In the evening, when Hagrid was meeting with Lupin, Vid also arrived at the Umbrella House.
After reaching the third year, the added courses made everyone's study pressure even greater. To complete assignments smoothly, they gathered at the Umbrella House almost every night.
Although Hermione didn't allow everyone to copy each other's homework, just discussing with friends made the papers, which initially seemed daunting, much easier to write.
Among them, Neville, due to his slow reaction and poor memory, was always the last to finish, so he was usually the most serious and hard-working one.
But tonight, Vid noticed that Neville wasn't doing his homework at all. He hadn't even opened a book but was in the practice room, repeatedly using spells on a wooden target.
"Expelliarmus! Stupefy! Incendio! Stupefy!"
The light from the spells flew out, and the target standing there already had several cracks, but Neville did not stop.
He was exhausted, sweating profusely, and after catching his breath while supporting his knees, he picked up his wand again.
Padma sneaked a peek, immediately withdrew her head, and then shook her head at everyone else.
Hermione sighed, and Harry also looked helpless.
Vid asked in confusion, "What's wrong with Neville today? Did he argue with Malfoy again?"
"No, it was Snape!" Harry said angrily. "He's always been out to get us!"
"What happened?" Vid asked.
"Let me explain," Hermione put down her book and said softly. "During today's Magic Potion Class, we had to brew Shrinking Potion. Neville accidentally added too much rat bile... and to make up for it, he added a few more drops of leech juice..."
"Then Snape was very angry. He said after class he would make Neville's potion feed Leif, and if he got it wrong, Leif would be poisoned..." Harry added.
Leif was Neville's toad. Although this pet was rather ugly and often went missing, Neville cherished it very much.
"And then?" Vid asked, thinking of Neville's current pained expression. "Did Leif die?"
"No." Harry shook his head and said, "Hermione helped, the potion was a success, but after coming back, Neville just..."
He gestured for Vid to look at Neville's seat—
On Neville's table at this moment was a shallow basin filled with some soil and a shallow bowl of water, and the toad Leif lay in the basin, its belly puffing in and out.
Looking very dazed.
Vid took a step back indifferently and asked, "Wasn't the Shrinking Potion used? Why does it still look like an adult?"
"It originally turned into a tadpole. But before class ended, Professor Snape dropped a few drops of potion on it, and it turned back again," Hermione said.
"I see..."
Vid seemed deep in thought.
He suddenly realized that most of his potion reserves were poisons, antidotes, Polyjuice Potion, etc., but actually, Shrinking Potion was also very useful. One bottle was too little; he should stock up more.
To some extent, it can have effects similar to turning back time.
In fact, sometimes the Shrinking Potion can make the drinker younger, and at other times it can physically 'shrink' them.
There are many legends about the Shrinking Potion—
The wizard Sigmund Barch, who invented this potion, gave it to a pair of brothers, resulting in them shrinking to the size of beetles. To avoid being eaten by their own cat, the unfortunate brothers hid under the cupboard for several days until the potion wore off.
Later, a guy named Samuel Prenkert was persecuted by villagers from a Muggle Village, so he poured Shrinking Potion into the village well and then chased after the shrunk villagers wearing Flat-Headed Nail Boots.
And for this potion, even if it's made with the same ingredients and through the same steps to produce the same fresh green, the effects may be completely different.
The specific effect of the Shrinking Potion can only be determined after drinking, not even the wizard who brewed it can be sure beforehand, which is particularly troubling.
But for Vid, regardless of the effect, it would destroy the drinker's combat power, just as useful.
"Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!"
Neville rested for a while and started again.
Such frequent use of spells not only consumes a lot of physical strength but also overuses magic power, which is not good for the future. Everyone was a bit worried but didn't know how to stop him.
— Leif has already recovered, hasn't he?
Moreover, Snape has been targeting Neville for a long time now. Previously, as long as he finished the class, he could quickly adjust himself. Everyone didn't understand why his reaction was so huge this time.
Vid casually patted Harry on the shoulder and said, "I'll go take a look, you guys continue."
Vid entered the practice room and saw Neville silently propping up the shattered target and using "Reparo" to fix it.
But perhaps the spell damage was too deep; Neville tried several times, and the light of the spell flashed, but the target still cracked open.
He knelt on the ground, futilely chanting over and over:
"Reparo! Reparo! Reparo!!"
Sweat dripped down his cheeks, looking as if he was crying.
Vid suddenly understood something, standing at the entrance with his feet seemingly nailed to the ground, his chest felt a sense of suffocation.
After several minutes and countless attempts, Neville finally gave up. He leaned his head against the target, his solid back hunching over, curling into a ball.
Vid hesitated for a moment before walking over, "Neville."
Neville lifted his head, and Vid thought he was crying, but he wasn't.
His face was pale, forehead drenched in sweat, eyes somewhat empty and dazed, looking very tired.
"Vid."
Neville was stunned for a while before calling Vid's name.
He used his sleeve to wipe the stains off the target, lowering his head saying, "I'm sorry... Leian's wooden target, I broke it."
Vid didn't say "It's okay," but instead sat down next to him and asked, "Is that all you want to say?"
Neville slowly blinked his eyes, then said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lost my temper today. Hermione has always been helping me, and I haven't even thanked her..."
"Don't apologize, you have nothing to apologize for."
Vid interrupted him, reached out, put his arm around Neville's shoulders, pulling him close.
Neville was caught off guard and propped himself up on the ground, his calm mask breaking, looking rather astonished with his mouth agape.
"If you feel really bad, just cry it out," Vid said. "It's okay, I'll be here with you—I know you're in a lot of pain right now."
After a long while, the unpleasant, hoarse crying sound began intermittently.
Vid knew that watching his pet be forced to drink the potion likely reminded Neville of his parents being tortured by the Death Eaters.
Why was he so obsessed with the broken target? Probably because it reminded him of the shattered mental world of the Longbottoms.
He couldn't protect them, nor could he fix them.
The toad was still by his side, but his parents remained in St Mungo's.
Vid gently patted Neville's shoulder and sighed quietly.