Although Kyle never had to worry about sending letters, it was still important to have his own owl at Hogwarts. In a way, owls were like telephones in the Muggle world. They usually signified their owner's identity, which was something that mattered.
For example, Kyle's mother, Diana, worked in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. The department had very strict regulations. Except for special cases, all incoming mail had to undergo several layers of screening. They checked the owl's identity, its condition, the sender's name, identity, and even the letter's contents for any harmful substances or curses. Only after all that was cleared would the letter be delivered in the form of a paper plane to the Department of Mysteries.
This was standard procedure, even for letters Kyle sent. The process was fairly slow, often taking at least a day. But with his owl, Ratton, things were different. Diana could classify it as a special owl, meaning that its letters would be prioritized, and the screening process could be significantly sped up. They would only check the owl's condition, the sender's name, and look for curses. The rest could be handled on the spot.
At Platform 9¾, Diana had specifically advised him to always use the same owl when sending letters. If he couldn't, he should at least buy one from Diagon Alley. Of course, buying one was out of the question—Kyle wasn't about to waste money like that. He already had Ratton, which solved everything perfectly.
Reaching into his bag, Kyle pulled out some owl nuts, a few bags of Mothra rat jerky, and a handful of chestnuts, offering them to the waiting owls. He also fetched some fresh water and mixed in two bottles of owl tonic, pouring the mixture into a nearby stone basin. It was only fair to give them a little extra for all the feathers they'd lost in their squabble earlier.
While the owls ate, Kyle took Ratton back to the castle and headed straight for the Hufflepuff common room. After passing through the kitchens and the wooden barrels, he reached his dormitory… but both Michael and Ryan were gone. They must have gone to class, he thought. Not bothering to dwell on it, Kyle placed Ratton on the shelf beside his bed, grabbed his textbooks, and left.
On his way through the common room, Kyle ran into Cedric, who seemed to be heading out as well.
"Kyle, I was just looking for you," Cedric said, quickly walking over. "What's your first class?"
"Charms," Kyle replied, shaking the book titled [Standard Spells, Beginner Level] in his hand. "Why, what's up?"
"Oh, here," Cedric said, handing him a piece of parchment. "This is the Hogwarts map that a Prefect gave me when I first enrolled. It shows the classroom locations and some of the patterns of how the stairs change. I don't need it anymore, so I thought you could use it."
Hogwarts was great, but it was huge, and its internal layout was a maze. First-year students almost always got lost, and being late was a common occurrence. The professors understood this. Aside from a few exceptions, most professors just let it slide—maybe a quick reprimand or a house point deduction, but nothing too serious.
Kyle took the parchment and examined it closely. It wasn't anything extraordinary, but it was very detailed. The map clearly marked all the routes from the Hufflepuff common room to each classroom, and it even highlighted which stairs needed to be waited for before they would change positions. It was like a basic version of the Marauder's Map, but it would definitely be useful.
"Thanks, I really needed this," Kyle said, tucking it away. "By the way, what's your first class?"
"Potions... Wait, Potions!" Cedric suddenly froze and then started running. "I've got to go, Kyle. Remember, the worst thing you can do at Hogwarts is be late for Potions class. Don't forget…"
His voice faded as he disappeared around the corner. Kyle could tell that Snape had left quite an impression on Cedric—or maybe on many students, for that matter. It was clear that Potions class was not to be taken lightly.
Kyle shook his head. "Too bad Harry Potter couldn't have come a year earlier…"
He left the common room and headed for class.
The Charms classroom was on the third floor, and thanks to the map, it was easy to find. He pushed open the door, and the first thing he saw was a stack of books arranged like a staircase. On the walls, four portraits of unknown witches and wizards hung. They were probably famous sorcerers, but Kyle didn't recognize any of them.
The walls also displayed the crests of the four houses, and in front of them were several long tables. Kyle arrived with about five minutes to spare before class started. Honestly, it wasn't that early, but there were only a few students in the room. Even Professor Flitwick wasn't there yet.
Kyle took a seat. His tablemates were a couple of Ravenclaw students, and there was a clear divide between the two houses. As the clock neared 9 o'clock, more students arrived, panting and out of breath.
Kyle noticed Canna walking in, but to his surprise, she completely ignored him, storming past in a huff.
At 8:59, Michael and Ryan arrived right on time.
"Thank goodness, we didn't miss it," Michael panted, slumping into his seat and immediately venting to Kyle. "We got lost."
"Oh my god, Hogwarts is a maze!" he continued. "We were supposed to go to the third floor, but when we got to the second floor, the stairs shifted. We ended up on the fifth floor for no reason."
"We tried going back down, but we somehow stayed on the fifth floor for ages," Mikkel continued, his voice full of frustration. "We finally made it down, but then we were back on the second floor… Kyle, we spent thirty minutes climbing stairs. My legs are killing me!"
Mikkel was practically on the verge of tears.
"Hold on, it's getting too confusing," Kyle said, rubbing his forehead. He couldn't quite understand why they had ended up back on the same floor after trying to go down. Even a person who was bad with directions should be able to tell the difference between up and down. Going in circles like that had to be some sort of magical phenomenon, and it wasn't something that could easily be explained by magic alone.
The map Cedric gave him didn't mention anything about that.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this for now," Kyle said, deciding to drop the issue. "How did you guys finally make it here?"
"Someone helped us," Mikkel said, his face turning red. He pointed across the room. "We bumped into a Ravenclaw first-year on the fifth floor. She led us down from the rotating stairs and even asked if we were headed to Charms class. She said we could go together."
Kyle turned to look in the direction Michael pointed and was surprised to see that the Ravenclaw girl was Cho Chang.
(End of Chapter)
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