Old, old problem.

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 150967

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Shamyn D. W." <shamyn at ...> wrote:

:Draeconin
> I thought the Longbottoms were tortured into catatonia by Voldemort
> himself?

Geoff:
No.  canon is very clear about this:

'"You know - you know the trial you found me in? The one with Crouch's son? Well... were 
they talking about Neville's parents?"
Dumbledore gave Harry a very sharp look.
"Has Neville never told you why he was brought up by his grandmother?" he said.
Harry shook his head, wondering, as he did so, how he could have failed to ask Neville 
this, in almost four years of knowing him.
"Yes, they were talking about Neville's parents," said Dumbledore. "His father, Frank, was 
an Auror just like Professor Moody. He and his wife were tortured for information about 
Voldermort's whereabouts after he lost his powers as you heard."
"So they're dead?" said Harry quietly."No," said Dumbledore, his voice of a bitterness Harry 
had never heard there before, "they are insane. They are both in St.Mungo's Hospital for 
Magical Maladies and Injuries. I believe Neville visits them, with his grandmother, during 
the holidays. They do not recognise him."
Harry sat there, horror-struck. He had never known... never, in four years, bothered to find 
out..."
"The Longbottoms were very popular," said Dumbledore. "The attacks on them came after 
Voldermort's fall from power, just when everyone thought they were safe. Those attacks 
caused a wave of fury such as I have never known..."'
(GOF "The Pensieve" pp.523-24 UK edition)

And we also know that Bellatrix was, on her own admission,  certainly involved...

'One of the largest Death Eaters seized Neville from behind, pinioning his arms to his 
sides. He struggled and kicked; several of the Death Eaters laughed.
"It's Longbottom, isn't it?" sneered Lucius Malfoy. "Well, your grandmother is used to 
losing family members to our cause... your death will not come as a great shock."
"Longbottom?" repeated Bellatrix and a truly evil smile lit her gaunt face. "Why, I have had 
the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy."
"I DOE YOU HAB!" roared Neville and he fought so hard against his captor's encircling grip 
that the Death Eater shouted, "Someone stun him."
"No, no, no," said Bellatrix. She looked transported, alive with excitement as she glanced 
at Harry, then back at Neville. "No, let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks 
like his parents... unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy."'
(OOTP "Beyond the Veil" pp.705-06 UK edition)