Chapter 289: Dumbledore Divination
The second Saturday of the term was the day for Quidditch team recruitment, though this year was a bit different. Surprisingly, none of the four houses needed to recruit new players—every team was sticking with last year's lineup, except for a single new addition: Draco Malfoy. All the other players were familiar faces.
Kyle watched from the stands at the Quidditch Pitch, but after just five minutes, he found himself bored. This wasn't worth his time; he'd much rather be deep in discussion about runes with Riddle.
He'd already fulfilled Riddle's peculiar request, though not exactly as planned. Instead of bringing a Fairy or a Bowtruckle, Kyle had found something else.
"Sorry, Tom," Kyle explained, placing a woodlouse on the diary. "Hagrid spotted me on the way to the Forbidden Forest. He's the Gamekeeper, and he doesn't exactly let students wander there. But I found this," he said, gesturing to the woodlouse.
As a snack for a Bowtruckle, a woodlouse might be a stretch, but it could still be considered a magical creature in its own small way. Riddle didn't seem to mind the substitution and instead showed unexpected interest in Kyle's encounter.
[Rubeus Hagrid, you say?]
"Yeah, that's his name. Do you know him?"
[As a matter of fact, we were classmates. He was expelled in the end, though, for a rather serious incident,] Riddle wrote, his script appearing in neat, flowing lines. [Would you like to know what happened? I can show you.]
"No!" Kyle wrote back quickly, unbothered by the invitation. "I'm just focused on my studies. Let's stick to discussing the runes."