Chapter 73: The First Snow at Hogwarts

For some time now, Kyle had become increasingly fascinated with nighttime activities that nurtured both body and soul. In recent weeks, he'd been sneaking out nearly every night, even more frequently than Fred and George, likely due to the twins' recent misadventure.

The pile of Mooncalf dung the twins had painstakingly gathered had, unsurprisingly, found no takers. No one in the wizarding world wanted it. The shops in Diagon Alley refused to touch it, but the twins weren't about to give up so easily. Finally, for reasons known only to them, they tried to offload it at a steep discount to Professor Sprout by bringing it to the greenhouse.

Predictably, their nighttime escapade was discovered, and the consequences were severe. Professor Sprout only needed one look to figure out the source of the droppings. With such a large quantity, it could only have come from the Forbidden Forest. And, of course, she knew well the time required to collect it. Being caught sneaking into the Forbidden Forest at night was bad enough, but flaunting it in front of her was unthinkable. This blatant provocation was too much for even the usually mild-mannered Professor Sprout. She promptly marched them to Professor McGonagall's office.

Despite their best efforts to claim they'd found the droppings near Hagrid's pumpkin patch, no one bought their story. Hagrid had been busy with other matters and hadn't tended the patch in weeks. Disappointed and angry, Professor McGonagall punished them by assigning a week's worth of bathroom cleaning. Filch even voiced his desire to move his office next to Gryffindor Tower to keep an eye on them.

However, this all worked in Kyle's favor. Once Mikel and Ryan were asleep, Kyle slipped out of bed and crept out of the common room. As usual, he wrapped his silver-green scarf around himself, drew his wand, and tapped it lightly to his forehead. "Disillusionment," he whispered.

A chill washed over him, spreading from his head down to his toes, as if he'd been doused with ice water. His body took on the color of the wall behind him—a result of the Disillusionment Charm. Kyle had been practicing this spell since his last venture into the Forbidden Forest. While he owned an Invisibility Cloak, it had limitations. Move too quickly, and your feet might stick out. The Disillusionment Charm, by comparison, was more reliable, though mastering it had taken him three days. His body's coloring wasn't as seamless as it should have been, but Hogwarts Castle was so dark at night that the imperfection barely mattered.

Once fully prepared, Kyle made his way with ease to the library door on the second floor. This was his latest nighttime haunt. He loved reading, but certain books weren't suitable for daylight. They were best savored in secret, alone, under the cover of darkness.

The library doors were shut, with a heavy brass lock between them. Kyle took out his master key and unlocked it with a single twist. He pushed one of the doors open just enough to slip inside.

The library at night was dark and eerie. "Lumos," Kyle murmured, holding his wand aloft as he navigated past the rows of shelves to the back of the library, where he stopped before a sign. "Restricted Section," it read, and Kyle couldn't help but feel the allure of the forbidden books before him.

He carefully stepped over the cord that marked the section boundary and illuminated the titles with his wand. Kyle was selective about his choices, determined to avoid any risks. Anything with a picture on the cover—whether portraits, Magical Creatures, or various symbols—was out. Books without covers were also avoided, as were thick, oversized, or suspiciously marked ones. Anything too old was a no-go; he didn't want to damage fragile pages and risk leaving irreparable traces.

He wandered through the Restricted Section for a while before finally reaching the sixth row of shelves. From the top, he pulled down a thin black book with gold letters, their intricate design worn with age. Kyle could just make out the last two words: "Explore..."

This one would do.

As he'd done on previous visits, Kyle sat cross-legged on the floor, opened the book, and began reading. Compared to the general collection, the content here was much denser and more obscure. Whenever he came across something he couldn't understand, he'd take out his quick-writing quill and transcribe it carefully.

While this method was slower and more tedious than using a Doubling Charm, it was also safer. Who knew what kinds of strange protections or curses were hidden in these books? Best to be cautious and avoid casting any spells on them at all.

...

By the time Kyle left the library, two hours had passed. On his way back, he unexpectedly encountered Peeves, but thanks to the Disillusionment Charm, Peeves didn't notice him.

The next morning, Kyle had planned to sleep until 8:50, but his two roommates had other ideas. At 7:30, they yanked him out of bed.

"Wake up, Kyle, wake up!"

Ignoring Kyle's groggy protests, they each grabbed an arm and hauled him to the window.

"Look, it's snowing!" Mikel exclaimed, throwing the window open. A gust of cold wind mixed with snowflakes hit Kyle square in the face.

"Hiss…" Kyle shivered, instantly wide awake.

Rubbing his face, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu, as if he'd seen this scene somewhere before.

"Come on, let's go outside and see it!" Mikel urged excitedly. "This is the first snow at Hogwarts!"

Kyle shook his head, declining. What's so exciting about snow? he thought. I'd rather catch up on sleep. He had stayed up late the previous night, and it wasn't even the weekend. He didn't want to feel sleepy during classes.

But Mikel and Ryan wouldn't take no for an answer. They kept pressing him to wash up and get dressed, making it clear they weren't leaving without him.

"This is our first snow since arriving at Hogwarts—it's special!" Mikel insisted. "Sleeping now is a waste of time, and you can catch up on sleep in History of Magic later."

Kyle sighed. True… the first class of the day is History of Magic. With that thought, he relented, got dressed, and followed them out of the dormitory.

Overnight, the snow had piled up more than a foot deep. By the time they reached the open area outside Hogwarts Castle, it was already bustling with people. Among them, Kyle spotted Fred and George, surrounded by a few Gryffindors, building a snow lion in the middle of the courtyard.

At least, it was supposed to be a lion. In reality, it looked more like a very peculiar Flobberworm caterpillar attempting yoga.