In the hospital wing, Cedric and Kyle stared at each other awkwardly, neither knowing quite what to say.
More accurately, Cedric was the awkward one — if he hadn't been confined to the hospital bed, he probably would have been fidgeting enough to carve a second Hogwarts castle into the floor.
"That's good then." He said, turning his head away and trying to appear composed.
Kyle cleared his throat and spoke earnestly, "Cedric, why would you even think about dueling them? We're Hufflepuffs — Hogwarts' famously well-behaved students and role models. Those kinds of thoughts are dangerous. Think about Professor Sprout — she'd be so disappointed to see you being this reckless and breaking rules."
"I didn't — I never thought that!" Cedric protested angrily.
The main issue was that when he was brought in, he had heard several people talking about challenging the Slytherins to one-on-one duels. His leg and head had hurt too much at the time, and though his mind was foggy, he had wanted to tell them not to be rash but couldn't get the words out.
Just now when he thought about it again, he had automatically assumed Kyle was thinking the same thing.
"No need to explain so hastily, I understand." Kyle said, not even looking at him, "After such a serious injury, it's normal to say heated things when you're upset. Just be more careful in the future. Here, have a Chocolate Frog."
Earlier, before leaving the hospital wing, the little badgers had left some get-well gifts — not many, just some common snacks they'd brought to watch the match.
Kyle picked out a Chocolate Frog and opened it before passing it over.
"I already told you, I never thought that. Hey... wait a minute." Cedric was about to explain when he suddenly noticed the Chocolate Frog card in his hand, "What's that you're holding..."
Kyle casually slipped his hand into his pocket and said, "Just a regular card, Nicolas Flamel. I didn't have his yet."
"That's not right." Cedric sat up, "I saw it — that wasn't Flamel, it was Agrippa."
Though he'd only caught a glimpse, he had seen that Kyle's card was golden.
This was a special alchemical technique that the Chocolate Frog Company had commissioned from a master alchemist to prevent card counterfeiting. With this protection, neither Geminio nor Accio would work on it, and it was even more effective than the enchantments on Galleons.
In the entire Chocolate Frog card collection, only one card used this technique — the extremely rare Cornelius Agrippa.
Realizing this, Cedric immediately reached out his hand and said, "Give it back, that Chocolate Frog was given to me, so the card inside is naturally mine too!"
Seeing his ruse had failed, Kyle dropped the act and replied defiantly, "But I'm the one who opened it. If you had opened it yourself, you probably would've just gotten another Dumbledore."
"It doesn't matter who opened it — the card was already inside! It would've been Agrippa no matter what!" Cedric said furiously, "Give it back to me now. I only need that one card to complete my whole set!"
"No way." Kyle clutched his pocket tightly, "I only need this one card too!"
Just like on the train, they glared at each other, the air thick with tension.
This time though, Kyle clearly had the upper hand. He shot Cedric a taunting look, walked to the hospital wing door, opened it, and walked out.
Then came back in... Out again, then back in.
Cedric was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe Kyle would fight so dirty, coming to trick and mock him while he was laid up with a broken leg.
"Alright, enough joking around."
Seeing that the pale boy was starting to have trouble breathing and turning red, Kyle finally walked back to the bedside and took out the Cornelius Agrippa card from his pocket.
"I really can't give this to you — I need it." He said with a serious expression, "I have to say, Slytherin is really lucky. I was worried about what to do, but this card came at just the right time."
"Slytherin?" Cedric carefully set down the shoe he was holding and asked, puzzled, "Your plan has something to do with this card?"
Kyle nodded.
"But it's Agrippa!" Cedric whimpered, looking pained. "If I could get an Agrippa card, I'd be willing to fall a few more times."
"It's just a card — look how pathetic you're being." Kyle gave him a contemptuous look, "This is about getting revenge for you on the small scale, and about whether Hufflepuff can win the Quidditch Cup on the large scale. Are you saying an Agrippa card is more important than the Quidditch Cup?"
"Well, no..." Cedric said quietly.
"There you have it then."
"Even so..." He looked at Kyle thoughtfully.
Something felt off — his expression was too serious, which itself was unusual.
Cedric strongly suspected Kyle was trying to fool him, or rather, that Kyle's original plan had nothing to do with the Agrippa card at all. But he had no proof.
"Why don't you just give me the Agrippa?" He suggested after some thought, "Even if it's just for one night, at least I can say I had it. I'll give it back to you tomorrow when I'm discharged, or we could work on that plan together."
"No need, leave this dirty work to me." Kyle thumped his chest self-righteously, "Your job right now is to focus on recovery."
"..."
— It was confirmed: this conniving and dirty person was definitely trying to deceive him.
Cedric's eyes narrowed as he reached down to pick up the shoe from the floor.
But by the time he looked up again, Kyle had already dashed out of the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey was approaching with a tray.
"What are you doing with that shoe?" She frowned, "Your bones need time to heal properly — you'll have to stay here overnight."
"Sorry, Madam, I understand." Cedric forced a smile and put the shoe back down.
"Really now, young wizards these days are such a handful." Madam Pomfrey muttered as she bandaged his right leg, then took out a Chocolate Frog card and placed it on the bed, "I found this by your bed — do try to keep your things tidy."
Cedric's heart leaped with excitement as he looked over eagerly… only to find a white-bearded old man smiling kindly back at him.
His soaring hopes instantly plummeted.
{Nicolas Flamel, widely acknowledged as the most famous alchemist of modern times, known for contributions including...}
'KYLE!'
Cedric glared at the hospital wing entrance, grinding his teeth and wishing he could rush out to give his friend a good thrashing. But one glance at Madam Pomfrey nearby quickly extinguished that thought.
Still unwilling to admit defeat, he opened the remaining two Chocolate Frogs, hoping to find another Agrippa.
A minute later... Cedric let out a deep sigh and stuffed the two Dumbledore cards under his pillow.
✭✭✭
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