Chapter 5: Speech

-Longbottom Manor, January 3, 1976

Today Magnus Neville Longbottom got up early to train.

After his conversation two days ago with his father about the matter of the marriage contract, he decided to return to the Longbottom Manor to be alone and quieter.

He needed to think about a lot of things and relax his thoughts about the whole thing he was going through.

His anger two days ago almost made things end in the most unpleasant way, it was lucky that he managed to control his thoughts and emotions.

Unfortunately, he couldn't completely come to terms with his current situation regarding Bellatrix, but Neville decided that he would leave that matter for later.

Today the main thing on his mind was to finish with another matter.

His father had confirmed that today he must appear at the Ministry of Magic to finally show his face in public and answer some questions from the press, as well as receive the congratulations of the Minister himself in front of everyone.

It may have been a nuisance or an absurdity for him to have to do all this, but Neville had already agreed to do it in order to finally put the matter out of his mind and then concentrate on other things after this was over.

And Neville had already made the definitive decision to act exactly as the previous Magnus would act in front of the press and the Minister, he would say and do the exact same actions, he would be a reflection of him...

This way he would avoid making mistakes that, knowing himself, he was sure he would make.

After finishing his training, he showered, changed, and had a breakfast made by Lord Longbottom's house-elf.

Then he prepared to go to the Ministry of Magic as he had an appointment with the Minister, Harold Minchum, and Hamish MacFarlan, the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, it was a nuisance but Algie had already told him that once he went there they would tell him everything he had to do, so he didn't have to worry about anything.

The sun was low in the sky when he left Longbottom Manor.

He made his way to the visitors' entrance of the Ministry of Magic.

Then he entered a telephone booth and dialled.

After a while, a sweet female voice answered.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. State your name and business..."

"Magnus Neville Longbottom. I have an appointment with the Minister and the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports"

"Thank you, please take the badge and place it on the front of your robes..."

A metal badge fell after the female voice spoke, "Mr. Longbottom, your appointment with the Minister and the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports has been confirmed..."

After she said those words, the cab began to descend until it finally stopped and the doors opened.

"Visitor to the Ministry of Magic, you must submit to a search and present your wand for registration..."

Neville sighed.

"Yeah... I'd forgotten how annoying it was to enter as a visitor to the Ministry," he muttered through his teeth as he stepped out of the booth.

Behind him, the doors slammed shut and the booth quickly rose and disappeared.

Since the Ministry is located underground, the normal order is reversed: the top floor is Level 1, while the Atrium on the main floor is on Level 8 (although both the Department of Mysteries and the Wizengamot hearing rooms are below, on Levels 9 and 10, respectively).

The atrium itself was huge and much better ventilated than one might expect from an underground complex; magic certainly has its advantages.

Neville made his way to the security desk to check in his wand and a quick check.

After a few moments, he was done. He walked through some golden doors to the access lifts.

Pausing for a moment, he noticed the directory to one side:

—---------------------------------------------

Ministry of Magic!

Level Ten, Wizengamot Chambers.

Level Nine, Department of Mysteries

Level Eight, Ministry of Magic Atrium.

Level Seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports

Level Six, Department of Magical Transport

Level Five, Department of International Magical Cooperation

Level Four, Department of Magical Creature Regulation and Control

Level Three, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophe

Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Level One, Minister of Magic and Support Staff

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Neville entered the nearest lift, which he found empty except for a few paper aeroplanes.

He descended on Level Seven and then made his way to the office of the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports where he would meet Hamish MacFarlan who was to take him to the press conference room.

After pacing the floor for a few moments, Neville finally found himself in front of the main offices.

On the left was marked on a brass bar "DMGS Director Hamish MacFarlan".

Neville recognised that name from the famous British wizard who was a Quidditch player for the Montrose Magpies, captaining the side from 1957 to 1968.

He may never have been a good Quidditch player before but he always liked the sport and the previous Magnus unlike him was a good player, he was even on the current Hufflepuff Quidditch team.

Neville stopped thinking about it and knocked on the office door three times.

On the third knock, he entered.

Entering the office of DMGS Headmaster Hamish MacFarlan, Neville found himself surprised, he could have sworn he'd never seen so many paper aeroplanes, not even in the elevated lifts.

But he supposed that in the departments of the Ministry, this must be a common occurrence.

Glancing into the office he noticed Director Hamish MacFarlan, who must have been in his late 40s, sitting quietly going through the paperwork gradually, despite the sheer volume.

Hamish MacFarlan looked up for a moment and then turned his attention to the page in front of him.

"Mr. Longbottom, welcome..., take a seat."

Neville just nodded and sat down silently.

Only a moment later, Hamish MacFarlan set the paper aside.

"I must say I'm glad you finally agreed to come, the press kept insisting me to talk to you..., but you've been out of communication for several days since the competition" Mr. MacFarlan said with a smile as he stared at Neville.

"Yes..., well, I had a lot of stuff to think about and I preferred to take some time to relax my mind and just think everything through more calmly"

"Oh, right, of course, that's understandable. So, are you ready?"

" Yes, I am"

" All right, then follow me, first we will meet with the Minister and then with the press" Mr. MacFarlan said as he got up from his seat and led Neville to another room where the Minister and some other workers of the Ministry of Magic were sitting.

....

....

-Press Room, British Ministry of Magic Headquarters

The large press room of the Ministry of Magic was filled with reporters and cameramen from various newspapers of the magical world.

Lights shone on the cameras, and tape recorders stood ready to capture every single word.

The magical press attended the ceremony in its full force.

Magnus Neville Longbottom was going to speak and answer questions for the first time since he won the All-Europe Junior Wizarding Duelling Competition, so everyone wanted to be present.

After all, he was the hottest topic of popular conversation in Britain at the moment, to the point that even the Minister himself was going to congratulate him in person.

Naturally the Minister of Magic and the people running the Ministry had their own reasons behind this, they thought it would be a good thing to soften the current situation and show the public something new that had nothing to do with the Dark Lord terrorising the entire wizarding community.

Everybody in the room awaited the arrival of Magnus.

And when he appeared, the presenter quickly made his way to the stage that the Ministry of Magic had decided to use for the day.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome a brilliant young British wizard who has earned recognition throughout Europe with his victories in the local junior wizarding competition, another in the USA, and the most recent in France which was none other than the All-Europe Junior Wizarding Duelling Competition," announced the presenter and immediately a great amount of applause could be heard from the people present.

Neville approached the stage calmly, gazing unwaveringly at the crowd.

His eyes moved over all the members of the press.

He wore an expression on his face where no one could tell what he was thinking.

Yet even though on the outside he looked like that, inside he was a pile of nerves, but luckily he managed to perfectly imitate the attitude of the previous Magnus and give the impression that he would have given in a situation like this.

After a while the Minister of Magic also made his presence known, he stood next to Magnus and stared at the press with a smile before he began to speak.

"First I must say, naturally, congratulations to Mr. Longborrom for the great victory he had in France in the All-Europe Junior Wizarding Duelling Competition" the Minister began, only to pause and give a light round of applause which the rest of the audience joined in.

Once all the applause had stopped the Minister continued speaking.

While he was speaking, Neville rolled his eyes at Harold Minchum's speech.

Minister Minchum went on and on during his presentation of Magnus' victory in the All-Europe Junior Wizarding Duelling Competition held this year in France, and most of it was pompous and redundant.