Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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Although Quidditch was the most popular sport at Hogwarts, not all young wizards chose to watch the games.
There were still some people in the common rooms of each house, with Gryffindor having the fewest, about five or six, and Ravenclaw having the most, about a dozen.
These were mostly fifth or seventh-year students; the pressure of exams left them with no time for Quidditch.
They would obviously prefer to spend that time in the library or a cozier common room reading.
Kyle's gaze fell upon the Hufflepuff common room.
The Marauder's map didn't depict the dormitories in as much detail as other places, simply distinguishing between boys and girls.
All seven years were together, separated from the adjacent common room by only a thin ink line.
Kyle memorized the names of everyone in the Hufflepuff common room.
There weren't many, only six.
After memorizing them, Kyle intended to close the map and continue watching the game, but under the influence of a mysterious force, he inexplicably looked towards the underground classrooms and then found Snape's private storage room nearby.
Kyle swore he had absolutely no intention of stealing (scratch that)... anything from there, at least not right now.
Undeniably, Snape's private storeroom contained quite a few treasures, but Kyle was currently more interested in spells; the potion ingredients weren't particularly appealing.
However, since he'd already looked, Kyle casually noted down the route to the location and the entrances to the surrounding secret passages.
Pure curiosity, nothing more.
Anyway, he had nothing else to do.
"Look, Cedric's speeding up!"
Just then, a deafening cheer erupted from the surroundings.
Kyle quickly closed the Marauder's Map and tapped it again with his wand.
"Prank complete."
The ink faded, and the Marauder's Map reverted to its original parchment form.
On the Quidditch pitch, Cedric was swooping down from mid-air at incredible speed.
"It's the Golden Snitch!" the commentator shouted excitedly. "It's right next to the Slytherin goalpost, less than twenty feet off the ground!"
"Higgs saw it too, he's accelerating!"
The two Seekers charged towards the Golden Snitch one after the other. The atmosphere in the stands was incredibly tense; everyone watched them with bated breath.
A few seconds later…
"It's Cedric!"
The commentator roared. "Cedric Diggory, the youngest Seeker has caught the Golden Snitch!"
The stands erupted in cheers, and countless yellow flags and cheering items were thrown into the air.
"We won! We won!" the surrounding badgers screamed excitedly, hugging each other.
"Thanks to Hufflepuff for giving us such a fantastic Quidditch match."
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An hour later, Cedric was carried back to the common room by a group of excited Hufflepuff students—a hero's welcome, in Quidditch terms.
But to Kyle, he looked more like a pig waiting to be slaughtered.
A celebratory feast was a must after the victory, and that evening, several upperclassmen brought a huge amount of food from the kitchen. Soon, the common room was filled with all sorts of delicious steaks and cookies.
"Kyle, where did you go?" Kanna walked over with a large bone-in steak, asking in surprise, "I didn't see you when the game ended."
"I went to the restroom," Kyle replied.
"What a pity," Kanna whispered, "You missed the best part."
Kyle chuckled, "No, I just saw Cedric catch the Golden Snitch when I got back."
"That's good." Kanna smiled, took a bite of her steak, and then a happy expression appeared on her face.
Kyle looked at her and asked suspiciously, "You're going to bed soon, is it okay for you to eat so much?"
Kanna's movements suddenly stopped, and her expression stiffened. She turned her head away and whispered, "I… I didn't eat much for dinner."
"Is that so?" Kyle frowned. "But I remember at dinner… never mind, maybe I'm mistaken."
Kanna breathed a sigh of relief and, without waiting for Kyle to say anything more, quickly made an excuse and left.
Everyone was happy, but what they didn't know was that this banquet could be considered their last celebration.
Because final exams were approaching.
The professors were assigning more and more homework, and they barely had time to play a game of Wizards Chess.
Easter break was not as fun as Christmas, and most people chose to stay on campus.
There was so much homework; the blank parchment piled up like a small mountain. They spent almost every day in the library, sighing and yawning, desperately trying to finish these daunting assignments.
Besides that, they also had to memorize the "must-know" material mentioned by the professors and practice wand gestures.
Even though it was a holiday, the corridors were always filled with the young wizards' complaints.
"I'll never remember this!" Halfway through the holiday, Mikel finally snapped, throwing down his quill and huffing, "Who discovered the twelve uses of dragon blood? There are so many, I can't possibly remember them all!"
"Dumbledore,"
Kyle, sitting opposite him, said without looking up. "Are you planning to duel him? That's a good idea. If you can beat him up, Professor Snape definitely won't make you memorize these things anymore."
"…"
Mikel was stunned for a moment before reaching for his quill. "What's the twelfth use of dragon blood again… Oh right, it's for hearth cleaning.
It's not that hard to remember. I should have been more careful."
Kyle smiled but didn't say anything.
An hour later, he also put down his quill and closed his book, *A Thousand Wonders of Herbs and Mushrooms*.
"Kyle, have you finished all your homework?"
Mikel and Ryan looked up at him like two Nifflers who had discovered Galleons.
Kyle stretched his shoulders and nodded, "Yeah, finished."
Mikel's eyes lit up, and he asked expectantly, "Could we... borrow it for reference?"
"...Sure."
This time, Kyle didn't refuse outright like before. After hesitating for a moment, he pushed the homework to them.
Mainly, he remembered that Mikel and Ryan had already done quite a bit of homework, though not much, but definitely at least a third of it.
This way, there was no need to worry about them copying, so lending it to them was fine.
Besides, there was indeed a lot of homework for the Easter holidays.
However, just to be on the safe side, Kyle still reminded them, "Remember, don't copy."
"Don't worry," Mikel patted his chest decisively, "We won't make the same mistake twice."
[End of the chapter]