Chapter 73: Hogwarts' First Snowfall
Chapter 73: Hogwarts' First Snowfall
In the following period, Kyle became increasingly interested in midnight excursions, which were beneficial to his physical and mental health. In recent weeks, he had been going out every night, even more frequently than Fred and George.
This might also have something to do with the twins' recent experience.
The pile of Mooncrazed Beast droppings they had worked hard to bring back ended up, as expected, in their hands.
No one wanted them among the young wizards.
The relevant shops in Diagon Alley wouldn't take them either.
But the twins weren't willing to give up, and in the end, no one knew what got into them. They actually went to the Greenhouse to try and sell the goods at a low price to Professor Sprout.
As expected, their midnight excursion was discovered, and the consequences were severe.
Professor Sprout only needed one glance to know where they had gotten the goods.
With such a large quantity, they could only have come from the Forbidden Forest.
Professor Sprout was well aware of the time it took to collect Mooncrazed Beast droppings.
Going to the Forbidden Forest during the night was one thing, but to dare to show off in front of the professor?
Even the gentle Professor Sprout couldn't stand this blatant provocation and took them directly to Professor McGonagall's office.
Although the twins tried to explain that they had picked them up near Hagrid's pumpkin patch, no one believed them.
Because at that time, Hagrid had been busy with other things and hadn't tended to the pumpkin patch in a long time.
Professor McGonagall was both disappointed and angry, and she directly punished them to clean the bathrooms for a week.
Filch hated the idea so much that he wanted to move his office next to the Gryffindor tower to keep an eye on them.
However, this made it convenient for Kyle.
After Michael and Ryan fell into a deep sleep, Kyle quietly crawled out of bed and tiptoed out of the Common Room.
As usual, after putting on the silver-green scarf, Kyle took out his wand and tapped it lightly on his forehead.
"Invisibility Charm."
A cool feeling quickly spread from the top of his head, as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water.
Immediately, Kyle's body took on the same color and texture as the wall behind him.
The Invisibility Charm.
After returning from the Forbidden Forest, Kyle had been studying this spell.
The Invisibility Cloak was convenient and useful, but it had many drawbacks. One moment of inattention or walking too fast might expose your feet.
In comparison, the Invisibility Charm was more practical.
The spell was a bit tricky, and it had taken him three days to just get the hang of it. His body's color change wasn't smooth enough when following the environment's changes.
Fortunately, the Hogwarts castle was pitch-black at night, so this small flaw didn't have much impact.
After everything was ready, Kyle easily made his way to the library door on the second floor.
This was his recent midnight excursion spot.
He loved reading, but some books weren't suitable for reading during the day; they had to be read secretly at night to be interesting.
The library at night was pitch-black and eerie.
"Lumos."
Kyle walked past row after row of bookshelves, all the way to the back half of the library, where he stopped in front of a sign.
The three words on the sign, "Restricted Section," were very tempting.
Kyle carefully stepped over the rope that separated these books from the rest of the collection and used the light from his wand to read the titles.
To avoid being discovered or any unforeseen accidents, Kyle was very particular about his book selection.
He avoided books with any illustrations on the cover, including but not limited to portraits, magical creatures, and various symbols.
He also avoided books with blank covers, thick and large volumes, and those with strange markings.
Kyle wandered through the Restricted Section for quite some time, finally reaching the sixth row of bookshelves before pulling out a black book with gilded floral lettering.
The book was thin, and much of the gilded lettering on the cover had flaked off, allowing Kyle to barely make out the meaning of the last two characters.
"Exploring..."
This was the one.
After selecting the book, Kyle sat down on the floor just like he had done on previous visits, opening it and slowly reading.
Compared to the regular collection, the content in the Restricted Section was generally more abstruse. Whenever he encountered something he didn't understand or couldn't comprehend, Kyle would use his handy quick-writing quill to copy down the content.
This method was much more tedious than using a duplication charm, but it was more reliable.
Who knew what strange restrictions these books might have? It was best to be cautious and refrain from casting spells on them.
...
By the time Kyle left the library, it was already two hours later.
On his way back, he unexpectedly encountered Peeves, but thanks to the protection of the Invisibility Charm, Peeves didn't notice him.
The next morning, Kyle, who had planned to sleep until 8:50, was dragged out of bed by his two roommates at 7:30.
"Wake up, Kyle, wake up!"
Paying no attention to Kyle's reaction, the two pulled him out of bed without a word and each grabbed an arm, dragging him over to the window.
"Look, it's snowing!"
Mikel opened the window, and a gust of cold wind, mixed with snowflakes, hit Kyle's face directly.
"Brr..."
Kyle shivered, instantly banishing any sleepiness.
He rubbed his face, feeling that this scene seemed vaguely familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
"Let's go outside and take a look!" Mikel exclaimed, "This is Hogwarts' first snowfall."
Kyle shook his head in refusal.
What was so great about snow? He'd rather catch up on some sleep; he had slept late the night before, and today wasn't a weekend. What if he dozed off during class?
However, Mikel and Ryan didn't share the same thought.
They kept urging Kyle to hurry up and get ready, acting as if they wouldn't leave without him.
"This is the first snowfall we've experienced since coming to Hogwarts, it's very meaningful!"
Mikel said, "Sleeping now would be a waste, there'll be plenty of time to catch up on sleep during History of Magic class later."
"Yeah, the first class today is History of Magic."
Thinking of this, Kyle gave in and got dressed, then left the dormitory with them.
In just one night, the snow on the ground had accumulated to over a foot deep.
When they reached the open area outside Hogwarts Castle, there were already quite a few people there.
Kyle also spotted Fred and George, who were with a few Gryffindors, building a snow lion in the open area...? Well, theoretically, they were building a lion, but it looked rather ugly, resembling a Firebolt Worm doing yoga.
(End of Chapter)
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