When Kyle boarded the train, the first few compartments were already packed.
It couldn't be helped—after all, this was one of the last boarding times. Finding an empty seat now was no easy task.
With his luggage floating alongside him thanks to a Levitation Charm, Kyle walked to the very end of the train before finally finding a relatively spacious compartment.
Inside was just one boy, about his age. His looks? Not as handsome as himself, of course, but certainly better than the Weasley twins.
Knock, knock…
Kyle tapped lightly on the compartment door and asked politely, "Hi, mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."
"Sure, go ahead," the boy replied quickly.
"Thanks."
After stepping inside, Kyle placed his luggage on the overhead rack and extended his hand toward the boy.
"Hi, I'm Kyle Jobar, a first-year."
The boy seemed preoccupied and didn't respond immediately. When he finally reacted, he quickly shook Kyle's hand and said, "Oh… sorry about that. I'm Cedric Diggory, second year at Hogwarts."
Cedric?
Kyle was a little surprised. He hadn't expected to run into a "familiar face" so soon—the future Triwizard Champion, no less. No wonder he looked so dashing.
Kyle recalled that Cedric also lived near St. Catchpole, though for various reasons, they'd never met before. Not once.
Kyle had tried visiting the Diggory household a few times, but their door was always shut tight. Eventually, he gave up.
Who would've thought their first meeting would happen on the Hogwarts Express?
Noticing that Cedric seemed lost in thought, Kyle didn't press for conversation. After a brief greeting, he took out a copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 from Flourish and Blotts and began reading.
Meanwhile, Cedric continued to zone out.
At some point, a light rain began pattering against the window. The weather here was always unpredictable—rain often arrived unannounced.
Kyle glanced at the rain outside but didn't pay it much mind. He was used to it and even enjoyed reading in such an atmosphere.
Perhaps influenced by Kyle, Cedric snapped out of his thoughts and took out a book as well. Judging by the cover, it was The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection.
It was perfectly normal for Hogwarts students to prepare for Defense Against the Dark Arts on the train ride to school. Who knew how long the new professor would last this year? Pre-reading was always a good idea.
For a while, the compartment was filled only with the sound of pages turning—a stark contrast to the noisy corridor outside.
However, this quiet didn't last long.
Cedric had barely gotten through two pages when the compartment door slid open again.
"There you are, Kyle!"
"We saved a seat for you, but you stood us up and left us waiting like fools!"
"You owe us an apology!"
Fred and George leaned casually against the doorway, taking turns accusing Kyle with exaggerated expressions of indignation, as if he had committed some heinous crime.
"I can apologize," Kyle said, calmly closing his book, "but only if you swear on the name of the Great Dung Bomb that everything you just said is true."
For a moment, Fred's face twisted in hesitation. "Uh, can I swear on the Headmaster's name instead?"
George chimed in, equally uneasy, "Or Professor McGonagall's?"
"Nope," Kyle replied, shaking his head. "It has to be the Great Dung Bomb."
…
"Oh, George, I think Kyle must be new to the Hogwarts Express and just got lost. That's why he couldn't find us."
"Exactly, Fred. It's not his fault. We should've been more attentive to the compartments."
Exchanging a glance, the twins silently agreed to ignore their previous accusations, squeezing into the compartment as if nothing had happened.
Unavoidably, their eyes fell on Cedric.
Fred smirked mischievously. "Well, well, look who we have here. Can't quite place the face, though."
George raised an eyebrow. "Oh, come on, it's none other than Hogwarts' golden boy, the Pride of Hufflepuff—Cedric Diggory himself!"
As soon as the words left their mouths, Cedric's face turned beet red. The mortifying title made him want to sink through the floor.
But he couldn't refute it.
The nicknames "golden boy" and "Pride of Hufflepuff" had started with his father and spread like wildfire through the Ministry of Magic over the summer. By now, nearly everyone knew.
Including their families.
As a result, half the letters Cedric received during the break were addressed to "The Pride of Hufflepuff."
The other half came from Muggle-born classmates who had no idea about the whole ordeal.
Cedric had deliberately chosen this remote compartment to avoid attention. Yet here he was, cornered by the most troublesome duo on the train.
"Please, have mercy!" Cedric clasped his hands together in mock pleading. "I'll lend you my homework."
With a thud, a stack of parchment landed on the table.
The twins had been gearing up for more teasing, but the offer was too tempting to resist.
That was first-place homework, after all.
George's expression turned serious as he quickly gathered the parchment. "What are you talking about, Cedric? We'd never tease you over something like this. We were only joking earlier."
"Exactly," Fred added, nodding solemnly. "Don't worry, we wouldn't laugh at you for that."
…
With broad grins, Fred and George eventually left, looking as if they'd just won a pile of Galleons.
As the door closed, Cedric let out a long sigh of relief and turned to Kyle, embarrassed. "Sorry, I—"
"No, I should apologize," Kyle interrupted. "They were looking for me. If it weren't for that, you wouldn't have been discovered."
Cedric gave a wry smile and shook his head. "It was only a matter of time."
He could hide on the train, but not at Hogwarts. He'd have to face it eventually—sooner or later.
Still, the Weasley twins' sudden appearance wasn't entirely a bad thing. They'd given Cedric an idea for handling this situation.
Homework.
As the top student in his year, his homework was in high demand. The twins' reaction earlier had made that clear. Using it to silence the mouths of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor might just work.
If he could keep those two houses in check, the issue would mostly resolve itself.
As for Ravenclaw and Slytherin… their personalities made it unlikely they'd join the commotion. Most wouldn't, at least. Even if a few did, it wouldn't be a big deal.
So long as his own house didn't stir things up, and Gryffindor's energetic lions didn't get involved, the whole ordeal would blow over in three days.
Three days wasn't so bad.
With that thought, Cedric suddenly felt things weren't as awful as they'd seemed.
(End of Chapter)
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