In recent times, Kyle had grown fond of nighttime wandering — a habit he considered beneficial for both mind and body. Lately, he ventured out every night, surpassing even Fred and George's frequent excursions.
His increased freedom coincided with the twins' unfortunate situation: their hard-won pile of mooncalf dung had become unsellable. None of the young wizards showed interest, and the shops in Diagon Alley refused to take it.
In their desperation, the twins made an ill-advised decision to visit the greenhouse, hoping to sell their collection to Professor Sprout at a discount.
Their nighttime venture, predictably, led to serious trouble.
Professor Sprout needed just one look to identify the source of their goods. Such a quantity could only have come from the Forbidden Forest, and she knew precisely when mooncalf dung could be gathered.
Sneaking into the Forbidden Forest at night was serious enough — but to brazenly present the evidence to a professor?
This outright defiance was too much even for someone as good-natured as Professor Sprout, who promptly escorted them to Professor McGonagall's office.
The twins' desperate claims about finding the dung near Hagrid's pumpkin patch fell on deaf ears. Everyone knew Hagrid had been preoccupied elsewhere and hadn't tended to his patch in weeks.
Professor McGonagall, both disappointed and furious, sentenced them to a week of bathroom cleaning duty. Filch supervised them so zealously that he might as well have relocated his office beside Gryffindor Tower.
This development proved advantageous for Kyle.
After Michael and Ryan drifted off to sleep, he slipped carefully from his bed and crept from the common room. Following his usual routine, he donned his silver and green scarf, drew his wand, and tapped it lightly against his forehead.
✭ Disillusio ➜ DisillusionmentCharm ✭
An icy sensation cascaded from the crown of his head, as though someone had poured cold water over him. His body then adopted the color and texture of the wall behind him.
The Disillusionment Charm.
Since his last venture into the Forbidden Forest, Kyle had dedicated himself to mastering this spell. While the Invisibility Cloak served its purpose, it had limitations — a careless movement or quick stride could expose one's feet.
The Disillusionment Charm offered more practicality, though it posed its challenges. It had taken Kyle three days to grasp the basics, and his color-matching still lacked perfect smoothness.
Thankfully, Hogwarts' nighttime darkness concealed these minor flaws.
With his preparations complete, Kyle followed his familiar route to the library entrance on the second floor.
The library had become his nightly sanctuary. Though he loved reading, certain books demanded solitude — texts best savored in secret, after dark.
The library doors were shut tight, with a brass padlock hanging between them.
Kyle took out his skeleton key and with a gentle twist, unlocked the padlock. He carefully pushed the door open just enough to squeeze inside.
{T/N: Skeleton Key is an official Harry Potter term, but here it refers possibly to a master key that works on all doors.}
The nighttime library was pitch black and eerie.
✭ Lumos ➜ Wand-Lighting Charm ✭
With raised wand, he walked past rows of bookshelves until he reached the back half of the library, stopping at a sign. The words "Restricted Section" beckoned enticingly.
Kyle carefully stepped over the rope that separated these books from the regular collection, using his wandlight to examine the titles. To avoid discovery or accidents, he was selective about which books he chose.
No books with cover illustrations — no portraits, magical creatures, or symbols. Nothing without a cover design, nothing too thick or large, nothing with strange markings, and nothing too old. He worried that damaging an ancient tome might prove troublesome if he couldn't restore it properly.
After searching the Restricted Section thoroughly, Kyle reached the sixth bookshelf and pulled out a slim black book with gold embossed lettering.
Much of the embossing had worn away. He could barely make out the last word.
"Exploration..."
This would do.
Having chosen his book, Kyle sat down right there, as he had done on previous visits, and began to read slowly.
Compared to the regular collection, books in the Restricted Section were generally more obscure. When he encountered passages he couldn't understand, Kyle would copy them down with his Quick-Quotes Quill.
While this method was more cumbersome than using a copying charm, it was safer. Who knew what protective enchantments these books might have? Better to err on the side of caution and avoid casting spells on them.
✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭
When Kyle left the library, two hours had passed.
On his way back, he unexpectedly encountered Peeves, but thanks to the Disillusionment Charm, he went unnoticed.
The next morning, Kyle, who had planned to sleep until 8:50, was dragged out of bed by his two roommates at 7:30.
"Wake up, Kyle, wake up!"
Without waiting for his response, the two pulled him out of bed and dragged him to the window, each holding one of his arms.
"Look, it's snowing!" Michael flung open the window without warning, sending a cold blast of wind and snowflakes straight into Kyle's face.
"Hiss..." Kyle shuddered, instantly wide awake.
Rubbing his face, Kyle felt an odd sense of déjà vu, as if he'd seen this scene somewhere before.
"Let's go outside and see!" Michael exclaimed, "This is Hogwarts' first snow."
Kyle shook his head in refusal.
What was so special about snow? He'd rather get more sleep — he'd gone to bed late last night, and it wasn't even the weekend. What if he dozed off during class?
But Michael and Ryan wouldn't take no for an answer. They persisted in urging him to get dressed, making it clear they wouldn't leave without him.
"This is our first snow since coming to Hogwarts — it's meaningful!" Michael insisted, "It's a waste to sleep now. You can always catch up on sleep during History of Magic class."
"Right, History of Magic is our first class today." At this thought, Kyle surrendered and got dressed to join them outside.
In just one night, the snow had accumulated over a foot deep.
When they reached the grounds outside Hogwarts castle, they found several students already there.
Kyle spotted Fred and George, who were attempting to build a snow lion with some other Gryffindors.
Well, it was supposed to be a lion in theory, though the rather misshapen result looked more like a Flobberworm attempting yoga.
✭✭✭
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