41 Imperious Behaviour.

One year later :

A young boy with a round face, short blade hair, and buck-teeth giggles as he runs around the lush garden of his family's manor. A house-elf could be seen running itself ragged as it tries to stop him from falling over on the uneven ground. All the while this was happening, a tall, 'well-aged' woman wearing a hat resembling a mounted vulture watches intently from the window of the manor, a firm expression on her face betraying her gentle eyes.

The sides of Augusta Longbottom's mouth upturn as she watches Neville tumble over and scrap his elbow, only to continue running despite the House Elf's protests. She remembered feeling similar emotions when his father was a similar age, however, at the thought of her son and his hopeless situation, her mood quickly turns sour.

Frank and Alice Longbottom had both been tortured into insanity by Voldemort's forces just as the war was finally ending. All of the perpetrators were locked up firmly in Azkaban, but that didn't make Augusta feel any safer. Especially since it was well known amongst the Ancient and Noble families that a large portion of Voldemort's forces managed to evade justice.

She gets up and starts to make her way over to pull Neville back inside, feelings of apprehension for his safety taking over whatever satisfaction she felt as she watched him explore the estate. She knew she was coddling him a bit too much, but could anyone blame her for being careful?

As she's about to pass by her fireplace however, it suddenly bursts with green flames, indicating that someone was floo'ing to the property. By the time the person stepped through, her wand was already out and trained on them. Only lowering it once she realised who it was.

"Albus." she coldly remarks, knowing that his 'Order of the Phoenix' was partly responsible for her son and daughter-in-law's conditions. Still, she couldn't help but feel smug at Albus' situation.

Ever since Harry Potter had gone missing, the whole wizarding world had been in chaos. With almost every person doing their part to search for the heroic little boy. There were posters of him in almost every city, town, and village in Europe. And some had even searched for the boy in Asia and North America, yet there hadn't even been a hint of a trace of the boy.

As a result, Albus had been the one to take the most damage from it. He was the one who left the boy with his muggle relatives, and he was the one, through his negligence, that allowed him to go missing.

As a result of the public outcry, he'd lost his position as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, significantly reducing his ability to affect Wizarding Britain's politics. Despite all his schemes and political fanangling, he couldn't dispute the fact that Harry Potter was left in his care, and that Harry Potter had gone missing.

He'd somehow managed to keep his position as Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, but this was partly due to his excuse of 'using the confederations resources to search for Harry'... The thing that surprised Augusta most, however, was the fact that no one dared challenge his position as Headmaster of Hogwarts... Even without his position as Chief Warlock, being a Headmaster of Hogwarts provided him status equal to the head of a most noble and ancient House, such as the Longbottom's, Black's, or Diggory.

Still, the fact that Albus had turned up at her estate without even a warning had alarm bells ringing in her mind. This old coot should be buried in work, yet he had the time to come visit her? The last time she saw him outside of the Wizengamot was while she was visiting Frank and Alice many years ago.

"Ahh, Augusta, It's good that I managed to catch you!"

...

She just gives him a dull stare, "You've intruded into my property. You've caught me in the same manner a hunter would his prey. Now what is it you want, Albus?" she firmly states, not wanting to be around this contemptible scheming manipulator anymore than needed.

Albus obviously picks up on Augustua's less than enthused mood, and so decides to just cut to the point. "I have suspicion to believe that a prophecy about young Neville is in play. I didn't wish to alarm you, but lives could be at stake here and I don't wish to take any chances." he explains, and Augusta almost immediately loses her temper at his words.

"Any more chances? Like with how you handled James and Lily's son?" she spits, her hostility apparent in her glare, "First you've taken my son and his wife, and now you wish to take Neville from me!?... You, do you want to start a blood feud you blithering fool! I should have you pulled under the Wizengamot for even suggesting this!" she exclaims, the hand tightly gripping her wand twitching as if waiting for action.

Albus holds his hands up in a pacifying manner, but Augusta doesn't buy it in the slightest. "P-please Madame Longbottom, hold your temper and allow me to explai-"

"No! You will leave my property and make a vow that you will never approach Neville without permission from me, or him when he reaches adulthood!" she demands.

Albus just releases a heavy sigh at this, he'd been expecting Augusta to be more receptive to him. But he couldn't even make an offer without her instantly rejecting him... He'd have left it alone if it were just that, but now she wanted him to make a vow to never approach Neville without her permission?

He didn't have time for this. Voldermort was eventually going to return, and without Harry Potter there was no one who could fight against him. He needed the 'Chosen one ', but the only people who the prophecy could potential be referring to was Harry, or Neville.

Albus shakes his head and gives Augusta a soft look, "I'm sorry." he states as the Elder Wand flicks into his hand and he banishes Augusta's wand, sending it clattering across the room.

"Imperio!"