St. Mungo's Hospital.
Neville, who had not appeared aboard the Hogwarts Express, sat anxiously outside the ward. His grandmother, old Mrs. Longbottom, and his aunt, Britney Longbottom, were there too.
The ward door was tightly shut, and not a sound came from inside.
"Aunt..." Neville looked at Britney beside him. He had already done this a dozen or perhaps twenty times today; he had lost count.
Britney had not dyed her hair all sorts of colors today, instead restoring its original black. When Neville looked over, she showed no impatience despite his repeated questions, but smiled and said:
"Don't worry. Master Brach has spent over fifty years studying the soul. Recently, he exchanged some of the latest findings with wizards over in the New Continent, and he has many new ideas about injuries to the soul. At worst, things will simply stay as they were."
Neville nodded. Although this was not the first time he had heard those words, each time they brought him a little peace of mind for a while.
Just a few days earlier, his aunt, who had been away for another two months or more after the Triwizard Tournament, had suddenly returned. She told him and his grandmother that there might be a way to treat the soul injuries her older brother and sister-in-law-Neville's parents-had suffered from being tortured with the Cruciatus Curse.
Neville and Mrs. Longbottom had first been delighted, then doubtful.
Neville's parents, Frank Longbottom and Alice, had been in St. Mungo's Hospital for over a decade. At first, they could only lie there, kept alive by magic. Over the past two years, they had become able to move about on their own, though their minds remained confused and they could not recognize anyone. That counted as considerable progress.
But when it came to