Under the destructive onslaught of a certain "Demon of the Sky," the seven-man Gryffindor Quidditch team had been reduced to a pathetic skeleton crew in just a few short minutes.
Having lost two Chasers, their Keeper, and most crucially, their Seeker, the remaining three Beaters looked at each other in utter bewilderment.
How were they supposed to play now?
The three of them could only watch helplessly as those two "menaces," Kyle and Cedric, led the Hufflepuff team in a shameless six-on-three tactic to pin them down.
That's right—six-on-three. Even Jack, the Keeper, had abandoned his post to join the fray.
The opposing Gryffindor team didn't even have any Chasers left to score goals, so why on earth would he stay back to guard the hoops?
Might as well go out and have some fun!
With three empty goals before them, the remaining Hufflepuff Chaser could score however they pleased.
Kyle had originally intended to farm the score up to two thousand points, but Cedric had pointed out that they shouldn't go too far with a brother House.
Furthermore, considering that Kyle still needed to ask Professor McGonagall for advice regarding the Animagus transformation, he wisely chose to hold back.
In the end, they merely farmed three hundred points. Combined with Cedric catching the Golden Snitch, they ended the game with a total of four hundred and fifty points.
Even though Hufflepuff had shown mercy, the atmosphere at the Gryffindor table during lunch was still oppressively low.
This was because they had reached the dismal realization that unless Kyle, the "Demon of the Sky," graduated, they wouldn't see a single ray of hope for defeating Hufflepuff.
And Kyle was only in his second year, which meant he still had six years of Quidditch ahead of him at Hogwarts.
At the thought of this, Harry felt his vision go dark; the future looked utterly bleak.
What hurt even more was that his Nimbus 2000 had been smashed to pieces earlier that morning, leaving him heartbroken.
It had only been in service for a year!
However, what Harry didn't know was that Kyle's Bludger destroying his broom and knocking him out of the match had actually saved his life.
Somewhere nearby, a house-elf named Dobby was lurking in the shadows, prepared to cause some serious trouble.
In contrast to the stifling atmosphere over at Gryffindor, the Hufflepuffs immediately threw a celebration party the moment they returned to the common room.
Kyle, however, didn't much care for such noisy environments.
Moreover, ever since he had drunk half the House under the table last time, Professor Sprout had banned them from touching any alcoholic beverages whatsoever.
Not even Butterbeer was allowed.
This sapped a significant amount of joy from the celebration.
So, after spending a short while messing around with the ecstatic "little badgers," Kyle dove straight into the alchemy laboratory within Akina Villa.
They had to finish the Fat Bolt Mark II before next week's match against the Slytherin Quidditch team.
No matter how much the Hufflepuff team trained to professional standards, their technical skill was only so-so.
After all, many of them weren't naturally gifted at Quidditch; they relied entirely on sheer volume of training to keep up.
If both sides used the same model of broomstick, Hufflepuff's level compared to Slytherin's would be about neck-and-neck.
Exceptionally talented players like Kyle, Cedric, and Harry were, in the end, the minority.
When everyone was equally unskilled, the performance of the brooms played a massive role.
A superior broom could immediately widen the gap between two sides.
Therefore, now that the entire Slytherin team had equipped themselves with Nimbus 2001s, they were—on paper—arguably the strongest Quidditch team at Hogwarts.
Of course, that was assuming Kyle didn't open the Second Gate or use Monstrous Strength.
Relying on normal play, it would be impossible for Hufflepuff to defeat Slytherin unless Cedric caught the Snitch before the point gap reached one hundred and fifty.
Thus, they had to rely on technology.
Grindelwald: Mastering Core Technology!
By the time Kyle and Cedric emerged from the alchemy lab, it was already past eight in the evening.
They had long since missed dinner.
Consequently, they planned to head to the kitchens to fill their starving stomachs.
As they stepped out of the boys' dormitory, a figure with two golden braids came rushing toward them headlong.
"Kyle! Where have you been? I didn't see you in the Great Hall earlier! I've been looking for you all over the castle!"
Hannah burst out with a flurry of words, giving Kyle no chance to speak.
As for Cedric, who was standing right next to Kyle, he was completely ignored by Hannah.
Cedric flashed Kyle a teasing grin and turned to leave the common room.
Kyle chose to ignore Cedric's look entirely.
Whenever Cedric went on dates with Cho Chang, he and the twins would always give Cedric the same look.
Call it karma.
"I've been busy tinkering with some custom broomsticks and haven't had a chance to eat yet. I was just heading to the kitchens. Want to come along?"
Hannah wanted to say she wasn't hungry, but thinking about spending more time with Kyle, she nodded vigorously.
If only the third wheel, Cedric, weren't here, Hannah thought sneakily.
In the kitchens, Hannah and Kyle sat across from each other. Cedric was nowhere to be seen.
According to the house-elves, Cedric had grabbed some food and left immediately.
Hannah silently gave Cedric a huge thumbs-up in her heart.
She knew Cedric had done this on purpose to give her and Kyle some private space.
High EQ truly makes a difference.
While they ate, the young girl kept stealing glances at Kyle.
Although Hannah's movements were subtle, no matter how hidden her gaze was, it couldn't escape Kyle's eyes.
Kyle sighed inwardly as he forked a piece of beef into his mouth.
He wasn't, after all, some "steel-straight" man with zero emotional intelligence who understood nothing about feelings.
After all this time, he was well aware of the girl's feelings for him.
What made Kyle's head ache was that he didn't know how to respond.
Even though he usually treated both Hannah and Hermione as normal friends, in reality, "Scumbag" Kyle probably did have a little bit of a crush on both of them.
But in his heart, he still preferred Konan.
So what should he do about Hannah and Hermione?
Reject them, and then watch them throw themselves into someone else's arms?
Men are, by nature, selfish "big pig trotters."
Kyle had to admit that if that actually happened, he would be very annoyed.
Matters of the heart were always the most troublesome.
Kyle pretended not to notice Hannah's gaze, burying his head in the sand like an ostrich.
He finished his dinner quickly.
"Shall we go back?" Hannah asked, standing at the entrance of the common room.
She asked, but she secretly hoped Kyle would say no, so that the two of them could wander around outside a bit longer.
Kyle didn't answer. Instead, he raised a hand, signaling Hannah to listen closely.
"Did you hear that? That strange noise?"
The young girl pricked up her ears.
The faint sound of something coarse scraping against the walls drifted into their ears.
The two shared a look, a suspicion forming in their minds.
The Chamber of Secrets!
The Basilisk!
Kyle pulled a Two-Way Mirror from his pocket and tossed it to Hannah.
"Stay in the common room! Use this to contact Professor Dumbledore. I'm going to follow it!"
Before Hannah could refuse, Kyle dashed off.
"Hey! Wait!"
Hannah looked at the mirror in her hand, then at Kyle's retreating figure disappearing at the end of the corridor. She grit her teeth and, in the end, chose to follow him.
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