ᵖʳᵒᵘᵈ ᵖᵃʳᵉⁿᵗˢ ; ʰᵃʳᵐⁱᵒⁿᵉ

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter 17 - Orphans

Augusta had found it difficult to wait for her planned visit to where her grandson was holidaying, especially after reading the multiple articles in the Quibbler. The couple of letters that she had received from Neville actually made that waiting harder, not easier. To Augusta, it was as if these letters had been written by a different boy. She had a tight grip on her travelling bag as the timed portkey activated, taking her to Italy.

While impressed by her surroundings, Augusta was not pleased that her grandson wasn't there to greet her. She found herself being welcomed by her old friend, Minerva.

"Welcome to Italy, Augusta. Your Neville is down on the beach, training with his friends. They tend to forget the time as their sessions seem to get longer every day. They should be finishing soon though. Come over and watch with us, the elves will take your bag and traveling cloak, while we can sit back and enjoy a cup of tea."

She sat beside Pomona and Filius, while Minerva returned to greet their next guest. Looking down, she could easily pick out her grandson amongst the black and red haired boys. What she found hard to believe was the way that same grandson was throwing powerful magic about - knocking over training dummies.

"Is this part of the Institute's courses?"

Pomona was quick to steer Augusta right. This formidable witch was on the Hogwarts school board and they wanted to impress her with the Institute. Augusta Longbottom was certainly someone whose opinion counted back in magical Britain.

"While Remus will be our defence professor, this extra training was requested by Harry and Hermione. All their friends wanted to join in too, and they now do this every morning."

Augusta was simply in awe of what she was seeing. "Neville has never had command of his magic like he does down there, and so powerful too..."

This time it was Filius who provided the answer. "Students attending the Institute will have all their school supplies bought for them, so every child starts with the same equipment, books and robes as everyone else. This includes wands, and we wanted to try out the wand maker in Naples. Your Neville, three of the Weasleys and Hannah Abbot all got wands that suit them better than the ones they had been using. You can see the difference with all five of them, though Neville's improvement is the most pronounced."

At that, Minerva returned with Xeno Lovegood. She'd heard Filius' comments and agreed with them wholeheartedly. "I think Neville has grown and matured more in his two weeks here than the last three years at Hogwarts. He's much closer to Harry than before, and Luna hasn't left his side all holiday. Those three treating one another as family has benefited all of them."

Amelia was next to arrive, though didn't need Minerva to welcome her. Greeting everyone, her attention was immediately on the people on the beach. "Susan had written to say how much she was enjoying herself - and how much she was learning even while on holiday. Just looking down there I can already tell that Remus Lupin is a superb defence teacher. The way he's got them organised, and that all are clearly enjoying themselves, tells me all I need to know. If the rest of your institute lives up to this standard, I would be delighted to send Susan here."

Being no fool, Xeno quickly put the clues together. "This is not your first visit here, is it?"

"Every time I visit, I become more impressed with what Lord Potter is trying to do here. Their ambition in Italy is to build a school where the students can thrive. I'm watching what they're doing - while on holiday - and once more my already high expectations have just been raised again."

As Minerva arrived back with Hanna and Millie's parents, all sat down to refreshments and watched their children. Augusta was even more amazed as she witnessed Neville climb on a broom and shoot out over the sea with his friends.