"I…" Neville was very embarrassed.
Howl looked at Neville's expression, and his intuition told him there was another hidden reason.
Then, Neville's gaze fell on Harry.
He took a deep breath and looked at Draco.
"Sorry, Malfoy."
"…No, it's nothing." Draco waved his hand, feeling a bit bored.
He turned his head to the other side, suddenly remembering one of the reasons Harry was targeted when he first arrived at Slytherin.
He also recalled what he had said to Crabbe and Goyle last night: "Whatever happens with the adults, don't bring it to school."
Words spoken must be acted upon!
He suppressed his inner displeasure and said: "I've already met at least half of the students in different years of Slytherin at various gatherings…
My point is, the Wizarding World is really too small. Your parents and mine might indeed have conflicts, but no matter what happened in the previous generation, I think it's best not to bring it to school."
The others looked at Draco in surprise.
Clap, clap—
Howl clapped his hands and smiled: "Excellent speech, three points to Slytherin."
Draco's lips curled up, then were quickly suppressed, his face flushed slightly, but he humbly said: "It's nothing… the book says so."
Then, Howl looked at Neville.
"Neville, now Mr. Malfoy says he doesn't mind, what about you?"
"Me?"
"Yes." Howl nodded: "Neville, you're very smart, you know what I'm talking about."
Neville was stunned; no one had ever called him smart before…
"If there are no issues, shake hands." Howl said again.
"Or, I can arrange for you to have a fight." He suddenly changed his tone: "Several of my friends became acquainted through a fight. Hmm… what do you think?"
"No, no need!" Neville quickly said, extending his hand.
"Sorry, Malfoy." He said again: "I… I shouldn't have looked at you like that, I did something very stupid."
Draco met his hand, also nodding somewhat awkwardly.
"No… it's nothing, this can be considered a misunderstanding."
Somehow, the two holding hands awkwardly laughed.
Children are always the opposite of adults.
Beneath shy, less candid faces, true apologies might be hidden.
"Alright, then let's put this matter behind us." Howl nodded: "Hmm, so let's go back to the original question."
"Oh…" Neville said: "But you have to promise you won't tell anyone."
?!
Howl's heart skipped a beat: "Neville, you can choose not to say, trust your inner choice."
"No, Harry needs it, doesn't he? Though I don't know why." Neville nodded earnestly.
"My mom and dad, they… they're both in St. Mungos Hospital…" His voice trembled and was faint.
"For many, many years… because of the Death Eaters."
Draco suddenly understood something, his breath hitched, and he inexplicably blurted out: "Sorry… Longbottom…"
"You don't need to be sorry, you're not a Death Eater." Neville forced a smile.
"Can you not tell anyone? I don't want people to pity me because of this." Neville said stubbornly.
"Of course." Howl nodded: "I can assure you, whoever dares to tell, I will cut out their tongue."
Everyone inexplicably felt that he wasn't joking.
"No… of course not."
"Never."
"We can make an Unbreakable Vow." Draco even added.
Hmm… though he had only heard about that spell from adults.
"Alright, let's end this discussion." Howl nodded: "The conflict is resolved, let's wave it away like smoke."
The Little Wizards nodded one after another.
"Neville, can we talk again?" Howl said again. "Just like friends."
Neville gathered his courage and nodded.
The trio knew they should leave and quickly said goodbye to Howl and departed.
Outside the office, Harry shook his head dejectedly: "Damn it… I… how could I…"
"No, Harry… it just happened, we didn't know before." Hermione comforted him.
"Don't think about it, let's go to the library."
As she spoke, she looked at Draco.
"Are you coming?"
As soon as Draco came out, he leaned heavily against the wall, shaking his head distractedly: "No… you go… I need to calm down."
Hermione wanted to offer more comfort, but Harry unexpectedly nodded.
"Okay."
He knew it was time to leave Draco alone to calm down.
Actually… he could feel that Draco's situation wasn't much better than his. The matters of their parents' generation, conflicts of ideals, his own choices…
After the others left, Draco still leaned against the wall, staring blankly at the ceiling.
In the quiet corridor, rustling sounds appeared.
He turned his head and saw a red-haired figure with a face full of freckles.
Ron Weasley, he remembered this person.
"Weasley." He said.
"What do you want?" Ron said with some hostility.
"Heh heh, don't cling to that foolish house division." Draco said again, a hint of arrogance on his lips, returning to his previous demeanor.
"I have a question for you." He said.
"Death Eaters, and Dark Magic—You-Know-Who!
What exactly are they? What exactly did they do?"
…
At the same time, inside the office, Howl took Neville's wand.
"Neville, this isn't your wand, is it?"
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