Chapter 1: I am not the Boy-Who-Lived
-Forêt des Yeux, Ville Parcours-Chouette, Dijon, France
-December 28, 1975
When he finally came to, the first thing Neville noticed was that he was no longer in pain.
Then he felt the warm sunlight on his body along with the soft green grass that brushed against him.
The sound of owls in the trees reached his ears, and when he turned his head in the direction of the sound he realised that he was in a forest full of trees and strange eyes that were constantly watching him..., only since it was daylight he noticed that there were a huge amount of owls that were hidden in the trees watching him and these owls were all very peculiar, they had such unique colours that Neville had never seen before in Britain.
Suddenly he sat up and groaned, clutching his head as a powerful headache exploded inside his head.
Instantly Neville began to see the different memories of the previous Magnus, all coming flooding in at great speed as if they had always been his, as if he had lived every moment and only needed to think about it to remember it, but he knew that these memories were not his.
After a while, the great avalanche of information finally stopped.
But it left Neville with a headache and a feeling of discomfort.
After a while he turned around just in time to empty the contents of his stomach.
With a groan, he wiped his mouth with the edge of his sleeve and looked up at the sky.
He took a breath and tried to compose himself.
And after a few minutes, his discomfort was relieved to the point where he could handle the pain.
He was now Magnus Neville Longbottom, son of Algie Longbottom and Enid Longbottom (née Fawley), cousin of Frank Longbottom and second nephew of Lord Harold Bastian Longbottom as well as his next heir.
Neville already knew a little about the history of his second uncle Magnus as he had been raised all his life by his grandmother Augusta along with Magnus' parents, Algie and Enid as if they were his own parents.
In fact, his father, Frank Longbottom, had named Neville for his beloved cousin, Magnus Neville Longbottom.
Neville had heard stories from his great-uncles about Magnus and his death.
And one of the biggest reasons why all the Longbottom family joined together against Voldemort and his followers was because it was discovered that Magnus had died at the hands of two dark wizards in a similar way to how it happened now.
Although they were not sure if it was one of Voldemort's followers who killed Magnus at the time, it was most likely, even Lord Harlod Longbottom left his neutral position in the conflict and set out to openly support the Ministry against Voldemort.
But this time it was different as Magnus Neville Longbottom opened his light blue eyes after receiving the killing curse, but he was no longer just the Magnus of this time, he was Neville Longbottom son of Frank and Alice Longbottom with the knowledge and memories of Magnus.
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-Pov Neville
I am a spineless pale pathetic lot.
I a fool in Hogwarts, I was not known for my noble or heroic qualities.
No, that had been the role of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived and the one who was destined to end the war and kill Voldemort once and for all.
He was the noble and heroic wizard, not me.
I only wanted to support him and in the process avenge my parents, but now, in this different time and space, it's all on me and that's not a good thing.
Time is racing...
Now I really wish that I knew how to be a real and powerful wizard.
'Magnus!' I suddenly thought to myself.
Indeed Magnus was a person with bravery, courage, cunning, and willpower, he could be like Harry, but now he's just me...
Even so, I have his knowledge, his memories, and everything I need to be able to imitate him, to be more him and less me...
Yes, I can do this, he's the perfect choice, I know everything about him, I just have to behave like him.
Yes, I'm never gonna catch my breath until I achieve it.
I just hope no one sees see right through me.
-End Pov Neville
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....
Neville stretched and stood up, already determined to do what he had to do.
He had made his decision. He was given a second chance at life and he wasn't going to waste it.
He had a chance to change things and stop the bloody Dark Lord from causing all that damage.
And he was convinced that such an opportunity should not be wasted.
With a new and strong purpose, Neville walked through the magical forest "Forêt des Yeux" to the magical village "Parcours-Chouette".
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-Ville Parcours-Chouette, Dijon, France
Once in the magic village, Neville wasted no time and went to an inn in the village that had a Floo Network connection to Place Cachée the wizarding section of Paris, France.
There he paid the owner seven silver sickles to use his Floo Network and then Neville took some Floo Powder, threw it into the fireplace making the red fire turn green, and said in french: "Place Cachée".
At that Neville walked towards the green fire and disappeared through it.
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-Place Cachée, Boulevard Voltaire, Montmartre, Paris, France
Neville took a step forward ignoring the feeling that he was walking on air and after a while, he felt his feet touch solid ground again.
Finally, he arrived at Place Cachée, here was the French Ministry of Magic, which was the only place in France where they had a Floo Network for public use with a connection to Britain, more specifically to a sector of the British Ministry of Magic.
Of course, in order to use it, one had to pay and fulfill certain requirements imposed by the Ministry, in addition to the fact that, once in Britain, the authorities there would corroborate all the details of the wizard who entered.
Once here, Neville didn't rush back to Britain, but instead made his way to a place called "Café Abringer" where he planned to have a coffee and review everything before returning, he also had to think about Hogwarts as it was only a few days before he, now as Magnus, had to return to school.
'Well..., looks like I'm going to have to retake my O.W.L exams... Curse that includes potions' thought Neville frustrated and not at all happy with the idea, it had been a bloody nightmare for him before, but at least now he knew enough about all the subjects, the only problem was that several things that were taken in this time were different to the ones taken in his own and even though he had the memories of the previous Magnus, he still had to go over several things that even the previous Magnus didn't know about different subjects.
Once in the café, he sat down at one of the tables outside near the window of the café.
After ordering a coffee from the young waitress who for some reason looked at him smiling and talking to him in a way that none of the women had ever done before, she was so kind, cheerful, animated, encouraging, and too active in starting a conversation with him...
It was certainly a new experience for Neville, after all, he was used to getting only the most dispirited and reluctant reactions, and few wanted to engage him in conversation.
It was then that he looked at his reflection in the window beside him.
He now saw for the first time his current body as Magnus Neville Longbottom.
He had been so lost in thought before that he had not yet seen how he looked.
It was similar to the Magnus he had known in the world between death and life..., only here he looked... well, more alive, and his physical aspects were much more pronounced.
Looking at his reflection, Neville sees a rather tall boy for his age, a thin, athletic build, with toned muscles that indicate that Magnus is remarkably athletic. His messy long light brown hair falls over his forehead and is tied back in an undercut, with a striking piece of muggle gold adorning his left ear..., it was a single golden earring glinting in his ear, which was quite strange to see on a wizard when only witches used to wear such things in the magical world and they usually didn't wear muggle earrings but magical ones.
The most remarkable thing about his appearance is his eyes, a brilliant shade of light blues, like the vast, open sea, which seem to reflect a touch of magic in them. They are like two limpid sea crystals, whose hue changes subtly with the light. His skin has a slightly tanned tone, perhaps from spending much time outdoors. He wears a deep dark blue, almost black, jacket that appears to have been made from the finest enchanted silk material with gold trim and buttons, and underneath he wears a classic, comfortable black cotton T-shirt, whose close-fitting cut highlights his toned figure. He wore trousers of a subtle olive green made from a tough fabric made from buckram and a pair of boots of black dragonhide with a hint of red, these were tough and flexible with dragon scale detailing which moulded to his feet comfortably and completed his attire.
To Neville, his appearance now looked like that of a true duelist of the magical world, his appearance reflected Magnus' dedication and self-confidence which to Neville was enviable, and his presence exuded an aura of mystery and adventure.
Although it was strange for Neville to see himself like this now, he felt remarkably better about himself than he actually did in the past, as his appearance certainly looked much better than it had before.
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-Café Abringer, Place Cachée, Boulevard Voltaire, Montmartre, Paris, France
Sitting outside Café Abringer, Neville kept thinking about everything that was happening for the umpteenth time, the coffee he ordered still intact.
Every wizard and witch in the place looked his way, not understanding why the young man was so lost in thought for hours, some of them even recognised him but decided not to interrupt him in his thoughts.
Neville had no idea that several of the wizards present had recognised him as the current champion of the All-Europe Junior Wizarding Duelling Competition held this year in France, Magnus Neville Longbottom.
For a few hours, Neville had been looking at Magnus' memories and coming to terms with the idea that he was now Magnus.
There were many memories in his mind but the most important information Neville found, after overlooking a lot of useless information, was that he was exactly on the 28th of December 1975, one day after the competition and only a few hours after the death of the previous Magnus at the hands of two dark wizards who may or may not have been death eaters.
Another important thing for Neville was that now his mother, Alice, was in her sixth year at Hogwarts if he remembered correctly and his father, Frank, was already an auror-in-training.
And the most concerning thing he saw in the memories of the previous Magnus was that Voldemort was now slowly but surely beginning to drastically increase his power in the British wizarding world and began to gain more and more followers for his propaganda of purebloods and death to the Muggle-borns.
Many thoughts were swirling around in Neville's head, but two questions were always present...
What were these Horcruxes and why were they so important?
Were these Horcruxes the reason why Voldemort had managed to revive?
'Find the Horcruxes and destroy them. Only after that would you be able to kill Voldemort' Neville thought about the words of the previous Magnus and made up his mind to find out all about these Horcruxes.
"You're Magnus Longbottom aren't you?" asked an old voice next to Neville.
Neville realised his foolishness, he had completely lost awareness of his surroundings, which was a very dangerous thing to do, especially in his current situation.
Just a few hours ago someone had tried to kill me for Merlin, in fact, they had succeeded, and the previous Magnus is now dead. How can I be so bloody distracted?!' Neville groaned and complained to himself and reminded to be more attentive from now on.
"This..., um, yes. Can I help you with something?" asked Neville looking up at the man with his curious eyes.
" Actually, yes. I'm the owner of the place, Mr. Abringer, nice to meet you, and congratulations."
"Congratulations?" asked Neville with an eyebrow raised in confusion.
"Yes, for winning the competition, maybe the wizards here aren't so happy that it's a British wizard the one who won but I think congratulations are still deserved for a talented young wizard"
It was then that Neville remembered that yesterday the previous Magnus had taken part in the All-Europe Junior Wizarding Duelling Competition held in France this year and had won it.
In fact, it was after winning the tournament in the magic village, Parcours-Chouette, which was located in Dijon, that the former Magnus had decided that before leaving France he would visit the famous "Forest of the Eyes" or in French, "Forêt des Yeux", where it was said that there were many unique owls with all sorts of feather colours and eyes that stared at people, sometimes so intently that you could feel that the owls could even see your soul.
So today the previous Magnus went to this forest, but he never expected that two dark wizards, probably followers of Voldemort, would suddenly attack him.
"Oh, er... Thank you," said Neville nervously, after all, it was actually the previous Magnus who had won the tournament, not him.
"Well, well, now that we're done with introductions, tell me, don't you like my coffee, son? You haven't touched it and I'm pretty demanding on the quality," said Mr. Abringer pointing to Neville's coffee.
"Huh? Oh, no, no, not at all, coffee has nothing to do with it," Neville replied quickly.
"It's just that I've got a lot on my mind right now," he added in a tired tone of voice.
"Ah, I see, ...., although as the winner of the competition, I would have expected to see you happier and more animated"
"Yeah, well, it's only a competition for young wizards under the age of 17. The really important tournaments are the ones that don't have the word [Junior] in them" replied Neville authentically, actually he wasn't the one who thought this, it was the previous Magnus who used to say this, but Neville responded by instigating what Magnus would have said.
"Oh, don't discredit your achievement, it's a great accomplishment to beat the top young duelists in Europe. Be proud of that, there are few who can say they have won the All-Europe Junior Wizarding Dueling Competition"
"That's..., yes..., I suppose so, thank you"
"You're welcome young man, I hope you manage to reconcile all those thoughts that are overwhelming you and enjoy your victory and the coffee," said Mr. Abringer with a gentle smile as he walked away.
Neville just smiled softly at the man's amiability, looked at his coffee then shook his head and sighed wearily at the endless thoughts in his mind and quietly sipped his coffee.
After finishing his coffee and relaxing a little, Neville got up from the table, waved to the kind owner before leaving, and walked away, leaving a galleon on the table.