Chapter 10: Cedric

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After Kyle boarded the train, he noticed that most of the carriages in the front were already filled with people.

There was no helping it; this was a busy train, and finding an empty seat at this time was quite challenging.

Using the Levitation Charm, Kyle carried his luggage all the way to the end of the train, where he finally found a reasonably spacious compartment at the rear.

Inside the compartment, there was only one boy about his age. Although he wasn't as good-looking as Kyle, he certainly looked better than the Weasley twins.

"Knock, knock…"

Kyle tapped on the compartment door and politely asked, "Hello, may I sit here? Everything else is full."

"Of course, come on in," the boy quickly replied.

"Thank you."

Once inside, Kyle placed his luggage on the overhead rack and extended his hand to the boy.

"Hi, I'm Kyle Chobba, a new student this year."

The boy seemed lost in thought and didn't respond immediately. When he finally snapped back to reality, he hurriedly reached out his hand and said, "Oh… sorry, I'm Cedric Diggory, a second-year at Hogwarts."

Cedric?

Kyle was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected to run into a "familiar face" so soon after boarding the train. Future Hogwarts champion—no wonder he looked so handsome.

Kyle recalled that Cedric lived near the village of St. Catchpole as well, but for various reasons, they had never met before.

Not once.

At first, Kyle had tried to visit Cedric a few times, but the Diggory home was always tightly shut. Over time, he had given up.

Who would have thought their first meeting would be on the train...

However, noticing that Cedric seemed preoccupied, Kyle decided not to say much else. After a brief greeting, he took out the book he had purchased from Lihon Bookstore, titled Basic Spells and Counter-Spells, and began reading.

Cedric continued to appear lost in thought.

Outside the train window, a light rain began to fall, seemingly out of nowhere. It was always like this here; the rain arrived without warning.

Kyle glanced up at the window but didn't pay much attention; he was used to it and actually enjoyed reading in such an environment.

Influenced by Kyle, Cedric also stopped daydreaming and took out a book to read. Judging by the cover, it was Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Defense.

Studying Defense Against the Dark Arts on the train to school was entirely normal for Hogwarts students.

After all, nobody knew how long this year's professor would last; what if they dropped out after just a couple of classes? It was always good to be prepared in advance.

For a while, the only sounds in the compartment were the rustling of parchment, contrasting sharply with the noise outside in the corridor.

However, this peaceful atmosphere didn't last long.

Before Cedric could finish even two pages, the compartment door swung open again.

"Finally found you, Kyle."

"We saved you a spot, but you left us hanging, making us wait here like fools."

"I think you owe us an apology."

Fred and George leaned against the door, each taking turns to interrogate Kyle.

Their expressions were filled with frustration, as if Kyle had committed some grave offense.

"I can apologize,"

Kyle calmly closed the book in his hands and replied, "but only if you two swear by the Dungbomb to prove that what you just said is true."

In an instant, the anger on Fred's face turned to confusion. "Um, can I swear in the name of the Headmaster?"

George chimed in as well, "Or Professor McGonagall would work too."

"Absolutely not!" Kyle shook his head. "It has to be the Dungbomb."

...

"Oh, George, I think this is Kyle's first time on the Hogwarts Express, and he's not familiar with it, which is why he didn't find us."

"Exactly, Fred, it's not his fault. We should have been more aware of our surroundings."

The twins exchanged a glance, silently agreeing to ignore what had just been said, and squeezed into the compartment as if nothing had happened.

Inevitably, they spotted Cedric.

Fred flashed a mischievous smile. "Look who it is! How could I possibly forget?"

George raised an eyebrow. "Of course, it's our well-behaved student from Hogwarts, Mr. Cedric Diggory, the light of Hufflepuff."

As soon as the words left their mouths, Cedric's face flushed bright red. The mortifying prefixes made him feel like he might punch a hole in the train wall from embarrassment.

However, he couldn't refute it.

Both the "well-behaved student" and "light of Hufflepuff" titles had spread from his father, and within a short summer, they had become common knowledge throughout the Ministry of Magic.

Naturally, this included their families.

Consequently, nearly half of the letters Cedric received that summer had signed off as "Light of Hufflepuff."

The remaining half were from Muggle classmates who were unaware of the situation.

It was precisely because of this that Cedric had chosen to sit in the farthest corner of the carriage, only to be discovered by the two most troublesome individuals.

"Please, leave me alone!" Cedric clasped his hands together in a pleading gesture. "I can lend you my homework!"

As he spoke, a stack of parchment was placed on the table.

The twins had initially planned to tease him a bit more, but the offer was simply too enticing.

That was top-grade homework!

George immediately straightened his expression, quickly cradling the parchment in his arms, and said seriously, "What are you talking about, Cedric? We know that's not what you meant; we were just joking around."

"Exactly." Fred nodded in agreement. "Don't worry; we won't tease you because of this."

...

Fred and George left with beaming smiles, as if they had just found a Galleon.

Once they were gone, Cedric breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Kyle, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, I—"

"I should be the one apologizing," Kyle interrupted. "After all, they came looking for me; otherwise, you wouldn't have been discovered."

Cedric shook his head with a wry smile. "It was only a matter of time."

He could hide on the train, but once they arrived at Hogwarts, he wouldn't be able to escape it; he would eventually have to face it—just a matter of timing.

Moreover, the sudden appearance of the Weasley brothers wasn't entirely a bad thing, as they had given Cedric a potential solution.

That solution was homework.

As the top student, his summer assignments were quite in demand, as evidenced by the Weasley twins' reaction earlier. Therefore, using his homework to quiet both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor should be feasible.

As long as he could manage them, that would resolve at least eighty percent of the issue.

As for Ravenclaw and Slytherin… Considering the nature of those two houses, they likely wouldn't want to join in on this fuss; at least most wouldn't. Even if a few did, it wouldn't matter.

As long as his own house members didn't stir things up and without the energetic Gryffindors getting involved, this would blow over in no more than three days.

Just three days. It would pass quickly.

Thinking this way, Cedric suddenly felt that things might not be so bad after all.

...

(End of Chapter)