When it came to finding an Alchemy tutor for Kyle, Dumbledore moved a bit faster than Kyle had imagined.
By the morning of the third day, he received a long, narrow package just like the one Harry had received before.
Kyle wasn't in a rush to open the package containing the Nimbus 2000. If he opened it now, the little wizards watching the commotion would crowd around, and he wouldn't have time to open his other deliveries.
So he stuffed the Nimbus 2000 under the table and turned his gaze to another large package the owls had brought him.
Judging by the look of this package, did it seem to be filled with books?
Kyle quickly unwrapped the package in front of him. As expected, it was full of introductory books on Alchemy, including several of Old Dumbledore's former study notes on the subject.
For an Alchemy apprentice, these things were incredibly precious resources.
Besides these, a letter from Old Dumbledore was attached inside the package. Kyle picked up the letter and examined it carefully.
Dumbledore's letter informed him of Nicolas Flamel's contact information and emphasized that if he had any questions regarding Alchemy, he could write to ask Nicolas Flamel.
Only after checking the letter did Kyle unhurriedly pull the bag containing the Nimbus 2000 out from under the table.
Cedric, who had been paying attention to the movement over here, immediately crowded over.
It wasn't just Cedric; George and Fred also gathered around.
Cedric patted the twins on the shoulders. "I heard your House's Quidditch team recruited Harry as a special admission?"
As the two Beaters of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, George and Fred looked a bit awkward.
Their big-mouthed little brother still hadn't managed to keep his mouth shut.
Despite Professor McGonagall and their captain, Oliver Wood, repeatedly stating that it must be kept secret, the fact that Harry had become the new Seeker was known to everyone.
Seeing the two remain silent, Cedric turned to look at Kyle.
"Kyle, want to consider it? I can also apply to Professor Sprout to have you specially recruited into the team."
Kyle brandished the Nimbus 2000 in his hand. "Do you think I bought this thing just to use as a decoration?"
A smile bloomed on Cedric's face.
In that case, perhaps their originally mediocre Hufflepuff Quidditch team might actually see a glimmer of hope for winning the Quidditch Cup?
Although it was said that four houses competed for supremacy in Hogwarts, the reality was—
Only Gryffindor and Slytherin, two houses that had been old rivals for a thousand years, were fighting for the champion's spot.
As for the other two houses...
Hufflepuff House was famous for being particularly good at food-related charms.
It was perhaps the House with the most students and the kindest hearts in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
But perhaps because there were too many honest folks, Hufflepuff always appeared to stand aloof from worldly strife within Hogwarts.
So the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, even led by a talented player like Cedric, was still so lackluster it was hard to watch.
As for the little eagles of Ravenclaw...
The founder of Ravenclaw House, Lady Rowena Ravenclaw, originally wanted to build Ravenclaw into a place where the cleverest witches and wizards lived.
But for some unknown reason, over the following centuries, Ravenclaw's admission standards gradually went astray.
Kyle didn't mean to offend, but he had to say that the vast majority of people in Ravenclaw now were nerds.
So they were reduced to the same status as the underdog house, Hufflepuff, striving hard for the position of third place at Hogwarts.
As for first and second, that belonged to the Lion and Snake houses; it had nothing to do with them.
Looking at the brand-new Nimbus 2000 broomstick in Kyle's hand, George and Fred felt quite sour.
It was damn good to be rich!
"Can I touch it?" Fred reached out his hand toward the broomstick held by Kyle.
The day before yesterday, they were already incredibly envious when they saw the broomstick in Harry's hand.
As a Quidditch player, who wouldn't be moved when seeing a high-performance broomstick?
It was mainly because they weren't that familiar with Harry, so they couldn't just grab it.
Kyle simply tossed the broom to the two of them to play with.
Cedric's hands were itching too, but right now he had more important matters.
He looked at Kyle and asked cheerfully, "Which position do you want to play?"
Currently, Cedric was Hufflepuff's Seeker, so Kyle naturally couldn't fight him for that position.
The only ones left were Chaser, Beater, and Keeper.
Riding a Nimbus 2000 to play Keeper would be an absolute waste, so there were really only two options.
Kyle rubbed his hands together in excitement.
If he remembered correctly, the duty of a Beater seemed to be using the bat in their hand to hit the two Bludgers on the field and knock down the opposing players?
He was a man who had mastered Itachi's Shurikenjutsu; if he swapped shuriken for Bludgers...
If he could really achieve that level, he wondered: after a Quidditch match, would there be any player on the opposing team left sitting securely on their broomstick?
"Beater," Kyle gave his answer. "There's no rush for this; we'll talk about it on the weekend."
It was indeed a bit early to talk about this. Cedric scratched the back of his head, but his gaze fell upon the pile of books on the table in front of Kyle.
"Are these books on Alchemy?"
Kyle nodded.
Behind them, the twin brothers, having admired the Nimbus 2000 enough, gathered close again.
George put his hand on Cedric's shoulder. "I recall you seem to be learning Alchemy too?"
Cedric waved his hand. "No, no, I'm just interested in the wand-making part of Alchemy."
During the summer break, he had worked as a summer temp at old Mr. Ollivander's wand shop for two months.
This was something the members of the League of Father-Troublers all knew.
Kyle remembered seeing quite a few books of this genre in the library when he was in France; perhaps they could help Cedric.
"My family has a lot of books on Wandlore. If I can get my dad's permission, I can transcribe those books for you to read."
"That would be greatly appreciated." A smile of pleasant surprise appeared on Cedric's face.
"Ahem," Just as Cedric wanted to say some words of thanks to Kyle, Fred suddenly coughed twice.
He poked Cedric in the ribs. "Your dream girl is here."
George looked up at the ceiling. "And Percy's too."
Kyle glanced toward the Ravenclaw table; Cho Chang and Penelope were walking over gracefully.
They were obviously attracted by the broomstick lying across the Hufflepuff table.
The status of this thing in the wizarding world was equivalent to a supercar in the Muggle world.
Although a Nimbus 2000 couldn't be equated to a Bugatti Veyron, it was at least worth a Porsche 911.
Percy suddenly stood up from the Gryffindor table, blushing as he greeted Penelope.
After Penelope simply said a faint "Hello" to Percy, she paid him no further attention.
This dealt a heavy blow to a certain Gryffindor Prefect, who sat back down at his own House table with a gray look on his face.
Watching Penelope chatting and laughing cheerfully with Kyle, Percy unknowingly bent another fork.
————
Supporting me on Pa-treon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .c-om/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)
