"Sorry, Vid." Fred wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes, "We're still testing the effect of these Canary Cookies."
George said to the others, "Don't worry, we only put one Canary Cookie on the plate, the rest are normal, you can eat them freely."
However, not only did no one else eat the cookies, they became wary of all the other food, afraid there might be a piece of Canary Cookie hidden even in the sandwiches.
"This magic is quite interesting." Vid brushed off a few feathers from his clothes and said eagerly, "But don't you think the transformed canary is too large? And the transformation duration is really too short, not very practical."
"Vid!" Hermione quickly said loudly, "Don't give them any upgrades for their prank products!"
"Yeah, it's a prank product." George nodded and said, "We don't need it to be real, we just need laughter, right?"
Fred grinned, "Exactly right, brother! How boring it would be if the transformation were too real! Who would want to buy an honest magic trick?"
George said, "We're actually developing a new product. After graduation, we want to open a Weasley Brothers joke shop in Diagon Alley, surely it will be even better than Zonko's Joke Shop!"
"Actually, we've already saved enough money to open the shop." Fred said, "But if we quit school to open a shop, Mom would definitely go crazy!"
"Only two years left, hang in there, Fred!"
"You too, George!"
The brothers exchanged banter, and everyone except Hermione joined in the laughter.
Vid rubbed the slender feather in his hand, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes.
If this instant transformation magic could be improved, it could definitely have a surprising effect in battle...
And a single cookie could complete the transformation, much more convenient than spending months or even years, risking one's life to train as an Animagus.
In other words, if he wanted to hide his Animagus identity, Canary Cookies... no, Peregrine Falcon Cookies would be a great excuse?
Vid stroked his chin, his thoughts wandering far away.
"Um, Vid..."
Neville patted Leian's shoulder, switched seats with him, and cautiously approached Vid.
"What's up?" Vid asked.
"Um... I wanted to ask... about the Daydream Quill..."
Neville took a deep breath, the sleeves of his robe on his lap trembled slightly.
"I mean... if I write down my dreams with the Daydream Quill, is there any way to... let others immerse themselves in it too?"
There was a cautious expectation in his eyes.
Vid glanced at the chaotic great hall, stood up, and said, "Let's talk outside."
"Okay." Neville breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed.
Theo turned his head, looked at Leian, and asked, "What are those two up to?"
"Don't know..." Leian shrugged and said, "But it's definitely something important to Neville, right? He seemed really nervous."
Theo's first reaction was, "Did Malfoy bully him again?"
"I don't think so." Leian looked at the Slytherin Long Table, didn't see that pale golden head, sighed, and said, "Malfoy seems to be in a bit of a tough spot this term, it's good enough if he's not being bullied, probably can't bother with bullying others."
Hearing their words, Harry suddenly realized that he hadn't seen Malfoy with his gang coming to bother him in a long time.
...
The noise of the hall gradually faded, Vid and Neville walked on the snowy grass outside the castle. The ground was covered in thick snow, crunching underfoot.
With no one else around, Neville could finally speak frankly to Vid about the reason for his request.
"My parents... due to some reasons, they lost their minds, and are both living in the long-term care ward at St Mungo's, sometimes they don't even recognize me."
Neville didn't know that Vid actually knew about his parents' situation, nor did he intend to announce his parents' tragic ordeal, just explained it as calmly as possible.
Even so, Neville felt a bloody pain as if a wound were being ripped open. If not for Vid, who always helped him, Neville felt he wouldn't have the courage to tell his classmates about it.
His grandmother always said his parents were heroes, that there was nothing to hide about it, he should face it bravely, stand tall and proud. But Neville... he just didn't want others to know.
The boy said with a trembling voice, "The Healer at St Mungo's said... they are unlikely to recover. But if only I could make them feel happiness in their dreams, I feel... I feel..."
His voice choked, and he could hardly continue.
Vid turned his gaze away, avoiding Neville's expression.
"The Daydream Quill only works on the dreamer, the connection with the user starts from the moment the pen hits the paper, making sharing or transferring it very difficult."
Neville's shoulders slumped, and he said disappointedly, "I'm sorry... I thought..."
"But it doesn't mean there's no way to improve your parents' situation." Vid looked at the top of Neville's head and said, "However, it might require you to take some risks."
"What is it?" Neville asked excitedly, "I'm not afraid of danger!"
He then belatedly asked, "Do you know the reason why my parents... became like this?"
"Whatever it may be, as long as it's a mental issue, there's hope for improvement."
Vid said softly.
He looked at Neville's eyes, which lit up momentarily, hesitated for a moment, then took off a stone necklace coiled around his wrist.
When handing it over, Vid felt a bit reluctant, but he still placed the necklace into Neville's hands.
"This necklace can take you into your parents' Spiritual World, talk to them, try to awaken the self hidden within them."
Vid told Neville the spell and added, "But everyone's Spiritual World is unique, if your parents' inner world is already shattered... I don't know what you might encounter after entering. It could also harm you."
"So, think it through first, have someone you trust stand by, prepared to wake you if needed, and only then attempt it, remember?"
"I remember!"
Neville nodded vigorously, clutching the stone necklace tightly, as if grasping his only hope.
He couldn't wait to rush to Gryffindor Tower to share the good news with his grandmother.
Vid turned his gaze away, touched his empty wrist, feeling a bit wistful.
He was about to return to the Umbrella House when he suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps again.
Neville, flushed and out of breath, rushed back, his bangs disheveled from the hurried movement.
"Um... Vid..." Neville stammered, "Can you write down the spell to activate the necklace for me? I... I already forgot what it was..."
Seeing his embarrassed look, Vid couldn't help but laugh.
"Alright, be careful not to lose it."
He conjured a piece of parchment, on which he wrote down a spell and its pronunciation notes in smooth handwriting.
Neville gratefully accepted it with both hands, tucked it into his pocket, and sincerely thanked Vid again. This time he slowed down a bit, and with excitement all over, ran towards Gryffindor Tower.
At the corner, Neville suddenly turned back, showing Vid a radiant smile—a brightness Vid was seeing on his face for the first time.