There's a Story Behind This

The Vanishing Cabinet was brought by Dumbledore, which didn't surprise Kyle much, but the fact that it happened more than fifty years ago was quite interesting.

As is well known, Professor Dumbledore received the Order of Order of Merlin, First Class, because he defeated Grindelwald in 1945. In the same year, Grindelwald was also imprisoned in Nurmengard Tower.

Dumbledore threw away the Vanishing Cabinet at that time... tsk tsk, there's a story behind that.

Of course, since it concerned the principal's gossip, Kyle didn't dare to say much.

After all, Harry's mouth is as loose as Hagrid's; if he accidentally lets something slip, it'll be a real mess.

"So, you mean this cabinet was already broken before?" Kyle asked.

"That's right, Peeves used to hide in this cabinet a lot to avoid Filch for a while," Nick said. "If it were good, Peeves would have been where he was by now."

"I see..."

Kyle nodded. He had indeed found several cracks in the Vanishing Cabinet, and the marks were old, so they couldn't have been made recently.

"What are your plans regarding this Vanishing Cabinet?"

"Just leave it here," Nearly Headless Nick. "Nobody comes to this classroom. Peeves will probably take it with him later."

Kyle nodded thoughtfully.

They then left the classroom, Harry noticed that Nearly Headless Nick, was still clutching the transparent reply in his hand.

Perhaps she wanted to repay his "life-saving grace" earlier...

"Regarding the Headless Hunt, I hope there's something I can do for you."

"No need." Nick casually put the letter back in his jacket pocket. "I've decided to form my own hunting team. One day, they'll regret turning me away."

Speaking of this, Harry's mind once again conjured up the bizarre image of Nick shaking his head.

He quickly patted his face, forcing himself to forget those "dirty things," and then forced a dry laugh:

"Well... I wish you success."

"Thank you, but I have a request."

"What..." Harry asked.

"While this request might be a bit much... would you be able to attend my Deathday Party?"

Nearly Headless Nick, said with some anticipation, "It's just before Halloween. I'll be announcing the formation of my own hunter team to all my friends. I would be honored if you could come."

"I'll come," Harry readily agreed. "Can I bring anyone else with me?"

"If you're talking about Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger... well, they're certainly the most popular too."

He then looked at Kyle.

"I apologize, Sir Popington."

Kyle said regretfully, "Although I really wanted to witness the birth of a great hunter team, I had already promised Cedric that I would watch the Skeleton Dance Troupe's performance with him, so..."

"Oh, of course..." Nearly Headless Nick, said with a laugh, "What I mean is, if you promise someone else something, you have to keep your promise. I'm sorry I'm saying this too late."

But did Dumbledore really invite the Skeleton Dance Troupe?

"Professor McGonagall mentioned this casually a few days ago, so it should be fine," Kyle said.

"Oh... why this year of all years!"

Nearly Headless Nick, tugged at his hat. "I've loved their performances for two hundred years... and I heard from Howling Baron that they've recently choreographed some new dance moves that are absolutely fantastic."

Why this year of all years?!

Nearly Headless Nick, spun around in mid-air a few times. "Do you think they'd agree if I invited the Skeleton Dance Troupe to my Deathday Party after their performance?"

"Probably... yes," Kyle said uncertainly.

Although skeletons and ghosts are essentially the same, they are still two different species... It's hard to say whether they would be interested in the ghost stuff.

"I hope you can agree."

Nearly Headless Nick, gazed wistfully out the window and muttered to himself, "The Skeleton Dance Troupe, and Harry Potter, coming to my Deathday Party —that would be amazing!"

After leaving this corridor, the stairs are not far ahead.

Kyle and Harry went back to their respective common rooms, Nick went to find Peeves... and the group went their separate ways.

By the time Kyle returned to the common room, it was almost curfew.

However, there were still quite a few students doing their homework in the common room, which is Hufflepuff tradition.

Kyle found Cedric and Kanna near the window.

"Deathday Party?" Cedric said thankfully, "It's a good thing you didn't agree. I dare say that kind of scene is definitely not suitable for the living."

"You participated?" Kanna asked.

"No." Cedric shook his head. "But when I went to the kitchen earlier, I saw House-elf carrying some freshly made food out of the kitchen."

They also said these were prepared for a ghost party and needed to be left for a long time, until they completely rotted or grew mold.

"The House-elf probably wouldn't allow something like that in the kitchen," Kanna whispered.

She had been to the kitchen many times; it was always very clean, and the food was always the freshest.

"Yeah, that's right, so they took those things outside." Cedric shrugged.

"Just imagine, having to face a huge pile of moldy, rotten food at Halloween Feast isn't a fun experience."

"So I declined," Kyle said. "But Harry Potter seems quite interested."

"Harry Potter ..." Cedric clicked his tongue. "No wonder he was able to defeat the You-Know-Who. He's just different from us. Normal people probably wouldn't want to attend a ghost's party."

Should we remind him?

"It's no use, Harry Potter has already agreed," Kyle said. "He didn't hesitate for even a second."

"Then there's nothing we can do..."

Outside the window, the rain was still pouring down, and the sky was as black as ink, but inside the room it was bright and cheerful.

While the others were doing their homework and playing Wizard's Chess, Kyle told Cedric and Kanna about his wonderful experience in front of the library.

This made them quickly forget about the ghost.

"You suddenly became smarter when you were passing by the library?" Cedric's mouth dropped open in astonishment, as if he could fit a whole potato in it.

"How is this possible!"

He had walked that road in front of the library countless times; if that were really the case, how come he had never encountered it?

Kanna didn't really believe it either.

Professor Snape had never mentioned this to her before.

Besides, if simply walking past the library entrance could make you smarter, then what's the point of having classes? Everyone could just line up there every day.

"I find it unbelievable too," Kyle said softly, "But I really did experience it, I'm not kidding you."

"Is it possible that you're just too tired lately and are hallucinating?" Cedric still couldn't quite believe it.

"It could be something you didn't understand before, but suddenly it made sense to you."

Kanna glanced at Kyle, pondered, and said, "I used to be like that too. I could never brew the perfect Draught of Living Death, but one time when I picked up the crucible, I suddenly realized where I was going wrong, and then I brewed the perfect Draught of Living Death very easily."

She felt that Kyle must have felt the same way she did back then.

"Maybe..." Kyle felt a little insecure after hearing what the two of them said.

He decided to try again at the library entrance in the next few days; if that still didn't work... then there was nothing he could do.