By the time Kyle emerged from the headmaster's office, afternoon had already arrived. The sky remained overcast, and the relentless rain showed no sign of easing.
He lingered in the eighth-floor corridor for a while, gazing absentmindedly at the rain, which fell like a sheer veil over the castle. His thoughts drifted to the heated argument between Dumbledore and Snape. What had caused their disagreement? Was it Malfoy's recent actions? Or did it have something to do with Kanna? Or perhaps… was Snape growing weary of his double life as a Death Eater and yearning for a normal existence?
Any of these seemed possible.
But whatever the reason, one thing was clear—Snape did not have Dumbledore's support on this matter. If he had, their argument wouldn't have been so intense.
Kyle suspected Malfoy was the most likely cause. After all, he was the one stirring the most trouble.
As for Kanna… unless Dumbledore had wanted her to join the Order of the Phoenix and Snape had opposed it, there wasn't much reason for a disagreement over her. Besides, Kyle doubted Dumbledore would push for a recently graduated witch to join the Order. There was simply no pressing need for it.
And as for Snape longing to return to an ordinary wizard's life… until Voldemort was completely defeated, that could only remain a distant dream.
"Draco Malfoy..." Kyle murmured.
At that moment, a group of first-year students came racing up the stairs, laughing and chasing one another. Their noisy excitement snapped Kyle out of his thoughts.
They hadn't expected to see a seventh-year standing there, and upon spotting him, they skidded to a stop, startled.
One boy, flustered, accidentally dropped the model Quidditch player he had been holding.
"Don't worry, I'm not Filch," Kyle said, amused. "I won't deduct points just for being loud in the corridor." With a tap of his hand, he restored the broken model.
"As good as new."
"...Thank you," the boy stammered, his face turning red with excitement, as if he had just witnessed an extraordinary feat of magic.
To be fair, to a first-year—especially a Muggle-born—wandless magic, even something as simple as an Untransfiguration Spell, was impressive.
Kyle didn't dwell on it. The brief commotion had pulled him from his thoughts, and he took it as a sign to move on. Without further hesitation, he left the eighth floor and made his way straight to the Hufflepuff common room.
Still, a vague feeling nagged at him, as if there was something he had forgotten to tell Dumbledore.
He hesitated briefly at the top of the stairs.
Then he shook his head.
Never mind. It probably didn't matter.
…
Because few people knew about it, the news that Slughorn and Ron had been affected by the Love Potion never spread, and life at Hogwarts continued as usual.
Dumbledore had left the school again, and with the Death Eaters becoming increasingly active, he had been busier than ever.
But none of it seemed to affect Hogwarts. Thanks to the professors' efforts, the castle remained as safe as ever, and the students' attention was entirely on the upcoming Quidditch match the next day.
This time, it was Gryffindor versus Slytherin—age-old rivals.
Although Harry had the Firebolt, Gryffindor's chances weren't as high as expected. A key player was missing, and the two Beaters had performed poorly in the last match, making their odds uncertain.
Most people still placed their hopes on Slytherin. Their newer players hadn't been particularly outstanding in the past two years, but the team had remained steady. All three Chasers were experienced veterans, with over three years of playing together, giving them strong teamwork.
And more importantly, they were all massive—built like wrestlers. Sometimes, sheer size was an advantage.
On the morning of the match, Kyle and Kanna made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast.
As soon as they entered, they found themselves in the middle of a heated confrontation—not between Harry and Malfoy this time, but between Ron and Slytherin Chaser Vaisey.
Kyle lowered his voice. "What's going on?"
"Oh, it's the Slytherin Weasley song," Ryan, who had arrived early, explained. "Harper was leading the chorus, but they got caught in the act."
The Weasley song—a taunting chant aimed at Ron—had been Slytherin's go-to tactic for unsettling him. The lyrics changed every month, but they always mocked him in some way.
Since last year, Slytherin had sung it before every Gryffindor match, and it had been remarkably effective. Ron, easily rattled, would inevitably fumble under pressure.
This time, they were clearly trying to shake Gryffindor's confidence again.
However… things didn't go quite as planned.
Just as Ryan finished speaking, Kyle noticed Crabbe suddenly lurch to one side, as if he had stepped in something and slipped. He crashed into the person in front of him.
Then, like a chain reaction, another Slytherin was knocked over.
In an instant, the entire group collapsed in a tangled heap.
Kyle blinked, unable to understand what he had just witnessed.
Only one person had fallen at first, but the Slytherins—standing close together—had all been thrown off balance. Within seconds, they were sprawled across the floor, tangled up and groaning in pain.
Vaisey was at the bottom of the pile, his face turning purple as he flailed his arms, desperately trying to push the others off him.
Ron, watching the scene unfold, burst into laughter.
"You were singing so happily just now—why'd you stop?"
Grinning, he strode over to the Gryffindor table, Lavender skipping beside him, gazing at him with admiration.
"Oh, they made up already?" Neville said in surprise as he walked up behind them.
"What do you mean?" Kyle asked.
"You don't know?" Neville replied. "Just now, Ron and Lavender had a huge fight in the common room—something about Romilda Vane. Lavender was furious, and Ron just kept saying it was a misunderstanding, but he didn't explain himself."
"I thought they'd keep fighting, but somehow, they made up in less than twenty minutes. It's… kind of amazing?"
He shook his head, at a loss for words.
Kyle found it surprising as well, but he didn't think too much about it. Maybe Ron had told her the truth.
Anyone who had been under the influence of a Love Potion knew how uncontrollable the feelings were. Nothing should be surprising after experiencing something like that.
Without dwelling on it further, he and Kanna went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.
"Who do you think will win this game?" Kanna asked.
"Gryffindor, I guess," Kyle said. "If Harry plays normally."
By now, Vaisey had been pulled out of the pile, but it looked like he had broken his arm and would definitely be unable to play.
With that, both Slytherin and Gryffindor had lost a key player, bringing the situation back to square one.
The two continued chatting as they ate breakfast.
Soon, the morning post arrived.
A large group of owls swooped into the Great Hall, delivering letters and packages to the students below. Amid the usual flurry of feathers and parcels, one delivery stood out—a trio of owls flying in unison, gripping a single string, with a particularly large package dangling beneath them as they headed straight for the Hufflepuff table.
With a heavy thud, the round package landed in the middle of the table, rolling forward twice and knocking over several plates and a jug of pumpkin juice in the process.
"Oh, these owls are definitely not postal couriers," Mikel muttered, wiping pumpkin juice off his face. "So rude." He glanced at the package curiously. "Whose is it?"
"There's a letter too. Let's see who it's addressed to," Ryan said, leaning over. "Hogwarts Great Hall, Hufflepuff Table, Miss Kanna Prince..."
"Kanna, what did you buy?"
"Huh?" Hearing Ryan's words, Kanna, who had also been curious about the package, suddenly froze. "For me?"
"Of course. It has your name on it." Ryan handed her the letter. "You didn't know?"
"No, and I didn't buy anything either." Kanna took the letter, her expression skeptical.
A single glance was enough for her to understand what was going on.
"It's from the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers."
In an instant, excitement flashed across her face, and she grabbed Kyle's arm in exhilaration. "They said I passed... I've become a full member of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers!"
A collective gasp spread through the students around them. Instinctively, everyone turned to look.
Some of the younger students had never heard of the society before, but judging by the stunned expressions of the older students, it was clearly something remarkable.
"Congratulations," Kyle said with a smile. "But didn't you already know? Slughorn let it slip during the first Potions lesson."
"That's different," Kanna said solemnly. "Until the official results come out, everything else is just speculation."
She reread the letter, then reached inside the envelope to pull out the other item enclosed—a finely crafted blue badge, embossed with a smoking cauldron, the official insignia of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers.
It was the same badge Slughorn always wore on his robe at every gathering.
"That's impressive," Ryan remarked. "You must be the youngest member. I think that's what Professor Slughorn said."
"For now, I guess," Kanna nodded.
Kyle, however, remained silent.
Kanna glanced at him, then tilted her head. "I get the feeling you're a little disappointed."
"A bit," Kyle admitted. "I thought they'd be more formal about it. I didn't expect it to be delivered by owl."
"Did you think this was an Order of Merlin medal?" Kanna asked dryly.
Kyle simply shrugged.
Kanna said nothing more. This was an incredible achievement, even if there was no grand ceremony. Having Slughorn himself deliver the news would have been enough. If anything, this was the kind of event that could earn Hufflepuff a perfect ten out of ten in attention.
"Wait a minute, didn't you guys forget a package?" Justin suddenly said.
Kanna blinked, realizing that there was indeed a package along with the letter.
By now, the commotion had drawn even more attention, and several students were watching with curiosity.
"What's inside?" Cho asked as she walked over.
"I don't know, it doesn't say in the letter," Kanna shook her head.
"Can we open it?" Mikel asked eagerly.
"Of course," Kanna said. "I'm curious too."
With her permission, Mikel wasted no time tearing into the package.
However, as he removed the final layer of brown wrapping and saw what was inside, his expression immediately fell.
"What a cheapskate," Mikel muttered. "Kanna, you're probably going to be disappointed. They only sent you an old crucible."
He clicked his tongue in disappointment. "A crucible is fine and all, but couldn't they at least send a new one?"
That can't be... Kyle glanced over instinctively.
The package hadn't been fully unwrapped, revealing only half of its contents.
It was indeed a crucible—deep red, covered in what looked like knife scratches, and at first glance, it appeared worn and old.
But that was just its appearance.
"This is no old crucible..." Kyle reached out and touched it. The moment his fingers brushed the surface, he felt a distinct warmth, as if touching the stones beside a fireplace.
Mikel placed his own hand on it.
"Strange, is this thing still hot? That's even weirder."
"No," Kyle explained, "it's made from the shell of a Fire Crab. This material conducts heat exceptionally well, absorbing a flame's temperature in seconds and distributing it evenly. The best crucibles in the wizarding world are made from Fire Crab shells."
As soon as Kyle finished speaking, understanding dawned on everyone.
"So... they're not stingy after all?"
"On the contrary," Kyle raised an eyebrow, "this kind of crucible isn't cheap."
"How much?" someone asked.
"I don't know," Kyle admitted. "I've never bought one before, and most people don't need something this high-end—an ordinary crucible is more than enough."
Hearing that, the students quickly lost interest. To them, it was just a cauldron. It wasn't made of gold, so no matter how expensive it was, it couldn't be that expensive.
"I take back what I just said..." Mikel muttered, still examining the crucible.
Kyle turned to Kanna with a small smile. "Even something like this gets delivered by owl. Looks like they really don't care about ceremonies or formalities."
"You can use this for brewing potions in the future," he added. "It's far better than an ordinary cauldron."
"Forget it," Kanna shook her head. "If I get used to it, I won't be able to go back to using a regular cauldron."
"Besides, Professors Snape and Slughorn are also members of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers, and they still use ordinary cauldrons, don't they?"
"It's different," Kyle said quietly. "I can't say for sure about everyone else, but when Snape brewed the Phoenix Potion, he definitely used a Fire Crab Cauldron. You'll need it too, so it's better to start getting used to it now."
A thought seemed to cross his mind, and he smirked slightly.
"Actually, I was planning to give you a Fire Crab Cauldron for your birthday," he said. "But I guess now I'll have to think of something else."
…
Thanks to the word-of-mouth spread among the Hufflepuff students, news of Kanna becoming a full member of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers quickly became the hottest topic in the Great Hall. For a short while, it even overshadowed the excitement of the upcoming Quidditch match.
However, since so few people were familiar with the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers, the conversation naturally lost momentum. Like a passing breeze, interest in the topic faded, and soon enough, discussions returned to Quidditch.
As everyone was preparing to head to the Quidditch Pitch, Kanna suddenly spoke up.
"You go ahead. I need to tell Professor Snape the good news. He'll be very happy."
"Ah, yeah..." Kyle responded halfheartedly, waving his hand dismissively.
There was no helping it. Even though he understood why she wanted to share the news, the idea of Snape being happy about anything put him in a sour mood.
And he was fairly certain Snape felt the same way.
But Kanna was set on going, so Kyle had no choice but to go to the stadium with Ryan, Mikel, and the others. They made sure to reserve a front-row seat for her.
As the teams entered the stadium, Mikel suddenly pointed toward the field.
"Look," he said, "the Slytherin Seeker isn't here either."
Kyle noticed it too.
Malfoy was absent. In his place was an unfamiliar face—someone much younger, likely a new recruit.
Malfoy isn't playing?
Almost instinctively, Kyle pulled out the Marauder's Map.
With most people gathered at the pitch, the castle was relatively empty, making it easy to scan for names.
He let out a quiet sigh of relief when he spotted Malfoy's name in the library, surrounded by several other students.
Good. If he were planning something, the library wouldn't be the place to do it—not with so many people around.
Besides, sneaking around under Madam Pince's watchful eye was no easy feat. She had an uncanny ability to detect even the slightest mischief.
But what was Malfoy doing in the library? Looking for something?
Kyle hesitated for a moment before deciding to close the Marauder's Map.
With both Dumbledore and Snape in the castle, there was no need for him to worry about it. Instead, he turned his attention back to the match.
Down on the field, the two captains were shaking hands.
"Both starting players are absent, including the most important Seeker..." Ryan muttered, sounding unimpressed. "Gryffindor is really lucky."