Kyle and Kanna chatted as they walked toward the castle. While crossing the grounds, they encountered Hagrid carrying a fir tree inside.
"Done with class?" Hagrid poked his head out from among the branches with a smile, "Go check out the Great Hall, it's absolutely wonderful."
"No rush for that." Kyle approached him, glanced at the tree, and asked, "Are there more? We can help you carry them."
"Thanks, but this is the last one." Hagrid winked and said, "I haven't forgotten about Christmas this year."
"Forgotten Christmas?" Kanna asked in confusion, "How could you forget Christmas? The Great Hall was decorated so beautifully last year. I saw those twelve Christmas trees, just like the one you're carrying now."
"Yeah, due to some reasons... it was really terrible." Hagrid mumbled, "But thankfully with Kyle's help, we managed to catch up in the end."
Losing his memory was too embarrassing to discuss, and he didn't want many people to know about this dark history, so after a few vague words, he brushed it off.
Fortunately, Kanna didn't press further.
The group entered the castle together, but after just a few steps, Hagrid suddenly stopped. As Kyle wondered why, they heard Harry and Ron's voices from ahead.
"Hey, Hagrid, need any help?"
"Where are you taking such a big tree?"
"No need, I can manage, thanks Ron." Hagrid turned and stuck his head out from among the branches.
"Could you move aside and stop blocking the way." Draco's cold, drawling voice came from behind them, "Are you trying to earn some pocket money, Weasley? I suppose you're hoping to become the gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts?"
Ron's face instantly turned red. He clenched his fists and spun around angrily, looking ready to punch Draco's smug face.
Crabbe and Goyle stepped forward protectively.
Draco wasn't intimidated at all; on the contrary, he seemed even more pleased. But just as he was about to say something more...
"I think you should apologize to Ron, Draco, and stop dragging out your words when you speak. It makes you sound mean."
"Who... dares to meddle in my business!" Draco frowned, looking displeased toward the back of Hagrid.
He wanted to see who was so bold as to tell him to apologize to Weasley — and to claim he sounded mean in front of Harry Potter, no less!
That drawling tone was something he had learned from Professor Snape. Saying he sounded mean was practically insulting Professor Snape himself!
Did they have a death wish?
"Crabbe, Goyle, give me..." But when Draco saw who was speaking, he suddenly froze, his tone abruptly changing, "...give me... our friend Kyle some snacks."
He never expected Kyle to be here, along with that girl — Kanna Prince, if he recalled correctly.
Draco remembered that just a week ago, Marcus from the Quidditch team was given detention by Professor Snape simply for calling her "Kyle's little follower" during dinner. Marcus had spent three miserable days dealing with Flobberworms in the dungeon.
Initially, Draco wasn't entirely sure the detention had anything to do with this girl, so he investigated. That's when he discovered that Professor Snape actually awarded points to this Hufflepuff girl in every class.
Better to be cautious, given these circumstances.
Beside him, Crabbe and Goyle had already rolled up their sleeves, but after hearing the latter half of his sentence, they froze instantly, then quickly covered their pockets.
"No snacks left, Malfoy."
"Yeah, yeah, we ate them all."
"You..." Draco was furious.
Those were premium candies his father had sent! Most had already gone into Crabbe and Goyle's pockets, and now they claimed there were none left?
And their gesture of covering their pockets — did they think everyone was blind?
"Get them out now." Draco demanded, mortified in front of the others, "Or I won't share any with you next time."
With miserable expressions, Crabbe and Goyle reluctantly produced one piece of candy each, hands trembling as they surrendered their treasures.
"You..." Draco's face darkened at their stinginess.
He lunged forward and snatched a handful of candies from each of their pockets, then turned to dump them into Kyle's hands.
Crabbe and Goyle stood petrified — mouths agape, eyes vacant and lifeless. Watching their candies being taken away felt like witnessing the apocalypse.
"Thank you, Draco." Kyle said with a smile, also taking the candies from Crabbe and Goyle's hands, "And thank you too, Crabbe, Goyle... Oh, Screaming Mints! I've been wanting to try these lately."
"Oh!" Crabbe let out a strange cry, nearly collapsing.
As for Goyle — he had already fainted when Kyle took his last piece of candy.
Draco ignored his two pathetic henchmen. He straightened his robes and stepped forward with a polished smile, "I'm delighted to see you here, Kyle. Oh, and Miss Prince, pleased to meet you. I'm Draco Malfoy from Slytherin."
"Hello." Kanna replied simply, then fell silent.
She was always like this with strangers.
"Actually, I was just about to find you, Draco." Kyle said, stepping forward and revealing a snake-shaped bracelet that was completely translucent and emitted a soft green glow, "This is what you asked for earlier. I took the liberty of engraving the Malfoy family crest on it. What do you think? If you're not satisfied, I can modify it."
"Satisfied? Of course I'm satisfied!"
Draco had initially just wanted to send Kyle away quickly, but after seeing what he held, he completely forgot about Harry.
The bracelet was even more beautiful than he had imagined — grand and exquisite, especially the Malfoy family crest on the snake's body. The more he examined it, the more he liked it.
"How much extra for engraving the family crest? I'll pay you right now."
"No need, Draco. The hundred Galleons you gave earlier is enough." Kyle said with a smile, "Consider this a bonus for being our loyal customer."
"Thanks... this is amazing!"
"Why not go to the Quidditch field and try out the effect?" Kyle suggested with a smile.
"Ah, right, right..." Only then did Draco come to his senses. Not bothering with Crabbe and Goyle nearby, he hurried off toward the Quidditch field.
Only after he left the castle did the others recover.
"Kyle... I can't believe you're so friendly with Draco..." Ron said in disbelief, "He's a Slytherin, after all."
✭✭✭
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