At that moment, Ron wanted to cry, but no tears would come.
He looked at the wand on the table, now reduced to fragments, then looked at Douglas.
Holding back the tears in his eyes, Ron pretended not to care:
"Professor, it's all right. This wasn't your fault.
It couldn't work properly anyway!"
For a moment, Harry and Hermione did not know how to comfort Ron either.
Douglas shrugged and said helplessly:
"Don't be upset. Since I was the one who broke it completely, I'll buy you a replacement."
Ron quickly waved his hands and said:
"No, no, it was already broken!"
Seeing Ron's reaction, Douglas said firmly:
"You're going to make me feel terrible.
How am I supposed to face Bill and Charlie after shattering their little brother's wand and then doing nothing about it?
Besides, spell experiments use things up. That's perfectly normal.
Without your wand to experiment on, I wouldn't know what the difference between this wand and that one was!
All right, that's settled."
With that, Douglas gave Harry and Hermione, who were standing off to the side, a meaningful look.
The two quickly understood what Douglas meant.
They joined in trying to persuade Ron.
Only Hagrid stood to one side, blithely eating chicken feet.
He also cautiously glanced at the pink umbrella in the corner, then gave Douglas a somewhat scornful look.
As Harry and Hermione repeatedly laid out the facts and reasoned with him,
Ron's resolve finally began to waver.
Douglas chose just the right moment to add:
"Ron, I told Bill back then that I would give every new Weasley student a gift when they started school.
Unfortunately, I wasn't at Hogwarts when George, Fred, and you started.
Consider the new wand my gift to you for starting school. Don't tell George and Fred about this.
After all, I have no intention of making up their gifts!"
When Ron heard that George and Fred had not received anything either,
he immediately accepted Douglas's compensation with a beaming smile.
He also promised to keep it a secret from his two older brothers.
Hearing Ron finally agree, Douglas could not help breathing a sigh of relief.
Giving this gift had been far too much work.
Although he had not had much contact with Ron, based on the original story's portrayal of him,
Douglas knew very well that Ron was actually a sensitive person with a strong sense of pride.
Of course, that was not the only reason.
From what he knew of the Weasley family, they were very mindful of courtesy.
If someone gave them a gift, they would certainly think about returning the favor.
So when giving them gifts, he had to consider what they could afford.
It was fine if the gift's value was within the Weasley family's means.
But if it was too expensive, it would put the Weasley family in a very awkward position, and might even make their already straitened circumstances more difficult.
That was why Douglas chose an appropriate moment whenever he gave the Weasley children gifts.
Nor did he turn his nose up at the sweaters Mrs. Weasley knitted by hand.
Although they differed somewhat from his tastes, Mrs. Weasley was, in this world,
one of only two elders who still remembered his birthday.
The other was Director George at the orphanage.
Of course, the main issue at the moment was certainly not that the Weasley family could not afford a wand.
After all, Douglas had not required the students to buy his books this year.
The money they had saved was enough to buy a wand.
Douglas was willing to bet that Ron had not dared tell his family that the Whomping Willow had snapped his wand during that flying accident.
After all, the Howler from the second day of term still had its deterrent effect.
With Douglas's help and disapproving comments, the pork and glass noodle stew was soon ready.
After all, following his usual habits, Hagrid had cut the chunks of meat almost as large as Douglas's face.
Just as they were about to eat, Hagrid mysteriously produced a long, tubular bag woven from unicorn hair.
He cheerfully handed it to Douglas.
"Douglas, didn't you always want a pair of chopsticks made from unicorn horn?
Have a look and see if they suit you!"
Douglas looked at Hagrid in surprise and took the bag from him.
He opened it and found a pair of chopsticks inside, golden and lustrous as jade.
If he remembered correctly, he had only mentioned it in passing while talking to Hagrid about unicorns in his fifth year.
He had never expected Hagrid to remember after all these years.
Seeing Douglas's expression, Hagrid waved a hand dismissively and said:
"It was just that last year, two poor unicorns happened to be killed by Voldemort.
Harry and the others know about that too..."
The three children stared fixedly at the pair of chopsticks.
Ron could not help saying enviously, "If only my wand were like those!"
Hagrid laughed heartily and winked at the Trio.
"I bet you don't know why one of the Hogwarts school rules says, 'Do not use your own or anyone else's wand as chopsticks.'"
All three nodded.
Harry said, "Before I came to Hogwarts, I didn't even know what chopsticks were!"
Ron said proudly:
"I knew, I knew, but honestly, chopsticks aren't very convenient to use.
Mum used to make hot pot occasionally, and we'd use chopsticks. But Mum was the only one in the family who could use them skillfully.
I really don't know where she learned, though."
Hermione also said curiously:
"I was wondering about that rule all last year, because as far as I knew, chopsticks were only used in the East in the Muggle world.
And I noticed that apart from some Hufflepuff students, not many people at Hogwarts could use them.
Did Hogwarts once have exchange students from the East?"
Hagrid said nothing, but his gaze had already shown the Trio that this rule had something to do with Professor Holmes.
Douglas was trying out his pair of Hagrid-made chopsticks.
They were just a little longer and thicker than the unicorn-horn chopsticks he had made himself.
They were very suitable for cooking food in hot pot.
Seeing everyone looking at him, Douglas rolled his eyes at Hagrid.
Next time I eat with Hagrid, no one else can be around. His mouth is far too big.
"Actually, that rule goes together with another one: 'Do not use cauldrons for hot pot.'
Once, a few unlucky children were dipping their wands into a cauldron as chopsticks when something they said inadvertently triggered a spell.
The whole hot pot exploded on the spot, sending several people to the Hospital Wing...
All right, let's not bring up those painful memories.
With delicious food right in front of you, how can you talk about all that irrelevant nonsense!"
The three children exchanged looks. They had always thought the rule against using cauldrons for hot pot dated back many years.
After all, surely no one would dare do such a thing while Professor Snape was teaching Potions Class.
It seemed Professor Holmes was even more formidable than they had imagined, daring to defy Snape while he was still at school.
The main thing was that Professor Holmes's attempt to change the subject was far too clumsy.
It made it hard for them not to suspect that he was that unlucky child.
What was more, Harry was certain he had not been mistaken earlier: Professor Holmes had been carrying two wands.
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