Nifflers, from the moment they're born, have a special love for anything that glitters. They spend their days either treasure hunting or pursuing their next sparkly find, rarely staying still.
The Niffler before him was tiny — less than a month old and barely bigger than a Galleon — and had likely snuck out while Newt wasn't looking.
This wasn't the first time this had happened. Back in Dorset, Kyle had noticed that the old man spent at least three hours every day searching for wandering Nifflers. Anyone else would have lost their mind by now — Kyle was certain he would have.
But with just one Niffler... that should be manageable.
Not wanting to worry Newt, Kyle quickly wrote him a letter after leaving the case and had Stella deliver it. The owl grabbed the envelope in its beak and flew out through the open window.
"This is really inconvenient." Watching Stella's silhouette disappear into the distance, Kyle thoughtfully rubbed his chin.
The wizarding world was great in every way, except for its primitive communication methods. An owl's round trip took at least half a day — nothing like the speed and convenience of telephones.
Unfortunately, installing a telephone was likely impossible. Though Newt didn't mind Muggle devices, they lived in an extremely remote location deep in the forest, surrounded by Muggle-repelling charms.
After sending Stella off, Kyle put the Niffler back in the case, took a shower, and changed into clean clothes.
The spare clothes his father had sent to Dorset were all from the previous year. Since Kyle had grown considerably, the clothes were uncomfortably tight until Tina altered them to make them wearable.
Before long, the Weasley twins came looking for him, barging in like bandits the moment Kyle opened the door.
"We just saw your owl and knew you must be back." Fred said, crossing his arms and standing before him with a very serious expression.
"I can't believe you disappeared for half a month without telling us!" George blocked him from the other side, "And worse still, not a single letter from you the entire time... Do you know how worried we were?"
Faced with their aggressive questioning, Kyle's expression remained unchanged.
Worried about him? That tale might only fool Ron.
"If I remember correctly, you didn't send me any letters during that time either." Kyle said, raising an eyebrow, "Are you sure you were worried?"
"Uh..."
Fred and George's serious faces immediately crumpled as they exchanged glances, their silent communication complete in an instant.
"You didn't write to Kyle?"
"No, I thought you did."
"What a coincidence, I thought the same thing."
...
In truth, they'd learned about Kyle's whereabouts from Chris the very day he went to Dorset, so they couldn't have been worried. They'd only confronted him because they'd planned it beforehand, seeking an excuse to mess with him.
But their perfect plan, which took an entire evening to devise, fell apart before it even began.
They'd been so focused on researching their Skiving Snackbox series that writing to Kyle hadn't crossed their minds.
"Ahem... Of course we were worried about you." Fred said awkwardly, "But you know, Errol is getting quite old, and we couldn't bear to make him fly such a long distance to deliver letters."
"Such a long distance?" Kyle narrowed his eyes, "From the way you're talking, it seems you knew where I went."
The twins' expressions grew even more unnatural.
"...Just a guess, yes, a guess." Fred said with a sheepish smile, "Now that we see you're fine, we can relax."
"Oh really..." Kyle drawled, "Well, your guess was quite accurate. I suggest you take Divination this term — you'll surely excel there."
His expression now only lacked the greasy hair to match a certain Potions professor.
"Uh... we'll consider it." George said nervously, changing the subject, "Oh right, we have good news — in these past two weeks, we not only completed the Ton-Tongue Toffee but also developed a second product for the Skiving Snackbox line."
As he spoke, he pulled out a fruit-flavored candy from his pocket. The orange candy was crystal clear, resembling a pea.
Fred, who seemed to have completely forgotten about their previous conversation, asked, "Want to guess what it does?"
Kyle took the candy.
With their experience from the Ton-Tongue Toffee, Fred and George had done a good job this time — there wasn't even a trace of potion smell, making it impossible to guess that way.
He thought for a moment before making a random guess.
"Does it make people get nosebleeds?"
The twins' eyes lit up simultaneously.
"Nosebleeds?!" Fred exclaimed excitedly, "Kyle, that's a brilliant idea!"
"Why didn't we think of that?" George slapped his forehead, "What could be better for skipping class than a massive nosebleed? Kyle, you're a genius!"
Kyle smiled and said, "Thanks, I must say, you have excellent taste."
Even though the nosebleed idea was originally theirs, he didn't mind accepting such apt praise.
"Too bad school's starting soon." Fred sighed, "Otherwise we could start working on it now."
"We'll have to wait until next year." George said regretfully, "Or perhaps during Christmas break."
Watching the twins look as if they'd lost a hundred Galleons, Kyle lifted the candy in his hand with amusement, "So what does this one actually do?"
"This is a Puking Pastille." George said, spreading his hands, "One bite and you'll vomit non-stop."
"Though what you're holding is just a prototype." Fred added, "Since continuous vomiting isn't exactly healthy, we're still working on the antidote."
"Need any help?" Kyle asked.
"Not this time." Fred shook his head, "The main ingredient is diluted Sneezewort juice. We just need some rue and daisy root to perfect the solution, and we're nearly there."
Kyle nodded in understanding.
Sneezewort and rue would indeed work well together in this case.
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