Mist Gemstone

Because they were engrossed in playing with the dog, by the time Kyle and Cedric arrived at the Three Broomsticks, everyone else had already arrived.

After the two men sat down, Fred pushed two bottles of Butterbeer in front of them and asked curiously, "How much stuff did you buy? Why did it take you so long?"

"If it had been any later, we would have been looking for you two."

"We didn't buy much," Cedric said. "But on the way out, we found a very interesting big black dog, which is what made us a little late."

"A black dog..." George frowned and whispered, "Could it be... an ominous sign?"

"It's probably just a stray dog that wandered in by chance," Cedric said. "It could also have been brought here by a customer of Hog's Head Inn; the Dervish's Shop is right next to the bar."

"That should be it," Fred nodded. "There are all sorts of people in there. George and I saw someone hide a five-foot-long bone in their robe last time."

"We suspect it might be Troll's..."

"That smell was absolutely disgusting..."

Fred put down his cup. "We'd been wanting to go in and take a look, but we gave up on the idea after that incident."

"Because of that Troll bone?" Qiu asked.

"No, because we got kicked out by the bar owner." George shrugged. "That old guy has a terrible temper..."

The group chatted and drank Butterbeer.

When Kyle passed by the Dervish's Shop again, the black dog was gone, and it didn't reappear until the end of the visitor day.

When the allotted time was up, everyone followed Professor McGonagall back to the castle.

Kyle didn't even go back to the common room; he went straight to the Room of Requirement on the Seventh Floor, and the others followed him.

Cedric had mentioned the Mist Gemstone before, and everyone was very curious.

As it happened, Kyle was also planning to test its effectiveness, so they decided to come along.

"I need a big, windy room."

Kyle walked back and forth in the corridor three times, and then a door appeared.

As they went inside, a sudden gust of wind blew them about, causing them to stagger.

Kanna was almost blown away, but Kyle caught her in time.

"The wind is too strong here... you should have been clearer..." Fred yelled.

Only in this way can his voice be heard.

"Since we're already here... let's just leave it at that... and a bit of wind is better..."

Kyle had no intention of going any further. He reached into his pocket, took out a Mist Gemstone, and crushed it.

The fragments began to disintegrate, turning into large swaths of thick fog that permeated the surrounding area.

In just a few seconds, the group found themselves in a hazy white world.

The howling wind had disappeared, seemingly blocked out by the thick fog.

Fred rubbed his eyes and found that he could only see George, who was closest to him, and a tiny bit of Cedric's shadow.

"As expected of something worth twenty Galleon..." George's voice came from beside him, "Kyle, where are you?"

"Here." Kyle and Kanna walked over, with Cho and Cedric following behind.

"That's amazing..." Cedric exclaimed, "The wind that almost blew me away was actually blocked by this fog..."

"You get what you pay for," Fred said with a laugh. "This costs twenty Galleon ... If a gust of wind could blow it away, Kyle could go and return it to Davy."

"I'll try again." Kyle took out his wand.

"Whirlwind Sweep!"

"Aguamenti!"

"Incendio!"

Kyle kept changing various spells, but the surrounding fog remained unchanged. Even if it did change, it would quickly return to normal, and visibility remained less than a meter.

George tried a few spells as well, then asked curiously, "Kyle, how big do you think this area is?"

"I don't know." Kyle shook his head. "The shopkeeper didn't say."

"Shall we test it?" Fred said.

His idea was agreed upon by everyone.

Without hesitation, since he had nothing better to do, Kyle conjured a long rope with his wand, tied it to the doorknob, and then walked forward with the others, following the patterns on the floor.

Half an hour later, they stopped in front of a wall.

"Is it over?"

Kyle touched the wall and changed direction again.

But this time it was even faster; they stopped again after only a dozen minutes.

Kyle was somewhat embarrassed to discover that he seemed to have underestimated the extent of the fog.

He just wanted a very large room, but even the largest room has an end.

"I should have said something bigger, like a forest or something..." Kyle slapped his forehead.

With no other option, they had to start walking back along the rope again.

"Now we can at least confirm that the area covered by the Mist Gemstone is indeed quite large."

Fred said, "Even though we're walking slowly, we should be able to cross at least five Quidditch Pitch in half an hour."

"Eight..." Cedric said. "I'm sure of it."

George laughed and said, "What do you think would happen if you threw one onto the field during Quidditch Match?"

"That would be really interesting," Fred laughed. "They can't see anyone, they can't see the goal, and they'll fly and fly until they find themselves in Hogsmeade."

"Maybe we could try our luck at Honeydukes; they might find the raspberry-flavored Golden Snitch."

"Kyle, you really should give it a try..."

After saying that, the two laughed even louder.

"I don't know if Honeydukes has the Golden Snitch, but I do know I'll lose twenty Galleon."

Kyle glanced back at them. "And they might even get put in solitary confinement by Professor McGonagall."

"That's true..."

Fred sighed. "Solitary confinement is fine, but twenty Galleon is just too expensive."

He reached out his hand, as if wanting to touch the thick fog.

The group returned to the door and waited for a while... when a gentle breeze suddenly blew on them.

The wind picked up and the thick fog began to dissipate.

"That should be about right."

After their robes were blown into the air, Kyle opened the door and went outside.

"Exactly two hours." Kanna checked the time.

"Two hours, twenty Galleon... This kind of equipment is too extravagant." Fred clicked his tongue.

"I still feel a pang of heartache whenever I think about it," George said. "Twenty Galleon could buy ten boxes of rotten eggs, more than enough for a whole school year."

"Ten boxes of rotten eggs a school year?" Fred exclaimed dramatically. "If we really used that many, I guarantee Filch would kill us."

"Then let's use two academic years..."

"Wait!" Qiu suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "What time is it now? Has the Halloween Feast already...?"

"Oh no!" Kanna realized what was happening and quickly said, "7:10... the dinner started ten minutes ago!"