Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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Faced with threats from two second-year students, the weak Kyle, to avoid being bullied, could only verbally sign a series of unequal agreements.
"Remember your words, Kyle,"
Fred reminded him, "You need to provide technical support for our Weasley joke products."
"And a place," George added, "You have to provide us with a safe place to store them during the holidays, and make sure Mom doesn't find them."
"Of course, I'd be happy to," Kyle smiled, "I'll help you guys research those products. And don't worry about the place... how about my room? Mrs. Weasley definitely won't find them there."
"Very good."
Fred and George nodded in satisfaction, letting Kyle go.
"If you dare to deceive us..." Before leaving, Fred warned menacingly, "The consequences will be severe!"
They both then simultaneously gave a thumbs-up to their necks.
After they left, Kyle casually walked to the Hufflepuff table as if nothing had happened.
"How was your holiday?"
"Not bad." Kyle glanced at Cedric and said, "No need to get up early, no homework, just reading, gardening, petting animals, and stuff like that. It's the life I've always dreamed of."
Cedric looked a little envious.
"I wish I hadn't gone back." He sighed. "My dad said he'd take me to France this holiday, but he's too busy. He's been working almost constantly, less than five hours a day at home. He simply doesn't have the time."
Cedric's words surprised Kyle.
That shouldn't be the case. Weren't those smuggled magical creatures already returned by Chris and Newt? Why is Mr. Diggory still so busy?
And he hadn't heard of anything particularly unusual happening lately; everything was peaceful.
Even Mr. Weasley and Lucius arguing at the Ministry of Magic made the front page of the Daily Prophet.
Normally, such trivial matters would only occupy a corner of the page.
It seemed the magical world really had nothing to report lately, a truly serene feeling.
In this situation, unless there's some special emergency, like a magical creature injuring someone, Mr. Diggory would have at least five days off.
But if that were to happen, the Daily Prophet wouldn't be completely silent.
Cedric seemed to notice Kyle's confusion. He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention before whispering, "It's because of the Winged Devil… my dad's been looking for it."
"The Winged Devil…" Kyle frowned, lowering his voice as well, "Didn't that thing leave?"
"No, the Ministry of Magic is lying,"
Cedric said. "My dad had a few drinks on Christmas Day and seemed to mistake me for his colleague, so I took the opportunity to ask him a lot of questions.
He said the Ministry of Magic hadn't found any trace of the Winged Devil."
Kyle shook his head. "But Newt didn't say that."
He might not believe anyone else, but Newt never lied, especially about magical creatures.
Unless it concerns the safety of the wizarding world, let alone Fudge, even Dumbledore wouldn't... Well, that's not necessarily true.
However, given Dumbledore's personality, he most likely wouldn't ask Newt for help just for a winged creature.
Unless Fudge is his own son.
"I asked about that too," Cedric said. "My dad said Mr. Scamander's original words were, 'We didn't find the Winged Devil; it's probably hiding.'
But the photo the Ministry of Magic provided to the Daily Prophet only showed the first half of that sentence; they removed the second half."
"Huh?" Kyle raised an eyebrow. "To avoid panic?"
"Yes, to avoid panic," Cedric shrugged. "They even found a reason to send Mr. Chris and Mr. Scamander, who had always opposed it, away."
Kyle stroked his chin; his previous doubts were now clear.
No wonder he felt something was off about Chris's business trip; so that was the problem.
It was just transporting some magical creatures; why would Chris and Newt need to go together?
The Nundu and the Australian Opal-Eyed were one thing, but those two were too dangerous; ordinary people couldn't handle them.
But what about the other magical creatures?
A simple task that could have been accomplished by simply releasing them into a remote, untouched forest, or by sending two fighters, fell to Chris and Newt.
Think about it: a deputy director of the Ministry of Magic and a renowned master of magical creatures. The two of them traveled thousands of kilometers together just to return an ordinary Bowtruckle to its original place?
That's absurd.
Normally, even a Bowtruckle owned by Grindelwald wouldn't receive this treatment, let alone an ordinary one.
Kyle thought for a moment and asked, "Did your father find the Winged Devil?"
"No," Cedric shook his head. "My father and his team have been searching for over a month without a single clue.
But Minister Fudge keeps pressuring them, and he even got angry a couple of days ago, that bastard..."
Cedric was quite well-mannered; when he mentioned key words, he only moved his lips without making a sound, fully demonstrating the qualities of an excellent young wizard.
However, his lip movements were very clear; Kyle could tell that he was praising the other's family tree in a very sweet way.
After sweetening his words, Cedric's mood inexplicably improved. He glanced towards the teachers' table and said, "Let's not talk about that. Did you notice that Professor Snape seemed really angry today?"
"Really?"
Kyle picked up a chicken leg without looking up and said, "It's probably just your imagination. He's always angry."
"That's true, but..." Cedric glanced at the teachers' table again and said, "I still think he's a little different today."
Snape on the platform looked as if he'd drunk the wrong potion; his face was as black as the bottom of a pot. His sinister eyes scanned back and forth across the four tables.
Seemingly sensing someone watching him, Snape suddenly looked towards Hufflepuff, startling Cedric into quickly lowering his head.
Beside him, Kyle continued to eat his chicken leg at a leisurely pace, occasionally exchanging a few words with Mikel, who sat on his other side.
[End of the chapter]