Neville's Herbology grades were excellent, especially in practical work, something even Hermione privately admired.
His good Herbology grades naturally brought him a little closer to Professor Sprout, which also gave him more opportunities to interact with the Hufflepuff students.
Although he was not particularly familiar with Horace Antonio, he had dealt with him before and knew his background.
After hearing what Neville said, even Ron, who had just dismissed Hermione's speculation, could not help giving it some more thought.
"See!" Hermione seemed all the more as though she had found solid grounds for her theory, looking very pleased with herself. Well, she always looked pleased with herself, because she was right most of the time.
"If that's the case..." Learning that Antonio really did come from a Muggle family made Harry a little suspicious too. After all, that heir of Slytherin had indeed still not been caught.
"But before this, he only ever used the basilisk and the Serpent Man. It was even like that fifty years ago. Why would he suddenly switch to a jinx this time?" Although Ron agreed somewhat, he still had his doubts.
Well, although young Weasley's views were easily changed, he often came up with new ideas too.
"Could it be because he needs time to build up enough magical power?" Hermione said.
Granger also came from a Muggle family and, like Harry, had read all sorts of books and watched all sorts of television.
If she had to put all those plots and schemes into practice herself, she might not manage them well just yet, but if she only had to think of possibilities, she could come up with a whole pile in the blink of an eye:
"Fifty years ago, because someone died right at the start, the school reacted too strongly, so