Chapter 10 Cedric

After Kyle got on the train, the first few carriages were full.

It was impossible to find an empty seat, all because he was right on time.

Kyle used the Levitation Charm to carry his luggage and finally found a relatively spacious compartment at the end of the train.

There was only one boy in this compartment. He was about the same age as Kyle. As for his looks... although he wasn't as handsome as Kyle, he was much better than the Weasley twins.

"Knock knock..."

Kyle knocked on the compartment door and asked politely, "Hello, can I sit here? Everything else is full."

"Of course, go ahead." The boy replied quickly.

"Thanks."

After entering the compartment, Kyle first placed his luggage on the rack and then extended his hand to the boy.

"Hello, I'm a first year this year, Kyle Chopper."

The boy seemed to be lost in thought and didn't respond immediately. When he came to his senses, he quickly extended his hand, "Oh... sorry, Cedric Diggory, a second year at Hogwarts."

Cedric?

Kyle was surprised. He hadn't expected to meet an "acquaintance" just getting on the train. The future Hogwarts Champion, no wonder he was so handsome.

Kyle remembered that his family also lived near Ottery St. Catchpole village. But because of various reasons, the two had never met.

Not even once.

Kyle had also tried to go to their house several times, but the Diggory house was always closed. After a while, Kyle gave up.

He didn't expect their first meeting to be on the train...

But seeing that the boy seemed to be preoccupied, Kyle didn't say anything more. He simply greeted him and took out the "Ordinary Spells and Their Counters" he had bought from Flourish & Blotts and began to read.

The boy continued to space out.

The window was raining softly. It was always like this here. The rain would come whenever it felt like it, without any warning.

Kyle looked up at the window and didn't pay attention. He was used to it, and he enjoyed reading in this kind of environment.

Influenced by Kyle, Cedric stopped spacing out and also took out a book and started reading. It looked like "Dark Arts: Self-Defense" judging from the cover.

Previewing Defense Against the Dark Arts on the school train was perfectly normal for Hogwarts students.

After all, no one knew how long this year's professor would last. What if he died after two lessons? So, previewing was always good.

For a while, the only sounds in the compartment were the turning of parchment pages, a stark contrast to the noise from the corridor.

But this situation didn't last long.

Cedric hadn't finished two pages when the door to the compartment opened again.

"Finally found you, Kyle."

"We specially saved a seat for you, but you stood us up. We were waiting like fools."

"I think you should apologize."

Fred and George leaned against the door, taking turns questioning Kyle.

And their expressions were very angry as if Kyle had done something heinous.

"I can apologize."

Kyle calmly closed the book in his hand, "But only on the condition that you swear on a dungbomb that what you just said is true."

For a moment, the anger on Fred's face turned into hesitation, "Uh, can I swear on the Headmaster?"

George was also the same, "Or Professor McGonagall?"

"No!" Kyle shook his head, "It has to be a dungbomb."

...

"Oh, George, I think this must be Kyle's first time on the Hogwarts Express. He's not familiar with it, so he didn't find us."

"Yes, Fred, it's not his fault. We should have paid more attention to the outside."

The twins exchanged a look, tacitly ignoring their previous words. They squeezed into the compartment as if nothing had happened.

Inevitably, they also saw Cedric.

Fred grinned mischievously, "Look who's here. I can't remember his name."

George raised his eyebrows, "Of course, it's our Hogwarts good boy, the Hufflepuff Light, Mr. Cedric Diggory."

As soon as they finished speaking, Cedric's face turned red. The string of prefixes, filled with shame, almost made him knock a hole in the train with his embarrassment.

But he couldn't refute it.

Because the titles "Good Boy" and "Hufflepuff Light" were all spread by his father. In just one summer, it was common knowledge in the entire Ministry of Magic.

Of course, their family knew it too.

Therefore, during this summer, almost half of the letters Cedric received were addressed to "The Hufflepuff Light."

The other half were from classmates from Muggle families, who didn't know about it.

It was because of this that he chose this compartment, the most secluded one. But he was still discovered, by the worst two people.

"Please, have mercy!" Cedric clasped his hands together, begging, "I can lend you my homework."

As he spoke, a stack of parchment was placed on the table.

The twins were going to make a few more jokes, but the price the other offered was simply too high.

That was the top student's homework!

George's expression turned serious. He quickly hugged the parchment to his chest and said solemnly, "What are you talking about, Cedric? We know that's not what you meant. We were just kidding."

"That's right." Fred nodded in agreement, "Don't worry, we won't laugh at you because of that."

...

Fred and George left with smiles on their faces. They looked like they had just found a Galleon.

As soon as they left, Cedric also breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Kyle with some embarrassment, "Sorry, I..."

"I should be the one apologizing." Kyle interrupted him, "After all, they were looking for me. You wouldn't have been discovered if they weren't."

Cedric shook his head with a wry smile, "It was bound to happen."

He could hide on the train, but once he got to Hogwarts, he wouldn't be able to. He would have to face it, sooner or later.

Besides, the sudden appearance of the Weasley brothers wasn't a bad thing, because they gave Cedric an idea of how to solve this problem.

Homework.

As the top student, his summer homework was highly sought after. It was clear from the Weasley brothers' reactions. So, it shouldn't be a problem to use homework to shut the mouths of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.

As long as he could control them, the problem would be 80% solved.

As for Ravenclaw and Slytherin... based on their personalities, they wouldn't bother with this kind of thing. At least, most of them wouldn't. If there were a few exceptions, it wouldn't matter.

As long as his housemates didn't start a fuss, and there were no Gryffindors involved, the whole thing would be over in three days.

Just three days, it's quick.

Thinking about it, Cedric suddenly felt that things weren't so bad after all.

...