After thinking it over for a moment, Tver looked at the delighted Ron and said cautiously, "To be honest, your idea really does surprise me."
Ron was sensitive by nature. He had only just managed to arrive at such a firm decision, and if it were crushed now, there was no guarantee he would be able to pull himself together again.
"If you really decide to do this, then one thing is obvious. Whether it's Harry defeating Voldemort or Hermione succeeding in liberating house-elves, even if the danger and hardship you go through is no less than theirs, your name will never be as widely known as theirs."
"I understand, Professor." Ron let out a soft sigh. There was a trace of struggle in it, but even more resignation toward himself.
"I want to shine in the crowd too, but I can't be as gifted as they are, and I don't have the same drive they do."
"It's like being ordinary is just the fate I was born with. If I can help a group of people as brilliant as they are, that's probably already the greatest thing I'll ever be able to do."
Whether he had truly made peace with it or not, in the end he gave a carefree smile and drained the pumpkin juice in his hand in one gulp.
He looked as though he were downing strong liquor.
But after finishing it, he really did seem much more energized. He even shrugged with a self-mocking smile.
"Flowers need green leaves to set them off, don't they? And it's not like I'm completely unnoticed. Plenty of people have noticed me."
"Of course, most of that is because of how horribly I played in the last match."
Tver emptied his own glass along with him.
Ron's reaction was unexpected, and yet somehow entirely understandable.
In the story, Ron had always filled exactly that kind of role. Even after Voldemort's defeat, he first followed Harry into the Ministry of Magic to work as an Auror and hunt down escaped Death Eaters.
Later, he stayed with George, the surviving Weasley twin, and helped run Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
He had never really seemed to show much personal ambition. He just went along with the current and moved with everyone else.
But Tver had to admit that even if his role was not the most prominent, someone like that was indispensable to a team.
That was probably one of the biggest reasons Hermione would eventually choose to marry Ron. After all, the man behind the Minister of Magic was bound to endure a kind of loneliness ordinary men could never handle...
Ron had no idea the professor was already thinking about his future. He set down his cup a little reluctantly, licked his lips, and kept sneaking glances at the bottle of pumpkin juice in Tver's hand.
At first, drinking pumpkin juice had been purely out of admiration for the professor. But now, he seemed to have genuinely fallen in love with the sweet, cloying stuff.
"Oh." Noticing his gaze, Tver finally snapped out of it. "Sorry. I didn't expect you to come up with such a mature idea so soon."
"I didn't really want to admit it either, but what you said just now made me realize that hard work never really goes to waste." Ron looked at Tver with gratitude.
The recognition he wanted was nothing more than that. It was simple, but also very hard to get.
"Even if not many people see it, my effort still exists. It's real."
"It's even better that you were able to understand that." Tver gave the bottle in his hand a satisfied shake and poured him another glass of pumpkin juice.
"In fact, there are a lot of unknown heroes in the wizarding world. Or rather, heroes who hide their true faces. Compared to them, you're already much more visible."
Ron looked a little lost, not understanding why the professor had suddenly turned reflective.
Just then, a hurried knock sounded at the door.
"Professor!" Harry's anxious voice came right after it.
"Ron's missing... oh, so you're here?"
Harry still had one hand raised from pounding on the door, staring in surprise at Professor Fawley, who was smiling at him from inside the office, and at Ron, who looked equally puzzled.
Hermione shoved Harry aside, breathing hard, and shot Ron, who was grinning foolishly, an annoyed glare.
"Didn't you say you weren't feeling well? Then why did Madam Pomfrey say you never went to the Hospital Wing? Do you have any idea we've been looking for you for over an hour? We thought you'd collapsed somewhere on the way!"
"Uh... well..."
Faced with their confusion and irritation, Ron immediately panicked.
He really had not expected his talk with the professor to last this long, nor had he imagined Harry and Hermione would worry this much over one excuse.
"You two really were worried about Ron," Tver said approvingly, which also served as a little reminder to Ron.
"Ron really was feeling a bit unwell. But don't forget, I'm pretty skilled at healing too, aren't I, Ron?"
"That's right!" Ron instantly caught on.
"I really was planning to go to the Hospital Wing at first, but when I passed by here, I ran into the professor and asked him to treat me."
"I'm already feeling much better now!"
To prove it, he bent one arm and struck a bodybuilder's pose.
The problem was that the Hospital Wing was on the second floor, so how exactly had he "passed by" the third floor while coming from the first?
Fortunately, worry made people careless.
Neither of them paid attention to such a small detail.
Hermione still looked a little dissatisfied, but seeing Ron lively and full of energy, with none of the gloom he had been carrying around lately, she did not say anything more.
"Come in, quick. Dobby gave the professor a batch of special pumpkin juice, and it's really good!"
Afraid they would keep pressing the issue, Ron hurriedly called them in, then familiarly poured each of them a glass of pumpkin juice.
Tver watched in silence as the three of them gathered together and started discussing the pumpkin juice in low voices like old friends.
"...Don't you have classes today?"
"Yeah," Harry answered happily, though he quickly looked deflated again. "But tomorrow's Easter break, and the professors have given us loads of homework."
"Ah, if you hadn't reminded me, I'd almost forgotten. I still have some assignments left to grade."
"Homework? Professor, haven't you not assigned any homework yet? Or did I miss something?" Harry asked curiously.
Hermione, on the other hand, was sharp enough to catch what the professor meant. She quickly tugged at Harry and Ron's sleeves.
"We've got a D.A. meeting tonight. Harry, didn't you say you wanted to make sure everyone learned the Patronus Charm before the holiday? You should probably go get ready-"
"You're right." Harry spun around abruptly and looked at Tver in delight. "Professor, could you come and give us some pointers? George and the others said you're really good at teaching the Patronus Charm."
Er...
Good at it, yes. But it helped if the Dementors cooperated.
Tver thought that with a rather odd expression.
Seeing the look on the professor's face, Harry assumed he was tempted, so he hurried on, "It won't take too much of your time. Everyone's already doing pretty well. They just need you to correct a few details."
"Sounds like you've all been doing pretty well indeed."
Tver thought it over. Since the holiday started tomorrow anyway, one busy evening did not really matter. He might as well treat it as a reward for students who had performed well.
"Alright then. See you tonight in the Room of Requirement."