The Last Carnival

Although Quidditch is the most popular sport at Hogwarts, not all young wizards choose to watch the games.

There were still some people in the common rooms of each house, with Gryffindor having the fewest, about five or six, Ravenclaw having the most, with more than a dozen.

These were mostly fifth or seventh graders, and the pressure of exams left them with no time to think about Quidditch.

They would obviously prefer to spend that time in the library or a cozy lounge reading.

Kyle turned his gaze to the Hufflepuff common room.

The Marauder's Map doesn't depict the dormitory area in as much detail as other places; it simply distinguishes between male and female students.

All seven grades were together, separated from the adjacent common room by only a thin ink line.

Kyle wrote down the names of everyone in the Hufflepuff Common Room.

There are only six of them.

After finishing taking notes, Kyle intended to close the map and continue watching the game, but under the influence of a mysterious force, he inexplicably looked towards the location of the underground classroom and then found Snape's private storage room nearby.

Kyle swore he had absolutely no intention of going there to steal (crossed out)... take anything, at least not now.

Undeniably, Snape's private storeroom contained many treasures, but Kyle was currently more interested in spells; the Potions ingredients didn't hold much appeal for him.

However, since he had already seen it, Kyle also took note of the route leading there, as well as the entrances and exits of the secret passages in the surrounding area.

Just out of curiosity, nothing more.

Anyway, I have nothing else to do right now, so I'm just idling around.

"Look, Cedric is accelerating!"

Just then, a deafening cheer suddenly erupted from all around.

Kyle quickly closed the Marauder 'Marauder's Map and tapped it again with his wand.

"Mischief Managed."

The ink lines faded, and the Marauder's Map reverted to its original form as ordinary parchment.

On the Quidditch Pitch, Cedric is swooping down from mid-air at incredible speed.

"It's the Golden Snitch!"

The commentator exclaimed excitedly, "It's right next to the Slytherin goalpost, less than twenty feet off the ground!"

"Higgs saw it too, and he accelerated!"

The two Seeker charged toward the Golden Snitch one after the other, and the atmosphere in the stands was extremely tense, with everyone watching them nervously.

A few seconds later...

"It's Cedric!"

The commentator yelled at the top of his lungs, "Cedric Diggory, the youngest Seeker has caught the Golden Snitch!"

The stands erupted in cheers, with large numbers of yellow flags and support items being tossed into the air.

"We won! We won!" the surrounding badger cubs screamed excitedly, hugging each other.

"Thank you Hufflepuff for giving us a fantastic Quidditch Match."

An hour later, Cedric was carried back to the common room by a group of excited Hufflepuff students, a hero's treatment in the words of the Quidditch players.

However, in Kyle's eyes, he now looks more like a pig waiting to be slaughtered.

A celebratory feast was a must after the victory. That evening, several senior students brought a large amount of food from the kitchen, and soon the common room was filled with all kinds of delicious patties and cookies.

"Kyle, where did you go?" Kanna walked over with a large bone-in steak, asking in confusion, "I didn't see you when the game ended."

"I'm going to the restroom," Kyle said.

"What a shame," Kanna whispered, "You missed the best part."

Kyle laughed and said, "No, I just happened to see Cedric catch the Golden Snitch when I got back."

"That's good." Kanna smiled, took a bite of her steak, and then a happy expression appeared on her face.

Kyle looked at her and asked doubtfully, "You're going to bed soon, is it okay for you to eat so much?"

Kanna suddenly stopped what she was doing, her expression stiffening. She turned her head away and whispered, "I... I didn't eat much for dinner."

"Is that so?" Kyle frowned. "But I remember at dinner... never mind, maybe I'm remembering wrong."

Kanna breathed a sigh of relief and, without waiting for Kyle to say anything more, quickly made an excuse and left.

Everyone was happy, but what they didn't know was that this banquet could be their last celebration.

Because final exams are coming up soon.

The professors are assigning more and more homework, and the students are almost out of time to even play a game of Wizard's Chess.

Easter holidays are not as fun as Christmas holidays, and most people choose to stay on campus.

There was so much homework that the blank parchment piled up like a small mountain. They spent almost every day in the library, sighing and yawning, desperately trying to finish these heavy assignments.

In addition, they also need to memorize the "must-know" material mentioned by the professors and practice wand gestures.

Even though it's a holiday, you can always hear the little wizards complaining in the hallway.

"I'll never remember this!" Halfway through the holiday, Mikel finally snapped, throwing down his quill and huffing, "Who discovered the Twelve Uses of Dragon's Blood? There are just too many! I can't possibly remember them all!"

"Dumbledore."

Sitting opposite him, Kyle said without looking up, "You want to challenge him to a duel? That's a good idea. If you can beat him up, Professor Snape definitely won't make you memorize these things anymore."

"..."

Mikel paused for a moment, then reached for the quill pen. "What's the twelfth use of Dragon Blood again... Oh right, it's for furnace cleaning."

It's not that hard to remember. I should have been more careful just now.

Kyle smiled but didn't say anything.

An hour later, he put down his quill and closed his book, "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi."

"Kyle, have you finished all your homework?"

Mikel and Ryan looked up sharply, as if they had just Niffler Galleon.

Kyle stretched his shoulders, nodded, and said, "Yeah, it's finished."

Mikel's eyes lit up, and he asked expectantly, "Could we... borrow it for reference?"

"... Okay then."

This time, Kyle didn't refuse outright like before; after hesitating for a moment, he pushed the assignment onto them.

He mainly remembered that Mikel and Ryan had already done quite a bit of homework, though not much, but definitely at least a third of it.

In this way, there's no need to worry about the possibility of someone copying the homework, and it's fine to lend it to them.

Also, there was quite a lot of homework during the Easter holiday.

However, just to be on the safe side, Kyle still reminded him, "Remember, don't copy it verbatim."

"Don't worry," Mikel said decisively, patting his chest. "We won't make the same mistake twice."