After being hit with a jet of scabies medicine and then sprayed with Snape's potion, Neville was still trembling even during dinner.
"If you ask me, mate," Ron began, trying to comfort him, "it's no big deal. After all, nobody can be an expert at everything."
"You're right, Weasley," Draco's shrill voice echoed from behind the Slytherin table. "Maybe this fat little oaf should use his head more instead of thinking with that big bum of his."
"Shut up, Malfoy," Ron said, putting his arm around Neville's shoulder to stop him from looking at Draco.
Seeing Draco about to speak again, the Slytherin monitor, Gemma Farley, intervened. "Mr. Malfoy?"
"Miss Farley," Draco replied.
"Shut up," Gemma said curtly.
She didn't pity Neville for being bullied; she simply didn't want the teachers to catch Draco verbally abusing a classmate and deduct points from Slytherin.
After being warned by the monitor, Draco closed his mouth, but his eyes still followed Ron and Neville as they walked away, lost in thought.
In the afternoon, Harry dragged his roommates and Hermione to Hagrid's hut for a visit.
Hagrid was delighted to see so many young wizards, all from Gryffindor.
"Come on, come on," Hagrid said, noticing Neville's shaky legs as he moved the large dog beside him. "Wait a minute, I'll tie Toothpick first; he's always so excitable."
Once Toothpick was secured, Hagrid invited everyone in to sit down.
Harry had brought plenty of Muggle snacks and several large bottles of Coca-Cola, the 2.5-liter kind.
"Ah, Coca-Cola," Hagrid said, picking up a large bottle and holding it like any ordinary person. "I must admit, Muggles are really remarkable in some ways."
"This is Ron, Seamus, and Neville, and this is Hermione," Harry introduced them to Hagrid.
"Hello, everyone," Hagrid greeted warmly, shaking each of their hands. When he reached Ron, Hagrid smiled. "Another Weasley, huh? I know your two older brothers, Fred and George. To be honest, I can't tell them apart, but it took me nearly my whole life to get them out of the Forbidden Forest."
He grabbed a large plate from the cupboard, full of small, rather rough-looking biscuits.
"Try this, my rock biscuit," Hagrid said, picking one up and chewing it loudly.
Harry's eyelids twitched; this looked serious.
He tried to break the rock biscuit with his hands, but it didn't budge an inch.
Then he poured some water from Hagrid's bottle into a bowl and soaked the rock biscuit to soften it before eating.
Looking up, Harry saw his friends staring at him with the same curious expressions they always had.
Neville still had a piece of rock biscuit in his mouth, apparently unable to bite it.
Harry shrugged, drew his wand, conjured a fork, and placed the softened biscuit in his mouth.
He had to admit: the softened rock biscuit was actually delicious, rich and milky, much like a soufflé.
"Hmm, very good," he said, keeping up appearances for Hagrid. "Sorry, Hagrid, my gums have been a bit sore lately, so I can only eat it softened."
"That's fine, Harry," Hagrid said with a smile.
The others then told Hagrid about the funny things that had happened in class recently, which made him laugh heartily — perhaps reminding him of happy times from his own school days.
"Actually, Professor Sprout's cake is really good," Hagrid began, playfully critiquing the teachers. "As for Professor McGonagall, she is indeed very strict, but also a very good person — in fact, all Hogwarts professors are good people."
Ron had a different interpretation:
"Except Snape," he interrupted quickly.
"Yes," Neville immediately agreed with Ron, and Seamus nodded in unison.
"How can you say that?" Hagrid shook his head. "You'll understand when you meet him. Professor Snape is also a… a…"
He stopped abruptly.
"I feel like he's always watching Harry," Ron said before Hagrid could find the words. "Didn't you see the way Snape looked at him, like he wanted to devour him?"
"No, I think it's complicated," Hermione offered. "Anyway… it's hard to describe the feeling."
"Yes, he certainly is complicated," Hagrid smiled at everyone.
"Why?" Harry insisted. "Hagrid, you've been at Hogwarts so long and you're friends with my parents, you must know, right? I think Professor Snape knows my parents, maybe even was friends with them…"
Unexpectedly, upon hearing Harry's words, Hagrid choked.
"By Merlin's great names… How could you think that?"
Noticing Hagrid's shock, Harry quickly asked, "What is it, Hagrid? Am I wrong?"
"Hum…" Hagrid said vaguely, "It's not that you're wrong, but your parents really did have a deep connection with Professor Snape."
"No wonder…" Harry said, with an air of knowing everything. "No wonder he asked that question."
"Asked?" Ron asked, confused. "What does that have to do with him asking you? Man, I think he's targeting you."
Harry recited the meaning of the name Victoria, and everyone looked shocked, especially Ron, who was wide-eyed.
"But why didn't he just say it directly?" Hermione seemed to understand something, but the main point was missing; she couldn't pinpoint it.
"That's typical of Professor Snape," Hagrid laughed, quickly changing the subject. "How's your brother Charlie?"
He was referring to Ron. "I like him a lot — you know, he has a way with animals."
Ron's attention was immediately caught, and he began talking about Charlie's dragon breeding business in Romania.
Harry, however, was drawn to the newspaper on the table. A piece of it had been cut out, but not completely.
The cut-out contained a report on the Gringotts break-in incident, but Harry's attention was drawn elsewhere.
It wasn't current news, but a recap of an old story, a small historical note.
It reported that, a hundred years ago, the goblin rebellion had been crushed.
Hermione was also fascinated. She picked up the newspaper, incredulous, and exclaimed, "Wow, Harry, your name is there!"
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