Chapter 81: Hufflepuff's Unusual Group Activity
Chapter 81: Hufflepuff's Unusual Group Activity
After the dinner, everyone returned to their common rooms.
As they walked, Cedric was still thinking about what had happened earlier.
"I wonder why Professor Snape was so angry," he mused, stroking his chin. "Could it be that someone stole something from his storage room during the Christmas holiday?"
It was no secret at Hogwarts that Professor Snape had a private storage room, and many students knew about it.
Moreover, there were rumors that his storage room contained extremely rare potion ingredients, and even the carpet was made of dragon hide. It was said that picking anything at random from that room would fetch a small fortune in Diagon Alley.
Going by Professor Snape's reaction, if the reason for his anger had something to do with his storage room, then something valuable must have been taken.
"Don't think too much about it. Maybe he just received an unpleasant Christmas gift," Kyle said as he took out his wand and knocked on the wooden barrel in front of the common room door.
"That nitpicker, and he's still not satisfied with the gifts he receives."
Cedric shot a sidelong glance at Kyle, his eyebrows arching slightly.
The passage opened, and the two of them entered the common room together.
They had only returned a little late, but the room was already packed with students sprawled across the wooden tables, frantically catching up on their holiday homework.
It wasn't just the tables that were occupied; there were also quite a few people on the floor, and their numbers kept growing.
In the spacious common room, one could hardly find a place to stand.
Kyle was a bit taken aback by the sight.
Was this Hufflepuff's idea of a group activity? Would he be considered out of place if he didn't join them...
But he had already finished his homework! Surely, he didn't have to do it all over again.
"Don't be surprised. It was like this last year, too," Cedric said, patting Kyle on the shoulder. "Our prefect once said that holiday time is precious, and it's a waste to spend it all on homework."
The prefect Cedric mentioned was none other than the Quidditch team captain, Harris, who was also part of the homework-catching-up army. At that moment, he was perched in a corner, writing diligently with his rear end in the air.
He had originally had a table to work on, but just then, he had given it up to a few first-years.
Served him right for being a prefect.
With the common room in such a state, the library was probably already packed as well.
Kyle carefully navigated his way through the scattered parchments and ink bottles on the floor and made his way to the dormitory door.
Just as he was about to push the door open, Cedric called out to him.
"Kyle..." Cedric stood at the doorway of the second-year dormitory and looked at him from a distance. "I really liked the Christmas gift you sent."
"Your gift was fantastic, too!" Kyle replied.
The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously flashed standard fake smiles.
...
The first class after the break was Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration lesson.
Within the first five minutes of class, Hufflepuff had already lost twenty points.
It was clear that their "one pen, one lamp, one night, one miracle" operation from the previous night had not been successful.
Even Kyle had been deducted two points.
The reason was that he had lent his homework to Mickel and Ryan, but they had copied it verbatim, even including his name.
"Next time you lend your homework to them, you'll lose twenty points!"
Professor McGonagall glared at Kyle before returning to the teacher's platform.
"The holidays are over. It's time to get back to work."
Hearing that it was related to their finals, the students quickly became serious. Everyone listened intently to Professor McGonagall and took detailed notes.
Final grades at Hogwarts were crucial. Take Fred and George, for example; they only needed two 'O's on their transcripts to have a comfortable and worry-free summer break.
This was even more so for students from Muggle families. Their parents might not understand magic, but they sure understood grades.
Poor performance on the finals would be hard to explain to their parents.
After class, Professor McGonagall kept those who hadn't finished their assignments, while the others quickly left the classroom.
They had unfinished homework for other subjects as well, and time was tight.
There was only one class in the morning, and Kyle had originally planned to go to the library before lunch. However, when he arrived, it was already packed.
The common room was in the same situation.
Helpless, Kyle could only make do by going to the Great Hall to read while waiting for lunch.
Lunch was toasted pies and fried pork chops, a combination that Kyle quite enjoyed. But just as he took a couple of bites, Mickel and Ryan found him.
"Kyle, your homework for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class..."
"No, I'm not lending it to you!" Kyle took a bite of his pie and glanced at them. "I don't want to be singled out by Professor Flitwick again."
"Don't worry, that definitely won't happen this time!"
Mickel raised his hand and vowed, "We were just too tired last night. We will definitely modify it before submitting it today."
Kyle was highly skeptical of their words.
The night before, he had lent them all his homework, but they had only copied the Transfiguration assignment.
Moreover, when they returned to the dormitory, they had been full of energy and showed no signs of sleepiness.
Even before Kyle fell asleep, they had been enthusiastically playing Wizard's Chess.
With this precedent, Kyle dared not trust them easily again. He didn't want to fall into the same pit twice.
Furthermore, there were less than two hours left until their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and even copying the work would be a rush. He guessed that Mickel's "modification" would likely just involve changing the name.
After lunch, Mickel and Ryan still didn't give up. They followed Kyle step by step.
It wasn't until Kyle found an opportunity to cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself that he finally shook them off.
Watching his roommates walk past him, Kyle felt incredibly fortunate that he had learned this spell.
This spell was simply too useful. Forget Avada Kedavra or Expelliarmus; invisibility was the true ultimate spell.
Praise the Disillusionment Charm.
Soon, Mickel and Ryan disappeared around the corner of the corridor.
Kyle decided not to return to the dormitory and instead went straight to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. After all, he just wanted to find a place to study, and it didn't matter where.
Compared to other places, the classroom was undoubtedly much safer.
Because when class wasn't in session, Mickel and Ryan would definitely not dare to approach this place.
(End of Chapter)
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