Nero did not even notice as the night passed, so focused on his task was he. Yet, throughout the night, he went through eleven pine cones, unable to grasp hold of the spell model even once. His parents expected as much, so they were not surprised.
The repeated failures did not wear him down, however. Before and after each attempt he would spend a great amount of time thinking, recalling what he did wrong and focusing on where he needed to improve.
When they got back in the van, Nero opted to go to sleep instead of continuing his attempts. The sun was at high noon when he woke up, and they had paused once more to clear the path from curses. His father, who did not feel bad at all for making his wife do all the fighting, had his feet hanging out the window and a hat covering his head. He did not seem concerned at all.
