Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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Ignoring Ron's slight irritation, the other party continued, "I remember you, Ronald Weasley. Your mother helped me find the platform."
"Yes, but everyone usually calls me Ron," Ron mumbled.
"Alright, Ron. My name is Hermione Granger."
Hermione nodded casually, then looked at another person.
"By the way, what's your name?"
"Harry Potter," Harry quickly replied.
Hearing this name, Hermione was visibly surprised and listed several reference books again, indicating she knew about Harry.
This made Harry feel dizzy, because he himself didn't know these things, and he hadn't even read any of the books Hermione mentioned.
"Good heavens, you don't know? If it were me, I would definitely find all the books that mention me."
Hermione looked at Ron again and said, "By the way, you just said that boy named Kyle is the top student in his grade?"
"Oh…yes," Ron nodded.
"No wonder he received the Order of Merlin," Hermione remarked with some admiration. "I hope it's not too far off. I've memorized all the textbooks; hopefully, that will be enough."
Ron's expression darkened further. He felt like he'd encountered another Percy, and he disliked the tone of her voice as well.
However, Hermione ignored him completely and continued her rapid-fire monologue: "By the way, do you know which house Kyle is in? Is he Gryffindor? I've asked around everywhere, and everyone says it's the best. But if he's that smart, he could also be a Ravenclaw."
"Neither," Ron said, seemingly enjoying seeing her humiliated, with a hint of schadenfreude. "Kyle is a Hufflepuff."
"Hufflepuff…" Hermione was indeed taken aback, muttering, "But I've heard that Hufflepuffs are all… well, not very bright students."
"No, that's wrong."
Ron liked her expression and said with a hint of smugness, "In fact, besides Kyle, Cedric Diggory, the top student in his third year, is also a Hufflepuff."
Hermione looked a little angry; she felt she'd been tricked. How could a house with two top students in their year be considered "fools" or "idiots" by those people?
If they were fools, then what were the others… brainless worms?
Harry, standing beside her, lowered his head in frustration.
He had considered Hufflepuff a safety school when discussing houses with Ron.
But now it seemed Hufflepuff wasn't so easy to get into.
Top student in his year…
Harry would rather believe Dudley could become as thin as him than believe he could become top student.
It was impossible.
Hermione remained silent. Ron, his face tense, asked, "So, is there anything else? If not, we're heading back to the box."
"I wanted to ask if anyone saw a toad?" Hermione said, snapping out of her reverie. "Neville lost a toad."
"A toad?"
Ron said impatiently. "We already told him, we haven't seen one."
The boy named Neville had just been here and cried in their box, so Ron remembered it clearly.
"Perhaps you could ask Kyle," Harry suddenly said. "Maybe he can find the toad."
"You're right, I really shouldn't stay here any longer."
Hermione gave them one last look. "But you two better change quickly, you know, we'll probably be there soon." With that, she left.
"I really hope I'm not in the same house as her,"
Ron muttered, closing the box door. "Gryffindor has enough with just Percy."
Harry didn't speak, only nodding perfunctorily, still reeling from the overwhelming amount of information.
Meanwhile, Hermione, having left, arrived at Kyle's compartment.
Through the glass door, she saw Kyle holding his wand, gesturing on a piece of parchment.
Hermione immediately withdrew her hand.
The boy named Malfoy had disturbed Kyle with his sudden knocking, causing the incident, and she didn't want a repeat of that.
Besides, she couldn't afford to pay for the maps.
She didn't have even twenty Galleons, let alone two hundred.
After hesitating for a moment, Hermione decided to check other compartments first.
But unbeknownst to Hermione, no sooner had she left than Kyle in his compartment put down his wand.
"The Malfoys' crest is such a hassle,"
Kyle rubbed his eyes, somewhat exasperated. "Snakes and dragons, why can't they just use an 'M' instead?"
"Hey, Kyle, you should be a little more patient with our esteemed guest,"
Fred said with a smile. "Just changing a design earns an extra gallon, is there any easier job than that?"
"That's true."
Kyle pushed the half-finished parchment to Cedric, who would then be responsible for drawing the complete map.
Since it was permanent, the copying charm couldn't be used anymore.
Then, Kyle took out the wallet Malfoy had given him.
"One hundred and fifty gallons, shall we split it now, or wait until he pays the balance?"
The others exchanged glances and shook their heads simultaneously.
"Listen, Kyle,"George said seriously, "These Galleons are what you obtained through… well, your extraordinary wisdom. It has nothing to do with us, so there's no need to divide them."
"What extraordinary wisdom? I'm not Ravenclaw," Kyle said nonchalantly. "Besides, this is money earned from selling maps, so it should definitely be split."
"This was an unexpected situation, it's different," Cedric shook his head. "And everything from the moment they broke down the door to what happened afterward was all done by you alone. We didn't help at all."
Cedric's words seemed to echo what the others wanted to say; as if they had agreed beforehand, no one touched the bag.
In the end, it was only at Kyle's insistence that they each took ten Galleons.
Only George received fifteen Galleons, the extra five being compensation for his robe.
George didn't refuse at all and readily accepted.
"By the way,"after Kyle put away his wallet, Cedric pointed to the damaged maps on the table and said, "Do we need to use a restoration charm to restore them to their original state?"
"Huh? Why would you bother with that?" Kyle asked, puzzled.
Cedric blinked and said matter-of-factly, "We can't just throw them away, they're parchment worth a Galleon."
"Wait...you're not thinking of restoring them to their original state and then selling them, are you?"
Kyle frowned, giving Cedric a disdainful look. "A profiteer like you will be locked up in Azkaban one day."
[End of the chapter]