Chapter 633: The Traitor, Cedric
Chapter 633: The Traitor, Cedric
After leaving the Dark Magic Defense classroom, Kyle did not immediately return to the Gryffindor common room. Instead, he took a detour on the second floor and entered an empty classroom.
"So..."
As soon as Kyle entered, he heard an urgent voice from within the classroom.
Kona walked over with Cedric, Autumn, Fred, and George trailing behind her.
"It's done," Kyle gestured, "You can now study Dark Magic Defense on your own. Just be careful not to get caught."
"That's great!" Cedric exclaimed excitedly, "We've agreed that to prevent any snitches, they must all sign an Unbreakable Vow before they can know the location of the Room of Requirement."
"Good job, Kyle," Fred said happily, "To think you fooled Umbridge so easily. Truly worthy of being the youngest member of the Merlin Order."
Kyle was speechless. He didn't understand what this had to do with the Merlin Order.
"But..." George rubbed his eyes, "You didn't have to hit us so hard. If we don't go to the hospital wing, we'll have to bear these bruises for at least a week."
"Honestly, it's so embarrassing," Fred sighed.
"We dare not go to crowded places now..."
"And we have to cover our faces even during classes."
"Didn't you say that having some injuries would make our story more convincing?" Kyle smiled, "As it turns out, you were right. Your current appearance has made Umbridge believe every word I said."
"We were talking about you," George mumbled, "Think about it. The information you obtained at the cost of your injuries suddenly makes your story a lot more believable."
"It's fine," Kyle said, "Besides, the current outcome isn't bad at all. And it's not my fault that the three of you were beaten up by one person."
"To be honest, if I were you, I wouldn't even bring this up. It's too embarrassing," Kyle added teasingly.
"It was two against one!" George corrected seriously, "That traitor Cedric just stood there and watched without lifting a finger to help."
"Huh?" Cedric scratched his head, not understanding how he had become the topic of discussion. As a Hufflepuff, he wouldn't have helped even if it weren't just an act, especially students from other houses.
Besides, even if he had joined in, it was doubtful that it would have made much difference. At best, there would have been one more person with a black eye. It was better to have two people injured than to have all three of them beaten. Cedric thought that the current situation was just fine.
However, Cedric could sense that Fred and George were not in the best of moods, so he wisely chose to remain silent.
Kyle ignored the grumbling Fred and George and turned to ask, "Have you decided on a time? When do you plan to start?"
"Wednesday night," Cedric replied, "I wanted to schedule it for the weekend, but everyone seems to have more important things to do, like Quidditch practice or attending their favorite clubs. Wednesday is the only day we can all make it."
"Remember to go separately," Kyle reminded them, "It's fine for Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students, but it would be strange if a large group of Hufflepuffs suddenly headed to the eighth floor.
"Or you could go to the kitchen and ask the house-elves for help."
"House-elves?"
"That's right," Kyle explained, "With their unique magic, house-elves can use Disillusionment Charms to move around the school undetected. They can bring you directly from the kitchen to the eighth floor and back."
"That's right, house-elves are allowed to use magic within the school grounds, how could I forget that," Cedric said happily, "But I'm not sure if they'll agree to help... I mean, it's rare for anyone to see them using magic in the school."
"It won't hurt to ask," Kyle said, "It's only once a week, not every day. I'm sure it'll be fine."
"You're right," Cedric nodded in agreement.
After finalizing these details, the group left the classroom.
Kyle and Kona headed back to the common room, while Cedric accompanied Fred and George upstairs.
With some time to spare, Cedric decided to look for Hermione and Harry to discuss further details, such as the exact time, the content of the Unbreakable Vow, and what they would teach in their classes.
...
Even though he was only a nominal professor, Cedric still felt nervous about teaching for the first time. As Wednesday drew closer, his nerves became more apparent.
Kyle, maneuvering his Firebolt, turned gracefully and caught the Snitch in his hand.
Normally, as a Chaser, he shouldn't be the one to catch the Snitch, but instead of objecting, the other team members breathed a sigh of relief.
They had been flying for two hours.
Training was usually a tedious affair, but with different tactics and strategies, it wasn't overly dull.
However, today was different. Because their Captain couldn't catch the Snitch, they had stuck to the same tactic the entire time, and by the end, everyone was treating it like a boring History of Magic assignment, lazily tossing the Quaffle through the hoops.
This kind of training was utterly meaningless.
"Oh, sorry Kyle, I was daydreaming," Cedric said, scratching his head. "I can't help but think about what will happen tomorrow night.
I don't know if I'm prepared enough or if I can solve everyone's problems, and that thought just won't leave my mind."
Kyle put away his Firebolt and walked back to the castle with the rest of the team.
"Relax, it's just an after-school tutoring session. It's not that scary," he said.
"I know that, but I can't help it," Cedric sighed. "Every time I have a moment to spare, I can't help but worry and fret about messing up and making a mess of things, and then no one will come back next time."
"In that case, you should learn from Harry. He doesn't seem nervous at all," Kyle said with a smile.
"As for whether they'll come back next time, you don't need to worry about that at all, unless you teach worse than Umbridge... Honestly, that would be a lot harder than not making any mistakes yourself."
"You're right," Cedric said, finally managing a small smile. "I've never seen a worse professor than Umbridge..."
By the time the two returned to the castle, it was already close to curfew. Just then, Filch came down from the stairs, and his expression turned sour when he saw their attire.
"You..." He first glanced at the ground and, seeing no muddy footprints, quickly changed his words. "Out wandering so late? Are you planning a little midnight stroll?"
"We just got back from practice, Mr. Filch," Cedric said.
"Good for you," Filch said with a cold smile. "If I catch you breaking any rules, I'm sure Professor Umbridge won't mind if I take you down to the dungeons.
It's been too many years since we had a reliable professor..."
Cedric frowned and, after passing through the entrance hall, whispered to Kyle, "Filch is becoming unbearable again."
"Yeah," Kyle agreed. "He's got someone backing him up now."
With the arrival of Umbridge, who followed the rules to a tee (at least on the surface)
, Filch had finally found someone who shared his mindset.
This also caused Snape's position in Filch's heart to be swiftly replaced by Umbridge.
In the past, when he wanted to intimidate students, he would threaten to tell Professor Snape, especially for Gryffindor students; this tactic was extremely effective.
But now, Umbridge had become the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
To Filch's delight, this professor shared his views, and her punishments were far more severe than those of the other professors.
More importantly, she had greater authority and could change school rules at will.
As a result, Filch became emboldened. He even forgot about what had happened last year and resumed his old ways, patrolling the castle tirelessly and eagerly seeking out students who broke the rules.
It was as if he believed that if enough people broke the rules, there would be a reason to reopen the dungeons.
"That annoying guy..."
"And annoying Umbridge..."
"Shh, keep it down. Don't let them hear."
As soon as Filch was out of earshot, some students started whispering, their voices filled with displeasure.
They much preferred Filch from the start of the school year; at least he wasn't as detestable as he was now.
...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
