Cedric

After Kyle boarded the train, the front carriages were already packed with people.

There was no helping it; since he had arrived right at the last minute, finding an empty seat now was no easy task.

Using a Levitation Charm to carry his luggage, Kyle walked all the way to the end of the train before finally finding a relatively spacious compartment at the very back.

There was only one boy in this compartment, about his own age. As for his looks... while he couldn't compare to Kyle, he was certainly much better off than those Weasley twins.

"Knock, knock..."

Kyle tapped on the compartment door and asked politely, "Hello, may I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"Of course, go ahead," the boy said quickly.

"Thanks."

After entering the compartment, Kyle first placed his luggage on the overhead rack, then reached out a hand toward the other boy.

"Hello, I'm a first-year student, Kyle Chopper."

The boy seemed to be lost in thought and didn't respond immediately. Once he snapped back to reality, he hurriedly reached out his hand. "Oh... sorry, Cedric Diggory, second-year at Hogwarts."

Cedric?

Kyle was a bit surprised. He hadn't expected to run into an "acquaintance" the moment he got on the train—a future Hogwarts Champion. No wonder he was so handsome.

Kyle remembered that their families both lived near Ottery St. Catchpole, but for various reasons, the two had never actually met.

Not even once.

Kyle had tried to visit him a few times early on, but the Diggory house was always shut tight. As time went on, Kyle eventually gave up.

He never expected their first meeting to be on the train...

However, seeing that the boy seemed to have something on his mind, Kyle didn't say anything more. After a brief greeting, he pulled out the copy of Standard Book of Spells he had bought at Flourish and Blotts and began to read.

The other boy went back to staring blankly.

Outside the train window, a light drizzle had begun to fall, though it was hard to tell when it started. It was always like this here; the rain would just arrive without any warning.

Kyle glanced out the window but didn't pay it much mind. He was long used to it, and he actually quite enjoyed reading in such an environment.

Influenced by Kyle, Cedric stopped staring into space and pulled out a book of his own to read. Judging by the cover, it was Dark Arts: A Guide to Self-Protection.

Previewing Defense Against the Dark Arts on the train to school was perfectly normal for Hogwarts students.

After all, no one knew how long this year's professor would last; if they happened to kick the bucket after only two lessons, it was always good to have done some advance reading.

For the next while, the only sound in the compartment was the turning of parchment pages, forming a sharp contrast to the noise outside in the corridor.

But this situation didn't last long.

Cedric hadn't even finished two pages when the compartment door was shoved open again.

"Finally found you, Kyle."

"We specifically saved you a seat, but you stood us up and left us waiting like idiots until now."

"I think you owe us an apology."

Fred and George leaned against the doorframe, each delivering a line of interrogation at Kyle.

Their expressions were quite indignant, as if Kyle had committed some heinous crime that angered both man and god.

"I can apologize," Kyle said calmly, closing his book. "But only on the condition that you swear on a Dungbomb to prove that what you just said is true."

In an instant, the indignation on Fred's face turned into hesitation. "Uh, can I swear on the Headmaster's name instead?"

George followed suit. "Or Professor McGonagall would work, too."

"No!" Kyle shook his head. "It has to be a Dungbomb."

"Oh, George, I think this is Kyle's first time on the Hogwarts Express, so he wasn't familiar with the layout and couldn't find us."

"Yes, Fred, we can't blame him. We should have kept a better lookout."

The twins exchanged a glance, tacitly ignoring their previous words, and squeezed into the compartment as if nothing had happened.

Inevitably, they spotted Cedric.

Fred flashed a mischievous grin. "Look who it is. Why can't I seem to remember?"

George raised an eyebrow. "Why, it's our model student of Hogwarts, Mr. Cedric Diggory, the Light of Hufflepuff."

As soon as they finished speaking, Cedric's face turned bright red. That string of cringe-inducing titles was so embarrassing he could have dug a hole in the floor of the train.

But he had no way to refute it.

Because the titles "model student" and "Light of Hufflepuff" had all been spread by his father. In just one summer, the entire Ministry of Magic had become aware of them.

Naturally, that included their families.

Consequently, of all the letters Cedric had received that summer, nearly half were addressed to the "Light of Hufflepuff."

The other half came from classmates from Muggle families who didn't know about the matter.

It was precisely because of this that he had specifically chosen this compartment in the furthest corner, yet he had not expected to be discovered anyway—and by the two most troublesome people at that.

"Please, have mercy on me!" Cedric pressed his palms together in a gesture of supplication. "I can lend you my homework."

As he spoke, a stack of parchment was placed onto the table.

The twins had originally intended to tease him a bit more, but they found themselves helpless against such a high price.

That was the homework of the top student in the year, after all!

George's expression straightened as he swiftly clutched the parchment to his chest, saying solemnly, "What are you saying, Cedric? Of course we know this wasn't your intention; we were just joking earlier."

"Exactly," Fred nodded from the side. "Rest assured, we wouldn't mock you over something like this."

Fred and George left with beaming smiles, looking as if they had just stumbled upon a pile of Galleons.

Once they were gone, Cedric let out a sigh of relief and looked at Kyle with some embarrassment. "Sorry, I..."

"I should be the one apologizing," Kyle interrupted him, saying, "After all, they were looking for me; otherwise, you wouldn't have been discovered."

Cedric shook his head with a wry smile. "It was only a matter of time."

He could hide on the train, but once they arrived at Hogwarts, it would be impossible; he would have to face it eventually, and it was merely a question of sooner or later.

Furthermore, the sudden appearance of the Weasley brothers was not necessarily a bad thing, as they had shown Cedric a way to resolve this matter.

That was, his homework.

As the top student in the year, his summer assignments were highly sought after, a fact clearly demonstrated by the reaction of the Weasley brothers just moments ago. Therefore, using his homework to seal the lips of those in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor should be no problem at all.

As long as he could keep them in check, the matter would be eighty percent resolved.

As for Ravenclaw and Slytherin... given the nature of those two houses, they likely wouldn't bother joining in on such gossip—at least, most of them wouldn't, and even if a few did, it would be of no consequence.

As long as his own housemates didn't stir up trouble and the energetic lions of Gryffindor weren't involved, the whole affair would blow over in three days at most.

Just three days; it would pass quickly.

Thinking about it this way, Cedric suddenly felt that things didn't seem quite so bad after all.