The next morning, in the Great Hall.
The long tables of the four houses were laden with bowls of porridge, pickled herring, mountains of toast, eggs, and bacon.
The food set before Kyle was somewhat different from the others. He had various Cantonese dim sum dishes, clearly prepared specifically for him by the house-elves in the kitchens.
Hermione hurried over to the Hufflepuff table and sat down. From the look on her face, she clearly had no desire to associate with Gryffindor's troublemaking duo.
Hannah, however, looked toward Hermione's arrival with a great deal of wariness. Although the two were good friends, it didn't stop a certain underlying sense of competition from existing between them.
Kyle didn't notice the strange tension between the two girls. At that moment, he was rapidly devouring the food on the table. If he didn't eat quickly, he wouldn't be able to once the owls arrived—there would be "flying" everywhere.
Literally.
Hermione was still fuming and had hardly touched the food. Kyle pushed a basket of custard buns toward her. "Alright, don't be angry anymore."
Hermione picked up a bun and took a vicious bite, as if it were Harry or Ron's head.
"They don't even realize the gravity of the situation! They were actually in the common room last night celebrating!"
As she spoke, Hermione's stern expression achieved a hundred percent synchronization with a certain elderly cat-lady.
Kyle picked up a piece of red rice noodle roll and popped it into his mouth. "You don't need to stay mad at them. Mrs. Weasley's Howler will be arriving any moment now."
The twins had received several already; there was no way Ron was getting away with it this time.
"Besides the Howler, Professor McGonagall's detention won't be easy on them either."
Kyle hoped Professor McGonagall wouldn't send people into the Forbidden Forest again. Every time someone was sent to patrol the Forest with Hagrid for detention, an attack occurred. Meanwhile, he and Cedric had wandered into the Forest countless times in their spare time without anything happening.
The most dangerous moment they'd faced was nearly being turned into pincushions by centaurs who mistook them for prey.
So, really, Professor McGonagall was better off not sending anyone into the Forbidden Forest. It would be better to punish the two of them by having them process potion ingredients for Professor Snape. Those buckets of toads were just waiting to be skinned.
"Hello! Harry!"
At the Gryffindor table, a youthful voice tinged with excitement rang out behind Harry.
The moment Harry, who was talking to Ron, turned around, his already highly nearsighted eyes were nearly blinded by a sudden, intense burst of light.
While his vision was still a blank white void, he heard the boy speak again: "My name is Colin Creevey. I'm your biggest fan!"
Only then could Harry barely make out a first-year student standing before him, holding a camera. Thanks to the camera's flash, a massive light spot still hadn't completely dissipated from Harry's field of vision.
"Oh, hi, Colin. Nice to meet you."
Having been ambushed by the flash, Harry was quite dismissive, but this didn't dampen Colin Creevey's enthusiasm in the slightest.
This little boy, looking every bit the fanboy, had instantly viewed Harry as his super idol after reading about his deeds in defeating Voldemort in his magic books.
Colin's breath was shallow as he took a timid step forward.
"I'm in Gryffindor, too! Do you think... I could take a few pictures of you?"
He held up his camera with a look of pure expectation.
Just as Harry was trying to think of a polite way to turn Colin down, a chaotic fluttering of wings sounded overhead.
Hundreds of owls swooped in, circling the Great Hall and dropping letters and parcels into the chatting crowd.
A scruffy owl flying crookedly landed with a thud in the milk pitcher in front of Harry and Ron, splashing the milky liquid all over both of them.
"Errol!" Ron shouted, pulling the soaking wet owl out by its feet.
When he saw the red envelope the owl was clutching in its beak, Ron's face went white as a sheet.
"What did I tell you? A Howler."
As Kyle spoke with a hint of schadenfreude, he cast an Active Noise-Canceling Barrier around those nearby to lower the external volume.
The next second, Mrs. Weasley's Lion's Roar Technique, which she had cultivated to perfection over many years, erupted from the Gryffindor table.
"RONALD WEASLEY! YOU HAVE BROUGHT SHAME UPON THE WEASLEY FAMILY!"
"BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DID, YOUR FATHER IS NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY!"
"WE WORKED SO HARD TO RAISE YOU, AND I NEVER EXPECTED YOU TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!"
Mrs. Weasley's roar lasted for nearly ten full minutes.
Ron, who was being torn to shreds by the reprimand, had ducked under the table the moment the first sentence was screamed.
It was only after the red envelope burst into flames and curled into ashes that Ron struggled to poke his head back out from under the table.
From over at the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy's mocking laughter rang out: "Weasley, you've gone and made your mother angry again!"
Ron's face turned bright red, the veins on his forehead bulging as he argued, "Angry?! That was my mother's... my mother's... special care! It's affection, do you understand?!"
Ron's self-deceiving words caused all the students to roar with laughter, filling the Great Hall with a joyful atmosphere.
"Your family certainly has a special way of showing care, expressing it through a Howler," Draco laughed even harder.
Normally, Ron would have rushed over to pick a fight with Draco. But this time, he didn't argue much, merely muttering in a low voice: "It really is affection... it's just an alternative form of maternal love..."
His voice trailed off, his eyes pleading with his surrounding classmates not to bring the matter up again.
Harry didn't snap back either; hearing that Mr. Weasley had to undergo an inquiry made him feel incredibly guilty. Over the summer, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been so kind to them...
Watching their younger brother get scolded like a naughty child, the twins glared at Draco. They could lecture their own brother, sure, but Malfoy—what business did an outsider have?
"Shut your filthy mouth, Malfoy!" George roared, slamming his hand on the table as he stood up.
Fred made a throat-slitting gesture toward Malfoy.
Malfoy instantly recalled the day in Diagon Alley when his father had been pummeled by the Weasley twins. Though his expression remained defiant, he obediently shut his mouth.
He wasn't being a coward; he was simply reading the room.
Percy picked up a glass of pumpkin juice and handed it to Ron.
After drinking half the glass, the flush on Ron's face gradually faded. Intimidated by the twins' presence, no one nearby dared to mention the incident to their faces.
Of course, the whispering behind their backs was unavoidable.
But that was beyond the control of George and Fred.
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