"I'm not denying that madman's influence on Slytherin, but don't lump everyone together."
Looking into Hermione's eyes, Sorimus took a moment to organize his thoughts before continuing.
"It's true that under that lunatic's influence, Slytherin produced quite a lot of bad wizards. But Dark wizards? Hah. You're giving them too much credit. Most of them were just ignorant, arrogant wizards."
He glanced at Neville, then went on.
"Slytherin has also produced quite a few Aurors. During the most chaotic years, plenty of them died fighting against that madman too. I suppose no one ever mentioned that to you, did they? And besides, it's not as though Gryffindor has never produced a Dark wizard. Hermione, you can't hear a few secondhand rumors and decide that every wizard out of Slytherin is a Dark wizard. Of course, I'm not denying that many witches and wizards from Slytherin are not especially good people, but don't judge them all as one."
As he spoke, Sorimus stood up and walked to a cabinet nearby, ignoring Hermione, who had frozen in place, and Neville, who had gone blank the moment he heard the word Auror.
"Neville, this is for you."
Sorimus took a long, narrow box from the cabinet and set it down in front of Neville.
"Open it. From now on, use this one. Cherry wood, unicorn tail hair. It ought to suit you."
"I... I use my dad's wand."
Neville looked down at the box in front of him, then lifted his head to look at Sorimus.
"My gran told me to use it."
"It doesn't suit you. Listen to me, use this one."
Sorimus nudged the wand box on the table with his chin, then continued.
"Using a wand that doesn't suit you is nothing but a waste of time. I know what your grandmother means by it. She hopes an ill-fitting wand will temper your ability. But in my opinion, what you need right now isn't ability. It's confidence."
Neville opened the box with trembling hands.
From childhood until now, he had received almost no gifts. His toad counted as one, that had been from his uncle, in celebration of his first burst of accidental magic. Then there were the sweet wrappers his mother gave him whenever he visited her at St Mungo's. Neville had kept every single one. But something as valuable as a wand, he had never received anything like that in all his life.
For the first time, he could clearly feel the affection this cousin of his, the "little monster" in the mouths of his uncles and the reliable, responsible older cousin in his grandmother's eyes, held for him.
"Thank you. I'll use it well."
Neville's eyes were red.
Hermione looked at Neville, then at Sorimus, and for once did not know what to say.
"After term starts, come to me every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday."
Seeing that Neville had accepted the wand, Sorimus continued,
"I'll make sure you don't fall behind in your classes. And once you can keep up with the schoolwork on your own, I'll teach you a few... extra things."
Neville's habit of meekly enduring everything made Sorimus click his tongue more than once. As an illegitimate child, Sorimus did not receive a monthly allowance from the family. Everything he had, he had to rely on himself to obtain. Neville's grandmother had seen that clearly, which was why she had given Sorimus a considerable sum of Galleons. Her only condition was that he train her grandson properly.
A person who accepts money has obligations.
They might be relatives, but if Neville showed no change at all in the future, Sorimus would have no good way to answer to his grandmother. Thinking of that, Sorimus decided to be ruthless.
"Don't forget, Neville. The people who hurt your parents, the ones truly responsible for what your family has become, are still sitting comfortably in Azkaban. That madman isn't dead either. Sooner or later, your enemies will come out again. Don't you want to avenge your parents with your own hands?"
Sorimus did not think hatred was a good thing.
But he had to admit that hatred could absolutely ignite a person's drive.
Neville lifted his head. His eyes were still red. If before it had been gratitude, now it was anger.
"Then it's settled. Remember, come find me every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evening. Since I've given you the things I meant to give you, let's head back up."
Sorimus stood up.
"Oh, right, Hermione, if you like, you may take a book from the first shelf on the left to pass the time. But when you're done, you must return it to me."
There were four rows of bookshelves inside Sorimus's trunk, but only the books on the shelf he had pointed out to Hermione contained no magical spells and bore no magical restrictions.
"Really? That's wonderful!"
Hermione shot to her feet at once and was just about to dash toward the shelves.
"All right, Hermione, quickly now. We should go back up."
Sorimus picked up his teacup and drained it in one go.
They returned to the compartment, put the trunk away, and then he lifted the Locking Charm.
Sorimus looked at Hermione, who had dropped into her seat and immediately begun reading, and then at...
"Neville! Why have you got your backside sticking up like that?"
He stared as Neville bent over with his head shoved under the seat.
"T-Trevor's gone!"
Neville banged his head against the table.
"Your toad? Impossible. The door was never opened."
Sorimus flicked another glance at the window.
"And the window stayed shut too. Look properly."
To be honest, Sorimus had never understood what Neville's uncle had been thinking when he gave him a toad. An owl would have been fine. If he was too stingy to spend much, then even a few bags of sweets would have been passable. But a toad? What was that even supposed to mean?
"He's really... really gone!"
Neville scrambled back up from the floor in a panic.
"I checked the luggage rack and the floor. Sorimus, help me."
"Hm? I locked the door first. When we went down into the trunk, you left the toad outside, and the window was never opened. So how exactly did your toad disappear?"
Sorimus found it odd. Could the thing walk through walls?
"All right, Neville, I'll help you look for your toad."
Hermione spoke up.
She had realized that if Neville did not find Trevor, she would never get a moment of peace to read. Besides, since they were all friends now, helping out was hardly a big deal.
"Thank you, Hermione."
Neville said it with a flushed face.
Watching the two of them leave the compartment, Sorimus shook his head and went back to his weighty tome.
"Come to think of it, that was probably the first meeting of the Trio."
If Sorimus remembered correctly, Neville would not find that toad anywhere on the train. It would only be found after they reached school. Or rather, instead of saying it would be found, it might be more accurate to say that it would simply appear by Neville's side.
After thinking it over, Sorimus was certain of one thing: when they had gone into the trunk, the toad had definitely still been in the compartment. But when they came back out, it was gone.
That sparked a bit of interest in him.
"I should get hold of it sometime and study it properly. Is its bloodline unusual... or is it like..."
Sorimus narrowed his eyes.
"...that rat?"