I vad är förmodligen Moody's första på ett samtal med Neville, efter att han undervisar i klassen om oförlåtliga banderoller och Neville är synligt upprörd vid demonstrationen av Cruciatus-förbannelsen. Neville är så upprörd eftersom det är den förbannelse som Death Eaters (Bellatrix, Barty Crouch Jr, och Rabastan och Rodolphus Lestrange) brukade tortera sina föräldrar till vansinne. Så Moody frågar Neville att komma har te på sitt kontor.
‘It’s all right, sonny,’ he said to Neville. ‘Why don’t you come up to
my office? Come on … we can have a cup of tea …’
Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of tea with Moody.
He neither moved nor spoke.
Moody turned his magical eye upon Harry. ‘You all right, are you,
Potter?’ ‘Yes,’ said Harry, almost defiantly.
Moody’s blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it surveyed Harry.
Then he said, ‘You’ve got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you’ve
got to know. No point pretending … well … come on, Longbottom, I’ve
got some books that might interest you.’
Neville looked pleadingly at Harry, Ron and Hermione, but they didn’t
say anything, so Neville had no choice but to allow himself to be
steered away, one of Moody’s gnarled hands on his shoulder.
‘What was that about?’ said Ron, watching Neville and Moody turn the
corner.” - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 14 (The Unforgivable Curses)
Senare Neville nämnde att Moody lånade honom en bok och berättade för honom att professor Sprout sa att han var bra på Herbology. De kan ha diskuterat andra saker, som de oförlåtna banden eller hans föräldrar, men om de Neville inte nämnde det, vilket är möjligt eftersom han inte brukar tala om det med sina vänner.
“Oh yes,’ said Neville, ‘I’m fine, thanks. Just reading this book
Professor Moody lent me …’
He held up the book: Magical Mediterranean Water-Plants and Their
Properties.
‘Apparently, Professor Sprout told Professor Moody I’m really good at
Herbology,’ Neville said. There was a faint note of pride in his voice
that Harry had rarely heard there before. ‘He thought I’d like this.” - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 14 (The Unforgivable Curses)
Moody kan ha tröstat honom, men ...
We know Moody was actually Barty Crouch Jr., and he wanted to give Neville the book for a different reason. He wanted Neville to learn about Gillyweed so that he could pass the information along to Harry, to make sure he succeeds in the Second Task and wins the Triwizard Tournament to fall into the Dark Lord's trap. Barty Crouch Jr. was actually one of the Death Eaters who helped torture the Longbottoms into insanity, so it's highly unlikely that he genuinely cared about Neville. In fact, he probably enjoyed scaring him with the Cruciatus Curse, since we know he knows Neville is their son.