Cedric, You Scoundrel

Ignoring Ron's slight unease, the other man continued, "I remember you, Ronald Weasley. Your mother helped me find the platform."

"Yes, but everyone usually calls me Ron," Ron muttered.

"Okay, Ron. My name is Hermione Granger."

Hermione nodded casually, then looked at the other person.

"By the way, what's your name?"

"Harry Potter," Harry said quickly.

Upon hearing the name, Hermione was visibly surprised and then listed several reference books to indicate that she knew about Harry.

This made Harry feel dizzy, because he didn't know any of these things, and he hadn't even read any of the books Hermione mentioned.

"My God, how could you not know? If it were me, I would definitely find every book that mentions me."

Hermione looked at Ron again and said, "By the way, you just said that boy named Kyle is the top student in the grade?"

"Oh... yes." Ron nodded.

"No wonder he received the Order of Merlin," Hermione remarked with some admiration. "I hope it's not too far off. I've memorized all the textbooks; hopefully, that will be enough."

Ron's expression darkened further. He felt like he had encountered a second Percy, and he also disliked the tone of Percy's voice.

Hermione, however, didn't even look at him and continued her rapid-fire monologue, "By the way, do you know which house Kyle is in? Is he Gryffindor? I've asked around everywhere, and everyone says it's the best. But if he's that smart, he could also be a Ravenclaw."

"None of them."

Ron seemed to really enjoy seeing Kyle's discomfiture, and said with a hint of schadenfreude, "Kyle's a Hufflepuff."

"Hufflepuff ..." Hermione was indeed taken aback, and murmured, "But I've heard that Hufflepuff are all... well, students who aren't very good at studying."

"No, that's wrong."

Ron liked the other person's expression and said with a hint of smugness, "Actually, besides Kyle, Cedric Diggory, the top student in the third year, is also a Hufflepuff."

Hermione looked a little angry. She felt like she had been tricked. How could someone who had produced two first-place students in their class be the "fool" and "idiot" that people were talking about?

If they're fools, then what are the others... brainless worms?

Harry, standing beside him, lowered his head in frustration.

When he was discussing houses with Ron, he was even considering Hufflepuff as a safety school.

But now it seems that Hufflepuff isn't so easy to get into either.

First in the grade...

Harry would rather believe Dudley could become as thin as him than believe he could become number one in his grade.

it's out of the question.

Even Hermione remained silent. Ron, his face tense, asked, "So, is there anything else? If not, we're going back to the private room."

"I wanted to ask if anyone has seen a toad?" Hermione said, snapping out of her daze. "Neville lost a toad."

"Toad?"

Ron said somewhat impatiently, "We've already told him, we didn't see it."

Ron remembered very clearly that the boy named Neville had just come by and cried a lot in their private room.

"Perhaps you could ask Kyle," Harry suddenly said. "He might have a way to find the toad."

"You're right, I really shouldn't stay here any longer."

Hermione gave them one last look and said, "But you two had better change your clothes quickly, you know, we'll probably be there soon."

After saying that, she left.

"I really hope I'm not in the same college as her."

After closing the box door, Ron curled his lip and said, "Gryffindor needs Percy."

Harry didn't speak, only nodding perfunctorily, because he hadn't fully recovered from receiving so much information at once.

Meanwhile, Hermione, having left this place, made her way to the box where Kyle was.

Through the glass in the door, she saw Kyle holding a wand and gesturing on a piece of parchment.

Hermione immediately pulled her hand back after raising it.

The boy named Malfoy caused what happened because his sudden knocking disturbed Kyle, and she didn't want to repeat the same mistake.

The main problem is that we can't afford to lose those maps.

She didn't even have 200 Galleon, let alone Galleon.

After hesitating for a moment, Hermione decided to try looking in other carriages first.

But Hermione didn't know was that no sooner had she left than Kyle put down his wand in the box.

"The Malfoy family crest is such a hassle."

Kyle rubbed his eyes, somewhat speechless, and said, "Snakes and dragons, why can't they just use an 'M' instead?"

"Hey, Kyle, you should be a little more patient with our distinguished guest."

Fred laughed and said, "Just changing a design earns you an extra Galleon. Is there any easier job than that?"

"That's true."

Kyle handed the half-finished parchment to Cedric, who would then be responsible for drawing the complete map.

Since it's permanent, it naturally can't be Gemino Curse anymore.

Then, Kyle took out the wallet that Malfoy had given him.

"One hundred and fifty Galleon, should we split it now, or wait until he pays the balance?"

The others exchanged glances and shook their heads simultaneously.

"Listen, Kyle."

George said seriously, "These Galleon were obtained by you through... well, your extraordinary wisdom. They have nothing to do with us, and there's no need to share them."

"What extraordinary wisdom? I'm not Ravenclaw," Kyle said nonchalantly. "Besides, this is money earned from selling maps; it should be split equally."

"This was an accident, it's different," Cedric shook his head. "Besides, everything from when they broke down the door to what happened afterward was done by you alone; we didn't help at all."

Cedric's words seemed to echo what the others wanted to say; as if they had agreed beforehand, no one touched the bag.

Finally, it was only after Kyle's insistence that they each received ten Galleon.

Only George had fifteen Galleon; the extra five Galleon were considered compensation for his robe.

George accepted it without hesitation.

"Oh, right."

After Kyle retrieved his wallet, Cedric pointed to the damaged maps on the table and said, "Do we need to use Mending Charm to restore them to their original state?"

"Huh? Why are you going to all that trouble?" Kyle asked, puzzled.

Cedric blinked and said matter-of-factly, "We can't just throw them away, can we? They're parchments worth a Galleon."

"Wait... you're not thinking of restoring them to their original state before selling them, are you?"

Kyle frowned, giving Cedric a disdainful look, and said, "A shrewd businessman like you will be locked up in Azkaban sooner or later."