Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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For Kyle, who used to fly and train, riding an old-fashioned steam train like the Hogwarts Express was pure torture.
Especially after a few hours, when the novelty and the Hogwarts buff wore off, its shortcomings became infinitely magnified.
First, it was slow. Really slow. Kyle felt it could only reach 80 mph at best, not even as fast as a decent car.
Comfort was also poor, with such a shaky ride that Kyle almost questioned his life and nearly vomited his breakfast.
Reading was practically impossible in these conditions.
Fortunately, Cedric, his fellow carriage member, was incredibly talkative, which helped to alleviate the stress.
After discussing the professor, Kyle asked a few more questions, and Cedric was forthcoming, sharing interesting places and portraits around Hogwarts.
Many of these were unknown to Kyle, which intrigued him greatly. In return, Kyle generously covered Cedric's snacks for the entire trip.
Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, and more were all available.
The only thing that left Kyle speechless was that when it came to the Sorting, Cedric, as expected, continued the wizards' mischievous ways and didn't tell the truth.
"We have to catch the Golden Snitch in the Great Hall within ten minutes to be sorted?"
Kyle said politely, but didn't respond.
Wait, Quidditch is at least more reliable than dragons, and that's very Cedric.
"By the way, Kyle, have you thought about which house you'll be sorted into?" Cedric popped an Every Flavour Bean into his mouth and said, "It would be great if you could get into Hufflepuff, but a clever little wizard like you would probably want to go to Ravenclaw."
Before he could finish his sentence, Cedric's mouth twitched, and his entire face wrinkled involuntarily, looking incredibly funny.
"Oh shit, that's the beef liver flavor I hate."
Despite saying that, Cedric still swallowed it down with a stiff upper lip.
"I've thought about it, but it doesn't necessarily mean I'll go to a particular house." Kyle also picked up a flavored bean. "Besides, my ball-finding skills are average. I might not be able to catch the Snitch in ten minutes. I'd be happy if a house would take me in."
Hmm...it's the new black pepper steak flavor, not bad.
"Don't worry, you can do it," Cedric said with a laugh. "That's not that hard."
As he spoke, the carriage door suddenly opened from the outside.
Kyle and Cedric turned their heads at the same time.
A familiar redhead, but not a twin, but another Weasley.
Percy walked into the carriage and said, "Kyle, Fred told me you were here... Oh, you must be Cedric Diggory, right? I'm Percy Weasley, nice to meet you."
Cedric, curious at first, suddenly heard his name and nodded in response, "Me too, nice to meet you, Percy Weasley."
The other man's serious demeanor made Cedric think he was at some formal gathering, not the Hogwarts Express.
Overall, he looked bewildered, but polite.
Kyle suppressed a smile and waited until the two had finished their pleasantries before saying, "Percy, what do you want to talk to me about?"
He knew all seven Weasley children well, including Percy, though they didn't interact much.
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I do have something to ask." Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out a large rat.
"Scabbers has been feeling down lately, so I thought I'd ask if you still had the rat tonic I gave him earlier."
"I'd like to buy some if I can."
"Rat tonic?"
Kyle looked at the gray rat with one of its front paws missing in Percy's hand, squinted his eyes and smiled, "Of course I have it, just wait."
After that, Kyle took out a bottle filled with red liquid from his box, turned around and stuffed it into Percy's hand.
"You know, once a week, three drops at a time, the amount here should be enough for a long time."
"Thank you." Percy hurriedly took the bottle of red rat tonic, then took out three silver Sickles with a hesitant look on his face, and said with a red face, "I know this may not be enough, but this is all I have now, I will return the rest to you as soon as possible."
"No need for so much." Kyle only took one Sickle, and the other two were pushed back by him: "It's just rat tonic, not a good thing, how can it be so expensive, one Sickle is enough. "
Percy looked at the Sickle in his hand, his face flushed and pale. After a long time, he sighed softly and said, "Thank you, Kyle."
Kyle said, "No, I'll take the money. It's a normal transaction."
"No, I know everything."
Percy also smiled, but it was a bitter smile: "If it was an ordinary rat tonic, how could it have allowed Scabbers to live for eleven years? This must have been made by Mr. Scamander. After all, only a legendary figure like that could make an ordinary vole live for so long. If this kind of tonic was put on the market, I'm afraid it would cost at least ten Galleons. "
"Uh..."
Kyle rubbed his teeth. He really wanted to tell Percy.
Scabbers' longevity had nothing to do with the rat tonic. Besides, it was his own creation, not worth ten Galleons.
But the Peter Pettigrew incident was too troublesome. He was only eleven and didn't want to attract Dumbledore's attention for the time being.
But he wasn't completely inactive.
Besides the rat tonic, he had long ago told Percy that mice, unlike other pets, would be rejected by their own kind if they were stained with too much wizarding scent.
Percy was skeptical at first, but after Kyle emblazoned the Scamander-inspired statement, he believed it, and even revered it as a classic.
Percy truly cared deeply for his only pet.
Not only did he make a special nest for Scabbers in his room, but he also reduced physical contact much more often. Except for special circumstances like now, when he had to carry him around, he basically let him roam free.
Meanwhile, seeing Kyle's lack of response, Percy didn't plan to stay any longer.
"Anyway, thank you, Kyle. If you have any academic questions in the future, you can always ask me. And I'll make up those Galleons for you after graduation."
With that, Percy hurriedly left the carriage, leaving Kyle and Cedric staring at each other.
Finally, it was Cedric who broke the deadlock: "Um... can you get some rat tonic from Mr. Scamander?"
"I know how to make it, and not just rat tonics, but basically any pet tonic." Kyle didn't bother to explain any more, shrugging. "It's not that difficult, just a little bit of a hassle, so few people bother to learn it."
[End of the chapter]