Roommates

"In short, those are all the things you need to keep in mind. As long as you're careful in your daily lives, you won't lose any House Points.

"But even if you slip up now and then and lose points, it's no big deal. We Hufflepuffs don't put much stock in that. As long as you're happy at Hogwarts, that's all that matters."

Prefect Harris spoke at length to the crowd, while Kyle sat at the very edge with his head bowed and didn't say a word.

"Kyle, what are you doing here? I've been looking for you."

Just then, Cedric walked over and casually handed him a glass of juice. "Fresh orange juice. A glass before bed is always a great choice."

Kyle didn't take it. He didn't even look up, just waved Cedric away to show he didn't want any.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?"

"No, I'm just a little tired." Kyle still didn't look up, and spoke in a slightly hurried tone. "Besides, I don't like drinking anything before bed. Why don't you ask someone else?"

This unusual behavior naturally aroused Cedric's curiosity. He cautiously took two steps to the left, only to find that Kyle had turned in the opposite direction at almost the exact same time.

Something was off. Very, very off.

"Okay, I'll go ask one of the other first-years." Cedric quickly stepped aside, then held his breath and set his feet down as quietly as possible. He circled back in front of Kyle once more, gauged his position, and swiftly dropped to the floor.

Kyle had been wondering when he could get back to his dormitory when a fuzzy head suddenly appeared right in front of him.

Their eyes met...

"Kyle, what happened to your eye? How'd you get such a huge black eye?"

"Nothing!"

Kyle quickly raised his hand to cover his left eye and said with a straight face, "I accidentally walked into a table just now. It's normal to get a few bruises."

"Can a fall leave a bruise that round?" Cedric sat down on the floor and stroked his chin. "It looks like someone punched you."

"Impossible. You're overthinking it!" Kyle said sternly. "If you don't believe me, at least believe in Hufflepuff. This is the warmest family in all of Hogwarts. How could anyone here be that violent?"

"Fair enough. Maybe you really did fall?" Cedric nodded in hearty agreement.

He didn't believe a Hufflepuff would beat up a first-year on the very first day of school, either. That sort of thing usually only happened in Slytherin.

Still, he couldn't understand it. If Kyle really had fallen, why was his "black eye" so perfectly round?

A natural talent?

Just as Cedric was puzzling over it, Prefect Harris had finished speaking.

"From today on, we're all classmates. If you need help with anything, just ask. There's no need to feel embarrassed.

"Hufflepuff is a warm family, and every older student, myself included, will help you.

"You must be tired by now, so I'll take you to your dormitories. Patty, you take care of the girls."

Kyle felt as if he'd been granted a reprieve. He hurriedly stood up from the sofa and followed the group. Before leaving, he didn't even say goodbye to Cedric.

With Harris leading the way, Kyle soon arrived at his dormitory.

Just like the common room, its main colors were yellow and black.

Copper lamps cast a warm glow over the four-poster beds, and copper bed warmers hung on the walls to keep the young wizards' beds at the most comfortable temperature.

There were two other boys in his dormitory.

Mikel Drake was a small, black-haired boy.

The other, a blond boy with a sturdier build, was named Ryan Baggins.

Well, they were both bit-part characters nobody had heard of.

The last bed was empty, probably because there weren't enough first-years.

Kyle turned his head, exchanged a brief greeting with the two boys, and climbed into bed.

"Hey, isn't this incredible? I'm actually a wizard." Mikel sat on the edge of his bed, brimming with excitement. "No one in my family can do magic. My dad sells drilling machines, and my mom works at a bank. So when I first got that letter, I thought it was a prank. I never imagined it was real.

"Haha, Hogwarts... Even now, I still feel like I'm dreaming."

"I'm half and half, what wizards call a Half-blood."

Ryan, the blond boy, chimed in. "My dad's a wizard, and my mom's a Muggle. She was pretty shaken when she found out the truth."

"That's to be expected. People who've never been exposed to magic are always like that," Mikel said. "You can't imagine it—when that Professor Quirrell showed up at our house, my parents nearly called the police.

"He just suddenly appeared right in front of us and said it was called... switching places? Moving?"

"Apparition," Kyle quietly prompted from the side.

"Right, that's it—Apparition."

Mikel looked over, then suddenly brightened. "Hey, I remember you. You're Kyle Chopper, the one who took twenty minutes to get sorted, right?"

"That's right. Nice to meet you both," Kyle replied.

"Um, can you tell us what happened?" Mikel asked curiously. "Why did your sorting take so long? Twenty minutes! That's longer than it took to sort all the other first-years combined."

"It wasn't anything much." Kyle thought for a moment. "The Sorting Hat just kept agonizing over where to put me. It couldn't make up its mind."

"Oh, I see." Mikel sighed. "You must be really special if you made the hat think that long."

Kyle just smiled without saying anything.

He was definitely special, but that had nothing to do with the Sorting Hat.

And if Mikel knew the real reason the Sorting Hat had been so torn, he probably wouldn't say that.

For a while after that, Mikel talked as if he'd been pumped full of energy.

He went from Diagon Alley to Gringotts, then from Gringotts to choosing a wand, without stopping once.

Becoming a wizard really did seem to make him incredibly happy.

At first, Kyle and Ryan could still chime in now and then, but little by little, Mikel's voice was all that remained in the dormitory.

There was no helping it. They just couldn't keep up.

They always got drowsy after a big meal, and on top of that, they'd spent more than ten hours on the train. It was a struggle just to stay awake this long.

Kyle really wanted to chat with his roommates and maybe get to know them better, but the bed was simply too comfortable. Before he knew it, he'd drifted off to sleep.

Ryan had fallen asleep even faster. He'd been quiet for five minutes already.