Chapter 638: The Kind Professor
Chapter 638: The Kind Professor
The students had gathered in the Room of Requirement for an hour of study, as they had to return to their respective Common Rooms by the 9 p.m. curfew at Hogwarts.
Fortunately, the Leg-Locking Charm wasn't a particularly complex spell; it was rather simple, and within half an hour, everyone had mastered it, except for Neville.
However, to not waste everyone's time, Hermione decided to teach him privately.
"Hopefully, she won't be driven mad by him later," Ron whispered.
Harry couldn't help but chuckle at his comment.
Neville was indeed slow in learning spells, sometimes even Professor McGonagall would be left speechless by his touching progress.
But Harry knew Neville was trying his best; it was just that his memory was truly poor. Sometimes, he could forget a spell learned just that morning by lunchtime... or maybe even sooner.
Of course, these weren't things they needed to worry about.
After everyone put down their wands, Hermione cleared her throat and said, "We still have some time before curfew. I think we should elect a leader."
She had wanted to make this suggestion earlier, but before she could, Anthony interrupted her.
Then, everyone's enthusiasm was ignited by the Galleons, and they couldn't wait to start practicing spells. So, she didn't bring it up again.
But it wasn't too late now.
A buzz filled the room when they heard Hermione's proposal.
Upon hearing Hermione's suggestion, some immediately thought of the activity's biggest sponsor, Kyle, who had contributed fifty Galleons as a reward.
"I nominate Kyle... wait, where's Kyle?"
At that moment, they suddenly realized Kyle wasn't in the room.
Unconsciously, they looked around, but the room was only so big, and after searching, there was no trace of Kyle.
"He's already gone..." Luna said from the crowd, "I bet he must have spotted a Papabat in the darkness and chased after it."
"What's a Papabat?" Neville asked, looking perplexed, and he wasn't the only one.
"A winged sprite," Luna explained, her big eyes widening, "They guide people's direction."
"Such a thing doesn't exist." Hermione frowned, "At least I'm sure no book has ever recorded their existence."
"If you read 'Singing Against the Current,' you wouldn't be so sure." Luna said angrily.
Hermione didn't speak this time. As it was approaching 9 p.m., she didn't want to waste time on this meaningless argument.
"We were talking about electing a leader..."
"Ah, yes." Hermione said, "I think the leader should ensure they can attend every meeting, and Kyle isn't suitable."
"Then I choose Cedric..." said a Hufflepuff student, "He's the Boy Head Boy."
"It's not a big deal." Ron said, "I think Harry can do it too."
"Since there are differences," Hermione glanced at them, "let's vote..."
For a while, the atmosphere in the room was livelier than when they were practicing spells.
Besides choosing a leader, there was also the matter of naming the group and setting the time for the next gathering...
Once everything settled, it was already 9:10 p.m.
It was about ten minutes later than the original ending time, but it was unavoidable; with so many people, it was challenging to find a proposal that satisfied everyone.
After Cedric carefully made his way back to the Common Room, he spotted Kyle sitting at a table in the back, writing something.
"Why did you come back so suddenly?" Cedric approached him.
"I suddenly remembered I hadn't finished my Potions homework, and since I didn't want to pull an all-nighter, I had to come back first."
"Kyle pushed the book on the table forward, 'Potions and Cauldrons', and spoke up,"
"How's it going over there? Is everything going smoothly?"
"You're still bringing this up?" Cedric was instantly irritated. "Why did you suddenly offer fifty Galleons as a reward...?"
"Is there a problem?" Kyle asked, setting down the quill in his hand. "I think this is the only way to motivate them to study."
"Voldemort, Death Eaters... Until we see them with our own eyes, it's all just talk. Only the glimmer of Galleons is the best motivation."
"You must have noticed their sudden enthusiasm."
"Of course I did," Cedric replied. "But it's fifty Galleons, not fifty Sickles. Even as a reward, there's no need to bring out so much."
For most students, their annual allowance barely amounted to ten Galleons. Fifty Galleons was undoubtedly a huge sum.
This was just a self-study class for Dark Arts Defense, and there was no need to offer such a large reward. Five Galleons would be more than enough.
Additionally, if Kyle were to use the fifty Galleons as a reward for himself, Cedric wouldn't have reacted so strongly. He knew that no student at Hogwarts could defeat Kyle, so naturally, this fifty Galleons wouldn't be given away.
But Kyle had made him the one to be challenged, which left Cedric somewhat troubled.
Admittedly, doing so would quickly boost his reputation, and it did. He was voted as the leader of DA with a high number of votes.
"Oh, DA is the name we just came up with," Autumn explained. "Defense Association, and also an abbreviation for Dumbledore's Army."
The name was Autumn's idea, according to her... Was Professor Umbridge afraid of Professor Dumbledore's secret force? If so, then they should form such a team. This view was unanimously agreed upon by everyone.
But the problem now was that he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't fail. If someone could truly defeat him... Kyle's fifty Galleons would be gone.
At the very least, when they left the Room of Requirement, Cedric noticed some people looking at him with fiery eyes, obviously seeing him as a walking treasure chest... The kind that explodes with coins.
"Don't worry, I trust you," Kyle said sincerely.
"But I don't trust myself," Cedric muttered. "Angelina girl isn't much worse than me, and those two sixth-year Ravenclaws, I don't have a guaranteed victory either."
"You underestimate yourself," Kyle waved his hand. "They aren't your match. I assure you."
"What about Fred and George, then...?" Cedric continued, "Although I'm confident I can beat either of them, based on past experience, they won't exactly follow the rules of a duel, will they?"
"Hmm..."
Kyle fell silent for a moment.
"Alright, it's fine even if I lose," he continued. "It's just fifty Galleons... At worst, I'll just find someone to reimburse me later."
"Reimburse?" Cedric was taken aback. "Who? Don't tell me it's Professor Dumbledore."
"No, it's not him," Kyle said. "It's another kind professor."
"Okay," Cedric looked at Kyle with suspicion, but he didn't ask further. Instead, he muttered a few more words under his breath.
Regardless, Kyle knew he'd have his hands full after leaving the Room of Requirement.
...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
