Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The dark common room was empty; Kanna and Cedric's confinement seemed far from over.
Kyle didn't turn on the lights, simply sitting quietly on a sofa, deep in thought.
Too much had happened tonight; he needed to sort it all out.
First, Kyle was certain that the person they saw during their nighttime stroll was Hagrid, not someone in disguise.
Even if a person could be impersonated using Polyjuice Potion, what about the Fang that was with him? It couldn't possibly be an Animagus, could it?
After all, Polyjuice Potion doesn't work on animals.
But if Hagrid at that time was the real Hagrid, then why did he say he hadn't been to the Forbidden Forest?
And what about Dumbledore's words?
Memories, the Oblivion Curse?
Or perhaps… the venom of the Winged Devil.
Kyle pulled a small piece of corroded wood from his pocket, gently rubbing it in his hand.
He had secretly cut it from that section of tree trunk when Hagrid wasn't looking.
Under the moonlight, the wood shimmered with a pale blue glow.
The colors matched, but Kyle remembered that the venom of the Winged Devil wasn't corrosive. Could he be mistaken?
Just then, the door to the lounge opened again, and two figures walked in one after the other.
"Kyle, you really are here,"
Cedric said in a low voice. "Filch just left, and then came back furious. He was looking for you, wasn't he?"
Kyle put away the wood block and nodded. "I did see him when I came back."
"What did you do to make him so angry?" Cedric asked curiously.
"Not me, it was Hagrid," Kyle wagged his finger. "He got humiliated by Hagrid."
"No wonder Filch was so angry. I remember he and Hagrid have always been at odds,"
Cedric continued. "By the way, what's your detention? I thought we'd definitely be back before you.
Fred told me the five of us had to clean the trophy room together, something we'd never done before, it was incredibly easy.
But Filch thought so too, so he made us clean it three times before he agreed to end our detention."
"Mine was about the same," Kyle said. "I was taken to the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid to find something."
"The Forbidden Forest, and at night?" Cedric was stunned.
He had considered countless possibilities—copying books, cleaning the classroom, polishing armor, and so on—but he never imagined Kyle's detention would be to the Forbidden Forest.
This wasn't just about the same thing, it was completely different!
Were they really detained for the same thing?
Even though they went to the Forbidden Forest once at night, that was only the outermost edge, and there wasn't much danger even at night.
But finding something with Hagrid couldn't possibly mean just wandering around outside.
"Are you alright?" Kanna asked nervously.
"Of course not, if I were injured I'd be in the infirmary by now," Kyle laughed. "Let me tell you, I even saw centaurs in the Forbidden Forest..."
Kyle recounted his experiences in the Forbidden Forest, leaving Cedric and Kanna speechless.
Their expressions gradually shifted from worry to envy.
They also wanted to explore the depths of the Forbidden Forest...
As dawn broke, the three of them, overcome with drowsiness, stopped talking.
Back in their dormitory, Kyle lay in bed, unable to sleep. He took out parchment and a quill and wrote a letter in the moonlight.
He then carefully sealed the letter, wrote the address, and placed it in front of Rodan.
"Thank you for your trouble," Kyle whispered. "Take this letter to Newt tomorrow morning. If he's not back yet, leave it on the biggest tree by the door.
There's a Bowtruckle there; it'll keep the mail safe."
Kyle decided to ask Newt anyway, in case the Winged Devil's venom was indeed corrosive. After all, they were magical creatures; it wouldn't be surprising if something went wrong.
He just didn't know if Newt was back yet… It would be best if he was back, but it didn't matter.
Dumbledore already knew about it, so he didn't need to worry about the rest.
Rodon opened one eye and placed its paw on the envelope.
Having received a reply, Kyle lay back down on the bed, and this time he quickly fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After that, neither Dumbledore nor Hagrid contacted him again, and Kyle was happy to have some peace and quiet. Suppressing his curiosity, he focused on preparing for his final exams.
As exam week approached, the castle seemed to have changed overnight. Everywhere, you could see young wizards practicing wand gestures while walking.
This was also the most dangerous time of year at Hogwarts Castle, as young wizards would often unconsciously chant spells while waving their wands.
And there were quite a few of them. Kyle had already seen two unfortunate students accidentally injured by spells just walking from the common room to the Great Hall.
Fortunately, they only had Levitation and Healing Charms on them, so they didn't need to go to the school hospital.
Kyle carefully avoided the assassins hidden in the crowd and made his way to the Great Hall without incident.
The professors also learned about this.
There was no way they wouldn't know, since almost every class had two or three young wizards absent due to being sent to the school hospital.
In Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall strictly forbade the young wizards from practicing wand gestures in the corridors.
"Where were you all before?"
Professor McGonagall said, pursing her lips. "From now on, if you want to practice, find an empty classroom. If I see anyone misbehaving with their wand again, they can expect a week of detention."
Compared to Professor McGonagall, Snape's approach was more direct. He told everyone that if anyone missed Potions class because of this, then, sorry, whether they were absent or the instigator, their Potions grade for the final semester would be invalidated.
That's how unreasonable he was.
Also, Kyle felt that Snape glanced at him when he said this, and he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.
Under the professors' explicit prohibition, the castle assassins disappeared in less than half a day.
By dinnertime, Hogwarts had returned to its previous peace and tranquility, as if nothing had happened.
At the table, Kyle absentmindedly cut his steak.
He wasn't worried that Snape would secretly harm him, but he was worried about Rodon.
Five days had passed since the letter was sent, and Rodon still hadn't returned.
Five days is enough time to travel from Dorset to Hogwarts; even by train, that would take several round trips.
[End of the chapter]