Chapter 617: Bonus Points in Potions Class?
Weekends always seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.
By Monday morning, sunlight streamed through the dormitory window, waking Kyle naturally instead of an alarm clock. Mikel and Ryan were still fast asleep, their breaths slow and even. Not wanting to disturb them, Kyle dressed quietly and slipped out of the dormitory.
On his way to the Great Hall, he encountered Filch. After last year's events, the castle caretaker seemed like a completely different person. Gone was the tyrannical enforcer eager to drag rule-breakers to the dungeons for punishment. Instead, he now appeared timid and wary.
Whenever he crossed paths with someone, his first instinct was not to reprimand them but to retreat, often hiding behind a piece of armor. Only when he recognized Kyle did he step out cautiously, visibly relaxing. It seemed that being knocked unconscious by Barty Crouch Jr. had left a lasting impression on him.
Still, this change had its perks—Hogwarts students no longer had to worry about being scolded for something as minor as speaking too loudly.
The first class of the morning was Defence Against the Dark Arts. After breakfast, Kyle headed to the classroom with Kanna.
Initially, Kanna felt a bit uneasy, worried that Kyle might pick another argument with Professor Umbridge, as he had during the last lesson. Though she didn't like Umbridge either, the professor's position made such confrontations risky for a student.
To her relief—and everyone else's surprise—Kyle remained quiet throughout the entire class. Even Professor Umbridge seemed to have moved past the previous incident, acting as though it had never happened.
This turn of events came as a relief to Kanna, but it left some students disappointed. Sharing the class with Hufflepuff, they had eagerly anticipated seeing Kyle make a scene, especially after hearing the stories about him storming out last time. For these students, the dull, repetitive lessons full of reading and note-taking offered little excitement, and they had hoped Kyle might liven things up.
The lesson, however, proceeded without incident. In fact, what shocked everyone even more was that toward the end of class, Professor Umbridge awarded the Hufflepuffs five points when Kyle correctly answered a question.
This unexpected turn of events left some students wondering if the infamous "door-slamming" incident had been nothing more than a rumor spread by Hufflepuff and Gryffindor to make fools of others. To them, the lesson seemed no different from the usual tedium.