As November followed Halloween, the cold weather left young wizards reluctant to leave their warm beds.
At eight in the morning, Kyle trudged into the Great Hall for breakfast, yawning beneath his thick robes. During the usual morning owl delivery, Cedric's long-awaited package finally arrived — a Nimbus 1700, just as he'd hoped.
"Brilliant, Cedric, brilliant!" An older Hufflepuff player clapped his shoulder enthusiastically. "With you as our Seeker and this Nimbus 1700, we'll finally match Slytherin. I've seen their Seeker fly — barely better than a troll on a broomstick."
With their first Quidditch match against Slytherin approaching, this news couldn't have come at a better time. The team had worried about their equipment disadvantage, but the combination of a Nimbus 1700 and Cedric as Seeker changed everything.
In practice matches, Cedric had caught the Golden Snitch in just five minutes—mere seconds shy of Hogwarts' speed record. Armed with a top-tier broomstick and their prodigy Seeker, the Hufflepuff players felt invincible.
Could Slytherin really score a hundred and fifty points in just five minutes? Impossible.
Kyle shared in the excitement. Though not on the team himself, he eagerly anticipated a potential Quidditch Cup victory for their house.
As he admired Cedric's new Nimbus, a sharp peck to his finger drew his attention to another owl waiting patiently before him.
"Sorry, little one, I didn't notice you." Kyle quickly offered the owl a Mortla mouse jerky, then retrieved the letter from its leg and began to read.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Dear Kyle,
I'm sorry for taking so long to reply. I've been extremely busy lately, and I thought I had already written back to you until this morning when I found the unfinished letter in my office. I hope you can forgive me.
We received the Galleons you sent, and I'm proud of you, child. I wasn't nearly as accomplished when I was a first-year.
Also, your mother asked me to tell you that while she accepted your Galleons, you can forget about the broomstick.
However, she has prepared some other things for you that should arrive in a few days. Hope you'll like them.
That's all for now. Hope you're enjoying your time at Hogwarts.
—Your father, Chris.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
After reading the letter, Kyle's face fell.
Though he had suspected his mother wouldn't be as easily convinced as Mr. Diggory, seeing the confirmation still disappointed him.
The long delay made it worse — he had sent his letter in early September, yet here it was November before getting a reply. What could have kept his father from his office for two whole months?
Perhaps Uncle Newt had gone on another expedition?
While Kyle pondered this, Cedric suddenly slammed a copy of the Daily Prophet onto the table before him.
"Kyle, quick — look at this! Now I understand why my dad took so long with the broomstick."
The newspaper's front page displayed a photograph of numerous Magical Creatures, all held in captivity.
Next to the photo stood a bold headline:
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
The Magical Creatures Disaster
According to sources, on September 3rd this year, Ministry Hit Wizards accidentally botched the capture of a group of magical creature smugglers, resulting in numerous smuggled magical creatures escaping. This included three creatures classified as XXXXX, extremely dangerous.
We still can't understand how the Hit Wizards could make such a basic mistake, nor why the Ministry chose to keep this incident secret.
'This was to prevent panic in the magical community.' Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge said this morning, 'We have recaptured most of the magical creatures, and no wizards have lost their lives during this period.'
The truth of this outcome remains uncertain.
However, Chris Chopper, spokesperson for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, stated in an interview that with the help of Mr. Newt Scamander, almost all escaped creatures, including the Antipodean Opaleye and the Nundu, have been successfully captured.
But one Graphorn remains unaccounted for.
He urges everyone to be aware that the Graphorn is highly dangerous. If spotted, one should immediately flee and send up red warning sparks. The Beast Division and Aurors will respond as quickly as possible.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
After reading this, Kyle finally understood what had kept his father so busy.
The photograph showed around fifty to sixty captured magical creatures — the largest magical creature smuggling case in British wizarding history for nearly three decades.
But what truly caught Kyle's attention was the Nundu.
Kyle marveled at how the smugglers had managed to capture a Nundu. The creature wasn't merely agile — its breath was so poisonous it could wipe out an entire village.
The Ministry's statement put it in perspective: it typically required more than a hundred skilled wizards working together to subdue a single Nundu. While perhaps an exaggeration, this fact was particularly striking given that subduing a dragon needed only ten wizards.
"Thank goodness it's just a Graphorn that escaped." He remarked sincerely.
Not that he underestimated Graphorns.
While Graphorns shared the XXXXX classification, they merely met the minimum danger threshold. The Nundu, however, was classified as XXXXX because the Ministry's system had no higher category.
They were simply not in the same league.
The other senior students and those knowledgeable about magical creatures, like Cedric, all nodded in deep agreement with Kyle's assessment.
Meanwhile, the younger wizards who knew little about magical creatures focused their concern on the escaped Graphorn. The newspaper's "highly dangerous" warning seemed quite justified.
"At least we're at Hogwarts." Someone said with relief, "With Dumbledore here, we won't be in any danger."
This statement drew immediate approval from everyone. Indeed, with Dumbledore present, what was there to fear?
The atmosphere at the dining tables grew cheerful.
But the mood shifted suddenly, and silence fell.
A young wizard abruptly stood up, abandoned his breakfast, and rushed toward the owlery. Others quickly followed suit as realization struck — some heading for the owlery, others hurrying back to their dormitories.
The once-bustling Great Hall rapidly emptied out.
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