“You think I’d betray you in battle? That I’d stab you in the back?! You mean to tell me that when I pulled you out of harm’s way with that basilisk I was just doing it for myself? That I honestly didn’t give the slightest shit about what happened to you? You know what! You’re right! You really are a dumb goat if you believe that!” By this point she was shaking her head, her arms not quite as animated as his. “If you can’t handle just a tiny water nymph like me, one who means absolutely nothing to you except as a means to an end, knowing that you’ll be dealing with and facing far worse... then maybe you don’t belong here at all. And maybe I was stupid too for thinking otherwise and believing that maybe you really<i>were</i>what you said you were.” Her voice was low, her eyes boring into his with her jaw tensed, the two of them standing barely inches apart from each other by this point. She’d seen what he was capable of firsthand. She’d felt his power during their combat class. Witnessed his focus during meditation. Seen his will to persevere even through his fears at the river. Was it all just a show? A performance?