With Kyle's help, Hagrid finally managed to get all the Christmas trees to the Great Hall before the feast.
When they arrived, Minerva and Flitwick were already waiting in the Hall.
"Hagrid, you're finally here with the last two... Oh, excellent Levitation Charm, Mr. Chopper. Five points to Hufflepuff."
Professor Flitwick had wondered how Hagrid could carry two Christmas trees so effortlessly — until he noticed Kyle standing nearby with his wand out.
"If the final exam were on the Levitation Charm... I could give you an 'O' right now." He winked at Kyle, then used the same charm to place the two fir trees in their proper positions.
Minerva was weaving mistletoe into hanging garlands to fill the last empty spaces on the walls.
A few minutes later, students began flooding into the Great Hall, and the feast officially began.
At the dinner table, Cedric looked at Kyle in surprise, "What, you're not going home for Christmas?"
"Yeah…" Kyle nodded, "Nobody's home, so there's no point. Might as well stay at Hogwarts."
His father was responsible for returning captured magical creatures to their original habitats and had been traveling the world with Uncle Newt lately.
The Department of Mysteries seemed to have field work as well. His mother had sent him a letter a few days ago saying she probably wouldn't make it back for Christmas, though she promised his presents would arrive on time.
With both Chris and Diana away, there wasn't much point in Kyle going home. He'd rather stay at Hogwarts where he had things to do — like bonding with Fluffy and tending to his ornamental plants.
"Why don't you come to my house?" Cedric suggested after a moment, "My dad would love to have you."
"Maybe next time." Kyle shook his head, "I already promised Hagrid I'd help him look after the creatures during the break."
Cedric looked somewhat disappointed.
Kyle, truthfully, didn't want to face Mr. Diggory, that child-bragging monster, let alone spend two weeks with him. Just thinking about it gave him a headache. Having his father endure that treatment was enough.
To divert Cedric's attention and make him forget about the topic, Kyle turned to Kanna beside them, "What about you? Are you going home for the break?"
Kanna didn't speak, just shook her head slightly.
Seeing this, Kyle didn't press further.
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After the feast, the term came to an end.
The next day, the young wizards all took the train back to King's Cross Station.
Michael and Ryan went home too, leaving Kyle alone in the dormitory. The usually lively common room had grown quiet.
Kyle didn't mind the solitude, though. He settled into an armchair near the fireplace, roasting a potato with its skin on. Beside him lay some flatbreads, mushrooms, and thinly sliced beef.
The house-elves had offered to roast everything when he'd gone to get ingredients from the kitchen, but he'd declined. He wanted to savor the process itself — the eating was secondary.
Kyle held the roasting fork, waiting until the potato had blackened before removing it. After letting it cool and peeling the skin, he took a bite. The potato was deliciously soft and sweet — though the center remained raw.
He scooped out the uncooked portion with a spoon and tossed it to a nearby mouse.
"Kyle..." Kanna glared at him, "Don't feed Porgy strange things!"
"It's just a potato, what's strange about that?" Kyle waved dismissively, "Besides, what field mouse doesn't eat potatoes?"
As if to prove him wrong, Porgy took one look at the half-cooked potato, turned away, and wandered off, showing no interest.
"Well, well, a picky mouse." Kyle felt a flush of embarrassment and said seriously, "I think you should starve it for a few meals."
Kanna ignored him and left the common room with Porgy.
It was Christmas break, and with the caretaker's cat not constantly prowling the castle corridors, she decided to let her pet explore Hogwarts. After all, Porgy had been cooped up in the dormitory far too long.
After Kanna left, Kyle found himself alone in the common room. Bored after finishing his meal, he headed up to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor.
After three months of tending, his garden had flourished. Besides the Chomping Cabbage, he now grew dittany, rue, belladonna, mistletoe, sneezewort, and a beautiful Golden Thread Hydrangea.
The first three weren't anything special — they were common magical plants whose seeds could be bought in Hogsmeade, and Kyle had asked someone to bring back a large packet. As for the last one... it came from the Hufflepuff common room.
One night, he couldn't resist and snipped off a small branch with a flower bud from the lush Hydrangea. It was really just a tiny branch, about an inch long, that wouldn't affect the plant at all.
He'd planted it here just to see what would happen, and surprisingly, it had thrived. Though it was still small now, Kyle was quite satisfied — as long as it survived, it would grow eventually.
He went straight to the center position.
The Chomping Cabbages were flourishing — in three months, they had grown from seeds to the size of Bludgers, with open mouths full of sharp teeth that looked powerful enough to give quite a bite.
Kyle loosened the soil around them and shooed away the Billywig that had been hovering above his head.
"I'm busy now, go play somewhere else."
A few days ago, he had rescued this Billywig from becoming Mrs. Norris's lunch.
The little creature had suffered a long gash on its body, probably from being caught by Mrs. Norris. Kyle had brought it here and treated it with dittany.
And then... it had refused to leave. Fortunately, the little thing was obedient — after he spoke, it dutifully flew away.
This place was spacious, had lots of magical plants, and most importantly, didn't have that high-jumping cat. The Billywig really liked it here.
After loosening the soil for the Chomping Cabbages, Kyle took another walk around the room.
He still felt the space was a bit empty. Though he had plenty of dittany and rue seeds left, it seemed a waste to grow only common magical plants in such a good place.
He stroked his chin, thoughtfully looking at the large empty area he'd deliberately left on the left side of the room.
If he remembered correctly, they should be learning about Devil's Snare in Herbology soon.
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