The Generous Acromantula

With a bountiful harvest, Kyle left the Forbidden Forest satisfied.

Nineteen pints of Acromantula Venom, which translates to 1,900 Galleon, were returned in the blink of an eye to the little bit of Tebo Warthog he gave to Fluffy, and even increased several hundred times over.

Of course, there wasn't originally that much, but the old spider realized that his behavior of going back on his word was shameless, so he took the initiative to ask for more money.

It wasn't that it didn't want to give more; the main problem was that the Acromantula's production capacity was only so high. The entire nest, from Aragog itself down to the smallest spiders the size of a finger, was completely drained, barely managing to produce nineteen pints of venom.

When Kyle left, the spiders couldn't even stand up; they lay sprawled on the ground, as if they had drunk fake alcohol.

The thought of that scene was quite moving for Kyle. He decided that once he got back, he would make a batch of spider tonics as quickly as possible and send them to Hagrid, asking him to deliver them to the Acromantula.

Hopefully, those tonics will help them recover soon... After all, under normal circumstances, the process of Acromantula recovering its venom is quite slow.

Kyle walked into the castle in a cheerful mood, completely unaware that a pair of eyes were watching him intently from the shadows.

"Aha!"

Filch jumped out from some corner and said in a sinister tone, "Caught out all night, huh!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Filch, I don't understand what you're saying."

Although startled, Kyle remained calm and said, "I just got up early and went for a walk outside."

"Do you think I'd believe your nonsense?" Filch sneered. "It's only five o'clock. How could a little wizard be up this early?"

"Maybe I went to bed early last night," Kyle said. "If you don't believe me, you can go to the Hufflepuff Common Room and ask everyone there. They all know I went back to my dorm at 10 p. m. and didn't come out all night."

"Or you could ask the portrait hanging in the hallway."

Seeing Kyle's calm expression, Filch, who had been quite resolute, began to waver.

"I will, come with me."

He led Kyle to a portrait in the kitchen hallway and said, "You still have a chance to admit it, otherwise..."

"No, Mr. Filch."

Kyle looked at the portrait and asked, "Hello, did you see any Hufflepuff out for a night stroll after curfew last night?"

"Nighttime strolls? No way!" the wizard in the portrait said decisively.

"Are you sure?" Filch asked with a grim face.

"Of course," the wizard said. "Last night I had a staring contest with the lady across the street. It started at nine o'clock. If any young wizards were passing by, I would have spotted them immediately."

Filch's expression was rather grim.

"The truth is out, Mr. Filch," Kyle said with a smile. "If there's nothing else, I'll head back now..."

By the way, I've noticed Mrs. Norris has lost some weight lately. Has Hogwarts stopped paying salaries? You've been skimping on its food!"

Filch's face darkened further, as if he had heard that the school was going to hand over the janitor's position to a Dementor.

"I did not withhold Mrs. Norris's food!" he roared. "Never!"

"Is that so..." Kyle shrugged, noncommittal. "But it has indeed lost weight recently. Perhaps you should buy it some good dried fish to improve its diet."

"No need for you to trouble yourself..."

Filch hadn't caught a single student breaking school rules in the past few days, which was already annoying, but this morning he was accused of "cutting Mrs. Norris's food allowance." Filch was so angry he was practically breathing fire.

"Of course... you're right."

Kyle didn't look at him, but simply took out his wand and tapped the barrel.

"Well then, Mr. Filch, I'll head back now. See you next time..."

Kyle waved and turned to walk into the passageway.

As the passageway door closed again, Filch's voice disappeared.

The common room was empty... but then again, it's only five o'clock. Nobody in Hufflepuff gets up this early; usually, students like that are only seen in Ravenclaw...

There was no need to sleep anymore, so Kyle simply downed a bottle of Invigoration Draught and sat down in the armchair closest to the fireplace to read a book.

It wasn't until seven o'clock that people began to gradually enter the common lounge.

The first lesson was Divination Class.

While most students, including professors, considered Professor Trelawney a fraud who freeloaded at Hogwarts, some also saw her as a remarkable Seer.

"I used to think she was a fraud, until all her Prophecy about me came true..."

In the dimly lit, stuffy rooftop room, Mikel said excitedly, "She said I'd be leaving for a while, and then I ended up staying at the Hospital Wing over the weekend... That counts as leaving, right?"

Mikel was referring to what happened after the Quidditch Match; he had been hit on the head by Bludger, and Madam Pomfrey had forced him to stay in the Hospital Wing for two days.

"She said the same thing to me," Kyle said. "It's just a coincidence."

In fact, it wasn't just them; even Cedric received bad news from her.

While Professor Trelawney is indeed a complete fraud when she is consciously aware of it, she is also very experienced in making her offhand "Prophecy" come true.

Quidditch player would be a good choice.

In Quidditch, injuries are inevitable, whether in training or in matches.

So in the first Divination Class after the start of the school year, almost all the Quidditch players were on her Prophecy list.

Professor Trelawney doesn't need to do anything; she just needs to wait. When the player gets injured, the Prophecy will naturally come true.

Using this method, she actually gained quite a few admirers, such as Mikel.

He joined the team relatively late, and Professor Trelawney added his name to the Prophecy list after receiving the news.

Coincidentally, the Prophecy was made on Friday, and it came true after the game on Saturday.

Therefore, Mikel believed it wholeheartedly and became her devoted admirer.

Professor Trelawney maintained her usual demeanor today, probably because the Quidditch Match was approaching, and her focus was once again on the team members.

When she passed Kyle, she walked straight past him without stopping at all.

Based on her previous experience watching matches, she knew very well that Kyle had never been injured in a match, so the success rate of Prophecy his injury was too low to be worth considering... someone else was more suitable.

She walked over and casually stopped in front of Mikel's table, watching him adjust the planetarium.

"There's something here..." Professor Trelawney said softly, leaning closer. "Something's moving...what is it...oh!"

She suddenly shook her head and sighed, "Honey, if I were you, I'd be wary of someone with messy hair... yes, the first person you thought of. You'd better stay away from him before Easter."

Mikel immediately tensed up and began looking around, carefully searching for the person Professor Trelawney had mentioned.