Hogwarts: I Am Such a Model Wizard

Chapter 301: Professor Attacked

Despite Harryʼs insistence that his arm was fine and he could leave, Madam Pomfrey insisted he stay overnight in the Hospital Wing.

”Your arm is all bent out of shape!” she exclaimed. ”If you want to be able to use your wand again, you need to make sure itʼs fully healed before you go.”

So Harry stayed.

The Gryffindor team came by in the evening, bringing cakes, sweets, and several bottles of Pumpkin Juice, as though they were about to throw a lively party. Unsurprisingly, they were promptly thrown out for seriously disturbing the other patients.

...

”I told you ten minutes ago that youʼd be kicked out,” Kyle said, laughing as Fred and George returned to the Great Hall empty-handed. ”Even Professor Dumbledore wouldʼve been booted out of the Hospital Wing if he tried to celebrate there, let alone you two.”

”We had to give it a shot.”

The twins sat down at the long Hufflepuff table, taking the condiment dish Cedric handed them without protest.

”Honestly...” Fred muttered as he peeled a potato, ”if a few laughs would wake up Flint or Filch, it’d be worth it.”

”Especially Filch… he might even have to thank us,” George added with a wink.

Filch was also in the Hospital Wing, concealed completely behind the heavy curtains drawn around his bed.

...

Early on Sunday morning, Kyle set off to visit Hagrid.

He’d only been to the cabin once so far this year, at the start of term, and hadn’t gone back since… mostly because he’d been too busy catching up on his work and studying runes. But Hagrid had sent him a letter on Friday, saying he’d prepared some new cured ham and wanted Kyle to come and taste it.

Kyle had agreed to visit.

Not that the cured ham was a big draw—it was hard to forget his taste test last year. The ham had been so salty it was like chewing on a block of salt. At one point, he’d even wondered if Hagrid had somehow turned salt itself into ham.

After leaving the Great Hall, Kyle crossed paths with Hermione and Ron, who were hurrying down the hall.

“Are you two going to see Harry?” he asked.

“Yes… yes, we are.” Ron, clutching a bulging bag, looked nervous. “This is… a present for him.”

A pungent smell wafted from the bag, reminiscent of Fluxweed.

Goodness, he thought, herbal medicine as a gift... Harry’s really taken to potions lately.

Kyle kept his thoughts to himself, though, and after a bit of casual conversation, he parted ways with them. Hermione and Ron hurried upstairs while Kyle left the castle, making his way to Hagrid’s hut.

“You’ve been busier than a professor lately, Kyle,” Hagrid said, pulling off his dragon-skin gloves with a mock frown. “If I didn’t write to you, would you ever stop by?”

“Of course, I would, Hagrid,” Kyle assured him. “I’ve just got twelve classes to keep up with, assignments to write, and a couple of clubs I’ve joined…”

He trailed off as Hagrid broke into a smile.

“I’m just teasing,” Hagrid chuckled, lifting a brass pot to pour steaming pine-nut tea into Kyle’s cup. “I know you’re busy. Professor Kettleburn mentioned you’re juggling twelve classes and have a mountain of writing every day… I honestly didn’t think you’d make it today.”

“I need to take a little break,” Kyle said, blowing on his tea.

“Glad you think so,” Hagrid replied with a grin. “And Kyle, you’re already doing a fantastic job. Since Bill graduated, I’ve not heard of anyone joining multiple clubs at once—you’re the first.”

With that, he brought out a ham sandwich he’d prepared in advance.

Kyle shook his head, declining politely, saying he’d just had breakfast.

Hagrid shrugged and didn’t mind; he just took a piece from the plate himself and dug in.

”Where are your friends—the Weasley brothers, Cedric, and Kanna?” Hagrid asked.

”They’ve gone off to train,” Kyle replied. ”Kanna and Cho are in the library, working on their runes.”

”Ah, that’s good, being in a group,” Hagrid said, finishing his sandwich and taking a big gulp of tea. ”You’d better stick with them, Kyle, whether it’s class or anything else—keep with others whenever you can.”

”Are you talking about Filch?” Kyle put down his cup. ”I’ll be careful.”

”Just being careful isn’t enough,” Hagrid said seriously. ”Even yesterday, a professor… Ah, never mind, I shouldn’t be talking about it.”

”A professor?” Kyle frowned, a hint of suspicion in his voice. ”Did something happen last night?”

”Well… you’ll find out soon enough.” Hagrid glanced toward the castle and lowered his voice. ”It was Charity Burbage. Last night, Dumbledore found her in an empty classroom. By then, she’d already ended up like Filch.”

Hagrid poured Kyle another cup of tea. ”Charity had been studying muggle life at a muggle school, so her magic wasn’t quite up to the level of the other professors, but still—she was an adult witch.”

Kyle’s hand, holding the teacup, paused mid-air.

He hadn’t expected a second attack to happen so soon—and this time, it was a professor. Charity Burbage was a full professor at Hogwarts, and that was a far more serious matter than Filch being attacked.

If a professor had been targeted, what did that mean for the students? It was hard to say, but Hogwarts might very well close if this continued. Dumbledore would have to find a way to resolve the situation.

Kyle stayed in Hagrid’s hut until noon, eventually returning to the castle with a large chunk of pickled warthog leg.

Hagrid insisted on giving it to him, and Kyle didn’t want to be rude. Norbert had been eating only beef shanks and pork chops from the kitchens lately, so this would make a nice change.

As it happened, Kyle bumped into Hermione and Ron again as soon as he stepped into the foyer—this time with Harry in tow. They’d just come down from the common room, probably heading to the Great Hall for lunch.

”I can’t believe there’s such a magical place in Hogwarts!” Ron exclaimed, looking excited.

”It’s amazing,” Hermione chimed in, just as thrilled. ”There’s more in there than in the Potions classroom—even a Self-Stirring Cauldron, which will save us so much time.”

”Too bad they don’t have potion ingredients... If they had Bicorn horns and Boomslang skins, we wouldn’t even need to go to Snape—”

”Harry!” Hermione interrupted, raising her voice. ”Dinner’s about to start; we can talk about the potions homework later.”

Harry froze for a second. They’d been discussing the Polyjuice Potion—since when had they been talking about potions homework? But, catching on to Hermione’s hint, he soon noticed Kyle nearby.

”Oh, right, Hermione…” Harry said, raising his voice as well. ”Those potions homework assignments are really tough. I’m starving!”

The three then quickened their pace down the stairs, pretending they’d just noticed Kyle, and greeted him with enthusiastic waves.

”…Kyle! I didn’t even realize you were here!”

Kyle couldn’t help but smirk at their poor acting. Honestly, even his Niffler had better poker skills when it tried to hide its stash of stolen coins.

”I just came back from Hagrid’s,” Kyle replied, flashing a polite smile. ”He gave me a piece of cured ham. Want some?”

”No, no,” they all chorused, shaking their heads at once.

Never eat anything Hagrid offered unless it was absolutely necessary—that was a lesson they’d learned the hard way last year.