Chapter 301: Professor Attacked
Chapter 301: Professor Attacked
Despite Harry's insistence that his arm was fine and he could leave the hospital, Madam Pomfrey insisted that he stay overnight for observation.
"Your arm was broken!" she said firmly. "If you ever want to hold a wand again, we need to make sure it's completely healed before you leave."
And so, Harry had no choice but to stay.
The Gryffindor team returned in the evening, bearing cake, candies, and several bottles of pumpkin juice, intending to throw a little party.
As expected, they were soon sent away on the grounds of disturbing the peace.
...
"I told you ten minutes ago that you'd be back," Kyle said, smiling at the unsuccessful Fred and George in the Great Hall. "If you tried to hold a celebration party here, even Professor Dumbledore would be kicked out, let alone you."
"We had to give it a shot," they replied.
The two sat down at the Hufflepuff table and accepted a dish of condiments from Cedric without any hesitation.
"You know," Fred whispered as he peeled a potato, "it would be great if Flint or Filch woke up just by hearing us laugh."
"Especially Filch," George winked. "He might even thank us for it."
Filch was also in the hospital wing, hidden behind thick curtains that completely enclosed his bed.
...
Early Sunday morning, Kyle prepared to visit Hagrid.
He hadn't been to the hut much this year; only once at the start of the term, and not since. It had been a busy time with catching up on work and learning Ancient Runes; he simply hadn't had the time.
Hagrid had sent him a letter on Friday, saying he'd made some new pickled ham and wanted Kyle to come and try it.
Kyle had agreed.
Though, it had nothing to do with the ham, which he had tasted once the previous year—it had been so salty it might as well have been a lump of salt.
As Kyle left the Great Hall, he ran into Hermione and Ron hurrying toward him in the entrance hall.
"Are you off to see Harry?" he asked.
"Yes... yes, we're just going up now," said Ron, clutching a bulging bag. "This is... we've got him some presents."
There was a sharp, stimulating smell coming from the bag, a bit like fluxweed.
Wow, sending herbs as a gift... since when did Harry become so interested in Potions?
But Kyle didn't say anything, just chatted for a moment before leaving.
Hermione and Ron hurried off upstairs, while Kyle left the castle and made his way to Hagrid's hut.
"You've been busier than a professor lately, Kyle," said Hagrid, taking off his dragon-hide gloves and pretending to be angry. "If I hadn't sent you that letter, I don't suppose I'd ever see you."
"Of course not, Hagrid," said Kyle, explaining, "I've got twelve subjects' worth of homework to do, and I'm in two clubs..."
But Hagrid suddenly laughed.
"I'm only joking," he said, picking up a small copper kettle and filling Kyle's cup with hot pine nut tea. "I know you're busy, Professor Kettleburn told me you'd taken on twelve subjects and had a lot of work to do every night... I thought you wouldn't be able to make it today."
"I need to relax once in a while," said Kyle, picking up his cup and blowing on it.
"I'm glad you feel that way," said Hagrid, beaming. "And Kyle, you're already excellent. Since Bill graduated, I've never heard of anyone joining multiple clubs at the same time. You're the first."
As he spoke, he took out a plate of ham sandwiches that he had prepared earlier.
Kyle shook his head and refused, making an excuse that he had just eaten breakfast.
Hagrid didn't mind and started eating a sandwich from the plate himself.
"What about your friends, the Weasley brothers, Cedric, and Connor..." he asked.
"You should do the same, Kyle. Whether it's classes or anything else, try to stick to places with more people around."
"Are you talking about Filch's incident?"
Kyle set down his cup. "I'll be careful."
"Being careful isn't enough," Hagrid said seriously. "If it weren't for the fact that even a professor... Oh, I shouldn't be saying this."
"A professor?" Kyle frowned, puzzled. "Did something happen last night?"
"Well... you'll find out sooner or later." Hagrid glanced toward the castle and lowered his voice. "It was Professor Quirinus Quirrell. Last night, Dumbledore found him in an empty classroom, and by then, he had already turned just like Filch."
Hagrid poured another cup of tea for Kyle. "Although Quirrell had been studying their lives in Muggle schools, causing her magical abilities to decline somewhat... well, I mean she wasn't as powerful as the other professors, but she's still an adult witch."
Kyle's hand, holding the teacup, froze momentarily.
He never expected the second victim to appear so soon... and it was a professor, no less.
Quirinus Quirrell was a bona fide professor at Hogwarts, and her situation was completely different from Filch's.
If even a professor fell victim, what about the students... it was hard to say, but this incident might lead to the closure of Hogwarts.
Let's see how Dumbledore handles this.
Kyle stayed in Hagrid's hut until noon before leaving with a large chunk of specially cured knobbly pork leg.
Hagrid insisted on giving it to him, and he didn't refuse.
Norbert had been eating nothing but beef legs and pork chops from the kitchen lately, so this would be a nice change of pace.
As luck would have it, just after entering the entrance hall, Kyle once again encountered Hermione and Ron, but this time with Harry in tow.
They had just come down from the upper floors and seemed to be on their way to the Great Hall for lunch.
"I can hardly believe there's such an amazing place in Hogwarts," Ron exclaimed excitedly.
"It's truly incredible," Hermione agreed, her eyes sparkling. "The collection there is even more comprehensive than what we have in Potions class, and they even have self-stirring cauldrons! That could save us so much time."
"It's a shame they don't have potion ingredients... If they had unicorn horns and Boomslang skins from Africa, we wouldn't need to go to Snape..."
"Harry!"
Hermione suddenly raised her voice. "Lunch is about to start. Let's discuss the Potions homework later."
Harry paused, taken aback.
Weren't they talking about the complex potion? When did they start talking about Potions homework?
But Hermione's hint wasn't lost on him, and he quickly noticed Kyle not too far away.
"Oh yes, Hermione..." Harry subconsciously raised his voice as well. "Those Potions assignments are so challenging. I'm famished."
They quickly walked down the stairs and greeted Kyle with feigned enthusiasm, as if they had just noticed him.
"Oh, Kyle, I didn't realize you were here, too."
Their poor acting made Kyle's lips twitch.
To be honest, Sniffles' acting when deceiving him for gold coins was much better than these three.
"I just got back from Hagrid's," Kyle offered a standard smile. "He gave me some pickled ham. Would you like some?"
"No, no, thank you."
Harry, Hermione, and Ron all shook their heads simultaneously.
Unless absolutely necessary, one should never consume anything Hagrid offers... That was a lesson they had learned the previous year.
(End of Chapter)
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