"Stop playing around," Vid said, "How did your date with Padma go? Was it successful this time?"
"W-What date?" Michael was taken aback, and blushed as he stammered, "We weren't dating... just, uh, just discussing things..."
Vid looked at him with an expression as if he were a fool.
Michael finally stopped denying it, scratched his head, and tentatively asked, "Who knows about it?"
"Don't worry..."
As Michael's expression softened, Vid continued, "Everyone knows, except for a certain dull guy."
Michael's expression froze, and his eyes gradually turned to despair.
"Well, during this time..."
"Yeah. Everyone found it amusing how hard you were trying to hide it, so no one mentioned it... but after the last time, we all thought you went public! So you're still not?"
Vid feigned, "Oh, sorry... just forget what I said earlier."
"How could I forget that!" Michael quipped, immediately standing up, "No way, I'm going to ask Terry... I don't believe everyone knows!"
Terry was Michael's roommate.
Vid watched him, with a face trying to mask his embarrassment, running away, and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"You don't seem very happy."
A somewhat ethereal voice suddenly sounded from nearby.
It turned out to be Luna, who was sitting on a sofa not far away. She had been looking at a magazine covering her entire face.
Now, the girl lowered the magazine a bit, her misty eyes looking over the top at Vid.
Vid's smile immediately froze, as that gaze made him feel like his skin was being pierced, quite uncomfortable.
After a moment, he put away his smile and nodded: "Miss Luna Lovegood? It seems like you're holding your magazine upside down."
"It's no matter." Luna said in her slow tone: "It's meant to be read upside down... Do you need help?"
"...Help?" Vid struggled to understand her meaning: "Where do you think I need help?"
Luna somehow produced a pair of odd pink glasses, put them on, looked closely at Vid, and then nodded as if confirming something.
"You've been infested by Nargles... would you like me to chase them off?"
"...Nargles?"
"Invisible creatures that float into your ears and confuse your brain," Luna affirmed.
Vid suddenly remembered that believing in some fantasy creatures really existing seemed to be Luna's trait.
He was silent for a bit, not wanting to argue with a young girl about the existence of Nargles, and with a mindset of humoring a child, he asked, "Alright then... how would you chase them off?"
"Oh, that's quite simple."
Luna put down the book, walked over to Vid, spread her arms, and made shooing motions, appearing to perform a strange dance, as there was nothing tangible around her.
Laughter from other students came from nearby.
But Luna seemed not to hear them at all. She earnestly helped Vid shoo away the "Nargles", occasionally hopping a bit, making the corks on her hairband bounce and hit her own head.
Vid found her actions both odd and endearing, which made him swing between "embarrassment" and "fun", amusingly improving his mood by quite a bit.
Some negative emotions he had since learning about the bait plan suddenly dispersed.
Luna halted her actions and turned to look at him.
"See, aren't they gone now, isn't it effective?"
"Yes," Vid chuckled, "Thank you, Miss Lovegood."
"You can call me Luna, I don't mind."
After saying so, Luna returned to the sofa and didn't seem interested in continuing the conversation, instead using the magazine to shield herself again.
Vid sat there for a while and only got up to head to the boys' dormitory after Luna returned to her dorm.
Suddenly, a brown-haired girl was pushed in front of him, while a few girls behind her burst into giggles.
The brown-haired girl glared back at them, then looked at Vid and mustered up the courage to speak: "Um... Vid Gray, I... uh... I..."
She stuttered, unable to complete a sentence for quite a while.
Vid looked down at her and asked, "I think... you're one of Luna's roommates, right?"
"Y-yeah!" The girl tucked her hair behind her ear, looked up at him, and asked cautiously, "You and Luna... are you...?"
"I suppose we're friends?" Vid smiled, "Or rather, she's like a caring little sister. I'm glad she has such kind roommates like you."
"N-not really..."
The girl's expression was a bit awkward, and she unconsciously fiddled with her hair. The girls behind her exchanged looks, all looking a bit uncomfortable.
Vid seemed unaware, and gently said:
"Luna has a personality not easily understood by others, but I'm glad you've been accommodating to her. If she occasionally says something unpleasant, don't hold back—let her know. She's not a bad kid, just a little socially clumsy."
"No no, actually everyone's used to it... after all, we're... friends!" she laughed anxiously.
The brown-haired girl tried hard to put on a "kind and friendly" smile.
Vid's gaze swept past them, and the girls behind also put on smiles befitting "friends of a sister."
"Thank you. She's lucky to have friends like you."
Vid took out a handful of mini Magic Pets from his bag and handed them over, saying: "These are some little things I usually make; you all can take them and play."
"Wow—"
The girls covered their mouths in surprise.
On Vid's slender palm were tiny cats, dogs, rabbits, and chicks resembling Magic Pets, some lying down, some cuddling, and some seemingly foraging with short claws and chubby bodies, appearing endearingly clumsy.
Each was so cute it was hard to look away.
Counting the numbers, they could each take one and still have one left over.
The brown-haired girl felt a bit embarrassed to take them, but her companions had already begun choosing their favorites, leaving her to pick up a small cat and also hold the last small rabbit in her hand.
"I'll pass this on to Luna for you... did you forget to give her one just now?"
She said gently.
Vid smiled, "Yes. Thank you for that."
Watching the first-year girls excitedly leave, Vid smiled and walked up the winding staircase.
Meanwhile, the words Machioni had repeatedly told him echoed in his mind, and thinking about it now, they made quite a lot of sense.
In some matters, the power of words is stronger than that of violence.