"Well, those are all the important points to remember. As long as everyone pays attention, you won't lose any house points. Even if you do slip up occasionally and lose points, don't worry about it — we Hufflepuffs don't place much importance on that. What matters is that everyone enjoys their time at Hogwarts."
Prefect Karin Harris was speaking confidently to the crowd while Kyle sat at the very edge, head down and completely silent.
"Kyle, why are you here? I've been looking everywhere for you."
Cedric came over and offered him a glass of juice, "Fresh orange juice — having a glass before bed is definitely a good choice."
Kyle didn't take it or lift his head, just waved his hand in refusal.
"What's wrong? Not feeling well?"
"No, I'm just tired." Kyle mumbled, still not looking up, "Besides, I don't like drinking anything before bed. Why don't you offer it to someone else?"
This unusual behavior piqued Cedric's curiosity. He took two steps to the left, only to find Kyle turning away at the same moment.
Something wasn't right — definitely wasn't right.
"Alright, I'll go ask the other first-years." Cedric walked to the side, then held his breath and tiptoed back around to Kyle's front. After carefully positioning himself, he lay down on the ground.
Kyle had been wondering when he could return to his dormitory when suddenly a fluffy head appeared before him.
Their eyes met...
"Kyle, what happened to your eye? Why do you have such a big black eye?"
"It's nothing!" Kyle quickly covered his left eye, "I accidentally bumped into a table earlier. It's perfectly normal to get some bruising."
"Can a bump make such a perfect circle?" Cedric sat down, stroking his chin, "It looks more like someone punched you."
"Impossible, you're overthinking it!" Kyle protested, "Even if you don't believe me, surely you believe in Hufflepuff? This is the warmest family in all of Hogwarts — how could there be such violent people here?"
"You have a point. Could it really be from a fall?" Cedric nodded thoughtfully.
He couldn't believe that Hufflepuffs would beat up a new student on the first day of school — that sort of thing usually only happened in Slytherin.
But something still bothered him — if it really was from a fall, how could the black eye be so perfectly round? A special talent?
Just as Cedric was puzzling over this, Karin finished their speech.
"From today on, we're all classmates. If you need any help, just ask — don't be shy. Hufflepuff is a warm family, and every senior student, including myself, will help you. You must all be tired now, so I'll show you to your dormitories. Patty, you take care of the girls."
Kyle, as if granted amnesty, quickly stood up from the sofa and followed the main group, leaving without even saying goodbye to Cedric.
Under Karin's guidance, he soon arrived at his dormitory.
Like the common room, the dormitory featured yellow and black as its main colors. Copper lamps cast warm light onto the four-poster beds, while copper bed warmers hung on the walls, maintaining a perfect sleeping temperature.
He had two roommates.
Michael Drake was a small, thin boy with black hair. The other, Ryan Baggins, was blonde and somewhat more robust. Neither seemed particularly remarkable at first glance.
The fourth bed remained empty — likely due to an insufficient number of new students.
Kyle exchanged brief greetings with his roommates before climbing into bed.
"Hey, isn't this amazing? I'm actually a wizard!" Michael exclaimed from the edge of his bed, "No one in my family can do magic. My dad sells drills, my mom works at a bank, so when I first got that letter, I thought it was a prank. I can't believe it's real! Hogwarts... I still feel like I'm dreaming."
"I'm half and half — what wizards call mixed blood." Said the golden-haired Ryan, "My dad's a wizard, my mom's a Muggle. She was quite shocked when she found out the truth."
"That's natural for people who haven't been exposed to magic." Michael said, "You probably can't imagine — when Professor Quirrell appeared at our house, my parents nearly called the police. He just suddenly appeared right in front of us, talking about something called trans... moving?"
"Apparition." Kyle quietly corrected from the side.
"Right, exactly, Apparition!" Michael's eyes brightened as he looked over, "Hey, I remember you — you're Kyle Chopper, the one who took twenty minutes to be sorted, right?"
"That's right, nice to meet you all." Kyle replied.
"Can you tell us what happened?" Michael asked curiously, "Why did your sorting take so long — twenty minutes, longer than all the other first-years combined?"
"It was nothing special." Kyle said after a moment's thought, "The Sorting Hat just couldn't decide where to put me, couldn't make up its mind."
"Oh, I see." Michael remarked, "You must be really exceptional to make that hat think for so long."
Kyle just smiled without saying anything.
He was exceptional, that was certain, but it had nothing to do with the Sorting Hat. And if Michael knew the real reason for the Sorting Hat's indecision, he probably wouldn't say that.
For the next while, Michael chatted non-stop as if he'd been injected with caffeine. He bounced from topic to topic — Diagon Alley to Gringotts, then from Gringotts to choosing wands — never taking a break. Becoming a wizard had clearly filled him with joy.
At first, Kyle and Ryan managed to contribute to the conversation, but gradually, only Michael's voice remained in the dormitory.
It couldn't be helped. After the feast and more than ten hours on the train, it was remarkable they were still awake at all.
Kyle wanted to chat more with his roommates to build friendships, but his cozy bed proved too tempting — he fell asleep without even noticing.
Ryan, in the next bed over, had dozed off even more quickly; he hadn't made a sound for the past five minutes.
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