Cedric and Cho didn't come back until late afternoon.
To welcome them back to school, Fred and George specially bought several large bottles of Butterbeer from Hogsmeade.
Their six-person group... um, team, almost everyone got a bottle, except for Kael.
"You guys hold grudges too much." Kael looked at the Butterbeer in everyone else's hands, pursed his lips, and said, "It was just a little joke, is it necessary to hold it against me till now..."
"Oh, isn't this Kael from the Merlin Knight Order?" Fred said in an exaggeratedly shocked tone, "You should have told us earlier, I thought someone as noble as you would disdain drinking Butterbeer."
"Hold on, I don't think he's a member of the Merlin Knight Order," George said. "In the awards showcase, he only has a trophy for special contributions to the school."
"And it's from last year..."
"It's been outdated for a while..."
"I say you two, that's enough!" Kael rubbed his forehead and said, "It's just a Merlin Medal, believe it or not, I'd use it to knock your heads every day."
After an eerie silence...
"Ha..." George let out a weird noise, then clutched his belly and laughed loudly, "I can't take it... hahaha... Fred, did you hear what he said?"
"Of course, George, I heard it loud and clear." Fred wiped away the tears from laughing, "We'd better hurry and get out the last bottle of Butterbeer, he's starting to talk nonsense."
"I think so too..."
"Using the Merlin Medal to knock our heads, that joke's too funny..."
"I could laugh for a whole year..."
Kael looked at the Butterbeer they handed over and calmly asked, "What if I could really do it?"
"Then we'll cover all your Butterbeer from now on!" Fred said carelessly.
"If anyone could get a Merlin Medal in second year, I'd balance three trophies on my head and tap dance while flying around the school."
"Count me in!"
Saying that, even they couldn't help but laugh.
Kael raised an eyebrow, quietly took a sip of Butterbeer, and said nothing.
The stuff really was quite tasty, somewhat like hot chocolate, filled with the aroma of butter with each sip, but not greasy at all, no wonder it's so popular.
Perhaps from now on, he could consider having one every day... though he wondered if the Weasley Brothers' wallets could handle it.
...
Not long after the students returned to Hogwarts, the feast began.
Hermione frowned at Ron, who was loading food onto a big plate, and asked, "What are you doing, and where's Harry? Isn't he going to eat dinner?"
"That's what I'm getting at."
Ron, holding a chicken leg, said with some helplessness, "Harry's asleep in the dormitory, I called him several times, but it was no use.
If I don't bring more food now, he'll only end up hungry when he wakes up."
"Asleep... now?" Hermione was even more puzzled.
She could understand Harry being prone to drowsiness, as he often dozed in the library, but why sleep now of all times?
"Wait, are you planning on sneaking out at night again?" Hermione asked warily.
"Of course not, We stopped doing that long ago!" Ron's face turned a little red.
"It's Kael, he gave Harry a bottle of Draught of Living Death, said it could solve his nightmare problems."
Then, Ron roughly recounted what had happened at Hagrid's Hut that afternoon.
"...it's just that Harry drank a bit too much, he's been asleep for four hours."
"How much did he drink?"
Ron thought about it and said, "I don't know, probably a small cup, but definitely not much."
"Do you think it's pumpkin juice or something?" Hermione frowned, "I've read in books that just one small spoonful of Draught of Living Death can put someone into a deep sleep for two hours, yet he drank a whole cup?"
"Yeah, I know, Kael said the same thing at the time." Ron sighed, "So what do we do now."
"There's nothing we can do but wait for him to wake up on his own, which might not be until late tonight, or even early tomorrow morning," Hermione glanced at the big plate Ron was holding, "Are you sure you want to take that much food?"
"Of course, what if Harry doesn't have enough to eat?" Ron replied offhandedly, "Although it might take a while, once you toast them in the fireplace, it's just as delicious as freshly made, that's how we ate during the holidays."
Hermione glared at him, her eyes showing a hint of danger.
"So you're telling me you spent the entire holiday figuring out how to roast food and didn't even go looking for Nicolas Flamel, is that right?"
"We did look for him, and even went to the Restricted Area! Ron hurriedly defended himself, "You probably don't know, but the books there scream when you open them, We were almost caught by Filch."
Hermione cast him a suspicious glance, it was the first time she'd ever heard of books screaming, making her wonder if Ron had come up with this excuse.
But Ron swore up and down, patting his chest, promising it was all true... After all, these were things Harry himself had told him, so Ron felt very confident.
After the opening feast, everyone returned to their dormitories.
Hermione was right, it wasn't until deep into the night that Harry finally slowly opened his eyes.
He tried to speak but found his throat dry, luckily there was half a cup of pumpkin juice nearby. Though he didn't know whose it was, Harry couldn't care less, he grabbed it and took a big sip.
"This is... the dormitory?"
Putting down the cup, Harry began to survey his surroundings.
Next to the pumpkin juice was a plate filled with sumptuous food.
A wave of hunger hit, Harry's throat moved, and he felt like someone had punched him in the stomach, it was very uncomfortable.
Since leaving the Dursleys, he hadn't felt this way in a long time.
Harry picked up a roasted potato and swallowed it whole, skin and all, in just a few bites, feeling much better.
Neville and Seamus were asleep, and Ron was sitting by the table, chin in hand, his head bobbing up and down.
Harry walked over and gave him a push, "Ron, why are you sleeping here?"
Jolted awake, Ron opened his eyes, drowsily saying, "Hmm... Harry... oh, thank goodness, you're finally awake..."
"How long was I asleep?" Harry asked.
"I don't know..." Ron rubbed his eyes, "But definitely more than eight hours, how do you feel now?"
"Fantastic!"
Harry said excitedly, "It's the most restful sleep I've ever had, not a single dream."
"That's great..." Ron yawned and sat on his bed.
He wanted to say more, but he was so tired that he fell asleep before he could utter another word.