Chapter 370: Not a Single Sane Person Amongst Them
Chapter 370: Not a Single Sane Person Amongst Them
After leaving Dumbledore's office, Kyle didn't go straight to Hagrid's class. Instead, he first visited the kitchen and asked the house-elves to help him purchase something—new furniture to replace the ones in Professor Lupin's office.
Although there were spare furnishings in the storage rooms and the Room of Requirement, Kyle decided to buy new ones instead. After all, Professor Lupin had tried to cover for him, even if it hadn't worked out. He didn't feel right about simply making do with old substitutes.
The new furniture wasn't expensive anyway, just a few Galleons.
The house-elves returned that evening, and Professor Lupin's office was transformed with the new, gleaming furniture. The professor seemed a bit awkward and handled everything with great care, afraid of causing any scratches or bumps.
Kyle spent the rest of the money on candies, which he distributed to the house-elves as a token of his gratitude. The little creatures were overjoyed and showered him with all sorts of snacks in return.
By the time he made his way back to the common room, his pockets were stuffed as if he had hidden two roaming Poggy in them.
Initially, Kyle thought that would be the end of the matter.
However, to his surprise, just a day later, on Friday morning, news spread among the young witches and wizards about how he had blown up Professor Lupin's office with a Boggart.
"There are truly no secrets at Hogwarts," Kyle sighed as he sat at the dining table, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.
In less than half an hour, over a dozen people had already approached him to inquire about the details of the incident.
Fortunately, they were unaware that it was Fiendfyre, assuming it was just a particularly powerful Fire-Making Spell.
"Hey, Kyle, is it true?"
No sooner had he put down his cup than Fred and George appeared, strolling over with their arms draped casually around each other's shoulders.
"It's so touching," Fred said, sitting next to him with an exaggerated expression.
George squeezed out a couple of tears. "We heard that you blew up the Boggart because you saw us dead."
"I didn't realize you cared about us so much..."
"It's just that there was an extra nuisance there..." George glanced at Cedric, who was eating stew, out of the corner of his eye. "Why did he have to be there as well?"
"Is this supposed to be a good thing?" Cedric asked, exasperated.
From the looks of Fred and George, someone who didn't know better might have thought they were arguing over Quidditch tickets. They were actually complaining about Cedric taking up one of the 'death' spots, which was a bit odd.
"But with you added to the mix, we don't know who the other person is!" Fred said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Nick-Almost-Headless only mentioned two people, you and one of us..."
"We argued about it all night..."
"Wait." Kyle interrupted the duo. "You mentioned Nick-Almost-Headless?"
Fred nodded. "He said that while he was pondering something, he floated into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and witnessed the whole thing."
Kyle finally understood.
He had always found it strange that only he and Professor Lupin were in the office at the time, and others had only arrived after the fact. Logically, no one should have known about the Boggart.
But the details they were spreading were incredibly precise, covering everything except for the part where Professor Lupin gave him money. They described it as if they had been standing right next to him.
Kyle had assumed that one of the professors must have let something slip, but he never expected it to be Nick-Almost-Headless.
And indeed, the ghost had been right there.
"So, Kyle..." Fred fixed him with an intense gaze. "Who is the other person? Is it me or George?"
"This is important!" George leaned in as well, his eyes shining with curiosity.
Cedric watched the two of them, his eyes twitching uncontrollably. He could swear that these two had never been this serious, not even during their final exams.
"Yes," Kyle nodded, "If you don't believe me, go ask Professor Lupin. He saw it all."
Fred and George stared at Kyle intently for a few moments, seemingly satisfied that he wasn't lying, before they sauntered back to the Gryffindor table, brimming with excitement to share the news.
Envious murmurs rippled through the surrounding students.
"I really don't understand what they're so happy about." Not too far away, Hermione snapped her book shut with a loud thwap.
The commotion around them was making it impossible for her to concentrate.
"You're right about that," Ron agreed, "And it was just a Boggart. Was it really necessary to make such a fuss? A simple little spell could have done the trick."
Ron appeared delighted, feeling for once that he had outdone Kyle, especially in academics.
But Harry quickly doused his enthusiasm with a cold dose of reality.
"Yet, you have to admit that Kyle's method was effective, and probably much faster than anything we could have come up with."
Pouring himself some pumpkin juice, Harry added, "Remember what Nick-Almost-Headless said? The Boggart was instantly dealt with, leaving nothing behind."
"It was just a fire spell, I know it too. I just didn't think of it at the moment," Ron muttered.
Hermione, sitting beside him, furrowed her brow. The books certainly didn't mention using fire spells to counter Boggarts.
And she doubted that a simple spell would have prompted Professor Dumbledore to deduct a hundred points from Hufflepuff.
Meanwhile, as Fred and George departed, Connie's head suddenly popped into view from the side.
"So, what about me? Where was I?"
With an expressionless face, Kyle raised his hand and pushed her head away.
"You weren't there. Now scram and stop butting into every exciting moment!"
He then turned to Autumn, who was eagerly waiting her turn, and said, "The same goes for you..."
"Hmph!"
"Tsk!"
The two girls seemed displeased, feeling slighted and treated unfairly.
When everyone else was included—Cedric, Fred, and George—why were they being left out? Autumn huffed indignantly, tugging at Connie's sleeve as they stormed back to the Ravenclaw table.
Kyle felt a twinge in his teeth.
He couldn't understand why they were making such a fuss over this.
Fred and George, he could understand—they were always unpredictable and had a penchant for peculiar interests. But now Autumn and Connie were acting just like them.
Was there not a single sane person among his friends?
Oh, wait, there was one... Kyle turned to glance at Cedric.
Noticing Kyle's gaze, Cedric, who was in the middle of eating a pumpkin pie, hesitated for a moment before asking quietly, "So, how did I die exactly?"
"You were stuffed to death by this pumpkin pie!" Kyle retorted with a cold smile.
Alright, so there wasn't a single sane person among his friends.
"Ha, no way..."
Cedric clearly didn't buy Kyle's explanation, waving it off. "You're just joking."
Though he said that, Cedric couldn't help but set aside the remaining half of his pie and reach for a roasted potato instead.
...
More and more students gathered around, eager to hear the details straight from Kyle.
Fortunately, the mail arrived at that moment, providing a much-needed distraction.
A flock of owls swooped into the Great Hall, delivering letters and packages to each student.
As everyone became engrossed in reading their mail, Kyle finished the last bite of his pumpkin pie and quickly left the Great Hall.
(End of Chapter)
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