Gazing at the five Mooncalves, Kyle’s mind drifted back to the events of last night.
He’d been practicing Charms in the Room of Requirement, and time had slipped away unnoticed. By the time he left, it was already late, and feeling a bit frustrated by the slow progress and repetitive motions, he decided to take a walk before bed to clear his mind. Exiting the castle through the tapestry-covered secret passage on the first floor, he initially intended to stroll over to the Quidditch Pitch. But, lost in thought, he wandered in the wrong direction without even noticing. When he finally looked up, he realized he’d somehow ended up near the Mooncalves’ den.
Perhaps this was meant to be, he thought.
Since he was already there, it made no sense to leave empty-handed. These were the same Mooncalves he’d carefully snared from the Forbidden Forest before, so catching them again wouldn’t be difficult.
Mooncalves, gentle and magical creatures, had been wary of Kyle at first, retreating into their burrows upon seeing him. But when Kyle began to dance awkwardly in the moonlight, they couldn’t resist their curiosity and started poking their heads out, one by one. Seeing this, Kyle only wriggled around more enthusiastically.
He’d learned this technique from Newt, and while he wasn’t nearly as skilled, his imitation of the Mooncalves’ dance was convincing enough to earn their trust. Kyle was only a beginner at this, so his performance was passable at best. If Newt had been the one dancing, he would have charmed a whole herd of female Mooncalves—it was almost ridiculous how talented he was. But Kyle had to admit, this kind of dancing was embarrassingly silly, which was exactly why he’d waited until it was late and there was no one else around. Otherwise, he would never have done it.
After dancing for a short while, Kyle saw the Mooncalves warming up to him, coming out of their burrows, one after the other. He offered them some herb leaves and gently coaxed them. Maybe because they were used to Hagrid, the Mooncalves in the Forbidden Forest were far less skittish. Once Kyle promised them all the Dittany leaves they could eat, the five little gourmands trotted over, unable to resist.
Kyle had originally intended to take just two, but as he looked at their big, shiny eyes, he felt it would be wrong to leave any of them behind. In the end, he simply decided to take them all. After all, it was just a bit more herb leaves—he could handle that.
The whole process went surprisingly smoothly. With a few whispered reminders, the Mooncalves kept quiet and followed him obediently out of the Forbidden Forest. The real challenge, however, was getting them back into the Room of Requirement.
Kyle’s invisibility cloak was only big enough to cover one Mooncalf at a time, so he had to lead them in one by one through the tapestry’s secret passage. By the time he’d delivered the last Mooncalf, dawn was approaching, and his legs felt like jelly. He sank to the floor for a moment, catching his breath.
But it had all been worth it. With five Mooncalves in tow, the problem of fertilizer for his plants was solved.
Kyle took a moment to observe the five little creatures. Although they seemed slightly nervous, that was to be expected. As long as they didn’t start pining to return to the forest, they’d likely settle in just fine.
After leaving the Room of Requirement, Kyle headed to the kitchen to pack some food for Hagrid, who still hadn’t shaken off his cold and looked worn out.
“I brought you some scones and sausages,” Kyle said, setting the food on a shelf.
“Thanks, Kyle,” Hagrid replied gratefully.
He lifted a brass kettle to pour Kyle a cup of water but spilled about half of it, a little frown crossing his face.
“Never had a cold before,” he muttered, handing Kyle the cup. “Yesterday, Poppy gave me a huge bucket of potion to drink, and it tasted awful.”
“Nothing you can do about that; it’s all part of being sick,” Kyle replied, taking a sip. “How’re you feeling? Any better?”
“Worse,” Hagrid said, shaking his head.
Yesterday, he’d only felt slightly dizzy, but after drinking the potion, he felt achy all over and had barely any energy left. It was clear that this state was getting to him.
Kyle, looking at him in confusion, asked, “Didn’t Madam Pomfrey give you a Pepperup Potion?”
Pepperup Potion was the go-to cold remedy in the Hospital Wing. He remembered Cedric and Ryan taking it when they had colds a while back. Though it made white smoke come out of their ears, it kept them alert and strong enough to keep up with classes.
“Pepperup Potion? No, that’s not what she gave me,” Hagrid said after a pause. “Poppy said it wouldn’t work right for me. She gave me some other sort of magical potion, but I don’t know what it was.”
Realization dawned on Kyle. Of course, with Hagrid’s massive build, a standard Pepperup Potion or any regular cold remedy wouldn’t work effectively.
As he thought this over, a curious idea came to mind, and he glanced again at Hagrid. The dazed, sluggish way he looked reminded Kyle of something—something he’d seen about a year ago. An Erumpent in Newt’s case had caught a cold, and after Newt gave it a specialized potion, the creature had displayed a similar groggy state.
Kyle pressed his lips together thoughtfully. He had the distinct feeling he’d stumbled upon something quite remarkable.
The train arrived as scheduled, pulling into Hogwarts just before dinner. The castle was lively once more.
As soon as Fred and George returned, they tracked down Kyle.
“Why didn’t you tell us you weren’t going home for the holidays!” Fred demanded, fists clenched. “Mum took her anger out on us when she didn’t see you!”
“She thought we were bullying you,” George added, his expression sour. “She didn’t even look at us kindly the whole holiday.”
“Do you have any idea how we spent the past two weeks?” Fred continued, his voice growing more indignant. “On Christmas Day, even Ron got to have turkey and sausage, but George and I had to make do with dry sandwiches!”
“This is all your fault!”
With mock-serious faces, the twins cornered Kyle, their expressions implying, You’re not leaving until you explain yourself.
“I told you before break,” Kyle said, raising his hands defensively. “It was the day before we left school! You two were on the fifth-floor corridor, looking at a suit of armor.”
“The day before we left school?” Fred echoed.
“The fifth floor?” George repeated, their faces showing a sudden flicker of guilt.
They recalled that they’d indeed been on the fifth floor just before break—and they had run into Kyle there. But at that moment, they’d been more focused on the password clue for the Marauder’s Map they’d discovered behind the armor and hadn’t given Kyle’s words much attention.
The two exchanged a glance, as if silently reaching an agreement.
“It’s still your fault—you could’ve written!”
“Yeah, two weeks of sandwiches can’t be forgotten that easily!”