"Kanna, listen to me. If you have the time, you should take Snape to the Hospital Wing and have Madam Pomfrey check him out. I'm starting to think he might've drunk the wrong potion."
In the Hufflepuff Common Room that evening, Kyle was trying to convince Kanna to pay closer attention to Snape's condition. His genuine concern, however, was met with silence. Kanna focused on her homework, showing no intention of engaging with him. Occasionally, when she tired of Kyle's persistence, she would glare at him in irritation.
"I'm serious," Kyle insisted.
Having spent five years at Hogwarts, Kyle was well-acquainted with Snape's teaching methods. From his very first year up to now, Snape had never failed to deduct points from him during a single class. Not once.
To Kyle, it was almost a comforting constant. So, when Snape awarded him one point instead of taking any away, it felt… surreal. It wasn't until Kyle left the classroom and noticed the daggers being thrown at him by the Slytherins that he fully processed the moment. Snape hadn't deducted points—he'd added them.
Snape. The man addicted to deducting points from Hufflepuff.
Kyle's first instinct was disbelief. Such behavior was utterly out of character, and in his mind, it could only mean one thing: Snape must've consumed the wrong potion.
This was why he was so adamant about convincing Kanna to take action. After all, Snape was practically family to her. And while Kyle might not hold any warm feelings for the man, standing by and doing nothing felt wrong.
Kanna, however, had a different perspective.
"What's so strange about getting extra credit for meeting the professor's expectations?" she said with a note of exasperation, finally looking up from her parchment. "Professor Snape is just stricter than usual. These are advanced classes, after all—the difficulty's much higher, so it's only natural for him to acknowledge when someone excels."
"No, no, no." Kyle shook his head emphatically, though he kept his more candid thoughts to himself. This would be fine if it were any other professor, but Snape? He's just… strange in every way.
And the strangeness didn't stop there.
The next day, during Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall gave Kyle thirty points.
Kyle was floored. While McGonagall was known for her fairness, she rarely awarded more than ten points at a time, even for exceptional work. It only happened during particularly challenging lessons, and even then, thirty points was almost unheard of.
Adding this to the points Snape had given, plus the points from Umbridge earlier, Kyle realized that Hufflepuff had soared to the top of the House rankings, now more than twenty points ahead of Slytherin.
"Incredible," Cedric said, gazing at the gem-filled Hufflepuff hourglass in the Great Hall. "If we can hold onto this lead until the end of the year, Hufflepuff could finally break Slytherin's streak and become six-time champions."
Cedric's voice carried a mix of hope and determination. With his graduation looming, he was eager to leave Hogwarts on a high note. Winning the House Cup would be a fitting sendoff.
Of course, Cedric wasn't content with just the House Cup. "If we can win the Quidditch Cup again this year," he added, "it'll be the fifth time in a row. That'd be the perfect way to end my time at Hogwarts."
Suddenly fired up by the thought, Cedric stood and called out to his team. "Hurry up—it's time for training! We've only got three hours on the pitch today, so grab your brooms and meet me at the stadium!"
With that, he dashed out of the Great Hall, completely ignoring the light drizzle outside.
"Honestly, Cedric's turning more and more into Oliver Wood," Fred remarked, clapping Kyle on the shoulder and struggling not to laugh.
"Yeah," George agreed. "Leading a team is tough. Wood was absolutely obsessed before he graduated—he wanted us to stay on the pitch every night, but McGonagall wouldn't let him."
"But you still lost," Kyle said with a grin.
Fred and George froze, their faces immediately darkening as they turned to glare at him.
Kyle's words might have been cutting, but they were true. And the worst part? It was Hufflepuff that had crushed their hopes of victory.
"Enough. You won't have that kind of luck again this year."
"And Harry won't get tricked a second time!"
"We'll see."
Though Fred, George, and Kyle were good friends, Quidditch was a battlefield where camaraderie gave way to rivalry. Victory or defeat, there were no friends when it came to the pitch.
"Are you still playing Quidditch this year?" Kyle asked curiously. "As far as I know, you've been busy with the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes joke shop. Developing products, stocking up, choosing a shop location... all that must take a lot of time and energy."
"Ah, yeah, but it's okay. We can manage if we only train three times a week," Fred replied, rubbing the back of his head.
Opening a joke shop had been a long-time dream for Fred and George, but now that they were making it a reality, they were discovering just how demanding it was.
The first major hurdle was inventory. Although they had come up with several brilliant inventions, the number of products was still too small to fill a shop. To compete with Zonko's Joke Shop, which stocked nearly 200 items, they needed more variety—and they couldn't afford to compromise on quality.
Then there was the issue of location, which proved even trickier.
Sirius Black had offered to help, but his current preoccupation with matters at the Ministry of Magic left little time for such distractions. As a result, Fred and George decided to handle the matter themselves.
They had settled on Diagon Alley for their shop, but the rent in such a prime location was exorbitantly high. While they now had a decent amount of gold, enough to afford renting even two shops, they were careful with their spending. After all, Galleons didn't grow on trees.
They had been scouting for a reasonably priced location in a high-traffic area, but it was proving challenging. Unsurprisingly, any good spots were already taken.
Recently, however, they'd stumbled across a shop at 93 Diagon Alley, near Gringotts Bank. The space had been occupied by a store selling owl nuts, but with declining sales due to pet stores bundling snacks with their animals, the current owners were planning to relocate.
The location was ideal, particularly during the lead-up to the school year when young wizards eagerly spent their freshly-withdrawn allowances. However, Fred and George were hesitant to commit just yet. They wanted to increase their start-up capital a bit more before finalizing anything.
Fortunately, they still had a year until graduation, giving them time to weigh their options carefully.
Kyle watched Fred and George exchange worried glances and asked, "Do you need any help?"
"Ah, no, we can handle it ourselves," Fred said, shaking his head. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he added warningly, "And don't think you can use this as an excuse to get us to go easy on you in Quidditch. It's not going to work."
"Yeah," George chimed in, raising an eyebrow. "No matter what, we're not letting Hufflepuff take the Quidditch Cup again this year!"
"I should be the one saying that," Kyle replied with a laugh, deciding to drop the subject for now.
Outside, the rest of Cedric's team had started heading toward the Quidditch pitch, broomsticks in hand. Mikel, walking at the back of the group, called out to Kyle from just outside the Great Hall. Without hesitation, Kyle grabbed his broom and hurried to join them.