Chapter 584: Harry's Protective Magic
Chapter 584: Harry's Protective Magic
The day after the End-of-Term Feast, Hogwarts officially closed for the holidays.
Kyle arrived at the platform with the others to board the train home.
Ratton perched on his shoulder like a little bully, glaring at every owl that passed by.
Perhaps due to Kyle's frequent feeding of dragon liver treats, Ratton had grown even larger and now resembled a tiny monster.
As a result, wherever Kyle walked, chaos ensued, as any owl that caught Ratton's eye would let out a piercing shriek and frantically flutter about in its cage.
Even Autumn's owl was not spared.
"Hey, Kyle, can't you control him?" Autumn said, soothing her owl while giving Kyle a slight glare. "Syria has been startled three times already."
"Sorry, but Ratton doesn't like being confined in a cage," Kyle replied, giving his shoulder a slight shrug, prompting the massive owl to spread its wings and soar towards the direction of the train.
To accommodate certain individuals, they opted not to occupy the more spacious prefect's compartment and instead chose a regular carriage.
As soon as they settled in, Cedric dramatically complained, "Oh... the seats here are awfully hard."
Fred and George's faces darkened simultaneously.
They knew exactly what Cedric was insinuating.
"We're terribly sorry..." Fred drawled, "that we couldn't become prefects and subject you to this commoner's carriage."
"If you don't mind," George said briskly, removing his robe and folding it twice before placing it on an empty seat, "you could try this seat. It may not be as plush as a velvet cushion, but it should suffice."
"I think there's been a misunderstanding," Cedric replied with a mischievous smile. "I was merely commenting on the facilities of the Hogwarts Express, which has nothing to do with any of you. Of course, if you hadn't stuffed a Biting Teacup into your robe, I wouldn't mind making myself a bit more comfortable."
He had noticed that George had slipped something that resembled a cushion into his robe as he folded it. It was one of Zonko's classic prank items—a harmless-looking cushion that transformed into a toothy ball with sharp fangs as soon as someone sat on it, delivering a painful bite.
"Tsk..."
Seeing that Cedric wasn't taking the bait, George pouted and retrieved his robe.
"You're not the Cedric we used to know," Fred said gravely. "Even we wouldn't stoop to such extremes."
"I beg to differ," Cedric said, raising an eyebrow. "If the situation were reversed and I hadn't become a prefect, you'd be saying the exact same thing."
"I can assure you, we wouldn't," George said earnestly.
"Because we would have started teasing you from the moment we left the castle," Fred chimed in with a grin.
Not long after they settled in, the train began to move, whistling as it departed for King's Cross Station under the clear blue sky.
Interestingly, it seemed that every year, the weather mirrored this pattern—rainy and gloomy at the start of the term, only to transform into a sunny and pleasant day by the holidays.
As they sat in the carriage, the conversation inevitably turned to Dumbledore's speech from the night before.
The impact of his words was undeniable, and even within their compartment, they could hear snippets of "Dumbledore" and "madman" being murmured outside.
It seemed that most people dismissed him as a senile old wizard who had lost his marbles.
"Do you think the headmaster anticipated that his words would be received this way?" Fred mused. "It seems like very few people are willing to believe him.
The conversation then turned to speculations about what measures Dumbledore would take during the holidays to stop Voldemort. As noon approached, the corridor became increasingly lively.
The rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin seemed far from over and was still ongoing, with Kyle occasionally hearing bursts of argumentative voices, this time joined by students from other houses.
The topic of discussion was also about Dumbledore.
Almost all of Slytherin believed that Dumbledore had gone mad and openly mocked him in the corridors and compartments.
Some students took offense at this and started arguing back, which gradually escalated into quarrels.
The prefects, including Kyle, had no choice but to leave their compartments and step in to maintain order in the corridors.
Fred and George, however, had their own agenda. They sought out Harry to inquire about the Death Eaters who had shown up the night before.
The rest of the journey was somewhat dull as the train headed south. Outside the windows, hills and forests gave way to the occasional village, signaling their imminent arrival at the station.
Around this time, Kyle and the others returned to their carriage.
Fred, George, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were already there, playing a game of Exploding Snap.
As Kyle entered, Harry's cards had just exploded, leaving his hair standing on end with wisps of smoke rising from his head.
Harry hastily smoothed down his hair and stood up. "Kyle, I was looking for you."
"What's up?" Kyle asked, thinking Harry wanted to talk about the events of that night. But instead, Harry brought up another person's name.
"Sirius, do you know where he lives?" Harry asked. "I remember him mentioning that you've been there."
"I have," Kyle nodded. "That's odd, didn't he tell you? He mentioned taking you there last semester."
"Yes, that's right." Harry sighed. "We had planned for me to stay with him during the holidays, but just yesterday, when I went to ask him for the address, he changed his mind!"
"Changed his mind? That's strange..." Kyle frowned.
Sirius was eager to have Harry stay with him and had even arranged for his post-graduation job. It didn't make sense for him to back out now.
"Indeed." Harry whispered, "He said this year is too dangerous and that I should stay with the Dursleys... But he previously assured me that even if Voldemort came, he could guarantee my safety."
"Hmm... Just take that with a grain of salt. He's probably exaggerating." Kyle bluntly exposed Sirius' boastful behavior.
If they truly encountered Voldemort, the most Sirius could realistically do was buy Harry some time to escape with his own life.
"So..." Kyle continued, "You want to go find him by yourself?"
Harry nodded. "Yes."
"I think he probably has something important to take care of." Kyle recalled how Sirius had suddenly disappeared for a few days before the holidays.
Sirius likely had other matters to attend to during the break, and without Kyle by his side to protect him, Harry would be safer staying with his aunt and uncle.
After all, the protective charm cast by Lily Evans was still in effect, but it would only work if Harry resided with his only living relatives, the Dursleys.
(End of Chapter)
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