On the way back, Kanna couldn't help but say, "After all, beetles are so common, and they won't arouse other people's suspicion. She must have used this to eavesdrop on many people's secrets."

"That's for sure." Kyle nodded.

Rita Skeeter was so nervous just now, probably because she knew too much...

In other words, if the news that she could turn into a beetle spread, many people who had done bad things would be unable to sleep or eat.

For example, the names she just mentioned.

Ludobagman Kell could guess that it was probably related to gold galleons.

When the Quidditch World Cup came around, Mr. Weasley placed a Galleon bet on Ireland to win, but he still hasn't paid the prize money.

But Mr. Weasley himself didn't care too much about this, and didn't ask Bagman for it. According to him, it was just paying for the ticket.

But Kyle was not sure about the story between the other two names she mentioned... Fudge and Dolores Umbridge.

If you think about it, the Minister of Magic and the Senior Deputy Minister, their secrets must be very explosive.

To be honest, Kyle was quite curious. If he had the chance, he could try to find out more indirectly and get some real information.

Of course, the prerequisite is that Hagrid's problem needs to be resolved first...

"By the way, Kyle, how did you know that Rita Skeeter was the beetle..." Connor asked curiously when they came to the kitchen corridor.

"It's very simple..." Kyle pointed at his robe, "Because I often come into contact with Norbert, the smell of dragons is inevitably left on my clothes. So under normal circumstances, those insects would never land on me... unless it is an Animagus.

“Also, if you look closely, you’ll notice that the pattern on that beetle’s body is very similar to Rita Skeeter’s hairstyle.”

"I know this," Connor said. "Professor McGonagall mentioned that the animals that Animagus transforms into always retain some of the characteristics of wizards, just like the cat she transforms into has frame patterns around its eyes."

"That's right." Kyle nodded. "But generally speaking, few people would notice this, especially the smaller the animal, and even if they noticed it, it would be difficult to link it to the corresponding person..."

When they returned to the Hufflepuff common room, there were already many people there. Everyone was sitting in the soft armchairs, chatting and playing wizard chess. The common room was noisy.

Kyle had never experienced such a lively Christmas holiday before, and he was a little uncomfortable for a while.

"Where have you been?" Cedric came over. "I was just discussing with Cho what we can do to cheer Hagrid up again. Do you have any ideas?"

"Maybe this is not necessary." Kyle and Kanna looked at each other, and explained to him what had just happened with a smile.

Cedric also expressed surprise upon hearing that Rita Skeeter was an Animagus.

"I see. Fortunately you found her," said Cedric. Then he frowned slightly. "But the question is, are you sure that Rita Skeeter will speak well of Hagrid in the newspaper?"

I don’t know if it was a psychological effect, but when he said this, Cedric subconsciously looked around, as if to check if there were any bugs here.

"I'm sure she will." Kyle shook the camera in his hand.

After all, he had already hinted that he would only help conceal the photo that recorded the entire process of her transformation if he was in a good mood.

Whether he was in a good mood or not depended entirely on what the next Daily Prophet said about Hagrid.

Kyle believed that Rita Skeeter was a smart person and must understand what he meant. Otherwise, she would not have been able to jump around like nothing happened for so long after reporting so many infuriating reports.

"Great, you're all here." At this moment, Fleur and her sister Gabrielle also came over.

After getting Professor Sprout's consent to move here, Furong suddenly found that this place was even better than she had imagined.

She initially moved here just because of Kanna, but unexpectedly she made a lot of new friends here...real friends.

Gabrielle came later, and gradually, unless it was necessary, they rarely went back to Beauxbatons' carriage.

It was the same this time. They couldn't wait to come back right after Christmas.

"Kyle, how is your research on those stones going?" Furong sat on a chair and asked, "We are about to start the second project. Have you found the secret in the stones?"

"No," Kyle shrugged. "Believe it or not, I haven't touched those rocks since the first project. They're probably still in a corner somewhere."

"What did you say?" Furong was a little surprised.

If it were someone else, such as Krum, she would definitely not believe such an excuse and would just think that the other party did not want to disclose the information.

But Kyle... To be honest, she seemed to have never seen Kyle take out the stone. In his free time, he would play wizard chess with Cedric or his two roommates.

"Why do you suddenly think of asking this?" Kyle said, "There are still two months before the second project starts. Is it necessary to be so anxious?"

"It was Ms. Maxime." Furong hesitated for a moment, but did not choose to hide it. She said openly, "She told me that you might have known the clues about the stone, and that you left school with a professor to prepare for the competition."

"She must be talking about Professor Black." Kyle thought for a moment and explained, "We left school because we had some personal matters to attend to. It has nothing to do with the competition."

"I do," said Fleur, "but Madame Maxime insisted that I ask, and so I came.

"But Kyle, are you really not going to study those stones? We have time now, so we can do it together."

"Yeah, we can help too." Connor said beside her, and Cedric nodded immediately.

"Ah, I can't. You guys can study it." Kyle said, "I think it's better to increase the difficulty. Otherwise, if the game is too simple, it will be boring... Cedric, do you want to play a game of wizard chess?"

As soon as the words fell, the entire common room suddenly fell silent.

The people who were chatting stopped talking, the people who were playing chess held the chess piece and forgot to put it on the board, and everyone turned their heads and looked at Kyle with disbelief.

Especially Hibiscus.

She rubbed her ears, as if she didn't hear clearly, and asked word by word: "You said... the game is easy?"

"Yeah." Kyle, who was placing the chess pieces, said casually, "It's pretty simple, don't you think?"

"I'm so sorry, I don't think so." Fleur said through gritted teeth.

It’s hard to describe the look on her face right now… in short, it’s very ugly. If half-blooded veela could also transform, she would probably grow a pointed beak and feathers in the next second.

She was almost driven crazy by the wandering balls in the second level. In the end, she drained all her magic power and smashed most of the wandering balls before she barely passed the level.

Not to mention the fire dragon in the third level... He was hit by the tail of the Hungarian Tree Peak, his arm was broken on the spot, and nearly one-third of his hair, which he had carefully maintained, was burned by the dragon flame.

If she hadn't dodged quickly, she would have been the first warrior to fail to complete the race.

What about Kyle? This dangerous game, is it easy? Is that human language? Furong gasped and finally suppressed the urge to curse. Then she stood up without saying a word and turned away.

Although she knew that Kyle had easily passed the level and even almost got full marks, it was a bit too irritating to say so bluntly that the competition was easy...

Furong secretly swore in her heart that if she came to Kyle to discuss the stone again, she would be a leprechaun, and the ugliest one.

…

"What happened to her?" Kyle asked puzzledly as he watched Furong leave.

"Well... I think..." Cedric faltered, "Sometimes you can be a little more tactful. After all, she worked very hard to pass those three levels."

"Oh... sorry, I forgot." Kyle patted his forehead, "Do you think it's too late for me to apologize now?"

"I think it's best not to go." Cedric smacked his lips. "She probably won't listen to anything you say. She might even beat you up."

"That's true." Kyle scratched his hair.

…

(End of this chapter)