Chapter 12: Scabbers and the Rat Tonic
For Kyle, who was used to traveling by airplane or high-speed trains, the journey on the Hogwarts Express, a vintage steam train, was turning into quite the ordeal. At first, the excitement of riding the legendary train and the aura of Hogwarts helped keep his spirits high, but after a few hours, the novelty wore off, and the train's limitations became glaringly obvious.
It was slow—really slow. Kyle figured the train could barely reach 80 kilometers per hour, which didn't even compare to modern cars. The ride wasn't smooth either. After a while, Kyle felt nauseous, as if his breakfast might make a return appearance. Reading to pass the time became impossible.
Thankfully, Cedric's presence made the trip more bearable. Cedric was chatty, and once the conversation about professors had wrapped up, Kyle asked him about other aspects of Hogwarts. Cedric eagerly answered every question, even volunteering to share funny stories and pointing out some quirky portraits Kyle would encounter at school. A lot of what Cedric shared was new to Kyle, and his curiosity was piqued.
In return for Cedric's company, Kyle offered to pay for snacks for the rest of the trip—biscuits, chocolate frogs, cauldron cakes, the works.
Cedric happily accepted, and they enjoyed the food together. However, one topic made Kyle silently shake his head in disbelief—Cedric, like many other wizards, couldn't resist teasing about how students were sorted into houses.
"You've got to catch a Golden Snitch in the Great Hall within ten minutes to get sorted," Cedric said with a straight face.
Kyle pulled the corners of his mouth into a polite smile and decided not to respond. At least Quidditch is more believable than dragons, he thought. Cedric's mischievous sense of humor was on full display.
"By the way, Kyle, have you thought about which house you'd like to be in?" Cedric asked, popping a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean into his mouth. "I hope you'll get into Hufflepuff, but a clever wizard like you might be more suited for Ravenclaw."
Before Cedric could finish his sentence, his face contorted in disgust. "Oh no... ox liver," he muttered, barely managing to swallow the offending bean.