Hogwarts: I'm Truly a Model Wizard

Harry had many questions, but Dumbledore answered each one with patience.

Before long, Kyle located Madam Pomfrey and requested to be discharged. Although a bit reluctant, she agreed after another examination, confirming Kyle truly had no lingering issues.

As he left the Hospital Wing, Kyle glanced at the still-soulless Niffler, smiled, and took a handful of glittering gem shards from his Mokeskin pouch. He scattered them across the courtyard, watching as they sparkled in the sunlight. These were the Fire Crab gems he had collected. After learning Occlumency in Newt's suitcase, he'd ventured into a Fire Crab lair to gather plenty of these smaller gem shards to make his map appear more valuable. Though the shards were smaller than the gems Dumbledore had, Kyle had amassed quite a lot. When scattered, they glittered like stars on a dark night.

The moment Kyle released the gems, the Niffler, with its eyes fully restored, sprang into action, eagerly gathering every shard from the ground. Kyle sat beside him, resting his chin in his hands, and glanced up in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

Kyle wasn't surprised that he hadn't managed to steal the Philosopher's Stone. In fact, he had anticipated this outcome. After all, the Stone was the one thing that could allow Voldemort to regain a body, and Dumbledore would never let it slip from his control.

What did surprise Kyle was Dumbledore's willingness to help him expand his suitcase. Honestly, he hadn't expected much; he'd thought Dumbledore would dismiss the idea. Instead, after only a brief hesitation, Dumbledore had agreed. It was an unexpected windfall. This meant Kyle no longer needed to attempt the suitcase expansion himself, which saved him a lot of time. He had originally planned to use his vacation to enlarge the suitcase's interior a bit more—an endeavor that required releasing the Undetectable Extension Charm for two months in a row, a task he found unbearably tedious.

Soon, the Niffler finished collecting every gem and scurried back to Kyle's side. A true treasure hunter, the Niffler hadn't missed a single gem, and in the process, had even found two copper Knuts hidden in the most unlikely spots. Still, he seemed a bit dissatisfied until Kyle handed him a leaf transfigured into the likeness of the Philosopher's Stone. The little creature's face lit up immediately.

In a way, Nifflers were easy to please.

...

When Kyle returned to the castle, he happened upon Fred and George, who were about to leave and each holding a large, beautifully wrapped box.

"Kyle?" Fred looked a bit surprised. "We were just about to go see you."

"How come you're better so soon?" George wondered.

"I was never really sick," Kyle replied. "The visit to the Hospital Wing was just a formality. It was Potter who had the real problem."

"Oh... I'm sorry," George murmured, looking down at the box he was holding. "We got you a present..."

"It's fine," Fred said. "Go on, open it and see if you like it."

Sorry? Did he actually just say that?

Kyle gave them an expressionless look and made no move to accept the box from Fred. This wasn't his first encounter with the twins, and he could tell from the mischievous glint in their eyes that whatever was in that box was unlikely to be a genuine gift.

"How did you know I was in the Hospital Wing?" Kyle asked, changing the subject.

"Actually, it wasn't just us…" Fred, realizing they couldn't easily fool Kyle, took the box back, deciding they'd give it to Harry later instead.

"It's all over Hogwarts," George explained. "Quirrell tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone, but a few brave young wizards caught him and managed to stop him after getting past loads of obstacles."

"Kyle, you borrowed the Marauder's Map just so you could go down to the underground chamber, didn't you…" Fred mused.

"A Three-Headed Dog… A moving Wizard Chessboard… Death Eaters… Fiendfyre… By Merlin's socks! This adventure's richer than everything we've done over the past ten years combined."

"You really should have asked us!" George said with a touch of regret. "Even our little brother Ron got involved, but we were left out…"

"Next time, for sure, next time," Kyle said, waving his hand dismissively.

Fred and George couldn't help feeling Kyle was merely humoring them.

"So it's settled. You'll definitely include us next time," George reminded him. "Otherwise, you're getting the same Christmas present every year—a quill."

"And it'll be the cheapest one we can find," Fred added.

"That's just mean," Kyle laughed, shaking his head.

Fred and George quickly headed off; they still wanted to find Harry and give him their carefully prepared present.

Once they were gone, Kyle was soon surrounded by another group of people who had also heard about what had happened in the underground chamber and were eager for details. Kyle finally managed to slip away from the crowd of curious students, but when he reached the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room, he realized someone else was waiting for him.

"I knew you'd be heading back to the dorms," Hermione said. "So I thought I'd wait here in advance."

"There were too many people back there, and we couldn't get through," Ron muttered.

Hermione shot him a glare.

"Alright... what do you want to know?" Kyle asked, sounding resigned. "But make it quick. I really don't want to keep repeating myself."

"How's Harry…?"

"How did you get past the barriers…?"

The two asked simultaneously.

"Potter's fine," Kyle answered, looking at Hermione. "When I left, he was talking to Dumbledore. You can go see him if you like, but Madam Pomfrey may not be too happy about it."

"As for the obstacles…" Kyle turned to Ron. "With the right approach, they're not too hard to get through. For instance, about the winged keys, you could use a Bowtruckle or a master key to open the door directly, without having to catch any keys."

"Oh…" Ron moaned, looking disappointed. They had been so proud of their efforts to find the right key, and here Kyle was, telling him it hadn't even been necessary.

"And about the Enchanted Chess Board…" Ron began, but Hermione cut him off.

"Don't ask, Ron. Of course Kyle would have no trouble with those tests," she said, a bit impatiently. "We have to hurry to the Hospital Wing to see Harry, or else Madam Pomfrey might not let us in if there are too many people."

"Yes, you're right. I almost forgot."

After thanking Kyle, the two of them quickly hurried off toward the Hospital Wing.