After adding the nutrients required for the growth and development of these cloned bodies into the seven large glass vats before him, Kyle didn't linger in his small suitcase for long. Instead, he darted straight up to the Astronomy Tower.
He was planning to go to Hogsmeade to watch the drama unfold.
The romantic relationship between Cedric and Cho Chang was common knowledge throughout Hogwarts.
Although the two didn't constantly flaunt their affection or shove public displays of affection down everyone's throats all day long—to be precise, this fellow only flaunted his relationship in front of their Father's Despair Alliance—their romance still spread across the entirety of Hogwarts.
Ever since Cedric became the fourth youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin, Second Class, in wizarding history, the number of girls writing love letters to him at Hogwarts had instantly multiplied several times over.
However, Cedric ultimately chose not to become a playboy like Kyle. Instead, he stood firmly by Cho Chang's side.
Cedric's excuse for turning those girls down was always the same: the person he liked was Cho Chang, and it was impossible for him to look for anyone else.
Thus, because of Cedric's rejections, his and Cho Chang's relationship spread even further throughout Hogwarts.
Because of this, a massive number of people at Hogwarts had their hearts completely broken.
Among those heartbroken individuals, there were not only girls but also boys.
Of course, these heartbroken boys hadn't actually developed romantic feelings for Cedric.
Wait, this is the UK—the land of slash fiction—so there were bound to be a few exceptions.
Among those exceptions, Harry—who had inherited the spirit of Cao Cao [Translator's Note: A Chinese internet meme referring to a penchant for other people's significant others, named after the historical figure Cao Cao's fondness for married women]—was definitely not one of them.
When they were eating in the Great Hall last night, seeing Harry's utterly despondent look, Kyle didn't even need to think twice to know that Harry was definitely feeling pessimistic about not being able to go to Hogsmeade Village.
Once the twins spoke to him, Harry instantly rallied his spirits.
One look at that made it obvious that the twins had sorted out his trip to Hogsmeade for him.
Ever since Dumbledore began cracking down on the Father's Despair Alliance sneaking out of school by trying to corner them at every turn, it had become virtually impossible for ordinary students to sneak out to Hogsmeade Village through any method other than the front gates.
But as the saying goes, while the priest climbs a foot, the devil climbs a ten. No matter how Dumbledore tried to block them, he just couldn't contain the four of them.
Aside from sneaking out themselves, the members of the Father's Despair Alliance even had enough leftover energy to smuggle others out as well.
Hermione, Hannah, Cho Chang, Angelina, Ginny...
None of these people had appeared in Hogsmeade Village just once during times outside of official Hogsmeade weekends.
Over time, Dumbledore simply gave up and left them to their own devices.
However, not a single one of the sealed secret passages, heightened and reinforced walls, or even the magical barriers laid out had been removed.
This made things miserable for the rest of the students.
With the help of the twins' railgun, Kyle quickly arrived at Hogsmeade Village.
Because he arrived relatively late, almost every single shop in Hogsmeade Village was packed to the brim.
This was even with the Dementors affecting business for the shops; otherwise, the customers lining up inside the stores would have been at least thirty percent higher.
This was also why the Father's Despair Alliance didn't really like coming here during Hogsmeade weekends.
It was just like traveling to top-tier tourist attractions during the National Day holiday—it was basically just...
Hogsmeade wasn't very large; after all, it was just a village of a few hundred people.
So, after just a few steps, Kyle followed the main road and arrived near Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.
While he was still dozens of paces away from the tea shop's entrance, Kyle spotted exactly who he expected to see—Harry.
At this moment, Harry was standing right outside the tea shop's entrance, his face a complete mask of inner turmoil.
Ten minutes prior, Harry, who had turned into a full-on stalker trailing them the whole way, had witnessed with his own eyes Cedric and Cho Chang walking into this very tea shop hand-in-hand.
The jealousy erupting from his heart flooded straight into Harry's brain.
He almost lost his sanity to that jealousy, nearly charging right into the tea shop like a massive third wheel.
But the moment his left foot stepped within two meters of the tea shop's threshold, Harry instantly regained his lost reasoning.
Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop was constantly filled with affectionate young couples coming and going. If he walked in all by himself, everyone would undoubtedly look at him like he was a total idiot.
But he didn't have a girlfriend or even a female companion. How on earth was he supposed to enter the tea shop alone without being stared at weirdly by everyone?
This was the reason why he had stopped in his tracks, lingering outside the tea shop.
As he hesitated outside the entrance for a long time, the passersby walking past threw strange looks at Harry's bizarre behavior.
Harry could barely withstand those looks and was just about to retreat.
Fortunately, at that exact moment, Harry's savior appeared.
Right then, Hermione and Ginny, two close friends, were walking over from the direction of Honeydukes Sweetshop, laughing and chatting.
Ginny was only a second-year, so her coming to Hogsmeade was definitely a result of sneaking out covertly as well.
Don't misunderstand; Harry didn't want to invite either of them to accompany him as a third wheel.
Harry knew very well that Hermione and Kyle were very close.
The cruelty of the Little Dark Lord was universally acknowledged, and Harry didn't want to be strung up and beaten by Kyle at all.
As for Ginny, Harry viewed her more like a younger sister.
Mrs. Weasley treated him wonderfully. Though Harry never said it out loud, in his heart, he already considered this kind woman to be his own mother.
Under these circumstances, it was perfectly understandable for Harry, who was the same age as Ron, to view Ginny as a younger sister.
Harry's true target was Ron, who was buzzing around Hermione and Ginny like an annoying fly.
Don't misunderstand; Ron wasn't pursuing Hermione. He was shamelessly trying to leech off his younger sister's pocket money.
In the massive Weasley family, Ron was the only one whose pocket money never exceeded five bronze Knuts.
Ginny, on the other hand, because the twins frequently gave her allowance, was practically a mini-millionaire.
According to Ron's observations, Ginny's private savings definitely wouldn't be less than a hundred Gold Galleons.
If a penniless wretch like him wanted to buy anything in Hogsmeade Village, he could only put on a shameless, groveling face, humbly flattering Ginny so that the little rich girl would foot the bill for him.
The moment he saw Ron, Harry's eyes instantly lit up, and he abandoned his thoughts of slipping away.
In the heat of the moment, without a second thought, he extended a warm invitation to Ron.
"Ron, want to go inside for a drink?"
Looking in the direction Harry was pointing, Ron nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood right onto Harry's face.
He scanned his best bud up and down with a look of utter horror. Has this guy gotten so used to cross-dressing that even his sexual orientation has gone completely awry?
The expressions on Hermione and Ginny's faces weren't exactly horrified, but they were incredibly shocked nonetheless.
Wait, the gay guy was beside me all along?
Seeing the bizarre looks the three of them were casting his way, Harry, whose brain was entirely clouded by his impulsive thoughts, didn't catch on for a moment.
Ginny's panicked gaze darted back and forth between Harry and Ron's faces. She was terrified that her good-for-nothing older brother would lose his mind and actually agree to it.
She had harbored a secret crush on Harry for a very long time. Even before she had set foot in Hogwarts, Ginny had been filled with immense curiosity about the tales of the Boy Who Lived that circulated throughout the wizarding world.
Over time, this curiosity had blossomed into adoration.
It was just that Harry only had eyes for Cho Chang and had never noticed her.
Furthermore, Ginny had also discovered that Draco Malfoy—who came from the Weasley family's arch-nemesis family and belonged to Gryffindor's old rival house—seemed to harbor some ambiguous, inexplicable feelings toward her dream guy, Harry, as well.
Originally, Ginny believed that Cho Chang, the vixen who had completely infatuated Harry, was her ultimate lifelong rival.
But looking at Harry's behavior today, it seemed that Draco, being of the same sex as Harry, was vastly more dangerous than Cho Chang!
This left Ginny feeling even more melancholy.
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