When Kyle came out of the principal's office, it was already afternoon. The weather was still gloomy and the continuous rain showed no sign of stopping.

Kyle stood in the corridor on the eighth floor for a while, staring at the rain curtain outside in a daze.

He was very curious about what exactly the disagreement between Dumbledore and Snape had been about. Was it because of Malfoy's recent behavior?

Or is it related to Connor, or maybe... Snape is tired of his double undercover identity between Hogwarts and the Death Eaters and wants to return to normal life?

All of these are possible.

But no matter which one it was, what is certain is that he did not get Dumbledore's support, otherwise the two of them would not be so angry.

But Kyle guessed that it was most likely Malfoy, after all, he was dancing the most happily now...

And Connor... To be honest, unless Dumbledore wanted her to join the Order of the Phoenix but Snape insisted on not agreeing, other than that, she could make her own decisions on everything else.

Moreover, Kyle didn't think Dumbledore would insist on letting a newly graduated witch join the Order of the Phoenix, nor was there any need for it.

As for returning to the life of an ordinary wizard... before the threat of Voldemort is completely eliminated, this is probably just a dream of Snape, just think about it.

"Draco Malfoy..." Kyle muttered.

At this time, a group of first-grade wizards ran up the stairs, chasing each other, and the noisy laughter brought Kyle back to his senses.

Perhaps they didn't expect that there was a seventh-grade student standing here. The little wizards were frightened and stopped where they were.

One boy even dropped a Quidditch player model on the ground out of fear.

"Don't be afraid, I'm not Filch. I won't deduct points for talking loudly in the corridor." Kyle said, pointing at the broken model with his hand.

"Recovered as before."

"...Thank you." The boy's face flushed with excitement, as if he had seen some amazing magic.

To be honest, in the eyes of first-year students, especially those of Muggle origin, being able to use the Restoration Charm without a wand is indeed an amazing magic.

After hearing what they said, Kyle didn't think about anything else. He left the eighth floor and went straight back to the Hufflepuff common room.

Although Kyle always felt as if he had something else to say to Dumbledore, he only paused for a moment and continued walking downstairs.

Never mind, it probably isn't important.

…

Because not many people knew about it, the news that Slughorn and Ron were drugged did not spread, and everyone remained the same as before.

Dumbledore has left school again, and he has become increasingly busy recently as the activities of the Death Eaters have become more frequent.

But these seemed to have nothing to do with Hogwarts. Thanks to the efforts of the professors, there was no sense of danger in Hogwarts at all, and everyone's attention was on the Quidditch game the next day.

This time it was a match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, who were old rivals.

Although Harry had a Firebolt, because Gryffindor lost a key player and the two beaters had a poor performance in the last game, their support rate was not as high as expected.

Most people are still optimistic about Slytherin. Even though the quality of their new players in the past two years is not that good, they have stable performances. The three chasers are all veterans with more than three years of experience and have good cooperation.

And more importantly, they are all big guys, like a wrestling team, and sometimes a strong body can be considered an advantage.

On the morning of the competition, Kyle and Connor came to the auditorium for breakfast.

As soon as he came in, he saw two groups of people confronting each other... It was not Harry and Malfoy, but Ron and Slytherin's chaser Vasey.

"What happened?" Kyle asked in a low voice.

"Oh, it's the Slytherin Weasley song." Ryan, who arrived here early, said, "Harper was organizing the chorus and happened to be caught."

'The Weasley Song', a song that mocks Ron and tortures his mentality. The lyrics change every month, but without exception, they are all related to Ron.

Since last year, Slytherin has sung it several times almost every time there is a match against Gryffindor, and the effect is particularly good.

Whenever Ron gets nervous, he keeps losing the ball like a big leaky net.

This time, Slytherin probably wants to use the same method to weaken Gryffindor's strength.

However... today's situation is a little different from what they expected.

Just as Ryan finished speaking, Kyle saw Crabbe in the crowd tilt his body, as if he slipped on something, and fell heavily on the man in front of him.

Then the other person knocked down another person.

Now, things changed rapidly in a direction that Kyle couldn't understand.

Although only one person fell, all the Slytherins standing together were affected one after another.

In almost the blink of an eye, all these people fell to the ground, entangled with each other, and let out bursts of painful howls.

Among them, Vasai was pressed at the bottom, his whole face almost turned purple. He kept waving his arms, trying to push away the others.

Ron laughed out loud when he saw this scene.

"Weren't you singing happily just now? Why don't you sing anymore..."

He walked briskly to the Gryffindor table, and Lavender followed happily beside him, looking at him with admiration.

"Oh, they made up so quickly?" Neville came over from behind and said with some surprise.

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked.

"You don't know." He said, "Just now, Ron and Lavender had a big quarrel in the common room, it seemed to be because of Romilda Vane. Lavender was very angry at the time, and Ron didn't explain, just kept saying it was a misunderstanding.

"I thought they would continue to quarrel, but they reconciled in less than 20 minutes. It's really... magical?"

Neville shook his head, not really knowing how to describe it.

Kyle also found it quite magical, but he didn't take it too seriously. Perhaps Ron was telling the truth.

People who often take love drugs know that the feeling is out of control and there is no need to feel strange about anything they do.

The two of them came and sat down at the Hufflepuff table.

"Who do you think will win this competition?" Kanna asked.

"Probably Gryffindor," said Kyle, "if Harry plays his best."

Vasai had been pulled out at this time, but his arm seemed to be broken and he definitely couldn't play.

As a result, both Slytherin and Gryffindor lost a key player, and the situation returned to the same state as it was at the beginning.

The two chatted while eating breakfast.

Soon, the messenger arrived.

A flock of owls swarmed into the hall, dropping letters and packages into everyone's hands.

The most eye-catching of them were three owls flying side by side. They were holding a rope with a large package tied underneath, and they were flying straight towards Hufflepuff.

With a thud, the round package fell on the dining table, making a dull sound and rolling forward twice, knocking over several plates and a pot of pumpkin juice along the way.

"Oh, these owls are definitely not post office messengers, so rude." Mikel, who was splashed with pumpkin juice, wiped his face and looked at the package with curiosity.

"Whose is this?"

"There's another letter. Just look at the name and you'll know." Ryan leaned over. "Hogwarts Great Hall, Hufflepuff Table, to Miss Connor Prince...

"Kanna, what did you buy?"

"Ah?" Kanna, who was originally curious about what this thing was, was stunned when she heard Ryan's words. "For me?"

"Of course, your name is on the letter." Ryan handed the letter over, "You didn't know?"

"I don't know, and I didn't buy anything." Kanna took the letter in confusion.

With just one glance, she knew what was going on.

Kanna suddenly became excited and grabbed Kyle's arm excitedly, "They said I passed... I became a formal member of the Extraordinary Pharmacist Association!"

There was a sound of gasps from all around, and everyone looked over subconsciously.

Although some younger wizards did not know what the Extraordinary Apothecary Association was, from the surprised expressions of the sixth and seventh grade students around them, they could more or less guess that it was an amazing organization.

"Congratulations." Kyle said with a smile, "But didn't you know it a long time ago? Slughorn revealed it during the first Potions class."

"That's different." Kanna said solemnly: "Before the real results come out, everything else is just speculation."

Kangna took the letter and read it again, while pouring out another object from the envelope.

It was an exquisite blue badge with a smoking crucible on it, and it was also the identity certificate of the Extraordinary Pharmacist Association.

Slughorn wore an identical badge on his robes, which he wore to every party.

"That's amazing." Ryan exclaimed, "You should be the youngest member. I remember Professor Slughorn said so."

"For now, I think so." Kanna nodded. "Kyle, I feel like you're a little disappointed."

"A little bit," Kyle said. "I thought they would be more formal, but I didn't expect them to send it by owl."

"Do you think this is the Order of Merlin?" Connor said unhappily.

Kyle shrugged and said nothing.

Besides, this is a remarkable achievement for Connor. Even if there is no ceremony, Slughorn can present the award on her behalf. As long as it makes a big noise, maybe Hufflepuff can get an extra 100 points.

"Wait a minute, did you forget this package?" Justin said suddenly.

It was only after he reminded her that Kanna remembered that there was a package delivered along with the letter.

At the same time, the movement here also attracted the curiosity of others.

"What's here?" Qiu came over and asked.

"I don't know. The letter didn't say." Kanna shook her head.

"Can it be opened?" Mikel was eager to try.

"Of course," Kanna said, "I'm curious, too."

After getting Kanna's consent, Mikel immediately opened the package.

However, after peeling off the last layer of brown paper and seeing what was inside, a look of disappointment appeared on his face.

"How stingy." Mikel muttered: "Kanna, you may be disappointed, they only sent you an old crucible.

"Tsk, forget about the crucible, can't they even afford a new one?"

That shouldn’t be the case… Kyle looked over subconsciously.

The package was not completely unpacked, only half of it was exposed.

It was indeed a crucible, but it was red and covered with marks as if it had been scratched by a knife. At first glance, it looked broken and old.

But it only looks like that.

"This is not an old crucible..." Kyle reached out and touched the crucible, and felt a warm feeling at his fingertips, as if he was touching the wall next to the fireplace.

Mikel touched it too.

"Strange, could it be that this crucible has just been used? This is even more outrageous."

"No, this is the shell of a fire crab." Kyle explained, "This material has excellent thermal conductivity. It can absorb all the temperature of the flame in the shortest time and transfer it evenly to every place. The best crucible recognized by the magic world is made of fire crab shells."

After Kyle's explanation, everyone suddenly understood.

"So, they're not stingy, are they?"

"On the contrary." Kyle raised an eyebrow. "This crucible is not cheap."

"How much?" someone asked.

"I don't know." Kyle shook his head. "I've never bought one, and generally speaking, most people don't need this kind of thing. An ordinary crucible is enough."

After hearing what Kyle said, the others didn't care too much. In their opinion, it was just a crucible, not made of gold, so how expensive could it be?

"I take back what I said..."

Kyle looked at Kanna and smiled, "Even good things like this were delivered directly by owl. It seems like they really don't care about rituals or anything like that.

"You can use this to brew potions in the future. The effect will be much better than an ordinary crucible."

"Forget it." Kanna shook her head, "I'm afraid that once I get used to it, I won't be able to use an ordinary crucible anymore.

"And Professor Snape and Professor Slughorn are also members of the Extraordinary Apothecary Guild. Don't they also use ordinary crucibles?"

"It's different." Kyle shook his head and lowered his voice, "I can't say anything else, but when Snape brewed the Phoenix Potion, he must have used the Fire Crab Cauldron. I'm sure you'll need it too, so it's best to get used to it in advance."

"Actually. I was going to give you a fire crab cauldron for your birthday, but now it seems I have to think of another gift."

…

Through word of mouth among Hufflepuff students, the fact that Connor had become an official member of the Extraordinary Apothecary Association immediately became the hottest topic in the auditorium, even surpassing the upcoming Quidditch match.

But because so few people knew about the Extraordinary Pharmacists Association, the topic was like a gust of wind, which passed after a while and then returned to Quidditch.

"You go first. I have to tell Professor Snape the good news. He will definitely be very happy."

Connor suddenly said when everyone was getting ready to go to the Quidditch field.

"Oh, yes..." Kyle curled his lips and said perfunctorily.

There was no way. Although everyone had the same starting point, he became unhappy when he thought about Snape being happy.

I believe Snape is the same on this point.

But Connor insisted on going, so Kyle had no choice but to go to the stadium with Ryan, Mikel and others, and reserved a seat for Connor in the front row.

"Look."

When the players from both teams entered the field, Mikel suddenly pointed to the sidelines and said, "The Slytherin team's Seeker isn't here either."

Kyle noticed it, too.

Malfoy was not in the team. There was a strange face standing in his position. He looked young and must be a newcomer.

Malfoy didn't come to participate in the competition? Kyle almost subconsciously took out the Marauder's Map.

Since most people were at the stadium, the situation in the castle could be seen at a glance.

Kyle breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Malfoy's name appear in the library and there were quite a few people around.

Fortunately, if Malfoy wanted to do something, he would definitely not choose to go to a crowded place like the library. And it was not easy to escape Madam Pince's eyes, she could always detect everyone's little movements at the first time.

But why did Malfoy go to the library? Did he want to look up something?

Kyle hesitated for a while, but decided to close the Marauder's Map and stay to watch the game.

With Dumbledore and Snape watching, there was no need for him to join in the fun. He could just do what he had to do.

At this time, the captains had already started shaking hands off the field.

"Both key players are absent, including the most important Seeker..."

Ryan on the side said sourly: "Gryffindor is so lucky."

(End of this chapter)