Chapter 26: Raton

The next morning, Kyle was forced to get out of bed early.

Because the curtains were not drawn last night, the sun through the round window of the dormitory and hit his face brutally like a searchlight.

Who would be able to sleep like this?

Kyle reluctantly got dressed and stretched his body in front of the window.

Since Hogwarts Castle was located in an uneven area, even though it was an underground part of the castle building, it had plenty of sunshine. Through the circular window of the dormitory, one can also see the swaying grass and dandelions outside.

Kyle glanced at his two roommates who were sleeping soundly, and opened the window to the maximum with an expressionless expression.

The O.W.L. exams will be held in five years. How can they sleep at this age?

It was already half past seven. Rounding it off, it was eight-fifty, only a few minutes before class which started at nine o'clock.

After all, this was their first class after entering Hogwarts, and they had to leave a good impression on the professors. It would be bad if they were late.

Also, the mist-laden breeze in the early morning was undoubtedly the best alarm clock.

"I'm so considerate." Kyle nodded with satisfaction.

He really wanted to be helpful to his roommates and it wasn't because he wanted them to wake up early with him. As a Hufflepuff, he couldn't do such a thing.

After briefly washing up, Kyle walked through the passage of the common room and left the dormitory.

As everyone knew, the stairs in Hogwarts were all very unique. They seemed to have their own consciousness. They could always change their original direction when the little wizards were most anxious, and then silently admire the unlucky ones' desperate cries.

Kyle was prepared to go around a few times, but he didn't know whether it was because he had enough time, or because it wasn't time for the stairs to work yet.

All the way from the lounge to the Great Hall, the stairs never changed once, and it was very quiet the whole time.

This made Kyle somewhat disappointed. To be honest, he actually wanted to try it.

Although it wasn't yet eight o'clock, there were already many students in the Great Hall, especially the Ravenclaw table, which was almost full. There were also a few senior students from other houses sitting here and there.

There was only one Hufflepuff… just Kyle.

After he sat down, a steaming breakfast appeared on the plate in front of him.

A glass of milk, two sausages, and a piece of bread.

It wasn't rich, but it was pretty good. If it wasn't enough, more could be added.

Kyle ate breakfast slowly, and not long after, two familiar figures walked into the Great Hall one after another.

"Hey, Kyle, why did you get up so early?" Mikel and Ryan walked over quickly.

"I didn't want to either. I originally planned to go back to sleep, but the dormitory window was open and the wind blew in. It was too cold and I couldn't sleep." Kyle cut a piece of sausage without changing his expression.

He put it into his mouth and said, "What about you, why do you get up so early?"

"It was the same for us." Mikel said with a grimace: "I thought it was you who opened the window before?"

"The window was open when I left."

Kyle emphasized the words "when I left" very seriously.

"Is that so? It should have been blown open by the wind." Mikel picked up the bread and took a big bite: "But that's fine. I didn't fall asleep until very late last night. If the window hadn't been opened, I definitely wouldn't have been able to wake up before nine.

If I was late for the first class... I don't even dare to think about the consequences. I'd definitely be expelled."

Beside him, Ryan nodded in agreement.

Although he got up after eight o'clock when he was at home, it was all the result of his mother forcefully pulling him out of bed.

If he were allowed to sleep until he woke up naturally, he probably wouldn't be able to make it in time for the first class.

Kyle smiled and said: "Then you really have to thank the good person who helped open the window."

"Yeah."

The two sleepy-eyed people just ate their breakfast, and no one noticed anything wrong with what Kyle had said.

Mikel even chimed in: "It really helped a lot."

At this time, Kyle also drank the last sip of milk, and stood up, "You guys continue eating, I need to go somewhere else."

"Okay." The two said in unison.

…

After saying goodbye to his roommates who were focused on food, Kyle walked straight to the castle gate.

It was only eight o'clock, which was still very early before class. Taking advantage of the time, Kyle decided to solve the pet issue first.

There was already a cat and a toad in the dormitory, so he couldn't appear out of place.

Walking out of the castle gate, Kyle raised his arm skillfully.

Suddenly, seven or eight owls swarmed in from all directions and landed neatly on the stone steps in front of him.

"This time, I'm not here for a letter delivery." Kyle looked at them and said: "I will stay at Hogwarts for a long time, and during this period I hope to hire one of you to be my exclusive messenger.

In return… I'll cover all of your meals. At least one pack of owl nuts a day, three packs of Murtlap rat jerky a week, and one bottle of owl tonic a month… That's it for now, you can ask for more if you need anything else.

In addition, these conditions will still be effective even after I graduate, until you can no longer lift your wings.

Well, if any of you are willing, you can fly to my shoulder."

It had nothing to do with Kyle's inherited talent.

As special messengers in the magical world, owls have a natural affinity for magic. With a little training, they can understand the words of wizards.

And these owls at Hogwarts are the best in the industry in this regard.

Although Kyle's words just now were a bit complicated for them, with some body movement, they could understand about 70% to 80%.

In less than a second, the owls were racing toward Kyle's shoulder.

Some of the slower ones even directly attacked the owls in front of them.

For a moment, the surroundings were in chaos, with scattered feathers everywhere.

Kyle scratched his head in confusion and wanted to stop it, but it was too late because the situation was no longer something he could persuade with a few words.

Fortunately, this situation did not last long.

A brown fishing owl relied on its huge advantage to easily defeat other competitors and stood firmly on Kyle's shoulders as a winner.

Kyle recognized this owl.

About three years ago, when Chris found it, it was covered in injuries and dying at the entrance of the reception desk of the Ministry of Magic, with an unsent letter still clutched in its claws.

Because it was found in time, Chris immediately treated it. He took it home to take good care of it for more than half a month and finally brought it back to life.

Despite this, there was a long and narrow scar on its face.

This kind of scar was caused by dark magic and is difficult to remove. Neither Chris nor Newt could do anything about it, even its feathers can't cover it.

This made it look unusually… ugly compared to other owls.

But Kyle didn't care about this. He scratched the feathers on the brown fish owl's neck and said with a smile: "Hello, Raton."

The owl tilted its head and gently nuzzled Kyle's finger with his beak.

Raton was the nickname Kyle gave it.

Because he didn't know its name at first, Kyle just wanted to call it that to make it easier to feed.

Unexpectedly, it actually recognized the name in the end.

When Hagrid got the news and came to pick it up, he shouted "Saipan, Saipan" in the nearby woods for more than half an hour, but it didn't react at all.

It wasn't until Kyle whispered "Raton" from the side that it flew out leisurely.

Hagrid was so dumbfounded at the time that he couldn't regain his composure for a long time. It felt like the girl he had worked so hard to raise was kidnapped by Kyle.

Not to mention how disappointed he was.

…

(End of chapter)