Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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Kyle looked up, following Cedric's finger, and discovered Kanna sitting across from him to his left, preparing a steak.
However, with each cut, she glanced up at Kyle, as if the plate held Kyle, not just steak.
This scene gave him a toothache.
"Wait, why does her look seem unfriendly? But she wasn't like that on the train," Cedric asked curiously. "I remember the first-years were all together before the Sorting. Did something happen to you guys during that time?"
"That's definitely my fault," Kyle shrugged, briefly recounting what happened in the cabin.
Cedric was stunned. Sorting with a Killing Curse? Who the hell could come up with that?
"She believed it?" Cedric asked cautiously.
"What else?" Kyle said with a bitter face. "If she didn't believe it, would she have looked at me like that?"
Ugh...
A person could be so bold,
Cedric's lips twitched, and for a moment he didn't know what to say. He could only look speechlessly at Kanna, then at Kyle, then silently gave a thumbs-up.
"Really, Kyle, you two are a match made in heaven."
"She's only eleven, and you're so anxious to go to Azkaban?" Kyle said angrily. "And I advise you not to say that again. If Professor Snape hears, you're doomed."
"She knows Professor Snape?" Cedric asked in surprise.
Kyle nodded. "I'm not sure, but I think they do."
"…"
Cedric's expression suddenly changed. He glared at Kyle with a look of scum. "You're out of line! How could you play such a nasty joke on a first-year? If I were a prefect, I'd definitely deduct points from you."
Kyle stared at Cedric in disbelief, as if he'd just met him.
He'd changed sides the moment he heard Kanna knew Snape. His expression changed so quickly.
Was this really the Cedric he knew?
Yet, facing Kyle's gaze, Cedric remained expressionless, even shuffling aside, as if to distance himself from him.
Kyle could only silently raise his middle finger.
He'd been so careless in choosing his friends! I wondered where he'd learned this from. How could he become so shameless after just a short time apart?
But in this situation, it was impossible to eat peacefully.
Kyle simply put down his knife and fork and looked up at Kanna.
The little witch didn't shy away, simply locking eyes with Kyle, her round cheeks puffing up, whether she was chewing her steak or out of anger.
Neither of them spoke, staring at each other at the start-of-term banquet, oblivious to the others, as if they were in a contest to see who would bow first.
Naturally, neither Kyle nor Kanna wanted to concede, and at first, they were determined, as if they were determined to fight this contest to the end.
However, Kanna had clearly overestimated herself.
Soon, her eyes began to wander, and a bright red crimson spread across her once-fair face.
A few seconds later… her eyes began to shift, her breathing became more rapid, and her entire face turned a crimson red.
Finally, Kanna couldn't hold it any longer and quickly lowered her head, her nose pressed against the steak, as if burying herself in the dish. Only her reddened ears were visible.
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Kanna's personality hadn't changed; she was still as shy and socially anxious as before. Her earlier outburst was simply the result of realizing she'd been tricked, a wave of rage and anger.
It was like a normally quiet girl slamming her keyboard and spewing curses after being tricked in her favorite game. It was the same principle.
Coupled with Kyle's constant avoidance, she had no outlet for the pent-up anger she'd been feeling, which had persisted until now.
Once that anger dissipated, she naturally reverted to her shy, socially anxious little witch.
And Kyle's gaze, in effect, gave her an outlet. After all, eye contact is still communication, it's just less efficient.
Kyle hadn't expected her anger to subside so quickly, to calm down in just a few minutes. Her personality was truly a bit too easygoing.
Ginny Weasley's personality was considered good among the people Kyle knew, but even when she got angry, she'd have to argue with Kyle face to face for at least half an hour.
Kanna, by comparison, was far too weak, and her personality wouldn't bode well in the wizarding world.
It had been fine at Hogwarts; Hufflepuffs were known for their honesty and friendliness, and few harbored ill intentions.
But if she remained like this after graduation, she'd likely die without a trace.
Grogan Stump, a renowned Minister of Magic, once said that Hogwarts was a fairytale; leaving the castle only left a devouring abyss.
In the eyes of those Dark wizards teetering on the brink of death, a shy, introverted pure-blood witch was no different from a fleeting Galleon. They would swarm her like hyenas, devouring her until not even a bone remained.
Kyle wasn't exaggerating; there were precedents, like the disappearance of pure-blood families.
After Voldemort's fall, the Death Eaters, deprived of their backers and hounded by the Ministry of Magic's Aurors, became disorganized and fled into hiding.
This utter chaos reigned throughout the British wizarding world, and the pure-blood families were thrown into chaos.
The hyenas lurking in the shadows seized this opportunity and attacked these disorganized pure-blood families.
They either robbed them outright or used the Cruciatus Curse to extract valuable information. In short, any lone pure-blood became their prey.
They cared nothing for the size or power of their family, or whether they would retaliate in the future.
As long as there was profit to be made, and as long as the target's family didn't have a monster like Dumbledore or Voldemort, they would pounce and take a piece of their flesh.
During that period, the number of pure-bloods killed by them grew by the day, and many families began to decline, eventually fading into oblivion.
This situation continued until the Death Eaters were mostly captured, and the Aurors and Striker turned their attention to them.
It was like this then, and it is no different now.
Kyle glanced at Kanna, who was playing ostrich. After a moment's silence, he calmly took the black pepper next to him, sprinkled it on the cut potatoes, and put it into his mouth. "
Forget it, it's only first year now, and there's still a long time before graduation. Why think about this? Fill your stomach first.
[End of the chapter]