"Don't worry, Cedric is fine. Madam Pomfrey says he'll be discharged tomorrow morning."
When they returned to the Hufflepuff common room, Kyle immediately shared this good news.
The little badgers hadn't left after leaving the hospital wing — they'd been waiting here the whole time. The Quidditch team members had arrived too, though with grim expressions.
Losing their Seeker Cedric to injury mid-game had devastated team morale. Even with a substitute Chaser, they'd suffered a crushing defeat: 60 to 220, trailing by 160 points.
At least Cedric would recover soon — that was something.
"If that's the case, he can make it to afternoon practice." Jazel, the Beater, said hopefully.
Jazel was a seventh-year student whose greatest wish was to win the Quidditch Cup for Hufflepuff before graduating.
"Damn it!" Captain Harris slammed his fist against the wall, "We can't just let this slide."
"Right, this needs to be addressed." Someone said indignantly, "How dare Slytherin so blatantly attack our Seeker? They're showing you no respect, Captain. I won't stand for this!"
"Captain…" Someone whispered, "I heard some Slytherin team members are going to Hogsmeade tomorrow, maybe we could..."
"Shut up, Henry." Harris turned and glared at him, "Remember, don't lay a hand on any Slytherin players. I'll handle this matter."
Kyle heard these words and glanced back at him.
This captain was quite level-headed.
Indeed, they couldn't openly cause trouble with Slytherin now. Hufflepuff's house points were merely ten points behind Slytherin's — a razor-thin margin. If Snape found an excuse, he wouldn't hesitate to dock Hufflepuff a hundred points.
Of course, if losing a hundred points meant they could beat up the Slytherins and let off some steam, that wouldn't be so bad — Hufflepuff didn't really care about house points anyway.
But what if they failed to land any hits and still lost the points? That would be beyond frustrating.
And that scenario seemed likely. Kyle suspected that a certain professor was keeping close watch on them, and perhaps had even leaked the news about Slytherin players going to Hogsmeade himself.
He shook his head and stopped listening. He called for Michael and Ryan, and the three returned to their dormitory.
"Kyle, what couldn't you say outside?" Michael had been discussing Quidditch with the others and seemed reluctant when Kyle suddenly called him back. Looking at the Wimbourne Wasps poster beside Kyle's bed, he said wistfully, "I just realized how interesting Quidditch is. Too bad first-years aren't allowed on the team. I'm definitely signing up next year — what about you guys, want to join too?"
Michael closed his eyes, savoring the fantasy of soaring across the Quidditch pitch on a broomstick, catching the Golden Snitch while deafening cheers erupted around him, everyone screaming his name.
It felt amazing...
"Wake up, you can sleep later!"
A cold voice mercilessly yanked him from his daydream.
"We'll talk about Quidditch next year. You have something more important right now." After Michael opened his eyes, Kyle handed him a blue potion, "Here, time for your medicine."
Seeing the Magic Suppression Potion, his grin instantly disappeared.
"Impossible, I just took it a few days ago!" Michael insisted.
"Sixty days ago?" Kyle said, "You know it's once every two months, right?"
"It's been two months already? That fast!" Michael couldn't believe it. The nauseating taste was so memorable, everything felt like it had happened just yesterday.
"Um, did you forget?" Ryan quietly reminded him from the side, "Halloween was just two days ago."
Hearing this, Michael quickly faced reality. Right, Halloween had passed, so it really had been two months.
"Fine, you're right." He said with shifty eyes, "But I have something to do later. Just leave it on the table, I'll drink it when I get back tonight."
"Alright, don't forget." Kyle put the Magic Suppression Potion on the table.
Michael visibly relaxed, "Don't worry, I won't forget. I'm heading to the library to do homework now, see you tonight."
He turned to leave.
Behind him, Kyle silently drew his wand.
✭ Incarcerous ➜ Incarceration Spell ✭
A thick rope shot from his wand tip, binding Michael tightly.
"What are you doing, what are you doing!" He struggled desperately, but it was futile. He could only watch helplessly as Kyle approached with the Magic Suppression Potion, step by step, "Don't come any closer, stay back!"
"Don't blame me, this pains me too." Kyle said sincerely as he reached his good friend's side, "But I have no choice — this is the task Professor Dumbledore gave me, I must complete it."
"I'm fine now, really." Michael thought he could still save himself and quickly said, "Professor Sprout said I'm making great progress. Those accidents definitely won't happen again."
"That was with the Lumos Charm. We're learning Wingardium Leviosa now."
"Then I won't use a wand!" Michael continued struggling, "That should be okay, right?"
Kyle shook his head. Doing Charms without a wand was like playing Quidditch without a broomstick.
He gave Ryan a look, and Ryan immediately understood, rolling up his sleeves as he approached.
Working together, they managed to make Michael drink the Magic Suppression Potion — not wasting a single drop.
Ryan held the empty bottle curiously and asked, "What exactly is this?"
"Magic Suppression Potion, a very precious potion."
"Precious?"
"Yes." Kyle paused for a moment, "Put it this way — outside of Hogwarts, this potion would cost at least fifty Galleons, and that's for the lowest quality."
"Fifty Galleons!" Ryan gulped.
Goodness, his wand had only cost seven Galleons — this single potion was worth seven wands?
"However, that bottle was personally brewed by Professor Snape." Kyle continued, "For work by a Potions Master like him, the price in Diagon Alley would at least double, so about a hundred Galleons."
This time, even Michael, who had been lying on the floor playing dead fish, sat up when he heard that number.
He had just drunk something worth a hundred Galleons?
He smacked his lips — why did it suddenly have a pleasant aftertaste?
✭✭✭
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