Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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Snape limped away, and Filch, seeing this, could only regretfully follow.
He had thought that the dungeons would finally reopen, but it was another disappointment.
"That's not fair!"
Fred pouted in the direction Snape had left, complaining, "There are three Hufflepuffs, why did he only deduct points from Gryffindor?"
"He probably just said it offhand, don't worry about the details." Kyle patted his shoulder, saying seriously, "Here, on behalf of all the Hufflepuffs, I want to express our sincerest gratitude to Gryffindor."
Fred put his hand on Kyle's arm, equally serious, "In return, Gryffindor hopes to make a request."
"No." Kyle refused without even thinking.
"Hey, I haven't even said what it is yet…"
"Nothing is acceptable!"
"We'll talk about that later…" Cedric frowned and said, "Have you noticed that Professor Snape's leg seems to be injured?"
"We've known for days."
George shrugged. "He was standing almost the entire time during Potions class, without moving an inch, which was absolutely impossible before."
"Since then, we've suspected there's something wrong with his leg."
"And we also found bloodstains on the Potions floor, even though no younger wizards were injured that day."
Fred and George quickly shared the clues they had found.
"No wonder we haven't seen him much lately."
Cedric wondered, "But don't you find it strange? This is Hogwarts, why would Professor Snape be so badly injured?"
"Who knows?" Fred thought for a moment and said, "Maybe he went to the Forbidden Forest. I heard he often goes there to collect potion ingredients. Maybe he encountered some dangerous magical creatures."
"Or maybe he went to the Forbidden Corridor," George reminded him. "Don't forget that all the professors were looking for trolls in the castle on Halloween. Maybe he went there and got bitten by Cerberus."
The group left the corridor as they talked.
Although Snape and Filch had left, no one knew if they might suddenly turn back.
It was better to stay away from here to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Afterwards, the twins had to return to the Gryffindor Tower, so the group parted ways at the top of the stairs.
Kyle and Cedric went downstairs and headed towards the Hufflepuff common room.
As for Kanna, she said she had to go to the library and left halfway there.
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The following week, Kyle became even busier, as did the others. They spent at least an hour each day tinkering with new products in that empty classroom.
Finally, in the second week, the Quidditch match began.
That morning, the weather was clear and chilly. The dining room was filled with the enticing aroma of roasting sausages, and everyone was excitedly chatting at the tables, anticipating an exciting Quidditch match.
"The first match is between Gryffindor and Slytherin," Cedric said, eating bread and looking at his neatly arranged schedule. "They're first, then it's us versus Ravenclaw."
"Gryffindor..." Mikel, listening nearby, asked thoughtfully, "Their Seeker is that first-year student named Potter, right?"
Hogwarts never kept secrets; despite Wood's best efforts, the news of Harry becoming the Seeker had leaked out.
Harry's status as a first year becoming the Seeker, the youngest player in a century, instantly overshadowed Kyle's, making him the talk of the town.
The discussions, however, were mixed.
Some thought he would play brilliantly, while others were dismissive.
For example, Malfoy of Slytherin had repeatedly stated publicly that they would hold up the mattress and run alongside Harry to prevent him from falling.
Everyone else was only concerned with Harry's performance, while Malfoy worried about his potential fall.
Tsk, that's true love, isn't it?
Everyone looked up towards the Gryffindor table.
Harry sat there looking irritable, surrounded by a group of people holding sausages or toast, seemingly trying to persuade him to eat something.
"He looks nervous," Mikel remarked.
"That's how it is for first-timers… well, at least most of them are."
Cedric paused mid-sentence, then noticed Kyle calmly eating his toast.
Also a first-timer, Kyle seemed completely unfazed, behaving no differently than usual.
Just then, Fred and George suddenly entered the Great Hall, but instead of sitting down to eat, they wandered around for a moment and then left.
Seeing them, Kyle, Kanna, Cedric, and Cho from Ravenclaw quickly finished their breakfast and left the Great Hall.
They followed Fred and George to the entrance passage to the Quidditch pitch.
There, a wooden shelf had appeared, neatly arranged with various blue-glowing cheering items. There were bottles that could roar like lions, and glow sticks shaped like snakes that could fly through the air. The flickering blue light seemed to dispel the cold; the closer one got to the shelf, the more pronounced the warmth became. "Bluebell Flame Charm… what a brilliant idea," Fred said , touching the shelf. "Those little wizards won't have to freeze while watching the game."
The Bluebell Flame Charm was a magical spell; although it contained the word "flame," its temperature was not high, only around fifty degrees Celsius, even fine to hold directly in one's hand.
And it was also very beautiful, resembling a blue bellflower.
"Everything's here," George said. "We need to get to the stadium early, so we might not be able to help."
"No problem, we'll take care of the rest," Cedric said with a smile.
He hadn't planned on having Fred and George help today, but they disagreed.
Cho found a place to sit next to the shelves, looking quite content.
"Honestly, it's so comfortable here."
At that moment, Qiu finally understood why Kyle had chosen this location for the sale.
The warm bluebell flames danced, dispelling the chill; it was practically a completely different world from the biting wind of the passageway.
Soon, the match was about to begin.
Fred and George were called to the players' locker room by Wood, and the young wizards began to appear in the distance.
They left the Great Hall and started walking towards the stadium.
[End of the chapter]