"I'm sorry, Professor..."
The moment Ron realized he had shouted at a professor, his face turned as red as his hair.
"It's alright. I think I understand why you feel wronged." Tver's expression became more serious.
"Your brothers were all exceptionally outstanding students at Hogwarts, and after graduating, the abilities they showed were every bit as impressive as people expected."
"Even George and Fred, their talent for pranks is still dazzling."
"Except Percy. He makes Mum cry every day..." Ron muttered bitterly.
To the Weasley family, Percy was now a traitor who only brought heartbreak. Mrs. Weasley would quietly sink into sadness the moment his name came up, so the other Weasley children all resented him.
"But you can't deny that he is genuinely capable," Tver said with a sigh. After all, this was the path Percy had chosen, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"So even though you've never received as much attention as they have, the expectations and pressure on you are no less than what they faced."
"And on top of that, your two best friends, Harry and Hermione, do far better than you at school."
"All the attention and affection in your family goes to your brothers and sister, while every chance to stand out at school gets snatched away by Harry and Hermione..."
At that point, Tver abruptly hardened his expression and fixed Ron with an intensely aggressive stare, forcing him to lower his head.
"Because of that, you've always felt things were unfair. You're jealous of them. Am I right, Ron?!"
His voice suddenly rose on the final words, and the sharp question made Ron tremble all over.
His hands clenched into fists against his knees. He kept his head down and stayed silent through gritted teeth, not understanding why the professor was saying this.
Even less did he understand why the professor had to expose him like this.
"What? Have you really fallen so low that you can't even admit what's in your own heart?"
Tver pressed harder, imitating Snape's tone. Cold and detached on the surface, but paired with cutting words, it carried a savage sting of mockery.
Honestly, that kind of lofty sarcasm did feel rather satisfying...
Ron's soft palms were stabbed by his nails digging in, but even that pain was nothing compared to the torment in his chest.
"What are you hesitating for? I heard you performed terribly in that last Quidditch match against Slytherin. Or is it that you don't even dare admit your own failu-"
"That's not it!"
Ron suddenly exploded out of his silence, shouting with his head lowered and tears in his voice.
"I do envy Bill and the others for getting twelve N.E.W.T.s. I envy Harry for being so good at Quidditch, and I envy Hermione even more for always getting such brilliant marks..."
"But I've never been jealous of them!"
"I just wanted to be as outstanding as they are. I just wanted everyone to see... that I've been working hard too..."
"That's more like it." A smile finally appeared on Tver's face. After a moment's thought, he topped up Ron's cup with some specially enhanced pumpkin juice.
"To be precise, you want everyone to see your excellence."
Ron looked up in disbelief. His reddened eyes were full of shock. Sniffling, he asked hesitantly, "My... excellence?"
"Of course. From where I stand, you've always been an excellent student," Tver said sincerely.
"In your first year, you got through the chessboard Professor McGonagall had painstakingly set up. To be honest, even the Dark Lord and I spent a whole year trying to work that thing out."
"In your second year, when the basilisk might have come back to attack again, you still stood firm in front of Hermione and Snape and held your ground until I returned."
"Just Hermione. I wouldn't have cared about Snape," Ron muttered in correction, sounding a bit pleased with himself, though he had clearly forgotten that he had been the one who dragged Snape's petrified body behind him at the time.
"In your third year, you bravely faced Sirius when he was still thought to be a murderer, and you even dared to take action against a professor."
"Er... I don't remember us ever telling you about what happened with Snape..."
"In your fourth year, even though you hated Draco, you still helped Harry save him at the bottom of the lake."
"We didn't know it was Malfoy at the time, actually."
The flush from Ron's earlier outburst was still on his face, but he could not help smiling now. Even the pumpkin juice in his cup seemed to taste better.
This was only the second time a respected professor had praised him like this. The first time had been four years ago, when Dumbledore had casually complimented his wizard chess.
Tver was not surprised by his reaction.
What Ron lacked, in truth, was simply recognition from others. As someone who had always been overlooked within his family, and even within his own little group, not everyone was willing to stay invisible forever.
Especially when they had worked just as hard as everyone else.
"Do you see it now, Ron?" He shifted back to an easy, even approving expression, giving Ron more confidence.
"You've never actually been worse than anyone else. It's just that they don't know it, and even you haven't realized it yet."
"But..." Thinking of his accomplished brothers, Ron faltered again. "Mum's always wanted me to be like Bill, to get top marks..."
"You are yourself, not somebody else's replacement," Tver said firmly.
"Good grades have never been the only measure of a person's ability. George and Fred's grades aren't any good either. You could even say they're terrible, so bad I don't expect them to get any useful N.E.W.T.s at all. But can you deny their ability?"
Thinking of the Weasley twins, who were thriving at school now that Tver had backed them and their business was booming, Ron silently shook his head.
"Your grades already aren't any worse than theirs. The only thing you're missing..." Tver raised one finger and paused. "...is finding your own path."
"That's a question you may need a long time to think about, and you may have to go through a lot of mistakes before you find the answer."
"But no matter what, whether you choose to accept your parents' wishes or follow your own heart, I hope the answer you give yourself will be one you arrived at after truly thinking it through."
Ron pressed his lips together and thought for a moment.
"I know now!"
"Er... I did say you had plenty of time..."
"No, Professor. I'm sure now. More sure than I've ever been before!"
"Harry wants to defeat the Dark Lord... alright, Voldemort!" he said, forcing himself to say the name aloud.
"Hermione wants to protect more vulnerable groups in the wizarding world. Mum wants everyone in the family to be safe and well. George and Fred want to expand their prank business..."
"And I want to see them achieve their wishes more easily because of my help. That's all."
Having found what he truly wanted, Ron broke into a delighted grin.
"I know I'm not really as outstanding as you say, and I'm not as good as everyone else either."
"But that's alright. I, Ron Weasley, am the wizarding world's best partner!"
Tver gave the pumpkin juice bottle in his hand a strange look. He was quite sure he had only added a tiny bit of euphoria potion, not some kind of hallucinogen.