Harry Potter: Another Chance

Chapter 6: The Adventures of Neville Longbottom

Disclaimer: 
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
 
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
$Parseltongue$
 
Chapter 6: The Adventures of Neville Longbottom
 
"Did you say, Neville?" Harry asked.

"Yes, those are her favorite ones. I used to read them to you and your sister Lyra, but, you two never liked them that much." Lily said.

'So, Neville became the 'Boy Who Lived' in this world….of course, the Prophecy must have excluded me, because I was born almost a month earlier, leaving only one choice for Voldemort to attack.' When Harry was pondering about the changes in this world and how to gain more information, He suddenly had an idea.
"Holly, You must have a lot of books about the Boy Who Lived, right?" Harry asked his little sister.

Holly's eyes illuminated with enthusiasm.
"I have lots!."

Holly took Harry's hand and started to lead him towards one of the bookshelves.
Lily was watching the interaction with a smile. In the past, Harry had never shown any interest in his little sister. Kids are able to quickly understand when they are not wanted, so, Holly never tried to interact with Harry that much either.
'She must have felt the change in Harry.' Lily thought.
 
Once Harry got closer to the shelve, He spotted a lot of books with very colorful covers and the name of Neville Longbottom followed by all sorts of crazy titles.
"Neville Longbottom and the Hydra of nine heads."
"Neville Longbottom and his trusty red dragon."
"Neville Longbottom and his magical castle."
'Wow…Did I also have all of that stuff back in my old world? I remember Ginny mentioned some of the books about me she read as a child. But she was too embarrassed about that part of her childhood to go into more details.'

Harry looked as Holly rushed to a shelve and started to look for something to read.

He also started to look around looking for something more historical and less fantastical.
On the upper part of the shelf, He found something interesting.
"The Boy Who Lived and the Downfall of the Dark Lord."

Harry picked up the book and started reading the contents. Holly finally decided on a book and brought it to her mother to read it.
'Let's see. Neville Longbottom was born…bla bla bla…oh, there it is….on the night of October 31, 1981, the Dark Lord attacked personally the Longbottom household. Lord and Lady Longbottom battled ferociously but unfortunately perished in the end.'

Harry made a pained expression at the mention of the Longbottoms. It seems like Neville's parents had suffered a terrible fate in both worlds.
'However, when the Dark Lord went to kill the little baby, some miracle of magic occurred. The baby was not only able to survive the Killing Curse but it ended up inflicting a crippling wound on the Dark Lord, to the point that he has not appeared again since then. Some believe that the Dark Lord will not come back as long as the Boy Who Lived is in Britain.'

"What?!" Harry shouted.

"Harry? Is everything okay?." Lily asked with worry on her face, wondering what had startled her son so much.

Harry looked apologetic at his mother.
"Sorry, I just read something disturbing. That's all."

Lily got closer and took a look at the book that Harry was reading.
"Ah…Is it about You Know Who? You don't have to be afraid of him. He left the country a long time ago and never came back." Lily tried to calm her son down, believing that He must have become scared after reading about what Voldemort did to the Longbottoms.

Harry thought that this may be a good chance to gain some extra intel.
"But, what about his followers, he had many, right?. Did they also leave?."

Lily frowned, obviously not liking to talk about this matter.
"Some of them did leave…many others remained here. Your father knows more about them since he is one of the Head Aurors, but he doesn't like to talk about work." Lily explained.

"I understand." Harry put the book back.

"I'll go find something else to read." He said, not wanting to upset his mother further.
 
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After picking something else, He sat down and looked at his mother and sister.
Holly was sitting on her mother's lap while Lily read a story about how Neville Longbottom fought an evil ogre and saved the kidnapped princess from his tower.

A soft smile appeared on his face as he observed the two of them.

After finishing her book, Holly went to fetch another one and brought it to Harry.
"Read this, please?" She asked.

Harry raised an eyebrow.
"You want me, to read you the book?" Harry asked and Holly nodded.
Harry looked at his mother who was approaching.

"Do you mind? I need to go do some chores before dinner." Lily said.

  "Not at all," Harry said. He was just surprised his mother would trust him that much.

"I believe your father is outside in the garden, doing something. He took a few free days. If you need anything, You can go to him or call for Mipsy." Lily said before leaving.
 
Holly sat down at his side and handed him the book.
After reading for a few minutes, He noticed the presence of someone else in the library.
'I bet that's the house elf. Mother must have asked her to keep an eye on us' He thought.

Harry wasn't really offended. It would have actually been very reckless to leave a ten-year-old who had just come back from the hospital with a brain injury to take care of a four-year-old with no supervision.

Harry ignored the presence of the elf and continued reading for a while.
He then noticed Holly started to yawn.

'Must be nap time.' He thought.

"Mipsy, you can come out," Harry said out loud.

The elf appeared in front of them.
"Master Harry knew I was there?" The elf asked.

"Never mind that. Help me carry my sister to her room so she can sleep." Harry said while picking up Holly, who was starting to close her eyes.
He noticed the elf using magic to make her lighter and easier to carry.
He thanked the elf and followed her.
 
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After leaving his sister in her room with Mipsy, Harry decided to take a walk through the gardens.
The moment He went outside, He caught a glimpse of people standing on the grassy field.

'Right, she said that father would be here.' Harry thought.

His father and Lyra were holding flying brooms and his father seemed to be giving her some instructions.
They saw him approach and turn to him. Lyra immediately frowned while his father just seemed a bit surprised.

"Hi there, do you mind if I join your flying practice?." Harry asked.