I'm not a Weasley, so how would I break school rules?

With his worries gone, Cedric's demeanor brightened considerably. He set aside his book and took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Kyle. "Hi there, do you mind if I call you Kyle?"

"Of course." Kyle nodded. "Actually, my father works at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, too. He's a colleague of your father."

"Your father?" Cedric paused, then asked with a hint of uncertainty, "Is it Mr. Chris Choba?"

"That's right," Kyle said.

Cedric had a sudden realization. "You're a Choba, and you know the Weasley brothers... oh, I should have guessed! We're neighbors, after all!"

With this connection established, the two quickly grew familiar with one another. Their interaction became much more natural, feeling as if they were old friends who had known each other for a long time.

Even though, until today, they had never actually met.

"Oh, right, Kyle," Cedric said, as if remembering something, and asked with curiosity, "I remember looking for you before, but you weren't home. My dad told me back then that you'd been following Mr. Scamander around to learn from him since you were very young, and that you were bound to make a name for yourself in the future.

Is that true? Have you really been studying under Mr. Scamander all this time?"

Cedric was incredibly curious; after all, this was Scamander.

While there were many famous figures in the British Wizarding World, most of them only held a certain level of renown within their own borders.

Take the authors of certain textbooks or novelists who had received the Order of Merlin, Third Class, for example. They might have a certain level of fame at Hogwarts, but once you went elsewhere—to Ilvermorny or Beauxbatons, for instance—people wouldn't have the slightest clue who you were.

There were only a handful of wizards who had truly achieved fame across the entire wizarding world and had their portraits printed on Chocolate Frog cards while still alive.

And Scamander was one of those few.

Being this close to a legendary figure for the first time, Cedric was naturally bursting with curiosity.

On the other side, Kyle was looking at Cedric in disbelief.

He had looked for him, too, and he hadn't been home either? That was a bit too much of a coincidence.

And Mr. Diggory—wasn't he in the same office as Chris? Where on earth did he hear such gossip? There was no way he had been with Newt all that time.

Kyle rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit speechless. After a moment, he said, "First of all, the part about me making a name for myself in the future is definitely true, but my father is the one who was Newt Scamander's student. I just went over there to hang out."

Newt was not like Dumbledore; he suffered from severe social anxiety. He had been better in his youth—though he wasn't one for small talk, he could still make friends, fight Dark Lords, or take on students to teach them about magical creatures.

But ever since Grindelwald was locked away in Nurmengard Tower, Newt had rarely participated in social activities, pouring all his focus into magical creatures.

Especially in the last thirty years, he had barely spoken to a stranger, and his social anxiety had naturally grown worse.

Did people expect a Newt like that to act like a Hogwarts professor, lecturing a young wizard every day, checking for gaps in their knowledge, and grading homework?

Impossible.

Furthermore, Newt was well aware that his personality wasn't suited for teaching. In his view, whether it was a professor or a teacher, they should be like Dumbledore.

That was why Chris was considered his last student in name.

In the decades that followed, although many had the idea, and some even brought in Dumbledore as a lobbyist, Newt had refused them all, without exception.

Newt didn't want to mislead anyone, and even if the other party didn't mind, he couldn't get past his own conscience.

Kyle had started going there simply because Chris and Diana were too busy with work to look after him. It just so happened that Newt's wife, Tina, heard about the situation and took the initiative to bring Kyle over.

It helped Chris out, and it gave Tina something to do.

Come to think of it, being stuck with a husband who didn't like to talk and only had eyes for magical creatures was already quite enough; if Tina hadn't found something to occupy herself with, she probably would have been driven mad.

Besides, Kyle was just six years old at the time, which, in Tina's experience, was the age when children were at their most troublesome—perhaps it could even help cure Newt's social anxiety.

When their grandson was that age, he had pestered Newt so much that he spoke more in one day than he had in the previous month.

In that regard, Kyle certainly didn't disappoint Tina.

Although he wasn't a brat, he was incredibly curious, and since it was his first time seeing so many different magical creatures, he couldn't help but ask questions about everything.

Perhaps because those questions were all related to magical creatures, Newt—though he rarely spoke on his own initiative—would always give a serious answer whenever Kyle asked.

In this way, he naturally spoke more, and he did so willingly.

In short, all three of them were satisfied.

It was precisely because of this that even after Chris and Diana weren't as busy later on, Kyle still went there to stay for a while every year.

Of course, Kyle didn't intend to tell Cedric any of this; after all, he still had to help maintain Newt's image.

A reclusive, legendary Magizoologist sounded much better than a socially anxious old man.

So, after a brief explanation, Kyle didn't intend to continue the topic. Saying too much would likely lead to a slip-up, and things were just fine as they were.

"By the way, Cedric, what do you think of the professors at Hogwarts? Are they easy to get along with?" Kyle naturally shifted his gaze to the copy of Dark Arts: A Guide to Self-Protection at Cedric's side and said, "You know I'm starting school for the first time, and I don't know much about these things. What if I accidentally make a professor angry? Could I get expelled?"

"You don't have to worry about that at all."

Cedric, not suspecting a thing, smiled and said, "The professors are all very good... well, most of them are. And even the most... ahem, even the strictest professor wouldn't expel a student easily.

Unless you do something that seriously violates school rules and regulations."

When he said the last sentence, Cedric's expression was very serious, his lips twitching slightly as if he wanted to say something but didn't know how to start.

Seeing this, Kyle guessed what he wanted to say and quickly waved his hand. "Don't worry, my last name isn't Weasley. I definitely won't be breaking any school rules."

Hearing him say this, Cedric finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Sorry... I didn't mean it like that."

Kyle shook his head: "It's fine, I know."

Since the topic had turned to Hogwarts, Cedric became interested, and for the remainder of the time, he shared more detailed information with Kyle.

For instance, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who changed every year didn't need to be worried about, the Transfiguration professor who was obsessed with turning into a cat was the most dignified... and most importantly, the Potions professor who didn't wash his hair loved to deduct house points.

Basically, it was all about the same as what Kyle already knew; there was nothing particularly novel about it.