After leaving Hagrid's place, Lynn, Harley, and Cho enjoyed a peaceful stretch of school life.
Although Hagrid had provided the name of the person who framed him, information regarding "Tom Riddle" was far too scarce.
All they could find was that he had been an exceptionally brilliant student at Hogwarts. In the Trophy Room, there were five or six trophies bearing his name.
The most ironic among them was an Award for Special Services to the School—granted because he had identified Hagrid and found the so-called "culprit."
However, intelligence on him after leaving Hogwarts was a complete blank.
By all rights, a prodigy who had been so dazzling during his school years should have been equally brilliant after graduation. He should have either achieved academic greatness or risen rapidly through the ranks of the Ministry of Magic.
He had many supporters; those from pure-blood wizarding families would have undoubtedly offered him significant assistance, given the outstanding leadership he displayed while at school.
With the investigation hitting a dead end, Harley and Cho had to set it aside for the time being. The end-of-term exams were drawing closer, and the professors were assigning enough homework to make one's head spin.
Harley, in particular, was even busier than Lynn. The Quidditch final was only a couple of days away, so she had to carve out time for training without letting her coursework slip.
On top of that, Harley had promised Snape she would participate in the next Potions Championship, requiring her to spend several hours every weekend taking remedial lessons.
But she wasn't the only one keeping busy. Lynn's roommates had recently begun to see Neville in a whole new light.
It wasn't because of any spectacular performance in class, but because Neville, originally quite chubby, had visibly slimmed down in the months following Christmas.
Although Neville still had a round face, his jawline was now clearly defined. His robes, which used to fit snugly, now hung somewhat loosely on his frame. Fortunately, he had shot up several inches in height, so he could still carry the clothes off.
"Neville, what made you suddenly decide to lose weight?"
One evening, after Neville came out of the shower, Seamus clicked his tongue, his eyes looking Neville up and down as the boy emerged from the bathroom wearing only a pair of shorts.
"You actually have abs now?! For real?"
He reached out and patted Neville's stomach. Where once he could have slapped ripples into the belly fat, he now felt the faint, hard lines of abdominal muscles.
"Just exercising more," Neville smiled sheepishly, grabbing a long-sleeved T-shirt and pulling it on. The biting cold of winter and early spring had passed, but given the wretched British weather, summer didn't guarantee many days suitable for short sleeves.
"If you spent a few hours exercising every day, Seamus, you'd definitely—oh, wait, you already have them."
"I'm just skinny," Seamus pulled up his shirt and patted his ribs. "Can't you see I'm nothing but skin?"
"But Neville is actually built! If you punched me, I guarantee I'd die on the spot just to show you."
"Hahahaha!" Dean laughed uncontrollably from the side. "And then Neville would definitely kneel down and beg you not to die."
"Isn't it obvious, though?" Dean kicked Seamus lightly in the rear. "If a guy suddenly bursts with amazing willpower and starts constantly working to become strong and outstanding, it definitely means he has someone he likes."
"Spit it out, Neville. Who are you planning to confess to?"
"Parvati? Or... the only good-looking first-year girls in our house are basically Parvati and Harley, right?"
"Maybe it's someone from another house. Doesn't Parvati have a sister in Ravenclaw? Hufflepuff has two really cute girls this year, too."
Neville blushed slightly. He shook his head and said, "No... I'm not trying to confess to any girl..."
"I just..."
"Lynn gave me a present for Christmas. He said I have a talent for this, and if I want to become even more powerful than my mum and dad in the future, learning this... might be more helpful."
"Secret special training?!"
Seamus and Dean exchanged a glance, then quickly crowded around Neville, hooking their arms around his shoulders.
"What secret training? Let us see!"
"It's really nothing much..."
"Lynn found me a special teacher. Though, I also have to thank Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick for their help; the professors arranged sparring partners for me."
Neville grabbed a belt from his bed. Attached to it was a small pouch. He reached in and pulled out a short sword that looked decidedly high-tech.
"Master Blade: Denkoumaru. Lynn says it has a built-in computer... and radar..."
"...As long as you hold it, you can become a sword master. But it has an energy limit. For training purposes, it lasts about an hour."
Neville twirled the sword with a flourish; he was already very familiar with it.
"Don't worry, it doesn't have a sharp edge. According to Lynn, this counts as an educational toy."
"Educational toy?"
Dean's face crinkled up as he dryly retorted, "Who makes an educational toy that's a sword? Are they trying to raise swordsmen or hitmen from childhood?"
"But, Neville, we're wizards. Wizards use wands. You holding a sword... are you planning to charge in and hack people?"
Seamus curiously touched the blade of the Denkoumaru but didn't feel anything particularly special about it.
"Why don't you guys try casting spells at me?"
Neville took a few steps back. "Stand by the opposite wall and use a spell on me. Or shooting sparks works too."
"Really?"
Suddenly eager, Seamus and Dean hurriedly retreated to the far end of the dormitory and stood against the wall. "We'll shoot sparks at you. Casting actual hexes isn't a good idea, even if my spells don't explode anymore."
After correcting his habit of carelessness, Seamus's spellcasting stability had improved significantly; he no longer blew himself up at the drop of a hat.
"Neville, are you ready?"
"I'm ready!"
Neville gripped the Denkoumaru in his left hand but didn't press the activation button. If activated, the blade would be covered in yellow energy, but the material itself was sturdy—harder than steel and very light.
"Then—take this!"
Seamus shouted, and a stream of red sparks flew from the tip of his wand, shooting toward Neville.
But with a flash of the blade, the sparks were instantly sliced apart the moment they neared Neville.
"That's cool!!"
Seamus and Dean exclaimed. The sparks they fired were no slower than standard spells—it felt like a flash of light reaching the other side instantly—yet Neville had cut them down with ease.
"It's alright, actually. I can hit up to three spells at once, max."
"I don't believe it!" Dean said loudly. "Unless you let me try too."
"Sure."
Neville wasn't as shy as he used to be. After building up his confidence, he was completely different from his old self.
"Careful then!"
Seamus and Dean gripped their wands and fired two streams of sparks at Neville.
Still gripping the sword in his left hand and standing firm, Neville swung the Denkoumaru. Without exception, the incoming sparks were accurately struck down.
"What are you guys doing?!"
The dormitory door had been pushed open at some point. Ron stood there, mouth agape, staring dumbfounded at the three of them.
"Neville can block spells with a sword! Ron!"
"It's super handsome! Super amazing!"
Seamus and Dean spoke excitedly. "Why don't you try too? Fire sparks at Neville; he says he can block up to three spells at once."
"I'll do it!"
Ron hurriedly pulled out his wand and stood next to Seamus and Dean, while Neville readied himself on the opposite side.
"Ready————Go!"
Shoo! Shoo! Two red lights flashed, and Neville once again scattered the sparks.
"Huh?" Seamus turned his head in confusion. "Ron, what are you doing?"
Ron, now the focus of several gazes, turned red. He opened his mouth but didn't make a sound for a long while.
"Boring."
With a sour look on his face, Ron grumpily put away his wand, yanked open the bathroom door, and slammed it shut with a bang. It was unclear if he had a sudden need to pee or was just full of it.
"It can't be that Ron forgot how to use the Firework Spell (Flagro Chromatique), right?"
"Maybe he just got a sudden stomachache?" Dean said uncertainly. "They taught that right after the Wand-Lighting Charm. He couldn't have forgotten it, could he?"
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