Chapter 101: Memories and Letters
Chapter 101: Memories and Letters
The public lounge was dark and empty, indicating that Connor and Cedric's detention was not yet over.
Without turning on the lights, Kyle sat quietly on a sofa, deep in thought.
There had been too many events tonight, and he needed to make sense of them all.
First, Kyle was certain that the person they had seen during their nocturnal adventure was indeed Hagrid. It couldn't have been someone impersonating him.
Even if someone could mimic Hagrid's appearance using a Polyjuice Potion, the baby fang that had been following him couldn't have been an Animagus. After all, Polyjuice Potion didn't work on animals.
But if it had indeed been Hagrid, why would he deny having gone to the Forbidden Forest that night?
And then there were Dumbledore's words.
Memory Charm, perhaps? Or could it be… the venom of a Bowtruckle?
Kyle took out a small piece of wood with corrosion marks from his pocket and gently rubbed it between his fingers. He had secretly cut this piece from the log earlier when Hagrid wasn't looking.
In the moonlight, the wood still glowed with a faint blue luminescence.
The color matched, but Kyle recalled that Bowtruckle venom wasn't corrosive. Had he remembered it wrong?
Just then, the door to the lounge opened once more, and two figures walked in, one after the other.
"Kyle, I knew you'd be here."
Cedric lowered his voice and said, "Filch left for a while earlier, and when he came back, he was furious. He was looking for you, wasn't he?"
Kyle nodded as he put away the piece of wood. "I did see him when I returned."
"What did you do to make him so angry?" Cedric asked curiously.
"It wasn't me, it was Hagrid," Kyle replied, wiggling his fingers. "He got a taste of Hagrid's temper."
"No wonder Filch was so angry," Cedric said. "I remember he and Hagrid never got along."
"By the way, what was your detention about? I thought we would definitely be done before you," Cedric continued. "Fred told me that the five of us were assigned to clean the Trophy Room together. That's never happened before; it was so easy. But Filch thought so too, so he made us clean it three times before ending our detention."
"Mine was similar," Kyle said. "I was taken to the Forbidden Forest to help Hagrid find something."
"The Forbidden Forest? At night?" Cedric was stunned.
He had imagined countless possibilities—transcribing books, cleaning classrooms, polishing armor, and more—but never had he thought that Kyle's detention would be in the Forbidden Forest.
How could they be even remotely similar? They were worlds apart! And to think they had been detained for the same reason…
True, they had ventured into the forest once at night, but that had been at the outermost edges, where there was little danger even after dark.
But going into the forest with Hagrid to search for something? There was no way it had been a leisurely stroll.
"You're not hurt, are you?" Connor asked anxiously.
"Of course not," Kyle laughed. "If I had been, I'd be in the hospital wing right now. Let me tell you, I even saw a centaur in the Forbidden Forest…"
Kyle regaled them with tales of his experiences in the forest, leaving Cedric and Connor stunned and envious by turns.
Their expressions gradually shifted from worry to awe and admiration.
They, too, wanted to explore the depths of the Forbidden Forest…
As dawn broke, the trio finally succumbed to their sleepiness and ended their conversation. Back in the dormitory, Kyle lay awake in bed, unable to sleep. He took out a piece of parchment and a quill and, by the light of the moon, began to write a letter.
Dumbledore already knew about this matter, so Kyle didn't need to worry about the rest.
Rattata opened one eye and placed its paw on the envelope.
With the reply, Kyle went back to bed and quickly fell asleep.
...
After that, neither Dumbledore nor Hagrid approached him again, and Kyle happily embraced the peace and quiet. Suppressing his curiosity, he focused on preparing for his end-of-term exams.
As exam week approached, the castle seemed to transform overnight. Young witches and wizards practicing wand movements while walking could be spotted everywhere.
This was also the most dangerous time of year at Hogwarts Castle, as there were always students who subconsciously uttered spells while waving their wands.
Moreover, there were quite a few of them. Just on his way from the common room to the Great Hall, Kyle already spotted two unfortunate souls who had been accidentally hit by spells.
Fortunately, they had only been affected by Floating Charms and Mending Charms, so they didn't need to go to the hospital wing.
Kyle cautiously dodged the hidden assailants in the crowd and finally arrived at the Great Hall without incident.
The professors also became aware of the situation.
It was inevitable, as almost every class had two or three students absent due to being sent to the hospital wing. It was hard for them not to notice.
During Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall strictly prohibited students from practicing wand movements in the corridors.
"What have you all been doing?" Professor McGonagall asked, her lips pressed into a thin line. "From now on, if you want to practice, find an empty classroom. If I see anyone who can't control their wand properly, they'll be spending a week in detention."
Compared to Professor McGonagall, Snape's approach was more direct. He told everyone that if anyone missed Potions class due to this incident, he was sorry to say that their end-of-term Potions grades would be directly affected, whether they were absent or the culprits.
That was how unreasonable he was.
Also, Kyle had the feeling that Snape glanced at him when he said this, but he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.
With the professors' explicit prohibition, it took less than half a day for the castle assassins to disappear completely.
By dinnertime, Hogwarts had regained its previous tranquility and harmony, as if nothing had happened.
At the dinner table, Kyle absently cut the steak on his plate. He wasn't worried about Snape secretly targeting him, but he was concerned about Rattata.
Five days had passed since he had sent the letter, and Rattata still hadn't returned.
Five days! Even by train, one could make several round trips between Dorset County and Hogwarts in that time.
(End of Chapter)
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