A few days later, during lunch, Harry Potter received a Nimbus 2000, leaving the other first-years practically bursting with envy.
And so Gryffindor gained its youngest Seeker in a hundred years.
With the pressure of Quidditch training, he had fewer opportunities to visit Hagrid with Ron Weasley and get closer to him. Ron Weasley, with time on his hands and hoping to get a new wand, joined Murphy's research group too.
However, Ron Weasley's mathematics was far behind Hermione Granger's and Tom's, so he could only do the simplest job: testing.
Ron Weasley rather enjoyed it. After all, a tester only had to follow instructions and do whatever he was told. That was much better than spending all day poring over a Muggle textbook on mathematical statistics until his head spun, as Hermione Granger and Tom had to do.
Besides, Murphy had promised to give him a new wand for free once the research was finished.
Over the next month, the four of them led very full lives.
Not only did Harry have Quidditch training on top of his schoolwork, but Ron Weasley also had to come and serve as Murphy's tester after school or on weekends. He cast who knew how many spells each day, and his spellcasting improved by leaps and bounds as a result. Apart from Hermione Granger and Tom, he became the fastest-improving student in Charms.
Hermione Granger and Tom were busier still. They had to keep up with their schoolwork, handle wand testing, study mathematics, and complete the research group's learning assignments—topics such as ghosts and Legilimency. On top of that, they were secretly keeping an eye on the mystery behind the Trapdoor.
Tom even had to investigate his own origins.
Sometimes, watching them, Murphy felt exhausted on their behalf.
*Even when I was at