The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Note From The Author: Goodbye

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed "The Light in the Dark" as much as I enjoyed writing it!

It has taken me three years to finish this book, and I literally cried publishing the final chapter. If you've been here since the beginning of this journey, joined it halfway through while I was rewriting the book, or even just recently joined... I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart.

This book originally started as a POV series that I planned to make and publish to my TikTok account back in early October of 2020, but due to a lack of Neville Longbottom scenes, I turned it into the book you just finished reading. Dawn's story is full of my own shifting experiences as well as my own life experiences from high school, and again... I thank you for living vicariously through her (and therefore me) as long as you've been reading.

Not to get deep or anything, but high school was one of the worst times of my life. But impulsively starting this book at 1:00 am on a random school night my junior year was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Writing about my experiences helped me acknowledge their truth, and all of the support from you guys healed me in ways unimaginable.

As I am writing this, I am now a sophomore in college, and in a much better place physically, emotionally, and mentally... And a lot of it, I have to thank you guys for.

But for now... This is goodbye <3.

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WHAT'S NEXT FOR ME?

I will be continuing to create and write stories for you guys. After completing TLITD, I plan to finish "deranged", which is a 001/Peter Ballard/Henry Creel fanfic from the Stranger Things Netflix series.

There are also two more Harry Potter fanfics in the making: "Clocked Out", which is a Fred x OC enemies to lovers story, and "The Brightest Witch of her Age", which tells the story of Hermione's childhood before she came to Hogwarts.

I also have a book in the planning stage... but more information will be released on that later. ;)

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WHAT HAPPENED AFTER DAWN'S DEATH?

I knew that this was going to be a question, considering her death was so unexpected and a lot was left unanswered. So, to avoid any misconceptions, these next few bullet points will describe what happened at the end of the story from several different perspectives.

→ NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM was interviewed by The Daily Prophet for what happened at the Ministry of Magic. He angrily referred to Dawn as a "mad homeless woman". Truly, he has no recollection of who she was — Dawn had erased his memory. Because of his abrupt departure, he lost his chance of studying plants with famous Herbologists. Eventually, he found work at The Leaky Cauldron, where he stumbled upon Hannah Abbott, an old friend from school whom he used to date during his sixth-year — They broke up for unknown reasons. The two married a year later.

→ HARRY POTTER, despite having his memories of Dawn, he continued to deny her existence after finding out about what she had done at the Ministry. That night, he obliviated Hermione, Ron, and his fiancé, Ginny Weasley — The three woke up that morning with excruciating headaches, and without any memories of their friend from school. After meeting with a struggling muggle author named Joanne in 1998, Harry's version of the story was published as children's books and made into movies, leaving out any existence of Dawn at all. Harry held no remorse for what he did. Harry made sure that the entire world, wizards and muggles, knew that he killed Voldemort, taking credit for what Dawn did. He taught Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts until 2004, when he became The Head of the Auror Office for the Ministry of Magic. He had three children of his own with Ginny Weasley that attended Hogwarts: James Sirius Potter, Albus Severus Potter, and Lily Luna Potter.

→ HERMIONE GRANGER studied at the muggle institution of The University of Oxford as well as worked for the Ministry. Oftentimes, she was asked about her life as a muggleborn at Hogwarts, but could not answer the questions that well. Despite her pristine memory, Hermione could not recall major events from her childhood — She struggled to understand why. Ten years later, she was appointed as the British Minister of Magic. She had two children of her own with her husband, Ron Weasley, that attended Hogwarts: Rose Granger-Weasley and Hugo Granger-Weasley.

→ RON & GINNY WEASLEY would oftentimes be asked about their time at Hogwarts by the press, considering the Weasleys were a prominent face of the order. Like Hermione Granger, they were unable to answer the questions well. Ron Weasley worked as an auror for the Ministry, and Ginny played professional Quidditch for the Holyhead Harpies.

→ GEORGE WEASLEY obliviated his memories of Dawn days after her death because the sight of severed bodies behind his joke store kept haunting his thoughts. With this obliviation, he had forgotten a number of memories with his brother, Fred Weasley, making his grieving an easier process. He eventually married Angelina Johnson, and they birthed two children, who also attended Hogwarts: Fred Weasley II and Roxanne Weasley.

→ DRACO MALFOY came out of hiding in 2017 when it was time for his son, Scorpius Malfoy, to attend Hogwarts. He's been living off of his parents' fortune while his wife, Astoria Greengrass, worked at the Ministry of Magic under The Department of International Magical Co-Operation. Soon after his reappearance, Draco was hired by Harry Potter to work as an auror for the Ministry of Magic once news had gotten around that the two's sons had become close friends. Unlike most, Draco remembered his cousin, but never mentioned her due to his family controversy.

→ ANDROMEDA TONKS was also another that remembered Dawn Riddle. But as Andromeda grew older and developed a mild case of dementia, the only thing she remembered about her was that she killed her husband: Ted Tonks. Andromeda remembered nothing else. She raised Edward "Teddy" Lupin as though he was her own, sending him off to Hogwarts once he was of age in 2009.

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THANK YOU FOR READING THE LIGHT IN THE DARK | NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM

FINISHED: DECEMBER 14TH, 2023