After a while, Fred and George came over too, and the compartment was getting a bit crowded.
"Why can't Hogwarts just get the train a bigger compartment?" Fred couldn't help complaining.
"I heard the Prefect compartment is big enough and a lot comfier too," George said with a grin. "Too bad not a single one of us is a Prefect."
"I mean, Percy's going to be a Prefect next year, right?" Kael suddenly chimed in.
Fred frowned, as if Kael had just said Quidditch was getting canceled next year instead of Percy becoming a Prefect.
"As much as I don't want to admit it... probably, yeah."
George said, "I bet if that happens, Percy's going to wear that Prefect Badge all summer long."
As he spoke, he slapped a Chocolate Frog Card onto his chest, imitating Percy, and strutted around once in the corridor outside their compartment.
His ridiculous moves and over-the-top facial expressions sent everyone into fits of laughter.
When it comes to livening up the mood, the Weasley brothers never disappoint.
The group played a few more rounds of Exploding Snap, and Cho brought up that letter and asked if they really couldn't use any magic during the holidays.
"Actually, you can use magic, as long as there's an adult wizard around,"
Fred explained, "That way the Ministry of Magic can't tell who exactly did the magic."
Cho frowned, "Better not then."
...
The train passed more and more towns, and Kael and the others swapped out their wizard's robes for jackets and T-shirts.
Finally, the train pulled into Platform 9¾ at King's Cross Station.
To avoid attracting the attention of Muggles, a skinny old guard stood at the barrier, only letting two or three people out at a time.
Luckily, the train wasn't too crowded this time, so after saying goodbye to Conna, Kael and friends quickly went through the wall.
Since Conna had to take the Knight Bus home, she didn't need to leave the station.
The group headed for the exit back to the Muggle world.
Cho's dad had come to pick her up. He was a kind-looking man from the East, warmly greeting Kael and the others and inviting them to visit their house over the summer.
But Kael caught a hint of caution in his eyes, especially toward himself and Cedric.
"Kael, run!"
Right then, little Ginny from the Weasley family dashed over, looking anxious as she said, "Did you get in trouble at school? Mum's been furious the whole way here. You'd better run for it, or you'll be too late!"
"Thanks for the heads-up, Ginny." Kael ruffled the girl's hair and sighed dramatically, "But it's already too late now."
Because the moment Ginny shouted his name, Mrs. Weasley was already marching over, fuming with anger.
"Mate, you're on your own now."
"We'll always remember you."
Fred and George shamelessly jumped aside, looking like they were grabbing popcorn to watch the show.
"You actually followed a Dark Wizard into the Forbidden Forest!" Mrs. Weasley stormed up to Kael, snapping, "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"
Diana was right behind her, face all stern and serious.
Kael lowered his head immediately and said, "I was wrong, and I promise I'll never do it again!"
As he spoke, he quickly pulled out the report card he had prepared earlier from his pocket.
"Whatever you're trying to pull, it won't work this time. Doing something so dangerous, you—"
But after one glance at the report card, Mrs. Weasley found herself at a loss for words.
Full marks... full marks...
Almost every subject was a perfect score, and the only one that wasn't was just one point off. Not even Bill managed that back in his day.
"Merlin..." Mrs. Weasley wiped her hands on her clothes and carefully took the report card.
"Kael, you're definitely going to be Head Boy one day!" Mrs. Weasley said with a look of pure relief.
Then she looked up at the Weasley brothers next to her and said, "Your report cards—hand them over. Let me have a look."
Fred and George's grins froze on their faces; they badly wanted to claim they'd lost them.
But they knew if they tried that, Mrs. Weasley would definitely write to Hogwarts, and if they handed them over now... there was no guarantee they'd get out of King's Cross Station alive.
Seeing the two of them just standing there, Mrs. Weasley's stare grew sharper.
"Mum, our report cards are in our trunks," Fred blurted out, "It's not convenient here. We'll show you at home."
"We've also got newspapers in our trunks. What if the Muggles see them?"
Looking at all the people coming and going around them, Mrs. Weasley figured it made sense, so she didn't insist.
"Let's head home, then."
Just then, Kael walked over to Diana.
Diana's expression was still strict, but she wasn't scolding him like Mrs. Weasley.
She looked at Kael's hand and asked, "How many times did you use it?"
Kael knew she meant how many times he used Apparition, so he held up his hand, "Once."
His ring originally had three crescent moon marks on it, but now one was missing.
Diana's face softened a lot. If he only used it once, things couldn't have gotten too out of hand.
Kael asked nervously, "Can it be fixed?"
He remembered Diana mentioning in a letter that if he didn't want to take the train, he could Apparate home directly.
If it's not a big deal to use it as a way of getting home, it should be reusable, right?
Turns out he was right.
Diana nodded, "It can, but it's a bit troublesome—it'll take about a week."
Kael breathed a sigh of relief. Honestly, a week's fine. Even a month would be okay. He didn't need it anytime soon anyway.
...
Just like when they came, Mr. Weasley drove the car enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm, taking everyone back to Ottery St Catchpole.
On the way, the smiles on Fred and George's faces had completely disappeared. It was like the car wasn't taking them home, but heading straight for the execution ground.
Back at the Shabby Residence, Percy whipped out his report card first thing, and unsurprisingly, he was top of the fourth year.
Mrs. Weasley gave him a big hug, and if she hadn't seen Kael's report card first, she'd probably have been even happier.
Then she turned to Fred and George…
Kael stood on the side with his arms crossed, looking forward to what would happen next. But just then, Diana pulled him away.
On the way home, two miserable screams suddenly echoed through the air, loud and clear, ringing over Ottery St Catchpole for a long time.
...