Harry Potter: I Am Big D

Chapter 113.

Neville and his grandmother, Augusta Longbottom, live in the Longbottom ancestral home, a building as old as the Potter house. However, unlike the dilapidated Potter home, the interior of the Longbottom ancestral home is kept very clean.

Unlike the Potter family, which has only Harry as its heir, the Longbottom family has many members, including Neville's uncle and great-uncle. But they do not live in the old home, having gradually left after reaching adulthood.

Only Neville and his grandmother are left in the ancestral home.

Mrs. Augusta is a witch who seems very strict, but she was quite warm towards Dudley and Hermione.

"You must be Mr. Dursley and Miss Granger. Neville often talks about you."

Dudley respectfully said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Augusta." As he has genuine respect for the stern-looking elder before him.

Neville's parents, having opposed the Death Eaters and Voldemort, were driven insane by Bellatrix through the Cruciatus Curse and have been receiving treatment at St. Mungo's Hospital for eleven years now.

Over the years, Mrs. Augusta has been both mother and father, raising Neville alone, supporting this family, and the entire Longbottom family with her old shoulder.

"You are the first friends Neville has invited to our home. I was so surprised when he told me he wanted to invite you."

"I'm glad he has made friends at Hogwarts."

It was clear that Mrs. Augusta is genuinely happy.

"Neville is too timid. I was worried he would be bullied at Hogwarts. He learns at a slow pace, which also makes me worried that he won't be able to keep up with the studies at Hogwarts." Mrs. Augusta went on and on.

Through her words, one could hear her deep concern and earnest expectations for Neville.

"Grandma!" Neville's face turned red. It was unclear whether he was embarrassed or shy.

"Neville is excellent," Dudley said very seriously. "He is brave and has a strong will; he is a true Gryffindor."

Mrs. Augusta did not expect Dudley to have such a high opinion of Neville. At the same time, Neville's cheeks turned even redder.

Finally, Dudley added, "And he is the sixth in this year's grade."

"Yes, yes, I heard Neville say that," Mrs. Augusta remarked again, "He said it was thanks to the help of Mr. Dursley and Miss Granger."

"After a year of study, he has changed a lot. Especially physically, he has grown much stronger." When mentioning strength, Mrs. Augusta's gaze unintentionally fell on Dudley.

She had thought her grandson was exaggerating, but it was no exaggeration at all.

Is this really a first-year wizard? A half-blood giant is not much different, right?

Dudley shook his head: "That's all his own hard work; if a person doesn't put in the effort, even with all the help in the world, it's useless."

After a simple conversation, a few words made Mrs. Augusta smile widely.

Elders rarely dislike others praising their grandchildren; it's more delightful than being praised themselves.

Moreover, she is really grateful to Dudley and Hermione; she is more than aware of what Neville was like a year ago.

Now he is already a little grown up.

After arranging Dudley and Hermione's rooms and instructing Neville to study well with them, Mrs. Augusta left to allow the young people to converse on their own.

As the head of the Longbottom family, she still had many matters to attend to.

Thus, Dudley and Hermione settled into the Longbottom ancestral home.

Life returned to its previous routine: exercising, training, and studying—simple three points on a line.

However, Hermione had the added task of consulting Mrs. Augusta, while Dudley had a new direction to explore in Alchemy + Magic Equipment Transformation.

Mrs. Augusta is a very powerful witch, not inferior to Professor McGonagall from Gryffindor at Hogwarts, especially her remarkable Transfiguration skills, which amazed Hermione.

Unfortunately, compared to her Transfiguration skills, Mrs. Augusta is lacking in charms; this is because she had failed her O.W.L. Charms class and developed a prejudice against the subject, believing it was not worth studying.

Though the Longbottom family has never produced any notable figures in history, their family lineage has never ceased, preserving many rare magical books. While they may not directly enhance one's strength, many have greatly inspired Dudley.

And so, many days passed peacefully.

In this time, Dudley acquired two new adornments.

A red gemstone ring (Philosopher's Stone) and a blue gemstone ring (Magical Crystal).

"With eight more rings, I fear I would be able to cosplay a certain Marvel villain,"Dudley said, until three owls broke the tranquility, bringing the requirements for the second-year textbooks at Hogwarts.

"'Breaking Up with the Ghost,' 'Traveling with Ghouls,' 'Vacationing with the Banshee,' 'Walking with Trolls,' 'Traveling by Boat with Vampires,' 'Wandering with Werewolves,' 'A Year with the Yeti.'" [Tl/N: didn't read; Lockhart]

"Textbooks for Defense Against the Dark Arts? A set of seven books?"

Hermione looked oddly at the book list on the parchment, with the most eye-catching being the textbook for Defense Against the Dark Arts, as the number of books required for one subject was nearly more than all other subjects combined.

Moreover, these were not formal textbooks for Defense Against the Dark Arts; they were all stories of a certain someone.

The key point is that, regarding stories, they weren't as well-written as Dudley's.

Hermione has read Dudley's "The Lord of the Rings" and "Dragonlance Chronicles" more than once and has turned into a faithful reminder for him, occasionally asking Dudley for the upcoming plot.

"It seems our second-year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is this guy named Lockhart," Dudley tapped the name 'Lockhart' on the parchment with his knuckles.

All ten books were written by one person, and if the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher wasn't this Lockhart, he must be a fervent fan of his stories.

Upon hearing this, Hermione let out a wail: "I hope he's not like Quirrell, who taught us nothing."

Perhaps it was more than just learning nothing, Dudley thought silently.

Last year, the teacher she was least satisfied with was Quirrell; they learned practically nothing in his class.

What good would learning nothing do to help Dudley?

Hermione took out a pen and began to write and draw on the parchment.

She planned to self-study related Defense Against the Dark Arts books based on the previous textbooks.

Previously, when she encountered poorly teaching teachers at Oxford Primary School, she used this method to self-study.

Clearly, she had no hopes for this Professor Lockhart at all.

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Tl/N: If you want to read more [upto 30+ chapters] while supporting me, you can join me on patreon.com/EmptyThoughts ;Thanks.

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Note : Guys, some power stones will be really helpful.