Seeing signs of improvement in her son and daughter-in-law, Madam Longbottom, who had never smiled before, beamed with joy. At noon, she invited Dumbledore, Roy, and the others to lunch in the restaurant on the hospital's first floor.
Neither Dumbledore nor Roy mentioned that Ancient Magic could heal Neville's parents. Throughout lunch, Dumbledore merely kept reassuring Madam Longbottom that her son and daughter-in-law now had hope of recovery.
Although Madam Longbottom had heard such words countless times and had long since grown immune to pretty promises, the personal, solemn assurance of the greatest wizard of the age still gave her tremendous confidence.
Roy and Cedric, meanwhile, told the shy Neville all sorts of amusing stories about school. When Neville learned that the recently popular Auto Chess had been invented by the funny-looking Roy sitting before him, his eyes instantly filled with admiration.
Naturally, everything they talked about was related to Hufflepuff. In their descriptions, Hufflepuff was the best house at Hogwarts.
This encouraged Neville as well. Although his grandmother had repeatedly insisted that he join Gryffindor, Neville had always felt that someone as ordinary as him could only get into Hufflepuff. Now that he had heard how friendly Hufflepuff was, he felt much more at ease.
After lunch with Neville and Madam Longbottom, Dumbledore took the three children to say goodbye. Connor's discharge examination and paperwork had also been completed, so after Cedric and Roy helped him pack his luggage, they followed Dumbledore back to Hogwarts by Floo Powder.
At dinner, Connor's appearance immediately set off the Hufflepuff table. All the students applauded together, paying tribute to Connor for winning his second chance at life.
The great Winning King of Hogwarts had finally returned to his loyal Hufflepuff. Seeing Connor return in good health, many students who had spent over