It was a long silence.
At least, to Theo and the others, it felt like Neville had been standing there with his head down for ages.
Rock watched Neville, noticing his breathing was shallow and slow, as if he were afraid of breaking the silence.
"How long... have you guys been looking into this?" Neville finally spoke, his voice trembling slightly.
"Since our very first study group," Rock said gently. "We just started thinking that maybe... the problem wasn't entirely on you."
Neville looked up at his friends, his eyes turning red instantly.
Suddenly, as if realized something, he spun around abruptly, his shoulders shaking.
"I'm sorry," Adam scratched his head, whispering. "We shouldn't have—"
"No, don't say that," Neville interrupted, his voice choked up but clear. "Thank you."
"No one has ever... no one ever thought it could be the wand. Not even me. My Gran always says, 'Your father was a hero with this wand.' I just thought... I couldn't live up to him. I thought I just wasn't good enough."
Rock sighed softly.
Was Neville's grandmother wrong? Not exactly, but her way of showing love was heavy. With her son and daughter-in-law lying in Saint Mungo's Hospital, she was raising her only grandson alone, desperate for him to carry on the family's courage. She just didn't know the right way to teach him.
"I don't want to replace it," Neville looked up at everyone, tears streaming down his face as he clutched the wand to his chest. "This is what my dad left behind... I've only seen my parents a few times growing up."
"Every time I see them, they're in hospital beds. They don't recognize me, but—I'm proud to be their son."
"And this wand... my father held it. He fought with it..."
"Neville, maybe I didn't explain it well earlier. We don't want you to replace it," Adam opened his mouth, his voice a bit dry. "We want to help you and the wand become better partners."
"Kind of like you and Trevor, even though he's always running away," Rock added quietly from the side.
The comparison stunned Neville for a second, and then—he laughed.
A snot bubble popped as he chuckled.
"Trevor ran into the girls' bathroom yesterday. Hermione had to bring him out," Neville said.
The atmosphere in the room instantly lightened.
Rock handed Neville a handkerchief. How many times has it been now? Good thing he had plenty of them.
"Sorry, I... I just wasn't ready to let everyone know," Neville said, taking the handkerchief and looking at the group.
"Hey man, don't be like that."
Theo threw an arm around Neville's shoulder. "We might have only hung out a few times at the start, but you're my friend."
"Exactly!" Adam chimed in from the other side.
Michael raised an eyebrow, while Terry stepped forward. "Count me in, too."
Padma stood nearby, watching quietly.
"So, are you willing to join this project?" Rock pointed at the blackboard, asking softly.
Neville looked at it, paused for a long moment, and nodded. "I will. But you guys can't keep hounding me about my progress."
Everyone laughed again. To be honest, before the project started, they had considered tracking him like a test subject.
"For sure. How about once a week? Since we aren't even sure if this plan will work, we need your feedback to make adjustments," Rock suggested.
"Deal!" Neville nodded solemnly.
---
"It's snowing."
Early the next morning, Rock got up and saw the world outside the window had turned white.
Hearing this, Theo and Adam jolted awake and rushed to the window.
"Cool!" Adam exclaimed. "First time seeing snow from the castle."
"Wait, you don't see snow if you aren't at the castle?" Theo asked, confused.
"Usually around this time of year..." Adam frowned, trying to remember. "I'm off at some tropical beach."
"Oh, shut up," Theo rolled his eyes. "I should hang you up by Merlin's beard and beat you."
Rock shook his head, ignoring their daily bickering, and got up to head to the washroom.
"Rock, there are no classes today, why are you up so early?" Theo poked his head out of his blankets, puzzled.
"I know, but since it snowed, I wanted to go look around the castle grounds," Rock said, a towel draped over his shoulder. "Plus, I think Grandpa would appreciate seeing some photos of a snowy Hogwarts."
"Great idea!"
Hearing that, Theo immediately jumped out of bed. "Please, you have to let me use the camera. Please!"
Since the last incident, Rock had put the camera away for a long time, keeping Penelope's warning in mind, even if they didn't take it too seriously.
"No problem, just keep it low profile," Rock nodded.
Draco had been very quiet lately; they rarely saw him around the castle. According to the Weasley twins, he spent most of his time hiding in his dorm, and even the other Slytherin first-years rarely sought him out.
Rock had to admire the Weasley twins' intelligence network—they could find out just about anything.
As for Theseus and Newt, they hadn't mentioned anything to Rock about the Malfoy family situation. Even when Rock asked, Theseus just said it was their business to handle and told him not to worry about it.
Rock listened, of course. He only asked because he was curious about how miserable the Malfoys were right now. Judging by Draco's behavior, the family wasn't having an easy time.
---
"Woohoo~ It's freezing!"
Adam buried his neck into his scarf as the group walked onto the suspension bridge. Theo said you could see the frozen lake from there.
Snowflakes drifted down, carried by the occasional gust of wind.
Rock felt his nose going numb. "Let's go. If we stay out here any longer, I'm going to catch a cold."
"Not a big deal," Theo replied airily, snapping photos non-stop.
"You want to drink Madam Pomfrey's potion?" Rock asked, surprised. "You know Michael said he took a sip two days ago and felt like steam was shooting out of his skull."
"Ugh—"
Hearing that, Theo immediately spun around and sprinted back the way they came.
"That guy is more afraid of medicine than I am," Adam mumbled.
Rock chuckled, checked his pocket watch, and quickly followed.
When they reached the courtyard, Rock saw two familiar figures near the greenhouses, building a snowman and shouting.
"A little to the left—no, that's too much! Merlin's underpants, were you a troll in a past life?" Fred yelled, sounding very disappointed in George.
"You think you can do better? Move it then! This thing is heavier than little Ronnie!"
George was struggling to lift a massive snowball—Rock estimated it was at least three feet wide—onto the snowman's body.
Hm?
Snowing... and the Weasley twins are building a snowman?