"Mrrow!"
Coalball jumped in fright.
Its black eyes stared roundly at the flash of pink starlight that had just vanished.
Dylan was a bit surprised as well.
"Looks like that money really wasn't wasted."
He swung his wand again.
"Lumos!"
Whoosh—
Soft pink light flooded the room, driving back the shadows. Tiny particles of light shimmered with an enchanting glow, weaving and colliding. Each time they touched, they burst into little pink stars.
"Mrrow!!"
Coalball launched itself at the glowing pink cloud.
But its paws closed on empty air.
"Mrrow?"
Dylan suddenly discovered a new source of entertainment.
He flicked his wand again.
Whoosh!
Pink starlight flared to life.
Coalball pounced once more.
"Hey, this is fun."
He had not expected that customizing his wand would also give him a built-in cat teaser.
He played like that with Coalball for almost the whole afternoon.
Only when footsteps and chatter started echoing in the corridor outside—signaling students returning to the dorm—did Dylan finally stop.
"Whew."
He let out a long breath, looking down at the equally tired Coalball, his lips curving in a fond smile.
He reached out and scratched gently under its chin. Coalball squinted its eyes in pleasure, purring "humm-row, humm-row" from its throat and nudging its head against his hand.
Dylan burst out laughing at its adorable, dopey behavior.
He had horseplayed for quite a while, but he did not feel as if he had wasted time.
On the contrary, taking stock of his mood, he was pleasantly surprised to find that all the pressure that had been piling up in his chest had completely vanished. His heart felt light, and even his tired body seemed much more relaxed.
"Dinner always helps take the edge off a bit, but it's not like I can binge every day."
After an afternoon of playing with Coalball, his stress had unexpectedly melted away entirely.
"I'll do nothing else today. Just get a good night's sleep, recharge, and go back to fighting tomorrow."
He went to dinner first, then returned to the dorm and promptly fell sound asleep.
By the time evening rolled around and Harry, Ron, and the others came back, chatting as they pushed open the door, the first thing they saw was Dylan still fast asleep.
They traded looks, all a little surprised, but instinctively quieted their movements.
…
"Mmm, roasted pumpkin?"
Another early morning.
Fresh from washing up, Dylan stepped out the door and was greeted by a rich smell.
"Halloween."
He usually paid little attention to holidays, but the scent of pumpkin reminded him that today was Halloween.
"If I remember right, this was the night a troll popped up in the Great Hall, wasn't it?"
Bag slung over his shoulder, Dylan headed toward the Owlery, turning the thought over.
"No… the troll was released by Quirrell, wasn't it?"
His memory was fuzzy. He only vaguely recalled Harry and Ron sneaking into the girls' bathroom and running into a troll there.
What stuck with him most was that they had beaten the creature with a Levitation Charm they had only just learned.
"Trolls aren't common. There aren't many of them, and their teeth can boost a potion's potency."
"Its liver can be used in remedies for serious illnesses and curses."
"And its mucus has unique magical properties that make it very useful as an ingredient."
At the Owlery, he fed Luna a bit of food and slid the letter to his parents into her beak.
Then he headed for the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Hm. I can't do anything about the three-headed dog, but I should be able to handle this thing."
That Cerberus clearly belonged in Hogwarts' forbidden zone.
He could not go picking a fight with it.
But the troll… Dylan happened to be planning a new potion. If he could harvest parts from that troll, he would not have to go hunting elsewhere.
Classes passed in a blur.
As evening approached, students trickled into the Great Hall for the Halloween feast.
Dylan walked with the crowd.
When he joined up with Harry and Ron,
he noticed that Ron's face did not look too good.
"Hm?"
Dylan blinked and quietly asked Harry, "Is Ron feeling sick or something?"
Harry glanced at the sulking Ron and pressed his lips together.
"You did really well in Charms this morning. Your Levitation Charm was perfect."
"And?" Dylan tilted his head.
"And…" Harry hesitated, looking over at Ron again.
"When Professor Flitwick called Hermione up again to practice Levitation, she didn't do as well as you. Ron… muttered something nasty about her under his breath."
"And then…"
By that point, Dylan had a pretty good idea what had happened.
In class, he was usually the center of the professors' attention. Any time they had to spare for interacting with students tended to go to him.
So he had not paid much attention to what was going on with Harry's group.
Still, from what Harry said, Dylan could only sigh. "He let the insult slip out, and Hermione caught it on the spot, didn't she?"
Harry nodded heavily.
Dylan fell silent.
He really could not understand how Ron always ended up talking trash behind people's backs.
And if you were going to do it, could you at least be subtle? Every time, the person in question caught him right there.
That was almost a talent on its own.
"Actually, Ron hadn't said anything bad about Hermione for quite a while," Harry added. "It was just this time… Hermione thinks he never really saw her as a friend."
"And she's sure he's said all sorts of nasty things about her when she wasn't around."
Dylan clicked his tongue.
For a moment, he did not know what to say.
"So? What happened after that? Where do things stand now?"
"Hermione spent the rest of class crying, and we didn't see her at all this afternoon."
"Uh…"
So the story was snapping back into place?
Dylan had planned to sneak into the bathroom, quietly deal with the troll, quietly skin and harvest it, quietly finish all of that.
He had not expected Ron to line things up so perfectly by sending Hermione storming into the bathroom again.
"Who knew girls were this much trouble? I told her I was just joking! And it was true she didn't do as well as Dylan," Ron said defensively.
"But you also said she was a complete show-off…" Harry added.
"Was I wrong?" Ron glared back.
"Sure, I didn't get the spell right today, but she didn't have to keep lecturing me, did she?"
"So that's how it started…"
(End of Chapter)
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