Howler

Kyle finished making the twenty-odd maps in just over an hour and delivered them to the young wizards who had paid the deposit on the first morning of school.

Another hefty sum of Galleon has been earned; nothing could be more gratifying.

At breakfast, the group sat around the Gryffindor table and began dividing the spoils... cough, distributing the fruits of their labor.

Everyone was happy that their wallets had suddenly become much fatter.

As for why it was at the Gryffindor dining table... there's no special meaning to it, it's just because that place is closest to the Great Hall entrance.

"Oh, right, Kyle, this is for you."

Fred and George counted out seven Galleon, put them in a cloth bag, and handed it to Kyle.

"A bet's a bet, a loss is a loss..."

George said with a hint of heartache, "I swear, if I ever bet with you again, we're Swallow-tailed Dog!"

"Me too," Fred nodded in agreement from the side.

"Ha, I almost forgot about that."

Kyle took the bag and, with an extremely distrustful attitude, poured all the gold coins inside onto the table, then began to count them carefully.

Last year, Fred and George played a little game with a prize for guessing when Professor Quirrell would leave the school.

At their enthusiastic invitation, Kyle couldn't refuse and played a short game.

The result, needless to say...

Twenty Galleon doubled in value, not only earning a small amount of pocket money but also emptying Fred and George's wallets.

Because they didn't want to use the funds they had prepared for opening the shop, the two of them relied on their good relationship with Kyle and dragged it out until now to finally pay off the forty Galleon.

"That's right, exactly forty Galleon."

Under the menacing stares of Fred and George, Kyle calmly put away his bag.

"Are you still playing this year...? Professor Lockhart is a famous wizard in the Wizarding World. If it's related to him, I believe many people will participate."

"Heh..." George sneered.

"Unless you don't participate," Fred said.

"Alright then, I won't get involved," Kyle said calmly.

He then turned to Kanna beside him, "You prepare forty Galleon, it's on me. If we win, we'll split it 50/50."

"Okay!" Kanna nodded without hesitation.

"That's enough, you two!"

Watching the two loudly plotting, Fred took a bite of bread as if it were Kyle's head.

Like I just said, if they ever play this kind of game with Kyle again, they're basically the ugliest kind of Swallow-tailed Dog!

"Wait a minute." Cedric suddenly said, "I remember you had something else to do, right?"

"What did you guys say you'd do if Kyle earned the Order of Merlin in his second year?"

"Oh, I know."

Qiu suppressed a laugh and played along, saying, "Wearing three trophies on your head, you'll be tap dancing around the castle once."

"And Butterbeer." Kanna looked at Kyle with a smile. "That's great, you won't have to pay for Butterbeer anymore."

Fred and George's expressions darkened further.

Balancing three trophies and tap dancing... Merlin, how did they even come up with such a difficult move?

And then there's the contract to buy all of Kyle 'Butterbeer... How much money would that cost!

For a moment, the two of them felt a chill run through them.

Fred even slapped himself in the face...

"Smack!"

"Why can't I control my mouth!"

A crisp sound immediately drew the attention of those around.

Even in Gryffindor, a school renowned for its courage, very few people would dare to whip themselves that hard...

They were all quite curious.

Fortunately, the postman arrived at that moment.

Hundreds of owls swarmed in, circling the Great Hall and dropping letters and packages into the conversationing crowd.

Kyle reached out and caught a copy of the Daily Prophet.

But before he could even look, his attention was drawn to the commotion beside him.

An owl knocked over a milk jug... Milk and feathers splattered everywhere.

However, that's not the main point.

The key point is that it was carrying a wet red envelope in its mouth.

"Oh no..." Ron exclaimed from not far away.

Many people noticed the red envelope and looked over.

"That should be the Howler, right?" Kanna asked softly.

"That's right." Kyle nodded.

"You'd better open it, Ron," Neville whispered, sitting next to Kyle. "It's worse not to open it. Grandma sent me one, and I ignored it, and then..."

He took a breath. "That's terrible."

"What will happen?" Cedric asked, somewhat curiously.

He had never seen Howler before; he only knew that such a thing existed.

"It'll explode." Kyle shrugged. "And do you even know what 360-degree surround sound is?"

"The sound came from all directions, wherever there were fragments of envelopes, and it could be heard even across the Black Lake."

Ron's face turned pale, and as they spoke, smoke began to rise from the four corners of the envelope.

"Open it quickly," Neville urged, "You only have a few minutes..."

Ron reached out with trembling hands and carefully tore open the envelope.

Run!

Someone shouted, and the young wizards who were watching scattered instantly.

Those who couldn't escape while sitting there, like Neville and Cedric, also covered their ears.

Harry and Hermione didn't understand what was going on, but they followed suit and put their hands on their ears.

And they immediately knew why they had to do it...

Like an explosion, a huge sound filled the entire Great Hall, shaking the dust off the ceiling.

"... If they fire you for stealing the car, I wouldn't be surprised at all. Just wait and see how I deal with you then. You probably never imagined how your father and I felt when we found the car was gone..."

Mrs. Weasley's voice was a hundred times louder than usual, making the cutlery on the table rattle.

Now, it wasn't just Gryffindor; everyone in the Great Hall turned around, searching for the source of the sound.

Ron had already hidden himself under the table, with only his bright red forehead showing.

But it was no use; the roaring continued...

"... I never expected you to do something like this. You and Harry almost lost your lives!"

"... This is outrageous! Your father will be investigated at work, and it's all your fault. If you don't behave, we'll bring you back home right now!"

The roaring stopped, but the sound still lingered. The red envelope that had fallen to the ground burst into flames, curling up and turning to ash.

Kyle also realized that what angered Mrs. Weasley the most wasn't Ron stealing the car, but that he and Harry had almost been Whomping Willow.

If this incident hadn't happened, Mrs. Weasley probably wouldn't have been so angry as to send a Howler.