Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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Not long after, Cedric and Cho arrived, making the private room much livelier.
Everyone was overjoyed to see each other again after two months.
Kyle wondered if it was just his imagination, but Cho seemed to have grown taller. She placed a large package on the table as soon as she entered.
Inside were gifts she had brought: some Muggle snacks.
Cho figured that Kyle, Cedric, and Kanna, all from dual-wizard families, would be unfamiliar with Muggle snacks, so this was a good opportunity for them to try them.
She had spent half a day carefully selecting what she considered the most delicious items.
The others were also very interested in what she brought.
Cedric particularly liked a black drink. Although he wasn't used to it at first, he gradually discovered that its unique taste was far superior to pumpkin juice, and it even brought a strange sense of joy.
If he hadn't known it was a Muggle drink, he would have thought it contained a stimulant.
Kanna liked a triangular corn chip and those berry-filled cookies.
Midway through, the Weasley brothers and Lee Jordan came over, and the three of them preferred a kind of candy that "exploded" in the mouth.
"Seriously, I suddenly have a really great idea," Fred said thoughtfully, licking the packaging. "We could try making an exploding candy."
"And then put it on the Slytherin table,"
George said with a laugh. "That might keep that Marcus guy quiet for a few days… I just found out he's Slytherin's Quidditch captain this year."
"That's a bit difficult."
Cedric opened the last bottle of soda and shook his head. "The Slytherins are unlikely to eat candy of unknown origin."
"How about putting the candy in the kitchen?" Lee Jordan thought for a moment and said, "Let them appear with other food, so they won't be considered of unknown origin."
"I don't recommend you do that." Cedric frowned. "The house-elves won't agree, and if there's a problem with the food, they'll be in trouble too."
"I see… then forget it." Lee Jordan shrugged.
"Perhaps you can try a different approach."
At this moment, Kyle suddenly said, "For example, it's candy in your mouth, but it explodes when you spit it out."
Fred and George's eyes lit up at the same time, and they said in unison,
"Kyle, has anyone ever told you…"
"You're really a genius!"
Kyle raised an eyebrow slightly. "Of course, a lot of people say that."
"…"
The private room fell silent. Everyone looked at Kyle with disdain.
But Kyle didn't care at all. He calmly ate a piece of chocolate. Through the car window, he saw Neville.
He looked around the platform, seemingly searching for something, while Madam Longbottom stood beside him, scolding him sternly.
He also saw Mrs. Weasley walking towards the train, followed by her three children:
Ron, Ginny, and a thin boy with round-framed glasses and messy hair, his haphazardly cut bangs covering his forehead.
"Mrs. Weasley," Kyle waved from the window.
"Oh, dear, there you are."
Mrs. Weasley hurried over. "Have you seen Fred and George?"
"We're here, Mum," the twins replied, then walked out of the train.
"By the way, Kyle, what have you been up to all summer?"
After the two left, Cho picked up a chocolate frog and asked, "I wrote you a letter in August, and it took almost half a month to get a reply."
Kyle said somewhat embarrassedly, "Um... something came up, and I went on a trip."
In fact, he received Cho's letter on his second day in Dorset, but he was busy getting beaten up at the time and forgot about replying.
By the time he remembered, he was already home.
Cho didn't suspect anything and assumed that Kyle, like Cedric, had gone on a trip.
"I really envy you guys," she said wistfully while eating her chocolate frog. "I also want to travel abroad. By the way... what do you think of Paris?" The last sentence was directed at Cedric.
"A wonderful trip," Cedric thought for a moment and said, "We met an old wizard from there when we went to the opera. He recognized us immediately and told us about many interesting places. If you'd like to travel there too, I can draw the route for you in a bit."
"That's great," Cho said with some surprise. "I've always wanted to go to Paris. By the way, did you go to Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"
"Yes," Cedric nodded. "But Beauxbatons isn't in Paris; it's in the Pyrenees in the south, which is what that old wizard told us."
"What's it like there?" Cho asked curiously.
"We didn't go inside; we just looked around from the outside,"
Cedric said. "It's a little smaller than Hogwarts, but the buildings are more exquisite and beautiful."
There was a hint of longing in Cho's eyes; she had never been able to resist beautiful architecture.
Especially since these buildings came from another famous magic school.
While Cho and Cedric were talking, Kyle glanced out the window again.
Mrs. Weasley on the platform was holding a handkerchief and wiping the dust off Ron's nose.
The boy with glasses who had been standing next to her was gone, replaced by Percy.
George looked at him and suddenly frowned.
"Percy, why is your robe different from ours?"
He gestured at his chest and said, "They're all new robes, but why don't I have that round badge? Did Madam Malkin skimp on it for me?"
"Darling, that's a badge only prefects have," Madam Weasley said with a smile.
"Oh, it's a prefect badge. No wonder you wore it all summer,"
Fred said exaggeratedly. "Seriously, thank goodness you didn't get the Special Merit Award."
"I remember it was a trophy," George said.
"You can't wear it on your chest…"
"But you can wear it on your head…"
"Like wearing a golden hat!"
Fred and George exchanged a glance, magically produced a trophy from their robes, put it on their heads, and then greeted each other like Percy.
"Shut up!" Percy's face turned red, and he looked very angry.
[End of the chapter]