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Chapter 618: The Professor's Strange Behavior
Chapter 618: The Professor's Strange Behavior
"Kona, listen to me. If you have the time, you should really take Snape to see Madam Pomfrey at the school hospital. I suspect he might have accidentally ingested the wrong potion."
In the Hufflepuff common room one evening, Kyle was earnestly trying to persuade Kona to pay more attention to Snape's well-being.
However, his good intentions fell on deaf ears. Kona was focused solely on her homework and didn't seem interested in engaging in a conversation... and when she grew tired of hearing Kyle's pleas, she even shot him an annoyed glance.
"I'm serious," Kyle insisted.
He had been at Hogwarts for five years now, and from his first year until now, Snape had only ever taken points away from him. It happened in every class, without fail, and there wasn't a single exception.
To be honest, Kyle had been relieved that he had only lost one point this time. It wasn't until he left the classroom and saw the angry glares from the Slytherins that he realized Snape hadn't been talking about deducting points, but awarding them...
Snape, who was addicted to deducting points, had actually given him extra points for once? Kyle's first reaction was disbelief. Such abnormal behavior could only be explained by the wrong ingestion of a potion.
That was why he wanted to convince Kona to take Snape to the school hospital. After all, Snape was her only family, and regardless of how much she disliked him, she couldn't just ignore the situation.
But Kona didn't see it that way.
"What's wrong with receiving house points after excellently fulfilling a professor's request?" Kona looked up, slightly exasperated by Kyle's persistent rambling. "Professor Snape is just stricter than usual, but this is an advanced class, and the difficulty level has increased significantly. It's perfectly normal for him to award you points."
"No, no, no," Kyle shook his head vigorously, while thinking:
"This would be fine if it were any other professor, but with Snape, something weird is definitely going on."
Of course, he wouldn't dare say that out loud.
And the strange occurrences didn't stop there.
The next day, Professor McGonagall also gave him thirty points during their Transfiguration class, which was equally unusual.
While Professor McGonagall was known for her fairness, she usually tried to maintain a balanced score between the houses, rarely awarding more than ten points at a time.
Only when they were learning particularly challenging new material would this number increase, but even then, thirty points was a rare occurrence.
With the addition of Umbridge's points, it had been less than a month since the start of the term, and Hufflepuff had already taken the lead in the house cup, surpassing Slytherin by over twenty points.
"It's unbelievable," Cedric marveled as he gazed at the gems in the hourglasses hanging in the Great Hall. "I hope we can maintain this ranking until the end of the year. If we do, Hufflepuff will break Slytherin's record and become the six-time champions."
There was a glint of aspiration in Cedric's eyes. He would be graduating next year, and he truly wanted to see Hufflepuff bask in glory. He wanted to contribute to that achievement somehow.
For instance, by leading the Quidditch team to victory and winning the Quidditch Cup this year...
If he could accomplish that, not only would they gain a substantial number of house points, but they would also attain the honor of a five-time Quidditch Cup winning streak. It would be a double triumph.
"Come on, let's get to practice!" Cedric's enthusiasm surged as he turned and shouted, "We only have three hours of pitch access, so grab your brooms and meet me on the field!"
With that, he rushed out of the Great Hall, unbothered by the light rain falling outside.
"I swear, Cedric is becoming more and more like Oliver Wood," Fred commented as he walked over and patted Kyle on the shoulder, struggling to contain his amusement.
"Yeah, the pressure of being the team captain is intense," George agreed. "Wood was even crazier before he graduated. He wanted us to practice on the pitch every night, but Professor McGonagall wouldn't allow it."
It had to be said that Kyle's words were harsh, but they couldn't refute them, and it was Hufflepuff that had shattered their hopes of winning.
"Enough, you won't have such good luck this year," Fred grumbled.
"Harry won't fall for it again, either!" George added.
"We'll see about that," Kyle said with a smirk.
Although they were good friends, when it came to Quidditch, it was always a competition with no room for friendly sentiments.
"Are you guys still participating in the Quidditch tournament this year?" Kyle asked curiously. "As far as I know, haven't you two been busy preparing for the opening of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?"
"Yes, we've been busy with product development, inventory, and choosing a store location... All of that takes a lot of time and energy," Fred admitted, rubbing his head tiredly.
Opening a joke shop had always been their dream, but as they started to make it a reality, they realized just how complicated it was.
First, there was the issue of inventory. While they had invented quite a few products, the quantity felt meager when they thought about filling an entire store.
So, they had to rack their brains to come up with even more gadgets and jokes—even if they weren't well-received, at least they'd have a decent selection.
Zonko's Joke Shop carried nearly two hundred different items, and they couldn't afford to offer much less.
Then there was the issue of finding a good location, which proved to be the most troublesome aspect.
Originally, Sirius had offered to help them secure a storefront, but with his current involvement with the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry of Magic, he had his hands full. They couldn't burden him with this on top of everything else.
So, the twins were determined to handle it themselves.
They had their hearts set on Diagon Alley, but the rent there was exorbitantly high.
While they now had ample gold thanks to their prize money, renting even a small space would deplete their funds significantly. They wanted to be prudent with their spending.
Recently, they had been discussing this very issue, trying to find a reasonably priced shop in a good location, but their efforts had been largely unsuccessful.
It was understandable, though—any desirable spots were likely already taken, and it would be a challenge to find an available one that met their needs.
So, they considered adding a bit more to their startup funds, which would open up some better options.
There was an owl treat shop, for instance, located at 93 Diagon Alley, right next to Gringotts. The shop wasn't doing well because most people bought treats for their pets while they were already at the bank, so its business was suffering. The owners were considering relocating.
The location was ideal, especially during the days before the start of term at Hogwarts. Young witches and wizards tended to be generous with their spending after withdrawing money from Gringotts.
As a result, Fred and George had been deliberating over this opportunity.
Fortunately, they still had a year left before they graduated, so they had plenty of time to make a decision.
Kyle watched as the twins' faces suddenly turned glum, their brows furrowed in worry. "Do you need my help?" he offered.
"No, we can handle it," Fred replied, shaking his head. "And don't you dare try to use this as a way to get us to go easy on you during the Quidditch matches. It won't work."
"Yeah," George agreed, raising an eyebrow. "No matter what, we won't be giving the Quidditch Cup to Hufflepuff again this year!"
"I should be the one saying that," Kyle laughed, not pressing them further on the subject.
Just then, the rest of the team members began filing out of the Great Hall with their brooms, and Mike urged them to hurry from the entrance. Kyle quickly joined them, bringing the chapter to a close.
(End of Chapter)
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