Lucien and the others turned to look at the chubby boy who'd suddenly appeared at the compartment door. They exchanged glances.
"Is that your pet? Did you lose it on the train?" Hermione asked, her tone carrying its usual confident edge but laced with genuine willingness to help.
The boy didn't answer right away. He seemed to take a moment to process her question, his face scrunching up before he finally spoke, slow and hesitant. "I-I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom. Trevor's my pet toad. I… I think I saw him when I got on the train…"
Neville trailed off, tugging at his blond hair in distress, his round face crumpling. "Sorry, I can't remember exactly." His voice grew quieter, and he hung his head. His memory was terrible, always letting him down, and now he'd even lost track of his own pet.
Hermione sighed, clearly wanting to help but frustrated by Neville's vagueness. Ron, sitting across from them, threw up his hands as if to say he was out of ideas. Harry wanted to help Neville find his toad but hesitated, glancing at the others to see what they'd do.
Lucien, meanwhile, had pulled out his silver-and-black wand, his eyes lowered in thought. He twirled it absently, his mind racing.
Neville, huh? The future Gryffindor swordmaster. His memory was as bad as expected, but losing a toad wasn't a big deal—Trevor would probably wander back eventually. Still, Lucien's habit was to tackle any problem, big or small, by brainstorming solutions. Keeping his mind sharp was the foundation of learning.
His first thought was the Summoning Charm, Accio. It was perfect for finding lost items, especially ones tied closely to their owner. Cast it right, and the object would zoom straight back to you.
But… Lucien glanced at Neville. He doubted the boy had mastered Accio yet. If Lucien cast it himself, he'd need a clear image of Trevor to boost the spell's success rate. Could Neville, with his shaky memory, even describe what Trevor looked like?
Figuring it was worth a shot, Lucien cleared his throat. "Neville, can you describe Trevor's appearance?"
Neville's eyes lit up, clearly relieved someone was willing to help. "Trevor's got big, round eyes, yellowish-brown skin, and bumps all over his back."
Lucien smiled, though it was more amused than confident. That describes every toad in the world. If he wasn't careful, he might accidentally summon someone else's pet toad, and that would be awkward. Fine—appearance was too vague, but he could focus the spell on summoning Neville's toad specifically.
Magic in this world was heavily tied to intent. If a wizard's belief was strong and their emotions focused, spells could pack an extra punch. This was a good chance to practice, anyway.
Lucien didn't just think—he acted. Testing ideas through practice was how you truly mastered knowledge. With a flick of his wand, he said clearly, "Accio Trevor!"
The moment the words left his mouth, excited chatter erupted from the corridor outside.
"Merlin's beard, a flying toad!"
"Is that a magical creature or something?"
"..."
"Ribbit!"
With a loud croak, a yellowish-brown toad soared into the compartment, hovering in front of Lucien's wand. Lucien glanced at the slowly spinning creature. "Is this Trevor?"
Neville rushed forward, nearly pressing his face against the toad's belly. "Trevor?" he asked tentatively.
"Ribbit."
"Trevor, is that you?"
"Ribbit ribbit."
Neville's face lit up as he carefully scooped the toad into his hands. "Yes, yes, it's Trevor!" he exclaimed.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared, wide-eyed, at the scene. Lucien, meanwhile, couldn't help but think, What, does this toad come with voice-activated security or something?
Neville clutched Trevor tightly, his eyes brimming with gratitude as he looked at Lucien. "Thank you, thank you for finding Trevor! What's your name?"
Lucien tucked his wand away. "No big deal, just practicing my Summoning Charm. I'm Lucien Grafton."
Neville nodded eagerly, his voice shaking with excitement. "Lucien, thank you! I'll definitely remember you!" He shuddered at the thought of what his grandmother would've said if he'd lost Trevor for good.
"Your Summoning Charm was amazing!" Neville added, scratching his head sheepishly. "My gran says it's easy to summon your own stuff, but calling something you've never seen is really hard. She tried teaching me Accio, but I could never get it right. Thanks for helping…"
Lucien waved off the thanks. "Don't worry about it. Just keep practicing your spells."
Neville rambled on gratefully, even bowing before he finally left. Once he was gone, Hermione, Ron, and Harry turned to Lucien with shining eyes.
"How'd you pull off that Summoning Charm?" Hermione burst out. "And do you learn spells like that just from books?"
Before Lucien could answer, Ron cut in. "Granger, you can't learn spells that well just from books. Lucien's probably had some top-notch wizard teaching him at home."
Hermione shot Ron a glare for interrupting, lifting her chin defiantly. "Hmph. Who says you can't learn spells from books?"
To prove her point, she drew her wand and pointed it at Harry, who was innocently watching the exchange. "Reparo!" she said sharply.
Harry flinched, thinking she was casting a spell on him, but then he noticed the cracks in his glasses vanish. He pulled them off, running his fingers over the lenses in disbelief. They were good as new.
Lucien watched Hermione's display with a subtle nod of approval. Classic know-it-all Granger, living up to her bookworm reputation. Coming from a Muggle family and mastering spells through self-study was no small feat—her talent and hard work were undeniable.
Reparo was a handy spell. Broken glasses? Fixed with a flick. Lucien couldn't help but wonder if wizards used it to keep everything in their homes running forever. A cauldron passed down three generations, still ticking because of a quick Reparo? No wonder the wizarding economy moves at a snail's pace—no one needs to buy new stuff if nothing ever stays broken.