Chapter 12: Scabbers and Rat Tonic

For Kyle, who was used to traveling by plane and bullet train, riding the Hogwarts Express, an old-fashioned steam train, was a torment.

Especially after you had been riding for hours and the novelty and Hogwarts buff had gradually worn off, its drawbacks were magnified.

First, it was slow. Slow. Kyle felt that this thing could barely reach 80 mph, not even as fast as some of the better-performing cars.

And the comfort was also terrible. It swayed and wobbled, and Kyle was almost about to question his life. He almost threw up his breakfast.

In this situation, it was impossible to kill time by reading.

Fortunately, Cedric, who was in the same compartment as him, was very talkative, which made the journey less terrible.

After talking about professors, Kyle asked some other questions. Cedric was also open and honest, and he would take the initiative to share some interesting places in Hogwarts, or interesting portraits, etc.

There were a lot of things that Kyle didn't know, which made him very interested. In return, Kyle generously offered to provide Cedric with snacks all the way.

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, etc. were all included.

Only one thing made Kyle speechless, which was that Cedric, unsurprisingly, continued the wizarding world's bad habit of not telling the truth when it came to Sorting.

"You have to catch the Golden Snitch in the Great Hall within ten minutes to be sorted?"

Kyle politely twitched the corner of his mouth, not saying anything.

Alright, Quidditch was at least more reliable than a dragon. And it was very Cedric.

"By the way, Kyle, have you thought about which house you'll be sorted into?" Cedric popped an Every Flavour Bean in his mouth, "If you could get into Hufflepuff, that would be great. But a smart wizard like you probably wants to go to Ravenclaw."

Before he could finish, Cedric's mouth twitched violently. His entire face involuntarily wrinkled, which looked incredibly funny.

"Oh, damn, it's liver. I hate that flavor."

Although he said this, Cedric still swallowed it down.

"I have, but I don't necessarily have to go to any particular house." Kyle also picked up an Every Flavour Bean, "Besides, I'm not very good at catching things. I might not be able to catch the Golden Snitch in ten minutes. I'd be happy if any house was willing to take me in."

Hmm... it was a new Black Pepper Steak flavor. Not bad.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." Cedric chuckled and said, "It's not that hard."

Just as they were talking, the compartment door suddenly opened from outside.

Kyle and Cedric turned their heads at the same time.

Familiar red hair, but not the twins, it was another Weasley.

Percy entered the compartment, "Kyle, Fred told me you were here... Oh, you must be Cedric Diggory. I'm Percy Weasley. Nice to meet you."

Cedric, who had been curious, suddenly heard his name. He nodded and replied, "Nice to meet you too, Percy Weasley."

The other's serious demeanor made Cedric momentarily think he was in some formal setting, not on the Hogwarts Express.

He was confused but polite.

Kyle held back his laughter. After they exchanged greetings, he said, "Percy, do you need something?"

He knew all seven of the Weasley kids. He knew Percy too, just not as well.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I do need something." Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out a large rat.

"Scabbers hasn't been himself lately. I wanted to ask if you still have that rat tonic you gave him before.

If possible, I'd like to buy some."

"Rat tonic?"

Kyle looked at the rat in Percy's hand, a gray rat missing a front paw. He narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Of course, just a moment."

As he spoke, Kyle pulled out a bottle filled with red liquid from his suitcase and handed it to Percy.

"You know, once a week, three drops at a time. There should be enough here to last you a while."

"Thanks." Percy quickly took the red rat tonic and then, hesitantly, pulled out three silver Sickles. He blushed and said, "I know this might not be enough, but I only have this much right now. I'll pay you back the rest as soon as possible."

"You don't need that much." Kyle took only one Sickle and pushed the other two back, "It's just rat tonic. It's not a good thing. It's not that expensive. One Sickle is enough."

Percy looked at the Sickle in his hand, his face turning red and white. After a long pause, he sighed softly, "Thank you, Kyle."

Kyle said, "You're welcome. I'm taking payment. Normal transaction."

"No, I know."

Percy also smiled, but it was a wry smile, "If it were just ordinary rat tonic, how could it keep Scabbers alive for eleven years? That must have been made by Mr. Scamander. After all, only a legendary figure could keep a normal field rat alive for so long.

That kind of tonic, if it were on the market, would probably cost at least ten Galleons."

Well...

Kyle rubbed his teeth. He wanted to tell Percy.

Scabbers' longevity had nothing to do with the rat tonic. Besides, it was his work, not worth ten Galleons.

But the whole Peter Pettigrew thing was too troublesome. He was only eleven. He didn't want to attract Dumbledore's attention for now.

But he wasn't doing anything.

Besides the rat tonic, he had told Percy long ago that rats were different from other pets. If they got too much of a wizard's scent on them, they would be rejected by their kind.

Percy was initially skeptical, but after Kyle put Mr. Scamander's name on it, he believed it. He even treated it as a classic.

Percy cared about his only pet.

He not only got Scabbers a special nest in his room, but he also had a lot less physical contact with him. Except for special cases like now, when he had to carry him around, he let him roam free.

On the other side, seeing that Kyle didn't respond, Percy didn't want to stay longer.

"Anyway, thank you, Kyle. If you have any academic questions in the future, you can come to me. And after graduation, I'll make sure to pay you back the Galleons."

With that, Percy quickly left the compartment, leaving Kyle and Cedric staring at each other in silence.

Finally, Cedric broke the silence, "That... can you get more rat tonic from Mr. Scamander?"

"You could say I know how to make it. And it's not just for rats. I know how to make all kinds of pet tonics." Kyle didn't bother explaining further. He shrugged, "It's not that hard, it's just a little troublesome, so few people will specifically learn how to make it."

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