"I say, if you want to fish, why not go to the Black Lake instead of messing with the Niffler here?"
In the common room, Conna looked at Kael, who was teasing the Niffler with a twig and a red stone, and said grumpily, "Can't you just give it that broken stone?"
"This is not just any broken stone, it's the Philosopher's Stone!" Kael corrected her wording.
"Yeah, a stone conjured up by magic..." Conna scoffed, "I saw you break it last night. It's just an ordinary pebble. Is this how you usually trick the Niffler?"
"Don't make it sound so bad," Kael retorted, "It's just a form of entertainment. Look how happy it is playing."
Conna raised an eyebrow. She glanced at the Niffler, which was bouncing around on its little short legs, not quite seeing how Kael thought it was happy.
It looked so frustrated it might start speaking human anytime now!
Conna sighed, took out a Galleon, and waved it in front of the little creature, trying to catch its attention.
Normally, the Niffler couldn't resist a Galleon, but this time it didn't even glance at her, still fixated on the red stone in Kael's hand.
Unwilling to give up, Conna took out a second Galleon, but it was still no use.
"Save it, my stone is much shinier than a Galleon,"
Kael grabbed the Niffler by the scruff and casually tossed it back into the box, saying, "Besides, you've already given it fifteen Galleons these past few days... I must remind you, a Niffler can't be used as a wallet."
"Mind your own business!" Conna blushed and snapped, "Also, those Galleons are for the Niffler, you can't just take them!"
"Ahem... I'm not that kind of person," Kael's face stiffened, then he said, "But anyway, shouldn't you be headed to a tutorial session with Professor Snape? Why are you still in the common room?"
"I passed Professor Snape's test yesterday and successfully brewed the Draught of Living Death, so the tutorial is over."
"So you have nothing to do now?" Kael pulled out a chessboard and placed it on the table, "How about a game of Wizard Chess?"
"Alright..." Conna nodded.
She didn't have many friends at Hogwarts, and both Cho and her roommates had gone home.
She was idle anyway, so playing chess to kill time wasn't a bad idea.
"But let me just say, I'm not very good at chess, so don't mind me... Wait, is this Wizard Chess?"
Getting ready to set the pieces, Conna lowered her head and suddenly froze.
Because what she saw was not the chess pieces she remembered, but a bunch of different Fantastic Beasts.
In the front was a row of Nifflers, followed by Trolls, Hippogriffs, Swooping Evils, a Three-Headed Dog, and a Fire Dragon.
"Well, I had some free time after finishing my homework, so I did a bit of modifying," Kael explained, "Just a little change in appearance, it's not hard."
Conna looked up and gazed at Kael.
Finishing homework and having free time... Really? Does he even hear what he's saying?
She had been catching up on ten whole days of classes, homework included!
Kael speaking like that in front of her, doesn't his conscience hurt?
"Why are you looking at me... You're the black pieces, you go first." Kael urged.
Conna glared at him angrily before turning her attention back to the board.
By now, the "Fantastic Beasts" had already moved to their positions, and Conna quickly figured out what they all represented.
...
The two of them played three games in the common room, after which Kael wanted to escape.
What Conna said earlier was so untrue, her chess skills weren't just so-so... they were way too basic.
If her only issue was being a poor player, that wouldn't have been too bad, since sometimes it's fun to easily beat such players.
But the problem was, she took forever to think about each move... A game that should take five minutes dragged on for over half an hour.
Eventually, Kael lost all interest in playing chess and found sitting there unbearable.
He wanted to flee, and he was open to doing anything as long as it wasn't playing chess with Conna. He'd even prefer doing his homework all over again.
Yet Conna disagreed, forcing him to keep playing till noon.
To avoid her, Kael decisively left the castle after lunch and spent the afternoon at Hagrid's hut.
There he ran into Harry and Ron.
According to Ron, Harry had been having nightmares lately, and they came to see if Hagrid could help with the problem.
"So, why don't you go to the Hospital Wing and see Madam Pomfrey?" Kael asked curiously.
Kael really couldn't understand the logic of Harry and Ron. To him, the only way Hagrid could solve the nightmare issue was by punching Harry unconscious.
Or is it that the new students are going for something this wild now?
"I... I don't want to go to the Hospital Wing," Harry said softly.
He knew that Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing was more professional than Hagrid, but he worried that if he went there, she'd ask about his nightmares.
For certain reasons, Harry didn't want too many people to know about them.
"I'm sorry, Harry, I can't help you," Hagrid said, offering them some tea and rock cakes, "Kael's right, you should just go to the Hospital Wing. When I couldn't sleep before, I went there myself, and Madam Pomfrey fixed it up in just a minute.
It's just that those potions taste really bad, so brace yourself for that."
"...Alright." Harry felt a bit disappointed.
Even though Hagrid said so too, he still didn't plan on going to the Hospital Wing.
Perhaps once term begins and he gets busy, the nightmares will stop.
Harry thought this to himself, then picked up a rock cake and took a small bite.
"If you really don't want to go to the Hospital Wing, I do have a solution. Want to try it?"
Kael placed a bottle of Magic Potion on the table.
"What's this?" Ron asked.
"The Draught of Living Death, the one Hagrid drank," Kael said, "Just a small sip can put someone into a deep sleep, and not even a Fire Dragon dancing nearby would wake you."
Harry picked up the bottle, puzzled, "Will this stop me from having nightmares?"
"It should," Kael nodded.
"Or you can try just a small sip, which should let you sleep for about an hour and won't affect your night rest.
However, it's very powerful, so you better wait until you're back in your dormitory... um."
Before Kael could finish speaking, Harry had already opened the bottle cap and poured a bit of the potion into his mouth.
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing, it's fine," said Kael, glancing at Ron, "You better get ready; Potter probably won't be able to walk back to the dorm by himself."
As if to confirm Kael's words, the next second, Harry slowly lowered his head and slumped in the chair, motionless.