"You actually kept this from me for two whole months." Hermione stared at Neville beside her in disbelief. If looks could turn into knives, Neville would probably have been shaved down to a skeleton by now.
Only moments ago had Hermione learned that Neville's aunt had given him a special broomstick.
Hermione, Harry, and the others had met Neville's aunt in Diagon Alley, but they had not asked about her.
Children rarely asked about their friends' parents, after all.
So only now did Hermione learn that Neville's aunt was a senior manager at an emerging flying broomstick research organization-the Starfire Flight Research Institute.
Earlier that year, this research institute had just developed a new flying broomstick.
It had come out only a little later than the Nimbus 2000 and One.
However, since it was still experimental, it had not been mass-produced. There were only a handful, which had been given to certain organizations and individuals for testing.
As a senior manager at the institute, Neville's aunt had received an allocation, so she had brought this broomstick, provisionally named the "Firebolt," and given it to Neville.
Although Neville loved Quidditch, he did not like playing it. In fact, he was not willing to ride a flying broomstick more than a meter above the ground at all.
Even so, Neville had accepted it very gladly. Although he would not use the broomstick himself, someone on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team could.
Neville had chosen Harry, unquestionably his best friend at Hogwarts.
If Harry had not taught him the Meditation Method and Occlumency, and helped him replace his wand with a new one, he would probably still have been just as he was at the start of his first year.
Neville remembered all too well how agonizing his school life had been back then.