บท 49: Secret Meetings
The three leaders then touched the faces of their rings to each other at the same time and the rings all glowed for a brief amount of time. When the light coming from them faded away, Harry gave the system a test run. 'Can you hear me?' he thought, directing his mind toward the ring and then by proxy to Hiscophney and Xerina.
Two seperate voices chimed in his head, "I can."
Harry smiled haxappily. "Good. Now that we can communicate like that, you can just station the forces your assemble on your own island for now." They then decided on a date for their next meeting and then adjourned.
.....
Neville strolled down the hall after having a conversation with Professor Tura which brought her up to speed on all the events that had occurred during the year with regard to Potter's Legion. She seemed to be very concerned about fitting in with the group and often asked if the fact that she had never met Harry would matter. He assured her that it likely wouldn't.
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" roared a familiar voice just as Neville stepped past a statue which depicted one of the Founders.
Neville rolled his eyes without even blinking. "You're going to have to find a new way to surprise me, Moody. You've used that one on me too often."
"If you take that attitude, then things that would be considered normal will take you by surprise every time, lad." Mad-Eye lectured as he removed his Invisibility Cloak and fell into step with Neville as he made his way down the hall.
"Sure . . ." Neville said, not quite understanding what Moody was trying to get at. He wasn't willing to try and figure the whole thing out though, it would only confuse him more. "I don't suppose that you came to call on a social visit."
Moody shook his head gravely. "I am afraid that I've come to discuss a slightly personal matter. Is there a place in which we can have a private conversation and not be overheard?"
An amused snort came from Neville. "In this castle, the walls have ears. There are a lot of walls."
"Try your best to find a suitable accommodation." Moody instructed dryly.
"As you wish." Neville snickered. He abruptly turned into a door that they came upon and entered the room. Moody's face blanched when he saw that the door had a sign on it proclaiming the room to be a girl's restroom. "If Myrtle isn't here . . ."
Moody shook his head and closed the door with a locking charm. They did not need anybody walking in on them like this. Neville, meanwhile, methodically opened all the stalls to check for interlopers and found none. Myrtle was not present. Moody spoke when Neville signaled that all was clear. "First of all, son- what did you mean by the walls having ears?"
"Apparently, I'm the prime suspect in the school's investigation against the leader of this rogue Defense group that seems to be meeting under everyone's noses." Neville said. "I've had Dumbledore, McGonagall, and other Order members trailing me everywhere."
"I see."
Neville pulled out his wand and conjured a pair of chairs for them to sit in. "What did you want to talk about?"
Moody sighed and took one of the offered seats. "I wanted to talk about your parents, Neville." He held his hands up when he saw Neville's expression change. "Hear me out. I was at St. Mungo's today to meet with your grandmother about Potter."
"Oh? How did that go?" Neville interrupted, interested to hear about his grandmother's position before they moved onto the serious things.
"She seems to be willing to support us." Moody answered. "The point is that when she came out, she told me that your parents seem to have . . . improved a bit."
Neville looked at Moody as excitement slowly welled up inside him. "Really? How so?"
"They seem to be more responsive to other people." Moody revealed. He then continued to explain everything that Mrs. Longbottom had told him after she had visited them and then finished with his grandmother's decision to wait til summer to let him visit.
Joy seemed to be bursting from Neville, though he was doing his best to retain his reserve and not let it overcome him. He was disappointed however. Summer wasn't really all that far away, but it was still a while away. Then he realized that the aged Auror had not come to Hogwarts to taunt him. "There's more to this. What is it?"
A pause followed before Moody explained. "Before the First War ended, your parents were developing a rather important spell that we hoped would be able to take You-Know-Who down once and for all."
"Would it have taken him down?" Neville asked carefully. "Without a doubt?"
"No one is really sure about that." Alastor answered. "The spell was designed to target the core of evil in a person, at least that's how your parents described it. Even if it was not capable of being efficiently used against You-Know-Who, it would be able to at least fight evil in any way that it was manifested."
"Interesting." Neville said as he carefully dissected the new information. Moody was content to wait him out. Finally, Neville came to some conclusions. "You think that it would be helpful if my parents recovered and were able to complete the spell."
"Yes." Moody said affirmatively. "Their prognosis is positive right now. There's a small chance of complete recovery. I think that if you were able to visit with them, they might somehow improve more. Unfortunately, your grandmother isn't inclined to let you visit for a while. The sooner the better, I think."
The teenage boy had already come to these conclusions about his parents however. The ex-auror had not gotten to it yet, but Neville was quite sure that he would propose that he sneak away from Hogwarts and visit on a weekend or night. Would it be worth the risk though? "We should ask Harry what the best step is." Neville said to Moody. "If he says to go ahead, then I'm all for visiting my parents as soon as possible."
"Of course." Moody said, pleased that the boy had been able to grasp the meaning and necessity of the situation by himself. He was truly becoming quite mature. "Send an owl to Harry tonight though."
"Why?"
"The Dark Lord knew of your parent's work. It won't be long before he hears about their improving condition."
The blood drained from Neville's face and he gave Moody a hasty goodbye before making his way to the owlery, already conjuring the necessary writing utensils.
...
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