Chapter 73: The First Snow at Hogwarts

Over the next few weeks, Kyle became increasingly interested in the beneficial and mentally stimulating activity of sneaking out at night. He even started going out every night, more often than Fred and George.

This was probably related to the twins' recent misfortune.

The pile of Mooncalf dung they had worked so hard to collect had, unsurprisingly, gone to waste.

No young wizards wanted it.

The relevant shops in Diagon Alley didn't accept it either.

But the twins weren't willing to just let it go. They didn't know what possessed them, but they went to the greenhouse and tried to sell the stuff to Professor Sprout at a low price.

Unsurprisingly, their sneaking out was discovered. And the consequences were severe.

Professor Sprout just took one look and knew where they had gotten the stuff.

There was so much of it. It could only have come from the Forbidden Forest.

Professor Sprout, naturally, knew when they had collected the Mooncalf dung.

Sneaking out to the Forbidden Forest was one thing, but daring to show off in front of a professor?

Even a gentle soul like Professor Sprout couldn't stand this blatant act of defiance. She took them directly to Professor McGonagall's office.

Although the twins tried their best to explain that they had found it near Hagrid's pumpkin patch, nobody believed them.

Because Hagrid had been busy with other things at the time. He hadn't taken care of the pumpkin patch in a long time.

Professor McGonagall was both disappointed and angry. She made them clean the bathrooms for a week.

Filch was even more eager to move his office next to Gryffindor Tower so he could keep an eye on them.

But this made things easier for Kyle.

After Mickel and Ryan fell asleep, Kyle quietly climbed out of bed and tiptoed out of the common room.

As usual, he put on the silver-green scarf. Then, he took out his wand and lightly tapped his forehead.

"Disillusionment Charm."

A cold sensation quickly spread from his head, as if he had been splashed with a bucket of ice water.

Then, Kyle's body took on the same color patterns as the wall behind him.

The Disillusionment Charm.

After returning from the Forbidden Forest, Kyle had been studying this charm.

The Invisibility Cloak was convenient and easy to use, but it had many drawbacks. If you weren't careful or if you walked too fast, you might expose your feet.

The Disillusionment Charm was much more useful.

It was just a bit tricky. It took him three days to just get started. His body color wasn't smooth enough when it changed with the environment.

Fortunately, Hogwarts Castle was pitch black at night. This small flaw didn't matter.

Once everything was ready, Kyle went to the library door on the second floor, as he had done many times before.

This was his latest sneaking-out spot.

He loved to read, but some books weren't suitable for reading during the day. It was more interesting to read them secretly, alone, at night.

The library door was closed. A large brass lock hung between the two doors.

Kyle took out his master key and easily turned the brass lock. Then, he carefully pushed open a crack and squeezed through the library.

The library was pitch black at night. It was eerie and terrifying.

"Lumos."

Kyle walked past rows of bookshelves, holding his wand high. He reached the back of the library and stopped in front of a sign.

The sign read "Restricted Section" in elegant, gold-embossed letters. It looked very tempting.

Kyle carefully stepped over the rope that separated these books from the rest of the collection. He used the light from his wand to read the titles.

To avoid being discovered or having any accidents, Kyle was very careful when choosing a book.

Any book with a picture on the cover (including, but not limited to, portraits, magical creatures, various symbols…) was out.

Any book with no cover was out.

Any book that was thick and large was out.

Any book with strange marks was out.

Any book that looked too old was out… this was mainly because he was afraid of damaging the book when he turned the pages. It would be a hassle if he couldn't fix it.

Kyle walked through the Restricted Section for a while. When he reached the sixth row of bookshelves, he pulled out a black book with gold-embossed cursive letters.

The book was thin. The cursive letters on the cover had peeled off a lot. Kyle could only barely make out the last two words.

"Exploring…"

That's the one.

After choosing the book, Kyle sat down on the floor, as he had done on his previous visits. He opened it and slowly began to read.

Compared to ordinary books, the content in the Restricted Section was generally much more obscure. When he encountered something he didn't understand, Kyle would use his Quick-Quotes Quill to copy the content.

This method was much more troublesome than using the Copying Charm, but it was safer.

Who knew if there were any strange and unusual enchantments in these books? To be safe, it was better not to cast spells on them.

…

When Kyle left the library, it was two hours later.

On his way back, Kyle accidentally ran into Peeves. But with the Disillusionment Charm protecting him, Peeves didn't notice him.

The next morning, Kyle, who had planned to sleep until 8:50, was pulled out of bed by his two roommates at 7:30.

"Wake up, Kyle, wake up!"

They didn't care about Kyle's reaction. They pulled him out of bed without a word and dragged him to the window, one on each arm.

"Look, it's snowing!"

Mickel opened the window. Without any warning, a cold wind carrying snowflakes hit Kyle's face.

"Ssh…"

Kyle shivered. His sleepiness vanished instantly.

Kyle rubbed his face. He felt like this scene was familiar. He had seen it somewhere.

"Let's go out and take a look!" Mickel said excitedly, "It's the first snow at Hogwarts."

Kyle shook his head in refusal.

What was there to see? He would rather sleep in. He had stayed up late yesterday. It wasn't the weekend. What if he got sleepy during class?

But Mickel and Ryan didn't think the same way.

They kept urging Kyle to quickly wash up and change clothes. They were determined not to leave without him.

"It's the first snow we've experienced since we came to Hogwarts. It's very meaningful!"

Mickel said, "It's a waste of time to sleep now. We have plenty of time to catch up on sleep during History of Magic later."

"Yeah, the first class today is History of Magic."

Thinking about this, Kyle didn't insist anymore. He changed clothes and went out with them.

In just one night, the snow on the ground had reached more than a foot deep.

When they reached the open ground outside Hogwarts Castle, there were already quite a few people there.

Kyle also saw Fred and George. They were building a snow lion… with a few Gryffindors?

Well, theoretically, they were supposed to be building a lion. It was just a little ugly. It looked like a Flobberworm doing yoga.

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