Upon hearing Draco's words, Herman did not stop; instead, he quickened his pace and ran in the direction Neville and Hugo had gone.
His robe billowed up as he ran, and his boots slammed on the grass, quickly widening the distance between him and the people behind him.
Draco stood there, watching Herman's figure disappear around the corner of the bushes in the distance, the slight dissatisfaction in her mouth seemingly stuck in her throat.
She glanced at Harry, Harry was looking in the direction Herman had run off into, a faint smile still playing on her lips.
The smile was faint, so faint that it was almost invisible unless Draco was standing close enough.
Harry looked away, straightened the cuffs of her school uniform, and then turned and walked towards the castle. "Let's go back."
Draco "Oh" and followed, while Crabbe and Goyle followed at the back, still having a heated debate about who should have the last piece of the Rock Cakes.
By the time Herman chased after them, the three figures had already shrunk into three small, gray dots on the path in the distance.
He quickened his pace, the hem of his robe billowing behind him, his boots making a dull, hurried sound as they trod on the sun-warmed grass.
After passing through the thicket and the shade cast by several old oak trees, the outline of Black Lake suddenly unfolded in the field of vision.
In the afternoon, the lake surface resembled a huge piece of dark silk, rippling with fine waves as the breeze pushed it along, and sunlight fell on the water, breaking into countless shimmering spots of light.
On the grassy lakeside, three dusty figures were scattered. Ron sat near the water's edge, her knees curled up to her chest, her head buried in her arms, her shoulders still trembling slightly.
Neville crouched down beside her, one hand hovering in mid-air, as if he wanted to pat her back to comfort her, but was unsure whether he should.
Hugo stood on the other side, clutching a crumpled handkerchief in his hand. He had pulled it out of his pocket, but it was clear he hadn't used it himself. The handkerchief had several creases and the edges were a little yellowed, looking like it had been stored at the bottom of a trunk for a long time.
Herman slowed his pace as he approached, hearing Neville whispering something.
" Ron, it's okay, really it's okay. It's just a tooth, isn't it? Madam Pomfrey said it'll grow back in a while."
Hugo added from the side, "According to ' Healing Magic,' the regeneration period for teeth lost due to non-magical damage is about two to three weeks. Drinking some milk every day can help with recovery."
Ron let out a muffled groan from her arms, it was hard to tell if it was a response or just to show that she was still crying.
Neville glanced back at Hugo, his expression saying, "Stop reciting your lessons; the more you recite, the more uncomfortable she'll feel."
Hugo probably realized it too, so she shut her mouth and handed the handkerchief back to Ron.
Herman walked over to the three of them and stood down. He looked down at the small patch of clothes on Ron's arm that was wet with tears, then glanced at Neville and Hugo's helpless expressions, and sighed inwardly.
"Um, Ron," Herman carefully chose his words, "I apologize on behalf of Draco; she really went a bit too far just now."
When he finished speaking, he felt that his tone was sincere enough and should have a calming effect.
However, he underestimated his ability to make things worse in interpersonal relationships.
"That's just her personality; sometimes she jokes without thinking, but she doesn't mean any harm. Really, she just thinks it's funny..."
Herman realized halfway through his sentence that he sounded more like he was making excuses for Draco than apologizing, so he quickly changed course, "I mean, she shouldn't have done that. She should have thought before handing you the cake. You just lost a tooth, and that cake was too hard. It really wasn't appropriate."
The more he spoke, the more he realized something was off about his words, so he quickly changed his tune, "Of course she did it on purpose, no, I mean she deliberately teased you, but she didn't expect you to cry, no, she didn't expect you to care so much..."
Ron's shoulders stopped twitching, and she slowly raised her head.
Her eyes were red like two small cherries, with teardrops still clinging to her eyelashes. The tip of her nose was also bright red, and her entire face, from her forehead to her neck, was covered with an uneven layer of pink, making it look as if someone had haphazardly smeared blush on her face.
She looked at Herman with her wet eyes, her gaze filled with a kind of confusion that seemed to ask, "Are you comforting me or just adding insult to injury?"
Herman looked at Ron's face and realized that his words had probably had no positive effect.
He opened his mouth, but could only manage to squeeze out a classic line. " Draco is still a child."
After saying that, even Herman himself thought it was outrageous and had a very paternalistic feel to it.
Strangely, after hearing those words, Ron's tense expression relaxed slightly.
She sniffed, raised her hand to wipe her face with her sleeve, wiping away her tears and snot, then muttered softly, "I know, that's just her personality."
Neville and Hugo both breathed a sigh of relief, exchanging a look that said, "At least they've stopped crying."
Hugo handed the handkerchief forward again, and this time Ron took it, but didn't use it; she just held it in her hand.
Neville patted Ron on the shoulder, the touch light, conveying a sense of comfort between comrades.
Seeing that Ron's emotions had stabilized, Herman felt it was time to steer the conversation away from Draco.
He worried that if the topic continued, he might say something that would only make things worse.
"By the way, what are you doing out here? Is there something you need?"
Herman had only mentioned it casually, but to his surprise, Neville reacted as if a switch had been flipped, his previously relaxed shoulders suddenly tensing up.
He took a step closer to Herman, lowered his voice, and said with barely suppressed urgency, " Quirrell! We saw Quirrell rushing out of the castle, walking very fast, not even bothering to eat, just chewing on a piece of bread. We suspect he's up to something bad again, so we followed him to see."
He paused after speaking, as if suddenly remembering something, and his gaze swept over Herman's face. "By the way, weren't you with Quirrell? Where did he go?"
Herman looked at Neville's serious expression, then glanced at Hugo, who was nodding in agreement, Ron Hugo also looked over, clutching a handkerchief.
All three people, six eyes, were fixed on him, waiting for his answer.
Herman considered it for a moment and decided there was nothing to hide about Quirrell's trip to the Forbidden Forest, so he said truthfully, " Professor Quirrell went to the Forbidden Forest."
The moment those three words were uttered, Neville's expression changed.