Julian followed Ron and Harry in secret, of course. If the canon events did not unfold correctly, he intended to step in and keep them alive.
That decision proved necessary.
What they ended up facing was so far beyond first years that it was almost absurd.
In the girls' bathroom stood the troll, fifteen feet tall, a tuskless humanoid elephant of a creature that reeked foul enough to make the air feel thick. Julian was not entirely certain, but the "club" in its hands looked very much like an entire tree trunk, stripped of branches and roots.
The way it swung the thing as if it weighed nothing made one fact painfully clear.
If that club connected, someone would be scraped off the floor.
...
Ron and Harry threw themselves into the attempt anyway, because they were Ron and Harry, and their determination was real. Unfortunately, willpower did not matter in the face of a tree trunk coming down fast enough to shove the air aside.
Julian watched the arc of the swing and saw exactly where it would land.
He had two options.
Either Ron became a red smear, or Julian interfered.
So Julian moved.
From a distance, he flicked his wand and shrank the club just enough that when it swept through the space, it fell short of Ron by the smallest, luckiest margin imaginable.
No one noticed.
Not in the chaos.
Not with a troll roaring and Hermione screaming and Ron looking like he had forgotten how breathing worked.
...
Then Ron, in a moment that could only be described as plot armor, managed to levitate the club above the troll's head and drop it down hard onto its skull.
Julian was convinced the only reason the monster did not die on the spot was because trolls possessed a truly frightening amount of natural durability.
Before anyone could catch sight of him, Julian slipped away through a nearby shortcut, leaving the scene to resolve itself as it was meant to.
...
The next day, the story spread through the school like wildfire.
Ron, unfortunately, could not keep his mouth shut.
Julian played his part, acting like nothing about it was unusual and offering the appropriate supportive reactions. He did not mention that Ron would be dead if Julian had not adjusted the club's reach at the right instant.
Hermione did not become pleasant overnight, but over the following days she began to loosen her grip on some of her rigid strictness. She still did not like Julian, but she also no longer looked like she wanted to start a fight every time he spoke, which Julian considered meaningful progress.
It got awkward when Hermione attached herself to their group without any invitation, but most of them simply watched Julian's reaction and followed his lead. Since he did not openly object, neither did they.
...
The day after Halloween, Ron and Harry noticed Snape limping.
Ron latched onto it immediately. He was convinced it meant something.
"That's ridiculous," Tracy said, sounding genuinely doubtful. "Why would he?"
"I'm telling you," Ron insisted, stubborn as ever. "He was fine yesterday, and now he's limping around the place. It can't be a coincidence."
"You have to admit it's kind of suspicious," Harry added, backing Ron.
Even Hermione looked persuaded. On the surface, the pieces fit neatly.
...
Julian stayed out of it entirely. He stared up at the castle's stonework as if the architecture was the most fascinating thing in the world.
Of course, Ron noticed.
Ron never missed an opportunity to misunderstand a social cue.
"What do you think?" Ron demanded.
Julian shrugged. "I think I have enough problems of my own occupying my thoughts without gossiping about the school's most hated professor."
Ron gaped at him, then slowly nodded, finally dropping the subject in favor of something he liked far better.
The upcoming Quidditch match.
Harry had been training for a couple months now, and he was set to play his first real game in a few days.
He was nervous, naturally. The entire school would be watching, and he looked like someone trying not to imagine himself falling off a broom in front of everyone.
"You'll do great, mate," Julian said, giving him an encouraging look.
The rest joined in, and Harry's face eased into a small smile.
...
"The best part," Julian added with a grin, "is that I know a trick that might help you out in a pinch."
Harry tilted his head, confused. "But I can't use my wand in the match. It's against the rules."
Julian scoffed. "You think I don't know that? No, this one's Quidditch exclusive. It's called a launching boom."
Tracy's eyes went wide.
Ron looked outright horrified.
"Are you trying to get him killed!?" Ron blurted.
Harry, still lost, asked the sensible question. "What's a launching boom?"
Julian held up a hand. "Alright. Basically, if you ever need to go much faster for a moment, you lean forward just slightly on your broom, not enough to actually move. You'll feel the energy building in the broom."
He demonstrated the motion with a subtle shift of his shoulders.
"Then, when you finally push the broom properly to accelerate, it launches much faster than normal because of the energy you built up."
He said it like it was the simplest thing in the world.