivate elite wizards, but for the vast majority, this mode of cultivation could no longer keep up with the times.
Those who didn't study seriously at school, or had only average talent, would only end up useless under such a system. After all, self-discipline is a rare thing in children.
Without strict requirements and supervision from teachers, slacking off is the norm.
After the luncheon concluded, Mrs. Longbottom, who had also drunk several glasses of wine, took Neville and Lynn to a room on the second floor of the mansion. This appeared to be the family library.
Although it couldn't compare to the Hogwarts library, it could rival the small library in Ravenclaw Tower.
She brought the two of them before a huge tapestry; it was the Longbottom family tree.
"Since you now have the ability to shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the family in the future, there are some things Grandma needs to tell you, Neville."
"Sit down, both of you."
Mrs. Longbottom drew her wand and waved it; two soft armchairs landed behind them.
"Perhaps you are very curious about what that gift is, right?"
Mrs. Longbottom looked at Lynn. "This is actually a secret shared by pure-blood wizarding families. It's just that some families have declined and lost some of their heritage, while others have simply used theirs up."
"Look at it. Does it remind you of anything?"
Her wand pointed to the massive tapestry ahead, densely written with the names of generation after generation of Longbottoms.
These names formed a huge tree diagram. If one studied it carefully, the Longbottom family actually had branches, but Neville's line was considered the main trunk, despite the few members. Neville and his father were both only children. Neville's Great Uncle Algie actually had offspring, but their names were crossed out with horizontal lines, which usually represented premature death.
"It looks like a tree?"
Neville stared at the family tree ahead, speaking uncertainly, "But I also feel like it's a person?"
"It is an Earth Vein Spirit nurtured by the World Tree, Yggdrasil, also known as the Spirit of the Stone-Hearted Ancient Treant."
Mrs. Longbottom gave the answer.
"But isn't the World Tree, Yggdrasil, from Norse mythology?" Lynn had some knowledge in this area; he had designed a World Tree card for his set before. "But if it's an Earth Vein Spirit, I recall that being something from Celtic mythology?"
"Where do Muggle myths come from?"
Mrs. Longbottom looked at Lynn. "They can't just be their imagination, can they?"
"Myths, religion... these legends, rituals, and beliefs containing mysterious power among Muggles actually all originate from the magical world."
"Wizards do not believe in so-called Muggle gods because most of those so-called miracles can actually be achieved by magic."
"And those mysterious places, creations, and creatures existing in legends are merely a wondrous corner of the magical world."
"The World Tree truly exists, though it is not as exaggerated as in Muggle legends. It is simply an ancient and colossal magical tree. Around it, a magical realm suitable for magical creatures to live in has formed, similar to the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts."
"The powerful magnetic field of magic can even form a natural magical barrier. Such areas exist in many places around the world. The largest one is located in Africa; it is said that tens of millions of magical creatures live there—a moving terrestrial island."
"The establishment of Uagadou was originally to guard this immense treasure from being discovered by Muggles."
"In the era when wizards and Muggles lived together, Muggles attempted to use secular power to control mysterious magic, and countless wars erupted between wizards and Muggles."
Mrs. Longbottom told many stories Lynn and Neville had never heard, but soon, she brought the topic back to the original track.
"Almost all pure-blood wizarding families' ancestors received some kind of magical gift from powerful magical creatures. Of course—some wizarding families chose to intermarry with humanoid magical creatures."
"For instance, half-giants born from the union of giants and wizards, though these are rare now as giants are strictly confined to specific areas. There are also wizards of mixed blood with Veela, High Fae, and Forest Fae. This is rare in England, but in France, there are several famous wizarding families: the Delacour family mixed with Veela, the Descancourt family mixed with High Fae, and the De Quebler family mixed with Forest Fae."
"As for the Longbottom family, our ancestors once received a magical gift from the Spirit of the Stone-Hearted Ancient Treant while exploring the World Tree's magical realm. Its magic blended into our bloodline, stabilizing the Longbottom family's legacy."
"That seed is actually a crystal obtained from the Spirit of the Stone-Hearted Ancient Treant. It is not a seed for breeding offspring, but a magical core condensed after death."
"The Longbottom family still retains a connection with them, but there are not many wizarding families left in England who haven't severed such connections."
"As far as I know, only the Ollivander family and the Burke family still maintain contact."
"Many wizarding families have even forgotten that this ever happened."
"This gift..."
Mrs. Longbottom took out another small box and handed it to Neville.
"It cannot grant you immense power, but undoubtedly, it can strengthen your connection with magic. After all, these powerful magical creatures are more favored by magic than wizards are."
"The rise of wizards was never because wizards possessed magical power that could crush magical creatures. Quite the opposite—the magic within human wizards is far inferior to those magical creatures. We have reached where we are today by relying on wisdom and heritage."
"I hope both of you can find help in this gift."
Mrs. Longbottom stroked Neville's hair affectionately. "Grandma is very sorry for using the Obliteration Charm on you back then, Neville. Grandma just couldn't bear to see you immersed in that past pain, unable to extricate yourself. I was also worried that because of that overly intense pain, you would... develop an Obscurus. That is a monster born from the darkness in one's heart."
"During periods of unstable magic, oppression, shock, hatred, and other factors from the outside world can all lead to the appearance of this terrible disaster."
"But you have grown up now. Your shoulders can bear this responsibility and burden."
"If one day, if there is a chance!"
Mrs. Longbottom's gaze was firm and her voice powerful. "Avenge your parents! Grandma will always stand by your side. Do not worry about anything else. As long as Grandma is still here, you can go ahead and do whatever you want to do."
"You are the man who will inherit the Longbottom family and bring it to great heights. Grandma will always believe in you."
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