Chapter 393: A Solo Return
Chapter 393: A Solo Return
Hagrid's voice boomed, and Professor McGonagall, noticing, glanced around anxiously, clearly not wanting other students to overhear this tale from over a decade ago.
Especially not in their current location; Professor McGonagall's pause was the longest.
Kyle immediately feigned nonchalance and continued eating his meat pie as if nothing unusual was happening.
"Hagrid, please! Keep your voice down," Professor McGonagall said.
But her reminder fell on deaf ears.
Even when Hagrid deliberately lowered his voice, his words were still crystal clear.
"He even asked me to hand over Harry to him, that scum... It's a good thing I refused because I had Dumbledore's orders to take Harry to his aunt and uncle..."
"Hagrid!"
Professor McGonagall shot another glance their way, her voice tinged with annoyance.
"Kyle, let's go find Cho and Cedric."
At that moment, Connor suddenly spoke up, "They're probably done chatting by now, and I want to buy something from Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop anyway."
"Looks like we're on the same page then." Kyle started to reach for his money, but Connor was quicker, already placing two galleons on the table.
"You..."
Kyle wanted to say something, but Connor had already pulled him away from the pub without another word.
It wasn't until they were on the road that Connor laughed and said, "You treated me to coffee last time, so let me treat you this time."
"No...
Kyle hesitated, then said, "I meant you gave too much. Those items were one galleon and five sickles each. Why did you give two galleons?"
"Huh?" Connor was a bit stunned. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"You have to give me a chance, too," Kyle said, spreading his hands.
Just as Connor hesitated about whether to go back, Cedric and Fall rushed over from not far away.
"Hey, where did you two run off to!"
Upon seeing Kyle and Connor, Fall immediately asked, displeased.
They had just been discussing whether to venture into the Shrieking Shack when they turned around and found that the table only had two barely touched cups of coffee, but the two people who had come with them were gone.
"I went to almost every shop, but I couldn't find you." Cedric said.
"We're here," Kyle said with a shrug, "at the Leaky Cauldron. I guess you've never been here before."
Cedric paused, realizing he'd never set foot in this place.
"But didn't you just have coffee?"
"It was too sweet." Kyle shrugged. "Butterbeer is more to our taste."
Cedric pursed his lips, realizing it was indeed the case... Strange, why hadn't he noticed how sweet the coffee was earlier?
With the conversation interrupted, Connor felt too embarrassed to go back for the remaining change and reluctantly followed them forward, her face showing her regret at the lost money.
Soon after, the group met up with Fred and George and together, they made their way to the Shrieking Shack.
The plan to explore this place had been made a long time ago.
But now that they were here, it didn't seem as interesting as the legends made it out to be.
Once they unlocked the large lock on the door, they found that it was just an old, uninhabited room.
The wallpaper was peeling, the floor was covered in a thick layer of dust, and the furniture was all broken, as if it had been smashed.
"Legends are indeed unreliable."
Fred kicked a broken stool in disappointment. "Those residents must have made up the story about the howling at night to attract more tourists."
"I think it's just an empty room that hasn't been lived in for a long time.
"Hogwarts is the place with the most ghosts, when have you ever heard them howl." Fred said, "And ghosts can't smash up furniture like this."
He picked up a broken chair leg from the floor and tapped it on the ground a couple of times.
"I guess someone must have come here and deliberately caused all this mess, creating those strange noises."
After looking forward to it for several days, the group was disappointed to find that the Shrieking Shack was underwhelming and uneventful, dashing their enthusiasm to explore further.
They left and headed straight back to the castle.
Kyle, being the last one, locked the door again before catching up with the others.
It was still early, and the castle was quiet.
Filch stood in the entrance hall, his eyes fixed on them, or more specifically, on Fred and George.
Their pockets were bulging as they exited Hogsmeade, indicating they had acquired quite a few treats.
Filch walked over.
"Wait there, I'm going to search you..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Fred and George suddenly sped up, darting past him and disappearing into the corridors of the entrance hall.
"Stop right there!" Filch bellowed, his face turning red with anger. "I said, stop!"
The quiet castle immediately erupted into chaos amidst Filch's furious shouts.
...
At dinner, the group gathered to discuss their holiday plans.
"What?!" Cedric exclaimed, looking at Kyle in disbelief. "You're not spending Christmas at Hogwarts this year?"
For the past three years, Kyle had always stayed at school during the Christmas holidays, and Cedric had assumed this year would be no different.
In fact, he had persistently pestered his father with letters for a whole month and had even added his name to the list of students staying at school just a couple of days ago.
He had intended to give Kyle a pleasant surprise, but now, this guy was going home!
It had to be deliberate!
"Yeah." Kyle, oblivious to his thoughts, replied calmly. "I can't spend Christmas here forever."
"I..."
Just as Cedric was about to say something, Autumn, who had sneaked up beside them, suddenly spoke up.
"What a pity. I thought I'd have some company."
"You're not going home either?" Kyle asked.
"Nope." Autumn nodded. "My dad wrote to me the other day saying that they'll be away for a while during Christmas, so I have no choice but to stay at school."
"I see." Kyle nodded and then turned to Cedric. "What were you about to say?"
"Oh, it's nothing."
Cedric took a sip of pumpkin juice nonchalantly. "I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas. Also, I've decided to stay at school too, so I won't be able to accompany you back this time."
"You're staying as well?" Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Did Mr. Diggory agree to it, or did you just make that decision yourself?"
"I signed the list a couple of days ago." Cedric said.
"Me too." Connor smiled and said to Autumn, "We can go to the library together during the holidays to do our homework."
Kyle suddenly realized that this year's holiday plans seemed to have flipped completely. Aside from himself, everyone else, including Fred and George, had opted to stay at school.
They were currently working on a new batch of Skiving Snackboxes, and going home would risk being discovered by Mrs. Weasley.
(End of Chapter)
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