Hogwarts Study Panel.

Chapter 632, Section 630: Alice Longbottom

Lupin has been in this place for a long time.

Jenas Sitch's ward.

A ward for permanent patients is usually locked.

Most of the patients here have suffered from lasting curse damage.

He had some recollection of the room, but he never expected that his impression would be deepened as a patient.

In this room, he always thought of Neville Longbottom's face, and of those two heroic names—Alice and Frank Longbottom, the Auror driven mad by the Cruciatus Curse.

Now another patient has entered the room, and from the doctor's words, he knows that this is Herbert Joley, the Muggle Assistant Minister.

He was cursed with a foot-snatching spell that made him imitate a duck, much to the amusement of the public.

On the other hand, while being treated by the therapist, he had tried to strangle three of them, and now he is trying to kill them with a basin.

Fortunately, he was only angry and embarrassed, and was soon subdued voluntarily.

The rain outside the window was so heavy it felt like someone was pouring a basin of water onto the glass.

Sheen stood at the door of Lupin's ward on the fifth floor, his robe still dripping wet.

The gray light of the overcast day shone through the windowpane, illuminating the profile of the uniformed Muggle assistant minister.

Sheen paused, then began searching for Lupin.

Lupin was not lying in bed.

He sat on the edge of the bed, his bare feet on the cold stone floor, his hospital gown hanging loosely on his thin shoulders, and his left hand wrapped in a thick bandage.

But the moment the door was pushed open, he had already stood up.

With a conditioned reflex, almost like a bouncing up.

Then he saw who it was.

Lupin's face suddenly brightened in the overcast light.

A certain intense, almost burning emotion emanating from within instantly ignited his eyes.

His lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something but something blocked his throat.

"Mr. Green."

The tone he used when he said the name was completely different from before.

Then he did something that Sheen never expected.

Lupin lowered his head, his chin almost touching his chest.

He bowed his head solemnly and slowly, paying homage to someone worthy of his deepest respect.

His left hand was pressed against the chest area of ​​his hospital gown, his knuckles clenched so tightly they turned white.

That night,

He said, his voice a shade lower than usual, "Without you—we would both be dead."

Sheen was stunned: "Mr. Lupin, and the teleportation of the Magic Hand Mirror?"

"It's too late."

Lupin raised his head.

There was a light in his eyes that Sheen had never seen before.

"It was then that I realized some things were simply impossible for us to accomplish on our own —"

They didn't even run into Voldemort; they only faced his Death Eaters.

There was once only one person in the wizarding world who could stand up to Voldemort, but he was bound by the future of the entire wizarding world.

Only on his deathbed did he realize the weight that the name Grimm held in the turbulent world of magic.

He is a gift from God.

The sound of rain was deafening outside the window.

Lightning flashed across Lupin's bedside, where a note about Lupin's condition was written.

The patient in bed 520 was in a coma upon admission and only woke up three days later.

"I want you to understand—it was because of you that I resolutely woke up—"

When he spoke, Sheen instinctively avoided his eyes.

So, on the bed to the left of the window, he noticed a man.

Frank Longbottom.

Sheen recognized him at first glance.

It wasn't because I'd seen the photo, but because Neville's face was a copy of this one.

The same square chin, and the same slightly protruding brow bone.

But Frank's face was blank. He lay on the pillow, his eyes open, his gaze fixed on the ceiling, as if looking at something, yet as if looking at nothing at all.

His lips moved occasionally, but no sound came out.

A woman was sitting on a chair next to the bed.

Alice Longbottom.

She was older than Sheen had imagined.

Although her facial features still retain traces of her youthful beauty, her overall posture is already showing signs of aging.

She sat there, leaning slightly forward, with a stack of colorful candy wrappers on her knees.

Her fingers kept folding, turning the candy wrappers into tiny flower shapes, one after another, neatly arranged on the bed sheet.

Lupin followed Sheen's gaze.

At that moment, the ward door was pushed open.

Sirius Black stood in the doorway, beaming: "Mr. Green—"

Then he noticed Lupin's melancholy face and followed their gaze.

Then, the ward fell silent.

The two people, who had also nearly been killed by dark magic, were only three steps away from the Longbottoms.

Sheehan's gaze involuntarily drifted toward Frank Longbottom.

"Does he remember anything?"

Sheen was stunned when he said that without thinking.

Lupin's eyes flickered.

He walked to Frank's bedside and looked down at the man with his empty eyes.

There's nothing there.

He paused, then suddenly added, "He was once one of the best Aurors in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Alice folded another flower.

She placed it on the bed sheet, arranging it neatly in a row with the five flowers she had folded earlier.

Then she looked up.

Her gaze swept over Lupin, over Sheehan, without focusing on anything.

But she spoke up: "Has Neville finished school today?"

The voice was soft and slow.

But no one here could answer her. And she didn't wait for an answer.

Her gaze returned to the candy wrapper on her knee, and her fingers began to fold again.

A new flower.

"She would ask every day or two. It was always Neville—sometimes she would ask when Neville was coming home, sometimes she would ask if Neville was dressed warmly enough."

Lupin’s voice was calm, but Sheen saw his bandaged left hand hanging at his side, his fingers trembling slightly.

"The therapist said that this sentence was the only thing that would still float into her mind."

Before the Cruciatus Curse erased her memory, the last thing she thought of survived amidst the chaos.

She thought: "Neville will be home from school soon."

Sirius remained silent.

Then he suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse and low: "Bellatrix, Dolohoff, Lukwood, and someone I don't know—four people."

When he uttered Bellatrix's name, it sounded like chewed glass in his mouth.

"Neville was in his crib in the next room when they broke into the Longbottom's house."

Frank closed the door, blocking it. He didn't run; he could Apparate, but he chose not to because Neville was next door.

He paused for a moment.

The sound of rain outside the window suddenly intensified.

Amid the sound of the rain, Sheen heard a very soft rustling sound—Alice had folded another flower.