Hogwarts: I Am an Ex Chapter 10: Cedric

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Cedric

After Kael got on the train, the first few compartnts were almost full.

No choice, since he got on at the last minute, finding an empty seat wasn’t easy.

Kael used a Levitating Spell to carry his luggage and walked to the end, finally finding a relatively spacious compartnt at the back of the train.

There was only one boy in the compartnt, about the sa age as him. In terms of looks... though not as handso as himself, he definitely was better looking than the two Weasley twins.

"Knock knock..."

Kael knocked on the compartnt door, politely asking, "Hi, can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"Of course, make yourself comfortable," the boy quickly responded.

"Thank you."

Once inside the compartnt, Kael first placed his luggage on the rack, then extended a hand to the other.

"Hello, I’m a new student this year, Kael Chopper."

The boy seed to be lost in thought and didn’t respond imdiately. After realizing, he quickly extended his hand and said, "Oh... sorry, Cedric Digory, second-year at Hogwarts."

Cedric?

Kael was a bit surprised, not expecting to et a "familiar face" as soon as he boarded the train. A future Hogwarts Champion, no wonder he’s so handso.

Kael rembered that they both lived near Ottery St Catchpole, but due to various reasons, they had never t before.

Not even once.

Kael had tried to visit him a few tis initially, but the Digory residence always had its doors closed. Over ti, Kael gave up.

Unexpectedly, their first eting was on the train...

But Kael noticed that the other seed preoccupied, so he didn’t say much else. After a brief greeting, he took out the book "Ordinary Spells and Counterasures" he bought from Flourish and Blotts and started reading.

The other continued daydreaming.

Soti later, light rain began falling outside the window. It was always like this here, rain ca and went without warning.

Kael glanced out the window but wasn’t bothered; he was long used to it and even enjoyed reading in such weather.

Influenced by Kael, Cedric stopped daydreaming and also took out a book to read. From the cover, it seed to be "Dark Power: Self-defense Guide."

Studying Defense Against the Dark Arts on the train ride to school was entirely normal for Hogwarts students.

After all, no one knew how long this year’s professor would last — it wouldn’t hurt to study ahead, just in case they were gone after a couple of classes.

For a while, the only sounds in the compartnt were the rustling of parchnt, starkly contrasting the noise from the corridor outside.

But this quiet didn’t last long.

Cedric hadn’t even read two pages when the compartnt door opened again.

"Finally found you, Kael."

"We saved you a seat, but you stood us up, leaving us waiting like idiots all this ti."

"I think you owe us an apology."

Fred and George leaned against the doorway, questioning Kael sentence by sentence.

Both wore expressions of anger, as if Kael had committed a heinous act.

"I can apologize."

Kael calmly closed his book and said, "But only if you swear on a Dungbomb to prove what you said is true."

Instantly, the anger on Fred’s face turned to hesitation: "Uh, can I swear on the headmaster’s na?"

George was the sa: "Or with Professor McGonagall’s?"

"No!" Kael shook his head. "Only on a Dungbomb."

...

"Oh, George, I think Kael might be riding the Hogwarts Express for the first ti and is unfamiliar with it, which is why he couldn’t find us."

"Yes, Fred, we can’t bla him. We should pay more attention outside."

The twins exchanged a look, tacitly choosing to ignore their previous statents, squeezing into the compartnt as if nothing had happened.

Unavoidably, they spotted Cedric too.

Fred gave a mischievous grin and said, "Look who it is, now why can’t I rember?"

George raised an eyebrow and said, "Of course, it’s our Hogwarts’ good boy, the pride of Hufflepuff, Cedric Digory."

As soon as they finished speaking, Cedric’s face flushed red, nearly causing him to imprint a dent in the train from embarrassnt thanks to those cringe-worthy titles.

But he couldn’t argue back.

Because those titles, "good boy" and "the pride of Hufflepuff