The Longbottom house was unusually quiet.
The silence felt wrong.
Broken glass covered the floor near the entrance, pieces of shattered windows scattered across the hallway. Furniture had been knocked aside, a table lay overturned, and several scorch marks stained the wooden walls where powerful spells had struck only minutes before.
The front door creaked open.
Two Aurors stepped inside cautiously, wands raised.
"Clear the entrance," one of them said quietly.
Behind them, several more Ministry officials entered the house. Their faces were tense. The magical disturbance alert that had reached the Ministry had been strong enough to alarm half the department.
A moment later another figure walked in.
Tall.
Calm.
Albus Dumbledore stepped across the broken doorway and slowly looked around the ruined room.
His blue eyes moved carefully across every detail.
The lingering traces of dark magic in the air were unmistakable.
Cruciatus.
And it had been used repeatedly.
One of the Aurors spoke quietly.
"There are signs of a struggle everywhere."
Another answered grimly.
"And torture."
Dumbledore walked further into the house.
The deeper they went, the clearer the signs became. Chairs had been blasted apart. A cabinet had collapsed against the wall. Several deep cracks ran across the ceiling where powerful curses had struck.
Then one of the Aurors suddenly stopped.
"Here!"
Everyone quickly moved toward the voice.
In the middle of the living room floor, lying beside a broken chair, was a small child.
Baby Neville Longbottom.
He wasn't moving.
For a brief moment the room fell silent.
One of the Aurors immediately knelt down and checked the child.
"He's alive."
A quiet breath of relief passed through the group.
"But unconscious."
Dumbledore stepped closer.
The baby's face was pale but calm. No visible injuries could be seen on his body.
Yet something about the situation troubled the old wizard.
"Frank and Alice?" he asked.
The Aurors searched the house quickly.
Every room.
Every hallway.
Every closet.
After several minutes they returned.
"They're not here."
One of the Aurors pointed toward a deep burn mark on the wall.
"There are signs that several people were here."
"Four… maybe five."
Another Auror added quietly.
"And the curse patterns…"
He hesitated before finishing.
"Bellatrix Lestrange."
The name hung in the air like poison.
Dumbledore's expression darkened slightly.
It was not surprising.
After Voldemort's fall only days earlier, many Death Eaters had begun searching desperately for their master.
And Bellatrix Lestrange had always been the most fanatic of them all.
"They were questioning the Longbottoms," one Auror said.
"Trying to find out where You-Know-Who went."
Another Auror clenched his jaw.
"Frank and Alice were Aurors. If anyone knew something about Voldemort's disappearance, Bellatrix would assume it was them."
Dumbledore looked down at the unconscious child.
"And when they did not answer…"
No one needed to finish the sentence.
The evidence was already visible on the walls.
Cruciatus Curse left a very specific magical residue.
And there was far too much of it in this room.
One of the Aurors carefully lifted Neville into his arms.
The baby stirred weakly but did not wake.
"We should get him to St. Mungo's."
Dumbledore nodded.
"Yes."
But before they could leave, another group of Aurors hurried inside.
"We've notified Augusta Longbottom," one of them reported.
"She's already on her way."
---
Augusta Longbottom arrived less than twenty minutes later.
Her sharp footsteps echoed through the ruined hallway as she entered the house, her tall hat still perfectly straight despite the speed of her arrival.
She stopped the moment she saw the damage.
Her eyes moved slowly across the shattered furniture and broken walls.
For a moment she said nothing.
Then she spoke quietly.
"Where is my grandson?"
An Auror stepped forward and handed Neville to her.
The boy was still unconscious.
Augusta held him firmly, examining his face with careful eyes.
"Healers have checked him," one Auror explained. "Physically he appears unharmed."
"Appears?" Augusta repeated.
Dumbledore stepped closer.
"There may be… other effects."
Augusta looked at him sharply.
"What do you mean, Albus?"
Dumbledore hesitated slightly.
"The curse activity in this house was extremely intense."
He glanced toward the dark scorch marks across the walls.
"It is possible that the child's mind was affected."
Augusta looked back down at Neville.
The boy's eyes slowly opened for a moment.
But they did not focus.
They drifted aimlessly across the room before closing again.
The old witch's expression hardened.
"He will recover," she said firmly.
No one argued.
---
A week later the Ministry finally found them.
Bellatrix Lestrange and the others had been hiding in an abandoned building outside London.
When the Aurors arrived, they discovered something far worse than they had feared.
Frank and Alice Longbottom were still alive.
But barely.
The Death Eaters had continued using the Cruciatus Curse on them over and over again.
By the time the Aurors broke through the doors, both Aurors had already lost their minds.
Bellatrix and the others fought fiercely when cornered.
Spells tore through the building during the battle.
But in the end they were captured.
Bellatrix Lestrange.
Rodolphus Lestrange.
Rabastan Lestrange.
Barty Crouch Junior.
All four were arrested and later sentenced to Azkaban.
But the victory felt hollow.
Frank and Alice Longbottom never recovered.
---
Weeks later, the Longbottom estate returned to its quiet routine.
Augusta stood beside the crib in Neville's room.
The boy lay inside, staring blankly at the ceiling.
She gently lifted him into her arms.
"Neville," she said softly.
The boy turned his head slightly.
But his eyes looked distant.
Unfocused.
Like someone who could see the world but did not truly understand it.
Augusta watched him carefully.
Then she sighed.
"Well," she said quietly.
"You are a Longbottom," she said quietly.
"And Longbottoms do not break easily."
."