Chapter 113: Kyle, Run!
Chapter 113: Kyle, Run!
After a while, Fred and George joined them, making the compartment feel a bit crowded.
"I wish Hogwarts would give us bigger compartments on the train," Fred complained.
"I heard the prefect compartments are quite spacious and more comfortable," George said with a smile. "It's a shame none of us are prefects."
"By the way, won't Percy be a prefect next year?" Kyle suddenly spoke up.
Fred frowned as if Kyle had just mentioned the cancellation of the Quidditch Cup for the next year instead of Percy.
"As much as I hate to admit it, he probably will be," he said.
"I bet if he does, he'll be wearing that badge all holiday long," George said, sticking a Chocolate Frog card to his chest and imitating Percy as he walked around the corridor outside the compartment, eliciting laughter from the group.
The Weasley brothers never failed to liven up the atmosphere.
The group played a few more rounds of Exploding Snap, and Qiu mentioned the letter, asking if they were really not allowed to use any magic during the holidays.
"Actually, you can, but you have to make sure there's an adult witch or wizard nearby," Fred explained. "That way, the Ministry won't know who performed the magic."
Qiu frowned. "Never mind, then."
...
As the train passed through more towns, Kyle and the others took off their wizard robes and changed into jackets and shirts.
Finally, the train pulled into Platform 9 at King's Cross Station.
To avoid attracting Muggle attention, a wizened old guard stood by the barrier, only allowing two or three people to leave the platform at a time.
Fortunately, not many people were traveling on the train this time, and Kyle's group quickly passed through the barrier after bidding farewell to Connor.
Connor was going to take the Knight Bus home, so she didn't need to leave the station.
The group made their way towards the exit back to the Muggle world.
Qiu's father had come to pick her up. He was a kind-looking Eastern man who greeted Kyle and the others warmly and invited them to visit during the summer vacation.
However, Kyle detected a hint of wariness in his eyes, especially when he looked at him and Cedric.
"Kyle, run!"
At that moment, Ginny Weasley, the youngest Weasley sibling, came running over. "You got into trouble at school, didn't you?" she said to Kyle in a hurried tone. "Mom's really angry. You'd better run now or it'll be too late."
"Thanks for the warning, Ginny," Kyle said, ruffling the little girl's hair. "But I'm afraid it's too late now."
As soon as Ginny had called out his name, Mrs. Weasley had already stormed over, looking furious.
"Good luck, brother," Fred said unsympathetically.
"We'll always remember you," George added.
The two of them jumped aside, clearly eager to watch the upcoming spectacle.
"How dare you go into the Forbidden Forest with a Dark wizard!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily as she reached Kyle. "Do you know how dangerous that was?"
Behind her stood Diana, looking equally stern.
Kyle immediately lowered his head. "I know, and I promise it won't happen again!" he said, quickly pulling out the report card he had prepared beforehand from his pocket.
Nearly every subject had a perfect score, and the only exception had a mere one-point deduction. Even Bill, in his time, hadn't achieved such remarkable results.
"Merlin..." Mrs. Weasley muttered, wiping her hands on her clothes before carefully taking the report card from Kyle.
"Kyle, you'll surely become the Head Boy!" Mrs. Weasley said with a relieved smile.
She then turned to Fred and George, her eyes narrowing. "Let me see your report cards as well."
The smiles on the Weasley twins' faces froze, and they considered claiming that they had lost their report cards.
However, they knew that if they did so, Mrs. Weasley would surely write to Hogwarts, and if they produced the report cards now... they weren't confident they'd make it out of King's Cross Station alive.
As the twins hesitated, Mrs. Weasley's gaze hardened.
"Mom, our report cards are in our trunks," Fred said quickly. "It's not convenient here. Let's show you when we get home."
"We also have newspapers in our trunks. What if Muggles see them?" George added, trying to buy time.
Mrs. Weasley considered the people passing by and nodded, conceding that it was a valid point. "Alright, let's head home then."
At that moment, Kyle walked up to Diana, who maintained a serious expression. Unlike Mrs. Weasley, she didn't scold him.
Instead, she looked at his fingers and asked, "How many times?"
Kyle understood that she was asking about the number of times he had used the ring. He raised his hand, revealing the ring with its three crescent moon decorations, now missing one. "Once."
Diana's expression softened considerably. If he had only used it once, then the situation couldn't have been too dire.
Kyle asked anxiously, "Can I replenish it?"
He recalled Diana mentioning in her previous letter that if he didn't want to take the train, he could use the ring to Apparate home directly. If it could be used as a means of transportation, it should be reusable, he reasoned.
And he was right.
Diana nodded. "Yes, but it's a bit troublesome. It will take about a week."
Kyle breathed a sigh of relief. A week was nothing; even a month would be fine, as he didn't plan on using it anytime soon anyway.
...
Just as they had arrived, Mr. Weasley drove the car, expanded with the Extension Charm, back to St. Kachibor Village.
Along the way, Fred and George's smiles had vanished, as if they were being driven to the gallows instead of home.
Upon returning to their humble abode, Percy wasted no time in presenting his report card. Unsurprisingly, he had achieved the top rank in his fourth year.
Mrs. Weasley smiled and gave him a brief hug. She would have been happier if she hadn't seen Kyle's extraordinary results.
Then she turned her expectant gaze toward Fred and George...
Kyle stood by with his arms folded, anticipating the upcoming spectacle. However, at that moment, Diana pulled him away.
As they began walking home, two miserable screams suddenly rang out, echoing loudly across St. Kachibor Village.
...
(End of Chapter)
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