Chapter 79: This Is All Your Fault
Gazing at the five Mooncalves, Kyle's mind drifted back to the events of last night.
He'd been practicing Charms in the Room of Requirement, and time had slipped away unnoticed. By the time he left, it was already late, and feeling a bit frustrated by the slow progress and repetitive motions, he decided to take a walk before bed to clear his mind. Exiting the castle through the tapestry-covered secret passage on the first floor, he initially intended to stroll over to the Quidditch Pitch. But, lost in thought, he wandered in the wrong direction without even noticing. When he finally looked up, he realized he'd somehow ended up near the Mooncalves' den.
Perhaps this was meant to be, he thought.
Since he was already there, it made no sense to leave empty-handed. These were the same Mooncalves he'd carefully snared from the Forbidden Forest before, so catching them again wouldn't be difficult.
Mooncalves, gentle and magical creatures, had been wary of Kyle at first, retreating into their burrows upon seeing him. But when Kyle began to dance awkwardly in the moonlight, they couldn't resist their curiosity and started poking their heads out, one by one. Seeing this, Kyle only wriggled around more enthusiastically.
He'd learned this technique from Newt, and while he wasn't nearly as skilled, his imitation of the Mooncalves' dance was convincing enough to earn their trust. Kyle was only a beginner at this, so his performance was passable at best. If Newt had been the one dancing, he would have charmed a whole herd of female Mooncalves—it was almost ridiculous how talented he was. But Kyle had to admit, this kind of dancing was embarrassingly silly, which was exactly why he'd waited until it was late and there was no one else around. Otherwise, he would never have done it.
Absolutely never.
After dancing for a short while, Kyle saw the Mooncalves warming up to him, coming out of their burrows, one after the other. He offered them some herb leaves and gently coaxed them. Maybe because they were used to Hagrid, the Mooncalves in the Forbidden Forest were far less skittish. Once Kyle promised them all the Dittany leaves they could eat, the five little gourmands trotted over, unable to resist.
Kyle had originally intended to take just two, but as he looked at their big, shiny eyes, he felt it would be wrong to leave any of them behind. In the end, he simply decided to take them all. After all, it was just a bit more herb leaves—he could handle that.
The whole process went surprisingly smoothly. With a few whispered reminders, the Mooncalves kept quiet and followed him obediently out of the Forbidden Forest. The real challenge, however, was getting them back into the Room of Requirement.
Kyle's invisibility cloak was only big enough to cover one Mooncalf at a time, so he had to lead them in one by one through the tapestry's secret passage. By the time he'd delivered the last Mooncalf, dawn was approaching, and his legs felt like jelly. He sank to the floor for a moment, catching his breath.