Chapter 120: Speculations About Horcruxes
Mrs. Longbottom and Neville had waited there on purpose.
Ten minutes earlier, Neville had misunderstood Kyle's instructions. Instead of going to find a Healer, he had rushed downstairs, shouting about a werewolf and trying to rally others to help on the second floor. But no one believed him, despite the commotion they had just heard above. After all, werewolves don't typically appear during the day—a fact so basic it's common knowledge in the wizarding world. And this was St. Mungo's, filled with magical experts and unusual cases. Only twenty minutes prior, someone had claimed to have seen a dragon upstairs. A werewolf sighting was simply par for the course.
The Healers had also dismissed Neville, the chubby, round-faced boy. They only ended up on the second floor thanks to someone else entirely—the curly-haired trainee Healer who had shown Kyle the way. He had been in the same room as the werewolf and witnessed the transformation firsthand. Thankfully, he had escaped a bite; the werewolf, dazed from the transformation, had merely slammed him into a wall. Once he pulled himself together, the trainee used St. Mungo's unique internal communication methods to alert his colleagues, leading to the swift response they'd seen.
When Mrs. Longbottom found Neville and heard his account, she immediately decided they should thank Kyle. However, by the time they tracked him down, he was already headed to the sixth floor with Director Sykes and Dumbledore. So, Mrs. Longbottom decided to wait with Neville at the stairwell until Kyle returned.
When they did meet, Mrs. Longbottom invited Kyle to visit a room on the fifth floor. Inside, Neville's parents lay in their beds, their gazes vacant and unfocused as they looked toward Kyle.
"You saved Neville, and they would want to thank you, too," Mrs. Longbottom said, her voice carrying a slight tremor. She turned to the beds and spoke gently, "Frank, Alice, the boy is here."
But Frank and Alice showed no sign of understanding; their eyes remained blank, unresponsive to her words.
"Please don't mind them, my dear," Mrs. Longbottom explained softly. "I can feel that they would thank you if they could, but they simply can't find the words."
While she spoke, Neville stood nearby with his head down, staring at his shoes as though he found them fascinating. His posture, however, clearly irritated his grandmother.