Faced with threats from two second-year students, Kyle reluctantly agreed to their unfair demands to avoid trouble at school.
"Remember your words, Kyle." Fred said, "You need to provide technical support for our Weasley joke products."
"And the space." George added, "You need to provide us with a safe place to store them during the holidays and make sure Mum doesn't find them."
"Of course, I'd be happy to." Kyle smiled, "I'll help you research those products. And don't worry about the space... how about my room? Mrs. Weasley will never find them there."
"Good."
Fred and George nodded with satisfaction and let him go.
"If you dare deceive us..." Fred warned menacingly before leaving, "The consequences will be severe!"
As they finished speaking, they both stuck out their thumbs and made slicing motions across their necks.
After they left, Kyle casually walked to the Hufflepuff table as if nothing had happened.
"How was your holiday?"
"Not bad." Kyle glanced at Cedric and said, "No need to wake up early or do homework. Just reading books, gardening, and playing with small animals all day — it's the life I've always dreamed of."
Cedric looked somewhat envious.
"I wish I hadn't gone home either." He sighed, "My dad said he would take me to France this holiday, but he was too busy, working overtime almost constantly. He spent less than five hours at home each day — there just wasn't time."
His words surprised Kyle.
This wasn't right — hadn't those smuggled magical creatures already been sent back by his father and Newt? Why was Mr. Diggory still so busy?
Besides, nothing particularly newsworthy had happened lately — everything was peaceful. Even a minor argument between Mr. Weasley and Lucius at the Ministry made the front page of the Daily Prophet.
Such trivial matters would normally be relegated to a small corner mention. This suggested the wizarding world was experiencing a period of tranquil prosperity with little significant news to report.
Given these peaceful circumstances, Mr. Diggory should have had at least five days off, barring any special emergencies like magical creature attacks. But if such incidents had occurred, the Daily Prophet certainly wouldn't have stayed quiet about them.
Cedric noticed Kyle's confusion. After glancing around to ensure no one was listening, he whispered, "It's because of the Swooping Evil... my dad's been trying to track it down."
"Swooping Evil..." Kyle frowned, keeping his voice low, "Didn't that creature already leave here?"
"No, the Ministry is lying." Cedric said, "On Christmas Day, my dad had a few drinks and mistook me for his colleague. I took the opportunity to ask him questions. He revealed they never found any trace of the Swooping Evil."
Kyle shook his head, "But didn't Newt say otherwise?"
If anyone else had made such claims, Kyle might have doubted them, but that old man never lied, especially about magical creatures.
Unless the wizarding world's safety was at stake, not even Fudge or Dumbledore could... well, perhaps that wasn't entirely true. Though knowing Dumbledore's character, he wouldn't ask this of Newt just for one Swooping Evil — unless Fudge were his own son.
"I asked about that too." Cedric said, "My dad told me Mr. Scamander's exact words were 'We haven't found the Swooping Evil, it's probably hiding somewhere.' But the Ministry's photo in the Daily Prophet only showed the first half of that sentence."
"Huh?" Kyle raised an eyebrow, "To avoid causing panic?"
"Yes, exactly." Cedric spread his hands, "They even created an excuse to send away Mr. Chris and Mr. Scamander, who had opposed this approach."
Kyle stroked his chin — now his earlier confusion made sense. No wonder something had seemed off about his father's business trip.
After all, how could simply transporting magical creatures require both Chris and Newt?
The Nundu and the Antipodean Opaleye made sense — those two were far too dangerous for ordinary people to handle.
But what about the other magical creatures?
It was a straightforward task that could have been handled by finding a remote mountain forest or dispatching two Hit Wizards, yet somehow it required both Chris and Newt.
Consider this — a Deputy Head of the British Ministry of Magic and a renowned magizoologist, traveling thousands of miles together just to return an ordinary Bowtruckle to its habitat?
The whole thing was absurd. Even a Bowtruckle raised by Grindelwald himself wouldn't warrant such treatment under normal circumstances.
Kyle paused before asking, "Has your dad found that Swooping Evil?"
"No." Cedric shook his head, "My dad and his team have been searching for over a month without any leads. Minister Fudge keeps pressuring them — he even lost his temper the other day, that—"
Ever the proper young wizard, Cedric only mouthed the offensive word rather than speaking it aloud.
His lip movements left little to the imagination, though, as Kyle caught the rather colorful commentary about the Minister's ancestry.
Having vented his frustrations, Cedric's mood lightened considerably. He glanced toward the staff table and said, "Let's change the subject. Have you noticed that Professor Snape seems especially angry today?"
"Does he?" Kyle picked up a chicken leg without looking up, "Must be your imagination. When isn't he angry?"
"Well, that's true, but..." Cedric stole another glance at the staff table, "I still think he's different today."
Up at the table, Snape looked as if he'd swallowed a particularly bitter potion, his face dark as a cauldron bottom. His sinister eyes swept across all four house tables.
Sensing eyes upon him, Snape suddenly turned toward the Hufflepuff table, sending Cedric diving for cover.
Beside him, Kyle calmly continued eating his chicken leg, occasionally chatting with Michael on his other side.
✭✭✭
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