[HPforGrownups] OOP: Neville Questions/Thoughts (Spoilers)

[Wendy St John]

No: HPFGUIDX 64973


Joe in SoFla wrote:

"1- Neville's parents are probably NOT being given the treatment they 
need to get better at St. Mungo's (Isn't St. M's Lucius Malfoy's 
favorite charity?) but rather are being warehoused there and KEPT 
from getting better."

Now me (Wendy):

Good point, Joe. I suspected before OoP that Lucius was paying someone at
St. Mungo's to make sure the Longbottoms didn't recover. And Bode being
killed by a Devil's Snare while under care at the hospital doesn't exactly
inspire my confidence in St. Mungo's, either. If there is corruption at the
hospital, I wonder how deep it goes - is it only a few (maybe even just
one) well-placed staff members who are corrupt, or is it the people at the
top who are evil, with most of the staff being blissfully unaware? The fact
that Lucius was openly making donations to the *hospital* (as opposed to
under-the-table payoffs to a specific person) would seem to indicate the
latter. Which is far uglier and scarier, isn't it?

Anyhow, if we're right that someone at St. Mungo's has been actively
keeping the Longbottom's from their recovery, now that Lucius is in Azkaban
and (presumably) discredited in the Wizarding World, perhaps the
Longbottoms will finally be able to receive the care they need to recover.
Although we've been told in previous books that they don't even recognize
Neville now, after the scene we witnessed where Alice gave Neville the
Droobles wrapper, frankly, I don't believe it. I think at least Alice is
very much aware that Neville is her son, and is possibly aware of a great
deal more and is just not able to *communicate* it for whatever reason
(from the geniune harm done by the torture, or because someone at the
hospital has been keeping her and Frank from recovering). I really, really,
really want to see the Longbottoms recover - for their sakes and Nevilles,
but I also think it would be a great "victory" for the Wizarding World -
for two of Voldemort's victims to return to health (and life, really). Sort
of a slap in the face to the Death Eaters, I'd say.

Cheers!
Wendy