Hermione poured out her heart to Kayson for a full ten minutes, during which Harry and Neville had been forced to move to other sofas to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
Only Ron, whether he felt it would be cowardly to avoid the conflict or for some other reason, remained firmly seated on the same sofa as Hermione.
However, Kayson believed it wasn't the first reason, because in those ten minutes, Ron had poured Hermione four cups of tea... now five.
Whenever Hermione spoke until her throat was dry, forcing her to pause, Ron would always timely push a cup of tea towards her.
"Thank you," Hermione would always say after drinking.
And Ron would remain seated on the sofa, arms crossed, not responding, as if that way he could maintain the cool persona he had just conceived, but whenever Hermione spoke until her throat was dry, he would still pour and push a cup of tea, then cross his arms and remain cool in the face of her thanks.
Kayson subtly glanced at Harry and Neville, wanting to ask what was going on.
And Harry gave Kayson a look that said, he understood.
Ron's anger could be troublesome, but not too troublesome.
Kayson nodded, clearly attributing this contradictory behavior to Ron's personality as well.
He knew the four little Gryffindors very well; Hermione's personality was never hidden—wise, strong, kind, and sometimes a little mischievous.
Harry's personality seemed soft on the surface, always smiling at everyone who wasn't an enemy, but in reality, his temper was the stubbornest; everything had to be discussed with him, the kind who wouldn't give up until he hit a wall, single-mindedly pursuing his own vision, and if the outcome differed from his expectation, he would get angry.
But this anger wouldn't involve others.
Neville was a perfect friend—good-tempered, comforting, loyal to his friends, and brave enough to point out your mistakes when you made them.
And Ron, of course, was also a very good friend; at eleven, he dared to accompany Harry in a life-or-death situation, while Hermione and Neville had failed at the Potion challenge, and Lord Voldemort was originally Neville's enemy.
Only Ron, he had personally witnessed the attack power of the stone statues at the time, and going for that knight piece was probably genuinely with a death wish.
But being his friend also required a sufficiently tolerant heart, because correspondingly, Ron's personality was somewhat contradictory; logically, he grew up in a loving family, and although he wasn't the most favored, Mrs. Weasley poured no less love into him.
Yet, he needed Harry, an orphan who was perfectly capable of being sensitive, to be understanding and forgiving; this was one of the more tiring aspects of being his friend.
But correspondingly, as mentioned before, Ron's anger could be troublesome, but not too troublesome; although his personality was relatively sensitive, he was actually the softest-hearted, and if he had a cold war with a friend, he wouldn't even need three days; on the second day, he would start remembering all the good qualities of the friend he was having a cold war with.
As for the duration of the cold war, it depended on when his heart softened to the extreme, feeling he couldn't cope without that friend; generally, he would take the initiative to apologize after three or four days, and they would reconcile.
Of course, it might also happen by chance that they have a cold war for decades, and then one day they run into each other on the street.
"Wanna get some skewers?"
"OK! Let's go!"
Kayson knew how many friends, as close as brothers, gradually drifted apart due to so-called 'face,' and Ron's behavior of prioritizing friendship over 'face,' though it might not sound impressive, truly meant striking gold if one ever encountered such a friend.
And now, Ron was likely showing the first signs of being unable to hold out, starting with apologies through actions; what the next step would be was unknown, but the final step should be a verbal apology.
It was only then that Kayson focused on Hermione's complaints, which ultimately boiled down to one main point.
Professor Trelawney was a terrible Professor.
"Uh, I warned you about that at the time," Kayson said, rubbing his temples with a hint of exasperation.
"This is my fault, Professor, I didn't listen to your advice, and I already expected that I didn't have a talent for Divination; I just wanted to try it, and I'm not mad at Professor Trelawney because I can't learn or because of her bizarre teaching methods."
"But Professor, I truly understand now how good your temper is; in thirteen years, I've never known someone's accidents to be so spectacular. Do you know the Final Destination movies? The screenwriters of that movie should really consult Professor Trelawney; their movies could make eight hundred parts and still sell tickets!"
Kayson looked at Hermione, who had been completely broken by Professor Trelawney's minor death prophecies, and stared blankly at Ron.
"What's going on?"
"In short, Professor Trelawney made a prophecy; she predicted that Hermione, wearing slippers, would get dizzy after reading a book in the Library, then be tickled by a quill that had fallen on the corner of the table, and subsequently be thrown over her shoulder by the quill."
"After falling flat, she accidentally sprained her ankle, and when she went to the Medical Wing, Draco Malfoy, who had fallen off his broomstick, was also being treated there. Then Madam Pomfrey mixed up Skele-Gro and Bone-Healing Potion, and they both drank the other's Potion."
"Then Hermione... actually, this wasn't a death prophecy, because Hermione didn't die in the end, she just grew two small horns on her forehead."
After Ron finished speaking, Kayson once again spoke too quickly: "Does she have a tail on her back?"
"Professor..." Hermione looked at Kayson with a half-moon eye, utterly speechless.
"Sorry, sorry," Kayson apologized awkwardly.
... But does accidentally drinking Skele-Gro really make horns grow on one's head?"
"Professor... you can try it."
"Uh... I completely understand your feelings, Hermione. What did you do afterward?" Kayson awkwardly changed the subject.
"I knocked over the crystal ball and threw it on the ground... To be honest, I think I was a bit too gentle..."
Hermione continued.
Kayson soothed her intermittently, and also told Hermione some small life hacks to cheer herself up.
Sirius, who had confirmed there were no rats on Ron, lay helplessly on the carpet; before, he hadn't had many thoughts, or rather, his thoughts were simply too simple—just to find Peter Pettigrew.
Then, like a dog catching a rat, bite him to death.
But now it was different; he might be able to find an ally.
Like the cat named Crookshanks.
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