Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 260, Page 259: The Longbottoms' Treatment
It was truly bizarre. One patient's head had even turned into a flower. Despite having no eyes, he could clearly see the things around him.

Yes, and she was excitedly shaking Harry's hand.

In Harry's view, what might be more magical than magic itself is magical accidents. At least an accurate spell requires learning and practice, while magical accidents can always create wonderful consequences that ordinary magic simply cannot achieve.

After finally shaking off the enthusiastic fans, the two made their way to the fifth floor of the hospital.

“They’re so enthusiastic,” Neville said, glancing back with lingering fear as he stood at the top of the stairs. “We’re here, Harry. The fifth floor is all closed wards. People who need long-term care can stay here.”

Neville's mood clearly sombered, and even when he tried to smile, it was a very strained effort.

"Let's go," Harry said simply, without offering any further comfort. "Let me go take a look."

Perhaps it was the trauma of his childhood, or perhaps it was having a strict grandmother; in any case, although Neville had mostly appeared timid and hesitant in the past, Harry believed that Neville was actually a very strong person, and comforting him in such situations was of little use.

It wasn't a private ward; the room where Neville's parents were staying had more than a dozen beds, each with colorful curtains, and the walls were decorated with strange landscape paintings hand-painted by the therapist.

There is currently no doctor in the room. Some of the patients are making meaningless mutterings, while others are silently staring at the ceiling or making various strange noises.

“I’ve come to see you, Dad, Mom,” Neville said sadly as he walked to the bed closest to the inside of the hospital. “This is my friend, Harry Potter. He’s a great man. He’s here to save you…”

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom."

Harry greeted him politely, but naturally, there was no response.

By average wizarding standards, Neville's father should be in his prime, but lying in his hospital bed, he looked much older than his actual age, with gray hair and a gaunt appearance.

As if completely cut off from the outside world, Mr. Longbottom mechanically swung a deck of cards in his hand, not playing a game, but simply fiddling with it.

Mrs. Longbottom, on the other hand, seemed to be in a better situation than her husband, at least she was still able to respond to information from the outside world.

Upon hearing Neville and Harry greet her, Mrs. Longbottom looked up blankly, her face gaunt and her eyes unusually empty, before offering each of them a candy wrapper.

“Mom, she… she gives such gifts to everyone who sees them,” Neville stammered to Harry. “I’m sorry, Harry, she’s not—”

“It’s alright, Neville,” Harry interrupted Neville, taking a piece of paper from his pocket and handing it to him. “I’ll keep this gift safe… Thank you, Mrs. Longbottom.”

I don't know when it started, but big streams of tears began to flow from Neville's eyes.

Seeing his parents like this always filled him with immense sadness.

"Thank you... thank you, Harry."

After patting Neville on the shoulder, Harry went over to check on Mr. Longbottom.

Healing the sick in the tribe is an essential skill for every shaman, and Harry also studied alchemy, so even though the world is different, he can still make an accurate assessment of Mr. Longbottom's health.

Although he looks very withered and haggard, Mr. Longbottom's body is in good health. The reason he looks like this is because he has been bedridden for many years without any exercise and his diet has only been enough to ensure nutrition. If he could regain his senses and exercise for a period of time, Mr. Longbottom would be no different from a normal, healthy person.

After examining Mr. Longbottom, Harry also examined Mrs. Longbottom. Their conditions were very similar. St. Mungo's physicians had used spells and potions to restore their physical health, healing the physical injuries they had sustained during the war—but only the physical damage.

Neville's parents became like this because they were captured by Death Eaters during the war twelve years ago, and then the Death Eaters tortured them severely with the Cruciatus Curse until they were driven insane.

And that Death Eater's name was Bellatrix.

Thinking of this, Harry glanced at Neville beside him. He hadn't killed Bellatrix precisely so that Neville could avenge himself; killing one's enemy by hand would be the truly satisfying thing.

No longer the apprentice who had just entered the unknown magical world last year, Harry has now mastered even the three Unforgivable Curses.

It was precisely because Harry had already practiced and speculated about the Crucifixion that he wanted to check on Neville's parents.

The same thing happened to Neville's parents as it did to him when he experimented on ordinary animals; their souls were shattered.

The Cruciatus Curse, one of the three unforgivable curses, is characterized by the fact that the damage it causes is incurable and irreversible.

To successfully cast the Crucifixion Curse, the caster must truly enjoy the feeling of inflicting pain on others, and relish the sensation of tormenting them—a kind of malice emanating from the heart.

To confirm the exact effects of the Crucifixion Curse, Harry even asked Snape to cast the spell on him—Snape was furious at the time. He attacked Harry's intellect with vicious language that Harry had never heard before, while pulling out a bottle of potion from his pocket to force-feed Harry—supposedly to wake him up.

Well, in short, Harry really went to great lengths to calm Snape down, at least preventing him from hurling insults like "How can you do this to your mother?"

Snape struggled somewhat to cast the Crucifixion Curse, as his malice was never quite enough, but fortunately, he finally mustered his willpower and successfully released the spell.

That's why Harry, having personally experienced the Cruciatus Curse, grasped its essence. The excruciating pain, as if every inch of skin and every nerve was on fire, was merely a manifestation; the true nature of the curse was tearing apart the victim's soul. Therefore, even someone with a neurological disorder who couldn't feel pain would suffer terribly from this curse, as if their soul were being constantly sliced ​​by a small knife.

When a person is subjected to excessive attacks from the Crucible Curse, their soul will be ground to dust, their will will be shattered, and they will completely lose themselves until they become an empty shell.

Just like the Longbottoms at this moment, when Harry observed them through the astral perspective, he found that their astral body had shattered into a ball that looked like a crumpled newspaper.

Their souls are broken, their memories are broken, and their minds are broken. Such injuries are a problem that many doctors at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries cannot cure. After all, for wizards in this world, injuries to the soul are something they cannot heal.

But Harry is different.

Although it may sound strange, aside from warlocks who specialize in manipulating souls, shamans are actually quite adept at using soul power.

This naturally includes healing wounds to the soul.

Harry lowered his hand from Mr. Longbottom's forehead and straightened up, only to see Neville beside him looking so tense he could hardly breathe, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Don’t worry, it can be cured,” Harry said with a smile.

"!!!"

He took a deep breath and clenched his fists so tightly he looked like he was about to jump up, but before he could, he realized where he was and managed to control himself.

"Thank you! Harry! Thank you!!"

Neville was trembling all over. He tried to calm himself down and then kept repeating the same thing to Harry.

“Don’t mention it, we’re friends, aren’t we?” Harry said with a smile. “Your parents have made such a great sacrifice for the cause of fighting Voldemort, of course I don’t want to see such a hero wasting his life in the hospital… Don’t worry, I will heal them.”

With that, Harry invoked the omnipresent water elementals, summoning their purifying and healing powers to completely envelop the Longbottoms.

From the outside, the Longbottoms looked as if they had been swallowed by a water balloon. This conspicuous sight naturally attracted the attention of the other patients in the ward. Of course, given their condition, they couldn't understand what was happening, so they just stared blankly.

Soon, a pale blue light began to permeate the water sphere, as if invisible hands were reaching into the depths of the Longbottoms' souls. Harry suddenly felt as if he were playing with a puzzle, and his task was to put the Longbottoms' souls, which had been torn apart by the Crucifixion Curse, back into their proper places.

Although the principle sounds simple, it is actually quite troublesome to implement.

Harry not only needs to find the locations of the broken souls, but also needs to use his soul power to mend them and replenish the power they have lost due to their long-term desiccation.

The treatment lasted a long time. When Harry wiped the sweat from his forehead and sat up, he suddenly realized that the person sitting anxiously watching him by the bedside was not only Neville, but also an elderly woman, Neville's grandmother, whom he had met once before.

“Headmaster Potter, Neville has told me everything,” Neville’s grandmother said bluntly as Harry looked up. “Frank and Alice really—really—?”

In Neville's usual descriptions, his grandmother was an exceptionally strict and unsmiling person, but to be honest, Harry couldn't see that in the old woman at all, because she was just as excited as her grandson next to her, so excited that she couldn't even express herself clearly in words.

"Mother."

Suddenly, a male voice, seemingly hoarse from not speaking for a long time, rang out from the ward. This weak-sounding voice struck Neville's grandmother like a thunderbolt. It was hard to imagine that such a strong-willed old woman, who had raised her grandson alone after her son and daughter-in-law's accident, would burst into tears in an instant.

She looked at the gaunt man who was staring blankly at her and called out his name.

"Frank!"

....................................

"So, bro—your parents just recovered like that?" Ron shouted, carrying a cardboard box full of trash out into the hallway. "I knew Harry could do it! He's Harry Potter, after all!"

“Actually, they’re not fully recovered yet. A small part of the Longbottoms’ souls is still broken. They’ve been almost destroyed by the Cruciatus Curse and all those years of neglect. It’s hard for me to put them back together perfectly,” Harry sighed on the other end. “This also means they will lose a part of their memories forever. And while they won’t completely lose their magical abilities like a Squib, their magical level will still be much lower… At least Mr. Frank will not be able to continue being an Auror.”

“It’s alright, Harry, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter at all!” Neville interrupted before Harry could finish. “It’s already great—I mean, at least they’re awake, aren’t they? They recognize Grandma, and now they recognize me, and that’s enough!”

"Honestly, I used to think they'd be like that for the rest of their lives!! Thank you! Harry! Thank you so much!!"

As he spoke, tears welled up in his eyes again. Whenever this matter was brought up, Neville found it difficult to maintain his composure. For example, right now, he rushed over and gave Harry a tight hug, so tight it was as if he wanted to strangle Harry.

"They can feed themselves now, joke with me, and listen to me tell them about what's happened over the years. I've only ever seen things like this in my dreams! But this isn't a dream! It's real!!"

“There’s no need to be so polite, Neville,” Harry gently patted Neville, who was hugging him, with his other hand. “I’ve said it before, we’re friends, so of course I won’t refuse something I’m capable of doing—something that makes you happy. Isn’t that what friends are all about?”

“Yeah, friends don’t care about these things! Neville!” Ron on the other side pumped his fist excitedly. “That’s true Gryffindor friendship!”

(End of this chapter)