For Kyle, who had once traveled everywhere by plane or high-speed train, riding the old-fashioned steam train known as the Hogwarts Express was pure torture.
Especially after you'd been sitting for hours and the novelty and Hogwarts buff had gradually worn off. Its flaws got magnified a hundredfold.
First of all, it was slow. Really slow. Kyle felt the thing could barely manage fifty miles per hour, not even as fast as some of the better cars.
It was also terribly uncomfortable. The constant rocking and jolting had Kyle questioning his whole existence, and he'd nearly thrown up his breakfast.
In those circumstances, passing the time by reading was basically impossible.
Fortunately, Cedric, who shared his compartment, was quite the conversationalist, which kept the journey from being too awful.
After they'd finished talking about professors, Kyle asked about a few other things. Cedric answered everything he asked and even volunteered interesting tidbits about Hogwarts, like amusing places or intriguing portraits.
A lot of it was news to Kyle, and he found it fascinating. In return, Kyle generously covered Cedric's snacks for the journey.
Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes—you name it, they had as much as they wanted.
There was just one thing that left Kyle speechless: when it came to sorting, Cedric had continued the wizards' mischievous tradition, as expected, and hadn't told him the truth.
"You have to catch the Golden Snitch in the Great Hall within ten minutes to get sorted?"
Kyle tugged politely at the corner of his mouth and didn't answer.
Sure, whatever. Quidditch was at least more believable than dragons, and it was very Cedric.
"By the way, Kyle, have you thought about which house you'll be sorted into?" Cedric tossed a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean into his mouth. "It'd be great if you got into Hufflepuff, but a clever young wizard like you would probably want to go to Ravenclaw."
Before he'd finished speaking, Cedric's mouth suddenly twitched. His whole face scrunched up involuntarily, making him look absolutely hilarious.
"Oh, damn. It's the flavor I hate most—liver."
Despite saying that, Cedric steeled himself and swallowed it.
"I have, but I don't have to end up in any particular house." Kyle picked up a bean too. "Besides, I'm only so-so at catching things. I might not catch the Golden Snitch in ten minutes. I'll be happy if any house is willing to take me."
Mm... This was the new black pepper steak flavor. Not bad.
"Don't worry, you'll definitely make it," Cedric said with a laugh. "It's not that hard."
Just then, someone suddenly opened the compartment door from outside.
Kyle and Cedric turned their heads at the same time.
The familiar red hair belonged not to one of the twins, but to another Weasley.
Percy stepped into the compartment. "Kyle, Fred told me you were here... Oh, you must be Cedric Diggory. I'm Percy Weasley. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Cedric, who'd been watching curiously, heard his own name and hurriedly nodded in reply. "Likewise. It's a pleasure to meet you, Percy Weasley."
The other boy was so prim and proper that Cedric almost thought he was at some formal event, rather than aboard the Hogwarts Express.
All in all, he was completely bewildered, but very polite.
Kyle held back a laugh and waited until they'd finished greeting each other before speaking. "Percy, did you need something?"
He knew all seven of the Weasley children well, Percy included, though they didn't talk much.
"Sorry to interrupt you, but I do need something." Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out a large rat.
"Scabbers hasn't had much energy lately, so I wanted to ask if you had any more of that rat tonic you gave him before.
"If you do, I'd like to buy some."
"Rat tonic?"
Kyle looked at the scruffy gray rat in Percy's hand, missing one of its front paws, and narrowed his eyes with a smile. "Of course. Just a moment."
With that, Kyle rummaged through his trunk, found a bottle full of red liquid, and turned to press it into Percy's hand.
"You know the routine: once a week, three drops each time. There's enough in here to last you a long while."
"Thanks." Percy hurriedly took the bottle of red rat tonic, then hesitantly pulled out three Silver Sickles. Blushing, he said, "I know this might not be enough, but it's all I have on me right now. I'll pay you back the rest as soon as I can."
"You don't need to pay that much." Kyle took just one Sickle and pushed the other two back. "It's only rat tonic. It's nothing special, so it can't be that expensive. One Sickle is enough."
Percy looked at the Sickle in his hand. His face flushed, then paled. After a long moment, he let out a soft sigh. "Thank you, Kyle."
"No need. I'm charging you. It's a regular transaction."
"No, I know."
Percy smiled too, though it was a bitter smile. "If it were ordinary rat tonic, how could it have kept Scabbers alive for eleven years? This must have been made by Mr. Scamander. After all, only a legendary figure like him could keep an ordinary field mouse alive that long.
"If this tonic were sold on the market, it'd probably cost at least ten Galleons."
Uh...
Kyle rubbed his teeth with his tongue. He really wanted to tell Percy:
Scabbers hadn't lived this long thanks to the rat tonic—not even by a single Knut. Also, he'd made it himself, and it wasn't worth ten Galleons.
But the matter of Peter Pettigrew was too complicated. He was only eleven and didn't want to attract Dumbledore's attention just yet.
Still, he hadn't done nothing.
Besides giving Percy rat tonic, he'd told him long ago that rats were different from other pets: if too much wizard scent clung to them, other rats would reject them.
At first, Percy had been skeptical. But once Kyle had put Mr. Scamander's name behind the claim, he believed it, and treated it like gospel.
Percy really did take good care of his only pet.
He'd even set up a little nest just for Scabbers in his room, and had cut down a lot on physical contact with him. Except in special circumstances like this, when he had no choice but to carry him around, he'd more or less left him to his own devices.
Meanwhile, when Kyle still didn't respond, Percy decided not to stay any longer.
"Anyway, thanks, Kyle. If you ever have any questions about your studies, you can ask me. And after I graduate, I'll pay you back for the rest of those Galleons too."
With that, Percy hurried out of the compartment, leaving Kyle and Cedric staring at each other in silence.
At last, Cedric broke the awkward silence. "Um... You can get rat tonic from Mr. Scamander?"
"I should say, I know how to brew it. And not just for rats—I can make tonic for pretty much any pet." Kyle couldn't be bothered to explain at length. He shrugged. "It's not that hard, just a bit of a hassle, so hardly anyone bothers to learn."
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