The common room was quiet and dark. It seemed Kanna and Cedric’s detention wasn’t over yet. Kyle didn’t bother turning on the lights; instead, he sank into one of the sofas, mulling over the night’s events. So much had happened, and he needed to piece it all together.
Firstly, he was certain that the figure they’d seen during the nighttime walk was Hagrid. There was no way it could have been someone else disguised as him. Even if someone could look like Hagrid using a Polyjuice Potion, Fang, who had been by his side, couldn’t have been an Animagus and Polyjuice Potion didn’t work on animals.
But if that really had been Hagrid, why did he insist he hadn’t been in the Forbidden Forest? And then there was Dumbledore’s cryptic remark. Memory… a Memory Charm? Kyle considered. Or maybe… the venom of the Swooping Evil.
He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small piece of wood with signs of corrosion and rubbed it thoughtfully between his fingers. He’d secretly cut it from the tree trunk earlier when Hagrid wasn’t looking. In the moonlight streaming through the window, the wood emitted a faint blue glow. The color seemed right, but Kyle recalled that Swooping Evil venom wasn’t known to be corrosive. Or am I remembering it wrong?
Just then, the door to the common room opened, and two figures entered quietly.
“Kyle, I knew you’d be here,” Cedric said in a low voice. “Filch left on some errand earlier and came back furious. He must have been looking for you.”
Kyle tucked away the wooden block and nodded. “I ran into him on the way back.”
“What did you do to make him so mad?” Cedric asked, intrigued.
“It wasn’t me; it was Hagrid,” Kyle said, holding back a laugh. “Filch ended up getting a bit… roughed up by him.”
“No wonder he was fuming!” Cedric grinned. “I remember Filch and Hagrid have never been on good terms.” Then he asked, “By the way, what was your detention? I thought for sure we’d be back first. Fred said cleaning the Trophy Room was a breeze compared to anything we’ve done before. Filch agreed… until he made us do it three times over before he finally let us go.”
“Same here, sort of,” Kyle replied. “I was taken to the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid and I went in to search for something.”
“The Forbidden Forest? At night?” Cedric looked stunned. He’d considered plenty of possibilities—copying lines, scrubbing classrooms, polishing armor—but it hadn’t crossed his mind that Kyle’s detention would take him to the Forbidden Forest. That was on a completely different level!
They had only ventured into the forest once at night and had barely crossed the outer edge. There hadn’t been any real danger. But going in to search for something with Hagrid? That wasn’t just a stroll in the woods.
“Were you hurt?” Kanna asked, her voice filled with concern.
“Of course not. If I had been, I’d be in the infirmary now,” Kyle assured her, grinning. “Actually, I even saw a Centaur while we were there…”
Kyle recounted his experience in the Forbidden Forest. Cedric and Kanna listened in rapt attention, their expressions shifting from initial worry to outright envy. They, too, wanted to see the depths of the Forbidden Forest for themselves.
As dawn crept closer, the three of them finally grew drowsy and stopped talking. Kyle returned to his dormitory, but despite his tiredness, he couldn’t fall asleep. Sitting up, he took out a piece of parchment and a quill and began writing a letter by the light of the moon.
When he’d finished, he sealed the letter, addressed it, and placed it in front of Ratton, his trusty messenger.
“I’ll need your help with this one,” Kyle whispered. “Deliver this letter to Newt first thing in the morning. If he hasn’t returned yet, leave it at the entrance to the largest tree. There’s a Bowtruckle there—it’ll look after it.”
Kyle had decided to reach out to Newt, just in case. If Swooping Evil venom really was corrosive, it might be due to a magical mutation. He wasn’t sure if Newt had returned yet, but it was worth a try. If Newt was back, great; if not, Kyle knew Dumbledore would handle things from here.
Ratton opened one eye, placed a paw on the envelope, and gave a faint nod. With that settled, Kyle lay back on his bed, and this time, sleep came easily.
After that, neither Dumbledore nor Hagrid reached out to Kyle again, and he was content to be left to his own devices. Resisting the urge to delve into the mysteries of the Forbidden Forest, he focused on preparing for the final exams instead.
As exam week approached, the castle seemed to transform overnight. Everywhere he looked, younger students were walking around practicing wand movements, their spells muttered under their breath. This was also one of the most hazardous times of year at Hogwarts, as countless students subconsciously chanted incantations while gesturing with their wands. Kyle had barely made it from the common room to the Great Hall before witnessing two unfortunate students accidentally hit by stray Charms.
Luckily, the mishaps only required a quick Levitation Charm or Mending Charm, so no one needed a trip to the Hospital Wing this time.
Kyle navigated cautiously, dodging the “spell-slinging assassins” hiding among the bustling crowd, and finally made it to the Great Hall without incident. The professors, too, were well aware of the chaos, as every class seemed to have two or three students absent due to spells gone wrong, most of them directed straight to the Hospital Wing.
In Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall addressed the issue sternly. “Where were your wands this morning?” she asked, her lips pressed thin. “From now on, if you must practice, find an empty classroom. Anyone caught improperly handling their wand will receive a week’s detention.”
Professor Snape, in his usual no-nonsense style, was even more severe. He announced in potions class that if any student missed his class due to injuries from spell accidents, they would fail, whether they were absent or had been the cause of the mishap. There would be no exceptions.
Kyle couldn’t shake the feeling that Snape had cast a pointed look his way as he said it.
Thanks to these strict warnings, the “castle assassins” all but vanished within half a day. By dinnertime, Hogwarts had returned to its usual calm, as if nothing had ever happened.
At dinner, Kyle cut his steak distractedly. His mind wasn’t on Snape or spell accidents but on Ratton. Five days had passed since he’d sent his letter, yet Ratton hadn’t returned.
Five days. That was more than enough time for several round trips from Dorset to Hogwarts, even if Ratton had traveled by train.