"Anyway, those are the main points to keep in mind. As long as everyone pays attention, you won't lose any house points. But even if you occasionally slip up and lose a few points, it's not a big deal. Here in Hufflepuff, we don't care much about points. As long as everyone enjoys their time at Hogwarts, that's what matters," said Prefect Harris, speaking confidently in front of the crowd. Kyle, however, was sitting at the very edge, keeping his head down and saying nothing.
"Kyle, what are you doing here? I've been looking for you everywhere," Cedric suddenly walked over and casually handed him a glass of juice. "Fresh orange juice—definitely a good choice before bed."
Kyle didn't take it and didn't even raise his head. He just waved his hand dismissively, signaling that he didn't need it.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Cedric asked, noticing the unusual behavior.
"No, I'm just a bit tired," Kyle replied quickly without looking up, his tone slightly hurried. "I don't like drinking anything before bed. You should ask someone else."
Cedric's curiosity was piqued by this strange reaction. He took a couple of steps to the left, and at that exact moment, Kyle seemed to turn the opposite way. Something was definitely off. Very off.
"Alright, I'll ask the other new students," Cedric said, quickly walking over to another group, then lowering his steps and quietly sneaking back toward Kyle. He positioned himself just right and, with a quick motion, lay down flat on the floor.
Kyle, who had been wondering when he could finally get some rest, suddenly found a fuzzy head right in front of him. Their eyes met.
"Kyle, what's with your eyes? Why do you have such a huge dark circle under them?"
"It's nothing!" Kyle quickly raised his hand to cover his left eye, speaking with a serious tone. "I just accidentally bumped into a table. A little bruise, you know? Happens all the time."
"Did you fall that perfectly round?" Cedric sat down on the floor, rubbing his chin. "It looks more like someone punched you."
"Impossible, you're overthinking it!" Kyle said seriously. "Even if you don't believe me, you can't possibly not trust Hufflepuff, right? This is the warmest family in all of Hogwarts—how could anyone be violent here?"
"That's true. Could it really have been a fall?" Cedric nodded in agreement. He didn't believe anyone from Hufflepuff would punch a new student on their first day, but the dark circle was still a mystery. How could it be so perfectly round? Could it be… talent?
Before Cedric could continue pondering, Prefect Harris concluded his talk.
"From today, we're all classmates. If you need anything, just let us know. Don't be shy. Hufflepuff is one big, warm family, and every upperclassman, including me, will be happy to help you. Now, you must all be tired, so let me show you to your dorms. Patty, please take care of the girls' side."
Kyle felt like he'd been granted a pardon and quickly stood up, following the rest of the group. He didn't even bother to say goodbye to Cedric.
With Harris leading the way, Kyle soon arrived at his dormitory. Like the common room, the color scheme of the dorm was also yellow and black. Copper lamps cast warm light over the four-poster beds, and on the walls, there were copper warming charms that kept the beds at the perfect temperature.
He had two roommates. One was Mikel Drake, a small-framed boy with black hair. The other was Ryan Baggins, a larger boy with blond hair. Both of them seemed like ordinary, nondescript individuals.
The last bed in the room was unoccupied. It seemed the number of new students wasn't enough to fill all the beds.
After exchanging a few casual greetings with his roommates, Kyle climbed into his bed.
"Hey, this is so amazing, right? I'm actually a wizard!" Mikel sat at the edge of his bed, his voice full of excitement. "None of my family can do magic. My dad sells drilling machines, and my mom works at a bank. When I first got the letter, I thought it was some kind of prank. I never imagined it would be real. Ha, Hogwarts… even now, I feel like I'm dreaming."
"I'm half and half, a Muggle-born wizard, as they call it," Ryan chimed in. "My dad's a wizard, my mom's a Muggle. When she found out, she was really shocked."
"That's understandable. People who've never had contact with magic are always like that," Mikel said. "You can't imagine, when that Professor Quirrell showed up at our house, my parents nearly called the police. He just appeared out of nowhere and started talking about something called 'portkey'... what was it again?"
"Apparition," Kyle quietly corrected him.
"Right, Apparition," Mikel nodded, his eyes lighting up as he suddenly noticed Kyle. "Hey, I remember you! You're the one who took twenty minutes to get sorted, right? Kyle Jobar, is that you?"
"That's right, nice to meet you," Kyle replied.
"Hey, can you tell us what happened?" Mikel asked curiously. "Why did it take you so long to be sorted? Twenty minutes? That's longer than the sorting of all the other students combined!"
"It's nothing," Kyle thought for a moment and then explained, "The Sorting Hat kept hesitating, couldn't decide where to put me. It just took a while to make up its mind."
"I see," Mikel said, looking impressed. "If the Sorting Hat took that long to decide, you must be really special."
Kyle smiled but didn't say anything. He was definitely special, but it had nothing to do with the Sorting Hat's indecision. If Mikel knew the real reason, he probably wouldn't be so complimentary.
For the next while, Mikel was practically on a verbal marathon, talking nonstop about everything from Diagon Alley to Gringotts, then from Gringotts to wand shopping, and the words just kept coming without pause. It was clear that becoming a wizard had him over the moon.
At first, Kyle and Ryan could keep up with him, throwing in a few comments here and there, but gradually, Mikel's voice was the only one left. There was no helping it; they just couldn't keep up.
Kyle had eaten his fill and was starting to get sleepy. After ten hours on the train, staying awake for this long was already a feat. As much as he wanted to engage with his roommates and build some rapport, the bed was just too comfortable. Before he knew it, he had drifted off to sleep.
Ryan, on the other hand, had already fallen silent five minutes ago.
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(End of Chapter)
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