Chapter 477: Defense Against the Dark Arts
The next morning, the storm that had raged on since their arrival finally cleared. Kyle and Kanna headed to the Great Hall for breakfast and to review their new schedules.
"Hey, look! We don't have Potions for a few days!" Mikel exclaimed, as if he'd stumbled on the best news of the year.
"Neither do we," Cedric added, spreading out his timetable. "Hmm... my first Potions lesson isn't scheduled until next Wednesday."
"Same for us!" Hannah chimed in. "We don't have Potions until next Friday."
Cedric stood up in confusion and walked down the long Hufflepuff table, comparing schedules with other students. To his surprise, he discovered that not a single year group had Potions this week—his was the earliest, and that was still a full eight days away.
"This seems strange for all seven years," Cedric mused. He turned to Kanna and lowered his voice. "Do you know anything about this? Is Professor Snape... not at school?"
"He has other matters to attend to and might not be able to teach for a few days," Kanna replied. "Not long after the holidays started, Professor Dumbledore came to see him. Since then, he's hardly left his home, and he hasn't allowed me in, so I don't really know what's going on."
She glanced briefly at Kyle, who was quietly sipping his pumpkin juice. She had a feeling he might know something about Dumbledore's visit to Snape, especially since Kyle had seemed unusually well-informed during the Quidditch World Cup—particularly when it came to the House-elf, Kreacher. But Kyle simply continued eating in silence, so Kanna left it alone.
As for the other students, the idea of having a week off from Potions was enough to keep them satisfied, and no one seemed too bothered about Snape's absence. Mikel happily raised his pumpkin juice like it was champagne, reveling in the unexpected reprieve.