Chapter 55: The Plight of Magical Creatures
After Halloween, November arrived, bringing cold weather that made the young wizards even less inclined to get up in the mornings. At eight o'clock, Kyle, wrapped in a thick robe, yawned as he entered the Great Hall for breakfast. As usual, owls swooped into the hall, delivering letters and packages. Among them was a much-anticipated package for Cedric: his new broomstick, a Nimbus 1700, just as he'd hoped.
"Excellent, Cedric, excellent!" an older Hufflepuff player said, slapping Cedric on the shoulder. "You're the Seeker, and with this Nimbus 1700, the gap between us and Slytherin just got a lot smaller. I've seen their Seeker in action—honestly, he's little more than a Troll who can ride a broomstick."
Hufflepuff's first Quidditch match was against Slytherin, and they had been worried about the equipment gap. But with Cedric's new Nimbus 1700, their morale soared. The broom alone might not have been enough, but with Cedric as Seeker, it was a different story. In training matches, Cedric had caught the Golden Snitch in just five minutes, coming within seconds of breaking the Hogwarts record for fastest Seeker.
With a top-class broom and a talented Seeker, the Hufflepuff team couldn't see how they could lose. The idea of Slytherin scoring 150 points in five minutes was laughable.
Kyle was also excited, even though he wasn't part of the team. It would be great if Hufflepuff could win the Quidditch Cup. He glanced admiringly at Cedric's new Nimbus until he felt a sharp tingling in his fingers—an owl had landed in front of him.
"Sorry, little guy, I didn't notice you," Kyle apologized, quickly feeding the owl a piece of dried Murtlap rat meat before taking the letter it had delivered.
The letter read:
Dear Kyle,
I'm sorry it took me so long to write back to you, but I've been incredibly busy lately. I always thought I had already replied, until this morning when I found the unfinished letter in my office. I hope you can forgive me.