Chapter 301: The Professor's Attack
Chapter 301: The Professor's Attack
Despite Harry's repeated assurances that his arm was fine and he could leave the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey insisted he stay for one night.
"Your arm has been reset!" she said. "If you want to hold a wand again, you must ensure it's fully healed before leaving."
And so, Harry had no choice but to stay.
The Gryffindor team returned in the evening, bringing cakes, candies, and a few bottles of pumpkin juice, seemingly intending to have a joyful party.
As expected, they were chased out, citing serious disruption to others' rest.
...
"I told you ten minutes ago that you'd have to come back," Kyle said.
In the Great Hall, Kyle watched Fred and George return empty-handed, and laughed, "Even if Professor Dumbledore himself wanted to hold a celebration here, he'd be kicked out, let alone you two."
"We've got to try it at least," Fred said.
The two sat down next to the Hufflepuff long table, unreservedly accepting the condiment dish Cedric passed to them.
"To be honest..." Fred peeled a potato and muttered softly, "If laughing could wake up Flint or Filch, that would be great."
"Especially Filch..." George winked. "He might even thank us for it."
Filch was also in the hospital wing, but thick curtains were drawn around him, completely shielding him from view.
...
On Sunday morning, Kyle prepared to visit Hagrid.
This year, he had visited Hagrid's hut very few times, only once at the start of the school year, and not again since... mainly because he had been too busy with homework and Rune Club, leaving no time.
Hagrid had sent a letter on Friday, saying he had prepared new pickled ham and wanted Kyle to come and try it.
Kyle agreed.
However, the pickled ham was not the reason for his visit; he had tasted it once last year... it was so salty, it was like biting into a block of salt.
He even once suspected it was salt, just disguised as ham by Hagrid.
After leaving the Great Hall, Kyle encountered Hermione and Ron rushing towards him in the main hall.
"Are you going to see Harry?" Kyle asked.
"Yes... yes, we're on our way," Ron said, clutching a bulging bag and speaking nervously. "This is... a gift for him."
A strong scent of liquid grass emanated from the bag.
Wow, sending herbs as a gift... when did Harry become so fond of potions?
However, Kyle didn't point this out and instead chatted casually before leaving.
Hermione and Ron hurried upstairs, while Kyle left the castle and arrived at Hagrid's cabin.
"You've been busier than even the professors lately, Kyle," Hagrid said, removing his dragon skin gloves.
"If I didn't write to you, would you not have come?" Hagrid pretended to be angry.
"Of course not, Hagrid," Kyle explained. "I have homework for twelve subjects and participate in two clubs..."
But he saw Hagrid suddenly smile.
"I was just joking," Hagrid said, picking up a copper kettle and pouring some hot pine nut tea into Kyle's cup. "I know you're busy, Kyle. Professor Kettleburn told me you're taking twelve subjects and have a lot of homework every day... I even thought you wouldn't be able to come today."
"I need to relax a bit," Kyle said, picking up the cup and blowing on it.
"It's great that you think so," Hagrid said with a smile. "And Kyle, you're already excellent. Since Bill graduated, I haven't heard of anyone joining multiple clubs at the same time. You're the first."
As he spoke, he also took out the prepared ham sandwiches in advance.
Kyle shook his head and declined, saying he had just eaten breakfast.
Hagrid didn't mind and started eating from the plate himself.
"Where are your friends, the Weasley brothers, Cedric, and Conna?" he asked.
"They’ve gone to practice," Kyle said. "Kona and Autumn are at the library working on their rune homework."
"Ah, that’s good, all in places with people around," Hagrid finished the last sandwich and took another large sip of tea.
"You should join them too, Kyle, whether for class or anything else, try to choose places with lots of people around."
"Are you talking about Filch’s incident?"
Kyle put down his cup, "I’ll be careful."
"Being careful isn’t enough," Hagrid said seriously. "If it had happened yesterday, even a professor... oh, I shouldn’t have said that."
"A professor?" Kyle frowned, asking in confusion, "What happened last night?"
"Well... you’ll find out eventually." Hagrid glanced in the direction of the castle and lowered his voice. "It was Caridy Burbage. Last night, Dumbledore found her in an empty classroom, and she had already become like Filch."
Hagrid poured Kyle another cup of tea. "Although Caridy had been researching Muggle life at a Muggle school, her strength had decreased somewhat... I mean, she wasn’t as powerful as the other professors, but she is still a fully grown witch."
Kyle's hand holding the teacup suddenly froze.
He hadn’t expected the second victim to appear so quickly... and it was a professor.
Caridy Burbage was a legitimate professor at Hogwarts, which was a completely different matter from Filch being attacked.
If even a professor could fall victim, what about the students? It was possible that Hogwarts would close directly because of this incident.
It all depended on how Dumbledore would handle it.
Kyle stayed in Hagrid’s hut until noon, then returned to the castle with a large piece of cured Tuberculosis Pig Leg.
Hagrid insisted on seeing him off, and Kyle didn’t refuse.
Norbert had been eating beef legs and pork chops from the kitchen recently, and it was a good time to change his diet.
Coincidentally, after entering the Great Hall, Kyle met Hermione, Ron, and this time, Harry.
They had just come down from upstairs and seemed to be heading to the Great Hall for lunch.
"I can’t believe there’s such a magical place in Hogwarts," Ron exclaimed excitedly.
"It’s incredible," Hermione added enthusiastically. "The equipment there is more comprehensive than in the Potions classroom, even an automatic stirring cauldron. That would save us a lot of time."
"Unfortunately, there are no potion ingredients... if there were unicorn horns and African tree snake skins, we wouldn’t have to go to Snape’s..."
"Harry!"
Hermione suddenly raised her voice. "It’s almost time for lunch; let’s discuss our Potions homework later."
Harry was taken aback.
They were talking about the Polyjuice Potion, not Potions homework, but under Hermione’s hint, he quickly noticed Kyle nearby.
"Oh, right, Hermione..." Harry instinctively raised his voice, "Those Potions homework are so tough, I I I’m starving."
Then they quickly walked down the stairs, acting as if they had just noticed Kyle, and greeted him warmly.
"Kyle, I didn’t see you here."
The poor acting made Kyle’s lips twitch.
To be honest, even a Niffler would have done a better job of tricking him out of his Galleons.
"I just came back from Hagrid’s place," Kyle managed a standard smile "He gave me a piece of cured ham. Do you want to try some?"
"No, no, no."
Harry and the others shook their heads simultaneously.
If not necessary, they had learned from last year’s experience that they should never eat anything Hagrid gave them.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
