Chapter 270: Howler
Kyle finished the twenty-odd maps in just over an hour and delivered them to the young wizards who'd paid their deposits on time, bright and early on the first day of school. Another generous Galleon haul—it couldn't have been a more satisfying start to the term.
That morning at breakfast, Kyle and his friends gathered around the Gryffindor table to divvy up their hard-earned profits. Why the Gryffindor table? No special reason, really—just that it was closest to the Great Hall doors.
"Oh, and Kyle, this is for you," Fred said, counting out seven Galleons and slipping them into a cloth bag, which he handed over reluctantly.
"A bet's a bet..." George muttered, clearly displeased. "I swear, if we ever bet with you again, we'll turn into Crups!"
"Me too," Fred nodded in solidarity.
"Ah, I nearly forgot about this." Kyle took the bag and, rather suspiciously, dumped the coins onto the table, carefully counting each one. Last year, Fred and George had challenged Kyle to a little wager about when Professor Quirrell would leave Hogwarts. They'd been so insistent, he'd eventually agreed to play along.
Naturally, things hadn't ended well—for the twins, at least. Kyle had not only doubled his twenty Galleons but had also thoroughly emptied Fred and George's wallets. Since they didn't want to dip into their startup funds, they'd put off paying Kyle until they could finally scrounge together the full forty Galleons.
"Not bad—exactly forty Galleons." Ignoring Fred and George's resentful stares, Kyle calmly tucked the bag away. "Want to try again this year? Professor Lockhart's a famous wizard. If he's involved, I'm sure there'll be plenty of participants."
"Haha..." George sneered.
"Only if you don't join," Fred said dryly.
"All right, I won't participate," Kyle replied calmly, then turned to Kanna beside him. "Kanna, set aside forty Galleons as my share. If we win, we'll split it in half."