It was already evening when Kyle returned to St. Catchpole Village. After completing his journey with the door key and dropping down from mid-air, he was greeted by a group waiting for him.
Chris, who seed to know in advance that Kyle would be back, was standing by the door.
"Dumbledore wrote to let us know you'd be coming ho today," Chris said with a smile. "But I didn't expect it to be this late."
"I was supposed to be here in the afternoon, but sothing ca up and delayed ."
"That's alright. You're just in ti for dinner," Chris replied, opening the door for him.
Kyle had barely stepped inside and hadn't even had a chance to grab a drink before Chris eagerly asked, "So, tell , what's Nicolas Flal like? I imagine... he must be a serious and disciplined scholar."
"Er... more or less," Kyle replied, though his expression turned a little wry. Discipline? Hard to say.
Throughout his stay, Nicolas had donned horn-rimd glasses, colorful floral shirts, and loose shorts, typically lounging back in a chair listening to opera. In his own way, that was a sort of discipline.
"Dad, haven't you ever t Nicolas before?" Kyle asked.
"No," Chris shook his head, adding with a playful smile, "I'm not like you, receiving the Order of rlin at twelve."
As he inquired further, Kyle offered only vague answers, wanting to preserve Nicolas's mystique, then made an excuse about putting away his luggage and hurried upstairs.
His room was filled with neatly wrapped birthday gifts, all of which had arrived days earlier. Since Kyle had been staying with Nicolas, the owls delivering them hadn't been able to find him, so they'd ended up here instead. But now was not the ti to start unwrapping them...
Just then, Ratton flew in through the open window, and the voices of Fred and George echoed up from outside.
"Kyle, are you back?"
"Co on out! We've got soone with us!"
Kyle leaned out of his window and spotted a small figure standing behind them.
"Potter?"
"That's right," said Fred with a grin. "We freed him from his cage."
"In Dad's flying car."
"It was incredible, but too bad you missed it."
Behind them, Harry waved cheerfully up at Kyle. Ron had been right; his family was certainly close to Kyle. And while his ho wasn't quite as peculiar as The Burrow, it still had its own charm.
Soon, with Kyle's invitation, Harry followed Fred and George into the house. The large living room was even more spacious than the Dursleys'. But before Harry could properly take it in, he saw Fred and George already dashing up the stairs, leaving him to follow in their wake.
As soon as they reached the upstairs floor, Fred and George barged into Kyle's room, theatrically scolding him.
"Kyle, you said you'd only be gone a few days..."
"But it's been a whole month..."
"Do you have any idea what we've been through!"
"Playing Quidditch in the common room, annoying Percy, and pranking Ron?" Kyle replied calmly, "Or were you hiding away in your room to work on the Skiving Snackbox? I'm sure Mrs. Weasley doesn't know you've stashed it under your bed."
Fred and George exchanged a quick glance before grinning.
"Haha, Kyle, you're mistaken..."
"We actually hid it under Ron's bed."
Beside Harry, Ron's eyes widened in disbelief. His cheeks flushed as he spluttered, "You never told !"
No wonder Fred and George had been sneaking into his room recently and even letting him borrow their broom—it had all been a cover! Ron thought they were just being nice, but now he realized it was just a sche.
"Co on, Ron, it was only temporary," Fred said with a laugh.
Ron's face turned stormy. "No way! What if Mum finds out? Take it out of there now!"
"If you insist..." George sighed dramatically. "You're our little brother, and you won't even help us with this tiny favor. It's heartbreaking, really."
Fred nodded solemnly. "We were even planning to get you a present when school starts, but now, well... forget it."
"Fine, fine!" Ron's face grew redder as he mumbled sothing under his breath, almost as if he wanted to retract his words, but before he could, Fred and George had already dashed off, cackling as they left the room.
While the twins raced off, Harry's gaze drifted over the neatly wrapped gifts piled in Kyle's room. He noticed several of the packages marked with "Happy Birthday" labels and froze, looking over at Ron.
"Ron... you should've told it was Kyle's birthday today. I didn't have ti to get him anything."
"Oh, no," Ron shook his head, snapping out of his embarrassnt. "Actually, Kyle's birthday was a few days ago—July 31st."
"July 31st? Wait, that's my—"
"Yeah, Kyle and you have the sa birthday," Ron said, frowning. "Didn't I tell you before?"
"Never..." Harry muttered, though he had a vague sense he'd heard it sowhere.
"Oh! I rember—it was Hagrid!" Harry said, clapping his hands together. "When he first took to Diagon Alley, he ntioned that him and I share a birthday."
"What are you two whispering about?" Kyle asked, noticing them.
"Nothing..." Harry replied quickly. "But Kyle, you weren't ho before. How did your presents get here? Did House-elves intercept them or sothing?"
"House-elves? Not quite," Kyle replied with a chuckle. "It's just that where I was staying was... a little hard for the owls to locate, that's all."
"But speaking of presents..." Kyle pulled out two small boxes from his pocket and tossed them to Harry and Ron. "Here, these are for you. I made them myself."
Harry and Ron caught the boxes eagerly. Harry's box held a badge.
"It's waterproof and moisture-resistant," Kyle explained. "You can wear it in the rain during Quidditch without any problems." He'd originally planned it for Fred and George, but it would work just as well for Harry—and making another one wouldn't be hard.
"Thanks, this is amazing!" Harry pinned the badge on at once, already planning to buy Kyle a gift the next ti he went to Diagon Alley.
Ron's box contained a special quill pen that Kyle had designed just for him—one that automatically replenished its ink. It would make howork much faster and free up more ti for fun. Yet, for so reason, Ron didn't look quite as thrilled about it.
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