"I can't believe it, Kyle."
Late at night, by the barrels near the Hufflepuff common room entrance, Cedric spoke with a troubled expression.
"I can't believe you agreed to go wandering at night with the Weasley brothers!"
"I thought about it, and they're right." Kyle bent over, searching through his transformed lizard-skin bag for something, "I really need to do something fun to lift my spirits."
"But you can't go wandering at night—" Cedric said with deep concern, "It's against school rules! If you get caught, you'll lose points and get detention. You're only a first-year — you absolutely can't start down the path of breaking rules!"
His attitude was genuinely sincere, as if he truly didn't want to see Kyle being led astray by the Weasley brothers.
"Don't worry, with the Marauder's Map, no one can catch us." Kyle found what he was looking for and looked up, "Also, before you say anything else, maybe you should look at where you are — this is the castle corridor, not the common room. You're out wandering too, you know."
"I-I don't want to go wandering!" Cedric said stiffly, "I just wanted to watch over you, to prevent you from breaking more rules."
"Tch..." Kyle scoffed, raising an eyebrow, "Fine then, let's do it your way — we'll go back now and forget about watching the mooncalves dance in the Forbidden Forest."
"Uh, well..." Cedric's gaze suddenly became evasive, "No, I... that's not what I meant, I just wanted..."
"You want to go to the Forest, don't you?" Kyle cut him off bluntly, pointing at the silent Kanna standing nearby, "Learn from her — if you want to go, just wait quietly. Say one more word and I won't take you along."
Cedric gave a dry laugh and immediately fell silent.
Earlier in the Great Hall, Kyle and the Weasley twins had tried to keep their voices down, but the table wasn't that big. Cedric and Kanna, sitting next to them, had inevitably overheard their conversation.
When Kyle sneaked out of the dormitory that night, he turned to find two heads staring at him intently in the moonlight.
The sight made Kyle's scalp tingle — his remaining drowsiness instantly vanished, replaced by cold sweat.
These two were Cedric and Kanna, and their purpose was simple — they wanted to go to the Forbidden Forest with him.
And then the previous scene unfolded.
After Cedric quieted down, Kyle took out a bundle of long, strip-like objects from his transformed lizard-skin bag and held them out, "Pick one for yourself."
Cedric looked at the items in his hand, feeling they looked familiar. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were scarves from the other three houses.
Gryffindor's gold and red, Slytherin's silver and green, and Ravenclaw's grey and blue — they were all there. About a dozen scarves were tightly bundled together, looking almost like a wooden stake from a distance.
Cedric was confused, "Kyle, why are you giving me this? I already have my own scarf."
"This isn't for keeping warm—it's just a precaution." Kyle said without looking back, "If we get caught, you can throw it on the ground while running away."
"..."
Cedric and Kanna exchanged uncertain glances.
Seeing their hesitation, Kyle simply pulled out two silver and green scarves and draped them around their necks. He was wearing one himself too.
After getting equipped, the three left the kitchen corridor and arrived at their predetermined meeting spot — the door of the small chamber next to the Great Hall, where first-years wait before the Sorting.
Apart from the Sorting, hardly anyone paid attention to this place — even Filch rarely patrolled here.
When they arrived, Fred and George were already waiting.
"Whoa, look who's here!" George's eyes lit up, "Top student Cedric, and Kanna the warrior who conquered Snape!"
Fred exclaimed excitedly, "I never thought our night wandering group would be so impressive, this is really... wait!"
He noticed something and asked puzzledly, "Why are you all wearing Slytherin clothes?"
Kyle sighed and had to explain again.
"What a brilliant idea..."
Fred and George were absolutely amazed after hearing the explanation, "Do you have more? Quick, give us some too!"
Kyle shrugged and gave them two silver and green ones as well.
Don't ask why they're all Slytherin — it was just convenient, and had absolutely nothing to do with getting back at Snape.
The twins took the scarves and put them on immediately.
Fred admired his new look and asked curiously, "Kyle, I remember you haven't left Hogwarts, right? Where did you get these from?"
"My mom sent them to me." Kyle explained, "Along with the scarves, she also sent a skeleton key and an invisibility cloak with a Disillusionment Charm on it. Though I don't know why she sent these things to me, they'll come in handy now."
He spoke casually, but he didn't notice the twins' eyes growing misty.
"A skeleton key..."
"An invisibility cloak..." Fred swallowed and said sincerely, "Mrs. Chopper is absolutely the greatest mother in the world."
"Exactly." George strongly agreed, "Her deeds and philosophy should be written into a book and displayed in the most prominent place in Flourish and Blotts and the school library."
"If that day ever comes, I promise I'll buy it."
"Even if we have to spend every last Knut!"
"And put it in the kitchen..."
"Or in Mum's room!"
"If that day ever comes..." Kyle smirked, "You'll probably get strung up and beaten by Mrs. Weasley."
"No." Fred said seriously, "Mum never strings us up to beat us."
"She just twists our ears." George laughed, "I think she wants to twist them off so she won't mix up our names anymore."
"Though she's never mixed them up anyway."
Watching Kyle and the twins chatting and laughing, Cedric and Kanna stood frozen in fear nearby, terrified that Filch might suddenly jump out from some corner and drag them to a professor's office.
"Don't worry, we're watching the Marauder's Map." Fred noticed their unease and spread out the parchment, "Filch and Mrs. Norris are on the fifth floor. If we don't shout, he won't find us... oh damn, the cat's coming down!"
On the map, the dot labeled Mrs. Norris was moving rapidly in their direction.
Seeing this, George quickly pulled out his wand and pointed it at a nearby tapestry.
✭ Revelio ➜ Revelio Charm ✭
The tapestry split open, revealing a dark passage.
"Get in!" Fred urged, "We need to leave before that cat gets here!"
No one dared delay — they quickly ducked into the secret passage.
After George, the last one, entered, the tapestry immediately returned to its original state.
The next second, Mrs. Norris arrived. She looked at the empty corridor, prowled around confusedly for a moment, then left.
✭✭✭
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