Looking at these five Mooncalves, Kyle thought back to what happened last night.
He had lost track of time practicing spells in the Room of Requirement, emerging well into the night. After repeating the same motions for hours with little progress, he felt irritable and decided to clear his mind with a walk. He slipped out of the castle through the secret passage behind the first-floor tapestry.
Though he had only meant to visit the Quidditch pitch, he wandered off course, lost in thought. When Kyle finally looked up, he found himself near the Mooncalves' den.
It must have been fate. Since he was already there, it wouldn't make sense to leave empty-handed.
These five Mooncalves were the ones Kyle had coaxed from the Forbidden Forest — a task that proved surprisingly simple.
Mooncalves are gentle magical creatures. Though they initially hid in their burrow at the sight of Kyle, once he started swaying in the moonlight, they began poking their heads out one by one.
Encouraged, he put more effort into his movements. He had learned from Newt that mimicking the Mooncalves' dance was the quickest way to gain their trust.
Kyle was just a beginner, so his results were mediocre. Newt, on the other hand, could have entranced an entire herd of female Mooncalves — quite ridiculous, really.
Though the dance moves were rather embarrassing, it was the middle of the night and no one else was around, otherwise he would never have done it.
Absolutely never!
{T/N: But now we all know...}
After his short dance, the Mooncalves gradually accepted him and emerged from their burrow. He offered them herb leaves and began bonding with them.
Perhaps due to their frequent interactions with Hagrid, these Forbidden Forest Mooncalves showed almost no caution. When Kyle promised them all the dittany leaves they could eat, the five little gluttons couldn't resist approaching.
He had originally planned to take just two, but their big watery eyes made it impossible to leave any behind. Besides, he could afford the herb leaves to feed them all.
The initial process went smoothly. Under his guidance, the Mooncalves followed him quietly out of the Forbidden Forest.
The real challenge was getting them to the Room of Requirement.
Since the Invisibility Cloak could only cover one Mooncalf at a time, Kyle had to make five separate trips through the secret passage behind the tapestry. By the time he got the last Mooncalf into the Room of Requirement, dawn had already broken.
His legs trembling, Kyle collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath. It took him quite a while to recover.
But it was all worth it — with these five Mooncalves, the plant fertilizer problem was solved completely.
Kyle was satisfied with the condition of the little creatures. Though they seemed scared, that was normal — as long as they weren't crying to return home, everything was fine.
After they lived here longer, they would surely adjust.
✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭
After leaving the Room of Requirement, Kyle went to the kitchen, packed some food, and brought it to Hagrid's hut.
The half-giant's cold hadn't improved, and he looked utterly drained of energy.
"I brought you some scones and sausages." Kyle said, placing the items on a shelf.
"Thank you, Kyle."
Hagrid picked up the copper kettle to pour water, but spilled half of it, leaving him dejected.
"I've never had a cold before." He handed the water to Kyle and said, "Yesterday, Poppy gave me a huge barrel of potion to drink. It tasted awful."
"Can't be helped — that's just how it is when you're sick." Kyle said after taking a sip, "How are you feeling? Any better?"
"Even worse." Hagrid shook his head.
Yesterday he had only felt dizzy, but after drinking the potion, his whole body felt unwell, and he couldn't muster any energy. This state made him very uncomfortable.
Kyle looked at him with confusion, "Didn't Madam Pomfrey give you any Pepperup Potion?"
Pepperup Potion was the hospital wing's go-to cold medicine — Cedric and Ryan had taken it when they caught colds. Though it made steam come out of your ears, it didn't cause the kind of lethargy Hagrid was experiencing.
After all, students still had classes to attend — they couldn't afford to be without energy.
"Pepperup Potion? No." Hagrid thought for a moment, "Poppy said it wasn't suitable for me. She gave me some other potion instead — I don't know what it was."
Kyle had a moment of realization.
That made sense — given his size, regular Pepperup Potion or cold medicine wouldn't have much effect on him.
Thinking about this, he suddenly remembered something and looked at Hagrid again.
This state — like being drunk — the more he looked at it, the more familiar it seemed. About a year ago, a Graphorn in Newt's case had caught a cold. When the old man gave it his special potion, the creature had ended up in exactly this state.
This... Kyle pursed his lips, feeling like he had discovered something extraordinary.
✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭
The train arrived right on schedule, reaching Hogwarts before the feast.
The castle became lively again.
Fred and George found Kyle as soon as they returned to the castle.
"Why didn't you tell us you weren't going home for the holidays!" Fred said through gritted teeth, "When Mum didn't see you, she took it all out on us!"
"She thought we had bullied you." George said angrily, "She didn't give us a kind look the entire holiday."
"Do you know what these two weeks were like for us?" Fred became increasingly aggrieved, "On Christmas Day, even Ron got to eat delicious turkey and sausages, while George and I could only eat those dry sandwiches!"
"This is all because of you!"
The two of them cornered Kyle against the wall with stern faces, clearly not planning to let him leave without an explanation.
"I told you guys, the day before we left." Kyle said with his hands raised above his head, "You were examining a suit of armor in the fifth-floor corridor."
"The day before we left?"
"Fifth floor?"
Fred and George's expressions suddenly turned sheepish.
They remembered they had indeed been to the fifth floor before leaving and had seen Kyle there. But at the time, they had just discovered the Marauder's Map password clue behind the armor and hadn't paid any attention to what he was saying.
The two exchanged a glance, seemingly reaching some kind of understanding.
"This is still your fault — why didn't you write to us!"
"We ate sandwiches for two weeks — we can't just let this go!"
✭✭✭
T/N: If you want more chapters like this, check out my Patreon! Take a look at my other translations too, you might like them!
For just $1.50 you can access all the extra content, and descriptive images, costs only $2!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1305453